The Life of Rest

Now, this morning- 1 want to take one of the very simplest thoughts of God’s word as the subject of my address. We have been speaking for two weeks about the spiritual life, but you know where the spiritual life is to be put into practice — in the every-day life. And to-day, therefore, I want to come down very low, to the level of our everyday Christianity. It is in the rush of daily life that the presence of God is to be experienced, and His power to be proved. We began last week by speaking about the work of the Holy Spirit. I tried to point out to you what God intends that Spirit to be in your daily life, in your walk as holy and spiritually minded men, in a walk in love and humility. I tried to point what the great hindrances are to a spiritual life, especially self. I tried to point out what the blessedness is, that will come if we give ourselves to the leading of the Spirit and what the object is for which we are to seek it. Then we came, this week, to speak about the work of Christ. I beg-an bypointingout that His great work is just to bring us very near to God, and how I believe that this is a great want in the church of Christ; we need more of God, more humble waitingupon God in our private prayer and worship, and in public services. God must take the first place in everything; we must take time to wait upon God for God to take that place in our souls. I then spoke about how Christ came to exhibit just this one thing-, a life of absolute dependence upon God. He came to reveal to us that God was everything to Him. We spoke of other parts of His work, and last night we closed by speakingabout Jesus Christ in His blessed work as an Almighty Keeper, and ended by a consecration meeting in which we g-ave up ourselves to Him; God g-rant that many souls may know what it is that the Everlasting- God is keeping them. And now we have to g-o away to our daily life, our homes, our business, our studies, our duties, and all of )’ou know by experience that it is just there that the failure comes in. It is all right in my closet and it is all rig-ht in my worship and all right in my work when I am speaking for Christ, but oh, the times of relaxation, the times when I am off my guard and times when I am in the duties of this life, these are the times when failures come; and the great question now arises. How can I live so that not only on the mount of worship, but down low in the valley of the most ordinary everyday life I may have unbroken the sense of the presence of God. Dear friends, if you want the revelation of God I have told you more than once you must take more time in prayer and have daily fellowship with God. You must take more time in your secret hour of prayer just quietly to realize God and adore Him. But the fullest revelation of God cannot satisfy unless it is carried out in the daily life. The value of contact with God every day, and the value of the power of the Holy Ghost daily, and the value of Christ as a keeper must be proved in daily life. More than one begins to ask, “Will it last, the blessing I have got? Will I be faithful? Will it ever be carried out in my daily life?” Listen to the word I have for you this morning. It is one of the simplest descriptions of the life of faith. Phil. 4: 5-6 — “Be careful (or anxious) for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Here we have a restful life. It is the life of continual trust, continual prayer, continual praise, continual peace, continual safety. Five blessed marks of the blessed life.

1. The restful life is a life of continual trust. That is where it begins. You notice that we have the name of God in these two verses twice. In the first verse it is, bring your needs, your requests, unto God. That is to say let God be the one object of your trust and then comes in the second verse and God will be a fountain of blessing to you, “The peace of God will keep you.” These are the two sides. My love must be turned to God and God’s love and blessing will be turned to me. Be anxious for nothing. You know how difficult it is to obey that command. You hear people tell, when you talk about the higher life, “Oh, if you only knew my circumstances.” At Northfield a man told me, “It is all very well at a convention, but one does come into such difficulties in business that it is almost impossible to expect that you will always be kept in perfect peace.” Now here comes the word of God, dear children of God who gave yourselves up last night, learn the lesson, “Be anxious for nothing-.” And why? Because you have a God that cares for you. Oh I wish I could say to my friends and myself what I see sometimes. Is God going to do everythingso perfectly in nature all around me, and is the only place He is gfoingto fail here in my life? Look at the sun. Por thousands of years how perfectly it has been shining, with what abiding fruitfulness it has blessed the earth. So perfect, it cannot be more perfect, and it was God that made it shine. Look on the earth, at these trees and flowers and the g-reen grass. Look at the bird, the animal, or fish — each one so perfectly fitted to show forth the glory, wisdom and power of God. And is God not able to work as perfectly in the heart of His child, and is the only place of failure to be your heart and mine? I cannot believe it. I believe that the God who works so gloriously in the universe is willing to work more gloriously in your heart, so that your heart shall be the scene where His glory is fully revealed, the manifestation of what God’s love and power can do. But why does He not do it? Because you won’t let Him. Because 3’ou don’t trust Him. Because 3’ou allow circumstances to come between you and God. Because you in your heart believe circumstances are strong-er than God. You think, God cannot deliver me from their power. You have not got fully under the power of the promises and love of God. This word comes, “Be anxious for nothing-.” God is willing to take charge of everything. Apply that to external things. One may be in adversity, another may be surrounded by enemies, another may not be able to keep his engagements. There comes the word,” Be anxious for nothing. “You know how depressing it is to have unconverted relatives. Are you not to be anxious about that? No. “Be anxious for nothing.” How can that be? In this way alone, that I carry all the care and the trouble and the circumstances to the living God, and that I wait upon Him until I get sight of my God undertaking and taking complete charge. When my soul gets sight of that the anxiety goes away and I rest in the perfect trust, God cares; God has charge, and God will guide me right. Apply that to your spiritual life. I know there are those here who are in great difficulty about their spiritual life. They have taken the step last night, but they have done it more than once before, there is a note of fear in their hearts. Will it last? I have such a temper, I have such a disposition, I have such little help in those around me. There are a thousand things around me to draw me back. I come to point you to what Jesus Christ did. He came to bring us to God. If as His humble, feeble servant I can take you and lead you to your God my work will be done. What is a God for? A God is meant to be the light and life of all nature and

existence. A God lives for this. We need a God to be the only power that works throughout the universe. A God is meant to have charg-e of the creatures He has made and to fill their life with His blessedness. Look at your God. Never did a mother care for a little child with such watchful tenderness from morning to night as your God is willing to take charge of your spiritual and your external life. Do you know this God? Have you learned to say, “I do trust Thee. I have no anxiety, for my God provides. He is God Almighty and His promises are so wonderful and He is so loving and tender. I will trust my God.” Who is going to say, this morning, “God help me. I want to have not a single anxiety. I am going to trust God.” God will do His work beautifully and blessedly, and most gloriously. Children of God, “Be careful for nothing.” You know the 6th chapter of Matthew, with those precious words of the Lord Jesus. They are not only for poor people who have no clothes, but they are meant for every one of us. If God clothe the lilies with His beauty how much more will He clothe you? Just think of that. How does God clothe the lilies? Not from without. He puts within the life that grows up into them and with most beautiful freshness there comes up a lily. A lily has the life of God, the Spirit of nature that comes from God working in it. God clothed that lily and will God not much more clothe you and me with the beauty of holiness and of humility. Oh Christian, take this word, “Be careful for nothing.” The restful life is a life of continual trust. 2- The next mark of a restful life. “In everything- by prayer and supplication let your requests be known unto God.” Continual prayer. It is in prayer that you will learn the secret of trusting-. If you take but little time to pray you will have but little power to trust. Trust toward God is not natural to us. Trust is very natural to us toward a fellow-man. When a man tells me a thing-I do not take a moment to believe. We are on the platform of nature. When my God speaks we are on another platform. God is the Invisible One, a Spirit of holiness, and I can trust Him only by the Holy Spirit coming into me. If I live under the leading of the Holy Spirit my heart grows larg-er, my capacity of trust is increased, my eyes are opened up and I see the glory- and limitless promises of God and the treasures of His grace. I see His heart and Omnipotent love actually engag-ed in blessing me, and my heart learns to rejoice in Him. In prayer I learn to trust Him. Remember this, “In everything-.” That means temporal things, that means spiritual thing-s, that means great things and that means little things. Some people pray about the great things, great troubles, but not about the little things. That is wrong in the life of faith. Some think that the word means, All I can manage I keep in my own hands, and all I cannot manage I may expect God to take care of. This is not the way. God must have all committed to Him. One asks me, How can I know the will of God in a difficulty? My brother, the way to know that, in difficulty is to follow the will of God in simple things. Let the Holy Spirit show you the will of God in little things every day, and when great perplexities come the Holy Spirit will reveal God’s will. What a privilege it is amid the worries of daily life and difficult circumstances to leave them all with God. Just to say, “Lord, these circumstances I bring them all to Thee, I entrust them to Thee.” By prayer and supplication I can put them into my Father’s bosom indefinitely. I can give them over to Him and I can rest there until conscious that the Spirit assures me they are in God’s hands. In more prayer you will learn the secret of trust in spiritual things. How often we go to a minister, or to a

teacher, or books (not that I am depreciating teachers or books, but when we depend upon them they come between us and God). How often we have questions and say, “I wish I could ask that question. I wish he would tell us what bethinks,” instead of going with every question to God and saying, I do not expect the voice of an angel to bring an answer at once, but I want in answer to prayer to put the difficulty in the bosom of the Father, and I know by the secret in-working of the Holy Spirit He will give me light on it and lead in a right path. Let your life be full of prayer. I have spoken about this need of daily fellowship with God. I have put a few thoughts together and had them put in print to be distributed among the friends. They contain some instructions as to how the soul ought to cultivate daily fellowship with God, in taking the place before God, in realizing His presence, in taking our place in Christ Jesus in deepest humility, and counting upon the work of the Holy Spirit. If you will follow these instructions, or any others in God’s word, you will find it such a blessed thing- to come and bow before God and present your petitions. But you say, “Is God not listening- to what I say before I have felt the consciousness.” Such prayer helps very little. “By prayer and supplication make your requests known unto God.’’’ Let your heart feel that you have made it known to God. God will answer, “I have heard; leave it with me.” If you will thus pray your prayers, there will be a new joy, a very fountain of blessing opened up to you. May God make us all men of prayer. Remember that the apostle says, “In everything-.” It does not mean only about your own needs, but the blessedness of prayer is, it gives me power with God as intercessor. The great work of my Lord Jesus is to be always interceding. There is no more heavenly work than intercession. And yet, how much neglected, how little practiced. Let us learn by prayer and supplication to bring everything that might make us anxious to God. Here is a minister with a congregation, how many things hehastomake him anxious? His own weakness, his own spiritual life, the state of his members, some worldly Christians, some unconverted people — how much to make him anxious? What a privilege in intercession to get rid of it all, and throw it into the bosom of Jehovah, and to say, I have made it known to God. That is enough. There is a great deal in the church and its worldliness that might well make us tremendously anxious. Some are deceiving themselves with a great deal of formality, with a great deal of

head-knowledge, and the real personal love of Jesus is wanting. But oh, do not let us bear our burdens and anxieties ourselves, but learn the rest of trust, the rest of faith. The blessed life is the life of continual prayer, pouring into the heart of God everything that comes into my heart.

3. Not only continual prayer but continual praise. “In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.” Our prayers should be mingled with thanksgiving for many reasons. The first practical reason: Prayer will be sure to cause depression if you do not mingle it w ith thanksgiving. In prayer you may get too much occupied with self; you turn to search out all your needs and they are so many you will be in danger of getting anxious. Here is the cure for it. The apostle says, Always pray with thanksgiving. Begin your prayer with worship and thanksgiving. Another reason for thanksgiving: It pleases God. It will draw Him to you. Begin your prayer with praise. It will light up your heart. It will make you rejoice in God, and joy gives new power in prayer. Begin your prayer with praise. It will give wings to your faith. When you think of what God has done, and what God has promised to do, praise Him for it. Thus, God will do more every day. When you neglect to praise God you rob Him of His glory and yourself of a precious privilege. When you hear of men converted, when you read a missionary letter showing blessing in His work, praise God for the work that is being done. When you hear of any good of a man, praise God for it; take every opportunity for praising-. You will find it ever leading you onward, ever upward. It gives a consciousness cf God’s goodness, of joy and trust in Him, ever mingling; your heart will be established in the rest of faith.

4. “And the peace of God that passeth understanding shall keep you.” Who is there to-day that would like to have the peace of God, the peace that passes all understanding? Who would desire it? Are there any hearts here that say, Would God that I could have it? Just think what a peace. What does it mean? It means this: not only the peace that God gives. No; it is the peace of God Himself. We read in the Hebrews that we must enter into the rest of God. God says, They are not entered into my rest in Ps. 95, and Hebrews tells us they had not been brought into the real rest, “But we which have believed do enter into the rest of God, “the rest of knowing that God has finished His work. God has cared for everything. I am a child of God. What a rest. The peace of God, that great calm in which God ever dwells, can come down into my heart. God gives His holy presence, and with that presence the sense of His nearness and His love and His great peace. Don’t separate the peace of God from God Himself. God cannot give His peace the way I take a piece of money out of my pocket and give it away from me. Just as the light of the sun is always coming direct from the sun, and I must have the sun, then I can have the light; so it is with the peace of God. I must have God, and when I have God then the peace of God as an outflow will keep my heart Who wants to have the great peace of God? God is a being of infinite stillness and rest and a peace passing* all understanding”. The soul that really commits itself, with every care, to this God, will have Him, in His perfect rest and peace, take possession.

Beloved, you can have the presence of God every moment, and where the presence of God is the g-reat peace of God is. The great peace of God can be with you all day. How can I g-et it? “Be anxious for nothing-.” Trust God. Meet God and g-ive up selfish desires into His bosom. With thanksg-ivingpraise and adore Him and the peace of God shall come and fill your heart and life.

5. Fifth mark of the restful life is perfect safety. The word is a beautiful one. “The peace of God shall g-uard your heart and mind by Christ Jesus.” Shall g-uard it. Shall keep it. You had that word last nig-ht, “Now unto Him who is able to keep.” How blessed to have heart and mind kept. I cannot keep them. The heart is always ready to wander and g-et discourag-ed, with its fears and perplexities. But in the great peace of God coming down to keep heart and mind, my whole nature may be kept through Christ Jesus. Believers, I beseech you by the mercies of God to live this life of perfect rest. We have spoken to you about the Holy Spirit and His work, and Christ and His work revealed that He might bring us to God. And this text comes and says, After you have brought yourself, bring every anxiety, too, and every desire unto the living God, and leave it in His bosom. Be assured that as you reach out after God, He will send down the very peace of heaven to keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Dear Christians, is each one of us going” to live in accordance with this blessed word? Ministers of the g-ospel who have got to preach to others, I quoted the word yesterday, I am going- to quote it again because it made such a strong, deep impression in my heart, “The first duty of a clergyman is humbly to ask God that all that he wants done in those whom he teaches may first be fully and truly done in himself.” Brother ministers, have we the great peace of God keeping our hearts and minds by Christ Jesus from morning to night, from Sunday to Saturday, in the pulpit, in the study, in the home, in society, in the street, in our whole life? If not, how can we preach it? God give every servant of His in the ministry such an experience of the great peace of God ruling in his heart that he may be able to preach it in the power of the Holy Ghost. Ask God to do so. And you workers, it is an easy thing to come and talk about the peace that has been made by the blood of Christ. We praise God for that peace, but there is something far deeper than that peace that was made by the blood of the cross; there is life ever kept in the peace with God. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed upon Thee.” Christian workers, do pray. It is not the hurry, it is not the worry, it is not the study, not the running hither and thither, the much talking and much working that will have effect for eternity, but it is the great power of God. And God’s power is revealed in the world, not in the earthquake so much, but in the still, small voice. Christian workers, students, come let us offer our hearts to God and ask Him very humbly, that His g-reat peace may have perfect possession of us. And if we feel we have not got it, and it won’t come, or that we have lost it, let us pray. Listen, “Be anxious for nothing-.” Do g-o with every anxiety, direct to God, with praise, prayer, and thanksgiving-. Praise Him for what He is going to do, but be anxious for nothing. Let every foreboding anxiety drive you to God. Christian workers, let the great peace of God enter your hearts to-day. Do walk as examples of men, into whom God has poured His own peace, and let the humility and the lowliness and the meekness and the gentleness of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, be the mark of your life- God help us to that. Amen.