What is the true way to this has been the Enquiry of Philosophers , and of all wise and thinking Men in all Ages . The several Sects of Philosophers pretended to teach it ; and the same is done by all the Parties who now divide the World : One alledgeth the way to rest and happiness is with them ; another saith it is with them . But we may trust him who speaketh here ; we may safely rely on his Word , and have reason to believe him with an implicite Faith ; for he neither can be deceived himself , nor will he deceive others . He who giveth this Invitation , and maketh this Promise of Rest is the Blessed Jesus , that is , the greatest Person who ever appeared in Human likeness , the very eternal Son of God , Wisdom and Truth it self . No Falsehood can come from him ; and he is willing that all come to the Knowledge of the Truth . He loves us , and wisheth our happiness more than we our selves do . He had no other Errand to this World , but only to procure our happiness , and to direct us in the way to it . We ought therefore to receive his Instruction ; and when he promiseth rest , we have all reason to expect it , and no cause to fear the missing it . O! with what joy should we hear these words from him ; Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden , &c.

First , you see the Invitation is general A General Call to all Persons . to all Persons whatsoever . Jesus Christ excludes none from his Mercy who do not exclude themselves by their contempt , hardness , and impenitency . As his Benefits are highly to be valued , and most desireable , so they are freely and kindly offered to every one ; he is willing that all partake of them . The Favours of Kings and Princes are reserved to a few special Friends and Favourites , either because they would exhaust themselves if they bestowed many , or because they are afraid of rendering them contemptible , if they make them common . But as Jesus Christ is an inexhaustible Treasure of all desireable riches , as he is a Fountain which can never be drained ; so he doth not shut himself up , he freely communicateth of his fulness to us . If we be miserable , we have only our selves to blame ; if we lack any thing , it is because we do not ask ; if we cannot rest , it is because we do not apply unto him . We find him complaining of Mens backwardness to their own happiness , but there was never any instance of his hard-heartedness . Ye will not come unto me Joh. 5. 40. that ye may have life . And to give all Confidence and Encouragement , and to manifest his free and unlimited Goodness towards all , therefore it is written by the Prophet , Ho , every one that thirsteth , come ye to the waters , and he that hath Isai. 55. 1. no money , come ye , buy and eat , yea , come buy wine and milk without money , and without price . Again , And the Spirit and Rev. 22. 17. the Bride say , come , and let him that heareth say , come . And let him that is a thirst come ; and whosoever will let him take the water of life freely . So here it is , Come unto me all ye that labour , &c. The adding this , doth not restrain the Invitation , or make it less general : for this Epithet may be made of equal extent with Mankind it self ; for ( saith the Son of Sirach ) great travel is created for every man , and an heavy yoke is upon the Sons of Adam , from the day that they go out of their mothers womb , till the day that they return to the mother of all things , Ecclus. xl . 1.

By the words of labouring and being Why all Men are said to Labour and to be heavy Laden . heavy laden , our Lord pointeth at the present miserable condition of Mankind , and designeth to represent not only his own mercifulness in offering them rest so freely , but also the great need they stand in of it , that they may be the more easily perswaded to accept his offer . Rest is very acceptable to them that are weary ; to them who are lying under any great weight of pressure , ease is very comfortable . O how desirous then should Men be of ease to their Minds ? How glad ought they to be of rest to their Souls ? Seeing they are now by their very Birth put into a state and condition , which obligeth them to Labour and be heavy laden , that is , they are all of them miserable , and do either actually groan under their misery , or they have abundant reason to do it . If any do it not , it is not because their state is singular and so much better than others , but because their misery has stupified them ; their Senses are benummed , which makes their condition worse and more dangerous , because not so easily cured . Now , because Men use to value things only according to the sence of their own need of them ; therefore , that we may not slight Christ's offer here , that we may not contemn his rest , but be very desirous of it , and be thankful for his Kindness , I shall in the next place shew the Misery , which ( as Men ) we labour under , and are laden with , and which should make the very News of Rest and Ease most welcom and acceptable .

First , The blessed Jesus addresseth himself I. Because of Afflictions . to Men , and calleth them to him under the title of them that labour , because of the Afflictions and Calamities with which they are visited . Afflictions and Calamities are call'd Burdens in Scripture , and are esteemed such in the Common Judgment of the World . The Judgments with which God threatned the Nations , are by the Prophets called the burden of those Nations . Crosses and Afflictions go under the Name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , labour , 1 Tim. iv . 10. and Rev. xiv . 13. It is said , Blessed are the Dead who die in the Lord , for they rest from their labours , thereby meaning the Troubles and Difficulties of Life . Now as they may be said to labour and be heavy laden who are in a state of Trouble and Affliction ; so all Men , as Men , are in such a state , none are exempted from it . Man ( saith Eliphaz ) is born to trouble , as the sparks flee upwards . And Iob tells us , That man who is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble , Job v. 7. xiv . 1. The truth of this will be attested by every Man's Experience : For ( as an Ancient hath it ) dicant omnes , loquantur cuncti , &c. Let all appear and speak , let every one come and give in his Verdict ; let old Father Adam rise up with all his Children ; ask them all and they will declare , that , in this Life , they have not found Joy without Sorrow , Peace without Strife , Quietness without Fear , Health without Infirmity , Light without Darkness , Laughter without Mourning . Some have more than others ; but none are without some kind and degrees of Troubles ; neither the highest nor lowest condition of Life can secure one altogether . An uninterrupted Comfort , and a perfect Satisfaction of all things relating to this Life never any had , nor is it to be expected . And therefore , because all have some burden of external Trouble and Affliction upon them , therefore all do labour , and may be said to be heavy laden .

But Secondly , Even abstracting from II. The Emptiness and Vanity of Life . supervenient Troubles and those accidental Crosses , Man is truly miserable in this World , because he constantly labours under a burden of Emptiness and Vanity . Not only the infliction of positive Evils , but the abstraction of any real and positive or necessary Good will render one miserable , and make his Life wearisome .

As Diseases , and an external weight and pressure upon the Body will cause pain , and force groaning , so also will the want of Food and necessary Sustenance : They who have felt it say , that Hunger , Thirst , and Famine , are of all Troubles the most grievous ; they render the Spirit very impatient , and are ill to be endured . How restless then must the Soul of Man be in this World ? how impatient ? how discontented when it finds it self deprived of the Good it craveth ? Its desires are never answered , its longing is never satisfied , nor is its Appetite ever full , but is always tormented with Emptiness and Vanity . There is no State , or Enjoyment , or Work which can give true Contentment or solid Satisfaction : but after much Travel and frequent Experiments the Soul still returns unsatisfied ; she only wearies herself with Lyes , as the Prophet speaks . Something Ezek. 24. 〈◊〉 2. we meet with , which amuses and deludes us a while , but nothing to satisfie us to the full . In our best state and circumstances , it is only as when a hungry man dreameth , and behold he eateth ; Isa. 29. 8. but he awaketh , and his Soul is empty : Or as when a thirsty man dreameth , and behold he drinketh ; but he awaketh , and behold he is faint , and his soul hath appetite . What Profit hath a Man of all Eccl. 1. 5. 9. his Labour which he taketh under the Sun ? All things are full of labour , man cannot utter it ; The eye is not satisfied with seeing , nor the ear filled with hearing . Therefore ( saith the Wise Man ) I hated 2. 17. life , because the work that is wrought under the Sun is grievous unto me : for all is vanity and vexation of spirit . I praised 4. 2 , 3. the dead which are already dead , more than the living which are yet alive . Yea , better is he than both they , which hath not yet been , who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the Sun . He tried all States , considered every Condition , and tasted every Enjoyment , but was never satisfied with any ; for he found Vanity and Vexation intermingled with all . The Book of Ecclesiastes contains his Observation , drawn from his manifold Experiences , which if we read seriously , and take pains to compare what is said there , with our own Experience , we will soon be perswaded of the truth of all which that Wise Man saith ▪ viz. That Man all the days of his Life laboureth under Vanity and vexation of Spirit : That our Souls live in a Famine of true Satisfaction ; and where-ever we turn our selves , we find a want of that Good and Solid Contentment which we would be at , and which is necessary to keep the Mind and Soul from Languishing . The wiser Persons are , the more they allow themselves to think , the more they are perswaded of this ; Therefore Wife and thinking Persons usually contemn and undervalue all worldly Pleasures and Enjoyments ; nor do any set a price upon them , or are fully satisfied with them , but such as are degenerated into a brutish Nature , who do not exercise their Reason , nor give themselves to thinking , but like the Beasts are at rest , when their Bellies are full .

But to go on : A Third Misery and III. The fear of Death . Burden which Men laboured and groaned under , was the Fear of Death ; their imagination of things to come , and the day of death trouble their thoughts , and cause fear of heart , said the Son of Sirach , Eccl. xl . 2. And the Apostle tells us , that through fear of death they were all their life-time subject to bondage , Heb. ii . 15. They saw it was appointed for all men to die ; they understood that the Sentence of Death was passed upon all Men ; and none knew how soon , or after what manner this Sentence was to be executed upon himself , so that they stood in jeopardy every Hour : Neither Youth , nor Health , nor Strength , nor Vigour , nor any natural or acquired Vertue and Endowment could secure Men from Death : and what was to come after it , they knew not ; their hopes of another better Life were faint ; for it was not yet revealed . Therefore , as they were daily liable to Death , and had cause continually to apprehend it ; so the fear of it , and the uncertain consequence of it ( as every one's Experience witnesseth ) damped their Joys , and filled them with Melancholy , and embittered their Life . The terrours of the Mind are more burdensom and grievous than outward weights and pressures upon the Body . Now , nothing is so terrible to Men as Death ; it is called the King of terrours , Iob xviii . 14. And again it is said , Chap. xxiv . 17. they are in the terrours of the shadow of Death . My heart ( said David ) is sore pained within me , and the terrours of death are fallen upon me , Psal. lv . 4. Aristotle and other Heathens have declared , that it is of all things most terrible ; and certainlv it is , and shall be , and must be so to all who believe not in Jesus ; who are Strangers to him , his Doctrine and Promises : until Men come to him , take his Yoke upon them , and learn of him , the fear and terrour of Death must make them to labour and be heavy laden .

Fourthly , The great Evil which Men IV. Sin . labour under , and which is the Cause of all other Evils , is Sin . As this lyeth upon all Men ; ( for there is no Man who hath not sinned , except the Man Christ Jesus ) so this indeed is a heavy burden , and most grievous , whether we consider it in it self , or in its Consequences . The load of Sin which is upon us is great enough to press us down to Hell , and to crush us in pieces . It is Sin which maketh us to travel all our days with pain ; the guilt of this is uneasie to the Mind , and disturbeth its rest , and also maketh us liable to the Wrath of Almighty God , which is a weighty burden , too heavy for the strongest Shoulders . This burden of Sin , tho' it be of all others the heaviest , yet few are sensible of it , many do not feel it , tho' it be ready to sink them , because the weight of it has benummed their Senses and stupified their Spirits . But they who are sensible of it , complain most heavily , O wretched man , that I am , ( saith St. Paul ) who shall deliver me from the body of this death , Rom. vii . 28. And David upon this account uttereth this grievous Lamentation ; Thine arrows stick fast in me , and thy hand presseth me sore ; there is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger , neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin : for mine iniquities are Psal. 38. 2. gone over mine head as an heavy burden , they are too heavy for me . I am troubled , I am bowed down greatly , I go mourning all the day long , Fools make a mock of sin ; but who have a due sence of it , find it is not to be sported with , or set light by : for certainly it is the greatest and saddest of Evils : No Misfortune which befalls us , is so great as that of Sin . He that is not sensible of this , let him take a view of our Saviour in the Garden , and repair to a dying Person , and consider what inward Agony and Torment such suffer for Sin ? And if this do not affect him , he must be very insensible . The guilt of Sin is unsupportable , no Man has sufficient strength to bear it . Therefore , ( saith Solomon ) the spirit of a man may Prov. 18. 14. sustain his infirmity ; but a wounded Spirit who can bear ?

Thus you see , that all Mankind is liable to a fourfold Misery : Four several Burdens are lying upon every Man that cometh into the World , viz. The Burden of Affliction , the want of true Satisfaction in things relating to this Life , the fear of Death , and the guilt of Sin ; each of which is enough to bear down the Spirit of Man , and to crush or break it . O then how heavily are they laden , when they have the weight of all these upon them ? how weary may they be ? how much stand they in need of Rest and Ease ? how desirous should they be of it ? And how thankful to him who offers it unto them ?

And thus I come to consider the gracious How Christ giveth rest . Promise which our Lord here makes to miserable Men whom he invites to himself , come to me , and I will give you rest . Rest is very desirable ; but no rest so desirable as this . An ease of those Burdens which were presently set before you , would exceedingly lighten the Mind , and quicken and cheer up the Spirit . But none can give this Ease , but Jesus who here promiseth it . Some Philosophers have proposed some Antidote against Afflictions ; but for the most part they talked impertinently when they spoke of the other Three . But as the greatest and truest Comfort under Afflictions cometh from Jesus Christ , so it is he only who can satisfie the large Cravings of the Soul ; who can take away the Fear of Death , and the Guilt of Sin . And as he can , so he will ; for he hath promised it here ; Come , and I will give you rest . This rest must certainly imply a full and perfect Ease of all Misery which lieth upon Men : For if all were not taken away , if any part of it did remain , the Soul could not be at rest . Now , because the very News of Rest is Matter of Comfort ; and it is yet more comfortable to be assured of it , I will confirm this gracious and comfortable Promise by other Places of Scripture , and also shew the Reasons why we may expect and look for Rest from Jesus , with a Respect to that Fourfold Misery which is upon us .

I will invert the Order which was I. From Sin . used in enumerating those Burdens we groan under , and will take the last first , because it is the greatest , and that the Removal of it prepares the way for taking the rest away . That the Burden of our Sins shall be taken away by Jesus , is evident from his Name and the Reason why he got that Name ; for he was called Jesus , because he was to save his people from their sins , therefore also he is called the Lamb of God which taketh away the Sins of the world , when one sick of the Palsie was brought unto him , he said to him , Son , be of good Matt. 9. chear , thy Sins be forgiven thee . And he said , so that they might know the Son of Man had power to forgive Sins . This ( saith St. Paul ) is a faithful saying and worthy of all Acceptation ; that Iesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the chief , 1 Tim. And if the chief be saved , others have no cause to fear . The blood of Iesus Christ ( saith St. Iohn ) cleanseth from all sin . 1 Joh. i. This is that Fountain which was opened to the House of David , and to the Inhabitants of Ierusalem for Sin and Uncleanness . The Reason why Jesus can ease us of the Burden of Sin , and take away the Guilt , and free us from the Punishment of it , is , because he hath in his own Person born our Sins , and satisfied for them ; he was wounded for our transgressions , and bruised for our Iniquities , and by his stripes we are healed , and God laid on him the Chastisement of us all . Isa. liii . The Iust died for the Unjust ; and he who knew no sin was made sin for us , that we might become the righteousness of God through him .

In the next place , as Jesus Christ taketh II. From the fear of Death . away the guilt and burden of our Sins , so he freeth us from the fear and terrour of Death . For asmuch ( saith the Apostle ) as the Children are partakers of flesh and blood , he also himself likewise took part of the same , that through Death he might destroy him that had the power of Death , that is , the Devil ; and deliver them , who through fear of Death , were all their life time subject to bondage , Heb. ii . 14 , 15. Jesus Christ hath brought Life and Immortality to Light ; he hath discovered a Life far better than this , a State in which there is fulness of Joy and Rivers of Pleasure for evermore ; a Life which admits neither Hunger , Thirst , Nakedness , Cold nor Heat , and where all Tears are wiped away : And he hath made Death the necessary Passage to this blessed State ; so that instead of fearing Death , Men desire to Depart : And whereas before it was reckoned a loss to die , now it is counted gain . O death where is thy sting ! O grave where is thy victory ! The sting of death is sin , and the strength of sin is the law : but thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Iesus Christ , 1 Cor. XV. 55 , &c. He hath purchased to himself the Keys as of Hell and Death , so of Life and Immortality , and has Power to admit whomsoever he pleaseth . It is he that hath the key of David , that openeth and no man shutteth , and shutteth and no man openeth . Rev. 3. 7. Whoso eateth my flesh , and drinketh my blood , hath eternal life , and I will raise him up at the last day , saith Christ . And again , I am the resurrection and the life ; he that believeth in me , tho' he were dead , yet shall he live ; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die .