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Scripture Reading: Matt. 11:20-30
Although I read this long portion of the word today, now I will only pay special attention to three verses. They are verses 28, 29, and 30, which say, "Come to Me all who toil and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
In this portion of the word, the Lord Jesus spoke about His own feeling. Before He spoke this word, He had been provoked greatly. Something happened which provoked the Lord. He had performed many mighty works and miracles in different cities, especially in three big cities — Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. He had helped many people and healed many sick ones in the cities. However, the end result was that "they did not repent" (v. 20). Regardless of how they had heard and known that the Lord Jesus was the One descended from heaven to be the Savior and the Messiah, they would not repent or believe. They could say things with their mouths, but within their hearts they still did not believe nor repent. When they did this, everything that the Lord had done became vain. Therefore, Matthew presented to us here the prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us consider the first words in verse 25: "At that time." It was under this kind of situation the Lord Jesus prayed. The Lord prayed to the Father and said, "I extol You, Father, ...because You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants." The people in the big city considered themselves to be clever and wise. That was why they could not receive the Lord Jesus. Although the Lord desired to see the people in the big city getting saved, He was more pleased to obey the will of God. Therefore, even though He was rejected by them, He could say to God, "I extol You, Father,...because You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants." Under the most difficult and disappointing time, He could still focus and delight in God's will. He did not care for His own will and said, "Yes, Father, for thus it has been well-pleasing in Your sight." He did not say "no" but "yes." At any time He could still say, "Yes, Father," because He only minded the good will of the Father. He knew that "all things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one fully knows the Son except the Father; neither does anyone fully know the Father except the Son and he to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." Therefore, the people in the big cities may not have known the Son and may not have repented, but His heart was fully satisfied. Here is the reason and the secret why the Lord Jesus had peace in His heart and was unshaken by the environment. He rested by relying on His relationship with the Father. As long as the Father knew, it was enough. It was sufficient that there was only the Father's approval and praise. However people may have treated Him, it was not worthwhile for Him to be bothered or offended. As long as there was the smiling face of the Father and the carrying out of His will, it was good enough. There was no need to be concerned about the consequence among men in the world.
Before the Lord prayed, His circumstances were not good, and His background was not favorable. He was greatly misunderstood. He poured out everything to them wholeheartedly. However, they would not receive Him. They rejected Him without any reason. If it had happened to you or me, I am afraid that we would be like John, asking God to send down fire to consume them. If we were in the Lord's situation, we would have wondered why we should encounter such events. We would be murmuring and would have no peace. However, although the Lord was so greatly misunderstood, He only said, "Yes, Father, for thus it has been well-pleasing in Your sight." If we were in this kind of situation, we would have no peace in our heart, and we would be in turmoil. Even if we were not in turmoil, we would be doubting. Even if we were not doubting, we would be unhappy. However, the Lord said, "I extol You, Father." Within His heart there was no unrest. In verse 27 He reveals to us the secret of His restfulness. What was spoken before this verse was the background, which explains how the Lord could be at rest and not be moved in His heart in this kind of situation. Now He tells us the reason why He was not affected. In verses 28 and 29, the Lord shows us what we should do in order to be at rest if we encounter the same treatment. Today we want to speak on these two verses of the Bible. There is a difference between verses 28 and 29. Verse 28 speaks of one kind of rest, while verse 29 speaks of another kind of rest. The two rests are different, and one is deeper than the other.
The rest in verse 28 is spoken of this way: "Come to Me all who toil and are burdened, and I will give you rest." This rest is the rest of salvation. Verse 29 is the rest of victory. The first rest is the rest of being reconciled with God. The second rest is the rest within us. The first rest is the rest of our salvation. The second rest is our rest on earth.
"Come to Me all who toil and are burdened," Brothers and sisters, perhaps you do not realize what the world is. There are many people whose days on the earth are not many, yet they have much experience of the world. They would tell you that the world is in a fever. When I cross the big streets, I see many people walking to and fro. All of them are so busy. I would ask, "What are they doing? Are they mad?" I pity them. Probably the whole world is in a fever. Oh, they do not have rest. The Lord did not say here, "Come to Me all who are sinful and wicked, and I will give you rest." This is because the pleasure of sin is sweet, and a sinner desires to have more pleasure in sin. Therefore, the Lord used another term and said, "Come to Me all who toil and are burdened, and I will give you rest." You are toiling, and you are burdened. Some people may feel that sin is pleasant and sweet. But everyone feels that he is toiling. Many people do not think that sin is painful. But everyone feels that their experiences are painful. Therefore, regardless if a person is a millionaire, a high-ranking person in the political world, a renowned scholar, a student, a businessman, a civilian, a coolie, or a beggar, no one is satisfied with himself. For a while I thought that those who pull rickshaws surely would sigh, but that millionaires do not need to sigh. However, one time when I was staying in a millionaire's home, I heard him sigh also. There is the pleasure of sin, but at the same time the labor of life makes a person sigh also. One time when I preached to an illiterate lady, she said, "Ah, unfortunately I do not know how to read; otherwise, I could believe and read the Bible." I thought if an illiterate lady would sigh, "Ah," perhaps a well-educated college professor would not sigh, "Ah." Actually, both sigh just the same. There was a foreign college professor in a certain school who was always very pessimistic. He always sighed, "Ah!" no matter what he saw. One day the sun was bright, the sky was clear, and the grass was green. The campus grounds were filled with the fragrance of flowers and the singing of birds. A few colleagues of the professor came to speak to him, saying, "See how wonderful today is? There is no need to sigh `Ah,' today." He looked at the sky and everything around him; there was indeed nothing for him to sigh about. But did he stop sighing? Not at all. In the end he said, "Ah, unfortunately this time will not last long. Ah!"
One can see men toiling and restless everywhere. All day long, they are unsettled in their worries. Where should they settle down? I am afraid that you are not at rest and are still laboring.
Many people feel the weight of their burden and the toil of their labor. They realize that they do not have rest. I did not realize how heavy a burden can be until one time when I went down to a village to preach the gospel. The village where I went was on the other side of a mountain, and no steamboat could get there. I traveled first by a small steamboat to one place. After getting off the boat, I had to walk over the mountain to reach that place. The weather was very hot at that time. I brought with me gospel books and tracts, food, clothing, etc. I was not able to hire anyone to carry these things for me and had to carry them myself. I did not feel anything when I walked the first twenty steps. But after that, I began to find them too heavy for me to carry. I thought how nice it would be if I could get home soon and have a little rest. There were no trees on the mountain to provide shade. Just then, I realized how painful are those sinners who are toiling and are burdened. They would probably think that it would be nice if they could rest for a little while. Today among those in the audience, there are still some who have not yet believed in the Lord Jesus. You do not have rest. What will be your end? Come and hear the Lord Jesus' word today, which says, "Come to Me all who toil and are burdened, and I will give you rest."
Oh! This world is a tiresome world. Many people have money, yet they say, "I am tired!" Many people are in business, yet they say, "I am tired!" Many people have received fame and love in this world, yet they are tired. They think they can never rest until they have gained a certain item. The world realizes clearly that rest is good, but because their burdens are too heavy, they dare not seek after rest; they would be happy enough if their labor could be reduced. They are like the Israelites in the Old Testament, who only hoped that Pharaoh would reduce their labor and had no hope for rest. The condition of the Israelites represents the world. The Israelites only hoped that their labor could be lightened; they dared not hope for rest. In the same way, you only hope that your burden would be reduced a little, and that you would be free from tiredness and worries. However, I must tell you that what our Lord Jesus gives is not only a reduction of your toil but absolute rest; He causes you to stop everything. I wonder if you know what rest is? Rest means not to work or to stop working. You have suffered from the heavy burden and entanglement of sin and lust and do not have rest. You have to understand that the Lord Jesus wants you to come and have rest. You do not have to do anything to have this rest.
When I was young, my parents always spoke to me concerning how Jesus became the Savior to appease God's wrath. Then I began to consider how good I would have to behave in order for God not to hate me but to save me to heaven. Many people also think the same way. But here, the Lord says, "You do not have to do anything; just come and have rest." What He wants to give to us is rest. He does not ask us to suffer and to do good. Man enjoys rest. But he always thinks that God is not pleased with him, and that he has to do some good work before God will be pleased with him. But the Lord Jesus calls people to come to rest and not to work. You may think that God hates you, and that you must do good before God will be pleased with you. But the Lord Jesus says that there is no need to work. This is the gospel! Why can the Lord Jesus give rest to people, and why does He not want them to work? The Bible says that the Lord Jesus has already accomplished all the work whether it be the work for going to heaven, the work of redemption, the work related to your being judged before God, the work of justification, or any work related to light, eternal life, and justification. The Lord Jesus has accomplished them all. He only bids you to come to have rest.
Let me tell you another story. In a certain village there was a Christian who had an unbelieving carpenter as his neighbor. The Christian understood the truth, and he was always trying to persuade the carpenter to believe in Jesus. The carpenter thought that although Jesus had accomplished the work of redemption, it was still not sufficient, and that he still had to do some good work and improve himself before he could believe in Jesus. To him, while it was true that Jesus had redeemed men, men must also do something. For this reason, he did not believe. One night, a thief came to the house of the Christian and tried to enter the main door to steal something. But he heard some noise inside the house and was afraid to go in. As a result, he stole the main door. The next morning when the Christian saw that the main door was taken, he asked his neighbor, the carpenter, to make him another door. The carpenter thought that since this was his neighbor and his good friend, he would select the best wood and hurry to finish the door that same afternoon. When he was ready to put in the door, the Christian said to him, "You have not finished this door; it is still not good enough." He spoke in such a blunt way that the carpenter felt very embarrassed and very upset. The carpenter asked, "I have used the best material and have finished it with extra effort. Why is it still not good?" Nonetheless the Christian insisted that he had not done a good job. Finally the carpenter said, "If this door is not done well, how should it be done to be well?" The Christian said, "Go home and bring me some wood, nails, and a hammer; let me show you how to do it." When the material came, the Christian hammered the boards onto the door haphazardly. The carpenter was both upset and amused. He thought that the Christian's mind must have become muddled up from the break-in and must have become crazy. The Christian then said to him, "Friend, do not be angry. Let us have a talk. Was your door finished?" He said, "Of course, it was finished." The Christian said, "Is it not very good that I added something on?" The carpenter said, "The door was already finished. By adding these boards and nails, you made it no more a door." The Christian said, "The redemptive work of the Lord Jesus is already accomplished. John 19:30 says that it is finished. However, you said that although the Lord Jesus has finished His work, you still have to add something to improve and repair it. This is why I added the nails and the boards to the door which you have already completed." The carpenter understood then and believed in the Lord. The Christian lost a door the night before, but God gained a sinner that day. The Lord Jesus asks us not to work but to come and rest. He has died to bear our sins and has resurrected to secure a new position for us before God. Therefore, we do not have to work. All we have to do is to come to Him and rest. This is the gospel!
Many people live a life of toil and burden with respect to the world. But many others toil and are burdened with respect to their salvation also. They think that by gritting their teeth to do something and by suffering a little, God may have pity on them and save them. Many Hindus do this. They put nails onto a door with the spikes pointing upward. Then they lie on such doors full of sharp nails, thinking that by suffering this way, the God whom they do not know may by chance have pity on them and forgive their sins. Many people think that if they suffer more, God will forgive their sins. Even a little child would think this way. Once a little child told me, "After I commit a sin, the first thing I have to do is to make myself suffer to the uttermost; then God will forgive my sin." Not only do little children think this way, most people in the world think this way also. They think that by laboring strenuously, they can work themselves to the point where God will forgive them. They do not realize that this is a lie. It is a self-deception and will never earn them anything. It is not by bearing more burdens and suffering more toil that one can have rest before God. The calling today says, "Come to Me all who toil and are burdened, and I will give you rest." Redemption has been accomplished, and the Lord has borne our sins. Whosoever will may come to the Lord to have rest. No sinner can obtain rest by himself. If you come before the Lord, you will have rest.
Now I will speak concerning another rest to those who have believed. "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matt. 11:29). Christians ought to have this rest. Sinners ought to have the first rest. A sinner will have no rest until he is accepted by God. A believer has rest because his sins have been forgiven. He can now rest because the question of salvation is solved, and the questions of justification and eternal life are also solved. He is resting in the Lamb; he has obtained the rest in the precious blood. However, a Christian will still at times have no rest. He may feel that there is no rest in worldly affairs and in his living. His heart may run like boiling water. He may have the "rest" of Matthew 11:28, but not the "rest" of verse 29.
This "rest" in verse 29 is a special "rest." In the original language, the word soul is the same as the psuche in psychology. Therefore, it is talking about the psychological rest. The Bible says the same thing in Psalm 42:5, which says, "Why are you bowed down, O my soul? / And why do you groan within me?" The soul can make one feel cast down and disquieted. The rest that the Lord gives us is the rest for the soul; it saves us from anxieties and disquietness in our living on the earth.
Following this, the Lord tells us the reason for His having rest in His own soul. Verse 29 says, "I am meek and lowly in heart." The first reason is meekness, and the second reason is lowliness. What is to be "meek"? To be meek is to be gentle, to be without hardness; it is to have nothing irritating and to be absolutely tender, yielding, unresisting, and unobstructing; it is to not protect oneself, to not reject others, and to be soft as water, and to remain so even when one is beaten. This is the life the Lord expressed on earth.
Many people are very gentle to others, but they are not lowly in heart. Outwardly they may be lowly, but in their heart, they are neither lowly nor yielding. To be "lowly" implies being mean and humble. The Lord was humble in His motive; He considered the kind of treatment He received to be what He deserved. He did not expect anything better; He only expected this kind of treatment. When the Lord was preaching in the big cities, people were opposing Him. Yet He "departed from their midst" in a good way. We may think that this is good enough. But He did more than this; within Him he did not expect any better treatment. He was not only meek but was also lowly. The Lord knew that the kind of life He lived on earth was the portion for Him; He did not expect anything higher. The meaning of the word pride is not merely something outward but something inward. If we want something better than what others have, if we crave something that God has not given us, and if we long for and plan anything for ourselves, it is pride.
The Lord's attitude on earth was meek and lowly. If we desire to have rest, there are two things that we have to do. First, we have to "take My yoke," and second, we have to "learn from Me." To take the yoke and to learn from Him are two things. A "yoke" is a piece of wood placed on the back of an ox to keep it from going free and to force it to work hard. The Jews always put two oxen to one yoke; they never put one ox to a yoke alone. The yoke is given by the master; the ox does not know how to bear the yoke by itself. This is why the Lord said to us, "Take My yoke." This means that the yoke is apportioned to you by God; it does not come from any person nor from the devil. It is God who has put it on you. However, it is up to us to learn from Him.
When I take up whatever God has apportioned to me, I will be happy. If I am satisfied and contented with these things, I will have peace and will not be sad because I have not escaped God's yoke. I have a schoolmate who grew up in an orphanage. He was very intelligent and studied very well. He was a churchgoer but not a Christian. His hope was to have a high education, an outstanding name, and to make a great deal of money. The year of his graduation, a missionary offered to help him to go to the United States to study. He asked him to go first to St. John University in Shanghai to finish his remaining two years of study. The school had prepared a scholarship to take care of him. However, he had been saved a few months before that and heard God's calling to serve Him wholeheartedly. At that time God's yoke was upon him. He thought of how much suffering he would have to bear as a preacher and of the preaching he would have to do among the villages where food, clothing, and lodging would not be comfortable, and he would not have much income. All his hopes fell through! His mother's and uncle's only hope had been on him; such hopes would also fall through! He was reluctant to bear God's yoke and wanted to escape. He promised the principal that he would accept the offer for further education. One day I purposely looked for him and asked him, "Have you settled your future?" He said, "I have already decided to go to the university to study." Because I knew that God had called him, I spoke to him straightforwardly: "You have chosen the wrong path. Do you think you can have rest this way?" He said, "My mother and my uncle have put all their hopes on me. I will study theology as well as literature. I can do some work to gain people on the campus. Will this not satisfy both sides?" I said, "Obedience is better than sacrifice. The Lord is not pleased with the cattle of a thousand hills and the sheep of ten thousand mountains. He is not pleased with oil and burnt offering. He wants man to obey Him." He said, "I have already made my decision." I said, "You have taken the wrong path. If you go to St. John University, you will be poisoned by modern theology, and I am afraid it will overturn even your basic faith. You and I cannot walk on the same path anymore. So long!" After I left, he took a walk around the ballfield and felt very sad; he did not have any peace. Afterwards he went to the school chapel and knelt down to pray. On the one hand, he thought of his deceased father and his widowed mother, and on the other hand, he thought of his future. He could not help but weep. He thought of forsaking God's yoke, yet his heart felt unpeaceful. However he also felt it difficult to obey. Finally, he realized that he had to obey God's will, and he promised before God to give up the opportunity of further study and to preach His word instead. After he obeyed in this way, he rose up from prayer; his heart was very peaceful, and he was full of joy. Immediately he went to see the principal to explain to him the reason for his change and declined the scholarship as well as the tuition assistance from the Westerner for his study abroad. Right away he packed and left the school. He said that night was the happiest night in his whole life. (Please note that my intention is not to discourage you from your study. However if God has called you to preach His word, you should obey. If God has not called you, it is all right even if you study for ten or twenty years.)
I know that a number of Christians here have this kind of experience. When you bargain with God and want God to give in, while you would not give in, how restless an experience that is. Your conscience is there telling you that you are wrong. How sad you are! However, when you say to God, "I am willing to bear the yoke," you will have rest. Today what God is leading us into is not only to bear God's yoke in the big matters of our life, but also to bear His yoke in the small matters in our daily life. There are some preachers who feel that it is difficult to work with other co-workers. Some sisters feel that it is very difficult to have peace with their aunts and in-laws in their homes. Some feel that it is difficult to be at peace with colleagues; students feel that it is difficult to deal with other students and their teachers. This is your yoke. You may feel that they are bothersome, and that you would much rather leave them alone or that they would leave you alone. You feel irritated, and you have no peace. But, brothers and sisters, this is the yoke God apportions to you. This is what God wants you to bear. This is the portion God assigns to you. God wants you to humble yourself under this kind of environment so that His life can be expressed. You should not ask for any change in your environment; you should know that for God to put you in this environment means that this environment is the best for you.
What does it mean to bear the cross? It does not mean that you should spend a few thousand dollars to go to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem to buy a wooden cross and to bear it. Rather, it means that everyone should bear his yoke where he is. This is the portion God has allotted to you. You think that your environment is not good, that it is best to exchange it with somebody. However, this is not bearing the yoke. Sometimes God puts a careful person together with a careless one, a strong one with a weak one, a healthy one with a sick one, a smart one with an ignorant one, a quick one with a slow one, a tidy one with a not-so-tidy one, in order that they might become the yoke of each other, in order that everyone will have the opportunity to manifest the grace they receive from the Lord and express Christ's nature. If you struggle against this arrangement, you will never have rest. If you say to God, "I will bear your yoke; I am willing to be placed in the position you have given me," and if you are willing to obey absolutely, you will have rest and joy.
The reason Christians cannot bear a good testimony today is that they reject God's yoke. They want to change the environment. Yet the Christian character can only be manifested under that kind of environment. The highest living is one which welcomes everything which one dislikes — things that contradict one's own heart. If you are willing to receive and bear the yoke God gives you, you will be filled with a deep rest within. However, this is not the rest of salvation, which is secured by the redemption of Christ, by what He has accomplished, and by His bearing the cross. This rest is obtained by your own obedience, by your own attitude of denying the self, and by your own bearing of the cross. I hope that after everyone returns home, he will have a new rest. You do not have to brush off your environment as you brush off snow from your clothes on a snowy day. You do not have to strive and struggle in your environment. You only have to say to God, "I thank You, because this is Your yoke." "Yes, Father, for thus it has been well-pleasing in Your sight." If you do this, you will have joy. Although the environment the Lord Jesus had would justify the worst complaint, He did not complain or murmur and was not anxious to scheme for any change. He only obeyed; therefore, He could rejoice. We should not obey God on the basis of happiness; rather, we have happiness because we obey God. There are countless numbers of people whom you cannot love or work together with. But I hope that from this day on, you will receive God's yoke from His hand, that is, the yoke of meekness and lowliness.
Not only do we have to take the yoke, we also have to learn from the Lord. The Lord's pattern is recorded in Philippians 2:6-8: "Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider being equal with God a treasure to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, and that the death of a cross." There are two things we should consider concerning the Lord's pattern.
The first is that the Lord did not stand up to speak for His own right. "Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider being equal with God a treasure to be grasped, but emptied Himself." This is to forsake His legal right. Originally, our Lord was equal with God, having the same glory and sharing the same authority. He was the same as God. However, He did not uplift Himself; on the contrary, He emptied Himself and took the form of a slave. Originally, there was nothing wrong with His being equal with God. He was not like the devil, who was a created being, an archangel, yet who tried to lift himself up to become equal with God. The Lord was totally opposite from the devil. He did not strive to become equal with God; rather, He emptied Himself. Therefore, we have to remember that none of us should speak anything for our own rights. Everyone should give up his legal right willingly and joyfully.
There was a sister who lived like a king at home. After she believed in the Lord, she became like a servant. If she wanted some pocket money from her parents, they would not give it to her so willingly as before. However, she was willing to forsake the position and right she had as their child. Since we belong to Christ, we should not expect our parents to treat us like regular children or our friends to treat us as nice as before. If they do not provide for you, you cannot beg. You ought to place yourselves in the hand of God and learn from Him. "Who, existing in the form of God...emptied Himself." He never spoke anything for Himself; we also should not speak anything for ourselves.
The rest in our Christian life lies not only in not taking advantage of others, but in being able to endure when others take advantage of us. Many young Christians took advantage of others before they believed in the Lord. After they believe in the Lord, they begin to treat others justly. Now when they see others being unjust, they become indignant. Little do they realize that the Christian standard does not stop merely at being just but at enduring the unjust. What the Lord received was not justice. If it had been according to justice, the Lord would have had no need to come to be a man and would not have needed to save man. But for our sake, He was willing to endure all kinds of unjust treatment.
The second matter is His "taking the form of a slave, becoming in the likeness of men." This is to say that He became limited. Originally when our Lord was in the heavens, He could come and go freely like the angels; He could also appear to man like the angels did in the Old Testament. However, He descended to the earth and was made in the likeness of men to become an infant and then an adult. He grew up year after year in the human way; like all other men, He also needed to eat, drink, sleep, work, and rest. This is the limitation on His divinity that He received. However, He was not only made in the likeness of men, but also took the form of a slave. Although He had given up His freedom as God, He could still have His freedom as a man, and He could still enjoy whatever the other men could enjoy. Yet He took the form of a slave and sacrificed even the freedom He had as an ordinary man. In every aspect He endured the entanglement and limitations which are unbearable to man. Besides God's — the Father's — will, He did not know anything else. This was the restriction on His humanity. Although He was God, He was limited. Although He was a man, He was limited. How about us? Our hearts would rather rebel. How we wish to break off all the entanglements and restrictions so that we can move freely. How we wish everything and everyone in the world would go along with our desires and according to our hearts' delight. We are not like the Lord; although He was God, He still was restricted. Among us, many mothers would wish not to be mothers but would prefer to go out to preach the word freely instead. There was a wife who once told me that if her husband would allow her, she would leave her three children behind and go to Tibet to preach the gospel. She thought that it would be wonderful if she could break all the entanglements and fly away. However, this is not the Lord's pattern. The Lord was God, but He still obeyed His parents and took care of His younger brothers and sisters. We ought to obey and not be ambitious. Since God has used your children to limit you and your family to restrict you, you should submit willingly and joyously. It is wrong for a businessman to think, "It would be nice if I did not have to be in business," or a student to think, "It would be nice if I did not have to study." It would be wrong for a worker to think, "It would be nice if I did not have to work," and for a teacher to think, "It would be nice if I did not have to teach." If we would be like our Lord who accepts all kinds of restriction without any struggling, we would have rest.
Therefore, an unbeliever can have rest, the rest of being reconciled to God. At the same time, if a worrisome, restless, and troubled Christian is willing to bear the yoke of meekness and lowliness, learn from the Lord's limitation, and not stand up to speak for his own rights day after day, but is willing to accept the yoke which God has apportioned to him day after day and choose for himself a life of restriction, he will surely have rest in his heart.
The Lord said, "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Every person who is experienced in the Lord will say "amen" to this. How rough are the roads we have chosen for ourselves! How troublesome are the things which we do according to our own desire! How pitiful are the consequences and how many difficulties there are along the way! If we are willing to take up the Lord's yoke and learn from Him, we will see that the things He gives us, the demand he has upon us, and the environment which He has arranged for us are all easy and light. Nothing that He causes us to pass through is unbearable for us. He knows how to apportion His yoke; He knows our strength. We can be at rest. He will not require of us what we cannot do. Whatever He apportions is what each brother and sister can bear. As one would not put an iron yoke on a three-month-old calf, the Lord will not ask a person to encounter something in his environment that he cannot endure. Before something comes upon us, God has already decided that we are able and have the strength to pass through such a thing. God does not make a mistake. Therefore, we should not murmur. Instead, we should quietly, humbly, gently, and joyfully accept all the yokes and burdens He gives us, even though many of these are not according to our desire.
Our sister, Miss Ruth Lee, because of her health, is now in Sha Ming Tung On receiving the rest she needs. I hope the readers will not forget her in their prayers.
Brother Lien-chun Wang, who is most one with us in the Lord's truth, came to Shanghai at the beginning of March and stayed with us until the middle of April before returning to Foochow. During this time of a little more than a month, we have had fellowship and have learned profitable lessons in the Lord.
Sister Pearl Wang went to Chia-shing in the middle of March; at the beginning of April, she went to Soochow for meetings; all have the blessings of the Lord. Brother Watchman Nee went to Japan at the end of March to work for a week. On April 11, we had Mr. Ming Cheng Lan, Miss Wei Ching Siou, and Miss Moo Jeir Chirk baptized to enter into Christ. We thank the Lord for all these works!
