Thou hast the words of eternal life." May these prayers be answered! May "the God of all grace who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you!" May he "keep you by his power through faith unto salvation!" May he guide you in safety through all the perils and temptations of this mortal life; preserve you from the snares of the devil; and at length present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy!"

66

SERMON VII.

CHRIST'S YOKE AN EASY YOKE.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.-Matthew xi. 30. THERE are two different aspects, under which religion is frequently exhibited by persons who are unacquainted with its true nature. On the one hand it is represented as a hard and an unprofitable service, which exposes those who embrace it to many painful trials, without providing any adequate compensation for the sacrifices which it requires. On the other hand, it is described us a pleasant, and an easy path, where uninterrupted delights abound; where no obstacles impede, no inconveniences annoy. But these representations are as injurious to the real interest of Christianity as they are false in themselves. Many persons are deterred from making trial of a religious course through apprehension of the attendant difficulties; while others, allured by the inviting prospects set before them, are discouraged at the first impediments in their way, abandon their profession in disgust, and walk no more with Christ.

Highly important then is it, that those to whom the ministry of the gospel is entrusted, should state with clearness and precision the real nature of religion; that by no undue exaltation or depression of its favourable or unfavourable circumstances, they either occasion disap

pointment or excite offence. Truth in the present instance, as in most other cases, lies in the mean between two extremes. Each of the representations, above noticed contains some portion of just delineation; but each has a mixture of exaggeration and falsehood. Though christianity exposes its followers to many trials, is it therefore a hard or an unprofitable service? The experience of every true Christian, no less than the plainest testimony of scripture directly contradicts this inference. Though the ways of religion are ways of pleasantness; are they therefore free from all tribulation and conflict? The same experience, the same testimony, are equally opposed to this conclusion. What then is the real fact? The gospel of Christ undertakes to secure the happiness of its followers notwithstanding every difficulty which they may be summoned to encounter. It promises to bless us with peace and joy, even amidst the most afflicting dispensations. It does not propose to exempt us from trials, but it engages to make us more than conquerors by the abundant support and consolation, which it administers.

Such is the view of the subject exhibited in the text. Our blessed Lord, in the preceding verses, having asserted in very memorable language his own personal and mediatorial dignity, had proclaimed that most gracious invitation, so worthy of all men to be received; "Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." Apprehensive however that the nature of his offer might be misunderstood, he immediately adds, "Take my yoke upon you and learn of me." The rest which he promised to them did not consist in a freedom from all restraint. There was a yoke which they must carry. There was a discipline to which they must submit. There was a burden which they must bear. How then could they find rest unto their souls? He subjoins in the text, "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." If they were willing to become his disciples, they must indeed carry his yoke; but they would find by experience that it was an easy yoke. They must bear the burden which he should lay on them but they would find upon trial that it was a light burden.

:

It is this interesting truth which I purpose to explain and illustrate. But since the limits of a single discourse

will not admit of that ample discussion which the importance of the subject demands, I shall confine myself on the present occasion to the former clause of the text and shall reserve the latter for a future consideration.

My yoke is easy.

Christians are under the yoke. They are not their own masters, at liberty to act as they please; to follow their own inclinations. They are the servants of Christ. What then is the yoke which he imposes on them? It is obedience to his commandments. These commandments are in substance the same with the moral law of God. The servants of Christ, though free from the condemning power of the law, are not discharged from their obedience to the precepts of the law. Though no longer depending for acceptance with God on their own moral performances, they are "not without law to God, but under the law to Christ."* They receive the law from the hands of Christ as the rule to which all their actions, thoughts, and tempers must be conformed; as the rule by their conformity to which their final state will be adjudged, and their future rewards proportioned. "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid! yea we establish the law."+ The doctrine of salvation by grace through faith, far from weakening the obligations to morality, increases them tenfold. An unceasing endeavour to fulfill the whole law of God is the most unequivocal expression of love to Christ and an indispensible evidence of an interest in his merits. "If ye love me keep my commandments. Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you. The grace of God, which bringeth salvation, hath appeared unto all men, teaching us, that denying all ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly, in this present world." ‡

Such is the yoke which Christ imposes on his followers. But is this an easy yoke? Is obedience to the holy law of God an easy service? On the contrary, are not all the natural inclinations of man directly opposed to the spiritual duties which it enjoins? Do not the very expressions frequently employed in scripture to denote the nature of christian obedience, convey the plainest intima* 1 Cor. ix. 21. + Rom. iii. 31. John xiv. 15; xv. 14.

Titus ii. 11, 12.

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tions of its difficulty? When we are taught by Him who "knew what was in man," that compliance with his precepts would on many occasions prove as painful to us as the cutting off a right hand, or the plucking out of a right eye; when we are directed by the same Divine Teacher and his apostles to "deny ourselves, to mortify our members which are in the body, to crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts;" can we doubt whether obedience to the holy law of God be a difficult service? What does St. Paul expressly declare? That "the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God; neither indeed can be."* What does experience testify? If the yoke of Christ's commandments be an easy yoke, why do we not uniformly find it such? Why do we not readily submit to it? Why do we complain of its severity? If conformity to the divine precepts be agreeable to our natures, whence arises that general propensity to substitute empty forms in the room of practical godliness? Whence proceeds that indisposition to spiritual exercises? Why are religious duties so often esteemed a weariness? Surely these things prove, that the service of Christ is a service offensive to our natural hearts; a service in which we find no pleasure, and encounter much opposition.

But, says our blessed Lord in the text, My yoke is easy. How can we reconcile these seeming contradictions? in what respects, consistently with the preceding statement, can the yoke of Christ be called an easy yoke?

It may be called an easy yoke in comparison with those yokes, some of which must otherwise be endured. Our Saviour might, probably, in the first instance have in view the servitude of the Jewish law, which his religion was intended to supersede. The painful rites, the expensive offerings, the wearisome ceremonies, and the mysterious darkness of that economy, altogether formed a yoke which St. Peter, addressing the apostles and elders, declares, “neither their fathers nor they were able to bear."+ In reference then to this yoke, the yoke of Christ may be called an easy yoke. The simple institutions, clearer light, and comparative freedom of the christian dispensation fully justify this language. Hence St. Paul exhorts

the Galatian converts, who were beset with Judaizing teachers, to "stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ had made them free, and not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage."*

The yoke of Christ is easy in comparison with the yoke of Satan. The work of sin is more congenial to our evil natures, than the work of God; but is it therefore easier? Look at the miserable slaves whom Satan leads captive at his will. With what unremitting assiduity do they pursue their several schemes of avarice, of pleasure, of ambition, of lust, of interest; They "rise up early, and late take rest;" they toil and labour in the service of their imperious master. But is the service easy? Ask them, are they happy? Do they find no thorns in the way wherein they travel? Are tempers soured, are appetites inflamed, are wishes disappointed, no interruptions to their happiness? Have they peace within? Can they look backward with satisfaction, forward with hope. Are there not moments, in which they are constrained to feel their wretchedness and to lament their shameful servitude? But are

such the feelings of Christ's servants? Do they ever repent of the paths which they have chosen? No: they find them to be paths of pleasantness and peace. "Great peace have they who love thy law, and nothing shall offend them." In tempers rectified, in affections regulated, in expectations realized, in an approving conscience, in a hope full of immortality, they experience an inward serenity of mind, which the slaves of sin and Satan never know.

The yoke of Christ is easy in comparison with the yoke which self-righteousness imposes on mankind. Painful and oppressive indeed is the servitude which those endure, who seek to justify themselves by their obedience to the divine commandments. They are labouring at a work, of which every fresh attempt only increases the difficulty, and exposes more clearly the folly. Serving a master, whom in their hearts they regard as a merciless tyrant and an unrelenting judge; professing to obey a law, which they secretly condemn as unreasonably strict, oppressive, and unjust, they are the victims of a slavish and tormenting fear. Their service is the service of constraint. *Gal. v. 1. + Psalm cxix. 165.