Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1879-06-19
@eadimg tur the Sabbath,
CONDUCTED By
REV, ROBERT LATHAM.
)riginal.1


[orgnal]
COME!
The invitation of the gospel is contained in
the following sentence: "Come unto me all
ye that labor and are heavy laden, and will
give YOU rest" Matt. II :28. No one can
without fearful effort, so distort these words
as to render their obvious meaning obscure
The persons addressed are those who are toll
ing and struggling beneath heavy burden
of sin and iniquity. The individual expe
rience of every man, in every nook and cor
ner of the world, and in every period Of the
worlds history, declares most positively thai
all Adams race are, and always have been
laboring beneath a load of guilt. To deny
this would not only contradict the testimony
of every human being, but he who denies il
questions his own experience. Every mar
feels the heavy burden of sin, and feels il
every moment of his existence Go where
you may and meet whom you may, you fnd
none but oppressed sinners. Those with
whom you come in contact may be rich, OF
they may be poor; they may be children OF
they may be old grey headed men and wo
men still, they "labor and are heavy laden
The human family, in its countless numbers
bears about in itself the marks Of sin, anlc
every truthful member of the family is ready
to declare that the way Of the transgessor Ii
hard. This may be put down as one Of the
facts which he has learned without the aic
of revelation from heaven. Experience
teaches this, and the Bible corroborates the
fact.
Since, then, all men, in all countries, and
under all circumstances, "labor and are heavy
laden" the invitation of the gospel is to all
The thing promised is rest. What is more
desirable than rest? What can the man
sinking beneath the weight of a heavy bur
den, desire more than rest? The weary la
borer longs for rest. The rest promised BY
the Saviour comprehends everything that is
desirable. AS being constantly beneath q
heavy burden is misery, so rest is happiness
As the burden of sin presses more upon the
soul than upon the body, so the rest promised
is rest for the soul rather than for the body
1t embraces both soul and body, but soul ease
is, of all things, the most desirable and it is
this that is promised.
The requirement is "Come unto me-" This
is all; but it is absolutely required of all
There is no rest to the soul away from Jesus
All are invited to come to Jesus, and all who
come to him shall be blessed with rest; but
without going to Jesus, no one will ever o.
tain-rest. The career of all who reject Jesus
shall, during the period Of their sojourn upon
earth, be like the waves of troubled sea
and when time is merged into eternity, then
hope will die, and die forever. What, it may
be asked, is meant by "Coming to .Jesus?'
We may ask what can it mean that is myste'
rious2 When friend invites US to come to
him, we have no difficulty in understanding
what he means. We comprehend his mean
ing at once No words can be palmer. Any
school. boy can understand them. Jesus asks
poor, laboring and heavy laden sinners to
come to him and he will give them rest, and
yet they ask what he means. This is strange
Where is the difficulty? Which word in the
sentence is it that is obscure2 Who does not
understand what "come," the principal word
in the sentence, means? 1t simply means get
up and go to Jesus. That is all. Go with
all your sins to him for pardon and for accep'
tance You are cursed with grievous curse
Go to him that the curse may be removed and
blessing be bestowed. There is no mystery
in this
The difficulty is an evil heart of unbelief
Before we can go to Jesus, we must forsake
all of self and depend wholly upon him
This humbles US in the dust, and however
lovely humility may be in the sight of God,
it is abominable in the sight of unconverted
sinners. Such would rather be crushed into
dust with the burden of sin, than confess their
iniquities and plead for pardon and forgive
ness through the merits of Jesus Christ The
error is rather of the heart than Of the head.
"Ye will not come unto me" is what the Sa.
viour charged upon the Jews Of old. The
same charge may be brought against the
Gentiles. They will not come to Jesus.