Words on Which We Rest
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31. WORDS ON WHICH WE REST
31. WORDS ON WHICH WE REST
The people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
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One of the loveliest sentences which I treasure in my memory is this: “Above us, the silence of the stars; beneath us, the silence of the graves: between them, the voice of Jesus, and in this we rest.”
If the people of old, as our text tells us, could rest on the words of King Hezekiah, how much more confidently may we repose on the words of Christ!
Why?
1. We rest on the words of Jesus because of the utter dependability of the One who uttered them.
1. We rest on the words of Jesus because of the utter dependability of the One who uttered them.
Years ago an old Salvationist lay dying. By his bed stood Bramwell Booth. “What message shall I take from you to your comrades?” Booth asked. “Shall I say that God is as good as His Word?” “No,” replied the sufferer, “say that He is better than His Word.”
In the midst of his African journeyings David Livingstone wrote: “ ‘Lo, I am with you always.’ It is the word of a Gentleman of the strictest and most sacred honour—and there’s an end on’t!”
2. We rest on the words of Jesus because He Himself laid great stress on them.
2. We rest on the words of Jesus because He Himself laid great stress on them.
“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” ().
“The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” ().
“If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death” ().
“Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock” ().
3. We rest on the words of Jesus because of their proven power in our lives.
3. We rest on the words of Jesus because of their proven power in our lives.
Solemn before us
Veiled the dark portal,
Goal of all mortal:
Stars silent o’er us
Graves under us silent.
—Johann W. VonGoethe, trans. Thomas Carlyle
It was said of Cromwell that his words were half-battles. The words of Jesus are not just half-battles, nor even whole battles; they are veritable victories.
MacPherson, Ian. Usable Outlines and Illustrations. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1976. Print. Dollar Sermon Library Series.