Key Text: "...and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Matthew 11:29
This is a restless world. People are tired, weary and worn out, and some are almost ready to give up the battle. Why? Could it be because we are following the pattern set by worldly standards? Perhaps it is because we are not trusting in the Saviour. Have we substituted the Saviour for self? Instead of taking His yoke, we have yielded to self?
In this sermon for December, let us find in God's Word the remedy for our restlessness. There is an answer in our text, and that is my subject. Jesus will give you rest! In Bible times, the Lord Jesus Christ invited the people to come and find rest. He is giving us the same invitation today to come and find the same rest. Jesus is the same and His rest has not changed.
The Lord looks upon His people today, and the message given in Matthew 11 is the same. He watches over His people. He is the Good Shepherd. If you are tempted, He will give you victory and deliverance. If you are weak, He will give you strength and courage. If you need learning and knowledge, He will send the Holy Spirit to teach you. If you have been hurt by others and your spirit is hurting, He will heal you spiritually. Heaven is ready and Jesus says, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28. "He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds." Psalm 147:3
There is a hardness in human nature that causes man to turn away from God. Man alone is responsible for permitting this hardness to continue. We have the choice of turning from God and losing out on the vital rest that God promises or turning to God and casting our cares upon Him. This allows Him to soften our hearts and give us the rest that brings lasting peace.
In Matthew 11:20-24, the Lord mentions the word "repented" two times. The people living in the cities mentioned in these verses never found the true meaning of peace and rest. They never met and received the Prince of Peace, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, Jesus turns from speaking of these cities and looks out over the crowd and gives them the promise of rest! They labored in the fields; they plowed with their yoke of oxen. They were tired. He promised rest.
These three verses contain some wonderful thoughts which, when received in the heart and put into practice, would give man that perfect rest found only in the Saviour. Let us look at three points of interest that will help us to find the rest that He has promised.
"...all ye that labor and are heavy laden." Verse 29 so aptly describes us no matter what our occupation. Whether at work or in the home, we are loaded down with the cares of this life. But could this also pertain to our religious life? Could it be a burden? In Bible times, the Pharisees engaged in a formal religion, a religion of performing or doing. They forced this religion on the people of the day, and they became tired and overburdened with the "do's" of legalism. Is there a danger of those affil iated with Christianity today embracing a formal religion? Yes! That is a grave danger, and we never find His rest following such a religion. We can clearly see that a religion of self-justification is a formal religion that does not save--a formal religion that does not bring peace and satisfaction. Friends, there is no rest in a formal religion. "Now therefore, why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear." Acts 15:10
When one serves self in order to gain wealth, honor, and ease, something is missing. When one serves Satan, again one may achieve the honor of a worldly crowd, temporary wealth, and entertainment, but something is missing. What is missing is rest, the rest that only Christ can give. No burden is too small or too heavy for the Good Shepherd to take from you. No burden of sin, guilt, dread, remorse, fear of death, or anything is too great for the Saviour to lift from your shoulders or from your mind. Are you burdened with the cares of the world, anxiety, greed, ambition, and ego or with sorrow, poverty, oppression, slander? There is hope.
COME - "Come unto me..." We are invited to come, and we are told the blessing to expect--"I will give you rest." He gives our minds rest by atonement and pardon from sin. He gives us instruction to establish us in His Word. His promises are sure, and we are to build on the Rock. He gives us assurance in His rest because we know that "all things work together for good to them that love God."
When Moses prayed, "Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in they sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. And he said, my presence shall go with thee, and I will give you rest." Exodus 33:13,14. God's call to Moses was to come and lead my people; come and learn of me and I will give you rest.
TAKE - "Take my yoke upon you..." Verse 29. Besides the invitation to come, here is the instruction to take His yoke. We have immediately two benefits now for we have come to be with him, and now we have put on his yoke.
"'Take my yoke upon you...' Jesus says. The yoke is an instrument of service. Cattle are yoked for labor, and the yoke is essential that they may labor effectually. By this illustration Christ teaches us that we are called to service as long as life shall last. We are to take upon us His yoke, that we may be coworkers with Him...The yoke is placed upon the oxen to aid them in drawing the load, to lighten the burden. So with the yoke of Christ. When our will is swallowed up in the will of God, and we us e His gifts to bless others, we shall find life's burden light. He who walks in the way of God's commandments is walking in company with Christ, and in His love, the heart is at rest." Desire of Ages, E. G. White, pp. 329-331.
Now, friend, taking His yoke has the meaning that we are His disciples, His followers. It also tells us that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. If His yoke is easy, then it must be well-fitting, a special pattern that fits just us. In His yoke we will be going His direction even if the way is difficult. Our burden of sin is rolled away.
LEARN - "and learn of me..." Verse 29. Here is a great Biblical truth for it says we are not learning to be saved. That would not bring us peace and rest. Learning for salvation is works for salvation. You and I know that millions upon millions of people have been saved by God's grace through faith, and they have not had the education that others have had. So, learning is not earning. While there is much to learn, there is nothing to earn. Salvation is the free gift of God, but there is learn ing--learning of Christ.
Friends, Christ invites us to come, and when we do come to Him, He gives us rest. "and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28. The language is clear. Christ will not show us rest nor teach us about rest. He says He will give us rest.
"Take my yoke upon you..." Verse 29. The followers of our Lord knew the meaning of taking the yoke. They had become disciples, and they understood that His yoke would mean walking in the direction God pointed and doing the work of God. They knew the burden would be lighter when they worked on the same team as the Saviour. His yoke is always the right size, never too large nor too small.
Two oxen under the same yoke in the same field for the same reason pulling in the same direction will always do more with a lighter burden. Helping my Dad with a team of mules during the 1930's taught me a lot about working with a yoke as a team. Those two old black mules did a lot of work. They plowed acres and acres of land every spring, but there were times when old Albert just would not pull his load. He would slack off, and Prince had to pull an extra portion of the burden, but as long as Albert and Prince were pulling together the burden was light.
As readers of this sermon, you have a yoke, but are you traveling in the same direction of the Word of God? Are you following the leadership of the Holy Spirit? Are you in the will of God? When we work under His yoke, He gives us peace.
Let us close the sermon with another great Scriptural text. "Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance." Psalm 89:15.
We can walk in the light, and we can rest in the Lord. Jesus will give us rest. We need not worry and fret. Jesus Christ, our Saviour, is coming again. We can be serene and confident for we know nothing can happen to us unless He permits it. How wonderful is the rest of God.
"When every worry, every care To God in faith is brought, We have no place on which to base One single anxious thought." --Anonymous