The Sweetest Invitation Matthew 11:25-30

Eureka Baptist Church

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May 9, 2021

00:03: One of the greatest blessings of life is friendships when you're a child
00:10: What you learn very quickly is that you gravitate towards some people more than others You learn that you can have deep relationships outside of your family and you call these people friends
00:22: One thing that you realize is that true friends are hard to come by It's common to think that you have a friendship when you really don't
00:33: The superficial nature of it over time displays that a true friendship was never really there
00:40: But true friendships have certain characteristics first of all a friendship takes commitment from both sides if One party pursues the friendship while the other does not
00:54: This is not a true friendship Both parties need to be committed to deepening and fostering this relationship
01:06: Second of all a true friend strength stands through you with you through thick and thin It's almost like a marriage
01:14: The deepest of all friendships includes the line for better or for worse in sickness and in health till death do us part
01:24: Now non marriage friendships Do not have the depth and intimacy of a marriage between a man and a woman
01:31: But those lines can really be used for a friendship as well Proverbs 17 17 says that a friend loves at all times
01:41: No matter what you're going through a true friend will stand by you One of the great delights in my four plus years at this church is that I have seen true friendships form
01:54: It is God's design That we would all be real friends because it is his design that we are family a church family
02:03: The church that resembles this is a mature united healthy
02:08: Church Friendships are a beautiful thing and It's God's invention
02:16: But long before human friendships were there There was a friendship in eternity past the greatest of all relationships it is the relationship between father son and Holy Spirit For all eternity these three persons of the
02:36: Godhead have loved each other with a love that we cannot fully comprehend But then
02:43: God did something He created the world that is populated with his image bearers these image bearers are meant to find their meaning and satisfaction through entering a relationship with the
03:00: Father the Son and the Holy Spirit The meaning of life is entering this eternal relationship
03:10: What is remarkable about this relationship between God and humans is that God is the one who pursues us it?
03:18: Is this friendship that is the greatest friendship that we can have? The only one who can satisfy you forever wants a deep personal intimate friendship with you
03:31: It's remarkable to ponder that this morning as We continue our sermon series through Matthew.
03:40: We are going to see Jesus extend this invitation to his image bearers
03:47: So this time I encourage you to turn in the Bible with me to Matthew chapter 11 We'll be looking at verses 25 through 30 and if you're using a red
03:55: Bible in the pews is on page 9 70 This sermon is titled the sweetest
04:02: Invitation and here's our big idea
04:10: It's what this sermon is calling you to do Understand that in Christ alone does one find relief from life's endless strain
04:25: Understand that in Christ alone Does one find relief from life's endless?
04:33: strain We're gonna see three reasons. Why is we dig into this text, but before we jump into our text
04:41: Let me give you a little recap of where we were Or where we have been we've seen several very convicting
04:50: Hopefully convicting sobering sermons in Matthew 10 Jesus talked about how persecution will come to his followers
04:57: What we learn is that as you live for the truth inevitably what will come is opposition
05:04: There will be pushback and then in chapter 11 We saw an example of one who walked faithfully with the
05:11: Lord through thick and thin and he received pushback John the Baptist John the Baptist was imprisoned
05:18: Eventually he lost his life Most of the nation of Israel did not want to hear the truth
05:26: They were content continuing in their false Jewish system
05:32: What we learned last week is that as evil as much of the secular world is in God's eyes the outwardly
05:40: Religious that reject him are more of an abomination to him than the pagan world
05:49: What we saw is that those who harden their heart and criticize the truth and those who are indifferent
05:56: To this glorious truth that has been presented to them. These people will pay the ultimate price
06:04: Remember these are the religious people These two groups of people who are overly religious will have a worse experience at the final judgment
06:12: Than the pagan world and this is so because of the exposure to the truth
06:20: Lots of exposure to the truth makes one more accountable, which means there's more of a severe judgment
06:27: Now this leads us to our text this morning Let's begin by taking a look at verse 25 as we begin at that time
06:39: Jesus declared I Thank you father Lord of heaven and earth that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children
06:51: So we see here as we begin is a prayer where Jesus praises his father in heaven
06:59: The context is a very important to understand is that always is The invitation we are about to see in this passage follows the condemnation that we just saw in the previous passage when
07:10: Jesus condemned Kharazin and Bethsaida and Capernaum These people saw all these wonderful works that he did and they said no, thanks.
07:21: We'll pursue something else They rejected the kingdom and now he's going to offer the kingdom to those who stand before him
07:31: Listening and what Jesus says here. He says publicly Sometimes in life there is private information that we can only share with a few people
07:42: But the gospel is not that the gospel is intended to be proclaimed on The rooftops and this is what
07:51: Jesus is doing here What we see in the first part of this verse is that Jesus praises his father
07:58: Jesus mentioning God as his father highlights his unique relationship to him
08:05: We'll see more of that in verse 27 He also praises his father for his sovereign role in salvation
08:12: The crowd heard Jesus say as he prayed that God is sovereign over heaven and earth
08:18: This is a reminder that God is writing the story of human history He is
08:24: Lord over all that happens What God has sovereignly chosen to do as verse 25 says is that he has hidden these things
08:35: From the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children So what are the these things?
08:43: That have been revealed to some but hidden from others
08:51: And this is where we need to be reminded of the first ten chapters of Matthew starting in chapter 3 and Sprinkled in many other spots what we have seen is that the gospel of the kingdom has been offered
09:04: The king has arrived and he has proclaimed That a kingdom is coming and the only people who are going to populate
09:13: This future kingdom are those who repent and believe in the
09:20: Messiah And as we look at verse 25, we also need to ask Who are the wise and intelligent and who are the little children the wise and intelligent are those who are?
09:33: Sophisticated in their own eyes This is both the religious and non religious of the world people who do not know
09:44: God, but they think That they're wise and that they're intelligent Now it's not intelligence
09:54: That is the problem but rather Intelligence that is accompanied with pride.
10:00: That is the problem The one who is smart, but also proud is unable to humble him or herself before God This is why
10:10: Jesus said in Matthew 5 3 blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
10:16: The poor in spirit are those who recognize their sinfulness See their need to repent and put their trust in the only one who can save them
10:26: One has to humble him or herself to come to God in repentance and faith
10:34: But many intelligent people cannot bring themselves to see their utter brokenness because of their deep pride pride leads to Intelligent people to be selfish to be blind to their own sinfulness and to refuse to give glory to another
10:59: Namely to give glory to God intelligent people Who have succumbed to pride are not content to submit themselves to God's truth but are impressed with their own wisdom in The secular world the folly human wisdom is easy to see people are willing to embrace lies
11:21: Because they are unwilling to submit themselves to their Creator Romans 1 verses 21 through 22 says for although they knew
11:30: God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him But they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened
11:39: Claiming to be wise They became fools if you were to ask a random person a random secular person that is
11:50: Who is or who are the smartest people in the world?
11:57: What answer would they give you? They would answer by telling you their fellow pagans
12:04: Albert Einstein Stephen Hawking Richard Dawkins Neil deGrasse
12:11: Bill Nye and others, but how does
12:17: God view these people? He views them as fools Now it doesn't mean that they're fools in every way they've learned some things they discovered some things but largely speaking he views them as fools
12:31: And this doesn't mean they don't have a high IQ They do It just means that they use the high intellect that God has given them
12:41: To use for evil rather than for good Proverbs 1 7 says that the fear of the
12:51: Lord is the beginning of wisdom But the one who does not fear the
12:57: Lord will only end up with foolish beliefs What drives the thinking of the secular mind is not a clear mind, but rather a
13:08: Confused mind a an agenda mind a mind that has animosity and The animosity is directed towards one once creator
13:21: They think that you're crazy for believing in God you are crazy for believing that the Bible is the standard for truth in this world
13:28: But when you look at all the evidence that all points to the Creator God if you're just following the evidence
13:33: That's where you end up. It's easy to defend the existence of God look around you
13:40: It's also easy to defend the Bible Look around you and see how everything the
13:45: Bible says fits the world to a tee In the last couple of years we have seen total depravity on display
13:55: The secular world has been exposed in ways that it has never been exposed before I believe
14:01: It was it was hidden a lot of it was hidden now. It's right out there for everyone to see It's not about science
14:08: It's about agenda It's about power, and it's all connected right if you think that science has anything to do with climate change or Evolution or Kovat 19 now kovat 19
14:31: I understand there's a virus out there Okay, but it's a lot a lot more is going on than just the virus. You must understand that You go right down the list here
14:42: Racial injustice do you think it really has to do with racial injustice? I'm telling it's all connected. It's a world system and It's built on lies
14:53: And let's not be fooled by that We've seen total depravity on display.
15:00: We've seen lies this world needs a savior and People need to believe in him this world needs a
15:08: King and that King is coming to reign forever, and he'll be the king we always longed for But intellectual depravity does not just belong to the secular, but also to the religious
15:22: What religious unbelievers and pagan unbelievers have in common is that they love human wisdom
15:29: They are impressed with their own with their own creative minds They say let's throw away those
15:35: Sunday school stories and find truth through human wisdom This is the problem in the
15:42: American Evangelical Church For example, let's not completely throw out critical race theory or social justice
15:50: There are some things we can learn from this atheistic Marxist ideology Then you have broader
15:56: Christianity that makes the same mistake as the false Jewish system that developed after the
16:02: Old Testament prophets The scribes and Pharisees developed a works righteousness System a works righteousness salvation they believed if the good outweighs the bad, that's how you'll enter heaven
16:15: As you look at church history this has happened In in Roman Catholicism and in the
16:21: Eastern Orthodox Face of faith that developed a works righteousness system that says
16:26: Jesus does some to get you to heaven But you need to earn your own way
16:34: There's also a new teaching that came up in the last 50 years or so called the new perspective on Paul it is also a works righteousness system and These all come from religious teachers, but make no mistake about it.
16:50: It is human wisdom But the Bible is very clear on salvation and please hear me very clearly the
16:58: Bible is very clear on Salvation we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone and this alone is our authority
17:11: When it comes to a relationship with God you bring nothing to the table
17:18: The only way you can enter a relationship with God and dwell with him forever is recognizing your utter sinfulness
17:28: You must recognize that only Jesus can save you and you can never earn your own way to heaven
17:36: Jesus went to the cross and he paid the full penalty for your sins, and then he rose gloriously from the dead on the third day
17:44: By believing that he earned your salvation for you you have eternal life, and if you sincerely believe you're saved and Works by the way are they're important in the sense that they're the evidence that you're saved
17:59: But you don't do them to earn your salvation This gospel that I just proclaimed to you is not human wisdom.
18:09: It's God's Word It's God's truth and it comes straight from the
18:14: Bible and we're gonna see that here in the next couple of verses Believe this and you will be saved but believe human wisdom and you will be lost forever
18:27: Do not be impressed by the wise and intelligent of this age On the other hand the little children of verse 25
18:37: Who are these people? These are the ones we want to be These are the ones who know what life is all about They're not celebrated by the world, but these are the ones who have it.
18:53: These are the ones who realize their sinfulness They realize that only trusting God's plan through Christ and not your own
19:01: Will bring you into an eternal relationship with him The humble belong to God not the proud
19:09: The proud rely on themselves while the humble rely on God The humble want glory for God while the proud want glory for self
19:21: It is the little ones and not those who are wise in their own sight who belong to Christ Now Jesus says in verse 25 that the truth of the gospel was hidden to the wise and understanding and we might ask
19:37: Wasn't the gospel proclaimed to everyone Yes, it was But most of the
19:43: Jews that Jesus preached to didn't want it As the Apostle Paul was in prison at the end of the book of Acts He proclaimed that the nation of Israel largely rejected the gospel
19:56: Acts chapter 28 verse 26 he proclaimed What Isaiah chapter 6 verses 9 and 10 predicted
20:04: You will indeed hear but never understand and you will indeed see but never perceive
20:10: For this people's heart has grown dull and with their ears they can barely hear And their eyes they have closed
20:17: Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with the ears and understand with their heart and turn and I would heal them
20:25: So in this sense the truth was not revealed to them The Holy Spirit did not move in their hearts in such a way where they received the truth of the gospel with joy
20:37: Which is what a genuine believer does They saw the truth and they didn't want it
20:43: And we saw this last week with Karazin Bethsaida and Capernaum these cities where Jesus did all these mighty works
20:50: They said wow, we're impressed with these miracles But we don't want you now.
20:57: What's interesting is that Jesus tells us in verse 26 that This was God's plan Listen this
21:06: Yes father for such was your gracious will And this is what the
21:12: Bible teaches Ephesians 111 says that everything happens According to the counsel of his will what this means is that God planned their rejection and this is how it came to pass
21:25: One of the great mysteries of life is how does God's sovereignty and human freedom fit together?
21:32: the Bible affirms both and It's not a contradiction to say that But it is a mystery
21:41: The Bible affirms that God is completely sovereign over all of history, but also that we make our own choices
21:49: We're not robots We do what we want to do But as we say all of this we must still affirm that God is fully sovereign over our
22:00: Choices what Jesus does in this verse is praise God for his plan
22:08: God's plan Was that many would rely on their own faulty wisdom that made the offer of the gospel of the kingdom unattractive and There would be others who would not rely on human wisdom that would humble themselves that would recognize their sinfulness believe in the
22:28: Messiah and Enter this future kingdom So we must understand that in Christ alone does one find relief from life's endless
22:39: Strain and the first reason why is that human wisdom will never find the truth
22:46: So let's not be impressed with human wisdom It'll never lead you to where you need to be
23:00: Here's our second reason why we must understand that that in Christ alone does one find a real life
23:07: Relief from life's endless strain and that is this Christ opens up the eyes of the humble
23:14: He opens up the eyes of the humble verse 27 So in the first point, we we looked a bit at those who humble themselves
23:24: And now we are going to see how the humble enter this relationship So let's see what Jesus says in verse 27
23:30: He says all things have been had have been handed over to me by my father and no one knows the
23:36: Son except the Father And no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the
23:42: Son Chooses to reveal him. I already mentioned in verse 25 that Jesus refers to God as his father in The Old Testament the
23:54: Jews understood the deep intimate Relationship they had with God, but they would not have called
24:01: God their father in a personal sense but only in the corporate father of Israel sense
24:10: That new revelation in the New Testament reveals the unique relationship of the Trinity and also that we refer to God as our father as well
24:19: Here Jesus is describing his personal intimate relationship as God's Son Jesus calls
24:27: God his father in ways that we can't He is the unique son of the father.
24:35: John 3 16 says that he is the only begotten Son in We are sons in the sense that we are adopted into this family the family of God And so we call him our father
24:49: What Jesus says as God's unique son is that his father has handed all things over to him as as God God the father has
24:59: Complete authority as we already read in verse 25. The father is Lord of heaven and earth
25:06: But the father who has this authority shares this same authority with his only begotten
25:12: Son In the Gospel of Matthew, we have already seen Jesus authority over disease demons the weather life death
25:23: And he had authority to forgive sins Colossians chapter 1 verses 16 and 17 says this about Jesus for by him all things were created in Heaven and on earth visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things were created through him and for him
25:44: So Jesus has authority over everything in the universe even over the spiritual realm the realm of angels and demons of Heaven and hell these realms that we can't see
25:57: Can you imagine someone in the first century? Standing beside him
26:05: Imagine yourself being in the first century standing beside him He has more power
26:12: Than anyone could ever imagine He created all things
26:18: He sustains all things. He knows everything. He knows your thoughts He delivers people to heaven and sends people to hell
26:29: Say in our greatest adversary trembles at Him what we also see in verse 27 is that he describes this intimate relationship that he has with his father
26:44: What Jesus says is that no one knows the father exhaustively like he does
26:50: And Jesus can only say this because he is God It takes an infinite person to fully understand another infinite person and The Holy Spirit is implied here as well as 1st
27:07: Corinthians chapter 2 verse 11 says no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the
27:12: Spirit of God as Humans, we we can never know
27:19: God fully We will always be learning new things about him and by the way
27:25: This is why heaven will never be boring because we're always gonna be learning new things about God We're always gonna be amazed at who
27:31: God is But we can know him as finite creatures, even though God is limitless
27:41: And this is why Jesus says at the end of verse 27. Not only did the father and the son know each other but look who else enters this relationship as Jesus says in Anyone to whom the son chooses to reveal him
27:58: What Jesus makes clear here is that one cannot understand God and his truth apart from this book apart from divine revelation
28:11: Once again, first Corinthians 2 is a good place to go to understand this And this is what
28:16: Paul wrote in verses 13 and 14 of that chapter He says we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom, but taught by the
28:25: Spirit Interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual the natural person
28:31: Does not accept the things of the Spirit of God For they are folly to him and he's not able to understand them because they are spiritually
28:42: Discerned you ever wonder why someone who you know is not mesmerized by Christ and is not
28:50: Excited and thrilled To love Jesus with all their heart and to live for him
28:56: It's because unbelievers Do not see the truth of God's Word as glorious They see something else is glorious.
29:06: They do not they don't see the truth of God's Word as glorious, but instead live for idols
29:13: And try to find their satisfaction there and their sinful hearts lead them to believe that their human wisdom is where the glory is
29:25: That that figuring out your own path to happiness or figuring out your own answers to life.
29:31: That's where the glory is their pride blinds them While the ones who humble who got whom
29:38: God humbles Can clearly see the truth of God's Word But God has to be the one to humble the person first And as we look at our world
29:50: Please understand that most of the world will laugh at you Many people on Sunday mornings think of us as poor ignorant deceived hopeless souls going to church
30:05: Like why would you go to church? There's so many other things you can do to on a beautiful Sunday morning. Let's go hunting
30:12: Let's go fishing Let's go shopping Let's let's go to the early brunch on Mother's Day, but you know why you're here
30:23: You know What life is all about? You know that you need this book
30:31: And you need fellowship with other believers the blind in the world who rely on human wisdom
30:40: Think that church is for those who need a crutch The world tells us to be self -sufficient
30:47: To pursue the world's way to think highly of ourselves and to be self -righteous this happens both in the secular and the corrupt false religious systems
31:02: But we know who we are We are sinners deserving of God's holy wrath We are beggars
31:09: We know that without God we are nothing but with God we will be who he created us to be
31:16: We know that with God we have true knowledge The only way to know the meaning of life is through the
31:23: Bible It is the only book that God has written. It is the only book that tells us the whole truth
31:29: It is the only book that will lead you into a sweet intimate friendship with your creator the one you were created to know and you'll never be happy unless you discover this as Divine truth is presented to you and the
31:47: Sun reveals himself to you and you believe you enter this sweetest of all friendships and one question that people ask sometimes is
31:59: Why did God create the universe right if he was so happy in Eternity past why did he create us?
32:07: Was there some emptiness in in him? Was there some lack? That he needed to create a world with people who could love him.
32:17: I Was reading a book from an author by the name of Joe Rigney a while back and he compared it
32:22: To a husband and wife who are so in love with each other But their love does not keep them from having children they have children so that their children can share in their love and For parents in this room you can relate to this
32:40: You love each other so much as a husband and wife and you want to create Children to join the deep love that you have with each other
32:51: So with this understanding God is not creating us because he lacked in some way
32:57: Rather he creates us out of the overflow of his joy
33:04: And theologians call this Trinitarian fullness out of his fullness he creates us to join this eternal fellowship
33:14: And when you come to faith in Christ you join the sweetest fellowship of all With the
33:20: Father the Son and the Holy Spirit Understand that in Christ alone
33:25: Does one find relief from life's endless strain and the second reason? Why is that Christ opens up the eyes of the humble to come to him?
33:38: Here's our third and final reason why we must understand that in Christ alone does one find relief from life's endless strain and that is this
33:46: Those who submit to Christ find true rest
33:52: Those who submit to Christ find true rest and we'll see us in verses 28 through 30 So remember here
33:59: Jesus is he's talking here. He's talking and there's a crowd before him There's people listening and so it's a great opportunity for him to give an invitation to the many people who are listening to him and He's inviting them to join this richest of all fellowships, let's look at the first half of verse 28 where Jesus says
34:23: Come to me all who labor and are heavy Laid in it will stop right there.
34:32: He begins by saying come to me Jesus is putting his arms out and saying come to us come
34:42: Come join this fellowship Jesus is not hidden and it's up to you to find him on some amazing quest.
34:50: No He is the one who pursues you He finds us
35:00: John 644 says this no one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him
35:09: He pursues us not the other way around When it comes to salvation
35:15: God pursues us before we ever pursue him And I've heard it described like a salesman persuading a customer
35:23: Jesus is saying something like this, you know, come over here. You don't want to stay where you're at You don't want to live in bondage to sin.
35:32: You don't want the devil to rule your life any longer You don't want to follow the world that is passing away
35:38: Come to me as we read this morning and the call to worship come to me and you will find eternal life
35:45: Remember Peter said where else should we go? You're the only one with the words of eternal life
35:51: There is nowhere else to go you see all these people On the Internet, they're called deep deconversion stories.
35:59: They're leaving the faith They're on a bridge to nowhere. There is nowhere else to go and Peter said
36:07: Because when Jesus gave that sermon in John 6 He had a bunch of false disciples who were listening to him and they didn't like what he said and so they jumped ship and Then it was
36:17: Jesus and his disciples and Peter speaks up After Jesus asked them.
36:24: Are you gonna leave too? And Peter says Where else are we gonna go? Only you have the words of eternal life so it's so sad when someone leaves the faith because They're on the road to destruction
36:40: What a tragedy So Jesus here describes what people are like as he invites them everyone is like this as he invites them in verse 28
36:51: He invites those who are weary and heavy laden The weary that Jesus is referring to are those who are searching for the meaning of life
37:01: They are also those who are trying to earn their own way to heaven Because remember there's all these religions out there right and they're all trying to find the way to God Find the way to heaven and To be in this position is an agonizing place.
37:19: It's not a restful place Every false religion tells you that you need to do work to get to heaven only biblical
37:30: Christianity The one true religion in the world says you can't do it.
37:35: That's what Jesus is saying here. You can't do it Give up Surrender Give up pursuing this lost cause
37:48: Your dead works are not gonna earn your way to heaven Give up this burdensome life where there is no hope
37:56: Jesus has already paid it all at the cross. So come to him when you see a cross.
38:02: That's what that means, right? Come to the cross And when
38:07: Jesus says heavy -laden what this means is the burdens placed on one by human wisdom specifically a false
38:16: Religious system that tells people they need to follow certain rules rules that God did not give
38:23: Man -made religion places burdens on people that God doesn't place on it on people
38:29: That should be a relief to hear that Anything that one says you must do when
38:36: God never says Will be a burden on those who want a relationship with God, but need a true shepherd to show them the way
38:46: Jesus is telling the crowd that I didn't put these burdens on you false teachers put them on you
38:54: Don't listen to them those listening to Jesus would have known very well about the burdens that the scribes and the
39:02: Pharisees put on them and What a relief it would have been to hear
39:08: Don't listen to these people the religious experience of the first century and the religious experience of a lot of people today is not a pleasant experience and You wonder why people don't want to come to church because they think that's what it is
39:26: That's not what we are We're about fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore
39:33: Who doesn't want that? But Satan deceives people into thinking that that's what religion is true religion is not that false religion is then we get to the sweet words of Jesus at the end of verse 28 and These words are so comforting to the one who is weary and heavy laden.
39:51: He says this I Will give you rest
39:59: They come to me weary and heavy laden I Will give you rest and the
40:06: Greek word here for rest means to refresh or revive from labor or a long journey a
40:14: Couple weeks ago Brandon. I went to the other side of Wisconsin Racine And we drove with our two kids and we got home and it's nice getting home right because you can rest from your journey from your labor
40:28: You work all day Especially the blue a blue -collar job right you're working hard all day
40:34: I know we have many of you in this room and you go home and you rest And it's nice to do that But the rest that Jesus is talking about here is rest for your soul
40:48: And what he is saying is stop searching as to how to get to heaven
40:54: Stop trying to earn your own way Stop carrying burdens that you're not meant to carry but come to him and find rest and This rest comes through humbling yourself in repentance and putting your faith in Christ alone for your salvation it's called rest because you're ceasing from your effort and Trying to get to heaven your own way, right?
41:23: You've given up that I'm not gonna try to do this on my own you're ceasing from that and he also calls it rest because to pursue religion apart from Christ is to rob one of true joy and peace
41:40: As one author wrote to be in God's rest is to be freed from the
41:45: Uncertainties of running from philosophy to philosophy from religion to religion from guru to guru
41:54: Hoping somehow and somewhere to discover truth. Peace happiness and eternal life
42:03: Why do you think bookstores are full of books about self -help? Because people are looking for this and many haven't found it
42:11: But it's right here People want peace happiness and Eternal life, but you're only gonna find it in one place the one talking right here
42:24: Jesus Then his comforting words continue in verses 29 and 30 where he says
42:32: Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart And you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light
42:44: So Jesus gives us an illustration here a Yoke was made of wood and it was made to fit
42:50: The shoulders of a neck or the shoulders and neck of an animal
42:56: It was put there to prevent chafing. It was part of the harness It was used to pull a cart or plow
43:04: The master used the yoke to guide the animal to accomplish work in the field
43:11: All right, and some of them might be a little harder than others and when they jerked on it this one But Jesus is saying my yoke is gentle a gentle pull
43:22: In ancient times it was also used to describe a student's relationship to a teacher as The students submitted to his or her teacher
43:31: One would receive instruction And this is what Jesus has in mind as he says in verse 29 to learn from me
43:39: When you come to Christ you submit to Christ a Christian obeys
43:45: Christ as he or she learns from Christ and Those who are his gladly take the yoke that he gives
43:54: They gladly take the yoke that he gives because of what he says in the middle of verse 29 through 30
44:00: He says I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls
44:06: For my yoke is easy and my burden is light Jesus is not a
44:17: Tyrannical taskmaster One who says you must keep these rules or else as he holds a whip over you
44:30: He's like the boss you always wanted the one who treats you fair the one who treats you well
44:36: The one that you enjoy working with the people listening to him would have experienced joylessness under the legalistic burdens
44:51: That were put on them by the Jewish leadership These would have been sweet words to their ears and they they're sweet words to our ears.
44:59: They must be sweet words to our ears To follow Jesus is obedience. Yes But it's a blessed obedience
45:08: It is completely different from the obedience of false religion When I was growing up as a
45:15: Christian You know, my parents are here today. So I this might have been their experience in our church, too
45:21: Some it felt like a tyrannical taskmaster. I was told that Jesus would get me out of hell
45:28: But I was not told that in him is rest and that his yoke is easy and his burden is light
45:36: That was not an emphasis of the church that I grew up in like guys this is this is where it's at This is where happiness is.
45:46: This is where true rest is. This is where true. Peace is it was more He'll get you out of hell
45:55: And that's that's not that's not the gospel. The gospel is Yes, he will get you out of hell, but you will get
46:02: God forever the one you were created to know and love and enjoy And this is not a burden
46:10: First John 5 3 says that his commands are not burdensome in John 17 13 as Jesus is praying to his father
46:17: He said these things I speak in the world that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves in Matthew 25 21
46:25: Jesus said to the one who enters his presence in the age to come that the person will enter into the joy of your
46:31: Master a joy that starts now and goes on forever more it's interesting that Every person on planet
46:43: Earth is is is two types of slave, right? You're either a slave to sin and Satan and the world or you're a slave to Christ But it's good to be a slave to Christ, but he is your master
46:59: But like I said, he is a Wonderful master who always looks out for your good who always takes care of you who always satisfies you
47:09: So we must understand that So we must understand that in Christ alone does one find relief from life's endless strain
47:19: We've seen three reasons why Human wisdom will never find the truth Christ opens up the eyes of the humble and Thirdly as we've just seen those who submit to Christ find true rest
47:32: If you were to point someone to the meaning of life, this would be a good place to take them these verses in a nutshell
47:42: Describe the meaning of life And what this passage urges us is to enter the sweetest of all friendships through Christ alone
47:53: And by doing this you share in the deepest of all friendships with your creator for all eternity Where you will have?
48:00: peace and joy forever in him Now next
48:06: Sunday We'll look at another conflict That Jesus often has these conflicts with the
48:13: Jewish leadership of his time and we're gonna see that again next week And he's once again going to correct them and offer the truth of the matter
48:20: But this time let's bow our heads in prayer Father in heaven, we thank you for this rest that Jesus offers
48:33: Tells us stop going your own way Stop trying to pursue happiness your own way.
48:39: Stop trying to find answers to life that are there in the Bible And he's saying follow me.
48:49: I Have the answers. I have the rest I have True joy and peace and if you find me
48:59: You find it. That's what he's telling us in this passage and Thank you that Jesus invites us with a big heart.
49:08: I think about He will judge the wicked But in his heart of hearts
49:15: He loves to be gracious He loves to bring people he loves to bring sinners into this sweet Fellowship and Lord we praise you that you are a
49:29: God who does that What a wonderful God you are and we give you praise and my prayer Lord is that you would speak to everyone right where they're?