Biblical Evangelism/Missions

Amen. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. I hope you believe that this morning. Because it's easy to look around our world today, I understand, and to get discouraged from Chinese spy balloons to Grammy shenanigans to terrible stories that come across our news feed, earthquakes, to whatever got shot down over Canada, abortion.

There's so many terrible things in our world today, and those things are discouraging. And no one should feel great, honestly, about the things going on in America today. And no one should rejoice in the debauchery of the Grammys or in the modern-day holocaust of abortion.

But also, let me say this this morning. Though these things are discouraging, and though these things may tempt you to word, let me encourage you today, as we assemble under the Word of God, to lift up your eyes to Christ.

Let me remind you on this day, February 12th, 2023, let me remind you that God hasn't given up on His plan. That God is working in our world today and that He is worthy. No matter the outward circumstances that the church is faced with, our triune God is worthy to be proclaimed.

Despite the wretchedness around us, God is working today in His churches. Turn in your Bibles, please, to Matthew chapter 11. Matthew chapter 11. We pick up today, covering distinctive 7 and 8. The world may be blatantly parading Satan, but the church will emphatically proclaim Christ.

Always. Christ is King. And this brings us to our biblical distinctives of evangelism and missions today. So let me read our preamble and then we'll get to our text. We've been reading this every week.

So, we believe that our Lord Jesus Christ, truly God and truly man, risen from the dead and now seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty as King of all, is worthy of a healthy church in Perryville, Arkansas.

We believe taking these 10 distinctives together sets us apart as a local church in the location where God has planted us. These distinctives do not exhaust all of our beliefs as a body, but they are a non-negotiable part of who we are as a local church.

We hold these truths according to the Bible for the purpose of the good of one another and our community and ultimately for Christ's honor and glory. So today, what is Christ's vision for evangelism and missions in the church?

Let's take up and read. Matthew chapter 11, and we're going to read 25 through 30. I invite you to stand, please, as we honor the reading of God's Word. Matthew chapter 11. We've taken a break from our series in Ephesians.

We've gone a topical series here on our distinctives. But Matthew chapter 11 verse 25 says this,. At that time 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 your two little children.

Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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.

Let's pray. Father, we see both the majesty and meekness of Christ in this text. We see both the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man in this text. Help us today to understand what your Word has for us.

Help us today to understand Christ's vision for this church in evangelism and missions. Lord, we don't want to go a step, one step, in a direction that you're not with us. We want every step to be in your presence and with your blessing.

We believe that Christ is worthy. He's worthy here in Perry County and in central Arkansas to be proclaimed and to have a church as healthy as He has dictated health. Father, I boldly ask that you would save even today.

There are people here, there are adults and children and teenagers, some of them who are securely in Christ. They love Christ. They obey Christ. They seek to fight sin and hate sin in their life. And they are truly born again.

But we know that there are others. Whether they outreject you or they've been deceived or they're a hypocrite or whatever the case may be, they're unconverted. They need to hear today of your sovereignty and their responsibility.

We pray, dear Lord, that even today, Holy Spirit, that you would draw them to yourself and to Christ. Bless the preaching of the Word today. We don't know what's going on in our country. We don't know all the ins and outs in Syria and Turkey.

Oh, but we do know that you are pleased to do great work through the heralding of your Word and the gospel of Christ. So would you bless today. And let us be humble. And let us hear what the Spirit has to say to the churches.

And we pray all in the name of Jesus. Amen. You may be seated. So the distinctives this morning, as you could tell from our teaching time, they were so long we've already read them. But now I'm trying to flesh that out from our text today.

And we're really going to get to that at the end. But let me remind you of something this morning. What we're doing here is we're latching our feet to the Bible. Come what may. It is our resolve, friends, to do what the Scriptures teach.

And to be the church that Christ would have us to be. It is our aspiration to submit to Christ's vision for the church in all things. It doesn't matter what the culture might say or what our friends or family might say.

But in all things, because Christ is worthy, and in all things includes evangelism and missions. And we believe that Christ is honored when the church obeys Him. And so the first point of today's text is this.

I want to discuss, number one, God's sovereignty. Number one, God's sovereignty. This lays the foundation for evangelism and missions. For if God were not sovereign, we would have no hope. Verse 25, at that time 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.

Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

The sovereignty of God is all over the Scriptures. Here's a definition of the sovereignty of God from Jerry Bridges. He says, God's sovereignty means His absolute independence to do as He pleases, and His absolute control over the actions of all His creatures.

No creature, person, or empire can either thwart His will or act outside the bounds of His will. Friends, what we're saying here is this. God is God. Or if you want to talk about free will, well, let's say it this way.

God has free will, right? God is able to do all that He pleases. He's free and He is independent of the coercion of outside forces. And all that He does with His creation is holy. And what we see here actually is the Son.

If you notice in verse 25, we see Jesus praising the Father for His sovereignty. Let me encourage you with something. Some of you maybe are in here today, and you're like, well, I'm not sure about the sovereignty of God, and I hear you talk about election or predestination, and these things are hard.

I'm wrestling with these things. Well, let me encourage you with this. The sovereignty of God is a joy for the church. When you talk about the sovereignty of God, some people say things like, I could never worship a God like that.

But what does Jesus say? Verse 25, at that time Jesus declared what? 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.

Yes, Father, for such was Your gracious will. In other words, the sovereignty of God is not an argument for the church. It is a reason for humble worship and gratitude. Three truths here about God's sovereignty that I want to address.

First is, number one, the sovereignty of God is powerfully exhaustive. Number one, the sovereignty of God is powerfully exhaustive. Now take your eyes and look at verse 25, and I want you to see where Jesus says, I thank You, Father, and then what does He say?

Lord of what? Lord of heaven and earth.

What does that mean?

What does that mean that God is God of? It means that He is the Lord of everything in the heavens, and He is the Lord of everything in the earth. He is God of all. All things are His. Things that we see, things that we cannot see.

Things that we know, things that we do not know. Every molecule, every particle of dust, every sunrise, every sunset, He is Lord of heaven and earth. Nothing in this life, nothing ever happens outside the sovereign control of the God of heaven and earth.

Every raindrop, every demon, every sinner, every saint. This is God's universe, and all things fall under His divine sovereignty. The King James says it this way, The Lord God omnipotent reigneth. The sovereignty of God is powerfully exhaustive.

It covers all things, all of history, all of eternity. God is in complete control of all of it for His own glory. This could be a whole sermon in and of itself. It won't be. I commend you to chapter 3 of our Confession of Faith of 1689, as well as chapter 5.

Those are two of the greatest chapters, I think, written by man outside the Scriptures. Two of the most helpful chapters to understand God's sovereignty. So read those.

But now we move on.

The sovereignty of God is powerfully exhaustive. Secondly, it is purposefully elective. It is powerfully exhaustive. Secondly, it is purposefully elective. Verse 25, At that time Jesus declared, I thank You, Father, for what?

Lord of heaven and earth, for what? That You have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for such was Your gracious will. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

Purposefully elective. Christ, at this moment of prayer, thinks over His church, and He's full of praise. And why is He full of praise? He's thinking of His church, and He's praising God, and He's praising God because God in His sovereignty has hidden Himself from some people and has revealed Himself to other people.

He has hidden Himself from the elite, as it were, of society, and He has revealed Himself to the despised. 1 Corinthians 1 .27 says,. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.

Let me remind you of something here, church. Do not despise small things. The church of God may be made up of a motley crew of the inadequates of the world, but Jesus loves them. That's what He says in verse 25.

Lord, I praise You, I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You've hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children. This is Christ's little flock. Yes, Father, for such was Your gracious will.

Listen, friends, God in His sovereignty has made a distinction in mankind. You think at times that maybe God looks upon mankind as neutral. That's why some people have a problem with the doctrine of election.

They think that God looks at mankind as neutral and say, No, yep, no, yep. God doesn't look at mankind as neutral. God looks upon mankind as sinners, rebels. And He essentially says this, No matter. Nevertheless, I will still have a people for my Son.

And so we might think that God would choose the best of the best in the eyes of the world, the wisest, the richest, those of great knowledge and esteem, as it were, in the eyes of our culture. But this is not His good pleasure.

In fact, it's the opposite. I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You've hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children. Little children. Now to be clear, this is not because that these little children are deserving of grace.

By the way, if you're deserving of grace, that's not grace. They're not deserving of grace. But God has in His sovereign grace elected them for salvation from eternity past. God has chosen a people in Christ in grace from all eternity and He has chosen in His justice and holiness to pass over others.

And in doing this, no one receives injustice from God. None can look at God on the last day of judgment and say, You have treated me unjustly by sending me to hell. And look at Jesus. And in this case, you're just like, well, maybe it's just the Father.

Of course, this would be problematic in your Trinitarian theology. If you think, well, maybe it's just the Father, not the Son.

No, no.

Jesus talks about it too. His sovereignty. His sovereignty is purposefully elected because He says in verse 27, All things have been handed over to me by the Father. By the way, you know what that means?

It means what it says. All things. He's in authority over all things. And He says, No one knows the Son except the Father. And no one knows the Father except the Son. And anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

Christ as God-man is king. He has all authority. He could reveal Himself. Hypothetically, He could reveal Himself to everyone. But He does not do this. It is His sovereign right. Instead, He reveals Himself to those whom He chooses.

Those He has elected in eternity past. All persons in and of themselves have no desire to bow the knee to Christ. They do not desire to worship Him. They do not desire to live for Him or rejoice in His glory.

Christ could, listen to this, Christ could reveal Himself hypothetically to no one. And could leave them all to the righteous judgment of God. But He doesn't do this. In His sovereign right, He reveals Himself, the text says, to those whom He chooses.

Again, the text. I'll read it. Verse 27 now. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father. And no one knows the Son except the Father. And no one knows the Father except the Son. And anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

Why is this? This brings me to my last point. The sovereignty of God is powerfully exhaustive, purposefully elective, and finally, personally exalting. The sovereignty of God exalts the persons of the Trinity.

Personally exalting. Is there a mystery in the sovereignty of God?

Absolutely.

Is there mystery in the decree of election and the doctrine of predestination?

Certainly.

But verse 26. Yes, Father, for such was Your gracious will. Here we see it's ultimately, the sovereignty of God is ultimately to the praise of His glory. The sovereignty of God is personally exalting.

God could have left everyone...

Listen, think about this with me. You have a hard time disproving what I'm about to say. So think very carefully here. God in His sovereignty could have damned all persons. He could have sent them all to judgment.

And He would not have been unjust. Or God could have, in His grace, He could have spread that grace out to everyone and He could have taken every single person to glory. But He has chosen neither of these options.

Rather, He has chosen to show some His sovereign grace and He has chosen to show others His sovereign justice and He has done no wrong to any. As one theologian notes, whatever God has determined must be regarded by us as right.

Now listen to me. Do you really believe that? That whatever God has determined must be regarded by us as right? This is the question that you need to ask yourself this morning. I can't answer it for you.

I can't answer. I know the answer. But I can't answer your heart. The question you need to ask is, does God have the right to be God? Do you think that the God, the Lord of heaven and earth, has the right to be God or not?

The answer is, unequivocally, yes. Therefore, the right response is, we lay all at His feet and we trust Him. Think about this for just a moment. Think about the God of the Scriptures.

Help me here.

Think through it in your mind. This is the God who the Bible shows is trustworthy. And so we trust Him. We trust Him to do what is right. We put salvation in His hands and we trust Him.

We trust Him.

He is good. He is holy. Salvation is better in His hands than in any other's hands. And we know that the Lord of all is going to do what is right. He's good. He has sovereign authority. That's theology 101.

God is God. There is a God. And you're not Him. And He's worthy of our praise. Let us surrender to His will like Jesus and praise the Father for His sovereign election. And let us praise the Son for His sovereign authority.

See the majesty of Christ. Look at verse 27.

See the majesty.

Some of you in here are playing games with Jesus. Look at the Jesus of the text.

All authority has been handed over.

If He wanted to open up the pits of hell right now and cast you in, He has that authority. Because He's Christ. Behold His majesty. And this is the Christ, the one with all authority, that the Bible says was crucified for sinners.

Suspended on Calvary, bearing the wrath of God for our sins. This is the sovereign plan of God. God's sovereignty. Number two. We move to, now, mankind's responsibility. God's sovereignty. Number two, mankind's responsibility.

Now, Jesus prays this great prayer and He prays to God and He thanks God for His sovereignty. And some people out-think themselves. Their brain falls off a cliff when they begin to think about these things.

Or they wonder into, like, you guys ever done the corn maze around in the fall and you go and you go to the pumpkin patch, there's a corn maze and my kids didn't do it right. They just cut through the corn maze.

But some people go in the corn maze and get lost. Well, their brain begins to think about the sovereignty of God and then they just out-think themselves and their brain's left in a knot. And they think, well, if God's sovereignty is true, then I guess we just sit around and do nothing.

But that's not what our Lord does. He praises God for His sovereignty and then He says this in verse 28. Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. By the way, verse 29 is an imperative.

It's a command. 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. So some people wrestle with the sovereignty of God.

They out-think themselves. They try to be smarter than God or go off a cliff, as it were, intellectually. They become fatalists or apostates or maybe Pharisees. But listen to the words of J .I. Packer.

He quotes this. C .H. Spurgeon was once asked if he could reconcile these two truths of God's sovereignty and mankind's responsibility to each other. I wouldn't try, he replied. I never reconcile friends.

Packer goes on, friends? Yes, friends. This is the point that we have to grasp. In the Bible, divine sovereignty and human responsibility are not enemies. They are not uneasy neighbors. They are not in an endless state of cold war with each other.

They are friends. They work together. So we learn here in our text. I think this is a beautiful passage to show it. We learn here in our text that God is sovereign and that mankind is responsible to heed these words from our gracious Lord.

You need to listen to me, young people, teenagers, adults, senior adults. Whatever category you're in, you're responsible to heed these words from Christ. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

God doesn't keep people away that truly desire Him. God doesn't drag the elect, kicking and screaming, as it were, when they don't want Him. The problem is, in and of ourselves,.

None desire God.

So, O .G. Baptist, Benjamin Keech. He says this, The heart is evil and not good until it is changed or new made, which none can do but God Himself. You understand that mankind's problem is a problem of the heart.

That's the heart of the problem. Our hearts are evil apart from grace. This is why the idea of do the best you can, do the best you can, and God will make up the rest. That's damning. You can't do any good apart from grace.

Not good in God's eyes. Because God says whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. You're at Casey's later today. You see a little boy kick a ball out onto Highway 60. You see a big log truck coming.

He runs looking at no one. He's about three years old and he runs and he goes to grab that ball. And here comes the log truck barreling down on him.

And you run.

You drop everything you have.

You run and you grab the boy.

And you save him.

Just barely in the nick of time. Does that please God? Does it proceed from faith? Is your heart regenerate? If you have an unregenerate heart, that doesn't please God.

It's sin.

It's still counted against you as sin.

Why?

Because you do that in and of yourself and you prove in and of yourself that there is a moral standard in your heart but you refuse to bow the knee to Christ. Apart from grace, our hearts are evil. And so God in His sovereignty, we need grace and God in His sovereignty, that's what He does.

He changes people's hearts. And He does so through means of His gospel, the work of Christ for our sins.

It's His perfect life,.

His substitutionary death, His glorious resurrection. And every person in this room and throughout the world is responsible to surrender to Christ. So three truths here about these verses. First, this is a comprehensive call.

Number one, it is a comprehensive call. I'm just going to point out one word in verse 28, really, it's the word all. Come to me, all. Come to me, all. Come to me, all. The all in our text is sufficient warrant for the church to take the gospel to the nations.

All persons are sinners. All have resisted God. All have worshiped idols. All have suppressed the truth in unrighteousness. And all persons, regardless of ethnicity or gender or sinful behaviors, must be told of the gospel of our Lord Jesus and offered a real opportunity.

For pardon from our gracious King.

There's sufficient work in the blood of Christ to pardon the vilest of sinners. And so we go to all. And we echo the invitation to all. This is a comprehensive call. Secondly, it bears a conditional clause.

Number one, it's a comprehensive call. Secondly, it bears a conditional clause. Look at verse 28. So we have to move past the word all, though. Come to me, all. And then here's a condition. And what is the condition?

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. So let me put it this way. All have sinned, but if you're here this morning, are you self-righteous?

Are you a hypocrite?

Are you a sin-loving, idol-worshiping, independent, proud, and happy rebel? You need not apply. You won't come, right? You don't want to come. And you may sit there, and you may get mad about the doctrine of election, but the reality is you don't come to Christ because you don't want to come to Christ.

But if the Holy Spirit is at work in you, then you begin to see your sin as a burden, as a labor. You see yourself as broken and undone. You see the despair of keeping the law of God.

To merit His favor.

You see that left to yourself, you have no hope, and there is nowhere that you can turn inwardly into yourself. There is nothing that you can do in yourself, and here's the call.

Here's the call.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden,.

And I will give you rest.

Jesus has already taught on this truth, by the way. It helps us to understand theologically some of the truths that Matthew is pushing here. Go to Matthew 5 real quick, and this is what the Beatitudes are about.

In Matthew 5, Jesus is actually already taught on this. Matthew 5, beginning in verse 3. Let me just read 3 and 4 and listen carefully. You've heard this a million times in your life, but maybe I can, by the Spirit of God, help you to see what Jesus' intent here.

Matthew 5, verse 3. It says, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Verse 4. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Have you ever heard someone maybe read that at a funeral or maybe try to share it?

They mean well-meaning. You know, blessed are those who mourn. They mean well-meaning. But do you know what Jesus means here? The point that Jesus is saying is that when the Spirit of God works in our life, we realize that we are impoverished in spirit, meaning we have nothing to offer God.

When the Spirit of God comes upon us and begins to work in our life in this way, we understand I've got nothing. I've got nothing. And so then what do we do?

We begin to mourn our sin.

Why?

Blessed are those who mourn. He's talking about those who mourn their sin, not just about those who have to mourn the death of a loved one. Everyone has to mourn the death of a loved one.

Death is a reality.

Mourning is a reality in this fallen world.

Everybody mourns,.

But he means specifically those who mourn their sin. They see themselves as empty, and they see their wretchedness,.

And they're poor in spirit, and they mourn their sin,.

And Jesus says they're blessed.

What?

They're blessed.

Why?

Because it's those who hear this call in verse 28.

Come.

I'm back in Matthew 11. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. So we see a comprehensive call, a conditional clause, and thirdly, a compassionate command. A comprehensive call, a conditional clause, and a compassionate command.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. Jesus does not merely invite us to come to him.

Listen, please.

Jesus doesn't merely say,.

Man, it would be a good idea if you came.

I really think that would be a wonderful gesture.

Jesus doesn't say this. Why don't you come try me? Why don't you come try me just a little bit.

And see if your life is different?

Come try me out,.

And then if I don't work out for you,.

Go back.

That's not what he says. He commands,.

All authority,.

The text says, all authority in heaven and earth. There's not a king that's ever been higher.

There's not been a president, a government. No one has ever been higher.

Than the king of kings and lord of lords, and it is this Jesus that commands us to take his yoke upon us. But how compassionate of a command is this? Friends, please. I know I get excited. Don't let me wash over the compassion of Christ.

Please, friends, see his meekness in this text and his kindness. Look at these promises that he says. He says, come to me, and what will I do? Here's the promise.

Come to me,.

And I will give you rest. And another promise. You will find rest.

Listen, who are you to doubt God? Who are you this morning.

To call Jesus a liar? Your soul is at enmity with God,.

And you begin to realize.

You hate the wretched man or woman.

Or boy or girl that you are.

You see the futility of law keeping. You see that in and of yourself, you have no righteousness to gain you access to heaven. And then Jesus commands you.

To come to him,.

And he promises to you, dear soul,.

Rest,.

And he will give it to those who come. Rest is that the war is over with God. It is resting from the ways of man and is resting in Christ. Maybe you're tempted this morning to let your mind dwell upon predestination.

And you're going to get confused or mad,.

But if you do that, if you do that,.

You disobey Christ here because the command here is not to figure out a perfect doctrine of election. The command here is to come to Christ. The command here is to take his yoke upon you. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke.

Now, I've got to make a point about this. 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.

There is a point that needs to be made here. There's two errors, I think, that we can see here that Jesus teaches to avoid. Some of you in here, there are people, I think, that need to hear both of these errors.

The first error is this. Jesus says, take my yoke upon you. So listen to this. The first error is that you think that if you come to Christ, like some of you, I've heard different stories, some things that people have said around, you know, in Sunday school and stuff like that.

So I understand that some people think, oh, I'm forgiven. I'm forgiven by Christ. And what they mean by that is there's been a time in their life that they've said some words to Jesus. Oh yeah, I accept you.

Oh, come into my heart. Forgive me of my sins. But then they left that and they went back to their sins. And they went to live in their sins. And they went to live in the disobedience of the world. And they went to live in carnality and worldliness.

And they will tell you, and maybe they're even in here this morning, and I know they're in the community because we've been talking to them,.

And they will tell you,.

Oh, but I know I'm forgiven.

Well, how do you know? Well, I just know. No, no, Jesus says if you're going to come to Him, you take your yoke. Sorry, you take, clear, you take His yoke upon you.

You take His yoke.

You don't just come to Christ and punch your ticket to Heaven, go back to your sin, and now you don't have to feel guilty about it. No, no, you take His yoke upon you. That is, you come to Him as your new master.

Right?

A yoke, like it goes around oxen, goes around your neck. You repent of your sin, and you take off your yoke of the world and rebellion,.

And you replace it.

With the yoke of Christ around your neck. When the Holy Spirit gives us a new heart, we desire now Christ. We desire to follow Him. His commands, the Bible says, are not burdensome.

Why?

Because we love Christ. So if you're in here today and your idea of salvation is, I said the right words at some point in my life, but I live in my sin. I continue to look at those pictures on the internet.

I continue to do something with a man or woman who's not my wife. I continue to have filthy language come out of my mouth. I continue to steal from my place of work. Well, friends, Christ bids you to come and take His yoke upon you.

Putting the yoke of Christ around your neck means you desire to follow His Word. Repentance is turning from your way of life and now arranging your life according to what Christ tells you in His Word.