The Church of Eleven22 - S01 E43 - Rest

Episode Date: June 17, 2020

Hey, church family, if you got your Bibles, we're back in Matthew chapter 11. After Jesus has this conversation with the disciples of John the Baptist, then he gives this woe or warning to these unrepentant cities. And then when you get to verse 25, he has a message. Sometimes when Jesus would teach, you know, he would teach these broad categories, right, to lots of people. but when I get to Matthew 1125, his words, they seem to be so personal and just cut to the heart. So Matthew 1125, 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 reveal them to little children. What things? Matters of faith. What he's talking about, he's saying, woe to these. these cities because I performed miracles there. I preached the gospel there. I demonstrated the gospel there. And yet you did not receive me, but you rejected me. You wise Pharisees, you wise scribes, you wise elders rejected me because I did not fit into your religious box. And yet, little children understood that Jesus was the son of God, the anointed one. Verse 26, yes, Father, for such was your gracious will of 27,

all things have been handed over to me by my father. And pay attention to this. 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. How are you a Christian? Do you think you're just smarter than everybody else in the world? Do you think the rest of the world,

your family and Jacksonville can't figure it out, but you and I were so smart that we on our own figured out because we're so smart that Jesus is the way the truth in the life, or do you think it was a gift of God? And it's by His grace that you have been saved. This is what He is saying. Jesus says, all right, everything has been given unto me. All things have been handed over to me by my father.

That means Jesus has authority over all things. 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. This means this. If you know Jesus, it's because Jesus chased you down. He chose you. It's a big old game of Red Rover, and he said Red Rover, Red Rover sin and called your name to come over.

Okay. And so anyone who Jesus determines to reveal the Father to comes unto him and and look at the very next verse. It is an invitation. Verse 28, come to me all, all. You see, this is the reason that the Church of 1122 is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. And when people hear all, they often define all based on whatever categories you're thinking of, socioeconomic, race, whatever it is. But Jesus just means all, means all, no matter where you are on the spiritual spectrum, whether you think you're running from God or you're checking him out or you were born in church, he says, come to me all. The invitation

of the sovereign king of the universe is that anyone who would believe in him is invited to come and put their faith in him. But this invitation is specific. He says, come to me all who labor and are heavy laden. Some translations say, come to me all you who are weary and heavy burden. Church of 1122, are you weary? Are you heavy burden? You know, one of the things that I hear are black brothers and sisters saying is this, that I'm tired. I'm wearied. Are you wearied? Are you weary because of the COVID-19 and the reopening and you've been out of work or maybe you're heavy burdened financially because you've been furloughed and you're like, I don't know how to put these things together, you know, I got bills over here, I got a bank statement over here and there's a big gap in between.

Got that kind of burden? Maybe you feel this heavy burden because you're a total people person and for a long time now you have not, you have been outside of your normal routines that are filling to you because I, listen, man, Zoom disciple group is great, but it's still missing. out on things like high fives and fist pumps and handshakes and hugs. Humans were meant to hug. Or maybe it's because you've been with your family day after day after day after day. And you're honestly, this doesn't sound very spiritual, but you just on each other's last nerve. And you're weary and your heavy burden. What do you do when you're weary and heavy burden?

what do you do when you're when you're labored out and heavy laden? Jesus says, come to me. Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. You know what? A lot of us think sometimes we're like, you know, man, I am really tired. I've been working hard.

And you know what I need? I need rest. I think I will book a vacation. Do you know a vacation will never give you rest? It won't. I know it won't. It just won't. Now, I'm not saying you shouldn't do them. You for sure should do them. But oftentimes, you've got to get back home so you can rest from your vacation. A change in circumstances will not give you rest.

That rest is found in the person of Jesus Christ. The only one that can give you true Sabbath, true wholeness, true contentment, true rest is the one. that created you to live on him. And so he says, come to me all you who labor and are heavy ladened, and I will give you rest. Then he says, take my yoke upon you. Now, a yoke is actually a double meaning here.

A yoke is a piece of farming equipment where they would have two oxen and there'd be this big wooden thing that hooked to them together. And so that they could be and step with one another. So when you were plowing a field or whatever, then the plow wouldn't be dragged all over the place and make a mess. But when you yoke them together, when you connect them, then they could get a whole lot more done in a more efficient way. And there's a bit of that

that Jesus is talking about here. Take my yoke upon you. In other words, why don't you connect yourself to me and walk in step with me? Because I created you to live in a kind of Sabbath delight rhythm that you find rest in me. for sure you get labored, for sure you're heavy laden, for sure you're burden and you get tired, but when you find your rest and renewal in me with Sabbath delight through worship and study and rejuvenation with the Lord, then when you walk in step with me, then you can accomplish everything that I have called you to accomplish. That's one meaning. There's also another meaning that Pharisees in the first century and rabbis in the first century, they, they, they,

called their interpretation of the law, they called it their yoke. So I think we've talked about this before. So like when the Bible would have a commandment, like honor the Sabbath and keep it holy, what rabbis and Pharisees and Sadducees would do is they would interpret that for you. What does it mean to remember the Sabbath? Can you cook? Can you clean? Can you go see your friends? And so the rabbinical interpretation of the commandments would be written out of on a scroll, and that commentary on the law of God was called that rabbi's yoke. And by the time Jesus came around, what a lot of the rabbis would do is they would have these impossible yokes, these impossible standards. In fact, they would teach on them in public and they

would like unroll the scroll and the longer the yoke was, the longer the commentary on the law was, then they did that so as to impress everybody watching. And a part of what Jesus is saying is this, you are heaping these religious requirements on the backs of people. And Pharisees, you can't even keep your own law. And so he says, come to me if religious effort has worn you out, and I will give you rest and take my yoke upon you, take my understanding of the law upon you and learn for me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart.

You don't have to impress me. And you will find, here's what he says, rest for your soul. Do you need rest for your soul? Think about this in this crazy world where every time we turn on the news, it's more bad news. And every time we open up our phones, it's another Twitter feed or news cycle of something else going crazy in this world. What this world needs is rest for our soul, that we would be able to look into the face of Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Savior, to breathe in,

breathe out. And like Paul said, that we could learn the secret of being content in any and every situation. That we can know right now maybe it's not okay because I feel weary and heavy burden, but it's going to be okay because of what Christ has done for me. He says, for my yoke is easy and my burden is like, You know why?

Because he bore our burdens on the cross. He bore our iniquities on the cross. Are you anxious? What are you anxious about? Because Jesus took our anxiety and he took it and nailed it to the cross. Do you feel the weight of condemnation? Then Jesus took the accusations of the enemy that want to condemn you and he nailed them to the cross. And what he offers to us is the yoke of his righteousness.

His righteousness. And when we exchange the yoke of our human condition for the yoke of his righteousness, it is easy and the burden is light. And the reason the burden is light is because Jesus already has borne our burden, all the way to the cross and to the grave. And the reason we can trust him

is not because he died on the cross. Lots of people died on the cross. The reason we can trust him is because he came out of the grave, that he was buried in a borrowed tomb, and the reason he borrowed it is because he didn't need it for long. When he came out of there, he gave it back. And if the tomb is empty, then anything is possible. So are you worn out? Are you tired?

Maybe you're tired with your family. You're tired with work. You're tired financially. You're tired financially. You're tired spiritually. You're tired mentally. Would you just hear and heed the invitation of Jesus Christ? He says, come to me all who labor and are heavy labor.

and I will give you rest, take my yoke upon you, and learn for me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your soul, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Now Jesus is talking about salvation for sure that some people who have been carrying their own burdens for the very first time could take the burden of their sin and shame and struggles, and they could transfer them to Jesus and receive his burden of grace. or his yoke of grace and forgiveness through the gospel. But he is also talking to the believer that has done that, has surrendered your life to Jesus and has been justified.

And yet still, we wake up in the morning sometimes and we are weary and heavy burden. What do you do? In prayer on a daily basis, you take up your cross and you cast your cares upon him because he cares for you. and the promise is rest. Rest for your soul.

So Church of 1122, I pray. I pray that you will quit trying to carry around a burden that you were not meant to carry. I pray that you will quit trying to pay a bill that has already been fully paid at the cross. I pray that you will quit trying to live up to some sort of human expectation that you have for yourself when Jesus himself says,

I am lowly in heart, I am gentle, and in him you find rest for your soul. You can rest in the gospel of Jesus because through Christ now the performance and the pretending are over, and you and I can rest in him. Let me pray for you. For good and gracious Heavenly Father, Jesus, I thank you so much that you took all of our burdens and all of our sin and all of our sorrows, and you took them to the cross and you nailed them to the tree. And Lord, I pray that we would daily trust you and not try to carry things that you have already carried to the grave for us. God, I pray that you would change us from the inside out. God, I thank you that you have pursued us, you have wooed us, you have transformed our hearts and our eternities.

And Lord, I pray that we would walk in a manner worthy of the gospel that we do believe that on the cross when you said it is finished. that it counted for us and that would bring to us rest for the soul. I pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.