7-9-23 Sermon "Weary and Burdened" 19 Minutes

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

This morning I'll be reading Matthew chapter 11 verses 16 through 19,,, and then verses 25 through 30. And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 In the beginning of chapter 11,,, Jesus has just sent the 12 disciples out to the people of Israel,,, and John has been imprisoned and sent word by his disciples to ask Jesus if He really was the One that they were waiting on. And these verses are right after Jesus begins to speak to the crowd after John's disciples have left. Matthew 11:16–19 (HCSB) 16 “To what should I compare this generation? It’s like children sitting in the marketplaces who call out to each other: 17 We played the flute for you, but you didn’t dance; we sang a lament, but you didn’t mourn! 18 For John did not come eating or drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.” Matthew 11:25–30 (HCSB) 25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to infants. 26 Yes, Father, because this was Your good pleasure. 27 All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son desires to reveal Him. 28 “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” The word of God for the people of God,,, thanks be to God! God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ___________________________________ Last week we looked at Romans 6:12-23,,, we learned that we are no longer slaves to sin,,, but instead,,, we are free,,, because of the life,,, death,,, and resurrection,,, of our Lord and Savior,,, Jesus Christ!

We are free,,, from all of the problems that sin can cause,,, as well as the gift of eternal life,,, in heaven with God!

What a great and wonderful gift from Jesus Christ!

At the end of the letter that I read,,, it stated,,, we also pray we will all take care to use the God-given and blood-bought freedom we have in the United States to unashamedly proclaim the gospel to those we encounter.

This is what we need to remember this independence day,,, God has given us this gift,,, we must use it so that we can share the "Good News" with all that we meet,,, and let everyone know,,, what "True Independence",,, really,,, means!

This morning we will look at these verses in Matthew and see how they will help us in our walk with God this week.

___________________________________ Verses 16-19 said: 16 “To what should I compare this generation? It’s like children sitting in the marketplaces who call out to each other: 17 We played the flute for you, but you didn’t dance; we sang a lament, but you didn’t mourn! 18 For John did not come eating or drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

Jesus compared that generation to a group of little children sitting in the marketplaces who could not be pleased by anything.

Like children rejecting the suggestions to “play” like they were at a pretend wedding,,, implied by the words flute and dance,,, or,,, rejecting the suggestions to play like they were at a pretend funeral,,, by the use of the words lament and mourn,,, in the same way,,, the people rejected both John and Jesus.

They were not satisfied with John the Baptist,,, because he did not eat or drink,,, what they thought he should eat,,, or with Jesus,,, who did eat and drink with sinners,,, which they really thought that was very inappropriate.

They said John had a demon,,, and they rejected Jesus as a glutton and a drunkard,,, and a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.”

Though that generation was not happy with anything they did,,, both John and Jesus did things correctly,,, since,,, many people would be brought into the kingdom.

___________________________________ Verses 25-27 said: 25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to infants. 26 Yes, Father, because this was Your good pleasure. 27 All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son desires to reveal Him.

In the verses between 19 and 25 Jesus had talked about several cities of His day that would experience harsher penalties than Sodom and Gomorrah because they had rejected Jesus,,, that's also true for those today,,, that reject Jesus,,, since they have heard the "Good News" of Jesus Christ but reject it!

In contrast with the harsher penalties on the three Galilean cities,,, Jesus issued a great call to those who in faith would turn to Him.

Jesus had previously condemned that generation for their childish reactions as we saw in verses 16–19.

Here He declared that true discipleship can be enjoyed only by those who come to Him in childlike faith.

And,,, God in His good pleasure,,, as we have seen in Ephesians 1:5,,, had hidden the great mysteries of His wise dealings from the wise and learned,,, that referred to the leaders of that day,,, but had instead,,, revealed them to little children.

This was possible because God the Son,,, and God the Father,,, know each other perfectly through the connection of the Trinity.

Father is used 5 times in these 3 verses,,, therefore,,, we can see,,, the only ones who can know the Father and the things He has revealed,,, are those,,, whom the Son chooses.

___________________________________ Verses 28-30 said: 28 “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Therefore Jesus issued a call to all … those who are weary,,, “those tired from hard work”,,, and burdened,,, “those loaded down”,,, to come to Him.

And their weariness,,, as well as our weariness,,, comes from enduring burdens,,, the heaviest of which would be,,, the burdens of sin and its consequences.

So instead of toting these by themselves,,, they should come and "yoke" themselves with Jesus.

This means to enter into submission to His will,,, to turn over control of one’s life to Him,,, and learn from Him.

As they acknowledge His lordship in every area of their lives,,, He trains them in His ways.

By placing themselves under His "yoke" and learning from Him,,, they may find rest for their souls from sins’ burdens.

Notice that rest here is a gift;,,, it is unearned,,, and unmerited.

This is the rest of salvation,,, that comes from realizing that Jesus finished the work of redemption,,, on Calvary’s cross.

It is the rest of conscience,,, that follows the realization that the penalty of one’s sins has been paid once for all,,, and that God will not demand payment twice.

And by "yoking",,, they become true disciples of Jesus and join Him in His proclamation of divine wisdom.

To learn from Him,,, is to be His disciple.

People can trade their heavy,,, tiring burdens,,, for His yoke and burden,,, or “load”,,, which by contrast are easy and light.

To serve Him,,, of course,,, is no burden,,, for He,,, in contrast with those who reject Him,,, is gentle and humble.

In contrast to the Pharisees who were harsh and proud,,, the true Teacher is meek and lowly.

Those who take His yoke will learn to take the lowest place.

Here it is not the rest of conscience,,, but the rest of heart,,, that is found by taking the lowest place before God and man.

It is also the rest,,, that one experiences in the service of Christ,,, when he stops trying to be great.

Again there is a striking contrast with the Pharisees.

Jesus said of them, “For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers” (Matthew 23:4).

Jesus’ yoke is easy; it does not chafe.

Someone has suggested that if Jesus had had a sign outside His carpenter’s shop,,, it would have read, “My yokes fit well.”

His burden is light.

This does not mean that there are no problems,,, trials,,, labor,,, or heartaches,,, in the Christian life.

But it does mean that we do not have to bear them alone.

We are yoked with One who gives sufficient grace for every time of need.

To serve Him,,, is not bondage,,, but perfect freedom.

That's why we need to be sure that we do the same,,, and let Jesus take the load of sin off of us,,, make our burden light,,, and our way,, easy and comfortable,,, giving us freedom,,, true freedom!

___________________________________ As I finish this morning,,, I can't help but ask,,, are you "Weary and Burdened"?

Are you tired of fighting the losing battle that sin has loaded you down with?

Toting that load of guilt and doubt that weighs on you day after day,,, a heavy load that you don't have to shoulder alone!

Jesus is the answer,,, He's right there beside you,,, patiently waiting for you to make up your mind!

All you need to do is ask Him for help,,, give every problem to Him,,, and let Him help you with the load that you continue to struggle with alone!

Jesus makes it easy for us today,,, nothing is too much for Him!

Just let Him know that He's needed!

___________________________________ For those of us that have made the choice to follow Jesus,,, we must remember that the gift is free!

There is nothing we can do to earn it,,, all we need to do is continue to grow,,, stay in God's word,,, stay in touch with prayer,,, church attendance,,, all of the things that strengthen our relationship with God,,, and we will be fine!

We should remember that satan will try to fool us by making us think that we aren't good enough,,, but if we have accepted Jesus as our Savior,,, His blood has paid for every sin that we have committed,,, along with those we might commit today,,, or,,, in the future!

We are still human,,, and we will have a tendency to be as good as we can,,, but we can't do it alone,,, and God doesn't intend for us to either!

The Holy Spirit will help us,,, we just need to keep that relationship strong so that we can hear when we need to!

Don't continue with your strength alone,,, God has made a way,,, an easy way,,, paid for through the blood of Jesus!

Verses 28-30 said: 28 “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

If you are "Weary and Burdened",,, Jesus has offered His strength,,, be sure that you are "yoked" to Him,,, today!

___________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------- If you feel like you aren't experiencing God's peace the way that you should,,, Let me remind you that Jesus said that His peace is always available,,, but you have to make that choice. It will not be forced on you,,, that is something that you must decide to do. If you have never made the commitment to allow Jesus to be your Personal Savior,,, please make that decision today. We aren't promised tomorrow,,, so the choice must be made today. We don't know the hour or the day when Jesus comes back nor do we know if we will be called home,,, we are just told to be ready. And to be ready,,, you must have made the decision to follow Jesus,,, be sure that you have made that decision today! ----------------------------------------------------------- So as we sing our final hymn,,, let me remind you that the alter is always open,,, If you feel God speaking to you,,, don't hesitate to come,,, maybe you just have questions,,, God will answer,,, you just have to ask Him,,, whatever the need may be,,, As we sing the final hymn,,, come if needed! Oakdale - Hymn Page - Seminary - Hymn Page - 382 ----------------------------------------------------------- ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Hymn: 337 - Oakdale Hymn: 337 - Seminary Benediction -----------------------------------------------------------