Soul Rest

Introduction

This past week, I was meditating on this passage and I believe God wanted me to preach on it this morning especially since it goes alone with tonights message. We have had a lot of word on judgment lately and maybe we could use a breather for a second.

So much of life is about trying to make something of ourselves and the only way to accomplish something is to try harder right. Put in the work even if it kills you. Clearly, scripture is against slothfulness, but the solution isn’t merely work harder. In this passage Jesus calls us to rest.

Much of Christianity is like the Pharisees of Jesus day and you will find if you zoom out on this passage, it stands in contrast to the demands of the Pharisees. Notice the very next chapter Matthew 12:1–2 “At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.” The Pharisees are concerned with all the little details of keeping the sabbath and we know that they had added to that law. But their religion was about performance. What about our religion?

Sunday school teacher has to prepare a lesson.

Youth leader feels like he is constantly falling behind and unable to keep in touch with his teens.

Pastor has sermons to write, people to visit, issues to deal with, counseling to do, preaching, administration, deacons meetings, ect

John works a crazy shift and knows he should be spending time in the word and prayer, but its just another thing to do.

We are running ourselves ragged until eventually we burn out. Something has to be let go; we think the solution is less responsibility or time away. We need a vacation in the Bahamas. Someone to watch the kids so I an get away. And while there is a biblical need for physical rest, it is not the complete answer.

Why Physical rest is not enough?

Have you ever gone into a weekend and you are taking it easy but you just can’t seem to leave the previous week behind, or you get into Sunday and your day is poisoned by concerns of Monday? Have you ever noticed that you had a really busy day, but it was doing something you really enjoyed and so while you feel a little tired, you have plenty of energy? Both the negative and the positive highlight the truth that physical rest is only effective if we can leave behind the emotional stress. What this shows is that we need Soul rest alongside of our physical rest. This is exactly what Jesus is speaking of here in:

Matthew 11:28–29 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

Jesus invites those who are beaten down to come find rest. Labour here refers to those beaten down by work. The work can be hard and exhausting. Heavy laden refers to circumstances outside your control that just seem to continue to pile up. I don’t know about you, but I need true rest. So let’s ask ourselves this morning how I can get that rest. The main points are going to be obvious but I want to look at what those look like in practice. According to our text, we experience Soul Rest by coming, taking, and learning.

Coming

Our part- coming

Psalm 131:2–3 “Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, As a child that is weaned of his mother: My soul is even as a weaned child. Let Israel hope in the Lord From henceforth and for ever.”

Psalm 62:1–2 “Truly my soul waiteth upon God: From him cometh my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.”

Now Hebrews 4:3 “For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.” In Hebrews 4, we find that rest is experienced through salvation in Jesus Christ. And it is our present reality. What I want to draw from this is that soul rest only comes from a person. The point the author of Hebrews is making is that when we experience rest in Christ we cease from our own labors. Vs 10 They key word is own here because vs 11 tells us to labor. We run ourselves into a tizzy with all the things we have to get done and we don’t have the strength to do it all. But in putting off our own labor and putting on the finished work of Christ, I experience rest. I don’t have to prove myself to God or others. I don’t have to earn his favor in my life.

Not yet Hebrews 4:9 “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.” This rest is not complete now in the sense that we will experience perfect rest in heaven.

Response- Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Because of this, we need to come boldly to him. we receive grace and mercy. Rest is a grace of God. On Sunday evenings, we have been covering the spiritual disciplines but the purpose of these spiritual disciplines is to seek grace. One of those graces is rest to our souls. So our part is to come.

b. Unto Me- Oftentimes when we feel worn out our first response is often to just get some physical rest. But Jesus is challenging us to come to Him. What that says is that a personal relationship with christ is essential for true soul rest. How does a relationship with Christ bring rest?

1. He brings you into a relationship of love and acceptance. This means I don’t have to worry God is going to cast me off because I messed up. It also means that if I am struggling with performing certain spiritual services God does not accept me less than another person. My acceptance is only because I am in Christ. Ephesians 1:6 “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” I do not have to work to be accepted by God because my acceptance is based in Jesus Christ.

2. Jesus provides the grace we need to deal with the stress of our lives.

3. Jesus gives the strength to do the things we need to get done relieving the stress from our own effort.

What does this look like?

Coming to Jesus implies a consistent walk with Jesus. A real walk with Christ where you cast your burdens on him and experience his grace. Not formalism and merely duty. But coming and receiving grace: all those things that God wants to supply for your life because of His steadfast love. Coming to Jesus means stopping trying to do it on your own.

Taking

This verse seems to be out of place because rest and work don’t seem to go together. You remember my illustration about the work that you love doing. The labor itself is not heavy when you heart is in your work. So often Christianity does not feel like a light burden, but is it supposed to be? 1 John 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.”

Because it is simple- It isn’t actually that hard -Christianity is filled with a million little do’s and don’ts and yet what God actually asks us to do is love God and love others. This simplifies the work that we have to do. All I have to do is ask How can I show my love for God and How can I show my love for these other people.

b. Because we don’t bear it alone- We struggle with feeling like “I must try harder” if anything is ever going to be accomplished. This is work in dependence and cooperation on him. The illustration of a yoke shows that our work is not our work. It is us working alongside God. You can experience rest if you allow Christ to carry that yoke with you.

The image of taking up our cross and following Him seems to be contradictory, but it really isn’t. We aren’t bearing that cross alone. We aren’t bearing the yoke alone. He is right there beside us. Our faith becomes a burden to heavy to bear when we try to bear it on our own. Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” If you are feeling the weight of your labor, maybe you have wandered away from being yoked up with Christ. Matthew Henry once said, “Christ’s yoke is lined with love.”

What does this look like?

Taking Christ’s yoke implies co-laboring. You aren’t just pursuing your own goals in life, but you are working to accomplish his goals. It brings rest because his goals are light when we draw strength from him. Taking Christ’s yoke implies dependence. I am not pulling on my own. If I never acknowledge my need for God, if I just jump into the work, it is very possible I am doing the work all on my own. It might even be God’s work, but I am doing it without God. Jesus said Without me ye can do nothing.

Learning

There are many things we can learn from Christ. In fact tonight, we are going to learn from the example of Christ one way to experience this soul rest in our spiritual disciplines. But Jesus doesn’t here tell us learn my habits, my teachings or even my commands. Spurgeon once pointed out that Jesus does something here that he does nowhere else in the four gospels: He tells us his heart for us.

Knowing the heart of Jesus changes how we come, it changes how we labor. And it is his heart that he wants us to learn.

Have you ever worked in a toxic workplace where the boss was always hateful and cruel with their employees? It isn’t easy to show up every day for work when you live in that type of an environment. Many quite because they can’t take the stress. Our natural default view of God is often that he is the same as that boss. And let me remind you that our view of God determines everything about us.

Dane Ortlund describes the scene: Jesus pulls back the curtain on his heart and reveals not an strict and demanding heart, not a exalted and dignified heart, not even a joyous and generous heart though some of these things are true of God. The truth He wants us to see is that he is meek and lowly.

Meek means gentle, mild. We read of Moses being the meekest man on the earth. Why? When Israel complained against him and betrayed him, Moses could have asked God to destroy them. In fact God even offered it, but Moses was not trigger happy. He was not eager to come down harshly on people. Jesus wants us to know that this is his heart. God is constantly described as slow to anger, longsuffering, compassionate and showing pity on his own. I desired to take a break from all the judgment we have been covering in Romans 2 because it isn’t a complete picture of God and this message goes along with tonights message. During my devotions, God laid this on my heart. Here is the truth about Jesus he wants us to know: Jesus isn’t sitting up in heaven waiting for you to mess up and then squashing us when we do.

The verse goes on to say that he is lowly in heart. The point in this description is that Jesus is accessible. Think about it! Here is the King of glory, but he humbles himself and takes on the form of a servant Phil 2. Jesus tells them not to forbid the children to come unto him. There are no hoops to jump through to gain access to Jesus Christ other than genuine coming.

This is not who he is to everyone indescriminately. To the unrepentant sinner, he is holy, just and a God of wrath; but he is this to all who come.

What does this look like?

Truly knowing the heart of Jesus makes it easier to rest in his care. If the boat is rocking from the waves, I can keep on sleeping if I know he is in charge. If the ministry seems to be going no where, I can trust that God has a plan if I will just keep coming. If my teens aren’t listening, I can rest in God’s plan. This doesn’t excuse inactivity because I am told to take the yoke, but in the trials of life; I can experience soul rest.

Conclusion

We all need rest from time to time. But even the best of physical rest can be poisoned by the cares of this world. What we truly need is soul rest. When we experience this kind of rest even the work can be restful. When we experience this rest, the circumstances of our lives can’t take it away. This morning Jesus invites you to come, take his yoke and learn what the heart of God is truly like.

Heads bowed eyes closed this morning. How many of you would say with a raised hand, Pastor Shirk, I need this kind of rest. Pray for me would you raise your hand. Thank you put it down. Maybe you have spent your life trying to work hard enough to be good so you can go to heaven. Honestly, you never will be good enough. This same invitation is offered to you. If you have been striving and seeming to fail, Jesus wants you to stop and just come to Him. Salvation is not by what you do, but by placing your faith in Jesus Christ alone. If you do not know Jesus Christ as your savior, would you raise your hand so I can pray for you. In a moment, the piano is going to play. Those who raised their hands I want to challenge you to come forward and talk to God about what he showed you today. If you aren’t saved come tell me you need to be saved and we will have someone take you out and show you how you can have your sins forgiven.