***********matthew 11:28-30

Matthew 11:28–30 (NRSV)

28 “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Charlotte Elliot was an invalid for most of her life. In 1922, at the age of 33, she was led to faith in Jesus Christ by a visiting pastor.

The visiting pastor knew that she tried to rely on her own efforts for salvation. On this occasion, Ms. Elliot had been rude with the pastor and she apologized. In desperation she told the pastor that she would like to come to Christ, but she just didn’t know how to find him. The pastor said something that stuck with her the rest of her life. He said, “Come just as you are.”

That same day Charlotte Elliot was saved as she trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation.

Twelve years later, her brother, H. V Elliot, was raising funds for St. Mary’s Hall at Brighton, England, a college for the daughters of poor clergymen. Charlotte wanted to help and have some part in raising the funds, but she was hindered by her physical condition. Her thoughts were of her useless invalid condition, but then her thoughts turned to God’s grace. She thought of how the Lord saved her and kept her, and these thoughts inspired her to write a poem about the gospel of pardon, peace and heaven. She remembered what the preacher had told her about coming to Christ just like she was, and from that thought came these words,

Just as I am, without one plea,

But that thy blood was shed for me,

And that thou biddest me come to thee,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come!

God has used this hymn to call people from all over the world to Himself. God is still giving invitations to people to come to Him, and we must come just as we are.

Jesus called for the weary, the worn, and the wayward to come to Him for rest. Responding to His invitation requires obedience and submission, and results in rest and fellowship.

Let us come to Jesus for salvation, forgiveness, rest, freedom, assurance, and direction. This text reveals some calls from Jesus. Jesus calls us just as we are and we need to hear what He calls us to do.

I. A call to come to Jesus. (vs. 28, 29c)

Who will come to Jesus?

(A.) Those who recognize their problem. (vs. 28)

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden,”

Jesus gives a clear call and invitation to come to Him. The invitation is ultimately to all, but Jesus makes a distinction. He calls for those who labor and are heavy laden. To come to Jesus means we must turn away from our labor and the burdens of sin that weigh us down.

2 Peter 3:9 declares, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

To come to Jesus means we must come to repentance. If you have never repented of your sins, then you have never truly come to Jesus. Only those who recognize that they have a problem will ultimately come to Jesus.

To come to Jesus means we must trust in Jesus. The invitation is open to all those who are exhausted and burdened down. Many people have decided to come to Jesus, but their lives never demonstrate that they have indeed come to Jesus.

Labor (kopiao) means to grow weary. It carries with it the idea of working to the point of utter exhaustion. Labor is a present active participle, which refers figuratively to strenuous toil in seeking to please God and know the way of salvation.

Darrell Bock said, “Jesus’ invitation is universal, qualified only by recognition of personal need. Seeing such a need requires a response for help.”

People are loaded down with sin and guilt, legalism and ritual, self-righteousness, a works-based salvation, bitterness, jealousy, unforgiveness and hypocrisy.

Great Biblical Truth: To come to Jesus means we must first examine ourselves and realize our sins.

Jesus has been calling to some of you for years and you have never taken the time to recognize that there is a problem in your life. We’ll never see the need if we never recognize the problem.

Isaiah 64:5–7 states, “You are indeed angry, for we have sinned—in these ways we continue; and we need to be saved. But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is no one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of You; for You have hidden Your face from us, and have consumed us because of our iniquities.”

There is none righteous in God’s sight. We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. The problem is this: We are sinners that stand in need of a Savior.

John Mac Arthur wrote, “The person who is weary and heavy-laden despairs of his own ability to please God. He comes to the end of his own resources and turns to Christ. Desperation is a part of true salvation, because a person does not come to Christ as long as he has confidence in himself. To repent is to make a 180-degree turn from the burden of the old life to the restfulness of the new.”

On July 8, 1741, Jonathan Edwards preached the powerful sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, at Enfield, Connecticut. Edwards was the guest speaker that day. Surrounding areas had experienced revival during the Great Awakening. Many saints that lived around Enfield were praying for that town.

The response to Edwards’ sermon was amazing. Before he even finished, people were moaning, groaning, and crying out. One preacher present that day wrote, “Before the sermon was done—there was a great moaning and crying out through the whole house, ‘What shall I do to be saved?’ ‘Oh, I am going to hell!’ ‘Oh, what shall I do for Christ?’ There was such breathing of distress and weeping, that the preacher was obliged to speak to the people and desire silence that he might be heard.”

The following is part of what God had to say through His servant Jonathan Edwards, “All wicked men’s pains and contrivance which they use to escape hell, while they continue to reject Christ, and so remain wicked men, do not secure them from hell one moment.

Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it; he depends upon himself for his own security; he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or what he intends to do.

Every one lays out matters in his own mind how he shall avoid damnation, and flatters himself that he contrives well for himself, and that his schemes will not fail.

They hear indeed that there are but few saved, and that the greater part of men that have died heretofore are gone to hell; but each one imagines that he lays out matters better for his own escape than others have done. He does not intend to come to that place of torment; he says within himself, that he intends to take effectual care, and to order matters so for himself as not to fail.

But the foolish children of men miserably delude themselves in their own schemes, and in confidence in their own strength and wisdom; they trust to nothing but a shadow.

The greater part of those who heretofore have lived under the same means of grace, and are now dead, are undoubtedly gone to hell; and it was not because they were not as wise as those who are now alive: it was not because they did not lay out matters as well for themselves to secure their own escape.

If we could speak with them, and inquire of them, one by one, whether they expected, when alive, and when they used to hear about hell, ever to be the subjects of misery: we doubtless, should hear one and another reply, ‘No, I never intended to come here: I had laid out matters otherwise in my mind; I thought I should contrive well for myself: I thought my scheme good.

I intended to take effectual care; but it came upon me unexpected; I did not look for it at that time, and in that manner; it came as a thief:

Death outwitted me: God’s wrath was too quick for me. Oh, my cursed foolishness! I was flattering myself, and pleasing myself with vain dreams of what I would do hereafter; and when I was saying, ‘Peace and safety, then sudden destruction came upon me’.”

Do you hear the Master’s call today? Are you weary and heavy-laden? Come this day to Jesus!

Those who come to Jesus are those who recognize their problem.

Those who come to Jesus are:

(B.) Those who find rest in His person. (vs. 28b–29c)

“And I will give you rest.”

“For I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (vs. 29c)

The source of true rest, eternal rest, is in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other source of true rest. When we come to Jesus, He will give us rest; that means that it will not cost us anything. True eternal rest is a gift from God to those who come to Jesus. Rest (anapauo) means to refresh or revive as from labor or a long journey.

Great Biblical Truth: When Jesus takes us in He will never turn us out.

John 6:37 states, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.”

The story is told of a little girl who lay dying of a dreadful disease. The doctor told the mother that her daughter would not live through the night. The mother, though brokenhearted, sought to console her daughter.

She came to her daughter and said, “Darling, you know you will soon hear the music of heaven? You will hear a sweeter song than you have ever heard on earth. You will hear them sing the song of Moses and the Lamb. You are so fond of music; won’t it be sweet, dear?”

The tired little girl turned her head slowly and said, “Oh, mom, I am so sick. I think it would make me feel terrible to listen to such music.”

Her mother continued, “You will soon see Jesus, and the streets all paved with gold. Why, think of it, you will see all the beautiful angels!”

Again, the sick little girl said mournfully, “Oh, mother, I am too sick to even think of such things.”

Then desperately the mother offered still one more suggestion. “Darling, come let me hold you quietly in my arms!”

The little girl said, “Oh, mama, that is what I want! If Jesus will only take me in His arms and let me rest!”

That night that little girl found true rest in the Savior’s arms and she found true rest for her soul.

Jesus is gentle and lowly in heart. When we come to Jesus He will not condemn us, but He will cleanse us. He will not cast us out, but He will clean us up. When we come to Jesus, He will unbind us from our sins and set us free.

If you are weary today, there is rest in the person of Jesus Christ. Would you come to Jesus today?

In verses 28–29, we have a call to come to Jesus. In verses 29–30, we see that we have:

II. A call to connect with Jesus. (vs. 29–30)

We connect with Jesus by:

(A.) Accepting His Invitation. (vs. 29a)

“Take My yoke upon you”

We are not only called to come, but we are also called to connect. We are not only called to come, but we are called to take.

We prove that we have come to Jesus when we connect with Jesus. We connect with Jesus by taking His yoke upon us.

We are not only to come to Him, but we are to get hooked up with Him. Many of us need to accept His invitation to join with Him in what He’s doing, in where He is going, in what He is saying, and in what He’s displaying.

Darrell Bock says, “It is only those who respond to Jesus’ invitation who experience the rest He offers.”

The church is in desperate need of getting hooked up with Jesus. To truly understand what Jesus means we need to understand the context of what He is saying.

Yoke: A yoke was a wooden frame placed on the backs of oxen to make them pull in tandem. Yokes consisted of a bar with two loops either of rope or wood that went around the animals’ necks. More elaborate yokes had shafts connected to the middle with which the animals pulled plows. The yoke was part of the harness used to pull a cart, plow, or mill beam and was the means by which the animal’s master kept it under control and guided it in useful work.

In that day, “to take a yoke,” meant to become a disciple. Jesus is calling for us to come join Him, and be joined to Him in His work.

John Phillips wrote, “He does not force His yoke on us. The Lord invites us to come and share in His great work in this needy world, to get in step with Him, to be His helpers.”

The cross is the greatest symbol of Christianity. The cross is on the steeple of our churches, covers of hymnals, business cards, lapel pins, stained-glass windows, the sides of our buildings and on our signs. It reminds us how much Jesus suffered for our sins. Jesus spoke of the cross as a symbol of surrender to Him. Whoever will come after Jesus must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Jesus.

Jesus also used another symbol for surrender to Him. In this passage, He speaks of a yoke.

Yokes are not painted on our walls or our stained-glass windows, not printed on our Bibles, or worn as ornaments on necklaces. Maybe they should be because the yoke is a very significant symbol of being united with Jesus Christ.

Paul Powell, in The Complete Disciple wrote, “The cross and the yoke symbolize for us the two different aspects of commitment. The cross is an instrument of death; the yoke is an implement of toil. The cross is the symbol of sacrifice; the yoke is the symbol of service. The cross suggests blood; the yoke suggests sweat … to be surrendered to Jesus Christ means that we are ready for either the yoke or the cross.”

Have you accepted His invitation to connect daily with the Savior? The Lord wants to lead us, but He cannot when we are going in the opposite direction. Many of us need to seriously evaluate whether we have ever come to Jesus and whether we have connected to Jesus.

It is said that Sir Henry Norman, an Indian government official, was saved after a remark made by a preacher at the invitation.

The preacher announced the well-known hymn, Just As I Am. and he added, “Those who can sing the hymn truthfully, let them sing it heartily; but those who cannot sing it truthfully, ought not to sing it at all, for it is better not to sing than to tell a lie.”

Upon hearing this Sir Henry fell under deep conviction as they sang, “Just as I am without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me.”

That day, Sir Henry Norman gave his life to Jesus Christ and became a true and firm believer.

Have you accepted His invitation to come and take His yoke?

Not only do we connect with Jesus by accepting His invitation, but we also connect with Jesus by:

(B.) Applying His Instruction. (vs. 29b)

“and learn from Me,”

We connect with Jesus by accepting His invitation and by applying His instruction. Jesus tells us that those who come to Him and surrender to Him will learn from Him.

A Good Word: We can only learn from Jesus once we’ve been yoked with Jesus.

If you’ve never been yoked with Jesus, you’ll not know how to live and please God. We cannot please God on our own. We must learn from Jesus. Jesus wants us to be yoked together with Him so that He can guard us and so that He can guide us.

Great Bible Fact: Jesus will not save a man that He cannot command.

As we walk with Jesus and work with Jesus, we learn to become more like Jesus. We will learn from His example, love, compassion, holiness, gentleness, mercy and grace.

I heard about a little girl who went to writing school. When she saw a copy before her, she said, “I can never write like that,” but she took up her pen and began to try. She wrote half a page. The letters were crooked.

She feared to have the teacher look at her book. But when the teacher came by, he looked at her and smiled. “I see you are trying, my little girl,” he said kindly, “and that is all I expect.”

She took courage. Again and again, she studied the beautiful copy. She wrote very carefully, but the letters straggled here, were crowded there, and some of them seemed to look every way.

She trembled when she heard the steps of the teacher. “I’m afraid you’ll find fault with me,” she said.

“I do not find fault with you, because you are only a beginner. Keep on trying. In this way, you will do better every day, and soon get to be a very good writer.”

This is the way we become more like Jesus. When we read about Jesus, how good, holy, and perfect He is, we must not get discouraged if we do not become like Him at once. We are to keep trying and keep asking God to help us learn of Him to be gentle and lowly in heart. We must daily be in the word of God so that God can instruct us.

When we get yoked with Jesus we will hunger and thirst for righteousness, we will long to study His word, and we will love to tell others about Jesus.

We hear all the time, “I can’t do this, and I can’t do that!” When we get hooked up with Jesus we can say with Paul, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13)

Would you today accept His invitation and begin today to apply His instruction? We are to come to Him, take from Him, and learn from Him.

We connect with Jesus by accepting His invitation, by applying His instruction, and lastly, we connect with Jesus by:

(C.) Acknowledging His Importance, (vs. 30)

“For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

We acknowledge His importance by believing what He says. Do you believe His yoke is easy and His burden light? He said it is and we must take Him at His word.

When He calls us, we are to come to Him, and when we come to Him, we are to connect with Him.

When we begin to apply His instruction, we will truly see that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. We truly understand that we are freed up to love God and serve God. We are freed up from sins and strongholds that hindered our walk and ruined our witness.

A Good Word: When we get hooked up we get freed up. Amen! Hallelujah! Some of us need to get freed up!

When we have been set free by the Savior, then we are able to acknowledge Him in our words and with our actions. It is only through Jesus that we have eternal life; only through Jesus that we have true peace and joy. It is only through Jesus that we can ever please the Father.

I’d say that Jesus is very important! Amen.

Warren Wiersbe said, “Life is simplified and unified around the person of Christ.”

The Pharisees imposed rules and regulations on the people of Israel that even God did not require. They burdened the people down with laws that they did not even keep. Jesus rebuked them in Matthew 23:2–4, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. 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.”

We must recognize that it is the Lord who releases us from the burden of our sin and the weight of the Law.

John Phillips wrote, “The Lord will never tax us beyond our strength, never impose a task beyond the ability He gives. He is on the other side of the yoke and He carries all its weight.”

When we come to Jesus and connect with Jesus, He frees us up to obey the Lord and live for the Lord. When we walk with Jesus His commands will not be a burden. Remember His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

1 John 5:3 states, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.”

Have you been set free by the Master? Have you heard the Savior’s call?

Jesus calls for us to come to Him. Jesus calls for us to connect with Him.

Have you accepted His invitation today? Are you applying His instruction? Are you acknowledging His importance?

There are those who are weary and heavy-laden that need to come to Jesus!