Back Up Sermon (GSM)

Text: Matthew 11:25-30 (Come to me and I will give you rest)

Message: For the one willing to humble himself before Christ there is a lighter burden of salvation

Background:

Jesus is speaking to a crowd after John the Baptist who is the messenger sent before Christ to prepare the way for Jesus’ ministry sends his disciples to investigate whether Jesus is the Messiah while John was in prison.

Jesus uses this opportunity to preach the message of the Gospel

He says that John the Baptist is a considered great but the one who believes in Christ and enters Heaven will be considered greater

He pronounces judgment on the cities that He has personally ministered to and still denied Him, and then He reveals this beautiful side of the Gospel in the section we’ll be in

Read Passage and Pray

All labor and are Heavy Laden

When I say all, I really mean ALL. As in all people groups, all humans, all people born from a woman

you labor and you carry a heavy burden, but I will break down what that means

All Labor

Up until the point of Jesus’ victory over death as He sacrificed Himself on the cross for all, everyone was subject to the law.

The Law of Moses in case you are not familiar, is the list of rules God gave Moses way back in the dizzay to show them how to live godly, peaceful lives, but it also showed them what moral perfection looked like

The thing is we cannot perfectly uphold this law or this standard because we are so sinful that we fall horribly short of the bar of perfect holiness

It’s like watching a leprechaun dunk a basketball- it’s just sad to watch- Joke/Illustration

But everyone is subject to this law because it is God’s perfect holiness that establishes this bar

God’s plan is to restore us back to Him after sin separated us from Him in the Garden of Eden, but in order to do that we must be perfectly holy.

How do we do that though? Do we build a staircase to get to God? Do we do enough good works that we cancel out all the bad we’ve done? What do we do?

Well, if you are under the law, you can live a perfect life or do nothing about it because you have sinned!

All are Heavy Laden

That is the heavy burden you are bearing.

The weight of all of your sin, guilt, and shame

Illustration/joke: Imagine you go help your mom or dad get groceries out of the car and you’re loading up as much on your arms as you can fit because you’re Captain One-Trip-Wonder and you run inside in your moms flip flops because you were too lazy to get your own shoes and you can’t take off the groceries- you just have to carry that weight for the rest of your life.

If you’re tracking with me then you might be thinking, “Man, I’ve done a lot of horrible things in my life, that’s a lot of groceries”

That doesn’t matter

Or you might be thinking, “I do one nice thing a day I’m fine.”

That doesn’t matter either

Because if you have sinned even once, you are separated from God. You are worthy of judgment and a one-way ticket to Hell! Where you pay for every sin charge you’ve ever racked up on your metaphorical credit card until it is paid.

But there is someone who lived that perfect life. There is one man who is willing to share that title of “perfection” with you

His Yoke is Easy and His Burden is Light

This man, Jesus, lived the perfect life, never sinned or fell short of that bar that was set so long ago.

If you don’t believe me, it’s all recorded right here in this book *Hold up Bible*

But He came to give us a new burden or a new yoke

A yoke is a wooden frame used to link two animals together as they are used to plow a field, but it was commonly used to describe the law that we talked about a few minute ago.

Our old yoke linked us to the law of Moses, but Jesus brought us a new yoke that links us with Him

A man who is gentle and lowly. A man who is both fully human and fully God. A man who has a direct relationship with God the Father who sits on His eternal throne in Heaven. A man who was given all authority over creation following His death, burial, and resurrection. A man with His arms stretched out to anyone who dares take it.

The yoke He promises is easy

The burden He promises is light

When you put your faith in Jesus and you confess to Him that you are a sinner you are forgiven of ALL sin, your sin credit card is paid off, and you are lightened of the burden you once bore of all of your shame and wickedness

Every lie you ever told, every single Google search you shouldn’t have made, every fear and anxiety you’ve ever allowed to rule your life, every heinous act you committed when you thought you were alone melts away in the light of Son.

In Christ, there is REST from the burdens you have been carrying on your shoulders, and you have the option to lay it all down at the altar

Conclusion

(Altar Call) If you have burdens you have been carrying and you just can’t bear the weight of this guilt any longer, come lay them down at the foot of the cross and find rest in the man who can take that from your shoulders

Maybe you’re a Christian who’s been picking back up some of that weight of that struggle you’ve been trying so desperately to shake or you’re haunted by your past, it’s time to lay that at the cross where you left it to begin with.