Come to Christ, Find Rest for Your Soul.

Introduction

Does anyone else wake up tired? Do you ever have those mornings where your eyes open or your alarm goes off and you just think to yourself “This is going to be a rough one” or “I cannot wait until I am back in this bed in approximately 16 hours”

Maybe your child didn’t sleep through the night, maybe there was a storm and the thunder and rain kept you awake. What if you’re sick and your cough or body aches prevented you from falling asleep?

What about those days when you wake up and it’s like you have slept for 30 years? You know, those days when you wake up and immediately you are ready to tackle the adventures of the day? I’m still waiting to have one of those mornings, but people assure me they are coming.

But seriously some people have it down to a science. I have a watch that will track my sleep cycles. My REM, deep, light, how many times I stir - all of the above. There are nights when the temperature in my room is perfect, the sheets are cold and the pillow isn’t work. The fan in the corner of my bedroom is blowing directly on my face and I can tell it’s going to be a good night of sleep. Even with nights of sleep like that, I will inevitably be tired again and nothing I do on this earth will cease that feeling. We will always wake up from sleep, and there will always be another time when we are exhausted no matter what we try to do in regards to our sleep.

This illustration captures the point of our text this morning in a beautiful way. You can do all of the right things, yet you will still be weary because human nature does not allow for eternal rest. The sin, in our lives prevents us from ever coming to a place where we can rest on our own, apart from knowing our creator. You can try to do all the right things, offer the right sacrifice, obey the 10 commandments, yet that empty obedience will still leave you short.

The beautiful gospel truth I will argue for this morning and the banner on which I will hang my thesis and proclaim to you this morning is this: True rest for your soul is only found in Jesus Christ. This statement, although simple is the most important truth one can come to learn. So I beg you, listen to the words of our Lord this morning. Turn your eyes and open your heart to soak in the beauty of the Gospel through the proclamation of God’s word, and I will demonstrate to you that coming to Christ is how you find rest for your soul.

We are going to be in the gospel of Matthew this morning. Matthew is one of the Four Gospel accounts in the New Testament, which is to say it is one of the four writings of eyewitness testimony of the life and teachings of Christ. Primarily, Matthew is writing his Gospel to a Jewish audience. He begins his Gospel with a genealogy tying the birth of Christ all the way back to the Patriarch, Abraham demonstrating that Jesus has come from the covenant people of God. He is consistently referencing Old testament prophecy to show that this man, Jesus is the one who was said to come. Throughout the first four chapters of his Gospel, there are numerous references to prophecies in which the statement, “and this was to fulfill” in order to show his audience how Christ fufills the prophetic word spoken about his coming. There is a constant tension between what Jewish people at this time had envisioned about their messiah, that he was coming to lead a military revolution against the Roman Empire to free the Jewish people but Christ came with a different attitude. Instead, he focused his ministry primarily on the people’s misunderstanding of the Law. Specifically, in the Sermon on the Mount (Chapters 5-7) He captures the teachings of Christ where he challenges the teachings of the Pharisees and religious leaders of the day by saying things like, “You have heard it said, but I say” This sets up the tension between them throughout the rest of the book and that would eventually lead to his arrest and death. In Chapters 8 and 9, Matthew shows that Christ has power of sickness, death, and the demonic powers that the people feared and has a theme that the people who should have recognized this man for who he was, missed it - and those who had no reason to have faith in him did. He would then go on to send his disciples out in Chapter 10 and in Chapter 11 there is a section in which Christ pronounces “woe” to those who are unrepentant, specifically the wise and learned and then he applauds the “children” and those who have believed in him which leads us to where we will be this morning.

There comes a point in which we find the sweetest invitation there is in all of scripture. A point in the story in which Jesus extends an invitation - the invitation to everyone who witnessed his life and sat under his teachings and an invitation that is still open today. We find this invitation in Matthew 11:28-30

I will invite you to stand in honor of reading God’s word with me this morning and hear this life giving words that capture our savior’s heart.

Pray

These three verses capture the most significant invitations in all of human history. Christ has been teaching, healing, preaching, and going around the countryside testifying of this coming Kingdom that is in contention with the religious tradition of the day. The people who would have been considered “wise” were unable to comprehend the new simplicity of his teachings and missed the beauty of his words here. I want to observe three things in this passage that will help us understand what it means to truly rest in Christ, the first one being this:

1)There is an invitation to Rest

Matthew records that Christ’s words are an invitation and also an incentive to respond to that invitation.

Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden - The invitation

And I will give you rest - Incentive/result

There are a couple things to note about Christ’s invitation - According to him, what are the prerequisites to come to Christ? What are the requirements? Who can come?

All who labor and are heavy laden

Those descriptors are important - why is the invitation to those people?

Because those are the people who need help. What burden is Christ referring to?

The additions to the Law the Pharisees made - the impossible standard that the law is. The law that intended to show us our need for a savior, Christ is pointing to the burden that is too heavy for us to bear. If the Law of God was our way to righteousness, we would all fall short. The pressure of the law, the weight of its standard - it is crushing. Christ highlights this in his woes against the Pharisees in (Matthew 23:1-4)

They give the standard and then fail to uphold it. They do not demonstrate righteous living in the way it was intended, they do it to hold power and position over those beneath them. They do it for looks, and for pride. They give the appearance of righteousness but their hearts are dead. They do not assist in bearing the burden, but put all of it’s weight on the backs of the people and Christ says the people who bear that burden, who are weary from that pressure who are heavy laden - those people come to me and I will give you rest

See unlike the Pharisees who added to the weight of the people’s burden, Christ has come to lift that burden off of their shoulders. Christ has come to bear the weight of the law, to uphold it perfectly as he alone can. He came to not just lift a finger but to lift his body on the cross as atonement for our sins, sins that weigh down our soul and make us weary, he bore those. He came to bear the wrath of God on himself, taking our punishment, one that we could not bear on our own - he bore it. He held it. And through that sacrifice we can find rest. What we could not bear on our own, he put on his shoulders through the cross to achieve our salvation to him alone be the glory forever and ever.

A quick point of application - Do you put the burden of the law on those who are helpless? Are you quick to point out the immorality and sin of those outside of these walls without offering them the compassion and invitation of the Gospel? Do you lift the finger of judgement without pointing to the one who carries your burden?

See, he points to himself as the location of that rest. He says, “come to me” and I will give you rest.

According to the words of our Lord, there is no mediator we must go to in order to come to him.

The invitation is straight to him

There is no priest, there is no angel, there is no tradition - You do not have to GO somewhere else, Christ simply says to come.

“Come to me, and I will give you rest”

See there is an invitation to come to our Lord so what are you waiting for?

Christian - What are you letting weigh you down? What weight are you trying to bear on your shoulders that you simply cannot? Christ has come to alleviate that weight - he has taken it on calvary and held it for you, so come rest in him. Let your soul find rest in the King

Your sin, your behavior - those things do not have to weigh you down, Christ offers rest from the burden of those things. Rest in him.

Non Christian - The invitation does not require you to fix yourself. The invitation does not require you to figure it out. The invitation is come to come.

(Psalm 53:16-17) - David and Bathsheba - David says, “My sacrifice is a broken spirit”

David knows the only thing he can bring to God is his broken spirit, his burden and God will not despise it. There is an invitation.

Christ says to come as you are - no hesitations, no prescriptions, no requirements. Come as you are.

There is an invitation

The second thing we see…

2) There is instruction on how to rest

Christ doesn’t just extend this invitation and leave it without proper explanation. He goes on to explain how one can find this rest.

He says to Take his Yoke and Learn from him

If you are like me, you have heard this word “Yoke” before and the only yoke you have heard of is like an Egg yoke - which is not what Christ is saying here

The idea of a yoke is has multiple meanings in scripture, and but this particular context, the greek word here is “zygos”

This is the same word that Paul uses in (Galatians 5:1)

In regards to circumcision, this idea of the yoke is something that you put on your shoulders to carry or you would put a yoke on a cow to plow and work a field. Paul is using this word to describe what would happen if you added the requirement of circumcision to the Gospel or you must be circumcised in order to be saved. If you add this, you are submitting yourself to the yoke of slavery and you would be no better than the pharisees. to contrast this yoke of slavery, Christ uses the same word in the form of a command, to take his yoke and learn from him. In the same way one puts a yoke on a cow to work, or would bear the weight of a yoke on one’s shoulders - we are to put on the yoke of Christ, we are to take his yoke.

But not only are you to take his yoke, you are to learn from him. His teachings are the yoke that we are to take. We are to take his teachings and learn from him to find rest.

The invitation is open, but you must submit to his authority in your life. The teachings of our Lord are not optional. This is not a buffet, where you pick and choose which commandments of God you like and which ones you don’t. Christ says to come and rest, but when you come you get all of him and you must give all of yourself. The teachings of Christ are life giving, they give us hope and show us the beauty of God’s character. We learn not only about ourselves but about who God is. We learn about his promises and his compassion.

The good news is that this denial of self is repaid, repaid with peace and joy that surpasses all understanding.

What does it look like to learn from him?

We sit at his feet

(Luke 10:38-42)

We get a story of two sisters: Mary and Martha. Christ is in their house and Mary is sitting at his feet, listening to him teach. As this is happening, the text says that Martha was distracted by much serving. When she goes to complain to Jesus, asking him to have her sister help her, Christ says that Mary, the sister at his feet, listening to him had chosen the good portion.

Do you ever become distracted with the do’s and dont’s of the Christian life? Do you become blinded by feeling the obligation to do particular things instead of simply sitting at the feet of Jesus? Was Martha wrong, for serving? Not necessarily, but we know what Christ thought about Mary, the one listening to his teaching - that she had chosen the good portion. So we see the importance of sitting at his feet, and listening to his teaching.

Did you know that you can sit at his feet every morning? Every night? At Lunch? At dinner? The scriptures are the teachings of our Lord and they are available to you! You do not have to come to church and hear a sermon. you do not have to go to seminary to learn from someone with a PHD. You do not need to ask permission to read your Bible or get a permit or have it translated into your language - We have the teachings of our Lord accessible and ready for you to consume. Not only do you have the teachings, but you have the same Holy Spirit who inspired these words. When you open this book to learn about Christ, you are sitting at his feet and learning from him and the Spirit of God, abiding in you is illuminating your mind so that you may come to know this great God and find the rest that is promised

(John 13:15 ) - As Jesus is washing the feet of his disciples, he says:

(1 Peter 2:21) - In his epistle, Peter says that Christ’s life is an example

(1 John 2:6) - John says that whoever claims to be of him, must live as he did.

And the result of this is finding rest for your souls (v.30)

Psalm 111:2

A Point of application for the Christian:

Where have you not learned from Jesus? Are there areas of your life that you are unwilling to submit? That you know are against the will of Christ yet you are stuck in your ways? That will weigh down your soul and steal your joy.

A point of application to the non-christian:

Christ is not a genie in a bottle, waiting to grant your hearts desire. When you come, you come to die. Christ is not inviting you so that you can become wealthy, healthy, and famous. He is offering your soul rest through his teachings.

The Prophet Isaiah, even prophesied about those who would not come to God and find their rest.

Isaiah 28:9-13

In a woe against Prophets and Priests God gave them an invitation and they did not find rest

In talking about himself, he says, “This is the resting place, let the weary rest and this is the place of repose” - but they would not listen - so (as a result of this) the word of the Lord will become:

“a rule for this, a rule for that”

In the Hebrew, there is not even a translation for this, but it is like a mimicking “blah blah blah”

Christ’s commands, his teachings are not just little rules to follow with not significance, they are the means to which we find rest for our souls.

Isaiah 11:10

Do not look at his commands as though they are burdens, but look to them as rest

The rest that Christ offers is not found separate from his teachings. Christ’s teachings, his life, his example are all on the same side of the coin. They cannot be separated. You cannot find rest in Christ if you do not observe and learn his teachings. Through his teachings, you will find rest.

Now you may say - that sounds legalistic. Isn’t the whole reason Christ is saying come to him for rest because the religious leaders of the day taught strict adherence to the Law in order to be okay? If obedience is how we find rest, how is that any different? Is the Yoke of Christ different than the yoke of those he is speaking against?

He gives instruction

But he also gives an explanation.

3)There is rest, because Christ’s burden is light

After he explains that this rest is found by taking his yoke and learning from him, he defends himself. Look at Christ’s repetition of the characteristics of himself.

“For I am gentle and lowly in heart”

“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light”

By using the word, “for” Christ is making an argument or giving reason for what he has just said, as if he is expecting the response to be “how are you any different than the Pharisees Jesus - I mean, you just told us that it’s not about committing adultery, but even if I look at a women with lust, I have committed adultery in my heart?

Well here is how he is different than the Pharisees ?

he is gentle

(Matthew 5:5)

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the Earth”

There is no harshness to his command. He is not manipulating those listening into scared obedience. His words are gentle and his invitation is kind.

lowly in heart, another way to say that is he is humble.

(Zechariah 9:9) is a prophecy about the King of Zion that describes him as humble which is exactly who Christ is. See the Pharisees had no room to judge. They were just as guilty as the common people, yet they Lorded their position over others - yet Christ, the one who is truly above everyone humbled himself, and came as a man not to pronounce hopelessness and despair but to offer hope to a burdened and weary people.

He even doubles down, and says that his yoke is easy and burden is light. The weight of his teaching is light, his burden is light - it does not crush the soul, it does not make you weary it is light. But how?

It is not dependent on you and your behavior, it is dependent on him and what he’s done

Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us - we do not have to earn it, we do not accomplish it on our own, we do not have to be obedient to keep it, It is given to us, according to his mercy.

The commandments, the rules, the things we do as Christians? We do not do those in order to become righteous, they are a result of the completed work of Christ on the cross. The Holy Spirit, abiding in us, sanctifying us, making us more like Christ it is through his power we can be obedient.

(1 John 5:1-5)

Christ’s commands are not burdensome, and by believing in him, we can overcome the world.

Church, we can rest because Christ has done what we could not. There is rest in Christ because he has fulfilled the law and prophets. There is an invitation to come and find rest without a process of procedure - without an application or wishful thinking there is simply rest. We can come to Christ and find rest for our soul without wandering if we truly will find it - we can come in confidence because of his promises.

There is a rest that we get in this life. We do not have to spend this live wandering through, wondering if we will ever measure up to the standard of God. We do not have to wander through this life hoping we do enough good things to make it to heaven. We do not have to wander through this life hoping and trying to make the most of it, not knowing what is coming next. We get to rest in this life with full expectation that we will rest in the presence of God for all of eternity.

So we come because there is an invitation, and we learn from him and take his yoke because that’s what he commands - and the result - “You will find rest for your soul” The best part of this, is the guarantee. Notice the text does not say, “You might” find rest for your soul - or “if you are lucky” you might find rest for your soul. Christ promises that if you come to him, then you will find rest for your soul. and so what are you waiting for? There is nothing on this side of eternity apart from him that can offer this! There is no person, no job, no position or power that says come to me and find rest for your soul. You can trust the one who has resurrected from the grave and holds dominion over all creation.

What are you tempted to try and find your rest in? Where are you looking? Not only where are you looking, but where are you going to find your rest? Christ says come to me, so turn from your wandering, reject the distractions and come find true rest for your soul.

So you have seen the invitation, you’ve been given the instruction, will you come find rest in Christ? The invitation still stands. Come To Christ, and find rest for your soul.

What has Christ given you rest from?

In order to rest, Christ says to learn from him. How have Christ’s teachings given you rest?

Thinking about your life before Christ, what burdens used to weigh you down? How would you share with someone the difference in your life now than then?