Come to Jesus and Rest, Part 2
Matthew: The King and His Kingdom • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 36:58
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· 14 viewsThe gracious election of the Father and the bountiful provision from the gentle and lowly Son allow for the burdened and labored to come and find rest for their souls.
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25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children;
26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
15 Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all
16 and ordered them not to make him known.
17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
18 “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
19 He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;
20 a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory;
21 and in his name the Gentiles will hope.”
The Father’s Gracious Election in Revelation – Why do they respond?
The Father’s Gracious Election in Revelation – Why do they respond?
25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding…
Election conceals the truth of Christ from the “wise and intelligent.”
Election conceals the truth of Christ from the “wise and intelligent.”
25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children…
Election reveals the truth of Christ to “little children.”
Election reveals the truth of Christ to “little children.”
25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children…
Election ought to produce grateful praise.
Election ought to produce grateful praise.
26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
Election is the gracious will of the Father toward His children.
Election is the gracious will of the Father toward His children.
The gracious will of God is to reveal His saving character whomever He wills and withhold it from whomever He wills.
According to Jesus, this is Gods gracious character.
Electing grace removes all human boasting.
Electing grace cuts the legs out of human arrogance and pride.
The Father elects a people unto Himself in eternity passed (Ephesians 1:4-5), the Son redeems His people unto Himself (Ephesians 1:7-9).
And the Spirit applies Jesus’ redemption to the elect (Ephesians 1:13-14).
The gracious election of the Father and the bountiful provision from the gentle and lowly Son allow for the burdened and labored to come and find rest for their souls.
The gracious election of the Father and the bountiful provision from the gentle and lowly Son allow for the burdened and labored to come and find rest for their souls.
In Ephesians 3:17, the Apostle Paul prays…
…that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…
Think of each individual Christian life as a house that Christ comes to dwell in.
An unbeliever keeps Christ on the porch.
He may have signs for Jesus in the yard.
But Christ does not dwell with that one by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus has told us that the “deed for the property”, if you will, was chosen long ago by the Father.
By the gracious will of the Father, every Christian was chosen before the foundation of the world.
The Hall Closet
One day I found Him waiting for me at the door.
An arresting look was in His eye.
As I entered, He said to me, "There is a peculiar odor in the house. There is something dead around here. It's upstairs. I think it is in the hall closet."
As soon as He said this, I knew what He was talking about.
Yes, there was a small closet up there on the landing, just a few feet square, and in that closet, behind lock and key, I had one or two little personal things that I did not want anyone to know about and certainly I did not want Christ to see them.
I knew they were dead and rotting things left over from the old life.
And yet I loved them, and I wanted them so for myself that I was afraid to admit they were there.
Reluctantly, I went up with Him, and as we mounted the stairs the odor became stronger and stronger.
He pointed at the door.
"It's in there! Some dead thing!"
The story goes on to describe the proverbial closet in this mans life.
The closet where the “dead bodies” are buried and Christ’s interaction with it.
We naturally think of Jesus touching us the way a little boy reaches out to touch a slug for the first time—face screwed up, cautiously extending an arm, giving a yelp of disgust upon contact, and instantly withdrawing. We picture the risen Christ approaching us with “a severe and sour disposition,”
At the fall, God’s goodness was brought into question.
Does God really have my best interest in mind?
Does He really care for me?
Maybe He’s withholding something from me!
I believe the vestiges of the fall are thoughts like,
“If God really knew me, He would never love me.”
What inevitably happens then is one of two things…
Legalism says,
“If I just do well enough, then I’ll be acceptable”
“If I just try hard enough, then I’ll make it.”
Legalism says to the stinking closet.
“I’ll do my very best to clean it up!”
“I promise I won’t make anymore messes and it will be clean by tomorrow!”
The other direction is antinomianism which sounds like this,
“I don’t have to listen to what God has said. He’s loving so He will accept me no matter what.”
“I’ll find my own path to life in life”
Antinomianism says,
“Does it really stink that bad? Come on now! Just plug your nose.”
“What smell? Come on, we all have our own stench.”
But neither of these paths will do.
They lead to their own burdens that will ultimately crush us.
What are we to do to “clean out the closet”?
27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
The Son’s Bountiful Provision in Redemption – Who do they respond to?
The Son’s Bountiful Provision in Redemption – Who do they respond to?
Secrets and Close Friends
Think of a relationship that shares everything.
When we first got married, my wife had a habit of waking up and telling me all about her dreams.
We may think of a husband and wife.
But even there spouses will rightly think to one another,
“I could share this, but they really don’t care.”
Even close friends, there are things we don’t tell one another.
We don’t typically share personal and intimate details because as we might assume,
“It’s none of their business.”
Jesus says that the Father has handed all things over to Him.
There is purely factual reality of this claim.
To say that God has given all things into His hand demands an exclusive and unique fact between Himself and the Father.
Redemption as the exclusive Son of the Father.
Redemption as the exclusive Son of the Father.
Everything has been given to Christ.
Everyone that Jesus welcomes is welcomed into the relationship of the Father and Son.
But here Jesus applies this to Himself.
He says that He is the One who knows the Father.
Only the Father knows Him.
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
There is a personal sense in which Jesus shares a personal relationship with the Father.
…no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
There are no secrets in their relationship.
Nothing hidden.
Only fellowship and communion.
Just like Jesus praises the Father for His concealing and revealing, so the Father hands all authority to the Son.
Redemption as the authorized Son of the Father.
Redemption as the authorized Son of the Father.
This is more than Jesus being the Messiah or “Anointed One.”
There is a personal relationship that Jesus has always shared with the Father.
A relationship that precedes His Messiahship (D.A. Carson citing George Ladd).
It’s not natural for people to have relationship and fellowship with the Son of God.
It’s not natural to have fellowship with the Father.
Everything you and I have had revealed to us needed to be revealed, not merely known.
Your knowledge and fellowship with God has been received.
But Jesus is the cause of the revelation.
…no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
Jesus is the One who reveals the Father.
It’s in the face of the Son of God that the Godhead is known.
Even Peter will later confess to Jesus’ questioning…
“But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus doesn’t reply and saying,
“Wow, Peter! You have really been paying attention!”
“Wow, Peter! You’re so smart to have figured this out on your own, I know you had it in you.”
“Wow, Peter! You always were the most resilient of my followers!”
17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
God’s goodness rests in his own character of kindness and mercy toward wretched sinners.
He is unspeakably, kind and compassionate to the lowliest and the weakest.
This is unspeakably good news to struggling sinners like you and I.
What is Jesus like?
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Redemption from the gentle Savior.
Redemption from the gentle Savior.
There are 89 chapters in all four gospels.
There are 3,779 verses in all four gospels.
And it’s only here that Jesus tells us what His heart is like.
It’s only here that He explains what His most inner man is.
I am convinced that one of the biggest problems in evangelical circles is our low view of God.
It’s not that we opening denounce Him or speak ill.
It’s that we compare God far to often to what we’re like.
We speak and act and think of God with extremely human.
If we think of God as just a bigger version of ourselves, we are in a bad position.
So when we screw up, we just assume that He responds to us the way that we would to ourselves.
We assume that His disposition is the same as ours would be.
9 I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.
“I’m not like you!” says Yahweh
“You’re quick-tempered, while I’m slow to anger!”
“You’re hearts are easily drawn aside, while I am steadfast in love!”
This is why we need a Bible. Our natural intuition can only give us a God like us. The God revealed in the Scripture deconstructs our intuitive predilections and startles us with one whose infinitude of perfections is matched by his infinitude of gentleness. Indeed, his perfections include his perfect gentleness.
God is so utterly different than we are.
It’s not only in God’s greatness that we are infinitely different than He is.
But I would argue, especially so when it comes to his gentleness toward repentant sinners.
There is an infinite span between your goodness and God’s goodness.
God’s goodness far out paces your own.
Come to Jesus and Rest – How does their response look?
Come to Jesus and Rest – How does their response look?
Paradise was lost in the garden.
But God promised he will restore all things to himself and thus bring paradise again.
But throughout the Old Testament, we get glimpses of paradise.
For instance, the Sabbath is a kind of micro paradise that Israel was meant to partake in every week.
It was meant to be a sign of trust and obedience that life comes from the hand of the Lord, and thus partake in a day of rest.
But the people of Israel continued to refuse to rest in the promises that God had made.
The continued admonition for the people of God was to rest in him.
11 Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter my rest.”
Legalism has a hope.
It’s hope is that if there is enough “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps”, then God will love you.
“Look at all the good things I do, of course God will accept me for it.”
If you think that the gospel says,
“Be a better person! Clean your life up, then God will love you.”
You don’t understand it.
We cannot get the fruit mixed up with the root.
The root of the gospel is that Jesus Christ came to save sinners.
And you and I are the worst of them.
But then, and only then, can the clean-up job begin.
Antinomianism also has a hope.
“I don’t need to listen to what God says, He will accept me as I am.”
Both of these paths are filled with great burden and striving.
But Jesus tells us here that there is a better way.
What qualifies you to come to Jesus?
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Those who are burdened and heavy laden are qualified to come.
Those who are burdened and heavy laden are qualified to come.
“You don’t need to unburden or collect yourself and then come to Jesus. Your very burden is what qualifies you to come…Whether you are actively working hard to crowbar your life into smoothness (“labor”) or passively finding yourself weighed down by something outside your control (“heavy laden”), Jesus Christ’s desire that you find rest, that you come in out of the storm, outstrips even your own.” Gentle and Lowly, pg 20-21
But as Hebrews tells us…
3 For we who have believed enter that rest…
Don’t miss this, Hebrews tells us that the rest of God is entered by all who have believed upon the Lord Jesus.
9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.
Heavy burdens exchanged for the easy yoke.
Heavy burdens exchanged for the easy yoke.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
The imagery here is one of two oxen plowing a field.
A “yoke” is what binds them together which allows them to pull the plow together.
Oxen plow a field with a yoke that keeps them pulling together.
In Jewish society, a Jew was meant to bear the “yoke of the law” (France).
The Rabbi’s would even refer to their own schools of thought as a “yoke” of sorts.
Now the law is not bad but it never gave an individual the power to obey it.
Not only did the law not give a person the power to obey it, the Pharisaic leaders added to the law and threw great burdens on-top of the law that God had given.
But what Jesus says here is amazing.
He says that we are to actually take His yoke upon ourselves.
If you’ve ever seen oxen yoked together, you don’t just place an inexperienced oxen on it’s own.
They’ll place an inexperienced ox with an older one so he may learn as the older one bears more of the weight.
Jesus says if you are weary from the religious system weighing you down, come to Him.
The one who comes to Jesus sees the Son and the Father through the Son. The one who comes to Jesus takes the yoke of the law, but one that Jesus bears the heavy burden.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
I was angry…I had given Him access to the library, the dining room, the living room, the workroom, the playroom, and now He was asking me about a little two-by-four closet.
I said to myself, "This is too much. I am not going to give Him the key."
"Well," He said, reading my thoughts, "if you think I'm going to stay up here on the second floor with this odor, you are mistaken. I will take my bed out on the back porch. I'm certainly not going to put up with that."
Then I saw Him start down the stairs.
When you have come to know and love Christ, the worst thing that can happen is to sense His fellowship retreating from you.
I had to surrender.
"I'll give You the key," I said sadly, "but You'll have to open the closet and clean it out. I haven't the strength to do it."
"I know," He said. "I know you haven't. Just give me the key. Just authorize me to take care of that closet and I will."
So with trembling fingers I passed the key to Him.
He took it from my hand, walked over to the door, opened it, entered it, took out all the putrefying stuff that was rotting there, and threw it away.
Then He cleaned the closet and painted it, fixed it up, doing it all in a moment's time.
Oh, what victory and release to have that dead thing out of my life!
The gracious election of the Father and the bountiful provision from the gentle and lowly Son allow for the burdened and labored to come and find rest for their souls.
The gracious election of the Father and the bountiful provision from the gentle and lowly Son allow for the burdened and labored to come and find rest for their souls.
Benediction
Benediction
