I will Give You Rest

I will Give You Rest

Text: Matthew 11:28–30 (KJV 1900)

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 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.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Introduction:

* In the book of Ecclesiastes, we find a passage of Scripture that explains a lot about life.

Ecclesiastes 7:14 (KJV 1900)

14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.

* In this passage, we see the contrast of two kinds of days, days meaning periods or seasons in life.

* On the one hand we see days of prosperity and joy, and then on the other hand we see days of adversity, troubles and trials.

* Now after pointing out this contrast between seasons or periods of life, then Solomon states a wise principle from God’s Word that is true in the life of every person born to the human race.

* Here is the principle simply stated:

* In the natural world, God has set up life so that our good days will interrupted by bad days.

*The good days and the bad days have been “stacked up” one against the other so that, for the natural man, the man who does not have a relationship with God, life cannot be satisfying.

Proverbs 27:20 (KJV 1900)

20 Hell and destruction are never full; So the eyes of man are never satisfied.

* Simply stated, God has “stacked the deck” against the natural man, who does not seek to know his Creator.

* The reason God does not want anyone’s life to be all good days, is so that we will find no satisfaction in life itself.

* Most people are engaged in the process of finding meaning and purpose in life.

* Everybody is searching for how to live the “good life.”

* If you have lived very long at all you will have noticed that the “good life,” a life of happiness and meaning seems to always be just out of reach like a carrot on a string.

* We live in a day when there seems to be not enough time. We are constantly in a dead run to get through life.

• In the human condition that we all find ourselves in the lure of, or searching for something better — something more than what we have — this wearying search goes on to the grave, with us as human beings.

• The temptation to go for it is often so strong, it blinds us to consequences . . . it creates an irresistible “itch” that begs to be scratched.

* As a result, we don’t take the time to ponder life and what life is all about.

* We live in such a rush that we are no longer in touch with true reality.

* When some catastrophic event in life happens, the true reality of life jolts us out of our hypnotic state.

* When the reality of life lifts its ugly head, then we are unprepared and don’t know what to do.

* I’m talking about when the doctor says I have some bad news. Or when your employer says we are going to have to let you go.

* Or when you wake up one day and realize that your marriage is over and everything you had lived for is gone.

* Or even when you finally make to the top, you have found the “good life” but now you wake up and realize that you are still not happy.

* You have all kinds of money, plenty of friends, good health- but you are still not happy. Life still has no satisfaction.

* Or maybe when you wake up out of life’s hypnosis and realize that you are now old, and all of your life is spent, gone, and all you have left is emptiness and sickness. Life no longer has any satisfaction.

* The book of Ecclesiastes is a journal of one man’s maddening search for happiness and meaning in life.

* The man who wrote Ecclesiastes was the wisest, and one of the richest men who ever lived.

* This man had the know-how and the money to closely examine every aspect of life.

* No matter what the project, Solomon he had the brains and the money to carry it out.

* The book of Ecclesiastes is the record of a desperate journey to find satisfaction in life.

* You don’t have to be a Bible scholar to realize that Solomon’s outlook on life was pretty bleak.

* Solomon, a man of great wisdom, went through a maddening period in his life when everything in life had lost its luster.

* He had risen to the top, plenty of money, the finest education, all the time in the world he needed to do anything he wanted to do- but nothing was satisfying!

* With clenched fists and cynical words, Solomon called into question the most basic issues of the human existence.

* Solomon kept a journal of that dark and desperate journey that has been preserved for all to read.

* The book of Ecclesiastes is not just the story of one man’s experience, but it is the story of everyone who attempts to live their life apart from God.

* Solomon, the son of King David, the wisest man who ever lived, came to the reality that nothing in life is worthwhile- everything is futile.

I. Solomon discovered that everything in life “under the sun” Is Meaningless without God.

* Solomon uses the phrase “under the sun” to describe a life that is lived apart from God. “Under the son” is repeated twenty-nine times in the Hebrew Old Testament and all of these times are in Ecclesiastes.

* Life “under the sun” is a realm characterized by the grievous labor and endless cycles of life.

* Life “under the sun” is a life characterized by injustice and wickedness, and it is a short lifespan according to Solomon.

* “Life “under the sun” represents the life of a person who only lives for the material world of earthly pleasures and chance. – The life of the natural man, a man without God.

* “Life under the sun” is the human experience considered apart from God.

* In today’s world, the philosophical equivalents of this “natural man,” a man who experiences the world without God, would be secular humanism or the philosophy that humanity is supreme in the universe.

* The natural man holds the philosophy of materialism (that the physical universe is all there is.)

* These philosophies are at the root and focus of our modern day education systems in the world. This is what our children are taught about life.

* What Solomon said, and let me read it for you again,

Ecclesiastes 7:14 (KJV 1900)

14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.

* What Solomon says here pertains to the man who lives apart from God.

* These are the experiences and conclusions of a person who does not know and remember his creator.

* What Solomon is trying to convey to the reader is that his journey through life has taught him that outside of God, life is meaningless, futile, and unsatisfying. Listen to the words of Solomon:

Chapter 1

These are the words of the Teacher,* King David’s son, who ruled in Jerusalem.

2 “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”

3 What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? 4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. 5 The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again. 6 The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles. 7 Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea.

8 Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.

9 History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. 10 Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new. 11 We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.

12 I, the Teacher, was king of Israel, and I lived in Jerusalem. 13 I devoted myself to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done under heaven. I soon discovered that God has dealt a tragic existence to the human race.

14 I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind.

15 What is wrong cannot be made right. What is missing cannot be recovered.

16 I said to myself, “Look, I am wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I have greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them.”

17 So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly. But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind.

18 The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief.

To increase knowledge only increases sorrow

* All of this, these observations of the realities of Life, create in us a weariness.

* Life becomes burden to live. We become weary of life, and we desperately need rest from this wearisome world!

Jesus came to give the weary rest.

* If you are with Solomon this morning, the painful realities of life, and sometimes death, have vexed you to the place that you are weary of life,

I want to remind you that Jesus said He came to make life worth living. Our Text this morning says:

Matthew 11:28–30 (KJV 1900)

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

* If your yoke is too heavy to bear this morning, then you have been trying to bear your burdens alone in your own strength.

* When we find ourselves vexed and burdened to the point of desperation, then Jesus calls us to let Him get in the yoke with us and Help us carry the weight of our burdens.

* When our soul is in despair the Holy Spirit drives us to our knees to pray!

* The Holy Spirit drives us worship when we become small in our own eyes! When we are humbled and dwarfed by our burdens, the Spirit of God drives us to worship the one who is greater than our circumstances!

* I think of the gentile woman who came to Jesus burdened for her daughter, she humbled herself and worshiped Jesus in her grief, and Jesus said of her that she had great faith and he helped her with her burden!

* Speaking of his Sheep, the saved, Jesus also said in John 10:10:

John 10:10 (KJV 1900)

10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

* It is significant this morning that Jesus didn’t just say, I came to give them life, He also added that He came so that His sheep would live life abundantly!

* So here is the problem for which we need and answer this morning- How do we go from being weary of life, to living life abundantly?

* How do we get out of this funk that we are in?

* Well the answer is we need to quit trying to life in our own strength and step in to the yoke with Jesus!

Text: Matthew 11:28–30 (KJV 1900)

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

* Life is easier when you are in the yoke with Jesus! Solomon said that life without God was wearisome and hard, but Jesus said that if we come to Him, He will give us rest for our souls!

* How about you this morning? Are you weary of life? Have the harsh blows of this life beaten you down to the point of despair?

* To the person here this morning who has not yet trusted in Jesus for salvation- are you tired of trying to live a life good enough to get to heaven? Are you tired of failing yet?

* You don’t have to work your way to heaven! Stop wearing yourself out trying to please God by living a good life! You can’t do it anyway!

* In our text Jesus says stop wearing yourself trying to work your way into heaven. Just come to me, and trust me!

* To the unsaved man Jesus is saying “I did all the work when I died on the cross! You don’t need to do any work, get in the yoke with me and just trust me to save you from your sin!

* There are some of us here this morning that have been saved, we stepped into the yoke with Jesus many years ago when we realized that we could not get to heaven on our efforts. We came to Jesus and we fully trusted in Him to save us.

* But what happens sometimes to saved folks is that they don’t stay in the yoke with Jesus, and they don’t continue to trust Jesus to help them with the rest of their life.

* If we are not careful, we will begin to feel like we can handle life on our own. Oh, for a while we will feel like – “Ok Jesus, you got me past the problem of my sins condemning me to Hell, you have been really great, I appreciate everything that you have done. I can take it from here now!”

* We forget that we are yoked together with Jesus for a reason- we don’t have the power to live life by ourselves!

* We try to control life on our own, thinking all is well until one day our plans come crashing down around our ears and all of a sudden life is too hard to handle! We become weary of life!

* So what is the answer then? The answer is to step back into the yoke with Jesus! You say, how do I do that?

* The answer is really simple, humble yourself before God again like before. Make your self small in your own eyes again.

* Stop thinking you can control your life, and begin again to let Jesus bear the weight of the yoke. Stop fighting and trying to do your own thing, and rest in the fact that Jesus is in the yoke with you. Rest in His strength!

* Now when this begins to take place, it is made evident by our worship.

* We worship Jesus, because we recognize that He is higher, and greater, and more powerful than we are.

* This is the essence of the Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 5:3–4 (KJV 1900)

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

* A person who is living his or her life in the pride own strength feels no need to worship Christ, because they see themselves as greater than Christ.

Proverbs 16:18 (KJV 1900)

18 Pride goeth before destruction, And an haughty spirit before a fall.

* The Christian, who instead of living in the yoke with Jesus, lives in his own pride will crash one day, finding himself weary of life, ready to perish, and like Peter will begin to sink amidst the waves and winds of life.

* When we find ourselves sinking, weary of life, like Peter we need to call out to the one who is higher than us, that he might reach down his hand and save us from the storms of this life.

* The person who thinks that they can life their life in their own strength, believe that they are able to figure life out all by themselves- by this, they in essence, become their own God, and they worship and glorify themselves instead of Christ.

* After we are saved, if we wish to have peace and fullness of joy, if we wish to live that abundant life that Jesus promises to give us in our text, then we must stay in the yoke with Jesus:

John 15:3–5 (KJV 1900)

3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

* Christian, are you tired of trying to handle life by yourself? Have you become weary of living? Like David?

Psalm 43:5 (KJV 1900)

5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me?

Hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, Who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

Text: Matthew 11:28–30 (KJV 1900)

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 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.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

II. God chooses our destiny and it is unknown and uncertain to us.

A. God chooses our destiny.

Ecclesiastes 6:10–12 (NLT)

10 Everything has already been decided. It was known long ago what each person would be. So there’s no use arguing with God about your destiny.

11 The more words you speak, the less they mean. So what good are they?

12 In the few days of our meaningless lives, who knows how our days can best be spent? Our lives are like a shadow. Who can tell what will happen on this earth after we are gone?

B. As far as we are concerned, life will always be uncertain.

Chapter 11

The Uncertainties of Life

Ecclesiastes 11 (NLT)

1 Send your grain across the seas, and in time, profits will flow back to you.* 2 But divide your investments among many places,* for you do not know what risks might lie ahead. 3 When clouds are heavy, the rains come down. Whether a tree falls north or south, it stays where it falls. 4 Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest. 5 Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb,* so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things. 6 Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both.

III. Solomon’s Advice for Young and Old. “Remember your creator while you are still young.”

A. Youth is good, live it to it’s fullest

7 Light is sweet; how pleasant to see a new day dawning.

8 When people live to be very old, let them rejoice in every day of life.

But let them also remember there will be many dark days. everything still to come is meaningless.

9 Young people,* it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do. 10 So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy. But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless.

B. Live for God while you are young, because dark days are coming when you grow old.

Chapter 12

Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.”

2 Remember him before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is dim to your old eyes, and rain clouds continually darken your sky. 3 Remember him before your legs—the guards of your house—start to tremble; and before your shoulders—the strong men—stoop. Remember him before your teeth—your few remaining servants—stop grinding; and before your eyes—the women looking through the windows—see dimly.

4 Remember him before the door to life’s opportunities is closed and the sound of work fades. Now you rise at the first chirping of the birds, but then all their sounds will grow faint.

5 Remember him before you become fearful of falling and worry about danger in the streets; before your hair turns white like an almond tree in bloom, and you drag along without energy like a dying grasshopper, and the caperberry no longer inspires sexual desire. Remember him before you near the grave, your everlasting home, when the mourners will weep at your funeral.

6 Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken. Don’t wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well. 7 For then the dust will return to the earth, and

the spirit will return to God who gave it.

IV. The conclusion of Solomon’s quest for satisfaction in life.

Ecclesiastes 12:13–14 (NLT)

13 That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. 14 God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.

• This book stands as timeless proof that without God, apart from His presence and His approval, nothing satisfies!