CHRIST CALLS US TO REST

CHRIST CALLS US TO REST

Matthew 11:28-30

INTRODUCTION

Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King Charles I of England, lies buried in Newport Church, in the Isle of Wight. During the time of her father’s trouble, she was a prisoner in Carisbrook Castle, in the same beautiful island. While there she had a long period of illness. She was found one day dead in her bed with her Bible open before her ad her finger resting on these words, “Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

I. JESUS OFFERS REST IN HIM

The Lord Jesus is the inexhaustible person. Only He can stand

before all times and places with an offer to give everyone who

comes to Him rest.

We can hardly sustain ourselves and those who need us. For us

the weariness of sustaining one other in deep need depletes.

A. Jesus is a river of rest

Unlike us, Jesus offers a river of rest that runs ever fresh from its highland sources.

His offer never gets smaller, and never stops running.

The more He gives rest the more He seems to have to give.

B. Jesus gives rest from our sin burden

Jesus offers us the initial rest of salvation. We can never rest

until we know for certain the guilt and alienation from God has

been removed.

There is deeper rest beyond the initial rest.

That is the rest of wearing His yoke.

Jesus offers initial and continual rest to all who come to Him.

II. JESUS OFFERS REST IN SALVATION

Every religious movement and each spiritual leaders offers rest.

Even philosophical schools claim to give satisfaction from the

tensions of life.

Towering over them all, Jesus PROMISES rest to everyone weary of

the struggle for meaningful existence.

A. Jesus Offers His Rest in a Great Invitation

"Come to me..." His word is both a command that pushes us and an

invitation that draws us. This is an invitation from Jesus'

sovereignty. Only Jesus has the royal authority to command us to

approach Him. Consider how absurd these words would sound from

anyone else. His words ring with an urgency. It could be

translated "Hither to me, now." Life traps us in a bog of quick

sand, unless Christ calls us up and out, we sink. Our Lord's

invitation is to a personality, not just a theology. He does not

call us to an institution, organization, ceremony, or ritual. He

calls us to Himself. 2 verses reverberate with the personal

pronouns ME, I, MY. Rest comes ONLY from the person of Christ.

B. Jesus Offers Rest Specifically to Those Invited

Those who are actively toiling and those passively loaded down in

life. Besides those who live on the merely animal level, most

experience the toil and weight of life. In our toil we seek

fulfillment in human work. But work becomes labor and labor

becomes toil. Beyond our jobs, there is a lacerating toil to

find meaning in human existence. On top of this, we passively

bear the loads of life. The loads include the religious

expectations placed on us by others. Religion can place burden on

our relief (Matt. 23:4), while others command from you what they

themselves cannot perform (ACTS 15:10). Jesus invites those who

are exhausted in the rat race of religion and bent over with the

dead weight of impossible expectations.

C. Jesus Offers Spiritual Rest

The source of this rest is personal, "I [myself] will give you

rest" (v.28) Spiritual rest does not come from reflection,

ritual, or religious activity. Rest comes from the PERSON of

JESUS CHRIST. In that regard His rest is contrasted with the

promises of others. Unlike the Pharisees, He can give the power

to be and to do what He requires. Christians experience

REST-IN-RELATIONSHIP. The significance of His rest is that of

pause, recovery, refreshment. Christ gives rest from guilt,

disfavor with God, and bondage to our own lusts. His cross rests

us from guilt. His righteousness attributed to us rests us from

disfavor with God. His life in us releases us from bondage to

desire.

III. JESUS OFFERS REST IN SUBMISSION

Beyond the initial rest of salvation, there is a deeper rest in

submission. At the beginning of the Christian life we experience

recovery. Under the continuing lordship of Christ, we enter into

deep rest. We discover the paradox...Christ places a yoke on us

that lifts us up.

A. We Should Face the Necessity of a Yoke

Absolute freedom is absolute illusion. To be "free" in such a

way is to experience the bondage of self-absorption, live life on

the level of mere self-satisfaction. That is a yoke that chafes

and drags down. You will wear a yoke...your own, someone else's,

or the yoke of Christ.

B. We May Experience the Superiority of Jesus' Yoke

By Jesus' time, the word "yoke" was already a common term for

discipline, obligation, instruction. To wear Jesus' yoke means

to learn from Him, to become His disciple. This learning has to

do with His Person, learning about Him from the Gospels and

experiencing Him in the circumstances of daily life.

Self-satifaction and self-delusion harness us with a yoke that

exhausts. Jesus places on us a yoke that lifts us up.

ILL: It is like harnessing yourself in a hang glider...a moment

of weight and then the strange UNSEEN UPLIFT.

C. There is a Simplicity in Jesus' Yoke

That simplicity is one of method and manner. He is gentle and

mild. Compared to the unapproachable, hard, and haughty teachers

that sometimes represent God, Jesus receives us with meekness.

He is not proud, impulsive, ambitious, or desiring dominion over

the minds of people. This is not merely true of the external

demeanor of Jesus, but pierces to His very heart. Some may

assume an attitude of humility. He is the very essence of it.

D. The Significance of the rest Resides in its Quality

His easy yoke and light burden gives rest to the soul. The cry

of the Old Testament was, "Ask where the good way is, and ...you

will find rest for your souls" (Jer.6:16). This great invitation

to rest preceded the cross. Jesus does not tell us how He will

provide the rest. We see that in His death, resurrection, and

presence (Ro.5:1;8:1). It is enough that He promises. When we

know the who, we need not wonder about the how.