Gentle & Lowly I

Get ready for help from… Old Testament Scripture! ...New Testament Scripture! ...Thomas Goodwin [Puritan; 1600s (1600-1680); The Heart of Christ; most influential voice on Ortlund]. ...Richard Sibbes. ...John Bunyan. ...John Owen. ...Jonathan Edwards. ...Charles Spurgeon. ...B.B. Warfield.

As we seek to more fully discover the heart of Jesus for people like us—sinners & sufferers.

That we would live each day with an awareness of our Lord’s atoning sacrifice on the cross…AND his longing heart for us amid our ongoing struggles, especially our sinfulness.

Hearing the Heart of Jesus [Matthew 11.21-30]

Matthew 11.28-30 “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

“HEART” - Proverbs 4.23 “Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.”

“GENTLE” (‘Lowly’…CSB)

Matthew 5.5 “Blessed are the humble, for they will inherit the earth.” [meek]

Matthew 21.5 “Tell Daughter Zion, “See, your King is coming to you, gentle, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”” [humble; quote of Zechariah 9.9]

1 Peter 3.4 “but rather what is inside the heart—the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”

[Open arms more than a pointed finger.]

“LOWLY” (‘Humble’…CSB)

James 4.6 “But he gives greater grace. Therefore he says: God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Luke 1.52 “he has toppled the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly.” [Mary’s song]

Romans 12.16 “Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation.”

[of low estate, a state among the destitute; Jesus is accessible…and this impacts the application!]

The heart of Jesus...

Not for unrepentant - Matthew 11.21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes long ago.” … Matthew 11.24 “But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

For those who trust Jesus as Savior & Lord - John 6.37 “Everyone the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never cast out.” … Matthew 11.28 ““Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

[TRANSITION: Yes, it is enough for us to listen to Jesus’ claims (assertions) about his heart for his people (sinners & sufferers); HOWEVER, we are blessed with the evidence from his life which lines up PERFECTLY with what he says about his heart! Look…!]

Seeing the Heart of Jesus [Matthew 14.13-21]

Jesus’ life proves (demonstrates) his heart!

Compassion - Matthew 14.13-14 “When Jesus heard about it, he withdrew from there by boat to a remote place to be alone. When the crowds heard this, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a large crowd, had compassion on them, and healed their sick.” [carries on to Matthew 14.15-21 in the feeding of the 5000]

Will - Matthew 8.2-3 “Right away a man with leprosy came up and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Reaching out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying, “I am willing; be made clean.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.” [will = desire, wish]

Friend - Luke 7.34 “The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’” [Jesus’ enemies’ pejorative, he wears as a badge of honor.]

But are we getting out of balance, ignoring God’s (Father, Son, Spirit) wrath?

One, God’s wrath and mercy are not at odds. They rise and fall together. [The greater our sense of God’s judgment…the greater should be our sense of God’s mercy.]

Two, Jesus’ heart is his heart. We are looking into the essence of who he is. What is his default position?

Three, we are looking into the biblical witness about Jesus’ heart. Whatever disproportion we might see, we should be content to sustain it.

Just one more...

Hebrews 12.2 “keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

CONCL—

You might still be tempted to say: “Ok…that was Jesus on earth, with his disciples; BUT WHAT ABOUT TODAY?”

Hebrews 13.8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

This news…challenges us:

Thomas Goodwin - “Men are apt to have contrary conceits of Christ, but he tells them his disposition there, by preventing such hard thoughts of him, to allure them to him the more. We are apt to think that he, being so holy, is therefore of a severe and sour disposition against sinners, and not able to bear them. ‘No,’ says he, ‘I am meek; gentleness is my nature and temper.’” (Goodwin, The Heart of Christ, Banner of Truth, 2011, p. 63)

“…and you will find rest for your souls.” [Ortlund: “He (Jesus) astounds and sustains us with his endless kindness.” (p. 22)

Matthew 11:29 CSB

Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

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