"I Will Give You Rest" Matthew 11b_Oct 17 2021

Greeting & Scripture Reading

Hi everyone - excited to have you with us

We’ll be finishing Matthew 11 today

Please open your Bibles - starting in verse 20 of Chapter 11:

Mt 11:20-30

English Standard Version Chapter 11

Woe to Unrepentant Cities

20 Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”

Come to Me, and I Will Give You Rest

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.”

(pray…)

We’ve been studying the amazing Gospel of Matthew

The genealogy and birth of Christ

Matthew 1:23 ESV

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

And then we read about all the drama which revolved around the young Jesus

The wise men

And the crazy jealousy of King Herod who sought to kill Jesus

Then he killed all the male children in Bethlehem - but Joseph was warned by the Lord to flee to Egypt

And when Herod died, Joseph, being led by the Lord, settled his family in Nazareth

In Chapter 3, we read about John the Baptist who preached repentance and who baptized Jesus

After being baptized, Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil

Jesus began his ministry by going to Galilee and taking up residence in Capernaum

His early ministry consisted of:

1.) Preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

2.) Calling Simon Peter, and his brother Andrew to follow him - so he could make them “fishers of men”

3.) Going throughout all of Galilee preaching the “gospel of the kingdom” and healing “every disease and every affliction”

Chapters 5-7: SOTM

Chapter 8 & 9 contain wonderful stories of the teachings of Jesus - and how he personally healed many people

Chapter 10: Jesus sends out his Twelve - short term mission

Last week, the first part of Chapter 11:

John the Baptist is in prison

And he sends his disciples to find out if Jesus was indeed the Messiah

We learned how to cope during a crisis - and that our circumstances can warp our perception of the Lord when we focus on them, and not on him

And now we’re at the last half of Chapter 11

As you preach through the Bible - sometimes it’s hard to identify the main point of a given passage - and to utilize an appropriate life application

The opposite is true with the NT epistles, particularly Pauline letters

He usually makes his point crystal-clear

And there is clearly defined main point, and usually, a clear life application

But many parts of the Bible, particularly in the OT, is just narrative and contains no commentary

Even the Gospels themselves can be tricky - to adequately exegete a passage

Thankfully, the last 10 verses in Chapter 11 are clear to interpret

The answer is given to us in verse 20, as I earlier read:

“Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done…because the did not repent.”

This passage is about repentance

It is mostly the words of Jesus

It draws a vast comparison: when people fail to repent - and when people repent and come to the Lord

Here is my summary of verses 20-30 in Chapter 11 of Matthew:

Our biggest need in life is Jesus.

Grace & peace meet us when we acknowledge our need and turn to him.

God's wrath and judgment meet us when we ignore that need.

God’s wrath and God’s peace are in this passage

When Jesus said, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you Bethsaida!” - he was pronouncing judgment on them

Jesus healed the people, based on their needs, but they ignored their greatest need: to accept the gospel of Jesus

Jesus is essentially saying that he did these mighty works of compassion for these people

But the people rejected him

They took advantage of his works, but rejected the one who did the works

Remember? He healed the blind, deaf, and lame. He cleansed the lepers. He raised the dead to life!

And he also preached the gospel

And in verse 6, he said, “And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

When the gospel is preached, it requires a response of repentance and obedience

Imagine - you are in God’s court:

You are charged as a guilty sinner

God has plenty of evidence against you

You are facing eternal hell

You can either plead guilty, or not-guilty

Either way, you face eternal judgment

But this court offers a “repentance” provision - it goes along with your guilty plea

You plead guilty, but you can take advantage of the legal provision of repentance

You tell the judge you’re sorry for your sins - and by claiming the blood of Jesus, you repent

Which simply means you turn from your sins - and turn to Jesus

Your repentance provision unlocks the payment for your guilt - which Jesus made on the cross

And you are Set Free

Could you imagine such a provision in an earthly court today?

You are charged with murder - and you plea guilty, but then tell the judge you’re sorry and you turn from your murderous ways

And judge becomes angry for even suggesting such a thing

You say, “No, really - I’m sorry! Is there anyone who can pay my debt instead of me?”

Could you imagine??

Do you see how much grace God extends to us?

We can only catch a glimpse of how much he loves us

We will spend all of eternity learning about his infinite grace for us

Do you see how repentance is full of God’s grace and love for us? That he even allows for that provision?

Jesus was saying he did mighty works for them - he personally healed them and cleansed them - and personally made the dead come to life

He touched the unclean and made them clean

He loved the people, and showed compassion and did mighty works among them

But some of them rejected him! Some of them were offended by who he was

I believe our circumstances and afflictions are intended to drive us to the Lord

We face negative circumstances, but Jesus does a mighty work - his kindness leads us to godly repentance

You ask: “When did Jesus do a mighty work for me?”

He died for you on a cross and rose from the grave!

He lives so that you may live!

Some of you were blind to what your life was all about - and he made you see the truth

Some of you could not hear the truth - and he opened your ears

Some of you could not walk in the path of righteousness - and you now walk closely with him

Some of you were unclean, like a leper - and Jesus touched you and made you whole

Some of you were dead in your sins - but you’re now alive in Christ

You had the gospel preached to you - and you were not offended

Please listen to this

You may have needs in your life because of what you’re going through

But your greatest need will always be for Jesus

There is a hell for those who continually defend themselves and defend their sin

There is a heaven for those who repent and believe

To repent means to turn to Jesus - but it also means you finally get honest with yourself and God

Repentance means to agree with God that you need him

Everyone in the world needs Jesus

Everyone needs to repent

Our biggest need in life is Jesus.

Grace & peace meet us when we acknowledge our need and turn to him.

God's wrath and judgment meet us when we ignore that need

Obviously, Jesus has no problem with wise and smart people - he was condemning the arrogant - those who thought they were wise and smart

There are many warnings to the arrogant person throughout the entire Bible

You see that in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Proverbs. Even Job

Even Mt 13:11

Matthew 13:11 ESV

And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.

There is a theme in the Bible - where God shows preference to the humble

We even saw it in the SOTM:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit...”

“Blessed are the meek...”

“Blessed are the pure in heart...”

People who are hard-hearted - who shut off the gospel - who pride themselves on the idea that they have no need of God

They are the ones who are blind to their need

You are the only one in the universe who has the power to keep the God of the universe from forgiving you

Think about that for a moment

I love our country

America is great, but our vast freedoms can cloud our true need:

If you go to jail and cannot afford an attorney one will be appointed for you

If you can’t pay your taxes, you can negotiate a settlement

If you get sick, you have the world’s greatest medical technology available 24/7

And so on...

A lot of people go around in life in general comfort - they never get honest with themselves - they never agree with God

And their greatest need is invisible to them

In verse 28 Jesus gives us comfort food, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

But in order to come to him, you need to repent of our sins

Your sins are the only thing which has separated you from God

And your hard heart which keep us that way

Soften your heart to Jesus because he will give you rest

The gospel gives us rest from those who burden under legalism

It gives us rest from anxiety in life when we think we have to do it all by ourselves

The gospel promises that we can finally rest in Jesus - he is our Sabbath rest - and we are free from guilt and shame

When we take his yoke, that means we learn from him

He is the creator of the universe - but he is gentle and lowly in heart

When we come to him, we find rest for our souls

What sort of religion teaches this, or promises this

We don’t work for our salvation like other religions, because he is our salvation

That’s why his yoke is easy and his burden is light

We can cast all of our cares on him

We abide in him

He is our true Shepherd who leaves the 99 to come after me

He is our Advocate - he prays for us & he will never let us go

Our Mediator

He is the Resurrection and the Life

He is our Rock

He's the Alpha and the Omega - the first and the last

He is the True Vine - and our Messiah

He was a carpenter - and Light of the world at the same time

He is the image of the invisible God

He is my Savior - and he is the author and finisher of my faith

The King of kings - Lord of lords and the Prince of peace

He is the only begotten Son

The Son of Man - the Son of God

The Way, Truth and Life

He is my Redeemer

He is Immanuel, God with us

I want to close and pray in just a minute

When you repent, of course you are turning away from your sins

But you also turn to who Jesus is - not just what Jesus did or said

You are turning to the biblical Jesus

It’s more than an intellectual acknowledgement

When you repent, you’re essentially saying to the Lord, “I’m not offended by who you are. I accept who you are and I accept that you are Lord of my life.”

(pray…)