Come To Me

Matthew 11:28 (NKJV)

28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

pray

Confession of Faith

I am not moved by what I see or by what I feel. I am moved by what I believe. I believe the WORD of God! The victory is mine! I have it now! I can see it through the eyes of my faith! In Jesus Name

The Great Invitation

Jesus is talking to us today! He is actually telling us that he is aware of the challenges we are going through!

So he paints two pictures in this passage of scripture.

The first picture is of extreme weariness.

Now this may be you! You have gone as far as you can go!

You can’t go no farther— You cannot take another step.

The other picture is of extreme pressure.

This is you - all the craziness in your life and you are about to explode

You can’t take any more

It doesn’t matter what is causing the weariness or the pressure or the heavy burdens).

It does not matter because this invitation is open to everyone!

Doesn't matter at all! Whatever you are going through, what ever is troubling you, what ever is keeping you up at night or waking you up in the middle of the night

this invitation from Jesus is for you!

I read it! Over and Over again! It didn’t change...

I read it in the New Living Translation

Matthew 11:28 (NLT)

28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

I read it in the NIV

Matthew 11:28 (NIV84)

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

I read it in the The Living Bible

Matthew 11:28 (The Living Bible)

28 Come to me and I will give you rest—all of you who work so hard beneath a heavy yoke.

It is a simple invitation, requiring so little and offering so much.

Rest:

The first great invitation From Jesus is "Come unto me."

Who is he inviting ?

If you are tired - You’re Invited

If you are burdened - You’re Invited

If you are laboring - You’re Invited

If you are exhausted - You’re Invited

If you are feeling sad - You’re Invited

If you are extremely tired - You’re Invited If you feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders - You’re Invited

If you are exhausted - You’re Invited

If you feel used - You’re Invited

If you have been abused - You’re Invited

If you feel lonely - You’re Invited

If you feel like you are ready to collapse - You’re Invited

If you feel like you are ready to stop - You’re Invited

Some of the things that exhaust us are...

• Work; being overburdened with too much to do

• Worldliness and carnality - feeding fleshly pleasure

• Sin and guilt and the power of both

• Money & material possessions and the unsatisfying spirit of both

• Fame and the emptiness of it

• Power and the loneliness of it

• The rituals and traditions of religion

• Rules and regulations

Not knowing the truth of life is one of the major causes of exhaustion.

Many people are Searching for truth but they never coming to the truth

That right there - discourages, exasperates, exhausts, and burdens.

That thing will cause you to beat yourself up mentally and emotionally! Leaving this empty, uncertain, and insecure about the future.

Pastor - Why Should I accept the invitation from Jesus and Come?

Because Jesus will give you rest!

Matthew 11:28 (NKJV)

28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Jesus will give rest to the struggling and despairing soul

Jesus will give rest to the empty and lonely soul

Hear me - Jesus will give you rest no matter how intense the struggle and despair

Jesus will give you rest no matter the emptiness and loneliness.

Jesus will give you rest from the hard decisions, the past hurts, the current disappointment

No person has gone so far - that Jesus Christ can’t give them rest

You just come !

He said "I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28):

Come to Jesus and he will give you the Rest Of Salvation

You can rest when you know that you are saved!

Come to Jesus and he will give you the the Rest of Deliverance

This is rest of deliverance from the slavery and bondage of sin

Jesus can deliver you from the habit’s that damage your body

Jesus can deliver you from the habits that destroy your soul

I’m talking about a rest - that comes to your heart and mind when that struggle with sin is over

Listen - this rest that comes from Jesus is not about

• is not rest that comes through religion or being a part of a denomination (as important as that is).

• this rest that comes from Jesus is not about positive thinking (as important as it is).

• this rest that comes from Jesus is not about getting the counsel of true and reliable friends (as important as it is).

Matthew 11:28 (AMP)

28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]

This rest occurs when we come to Jesus and allow him to “cause us to rest”

When we allow him “ease our souls”

When we allow him “relieve our souls”

When we allow him to “refresh our souls”

The answer to rest is coming to Jesus Christ.

Rest is available, but we have to come to Jesus Christ in order to receive the rest of God.

Isaiah 55:1 (NIV84)

1 “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.

Revelation 22:17 (NKJV)

17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.

Isaiah 1:18 (NCV)

18 The Lord says, “Come, let us talk about these things. Though your sins are like scarlet, they can be as white as snow. Though your sins are deep red, they can be white like wool.

Matthew 11:29 (NKJV)

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.

What Is A Yoke

A yoke is a wooden collar that is placed on an animal so that the owner can control it.  

It is Very similar to a bridle on a horse,

A yoke is a means to allow the driver to direct the animal.   

Many Times the yoke is wide enough and has two collars for two animals.

A farmer would say that two animals that are in wooden collars together are “yoked.”    ‘

Animals that were yoked together could do more work than being independent of each other.   

Often new animals would be yoked together with bigger ones so that the big animal could carry the burden while training the younger one to carry the load. 

In other words, the younger animal often had a lighter or easier “yoke” during it’s training years.

The Second Invitation

The second great invitation is, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me."

Matthew 11:29 (AMP)

29 Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls.

It’s time for me to learn Jesus! Not Learn about him - but to know him for myself!

Many of us have learned the world and the things of the world! Many of us have learned church and religion and the things of church and religion! But not many of us have learned Jesus!

He said learn of me!

Can I be honest…

Many of us don’t want to learn of Jesus because it will change us,

Many of us don’t want to learn of Jesus because it will transform us,

Many of us don’t want to learn of Jesus because it will move us,

Many of us don’t want to learn of Jesus because it will challenge us,

Many of us don’t want to learn of Jesus because it will scare us

The first thing that Jesus tells us when getting to learn him and putting on his yoke is that he is meek, considerate and understanding, mild and gentle, longsuffering and encouraging!

The second thing that Jesus tells us when getting to learn him and putting on his yoke is that we will find rest!

Hebrews 4:1–3b (NLT)

1 God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it.

2 For this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God.

3 For only we who believe can enter his rest. As for the others, God said, “In my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest,’ ” even though this rest has been ready since he made the world.

Matthew 11:30 (NCV)

30 The burden that I ask you to accept is easy; the load I give you to carry is light.”

Putting on the yoke of Jesus will cause the flesh to rebel! Our flesh wants to do what it wants to do and have it’s way!

Just like the oxen they rebel when the yoke is first put on! But they soon learn that it eased the burden of pulling! So this yoke for us is our life! We have been working hard at this life task, pulling, working and trying to make it happen!

Now it’s time to change! Let Jesus do the heavy work!

When we put on his yoke - it has an individual fit! His yoke fits just right for you as it fits just right for me!

Jesus is telling us is saying that His yoke, His life and his tasks, are fitted to an individual.

His yoke is just what we need and it is easy!,

1 Peter 5:7 (NKJV)

7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

Hebrews 4:15 (The Message)

15 We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin.

Every man , Every woman, Every child has their yoke,

Every one of us has our life to live and our task to do while on earth.

From birth we learns from others how to live and how to do our task. S

This world is a hard teacher!

This world is a hard task master and most of courses we have taken in life lead to exhaustion and living under heavy burdens.

The only one who can teach and assure true rest (of body, mind, and spirit) is Jesus Christ,

The only yoke that really fits and proves to be easy is the life and task of Jesus Christ.

John 10:10 (NKJV)

10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Start Today - Start your Journey of Learning Jesus! Let’s allow the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords to Transform us and experience the rest, and have the life and the life of promised abundance!

God Bless You!