I'm gonna ask you to take your
Bibles and turn with me to book of Matthew chapter 11. Matthew chapter 11. I would like to look at one verse
of scripture, a verse that we have looked at many times. I was looking over my notes over
the last years. I've spoken out of this passage
numerous times, but it's a passage of scripture that came back to
my heart here a few days ago. And whenever a verse of scripture
comes to my heart, I can't get it off my mind. That's where
I want to go. Matthew chapter 11, In verse
28, the Spirit of God moved upon
the writer to pen these words. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. Years ago, when I first got here. Brother Scott came up to me one
day, and he always had, oh, I say always, many times, he had something,
something he'd want to say, share with me. The way he would do
it, he'd come up and he'd say, I've got something for you. And I knew that what that meant,
that there'd been something that he'd been reading, studying,
mulling over, musing on, something that had blessed his heart, a
word of comfort, a word of encouragement for him. And it was always to
me too, you know, because of our relationship. And this particular
day, I was looking at these words again in this precious book,
Matthew 11. And I want to repeat the words
of brother Scott. I think the Lord has given me
something for you and I'd like to share it with you from God's
word. I want to set forth that which
is a help to all who are struggling. Now, if you're, if you're not
struggling, If everything's good, everything's fine, everything
is going well, if you have no problem with sin, no problem
with the things of this world, no problems that would direct
your mind, cause you to be taken off top dead center, if you have
no problems whatsoever, well then I probably don't have anything
for you. But if you have, problems, sin,
Satan, this world. If you're like me ever in need,
spiritual need of some encouragement, encouragement. Encouragement for a needy soul. Those of you that find yourself
needing help. help that only the Lord can give. Only the Lord can give now, right
now, right now. I don't want to go back, as many
do, to some experience. Well, I remember years ago when
I was in a revival, and Brother So-and-So was preaching, gave
an invitation, I remember. I went down, I went down the
aisle and gave my heart to the Lord. I'm gonna tell you something,
I did that. In fact, I did it, I think, three
times. I did it time after time after
time because I got worked up and I got, you know, felt I had
a need at that moment. Some man told me I had to do
something. If I'm going through, you need
to rededicate. You need to re-up. You need to
something. But you know, when all the hoopla
was over, I went back to the same thing. I had the same problems. I had the same emptiness. I want to share with you what
every weak and frail creature of dust needs. I want to share with you what
only stands in the time of trouble. And here's what it is. It is
God's word, blessed to your heart, my heart, in the time of need. Again, I don't wanna go back
when I was in the ninth grade. Water under the bridge, I don't
remember. I don't even remember really if I ever was in the ninth
grade. I need something tonight. I need something now in an hour
of great need. And this passage of scripture
came back to my memory, providentially brought back to my memory, and
proved to be a great help and comfort to my heart. I needed
help from my soul. That which settles, settles fear,
settles that unsettledness of my old ways, old thoughts. I need some truth. I need the word of almighty God
in loving kindness, gentleness, and assurance to this frail creature. Does that mean I'm not gonna
have any trouble? Oh my. No. No. I'm telling you, we're born for
trouble. Trouble is what we're in all
the time. This world is troublesome. trials, tribulation, pressure,
heavy burdens. But if you found yourself in
a place like this, I got something for you. I've got something.
It's something that is stable, sure, foundation. And here's what it is. Come unto me. Come unto me. Now, this is what
the Lord says. Come unto me, all ye that labor. Now, you know that I've told
you before, whenever we come to a word, look it up. We always think we know what
it means. We don't know what it means. Come unto me, all ye
that labor. Weary, tired, exhausted. weary, tired, exhausted, coming
to me all ye that labor, and are heavy laden. Well, wouldn't
that be the same thing? No, no, it's not the same thing.
If it was the same thing, the Lord wouldn't have said the same
thing twice. It's two different things. Here's
what it is, a burden of rights, R-I-T-E-S. Rules and regulations and religious
Come unto me, all ye that labor weary, tired, and exhausted of
trying to be right before God by your own religious works. It makes sense, don't it? Oh,
I think to myself, how often did I find myself trying my best
to feel good about myself because of what I was doing. Come unto
me, all ye that labor heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Now
here's something. I'll give you the privilege. The privilege, the mission. I'll
give you the privilege. to rest, to rest in your soul. You try to settle yourself down.
You just try to settle. Let me ask you this. Have you
ever, have you ever woken up in the middle of the night and
there's something that you just been thinking about and you just
can't shake it? How quickly did you talk yourself
out of it? Okay, that's it, I'm done. I'm
done. I'm not gonna worry with that
anymore. I'm not gonna think about it anymore. And you can't get
rid of it. What did you want? I wanted to
rest. I wanted to settle down, Mitch.
I wanted to be able to sleep. I wanted to find some comfort. Man, by nature, promises people
comfort and assurance and peace and need. by religious rights
come unto me, all ye, what an expansive word, all, all ye that
labor. This is a present word, a present
need. These are words of right now
from the great physician. I'm living right now. I've told
you before, I can't change yesterday. And tomorrow I'll never get here.
Everything is right now. Right now. Come. Come. Now you think about this. By the grace of God, God's people
can come. You know when they come? Right
now. Right now. Come. Come unto me, listen to the words
of the great shepherd, who hears the need of his people, knows
the need of his people, and his people know his voice. And he
is admonishing us, admonishing his own, those who truly feel
the weight, the burden of their depravity. Why am I thus? That's what the
songwriter, John Newton, who wrote it, why am I thus? Why
this dull and lifeless frame? Surely can they be worse who
have never heard his name? Disappoint, I long to know. That's
how it is. Long it causes anxious thought. Do I love the Lord or no? Am
I his or am I not? All the struggles that goes on
in a believer You know, an unbeliever, he doesn't know the struggles
that's found within a new man. Before the Lord imparted, before
He gave him life, I never had any struggles. I'm doing good.
Oh, I had some problems here and there, but that was nothing
I couldn't work out. I'm doing fine. But I need something now. that a word right now that's
been brought to my heart by the Lord himself and has expressed
to me in my spirit, there is a law that cannot be
satisfied by me, but he did. There's a demand for righteousness
that I cannot answer and must have it answered if I'm gonna
stand before God, accept it. But he answered, but he's satisfied. Oh, the harassment that a believer
goes through from without and within, outward, inward, never
ceasing. My old man harasses me. You call
yourself a believer? You call yourself a preacher?
I've told you before, it would embarrass me to no end if you
knew the thoughts that went through my mind while I'm preaching. You say, well, I think you ought
to be able to separate all those things while you're preaching. Really? Well, I tell you, it
don't work that way. Oh, the flesh. This flesh is
so weak. Oh, that God Almighty would give
this word to me Right now, I need this right now. Come unto me. Let me ask you something. I'm
gonna keep this short. How does a sinner, one that knows
himself, to be a sinner before God, one that knows himself,
how does one Come. Needy. I need him. I need him. One who comes to Christ knows
that he needs the Lord. I need thee. Oh, I need thee.
Every hour, I need thee. When Peter Now this was an apostle. This is one of the Lord's apostles,
Peter. In Matthew 14, he saw the Lord
Jesus in the fourth watch, the scripture declares of the night,
and was walking on the water, and Peter sought permission from
the Lord to come to the Lord. He said, Lord, if it be Thou,
bid me come unto Thee on the water. And the Lord bid him. He bid
him. He bid Peter to come, and as
Peter was coming, the scripture declares, when Peter saw the
wind, boisterous, he was afraid. You mean an apostle? An apostle of the Lord Jesus
Christ? One that walked with him, talked with him, heard the
words of life from his mouth, taught the gospel from the mouth
of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. You know, that was the credential
of being an apostle. You learned the gospel from Christ. Heard the Lord himself speak
words to him. Oh, how strong one like that
would be when he saw the wind, boisterous. Scripture says he
was afraid, cried, Lord, save me. Beloved, we do come to Christ. Come unto me. We come to the
Lord Jesus Christ, but I'm telling you how we come. We come as needy
sinners. We, we, we. Oh Lord, help me, help me. Come unto me. You know there's no other assistance
that's going to be found to a needy sinner. Where else will a sinner,
a needy sinner go beside the Lord? Where are you going to
find help? And where are you going to go?
Come unto me. Think of the expanse of that
word, of that phrase, that scripture, come unto me. There is no assistance
anywhere else. We're saved by grace of God. Through faith, and that not ourselves,
it is the gift of God. Oh, how we're always tempted
to give ourselves some kind Well, I know, you know, I'm still here. I'm still preaching. I've been
here now over 40 years, close to 45 years. Really? How do you think you are still
here, needy sinner? It's because Almighty God kept
you by the power of God through faith. Kept, we're kept, we're
needed. We need mercy, mercy. Remember that publican in Luke
18, 13? Scripture says that that publican
was standing afar off, not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven. but smote upon his breast, saying,
God, be merciful to me, a sinner. You find one that comes to Christ,
truly comes to Christ, needs to come to Christ. He comes because
he needs to. Secondly, those who come to Christ
come by faith alone. I'm just going to continue what
I started because they have no other way to come. The Lord said,
I am the way. I am the T-H-E. I am the way. You know that that's particular.
I am the way, not a way. I am the way. I am the truth. I'm the life. No man comes to
the father, but by me, I need him. I need Him. Why? Because I am spiritually
impotent. I have no power. I'm a weak and
beggarly sinner saved by the grace of God. I'm destitute of
anything, of any worth of myself, anything I can produce to be
able to pay my spiritual debt. Let me ask you this before I
go to that third and final point. Is this the way it is with you?
I truly, you struggle with this. If you know him, you do. We struggle,
we struggle. Come unto me, all ye that labor,
heavy laden. Laboring, struggling, struggling. Laboring, what? With the temptations
to go back to the law. Heavy laden. You got an old man
in you that's gonna fly back to works. That's all he knows. Guarantee you. I could ask some
of you in here, how long y'all been here? I hadn't been here
as long as you have. I've been in the faith, But I
mean, I'm talking about how long you've been here. Well, I've
been here from a child up. How long you been struggling?
Since the Lord called me out of darkness, that's how long
I've been struggling. Oh, come unto me, all ye, Jew, Gentile,
bond, free, all, all, come unto me, all ye, labor, heavy laden, laboring and heavy laden, struggling
against the flesh, struggling against the temptations to fly
back to the loft, struggling to find something in me that
looks good I can rely on, struggling. Oh, what a mark of particular
and distinguishing grace. That's the mark of a believer.
They're laboring Heavy laden. Isn't that amazing that the Lord
would tell that kind of people to come to Him? Come unto me,
all you that labor. Heavy laden. Heavy laden under
the weight of your sin. Laboring as particular vessels
of God's mercy. Man by nature, and you know this
is so, he isn't laboring with sin. If a man or woman was laboring,
heavy laden, they'd want to be right here listening. You tell
me one more time. You tell me one more time. You know I never tire of hearing
my wife tell me that she loves me. But you mean in all of the frailties
and inconsistencies and all the You know, the things that I do
say and the way I say it, my mama used to tell my dad, I remember
this, she said, it's not what you say, it's how you say it.
Y'all don't have that problem, do you? I do. Laboring, laboring. Man by nature, he's not heavy
laden with his own wretchedness or inability to satisfy God's
law. He has no desire to come to Christ.
Why? Because he's dead, he's spiritually
dead. Oh, but you find a man, a woman that's alive in Christ,
and the battle's on. They'll struggle with these,
the law, the temptation to fly back, vice of goodness. Only
a sinner, one made so alive in Christ, struggles. Come unto
me, all ye labor, heavy laden. Let me tell you what, they're
tired, but they're still coming. Come unto me, still coming, and
I will give you rest. I'll grant you rest. I started off this message saying
I've woken up during the night, trying to get some rest, I got
something on my mind, And I had a good buddy that I had sold
a business to. And oh, he would tell me how
he'd wake up, he struggled at night, workload, what he's got
to do. You that were in positions of
leadership and direction, You ever wake up in the middle of
the night thinking about what you got to do, you know, your men, those
under you, stuff like that? Heavy laden, you come unto me,
and I will give you rest. I said before, I looked up, here
was one of the meanings in that. I will permit you to rest. Lord,
permit me to rest. I can't work it up. I can't,
I'm not strong enough. Those that are laboring, found
to be heavy laden, again, I got some good news for you. Christ is our rest. He is our rest. He alone is our
rest. He earned it. He earned the right
to grant us rest. He earned our rest before God. Uncompromising law demands obedience. Tell me again of Him who is my
rest. Tell me of Him who is my Sabbath. Tell me about Him who is my day
of rest before the law of God. Tell me one more time, there
is therefore now. condemnation to them. Told you
this, I've been made to realize more and more the frailty of
this flesh. I say, well, you know, let me tell you something.
No, it's almost over. It's almost over. What if the
Lord gives me a few more years? What if he does? I need some
rest. I need some comfort. I need some
peace for my soul. I need rest for my soul. Come
unto me. Don't go anywhere else. Again, don't go back to your
religious rites and rituals. Don't go back to your professions.
You're not going to find any rest there. Come unto me right
now. Right now. Right now. You can't come yesterday. Come
unto me, all ye that labor, struggling, striving. Heavy laden with the
R-I-T-E-S, with the rights of the law. He's struggling with
that. He's struggling with that. Come
unto me, all ye that labor. Heavy laden. And listen to this
word of assuredness. And I will, I will give you rest. I need him who gives rest. I just provides it and said,
now you take it, do the best you can. Do what you can do.
Lord, give me some rest. Rest for my soul, for Christ's
sake, and for my