Turn with me, if you would now,
to Matthew chapter 11. Matthew chapter 11. We don't sit one portion of Scripture
above another portion of Scripture. We don't do that. God's Holy
spotless, perfect word is God's Holy spotless, perfect word.
No matter where we are in the scripture. Every word is glorious and we
give thanks for every word in this book. We do, don't we? We don't understand every word
in this book, but we give thanks for it. And we love it and we cling to
it and we hope in it, every word. But there are some portions in
the scripture that are just known and are committed to memory as
being great comforts to the souls of God's people. And this is
one of them. Matthew 11, look with me if you
would at verse 28. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, come unto me all ye that labor
and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Don't we love
that scripture? Last week, a few people came
up to me and said, Brother William did our Bible study last week
and they said, it sounds like y'all got together on the Bible
study and the message. Well, it really sounds like we
got together this morning. I was so thrilled to hear what
I heard just a moment ago. Come unto me, all ye that labor,
and are heavy laden and I'll give you rest. It's almost like you can hear
his voice as he says that to your heart, isn't it? Every time
that I truly, I mean, truly hear that, whether I read it, whether
I hear somebody quote it, it sounds to me like he's speaking
to my heart. That's what it sounds like to
me. It's so personal. If you really enter into that
verse of scripture, it's so personal. It's so welcoming. It's so reassuring and promising. This is what he said. He said,
you come to me and I will give you rest. You come to me. And I will give you rest. You
come to me. And may that really be burned
in us. This is what he did not say.
He didn't say you come to religion. He didn't say that. He didn't say you come to church. He didn't say you come to doctrine. Do we come to the services and
gather in his name? Sure we do. Do we come to the
place where the true doctrine of his word is preached? Sure
we do. But listen to him. He said, come to me. Come to me. Do we hear that?
Come to me. And I'll give you rest. I want
to do that. I want to do that. I want you
to do that. I want all of us to come to the Lord Jesus Christ
and to enter into His rest that He gives to all of His people
who come to Him. I ask our brother to read Hebrews
4 for our scripture reading, and this is what it says. It
says, there is a rest to the people of God. There is a rest. There is a rest from labor. There
is a rest from fear. There is a rest from bondage. There is a rest from guilt. You ever feel guilt? You know
why you feel guilt? Sin. That's why. There's a rest from guilt. There is a rest from the works
of the law. There is a rest from trying to
earn God's favor. So many people are trying as
hard as they can to earn God's favor. In Christ, we can rest from all
of our works as God has rested from his. That's beautiful. In six days, God created everything
that he purposed to create six days. And then on the seventh
day, he rested because it was finished. He was finished. And I love what a dear brother
pointed out to us regarding the rest that God, the father had
and has in the Lord, Jesus Christ, God, the son. Even though creation
was finished, our Lord created everything that he was going
to create in six days. And then he rested because it
was finished. Creation was finished. But even
though creation was finished, a fall into sin took place after
creation was finished. All right. A fall into sin on,
on man's behalf, a separation from God took place. And a work of reconciliation
had to be accomplished, right? The work was finished. The work
of creation, but now a work of reconciliation had to be accomplished. A work of redemption had to be
done for God's chosen people. A giving of life had to happen.
A gathering of scattered saints, a calling and a receiving into
glory had to be done for all of God's chosen people. And this is what Ephesians 1
says about all that, all right? It says, God the Father was the
first one to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to accomplish all
of that work. All of that work, because of
that fall into sin, all of that work now had to be done. And
the Father gave that work into the hands of the Son. And he
trusted when he did that, when he placed it all in the hands
of the son, he trusted that the son would finish the work. And in John 17, four, the son
said, father, I did finish it. The work that you gave me to
do, I finished it. God, the father is our example. Go to the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Spirit speak to our hearts. I pray that the Spirit will speak
to our hearts. Ask the Spirit to speak to your
heart, okay? Ask the Spirit to speak to your
heart. Say, Lord, speak to me, all right? Go to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Bring it to the Lord Jesus Christ,
and he'll give you rest from it. He will. He will, whatever
it is. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ
and you will be coming to the one who you can trust with all
of your eternal soul. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ
and you're gonna be coming to the one who you can literally
cast your all on. Trusting that he'll bear the
burden of whatever it is. Cast your all on him. Roll your
burden over to him. every bit of it, whatever it
is, there is rest there. There is rest in him. There really is. There is rest
in him. Come to Christ. Isn't that what
we just heard? Come to the Lord Jesus Christ. That is not only his welcoming
call to his people, but that's his command. It's a welcoming call that he
sends to all of his people, but it's also his command. Verse 28, he said, come unto
me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you
rest. That's not an option. That's
a command. Come unto me. Now, for all those who have a
heart to do that, For all those who want to come to the Lord
Jesus Christ. As we hear that, do we want to
do that? Do we want to come to the Lord
Jesus Christ? For all who do, let's consider
three things together. All right, number one. How do
we come to the Lord Jesus Christ? Ever since I was a child, I have
heard men say, and I've read it in the Word, come to the Lord
Jesus Christ. And I've always wondered, how? Do you know adults wonder the
same thing? How do we come to the Lord Jesus
Christ? How? Come to Christ. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
How? All right, number two, this is
the second thing we're gonna consider. Who can come to Christ? Is he talking to everybody? Our
Lord has given this commandment, come unto me. Is he talking to
everybody? Who's he talking to right here?
You know, the word of the sovereign God is a sovereign word that
gets results. And if he was talking to everybody,
everybody would come to him. If he told everybody, you come
to me, everybody would come to him. Who's he talking to? Who can come to him? Who will
come to him? Number three, what should we
expect to find when we get there? He said, come to me. How do we come to Christ? Who
can come to Christ? And what should we expect to
find when we get there? All right, first, how do we come
to the Lord Jesus Christ? We hear that statement all the
time. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ. How do we do that? Specifically,
let me say it this way. How does a sinner, once we get
ahold of the fact that we're all sinners, How does a sinner
come to the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, first, we need to understand
this. Turn with me, if you would, to
1 Timothy 6. 1 Timothy 6. Verse 13, 1 Timothy 6, verse 13 says, I give
thee charge in the sight of God who quickeneth all things and
before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good
confession, that thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukable,
until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which in his times
he shall show Who is the blessed and only potentate, King of Kings
and Lord of Lords. This is talking about the Lord
Jesus Christ. All right, we're reading about
the Lord Jesus Christ. Who is the King of Kings and
Lord of Lords? Jesus Christ is. All right, so
I wanna make that clear. Now look with me at verse 16. Who only hath immortality, dwelling
in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath
seen nor can see, to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen. No man can approach him. No man can see him. You know,
that's what our text said in Matthew 11. We looked at it last
week. No man hath seen him except those to whom the father
has revealed him. You say, well, when he walked
this earth, everybody saw him. Tons of people saw him. Yeah,
they saw him, but they didn't see him. No man can see him unless
the father reveals him. No man can see Him, no man can
approach unto Him. And another way of saying that
is, no man can come to Him. No man or woman can come to Him. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ. How? No man can come to Him. No sinful man can. Turn with
me over to John 6. John 6, this is the Lord Jesus
Christ speaking, verse 44. John 6, 44, He said, no man can
come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him,
and I will raise him up at the last day. No man or woman can
come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? It's because all men and
women are dead in their trespasses and sins. That's the reason why. Tell a dead man to come. You
think about it. Ezekiel was told to go preach
to a bunch of dead, dry bones. All right, now, I include myself
in this congregation, but here a man stands and preaches to
dead, dry bones in the flesh. That's all we are. In our flesh,
we're dead, dry bones. We stand up here and we say,
come to Christ, come. Let's recognize what we are before
God. Dead, dry bones. And you're telling a pile of
white, dead, dry bones with no moisture in them. Y'all come. Come on now. What do you expect to happen?
Nothing. Why? They're dead. There's no
life in them. Come to Christ. What are you
waiting for? They're dead. We're dead. Unless the Spirit of God descends,
we're dead. I'm a dead man preaching to dead
men and women. We're dead in our trespasses
and sins. And if the father does not draw
us, if the father does not reach way down for us and lay hold
of one of those dead dry bones, which one, whichever one he chose
to grab, it's his choice. It's just a pile of dead dry
bones. He can grab whichever one he wants to. If the Father
will reach way down and grab a dead, dry bone and hand it
to the Lord Jesus Christ, unless God Almighty does that for us,
nobody's coming to Christ. Nobody's coming. Verse 44, no
man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw
him. If a sinner comes to Christ,
it's only because the Father drew that sinner. Verse 37 right
here promises us that the Father will reach down and draw every
sinner He chose to save. He said, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. They are all going to come to
me. He will draw every single one. So, all right, if we come,
it means the Father has drawn us. And if the Father has drawn
us, He will teach us to come in the only way that we'll be
accepted. Look back at our text. Go with me back to Matthew 11. If the Father draws us, He'll
teach us to come in the only way that we're gonna be accepted.
Matthew 11, look at verse 29. Our Lord said, take my yoke upon
you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and
you shall find rest unto your souls. Lowly in heart. He said, learn this. Take my
yoke upon you and learn this. Meekness, lowliness. Meekness and lowliness. How do
we come to Christ? Well, no man or woman can come
unless the father draws him or her. But if the father draws
a center, how will that center come? In meekness, in lowliness,
much lowliness, that center will come labored and heavy laden. That's how the center will come.
It's not until the Lord puts us in that position of being
labored and heavy laden that we truly do have a heart to come
to Christ. That's the soul that can come
to Christ, and that's the soul that will come to Christ. That's
the soul that He's commanding to come to Him, the burdened,
the bowed down, the brought low. Is He talking to everybody? No,
He's talking to the burdened. He's talking to the brought low,
those who are low. He's talking to sinners. That's who
he's talking to, sinners. Those who can only come to him
and their sin. If a man tries to come to Christ
any other way than in his or her sin, let me just plainly
try to say this. Come to Christ in your sin. Bring your sin to Him. Don't
try to get rid of it first and come without sin. Don't try to
hide it. Bring your sin to the Lord Jesus
Christ. If a man tries to come to Christ
in any other way, if he tries to come in pride, he's going
to be abased. He will be. If a man tries to
come in his own wisdom, which so many people do, they want
to come in their own wisdom, he is going to be shown to be
the fool that he is. If a man tries to come in his
own fullness, he is going to be emptied. There's only one
way to come to the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's as a sinner
in need of mercy. It's the only way to come. It's
as a beggar in need of grace, a beggar in need of a free gift,
a free handout. Lord, I'm a sinner against you,
begging for you to have mercy on me and give me a free handout. It's as a labored soul in need
of relief. as one being crushed under a
heavy load in need of someone else to bear the burden of it.
Lord, I need you to take this off of me. Please take this off
of me. That's who can come to Christ. That's what it is to come to
Christ. It's what it truly is to come to him. It's to come
recognizing that we're in his hands and he has the ability
to do whatever he wants to do concerning us, with us, concerning
us. is to come in reverent fear. It's to come as servants before
our sovereign Lord and master. We come as sinners before the
God we've sinned against. And that's what it means to come
labored, heavy laden, meek, lowly in heart. is to come as the sinners that
we are before the God that we've sinned against, begging Him for
mercy. Come to Christ that way. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ
that way. There's a story in the Old Testament that illustrates
this so well, all right? What it is to come to Him in
the right way. What it is to come in the wrong
way. and what it is to come in the right way, the only way that
a sinner can come and be received. Turn with me, if you would, to
2 Kings 1. I absolutely love this story.
2 Kings 1. Verse 1 says, 2 Kings 1 verse 1, it says, Then
Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. This
country Moab went to war with Israel. Verse two and a Haziah
fell down through the lattice in his upper chamber. That was
in Samaria. He was the King of Israel. Samaria was in Israel. And when
Moab went to war, he hid in the lattice of his chamber, the upper
lattice of his chamber, and it broke and he fell and was bedridden. Verse two says, Ahaziah fell
down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria
and was sick. And he sent messengers and said
unto them, go inquire of Beelzebub, the God of Ekron, whether I shall
recover of this disease. He sent messengers to go pray
to this false God, this idol. To ask this idol, am I gonna
get up off of this bed? Verse three, but the angel of
the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, who was God's messenger, the
angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, arise, go up to
meet the messengers of the King of Samaria and say unto them,
Is it not because there is not a God in Israel that you go to
inquire of Beelzebub, the God of Ekron? Elijah went and told
them, is it not because you have forgotten the true and living
God? You have erased the true God
from Israel. and he's not there, and he's
not seen, that you're going now to worship a idol, a false god
that can't do anything for you. Verse four, now therefore, thus
saith the Lord, thou shalt not come down from that bed on which
thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed. And
when the messengers turned back unto the king, he said unto them,
why are you now turned back? How'd you get back so soon? And
they said unto him, there came a man up to meet us and said
unto us, go turn again unto the king that sent you and say unto
him, thus saith the Lord, is it not because there is not a
God in Israel that thou sendest to inquire of Beelzebub, the
God of Ekron? Therefore thou shalt not come
down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shall surely
die. And the king said unto them, what manner of man was he which
came up to meet you and told you these words? And they answered
him, he was a hairy man and with a girdle of leather about his
loins. And the king said, it's Elijah the Tishbite. He knew
exactly who it was. Verse nine, then the King sent
unto Elijah, a captain of 50 with his 50. And he went up to
Elijah and behold, he sat on the top of an hill and he spake
unto him, thou man of God, the King hath said, come down. Ahaziah,
this King of Israel said, come down. Verse 10, and Elijah answered
and said to the captain of 50, If I be a man of God, then let
fire come down from heaven and consume thee and thy 50. And
there came down fire from heaven and consumed him and his 50. That little king said, come to
me. Verse 11, again also he sent
unto him another captain of 50 with his 50. And he answered
and said unto him, O man of God, thus hath the king said, come
down quickly. The first time the king said,
come down. Second time, the king said, you better come down right
now. Verse 12. And Elijah answered and said
unto them, if I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven
and consume thee and thy 50. And the fire of God came down
from heaven and consumed him and his 50. And he sent again
a captain of the third 50 with his 50, watch this, and the third
captain of 50 went up and came and fell on his knees before
Elijah and besought him and said unto him, oh man of God, I pray
thee, let my life and the life of these 50 thy servants be precious
in thy sight. You say, well, I thought y'all
were the servants of Ahaziah. Oh no, we're your servants. We
bow to you. Verse 14, behold, there came
fire down from heaven and burn up the two captains of the form
of fifties with their fifties. Therefore, let my life now be
precious in thy sight. And the angel of the Lord said
unto Elijah, go down with him, be not afraid of him. And he
arose and went down with him unto the king. Not only was his life spared,
Elijah did what he came to call him and he went down. You know,
that's how our Lord went to the father on our behalf. He interceded to the Father for
us in His humility, in His glorious meekness. He went before the Father in
lowliness. He went in the humility of His
cross. That's how He interceded to God
for us. And because of that, that's how
we approach Him. because he went to his father
that way for us. That's how we approach him. Every
sinner in the scripture who approached him in that way, he received
every one of them. Every one of them. That leper
who said, he came to him and he said, Lord, if you will, oh,
those three words, if you will, you can make me clean. Had that
go for him. That woman of the city who was
a sinner, she came up behind him, weeping, washing his feet
with her tears. Had that go for her. That poor blind man, Bartimaeus,
don't you love that poor man? Sitting on the highway side begging,
when he heard that the Lord was passing by, he started crying,
Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. How'd that go for
him? I'm telling you. every sinner
who has come to the Lord Jesus Christ in the labored, heavy-laden
meekness and lowliness of his or her sin. Every one of them
has found rest for his or her soul. Every one of them. That's what every labored sinner
should expect to receive who comes to the Lord Jesus Christ. Eternal rest from him. Eternal rest. Eternal rest from
all of the labor and burden and ruin of our sin. Who should come
to Christ? Sinners should come to Christ. Are you a sinner like I'm a sinner? Sinners are so hard to find.
Sinners are so hard to find. We take that question for granted.
Are you a sinner like I'm a sinner? Go ask somebody that. Are you
a sinner like I'm a sinner? This is what you'll hear. No.
Let me ask you. Are you a sinner? Like I'm a sinner? Who should
come to Christ? Sinners should come to Christ.
How should we come? In our sin. In our low and miserable sin. This is the honest truth. Our
sin will never keep us away from the Lord Jesus Christ. Our pride
will, our self-righteousness will, but not our sin. The labored
burden of our sin will never keep us away from the blood he
shed to give us rest from all of our sin. Let's come to Christ
in all the burden of our sin and what should we expect to
find when we get to him? Honestly, what would we expect
to find when we get to his cross? and we get to His tomb, and we
get to His resurrection, and we get to His ascension, and
we get to His intercession that He made for us in His own blood,
what should we expect to find there? Rest. Rest, rest from
all of it. Why? Because He finished all
the work. All the work that had to be done
to give us rest, He finished it. He's already finished it. I'm done. Go back to our text,
Matthew 11, verse 28 says, Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. and
you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and
my burden is light." Why is being yoked to Him easy and light?
I just love the thought of that. Yoked is what you do to two oxen
or something that you're gonna put to the plow. You yoke them
together for the work. Why is it so easy and so light
to be worked to the Lord Jesus, yoked to the Lord Jesus Christ?
Why is that? It's because He does all the
work. He does and has already done
all the work. He's finished. You want to rest? Be yoked to Him. He's already
finished all the work. And that's what He says to His
people. You come be yoked to Me and you just rest. You yoke
up and rest right here. Lord, draw us nearer and we will. Draw us nearer to Your blessed
side and we will. We'll rest in everything that
you've done to give that rest to us. All right, Brother Eddie,
you come.