May I please God to bless us
together as we consider his word. Let us turn to the Gospel of
Matthew and the 11th chapter and we'll read the last three
verses. Verses 28, 29 and 30 in the 11th
chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. Come unto me and all ye that
labour and are heavy laden and I will 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. it is wonderful to realize that
God has given us the Gospel and wonderful imitations that the
Gospel contains. And to realize that the Gospel
is addressed to those who have a need, those who have been brought
to realize they are undone, they are lost, they are ruined, and
they need a Saviour. The Lord Jesus here, speaking
to the people, addresses them so very beautifully, really,
if we just think of it. It's very humbling to think that
Almighty God, that One who is so great and so high, and yet
is so condescending, so gracious, so willing, to come and direct
us to such words as this. It's a very gracious invitation. If we think perhaps of a natural
analogy, you know, it'd be hard, wouldn't it, for us to understand
if we were just travelling along that the Queen might suddenly
stop from her car and get out and say to us, look, you've come
unto me. You know, you look a bit downcast,
you look a bit laden, you know, come to me. Well, we'd be very
surprised, wouldn't we? And perhaps we're very reluctant
almost to go, but to receive such an invitation would be a
wonderful favour, wouldn't it? To think that the Queen of England
should stop and say to us, come to me and I'll help you. It's something which is difficult
for our minds to believe. And yet of course it could come
to pass. And yet here we have a far, far
bigger and greater and powerful person who is indeed not just
a mere king, but he is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He is so great. He is so high. He is so mighty. He is so powerful. Is it not unbelievable that such
a great One should come and invite us to come to Him? How often we fail to realize
the greatness of the Gospel, the glory of it, the wonder of
it, And what an amazing God we have, who looks down from heaven
and sees you and me today. Sees us here, sitting in this
chapel. Sees our very thoughts. Perhaps those thoughts are not
on the things of God. And yet God still comes and he
addresses us if we're in this position. Because it is qualified,
and we should always realize that there are many qualifications
in the Word of God. And this wonderful imitation,
where the Lord says, come unto me, it has a gracious qualification. And that qualification is to
those who really are needy people. And it's described in this way.
those that labour and are heavy laden. Again, it doesn't just
say, well, if you've just got a bit of a burden, you can come. Well, we can, but it's addressed
here in a more specific way. And we're told ye that labour
and are heavy laden. I expect some of you have read
The Pilgrim's Progress, and it's not a difficult book. It is,
of course, an allegory But you young people could, if you haven't
read it, you could well pick up the John Bunyan's Pilgrim's
Progress and read it. You haven't got to read it right
through, sit down, you can read it a bit at a time because it
really breaks up into pieces. But it's very instructive because
what it does, it gives us a picture of the life of a Christian, of
a pilgrim. That's why it's called the Pilgrim's
Progress. It gives us the progress of a
pilgrim. And we could say therefore, the
progress of a Christian. And Christian, that's the man
he's called Christian, he's the principal character in the book.
And he lived in the city of destruction. Well, you might be surprised
to know that all of us live in the city of destruction. Because
one day this city of Riga and Red Hill would be destroyed.
And all the surrounding cities and all the nations of the world
would all be destroyed. Therefore Christian was not unusual
in living in that city. But the great truth was that
Christian came to realise that it was a city of destruction.
And that he must get out of it. He must leave it. Leave it behind
him. And where must he go? He must
go on a journey. And where did he hope to arrive
at? The celestial city. The glorious city of heaven. It wasn't an easy journey. And
when he left that city of destruction, he left with a big burden on
his back. A big burden. You may have seen
pictures of him trudging off from the city of destruction.
And he went by himself. He left it by himself and off
he went. And all his friends back there, they shouted out
to him to return. to return. But you see, he put
his fingers to his ears so that he might not be attracted back
to the city of destruction. And what did he say? He cried
out as he went, life, life, eternal life. That's what he wanted. And therefore he set out on this
journey. And he had this burden on his
back. And it was a heavy burden. He was heavy laden. And he was
heavy laden with his sins. That was the burden. And it wasn't
light. And it was heavy. Heavy laden
he was as he journeyed. Now, I could go through the journey
but I won't today. But you can read it. It's a very
fascinating and it's a very true journey. because it describes
the spiritual life of a true Christian. That's why it's called
an allegory. And you may remember that John
Bunyan was imprisoned for his faith and he had a very tough
life in the prison above the river at Bedford. And it was
in that time that he was able to write The Pilgrim's Progress. God gave him a dream. He was able to put it down into
print. What I want to come to is this.
He had this burden on his back and he went through a number
of difficult situations, struggled on, fell down, got up, struggled
on and eventually he came to a place where he saw before him
a cross and he looked up to that cross Of course he didn't physically
see the Lord Jesus Christ, but by faith he did. And as he looked to that cross, what happened? His burden, that great burden
of sin on his back, it rolled off into the pit, never to be seen
again. He was a free man. God had delivered him as he looked
to the cross. So here we have this great word
this morning. Come unto me all ye that labour
and are heavy laden. Just ponder that for a moment
It wasn't just an odd situation in which he thought, well, this
is a bit annoying. No, he was heavy laden. And it's a blessing when the
Holy Spirit brings into our life such a burden, such an acknowledgement
of our sin, that we are indeed heavy laden. It's not something we can just
brush to one side. It makes us stagger under the
load of it. We need to be relieved, we need
to be freed from the burden. And how can that happen? It can
only happen in one way. And here we have the gracious
words. Come unto me. Come to the Lord
Jesus. Look to him, look to the cross
where Jesus was on and what a sight it will be for a guilty sinner
to view the glorious Savior suffering there in order to remove their
burden, their heavy burden, heavy laden. There's no other way. All of us, by the grace of God,
must come to the cross of Jesus. Come to Calvary and view there
the suffering Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now what did Christian
receive? Forgiveness, yes. rest, yes. Oh, what a beautiful time it
was for him. He was able then to carry on
without this burden and of course at last come to that celestial
city and at last be received into glory. We should always understand that
no unpardoned sinner will ever arrive into glory. All of us will have a burden,
and all of us will be heavy laden with that burden, and we should
all need that to be removed. And it's only removed by one,
the Lord Jesus Christ, so that when we come to the gates of
that celestial city, and we must all die, I'm sure we all know
that, There's nothing very difficult to understand is that we must
all die for then to be found at that gate
and to be received into glory. Now just for a moment pondering
again this account of the pilgrim's progress, there was another person
who was a companion for part of the journey with Christian,
and he was called Ignorance. Ignorance. Now, Ignorance was
a very sad man. And he was a very sad man because
he thought he had religion. Well, he did have religion. But
it wasn't God-given religion. It was his religion. And what
happened? He journeyed on. It was quite
an easy journey. He hadn't got this great burden on his back.
He wasn't heavy laden. He journeyed on quite easy. And
he came up to the Celestial City. He came to the gates. The doorkeeper
came out and he asked him for something. He asked him for his
certificate, which would give him entrance into the Celestial
City. Well, what did he do? He made
out he got it. The words are, he fumbled in
his bosom, he put his hand in to try and find it, when he knew
he hadn't got it, and of course he couldn't find it. So what happened to him? He was
cast out into hell forever and ever. My friends, let us not
pretend we have religion when we don't. Christian had the certificate. Christian had the evidence that
he was a child of God. Christian went in, and ignorance
did not go in. It's a very solemn consideration,
isn't it? And that's why it's worth reading.
We can all read it, and perhaps some of us have forgotten about
it. Well, it's good to pick it up again and read it. Pilgrim's
Progress. It's a wonderful allegory. and
how significant it is. Again, it's amazing. It never
really got out of date. The illustrations may be a little
unusual, but all the same, if the Spirit of God gives you the
wisdom, you'll understand what John Banyan was describing. So we have this statement here
this morning. Come unto me, everybody. Come unto me. who are labouring
and who are heavy laden. It's not addressed to those who
don't have a burden, those who aren't laden. It's not addressed
to them. You see, many people today think,
well, I just accept Jesus. They don't know why. It's just words, isn't it? And
they say, well, I'm a Christian. They don't know really why they're
a Christian. The true Christian knows why
he's a Christian. why she's a Christian. Because
their hope, their belief is in none other than the Lord Jesus
Christ. And what a wonderful blessing
it is therefore to be found a true believer. The Lord Jesus, he
spoke many glorious truths and it's good as you and I search
the Word of God and we come to a right appreciation of what
it really means. And the Lord spoke in the 6th
of John about eating and drinking and about the bread of life and
how necessary it was that a true believer ate of the bread of
life. And he draws the analogy Moses
because Moses of course was able to describe that glorious manner
which was provided for the children of Israel and Jesus said unto
the people verily I say unto you Moses gave you not that bread
from heaven but my father giveth you the true bread from heaven
for the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth
life unto the world Who is that? The Lord Jesus Christ. And Jesus
said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me
shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. Now, if you and I are to come
to the Lord Jesus in this way, come unto me, all ye that labour
and are heavy laden, We can only come as God gives us grace to
believe that we are coming to the Saviour, the Saviour of sinners,
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal God. And that will be a wonderful
blessing if God comes and convinces you and me of that great favour
of receiving grace to believe the truth of God's Word. You
see, again, Nobody comes into heaven who has not believed. No one. So here we have these
words. He that believeth on me shall
never thirst. But I said unto you that you
also have seen me and believed not. What's the relevance there? The relevance is this. You and
I have read the word of God. We've read the Bible. And yet
we have not believed, not believed. My friends today, there are millions
of people who read the Bible and have not believed. They have
not believed they are a hell deserving sinner. They've not
believed they need a saviour. They've not believed that they
need to come to the saviour. come unto me, all ye that labour
and are heavy laden." It's a very gracious, it's a very blessed
invitation, but it's so, so important. But I said, I said unto you that
you also have seen me and believed not. Again, you and I come into
two categories, don't we? We're either those who believe
by the grace of God, or those who do Not believe. And if you
and I believe, you and I would know there is a difference in
our lives. There's a change. Because we've been blessed with
spiritual life. And therefore we know who we
have believed. Because it's the Lord who's done
it. And so the Saviour goes on to
say, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him
that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Well, that's a
lovely, beautiful gospel verse, isn't it? And how you and I need
to receive that grace to come in this way, hear the words,
of the Saviour. He that cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast out. The door won't be shut. Come unto me, all ye that labour
and are heavy laden. And then the Saviour goes on
to say, and I will give you rest. That would be a wonderful deliverance,
a wonderful freedom. you and I may have been restless
because of the burden of our sin. It may not have allowed
us to rest. It's a good thing you know that
so. It's a good thing if your sin is so strong and heavy upon
you that you can't really rest. You've got a real problem. You've
got a real difficulty. You've got a real situation.
That you need a saviour. You need to be freed. You need
to be forgiven from all your sins. Again, no unforgiving sinner
gets to glory. Don't think there's some back
way in, there's some back door. No, there's not. No sinner enters
into glory. Only those who are saved sinners.
Only those who are delivered sinners. And yet what a wonderful blessing
it is when the Lord comes and touches our hearts so we have
that hope of eternal life. You know the Lord in these earlier
verses here. He comes and he prays to his Father and he says,
I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast
revealed them unto babes. What it means is this. You and
I don't get to heaven. You and I don't get a knowledge
with our natural understanding, our natural intellect. What is
it? It's the gift of God to the poor
and the needy. That's who receive the blessing,
those who know their need and cry unto God Most High. The burdened
sinner comes, crying to God Most High. because he has a real need. Well, this morning, let us come
before God. You don't have to come before
me, you come before God. And to see whether these words
have a real application to your spiritual life. That's the important
thing. Our natural life is passing away,
it's a vapour. In one sense it doesn't matter
how we live our natural life, but it does matter about our
spiritual life. And so may we know this wonderful
favour of receiving grace to come. And what it means is this,
casting all your care upon Him, believing He cares for you. All
your care. Every ounce of it. So then you
see, there's no wait, because all your care is cast upon him,
and I will give you rest." And he has then, again, a gracious
invitation. And these words all flow together.
They are together, and we're not to take them apart and say,
well, I only believe in part of it. No, the Word of God is
there for our instruction, and more than that, it's for the
honor and glory of God. And so the Lord goes on. and
therefore encourages us to come unto him, that's the first thing,
and then to take his yoke upon us. And why does the Lord encourage
us in this way? Is it just to receive another
burden? No. It's so that we might learn of
him. Now that's a good evidence of
the true life of God in our souls when we desire to know more of
the Lord Jesus Christ. When we desire to learn of Him. There's much learning to do,
isn't there? We're all on the stretch after
learning unnaturally about what's happening here and what new invention
is this and everything else. But the great thing is, for you
and me, is to learn of Him. the Lord Jesus Christ and learn
of me. And in order to do this the Lord
encourages us in this way to be yoked to the Lord Jesus Christ. And again the figure was a very
familiar picture of course in the day in which Jesus lived
and it really referred to the yoke of oxen. Oxen were the preferred
animals that were used in cultivating the ground, ploughing the ground,
etc. And they worked in pairs, and the plough was between them,
or whatever other instrument was necessary, and so they walked
together in step. They were tied together around
their necks. There was this yoke fixed on
one, and then fixed on the other, and there was a rigid connection
between them. so they couldn't move really without the other
one moving. There was that union together
and the oxen were yoked together. Now the illustration is clear
but the position shown us here is very beautiful because the
Lord Jesus says this, take my yoke upon you. The Lord Jesus
is willing to be yoked to people like you and me. You know, that's
a tremendous thought, isn't it? Perhaps we don't ponder it enough
to think that the Almighty God, the Lord Jesus Christ, is willing
to be tied to us. We yoke to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. Well, this will be a blessed
privilege union with Christ, not a turn away, not a walk away,
but to desire to be kept close to the Lord Jesus Christ. You
know, that's when you and I are blessed, when we're found walking
close to the Saviour and not to be found far off. That's when dear old Peter denied
his Lord, when he didn't keep close to him. Well, it was a
testing time, wasn't it? Testing time for all the disciples.
Their master, their saviour, had been arrested, been taken into captivity. And you see, we see our nature,
our natural mind, because we're told that All the disciples,
they forsook him and fled. And that's a lesson for us. Don't
think that you and I are going to be strong in the things of
God. When problems occur, when difficult situations occur, perhaps
they were afraid that they would be arrested. And therefore, they
fled. And Peter, we're told, he followed
afar off. Didn't get too close, did he?
He wasn't really, in this situation, yoked to the Lord Jesus Christ. And you see, left in that position,
what do we do? Just like Peter. When we're asked, are you one
of his disciples? Are you one? And you might be
asked that, you know, at school, or university, or at work, or
wherever it is. So, are you a Christian? And what are you going to say?
Are you going to run away? Are you going to turn your back? Well, what happened to Peter? He denied his Lord and Master
those three times. Yes, he wasn't close to the Saviour,
but the wonderful thing was this. The Lord knew about Peter. He knew his weakness. And bless
God, he knows our weakness. Now Peter didn't glory in his
sinful condition. He didn't say, oh well, that's
too bad, I've just denied my Saviour, that's just too bad.
What are we told? Very important words. He went
out and wept bitterly because He denied His Lord and Master. So what a blessing it is when
you and I hear such words as this and I yoke to the Lord Jesus
Christ so that you and I might learn of Him. And the Lord then
gives us this very gracious encouragement. He says this, for I am meek and
lowly in heart. He understands us. He comes down
to our level. Isn't that wonderful? He comes
down to where we are. He lifts us up. He lifts us up. As it were, we stand upon our
feet. He lifts us up. What a wonderful
thing that is. The Lord comes and He is meek
and lowly in heart. And what's the benefit of that?
What's the benefit? Ye shall find rest unto your
souls. Rest. You see, the Lord says,
I will give you rest. Where is it found? Yoke to the
Lord Jesus Christ. Don't run away. Don't go away. Be yoked to the Savior. How many there are that just
don't want to be involved? They run away. You shall find rest unto your
souls. It's a very positive word. It's very true. 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. This is the way. This is the gospel path. My friends, don't ignore the
word of God. These words are the words of
Jesus. They were very encouraging words, when he says this. And just follow it through, and
don't grasp one bit and then pass over the other. And he comes
on and then he tells us further, for my burden is easy, my yoke
is easy, and my burden is light. You see, we may perhaps think,
well, if I'm yoked to the Lord Jesus Christ, And what it really means, of
course, in our day is this. It means putting on Christ. It
means putting on an open profession of Christ, testifying whose we
are, whom we serve. We're yoked to the Saviour. Remember, it's easy. Why? Because the Lord takes the
load. The Lord doesn't leave us to
struggle, He's with us through life. And the Apostle Paul, you
know, he had a hard life, didn't he? You've only got to read about
it in the second book of the Corinthians. And he tells us
now all that he passed through. And how does he sum it up? It's
wonderful, really. He says, our light affliction. Yes, which worketh for us a far
more exceeding and abundant glory really, our light affliction. All these things, with the Lord
with us, it's a light affliction. You see, because the load is
shared with the Saviour. He takes nearly all the load. My yoke is easy and my burden
is light. Now this is the Word of God. This is the Word of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And this morning, may you and
I receive that grace to take these words to ourselves, to
hear the gracious invitation of the Saviour, the gracious
words that he sets before us. These words are written for the
Church of God to rejoice in, to be encouraged, As we look
at ourselves and realise how unworthy we are, and yet to think
the Lord came to seek and to save those who are lost. And that's how we were by nature.
Come unto me. Oh friends, maybe you hear that
word this morning. Come unto me, all you that labour and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. And learn of me, gracious commands
thou, gracious commands. For I am meek and lowly in heart,
and ye shall find rest unto your souls. The only true place of
rest, united to Christ. You may think you're resting,
you're missing out. For I am meek and lowly in heart,
and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy. And my burden is light. Amen.