The Bible Baptist Church, located
at 2015 Beulah Road in Madisonville, Kentucky, would like to invite
you to listen to a message of the sovereign grace of God in
the Lord Jesus Christ by their pastor, David Edmondson. My text this morning will be
found in the 11th chapter of Matthew. Matthew chapter 11,
beginning in verse 28. And those of you that hear this
text will be familiar with it, if you're familiar at all with
the scriptures. Our Lord in verse 28 says, come
unto me, all ye that labor 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. This passage of scripture is
very often referred to as the great invitation. The great invitation. That's somewhat unfortunate because
men have made a works religion out of what is referred to as
the invitational or an altar call. And I'm speaking of that
time at the conclusion of a service where preachers stand and try
to pressure. And I'm intentionally using that
word. They try to pressure men and
women to make a move from a pew to the front of the church and
somehow, uh, attribute that to salvation. Some preachers even
stand and beg men and women to come, but God has never begged
anyone to come to Him. You find a drowning man who's
drowning, you won't have to beg him to take a life raft. You
won't have to beg him to grab a hold of that flotation device
when he's drowning, he'll grab it. Or he'll drown, and he knows
so. You won't have to pressure a
true sinner. You won't have to beg a true sinner to come. He'll
come if he sees his need. Nowhere in the Bible is such
a thing as an altar call or an invitational practice. To come
to Christ is to believe on Christ. Let me say that again. To come
to Christ is to believe on Christ. We come to Christ in our hearts. Coming to Christ is not a physical
movement, but a spiritual one. And there's no salvation in moving
from a pew to the front of the church. This familiar scripture
in all reality is not an invitation, but it's actually a gracious
command. And the reason that I endeavor
to clarify this is for this reason, men and women, when they talk
about invitations, being invited to something, human reasoning
always deducts that that invite can be accepted or declined. For example, we, when we're invited
to an event, a wedding, an anniversary or birthday party, whatever the
event, the one who invites them often asked the one they invite,
to RSVP, and that simply means to please reply, please respond,
please advise if you plan to accept or decline the invitation. But hear me when I say that God
does not require an RSVP. Why? When the Lord Jesus calls
sinners to come to him, his call is always effectual, and the
ones called will always come. to suggest that God's call can
be accepted or rejected leads folks to think that God's will
and purpose for sinners to come to Christ is dependent upon the
sinner's will and the choice and their choice instead of God's. And I'm telling you, that's not
the case. Scripture's very plain on that.
How plain are our Savior's words found in John chapter 15, verse
16. He said, you have not chosen
me, but I've chosen you and ordained you. Our salvation may require
a choice, but it's not our choice of God, but God's choice of us. And our Lord said in John chapter
six, verse 37, after he'd already said that no man can come to
me and no man will come to me, he said, all that the father
giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. You see, dear sinner, salvation
has nothing to do with your acceptance of God, but his acceptance of
you. And God gets all the glory in
the salvation of sinners. That's why we read in Ephesians
1, 6, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath
made us accepted in the Beloved. And the Beloved there is the
Lord Jesus Christ. God's elect, God's people, God's
chosen are accepted in Christ the Beloved before the foundation
of the world and nowhere else. So in way of introduction, I
want you to first see that these verses that we're reading in
Matthew chapter 11 verses 28 through 30 deal with two different
parties. Salvation concerns two different
parties. I want you to see who these two
parties are. Our Lord says, come unto me. This calling of Christ first
concerns him, concerns him. He says, come unto me. He doesn't
say come into the church. He doesn't say come into the
pastor. He doesn't say come to the priest, come to the altar,
come to the front of the church, not come to the doctrine. You
know, I know a lot of professing believers that have come to doctrines. When I love the doctrines of
grace, and when I first heard them, I'd, I came to the doctrines,
the doctrine of election and predestination, and I didn't
come to Christ. A lot of folks come to the doctrines
of grace and not the Christ in whom God's grace is found. When
I first heard the gospel preached, I loved the sovereignty of God.
I loved the doctrines of grace. I rejoiced in the doctrine of
election and predestination. I'd never heard anything like
them. Having been told all my life that man determined his
own destiny, that man decided whether or not to let God save
him, When I heard the sovereignty of God proclaimed how that God
has mercy on whom he'll have mercy, and God has compassion
on whom he'll have compassion, and whom he will, he hardeneth.
When I heard that, when I heard that truth about who God is,
I rejoiced. Why? Because I thought to myself,
if I don't have a, if I can't do anything to be saved, then
I can't do anything to be lost. You see, I loved that it was
God who did the choosing. I loved it, that it was God who
did the calling and the saving. But I see now that I love the
grace of God more than the God of grace. You can do that. I
loved sovereignty more than the savior. Now it was only after
sitting under a faithful pastor and hearing a steady dose of
Christ preached week after week that I came to the Lord Jesus.
And I'm telling you even now, I can't tell you the day or the
hour. I just can tell you that I came
to Christ and you know what? He gave me rest. The Lord Jesus said here, come
unto me. That word come is a present tense
word. It means come now. It means come
at once. And notice that our Lord didn't
ask, will you come? He said, come, this is not an
invitation. It's a gracious command. You
see, to come is to leave one thing and come to another. Our
Lord says, come and he's, what he's also saying is leave your
self-righteousness, leave your self-confidence, leave your religious
works and come into me. Come as you are, come with nothing. Okay, so the first party in this
matter of salvation is the Lord Jesus Christ. Who's the second?
Well, notice what he says. He says, come unto me, all ye,
all of you who labor and are heavy laden. Now these verses
concern the Lord Jesus Christ and all who are laboring, toiling,
and heavy laden with their sin. Salvation concerns the Savior
and a true bonafide sinner. That's whom Christ came to call
sinners. Christ came to seek and to save
that which was lost. In Luke chapter five, verse 32,
the Lord Jesus said, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners
to repentance. That's who Christ came to save,
sinners. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And Paul
said, of whom I am chief. First Timothy 1 15. God's going
to save every sinner that he calls. Romans 8.30 tells us that
those whom God did predestinate, them he also called, and whom
he called, them he also justified. Do you see the certainty in that
statement? He didn't invite them to be justified. He didn't offer them justification
to accept or reject. He called them, and the scriptures
say, and he also justified them. Is that not plain? I love the
certainty of that. Then secondly, we see the reason
why God calls those who are laboring and heavy laden with sin. Oh,
laboring, toiling, heavy laden, heavy burdened with their sin.
He said, come unto me, all ye that labor and heavy laden, and
I will give you rest. In this matter of redemption,
it's Christ who gives this rest. In the matter of salvation, it's
chosen sinners who receive that rest. If we buy something, we
purchase it. If we earn something, we work
for it. If we deserve something, we merit
it. But when we receive a gift, a
free gift, we receive it. We don't buy it, we don't purchase
it, we don't earn it, we don't work for it, we don't deserve
it or merit it. It's a free gift. For God so
loved the world that he gave. Our Lord said, come unto me and
I will give you rest. Now, do you know when you're
able to truly rest? You can't truly rest until the
work is finished. You can never truly rest and
relax if the work is not done. Now you may lay down, you might
close your eyes, but more than likely you're still thinking
about the work that must be done that's not finished. And that's
exactly what we're told in Hebrews chapter four. Now, if you have
your Bible and can follow along with me, hold your place here
in Matthew chapter 11 and turn to Hebrews chapter four with
me. In Hebrews chapter four, verse four, we're told that God
did rest the seventh day from all his works of creation. We
know that the Lord created all the things, all the things of
creation in the six days, and then he rested on the seventh. Now, God didn't rest on the seventh
day because he was tired. God rested because his work was
finished. Now here in Hebrews chapter four,
verse 10, speaking of Christ, we read, for he, being Christ,
that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his
works, as God did from his. You see, the work that God gave
Christ to do is finished. Because that work is finished,
Christ has entered into his rest. Christ rightly possesses a rest
that is His to give. Christ will give rest to all
you who are laboring and heavy laden, greatly burdened over
your sin. Now listen to me, this is so
important. I want you to hear what I'm saying
here. You will never labor more and be more burdened over your
sin than when you try to accomplish your salvation by a work of your
own hands. There's no rest to be found there.
Why? Because we cannot attain what
God requires. We can never ever provide what
the law of God demands. We can never, never satisfy what
divine justice necessitates. Where then is this rest to be
found? It's found in the Lord Jesus Christ. This rest is his
gift to freely give. And he says, I will give you
rest. Now what's the qualification.
Are you laboring and heavy laden over your sin? That's the qualification. He'll give you rest if you're
laboring and heavy laden with your sin. Do you need rest? Now
this rest is accomplished and entered into by a ceasing from
your own works and trusting in the work and righteousness that
Christ has accomplished for you, his people. He has ceased from
his work. His last words on the cross of
Calvary were just that, it is finished. What was finished?
His work of redemption for his people. His fulfillment of the
law for his elect. His satisfying of justice for
the unjust. And when Christ says, I will
give you rest, that rest is his to give. We say it all the time,
salvation is of the Lord. Now I've been thinking a lot
about that little two letter word of, O-F. It's a preposition, and a preposition
is a word that is often used to describe the relationship
between an author and their work, or an artist and their art. For example, the writings of
Shakespeare, they're Shakespeare's writings. The paintings of Rembrandt. They're Rembrandt's paintings.
The music of Elvis. It's Elvis' music. The salvation
of the Lord is the Lord's salvation. is his to give. God is the author
of eternal salvation, Hebrews 5, 9. God is the author and the
finisher of our faith. In Ephesians 2.8, Paul said,
for by grace are you saved through faith, and that is not of yourselves. You see, neither the grace nor
the faith that saves us is of us. Neither grace or faith originated
with us. They are the gift of God. They are God's possession to
give. Paul said, not of works, lest any man should boast. Salvation
is not accomplished of man or by his work. Man would certainly
boast if it was of him. We're brought near unto God by
the blood of Christ. Scripture says it over and over
again. It's his blood that cleanses and covers us. Salvation is of,
of, of the Lord. And I'm so glad. Our Lord back
in Matthew chapter 11 and verse 29 says this. He says, take my
yoke upon you. We are to take his yoke upon
ourselves. He's telling us how this rest
is obtained. Christ says this rest is accomplished
by taking my yoke upon you. Now I'm sure that most of you
know what a yoke is. Actual Greek word for yoke means
a coupling. A yoke is put on the necks of
two oxen to couple them, to harness them together. A yoke is used
to bring them together. It's a coupling that keeps them
walking together. It's a harness that enables them
to pull together in unity, to work together in unity. And in
verse 30, Christ says, my yoke is easy. Now, if I am yoked,
if I am coupled, if I'm harnessed in unity with the Lord Jesus
Christ, I am then enabled to walk with him. I'm able to plow
fertile ground with Him. If I'm coupled with Christ, then
none can separate me from Him. My union with Christ makes me
one with Him. Oh, and I wish, I truly wish
that folks could get a hold of that. Now, when two oxen are
yoked together, if one ox tries to lie down and the other tries
to stand up, that'd prove difficult. Matter of fact, that's why they're
yoked together, so that can't happen. They must walk together
in unison. And my union with Christ is such. You see, in God's eyes, I walk
as he walks. I talk as He talks. He does all
the walking and the talking for me. If I'm one with Him, His
righteousness is mine. His holiness is mine, His perfection
is mine. We're coupled together by His
substitution. He took my sin and gave me His
righteousness. Isn't that what 2 Corinthians
5.21 says? For He was made to be sin for
us. He knew no sin. He was made to be sin for us
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. He became what
I was so that I might be what He is. And if I've taken his
yoke upon me, I shall find rest. That's what the Lord Jesus says.
You shall find rest for your souls. Why? Well, his yoke is
easy and his burden is light. Our Lord says, 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. Now, salvation has to
do with soul rest. I love that terminology. Salvation
is the rest of your soul. Salvation is learning of Christ. He said, learn of me. Not just
about me, but learn of me. Learn what I have done for you. I've suffered once for sins.
I died the just for the unjust to bring you to God. That's what
Christ has done. 1 Peter 3, 18. Learn of me. Learn what I am to you. I am
made unto you wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption,
Christ says, 1 Corinthians 1.30. Learn of me, and this is life
eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent, John 17.3. Now, I want
to take you quickly to 2 Peter chapter 3. Peter writing to the
chosen children of God, those that have obtained like precious
faith through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ.
He's talking to them about God's long suffering towards his elect.
And look at verse nine, Peter says, the Lord is not slack concerning
his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long suffering
to usward, usward being the Lord's chosen children. God's not willing
that any of his elect should perish, but that all should come
to repentance. Now, it's very important to understand
that this letter, that Peter writes was who it was written
to. And when you get a letter from
someone, you don't start reading it in the middle of the letter.
You look at the beginning of the letter to see and make sure
that it was addressed to you. Peter had said that this was
written to those who had obtained like precious faith through the
righteousness of God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. That's
who he's talking to. And he says that God is not slack
concerning his promise as some men count slackness but as longsuffering
to usward those who have obtained this like precious faith those
that have been called of God and he's not willing that any
of his chosen people he's not willing that any of them should
perish but all of them should come to repentance and he bears
patiently with them before their conversion While in their sin,
he patiently waits to be gracious to his people. And in his calling
of them, he makes known his great salvation to them. That's what
our Lord is doing in our text in Matthew chapter 11. He's not
begging sinners to love him. He's being patient to his elect
with long endurance. He's calling his elect to come
unto him so that they might live. He's telling his elect that he
will give them rest. He's telling them how he will
give them rest. He says, learn of me. I am eternal
life. Now look at verse 15 here in
first Peter three. An account that the long-suffering
of our Lord is salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul,
also according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written
unto you, is also in all his epistles speaking in them of
these things, in which are some things hard to be understood,
which they that are unlearned and unstable rest, or pervert. as they do also the other scriptures
unto their own destruction. But you, therefore, beloved,
seeing you know these things before, beware lest also, being
led astray with the error of the wicked, fall from your own
steadfastness. Peter said, don't be led astray
by the error of the wicked. You know better. You know these
things. But grow in grace and in the
what? Knowledge. the knowledge of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Learn of Him. Learn of Christ. Seek to grow in the grace of
Christ. Seek to grow in the knowledge
of Him. Why? Because that's where salvation
is found. Salvation is in Him. He is our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and to Him be glory, both now
and forever. Our Lord says, learn of me. The Greek word for learn means
to understand. And in John chapter five, verse
20, John said, and we know that the Son of God has come and hath
given us an understanding. that we may know Him that is
true, and that we are in Him that is true, even in His Son
Jesus Christ. This is a true God and eternal
life. What do we know? We know that
the Son of God has come. We know that He has given us
an understanding. We know Him that is true, and
we know that we are in Him that is true. Our Lord says, come
unto Me. He came into the world that we might come unto Him.
And He says, learn of Me. Then in Ephesians 1, verse 15,
Paul writes, Wherefore I also After I heard of your faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ and love unto all the saints cease not
to give thanks for you making mention of you in my prayers
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ the father of glory may
give unto you the spirit of wisdom and the revelation and the knowledge
of him that the eyes of your understanding being enlightened,
that you may know what is the hope of his calling. How do we
know the hope that is found in Christ? That the Lord has given
us understanding. That's the only way we know.
He's revealed these things to us. That we may know what is
the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his
inheritance in the saints. And what is the exceeding greatness
of his power to usward, there's that word again, who believe
according to the working of His mighty power. Not the work of
our power, not the work of our hands, not the faith that we
conjure up. No, sir, salvation doesn't originate
with the sinner. Salvation originates with God. And that's why I love the doctrine
of election. Election is not salvation. Christ
is salvation. But election removes all doubt
about who does the saving. It's God who gives us revelation
and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you would
look over a few pages to Ephesians four, verse 17, this I say, therefore,
and testify in the Lord that ye hencefore not walk as Gentiles
walk in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance
that is in them because of the blindness of their heart. Oh
my, do you not see that we have to be enlightened, that God has
to send his spirit to shine abroad in our hearts and give us the
light of the knowledge of him? Oh, in the long suffering of
God, friends, Christ graciously commanded this sinner to come
to Him. But no man can come. No man will
come. I had not the ability or the
willingness to come to Christ, but He gave me the ability and
the will to come to Him. He gave me revelation to learn
of Him. You know what? If He hadn't,
I would have never come. Now, back in Matthew chapter
11, I love what our Lord says of himself here in verse 29.
It's the only time in the scripture where Christ speaks of his own
heart. He says, I am meek and lowly in heart. How amazing is
that statement? He who is ruler of all is the
most humble of all. He who has all authority made
himself of no reputation. The supreme one took on the form
of a servant and he who is God was made in the likeness of men.
And he says, my yoke is easy. and my burden is light. So let
me ask you, have you come to Christ? Do you need rest for
your soul? Do you desire to cease from your
work and trust in the work of righteousness which he's done
for you? Then come to him in your heart. Believe and trust
in the Lord Jesus Christ. and He, dear sinner, will give
you rest. You have been listening to a
message by David Edmondson, the pastor of Bible Baptist Church
in Madisonville, Kentucky. If you would like a copy of this
message or to hear other messages of God's free, sovereign grace
in Christ, you can write to our mailing address at P.O. Box 652
Madisonville, Kentucky 42431. or log on to our website at FreeGraceRadio.com. If you would like to come and
worship with us, we meet at 2015 Beulah Road, Madisonville, Kentucky,
and our service times are Sunday morning Bible study at 10 o'clock
a.m., worship services begin at 11 o'clock a.m., Wednesday
evening services at 7 o'clock p.m., Please tune in again next
Sunday morning at 10 o'clock AM for another message of God's
free and sovereign grace in the Lord Jesus Christ.