I love that song so much. Last
time we sang it, I told you how much I love that song. And it's because I want to be
nearer to my God. That's the reason why. And I
pray He will let us be that tonight. Turn with me now to Matthew 11. Matthew chapter 11. This message came from me looking
at Second Timothy chapter one. Paul brought up the subject there
of prayer. And I started looking at prayer
and as I was turning through different scriptures, I came
across this verse right here. And I got a little bit stuck.
And so this is going to be our text and our message tonight.
It's. Verse 28, but let's read verse 27 first. Matthew 11 verse
27 says. All things. Are delivered unto
me of my father. And no man knoweth the son, but
the father. Neither knoweth any man the father
save the son, and he to whomsoever the son will reveal him. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Sometimes you just need that
verse of scripture. Sometimes you do. There are times that we study
what I believe are deep things. As the Apostle Peter said, hard
things. Sometimes we declare bold things,
dogmatic things. Sometimes you just need to hear
the Lord Jesus Christ say that to you. Come unto me. All ye that labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. I've titled this message, Rest. Rest is something that everybody
needs. It's something that everybody
needs. It's something that everybody can enter into. Even a baby can enter into rest. Look at verse 25. It says, at that time, Jesus
answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and
prudent and has revealed them unto babes. He said, I am speaking
to babes. My people are babes. That's who I call to myself. That's who I say this to. Babes, helpless babes, weak,
dependent, needy babes. In other words, us. Another way
of saying that is us. To us, babes, he says in verse
28, come unto me. Man, I want to get a hold of
this. Come unto me, I'll tell you why
we got here from First Timothy. It was occurring to me, and I'm
probably gonna tell you this Sunday morning. I believe we'll
have a Bible study from Second Timothy on prayer. But it was
really occurring to me, I was really entering into the fact
that rarely do we really pray. Rarely. We have our lip service. We're really good about before
a meal. We always do it before our worship services. Every now
and then before we go to sleep at night. But you know what I'm
talking about. And our Lord is saying something
right here. He's saying, if you come to me,
I mean really come to me. I'll give you rest. I will give you rest. Listen
to the definition of the word rest. It means quietness, calmness, patience, and expectation, which is hope. The word expectation means hope. He is saying, come unto me, all
ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you quietness. Doesn't that sound so nice? Quietness of heart, quietness
of soul. Is there anything else that we
want? Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I'll give you calmness. calmness in
a chaotic world. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I'll give you patience. Patience to
trust that I'm in control. What is that worth? Patience
to just look to me and wait on me. You come to me, I'll give
you that patience. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I'll give you hope. I will give you
hope. I'll give you eyes to see your
expected end. I'll give you eyes to look past
all of this. That's what happens when we come
to Christ. He gives us eyes to look past all of this. He gives
us eyes to see His glory. He gives us eyes to see His kingdom
with the eyes of faith that He's given us through this word. Can't
we see His kingdom? Can't we see His glory? He gives us eyes to see eternity
with Him. Eternity with Him. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. We live in a world
of sin. We live in a world of sorrow.
We live in a world of unrest. That's the world we live in.
Unrest. There are so many things that
create unrest in us. Sickness. Does anybody in here want to
be told that they have cancer? Does anybody want to go see a
doctor tomorrow and find out you have cancer? As soon as we
find that out, you know what's going to come into us? Unrest. Sickness, pain, heartache, trouble,
turmoil, trial. What's the answer to all of it?
What is the answer to all of it? There's one answer to all
of it. Let's listen to the Savior, okay? Listen to the voice of
the shepherd. He said, my sheep, hear my voice. What's the answer to all the
pain, all the turmoil, all the sorrow of this life? Listen to
the voice of the shepherd savior, verse 28. Come unto me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden. I'll give you rest. I want to
do that. I'll give you quietness. I'll give you calmness. I'll
give you patience and hope in me. Not out in the world. In the world, we're going to
have tribulation, but in him, in him, there's peace. I want
to point out three things in Christ that bring rest to us. I'm not saying these are the
only three things. I just want to point out three
things. in Christ that bring true rest
to us, sincere, real rest to us. After the Lord allows all
of our other avenues of help to be exhausted. Every time we're
in trouble, every time we're in pain and turmoil and sorrow,
we have all of these avenues that our flesh thinks are help. You know, we have all of these
fleshly answers, fleshly fixes. And for some reason, we always
run to them first. And we find out every time that
they're no help to us. And after all of our other worthless
avenues are exhausted and proven once again to be of no help to
us, and then the Lord in his word, by his spirit, turns us
again to Him. What a great moment that is.
When He causes us to look again to Him and reminds us once again
where our true help is, when we return to the Lord and come
back to the Lord, these three things in Christ are things that
bring rest to us again. Three things that bring quietness
to God's people, calmness to God's people, patience, hope
to God's people. All right, three things starting
with this. Turn with me to Romans 8. Romans 8 verse 29. Whom he did foreknow, he also
did predestinate. That means he predetermined the
end for them. He foreordained all things concerning
them. He ordered from the beginning
by His sovereign providence how every step would go for them. Do you believe that? Every step. Verse 28 says, we
know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose. All things work
together for good for God's people because he predestinated all
things concerning them. That's why they work together
for good. Verse 29, whom he did foreknow,
he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his
Son. Every now and then, I get a hold
of that. That's what's coming in Christ,
for God's people in Christ. whom He did foreknow, He also
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that
He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called,
them He also justified, and whom He justified, them He also glorified. What gives God's people rest
in the midst of all this chaos and sickness and sorrow? Here
it is. The providence of God in it.
The providence of God in it. The end of all of it that He
predetermined for His people. When we look to Christ and His
eternal purpose concerning us, we realize that all of this seeming
chaos is just the means to His end, all of it. It's the means
to His predetermined, predestinated end for His people. Hold your
place right here in Romans 8 and go to Ephesians 1. All we have to do is just wait
for the end. That's all we have to do. Just
wait for His end. Ephesians 1 verse 4, it says, According as He hath
chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according
to the good pleasure of his will. What are we predestinated to?
Adoption into the family of God. Now are we sons of God. I can't wait to live in the house
of God. physically experiencing that,
the family of God. God's people have been predestinated
to it. They were predetermined to it. Look at verse 9 right here. It
says, Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according
to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself, that
in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together
in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and
which are on earth, even in him, in whom also we have obtained
an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,
that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted
in Christ. The moment we realize that God's
hand is on every single thing that is being allowed to happen,
we find rest. The moment we realize that That
thing that we are so torn up about, it's the very means that
God is using to bring us to his end. It's just part of his perfect
means. And we find rest in it. Rest
in the sovereign providence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Let's come to the eternal providence of the Lord Jesus Christ and
we will find rest. Number two, hold your place now
here in Ephesians and go back to Romans 8. Romans 8 verse 32. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather, that is risen again. who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us. What gives God's people
rest in the middle of this sinful world that we live in? The sacrifice
that he made for our sin on the cross of Calvary. There is a
judgment coming to this world that God's people are not going
to endure. There's a judgment coming to
this world that God's people are going to have no part of.
They are not going to endure it. And the reason is because
Christ already endured it for us on the cross of Calvary. While men and women all over
this world are going to have to answer for their sins, men
and women all over this world are going to have to answer for
their sins. Christ has already answered for
the sins of his people on the cross of Calvary. He has already
answered for our sins. Look back at Ephesians, this
time chapter two. Verse 11. Wherefore, remember that you
being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision
by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that
at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ
Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the
blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath
made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition
between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even
the law of commandments, contained in ordinances, for to make in
himself of twain one new man, so making peace. and that he
might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having
slain the enmity thereby, and came and preached peace to you
which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him
we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore
you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens
with the saints and of the household of God, and are built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone in whom all the building, fitly
framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord, in
whom you also are builded together for inhabitation of God through
the Spirit." If that doesn't provide rest to us, nothing will. Nothing will. He slew everything
that was against us, making peace, peace through His cross. Turn
over to Colossians 2. Colossians 2 verse 9 says, For
in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you
are complete in him, which is the head of all principality
and power, in whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision
made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the
flesh by the circumcision of Christ. buried with him in baptism,
wherein also you are risen with him through the faith of the
operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you being
dead in your sins, in the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened
together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting
out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was
contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his
cross. And having spoiled principalities
and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them in," the margin says, himself, in himself. What that means is
rest. There is so much rest in that. So much rest in the finished
accomplishment of the cross. There's rest in the providence
of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is rest in the cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And one more, number three. Turn
over to Hebrews 4. Hebrews 4 verse 12, For the word
of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged
sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and
of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts
and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature
that is not manifest in His sight, but all things are naked and
opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Seeing then
that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens,
Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that
we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. There is rest in the throne of
the Lord Jesus Christ. There's rest in the throne. The
providence of Christ, the cross of Christ, the throne of Christ. His throne is his authority. It is His power to keep, to carry
out everything that He promised and everything He secured. He
has the ability to see that it stands forever. The sovereignty
of His throne will see to it that it's carried out all the
way to the end. That gives me rest. That gives
me rest. Go back to Matthew 11. Again, this, you know, came from
the mindset of prayer. And. I pray that the Lord will give
all of us this prayer. I pray that the Lord will give
all of us this desire. In prayer. To come to him. to truly, truly come to him with
a sincere heart, soul communion with him. I pray the Lord will
enable that. I pray he will give it. I pray
he will cause it. I pray this for all of us. As
the disciples prayed, that the Lord would teach us to pray.
Lord, teach us to pray. Teach us how to pray. Teach us
to pray with a fervent heart. And I pray he'll do that for
us. I pray he'll give us this ability. Matthew 11, verse 28,
he said, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
and I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. You know, a yoke is two oxen
tied together. What he's saying is, if you're
tied to me, I do all the work, you do nothing. Take my yoke
upon you, learn of me, I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall
find rest unto your souls. My yoke is easy and my burden
is light. May the Lord Jesus Christ draw
us, yoke us together with him, and give us rest. Amen.