If you wanna follow along, it'll
be in Matthew chapter 11, beginning in verse 28. 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
ye shall find rest under your souls, for my yoke is easy and
my burden is light. Now, I noticed I've been preaching
a lot about the reigning Lord Jesus Christ. That's all I got to preach, I'm
sorry. That's all there is, you know. because he is sovereign,
he has all power, and he works his will supremely in this world. But here's the thing, folks,
and the supreme Lord of glory, the sovereign king who's ruling
and reigning right now says, come unto me. That's what he
says. I read this by Spurgeon. I thought
this was rather appropriate. When I was coming to Christ,
I thought I was doing it. All myself. And though I sought
the Lord earnestly, I had no idea at the time the Lord was
seeking me. One week night, The thought struck
me, how did you come to become a Christian? I sought the Lord. But how did you come to seek
the Lord? The truth flashed across my mind
in a moment. I should not have sought him
unless there had been some previous influence in my mind to make
me seek him. And I thought, that's very good.
because I'm gonna tell you something, folks. You don't come to Christ
knowing everything. Pretty much. And right now, I
know nothing as I ought to know it. But I do know it, some things. So how do I reconcile the fact
that the Lord Jesus Christ is completely sovereign in his reigning
will and the fact that he tells us to come to him? Oh, yeah,
you can. It's easy. They're both true. They're both true. I remember
Gabe Stallnacher standing up here one time, I think it was
Gabe, said, what about this verse? What about that verse? Well,
I believe that too. But I also believe this verse.
Anyway, verse 28, come unto me, those first three words. Now,
these are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Come unto me. Come unto the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen folks, there is no one
else for rest. There is none else to come to. Now a lot of people seem to think,
and they take this verse as an invitation. Then that's the way
they talk about it. But let me be clear here, folks.
Jesus is not begging anyone to come unto him. No. Matter of fact, he's not
even asking. This is a command from the Lord
Jesus Christ to his people. This is a command from God manifest
in the flesh. As a matter of fact, this is
exact same wording, almost, It's used in Genesis seven in verse
one. And the Lord said unto Noah,
come thou and all thy house into the ark, for thee have I seen
righteous before me in this generation. You understand? God didn't tell
Noah, get in the ark. He said, come. Come into the
ark. God was in the ark. And Christ
is not telling somebody, and I'm gonna say it this way in
particular, telling somebody to get saved, he's saying, come
to me, come to me, come to me. And I'm gonna tell you something,
that was a command to Noah, and this is a command from Christ
to his people. The ark was a type of Christ
and his deliverance, and Noah was commanded to come into the
ark. coming to Jesus Christ. Come
unto me, come unto me. Because I'm gonna tell you something,
folks, in Noah's day, there was no salvation outside that ark,
without that ark. And right now, there is no salvation
without the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh my. And this is the nice thing
about this. If you look at it, he doesn't
say, Why don't you clean yourself up? Dust yourself off, straighten
up your clothes, and then come unto me. No, he just says come.
Come. Listen, if you hear his voice,
if he's speaking to you, all he's saying is come unto me.
Come unto me. Oh my. Don't get better. You
understand? You can come to Christ fainting,
feeble, and ready to die. and he still says, come unto
me, come unto me. Oh, I like that. Oh, don't clean
up, don't wash up. Matter of fact, he'll take care
of all that. You can't do it anyway. You can't. We can't do it. That prodigal son, when he came
to himself, when a thought entered his head, you know, I could go
home and my father has servants that are eating better than I
am. And he came home and the father met him and fell on his
neck and kissed him and said, my son that was lost is now here.
Bring out the best rope and put it on him. He didn't make him
get cleaned up. He didn't even let himself be
dusted off. No, Christ has come unto me and
it's come as you are. the Lord Jesus Christ sees you
better than you see yourself. He knows more of your faults
and failures than you know. Now that will sometimes scare
people. But when he says come unto me,
you're gonna come unto him. Oh, I like that. Because here's
the thing, he sees you as you are. The Prince of Peace sees
you as you are, and he says, come unto me, and I'll give you
rest. But here's the defining statement
of this, after come unto me. You see this, all you that labor
and are heavy laden, all of you, That's a defining statement.
What's that mean? As I said, this is not a request.
This is a command. But it begs the question, who
is being commanded here by Jesus Christ? It's not everyone. It's not. I understand that's why people
want to give it a, come unto me, all you who labor in every
labor. They want to give it as an invitation. No, it's a command.
Are you heavy laboring? Are you heavy laden? Come, come. That's who he's telling to come,
oh my. He's speaking to our particular
people. Here's the thing, what about
those who are not laboring and heavy laden? He's not talking
to them right there. He might be talking to them later.
As you understand, there are people that have heard this and
heard this and never come. and tomorrow they may. Tomorrow
they may. Oh my, I like this. But see,
in this day and age, most is made of what is called free will. Man's decision and man's choice. And they think this is Jesus
Christ leaving it up to you to make your decision for Jesus.
It's not what he said. He said, come unto me. If you
labor and you're heavy laden, come unto me. Again, a command. I've heard it. You've heard it,
I'm sure. Whosoever will. Whosoever will. Oh my. Now, whosoever will is a true
scriptural statement, but it also implies there are some out
there that whosoever won't. Okay? But there is a scripture
about the willingness of men and women. Starts in Psalms 110
verse one. It's a Psalm of David. These
are the words of David. The Lord said unto my Lord, sit
thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion. Rule
thou in the midst of thine enemies. Now you understand who we're
dealing with here, folks. This is God. And the Lord said unto my Lord,
who is that? That's the son of David, our
Lord Jesus Christ. It tells you that in the New
Testament. I'm not going into it right now. But here's the
kicker verse, verse three of Psalms 110. Thy people shall
be willing, when? In the day of thy power. What? It's not thy people will
be willing in the day of their free will? No, it's not that
at all. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness, from the
womb of the morning, thou hast the due of thy youth. The Lord
said unto my Lord, I like that. Jesus, thou son of David, heal
me. Oh my. I'm gonna tell you something. His people God's people, the
people God gave to Christ, are willing in the day of his power. And not before, not before. Before, what we are is unwilling.
Because the willingness, the willingness of those whom Jesus
commanded are made willing by his power, in the day of his
power. Oh my, and this command is given
to those who are, what? Laboring and heavy laden. Mm,
aye. Excuse me. We also find this
statement in Psalms, still Old Testament, right? The time of
the Old Testament sacrifices, This is also a psalm of David.
So they still got the tabernacle, they're still killing goats and
sheep and bulls every day, every day. But David writes this psalm,
this is Psalm 51 verse 16. For thou desirest not sacrifice,
else would I give it. Thou delightest not in burnt
offering. Ah. Then he goes on, verse 17. The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit, and a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. You understand, the Lord did
not delight in the burnt offerings of animals, even though he commanded
it. Those sacrifices, every one of
them pointed to Christ. But he didn't delight in the
animal being burnt, being killed. The Lord did not delight in sacrifice. The Lord did delight in the sacrifice
of a broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart. I'm gonna
tell you something. The well don't need a physician. Christ said that. Who does? Those that are laboring and are
heavy laden. That's who needs a physician.
Oh, I'm gonna tell you something. The Lord delights in those that
he makes willing in the day of his power. Oh, I like that. And matter of fact, look right
here. Come unto me, and here's three
letters. All, all ye. All of ye that labor
and are heavy laden. All. And this is a command, folks. This is not a request. Oh, I
like that. All. Oh my. Every single one that the Lord
makes willing will come. They will come. Oh my. And they are commanded to come
unto Jesus. As a matter of fact, they're
commanded to come unto Jesus with a promised result. I like this. You understand? Because I'm gonna tell you something,
folks, if you're laboring and you're heavy laden, you want
something. You want something. He's gonna
tell you, and I will give you Rest, rest, oh my. Now I'm gonna tell you something,
this is not a physical rest. Although that may be included.
But that's not what it's talking about. The rest, this rest is
sure. I will give it to you. I'm gonna
tell you something, folks. When Jesus Christ gives you something,
you have it. You have it. If he's gonna give
you rest, you're gonna have it. It may be a little while before
you realize it. Because we're a little dense.
I'm including myself in there because I know me better. But
listen, people are dense. And sometimes you're so busy
laboring and heavy laden that you're not paying attention to
other things. But no, he says come unto me. Come unto me, all
you that labor. All of you that labor and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest. There is a rest that remaineth
for the people of God. Oh, I like that. Those whom the
Lord Jesus Christ makes willing. And you understand, this is his
rest. I'm gonna give it to you. I will
give it to you. I shall give it to you. You're
gonna have it, but it's his rest. It's his rest. You know why? Because the child of God learns to trust
in Christ's work and not his own work. That's what that laboring
and heavy laden is. You understand, when you're convicted
of sin, you wanna get rid of sin. That's what it means. You wanna get rid of it. And
you understand you can fight so hard not to sin that you're
sinning while you do it. That's how depraved we are, folks.
That's how depraved we are. I mean, it seems kind of dumb,
but that's how dumb we are. You sin trying to get rid of
your sin. Because you can't. You can't
satisfy God. Oh, but I know one who did satisfy
God. And he's willing to give you
his rest, his rest, oh my. And it is rest, and it is rest
for his people. There remaineth a rest for the
people of God. Now listen, folks, here's the
thing. Happy, self-contented people
aren't looking for and aren't needful of rest. They're happy
as they are. Matter of fact, they may think
they have rest. Mm, my, but oh, those that are
laboring Those that are heavy laden, they want some rest. They want some rest from their
labors. That's what I need rest from,
my labors, my labors. Oh my, those heavy laden by sin
and by the heaviness of a broken and contrite heart want some
rest, want some relief from that broken heart. Want some relief
for a contrite spirit. Oh, I like that. And Jesus says,
I will. I will give you rest. I will. Oh, I like that. Verse 29, take my yoke upon you
and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall
find rest under your souls. For my yoke is easy. And my burden
is light. Mm, my. Now, there is a yoke. He says, take it upon you. Let me tell you something. There
is a walk for the people of God. Mm. There is a walk. There is a burden. It says what? Oh my, my yoke is easy and my
burden's light. But there is one. There's a walk. But here it is, folks. You shall
find rest for your souls. Where? Under his yoke. Under his yoke. I, Paul, he writes,
a bond slave of Christ. And you know what? He was right
happy to be a slave of Christ. Oh yes, I'm an apostle. But he
said, I'm a bond slave of Jesus Christ. Oh my. I'm gonna tell
you something. You're gonna find rest for your
souls in walking with the Lord. Walking in the light as he is
in the light. The rest of God that remains
for the people of God is soul rest. You shall find rest for
your souls. Because there's a joy and rejoicing
in Jesus Christ that the world has no idea of. I've seen them on TV doing the
whoop-de-doo thing and all that. But you understand, they walk
out and they don't know anything more than what they knew when
they went in. And they still don't know him. Oh my. His salvation is free
and complete in Him now, in Him. Deb and I were talking about
this. It's free to you, and it's free
to me, but it's only free to us because He paid the price. He paid the price we couldn't
pay. There was a price. There was a payment made. There
was a time our Lord Jesus Christ was forsaken by the Father. I can't explain that, but I believe
it. Mm, oh my. And as Paul over here has said
many times, and I agree, salvation of Christ says done. It's done, the great transaction's
done. The salvation of this world says
do. And we can't, we can't. We tried, that's why you were
heavy laden and laboring. And it didn't work. Christ says,
come unto me, come unto me. Oh, I like that. My yoke is easy
and my burden's light. You wanna know why? Because believers,
true believers, work willingly, willingly. And I'm gonna tell
you something, his yoke and his burden is so much better than
being dead in trespasses and in sins, there's no comparison.
There's no comparison. Oh my. His people are willing in the
day of his power, in the day of his power. Oh my. And what's
it say? It says God works in us, both
to will and to do of his good pleasure. That yoke's easy, and
that burdens light. Mm, I like that. But you understand where I've
been talking about this come unto me? Let's look at Matthew
11 still, the three or four verses before this, verse 25. 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 the prudent. He's
hid things from some people and has revealed them unto babes. Well, that's not fair. It's not what Christ said. He
said, even so, Father, for it seemed good in thy sight 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, here we go folks, and,
wow, he to whomsoever the son will reveal him. Then he says,
come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. That puts
a little more context in it. There's a little bit of sovereignty
before we get into come unto me. You know why? Because that come unto me is
just as sovereign as thou hast hid these things from the wise
and the prudent. It's just as sovereign as thou
hast revealed them unto babes. And guess what? Those babes that
Christ has revealed himself to, they're gonna come unto me. They'll
be laboring and heavy laden, but he's gonna give them rest.
Oh, I like that. Matter of fact, John 6 and verse
65 says this, and he said, this is Jesus Christ, therefore said
I unto you that, what? No man can come unto me except
it were given him, what? Of my father. Now, y'all know
what John 6, 66 says, right? Therefore, many of them went
back and walked no more with him. Why? Because no man can
come unto the Father except it be, no man can come unto me except
it was given unto him of the Father. Come unto me. Why? All you that weary, you're
heavy laden, heavy laboring, I'll give you rest. Oh my, I
like that. But you'll never come without
the sovereign power of God. Not only the willingness, but
the ability to come. To come to the right one. Every
single one that the Lord makes willing shall come. I like that, because from the
beginning, he declared the end. He declared the end. And that
glorious, gracious statement of God to Isaiah, and quoted
by Paul in Romans, but Esaias is very bold and saith, I was
found of them that sought me not. I was made manifest, made
known. unto them that asked not after
me. Now folks, that was me. I wasn't
looking for God before he found me. And I'm gonna tell you something,
no lost sheep was looking for the good shepherd, the good shepherd
went and found them. And he picked it up, put it on
his shoulders and carried it back home. He finds his lost
sheep and brings them in. Oh, I like that. You understand,
we sing that song. God moves in a mysterious way.
What? His wonders to perform. I'm gonna
tell you something, folks. Come unto me is a wonder that
he performs, that he performs. Oh, we do it. We do come unto
you. But that's a wonder. That's a
miracle. of grace, a miracle of grace. Oh, I like that. Matter of fact,
a little bit later on where Paul quoted that from Isaiah, Isaiah
65 and 24 says this, and it shall come to pass, here we go folks,
that before they call, I will answer. Isn't that something? And while they are yet speaking,
I'll hear. I'll hear. You know what that
is? That's the power of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Oh my. When Jesus tells you to
come, when Jesus commands you to come, you will come. You will come. And you shall
find rest for your souls. Yeah, you can't preach coming
unto Christ without preaching the power of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the sovereign Lord. Because here it is. For whosoever
shall call upon the name of who? The Lord. Whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord. Oh, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's his name. But whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord. shall be saved, shall be
saved. Oh, I like that. Come to him. He reigns in salvation. He saves
his people from their sins. Come to him. Because he is God
and there is none else. And if you come to him, he will
give you rest for your soul. John Burrage wrote this song.
I got a couple verses written down here. Let me come unto my Lord, self-condemned
and abhorred. Take the sinner's safe retreat,
lie and blush at Jesus' feet. If my heart, here I like this,
if my heart is broken well, God will surely with me dwell. Yet amazed I would be how the
Lord should dwell with me. That's good words. I like that
one. If my heart is broken well. Let me tell you something, folks.
If God breaks your heart, he's gonna break it well. He's gonna
break it well. Oh my, yeah. And you understand,
A broken and contrite heart thou wilt not despise. He delights
in the sacrifice of a broken sinner. Why, he has made us thus. I don't know, Henry said it, Earl
said it. A sinner is a sacred thing. The
Holy Ghost has made him so. And then Christ says, come unto
me. And they come, they come, wearying, heavy laden, burdened,
but they come and they shall find rest for their soul. Amen, amen. Heavenly Father,
we're thankful again for this time and this place. Help us,
Lord, Lord. Open our eyes, open our minds,
open our hearts, open our ears to hear and to see the goodness
of God. The goodness of God in salvation,
the goodness of God in Christ Jesus, the Lord of glory. Without your help, we see nothing. Without your blessing, we hear
nothing, we understand nothing. Thank you, Lord, for what you've
given us, and please, Lord, give us more. Be with those who couldn't
be here for a hindering cause, bless them, keep them, and give
them your word and your will and your way. Be with Paul as
he comes to preach here, be with Walter as he stands in another
place, and all your ministers where your gospel is proclaimed.
And we ask this in Christ's name, amen.