Well, good morning to everyone.
If you would open your Bibles with me this morning to Matthew
chapter 11 and continue our Bible study in the book of Matthew
chapter 11 this morning. Before we begin, let's bow together
in prayer. Our father, which art in heaven,
holy and reverend is your matchless name. And Lord, we humbly bow
before you. We bow before the God of all
earth, the God of heaven and earth, the God who rules and
reigns above all. And we bow before you with hearts
of worship and praise. We bow before you submissive.
And Father, we bow, begging a blessing from your storehouses of grace
this morning. Father, give us a word from thee.
enable us this morning to worship you in spirit and in truth. This is the means at this particular
time, at this moment in history that you've given us to hear
your gospel preached, to hear Christ preached and to worship
you. Father, I pray that you would enable us to worship you,
truly worship in spirit and in truth and to hear a word from
thee. Give us a heart of worship, a
heart that would hear and believe the things of Christ our Savior
that we here preach this morning. Father, we're so thankful for
the many blessings that you've given to us and how you've preserved
and protected, how you've provided. And we pray your continued hand
of leadership and protection be upon your people. Father,
chiefly, how we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ, how we
thank you for this Gospel this declaration of your son that
you've given us to preach and to believe to hear Father we
thank you for a Savior who truly saves his people from all of
their sin We thank you for the unspeakable gift of your son.
We thank you for the Eternal love that you have for
your people and sending your son to redeem us from our sins
father. We're thankful And Father, while
we are a thankful people, we are a poor and a needy people.
We pray that you would be with those, Father, of your people
who are hurting, who are sick, who are heartbroken, who need
you especially at this time. Father, give them a fulfillment
of your promise that you'd not leave nor forsake your people.
And Father, we pray for our world, our country at this time, that
in this pandemic that you would see fit, Father, to provide some
relief, that you would provide a healing, that you would move
in power, Father, and take care of this situation. We don't even
know what to ask for, but Father, we're thankful to know it's in
your hand, and we pray you'd provide some relief, and especially
that you would enable your people to meet together again in person
to worship thee. Be with our leaders. Give them
wisdom. Be with the medical people who treat the sick and are dealing
with this disease. Father, give them wisdom and
understanding to do what is right. Father, we ask You to forgive
us of our many sins. We ask that You would see us
and hear us only in our Lord Jesus Christ. For it is in His
precious name we pray and give thanks. Amen. Alright, the title
of our lesson this morning is an inviting commandment. An inviting
commandment. I took my title from verse 28
of Matthew chapter 11, where the Lord says, come unto me,
all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Now make no mistake about it,
this is a commandment from our Lord and Savior, come unto me. It's a commandment. But I tell
you, it sounds awfully inviting to a guilty sinner, doesn't it?
It is a commandment. It's a commandment. But sinners
can't help but willingly come to Christ when they hear such
a gracious, inviting commandment to come to Christ. This is a
commandment to come to Christ. It's a commandment to you. Whoever
you are, it's a commandment to you. It's a commandment to everyone. To every man, every woman, every
boy, every girl, come to Christ. It's a commandment to the lost.
To you who do not know Christ, to you who do not trust Christ,
this is a commandment to you to come to Christ for salvation.
Come to Christ for the forgiveness of your sin. Come to Christ for
the righteousness that God requires. Come to Christ that you might
be given eternal life. Come to Christ for everything
that God requires of you. Come to Christ for everything
that you need. This is a commandment to the
lost. Quit trying and failing to save yourself Whatever it
is that you're doing, quit it and come to Christ. This is a
commandment to the lost, come to Christ. This is also a commandment
to the saved. This is a commandment to those
who already believe on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Come
to Christ. When you who believe, when you
are burdened down with your indwelling sin, come to Christ. When you're burdened down with
weak faith, You're burdened down with doubts and fears and cares? Come to Christ. When you're burdened
down, when you're weary from trying to carry all your earthly
burdens and worries and cares, come to Christ. You see, coming
to Christ is not a one-time event. The believer continually comes
to Christ. That's why the apostle Peter
wrote, to whom coming? Because the believer is continually
coming to Christ in every situation. We need Christ. We come to Christ. So this is a commandment for
both believer and unbeliever alike. Come to Christ. That is
the commandment of God almighty. I want to give you three reasons
this morning why this is such an inviting commandment. It is
a commandment from God almighty, but it sure is an inviting commandment.
Number one, this is an inviting commandment because of the authority
of the one speaking. Look back up in verse 27. The
Savior says, all things are delivered unto me and 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. Now the one speaking, the one
giving this commandment to come to him is the one who owns everything. The father is given everything. Everything you can think of,
the Father's given it to the Son. So whatever it is that you
need, go to Him. He owns it. It's His to give.
If you're lost and you need to know the Father, come to Christ. He's the only one who can reveal
the Father to your souls. Come to Him. The Father has given
all flesh to His Son. All men are in the hands of Christ
to do with as He will. The Lord Jesus Christ rules over
all flesh, all flesh, so that He can give eternal life to as
many as the Father has given Him. Now, if you need eternal
life, go to the one who has life to give. If you need eternal
life, go to the one who is life itself. It's His to give. All
of the covenant of grace is in Christ, who is the Lamb of the
covenant. The Lord Jesus Christ purchased
grace for God's elect by the blood of His sacrifice. Now if
you're guilty and you need grace for your soul, go to the one
who purchased all grace. He has plenty to give. Now go
to him and beg for it. Christ is the mediator of the
covenant of grace. Not only is he the lamb of the
covenant that purchased all grace, he is the mediator of the covenant.
Every blessing God has for a sinner, they're all found in Christ.
They're his to give. They're his to withhold. They're
his to give. So if you need grace for your
soul, go to Christ. Go to the God of all grace. Go
to the fountain of grace. Go to the source of grace, because
all of God's grace is in Christ. So if you need grace, if you
need grace from God, go to Christ. Then all the riches of God's
mercy are found in Christ. God is rich in mercy. He has plenty of mercy for every
sinner who will come to Him as long as we come to him in Christ,
because all of God's mercy is found in Christ. All of God's
mercy to sinners is because of Christ, because he suffered for
the sin of his people. Mercy is God not giving us what
we do deserve. Well, the only way God could
not give me what I deserve is if he gave Christ what I deserve.
All of God's mercy is because of Christ. So if you're guilty
and you deserve to be damned and you need mercy, Go to Christ,
because all of God's mercy is in Him. Then all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ. All spiritual wisdom,
all spiritual knowledge is in Christ. Now if you need the answers,
you need wisdom, you need knowledge, go to Christ. Because if you
have Christ, you'll have the answer to every spiritual question.
Because Christ is the answer to every question. Do you need
to know God? Go to Christ. He's the one who
reveals the Father. Do you need to know the way of
salvation? Do you need to know the way, how it is God saves
sinners? Do you need to know the way of righteousness? Do
you need to know the way of forgiveness? Go to Christ. He is the way. Go to Him. Christ is the one
who gives the hearing ear. Do you need to be able to hear
and believe the gospel? Then go to Christ. He is the
only one who has the power to create in you a hearing ear. Christ is the one who gives the
seeing eye. Do you need to be able to see and understand the
gospel? Do you need to be able to understand
how it is, how is it possible that Almighty God can save a
sinner like you? Then go to Christ. He's the only
one who has the power to give the seeing eye. Christ is the
one who gives the heart of faith. Have you heard the gospel with
these ears, but you find it's impossible to believe? Do you
need to be able to believe on Christ to be saved? Then go to
Christ. He is the only one who has the
power to create in you a believing heart. Go to him and ask him
for it. See, this is a commandment, but it is an inviting commandment.
It's an inviting commandment because of the graciousness and
the glory, the power of the one giving the commandment. The one
who has all power to save, the one who has all authority to
save, the one who has all wisdom and knowledge, the one who has
all grace and all mercy says, come to me for salvation. Your
right to come to Christ for salvation is God commands you to come.
God's commandment is your right to come to Christ and be saved.
Now go to Christ because He is exactly who we sinners need. Notice the Savior says, come
unto me. Now go to Christ. Don't go to
a priest. Don't go to some religious leader.
The Savior says, come unto me. Come to Christ. Don't go to the
ceremonies of religion. Salvation is a person. That's
why the Savior said, come unto me. Come to Christ. Don't go
to doctrine. Don't go to the doctrines of
grace. I love the doctrines of grace. I love to Read them and
think about them and study them. But the Savior didn't say, go
to doctrine. Even to the doctrines of grace,
he said, come unto me. Salvation is trusting a person.
If you trust the person, if you know Christ, your doctrine will
be straight. Go to Christ. We who believe love the doctrines
of grace because of how they point us to Christ, how they
reveal the different, many different glories of Christ. But if you
would be saved, you go to Christ. Because salvation is trusting
a person. And don't go to the law. Don't go to the law trying
to make yourself better, thinking, well, if I make myself better,
then I'll go to Christ because I'll be more likely to receive
mercy from Him. Because I've made myself more savable. No. Don't go to the law. Because
you'll fail every time. All you'll do if you go to the
law is make yourself miserable. Because the only thing the law
can give sinners is misery. Misery and death. The Savior
said, Come unto me. Come unto me. What a gracious,
inviting commandment because of the authority of who speaks. And that brings me to my second
point. This is an inviting commandment
because of the gracious gift that the Savior gives. Look at
verse 28. He says, Come unto me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Rest. Now this is why I said a moment
ago, don't go to the law. The law will never give you rest.
The law will give you an unending amount of work that you can never
complete. You'll never be able to rest
because the work is never finished. All the commandments are never
finished. They never quit coming. Don't go to the law, because
all the law can do is put a burden on you that you're not capable
of carrying. Look over in Acts chapter 15.
This is what Peter said. The apostles and elders came
together discuss this matter of law and grace. And this is
in the CliffsNotes version, I guess you'd say, of what Peter told
them, is the law can't give any sin a rest. It puts a burden
on a man none of us can carry. In Acts 15, verse 5. But there
rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees, which believed,
saying that it was needful to circumcise them and to command
them to keep the law of Moses. And the apostles and elders came
together for to consider this matter. And when there had been
much disputing, Peter rose up and said unto them, Men and brethren,
you know how that a good while ago God made choice among us
that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel
and believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts,
bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did
unto us. and put no difference between
us and them. We who have grew up having the law, them who never
did have it, he put no difference between us and them, purifying
their hearts by faith. Their hearts weren't purified
by the works of the law. They're purified by faith in Christ.
Now therefore, verse 10, why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon
the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were
able to bear? Peter said, men and brethren,
we know this by experience. The law can't give you any rest.
All it does is put a burden on us that none of us have ever
been able to bear. The law can't give us rest. The
law just burdens us down, but Christ can give rest. God's grace
does give rest. He says in verse 11, but we believe
that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be
saved even as they. That's how we're saved. That's
how we're given rest. It's through grace in our Lord
Jesus Christ. The law can't give rest, but
Christ does. And this rest, before we come to Christ, we're
going to long, long for this rest. The word labor the Lord
uses here means more than work. It means to be exhausted by the
work, to be exhausted by it. The burden that the law puts
on people makes us to be exhausted. Because you can't do all the
work. And you certainly can never finish any of the work. You're
just exhausted. You're like a hamster on that
wheel. Just running, running, running,
running. You never get to the end. Because there's no end to
it. It just makes you exhausted. The commandments of the law are
a burden this flesh cannot carry. Because we don't have the capacity
to obey God's law. Oh, the bondage of trying to
keep the law well enough to satisfy God. That's such bondage and
misery because we can't do it. We can't keep the law. Oh, the
bondage and the burden that people are under trying to be moral
enough to make God happy with them, to satisfy God. That's
such bondage, that's such a burden because we can't do it. You can't
be moral enough. The only thing God will accept
is perfection. It must be perfect for God to accept. Oh, the bondage
of trying to be moral enough to make God happy with you. Oh,
the bondage and the burden of thinking that you've got to go
through enough religious ceremonies in order for God to accept you. There's such a burden. It'll
just exhaust you trying to carry all those things. And if anybody
listening to me this morning is exhausted, are you just exhausted
with trying and failing to keep God's law? Are you exhausted
from trying and failing to be moral enough and good enough
to make God happy with you? Are you just exhausted from trying
and failing? Then just come to Christ. Quit
all the burden. Quit all the everything you're
trying to do and come to Christ. Come to Christ who has already
kept the law for his people and you'll find rest for your soul.
Look at the book of Genesis. Genesis chapter 2. Once you come
to Christ, you will be able to rest. Because once you believe
Christ, you're gonna find out there's no more work left to
do. Come to Christ and have God's
rest. Look here, Genesis chapter two,
verse one. Thus the heavens and the earth
were finished and all the host of them. And on the seventh day,
God ended his work which he had made. And he rested on the seventh
day from all his works which he had made And God blessed the
seventh day and sanctified it because that in it He had rested
from all His work which God created and made. Now why did God rest
on that seventh day? Why did God rest from His work?
Because creation was finished. There's nothing left to create.
There's nothing left to make. God had finished the work of
creation and it was perfect. God saw that it was very good. There's no more work left to
do. So God rested. Now you come to Christ and you'll
have rest for your soul because when you believe Christ, this
is what you'll see. There's no more work left to
do. Christ has obeyed the law for you. He's finished it. And
when he looked at it, he looked at his finished work of righteousness,
his finished work of obeying the law for his people. God said,
it's very good. And he rested. He quit because
there was no more work left to do. And if you trust Christ,
that's what you'll do. You'll rest from your works of
the law. You'll rest from your works of religion because in
Christ, you see, there's no more work left to do. He's already
finished it all. Look at the book of Hebrews. Book of Hebrews chapter four. Verse nine. There remaineth therefore
a rest to the people of God." Now, that rest is not the land
that God promised to give Israel. Joshua let him in, but didn't
give him rest, did he? That rest is not a rest because
of any particular place or something on this earth. There remaineth
therefore a rest to the people of God. It's Christ. For he that
is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own
works as God did from his. See, you rest in Christ because
there's no more work left to do. You rest by faith, because
by faith you believe that Christ is enough. Verse 11, let us labor
therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after
the same example of unbelief. Now you can't rest in unbelief,
but if you believe Christ, you can rest. You'll have rest for
your soul, because you believe that Christ is enough. What He
did is enough, so that you don't have to add anything to it. and
you can rest. If you are exhausted by trying
to carry the burden of your sin, come to Christ. The Lord Jesus
Christ put away the sin of His people by the sacrifice of Himself.
Quit trying to put it away yourself and come to Christ. Quit trying
to carry that burden of your sin yourself and come to Christ,
whose blood cleanses us from all sin. Now, come to Christ
and have rest from the burden of your sin. Look over at Hebrews
chapter 9. Hebrews chapter 9. If you are
exalted because of a guilty conscience, a guilty conscience that will
never let you rest, come to Christ. Oh, the rest from a guilty conscience
is constantly telling you haven't done enough, constantly telling
you you have to do more, constantly telling that you're guilty. If
you are exhausted because of a guilty conscience, my friend,
come to Christ. Hebrews 9, verse 13. For the
blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling
the unclean sanctifies to the purifying the flesh. How much
more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit
offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience
from dead works to serve the living God? Now, if you trust
Christ, your conscience will be purged. Your conscience will
be quiet. Now, your conscience won't be
quiet because you don't sin anymore. No, you're still going to sin.
Your conscience will be quiet because there's no condemnation
to fear. There's no judgment to fear. Your conscience will
be quiet because your conscience won't be telling you there's
more work to do to put your sin away because Christ has already
been punished for you. Christ has already put your sin
away. Your conscience is not going to be constantly telling
you to try to make up for your sin. Because Christ's sacrifice
has already put your sin away. He's already made you righteous
in Him. Now just go to Christ and you'll
have rest from a guilty conscience. Then if you're exhausted from
trying to figure out all the answers. Is there anybody listening to
me this morning? You're exhausted. You're trying to figure out all
the answers before you come to Christ. And it's just exhausting
you. My dear friend, simply come to Christ. He is the answer. He is the answer. Come to Christ
because you're a needy sinner. You don't come to Christ because
you've got all the answers figured out. You come to Christ because
you're a needy sinner. You need Him to save you. And
when you come to Christ, you're going to have all the answers
you ever need. Because He's the answer. Come to Christ and have
rest. See, you don't come to Christ
because you have all the answers. And you're sure that you're one
of the elect. You're sure. No, you come to Christ because
you're a sinner and Christ is the Savior of sinners. And when
you come to Him, you've got every answer you ever need because
He is the answer. If you're trying to figure out all the answers
so that you'll understand enough to be satisfied, you're never
going to be satisfied. You know when you'll be satisfied?
When you come to Christ. Come to Christ and your soul
will be satisfied. If you have Christ, you have
everything you need. You'll be satisfied. You'll never be unsatisfied
spiritually again. When you come to Christ, your
soul will be satisfied because Christ is all. He's all that
you need. And He is the one that tells
you, come unto me and I will give you rest. Now, come to Christ. Those of you who hear me preach
very often, you have heard me say that many times from this
pulpit. Come to Christ. Well, what is it to come to Christ? Well, let me give you two answers
that are really the same answer. What is it to come to Christ?
Simply put, to come to Christ is to believe Christ. Believe
Him. Look at the Gospel of John chapter
six. John chapter six. In verse 34, then said they unto
him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 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. See, the Lord tells us here,
coming to him and believing him are the same thing. Come to me,
and you'll never hunger. Come to me, you'll never thirst.
Believe on me, you'll never hunger. Believe, and you'll never thirst.
They're the same thing. Coming to Christ is believing
Christ. Coming to Christ is believing.
All it takes to save your soul, all it takes to make you righteous,
all it takes to make you whole is Christ. It's believing Him.
All right, now look at 2 Timothy chapter 1. Here's the second
thing. First, coming to Christ is believing
Christ. And second, coming to Christ
is committing your soul to Christ. 2 Timothy 1, verse 12. For the witch cause, I also suffer
these things. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed,
for I know whom I have believed. See, the apostle came to a person.
I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded, I'm confident
that he is able to keep that which I have committed. unto
Him against that day. Believing Christ is committing
your soul to Christ. And committing your soul to Christ
means that you commit it all to Christ. You commit it all
to His doing. You commit Him to carry it all
without you trying to add one thing to it. That's coming to
Christ. It's believing He's all it takes
to save you and committing your all to Him. There's no plan B. There's nothing else I add to
it. My salvation is all Christ or it's none at all. That's coming
to Christ. And what a gracious commandment
from the Savior, the Son of God, to tell sinners to come to Him
and freely receive everything that you need, to freely receive
rest for your soul. All right, and here's the third
thing. This is an inviting commandment because of the one, the power,
the authority of the one who's speaking. It's an inviting commandment
because of the gracious gift that He gives. And thirdly, it
is an inviting commandment because of the gracious character of
the one who's speaking. Verse 29, back in our text, Matthew
11. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me. For I am meek and lowly in heart
and you should find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy
and my burden is light. Now the law is a cruel taskmaster. The law constantly gives us more
work than we're capable of doing, and then it beats us for not
being able to do it. The law gives us commandments to obey
and then constantly points out our guilt in not obeying those
commandments. Now, the Savior does not say,
come unto me and trade one cruel taskmaster for another cruel
master. The Savior says, come unto me
and submit yourselves to my gracious rule. Now, coming to Christ is
believing Christ. Coming to Christ is committing
yourself to Christ. And coming to Christ is submitting
to Christ. Coming to Christ is submitting
yourself to Him. It's submitting to His rule.
It's submitting yourself to His righteousness. That's what the
Apostle Paul said. The whole problem with his countrymen,
the whole problem with his nation was they will not submit themselves
unto the righteousness of Christ. They're constantly trying to
keep the law and add to that righteousness themselves so they
get some credit for it. Well, if you're going to come
to Christ, you're going to have to submit yourself to Him. You're going to have
to submit yourself to His righteousness by not trying to earn one of
your own and have your only righteousness be the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
submitting yourself to Him. Now, I tell you, come to Christ.
Submit yourself to the Lord Jesus Christ. What an inviting commandment. Come to Christ who says His rule
is easy. Submit yourself to Christ whose
rule is easy. His commandments are not grievous.
His commandment is come unto me and rest, not work. Now that's a glorious, gracious
commandment. Come unto me and rest. His commandment
is look and live. Not do and live. Look and live. Believe and live. His commandment
is beg and be forgiven. That's glorious. That's gracious. What a gracious commandment.
His commandment is come and be yoked to Him. Come and be joined
to Christ by a yoke that is made to fit you perfectly. So it won't
chafe you. It won't rub you. It won't hurt
you. It will allow you to willingly and lovingly serve Christ because
you're joined to Christ. What a gracious commandment that
the Savior, the Son of God, would allow himself to be yoked to
the likes of you and me. What a gracious commandment.
Now come to Christ. This is the commandment of God.
It's the commandment of scripture. The Savior says this is a commandment. He commands us come to Christ.
And the Spirit and the Bride, you know what the Spirit and
the Bride say? Those who know Christ, you know what they say? The Spirit
and the Bride say come. Now come to Christ and listen
to me. You come to Christ and do it
right now. Right now. Without delay. Come to Christ. Have your burden
lifted. Come to Christ. Have your sin
forgiven. Come to Christ. Have your soul
cleansed. Come to Christ. Have your conscience
quieted. I tell you, come to Christ. The
Spirit and the bride say come. The commandment of God is come. Well, I know when you'll come.
I know when you'll come to Christ. You'll come to Christ when God
the Holy Spirit draws you. If the Holy Spirit's drawing
you, He draws you to Christ. Now, if I know I'll come to Christ
when the Spirit draws me, you know what I'm going to beg? I'm
going to beg God, send your Spirit to draw me. You'll come to Christ
when you don't have anywhere else to go. When you're shut
up to Christ and there's no other options, then and only then will
you come to Christ. Then I beg the Lord to show me
my helplessness. Show me my hopelessness. Show
me my condition so I see I've got no choice but Christ. I've
got no other option but Christ. And make me come to Christ. Oh
may God be pleased in His mercy and His grace to show you your
helplessness, to shut you up to Christ, and to draw you to
Him. That's when you'll come to Christ.
Oh, what an inviting commandment, come to Christ. Well, I hope
the Lord bless that to your heart.