Matthew chapter 11. We read the
entire chapter long ago. We'll consider the last few words
spoken by our Lord in the chapter as our test, verse 28 especially. But notice verse 7, as they departed, those two disciples
that John the Baptist sent to our Lord. As they departed, Jesus
began to say unto the multitudes, the multitudes. I wonder how
many people that was. Multitudes, not just a multitude,
but multitudes of people. Can you picture that in your
mind's eye? Here's the Lord Jesus Christ. ready to speak, has been speaking
to multitudes. And unlike you and I, he knew
the heart of everyone there present. In John chapter 2 we read that
many, when they heard him, believed on him, but the Lord did not
commit himself unto them. He didn't commit himself to them.
He didn't need anybody to tell him what was in man, because
he knew what was in man. He knew exactly what was in man.
He knows what they do, and he knows why they do it. What's
the motive behind it? Can you imagine when he looked
at this multitudes of people He who knew all things, he's
not only that one who spake as never a man spake, he knew as
never a man knew. He knows your thoughts this very
minute, Terry Hope. He knows why you're here. He
knows why you came to life. Robin, Bobby, Billy, Larry, he
knows our thoughts. Did we come seeking seeking to
hear a word from him. Is that why we came? He knows,
doesn't he? He knows. And among those multitudes
of people, our Lord looked out and there were some that he really
focused on. There were some there that really
got his attention. He saw some there that needed
mercy. Think about that now. A lot of
these were sort of like, what do we call, rubberneckers that
see an accident on the road and stop to take a look. Many of
them were here just because they were curious. They'd heard about
him. Maybe he'll perform a miracle.
Maybe he'll do a trick for us. Some of them perhaps were there
when he fed The multitudes, various reasons, but the Lord Jesus Christ
knew exactly, exactly the heart and mind of every one of those
in that multitude. And he zeroes in on that select
group that are weary sinners in need of grace and mercy. It's
to these that he looks with eyes full of compassion. It is to
these he speaks such gracious words as he does in Verses 28
through 30. Look at verse 28 again. Speaking
to the multitudes, but all speaking to these ones included in the
multitude, some came there needing mercy. That's pretty rare. That's pretty rare. Some felt
their need of grace. That's pretty rare. Now you've
encountered a lot of people this way. I mean, it may take you
a while if you sit and think about it, how many people crossed
your path you've dealt with for one reason or another. Did you
meet anybody that asked, what must I do to be saved? Anybody? Or your work, your neighbor across
the fence, people come through your home. Anyone say, hey, could
you tell me how I can be just with God? Our Lord pays attention
to such people. Look what he said again in verse
28, come unto me. Not everybody, not everybody.
In that multitude, multitudes, he says, come unto me all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. When he spoke those words, he
wasn't looking at the Pharisees, because they didn't need mercy,
did they? You remember how he spoke to them? He said this to
the Pharisees, they that behold need not a physician, that was
the Pharisees, but they that are sick. He told them, go and
learn what that means. I will have mercy and not sacrifice,
for I've not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. To whom does the Lord look? The
prophet, by the prophet Isaiah, he tells us plainly, Here's the
Lord speaking. But to this man will I look.
Not just glance at casually and then turn away. No, no, no. Here's
a man that gets my attention. Now think about it. This is God
Almighty. This is God Almighty speaking.
And he says, here's an individual that I'm interested in. Here's
an individual that I'm focused on. Now, that's the God of the
universe speaking. And who is it? Who is that rare
individual? Who is that blessed person to
whom the Lord directs his thoughts and his attention? Is it Kings? We just read in Matthew 11. No,
no, no. No, listen to what the Lord said. But to this man will
I look, even to him that is poor and of a a contrite spirit and
tremulous at my word." Oh, that was so unlike the Pharisees,
wasn't it? Huh? Did this man want to look?
Our Lord looked to them and they said, we don't need you. Why
don't you go away? We've got Abraham. What are you
good for? You don't have anything we need.
Go away. Go away, they said. Away with
him. We don't want this man. There's
no place for him in our world. There's no place for him certainly
in our religious traditions. Away with him. Oh, but the Lord,
that this man will I look to him that is poor and of a contrite
spirit. Look unto me. These are the words
of grace addressed to needy souls as was prophesied hundreds of
years before he came into this world. He read this when he came
to Nazareth where he had been brought up. He took the scroll
from the minister in the synagogue. He found the place and he read
these words. The spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord
hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. He has
sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives. Boy, money can't buy that. and
the opening of the present to them that are bound, to proclaim
the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our
God, to comfort all that mourn. Come unto me, all ye weary, heavy-laden
sinners, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, to appoint
unto them that mourn in Zion. Now listen to this, to give unto
them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment
of praise for the spirit of heaviness. That sounds like a real conversion,
doesn't it? Huh? Do you read that and you
think about somebody skipping up an aisle and shaking the preacher's
hand and then going out and not making one lick of difference
whatsoever? That's happening all over the
place this morning. Do God a favor. We're so glad
you're here. We're so glad you condescended
to grace us with your presence. Come on up here and let's just
give you a pat on the back. We're opening your heart and
let Jesus come in. No, no. Here's a work of God. This is what only God can do.
To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, that are heavy laden,
that are burdened down under a load, and nothing they do can
shake it off. They can't get rid of it. Old-fashioned
conviction, it's called. That's just about an unheard-of
thing in our day. We streamlined this thing called
salvation. They spit out converts faster
than Ford Motor Company does cars off an assembly line. But
after all's been said and done, what do you have? What do you
have? This is God's work, to appoint
unto them that morning Zion, to give unto them beauty for
ashes and the oil of joy for morning. the garment of praise
for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees
of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be
glorified. Rest for weary souls. Am I speaking to one? Any weary
souls here? You're looking at one. I hope
I'm looking at one. Rest for weary souls. Now, of
course, this applies to the unbeliever. unsaved, but it applies to those
who are already saved. Keep coming. Keep learning of
me. Keep taking my yoke upon yourself,
for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you're going to find rest.
You're going to find rest until you're sold. Rest, for weary
souls, come unto me. Well, now, that's the place you've
got to start. Nothing, if you miss that, Nothing
else much matters. Is that right? Nothing else much
matters. If I've not come to Christ, it
doesn't much matter if I'm a five-point Calvinist or a rank freewheeler. What does it matter? If I've
not come to Christ, if I've come to something other than Jesus
Christ, it doesn't matter. Do you hear that? It doesn't
matter. I'm not talking about it doesn't matter to these people
down here that think they're doing God a favor. that you're
taking the first step. No, I'm not talking about them,
I'm talking about you, that are five-point Calvinists, that can
recite five points. You can do that, you can do that
and never come to Jesus Christ. Come unto me, Christ said, not
John Calvin, not the preacher, come to me. That's the place
to start. To come is to leave one thing
and to advance to something else. Leave all my robes of self-righteousness
and come to Christ to be clothed in his perfect righteousness.
Come, he said, you laboring, heavy laden ones. Leave your
works. Leave your work. Quit trying
to please God by your own efforts. Come unto me and you'll find
rest. The Lord Jesus Christ calls sinners
to come to him. Come unto me. Come unto me. We can't say that enough. We
can't emphasize this enough, because the devil will have you
looking to everything and everyone but Christ. He doesn't want you
to look to Christ. Look to him. Look to her. Look
to that. Look to this. Look to election. Look to this. No, no, no. Look
to Christ, that one in whom we're chosen. He calls us not to come
to the altar, the church, the priest, the preacher, the baptistry,
the Lord's table, the law of Moses, or even his doctrine,
he says, come to me, not my doctrine, come to me, and I will give you
rest. And to whom does he address such
gracious words, make such an abundant promise? All ye that
labor and are heavy laden. The word here translated labor
means toil with weariness. just struggling under that yoke
and just wore out with it. The toil with weariness. All
who toil with such weariness and are heavy laden, are burdened
down with a load they can't get rid of, are bidden to come to
who? The Lord Jesus Christ. He delights to show mercy. When
I was looking over my notes and things, I couldn't help but think
of old John Bunyan. I quote him a lot. his famous
allegory, Pilgrim's Progress. He gives us a good picture of
that one to whom our Lord speaks. He wrote in his book, as I walked
through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain
place where was a den. And I laid down in that place
to sleep, and as I slept, I dreamed a dream. I dreamed and behold,
I saw a man clothed with rags, standing in a certain place with
his face from his own house, a book in his hand and a great
burden upon his back. Ever been there? Ever been there?
A great burden upon his back. A great burden upon his back. Waiting him down. Dragging him
down. And if someone doesn't come in
and relieve that burden, If someone is not able to take that burden
away, it's going to drag him all the way down to hell forever.
Oh, a great burden on his back. That describes what the psalmist
spoke of in Psalm 38. Addressing his God, he says,
for thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me
sore. God knows how to get you attention.
There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger. Neither
is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. For mine iniquities
are gone over mine head. As a heavy burden, they are too
heavy for me. My wounds stink and are corrupt
because of my foolishness. I am troubled. I am bowed down
greatly. I go mourning all the day long."
Again, Mr. Bunyan. I looked and saw him
open the book. and read therein. And as he read,
he wept and trembled. And not being able any longer
to contain himself, he broke out with this lamentable cry,
what shall I do? What shall I do? I'm lost. Not going to argue
about it. I'm not going to try to impress
you with my fig leaves. My doctrine, I'm lost. God's got me lost. What am I
going to do? He has shut my mouth. Not like
the Pharisee, remember? He went up to the temple to pray.
Boy, he opened his mouth and all kinds of self-righteousness
just come pouring out like a river. Oh, I thank you. I'm not like
other men. I'm this, I'm this, I'm that, the other. God, aren't
you proud of me? No, no, no, no, no. Not to that one that our Lord
looks, but down below, there's a little unnoticed public. A public. There he stands. There he stands. Hated, despised,
but nobody hated him more than he hated himself. Because he's
got that burden on his back that old Bunyan described. And he
read in God's law, And he knows he's guilty. He's got nothing
to brag about. No, the Pharisee's the bragger.
He's the boaster. This publican, he's the beggar. He's a beggar. He's not a boaster
boasting what he did for God or what his daddy did for God
or what his great-granddaddy did for God. No, no, no. He's
the beggar. And he's begging for the one
thing he needs most in this world. Before he goes out to face the
holy God, he cries, God, be merciful to me. I'm the sinner. The Lord Jesus Christ said to
such people as that publican, come unto me. Come unto me. Don't come to Fairmont Grace
Church. Don't come and get baptized by Larry. Don't come and pretend
to be something you're not. Christ says, come unto me, come
unto me. If you don't come to me, you'll
never find the sweet rest of having peace with God when all
your sins are forgiven. If you ever encounter a sinner
like that, like the Word of God describes, like Bunyan described,
a real sinner, a real sinner, someone who doesn't profess to
know God, That rare individual that's lost, and he knows he's
lost. Oh, I've got good news for him,
old Scott used to say. Scott Richardson, he's in glory
too now with Henry, Don, Lester, so many, so many others. But
old Scott said, oh, I don't know how many times I'd be in a meeting,
he'd be preaching. He said, oh, the gospel, such
good news. Good news. Glad tidings to sinners. That's what the word means. It's
good news. But I can't find a sinner, Scott
said. I can't find any sinners. And
he wasn't being smart. This was years ago. And it's
more true today than it was when dear old Scott said so. Can't
find a sinner. Everybody signed up, joined up,
baptized, homogenized, catechized. Oh, but to find one needy sinner,
Christ says, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
I will give you rest. Only Christ can do that. Preacher
can't do it. Priest can't do it. Church can't
do it. But Christ said, I will give you rest. Come and take
it freely. He spoke by the mouth of the
prophet again, Isaiah, and said, Why do you spend money for that
which is not bread? Why do you labor for that which
satisfies not? Why do you grab and get more
and more and more and yet not satisfied? He says, come unto
me. Come without money, without merit,
without preparation. Just come. Come as you are. Come
with that burden. Come with that heavy yoke upon
you, and I'll take it off. Bring that burden that's weighing
you down to hell. You come to me and I will remove
that burden and replace it with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Why? Because He's the Savior.
He's the mighty God. He can do that. Jesus Christ
can do that. Can He? Can Jesus Christ save
sinners? Is he still in the saving business?
Is he still the mighty God? Can he still speak peace to your
heart? Of course he can. He's that one
who spake, oh, to how many such gracious words as these? Thy
sins, which are many, are all forgiven thee. Remember that
woman that was taken in adultery? My soul, the self-righteous Pharisees
dragged her to Christ. They said, we got him now. We
got him now. Because if he lets her go, we'll
say he's against the law of Moses, because the law of Moses says
she should be stoned. And if he allows her to be stoned,
say, well, we'll say, look, he's not merciful. Don't listen to
him. He's just hard-hearted as we
are. But there was that poor woman, drugged, drugged. They
drug her through the dusty street and threw her down in the midst
of Christ. We caught this woman in the very act. The law says
she should be stoned, and they had the stones in their hands
ready to throw. What do you say? What do you
say? What do you say? A lot of people
look down their self-righteous nose and say, stoner. Stoner. She doesn't deserve to be here.
Stoner. She's a sinner. She's an adulteress. Stoner. But Jesus Christ, He
defended her. He welcomed her. I don't know
what he wrote on the ground. I don't know what he wrote. But
you know how the story ended. They all file out one by one
and throw their stones down. And there's that woman. I imagine
she's at the feet of Christ with her head covered, just waiting
to be stoned to death. And he says, lady, where are
your accusers? Where are your accusers? The law was our schoolmaster
to bring us to Christ. The law doesn't accuse us anymore.
Lady, where are your accusers? Where did they all go? Can you
imagine the relief that flooded her heart when she looked up
and there was nobody there? There were no stones being hurled. And he said, Lady, neither do
I accuse that. Go, go, and sin no more. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and heavy laden, And I will give you rest. Christ doesn't say,
I'll tell you about rest. I'll show you rest. But I will
give you rest. I will give you rest. Oh, that's
a sweet word, isn't it? A given rest. You can't earn
it. You can't make believe that it's
there. You can't pretend that there's
rest. Oh, but when Christ gives you rest, it costs him dear,
doesn't it? but he gives it freely to every
burdened sinner that comes to him. A present rest. All who believe, when they believe,
enter into rest, the rest of faith. Did I tell you that story
many, many years ago? Man, I was in a pickle. I'd gotten my eyes off Christ.
I was a believer, but you couldn't much tell it. I got my eyes off
Christ, and I thought, oh, I need to hear the gospel. And there
was a fella I'd known. Met him in West Virginia. And
he was coming back to West Virginia. I was still living there. He
was preaching up in Fairmont where Brother Scott pastored.
And I said, I've got to go. I've got to hear the gospel.
Man, I was a mess. And I was trying to make things
right. And I tried to make things right. And the more I tried,
the worse they got. I said in that congregation,
it was a full house, beautiful, beautiful sight. And this my friend got up to
preach. Big Don Fortner, and he was big
in those days. I'd gone to his motel room, tried
to talk to him. He said, Larry, just come and
sit down under the gospel. That's what you need. And he
began to preach. And he was using the illustration
of two chairs. One was for Scott. Scott wasn't,
he was a little old fellow. It didn't take much to hold him
up. And Don said, if I was to go over here and sit in this
chair and everybody, don't do it. Now over here, over here,
I think that chair will hold me up. I believe that chair will
bear all my weight. This chair is a picture of your
own works, trying to please God. It won't get the job done. Oh,
but here, this is a picture of Jesus Christ who gives rest to
weary sinners. And Don said, I think I'll set
it. And my mind is going in 50 different directions. And he
sits down like this, and he says, oh, that just feels so good.
Oh, yeah, look at that. Look at that. That's Christ. That's Christ bearing all the
weight that a sinner lays on him. And the light came on. I'm so glad God saves old sinners,
aren't you? Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. You know, every miracle that
our Lord performed was a picture of his saving grace. Opening
blind eyes, deaf ears, raising the dead, you heavy quickened
who are dead in trespasses and sins, What about that poor, possessed
man that he crossed the sea to find in Mark chapter 5? Look
what grace has done. You know the story, you're familiar
with it. But look at this man after Christ found him. And they came to Jesus and see
him that was possessed, past tense, was possessed with the
devil and had the legion setting in cloth and in his right mind
and they were afraid. That man was before running around,
screaming, yelling. People were afraid to walk within
a mile of that place. Anything but rest. But now, after
God's mighty grace conquers him, he's sitting at the feet of Jesus
Christ in his right mind. This is what Paul says if you
and I, believers, Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not
inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived. Don't try to
deceive yourself or deceive somebody else, especially don't think
you're deceiving God. Be not deceived, neither fornicators,
nor adulterers, nor infeminate, nor abusers of themselves with
mankind, nor thieves, nor covenants, nor drunkards, nor revilers,
nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God, and such
were some of you. but now we're set in clothes
at the feet of Christ and in our right mind. Now you're washed,
sanctified, you're justified in the name of the Lord Jesus
and by the Spirit of our God. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he's a new creation. Old things are passed away, behold,
all things become new. Go home to your friends, our
Lord told that man, and tell them how great things the Lord
has done for thee and has had compassion on thee. Go home. Go home. My, so I wonder how
long it's been since that man was home. They didn't want him
to come home. He was a wild man. He was a danger
to himself and others. But now the Lord says, you're
not that way anymore. Go home. Go home. That's what
grace does, doesn't it? God's grace saves old sinners. Sin put that man into tombs,
but grace brings him back home. A new creation, a new creature
in Christ Jesus. To the believer, Christ speaks
these words as well. Come unto me all ye that labor
and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Now where remission
of these is, sins, there is no more offering. we enter into
his rest. Oh, we struggle, we struggle
with the presence of sin, but not with the penalty of sin,
because Christ's precious blood has cleansed us from all sins. Believers, we may labor and heavy
laden with temptation, inward corruption, unbelief, and worldly
care, and severe trials, Christ says, come unto me. For in he
himself has suffered being tempted he is able to secure them also
that are tempted. Let us therefore come boldly
to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace
and help in time of need. Y'all all know about this little
doll we've got, Festus. A lot of times with the blind
raised, the front door, there's a blind, and raised it up so
high, and he's always peeping out. Man, he's bad to the bone
when he's in the house. Dogs walk by, boy, he's barking
back at them and carrying on, you know. And I thought, and
I tell Robin, they'd spit him up and chew him out. Boy, he's
just, one day I had him on the leash, and Colby is the fella's
name, one's a pit bull and a German shepherd and something else.
And I opened the door. That little rascal, I had no
idea he was so strong. He jerked that leash right out
of my hand. He ran out there. Them dogs would
have torn him apart. But Robin was standing there,
was able to step on the leash. And I thought to myself, mm-mm-mm. That's like us. That's like you
and I. We think we want something, and
we yank against the leash God has us on. But if we got loose,
oh, it would be to our hurt, wouldn't it? Thank God that we're
in His grip. We're in the grip of the mighty
God. And nothing's gonna pluck us
out. He keeps us. He keeps us. Thank God for His
restraining, sovereign grace. Psalm 28, verse 7. The Lord is my strength and my
shield. my heart trusted in him and I am helped. Therefore my
heart greatly rejoices and with my song I will praise him. The
Lord is their strength and he is the saving strength of his
anointed. Save thy people, I like this
last verse especially, save thy people and bless thine inheritance,
feed them also and lift them up forever, lift them up forever. Mr. Spurgeon said this on that
last verse, and I'll just read it and I'll be done. He wrote,
in the battle, if they seem to fall, O Lord, be pleased to give
them the victory. If the foot of the foe be upon
their necks for a moment, help them to grasp the sword of the
spirit and eventually to win the battle. Lord, lift up thy
children's spirits in the day of conflict. Let them not sit
in the dust mourning forever. Suffer not the adversary to vex
them sore and to make them fret. But if they have been, like Hannah,
persecuted, let them sing of the mercy of a delivering God.
We may also ask our Lord to lift them up at the last. Lift them
up by taking them home." Home. That's a comforting word. I'm going to take you home, the
Lord said to my father's house. Lift them up by taking them home.
Lift their bodies from the tomb. Raise their souls to thine eternal
kingdom of glory. And so shall we ever be with
the Lord. Amen. Amen. God bless you. Thank
you for your teaching. We'll attempt a couple of verses
at Calvary. Let's sing the first and the
last. and will dismiss by the singing of that hymn. Page 477.