When I see him face to face,
I'll have one story to tell, saved by grace. And that's the story of every
believer. We're going to observe the Lord's table tonight, but
would you turn back with me to the book of Malachi? I've entitled this message, The
Burden of the word of the Lord. The message of the gospel is
good news. It's a wonderful message. These days of cell phones I don't
get mad at people when that happens. It's better to turn them off.
But when it happens, you know, I mean, everybody's walking around
with their cell phones. Everybody makes sure it's off
if you got one. But the burden of the word of
the Lord. Now, the very message of the
gospel is good news and it speaks of good things. It's a liberating
message. When I think of how the gospel
tells how God can be just, And with no contradiction to his
just, righteous nature, he can declare me to be just. What good news. What a liberating message that
salvation really is all of grace. That all of my salvation is in
the Lord Jesus Christ. A message that declares the forgiveness
of sins. A message that declares that
every believer is given a new nature. To know that a man can
actually walk with God by faith. What a glorious thing. Most especially
in preaching the gospel, we preach of the excellency and the glory
of Jesus Christ the Lord, God's beloved son. And truly we sing
from our hearts, all that thrills my soul is Jesus. He is more
than life to me and the fairest of 10,000 in my blessed Lord
I see. Now that is a glorious message. And yet the scripture betrays
this message as the burden of the word of the Lord. Now, burden is something you
carry and it's heavy and it's difficult to carry. If it's not
heavy and if it's not difficult to carry, it's not a burden. The prophets of old, you read
through all these Old Testament prophets, they called the message
they brought the burden of the word of the Lord. It's a message
that comes from the Lord himself, and it is a burden, a heavy burden. It's light, our light affliction,
which is but for a moment, It's a message of good news, a message
we can rejoice in, and it is a burden, not only to the preacher,
but to the hearer. I'm not just talking about myself
bringing the message, but it's a burden to the hearer. Now,
in what way is the word of the Lord a burden? What is this thing
about the burden of the word of the Lord, the burden of the
word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi? Charles Spurgeon made
this statement. He said, he that does not find
his ministry a burden now will find it a burden hereafter, which
will sink him lower than the lowest hell. A ministry that
never burdens the heart and the conscience in this life will
be like a millstone about a man's neck in the world to come. This
is a burden. And this is a heavy burden and
it's a burden we're not seeking to get out from, are we? I don't
want to get out from under this burden. If it's the burden of
the word of the Lord, I want to carry it. I want to have it.
And I don't want out from under it. Now, why? It's the gospel,
this message of good news, this message of liberty, this message
of grace, this message of the forgiveness of sins, this message
of how a believer is justified before God so he stands without
guilt. A soul liberating message. How can this message be called
a burden? The burden of the word of the
Lord. Why is it a burden? Well, first
of all, because it's the Word of the Lord. That's enough to make it a burden.
Psalm 138, 2 says, Thou hast magnified Thy Word above all
Thy name. And this is the Word of the Lord.
It's the Word from the Word which reveals the Word. The Word was with God and the
Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. This is the Word of the Lord. Now, we really believe that this
book we're looking at is the inspired, inerrant Word of the
Lord. We really believe that. The Scripture
came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. This is the Word of God. And we know that the Word has
a specific meaning. Turn with me for a moment to
the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah chapter eight. Verse eight. So they read in the book. Nehemiah chapter eight, verse
eight. Nehemiah is right before Job
or Nehemiah, Esther and Job in the Psalms. So they read in the
book, in the law of God. Look at this word distinctly. And that word doesn't simply
mean that they had proper enunciation of the words, although no doubt
they did. But it means they the word actually means they divided,
they separated, they brought out the meaning. Everything in
this book has a particular meaning which the Holy Spirit intended. It's not to be used in any other
way. So they read in the law of God
distinctly and gave the sense and caused them to understand
the reading. Now, I fear misrepresenting what
the Lord says. That's a burden. This book has
a meaning. It has a definite meaning. It
has a meaning which God, the Holy Spirit intended for it to
have. And I fear this is a this is
a burden. I fear misrepresenting what the
Lord says in his word. We fear using the scripture.
for our own end. Using it to make my point. I
don't want to do that. Using it to beat on people, to
manipulate people. I don't want to do that. I want
to give the meaning of God's holy word and nothing else. We fear saying something about
the scripture that the Holy Spirit never intended. Look in 2 Corinthians
chapter 4. Therefore, seeing we have this
ministry, this ministry of the new covenant of the New Testament,
as we've received mercy, we faint not, but have renounced the hidden
things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, all working, nor
handling the word of God deceitfully. Oh, I don't want to do that.
Using the word of God for my own ends to try to manipulate
people, to try to get my way, to try to make my point. But
by manifestation of the truth, We commend ourselves to every
man's conscience in the sight of God. Now, if that's not a
burden, it will be one day. We want to bring the meaning
of the text, a message from God to the people we speak to. And
I don't ever want to take liberty with the scriptures and to teach
what is not taught in the passage. Now that is a burden. the burden of the Word of the
Lord. The preacher's job is to find
the meaning, have God teach him the meaning, and declare it. Not make excuses for it, but
declare it to all. Not explain it away, but declare
it. The burden of the Word of the
Lord. Now, bringing the Word of the Lord is a burden because
of the responsibilities and the consequences of not bringing
it. You know, Paul said in 1 Corinthians
9, 16, though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory in. Yea, woe is unto me if I preach
not the gospel. You know what Paul meant by that? Woe, I will be damned. I will be sent to hell if I do
not preach the gospel. Now, how can anyone have anything
but a burdensome attitude about something like that? I mean,
yes, it's a glorious message. It's a message that my soul is
set free, that oh, what a joy. But it's also a burden to think
that if I don't preach his gospel, woe unto me. Paul said to Timothy,
take heed to thyself. and to the doctrine continuing
them. For in doing this, thou shalt
save both thyself and them that hear thee. Now, you can't look upon that
without it being a burden. Turn with me for a moment to
Ezekiel chapter 33. Verse one. Ezekiel 33 verse 1, Again the
word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, speak to
the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the
sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their
coast, and set him for their watchman, if, when he seeth the
sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the
people, Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and
taketh not warning, if the sword come, and take him away, his
blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet,
and took not warning, his blood shall be upon him. But he that
taketh warning shall deliver his soul. But if the watchman
see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people
be not warned, if the sword come, and take any person from among
them, he's taken away. in his iniquity, but his blood
will I require at the watchman's hand. So thou, O son of man, I set
thee a watchman unto the house of Israel. Therefore thou shalt
hear the word at my mouth and warn them from me. When I say
unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die. If thou
does not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man
shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thine
hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the
wicked of his way to turn from it, if he do not turn from his
way, he shall die in his iniquity, but thou has delivered thy soul."
Now who can even read that without feeling burdened? It's impossible. The burden of the word of the
Lord. Look in Hebrews chapter 13 for
a moment. The writer to the Hebrews says
to those he is reading to, obey them. Hebrews chapter 13 verse
17, obey them that have the rule over you. Now, that could just
as easily be translated, be persuaded by them that are your guides. It's not, you know, I tell you
what to do and you got to do it because I'm the ruler. No,
that's not what that's saying at all. That's saying be persuaded
by their message, by what they're saying. Be persuaded by them
who are your guides. And there is a God-appointed
office of pastor and he is to preach the gospel and the people
who hear him are to listen to him. He's their guide in that
sense. That's what that means. It doesn't
mean do what they say as far as like I'm commanding you to
do this. No. Be persuaded by them that have
that are your guides that have the rule over you and submit
yourselves for they watch for your souls as they, and here's
this, as they that must give account. Now, I don't know what
all that means, but I know it's burdensome. I'm somebody who
must give account. They them that have the rule
over you and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls,
that they that must give account, that they may do it with joy
and not with grief, for that's unprofitable for you. May God
give me the grace to give account. That's burdensome, huh? I think
of the words of our Lord, whosoever shall confess me before men,
Him will I confess before my Father which is in heaven, but
whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I deny before my
Father which is in heaven. So we see that this is a burden.
Here's a third reason it's a burden. The word of the Lord is a burden
because of the eternal consequences it has toward those who hear.
It's either a saver of life unto life or death unto death. You're
going to hear this message and it's either going to be toward
your life or it's going to be the ceiling to your own destruction.
Now that's burdensome. Let me show you what the scripture
says about this. Turn to second Corinthians chapter two. Paul says in verse 14, I love
this verse of scripture. I don't know how many times I've
gone back to this scripture to remind myself of this when it
doesn't feel that way. Verse 14, now thanks be unto
God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ. Isn't that
wonderful? This burdensome word is a glorious
word, isn't it? Thanks be unto God, which always
causes us to triumph in Christ. Somebody says, well, I'm afraid
I'm leading a defeated Christian life. There's no such thing.
There really, there's no such thing. If I'm in Christ, I always
triumph because He always triumphs. As He is, so am I in this world. Does He triumph? I triumph. Every believer triumphs. Now
thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ
and maketh manifest the savor of His knowledge by us in every
place. For we are unto God a sweet saver
of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish. To the
one, we are the saver of death unto death and to the other,
the saver of life unto life. Who's sufficient for these things?
Who is sufficient? Is that a burden? Of course it
is. For we are not as many which corrupt the word of God, but
as a sincerity, But as of God in the sight of God, speak we
of Christ. Now, who could not find that
a burden? Now, in preaching the gospel, I want to know the Lord I preach,
and I want to know I have his message. And I want you to believe
this message. I want you to be saved by this
message. Now how can that be anything
but a burden? The burden, the heavy burden
of the word of the Lord. I think of the representations
of people preaching like Psalm 126 where it says, he that goeth
forth and weepeth bearing precious seed. Jeremiah was called the
weeping prophet. The Lord wept over Jerusalem. He said, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
how often would I have gathered you together as a hen gathers
her chicks under her wings? And you would not. Paul said,
I tell you, even now with weeping, they're enemies of the cross
of Christ. I mean, that's a burden to be preaching a message like
this, isn't it? You know, look in Acts chapter
20 for a moment. Acts chapter 20. Paul said in verse 28 to the
Ephesian elders, take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the
flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed
the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood.
For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves
enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves
shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples
after them. Therefore, watch and remember
that by the space of three years, I cease not to warn everyone
night and day with tears. That's a burden. I think of Paul
saying in Romans chapter nine, I say the truth in Christ, I'm
not lying. My conscience also bearing witness by the Holy Ghost
that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
For I could wish that I myself were cursed from Christ for my
brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh. I don't know what
I know about that, but I know it's burdensome. The burden,
the burden of the word of the Lord. It's a burden because of
the eternal consequences it has toward those who hear. Fourthly,
this word is a burden because of who he is. and who I am. The glorious Lord. The creator of the universe. The one who spake the universe
into existence. The one who controls everything. Everybody's in His hands. You
know, you're in His hands. right now, that this Lord I'm
preaching, you're in his hands right now. Everything that goes
on in your mind, in your thoughts, he's in control of. He is the
Lord. He is the holy Lord. He is the
righteous Lord. He is the all powerful Lord.
I think of who he is in his awesome, glorious holiness and who I am. Do you think that's not a burden?
I know you know it is. You know yourself. It's a burden
to be you, isn't it, when you know the Lord and you know something
about your own sinfulness and your own weakness and your own
propensity to think everything from your point of view wrong.
And so you know that about yourself. So it's a burden. It's a burden. We're speaking as the Lord's
representative preaching His message, but it's me doing it.
That is a burden. heavy burden. Somebody says,
well, it shouldn't be. Why? It was a burden to the Old
Testament prophets. It was a burden to Paul. I think
of the way that Paul, when he came to the Corinthians, he said,
when I was with you, I was with you in weakness and in fear and
in much trembling. That's what he said in 1 Corinthians
2. That's the way he came. Why? Because of who the Lord
is and who he was. Therefore, it is a burden. You
know, you can't know and see who he is in his power and his
sovereignty and not be overwhelmed with a sense of your own insufficiency. The burden of the word of the
Lord. And it's a burden. And I don't
even know how to say this the right way. The word of the Lord
is a burden because of the infinite greatness the past finding out greatness
of who we're talking about, of what we're talking about. I mean,
you think of the gospel, the greatness of the gospel, the
greatness of how I still can't get over. I love thinking about
this. Even while I'm burdened, this is what sets me free. I
love thinking about the fact that the holy, just God can look
at me and say, he's just in a way that doesn't compromise his just
character in any way. Isn't that glorious? To think of something like that
the elect have always been eternally united to Christ. They've never
been separated from Him. Who can understand something
like that? To think that I never began to be in God's mind. That
I've always been in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's glorious, but it's burdensome
to not understand anything you believe. I don't. Do you understand the Trinity?
Do you understand how God is one God in three distinct separate
persons? God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit. One God. Can you understand? I mean this is burdensome. To
think of God dying. How did the Lord Jesus Christ
die when He's God? God manifests in the flesh and
He died. And He was raised from the dead
because He accomplished whatever it was. Who understands how God can give
you an absolute new heart and that you can be a new creature
in Christ Jesus and you have a heart that you did not have
when you were born into this world? Altogether different. What about the imputation? of
righteousness, how God can actually take his righteousness and impute
it to me so that it becomes mine. And he took my sin and placed
it upon his son so that it became his. These are such high, holy,
glorious things. Don't understand any of them.
Believe them. And that's a burden, isn't it? It's just a burden.
But I like it that way. You know, I've said this before.
If I could understand it, there wouldn't be much to it. And isn't
that so? If I could intellectually comprehend
something and grasp it, there just wouldn't be that much to
it. But oh, the high and holy things that we believe regarding
the gospel. To think of what actually took place in the
garden is a burden. And I'm experiencing it even
now. To think of what took place on
the cross. It's joyous. But it's a burden
as well. How that when I think of Christ
taking my sin and it actually becoming his and him feeling
experiencing it. I know he never committed sin,
but everything that I've ever felt, he felt much more acutely
and experienced much more of it. That's burdensome. When you
think of your sin becoming his and him experiencing the shame
and the guilt and the defilement of it, oh, that's a burden. It's
a burden to even think of. To think of what happens in a
sinner's heart when God saves him. It's liberating. that he gives
a new heart, a new nature, a new name. Yet, once again, these
are things that are just so far, it's high, I can't attain to
it. What a burden. Now, this word of the Lord is
a burden because of the responsibility involved in preaching. this message. This is a burden, a great burden. Paul said, I've already quoted
this scripture once, but let me quote it again. Paul said
to Timothy, take heed to yourself and to your doctrine. Continue
in them. For in doing this, thou shalt
save thyself and them that hear thee. Now who can read something
like that and not be burdened? The burden of seeking God's message
from his word. Not just to go spouting something
off, but seeking God's message for this hour. The burden of
thus saith the Lord. You know, there's one passage
of scripture, I think it's in Jeremiah 23, where it says don't
say the burden of the word of the Lord, because I never gave
you word in the first place. I sure don't want to be one of
those people. He said, don't use this language so loosely,
the burden of the Lord. Don't say the burden of the word of
the Lord, the burden of the word of the Lord. You don't even have
my word, he said to these people. He says, I didn't send you and
you won't profit this people at all. I sure don't want to
be one of those people. I want to be someone who actually
brings the message of the Lord for this hour. The burden of
study and preparation, the burden of seeking to communicate the
word so the people understand. The burden of seeking to get
out of the way of the message. So that I'm not the issue, but
the message is. The burden to have a life that
doesn't contradict the message. The burden of seeking to be a
man whose character causes men to listen to what I say instead
of seeking, he didn't have any business saying anything like
this, to be like, I think of Lott. When Lott warned his sons-in-law,
he seemed as one that mocked. They couldn't take him seriously
because of the way he was. Now that's a burden. That's a
burden. I don't want to be somebody like
that. Oh, I want to bring the word of the Lord without getting
in the way of the message. Now, got two more reasons as
to why the word of the Lord is a burden. It's a burden because
we're preaching to many people who reject the message and us
because they have no love for the message we're preaching.
And that's a burden. You see, it's well nigh impossible
to be indifferent toward men seeing despise the message of
the gospel. And you know, the message of
the gospel, Paul in Galatians 5.11 spoke of the offense of
the cross. Do you know the gospel? I want
everybody here to listen real carefully, zero into what I'm
saying. God's gospel is calculated, is calculated to offend the natural
man. It's calculated by God to offend
the natural man. It's calculated to bring out
the enmity of the natural man. And what all do I mean by that?
Well, our gospel, And I love calling it our gospel, don't
you? This is our gospel. Paul called it my gospel. Every
believer can say our gospel, our gospel. Our gospel offends
the natural man because it addresses him as nothing more than a sinner. That's it. That's the most accurate
description I could give a mere you, a sinful person. Someone who has absolutely no
personal righteousness at all. Not a good motive, not a good
thought. And God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. That describes me, that describes
you. That's the truth. And men are
offended by this assessment of themselves. The gospel offends men's sense
of personal rights. We want our rights. And we don't
have any rights. Not before God. We have forfeited
everything and we're in the hands of a sovereign God who can do
with us whatever he's pleased to do. Now listen to me. The
Lord can save you or he can damn you. And whatever he does is
right. If he saves you, it'll glorify
his grace on it. I love that hymn that Karen Matthews
sing, and I shall see him face to face, and I'll tell the story
saved by grace. And I got to thinking, what a
glorious time that's going to be when I'm going to be able
to tell the story saved by grace. And what a, what a, I know this. I'm in his hands. He's not mine. You are too. We're
in the hands of a sovereign God and we have no rights. The gospel offends men's sense
of control and ability because it says we have no control. You
know, it's kind of a relief to find that out, isn't it? It's
a relief. I don't have any control over
you. You don't have any control over me. We don't have any control
over anything. God has all control. and we have
none. That's a relief to me. I know
some people might not like that. Well, I want to have some control.
Well, I don't want to have any. I like it all being in his hand. No ability. It offends his sense
of wisdom because it shuts him up to revelation. You can't figure
this out. You cannot figure the gospel
out. Can thou by searching find out
God? No. You and I are completely
dependent upon him to reveal himself to us. I can't know him
unless he makes himself known. Can't figure it out. Our gospel
offends man's love of self because we're called upon to deny ourselves,
to take up our cross and follow him. Now you can't look at people
who reject your message with indifference. I don't care, you
know, I don't care who they are. You can't look at someone who
rejects the message with indifference. It's a burden, isn't it? And
truly our gospel, the gospel we believe is calculated to bring
out the enmity of the natural man. And if I try to preach it
in such a way to try to keep that from happening, I'm not
preaching the gospel. And that's a burden. That's a
burden, that's a heavy burden. The burden of the word of the
Lord. And it is a burden, finally, it is a burden to preach to those
who profess to believe. And yet quite often it seems
like they act like unbelievers. I'm talking to myself, I'm not
just not talking, I'm talking to myself too. I'm not just,
you know, I'm here viewing this about you, I'm talking about
how many times during any given day would somebody look at you
and say they couldn't be a believer? How many times? That's a burden, isn't it? That's
a burden. It's a burden to Preach to hardened
faces. I see that. You'll have some
who are soaking up the Word. Then you'll have some where there's
just a hardness. There's a hardness. That's a
burden to preach to those hardened faces. To watch people pick apart
and judge and criticize everything you say. That's a great burden.
To watch believers grow careless and indifferent and unworldly
in the things of the Lord. That's a burden to see childishness
and pettiness and drama when we ought to see maturity. That's
a burden to see an unforgiving spirit. It's burdensome, it's
a burden. Isaiah put it this way in preaching. He said in Isaiah 53, verse one,
who had believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed? Now when Isaiah said that, he
was burdened. He said, does anybody believe? Yeah, the Lord said, when the
Son of Man cometh, shall I find faith on the earth? Will it even
be there? And Isaiah was burdened when he said that, but you know
what he did? After being burdened and making out this statement,
who has believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? He went on to give the clearest exposition of the
gospel that you'll find anywhere in Isaiah 53. talking about the
substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, here's
my concluding statement. A burden, yes, but this is not
a burden we're wanting to get out from under, is it? I want
to be burdened. I want you to be burdened. I want to be burdened about being
a Christian. Not acting like a Christian,
but being one. That's a burden. I don't want
to act like a Christian. How does a believer act? I'm
not even interested in how a believer acts. I want to be a believer.
That's what I want. I want to be an out and out disciple,
a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm burdened about
that. I want to be. I want you to be. I want to be
someone who honors the Lord. I want you to be. And that is
a burden. I want the message to be a burden
to me and I want to deliver it as such. And I pray it will become
a burden to you, that you are burdened by dealing with the
truth of what's being preached. The truth of who he is and the
truth of who you are. And it becomes a burden, the
truth of how can a sinner really be saved? How can I really be
accepted by God? Oh, this is a burden. It's not
some kind of glib, the burden of the word of the Lord. Now, one thing about this burden of
the word of the Lord, this burden of the word of the Lord is the
only place you'll find true liberty, being set free. Our Lord said
this, 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 of heart. And you shall find rest for your
souls For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. There is a yoke. I want to be
yoked to Christ, don't you? But how is it that his burden
is light? Because he bears all the weight of it. Cast your burden on the Lord. Now, a burden? Yes, most especially. A burden we don't want to get
out from under? Yes, we don't want out from under
this burden, do we? I want this always to be a burden to me and
woe to me when it ceases to be a burden. Woe to me. But I tell you this, not only
is it a burden, It's a glorious, joyful message. You are complete
in him. And that takes the burden away,
doesn't it? The burden's still there in the message, but there's
no burden because you see, if salvation were dependent on me,
what a horrible burden, but it's all dependent on him. We rejoice. May the Lord enable us to walk
through this world with the burden. Every one of us, it's not just
for the preacher. It's the burden of the word of the Lord. Let's
pray together.