I appreciate Clarence reading
the account of the resurrection, because that's not my subject
this morning. My subject is over in Matthew
chapter 11, and I want to begin reading in
verse 20. Matthew chapter 11, and begin
reading in verse 20. Then began he, the Lord Jesus
Christ, to rebuke, to upbraid the cities. wherein most of his
mighty works were done, because they repented not. And he said
this, Woe unto thee, shall raisen, woe unto thee, Bethsaida, for
if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in
Tyre and Sodom, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth
and ashes. But I say unto you that it shall
be more tolerable for Tyre and Sodom in the day of judgment
than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art
exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell. For if
the mighty works which have been done in you had been done in
Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto
you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Solomon in the
day of judgment than for you." At that time Jesus answered and
said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
you have hid these things from the wise and prudent and have
revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in your sight. All things are delivered unto
me of my Father, and no man knows the Son but the Father. Neither
knows any man the Father except the Son, and he to whomsoever
the Son will reveal him. Come unto me, all you 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
you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and
my burden is light." In verse 25, it said at that time, Jesus
answered and gave thanks to His Father. Of course, it was at
this time where He had been rebuking these cities. He had been upbraiding
these cities We're told here wherein most of his mighty works
were done. Of course, these cities is where
the Lord Jesus spent so much time around the Sea of Galilee.
This is where most of his miracles took place, and mighty works
they were. He healed the withered hands. He gave the crippled legs to
walk. He healed the blind, even raised
the dead. He did mighty works here around
these places. And now here in verse 20, he
says he begins to rebuke them because they repented not after
they had saw his great works. And this tells us, brothers and
sisters, that those who have light are obligated to walk in
that light. And those who have the gospel
available to them should avail themselves of that gospel. They'll be held accountable.
You and I will not only be held accountable for what we've done
or what we've not done, but we'll be held accountable for the opportunities
that was given to us to do. And that's what he says there
in verse 20. The Day of Judgment will reveal
some peculiar things. Not only what men did that was
wrong, not only what men omitted to do that they should have done,
but it will reveal things they could have done if they had taken
heed to the opportunities that was given them to do. The Lord
Jesus had spent much time here at Chiraza, here at Capernaum,
here in these cities of Bethsaida, but they hadn't taken opportunity. They hadn't taken advantage of
the opportunities of hearing Him and obeying Him and repenting. And He says here in verse 21,
look at it again, So he begins to upbraid them and rebuke them. He says, Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto you, Bethsaida! And then he says, If the mighty
works had been done in Tyre and Sodom that had been done in you,
they would have repented long ago. Who were these cities of
Tyre and Sodom? Those were Gentile cities. The
Lord Jesus never did any mighty works there in those cities as
far as we know. He went to the outskirts, the
border of these cities, but He never went into the way of these
Gentiles and did any mighty works there among them. Those who have
the gospel preached, brothers and sisters, among them should
take advantage of it because it's not all people. that have
that opportunity. Tyre and Sedan had no such opportunity
as Shiraz and some of these other cities have. There are some people,
there are some people who are raised under the gospel. They
stand under it as children, and yet they do not repent. They
will not repent. They become what we call gospel-hardened. They become too familiar in a
sinful way of hearing the gospel. This is what happened to Cherosa. This is what happened to these
cities that the Lord Jesus rebuked. He went among them preaching
the gospel. He went among them doing these
mighty works. But they became too familiar
with Him. And they did not repent. But
the Lord Jesus says, if I had gone to these Gentile cities
and preached to them, they would have repented in sackcloth and
ashes. Isn't that something, that those
who have the gospel preached unto them so often, sometimes
of the very ones who will not believe it? And yet you let some
poor stranger come in that's never heard of the Lord Jesus
Christ, And he's the very person that's apt to hear and believe
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus says here in verse
22, for he makes it clear that the day of judgment will hold
men accountable for the light they had. I say unto you, it
shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sodom at the day of judgment,
then for you." And then he goes on here in verses 23 and verse
24, and he does almost the same thing concerning this city of
Capernaum. Capernaum was the place where
the Lord Jesus lived. He spent so much time here. He
went and dwelled in Capernaum. They saw him there often. And
he did mighty works here at Capernaum. And Sodom, look at this. He says, Capernaum, you are exalted
unto heaven. I have been among you, the Lord
from heaven. I have done works that only someone
from heaven could do. And he said, if what I had done
in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained unto this
day. Sodom? That wicked city that God destroyed
with fire and brimstone? They were going after strange
flesh. The whole city was full of homosexuals. The whole city was occupied with
fornicators and fants and idolaters. And He said, if I had did these
works in them, Sodom would have still been here to this day. And at the judgment, he said,
it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for you. Why? They never had the opportunity
you had. You had the opportunity and did
not avail yourself of it. What can we learn from this this
morning? We can learn this. God doesn't
bestow the same blessing He doesn't give the same light or show the
same mercy to all alike. God could have done a lot more
to Sodom and Tyre. He could have done a lot more
down in Sodom. He could have done enough to
spur these cities and bring them to repentance if He so pleased. Could He not have done that?
That's the first thing we learn from this. If it had been God's
good pleasure, if it had been according to His purpose, He
could have brought Tyre and Sodom to repentance and to faith in
the gospel. Now, ain't that amazing? He could
have. He could have. He tells us in
verse 23 that if it had been pleasing to Him, He could have
spared the city of Sodom. How could he have done that?
Mighty works. Made himself known. But the Lord Jesus did not preach
to everybody, did he? He didn't do mighty works in
their presence. Much of the Gentile world lived
and it died in darkness. And here we find out why they
did. God left them to themselves. He could have. I could have gone
down to Sudan, he said. I could have gone there to Tyre.
I could have gone to Sodom and did mighty worse. But I didn't. I didn't. These cities the Lord Jesus preached
in was given more light than other cities of the Gentiles.
And it is for this reason, brothers and sisters, you and I should
be very careful and very diligent to live up to the light we have. God, if He has given us light,
if He has given us an opportunity than take advantage of that opportunity,
because he that gave this opportunity can just as easily take it away. We can learn something else from
this. God discriminates in the giving
of His blessings. He doesn't give His blessings
to all alike. his spiritual blessings, nor
his carnal, temporal blessings. I saw in a documentary not long
ago over in Africa, and the little children with swollen And it
wasn't from eating too much, it was from starvation. The stomach
was swelling. And there was famine and disease. And they said almost an entire
generation had been wiped out by disease. 28 million men and women and children
have been diagnosed with AIDS. Can you imagine that? Have you
and I seen that in this country? Have you ever seen a child, let
alone multitudes, that were so hungry their stomachs were swelling? Have we seen famine in this country? We have plenty, don't we? There's
not lawlessness. There's not turmoil. And why
is that? If we look at the physical realm,
is it any thanks to us? Why do we have all of this food? Why do we have all this gladness
in our hearts? Why don't we have lawlessness
and chaos and famine and disease among us? I look at you this
morning, and all of you, you have such a bright countenance.
I don't think there's anybody here unprepared. Why is that? Do you know why
it is? The Creator, God in heaven, has
blessed this nation. He sent us rain from heaven and
fruitful seasons and filled the hearts with gladness. That's
why. He has blessed us even with His
temporal and carnal blessings that He has withheld from other
countries. And there should not be a day
goes by that this nation should not lift up its voice to the
living God and thank Him for it. As soon as he removes his hand
and says, I'll bless no longer, then the blessings are called.
Why didn't he go to Tyre and Sodom? Why didn't he go to Sodom? He discriminates in his blessings. He discriminates in his opportunities
that he gives. He don't give to all opportunities
alike. Tyre and Sodom wasn't given the
same opportunity that was availed to Bethsaida and Jerusalem. And the reason why? God never
afforded them that opportunity. You have a Bible to read this
morning? You think God has afforded that to everybody? You have a place this morning
to come to where the children of God are gathered to worship
the eternal God in the gospel of His Son? You're not here by
accident this morning. You're here by the providence
of God. And what an opportunity has been afforded you to hear
of the gospel of Jesus Christ. of life eternal. And there are so many around
here, in this community, in this city, who will not avail themselves
of this opportunity. And soon this opportunity will
be taken away. And here's the thing about the
opportunity that has been spurned God will require it at their
hands someday. And He'll judge them more harshly
for not availing themselves of this opportunity than He would
those over in Africa or in some dark jungle somewhere who never
had this opportunity afforded to them. What will God say to
this nation someday? That He sent the gospel among
them? And yet, they'd rather be on a ball field somewhere,
or off in pleasure somewhere, than here in this gospel. Will
He not say, it's going to be more tolerable for those people who never had
the opportunity, than for you who have had it and never have
failed yourself? At this time, verse 25, at this
time, this is what the Lord Jesus had been talking about, at this
time, upbraiding, rebuking these cities that they saw His mighty
works, they'd hear Him preach and yet never repented, never
availed themselves of this opportunity that God alone can give them. At this time, when men have hardened
their hearts and refused Him, at this time, look at it in verse
25, and see if this is what your Bible says. At this time, Jesus
answered and said, O Father, I'm so cast down and discouraged
and distraught. I did my best. I've done everything
I could do. I have such a great purpose for
their life if they'd only let me have my way. Is that what
your Bible says? No. If that's what your Bible
says, I'll tell you what we'll do after service. We'll have
a version burning out back. We'll go out back and burn that.
That's not what your version says either. Here's what it says. Oh, Father, I thank Thee. My Father, My heavenly Father."
Here was the Son of God praying to His Father, and He says, Oh,
my Father, I was with you before the world. You're my eternal
Father. And look how He addresses Him. Lord. You know what that word means?
It means supreme ruler. The controller. The master. Lord. Lord of what? Lord of heaven and Lord of earth. I thank thee. And why is he thanking
them? This is amazing, isn't it? You have hid these things from
the wise and prudent. I thank you for it. Ain't that
amazing? He looked over there and there
was these Pharisees and these scribes and these lawyers. And
they were so proud. Oh, they were so proud. They were so wise and so prudent. They had everything figured out.
They were so self-righteous, dressed in their holy religious
garb. And they said, Don't come near
me. I'm holier than you are. And when the Lord Jesus preached
about forgiveness of sins, they said, we don't have any. And
if we did, you wouldn't be the one to save us from them. And
we don't want you reigning over us. Oh, they were so wise. They were so self-sufficient. And the Lord looked at them.
They stood in their pride and self-righteousness. And the Lord
says, Father, I thank you. that you hid these things from
these people. Ain't that amazing? We have the wise, modern thinkers
in our day, don't we? Boy, they've got it all figured
out in our day. Just read your paper, read your
magazines, or watch them on your TV program. This generation has
got so wise in their own eyes, they've got everything figured
out. They figured out that we weren't created. We just evolved. And all we are is a bunch of
cells that accidentally came together. Now we know that. We didn't know that a few years
ago, but science has figured all this out now. Well, they're
smart, aren't they? They're real smart. We don't
really have a Bible. This is not Holy Scripture. This
is just a collection of writings that some man has put together.
It has no authority. God never gave it. I tell you what, this is the smartest
generation I've ever seen in my life. They've got everything
figured out. But how to be saved? How to approach Him to God? How
to be forgiven of sin? How to have life eternal? They
know nothing of that. And you know why? God is hidden
from them. Where is the wise, Paul said?
Where is the prudent? Where is the disputers of this
world? Have not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For
after that, in the wisdom of God, the world, by its wisdom,
knew not God." Men go off and learn all of these
things and fill their heads with foolish wisdom of this world. And God leaves them alone, and
they live and die in it. And what's the amazing thing?
Here the Son of God is saying, Father, that's your purpose. You're going to destroy the wisdom
of the wise, and here's how you're going to do it. Just leave them
to their self and let Satan blind them. Let their natural wisdom
blind them. You can have it, he said. Go
to hell with it if God don't open your eyes and deliver you. Father, I thank Thee, Father,
I thank Thee, that You hid these things from the wise and prudent,
worldly wise men, men that's got it all figured out. But,
oh, thank God He didn't stop here. The Lord Jesus looks around
Him, and He sees some more people, too. He sees John, and He sees
James, and He sees Peter. Who are these men? Were they
his apostles? But they were ignorant fishermen. Can you almost see them standing
there with their fishing garments on? And maybe they smelt just
a little bit bad because they'd been cleaning some fish. And
their hands weren't too clean because they never give too much
attention to that thing, you know, like that. They sat down
and ate, and their hands were filthy. And there was old Matthew. He is despised by people. They
despised him. And there was Thomas. And there
was Philip. They were trying their best to
understand the Lord. They were seeking after Him. Lord, we don't understand what
You're saying. Would You help us? They were broken-hearted
men. These were poor men. These were
common men. The Lord Jesus looked over, maybe,
and there sat the old Gadarene, that He had cast a legion of
devils out of. There He sat with tears in His
eyes while the Lord Jesus was preaching, hanging on to every
word. There was Mary Magdalene, out of whom He cast seven devils,
a devout woman, a depraved woman. And the Lord had delivered her.
And there was these common people in little groups sitting all
around the Lord. And He says, Father, I thank
You for something else. I thank You that You've revealed
these things to babies. Isn't that wonderful? Oh, I thank
You. Yeah, You're passing by these
worldly wise men. You're passing by these fellows
that's got it all figured out. And they don't need Me. And they
won't come to me. But I thank you, Lord, that you
ain't passed by everybody. That you reveal these spiritual
truths to the babies. Aren't you glad, dear son, that
He's put you among the babies? Aren't you glad to be in the
Father's nursery? Aren't you glad when He showed
you that you were just a dependent, bathed, And now you just hang
on him like an infant hangs on the breast of its mother. You're
so dependent upon him for everything. You can't walk without him, can
you? You just mess yourself all up and he has to come and wash
you and clean you. You're totally dependent upon
him just as much as an infant is dependent upon his mommy and
his daddy. And you just go crying after
Him like a little baby. Oh, you've revealed it unto babes. Babes. Who was it heard the Lord
Jesus? Babies. It's babies. If you're here this morning and
you've not come to Christ, you know one of the reasons you haven't
come. You're just too proud. You're just too proud. You're
about to humble yourself and start crying. Lord have mercy
on me. Babies do that, you see. Babies
do that. And then he goes on in verse
27. Look what he said in verse 26 while he did this. Why did
he hide these things from the wives and prudence? Why did he
reveal these things unto the babies? Even so, Father, for
so it seemed good. It's just the way he works, isn't
it? That's just the way he does things. Look what he says now. This is
an amazing statement here in verse 27. He makes of himself,
all things are delivered unto me of my Father. Ain't that an amazing statement?
That's such a far-reaching statement. Here was a man. standing in the
midst of this crowd of people and his skin was somewhat blackened
because he had been out in the sun so much and out in the elements.
His feet had calluses all over them where he walked everywhere
he went. You could tell he was a man of poverty. He didn't have
a house to go to or a bed to sleep in. Others ministered unto
him, a lot of giving him their food. And he was despised of
most people, rejected, finally suffered the death of the cross,
and yet this same man makes this wonderful statement in verse
27. All things are delivered unto
me of my Father. What a mystery. What a great
mystery. Who would have believed this
if you looked at just poor, lowly man from Nazareth. What has been
delivered unto Jesus of Nazareth? Everything. All power in heaven
and in earth. He said that, didn't he? All
power in heaven and in earth is mine. Power over life and
death of every last individual. None of us live to ourselves.
And no man dies to himself. Whether we live or whether we
die, we are the Lord's. God has given that right to him.
You'll not move an inch. You'll not take a breath. You'll
not take a step except it's given to you of the Son of God. God
has gave that unto him. He has power over all devils.
He has power over all nature. He has power over every circumstance. He reigns at this very moment. No wonder He's so happy. No wonder
He's given thanks unto the Father. You've given me everything. He's
given Him the right to judge everyone. The Father judges no
man, but the Son judges every man. The final destiny of every
man is His, because the Father has delivered that unto His hands. No man will go to heaven, and
no man will go to hell, but at the words of the Son of God.
Depart from me, ye cursed, or come, ye blessed of my Father.
He holds the destiny of every man in His hands. The ownership
of everything has been delivered unto Him. The earth is the Lord's. and the fullness thereof. The
world and they that dwell therein, the Father has delivered it unto
His hands." Listen to this, all grace, the grace of God, the
mercy of God, the salvation of God has been delivered unto the
hands of the Lord Jesus Christ to dispense of according to His
own will and according to His own pleasure. Now, can you imagine
this? Such a man, with everything that
God has, has been delivered unto his hands. Everything that God
created, all that God owns, has been delivered unto the hands
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't you imagine there were
some of these Pharisees and scribes standing around thinking, who
is this man? Who does he think he is? that
he would make such claims as this. The scripture says he was in
the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew
him not. The world may profess to know
Jesus, but he's this little bitty Jesus that he's trying to do
so many things And people won't let him. He's praying and he's
wringing his hands and he's hoping, but he's frustrated, you see.
They know that little Jesus. But this Christ, this Jesus,
who says everything is mine because the Father has given it to me,
everything is mine. My goodness. I'll be honest with
you. I know so little of this Christ. I know so little of Him. And
I'll tell you why. I'll tell you why I know so little
of Him, and I'll tell you why the world don't even know Him.
Look what He says in verse 27. All things are delivered unto
me of my Father, and no man knows the Son. except the Father. No man knows the Son except the
Father. Oh, the Father knows Him. The
Father knows Him perfectly, doesn't He? The Father knows what's in
His heart. The Father knows perfectly His
two natures, the divine nature and His human nature. The Father
knows how exalted He is in His glory. But only the Father knows
it. The Father knows Him perfectly.
But you and I know so little of Him. And if we know anything
of Him savingly, the Father has made Him real to our hearts.
If we can call Him Lord, the Holy Ghost has revealed Him to
us. We don't know Him by nature. And look what else he said in
the last portion of verse 27. And no man knows the Father except
the Son. What a statement that is. He
knows the Father. Why would he say something like
this? I know the Father. There are some of you here this
morning that know the Father. You pray to Him. You own Him
as your Father. But you know so little of Him,
do you? Here the Lord Jesus Christ is meaning this. I know God the
Father perfectly. I comprehend Him in all His eternal
attributes. You and I studied a few weeks
ago in our Bible study about the attributes of God. Remember
that? And probably most of us left here thinking, man, that's
too much for me. Oh, I can't get a hold of God's
eternality? God's immensity that He fills
the heaven and earth? God's holiness that He's so holy
the angels have to hide their faces when they stand before
Him? God's eternal attributes? Who can grasp such a thing? Jesus
Christ, yes. I know Him perfectly. I know
everything about His will. I know everything about His purpose,
His ways, His actions, His thoughts, His desires. I know God perfectly. What a statement! What a statement! I know what He's done. I know
what He's doing. I know what He's going to do.
I know what He requires of every man, and I know how to satisfy
those requirements. I know what pleases the Father,
and I know how to please the Father. I know the Father. I
know the Father. I know Him perfectly. What a
statement. Who would you have to be to make
a statement like this? You'd have to be God, wouldn't
you? To know God, you'd have to be God. And he said, nobody knows the
Father, but He to whom the Son will reveal Him. And how does
the Son reveal the Father? By revealing Himself. That's
the way He does it. Thomas said, Lord, show us the
Father. I want to know the Father. Show us the Father. Reveal the
Father to us. And what did the Lord Jesus say
to him? If you've seen me, You've seen the Father. You want to know the love of
God? You know where the love of God is revealed? In Christ. In Christ. You want the life
of God? You know where that's revealed?
In the Son. You want to see the glory of
God? You know where the glory of God
is revealed? In the Son. God who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. Where? Where
do we see the glory of God? In the face of the Lord Jesus
Christ. God the Father is revealed in
Christ the Son. Remember Moses when he prayed
and said, Oh God, show me your glory. And God said, I'll put
you in that rock. I've got a rock over here. I'll
put you in it. And when I pass by, you'll see my glory. That's
where you have to be to see the glory of God. To know God is
to be in the Son. That's where the glory of God,
that's where God is revealed. And you know something? You can't
know Him except you see Him in the Son. The only place to know
Him No man knows the Father but the Son, and He to whom the Son
will reveal Him." Now let me hurry, verse 28, now quickly. In the light of all that I've
been saying, look at this. Come unto Me, in verse 28, come
unto Me. Isn't this the sweetest and the
most gracious invitation you'll ever hear in all your life? Knowing who this is? Here is
the Lord of Glory, the Eternal Son of God, the Possessor of
heaven and earth, the Decider of men's destiny, the Judge of
every man. And look at what He says, Come
unto Me. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that
wonderful? Come unto Me. He said the royal couple is getting
married in a few days. I'm sure all of you have got
your invitation out. You haven't got yours yet? I haven't got
mine yet either. And we won't, will we? You and I aren't invited
to stand in the presence of royalty. But here we are. Here is the Lord of the royal
couple. Here is the Lord who gives them
their movement and who will join them together and judge them. Here is the Lord of glory. And
what does he say? He gives this sweet, gracious
invitation. Come unto me. Oh, ain't that precious? Ain't that so sweet and gracious
of him? And look who he says. Oh, come
unto me. Oh, you. What accommodations
he must have. I tell you what a large house
he must have. How rich, how wealthy he must
be to invite all. He sent out his servants at suppertime.
Remember that? He sent them out to those who
were invited. He says, go tell them, I've prepared
my supper. Everything is ready. Come. Just
come. They said, Lord, why? Why do
you want so many to come? He said, that my house may be
full. Come unto me all, all ye. He must love to socialize. He
must love to sit down and talk and spend time with his creatures
to invite them to come unto me. Come. What a gracious, sweet
invitation. And who does he call? Well, he's
not calling these wise and prudent, but look who he's calling. Come
unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden." Not the self-sufficient,
not the self-satisfied, not the self-content, but the needy,
the burdened, the heavy laden, the weary. You come unto me. And why does he call them? Look
at this. He wants to give them something. He desires to give
them something. And what is it? Rest. Rest. Come unto me, all you that
labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Rest. I laid in the bed almost
all night last night, but I didn't rest. I didn't rest. We know the difference, don't
we? So many nights we lay down, but we don't rest. The Lord Jesus Christ gives you
rest. That's one of the most desirable
things in this world, is rest. Go down to the nursing home and
talk to those old people, and you know one of the things they'll
tell you? Oh, I wish I could rest. I wish I could rest. Jesus Christ gives rest. Can you imagine these people
hearing this word rest? These law keepers? These Jews
came from all over the world to hear on these Sabbath days
and feast days and Passover days. They came here and they just
wore themselves out keeping all of these feast days. Making sure
they had all the sacrifices for the right occasion. And Peter
said, Oh, my soul. He said, It's a yoke that we
can't bury no more. They had all these rituals, they
had all these ceremonies, and they just wore themselves out
trying to keep it. Now, the Lord Jesus says, You
come to me, I'll free you from that yoke. Remember when, remember
on the last day, the big feast day, when so many were ready
to go back home? The last day, John 7, I think
it's verse 37, the last day of the feast, they had prepared
all their sacrifices and offered them, kept all of these days
holy, and fasted and just wore themselves out. And the Lord
Jesus was standing there watching them as they came out of the
temple and going home. And he saw how burdened they
were. All these ceremonies, all these rituals, hadn't done them
a stink of good. They were just as well off when
they came as they were when they were leaving. And the Lord Jesus
looked at them, and He lifted up His voice, and He said, Is
any man thirsty? Are you thirsty? Come unto Me. Are you thirsty for fellowship
with God? You want to be reconciled with
God? You want communion with God? You want to know the love of
God and the mercy of God? Is your soul thirsting for the
living God? Come unto me and drink. Come unto me. Oh, what a gracious
invitation. A gracious born, I wrote a song
about it. I heard the voice of Jesus say,
Behold, I freely gilled the living waterthirsty one, stooped down
and drank and lived. Come to me, come to me. I drank, I drank. I stooped down and drank. I came
to Jesus and I drank of that life-giving stream. My thirst
was quenched. My soul revived. At rest, at ease, and now I live
in Him. Come unto Me. Here's the second stanza. I heard
the voice of Jesus say, Come unto Me and rest. Lay down, O
weary one, lay down your head upon My breast. Just give it all up. Come to
Me and pour all your weight upon Me. Are you burdened? Are you anxious? Has something
touched your poor soul and grieved it? I know how to give you rest. Look who I am. I know how to
give you rest. I can give you rest. Come and
cast it all upon me. All your guilt, all your sorrow,
all your cares, all your fears, all your concerns, Saint or sinner,
come and cast it all upon me. Lay down, you weary one, your
head upon my breast." And he continues, and he says this,
I came to Jesus as I was, weary and worn and sad. And I found in Him a resting
place, and He hath made me glad. Oh, what an invitation. What
an invitation. You won't find anybody else that
can do this for you. It wouldn't do you a bit of good
to go to the wedding of the royal couple. You'd just worry yourself
out. You'd come back home and have jet lag. Have to miss some
work and be sick. But you go into the presence
of this one. He knows what you need. Has something
touched your soul? Are you aware that you have a
soul? If I asked you this morning,
if God had made you aware that you have a soul, could you answer
and say, yes, He has? I lived a long time and I wasn't
even aware I had a soul. But now I know I've got a soul
and something has touched it and burned my soul. What is it? I have no idea. And aren't you
so glad that He doesn't even say? All you that labor and are heavy
laden, what's burdened you? What's your care? What's touched
your soul? I don't know, but I know One
who can give you rest from it. Come unto Me, and I will give
you rest. I tell you, there have been a
lot of people found this a precious remedy for their burdens coming
to me. David said, when my heart is
overwhelmed, lead me to that rock. That's where I want to
be. I want to cast all my cares and
all my anxiety upon that rock. Jonah said, I'm cast out of your
sight. Oh, he was down in the whale's
belly at the bottom of the mountain. I'm cast out of your sight, yet
will I look again. I will look again. I'll look into the hills from
which cometh my hell. Word to Christ. To Christ. David said, Lord, my soul is
cast down within me. It's so heavy within me. Yet will I hope in God. That's it. That's it. Come unto
me. And he says in verse 29, and
I'm finished. Take my yoke upon you. What is a yoke? Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me. A yoke is what you pull the weight
with. We used to have an old horse
when I was growing up, and we had a plow. We'd hook him to
the plow, but we'd first put a harness on him. We'd put a
collar or yoke around his neck, just fit that old horse's neck,
and hook him up to the plow, And he had pulled the plow. He
had pulled the wagon. They did this with oxen. They
had yokes that they had put around their necks. And they labored.
They had pulled the weight. The Lord Jesus said, take my
yoke upon you. What was he pulling? Do you know
what he was pulling? The will of God. I came to do
the will of Him that sent me. And here is what he said about
his doing that. I came down from heaven to do thy will, yea, I
delight to do your will, O my God. My meat is to do the will
of Him that sent me. My joy. It was such joy. It was such a delight for the
Son of God to do the will of His Father. And now, he says,
you take my yoke. Take my yoke. What does he mean
by that? You be like me. How is he? He's meek. He's lonely in his heart. Where do you and I get into trouble?
When we're rebellious. When we're proud. When we want
to go our own way. That's when the yoke begins to
gall our necks, isn't it? That's when the yoke becomes
hard. But the Lord Jesus said, that's your yoke. Take my yoke. Be like me. Have my mind. Have my attitude. Have my spirit. What kind of spirit did he have?
Meekness, lowliness. He humbled himself and became
obedient to death, even the death of the cross. He surrendered
Himself up to do the will of God without reservation. Father,
not my will. Never my will. But Your will
be done. And He submitted. And He said,
I delight to do Thy will. You know when the commandments
of God are not grievous? When we take His yoke. You know
when it's easy to love? When we take His yoke. You know
it's easy to go where God leads us? When we take His yoke. It's
easy to say, Father, not my will, but Yours be done. When we take
the yoke of the Son of God. When we have His mind and His
attitude about it all. My yoke is easy and my burden
is light. With all of my burdens, brothers
and sisters, with all of my trials in my Christian life, I've never
had it as hard as I did when I was a transgressor. Can't you say that? I just wore
myself out. Some of you are just wearing
yourself out. Living in sin, serving sin and serving the devil.
You've got yourself worn out. And if you mention to you about
Why don't you come and serve God? Why don't you do God's will? Why don't you obey God? You know
what you do? Oh, you begin to scrum and kick
and cuss. I ain't doing that. I can't do
that. You know why you can't do that? You haven't come to
Christ and cast yourself upon Him and tuck His heart and tuck
His spirit and His attitude. When you come and give yourself
up to the Lord, you'll find out it's pretty easy. It's pretty
easy. It gets easier for me as I go.
Does it you? And you know why? You just keep
on giving yourself up. Just give yourself up. I'm tired
of me. I'm tired of self. I've messed everything up. Lord,
I'm Yours. Take me. Use me. Guide me. Lead me for Your glory. Then it's easy. It's easy. Then you can say, well, this
is the way the Lord Jesus Christ did it. My yoke is easy. Let's pray.