Matthew chapter 11. Matthew chapter
11, I'm taking the title for the message from these amazing
words of grace found in verse 28. Now you just think who is
speaking and who he's speaking to. He says, the master, the Lord
of heaven and earth. He said, you come to me. Bring
all your burdens, your labor, your heavy laden. Bring it all
to me. I'll carry your burden. I'll
put away your sin. I will establish righteousness.
And I'll give you rest. Rest. And I like the kind of
rest that he gives. He said down in verse 29, the
last part of verse 29, and you shall find rest for your soul. For your soul. Now, it's always
enjoyable to get a good night's rest, isn't it? I don't know
why, but for the last two nights, I've slept all the way through,
which is very unusual for me, especially on Saturday night. Usually when I wake up, I start
preaching to myself. But I slept all the way through
last night. Bridget and I always ask ourselves in the morning,
how did you sleep? Did you rest well? Well, you
know, I usually don't rest all night long. But what a blessing
it is to have a good night's sleep, isn't it? That's a blessing. But how much more blessed it
is to rest in the Lord Jesus Christ. To find all your need
fully met in Him. That's why the Lord said, come
unto me and rest. Rest is in Him. Righteousness
is in Him. Redemption is in Him. So I'm
taking the title from that verse 28, come to Christ and rest. Notice he said, come to me. He
said, don't go to the preacher. Don't go to the preacher. Don't
go to Mount Sinai. Don't even go to Mount Calvary.
He said, come to me and I'll give you rest. Saving faith always
has an I to the Lord Jesus Christ. And you shall find rest. Oh,
rest for your soul. What a great privilege every
believer has been given by the sovereign grace of God to come
to the Lord Jesus Christ in saving faith and rest in Him, to find
salvation in Him, to rest in Him, to repose in Him, to relax
in Him, to rely upon Him, and find all your need completely
eternally supplied and fully met. I have a lot of need. My sin, oh, the bliss of the
glorious thought, my sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed
to the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ. Yeah, I'm a sinner, but
Christ put away my sin. Eternally, completely supplied
in Christ. You remember this promise? I'll
write to the Philippian church, but my God shall supply all your
need according to His riches in glory through the Lord Jesus
Christ. For in Christ was all the fullness
of a Godhead bodily and we are complete in Him. We are complete
in Him. Nothing lacking. God says of
every sinner resting in Christ, this is my beloved Son in whom
I'm well pleased. God is well pleased with everyone
in Christ. That's why the Lord said, you
come to me and rest, rest, rest. Now, I want to go back to verse
20. And there's two points to this
message. The first point being from verse 20 down to verse 24. And the first point is there's
great warnings to unbelievers about the righteous judgment
to come. It's appointed that a man wants
to die after that judgment. Judgment's coming. Look at verse
20. Then began he to upbraid the
cities wherein most of his mighty works, his wonderful works, were
done. He upbraided them because they
had the privilege of having him, seeing what he did, hearing his
message, and they repented not. You remember what he did among
them? Look over the page at verse 5. He said the blind received
their sight, the lame walked, The lepers are cleansed. The
deaf hear. The dead are raised. The poor
have the gospel preached to them. All the mighty works the Lord
had done among them, yet they, for the most part, did not repent. They repented not. Except a man
repent, he'll perish. And then he said to these cities
of Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida, woe unto you. For if the mighty
works which are done in you had been done in these pagan cities
of Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago and they
would have done so in sincerity, with a broken heart, in sackcloth
and ashes. They would have put on clothing
to demonstrate that they were in mourning and covered themselves
with burnt ashes, knowing and saying, I deserve the wrath of
God. But I say, and you shall be more
tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for
you and thou Capernaum, which are exalted unto the heavens
because of all the mighty works that he had done, thou shall
be brought down to hell, judgment. For if the mighty works which
are done had been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, remember
Sodom and Gomorrah was burned to a crisp, it would have remained
unto this day. But I say unto you, look at verse
24, that it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Tyre and Sidon
in the day of judgment than for you. Great warnings. These cities had great privilege. They had, in their day, seeing
the Lord Jesus Christ, God Almighty in human flesh, hearing the words
of the gospel fall from the lips of God, the God-man mediator. Remember, they said, no man ever
spake like that man. Remember, when he finished that
great sermon on the mount, they said, He spake to them, not like
the scribes and the Pharisees, He spake to them with all authority
and power. No man ever spake like that man.
They heard the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, God Almighty in
the flesh. They saw the mighty and many
miracles that He performed, yet they remained unmoved. Matter
of fact, they said, oh, this man's a gluttonous man. He's
a winebibber. He's, you know, he's a friend
of sinners. They remained unmoved, unrepentant,
unbelieving, those scribes and those Pharisees. He said, you
are they would justify yourselves before man, but God knows your
heart. That which is highly esteemed
among men is an abomination in the sight of God. shows us again
and teaches us again the hardness of our own desperately depraved,
wicked heart. It teaches us that salvation
is the gift of God. The heart is deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked, Jeremiah writes. And we know
this scripture, it shows us the hardness of heart. These mighty
miracles were done and they did not repent. Paul writes to the
Romans in Romans 3, he said, there's none righteous, no, not
one. None righteous, none that understands. There's none that
seeks after God. They're all together gone out
of the way. There is none that doeth good, no, not one. One. Not one. I call those the
four nones. The four nones. They're non-righteous.
I understand. None that doeth good. Here's
a strong warning to those who are blessed to hear the Gospel
and see the mighty works of the Lord revealed in the Gospel and
refuse to repent and believe, refuse to believe the Gospel,
Faith and repentance, we know, are sovereign gifts of God. It's
the goodness and mercy of God, the gospel of God, that leads
sinners unto repentance, repentance toward God, and faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ. The more sinners are exposed
to the true gospel of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, the greater
is the obligation that's laid upon them to believe it. than
for those who have never heard the gospel of Christ. To hear
it and disbelieve it? We are, because He is on the
throne, He is Lord, everyone is responsible and accountable
to Almighty God to walk in the light that we're given, whether
it's much or whether it's little. We are accountable unto God.
Listen to Scripture in Acts 17. But now God commandeth all men
everywhere to repent, Because He has appointed a day in which
He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained,
whereof He has given assurance unto all men that He raised them
from the dead." What does God command? Every man to repent. Repent. God has appointed a day. He commands all men everywhere
to repent. What's the contrast to those
who do not? who are not blessed of God, He
gives repentance to whom He will, I know that. But look at verse
22, I say unto you it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon
in the day of judgment than for you. Verse 24, but I say unto
you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the
day of judgment than for thee, the Lord's righteous judgment
and conclusion. It would be better in the day
of judgment for the pagans in a city of Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom,
who had very little or no gospel given to them, who had very little
light to walk in than for those who had such great privilege
of having the gospel and openly rejecting it and denying the
Christ as Lord of salvation, there will be a greater judgment,
a greater condemnation, to those who heard the gospel over and
over and over and refused to bow to Christ. One old writer
that I read quite often, his name is Matthew Poole, he wrote
this. He died in 1679, wrote it 400
years ago. He said about these verses, so
we are by this text taught that the sins of men who have the
light of the gospel are much greater than those sins of the
worst of men who have it not. So their condemnation in the
day of judgment will be heavier and greater." Matthew Poole wrote
that back in the 1600s. Now, our preacher friend who
has gone home to be with glory, Don Fortner, born in 1950, died
in 2020, He had these words, the most
wicked and damning sin of all is that of unbelief. Those who
hear the gospel and yet believe it not are guilty of the greatest
evil in the world, rebellion and treason against the throne
of God. Sinners are responsible unto God because he's sovereign.
Sinners are answerable and accountable to God because he's the absolute
sovereign Lord. Now think about this, if he were
not the sovereign, We would have no one to be accountable unto.
Because He's on the throne, every knee is going to bow, every tongue
is going to confess that He is Lord through the glory of God
the Father. Now here's the second thing.
So in the face of judgment because of rejecting the gospel of Christ,
he that believeth on the Son has life. He that believeth not
the Son, uh-oh, the wrath of God abides on them. Now here's
the second thing. The great and good news of the
Gospel that salvation is of the Lord. Verse 25 and following. At that time Jesus answered and
said, remember in Luke chapter 10 it says He rejoiced in spirit.
He said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent. Those Pharisees,
those scribes, they thought they were so wise. They thought they
knew more than God. Wise and prudent, and hath revealed
them unto his babes. Salvation by revelation. Even
so, Father, for so it seems good in your sight. Here is the good
news of the Gospel. The only hope for perishing sinners
is the sovereign mercy of God. The only hope for perishing sinners
is the sovereign mercy of God revealed in Christ. These precious
truths of the gospel are hidden mysteries that must be revealed
by God the Holy Spirit. That's why I said they're revealed. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good, it seemed good in your sight. The wise and prudent,
who were they? worldly wise or religious wise. Described in the Pharisees and
Sadducees as self-righteous, they thought they were so knowing
and so wise, they had no need of coming to Christ. The wise
and prudent crowd see no need of Christ crucified. They see
no need of repenting and believing the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Our Lord said, except you repent,
you'll perish. Listen to this scripture in 1
Corinthians 1. For the preaching of the cross
is to them that are perishing foolishness, but unto us which
are saved is the power of God, the wisdom of God. We preach
Christ crucified unto the Jews, it's a stumbling block. Unto
the Greeks, it's foolishness, but unto them which are called
whether you be a Jew or a Gentile, Christ the power of God and Christ
the wisdom of God. These same hidden mysteries that
are hidden from many are revealed to the Lord's covenant children.
Notice he calls them here babes. Babes. He took these things and
revealed them to babes. So we know that Salvation comes
by a revelation of Christ to our heart. It doesn't come by
education, by revelation. Turn to Matthew 16. Let's look
at this. Matthew 16. I've often told you
over the years, it takes God to reveal God. It takes God to
reveal God to our heart. And that's who the Lord Jesus
Christ is. Look at Matthew 16. Look at verse 13. When Jesus
came in the coast of Caesarea Philippi, He asked his disciples,
saying, Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And they
said, Well, some say that thou art John the Baptist. John had
been beheaded, remember? Herod had him killed. Some said
that John's risen from the dead. Or some say that you're Elias,
and that means Elijah. And others, Jeremiah, or the
prophet Jeremiah. Or one other prophet. That's
who, Whom do men say that I am? Well, they all have their opinion.
But he saith unto them, Whom do you say that I am? Simon Peter
answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living
God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon
Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven. I say also unto thee that thou
art Peter. And upon this rock, this Christ
the rock, I'll build my church, and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it. You're a blessed man if you see
salvation revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, look at verse
26. Back in Matthew 11, verse 26. He's hid these things from the
wise and prudent, the blessed things of the gospel, salvation
in Christ, from the wise and prudent, and has revealed them
unto babes. Now why so? Why this sovereign
revelation to some and not to others? There's the answer right
there in verse 26. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. It seemed good in God's sight.
Why do some hear and believe and others hear and choose not
to believe? As many as were ordained to eternal
life, they believe. The only reason is found in the
eternal will and sovereign purpose of God. He said, I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. We read in Ephesians chapter
1, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and
whom we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according
to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel
of His will, that we should be to the praise of His glory who
first trusted in our blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. So why do some hear and believe
and others choose not to believe? You know, really, when you think
about it, Believers, they don't make a choice to believe or not
to believe. Believers have no choice but
to believe the Lord Jesus Christ. The unbelievers, he makes a choice
not to repent, not to believe. Now that seems maybe like a contradiction,
but the old timers talked about the sovereignty of God and responsibility
of men. Both are true. Both are true,
the Scriptures teach that. If God was not the absolute sovereign,
we would have no one to be responsible or accountable or answerable
unto. Now, if you will, look at verse
27. All things, all things are delivered
unto me and my Father. Now, as God, the Son of God,
as God, He has all things. what's true of the Father is
true of the Son. But as the God-man Mediator, as the surety of the
covenant, as the Mediator, all things concerning salvation,
providence, and creation, all things have been delivered unto
His hand. You remember from reading John chapter 3, where John the
Baptist describes the Lord Jesus Christ? He had the Spirit without
measure, and it said, The Father loved the Son, and hath given
all things into His hand. All things are in His hand. All
things in creation, all things in providence, all things in
salvation are delivered unto me of my Father. And no one,
no man can come to me except the Father which sent me draw
him. You remember that in John chapter 6? No man knows the Son. The carnal mind receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God. No man naturally knows who the
Lord Jesus Christ really is. He's not just some religious
person from Nazareth. He's God Almighty manifest in
the flesh. And no man knoweth the Son, but
the Father does. The Father and the Son are eternally
one, co-equal, both eternal God. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit. Neither knoweth any man the Father. We don't know who God is either.
God is not some, the father, God the father is not some grandpa
up in heaven trying to get people to let him save them. God is not like we think he is. God is God. He's the almighty
God. No man knows the extent of the
eternality, the holiness of God, except the son. The father knows
the son. The son knows the father. And He, to Whomsoever the Son,
and He gets right back to this again, the revelation, He reveals
salvation unto us. God who commands the light to
shine out of darkness, you remember that scripture, has shined in
our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God that shines in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. Save
the Son, and He to whom the Son will reveal Him." All things
are delivered unto His hand to fully accomplish our salvation. All the elect of God were given
to Him in that eternal covenant of grace. He said, all that the
Father giveth to me will come to me, and those that come to
me I will unknowingly cast out. He said in his priestly prayer
in John 17, I pray not for the world, but I pray for those that
you have given me. They are thine, and all mine
are thine, and thine are mine, and we are one in Him." Six times
in that prayer, he said, I pray for my people, my elect, my chosen. All blessings of grace, all promises
of mercy, and the everlasting covenants of grace, were given
to His sheep in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. All the promises
of God in Him, in Christ, are yes, and in Him, and amen to
the glory of God by the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that gets
us down to verse 28. And the Lord, who is the Lord
of heaven and earth, God that made that same Jesus whom you
crucified, God that made Him both Lord and Christ, the Lord
of heaven and earth, He said, now you come to Me. Come to Me. Come unto Me, all you that are
laboring with a guilt of sin, with the burden of sin, or all
of you who are laboring to go about to establish a righteousness
of your own, all you who are laboring trying to justify yourself
by the deeds of the law, all you who are heavy laden, who
are carrying a heavy load of sin, He said, come to Me and
I'll give you relief. Rest. How do you spell relief? Christ. He is our relief. He is our total relief and rest,
and you shall find rest for your soul. With all the authority
and power, the Lord says to guilty sinners in need of mercy, to
come to Him for all things in salvation. Now, I think of two
scriptures. One in Hebrews chapter 4 where
it says, seeing that we have a great high priest that is passed
into the heavens, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, let us hold fast
our profession. And then he says in verse 16
in Hebrews 4, he said, come unto me. Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need. And in Hebrews chapter 7 where
he talks about Christ's assurity of the everlasting covenant of
grace, and then he says, Wherefore, he's able to save to the uttermost
all that come to God by him, seeing he ever lives to make
intercession for us. What an encouragement the Lord
gives to every broken, guilty, broken-hearted sinner. He says,
come to me. Come to me, and I'll give you
rest. Now, preacher, how do we come
to Christ? I know what a lot of people say.
A lot of people say, come down front. There's no salvation down
here. A lot of people say, well, go to
the baptismal pool. There's no salvation back there.
Our Lord said, come unto me, and I'll give you rest. Listen
to this scripture. You know it all. Don't turn to
it. Isaiah 55. He said, haul everyone that is
thirsty. Come. Come. Come ye to the waters. He that hath no money, come.
Yea, buy and eat. Yea, come. Buy wine and milk
without money and without price. Salvation's free. So how do we
come to Christ? How do we come to Christ? It's
not anything physical. As one old preacher said in that
conference in 1954, Brother A.D. Muse, Come to Christ, don't move a
muscle. Don't move a hand or a hair.
I told that to the dental assistant one time when she said, she said,
hold still. I said, you mean don't move a
hand or a hair? She said, what? I said, that's what the old preacher
said. Come to Christ, don't move a hand or a hair. I'm going to
be still. Come to Christ and don't move
a muscle. Come to Christ in your heart.
We come to Christ by faith. I'll show you that. Hold your
place there and look at John chapter 6. John chapter 6. Come to Christ. We come by faith. Faith is a God-given gift. But look what it says here in
John chapter 6 verse 35. He got it, and I want you to
see this. John 6, 35. He said, I'm the bread of life.
Okay? Everybody knows what bread is
for. I eat bread every day. This is
talking about spiritual bread. I'm the bread of life. He that
cometh to me shall never hunger. He that believeth on me shall
never thirst. As I said unto you that you've
also seen me and believe not, all that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out, for I came down from heaven Not to do my
own will, but the will of Him that sent me, that everyone...
And this is the Father's will, which has sent me, that of all
which He has given me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up
again at the last day. This is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth
on Him, may have everlasting life, and I'll raise Him up at the
last day." So, coming to Christ and believing on Christ is the
same thing. We come to Christ in our heart,
and that's what faith does. Faith is not an isolated act
or an isolated experience. Saving faith is always noticed
cometh. Cometh. Cometh. He that cometh
to me. He that believeth on me. I'm
not real good at English. Mary, you could help me out on
that. She was an English teacher. Or a school teacher. I know she
knows English. But it's present tense. It's
coming. Coming. Coming. It's looking
to Christ. It's coming to Christ. To whom?
Coming as into a living stone. It's repenting. It's believing.
It's always looking unto Jesus who's the author and finisher
of our faith. You see, we always come to Christ. We always come to Him by faith.
Coming to Him and looking to Him. That's what He says over
here. Back to Matthew 11. Matthew 11. Come unto Me. Now, there's the
key. Come to Me. Come to Me, Christ
said. Come to Me. If you're laboring
and you're heavy laden, He said, I'll give you rest. I will. And
then the last part of verse 29, and you shall find rest for your
soul. Now look at verse, first part
of verse 29. He said, take my yoke upon you,
the yoke of his word, the yoke of submission, this yoke of bowing
to Christ as Lord. He said, take my yoke upon you
and learn of me. For I am meek, And I'm lowly
in heart. Someone said, and I've not searched
this out, but someone said it's the only place in Scripture where
the heart of the Lord is described. The heart of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Meek and lowly of heart. He had a perfect heart. His heart's
not like ours. Deceitful and desperately wicked.
He had a perfect heart. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me. Now here's what I've learned
over the years. And I'm not a novice. I've been at this for more than
40 years. But here's what a believer experiences in his life. The
more we learn about who He is, God Almighty, the more we learn
about His eternal sovereignty and grace and purpose, the more
we learn of Him, and the more we grow in grace, you know what
happens? We rest. The more we learn of
Him, the more we rest in Him. You see that? Don't you? Hasn't
that been your experience? Someone said we don't really
believe anything until we experience it. And I believe that's so.
But over the 40 years of reading the Scripture and preaching the
Scripture and hearing the Scripture, the more we learn of Him, the
more we look to Him, the more we trust Him, the more we rest
in Him. And you shall find rest, rest,
rest, rest for your soul. And I like verse 30, the way he quits.
He said, my yoke is easy. The way of salvation in Christ
is easy. Because he did all the work.
He's everything in salvation. He said, my yoke is easy. My
yoke is easy. His burden. His burden is light. The way of salvation by grace
in the Lord Jesus Christ is easy and light because he finished
the work. Salvation is by his faithfulness.
Redemption is by his blood. Compared to the hard and heavy
burden under the law, which was impossible for any sinner to
carry, remember in that first Bible conference When the apostle Paul went down
to Jerusalem, those Judaizers, they came in Acts chapter 15
and said, except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you
cannot be saved. Well, Paul and Barnabas went
up to that Jerusalem, to that first Bible conference, and there
was a great debate and carrying on. And Peter stood up and said
this, why, therefore, do you tempt God to put a yoke upon
the neck of the disciples which neither we or our fathers can
bear, the yoke of the law. We believe through the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved even as they."
God's going to save the religious Jew the same way he saves a pagan
Gentile by the grace of God alone. Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us. Come unto me and rest, rest,
rest for your soul. Now I told myself, and I wrote
a note down here, if I had time, I would have you turn to 1 Peter
chapter 2. And according to what my clock
says here, we've got about two minutes. So 1 Peter chapter 2,
1 Peter chapter 2, and I believe this demonstrates what was preached
there, the Lord preached there in Matthew 11. In 1 Peter chapter
2, he said, as newborn babes, verse 2, 1 Peter 2, verse 2,
as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that
you might grow thereby. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me. If so, you've tasted that the
Lord is gracious. To whom coming, as unto a living
stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious,
you also as living stones. Notice verse four, to whom coming. to whom coming. He's a living
stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious.
You also as living stones, living stones are built up a spiritual
house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable
to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it's contained
in the scripture, behold, I lay in Zion, a cheap cornerstone,
elect and precious. He that believeth on him shall
not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe,
verse 7, he is precious. Unto them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of
the corner. a stone of stumbling, a rock
of offense, even to them that stumble at the word being disobedient,
were unto also they were appointed, verse nine. But you are a chosen
generation, you are a royal priesthood, you are a holy nation, you are
peculiar people, a purchased people, that you should show
forth the praises of him who called you out of darkness, in
his marvelous light, which in time past were not a people,
but now are the people of God, which had not obtained mercy,
but now have obtained mercy." How did we obtain it? Mercy is
the gift of God. He said, I will have mercy on
whom I will. I will have mercy. Come to Christ
and rest.