Today we're bringing our message
from Matthew 11, verse 25, down through verse 30. Matthew 11,
25, down through verse 30. I'm entitling the message from
what is said in our text in these verses. Our Lord says unto sinners,
He's called a friend of publicans and sinners. The Lord says to
those sinners in need, He says, come unto Me, notice verse 28,
Matthew 11, come unto me, come unto me and rest. Come to me and I will give you
rest. Rest for your soul. Come to Christ
and rest. That's the title of the message.
Now this is not talking about rest for the body. We did that
last night, or at least tried to. We lay down at night and
we seek rest for the body. This rest here he's talking about
is rest for our soul, our mortal soul before God. being justified
before God freely by His sovereign grace, we find comfort, we find
rest, we find peace in our Lord Jesus Christ. This is ceasing
from our own works, our own righteousness, our own deeds, laying down those
things Paul calls nothing but filthy rags. and dung that we
might win Christ and be found in Him. This is ceasing from
our own way, our own works, our own deeds, and entering into
that blessed salvation by the purpose of God and by the purchase
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He bought us with His own blood. He redeemed us with His own blood. In whom? We have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches
of His grace, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance,
being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh
all things after the counsel of His own will. In whom? In whom? The Lord said, Come
unto Me, and I'll give you rest. Now in this chapter, Matthew
chapter 11, Our blessed Lord declares unto us that He is the
Christ of God, that we are expected, that was expected and looked
for and none other. He says here in Matthew 11 verse
4, you go and show John, you tell John again those things
that you hear and see. The blind really do receive their
sight. Those who are spiritually blind,
now they see. Those who are lame and could
not walk, The Lord said, now they're walking and leaping and
praising God. The lepers, if we look at this
in a spiritual sense, not only naturally, the lepers are cleansed. Sin is a leprosy. He's cleansed
us with his own blood. And the deaf hear. Those who
were dead in sin, they hear the word of the Lord. The dead have
been raised up. You have thee quickened who were
dead. And those who are poor and needy, Have the gospel preached
unto them. Blessed is he. Here's the blessed
man. Blessed is he whosoever shall
not be offended. Not be offended, we can say with
Paul. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. It's the power of God unto salvation. The Lord
is saying, I am the Savior. There is no other. Don't look
for any other. Neither is there salvation in any other. No other
name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved.
He said there is one God and one Mediator between God and
men, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. So He is the Savior.
He declares it. The works that he did declare
that he is the Son of God, that he is the one Son of God. Secondly,
our Lord declares unto us that he is the friend and Savior of
sinners. Look at verse 18 and 19. John came either eating or drinking,
and they say, well, John's got a devil. You know, he's an austere
man. He's a stern man. The Son of
Man came eating and drinking, And they say, behold, a gluttonous
man, he's a winebibber. He's a friend of publicans and
sinners. But wisdom, wisdom, Christ is
our true wisdom. He's justified, vindicated by
those who believe him, those that come to him. for salvation,
the Lord Jesus Christ came to save sinners. Think of it. He's the friend of sinners. He's
a companion of sinners. He said, I didn't come to call
the righteous, but sinners to repentance. This is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners. Sinners! Paul said, Saul of Tarsus,
Paul the Apostle, I'm the cheap one. I'm the cheap one. I love
that statement. It was said to the Lord in a
way of criticism. But the Lord said, I'm the friend
of publicans. I'm the friend of notorious sinners. Publicans were notorious sinners.
And then thirdly, He declares unto us that He's sovereign.
He's sovereign in salvation. Sovereign in salvation. At that
time, Jesus answered, verse 25, and said, I thank thee. I thank
Thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven, Lord of Earth, because You hid
these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto
babe. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in Your sight. It seemed good in Your sight. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
give us salvation. He said, I am the way, I am the
truth, I am the life. No man comes to the Father but
by and through me. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
seek and to save that which is lost. Our Lord said to those
70 men He sent out, He said, don't rejoice that the devils
and the evil spirits are subject unto you. Rejoice that your name
is written in heaven. Salvation, the Lord came to save
His people from their sin. Now, when we talk about, and
when we say the Lord is sovereign in salvation, what is it that
we exactly, what do we mean? Well, we mean this, He will have
mercy on whom He will have mercy. When we say the Lord is sovereign
in salvation, we say and repeat exactly what He says in John
17. The Father has given me power over all flesh that I should
give eternal life to as many as the Father has given to me.
John 17 too. We mean that He will have mercy
on whom He will have mercy. He has the right to save whom
He will. Even so, Father, for it seemed
good in Your sight. Everything the Lord does is good
and it's right. Our blessed Lord is sovereign
in creation, creating all things by the Word of His power. Our
God is sovereign in providence, those things that come to pass
in time. God from all eternity has decreed and ordained. And
our God and Redeemer Our Savior is also sovereign in salvation. He will save whom He will. Paul put it this way, Lord, we
thank You. We give thanks to God because
God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit. and belief of the truth, were
unto He called you by our gospel." Here our Mediator and Charity
and Savior prays unto the Father and gives thanks that God has
given Him power over all flesh. Turn over here to Matthew 28.
The last words of our Lord before He ascended to glory unto His
apostles was this. Matthew 28, 18. And the Lord Jesus came, this
is the risen victorious Savior. He came unto them saying, all
power is given unto me in heaven and earth. Now as God, He has
all power. But this is talking about His
office as mediator of surety. God the Father has given me all
power in heaven and earth. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost. teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of this world." He has all power in heaven and
in earth to reveal the gospel unto us. The Lord Jesus gives
thanks to the Father that the gospel is hid from some, and
revealed to others. Now you look at that carefully.
I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth. You've hid
these things. You've hid these things of the
gospel from those who Say they are wise, and know all things,
and those who are knowledgeable, prudent, and you've revealed
these things unto your people. Salvation comes by a revelation
of God the Holy Spirit to our heart. Turn over here to Matthew
16. Our Lord says this again over
here in Matthew 16. When He asked this question in
verse 13, Matthew 16. When Jesus came to the coast
of Caesarea of Philippi, He asked his disciples, Whom do men say
that I, the Son of Man am? And they said, Some, that thou
art John the Baptist, some, Elijah, or Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. But he said unto them, But whom
say ye that I am? Simon Peter answered and said,
Thou art the Christ, the Anointed, the Messiah, the Son of the Living
God. And the Lord answered and said,
Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not
revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." Salvation
comes by revelation of God. He's hid these things from the
wise and the prudent and revealed them unto His babes. Who are
these babes? Who are these babes? Sons of
God. His children. His covenant children.
Oh, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we
should be called sons of God. Even so, Father, verse 26, why
does the Lord do everything He does the way He does? Even so,
Father, for it seemed good in your sight. It's God's sovereign
pleasure. You remember those scriptures
in the Psalms where it says, Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did he in heaven, earth, and seas, and all deep places.
The heathen said to David, David, where is your God? He said, Our
God is in the heavens. He had done whatsoever he had
pleased. He does according to His will in the army of heaven
and among the inhabitants of this earth, and none can say
His hand or say unto Him, Lord God, what doest thou? Even so,
Father, this sovereign revelation of Christ unto His covenant children,
these babes in Christ, born of God, by the will of God, the
Spirit of God, even so, Father, it seems good in your sight.
It's right. in his sight, sovereign pleasure. Who makes you to differ from
another? What do you have that you didn't
receive? We receive it as a sovereign
gift of God. Again, look at verse 27, Matthew
11. Again, the Lord puts the emphasis
and promise of salvation by the sovereign good pleasure of God. All things All things. Now, what does that include?
That includes all things, doesn't it? All things work together
for good to them who love God, to them who are called according
to his purpose. All things work together for
good to them who are called of God. I'm thinking of another
scripture over here where it says all things are of God. Now
we have not received the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit
which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely
given to us of God. But God has revealed them unto
us by His Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, the deep
things of God. As it is written, I have not
seen or heard, neither entered into the heart of man the things
which God hath prepared for them that love him, But God has revealed
them unto us by His Spirit. Even so, Father, it seemed good
in your sight. Look at verse 27. All things are delivered unto
me of my Father. All things in regard to honoring
the law, magnifying the law, in precept and penalty, all things
in accomplishing our salvation are delivered unto the Lord Jesus
for accomplishment. And then he says, all things
are given unto me, all things are delivered unto me, the Father
loved with the Son, and has given all things into his sovereign
hand, his sovereign keeping, and then he makes this statement,
no man, no man knows the Son. The carnal mind receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God. No man has a natural knowledge
of who the Lord Jesus Christ truly is. Who is this one Son
of God? Without controversy, great is
the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Who is this Son, Son of God?
He's God Almighty. God manifests in the flesh. No
man naturally knows that. When God teaches us the gospel,
one of the first lessons He teaches us, He teaches us that we are
sinners and He teaches us that the Lord Jesus Christ is God
who accomplished all our salvation. If He's not God, we don't have
any salvation. If He's not God, we don't have
a Savior. He's God, our Savior. And no man knows this. Naturally,
we have to be taught of God. But the Father, He knows all
things, neither knoweth any man the Father. The carnal mind is
enmity against God. The carnal mind doesn't receive
the things of God. No man knows the Father either.
Who is God Almighty? God is not who we think He is. He is who He says He is as He
revealed in His Word. How is He revealed in His Word?
As holy. The Lord our God is holy. How
is He revealed in the Word? He's the sovereign of heaven
and earth. He does everything according to His own will, with
whom He will, when He will, for His own glory. He's the absolute
God of heaven and earth. Nothing comes to pass in time
that God hasn't decreed from eternity. All things are of God. of Him, and through Him, and
to Him, Romans 11, 36, all things. And then it says, to whom be
glory, both now and forever. Amen. Neither knoweth any man
the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will
reveal Him. Aren't you glad the Lord was
pleased to choose you from all eternity and reveal Himself to
you? What is the revelation of salvation?
It's Christ. Christ is all and in all. We
see all of our salvation vested up completely, totally. In Him
dwells all the fullness of a Godhead bodily. And in the Lord Jesus
Christ, we are complete, made whole. in Him, to Whomsoever
the Son will reveal Him." Now, look at verse 28. What a blessed,
blessed promise He gives us here in verse 28. Now, I want you
to think of this, in verse 28 and following, I want you to
think of this as the Lord our God, as God our Savior, who is
the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth. When He says, come
to Me, that's not a mere invitation, is it? Now, I might say to you,
come over and see Me sometime. That would be an invitation.
Our Lord doesn't invite men to come to Him. He commands men
to come to Him. The Lord speaks by decree and
by commandment, when He said, come, His people are made willing
in the day of His power to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. And
when we think about coming to the Lord Jesus Christ, it's not
something physical. The old preachers used to say
years ago, turn over here to John chapter 5, the old preachers
years ago had this saying, come to Christ, but don't move a muscle. Don't move a hand nor a hair.
Come to the Lord Jesus Christ in your heart. Come to the Lord
Jesus Christ by faith. When we say, when we talk about,
look at John chapter 6 verse 35. The Lord said unto them,
John 6 verse 35. The Lord said unto them, I am
the bread of life, he that cometh to me shall never hunger, He
that believeth on me shall never thirst." This coming to Christ
is the same as believing the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what
it is to come to Christ. It's to believe on Him, to trust
Him, to look unto Him always for all things. When He says,
come to Me, that's the command. That's the command of the Gospel.
to hear the gospel and to repent and believe the gospel. Come
to me, he says, all ye that are laboring, all ye that are heavy
laden, he said, you come and I'll give. Come at his command
and I'll give all things. I will give you rest. Rest for
your soul. Now what an encouragement the
Lord gives to every broken, guilty sinner. He says, ho, everyone
that is thirsty, come ye to the waters. We had that Wednesday
night in our study. Come ye to the waters. Come and
buy wine and milk without money and without price. Let me read
it to you. Don't turn. Let me just read
it to you. Ho, everyone that is thirsty. He said, come ye
to the waters. Come. Isaiah 55, 1. He that hath
no money, come ye, buy, eat, yea, come buy wine, milk, without
money and without price. Salvation is free, free. He said,
come to me, come to me, I'll give you rest. It has not come
to the front of the church. It has not come to the mourner's
bench. It has not come to the priest. It has not come to the
booth. It's not come to a doctoral position. He said, come to Me and I'll
give you rest. He's the Savior. It's come to
Christ. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Only, continually, Coming to Him for all of salvation. We come to Him. Now, the promise
is this. Turn over to John again, chapter
5. Look at this. John chapter 5,
first of all. John chapter 5, love verse 24. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
John 5, 24. He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that
sent me, everlasting life, and shall not come in condemnation,
but is passed from death unto life. Turn over here to John
chapter 6, look at verse 37, right where we read a moment
ago, right down below, John 6, 37. All that the Father giveth
to me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, now
this is coming by faith, he said, I will know wise. No wise cast you out. Well, I came down from heaven,
not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent me. And
this is the Father's will which has sent me, that of all which
He had given me I should lose nothing, but raise it up again
at the last day. Verse 40, this is the will of
Him that sent me, that everyone would see it, everyone would
see it, the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting
life, and I'll raise him up at the last day. You remember the
verse over in Hebrew chapter 4, where he talks about seeing
we have a great high priest that is exalted to the heavens, that's
seated at the right hand of God, who attempted and tested in all
points like us, we are yet without sin, and then he says what? Come
unto me. Come unto me. Come boldly to
the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to
help in time of need. Wouldn't it be a wise thing to
come for salvation and mercy where it's found? To come for
pardon where it's found? In whom it is found? In the Lord
Jesus Christ. Coming to the Lord Jesus Christ
is submitting to Him. Let me give an example of that. Turn over here to Matthew chapter
8. Matthew chapter 8. To come to Christ in saving faith
is to submit to Him as Lord of heaven and earth. There was a
story of a leper. Matthew 8 verse 1. When he was
come down from the mountains, great multitudes followed him.
Behold, there came a leper. Remember we read he cleansed
the lepers? And worshiped him, saying, Lord,
if you will, you can make me clean. And the Lord put forth
his hand and touched him, saying, I will be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy departed. I will. He came as a mercy beggar. I've never read one time in the
Word of God when any needy sinner came to the Lord Jesus Christ.
This leper, blind Bartimaeus, the woman who had the issue of
blood, all those who came to the Lord Jesus Christ in need
of healing, in need of mercy and pardon, The Lord never sent
one away. He healed and met the need of
every mercy beggar. Never turned one away. When blind
Bartimaeus cried out for mercy, the Lord showed mercy. When a
thief on the cross, Dying, being nailed to the tree for the crimes
he committed against Rome, he cried out to the Lord, Lord have
mercy upon me, remember me. And the Lord said, this day you're
going to be with me in glory, right now, today. God never turned
a mercy beggar away. This ought to encourage us to
come to the Lord Jesus Christ always. Coming to Him. You know,
Peter writes in his epistle, saving faith to whom? Coming. To whom? Coming. Saving faith
is not an isolated act. Not an isolated one-time act. Saving faith is given of God
is always looking to Christ. He is always coming to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Saving faith is the life of the
believer. Always looking, always coming
to Christ for all of salvation. Always trusting Him for all things. Now, the promise is this. The
promise of grace. The Lord says, come to Me. those
who are laboring, those who are heavy laden, and the promise
is, I'll give you rest. I'll give you rest. Spiritual
rest here, peace of conscience, ease of mind, calmness of soul,
through the application of pardoning grace. The old timers used to
say, oh, grace now and glory forever. He says, I will. I will give you rest. Rest. Three, justification by
the righteousness of Christ. Blessed is the man whom the Lord
imputes righteousness without works. Four, atonement from all
of our sin by His blood sacrifice. Eternal life through the Lord
Jesus Christ, making a sacrifice for our sin. And through His
dying, we have life. Through His sacrifice, we have
forgiveness. He said, I will give you rest.
Now look at verse 29. Take my yoke. Take it. Take my
yoke. Put it upon you. This is a yoke
of mercy. This is a yoke of love. This
is a yoke of grace. I want to wear that yoke, don't
you? It's His. I want to be yoked together with
Him. It's a union by faith, yoked together with Him upon you. And
then He says, learn of Me. You know, the more you learn
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the more you love Him, the more you
look to Him, the more you appreciate Him. To you who believe, He is
precious. And then look what He says of
Himself. to His people who come to Him in saving faith, being
drawn by the power of God, by the command of God, and you'll
find that He is meek and lowly, that He is a loving, long-suffering,
merciful Savior of sinners. He indeed is the friend of publicans
and sinners. I found the Lord to be gracious.
I am meek and lowly in heart." And then again he says, you shall.
He says, I will give you rest. I will and you shall find rest
for your soul. Rest, eternal rest, eternal salvation. He said, I give my sheep eternal
life, and they shall never, never perish. May God give us grace
to believe the gospel and to rest in Him. The Apostle Paul
put it this way in Acts chapter 13, Be it known unto you therefore,
men and brethren, through this man is preached unto you the
forgiveness of sin, and by him all that believe are justified
from all things, which could not be justified by the law of
Moses. And I love verse 30. We'll close
here looking at verse 30, talking about his yoke. He said, take
this yoke of love, this yoke of grace, this yoke of faith,
and take it, put it on you. He said, my yoke is easy. Oh,
the way of mercy is easy. The way of His love for us is
easy. He said, my yoke, my way, my
way of grace, my way of salvation is easy. And my burden? Oh, it's so light. It's so light. His way of salvation is easy. His burden? is light. He's carried all our sin away. The way of salvation in grace,
by grace in Christ, is easy and light. Salvation by His faithfulness,
redemption through His blood, compared to the hard and heavy
burdens of the law, which is impossible for us to carry. His
yoke is easy and it is light. Remember what the Apostle said
in Acts 15, He said, now therefore, why tempt you God to put a yoke
upon the neck of the disciples? It was a yoke of the law and
circumcision, which neither our fathers nor we are able to bear. But we believe through the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved even as others. My yoke is easy. Salvation in
the Lord Jesus Christ is delightful, it's easy, and it is light, compared
to the rigors and bondage of the law. Christ has redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. Stand
fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us
free. Now turn to Revelation 22. The last word in the book
of God says this. The same Lord Jesus Christ says
this. In Revelation 22, Verse 16. I, Jesus, have sent my angel
to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root
of David, son of David, the offspring of David. I am the bright and
morning star. Christ is light and Him is no
darkness at all. And the Spirit And the bride,
that's the church, they say, what do they say? Come. What
did the Lord say over here? Come unto me. They say, come. The church says, come. Let him
that heareth say, come. And let him that is athirst come
to the well of the water of life in the Lord Jesus Christ. And let him that heareth say,
Come. And let him that is thirst come. Verse 17. And the Spirit and
the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say,
Come. And let him that is thirst say,
Come. And whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely, freely, freely. Whosoever will. Well, thy people shall be willing
in the day of God's power. You know, salvation is not for
everyone, but it's for anybody who's in need, whosoever will. You thirsty? You in need? Look to Christ. Look to Christ. He is everything in salvation. Christ is all and in all.