I Will Give | Matthew 11:25-30
Sermon Transcript
Good to see a little little chilly on the walk over today. Amen. We're starting a new five week series today as we look at what I'm calling the words of Jesus, looking at some of his more famous discourses he had as he went about his ministry. And today, what Jesus gives this is the passage where he says, I will give you rest. And we're reminded of the hustle, the bustle, if you will, of life. We're constantly bombarded with responsibilities. We have expectations that are put on us. Sometimes we feel exhausted, sometimes we feel stressed burdened. This week, even I was Thursday night, I was watching one daughter cheer in Somerville for the JV game. So I got home about 1030 which is late for me. And then Friday night, the other daughter cheered at home, and that game wasn't over until 1030 so I sat there in the rain and watched church here three straight hours. I don't know how to do that. And so Saturday morning. I was very much looking forward to rest, very much looking forward to a day of rest. Then my Gamecocks played well. It was a great day. It's great day, but I felt, I felt that Saturday morning and this week, I get to do it all over again, except one's at home and one's in West Ashley. So anyway, get to do it all over again next year, hopefully they'll be on the same team and just to do one game a week. But anyway, today's passage, we're going to discover the source of this rest that Jesus gives us as He gives us as he as he invites us to come to him and and we're going to be looking at how Jesus is a giver. God is a God that gives. He gives life. He gives us blessings upon blessings he he of course, gives salvation. Being a giver is his nature, and that is a part of his nature that Jesus sought to emphasize clearly during His ministry, as Jesus gave and gave and gave, who saw the last few weeks, how He healed people just because he wanted to, just because he could, just because he loved them. He gave people a better life. He gave people release from the burdens in their life, and he ultimately gives us a way to be reconciled to God. Today, we're in Matthew chapter 11, starting in verse 25 at that time, Jesus declared, I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little Children. Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. And no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him, Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Father in heaven, we, thank you for this morning you've given us. We, thank you for the privilege being able to come in here worship you take the burdens that we bring into this life, we can lead them at the doors of the church, so to speak, come in here, and we give them to you. Even though you are a giver, you also receive. And you receive the things that we don't need, that we don't want, and you take them upon yourself, so that we thank you for being a giver in the best way, and someone who takes the things that we don't need. So Lord, as we look at this passage today, Father, do pray that You give me the word. Us to say that reflects your heart, that you would fill me with your Spirit and Lord, that we would receive in this room today, the word you would give us. We ask these things in Jesus name Amen. I want to show today three things that Jesus promised, promises to give us in this passage, three things that that he gives us. Number one, he gives us truth. He gives us truth. Verse 25 at that time, Jesus declared, I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you've hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. Now the passage before he is pronouncing woes to cities that he has done great works in that were not repentant. And then he comes back and he says, Lord, I thank you that these hidden things, these these true things, that that are revealed as to your will, as two little children. So he's praying to the Father and he's and he's thanking him for hiding truth from those who feel like they know everything, from those who feel like they have everything figured out, from those who feel like they know it all I heard interviewed just last night with a celebrity who's now a believer, and for many years he was not a believer. And he said, I thought I knew what the Bible said without actually reading it. And I think many skeptics are that way. They think they know what the Bible says, and then they read it. And if they come with open mind, it changes them. And so he says, I thank you for hiding this from the people who feel like they know everything but God reveals the truth to children and others who are childlike when they come to him with an open mind. It was and it is God's will to reveal the truth of the gospel to those who are humble minded like children, children know they need to learn. They are humble enough, just this week, all the way down to his kindergarten class, John David told me his teacher was giving him a test on writing his threes. I don't think that was the reality of the story. Maybe she said something to him about his threes. Need Look, I don't know, but all the way down, he got a pencil and a little pad, and he and for the 20 minute ride in the car, in his car seat, he over and over again, wrote threes. I hope they were right, because he got a lot of practice doing something. So I hope he was right in the right man driving I can't see. He knew he needed to work and learn on something. Children are humble enough, that way, many adults are not. We come to a place where we think we have it all figured out. Children, they also know that they're small. They know they don't possess ultimate knowledge. They know their parents are larger, wiser than they are. So in that way, they're humble. And so the gospel is for those who are humble and realize that they truly need the source of truth, a savior to help them. Those who think they know everything become completely self reliant, become completely independent, and don't think they need the gospel. Why would they need that? That's why, in order to be saved, we must get the knowledge of the truth from God Himself, which he gives us. Look at John 831, 32 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. We get to know Jesus through His Word. The longer we abide in His Word, the more his word will abide in us. Pastor John Piper says, Jesus does not just tell the truth or say true things. He is the truth. He embodies in human form what all truth is about. God. He is the reality behind every truth. He is truth itself. Every truth therefore, is a pointer to Jesus. Every truth points beyond itself to him. When we bow at the feet of Jesus, we bow at the feet of truth himself. The truth sets us free it. It sets us free from from sin. It sets us free from guilt. It sets us free from fear. It sets us free from from ignorance. It sets us free from the power that Satan has in our lives. And we accept the truth of Jesus, and we and we follow his teachings, then we become liberated. We become freed from the bondage of sin and its consequences in our lives. The truth sets us free from the lies of the world, from the deceptions of the powers. And so we can then experience the freedom and experience the peace that comes from living with God in His will, the truth of Jesus' love, His sacrifice on the cross. It sets us free from the fear of death. It sets us free from the power of Satan. It gives us eternal life. It gives us a victorious life. So coming to this truth of Jesus, we get this freedom. We get this emotional freedom. We get this spiritual freedom, we then can live our life with that purpose He wants to give us with that joy. He wants to give us with that hope that only He can give us. And we get this freedom from receiving the truth God's word, and he gives us this if we're willing to receive it. Amen, Jesus gives us truth. Secondly, Jesus gives us authority. And what I mean by this is He gives us His authority for us to put ourselves under. We're not God, but He gives us authority to live under. Look at verse 27 all things have been handed over to me by my father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him, God has given everything to the Father, Jesus, the mediator between God and man, and because such, he has been given all authority. Another pastor says that the authority of Jesus Christ reigns supreme because he is the Sovereign King of Kings and Lord of lords. His authority encompasses all of creation. It extends to every aspect of human life. When we submit to his authority and acknowledge His Lordship, we then align ourselves with the ultimate source of power and truth in the universe, his authority as this mediator, it affects us in several ways, and I have several to give us today. Number one, he gives us through this authority, we receive reconciliation. Through through his authority we receive He gives us things. What is it we receive reconciliation? Jesus bridges the gap between humanity and God by reconciling us sinners to God through His death on the cross, we're made right with God. We are reconciled. Look at Second Corinthians, five. All this is from God who, through Christ, reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. We have been given this message to Harold that the only way to be made right with God, to be reconciled with Him, is through Jesus. That is what we are to preach and teach as God's people. We've been given that message, any other message that we decide to give to. It's not the message. Now, there's other nuances to the gospel. That's what he's saying. The Gospel, this is what you're supposed to do. This is what you're supposed to say. Any other message is a distortion of that gospel. Churches get off track all the time, and what message they are trying to promote, what message they are trying to to lead people to. And it says, Here, we've been giving the message. God's a giver. Jesus is a giver. He's told us the words to say. He's told us what to focus on, reconciliation. Secondly, intercession. He gives us this gift of intercession, that that He intercedes on on our behalf. He He's He's praying to God the Father as our needs right now, in acting as our advocate, look at Hebrews seven. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them, it's always a blessing when people tell me that they're praying for me. It's a blessing when you tell others you pray for them. But you know, we have Jesus constantly interceding for us to God, the Father. I don't know how that works. The Trinity is a mysterious thing. We have Jesus interceding for us. Third access, access Jesus gives, provides us with that access to God. He because of what he's done on the cross. He allows us to approach him. We can approach God with boldness. We don't have to wish God is going to do anything. We can be bold with it. We can approach him with confidence. Look at Hebrews, 416, let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace and help in the time of our need. Do you need mercy? Do you need God to give you what you don't deserve? To withhold judgment. He says, Come to me boldly and I'll give it to you. Do you need grace? God just to give you something you don't deserve? Says, Come to me in your time of need, boldly with confidence, because of Jesus, the Bible says God will give that to us. Do we do this enough? I don't think we do. I don't boldly go to the throne. Fourth, he gives us revelation. Through Jesus, He has revealed the nature of God, the character of God. Jesus' life is the physical, of course, embodiment of God, the physical manifestation of God. And so we see how God's love should act. We see how God's mercy and grace should act. All the attributes of God that can be communicated, the communicable attributes of God Jesus shows us and models us through His revelation. Look at first. Look at John 118 no one has ever seen God, the only God who was at the father's side. He has made him known in Jesus. He reveals that to us, fifth redemption. God's given us redemption. Jesus Redeems, buys back, buys us back. So that means to redeem our owner is sin and death, and he goes and buys us back from that owner we've given ourselves to and rescues us from that bondage. Look at Colossians, one He has delivered us from the demand of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. We are where we were in a dark, dank, Dungy prison of our own sin, and Jesus busts up in there, takes the gates off, decks us by the hand and takes us out of there into His kingdom. Amen, that's redemption. We did nothing to earn it. We didn't send the money in the wire or through the internet. We didn't even write a letter. He just kicks the doors down and takes us out, removes us And finally, number six, eternal life, Jesus offers this gift. To those who believe in him, John 316, I would say, read this and repeat this, but you've probably known the different translations, so it'd be different words being said, but we all know this verse, For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. He gives us this eternal life. And so Jesus is a giver, and then he gives us authority to live under his authority. And number three, Jesus gives us rest, because we have access to this truth, because we can put ourselves under his authority, we can quit stressing. These are said and done, amen, but we can, we can rest. We can quit fighting those battles. We can quit fighting those control issues. We can quit fighting those fears, and we can rest verse 28 come to me, some who labor, Zoda says, all who labor and are heavy laden, and if you pray hard enough, I will give you rest, not what it says, Come to me and I'll give you rest. Then he says something that's interesting that many of you have heard, maybe take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy, My burden is light. He's not talking about how he makes scrambled eggs or anything like that, as when I was a kid, I saw what he was talking about. Nope. I got a picture of a yoke. We got a picture that we have on there. Hopefully, there it is. This is, uh, my backyard. I'm joking. No, it's not. It's not, nope, not. My grandfather did have a farm, but we didn't do that kind of thing, all right. He's saying that a yoke is what you put on beast of burden. You not. You unite them together, and they and they have to walk together in order to be successful, to plow that road, to plow that field. And if one gets stubborn, then they can't go together. If one wants to go to the right other, one's got to go with them. They got they got to go with them. They're pulling whatever burden it is. And Jesus says, take my burden. Yoke yourself to me. I'm carrying it. All you gotta do is just go with me down the path I'm doing all the work. You just gotta follow it. You just gotta walk with me. Take whatever yoke you're pulling, whatever burden you're pulling by yourself. Take it off. Put your little neck inside mine and just walk with me, and I will show you where to go. My yoke is easy. There's no burden. I'm pulling the burden. If there's resistance in our walk with Christ, it's because we are digging our heels in. We are trying to go a different direction. We are not going the way he's leading us. He says, yoke yourself to me. Follow me. He says, You need to rest. You need to rest from trying to go your own way. You need to rest from trying to pull your own burden. You need to rest from trying to save yourself. You need to rest from trying to earn my love in some way. You need to rest from constantly getting validation from other people in some way, you need to rest by coming to me and I will give you what you need. You know he gives us comfort? Do you know that God's rest is a source of comfort? Look at Second Corinthians, Chapter One, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our afflictions so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort for which we ourselves are comforted by God. John David got his feelings hurt from one of his siblings the other day, and he just was all upset, and he cried and cried. And so I said, Well, I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna try to be like our Father in heaven is. I'll just hold him and tell him it's okay. And and he says, Nobody likes me. That's that's not true. We all love you. They hurt my feelings. And sometimes that happens, they're sinners too. Well, will you take their phone for. Them? No, you're not the judge. I'm the judge. Just because your feelings are hurt, I'll take your phone if I feel like I need to. Will you? Will you do something to them like no, I'll deal with them. Don't worry. And sometimes he's better, and sometimes, if he's tired, it might take a little bit longer, right? For a five year old, he's very good at expressing exactly what his he's feeling what's unhelpful, because I need to know, very good at that. But he gives us that comfort, no matter if we're the victim like he was. I'm sure you might have done something to provoke it, or before the offender, and then we're reaping what we sow. So to speak, he still says, Come to me in your affliction. Come to me in your affliction, and I'll give you that comfort that comes from my rest. He also gives us refuge. Look at Psalm 46 one God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. I love that phrase, very present help. When you call God, you don't get outsourced to, you know, someone who barely speaks English in India, somewhere, right? You don't get put on hold. You call God. You get him directly, right away. He's our present help in trouble, and then he gives us peace. Look at John 14. He gives us he's a source of peace. When he gives us rest, peace, I lead with you, my peace. I give to you now as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Here's how you know God's people. Here's how you know God's people are resting in who he is. When you have a church, a body of believers, a community, whatever it is family that are Christians, when there's peace in the house, you have God's people living under God's will, living under his authority. I'm not saying there's never going to be issues, but they're dealt with in a way that God models. They're dealt with in love. They're dealt with in truth, these things he gives us, and there's forgiveness and there's peace. Says this is what I leave you. I leave you peace. Charles Spurgeon says, Come unto Me is Jesus's invitation. Learn of me is his epistle. I will give you rest is his legacy. He is a great lord, but also a great helper. He has wisdom enough for every perplexity, strength enough for every burden, love enough for every heart. With him, you can rest with him. You can run. I love how he says that with him, you can rest, rest so you can run. Maybe you need to run to Jesus today first, so you can rest, so then you can run with him, with that yoke. Do you need to rest in Him today so you can run a renewed rest? He's telling you today, believer, listen to my truth, put yourself under my authority and take my rest that I give to you, so then you can run the race I have for you, Heavenly Father, as we close our time together today, we thank you for everything that you give us, the giver that you are, and as we close our time together, if there's one in here today that's never placed their faith in you that today, they would so you could take them into your kingdom, to forgive them of their sins, to to do all these things that we talk today, to redeem us, to reckon to redeem them, to reconcile them, to to give them that access to God, that you would do that today. And for those of us, Lord who are believers, help us leave whatever burdens we're carrying today at your feet, and let us put on your yoke so that we can rest in you and run the race you've given us. Lord, we love you. We ask these things in Jesus name amen.
