Matthew 11:28-30 - Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Read verse 25-27 to explain that every person can come to Christ because Christ has all the power of heaven on earth. Even though Christ is now ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of his father, he still has all power on this earth. Satan can do nothing, except it were given to him of the Father, and approved by Jesus Christ.

God has revealed his "things" to babes, not to the wise and prudent. This is a great blessing. I Corinthians 1:26-29 states that God has not called many wise men, not many mighty men, not many noble, but has called foolish things, weak things, base things, and things which are despised. Take heart – if you fit into one of these categories, God is calling you.

There is a yoke that every person must bear, whether they are saved or lost, whether they follow Christ or not. The fact is that this world is full of troubles and trials and tribulations. You can either try to work out the troubles by yourself, or you can bring them to God, and let Him work them out.

Come

Take

Learn

I. You must come to Christ before you can get any rest. Christ will not force you to come. He will leave the choice to you.

A. Some "comes" of the Bible:

1. Isaiah 45:22 – "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else."

2. Isaiah 55:1-3 – "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. 3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David."

3. John 6:37 – "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out."

4. John 7:37 – "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink."

5. Rev. 22:17 – "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."

B. Who can come?

1. Our text – "All."

2. Matthew 23:4 – The Pharisees bind heavy burdens on men, but God relieves those heavy burdens.

C. Examples of people who came to Christ.

1. Matthew 8:2-4 – A leper came to Jesus to be healed.

a. He was tired of his disease, how it ravaged his body, and was slowly killing him.

b. IF he had not come, he would not have been healed.

c. According to Levitical law, a leper was supposed to avoid every person, cross the street (as it were) and cry "Unclean, unclean" so healthy people would avoid them.

d. This leper broke this Levitical law, but this was no sin, as he came to Jesus.

e. There is never a sin when a sinner comes to Jesus.

2. Matthew 20:29-34 – These two blind men cried out for Jesus, even though they were rebuked by the multitude.

a. The world will mock you when you cry out to Jesus, but remember the world is not the one laboring with a heavy burden.

b. Jesus will give you rest, the world will not give you rest.

D. Are there any that need healing and help from Jesus that fail to come?

1. Yes, I am sure there are. But that is sad to think about.

2. Here is a person that knows that Jesus can help them, but they still refuse to come

3. They decide instead to remain in the grief they are in.

4. They decide against the peace of God, the happiness and contentment only God can give them.

5. Instead they decide they are going to continue to try that thing that hasn’t worked in the past, and does not work in the present, and will not work in the future.

E. There are those that know Jesus can help and still won’t come.

1. This is tragic indeed.

2. It is important to know that Jesus can help but if the person does not come to Christ, they will not have life.

3. John 5:39 states, "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. 40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life."

F. How does a person come to Christ?

1. When Christ was physically present on this earth, people could physically approach him (they had to stand in line) to ask for healing or whatever they desired.

2. Christ is not physically present on the earth now, but his power and presence is everywhere.

3. Hebrews 4:14-16 states, "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."

G. We have the same God, and we have the same approach.

1. Christ can still see, know, and be touched with the feelings of our infirmity.

2. We must tell Jesus what is on our mind, just like the folks in the Bible did.

3. In that day, they spoke with their mouths what they wanted to tell Jesus.

4. Today we speak to God through prayer.

5. We don’t have to speak flowery words, we don’t need to read a prayer, and don’t need to expect somebody to pray in our place.

6. We can pray for ourselves.

7. Just tell God what is on your heart.

8. Listen to Romans 8:26 – "…the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."

 

II. You must take the yoke of Christ upon you, He will not force it upon you.

A. Many believe they do not have to work for Christ.

1. This is a major problem with decisional regeneration, or easy believism.

2. Whatever happened to the Baptism of Repentance – that people were baptized after they brought forth fruits meet for repentance?

3. Whatever happened to the three fold salvation – the salvation of the spirit, the soul, and the life?

4. Whatever happened to "I’m so happy I’ve saved, I’m serving."?

5. Whatever happened to Mark 8:34, "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."?

B. This yoke is the yoke of submission to Jesus Christ.

1. The mark of a "real" Christian is submission to God.

2. This yoke is a symbol of us being an oxen, or a beast of burden what works for another.

3. Some people might not want to think of themselves as an oxen, but every saved person knows and understands this is exactly what they are.

4. The oxen is a symbol of:

a. Bondage and slavery to Jesus Christ.

b. We will receive the afflictions of the cross of Christ in these bodies.

c. Because Jesus Christ as set us free.

5. Compare the rich young ruler to Zacchaeus.

a. Zacchaeus stood and declared he would give half of his good to the poor, and if he had taken anything from any man by false accusation, he would restore it four fold.

b. The rich young ruler went away sorrowful because he had great possessions.

C. The word "take" indicates action on our part.

1. It is no good to say, "I have come to Jesus, but I do not have a work to do."

a. Every person that comes to Jesus will take the yoke upon themselves.

b. Isaiah 6:1-8 – Every person who sees the greatness of God in salvation must work for Jesus.

c. Ephesians 2:10 – "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

2. There must be a willingness on our part.

a. This willingness involves a laying down of our will, and a taking up of the will of God.

b. Philippians 2:5-8 – Jesus willingly left heaven to come to the earth so we could be redeemed.

c. God will not force people to serve him, but will encourage them to do so.

d. God forced Jonah to preach at Nineveh, but he never was happy.

3. Matthew 7:24-27 – We will all either build on the rock or on the sand.

4. I Corinthians 3:14 – We must build on Jesus Christ if we are to receive a reward. If we build on the sand, our works will all be burned up, and there will be nothing left to give to God.

5. John 13:17 states, "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them."

a. See the word "if"? The first "if" and the second "if"?

b. We have to know, and we have to do to be happy.

6. John 14:24 states, "He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me."

7. John 15:10 states, "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love."

D. The yoke that fits upon the oxen is the example.

1. The yoke is made to fit each individual oxen, just as the work of every person is individualized.

2. You must yield yourself to receive the yoke of Christ.

3. Without this yoke, you will not be able to pull your weight – do any profitable work for Christ.

E. I am told the ox master would form the yoke to each individual oxen.

1. The ox master would watch the oxen for signs of injury from the yoke, and whittle on the yoke until it fit the oxen.

2. God will watch us closely for signs of stress, and will whittle on our yoke until it fits us better.

3. The ox will also develop a callous on the spot.

4. Most of the time, a little bit of both of the above will happen.

III. There is a learning about Jesus.

A. Jesus is speaking about learning about HIM.

1. Jesus is not speaking about learning doctrines.

2. Psalms 103:7 declares, "He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel."

a. There is a real difference between knowing the ways of God, and knows the acts of God.

b. If we only know the acts of God, we will never understand why God does what he does.

c. In the parable of the pounds (Luke 19:21,22) the individual who receives the final pound hid it in a napkin because he did not understand the grace, mercy or help God could give.

d. Israel continually failed to live by faith because they wanted to live by what they could see, not what they could believe about Christ.

3. Revelation 2:4,5 reveals the church at Ephesus was strong doctrinally, but not strong in the knowledge of who Jesus is.

a. Because of this failure, they were in danger of losing their candlestick.

b. This fact is not only applicable to churches, it is also applicable to individuals.

4. The qualifications of a pastor and deacon are given, which always involves knowing (and being) Jesus, not just doctrinal purity.

a. Titus 1:5-9.

b. I Timothy 3:1-14.

c. Many people believe a knowledge of the Bible and its doctrines are essential to a good pastorate, but the Bible states a good knowledge of Jesus Christ are what is essential to a good pastorate.

d. I Timothy 4:6 states, "If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained."

5. The very religious Jews of Jesus’ days had learned many, many doctrines

a. They had even added to the word of God, thousands of their own laws, rules and regulations.

b. But they had learned very little about Christ, the messiah, prophecies concerning him, his death, his kingdom, or anything else.

c. They were filled with a bunch of do’s and don’ts, but were not filled with the Spirit of God.

B. Some additional comments about knowing who God is.

1. Job 11:7-9, Zophar says, "Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is high as heaven; what canst thou do? Deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea."

2. Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said, "Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued, investigation of the great subject of the Deity. The most excellent study for expanding the soul is the science of Christ and him crucified and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Trinity."

3. I very firmly believe that the Christian has not begun a proper study of the Bible until he begins a study of the Godhead. A biblical study of God, his Name, his nature, his person, his doings and his existence, is the most uplifting study possible. It will expand the mind and soul, lifting them above this lowly fleshly existence, to a greater more fulfilling and glorious existence in our Savior, Jesus Christ. When we study other Biblical subjects, we come away with a good understanding of the subject matter and are apt to say, "I am wise." However a proper study of the Godhead presents a subject that has no end we can reach. We will come away from such a study knowing that we are but flesh and God is spirit. We will know that we are nothing at all and God is all in all. We will worship him as never before, for we will understand one thing quite well, that we can never know all about God. Eph. 2:7 says we will spend all eternity learning about God and never be able to know all about him.

4. Job 26:14 states that we can know only those "little" parts of God. Consider Moses, Exodus 33:12-23, who desired to see God. God allowed him to see only his hind parts. There is no doubt that Moses could not have lived had he seen God "face to face". I Cor. 13:12 states that one day, when we have our glorified bodies, we will see God "face to face". Even then, we won’t be able to look into the depths of God’s glory. If we could fully contemplate God, then we would be equal to God and this will never be.

5. Colossians 1:16,17 states that God created everything in heaven, the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, dominions, or principalities, or powers. All things were created by God and for God. This means that God doesn’t need us or any of his creation. He was complete before he created man and he was complete after he created man.

6. In Daniel 4:34,35, Nebuchadnezzar said that God lives forever and ever, his dominion is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom from generation to generation, no one in heaven or on the earth questions God. This teaches us that God is not subject to any rules or laws. He is the rule or law. Nobody makes any rules that God must obey.

7. I Timothy 1:17, "Now unto the king eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for every and ever. Amen.

8. I Corinthians 13:12, There will come a day when we won’t see through a glass darkly, but will see Jesus Christ (God) face to face.

9. Ephesians 2:7 declare we will spend all eternity learning about the greatness of God, especially as to how our salvation works.

 

C. Satan knows there is a mental knowledge that goes along with being faithful to God, that is why he puts so many more things in our minds than we need.

1. We are going to learn something while we go through life – either for the good or for the bad.

a. Satan gives us television to watch so we don’t have time to read and mediate on His Word.

b. Satan gives us material things (which can be blessings), but when they break, we must work on them, therefore we don’t have as much time to devote to God.

c. Satan gives us jobs, which we need, but we can put jobs ahead of Jesus Christ.

d. Satan gives us family trouble, that we think we need to get straightened out before we begin to think about Jesus.

2. Satan wants us to believe having to mentally struggle to learn about God is wrong, that it ought to be spiritual.

D. Learning about Jesus involves a mental struggle to understand the teachings (doctrines) of God.

1. God does not stick a funnel in our heads and pour the knowledge in.

2. 1 John 2:27 teaches, "But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him."

IV. How can the yoke of Christ be easy and the burden light?

A. Note the comparison between the heavy burden (when Christ calls on people to come to him) and the light burden (after they obey and come, and take and learn of him).

B. Light affliction – II Cor. 4:17 – "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;" Any burden will be light in comparison to eternity.

1. Read II Cor. 4:16-5:11 (at least) to understand what the Christian life is all about.

2. We can also judge ourselves by these scriptures, to see whether we are in "the faith" or not.

3. II Cor. 4:17 compares the light affliction of the moment (most of us consider giving up physical comforts not worth what we will receive in eternity) to the exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

a. Compare the two weights – light affliction for the moment, for eternal weights of glory.

b. The affliction of this temporary age is nothing when compared to eternity.

c. I heard an older preacher compare the death of a young woman at the age of 20 (this woman died a hundred years ago giving birth to a child) to the woman today who aborts her baby for convenience. He stated the first woman was better of in eternity. That is true, but I only thought of that preachers present plight of forsaking the ministry of God for the sake of his family.

C. The yoke of Christ is always light and easy.

1. Christ gently forms each yoke to fit the individual person.

a. The truth is that every oxen is different from every other oxen.

b. A single yoke won’t fit every oxen, but each yoke must be tailored to fit that particular oxen.

c. This is why there are differences in people and the yoke each person wears, but the result is the same.

d. II Corinthians 12:7-10 – Paul asked God three times for the thorn in his flesh to be removed, but it wasn’t removed. God gave him grace to endure.

e. Philippians 4:6 – We must learn to pray and thank God for each and every affliction that He puts on us, knowing that each affliction is for our good and His glory. These afflictions teaches us in a very practical way that God’s way is the best way for us.

D. There is a gradual building up of responsibilities as Christ forms the yoke to fit us better and better. Our yielded ness to circumstances and situations in this life is what God uses to cause the yoke to be fitted to us.

1. As our responsibilities grow, they actually become lighter and lighter, not heavier and heavier.

2. There is more and more joy in serving God and leaving off the things of this world, which are mostly wickedness anyway.

3. III John 4 states, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth."

4. As you children (and adopted spiritual children) walk in truth, our joy and contentment get better and better, greater and greater.

5. This is exactly the opposite of this world, where the grief, heartache and trials of this life get greater and greater as parents see their children wreck their lives with wine, women and song.

E. We understand nothing can be against us.

1. Romans 8:28 states, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

2. Romans 8:29-30 continues to show how nothing can hurt us, but everything will work to our good and God’s eternal glory.