WHY NOT REST
9:30 1/29/93 Text Matthew 11:28-30 Psalm 23 Matthew 11:25-30
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RICK
The story is told of a lady who became very angry at the
pastor. When she finally caught up with him, she said, "I called
you all morning at the church and dropped by to see you in the
afternoon on Tuesday and you were not there." The minister said,
"I’m sorry Madam, but Tuesday is my day off." "Your day off",
she said very self righteously. "I’ll have you know that the
devil never takes a day off". The minister replied, "you are
absolutely right my dear, and I suppose that if I did the same
thing, I would become just like him."
TOBY
Sometimes we confuse being busy with working for God. We
forget that not only did Jesus say go and preach, he also said
come and rest. Once a great revival was taking place after Jesus
had sent out the twelve disciples. People were repenting, demons
were driven out, and sick people were anointed with oil and were
healed. People were coming from all over the place and Jesus and
the disciples did not even time to eat. It’s interesting that
Jesus did not extend the revival for two weeks, instead He told
the disciples, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and
get some rest." Jesus considers our health and well being to be
more important, than doing ministry for God.
RICK
Too many people pay a heavy price with their families, their
health, and their well being in search of some goal. When they
obtain it, they realize the price is too high. I once had a man
tell me, that when his marriage started to interfere with his
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devotion to his job, he knew he needed to get out of the mar
riage. How do we become so sick, that things, and power, and
money mean more to us than those who deserve our love and affec
tion?
TOBY
Jesus had more energy than we could dream of having, yet
Jesus was smart enough to realize that He needed to take some
time to rest. He would often go to the hills alone to meet God
and be refreshed. His rest didn’t always come from lying in a
bed. That’s only part of what we need. His rest came from and
through a regular fresh encounter God. Jesus wants us to know
that He has rest stops planned for our lives.
RICK
Our text for today is Matthew 11:28-30. Jesus is the one
speaking in the passage and He begins with the word "COME". If
we want rest and peace of mind, we have to take action. We must
be willing to let something else either wait, or learn to do
without it altogether. For Jesus has said for us to come. What
do you say about a dog who when you say, "Come", looks up at you
and then puts his head back down, not moving the rest of his
body. This is a how a lot of people respond to God. They hear
the call, but don’t think its worth the effort to get up and see
why the call was given.
TOBY
Jesus said, "Come to Me". If we desire rest, we can’t come
to the first thing that looks like a solution. The destination
of our movement has to be toward and to Jesus Christ. The Bible
ð 7 3 Štells us to fix our eyes upon Jesus and put away any sin and
anything else that would cause us to look somewhere else. Jesus
is the only true place for us to find rest, because everything
else is going to pass away.
RICK
Jesus goes on to qualify who is eligible to come to him. He
says, "Come to me all who are weary and burdened". Jesus’s
invitation is only extended to those who realize that they need
help. Have you ever tried to help a little child get dressed
only to be told by the child, "Stop! Let me do it by myself."
You go ahead and let the child do it. 5 minutes later you see
shoes on the wrong feet, buttons uneven, tag, and hair that looks
a mess. That’s what we look like to God without Jesus--a mess.
TOBY
Jesus did not come to help people who could do it all them
selves. Notice that Jesus does not put a limit on what kind of
burdens we need to have, or how large the burden has to be. All
that’s needed is a recognition of burden, a heartache, or a pain.
They come in all forms. Husband or wives that won’t do right.
Children in trouble with school or the law. Burdens of loneli
ness. Burdens of taking care of sick relatives. Burdens for the
church. Burdens of disappointment, of rejection, of death, of
addictions. Burdens of not knowing which way to turn next.
RICK
Life can be very hard and difficult. But these are the very
burdens that Jesus wants us to bring to Him, so that He can share
the load and give us strength to overcome. Jesus is always on
the lookout for hurting people. People who are bold enough to
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admit--Lord I need some help. I cannot carry these problems
alone.
TOBY
Jesus goes on to say, "I will give." Notice that Jesus did
not say, I might, or I’ll probably, or I’ll think about it. No,
my friends, Jesus said, "I will give you." He could not have
been any more definite. Jesus is tells us in John’s gospel, that
if we live in Him and His word lives in us, we can ask whatever
we will and it will be granted. The invitation is open to all
who will respond to the call.
RICK
Jesus said "I will give you rest". Jesus is offering re
freshment of soul, peace for the mind and strength for the body.
People are looking everywhere for that thing that’s going to
give them genuine satisfaction that lasts. It’s not found in
being young again, it’s not found in having and hoarding money,
it’s not found in being popular, and its certainly not found in
any sin that the devil sends our way. The prophet Isaiah proph
esied, "God will keep in perfect peace, those whose mind are
stayed on Him."
TOBY
The psalmist put it this way. "Great peace have those who
love Your law oh God." You see the peace that Jesus gives us, is
a peace that’s not based on our circumstances. It is based on
God is who God says He is. Jesus also didn’t say, I’ll sell you
some rest. Some people think God’s gifts are for sale. Here’s
$10, pray from God’s help for me. God is not after our money.
ð 7 3 ŠGod is after us and our allegiance to Him. When we fall in love
with God, we’re willing to give Him whatever He asks of us.
RICK
God asks us, why do you spend money for that which is not
bread, and why do you work so hard for that which does not satis
fy. We think, If i just got that car, that dress, that house,
that mink, that ring, that boyfriend, that girlfriend, that
raise, then I’ll really be happy. You get it and you discover,
you’re still the same old you, but now it’s something else that
you have just got to have.
TOBY
Our society fees on our lust for more, and the advertisers
tell us this is what we must have. Everything is new and im
proved. Does that mean last year’s product was really old and
worthless? It is all a delusion. Ask a poor person what does he
want, and he may say , a million dollars. Ask most millionaires
what they want, and they’ll probably say a few more million. God
tells us in Isaiah, "You who are thirsty, come and drink, you who
have no money, come by milk and wine without cost and without
money."
RICK
We don’t need money to receive God’s peace and rest. We
couldn’t buy it if we had the money, because God will only give
it away. God delights in doing good for His people. God didn’t
put Adam and Eve in a desert and say, if you’ don’t make me mad,
I’ll give you something better. No He put them in a garden where
they had everything they needed and then some. You see, God can
give us rest wherever we are.
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TOBY
The verb "will give" is in the Greek perfect tense. This
indicates that Jesus is not talking about a distant prospect, but
that the rest will take place immediately. God has rest waiting
for us and ready to give it, but we must be willing to come to
Jesus to get it. Part of the secret is to begin to get our prior
ities in life in order. We all say, we’d like to spend time with
God, but do we really want to or is that the religious thing to
say. All too often we choose to hang on to our thousand and one
busy activities rather than drop any of them to try and squeeze
Jesus in some where.
RICK
Now when we come to Jesus, it’s not a matter of dropping and
saying, well I’m just not going to do anything. No, Jesus goes on
to say, "Take my yoke." Now everybody has some kind of a yoke.
A yoke is what the ox was hooked up to for service in the field
and to help guide the animal. For us our yokes are those which
determine where we choose to serve and how much of a load we’re
willing to carry. Our yoke is determined either by Christ or by
ourselves. If we are our masters, then be sure to know that Satan
is going to be our guide.
TOBY
Jesus does not trust us to be in charge of our lives. He
knows that we are going to put in things that will lead to our
own destruction regardless of how well intentioned we may be.
Sometimes, we do not want to voluntarily take the yoke of Jesus.
We would prefer for him to grab us, tie us down, and force it
ð 7 3 Šaround us to make us do his will. But you see forced service is
Satan’s method. When Satan addicts you to something, he forces
you to follow him. There are a lot of people who want to do
right, but Satan’s yoke is so powerful that they can not free
themselves from their addictions.
RICK
Jesus is not going to force his yoke on us. He’s not going
to make us do right. He’s not going to force us to take His
rest. No the only thing that will put on Jesus’s yoke is love
for Him, the only thing that will keep it on is love for Him, and
the only way to be glad it’s on is to have love for Him. Jesus
said it like this, "If you love me, you will keep my command
ments, if you don’t you won’t." Jesus’s yoke is there for us to
take. Whether we will take it and let Him call the shots is
completely left up to us.
TOBY
Jesus says, "Take my yoke and learn from me." How many of us
can say we make the most of our opportunities to learn from
Christ. Our tragedy is that we don’t make learning the word of
God a high priority in our lives. We can name all the major
actors in the soaps, the shows, and the movies. Yet we would die
if we had to stand up and name five prophets from the Old Testa
ment. What more than anything else keeps you out of Bible Study
or Life-Sharing? Is Jesus really happy with that choice for your
life.
RICK
One of the ways to learn from Jesus is to take His yoke
through surrendering our desires for ourselves to the will of
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God. How is it that we fight the devil? We don’t do it by
calling him names and rebuking Him in the name of Jesus. James
says the only way to fight the devil successfully is by submit
ting to the will of God. We constantly ask, "Lord, how is it that
Jesus wants me to respond in this situation." The tragedy isn’t
that we don’t ask this question more, too many of us don’t bother
to ask it all.
TOBY
Jesus goes on to say, for I am gentle and lowly in heart.
Our God is not like Pharaoh, trying to squeeze every drop of
blood our of us that he can get. God does not carry a whip
saying shape up or ship out. When we give Jesus the chance, we
will very quickly discover that nobody loves us like Jesus Does.
Jesus will be gentle with us as He lightens our burdens. You see
Jesus listens to us, Jesus encourages us, and Jesus shares our
sorrows.
RICK
Jesus says, "you will find rest for your souls." It’s not
the person who looks at Jesus from afar that finds rest and
peace. It is in taking Jesus’s yoke, entering His service, and
learning about Him, that we can find rest. Notice, the idea
expressed is that you will not have to go out looking for rest,
the promise is that it will automatically come to you. It’s
waiting with Jesus. The hurriedness of it all does not have to
be. Can we trust God to let go of some things in our lives, and
see what He’ll do in the interim.
TOBY
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Š Jesus says, "for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light". A
lot of people don’t believe these words of Jesus. "No way is
being a Christian easy. Look at all the things I’m giving up.
There are so many rules to follow." People who talk like this
are under the delusion that once you die that’s it. To under
stand the Christian message, you must view life from the perspec
tive of eternity. You see, whether you believe it or not, you
are going to be around for the next 999 million years, and then
for a few hundred billion more after that.
RICK
Now out billions of years, Jesus asks us to wear his yoke on
earth for 13, 30, 70 or 120 years at the most. What we do in
that very short time determines where and how we will spend
eternity. How many of us would be willing to work full time for
$100.00 a week for 3 years. If I said at the end of the 3 year
period, you will receive a 3 million dollar bonus for your faith
fulness, how many of you would be willing to do it. You see, God
may ask us to accept less in this life that we might receive more
in the next. Some of us will have very little in the next life,
because instead of investing it in the kingdom of God be it our
time, talent, or money, we chose to use it to please ourselves.
TOBY
Look at Christ’s burden and yoke from another perspective.
What law have we received from God, that was not ultimately for
our own good. Think of an area of sin in your life that you wish
was not sin. Would the world be a better place if God said,
okay, that’s no longer sin, everybody can go ahead and do it.
RICK
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Let’s suppose you were on the committee to scale the 6 of
the last 10 commandments down to 3 to reduce the amount of sin
in the world. Which one is going to make our lives better by
getting rid of it. Honor thy father and mother. Do not kill.
Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not lie against a
neighbor. Do not covet and be greedy for other people’s posses
sions. Who would praise God for his being liberal minded if He
just cut back on some of these.
TOBY
There is a third and final view to look at Jesus’s burden
and his yoke as being light and easy. Troubles are going to come
in this world whether you live in the presidential palace or in a
card board box on skid row. Life is going to have its problems.
The devil will attempt to throw more on us that we are able to
bear and think nothing of it. When the rains of life are pouring
in on us, that’s not the time to be searching for a solid founda
tion. Chances are, at that point we will settle for the first
thing to come along. If it’s not Jesus, we’ll be settling for a
future disaster.
RICK
Hard times will come and are coming. It is better to have
Jesus to walk with us, that for us to try to walk it alone. If
you are not saved and been born again, you cannot say with confi
dence, The Lord is my Shepherd, yeah though I walk through the
shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me. The
Lord wants to be each of our Shepherds this morning. Are we
willing to come to Him to find His rest.
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