You can turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 11, a passage I have wanted to revisit for some time. I was talking the other day with Pastor Mike and I asked him if he was going to preach a special sermon for Thanksgiving. And he indicated that he's going through the gospel of Mark. He said, we should just be thankful that Jesus is gracious or compassionate.
That was what he was highlighting. And I thought that's a good theme for us tonight. Thanksgiving day ought to be every day in the Christian life. And we as God's people ought to be thankful for the sovereign will of the father, the mediatorial office of the son and the publication of this gracious invitation that we find in Matthew's gospel in chapter 11.
I want to begin reading in verse 16 and then our focus tonight will be on verses 25 to 30. But in verse 16, Jesus says, but to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions and saying, we played the flute for you and you did not dance. We mourn to you and you did not lament.
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, he has a demon. The son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, look, a glutton and a wine-bibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners, but wisdom is justified by her children. Then he began to rebuke the cities in which most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. Woe to you, Chorazin!
Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.
For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you. At that time, Jesus answered and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in your sight.
All things have been delivered to me by my father, and no one knows the son except the father, nor does anyone know the father except the son and the one to whom the son wills to reveal him. Come to me, all you 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.
Amen. Let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Father in heaven, we thank you for this opportunity to gather together as the churches of Christ. We thank you for the work in Surrey, We thank you for the faithfulness of this body. We praise you, God, that you have planted this work, that you are sustaining it, and we pray that you would prosper them greatly, that they would know that nearness of God as their good, that they would be faithful in that community to hold forth the word of truth, and that, Father, you would be pleased to save sinners through the ministry of the word there, and to sanctify and strengthen your people. We pray for the brethren in Vernon.
We thank you for that work, Thank you for the fact that they have men each week preaching the word. We pray that you'd set apart a man to labor in the word and doctrine there on a regular basis. We know that you are sovereign over such things, so we pray to you, the Lord of the harvest, to send out a laborer into that part of the field. We also thank you, God, for your mercy and your grace to us here in Chilliwack.
We pray now that your Holy Spirit would guide us as we consider Holy Scripture, We pray that you would forgive us for our sins and our unrighteousness, and give us again a fresh view of the blessed Savior who does grant us rest, that one who is most excellent, most glorious, most wonderful, most compassionate, and most gracious to the needy ones. And help us, Father, to find great comfort from this passage, and help us, Father, to leave from this place further conformed unto the image of your beloved Son. And we pray these things in His most blessed name. Amen.
Introduction
Well, in this section in Matthew, specifically in chapters 11 and 12, we see rising opposition to the Lord Jesus Christ. You see it here in these cities that had seen or witnessed the mighty works of our Lord Jesus, but they did not repent. We see it in what Jesus says concerning the particular generation. John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say he has a demon.
The son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. So Jesus acknowledges and recognizes there are multitudes that are not receiving him. But as well, there are those who are receiving him. And that's what he highlights here in chapter 11, verses 25 to 30.
We'll see that later. We would see that later if we continued on into chapter 12. While there is this rising opposition, there is nevertheless those who come by the grace of God to taste and see that the Lord Jesus is good. And in this particular section, those three things are three things we ought to appreciate in terms of thanksgiving to God.
The Sovereign Will of the Father
First, we see highlighted the sovereign will of the Father in verses 25 and 26. Secondly, the mediatorial office of the Son in verse 27, and then this gracious declaration of the Savior in verses 28 to 30. But let's look first at the sovereign will of the Father. Jesus, according to verse 25, at that time, he answered and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes." As I mentioned, the incorrigible children in verses 16 to 19.
Those who had rejected both the ministry of the Baptist and the ministry of the Savior. And then this condemnation of these cities in Galilee in verses 20 to 24. Christ recognizes that ultimately it is the sovereign will of God Almighty. And when he praises the Father, here he praises the Father for sovereignty.
This is a different response than many manifest to this doctrine of the sovereignty of God. Now here, thankfully, we embrace it. Here, thankfully, we welcome it. Here, thankfully, we meditate upon passages like these.
Romans 9 and Ephesians 1 and John 6, and we find great comfort for our souls because we recognize that if God and His sovereignty didn't make us willing in the day of His power, we would have most certainly died in our trespasses and sins. So we highlight, we celebrate, we rejoice at the sovereignty of God, but not everyone does. But certainly the Lord Christ does, and that is expressly what He says. I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent.
He's not identifying or suggesting that there are actually wise and prudent people. There are those who are wise and prudent in their own eyes. There were those contemporaries of our Lord Jesus Christ that mocked Him, that ridiculed Him. In chapter 12, they'll plot to kill Him.
They're wise and prudent in their own estimation. Similar to what Jesus says in Matthew 9. He says, I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. He's not acknowledging that there are righteous persons.
He is acknowledging that there are persons who think themselves to be righteous. And so here he praises God for what we would call the doctrine of reprobation. God hides these things from the wise and prudent. Now, it's specifically here that people get a little shaky.
They get a little upset. They get a little irritated. They get a little bothered by what seems to be God's sovereignty working in a negative manner. We need to remember that who Jesus is talking about are not innocent people.
Who Jesus is talking about are sinners. They are persons that are dead. in their trespasses and sins, and for God to hide these things, which in context is gospel truth, is not wretched on his part, but it's an act of justice. It's an act of righteousness, and Christ praises his Father for that. But he doesn't stop there.
He says, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and then he goes on to say, and have revealed them to babes. Again, he's not speaking about two-year-olds or five-year-olds, he is speaking to those humbled by the grace of God, those who see themselves before the God of absolute sovereignty, those who by grace now believe on the Lord Jesus. So the father is praised with reference to the doctrine of hiding these things from the wise and prudent, but the father is praised for revealing them unto babes. And then verse 26 underscores the sovereignty of God.
God's Good Pleasure in Election and Reprobation
He says, Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in your sight." I think the old New American standard said, even so, or for thus it was well-pleasing in your sight. The emphasis here is not on man's will. The emphasis here is on God's will. We considered that this morning at verses 21 and 24 in Acts chapter 11.
The hand of God was with that. and many believed and turned to the Lord. The fact that God was present is the reason why there were those who came out of darkness into marvelous light. And Jesus acknowledges the same thing here. For even so, Father, it was pleasing in your sight.
It was according to the good pleasure and purpose of almighty God. J. Gresham Machen made the observation that predestination writes God entirely too large and man entirely too small to suit our human pride. This is offensive to some, but with reference to God's grace in our hearts and our lives, we embrace it and we praise God that it was pleasing in his sight to reveal unto us The babes that we were, the son of his love, and the power of the gospel to save us from our sins.
The Mediatorial Office of the Son
Now notice, secondly, Christ highlights his function or his role as mediator. Our confession of faith highlights the reality that Christ as mediator functions as prophet, priest, and king, and that's the emphasis here in verse 27. He says, all things have been delivered to me by my Father. Again, that's according to his role as a mediator.
As the second person of the Trinity, Christ possesses all things, all resources, but he is speaking here according to that role, that function, that particular office of mediator. He says, all things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Now, there's a lot going on in verse 27. And this isn't just a preacher's tactic to say, I don't want to deal with it.
But if I did deal with it in any amount of detail, we wouldn't eat tonight. We would be here by, you know, 10 or 11. Actually, no, it wouldn't be that bad. But the point is, or the function is, or the glory of it is, is that it highlights the power of the Son of God as the mediator to reveal the Father to sinners.
It highlights the power of the Son of God as the mediator to reveal the Father to sinners. All things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son. and the one to whom the son wills to reveal him. He has the power, he has the ability, he has the capacity, he has the function, the offices suited for that very purpose. As well, it highlights the graciousness of the son in that he actually does do this.
If you and I know the father, it's because of the mediator, Jesus Christ. If you and I have received the forgiveness of sins and the imputed righteousness of Christ, it is owing not to our ingenuity, it is owing not to our law-keeping or merit, it is owing to the grace of the Son in the salvation of His people. He is able to save to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto God through Him. And this is the emphasis that he is highlighting in this particular situation.
And as well, I think he's highlighting the exclusivity of the son. No one goes to the father except through this mediator. All roads do not lead to heaven, all religions do not take us to the same place, but it is alone the prerogative of Jesus Christ to function as the mediator between God and man. In fact, the apostle Paul, in 1 Timothy 2, verses five and six, says, for there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself for all.
So Jesus praises the Father in his sovereignty. The Lord Jesus highlights his power as mediator. And as Calvin says, having formally asserted that the church proceeds from the secret source of God's free election, he now shows in what manner the grace of salvation comes to men.
The Gracious Declaration of the Savior
And that brings us, thirdly, to the gracious declaration of the Savior. And I want to spend a bit of time here. Not that we shouldn't be thankful for the sovereign will of the Father, not that we shouldn't muse upon the mediatorial office of the Son, but let us remind ourselves of the Savior that we serve. Let us remind ourselves of the Savior that has conquered us.
Let this be an instigator to provoke from us daily praise, daily gratitude, daily thanksgiving. That pattern in the Heidelberg Catechism is great. You've got guilt, grace, gratitude. Gratitude is man's response to the grace that has been given to us by our God. purposed in his sovereignty flowing to us through the mediator.
I want to make six observations. This isn't going to take as long as the suggestion may sound, but six observations on verses 28 to 30.
The Exhortation: Come to Me
Note in the first place his exhortation. Verse 28 he says, come to me, come to me. I think before we unpack what he does say, it's always helpful to understand what he doesn't say. He doesn't say, do for me.
He doesn't say, work with me. He doesn't say, add me to your already filled religious resume. I think at times, that's how persons interpret the Christian religion. Christ will help you to deal with your issues.
Christ will benefit you in dealing with your issues. Christ will supplement your doing. That's not the Christian gospel. In fact, that's not gospel at all.
That is depressing and wretched news. The glory of the gospel is Christ saying, come to me, come to me, not add me, not supplement me, not do anything, but rather come. He comes to the man, or rather the agency or the exclusive agency of the Son does not come to the man who does, who works, or who merits such grace, for none is able. It is Christ alone who has the power to save us from our sins.
When he says, come to me, it is Christ alone who is the mediator between God and men. That's what he says in verse 27. No one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. It is Christ alone who possesses this office of mediator that can indeed invite sinners to himself and thus save them and give them life eternal.
It is Christ alone who calls men out of darkness into marvelous light. It is Christ alone who was lifted up on that cross like that serpent was lifted up in the wilderness. I love that connection. I love that analogy.
I love that the Savior points to that in John chapter three. The children of Israel whined, they grumbled, they complained. So God sent fiery serpents to bite them. And the remedy was a brazen serpent lifted up in the wilderness.
And the admonition was to look, look and live, not crawl over there, not suck the venom out, not try to, you know, do a whole host of things, but rather look and live. That's the analogy that the Savior gives with reference to coming to Him. It is Christ alone who saves to the uttermost all who draw nigh to God through Him, and it is Christ alone, by God's grace, through faith, that saves His people from their sins. Of course, when He says, come to Me, we on earth cannot ascend into the heavens physically and come to Christ.
It is faith in Jesus. In fact, John Gill makes the observation. He explains that Jesus kindly invites and encourages souls to come unto him. But it is to be understood of believing in Christ, the going of the soul to him, in the exercise of grace on him, of desire after him, love to him, faith and hope in him. believing in Christ and coming to him are terms synonymous.
We've covered this material in our studies in the Confession of Faith, chapter 11, paragraph 2. It is a resting upon, it is a receiving. That is the metaphorical sort of look at what faith in the Savior is all about. And if we were to ask the question, why faith?
Why not faith plus works? Why not just works? Because in Adam all die. There's no works that you and I can do that are perfect, exact, entire, and perpetual, obedient unto God.
And so we need the grace of God. We need faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But in terms of faith, I think nature hits the nail on the head. He says, the true reason why faith is given such an exclusive place by the New Testament, so far as the attainment of salvation is concerned, over against love and over against everything else in man, except things that can be regarded as mere aspects of faith, he says, is that faith means receiving something, not doing something or even being something.
That's a subtle distinction, but a most important one. He says the center of the Bible and the center of Christianity is found in what? Love to hear everybody's answer. My happiness, my completeness, my wholeness, my development, my therapy, my adjustment.
That's not what Machen says. That's probably what you'd hear, you know, from Furtick or you'd hear from some of these others. Everybody reads their Bible in that narcissistic manner. They see themselves in the text of Scripture.
That's not what Machen goes on to say. The center of the Bible and the center of Christianity is found in the grace of God. And the necessary corollary of the grace of God is salvation through faith alone. I would say a hundredfold amen to that blessed statement.
And that's what Christ means. Come to me is what Jesus says. Isn't that a beautiful thing? He doesn't say, stay away from me.
He doesn't say there's never any hope for you. He doesn't say continue in that hyper-Calvinistic setting where there's no gospel call, where there's no call to sinners to respond in faith to the glory of the Savior. That's not what Jesus does. Jesus doesn't say to everybody in the audience, lift up your shirt and see if there's an E on your back.
And if there's an E on your back, elect, then you can come to me. Jesus doesn't do that. Jesus preaches the gospel. Jesus preaches himself.
Jesus says, come to me. And then notice secondly, the person's addressed. This is amazing.
The Persons Addressed
Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden. Come to me all you who are labor. Excuse me, the vestiges or the remnants of this cough. Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden.
Now, this does not mean the one who is physically tired, because if you look at verse 29, he says, you will find rest for your souls. What Christ affords here is not physical rest. Your bed does a pretty good job with that. A bit of vacation does a pretty good job with that.
A modest work schedule where you have a work-life balance does a good job at that. The rest that Christ offers in the passage is not rest from your physical labors. It's soulish labor. And if you look at the context in Matthew's gospel, certainly he is speaking against Pharisaic religion.
He condemns later in Matthew chapter 23 these Pharisees who keep up these burdens upon men. And they themselves don't do it. They themselves don't ever assist them in doing it. He is saying to those who are weary and heavy-laden under the false oppressive religion of those Pharisees and scribes of his particular time.
But as well, he's talking about sinners. He's talking about those of us who are burdened with sin, those of us who are weary over continually rejecting God and His law, those of us who are heavy-laden with guilt and with shame and that knowledge of our depravity. He's addressing those. Now God makes us sensible of this to be sure because sinners apart from the grace of God will never acknowledge this.
They'll never realize this. I mean, they may feel bad from time to time. They may stop doing a particular bad habit because it has adverse effects upon their health. But the ones that Christ is addressing are real sinners.
And I think we forget that as Bible readers today. You know, we talk about sin, we talk about how sinful we are, and then we thank the Lord for the grace of God in Jesus Christ, but we somehow forget that the people in the first century had the same sorts of sins as well. When he says, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, I will give you rest, he's talking to real sinners. The Bible addresses the problem of real sin.
If you are heavy laden over your sin, the best place for you to be is in the bosom of the son of God. The best place for you to be is in the scripture. The best place for you to be is at the Lord's table. The best place for you to be is as near to God as you can.
I know the devil's logic goes like this. You're a sinner and you haven't lived up to the light that you have in the gospel. Your conduct hasn't been worthy of the gospel. So therefore stay away from Jesus and whine and pout and grovel and make yourself look miserable.
That's not what the scripture tells us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us. Why do we think that's the entry level sins and not the real bad sins? It's all sin.
The blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us not from some sin, not from the respectable sins, but from all sin. This is who Christ is addressing. He's addressing those who have broken the law, those who have transgressed the law, those who have rejected the law, those who have lacked conformity to the law, those who are heavy laden with sin. The psalmist says, for my iniquities have gone over my head like a heavy burden.
They are too heavy for me. My wounds are foul and festering because of my foolishness. I am troubled. I am bowed down greatly.
I go mourning all the day long. I suppose that some of us know this experientially. What do we do when this overtakes us? Do we fly to the fountain or do we stay away?
Why don't we come to the one who promises rest? Why don't we come to the one who affords forgiveness? Now I'm speaking to us here as believers to be sure because the gospel is necessary for believers as well. We are not to tarry.
We're not to stay away. We're not to try to fix ourselves up before we go to Jesus. It's not a date. You go out on a date with your bride or you go out on a date with your beloved.
You comb your hair and you make yourself look good. You put a little cologne on so that you'll smell good. You want to be attractive to your mate. That's legit.
I'm not suggesting otherwise. By all means, especially to my bride, go ahead and do that. That's a good thing. But we look at our relationship with Christ that way.
We think we have to fix ourselves. We think we have to comb our hair. We have to fix our tie. We have to deal with our sin.
And then I can go to Jesus. It never dawns on us that church and the supper and prayer and Bible reading are precisely what sinners need. It's precisely the contact we get through faith with the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, that is the remedy for what the psalmist describes in Psalm 38, 4-6. He says in verse 18 in Psalm 38, For I will declare my iniquity, I will be in anguish over my sin.
Psalm 130, I know I quote it a lot because it's a very important passage of scripture. Verses three and four. If you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared.
But in verses one to three, or verse one and two, he says, out of the depths I have cried to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. What's the depths?
The depths there aren't, he's running from Philistines. The depths there aren't, he's running from Saul. The depths there are if you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand. Say one thing about David, the man understood something about his sin.
Except, of course, in the case of Bathsheba and Uriah, took him a little while to get up to speed after the prophet Nathan rebuked him and told him Thou art the man. But for the most part, he had a sensitive conscience. He had that recognition of what he was before a holy God, but he always applies to the Lord Jesus Christ. He doesn't stay away.
He doesn't tarry. He is in the presence of his Savior. That's the purpose and the point of the Christian gospel. It's not to come to try and help those who are pretty decent in and of themselves.
No, it comes to those who are miserable. It comes to those who are depraved. It comes to those who are destitute. It comes to those who are overwhelmed under sin.
And this is who Jesus addresses in this blessed invitation. Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden.
The Promise of Rest
And that brings us thirdly to the promise given. Notice what he says, and I will give you rest. I will give you rest, the promise of rest, at least on one level, from pharisaical religion, that hyper-legalistic attitude of the Pharisees. Jesus says, I will rest you from that, but at a more deeper level, I will rest you from the sin. the overwhelming burden, the heavy laden-ness, the weariness that sin produces.
You see, there's this mindset that sin is cool, sin is fun, sin is great, sin is me getting to express myself, sin is my declaration of independence, sin is liberty. It is just the opposite. The Lord Christ told us in John chapter 8, whoever commits sin is what? He's free, he's happy, he's filled with joy, he is a slave of sin.
And so when Christ promises rest, that ought to be welcome news to any sinner. Come to Christ and he will give you rest from the sinful condition that you have found yourself in. in rebelling against God's holy law. Rest is going to come up later in Matthew chapter 12 over the Sabbath controversies. It is Christ the Lord who is the one who gives this rest, this Sabbath, this blessing to his people.
So it's a wonderful progression that Christ does here. He exhorts to come, he highlights the persons, he gives a promise, and then he tells them, fourthly, to submit.
The Call to Submit
Verse 29, take my yoke upon you. Take my yoke upon you. You see, when we come to Christ, we lose the burden of sin, but we receive the yoke of Jesus Christ. And as he goes on in the context, we see that that yoke is good, That burden is light, he's delightful and wonderful, but there is discipleship, there is sanctification.
There's one of the sort of leaders or contenders for the presidential, the Democrat party in America that keeps, you know, lecturing Christians on how they, you know, need to receive the marginalized. There's nothing wrong with receiving the marginalized, but in Matthew 1.21, it doesn't say he will save his people from marginalization. The issue is sin. He saves us from our sin.
He doesn't save us to continue in sin. but rather we are to take His yoke upon us. We are to receive that blessed ownership, that blessed connection with the Savior. The word yoke, according to Davies and Allison, came to be a metaphor for obedience, subordination, servitude. The Lord Christ obviously uses it here for discipleship.
Again, the progress or the progression is clear. It's not, take my yoke upon you, obey my law, do what I say, and then I will give you rest. We take the yoke upon us after he has given us rest, after he has justified us freely by his grace. after we have come to Him, after we've received the forgiveness of sins, after we have received this righteousness imputed to us and received by faith alone, then sanctification happens. You have to see that particular trajectory.
It's not obey me, do for me, perform for me, and then I will rest you. The yoke on the believer is a sign that He is Christ and that Christ is His. That's a done deal. The transaction has been transacted.
We are in Him. He is our Savior. He has granted us this blessed rest, and now it is our joy, our privilege, and our delight to take His yoke upon us. Chamberlain says it is a command to submit to God's rule as Jesus proclaims it and to God's law as Jesus expounds it.
So if you remember that, the old Banner of Truth edition of Pilgrim's Progress. If anybody hasn't seen that, you really should see it because there's some illustrations in there that are just beautiful. You can probably Google it. So you've got Christian and he's got this burden on his back and he's, you know, laboring under this.
I think Psalm 38 is is probably in the mind of Bunyan there, but he's got this great burden and it's not until he comes to the cross and then that burden is, you know, the straps are snapped and off it flies. But it's not the case that once the believer loses that burden, they are without a yoke. They have the yoke of Jesus Christ. They are disciples.
They are mastered by another. They are owned by this mediator, this savior, and this Lord.
The Invitation to Learn from Christ
And then notice fifthly, he invites us to learn from him. 29b, or 29, take my yoke upon you and learn from me. C.H. Spurgeon says, we are to learn of Christ and also to learn Christ. He is both teacher and lesson, and in this he calls us to learn from me, and then he tells us, for I am gentle or meek and lowly in heart.
He goes on with this promise and says at the end of verse 29, and you will find rest for your souls. You see the Christian gospel answers to that lack of rest. The gospel answers to that chaos. The gospel answers to that lack of stability and security that we have because we're sinners against the holy God of heaven and earth.
But Christ says, learn from me. And again, I'm going to nag a little bit more from this morning. We need to be in our churches. We need to be in our Bibles.
We need to be people that are serious about this. I don't never have asked Pastor Mike if he has an attendance record. You know, at the end of a Sunday, he goes home and he checks off the box and says, well, so-and-so wasn't here and so-and-so wasn't here, that sort of thing. I doubt that he does.
Pastors aren't taking attendance because they're going to, you know, get you. We are concerned if you're not present in the house of God. And I know some would say, well, you're just authoritarian narcissists that like to lord it over the people. That's really not my angle here, brethren.
The apostle Paul says, we are workers with you for your joy. And if you are not in scripture, If you are not in prayer, if you are not attending the means of grace as a Christian, there's not going to be joy in your life. There's always going to be this aching sense that you know that you're not doing what you should be doing. Again, not doing what you should be doing in order to be saved, but as one who has come, one who has found rest, one who wears that yoke, one who is possessed by Christ.
You want to learn from the Master. You want to understand his law. You want to understand the application of it. You cry with Solomon when God says, what is it that you want?
And Solomon says, I want wisdom. I have to administrate a kingdom here. And I cannot do this without wisdom. We have to administrate a kingdom that's not quite Solomon's, but our own.
We have to function in family. We have to function in the context of church. We have to function with a federal election coming up. We have to function in an increasingly secular society.
We have to function in this capacity. And if we are not learning from Christ, we are not going to be good representatives of Him. It is absolutely crucial, brothers and sisters, that we take seriously what Jesus says. 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.
The Light Burden of Discipleship
And then finally, he highlights the description of discipleship. He says, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. There is a yoke to be sure. There is a burden to be sure.
But it's easy and it's light. Remember that whole sort of relationship that the believer has to the law of God. Prior to our salvation by grace, that law condemned. Now that we're justified freely by grace, that law instructs, it informs, it guides.
It is the means by which God sanctifies us. John 17, 17, sanctify them by thy truth. Thy word is truth. Francis Turretin highlights the relationship.
He says, before, it, the law, was an instrument of the spirit of bondage to throw down and bruise man. But afterwards, it becomes the instrument of the spirit of adoption to promote sanctification. Thus, the law leads to Christ, and Christ leads us back to the law. It leads to Christ as the Redeemer, and Christ leads to the law as the leader and director of life.
One of the things that we often highlight in this particular church is that the commandments of God are not burdensome. They are not grievous. I think the people of God are burdened and grieved by their inability or perhaps lack of willingness to abide by that law as they ought. but they never cry out against the law, or they're certainly not supposed to. They're supposed to say with David, oh, how I love your law.
It is my meditation all the day and night. And this is Christ's emphasis. He says, my yoke is easy and my burden is light. The New Testament highlights several instances how or why this is the case.
It is that blessed liberty of the sons of God that we enjoy. And I think behind the scenes is Jeremiah 6 16. Thus says Yahweh, stand in the way and see and ask for the old paths where the good way is and walk in it. Then you will find rest for your souls.
Brethren, this is our Lord highlighting the absolute sovereignty of His Father, for thus it was well-pleasing in your sight. Highlighting the fact that He alone is the mediator and He alone has the power, but He is gracious to do so, reveal the Father to sinners. And He issues this gracious invitation indiscriminately. Again, He doesn't say to some in the audience, I want you to plug your ears at this point.
I don't know if you're sheep, I don't know if you're goat, I don't know if you're reprobate, I don't know if you're lexo. You just close your ears here. No, he issues this invitation in, as far as we know, a mixed crowd of persons. He doesn't take the time to make sure certain persons shouldn't listen, but rather he simply says, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
It is the most gracious and most wonderful invitation that sinners could ever hear.
Application
Well, in conclusion, a few thoughts, and then we'll go up and have some time to fellowship together. First, if you have not come to grips with the overwhelming burden of sin, may I encourage you to study God's law. The Heidelberg Catechism asks, how do you know your misery? Because the law of God tells me so.
When I peer into those commandments, I do not see well done, good and faithful servant. When I peer or you peer into those commandments, you should never congratulate yourself because I highly doubt you have perpetual, personal, exact and entire obedience of that law. You've all, and I, have been guilty of idolatry. We've all blasphemed.
We've all broken the Sabbath. We've all been insubordinate to those over us. We've all murdered, if not physically, to the point where we've actually ended somebody's life. We have done so in the heart.
We have slandered. We have gossiped. We have been bitter. That sort of stuff is a Sixth Commandment violation.
And I would suggest it's probably rampant in churches today. The seventh commandment, again, it doesn't demand that you actually defile yourself with somebody else's husband or wife. It's in the thoughts. Christ says, if you look upon a woman to lust, you've broken the commandment.
We have stolen things from God. We have stolen good benefits and not returned thanks and praise and adoration to Him. We have lied. We have been covetous.
This is how you learn the overwhelming burden of sin. And this is why the church today must preach the law of God in all of its pedagogical force, so that sinners will see the problem. We don't preach Jesus to make your life a little better. We preach Jesus so that you might have everlasting life.
And if you have not come to grips with this overwhelming burden of sin, you need to study God's law. Jesus said, I mentioned it earlier, most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. Secondly, we see the gospel, the foundation of gospel rest. It's grounded firmly in the sovereign will of the father, and in the mediatorial office of Christ.
Spurgeon says, come unto me, is thus a divine prescription, curing our ills by the pardon of sin through our Lord's sacrifice and causing us the greatest peace by sanctifying us to his service. It's a beautiful statement there. Thirdly, I want to highlight, and this is, again, preaching to the choir, and to be honest, I'm very thankful that we don't have resistance, and I'm sure Pastor Mike doesn't have this either. You know, if we preach that Jesus is the alone way of salvation, that bothers people.
That really offends people today. It shouldn't offend us. That there is one way to the Father is absolutely amazing. It is absolutely glorious that in light of our sin and in light of God's holiness, there is a way of salvation.
But that way is Christ and Christ alone. We must be intolerant at this particular point. We must be exclusive at this particular point. We must not renege on what the scripture says concerning the way of salvation.
Machen, again, says the Christian religion is intolerant to the core. Imagine him saying this today in the public realm. He would be shunned, like tarred and feathered. He says, there lies the whole offense of, not just in the public realm, in many churchly realms as well, to suggest that Christianity is intolerant to the core.
I can already, you know, see Christians going, you shouldn't say that. That doesn't sound politically correct. They didn't like that, that won't win them, that won't woo them. What are we trying to win them with?
Lies, compromise, deceit, some suggestion that Christ perhaps isn't the alone way of salvation. The way we win sinners is to preach the truth of the gospel and trust in the one who Jesus says, even so father, thus it was well-pleasing in your sight. Our task is to be faithful to the message and to trust in the power of God Almighty. But back to Machen, the Christian religion is intolerant to the core.
There lies the whole offense of the cross and also the whole power of it. Always the gospel would have been received with favor by the world if it had been presented merely as one way of salvation. Right? Merely as one way of salvation.
The offense came because it was presented as the only way. If we came on the scene and said, oh, your religion is fine, and your religion is fine, and your religion is fine. We want to offer another way for you to consider and to think about, but it's not the alone way. It's not the exclusive way.
We'd be welcomed in the pantheon. We would be welcomed and recognized as one of the approved sort of religions of the empire. He goes on to say, the offense came because it was presented as the only way and because it made relentless war upon all other ways. That's why they don't like it when you preach John 14, 6, or when you preach Matthew 11, 27.
In a pluralistic society where everything and anything goes, you could just add Jesus to the pantheon. But that's not what Jesus tells us in scripture. He alone is the way to the Father. And then finally, I want to suggest an appreciation for, if we don't already have it, the absolute sovereignty of God in election and in reprobation.
First of all, we need to see the truthfulness of God's sovereignty. One of the things I say typically when we're going through the scriptures on a Wednesday night in the Old Testament, if anybody ever stumbles upon or has an issue with the sovereignty of God, they should just start in Genesis. They should just read how God works in the midst of chaos to bring about good and glorious things. The Lord Most High is sovereign.
He is in the heavens and He does whatever He pleases. Secondly, we need to appreciate the graciousness of God as seen in election. It's not fatalism, it's not a machine, it's not a monster, it's not that there's this impersonal fate up there sort of pulling the strings. No, God is gracious in electing some unto salvation.
God is expressing that grace when He reveals Christ to babes. Thirdly, we ought to appreciate the justice of God in reprobation. Now, to hide gospel truth, again, is not mean-spirited, it's not capricious, it's not vile on the part of God. It is an act of judgment.
You see, these people were sinners, and to hide something from them isn't an act of injustice on the part of God, but rather it is an act of justice. And then in light of the day, Thanksgiving tomorrow, the response on the part of the believer ought to be thanksgiving and praise. Isn't it amazing? This is what we read in verse 25.
At that time, Jesus answered and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. So tomorrow when you're going around that Thanksgiving table and somebody says, what are you thankful for? The sovereignty of God Almighty is a perfectly legitimate thing to be thankful for. John Murray. said, if the only begotten Son, the Lord of glory, drew consolation from the sovereign good pleasure of God the Father and made it the occasion for such thanksgiving, so let it be with you also.
Ephesians 1, 3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. And then where does He begin? He begins with sovereign grace, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. In love, He predestined us unto adoption as sons.
See, for the Apostle Paul, the sovereignty of God did not create in him this upset attitude, this not fair attitude, but rather it elicited from him praise and worship and adoration. Brethren, the proper response to God's grace that has overcome our guilt is gratitude, not just tomorrow, but each and every day. Let us live as a people that are thankful to the Lord Most High. Colossians 1, 12 to 14.
The Apostle says, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints and the light. It's the Father who qualified us for that, and that's why we express thankfulness. Colossians 2, 6 and 7, as you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith as you have been taught, abounding in it with what? With thanksgiving.
Brethren, thanksgiving is an acknowledgement of God's grace. Thanksgiving is the sphere in which we ought to live. Thanksgiving ought to be expressed to God on a regular basis for his so great a salvation to us. And if you are going to end this day not knowing Jesus, let me repeat to you the gracious invitation that he issues.
He says, come to me. That means believe on Him, receive Him, look to Him. The way that the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness, they looked and they lived. You look in faith to the Lord Christ and you will live.
And then you will hopefully be thankful and express that gratitude to the grace of God each and every day. Well, let us close in a word of prayer.
Closing Prayer
Father, thank you for your Word. Thank you for this time that we can survey, look at the Holy Scripture. And God, we are humbled at the thought of your sovereignty, the reality that you revealed these things unto us, not for anything good in us, not for any good that you foresaw in us, but solely and alone, because it was well-pleasing in your sight. We thank you for the mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, that prophet, priest, and king, and we thank you that he has revealed to us the Father.
And God, I pray that wherever the gospel is preached, wherever this word goes forth, sinners by grace would come to the Savior. We know there is a whole multitude, a great mass of humanity that has no saving knowledge of the Lord God Most High. We pray that gospel preaching would go forth, that this gracious invitation would be published from sea to sea, and that a multitude by your grace would come out of darkness into marvelous light. and we know that rest that Jesus Christ gives. And we pray these things in his most blessed name, amen.
Well, you can take your hymn book and turn to 568. 568, we'll stand as we sing together. praise him A little benediction. from the book of Numbers and then pray and give thanks to God for the food that we will participate in upstairs. But before that, I just want to express my full heart. It's a joy and a privilege to have our two churches together. It's a joy and a privilege to know that there are brethren gathering together under this common confession. in Vernon, and the hope and prayer ought to be that we see more churches like this planted.
Not because it's us, but because we have, in that confession of faith, a great compendium of Bible truth. And persons need to hear this truth. People need to hear the gospel of our salvation. It is a great encouragement to see God's hand his mercy, his kindness expressed in the provision of a pastor there in Syria, a good and faithful young man.
And it's good to see people coming into that church, people being instructed and taught good reform theology and hopefully being grounded in the faith and hopefully producing good works and love to God and love to men. So in the language of a brother that was influential in my life many, many years ago, brethren, my heart is full. It is a great encouragement to see each and every one of you here. So let us Now end with a good word from our God.
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Father, we acknowledge your hand in this meeting tonight.
We acknowledge your hand in the planting of the church here in Chilliwack. Father, we know it didn't depend upon men. It depended upon God Almighty. We acknowledge that hand in the planting of the church in Surrey.
And we thank you for your provision and the pastor and Mike Kirkpatrick. We thank you for the work that is going on in that church and pray that you would prosper it, that you would bless it, that you would use that ministry in the salvation of a multitude of sinners in that part of the world. And God, again, we pray for the work in Vernon. Give them grace, give them strength, uphold them and cause them to be a blessed church of the Lord God Most High in that part of the world.
And we do appeal to you as the Lord of the harvest to raise up more men, to plant more churches. We look westward, we look northward, we look eastward, we look southward. We see the need for gospel churches all over the world. We see the need for good confessional Christianity.
We see the need for sound doctrine and faithful preaching of the gospel. And God, we appeal to you in your grace and in your mercy and in your sovereignty that you would be well pleased to reveal these truths on debates and establish more churches for the glory of God Almighty. And thank you for that sure promise of our blessed Redeemer, who promised to build his church and the gates of hell itself shall not prevail against it. We thank you now that we can go have some food together and some fellowship.
Thank you for your kind provision. We pray that you would bless and nourish and strengthen us physically and God cause us to glorify and honor you as we eat and drink. And we pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen. We'll close with a brief time of meditation and then head upstairs.