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Well, please turn with me in 
your Bibles to Matthew chapter 11. The Lord willing, we'll return 
to Matthew 26 next Sunday morning, but this morning we're going 
to remind ourselves of the foundation of gospel rest, and we see that 
in Matthew chapter 11, specifically verses 25 to 30, but I do want 
to begin reading in verse 16 just to set the larger context. 
Matthew chapter 11 beginning in verse 16. 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. Well, let us pray. Father 
in heaven, we thank you for your written Word, we thank you for 
the power of the Holy Spirit who gave us the Word, and we 
pray that even now He would guide us and lead us and direct us 
as we look to this passage of Scripture. We pray that we would 
see the glory and the majesty and the excellency and the power 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. As the Apostle says, He is able 
to save to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto God through 
Him. And we pray that today would be the day of salvation for sinners 
in this place. We pray You'd open their eyes 
and their hearts to behold their own burden for sin, the heavy 
ladenness that sin brings, and show them the glory and the majesty 
of Jesus Christ and His ability to save. We ask that You would 
look with favor upon us. We ask that You would look with 
favor upon other churches here in Chilliwack and throughout 
Canada and to the uttermost parts of the earth. We pray your word 
would be proclaimed, that it would run swiftly and be glorified, 
and that a great multitude would come unto you by your grace and 
for your glory. And Lord God, do forgive us now 
for our sins and our transgressions. Wash us in the blood of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. Cleanse us and purify us and 
grant us ears to hear and hearts to receive the word of truth 
itself. And we pray through Jesus Christ 
our Lord, amen. Well, as we look at this particular 
section in Matthew's gospel, it's been some time since we 
were in chapter 11, but here in chapters 11 and 12 specifically, 
we're finding various responses to the Lord Jesus Christ, varying 
responses to his life, his work, and his ministry. And here specifically, 
we see how he condemns that generation, the first century, in verses 
16 to 19. He says, to what shall I liken 
this generation? It is like children sitting in 
the marketplaces and calling to their companions. He's essentially 
saying that you are a fickle John the Baptist came and you 
didn't receive him. Jesus Christ comes and you don't 
receive him. And then in verses 20 to 24, 
he pronounces specific condemnation upon those cities in Galilee 
that had seen his mighty deeds and had not repented. And then 
in verses 25 to 30, he in prayer reflects on the reality of these 
varying responses. In other words, why do some come 
unto the Lord Jesus Christ and others reject Him and resist 
Him and refuse Him? That's the context that we find 
here specifically in verses 25 to 30. We see the truth concealed 
and the truth revealed. And I want to consider three 
things from our text this morning. First, we ought to appreciate 
the sovereign will of the Father in verses 25 to 26. That's often 
discussed in Christianity. Sovereignty. God is sovereign. 
Do we really reflect upon that and do we really respond in light 
of that reality? I will suggest this morning that 
if we believe in the sovereignty of God, we ought to echo the 
Lord Jesus. He praises the Father for it. 
He thanks the Father for it. He revels in it. He delights 
in it. He rejoices in it. So the sovereign 
will of the Father is in verses 25 to 26. Secondly, the mediatorial 
office of the Son. And a mediator, kids, is simply 
one who stands between. A mediator between man and God 
is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible is clear. God is holy, 
holy, holy. The Bible sets before us the 
throne room of God in Isaiah the prophet, chapter 6. And the 
prophet says, I saw the Lord high and exalted. The train of 
His robe filled the temple. And the angels cry out to Him, 
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is 
filled with His glory. But if you read about those angels, 
they are equipped with six wings. With two of the wings, they fly. 
With two of the wings, they cover their feet. And with two of the 
wings, they cover their face, because God is holy. And man, 
creature rather, is unholy in the same way. And in that observation, 
the angels actually are holy, and yet they have to cover their 
faces before the holiness of God. So if we translate that 
from holy angels to sinful men, the teaching of Scripture is 
we will never stand before that holy God without a mediator. without a go-between, without 
one who brings peace and reconciliation, who heals the breach and heals 
the chasm and brings these two warring parties together. So 
we see the mediatorial office of the Son, and then thirdly 
and finally this morning, the gracious declaration of the Savior 
in verses 28 to 30. But note in the first place the 
sovereign will of the Father in verses 25 and 26. Again, the 
context. The people in the first generation had rejected Jesus 
Christ. John summarizes in John 1 in 
the prologue, Jesus came to his own and his own received him 
not. He was the mediator between God and men. He was the go-between. He was the Messiah. He was the 
Christ, and yet Israel rejected him. Israel refused him, Israel 
resisted him, and we see the same sort of thing here. 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. Now, 
I think that's far more diabolical than we often reflect upon. It 
is far more wretched than we often reflect upon. It's not 
just the reality that there was a difference between sort of 
the austere, Elijah-like persona of John the Baptist, who lived 
out in the wilderness and he ate locusts and wild honey, and 
the Lord Jesus, who was to be found at a wedding feast in Cana 
of Galilee. The Lord Jesus, who did eat and 
drink. I think there's something more 
diabolical to their accusation of him being a glutton and a 
wine-bibber. If you look at the book of Deuteronomy 
in chapter 21, if a son was incorrigible, in other words, he was a rebel 
against his parents, and he was a wine-bibber and a glutton, 
this is how we know it's an adult son. Parents, when you read Deuteronomy 
21, do not conclude that your two-year-old needs to be delivered 
up to the elders of the city to be executed. Him not eating 
his peas is not in the same category as what we find there in the 
book of Deuteronomy. He's an adult rebel son. He is a winebibber. He is a glutton. He is a drunkard. And the parents 
have bore long with him. But the mandate is capital punishment. So first century Israel, in making 
this assessment of our Lord Jesus, is essentially saying, He is 
worthy of execution. He's a winebibber and a glutton. 
He's the incorrigible son of Deuteronomy 21. This is our studied 
opinion, as the rabbis in Israel, that this one, professing to 
be the Messiah, ought to be delivered up to death and to suffering. So this is what is going on in 
the rejection of our Lord Jesus, these cities that saw His mighty 
deeds and His miracles. You see, miracles will not make 
you a Christian. You need the sovereign grace 
of God. You need to be born again. You need to look unto the Lord 
Jesus Christ and live. You'll hear that among atheists 
at times. Well, if I were to see or witness 
a miracle, well, then I'd believe in God. No, you wouldn't. Your 
heart needs to be changed. Your heart is deceitful above 
all things and desperately wicked. You need to be born again. You 
need to believe the gospel. Do not suggest to me this morning 
that, you know, if God would just put in a personal appearance 
or if God would just do a mighty thing, well, then I'd stop sinning 
this sin and I'd come to the Lord Jesus Christ. No, this is 
precisely the condemnation we find with reference to the cities 
in Galilee that refused our Lord. But notice, in verse 25, Christ 
says, 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 the incorrigible children 
in verses 16 to 19, the Galilean cities in verses 20 to 24, our 
Lord reflects upon this resistance to His ministry, this rejection 
of His ministry, and He comes into the presence of His Father 
and He thanks Him. He praises Him. He delights in 
Him. He revels in Him. Brethren, Calvinism, 
or what is called Reformed theology, or an appreciation of the sovereignty 
of God, isn't in the first place a point of polemics. It's not 
in the first place a big club to go out and beat people up, 
but those who understand the sovereignty of God, those who 
understand the supremacy of God, the solitariness of God, ought 
to be thankful, ought to be praisers, ought to be worshipers, ought 
to be glorifiers. This is the posture of the Apostle 
Paul in Ephesians 1. He says, Blessed be the God and 
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every 
spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. And then he 
gives several reasons for this blessing of God, because God 
chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. If your embrace 
of Reformed theology is making you a jerk for Jesus, you are 
not like Paul, and you are not like Christ. If we embrace Reformed 
theology, it ought to be fleshed out in our prayer closets. It 
ought to be fleshed out in our corporate prayer meetings. It 
ought to be fleshed out in the way we sang Psalm 9 this morning, 
the way we sang Hymn 56, the way we identify with Ambrose 
of Milan in Hymn 56, and in the way that we sang with Joseph 
Hart, number 393. Brethren, does your appropriation 
of the doctrines of grace lead you to be that pain in the neck 
that nobody wants to be around? To be that irritant? to be that 
guy that takes Romans 9 and beats people up with it. I'm not suggesting 
we do not use Romans 9 polemically. But brethren, if we're not praising 
the Lord, if we're not thanking the Lord, we have missed Christ's 
appropriation or Christ's sort of reception of these truths 
and Paul's. 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. No, Christ praises 
the Father here. Now, this is going to be a bit 
difficult for you this morning, not because it's hard to understand, 
but it's hard for us to get our minds around in terms of grasping 
it delightfully the way Jesus does. He praises the Father for 
what is called reprobation. That is precisely what's happening 
here. I thank you, Father, Lord of 
heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things. And in the 
context, these things are the mysteries of the kingdom, the 
gospel of our salvation. And Christ says that the Father 
hid these things from the wise and the prudent. Now, before 
you start to rise up and say, well, that doesn't seem fair. 
You Christians always maintain that God is loving, God is good, 
God is gracious, God is kind. Why would he ever hide gospel 
truth from people? Well, he's hiding it from the 
wise and the prudent. That doesn't mean, you know, 
the guys who did well at school or got an A on their philosophy 
test. The wise and prudent in context 
is probably men like the scribes and the Pharisees. These men 
that are wise and prudent in their own eyes. These men that 
are wise and prudent in the way that they conduct themselves, 
the way that they function, the way that they teach, the way 
that they engage apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. And before 
it rises up in you to suggest that somehow this isn't fair, 
because isn't this ultimately the resistance against what is 
called Reformed theology? It just doesn't seem fair, does 
it? That God would hide and God would 
reveal according to God's will. Why doesn't that seem fair to 
us? Because in the first place, we like our will more than we 
like God's will. I suggest that that's probably 
the issue. But consider further, with reference 
to the hiding of gospel truth, God is not dealing with innocent 
men. God is not dealing with perfect 
people. God is dealing with sinners. And for God to hide gospel truth, 
not only is it not the case that it's not fair, but it is an act 
of justice. You see, that God who's loving, 
kind, good, merciful, gracious, is a God of holiness, a God of 
righteousness, a God of justice. And for God to hide gospel truth 
from these cities in Galilee and from this first century context 
that would reject both the Messiah and his forerunner, John the 
Baptist, it's not the case that it's unfair. It's justice, brethren. It's a good thing. And in this, 
Christ rejoices and thanks the Father. But He doesn't stop there, 
and neither does chapters 11 and 12. I said there were varying 
responses to Christ. We have seen some of the rejection. 
We have seen some of the resistance. We have seen some of the refusal. 
But there are also those who are coming to the Lord Jesus 
Christ. There are also those, specifically we see at the end 
of Matthew chapter 12, whom Jesus describes as his brothers and 
his mother and his sisters. They are those who do the will 
of his father. They are his disciples. So it's 
not the case that everybody is rejecting and resisting the truth. 
But notice that Christ says, you have hidden these things 
from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Now, babes is a metaphor. I don't 
think it means that Jesus walked around finding babies in mother's 
arms and just spoke gospel truth to them. No, the difference between 
the wise and prudent in their own eyes and the babes, the lowly 
ones. Paul deals with this in 1 Corinthians. 
He says, not many wise, not many noble are called. God chooses 
the base to manifest and magnify His glory, His grace, and His 
excellence. But here specifically, our Lord 
Jesus highlights that those who have come to Him, it has been 
revealed by the Father as to babes. Isn't that beautiful? 
You see why you and I ought to take this doctrine of sovereign 
grace and praise God? If you are here this morning 
safely folded in the arms of Christ, it's because of God. 
It's not because of you. It's not because you raised your 
hand when every eye was closed and every head was bowed. It's 
not because you're a better person than your next-door neighbor. 
It's not because you decided. No. We see a beautiful illustration 
of this later on in Matthew's Gospel, specifically in chapter 
16. Jesus Christ says to his disciples, who do men say that 
I, the Son of Man, am? And they offer up many responses 
concerning the prevailing opinions outside the disciple community. 
But then Jesus, not content in that respect, and I don't mean 
he's discontent or anything like that, but he moves further in. He says, but who do you say that 
I am? And what does Peter say? Peter 
says, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Notice 
what Jesus does not do. Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, 
for you have exercised your free will better than everybody else. 
Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, because you've studied hard and 
you have proven that you have figured out the Old Testament. 
Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, because you were created with 
a degree of wisdom above your peers. No, blessed are you, Simon 
Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but 
my Father who is in heaven. Brethren, you see why sovereignty, 
Reformed theology ought to promote thankfulness, ought to promote 
gratitude? Why the third movement in the 
Heidelberg Catechism is gratitude? We go from guilt to grace to 
gratitude. Why? Because we were opposed 
to God. We rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. We were undone in our sins. We 
looked at the Ten Commandments not as the law of the living 
God, but as something for our amusement to destroy, to dance 
on, to transgress. And yet God in His mercy and 
grace has brought us here this morning to sing with Joseph Hart, 
Come Ye Sinners. Isn't that beautiful? Why do 
Paul and Jesus thank God? Why do Paul and Jesus praise 
God? Why do Paul and Jesus do this? Because this is the fitting 
response. This is what we ought to be about. And notice, Christ grounds it 
specifically in the sovereignty of His Father's will in verse 
26. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in your sight. The 
NAS has it, for thus it was well-pleasing to you. See, brethren, in all 
discussions theological, we ought to remember theology. See, what 
appears to be unfair to men is when we occupy a position that 
excludes God. The most important person in 
the Bible is not us. The most important thing in the 
Scriptures is not our happiness. It's not our blessing. It's not 
our beatitude. The most important thing in the 
Bible is the glory of God. The manifestation of His excellence 
and His power and His majesty. From Genesis to Revelation, you 
have a God-centered book. It's when we neglect that and 
we put man in the center, and we see that God's purpose is 
to serve us, that we mess it all up. But Christ praises His 
Father for His sovereign will. Now notice secondly, in terms 
of how, even now, this comes to pass that sinners come. In 
other words, he's acknowledged the sovereign will of God, but 
how now do sinners get from sin to the Father? And Christ highlights 
his mediatorial role. Verse 27, 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. 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 man. So you see the 
issue. God hides gospel truth from the 
wise and the prudent, but He reveals gospel truth to the babes. 
When that gospel truth is revealed, how do they now ascend to the 
Father? It's through the mediation of the Son. It is through Him 
as prophet, priest, and king. It is through Christ who has 
this position of intimacy with the Father. Notice what He says. 
He says, all things have been delivered to me by my Father, 
and no one knows the Son except the Father. What's the point? If you want to know the Father, 
you have to come through the Son. If you want to know the 
Father, there's only one way of access, one route of approach. There's only one means by which 
we draw near to the Father. You see, we have to appreciate, 
brethren, that it's not Christians that are prejudicial. It's not 
Christians that are bigoted. It's not Christians that are 
narrow. It's Christ. By that I don't mean he doesn't 
like black people, or he doesn't like Canadians, or he doesn't 
like this ethnic group. There is a prejudice in the Bible 
against false religion. You see, when Elijah goes to 
Mount Carmel, he doesn't suggest to those prophets of Baal, well, 
you know, just add a bit of Yahwehism to your Baalism and then everything 
will be all right. No, the prophet says, how long 
will you limp between two options? If Baal is God, then serve him. But if Yahweh is God, then serve 
him. You see, Christ highlights His 
exclusive agency as the mediator between God and men. This is 
where the Apostle says in 1 Timothy 2, 5, and 6, for there is one 
God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus 
who gave Himself for all. Now in the context there in 1 
Timothy 2, it's all kinds of men, kings, those who are in 
authority, men from this tribe, this tongue, this people, this 
nation. It doesn't mean men without distinction or without exception, 
rather. The Bible doesn't teach a universalism, 
but Jesus highlights the reality that when this gospel truth is 
revealed, what's the pathway that we must go? Do we just try 
harder? Do we get better? Do we add a 
little religion to our resume? No, 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. He highlights 
his own sovereignty in the matter of salvation with reference to 
sinners. Now let's move on thirdly and 
longerly to the third point. Couldn't figure out the word 
there in a longer way. Verses 28 to 30. Notice the gracious 
declaration of the Savior. And just by a preliminary remark, 
you've sometimes heard of what's called hyper-Calvinism. That 
doesn't mean excited Calvinists. When our kids were little and 
we went over to one of our brother's house one time, our kid was a 
little bit excitable and that man's son said, oh, he's a hyper-Calvinist. That's not what hyper-Calvinism 
is. It's taking the doctrine of sovereignty 
to a place the Bible doesn't authorize. It acknowledges the 
sovereignty of God in hiding gospel truth, and in revealing 
gospel truth, and then in concluding, well, if that is the way things 
are, we'll just leave them be. Because if in the wisdom of God, 
this person will discover gospel truth, then that's a good thing. That's not what Jesus does here. 
He affirms, again, Calvinism's a moniker, it's an identifier, 
it's a label. He's identifying the sovereignty 
of God with respect to the hiding of gospel truth and the revelation 
or the revealing of gospel truth. And in light of that, Jesus nevertheless 
says, come. You see, if our embrace of the 
doctrines of grace do not lead us to preach the truth of Christ 
and Him crucified and to call on sinners to come, then we haven't 
appropriated it the way Jesus does. It's not qualified. He says, 
come on the basis of this sovereign expression. In other words, if 
we do actually appreciate the sovereignty of God, if we do 
actually understand what Reformed theology is, this is the basis 
upon which we preach the gospel. I have met that objection several 
times in my life. Well, if you believe God is sovereign, 
why do you preach the gospel? It is precisely because God is 
sovereign that we preach the gospel. Why do we get out of 
our miserable beds on a Sunday morning in the hope that God 
is going to save a sinner? Because it's in the hope that 
God is going to save a sinner. It's not that the sinner is going 
to save himself. The sinner is going to decide. 
The sinner, when every eye is closed and every head is bowed, 
is going to shoot up his hand into the air. No, brethren, we 
come because God is sovereign. We come because God has elected. We come because God has purpose. We come because God has predestined 
and chosen. It is on this basis or foundation 
that all gospel preaching ought to proceed. You see, it's man 
that says, well, because God is sovereign, we're not going 
to preach the gospel. The Bible says, because God is 
sovereign, therefore preach the gospel. How do you appeal to 
sinners to be saved without a sovereign God? It works great in Arminianism, 
doesn't it? Well, you know, you got your 
free will and you've got, you know, all the resources you could 
ever need. Now, you know, just shoot up that hand and decide 
for Jesus. The Bible is not an Arminian document, brethren. 
It's about God. For of Him and through Him and 
to Him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen. You see, 
the Bible is conspicuously sovereignty or presents the sovereignty of 
God. But notice, back to our Lord's 
gracious declaration, the exhortation stated in verse 28a says, come 
to me. Notice what he does not say. 
He doesn't say, Come to me with your works. Come to me with your 
accomplishments. Come to me with your merits. 
Come to me with your religious observation. I think persons 
all over the earth are doing this very thing. Well, I've got 
to, you know, fix up my act and then I can come to Jesus. Jesus 
doesn't say, fix up your act and then come to me, because 
Jesus knows you can't fix up your act. Christ is in the business, 
if I can use the language still, of fixing up your act. The declaration 
of Yahweh to rebellious Israel in Jeremiah 3, return ye backsliding 
sinners, and I will heal your backsliding. Isn't that beautiful? 
God doesn't say, go fix yourself and then come. Neither does Christ, 
go fix yourself and then come. How many of you are trying to 
fix yourself before you'll come? Listen to the declaration of 
our Savior. He says, come, come to me, not come to church, though 
church is very important, Come to me, not come to your parents, 
though your parents are very important. Come to me, not your 
elders, though hopefully your elders are very important. Come 
to me, Christ says. Because he has that position 
of intimacy with the Father. He is the exclusive agent of 
salvation. He is that mediator between a 
holy God and man. So it ought to be obvious why 
he would say, come to me. Based on the sovereignty of God, 
the mediatorial office of Christ, this gracious declaration of 
the Savior makes absolute sense. Come to me, he says. not come 
do for me, work with me, add me to your religious resume. The sovereign grace of the Father 
in election, which is mediated through the exclusive agency 
of the Son, does not come to the man who does, the man who 
works, and the man who merits such grace, for there is no such 
animal. There is no such being out there. The emphasis of our Lord is, 
come to me. It is Christ alone who is the 
mediator between God and men. It is Christ alone who occupies 
the position of intimacy between God and men, or with the Father. Let me just try and illustrate 
that. Let's say you young men, not young 8, but young-ish 20, 
you're interested in a particular young woman in the church. You 
ought to learn that the best way to pursue that woman is to 
pursue her father. Show up on a Saturday morning 
and wash his car. Show up on a Monday afternoon 
and shine his shoes. Court the father. Why? Because 
there's a position of intimacy between the father and his daughter. 
You're not going to go to the daughter apart from the father. 
Now I know that's a bad analogy, but this is the point. The way 
to the Father is through the Son. This is His purpose. This is His role. This is His 
function. This is why He is the Mediator. And the function of Christ as 
Mediator is seen as Prophet, Priest, and King. You need that 
priestly office. You need to have Him. so that 
you can access the Father. It is Christ alone who brings 
men out of darkness into marvelous light. It is Christ alone who 
saves to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto God and come to 
Him, or come through Him. Now note very specifically in 
verse 28, he says, come to me. What does that mean? Well, in the first century context, 
it could have certainly meant that somebody who was hearing 
Jesus could have walked over and said, okay, I'm here. You 
ever gone to a conference and you've heard your favorite preacher 
or speaker and you wait for a time and then you get to come to him, 
you get to get close to him and you perhaps maybe give him a 
book and have him sign it, which to me is a wretched thing to 
do, but if you do that, I'm not gonna condemn you. But you draw 
near. So in this context, it would 
be easy to say, what come to me means. But what about now? 
It's 21st century. Christ is locally present at 
the right hand of the Father. Christ means believe, doesn't 
He? Christ means believe. John 6, 44. No one comes to the 
Father. No one comes to the Father, except 
the Father draw him. Hebrews 11, and the one who comes 
to God must believe that he is, and he is a rewarder of those 
who have faith. The come, in the context of verse 
28, means belief. Again, didn't Christ just acknowledge 
the absolute sovereignty of God? Didn't he just praise the Father 
for reprobation? Didn't he just praise the Father 
for election? And yet, 28, he says, believe 
on me. It's an amazing thing, isn't 
it? It's an incredible display of what we ought to do in our 
churches with reference to the preaching of the gospel. We don't 
hide predestination, we don't hide election, we don't hide 
reprobation, but rather we proclaim it. We use the special prudence 
and wisdom that our confession enjoins upon us, but we don't 
try and pretend that it isn't there. But if we understand what 
Christ is doing here in 25 to 30, this is the foundation upon 
which he now bids sinners to come. Listen to John Gill as 
he explains the significance of come in this passage. 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, and 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. are confession, but the principal 
acts of saving faith have immediate relation to Christ, accepting, 
receiving, and resting upon him alone for justification, sanctification, 
and eternal life by virtue of the covenant of grace." You see, 
this is why Jesus says, come to me, believe on me, because 
your works are not good. Because your efforts are not 
good. Because your accomplishments 
are not good. You see, you must cast yourself, 
by the grace of God, upon Him. I think these are some gold quotes 
from Machen. I want you to please take heed. 
I think he says it a lot better than I can. 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. What he's 
saying is this. The emphasis on faith in the 
Scripture, in the New Testament, on the way to attain salvation 
by grace in Christ, it's not love, it's not works, not efforts, 
it's faith. He says, is that faith means 
receiving something, not doing something or even being something. You see, this is the emphasis, 
brethren. Faith is a means of reception. Don't know that we really get 
this concept. I have to do something in order 
to be saved. I have to contribute. The moment 
you think that, you have violated the very New Testament documents 
that hold out to you, come to the Lord Jesus Christ. You might 
say, well, I need to change and amend my ways and fix things 
up a bit, believe on Jesus, and he'll accept that whole package. 
What's Paul's declaration in Galatians 2.21? I do not nullify 
the grace of God. I don't set aside the grace of 
God. For if righteousness comes through 
the law, and in the context of Galatians, it is not my righteousness 
alone It's my faith in Jesus plus my righteousness. It's my 
faith in Jesus as Messiah plus my circumcision. It's my faith 
in Jesus plus my attachment or involvement to the ceremonial 
law. Paul says, I do not set aside the grace of God, for if 
righteousness comes through the law, again, a mingling of law 
and works and merit with grace and faith, a mingling together. 
For if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in 
vain. What's Paul's point? You can't. You will never. You don't have 
it in you. The best of your works are wretched. The best of your efforts are 
terrible. Accept the testimony of Scripture. You are as bad as God says, but 
accept the testimony of Scripture. Come to Christ and He will not 
cast you out. It's a beautiful thing, isn't 
it? 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. You see, you cannot read, say 
for instance, the Old Testament and conclude it's a celebration 
of man's achievements. Can you? Join the Wednesday night 
Bible studies, brethren. You know what we learn up there? 
There's one hero in the Bible. And it ain't David. It ain't 
Samson. It ain't Jephthah. It ain't any 
of those great heroes of the faith. It's Jesus. When you read 
through the Old Testament, the New Testament as well, there 
are a lot of narrative sections, though, in the Old Testament, 
which sort of flesh out the life of faith in Israel's history. 
You cannot respond with, wow, what a resounding report concerning 
the achievements of man. It's failure after failure after 
failure after failure. Failure on the part of the heroes. 
Failure on the part of David. I mean, the author must have 
grieved when he had to write 2 Samuel 11 and 12. must have 
pained him to the heart of hearts to have to write and record that 
the hero of Israel, the type of the Messiah, committed adultery 
and murder. The best that Israel had to offer 
commits the most heinous sins to gratify his own carnal lusts. Take any hero in the Old Testament. 
It's not a celebration of his achievements, it's a celebration 
of the grace of God. You see, when you see David fall 
and Yahweh forgive him, who gets the praise? Who gets the glory? Who gets the honor? It's Yahweh, 
isn't it? When you see Asa make a treaty 
with no respect to God Most High, and nevertheless, the endorsement 
of the author as he did, as his father David had done. And that's 
a report of good things. We don't celebrate Asa, we celebrate 
Yahweh. You get that, right? Machen's 
spot on. And in his most excellent little 
book, What Is Faith? That's where these quotes have 
come. He ends with this statement concerning faith. Because we're 
trying to develop or define or explain what it means, come. 
Perhaps you kids have thought through this. You've heard Matthew 
11, 28. And it says, come to me. And you say, well, if I was 
in the first century, I could have walked over to Jesus and 
I could have seen him, could have touched him, could have 
held him. You know, in the 21st century, I know that Jesus is 
at the right hand of the Father, so what does it mean to come? 
It means to believe the gospel. It means to believe the entirety 
of the Bible is the truth of God, but the principal act of 
saving faith is to receive and rest upon Christ for salvation. But in his great little book, 
What Is Faith?, Machen ends with this statement. Weak faith will 
not move mountains. It won't, will it? Doesn't Jesus 
say that? If your faith is greater than 
a mustard seed, you'll be able to say to this mountain, jump 
into the sea. Now, I don't think Jesus is talking geographically 
in that particular topographically in that section. I think it has 
to do with kingdoms, probably Israel and that sort of thing. 
But nevertheless, it's a powerful statement. But Machen commenting 
there says, weak faith will not remove mountains, but there is 
one thing at least it will do. One of my favorite things J. 
Gresham Machen ever wrote, and I'm a big fan of J. Gresham Machen. I love that brother. I look forward 
to meeting him after Jesus and Paul and the rest of the brethren 
in heaven. Weak faith will not remove mountains, 
but there is one thing at least it will do. It will bring a sinner 
into peace with God. Isn't that beautiful? Weak faith. 
Come with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Come. If you just fall over on His 
side, He will not cast you out. Weak faith will not remove mountains, 
but there is one thing at least it will do. It will bring a sinner 
into peace with God. Our salvation does not depend 
upon the strength of our faith. See, we think that my faith's 
not like His, so my faith must not be real. Faith in the Savior. The point 
is the object of our faith. You hear that sometimes. Well, 
you know, he has great faith. He believes in a rock, or he 
believes in a totem pole, or he believes in himself. But the 
issue is he has faith. No. The issue is the object of 
that faith. Faith in Christianity is the 
instrument by which we come into saving contact with our Lord 
Jesus Christ. Machen says, our salvation does 
not depend upon the strength of our faith. Saving faith is 
a channel, not a force. If you are once really committed 
to Christ, then despite your subsequent doubts and fears, 
you are His forever. Beautiful, beautiful. Note the 
persons addressed by our Lord. Come to me, all you who labor 
and are heavy laden. all you who are labor and are 
heavy laden. Now the rest in view is soul 
rest, if you look at verse 29. Notice, and you will find rest 
for your soul. So we must conclude that the 
heavy, the labor and the heavy laden doesn't mean the trials, 
the afflictions, the difficulties and the hardships of your life. 
In other words, Jesus is not saying to you this morning, wow, 
you had a 70 or 80 hour work week and your wife was mean to 
you and your kids are terrible. Come to me and I'll give you 
some rest. Jesus is not setting himself forth as a bed. The rest 
in view is soul rest. And probably in the context, 
it has to do with the false religion of the scribes and the Pharisees. 
Those who labor and are heavy laden. Those who are under the 
sorts of things that the scribes and Pharisees have taught. They 
took a beautiful thing like the Sabbath and messed it up. They 
take beautiful things, which incidentally will be the next 
area of battle in chapter 12. The concept of rest that Christ 
gives to those who come to Him is translated into chapter 12 
under the auspices of Sabbath. And Christ will show how the 
Pharisees and the scribes messed that up. You're going to get 
angry at a person because they got healed on the Sabbath day? 
You've missed the point. But you see, the labor and the 
heavy ladenness has to do with sin primarily. And I think there 
are a few texts that ought to come to mind when we consider 
this. The Psalter, Psalm 38, four to six. The psalmist says, 
or my iniquities have gone over my head. I've always wondered 
if that was the place that Bunyan drew his inspiration for Christian. Remember Christian before he 
gets to the cross? What does he have? He's got this 
heavy burden on his back. This hapless soul wandering the 
countryside, he's got this massive burden on his back. We the reader 
know what that means because we know Matthew 11. Not because 
he had a tough week at work. It's not because his life is 
just difficult. It's because he's got this burden 
of sin. And we the reader know that it's when he comes to the 
cross that rest is found. The psalmist said, 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. Verse 18 in Psalm 38, he says, 
for I will declare my iniquity. I will be in anguish over my 
sin. Of course, Psalm 130, 1 to 3, out of the depths I have cried 
to you, O Lord. O Lord, or Lord, hear my voice. 
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. 
If you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?" That's 
the context that we're dealing with here. What's the psalmist 
go on to say? If you should mark iniquities, 
O Lord, who could stand, but there is forgiveness with thee. That's Matthew 11, 28. Come to 
me, all you who labor and are heavy laden. Now there's a doctrine 
out there that says something like this. That labor and that 
heavy ladenness needs to be measurable by a certain period of time. 
In other words, you can't just hear preaching, be convicted 
of your sin and come to the Savior. Why? Do you really have to spend a 
year going over how sinful you are? Do you actually think that 
going through your sins for a year will even give you a remote understanding 
of how bad sin really is? Do you think any man on this 
side of heaven will ever truly, accurately assess the wretchedness 
of sin? There's no quantifiable time 
here. Come to me, all you who labor 
and are heavy laden, for two years. And after that two years 
period is completed, then come! No? Now some of you might say, 
well, you know, I've never heard this before. Praise God Almighty, 
from whom all blessings flow. But if you have heard it, it's 
not accurate. Back in Matthew 9, when our Lord 
calls Matthew himself to follow me, what does Matthew do? Gets 
up, that wasn't a very loud click. Gets up, still wasn't a loud 
click. Gets up and follows. Well, Lord, I gotta spend some 
time with my sins before I know that I'm fit to come to you. 
Are you one who labors under the bondage of sin? Are you heavy 
laden with sin? Even if you don't fully understand 
every sin you've ever committed against God, which you will never 
fully understand. Jesus says, come. It's an amazing 
thing. Jesus says, come, and we find 
a million reasons why not to. Well, I have to study my condition 
before God. Jesus says, come. Well, I have 
to read books on what it is to believe. Believe. I've been taught that it's not 
that easy. I don't care what you've been 
taught. Listen to the language of our blessed Savior. He says, 
come to me. He doesn't want to hear your 15 reasons why you're 
not going to, or why you can't, or why in this tradition it's 
discouraged. Christ says, come, those who 
labor, those who are heavy laden. Now notice, there's a blessed 
promise that our Lord holds forth, I will give you rest. You see, nothing you try and 
do to alleviate your sinfulness before God will produce rest. 
I've used the illustration before, that sin is something like that 
whack-a-mole game. You pound one of the moles, and 
another mole pops up. You stop smoking crack cocaine, 
and you think, everything is good now between me and my God, 
and then you're addicted to porn. You clean up the porn addiction, 
and then you're addicted to gambling. But probably that's not most 
of our problems. Let's bring it home. It's easy 
to sort of condemn the crack dealers out there, but what about 
the self-righteous ones? What about us? Well, I'll put 
on this air of humility. It's wretched. I think Gershner 
was right. The thing between us and God 
isn't so much our sins, it's our damnable good works. Who 
gets better treatment in the New Testament? The religious 
ones or the harlots and tax collectors? The wise and prudent or the babes? The Pharisee who prayed thus 
with himself, I thank you, God, that I'm not like other men, 
especially like this publican. Or the publican who said, God 
be merciful to me, the sinner. Couldn't even look up into heaven. 
Jesus says, I tell you, he went to his home justified. You see, 
brethren, the rest comes not by our trying to deal with our 
sin, but the rest comes by grace through faith in Jesus. I will 
give you rest now and in the age to come. I will give you 
rest now from that labor and the heavy ladenness of sin. You 
may still have a rotten life. You may still have worked 80 
hours. Your wife still may be a shrew. Your children may still 
be wretches. But you know what you can do 
at night when you pillow your head? You can ponder the reality 
that you're right with God. That you're right with God through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. That Romans 5.1 will become your 
chief delight. Therefore, having been justified 
by faith, we have peace with God. That's rest. And then, of course, rest in 
the age to come. How does the scripture define 
or declare or describe the condition of the wicked? There's no rest 
for the wicked. There's no rest for the wicked. But how is salvation pictured 
in the new heavens and the new earth? Rest. Isn't that beautiful? Isn't that what we all want? 
Perhaps the attachment to weekends in our society. Something innate. We want to rest. We love to lay 
down and take a nap. Naps are wasted on the youth. 
At 5, they don't want to take naps. At 55, you're craving a 
nap. But you can't do it anymore because 
you've got to work. We want rest and the desire for 
rest isn't necessarily sinful. We image God. You know what happens 
after the creation account? God enters this Sabbath enthronement. This is where we're heading. 
We're heading to rest. Matthew 12 and the idea of Sabbath. Now the rest doesn't mean laying 
on the couch in that regard. means to rest in God, means to 
delight in Jesus, means to find our sufficiency in all and all 
in Him. So the promise of our Lord Jesus is, come to me, all 
you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Notice, 
and I just want to quickly run through these last few things 
because I didn't want to neglect it, but with reference to this 
rest, Jesus then says there is a command, there's a necessity 
to submit here. See, we're justified freely by 
His grace. We come to Christ. We come in 
faith to Him. And what happens when we come 
in faith to Him? What happens when we believe 
His gospel? That burden of sin is gone. If you've read Pilgrim's 
Progress, a Christian is haplessly roaming about the countryside, 
he gets direction from the evangelist to the wicked gate, and he finds 
himself at the cross. You see that picture of the burden 
coming off of his back. He has received rest. Do you 
know what, brethren? There is another burden imposed 
upon the people of God. It's called discipleship. And 
it's not a burden in the sense that sin is, but discipleship, 
following Jesus. We come freely by His grace in 
justification. But when we come to Him, we believe 
in Him, we are forgiven of our sins, we have the imputed righteousness 
of Christ given to us, what happens? He says, take my yoke upon you. In other words, follow me. Be a disciple. The faith alone by which we are 
saved is not alone, but it's accompanied with all other saving 
graces. See, we ought to see here specifically 
what we see everywhere in Paul. Some people say, Jesus and Paul 
teaching two different things. They're teaching the exact same 
thing. And so is James. Salvation by grace through faith 
in Christ. That saving faith is accompanied 
with all other saving graces. dead faith, but rather it worketh 
by love, and that is precisely what we find here. Jesus says, 
take my yoke upon you and learn from me. The word yoke came to 
be a metaphor for obedience, subordination, servitude. The 
Lord Jesus uses it to speak of discipleship. You see the movement 
here. You come to Christ, you're forgiven 
of your sin, you receive the imputed righteousness of Christ, 
but now as a disciple of Christ, you take his yoke upon you. You 
know what a yoke is, it was to be placed on the oxen so that 
you could control that. Funny thing, Jesus doesn't save 
us so we can go out and continue in our sin. He doesn't go, you 
know, save us so that we can continue to engage in the sorts 
of wickedness that he saved us from. Now there will be remaining 
corruption. The Galatians 5.17 battle is 
a reality, but those things that characterized us when we were 
lost ought not to characterize us when we are found. That's 
the emphasis of our Lord. Take my yoke upon you. Notice, he goes on to say, For 
I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your 
souls." I think what he is doing here is enticing us. You know what enticement is. 
If I were to say to you, children, next Saturday, come over to our 
house, because we're going to have a get-together, and there's 
going to be chocolate cake. And you frown because you don't 
like chocolate. I say, there's also going to be vanilla cake. 
Oh, great. These are enticements not to get you over to my house. 
That sounds weird in our context. You understand the point. An 
enticement. In other words, you are laboring 
and heavy laden under the burden of sin. You may think it's fun, 
you may think it's enjoyable, you may think it's pleasing, 
but according to John, A, it is slavery, it is bondage, it 
is like being in Egypt as a child of Israel. Notice, take my yoke 
upon you, 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. You see, discipleship isn't the 
problem. So it's so hard to be a Christian. 
No, it's so hard to be a sinner. So difficult to go to that church 
because they actually think you should obey God. No, Jesus is 
contrasting. He says the burden, the difficulty, 
the hardship associated with life is not discipleship. If 
we as God's people think that, we have not read the Bible properly. John tells us in his first epistle, 
the commandments of God are not grievous, they're not burdensome. Jesus here enticing sinners to 
come to him says, take my yoke upon you, 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. He's addressing 
those heavy laden with sin, and he is proffering himself up as 
the one whose burden is light, whose yoke is easy. You see, 
you can never say, well, you know, I'm going to stay in my 
sin because that religion of Christianity is so hard, so difficult. It's such a nightmare. I've said 
before, yeah, God, what a nightmarish God. He gives us the Sabbath. 
What a nightmarish God. He gives us the forgiveness of 
sins and imputes to us a perfect righteousness. What a terrible 
thing. Sometimes among Christians you 
get that vibe, you know, like it's difficult for you to follow 
Jesus. It's hard for me to follow Jesus. 
Now I know there's remaining corruption. I know there's that 
whole emphasis, you know, the alarm clock goes off, I should 
jump out of bed, read my Bible, singing Amazing Grace, and sometimes 
I struggle. I get all that. But if the general 
overarching tenor of your Christian life is that it's miserable, 
it's difficult, and it's hard, then I would wonder if you've 
come to the Savior. Because the Savior describes 
himself in these terms, for I am gentle and lowly in heart. You 
will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden 
is light. To put it in theological language, 
this is what Francis Turretin says concerning us coming to 
Christ. 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. It's not a bad thing when Christ 
points us back to the law. It's not because he's mean or 
he's vicious or he's harsh or he doesn't want us to have fun. 
True liberty is to be found in doing what God commands, isn't 
it? You mean with Christians today, 
the whole idea of a remaining fourth commandment? Are you guys 
nuts? What do you mean I can't do whatever 
I want on Sunday? I'm not going to be your conscience 
police, but the fourth commandment is an abiding moral law of God. And how horrific, it's a command 
to rest. What are we thinking today? What 
is with us? Why do we have such struggles 
with God's law? Perhaps it's because we haven't 
come to Jesus. I think when we come to Jesus, 
when we believe the gospel, when we are forgiven of our sins and 
we receive the imputed righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ and 
we take his yoke upon us and we learn from him, we learn that 
he upheld held the law. We learn that He loved the law. 
We learn that He esteemed the law. We learn that He goes to 
the cross, yes, to save us from our sins, but to maintain the 
justice of His Father so that God may be both just and the 
justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus Christ. You see, 
this whole idea of Christian discipleship necessarily follows 
our coming to the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, brethren, in conclusion, 
It's just not the way I should come back is keeping everybody 
late. It's been gone for two weeks and we haven't gone past 
1230. He comes back and we go past 
1230. Boy, oh boy, he should have extended that vacation. 
Just a couple of thoughts in conclusion. First, we ought to 
appreciate, not just in terms of theory, not just in terms 
of doctrine, but there ought to be a practical appreciation 
of the sovereignty of God in election and in reprobation. Jesus said, I thank you, Father. that you have hidden these things 
from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes." 
See, the Bible sets forth the truthfulness of God's sovereignty. 
It's one of those discussions or debates that really ought 
not to be. Let's argue about God's sovereignty. That's like 
arguing that, you know, this is wood. It's like arguing that 
we need breath. God, by definition, must be sovereign. Isn't that the case? God, to 
be God, must know the end from the beginning. God, to be God, 
must purpose everything that takes place. I mean, what kind 
of a God do we think there is up in the heavens? A God like 
us? A God in the same sort of chain 
of being? He's just man rent large? He's just a better version 
of us? God, by definition, must be sovereign. The truthfulness of it is everywhere 
throughout Scripture. I mean, how do you make it at 
the end of the book of Genesis when Joseph said, you meant this 
for evil, but God overruled it for good? What do you do in the 
Psalms when David extols God who is in the heavens and he 
does whatever he pleases? What do you do with Nebuchadnezzar 
and the prophet Daniel? What do you do with the various 
men in the history of scripture, revelation, redemptive history 
that confess the absolute sovereignty of God? What do you do with the 
Apostle Paul who says it doesn't depend upon him who wills or 
upon him who runs, but upon him or upon God who shows mercy? 
What do you do with that? And there's a sense, brethren, 
where every effort to debate God's sovereignty, whether it 
be in person or on Facebook, is kind of an exercise in futility. 
Now, I'm not saying don't do it. But it's like debating whether 
we need breath. Do you need food to live? Let's 
debate that. Do you need water to live? Let's debate that. There's certain 
things we just don't debate. And that Christians haven't just 
seen that God is sovereign really shows us that there's some blinders 
on our hearts, isn't there? The truthfulness is everywhere 
declared. We see the graciousness of God in election. That any 
of us miserable wretches will ever stand before God is an evidence 
of his grace. "'Twas grace that taught my heart 
to fear.'" We also see the justice of God in the doctrine of reprobation. 
You can write down in your notes, if you're taking notes, Romans 
9, 22 to 24. That buttresses these two observations. The grace of God in the revelation 
of gospel truth to babes, and the justice of God in the hiding 
of gospel truth from the wise and prudent. The response on 
the part of the believer ought to be thanksgiving and praise. 
John Murray said, In other words, when we come to sing and we're 
singing of God's grace, I hope your minds are here. We get, 
you know, one shot a week at this thing we call worship. Now, maybe you're singing Amazing 
Grace every day in your home. Praise God. Let that be practice 
for you to focus and concentrate when we gather here to worship 
God. You see, it's not just forms 
and externals. Well, we go in there, they open 
up with a few announcements, they read a psalm, we sing a 
hymn or a psalm, then we pray, then we sing, then we read, then 
we pray, or sing, and then we pray. You're supposed to engage 
the mind. You're supposed to take the structure 
or the form and appropriate it in your mind and heart and respond 
to God in a spirit of thanksgiving and praise. You see, Israel's 
problem in old covenant religion wasn't the structure, it wasn't 
the form, it was that they utilized it without the heart. When Malachi 
upbraids the nation of Israel, he's not condemning the sacrificial 
system imposed by God through Moses. He's imposing the thought 
that these people, instead of coming to God with a sacrifice, 
brought the very worst from their flock or stole one from their 
neighbor's flock. That was the problem. Structures 
and forms aren't bad, but if you don't engage the mind and 
the heart, you don't focus on the content, You don't make it 
your own and sing it to God and to the brethren. You see, we're 
supposed to engage in the worship of God and to express our thanksgiving 
and praise. We have seen the foundation of 
gospel rest is the doctrine of God's absolute sovereignty. Spurgeon 
says, come unto me as 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. And then just 
one more thing, the exclusivity of Christ alone for salvation. 
You see, when you read Matthew 11, 25 to 30, you cannot conclude 
that all religions lead to God. We live in a society today that 
is like that, pluralism. We are being told that Islam 
is another way to God. We have been told for many years 
that Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, they're the way to God or a way 
to God. We cannot miss the intolerance 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now I believe that Christ would 
be thrown out of any university today. He'd certainly be thrown 
out of a lot of churches today because he was intolerant. Listen 
to Machen concerning this reality. 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. You see, when 
the early church was persecuted in the Book of Acts, it was because 
they were the ones that were exclusively insisting upon Jesus 
alone. There was a pantheon. You could 
have your choice of gods in that situation, just like you could 
have in Canaan in the Old Covenant era. What was the offense of 
the early church? There is one name given under 
heaven by which we must be saved. The early church insisted that 
John 14, six was accurate where our Lord said, I am the way, 
the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except 
through me. Machen says, the offense came 
because it was presented as the only way, and because it made 
relentless war upon all other ways. If you haven't learned 
anything else this morning, then learn this. Come to Christ. Believe on Christ. He is the 
only hope. He is the only source of blessing. He is the only place wherein 
you will find rest for your souls. Well, let us pray. Our God in 
heaven, we thank you for the Lord Jesus, and we thank you 
for this gracious declaration of the Savior in Matthew 11, 
28. And I pray that sinners all over 
the earth today would come to Him, that they would believe 
the gospel, that they would see Him in His glory, in His beauty, 
in His excellence, and in His ability to save to the uttermost. 
God, be merciful here and cause us as those who have come to 
happily take that yoke, to happily learn from Him, to realize that 
his burden is light, his yoke is easy, and may we truly love 
the truth of God's holy law. Go with us now, we pray, and 
we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.