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The Rest of the Story (Matthew 11:28-30)
18 Plays6 months ago
Legendary radio broadcaster, Paul Harvey, used to give the facts on a variety of subject and then end with these words, “And now you know…the rest of the story.”
The back story of American life these days is 50-70 million US adults struggle with sleep disorders. By the way, according to the American Sleep Association there are actually 80 different sleep disorders.
Jeremiah told us many in 6:16, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Stand by the roads and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’”
Jesus spoke of spiritual rest in three verses located at the end of the 11th chapter of Matthew in Matthew 11:28-30. Today I would like to unpack these verses slowly. My prayer is that you will find this deep rest that is available to us in Christ.
Invitation to His Rest, 11:28
Intensification without His Rest, 11:28
Inspiration within His Rest, 11:28-29
Instruction into His Rest, 11:29
Invigoration through His Rest, 11:30
Wrapping this up is easy when you have seen the Atlas statue that shows a man trying to lift the weight of the world on his shoulders. What is sad is that anyone who attempts this must not know that Jesus already did the heavy lifting for the sins of the world (1 John 2:2).
Growing in Grace Devotions and Inspirations
Hosted by Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church 1700 Milam Street Columbus, TX, USA 78934
http://fbccolumbustx.org/
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Transcript
Welcome and Introduction
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome to Growing in Grace with Pastor Victor Morrison. This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas. We are praying that God will bless you as you listen to this message. If you would like additional information on worship times and ministries at FBC Columbus, you can find out more at our website, FBCColumbusTX.org. And now take your copy of God's timeless word as Pastor Victor gives today's message.
Physical vs. Spiritual Rest
00:00:43
Speaker
Welcome to Growing in Grace. I'm glad you join us today so that we can look into God's Word together. You know, the legendary radio broadcaster Paul Harvey spoke for about 33 years. He would give interesting facts on a variety of subjects, but every time at the end of his presentation, he would always say, and now you know the rest of the story. Do you remember him?
00:01:09
Speaker
Well, the rest of the story with our current society is we're exhausted. You know, the American Sleep Association claims that there are 50 to 70 million of us United States adults who are struggling with sleep disorders. As a matter of fact, they even say there's 80 different sleep disorders. And I thought, I didn't know there was that many. All I know is sometimes I can't get to sleep and sometimes I sleep like a baby. How about you?
00:01:39
Speaker
Well, I think what we're talking about, though, in Matthew 11, verses 28 through 30, where we're going to be, is about something that's much deeper than physical rest.
Striving for Acceptance
00:01:51
Speaker
It's spiritual rest. Have you ever known anybody in your life that just seemed like they were striving?
00:01:57
Speaker
They were just trying so hard to make God accept them, to make God love them, and so forth. I saw a lot of Japanese people offering up various offerings to idols and so forth, and it would break my heart when I realized that what they're trying to do is they're trying to earn God's favor and God's love, God's attention, and so forth.
00:02:21
Speaker
I was speaking with a man and his wife this past week, and the man comes from a works based belief. And he said, you know, I would follow the Lord in believers baptism, but I just feel so unworthy.
00:02:36
Speaker
When I probed a little deeper, it was all about his past. He said, I just did so many bad things. I just can't see the Lord would want me up there acting like I'm somebody. And so while I understood his humility, I feel that way myself in many ways. But at the same time, I look at the finished work of Christ.
00:02:58
Speaker
And I think, man, there's nothing more that needs to be accomplished other than what Christ has already accomplished on the cross for us. It just needs to be shared. It needs to be trusted and so forth.
00:03:13
Speaker
A long time ago, Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 6, 16 that the reason we don't have rest for our soul is because we're not walking in the good way. The good way is in the way of the good news. It's trusting and resting
00:03:30
Speaker
in the finished work of Christ. That's the gospel message.
Christ's Invitation to Rest
00:03:34
Speaker
Man, I want to share this passage with you and let's just walk through it a little bit at a time and see what we can learn about God's rest. As a matter of fact, I guess in honor of Paul Harvey, but really just in line with the scripture, I'm gonna call this the rest of the story. Come to me, Jesus said, all who labor and are heavy laden.
00:03:59
Speaker
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, from gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Let's talk about this passage together. The first observation I would have is the invitation to his rest.
00:04:23
Speaker
He says so succinctly, come to me. That's a great invitation. You know, if you get a wedding invitation, you receive a birthday invitation or invitation to join someone for dinner or whatever, most invitations come with directions to the location of the event.
00:04:44
Speaker
Well, this three-word invitation comes with two directions. It's not geographical. It's more spiritual. But I think, okay, what's the context of the invitation? I think the context is Jesus is speaking to a whole nation of people at that time.
00:05:04
Speaker
who were so burdened down trying to earn his favor, trying to earn their way to heaven, and it just wasn't happening. And that's why Jesus says later in Matthew's Gospel, in Matthew 23.4, they tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. Speaking of their religious establishment at that time,
00:05:34
Speaker
Once again, even in the book of Acts, it's brought up again, Acts 15.10, where he's saying, you know, there's so many rules that nobody, there's no one that can lift all of those rules. That's the context in which Jesus says, simply come to me.
00:05:54
Speaker
It's not only got that direction of context of the invitation, but there's another facet to the direction, and that is the call within the invitation. It looks forward to a day of spiritual surrender, when instead of trying to earn it, we will begin to relax and say, Lord, I can't earn it. I can only trust you.
00:06:17
Speaker
That's why he says, just come, just come. It's all finished. All you have to do is come. Revelation 22, 17 is actually the very last invitation that is in the Bible. And in that last invitation in Revelation 22, verse 17, the word come, it's mentioned three times. I think God loves that word, come.
00:06:42
Speaker
Have you gone to the Lord yet? He's still saying, come. You know, I think He's calling us to a relationship. He's not calling us to ritual. He's not calling us to rules. He's calling us to Himself. Let me read it again. Come to me. Come to me. It's so simple, right? That's why Jesus tells His disciples in John 14.6,
00:07:07
Speaker
I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." It's no wonder those early disciples declared quite boldly in Acts 4, verse 12, there's salvation and no one else. There is no other name. We have to go through Jesus Christ for salvation, for the forgiveness of our sins,
00:07:32
Speaker
for eternal life with Him in heaven. Wow, it's just wonderful whenever we accept that invitation to rest. But there is an intensification without Christ's rest. That's why He says, Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden.
00:07:52
Speaker
You know, Proverbs 13, 15 says that the way of the unfaithful is hard. It's so hard whenever people are trying through idolatry or through some kind of good works or whatever it is they're trying to gain God's favor and God's grace and God's love when there's no way we could ever get it without just simply
00:08:17
Speaker
entering into his rest, the rest of his grace. But you know, I think about how these words labor and heavy laden. I heard one man say one time that he thought that labor was like the cause and heavy laden was the effect.
00:08:34
Speaker
It's like we're trying to put so much effort in this. We're striving and working as hard as we can, offering various kinds of offerings and so forth. But the effect is the weight of our guilt is still there.
00:08:51
Speaker
You know, that word heavy laden is actually the image that people would have thought of whenever Jesus was saying, come to me all who labor and are heavy laden. He would have thought of a ship that had too much cargo. Remember whenever Jesus blessed the disciples with that incredible fishing experience that they had when they brought in fish, and it says the boat began to sink.
00:09:18
Speaker
That's the idea. You ever feel like that you're trying so hard to get God to love you, but it's like your ship is just sinking? It's almost like these two words, labor and heavy laden, could represent two different groups of people in humanity.
00:09:37
Speaker
I think about the moralists, for example, who are trying, they're laboring, they're working, there's so much effort there, trying to earn it, and yet it's just not happening. But then there's also the heavy-laden group, perhaps maybe they're the group with the guilt. The guilt is piling up on their shoulders, they're so broken, and they know that they're not worthy. And so they're somewhat like that adulterous woman in John chapter 8.
00:10:07
Speaker
The men come to Jesus and say, she was caught in the very act. We know that this was happening. And so true, she was guilty. And yet the Lord said He was not going to condemn her and ask her to go and sin no more. But then you've got Nicodemus, who's like on the other side. He's with the moralists over there. He's basically a religious man. He's a good man. He's a moral man.
00:10:33
Speaker
But Nicodemus, he's not gonna make it because he's not been born again. If we're not born again, we're not gonna make it into God's family because the rebirth is when we start in the family of God a brand new life.
Discipleship and Learning from Christ
00:10:50
Speaker
So I just thought, man, it's so intense without Christ's rest, but it's such a blessing once you enter into his rest.
00:11:00
Speaker
But then I go a little bit further and I see yet a third truth. I would call it the inspiration within his rest. He says, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Remember back then, the group that was listening to Jesus speak,
00:11:19
Speaker
Well, the Pharisees were telling that group of people, the common everyday people, that they were expecting them to live in compliance with 613 Old Testament commands.
00:11:34
Speaker
And so just think about how miserable that would have been every time they keep trying, and yet they fall short. I heard one guy say, I think it was maybe Ray Ortland. I'm not exactly sure who said it first, but he said that he thinks those first five words are like the gospel in five words. Do you remember what Jesus said? He said, I will give you rest.
00:12:04
Speaker
You know, if you were to just say, what is grace? I wonder if you could just say, grace is when God gives me rest. I just think it's so simple. And yet it's so tempting to want to prove ourselves to God. And so we overwork.
00:12:23
Speaker
But what we really need to do is to trust His finished work that He did on the cross. You see, Jesus is the only perfect one. The rest of us, we're all imperfect. Every single one of us, all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, but that's why Jesus died on the cross.
00:12:44
Speaker
And so when I see these words here, I think, wow, thank you, Lord, that you have made a way for us to enter into your rest. And it's just so inspiring to hear you say, I will give you rest. But then he says something else that I wasn't expecting him to say. He says, take my yoke upon you.
00:13:08
Speaker
And if you don't understand that, what he really means there, you could get the wrong message. And it could actually turn some people off. And they might say, wait a minute, yoke, isn't a yoke about hard work?
00:13:22
Speaker
He says, my yoke. And so a yoke, if you don't know, well, the Greek word back then was zugos. And it was a wooden frame or kind of like a wooden beam that was placed across the neck or the back of a couple of oxen, let's say. And what it does is it joins two animals together.
00:13:43
Speaker
so that through the combined strength they can pull what would have been too much for just one of those oxen to pull. But listen to what he's saying. He's saying, take my yolk.
00:13:59
Speaker
upon you. And so what I learned when I was digging into the background of this passage is that back then farmers would harness an older oxen that was stronger, that was seasoned, that knew how to pull with a younger ox that was new at the whole idea.
00:14:20
Speaker
And so the older ox was really the one that was pulling the plow or pulling the cart, but the younger one, he was being sort of like in training, but his strength was also in there so that the older one was doing what the younger one couldn't do.
00:14:38
Speaker
And the older one was, I guess, inviting that one to be in that yoke with him. But just think about that. It's such an inspirational power when you consider that. But also, I'm challenged by the inspirational prerequisite. What is it he says that we should do? That's what he does, right? But what should we do? Well, he simply says, take.
00:15:04
Speaker
take my yoke upon you." And so I thought, well, whenever Jesus gave his first sermon in Mark 1.15, it's very clear what he asked the people to do. It's very simple. He said, I want you to repent and I want you to believe the gospel. Repent and believe the gospel. Take my yoke upon you.
00:15:26
Speaker
thinking, okay, he did it all, but I have to take something. I think that taking is when we're turning from a life of always trying ourself to where we're gonna trust and say, okay, I wanna get in the harness with you, Lord. I'm gonna yield to you. And we're gonna share this load with, of course, Jesus actually being the one that's gonna pull the whole load.
00:15:52
Speaker
But let's move to something else that he goes to in verse 29, when he also goes on to say, and learn from me, for I'm gentle and lowly in heart. You see, I see this as being more than a mere decision for salvation. I think when he's saying, learn from me, for I'm gentle and lowly in heart, it's like a journey. It's going to be on there for a while. And so he says, learn from me.
00:16:20
Speaker
And so it's more like discipleship. And so it explains how discipleship is a lifelong journey of two things. One is a lifelong journey of learning, of learning. He says, learn from me.
00:16:37
Speaker
Do you know that that word learn is actually the word for disciple or discipling. It's montano. And so I thought, wow, it's like discipling is built in right here. Whenever we say yes to Christ and we're gonna follow him and we're gonna get in the yoke with him, he said, I want you to spend the rest of your life learning from me. And of course the yoke would mean I'm gonna be submissive.
00:17:05
Speaker
You know, if you were to read Philippians 3 verses 12 through 16, you would see the Apostle Paul
00:17:13
Speaker
giving his own personal testimony that he was in a lifelong journey of growing and learning. And so I encourage you to say to the Lord, Lord, teach me, teach me today. May I learn more today about who you are? I think that kind of leads us naturally to that second lifelong journey of discipleship.
00:17:39
Speaker
The second part of lifelong journey of discipleship is that we're behind a certain leader. We're following him. When Jesus called his disciples, he made it so simple. He said, follow me. That's it. Follow me.
00:17:55
Speaker
But who is it that we're following? What is he like? Is he really harsh? Is he critical and demanding? Well, let's see how he describes himself. Once again, he says, learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart.
00:18:14
Speaker
You know that word gentle there means self-controlled. It means someone who is meek. So I think, OK, that's the kind of leader I wouldn't mind to follow. But also, it's the leader who is saying, I'm lowly.
00:18:30
Speaker
You know, back then that word low that he uses came from the Nile River, whenever the Nile River was running low. And so he's referring to his humility. You know, Christ wasn't a prideful person. He was actually a very humble person. He would often say that he didn't come into this world to do his will. He came to do the will of his father.
00:18:55
Speaker
You know, whenever we step into that yoke with Jesus, there's instruction there to learn from Him for He's gentle and lowly in heart. I know it may sound backwards, but Paul says in Philippians 3.14, that's actually an upward call of God in Christ Jesus. I mean, go figure, right? When we humble ourselves to follow Christ,
00:19:22
Speaker
Instead of going downward, we're actually going upward. And so I think, thank you God, that you know how life works.
Understanding Spiritual Rest
00:19:31
Speaker
Well, let me give you one last thing here, and that is the invigoration through his rest. I see that in verse 29 and 30. He says, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden was light. Do you know what invigorate means?
00:19:52
Speaker
Invigorate means to give life. It means to give energy to someone. It's to energize, to jumpstart. I think, wow, that's what the Lord wants rest to be like. Of course, Revelation 14.13 promises every person that is in Christ, we will have rest after we die. When we go to be with the Lord in heaven, he describes that we're gonna receive this incredible rest
00:20:21
Speaker
But Matthew 11, 29 to 30, is not talking about rest after death for those who are in Christ. Get this, it's talking about rest in life. When you've got schedules, there's demands on your life. You have responsibilities. There's a lot you need to do. And so he says, right in the middle of life,
00:20:48
Speaker
I'm gonna give you rest. I'm gonna be pulling with you in that yoke. And I thought, thank you God for that.
00:20:56
Speaker
There's a Bible scholar named Dr. John MacArthur. He says there's four biblical definitions of rest that are sort of sprinkled throughout scripture. He says, for example, in Ephesians 2, 8, 9, it's when we cease from exertion, where he's like, you know what? It's by faith that I'm saved. So I'm not gonna try to do so many rituals that he will accept me. I'm gonna receive Christ's acceptance by grace through faith.
00:21:26
Speaker
But then John 8.36, he says, is free from disturbance, where, you know what? I'm set free. He the Son sets free is free indeed. And so I don't have to have anything disturb my freedom that I have in Christ. He says in Hebrew 7.27 that it's something fixed and settled.
00:21:48
Speaker
You know, do you feel like that salvation is like a carrot that is constantly dangling in front of you, but you can never get it? You know what will help that to be stationary is when you say, you know what, Jesus nailed that carrot to the cross. John 10.28 is where he talks about us being one with the Father, and whenever we're one with Him and in the Father,
00:22:15
Speaker
Nothing can separate us from him. And I think, wow, that's a feeling of assurance. Those are the four things that Dr. John MacArthur said, define rest in scripture. Of course, we're talking spiritual rest. But I love these words, easy and light. He said that's what his yoke looks like. That's what it feels like. It's easy and his burden is light. So let's talk about that for a moment.
00:22:42
Speaker
You know, the word easy there, his yoke is easy, is a Greek word used seven times in the New Testament, krestos, and it means tailor-made. It means well-fitted. It means useful and manageable.
00:22:58
Speaker
pleasurable, not miserable. Man, that's what Jesus says His yoke is. You know, I'm told that sometimes they had to kind of sand or carve out a little bit of a different shape, depending on each ox and what the shape of their neck and their back was. Because they wanted that yoke that was sitting across the back of their neck to sit there nicely.
00:23:24
Speaker
And then he says, don't worry, because my burden that I'm going to place on you, it's light. It's the word elaphorous. It's meaning lightweight, not burdensome. As a matter of fact,
00:23:39
Speaker
Whenever it's used, it's like it's used for whenever you can be quick and agile. It's not going to weigh you down. So think about how God's yoke is so easy. It's like pleasurable, not miserable. It's well-fitted and usable. Man, it's not a lot of extra stuff. It's like so easy. But then he says it's burden. It's light. It's not burdensome. And so I think, wow, thank the Lord.
00:24:08
Speaker
Have you ever seen a statue? I don't know if you've ever seen one of these or not, but I've seen it in my lifetime. I think they call it the Atlas statue. The Atlas statue. And it's where you've got a man and he's struggling because he's trying to lift.
00:24:26
Speaker
the weight of the world on his back, on his shoulders. And he's just trying to hold up the weight of the world on his shoulders. I wonder if I'm not speaking today to maybe another man. Maybe he's a dad and he feels like, man, I'm trying to lift the weight of the world on my shoulders. I'm trying to provide for my wife and my family. And you're trying so hard
00:24:51
Speaker
but there's something different spiritually. And I think that's what God's wanting you to enjoy. It's that you don't have to apply that same work ethic when it comes to salvation, you trying so hard to enter into God's family.
00:25:08
Speaker
That's like the rich young ruler in Matthew 19 verses 16 through 30, where he comes up to Jesus and he said, what must I do to have eternal life? Did you catch his question? What must I do to have eternal life? You know,
00:25:28
Speaker
I think we need to come to the point to where 1 John 2-2 is in front of us spiritually every single day. Because 1 John 2-2 tells us that Jesus' atonement, it took care of the weight of the world. The sins of the whole world were placed upon Christ whenever He was nailed to that cross.
00:25:53
Speaker
Friend, why are you struggling under the weight of your sin when Jesus already did all the heavy lifting for you? Listen, you need to say, Lord, help me enjoy the rest that is available to me through Christ. So that's what I want you to remember as you go through the rest of this day and through the rest of your week. Remember,
00:26:17
Speaker
the rest of the story. The rest of the story is found in Christ. Let's pray together. Lord, I thank you so very much for my friends who are listening today. I do pray that you would encourage them. I pray that you would strengthen them. Lord, strengthen them not with fleshly strength,
00:26:37
Speaker
but strengthen them with spiritual grace. Let them know that there is a rest available to them in Christ. Maybe they're striving, and every day seems so heavy. They're so burdened with all they're trying to accomplish and so forth. And maybe when they go to a church or they open their Bible in the mornings, maybe they feel the same exact way.
00:27:02
Speaker
They're thinking, well, this is just one more thing that makes me feel so unworthy. But Lord, I pray that you would free them up and help them see that the finished work of Christ on the cross, man, that is so liberating. It gives us such spiritual freedom and joy and victory.
00:27:24
Speaker
that we're not trying so hard, we're just trusting, trusting in the finished work of Christ. So thank you, Lord, for this time to look into Matthew 11, 28 through 30. So the next time they're struggling, the next time they're striving, I pray you remind my friends, wait a minute, Christ said, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Closing and Call to Share
00:27:50
Speaker
Bless each one today, in Jesus' name I pray, amen.
00:27:54
Speaker
Well, thank you again, friend, for being with us today. I pray that the podcast was a blessing. One idea is, why don't you share this podcast with somebody else? If it was really helpful to you, imagine what it could do for a family member or a coworker or perhaps a neighbor. Maybe you could send them a link to this podcast so that others might be blessed, not by what I'm saying, but by what Jesus is offering. It's awesome.
00:28:23
Speaker
You have a blessed day and enjoy it because God loves you. This is a ministry of First Baptist Church, located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.