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WEEKLY
Volume 1 Number 27
3 December 2006
Come unto Me, All Ye That
Labour And Are Heavy Laden
(Message delivered by Pr Hien Nguyen at the
Sunday Worship Service,
2 pm, Nov 26, 06)
Text: Matt
11:28-30
We thank God that every month
we have our Gospel meeting combined with our worship on the last Sunday.
The Bible passage for today is very familiar to most of us here:
Matthew 11:28-30, which is Jesus’ invitation to His true rest for those
who are weary and heavy laden. Are you and I weary and heavy laden now?
Sometimes we have a lot of work, duties and responsibilities to do, and
we are supposed to finish them on the due date. Then under the constant
pressure of work, deadline and responsibilities, not to mention
sometimes some troubles and problems arise, we feel stressful, weary and
exhausted from such burdens. How we do desire and look forward to a rest
after accomplishing our work! If someone who is expert in our work
kindly offers his help, we are very happy and thankful. After all the
work is well done, how relieved and relaxed we felt! We can have a rest
now.
How about our souls? The Lord
Jesus says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn
of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto
your souls” (vv 28-29). Do you and I have true rest for our
souls? The Bible tells us that God created us according to His image and
likeness. God created the heaven and the earth and all things in it by
His Word, “For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood
fast,” and “through faith we understand that the worlds were
framed by the word of God” (Ps 33:9; Heb 11:3). However, God created
human beings in a very special manner. The Bible says, “God created
man in his own image,” “and the LORD God formed man of the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man
became a living soul” (Gen 1:27; 2:7). In God’s image, only human
beings have the concept and act of worship, conscience, will, power of
reason, intelligence, etc. All animals once die, are finished, but human
living souls are eternal and more precious than the whole world. The
Lord Jesus says, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the
whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Matt 16:26) Thank God that our
Lord Jesus, our God and Creator, humbly came into this world to die for
men’s sins and rose again to be the Saviour of the world. He is so meek,
humble, loving and kind to offer His help and deliverance to all who are
weary and heavy laden, calling all, “Come unto Me.”
Labour and Are Heavy Laden
Life is not as easy as we
think. We have a living soul with our conscience, and our conscience is
not at peace when we do something wrong. With our sinful nature and
temptations from Satan, we have sinned again and again. And our sins
with the fear of God’s judgement become our burden. Many ignore sins and
even enjoy living in sins, thinking that when death comes, all is
finished, so they ignore Jesus’ invitation and salvation. Many others
may have some concerns for their sins, but they trust in themselves and
proudly think that they can save themselves by doing good works or by
following some religious rituals and practices, so they also refuse
Jesus’ invitation and salvation. Many others have the mindsets and
values of this world, thinking that they will have rest after they gain
success, wealth, popularity, power, fame, etc from this world, so they
just pursue their ambitions regardless of Jesus’ invitation and
salvation. However, all those who have sincerely struggled so much to
stop sinning to live a holy life will be so weary and exhausted in their
hopelessness and helplessness. They cannot bear the burdens of sins, of
human traditions, religious rituals, ceremonial laws, superstitions,
condemnation of sins to hell, and even the burden of being under the
yoke of Satan. They will be very happy and thankful to accept the
invitation and salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then, have you and I
found Jesus’ rest unto our souls? Through the Bible, we know that no one
nor anything in this world can give our souls true rest, except our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ.
How to Find Rest
In order to find rest for our
souls, we are to come to the Lord Jesus Christ, take His yoke and learn
from Him.
Come to Jesus.
Our Lord Jesus says, “Come
unto Me.” This is the invitation from our God and our Creator!
Thank God so much for His meekness, gentleness and humility, grace and
mercy that He has invited His rebellious and disobedient creatures to
His rest! Come to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, not to any man, nor to
any human organizations, nor to any human religions. How can we come to
our Lord Jesus Christ? We do not see Him, how can we come to Him? Our
Lord Jesus Christ died to bear the burden of our sins and curse, but He
rose again and is living now even though we cannot see Him with our
naked eyes, but we can see Him with the eyes of faith. The Bible tells
us that He is everywhere and is knocking at the door of our heart! Jesus
says, “I stand at the door, and knock (is knocking): if any
man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and
sup with him, and he with me” (Rev 3:20), and “I am the bread of
life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that
believeth on me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35), and “All
that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me
I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37).
Then, my dear friends, shall
you and I not accept Jesus’ gracious call, and come to Him in prayer
wherever we are to find true rest unto our souls? If we still have any
burden of sins upon us, it is our fault!
Take Jesus’ Yoke.
The next step to find true
rest is to take Jesus’ yoke, “Take my yoke upon you”. A
yoke is a bar of wood hewn to fit the neck and shoulders of animals,
used to keep two animals together, especially cattle, as well as to
control them and direct them and prevent them from running away. It is
Jesus’ meekness, humility and grace that He is willing to carry the yoke
with you and me! Our Lord will not let us bear His yoke alone, but He
bears the yoke with us!
What does Jesus’ yoke mean? It
means His control, direction, and teachings (God’s Word, the Holy
Bible). We are commanded to take His yoke upon us. This is not an option
but a command. We are to receive Jesus as our Lord and Master and
submit ourselves to Him, to His control, direction, and His words if we
want to find rest unto our souls.
Our Lord says, “For my
yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (v 30). Thank God that His
yoke is easy to bear, nothing harsh. We may feel good and comfortable
under His yoke. His burden is light. We thank God that He knows our
strengths and weaknesses, and He never commands us to do what is beyond
our ability, “God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be
tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also
make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Cor
10:13). Our Lord not only takes away our burden of sins but also bear
His burden with us. Truly, Jesus’ burden is easy, good, holy, righteous,
and gracious. Instead of being under the terrible and unbearable yoke
and burden of sins and Satan, now we are given a good and blessed burden
to live a holy life, to do God’s will, to serve Him, to glorify Him, and
to care for our brethren in Christ, and to share His salvation with
those who are not saved. Our Lord Jesus not only teaches us to do good
and live according to God’s Word, but also gives us His life, strength,
and grace to do it. When we love doing something or doing something for
the one we love, we do not see it a burden. It is a joy to be
constrained by Christ’s love to bear His yoke and burden. That is God’s
grace alone, so all glory is to Him alone, and we have nothing to boast
of ourselves.
Our Lord rebuked the Jewish
leaders, “For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and
lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with
one of their fingers” (Matt 23:4). Peter rebuked the Jewish
believers who required foreign believers to keep ceremonial laws to be
saved, “Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck
of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?”
(Acts15:10) Then it is wise to take Jesus’ yoke (His control and His
Word) alone and refuse any extra yoke or burden of human control and
unbiblical teachings, traditions, rituals, or practices. Then, are you
and I under Jesus’ yoke alone?
Learn from Jesus.
Another command and
requirement is to learn from Jesus, “learn of me.” We
might have learned a lot of good things from our good parents, good
teachers and friends. But to find rest unto our souls we are to learn
from our Lord Jesus. What does it mean to learn from Jesus? It means to
follow the Lord Jesus as our perfect Divine Teacher and Example and to
accept His Word the Bible as the perfect rule and foundation of our
faith, beliefs, doctrines, practices, service and conducts. How can we
learn from Jesus? We have to read and study His Word the Bible with
a teachable, submissive and prayerful heart. Through the Bible and with
the illumination of the Holy Spirit we shall know our Lord Jesus, His
perfect life, His teachings and His perfect example for us to follow.
Then, shall you and I not be wise to learn from the Lord Jesus, our God
and Divine Teacher?
Rest in Jesus.
Our Lord Jesus promises that
when we come to Him, He will give us rest, and when we take His yoke
upon us and learn from Him we shall find rest unto our souls. How
precious is Jesus’ rest! It is not only the inner tranquillity and
peacefulness in our souls but also the satisfaction, refreshment,
renewal, restoration from Jesus’ comfort, grace and strength. David sang
his Psalm, “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He
maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside
the still waters. He restoreth my soul:” (Ps 23:1-3). What a
blessed rest in the loving care of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Conclusion
My dear friends, our Lord
Jesus’ promise of rest has been fulfilled in many Christian lives who
sincerely and wholeheartedly come to Him in repentance and submission,
even in the lives of our brothers and sisters here and in my life as
well. The religious leaders of this world may give you some instructions
and teachings but can never give you true rest. They are only human
beings and can never take away your burden of sins. They even put more
burdens to their followers.
Only the Lord Jesus Christ,
the mighty God and gracious Saviour, is able to take away our burden of
sins and give us true rest. Shall we not be wise to come to Him alone,
take His yoke and learn from Him with our faith, trust and obedience in
order to find rest unto our souls? Augustine’s experience is so true,
“Thou (God) madest us for Thyself, and our heart is restless until it
repose (finds its rest) in Thee.”
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