Come Unto Me

Introduction and Context of Unbelief

0:03 Tonight, and probably again next Lord's Day evening, for I doubt we'll be able to adequately cover the text, I would direct your attention to a very familiar portion of Scripture. At least one verse is quite familiar. Perhaps the verses preceding and following are not so familiar. We shall be looking at the entire paragraph.

0:24 Matthew chapter 11.

0:28 Matthew chapter 11. And I shall begin reading at the 20th verse and conclude at the end of the chapter, verse 30.

0:50 Speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ, Matthew says, Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not.

1:05 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which were done in you, they would have repented. They repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

1:23 But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And thou, Capernaum, shalt thou be exalted unto heaven? Thou shalt go down unto hell. For if the mighty works had been done in Sodom, which were done in thee, it would have remained until this day.

1:48 But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee.

1:57 At that season, Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes.

2:16 Yea, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in thy sight. All things have been delivered unto me of my Father, and no one knoweth the Son save the Father. Neither doth any know the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal him.

2:41 Come unto me, all ye that labor 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Let us once again look to God in prayer that he might be pleased to open to our understanding this portion of his truth.

3:20 Lord Jesus,

3:24 we would hear you speak these words with power to our hearts.

3:31 Your word tells us that the hour is coming, and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and live. O Lord, make these words to be life-giving words tonight, that some who in this very moment are laboring and are heavy laden may find the fulfillment of this word of promise ere the final amen is spoken tonight.

4:00 Speak, blessed Lord. We call upon you for that gracious assistance of the Holy Spirit without which your servant seeks to preach, but in vain, and without which this people would hear, but in vain. Come, O breath of God, to open to us the very mind of Christ as revealed in Holy Scripture.

4:26 We make this plea believing that such a blessing was purchased in the death of the Lord Jesus. So we come in his name.

The Context of Divine Sovereignty and Free Offers of Mercy

4:36 Amen. I deliberately read the verses, of the paragraph beginning with verse 20 and ending with verse 24, rather than starting with the paragraph that will be the focus of our study tonight, particularly the last few verses of that paragraph, for the Holy Spirit is careful to guide Matthew to indicate that the setting of these words of our Lord's rejoicing that the Father sovereignly reveals himself to babes and withholds his reverence, the revelation from the wise and prudent, is a context of unbelief and rejection of the truth. The Lord has just spoken these terrible words of woe upon these cities that had beheld his miracles. He had given these very sober words that if commensurate light had been given to the wicked cities of Tyre and Sidon, there would have been genuine repentance, and the fruit of that repentance would have been marked even in the hour in which our Lord ministered. And so in the face of unbelief, in the face of rejection, in the face of human hardness, our Lord finds great comfort in the doctrine that is one of the pillars of our faith,

6:02 the doctrine of divine sovereignty. And he thanks God that in the Father's good pleasure he has hid truth from the wise and prudent and has revealed truth unto babes, and the reason he resolves into the sovereignty of God, for he says in verse 26, Yea, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in thy sight. And yet it's interesting that immediately following that profound and beautiful statement of the fact that the ultimate issue in the unbelief or the sight and faith of men is the sovereignty of God, our Lord in no way makes this a barrier to the free offers of his mercy, but as it were makes it the very platform from which he accepts the truth. And so in the face of unbelief, in the face of unbelief, in the face of unbelief, in the face of unbelief, in the face of unbelief, he extends this gracious appeal, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. And I suggest that any view of the invitation beginning with verse 28 and ending with verse 30 that fails to take this two-fold context into consideration will land you in error. If you look upon the invitation, Come unto me, as though the whole issue of the salvation of men was ultimately the salvation of men, ultimately resolved by the will of man, you come up with a doctrine contrary to Scripture.

7:26 This invitation is couched in the context of our Lord's rejoicing in the Father's divine sovereignty which to some reveals truth and to other hides truth. Conversely, if we confess with the loudest confession our belief in that doctrine of the divine sovereignty and find some problem with extending the fruit of the gospel free general offers of mercy, then we do not understand that truth as our Lord did. And so taking this invitation in its total context will keep us on the one hand from the curse of free willism and on the other hand from the terrible curse of a paralyzing hyper-Calvinism. And yet God's people have fallen into those two extremes constantly. And this very context would keep us from that if we were to keep us from the curse of free willism. But take heed to the emphasis of our Lord.

8:26 So much for the general context. And I say that simply that if your tendency is to that error of free willism, you'll not put what I say in expounding the words of Christ through the sieve of your own defective theology and make me say something I never said or that Scripture never says. And conversely, that if your tendency is to allowing the doctrine of divine sovereignty to become a couch upon which you rest instead of a spur to goad you on to activity, you'll not put my words in that sieve or through that sieve and make me say or Scripture say something that is not said. Our focus tonight is upon the gracious invitation of Christ set in this context beginning with verse 28. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and are heavy laden, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. The prayer of my heart has been that God would cause some of you to hear His voice tonight. For the Lord Jesus said in those words I quoted as we prayed before opening the Scriptures, The hour is coming in which those that are in the grave shall hear the voice of the Son of God and live.

9:46 Jesus said the hour is coming and now is. Speaking of that spiritual resurrection that comes when the voice of Christ breaks in, to the realm of spiritual death and life issues. Jesus said in Revelation 3.20, Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if any man hear my voice, and open the door.

10:07 The door is never opened until the voice of the Son of God is heard. The voice of the preacher may be heard for months and years, tender, entreating, full of the overtures of grace, full of the terrors of the law. The preacher's voice may be resisted, but those who hear, always fling open the door. For he said, Others sheep I have, them also I must bring.

The People Addressed: Laboring and Heavy Laden

10:31 They shall hear my voice. They shall hear. And may God grant that some of you shall hear the voice of the Son of God speaking in these gracious words of invitation, Come unto me. Consider with me in the first place the people our Lord addresses in this invitation.

10:52 The people addressed. Who are they? In the second place, consider the invitation he issues. Come unto me.

11:03 And then in the third place, consider with me something of the wonder of the promise that he gives. And ye shall find rest. The people addressed. To whom do these gracious words of Christ come?

11:21 Some invitations of scripture come to all men, irrespective, of their particular spiritual condition. We read in scripture that God commanded all men everywhere to repent. And the warrant, the basis upon which a sinner is warranted in embracing the promise of mercy is not that he's this kind of a sinner or that kind of a sinner, but simply that he's a sinner. There is the free, general, unfettered invitation of the gospel.

11:54 But this is a more limited invitation. Notice our Lord, delineates those to whom this invitation comes. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. He is addressing a peculiar class of people.

12:14 And they are described by the two words, laboring and heavy laden. Now what does the word labor mean? It's the strong word for labor. It's the word that means to toil unto weariness and pain.

12:33 What does heavy laden mean? It means to be encumbered with a crushing weight that bends a man over and almost presses him to the ground. Now both of these concepts were very vivid to the minds of those to whom our Lord spoke. This was the day before unions and seven-hour work days.

12:53 This was before the day of automation. This is the period in which men worked as long as the sun was up. You remember Jesus said there are twelve hours in the day in which to work? A little indication of how long their work day was.

13:09 People knew what it was like to be out in the burning noonday sun and to labor unto pain beneath the heat of that sun and not to quit their fields and lay down their sickles until the sun made it impossible for them to labor anymore. The concept of toil unto labor was very vivid. The concept of being heavy laden. This was the day before you had minibuses and pickup trucks and all the means to convey burdens and not everyone was wealthy enough to own mules or camels.

13:46 And some of you perhaps have seen pictures of some of the porters of eastern parts when loads were laid upon their backs that were two or three times the size of the one carrying them. Sometimes they'll carry as much as three to four hundred pounds. And you'll see that they're not You'll see them stooped beneath this great crushing burden. Now our Lord uses word pictures to very vividly describe all who feel the active and the passive effects of sin.

The Burdens of Sin: Guilt, Bondage, Confusion, and Empty Religion

14:17 The active effect of sin, men toiling unto pain, laboring in this course of sin and estrangement from God, feeling the pressure and weight of sin, and its effects like a heavy burden. Our Lord is addressing in this gracious invitation those who've been brought to a consciousness of the effects of sin in their own hearts and lives. Consider certain aspects of this. In the first place, He calls and invites to Himself those who labor and are heavy laden beneath the guilt of sin.

15:00 The act of sin is to be a burden of the heart, the act of sin is to be a burden of the heart, the accusations of a condemned conscience lash and scourge a man, holding over him the fear of death, the thought of impending judgment, the awfulness of hell and the terrors of the damned. What greater burden is there than to be bent down with the sense of impending wrath? Hebrews gives it to us this way, a fearful looking-to of judgment and fiery indignation, indignation that shall devour the adversaries. Am I speaking to some tonight who know what it is to be heavy laden? Who feel the crushing weight of a conscience that will not let you alone? It reminds you of those lies told way back in infancy. The deceptions propagated.

15:54 The corruptions tolerated. The dishonesties perpetrated. All of those sins and conscience is alive and will not be silenced and tried to still his voice you cannot. By the influence of the holy law of God probing the conscience and bringing before you your sin, your specific sins of uncleanness and ungodliness and that great sin of unbelief and impenitence, tonight you know what it is to feel the crushing weight of sin. You may be laboring to make amends for sin. You may be laboring to make amends for sin. You may be laboring to make amends for sin. You may be doing everything in your power to somehow bring some peace to your conscience. You may be praying. You may be reading the scriptures. And you're laboring,

16:42 but it's not the labor of delight. It's that terrible toil unto weariness and pain. The Lord Jesus has a word for you tonight. He's addressing his words to all who labor and are heavy laden. Those who labor and are heavy laden because of the guilt of sin.

17:02 Secondly, those who labor and are heavy laden because of the bondage of sin. In Proverbs 5.22 we read, His own iniquity shall take the wicked, and he shall be held with the cords of his sin. What a picture. His own iniquity shall take the wicked, and he shall be held with the cords of his sin. Our Lord said in John 8.34, He that committeth sin is the one who shall be held with the cords of his sin. He that committeth sin is the bond slave of sin. It's not so much the future punishment of your sin that makes you heavy, but it's present bondage. You say to yourself, Oh, that I could go back to that time in my life when I was not ensnared by this sin. When I was not held captive by that sin. When I was not the slave of this passion, of this lust, of this attitude, of this deflection from God's holy law. Oh, that I could somehow just...

18:02 That's the bondage. That bondage is a heavy burden. It makes life toilsome. Just as toilsome is a man who's wrapped about with heavy cords, attempting to live a normal life everywhere you go. To the shop, to the place of business, to the school, to the privacy of your own bedroom. There it follows you, the nagging toil of the bondage of sin. You labor. You toil to free yourself with vows, with revolutions. You toil to free yourself with vows, with revolutions. All to no avail. The Lord Jesus has a word for you tonight. All that labor and are heavy laden, whether it's under the terrible lash of the guilt of sin, the oppressive bondage of sin, or, listen carefully, whether it's the confusion and hopelessness of sin.

19:00 Your problem that makes you labor tonight and makes you press down is not so much that you've offended God. Your thought hasn't developed. Or that you're in bondage to your own corruption. This hasn't been the area of your particular concern, but listen, you labor and you are heavy laden tonight because of the confusion and hopelessness which sin has brought into your life. Here you are, a few short years to live, and then like all who've gone before, you're going to pass on to be no more. What's it all about? What am I here for? Is there any meaning to life? Is there a God? Is there so how do I know him? Life's ultimate questions. We call them at camp, girls, life's most basic questions. No answers. What lies beyond the grave? Voices saying, this is life, this is

19:59 the meaning of life, this is right, this is wrong. And that hopeless confusion, standing in the midst of all this swirling mass of ideas, hopelessly confused. Do I speak to some who are toiling for answers? Weighted down with a sense of frustration because there seem to be no answers? I want to read that poem that I read at prayer meeting a couple of months ago. I sit and study this thing at times because this is a man laboring, toiling under the hopelessness and confusion of sin. Listen to his words. When I was a lad, simple notions I had.

20:48 There was wrong, there was right. It was plain as black and white. But now that I'm grown in a world on my own, the scenes I survey show nothing but gray. I looked all around for the bright spots, the lights that would lead me ahead. I must not have looked in the right spots. Nothing bright, nothing gay, just a muddy old world. Full. But now I'm a man. And at crossroads I stand, confronted with doubt and all turned

21:36 about. At night in my sleep, I hear voices. I'm never quite certain what's said. They offer me too many choices. There's no black. There's no white. What is wrong? I'm confused and unable to say. How does a man find his way? In a world full. That thing makes me weep inside every time I read it. Why? Here's someone laboring for answers. And there are none. Heavy laden with the sense of hopelessness, confusion. Dear ones, that's what's behind the hopeless quest that's driving multitudes of the now generation to LSD and to dope. Beneath it, you see, there's a man. There's

22:40 this substructure of the hopelessness and despair brought about by sin. Do I speak to someone tonight? Maybe educated, cultured, refined. You can answer a lot of questions about a lot of things, but the simplest little question dumbfounds you and leaves you silent.

22:58 Who are you? What are you here for? Where do you go when you're done? No answer. Does the sense of that hopelessness and having no answers crush you? The Lord has a word. All that labor and are heavy laden, be it with the oppressive sense of guilt, with the awful awareness of bondage, whether it be in this state of the hopelessness and confusion of sin, or in the fourth place, and we could extend this on in many other areas, whether you labor and are heavy laden with what I'm calling the emptiness of formal man-made religion. Many commentators feel that sin is a form of sin. They feel that sin is a form of sin.

23:45 But this is the primary reference of our Lord's words. For the word weighted down, heavy laden, the only other use in the New Testament is in Luke chapter 11 and verse 46, where our Lord is indicting the Pharisees, and he says, ye bind burdens upon men too heavy to bear. And when you read the context, you see what it was. All the trappings of man-made religion, form and ceremony, do's and don'ts and revolutions, and all the things that are ritual, that men by doing this might somehow find acceptance with God and peace of mind.

24:22 And the Lord says, no, that brings nothing but labor unto toil and weariness and heaviness and oppression. And our Lord addresses such tonight. Do I speak to some to whom all of the relatively informal, but nonetheless we all have a ritual, even of our own assembly is weariness. Do I speak to some of you young people? Do I speak to some of you young people?

24:46 This is all weariness to you. And secretly in your heart you're wrong. You could be in a home where you could just lay in bed till ten o'clock, read the funnies till noon, watch TV till bedtime on Sundays. All of the external activities of the work and life of this assembly is weariness to you. It's toil, it's burdensome. The Lord has a word for you tonight. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. So much for those who are addressed. Now will you notice with me the invitation that he issues to them. Here it is. Come unto me. And the most important thing about this invitation

The Invitation: Come Unto Me – The Person of Christ

25:35 is not the word come, but it's the word me. For you see, the invitation means nothing if we divorce it from the person who spoke the words. The meaning of the words, confidence in their fulfillment is dependent upon the person who spoke the words. The meaning of the words is dependent upon the greatness of the one who utters them. Who is it that makes such claims? The problem of guilt can be resolved. The problem of bondage can be resolved. The problem of confusion can be resolved. The problem of any formal religion resolved. That's quite a claim. Who makes it? Ah, that's the secret. We must never divorce these gracious words of invitation from the person who made them. So as we consider the invitation issued in the first place, consider. Who is the me who gives them? And he has told us in the preceding verse, verse 27, that he is none less than God incarnate. Notice his claim. All things have been delivered

26:45 unto me of my Father, and no one knoweth the Son save the Father, neither doth any know the Father save the Son. What a claim. What a claim. He says, my person is such that no one can fully comprehend who I am but the Father himself.

27:11 It takes God to comprehend fully God. Can you imagine an angel saying, no one fully knows me but another angel? Why, the God who made angels knows angels fully and completely. We don't know about angels. There's not a thing God doesn't know about them he made them. But the Lord Jesus said, no one knows the Son but the Father. Why? For great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh. And in the mystery of the true deity and true humanity of Christ, used in one person, we just stand before this veil of brightness and we prostrate ourselves and say, God, the mystery is beyond me. Faith lays hold of it. But who can hide it? God will stand for him. God and man joined in one person forever. No one knoweth the

28:16 Son but the Father. These words of invitation come from God incarnate. In the second place, they come from one who is the appointed mediator between God and man. Notice his words, all things have been delivered unto me of my Father. The best commentary on this verse is John chapter 3.

28:41 17, where our Lord makes clear that this giving of authority to him is for the performance of his role as a mediator. Listen to his words, John 17, verses 1 and 2. These things spake Jesus, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, Father, the hour is come. Glorify thy Son, that the Son may glorify thee, even as thou gavest him authority over all flesh, that to all whom thou hast given him he should give eternal life. Who speaks these words, come unto me, God incarnate, incarnate as the appointed mediator between God and man,

29:35 the only way to God. God is Jesus Christ. There is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. So you see, when we come to the words, come unto me, we must not put them in the context, well, I've tried this, I've tried that, now I'll try Jesus, and if that doesn't work, I'll try something else. No, no. He who speaks them says, everything is delivered into my hands, I am the only mediator. No man comes to the Father but by me. And then he speaks them. As the exclusive revealer of God. Notice later on in verse 27, neither doth any know the Father save the Son. He knows him perfectly. And he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal him. Men can know him partially. We see through a glass, darkly. Bless God we may see by the

30:34 revelation of the Son, but he's the only one who reveals God. No one can know the Father except that person to whom the Son wills to reveal him. It is only as he exercises his office as a sovereign mediator, revealing the Father, that any man can know God. That's why Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the light, and no man cometh unto the Father but by me. The whole idea that we can incorporate the best of Jesus with the best of God, that's the whole idea. That's the whole idea. That's absolutely false. You have Christ in all the exclusiveness of his claims, or you have him not at all. John 1.18 says, No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who

31:33 is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. Now, when you put the words of the invitation in that context, see the difference in the weight and power with which they come. What is the gracious invitation? Come unto me, who speaks? God incarnate, the only appointed mediator, the only revealer of God. And now what does he say? What is the substance of his invitation? Here it is. Come unto me. What does the word come mean? It's a synonym for the word faith, believe, trust, commit. It's a synonym. It's used interchangeably in a verse like John's. John 6 and verse 35. Letting scripture be its own infallible interpreter, notice the

The Substance of the Invitation: Why Come to Christ Alone?

32:24 meaning of the word. John 6.35. Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall not hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. What is it to believe? It is to come. What is it to come? It is to believe. So what does our Lord do? He comes. He calls upon all who labor and are heavy laden to believe on him, to come to him, to let the weight of their need be cast upon this unique God-man, the only appointed mediator, the only revealer of God. And why does he invite us to himself? Why does he invite us

33:11 to himself alone? For the simple reason that he alone is suited to meet those needs. For the simple reason that he alone is suited to meet those needs. Which cause us to toil and to be heavy laden. Are you toiling and heavy laden with the guilt of sin? Jesus says, come unto me. Why? Because he's the appointed lamb of God to bear away the sin of the world. It was he who went to the cross and there exposed himself to the wrath of his father until the billows of that wrath funneled down upon his own holy head and caused him to cry out in agony, my God.

33:49 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why doesn't he invite us to his church or to some philosophy or to a way of life? Because no philosophy, no church, no way of life hung in agony and blood. That's why he hung in agony and blood. He poured out his soul and so he says, come to me. I alone have borne the guilt of sin. Are you heavy laden? Do you toil beneath the lash of an hagging?

34:20 There is peace and rest in my wounds and in my sufferings. Come unto me. Or is it that you toil and are heavy laden under the bondage of sin? He says, come unto me because it's only as the ascended Lord who sends forth the Spirit in the plentitude of power and grace that can break the bonds of sin. Acts 5.31 says God has appointed him to be a prince and a savior for to give repentance and remission of sin. Ephesians 1 declares he's been exalted and all things are put under his feet. He is able to break the power of canceled sin to set the prisoner free. Is it that you're heavy laden with that hopelessness and confusion of sin? Why does he say, come unto me? Because

35:12 he said, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness. In Jesus Christ, life's ultimate answers are found. Only in him. He is the fulfillment of all the types and shadows of all the Old Testament sacrificial systems. We need now no great rubric of ceremony for the ceremonies that found their fulfillment in our Lord Jesus Christ. He is both priest and offering. He is the bread. He is the light of that true tabernacle. Scripture says he is made unto us wisdom, righteousness. The sanctification of redemption. He says, come unto me. Why? Because in Christ and Christ

36:01 alone our needs can be met. Now he not only delineates those to whom he speaks, then gives his gracious offer. But will you notice the promise that he gives? This is the third area of our study. To whom is he addressing himself? Those who labor and are heavy laden. What does he say? He says, Come unto me. Now notice the promise he gives. Ye shall find rest unto your soul.

The Promise: Rest for Your Souls

36:34 What does the word rest mean? It means no more hopeless toiling under the crushing load of guilt and bondage. No more despair. Release from the things that bind us. Release from those things that crush us. That's what rest means. Now notice the certainty. The certainty of the promise. And ye shall find rest.

37:02 God incarnate is speaking. Of God scripture speaks and says he cannot lie. This is why it's so important that we pause to think who speaks the words. For if I'm not certain that these are words of infallible and unearning certainty, how do I know that maybe if I come they'll not be fulfilled?

37:27 How can I know that? That which causes my labor and that which makes me heavy laden will be released if I come because the promise is certain. He who speaks them is God and God cannot lie. And if you do not know soul rest tonight, it's because you've not yet come to Christ. If your conscience is tormented by the terrors of a broken law and the fear of hell and of judgment hangs over you like a billowy cloud, you're not going to be able to come to Christ. It's because you haven't come. For he says, coming, you have rest. If you're held in the grip and bondage of sin, not those terrible outcroppings of remaining sin, but the cruelty of reigning sin, you're its willing slave and servant. There's only one reason you haven't

38:22 come. For he says, those who come shall have rest. And so the promise is certain, but the promise is all-pervading. Also, it's an exclusive promise. Come unto me and ye shall find rest. The implication being rest is to be found nowhere else, either now or in eternity. That's why the whole concept of the invitation is charged with the spirit of authority and command. Come or you perish.

The Nature of True Faith: Taking Christ's Yoke

38:58 He that believeth shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be damned. Then our Lord goes on, and I can only be suggested in our study of this, and the Lord willing, perhaps next Sunday evening, seek to enlarge it. The invitation does not end with verse 28. It says, those who heard it said, but O Lord, what will it mean? What are the implications of coming to you for rest? And our Lord then, in the fourth place, enlarges on the nature of true faith. Notice, take my yoke. Yoke upon you, and learn of me. For I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find

39:46 rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Is faith a matter of trying Jesus, as I indicated before? You've tried maybe dope, and sex, and liquor, and things, and pleasure. Now try Jesus. No, no, no, no, no. Jesus said, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. But listen, he says, I invite you to a relationship of absolute, unreserved commitment to myself and to my truth. Take my yoke upon you, that's utter submission to my person, learn of me, utter submission to my truth. Then and only then will you find rest to your souls. We

40:34 don't differ with Christ. We don't, as it were, step outside to bargain with him. Some of you come from societies where...

40:45 Bartering, and where dickering on prices is just a part of the society. I believe I indicated in this missionary conference recently, I talked with some missionaries who said in the Philippines, Chief, that this is just the way it's done. And you may go down to a store on Monday morning to buy a dozen eggs, and she may start out at 15 cents an egg or a dozen, whatever it would be, and you may haggle for a whole hour and come down to your price of a nickel. You may go back to the same store, into the same shop, with the same shopkeeper.

41:15 The next morning, and you've got to start this business all over again until you come to terms. There's no dickering when we come to Christ. The terms are fixed. When you're looking for real estate and you see $22,500 firm, they're saying, no dickering. The price is fixed. The conditions are settled. You meet them on no house. The Son of God says, here are the conditions.

41:52 No dickering. The gracious invitation of what are the implications of coming to Christ in faith? Here they are. Unreserved, committal to His person, take my yoke upon you. What is the yoke? It is that instrument that binds two animals together, that they might cloud the same furrow, move in the same direction. There is identity of will and of effort and of labor and of purpose. Christ has come for rest. And what is that?

42:26 Rest. Not freedom from all restraint and obligation. No. It's freedom from the tyranny of sin into the liberty of a bond slave of Christ. Not freedom to do, but free to do what I. That's freedom. There is the ability to do what a bird was made to do. Fly in the air. That's what I was made for. And until the will of God is precious to me, and following

43:12 Him is my delight. I'm not yet what I was made for. I'm not yet what I was made for. I'm not yet what I was made for. I'm not yet what I was made for. I'm not yet what I was made to be. And so He says, come, take my yoke, utter resignation to my person. That is rest. And then absolute submission to my truth. Learn me, unless some should say, ah, but Lord, I've been burdened and heavy laden with my sin, and now you call me to another burden? He says, my yoke is easy. My burden is light. He clears away every last excuse. And He holds His gracious invitation.

Christ as Prophet, Priest, and King – A Final Plea

43:50 So what does coming to Christ involve? It means coming to Him as our rest, coming to Him as our ruler, coming to Him as our teacher. And if to change the words, what do you have? Coming to Him as our rest, as our great high priest who bore our sins, who suckers us in our need. He's our priest. Coming to Him as our ruler, that's our king. Coming to Him as our teacher, that's our prophet. And here in this text, the Lord Jesus sets Himself as the only mediator appointed by the Father, the only revealer of God, who does His work of mediation and revealing as a prophet, priest, and king, and graciously invites burdened sinners to cast themselves upon Him with the assurance that they shall find rest to their souls. Oh, may God grant that some of you who may be burdened tonight. I know of a few of you who are. You've disclosed your heart to me, and you've told me of the

44:57 burden of sin that crushes the sense of guilt and impending judgment. I plead with you tonight. Come unto Him. Come unto Him. Take His yoke upon you. Learn of Him. Right where you sit, throw yourself at His feet and say, Here, Lord, I come on your terms. I don't come to differ. And I long for release from the terrible crushing weight of guilt, from the terrible cords of bondage, from the hopeless confusion and emptiness. Lord Jesus, you've promised rest. This is your pledge. I venture upon it. In the words of that wonderful gospel hymn of invitation, venture on Him. Venture wholly. Let no other trust intrude. None but Jesus, none but Jesus can do helpless sinners good.

45:50 Dear child of God, you have ventured upon Him for rest. There's no other place you go for continued rest. And when there is that nagging of conscience that you know you've failed, where do you go? Don't go to more prayer, to more Bible reading.

46:07 First, go to Christ's place. Don't make the means of grace a substitute for the fountain of grace. And when you've got a wounded, pricked conscience, the only place of refuge is Christ, even as a child of God. And when there's confusion and darkness, the only place of instruction is Christ.

46:27 And so we don't come once for all. There is an initial coming, that we come continually and we find Him to be true to His word of promise, that we have rest in Him. May God grant that you may come, whether as a child of God, in a state of some area of bondage or need and heaviness, with a gracious, suckling high priest, or if you're out of Christ, young person, adult, and...

47:00 Trust it would be some of those who this night come to Christ and find rest in Him. Let us pray.