Well, good morning again. If you would, take your Bibles and turn with me to Matthew chapter 11. Matthew chapter 11. We'll continue this morning in conclusion of this of time in Matthew by focusing on the latter portions of verse 29 and verse 30, and wrapping this up. The focus, of course, being one of those great solos of the Reformation, Christ Alone, of which we've just been singing. The idea, of course, in this passage is that everything that we need is in Jesus Christ and that Christ alone can provide that. And it's a good reminder for us as part of our celebration today in terms of what we're focusing on historically to, again, take into consideration the fact that all that we need and all that we must have is provided to us in the finished work of Jesus Christ, and that is certainly the theme of this passage here in Matthew chapter 11. Before we get into that, let's go to the Lord in prayer. Lord, we love you, we thank you for this day, we thank you for your providential provision for all the years that we have been here, this church has been here. We are grateful to you for that. We rejoice, we praise you and adore you for all that you have done, and thank you heartily for protecting and keeping and providing. You are a great and awesome God, and we are so grateful for what you have done for us here at Community Bible Church. Our hearts are overwhelmed with your gracious love towards us in that way. We rejoice as well, Lord, that in the historical context that we are the product of what you brought about some 500 years ago. We rejoice that you raised up men who were bold in their proclamation of the gospel and who returned to the authority of Scripture and focused on the finished Christ alone and restored Him as the object of our faith and did so to bring about Your glory and Your honor. We rejoice that, as we just sang, that we are saved by grace alone, that You have seen fit to save us and have extended to us Your mercy and Your grace in bringing us into relationship with You through Jesus Christ. Help us to ever be mindful of these profound truths. Help us to not forget them. Help us to always be confident in what the Word has taught us about these things. And help us to be bold in its proclamation. We ask, Lord, that you would be with us today, that you would bless us with the presence of your Holy Spirit as we look at this beautiful passage in Matthew and the invitation to come and to rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ. No more toil and no more anxiousness or effort on our part, just simple faith, trusting in the finished work of Jesus Christ. We rejoice that Christ has paid it all, has done it all, and that nothing is required of us other than simply looking to Him only. We ask that you would forgive us for wandering into those areas that allow us to focus more on ourselves, to be confident in our own work, to faith in our faithfulness rather than in Jesus Christ. We pray that you would again keep us and preserve us for your glory and for your honor, we pray in Christ's name. Amen. Matthew chapter 11, beginning with verse 25, we read as follows. Matthew 11, verse 25, at that time Jesus said, I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well pleasing in your sight. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Well, just a beautiful passage. I trust that you've enjoyed our time here in Matthew, this brief diversion from the book of Colossians into this passage. to help us to be mindful of the finished work of Jesus Christ, that our confidence, our hope, our trust, our rest is in Him alone, Christ alone. And I trust that that's a truth that you have grasped and that you understand because failing to do so is of a critical nature. If in fact you reject the idea that salvation is in Christ alone, then you must look to another for your salvation. And the tendency is that we look to ourselves. We think that somehow that either it's a little bit of Jesus in a lot of us or a lot of Jesus in some of us or all of us. In either category, it's error and it's wrong, and there will be no peace, there will be no rest, and I can assure you that that yoke is burdensome and heavy and will never lighten. It just gets worse. The harder you try in that context, the worse off you become because you find yourself realizing that perhaps you've not done quite enough. That always begs the question, right? How much is enough? How much faithfulness must I have? How many good works must I perform? What if I die on a bad day? What if I kick the cat that day? Sorry, Mary Lynn. Or the dog. Sorry, Rex. Oh, you pet lovers. No, of course we don't want to be in a situation where we're always having to ask that question. The invitation here by Christ Himself is to come to Him and to rest in His finished work, to always be looking to Him in the context of what He has done for us, to always be confident that what He has done for us is more than sufficient. to know, in fact, that He did everything that was well-pleasing to the Father, that when He was on the cross and says, it is finished, it indeed was finished, there's nothing more to do. And even if your faith is a small faith, it's sufficient if the object is Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, Christ alone. Well, this was the clarion call of the Reformation, as we know. One of the five solas is Solus Christus. which again emphasizes the fact that we look to Jesus Christ alone for our salvation. He is the author, the finisher of our faith. Our faith in Him is all that is required, and even that is a gift of God, as we will see as we look at this further today. All that is required is provided to us, and so the invitation here is significant in that it lacks nothing. The invitation is complete. The object of the invitation is fully complete, and this is why he can say what he does in verse 29, take my yoke. Now, of course, what was happening here, Matthew is primarily written to the Jews, Christ is speaking to the Jews mostly in terms of focus, and these people were being burdened by the Pharisees who were adding multitudes of laws and requirements to the law that existed already and requiring the people to do more and more and more. And people had grown confident in what they were doing as well. We know that from verse 25 where it indicates that God will indeed hide things from those who are wise and intelligent, who are self-sufficient in their own righteousness, but gives grace and extends salvation to those who come to Him in humble and humbleness. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble is certainly what Scripture says. James would tell us the very same thing in his epistle. And so the idea here is the picture of not self-sufficiency, not brazen confidence, not striding into the halls of heaven, demanding and thinking that you're entitled to something, but rather coming in humility, coming in emptiness, if you will. Poverty of spirit is the picture. And the result is, of course, significant. The result is a salvation then that is predicated upon nothing of your own, but solely of Jesus Christ. Solely of Jesus Christ. This is an encouragement to us, isn't it not? Should this not then cause us to have a greater confidence in our rest in Him? If He's saying to us, I have all that you need, if my yoke is easy and my burden is light, then apparently there is no additional requirement on your part to obtain salvation or even maintain it. This is, of course, the error that's creeping into the church today, and this is why the Reformation still matters. There are people corrupting that idea, and they're causing people to think, then, that somehow their salvation, their final salvation, their final justification is predicated upon something that they're going to have to do and to keep. They're missing the point of the Reformation, which was to remind people of the guilt and the grace and the gratitude. The guilt that we have in Adam, the grace that is extended to us by Christ in salvation, and the outflowing gratitude that we then have in service to him and living for him. I live for him because he loved me first and I love him too. My salvation brings about a transformation in me. A new man is created, and that new man can't wait to live for Jesus Christ. That new man is transformed by the gospel. He is changed. He is new creation in Jesus Christ, the result of which is not an effort to obtain or to keep that which God has so graciously provided, but to live it out, to demonstrate the reality of it in a continuous way, most likely. We fall, we fail, but the objective is to live a life that demonstrates the reality of our conversion, knowing that if we do fail, and we're told in Scripture the righteous man falls how many times? Seven. And that's just a number to show that it's an ongoing issue. He falls eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, it just goes on. We fail, we fall. How was last week for you? Yeah. I had a week like that too. Now, what do I do with that? What do you and I do with this? How do we have any confidence that our week last week isn't going to somehow jeopardize our relationship with Jesus Christ because of what he just says here in this passage? Come to me. Come to me. My yoke is always easy. My yoke is always light. There is no burden to it. I am not requiring of you to constantly come to me and brag to me and to show me your work. Your work is of no account in the context of maintaining your salvation. Does God rejoice over the fact that we live for Him and love Him? Absolutely. That's well-pleasing to Him. We don't want to grieve the Holy Spirit, but at the same time, I am not losing my salvation. I cannot lose my salvation. Praise God for that. And so the picture we have here is a complete salvation, a salvation that's saved to the uttermost because it is in the uttermost, Jesus Christ. To think otherwise is to do, as Thomas Wilcox reminded us last week, it is to un-Christ Christ. I just love that phrase. And we do that all the time. We un-Christ Him. When you come to Him and you plead your self-sufficiency, when you come to Him and you plead your own types of works and you rest in those type of things, or you even add them into it a little bit, you are un-Christ-ing Him. That is grievous error. It's sinful. It's not an option in any context. And so when Jesus says to us, take my yoke, there is a transference. Anything and everything that you are obliged to do in the context of the law is now assumed and subsumed in everything that He is and has done. And learn from Him, the idea being that He provides to you everything that you need. And it's only there, friends, it is only there that you will find rest for your souls. It's interesting that that phrase is used there. It speaks to assurance. It speaks to confidence. It speaks to a sense in which you know that you can let go of everything in the context of any obligation and demand and leave it simply in the hands of Christ. That's rest, is it not? No toil, no labor. It's interesting to me that Jesus doesn't say to these Jews, now I want you to go out and do all these things. I'm going to add even more to it. No. If anybody would have had the authority to do that, would it not have been Christ himself? Certainly. He could have said to them, oh, in addition, I'm going to require X, Y, and Z. No, he doesn't even do that. He simply says to them, everything you need is in me. Come to me, rest in me. Friends, you must stop working so hard in the context of trying to assure yourself of your salvation based upon what you're doing. Your confidence, your assurance, your rest is in knowing exactly what Jesus Christ did. and what Jesus Christ did. It's interesting that Calvin would say is that we are not looking for the hope of attaining full union with Christ. Rather, we see the Christian life starting with union with Christ. Do you see the difference? Because the difference makes all the difference. Again, we're not looking for a hope of attaining union with Christ. Jesus is saying, come to me and you are joined to me. And as a consequence of that, you are partakers of all of the benefits of what I am and what I have done. You are the beneficiaries of the fact that in verse 27, the Father has approved of everything that I am doing and have done and will do, and that there is this intimate relationship between us that is extended to you in the context of your salvation, that you are part and parcel of this sovereign plan, bringing about the salvation and redemption of God's people for His glory and for His honor. Rest in me. How good is that? How wonderful is that? What more do you want? Honestly, just tell me, is there something more than that? Is there something better than that? When you lay your head down on your pillow at night, are you thinking about what could be better than Jesus Christ? I would submit to you that a lot of people do, because what are you doing? You're recounting how good of a day you've had. Well, I didn't do this sin or that sin. I didn't do X, Y, and Z, so I must be okay." No. You're only okay because Jesus Christ did everything exactly as was required by God, and it was accepted by the Father. Accepted. So, he says, my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Our salvation The Christian life starts with our union with Christ alone. So, Luther comes along, and the church is saying to people, well, of course you had the issue of indulgences. That's an issue, but it wasn't the big issue, ultimately. As Luther would later tease out, when he began to preach on faith, got into Romans, then the rubber hit the road. Because when he begins to talk to people about the fact that your salvation is solely connected to Jesus Christ by faith alone, all of a sudden, all the additional requirements, the burden, the heavy yoke of the Catholic Church was a problem. And people began to see this through the work of the Holy Spirit and the preaching of Luther and others like him. And they're seeing the fact that Scripture does indeed speak to the idea and expresses unequivocally that salvation is tied to faith in Christ alone and that your works are of no consequence. Well, now what happens? Now you don't need the church to tell you what to do. Now you don't have all of these things going on in the context of even what Christ would have been speaking to, the burdens that are added into people's lives. And if you go back to the Reformation and study that time, my goodness, the Catholic Church had added all sorts of things. Pilgrimages, penance, all these relics, and praying to saints, and 13 Hail Marys, and Abba Fathers, and all sorts of stuff. Those of you who were Catholics before know what I'm talking about. The rosaries and the confessions and all of those things, the burdens that were associated, Bibles chained to pulpits. You couldn't have one. The Reformation turns all that on its head because we return to Scripture, the sufficiency of Scripture, which of course does what? Points me to Jesus Christ always, always. So this is encouragement to us, right? Are we not encouraged by these words that we read here at the conclusion of this narrative provided to us in Matthew 11? My yoke is easy and my burden is light. No doubt there is a cross to be carried if we follow Christ. We understand that. Christ would later say, take up your cross and follow me. Speaking to the idea of trials to be endured, battles to be fought. but the comforts of the gospel far outweigh the crosses that we bear. Indeed, we bear the crosses with joyful contentment knowing that the cross is given to us by Christ himself to demonstrate his glory and his honor and to the praise of his name. Indeed, compared to the service of the world in sin and compared to the yoke that is so attendant with so many religions today, the bondage of human superstition Christ's service is in the highest sense easy and light, is it not? When you compare it to all the other things, just go and study any world religion, whether it be Islam or Hinduism or Buddhism or Roman Catholicism or Mormonism or Jehovah's Witnessism or whatever it might be. They add so much to what you have to do. It's all about you at the end of the day. There's no rest. There's simply no rest. Now again, friend, the predicate for the receipt of the rest is in a faith in Christ. He's just not a companion. He's not just my buddy. He's not just my co-pilot. No offense, Joel, but he is the full object the full object. So we don't look to Him just as another wise person, another good person in the course of human history. He is the Redeemer. He is the Christ. Now, we say His name all the time. People say His name all the time in derogatory ways. That's going to be interesting in the context of human history, how that all plays out. But we talk about Jesus Christ a lot, even the unsaved. They don't appreciate when they utter His name all that is attached to it, truly taking it in vain. I don't want you to take it in vain. There are other ways to take His name in vain other than just to use it as a curse word. It's to not ascribe to it the significance and wonder of its meaning, to forget all the benefits that flow out of and from Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ. Again, friends, remember this, Christ's service is in the highest sense, easy and light. There can be nothing easier and lighter than this. Indeed, as J.C. Ryle would say, his yoke is no more a burden than the feathers are to a bird. His commandments are not grievous, His ways are ways of pleasantness, and all His paths are peace. Isn't that the promise of Scripture? Isn't that what we're told, 1 John 5, 3, Proverbs 3, 17? These verses affirm that idea, the peacefulness of Christ, the peace of Christ, the joy of Christ, the contentment in Christ. Think of all these words. Indeed, are not the fruits of the Spirit even attendant with those very things, love, joy, Where does that come from? It comes from understanding who He is, what He has provided. This for us is truly our hope. It should be the focus of our hope. Christ says, come to me. And there's a relationship then that is established. The idea of the union is so important. That's important to Paul and Colossians. We've been talking about union with Christ as it relates to our relationship with Him. Joined to Him, the benefits of that, growing in grace. understanding the benefits of all that's attendant with being placed in Christ, that clothing picture that Paul uses in Colossians, all of these are part and parcel of what this coming is attendant with. Even the picture that we have from Scripture of the vine, we are engrafted into Him like branches. And as a consequence, we have from Him, undissipated, all the life and the love that He enjoys. Isn't that wonderful? Now think about this for a minute. When he says, come to me, and he reminds me that his yoke is easy and his burden is light, you have to reach back into the profundity of the doctrine that's communicated in verse 27, and therein you find again the expansive nature of just how peaceful and joyful this relationship is. Because we know in verse 27 that the Father has approved of everything that the Son is doing, that the Son and the Father are in union with each other. You are now part and parcel of that. John 17 in the High Priestly Prayer speaks to this wonderful relationship that exists between the Father and the Son and the benefits being extended to His own people, to His own disciples. The love of the Father extended into you as well. That is the benefit of coming to Him, being in Him, resting in Him. That's why there is rest there. There's nothing more for you to do. Nothing more at all. So what we see, as we noted last week by John Bunyan, our righteousness is in Christ and my righteousness is in heaven. Again, when the Father looks at me, He does not see my own self-worth. He does not see my yoke of heavy burdens and say, wow, that's an impressive yoke, that guy's got a lot of burdens going on, I like him. No, He sees Jesus Christ. He understands that you stand complete in Him, and indeed, as Bunyan would note, the Father does not see you at all in the context of anything other than being in Jesus Christ. It can be no other way. If there is another way, if there is more to it than that, we've got a massive problem, just a massive problem, because now faith becomes somehow tied to our own performance, and that's going to be an issue. Calvin would say there can be no gospel without union with Christ. The Son of God, God Himself, became God with us precisely so that He might be one with us. He then gives us His Spirit that we might be one with Him. As Calvin would note, for this is the design of the gospel, that Christ may become ours and that we might be engrafted into His body. The picture being painted there, of course, is we are the recipients, the beneficiaries of all that He has done. and his life flows through us, causing us to live for him, to act in obedience, but not to save us more. We can't be any more saved. It's the product of our salvation. Calvin would go on to say, the end of the whole gospel ministry is that God, the fountain of all felicity, I love the way they wrote. When was the last time you talked about the fountain of all felicity? Probably not much. But he says, the end of the whole gospel ministry is that God, the fountain of all felicity, communicate Christ to us who are disunited by sin and hence ruined. That we may from him enjoy eternal life. That in a word, all heavenly treasures be so applied to us that they be no less ours than Christ himself. Again, think about that for a minute. Let's just read it again. The end of the whole gospel ministry is that God, the fountain of all felicity, all joy, all contentment, all peace, communicate Christ to us, you and me here, who are disunited by sin and hence ruined. We often forget that, but those who come to Christ humbly as infants are people who are grasping that, right? That's the idea. That's the idea. I understand that I'm ruined. I understand that I have nothing to give. There's nothing. I'm empty. I've come to the end of myself. I must look outside of myself. So he communicates Christ to us with great joy, to those even of us who are disunited by sin and hence ruined, why, that we may from him, what, enjoy eternal life, that in a word all heavenly treasures be so applied to you and me that they may be no less ours than they are for Christ himself. Which goes back to verse 27. You are the, you get all of that. All of that is yours in Christ. And so he says at the end of Matthew 11, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. What a unique way to end an invitation, is it? I mean, it just ends there. That little sentence, end of the story, and you're left with that singular thought. We need to be reminded of that passage over and over and over again. You struggle with assurance. A lot of Christians do. I understand that. Our assurance is driven by our focus. You take your eyes off of Christ, I will guarantee you, you will struggle with assurance. You look to yourself for sufficiency, you will struggle with assurance. You forget the benefits that have been given over to you by Christ, you forget this passage, you forget the idea of how God resists the proud but give grace to the humble, you will struggle with assurance. And unfortunately today we have most churches, predominantly within evangelicalism, who teach a gospel that is partially Christ and partially people. Faithing in your faithfulness, try harder, work harder, do more. Why aren't you doing better? Why did you have a bad week? Try more, do more, do harder. Five steps, six steps, seven steps, eight steps, nine steps. Do-si-do. That's what we hear though. Over and over and over. Faithing in your faithfulness. No, it's faith in Christ alone. Faith in Christ alone. So my righteousness is in Christ. For Calvin and the mainstream reformers, union with Christ was the radical solution we need. The problem, of course, was the radical problem of sin. In Romans 5, Paul would write what? Sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin. Therein lies a problem. Because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man. One trespass led to condemnation for all men. By the one man's disobedience, many were made sinners." Romans 5, 12, 17 through 19. So we got this problem. So in other words, the problem of our sin goes deeper than our individual acts of sin and further back even than our birth. We were born of Adam, and so we're born sharing his doom status and his sinful inclinations. This means it is not enough for us to have the record of our sinful acts expunged, for us to be given a boost to do better, we must be born again. We must be born again. As we were born of Adam, united to him and sharing his status and inclinations, so we must be born again of Christ, sharing his status and inclinations. Do you see this? Does this make sense? I hope it does. 1 Corinthians 15.22, for as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be what? Made alive. The exclusivity of Christ. He is the only way. John 14.6, I am the what? Way. I'm one way. Is that what he said? I'm just one way. I'm one form of truth. No, I am the way, the truth, and the life. That's it. No one cometh to the Father but by me. It's the end of story. And that's what we see here in Matthew as well. But again, think about this. As we were born of Adam, united to him and sharing his status and inclinations, so we must be born again of Christ, what? Sharing his status and inclinations. This is the generous offer that Christ is making here. His status and inclinations now become mine. I rest in his status and inclinations. I am complete in all that he has done and therefore his yoke is easy and his burden is light. I need add nothing more to it. What's amazing about this invitation and the completeness and the nature of the lightness and easiness of the burden is that it speaks to the idea of something that is far better than having a few sins just washed away. No, those who are reborn in Christ and so united to Him can cry out with Paul, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Do you see this? That this is the consequence of what Christ is speaking of here. How is it that my yoke is easy and my burden is light? What benefit is that to me? The benefit is that I am now part and parcel of all that he has accomplished. I don't have to add anything to it. Nothing is required more of me. And in fact, as I just noted, Paul was so overwhelmed with it that he would even identify himself as having been crucified with Christ. That's how utterly complete our salvation is. If we're united to Him, which is what this passage speaks of, then we have been united to Him in His death. In the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. In Him, we have died to sin. We have been crucified and condemned. We have already endured the full punishment for it all. Moreover, we share the vindication that Christ received on the third day when He was raised again, declared righteous, and accepted." Wow. United to Him, we share His new life and the very righteousness of God. You know what, Pastor, though? I'd rather it be kind of about me. Can we just put a little bit of me in the mix? Can I just have some skin in the game? Just a little. I just want a little. I'll sleep better at night." No, you won't. And if you do, you'll wake up in hell. It's a simple truth. If you think that you're going to be okay at the end of the day with somehow talking about the fact that you're okay with God, and it's all going to be okay with Him, you're going to be gravely disappointed. Did we not do great things in your name? I don't know you. I have no idea who you are. Get out of here. Get out of here." Interestingly enough, the idea that believers are credited with the righteousness of Christ was quickly rejected by Roman Catholic theologians as a dubious and therefore flimsy legal fiction. They rejected it. They indicated that, of course, the righteousness of Christ was sort of important, but so is yours. He aids you in your endeavors. He assists you, as do the saints, and they help you go along to get along. This is the idea of prevenient grace instead of a resistible grace, a grace that simply aids but does not transform or change, which is the teaching of the Reformation. A grace that is utter and complete in its transformation and bringing a person to salvation doesn't leave them half saved, partially saved, but wholly saved. This is what Christ is speaking to here. There's no indication whatsoever from the words of Christ, come to me all who are sort of weary and sort of heavy laden, and I'll give you rest along with whatever you're doing. I'll help you in your efforts. There is an abandonment. When he says in verse 28, come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, the invitation is predicated upon the fact that they're going to be leaving behind, that they've come to the end of themselves, that they're no longer attached to those things. They understand the futility of their endeavor. There's nobody who comes in response to this invitation with a satchel thrown over their shoulder saying, well, here's some of my good works, I'm going to come along with you. No. No, because back in verse 25, you've hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent, those who are self-righteous. That's not going to work at all. We have to be born again. We have to turn to Christ. We are joined to Him, and this is the extent of the invitation. We are united to Him. Calvin again would state, And again, think about that. We're not just looking at Christ as an object far off, as something that can be there in a pinch. No. Christ and the believer are made one. The great exchange is complete. It's like even a picture in the context of marriage, which Martin Luther often used, becoming one. Becoming one. This is what we're seeing here in the context of this wonderful, wonderful invitation. I mean, this ought to be so amazing to us that we rub our eyes in amazement. Pinch me, am I dreaming? And then we go back to our way of thinking. And so, ever since the days of the Reformation, it has been a staple of Protestant ministry to urge people to remember and to hold fast this sweet message day by day, day by day. Spurgeon preaching to his congregation implored them this, remember that he sees us now in Christ. He has put his people into the hands of his dear son. He has even put us into Christ's body. for we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. He sees us in Christ to have died, in him to have been buried, and in him to have risen again. As the Lord Jesus Christ is well-pleasing to the Father, so in him are we well-pleasing to the Father also. Did you love that? As the Lord Jesus Christ is well-pleasing to the Father, so in Him are we well-pleasing to the Father also. For our being in Him identifies us with Him. If then our acceptance with God stands on the footing of Christ's acceptance with God, it standeth firmly and is an unchanging argument with the Lord God for doing us good. If we stood before God in our own individual righteousness, our ruin would be sure and speedy, but in Jesus, our life is hid beyond peril. I firmly believe that until the Lord rejects Christ, He cannot reject His people. Until He repudiates the atonement and the resurrection, He cannot cast away any of those with whom He has entered into covenant in the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen, Chuck. Preach it, brother. I can't wait to meet him. It's just so beautiful. This is so beautiful. I was reading a book this past week. It was overwhelming in the context of Jesus Christ and who he is. The title of it is this, The Happiness of Enjoying and Making a True and Speedy Use of Christ. Only the Puritans could title a book. Alexander Gross wrote this book back in the early 1600s. He's speaking of Christ and he writes of the superlative excellencies of Christ. And he says this, so you think about what Spurgeon just said, and then you think about Jesus Christ himself, he says, Sweet and soul-ravishing excellency are the names given in sacred scripture to Christ, such as Emmanuel. God with us with regard to His person, being God and man in the unity of His person and with regard to His office, being with us by intercession, with His Father for us, by protection against all enemies and by provision in all adversities. Christ being made one with us is the fountain of all our happiness. Sometimes He is called Jesus, sometimes He is called a Savior. Not a typical, but a proper, true and spiritual Savior. Not immediate, but an immediate Savior. He is a Savior by merit, obtaining salvation by His perfect obedience and satisfaction. A Savior by efficacy, applying all His benefits by the operation of His Word and Spirit. And a Savior with regard to the point of origin of the perfect righteousness, favor of God and life eternal, which He brings us. Christ is the complete and perfect author of salvation to all God's children. Full of heavenly sweetness is the name of Jesus to all true believers. Honey in the mouth, music in the ear, and a jubilee in the heart. Superlatively sweet and excellent is that salvation which Christ brings to all who sincerely receive him. Come to me, come to me. That is so beautiful. That's what we have in Jesus Christ. This is why this invitation is so incomprehensible. His yoke is easy, his burden is light. Everything that you need is there for you in Jesus Christ alone. Christ alone. Christ alone. What a good and gracious Savior we have. What an overwhelming salvation that we have. Do you marvel in it? You revel in it. Has your joy been robbed by the fact that you spend a lot of time dallying with your own works, with your own goodness? Friends, I say to you, look to Jesus Christ. God is the fountain of felicity. And he's given you Jesus Christ. How good is that? And God's people said? Amen. Let's pray. Lord, we love you. Thank you for the great provision that we have in Jesus Christ to be reminded of all his benefits and his excellencies, our union with him, that the burden is light and easy. Indeed, there truly is really no burden in the context of anything obligatory. All that we do is out of love and joy and gratitude. Thank you for so great a salvation. Thank you for loving us first. Thank you for joining us with Jesus Christ. We praise you in his name. We thank you for this day. Thank you for this time of celebration, both historically in terms of the broader history of church and the history of this church locally. May our fellowship be sweet and reflective of the joy that we have in Christ. Thank you for those who have worked so diligently to help us to enjoy this day. Thank you for the food that's been provided, the bounty that before us is a demonstration, a continued demonstration of your provision and goodness to us. Thank you, Lord, for this day. May you be well pleased with our fellowship and our worship in Christ's name. Amen.