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As the Lord Jesus walked this
earth, his preaching and teaching received a mixed reaction. It received a mixed reaction.
There were those who delighted in the Savior, and they listened
attentively to his words and worshipped him with a heart filled
with faith and love. We could think of the family
of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Here was a home that delighted
in the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus often visited
their home in Bethany. He was a welcome guest there,
and they loved to see him They loved to sit at his feet and
hear his word. We could also include in this
number that loved the Lord, the 11 disciples, and many of the
people who sought the Lord Jesus for help. These people, as they
heard Christ speak, and as they witnessed his life, did not just
see him as another man, but they saw one who could save and deliver
them, one who could meet their need. And so with determination
and delight, they sought after him. And they listened to his
word. and they attended on to his ministry.
We could say of these people, their response to the Savior
is a good example to all men. For this is how we ought to respond
to Christ today. This is how we ought to respond
to his word as individuals. We should desire after that what
Christ says, and we should desire to know him in a fuller and in
a greater sense. We should desire to fellowship
with him and to know his presence in our lives. But then there
were others, and their response to Christ was very much different.
was different. There were some who were fascinated
by his miracles and they followed the Lord Jesus from place to
place hoping to see another mighty work from the one who could heal
the sick, feed the hungry, still the storm, and raise the dead
to life. These people were not so much
interested in the message of the Savior but just in his miracles. They were fascinated by his miracles.
They maybe even found them entertaining. and amazing. And of course, his
miracles were most wonderful and most glorious. And great
crowds followed Christ, no doubt, just to see some mighty work.
But these people who only followed Christ to observe his miracles,
the time came when they turned their backs on Christ and they
went their own way. And we know this because we read
in John 6, in the verse 66, from that time, many of his disciples
went back and walked no more with him. Many of his disciples,
in other words, these people who followed him from place to
place, they weren't truly converted, but they just followed him from
place to place, therefore they're referred to as his disciples,
they went back and they followed him no more. The good seed which
these people had received had merely fallen into shallow ground,
the shallow ground of their hearts. And so after a time, they ceased
to follow the Savior. After a time they just left and
they went their own way and they were taken up with something
else in life. And then in scripture we see another group of people
who responded in another way to the Lord Jesus. We can say
their response to the Lord Jesus and to his ministry was the worst
possible response that any man could have made to Christ. This
group of people were openly hostile to the Savior They were not interested
in His message, nor were they interested in His miracles. Instead,
they opposed Him. And with all of their strength,
they tried to turn other people from the Lord Jesus. And there
was a group of people, and this was their behavior. This was
how they responded to Christ. They opposed Him. They rejected
Him. And they tried their very best to hinder Christ's ministry
and to turn others from Him. In this passage we have just
read this evening, this wicked Christ-rejecting element is brought
before us. See what it says in verse 20.
Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty
works were done, because they repented not. Here were people
who repented not. Verse 21 says, Woe unto thee,
Gorazon! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! For
if the mighty works which were done on you had been done on
Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth
and ashes. Again, verse 23 tells us And
thy Capernaum, which are exalted unto heaven, shall be brought
down to earth. For if the mighty works which
have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have
remained until this day. The Lord Jesus speaks here of
places where many of his mighty works had been carried out. Many
of his mighty works had been performed. He speaks of Chorazon,
Bethsaida, and Capernaum. The people who lived in these
places had been greatly privileged to hear and to witness the power
and truth of Christ. But they repented not. There
was a rejection of Christ. Another rejection of Christ.
They wouldn't repent from their sin. They wouldn't turn from
their wicked ways. Their response to the Savior was similar to
that of Pharaoh's response to Moses. As Moses brought to Pharaoh
God's word. Remember what Pharaoh said. He
said, who is the Lord that I should obey his voice? I know not the
Lord. He had total contempt for the Lord. He despised the Lord. He said, don't speak to me about
the Lord Jehovah. I don't know who he is. Well,
the people in Geras and Bethsaida and Capernaum, in reality, said
this in their heart. Who is Jesus Christ? That we
should obey his voice? We know not Jesus Christ. The response of these people
to the Lord Jesus is the worst possible response that any man
could ever make. And it is the worst possible
response for it brings the most dreadful of judgments. It brings
the most dreadful of judgments. And that again is brought before
us in this passage. See verse 22. But I say unto you, it shall
be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon of the day of judgment
than for you. Verse 24. But I say unto you
that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the
day of judgment than for thee. How tragic and terrible. will
the end of these people be. Christ returns. Their judgment
will be most terrible. There will be eternal damnation
forever, and utter darkness and hell itself. They rejected Christ. Their response to Christ was
one of dismissing Him and refusing to repent. Christ speaks about
their great destruction and their eternal ruin. However, after
the Savior speaks of these people who rejected him, notice in this
passage that he prays to his Father in heaven. And he does
this in verses 25 to 27. This is a prayer of thankfulness,
thankfulness that God the Father had given to him a people in
this world. See what it says in verse 25.
At that time, this is the time that these people were rejecting
Christ, at that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes." See
what the Savior is saying here. He has just spoken of the people
that rejected Him. But now He thanks His Father
that there were those that would come to Him, those that would
receive Him. And as the Savior finishes praying,
He then is moved to offer a great invitation to men to leave their
sin and to come to Him. And we have this in verses 28
to 30. It is almost as if Christ, in the face of these people rejecting him,
in the face of their opposition, in the face of their refusing
to repent, it's almost as if Christ calls to remembrance the
great truth. God the Father had given to him
a people, a people that would come to him, a people that would
be saved. And as Christ ponders this truth,
he very clearly and very openly extends to man the great gospel
invitation to come to him. As he thinks about these people
that rejected him in Bethsaida, and Chorazon, and Capernaum,
as he thinks about their rebellion and their refusal, he remembers
that the Lord has given to him a people And there are people
to be saved in this world. There are people who will believe.
There are people who will repent. And as Christ thinks upon this,
he offers this great gospel invitation. Come to me. Come to me and I
will give you rest. This evening then, I want us
to look at this invitation. This invitation of Christ. In
the closing verses here in Matthew chapter 11. We could call it
Christ's glorious invitation. Christ's glorious invitation.
And oh, what an invitation it is. What a terrific invitation
it is. Christ's invitation. His gracious
and merciful invitation to sinners to come to him and be saved. Notice then with me a number
of things here about this glorious invitation of the Savior. Firstly,
I want us to consider the people in Christ's invitation. The people
in Christ's invitation. Verse 28 tells us, come on to
me, all you that labor under heavy laden, and I will give
you rest." The invitation of Christ to sinners is proclaimed
to all that labor under heavy laden. This is who Christ invites
to come to him, those that labor under heavy laden. The first
thing we need to consider here is what does the Savior mean?
What does he mean as he speaks of those who labor under heavy
laden? What is he referring to here?
What group of people has he got in mind? Who has he in view here
as he refers to those who labor under heavy laden? Well, the
Savior is addressing those who are burdened down under the weight
of their own sin. He's speaking to people who are
conscious of their own poor, lost, and ruined condition. These people are heavy laden
for they realize they have broken God's law and are guilty in his
sight. And as such, they are under the sentence of eternal
death. This awareness of their dreadful
spiritual state weighs heavy upon their hearts. It greatly
concerns them. It troubles them. And so they
are laboring under this grievous and heavy burden. And they can
find no rest for their souls. This is the people who are in
view here. Those who are troubled about their sin. Those who are
concerned about their sin. Those who see the awfulness and
the weight of their sin. Those who feel this upon their
own conscience. You see, the invitation of Christ to the sinner
is proclaimed to all that realize something of their own ruined
and fallen condition. This is who Christ invites to
come to him. That person who realizes something
of their own sinful and ruined condition. The Philippian jailer
cried out, what must I do to be saved? because there was a
heavy burden that weighed upon his soul. He realized he was
a guilty sinner under God's judgment. And that is why Paul could reply
to him, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
The Philippian jailer received the invitation. He received it
because he had taken the place of the sinner. He had owned his
sin. It was real to him. It was a
serious problem to him. And the point is this, the invitation
of Christ in the gospel is only to those who are grieved and
vaxed by their own sin and sinful state. It is to those who see
something of their own corruption and condemnation. This is who
God's invitation in the gospel is to. The man who's troubled
about his sin. The Lord said he hadn't come
to call the righteous, but he'd come to call sinners to repentance.
That's the words of the Savior. And who's he referring to? As
he speaks about the righteous there. He's referring to those
that aren't, they're not righteous, but they see themselves as righteous.
He's referring to the Pharisees and to the scribes and to leaders
of the Jews who thought they had no need of salvation. Christ
says, I haven't come to call you to repentance because you're
beyond it. But I've called to come, I've
come to call the sinner. I've come to call the one who's
burdened and troubled, weighed down with the heavy load of their
sin. Christ says, come only to those
that labor under heavy lame. Oh, how important it then is
that we see and understand something of our own sin and sinful condition. The truth is all men ought to
be grievously concerned about their sinful state. This is something
that ought to trouble. Indeed, this is the one thing
that ought to particularly trouble every single soul. I am a sinner.
I have broken God's law. God's wrath hangs over my head
and my sin is going to condemn me. It's going to bring the sword
of God's judgment upon my soul for all eternity. Oh, how this
ought to trouble our hearts. It is blindness. It is ignorance.
It is folly. Live and die as a sinner and
not be concerned about appearing before the judgment seat of Christ.
The reason why God in his word speaks to man about his sin and
the terrible judgment will come upon those who die in sin is
so men will rightly be concerned and heavy laden and burdened
about the miserable lost state in which they are found. God
speaks to man about a sinful corrupt condition so that he
might have some comprehension of his utter hopelessness and
then in turn seek Christ for salvation. You see dear sinner
If you will not take the place of the sinner, if you will not
take the place of the sinner and confess the sinfulness of
your state before God, then Christ issues to you no invitation to
come to Him. Christ is the cure. He is the
cure for your sin sick soul. But if the sickness of your soul
does not trouble you, if you don't recognize that you are
actually sick, then Christ cannot be your physician.
That's the point. He cannot be your physician.
If you come to him on your self-righteousness, if you come to him thinking that
you've got something of value and worth, and really you have
no need of his salvation, he cannot be your physician. Therefore,
his invitation is only for those who recognize their sin. They're
heavy laden and burdened down by it. in the prophecy of Isaiah. We see again who the gospel invitation
is proclaimed to. Turn with me for a moment to
Isaiah chapter 61. Isaiah chapter 61, notice what it says here
in the opening verses of this chapter. Isaiah chapter 61, we'll
read verses 1 to 3 here. The spirit of the Lord God is
upon me, this is Isaiah speaking, because the Lord hath anointed
me to preach good tidings. And so see what Isaiah is saying,
saying the Lord has anointed me to preach the gospel, to declare
the truth, to preach good tidings unto the meek. He has sent me
to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives
and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim
the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our
God, to comfort all that mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn
in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness,
that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting
of the Lord, that he might be glorified. Notice here, as the
Lord sends Isaiah to preach the gospel, and again, that's what
he's doing here in verse one. He clearly tells us this, to
preach good tidings. He's preaching the gospel. But
as the Lord sends Isaiah to do this, who is the gospel proclaimed
to here? It is proclaimed to them that
are broken hearted. To those that mourn. To those
that have heaviness. This is not speaking about a
physical state or some kind of mental state. This is speaking
about man's spiritual condition. That's the point. Those that
mourn over their sin. Those that are heavy because
of their sin. Those that are broken because of their sin.
God has sent his allies to preach liberty and freedom and joy and
good tidings to such people. Because it's such people, it
is such people that Christ invites to come unto him. People who
see their sin as that overwhelming weight that is dragging them
out of this world down even to the depths of hell itself. This is the people that Christ's
glorious invitation in the gospel is addressed to. Remember also
the man in the parable in Matthew 22, who came to the wedding feast
without the wedding garment on. We're familiar with that parable.
This man came to the wedding feast without the wedding, the
proper wedding garment on. And he tried to take his place
among the other guests still clothed in his own garment, in
his own clothes. what happened when the king came
in and saw him? What happened? The invitation
to this man was withdrawn. And he was put out. The invitation
was withdrawn and he was cast out. He was cast out because
he didn't recognize he needed he needed the garment provided.
And so it is for man and sin. You cannot come to Christ. If Christ does not invite you to
come to him if your sin does not concern you and weigh heavy
upon your soul. In short, you cannot have your
sin and have Christ. Cannot have your sin and have
Christ. And so this is why Christ only invites those who are concerned
and troubled about their sin to come to him. They want their
sin dealt with because it's either your sin or the Savior. This is who Christ proclaims
this glorious invitation to you. This is the people he has in
view here. Those troubled about their sin.
But then notice something else here in this passage. Not only
the people in Christ's invitation, but the purpose of Christ's invitation.
Again, this is brought before us in verse 28. Come unto me,
the Savior says. Come unto me. The purpose of
this invitation, this glorious invitation of Christ to sinners,
is that they will come unto him. The sense of these words is that
man and sin would come and be joined to Christ, be united to
Him. In John 6.37, the Lord Jesus
said, All that the Father giveth to me shall come to me, and him
that cometh to me I will in no ways cast out. See how the person
who comes to Christ is not cast out, but they're brought in. They're joined and united to
Him. This is the great purpose for which Christ invites sinners
unto Himself. that they might come and be joined
unto him. And these three words of Christ
come unto me. We have what is really the goodness news that
man and sin could ever receive. The goodness news of all. Let's
think about it for a moment. Here we are sinners perishing
in our sin. Here we are sinners born onto
the broad road which leads to destruction. In our sin we have
offended a holy God. What we then justly deserve from
God is to be cast out forever from His presence and to be punished
for our disobedience. This is man's fallen position.
This is our position by nature. We are sinners, lawbreakers. We're guilty in God's sight.
We deserve hell. We deserve God's judgment. Then
we have Christ. He has come into this world,
taken our nature. He has lived a holy and obedient life, a life
in which there was no sin, after which he was taken and crucified
upon the cross and made to suffer for sin. He then was buried,
rose again from the dead, and now lives and reigns in the power
of an endless life. In short, what Christ has done
through his coming into this world, through his dying, through
his rising again from the dead, what he has done is he has provided
all that is necessary to save and deliver the sinner from the
punishment of their sin and to present the sinner before his
father's face as one that is righteous. This is what Christ
has done. This is what he has done. Earned
and merited salvation for his people. Earned and merited a
full salvation for undeserving sinners such as you and I. This
is what Christ has done. And so here we have this great
invitation now. Here we have this great invitation.
Again, remember the context here. We are sinners deserving of hell,
but Christ came and he lived for us. He died for us. He rose
again for us. He's provided the full salvation
for sinners. And now he comes with this great invitation, this
glorious invitation. And he says, come on to me. Come
on to me. Those invited are wicked, hell
deserving sinners perishing in their sin. And the one inviting
is the savior. who has power to save and to
deliver. You see now why these three words
of Christ are the greatest words you could ever hear? It is the
invitation of the one, the only one, who can meet man's need
as a sinner. It is the invitation to come
and be joined to him and be saved. You come to him. You are united
to him. and all that he has done to save
sinners will become yours. That's what he's saying here.
That's the significance of these words when he says come to me.
He's saying come to me and all that I have done to provide salvation
for sinners will become yours. His life of obedience will become
yours. It'll be counted as the sinners
that comes to him. That's what happens when a sinner
comes to Christ. His perfect life of obedience
is therefore counted as the sinners. That sinner is declared righteous
in God's sight. His suffering for sin, the blessing and benefits
of that suffering, becomes the sinner's who comes to him. In
other words, their sin is cancelled, it is forgiven, it is cleansed
away the moment you come to Christ. This is what it means to come
to him. Oh dear sinner, tonight, Christ's glorious invitation
to you is, is come to me. Come to me. And all that I have
done for you will become yours. The great salvation I have provided
for you will be that which you will possess and have. And your
sin will be forgiven. You will be declared righteous
in God's sight. And the hope of eternal life will become yours. Christ's purpose as he issues
the invitation to sinners in the gospel is that they will
come to him. and be saved. Of course, there's
another one, and we should never forget this, there's another
one who has a different purpose for the lives and souls of men
and women. That one is Satan himself. That one is the devil,
the wicked one. The devil has got one great purpose
for your life tonight. You who sit in this meeting out
of Christ, the devil has one great purpose for your life.
And that is to stop you coming to Christ. That's really all
Satan cares about. That's all he's worried about. He does not care how you live.
He does not care how you behave. He does not care one iota about
the things that you do in life or do not do. All he is concerned
about is that you will not come to Christ. Because he knows that
in coming to Christ you will obtain salvation. and eternal
life. And he's doing all in his purpose
to stop this taking place. Indeed, the devil will even try
stealing the invitation of Christ and the gospel from your heart
and soul. And this is how he works as the
gospel is being preached. He's there waiting to steal it
away. And this is what Mark 4 verse 15 shows us. Listen to what it
says. And these are they by the wayside. Of course, this was
the parable of the sore going out And the Savior speaking here
about how the seed sown in the wayside was stolen by birds,
and he explains it here in Matthew, Mark 4, verse 15, saying, And
these are they by the wayside where the word is sown. But when
they have heard, Satan cometh immediately and taketh away the
word that was sown in their hearts. See how the old fowl of the earth,
Satan, seeks to steal the invitation of Christ from the hearts of
men and women. perishing in their sin. And that's
what he's doing. And he works at this continually. Even perhaps
tonight as the gospel is preached in this meeting. Satan is waiting
there and as the seed is almost dropping into your soul, he's
stealing it away. How does he do this? Well, he'll
bring something else into your heart and mind. Maybe plans for
the sin coming week, things you have to do later on. Some great
idea that you have. Some concern you have. And you're
sitting in God's house and the seed of truth is falling upon
your soul. So, but as it falls, Satan is just snatching it up
away. He's stealing it. Why? Because his purpose is to
stop you coming to Christ. His purpose is to keep you in
your sin. His purpose is to damn your soul. Sinner, listen to
Christ's invitation tonight. Come on to me. Come on to me. And respond to this invitation Don't let him steal this invitation
from your very soul tonight. Respond in faith and come to
Christ. We have then the purpose of Christ's
invitation as well as the people in this invitation. Notice also
here the promise in Christ's invitation. The promise. This
is brought before us in verses 28 and 29. 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. The invitation
which Christ gives to sinners is not an empty one. Instead,
it comes with a great promise. I will give you rest. Notice
here rest is mentioned not only in verse 28, but in verse 29. And so this is the great promise
of God to sinners. You come to me. You will have
rest. When we are troubled, we are troubled, lost, and perishing
sinners. But the invitation of Christ
in the gospel is come to me. And if you do so, you will come
to know and you will come to enjoy rest. You will know rest. And now what is this rest? What
is the rest that Christ promised to those that come to him? What
does the Savior mean as he speaks of rest? What is the rest found
in the gospel? Well, unrest, trouble, and strife
are the results and consequences of sin. Our world is a troubled
world tonight. And man's lives are troubled
because it is a world that has been blighted and destroyed and
defiled by sin. Isaiah 57 verse 20 says, but
the wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest whose
waters cast up mire and dirt. And again, remember the word
wicked there, it simply means a lawbreaker. Every sinner is a lawbreaker. And that's the thought here.
But the lawbreaker, the lawbreakers are like the troubled sea, when
it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. And it
brings before this ideal of the sinner being in a state of unrest,
of trouble, of distress, of misery. If you think back to creation
before Adam and Eve fell in sin, that which characterized their
lives was peace and rest. They lived in paradise. Adam
and Eve, before they fell, knew nothing of trouble. They knew
nothing of distress or heartache. But after the fall, things were
very much different. After the fall, God told Adam,
curse it as the ground for thy sake, and sorrow shall eat of
it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles shall
it bring forth to thee. And thou shalt eat the herb of
the field, and the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till
thou return unto the ground. This is what God said to Adam.
Listen also what God said to Eve. I will greatly multiply
thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow thou shalt bring forth
children. What is this telling us? It is
telling us grief and trouble in life are all connected to
sin. all connected to sin. This is
the reason for trouble. This is the reason for heartache
and distress. It is sin. Unrest in this world,
unrest in the lives of men and women is a direct result of sin. But then the promise of Christ's
gospel invitation is, I will give you rest. I will give you
rest. Christ will give rest unto all
that come unto him. Therefore what Christ is saying
to us is, I will deal with the consequences of sin. I will remove
from your life the misery and heinous consequences of sin.
I will give you rest. That's the thought here. That's
the idea. The rest Christ gives is rest
in conscience. Guilt that would greatly disturb
the soul and heart of man is banished. In other words, he's
no longer heavy laden and burdened. Remember here, the opening words
of verse 28, come on to me. All ye that labour and are heavy
laden. That's speaking about a state of conscience, troubling
of the conscience, troubling of the mind, a problem with guilt.
Christ delivers from this. He delivers from this. In Christ
we can say, it is well, it is well with my soul. Because he brings rest to the
conscience. Christ also gives rest from corruption. the corruption of sin. 2 Corinthians
5.17 says, Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature. All things are passed away. Behold, all things become
new. The saved man is no longer a slave to sin and to Satan.
Of course, the man who is converted, the saved man in this world,
will still sin, but he is no longer a slave to sin. He is
no longer held fast by sin's bondage and grip. He has been
delivered from sin's corruption. Christ saves man from sin's corruption. He gives him liberty in this
sense. Therefore, he is rest. He is rest from the tyranny of
Satan and the bondage of sin. And of course, we can also say
Christ gives rest from sin's condemnation. Romans 8 and 1
says, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus. No hell shall they know. who
have come to enjoy the rest found in Christ. No hell shall they
know who have come to Jesus Christ for salvation. The reason why
Christ is able to promise such rest, glorious rest to all that
come to Him, is because He has earned it for His people. This
is what Christ has earned. How has He earned it? He has
earned it by facing the greatest unrest that any individual has
ever faced. He suffered the unrest of the
cross, the affliction of the cross, the wrath of God, hell
itself. And this is what Christ did as
he died upon the tree. All the unrest, all the trouble,
all the heartache, all the condemnation, all the wrath, all the hell of
his people. He endured this. He took it upon
himself. He stood into our place. He drank
damnation dry for his people. And therefore, because he has
taken our unrest, we can find rest in him. He took our unrest
to give all that he does invitation. Rest and eternal life. What a
promise this is. What a promise this is to sinners.
Rest for your soul. Sinner, will you respond to Christ's
invitation? Will you respond to this invitation?
If you do, you will find rest for your soul, knowing it as
well. well with you and you're ready for eternal day. One last
thing I want to note here, not only the people in Christ's invitation
and the purpose of it and the promise of it but the precept
in Christ's glorious invitation. See again the words of verses
29 and 30. 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. As the Lord Jesus issues
this great invitation to sinners, at the same time He speaks of
how men must take Christ's yoke upon them and how they must learn
of Christ. We must not miss this, for so
often this is missed as the Gospel is preached. Yes, the invitation
of the Gospel is, Come unto me. And when a sinner comes to Christ,
they will enjoy all the benefits and blessings of salvation, they
obtain rest for their souls. I've just noticed that, noted
that. A sinner comes to Christ, they will have rest for their
souls. What we see here is those that come to Christ and find
rest for their souls also take Christ's yoke upon them. And
they learn of Christ. If you do not take Christ's yoke
upon you, which is a reference to serving Christ and living
to honor Him, That's his yoke, serving him and living to honor
him. If you do not desire to learn of him, the idea there
is to be like him, to be informed onto his likeness. That only
serves to show that you have never actually come to Christ.
Do you see the significance of this? There's many people in
this world and they claim to be saved. And they will even
speak about a time perhaps when they came to Christ. Oh, I came
to Christ at such a date. But there's no yoke bearing in
their lives. There's no seeking to honour
Christ and serve Him. There's no learning of Christ. There's
no conforming unto the likeness of Christ. But you see, this coming to Christ
also involves taking up his yoke. It also involves following here
Christ's precept take my yoke upon you and learn of me and
notice after this the Lord says and ye shall find rest unto your
souls this is all part of finding rest for your soul taking Christ's
yoke upon you and learning of him you see we are saved through
faith through faith in Christ but saving faith is manifested
It is manifested in our life, in our yoke bearing for Christ,
and in our learning of Christ. This is how we manifest that
we are saved and we're Christ's. Through the fruit of our lives,
through the testimony of our lives, not our verbal testimony,
but the very way in which we live, in our actions, in our
yoke bearing, in our learning of Christ. James puts it this
way in James 2 verse 18. Yea man may say that was faith
and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy
works and I will show thee my faith by my works. See what James
is saying there. He says show me thy faith without
thy works. Show me how you can believe in
Christ and not manifest this through your works. That can't
be done. impossible. It's impossible because
the person who has faith in Christ will bear a yoke. And then James
says, and I will show you my faith by my works. I will show
you that I'm a believer in Christ. Through my through my works,
through the way I live, through my yoke bearing. When this invitation,
this glorious invitation from the savior is accepted in the
heart, it will bring transformation in the life. This will always happen. When
Christ's glorious invitation is accepted in the heart. In
other words, when a sinner comes to him, then this will bring
transformation in the life. Oh, do not despise the invitation
of the Savior. What a glorious invitation this
is. What a gracious invitation this is. Christ would come tonight
even to each one in this meeting, and he would extend this invitation
to you again. Therefore, do not despise this
invitation. Do not behave like these wicked
cities mentioned in verses 20 and 24, whose judgment is great,
whose condemnation will be worse than Sodom and Gomorrah, but
come to the Savior tonight. take his yoke upon you. Learn
of him. I know the blessedness of rest
for your soul. Eternal rest in Christ. Eternal
rest in his salvation. Christ's glorious invitation
to sinners is, come on to me. All you that labor under heavy
laden and I will give you rest. will heed the invitation of Christ
and by faith come unto him. May the Lord be pleased to bless
his word to each one of our souls for his own name's sake. Amen
and amen.
Christ's Glorious Invitation
| Sermon ID | 11925205782463 |
| Duration | 40:53 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - PM |
| Bible Text | Matthew 11:28-30 |
| Language | English |
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