apart from this will, as definite and particular, as much emphasis as we can place in human language upon divine sovereignty. And yet our Savior saw no contradiction to go on from these words to cast out one of the most tender-hearted, one of the most widely reaching invitations to whosoever is laboring and heavy laden, freely offering himself and grace and salvation in himself unto all men, and calling all men to come unto him." And in this gospel call, we have three things before us. First of all, there is description of Our Lord Jesus Christ was ever an observant one, and he noticed with an unfiltered and keen eye even the handiwork of his father in creation, seeing how the lilies of the field grew and how the birds were cared for by his father in heaven, noticing that not one sparrow fell to the ground apart from his father. With his keen and perceptive eye, he saw such things. But our Lord also observed men. with his clear and unclouded perception. And he saw men to be like this, to see them as laboring and heavy laden. Now, I would submit to you that when our Lord spoke these words, he didn't see anyone before his eyes, literally at that moment, picking up a burden. in order to go about his daily work, just like we have a gathering here this evening. And none of us are sweating from our brows and carrying a heavy burden and laboring and straining our bodies, but rather we're sitting and listening to hear the Word of God. So when our Lord looked out upon his hearers and spoke amidst his hearers to those that labored and were heavy laden, that he was observing something that was true of them, even though it was not seen by the eye, that he was applying a description to their true state and ultimately to their spiritual state. We know that the Lord God made labor to be good, and that when he placed Adam in the garden, no doubt there would have been burdens for Adam to carry in the course of keeping and tending the garden. And yet it is because of sin that labor has become toilsome and that the laborer sweats away until his limbs are weak and he falls exhausted at the end of the day. And so our Lord uses this imagery of labor in a fallen world to describe the spiritual state of men. Now, did I say spiritual state? I don't by any means mean to gloss over the fact that our Lord speaks even through his word this evening to those who experience the miseries of this life. Our Lord was not unmindful. of those who labored and were heavy laden under the burdens of illness and death and bereavement and poverty. We see very much that our Lord was mindful of them. We need only look at Luke 13. Here we have a woman in the synagogue who is bowed over together so that she cannot stand up and our Lord calls out to her and says, come on to me. This one who, as it were, is bowed over with the burden of being oppressed by Satan, the burdens of the miseries of this life, he called unto her. And so, Christ would call unto you if you find yourself burdened by the miseries of life in a fallen world. But ultimately, we do not understand the burden that our Lord speaks of if we don't see its root cause and the ultimate identity of this burden, which is none other than sin. and you'll remember the description of John Bunyan. He got it exactly right as he described what this burden was that our Lord spoke of. He said that in his dream he saw and there was a man who was dressed in rags with his face away from his house and a book in his hand and a burden on his back. And that burden was none other than his sin. Laboring and heavy laden is the condition of a sinner who is awakened to a sense of his sin. The language of scripture in Psalm 38 is this, for mine iniquities are gone over mine head. As in heavy burden, they are too heavy for me. It is sin that is the burden of burdens, that is the plague of plagues. Have you felt this burden? It comes to us in the form of a guilty conscience. We are condemned by the court that is within, which cries, guilty, guilty. We've been given each one of us to know the law of God, which is that high and searching standard of his holiness, and to examine ourselves in accordance with that standard, the law of God revealed in 10 commandments. All of us must be pricked to the heart. We ought to be pricked to the heart to know that we have not come up to this righteous and holy standard. If we were to think but of the things that we have omitted to do, the duties that we have failed to carry out or done half-heartedly or with divided motives, we would realize that our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. If we were to think even of the words that we have spoken and to think of the solemn words of our Lord Jesus Christ, that men shall give an account for every idle word that they have spoken, Who of us tonight can be of such a hard heart as not to be pricked in conscience and to realize the guilt of our sin? There's a guilty conscience. There's the sense of God's wrath. Psalm 38. Oh Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure, for thine arrows stick fast in me. Another aspect of this burden is the sense of one's members being in bondage to sin. I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind. and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members." And those were the words of the apostle. Truly, isn't it? Those who have been visited by the Spirit of grace and who have been made new creatures in Christ, who sometimes feel this burden most keenly, more so than anyone else. We say, oh, I'm so conformed to the world. I run so slowly in my master's ways. I understand His will as if a cloud were there, and the cloud is in my own mind. I don't love Him as I ought to have done. I don't have the degrees of gratitude that I should. Have you felt this burden?" You know, it's amazing that anyone can stay at a distance from Jesus Christ. How will you fare if you are left to bear the burden on your own? Here's what you're like apart from Christ. You're like a man upon whom the hot sun has been beating down all day long, and you're about run dry from the perspiration that's come from your brow. a heavy burden, pressing down and exhausting your strength and galling upon your shoulders. You are about ready to collapse and fall upon the ground. And here is one who says, come unto me. How can you stay away from him? It's amazing that men do stay away from him. that man with his deceitful heart takes byways rather than coming unto Christ. Instead of coming unto Christ, men would rather labor for that which does not satisfy and spend their money for that which is not bread. They would rather labor after pleasure and happiness and wealth and fame. or they would rather labor after a righteousness of their own, a supposed righteousness. Instead of coming to Christ, men let themselves be saddled with a second burden that only makes the first heavier. Our Lord spoke of the Pharisees as those who bind heavy burdens and grievous to be born and lay them on men's shoulders, imposing commandments that God never made upon men. Are you burdened? This evening, do you know the burden that is upon you? Have you been awakened to your burden, which is none other than your sin, and all its guilt, and in all the power of its corruption? You're the one that Christ is describing then. You're the one that he is speaking unto. And he speaks unto you with an invitation. And notice his invitation. There are three things that he says for you to do. All ye that labor and are heavy laden, Come to me. Come to me. This is one of the places in scripture where what our Lord says by way of implication is as powerful as anything that he says directly. Come to me. Now, if I were a doctor, it would probably be prudent for me to adjust the expectations of the ones who came to me. And so if I were a cancer doctor, for instance, and I saw a certain patient, I might say, I believe that I can help you. There's a 90% chance that I would be able to apply the medicines and free you from cancer. But in another case, if someone came unto me, I'd have to be honest and say, there's very little chance that I'll do anything for you, or I might be able to extend your life by a little bit. I wouldn't make a boastful claim, I can cure anyone in the world, no matter their malady. But here, the Lord Jesus is able to make such a claim. He says, come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden. Give me the most desperate spiritual case in the human race and come unto me. I have the infinite resources of grace to cure the one in whom the malady is greatest. I am the one who has been entrusted with the office of mediator. I have been made the surety of sinners. I am the one to whom the doctrine of salvation is committed, so that no one knows the Father except the one to whom I reveal him. I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes unto the Father except by me. Here in the gospel offer, it is as if the King of Heaven A king much greater than Xerxes is holding out the golden scepter that you might come unto him. He is unimaginably great, and that's what makes this invitation so wonderful. If we have a true sense of who we are and who He is, we'll say, how could it be that I come unto Him? My sins have made a separation between myself and my God, and He is God of gods. He is very God, God in the flesh, and yet He says unto me, come? But this is exactly the one whom our Savior wants to invite. this evening through His Word. The one who has the sense of how unworthy He is. Unto the laboring and heavy laden one, He says, come. Now we want everyone here to come unto Christ. We want to address the one who's never come to Christ and say, how could you stay away from such a Savior? How could you carry upon your shoulders, without relief, that burden of sin that will damn you? How could you stay away? And we want to address this evening the one who has long ago come to Christ. And to you also, the Savior says, come to me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. This one has ascended up into heaven. A throne of grace is set up in heaven, which has been sprinkled with his blood for the very purpose that you might come boldly unto the throne of grace to find grace, to help in time of your need. All we ought to be very frequent in coming to the throne of grace. We ought to be very frequent because our burden is so great. Very frequent because the invitation is so open, so ready at hand. Come to me, says our Savior. What would Christ have you to do? He would have you to come to Him. He would also have you to take His yoke. There is no true rest without taking a yoke. A yoke implies two things at least. A yoke implies submission to a master. So, Jeremiah spoke about Nebuchadnezzar's yoke. To take Nebuchadnezzar's yoke was to acknowledge that he was boss and to submit to him. To take Christ's yoke is to acknowledge that he is Lord. To acknowledge that God has exalted him to reign and that obedience is owed unto him. To take his yoke upon you is to come unto him to learn to obey all that he has commanded. It implies subjection, and it also implies working. Why do we put animals into a yoke except to give them work to do, to plow up the ground? There is much work to be done for Christ. We think of the way that Paul commends those who worked hard in the Lord. There's the work of hospitality, the work of prayer, the work of providing for your family and caring for your household. These are works to be done for Christ. Work that is coexistent with rest. Come to me and have rest. Take my yoke upon you. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. We can tell the man who has truly come unto Christ because he comes ready not just to have his burden removed, but because he comes ready earnestly desiring to see Christ's kingdom extended and ready to give his time and treasure and talent to the service of this one, ready to pull in the yoke. Take my yoke, he says. And then thirdly, he would have you to learn of him. You must take Christ for your master and take his yoke upon you, and you must also take Christ as your teacher. A disciple is a learner, and it's a very encouraging word to me. Come to me, learn of me, learn of me. I'm conscious to myself that I'm very partial in my knowledge. I'm conscious in myself that I have many errors and prejudices lodged within my heart. After all, it's only as it were yesterday that God saved me, as it were yesterday. When I was outside of Christ, I couldn't tell the difference between an idol and the living God. I didn't know the difference between sin and righteousness. I didn't know the grace of God, or the beauty and comeliness of holiness. I had to be taught all these things, and I'm learning them. And Christ is a willing teacher. Come to Him, and He will teach you. Now, isn't it wonderful to have a living teacher? And we do have a living teacher. We have his written word, which is a benefit that we could not extol enough, to have his written word. But see, it's not just as if we have a man who's written us a letter. Not just that he's sent it from far off and left it unto us to understand his meaning. He's given us as that were that letter, but he's also given his spirit. He gives his spirit to all who come unto him so that we might know his mind and be taught directly by him through his word and spirit. Learn of me, he says. We see our Lord's description. We see his invitation. And then thirdly, we see his encouragement. He gives us three strong encouragements that we should come to him, take his yoke, and learn of him. And the first is the promise of rest, which he speaks of twice. I will give you rest. You shall find rest for your souls. Rest is elusive to the world. Here we have yoga programs and aromatic oils and vacations and home furnishings, which are promising you rest and peace and relaxation, and they cannot deliver. Indeed, the servant of Satan, is described in Matthew chapter 12. You remember the spirit that goes out of the man and he's in the waterless places searching for what? Rest. Satan's servants always search for rest and never find it. But everyone who comes to Christ finds this rest, a rest of conscience, an assurance of pardon and acceptance with God. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We can feel and know that the burden has lifted from our back. We have rest in our conscience so that no matter how hard we work for Christ or however deeply we feel our failings in serving our master, we have peace as we labor for Him, knowing that we are accepted in the Beloved, and that we are not working unto acceptance with God, but working out of a free and gracious acceptance of the Father in Christ. We have a rest of mind so that our mind is not tossed to and fro by winds and waves, that when shaking circumstances come, our minds can fix upon solid truths. I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor powers, nor anything else in all creation shall be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. There is a rest of mind that is given to the one who comes unto Christ, so that his mind stays upon the promise and is not moved from it, so that he's able to put down roots into it and draw nourishment from it. The promise of Christ is rest. And also there's this encouragement, the character of Christ. I am meek. and lowly in heart. Some men are proud and harsh. Some men you would not want to work for if you could choose. Some men are so austere and severe that if you could choose, you would never sit at their feet and have them be your teacher. But Christ is of such a character that you need never fear to come to Him, to bow down your neck and have Him place His yoke upon you. You can trust Him. The Son of Man is merciful. It was prophesied that He would be merciful, that the servant of the Lord would not break the bruised reed or quench the smoldering wick. Are you bruised and smoldering? Are you made to feel your weakness? Are you made to feel the contest between indwelling sin and the Spirit of God and that conflict that threatens, as it were, to tear you apart? The Son of Man came to save weak ones. Even the prophet prophesied that this would be his task to save the weak. And even now he presently intercedes for the weak ones. He knows what it is to bear the yoke because he himself humbled himself to bear the yoke. It is good for a man that he learned to bear the yoke in his youth. It is said in Lamentations, and no one has borne the yoke but Christ. No, he bore the cross. He bore more than a yoke. He underwent a bloody baptism. He was inundated by the wrath of God. He was brought through the deepest waters that ever man knew until he cried, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He, by his experience as a man in his suffering, is able to deal with the weak. He is of a meek and lowly heart. Christ's character is an encouragement. But then thirdly, also the experience of serving Christ is an encouragement. What will it be like if I come unto him? He says that His yoke is easy, literally, that His yoke is kind, and that His burden is light. Yes, there is self-denial in serving Him. There is labor in serving Him. There is subjection of our wills to His in taking His yoke. But that yoke forbids us to do nothing except that which is evil. That training program, of being under his yoke leads us to nothing but the beauty of his likeness in holiness. And indeed, the trials that come in serving Christ are an opportunity to experience the love of God in Christ that much deeper. Because when we're humbled and brought low, It widens out our narrow hearts so that we might be enabled to receive more of the love of God in Christ. Along with the yoke that he places upon his people, grace upon grace is measured out. His yoke is easy and his burden is light. Is there anyone who is still laboring under the heavy burden of sin, who has no answer for the day of judgment, who is not free from the guilt and power of sin because of never having come to Christ, come unto Him. Is there anyone here who has spent a long time in the service of Christ, and yet you've begun to slide back under the burden, perhaps? Have you become irritated at the demands of serving Christ? Then see Him afresh. See that His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. And the longer that we serve Him, the more our own judgment will agree with the Word of God. As one of the early martyrs said, when he was asked to renounce Christ, he said, 86 years have I served Him, and He has done me no wrong. How can I forsake him now? And may it be true in our experience. May we prove the truth of such gracious words that came from his lips. Amen. And let us rise and pray. Oh Lord, our God and our Father in heaven, What shall we say to you for all these things? When we think of that glorious person of thy son, when we think of him, perfect godhood and perfect manhood joined together in one person, when we think of him who is girded with might to save us, and when we think of him who is full of pity and compassion, we thank thee, our father, that the word of the gospel has been preserved upon the face of the earth. We thank thee even for the apostle who stood with boldness and did not give place, no, not for an hour, so that the truth of the Gospel might be preserved. And how we pray that this Gospel, which sets forth the living portrait of thy Son, which calls and invites heavy-laden men, how we pray that that Gospel would ever be preserved. How we pray that it would be preached in living power and heard, so that the dead might be raised to life and the church built up, how we pray that that gospel would be preached, even unto the ends of the earth, so that the name of the Lord may be feared from the West, and the glory of the Lord from the rising of the sun. And we ask it all for Jesus' sake. Amen. Let us sing to our God, with the words of Psalm 116. Psalm 116, verses 7 through 12. O thou my soul, do thou return unto thy quiet rest, for largely lo, the Lord to thee his bounty hath expressed. in which words we counsel our own souls to enter into that rest that is given by a bountiful Lord. And we notice that rest is attained in the service of the Lord our God. Verse 16. Thy servant, Lord, am I. Thy servant, sure. Thy handmade son, my bands. Thou didst untie. We are those from whom Christ has lifted a burden. We are those from whom Christ has broken away an oppressive yoke and bonds of sin and Satan. And we are those who are under new bonds and who rejoice to be so. and servants to our God. So do Thou return unto Thy quiet rest, For largely lo, the Lord to Thee is bound to be half expressed. For my distressed soul from death delivered was by Thee. How didst my mourning rise from tears, my faith from falling free? I, in the land of those that live, will walk the Lord before. I did believe, therefore I speak. I was afflicted and sore. I said when I was in my haste that all men liars be, what shall I render to the Lord for all His gifts to me? Please rise and receive the Lord's blessing. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.