Let's turn with me and your Bibles to Matthew chapter 11. Excuse me. Matthew chapter 11. We will look at these familiar verses in verses 27 through 30 this morning. I want to diverge from our study in 2 Corinthians and speak on the comfort we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. After all, that is foundational to so much that we do read about in 2 Corinthians. That is Excuse me, that is the gospel that Paul is given his life for. That is the gospel that he has spent for, day and night, his suffering, his trials, all to present and proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ and the centrality of the hope in him. Now what do you think of, what do you and I think of when we think of comfort? We think of comfort in the Lord Jesus Christ or when we just think of comfort in general. Rest from trials, perhaps, certainly. A pleasant walk on a nice day with a good friend. We all have ideas in our mind about what comfort is, and there are many things that bring us comfort, but as we know, as we've all experienced, the comforts of this life are so unreliable, they're fleeting, and they can be taken in an instant. We know, by contrast, that earthly comfort is temporary and imperfect. The comfort that we read about, that Christ offers here, that is proclaimed in the gospel, is not temporary, is not imperfect, but the comfort we have in Christ is lasting and satisfying. This is why Paul spent all his energy laboring on behalf of the gospel. It was the only message worth dying for. Because to know Christ and have no earthly thing is to have everything. And to have every earthly good and to not know Christ is utterly worthless. Think of the kings, I draw attention to this illustration a lot, but think of the kings of old. Think of the kings in the ancient world who had people waiting on them, hand and foot, right? They had whatever food they wanted, they had gardens, they had lavish palaces, they had servants, they had everything. And imagine being that king in the ancient world and also having extended life, living for a thousand years. Perhaps living for 2,000 years. Well, guess what? 1,000 years of pleasure? 2,000 years? It's all gone now. They're all dead. They're all buried. They're in the grave. But where is their soul? The soul is forever. Earthly comforts are worthless in the grand scheme of things. If one does not know the Lord Jesus Christ, if you today do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, if someone listening to me online does not know the Lord Jesus Christ, it is my prayer that you would not rest until you do. That you would make it your life's pursuit to know Him until you do. And this morning, if you do know the Lord Jesus Christ, it is my prayer and exhortation to you to never rest in anyone or anything else because nothing else is worth our pursuits. Paul was not a madman to give his life for the gospel. We are madmen when we have the gospel and we neglect it, and we do not tell others, and we do not see its implications lived out in our lives. We already have all spiritual riches in the Lord Jesus Christ. Today, right now, we have all spiritual riches in the Lord Jesus Christ. But far too often, we do not cast our cares, we do not cast our anxieties, our burdens on Him. We know Him, but we can treat Him as a stranger or a distant friend. And so this morning, I want to encourage us in these foundational things. I want to encourage us in the comfort that we have in Christ Jesus. Christ calls all people to come to Him and those who come to Him find rest from their toil. So let's go ahead and read our passage this morning and then I'll say a word of prayer. Let's read our passage from Matthew chapter 11. Let's start in verse 25 for context. At that time, this is after the Lord Jesus has denounced the self-righteous Pharisees, the self-righteous Jewish people who had trusted in their own good works and their own righteousness and not in the God who gives. It says, at this time, Jesus declared, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children. Yes, father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my father, and no one knows the son except the father, and no one knows the father except the son, and anyone to whom the son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Let's pray. Father God, your son Jesus Christ reveals to us who you are, and reveals to us the path of life, but not just one path among many paths, but the only path of life. You are the living water. Your Son is the living water. Your Son is the bread of life. I pray that we would drink from him this morning, that we would eat of the bread that does not spoil or rot, that does not fade, and in eating and drinking we would be satisfied. I pray that you would remove all distractions from my mind and remove distractions from all of us in here. That we would be sobered by the reality that these are the words of life. That all who hear them must heed, must pay attention. There is an account to give. And we can provide excuses because of the stumbling of a preacher, or the flaws in a service, or the frustrations with a family member, or a friend, or somebody else. But these are the words of life in the pages of Scripture, and you call men to give an account. Will we rest in the Lord Jesus Christ? Will we lay our burden down? Or in self-righteousness, will we labor for that which we can never attain in our flesh? Give us understanding, Lord, as only you can give. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. I cannot overestimate what it is, the comfort that we have in Jesus, the title of this sermon. And I must confess to you, I've failed already. I cannot adequately present for us what rest, what comfort, what eternal hope, what lasting glory we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. But I hope these words from our Lord are an encouragement to us all today and a reminder to strive always, strive to enter into that rest. And so we'll be focusing on verses 28 through 30. And in verse 28, we see these simple words. Our first point is that we must come to Him. Come to me, Christ says. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. The giving of rest is conditioned upon coming to him. Come to me, that's the condition. All who labor and are heavy laden, that is the audience, and I will give you rest. That is the result of coming. It is a simple call. but so many do not heed the call. Jesus Christ expresses here and in other passages throughout the Gospels that he is the source of comfort and rest. He is that comfort and that rest that Isaiah proclaimed in Isaiah 40, which we read earlier. He is the source of comfort and rest, but there is no rest in not coming. A fountain of water does not refresh the weary traveler if he does not go to it. An unopened box of food nourishes no one. The healing rays of the sun give no benefit to the man who remains in the shadows. To enjoy his rest and his comfort, we must come to him. The invitation to come and enjoy this rest is for all the world, all who labor and are heavy laden. That is all mankind. But who is it that comes? Who actually comes and receives this rest? Romans 3 tells us very clearly there is no one who seeks after God. No one who comes to him of his own accord. In Greek, no one means no one. No one seeks after God. In fact, the Bible is so clear about this that it expresses to us by nature, being children of wrath, dead in our sins, we hate our Creator. And not only do we not by nature in our fallen condition come to our Creator, but we run away from Him and we resist His good call. And so Romans 8, 7-8 says this, the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God. What is the mind set on the flesh? Who has the mind set on the flesh? But the one who remains in his sins. The one who remains in his fallen condition. We have to highlight this point if we're going to understand the comfort we have in Christ. But Paul continues, he says, the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, enmity with God, hates God, rebels against God, for it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, if that's not powerful enough, what does the apostle Paul say next? Indeed, it cannot. The mind set on the flesh cannot please God. The mind set on the flesh cannot submit to God's law. Verse eight says, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. How much more clear does it get? Hostile to God, does not submit to God's law, cannot submit to God's law, cannot please God. That is the state of man in his sins. He is dead. But naturally, when we think in terms of Christ's call, His call to come and enter His rest, we think, well, What would that require? And we know that coming to Christ is an expression of faith and trust in Him, and repentance and faith are pleasing to God, are they not? Repentance and faith, when a sinner broken over his sin turns from that sin and believes in God, God is pleased with that turning from sin. God is pleased with that faith in Him, right? But Romans 8 says those who are in the flesh cannot please God. So we have a problem here, it would seem. Or perhaps we don't. So the fact of the matter is, it is not those in the flesh who exercise faith and come to Christ, but it is those who have been enlivened by the Spirit. Who is Jesus Christ calling? The call, the invitation, is for all, but who actually comes? The sheep. John 10, the sheep hear the shepherd's voice. And so, faith, as we read in Ephesians 2, 8 through 9, is a gift. Faith is not our own doing, but it is the gift of God. Because dead people do not come. No one comes to the Father unless they are drawn by the Father. John 6, 44. Those who have been given a new heart of flesh and God's abundant mercy and grace are those who come. And why is this important? Why belabor this point? Because this results in praise and worship to God. And this is part of our comfort. And this is part of our rest in the Lord Jesus Christ. We can do nothing in our flesh. We are dead in our sin. We are helpless. We don't claw our way up to God. We resist him and run full speed in the opposite direction. We hate God by nature. And so those who have been given a new heart of flesh in God's abundant mercy and grace are those who come and we praise God for his amazing mercy and grace that we do not deserve. And our boast as a result is in him alone because without it we are still dead and under his just wrath. If I have a neighbor that lives next door to me, and he lives till he is 80 years old, and I live till I am 80 years old, and we are the same age, and have gone to the same church, and have had all the same opportunities, and if he dies in his sin and goes to hell, and I die and I go to heaven, what is the difference between us? That I made a better choice because I was smarter than him? That I was more moral and had better character than him? No, the difference between us is God and God alone. Because God is merciful on my soul. That is the difference. The only boast of the one who comes is that he saved me. But this message is about God's comfort and God's grace. There are many other scriptures we could look at, but the point is this coming to Christ is a gracious gift to us. It takes a supernatural work of God to change a rebellious sinner's heart. And he must reckon with his own pride and fallen condition before he will ever, ever humble himself before God and come to him. And that is entirely a work of the Holy Spirit who gives the repentant sinner a new heart and a new will that desires to come to his creator and receive rest. It's a true coming. It is not a forced coming. It is a changed will that now desires what the creator calls of his creatures. And so John Bunyan says, without this sense of a lost condition without him, there will be no moving of the mind towards him. John Bunyan makes those comments in a commentary on John 6 in his book, Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ. And this is why Jesus said to Nicodemus, if you would see the kingdom of God, you must be born again. People do not submit applications to the local hospital to be born. They are brought into this world by means and by desires that are outside of themselves, totally and completely. It comes upon them. So it is with the Holy Spirit. So this new birth and this coming to Christ is totally a work of the Holy Spirit. It's humbling to acknowledge this reality, that if you have come to the Lord Jesus Christ, it was not your own doing. It was he who rescued you, he who saved you, he and his great grace and mercy. You are not more clever than your neighbor who goes to hell. You and I are not more clever, more spiritual, more righteous. All the righteousness is the Lord Jesus Christ. He gets all the praise, not 99.9%, 100%. Here is the comfort for all who are drawn by the Father and come to Christ. We receive Christ. We receive the living God. The certainty of that promise is rooted in the very character of God Himself. And so if you would turn to John 6. That comfort, that assurance that we have is rooted in the very character of God, the very nature of God, His very plan. 2 Timothy 1, Ephesians 1, Scripture tells us that before the foundation of the world, God chose us in His Son, Jesus Christ. That means before you were ever even born, before you committed your first sin, God already had a plan, and you were part of that plan to save you into His eternal life through his son Jesus Christ. And so in John 6 verses 37 through 40, after Jesus has fed the multitudes, after he has fed the crowds, there were many that still did not understand his message. There were many that still did not hear his words for what they were. And so Jesus says very plainly and very clearly, You might look around, say, why are some disciples, why are some following him? And why are some not getting this? Why do some hear this man's voice and others do not hear? Because the sheep hear the shepherd's voice. And those who are not sheep do not hear the shepherd's voice. And so John 6, 37 through 40 reads, all that the father gives me will come to me. All, all that the father gives me will come to me. and whoever comes to me I will never cast out." So we see every individual person that the Father gives to the Son necessarily comes to the Son. And what happens to those who come to the Son? They come for a little while and leave? No, whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. Verse 38, for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that He has given me, but raise it up on the last day. If you have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, if you have come to the Lord Jesus Christ, He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is our comfort and our hope. He will raise it up on the last day. Jesus Christ loses none of His sheep. He does not fail to save anyone. Verse 40, for this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise Him up on the last day. That is the call. That is the invitation to come to Christ. Look upon the Son and believe in His name, and you will be saved. The passage describes coming to Christ in salvation. The passage that we're looking at today The same thing. It describes coming to Christ in salvation. It describes a sinner, dead in his sin, being enlivened by the Holy Spirit and coming to the Lord Jesus Christ and resting in Him. But what's important for us today, what I want us to make note of, is that it also is a call to us as believers. Not that if we do not come to Christ in prayer or that we do not cry out to him when we go through trials or tribulations that we're not saved or some kind of back and forth where we have our salvation and we lose it, not in that sense. But it is a call to us as believers who are already in Christ to enjoy that rest, enjoy that comfort that is ours in Christ Jesus. Because the reality is we can make the choice. When we experience trials, or maybe even success, and we just kind of put it out of our minds, we can make the choice to not come to Christ with our cares and with our concerns, and to do things in our own strength. But the Lord has provided a means of blessing us, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Where do we find the Lord Jesus Christ? We find him in his word. We read the word. We find him in baptism and in the Lord's Supper. And that they are symbols that point to the reality of the gospel. And we receive encouragement from these. We find the Lord Jesus Christ here among his people. And so we desire to meet with his people and we desire to learn and grow because those are the means that the Lord Jesus Christ himself has provided. That is what it means for the Christian to come to Lord Jesus Christ. We can choose to resist the call to draw near to God in the storms of life. The storm will come one way or the other, right? We all know this. And we can, but we can rest in God and we can take his yoke upon us through those storms, or we can choose to do things our way and neglect the rest that is already ours in Christ. Why does Paul exhort the Colossians in Colossians 3, one through two? He says, set your hearts and minds on things above, not on things of this earth. Because Paul knows just as we know the things of this earth. Pull us, drag us down, discourage us. Hardships and trials are going to come. But Jesus Christ is rock solid always. Why can Paul endure the trials? Why can he endure the tribulations? Because his hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ. His hope is in that which does not fade. His hope is in that which is not temporary, but lasting. And so we are called to come to Jesus Christ, but there is no rest without coming. And so verse two. We read, rest is not found in our labors. Put negatively, we know what rest is. It's in Christ, but what is rest not? It's not found in our labors. That's not where we find it. And so Jesus says, come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. The call to come is for those who labor and are heavy laden, and the result is rest in Him. Yeah, we get that. Okay, that's simple enough. You've said that so many times already. We've read that verse. The call to come is for those who labor and are heavy laden. The result is rest in Him. Okay, come to Him, come to Him. Yeah, but the problem is we don't always treat it this way, do we? We don't treat it as simply as it is, as our Lord says it is. Because we must remember the call is not 10 principles for getting up on your feet. The call is not five ways to get your life in order. The call is simple. Come, come to me. Where is the life to be found? It's in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is life. He is the way and the truth and the life. The invitation is for all to come, but come we must. If you remember in Proverbs 1, Lady Wisdom cries aloud in the streets, come to me, all you simple minded, come to me and I will bring you life. The sinner is heavy laden because he lives under the weight of his sin. And it is crushing, that is the burden. Men and women labor all day long. We see it in our world, seeking approval from God, seeking to justify themselves. Even as Christians, sometimes we operate this way when the gospel cries against it. Or supposing they already are approved of by God because of their own efforts. But that is the pathway to destruction. Jesus Christ says, come. He does not say, look within. He does not say, follow these principles. He does not say, here's how you have a better life. Do all these things. He says, come, come to me. I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me. Labor is not what brings the sinner to Christ. The burden is what he leaves behind. The sinner leaves the burden behind. It is the coming to Christ that brings rest and not our human effort. By the way, some have suggested, in fact, that in our gathering together on the Lord's Day, we see a picture of this. Some have suggested that our gathering together on the Lord's day, the first day of the week, instead of the Old Testament Sabbath, which is the last day of the week, the seventh day, is a continual reminder for God's people of this rest that we have in Christ. And it goes like this. God rested on the seventh day after all his work. And that was a pattern as we understand it for Israel. Israel worked six days and they rested at the end of the work week on the seventh day, Saturday. Jesus, by contrast, accomplished the work of His Father, and He defeated sin and death in His resurrection, when? On the first day of the week, Sunday. We rest, some have suggested, at the beginning of the week, before our work week, because we rest all the week in Christ, in whom the work is already done. Sunday, which comes not at the end of the week, but at the beginning, despite what calendars tell you, I know calendars are trying to make us think Monday's the first day of the week. It's not, Sunday's the first day of the week. Sunday, which comes at the first of the week, is a reminder that our lives begin, our week begins in the rest that Christ offers. So it's a clever, Little picture, take it or leave it. I'm not suggesting that scripture explicitly teaches it this way, but it is a good reminder that the Lord rose again on the first day of the week. And it is a good picture that our rest is in him. We rest in him. We don't begin our week saying, how can I please the Lord this week in order to gain his approval? But how can I please the Lord this week? Because I love him and he gave his son for me. But wait a minute, aren't there passages in scripture that do talk about our labors and our striving and our working and our toil? Yes, there are. For instance, Hebrews 4.11. Let's remember the only labor required is the labor of Hebrews 4.11, this language of, let us therefore strive to enter that rest. And the way we enter that rest is through the gate. It's through Jesus Christ himself, through faith in him, belief in his name. He is the savior and he is the one who gives rest. It's simple. We come to him and he gives us rest. This is why I tell people, if anything that you're experiencing in your life, joys, trials, tribulations, everything in between, The answer to everything is worship Jesus Christ. That is the answer to everything. If you are unsatisfied with life, I call you to come to Christ. Worship Jesus Christ. If you are in a harmful or a bad marriage and you feel that you cannot get out, come to the Lord Jesus Christ. If your job and your boss is unfair in your job, the weight of it is crushing you, worship the Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever you do, when you worship the Lord Jesus Christ, he gives to those who are thirsty, he gives to those who are hungry. Worship Jesus Christ, come to Jesus Christ. The legalist wants to make it about a bunch of rules. Do this, do that, and people toil, and they labor, and they struggle, and they're dissatisfied, and they're frustrated, and they're unhappy because they do not rest, as Jesus called them to. And this is the great stumbling block of the gospel right there. It's just too simple. Just trust in Him? But as Luther said, what more could we offer God than what He has already offered us in the sacrifice of His beloved Son? Would we, after sinning against a holy God, gain His approval by offering Him our own righteousness and spurning the death of His Son on the cross as insufficient? Why did the eternal Son of God take on flesh and suffer death on the cross if righteousness could be gained by some other way? The rest that Jesus Christ offers is Himself. Our task is to come. The third point we see in verses 29 through 30 is Jesus's rest gives life. Jesus's rest gives life. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. A yoke, of course, was a heavy piece of wood fitted to oxen. We don't typically use these today, at least not the overwhelming majority of us. A heavy piece of wood fitted to oxen or to animals for the purpose of plowing or carrying a heavy load. So it's attached to them so they can walk in unison as a team, and that strength of the team of oxen or animals can be utilized. But the point here is that a yoke is something that's heavy, that's naturally heavy, and Christ uses this picture because it's not what we expect. Take upon me my yoke, because it's easy, it's light. That's not what I associate with a yoke. But in Christ, in his life, death, and resurrection, we are freed from the yoke of striving to live perfectly before the law. It is an impossible yoke to bear, the law is, because no mere mortal can bear it, as Peter says in Acts 15. So Paul says in Galatians 5.1, he extrapolates this idea saying, for freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. It's for freedom that Christ has set us free. We can rest in Him. We're already free. There's no striving after that freedom. We already have it in Christ. But notice Paul says, stand firm therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. We can still disobey God. We can still submit again to a yoke of slavery, but it is inconsistent with who we already are in Christ. So you see, it's not as though there's nothing for the Christian to do once he is freed in Christ. It's simply that we are called to rest in him. All mankind is under a yoke. You're under the yoke of slavery to sin and death, or you're under the yoke of Christ, as he describes here in Matthew 11. Which one are you under? Everyone's a slave to something. Everyone has a master. What is your master? Who is your master? I just wanted to read to you from Baptist Confession. What is the extent of the liberty and freedom we have in Christ? This is why we praise God. This is what provokes our worship and our adoration of God when we reflect on the freedom we have in Christ. Listen to these words. which Christ has purchased for believers under the gospel, consists in their freedom from the guilt of sin. This is a total freedom, total freedom from the guilt of sin, freedom from the condemning wrath of God, the severity and curse of the law. And in their being delivered from this present evil world, bondage to Satan and dominion of sin, from the evil of afflictions, the fear and sting of death, the victory of the grave, and everlasting damnation, as also in their free access to God. We have free access to God through prayer. And their yielding obedience unto him, not out of slavish fear, but a childlike love and willing mind, a trusting, and our good and great Savior. The rest we find in Jesus is a lasting rest. But it is not a mere passive rest. It is passive in the sense that we do receive Him, and by receiving Him, we receive all the benefits of salvation, none of which we earn for ourselves, none of which we strive for to receive. It's all given by His free gift. But it's not merely passive because we see in these words, Jesus says, This is where people stumble and they get confused. You just preach the message. We see Paul preaching this throughout Romans and in Galatians. Nothing you can do. Nothing you can do. Rest in Christ. Rest in Christ. Rest in Christ. Nothing you can do. And then we see all these do's and don'ts. Do's and don'ts. How do we relate the two? One is pre-conversion. There is nothing you can do. You come to Christ. You rest in Him. The other is post-conversion. This is how Christians live. Not out of fear, not out of slavish fear, but humbly and willingly because of a changed heart and a changed nature. The Christian delights to do these things. This is the yoke that he's describing. So there is a real yoke. It's not an invisible yoke. It's not a yoke that doesn't exist. It's a real yoke that Jesus describes here, but it is easy and his burden is light. There's a real yoke, a genuine learning and instruction. We see that clearly. It's a genuine learning and instruction in the will of God that we must walk in and we must live by. Yes, God says you must be holy. Be holy for I am holy. And God's people are called to his purpose so we have work to do. But this work is easy and light, because we rest in Him, because it is He that is at work in us. In other words, this resting in Christ is the gospel played out again and again in our lives. This is what it means to walk by faith and not by sight. This is what Habakkuk is describing when he says the righteous shall live by faith. It is not, Paul quotes the righteous shall live by faith Habakkuk 2, 4 twice. An author of Hebrews quotes it once at the end of Hebrews 10. We view that correctly when we say the righteous shall live by faith. Yes, we have faith in the Son of God and we inherit eternal life. That is correct. But also, one thing that gets overlooked often is there's another application of that verse, and it is that faith characterizes the believer's life. I walk every day by faith. I have faith that God will provide every day. I have faith that he will give me my spiritual nourishment, my daily bread. The Christian life is not about did that, got converted, whatever, and then I die. There's work to do, but paradoxically, it's resting in Christ. That is what we do. We rest in Christ and we follow his commands, but they're easy and not burdensome. Jesus Christ has perfectly followed the law himself and fulfilled the law on our behalf. We don't have any law to fulfill. He already did. So that we can rest from our striving, rest from our labors, and simply walk and live in Him. So you see, it's a response to the gospel played out in our lives. It's a response to the righteousness He has already won for us. The work we have to do is the work of resting in Christ and His finished work, and yielding ourselves to the powerful working of the Holy Spirit. That's why Paul says, I'll just flip over here really quick, you don't have to, but that's why Paul says, in 1 Corinthians 15, 10, but by the grace of God, I am what I am. Why are you what you are, Paul? By God's grace. And his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, Paul says, I worked harder than any of them. See, Paul worked and he worked very hard. Doesn't that disprove the whole point about resting in Christ? Paul worked very hard, but what does he say next? Though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. I would suggest to you that's not only hard for someone in the flesh to understand, but impossible. How can you understand such a paradox unless the Holy Spirit lives within you and is at work in and through you? It is his work, what he is doing in and through us. We're really working. We're really new creatures. We're not disembodied like some robot that is controlled But we are a new creation, and it's the love of Christ which controls us. And this is all based in the reality of who Jesus is. He is gentle, and he is lowly in heart. He has suffered in our stead, and he has won for us salvation. And the promise is certain. You will find rest for your souls. One other verse to highlight this point. Be aware of my time here. 1 John 5.3 says, for this is the love of God that we keep His commandments. Yes, we must keep His commandments. We are called as His people to keep His commandments. But John says, and His commandments are not burdensome. So a commandment is an order that's given by a superior to an inferior and it's something that must be obeyed. So there are real commandments of the Lord and we must really follow them. But what needs to be understood is to the one who has come to Christ, the one who has received a new heart, these commandments are not burdensome but a delight. In fact, it's rest, to rest in Christ, to live in Christ, to walk in Christ. It's all by His power. It's all under His strength. That's what walking by faith is. I need to do the fruits of the Spirit. No, you don't. You need to rest in Christ and the fruits of the Spirit will come because they're the fruits of the Spirit, not the fruits of you. That's the point. Commandments are not a means to gaining righteousness, but it's delighting in the righteousness that Jesus Christ provides for us. We are already righteous in Jesus Christ. The call of Christ in the gospel is to receive him and rest in him. No, it sounds like I'm repeating myself a lot, or perhaps it sounds confusing. Maybe you're in one of these camps because the legalist and the antinomian alike hate what is being described here. They hate it. They cannot stand it because the legalist says it's too simple. Where is all the effort on man's part? If you say things like this, people will become lazy and idle, but they do not understand the free grace of God and the new nature we have in Christ. one that joyfully follows God's commands because he has God's favor, rather than using them as a means to earning that favor. The antinomian, by contrast, who rejects God's law, says, how can you call it rest if there isn't any work to be done or any commandment at all? It can't be called rest, because you're saying strive. You're saying, do this, do that. That's not rest. But he also does not understand the delight of God's grace and what its purpose is in the believer's life, calling him to a higher standard because he is a new creation. Now, perhaps a bit of a silly illustration. But I think it's helpful, albeit imperfect. Here's an illustration about this delight I'm talking about in the Lord's yoke, the Lord's burden. What is this striving and resting? Have you ever been excited about a long-anticipated party or a celebration? And you're hosting this party, you're hosting this celebration, and all these people are coming out, your family and friends, and you just can't wait. It's gonna be so much fun. But you find out the day before that your dearest, most beloved friend or family member would not be able to make it. And what happens? I mean, I've been there. You're discouraged. and the task of getting ready for the celebration isn't really as fun anymore. Now, it might even feel more like a weight or a disappointment, a way or some dreaded burden, really. But, or I should say rather, you were excited before, but now excitement has given way to dread and disappointment. But suddenly, your friend calls you, your friend tells you they're coming after all, they got the date wrong. And not only are they coming, now they're bringing your favorite dessert. and you get off the phone and you are so excited. You're just, you're busying yourself all over the house, getting ready, making things look good. The work is now, it feels light to you. It was a burden some before, but now it feels light to you, even enjoyable. as you beautify your house in preparation. Now, what's the difference? What changed in this scenario? Now the friend you thought would miss, they're gonna be there. And the tasks that you had to do no longer feel like tasks, but ways of making your time together all the more enjoyable because you delight so much in the thought of making your house accommodating and giving your beloved friends and family an enjoyable time of celebration. That's the idea there. That is what rest in Christ is all about. We labor under his yoke. It's a very real labor. We strive to follow his commands, but it's good. and it's out of our rest in Him. We worship Him. It comes. It flows. Look, I guarantee you, you know that expression, people are so heavenly minded there are no earthly good? That's nonsense. That's poppycock. If you're heavenly minded and you're just filled with the Holy Spirit, you're going to be the greatest earthly good than anybody else around you. Okay? Because you're made in the image of God and you're going to be living out what it means to be a true man, a true woman, true boy or girl. because you are resting in your creator. We learn Christ's ways and we seek to please him, but it's the Holy Spirit who's at work in us and it's what our heart desires. And because of our changed nature, we would do nothing else and have it no other way because he is a good master and he gives deep and true comfort. So Orish Singley says, God gives us everything in the name of Christ, amen. We have everything. in the name of Christ. Last point. Number four, Jesus has what no one else has. That's foundational to all this. Should be obvious. But this is not Jesus offering us one avenue to finding rest. There is no rest outside of Jesus. That's why we proclaim the gospel to others. There's no rest outside of Him. So, Augustine said in his confessions famously, our hearts are restless until they find rest in you. You ever had a restless heart? And the Lord has used it to draw you to Himself? Our hearts are restless until they find rest in you. That is why people are miserable who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ or who know Him and resist Him. Jesus has what no one else has because He is fully God and fully man as the incarnate Son, God in flesh. Only Jesus can satisfy, only Jesus can satisfy not only the penalty for our sins, but the longing of our hearts. Okay, that's the point here. If you don't hear anything else today, Jesus can satisfy not only the penalty for our sins, but the longing of our hearts. That's why our lives are characterized by faith every day. Resting in Christ. We must rest in Christ every day. Strive after Christ. Look for Christ. Search for Christ. Find rest in Christ. and do that through the means he's provided. Read the word, pray, meet with fellow Christians, encourage one another, be encouraged. So Jesus said to the woman at the well, everyone who drinks of this water, this well, will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks of the water that I give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water, welling up to eternal life. And so Colossians 2, 3, Paul says, in Christ, in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. If we cannot go to Jesus, we have nowhere to go. All we have is Christ. That's what I want my children to hear. That's what I want all the children to hear, all the adults as well, but especially our children. You've got nowhere. Christ is all. That's it. So many distractions in this life. So many distractions. Materialism, fleeting pleasures, and the whole nine yards. And the devil loves every last bit of it. So in John chapter six, after Jesus gave the message that I read from you earlier in John six, when he was saying no one can come to the Father unless he is drawn, What happened to some who were following him? They left. They didn't like that message. It was too hard for them. In fact, Jesus was so extreme, he said, unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no part in me. Who says such things? Let's walk away from this guy. That's extreme. Give us a nice sermon. And so John 6, 66 through 69 says this. After this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. We're done. And in verse 67, so Jesus said to the 12, so he turns to his disciples, he says, do you want to go away as well? Simon Peter answered him. Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God. No one else has the words of eternal life. That should be a constant refrain in our lives. When things are tough, when things are hard, Lord, to whom shall we go? There is no one else. I'll say in closing, I leave you with a picture and then I want to close by reading something from the Heidelberg Catechism. At camp, we talked about Psalm 23 and Psalm 49. There are these two pictures. We all know about Psalm 23. The Lord is our shepherd, and the Lord brings us to still waters. The Lord gives us nourishment. The Lord gives us, as his people, refreshment, right? We know this passage well. He leads us through the valley of the shadow of death. The Lord leads us through. But Psalm 49, maybe we're not as familiar with. But in Psalm 49, the shepherd, the shepherd is not the Lord. The shepherd is death itself. says to those who strive after the things of this world, death is your shepherd. That's your shepherd. You know that valley, the shadow of death of Psalm 23? We like to read that Psalm. It's really nice. It's feel good. That's for those who know the Lord. That's for those who are his children. The rest, they don't go through the valley of the shadow of death. Their grave is there. They stay in the valley of the shadow of death. There is no entering the valley and then coming out on the other side because the Lord is not their shepherd. Death is their shepherd. When Jesus says, come to me and I will give you rest, the alternative is death. The alternative is never finding rest at all. And so how comforting. It's a warning to us if we do not know the Lord. A warning to us if He is chastising us because we are not living in obedience to Him. But what comfort do we have in this hope, in this rest, if you have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation? I close with the words of Heidelberg Catechism, the first question, what is your only comfort in life and in death? Your only comfort in life and in death? That I am not my own, but belong, body and soul, in life and in death, to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and he has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven. In fact, all things must work together for my salvation, for my blessedness. Selishkeit is what the German says. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him. Beautiful words that capture what we read in Matthew 11. Let's pray. Father God, please, please open our eyes to understand this truth deeper, more fully this week. in our searching of the scriptures, in our prayers, in our living out the life that you have called us to in walking by faith, that we would not strive or labor in or for anything, but your rest, that we would rest in you, that we would cast all our worries, our cares, our anxieties on you. You're the provider. You give. You ask that we walk in faith, following your commands as a delight, as a response to your goodness to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. Pray for your blessing on the families in here as we go out and seek to do your will this week in our homes, in our workplaces, in our communities, but may it not be in our own strength, but leaning completely into You, resting in You as the Holy Spirit that You have given us as powerfully at work among Your people. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.