"I Will Give You Rest" Matthew 11b_Oct 17 2021
God With Us • Sermon • Submitted
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· 3 viewsOur biggest need in life is Jesus. Grace & peace meet us when we acknowledge our need and turn to him. God's wrath and judgment meet us when we ignore that need.
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Greeting & Scripture Reading
Greeting & Scripture Reading
Hi everyone - excited to have you with us
We’ll be finishing Matthew 11 today
Please open your Bibles - starting in verse 20 of Chapter 11:
Mt 11:20-30
English Standard Version Chapter 11
Woe to Unrepentant Cities
20 Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”
Come to Me, and I Will Give You Rest
25 At that 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; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 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. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
(pray…)
We’ve been studying the amazing Gospel of Matthew
The genealogy and birth of Christ
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
And then we read about all the drama which revolved around the young Jesus
The wise men
And the crazy jealousy of King Herod who sought to kill Jesus
Then he killed all the male children in Bethlehem - but Joseph was warned by the Lord to flee to Egypt
And when Herod died, Joseph, being led by the Lord, settled his family in Nazareth
In Chapter 3, we read about John the Baptist who preached repentance and who baptized Jesus
After being baptized, Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil
Jesus began his ministry by going to Galilee and taking up residence in Capernaum
His early ministry consisted of:
1.) Preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
2.) Calling Simon Peter, and his brother Andrew to follow him - so he could make them “fishers of men”
3.) Going throughout all of Galilee preaching the “gospel of the kingdom” and healing “every disease and every affliction”
Chapters 5-7: SOTM
Chapter 8 & 9 contain wonderful stories of the teachings of Jesus - and how he personally healed many people
Chapter 10: Jesus sends out his Twelve - short term mission
Last week, the first part of Chapter 11:
John the Baptist is in prison
And he sends his disciples to find out if Jesus was indeed the Messiah
We learned how to cope during a crisis - and that our circumstances can warp our perception of the Lord when we focus on them, and not on him
And now we’re at the last half of Chapter 11
As you preach through the Bible - sometimes it’s hard to identify the main point of a given passage - and to utilize an appropriate life application
The opposite is true with the NT epistles, particularly Pauline letters
He usually makes his point crystal-clear
And there is clearly defined main point, and usually, a clear life application
But many parts of the Bible, particularly in the OT, is just narrative and contains no commentary
Even the Gospels themselves can be tricky - to adequately exegete a passage
Thankfully, the last 10 verses in Chapter 11 are clear to interpret
The answer is given to us in verse 20, as I earlier read:
“Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done…because the did not repent.”
This passage is about repentance
It is mostly the words of Jesus
It draws a vast comparison: when people fail to repent - and when people repent and come to the Lord
Here is my summary of verses 20-30 in Chapter 11 of Matthew:
Our biggest need in life is Jesus.
Grace & peace meet us when we acknowledge our need and turn to him.
God's wrath and judgment meet us when we ignore that need.
God’s wrath and God’s peace are in this passage
When Jesus said, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you Bethsaida!” - he was pronouncing judgment on them
Jesus healed the people, based on their needs, but they ignored their greatest need: to accept the gospel of Jesus
Jesus is essentially saying that he did these mighty works of compassion for these people
But the people rejected him
They took advantage of his works, but rejected the one who did the works
Remember? He healed the blind, deaf, and lame. He cleansed the lepers. He raised the dead to life!
And he also preached the gospel
And in verse 6, he said, “And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
When the gospel is preached, it requires a response of repentance and obedience
Imagine - you are in God’s court:
You are charged as a guilty sinner
God has plenty of evidence against you
You are facing eternal hell
You can either plead guilty, or not-guilty
Either way, you face eternal judgment
But this court offers a “repentance” provision - it goes along with your guilty plea
You plead guilty, but you can take advantage of the legal provision of repentance
You tell the judge you’re sorry for your sins - and by claiming the blood of Jesus, you repent
Which simply means you turn from your sins - and turn to Jesus
Your repentance provision unlocks the payment for your guilt - which Jesus made on the cross
And you are Set Free
Could you imagine such a provision in an earthly court today?
You are charged with murder - and you plea guilty, but then tell the judge you’re sorry and you turn from your murderous ways
And judge becomes angry for even suggesting such a thing
You say, “No, really - I’m sorry! Is there anyone who can pay my debt instead of me?”
Could you imagine??
Do you see how much grace God extends to us?
We can only catch a glimpse of how much he loves us
We will spend all of eternity learning about his infinite grace for us
Do you see how repentance is full of God’s grace and love for us? That he even allows for that provision?
Jesus was saying he did mighty works for them - he personally healed them and cleansed them - and personally made the dead come to life
He touched the unclean and made them clean
He loved the people, and showed compassion and did mighty works among them
But some of them rejected him! Some of them were offended by who he was
I believe our circumstances and afflictions are intended to drive us to the Lord
We face negative circumstances, but Jesus does a mighty work - his kindness leads us to godly repentance
You ask: “When did Jesus do a mighty work for me?”
He died for you on a cross and rose from the grave!
He lives so that you may live!
Some of you were blind to what your life was all about - and he made you see the truth
Some of you could not hear the truth - and he opened your ears
Some of you could not walk in the path of righteousness - and you now walk closely with him
Some of you were unclean, like a leper - and Jesus touched you and made you whole
Some of you were dead in your sins - but you’re now alive in Christ
You had the gospel preached to you - and you were not offended
Please listen to this
You may have needs in your life because of what you’re going through
But your greatest need will always be for Jesus
There is a hell for those who continually defend themselves and defend their sin
There is a heaven for those who repent and believe
To repent means to turn to Jesus - but it also means you finally get honest with yourself and God
Repentance means to agree with God that you need him
Everyone in the world needs Jesus
Everyone needs to repent
Our biggest need in life is Jesus.
Grace & peace meet us when we acknowledge our need and turn to him.
God's wrath and judgment meet us when we ignore that need
Obviously, Jesus has no problem with wise and smart people - he was condemning the arrogant - those who thought they were wise and smart
There are many warnings to the arrogant person throughout the entire Bible
You see that in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Proverbs. Even Job
Even Mt 13:11
And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.
There is a theme in the Bible - where God shows preference to the humble
We even saw it in the SOTM:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit...”
“Blessed are the meek...”
“Blessed are the pure in heart...”
People who are hard-hearted - who shut off the gospel - who pride themselves on the idea that they have no need of God
They are the ones who are blind to their need
You are the only one in the universe who has the power to keep the God of the universe from forgiving you
Think about that for a moment
I love our country
America is great, but our vast freedoms can cloud our true need:
If you go to jail and cannot afford an attorney one will be appointed for you
If you can’t pay your taxes, you can negotiate a settlement
If you get sick, you have the world’s greatest medical technology available 24/7
And so on...
A lot of people go around in life in general comfort - they never get honest with themselves - they never agree with God
And their greatest need is invisible to them
In verse 28 Jesus gives us comfort food, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, 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.”
But in order to come to him, you need to repent of our sins
Your sins are the only thing which has separated you from God
And your hard heart which keep us that way
Soften your heart to Jesus because he will give you rest
The gospel gives us rest from those who burden under legalism
It gives us rest from anxiety in life when we think we have to do it all by ourselves
The gospel promises that we can finally rest in Jesus - he is our Sabbath rest - and we are free from guilt and shame
When we take his yoke, that means we learn from him
He is the creator of the universe - but he is gentle and lowly in heart
When we come to him, we find rest for our souls
What sort of religion teaches this, or promises this
We don’t work for our salvation like other religions, because he is our salvation
That’s why his yoke is easy and his burden is light
We can cast all of our cares on him
We abide in him
He is our true Shepherd who leaves the 99 to come after me
He is our Advocate - he prays for us & he will never let us go
Our Mediator
He is the Resurrection and the Life
He is our Rock
He's the Alpha and the Omega - the first and the last
He is the True Vine - and our Messiah
He was a carpenter - and Light of the world at the same time
He is the image of the invisible God
He is my Savior - and he is the author and finisher of my faith
The King of kings - Lord of lords and the Prince of peace
He is the only begotten Son
The Son of Man - the Son of God
The Way, Truth and Life
He is my Redeemer
He is Immanuel, God with us
I want to close and pray in just a minute
When you repent, of course you are turning away from your sins
But you also turn to who Jesus is - not just what Jesus did or said
You are turning to the biblical Jesus
It’s more than an intellectual acknowledgement
When you repent, you’re essentially saying to the Lord, “I’m not offended by who you are. I accept who you are and I accept that you are Lord of my life.”
(pray…)