[0:00] chapter 11. Matthew chapter 11 will be in verse 20, starting at verse 20 and going to the end of the chapter, which gets us to verse 30. So Matthew 11, verses 20 through 30 will be our text this morning. I do want to invite you, if you've never attended a New Duck River Baptist Association meeting, executive board meeting, you have the opportunity tomorrow evening to attend.
[0:21] You can come at six o'clock and eat a meal with us. We'll be eating. And at 645, the executive board meeting starts. Now that's, you can come in attendance and watch. You just, what you could not do is you could not vote. Not very many things that you can vote on. Most times at executive board, we have executive board messengers that we have voted on as a church. They can vote.
[0:43] Anybody can attend, just like going to the Southern Baptist Convention. You can attend, but you can't vote unless you're sent from a church. So you can be here and not a lot of things will be voted on and just be reports of what's going on in our association of 43 or 44 churches. I believe it is now. And what's going on there and some, some events that are happening. And then at the close of the message, I will preach. I'll get the opportunity to preach to the association. So I want to invite you to come and come tomorrow night, you know, if you would like to and take part in that. It's a great time of fellowshipping with other churches as well. So that is tomorrow evening.
[1:18] But our text this morning is Matthew chapter 11, starting in verse 20 and reading through verse 30. If you are physically able and desire to do so, I'm asking if you'll join with me as we stand together and we read the word of God with one another found in Matthew chapter 11, starting in verse 20. The word of God says, now this is Christ speaking. So we pay attention to when it says, then he, says, then he began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles were done because they did not repent. Woe to you, Chorazin. Woe to you, Bethsaida. For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sodom, which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
[2:01] Nevertheless, I say to you, it would be more tolerable for Tyre and Sodom in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will descend to Hades. For if the miracles had occurred in Sodom, which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day.
[2:17] Nevertheless, I say to you, it would be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you. At that time, Jesus said, I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.
[2:33] Yes, Father, for this way was pleasing, was well-pleasing in your sight. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
[3:09] Matthew chapter 11, verses 20 through 30. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for the great opportunity we have of gathering together, of lifting up your name and song, Lord of fellowshipping, Lord of witnessing believers' baptism. Oh, Lord, what a privilege it is to read the Word of God in the corporate body of the saints. And Lord, as we have read it, we have heard it, we pray, oh, now that by the power and presence of the Spirit, you would speak. We pray that the things that are proclaimed would not be the thoughts or the opinions of man, but that it would be the very word of God which grips us. We pray that that word would grip us from the innermost being, that it would change us, oh God, that it would conform us to become more and more like you. Lord, that it would meet us in our greatest need, it would lift us above our greatest high. Lord, that the Word would have power and authority in our lives for your glory. We ask it all in the name of Jesus. Amen.
[4:15] You may be seated. As we have been making our way through the book of Matthew, we have seen the reality that Matthew, the Jewish individual, is writing to a Jewish audience for the purpose of introducing them to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. The overarching theme of the Gospel of Matthew is that Jesus is the King. He is the long-awaited, long-expected, long-anticipated King.
[4:42] Many Jews to this day are still waiting and anticipating and expecting a King who would come and set them free to proclaim release and freedom and renewal and to restore them.
[4:55] Matthew here is introducing this King not only to them, but also to us. God is speaking through His Spirit to the man Matthew and using the hand of man to write the Word of God so that we may come to a greater understanding of who this King is and that understanding would have a great impact upon our lives. Now, we know the reality that many of the original intended audience who received this letter and read it would not have accepted the truths that it were proclaimed.
[5:24] Many today do not, among Jews and Gentiles, do not accept the truths which it proclaims. Yet, we come by faith and see exactly what it is that God says to us about King Jesus. All of Scripture tells one great story. There are not a number of stories combined in 66 books. Rather, there are 66 books which tell one great story. And that one great story is the story of this King. It is the story of Jesus Christ. It is a record of God's interactions with man throughout history. And it is His story of His dealing with mankind and man's great problem. When we open up the Old Testament, it takes 11 chapters, Genesis 1 through 11, to detail for us every problem of man. It only takes 11 chapters in Scripture to tell us every problem that man has and every fault and every sin which man can commit and the nature which we inherit from our fathers. And then starting in Genesis 12, when God calls Abram from the land of the Ur of the Chaldeans, until we get to the end of the Bible, at the end of the book of Revelations, we see God's reaction, not reaction, but God's problem-solving ability,
[6:35] God's restoration of man due to His problem. Scripture tells us one great theme. It is even amazing when we open up the Old Testament and we find what seem to be insignificant or small books of Scripture, which seem to have no application. But yet, in closer inspection and closer reflection, we begin to see the application. One such book that we open up in the Old Testament is the book of Esther. And when we open up the book of Esther, we find a book which never declares the name of God, never even says the name of God in all of its writing. Yet, we see the hand of God. We see the hand of God in Esther's interaction with the king and in Mordecai saying, who knows whether you have come for such a time as this. We see God's miraculous deliverance of the Jewish people from this great decree from Haman that every Jewish individual would be executed on a certain day. We see this great festival that is being celebrated at the end of the book of Esther, that even Jesus Himself in the New Testament celebrating this and declaring great truths of Himself. We see this great theme. But one thing that we see in the book of Esther is, the reason Esther was so, I guess you would say, resistant to go along with Mordecai's plans is because she knew that not just anyone was welcomed into the presence of the king. She herself said the king has but one decree for anyone who has not been invited into his presence, and that is death, unless he extends the golden scepter which is in his hand. Esther's refusal to immediately run into the presence of the king was the reality that not just anyone could go into the presence of the king. Yet at the very beginning of the book of Esther, we see what happens when the king invites you and you don't come. Remember when he had requested that his wife would come into his presence and Queen Vashti says, I'm not coming. I'd rather not. I'm going to hang out with my friends over here. And he says, what should I do? And all the men got together and said, well, you need to make a decree. And Vashti was eternally kicked out of his presence for her refusal to respond at his invitation. Yet halfway through the book, we find Esther proclaiming, not just anyone can go into the presence of the king. And now fast forward with me, if you will, to Matthew chapter 11, and let us see what it looks like to be welcomed into the presence of the king. Matthew 11 verses 20 through 30 show us being welcomed into the presence of the king. Because if that which was true about King Ahasuerus in the book of Esther is so much more true about King Jesus in the book of Matthew. Because not just anyone is welcomed into the presence of the king. You say, well, wait a minute. The Bible says that whosoever will. And I say, you're absolutely right. And the Bible says that he's come to seek and save that which was lost. And I say, you're absolutely right. And we need to understand who he is so that we can understand the benefit we have received from that invitation. And we see what it takes to be welcomed into the presence of the king.
[9:48] Because we come not with an extended golden scepter, but we come with an extended nail scarred hand who greets us and meets us into his eternal presence. And what a blessing it is. Sometimes I think that believers fail to stand amazed or fail to live their life and wonder of the reality that they get to be in the presence of the king of kings and lord of lords. And we get so comfortable in that presence that we forget the great benefit that it is to be there. Jesus is not just a great man. Jesus, the word of God declares to us is the one who created it all, who spoke it all into existence, who created all things for his own glory and his own purposes. And yet we are welcomed into his presence. What it looks like to be welcomed into the presence of the king. Number one, the first thing we see is a demonstration.
[10:53] Because there are a number of things which individuals say, welcome us into the presence of the king, or a number of things which we would, I guess, sometimes falsely assume would make one welcomed into the presence of the king. And yet we see those denounced and also those which invite us into his presence here pronounced. And we want to pay special attention to each and every one of them. The first thing we see is a demonstration. Because the Bible says, and Jesus began to denounce those cities in which most of his miracles had taken place. Most of his miracles. You know, I get so nervous. Just a side note.
[11:28] Some of the things that run through a pastor's mind and you pay attention to this. Every time I get to that word miracle in scripture, I get so nervous. And I get so much more nervous when I realize that there are video in me. And the reason I get so nervous about it is I remember, and this is a complete side note. You'll have to stay with your pastor on this one. I remember when I had only been pastoring for maybe a year or two and Carrie and I had gotten away and we were coming back and we went up to the Smoky Mountains. I'm hesitant to say we went to Gatlinburg because the city of Gatlinburg is not that enjoyable to me when I'm walking shoulder to shoulder with people. But the mountains of the Smoky Mountains where there's nobody on a trail is very enjoyable to me. So anyway, we were coming back from that region and I was going through the radio channels and I found me this mountaintop preacher. And I was listening to him and I said, oh man, this guy sounds so country. And I was very young and I was very young in the ministry. And Carrie said, I guess you would say in all genuineness, I was like, man, listen to this guy. He is so country. And Carrie said, have you ever heard yourself preach? And I said, no dear, I haven't. And I have these. You will never be able to hear them, but I still have, there is a box somewhere in this church building. I'm not going to tell you where it is, even though I do not really have great risks because many of you don't have the ability to do this unless you have a truck like mine. There are still, there is a box of cassette tapes, which were my first sermons ever preached here. I took them with me when I left Normandy. And the reason
[12:49] I took them is I didn't want anybody listening to them. Okay. So I took them with me and I've held them hostage ever since. I still have a cassette player in my truck. Hopefully none of you do, and you're not going to give them if you do. So I went back and I pulled out one of those cassette tapes where they used to record me. And these were tapes that we would send to people that asked them.
[13:07] And the word that I kept repeating in there was miracles. And man, that guy in the mountains had nothing on me because somehow or another, I found a way to put an A after the M in miracles and things were just being drug out. And it is then and there that I realized, pastor, pay attention to your enunciation of words because people can't understand you. And then I start preaching and it doesn't matter. You can't understand me anyway. But anyway, we'll go back to the message and we'll see.
[13:35] Jesus began to denounce these cities. And the reason he was announcing these cities is because most of his miraculous actions had taken place. Now the miraculous actions are testimonial works and demonstration of power, right? It's not just some, oh, that was a miracle. Oh, it was a miracle that this happened. It was a miracle that this happened. We use that word so flippantly and lightly sometimes.
[13:55] But the reality is that it is a testimonial demonstration of supernatural power. John tells us in the gospel of John near the end of the gospel of John, John says, these things have been recorded so that you may believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. And now these things, when he says that, it was these seven testimonial signs. When you read the book of John, you're going to argue with me and say, pastor, there are eight signs and wonders in the gospel of John. And I would say, you are absolutely right. The eighth one is recorded after that verse. And that is that last miraculous catch of fish after his resurrection. But prior to that verse, seven signs and wonders had been recorded. And those seven, which is a number of perfection, were a testimony to who Jesus is. So John says, I wrote these that you may see and believe, right? But John also makes this declaration in the gospel of John. John says, I suppose that if everything which he has done was to be recorded, that even the world would not be able to contain the books that were written. Now, John makes this declaration that what we have in scripture is really the tip of the tip of the tip of the iceberg of the miraculous works of Jesus.
[15:03] Because when God intersects history and lives among humanity, we can expect supernatural things to occur. Our sister testified to that reality just a little bit ago. Some of us, that seems foreign.
[15:19] Some of us are very comfortable with that. I myself can testify the reality. There have been a number of times that when preaching, all of a sudden I can feel the presence of Christ in the room. And just the the burning fire that is there with his presence. And it is those moments that your pastor no longer remembers his notes and no longer even remembers his preparation is completely taken over by the power and the presence of the spirit in that moment. This miraculous us because when God intercepts history and intervenes to interact with humanity, we can expect the miraculous to take place. But here's what is so amazing. Jesus denounces the city in which most of those things took place.
[16:02] And it tells us because they would not repent. For they would not repent. And most of these are in the Galilean region. All of these are in the Galilean region where the majority of his ministry was spent. Three and a half years of public ministry and the bulk of that is spent in the region of Galilee. So these are those cities. His hometown, right? Capernaum was considered his hub, his hometown of ministry. You say, well, he's from Nazareth. Right. But he moved his hub of ministry to Capernaum. And we see this. And most of these things take place among his own people. And yet the scripture tells us that they did not repent.
[16:37] What does this tell us? That a demonstration of his power is not enough. It's not enough to convince men of their need of repentance.
[16:51] A simple demonstration of his power, Jesus himself said, is it a wicked and perverse generation that demands a sign? Because the reality is this. Each and every single day and each and every single moment. All of mankind witnesses firsthand the miraculous works of God Almighty.
[17:17] But that demonstration of miraculous power is not enough to convince man of their need for repentance. People don't just need to see what Jesus can do.
[17:31] Because we have already seen it. When the sun came up this morning, what a miraculous testimony. How does that big ball of fire not burn us up? The reality of the stars in heaven. Last night, the skies were clear. As I was trying to find where in the world our dogs were at, I was standing outside whistling for our dogs and looking up to the stars and being amazed at the stars that are in the sky. That is something that I often look at. One of my children look at them with me. And we look at the stars. And then when you realize in scripture, when scripture says that God calls them all by name and tells them to be there, not that he just puts them there, but that he has named every star. Then we see as Isaiah says, the heavens declare his glory.
[18:14] The fact that we take in oxygen and expel the stuff that trees need, right? The things that we, carbon dioxide, the thing that we pull in things. The scripture tells us in the book of Job that if God was to call his spirit back to himself, all of man would die.
[18:28] Man does not need just a greater demonstration of the power of God because it is witnessed each and every moment. But all too often, just as scripture says, we do not have eyes to see nor ears to hear unless we would repent and turn from our wicked ways. And unfortunately what happens is in the multitude of places where Jesus does his greatest demonstration, man remains the same.
[19:00] Man remains unchanged and unaffected because we need to go ahead and settle this. Mankind loves the benefits of God. They don't always like the demands of God.
[19:13] mankind loves the demonstration of his power and his authority. And they love the demonstration of his miraculous works. And they love the demonstration of what he can do. But that all too often does not change who they are. Which shows us this reality. Just because man has seen what he can do, that does not mean they are welcomed into his presence. Because it is those that Jesus says, and I will tell them. Matter of fact, remember earlier in the book of Matthew where Jesus says in Matthew chapter 7 that many will come to him in that day and say, Lord, Lord, did we not call on your name and cast out many demons in your name and proclaim all these things and do many miraculous deeds in your name? Jesus here is talking about people who did miraculous deeds in the name of Jesus and Jesus and Jesus will say, and I will say to them, depart from me, you worthless, wicked people. I never knew you. His mighty deeds are not enough. You say, well, pastor, be careful.
[20:18] Because just seeing what he can do is not the key that unlocks the door or in the book of Esther's terminology, the golden scepter that is extended that would allow an individual to be welcomed into his presence. This is why the reality is, is you can share your testimony all you want to and you'll always find a naysayer. People can, people can argue with me all day long about my testimony, but I know what I know and I know what I've seen and I know what I've experienced it, but it may not matter to them at all. It may not affect them at all because people aren't just looking for a greater demonstration, though they need to see it based on what they see and hear. They need to see it.
[21:01] They need to hear it. They need to know it because God's done miraculous things in front of us. But that alone is not enough. And we scratch our heads and we wonder why and we move on to the second thing. Not only is there a demonstration, there is a revelation. There is a revelation because after denouncing these cities and proclaiming the reality that they would be cast out of his presence because of their lack of repentance at the demonstration of his power, that which could have been known about him was made evident to them. Yet they refused to repent. It says in verse 25, and at that time, Jesus said, I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. Now here, Jesus does some miraculous things for us. Jesus does us a great gift. Jesus tells us something that is worth praising God about.
[21:53] Right? He gives us something that is fitting of praise, and we need to pay attention to this, because if the Son can praise the Father for this reality, how much more so his sons and daughters on earth today praise him for this reality? Because if the Son says, I praise you, Father, then how much more should his people today proclaim his praises as a result of this thing we're about to see? And this is something that unfortunately has caused division among the people of God rather than praise. And yet we see the Son of God praising him for this reality, and we see the people of God today bickering over this reality. Let's let scripture be scripture, right? Let's let God be God and we be man, and let's praise him for the things that we cannot understand, and let's praise him for the things that are so far beyond us and among us and above us, and let us praise him for the very things which the Son praised him for. He says, I praise you, Father. Not only does he give us a reason to praise, he reminds us of who it is that we're praising, who is Lord of heaven and earth. So we need to go ahead and establish that reality. He says, I praise you, Father, and you are Lord of heaven and earth. Now we need to understand that because the only way we will praise him on earth is if we realize he's also Lord of earth.
[23:07] We say, well, I'm going to spend eternity praising him in heaven. Well, that's great and glorious, but how can we spend eternity doing what we do not do in time? Now I plan on spending eternity praising him in heaven, and I want to get all the practice I can while on earth because by the time I get in his presence, I want it to be perfect, right? You say, well, you're always in this presence.
[23:27] Oh, but I think I got some dance moves I can work on before I get there, and maybe I can work on my voice a little bit before I get there, and maybe I can get a little bit more excited because if I cannot praise him on earth, why do I think I can't praise him in heaven? You say, well, you're going to be in a glorified body. Well, yeah, and I'll be in a sinless body. I'll be in a perfected body. And you say, well, it'll be so much easier to praise. Well, I have more reason to praise him now than I will then because while I'm yet a sinner, he still loves me.
[23:58] Because when I'm no longer a sinner, sure, he loves me, but he loves me now while I'm a sinner. And I praise him on earth and heaven. He reminds us of who it is. Now, what does he say here?
[24:10] For you have not revealed these things to the wise and the learned, but rather you have chosen to reveal them to the babes of the unlearned. Now, here's a truth that we must settle.
[24:24] And this is a truth that we're not going to try to explain. We're just going to accept. Billy Graham, right before his great Los Angeles crusade, which kind of put him on the map, he laid the Bible out there on a tree stump out there in California. And he was kneeling down.
[24:39] He said, Lord, there's a lot of things in this word I can't explain, but I'm going to accept it by faith. Now, I'm going to show you something that you just have to accept by faith, right? The son praised him for the reality that God both conceals and reveals himself.
[24:55] That there are truths about God which are concealed from some men, and there are truths about God which are revealed to others. That you have not revealed them to the wise and the learned, but that you have revealed them to the infants.
[25:09] All Bible scholars, well, that's not going to say all, because all is a big grand term. Most Bible scholars will agree with the reality that in this text, Jesus says, God the Father does conceal and reveal.
[25:26] There are some things which cannot be known about him because he will not allow it to be known about him. And the things which are known about him are there because he has allowed it to be known about him. So now we begin to get into this revelation, right?
[25:41] I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have not revealed it, but you have revealed it. And then he goes on to the reality, speaking of everything that has been requested to him. And then Jesus says this astounding thing.
[25:53] No one knows the Son but the Father. That is, no one knows exactly who Jesus is. So the moment you think you have Jesus figured out, just open up Matthew chapter 11. No one knows the Son but the Father.
[26:05] And just like whosoever will means whosoever will, no one means no one, right? I mean, the Word of God means the Word of God. So no one knows the Son except the Father. And no one knows the Father except the Son.
[26:17] Now read the rest of that. And he whom the Son wills to reveal him. Now we come to this conundrum of revelation.
[26:31] The only way man ever is enlightened to the reality of who he is, is because the Father reveals himself through his Son, and the Son wills to reveal it to man.
[26:45] Let's just put it in layman's terms. The only way I know anything about God is the will of the Son revealed him to me. I don't find it in my own efforts. I don't find it in my own understanding.
[26:58] I don't find it in my own education. I don't come to the knowledge of God based upon my study, though I think we should study. I don't come to the knowledge of God based upon my goodness, because all of my righteousness is like filthy rags.
[27:11] I don't come to the knowledge of God based upon my legalism, based upon my efforts or my abilities. The only way I know anything about God is because the Son has revealed him to me according to his will.
[27:28] And that is worth praising. See, now the problem when we hear this text is almost instinctively in our minds come all arguments to that.
[27:41] And the reason, let's just go ahead and confront it head on. The reason we like to argue it is because we would like to understand it. And by not understanding it, the only thing we can do is praise him for it.
[27:57] And we spend so much effort trying to figure God's dealings out, rather than just being amazed at his reality and praising him for it.
[28:07] The reality that it is the will of the Father and the will of the Son to reveal himself to us should amaze us and lift us up to praise.
[28:22] This is the revelation. Friend, listen. You don't come to the reality of who he is based upon your own efforts. You come to the reality of who it is because he wills to reveal himself to you.
[28:35] Just a very simple illustration. Many of you know me. Some of you know me very well. Some in the room have literally known me every day of my life.
[28:50] They've known me my whole life. They know a lot of things about me. They know a lot of special, unique character traits about me. They know things about me that other people do not know about me.
[29:01] Some of you know me very, very well. My wife knows me probably better than anyone else in the room. The two have become one. But the reality is no one will ever know me more than I will allow them to know me.
[29:19] Because you may draw near me. You may hang out with me. You may spend time with me. But you will never know me unless I want you to know me.
[29:29] You say, Pastor, what do you mean? Well, the you that walked in the door this morning and sat in the seat, are you showing me everything about you right now?
[29:42] Or are you only showing me what you want me to see about you right now? You say, well, I mean, I'm trying to be on my best behavior because I'm in church. Exactly right. We have our Sunday days and we have our Wednesday days, but we only open ourselves up.
[29:56] So if it takes myself to reveal myself to you, how much more so God? And we begin to see the reality that the only way we know anything of him is because he desires to reveal himself to us.
[30:10] Think about that just for a moment. God Almighty, the Lord of heaven and earth, wills to reveal himself to us.
[30:27] And all we can say is, Hallelujah. Praise you, Lord God Almighty. I had to write a paper this week in the class that I'm in.
[30:40] I hesitate to say this because it definitely doesn't puff me up. And I had to write a paper on the apocalyptic position of Christ in the book of Galatians.
[30:52] That sounds great, right? Now let me answer the question. I had to look up what apocalyptic meant before I could write the paper. I've been preaching 16 years.
[31:03] I wanted to make sure I had the understanding of the word right based upon what my professor was asking me. Now I kind of know what the word means, but I wanted to make sure I had it right because through my own efforts I couldn't figure it out.
[31:15] And I had to have a greater revelation of that reality before I could write the paper with any kind of education. And we're completely dependent upon revelation to understand things.
[31:28] The first step to being welcomed into the presence of the king is his revelation. Third and finally, and I will make it quick, we see invitation.
[31:40] Because after revelation there is this invitation. He says, come to me. Now this is an invitation to those who have experienced this revelation, right? Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden.
[31:52] And literally the wording there means all you have worked yourself to exhaustion. Those who have tried so hard and those who have tried to find peace with God and a place with God.
[32:04] And those who have tried to find comfort with God. Those who have tried to find the presence of God and exhausted themselves while doing it. Come to me. Come to me.
[32:17] And I will give you rest for your souls. This invitation is an invitation to those who are tired of trying. To those who are literally wore out from their own efforts. And it is an invitation not to stop work.
[32:29] It's not an invitation of cessation. Not to stop. But it is an invitation of continuing work while yoked up to another. He says, and take upon me my yoke. For it is light.
[32:40] Now that word there is comfortable. It is easy. It is worth wearing. I love the new clothes they have today. The reason being is the dress pants I have right now are more comfortable than some jogging pants I have on at home.
[32:57] Now I used to wear blue jeans. Now I'm just to that age. You know I wore blue jeans you could put in a corner and they'd stand up by themselves. You guys know that. You could get them. Back in the day I had them good blue jeans. And you could just jump in them when you were ready for it because they were waiting on it.
[33:10] Now I've exceeded a little bit more in years. And now I've got to wear. I wear fishing pants all the time. And the reason I wear fishing pants every day is because they do the same job. They're just a lot easier to wear.
[33:22] They still cover me up. Right? They're still pants. But they're easier to wear. And you know that's okay. People make fun of me. But I look and say well I'm comfortable. My yoke is easy.
[33:32] And yours is not. Right? I'm not trying to wear bulletproof pants anymore. I don't think anybody's shooting at my legs. If they are well they'll go right through my fishing pants. And that's okay. But it's a lot more easier to wear.
[33:42] And what Jesus is calling us to do is not to quit getting prepared. But to wear a yoke that is easier than our own efforts. To wear a yoke that is easier than our own ambitions.
[33:55] As a matter of fact he quotes Jeremiah 6 here. And I'm finished. I promise you. I'm wrapping up. In Jeremiah 6 the Bible says to stand in the gap. To stand at the crossroads. And ask what ancient ways are.
[34:06] And to take the ancient path. And it will give you rest for your souls. And see what happened in the little interpretation of Jeremiah 6. Is they said well the ancient path is the law. So if we keep the law to the best of our ability.
[34:18] And we work and we work and we work and we work. We work. We work. We work. We will eventually have rest for our souls. The reality is. Is by the time Christ came. All this legalistic keeping was. People.
[34:29] It definitely was not giving them rest. And many of us. God and we've tried and we've tried and we've tried. We've tried. And all we want to know is we're welcome into the presence of the king. All we want to know is we're welcome into the presence of the king.
[34:40] And we're trying to the best. To make sure we belong in the presence of the king. When all Jesus says is just come. To me. Lay all your hands down.
[34:56] Lay all your workings and trappings down. And work beside me. And you'll find rest for your souls.
[35:07] It's not rest for your body. But it's rest for the soul. Now I don't know what the invitation he is. Extending to each and every one of us today. But I know.
[35:19] That we don't come to him. Just because we see him doing great things. We come to him because he has revealed himself to us. And that revelation is always.
[35:29] Accompanied. With an invitation. Even after we accept him as our Lord and Savior. If he reveals himself more and more to us. It is because he is inviting us.
[35:40] To come to him in a greater way. The first invitation is an invitation to salvation. Maybe for the first time we see Jesus Christ as he really is. He is the king. He is the Lord.
[35:52] And the first light of revelation comes with an invitation to come. And to surrender our efforts and our workings and our labors. And to come and to yoke up with Christ through salvation.
[36:04] After salvation further revelation continues. And a greater invitation comes. Maybe it's to commitments. Maybe it's to baptism. Maybe it's to greater fellowship.
[36:16] Maybe it's to surrender to ministry. Oh that's an invitation the pastor doesn't give very often I think. Too often we don't do it. Maybe the greater he's revealing himself to you.
[36:28] The greater he is showing himself to you. The more of a deeper invitation he's giving of himself. And maybe he is inviting you to join him in a surrendered life of ministry.
[36:38] You know I had a dream last night. I didn't even share with my wife. It kind of scared me a little bit. I woke up earlier this morning. I smelled lunch cooking. Yeah I was already cooking. That was a great thing. I know it's for lunch. I had a dream last night that God raised three pastors up out of this church.
[36:54] Other than me. Three other pastors. Maybe that invitation is you know what. Maybe it's time I really did surrender all.
[37:08] Pastor you're not supposed to go there. He went there with me. Because I didn't want to go there. All I know is every time there's a revelation there's also an invitation to come.
[37:25] So if you have seen more of Christ today than you did before you came in. He's inviting you to something else. And only you and he can answer that question of what else.
[37:36] Let's pray. Lord thank you for this day. Thank you for the gift of coming together as a body. Thank you for the blessing of your word.
[37:48] We pray you speak to our hearts and minds. Lord emote us and shape us to who you would have us to be for your glory. We ask it in Jesus name. Amen.
[37:59] Amen. Amen. Amen.
[38:32] Thank you.
[39:32] Thank you.
[40:02] Thank you.
[40:32] Thank you.