[0:00] We're also aware that there are people gathering all over the world today to rejoice in the fact that Jesus is risen. So we are so thankful that we can come together and I'm delighted to be with you this morning.
[0:12] A warm welcome to any visitors here today and it's great that we have this opportunity to worship together. Just one thing I want to just mention. You've got the notices on the sheet there.
[0:22] My apologies that I got a date wrong in the back, but thankfully that was corrected. I just wanted to give a wider update regarding the vacancy. So as you know, the congregation is in this process of vacancy.
[0:33] The Vacancy Committee will meet towards the end of May. It will be on the intimations next week, the date for that meeting. I just need to confirm my own arrangements of being away at the General Assembly.
[0:47] But with that in mind, for the whole congregation, I just want to really emphasise that the role of the Vacancy Committee is to hear the views of the congregation in terms of the people that you've heard preach and in terms of those who you might want to hear to preach later in the year.
[1:05] So basically, I want you to spend the next two weeks, two to three weeks, just badgering the Vacancy Committee with all your thoughts and feelings about those that you've heard over recent months.
[1:16] And we want the process to be a very, very open one. You'll see in the diary, we have a couple of other pictures lined up in the month ahead as well. So please just listen prayerfully, think and chat amongst families and friends about who you've heard over the recent months.
[1:35] And it would be great to be able to feed all that information back to the Vacancy Committee when we meet at the end of the month. And most of all, just commit it to your prayers. The most important thing in a vacancy is that we just want the Lord to guide us and lead us.
[1:49] So hopefully, it'll all be an encouraging process this month. But as I said, the date will come out next week. But please just be speaking, chatting and feeding back both those who you've loved hearing and those who you've not loved hearing.
[2:02] But if you don't love hearing the minister this morning, you can just keep it to yourselves. So, most importantly of all, we're here to worship our risen Saviour Jesus together.
[2:14] And we're going to start with Psalm 95. And we're seeing the opening verses of this psalm. This is just such a brilliant psalm for us to begin with. It's got that great invitation.
[2:26] Come, let us sing to the Lord. Come, let us, everyone, a joyful noise make to the rock of our salvation. And the verses go on to speak about God as our King, our Creator.
[2:38] And we are being called to bow down before him and worship. And so, these are great words of joy and thanksgiving and of worship and praise.
[2:48] And so, we'll begin Psalm 95, verses 1 to 6. So, come, let us sing to the Lord. Oh, come, let us sing to the Lord.
[3:06] Come, let us, everyone, a joyful noise make to the rock of our salvation.
[3:24] Let us sing to the Lord.
[3:54] Let us sing to the Lord. Let us sing to the Lord. Let us sing to the Lord. Let us sing to the Lord. Let us sing to the Lord.
[4:04] Let us sing to the Lord. Let us sing to the Lord. Let us sing to the Lord. For God and rich God and rich King Above all God see His Exalt the earth that in His hand The strength of His sins To Him that's viciously belongs Are He the same did make Let Thy land also from His hands
[5:13] This form at first in day O come and let us worship Him Let us back the earth with all And on earth He's before the Lord Our Vicar let us fall Let's stand and pray together Dear God our Father we are so thankful that you have brought us here together this morning That as a new week begins we can come before you and worship you together
[6:15] And we just want to acknowledge and we just gladly confess before you that you are so good and so kind That you are a glorious majestic awesome God And we are so thankful that we can come to you this morning And that we can have this opportunity to To bring you our praise and our prayers And we can come and hear your voice speaking to us through your word So we are so thankful that we have the freedom and opportunity to be together this morning And we want to begin our new week by first and foremost gathering publicly to worship you And we do that even through your Son our Lord Jesus We thank you that Jesus is risen And we thank you that in a world that is so broken and damaged by sin and death We can come to you today knowing that in the resurrection of Jesus We have hope of eternal life and of healing and of forgiveness and of restoration
[7:16] And we thank you that that great message of the gospel of life and of healing Has been proclaimed all across the world today And we thank you that you have brought us here again today To be reminded of all that you are and of all that you've done for us And to have the opportunity to meet with you and to be refreshed and encouraged And so we just come before you, bowing before you as our God Father, Son, Holy Spirit, we worship you And we love you and we want to know more of you And we pray that your influence and your power would shape every single part of our lives And so as we come before you, we come confessing and acknowledging our sin But we also come with such thankfulness in our hearts That the promise of the gospel is that the blood of Jesus will cleanse us from all our sins And that all who come to you, you will never cast out
[8:18] And so we all come to you and you this morning And we pray that you would meet with us all and help us and teach us and guide us As we come to you, we are so conscious that we need your help And so we pray that your Holy Spirit would be working within us and among us Teaching us and guiding us, helping us and leading us So that we would all walk out of here closer to you And that we would know you and love you and serve you more and more in our lives So we pray that you would bless us and be with us Thank you for everybody who's come here today And for each one of us, in all our different circumstances and our needs And whatever we may be feeling, whether we're feeling encouraged and thankful Or whether we're feeling unsure about things Or whether we're feeling low and flat You know, Lord, and we pray that for all of us Your word would just speak to us and encourage us and help us So may your blessing be upon us in our time together just now
[9:20] We know that we need you so, so much And we pray that you would be with us in our service and in the week ahead So that all we do would be to your glory, honour and praise We ask it in the name of your Son, our Saviour Jesus Amen Now, boys and girls, it's very, very nice to see you all And I hope you're all doing very well I hope you've all had a very good week I've got a question for you, you have to put your hand up Does anybody here like football?
[9:50] Oh, excellent Lots and lots and lots of, lots of boys and girls here like football I know that lots of the grown-ups here like football as well Who's some of your favourite players? Tell me, who's your favourite players?
[10:02] Stick your hand up and tell me your favourite player What do you reckon? Any favourite players? Any favourite teams? What do you reckon, Johnny? Rangers Rangers, yes I've seen a few grown-ups smiling, yes At the back, what's your favourite team?
[10:20] Chelsea Chelsea, very good And beside you Chelsea, very good Chelsea fans, very, very good Anyone like Liverpool? Anyone like Celtic? Anyone like Aberdeen?
[10:33] I like Aberdeen Usually I don't admit that But this year they're doing quite well So I love football too And I want to tell you About something amazing That happened to me About a month ago Okay?
[10:48] Something absolutely amazing Happened to me About a month ago I scored a goal for Carloway Can you believe that?
[11:00] I scored a goal for Carloway I can't believe it But it was so exciting So Carloway was playing In a friendly They were a wee bit Short of players And I got to play And my objective Of going onto the pitch Was To survive And not to make Any terrible mistakes And I never thought For a minute That I would score a goal But I did And it was absolutely amazing Now let me tell you About this goal Okay?
[11:31] So it was A magnificent goal Right? And I'm going to tell you All about it But for me to tell you All about my goal I actually have to tell you All about Ben Okay?
[11:44] Now Some of you might know Who Ben is Because you might have Seen him play football Ben plays for Carloway And Ben plays left back Or left wing back For Carloway Now Ben is young And he's fast And he's very very fit So he's everything That I'm not Okay?
[12:05] Because I'm old And slow And I'm not very fit at all But Ben's amazing He can run all over the pitch He's really good With his skills And he's really good At kicking the ball And so Ben got the ball And he was running Towards the goal And Ben took A magnificent shot Right?
[12:23] And the ball Went flying off his foot And I was standing Near the goal And I kind of went Like that And the ball Hit off my head And in it went And I turned around And I saw the ball Go into the top corner And I was like I can't believe That just happened Did that go in?
[12:46] And it went in And I was looking And I was thinking Is that a goal? And everybody was cheering And I was thinking It's actually a goal I've actually scored But What I wanted to tell you About all of that Is because really The reason I scored Is because of everything That Ben did Okay?
[13:01] So I'm telling you I scored But really It was all because of Ben He did a brilliant run He is super fast He took a great shot It just kind of Brushed off my head But because it came off me And went in My goal So I can come to you today And say I scored for Carly Now I'm very excited About that I still go to bed Most nights Dreaming about that goal I scored But It's actually teaching us A really really important lesson About the gospel It's teaching you A really important lesson About how What it means To follow Jesus And about everything That Jesus Has done for us Because I scored that goal But I can only score that goal Because of Everything that Ben did Okay?
[13:54] So Ben did all the running Ben did the great shot Ben put the ball In the right place And I just Moved my head A wee bit And yet In it went And I got the goal It was all because Of what Ben did Now that's actually A very very clear lesson About how the gospel works Because in the gospel It's not about us Being good enough Or strong enough Or clever enough Ourselves And it's not about us Making up For all the mistakes That we make In our lives Instead The gospel Is about Jesus Doing Everything For us And so when Jesus Died on the cross And when Jesus Rose again He is doing Everything That we need In order To be saved
[14:54] And all We need to do Is trust him Now if I'm going to go Into the football Pitch again I'm thinking to myself They're running Really fast They're really fit They're scoring Good goals And I'm thinking I can't do any Of those things And That's because I'm old And I'm slow And I'm not so fit Anymore But I could score a goal Because Ben did it all For me And In the gospel You think Oh I don't know enough I've made too many mistakes What if I What if I make Another mistake What if I'm not Learning enough It doesn't matter Jesus does it all And all he asks us To do is to trust him And if you want to know Something amazing About my goal For the rest of my life I can say that I scored for Carly Nobody can ever Take that away from me
[15:55] Nobody can ever Take that away from me And What's true of my goal Is absolutely true Of everything that Jesus gives to you When we trust in him We are saved We are forgiven We are secure With Jesus forever We will go to be with him In heaven When our lives come to an end And no one And nothing Can ever take that Away from you And that's One of the many reasons Why following Jesus Is amazing I can tell you Two things today Scoring for Carly Is amazing It was a great feeling Knowing Jesus Is even better So I want you Boys and girls To always
[16:55] Always remember that We are going to sing Together again And this time Our psalm Is Psalm 51 Psalm 51 And we are going to sing At verse 7 Do thou with this Sprinkle me I shall be cleansed So ye wash thou me And then I shall Be whiter Than the snow These verses We are going to sing Verses 7 to 12 And these are verses That just speak so beautifully Of everything That the gospel does For us That through Jesus Our sins are washed away And washed away so much That we are made Whiter than the snow So we are going to sing Psalm 51 Verses 7 to 12 Boys and girls Head to Sunday school Let's sing To God's place Psalm 52
[18:12] I wash the meand head, I shall be whitered than a snow.
[18:27] Of fullness and of joyfulness, bid me to hear the voice that so desapements which Thou hast broken may rejoice.
[19:04] All mine iniquities fluttered, I paid sight from my sin.
[19:22] Eat a clean heart, Lord, renew the right spirit me within.
[19:38] Pass me not from Thy side nor take Thy Holy Spirit away.
[19:56] Restore me, Thy salvation show. With Thy peace let me stay.
[20:14] We're going to read God's word together in the Gospel of Matthew and chapter 11. Matthew chapter 11.
[20:40] We'll read the whole chapter together. And it came to pass when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities.
[20:52] Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?
[21:03] Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and show John again those things which you do hear and see. The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them.
[21:20] And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me. And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see?
[21:33] A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft clothing are in the king's houses. But what went ye out to see?
[21:44] A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
[21:56] Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist, notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
[22:09] And for the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven sufferedeth violence, and the violent take it by force. But all the prophets and the law prophesied until John, and if ye will receive it, this is Elias or Elijah, who was for to come.
[22:25] He that had ears to hear, let him hear. But where unto shall I liken this generation? It's like unto children sitting in the markets and calling out to their fellows and saying, We've piped unto you, and you've not danced, and we've mourned unto you, and you've not lamented.
[22:40] For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say he had a devil. The son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold, a man gluttonous and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners.
[22:52] But wisdom is justified of her children. Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not. Woe unto thee, Chorazin!
[23:04] Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for you.
[23:22] And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell. For if the mighty works which had been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
[23:34] But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee. At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.
[23:51] Even so, Father, for it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father, and no man knoweth the Son but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
[24:06] Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly at heart, and you shall find rest unto your souls.
[24:21] For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Amen. May God add his blessing to this reading of his word. We're just going to pray again. You can just remain seated, and we'll bow our heads in prayer.
[24:32] Father, we're so thankful that we can come to you as a new week begins, and as we do that, we want to just bring before you those known to us who are in need and who are struggling just now.
[24:46] We're so conscious that we live in a world that's been damaged by sin, and that reality means that there are many, many people who suffer, and for whom life is difficult just now.
[24:58] And we want to pray for those in the community here who are unwell, and those in hospital, or those in care homes, or those who've maybe recently been in hospital, or others more widely, or who are unwell, or who are facing uncertainty about their health just now.
[25:14] We know that that affects many, many people. We pray for them, asking that they would just know your health, and strength, and comfort just now. We want to pray for those who are maybe just going through a difficult season in life at the moment.
[25:27] We pray for those who are facing a lot of pressure at work. We pray for those who might be facing big decisions that need to be made, or those for whom things have maybe turned out in their lives in a way that they did not want, or not expect.
[25:45] And for just those who have a heavy heart, or those who feel low in themselves, or those who feel anxious about what the week might bring, we just pray for them, that they would all know your comfort, and peace, and health.
[25:58] And for any here today, especially who might be struggling, or anxious, or doubting, or who feel just far from you, or feel that they've made mistakes, or whatever it may be, we just pray that you would meet with them, and that they would just be helped, and encouraged by your word.
[26:18] Because we just recognise, Lord, that we need you so, so much. And we confess that so often we are prone to be self-sufficient, we think that our own judgement is better, and so often we want you to do things our way, rather than coming to you, and praying that you'd help us to do things your way in our lives.
[26:40] And so we pray that you would just realign us in our hearts, in our time together today, help us to have things in the right order in our lives, to have you first, and to recognise the many, many good and wonderful things that you've given us in our lives.
[26:54] May we treasure and value these things appropriately. But help us also to see the things in our lives, or the things in our hearts, that shouldn't be there, the things that are going to hurt us, or hurt our families, or that are going to lead us away from you.
[27:10] We pray that you would just help us to identify these things, and by your grace, that we would turn away from sin, and follow you, and that you would give us wisdom to hear your voice.
[27:23] And so we just pray for all of us here, that you would bless us and help us. We pray for the congregation, that you would encourage the congregation here at this time. We especially pray just for your guiding hand at this season of vacancy.
[27:34] We pray that you would just guide the congregation, and that you would be leading us to the pastor of your choosing. And we see there's such an amazing opportunity for the work of the gospel here in Calanash and in the wider community.
[27:51] We just pray, Father, that you would provide someone, provide a man to come and take forward the work of the gospel here, that you'd be preparing his heart and leading us to him, and that there would just be a wonderful season of ministry and blessing here.
[28:12] And so that the amazing potential for the work of the gospel here would just be realised, and that that would bring joy to so many. So we pray that you would just be blessing the work of the gospel here in the community.
[28:25] And of course, we pray the same for across the island, and that you would be drawing many, many people to come to hear the good news of Jesus and to find the peace and the hope and the joy and the purpose that comes from knowing him.
[28:40] And so we pray that you'd be at work among us here. We pray the same to the ends of the earth, that you would help your church worldwide and that that church would grow and help us to love and serve you and to love and serve our neighbour more and more.
[28:56] We pray for our nation, and we pray especially for people who struggle, and we think of so many people whose lives are so difficult. We think of people living in poverty, those living with very, very difficult health challenges, those who struggle with addiction, and for those who just feel lost in life.
[29:17] We pray, Father, that the hope of the gospel would just bring joy and transformation to so, so many people. And we also want to remember places of conflict and suffering in the world, and we pray that you would help those for whom the start of a new week is just the start of a hard week.
[29:34] And so we pray, Father, for all those in need throughout the world and pray that more would be done to help bring peace and bring provision to those who need it. And now, Lord, as we just turn to your word in a moment, we pray that you'd be preparing our hearts, teaching us and guiding us, so that we would hear your voice and follow you in our lives.
[29:53] We ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, before we come back to Matthew 11, we're going to sing again, this time from Psalm 119, and at verse 33. Psalm 119, verse 33, we'll sing four stanzas.
[30:13] Psalm 119 is an amazing psalm. It's the longest psalm by a mile, and yet through it all, it's just a constant emphasis on how much we need God's word, how we need him to teach us and to guide us, to lead us.
[30:26] And so all the sections of this huge psalm are speaking about that. So it's a really good psalm for us to sing just before the sermon, because as we sing these words, we are praying these words, that as we come to God's word, he would be teaching us, helping us to understand, and leading us in his ways.
[30:45] So Psalm 119, from verse 33 to 37, teach me, O Lord, the perfect way of thy precepts divine. Four stanzas to God's praise.
[30:56] Teach me, O Lord, the perfect way of thy precepts divine.
[31:12] And to observe it to the end, I shall my heart incline.
[31:30] give understanding unto me, so keep thy love shall I.
[31:47] gain with my whole heart, I shall observe it carefully.
[32:04] In thy lost path make me to go, for I do thy dead end.
[32:20] My heart unto thy testimonies, and not to credence lie.
[32:37] Turn thou away my sight and eyes from viewing vanity, and in thy good and holy way be pleased to quicken me.
[33:15] Well, I'd like us together, just for a wee while this morning, to turn back to Matthew chapter 11, and we're going to read at verse 28. Matthew 11, 28, where Jesus said, Come unto me, all ye that laboured and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
[33:43] Now, a couple of weeks ago, we enjoyed a wonderful communion weekend together here with Bob Aykroyd. It was a wonderful weekend for lots and lots of reasons, and a really precious time to share together with you.
[33:58] One of the many highlights of that weekend for me was my lunch on Sunday. I went to Boyan and Anna's, and we had a lovely, lovely lunch together. But I discovered something at that lunch that I'd never realised before.
[34:13] What I discovered at my lunch was that the view from their house is amazing. And so, we were just up on the other side of the road there, looking down that way, and the view is beautiful.
[34:28] And I'd never really realised or appreciated that before. I've driven through Kalanish hundreds of times, and I'm embarrassed to confess, I didn't really think that the views were particularly stunning.
[34:42] But that day, I saw the view, and I thought, Wow, this view is amazing. You could see the hills of Eug, Bernaga, the sea was calm and glistening, the shoreline, and there was even a Ford Capri.
[34:57] Stunning. And, I'd realised that I'd gone past this view hundreds of times, and never appreciated it.
[35:10] And, Matthew 11, 28 is one of these verses that you have probably gone past a thousand times in your life. It might be through reading Matthew 11, 28, or it might be because this is the kind of verse that you'll very often have on, maybe on a plaque, on the wall, maybe at the bottom of a picture, maybe even on a magazine in the fridge, or something.
[35:33] It's one of the most famous verses of the whole Bible, and one that we will, many of us, will have gone past many, many times in our lives. And yet, sometimes there's a danger when we go past something very, very often that we we don't get, we don't actually stop and appreciate just how amazing it is.
[35:56] And that's what I want us to do this morning. I want us to look together at these famous and beautiful words in verse 28.
[36:07] And one of the things that makes this verse so remarkable is that it's actually a very, very simple verse. The words that it contains, the language it uses, it's just so clear, it's so simple.
[36:19] And that's important in terms of some of the wider teaching of Jesus in this chapter because you'll just see in the verses before it, in verses 25 and 26, Jesus says, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you've hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babies, even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight.
[36:40] And what Jesus is talking about there is something that you often see in the Gospels, is the fact that in the days when Jesus lived here on earth, there was such a kind of high-level religious elite in the community.
[36:57] And these were the people who were the experts on what it meant to know God. They were the experts in the Old Testament scriptures and experts in all the additional teaching and requirements that had been added.
[37:11] And so you have this religious elite and again and again and again and again Jesus is saying, they don't know what they're talking about. They're making everything far more complicated than they need to.
[37:28] And I am actually revealing my truth to those who feel like they're just, like they're children, like they know nothing. And yet Jesus is saying, that's who I am wanting to reveal the gospel to.
[37:44] And so the simplicity of verse 28 stands in very sharp contrast to all the complexity that was being added to the religious life of the people and the communities in Matthew's gospel.
[38:00] And so the simplicity of this verse is part of what makes it so beautiful. people. However, even today this verse is still really easy to misunderstand.
[38:14] And I think it's actually the case that we can misunderstand every part of this verse. And that's what I want us to think about because we need to make sure, we need to make absolutely sure that we are clear about everything that Jesus is saying to us in verse 28.
[38:38] So I'm just going to whiz through each section and pick out some key words. So start with the first word, the word come. Now that word come is what we would call the gospel imperative.
[38:50] The imperative is a commanding word, it's a word telling you to do something and the imperative of the gospel is come. And you see that here and you see it all over the Bible, you see it again and again and again in Jesus' teaching.
[39:08] He goes among people and this is the word he gives, come. And yet it is so, so easy for us to misunderstand what Jesus is requiring of us.
[39:23] We misunderstand the gospel imperative. So, the gospel imperative is come not earn. And that's a misunderstanding that has taken place, that has been fallen into again and again and again over the whole of history.
[39:42] People think that in order to have a relationship with God, in order to be acceptable to God, we have to earn it.
[39:54] So we have to do certain things, we have to achieve certain things, we have to get to a certain level and there's that whole idea of us earning our way up to God, earning his favour, not the gospel.
[40:09] That is not the gospel. imperative. And in the same way, and this is a really important and maybe counterintuitive thing, the gospel imperative is come, not change.
[40:25] And what do I mean by that? Well, because at one level, change is an important part of following Jesus, but in terms of that initial command to meet Jesus, the gospel imperative is come, not change.
[40:40] And the reason it's so important to remember that is because it's so easy to think, I need to change a lot in my life before I come to Jesus.
[40:52] And again, throughout history, people have fallen into that mistake and now in our lives, we fall into that mistake so often. We think that in order to be acceptable to Jesus, we need to at least put some things right in our lives and we at least need to understand a little bit more than we do and we at least need to get a little bit further on, you know, and I've heard it many, many, many times, oh, I've just got to sort this out before I can think about becoming a Christian.
[41:21] And all of that is to put change before come. You're thinking, I need to change, then I'll come. I'll change, then I'll come. No. You come as you are.
[41:32] You come as you are. Even though that means you might feel like you've got a thousand things that need to change.
[41:44] Jesus is saying, come. And he's saying, come, and then I'll actually help you change. I'll walk with you.
[41:55] I'll support you. I'll guide you. I'll help you. We come. We don't have to change and fix everything first.
[42:08] So the gospel imperative is come, not earn. The gospel imperative is come, not change. The gospel imperative is come, not wait. And again, that's so, so important because it's so easy to hear that message where Jesus is saying, come, and we think, yes, but I'm just going to wait.
[42:33] I'm going to wait until it's a better time. I'm going to wait until I'm a little bit older. Maybe even sometimes people fall into time thinking, I'm going to wait until I've just been able to enjoy a bit more freedom before whatever following Jesus might bring.
[42:53] And so Jesus is saying, come, and we're saying, I think I'll wait. And it can be for a hundred reasons that we think that we need to wait. And often it's because we think that something major needs to happen.
[43:11] And so very often we're waiting for some, I don't know, some big confirmation, some astonishing event, some really powerful answer to prayer, or some sense that we are more in the place that we need to be compared to where we are now, and we're waiting, and we're waiting, and we're waiting, and we're waiting for something to come.
[43:30] Jesus is never saying to you, wait. He's saying, come. He's the one who's waiting.
[43:44] He's waiting for you to come to him. The gospel imperative is come. And that's such a wonderful word.
[43:56] And I love the simplicity and sincerity of what Jesus is saying. He's just saying, come, come.
[44:07] And it reminds me of when our kids would wee and you'd hear them shout, they'd be like, mom! And you say, what is it?
[44:19] Come! And you say, what is it? Come! They're not going to give you any explanation. They're just saying, come. And it's only when you come that things are right.
[44:33] And Jesus is giving that kind of command to us. He's saying, come, but what about this, but what about that, but what about that? He's saying, just come.
[44:48] Just come. And it's so important that we respond to that. And it's really interesting that very often, you know, the gospel is so simple of what we've been asked to do, and yet often we will complicate it, and we'll complicate it by doing the opposite of what Jesus wants, or responding in the opposite way.
[45:08] And you see a wee example of that in the slightly strange verses that you have in 16 to 19. So you go back over my page, 16 to 19, Jesus says, what do I liken this generation to?
[45:20] You're like children sitting in the markets calling to their fellows and saying, we piped for you and you didn't dance. We mourned for you and you've not lamented. John came neither eating nor drinking, and you said he's got a devil.
[45:33] I came, son of man, came eating and drinking, and they say he's a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of publicans and sinners. And part of what those verses are saying is that basically whatever Jesus is asking us to do, we tend to think the opposite and respond with the opposite.
[45:47] So when you think of dancing, you think that's pointing us to the fact that the gospel just brings joy. And so we're saying, look, Jesus said, look, come to me and you will experience joy and smiles and laughter and it will be wonderful.
[46:04] And we respond by saying that and we think, oh no, I can't, I'm not good enough. And so instead of responding to a positive message, we're given a positive message, we respond with negativity.
[46:15] And then the opposite is too when Jesus says, look, sin is so, so serious and life is so, so fragile and eternity is so, so long. You've got to think about what the gospel is claiming.
[46:27] We respond by saying, oh, it'll be fine, it'll be fine. And so we respond to joy with negativity. We respond to seriousness with playing it down.
[46:38] And you see the people there that, you know, John the Baptist who didn't eat or drink with anybody and they're saying, oh, well, he's got a devil and, you know, he's crazy. And then the Son of Man does the opposite and he's quite happy to have meals with people, quite happy to drink wine with people and to celebrate.
[46:53] And they say, oh, look, he's a glutton and a drunkard. And so whatever it is, people are responding with the opposite. And all of that's emphasising the danger of the instinctive opposite that the devil will put in your heart.
[47:04] When Jesus is calling you, when he's calling you, the devil will try to sow the opposite into your heart.
[47:17] And so when Jesus is saying, come, you'll find reasons not to. And that's why you've got to just listen to what Jesus is saying.
[47:29] Come. It's, it is that simple. Come. And then he says, come unto me.
[47:40] Now again, the unto me is so important because throughout the last 2,000 years, you know, when we think about Christianity, if it's all about a relationship between us and Jesus, humanity has been so good, or bad, as the case may be, at putting steps in the way.
[48:02] So it's like, you know, Jesus is saying, come to me, but we put a whole ton of extra steps in the way, extra stops. That was exactly what the religious elite of Matthew's time, of this time, were doing.
[48:18] They were putting 101 extra stops between the ordinary person and God. And so, and you see that again and again, people add, they add these rituals, they add extra requirements, they add a whole ton of rules, as though, you know, actually, Jesus is there, but there's all this stuff, all these boxes that you've got to take, all these things that you've got to sort out.
[48:41] And our hearts instinctively do this. And even John the Baptist, at the start of this chapter, seems to be doing this a little bit because he's sending messages to say, Jesus, are you the one, or do we need something extra? Is there someone more to come?
[48:55] And it's so, so easy to just add these extra stops. And the key thing is that these extra stops might be good things. So, Jesus is saying, come unto me, and we're thinking, well, I'll go to church.
[49:15] And Jesus is saying, come unto me, and we might think, well, I'll read my Bible every day. And Jesus is saying, come unto me, and we'll think, well, I'll go to the prayer meeting. And they're all good things.
[49:30] And in their right place, they are so crucial and so helpful but you must not just stop and think that attendance at church is enough.
[49:48] Or that knowledge of the Bible is enough. These are great things. I want everybody at church, and I want everybody to know their Bibles. But we've got to get to Him.
[50:03] We've got to get to Jesus. And you think, well, that sounds difficult and complicated, but the amazing thing is that to get to Jesus, you just talk to Him. You just talk to Jesus.
[50:19] And that's why you could have your closest encounter with Jesus here in church, or you might have it in the middle of the night where you can't sleep, and you're praying to Him.
[50:33] Or in a thousand other ways. because we need to come to Him. And it's wonderful, Jesus, Jesus is not saying come to my, this, or my that, or my the next, and don't come to my class, or my school, or my church, or my ritual, or my this, or my that.
[50:55] He's not saying, come to me. because Jesus wants you to know Him. He wants you to know how much He loves you, that you are created by Him, that you are so precious to Him, and that He wants you close to Him.
[51:23] Him. It is so, so easy to think that Jesus wants us at arm's length. And sometimes, we'll maybe, sometimes people have been made to feel like that, sometimes maybe people feel like the church wants us at arm's length, whatever it may be, whatever.
[51:42] It's so easy to think that Jesus wants us at arm's length. This verse is telling us that that's never true. He wants you to come to Him because He loves you so much.
[51:57] And the gospel, that word me, that word me, is everything that you need.
[52:10] Everything that you need. He has done it all. He's, we bring nothing else with it, with us.
[52:22] all the requirements, all the obligation, everything has been accomplished by Jesus. The me in verse 28 is everything I need, everything that you need, you just need to come to Him.
[52:38] Jesus is saying, come to me. And then He describes the people who could come to Him, all you that labor and are heavy laden.
[52:48] Now, you might be thinking, well, we understand that bit because life just now often feels like we are laboring and that we are heavy laden and life feels really busy and hard and there's loads of things going on.
[52:59] Time is so short. There's tons of things to do. Life just seems so full just now. you know, when it talks about, you know, laboring and being heavy laden, you think, well, I can understand that.
[53:14] Well, yes, but I think that this is actually easy to misunderstand as well. And the reason it's easy to misunderstand is because it's so easy to underestimate just what Jesus is saying here.
[53:32] And so, we hear Jesus say, you know, come to me all you that labor and are heavy laden. And we might think, you know, of times in life when we felt busy, we felt a little bit overwhelmed, and we might think of like all the busyness in life and all the different things that we have to do.
[53:48] And all of that's true. And these are the kind of burdens that Jesus is talking about. But the language, I think, points us beyond that. Because when it talks about laboring, it's not just talking about working and being busy.
[54:05] It's actually talking about being exhausted. So when Jesus says, come to me those who labor, labor, he's talking about those who just feel like they are really tired, that they're exhausted, and they feel ready to give up.
[54:29] And so, you mustn't think of this verse when Jesus says, come to me those who labor. He's thinking, right? Come to me, you workers who are busy, but you're pretty strong and you're coping well. He is saying, come to me if you are utterly knackered.
[54:46] And if you feel completely spent and flat and ready to call it quits.
[54:56] that's who Jesus is inviting. Now, that means all of us because we all feel like that at different times in our lives.
[55:07] And part of the reason we feel like that is because of all the burdens that we carry. and it talks about being heavy laden. So often life is like that. You feel burdened. You feel under pressure.
[55:18] Sometimes you feel tormented by the things that you've got to carry in your life. Now, sometimes those burdens come from outside of us. Sometimes there's the pressure of work and there's concerns about family and other responsibilities.
[55:34] Sometimes there's loads of other things going on that just feel like there are more than we can carry. So, very, very often this burdened feeling comes from outside but also very, very often this burdened feeling comes from within us.
[55:53] And so I don't feel if I look at my own life there's sometimes in my life when I'm mega busy and that can feel like a burden.
[56:11] but I don't mind that too much and I actually like being busy and although it's a burden it's okay.
[56:22] I don't feel that burdened when there's loads of things going on out there. I feel burdened when I feel like I've stuffed up. When I've said something that I regretted or I failed to do something that I wanted to do or when I feel like I'm just failing.
[56:47] And none of that's coming from out there. It's all coming from in here. And you feel frustrated at yourself. You feel like you're letting people down.
[56:57] You feel like you're a million miles from where you want to be. And these are the things that weigh me down. And that burden me. And it's wonderful because in these verses Jesus is non-specific.
[57:09] He doesn't identify specific things which means it's all-inclusive. Whatever it is that burdens us Jesus is saying come to me with those burdens.
[57:23] With every burden or feeling of failure or frustration Jesus is saying come to me. And the thing that's so so important to notice about here is that Jesus is not saying shed your burdens before you come.
[57:39] He's not saying shed your burdens before you come. And I want to give you a hypothetical situation that some of you may relate to.
[57:51] When you imagine that the kids have messed up your house. Whether it's your own children or friends or whatever they come round. that's the absolute tip. And your mother-in-law phones and says I'm going to come and help you tidy.
[58:10] What are you going to do before your mother-in-law comes? You're going to tidy up. And so although she's supposed to come and clean you think I've got to fix this bird.
[58:21] it's so easy to think like that with Jesus. And we think there's all these burdens, there's all these regrets, there's all these frustrations, there's all these insecurities, I need to kind of deal with that and then I'll come to Jesus.
[58:36] That's not what this verse is saying. Jesus is saying bring all of that to me. In other words Jesus is saying come to me with all your mess and with all your mistakes and with all your burdens.
[58:49] just bring them to me. I'm not asking you to leave them behind. I'm asking you to put them on my lap.
[59:01] And that's just amazing that Jesus is so ready to take us as we are with all our baggage, with all our struggles. And that's just emphasizing again and again and again when Jesus is saying come to me and when he's saying I want you to come to me, he is saying I want you to come and I want everything that comes with you and I will deal with it.
[59:31] I will sort you out. And then the promise is that he will give us rest. I'll be super fast, my clock just beeped for 12.
[59:45] Jesus promises us that if we come to him, even for coming with all of our exhaustion and all of our burdens, he promises to give us rest.
[59:59] Now, I think this is one of the most wonderful words that Jesus could have possibly chosen to describe what being a Christian gives you.
[60:18] It gives you rest. Because if you think about all of these things that, you know, the laboring in our lives and the burdens that we carry, all of these exhaust us and they wear us down and they leave us bruised and hurt.
[60:33] rest, Jesus promises to give us rest. And again, you have to contrast with the kind of mindset of the religious elite at the time. Their kind of goal was to constantly give people unrest because it's almost like, well, have you kept that law?
[60:51] Have you done that? Have you remembered that? Are you sure to do this? And all of that's robbing them of rest. It was just heaping them up with more burdens. Jesus comes to give the opposite.
[61:03] He comes to give us rest. Now, there's two really important things to highlight here. One is that we all want rest.
[61:14] Everybody longs for rest. And we think, we go looking at lots and lots and lots of things that we think will give us rest.
[61:26] And so we think that maybe if we're a little bit more secure financially, that will give us rest. We think maybe if we're certain that our family is okay, that kids are set up, that will give us rest.
[61:38] Or we think that if I just achieve a bit more in my career, I feel satisfied, that will give me rest. Or if we think I can just get to retirement and I can just be secure, retired, that will give me rest.
[61:52] We go looking for a hundred things in life that will give us rest. Now, sometimes they do give us a little bit of rest. Often, they under promise and don't give us the kind of rest and satisfaction that we think they're going to give us, but even if they do, it's only temporary.
[62:08] And Jesus promises us eternal rest. And so that's one of the crucial things to remember here, that Jesus is just giving us that promise of an eternity that is full of peace, where we're settled, we're safe, we're secure, our hearts are at rest.
[62:31] And that's such an amazing promise. But the other thing that's so important about following Jesus is not just that he gives us that promise of rest for eternity that we long for, but following Jesus also gives us rest, he gives us settled hearts, restful hearts in every area of our lives.
[62:53] Because as you go into this week, as you go into every week of your life, you're going to just face stuff that's going to unsettle your heart, that's going to make you anxious, and in all those specific situations, Jesus gives you rest.
[63:04] So, to give examples, we think of money, all of us worry about money, none of us can function in a western society without money, and you're anxious about money, do I have enough money?
[63:14] And for some of you, maybe money worries are really big at the moment. And that's a hugely unsettling thing for us. Jesus gives us rest, because we can think, Lord, you have promised to provide.
[63:31] And even if your numbers might not be the same as my numbers, I know that I'll be okay, and I can rest in that. Same with work.
[63:42] You know, we think, well, I want to make sure I do well at work, I want to be sure things are going okay, I'm responsible for other people, employees, I've got salaries to pay, I've got people to look after, and it can be overwhelming, and we think, and you can go into your working this week, this week, you can go on your own, you can go in full of tension, with your eyes on Jesus, you can know that he has promised to help you, he will help you, he will sustain you, he will be with you.
[64:08] And I'm sure you've experienced this, I very often experience it, where you get up in the morning, you've got so much to do, you're like, I don't have a clue I'm going to do this. And then he carries you through, and he gives you rest.
[64:22] Other things, I'm running out of time, your looks, you're worried about how you appear to people, not just physical looks, but also just the look of your life, how you come across what other people think of you.
[64:35] We're so often unsettled by what other people think of us. Jesus, God the Son, the risen Lord, who reigns over everything, he loves you forever.
[64:47] and what he thinks of you is never changing. And even in terms of our achievements in life, I'm going to give you another embarrassing football example.
[65:04] Last week I played for the Carlyway over 40s, another wonderful experience for me. It was good, I really enjoyed it. We played in nets, we lost, but it was very, very good. And so I loved doing it, loved the exercise, loved playing with the guys, it was so, so good.
[65:19] But, I also came away a bit sad in my heart. And do you know why? Because, and this has been my experience with football my whole life, I've never been as good as I want to be.
[65:39] I've never been as good at football as I want to be. And even now, age 42, I feel exactly the same way as I felt when I was 12, where you think, I think I can do this.
[65:53] And you just don't quite make it. Now, that applies in so many areas of life, where we think, I'm just not what I wish it was. And in those moments, I remind myself, what Jesus thinks of me, what Jesus thinks of you, what Jesus has promised you, and all that Jesus has done for you, mean that all these other things don't actually matter.
[66:26] it. And most importantly of all, you know, when you think of the word rest, the most unsettling thing for all of us is the shadow of death hanging over our lives.
[66:43] Jesus gives you rest in the face of that. I've run out of time. I've talked for too long. I always do. I need to just say one final thing.
[66:54] I've missed out a word. Jesus makes magnificent promises in all of this. It captures the gospel so simply, so profoundly. There's this incredible invitation to come to him as we are with all our burdens and he will give us rest.
[67:11] I've missed out one word. Do you know which one it is? All. Come to me all.
[67:25] And I wanted to save that word till last. Because all includes you. All includes you.
[67:42] Amen. Lord Jesus, we thank you so much for these beautiful words that capture just how beautiful the gospel is.
[67:58] And we pray that for all of us that we would come to you and we come with all our labouring, our exhaustion, our weakness, our burdens.
[68:10] and we thank you so much that you've promised to give us rest. And we pray that all of us would just know that in our lives. Amen.
[68:21] We're going to close with Psalm 103 singing from verse 8.
[68:37] And these verses just echo the teaching that lies behind Matthew 11 28. Just speaking about how the Lord our God is merciful, he's gracious, he's long suffering, slow to wrath, full of mercy, doesn't treat us as our sins deserve, his tender mercy is towards us, greater than the height of the heavens above the earth, and as far as the east is from the west, so far he has removed our sin from us.
[69:09] So 8 to 12, the Lord our God is merciful and he is gracious. voy voy voy No suffering and slaughter us.
[69:47] In mercy plentious, He will not chide continually.
[70:07] Nor keep His anger still. With us He tell not as we sin.
[70:27] Nor did we quite out of. For as the heaven in its sight, The earth's unwinded fire, So great to those that you have.
[71:07] His tender mercies are. As far as He is distant from the west, So far as He from us, Remove it in His love, All out iniquity.
[71:55] Amen. Amen. Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, The love of God, And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
[72:10] Amen.