Come Unto Me

[0:00] Come unto me. Come unto me. There is an answer for you who are overburdened and weighed down with life's cares.

[0:15] ! Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

[0:38] Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. And ye shall find rest unto yourselves, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

[0:54] Come, hear the Saviour's voice. I appeal to you to receive his gracious invitation. He says, come.

[1:06] His arms are wide open. He says, come. He says, come. He does not say, do this or don't do that. Simply, come. He does not say, come unto the church.

[1:20] He does not say, come unto religion. But he says, come unto me. The answer is not, come to Buddha, come to Mohammed, Krishna or some false idol.

[1:32] Come to Jesus himself. Come to that living relationship with the living God. He says to you, come. Do nothing else but come unto him.

[1:45] Salvation, salvation, rest is found in no one else. No other one. None other name. Under heaven.

[1:56] Given among men. Whereby we must be saved. To come. Someone has reckoned it like this. To come. What does it mean? To come means to believe. To receive.

[2:09] To eat that bread. To drink. That living water. To look. To the Saviour. To confess. Lord.

[2:20] To hear his voice. To answer the door. To open the door. As he knocks. To touch. The hem of his garment.

[2:31] To accept the gift of eternal life. Come. It's not complicated. It's not a very technical process.

[2:43] Simply come. Enter in to him. Whatever we are in. Whatever trial or test or trouble. We may come unto him. He says simply come.

[2:54] To all he says come. Come unto him. Unburden your soul. Find rest. Your mind can't find peace.

[3:05] Your soul can't find salvation. He says come unto me all. The offer is wide. And free. It's wide open. His invitation is extensive.

[3:15] And it's unconditional. And his word is his promise. It's settled. It's sure. It's faithful. He says come unto me.

[3:26] All ye that labour. And are heavy laden. He invites those laden. Those heavy loaded. To come unto him. Those who are weighed down. And he invites those who are burdened.

[3:37] With guilt. With shame. We cannot be too heavily laden. That he cannot take our burden. Some think.

[3:48] I'm not able. I'm not worthy. I'm too far from God. But he can carry your burden. He can take it off you.

[4:00] Many carry burdens that are spiritual. Mental. Financial. Physical. Whatever the burden. Lay it on him today. Some carry the burden of religion.

[4:13] It's vain. And it's empty. You know there's a dear one in streets nearby. Their house has got idols.

[4:24] To different false gods. And they've got this family history. This culture that they've grown up with.

[4:36] Worshipping. And offering incense to false gods. Really it's a burden of religion. You cannot say. It's a burden. You've got to lay it down.

[4:47] He calls to us. To the heavy laden. He calls out still. Those laden with sin. With fear. With worry. With doubt. With sorrow. With loss.

[5:00] Loads. He calls you. Come. You that are heavy laden. You that have become weary. And despairing. The Saviour's call is still true today.

[5:14] It's real today. It's ever relevant. For us. And our Lord invites the burdened sinner to come. In a way it's good. That you feel your burden.

[5:26] If you that are outside of Christ tonight. If you feel burden. That's a good place to be. Because God wants you to feel that burden. The weight of it. The load of it. As in Pilgrim's story.

[5:38] Of the pilgrim. Bunyan's story of the pilgrim. As he came. And the weight of his conviction of sin. Weighed him down. Until he found rest.

[5:50] At the cross. As he trusted. The work of Christ for him. Come. Do nothing else but come. To him. Some would think I've got to come.

[6:00] And I've got to do this and do that. He just says come. Come. Simply come. Simply come. Nothing else but come. Unto him. And he says I will give you rest.

[6:13] I will refresh you. Who's had an afternoon sleep today? Only so many. But what a blessing isn't it?

[6:23] You're ashamed to confess it. But I had one. Only a little one. It was a. What do they call it? A micro. A power nap. That's it. Makes it sound better doesn't it?

[6:34] Not like you're being lazy or anything. But he says I will give you rest. Isn't it beautiful to have rest? I know there's someone been working today. It's morning. Could get to church because they were working. And it's almost like there's no break.

[6:47] It's relentless isn't it? He wants us to find rest. We can find rest. Even in the busyness of life. And he's able to ease your worrisome laboring. Your wearisome ways.

[6:58] Your crushing burden. He's able to lift it. Wow. Relief. It's taken off. That load. That weight. And Psalm 37 verse 7 it says rest in the Lord.

[7:10] Wait patiently for him. Rest. Here he says rest in the Lord. And there is rest for all. For all who will come.

[7:21] Who will but come. Someone has said this. There are many heads resting on Christ's bosom. But there's room for yours there too. As John. It would appear it was John.

[7:34] Rested on the Saviour's bosom. At the fateful night of the Lord's Supper. He had that closeness to the Saviour.

[7:44] He just wanted to rest in that closeness to Christ. And we can have that same rest. We can find that same comfort. Struggling one.

[7:55] You will find him. You will find in him your peace. Your peace for your soul. That resting place. And he offers to you refreshment.

[8:08] Revival. Rest. Rest. You can find his will. You can be free from his wrath. It's that rest. That awesome rest. That eternal rest.

[8:18] That blessed rest. Of salvation. And he extends pardon. Inward peace. So the soul. Nothing beats that. Amen. Ultimately it's heavenly rest.

[8:31] When they put RIP. Rest in peace. For you that are saved. Yes that will be true. You'll have a rest. A glad rest. Our Lord Jesus says.

[8:43] I will give you rest. I will give you rest. We can find rest in relying upon his word. This rest he promises is full. And it is sure.

[8:54] It is complete. This is not some false rest. As some would think. Oh I've got a peace about it. As they might undertake transcendental meditation.

[9:06] Or as the Mormon would say. Oh the book of Mormon is true. I have this burning in my bosom. And as some charismatics would say. I've had a word. You know someone's prophesied.

[9:17] I'm going to do this. There can be a false rest. A false assurance. There can be false. Restings.

[9:29] But this rest is true. We can have a false rest like the fool who said. I've got my barns all sorted. I've got my to-do list all tipped off.

[9:40] Everything's done. Everything's dusted. I've got my. You know you can imagine putting it in relative terms. All my jobs are done at home. My shed's all tidy.

[9:52] I've got everything all spick and span and dusted. I've got stuff stored there for the future. Like he had his barns all ready. Everything was just spick and span. And then he said.

[10:03] He said. I'm going to take it easy now. I'm just going to lounge back in my. My lounge chair. Take thine ease. Then God said.

[10:14] You fool. And he entered into eternal night. There can be a false rest. A false assurance. That's founded in false trust.

[10:27] But this rest of which we speak tonight is true rest. It's true rest in Christ. Take his hand. Yield to his will. Trust in his perfect work.

[10:37] It's done. Done. All done. At the cross it was done. Everything. The perfect work of Calvary. And he assures you. You here tonight. Your sins can be forgiven.

[10:50] You can know a home in heaven. You can know assurably. His saving. His keeping. His presence with you. That's rest. That's rest.

[11:01] That's deep soul rest. Heart rest. We can rest on his faithfulness. We can rest on his power. We can rest in his love. His promises. Upon his blood.

[11:12] Rest in his keeping. We cannot rest in our own works. Or our own strength. They will fail us. You know those who would claim their own righteousness would think they've got their own spirituality.

[11:29] It's building on the sand. Whereas Christ says we can build upon his word. It's a sure foundation. It's a rock.

[11:40] That solid rock. You know when we go witnessing. At times you come across folk. And I know there was a lady just yesterday. She said she goes to a spiritualist church.

[11:54] And I said, oh would you like me to show you from the Bible? Oh, not the Bible. Don't mention the Bible. She has her own little spirituality. Oh, I just go my own way. I just do what I feel to do in my heart.

[12:10] Some fuzzy wuzzy faith in nothing. In a fuzzy wuzzy God. If a God at all. We know his name. Satan.

[12:21] Friends, we cannot rest in our own works. In our own strength. In faith in some untrue God.

[12:32] Some false God. The wicked know not this rest of which we speak. In Isaiah 57 verse 20 it says of the wicked. But the wicked are like a troubled sea.

[12:44] Which cannot rest. His waters cast up mire and muck. And dirt. There is no peace saith the Lord. To the wicked.

[12:56] The wicked are like the troubled sea. Cannot find any rest. It's like this sea full of mire and dirt. You see.

[13:09] Pictures of such things in some places where. There's water courses that are just chock-a-blocked with litter and garbage. And what people throw into the waters.

[13:22] And what a picture of the troubled sea. Of the wicked. They have no rest. There's no rest for them. They cannot rest. And yet the Bible promises for you.

[13:33] That believe there is a rest. Hebrews 4 verse 9. It talks about a rest to the people of God. A rest to the people of God. And where is this rest?

[13:45] It's Christ. It's Christ. He says take my yoke. In other words enter my service. He gives us something meaningful. He gives us purpose for living.

[13:58] He says take my yoke. He says learn of me. Learn what I teach you. He says. And he says I am me. The lowly. In heart.

[14:09] He says I'm kind. I am gentle. I am humble in heart. Now this one who calls you to rest. He calls you to himself. He's not some forceful or prideful one.

[14:22] He's not some religious leader. Who would force you to believe. As we know in times past. There's some. As we know.

[14:32] In Arabia. There was a man who came. And convert or die. Come. And you're converted. By the sword. Christ is not such a one.

[14:45] He says come. If you will. Whosoever will. Come. He says come. He doesn't force. And he's not prideful. He's not a psalm. Who would.

[15:00] Enforce. You. To believe. He invites you to believe. And he invites you friends. He invites you in love and mercy. And you will find rest for your soul.

[15:13] Yet you can refuse his gift. He does not. He does not force his gift upon you. He extends.

[15:26] It to you. And you can stand. And you can refuse his gift. Perhaps you can stand. As it were. At the crossroads of decision.

[15:37] Tonight. As Jeremiah 6 verse 16 says. Thus saith the Lord. Stand ye in the way. And ask and see. Ask for the old paths.

[15:48] Where is the good one? And walk therein. And you shall find rest. For your souls. But they said.

[16:00] We will not walk therein. We will not walk therein. It's a faithful thing.

[16:13] To stand. And talk to someone. As we appeal. As we are witnessing. In whatever context you witness. And someone says. Not interested. When you tell them.

[16:26] When you urge them. When you plead with them. When you beckon to them. When you. Open the scriptures to them. And they still refuse. In eternity.

[16:39] They will stand. And they'll be reminded of that decision. He says. My yoke. Is easy. My yoke is easy.

[16:50] Friends. The Bible talks about the yoke. Yoke. Of the. Of the enemy. And the Bible talks about. It's by the anointing. He breaks the yoke. There's a sense where.

[17:01] When God's spirit. Can break that yoke. That holds us captive. To the devil's. Dominion. That yoke. That holds us. Harnessed to.

[17:12] And working with. And for the devil. That yoke. Can be broken. The yoke of our saviour. His yoke is different. He says. My yoke.

[17:23] Is easy. Now to become a Christian. In a way. It is easy. It is so easy. Some would.

[17:38] Deride such a thing. That's easy. Believe isn't. Well. Simply believe. Is easy. It is easy. It is not hard. To be saved.

[17:50] Because everything that was done to save you. Has been done. On your path. For you. And he says. My yoke. It's easy.

[18:01] My yoke is. Good for you. It's wholesome. This yoke of Christ. It's not hard or pressing. It's easy. When you think of it.

[18:11] To take upon. Yourself. His yoke. As he beckons you to. As he says. Take my yoke upon you. To take his yoke. You've got to get rid of the devil's yoke.

[18:25] Don't you? You can't have two yokes on you. And really. It's a setting you free. To take his yoke upon you. Is to let go of the devil's yoke. That holds you captive.

[18:35] And to take his burden. Our Lord's burden upon you. Is to get rid of the devil's burden. That's freedom. That's Christ. He says.

[18:45] My burden is light. It's not heavy. So whatever he. Gives to you. As a Christian to carry.

[18:56] It's light. It's easy. He'll give you the grace. Whatever. Your Christian life. My burden you with.

[19:08] It's a light thing. My burden is light. It's not heavy. How will we answer this call then? How will we answer him?

[19:19] As he says. Come unto me. What will your response be? His call is earnest. Heeded. His call is simple. Take it.

[19:30] For yourself. His call is gracious. Answer it. He says. Come unto me. Come unto me. He says. Come. Come. He calls in mercy and grace.

[19:42] Come now. Says the Lord. Though your sins be a scarlet. He says. Come. Let us reason together. Come now. Let us reason together. Though your sins be a scarlet.

[19:53] They shall be as white as snow. Come. Says the king's messenger. Calling you for the prepared supper. Everything is ready. Come now. Come. The table's spread.

[20:06] Everything's laid on for you. The king is inviting you to the banquet. Come. All is now ready. Come. It's the last word in the Bible to sinners.

[20:18] The spirit and the bride say. Come. Jesus. Our Lord says. Come. He does not say. Go and get ready. He does not say.

[20:29] Go and work out your righteousness. He does not say. Do this and do that. And be saved. Jesus says. Come. He says.

[20:39] Come. When you think of it. It is such a precious truth. He says. Come. It's a merciful invitation. He says. Come. Think of his mercy.

[20:52] As he says. Come unto me. He says. Come. I want you to escape the wrath of God. To come. Come. He says. I'm not willing that any should perish. He says. Come.

[21:02] I will gladly have all men saved. I will offer all the water of life freely. So come unto me. Merciful invitation. It's a gracious expectation.

[21:14] He says. Come unto me. I'm here waiting for you. I'm seated on my mercy seat. Expecting you to come. Come. I wait to be gracious.

[21:26] I wait for more sinners to come. Before I close the door. I want more names written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Before it is closed forever. So come. To me.

[21:37] Come. We know in Noah's day the ark had only eight that were saved.

[21:50] And God shut the door. Bang, that was it. Time is of the essence. It's a gracious expectation.

[22:01] It's a kind encouragement. He says, come, I've got treasures to bestow. If you will only receive, I'll give you a free pardon, a robe of righteousness I'll grant to you, a new heart I'll give to you, and my peace, so come to me.

[22:20] Friends, as his ambassador, I appeal as you appeal to others. Come to the Saviour. Come and receive. Be reconciled to God.

[22:31] Come with all your sins, however many they may be. Come to him, and he'll take them away. Come. Come as you are. You might say, Preacher, I'm not fit.

[22:45] I'm not good enough. You'll never be good enough. None of us will ever be good enough. The worse you think of yourself, the better prepared you are, because we must confess we're a sinner and come to the one who can save us.

[23:01] Christ is not a Saviour. Those who think they're righteous, He's the Saviour of sinners. If you were to think, I've got to be righteous, and then I'll be saved, it's getting it around the wrong way, isn't it?

[23:15] It's not the case. Come now. Do not delay. Opportunity will be no more. One day, and the door will be shut, and you will be dead.

[23:28] Come now. Come to Christ. Now, you may come to church, and you may come to the Lord's table. You may come to the preacher.

[23:40] You may come to meetings, morning, night, and midweek, and yet never be saved. It's not come to a meeting.

[23:51] It's come to Him. It's come to the Saviour. You must. There is no other way. There's no other way. Let nothing stop you from coming to Christ. It's been said, the life of faith is a constant coming to Jesus for daily, hourly, and fresh supplies.

[24:10] We that are believers, keep coming to Him. Come unto Him in prayer. Come unto Him for His supply, for His strength, and find rest. Rest.

[24:24] Rest. Not religion. Rest. Refreshment. Revival. How can we describe this rest?

[24:35] There was a missionary in Africa translating the Bible into the local tongue, translating the Gospel of John, and he faced the problem of the word believe.

[24:46] It seemed like there was no clear, equivalent word in the language that they were translating the Bible into. And so this translator missionary was finding a struggle to find the word believe in that language.

[25:02] So as he wrote out the Gospel of John, he left a few blank spaces wherever it said believe. Then one day, a runner came into the camp.

[25:13] He was panting. He'd travelled a great distance. He had a very important message to deliver. And as he blurted out his story, he fell exhausted into a hammock nearby.

[25:23] And he muttered a brief phrase that expressed both his weariness and the great contentment of finding a delightful place to relax. And the missionary then, as he heard the words the man said, he'd never heard those words before.

[25:39] And he asked a bystander what the runner had said. And he said, oh, he is saying, I'm at the end of myself, therefore I am resting all of my weight here.

[25:51] And the missionary exclaimed, praise God, that's the very expression I need for the word believe. I'm at the end of myself. I'm finding my resting, all of my weight right here.

[26:04] And that's to trust Jesus is simply come, rest all of your weight upon him. Believe. Believe. Now some would think of this phrase of finding a yoke to take as a strange paradox that a man already weary and overloaded must take new weight upon him.

[26:31] And this commentator, Adam Clark, says that it seems a paradox to take extra weight in order to be eased and find rest. But this advice is similar to Psalm 55, 22, Cast thy burden upon the Lord and he shall sustain thee.

[26:46] In other words, trust thy soul and their concerns to him and he'll carry both thyself and thy load. It's got that sense of, as you could picture, a little child carrying some heavy burden and the father picks the little child up together with the burden because he can carry you and your burden.

[27:06] And likewise, the yoke that he gives to you is not a heavy yoke. He'll carry the load of the yoke because the yoke is this wooden bar that joins two animals as a pair so they can pull together.

[27:21] It's this connector that unites the two to work or move as one. And the Lord Jesus, as he says, take my yoke upon you, he doesn't ask us to work for him, only with him.

[27:35] And he always does all the work. Again, as you think, in Christian service, as you, God helping you do something for God, he will enable you to do it.

[27:48] He says, take my yoke upon you. In other words, find his lordship, submit to his rule, just as the oxen are yoke, to submit to their own as well, to work under his control.

[28:00] So too, we receive Christ's godly and gentle control. And we talked about control this morning as in the control you could see that the Antichrist could exert on planet Earth and through multiplied means means of control.

[28:21] The control of our God is a blessed control. To be under his yoke, to be under his reign as king is a blessed and glorious privilege and joy for us.

[28:39] It's not irksome. So he says, take my yoke upon you. Notice it's we who place it upon ourselves. He says, take my yoke upon you. He does not force his yoke upon you.

[28:51] He says, take my yoke. And so it's a definite act on our part to seek rest from Christ. And it's our decision of our mind, our conscious surrender to take the yoke.

[29:06] Henceforth to be ruled by him. To take Christ's yoke upon us is the setting aside of our own will and to acknowledge his sovereignty, his lordship.

[29:18] Take my yoke, he says. And he says, learn of me. Learn of me. This word learn is a word I like to, the word disciple. Disciple means literally learner.

[29:30] And when he says, learn of me, it's entering into that school as a disciple. And what did the disciples do? In Mark 3 verse 14, when our Lord chose the disciples, the 12 men, he chose them that they might be with him.

[29:49] Mark 3 verse 14. The Lord Jesus wants you to be with him, to be close to him, to be in his presence.

[30:02] That is how we learn. Take time with the Lord Jesus, with his word. Hear his word. Sit at his feet, hear his word. Take that time.

[30:12] May we be teachable as God's people. Amen? We come unto him, we take his yoke, we learn of him. May we be teachable just like children. And many know not the rest of Saul.

[30:25] They vainly spend a lifetime, they never find it. Some would chase rest in terms of affluence, in terms of recreation, of enjoyments and amusements.

[30:38] That's vanity. It's empty. But this rest is an eternal blessing. It's God's eternal comfort and joy.

[30:49] It's knowing the Savior, the creator of your life. Finding that meaning, that promise as you come unto him. You shall find rest unto your souls.

[31:00] Notice it says you will find rest. You will find rest unto your souls. It's interesting the word find here in the Greek, not that we make much of the Greek, but it's interesting the word find is Eurisko.

[31:15] Eurisko. And apparently that's where we get our English word Eureka. Eureka. You know in Ballarat in the gold fields, you know, they're chipping away and the little gold nugget starts to shine and the man yells out Eureka!

[31:29] I found it! That's what it means. I found it. And it's likewise, think, to find that rest. Eureka! I found it! I found that rest in Christ.

[31:39] It's a triumphant cry of joy, of discovery, of something of great value. Eureka! It should be the cry of the weary, heavy laden heart to discover that precious, priceless rest.

[31:54] It's only found in Christ have you found this rest, his rest. Trust in him. This is what gives rest to our souls.

[32:05] So we trust in Christ's death for us on our part as we know the rest of that burden of guilt taken off our shoulders once and for all for eternity as we trust in Christ, we trust in his word, his love.

[32:22] And he gives us rest, rest for our soul as we place our burdens on him. How can we picture such a rest? You see, we know there's little ones present, that little one sleep so well in the mum or dad's arms, doesn't it?

[32:43] The little child is so weak and resting God. You can know a rest, but it's not some manufactured thing, it's not some false rest, but true rest to know the Saviour, to know him, him to know his life eternal.

[33:01] And it's been said the more trust, the more rest. And maybe even us believers, we can have those times of restlessness or those times of weariness.

[33:14] Maybe we've got to come back to that place of rest in Christ, put our trust in him. The more trust, the more rest. Think of that little baby, it just knows it's sheltered, it's warm, it's covered, it's underneath of the arms of the loving Father and Mother.

[33:35] And we can know that rest, that same rest in Christ. We can be as John, resting on the bosom of the Saviour. We can find that rest, that assurance, that eternal life promise.

[33:48] And Hebrews 4 verse 3, it calls us to enter into rest, enter into rest. Will we take that step to enter in, to rest?

[34:00] To not hold back, but to enter in, to go to Christ, to come to Christ. As he says, come, we have to take the steps towards him.

[34:12] We must come. We can choose, no, we can back off. He says, come. Simply come. And our rest is by trusting in him.

[34:23] So friends, he says, come unto me, all you 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 in heart, and ye shall find rest unto yourselves, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

[34:48] Let's pray. Our Lord God, we thank you that as you came in the person of Christ, you came as you left heaven's glory to enter this world of sin.

[35:02] You bore our shame and guilt, our penalty at the cross, that you took the punishment for our sin. The wages of sin is death.

[35:15] You paid it in full. All that had to be done. Lord, we pray for each one who gathered, that we might all be reminded afresh of that rest, that blessed rest, that comfort of soul.

[35:29] Help us, Lord, to be reminded again of taking that yoke as in that closeness, that harness, that joining together with you to walk in your ways.

[35:48] As you would take the lead, Lord, you'll also take the load and you will give the rest that we so desperately need. In a world that is restless, where the wicked are like a troubled sea, casting up wire and dirt, we can't find rest in such a place, in such a time, in this time, right now.

[36:12] Pray each one might know, if there's any yet to trust you, that they might even now come, simply come unto you. Lord, and likewise let us all be reminded again of that grace that you've extended, that gift to us, that extended that invitation and we can come and we can find that rest day by day, moment by moment and we can keep coming unto you, keep finding that rest.

[36:42] we know that whatever burden you give us in life will be light compared to any load of this world and its ways.

[36:55] Give us a burden, Lord, a good burden, a burden for your will to be done in our lives, a burden for souls and such a burden you will carry.

[37:09] Lord, give us the wisdom we need that we might learn of you, that we won't stop learning, that we'll take this as the ultimate goal of the school of life, the school of hard knocks, if it be, Lord, that that great subject of you, our Lord, would be that which occupies us, that which obsesses us, that which we're addicted to, as it were, in a good way, that we'd learn of you, that we'd learn to be more like you, that we'd be learning more about you, and increase that closeness, Lord, to you, that we can enter into that rest in prayer, in communion, in fellowship, as we worship at home or here, that we'll know that rest, and it'll be the rest of it in our souls.

[38:01] This is a rest that goes beyond some near physical refreshment, this is a rest in the soul. We pray for every living soul that is here and hearing this, that each one might find that rest tonight, not delay, to come, to come unto you.

[38:25] We praise you, Lord, for your great love. In Jesus' name, amen.