How To Have Rest Matt. 11:28-30 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

This sermon is on how to have rest.  The Lord promises, I will give you rest.  But it is not as simple as coming to the Lord and saying, “Hey, I’m worn out… give me my rest!!”

How to have rest:

You must come to Jesus – people get the idea that they have to deal with their labour and load first before coming to the Lord – they say, “Let me get this stuff out of the way so that I will have time for the Lord” – however, this coming to the Lord is like going to the doctor with a medical problem – you need the Lord to help you fix your problem with your labour and load [though most men and women don’t see them as a problem] – the world does not have the answer to these problems – vacations, downtime, pills, alcohol, entertainment, exercise programs, and stress relievers are not the answer here – you must look to the Lord and no one else for this answer.  He said, “I will give you rest.”  So, we’re going to see what he has to offer.

You must understand the nature of your labour and load – your labour is your work – it’s what you do with your hands and your mind as part of making a living – the yoke is typically put on you by the world like the Egyptians put a yoke of bondage on the Jews – the truth is that most men who labour do so without giving much thought to why they do what they do – they may have an aptitude for it – they may like it – they think they need it – “you gotta make a living” – it may be the family trade – whatever – the question is “For whom are you laboring?”

Your load is what you are carrying – like a beast of burden – they are laden – we get laden with iniquity and sin – the heavy load of sin – the heavy load of debt – again, most people get so used to carrying this load that they don’t ever think about the problems caused by carrying the load – like people carrying too much weight – they’ll say after shedding some pounds, “I can’t believe how good I feel” – often the load we carry is the result of sin that we choose to commit to help us “cope” with the yoke under which we labor – for example, men going to a bar to drink after a hard day at the office.

You must take Jesus’ yoke upon you – the last thing in the world that you need right now is more to do – how can you take on more and get rest – the answer is that to take his yoke you have to put off your own – people get the idea that they can carry their own yoke and then come to him to get rest from him – it doesn’t work like that – you get out of the hard yoke of bondage and put on his easy yoke in its place [not on top of it] – THIS IS A KEY FACTOR – we understand that you can’t just drop everything – so the exchange of yokes is something that is first done by first making a decision to change yokes – then you come out of yours and into his – and the difference is that his yoke is easy and his burden is light – do you believe that?

You must learn from Jesus how to wear his yoke – you must see how he did it – did he come down here to do his own will – did he have his own agenda – did he try to force God into his plans like we seem to always do – or did he do his Father’s will – preach his Father’s doctrine – please his Father – the why and wherefore of everything Jesus did started with what the Father wanted – and in your case everything you’re doing started with you – just look at the conflict you are having doing the basic stuff that you know he wants you to do – your problem is that you are trying to carry two yokes!!!

We learn from Jesus the two key components of serving the Lord in his yoke:

Meekness – Jesus is meek – that is he is submissive – you must be submissive – submission is the number one thing – and I find that most Christians are not submissive – they have their own agendas – their own schedules – they disobey Ex 20:9-11 in refusing to take off a day for the Lord.

Humility – Jesus is lowly in heart – that is he is humble – he humbled himself as a man – he took upon him the form of a servant – let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus – he was the king but he rode the donkey, worked as a carpenter, and washed his disciples’ feet.

Learning how to take his yoke changes everything in your life – under his yoke you work as a servant of Jesus Christ – you work in the ministry as a servant of Jesus Christ – wives will submit to their husbands and husbands will love their wives just like Christ loved the church – everything is according to HIS YOKE – that’s why we are not to be unequally yoked – etc.

When you submit to Jesus and humble yourself – when you put off your yoke and pick up his – when you learn from him…

Then you will FIND rest for your soul – finding the rest isn’t an instant thing – it is like looking for buried treasure or wisdom – the rest is there, you just have to FIND it – for example, when we left banking to enter the ministry full-time, we were carrying a load of debt – it took six more years to get out from under that burden – as the load lightened, the rest increased – interestingly, when you find yourself tired in the Lord’s yoke, you have picked up a yoke or a burden that he didn’t want you to have – i.e., if we had gone into debt to build the buildings for this church, we would be back under a burden from which we had been already been relieved – you need to keep away from yokes of bondage and burdens of sin and disobedience – they will wear you out.

Conclusion: when you take Jesus’ yoke of salvation, you will find rest in Him – you have been laden with sin and when he takes your sin away you will say like many before you, “I just felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders” – and if you are already saved, you will find rest in Jesus’ yoke when you get out of the world’s yoke you are in and out from under the burden of sin and debt that you are carrying.