Time for Rest

“TIME FOR REST”
February 2nd, 2020

Matthew 11:28-30 Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, 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.

I. JESUS OFFERED A WONDERFUL, PERSONAL INVITATION, “COME UNTO ME.”
A. The One who made the invitation is the Son of God.
1. He has just declared that the Father has delivered all things to Him, and that no one really knows the Father but the Son and whomsoever the Son will reveal Him.
2. Tonight, the Son of God, Jesus Himself, is inviting us to come unto Him.

B. To whom is the invitation made?
1. To all who labor and are heavy laden.
 Sooner or later we realize that the trials of life are more than we can bear.
 At times I wonder if we were was designed to live the fast-paced life that our modern society demands and even encourages.
 I am sure that many of us have dreamed of living a simpler life: getting a few acres, living off the grid, planting a garden.
 Little House on the Prairie doesn’t seem like such a bad idea!
 At times, haven’t we all mentally escape to what we think are “dream locations” and lifestyles?
2. We think that today’s culture and society has given us so much, but don’t we sometimes wonder if that’s really the case?
 We work hard all year looking forward to the two-week vacation. What is it we then plan for those two weeks? Time in the mountains next to a lake where we can camp to relax and fish. We imagine cooking our food over an open fire and making s’ mores. Perhaps we play golf or just hang out. There’s certainly nothing wrong with all these things but do we truly find rest, and do they truly satisfy?
3. In our present-day society, it’s only a matter of time until one is forced to reach out for someone stronger or wiser to help them in a time of difficulty.
 That is a critical moment of life. For where you reach can either make you or break you.
 It’s at this point that many reach for all the wrong things – alcohol, or addictive drugs or purchasing something in an attempt to fill the space that only Jesus can satisfy.
 Here Jesus stands, and He declares that what we need is the Father who loves us and wants to help us. “Come unto Me and I will bring you to the Father” is the message He urges.

C. The invitation is two-fold:
1. Take My yoke upon you.
 The yoke was a wooden harness that they put upon the oxen so that they could pull the plow.
 Our way can often lead to a lot of misery and pain.
 The load can get so heavy that we wonder if we will be able to bear it.
 We must ask ourselves, “What are we yoked to that is causing unrest?”
2. “Learn of Me”
 Without a question, Jesus Christ has had a greater influence on our Western Culture than any other person in history.
 How can we learn the truth about Jesus?
i. Study the gospels.
ii. Study the prophecies in the Old Testament
that spoke of His life, death, and resurrection as Pastor Matthew spoke of in a recent message.
iii. Get all the facts, and then make your choice.
 I promise that the more you learn of Him, the more you will be convinced as was Peter, Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God.
 Isn’t it true that the more we know Jesus, the more we will love Him because we will grow in the revelation of His great love for us?

D. He declared that He was meek and lowly in heart.
1. Though world leaders are so often perceived as proud, even unapproachable, it is just the opposite of what Jesus said of Himself. He is meek and lowly in heart.
 Jesus is APPROACHABLE and we see this in His invitation.

E. He assures us that His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
1. Every man bears a burden; the burden is how to please himself or others, and in these things somehow thinking that REST will be found and achieved.
 All the things that he does are to please himself, he is seeking to find satisfaction in life. These become the yokes about his neck which can become a very heavy burden.
 People measure their value in what they get done in time BUT we are actually encouraged to do the opposite. The greater the burden, the more time that is needed in God’s presence.
 And it’s sad that some NEVER find rest because they associate rest with something that only God’s presence can satisfy!

ILLUSTRATION: Good Hands

1. Jesus lived to please the Father.
 His first recorded statement in the Bible, “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”
 He said, “I came not to do My own will, but the will of the Father who sent Me.”
 Again He declared, “I do always those things that please Him.”
 He now declares that His burden is light. It is easier to please God than it is to please yourself.
2. I often hear people speak of the heavy burden that the Lord has put on them. If the burden is heavy, you had best discover who put it on you, yourself? Others? One thing is for sure, it wasn’t the Lord because He said that His burden was light.
KEY: For there is a grace where the Lord leads!

ILLUSTRATION: Prison Ministries
Remember, where God has called us there is rest and there is grace!

III. THERE IS A PROMISE, “AND YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.”
A. The soul is related to the mind of man. It’s in this true rest that we find peace of mind.
1. We are all familiar with the mental torture that our minds can bring to us.
2. How at night we wake up and our minds will not rest because we are rehearsing over and over a problem.

B. This is the first thing that Jesus promises to those who come to Him and learn of Him. “You shall find rest for your soul.”
1. You will hear Him say, “I know, I care, and I will take care of things for you. Trust in Me and I will watch over you and the whole situation that is troubling you so much.”
2. It is when we finally submit our lives to Jesus, great peace floods our hearts because the heavy load is gone; we are finally resting in Him!
IV. HOW DO WE REST IN THE LORD?
• What is rest? What does this look like for us, we who are His sons and daughters? How do we rest, practically speaking?
• NOTE: For EVERYONE of us desires rest but what we are actually yearning for is God’s presence whether we recognize it or not.

A. Mary and Martha are a good example of this.
1. Luke 10:38-42 (NIV) As Jesus and His disciples were on their way, He came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to Him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to Him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
a. Mary chose what is better…sitting at Jesus’ feet…in His presence!
 WE must understand that we give away the rest that could have been ours when we are not sitting at his feet.
B. From this story about Mary and Martha, we must also ask ourselves, “What is essential and what is periphery? What is necessary for now and what can wait for later?” “What is crowding Him out of my heart and causing unrest?”
1. He wants us to encounter Him AND to enjoy Him…not just encounter Him! To literally savor His presence, to receive His embrace, and hear His voice.
ILLUS: Did you enjoy, even taste the meal?
2. Psalm 37:4 – Take delight in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.
a. Desires = His presence!
b. Matthew Henry – “What is the desire of the heart of a good man? It is this: to know, and love,
and live to God, to please Him and to be pleased in Him.”

C. Psalm 73:25-26, 28 – Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all Your deeds.

1. HIS NEARNESS/HIS PRESENCE IS YOUR GOOD!

D. Psalm 84
How lovely is Your dwelling place, LORD Almighty!
My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts (presence) of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young— a place near Your altar, LORD Almighty, my King, and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; they are ever praising You.
Blessed are those whose strength is in You, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.
Hear my prayer, LORD God Almighty; listen to me, God of Jacob.
Look on our shield,[e] O God; look with favor on Your anointed one.
Better is one day in Your courts (in His presence) than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
LORD Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in You.
1. The bird’s home is his nest and he innately knows this as it’s built within him. It’s in the nest (their home) where birds rest.
E. We ALL desire that place of rest and worshippers CRAVE/YEARN FOR God’s presence.
1. His “courts”, His presence, that is our home and that is where we find true REST!
2. Home is also built within each of us and it is only in the Father’s presence that we are truly home! And it’s when we are “at home” in His presence that we are then able to actually rest in the Lord! (Psalm 84 – “better is one day in Your courts…”)
3. There was rest in the garden in God’s presence…that was “home”, but Adam and Eve lost that sense of rest and God’s presence when they compromised.
a. Is a lack of rest perhaps due to a lack of trust, a trust in Him?

F. Psalm 23 (With every eye closed, as I read Psalm 23, think upon this passage in the context of His rest and His nearness)
The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters,
He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for His name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely Your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

CLOSE:
1. TONIGHT: Let’s respond to the wonderful, personal invitation that Jesus is offering to each of us which is so beautiful and so simple! The invitation to “Come Unto Him!”
2. Let’s quiet our hearts before Him in worship, and like Mary, hear His voice and stay close to His presence and not only encounter His presence but savor/enjoy His presence because “His nearness is your good” (Psalm 73). FOR IT’S IN HIS PRESENCE WHERE TRUE REST IS FOUND!