 Today we're in Matthew 11. We're going to look at verses 25 through 30. What we'll be looking at today is what I'd like to refer to as the heart of the gospel, and you'll see what I mean in just a moment, but it's a place where the Lord Jesus Christ gives to us an invitation. And we'll be looking at that invitation as we are about to conclude, but it is one of the more beautiful places in Scripture where you see the Lord Jesus Christ specifically calling people to himself. So beginning at verse 25, reading to verse 30, Matthew chapter 11, it says, At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes, even so Father, for so it seemed good in your sight. All things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal him. Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. This is obviously a place that even at the conclusion of our service today, I'm going to give the same invitation. I am going to invite people to get right with the Lord, because that's what this passage is speaking about. It's an invitation Jesus says when he said in verse 28, come unto me. And so we'll be looking at that today as we go through this study, but let's begin by noting that this chapter is very interesting because you need to look at chapter 11 here in Matthew's Gospel and take into consideration all that this chapter actually contains. You see, it begins with a variety of things, and I'll allude to them in just a moment, but it includes that the portion of Scripture where Jesus responded to a question, and the question was posed to him by some disciples of John the Baptist when John had heard in prison concerning the works of the Lord and had said to two of his disciples, go and speak to Jesus and ask him this question. Are you the coming one, or should we be looking for someone else? And as I've been mentioning to you over and over again here in Matthew chapter 11, that in reference to Jesus being the coming one, that was what would be called a messianic title, and he was simply saying go and ask Jesus if he is Messiah, and remember with me how that Jesus had responded. He said go and tell John this, and then he began to quote Scripture to him concerning the works that he was performing because the Bible said here in Matthew that John had heard of the works that Christ was performing, and so Jesus refers to some of those works. He's cleansing lepers, and he's healing the sick and things of that nature. And then he said to them in verse 6 of chapter 11, blessed is the one who's not offended because of me. Blessed is the one who's not stumbled because of who I am, who I really am. And so what he was saying is through giving John Scripture, I'm giving John hope and encouragement, and so his real exhortation there, when he said blessed is the one who's not stumbled, his real exhortation was for John to continue to have faith in him. So he was saying hold fast to the promises of God, and don't waver, because God rewards faith in him. You see, when we live in doubt, we are actually saying that God is not faithful to his promises, and that's why in Hebrews 10, 23 it says let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. So hold fast. You see, God doesn't encourage us to doubt. He understands that we are flesh, we have weaknesses. It's not a surprise to him that we can waver, but at the same time he never encourages us to have doubt in him. As a matter of fact, instead of doubt, you'll find over and over again that God encourages us to have faith in him. God encourages us to trust in him. You see, trusting God is the essence of having faith in him, and it is faith in him that God rewards. When you look at the book of Hebrews in chapter 11, verse 6, it says without faith, it's impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists, and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. So without faith, it's impossible to please him. He would never encourage me to doubt him. He always encourages me to trust him. You see, when someone lacks faith in the Lord, they're also revealing that they simply do not trust him. So God doesn't reward doubt, and that's why Jesus exhorted John to remain steadfast in him. Now, we saw that after the Lord had sent that message to John that he began to speak concerning John to the multitude that was there, and we saw how he had commended John and John's ministry, and then he brought strong words of rebuke. He began to rebuke certain cities that many of his works had been performed in, and last time we were together, we saw this. We saw how he spoke against a city called Karatzin. He spoke about Bethsaida. He spoke about Capernaum, and as he was doing so, he compared these Jewish cities with Gentile cities, and he compared them with Tyre and Sidon, even what so far as to compare Capernaum with Sodom itself, and he brought a strong word of rebuke because these were people who were criticizing him, and these were people who were rejecting him. So he gave the strong denunciation, and that's what we saw in verse 24, when it said, I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you. That is a powerful, powerful denunciation. It'll be more, it'll go better for Sodom than for you. Why? Because you, he said, had all of these incredible works, and especially Capernaum, it was his headquarters, is where most of his works were performed up there in the north, and he said it'll be better for Sodom than it would be for you, and that is a strong denunciation, and yet after this incredibly strong denunciation of these cities, he now gives an encouragement. He actually is giving to us an invitation, and the invitation, as you read it, is extremely tender. It's an invitation to be right with him. It's an invitation to be forgiven. The Bible makes it very clear that there is a message contained within it of forgiveness of sins, and the Bible is a book that contains a message of salvation. As a matter of fact, the message of forgiveness of sins and salvation from God is the theme of all Scripture. You see, the problem that man has is revealed to us in Scripture. Today we like to say, well, I'd do better if I had a better education. I would do better if I had a better job. I would do better if I won the Powerball. I'd do better if I had all of those things. But the Bible makes it clear that the root of man's problems is not in his lack of education, or the neighborhood he lives in. It's not me pointing to my mom and my dad who didn't raise me very well, or the fact that I didn't have a dad, or I didn't have a mom, or all of those things contribute to how I obviously contribute to how I am now, and how I see the world now. But it's really a question of origin, and the question of origin is answered in human nature. Why does man do what man does? Well, the Bible answers that, and in a very simple way, not a simplistic way, it's very deep, but in a simple way, simply says that man performs the activities that man performs because it's natural for that man or that woman to do those things. It's what is called a sin nature. See, man's problem is revealed to us in Scripture in a very basic way, and that is Romans 3.10, there's none righteous, no, not one. Or Romans 3.23, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. I have a sin nature, and the result of possessing a nature prone to sin is enslavement, enslavement. Now some people are enslaved and seem to feel that it's not that bad, it's just the way they are. There are other people who in their more sober, more aware moments might even cry out and say, I am a slave. I know that just before I got saved in the season, just before I got saved, that I actually began to not like what I was doing. Before I just accepted it as just part of who I am and an expression of who I am, I was just being real, like a lot of people. I'm just, this is who I am. It's kind of like how Donald Trump seems to be, you know, just who I am, and like it or you don't like it, and that's kind of how he is. Well that's how most of us are. He's more transparent, but that's really the way most of us are. Somebody may wake up to you and say, I really don't like the shoes you're wearing, and you're a Christian, and so you'll smile at them and say, really, well okay. But in your mind you're saying, die, maggot, because you're not happy that they said that about you, right? You just smile, I mean it's a Christian thing to do, right? But it's a nature, and when you really get to the point where you understand that you're miserable because of a nature that is prone to evil, kind of like what Paul could say, oh wretched man who will deliver me from this body of sin. When you awaken to the reality that you are a slave, that's your first step to freedom. Just before I got saved, I can still remember on occasions, not every day, not every moment, but on occasions, just before I got saved. I can remember just, and I hadn't prayed in so long, but I can remember praying, God help me. There is something really wrong with me. God help me. I still remember that as an unbeliever. Somebody has to help me. I wasn't one prone to prayer. I didn't pray. I told my mom when I was in high school, mom was a prayer, and I said to her, you know, pray all you want, but just keep me out of your conversations. You know, because your faith in God, this God that you say that you have faith in, you know, you can have him, but he's a crutch. He's a crutch to you, and I don't need the crutch that you seem to be falling on constantly. So she'd say, I'm praying for you, and I would say to my mom, just keep your prayers for yourself. Pray for yourself. Pray for other people. Just leave me out of your conversations with your God. And that's how I was. Some of you are the same way. It's just, I, you know, just leave it alone. I'm doing fine, and I don't need your help. I did not see myself in need of help of any sort. I'm doing fine. I'll grow out of the things that I'm doing that are making me miserable. And I thought that way for a long time. And then I started realizing how I was tearing people up. I started realizing that I, that I was addicted to alcohol. I began to realize that, that I was abusing drugs. I began to realize that I couldn't maintain a relationship with even friends, even buddies. I couldn't even have friendships with people because I would use them or they would use me. And I couldn't have a relationship with a young woman because no young woman with any kind of self-respect would stay with me very long. Because I was abusive. I was an angry, possessive, jealous young man. And finally, I can still remember getting to the point where I started crying out to God saying, God, you got to help me. There is something, something wrong with me. It was right around the same time that I was arrested for an alcohol related accident. And they put me in jail in Norwalk at the substation there in Norwalk, Sheriff's station. And that bus came the next morning, picked me up and took me to Alley County. My dad came and picked me up and took me out of jail. And as I was driving home with him, I was smoking one cigarette after another and, and I turned to my dad and I said, I'm sick, I'm sick. My dad sent me to a psychiatrist to try and get me well. That didn't work. I kept spiraling, spiraling. I kept going down further and further and further and the anger and all of that kept coming up more and more. And that's when I finally started saying, God, you got to help me. There is something, something wrong with me. And you know what the Bible says it is? It's slavery, slavery to sin. In the book of Romans in chapter six verse 16, the apostle Paul said it like this. Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey. Whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death or to obedience, which leads to righteousness. Don't you know that? Don't you know that whatever that thing is that is controlling you has made you a slave? Don't you understand that is what Paul is saying. You are a slave. It owns you. Speak to the alcoholic when he's sober and ask him, do you like the life that you're living? Do you like waking up in the backyard? Do you like waking up in sheds? Do you like waking up with puke all over your face? See, I've been there. I know what I'm talking about. I have been there. I was in jail. I got arrested for alcohol. You know, I was drunk in public and they threw me in a cell and I was in again, Norwalk. It became my home away from home. I was at the sheriff's substation in Norwalk. My friend Bill is seated on a bench there in the cell. I was so drunk I couldn't even sit on the bench. I was laying and he was seated over me, vomiting on my face. Do you see that in any beer commercials? Hey, you know, eat some pizza and beer. No, they don't ever show you that, do they? And I'm laying there and Bill is sitting there. And I remember looking up, Bill, stop it, man. Stop it. I couldn't move. I was so drunk I couldn't move. Stop it, man. Stop it. And he goes, I can't. And the cops were coming looking. I can remember him saying, hey, you guys got to see this. Yeah, that's good. Give me another. That's slavery. You know, we laugh about it when we can. There's a humor to it and all of that is part of the reason I bring it up because there's a humor to it. But who wants that as a way of life? And that was when I was 16. It got worse. I got worse. I got worse. That's what happens when you're a slave to sin. Don't you know that to whom you yield yourself as slaves to obey that's what rules you. And Jesus came to set captives free. That's what he came to do. And so he would not have us, he would not have us remain in such a way. You see, if left to ourselves we will reap the consequences of living a life without him. In Romans 6 23 it says the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. It is appointed unto men to die once, not many times. It is appointed unto men to die once and after this judgment. So the heart of the gospel, the heart of the gospel is the message that God did not leave us helpless. The heart of the gospel is that God sent his Son for us. Jesus in Luke 19 verse 10 said it like this. He said, the Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. The apostle Paul is somebody that we are very familiar with. He wrote a good portion of the New Testament and Paul when he would speak concerning himself never really tried to clean up his testimony. As a matter of fact, he was very honest and open about it. This is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief, of whom I am the worst. Why are you calling yourself the worst of sinners? I persecuted the church unto death. I breathed out threatenings against this way and I took people who believed in Christ and I put them in chains and I stood as witness against them and I made sure that they died. And yet God demonstrated his grace toward me. You see, Jesus is speaking of judgment and he's speaking of the judgment of these cities and yet at the same time his desire is for them to be saved. It's like what it says in Ezekiel 3311 saying to them as I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Then he goes on to say turn, turn from your evil ways. Why will you die? Oh house of Israel. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some understand slowness. He's patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance. How many times did you have a near death experience? You could have died prior to knowing Christ, a car accident, something that you knew you could have died and yet God was merciful. We were on the five freeway. I was 17 years old. We're driving from Hollywood back to Norwalk where I lived and my friends lived. We were in a 1965 Mustang Fastback. I had dropped some reds so I was pretty loaded. And as we were in the slow lane coming from Hollywood towards Norwalk, we were hit from behind by a driver. The estimated speed of the vehicle hitting us was 100 miles an hour, lifted up the rear end of the Mustang. I flew into the front windshield and ended up on the floorboard underneath the dash. My friend Nick who was driving swerved across lanes into the fast lane and shot back into the slow lane and hobbled off to the side of the road. I thought I went blind. I remember looking around saying, I can't see. I can't see. My friend Bill says, put on your glasses. Oh, oh no, it's a miracle. And I could have died. Those kinds of things happen more than once. Could have died. But God is gracious. He has long suffering, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. God's desires for people to be saved. God's love is clear and it's clearly revealed. And it was most clearly revealed through Jesus entering into the world to demonstrate the love of God. That's what Romans 5.8 says. God demonstrated his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. God demonstrated. It's one thing for me to say, oh baby, I love you. It's another thing for me to demonstrate my love by laying my life down for her. God says, I love you. And I demonstrated it as my son laid his life down for you. 1 John 4 9 and 10. This is how God showed his love among us. He sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him. This is love. Not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. It's not that we loved him. It's that he loved us. How do you learn to love? Love is demonstrated and God demonstrated his love towards us. And so the love of God, the love of God is revealed to us in this passage and it's going to be revealed through an invitation. Jesus is about to give an invitation for people to be saved. That's your introduction. Let's look at this passage, verse 25. At that time, Jesus answered and said, I thank you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Now notice with me, it simply says at that time. Matthew doesn't give the exact time, but Luke gives us insight into when this would have occurred. You see when you look at the Gospel of Luke, Luke records that Jesus had sent out 70 disciples to go before him into the cities that he would soon visit. Now we saw that already here in this chapter. That's what he had done with the 12 whom we saw were named apostles, but they were all sent out to do works of ministry even as Jesus himself sent out to minister. But Luke tells us that the 70 returned and were especially blessed about their ministry experiences. Mark tells us in chapter six, verses 12 and 13, they went out and preached that people should repent and they cast out many demons anointed with oil, many who were sick and healed them. So they had gone out, they had preached, they administered, God moved through them. They were excited that demons were subject to them in Jesus' name and that's what they came back telling him because in Luke 10 they're giving to Jesus a sense of what had taken place and they're very excited and they even went so far as to say even the spirits are subject to us, even the demons themselves. Remember with me when we were looking in this chapter, remember with me how Jesus had given them authority and actually given them a mission and he said cast out demons and so they come back and they say even the spirits are subject to us. We're excited about that. What's interesting is even as they said they're subject to us in your name that Jesus responds by saying in Luke chapter 10, verses 19 and 20, behold I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. Do you want to rejoice? Don't rejoice because you cast out demons. Rejoice because you're going to heaven. Rejoice that your names are written in heaven. You want to have eternal joy. It isn't simply going to be because you have power and authority here on earth. It's because you have a home waiting for you that is beyond anything you can imagine and so that leads up to this portion of scripture because Jesus is issuing an invitation and he's issuing an invitation to all who would come. That would, by the way, include the cities that he reproached and rebuked. People from Korotzin, people from Betsaida, people from Capernaum are still being invited as well as the rest of mankind. So he begins here in verse 25 by praying, I thank you father, Lord of heaven and earth. Now Matthew says that Jesus answered and said when he says that that Jesus answered and said it simply is another way of saying Jesus spoke out openly. It isn't that he's answering a question. It's simply that it's a manner of saying that he's openly speaking and this is what he says. He says I thank you father, Lord of heaven and earth. Well when he says I thank you father that reveals that he has a unique relationship with God in that God is his father. When you look in the Gospel of Luke in chapter 1 verse 35 and the angel is speaking to Mary who has just been informed that she is going to conceive and give birth, the angel answered and said to her the Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the highest will overshadow you, therefore also that holy one who is to be born will be called the Son of God. So Jesus Christ is the Son of God. God has a Son, his name is Jesus. But it also reveals to us that his father is also our father and our father is the Lord of heaven and earth. So because our father is the Lord of heaven and earth we should rejoice because our names are written in heaven. But he is the Lord of heaven and earth, our father. In Deuteronomy 10 verse 14 it reads indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God also the earth with all that is in it. So on 24 verse 1 the earth is the Lord's and all its fullness the world and those who dwell therein. So this is the Lord of heaven and earth this is the God who saves and as he's praying he says in verse 25 you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes you have hidden that word hidden means to conceal or keep something secret you have concealed or kept something secret you have hidden these things from the wise the word wise speaks of those who are skilled in letters those whom we would today refer to as the cultivated or the learned it could also speak of somebody who's got their PhD or whatever it's somebody who's very cultivated very intellectual very very instructed so he speaks of the wise those are skilled as well as the prudent the word prudent speaks of the intelligent those who are with with understanding he's saying you have kept your secrets from the wise and the prudent what do you mean by that you have kept your secrets from the spiritually proud of the world people very often when they're highly educated in such a manner as Jesus is speaking have no time for God because they think that God it's nonsense to believe in God well-known atheist wrote a book called the God delusion some of you perhaps read it or have heard of it the God delusion Richard Dawkins and basically in the book it's reported that he says religion is all pretty much the same but it was recently at least I read a report that Dawkins recently said something to you fact that in making that comment at the time that he wrote it you really didn't consider and I'm basically amplifying what I read differences in religion me basically at one point thought they're pretty much all the same it's all a delusion but then he went on to say and I read this quotation from him and I'm summarizing it that Christianity isn't like other religions because there's a there's a benevolence within it that you don't find in other religions a benevolence is what we would call charity charity is also defined as love and indeed he who loves not knows not God for God is love and so within the confines of Christianity are the seeds a behavior that is benevolent loving and caring to the point that the Christian church developed hospitals and places for lepers and colleges and you name it a variety of things that were really begun as charitable outreach as missions of believers and Dawkins said you know in that Christianity is much different than what he sees and he said this what I see in the religion of Islam it's an entirely different kind of thing but you see even this these intellectually proud even the spiritually proud you know they don't necessarily see the essence of what this is all about and thus if they do something good well very often take credit for it in 1st Corinthians though Paul was speaking to the church of Corinth then he said in chapter 1 verses 26 through 29 remember dear brothers and sisters that few of you were wise in the world's eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you instead God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise and he chose those who are powerless to shame those who are powerful God chose things despised by the world things counted as nothing at all and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important so that no one can ever boast in the presence of God so God reveals himself you have kept your secrets from the spiritually proud of the world but you've revealed these things unto babes now Isaiah says in chapter 45 verse 15 and truly you are a God that hides yourself oh God of Israel the savior you see if God did not reveal himself to us we'd never be able to discover him on our own in Job's book in chapter 11 verses 7 through 9 we read can you search out the deep things of God can you find out the limits of the almighty they are higher than heaven what can you do deeper than shield what can you know their measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea what do you know they ever spoken to a four-year-old who wants to lecture you about what life is all about if you ever I have I raised four I have grandchildren to this day they get to a certain age where they have to tell me what life is all about they have to explain to me and one of my grand babies even wants to argue on occasion with me I think it's very cute I really do I think it's very cute oh so you know you really know well yes I'm I know these things you really do baby okay well it's interesting just like your mama but you know as humorous as I find it as an adult man speaking to a grandchild we do the same thing to God and that's why we read who are you can you search out these things do you know these deep things are you able to instruct God about these things who are you and yet we have this puny little fist that we hold in the face of God and we say to him you can't do this you're not this we do that by nature in Romans 11 33 oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God how unsearchable are his judgment and his ways past finding out so God is merciful and thus God reveals himself to us he's made a way for us to know him and he chose to reveal himself to us through his son long ago God spoke many times and in many ways who are ancestors through the prophets but now he says in these final days he has spoken to us through his son he reveals himself why because man does not naturally seek out God Romans 3 11 says there's no one who understands and no one who seeks God from the Garden of Eden to the Book of Revelation it's God that you see calling out to man you read Genesis the first book of the Bible God gives specific instructions that Adam and Eve do not obey satan comes tempts Eve asks the question has God said and then they begin to have a discussion ultimately she takes of this forbidden fruit she eats of it her eyes are open she gives it to her husband he eats they both eat and their eyes are open to good and evil God's presence is sensed in the garden God is walking Adam has fashioned fig leaves they're hiding then then you read how that the voice of the Lord calls out and says Adam where are you now when you read that you may be thinking that God is angry and God is is almost shouting with an angry tone but when you look at that passage you know its context and you look into the original language and you see the voice it isn't the voice of a an angry arresting officer come out with their hands up it's the voice of a broken hearted father who's lost a child i was maybe about eight we went to a park my family mom dad my brother and two sisters while we were at this park in another place i don't even remember where it was it wasn't in our the city i grew up in it was somewhere else i don't remember all i remember is my mom had said to me watch your sister i had a two-year-old sister named becky at that time i was eight but i being an eight-year-old i began to do other things i lost sight of her didn't think about it my mom says to me where's your sister i asked you to keep an eye on her i didn't know i still remember running around in this park about eight years old running around a park and i used to call her her name is rebecca but i used to call her baby becca that was her name i still call her that baby becca becca and i ran around and i still remember crying yelling baby becca baby becca i was i was a little like i didn't want to get too far from my parents i didn't want to end up lost myself but at the same time it was night it had darkened well my mom and dad had sent her off with one of my aunts mama thought she was teaching me a lesson probably wasn't the best thing you could do to an eight-year-old i have to think out loud right now thus i'm going to therapy over this mama hated me wanted to teach me a lesson but i still remember the tone of my voice even to this day crying out brokenhearted calling out where are you to someone lost that's the voice that god has in the garden adam where are you adam where are you brokenhearted father it's not that that god saying man you've hidden in such a great way i couldn't find you and i'm god i mean my kids when they were kids you know their babies they would play hide and seek they always hidden the same place they always did the same thing they hide by the the couch and they'd find a blanket and they put it over themselves and i would walk into the front room and i would say where are you where are you i can't find you and i'd stand right next to them they'd be right there i can't find you i mean i remember joseph my son in the center of the front room with a blanket over him and i'm walking around him where oh i'd say to me honey i said i can't find him he's giggling underneath the it's nothing like that i mean it's like god isn't saying those fig leaves man those fig leaves are effective i can't even find you where are you why was god saying where are you he was saying where are you not because he didn't know where he was he was saying that because adam needed to know where he was that's conviction where are you i had commanded you not to do something you listen to the voice of the enemy and you did it anyway adam now where are you the word of god says do this and don't do this you have violated it where are you where are you what happened to your marriage what happened to your children what happened to your life what happened to the drugs that you're now addicted to how that happened the alcohol the violence where are you god still asked that where are you you rejected him you're going to make your own path you're going to go your own way you're going to do your own thing you're going to be where are you what happened from genesis to revelation in revelation 20 the spirit and the bride say come let each one who hears them say come let the thirsty one come anyone who wants to let them come and drink the water of life without charge come the invitation continues revealed them to babes the word babe there in verse 25 speaks of a nursing baby a nursing baby is a picture of somebody that is helpless and dependent god blesses those who recognize their utter dependence on him in isaia 57 15 this is what the high and lofty one says he who lives forever whose name is holy i live in a high and holy place but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite i live in a high and holy place but i'll live with you too i'll live with you too these are the ones who are humble and dependent i will enter into your life even so verse 26 father so it seemed good in your sight it seemed good in your sight the gospel of grace brings glory to the lord all things verse 27 have been delivered to me by my father no one knows the son except the father nor does anyone know the father except the son and he to whom the son wills to reveal him all things all authority all sovereignty all truth all power come from his father and jesus exercises it with this authority and power he cast out demons he cleanses lepers he heals the sick he calms the storm and with this he welcomes outcasts the person in need of salvation can come to the lord jesus christ because he has the power to forgive sins he has all the authority and everything that anybody will ever need it is the lord god who gives peace who gives joy who gives love it's the lord god who gives spiritual light and the bible teaches us it is the lord god who through jesus christ gives eternal life no one knows the son except the father no human being could know jesus our minds cannot grasp who he is but god and god knows him quite obviously 1 Corinthians 2 11 says who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him in the same way no one knows the thoughts of god except the spirit of god and so no one knows the son except the father in verse 27 and he to whom the son wills to reveal him the natural man receives not the things of the spirit of god for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them for they are spiritually discerned 1 Corinthians 2 14 the natural man is the unspiritual man the unregenerated man the person who has never been born again the natural man receives the word receive speaks of welcoming the natural man does not welcome the things of the spirit of god why they're foolishness to him the word foolishness is a word that you can use for moronic or imbecilic it makes absolutely no sense the natural man receives not it doesn't welcome the things of the spirit of god for they are moronic to him they make no sense neither can he know them for they are spiritually discerned it requires the holy spirit to awaken us within so that we can receive what god has to say and understand it it's one thing for me to say i know something i can intellectually know certain things that's another thing for me to be able to say i have experienced these things i have experiential knowledge of these things and thus i know them in a deeper way no one could have an experiential knowledge of god unless the holy spirit enlightens them to that and the way that happens is by coming to faith to christ in john 644 no one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him and i will raise him up the last day and then he gives this amazing invitation come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and i will give you rest take my yoke upon you learn from me for i am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy my burden is light come unto me jesus gives an invitation if you come to me i will give you rest cease striving to achieve what you cannot have without me in ecclesiastes 2 verses 22 and 23 we read what does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun all his days his work is pain and grief even at night his mind does not rest this too is meaningless the more you have the more you try to take care of it the more you have the more you can look at it as being a symbol of your success and ultimately we leave everything behind life can be filled with vanity and meaninglessness if you're not putting the lord first if you're not seeking first the kingdom of god in his righteousness that's what jesus taught us so we cannot ever in any other way other than through faith in christ have that which we desire the most and this can happen when you understand that jesus will forgive you of your sins peace can occur when you yield to the lord and say god be merciful to me i'm a sinner and the invitation is for all notice who labor that word labor speaks of the one who is utterly exhausted from work and he speaks of those who are heavy laden the word heavy laden is a picture of somebody carrying a great weight your sin my sin our sin weighs us down i mentioned it earlier one of the things the lord used to draw me to faith in christ was when i finally realized that the burden that i was carrying was weighing me down i just couldn't take it any more and i was only 20 years old i just i would cry out to the lord i started doing it i'd say god help me i heard every person i heard every person who says they love me everyone i was drafted i was supposed to go into the military my induction date was august 25th 1970 i was born august 23rd i have a friend of mine who was born right around the same time we decided to have a birthday party together on august 24th we invited our friends and we partied on august 24th into august 25th we just partied all all evening into the next day i went home i was just down the street and we were drinking and smoking pot and not all and and i remember coming home and i had a car that was parked on the side of the house where my parents lived and i climbed inside the car and i had two friends and we continued smoking marijuana and i was really really really loaded and and my mom had left the kitchen light on and she had left the light on so when i'd come home and and all and so i was seated in my car looking at the window and i could see my mom as she was looking outside trying to see her son where's my son it was two in the morning it got to be three in the morning when the light finally was turned off and when the light was turned off i had turned to my friends earlier and i said there's my mom looking for me she doesn't even know i'm right here in this car smoking pot and party and she doesn't even know it and we laughed amongst ourselves as we continued getting loaded and when that light finally went off i said goodbye to my friends we that old handshake and that bro hug and off they went and i stumbled on into the house and i crept quietly into my bedroom and i closed the door it was three in the morning i laid down i woke up two and a half hours later at 5 30 because i had to go into the induction center in los angeles i came walking from my bedroom through the front room to the kitchen when i arrived in the kitchen my father my mom and my two sisters were standing there in the kitchen my sisters and my mom were weeping my mom looks at me and says when your brother went into the service he slept between your dad and me you didn't even come home you couldn't come home one one night david my dad had this real strong angry look in his face and i looked at my mom and i said so what so what i'm leaving i won't be back for a couple years so what i'm out of the house you won't have me to worry about anymore so what my dad just shook his head i still remember it and he put me in his little truck drove me to la to this induction center didn't say a word to me i didn't say a word to him i still remember rolling up to the induction center my dad looking at me has nothing to say hands me ten dollars he says i hope you make it there's something like that and i looked at him i said yeah later i climb out i walk in i got rejected from the military that day because i had burglarized the jewelry store they hadn't removed that from my record one of my friends gary was also rejected that day and he had a lid he had he had um marijuana and i had ten bucks he had a lid we went to just down the street went to a restaurant smoked some pot i paid for the breakfast for my dad's ten dollars he called my friend rick rick came picked us up drove us home i go walking into the house my dad is standing there when i walk in he says you're supposed to be in the army and i'm loaded i've been i was smoking pot i walked in i said yeah i said even the army doesn't want me and i laughed and i went slept it off in my room that's the kind of person that's the kind of son i was spent my dad's ten bucks got loaded and got worse the last month before i got saved i weighed 173 pounds i went down to 145 because i stopped eating i just was drinking and smoking pot for the last month and i dropped almost 30 pounds i just didn't eat i was partying and partying and partying and partying that's what i did that's how i lived and then one day i said to god i cannot do this anymore i'm hurting every person who says they love me every person who says they love me i can't do this god god i need your help and that's when i heard the gospel and that's when i finally said i surrender that's when i heard jesus say come on to me all you who labor and are heavy laden i will give you rest i will give you rest that's what the lord promises and that's what he does i was carrying and so were you a heavy weight i say a four rather i say a one verse four says sinful nation a people loaded with guilt a brood of evildoers children given to corruption they have forsaken the lord they have spurned the holy one of israel turned their backs on him this heavy laden this life that is laden with sin and guilt leads to a very very hard life but jesus said in verse 28 i'll give you rest that word rest means to revive it's reviving as from labor or from a long journey he's saying your life's journey will be over because you are settled and now you can rest in me then he goes on to say take my yoke upon you learn from me i am gentle and lowly in heart you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy my burden is light when he says take my yoke the word yoke is a rabbinic term the yoke represents the sum total of obligations that a person must take upon himself you have the yoke of the law the yoke of the commandments even the yoke of the kingdom of heaven but their yoke was a great burden they couldn't bear it they couldn't succeed but jesus sets us free because he came to fulfill the line he did so on our behalf and when we come to faith in him we are set free from our own efforts and we can rest in him i can't do it one of the most difficult things you're going to find yourself is if you're trying to make yourself into a good person you can't do it you might make yourself a better sinner but you're not going to make yourself a redeemed sinner you can make all these resolutions it's january everybody made them i'm going to do this and i'm going to do that those resolutions are usually broken by february that's what happens i'm going to do this i'm going to get in shape i'm going to eat less nah maybe today that's how it works and and when you're trying to make yourself righteous it never never will work and that's why jesus said take my yoke upon you learn from me when he says take my yoke it's a yoke that brings freedom in in galatians five verse one it is for freedom that christ has set us free stand firm then do not let yourselves be burned again with a yoke of slavery jesus said take my yoke when the the ox was being broken into a yoke was a yoke become capable of wearing a yoke the younger ox would be placed next to the older one the older one had already gotten used to the yoke and had been broken and was wearing the yoke but the younger one didn't know what it felt like to have this yoke upon their shoulders and all and so they would put the younger ox with the older one and the older one basically did all the work while the younger one walked alongside jesus says take my yoke upon you my burden's light my yoke is easy it's not going to chafe you it's not going to cause you pain my yoke is constructed out of kindness and the burden that which i require is not too heavy that which i require is for you to turn from your sin and come to me it's interesting how on one hand he is saying to these cities you're going to suffer judgment because you didn't come to me and yet on the other hand you see i'm saying and yet there's an invitation coming to me all you who labor in a heavy laden that would include the cities of korotzine and cupurnium in betzahedah my yoke is constructed out of kindness and i'm still inviting you to come and then when you come to faith in christ first john five three says this is the love of god that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not burdensome they aren't heavy they don't cause burdens we just love him and when we love him and walk in his grace we have his peace and his joy when we stop trying to make ourselves into his image and simply fall in love with him and walk in his grace and walk by faith then we understand what true freedom is and then we can wear this yoke this yoke of freedom that comes through faith in christ