Come Unto Me - Part 1 of 2

The Baptist Bible Hour now comes to you under the direction of Elder LeSaire Bradley, Jr., pastor of the Cincinnati Primitive Baptist Church. O for a thousand tongues to sing, my great Redeemer's praise! Thou the grace of my God and King, the triumph of his grace! This is LeSaire Bradley, Jr., inviting you to stay tuned for another message of God's sovereign grace. Loving the air I knew him, calling with voice so sweet. Burdens of life I brought him, knelt at his wounded feet.

Not from that love can sever wonderful change less free. Master, I'll serve thee ever, never a friend like thee. Sing of a friend so loyal, sing of a friend so true. Giving his gifts so royal, blessings that aid are new. King of the heavenly glory, lowly of earth was he. Master, we sing thy story, never was one like thee. Some light of gladness giving, filling my heart with cheer. Therein is light I'm living, ever I know him near. Master in thee abiding, shadows of earth must flee. Ever thy children guiding, never a life like thee.

Sing of a friend so loyal, sing of a friend so true. Giving his gifts so royal, blessings that aid are new. King of the heavenly glory, lowly of earth was he. Master, we sing thy story, never was one like thee. Giving me gifts immortal, life that endures for aye.

Opening the heavenly portal, leading in royal way. Grounding with joy excelling, heir of his grace I'll be. Master thy praise I'm telling, never a king like thee. Sing of a friend so loyal, sing of a friend so true. Giving his gifts so royal, blessings that aid are new.

King of the heavenly glory, lowly of earth was he. Master, we sing thy story, never was one like thee. Back in February during our anniversary month, we offered a little booklet entitled Great and Precious Promises. I've gotten a lot of response from people who said how much they appreciate having a little booklet of that size to carry with them, and to have it available to give to somebody else when they're having conversation with a person, they feel like this would be helpful. So I'm going to offer it again today. Just write us and request the booklet on promises, and we'll be glad to send it to you. Our address is Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. If you can help us with the support of the program, we certainly will appreciate it.

Some of our stations have been falling short, and in order to keep them on the air, we need to hear from our listeners. The Lord, my precious shepherding, is I and his little sheep. He leads me to his pastures green, he sighs still waters deep. In righteous past he leadeth me, lest I should go astray, restores my soul and makes me glad. I praise him day by day. Though through the shades of death I walk the valley dark and clear, it is nigh and sad they comfort me, for he is always near.

My head with hauling does anoint, my cup runs o'er with joy. The feast my Lord prepares for me, my foes cannot destroy. Goodness and mercy follow me, their joys I cannot tell.

They comfort me and give me hope that in this house I'll dwell. I want to praise him while I live, because he loved me so. And rising to that glory birth, a perfect praise I hope. Jesus Christ was the greatest teacher that there has ever been on this earth. Now some think of him only as a teacher, denying his divinity and denying his sacrificial death for the salvation of sinners. We know that the thought of his work of redemption is crucial if we're going to believe what the scriptures teach and what he taught is extremely important.

He taught on many things. We're going to look at a passage this morning that contains some wonderful words of comfort and encouragement. Matthew chapter 11 beginning with the 28th verse, come unto me all ye that labor 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 your souls.

These words are indeed words of hope, comfort, encouragement. Come unto me. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

So first we want to consider that this is a wonderful invitation. Jesus Christ, the perfect man and God. Jesus Christ, the God-man says, come unto me. Here's the one who can actually give you rest. You may have been promised rest by the pursuit of various philosophies and various forms of life, but here's one that can not only make this promise but fulfill it. He says, come to me and I will give you rest. What special words, how gentle, how loving. Come, come unto me.

And note the word all. Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden. Now in verse 27 of this chapter, he had just spoken on the subject of sovereignty. He says, all things are delivered unto me and my Father and no man knoweth the Son but the Father, neither knoweth any man but the Father save the Son and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. Now this clearly points out that for one to come to truly know God, it is only through the work of Jesus Christ. This must be by revelation. And that makes us think about the passage where Jesus said, ask the disciples, who do you say that I am? And Peter confessed that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus said, flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee but my Father which is in heaven. So it points us to sovereignty.

It points us to the work of God to bring about this great experience of salvation, bringing one into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So some might question, well, does that mean I might not be able to come? Because maybe I haven't been chosen. I remember talking to a person after we had discussed the doctrine of predestination. They said, well, I don't know if I'm predestinated.

How do I know? I can come to Christ. Well, the way you know is you come. The apostle Paul said it right here at the Church of Thessalonica, knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.

How did he know that? Not by their physical appearance, not by some other test, but the fact that when he preached the gospel to them, they had received it joyfully. This being evidence that they were one that was chosen of God. So some might question, can I come? I hear these words, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden.

Can I be one of those? The word all is significant. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. His word is come, come now. To come to him is to believe on him and to come is to leave one place and arrive at another. So I think that repentance and faith are both indicated here. Repentance is a change, a change of mind, a change of heart.

When Paul was writing to the Church of Thessalonica, he not only spoke of the fact that they received the gospel message, but they turned from idols to serve the true and living God. This is repentance. Turning from idolatry, turning from sinful practice. And so he says come.

That indicates movement, moving from one place to another. Repentance and faith. Come. Come with your burden.

You're weighted down, you feel the weight of your own guilt before God. Come. Come though all your questions are not answered. I've had people say, well, I just, there's a lot of things I don't understand yet. There's a lot of questions I don't have answered.

Well, you'll probably never get them all answered. Come anyway. Jesus says come, and he speaks specifically to all of those that labor and are heavy laden. There were people in Jesus' day just as there are today who were laboring to keep the law. They had the idea that if we can do our part, if we can live in such a way that we're recommending ourselves to God, all will be well with us. But for all who attempt to work for their salvation, that is work that can never be accomplished. Whether it was those in Jesus' day influenced by the Pharisees or those today in any form of works program, it's an impossibility to bring yourself into fellowship with Jesus Christ by your own works. Romans chapter 3 verse 19 says, Now we know that what thing soever the law sayeth, it sayeth to them that are under the law that every mouth may be stopped.

Somebody might object and say, well, I don't think I'm all that bad. I don't think I really am a guilty sinner before God. He says that every mouth may be stopped and that all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. You turn to the law, what do you see?

I've missed the mark. The very first commandment. And Jesus summarizes it in his words in the New Testament. That we're to love the Lord our God with all our mind, heart, soul, and strength. And you can see that you failed just looking at the first commandment to have no other gods before him. Because by nature, we're focused on self, not on God. We want to do what we want to do.

We're not thinking about bringing honor and glory to his name. So, when we think about the fact that no flesh can be justified in his sight by effort to keep the law, we think in vivid contrast of what we find in the book of Isaiah chapter 55 verse 1, O everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. He that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat. Yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. That's the poor man's market. If you see yourself impoverished, you know you have nothing to offer to God. You know there's no price that you can pay.

Here's the place for you. Come, O everyone that thirsteth, let him come. And that's what Jesus is saying here in the book of Matthew. Come unto me and to those who are heavy laden. Jesus condemned the Pharisees in Matthew chapter 23 verse 4. He said, for they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be born and lay them on men's shoulders.

They not only pressed people to keep the law, but they added numerous requirements of their own making. He says, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers, but all their works they do to be seen of men. So here are these religious leaders, these self-righteous individuals who are imposing heavy burdens upon others, but would not try to lift a burden or help even with one of their fingers.

They impose these rules upon others, but did not always observe them themselves. So Jesus said, they draw nigh unto me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. If a person comes to realize, I am a sinner in the sight of a holy God.

I know that God demands perfection and I don't even come close. They know I deserve nothing but his wrath. That is indeed a heavy burden. The burden of sin, the burden of guilt is heavy. So he says, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. We think of the words of David in Psalm 51 verse 8. He says, make me to hear joy and gladness that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

When the prophet had pointed his finger at David and said, thou art the man, he saw himself in a light in which he had not previously been able to recognize. What a sinner he was. He had violated God's law. He had committed adultery.

He had arranged for Bathsheba's husband to die on the battlefield. Now he sees his horrendous sin. His joy is gone. It feels like his bones are broken. A person with a broken bone is in excruciating pain and I think that's the message conveyed here. A person may have gone along very well feeling that their sins are all covered and not being troubled by them. But when the Holy Spirit of God convicts an individual to see he's a sinner, he needs help, he needs mercy, oh that painful experience can be equal to that even greater the pain than that of a broken bone.

Think about the experience of the one who's referred to as the prodigal son in Luke chapter 15 verse 18. This boy had wandered far from home. He had wasted his substance in riotous living.

He was now feeding the swine which was a lowly place in that culture. And he says, I will arise. He's awakened to the fact. He's far from home. He's far from the Father. He's sinned.

He's wasted that which was given to him. He says, I will arise and go to my Father. I will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and am before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy son. Here's true repentance. I've gone down the wrong path. I'm guilty. I'm unworthy. I'm not worthy.

Just make me as one of thy hired servants. This prodigal was heavy laden, heavy laden. Am I talking to somebody today who is burdened, heavy laden with guilt? You know you have sinned and nothing is hidden from the all-seeing eye of God. He knows every detail about your actions, every thought, every motive.

He knows it all. And when you have become keenly aware that you have offended the holy God of heaven, you become heavy laden. Well, here then a great blessing is promised.

Jesus says, I will give you rest. It's not something that you deserve just like this boy coming back didn't claim I am entitled to something. I deserve it.

No. I don't deserve even to come to your house. Just make me one of your hired servants. So when Jesus says, I will give you rest, it's not something you deserve.

It's not something you can earn. He gives it. Don't the word gives. I will give you rest. He gives it according to his own rich sovereign mercy.

Oh, how thankful. You become for mercy when you see I would be entitled to nothing but the wrath of God. But what I need is mercy. You can then say with the Apostle Paul, in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world again. When Jesus gives you rest, you then can say, I'm depending on something solid. The salvation which God promised before the world began, before you ever were in the world, before the world itself was ever made, he promised it. And the fact is, God cannot lie. So if he promised it, he's going to fulfill it and say with the hymn writer, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. This rest is not based on the circumstances of the moment.

It's not based on your emotion of the day. It's based on the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ. By nature, you were an enemy of God. Somebody might say, preacher, that's going a little too far. I'll admit that I haven't gone to church, I haven't read the Bible, but I've never thought of myself as being an enemy of God. I'm not against God.

But this is the way God describes the sinner in his natural state. He is the enemy of God. He is opposed to the ways of God. He doesn't want God to rule over him. He says, I want what I want when I want it.

I'm going to pursue whatever makes me feel good, whatever makes me happy. He is the enemy of God. But now, in coming to Jesus Christ, there is a reconciliation. The debt is canceled. It's paid for by the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ. Now, being reconciled, you have peace.

I will give you rest. Note that he says, come unto me, not to the legalists that point you to the law, as did the Pharisees, not to rules of self-improvement, not to some humanistic concept of finding rest and peace through your own thoughts. The positive thinking movement is being brought back, now calling it manifesting. The idea that if you just set your mind to something, you really look at it, think about it, meditate on it, clearly believe it, you can make it come to pass. So your answer to all your problems is found right within yourself.

That's not what we're talking about. Jesus says, come to me, not even to the church. That when one has come to Christ, they ought to come to the church because he is the head of it and the builder of it.

But a person could come to the church corporately and never have come to Christ. Jesus says, come unto me. And next we observe a path marked out. You come unto me, take my yoke upon you. Somebody might say, well, I thought this was going to be restful.

If you're taking on the yoke, that indicates activity, that indicates labor. But you see, this speaks of submission. I'm no longer going to chart my own course. I'm going to live under the yoke of Christ. My attitude is going to be, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. I'm going to use those words that Jesus taught when he taught how to pray. Thy will be done. It speaks of a rest in his service.

A Christian will never find rest in being idle, but finds his greatest rest and peace when he's actively serving Jesus Christ. And Jesus says, take my yoke upon you, but my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Compared to the yoke of sinful pleasure that you've been bearing, this yoke of following Jesus is light. This yoke is easy, my burden is light. Take my yoke upon you, take my yoke upon you. Hear me and be heard, hear me and be blessed.

I am meek and lowly, I am meek and lowly. Come and trust in light, come and trust in light. Come, come, come, my yoke is easy, come, come, come, my burden is light. What a warm, comforting message given from our Savior Jesus Christ. Come unto me. So those who are weary, heavy laden, are encouraged to come. And then when he speaks of his yoke being easy and his burden light, we find additional blessings as we follow in his service. I hope that you will take time to write us and remember we're again today offering the booklet, Great and Precious Promises.

You can request that when writing us. Till next week at the same time, may the Lord richly bless you all. Come and trust in light, come, come, my yoke is easy, come, come, my burden is light. The Baptist Bible Hour has come to you under the direction of Elder LeSaire Bradley Jr., Pastor of the Cincinnati Primitive Baptist Church. Address all mail to the Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217.

That's the Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. Come unto me, come unto me, I will give you rest, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, hear me and be blessed, I am weak and lonely. Come and trust in light, come, come, my yoke is easy, come, come, my burden is light.