Come Unto Me
Matthew 11
· 28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
· 29 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.
· 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
I. The Inclination of the Sinner
There is one thing that you can count on when it comes to the sinner.
They will try ANYTHING and ANYBODY before they come the Jesus.
Man’s first inclination is to run away from the only one that can help them with their sin problem.
Adam and Eve
Genesis 3
· 9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
· 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
They wasted their time making fig leaf aprons rather than get right with God.
Cain – from the first family in the Bible, chose to do things the hard way.
Fruit of his labor rather than the lamb was what he chose to do.
From that time, man has been looking for an alternative to God.
ILLUSTRATION: Notice the unique situation of this woman in Mark 5.
Mark 5
· 25 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
· 26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
· 27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.
· 28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
This woman suffered many things.
She spent all that she had.
She didn’t get better, she got worse.
Verse 27 is where her life changed. “When she had heard of Jesus…”
She didn’t keep looking for more doctors.
She didn’t take out a loan to pay for more treatments that wasn’t going to work.
NO! She went to Jesus.
We’ve got people today that hear of Jesus and walk away.
We’ve got people today that hear the Gospel and think they don’t need it.
They hear the truth and want to argue and debate and rationalize rather than believe God.
They come to church, hear that they are lost and need to be saved, and then look for a second opinion.
Jesus said it like this - John 5:40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
II. The Isolation of the Sin
Sin separates. It alienates.
· Ephesians 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
The very first thing that Sin did was put up a wall of separation.
Adam and Eve’s sin exiled them from the Garden of Eden.
Cain’s sin made him a vagabond on the face of the earth.
Notice Cain’s response:
· Genesis 4:14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth;
Isaiah 59
· 1 Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
· 2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
God created man in order to have fellowship and communion with him.
But God cannot fellowship with sin.
2 Corinthians 6
· 14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
· 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
· 16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Jesus described the state of the unbeliever with several key, descriptive words.
· “…all ye that labour and are heavy laden…”
I don’t think sinners realize how hard it is to be lost.
It doesn’t matter which end of the spectrum they are on, their life is one of loneliness and they are all LOST.
On one end of the spectrum you’ve got the demon possessed man in Mark 5.
One the other end, you’ve got the morally upstanding and decent centurion in Acts 10.
One man was lonely in his state of devil-possessed ruin.
The other was lonely in his state of empty and void religion.
Sin is a prison.
· Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Jesus wants you to trade in the yoke of bondage for His yoke.
This is the literal definition of repentance.
Turn loose of the yoke of bondage and take His yoke.
III. The Invitation of the Savior
There are so many powerful truths hidden in this one statement – “Come unto me…”
A. The Compassion that is Proven
Over and over again in the Scriptures we find where Jesus was moved with compassion.
· Matthew 9:36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
· Matthew 14:14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.
· Matthew 15:32 Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.
· Matthew 20:34 So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.
Make no mistake – a sinner that is struggling and hurting moves the heart of God.
When nobody else cares, Jesus cares!!
B. The Comfort that is Promised
Unlike your friend or family members, Jesus does more than have compassion.
He is not only moved by your plight – He can actually do something about it!
He said, “…I WILL give you rest.”
C. The Company that is Priceless
The greatest aspect of these words is the priceless companionship that Jesus promises.
29 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.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
That yoke is a partnership; a companionship; a relationship between you and Jesus.
He didn’t say Come unto a denomination or organized religion.
He didn’t say Come unto the pastor.
He didn’t say Come unto a church.
He said Come unto me.
· John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
Jesus is the One this morning standing up here with open arms.
It is up to you.
He will not force you.
He will not make you.
You have a free will and you can accept Him or reject Him.
· Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
He will take you, and wash you as white as snow.