Come, Take, Learn, Part 1

Matthew 11:25-30
Broadcast Featured Image

Ever wondered how you can end your life with a sense of fulfilled purpose and accomplishment, entering into God’s eternal rest? Join us on “Open the Bible” with Pastor Colin Smith as we explore this question. Discover why only Jesus Christ could declare, “It is finished,” and how His completed work on the cross enables us to find peace and joy. In this episode, we’ll dive into Matthew 11 and learn how to experience true rest through Christ.

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How can you make sure that at the end of your life it’s indeed a fulfilled purpose that

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you have completed your work and with everything accomplished you can enter into God’s eternal

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rest?

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Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith.

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I’m David Pick and Colin, that really is the big question, isn’t it?

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How can we be sure we’ll enter God’s eternal rest?

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Well, there’s only one person in the history of the world who’s ever truly been able to

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say it’s finished – and that is Jesus Christ.

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You know, I think about my own life, you think about your experience how often at the end

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of the day can you say I’ve done everything?

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It doesn’t happen.

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It really doesn’t.

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And that’s one of the reasons why it’s hard for us to have rest.

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That’s one of the reasons why earlier in the series we were saying it really is important

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to reflect on what we have been able to accomplish by God’s grace rather than fretting about

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what has not yet been done.

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The human reality is that we have never fulfilled all things.

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Only one person has.

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And on the cross, Jesus Christ said it is finished, and he finished for us what we can

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never finish for ourselves.

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So we’re going to look at how we can enter into the completion of all that Christ has

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accomplished so that there is peace and joy and completion for us.

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Because he has finished, therefore we are in a position where we by his grace are able

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to be finishers also.

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So we see this in Matthew in chapter 11.

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So I hope you’ll join us there as we begin our message, Come, Take, Learn.

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Here’s Colin.

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Well we come today into the last of our three-part series on the subject of Enjoying God’s Gift

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of Rest.

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It’s a wonderful theme in the Bible and one that we desperately need to rediscover in

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the relentless pace of life in the northwest suburbs of this great city.

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I want to take a few minutes to review what we have learned over these last two weeks

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before we launch into our theme today.

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Remember that when the Bible is talking about rest it is not talking about sleeping.

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For this simple reason that the Bible tells us that God rest and we know that God neither

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slumbers nor sleeps.

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Secondly we’ve identified that when the Bible talks about rest it’s not talking about leisure.

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For this simple reason as we saw last week the Bible says the wicked can never rest.

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And obviously the wicked do enjoy leisure in different ways and so whatever the Bible

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is speaking about when it talks about the theme of rest, it’s not speaking primarily

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about sleeping or about leisure.

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We’ve discovered together that this rest that God enters into that the wicked can never

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enjoy, but that He does want His people to experience is all about a purpose fulfilled

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and a project completed.

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We’ve seen that pattern right from the very first page of the Bible that God completed

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His work of creation when He had finished all that He had planned to do.

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On the seventh day He entered into His rest.

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And we saw last week that the reason of course that the wicked can never enter into God’s

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rest is that they have set themselves against God.

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Their life purpose is one of resisting God.

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And therefore, by definition, their life purpose is one that can never be fulfilled.

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It can never be completed.

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There will, praise God, never be a time, either in the history of this world or in all eternity,

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when the wicked will be able to say, we have dethroned God.

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That purpose will never be completed, that project will never be accomplished.

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And therefore the hell of hell will be that for all eternity, the wicked will pursue a

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purpose that can never be fulfilled and live a project that can never be accomplished.

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That is why the Bible says there is no peace, says my God, for the wicked.

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Well, that’s where we got to last week.

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You do not want to end your life, I do not want to end my life feeling that it is an

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unfulfilled purpose, an incomplete project.

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I cannot imagine anybody who wants to spend eternity that way.

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And so the question we’re coming to today is very simply this.

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How can you make sure that at the end of your life it is indeed a fulfilled purpose, that

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you have completed your work, and with everything accomplished you can enter into God’s eternal

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rest?

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Picture with me a man in prison.

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He knows he’s about to face a sudden and a violent death by execution.

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He takes a few moments, moved by the Spirit of God, to write a letter to a young friend.

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The prisoner’s name is Paul, and the young friend’s name is Timothy.

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And he gets to the end of this letter that’s called Second Timothy, and that’s in the

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New Testament.

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This is what he writes.

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”The time for my departure has come.

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I have fought the good fight.

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I have finished the race.

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I have kept the faith.

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Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord Jesus will award

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not only to me, but all who long for his appearing.”

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See, here’s a man who’s going to die, but he’s got rest.

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And why has he got rest?

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Because he knows that the whole of his life is a purpose fulfilled and a project completed.

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I have finished the Course.

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I’ve kept the faith.

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I have rest, because all that God purposed to do in me is being brought to completion.

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Now when I come to the end of my life, I’d love to be able to speak like that, wouldn’t

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you?

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I’ve fulfilled my purpose.

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I completed my work.

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I’m ready to enter into God’s rest.

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Now how is that possible?

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It’s possible for one man, it’s possible for any man, for any woman.

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Now the Bible gives us a clear answer as how we may live such a life that may end in this

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way and may issue in us entering into God’s rest.

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And there is never a clearer statement offered than in the verses that we read from Matthew

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chapter 11 verses 28 and 29, some of the most wonderful words in the whole of the Bible

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and I hope that you’ll have the Bible open in front of you so that we can soak these

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words into the depths of our minds.

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Notice three words that Jesus uses as He speaks about this great invitation to enter and experience

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rest.

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He says, come.

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He says take.

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And He says learn.

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Come, to Me, all you who are weary and burdened.

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And I will give you rest.

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Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will

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find rest for your souls.

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Come.

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Come to Me Jesus says.

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I can give you rest, I can make your life a fulfilled purpose, a completed project.

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I can take you there.

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I can lead you into what your soul most desires.

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Now, this is obviously a highly personal promise from Jesus and a highly personal invitation

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to you.

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Remember, therefore, and this is most important, that it is Jesus who is speaking.

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I can give you this rest.

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Now, he knows what he is talking about because no one who has ever lived in human history

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was ever given a greater purpose or a harder project to complete than Jesus Christ.

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The Bible makes clear that he came into this world to seek and to save lost people.

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His purpose was to do everything necessary to reconcile sinners to God.

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His project, think about this, was to bear the consequences of human sin and absorb in

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himself all the wrath of God that came as a curse on the world as a result of human

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sinfulness.

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Imagine if you had been given that project.

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This was the purpose of Jesus Christ’s life.

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This was his project, his God-given assignment.

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And on the night before he died, we’re told in John’s Gospel that he said this,

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Father, I have brought you glory on earth by completing all the work that you gave me

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to do.

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A short time after that, he was arrested, he was tried, he was condemned, and he was

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crucified.

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And while he hung on the cross, for three hours, darkness covered the land, and in that

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darkness, the Bible explains, he bore the guilt of human sin, and he absorbed the wrath

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of God for human sin into his own body.

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It was diverted away from all who believe, and on to him in that darkness, where he died

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on the cross.

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Then when the three hours of darkness were over, the Bible tells us that Jesus cried

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out in a loud voice.

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It is finished!

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Finished!

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Finished!

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And then he said, Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit.

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And that’s how He entered eternity.

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In his life, Jesus was given mission impossible.

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In his death, He declared mission accomplished.

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His purpose was fulfilled, His project was utterly complete, and He entered into rest.

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And He says, if you’ll come to Me, I can take you there too!

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Now the New Testament takes up this theme of rest with a wonderful picture as it relates

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to the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Remember that after the death and the resurrection of Jesus, the Bible tells us that He ascended

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into the presence of the Father in Heaven and when He ascended into the presence of

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the Father in Heaven, the Bible tells us he did something very significant, he sat down,

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when I sit down, you’ll know the sermon’s over, not just yet.

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But you see the great significance of sitting down.

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He sat down at rest because the work was done.

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Now if you know a little bit about the Old Testament, you’ll see even more significance

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in this, because the priests in the Old Testament who used to offer sacrifices of animals that

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were a pointer to the way in which sin would have to be dealt with.

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They used to operate in a place called the tabernacle, it was a tent-like structure and

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there were different furnishings in there.

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There was a lamp, there was a basin, there was an altar, there was a table, but very

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significantly in the tabernacle there was no chair.

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No chair.

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And the reason for that was very simple.

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The priest’s work in the Old Testament was never done and because their work was never

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done, there was never anyplace for them to sit down.

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Day after day they had to offer more and more and more sacrifices.

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They could never get to the point where they said everything that is needed to be done

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for the forgiveness of sins and the reconciliation of men and women has been accomplished.

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There were more and more and more sacrifices, day after day it went on and there was no

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rest because the work was never done, but after Jesus offered his life as a sacrifice

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for sins Hebrews 1 and v 3 tells us He sat down and both the Old Testament and the New

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Testament speaking about Jesus, have this wonderful statement that the father says to

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Him sit at my right hand. Imagine the Lord Jesus entering into heaven and the father

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says to the son sit at my right hand until I make all your enemies a footstool for your

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feet. You see what the father is saying, son your work is finished, you can rest everything

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that is ever needed for a man or for a woman to be reconciled to God has been accomplished,

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nothing needs to be added to what you have done. Now sit at my right hand until I place

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all your enemies under your feet. By the way just a little aside that’s why I’ve never

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found little figures of Jesus on the cross to be very helpful because he’s not on the

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cross now. He’s been there, he’s done that, but he’s not on the Cross now. He’s on the

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throne. He’s not in agony now. He’s entered into his rest. And he says come to me and

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I will lead you into that too. In other words this risen, triumphant Lord Jesus Christ who

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has done everything necessary on the cross to bring you into a right relationship with

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God and to bring you into the completion of your life purpose and ultimately into everlasting

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rest. He says come to me, come to me the risen Lord. Come with your torn, frayed, broken,

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incomplete life. Come with all your loose ends. Come just as you are. But come to me

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and I will give you rest.

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You’re listening to Pastor Colin Smith on Open the Bible. And today’s message, Come,

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Talk, Learn. It’s part of our series called Give Yourself a Break, How to Enjoy God’s

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Gift of Rest. And if you’ve tuned in late or you have to leave early or you just want

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to listen to one of the series again, you can always do that by coming online to our

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website, openthebible.org.uk. And there you can listen to any of the messages which have

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already gone out on air. You can also find us now as a podcast, if that’s a better way

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for you to listen at your own convenience to Pastor Colin’s teaching, and those are

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available on all the regular podcasting sites, and through a link on our website. To find

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it on a podcast site, simply search for openthebible.org.uk. Back to the message now, we’re in Matthew

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chapter 11. Here’s Colin.

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Come just as you are, but come to me, and I will give you rest. Now notice that in this

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great invitation, he invites us to come but it doesn’t end there. See a lot of people

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who have come to believe in Jesus, don’t have a whole lot of rest. And one of the reasons

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for that is that some people who’ve come to believe in Jesus have only read half of this

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verse. And if you only read half of this verse you’ve only understood half of the gospel.

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Look at what Jesus says, come to me all you who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give

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you rest. But we’ve no right to cut him off in the middle of the flow of his statement.

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Look what he says next. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me and you will find rest

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for your souls. In other words, if you are going to live a life that will issue

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in a fulfilled purpose, a completed project, you must not only come believing

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in Jesus, but you must, he says in himself, be ready to take his yoke upon

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you. Now, when Jesus talks about the yoke, he is using a very simple picture.

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When farmers were ploughing a field, they tied two animals together to pull

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the plow.

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There was a kind of harness that tied the two animals together and then there

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was a piece of wood that would be across the necks of the animals that was

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called the yoke.

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You can still see that in many Third World countries today.

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The point of the yoke was to make sure, of course, that the two animals were

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pulling in the same direction together, and that they were not pulling apart.

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Very painful thing to wear a yoke if you’re pulling in the opposite direction

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from the one you are yoked to.

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Now Jesus says, take my yoke upon you.

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In other words, if you want to experience this rest, if you want your life to be a

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completed project, a fulfilled purpose, you have to pull in the direction that

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I’m pulling.

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You have to move in the direction that I’m going.

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Don’t pull against me.

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Give up doing your own thing.

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Give up going your own way.

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Take my yoke upon you.

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Of course this is a marvelous picture isn’t it, of a life of obedience, being

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yoked to Jesus.

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Jesus says if you take my yoke upon you then you will find rest for your soul.

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Saying that you’re a believer and doing your own thing will never lead you into

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a life in which God’s purpose for you is completed or his project accomplished.

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Now if you question that, remember that the Bible itself gives us a very

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powerful story to illustrate the point.

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Remember back in the Old Testament that God’s people were slaves in Egypt.

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Now think about that word slaves.

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Slaves certainly have no rest, 7 days a week slaves.

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No Sabbath.

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No rest.

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But God brought them out of that and brought them to Sinai where God’s

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presence came down.

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God promised to give them a land where they would enjoy rest.

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He said go and take possession of this land the land of Canaan.

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That was God’s purpose.

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That was God’s project and they were in obedience to become those who brought

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about God’s purpose in the world.

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However when they got to the borders of Canaan, many of you know the story well

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they sent out spies and the spies came back with a gloomy report saying that

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while God had called them to do was going to be much more difficult and much

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more costly than had been previously thought.

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So instead of being obedient to God’s command they turned back into the

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desert.

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The Bible tells us in Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 11 that God was angry with

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them because of that disobedience and said they will never enter my rest.

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So here we have people who come to Mt.

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Sinai, but they’re not ready to take the yoke of obedience to what God calls

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them to do.

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They want God’s blessing.

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But they’re not ready for the yoke of costly obedience.

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You’ve been listening to Open The Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and our

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message today, Come, Talk, Learn.

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Part of our series give yourself a break how to enjoy God’s gift of rest.

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We live in a very fast paced world today and it can be very hard to slow

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down and find the time to take a break.

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So what does God mean when he calls us to enjoy his gift of rest?

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Well, that’s what our series is all about.

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And if you’ve tuned in late or missed any of the messages in the series, don’t

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forget you can always come online to our website, open-the-bible.org.uk.

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And there you can find any of the previously broadcast messages.

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You can also find us as a podcast.

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Go to your favourite podcast site, search for Open The Bible UK and

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subscribe to receive regular updates.

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Also on our website and available as a podcast is Open The Bible Daily.

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That’s a series of short two-to-three minute daily reflections based on

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Pastor Colin’s teaching and read in the UK by Souma Kaleesh.

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You can find that as a podcast or on our website,

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OpenTheBible.Org.UK.

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Open the Bible depends on your generosity to keep Pastor Colin’s

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teaching on this station and online.

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As you set up a new monthly gift to the work of Open The Bible this month,

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we want to thank you by sending you a free copy of Chris Lungard’s book,

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The Enemy Within, straight tallk about the power and defeat of sin.

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Colin, who would you say this book is for?

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Well, first is for anyone who is a Christian.

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By definition, a Christian is a person in whom the Holy Spirit dwells.

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And also by definition, a Christian is a person who has

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engaged in a serious battle against sin.

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The Apostle Paul said we got to put to death the misdeeds of the body by the

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power of the Holy Spirit who lives within you.

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And here’s the thing. As you grow in the Christian life,

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you actually become more aware of the sins that you need to fight against in

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your life, not less aware of them.

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So there’s an increasing sense of battle that a Christian experiences.

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And this book by Chris Lungard,

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The Enemy Within is one of the most helpful books I have ever found on the

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subject of the battle of the Christian life. It is really encouraging.

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I’ve found it helpful,

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and I think that everyone who reads it will find it helpful too.

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Well, we want to send you a copy of this book, Chris Lungard,

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00:24:50,800 –> 00:24:54,300

The Enemy Within, straight talk about the power and defeat of sin,

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and it’s our thank you gift to you,

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if you’re able to set up a new donation to the work of Open the Bible this

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month in the amount of five pounds per month or more.

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Full details on our website, openingthebible.org.uk.

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For Open the Bible, and for Pastor Colin Smith,

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I’m David Pickham.

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And I hope you’ll be able to join us again next time on Open the Bible.

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A lot of Christians can’t seem to find rest.

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Find out why next time on Open the Bible.

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Get 3 free copies of ‘Green Pastures, Still Waters’ by Colin Smith, as well as an Open the Bible UK bookmark and pen, when you set up a monthly gift of at least £5, or a one-off gift of at least £50.

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Colin Smith

Trustee / Founder and Teaching Pastor

Colin Smith is the Senior Pastor of The Orchard Evangelical Free Church in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. He has authored a number of books, including Heaven, How I Got Here and Heaven, So Near – So Far. Colin is the Founder and Teaching Pastor for Open the Bible. Follow him on X formerly Twitter.

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In a world of relentless activity, we desperately need to rediscover God’s gift of rest. God has given us one day each week as a window in time to gain a glimpse of eternity. In these sermons on rest, you will discover how to fulfill God’s purpose and enjoy God’s gift.

Colin Smith

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