Christian Wisdom 3 (Matthew 11:25-30)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.439 Well, please turn your attention now to Matthew, Chapter Eleven, Verses Twenty 2 00:00:03.480 --> 00:00:09.470 five through thirty. Matthew Eleven and these verses is pound found on page eight 3 00:00:09.509 --> 00:00:14.029 hundred and sixteen of the black bibles from the cart if you have happen to 4 00:00:14.070 --> 00:00:17.710 have one of those. This, I think, is the fourth sermon now 5 00:00:17.949 --> 00:00:22.179 on Christian Wisdom, and I'm actually going to preach to the next one tonight. 6 00:00:22.739 --> 00:00:26.739 There's a little bit of overlap in our theme and the passages. We've 7 00:00:26.780 --> 00:00:30.300 been looking at an EPHESIAN, so I'd encourage you to come back for that 8 00:00:30.420 --> 00:00:34.979 if you're able to. But now our attention is on Matthew, Matthew Eleven, 9 00:00:35.659 --> 00:00:43.490 a, twenty five through thirty. At that time Jesus declared. I 10 00:00:43.729 --> 00:00:48.210 thank you, Father Lord of Heaven and Earth, that you have hidden these 11 00:00:48.409 --> 00:00:56.439 things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to children. Yes, father, 12 00:00:56.640 --> 00:01:00.200 for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to 13 00:01:00.280 --> 00:01:04.390 me by my father, and no one knows the son except the father, 14 00:01:06.030 --> 00:01:08.989 and no one knows the father except the son. And anyone to whom the 15 00:01:10.150 --> 00:01:15.549 son chooses to reveal him come to me, all who labor and are heavy 16 00:01:15.590 --> 00:01:21.260 laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and 17 00:01:21.379 --> 00:01:26.060 learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you 18 00:01:26.140 --> 00:01:32.379 will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden 19 00:01:32.739 --> 00:01:38.170 is light. May Be seated. So in the past few sermons we've been 20 00:01:38.450 --> 00:01:48.560 thinking about how wisdom begins and ends with Christ. Remember that wisdom is in 21 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:56.400 part knowledge. Wisdom is understanding, it's a content, it's a certain amount 22 00:01:56.439 --> 00:01:59.640 of things or truths to be known, but it's it's more than that. 23 00:01:59.840 --> 00:02:05.109 Wisdom is more than knowledge. A brief definition of wisdom might be knowledge applied 24 00:02:06.030 --> 00:02:09.710 right. Wisdom is as an ability, you might say, to walk in 25 00:02:09.870 --> 00:02:16.620 this world according to what is right, without making mistakes, without falling into 26 00:02:16.740 --> 00:02:23.419 traps. Achieving good ends by good means, doing it in ways that are 27 00:02:23.500 --> 00:02:30.689 efficient. We're doing things in a way that involve good stewardship. A wise 28 00:02:30.810 --> 00:02:35.889 choices in any aspect of your life are choices that tend to be bring blessing, 29 00:02:36.610 --> 00:02:42.530 bring joy, bring peace, these kinds of things. When you imp 30 00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:47.439 when you apply for a job, one of the characteristics that employer might be 31 00:02:47.599 --> 00:02:53.120 looking for you is wisdom. Is this person somebody who knows how to make 32 00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:58.000 good decisions. When applying for a job, you might be asking of your 33 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:02.830 future employer. Is this employer that is wise? Do they know how to 34 00:03:02.949 --> 00:03:07.469 treat employees fairly? Do they know how to manage their business? Is this 35 00:03:07.629 --> 00:03:14.099 something worth engaging in? This these questions about wisdom apply to everything in our 36 00:03:14.139 --> 00:03:15.860 lives. But one of the things that we've been seeing as we've been studying 37 00:03:15.900 --> 00:03:21.979 the scriptures, that the all of these questions, even these mundane ordinary questions, 38 00:03:22.620 --> 00:03:25.819 have an ultimate, a light in which we might, in which we 39 00:03:25.860 --> 00:03:30.370 might and we must see them in light of so to say. As I 40 00:03:30.409 --> 00:03:36.689 said at the beginning, we've been considering how wisdom ultimately begins and ends with 41 00:03:36.849 --> 00:03:43.400 Christ. He is like the Sun. By His light the truth about our 42 00:03:43.639 --> 00:03:49.280 world and the world to come is revealed. We know wisdom in the things 43 00:03:49.319 --> 00:03:52.840 that have been made. We come to know the wisdom of God as it 44 00:03:52.919 --> 00:04:00.750 has been made through him. He's also like a map, maybe even a 45 00:04:00.830 --> 00:04:04.349 treasure map, a set of directions in which we're made to understand, through 46 00:04:04.669 --> 00:04:09.389 what Jesus has done, what our past is, what our present is, 47 00:04:09.509 --> 00:04:12.979 what our future is. Right. How can you make a good decision about, 48 00:04:12.979 --> 00:04:16.699 let's say, buying a car without taking into certain an account to certain 49 00:04:16.740 --> 00:04:19.860 things. How much, how long of life can I expect to get out 50 00:04:19.860 --> 00:04:25.170 of this car? Are Right? What is the value, or anticipated value 51 00:04:25.290 --> 00:04:28.250 to come right? These are the kinds of things we consider. What is 52 00:04:28.329 --> 00:04:30.529 that in the past history of this car? Is this a car that has 53 00:04:30.569 --> 00:04:35.290 been recalled multi, multiple times? Is this a car that has a bad 54 00:04:35.449 --> 00:04:39.199 title on it? Right, we consider it's past, we look at its 55 00:04:39.240 --> 00:04:43.800 present. We had try to anticipate its future. All these decisions go into 56 00:04:43.800 --> 00:04:46.040 a question. How do you buy a car? Well, if we're willing 57 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:50.120 to think in these terms and in these ways on just the mundane level, 58 00:04:50.120 --> 00:04:54.990 are we all? Are we all? Are we going to ignore how all 59 00:04:55.110 --> 00:05:00.189 these things fit into an ultimate perspective about past, present in future? Think 60 00:05:00.189 --> 00:05:05.750 about buying a car again, something very mundane and ordinary. Jesus says, 61 00:05:06.139 --> 00:05:12.860 don't lay up your treasures here on earth, where moth and rust and destroy, 62 00:05:12.860 --> 00:05:15.939 where thieves take away right, you see how these why is that? 63 00:05:16.860 --> 00:05:21.050 Because ultimately, the things of heaven are things that are lasting. So we 64 00:05:21.129 --> 00:05:24.050 have to when you buy a car, you have to buy a car, 65 00:05:24.170 --> 00:05:27.290 but you don't put your heart into it, you don't put your soul into 66 00:05:27.290 --> 00:05:30.050 it. You don't trust it with everything that you have, because might get 67 00:05:30.050 --> 00:05:34.720 an accident so we might take it away from you. So this is why 68 00:05:34.720 --> 00:05:41.519 Jesus is important, even for simple decisions, every day decisions. He tells 69 00:05:41.560 --> 00:05:44.560 us where our treasures ought to be, and it's to be in him. 70 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:48.360 He teaches us about our past, our present. Are Few future in him, 71 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:54.870 and he does that here in this passage. Come to me, all 72 00:05:54.990 --> 00:05:59.310 who are labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 73 00:06:00.629 --> 00:06:04.019 That's an amazing promise. Is there anyone here who wouldn't raise their hand and 74 00:06:04.220 --> 00:06:09.540 say I labor and am heavy laden? Is there anyone here who could say, 75 00:06:09.699 --> 00:06:12.980 yeah, you know, that's not really me. Everything's good for me, 76 00:06:13.540 --> 00:06:19.569 I have achieved perfect rest right anxiety and loneliness, struggle and strife, 77 00:06:19.649 --> 00:06:26.810 these are the marks of our world, in our lives. Jesus calls out 78 00:06:26.810 --> 00:06:30.290 to the world here, when he calls out to us, I will give 79 00:06:30.329 --> 00:06:34.079 you rest. Take your yoke upon me and learn. Learn from me, 80 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:39.480 like wisdom language there, for I am gentle and lowly heart, and you 81 00:06:39.519 --> 00:06:44.759 will find rest in your souls. So in a way this passage teaches us 82 00:06:44.759 --> 00:06:48.029 more about wisdom, because it tells us what wisdom that we when we gain 83 00:06:48.110 --> 00:06:51.670 it through Christ, when we receive him and the gifts that he offers. 84 00:06:53.389 --> 00:06:57.990 What are some of the blessings that we enjoy as a result of this kind 85 00:06:58.110 --> 00:07:04.660 of wisdom? Wisdom from God, wisdom through his son, and all, 86 00:07:04.740 --> 00:07:10.060 what we find is that all lasting treasures are found in him. You want 87 00:07:10.100 --> 00:07:14.259 peace, it's in Jesus. You want joy, it's in Jesus. Love, 88 00:07:14.579 --> 00:07:18.209 justice, secure, purity. It's all in him, and these truths 89 00:07:18.250 --> 00:07:26.730 are emphasized for us here. Want to begin by just noting the first half 90 00:07:26.769 --> 00:07:30.199 of this section and pointing out what it talks about in terms of revelation. 91 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:34.839 Right, so, in order to in order to make a wise decision about 92 00:07:34.839 --> 00:07:40.480 something, you have to know something. Right a wisdom requires a certain kind 93 00:07:40.519 --> 00:07:44.910 of knowledge, and if we will need knowledge of ultimate things. What is 94 00:07:45.069 --> 00:07:47.990 true, what is good, what is beautiful, what is lasting and permanent, 95 00:07:48.110 --> 00:07:54.310 eternal? Well, these are things that can only be really be revealed 96 00:07:54.629 --> 00:08:00.259 through God. But what Jesus says here is that there's a very particular relationship 97 00:08:00.259 --> 00:08:09.060 between him and the father. Here we are reminded that God is tri personal, 98 00:08:09.740 --> 00:08:13.329 that he is three persons, one God in three persons, Father, 99 00:08:13.569 --> 00:08:20.689 son and Holy Spirit. Jesus speaks of this relationship between him and the father. 100 00:08:20.730 --> 00:08:24.290 Here he says, in a prayer to his father, Lord of Heaven 101 00:08:24.290 --> 00:08:28.199 and Earth, I thank you that you have hidden these things from the wise 102 00:08:28.279 --> 00:08:35.440 and understanding and revealed them to little children. Then he says, in Verse 103 00:08:35.480 --> 00:08:39.799 Twenty Seven, the All things that belong to the father have also been given 104 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:45.350 to him. That's why, but one reason why, we worship Jesus as 105 00:08:45.509 --> 00:08:48.470 God. He says no one knows the son except the father, and no 106 00:08:48.590 --> 00:08:54.429 one knows the father except the son and anyone whom the sun chooses to reveal 107 00:08:54.470 --> 00:08:58.179 him. Then he says, come to me, all who are labor and 108 00:08:58.299 --> 00:09:03.139 here heavy laden. So, in other words, in order to come to 109 00:09:03.259 --> 00:09:07.940 Jesus, we have to know something about him, but that is something that 110 00:09:07.100 --> 00:09:11.570 is revealed to us, and it's revealed to us only by God's gracious will. 111 00:09:13.129 --> 00:09:16.570 He, Jesus, doesn't mention it here, but I'll point out that 112 00:09:16.970 --> 00:09:20.490 Isaiah tells us that the spirit is involved in this as well. We read 113 00:09:20.570 --> 00:09:24.120 in Isaiah Eleven, verse two, and the spirit of the Lord shall rest 114 00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:30.240 upon him, that is Jesus, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the 115 00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:33.080 spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the 116 00:09:33.200 --> 00:09:37.320 Lord. So I want you to hold you hold those things in your mind 117 00:09:37.750 --> 00:09:41.070 for a moment and think just a little bit about the nature of wisdom and 118 00:09:41.309 --> 00:09:48.309 peace, how wisdom brings peace. Have you ever been in a situation where 119 00:09:48.309 --> 00:09:52.139 you've said something like, I don't really care what happens, I just want 120 00:09:52.179 --> 00:09:58.299 to know right maybe you have a diagnosis that's coming up and you're waiting for 121 00:09:58.460 --> 00:10:01.220 test results and you say I just want to know. If I could just 122 00:10:01.419 --> 00:10:07.769 know what the diagnosis would be, I could rest. Have you ever been 123 00:10:07.809 --> 00:10:13.490 in this kind of situation? Or maybe so? In this way, knowledge 124 00:10:13.889 --> 00:10:18.649 has a way of bringing peace, calming down our anxiety to know and to 125 00:10:18.730 --> 00:10:22.080 have certain things that are predictable, and, of course, the application of 126 00:10:22.200 --> 00:10:28.240 knowledge and wisdom is also a peaceful kind of thing. Consider the way words 127 00:10:28.279 --> 00:10:33.039 are used. Proverbs eleven says to make an apt answer is a joy to 128 00:10:33.159 --> 00:10:37.909 a man, a word in season, how good it is. Have you 129 00:10:37.950 --> 00:10:43.830 ever had a question or a trouble or some conflict and you go to someone 130 00:10:43.870 --> 00:10:48.789 seeking advice and they tell you I don't really know, or they give you 131 00:10:48.870 --> 00:10:50.340 this advice that doesn't make sense. Do you walk away from that and go 132 00:10:52.500 --> 00:10:56.019 I feel better? Of course not. Like I'm still in the same position 133 00:10:56.139 --> 00:10:58.980 I was. That was frustrating. I didn't gain wisdom, I'm not at 134 00:11:00.059 --> 00:11:03.019 rest. But what about the opposite, which is described here in this proverb? 135 00:11:03.570 --> 00:11:07.330 To make an apt answer is a joy to a man. Have you 136 00:11:07.370 --> 00:11:11.850 ever gone to someone worried and troubled, trying to figure out what to do, 137 00:11:11.450 --> 00:11:16.169 and then maybe it's a parent or a mentor or friend, maybe even 138 00:11:16.210 --> 00:11:20.960 someone surprising, says to you? Have you tried this? Have you thought 139 00:11:20.960 --> 00:11:26.279 about this? Have you seen this website? You should talk to my friend, 140 00:11:26.759 --> 00:11:30.399 whatever it is, and you realize instantly that it's the answer you need. 141 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:35.190 What happens in your heart? This sense of peace right the way wisdom, 142 00:11:35.230 --> 00:11:41.029 an apt answer and answer that is correct and given in the right time 143 00:11:41.190 --> 00:11:43.909 and given in the right way. It brings peace to us, it brings 144 00:11:43.950 --> 00:11:48.620 joy to us. I'm sorry, that was proverbs fifteen twenty three, a 145 00:11:50.500 --> 00:11:54.659 similarly proverbs two thousand five hundred and eleven. I'm says a word, fitly 146 00:11:54.700 --> 00:11:58.700 spoken, is like apples of gold in a setting of silver's just a beautiful, 147 00:12:00.220 --> 00:12:05.090 valuable thing to know people, to know and to have knowledge applied in 148 00:12:05.169 --> 00:12:09.610 your life is a is a great thing. Have you ever maybe been given 149 00:12:09.809 --> 00:12:16.080 the inside track into a job or a medical appointment or something like like that? 150 00:12:16.279 --> 00:12:18.840 Someone says you know the person you should really talk to is this. 151 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:22.279 You Go and you talk to that person and it all sort of falls out 152 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:28.360 wonderful, right. It's wonderful when these kinds of things happen. Of course, 153 00:12:28.440 --> 00:12:31.110 we know the opposite, how stressful and that the bad decision can be, 154 00:12:31.629 --> 00:12:37.590 how lack of wisdom and a need for wisdom can be anxiety producing. 155 00:12:37.389 --> 00:12:41.789 How many of you want to raise your hands and say living in a life 156 00:12:41.830 --> 00:12:48.779 of chaos is ideal or fun? It's frustrating, it's terrifying, never knowing 157 00:12:48.899 --> 00:12:52.740 what's going to happen next. And you know, we might choose to go 158 00:12:52.899 --> 00:12:58.210 on a ride, roller coaster or something to have some unpredictability for a time, 159 00:13:00.090 --> 00:13:03.409 but there's some peace and knowing that it's going to end right. We 160 00:13:03.490 --> 00:13:05.649 even who's that metaphor in our life? I feel like I'm on a roller 161 00:13:05.690 --> 00:13:11.330 coaster and I can't get off right. That sort of unpredictability of twisting, 162 00:13:11.450 --> 00:13:18.039 the turning, an unability to stay steady and to feel safe. What the 163 00:13:18.120 --> 00:13:24.519 scriptures are teaching us, however, is that any decision, apart from Christ 164 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:28.789 can never really bring us true rest. No ultimate rest, no final rest, 165 00:13:28.909 --> 00:13:39.029 no permanence. Why? Because anything that's truly wise will be connected to 166 00:13:39.870 --> 00:13:45.379 a final thing. Right. If, going back to the car example, 167 00:13:45.419 --> 00:13:50.740 if I say hey, this is a great car and it will only increase 168 00:13:50.860 --> 00:13:52.860 in value year after year after year, and you say, but it's a 169 00:13:54.100 --> 00:13:56.409 beat up hoond the civic, you said no, no, trust me, 170 00:13:56.490 --> 00:14:01.009 it's going to just make you very wealthy. Just keep hanging on to it. 171 00:14:01.690 --> 00:14:05.889 Right, it's not the the truth that the lie here in this case 172 00:14:07.049 --> 00:14:13.320 is not connected to its final result. How much more for truly ultimate things? 173 00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:16.720 Right, if I tell you you against the words of Jesu, if 174 00:14:16.799 --> 00:14:22.360 I say you know what, this life is all there is. Store up 175 00:14:22.440 --> 00:14:28.149 everything here, treasure everything here, make mountains of wealth, and you'll be 176 00:14:28.309 --> 00:14:31.149 okay then, because, you know what, when you die you get to 177 00:14:31.230 --> 00:14:35.950 take all of it with you. You get to keep it and enjoy it 178 00:14:35.149 --> 00:14:41.059 forever and ever. You get to enjoy every potted plant you ever bought, 179 00:14:41.139 --> 00:14:48.419 every every used car you ever purchased, hopefully, in hearing those things, 180 00:14:48.500 --> 00:14:52.929 you sense an emptiness in those words because you know it's not true. You 181 00:14:52.049 --> 00:14:56.250 know that these things that I'm sort of saying in the hypothetical aren't connected to 182 00:14:56.370 --> 00:15:03.330 what is true. Well, what is true, what is ultimate? Well, 183 00:15:03.450 --> 00:15:07.799 only God, only in connecting our lives with him, can we have 184 00:15:09.720 --> 00:15:16.440 permanence, true truth, true beauty, ultimate glory and all of the things 185 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:22.110 that we were made to desire and to want. And true wisdom, ultimate 186 00:15:22.350 --> 00:15:28.789 life and blessing can only come from God and being in fellowship with him. 187 00:15:30.190 --> 00:15:33.029 The problem, of course, is that we are born into a situation in 188 00:15:33.309 --> 00:15:37.379 which our sins keep us from God. Just as Adam and Eve were sent 189 00:15:37.539 --> 00:15:43.139 out of the garden and flaming fire was set up with angels blocking the way 190 00:15:43.220 --> 00:15:48.539 into communion with God because of their sin, when we are born into sin, 191 00:15:48.740 --> 00:15:52.929 into sinfulness, it's the same thing for us. God does not want, 192 00:15:54.289 --> 00:15:58.929 cannot have unholy things near him. We are not true and beautiful and 193 00:16:00.090 --> 00:16:06.600 glorious like he is, and so there's a distance between us. Sin Keeps 194 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:11.679 US away from God, which means then every decision we make, everything we 195 00:16:11.799 --> 00:16:17.559 do, even our best decisions, never arrive at ultimate things. They never 196 00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:23.629 arrive at God and we're constantly away from him. So then the question is, 197 00:16:23.789 --> 00:16:27.549 how can we have this communion with God? How can we have the 198 00:16:29.029 --> 00:16:33.620 blessedness of living a life that is orderly and in accord with ultimate and Inter 199 00:16:33.779 --> 00:16:44.259 eternal things? It's impossible unless, of course, God himself descends to us 200 00:16:44.779 --> 00:16:51.370 and solves our problem for us right without him, we continue to spin in 201 00:16:51.450 --> 00:16:56.129 the chaos, we continue to spin in foolishness and sinfulness, we continue to 202 00:16:56.250 --> 00:17:03.079 spin in ignorance and lack of knowledge. What we need as sinners, as 203 00:17:03.480 --> 00:17:10.599 foolish people, is a savior who can overcome the curse of ignorance, who 204 00:17:10.640 --> 00:17:15.829 can overcome the curse of foolishness, who can make life out of death, 205 00:17:15.309 --> 00:17:23.670 blessing out of curse, order out of chaos. And this can't happen with 206 00:17:23.829 --> 00:17:32.500 just a really clever person. We need God. Only God, who is 207 00:17:32.700 --> 00:17:38.180 all wise, can bring us from death and foolishness and sin to life. 208 00:17:41.500 --> 00:17:47.329 And that's what's amazing about what Jesus says here. He says no one knows 209 00:17:47.490 --> 00:17:53.410 God. How can they? But the sun knows the father, and of 210 00:17:53.529 --> 00:18:02.720 course so does everyone else whom the Sun reveals at the very beginning of the 211 00:18:02.839 --> 00:18:08.599 world. We read in Genesis and God's word the world was without form and 212 00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:15.390 void. There was a kind of chaos, of nothingness, or it's hard 213 00:18:15.430 --> 00:18:19.869 to describe, I don't know, but it was out of that that God 214 00:18:21.069 --> 00:18:25.349 said, that God spoke a word and said, let there be light. 215 00:18:26.509 --> 00:18:30.539 You know, the Bible says right, it says and there was light and 216 00:18:30.619 --> 00:18:33.900 it was good and God separated the light from the darkness and so on and 217 00:18:33.940 --> 00:18:38.099 so forth all the way through creation until we have this world that he has 218 00:18:38.180 --> 00:18:48.289 made. Jesus, when he becomes incarnate and comes into this world, is 219 00:18:48.410 --> 00:18:53.170 doing a similar thing, except he is beginning the work of new creation, 220 00:18:55.410 --> 00:19:00.839 and except this time it's out of a chaos that is sinful and wretched and 221 00:19:00.680 --> 00:19:10.150 cursed and doomed to hell. So what does Jesus do? The father sends 222 00:19:10.190 --> 00:19:14.670 the son into this world equipped with that spirit of wisdom and knowledge and insight 223 00:19:15.190 --> 00:19:18.509 to speak this word, this word of the Gospel and this word of the 224 00:19:18.589 --> 00:19:23.579 cross, in which Jesus is the good news of our salvation, in which 225 00:19:23.619 --> 00:19:29.180 Jesus goes to the Cross and he takes all of our foolishness, all of 226 00:19:29.299 --> 00:19:33.460 our pride, all of our blindness, all of our hopelessness, our chaos, 227 00:19:33.660 --> 00:19:38.690 our poverty, our dishonor, our shame, and he bears it all 228 00:19:38.930 --> 00:19:44.890 in his own flesh. All that we deserved and all that we have been 229 00:19:44.930 --> 00:19:52.089 experiencing since we fell with Adam into sin. All of the wrath of God 230 00:19:52.329 --> 00:19:57.640 that was deserved for us was poured out on him. You know what happened? 231 00:19:59.160 --> 00:20:07.430 He died. He died the death that we deserved. But unlike Adam, 232 00:20:08.430 --> 00:20:14.109 because Jesus was not only man but also God, he rose from the 233 00:20:14.150 --> 00:20:21.859 dead victorious over chaos and foolishness and dishonor and shame and guilt and sin and 234 00:20:22.099 --> 00:20:27.140 all the rest. He rose from the dead and he took the curse which 235 00:20:27.180 --> 00:20:34.619 captures all of Adams chaos and he makes it like nothing. He puts death 236 00:20:34.809 --> 00:20:41.049 to death. He brings order out of chaos, life out of death, 237 00:20:41.170 --> 00:20:45.210 and he ascends into heaven and then he ascends his spirit on all who call 238 00:20:45.329 --> 00:20:51.440 on his name. He reveals himself in this world and he says to the 239 00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:56.119 world, come to me, all who are heavy laid and all who labor 240 00:20:56.200 --> 00:21:00.400 and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest all the things that 241 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:04.309 you are striving for all the things that you want, for the peace that 242 00:21:04.430 --> 00:21:11.029 you want in your life. I will give it to you and it is 243 00:21:11.150 --> 00:21:15.950 not hard. You don't have to scramble and climb and work your way out 244 00:21:15.990 --> 00:21:21.339 of the curse. You don't have to prove yourself to God as being a 245 00:21:21.500 --> 00:21:27.980 great conqueror and victorious over death. Know, his burden is easy, his 246 00:21:29.059 --> 00:21:36.450 yoke is light, because he's gentle, because he's lowly in heart, because 247 00:21:36.490 --> 00:21:44.529 he has descended to us because we could not ascend to him. He says, 248 00:21:45.970 --> 00:21:52.039 come to me, learn from me and you will find rest for your 249 00:21:52.160 --> 00:21:59.279 souls. We cannot have this communion with God apart from him, but how 250 00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:04.789 easily we can have it in him. The fool says, the proverbs tells 251 00:22:04.829 --> 00:22:08.470 us. The fool says in his heart there is no god. The fool 252 00:22:08.509 --> 00:22:17.220 attaches himself to himself and makes him self God and relies on his corrupt nature 253 00:22:17.339 --> 00:22:22.339 and the cursed world and in permanence and vanity and chaos to see him through 254 00:22:22.339 --> 00:22:26.460 this life. Right, a foolish thing. The wise man, however, 255 00:22:26.500 --> 00:22:32.289 I tell you, the wise man builds his life, builds his house on 256 00:22:32.369 --> 00:22:38.410 the very words of God and he lives in that house safely, securely, 257 00:22:40.369 --> 00:22:51.000 and it rest because the foundation is Jesus, Christ himself. We all experience 258 00:22:51.400 --> 00:22:56.160 life under the son of this world, the frustrating vanity of it. Right 259 00:22:56.279 --> 00:23:02.390 you work really hard to build up, you know, an emergency savings fund, 260 00:23:02.430 --> 00:23:07.829 and then all of a sudden it's gone. You you work really hard 261 00:23:07.910 --> 00:23:11.069 all your life to build up maybe even a great inheritance, and you pass 262 00:23:11.069 --> 00:23:18.220 it on to your children and then they squander it. You beat cancer, 263 00:23:18.660 --> 00:23:22.700 you work really hard, you spent all kinds of money, you sacrifice all 264 00:23:22.700 --> 00:23:26.180 kinds of things. You're finally free of it and then it comes back. 265 00:23:27.329 --> 00:23:32.769 You learn a truth, but it's too late. The examples pile up more 266 00:23:32.849 --> 00:23:37.170 and more, again and again. Go read Ecclesiastes if you want some comfort 267 00:23:37.289 --> 00:23:41.759 in knowing what this life is, is like, and that your experience of 268 00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:48.200 it is is not unique. Those who build their lives on the things of 269 00:23:48.359 --> 00:23:56.269 this world, on the vanity and curse of this world, will find frustration. 270 00:23:57.109 --> 00:24:00.549 But those who build their lives on the foundation of Christ will find something 271 00:24:00.630 --> 00:24:07.069 that is strong. You will find something that is eternal. If you come 272 00:24:07.109 --> 00:24:11.019 unto Jesus, if you learn from him, if you live your life from 273 00:24:11.019 --> 00:24:18.740 him. He will give you rest. Psalm one hundred and sixteen. I'll 274 00:24:18.740 --> 00:24:25.170 finish with this verse from some one Sixteen Eight. The Salma says, for 275 00:24:25.289 --> 00:24:32.730 you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet 276 00:24:33.049 --> 00:24:37.450 from stumbling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. 277 00:24:37.529 --> 00:24:40.279 Let us pray