Matthew 11:28, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour 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 of heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”
When you go to a store, you give some money to the store, and take some goods home with you. Here, we can leave something with Him, and we can take something precious home with us.
Matthew 19:16 “And, behold, one came and said unto Him, ‘Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?’”
He said, “What do I lack yet?” Jesus told him, “If thou will be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions.” He must have known that what Jesus told him was true, to feel sorrowful, but he wasn’t willing for it. When we receive instruction from Him, and we’re not willing for it, we can only go sorrowful with no rest for our soul! We still need to take something of Him – take His yoke upon us.
Some people go to Convention and feel refreshed – but many still miss the rest of the Lord. This rest is wrapped in this word, “Take My yoke and burden, and learn of Me.” A yoke is actually a tool. To buy groceries, you may use a cart – a useful tool to you. That is the way with Jesus’ yoke. If we avail ourselves of it, it becomes a useful tool. If we don’t use it, it becomes a burden to us. To carry cabbages, you use a long bamboo pole. You put cabbages in 2 baskets, one on each end of the pole – the same load but different way of carrying it. Jesus was saying, “Learn My way of carrying burdens, and learn My way of dealing with things in life.” We can leave our failures, trespasses, and sins with Him – they are too heavy for us to carry! That is the reason God sent His Son to earth!
I’ve been reading about some things that belong to God, and some things God wants us to take with us.
Deuteronomy 29:29, “The secret things belong unto the Lord our God but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” The things revealed belong to us! People come up with all kinds of theories that can’t be proved. All we have is what the Lord revealed to us through Jesus.
Acts 1:6, “When they therefore were come together, they asked of Him, saying, ‘Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom of Israel?’ And He said unto them, ‘It is not for you to know the times of the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.’”
So, when the disciples asked about the day of His coming, Jesus said, “Only the Father knows.” Jesus doesn’t even know! We don’t need to know! What they needed to know was, “But ye shall receive power, after the Holy Ghost is come upon you and ye shall be witnesses.” Some people say, “We don’t know how it works – we only know that it does work!” When the Holy Spirit is present, we have assurance that God is working! When we go out, we will try to live a life that will bring glory to Him.
When Moses was commanded to lead the Children of Israel out of Egypt and when they were in the wilderness, Moses asked the Lord to go with them.
Exodus 33:14, “And He said, ‘My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.’ And he said unto Him, ‘If Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.’” So, how do we feel? If the Lord is not with us, do we feel safe to leave this place? Could we go on?
Exodus 33:17, “And the Lord said unto Moses, ‘I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken for thou hast found grace in My sight, and I know thee by name.’ And he said, ‘I beseech Thee, shew me Thy glory.’” The way and glory of God were both revealed to him!
Exodus 33:19, “And He said, ‘I will make all My goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the Name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.’”
Exodus 33:21, “And the Lord said, ‘Behold, there is a place by Me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock. And it shall come to pass, while My glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with My hand while I pass by and I will take away Mine hand, and thou shalt see My back parts but My face shall not be seen.”
I know how I would feel if someone helped me! I’d want to see the face of that person – what he looks like! God said, “You will see My back parts.” So there is a secret part of God He keeps for Himself! Sometimes we go through an experience and don’t know if we can go through it or not. We know to trust in the Lord. As we look back, we see His back parts, and know He helped us through this experience! It is hard for us to take in how the Lord can help us! We have to be satisfied that He can, does, and has helped us!
Even though Peter was walking on the water, he was still scared! When all those men came to take Jesus in the Garden, Peter was scared. He drew out his sword and cut off someone else’s servant’s ear. So, as yet, Peter had not learned to take Jesus’ yoke and learn of Him. Later we see a wonderful change in Peter’s life. Herod arrested Peter and put him in prison. Even under guard of 16 soldiers, Peter was able to sleep because he’d taken on the yoke of Jesus and learned of Him. An angel came to help Peter. Peter told how the Lord delivered him. He was sure that the help was from the Lord! Some of us can say the same thing. You have gone through difficult, overwhelming situations but yet you trust and follow, and looking back, you know it was God’s hand that helped you. It helps us to go on and bear witness of the Lord. He’s helped me, and He can help you, too! Vengeance belongs to God.
Romans 12:19, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay,’ saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”
So, vengeance belongs to the Lord. Trust and obedience belongs to us. In the parable Jesus told about an unjust judge, a woman asked him to avenge her, and finally he did.
Luke 18:7, “And shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” The Lord shall surely avenge His own people! Do we really trust in the Lord, or do we trust in our own power, or on someone else?
II Samuel 15:24, David’s son Absalom tried to take David’s place as king. As a result, David and some of his people had to flee. “And lo Zadok also, and all the Levites were with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God and they set down the ark of God; and Abiathar went up, until all the people had done passing out of the city. And the king said unto Zadok, ‘Carry back the ark of God into the city. If I shall find favour in the eyes of the Lord, He will bring me again, and shew me both it, and His habitation: But if He thus say, “I have no delight in thee;” behold, there am I, let Him do to me as seemeth good unto Him.’” If David received the ark to himself, he could prove, “I am the one anointed of the Lord.” But instead, he told the priest to carry the ark back to where it should belong in the city. That is the attitude we should have. We shouldn’t use God’s mercy to justify ourselves! So that is the faith David had in God. “I will do my part in obeying the Lord.”
Romans 12:19, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay,’ saith the Lord.” Let God decide who He will accept, or not. Our part is to do good to our enemy, and pray for those who persecute us! When David had the chance to take Absalom’s life he said in II Samuel 18:5, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains charge concerning Absalom.” So, when someone betrayed us, can we still say, “Deal gently with that person for my sake?” David is the man after the Lord’s heart! We can leave vengeance to God, and be kind to our enemy! If they receive our help, it’s up to them. We should overcome evil with good. It is what it means to take Jesus’ yoke upon us! If we do, we’ll find rest for our soul.
Revelations 22:12, “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” The reward is with the Lord – not with me!
Matthew 20:16, in the parable Jesus told about the goodman of the vineyard hiring workers at different times of the day – some came early, some later, and some worked for just one hour. When they went to receive their wage, they all received one penny. The ones who came first thought they were entitled to receive more than the others.
Matthew 20:13-15, “But he answered one of them, and said, ‘Friend, I do thee no wrong; didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?’” So, it would be good if they could have had the attitude, “The Lord kept His promise to me – that’s good enough! I am not even worthy of this reward!” If we have that attitude, nothing can upset my rest and peace!
Luke 17:10, after that servant did all the master told him to do, he’s still an unprofitable servant! “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which was our duty to do.’” Be thankful for those things revealed unto us, and we’ll find rest unto our souls!
I Corinthians 13:12, “For now we see through a glass, darkly but then face to face; now I know in part but then shall I know even as also I am known.”
Paul was sure that one day he’d know all things – “even as I am known of the Lord.” Be faithful in fulfilling what the Lord reveals to us! Take His yoke upon us and learn of Him. Then one day, we’ll know all things. Don’t worry about things we don’t know today. None of the theories of man can stand! It’s not possible to live a clean life without the Door!
Matthew 12:43, “When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, ‘I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.’”
An unclean spirit came out of a man. He came and found his house clean and swept, ready for him to move in again. Be careful lest something worse happen to you!
John 8:11, “And Jesus said unto her, ‘Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more.’”