Monthly Archive for September, 2008

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Matthew 12:30f

Published on September 19, 2008 in Matthew. 2 Comments
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30He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. 31“Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. 32Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come."
 
Jesus now invited the crowd to make a clear conclusion about His claim to Messiahship.
12:30
He who is not with Me is against Me,
Jesus challenged the crowd to make a choice for Him or against Him. The Pharisees made their choice by attributing the claims of Jesus to the demonic work of Satan. Since they were not “with” Him, they were “against’ Him. There is no neutrality or middle ground when we face the claims of Christ. People are on one side or the other when it comes to Jesus. He draws a line of difference between people who embrace Him and those who reject Him.
and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.
Those who rejected Jesus as the Messiah by not gathering people to Him (harvesting) instead scattered people who might have accepted Him as Messiah.
12:31
“Therefore
The word “therefore” carries the idea of because of this—that is, because certain people scatter people away from Christ.
I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men,
The idea of “blasphemy” is slander, usually against God. This is a condition of extreme, fixed negative volition towards God. It expresses itself in open slander against God. Jesus died for the sins of all men:
2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.1 Jn 2:2
 
but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.
Jesus accused those who rejected His Messiahship of committing the unpardonable sin, which was to attribute to Satan the work of the Holy Spirit in presenting the credentials of Jesus.
12:32
Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him;
Jesus contrasted slandering the Son of Man in His humanity with slandering the Holy Spirit’s work of setting forth Jesus’ credentials as the Messiah.
but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him,
The words “speaks against” have the idea of blasphemes. The nation of Israel was at the point of accepting or rejecting Jesus as the Messiah. Decision about the Messiah is irrevocable. It is the role of the Holy Spirit to testify to the credentials of Jesus as the Messiah. The person who rejects this message commits the unpardonable sin—blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
either in this age or in the age to come.
There will be no forgiveness, either in the age of the Messiah’s public ministry or the Millennial Age of the Messiah to come, for the person who “speaks against the Holy Spirit.”
PRINCIPLE: Attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to a diabolical source constitutes direct repudiation of His work. 
APPLICATION: I have counseled people who thought they had committed the unpardonable sin. They thought that adultery, killing another person, or stealing a large amount of money made them guilty of the unpardonable sin. The person who committed the unpardonable sin in Jesus’ day (the only time this sin could be committed) unrelentingly rejected His Messiahship as authentic, and attributed that work instead to Satan. People today can reject Christ, but they cannot commit sin against the Holy Spirit.
The sin against the Holy Spirit (the unpardonable sin) is not equivalent to rejecting Christ as Savior. People may refuse to accept Christ for years but later in life embrace Him as Savior.
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Matthew 12:25f

Published on September 17, 2008 in Matthew. 0 Comments
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25But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. 28But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house."
 
12:25
But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them:
Jesus now countered the negative volition of the Pharisees with their “closed shop in religion” viewpoint. He argued against them with logic, parables, and sarcasm.
“Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.
Jesus defended His authority by three arguments against their absurd thinking:
1.    If Jesus cast out demons by Satan’s power, then He would work against himself; this is an a priori argument.
2.    Contemporary Jewish exorcists cast out demons by the power of God (v. 27); this is an ad hominemargument
3.    By casting out demons, Jesus proved He was greater than Satan.
First, the argument that Jesus’ ministry was of Satan was illogical because that would put Satan at odds with himself. A divided kingdom destroys itself. It is axiomatic that social entities cannot stand divided against themselves. This is true whether it is a national entity, a local entity such as a city, or a household. This is premise is axiomatic; this axiom existed then and it exists today.
12:26
If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?
Jesus applied the principle of verse 25 to Satan in this verse. First, if Satan were divided against himself, he would destroy his own kingdom. Satan does indeed have a kingdom. No organized entity can withstand war within. Satan would never oppose his own mission.
12:27
And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out?
The Pharisees expected Jesus to argue that Satan’s kingdom would not stand, but He did not say that in this verse. They would have argued against the expected conclusion that Satan would not dominate as long as they were in charge. However, Jesus said something else that floored them. By saying something other than what they expected, He caught them totally off guard. Jesus argued that the Pharisees’ accusation was also biased. They should let their exorcist sons be their accusers. The implication was that if they asked their practitioners, by whose authority they cast out demons, they would be put in a dilemma. If the Pharisees answered, “By Satan’s power,” they would argue against themselves. However, if they replied, “By God’s authority,” they would defeat their argument against Jesus.
 
Jesus’ second argument went like this: If colleagues of the Pharisees cast out demons, then why could not Jesus and His disciples do the same? They credited identical effects to opposite causes.
 
Therefore they shall be your judges.
This was the end of the argument. The Pharisees acknowledged the reality of miracles by their colleagues. They had no place to go from there. They could not erase that fact. Jesus left them hung out to dry.
12:28
But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.
Jesus’ third argument was that the casting out of demons proved the validity of the kingdom come to Israel by the Spirit of God. Their Messiah/King had come but they did not know it. Isaiah said that the Messiah would accomplish miracles by the Spirit of God (Is 40:2, 9; 50:51).
12:29
Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.
Jesus concluded His argument with a parable about a burglar entering a strong man’s house to plunder his possessions. Imagine an owner sitting in his house with a shotgun while a burglar tries to enter. The burglar thinks he has an easy prey but he is going to be shocked when he looks down the barrel of a shotgun.
The “strong man’s house” is the Devil’s dominion. He is the “ruler of demons” (12:24), the prince of the power of the air. The “strong man” here is Satan. “His goods” are demons. Jesus argument was that He was engaged in perpetual conflict with Satan. Obviously He could not be on Satan’s side because He constantly conflicted with the Devil. Jesus set up an antagonism with Satan by casting out demons.
PRINCIPLE: Jesus will ultimately triumph over Satan.
APPLICATION: Jesus is the One who binds the strong man. Jesus will ultimately and finally defeat Satan (Re 20:1-10; 20:2).
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Matthew 12:22f

Published on September 16, 2008 in Matthew. 0 Comments
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22Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. 23And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?” 24Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.
 
12:22
Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.
The man they brought to Jesus had three problems: He was (1) blind, (2) mute, and (3) demon-possessed. Jesus healed him of all three.
12:23
And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”
The Greek indicates that the crowd was constantly amazed. People began to open themselves to Jesus as the Messiah because of His healing the blind and mute man.
12:24
Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow [contempt] does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”
Note the contrast in conclusion about Christ. The Pharisees saw the positive reaction of the crowd and charged Jesus with a radical position. They did not claim that His miracle was a fake or an illusion but that it was indeed supernatural. Their only recourse was to attribute His miracles to demonism. This was the best way to explain away this amazing miracle. The multitudes thought that Jesus might be the Messiah (Son of David) but the Pharisees put Jesus in league with the Devil.
PRINCIPLE: No one can commit the unpardonable sin today.
APPLICATION: This episode is the first indication of the unpardonable sin. The unpardonable sin was to attribute the work of Christ to Satan. People could commit this sin only during the earthly ministry of Jesus.
In another sense, to reject the work of Christ on the cross permanently will cast a person forever into a Christless eternity. However, no individual rejection in time will do this. It has to be a decision a person carries to the grave. Just because a person rejects Christ at one point in life does not mean he will never change his mind and accept Christ before he dies. Christ could not die for the sin of rejecting His death to pay for sins. Non-belief in Christ is the state of condemnation, not personal acts of sin.
18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.Jn 3:18
 
Jesus died for every personal sin except the rejection of Christ as Savior. The Holy Spirit convicts of the truth of Jesus as Savior from sins (Jn 16:9). The issue of salvation is not a particular personal sin but what Christ did about our sin (Jn 3:36).
36Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.Jn 3:36
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Matthew 12:14f

Published on September 15, 2008 in Matthew. 0 Comments
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14Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him. 15But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. 16Yet He warned them not to make Him known, 17that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: 18“Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He will declare justice to the Gentiles. 19He will not quarrel nor cry out, Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. 20A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench, Till He sends forth justice to victory; 21And in His name Gentiles will trust.
 
Now we come to Jesus’ reaction to the Jewish plot to kill Him over His healing of the man with the paralyzed hand.
12:14
Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.
Jesus had healed the man with the paralyzed hand (12:13) in the previous verse, and now the Pharisees plotted how to kill Him.
12:15
But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there.
When Jesus found that His enemies plotted to kill Him, He left the place because of their negative volition.
And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.
Jesus healed everyone who came for healing, not just some.
12:16
Yet He warned them not to make Him known,
To announce His miracles would only invite more opposition, so Jesus told people whom He healed not to make it known. Jesus never confused recklessness with courage.
12:17
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:
In verses 18 to 20, Jesus quoted Isaiah 42:1-4 to prove He was the Messiah, and that the nation Israel would reject Him as Messiah. This is the longest of many quotations in Matthew. The near fulfillment of the following prophecy was Cyrus but the far fulfillment was Christ Himself. This Scripture vindicates Jesus’ ministry.
12:18
“Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him,
Jesus withdrew from Jews to present the gospel to the Gentiles.
The Father loves Jesus and gave Him ministry to resolve the sin issue.
And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.
Sin demands justice. Justice and judgment occurred at the cross. Jesus took all judgment for our sins.
12:19
He will not quarrel nor cry out, Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.
The Messiah would not come to be a public political agitator nor engage in protracted conflict.
12:20
A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench,
In His compassion, Jesus would not break a battered reed or put out a smoldering wick; He would not stomp on the underprivileged to attain His goals.
Till He sends forth justice to victory;
The Messiah would bring justice to the point of victory in the world.
12:21
And in His name Gentiles will trust.”
Gentiles would embrace the Messiah as their Savior.
PRINCIPLE: Although conflict is unavoidable at times, wrangling for the sake of wrangling is unproductive.
APPLICATION: Quarreling for quarreling’s sake is unproductive. There are times when it is unavoidable, as it was with Jesus.
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Matthew 12:9f

Published on September 14, 2008 in Matthew. 0 Comments
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9Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue. 10And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him. 11Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? 12Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.
 
We now come to a second Sabbath conflict (12:9-14). This incident issued such hostility that Jesus’ opponents plotted to kill Him afterward.
12:9
Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue.
After leaving the conflict over the picking of grain on the Sabbath, Jesus went into a synagogue on the Sabbath day and faced another issue about the Sabbath.
12:10
And behold, there was a man who had a withered [paralyzed] hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him.
There was a man with a withered or paralyzed hand sitting in the synagogue. The Pharisees tried to lay a legal trap for Jesus by making this man’s healing an issue. They calculated this question to place Jesus at odds with prevailing opinion. Jewish national law prohibited performing medical acts on the Sabbath except for critical situations.
12:11
Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?
Jesus countered with an analogy or parable of His own about the Sabbath. He asked the Pharisees if they would pull a sheep out of a pit on the Sabbath.
12:12
Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep?
Animal rights activists will not like Jesus’ statement here. Jesus placed more value on people than sheep; people have “much more value” than sheep. If this is true, then it is proper to heal on the Sabbath. This is an argument from the lesser to the greater.
Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
The law here is national Jewish Law. There was no law that stopped a man doing good on the Sabbath Day. In Jesus’ view, it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath.
12:13
Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.
It must have been a shock to the Pharisees when Jesus healed the man with the withered hand on the spot.
PRINCIPLE: Law without love violates God’s economy.
APPLICATION: The value of the person transcends legalism. There are Christians today who put rules of religion above Christianity and thus above people. They lose sight of the principle of love and the principle of grace for Christian living.

 

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Matthew 12:7f

Published on September 13, 2008 in Matthew. 3 Comments
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7But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.
 
Now we come to the third argument against legalism.
12:7
But if [Greek—and you don’t] you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.
The Pharisees did not understand the principle of grace. They were legalists to the core. Jesus quoted from Hosea 6:6 in this verse, where God places the principle of mercy over sacrifice. This is the second time Jesus quoted Hosea 6:6 (9:13) in Matthew. We cannot rely on ritual to placate God. The principle is that compassion is more important than ritual. The Pharisees put punctiliousness above people. If they had understood the principle of grace, they would have put people above legalisms and would not have condemned Jesus and His disciples. Love takes precedence over legalism.
12:8
For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
It was Jesus who launched the law in the first place. He has the greatest understanding of the law, because He formed it. This is a claim for deity by the Son. Types were shadows of the coming reality in Jesus. The Sabbath pointed to the one who would give them rest (11:28-30).
PRINCIPLE: Love takes precedence over legalism.
APPLICATION: God rested in His accomplishment on the seventh day after six days of creation (Ge 2:2). The idea of God’s rest was not that He was tired, because He is omnipotent! The idea was to celebrate the accomplished work of creation.
God commanded Israel to keep the Sabbath (Ex 20:8-11). Of the Ten Commandments, the New Testament only refers to nine. The one exception is the Sabbath. The Sabbath was part of the ceremonial law; other laws were moral in nature. God never intended the Sabbath to apply to ministry (Mt 12:5), issues of necessity (12:3,4), or mercy (12:11,12).
5One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. 6He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. Ro 14:5-6
 
It is possible to become enslaved in regulations to the exclusion of principle.
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Matthew 12:5f

Published on September 12, 2008 in Matthew. 0 Comments
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5Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? 6Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple.
 
12:5
Now we come to the second argument of Jesus about the Sabbath.
Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?
Priests worked harder on the Sabbath through their prerogative of sacrificing animals and doing other duties on that day. God did not blame them because they did His service on the Sabbath (Nu 28:9-10).
12:6
Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple.
Jesus was the antitype and the temple was the type (Co 2:16, 17). The type (temple) depicted the antitype to come (Jesus). Jesus was the reality and the temple was a figure. Jesus transcended the temple for this reason.
Note Scriptures that state Jesus is “greater than”:
·         Here Jesus = “greater than the temple”
·         “Greater than Jonah” (Mt 12:41)
·         “Greater than Solomon” (Mt 12:42)
·         The argument of Hebrews is that Jesus is “greater than” a number of things
We should translate the word “One” as something (neuter). Jesus stressed His ministry is greater than the temple.
PRINCIPLE: Jesus takes precedence over types.
APPLICATION: God met His people in the temple and today He meets people in Christ’s person and ministry. Jesus is Immanuel—God with us. Jesus’ ministry was greater than the temple and the temple was greater than the Sabbath; therefore, Jesus’ ministry takes precedence over the Sabbath.
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Matthew 12:1f

Published on September 11, 2008 in Matthew. 0 Comments
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1At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!” 3But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?
 
Mounting opposition to Christ began in the previous chapter and continued in this chapter, where the Pharisees raised their ugly heads. The issue that launched tension between Jesus and the religious establishment in this chapter was the subject of the Sabbath.
Matthew mentions the Sabbath seven times in the first 12 verses (vv. 1, 2, 5, 8, 10, 11, 12). The Sabbath ran from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, and was for both celebration and rest. The Sabbath was Saturday—literally, the seventh day.
Jesus used three arguments to refute legalism:
1.    David ate showbread (12:3-4)
2.    Priests worked in the temple (12:5)
3.    Jesus created the Sabbath (12:6)
12:1
At that time
This “time” was the time of chapter 11.
Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath.
The scene opens with Jesus and His disciples on the Sabbath day picking standing grain.
And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.
The Old Testament allowed people to eat grain from anyone’s field so long as they did not use a sickle to get it (Dt 23:24-25). The principle was to allow people to eat small amounts of grain, though they were not to take business advantage of their neighbor’s work. 
12:2
And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”
Nit-picking Pharisees engaged Jesus in direct debate. They charged Jesus with a legal issue regarding eating grain on the Sabbath. Since it was legal to eat on the Sabbath if they did not use a sickle, it may be that the disciples rubbed grain in their hands (Lu 6:1) which the Pharisees deemed to be work.
12:3
But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:
Jesus reminded the Pharisees of an incident from the life of David (1 Sa 21:1-6). This event occurred during David’s rejection as king just as Israel presently was rejecting Jesus. David and his men were on the run.
12:4
how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?
David and his men ate showbread from the tabernacle. Showbread was 2 consecrated memorial loaves to be eaten only by priests (Le 24:5-9). Priests placed these loaves on the table in the tabernacle every Sabbath. God did not assign blame against David for eating these loaves. David was the first king of Israel and Jesus fell heir to that kingship. Jesus had the same rights as David.
PRINCIPLE: The underlying principle for the Sabbath and grace is liberty.
APPLICATION: The Sabbath is the principle of grace. When God rested on the seventh day (the Sabbath or Saturday), He celebrated His finished work of creation. God provided everything that man needed. He did not rest because He was fatigued! He rested because there was nothing else to do; He had completed all His work.
Man made no contribution to creation; he only enjoyed creation. To recall God’s work in creation, Israel celebrated every Saturday (the Sabbath). They also celebrated other kinds of Sabbaths throughout the year.
3For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: “So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest,’ ” although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; 5and again in this place: “They shall not enter My rest.” Heb 4:3-5
 
Eventually Israel reduced the Sabbath to taboos destroying the original idea of grace in the Sabbath. The Jewish Mishna and Talmud reveal some of these taboos about the Sabbath. It was unlawful for Jews to carry food from one house to another on the Sabbath. They could not boil an egg by putting it on a hot cloth. They could not move furniture on the Sabbath. It was wrong to wear an ornament because it was construed as work by carrying a weight. They had over 2,000 of these taboos. Legalism is always a burden. Grace is always liberty (Ga 5:1).
1Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Ga 5:1
 
16So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.Col 2:16-17
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Matthew 11:29f

Published on September 10, 2008 in Matthew. 0 Comments
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29Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
 
11:29
Take My yoke upon you
Jesus now turned from salvation to rest for the soul in ministry. Finding rest in ministry requires submission to His will. When we do this, we will learn what we need for life. A yoke is a neck harness for two, a wooden frame fitting over the shoulders of oxen so they could pull together. Jesus puts Himself into one side of the yoke and the believer can put his neck in the other.
and learn from Me,
The word for “learn” is disciple. This is the word from which we get the English “mathematics.” Jesus’ exclusive access to resources from the Father makes Him the source of extraordinary information—exact and precise knowledge about God.
for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
No one needs to be apprehensive about ministering with Jesus because He is a person of grace.
and you will find rest for your souls.
Jesus’ call was to yoke with Him in ministry. By doing this, we will find rest for doing ministry. His yoke will give rest to souls while doing ministry.
11:30
For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Jesus’ yoke does not irritate the soul; it fits well. His burden is not light in the sense that ministry will be free from problems. The idea is that by being yoked together with Jesus He will bear problems of ministry with us.
PRINCIPLE: It is a good fit to have ministry with Christ.
APPLICATION: Jesus promises His presence with us in ministry. His “burden is light” in ministry because of this. Ministry is difficult, but it is a different ball game with Him in the game.
5Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never [Greek = never, ever, ever, ever, ever] leave you nor forsake you.” Heb 13:5
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Matthew 11:28

Published on September 8, 2008 in Matthew. 0 Comments
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28Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
 
11:28
Come to Me,
Jesus extended an invitation to those with burdens to receive “rest” from Him as a response to revelation in Him. This invitation is universal. Coming to Christ is trust in His person and message. Jesus is the object of faith; salvation relates to both Jesus’ person and work.
all you who labor and are heavy laden,
Those weighted with sin need to come to Christ. Legalistic religion makes religion a heavy burden to bear.
and I [emphatic] will give you rest.
Rest is a gift—a gift of salvation. We do not merit or earn the rest of salvation; it is a gift from the Son. There is rest of soul in knowing that we are right with God. The idea of rest is calmness, comfort, and refreshing. Rest is relief from pressure. Literally, the word “rest” is rest from above.
PRINCIPLE: Salvation is free of charge.
APPLICATION: The beauty of Christ is that He offers His salvation free of charge. We do not have to go through religious hoops or do a religious Saint Vitus’ Dance to obtain salvation.
5But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness… Ro 4:5
 
6And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work. Ro 11:6
 
8For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9not of works, lest anyone should boast. Eph 2:8-9
 
Have you accepted the message of Christ as salvation without works? The only work that was necessary was the work of the death of Jesus for our sins. If we place trust in that, we can rest in eternal salvation.
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