WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.399 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:25.600 So that's one of my favorite songs from Radio Head's 1997 groundbreaking album, OK Computer. 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:36.240 Another reason why I should never be in charge of selecting worship songs for our services, because if unless you wanted to be confused and depressed as you walked out of here, I'm your guy. 00:00:36.799 --> 00:00:38.960 But many of you know Radiohead's my favorite band. 00:00:39.039 --> 00:00:42.719 I actually named one of our uh kids after the lead singer. 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:53.200 And as the entire album of OK Computer was this social commentary on the technologically driven dystopia that our world was becoming, there were prophets because we're here. 00:00:54.079 --> 00:01:08.799 This song is a particular, in particular, is a picture of a programmed and exhausting pace that we all have in seeking to conform to the unattainable standards and to the perfections that are placed upon us by society. 00:01:09.359 --> 00:01:21.680 The song actually starts with happier, fitter, more productive, it drones on, and then it ends with these sort of like jarring words, like a pig in a cage on antibiotics. 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:30.799 And yet it's Christ who says to us on this never-ending treadmill, he says these words. 00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:37.599 He says, Come to me, all who are weary and burden, and I will give you rest. 00:01:38.480 --> 00:01:50.079 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble and heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy, my burden is light. 00:01:50.239 --> 00:02:01.200 These words, as you just saw in metaphor, they move us from a pace of exhaustive running to a restful walk. 00:02:01.519 --> 00:02:09.199 Words from Jesus 2,000 years ago that were so profound, so countercultural, and downright baffling to most. 00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:15.280 You see, during the time of Jesus, when he said these words, there were these Jewish Pharisees. 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:22.319 They were experts in having people keep up a relentless pace of religious activity. 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:38.879 You see, in neglecting the key foundations of the law, like justice and mercy and faithfulness, many rabbis of this time and before had buried God's life-giving principles under a mountain of life-sucking rules, and the truth could no longer be found. 00:02:39.039 --> 00:02:48.000 The weight was more than anyone could bear, and soon the pace was faster and faster than anyone could keep up with. 00:02:48.800 --> 00:03:00.560 Just for the command of not to commit adultery, they buried God's revelation with rules of not even being able to talk to another woman or look at another woman that wasn't your wife. 00:03:00.879 --> 00:03:04.080 In honoring the Sabbath, they added all these extra restrictions. 00:03:04.159 --> 00:03:15.680 You couldn't spit on the ground, you couldn't be more than a three-fifths of a mile from your home, you couldn't look in the mirror, you couldn't gargle anything that you were drinking, and if your house was on fire, you couldn't take anything as you fled. 00:03:15.919 --> 00:03:19.280 Which is still a good fire safety practice, I would recommend. 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:40.879 The rabbinical teachings had become so massive and so demanding that it began to become impossible to learn all the traditions, and I guarantee you it was impossible to keep them all. 00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:48.800 Those that chose to follow a rabbi's certain interpretation of the law, it was actually known as taking up a teacher's yoke. 00:03:49.039 --> 00:04:02.159 Now, a yoke referred not only to the device used on large animals for pulling heavy loads, but in metaphor, it meant that you were going to follow a certain rabbi and you were going to come under their teaching. 00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:07.360 Like Skywalker with Yoda or Potter with Dumbledore, whatever your jam is, okay? 00:04:08.319 --> 00:04:17.120 And then you would just submissively begin pulling their heavy load of teachings and in this case, legalistic rules. 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:23.839 However, their attempt to uphold the law and earn salvation, it just exhausted them. 00:04:25.040 --> 00:04:26.959 But then comes the Christ. 00:04:27.439 --> 00:04:38.319 Following 30 years of humbly remaining behind the scenes, Jesus enters into three years of transformational public ministry prior to his world-changing sacrificial death and resurrection. 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:51.199 And following countless rejections by the rabbinic schools of his native land and the so-called wise of his time, Jesus turns to those that are weighed down by these burden, this burden of legalisms. 00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:58.560 This new lawgiver, this man of divine wisdom, he walks up to them with a soft and gentle invitation. 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:04.079 He just says, Come to me, all who are weary and burdened. 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:07.199 And I will give you rest. 00:05:10.160 --> 00:05:15.519 These are not words spoken a long time ago by a religious leader or some mystic fortune teller. 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:19.279 These are words spoken by God in the flesh. 00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:31.199 This God is alive today, even right now, in this very moment, Jesus is saying to you these words, come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:34.639 Take my yoke upon you, learn from me. 00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:43.759 I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy, my burden is light. 00:05:44.720 --> 00:06:05.279 Now, the word rest that is used here by Jesus, it doesn't refer to the realities of life, like some sort of promise of earthly prosperity or that life is going to be void of crisis or illness, but it does refer to one's spiritual condition, and at one level, it is directed towards the rest and the peace that we will experience in eternity. 00:06:06.079 --> 00:06:15.759 You see, just like many of the Jewish people of the Old Testament tradition, they were seeking to achieve eternal rest through human effort. 00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:22.319 Many people today, we still seek to earn our salvation that can't be achieved through human effort and resources. 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:44.079 And so we think that maybe if we try giving back some more, if we try loving my neighbor better, if I try going to church more, if I try forgiving more, I try volunteering more, I try this religious duty or even that religion, that somehow maybe I'll get to the point of meeting the standards of this all-powerful, perfect, and personal divine being we call God. 00:06:45.839 --> 00:06:50.480 In the pace of trying, it just speeds up faster and faster. 00:06:50.800 --> 00:06:58.160 And in the midst of all this worrisome and burdensome trying, Jesus redefines everything. 00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:03.680 He says it's not about trying, it's about trusting in me. 00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:06.000 So come to me. 00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:17.040 Later on in the early church, as it was forming, the Apostle Paul was explaining this concept, this concept of salvation as a gift to be received, not a reward to be earned. 00:07:17.199 --> 00:07:20.000 And he writes this well-known reminder that we say a lot. 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:24.560 It's Ephesians 2, 8.9, it says, For it is by grace you have been saved through faith. 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:30.879 And this not from yourselves, it is a gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:35.519 Sitting with my friend Larry. 00:07:50.959 --> 00:07:56.160 He felt there was nothing that he could do to make up for the horrible things that he had done throughout his life. 00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:58.800 And so for him, God wasn't even an option. 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:02.639 Now, scripture is clear that no one is too broken for God. 00:08:03.759 --> 00:08:05.839 And yet, in one sense, Larry was right. 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:10.800 I mean, there's nothing that he could do to make up for his sin, as there's nothing any of us can do. 00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:15.680 It comes down to trusting in what Jesus has already done. 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:27.199 And I do want to call out real quick, if you're someone here like Larry that was exploring who Jesus is, he was seeking, hadn't crossed that line of faith yet. 00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:31.360 If that's you here, we hope we hope this is a place where you safely can do that. 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:36.559 That you can investigate these claims of Christianity, but hear me on this. 00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:42.879 When a person embraces Jesus and his work on the cross for their brokenness, it's called conversion. 00:08:43.039 --> 00:08:45.200 It's when you become a Christ follower. 00:08:45.600 --> 00:08:48.480 And you can know all the facts you want about Jesus and the cross. 00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:51.120 Guys, you may even agree with them. 00:08:51.360 --> 00:09:01.840 But conversion doesn't happen until you personally trust in Jesus to save you, recognizing that you can't save yourself from your own sin penalty, and only Jesus can. 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:07.840 So I encourage you to just keep exploring who Jesus is and what this faith is about. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:14.879 Maybe today is the day that you'll take that step of faith and you'll just trust in Jesus as your ultimate leader and rescuer. 00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:21.120 Because for the Jewish people of this time, many of them did just that and they put their trust in Christ. 00:09:21.759 --> 00:09:34.559 After Jesus' sacrificial death and atoning work on the cross and his victorious resurrection, they began to take on this new yoke of Jesus as followers of him. 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:36.240 But hear me on this. 00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:40.799 We all know old habits are hard to break. 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:49.120 And oh, how they love their activity and their legalisms, unable to accept that this yoke of Jesus was so easy and so light. 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:52.879 And so the new followers of the Christian faith began to pour in. 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:58.639 And some of these believers were outside of the Jewish culture, they were called Gentiles. 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:02.960 And soon these Jewish Christians, they were called Judaizers. 00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:12.639 They began to impose on these Gentiles a second yoke, stemming from good intention, but it simply just weighed them down. 00:10:12.799 --> 00:10:22.399 And so these Judaizers started telling these Gentiles, you know what, if you really want to be a believer and a follower of Jesus, you ought to do this and not do this on the Sabbath. 00:10:22.799 --> 00:10:26.320 You ought to follow this ritual, you ought to take on this Jewish tradition. 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:30.080 You ought to do this, you ought to do that, you ought, you ought. 00:10:30.720 --> 00:10:33.039 And then you'll have favor with God. 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:42.080 And this added burden of this yoke, it just created a barrier to the salvation that Jesus offered. 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:44.639 It began to hijack the gospel. 00:10:44.960 --> 00:10:50.799 One of the church leaders of that day, Peter, he saw what was going on, and there was a very important council that took place. 00:10:50.879 --> 00:10:54.080 And he stepped on the scene and he shouted these words. 00:10:54.320 --> 00:11:04.480 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of these disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? 00:11:04.799 --> 00:11:05.120 No. 00:11:06.559 --> 00:11:12.799 Believe it is through believer we believe it is through grace of the Lord Jesus that we are saved just as they are. 00:11:12.960 --> 00:11:16.320 Peter is essentially saying, it's Jesus plus nothing. 00:11:16.720 --> 00:11:17.840 So enough. 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:33.759 And with their minds plagued of these past traditions, of you ought, you ought, you ought, you can just see them beginning to remember those soft words of Jesus when he said, Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 00:11:34.240 --> 00:11:39.600 Take my yoke upon you, learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart. 00:11:40.879 --> 00:11:43.120 You will find rest for your souls. 00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:46.080 For my yoke is easy. 00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:49.039 My burden is light. 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:52.000 My pace is slow. 00:11:52.960 --> 00:12:04.000 When I was attending a church summer camp my freshman year in high school, I was immediately confused as to why there were two separate pool times, one for the girls and one for the guys, especially since I was there to meet girls. 00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:14.240 And however, my confusion only heightened when they mandated the girls wear dark-colored t-shirts in the pool, so us guys were then looking on through the fence like a bunch of weirdos. 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:17.120 I asked, why the t-shirts? 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:18.320 Why the separate pool times? 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:24.559 And I was told that this was a way of keeping us guys pure and removing any kind of sexual temptation. 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:31.840 Therefore, removing any blame or responsibility from us guys, from their brothers in Christ. 00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:43.919 Looking back, I didn't realize I was experiencing the height of what they now call the purity culture found in churches, seeking to build its own moral code outside the confines of Scripture. 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:59.679 You see, this subtle misuse of God's word unknowingly weaponized Scripture, not only placing the sole responsibility of purity upon women, but it manifested shame and fear for a woman's own body and sexuality. 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:11.679 We now see that this imbalanced and controlling pursuit of modesty, it has since harmed the mutual leadership between spiritual brothers and sisters within the church. 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:24.000 You see, this insidious narrative was essentially saying that women are a temptation to be avoided rather than an essential asset and ministry colleague to be equally partnered with. 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:39.600 And so growing up in these seasons, in this season of the church, many girls were burdened by actually thinking that if they wanted to grow up and be a good Christian woman of God, they needed to follow this extra yoke. 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:41.120 Guys, do you hear? 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:48.639 If you listen hard enough, you can still hear the voices of the Judaizers today. 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:51.919 Because we all have that heart within us. 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:56.639 Legalism is a deep moral disorder that plagues all of humankind. 00:13:56.879 --> 00:13:58.399 And our intentions are good. 00:13:58.559 --> 00:14:01.840 But scripture says that the results are evil. 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:07.919 When a person trusts in Christ, we immediately want to add a yoke to what Jesus had already given them. 00:14:08.159 --> 00:14:11.519 And we say, you know what, you ought to say this and not this. 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:15.440 You ought to wear this and not that, and especially not that crop top. 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:19.440 You ought to only look at this kind of art and never get body art. 00:14:19.759 --> 00:14:21.919 You ought to give, and it better be 10%. 00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:25.039 You ought to volunteer only within the church. 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:28.399 You ought to forgive fast, no matter the offense. 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:31.120 You ought to not to drink this, don't smoke that. 00:14:31.200 --> 00:14:33.039 You should only hang out with these people. 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:35.200 You should worship with this kind of posture. 00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:37.360 You should only vote for this political party. 00:14:37.519 --> 00:14:40.080 You ought, you ought, you ought. 00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:43.519 Hear me on this. 00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:44.879 Don't get confused. 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:55.759 Personal convictions, wisdom, personal guidelines that go beyond the explicit commands of Scripture are fine. 00:14:55.919 --> 00:14:56.799 They're actually good. 00:14:56.960 --> 00:14:58.320 You should have them. 00:14:58.960 --> 00:15:10.240 But when we impose them on others within the community and treat them as if they are God's ultimate truth, Scripture says it's evil. 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:17.279 Giving the outside world the impression that Christ simply suppresses life instead of fulfilling it. 00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:24.960 They say that you can know if you're a part of a cult, if you're a part of a rules-based system where you can't say no. 00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:29.279 Some of you right now are thinking, I think my manager's a cult leader. 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:36.159 Today we still have communities of faith that suppress life. 00:15:36.399 --> 00:15:44.399 And they sell a legalistic, exhausting version of Christianity that empowers controlling leaders to have dominance over their flock. 00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:50.399 They insinuate that they have uniquely been given a divine position that requires uniformity. 00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:53.519 They enforce top-down discipline through shame and fear. 00:15:53.679 --> 00:16:02.879 They foster a high-demand culture that prides itself in being the best church in town, doing the real ministry, making it all about them and their rules. 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:04.559 Do you see? 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:10.080 Do you see how this added yoke can actually be a distraction to the gospel? 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:16.399 Some of you right now have been distracted this entire teach. 00:16:16.559 --> 00:16:17.120 Why? 00:16:17.759 --> 00:16:19.360 This, okay? 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:20.639 This up here. 00:16:20.879 --> 00:16:32.399 And let it be a reminder to you that when we exhaust people with legalistic chores, it begins to divert our attention from Christ and the true yoke that he provides. 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:36.000 Some of you are like, okay, you made your point, you can stop. 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:39.200 I like this up here, all of this. 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:41.120 It's like my security blanket, okay? 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:43.679 It's like, we're gonna take over the service dog industry, okay? 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:44.240 We're gonna do it. 00:16:44.399 --> 00:16:46.080 Hey, can we give it up for Julietta? 00:16:46.240 --> 00:16:57.039 I mean, is it Julietta actually has a D1 running scholarship, and she's been plagued by the question, what am I ever gonna do with that after I graduate? 00:16:57.360 --> 00:16:59.519 Answer right here, okay? 00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:02.799 Guys, catch this. 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:13.200 By attaching human standards to God's standards and treating them both as if they have equal authority, we create a false ladder of salvation. 00:17:13.359 --> 00:17:24.400 And there's this new and heavy yoke that is placed upon Jesus' yoke, and just like the rabbis of old, we bury the foundations of the gospel under burdensome rules and restrictions. 00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:28.480 Jesus actually addressed this very evil to the Pharisees in Matthew 25. 00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:39.119 He says this woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites, you shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces, you distract them. 00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:42.480 You distract them with your exhausting pace. 00:17:43.279 --> 00:17:48.559 And with the problem continuing on in the early church, then the Apostle Paul he addresses this wickedness. 00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:52.799 In the Galatians 5, he says, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. 00:17:53.119 --> 00:17:54.720 Stand firm. 00:17:55.440 --> 00:18:00.720 Then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. 00:18:03.599 --> 00:18:07.519 Today, many singles within our church. 00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:13.279 You guys are burdened with an exhausting pace. 00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:17.759 Feeling like you're incomplete. 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:25.119 And there is this unbiblical yoke that I believe is even heaviest for our single women. 00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:36.240 You see, ever since the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, women have been coerced through the mishandling of Scripture, hearing that the family was to be the center of their lives. 00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:47.279 And this meant that their primary identity and purpose, and actually the pinnacle of all holiness for a woman, was to be found in either the role of wife or mother. 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:49.599 Hear me on this? 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:52.640 Obviously, these roles aren't bad. 00:18:52.880 --> 00:18:54.559 We just came out of a marriage series. 00:18:54.640 --> 00:18:56.400 We just celebrated Mother's Day. 00:18:56.559 --> 00:18:58.720 And they should be celebrated. 00:18:59.039 --> 00:19:05.759 But the role of wife and mother should never be elevated over one's ultimate authority and identity. 00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:09.920 Scripture's clear that we are all complete in Christ. 00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:10.799 Hear me? 00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:13.920 We're all complete in Christ, no matter your marital status. 00:19:14.160 --> 00:19:14.799 Right? 00:19:15.119 --> 00:19:17.519 Especially knowing that Jesus wasn't married. 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:19.839 And we're not going to be married in heaven. 00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:22.880 Spoiler alert, sorry, okay? 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:35.200 However, this subtle imbalance of the family has placed a heavy yoke of high pressure on many of our single women, believing that marriage is something that completes them. 00:19:35.599 --> 00:19:37.279 Yes, marriage is good. 00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:41.279 To be a wife and a mother in our culture is normal. 00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:49.759 To choose a path of being a support to one's husband and focus on the household is honorable, as it is for men to choose those supportive paths. 00:19:49.920 --> 00:19:58.799 But the assumption that womanhood makes sense only within the context of marriage and motherhood is wrong. 00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:07.279 You see, similar to the early church, we still have these subtle yet harmful additions to the yoke of Jesus, thinking there needs to be more. 00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:19.359 And so to the single men and the single women in our midst that feel the pressure that they're incomplete, or that they have to get married to reach their full potential, Jesus says these words to you. 00:20:20.319 --> 00:20:22.960 Take my yoke upon you. 00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:25.839 Learn from me. 00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:33.039 For I am gentle and humble and hard, and you will find rest in your souls. 00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:35.519 That was a long one. 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:36.640 Are you okay? 00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:43.519 Guys, you see the evil of adding yoke to another person, it's easy for us. 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:46.720 It's in our DNA because we add a yoke upon ourselves. 00:20:46.960 --> 00:20:54.319 Many of us refuse to believe that this yoke, this Jesus, alone is sufficient. 00:20:54.640 --> 00:21:00.640 We refuse to believe that the favor of God is upon us simply by trusting and not trying. 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:08.079 We simply refuse to believe that the favor of God is upon us simply by being and not doing. 00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:11.599 It was uh 20 years ago as a youth pastor. 00:21:13.519 --> 00:21:16.960 I was meeting with a high school girl named Amanda. 00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:21.279 Her parents asked me to meet with her, and she just started uh harming herself. 00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:25.839 And back then the vice of self-harming was new. 00:21:26.319 --> 00:21:29.920 I was unqualified to be in this conversation, I still am. 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:41.039 And I was asking her what the triggers of this behavior were, and with each turn of the conversation, it always went back to her saying, I just can't measure up. 00:21:41.200 --> 00:21:42.960 I feel like I deserve this pain. 00:21:43.119 --> 00:21:46.079 I let my friends down, I let my parents down. 00:21:46.799 --> 00:21:49.440 I'm feeling like I let God down. 00:21:50.559 --> 00:21:58.319 Guys, when achieving the favor of God is based on trying and doing, it can become so dangerous. 00:21:59.039 --> 00:21:59.759 We always think. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:02.000 There's more we should be doing to earn his favor. 00:22:02.160 --> 00:22:05.359 We always think there's more we should be doing to live this Christian life right. 00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:13.279 And though we understand that trying is something detrimental to becoming a Christian, somehow we think it's essential to living the Christian life. 00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:41.279 And so we begin our own versions of self-harm, a marathon pace of external performance, of religious activity, volunteering in the nursery, rededicating our lives, reading the Bible every morning, performing community service and praying before bed and giving every week and coming to church every Sunday and blindly following the demands of our pastor and our inner critic feeds us lies that if we just do it a little bit harder, if we just do a little bit more over there, God will be pleased with me. 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:44.400 Yeah, I know the Bible says he loves me, but you know what? 00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:51.680 If I just do this one thing, I know he's gonna like me just a little bit more, and do I need to make up for how I disappointed him last night at that party? 00:22:51.920 --> 00:22:57.519 And the pace becomes too much, and we eventually hit a point of exhaustion in our Christian life. 00:22:58.160 --> 00:23:07.920 But the spiritual rest that Jesus promises refers to not only a new future world, but also a present world here today that we can experience it. 00:23:08.079 --> 00:23:14.960 He says again, he says, For my yoke is easy, my burden is light. 00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:16.640 And so we stop. 00:23:18.880 --> 00:23:20.559 We turn to Jesus. 00:23:21.279 --> 00:23:22.960 And we say, Are you for real? 00:23:23.519 --> 00:23:29.119 Jesus, how can you say that your yoke is easy and light and provides rest? 00:23:29.279 --> 00:23:41.519 Because I just read that Sermon of the Mount Pitch right before this easy yoke pitch, and there you're calling us to an even greater righteousness, demanding more than the Old Testament demands of us. 00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:46.799 You're now telling us that we shouldn't commit adultery, but you're saying I can't even lust after a person. 00:23:46.960 --> 00:23:51.119 You're saying I can't commit murder upon my neighbor, but now I can't even hate them. 00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:54.880 Do you see how they park in front of my driveway every day? 00:23:55.359 --> 00:24:01.599 I mean, didn't you just say that we're supposed to enter in through the narrow gate, not the wide and easy gate? 00:24:01.759 --> 00:24:05.039 Don't you call us to nothing less than life commitment? 00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:09.200 Don't you desire complete surrender of ourselves? 00:24:10.960 --> 00:24:11.599 Yeah. 00:24:12.319 --> 00:24:14.000 All of that's true. 00:24:14.480 --> 00:24:26.960 And though Jesus is not offering us the burdensome yoke of the law, he also isn't offering us something that is free from all loving constraints to ensure we experience abundant life here and now. 00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:31.680 Jesus does demand a greater righteousness than the rabbis of old. 00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:38.480 But this teacher who is gentle and humble in heart supplies us with an even greater empowerment. 00:24:38.640 --> 00:24:42.880 That empowerment is his divine nature within us. 00:24:43.440 --> 00:24:45.200 It's Peter who says these words. 00:24:50.880 --> 00:24:51.839 Hear me on this. 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:55.680 This yoke isn't about Jesus, it is Jesus. 00:24:55.920 --> 00:25:00.480 And so when you take this yoke, at the center of your being is Christ. 00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:01.839 He becomes your life. 00:25:02.079 --> 00:25:10.480 As the Apostle Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 6, 17, but he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. 00:25:10.640 --> 00:25:13.359 Guys, Jesus now lives within you. 00:25:14.400 --> 00:25:20.160 He doesn't desire for you to start trying to live like him, which is tied to production, it's tied to performance. 00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:22.079 He simply just wants you to rest. 00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:25.519 Just rest in the fact that he lives in you. 00:25:25.839 --> 00:25:34.960 Rest in the fact that he desires to express his life through you, recognizing that only Christ can live this Christian life. 00:25:35.200 --> 00:25:42.240 And he is willing to live it through you anytime you rest and you surrender and you allow him to do so. 00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:53.680 Paul says that when we rest, the Holy Spirit is then able to bring forth love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control. 00:25:53.759 --> 00:25:58.559 These virtues do result in spiritual services. 00:25:58.960 --> 00:26:02.960 Like gathering for worship, even on time, as Robbie would like to say. 00:26:03.279 --> 00:26:18.319 Reading scripture, praying, giving generously, serving in the church and community, but it is not fueled out of trying to do something for Jesus, but by allowing Christ to do something through us. 00:26:19.119 --> 00:26:28.640 We mustn't forget that when Paul says those famous words in Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, for it is by grace you've been saved through faith, this not from yourselves, it is a gift from God, not by works, so that no one can boast. 00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:30.480 We have to read on to the next verse. 00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:38.319 He concludes his thought by saying, For we are God's handiwork created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us. 00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:41.440 And so therefore the master teacher says, Learn from me. 00:26:41.920 --> 00:26:43.759 Essentially what he's saying is, know me. 00:26:43.920 --> 00:26:51.759 And when we rest in this gentle, humble heart, we engage God's word not for education, but for revelation. 00:26:52.400 --> 00:26:56.400 We seek to pray not for stipulation, but for conversation. 00:26:56.799 --> 00:27:00.480 And with each time we learn from him, his love is revealed. 00:27:00.720 --> 00:27:20.480 And then Paul says is that for Christ's love then compels us, it compels us towards a greater rest, towards greater submission, abiding in him, allowing him to reveal his active and tangible expressions of love through us into a world that so desperately needs to see it, to experience it. 00:27:20.720 --> 00:27:23.599 Guys, this yoke of Christ, it is radical. 00:27:23.759 --> 00:27:36.240 This yoke goes against all of the religious thinkers of Jesus' day, it goes against all the religions of our day, and it goes against all that's within our hearts, our human nature. 00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:41.359 There are parts of this yoke here beyond this that we'll never comprehend here on earth. 00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:55.759 But we have a lifetime under this yoke, learning from Him, resting in the confidence that His love, His salvation, His acceptance of us lasts forever, no matter what you do, no matter what you don't do. 00:27:56.079 --> 00:28:03.680 And so are you willing to place yourself under the easy and light yoke of Jesus? 00:28:04.799 --> 00:28:06.000 A few considerations. 00:28:06.400 --> 00:28:13.279 First, to those that are burdened and weary and just trying to appease a holy God through your own human effort. 00:28:14.960 --> 00:28:15.519 Stop. 00:28:17.279 --> 00:28:19.839 Jesus says, Come to me, all who are weary and burdened. 00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:21.200 I'm gonna give you rest. 00:28:22.480 --> 00:28:30.160 So if you're someone here that hasn't crossed that line of faith, to trust in Jesus as your leader and rescuer, I encourage you, right after the service, head to the prayer station. 00:28:30.400 --> 00:28:37.680 We have a team that would love to pray for you, help you make that decision, and then talk about next steps in your new journey with Jesus. 00:28:38.559 --> 00:28:41.519 Next, to those that are burdened by the yoke of legalism. 00:28:42.400 --> 00:28:47.119 You're trying to fulfill the unwritten non-biblical rules of what a good Christian looks like. 00:28:47.279 --> 00:28:50.480 Jesus says to you, take my yoke upon you. 00:28:50.720 --> 00:28:51.920 Nothing else. 00:28:52.559 --> 00:28:57.839 Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 00:28:58.000 --> 00:29:16.960 And so I encourage you to consider any personal standards that you're asking those within the church to abide by that go beyond the clear commands of Scripture and just ask God to work through you and cleanse you of any such pattern and just to rest in his easy yoke and allow others to do that. 00:29:17.920 --> 00:29:26.319 If you're someone here today that's been scarred by the church, you've taken on a heavy yoke of legalism. 00:29:26.559 --> 00:29:27.920 I'm so sorry. 00:29:29.519 --> 00:29:35.119 As a pastor, I know I've contributed to that over the years and probably still will as I continue to grow. 00:29:35.759 --> 00:29:38.240 But guys, may God heal you. 00:29:39.599 --> 00:29:45.920 May he help you embrace the true rest that only comes from his easy yoke. 00:29:47.839 --> 00:30:01.359 And finally, to those that have chosen to take this yoke, but now you're drowning in the exhaustion of trying to live with him, trying to earn a favor that you already have, Jesus reminds you that it's only through him that we live this life. 00:30:01.440 --> 00:30:05.920 And he says to you, for my yoke is easy, my burden is light. 00:30:06.559 --> 00:30:09.440 And so would you just consider moving from trying to trusting? 00:30:09.519 --> 00:30:11.680 Would you move from doing to being? 00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:15.519 May you just get off the treadmill of works. 00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:26.319 And may you just come to that place of rest, of surrender at the foot of the cross, allowing Him to work through you. 00:30:27.759 --> 00:30:31.440 This is the amazing yoke of Jesus. 00:30:33.279 --> 00:30:34.480 Let us pray. 00:30:34.720 --> 00:30:57.440 And so, God, we come to you now, and we recognize that through struggles within this fallen world, there's battles within our own flesh, we're not going to be ignorant that there is an evil one with schemes, and we acknowledge in the midst of all of that, you give us victory and rest and freedom. 00:30:59.599 --> 00:31:04.400 Only you can bring us true liberation from the heavy yokes around us. 00:31:05.519 --> 00:31:07.599 And from within our hearts. 00:31:08.559 --> 00:31:26.079 Father, we don't ask to you, we don't ask that you would help us try harder in taking up your yoke, but that we would just simply rest and abide in you and you and us express your life through us as you see fit today and tomorrow and for each day that passes on this earth. 00:31:26.319 --> 00:31:30.319 May we just be compelled by your love. 00:31:32.480 --> 00:31:34.960 In the name of Jesus, we ask these things. 00:31:35.359 --> 00:31:36.000 Amen. 00:31:37.839 --> 00:31:40.079 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:31:40.319 --> 00:31:44.720 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:31:44.880 --> 00:31:46.960 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:31:47.119 --> 00:31:53.039 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at 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