Greater Things - The Great Provide Series

Greater Things – The Great Provide 8/9/15

Matthew 11:1-30 (28-30)

Sunday AM

Bumper – Howell Tucker Testimony

God is doing great things in our church – and I believe He wants to do even greater things.

This AM, we’re starting a series entitled, Greater Things – focusing on the (4) greatest teaching of Christ. In this series, I want to challenge us to join together for Greater Things. I’m convinced that if we’ll apprehend and live out these (4) teachings, God will allow us to experience individually and together Greater Things for His glory. These teachings involve – knowing God, loving God, following God, and serving God. Let’s begin today by looking at Mt. 11:25f – and a message entitled – The Great Provide.

Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, b/c you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all you who are weary, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

The Continental Divide of the Americas (or Great Divide) is the principal hydrological divide in the Western Hemisphere. Extending from the Bering Strait in Alaska to the Strait of Magellan at the tip of Chile, it separates the watershed that drains to either the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean. Amazingly, two drops of rain can fall w/in an inch of either other and yet end up on different sides of the continent.

While the Great Divide might be the most prominent ecological divide in the world – it’s not the most pervasive. There’s a divide more treacherous – a great divide separating every person from the Creator – the divide of sin. Sin is the great separator. And b/c of the wages of sin, God demonstrated His love for me and you in that while we’re sinners – Christ died for us. And now, b/c of the cross, God has provided a bridge over the great divide of sin to rescue anyone who’ll believe and receive His grace. Yet sadly, the faith of one man to another can fall w/in inches of each other and wind up missing God’s grace and forgiveness as far as the east is from the west.

These words in Mt. 11 are arguably the most beautiful invitation ever extended to mankind. It’s fair to say there’s never been a greater plea to the human heart than God’s extension of grace to a desperate soul in their time of need. We find in these words (3) simple verbs God offers to bring us peace and rest – (3) imperatives essential to discovering grace/forgiveness – COME, TAKE, and LEARN.

Re-read – Come to me, all you who are weary, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

This is a misconstrued text. It’s not about our burdens but His grace – it’s a simple spiritual equation.

COME + TAKE + LEARN = REST

I An Invitation to COME

Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden,

As we look at what it means to come – let’s first address the audience w/ whom Jesus is speaking. The crowd around him was filled seekers, skeptics and scoffers. And they they were weary and heavy laden.

weary (kopiao) refers to a person who’s worked themselves to the point of exhaustion. They’ve labored tirelessly; and sadly, they’ve expended their energy on the wrong things.

Jesus was talking to those people exhausted in trying to keep the 613 rules in the Law. And what’s worse, He tells them that all their effort was for naught b/c the Law was incapable of getting them to heaven – for the Law wasn’t given to save but to reveal sin and point people to the Savior.

I pride myself on finding short cuts and alternate routes to avoid traffic. There’s just (1) thing more frustrating to me than sitting in traffic – getting out of traffic to find a short cut only to find a dead-end that falls short of my objective. All that time and energy used to find a way to my destination down the tubes b/c it is impossible to reach the destination.