-
Laboring For Christ Series
Contributed by David Watters on Nov 28, 2017 (message contributor)
Summary: This is the second of a three sermon series on the scripture, Matthew 11: 25-30..."Come Unto Me"..."Laboring for Christ"..."And I Will Give You Rest"
Scripture: Matthew 11 Vs 28
1 Corinthians 15 Vs 58
Sermon: Laboring for Christā¦
Today, I am still unpacking this verse in Matthewā¦trying to understand all that it holds in the way of truthā¦all that it holds for us to learn.
We have already looked at the first part of this verse, āCome unto Meā and found that we are offered an invitation of a lifetimeā¦an invitation from our Creator God to take our souls and make them Eternal with Him. We realized that accepting the Truth was essential and the very first step to gaining our Sanctification and then our Glorification.
Now, letās look at the second part of this verseā¦āall those who laborā.
āLaborā. What does Christ mean when He looks at those who labor? What does He consider labor to be?
This little phrase exudes the image of hard work, sweat soaked clothes, the smell of body odor, dirty hands and mud-smeared faces. It gives the impression of toil and hardshipā¦work and exertion.
Thereās a little jokeā¦āI love workā¦I can sit and watch it for hours.ā
If you think about it, this little joke has some very deep insights into the nature of man. There are those that just sit and then there are those that do! Scripture says:
āBlessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall findā¦doingā
There was a man I read about, Mr. Weber. He did odd jobs for peopleā¦fixing screens and mowing lawns. And when you would ask him when he would be coming around again, he would say, āIf Jesus tarries, Iāll be back next week.ā You see, for Mr. Weber, the imminent coming of Jesus was a daily fact. His whole attitude was like that of the Biblesā¦that of awaiting the return of Jesus.
The New Testament has little to say about the birth of Jesus...only in Gospel of Luke is there any space given over to the very birth of Christ, but it has a great deal to say about the Second Coming. For two thousand years the church has maintained the same emphasis, urging believers to watch with āfeet shod and lamps litā. When Jesus comes, he has said that He wants to find us doing the work He has given us to doā¦errands of love and caringā¦being Standing examples of His Way.
Examples likeā¦
Charlotte Elliott, who wrote the words to the hymn āJust As I Amā. Charlotte was born in Clapham, England in 1789. She led a pretty normal life until the age of about 30, when her health began to fail and she became bedridden and sickly. With her failing health she became despondent, aching to die.
In 1822, a popular evangelist, Dr. Ceasar Malan, came to visit Charlotte. During that visit, he told her that even though she was sickly and bedridden, the Lord would take her āJust As She Wasā.
This made a very great impression on Charlotte and she considered Dr. Malanās visit as her spiritual birthdayā¦her conversion. For many years she contemplated that God and Jesus would accept her āJust As She Wasā. In fact she contemplated it for fourteen years before she wrote down the words, in 1836, to the hymn, āJust As I Amā.
Though Charlotte lived to be 82 years old, she never regained her health. She once wrote of her afflictions, āHe knows and He alone, what it is to fight overpowering weakness and exhaustionā¦to not give in to slothfulness, depression and instability.ā
The text of the hymn, āJust As I Amā was published in a book of other hymns that she wrote, in the hopes of garnering enough money to help her pastor-brother build a school for the children of poor ministers in England. Charlotte had always felt so helpless in her life. This was the one effort that she could contributeā¦words and music from her own life and relationship with God and Jesus.
Interestingly enough, this one hymnā¦one of 115 that were published, brought in more funds than any of her brotherās bazaars and projects combined. Her brother praised his sister highly and was amazed at her labor and fruitfulness.
After Charlotte Elliott died, among her effects was found thousands of letters from individual from all over the world expressing testimonials about what this one hymn had meant in their lives.
āJust as I am, Tho tossed about
With many a conflict and many a doubt,
Fighting and fears, within and without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.ā
Charlotte was a āStandingā example for Christ. Charlotteās story is only one of thousands, thoughā¦stories of laboring to become fruitfulā¦to become the fruit on Christās vine. You see, thatās what our Sanctification is all aboutā¦itās about our own efforts to become separated out for use by Godā¦being the wheat, not the chaff. Once we have placed all our bets on God and His Son, Jesus and we truly believe that they areā¦we must labor to do His work for Him. We are the āBody of Christā incarnateā¦His light must shine through us!