Come Unto Me Series

Scripture: Matthew 11: 25-30

Sermon: “Come unto Me”

At home, we have this little plastic item in the shape of a loaf of bread. In the top of this little plastic loaf, there is a rectangular slot holding little slips of colored tag board. On each slip, two Bible verses are printed; one on each side. The intent of this little loaf of Bible verses is to take one of the slips with you every day and try to memorize at least one of the verses. It really is a good way to learn new Bible verses and sometimes it’s very comforting to read the verse in the middle of a busy workday.

I had been trying to do this little exercise and I really was memorizing some of them. But as I started to get to my third or fourth slip, I began to think that I should be able to write a sermon on any one of the verses I picked. It just so happened that day I was trying to memorize Matthew 11, verse 28.

“Come unto me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

I thought to myself, that I would try to “unpack” this verse and see where and how far it would take me. At that time, I really didn’t know what I was getting myself in for. Beloved…there is more in this verse that I can express to you here today…there is more in this verse than I ever imagined. I believe that there are several sermons just waiting to pop out of this simple sentence.

At the time I decided to try to understand this verse more fully, I was attending the Lay Speakers Session at Camp Horizon. During one of the days, we were afforded about 3 hours of break time and so I pulled out all my books that I had brought with me and began to take this verse apart…

“Come unto me…”

The first part of this verse is an invitation that is very special. I don’t know if you have ever thought about how amazing this statement is, but…it’s special because it speaks to everyone…it speaks to anyone…anyone in this earthly world who wants to hear. It invites people of any color, any belief, any person in any situation.

It speaks to those addicted to drugs, it speaks to those addicted to alcohol, to those addicted to pornography, to gambling, to those addicted to their careers…it even speaks to those who come to church every Sunday.

Mark Twain said, “We all are like the moon. We have a dark side that we don’t want anyone to see.” And if this is the case, all the more reason we need to hear these special words, “Come unto Me”.

You see, the Lord’s creation includes everyone! The Lord’s plan is for his Kingdom to come and His Will to be done “on earth…as it is in Heaven.”

This word “Come” means so much. In the Hebrew language, the word is “Bo” and it used in so many ways.

When the word ‘come’ is used as a verb, it signifies an act…a physical or spiritual movement from one place to another. It states that something or someone is moving from point A to point B.

When Jesus invites us to “Come”, he is asking us to accept our own Salvation. He is asking us to move from point A, which is an unbelieving and sinful life to point B, a life of abundant living through Him. This Salvation brings us into the family of God…it brands us as a ‘child of God’s’…we become heirs of all of God’s promises.

But just being Saved isn’t all there is to it. After that initial, unrepeatable act of accepting the Lord, you begin to find that there is more…oh, so much more. You begin to realize the three dimensional aspect of your Salvation…the amazing Justification, Sanctification and Glorification of your Salvation.

These three elements that make up Salvation, each one of them can be a sermon in themselves, but today for our purposes…let’s take a quick look at what your Salvation has to do with the invitation…”Come unto Me”

Justification…

We, as Christians, are justified from sin by our faith that Jesus Christ is God’s Son. Our faith that Jesus died in our place, while we were yet sinners, proves to God that we believe in all that God and Jesus profess.

We also find that someone cares…cares enough to die for us…finding out that someone thinks we are worthy enough to be saved.

American radio broadcaster Paul Harvey once told a modern parable about a religious skeptic who worked as a farmer. One raw winter night the man heard an irregular thumping sound against the kitchen storm door. He went to a window and watched as tiny, shivering sparrows, attracted to the evident warmth inside, beat in vain against the glass.