28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Subject: What Do We Mean When We Say
That Jesus Is A Burden Bearer?
Some time ago, and I would imagine that it was probably some time before you or I were ever born; and I would also surmise that it occurred some time during or shortly after the days of slavery; the Holy Ghost moved through one of our brothers or sisters in Christ, and inspired them to sing an old familiar gospel tune, one that we still sing to this day. The song starts out:
“Glory, glory, hallelujah
Since I laid my burdens down.
Glory, glory, hallelujah
Since I laid my burdens down.”
I know somebody in here has heard this powerful song before. Can I get a witness? But in putting this song together, the song’s creator didn’t just stop there, for he went on to sing a second verse that says:
“I feel better so much better
Since I’ve laid my burdens down.
I feel better so much better
Since I’ve laid my burdens down.”
I know that there is somebody besides me in here who, just like the song’s creator, has been able to lay down some heavy burdens in their life. And you understand how good it feels to get rid of those burdens. Can I get a witness? But I guess that it got so good to the song’s creator, that he had a revelation, because I heard somebody sing his words saying:
“I’m going home to live with Jesus
Since I’ve laid my burdens down.
I’m going home to live with Jesus
Since I’ve laid my burdens down.”
This most powerful and uplifting song signifies and identifies that the songwriter has let go of the burdens in his life and at this point he is praising the true and living, all-wise GOD because he has been able to, he has been blessed to, he has been guided to laying his burdens down. Can I get a witness? And we, right here in the church of today, often sing this same song, for these same reasons. Am I right about it?
We have a tendency of singing this song with great feeling. We sing it with conviction. We sing it with passion. We sing it until we just get down right ugly with it. Come on somebody, ya’ll know what I’m talking about. We sing and our faces just get all turned up, bent up, and frowned up. And as pretty as some of the ladies come in here with the make up and lipstick put on with utter perfection, this song can make you forget all about how you are trying to look, because it has a way of affecting the way that you feel. Can I get witness?
It has almost become a cliché that you can tell when a person is singing from their heart because they just forget all about how good they are looking on the outside and just let their face get just ugly with it. Ya’ll know what I’m talking about.
We sing this song “Glory, Glory, Hallelujah since I’ve laid my burdens down” and it seems like it just does something to us, like the spirit just gets to moving and just tears us up all on the inside. But my brothers and sisters, it’s sad to say that despite how often we may sing this song, despit how often it may make us feel good, the truth of the matter is that many of us have not yet begun to lay down our burdens. Can I get a witness?
We’ve not yet begun to turn over all of the problems of our lives to the Lord. We’ll come right up to altar call and pray our hearts out to GOD, asking that he remove all of our problems from us, that he remove all manner of sickness from us, that he remove the weight and stain of every sin and every burden right from our lives. That he build us up where we’re torn down. That he put food on our table and clothes on our backs. That he give us a love that runs from heart to heart. That he allows us to meet our financial obligations. That he give us a resting place when we’re through down here. Oh yeah, we’ll pray and we’ll pray and we’ll pray until we have covered all of our bases, and have put on the table all of those things that we want GOD not only to bless us with, but also those things that we would like for Him to remove from our lives. Am I right about it?
But just as soon as we lay down our bag full of burdens at the Throne of Grace, we turn right around and pick them back up and throw them back up on our backs, and carry them back off with us out into the world to deal with those same old problems, those same old burdens, those same old things that we supposedly just gave to GOD. I know somebody in here should be praying with me, because I know that I’m not the only one that has done this before.
But you see my brothers and sisters, if we look at what our Bibles have to say, we will find that Psalm 55:22 says to “Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” So let’s stop here for a minute. If we have the opportunity to get all of our burdens off of our backs, and just turn them over to GOD, and GOD has promised to sustain us, and to provide for us, and to give us whatever we ask for in the name of Jesus, then my question to the church today is: what is our problem? Why is it that so many of us are still walking around with our burden bag securely fixed upon our backs. If we won’t turn our burdens over to Jesus, then what exactly does it mean when we say that Jesus is a burden bearer?
In our text, Jesus says to “come unto me, ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” Jesus understood and wanted us to realize that we can not get any rest if we are walking around too burdened down to worship GOD. Can I get a witness?
We have to be able to give of our whole self, of our whole hearts, when we praise GOD. In other words, we can’t fully praise GOD if we’ve got distractions going on in our lives. In many verses throughout the Psalms, David declares that GOD should be worshipped with our whole heart. He said in Psalm 119:2, that “Blessed are they that keep His testimonies, and that seek Him with the whole heart.”
If we are worried about where our next meal is going to come from, then we are not going to be able to fully worship GOD in his house. If we are worried about, how we are going to keep our lights on or our gas from being turned off, then we are not going to be able to give all the glory and praise to GOD the way he wants us to. If we are worrying about that child of ours that’s out there on the streets full of crack cocaine or marijuana, or alcohol, it’s going to be mighty hard for us to give our whole hearts to the uplifting of GOD’s kingdom. If we are worried about when we are going to get our next beating from that abusive wife or that abusive husband, then it’s going to be mighty hard to come to church and give all the honor and due reverence to the Lord.
But I’m here to tell you today, my brothers and sisters, that we don’t have to walk around here burdened down, because Jesus promised that if you come unto Him, He will give you rest. He didn’t say that he could give you rest. He didn’t say that he might give you rest. But He said that He will give you rest. Can I get a witness?
So what we must understand is that he didn’t make that statement with a condition attached to it. He didn’t say I’m only going to handle the money burdens, or I’m only going to handle the emotional burdens, or I’m only going to handle the physical burdens, or I’m only going to handle the spiritual burdens, but what he is saying to us, even today, is that regardless of who we are, regardless of what our burdens might be, I know that you have been labouring with your burdens, I know that you are laden down with your burdens, but if you will just take the time to come to me, I’m going to give you some rest. I’m going to give you some peace. I’m going to bring some joy back into your life. I’m going to put a smile back on your face. I’m going to remove your burdens and place them all upon me. And all you have to do is go and lay down and rest for a little while because I’m going to be your burden bearer. Can I get a witness up in here this morning?
The next thing that we’ve got to understand is that there are three distinct types of burdens. Three different kinds of burdens. First, there are public burdens. Public Burdens. These are the burdens that are known to everybody and every one around town. You know what I’m talking about. You can always tell when somebody has a public burden because when they come walking around, folk will go to whispering: have you heard what he or she did? Ooh child, well let me tell you. And it seems like no matter where you go, somebody knows about your burden and somebody is going to talk about it. Can I get a witness?
And not only are they going to talk about it, but every body will try to give you their solution for fixing up your burden. Folk will hunt you down and find you, no matter where you are, to offer you a solution for fixing your burden. Some people just can’t wait to find out that somebody they know has a public burden.
That’s when they’ll pick up that telephone and call up that person carrying a burden at their house, even though they’ve never called them before, and you know how they dothe first thing they’re going to say is “well if I was you.”
If I was you, I would just leave him cause he ain’t no good. If I was you, I would just go out and buy me my own car; why should you have to go through changes trying to finding a ride. If I was you, I would find me another church cause those people don’t care nothing about you. If I was you I’d take him back to court and get some more money for child support. If I was you.If I was youIf I was you. Oh yeah, they’ll let you know exactly what they would do IF..they were you.
And once you take the time to listen to them and do what they say, you’ll find yourself without a husband or wife, over your head in debt, no church family to turn to for support, paying out money to your lawyer even though the judge says you’re already getting more than enough. You need to know right up front that these people don’t care anything about you. If they did they would leave you alone and keep their mouths shut.
They enjoy seeing you down and out. They enjoy seeing you suffer. They enjoy seeing you carrying that burden on your back. That’s why if you want your burden taken care of you better stop looking to every Tom, Dick, Harry, or Jane and take them straight to Jesus. Can I get a witness?
The second kind of burden that we bare are private burdens. Private Burdens. These are the most difficult kinds of burdens for us to bear. We wouldn’t dare tell anyone about our private burden, not only because we are afraid that they would become a public burden, but also because we would be too embarrassed and too devastated for someone to know what the private burdens are in our lives. Our private burdens could be something that we did or something that was done to us many, many years ago. They are just too private, just too secret, to share with anyone; not our husbands, not our wives, not our best friends, not our pastors, not our doctors, not our lawyers. Not anybody.
And most of the time, we won’t even share them with Jesus, because they sting us to the core of our existence. We are so embarrassed by them that we try to walk around and act like they never existed. But don’t you know that GOD already knows what you’ve done or what was done to you? You may not be able to tell your friends or your family about it, but if you tell Jesus about it, he will deal with it and nobody will ever know about it. As one hymnologist reminds us that you’ve got to surrender all to Jesus. And He will take away your burden and give you rest.
The third and last kind of burden that we must bear today, are semi-private burdens. These are the burdens that are secret, but somehow and somewhere along the way, somebody else found out about it.
The bible tells me that David, the great king of Israel, had a semi-private burden that he had to deal with. For in the eleventh and twelfth chapters of second Samuel, we find the story of David and Bathsheba. Can I get a witness?
David had seen this beautiful woman that he wanted all for himself. But you see there was one small problem. For the Bible tells me that this woman was another man’s wife. Can I get a witness? But David was the mighty King of Israel and was used to having his own way. So the bible tells me that he went unto her anyhow and knew her as if she was his own. But you see, my brothers and sisters, every thing that’s done in the darkness will surely come to the light. For the Bible says that Bathsheba got pregnant. And it would have been all right if she had been sleeping with her husband, but her husband, a Hittite named Uriah, had been out at battle, fighting for the kingdom of Israel. Can I get a witness?
So the Bible tells me that King David tried to get Uriah to take some time off so that he could go in and lay with his wife? But Uriah, being the man of valor that he was, refused to leave the sides of his at battle to enjoy some moment of relaxation that they wouldn’t have. Wouldn’t it be grand of all of GOD’s children were as faithful to the cause as this man called Uriah. Can I get a witness?
But David had many men in his army and many men under his control. He had the ability to send men here or to send them over there. He could put them at the rear end of a battle, or right up on the front line of the battlefield. So the Bible tells me that David sent Uriah out to the front line of battle against the people of Ammon, knowing that he would be killed in battle. And when David received the word, that Uriah was dead, he took Bathsheba to be his own wife. Am I right about it?
But you need to know today, my brothers and sisters, that even though you may be able to hide what you’re doing from your husband or your wife, even though you may be able to keep your dirty dealings from your brothers or your sisters, even though you may keep your momma and your daddy thinking that their baby is as white as pure snow, you can’t hide what you’re doing from the Lord. Can I get a witness?
Just when you think that you’ve hidden all the dirt from everybody, the LORD will send somebody unto you, with a message that it doesn’t matter who doesn’t know, because He still knows what you did. Am I right about it?
The Bible tells me that the LORD sent Nathan unto David to let him know that his burden was not a private burden. This burden was not a public burden. But this burden was a semi-private burden, because the LORD revealed it unto a messenger of His own. Am I right about it?
How many times, have you thought that you had gotten away with something that had you burdened down, and all of a sudden, something, or somebody, brings it back to your attention. You don’t hear me.
But I’m here to tell you today, that Jesus said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will surely give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
And you need to know right here today, that Christ has already borne your burdens. Oh Lord. He put them on His back one Friday morning, in the shape of a wooden cross? Ya’ll don’t hear me. He carried that old rugged cross not down hill, not on smooth, flat ground, but he carried it up a hill called Golgatha. Do you here me this morning?
When they took that cross off His back, it wasn’t to give Him any relief. For the Bible tells me, that they took His hands and nailed them to that cross. They took his feet and nailed them to that cross. They took a spear and pierced Him in His side. Can U imagine the agony and the pain that my Savior suffered up on that old rugged cross, just to remove your lying, your cheating, your backbiting, your back stabbing, your killing, your drug using, your adultery, your stealing, your dishonoring of your parents, your covetousness over what your neighbor has.
It must have been a mighty heavy burden , because he didn’t do it just for me. Oh no. He didn’t do it just for you. But he did it to save this old world. Yes he did. So he stayed there bleeding, he stayed there aching, he stayed there moaning, up on that cross, until He said to His Father it is finished and hung His head and died. Oh Lord.
But early. Early. Early one Sunday morning he got up with all power in His hands. Well brother preacher, how do you know he got up with all power in His hands. Well I don’t know about you, but one day when I was still living out in a world of sin, Jesus reached down and removed all my burdens from my back and all of a sudden I could feel how light my load was to bear. That’s why I know today that Jesus, Jesus, Jesus is a burden bearer because he removed all of my burdens.
