-Transcript-
00:29 Amen. Glory to God. Welcome to the program.
00:34 Welcome to the cafe. Thank you for joining me. My name is Pastor Clark Covington, Heartland Community Baptist Church, and our ministry is called Heartland Ministries.
00:43 Imagine that. Amen. We’re dealing with heart matters.
00:45 Amen. Heart matters. Deep, deep issues.
00:44 Today, we’re talking about what God’s Word says about giving us rest. My question for you today is, do you need rest?
00:54 What are you going through today? What’s stressing you out? What problem do you have that you need rest about or for?
01:03 We call this program KJV Cafe, and I’m always talking about how, oh, drinking coffee and study the Bible. Another thing you might do at a cafe is sit down with a friend and maybe just talk to them about what’s going on.
01:19 Kind of be disarmed by the environment. Have your coffee and so forth. You’re saying, you know, some things are going on, and you kind of have that time away from all the noise to really get to the heart of it.
01:34 And you know, if you’re going through something here today, I want you to know that God himself will give you rest. Think about that. The God of the universe, the very God that created everything, everything that you can see and everything you can’t see, that God will give you personally rest.
01:49 He knows what kind of rest you need, and he’s more than willing to give it to you. Jesus himself, the red letter text in the Bible, Jesus himself says this in
01:58 Matthew 11:28-30. Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
02:17 That is God himself saying he’s going to give you rest, and we’re going to break down the scripture a little bit and see what it means, because this is true today.
02:29 If you believe in Jesus Christ, and if you don’t, you can be saved today. You simply trust that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins. What does that mean? That means that you are a sinner.
02:38 Like I’m a sinner. We’re all sinners. You say, well, how do you know that I’m a sinner? Well, look, we’re all born sinners.
02:43 Well, how do you know kids are sinners? Hey, take a look at my kids, okay? I got the living case study in my house, all right? We’re all sinners, amen? I’m just kidding, but we’re all sinners. That’s a truth. That’s not a joke.
02:53 We’re all sinners. We all need a savior. Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins.
02:59 He was perfect, okay? Historians, even secular historians do not deny that Jesus lived. A lot of them don’t even deny that the cross took place, amen.
03:08 The Bible says he was seen by over 500 once he rose again. It’s a fact that Jesus lived.
03:14 I heard a great message by Adrian Rogers recently called, What Do We Do With Jesus? It was all about that idea of where are you going to go with this? The question here today is, what will you do with Jesus?
03:26 Will you accept that free gift of salvation that he has so abundantly offered you? He’s giving it to you for free. There is no cost other than your faith. That is the cost, to believe.
03:39 You simply have to believe that, number one, you have a need, that you’re a sinner. You know what? A lot of people, they don’t want to admit that. I went to an old country church some years ago, and I came out of a big church.
03:53 In that old country church, that preacher got up there, and he was screaming. I’m not going to say he was loud or loudly preaching.
04:05 No, that man was yelling and screaming, frothing at the mouth, talking about all the sin in this world and all the sinners and all, and I looked around and said, man, there must be some really bad people in here.
04:13 It took me two or three years before I realized that man was preaching to me, amen. We have to realize our sin need. Once we realize our need, that we can’t resolve our sin on our own, that nothing we can do can fix our sin, we trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
04:25 Him being perfect and sinless, going to the cross, literally dying on the cross, being buried three days, which in the Jewish tradition means that you’re fully dead once you’re buried three days, and then risen again by God himself, rose him from the grave.
04:38 We know now he’s the Messiah, amen? The resurrected Christ walked this earth 40 days and 40 nights, was seen by over 500, ascended up to the right hand of the Father. He’s there today, alive and well.
04:49 When you trust on Jesus Christ, you’re saved, and once you’re saved, now you’re born again.
04:56 Now you’re a child of God. We’re all created by God, but we’re not all children of God. Children of God are those that are born again, and those that are born again believe in the gospel I just preached.
05:03 You can find it in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, and throughout the whole Bible, truly you can find it. Also, of course, we can go down Romans Road as well, look that up.
05:13 But once you trust in Jesus, you get saved, you believe on Jesus Christ, and you’re saved.
05:17 Now you’re a child of God, and now you inherit a lot. You inherit eternal life in heaven. The Bible says your name is written down in the Lamb’s book of life, never to be blotted out, never to be erased.
05:29 So, you’re going to have eternal life in heaven. You now have peace with God, you’re reconciled to God, so you’re no longer at war with God, and you get heavenly rewards.
05:41 You get heavenly rewards for what you do here on earth for the kingdom, which you do by the work of the Holy Spirit, and you also inherit these promises of God.
05:48 And one of the great promises of God is that he will give you rest. Matthew 11:28-30, come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will 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.
06:04 So we’ve gone over that verse a few times, but what does it mean? Number one, it means that a promise from God is unbreakable.
06:11 James 1:17, every good gift, every perfect gift, by the way, a good and perfect gift is giving rest to a weary soul, because that’s very, very hard to find. It’s impossible to find in this world, if you ask me, but the impossible is possible with God.
06:25 Every good and perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
06:34 So James 1:17 says, in kind of short order, everything that God gives that’s good, he’s not going to change. He never changes.
06:44 So he made this promise 2,000 some years ago, it’s written in his word, it’s still as relevant and true today as it was when it was written. So the promise is sure. Secondly, Jesus calls himself meek and lowly.
06:57 Why would the King of kings and Lord of lords call himself that? Because he wants us to understand that he’s relatable. He’s one that suffered like we have.
07:09 Imagine you, maybe you’re out there listening today, and you don’t have a whole lot, and you’re suffering, and you don’t have a whole lot.
07:16 Maybe someone would laugh at your suffering. I remember a brother and sister in Christ that were talking about their kids fighting over food.
07:25 You know, there was only a little food in the house, and I can relate to that as a child, but I can imagine a child that’s always had their pantry full saying, what? What does that even mean?
07:36 They can’t relate to it, right? Imagine going to, the example I gave to our congregation was like going to Lake Norman and picking out a mansion on Lake Norman and knocking on the door.
07:48 And the owner opens the door, and you tell them about your problem trying to make a car payment. And the owner’s looking around like, what? I don’t know that problem.
07:57 I have a million dollars in the bank, and my dad had a million dollars, and his dad had a million dollars, right? He doesn’t know that problem.
08:06 He can’t relate to that. Jesus is saying, I’m meek and lowly. Jesus is saying, what you have gone through, I have gone through.
08:12 Jesus is saying, you’re facing homelessness, fox have holes and birds have nests. The son of God has nowhere to lay his head. You’re saying, you don’t have money?
08:23 I had to ask Peter to show me a penny.
08:26 You’re saying that people have turned their back on you? Look how many people turned their back on me when I preached the true will of God. You’re having problems in your vocation or what God’s called you to do?
08:36 Look at all the problems I’ve had. Jesus is saying, I’m meek and lowly, as in I’ve humbled myself.
08:44 I’ve condescended myself down to mankind. Even though I’m perfect and sinless, I haven’t used that for leverage or for success or fame or pride.
08:50 But quite the contrary, I’ve lived this life so that I can relate to your need.
08:59 I’ve been tempted like you. I’ve felt your infirmities. You see? So what you are going through, I can give you that kind of rest because I identify with what you’re going through.
09:07 You see, Jesus is meek and lowly, amen. He will provide a rest that is relevant to where you are at, amen.
09:14 Some people, they might just need a break. You see some people in the ministry, ooh, they get going here, there, and everywhere. They just need a break.
09:23 South Mountain, I think it’s South Mountain Church Camp, they run something for pastors up there where they can just come up there and just hang on a hammock by a stream for a couple of days. That’s what some people need. I can relate to that.
09:36 Sometimes you get so caught up in the ministry, you just need like literally unplug. Some people, they need like time away from an obligation. Imagine a mom with like seven or eight kids.
09:45 She just needs like date night with her husband or like a weekend to herself, you know? You know, you have an auto mechanic and they’ve got a really rough boss and every day they’re going to work and they’re just getting chewed out.
09:56 Maybe they just need like a break to just put things in perspective. Take them, instead of fixing a car, maybe they can go to a car show and just look at a car and look at nice cars, look at a car.
10:05 Look at any car, no. Look at a nice car or whatever. That’s, hey, that, some people say that’s relaxing.
10:10 God knows, amen. Some people, car people, I might be one of them, you know, give you rest, amen. So think about that. God knows. I’m a sports fan and, you know, every once in a while I’ll be working here and I’ll be stressed out and the Lord will just kind of like, I don’t know how to describe it, just kind of like, oh, why don’t you just watch a baseball game for a little bit, you know?
10:29 It doesn’t even matter who’s playing, just like, you know, 30 minutes or an hour or something.
10:36 Just take a break, you know? God will give you rest. Does that make sense? He knows exactly what you need, but I’m giving you very surface, very kind of like human worldly examples. God will give you a rest that is soulful, that is deeper than that.
10:44 He’ll give you a soulful rest. The soul is the deepest part of us, right? Think about this. Some wicked sinner can have a good night’s sleep.
10:51 They could. They can have a good night’s sleep, but they don’t have true peace. They don’t have a soulful rest, amen.
11:00 They’re still headed for hell, amen. But Jesus Christ will give you a rest that is incredible because like, for example, this deeper issue of we’re trying to earn our salvation.
11:10 We’re trying to put ourselves under the law, like we have to do all these things, amen. And God will give us a rest that’s like, no, you don’t have to do anything.
11:17 ou’re not under condemnation. You’re saved, amen? All you’re working for is heavenly rewards.
11:22 Take a break, relax, amen. Again, God will give us that kind of rest. He knows exactly what we need. He is easy and light.
11:36 He’s not burdened down. He’s not struggling, okay? He’s not panicked by the way the world goes. And by the way, he was found without sin.
11:39 This implies he was perfect. He never sinned. So God is perfect.
11:43 He understands. You know, recently I preached on don’t worry. God doesn’t want us to worry out of Matthew six.
11:51 Then Jesus gives the example of both a bird and a flower, right? The fowl of the air and the lily to help us understand that these helpless creation of God are provided for.
12:04 And we are more precious to God than the bird and the lily, right? And the lily in particular is very temporal. It’s here for what? A week, a month, a year? I don’t know how long they last.
12:20 Not a year, but it’s definitely gone in the frost. I know that, okay? I don’t know much, but I know in the frost, those things are gone. But the lily’s not here long and God provides and dresses the lily.
12:22 The bird, we don’t know, you know, how long they’re here for. God provides and takes care of them. Is God not gonna provide for us? Why worry? And is God not gonna provide rest to those that have trusted in his son, Jesus Christ?
12:34 I mean, if we being earthly creatures know how to take care of our kids, and not everyone does and I know that, but many, many do.
12:43 Many good Christian folks love their kids and would do anything for their kids. Now, go ahead and take that up to the throne of God and his perfection and his riches and his glory.
12:52 Is he not gonna come down to earth and take care of his own, amen, when they go to him?
12:59 The operative word here, by the way, to wrap this up as we close out, is come unto me.
13:05 Matthew 11:28, as it starts, come unto me. Now, who is me? That’s Jesus. He’s saying, come to him.
13:11 He doesn’t need to wrestle you down to give you peace. You go to him. Make Jesus your source of rest.
13:17 Make Jesus your source of peace. Say, okay, today, premeditated, when I get stressed out, and I know I will, you know, when I’m in that rush hour traffic, I’m not going to man, I’m going to Jesus, amen.
13:29 I’m going to Jesus because he is my king, he is my Lord, and he will settle me and he will give me rest.
13:35 He’ll give me that surface rest, he’ll give me that peace that I need, but that peace surpasses all understanding because it’s so deep and involves the knowledge of the kingdom and of eternity and things that will go on forever and will be wonderful, a place where there’s no sin and no pain and no sickness.
13:52 That’s the kind of rest that Jesus provides that no one else can, and the world is missing out on it every single day, but you don’t have to, friend.
14:00 If you haven’t been saved, make today the day you trust Jesus as your Lord and savior, and if you’ve been saved, then take him up on his promise.
14:08 His promise is sure, and all he’s waiting for you to do is to come to him. Go to him, and he will give you rest. Go to Jesus, amen, and he will give you rest.
14:17 One more time, go to Jesus Christ, and he will give you rest. It’s in his word, he’s promised to do it. I thank you so much for listening today.
14:24 Tune in next time. Take care. God bless, and amen.