Transcript

The Complexities and Intimacy of Salvation

Matthew 11:25-30
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Pastor Randy Smith

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"I don't know."

As we increase in education those words become more unacceptable. The goal of academics is to provide an answer for everything. Say "I don't know" too often in higher education and you'll find yourself looking for another university!

Does the Christian faith work in the same way? For a long time, I thought it did. I felt I needed to have complete knowledge of the will of God. I believed I could fully comprehend His actions. I domesticated God. I limited His abilities. I managed Him very well. And when someone had a question about God, I presumed it was wrong to respond with, "I don't know."

Isaiah 55:8-9, "'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' declares the LORD. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.'

Recently our small group got into an excellent discussion regarding the Trinity. "But Pastor Randy, how does one God exist as three Persons?" Fifteen years ago Pastor Randy would have attempted to answer that question. That evening Pastor Randy's response was, "I don't know." I've heard all the illustrations from the three properties of water to the parts of an egg to a three-leaved clover to the man who can be a father, son and husband at the same time. And do you know what, each of them border on heresy because each of them fall short of what the Bible teaches. The Father is God. The Son is God. The Spirit is God. But there is only one God. My human mind must leave it at that because it is not equipped to take it any further.

We must get to a point in our Christian faith when we simply allow God to be God. It's preposterous how much we in our limited wisdom think we can totally comprehend the incomprehensible. Our God is unlike us. Our God is infinite. Our God is self-sufficient. Our God is independent of His creation. As Psalm 115:3 states, "Our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases."

Salvation is a great example of this point. The Bible makes it clear that people are fully responsible to come to Christ. Romans 1 declares that God has provided enough revelation of Himself in creation to leave all men without excuse. Last week in verses 21-24 we learned about the wrath that Jesus promised several Jewish cities because they did not turn to Him in repentance.

Yet at the same time the Bible also makes it clear that we as humans are totally depraved. Ephesians 2:1 says we are "dead in [our] trespasses and sins." Spiritually dead people are unable to come to Christ. God must change our hearts. He must give us the gift of faith and repentance. God must initiate. As Jesus said in John 6:44, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him." We cannot take any credit for our spiritual birth any more than we can take credit for our physical birth. First Corinthians 1, "So that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus" (1 Cor. 1:29-30).

So people ask me, "How can both of these be true?" And rather than concoct an unbiblical system to fit God into my little theological box I merely respond by saying, "I don't know. That is simply what the Bible teaches."

You see beloved, we often go astray in these areas because we begin with the concept of fairness. You have got to drop that belief when it comes to God. If we want fairness, we all deserve hell. That must always be our starting point.

Was it fair to select Abraham of all the other citizens in Ur? Was it fair to preserve Noah's family when the others drowned? Why was Israel chosen to be God's people over the Philistines? As we learned last week, why did Capernaum receive more revelation than Sodom? Is it fair for you to enjoy three meals a day because God gave you America and the little child in Africa dies of starvation because she was born in a different continent? And if you really want to talk about fairness, was it fair for Jesus Christ to die on a cross for your sins?

"All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, 'What have You done?'" (Dan. 4:35).

"On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, 'Why did you make me like this,' will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?" (Rom. 9:20-21).

Today's sermon is a classic example of what appears to be two contradictory passages, but in reality are two passages that remind us of God's infinite wisdom in comparison to our finite minds. Based on their proximity in Scripture, it appears that God is making a point regarding the complexity and intimacy of salvation. First we will see how God reveals Himself to people and then we will see how He receives people who come to Him in faith.

1. THE GOD WHO REVEALS

Let's first look at the God who reveals.

In verses 20-24, Jesus with the strongest of language, described the awful fate of those who reject God - judgment beyond that of Sodom (Mt. 11:24). The emotional response from our Lord? Grief? Sorrow? Anger? No, praise.

Verse 25, "At that time Jesus said, 'I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.'"

Regardless of how people responded to the gospel, Jesus praised His Father because as the Lord of heaven and earth, the "Lord of heaven and earth" has the sovereign prerogative to reveal and conceal as He wishes. God is not frustrated by the decisions of men. Even in their rejection we clearly see here that He receives praise.

Premier scholar D.A. Carson said of this verse, "Far from bemoaning or finding fault with His Father's revealing and concealing, Jesus delighted in it" (Mathew, EBC, p. 275).

It seems that whatever pleased the Father also pleased the Son. Verse 26, "Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight."

All in all I have found wise to never imagine God's sovereign will being thwarted. Is God grieved and angered over the actions of humans? Absolutely! But nothing catches Him by surprise. Nothing happens without His decree. And everything from cancer to terrorists to earthquakes has a purpose that He is ultimately behind. Based upon my understanding of the Bible, I can never imagine the God that I know wringing His hands in heaven wishing things had gone another way or needing to ever resort to "Plan B." He is the Lord of heaven and earth" (Mt. 11:25). He micromanages the universe. Everything happens, Ephesians 1:11, "according to His purpose, [because He] works all things after the counsel of His will" (cf. Isa. 46:10). And I cannot imagine being in heaven and looking back and ever finding one event that will not be worthy of God's praise. Though we do not see it now, we walk by faith (2 Cor. 5:7) and believe Romans 8:28 "that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." All things, even the bad stuff that God permits has a purpose.

In verse 27 Jesus turns from His prayer of praise to words for His disciples. He expands the content of His prayer and discloses some profound truth about Himself.

First He said, "All things have been handed over to Me by My Father." As part of the Father's marvelous plan of salvation all things have been handed over to the Son. According to J.C. Ryle that means, "He bears the keys - to Him we must go for admission into heaven. He is the door - through Him we must enter. He is the Shepherd - we must hear His voice, and follow Him, if we would not perish in the wilderness. He is the Physician - we must apply to Him, if we would be healed of the plague of sin. He is the bread of life - we must feed on Him, if we would have our souls satisfied. He is the light - we must walk after Him, if we would not wander in darkness. He is the fountain< - we must wash in His blood, if we would be cleansed, and made ready for the great day of account" (Commentary, Matthew 11).

Second Jesus says, "And no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son." Not only is Jesus given all authority (cf. Mt. 28:18), but here Jesus expresses His unique relationship with the Father. He is unlike us in this area. He is unlike all the spiritual heroes of the Bible. Only Jesus can make this claim in verse 27 because only Jesus is fully God. "I and the Father are one" (Jn. 10:30). "Before Abraham was born, I am" (Jn. 8:58). When they heard these comments, the Jewish leaders knew exactly what Jesus was claiming. It was bad enough that He called God His "Father" (Mt. 11:25). It was worse that He claimed equality with the Father.

Third, Jesus says, "Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." No one can know the Father but through the Son. And according to this verse, the Son reveals the Father to whom He wills. As Paul said in 1 Timothy 6:15, Jesus Christ is "the blessed and only Sovereign."

Well, let's turn the corner. God is sovereign but that does not mean we are treated as robots. We go from the God who reveals to the God who receives.

2. THE GOD WHO RECEIVES

Look at verse 28. Immediately after expressing His sovereign will, Jesus says, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."

The gracious invitation goes out to all. But who will receive it? Let's stay within the context! The ones to whom God will reveal Himself. And who are they? According to verse 25, they are not the "wise and intelligent," but rather the "infants."

Now this has nothing to do with intellectual age or human intelligence. The "infants" that Jesus is speaking about are the humble, the "poor in spirit" (Mt. 5:3). In chapter 18, verse 3 He said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." We are talking about people not depending on their own resources - spiritually bankrupt, desperate for God's saving hand. It is to these people who are "weary" and "heavy-ladened" in this context that Jesus says, "Come…and I will give you rest" (Mt. 11:28; cf. Jer. 31:25).

Rest from what? Rest from the burden of trying to find acceptance from God. Rest from anxiety and remorse and guilt and fear and despair. Rest from a stained conscience. Rest from purposelessness and dissatisfaction and unfulfillment. Rest from wondering where you will spend eternity. Every human is wired by God to strive for an answer to these problems. God is the solution. The world is noted for its unrest. And most of the world will reject this offer. But God offers to all the peace our soul so eagerly craves if we come to Him on His terms.

There is not only a present rest, but also an eternal rest in Christ. Like everything in the Old Testament, the Sabbath itself pointed to Jesus Christ. The Sabbath was a time of rest. Jesus Christ has fulfilled the law (Mt. 5:17) and has become our Sabbath rest. As the writer to the Hebrews stated, "For we who have believed enter that rest… For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His" (Heb. 4:3, 10). Since Jesus Christ purchased our salvation by His work on the cross, we may be assured of our acceptance by God, resting in Christ now and looking forward to heaven, an ultimate rest in our eternal home.

But just because we have a rest does not mean Jesus has given us permission to be a "couch potato!" Coming to Christ is a call to service (Lk. 4:8), a call to be living sacrifices (Rom. 12:2), a call to "work out [our] salvation" (Phil. 2:12). So we work, but not unto salvation. We work, but not as boxing the air (1 Cor. 9:26). We work, but not without joy and excitement. We work, but not without His strength. We understand that our work is serving the Lord in everything we do. Our perspective has totally changed. Therefore we still work, but there is now a rest within that work.

This week I was given the privilege to see a number of individuals from our church transform this sanctuary into a swamp for VBS. They were non-stop for two days. They were working very hard but in a sense it was not work. Why? Because God gave them a joy and a power and a satisfaction to do His work.

Work is implied in verse 29 when Jesus says, "Take My yoke upon you." A yoke was a wooden contraption that fit the neck and shoulders of an animal. When the animal saw the yoke he didn't say, "Vacation," he knew the work was coming. The purpose of the yoke was so the animal could be directed by the farmer. The yoke naturally became a common metaphor in religious circles for union with God and submissiveness to do His will. We are yoked with Jesus. "Learn[ing] from [Jesus]" (Mt. 11:29), total fidelity to be identified with Christ and followers His will.

And before our minds gravitate too much to a wooded plank weighing down and chaffing the animal, Jesus says in verse 30, "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." The Jews were well familiar with heavy burdens. Their ancestors suffered under the oppression of Pharaoh's taskmasters. They presently suffered under the legalist burdens of the Pharisees. But being yoked to Jesus is easy with a light burden - salvation by grace, empowerment for service, purpose and satisfaction in life. Walking the narrow path but never walking alone. No trial too heavy, no command too difficult, no calling too complex, no empathy too cold and no assistance too remote.

Why? Because as Jesus says in verse 29, "I am gentle and humble in heart." And because the Savior in His innermost being is compassionate, He can promise as verse 29 states, "You will find rest for your souls" (Jer. 6:16). Coming to Christ, receiving His yoke means rest. Knowing this should not surprise us that anxiety and complaining and fear and disorder will not characterize the life of a true believer. Our shepherd gives His sheep rest.

Last week as I was preparing the sermon I broke out in laughter. It hit me like it never had before. I thought to myself, what am I doing, is there anything more outrageous than speaking on God's behalf to His people? Here I am, puny little Randy Smith, here today-gone tomorrow, finite mind, still struggling with sin. And I am going to stand before you and declare the eternal Holy Word of the living God? I feel extremely uncomfortable, but I do it because this is how God has decreed for His sheep to be fed.

There is no room for pompous preachers. There is no room for pompous Christians, ether. Isaiah 40:28 says, "His understanding is inscrutable" (NIV - "no one can fathom"). And to those who dare to think they have God figured out, Psalm 2:4 tells us, "He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them."

The more I walk with the Lord and grow in the knowledge of His will, the more I am realizing what I don't know. "I don't know" - I find myself saying that more often. I don't know why God takes the lives of little children. I don't know why God-honoring Christians sometimes can't catch a break in life. I don't know why devastating storms hit certain parts of the world. And I don't know why some people are more exposed to the Gospel than others.

I don't know a lot - but there are a few things that I do know, a few things that I hold with the utmost confidence because God has revealed them in the Bible. I know God will accept anyone who comes to Him in faith. I know God will return and reward His own. I know God has given us the Bible and that the Bible is true. I know God has a good plan for the lives of His children. And I know God decreed and used the greatest evil ever committed (the Son of God was murdered!) to bring forth our greatest good.