1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:17,920
Invitations. Do you like getting them? Yes? No? Depends? Birthday parties. Kids usually

2
00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:27,200
like going to birthday parties. I see somebody smiling down here. A dinner invitation. Can

3
00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:36,040
you come over to my house for dinner? Sure. That means I don't have to cook. Young people.

4
00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:45,160
A date. Guys are usually a little trepidatious about asking because they don't know whether

5
00:00:45,160 --> 00:00:53,200
the girl is going to say yes or not. But generally, invitation to a date is a good thing. Invitation

6
00:00:53,200 --> 00:01:02,680
to come to church. Some people are like, yeah. Some people are like, eh. A tea. Now guys

7
00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:14,840
probably a thumbs down on that one. Most ladies go, sure. A sporting event. Guys, mostly thumbs

8
00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:24,840
up. Some gals thumbs up and some of us go, really? An invitation to be a partner. A golf

9
00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:33,960
partner if you're into that. So most of those are good invitations. Some invitations are

10
00:01:33,960 --> 00:01:49,440
a command. A parent who invites his child or her child to go shopping. Most boys are

11
00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:59,360
thumbs up or thumbs down? Thumbs down. Most guys, ugh. They don't like that. Most girls,

12
00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:08,560
thumbs up. I saw that instant. Thumbs up. Yeah. You either love it or you hate it, but

13
00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:18,600
is it an invitation you can refuse? No. We have an invitation and a command to Sabbath

14
00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:25,680
worship. I would hope everybody here is eager to accept that invitation. Then there's another

15
00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:33,520
kind of an invitation. How about if the President of the United States invited you to go to

16
00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:46,440
a party? As an invitation, but you think you sort of got to show up? Yeah. You do. You

17
00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:52,400
sort of have to show up and at that point you might be concerned about, do I have the

18
00:02:52,400 --> 00:03:00,640
right clothes? I know I could go through my closet and go, uh-uh. I don't have those kind

19
00:03:00,640 --> 00:03:05,680
of clothes. But it's an invitation and it's a command. This morning we're going to look

20
00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:13,800
at one of these in the Bible that's invitation and a command. Jesus gave it several times

21
00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:23,800
in his ministry in our text that Paul read for us this morning. Come to me all you who

22
00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:29,480
labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn

23
00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:38,840
of me and you will find rest for your souls. There's actually two commands in that verse.

24
00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:46,400
There's come and there's take my yoke. We're going to focus mostly on come, although we'll

25
00:03:46,400 --> 00:04:01,360
do a little bit with the yoke. It's a command and an invitation. If you want what is promised,

26
00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:11,360
you better take the invitation. He promised rest and he said come. Come as you are. Give

27
00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:19,040
yourself to him, holy, completely, without reservation. It might be interesting or important

28
00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:27,320
to know what Jesus meant when he gave this command. Come. We in English, we have one

29
00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:34,880
word for come and it's used in a whole bunch of different ways. It's like, oh, come on

30
00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:43,360
over or show up kind of come. In Greek, as far as I can tell, there are three and they

31
00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:49,920
each have different meanings. Jesus used the word come. He used all three of them, but

32
00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:56,280
this morning we're only going to focus on the one that was given as a command invitation.

33
00:04:56,280 --> 00:05:04,680
The word is diute. That's the best I can do pronouncing it. Sounds kind of like our word

34
00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:17,560
duty and it's probably it's rude. But it means come. Come now. Come hither. Follow. It's

35
00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:25,080
a verb for those of you who are English people. In its imperative form, it's a command. Do

36
00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:37,480
it now. Come. Show up. Well, if you look back at the test, who's invited? Those who are,

37
00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:44,480
those who labor and are heavy laden. That could be physical work and some of you do

38
00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:51,560
that kind of physical work that makes you tired. It can be work that has problems at

39
00:05:51,560 --> 00:06:01,160
work and that just wears at you. I know some of you have jobs that are wearing. It could

40
00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:07,840
be financial problems, just not having quite enough to make it. But I believe it applies

41
00:06:07,840 --> 00:06:17,360
mostly to those with heavy spiritual and emotional burdens and those who bury bear a huge load

42
00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:27,240
for other people. We are invited to come no matter the type of labor and no matter how

43
00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:36,120
heavy the burden is. We are invited to come. We're also told to take his yoke and learn

44
00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:46,120
of him. If we take the yoke, we submit to be yoked for him, yoked with him. A yoke joins

45
00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:55,560
two, usually two animals together, okay, for the purpose of work. Cows pull a wagon, a

46
00:06:55,560 --> 00:07:05,400
cart, a plow when they're yoked together. The good news is this yoke is his yoke and

47
00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:13,560
he bears the heaviest part of the load. It means yielding myself to his training, submitting

48
00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:22,360
to his will, and making my whole life one with him. In other words, abide in Christ

49
00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:29,160
and more on that later. What's the promise in that verse that we read to start out with?

50
00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:45,120
Come unto me and I will give you rest. We all need that. Rest from work, yes. How about

51
00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:56,920
rest from self-direction? And if you do that, you just make a decision and you go with it.

52
00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:08,160
I'll have to own, I do that. But this is a rest from always doing that. It's rest from

53
00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:16,840
trying to work our way to heaven. Anybody tried that? How's it working for you? It doesn't

54
00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:25,840
work, does it? Okay. It can be rest from trying to solve other people's problems. That can

55
00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:32,480
be a really heavy load. And there are people who do that. I don't know how they do it day

56
00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:47,400
in and day out. But you can have rest from that. Rest is found in depending on Jesus.

57
00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:53,520
That's the only place it comes from. This rest is in Christ. It's not something he gives

58
00:08:53,520 --> 00:09:04,000
apart from himself. The rest comes only in joining with him and abiding, remaining and

59
00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:15,240
staying not with him but in him. There's a difference. There's a preposition in the Greek

60
00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:25,120
that drives me crazy. And in English we just say en. It's en in English. And it can be

61
00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:35,720
translated as with, by, beside, on top of, under, in, into. It can be translated all

62
00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:43,240
those ways. And it drives me nuts. Okay? So I pinned Aaron down at prayer meeting Wednesday

63
00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:50,280
night and I said, Aaron, this is driving me nuts. How do I know which preposition to use?

64
00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:58,600
And he told me it depends upon the case of the noun. In English we don't have them. But

65
00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:05,240
in Greek apparently they have five or six of them. And because when it says to abide

66
00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:13,840
in Christ, it's the case that Christ is, that noun Christ is in that makes it in. That was

67
00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:24,920
more than I knew before Wednesday night. But if we abide in him, it's not the same as abiding

68
00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:36,120
with him. Abide in him. He says, I will abide in you and you will abide in me. It's joining

69
00:10:36,120 --> 00:10:48,520
ourselves to him. Do I understand it completely? No. But I'm striving for it. Okay? Abide in

70
00:10:48,520 --> 00:11:00,120
him. Okay. Jesus gave this call several times. In Mark it says the apostles gathered to Jesus

71
00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:06,000
and told him all the things, both what they had done and what they had taught. It was

72
00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:11,200
when he sent them out. He'd been teaching them. He sent them out and they were telling

73
00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:19,480
him all, came back and told him everything they'd done. And he said to them, come aside,

74
00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:27,960
come aside to a deserted place and rest awhile for there were many coming and going and they

75
00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:39,680
didn't even have time to eat. He said, come and do what? Rest. Come and rest. And they

76
00:11:39,680 --> 00:11:47,400
went. It's still important to set aside time to rest, to spend personal time with Jesus.

77
00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:55,080
We're not meant to be machines driven to always work, not even spiritual work. Pastors and

78
00:11:55,080 --> 00:12:00,120
teachers sometimes get caught in this trap and some of the rest of you do too, is working

79
00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:06,040
and working and working and working and not having or taking, we always have the time,

80
00:12:06,040 --> 00:12:14,120
not taking the time to spend with him. He calls us to rest in him, to spend time with

81
00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:23,040
him, to take time apart from life's busyness. Ask yourself a question, does that fit my

82
00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:33,680
life? I know when I was teaching full time as a teacher, teacher principal, I worked

83
00:12:33,680 --> 00:12:48,560
60 to 70 hours a week. Kids think vacations are for them. Guess what? The teachers need

84
00:12:48,560 --> 00:13:00,120
it as much as they do. But his call to come isn't just for vacation. His call to come

85
00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:11,160
is do it now. Remember that was part of the definition. Come and rest. Come and abide.

86
00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:19,560
Early in Jesus' ministry, shortly after his baptism, he was walking by the Sea of Galilee

87
00:13:19,560 --> 00:13:26,360
and he saw Simon and Andrew and his brother casting a net into the sea for they were fishermen.

88
00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:33,040
And he said to them, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. Now that word follow

89
00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:44,040
is the same word as come. Come. I will make you fishers of men. They immediately left

90
00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:55,880
their nets and followed him. So when Jesus gives you the invitation, come, when is the

91
00:13:55,880 --> 00:14:08,060
appropriate time to do it? Now. Immediately. Jesus wanted to make them fishers of men.

92
00:14:08,060 --> 00:14:14,840
They followed him. They remained physically, they remained with him, physically abided

93
00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:23,640
or dwelt with him during his ministry. And after his death, they learned to spiritually

94
00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:35,800
abide with him. More on that later. Then there's Zacchaeus. Now all kids love Zacchaeus, right?

95
00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:42,000
Because he was little. And I think some of the adults who were short probably appreciate

96
00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:48,900
that as well. I wasn't blessed with shortness. My dad was six foot one and he almost gave

97
00:14:48,900 --> 00:14:55,920
me every inch of it. I'm glad I didn't get to six foot one. But there are people who

98
00:14:55,920 --> 00:15:03,800
are born short. And so Zacchaeus is precious. And Jesus came to him and he said, Zacchaeus,

99
00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:13,040
be haste and come down. There's that word come again. Come down. For today I must stay,

100
00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:22,640
abide, same word, at your house. So who was there? Jesus, the crowd, and Zacchaeus up

101
00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:36,960
in a tree. He was a chief tax collector, a sinner, not lightly regarded by the townspeople.

102
00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:45,400
His name ironically meant pure and innocent. Isn't that interesting? His name meant pure

103
00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:53,240
and innocent. He wanted to see Jesus. It was given to him, this invitation or command,

104
00:15:53,240 --> 00:16:00,520
however you want to look at it, was given to a man who was considered the worst of sinners

105
00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:08,080
and yet salvation came to him because he desired to see Jesus. He wanted to see him. He wanted

106
00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:16,880
something better than what he had. We need to remember that Jesus is calling those we

107
00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:26,160
might deem to be unworthy. You know? There's people like that where we figure they deserve

108
00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:34,560
what they're going to get. But Jesus is calling them too. You know? Most of us have a person

109
00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:39,520
in our life, if we're really honest, we can look and we can say, you know what? They're

110
00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:54,280
going to get theirs one day. Jesus is calling them too. There's a clue hidden in this story.

111
00:16:54,280 --> 00:17:07,160
Jesus said, come down. Today I must abide at your house. He came to dinner at his house

112
00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:18,000
and physically abided in Zacchaeus' house. But when he left, Zacchaeus continued to spiritually

113
00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:28,640
abide with Jesus. And this is what we're called to do, is spiritually abide in Jesus.

114
00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:37,160
Here's another one. The wedding feast. One of the many. But this is the one where the

115
00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:43,960
master told the servants, tell those who are invited to come. I've prepared my dinner.

116
00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:52,520
My oxen, my fatted cattle are killed. And things are ready. Come to the wedding. That's

117
00:17:52,520 --> 00:18:00,160
an invitation and a command. Come to the wedding. But when they went out, those that were invited

118
00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:10,400
didn't come. They said, ah, I don't want to go to that wedding. And they seized his

119
00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:16,800
servants. They treated them spitefully and killed them. The king wasn't very happy. And

120
00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:23,760
we're not going to explore all the ins and outs of this parable. But then he said to

121
00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:31,320
his servants, the wedding is ready. But those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore,

122
00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:38,280
go to the highway and hedges. And as many as you find, invite to the wedding. So the

123
00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:43,560
servants went out into the highways and gathered together, all whom they found, both good and

124
00:18:43,560 --> 00:18:52,440
bad. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. Jesus is still going to the highways

125
00:18:52,440 --> 00:19:05,960
and hedges, inviting all to come. Not all answer the call. The call has given at all

126
00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:15,480
times. And it's still being given today to come. After the resurrection, the disciples

127
00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:24,120
went fishing. Jesus cast the net on the right side of the net boat because they hadn't caught

128
00:19:24,120 --> 00:19:30,800
any fish. He said, yeah, throw it on the right side. Some figure that that was the side Jesus

129
00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:38,160
was on. I don't know how they figured that, but I like the idea. And it became so full.

130
00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:43,120
It had 153 fish in it. That's a pretty large catch when you haven't caught anything all

131
00:19:43,120 --> 00:19:51,360
night. And Peter had to drag it up. And then Jesus said something. He said, come and eat

132
00:19:51,360 --> 00:20:01,760
breakfast. That same word. Do it now. Come hither. Come and eat. The disciples didn't

133
00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:09,280
ask any questions because they knew it had to be Jesus. I mean, who else had put 153

134
00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:16,640
fish in their net? They knew it was Jesus. Why is this an important little thing? You

135
00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:25,200
know, just this little clip. The disciples who had been abiding with Jesus for over three

136
00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:36,280
years, when Jesus died, was resurrected, they went back to their old occupation, catching

137
00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:47,520
fish. He promised to make them fishes of men, but now he invites them to cast their net.

138
00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:57,480
And then he invites them to come and eat breakfast. While he was offering physical food, fish,

139
00:20:57,480 --> 00:21:02,860
you kind of got to wonder where he got the fish. I don't know. But he had fish already

140
00:21:02,860 --> 00:21:07,920
prepared while they were dragging the fish up. But more than that, he was offering them

141
00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:18,240
spiritual food and he gave them assurance that he was still with him. When we abide in Jesus,

142
00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:28,880
we partake of spiritual food. It's rich. It's good. Now, this abiding business, to abide

143
00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:38,180
means to remain or to stay. It's not, this is a long term relationship, just as Jesus

144
00:21:38,180 --> 00:21:49,240
meant to be with Zacchaeus. It's long term to abide. It's not on again, off again. They

145
00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:57,160
were called to abide with him and he left some really, some amazing promises. He said,

146
00:21:57,160 --> 00:22:05,040
oh, I'm with you always, even to the end of the world. It was for them. It's also for

147
00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:13,920
us. I'm with you always. So how are we supposed to do this? Okay, this abiding business, he

148
00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:21,080
said that he would abide in us and we were to abide in him. The teacher in me has to

149
00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:29,120
get to the, all right, tell me how. Right? Tell me how. You tell me I'm supposed to,

150
00:22:29,120 --> 00:22:35,160
but if you don't tell me how, I only know I'm supposed to. I don't know how to get there.

151
00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:41,720
Well, I'm still in school and I'm still learning this abiding business. I think most of you

152
00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:50,320
would own that you're in that same position. You're still learning to abide. Again, it's

153
00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:59,840
not an off again, on again thing, but the first thing it requires is a relationship.

154
00:22:59,840 --> 00:23:06,880
You have to come before you can abide. That's why Jesus said come. He said come and abide

155
00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:15,640
and this relationship requires time. I'll tell you when you're working 60 and 70 hours

156
00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:24,840
a week, that time is really hard to come up with. By the time you cook, you do laundry,

157
00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:32,920
you clean the house and you teach school, all you want to do is go to bed and catch

158
00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:42,000
some sleep. Right? Well, I no longer do that. I don't have an excuse. Some of you work really

159
00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:50,440
long hours, but he's still calling you to come and abide. So here's the how to as I

160
00:23:50,440 --> 00:24:06,840
understand it. First, I must come. Not just once, but repeatedly, daily, hourly, I must

161
00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:21,680
come to him. Next, in any relationship there's communication. I need to talk and I need to

162
00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:28,760
listen. Now, I'm really good about talking. Those of you who know me know I can do that

163
00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:42,400
pretty well. Question is, how well do I listen? When I spend time with Jesus, that's the hardest

164
00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:54,440
part for me is to shut up, be quiet and listen. I don't know about you, but that's hard for

165
00:24:54,440 --> 00:25:06,280
me to just be still and see what he would say. I learned from reading his word and I

166
00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:17,680
listen to what I'm reading. I'm hearing that, but he wants to be more personal than that.

167
00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:27,760
He wants us to just take a bit of time and listen to what he has to say. My sister actually

168
00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:34,200
taught me that. I hate to tell you how long ago she taught me. I wish I had learned it

169
00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:44,040
when I was 20. It took me way longer than that to learn that. So listening happens both

170
00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:53,840
by spending time in the word and listening to what the word says and by just being still.

171
00:25:53,840 --> 00:26:02,960
Try it. It's harder than you think it is. At least it is for me. It requires time and

172
00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:10,200
conscious effort and it means this abiding business is living life from a different point

173
00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:19,640
of view. That's just what it is. His invitation or his command to come is given with the intent

174
00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:28,920
that we should develop a relationship with him, one that requires this abiding in him.

175
00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:37,880
Do we do it perfectly? Do I do it perfectly? I wish I could say yes. I perfectly abide

176
00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:43,400
in Christ all the time. The sorry part of that answer is I'm just like the rest of you

177
00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:53,920
folks. I falter, I fumble, I stumble, but that's my goal. This continuous abiding in

178
00:26:53,920 --> 00:27:04,560
Christ. We are human. Jesus wants this relationship with us. He doesn't cast us aside when we

179
00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:11,160
falter and when we fumble and when we stumble. He keeps working with us. He keeps drawing

180
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:19,600
us. He keeps abiding in us. So we're winding down here. What are the results of following

181
00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:27,040
Jesus? There's some amazing promises. This one comes from Matthew. When the Son of Man

182
00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:32,680
comes in his glory and all his only holy angels with him, then he shall sit on the throne

183
00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:38,880
of his glory and all the nations will be gathered before him. He will separate them one from

184
00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:45,160
another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And he will set the sheep on his

185
00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:52,280
right hand and the goats on the left hand. Then he will say to those who are on his right

186
00:27:52,280 --> 00:28:01,620
hand, come, you blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation

187
00:28:01,620 --> 00:28:14,180
of the world. His invitation is still, come, come. And then we have some final invitations.

188
00:28:14,180 --> 00:28:19,800
This one's really familiar with this. This one comes from Revelation. The last two come

189
00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:30,300
from Revelation. Revelation 3 20. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears

190
00:28:30,300 --> 00:28:43,520
my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with me. I

191
00:28:43,520 --> 00:28:55,540
will come in. I stand at the door and knock. If you just open the door, he'll come in.

192
00:28:55,540 --> 00:29:02,000
The last promise, this comes from Revelation 22 17, is so close to the end that it's almost

193
00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:11,800
there. The spirit and the bride say, come. Let him who hears say, come. And let him who

194
00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:21,940
thirsts, come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. So today the invitation

195
00:29:21,940 --> 00:29:32,160
is the same as it's always been. Come and abide with me. Really? It's the last invitation

196
00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:52,560
that's given. Come and abide. Come and abide.