ENTER INTO GOD’S- YEHOVAH’S REST

Matthew 11:27-30. Jesus declared: “All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your inner being. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

God has made the lord Messiah Jesus- Yeshua Lord over all things

This passage begins with a wonderful revelation of the glory of the lord Messiah Jesus- Yeshua. Here the lord Jesus- Yeshua says that everything has been handed over to him by the Father- Yehovah. “ALL THINGS,” THAT IS EVERYTHING THAT IS IN THE UNIVERSE, HAS BEEN PLACED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE LORD MESSIH JESUS- YESHUA.

Yehovah has appointed the lord Messiah Jesus- Yeshua as king over the entire universe, and everything and everyone who lives in it.

The lord Messiah Jesus- Yeshua did not say he is only in charge of the entire world, but the entire universe - every angel, every human being, every demon, every good and bad spirit - are all under his control. Only his God and his Father- Yehovah is excluded. Everything has been delivered to him by his God and Father- Yehovah! What a staggering revelation.

Jesus- Yeshua declared that only he knew God - Yehovah. In fact, he states that only God- Yehovah knew him! Only God, the Father- Yehovah knows the Son. Only the Son knows the Father- Yehovah. And no one knows the Father- Yehovah except those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

How does one come to true conviction?

There is only one way. God revealed it.

Matthew 11:25-26: “I thank you, Father- Yehovah, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes. Yes, Father- Yehovah, for such was your gracious will.”

This means that the only way you can come to a true conviction that Jesus- Yeshua is lord is by God- Yehovah speaking to you directly by His indwelling presence.

You must establish a direct relationship with God- Yehovah to become a follower of the lord Messiah Jesus- Yeshua.

The lord Messiah Jesus- Yeshua says in Matthew 11:27: “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father- Yehovah except the Son and whoever the Son will reveal Him.”

So, we see the only way to know God is through revelation. Revelation is always direct. It comes straight to you.

God- Yehovah never leaves us in the dark. He shows us the path of life.

Three steps to rest

There are three steps here, not one step. The three steps are: Come to me. The second one is: Take my yoke, and the third is: Learn of me.

So, there are three things to do: Come, take, and learn.

Do you find satisfaction in the lord Messiah Jesus- Yeshua? If you do, then you are one of the few joyful ones in the called-out Assembly. Do you find the rest in your inner being? Do you find the sweetness of fellowship with God- Yehovah? Do you find that whenever you pray, God- Yehovah answers you, and you experience the joy of that fellowship? Do you sense the indwelling power of the Spirit of God- Yehovah and of Jesus- Yeshua as a follower of the lord Messiah Jesus- Yeshua?

If you do, then it means that by God’s- Yehovah’s grace, you have totally surrendered your life to the lord Messiah Jesus- Yeshua, who surrendered his life to his God and his Father- Yehovah.

Three steps in discipleship

So, there are three things we need to do: to come, to take, and to learn.

One thing you will immediately discover when you look at these three words, is that every one of these three words has to do with discipleship. Unless you become a disciple of the lord Messiah Jesus- Yeshua, you will never know what it is to have his rest in your inner being.

Only when you truly become a disciple will you begin to know what true rest is, because the fullness of satisfaction, rest, and refreshing that God- Yehovah has in store for you is much more than what you have ever experienced.

1. Come, follow Jesus

So, the first word is “come.” It is Jesus ’-Yeshua’s call to us. We have been called. In the Bible, every true follower of the lord Messiah Jesus- Yeshua has been called. There is only one kind of calling in the Bible, and that is Jesus’ call to us to follow him.

Now, “come” is used in discipleship, and there are so many references: Mark 1:17, 10:21. In Mark 1:17, the lord Messiah Jesus- Yeshua says to the disciples, “Come after me.” In Mark 10:21, the lord Messiah Jesus- Yeshua says to the rich young man, “Come, follow me.”

2. Take on God’s-Yehovah’s yoke as a follower of the lord Messiah Jesus- Yeshua

The second word, “take,” is again used of discipleship. For example, Jesus says in Luke 9:23, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily [die to self daily] and follow me.” We find the same Greek word for “take” in both Luke 9:23 and Matthew 11:29. The word “yoke” is used about 50 times in the Old Testament. And in the Old Testament, to be under the yoke of a person or a nation metaphorically means to be under the authority of a person or a nation.

So, the prophets warned Israel that if you throw off God’s-Yehovah’s yoke, you are going to come under the yoke of an oppressing nation. And that is exactly what happened to Israel because they would not listen to the prophets. They came under the heavy and cruel yoke of the Babylonians and the Assyrians.

In life, there is no question of your not being under a yoke. You are either under God’s- Yehovah’s yoke, or you are under the yoke of sin [in bondage to sin].

Note: If you live under your own yoke, it simply means that you are under the yoke of sin [in bondage to sin]. So, we read in Romans Chapter 6 that you are either a slave of righteousness or a slave of sin. There is no middle ground between the two. None!

To take on the yoke of God- Yehhovah means three things

Live under the kingship of God

The first means disciples of the Lord Messiah Jesus- Yeshua live under the kingship of God in their lives.

Notice: Mark 12:29-30: ‘Listen, Israel, the Lord- Yehovah our God is only one. So, love the Lord- Yehovah your God with all your heart, with all your inner being, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ [This verse applies to the followers of the lord Messiah Jesus- Yeshua who have been grafted into the olive tree- Israel, and as such we become members of the Israel of God- Yehovah – Romans 11].

When a disciple of the lord Messiah Jesus- Yeshua commits himself/herself to the kingship of God, that means he will live under God’s sovereignty.

Second: taking on the yoke is to love God- Yehovah with all one’s being – one’s whole heart, inner being, strength, and mind.

Serve God- Yehovah

The third thing about taking on the yoke is to serve God. We see that also in Jeremiah 2:20.

When Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you,” to a disciple, he immediately understood these three things. He understood first that Jesus- Yeshua becomes king in his life, just as God is king in Jesus’- Yeshua’s life. He knows second that Jesus has a total demand upon his life to imitate him, to love God with all his heart and inner being, strength, and mind. The third thing he understands is that from now on, he lives to follow Jesus- Yeshua to serve God- Yehovah wholeheartedly.

Note: A follower of the lord Messiah Jesus- Yeshua has a circumcised heart; he is a spiritual Jew! If he is a “new creation” in the lord Messiah Jesus, he has been grafted into the Commonwealth of Israel, becoming an Israelite. [read Romans 11; Ephesians 2]]

Romans 2:28-29: For a spiritual Jew is not merely Jewish outwardly: true circumcision is not just external and physical. On the contrary, a spiritual Jew is one inwardly; true circumcision is of the heart, spiritual; so his praise comes not from people but from God- Yehovah.

When we realize who makes this demand, that it is Jesus- Yeshua, in whom God, Yehovah, lived with the fulness of His nature, to manifest His great love for mankind, you realize you cannot give less. He gave everything for us. How can we give less? To give less than everything would be a total failure to understand God’s- Yehovah’s love and the lord Messiah Jesus- Yeshua’s love. It would be rejecting their love.

3. Learn Jesus’ humility

And the third is to “learn.” The very word “disciple” means a learner. And the Greek word for “disciple,” in fact, comes from the very word in Matthew 11:29, “to learn.” The disciple’s relation to Jesus was always one of teacher and pupil. We find this, for example, in Matthew 10:24-25. And we see how they addressed the lord Messiah Jesus as “teacher,” for example, in Matthew 23:8 and John 20:16. What do we learn? “For I am meek and lowly of heart.” We learn his humility from him.

You ask, “How is he meek and lowly of heart?” He showed his lowliness when he washed the feet of his disciples, a task that a slave would do. He humbled himself to die upon the cross, becoming a sin-offering sacrifice to reconcile us [bring us back] to God. If that is not lowliness and meekness, then I don’t know what is.

The lord Messiah Jesus- Yeshua has revealed the path by which you can come to fullness of life in him. If up to today, you have only taken the first step to “come,” then you must understand you have two more steps to go.

The majority of Christians have taken only that first step. They have not yet taken the other two steps.

If you can come to God today with this attitude and say: “God, my life is wholly open to you. I am wholly open and willing to be taught, led, and willing to take up your yoke to follow Jesus. Please reveal yourself and the truth to me,” He will do it. If you come before God unconditionally, you will begin to know his glory and power. Then you will find His rest.

Without that rest, you are lost. The lord Messiah Jesus- Yeshua says that those who labor and are heavily laden carry the burden of sin. This rest in God- Yehovah is a matter of salvation!

God was willing to come into this world, living by the fulness of His nature in the lord Messiah Jesus, to look for lost sinners, wandering in the darkness of sin. And Jesus- Yeshua was willing to walk in the streets of this world, to be spat upon, to be rejected, to die the cruelest, humblest death on the cross as a sin-offering sacrifice to save us from sin.

Today in this passage, we find that God calls to us through Jesus- Yeshua, “Come!”

God- Yehovah gives His rest through the lord Messiah Jesus- Yeshua to whosoever comes to his anointed one. The characteristic of God-Yehovah is that he gives, because God- Yehovah as to His nature, is love, and love gives.

Unless you respond to Jesus’- Yeshua’s call in these three steps: willing to come to follow him to God, willing to take up the yoke with him to totally yield to God’s kingship, willing to learn his humility in obedience to God, you will never become a true follower of the lord Messiah Jesus- Yeshua, never become one of his disciples.