"THE RISING OF ONE...THE SHINING OF MANY"

Joshua 7:11-12 KJV
[11] Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my
covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of
the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also,
and they have put it even among their own stuff.
[12] Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their
enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because
they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye
destroy the accursed from among you.
It was ACHAN, the son of Carmi of the tribe of Judah that stole
from the stuffs in Jericho and his action brought a curse upon the
whole of the children of Israel. It was him who stole from the
cursed things but the Bible accounted that "...for they have even
taken of the accursed thing, and have stolen...."
It was ACHAN who should bear the consequences of his sin of
covetousness, but instead, the Bible recorded that: ...."therefore,
the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but
turned their backs before their enemies, because they were
accursed..."
In 2 Samuel 24, when David counted the army of Israel against the
will of God, and God became angry at the sin of David, It was not
David that was immediately punished, a lot of people began to die
in the land. The angel of death raised his sword over the land of
Israel and began to kill.
2 Samuel 24:15,17 KJV
[15] So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning
even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan
even to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men.
[17] And David spake unto the Lord when he saw the angel that
smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done
wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I
pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house.
Why would the sin of one man lead to a terrible consequence for
many innocent people who knew nothing about the sin? Why
would the sin of David lead to the death of 70 thousands men of
Israel, and the sins of ACHAN lead to the shameful defeat of the
army of Israel and the death of 36 strong men of war? I could not
decipher it.
In Jonah 1:3, it was Jonah who fled from the presence of the Lord
to Tarshish, in disobedience to His instructions, but in Jonah 1:4,
the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty
tempest in the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken. I have
once heard of the collapse of a whole thriving company, because
of the presence of a heady, disobedient child of God as a member
of Staff.
1 Samuel 2:31-32, it was Prophet Eli that sinned against the Lord
by honoring his children above the Lord, by refusing to correct
his children's misbehavior in the temple of God, but it was his
whole generation after him that was cursed with a terrible cursed.
[31] Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the
arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in
thine house. [32] ..... and there shall not be an old man in thine
house for ever.
In 2 Kings 5, it was GEHAZI, the servant of Elisha that sinned by
collecting from Namaan the gifts the servant of God had rejected.
He coveted it and lied to Namaan that his master had changed his
mind, that he said he should collect some of the gift and bring
them back to him. He spoilt the integrity of Elisha before Namaan.
When he came back before Elisha:
2 Kings 5:26-27 KJV
[26] And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee , when
the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to
receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and
vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and
maidservants?
[27] The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and
unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper
as white as snow.
The Prophet of God cursed him with the leprosy of Namaan and
also cursed his innocent children after him, who knew nothing
about his sins of covetousness and greed.
It was the 12 spies that went to spy out the land of Canaan that
sinned and saw wrongly and reported wrongly, and the whole
congregations of the house of Israel were turned into the
wilderness to wander in the desert for 40 years. Why should the
sin of one bring a load of consequences upon innocent others?
Do you realize that your actions and inactions could spell some
consequences not only for you, but also for your group members,
your children, your relatives and co-tenants or fellow workers?
Do you know that you habitual obstinacy and disobedience can
spell some dooms to your children and immediate family?
Because, if you are living or working in a wrong place against the
will of God, whatever you reap there passes down on your
children and family and probably relatives as well. Some people
have taken their innocent children to where the Lord had not sent
them and are suffering together with their children. Some leaders
have misled their members and followers and are making them to
suffer innocently at present. THE ANOINTING RUNS FROM THE
HEAD DOWNWARD.
Let's turn the coin onto the other side:
When the Israelites abode in Shittim, during their journey in the
wilderness, they went and corrupt themselves with the gods of the
land and to commit immorality with the women of the land. And
God became angry at the whole congregation. While Moses was
still rebuking the people, one of the sons of one of the elders of
Israel brought into the camp before the full glare of the people
one of those ladies and took her into his tent. Everybody was
watching speechlessly in astonishment. But Phinehas, the son of
Eleazar the Priest rose up among the people with his spear and
went into the tent of the man and struck the man and the woman
in anger and jealousy of the Lord God. Then, God looked at him
from above and blessed him and his children after him forever.
Numbers 25:12-13 KJV
[12] Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace:
[13] And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the
covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for
his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.
Joseph was another example. Because of he hand of the Lord
upon him, the Lord blessed everything he did and wherever he
was became blessed. for his sake, the Lord blessed the whole
house and business of his Egyptian master, Portiphar. I have
heard of a whole house becoming extremely peaceful because of
the presence of a tenant child of God who carries some special
grace. And I heard of a whole house becoming a troubled sea
because of a tenant child of God who had lost favour with God
and man.
Do you know that, like Joseph, your obedience to God can make
you carry some abundant grace that will affect everyone around
you? Your integrity and godliness can make you carry some
atmosphere of favour and blessings that everyone would desire
around you. Do you know that your deep consecration and
dedications to God and His service is never only about you alone,
but so many others are positively affected around you.
Do yo know that when Joseph stood and refused to sin with
Portiphar's wife, he carried the victory on behalf of the whole
house of Jacob. He was promoted and landed in the dungeon
where he met the butler of the king who mentioned him before the
king later.
YOUR RISING IN OBEDIENCE WILL AFFECT YOUR CHILDREN AND A
LOT OF PEOPLE BEHIND YOU, AND YOUR FALLING WILL AFFECT
YOUR CHILDREN AND A LOT OF PEOPLE FOLLOWING AFTER YOU.
When I searched further the word of God, I discovered this
principle is embedded in the Word of God already:
Romans 5:17-19 KJV
[17] For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more
they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of
righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
[18] Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all
men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the
free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
[19] For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners,
so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

TAKE MY YOKE UPON YOU

"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." Matt. 11:29-30
I propose to remark especially on the first clause of each
of these verses--"Take my yoke upon you--for my yoke is
easy."
I. In enquiring upon this subject the first question is,
What is intended by this yoke? The yoke of Christ is his
revealed will, his authority. The word here rendered yoke
literally means a band, or something that binds.
II. What is it to take the yoke of Christ?
1. To take the yoke of Christ is to accept his will as our
universal rule of action.
2. To take Christ's yoke is to enter into a voluntary state
of entire subjection to him.
3. To take Christ's yoke is to commit ourselves to a state
of voluntary, loving, confiding servitude.
4. To take Christ's yoke is to commit ourselves to
universal obedience to Christ from love to him, sympathy
with him, and confidence in him. This is no doubt the
true idea of taking Christ's yoke upon us.
III. Christ's yoke is easy.
1. This the text affirms. The meaning of the word is
agreeable, gentle, gracious, useful, kind.
2. Christ's yoke is easy because it is love's yoke. It is
good-will universally to us. Every requirement is imposed
upon us for our own good, and the highest good of the
great family of which we are members. Christ's will is
never arbitrary, never capricious, never selfish, requires
nothing of us at any time without the strictest reference to
our own highest good.
3. His yoke is easy because he never prohibits anything,
and never imposes upon us any restraint except for our
own good, or for the good of the race to which we
belong. If at any time he restrains us, or deprives us of
anything that we would like, it is love's restraint. He sees
that it would be injurious to us, injurious to the world,
and consequently dishonorable to him; and therefore
enlightened love compels him to restrain us.
We are ignorant, often not able to judge for ourselves; we
often suppose ourselves to need that which would greatly
injure us. He is infinitely wise, his love is always directed
by infinite wisdom; and therefore in everything in which
he commands or restrains us, love is his only motive.
4. The service which we are required to render him is
only a love-service. It consists wholly in love, and its
spontaneous fruits and results. He requires nothing but
what love will willingly, and joyfully, and spontaneously
do. He requires us to love him; and surely this
requirement cannot be grievous, inasmuch as he
presents to us infinite reasons for loving him.
5. Christ's yoke is easy because the state of servitude into
which we voluntarily enter, is a state of the highest
liberty, the truest, most perfect liberty. It is just that
course of life and conduct which, above all others, a
loving heart prefers. It is really doing just as we please. A
heart that loves Christ supremely, is the only heart that
really takes this yoke of Christ. Now this loving state of
mind prefers above all other courses of life just that
which Christ requires. It is therefore doing according to
our own highest pleasure to do his pleasure; and
therefore his service is the truest and highest liberty.
6. Christ's yoke is easy, because, although a state of
subjection, it is the very opposite of a state of bondage.
Although his yoke is a band, still it is love's band. It is
the opposite of slavery. This service rendered to Christ is
not a legal con-straint or re-straint. It is not slavish fear, it
is not the thumbscrew of conscience to a must-do, a
must-serve-the Lord; but it is a preference of him and his
service so deep and radical, and all-pervading, that no
other conceivable way or course of life is so agreeable as
just that which Christ requires.
7. Christ's yoke is easy because it is not only agreeable,
but in the highest degree useful to ourselves, to our
friends, to the world, to the kingdom of Christ.
As I have already said, the word rendered easy, means
sometimes useful, agreeable, kind, gentle, gracious. If
Christ's requirements were such as consulted only his
interests and not our own, his yoke might not be so easy.
But since he loves us, is aiming by his requirements to
secure our own highest good, has no selfish end
whatever in view in any case, his yoke is truly easy in the
sense of being in the highest degree useful to us.
8. Christ's yoke is easy because he only requires a love-
service; and he gives us a love-reward. He does not
stipulate to pay us upon the principle of justice; nor do
we stipulate to serve him for pay. He has no servants but
love-servants. Those that sympathize with him, that love
his person, are devoted to the great interests for which he
lives, and have entire confidence in him. In short, all his
servants serve him because they love him and love his
service. To all such he gives a love-reward. It is not pay
on the score of justice, it is not what they deserve, but
what his bountiful love is pleased to give them. He gives
them more than pay, more than a reward on the principle
of justice, infinitely more. His servants all prefer to leave
the reward with his love, they want no stipulation as to
wages. We serve him because we love him, and he
rewards us because he loves us. All this makes his yoke
very easy.
9. Christ's yoke is just as easy as enlightened, true love
can make it. I said enlightened love, I said true love; that
is neither enlightened nor true love that indulges children
to their own injury, that suffers them to act upon their
impulses without restraint or requirement. Christ loves
us too well to indulge us to our hurt. His love is too true
to let us go ungoverned, and grow up in self will and
perverseness. This yoke is a state of servitude for our
own highest good and hence for his glory. He subjects us
to his will, and requires us to seek his pleasure because
his pleasure is always good. He does not make us slaves,
and compel us to serve him in order to promote his
interests, without reference to our own. The service which
he requires of us does indeed glorify him just for the
reason that he governs us for our own good. For if he did
not govern us for our own good, it would not be glorious
for him to govern us. If the service which he requires of
us were not for our own highest good, it would be
disgraceful to him, and not for his glory. But because his
government is entirely unselfish, because his heart is set
upon doing us good, because he has been willing to deny
himself for the purpose of promoting our good, because
he brings us into a state of voluntary subjection that he
may restrain us from doing ourselves and those around
us any harm, and requires of us just that course of life
which shall conduce most to our peace, our comfort, our
highest good in time and in eternity, therefore the yoke is
easy and the service redounds to his glory.
10. The things which he requires of us are most in
accordance with our whole nature. This state of servitude
is in entire accordance with our own highest reason, with
the most enlightened dictates of our conscience, with the
truest, most healthy, and most rational gratification of
our every susceptibility of our being. He lays no appetite
or passion under any restraint but for our own highest
good. So it is with every restraint, every cross, every
trial--every thing in his whole treatment of us is
demanded by our nature and relations as the condition
of our highest well-being.
11. In short, Christ's yoke is easy because it is really
more of a divine charm or enchantment, than a yoke of
bondage. The soul enters into a state of servitude, and
takes this yoke, because constrained by a view of his
love. It continues in this service, and clings to this state
of servitude, because bound fast by the cords of this love
of Christ. In short, this servitude consists in just this, it
is the soul's continual offering of itself as a living
sacrifice to Christ, a mere yielding of itself to the divine
charm of Christ's all-prevailing love. The soul is drawn in
this servitude, and not driven. It is called with an
effectual calling; it is persuaded by an effectual
persuasion; it is overcome and conquered, and subdued,
and held by the charm of Christ's love.
IV. I enquire in the next place, To whom is this yoke of
Christ easy?
1. Not to the hypocrite who only professes to take it, but
does not in fact love the Savior. There are many who
profess to be religious, and to be the servants of Christ,
who are continually complaining of the severity of the
servitude. To them his commandments are grievous, his
yoke is heavy, unendurable. They will sing,
"Reason I love, her counsels weigh,
And all her words approve;
But still, I find it hard to obey,
And harder still to love."
This class of persons are living in the seventh of Romans.
They make their resolutions, and as often break them.
They cry out, "O wretched man that I am." The Bible has
said, "Wisdom's ways are ways of pleasantness, and all
her paths are peace." It has also said that Christ's
"commandments are not grievous." And in this text we
have Christ's own testimony that his yoke is easy. But
there are many professors of religion who regard religion
as a thorny way.
"True, 'tis a strait and thorny way,"
they say. With them it is not as "the shining light that
shineth more and more unto the perfect day." Their
experience is not in accordance with the Bible at all. They
do not find their religion a peace-giving religion. They do
not know the kingdom of God in their experience to be
"righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."
The fact is, they have made a radical mistake; they have
not taken Christ's yoke. They have taken the yoke of the
law upon stiff necks, and therefore they find their religion
a perfect bondage. Let no such one suppose himself to
be really in the accepted service of Christ.
2. Christ's yoke is not easy to the selfish, who only take it
outwardly, from fear or hope of reward. There are many
who profess to be Christians, who have no true love to
Christ himself, no true sympathy with him, so
consequently they have no joy in his service, no pleasure
in it for its own sake. They have undertaken to be
religious simply to secure something for themselves; and
they work hard to make something out of it. But they do
not find Christ's yoke easy because it is not a
spontaneous love-service. It is not that course of life
which above all others they choose because they love the
Savior supremely, but it is something which they must
comply with as a condition of being saved. It will not do
to lose their souls, therefore they must be religious at
any rate, though they find it exceedingly hard to be so.
But this is not Christ's yoke, this is not a love-service;
this band is not a band of love that binds them to the
cross of Christ.
3. Christ's yoke is not easy to the self-willed. There are
those who profess to be religious whose wills have never
been subdued to Christ. They are like unweaned children;
and they are continually chafing in their bondage as if
Christ's yoke were iron. Of course their state of servitude
is not a love-service, is not the true yoke of Christ.
4. Christ's yoke is not easy to any who are not
constrained by his love.
But it is easy to every one who really understands what
his yoke is, and truly takes it upon himself. It is easy to
all who truly choose Christ as their sovereign Lord , their
Head, their Savior, who enter into sympathy with him and
have confidence in him, who make common cause with
him and merge their will in his, who in all things trust
him. To all this class, who thus really take this yoke upon
them, it is easy. And I might add, that the same is true of
all the burdens which he really imposes upon us. Christ's
yoke is easy and his burden is light to all truly loving,
confiding, and submissive souls.
REMARKS.
1. Then let it be understood that Christ's real yoke, or the
true service of Christ, is never hard. His real yoke is
never heavy. It is self-will and selfishness that at any time
fault the yoke or the service of Christ.
2. If what we call religion is burdensome, it is not Christ's
yoke, it is not Christ's religion. If we make an uphill
business of it, and if we find it "hard to obey, and harder
still to love," Christ says to us, Who has required this at
your hand? What I require of you is a love-service, not
this slavish service.
If you love me not, if you do not serve me from love, I
abhor your doings. Let no one think himself truly
religious whose religion is a bondage, and not the
highest liberty.
3. Whatever is hard in religion is made so by our want of
heart, our want of love, our want of confidence; and is
therefore not Christ's yoke at all. It is not true religion, it
is not Christian liberty, but legal bondage.
4. All truly religious duties are easy. If we make them
hard, they are not a love-service, and not what Christ
requires. If we make them hard we spoil them. If we go
complainingly about his service, grumbling about the
difficulties and the hardness of his service, he loathes
our bondage, he cannot accept it.
5. Let it be understood, then, that they who make religion
a hard, up hill matter, have no Gospel religion. They are
wearing, not Christ's yoke, but the yoke of the law; and
that, too, laid upon their stiff-neckedness and
unbrokenness of heart.
6. This subject will throw light upon the true nature of the
Christian warfare. This is not hard, a something to which
we are to be screwed up, and whipped up, by our
conscience. It is only love to Christ spontaneously
resisting temptation to displease him. It is not hard work
for the most affectionate husband or wife to resist
infidelity to him or her whom each loves most. This
resistance is not that to which we are whipped up by a
mere sense of obligation, or fear of consequences. It is
the spontaneous resistance of love to that which is
entirely inconsistent with it. Such is the Christian warfare.
7. Nothing that love cannot well afford to do is ever
required of us in our Christian life. Of course if
everything is for our highest good, as well as for the
highest glory of Christ, love can well afford to do it, or
abstain from it.
8. Love cannot afford to have one of Christ's
commandments abated, nor one of his prohibitions
relaxed. His will is perfect; his true service is the
perfection of liberty; his true yoke is as easy as possible.
9. Let no one judge of Christ's religion by the common
representations of it. Should we judge of Christ's religion,
from the complaints of many of its professors, we should
infer that Christ kept his children on short allowance, that
he required "brick without straw," that he is a hard
master and even a cruel slaveholder. Their mouths are
full of complaints. They do not hesitate to say in their
prayers and in their conversation that which implies that
Christ's commandments are most grievous, that his yoke
is too heavy to be borne, that he supplies their spiritual
wants so sparingly that he keeps them little short of
absolute famine and starvation. Nay, they represent the
commandments as beyond the possibility of obedience,
and the service which he requires as so entirely above
their reach, that by no grace received in this life are they
ever able to obey him. Now this is surely as opposite to
the teachings of Christ and this text, as possible. Just
compare this text and many similar ones, to the old
confession of faith, that "no man, since the fall, is able,
either in his own strength or by any grace received in this
life, to obey the commandments of God."
Where did they get this? Is this in accordance with
Christ's teaching in this text? Is this according to the text
in which it is said, that "his commandments are not
grievous," and that all "his ways are ways of pleasantness
and all his paths are peace"? The fact is, that Christ's
religion has been grossly misrepresented by it
professors.
Such a statement as this in the confession of faith is a
stumbling block, and as contrary to the teachings of
Christ as possible.
10. You that are not Christians may see your mistake in
this regard. You have been misled. You have been
deceived by the complaining spirit that you have heard
among professed Christians. You have thought religion
was hard, something unendurable, impracticable,
something not suited to your present nature, relations,
and condition. But those that have stumbled you are not
Christians. If you would read your Bible you would see
that these complaints are not the Christian spirit; and that
all this talking and praying which really implies that
religion is an up-hill matter, something so far above our
reach as to keep the mind in a constant strain that is
unendurable by human nature--that this is all a mistake.
The fact is, the kingdom of God, when it is really
established in the soul, is "righteousness, and peace, and
joy in the Holy Ghost." It is the charm of Christ's love
revealed to the soul, sweetly drawing it away into a
perpetual offering of itself to a delightful love-service to
Christ. Everything that is hard about it is made so by
unbelief, by a want of love, by self-will. All that, therefore,
is without the pale of Christ's true service. Whatever is
not done for love, is no acceptable service rendered to
Christ.
11. Those of you whose religion is a bondage, can in the
light of this subject discover your mistake. Who has
required this bond-service at your hands? Christ is no
slave-holder. He employs no slave-drivers to whip you to
duty. If the law as a schoolmaster had brought you to
Christ, you would have escaped from this bondage.
But, beloved, do not mistake your bond-service for true
religion. Do not mistake the yoke of the law for the yoke
of Christ. Do not mistake, do not mistake this drudgery in
which you engage, and which you call religion, for that
spontaneous love-service which Christ requires. The
difficulty is, you have not taken Christ's yoke.
12. In the light of this subject, all professors of religion
can see whether and how far you really serve Christ. Do
you ever find passages in your experience, in which all is
a spontaneous love-service, natural, peaceful, joyous? If
you have never had this experience, you have never yet
come to Christ at all. If you have had this experience and
have fallen from it, you have fallen from the real
acceptable service of Christ.
Your present state, and your present religion, is not a
Christian state of mind, nor the accepted service of
Christ. You have fallen into the bondage of your own
unbelief. And who has required this bond-service at your
hand? This is not Christ's yoke.
13. How much ruinous misapprehension exists in regard
to what constitutes the Christian religion. The great mass
of professors of religion are in such bondage--and the
same is true, I fear, of many ministers,--that they grossly
misrepresent the religion of Jesus. By their teaching, by
their prayers, by all that you see and hear from them, you
would get the impression that the religion of Christ is the
most difficult, up-hill, unendurable task, that ever any
one undertook. It amounts to a gross libel upon the
religion of Jesus. They profess to be Christ's disciples,
profess to wear Christ's yoke; and yet "it is that which
neither we nor our fathers have ever been able to bear."
Alas! that Christ is so dishonored, so contradicted, so
misrepresented, his religion presented in such a
repulsive light as to frighten the young, and make them
think it is unendurable, except as the less of two evils. It
may be a less evil, they think, to wear this yoke of iron
than to go to hell; but it is at best so hard, so void of
comfort, so almost unendurable, that for this life, to say
the least, a course of sin is far preferable to Christ's
religion. So far as this world is concerned, they cannot
afford to be religious. It is only to escape from hell that
the thought, or the effort, can be endured. But how gross
is this misrepresentation; and how fatal is the delusion
that this fastens upon the minds of those that are not
religious.
14. It is not merely a ruinous misapprehension to those
who are without, but to those who belong to the church
and yet are living a life of bondage. Their
misapprehension of the religion of Jesus is destructive. It
is not only a stumbling block to others, but the ruin of
their own souls. When will these bondmen learn that this
is not what Christ requires at their hands? He pities your
agonizing struggles to wear the yoke of the law which
neither you nor your fathers have been able to bear. He
beseeches you to really give him your hearts, to enter
into his love-service, to take his sweet yoke of love upon
you that you may breathe easily and walk at liberty as the
sons of God.
15. What folly to make only a pretense of being Christ's
servants, to pretend only to wear his yoke. This is of no
use. To render him any other than a love-service is not
truly to serve him at all; you gain nothing by it to
yourselves; you do no good to others by this bond-
service; you do not meet the wishes of Christ at all. What
motive then can you have for this folly? Do you not know
that Christ is greatly dishonored by those that leave their
hearts in the world, and consequently make their religion
a bondage? I beseech you misrepresent him not; deceive
not yourselves. Mislead no others. Serve him lovingly, or
attempt not to serve him at all. Take his easy yoke and
render him a love-service, or no service at all. "The Lord
loveth a cheerful giver," and a cheerful giver only. He will
not accept a service that is not a heart-service, that is not
a free-service.
16. Remember that all duty acceptably performed, must
be free, it must be cheerful, it must be loving. Let no one
deceive himself by supposing that he does his duty,
when he does it in the spirit of bondage, and not from
love.
17. From what has been said, it must be seen that there
is real enjoyment in wearing Christ's true yoke, in all true
religion, in all that Christ really requires.
We always enjoy pleasing those whom we most love. In
this we necessarily find our truest and highest
enjoyment, in the promotion of the honor and in doing
the pleasure of those whom we supremely love.
Whatever is not enjoyed, is not true religion. We often
hear people say they do not enjoy religion. They are
religious, they say, but they are not at present enjoying
religion. But this is a mistake. If they have true religion,
that is, the religion of love, it must in its very workings,
produce enjoyment.
18. If you look steadily at this subject, you will see how
much Christ's account of his real service differs from the
common experience. Now, is Christ's account of his own
religion to be taken as true? or are we to suppose these
experiences, that are really inconsistent with it, are true
religion? Christ's own account of his religion must stand!
He has told us what service is acceptable to him, and he
is to be the judge in such matters. Let no one pretend
that his experience is Christian, unless he finds that
Christ's yoke is easy.
19. This false, but common experience, is the world's
great stumbling block, and legal ministers are helping
forward the calamity. Really, many of the representations
from the pulpit are such a gross misrepresentation of the
true religion of Jesus, that whole churches are in
bondage and the ungodly without the church are perfectly
afraid of religion.
20. Christ is not responsible for these slavish
experiences. They are only the result of selfishness and
unbelief. He cannot away with them, he abhors them.
They are his dishonor, the church's stumbling block, and
the world's ruin.
21. Christ's true service is the soul's true rest. In
immediate connection with the text, you remember he
said "ye shall find rest unto your souls." True religion is
truly the soul's recreation, the soul's amusement, the
soul's highest liberty; it is the rest of faith, the deep
repose of loving confidence. It is love, and only love,
with its spontaneous fruits. This is the whole of it; and
this is the best and truest sense the soul's rest.
22. The real service which Christ requires of us could not
be easier and still be real. Did he require less than love
with all its spontaneous fruits, it would not be real. But if
it is love and its spontaneous fruits, it could not be
easier.
23. We cannot afford to have less to do than Christ calls
upon us to do. We need not fear to have more to do than
is for our own highest good.
24. We cannot afford to have less to bear, fewer crosses,
fewer duties, fewer burdens. We cannot afford to have
anything lighter, anything easier, or anything more
agreeable. The whole of his service is the most useful, the
most truly agreeable, the most in accordance with our
whole nature and all our relations, of any course of life
possible or conceivable.
And now what do you say? Will you that never have taken
Christ's yoke, now take it? Will you now offer yourself a
willing sacrifice to be Christ's living servant forever? Will
you who have worn the bondage of the law, lay it aside,
give up your selfishness, your self-seeking, your unbelief,
and truly embrace Christ, and take his easy yoke, and
find rest for your souls?

BEING WITH JESUS

Memorise :

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. Matthew 11:29

Read: Acts 4:13-14

13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.

14 And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.

Message:

It is one thing to answer the call of Jesus Christ, and it is another thing to stay put with Him after we answer the call. There are casual followers of Jesus Christ and there are die-hard followers as well. The casual followers of Jesus Christ have their reasons for casually following Him. One of it may be because they cannot live by the ideals that Jesus teaches in His gospel. Being with Jesus means living by His teachings, He once lamented:

"And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Luke 6:46 Many call Jesus “Lord” with their mouth but indeed, they do not regard Him as the Lord of their lives. This is why, for the avoidance of doubt, Jesus said: “…If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed: And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31-32

Two things are clear from our Bible reading for today; the first is, if you

have been with Jesus indeed, boldness

will be your trademark. The Bible says:

“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15

When a so-called child of God is living in fear, we must check out whether indeed he has been with Jesus.

Secondly; someone who has been with Jesus lives a daily miraculous life, this is another trademark of genuine followers of Jesus Christ. The Bible says: “And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.” Acts 4:14 I have taught my children in the School of Disciples that we can do more than Jesus did according to His promise. When we believe this, we stop being caricatures of His Ambassadors on earth. Then, we shall bring the whole world to their knees, when we confidently tell them that Jesus is Lord. We are indeed the light and salt of the world if we chose to be with Jesus, living according to His ideals. Two great blessings of being with Jesus are: we shall learn of Him and when we learn of Him, we shall find rest for our souls.

Come to Jesus today and decide to stay put. Don’t be a casual or temporary follower of Jesus Christ.

 

Action Point:

Make up your mind to live the rest of

your life for and with Jesus today and

you will be a blessed person.

YOUR SOUL ISN'T YOURS.

Matthew 16:26  For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
How little attention does this infinitely important subject gain in the world! How few consider the salvation of their precious souls, as the great business of life! You who are reading these lines, did you ever consider it? Did you ever lay it to heart, and are you acting accordingly? If this is the case, the following language will express your heart-felt convictions:
" I have a soul as well as a body. My soul must live for ever in happiness or misery. It is capable of pain or pleasure inconceivably greater than my body. It is a matter of comparitively little importance whether I am in abject poverty or the greatest affluence, during the few years I am to continue in the present world; whether I am respected or despised by my fellow mortals; whether my body is sickly or healthy, painful or at ease. These are matters of small consequence; death is certain, is near. 'Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust,' must soon be pronounced over my lifeless body. In a dying moment, if I could call the whole world my own, what good would it do me? What comfort could it afford me?
But whether my soul is to be happy or miserable; the companion of angels and saints made perfect around the throne of God, or doomed to weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, with devils and damned spirits in hell, where the worm never dieth and where the fire never will be quenched; this is the momentous inquiry I ought to make. To escape from the wrath to come, and secure an inheritance among the saints in light, ought to be my great concern. Is it so? Which world is most in my thoughts, this or the next? What am I most anxious about? Am I not often inquiring, what shall I eat, what shall I drink, or wherewithal shall I be clothed? But when did I seriously inquire, 'What shall I do to be saved?' If I have no prevailing concern about my soul, I may be certain my state is bad, and its danger awfully great."

NO COMMON PEOPLE

Acts 10 and the first part of chapter 11 is like a drama.  There are seven scenes filled with a challenging message that God doesn’t see anyone as common.  God sees every life as His creation from His breath, saved by Christ’s blood, and restored by the Holy Spirit through growing spiritual development.  The challenge comes when God expects the church to see humanity just as He does – no one is just common.