The Prophetic Telegraph - No.81
TOILS AND BURDENS
"Come
unto me, all ye that labour 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matt.11:28-30.
Countless souls have
derived great blessing and comfort from these words from our Lord's mouth. They
have been the means of leading men to Christ, and also the means of sustaining
those who already know Him. And because of this, it is a goodly theme, and
worthy of further comment. Let us first of all clear away a misconception that
is sometimes found in expository writings. Some have said that these words
cannot strictly be used as a Gospel invitation, because of the context of the
chapter, and because they do not relate to sin and salvation, but merely toil
and rest. And to the "purist" I would say, "Yes, you are wholly
correct, but you have forgotten one thing - God's word is a LIVING word, and it
will accomplish whatever the LIVING GOD desires." The Lord Jesus rebuked
the Devil in the wilderness, using these words - "Man shall not
live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of
God." The words of our Master in Matthew 11 are Living Words,
and are capable of leading sinful men to Himself, and history adequately bears
testimony to this fact. "The hand of the Lord is not shortened
that it cannot save". (Isa.59:1) And of the Lord Jesus the
prophet Isaiah had this to report, "I will give You to be a
Light to the Nations, that You may be my Salvation unto the end of the
earth." Praise God for such certainty. The Lord is indeed
able to save to the uttermost those who come to Him, and so He declares,
"Look to Me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth."
(Isa.45:22)
Let us then take a closer
look at these comforting words in Matthew 11. The invitation was given to those
who labour and are heavy laden. The Greek words speak of TOILS AND BURDENS. Toil
is active, burdens are passive and have to be borne. And in the service of the
Master, He knows that His children will be full of toil, and bearing many
burdens. What soul who has tasted to see that the Lord is good can sit back in
an armchair and let the world go by? He will have received such bounty from on
high, that he will want to spend and be spent declaring to others the joy he
has found drinking from the Fount of Living Waters. And so the Lord addresses
all such. But He also knows that His children will find the going is rough and
steep, and his message will not always bring thankfulness from those who hear.
Indeed, more often than not it will be bring rebuke, alienation,
misunderstanding, accusation, and mistrust. These, to the child of God, are burdens.
In trying to give away precious gifts, he is accused of all manner of evil.
Even his sanity may be questioned. This type of burden is especially difficult
to bear. And the Lord knows, and understands. He has Himself been along this
road and tasted the bitter pill of rejection. And so He addresses all such as
are burdened. "Come unto me" He says, and
this is, in grammar, the IMPERATIVE. It is a command! It may sound like an
invitation, but basically it is a command, and we do well to obey.
My wife and I have, on many
occasions, had to face severe opposition, controversy, and trouble because of
our stand for the Lord. We do not say that we have always been right, neither
do we proclaim that we have always performed in a loving manner, but nevertheless,
like every other fallible Christian soul, we have felt the keenness of the
opposition. Now the point I am trying to make is this. On looking back we can
see that on quite the majority of these occasions we have NOT obeyed the
Master's command. We have instead tried to struggle on in our own strength. We
have toiled the more earnestly, when it would have been better to stop. We have
groaned under the load of abuse when it would have been better to let it go.
This is such a hard lesson to learn, and as I write I am keenly aware that I am
writing for my own good and instruction, hoping that in the coming days I may
put into practice that which the Master commands.
Why does this happen to us?
Why do we struggle and toil, long past the usefulness of further application?
When someone opposes us, why do we try desperately to "make our
point" and convince him/her of the "truth". What is our motive?
Is it not to do with ourselves, rather than the other person? Are we perhaps
afraid of being misunderstood? Are we perhaps more interested in being accepted
and understood by others, than whether the "good seed" we have sown
will bring forth fruit in its own time? How subtle our motives can be. Take a
look at our Lord's ministry. Did He stop and argue the point with people? Did
He enter into lengthy discussion to ensure that His listeners knew what He was
saying? Emphatically NO! Even a cursory reading will manifestly declare that He
spoke the word, and moved on. His word was, "Follow Me." He
was looking for those who recognised His call and His authority, and knew that
they were encountering LIFE. All such were ready and willing to make snap
decisions, because their spirit had witnessed with the Divine Spirit, and knew
that their life's direction had to change dramatically.
But let's look at the other
side of this coin. We have spoken of TOIL. Now let's have a look at the BURDEN.
What is happening here? Is it not that inwardly we are groaning about the
misery and injustice that has been meted out to us? And so we pray by the sweat
of our brow, asking the Lord fervently for a change to come about. We deceive
ourselves into thinking that we are praying for the "other person",
but a little analysis will show that we are still more than interested in
ourselves. We want Jim Jones or Fred Smith to be saved, and so we pray to that
end. But we hinder our own prayers sometimes, because the MOTIVE for wanting
their salvation is mixed up with a desire for self-vindication. And so we carry
a load, and this type of load is unsanctified and unacceptable to the Lord.
"I will give you rest." This is the result of obeying
the Master's call. He knows our frailties. He recognises our weaknesses. He
understands our desires. And so He calls us to Himself.
There is much toil in the
Christian life that needs to be relinquished. There are many burdens in the
Christian walk that need to be shed. If we would be more like Him, then we
shall learn to speak the word, and know that it will accomplish God's will in
due time. Leave it there. Don't keep pushing it, pressing it, talking till you
are blue in the face, as though by sheer force of argument you can lever souls
into the heavenly realms. Stop bombarding the Throne of Grace with voluminous
rhetoric, thereby wearying the Lord. Utter a brief prayer, and leave it at
that. Furthermore, having uttered it, let the matter rest in the Lord's hands.
In doing so, you will also enter His rest, for He says just that. "I
will give you rest."
The Lord then went on to
give a simple analogy that would have been well understood by His hearers, but
will be quite foreign to many today. Many who live in urban areas have never
even had the chance to see what happens on farms, except via the television.
And furthermore, the principle of the "yoking" of animals has now
departed altogether, having been replaced by the use of tractors for the last
50 years. During the majority of this world's history, ploughing has been done
by the energy of horses or oxen. My wife and I visited a farm recently where
old-fashioned farming methods were still employed, and we saw two shire horses
yoked together, pulling a plough. The horses were of the same breed and the
same size. They were "equally yoked." There would have been no point
in using one shire horse and one racehorse. They could not work together. The
shire horse would be able to work better by himself without the racehorse by
his side.
Now here is a most
intriguing thing. The Lord asks us to be yoked to Him. But surely the Lord is a
great Shire Horse, and at the best we are very ordinary horses. Would He not
find it better to work alone, than have us by His side, making life more
difficult for Him? We are yoked to Him, and we struggle to make some effort,
and never achieve the intended purpose. Is that so? If it were, then the Lord would
never have invited us to share His yoke. Herein is the sweetest lesson to be
learned. The Lord gives the reason for this yoking. He says,
"BECAUSE I am meek and lowly in heart." Wonderful truth!
Oh the grace of our God! He even now comes down by our side, and sheds His
"Shire Horse" strength, and promises to work alongside us, so that
there will never be an unequal yoking, but a "sharing" of the
workload and the burdens. Is this not a true presentation of our Lord's
character? He is "Meek and lowly," and expects us to be the same.
When we struggle with overmuch toil, and when we groan under great burdens, we
are not being meek and lowly, but full of ourselves, our own ambitions, our own
way of doing things, our own importance, and justification. If we allow
ourselves to be yoked to the Lord, then no longer are we "working
FOR the Lord", but instead we are "working WITH the
Lord." The first way is towards self destruction, but the second
way is to witness the Spirit of God accomplish His own purposes. Left to
ourselves we should plough a very uneven furrow, but yoked to the Master, we
keep in line, and perform the work of the Lord.
But there is yet more! "My
yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Oh happy thought!
Being yoked to the Master makes life easy, and removes the burdens. Don't get
me wrong here. The essence of this little lesson is that to God all work is
easy (though not effortless), and all burdens are light (though not cast off.)
With God, difficulties are easy, and impossibilities are His speciality. The
Bible tells us that in Creation, "He spoke and it was
done". This is an example of the superb divine ability in the
creative realm. Likewise in the spiritual realm there is an ease and a
lightness which we can experience ONLY IF we are willing to be yoked to Him. "Take
my yoke upon you and LEARN of me."
No, there is not
going to be an immediate improvement. Any form of schooling always requires
time and patience. This lesson will only be learned by CONTINUED APPLICATION.
We may try it out once, and find some measure of relaxation, and tell everyone
about it with joy and jubilation, as though we have discovered some long-lost
truth! But next time we forget, and struggle on in our own strength, whilst the
Angel who holds the plough wonders just where we are heading for! Isn't this
like us all? We need constant reminders, and frequent applications before the
simple truth becomes a more-or-less permanent reality. Earlier in the 11th
chapter of Matthew, the Lord speaks to His Father, saying, "I
thank You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these
things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them to babes." And
how true this is. Only those who have learned to be meek and lowly, like their
Master, by being yoked to Him, can enjoy that state of "rest" of
which He speaks. They are in His sight as "babes" or perhaps the
Greek word means "infants." They are simple, ingenuous, ready to act
with child-like joy when the Master calls. They know when to turn the direction
of the plough, because they sense the nudging of their Master, rather than
working it out for themselves.
Who then are the "Wise
and Prudent" from whom the simple way is hidden? The Greek words reveal
something of the force these words would have had upon those who heard the Lord
speak that day. The "wise" were those who who prided themselves on
their speculative or philosophical attainments, and the "prudent"
were those who prided themselves on their worldly shrewdness, they were the
clever guys, the sharp-witted men of affairs. In other words either class
wanted to be known and understood by virtue of their OWN achievements, rather
than the directive word of God in any situation. For us to inject our own
wisdom into the affairs of the Lord is presumptuous and impertinent, but if we
become like little children, possessing that quality of unassuming docility, of
accepting that we know nothing, and are needing to be shown the way, then the
Lord is able to use us, by being "yoked" to Him. If we prefer our own
wisdom, and use our own prudence, then yoking is impossible. It would be an
"unequal yoking", and would accomplish nothing useful for the Lord,
indeed, it would impede His progress.
This is why the Lord
addresses "all those who labour and are heavy laden."
He commands them to lay aside their OWN ways, and become yoked to Him. They can
only do this by being "meek and lowly of heart"
rather than "up-front" in the eyes of the Christian world. When the
day of judgment comes, I think we shall all be in for a surprise when we see those
who are accepted more highly by the Lord. Instead of the "great men"
of the Church, there will be the unknown ones, the least expected ones, the
ones whom most would pass by as inconsequential, but the Lord knows the hearts.
(I speak here, not of salvation which is the gift of God to all, but the
rewards of faith which determine one's place in God's Kingdom.) Hymn-writers
have not been silent on the theme of this paper. Just to quote a few words from
a couple of "golden oldies" -
I do not know what lies ahead, the way I cannot
see,
Yet One stands near to be my Guide, He'll show the way to me.
I know who holds the future, and He'll guide me with His hand,
With God things don't just happen, everything by Him is planned,
So as I face tomorrow with its problems large and small,
I'll trust the God of miracles, give to Him my all.
Leave it there, there it there,
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there,
If you trust and never doubt, He will surely bring you out,
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.