The Yoke That Frees

I'd like to read verse 44 from chapter 13 of Matthew. The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then, in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

It's so simple. You see the kingdom. You see that the kingdom is the only thing in this world worth living for or dying for.

And you turn your back on everything else and pursue the kingdom with all your heart. So the disciples forsook everything and followed Jesus. Mary Magdalene turned her back on her old life and followed Jesus.

Zacchaeus the tax collector gave half his goods to the poor, restored fourfold to everyone whom he defrauded, and then followed Jesus by entering the kingdom. And really that's what we want to do. We want to be that man who sees the treasure and in tremendous joy sells everything he has and buys the field.

We want our faith in Jesus to be simple, clear, radical, total, absolute. We want to spend our lives for God. We want to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to him.

We do not want to be conformed to this world. We want to be transformed by the renewal of our minds that we may be able to prove, demonstrate what is the good and perfect and acceptable will of God. Now, but after that first brief, bright season of enthusiasm and joy and vision, after the honeymoon, when it was so wonderful, when we were obsessed with God's love, when we were absolutely almost blinded by that vision and so full of joy and so flooded with God's peace, after that honeymoon, then practical considerations began to roll back in.

Temptations began to roll back in. And our attachments to people, loved ones, friends who are not on fire for the kingdom of God began to weigh us down. Lord, how do I live for the kingdom with all my heart when I still have to pay the rent, get groceries, figure out how to keep that car going? How do I live for the kingdom with all my heart when my mind is attacked by temptations, the vanity, greed, lust, ungodly anger? How do I keep pursuing the kingdom of God with all my heart when many people, many of my attachments to people in this world I love and care about, friends and relatives and all kinds of people, these attachments are to ones who are still very much in love with this world? So what do I do, Lord? And the answer of the Spirit of the Lord is very, very clear.

Break every yoke that binds you to this world and pursue the kingdom with all your might. If your right hand offends you, cut it off. If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out.

You can't serve God in Mammon. Very hard medicine, but the Lord makes clear that in order to preserve our clear vision of His kingdom, it's worth any sacrifice at all. Break the yoke that binds you to this world and press on.

And so we read in 1 John chapter 2, verse 15, do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world, and the world passes away and the lust of it.

But he who does the will of God abides forever. Then there are people, loved ones, friends, who are walking on a different road from the road of the kingdom. And we are to pray for them and we are to love them and we are to lay down our lives for them, but we cannot leave the kingdom road in order to walk their road.

And so we read in 2 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 14, do not be yoked together with unbelievers, that is, people who are rejecting the kingdom. For what partnership has righteousness with iniquity? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? What has a believer in common with an unbeliever, a person who is rejecting the kingdom? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, as God said, I will live in them and move among them and I will be their God and they shall be my people. Therefore, come out from them and be separate from them, says the Lord.

Touch nothing unclean, then I will welcome you and I will be a father to you and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit and make holiness perfect in the fear of God. Hard, hard words.

Lord, I don't even know if I understand them and I sure don't know if I can do them. When we're having trouble forsaking everything, selling all that we have to buy the field with the treasure, it's always a sign that we have begun to lose our vision of the treasure. The power to sell everything and buy the field comes from seeing the treasure.

When I see the treasure of the kingdom, then I know how to divest myself of the things that are distracting me very easy. When I lose sight of the treasure, then I begin to get bogged down with anxieties and temptations and divided loyalties. So if we're to have today hearts that are pure and eyes that can clearly see, we need to see the treasure of the kingdom clearly and fresh.

And to see that treasure, three things are necessary. First, God reveals the treasure of his kingdom to those who humble themselves and become as babes. Second, Jesus reveals the treasure of the kingdom of God to those who hadn't humbled themselves and become babes drawn near to him.

Finally, every yoke that binds us to this world breaks, crumbles, and becomes as dust when we get under the yoke with Jesus. First, the Father reveals the treasure of the kingdom very clearly to those who humble themselves and become babes. Reading from Matthew 11, verse 25.

Excuse me. At that time, Jesus declared, I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes. Yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will.

Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Nicodemus came to Jesus by night and he was looking for something, trying to find answers. Rabbi, we know you're a teacher come from God.

Nobody can do these things, these works that you do, unless God is with him. But Nicodemus could not see. And Jesus said, you know, unless a person is born again, he can't see the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus had the problem of his great knowledge and wisdom and his reliance upon these things. He was an upright man, a very upright man, a leader in Israel, wonderful man, discipline, a teacher. But he was no longer a child in his attitude.

He was relying on his great wisdom and his knowledge to get him through. And that very wisdom and his reliance upon it were, these things were blinding him. Now here are the disciples.

The disciples, by contrast, were basically men who were somewhat mixed up. Their lives were never in order the way, up to that point, the way Nicodemus' life was in order. They didn't have clarity and knowledge and they weren't disciplined like that man was.

But there was one thing the disciples had which Nicodemus lacked. They were babes. They were like children.

They were humble. They were open. They were teachable.

And so, being like babes, the father was able to open their eyes and they could see who Jesus was. They could see the treasure of the kingdom. Of course, it didn't take very long.

Now they're beginning to learn. Jesus is teaching them the mysteries of the kingdom of God. Now they know a few things and pretty soon they're arguing among themselves which of them is the greatest.

And they too are now beginning to rely on their knowledge. And Jesus has to take a child and put this child in their midst and say, unless you repent and become like this child, you'll never enter the kingdom. He had to call them back to this again and again.

Blessed are the poor in spirit. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. He who humbles himself will be exalted and he who exalts himself will be abased.

And as we look back on our own lives, at that point where we passed through the door and began to experience the power and life of the kingdom of God, every one of us was a babe. Somehow we were humbled and broken. We were teachable.

We were children. Then something happened. As we began to increase in our knowledge of the things of God, we began to put confidence in our knowledge instead of in God himself.

And very, very subtly we became invaded by a spirit of arrogance. And that spirit of arrogance is what has blinded us to the reality, the glory of the kingdom of heaven, the treasure. Now we don't think of ourselves as arrogant, but an arrogant spirit manifests itself, for instance, as tremendous impatience with the babes.

You know, I hear these people. I get sick and tired of it. They shoot off their mouth all the time.

You know, I can't stand to go to this meeting or that meeting. All they do is get up and talk about their problems. You know, I'm beyond that now.

I want to get into the real meat of the word. And who of us doesn't have this? When we are overcome by this, we're overcome by a spirit of arrogance that blinds us. We wonder why we're so dry.

This is why we're dry. The spirit of arrogance manifests itself as almost a consistent criticism of everything that's going on everywhere. This is wrong.

That's wrong. He's wrong. She's wrong.

Everybody's wrong. I'm even partly wrong sometimes, but not so bad. Arrogance.

And as long as this spirit of arrogance has my mind and heart, I cannot see the treasure. And then I find it very hard to pluck out the offending eye and cut off the offending hand and to distinguish between God and mammon. I'm all confused.

And if I want to come back to a time of vision, a place of vision, I have to empty myself of this arrogant spirit and become a child. I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, the arrogant, and revealed them to babes. Yea, Father, for such was and is thy gracious will.

Jesus reveals the treasure of the kingdom to those who, having humbled themselves and become babes, draw near to him. Reading from the same passage, the very next verse, verse 27 of Matthew 11, Jesus is saying, All things have been delivered 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 you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

When we're having trouble, cutting off the offending hand, plucking out the offending eye, distinguishing between God and mammon, when we're confused, we're burdened down, thanking, you know, Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest. And the laboring and the heavy burdensome feeling that comes over us is when we're trying so hard to divest ourselves of our attachments to this kingdom and this world and the reason we're having such a hard time is because we're not seeing the treasure and what we need to do at that moment is not keep cutting and cutting and getting the saw out to get this thing off. What we need to do is stop where we're at and turn and draw near to Jesus.

Lord, I just want to see you. So I call on his name or I sit down, pull the New Testament off the shelf, read one of the four Gospels with a prayer, Lord God, let me see your Son afresh. I just want to see you.

Or I gather with brothers and sisters and just ask them to pray with me so I can once again to see the Master. As this happens, I begin to find rest. And the way I find rest is that the Lord begins, as I pursue him, to reveal the treasure of his kingdom.

And seeing the treasure again as he holds it out to me, I find rest because I begin to see again that this, this treasure is all I need. I've been all bogged down and burdened and troubled over my lack of achievement. Here I am, 21 years old, and what have I accomplished? Or 71 years old, and what have I accomplished? Or 91.

Then I see the treasure. What does it matter? This is what matters. Or I get burdened down with anxieties about the future concerning manner.

What if I won't be able to pay off the mortgage? Will I have enough money when this car wears out to buy another one? Or at least have a down payment for another one? Then I see the treasure. And I remember again that if I seek this kingdom and his righteousness, I'm going to have everything added to me I need. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, because if I have the treasure, I will have everything I need.

He will provide it for me. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He gives me, see, the Sabbath rest.

And that Sabbath rest is not just one day a week. It's seven days a week, 24 hours a day, in the kingdom. If I have this, I have rest.

He leads me beside the still waters, which are peace. That peace I yearn for. And that's found here in this kingdom.

Nowhere else. He restores my soul. He brings me resurrection life that lifts me up in the kingdom.

Makes me to walk in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. And the paths of righteousness are the kingdom. I find rest, I find rest as I behold the treasure, which the Lord holds out to me when I just draw near to him.

Come to me, O you who labor and are heavy laden. You're having such a hard time. You can't separate God from man, and you don't know how to cut off the offending hand.

Come to me, and I will give you rest. I'll show you the kingdom. Finally, every yoke that binds us to this world will crumble and disintegrate when we get under the yoke with Jesus.

Reading on in that same passage. Come to me, O you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me.

For I am meek and lowly of heart, and you shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. The yoke that binds us to this world is always heavy.

The yoke that binds us to Jesus is always light. The yoke that binds us to this world is always enslaving. The yoke that binds us to Jesus always sets us free.

We're having trouble. The yoke of this world has me bogged down so that I can hardly make a decision. I don't even know what I'm doing.

My mind is confused. I find myself in a prison, and I'm rattling those bars, and I can't get out. So what happens? Jesus comes into my cell, invites me to draw near to him, and get under his yoke.

The minute I get under the yoke with him, the door of the cell opens, and we walk out together into perfect freedom. Today, we're going to gather at our Lord's table. We're going to eat his flesh.

We're going to drink his blood. Different traditions call this different things. Ordinance, sacrament, what you like.

But in this, whatever you call it, we call it a sacrament, meaning that God brings a gift to us. In this bread and in this wine or grape juice comes a blessing from him. It's a reminder, once again, as he touches us in this way, that he has forgiven us and that he has made us his.

And we receive a touch of heaven itself. But, as we eat this bread and drink this wine, not only are we receiving a blessing, we are also making a commitment. Every time we do this, we're making a commitment.

When I eat this bread, I am saying to the Lord, Lord, as I receive you, I put myself under the yoke with you. And as I drink this wine or grape juice, I say, as I drink this, I'm putting myself under the yoke with you. I'm going to walk by your side and learn from you how to serve.

And as I do this, the yoke of this world breaks and I find myself now free to go out and sell all that I have and buy the field. The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, hidden in the field which a man found and covered up. Then, in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys the field.

To be able to do that, we have to see the treasure. And to see the treasure, we have to empty ourselves of our arrogance and become children. Having become children, we need to draw near to the Lord himself.

And then, if we put ourselves under the yoke with him, every yoke, every yoke that binds us to this world will break. And we will have freedom to go out and sell all that we have and buy the field. Now, again, today, let's just take time in absolute silence, no praying, no utterances of any kind.

For a few minutes, I'll break the silence at the end. During this silence, to open our hearts and listen to the Lord and ask him to put his finger on those things in our lives, specific things we need to do to get rid of the arrogance that blinds us and to draw near to him and to get under his yoke. Let's just wait on him now in total silence.

Lord God, we know in our better moments that the kingdom of this world has nothing to offer us. We know, Lord God, we know that it doesn't offer us any security and it doesn't offer us any satisfaction and it doesn't offer us any hope. We pray that you'd help us to disengage ourselves in whatever way we need to that we might find the security and the hope and the fulfillment that is found only in your kingdom.

This day, Lord God, to make a fresh start as your children, as your sons and daughters, we ask it in Jesus' name.