Text: Matthew 11:25–30
Topic: Finding freedom in Christ

• Many people make the mistake of assuming the gospel is a command rather than a free invitation.

• Only Jesus Christ can make the Father fully and finally known; no one else can tell us of his love or plan to redeem us.
• There exists between the Father and Son a unique, intimate, reciprocal relationship.
• Jesus' claim is absolute and exclusive; no one else has dared make it.

• God reveals himself to those who are humble and childlike in their approach to him.
• We are not asked to deny the importance of thought, but to acknowledge our inability to discover God on our own.
• God reveals himself in Christ to those who humble themselves before him.

• Jesus invites the burdened to come to him; we come to him when we sense our spiritual sickness.
• The first step to take toward Jesus Christ is a frank and humble admission that we need him.
• Jesus took the burden of our sin when he died on the Cross, and if we come to him, he will give us rest—a full and free forgiveness.
  • Illustration: Christian, the protagonist of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, comes to the bottom of the Cross and finds that his enormous burden topples off his back and is swallowed by a pit in the ground.
• We must not stumble over the simplicity of this invitation; all we need to do to receive Christ is come to him.
  • Illustration: Students at Edinburgh University were surprised to learn their Hebrew professor did not pray in Hebrew—he simply asked Jesus to draw him near to himself.

• When we come to Christ, he first eases our yoke and then fits his yoke upon us in its place.
• To take Christ's yoke upon us is to become his disciples—we must surrender our minds and wills to his sovereign control.
• Christ's yoke is easy; his is the way of liberation and freedom.

• Jesus offers the same gift through both invitations—rest for our souls.
• The way to find rest is to lose our burden at the cross and then allow Christ to put his burden upon us instead.
• One of the great paradoxes of the Christian life is that we find freedom by submitting ourselves to Christ's yoke.
• Jesus is waiting for your response—will you come?

For the full text of this sermon, go to "The Greatest Invitation Ever Made."