Michael Youssef - Finding True Peace - Part 2
I want to talk to you about three things, three double-barrel pillars. The first one is a double burden; and the second, the double invitation; and thirdly, the double blessing. I want that to just sink in in your mind so you don't forget it, okay? So the question is, what are those double burdens? They are travailing, and they are burdens. They're both two sides of the same coin, really. They're both sides of the human weariness. One is active, one is passive. The word "burden" expresses the weariness of carrying a heavy load. It means "being tired of carrying a heavy burden of sin and guilt and worry and anxiety". It doesn't merely mean that it is a physical burden. It can be that, but it is mostly a spiritual burden. It is an emotional burden. It is a psychological burden. It is a burden of sin, which we're all born with.
Listen closely: every human being who have yet to respond to Jesus's invitation, not the ones who have responded, they all are like Cain. In Genesis 4:13, Cain said, "My burden is greater than I can bear". To all guilt-weary, to all life-despairing, to all hopeless travelers, Jesus is saying to you, "Come to me, come to me, and I'll give you rest. Come to me, and I'll give you peace of mind. Come to me, and I will give you power for living". Jesus is offering double invitation. The first invitation, "Come to me". Jesus is not inviting you to a religion; far from it. Jesus not inviting you to come to a denomination. Jesus not inviting you to come to a certain church. No, he's inviting you to come to him. Come to Jesus. Jesus is inviting you to come to him, who is the only Savior and Lord. Jesus is inviting you to come from sin to salvation. He's inviting you to come from enslavement to sin to freedom. He's inviting you to come from death to life. He's inviting you to come from darkness and sorrow to light and joy.
For God's first call to Adam, it was an invitation, even if it doesn't sound like it; but it was an invitation. When he said to him, "Adam, where are you"? it's not because God did not know where Adam was. No, it was because God was calling him. He was inviting him. "Adam, come to me. Repent of your sin. Confess your sin, and I will forgive you". But like a good strong man, instead of repenting and responding to God's invitation, Adam offered excuses for his sins. He offered rationalization of his sin. He blamed everybody else for his sin. And certainly, like a good man, he blamed his wife. Adam tried to pass the buck instead of repenting. God wanted to hear those words, "I have sinned, forgive me," but he didn't. It is a joy for me to know that the word "come," that invitation, is mentioned 1,900 times in the Bible.
In Isaiah 55:3, "Come and hear". In John 1:46, "Come and see". In Isaiah 1:18, "Come and reason with me". In Matthew 11:28, "Come and rest". Isaiah 55:1, "Come and buy without money". In John chapter 7, verse 37, "Come and drink precious living water that will never make you thirsty again". In Revelation 22:7, "Come and take". Invitations all over the Scripture. In the second invitation, he said, "Come and learn". First come to him. You have to do that first. Then come and learn. Earlier I said to you, Jesus is not inviting you to come to a church, but this second invitation cannot be accomplished without Christian fellowship with other believers, because they will encourage one another and uplift one another. But there is a prerequisite to this coming and learning from Jesus. Prerequisite: "Take my yoke, take my yoke". You cannot learn from Jesus unless you accept Jesus.
See, the word "yoke" here is a figure of speech. Now, those of you who English is second language, you understand some of the challenges. And when I came here 54 years ago, I had some challenges having grown up with Semitic languages, and I'm trying to explain things, and it was very difficult. But, you see, the word "yoke" here is a figure of speech. Unless you understand it that way, you will be confused. It means come and submit to me. It means come and serve me. It means come and surrender to me. Oh, but there's also a play on words that's very, very, very Semitic. A yoke, by its very nature, is heavy, and will make you weary if you put it on your shoulder. I've seen, growing up, I've seen oxen with heavy yokes going around and around and around. By very nature, yokes are heavy. The yoke of sin is filled with pain and guilt and shame and regret, but today you can throw off that yoke and take Jesus's yoke.
You say, "Wait a minute, Michael. Wait a minute, Michael. Wait a minute, wait a minute. Am I gonna replace one yoke with another"? Well, you're very clever if you actually thought that. Because, no, because Jesus's yoke is very easy. Jesus's yoke is very light. Jesus's yoke is a featherweight. His yoke is filled with joy and peace. His yoke is good and uplifting. His yoke is kind and filled with blessings.
Now, my dear friends, I came all the way here to tell you, whether we like it or not, whether we know it or not, every human being that is ever born of a woman is born with a yoke, every one of us. And either it is the crushing yoke of sin and guilt, or it is the yoke of Jesus, which is filled with joy and peace. And that is why Jesus also promised everyone who accept his invitation that his yoke, that is his guidance in life, is extremely light. It's a delight, it's a delight. My friends, living with Christ is joyous. Living without Christ can be crushing. His leading for us is pure delight. First of all, all of human suffering under double trouble, burden and weariness; secondly, Jesus offered double invitations. First, "Come to me," and second, "Submit to me. Surrender to me. Learn from my Word".
And thirdly, that's where I come in, finally, to the third doubles here is double blessing, double blessing. Don't miss what I'm going to tell you, please. Don't miss this, don't miss this. The Christian message is a truthful message. There is no false advertising in coming to Jesus. There is no small print in that invitation that Jesus issued. There is no fake news, only good news, only truthful news. As I said, and I'm going to repeat it, only Jesus can give you rest; why? Because only Jesus can wash away all of your sin and guilt, because only Jesus, who shed his blood on the cross of Calvary to give you rest and to give rest to everyone who will accept his invitation and come to him, only Jesus can give you that rest.
Why only Jesus? Because he created you. He created us. He knows every cell in our body. He knows every nook and cranny in our brains. And as our Creator, he knows what blesses us. He knows what blesses you, and you, and you, and you, individually, and he does not just pass them on. He gives it to you individually, that meets your need individually, because he knows you by name, he loves you by name, and he wants you to come to him by name. Let me tell you something very important about Jesus's forgiveness of sin. When you come to him, he doesn't just forgive you today, but he forgives you today, all of your past sins, all of the present sins, and all of your future sins.
And as a godly woman by the name of Corrie ten Boom used to say, "When Jesus took away your sins, and he threw them in the deepest sea, he put a sign out there. He said, 'No fishing allowed.'" The rest that Jesus gives you, it's like the trust of a child asleep in his mother's arm. Will you accept his invitation? Will you accept his invitation? Here's what you can expect when you accept Jesus's invitation. The internal war, you know what I'm talking about, the internal war inside of you will find rest. The external storms will be stilled by him. Your mind conflict will experience peace. When you come to Jesus, his rest and his peace will fill your heart and your mind, even when you face all of regular problems of life. And the Bible, speaking of Jesus, it says, "He is our peace".
So, the peace that he gives you is no less, none other than he himself. You have Jesus himself, and here Jesus's double blessing is not only rest for your soul, it is not only a total assurance of eternal life with him forever in heaven, but also contentment in this life. Let me finally tell you something the apostle Paul said about that resurrection. It's very important, very important. In Acts chapter 17, the apostle Paul said because of this resurrection of Jesus, he became the only one who's qualified to be your judge and my judge. You see, that's what gave him the qualification to be the judge. You have a choice: you can receive him as your Savior, Redeemer, Friend, Lord; or you can reject him and then face him in the day of judgment as your judge. The choice is yours. The apostle Paul said, "Times of ignorance, God has overlooked, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent," why? "He has appointed a day in which he will judge the world by this man Jesus, and he gave proof," he gave proof that he will be the judge, that he's qualified, the only one qualified to be our judge, "by raising him from the dead".
Now I'm gonna come to a solemn moment, to the end. The real rest for your soul is only available when you come to Jesus, when you yield to Christ, when you follow him, but that's the first step. Then the rest of your life, you become a disciple of Jesus, a disciple of Christ. The first step toward heaven begins here on earth. But there's something very important I want to tell you before I close. You don't first try to improve yourself in order to be accepted by God. Did you get that? This, I used to think. Growing up in a Christian home, I was filled with guilt, and I knew, and I would say, "If I clean up my act, God will accept me. If I improve, God will accept me. If I just get better, God will accept me".
How wrong I was. How wrong I was. You don't need to first reform yourself before you come to him. You don't need to first clean up your act, as it were, before you come to him. You don't have to do anything other than come to him. That's all you need to do: come to Jesus. When you come to him just as you are, he will do all of the cleaning that is necessary in your life, as he does in me. He will do all that is needed to be done to give you his double blessings. A songwriter many years ago put it this way: "Just as I am, without one single plea, except for your blood that was shed for me". That's the only plea. "And that you bidding me, inviting me, to come to you. O Lamb of God, I come, I come". Will you come to him? Will you accept his invitation? "Come to me, all who are burdened, and I will give you rest".
Would you stand up with me, please? As every head is bowed and every eye is closed, you say, "Michael, I really am tired and weary of all my efforts and all the things I'm trying to do. I want to come to Jesus tonight. I want to surrender to him". Just slip up your hand in the air and keep it up there for a moment, please, because I'm going to pray with you. I'm going to give you some material to help you. "I am tired of doing it my way. It's not working. I'm trying to improve, and it's not working. I'm trying to get better, and it's not working. I want to give my life to Christ. I want to surrender to him tonight". Don't be ashamed of Christ. Come to him, and he will not be ashamed of you in that great day. Just make your way through. Come, come, come. You hear his voice. The Bible said, "If you hear his voice, harden not your heart". Today is the day of salvation.
Our precious heavenly Father, there are no words to express my gratitude for calling me on that night, Wednesday night, March 4, 1964, and I thank you that you have never left me, not for a second. I thank you that you are my Savior and my Lord, and now I pray for these precious friends with whom I'm going to be spending eternity in heaven. I pray for each one. You know the circumstances from which they come. You know the homes from which they come. You know the difficulties of their faith. You know the challenges that they are facing. But, Father, I thank you that nothing is impossible for you, and I thank you that they had the courage to come down, surrender to you, and give their life to you. I pray, Holy Spirit of God, that you will strengthen them, that you would encourage them, that you'll walk with them. And, Father, I pray that not only that you'll bless them, but you'll bless all the families they represent. For I pray all of this in Jesus's holy name. And all of God's people said... Praise the Lord!