[0:00] In Matthew 11, we read these verses 25 and 26. At that time, Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes.
[0:19] Even so, Father, for it seemed good in thy sight. Here in this prayer, if we can take it, really, yes, effectively a prayer because the Lord is offering it up, stating it to his Father, we have a number of elements here.
[0:34] First of all, Jesus, as God the Son, is nevertheless acknowledging the headship, if we can say it as headship amongst equals, first among equals in the persons of the Trinity, of his Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because it is the Father's delight, the Father's wish, it seemed good in thy sight, to glorify his own name, he who fills the heavens and the earth, as Jesus says, to withhold things of salvation from some people, but reveal it to others.
[1:08] Even so, Father, for it seemed good in thy sight. And then in the next verse, Jesus sort of establishes and acknowledges his equality with the Father by saying, all things are delivered unto me of my Father, and no man knoweth the Son but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
[1:34] So it has been the Father's will to reveal the things of salvation only unto babes, in other words, those who will receive it as little children, and it is the Son's privilege and office to make those things known unto those whom the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit have chosen from all eternity.
[1:53] But the key point here is that Jesus is acknowledging that this is something God has designed to glorify his name by making foolish the supposed wisdom and power and strength of the little minions, the little ants that we are effectively of this world.
[2:15] If we were to lift a stone and look at an ant hill, and we see all the little ants scurrying about and so on, and then we were to see one ant climbing up to the top of the tree stump or whatever, and standing up on its hind legs and waving its little insect arms, we wouldn't think, oh, wow, my goodness, what a powerful ant that is.
[2:33] I should be scared of it. I should be really impressed to think, oh, look, that ant's above all the others, but, you know, at the end of the day, it's still an ant. I could pick it up and crush it just like that.
[2:44] I can crush any of them. I could do whatever I want. I could knock it off if I wanted. I can do anything. And these ants, they're just ants. They can't stop me. I can let them live as they want. I can put the stone back.
[2:55] I can set one up. I can put another down. The ants beneath our feet. They may be irritating at times. There's dozens of them, hundreds of them perhaps. They may have strength beyond their sides.
[3:06] They may appear to have great wisdom and be organized and so on, but at the end of the day, they're just ants. And we are human beings, so we are much more powerful than them in that sense.
[3:17] And at the end of the day, we are just ants or less than that. When you consider the size and magnitude of the Lord who fills the heavens and the earth, we are lower than the lost Adam.
[3:29] And yet, and yet, he has made man male and female in his image. He has dignified us with the image of God.
[3:41] He has made us a living soul, each one. And to some, within that human race, fallen as it is, he has revealed the truths of his salvation.
[3:55] But the thing that mankind doesn't get is that these are not things that can be grabbed down from heaven. They are not things that if we take a piece of paper and work out a mathematical formula, that it will all click together and we can bring heaven down to earth, we can harness the power of God, we can somehow make ourselves even more powerful than God.
[4:19] No, we can't. We can't even control nature. One of the factors of climate change is that when increasing storms and hurricanes and tornadoes and tidal waves and so on, clearly, we are not even in control of that.
[4:35] We can't control the elements of this world. How are we ever meant to control the powers of the world to come? Yet, man still thinks so often that he can.
[4:47] Man is quite happy to take what God will give and to claim as though he was his due. You know, Jesus, we read in the previous verses, began to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done because they repented not.
[5:07] Woe unto thee, Corazin, woe unto thee, Bethsaida, for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago and sacked wealth and ashes. Now, here's a humbling thought for the start.
[5:21] Corazin. Nobody ever heard of Corazin. We struggle to find where Corazin is even on a biblical map. It's somewhere probably in upper Galilee, maybe a bit north of the Sea of Galilee, some maps have suggested.
[5:33] But nobody really knows where Corazin was. Not our normal society knows there might be some biblical scholars or geography scholars who say, oh yes, we can't find out what it is, but it's nondescript.
[5:50] This is the most famous thing about Corazin. Not that we read in the Gospel that it's, oh yes, Jesus went through Corazin and he healed people there and he raised a person from the dead there. No, it's only because Jesus mentions them here at all that we've ever heard of Corazin.
[6:04] It's only because Jesus lived and worked in Capernaum. that we have heard of Capernaum. It's only because of the mighty works that Jesus did that these places have any kind of fame at all.
[6:17] And as we say, one of them, Corazin, is only mentioned in condemnation. If the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in Sacrament, Asher.
[6:29] But what is the effect of God's goodness? It is not to melt men's hearts. But rather, it is to harden them in their own pride.
[6:43] To harden them in their own sense of, well, yes, of course, these nice things happen to us, these good things happen to us, we must have the favour of God, we must be special, and to harden them in their pride. They didn't repent, they didn't say, this is how good God is, we've never deserved this goodness, therefore we should repent of our sins and turn to the Lord who has shown such kindness.
[7:03] repentance. But I say, oh dear, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon the day of judgment than for you. But wait a minute, Tyre and Sidon are pagan cities of great ideology and evil and great vice that happened in them.
[7:17] Surely, they're not going to be better off with all the wickedness they've done. Yes, but they didn't have the benefit of Jesus' ministry. To have to be steeped in paganism, yes, that will send you to hell.
[7:30] But likewise, to have come within touching distance of salvation in Christ and then say, actually, no, I don't think I will. I'll get on with the rest of the world and the rest of my life.
[7:41] I don't need this. But likewise, we'll send you to hell. And which will be worse, to have been within a whisker of heaven, within a whisker of salvation and still to end up in hell or to have been dead, damned and denied any means of access to salvation long ago.
[8:00] It will be better for Tyre and Simon at the day of judgment than for you because in a sense, humanly speaking, they never had a chance. Colossus and Capernaum, they should have known better.
[8:12] Now, Capernaum, which I have exalted unto heaven because Jesus went there, taught there, lived there, he did wonderful works amongst them, shall be brought down to hell. For if the mighty works which have been done in thee have been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
[8:28] Well, we don't know how wicked Sodom was, destroyed by fire and groomstones from heaven and yet, I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee.
[8:39] That is quite a condemnation. And when he talks about the cities or the towns, Capernaum, Capernaum, Tyre and Sion, what is he talking about?
[8:49] Buildings? You can still see the ruins of Capernaum now and today at the edge of the Sea of Galilee. No doubt if you knew where Capernaum was, you could see perhaps ruins or mounds where it used to be.
[9:01] It's not the physical buildings that he's talking about, it's the people, the inhabitants. Inhabitants of places like Damascus, Jerusalem, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Stornoway, all these places all over the world, the cities, these towns, these villages, they are the people.
[9:18] It is the people of generation upon generation upon generation which are these towns, are these cities. If they are not redeemed, then they shall be lost.
[9:34] I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee. That time, Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and the prudent.
[9:48] People who ought to have been able to grasp it as to reveal them unto babies. People don't tend to put too much store by babies, by infants. Yes, they're cute and so on, but they don't say, oh, we hope this baby will lead us.
[10:01] We hope this baby will be a great director of our industry or whatever. We don't tend to put much safety in babies in that regard. We don't tend to put much trust in that.
[10:12] We think, well, we hope they'll grow up to be something eventually, but we tend to think, well, there's lesser members of society, but to such the Lord reveals himself.
[10:23] People who are babes in the faith. The woman at the well of Samaria had confused ideas about what was true religion. Jesus said, salvation is of the Jews. You're a Samaritan.
[10:34] You know, you're outside of the commonwealth of Israel and the covenants of promise. And yet, she is able to go back to the men of her city and say, come see a man that told me everything I ever did. Is this not the Messiah?
[10:46] And she is converted. And then some of the men of her city are converted and say to her, now we believe, not because of what you said, but because we've seen ourselves. Samaritans, the despised, those who are babes in the faith, they've only been trusting in Christ for ten minutes, and yet they will be saved.
[11:04] When those who have been exposed to his work, his life, his ministry, his teaching for so long may be lost because it pleased the Father to reveal himself to those who did not have pride in themselves and in their knowledge and in who and what they were.
[11:26] This is a recurring theme, a recurring problem throughout Scripture in the Old and the New Testament. That when man becomes puffed up, even when those who are meant to be the lawless people, they become puffed up with their own strength, their own importance, their own sense of virtue as though God owes me blessing and salvation.
[11:47] God owes me knowledge. If I can understand this, then I'll believe it, but if it's beyond me, oh well, it can't be true. This is a problem throughout. In Mark chapter 6, for example, we read, he went out from France and came into his own country, Nazareth, and his disciples followed him, and when the Sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue.
[12:09] And many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence is this man these days? And what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are robbed by his hands?
[12:20] Now, in the previous chapter, you know, healed the woman with the issue of blood, he raised Jairus' daughter from the dead, and so on, and the mighty works are robbed by his hands. Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joseph, and of Judah, and Simon, are not his sisters here with us?
[12:36] And they were offended at him. You see, their astonishment in verse 2 is just, it's not a sense of, wow, this is amazing, what a great guy, one of our own, we should be proud, but rather, astonished as, where is this coming from?
[12:51] Who does he think he is? We know this guy, we used to play with him in the streets, remember, his dad was a carpenter, and so on, we know who his mother is, his family are here with us, he's one of us, who does he think he is?
[13:02] We know he never went to a rabbi's school, he never went to synagogue college or anything like that, he just went to the basic village school with a local rabbi like us, where is he getting all this knowledge from?
[13:14] How is he somebody who's able to do all these mighty works? Who does he think he is? And they were offended at him. But Jesus said unto them, a prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own hurts.
[13:32] You see the thing that, although clearly, mighty works and wonderful teaching were emanating from this man, from whence hath this man these things?
[13:43] And what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are not by his hands. In other words, we can't deny the truth of what we see and what we hear.
[13:54] We can hear this divine eloquence. We can hear the scriptures being expounded by this carpenter of Nazareth. What are we, as far as we can see? We can't understand it.
[14:05] We can't get our head rounded. Where is he getting this wisdom from? How are these mighty works being done by him? And they're not denying the mighty works of being done. They're not denying the eloquence and the truth and the depth of what they are hearing.
[14:18] What they can't understand. Why can't we understand this? How is this beyond us? If this is something that we know him, we know his upbringing, we know his background, so where is it coming from?
[14:31] What is offending then is if this is something that's real, we should be able to grasp it. We should be able to get this. We should be able to understand.
[14:43] And if we can't understand, we're going to reject it. We're going to reject what we can't nail down, what we can't pin down and say, ah yeah, I can unlock all this, like some kind of Rubik's Cube.
[14:54] You know, if I can't do it, oh well, I'm going to chuck it and say it's rubbish. If I can't nail this down, if I can't get it, then I'm going to say, I don't believe it. It's wrong. It's obviously, you know, it's not true.
[15:06] And this is the case with all the wisdom of the world and men who think that they know better than God. A friend I grew up with had a Christian background, I've referred to him sometimes in the past, in recent correspondence with him, you know, I was trying to say, you know, no fake virtue, atheism, send him a wee bit of literature or a tract or something and he says, well, you know, I really think if there was a good God, you know, I think I would just know.
[15:37] I think I would just know. Why would you know? Why is it that we think our human wisdom can get its head round that which is deep divine mystery?
[15:50] The people of Nazareth couldn't get their heads round. How is this Jesus whom we grew up with, how has he got this power? We can't deny the facts.
[16:01] We're just going to deny the reality of who it is. We're just not going to believe. And because they wouldn't believe, we read this astonishing verse in Mark 6 at verse 5.
[16:18] And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief.
[16:30] And he went round about the villages, coaching. He was prevented. He was unable. And that's a verse that you have. Haven't they divinely inspired?
[16:41] We wouldn't dare to utter or to write because we think, oh, that's putting a limitation on God. It's putting a limitation on the power of Jesus. Surely he could do anything. He could just stand up on a rock and say, listen everybody, I'm going to heal this person, this one and that one.
[16:56] And I'm going to convert that one, that one and that one. Zap, pow, ha. Now what do you think of this? But he didn't because they have to believe in him and in who he is.
[17:07] We saw that in the previous chapter where he heals the woman with the issue of blood. Where he says there, verse 34 of chapter 5, In other words, it wasn't the touch of the hem of his garment.
[17:27] There's nothing magic in Jesus' garment. It's thy faith hath made thee whole because you had faith in me. Go in peace and be whole of thy plague. A couple of verses later on when Jesus comes into the house of Jairus and his daughter has already died by that time.
[17:44] As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he said unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe. Only believe.
[17:54] If he's prepared to believe in Christ in that which is beyond his understanding. As far as anybody knew, if she's dead, she's dead. That's it. No, Jesus is more powerful than death.
[18:06] Jesus is more powerful than the issue of blood. Jesus is more powerful than the hard heart that will not believe. I think so. I should just know Jesus is more powerful than anything or anyone in the heavens and the earth.
[18:22] This is why even if perhaps we don't understand completely, we're able to say like the father, the boy who was possessed at the fruit of the Mount of Transfiguration.
[18:34] Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out and said with fears, Lord, I believe.
[18:45] Help thou mine unbelief. It is this lack of faith which prevents people from being able to accept and lay hold upon the Christ whom they can't unlock with their meager brain power.
[19:03] Our human brains are an incredible thing. They can store far more information than we probably ever use in our lifetime. The Lord has made them amazing things, the human brain.
[19:15] Just amazing. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. There are incredible things that we can do and that we can learn and we can understand but we cannot of ourselves with our earthbound capacity understand that which is essentially divine.
[19:32] divine. We cannot plumb the depths of that which is divine. And God's scheme of salvation of how he should save through that which is so simple a child can grasp it.
[19:48] The trouble is human beings with our great big brains think, oh, that's beneath us. It can't be that simple. Or else you get a condescending about, oh, I think it's actually a bit more complicated than that.
[20:01] You know, if you knew the facts, if you knew about the science and so on. You know, what does the science teach us? The science teaches us that there's a mass of galaxies and constellations and solar systems out there in the universe.
[20:17] Billions and billions of stars. And the Bible tells us that the Lord made the stars and one day he names them every one. You look at these strident atheists like, you know, Dawkins, Richard Dawkins for example, who will pour scorn on the faith of Christians.
[20:37] And yet, if you scratch all of the surface and say, well, what is it you think happens and, well, I think it evolved. You know, everything evolved from, okay, where do you think it evolved? Oh, the primordial sludge, you know.
[20:47] And then gradually all the little atoms and all the little chemical things were there in some kind of primordial soup. So what made them come together? Well, maybe a bolt of lightning or something or perhaps, you know, this is what he is reputed to have said perhaps some superior life form from elsewhere came and sort of injected whatever the kickstart was that was needed for this primordial soup to sort of begin to sort of spark and come together and kick off the kind of chain reaction of evolution.
[21:21] So in other words, he is prepared to conceive that in and of itself the elements of the world cannot create this upward climb which is against scientific observation anyway because by nature everything breaks down, everything degenerates, everything decays and here we are being told to believe that actually it moved in the exact opposite.
[21:43] We are told to believe that oh yes, the fossils will indicate this and that the fossils indicate that there is nothing between animals and men, that there is mankind and there is beasts, there is animals, all the different layers of sediment and rock show that they must have been laid down quickly, suddenly, just as you would expect in a worldwide flood.
[22:04] no, no, no, no, we don't believe in the worldwide flood. Why? Because the evidence isn't there? No, because we just take the evidence differently. We're not going to believe that. We'll believe in aliens from outer space having kick started the process of evolution but we won't believe in a superior power such as God having created all things because that would be beneath us.
[22:30] That would imply that all the so-called fairy stories that we derided for years were true. That would imply that little children who are saying Jesus loves me, have actually grasped more than our university professors and people with PhDs and all the rest of it.
[22:47] That could never be. What would be the reason for all our learning and intellect? You can put all your learning and intellect at the service of God. Many people have done so. Great scientists, great men of learning and wisdom have put their learning at the service of God.
[23:04] And it has enhanced their research and their discovery as they give glory to God and see the wonder of what he has made. And we are fearfully and wonderfully made.
[23:18] But to be able to say, oh no, no, we can't accept that. Why? Because it is beneath us. It is too simple. It must be greater, more complex than that.
[23:30] It must be something for which we can strive and have the satisfaction of being able to say, yes, I have grasped it. All my learning, all my knowledge, all my achievement, I have got this.
[23:42] I, we shall be as gods, knowing the end from the beginning, knowing good and evil. I thank thee, oh father, said Jesus, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent.
[24:00] And you can almost hear the sarcasm in his voice, wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Little children are ready to come to Jesus, to climb all over him, all the disciples, try to keep them away.
[24:14] And he loved it, he welcomed them, he put his hands on them and blessed them. But the people of his own town would say, where is he, where is he getting all this from, who does he think he is? And they would have offended at him, and he could there do the almighty work, because of their lack of faith.
[24:31] Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes, even so father, for it seemed good in thy sight. This is how the Lord glorifies his name.
[24:44] The Lord does not delight in the striking down of cities and towns and villages. Listen to how he cries for Jerusalem when he came near.
[24:54] He beheld the city, Luke chapter 19, verse 41, and wept over it, saying, If thou hast known, even thou at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace, but now they are hid in thy eyes.
[25:10] Days shall come upon thee when thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee around, and keep thee in every side, shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee.
[25:21] They shall not leave one stone upon another, because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. because you wouldn't turn, you wouldn't repent, you wouldn't believe. And he went into the temple and began to cast out them that sold that inn, and them that bought, saying unto them, it is written, my house is the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves.
[25:43] Now, why would they be doing all this commerce in the temple court? Because it was good business. People were coming with sacrifices, they needed lambs, they needed perhaps pigeons or doves, they needed goats, they needed all the beasts of the sacrifice, they needed to know that they were temple approved, they needed to change their money into the proper temple tax, opportunity for making good business there, and where better to do it than within the temple precinct.
[26:07] If the priest said it was okay, it must have been okay. So this is what the house of God became, because business in the short term, oh this we can understand, this we can get our heads around, this we can see how this is a benefit.
[26:21] Oh, we bless God who has given us such an opportunity to make money in his house. And instead, Jesus cleared them out and said, it is written, my house is the house of prayer, of free communication with the Lord.
[26:38] God is not impressed by the rich and the powerful and the clever, he is impressed by the prayer of faith, by the widow's might, by the penitent publican, by the little children who come to him.
[26:51] My house is the house of prayer, but he has made it a den of thieves. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, if you'd only know, even now in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace.
[27:03] But that which we count special and clever, God is not impressed by. Would we be impressed by the little ant standing on top of the tree stunk and waving its little insect legs while all the other ants skip?
[27:16] Oh, that ant is so much better than the others. It's so impressive. Is God going to be impressed by the people who are the most rich, the most famous, the most intellectually clever, who hold the most professorships at some prestigious university?
[27:30] Or will they be gone within a generation? Yes, of course they will. And somebody will bury them in some perhaps, you know, chapel or abbey and put a plaque on the wall and say, here lies such and such, professor of whatever, and their bones become dust and their souls will very likely be in hell.
[27:48] Paul writes this in chapter 1, 1 Corinthians, Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
[28:05] For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God. Foolishness, because people think that's beneath us.
[28:16] can't be as simple as that, can't be as plain as that, and they're so superior about it. Oh, I think we gave up believing in that sort of thing when we were children. I think you'll find it's a bit more complex than that.
[28:29] No, it is as simple as Jesus has made it. But it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise?
[28:40] Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Have not God made foolish the wisdom of this world. For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom, that is by its own wisdom, knew not God.
[28:53] It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to Satan and believe. Verse 25, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
[29:04] What is greater? Human wisdom? Or divine wisdom? wisdom? What kind of hubris do we have that we think we should know better than God?
[29:17] And it is the simplicity, the humility of the childlike which the Lord delights in. Not because they are lacking in brain power, not because they are less than clever, but because they are wise enough to grasp divine wisdom.
[29:39] To be able to say, yes, this is beyond me. I do not understand this divine wisdom. I do not understand the divine plan of salvation.
[29:52] I can learn as much as I can of earthly things, but this which is divine, this which is otherworldly, is beyond me. For this I must trust, believe, what the Lord says.
[30:07] Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and base things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not to bring to naught the things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence.
[30:41] If we're in the presence of God, we've got nothing to be proud about, nothing to say, oh, look at me, Lord, am I good? Am I great? Aren't you impressed with me, Lord? Am I just the strongest, cleverest little ant standing on the top of the ant hill, waving its little legs?
[30:56] Don't you just love me, Lord? Am I a credit to you? 2 Corinthians, Paul writes, verse 15, we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish.
[31:11] To the one who are the savor of death unto death, and to the other the savor of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? You see, the scent, the savor is not different.
[31:25] It is the same savor, the same scent, the same fragrance, but to some it is sweet, and to others it is repugnant. And it's not because the scent is different.
[31:37] It's because those to whom it comes are different. The seed is good seed, regardless of where it is scattered, but the soil is different into which it is received.
[31:49] Are we amongst the clever? Or, you say, oh, well, I think if this really was the way it is, I think I would just know. Because, you know, I think I've been given a brain, you know, I think I'm not required to leave my intellect at the door when I come into church.
[32:06] I should be able to understand and connect and put all these things to that. Because, you know, I'm an educated guy. Come on. I'm strong. I'm powerful. I'm shook. I'm clever. I'm able to understand all these.
[32:17] Surely, I should be able just to explain it all in one elegant equation. and say, this is all the universe explained. No. This is all divine calling.
[32:28] This is the heavens and the earth and what we used to call God in those days when we were credulous and superstitious and thick. But now we're sophisticated and clever and technologically advanced.
[32:38] No. the Lord says that these things are hidden from the wise and prudent. And all we are doing is making layer upon layer of a brass ceiling between us and the gracious, divine forgiveness of God, which would reach down into the heart of those who will become like little children.
[33:05] I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes.
[33:15] Why? Even so, Father, for it seemed good in thy sight. God delights to have mercy on those who know that they are not great compared to God.
[33:28] They are not cleverer than God. They are not wiser than God. They have the wisdom and the humility to grasp divine wisdom and divine humility and to say, yes, I do not understand it all, but I will trust that God does and I will believe.
[33:49] Because at the end of the day, for most of us who are not high achievers or not superstars or quiz kids, who are not going to be perhaps at the top of our profession, or people who are not going to look at us and go, wow, for all of five minutes before they move on to the next one.
[34:07] For most of us, it's quite a struggle in this fallen world. And this is why when Jesus has just been speaking about how the Lord has revealed these things to those who are not great or proud or clever or wise or puffed up, but perhaps those who are either with the faith of a shadow or just at the end of their tether, who don't have the strength to fight anymore, he says, come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
[34:44] Take my yoke upon you. 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 like you.
[35:00] See how much all of this, it's not about just, oh, having a nice rest and just taking it easy. It's about casting all our burdens onto him. It is all centred in Christ.
[35:11] Come unto me, my yoke, my burden. I am meek and lowly in heart. Take it upon you. Learn of me. It is all Christ's centre.
[35:23] If we would plumb the depths, which we cannot do in time, but we can begin to do in eternity, but we won't. We have finished doing so, even in eternity. If we would plumb the depths of divine mystery and divine wisdom, the only key that will unlock this door is Christ.
[35:41] If we would know ourselves saved from this weary and burdensome world, the only key to do so is Christ. If we desire one to take the burden from us and to let us know that at last we are safe, forgiven and free, then the only way to do so is in Christ.
[36:04] And that means letting go of all our pride and all our trust in all the things we thought were so important that we must do or must have first.
[36:15] There can be no first before God. There can be no first before Christ. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
[36:31] Jesus said the first and greatest commandment. He put it slightly differently. He said, hear O Israel. The Lord our God is one Lord and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and all thy strength and all thy mind and all the pride and all the achievement and all the worldly wisdom.
[36:57] He said, well, you've got to let it go and become as little children because when we do, we may find the Lord revealing it also to us.
[37:10] After all.