Grace and Holiness (W. Kelly; G. Whitefield)

"My yoke is easy and my burden is light." Grace does not leave men to do as they list, but enables the heart that receives it to desire the will of God. He speaks of subjection to Him, and the effect is finding rest to our souls. When the sinner goes in his wretchedness to Jesus, the Saviour gives him rest: #Isa 55.1 "without money and without price.:" But if that soul does not follow on in the ways of Christ, he becomes miserable, and loses the comfort he had at first. Why? He has not taken Christ’s yoke upon him. The terms on which the Lord gives rest to the sinner are, "Come unto Me," just as you are. The terms on which the believer finds rest are "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart." The Lord keeps His moral government over His people, and they are more disturbed than any, if not subject to Christ; they can neither enjoy Him nor the world. If I have found such a Saviour, and yet am not bearing His yoke, God does not intend that I should be happy. All else is false happiness. 

 

William Kelly

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“Dear Gentlemen,

With unspeakable pleasure have I heard that there seems to be a general concern amongst you about the Things of God. . . . What great things may we now expect to see in New England, since it has pleased God to work so remarkably among the Sons of the Prophets?  Now we may expect a reformation indeed, since it is beginning at the house of God.  A dead Ministry will always make a dead People.  Whereas if ministers are warmed with the love of God themselves, they cannot but be instruments of diffusing that love amongst others.  This, this is the best preparation for the work whereunto you are to be called.  Learning without piety will only render you more capable of promoting the kingdom of the devil.  Henceforward therefore I hope you will enter into your studies, not to get a parish, not to be a polite preacher, but to be a great saint. . . . The more holy you are, the more will God delight to honor you.  He loves to make use of instruments like himself. . . .”

George Whitefield, writing to students at Harvard and Yale preparing for the ministry, 25 July 1741, quoted in Richard L. Bushman, editor, The Great Awakening: Documents on the Revival of Religion, 1740-1745 (New York, 1970), page 38.

“You Shall Find Rest Unto Your Souls” (Matt 11:28-30)

Here are three reasons to obey God: (1) the command. We cannot obey sin and prosper (2) the pleasure - as we do God’s will we enjoy it (3) the power is FREE; it is NOT something that we must do, but what He does for us.

Matt 11:28-30, "Come to me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest to your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

1.  Rest is promised (vs28). Christ is not exchanging one burden for another. Indeed, we must SERVE God, but there is REST here. It is by the Spirit, by the blood (faith in Christ), and it is in a new nature that LOVES obedience and RECEIVES reward.  We obey for our good.
2.  “lowly in heart” (vs29) = He won’t lay upon us more than we can bear.  There is no way to serve God, except God help us, and we won’t be tempted above what FAITH in Christ will conquer. He promises, “There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able; but will with the temptation also make the way to escape, that you may be able to bear it“ (1 Cor 10:13). He will pardon and empower us; He receives us always, amidst the sorest tests, with promised strength.
3.  “light” (vs30) = Obedience, holiness, happiness, and heaven are different ways of saying the same thing.  The LIGHTENING of the soul is like the lightening of a burdened warrior, so you can win. The Spirit makes us able to do what we couldn’t do; He takes the ship tossed in the storm, and we receive Jesus, putting us IMMEDIATELY at the shore, stilling the storm, “But he said unto them, It is I; be not afraid.  Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land where they went” (John 6:20-21). He is the power of joy, peace, and obedience; only seek obedience FIRST, and the REST of these things are added.

More Tolerable for Sodom (Matt 11:1-30)

“But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom, in the day of judgment, than for you (vs24).”

Not believing Christ will cast us into eternal hell, hotter than the Sodomites will experience. People say things against loose living, homosexuality, and every evil under the sun. And yet, unbelief is the GREATEST crime imaginable, and to not believe the Son of God is to stand before the Consuming Fire without hope, pardon, or a mediator; it is to be punished forever in the hottest place in hell.

I’d rather not perish, so why not believe the gospel of His grace? Why will you die when salvation is free? Is it because it is hard? Your Father knows what things you need, pardons sins, remembers the frame of His people, and delights in mercy. He will cleanse you of your sins, giving you power from above. Your hope is grace.

To escape this place, Christ teaches us:

1. Don’t be ashamed that Christ’s kingdom involves sufferings and torment for you – “And blessed is he who is not offended by me” (Matt 11:4-6). Don’t turn back from Christ because you thought following Him was easy and glorious, that people would receive you, and that sin would be easy to handle. He told you the costs of discipleship, and He GRACES people as weak as you to make it continually – “But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they” (Acts 15:11). He gives sight to the blind and graces us to obey, when we cannot. He lifts up the fallen, helps the faint, and blesses us continually, not by what I deserve, but by what Christ earned, by God’s love, and according to my need. God is faithful to sinners, as John the Baptist proves by his unbelief.
2. The gospel is for those that have ears to hear - “He that has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt 11:15). If you can believe and receive the truth, knowing it is God’s, then believe and receive it. Many cannot understand because He speaks in parables, but if you’re able to see the light, then believe in the light, and walk while you have the light. Receive the salvation of God.

It may be strange that so great things have been given to sinners like yourself, but why not you? God has taught you things you would not know, and if you receive them, then you have what Christ earned (Matt 10:40-41).

He didn’t come telling us what we must earn; He DECLARES what He earned for sinners by His death. Why not be someone He saves, if He’s preached salvation to you? Why not enter the kingdom, “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matt 11:12).

3. The issue is repentance; it is not the past – “Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: Woe unto you, Chorazin! woe unto you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes” (Matt 11:20-21).

You can’t change your past, and Christ isn’t preached to condemn. You come to Christ as you are, fresh in sin, not WORRYING about the past. Why would I worry about what I cannot change and what Christ says will not keep me from Him?

Sin is why the Savior has come. Don’t let your failures and fears KEEP you from Christ, because He SAVES sinners like this.

It matters not that Sodom and Gomorrah were evil beyond words, God would have SPARED the same people He DESTROYED if they’d REPENTED (Matt 11:23). Repent because God pardons sins and you have no where else to go, and you shall be saved. He will be glorified in you, pardon you, love you, and empower you to good. He will save as promised.