Matt 11:30, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (M. Poole)

… It is easy, considering that we do it not in our own strength, but by assistance from God, #Jer 31:33 Eze 36:25,26 Joh 15:3, we are delivered even from the moral law, considered as a covenant, and as merely commanding us, and affording no help and assistance.

It is also easy; as we’re by the love of God constrained to our duty, so we are freed from the rigor of the law. It is easy & light, as it is a course of life highly consonant to our reason, once delivered from a bondage to our passions. Finally, it is much more easy and light than the service of our lusts is. There is no greater slavery than a subjection to our lusts, that if a drunkard saith "Come," we must come, if an harlot saith "Go," we must go. Or than our service to the world, &c. To say nothing of the exceeding easiness of it, from the prospect of the great reward proposed & promised to those who keep the commandments of Christ, the exceeding & eternal weight of glory, #2Co 4:17; as Jacob’s hard service of fourteen years seemed to him but a few days.

You Would Not (Matt 23:37-38)

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill the prophets, and stone them which are sent unto you, how often would I have gathered your children together even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.”

The problem is not the Lord’s inability or unwillingness to save; it is men’s REFUSAL to be saved by the grace of God unto good works. People refuse cleansing by the blood of the Lamb, and so we die in sinful religion, exalting ourselves, and not obeying. When God cursed mankind, He left us
spiritually dead, both INEXCUSABLE and unwilling: we WILL NOT come to Christ.


Therefore, salvation is by absolute grace from start to finish. We do not start “by God”, and then move into “by us”. God gives us faith in His grace to save us, the sinner. He will save us according to the word, and we come to Him because we believe both the warning, “your house is left unto you desolate”, and we believe the promise, “How often would I have gathered you”. For the believer, there is no time when we’re REJECTED of God, no matter what preceded our need. I may have sinned horribly, but Christ’s OPEN ARMS to the perishing not only warns me against NOT coming, but it bids me to come saying, “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev 22:17). Therefore, let every sinner come to Christ, knowing that you could not have come, except God saved you in love and opened your eyes to what others just like you cannot see. Jesus said, “No man can come to me, except the Father which has sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:44).


Salvation by grace is God SAVING people who despise Him more than anything, a people who hate holiness, who He changes into WILLING comers to Christ, willing bathers in the blood of acceptance, and thereby willing servants to do His will.


We come because Christ says, “Come”, we come because have GREAT need, and we come to be made obedient by the grace of God.

Your Heart is Where Your Treasure Is (Matt 6:1-21)

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust do corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust does corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (vs19-21).”

Religion is a heart matter. We are to PRAY, give, and fast in secret, so that God rewards us openly. He declares that our heart is the measure of the person. If our heart is on God’s grace through Jesus Christ, seeking the glory of God and the honor that God gives for Christ’s sake only, then we have salvation. God shall reward our faith, “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if you do these things, you shall never fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (II Pet 1:10-11).

If our heart is upon being seen, popular, or ANYTHING other than God’s glory in Jesus Christ, then our heart is misplaced.

You can go through this world with a right heart, and when your heart is wrong, you can repent, give glory to God’s salvation, and start over.

1. God openly rewards those who seek reward from Him, “But when you do alms (good works), let not your left hand know what your right hand does: that your alms may be in secret: and your Father which sees in secret himself shall reward you openly” (Matt 6:4). You deal with God in Christ, and He rewards that faith with fruit following. He adds to your faith the increase that He sees fit, giving you love, growth, and visions of God.
2. God rewards those who secretly pray, “And when you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Truly I say unto you, They have their reward. But you, when you pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father which is in secret; and your Father which sees in secret shall reward you openly” (Matt 6:5-6). We don’t have to be seen by men because the God who answers prayer is mightier than men. We think, “I must influence so and so to make this work”, but REALLY, only God must be influenced – “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turns it wherever he will” (Prov 21:1). If He works on your behalf, then no human being can stop it. Man is like the moth before the flame.

God rules this world and to have His favor, which we have in Christ by faith, is TO HAVE the glory of the King whose ear is OPEN to you. The Psalmist said, “Bow down your ear, O Lord, hear me: for I am poor and needy”, and the Lord of glory condescends to help the afflicted, hearing the prayer of ALL that come in His Son’s name.

It doesn’t matter who YOU and I are; it only matters who Christ is and that we deal with God through Him. He is glorified when God is good to you who use His name!!

3. We are not heard because we talk a lot, live a lot, or do a lot; we are heard by FAITH in Jesus Christ, “But when you pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heath do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking” (Matt 6:7). We are not on a “pay as you go” plan or a system that needs EXTRA works on top of Christ.

Any gospel that needs more than Christ reduces His glory, for it says that He accomplished NOTHING without man’s help. The gospel of His grace EXALTS Christ for saving sinners and being ENOUGH cause to bless the wickedest human being alive.

I don’t have a reason in myself, no extra merit, no keeping of the law that is needed. Christ is enough for God to bless without us trying to IMPRESS Him (Heb 9:12-22). We may simply SPEAK unto God in the name of Jesus Christ. We want a clear trumpet sound among brethren, and we PRAY that we may be clear in speech (I Cor 14:13). But, God hears and discerns the simplest words of faith and love.
4. The glory and power are God’s: He does as He sees fit in this world, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: for yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. amen” (Matt 6:13). We need ONLY to please and honor Him, we need only to have His ear, and we have more than the KINGS of this world can offer.

Don’t lessen yourself courting the favor of men, shuffling and jiving your way in their presence, and living in fear, when God rules the king’s heart, and sets up kingdoms as He sees fit. When He comforts, none can disturb. Both friend and foe receive everything from the Lord. I don’t have to kiss your feet; I can kiss the Son, and He will make you do exactly as I have prayed, if it is His will and best for His church.

5. The bible doesn’t say much in the new covenant about fasting, but it is good - “Moreover when you fast”, Christ says (Matt 6:16). The scriptures speak of the spiritual fast, the new covenant fast, of Isaiah 58, that when Christ is gone because of sin and sorrow has set in, that we KNOW that we have His love, so we love others, even while we wait for Him to be near. We walk by FAITH and not feelings (Col 3:12-13).

Walking by sight is deception, for we judge God and His word by how we feel or how we’re doing, rather than EXALTING God’s grace to perform what He has commanded.

Rather than say, “I’m not that forgiven because I’m a big sinner”, we must say, “God is SO GREAT in mercy and Christ is SO GREAT in atonement, and the Spirit is SO GREAT to teach sinners that I have obtained mercy and the forgiveness of sins. I am not partially forgiven according to how I feel I deserve; I am forgiven in full according to the word of God, payment of Christ, and the sure confidence given to ALL that believe”. God is only judging us in Christ by whose name we come.

The physical fast of 1 Cor 7, where the husband and wife abstain from sex for a time is not commanded, it is done according to His will, and it is not something that we brag about to gain favor with others. Our religion is FOR God’s glory and seeks reward from God because we believe that there is One higher than the highest who sees.

They Shall Be Called the Children of God (Matt 5:1-12)

“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God” (vs9).

God’s children make peace with others. We are not war like and cruel. Rather, we WANT people to know God. Our life is not about ourselves but leading people to the Lord, and this directs our conduct.

Here, in Matt 5, we have God’s people identified:

1. We are poor in spirit, sinners in ourselves, depending on the mercy of God’s grace - “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:3). We are not seeking merit; we seek God to be propitious to us freely, for we have nothing to give. The sinner isn’t discouraged. His poverty qualifies not excludes him.
2. We have sin, so we mourn - “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted” (Matt 5:4). We have difficulty and we watch people deceive themselves eternally. We live in a world of sin and pain, but God’s people mourn godly sorrow that works repentance not to be repented of. This is the one who’s comforted.
3. The meek are those that wait on God, and we wait on Him to save, doing things His way - “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth” (vs5). The meek are not able to help anyone, so we obey God, in the hope that He helps whom He will. II Tim 2:25 says, “In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth”. (God’s people have FAITH, and that is what is identified here, which is faith in its internal hope and external results.)
4. God’s people hunger and thirst, desiring to do God’s will - “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” (Matt 5:6). We are not left to coldness of heart, but we WANT to obey increasingly. God’s law is in our heart, we have a holy nature, and holiness wants to glorify God for His grace. We are not satisfied, so long as we aren’t perfect in these cursed bodies of death. We need God, and we need to honor God, so we hunger to grow.
5. The merciful are those that have obtained mercy - “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy” (Matt 5:7). God is good to us, so we are good to others. We deal with them by Christ rather than wrath because that’s how we’ve been dealt with. We do unto others as God does unto us.
6. The pure in heart are those that BELIEVE unto the cleansing of the conscience and acceptance with God - “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” (Matt 5:8). We see God gracious because we deal with Him by faith in His Son’s blood, so He REVEALS Himself to us as promised. Having taken away the sin, God REVEALS Himself to believers in saving love (I Tim 1:5). We see His mercy, rather than His wrath only.

God’s people don’t reject the gospel, so we see His beauty, while others who reject Christ see nothing but OFFENSE in His Person. They stumble because He is not who they thought, and rather than believe unto the cleansing of the conscience, they sin unto the destruction of the soul, refusing the blood of Christ (Mark 6:3).
7. The Kingdom belongs to the persecuted, so don’t fear to STAND for God’s grace - “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake” (vs10-11). Take no retreats, make no friends, and COMPROMISE nothing for anyone.

What is man that we hide God’s glory? In America, all they can do, typically, is get upset, twist their faces, say stuff that reveals them lost, and walk away. In modern America, they don’t even have authority to kill you. Why should we fear, when we are right? We tell the truth, not to be mean, but so that sinners might be saved, seeing God’s UNSEARCHABLE riches in Christ.

We are not mad men, and we are not evil men. We are DOING MEN GOOD by telling the ONLY truth that saves. We preach and practice so men may believe Him for who He is, so they can be saved (Acts 26:18). We do men good, when we live in a way they persecute.

But, be persecuted for WELL-DOING rather than sin (I Pet 4:15-16).
8. All the spokesmen for God have been persecuted – “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you”. Don’t be mean or cowardly (Matt 5:12). Lovingly preach God’s grace in Christ UNFOLDING the truth and hoping that God will save, rather than hiding truth to please men.

Preach all that He tells you, all that He makes you live by, proclaim on the house tops, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt 10:28). He cares for you, and His favor is MORE important than the smiles of men. Don’t be afraid at their faces; fear God whose face makes you smile.