WTFMT 38 (TAUGHT ON 22 NOV 16)

WILDERNESS TRUTHS FOR MODERN TIMES-38 TEXT: " For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:30)

I. TWO IN ONE YOKE

A. The yoke is for two. Truth always has two aspects. The believer must always be tied in to God. It is strange this hookup between God and man.
B. The Amalekites were killing the Israelites. But when Moses held up his hand Israel prevailed; when he dropped his hands Amalek prevailed (Exodus 17:11). It was not just Moses swaying the battle and it was not Just God. It was both yoked together. God is not going to plow the whole field alone.
C. Take His yoke upon you and learn to move together with the Lord. The Lord knows His place in the yoke. The Lord works with man. "And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen" (Mark 16:20) Mark didn't say, "they worked with the Lord." The reason why the Lord can work with them and us is that we are in the yoke. The reason why the Lord cannot work with some is that they are not in the yoke. The Lord does not work alone. Jesus and God occupied the same yoke during Christ's earthly ministry. It takes two-- God and you.
D. A covenant is made between two parties. It is to be kept both sides. Both parties are responsible. If either party fails to comply, the covenant will not work. The correctness of one party in the covenant does not insure the correctness of the other party. God is faithful. That does not guarantee the faithfulness of the other party. The very fact that God made a covenant with man and does not guarantee its success.
E. The Apostle Paul speaks of two covenants in Galatians, "Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar." (Galatians 4:24) But when God instituted this covenant in the Wilderness of Sinai, He did not intend it to lead to bondage. Nevertheless the covenant failed. God did not fail. God completed all His responsibilities in this situation. Even though God accomplished His part, the very thing He instituted for life brought death. Why? Because the children of Israel did not keep their part in the covenant.
F. The common theme of every covenant which God made with anyone was life. Outside of God's covenant there is no life. If one chooses to negate his part in the covenant, he has forfeited life, and has gone into bondage.
G. For him there is no fulfillment of the covenant of God. The failure of man's part destroys the full intentions of the covenant of God, resulting in bondage and death. God never fails; upon this foundation man can write his own guarantee.
H. God is sure; "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." (John 10:28) The success of the covenant between you and God does not depend upon what an enemy does. The third party, the enemy, or even your brother or sister in the Lord, has not the power to make your covenant with God succeed, nor does he have the power to make it fail.
I. We are responsible for making God's covenant with you a success or a failure. The fulfillment of our responsibility will be found in a dedication to the Lord. If we remain dedicated to Him, rather than to the world, rather than to our self, our success is assured.
J. The difficulty in maintaining our dedication is in the trials, the difficult situations, the testings, the training, the learning, the becoming conformed into the image of Christ Jesus.
K. There is one thing to keep in mind. The trials, the testings, the training are not permanent. "Joy comes in the morning." We are in constant transitions. All the mechanics of our spiritual training and learning are on the scene for only a short time.
L. They are tools used by God to bring us onward to greater spiritual heights. When the job is done, the tool is put away, but the work the tool did is taken with you. The work is that God worked in you is what He uses to continue to build we into the image of His dear Son.
M. When the children of Israel left Sinai, they left behind their trials and testings, but they took with them all that God had established.

II. PARTING THOUGHTS

A. God may have us under pressure where there is no water, no spiritual blessings. We are there for a special work. When God completed this work in us, we leave behind all the unpleasantries, and take with us God's work of art, which is eternal.
B. Upon completion of a set of fine kitchen cabinets, the cabinet maker installs the finished product in your kitchen. He does not bring his tools to mount them in your kitchen as show pieces, his tools have been put away. The trials and tribulations are not going to last forever. They are simply tools used to build something which will last forever. Paul said it this way, "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18)