Teachings of Jesus - Rest

1. SOUL REST

2. GRACIOUS JESUS
(MATTHEW’S PERSPECTIVE WITH GOSPEL PARALLELS)
1. Presenting the King (Matt 1-4)
2. True Blessedness (Matt 5:1-12)
3. Kingdom Lifestyle – Part 1 (Matt 5:13-
48)
4. Kingdom Lifestyle – Part 2 (Matt 6)
5. Kingdom Lifestyle – Part 3 (Matt 7)
6. Master Strokes (Matt 8)
7. The King Calls (Matt 9)
8. The King Commissions (Matt 10)
9. Signs, Sinners and the
Saviour (Matt 11)
10. Power Games and Names (Matt 12)
11. Hidden Wisdom (Matt 13:1-43)
12. Hidden Treasures (Matt 13:44-14)
13. The Gall and the Glory (Matt 15-17:9)
14. Winning Others Over (Matt 17:10-
18:35)
15. Kingdom Values, Kingdom Wealth
(Matt 20)
16. The King Enters Jerusalem (Matt 21)
17. The Chosen Few (Matt 22)
18. The King’s Glorious Coming (Matt
24:1-44)
19. The Final Countdown (Matt 24:45 –
25:46)
20. The King’s last days (Matt 26)
21. Desertion (Matt 26:36-75)
22. God’s Lamb Sacrificed (Matt 27: 1-50)
23. The King Conquers (Matt 27:51-28)

3. GRACIOUS JESUS
9. SIGNS, SINNERS AND THE SAVIOUR
1. Signs of the Messiah
2. Signs of Greatness
3. A Wicked Generation
4. When profanity
surpasses piety
5. Foolishness of the
Wise
6. Soul Rest

4. PRESENTATION
OVERVIEW
Passage/s: Matthew
11:28-30
• Concede
• Come to Christ
• Connect with Christ
• Centre around Christ
• Continue in Christ

5. TRUE REST
BIBLE PASSAGE
28 “Come to Me, all who are
weary and heavy-laden, and I will
give you rest. 29 Take My yoke
upon you and learn from Me, for I
am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your
souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and
My burden is light.” Matt 11

6. CONTEXT
In his chapter, Jesus pays a tribute to
John and condemns self
righteousness. He applauds the
spiritual wisdom of the “babes” and
folly of the wise of the world. He then
concludes with the strong
reassurance that He can provide rest
to the weary. Rest for the souls.

7. WHAT IS SOUL REST?
Jesus is not talking of physically or mentally weary though
they may be included. The primary topic is focussed on rest
for your souls which may have ripple effects on the mind and
body? What is this rest?
Eg. Of Lot’s soul being tortured, yet trapped in materialism.
The conscience cringing at open evil while the body craves
for worldly pleasures. Recognition of sin as the primary
burden it causes to the world and it’s repurcussions in our
lives. Pursuit and longing for the truth, resulting in true rest,
peace, abundance and satisfaction in Christ.

8. WHAT IS SOUL REST?
As opposed to the
numerous salvation
models designed with
steps/laws, etc for
salvation, Jesus
brings the whole
package in these
verses. A lifelong
journey.

9. WHAT IS SOUL REST?
Soul rest is relief from the burdens Satan
puts on us. It is:
• Embracing Christ’s offer of salvation
• Systematically casting away demands of
the flesh in order to “rest” the soul
• Deepening our relationship with Him as
we build relationship with His people.
• An ongoing pursuit of discipleship

10. STEPS TO SOUL REST
Concede your burden
Come to Christ
Connect with Christ
Centre around Christ
Continue in Christ

11. CONCEDE YOUR
BURDEN
“all who are weary and heavy-
laden”
Do you have a burden? Do you
feel it?
As an unbeliever, as a believer?
What’s it like?
What burdens overwhelm us?

12. CONCEDE YOUR BURDEN
– SOUL FATIGUE
Inadequate spiritual food – word
of God
Lack of Oxygen – holy spirit –
Excess cholestrol – over
indulgence
Speeding heartbeat – too many
activities
Inadequate sleep – prayer
Partial paralysis – numbness to
reality

13. CONCEDE YOUR BURDEN
– SOUL FATIGUE SIGNS
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Lack of confidence/
overconfidence
• Ego, Anger
• Lack of purpose
• Demotivation
• Overindulgence
• Infatuation
• Addiction, etc

14. RESULT OF SOUL
FATIGUE, SOUL COMA
Indeed, He will speak to this people
Through stammering lips and a foreign
tongue,
12 He who said to them, “Here is rest, give
rest to the weary,”
And, “Here is repose,” but they would not
listen.
13 So the word of the Lord to them will be,
“Order on order, order on order,
Line on line, line on line,
A little here, a little there,”
That they may go and stumble backward, be
broken, snared and taken captive. Isaiah 28

15. COME TO CHRIST
The only source of relief
Release your burden
• Sins (on regular basis,
known and unknown)
• Messed up feelings
listed above
Repeatedly – daily rest/
sleep is required

16. COME TO CHRIST
“Come to Me” – an
ongoing process.
How can we “come
to Christ”? Before
Salvation? After
Salvation?

17. COME TO CHRIST
“all who labour and
are heavy laden”.. All
- everyone –
Christians, non
Christians, Jews, non
Jews, from anywhere
in the world
who recognize the
weight in their souls.

18. COME TO CHRIST
Reject other “go to” people/
things
Remove other expectations,
dependencies
Release your burdens
emotional, physical, spiritual
Redirect expectations to
Christ

19. We want soul rest, but are not ready to let go of indulgences
We want the world and Christ though we know we cannot
have both
We want soul rest but do not want the yoke of Christ
We are under the cloud of Satan’s deception, unwilling to
face reality.
ARE WE TRULY READY FOR SOUL REST?
THE PARADOX

20. CONNECT WITH
CHRIST
“And I will give you
rest. Take my yoke
upon you”.
What is Christ’s
yoke? How do we
take Christ’s yoke?

21. CONNECT WITH
CHRIST
• Acquire His vision
• Align with his
purpose
• Achieve His goals
for us
• Fulfil our life’s
purpose

22. CONNECT WITH
CHRIST
• Not weekly, daily,
hourly but every
second
• Talk, listen, read,
– he is right
beside – always
• Spiritual fitness
routine

23. CENTRE AROUND
CHRIST
29 ……and learn
from Me, for I am
gentle and humble
in heart, and you will
find rest for your
souls. 30 For My
yoke is easy and
My burden is
light.”11

24. WHY IS CHRIST’S
YOKE EASY?
Sacrifice, service, persecution, loneliness?
Easy?
Yes, when it’s accompanied by joy, peace,
abundance, fulfilment.
Yes, when rewards outshine
disappointments
Yes, when the cloud of deception lifts
Yes, every time

25. CENTRE AROUND
CHRIST
How do we learn
from Jesus?
Why should we
learn from Jesus?
How can we help
others to learn from
Jesus?

26. CENTRE AROUND
CHRIST
How does Christ
teach in a gentle
humble manner?
Share experiences..

27. CENTRE AROUND
CHRIST
Jesus promises to personally
walk with us on the journey,
Gently, humbly, teaching us,
guiding us, picking us up,
helping us in every situation,
comforting us, listening and
talking to us – on a lifelong
journey – carrying most of the
load on Himself.

28. CENTRE AROUND
CHRIST
Are we truly making Him our
centre? And everything we love
the most ALWAYS second to
Him?
Can we trust when we cannot
see?

29. CONTINUE IN CHRIST
29 b …………….. and you will
find rest for your souls.
You – personal
Will – guaranteed over time
Find – Discover and experience
throughout life
SOUL REST

30. SOUL REST
The only true rest
we have is soul rest.
We begin to enjoy it
in this world and
continue in the next.
Define soul rest in
your own
understanding.

31. RECAP
Concede your burden:
• Identify and treat fatigue
symptoms
Come to Christ:
• Reject other “go to” people/
things
• Remove other expectations,
dependencies
• Redirect expectations to
Christ
• Release your burdens
emotional, physical, spiritual
Connect with Christ
• Acquire His vision
• Align with his purpose
• Achieve His goals for us
• Fulfil our life’s purpose
Centre around Christ
• Always Christ
• Only Christ
Continue in Christ
• Guaranteed
• Personal
• Lifelong Discovery Journey

32. DISCUSSION – SOUL
REST
1. How and why do we tend to misinterpret the passage
Matt 11:28-30?
2. Why are we more than willing to carry Satan’s burdens
and not Christ’s?
3. How is Christ’s yoke “easy” as opposed to Satan’s?
4. What are different dimensions of “soul rest”? What are
the distinguishing signs?

33. SOUL REST -
LIFESTYLE
Placing all your bets on God. Getting all your “rest” from God.
1. When lonely, look to Him for companionship
2. When overoccupied with work or family (physically or mentally), ensure priority time for
Him
3. When planning schedule, schedule priority time to execute the great commission in
spite of odds
4. Constantly talk and listen to Him
5. When discouraged, remember He is in control
6. If stressed and anxious, trust Him and get above back on track to enjoy peace, joy,
abundance.
7. When exhausted and ill, expect His strength in weakness
8. When excited, share the excitement first with Him.
9. Genuinely feel more excitement on and look forward to spiritual results over other
things.
10. Always putting your hardest efforts and best foot forward while completely depending
on Him for results.
11. Viewing the world from Christ’s “upside down” perspective – the poor as spiritually
poor, the captives as those unsaved or saved and struggling to overcome, etc.