The Yoke of Our Lord and Master

The highest honor of every living person on planet earth is to wear the "yoke" of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the place in Christian living where all doubt is removed, all self is surrendered, and where that soul lives in perfect assurance of salvation. The glorious Gospel must start in the head with a genuine faith, but its glory is wrought in the heart with the utter transformation of the will. A Christian is a Christian because he finds joy in belonging spirit, soul, and body, to the Lord. The text for this article has got to be the most powerful lesson from the Great Teacher.

"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. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. 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. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and 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 light." (St. Matthew 11:25-30) This is not an option. This is the Gospel message. There is no life in Christ until there is death to self. You and He cannot rule the same person. He does not alter grace to fit the mind of the mighty.

The Master and Savior stated the above Biblical truth by remaining the Father to whom He is praying, and us to whom the Word is given that this great truth is not for the wise and mighty, but for the babes, the simpleminded, that can dispense of their great pride. We live in a religious climate that is determined to put the Christian faith on a graduating scale. Rick Warren suggests that God can be worshipped and obeyed in many different ways. After quoting a New Age writer on the nine personality traits he stated:

"There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to worship and friendship with God. One thing is certain: You don’t bring glory to God by trying to be someone He never intended you to be. God wants you to be yourself. ‘That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship.’" (The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren, p. 103)

This is heresy. This idea is Robert Schullerism restated. Schuller said in one of his books, "It is precisely at this point that I feel the church must be reformed. For the church to address the unchurched with a theocentric attitude is to invite failure in mission. The non-churched who have no vital belief in a relationship with God will spurn, reject, or simply ignore the theologian, church spokesperson, preacher, or missionary who approaches with Bible in hand, theology on the brain and the lips, and expects nonreligious persons to suspend their doubts and swallow the theocentric assertions as fact." (Self Esteem – The New Reformation, Robert H. Schuller, p. 12) This is raw heresy.

After the MasterÂ’s prayer in this text He was extremely plain in reminding us that He alone is the door to the Father. This verse deserves repeating. "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." (St. Matthew 11:27) Total faith and surrender to Jesus Christ, and total understanding that all human wisdom and goodness is poverty, must precede His introduction of the Father to the believing soul. "Neither knoweth any man the father save the son" is a perfect reminder that no flesh can glory in our own sight and presence. The human intellect is nothing but ignorance in the light of our Lord and MasterÂ’s greatness.

There have been many persons whom the world would call the greatest, from Saul of Tarsus, and Luke the Physician, to a host of individuals that have surrendered to Jesus Christ. I have read many of their testimonies and thrilled to their experiences but every one of them meets the Master, either when or after they meet the dust. SaulÂ’s testimony shows the striking picture of him falling prostrate on the Damascus turnpike at the revelation of the Son of God. He was led away, blinded and broken, after humbly asking, "Â… what wilt thou have me to do?" (Acts 9:6) One minute a learned man is on his way to kill and imprison believers and the next he is in the dust, repenting, and ready to serve. The Son of God and Truth has not changed; and if you meet Him, itÂ’s on His terms.

The word "yoke" is in the Bible fifty-seven times. It is a powerful type with a powerful meaning. The believer is told not to be "unequally yoked" together with unbelievers. "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?" (2 Corinthians 6:14) The word "yoke" always suggests two people or two oxen "yoked" together. Never does "yoke" mean less than two or more than two. The model for a yoke is usually seen as this picture or similar. It suggests a kind of equality where neither of the two yoked together can act without the other. This type is one of the most practical communications that Jesus used in His teaching. The "yoke" is identified as His yoke, and we are invited to submit to it. The command to be "yoked" together with Him is loaded with promises.

To be "yoked" together with Jesus Christ is the perfect picture of Biblical surrender. ItÂ’s the beautiful lifestyle where everything can be entrusted to Him. There can be no doubt that the saint of God "yoked" with Christ is ready for the Rapture and anything that may happen before the Rapture. Of course, this life is not without struggle, especially at its beginning. "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." (Galatians 5:17) The two forces, flesh and Spirit, will be in battle until the release of the saint in death or the Rapture. It is a lifelong battle, and we win only as we walk in the Spirit. Spiritual maturity is the result of building on each victory and repenting at each defeat.

True Christianity is certainly a war zone but it is also simple. He is Lord of all or He cannot be Lord at all. The "yoke" is His will, the center of His Holy Word and there is certain victory if we have submitted to the "yoke." We can say in faith after our surrender, "I am yoked to Divinity," "I am yoked to the righteousness of God," "I am yoked to the Baptizer and to the Healer." Everything He is we possess if we are "yoked" with Him.

The glorious Gospel is glorious because itÂ’s GodÂ’s answer to the needs of man. The Son of God said, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Luke 5:32) He came to meet us in our needs not in our abundance. "They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." (Matthew 9:12) The invitation of the Gospel is to those that bear the burden of sin and human pain. Before He commands, "Take my yoke," He invites, "Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." The church of today is trying to build the church with people that have no sense of the heavy burden of sin. Because of that, the message has been changed to comfort the sinner. Most of todayÂ’s religious leaders dare not teach the message of "take my yoke upon you."

Living by the worldÂ’s answer has inoculated the sinner from his awareness of sin. Every step the church takes into religious humanism makes the church more isolated from the idea of sin. No wonder King David started his book we call Psalms, "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." (Psalm 1:1) And no wonder these same churches have a pastoral staff of counselors and psychologists to meet human needs unmet but a message that does not deal with sin.

The man or woman that puts his or her neck in His "yoke" will not need someone to talk them out of depression and psychological hang-ups. All of us were carrying the world on our shoulders until we heard the invitation, "Come unto meÂ…and I will give you rest." Trusting in self-esteem is probably the biggest lie of human experiences.

Every great awakening around the Gospel of Jesus Christ was led by godly saints that railed against sin and caused thousands of good people and the knowingly wicked, to cry out in repentance from the burden of sin. Nothing is more akin to Biblical Christianity than "conviction of sin." Little sins come pounding upon the hearts of the moral while gross sins drive the wicked into the dust. This is why this Gospel story begins with, "Not many wise and prudent," and continues with His call, "Come unto me all ye that labour (a broken heart by the weight of sin) and are heavy laden."

The picture is of the human family turning from self and wickedness. This is the exact picture preached by greats such as Andrew Murray, Charles Finney and D. L. Moody, etc. Every living soul must come to Him as a needy sinner believing for mercy.

You cannot wear the "yoke" of the world and the "yoke" of the Lord at the same time. Neither can you live an independent life and bear the "yoke" of the Master. No man or woman can come to Christ and experience the "new life" unless they surrender their ambitions, plans, and desires to His "yoke." The great Biblical doctrine of predestination settles this question perfectly. He predestined us to and for Himself and He did it from the foundation of the world. His "yoke" is perfectly designed by the foreknowledge of God so that your surrender is the beginning of the best days of your life. His plan for you is bigger and better than any plan you could ever imagine. There is no comparison between the schemes concocted by man with the best education they might acquire and the design of our loving Creator to manifest His glory in us.

Predestination is one of the precious promises of the Holy Scripture. He gives us this great truth so that we need not fear the total surrender of all to Him. Predestination is not empty fate or the old idea I remember as a child. My dad was raised in the Primitive Baptist Church, and I often heard, "What is to be will be." This was taught to me as a kind of fate idea that robbed man of hope and joy in trusting God. The Biblical truth is full of hope. Apostle Paul wrote to Ephesus, "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will" "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." (Ephesians 1:5, 1:11) The Apostle also included this truth in the excellent eighth chapter to the Romans. Listen to this: "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified." (Romans 8:29-30) The wisest choice you will ever make is to surrender to His "yoke" already preprogrammed with the divine plan of our Great God. Your surrender must be without reservation.

Please understand you cannot refuse His "yoke" and be a "Christian" at the same time. The Lord and Master left no doubt to this fact. He said, "And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his FatherÂ’s, and of the holy angels." (Luke 9:23-26) Titus helped settle this question for the New Testament believers. He wrote by the Spirit, "They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate." (Titus 1:16) The certainty that you are "saved" or "born again" is your surrender to the "yoke" of our Lord and Master.

The revelation of the Lord in all His beauty awaits the soul that has surrendered to the "yoke." The spirit in man has incredible possibilities, but the spirit is locked in death until the Spirit of the Lord regenerates it. There is great meaning in these words of Christ, "Take my yoke upon you and learn of me." When we are "yoked" to Him we are "yoked" to the "Master of wisdom and understanding;" we become a door into the secrets of His person and Kingdom. Many of the greatest saints of church history were saved out of total poverty and ignorance. Some of them could not write their own names; yet they began preaching and teaching to using someone else to read the Bible text. Go to the menu, "Testimonials of Great Saints," on our website that is constantly being enlarged with great testimonies and you will find examples to thrill your soul. God is not looking for ability but availability, and to the available souls He will reveal wisdom of Himself and His mysteries far beyond human capacity on its own.

Apostle Paul addressed this truth to the Corinthian church, "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14) The possibilities of a "yoked" believer are limited only by our constant surrender, and our undaunting faith in His promises. We must admit that there are few saints in our present church world that are living "yoked" to Christ in such a manner as to manifest His glory to our world. It is GodÂ’s will that men see His Glory in us. "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid." (Matthew 5:14)

It would be hard to believe those words if the Lord and Master Himself had not spoken them. We make the bearing of the "yoke" so hard, but He has promised that His "yoke" is easy. The very revelation of this has thrilled my soul and gave me a new passion to be fully "yoked" to Him. No wonder the early church turned the world right side up. We make the work of God and our obedience to Him so hard because we trust so deeply in ourselves. I do not think we understand this because of our humanist society. We are works-oriented and good works are very important, but He wants us to give our labor to Him in a total surrender and rest that depends only on His great power. He said, "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18)

Burnout, exhaustion, exasperation, and disappointment are the great killers in Christian circles. There is no way we can justify this fact with the Word of God. Most Christian workers have more energy going out than they have coming in so it does not take long to be worn out and exhausted. I will never forget the parable I heard of an elephant and a mouse crossing a bridge. The bridge was not a strong bridge and it was trembling under the weight of the elephant and the mouse. The mouse looked up at the elephant and said, "We are shaking this thing arenÂ’t we." The church was never supposed to be moved by the greatness of its ministers and its laborers. Yes, we are joined in Him and He will do nothing without us, but the total victory in His great power as He uses us for His glory.

The "yoke" is easy when we learn it is His "yoke" and we are "yoked" to Him as His partners and that He supplies the power and authority for the task. The anointing of the Spirit with the nine gifts of supernatural manifestation is intimately part of this "yoking" that we have been commanded. This is not an option if we are going to have the promise of, "My yoke is easy and my burden is light." Most preachers, missionaries, Christian school teachers, and other full time workers come out of college and seminaries with a full head and an empty heart. Their only power is their learning. These greatly educated and often dedicated and devoted people may have nothing but good intentions but the result is void of the supernatural powers of the Holy Ghost. There can be no true conversion of sinners to Christ unless there is a genuine work of Holy Spirit conviction and Holy Spirit transformation.

This kind of Christian life is the greatest joy on earth. I must repeat the great verse that settles the beauty of a life "yoked" unquestionably to Jesus Christ as Lord and Master. "Take my yoke upon you, and 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 light." (Matthew 11:29-30) The world will call this life "bondage," but Jesus calls it "freedom." The devil screams "fanatic," but Jesus calls us "sons and daughters." It really is a wonderful life to be totally surrendered to Jesus Christ and His words. When we are "yoked" to Divinity all that His Divine Person represents, we are partners. Do not settle just to believe this truth but pray, study the Scriptures, fast in prayer and hunger for a visitation of God in your life until this truth becomes reality. His spirit "Â…shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth." (Psalm 72:6)