Please turn in your Bibles this morning to Romans chapter 2 as we continue our study through e Paul’s letter to the church in Rome.  We are currently in a portion of this letter where Paul is presenting his opening arguments, as a prosecuting attorney and mankind is on trial.  And Paul is showing us that mankind is a sinner who has been separated from God by his sin, he is guilty before God!

            We saw in Romans 1:18-32 that the unrighteous heathen are condemned by creation. You see, by looking at the complexity of life, the variety of life, the color of life, you can’t deny that there is a Designer, there is a Creator, and thus, there is a God! And Paul shows that those that deny this truth are fools because they are suppressing the truth and God will not only give them over to a debased mind and actions, but they will receive the wrath of God

            Next, in Romans 2:1-16 Paul shows how the self-righteous moralist is condemned by his conscious. God has built in all of us the knowledge of what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is evil. And you can listen to that or ignore it and harden your heart to God, but by doing that you will receive the judgment of God because He will not only judge your actions, but your heart and apart from Christ, you are guilty before Him!

            This morning, in Romans 2:17-29 Paul is going to show us how the super religious person is condemned by the commandments of God.  You might have been feeling pretty good about yourself so far, but Paul will change that.  You might be feeling good about yourself because you believe in a Creator God and thus, God has not given you over to an immoral lifestyle, at least in your mind. You might be feeling good about yourself because you don’t see yourself as a self-righteous moralist but you understand that you are not perfect, and yet God will accept you, at least in your mind. But don’t be fooled, there are many religious people out there, people who consider themselves Christians by their standards, and they are heading for Hell as we will see this morning.

            Before we get to our text this morning in Romans, let me share with you this story that will help set the stage for what we will be studying. We are told:

The Queen Mary was the largest ship to cross the oceans when it was launched in 1936. Through four decades and a World War she served until she was retired, anchored as a floating hotel and museum in Long Beach, California.

During the conversion, her three massive smokestacks were taken off to be scraped down and repainted. But on the dock they crumbled. Nothing was left of the 3/4 inch steel plate from which the stacks had been formed. All that remained were more than thirty coasts of paint that had been applied over the years. The steel had rusted away.

When Jesus called the Pharisees “Whitewashed tombs,” He meant they had no substance, only an exterior appearance.

- Robert Wenz

            You see, an outward façade but inwardly these religious men were dead. It was all show and nothing else and that can happen even today. With that said, let’s begin reading in Romans chapter 2, starting in verse 17 and see what the Lord has for us this morning as we look at the supper religious person who is condemned by the commandments of God!

            As you can see as we have read through these verses this morning, Paul is speaking primarily to the Jews, God’s chosen people and the reason is simple.  They were trusting in the Law of God for their salvation and Paul is showing them that they are just as guilty before God as anyone else!

            Now, before you think that this does not relate to you, think again. As we go through these verses you will see how the super religious person trusts in things that can’t save them and they are just as guilty before God. So let’s break these verses down and see what the Lord has for us this morning as we study His Word.

VERSES 17-20

            Yes, the Jewish people were God’s chosen people, they were entrusted with the Law of God, they were to point people to the true and living God, the Messiah was to come from them, but this all became a source of pride in their lives. And Paul, who was a Pharisee before he was saved, understood this very well and he is exposing their fallacy in what they were holding onto! Be careful, we can feel the same way as God has given to us so much!

            First, the Jew was prideful in the Law and he rested in the Law. Folks, the Law was never meant to give a person rest but to show them how far short they came to God’s standards of righteousness and it pointed them ultimately to the Savior, to Jesus, where true rest can be found. Keep in mind in the tabernacle and later in the temple the sacrifices were constantly being offered up, there was not rest!

            Secondly, they understood God’s will through God’s Word and the Law taught them how to live.  Thus, the Jew looked down upon the Gentile who did not follow God’s Word.

            Thirdly, they were prideful in the fact that they not only had God’s Word but they were to be a guide to others. They were to guide them to the true and living God.

            Fourthly, they felt they could correct the foolish and instruct the spiritually young because they had the Law of God.

            And all these things, instead of allowing them to draw them closer to God, they made the Jews prideful in their actions, how they looked at others, especially the religious people, they would draw their robes in when walking down the street so they would not be contaminated by a sinner! They truly saw themselves as spiritual, as religious, but their actions were telling another story. It is as Micah 3:9-12 tells us, “Now hear this, You heads of the house of Jacob And rulers of the house of Israel, Who abhor justice And pervert all equity, Who build up Zion with bloodshed And Jerusalem with iniquity: Her heads judge for a bribe, Her priests teach for pay, And her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the Lord, and say, ‘Is not the Lord among us? No harm can come upon us.’ Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins, And the mountain of the temple  Like the bare hills of the forest.”

            You see, they wore the Law as a badge of honor and that leads to pride. They were not even keeping it, but they still saw themselves as doing fine.  Turn to Luke 18:9-14 and see how Jesus, how God looks at the super religious unbeliever and a sinner who knows he needs God. We are told, “Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, “God, I thank You that I am not like other men — extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.” And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.’”

            These words of Jesus should keep us humble because it is not what we have done that saves us but what Christ has done for us. Thus, there is no room for pride here, only humility, coming to Him with all humility! All we have done, all that we have added to salvation is SIN! Jesus completed the work of our salvation and we receive that gift by faith!

            Now keep in mind that the Jews saw their salvation in the keeping of the Law and Paul is going to show them that what they are preaching to others, this keeping of the Law, they are not even doing themselves!

VERSES 21-24

            Notice what Paul is saying here. All that they boasted in, all they prided themselves in, never changed their lives!  There was no transformation, just a puffing up. They became self-righteous in their spirituality and that was based in the Law and they were not even keeping it themselves!

            Look at how Paul is questioning them, he wants them to think about this and see the error of their ways, the error of their thinking! They go and tell others not to steal and they themselves steal!  You see, they did not practice what they preached and they ended up laying heavy burdens upon those that they were teaching, and if it was impossible for the teachers to keep these Laws, how can their students? They couldn’t and it became a heavy burden upon the people!

            He then speaks of adultery. I know, how could these religious men, these teachers of the Law be involved in something like this?  The reason is simple; the best of men are men at best.  And if you doubt this, even though we see this in the church today, the Talmud charged three of its most illustrious rabbis with adultery. (Archibald Thomas Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, Vol. 4, p. 339).

            Paul also tells them that they have robbed temples, looted these heathen shrines possibly or the house of God. We see even today those that try to make a profit off of God!

            And they boasted in the Law, some kind of badge of honor like I have said and yet, Paul reminds them that they have broken the Law in which they were priding themselves in keeping!  People do that today.

            And Paul sums up their ungodly behavior by quoting out of Isaiah 52:5, showing them how their actions have caused Gentiles, the unsaved, to mock and blaspheme the name of God. Folks, make no mistake about it, people will judge our God by our words and deeds as this story illustrates for us. We are told:

            Stuart Briscoe tells about having to deal with a fellow employee who had embezzled a large sum of money from the bank for which they both worked. The reason the man embezzled was that he had two wives and families to support. When he was apprehended and fired, he stunned everyone by saying, “I am very sorry for what I have done, and I need to know whether I should fulfill my preaching commitments on Sunday in our local church.” Briscoe says that in the following weeks he spent a great part of his time mending the damage done by that man’s blatant inconsistency. To his chagrin, he found that his fellow workers not only despised the man, but “ . . . were quick to dismiss the church he belonged to as a ‘bunch of hypocrites,’ the gospel he professed to believe as a ‘lot of hogwash,’ and the God he claimed to serve as ‘nonexistent.’”

            We have all, unfortunately, heard the name of God blasphemed by unbelievers because of immoral actions by those who claim to be believers. We may assume that because we have the truth we are okay, but this is a dangerous presumption. God is not impressed by our claims of orthodoxy, and neither is the world. What does impress God and the world is an orthodoxy which produces a new life – an orthodoxy of action.

- R. Kent Hughes, Romans, p. 66

            Remember when David sinned with Bathsheba and he tried to hide it for a whole year. Then Nathan the prophet confronted David and when he confessed his sin, we are told in II Samuel 12:13-14, “So David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’ And Nathan said to David, ‘The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.”  You see, our sin will give the enemies of God a chance to mock and blasphemy God. When people, unbelievers look at our lives what do they see?  Do they see a lot of talk about God and morality but no walk?  You see, our words and deeds need to match up. We should live what we say that we believe. Not for salvation but out of love for God and to show that we do love Him, the evidence of our faith!

VERSES 25-26

            Yes the Jews prided themselves with the Law and he also prided himself with the right of circumcision. Now to us, this may seem strange but not to the Jew.  Circumcision was a sign of God’s covenant with Abraham, found in Genesis 17:9-14, and it expressed the separation of God’s people from the world. This minor surgical operation, at least today, was performed on the foreskin of the Jewish male when he was eight days old.

            Now the Jews became so prideful in this rite of circumcision that they called the Gentiles “the uncircumcision.” It was a put down to say the least.  In fact, they become so prideful with this that they truly believed even if you were a bad Jew, as long as you were circumcised, as long as you carried in your body the sign of the covenant, it didn’t matter what you did!

            I know, you may find that hard to believe, but it is very true! Listen to what their own religious leaders said regarding this.  Rabbi Menachem said this in his commentary on the Book of Moses: “Our Rabbis have said that no circumcised man will see hell.” Another put it this way: “Circumcision saves from hell.”  And midrash Tillim says “God swore to Abraham that no one who was circumcised should be sent to hell.”  And another Rabbinic saying said, “Circumcision is equivalent to all the commandments of the Law.”

            When you really think about this, you can see how foolish it really is, and that is Paul’s point here. If you are circumcised and you keep the Law, that is great but if you don’t keep the Law, then circumcision is of no profit to you. In fact, Paul tells them that a Jewish lawbreaker is just like a Gentile lawbreaker, there is no advantage, circumcision counts for nothing. Here in verse 25 Paul says in the Greek, “if you are a lawbreaker, your circumcision has become a foreskin.”  In other words, if it were possible, you can be circumcised over and over again and each time you break the Law it would be like your foreskin has grown back, it is of no value your empty ritual if you are not living what you say you believe.

            And here is the deal, it is not a matter of cutting away your flesh but it is a matter of the heart. That is what Moses, known to the Jews as the lawgiver, said in Deuteronomy 10:16, “Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer.” But not just the heart, in Exodus 6:12 we see Moses speaking of the circumcision of our lips, the things that come from our mouths, “And Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, ‘The children of Israel have not heeded me. How then shall Pharaoh heed me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?’”  And in Jeremiah 6:10 we see the circumcision of the ears or the things we hear, “To whom shall I speak and give warning, That they may hear? Indeed their ear is uncircumcised, And they cannot give heed. Behold, the word of the Lord is a reproach to them; They have no delight in it.”

            Again, it is not speaking of an outward ritual but an inward reality! And we will deal more with how this relates to us as we close this morning, but for now, think of it like this. A wedding ring is a symbol of marriage but if I don’t wear the wedding ring, if I never had a wedding ring, that doesn’t mean I am not married!  You see, the inward reality is manifested in our actions and circumcision does not mean you are saved.

            In fact, in verse 26 Paul hits the Jew hard as he says that a Gentile who is uncircumcised and keeps the Law, He is more acceptable than a Jew who is circumcised and does not keep the Law. Again, it is a matter of the heart, that is what counts!

            Paul reminds us of the faith of Abraham and not his circumcision in Romans chapter 4, starting in verse 1, where we are told, “What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh?  For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness . . . Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised.” Romans 4:1-5, 9-12.

You see, Abraham was saved by faith and not by works, like circumcision, for then he could have boasted!  The illustration fits perfectly because the Jews boasted about their heritage, being children of Abraham, circumcised, and yet, Paul says that is totally empty for if you don’t keep the Law, you will die by the Law!   Theologian Charles Hodge put it this way: “Whenever true religion declines, the disposition to lay undo stress on external rites is stressed. The Jews when they lost their spirituality supposed that circumcision had the power to save them.” And Paul is going to show us that this circumcision is of the heart and not the flesh, as I have said, as he concludes this chapter. So let’s read on and see what Paul has to say.

VERSES 27-29

            Now please understand that Paul is not saying that a Gentile can keep the Law for his salvation, that would contradict his entire letter he is writing to the church in Rome. He is trying to show the Jew how foolish their thinking is in regards to the Law and circumcision. Even a Gentile who is keeping the Law will judge you who think you have some advantage because you are a Jew, a descendant of Abraham. That has nothing to do with it, because it is a matter of the heart and not physical birth!

            Now, if you say you know God, then there should be an outward sign to prove what you are saying is true. I can say that I am a carpenter, put on this great big tool belt with all kinds of tools, grab some power tools, don’t be afraid, it is only a story. I may look the part, even tell you that my dad did all kinds of carpentry, he built all kinds of things, even a garage and since I am his descendant, I can too!  That is until you see my work and my work would be the evidence that I don’t know what I am doing and you need to call Conrad or someone who does know what they are doing in this work. You see, there has to be that inward reality and then that is manifested in our actions, the things that we do!

            And for the Jew or for any of us, it is not that we keep 50% of the Law, or 75% of the Law or even 99.9999999% of the Law for our salvation. You see, James tells us, “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” The Amplified Bible puts this verse like this, “For whosoever keeps the Law [as a] whole but stumbles and offends in one [single instance] has become guilty of [breaking] all of it.”  James 2:10.

            God’s requirements for you to enter into heaven by the Law is to keep it perfectly, 100% of it all the time and if you stumble in one part of it, just one of the Laws, then you are guilty of the whole Law.  Thus, the only righteousness that God will accept is the righteousness of Christ, that is the standard we must meet and we fall far short of attaining that on our own. Thus, Paul tells us in II Corinthians 5:21, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” In other words, we have the righteousness of Christ imputed into our lives by faith and our sins were poured into Christ as He hung on the cross of Calvary, paying in full the penalty for our sins!

Now, how does all of this relate to us as Christians today?  We don’t believe in circumcision for our salvation, so does this even apply to us? Absolutely it does. For us as Christians, we see this idea of a works salvation, which the Jews were doing, in many churches, with baptism, confirmation, the keeping of this and the keeping of that. Do you really think that infant or even adult baptism saves a person?  Of course it won’t, only Jesus saves.  Baptism is an outward sign of what has taken place in your heart just as circumcision was to the Jew.  It won’t save you but if you are saved, you are letting the world know that as you are dipped into the water you are dead to sin and as you come out you are a new creation in Christ.  Baptism is just a sign to show what has already taken place in your heart! 

Remember what Paul wrote in Colossians 2:8-12, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.”

            And folks, if baptism was needed for salvation, why in the world would Paul say in I Corinthians 1:14-17, “I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.”  You see, if baptism was needed for salvation, Paul would have traveled with a portable baptismal tank and been dunking everyone he came in contact with that received Christ.  But it is not needed for salvation, but it is an outward showing of what has taken place in your heart!

            Now this idea is not limited just to baptism. There are those who pride themselves in their church membership; “I am a Baptist,” or “I am a Lutheran,” or “I am a Calvary Chapelite,” or whatever.  You may hold onto rituals, confirmation, communion, going to church, lighting candles, tithing, even ministry and-so-on and none of those things save you!

            Folks, if Jesus Christ is not your Lord and Savior, if you have not asked Him to forgive you of your sins, it doesn’t matter what you do; you will be judged for your sins. Again, let me use the illustration of a wedding ring. I can put a wedding ring on my finger but it is meaningless unless I am truly married. There are many religious people out there who base their salvation on good works, be it baptism, church membership, the mass or whatever, and they will not enter into heaven with God.  Jesus said in John 14:6, “ . . . ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” John 14:6.  And Peter reminds us in Acts 4:12, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

            And it is then we can receive praise, not from men but from God! That is Paul’s point here in verse 29, a kind of play on words. You see, the word “Jew” means, “praise” and Paul’s point is that a real Jew is one whose character is such that he receives praise from God. And that salvation is based upon Christ first and then it is manifested in our outward actions!

Let’s look at Galatians 3:1-5 and see what Paul has to say regarding a works salvation. We are told, “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain — if indeed it was in vain? Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”

When Paul calls the Galatians “foolish” or ANOETOS (an-o’-ay-tos) in the Greek, he is not saying that they had some kind of mental deficiency but they failed to use the brain that God had given them, they failed to use their spiritual minds to discern if these things the Judiazers were saying was true.  And please understand that the Judiazers were saying that you needed Jesus to be saved and you needed to keep the Law of Moses, be circumcised, and that is what Paul is coming against, this false doctrine the Judiazers were teaching.

Now, because of their mental laziness it clouded their judgment regarding salvation and Paul wants to know who has “bewitched” them or used flattering words to deceive them from the truth!  No, it was not Samantha Stevens from Bewitched, but the Judiazers who were mixing them up, clouding their minds!  Think about it, most people that are involved with cults, get sucked into cults are not stupid. They are very intelligent people who have been misled by people who appealed to their emotions; their feelings and they bought into those lies just as the Galatians were doing!

            They did not see Christ crucified but they were taught these truths, saw these from the Word of God just as plain as a sign on a billboard!  The word that Paul uses for “crucified” is in a perfect passive participle and that means it was a historical fact and its results continue on, but now the Judiazers were clouding this picture.  They allowed their flesh, their pride to convince them they could work their way into heaven by keeping the Law but as William Hendriksen tells us, “A supplemented Christ is a supplanted Christ.”

           Paul wants them to get their heads out of the clouds and think about how they were saved – by Grace through Faith.  Now, after all that God has done for them, given them they think they can be more spiritual, they can grow in the Lord by adding works to Grace – not at all!  It is foolish to think that way. Listen carefully to this, it is important. If your salvation is based on the Law then you are saying that you are blessed and you will grow spiritually by EARNING and DESERVING it!  You see, God owes you in a sense and if you want to be paid for your works salvation, the payment is death!  On the other hand, under Grace, you are blessed and you grow by BELIEVING and RECEIVING it!  You see, we don’t deserve it, but God gives it to us freely!

            “What are you saying Joe, that I don’t have to read my Bible, I don’t have to have devotions, I don’t have to go to church?”  EXACTLY!  You don’t have to but you get to read God’s Word!  You don’t have to but you get to have devotions with Him!  You don’t have to go to church, but you get to go to church!  You see, you don’t earn blessings from God you receive them by faith!  God can’t love you any more than He already does and He can’t love you any less!  His love is unconditional!

            Thus, and this may offend some of you but I cannot reconcile this in my mind and I have to just tell you like it is.  If you add anything to your salvation, then I don’t believe you are truly saved. If you say that you have to be baptized to be saved, then the work of Christ was not finished on the cross of Calvary; you had to add your works of baptism to it. If you believe church membership, ministry work, communion, confirmation, doing this or doing that will save you, I am sorry, it doesn’t! I do realize that is a hard one to swallow and I have struggled with it, but I don’t think you can add any works to your salvation or why would Paul even need to write these Galatians if what the Judiazers were saying was not a deadly poison. You see, they were only adding the Law of Moses and circumcision to salvation and yet Paul tells us that they are accursed, it is a false Gospel!

            Once again I believe Paul makes this very clear in Ephesians 2:8-9, verses I believe we know very well but do we truly listen to what Paul is saying. He wrote, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

            You see, if you are this super religious person, what will be manifested in your life many times is that you will fight for your cause of baptism, the church, this work or that work and not for Christ. Don’t you see a problem with that? You need to because it is not about what you have done or what the church has done or is doing, but it is all about Christ and His finished work on the cross of Calvary!

            Folks, we have been very blessed with many things from God, just as the Jews were, but let us be careful that we don’t follow down their path that truly is leading away from God and to a place where you are very religious and still going to Hell! Let us freely come to Christ and receive that free gift of faith or we will die in our sins!  As I begin to close this morning, let me share with you this story and you will see, that no matter what you are treasuring up for yourself, apart from Christ, you are dead in your trespasses and sins. We are told:

            This story is told that in the late 1880s, a bank teller stole a silver dollar every day and hid it in his attic. Knowing how to juggle the books and cover his tracks, this went on for days, weeks, months, years – until one day, after eighteen years, he was lying in his bed and judgment came. The rotting attic finally gave way, causing the coins to fall through the ceiling, crush the embezzler in his own bed and bury him in his iniquity.

- Jon Courson, Application Commentary, New Testament, p. 888

Folks, the super religious person is condemned by the Law of God, the commandments of God because he can’t keep them. If he continues in this he will be crushed by the wrath of God, there is no escape except through Christ. And God is not interested in outward rituals, but your heart! Won’t you give it to Him and walk in that new life that is only found in Him because apart from Christ, there is only judgment. And thus, the judgment of God will come upon them if they do not repent and receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  Let me leave you this morning with a summary of Romans chapter 2 by William Newell as he gives to us the Seven Great Principles of God’s Judgment. They go like this:

            God’s judgment is according to truth (Romans 2:2)

            God’s judgment is according to accumulated guilt (Romans 2:5)

            God’s judgment is according to works (Romans 2:6)

            God’s judgment is without partiality (Romans 2:11)

            God’s judgment is according to performance, not knowledge (Romans 2:13)

            God’s judgment reaches the secrets of the heart (Romans 2:16)

            God’s judgment is according to reality, not religious profession (Romans 2:17-29)

Instead of receiving His judgment, won’t you receive the gift of life that He has for you and that gift of life is found in Jesus?  The Law will weigh you down. Grace will set you free! It truly is your choice, but don’t be weighed down by the Law, receive the free gift that is found in Christ, as Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”  Won’t you come?