What is true rest? Jesus talks about how to attain rest of the soul. Rest which is permanent and satisfying.

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. True Greatness
3. Children of Wisdom
4. When profanity
surpasses piety
5. Wisdom of Children
6. Soul Rest

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

5. SOUL REST
BIBLE PASSAGE
Matt 11:28 “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.”

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?

8. WHAT IS SOUL REST?
The bible gives us an example of
Lot’s soul being tortured, yet
trapped in materialism.
2 Peter 2:7and if He rescued Lot, a
righteous man distressed by the
depraved conduct of the lawless
8(for that righteous man, living
among them day after day, was
tormented in his righteous soul by
the lawless deeds he saw and
heard)— 9if all this is so, then the
Lord knows how to rescue the
godly from trials and to hold the
unrighteous for punishment on the
day of judgment.

9. WHAT IS SOUL REST?
The conscience cringes 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,
results in true rest, peace,
abundance and satisfaction in
Christ.

10. 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.

11. 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

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

13. 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?

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

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

16. RESULT OF SOUL
FATIGUE, SOUL COMA
Isaiah 28:11 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.

17. 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

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

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

20. ALL WHO LABOUR AND
ARE HEAVY LADEN
Trapped mentally into intellectual maze?
Emotionally into a love trap?
Physically into unending schedules?
COME TO JESUS

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

22. We want soul rest, but are not ready to let go of indulgences
We want the world and Christ
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

23. WE ARE ADDICTED
How will Christ free our:
• Mind
• Heart
• Body?
Not removal therapy but replacement therapy
He replaces Satan’s yoke with his yoke.
• Changes our purpose
• Our passion
• Our endless routines

24. 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?

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

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

27. CENTRE AROUND
CHRIST
Matt 11:29 ……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.”

28. 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

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

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

31. 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.

32. 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?

33. CONTINUE IN CHRIST
Matthew 11:29b …………….. and
you will find rest for your souls.
You – personal
Will – guaranteed over time
Find – Discover and experience
throughout life
SOUL REST

34. 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.

35. DANGERS
We know we are getting caught under
the old yoke when
There is less time and place for
Christ in:
• mind
• Heart
• body

36. SOUL REST
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

37. 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?

38. 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 busy with various matters (physically or mentally), ensure priority for Him
3. When planning, schedule priority time for 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 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. Feel more excitement and look forward to spiritual results over other things.
10. Always put your hardest efforts while completely depending on Him for results.
11. View the world from Christ’s perspective – the poor as spiritually poor, the
captives as those unsaved or saved and struggling to overcome, etc.