In starting this lesson some of you are probably asking what is a yoke? The yoke is not a very well-known tool in our modern world today. It was a very well-known piece of equipment in the agricultural society of Jesus' day.
The yoke was a wooden harness that went around the neck of two animals binding them together so they could pull a load and accomplish work. In the book of Leviticus, God instructed the Israelites to not have an unequal yoke when working the fields. The result of an unequal yoke was that the animals would not be able to work to their fullest God given potential.
In the Old Testament the yoke was a designation of servitude to oppression as the result of rebellion against God and sinful lifestyles.
In order to emphasize the weight of oppression, the yoke is sometimes described as a yoke of iron. Deuteronomy chapter 28 verse 45 thru 48 says because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you. It was also a symbol of the burden of slavery or burdensome taxes put upon the people. The prophet Jeremiah was commanded to go about Jerusalem wearing a yoke on his neck, as well as to send yokes to the kings of the neighboring countries, to indicate that they, together with Judah, would be brought under Babylonian rule.
In the New Testament Jesus talked about the yoke which will be the main scripture we are going to look at in this lesson.
However, Peter and Paul both spoke of the yoke. Peter in Acts chapter 15 verse 10 says why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? The ritualistic and legal requirements of the Law Peter called a yoke and said that the yoke of the law hindered the believer from being joined to Christ. Paul said pretty much the same thing in Galatians chapter 5 verse 1 when he said for freedom Christ has set us free stand firm therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
Paul had two things in mind when he spoke of the yoke of slavery in Galatians chapter 5. I’ve talked about this previously so let’s do a little review from Lesson 3: What Is Man? God created man in His image then he ‘took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it’. And the Lord God commanded the man in Genesis chapter 2 verse 16 that from any tree of the garden you may eat freely, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.
The command given to Adam and Eve was the requirement to maintain open fellowship with the Creator. In Genesis chapter 3 verses 1 thru 7 we see that Adam and Eve forfeited their right to maintain God’s likeness and no longer had open fellowship with the Father. Now since that day man has forever been inflicted with separation from God, death and corruption. In the Genesis story we don’t see Adam and Eve suddenly struck by lightning and die. What kind of death was God talking about when He told them they would surely die in the day that they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? The first effect of man’s disobedience was spiritual death.
Spiritual death is a life independent or separated from the life of God.
It’s like when you take a plant out of the soil it has been separated from its source of life. It doesn’t die immediately, but once removed from its source of life it’s going to eventually shrivel up and die. Spiritual death is a life dead in sin. The first thing the man and woman did after eating was work to try to absolve or cover their sin. It was their attempt to deal with the sin problem through their own self effort, completely separate from God.
The fruit that sprang from eating the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was the beginning of man made religion. It’s why the first foundational doctrine is repentance from dead works. All religions are based on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which all lead to corruption. It may be legalistic corruption or lawless corruption, but it all comes from the same source and produces death. In Galatians when Paul is telling us to not submit to a yoke of slavery, he was telling us to not subject ourselves to legalistic corruption or lawless corruption. Paul viewed them both as the works of the flesh described in Galatians 5 verse 19 and 20. I fully expanded on this subject in Lesson 10 Part II: A Lifestyle of Repentance which I encourage you to listen to.
Now when Jesus used the yoke as an analogy, he spoke of us being joined to him.
Let me read Matthew chapter 11 verse 28 thru 30 in the Message Translation. Jesus asks: Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly. Unlike legalistic religion and the burden of sin Jesus’s yoke is easy. He said his burden is light and that we are going to find rest by being joined to Him. If we truly want to fulfill His mission, then our hearts have to be joined to His heart allowing Him to live through our lives.
Let me help you understand the depths of what Jesus is teaching us by looking at what it means to be unequally yoked. Paul in II Corinthians chapter 6 tells us not to be unequally yoked. Imagine that one ox is a different size than the other ox that it’s yoked to and trying to get work done. It would make the yoke uneven and off balance. An unequal yoke would make it to where the oxen could not work together. It would cause the animals to go around in circles or stop altogether not being able to accomplish anything.
The idea of the unequal yoke is based on Deuteronomy 22:9, which prohibits yoking together two different animals. It’s talking about joining two things that should not be joined. Like ketchup on ice cream or mixing oil and water. Now let’s go back to what Jesus was telling us about being yoked to Him. In light of not being unequally yoked, we see that Jesus invites us to be yoked to him by learning the unforced rhythms of grace.
If you remember in the last section, I taught you that God told man in Genesis chapter 2 to cultivate and keep the garden. It's one of the main themes of this school which is a restoration to the original mandate given to man by God. The Hebrew word for cultivate is abad and the Hebrew word for keep is shamar. These same Hebrew words are used to describe how the priest cared for the tabernacle of Moses. The tabernacle was a precursor to the temple of Solomon.
The priests were to cultivate and keep the tabernacle. In addition, we are told that God walked in the garden during the cool of the day. God also walked in the midst of the temple. The meaning is clear. The garden was a temple for God. Like the temple, the garden was the joining together of God’s space and man’s space - the intersection of the heavenly realm and the earthly realm. Adam was a priest who walked with God, bore his image, was clothed in his glory and demonstrated servant leadership in the garden. Adam was also a king created to rule, which means man was to be God’s representative in the earth and through man God was to exercise his rule and authority in the earth.
The 'mystery of the church' is that Christ has come to live within us. He has begun the process of restoring all things in this present age. We are his body and we are equally yoked to him being sons of God.
We have been given the very same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead and Scripture calls us sons of God. Romans chapter 8 verse 14 thru 15 says for all who are led, governed and infused by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verses 16 thru 18 says, I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them and I will be their God and they shall be my people. I will welcome you and I will be a father to you and you shall be sons and daughters to me.
Ephesians 1 verse 5 says in love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ. Galatians chapter 3 verses 26 thru 28 says in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. You are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” To be yoked to Christ is to be in union with him. Jesus taught this exact same thing in John chapter 15 verse 5, but just used the analogy of a vine. He said whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Now I can do a lot of things without Christ, but I can do nothing of eternal value without His Spirit working through me.
He went on to say in verse 8 that by this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. It’s what Paul was saying when he said that we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. In Jesus' day if you wanted to train a younger ox how to plow the field, you would yoke him with a mature trained ox, so he could learn by example and become like him. The purpose of being yoked to Jesus is first of all so we can learn of Him since our main mission is to grow up into Him.
The word Christian means to be Christ-like and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.
Paul himself became so closely yoked to Jesus that he could tell others to follow his example. As a trainer, I’ve found one of the most effective methods to reinforce a teaching is modeling. It’s why Jesus had the 12 live, eat and watch him. It’s why 12 men changed the world. It doesn’t take an army. It just takes a few committed, dedicated people who will actually live out and model what they’ve learned. People listen to what you have to say when you live what you say since your life demonstrates it actually works. It’s why the cry of Paul's heart was that he might know Him and the power of His resurrection.
The first thing in Matthew chapter 11 Jesus taught about the yoke is that by being joined to him we would find rest for our souls. The rest that Jesus gives us, is not lying down to sleep. It’s first of all a rest from working to try and please Him. It’s also a rest from the anxiety of sin and the pressure of living life by our own strength. True Christianity is being joined to the Head of the church and following Him day by day wherever He leads. It was the prayer that Paul prayed over the church in Ephesus. It’s what Paul taught in his letter to the Ephesians concerning the mystery of the church.
Paul opens this letter praying for them and helping them to understand what I can best describe as a two-tiered vision of Christ. God is always working through this two-tiered vision.
The first tier is God's eternal purposes accomplished through Christ. This is the foundation and starting point of all vision. The second tier is God's eternal purposes accomplished through each member of His body upon the earth, his ekklesia.
Paul the apostle unfolds this two-tiered vision in the book of Ephesians.
In Ephesians chapter 1 verse 4 thru 5 he tells us that, "long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ and this gave him great pleasure. There is no higher calling than sonship! God restoring His glory to humanity is His highest priority. Every man, woman and child coming under the headship of Christ is God's ultimate purpose. God has a vision of each member of His body being conformed to the image of His Son. The essence of Paul’s apostolic prayer in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 17 thru 23, contains the pattern for accomplishing our ultimate destiny, which is Christlikeness.
The first ingredient for accomplishing this goal is a prayer for spiritual vision.
Paul's prayer for these believers in Ephesus was that they would be given "a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Christ. He then prayed that the eyes of their hearts would be open to know. Number one to know the hope of his calling. Number two to know the riches of the glory of his inheritance in them and number three to know the surpassing greatness of his power toward them. Let's break this prayer down because I believe in this prayer, we will see what motivated Paul.
Paul told Agrippa that he was motivated to fulfill God's heavenly vision for his life. He was praying that these disciples would become heavenly minded. I have heard it said that many Christians are so ‘heavenly minded that they are not earthly good.’ Vaughan Jarrold, an English prophet, I trained under and who has now left this earth used to say, many Christians are so earthly minded they are no heavenly good! Yes, heavenly vision with no practical outlet is simply mysticism. However, to have an eternal impact upon this planet, we must have the eyes of our hearts opened so that we can live this life from a heavenly perspective. It’s only by living from God's heavenly vision, that we will be motivated to accomplish His purposes on this earth for our daily lives.
The first thing Paul prayed for was a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Christ.
Paul was praying for more than a mere 'head knowledge'. Like I said in previous lessons you can get a parrot to repeat things. The problem we have today is that many Christians have 'head knowledge' of Christ, yet their lives are not changed. They are not living life from the inside out, through the power of the cruciform life. They acknowledge the importance of the cross, yet they still live by the 'lower nature' because they are still yoked to legalism and live in the cycle of dead works. Their hearts have not been captured by the 'word of the cross'. Yes, they will tell you they are Christians, but you can tell by their lifestyles that their lives still belong to themselves. They have retained lordship over their own hearts and Christ has little or no place in their lives. This is why sin has a hold upon their lives and is many times totally unrestrained in their lives!
Proverbs 29:18 tells us that where there is no vision then people live unrestrained lives. Vision harnesses us to God's purpose and restrains our conduct to come into alignment with the intended will of God.
The word Paul uses for knowledge in Ephesians 1:17 is the Greek word Epignōsis. This word goes beyond superficial shallow head knowledge of something. It expresses a thorough participation in the object of knowledge. In the New Testament this word appears only in the Pauline writings. It always refers to knowledge which very powerfully influences the form of the spiritual life, a knowledge laying claim to personal sympathy and exerting an influence upon the person. Paul was praying that their hearts would be radically touched through the wisdom and revelation of the crucified and risen Christ. He prayed that their lives would become an expression of the life of Christ.
We must have a true vision of Christ communicated to our hearts. It is only by seeing, relating and being yoked to him that we can fulfill our purpose. As we see Him clearly then and only then will we no longer grope around in this dark world living a life of unrestrained sin. When our hearts are opened to Him, we will become identified with Him and will experience daily spiritual growth to become more like Him. I find so many people are running around wanting their vision to be fulfilled, yet it is only by first aligning our hearts to His vision that we will ever find our true purpose.
All true vision is lived out of a reference point of the foundation of a vision of Christ.
Paul prayed that the eyes of our hearts would be opened, so that we could become intimately connected to His calling. It’s what Jesus was talking about when He instructed us to take His yoke. If you want to know your calling, then become acquainted with His calling. Learn to walk with him and work with him in the unforced rhythms of grace.
Paul then prayed that we would understand his inheritance in us. Again, apostolic vision is that Christ would be formed within us and finally that we would experience His power toward us for the accomplishing of His vision. Christ is working out his dominion and rule over Satan through us, His inheritance. God wants to manifest the wisdom and power of the cross through the mystery of his body. Ephesians chapter 3 verse 11 says that this is in "accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord."
No matter what specific vision or calling God has placed upon your life, you have been commissioned to fulfill the 'Great Commission.'
Each member of Christ's body has been anointed to preach the gospel with power. We have not only been called to be more like Jesus, but also, to do the works, which He did. To be yoked to Christ is coming under His leadership to help fulfill the Great Commission. This brings us to the second tier of vision, which is God's eternal purposes, accomplished through each individual member of His body.
We each have a common foundation, but we also each have an individual part to fulfill, which makes us unique in God's mighty plan. The Holy Spirit empowers us to be like Christ and also to be ourselves. This is called the manifold wisdom of God as articulated in Ephesians chapter 3 verse 10.
Just as Joseph, Abraham’s favorite son had a coat of many colors, so God has woven a beautiful tapestry together called the body of Christ.
The body is made up of many individual colors masterfully woven together through the wisdom of God to display the likeness of Christ. Christ wants each member of His body to come under His headship walking in the rhythms of his grace so that we can receive His vision for our lives. God has a ministry specifically hand tailored to fit your unique personality. He has gifted each part of His body to bring forth an expression of Himself. It is important these days that each member catches a glimpse of the vision that God wants them to walk in. It is His vision for us that will give us the wisdom and power to live a disciplined life with purpose and direction.
The Christian sociologist George Barna says that unless we have a clear vision of where we are headed, the probability of a successful journey is severely limited. Unless you attend to His call upon your life and ministry, you are likely to experience confusion, weariness, dissipation and impotence. Any man or woman who has ever accomplished anything of significance has been a person of vision.
True vision comes down from above. It comes as we pray the prayer Christ told us to pray. Thy kingdom come on earth, which is our personal lives as it is in heaven.
As disciples we are called to seek first the kingdom, then the Holy Spirit will impart his wisdom to know the mind of God and his power to fulfill his purposes. Godly vision is a gift coming down from the Father above. It is not conjured or worked up, but it comes when we learn to align our hearts to the outflowing of His abundance of grace.
In the coming lessons I’m going to help you discover, develop and expand the vision that Christ has personally called you to. Let’s go back to Galatians 5 where Paul talked about the yoke of legalism because he gives us the antidote to freedom. It’s found in verse 16 where he says walk by the Spirit and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. In this age as we are yoked to the Spirit, we are going to have resistance to fulfilling the will of God. Verse 17 says the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh.
It’s not a popular message, but since we are yoked to Christ, we are also yoked to suffer with Him.
A scripture we often overlook is when Jesus said, a slave is not greater than his master. If they persecute Me, they will also persecute you. Acts chapter 5 verse 41 the apostles rejoiced "that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name." This opposition may come through a family member, a friend, a neighbor, a religious leader, a government agency or any number of people. In Philippians chapter 3 verse 10 right after Paul the apostle talks experiencing the power of his resurrection, he then says we also participate in the sufferings of Christ.
Peter in his epistle says do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.
In this age we are in a spiritual battle with the power of darkness.
In chapter 5 of this same epistle Peter tells us to be sober minded, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.
The good news is that because we are joined to Christ, we overcome this world with Him. Despite all of our difficulties in life and persecutions, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ. I love the end of Romans chapter 8 where Paul says: who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, For your sake we are being killed all the day long, we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Jesus himself told us to take courage in the midst of trials and tribulation because He has overcome therefore, through Him we overcome. Overcoming is not an absence of difficulties. It’s staying joined to Him through faith because He gives us the victory both in this life and in the life to come.
In the first three chapters of Revelation the ekklesia is encouraged to break off every yoke of sin that would try to keep them from following Him and to persevere with Him through every difficulty. We are called to overcome the works of darkness, we are called to overcome fear, strife, habits of sin and death itself. You know the reality is that we may not see some victories in this life. For example, someone who dies for their faith has the assurance of eternal life which is a victory over death. Paul was one of the most effective apostles laying foundations that we are still living from today.
It was Paul who taught us about the mystery of the church, the resurrected Christ being the head and the church being his body yoked to reign with him. Paul wrote to his spiritual son Timothy that if we endure, we shall also reign with Him. He also said that the sufferings of this present age are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. In this life our purpose is found in Christ and walking in his will for our lives.
We may go through trials, persecution, temptations and struggles in life, but we can be assured of overcoming. Overcoming doesn’t always look like victory and success in the world’s eyes, but we are to live our lives from the viewpoint of the heavenlies.
Jesus was the most successful person to ever live yet he was crucified. If anyone was an effective apostolic minister it was Paul. He had to endure many difficulties, yet he continued to be obedient to the 'heavenly vision' for his life. It seemed that by the end of Paul's life, all of his work was under attack and he wound up in jail to be killed. However, we partake of his success even today, as we read and study his writings. Was John the prophetic-apostle successful as he sat in that prison cell on the isle of Patmos writing the book of Revelation? In the world's eyes no, but in God's eyes yes! Philippians chapter 4 verses 12 and 13 Paul said of himself that I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
The yoke of Christ is not to rest from fruitful labor, but to labor fruitfully with the grace of God enduring to the end.
Jesus was not teaching us to be lazy, but was showing us that we are going to be most productive as we are yoked to Him. It’s not us working by our own strength, but being a co-laborer with Christ. It’s all about the incarnation. Jesus fleshed out what God is like and now it is our responsibility to flesh out what Jesus is like. Augustine the church father is ascribed as saying that we are to be a mind through which Christ thinks, a heart through which Christ loves, a voice through which Christ speaks and a hand through which Christ helps.
Let me take you back to the book of Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 thru 10 Paul says by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. Performing good works is about submitting to the grace of God and using our gifts to fulfill the will of God.
Paul said, by the grace of God I am what I am and His grace toward me did not prove vain, but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. A yoke was a harness tying two animals together to ease the work of hauling a load.
I want to end this lesson with one of the Psalms that Solomon wrote. Psalm 127 verse 1 Solomon wrote that unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. It’s only as we are yoked to Christ that we truly build our lives with purpose. Jesus didn’t come to do everything he came to fulfill the mission and work he was sent to accomplish laboring in the Spirit’s ability.
In looking at Paul as a sent one, it’s important that we understand that he only went where the Holy Spirit would allow him to go. It’s God’s desire to restore this apostolic understanding to the church. We not only need to know what the Lord has sent us to accomplish, but we also need to know where and with whom he wants us to accomplish His work for our lives.
The yoke of the king is about learning to work from a place of rest. God told man in Genesis chapter 2 to cultivate and keep the garden. The garden was a temple for God. Like the temple, the garden was the joining together of God’s space and man’s space - the intersection of the heavenly realm and the earthly realm. The priest was to wear a linen ephod or covering as he did the work of the Lord in the temple and it could not be made out of wool. Why? Because man wasn’t supposed to sweat as He did the work of the Lord. Sweat is a sign of man striving in his own ability.
Jesus has called us to take his yoke and stop striving, but learn to work from a place of rest. Paul in Philippians 3 says we are the ones who serve by the Spirit of God, boast in Christ Jesus and do not put confidence in the flesh. If we will be yoked to Christ and discover the unforced rhythms of grace, then we’ll work from a place of rest. It doesn't mean we will be free from struggle, but it does mean that we will experience success which is simply doing the will of God for our lives.
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Next Lesson: Lesson 40 - The Call to Serve
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