REST

PART ONE:

Matt 11:28-30 (KJV)

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you REST.

29 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.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

After their exodus from Egypt, God’s people didn’t enter “God’s REST” - think about it - does this mean God was MAD at them because they didn’t LAY DOWN or SLEEP?:

Heb 3:17- 19 (NIV)

17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who SINNED, whose bodies fell in the desert?

18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his REST if not to those who disobeyed?

19 So we see that they were not able to enter, BECAUSE OF THEIR UNBELIEF.

So, this is a REST of FAITH ! ! We will have to go BACK and READ the account to see what THEY did, so WE WON’T make the SAME MISTAKE:

Num 13:25-14:4 (NIV)

25 At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land.

26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land.

27 They gave Moses this account: "We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit.

28 BUT the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.

29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan."

30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, FOR WE CAN CERTAINLY DO IT."

31 But the men who had gone up with him said, "WE CAN'T attack those people; THEY ARE STRONGER THAN WE ARE." (Author’s Note - So what does THAT mean to God??)

32 And they spread among the Israelites A BAD REPORT (King James reads - an EVIL REPORT) about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.

33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."

CHAPTER 14

1 That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud.

2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert!

3 Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?"

4 And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt."

THESE PEOPLE SAW THE 10 PLAGUES OF EGYPT - GOD OPEN THE RED SEA - GOD SEND FOOD AND WATER TO THEM IN THE DESERT - WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH THESE PEOPLE - I’ll SHOW you (so we don’t make the SAME mistake):

Heb 4:1 - 12 (NIV)

1 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.

2 For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. (After HEARING God’s Word, or seeing God move, YOU MUST BELIEVE that He WILL DO FOR YOU what He said He would do AND what He has done for OTHERS, He will do for YOU ! ! !)

3 Now WE WHO HAVE BELIEVED ENTER THAT REST, just as God has said, "So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.'" And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world.

4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: "And on the seventh day God rested from all his work."

5 And again in the passage above he says, "They shall never enter my rest."

6 It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience.

7 Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts."

8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day.

9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God;

10 for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.

11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.

12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

WE SHOULD BE AT REST - WE SHOULD HAVE ALREADY CAST OUR CARES UPON HIM:

1 Pet 5:7 (KJV)

7 CASTING ALL YOUR CARE UPON HIM; for he careth for you.

Phil 4:6 (NIV)

6 DO NOT BE ANXIOUS ABOUT ANYTHING, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

PART TWO:

How many of you are old enough to remember something called “the Blue Law”?? When I moved my family to Houston, Texas in 1981 to work for Evangelists Charles and Frances Hunter, stores were closed on Sunday . . .

Exod 31:14-18 (KJV)

14 Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.

17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.

18 And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.

Let us bring this commandment THROUGH THE CROSS and see how it applies to US in the NEW TESTAMENT:

Mark 2:23-3:6 (NIV)

23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain.

24 The Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?"

25 He answered, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need?

26 In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions."

27 Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

CHAPTER 3

1 Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there.

2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath.

3 Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Stand up in front of everyone."

4 Then Jesus asked them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they remained silent.

5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.

6 Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

To FULFILL LOVE or MEET A NEED is LAWFUL, however, God’s law STILL STANDS - we MUST take a Sabbath once a week - cease from OUR labors, SEEK GOD - only we are not to judge for one another WHICH day it will be:

Col 2:16-17 (NIV)

16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.

17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

The principal is -YOU NEED REST - you will be REFRESHED as God was by taking a sabbath rest once a week - My suggestion?? Try to stock up on groceries during the week so you don’t HAVE to go to the store - Cook things up AHEAD of time - Do YOUR work on the day before or the day after - DO NOT WORK 7 DAYS A WEEK - REST ! !