30th August 2008

“LET US LABOUR THEREFORE TO ENTER INTO THAT REST…” Heb 4:11

As we were pouring out our hearts during the opening prayer session, the Lord sent two distinct words amongst others, to “tend this spark until it becomes a flame ” and “bring Me a new cruse”, to bear the salt that will heal the waters.

In the exhortation that followed the question was how to progress from our present experience to the ‘fullness of grace’ that we saw in Christ (Jn. 1:14), This grace, which through the mercy of God was also experienced by others like Stephen (Acts 6:3,5,8; Acts7:55) a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost. So was Barnabas described as a “good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith”. What was it that turned the sparks we are experiencing now, into the sweeping fire it became in the testimony of these men? How did they become useful cruses that turned their own valleys of Baca into lands overflowing with living waters?

Could it be that we ought to check our calling, whether our responses are complete?

• Matt 11:28  "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest".

Yes, to the call of vs.28 we all have responded, at some point in time. We have come to Him and found to various degrees, rest from guilt and penalty of sin, Satan and the world.

• Matt 11:29  "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".
• Matt 11:30  "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light".

Vs.29 often is the call we ignore. It is an easy yoke but it is still a yoke. It is yoke of abiding in Him, perfect walk with Him as His yoke fellows. Learning of Him, to become like Him. This is more than “leaning from” Him. But this is what gives this "soul and spirit rest". It is this “following Jesus” that leads to the place of eternal rest in Him while still on this earth. This is where He led His disciples and which they in turn by the Holy Spirit showed others as He commanded them, “make disciples of all the nations”

We looked at the travails of Peter in Matt 16:15-28. Peter was given a revelation knowledge of Christ by the Father, in answer to the “But whom say ye that I am?” After a Divine commendation of Peter, Jesus began to enunciate the process of the Cross, being the only way to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. But Peter will have none of it. And Jesus in verse 23 said to Peter, “Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art a stumbling-block unto me: for thou mindest not the things of God, but the things of men.” See what immediately follows in verse 24, as the Divine provision, the way out of Peter’s debacle, not only for Peter, but also for all those who will face the same conflict:

Matt 16:24  "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me".

Jesus gave his disciples, the Divine conditions for being a disciple. The way of discipleship is the way of the Cross and the way of follower-ship. Following this in verses 25 & 26, Jesus explained further that the natural type of life which does not savour or prioritise the things of God must be denied, mortified and lost; in order to find and gain eternal life in Christ. This is the life of rest, which, the epistle to the Hebrews talks about:

Heb 4:9  "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God".

Heb 4:10  "For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his".

Heb 4:11  "Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief".

You will notice that that rest is a possession, a potential provision for you and I as people of God, but there is always a process to bring the potential to reality and daily experience as Obadiah pointed out:

Obadiah 1:17  "But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions".

Note also according to the Hebrews passage, that the major hindrance between the people of God and this rest is unbelief.  It is unbelief that makes it impossible for man to receive the offer of grace and obey the words of Christ: to deny himself- that is “disown himself, forget, lose sight of himself and his own interests, refuse and give up himself”, take up his cross daily and follow Me [that is – cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example, in living and if need be in dying also] .

In conclusion, we have all sometime ago, come to the Lord in repentance and have experienced some deliverance and rest. But we need to be real in our CHRIST-ianity. We need to be yokefellows of CHRIST and learn of Him to become like Him to find that real REST for our souls and spirits. And yet the Bible says that rest remains and is waiting for you and I. Can we take a decision to labour to enter into this rest, by simple obedience of faith?

Could we all therefore in prayers seek the LORD’s face as to what this labour means for each of us, as individuals. Because entering into this rest is not passive but there is a labour to labour- albeit a "faith labour" which does not rely on the energy of the flesh. However, when a man enters therein, he ceases from His works and rests in that which God has completed and provided for in Christ, from the foundations of the world…

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