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FAITH-REST that comes from the Living God.
The world we are facing in 1999 is an
impossibility for mere humans to cope with!
The threat of the New World Order completely
taking over globally, the horror of the Y2K situation, the rise of
persecution of the Christians in other
nations, the emerging One World Church conglomerate - things are
not
looking good, in a natural sense. But
in a spiritual sense the outlook is far different.
The pages of the Bible are filled with
impossible situations, just look at Hebrews chapter eleven for many
examples. People who loved God, thrown
to lions, chased out of cities, facing famine and outbreaks of terrible
diseases, wandering in the desert without
food and water, facing hostile crowds who hated them etc. How did
these saints of God cope? Were they so
much stronger than we are, and therefore they could stand bravely and
not deny the Lord? Why did they have peace
in the midst of awful trials? This we MUST understand, above all
we must know how these believers of other
days faced the unthinkable, the unimaginably hard trials that they
faced. For if we can learn their secret,
then we too can walk through any fire, storm, persecution or famine that
Satan sends our way.
Hebrews 4:1-3 teaches about the FAITH-REST
that comes from the Living God. True rest in any trial is only
found in God Himself. The mighty saints
of God in the Bible knew in a practical way the Faith-Rest of God. True
rest is not found in escaping our trouble,
for we all have these on this fallen earth, true rest is found in the midst
of trouble as we trust God. Even poor
David wanted to fly from his problems, but more troubles would have only
arisen elsewhere - and they did in David’s
life:
“And I said, O that I had wings
like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.’
(Psalm 55:6).
The wicked unsaved can never have rest
and peace. They have refused to have life from the Lord Jesus Christ.
But Christians who will not live in FAITH-REST
can never have peace either. The reason is that peace and rest
are only found in the Presence of God,
He shares His own peace with us. God has perfect peace, but this is not
in the hearts of men. In our hearts there
is never peace from our own selves:
“And He said unto him, My presence
shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.”
(Exodus 33:14).
“Return unto thy rest, O my soul;
for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.”
(Psalm 116:7).
In His Word God has graciously provided
a solution for every problem! As we face each and every trial resting
in His promises, having faith in the God
Who gave them to us, we find that HE meets each trial with His
consolation and peace. He provides the
solutions, just because He is Truth and He cannot lie. We often suffer
so needlessly because we do not rely on
God, and we seek to find solutions and resources in ourselves. In
these passages from God’s Word you will
see that God wanted to give rest and peace but His people WOULD
NOT allow Him to. Are you and I going
to be so distrusting? I pray not:
“To whom he said, This is the rest
wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet
they would not hear.” “For thus saith the lord God, the Holy One
of Israel: In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and confidence
shall be your strength; and ye would not.”
(Isaiah 28:12; 30:15; 57: 20-21).
“Come unto to me, all ye that labour
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
(Matthew 11: 28).
No man or woman can manufacture Rest from
their own resources. It is the peace that only God can give, but it
is only available to us if we exercise
Faith. If we refuse to come in faith to Him, then we will sink into despair
and
anxiety. When people are anxious and fearful
they make very bad decisions, decisions made in panic and
under emotional turmoil. We need clear
heads and steady nerves as we face 1999 and on into AD 2000. Our
witness before the lost should be of calm
hearts, peace in God and confidence in His protection. When others
see what Christians have in God, in the
midst of chaos, they will turn in their own need to the Lord. We can then
comfort them with the comfort God gives
us, but we must have Faith in the Lord to be in that wonderful state:
“Blessed be God, even the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of
all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may
be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith
we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ
abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.”
(II Corinthians 1:4,5).
God wants you and I to have His peace.
When we were reconciled to God (Romans 5:1) we entered into
“eirene” the reconciliation peace. “Phoureo”
is the peace which God wants to give us which keeps us resting
and calm. It is a word which means to
“guard.” It is like a fortress that “garrisons” our hearts, the word means
in
Greek to post warriors around us. The
peace God shares with us is like having protecting warriors around a
castle, nothing can get in and spoil that
trust. It is a gift God wants us all to have.
Consider Daniel in the lions den, he was
at peace all night with fierce lions surrounding him, he had Faith-Rest
in God. Daniel did not create such peace
from his own resources within himself. But Darius the king could
not
sleep, he was in turmoil all night. Yet
he was surrounded by luxury and plenty. No man is capable of having
the
peace that Daniel delighted in from his
own inner self. God alone can give that confidence and trust. (Dan.
6:16-23).
Faith-Rest is our Sabbath rest
in the New Testament. It is typified in the Old Testament by Canaan.
See
Numbers 13 where spies were sent out to
see what the land of Canaan was like. The Israelites had wandered
in the wilderness because they would not
enter the Promised Land, they did not believe the Lord would just give
the land and defeat the enemies that were
in Canaan. They would not enter their rest. The book of Hebrews in
chapters 3 and 4 show us that this Canaan
rest is likened to the rest God wants Christian believers to have, His
Faith-Rest. It is shown to be a rest from
relying on our own works, our own resources in trials, and our own
yearning to force ourselves to have peace.
It is likened in Hebrews to the Creation Rest of God Himself!
(Hebrews 4:1-16). Read this passage for
yourself and see how important it is for you to honour God by resting
in Him in trust. Your Faith-Rest Sabbath
is a type of the Creator God resting from His labours.
It is imperative that we learn from God
Himself and the Scriptures, NOW, what moment-by-moment Faith-Rest
is all about. We do not know what the
future holds, but our God does, for He holds the future in His hand. He
has
promised to supply all our needs, and
He has promised to give peace as well. Let us not fail because of
unbelief, as those who perished in the
wilderness did (Book of Numbers). God’s supplies and peace are ours if
we take them by faith, we must take by
faith and not sight or feeling, or we will never have what God wants to
provide.
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.. But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians. 4:6,7; 19).
“Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment... (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek you first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take no thought (anxious thoughts) for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” (Matthew 6:25-34).
JESUS CHRIST our Beloved Saviour gives this word of encouragement to us right now in 1999:
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14: 27).
(Acknowledgement given to Gene Cunningham’s
“The Basics: A Categorical Bible Study.”
Ambassador Bible Church).
W. B. Howard ...Editor of Despatch
.
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