Pressing Toward the Rest of God

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A study of the text of the Book of Hebrews will reveal that those to whom the epistle was written were saved and had the baptism with the Holy Spirit. They had tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the powers of the coming age. They were close to the original revelation and were acquainted with miracles. Given the richness of their spiritual experiences, one would expect the writer to be congratulating them on their salvation and encouraging them to be spreading the good news of the "free ride to Heaven," as we would put it today.

No such congratulations are to be found. Rather, the Book of Hebrews is a book of warning. A warning concerning what? A warning concerning their lack of diligence in pressing toward the rest of God, toward the place where God could find rest in them.

(1/1/2007 Given the fact that they were saved and had been baptized with the Spirit, we might find it strange that the writer was cautioning them that they might not be made a partaker of Christ. We would not talk like this today, in many instances. We would say, or assume, that once people had been "saved," as we use the term, they were to live the Christian life to the best of their ability, spread the Gospel, and wait to die and go to Heaven. Obviously, we are coming short of the Lord's expectations concerning us.

Precisely what is this "rest of God," concerning which the writer exhorts us in the fourth chapter? The rest of God is our land of promise. It is the goal for which salvation and the baptism with the Holy Spirit prepares us.

As was true of Canaan, our land of promise, our "rest," is filled with enemies. As we attempt to please God, doing His will and resisting sin, many forces come against us. We are advised by other Christians that "no one is perfect"; "as long as we are in the world we have to sin"; "we are saved by grace so it is not necessary to overcome our sinful urges." We have our fallen nature to contend with. We in America are living in a demon-filled culture. Not only are the activities of Satan protected by our Constitution, but the continually expanding media is diverting and oppressing our minds until there is little or no time for waiting on the Lord.

God expects each one of us, living in the current manure pile, to ask God's help in setting aside time each day to pray and read God's Word. If we do not, the year 2007 will witness our spiritual destruction.

The Israelites shouted for the battle for forty days, but no one went forth to challenge Goliath. It is like this today. The Christians gather together and encourage one another to serve the Lord. But the Goliath of sin remains unchallenged.

I am not referring to the sin found in the world, I am speaking of the lust, lying, pride, spite, foolishness, drunkenness, love of pleasure, unforgiveness, malice, seeking pre-eminence, selfishness, and other idols and compulsions common among God's people. Goliath has convinced us that Jesus Christ will not or cannot make it possible for us to get rid of our sins, the urges in our personality that prevent God from finding rest in us, and us from living in peace in the centre of God's will.

But we need faith, don't we, that total victory is possible. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. What does the New Testament say about victory over sin? Perhaps if we find out, we will go to Christ and claim victory over each and every enemy that is preventing our entering the rest of God.

Let me say in advance that the seventh chapter of the Book of Romans is not telling us the Christian is compelled to sin. The seventh chapter of Romans was written by Paul to Jews to remind them that the Law of Moses does not give us victory over sin.

Also, the common teaching "we will be changed in the twinkling of an eye" is referring only to the change from mortality to immortality of our body. It has nothing to do with the change of our inner nature, except for the fact that until Christ is formed in our inner nature we are not qualified or competent to experience the change in our body from mortality to immortality.

But does the New Testament indeed teach us that victory over sin is possible as well as necessary if we are to inherit the Kingdom of God?

Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, (Romans 8:12,13)

He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. (I John 3:8,9)

If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, (Hebrews 10:26)

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; Idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions And envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defence—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. (I John 2:1)

When we sin we are to confess our sin and renounce it with all our might. When we do this, the Lord Jesus will forgive us and help us in the future so we do not practice the same behaviour again.

There is no sin that Christ cannot deliver us from!

We have not been perfected as yet, but we are to be perfect each day. That is, we are not to be continuing in a known sin. We are to go to Christ for victory. If we are so bound we still keep on sinning, we are to get other Christians to help us pray through to victory.

We are not to be continuing to sin. There is total victory in Jesus.

The Muslims are lied to when their leaders tell them they can murder innocent people and then go to Paradise when they die. The Christians are lied to when their leaders tell them they can continue in their casual approach to the Gospel of the Kingdom, and any minute now they will be caught up to Heaven to live forever in Paradise.

Both groups of people are being lied to by their leaders. It is up to both groups to go to God and find out what He is saying, because it will be a frightful experience to die and face an angry God because we murdered the innocent; or, in the case of the Christians, ignored our salvation by not pressing through to complete rest in the perfect will of God.

Some will hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Others will hear, "Depart from Me. I never knew you because you did not walk with God in a righteous, merciful, humble manner.

Which will it be for me? Which will it be for you?

You can hear the morning sermon at morning. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

You can hear the evening sermon at evening. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

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