Trumpet Ministries,The Rest of God
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And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? (Hebrews 3:18)
Precisely what is the rest of God? What does it mean to become part of the house of Christ, to partake of Christ?
What is the new-covenant counterpart of Canaan, the land of promise, the land of milk and honey, the promised-land rest of God?
God calls each member of the royal priesthood out of Egypt. The calling out from Egypt means the saint has left the world and, as a future priest, is now making his or her way toward a life of separation and service to God. Then the saint is confronted with the hunger, thirst, pain, discomfort, and general deprivation of life in the wilderness. The goal set before him is a land where he can dwell in peace with the Lord, being a firstfruits unto God of the nations of the earth.
The individual begins life in the moral image of Satan and in bondage to the spirit of Satan. The blood of Calvary gives him the authority to leave Satan and move toward the moral image of the Lord and union with the Lord.
In order to enter the rest of God, the place of perfect abiding in Christ in the bosom of the Father, the believer must battle numerous enemies that would keep him from being able to rest in perfect, untroubled union with God; from finding the total joy of having his will be identical with the will of the Father for him or her.
Each member of the elect was assigned a place of rest in the Father. The works were finished from the foundation of the world. Therefore our orientation to life should not be that of striving for our own survival and comfort, attempting to gain as much pleasure as we can, or working day and night to build a memorial to ourselves. Since God has already determined our role in the Kingdom we should occupy our days with seeking God’s will for our life.
Canaan, the land of promise, is a type of the rest of God because we must fight to enter the rest just as the Israelites had to fight to enter Canaan. We enter the rest of God when all of God’s enemies that are in us are brought under subjection to the Lord Jesus.
The Sabbath day is a type of the rest of God because when we are in the Divine rest we cease from our own works and delight to do the Father’s will just as the Lord Jesus delighted to do the Father’s will.
If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. (Isaiah 58:13,14)
The Lord Jesus always abides in the Sabbath rest of God and each member of His Body is to be with Him where He is.
Paradise and every other good thing is added to us when we are at rest in the Presence of Christ. But the most important aspect of our inheritance is the Lord Himself.
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. (Hebrews 4:1)
We have to labor to enter the rest of God. God does all the fighting when we come out of Egypt. God does not do all the fighting as we go through the wilderness and enter Canaan. We have to fight as the Lord guides and assists us.
The Canaanites were fierce warriors who were defending their farms and families. Satan and his legions are fierce warriors who are claiming the earth and earth’s peoples for their own possession.
The earth and earth’s peoples are the inheritance of Christ and those who are coheirs with Christ. The saved nations are our inheritance.
Let each one of us make certain that he pursues Christ until he inherits all of that to which he has been predestined. We must continue joyfully and stedfastly in belief and obedience if we are to be made a partaker of Christ.
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