The Doctrine of Rest from the principle of grace and mercy. Part 1.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

The Sabbath Is Set Aside in the Church-age,
COL 2:16-17; Galatians.

1CO 16:2 on the first day of every week let each one of you put aside and save, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come.

ACT 20:7 And on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul {began} talking to them, intending to depart the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight.

The Lord’s Day, the first day of the week, is not a “Christian Sabbath,” because the Sabbath is the seventh day of the week and belonged especially to the Jews.

Sunday is a special day to God’s people because it commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, LUK 24:1; as well as the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, ACT 2:1.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead was something brand new, and they discovered it on the first day of the week.

The Royal Family formed by the baptism of the Holy Spirit was also something brand new, which is why we are called new creatures; JAM 1:18.

Sunday is a special day to God’s people because it commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead as well as the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and the new family that you are a part of.

ROM 8:23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit,

One of the things that happened when the Church-age superseded the age of Israel is that Saturday or the sabbath, was set aside. For the Jew, Saturday was a time for animal sacrifices.
Saturday was a time for a specialized priesthood; it was a time for special activities and assembly worship.

The Jewish age was halted and 50 days from Sunday, the resurrection day, was another Sunday, the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit baptized believers into Christ and made them brand new creatures.

Because every believer is a priest, and the objective of every believer is to become spiritually self-sustained.

The only time we possess to honor God in time is the number of days He provides for us in the Christian life,PSA 90:12; JAM 4:13-15.
PSA 90:12 Teach us to organize our days, that we may present to thee a heart of doctrine.

The fact that you live another day is a sign of divine grace and faithfulness,
LAM 3:22-23.

ISA 57:1 The righteous man perishes, and no man takes it to heart; And devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from evil.

MAL 3:6 “For I, the Lord, do not change;”
HEB 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever.

God always proves Himself be good to the man who passionately waits, to the woman who diligently seeks to the believer who learns how to rest in the Lord.

The Doctrine of Rest
Point 1. Definition.
a. Rest is having peace in soul which means that you are free from worrying, from anxiety, and from frustration.
b. It also means to remain confident.

For the Church-age, God increased it and gave us a moment-by-moment sabbath, the faith-rest technique, HEB 4:1-3.

Your moment-by-moment sabbath means your spiritual advance, and your annual sabbatical is comparable to the supergrace life.

ROM 4:19-20 and without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God,

EXO 14:10-14 “Do not fear! Stand by and see the deliverance of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; the Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.”

Caleb and the giants, Num 13-14 is an illustration of the supergrace life and the moment-by-moment rest.

c. Rest also means to trust under extreme pressure.

Rest - nuwach = to settle down; to give comfort; to be at rest from troubles and anxieties.

Loipoi - rest = recreation and the remaining rest for the believer. Loipoi also means tranquility of the soul and also to refresh.

Anapauo = to cease from work in order to receive strength.

“Rest” = the state of mind in which there is complete and total peace being free from worries, anxieties and fears.

Point 2. Introduction. The manifestation of the glory of God within.

GAL 5:22 - peace = eirene; one of the meanings of eirene is rest.

So for the Christian, he has entered into what the book of Hebrews teaches as a moment by moment rest, or a moment by moment sabbath.

If the believer does not rest and tries to accomplish things on his own, then he enters into temporal death which is a separation from God.

Every day that you wake up is another opportunity for you to enter into His rest.

You have an altar and that altar starts right upstairs in your soul. Prayer is a part of your altar, but so is learning, serving, giving, etc.

They not only struggle with rest outwardly (they’re nervous wrecks; they’re always falling apart; they can’t handle pressure), but they struggle with rest inwardly...which is where real rest starts.

God’s glory is revealed by His grace.
God’s glory is revealed by His mercy.

Mercy, which is compassion, is that which deals with the past in our lives, our mistakes and our failures.
Grace gives us the power in the present and for the future.

If you don’t have rest with God you won’t have rest with yourself.
If you don’t have rest with yourself you won’t have rest with others.

Arrogance, guilt, condemnation, and fear, torment a person’s soul unless the individual discovers what real biblical rest is all about.

Because God promised that He will be gracious and merciful (compassionate) to you. Even divine discipline is a revelation of His grace.

The manifestations of the glory of God “from” God is His grace and mercy, but the manifestation of the Glory of God “in us” is rest.

Point 3. Rest is also a fulfillment of the promises of God.

If you don’t live in God’s promises which are based upon His character and nature, you won’t have rest.

If you want to live in fear of something, live in fear that you don’t live in the promises of God,
HEB 4:1.

Rest - anapauo = causes us to cease from work in order to receive his strength.
Rest comes first of all from going to Him; that’s His promise...and secondly, if you learn from Him, you will find rest for your souls.

LAM 3:23 - Every morning He is waiting to meet you and His grace and His mercy and His faithfulness are there.
In ISA 30:18, He is tapping His foot waiting to be gracious to you.

Either God is a liar (in Titus 1:2 that’s impossible) or else you are not living in God’s promises.

1KI 8:56 Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised; not one word has failed of all His good promised, which He promised through Moses His servant.

Menuwchah = a marriage with rest or a resting place; it means to settled in a particular place.
Menuwchah also means a condition of rest:
A place of rest;
A habitation of rest.

We all have the opportunity for what we are secretly searching for, and it is within ourselves because of the life of Christ.
That is a problem, it seems, for every believer......to attain something that God has already made them to be.