The Doctrine of Rest, Part 5. Learning the value of authority and humility.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Point 7. The Opposition to Rest.

You have an enemy that goes with you wherever you go, and his job is to try to see to it that you are not at rest; that enemy is your flesh.

Amalek, a type of the flesh, does its best to try to make you become weary.

Verse 19 - nuach = the rest which gives us comfort and freedom from worrying and troubles and fears; it is refreshing.

David said in PSA 38:3 that he had no rest because of his sin.

LAM 1:3 Judah (a type of the believer) has gone into exile under affliction, and under harsh servitude; she dwells among the nations, but she has found no rest.

LAM 1:3 - the believers could find no rest among the carnal believers or the unbelievers; the word this time is menuwchah - a marriage with rest.

JAM 4:4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Unrest is also described as the inevitable result of the unbeliever,
REV 14:11.

Rest is also related to the home.

RUT 1:9 “May the Lord grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.”

Many women find no rest in life because they are not at rest at home with their husbands,
1PE 3:1-7.

PRO 29:17 Correct your son, and he will give you rest; He will also delight your soul.

1CO 13:8 Virtue-love never fails.

ROM 12:18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.

ISA 11:10 Then it will come about in that day That the nations will resort to the root of Jesse, Who will stand as a signal for the peoples; And His resting place will be glorious.

All of this truly begins and becomes easier to attain when you understand that the power on the inside of the believer is greater than any attacks from the cosmic system.

The Power that you possess is greater then worries, anxieties, fears, distress, troubles, phobias, panic, shock, tensions, etc.

1JO 4:4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome all the things of this world them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

Although the external pressure that was coming against the ball was great, the internal pressure was greater.

It was air or something invisible, just like the power that you have available to you. The power that is on the inside of us is much greater than any external pressure that could ever come against us. Because the Greater One lives inside of you.

You have already won, because what is inside of you is so much greater than what is in the world.

Satan’s strategy is to try to deflate you and stop you from reaching your goal - but God had the final say and He has already spoken.

Rocky Balboa -
“It’s not how hard you can hit, it’s how many times you can get hit hard and get back up and keep moving forward.”

PRO 24:16 For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, But the wicked stumble in {time of} calamity.

Rest is also related to the home.

Point 8. Rest Is Also the Result of Being Submitted to a Local Assembly.

His authority is real and Satan knows the value of authority, so he attacks authority especially in the spiritual realm.

No believer can attain spiritual maturity and become an invisible hero or glorify God apart from perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine.

The pastor is the product of God’s grace.

HEB 13:7 “Remember those who rule over you, who communicate the Word from God to you; carefully consider the issue of their way of life; imitate their doctrine.”

HEB 13:17 Keep obeying those [pastors] who themselves are ruling over you, and submit to their authority, for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will render an account.

Keep obeying them, in order that they may do this [accounting] with happiness and not with groaning, for this is unprofitable for you.

ISA 54:17 “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper, and every tongue that rises against you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord.

Since the pastor’s authority is Bible teaching, his ministry does not violate the privacy of the individual priesthood.

1PE 5:2 Feed the flock of God among you, not from compulsion, but voluntarily according to the will of God.

2TI 4:2 Preach the Word. Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort [when warranted by context], and do this with all patience and teaching.

1TI 4:10 For because of this [communication of doctrine], we work hard to the point of exhaustion, and we hang in there tough because we have confidence in the living God who is the Savior of all men.

2CO 10:8 For even if I should rub it in about our authority which God gave for your edification, and not to destroy you, I shall not feel ashamed.

1TH 5:12-13 But we request of you, brethren, that you know [respect the authority of] those pastor-teachers who work hard among you [studying and teaching], who have command over you in the Lord, and who give you instruction [admonition]. and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another.

2CO 13:10 For this reason, I am writing these things while absent in order that when I am present, I may not use severity in compatibility with the authority which God has given to me for the purpose of your edification, and not for the purpose of destroying you.
ACT 20:28 Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which he purchased with His own blood.

1PE 5:2 Shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to {the will of} God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness;
1CH 23:25 For David said, “The Lord God of Israel has given rest to His people, and He dwells in Jerusalem forever.”

Jerusalem is the type of church in GAL 4:25, and a church can become your resting place.
It is still all Christ, but remember that TLJC dwells in the body, the church, the fulness of Him that fills all and in all.

Oikodomeo = to build a house, a soul structure.
1. They are edified (soul structure).
2. Because of this they walked in reverent respect or occupation with the Lord.
3. They enjoyed and experienced the comforting ministry of the Holy Spirit, GAL 5:22, who manifests His fruit in us.
4. They are increased or are multiplied.

PRO 14:33 Wisdom rests in the heart of one who has understanding, but in the bosom of fools it is made known.
Stress is positive or negative depending on how you look at it.
Each and every one of us has within ourselves the power to decide how to interpret stressful events.

Because the Lord saw in David a heart that was completely His.

1. Is the person deeply authentic in his or her spiritual walk or is he faking it?
2. Is he or she a servant?

When you have a servant’s heart, you are humble and at rest within yourself.
A true servant doesn’t care who gets the glory.
A servant has one great goal, and that is to make the person he serves look better, to make that person even more successful.