Apart from being friends with God, one very important aspect of our relationship with God is to know that we are now His sons and daughters, adopted into his family.
Therefore, of all the changes we experience in our hearts when we are rescued from sin and death, knowing that our Heavenly Father loves us eternally and unconditionally should resonate with us the most.
The topic I have chosen to explore today is
called “To find Rest in God”, and the passage we are looking at is Hebrews
4:1-11.
The reason I chose this topic is because I am
personally experiencing the rest of God in my heart since last couple of months
and thought it would be of great benefit to all of you, especially in a
difficult time as this.
What I mean by “rest” in God is not the physical
rest we experience in our body but the spiritual rest we experience when we are
in the perfect will of God where we are experiencing His joy and peace
regardless of the situation we are in.
To not be at rest would mean a lot of things,
let me highlight some of it here…
When we are constantly &
regularly gripped with fear and anxiety in our hearts when we look at out
present situation or when we think about our future, we could say that our
hearts are not at rest.
When we are constantly living a
guilt driven life because of our sinful acts, which then causes us to become
ineffective in our pursuit and purposes of God, we could say that our hearts
are not at rest.
When we are constantly having
feelings of hopelessness, loneliness and depression, where we end up hiding
from God and from others, we could say that our hearts are not at rest.
I believe the passage from Hebrews 4:1-11 give
us the wonderful view of this rest, it warns us as well us brings to light the
reasons why we fail to enter God’s rest.
Verse 1 begins with the affirmation that “the
promise of entering His rest still stands”, which means that as children to
enter the rest of God is not a far thing, it is not an impossible state to
achieve.
Isn’t it encouraging to know that even after our
human heart sinned against God in the garden of Eden, where we disobeyed his
commandments and chose to be god over our own life displaying pride and
rebellioness, our loving Father still pursued us and through the life, death
and ressurection of His son Jesus Christ opens a way for us enter His rest.
In Matthew 11:28 Jesus said “Come to me all you
who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest”.
The Rest of God
therefore, is a state, or place, where God
rules in our heart through his son Jesus, frees from the chaos and disorder brought about by sin and
rebellion. Also giving us rest from our own self-efforts of bringing our own life in
control, but instead allowing our hearts to totally trust and depend on God for
everything.
The possiblity of entering God’s perfect rest,
made possible through Jesus is the greatest expression His mercy, His grace and
His Love for sinful people like us.
But sadly, even though the door is open for us
we still fail to enter the rest of God. In verse 6 Paul speaks of people who
have “formerly received the good news but still fail to enter into rest”. Could
that be us?
How sad it is when even though knowing that
entering God’s rest is a possibility we stay away from that rest because of our
hardened hearts.
Hebrews 4:1 the second part Paul says “let us
fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to enter the rest of God”
In verse 11 Pauls writes “let us strive to enter
that rest, so that no one may fall due to disobedience”
In Hebrews 3:8-11 tells us of how God reacted in
the Old Testament when his people hardened theirs hearts.
Thank God that he does not react the way he
reacted in the olden times, but because of Jesus His heart towards us is
softened and merciful, accepting us with all our failures and mistakes. And
therefore, the greatest stumbling block for us today is not that God is angry
with us and have shut the door on our face, but rather it is our hardened
hearts that is the reason why we fail to enter God’s rest.
Here’s are two reasons how our hardened hearts stop us from entering God’s rest …
1. Through disbelief
In verse 2 & 3 Paul writes “2 For good news
came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them,
because they were not united by faith with those who listened.
3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as
he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my
rest,'” although his works were finished from the foundation of the
world.”
Friends, the number one reason why we fail to
enter God’s rest is disbelief.
Disbelief in God’s provison for all our needs
through His son Jesus Christ
Disbelief that our future isn’t safe and secure
in the hands of our loving Father who knows the end from the beginning, which
is why we allow our hearts to be gripped with fear and anxiety when things dont
go our way.
Disbelief that through the life, death and
ressurection of Christ we are no more slaves to our sinful passions but rather
are slaves to righteousness and that there is a place where we can expereince
total freedom from such desires.
Disbelief that God is near us to always comfort,
protect, consoul, emphatize when we experience feeling of hopelessness and
loneliness on our hearts.
It was disbelief in the hearts of the
Isaralite’s, when they spend their time and energy complaining, grumbling and
seeking their own pleasures that kept them from entering the promised land, the
place of rest in God.
To rest in God is not just a choice we have but it is a command, to be obeyed and perfected every single day of our lives. Sabbath rest is a command from God – to do nothing, no work, no pressure … but a total surrender to God.
How many of us would confidently take such a
rest without worrying about tommorrow, without looking at the laptop, without
looking at the screen for satisfaction… but only look to God with an
unwavering faith in Him.
If you think its impossible for you to take out such a day in a week, then you need to ask a very important question. Are you resting in God or on your self.
2. Through disobedience
Verse 6 Paul writes “Since therefore it remains
for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to
enter because of disobedience”
The second way in which our hardened hearts stop us from entering God’s rest is through disobedience.
Here I’m not talking about the disobedience that
happens unknowingly, but the disobedience of the heart where we knowlingly,
with our full concience rebel and do exactly the opposite of what God commanded
not to do in the scriptures.
The decisions we made with relationship choices.
The decisions we make with the kind of job we
chose.
The decisione we make to keep company with the kind
of friends.
The decisions we make to spend out time during
the day.
The decisions we make in moving places.
The decisions we make to stay away from having
Godly fellowsip.
The decisions we make in chosing what to listen.
Our disobedince in not paying attention to God
when he is speaking to us through scrpitures, through sermons like these,
through family & friends.
Our disobedeince in not repenting our sins when
the Holy Spirt convicts out heart.
Our disobedeince in pursuing the world and its
pleasure instead of pursuing God.
Our disobedeince of filling our minds with
ungodly content when instead we should be filling our minds with godly things.
Brothers & sisters, disobedeince will always
keep us from entering the rest of God. Therefore, let us watch our lives in
light of the scriptures.
To rest in God should be our ultimate goal because it is in the resting place that we will experience the breakthrough’s in life we’ve always desired, it is in the resting place we will be fully satisfied will all good things from heaven, it is in the resting place we will experience complete freedom from all our past sinful tendencies and habits, it is in the resting place we will feel no more lonely or deprived of any good thing.
Therefore, let us strive to enter that rest and
not allow out hardened hearts to disbelief or disobey God who is gracious,
merciful and loving towards us.
The passage we will be looking at today is 1 Thessalonians 5:16 and the verse simply says
“Rejoice Always”
1 Thessalonians 5:16
Always Rejoice – meaning to feel or show great joy or delight…. Always
At this point you must be thinking, that’s absolutely impossible.
How can someone rejoice always?
I can rejoice sometimes, but definitely not always.
Why?
You might say…
“Because life is tough.”
“You don’t know what I’ve gone through in the
past, I’m still dealing with it”
“You don’t know what I am going through right
now, its unbearable sometimes”
“My job is the worst job in the world, during
this lockdown they make me work like a donkey”
“My company is least caring, they asked me to
sit at home without paying a penny.”
“My marriage is breaking apart, we are struggling”
“My education is at a standstill, I don’t know when I will finish my course and get a job, I don’t even know if I will get a job”
” In such a circumstance, if God is expecting me to Rejoice, that too not sometimes but always, how is that even possible? “
“It’s easy for Paul to write that, and it’s easy for Saju to say that, but they don’t know what I’m going through. My present circumstances are so tough that even thinking about Rejoicing in any manner is absolutely impossible.”
Brothers & sisters, if those are the thoughts running through your mind when you read today’s passage, or maybe I brought it out and reminded you of your hard life.
In this sermon, I want to leave you with a couple of thoughts to ponder upon which I believe will help you see the possibility of choosing to Rejoice Always.
I believe it is possible, I’ve met people in real life who I’ve seen rejoicing in the Lord
at all times.
I’ve read stories of missionaries and martyrs who’ve endured suffering, sickness, pain and even death with everlasting joy in their heart. I’ve heard of men lying on their death beds and yet rejoicing in their heart.
This morning, instead of giving you long
statements as pointers to remember, I want to give you three words to ponder
upon.
1. The first word is PERSPECTIVE
Perspective means to have a point of view, to
have a particular attitude towards or way of thinking regarding our present
hard circumstances, since most of the time it is our present suffering and pain
that is the greatest hurdle for us to rejoice always.
Here’s the perspective we need to cultivate regarding the context of the passage we just read. If we think our situation is the worst then I want us to look and ponder what’s going on with Paul and the Thessalonian church.
Paul is not writing to a church located in a city like us where the Christians have the freedom to practise their beliefs, where they are allowed to worship in open spaces and have the liberty to openly speak about Christ on an online public platform like Facebook or YouTube, where life is tough but not to the extent where believers are dragged out of their houses and killed and murdered for their faith in Jesus.
Instead, he is writing to a group of Christians who are being tortured, persecuted & killed by the worst punishment they could think of.
On the other hand, Paul is not writing this letter sitting on a beautiful balcony or a beachside hotel with a nice cool breeze hitting his face, but he is writing the letter from Corinth where he is labouring for the Gospel alongside Aquila and Pricilla, as was his ministry in other places.
I suppose he was making and repairing tents to protect the people from the hot Mediterranean sun and also preaching the Gospel, discipling the people and building the church, risking his life by putting himself in a dangerous position with Romans.
Even after Paul writing them to “Rejoice
Always”, their circumstances are not going to get better, history tells us that
some of them are going to be brutally killed and murdered for their faith in
Jesus.
And yet he is writing to the church “Rejoice
Always”.
Brothers & sisters, if we are waiting and hoping for our circumstances to look better so that we can rejoice always then that is not going to happen. The two reasons it won’t happen is firstly because as long as we are living on this earth we are living in a world that is broken and tarred by Sin.
When God created the world he did not mean to create it this way. The Bible tells us that he made it beautiful and meant it for good.
When he made the first man and woman, he wanted them to enjoy and be fruitful under the authority & dominion of His Majesty, primarily by walking in obedience to God’s instructions in humility and in complete surrender. But instead of walking in obedience, Adam & Eve disobeyed God and sinned in their hearts.
Romans 5:12 says
“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned”.
Romans 5:12
Because of our sins, the Bible says God’s
righteous judgement is upon this earth. Here’s how Isaiah describes the effects
of Sin on the earth in Isaiah 24:5
5 The earth is polluted by its inhabitants, because they have transgressed laws, violated statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live on it suffer the punishment of their guilt. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned [under the curse of God’s wrath]
Isaiah 24:5-6
Brothers & sisters, as long as we live on this earth we are living under the curse that is upon this earth, and even though our spirit and soul is liberated in Christ.
Our body here on earth will continue to experience the pain of this broken world. We will always be walking on broken glasses under our feet as long as we live on this earth.
Even Jesus, being the perfect man who ever lived
on the earth had to suffer and experience the effect of this broken world in a
much more brutal way than any of us will ever suffer.
The second perspective I want us to have about our present circumstances is that God uses our sufferings to perfect us and make us mature in Him.
Do you know that our saviour Jesus was made perfect through sufferings. In Hebrews 5:8-9 it says
“Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him”
Hebrews 5:8-9
Brothers & Sisters, I urge you to look at your present pain & sufferings as a means by which God is perfecting you in Christ.
And if you can develop a right perspective
towards your present circumstances then ‘rejoicing always’ can definitely look
like a possibility.
2. The second word is BELIEVE
As we just learnt that it is not our present
circumstances that enables us to Rejoice always, but what should rather enable
us to rejoice always is the prospects of the eternal life we have in heaven
because of what Jesus did for us.
Even though we sinned and rebelled against God, instead of pouring His wrath on us and destroying our existence forever, our loving, gracious and merciful Father sent Jesus to bear our punishment and die for our sake and declare justice over us.
Isaiah 53:6 says,
“The Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him,”
Hebrews 9:26 says,
“He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”
Hebrews 2:17 says that Christ made “propitiation for the sins of the people” and 1 John 4:10 says “in this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
Brothers & sisters, we rejoice in the fact that Jesus died for our sins and has reunited our broken hearts with our Heavenly Father once and forever.
And we receive this gift and stand justified when we repent of our sins and put our faith in Christ our saviour.
Therefore friends, if we
are failing today to rejoice always in the Lord, it is not because of our
circumstances but because of UNBELIEF in our heart.
Unbelief is the root cause of all our habitual sins, troubles and lack of joy. We are failing to believe that God’s grace, mercy and love expressed through the sacrifice of his Son is enough.
In Isaiah 45:22 the Lord says,
“Look to me and be saved”
Isaiah 53:6
Instead of looking at the
Son, Jesus, we are all the time looking at ourselves and our circumstances, we
are trying to make our life look better on our strength and ability so that we
can someday arrive at the destination we have planned where we will find
fulfilment and our joy will be complete.
We work hard, put in extra
hours in office, slog and break our bones.
Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying that its wrong to work hard. In fact, God’s word clearly says that we should and that work is a gift. But our attitude is what matters.
Thinking that our efforts is what will sustain us and looking for joy apart from Christ is what is harmful.
We do good works, sometimes beyond our capacities and hope & expect that God will return the favour someday in hundredfold and then we will be happy.
Instead, what we ought to be doing is looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our Faith, trust in him and not in our strength and ability to make this imperfect life on earth perfect.
In Christ, we are totally 100% perfect for heaven, and that is what should make us rejoice always.
Brothers & sisters, as long as we nurture UNBELIEF in our hearts with regards to struggles, trials & temptations we go through in life, we will never be able to truly Rejoice always.
As long as we live on this earth, we need to live believing that his grace is sufficient for us, sufficient to justify us, to sanctify us, and take us to heaven with him.
Allow your heart to be
filled with that Joy.
3. The last and the final word I want to leave with you is REST.
Now, that we have the right PERSPECTIVE and
BELIEF, I want us to think of the word REST.
Rest, not just as a state of mind, where we are
resting in God’s sovereignty over our lives, his provision of abundant and
sufficient grace for us to live joyfully in his presence. But I want to talk
about REST which is also a command from the Lord – The Sabbath Rest.
Sabbath rest is not just a suggestion from God, its a Holy command from Him.
It is as important as “Love the Lord your God with all your heart mind and soul”, It is one of the 10 commandments God gave to Moses, Exodus 20:8-11 God said
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.
11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
To obey the Sabbath literally means to cease
from all our human efforts and to look to God in prayer and devotion. As I
understand the Sabbath, I’ve come to believe that Sabbath rest is the
providence from God, not just for the sake of physical rest, but also to help
us realign our perspectives and refocus our belief on Him.
When we take rest from our human efforts we are
reaffirming the fact that in God we trust, as our ultimate source of provision,
peace and joy.
If you are struggling to Rejoice at the moment,
I want to ask when was the last time you rested in God from all your strivings
and efforts and hard work.
I know it is difficult and there are many excuses we can think of, our work responsibilities, our family commitments, etc.
But if working on our perspectives and dealing with our unbelief is important for us so that we can Rejoice always, we will have to give importance to the Sabbath rest, for some of you, it might require you to take drastic steps to say NO to extra work, maybe close yourself up in a room, maybe disconnect the phone for the day, say to NO to entertainment, etc.
A Restful heart will always be a joy-full heart.
Even in our busy schedules if we can find ways to soak ourself in scripture, devote ourself in prayer, sing songs of hope and thanksgiving, remembering the Gospel, looking at Jesus, resting in Him, then, brothers and sisters, the joy of the Lord will surely fill our hearts and keep us going.
We can become just like a small child who runs along the riverside with a stick in his hand and laughter in his mouth.
Though there is so much more I want to say but time is limited, I hope I have stirred something in your heart this morning and given you enough reasons to Rejoice always.
Please do remember the three words ..
PERSPECTIVE, BELIEVE & REST.
Good morning! Let’s get right into the text that we’re going to look at this morning. I know that we’ve confused some of you with the preaching schedule over the last several weeks. For clarity, we were going to jump back into Mark last weekend, but with our guest preacher and wanting to make sure we stayed synched up with Red Tree, we’re asking for one more week of grace this morning.
The plan is to jump back into Mark next Sunday. But, for our purposes this morning, I want to look at a text with you that God has been using to awaken me to a greater understanding of how His mission goes forward in the world through His people. And, as we look at this today, I want you to think specifically about what persecution & suffering for the mission of God does in the life of the believer.
It’s interesting, Open Doors (https://www.opendoorsusa.org) just released their annual report for 2019 on the most persecuted countries in the world. This is a list that looks at a wide range of factors in determining how believers are treated for their faith in a county. India has been climbing the list every year for the last several years and is currently ranked #10. This is a very relevant topic for believers living in India!
And, if we’re going to think about what it looks like to live for the glory of God, especially in the midst of persecution & suffering, I can’t think of a better text to look at than 1 Peter chapter 4. If you have a Bible with you this morning, I’d invite you to turn there with me. We’ll look specifically at verses 12 – 19. Before we read this, let’s go to the Lord in prayer to ask for His help this morning.
“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” (1 Peter 4:12-19)
If we’re being honest, this can be a very difficult text for most of us. Just think about the things that we tend to idolize and chase after. We’ve been conditioned to pursue comfort, safety, and security. And here you have Peter saying that, “fiery trials should be seen as normal.” He’s saying that, “we should rejoice when we suffer.” He’s saying, “if you are insulted, you are blessed.” He’s painting a picture here of suffering for the name and fame of Jesus as something that we should desire in our lives or, at the very least, something that we should embrace when it happens.
But, none of that sits well with the idols that we tend to embrace. In fact, our idols train us to dismiss Peter’s words. That’s why this is a hard word for many of us to read, and it’s exactly why we need to hear it. We need for God’s Word to come in and root out the things in our heart that we’re pursuing over and above God.
Regardless of how you view suffering & persecution, and regardless of how much suffering & persecution you might be facing right now as a believer in Mumbai, I want to challenge you this morning on a deeper principle at work in this text. Because, there’s something at work here that transcends culture and context. In other words, it doesn’t matter who you are or where you live, this applies to you. I could summarize it like this: Our aim is to live for the glory of God no matter the circumstances that He brings into our lives.
It is not up to you and me to determine the circumstances of our lives; that’s God’s job. And, by the way, this is why idolatry is so wicked. We set up things in our heart above the pursuit of God’s glory, and then we try to control and shape our circumstances around the pursuit of those created things. And it’s all a lie! The truth is that God is completely sovereign over the circumstances of our lives. He’s the One who determines what we experience. Look again at verse 19 — “Therefore let those who suffer ACCORDING TO GOD’S WILL entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.”
It doesn’t matter what your circumstances are. It doesn’t matter if you’re just suffering the general effects of the fall (with things like a serious illness, or a damaged relationship, or the death of someone close to you, or a situation where you’re not being treated fairly at work). Those are all effects of a fallen, sinful, broken world. It doesn’t matter if you’re facing those circumstances, or if you’re being actively persecuted for your faith in Jesus, or if you’re suffering from both at the same time. The principle is the same; we are called to glorify God in those circumstances.
Will I respond to my circumstance (whether it’s persecution or cancer) by turning away from God, or by turning into God? Will I renounce Him (either with my lips or my actions), or will I give Him glory through this trial? Will I trust Him, or will I grow angry and bitter? This principle is universal in suffering & persecution; no matter the type. And the result is the same as well. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, if you suffer, if you are persecuted, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
Isn’t that an interesting phrase? When you suffer, “the Spirit of God rests upon you.” In other words, we experience the Spirit in a different way, He ministers to us in a unique or more powerful way when we are suffering for the name of Jesus Christ and for His glory. Now, I don’t know about you, but I desire to have the Spirit more at work in me. I desire for more of His presence, more of His power, more dependence upon Him. I want to be used in greater ways by Him. So, when I read that the Spirit of Glory & of God will rest upon me, I want that! Do you want that? Of course you do!
But, here’s what we need to remember: That is tied directly to how we respond to suffering in our lives. You want more of Him? You have to live for His glory in the midst of your suffering, whatever that suffering looks like. Again, suffering is all to common in a place like Mumbai, and even more common throughout the whole of India. We read the news, we hear stories. Some of you in this room have stories where you have, or are currently, being persecuted for your faith. And we all certainly have examples of suffering the general effects of the fall.
Our tendency, because of what we idolize, is to see suffering, persecution and difficulties as bad things. We’ll hear of a situation and talk about how terrible it is. But, here’s what we must remember: God is getting glory for His name. God is using the suffering of His people to glorify His name. But, if we’re going to be honest, it doesn’t look like glory or feel like glory in the moment, does it? When someone is suffering mightily, it doesn’t look like glory. But the Cross didn’t look like glory either. But, oh was Christ’s work on that Cross glorious!!!!
It’s the same thing when we suffer like He suffered. Just as the cross wasn’t the last word, God doesn’t allow the suffering of His saints be the last word either. Glory will be the last word! “Rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” You might be in a situation right now that’s terrible. It’s dark and it doesn’t feel like there’s any way out. It feels like there’s no end in sight and that nothing good will every come of that circumstance. It’s so easy to allow that circumstance to define you.
Let me encourage you: God is accomplishing far more abundantly than we could ever ask or think. What looks like defeat to you right now is actually God paving the way for the revelation of Christ’s glory in the world through you. Do you hear that church? We get to be a part of what God is doing in the world to reveal His glory. And, never are we more a part of that work than when we respond in faith in the midst of difficult circumstances. When we refuse to be defined by the world, and by our sin, and by our circumstances, and by our suffering. When we are steadfast in our commitment to be defined by God’s eternal glory, by His righteousness, by His faithfulness, and by the fact that He works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.
Church, in all of this we rejoice! So, here’s how I’d like to end our time this morning. In light of everything we’ve considered, I want to make a few observations from the text of why we must rejoice in our sufferings. My hope is just to give you these points for further reflection as we leave this place.
1. Our suffering has divine purpose Verse 19: “Let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator.”
2. Our suffering shows that we are united with Christ Verse 13: “But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings…”
3. The Spirit of glory and of God rests upon us when we suffer Verse 14: “If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.”
4. Our suffering glorifies God Verse 16: “Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.”