Page 44 - Back to Bethlehem
P. 44

God’s grace this morning I’d like to look at the truth of resting in
           the  Lord.    Beyond  all  doubt,  resting  in  the  Lord  is  a  great
           foundation.

                  I want to begin with a wonderful benediction from the
           Apostle Paul, 2 Thessalonians 3:16. “Now may the Lord of peace
           Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance!  The
           Lord be with you all!”   Sometimes our heart says, “Is such a
           thing possible, that the Lord of peace Himself would continually
           give  peace  in  every  circumstance?”    Many  Christians  don’t
           experience  that  benediction.    Sometimes  they  fret  and  worry.
           Sometimes they get very frustrated.  I pray that after this truth
           that God shows our heart, that we will understand how to have
           rest at all times.

                  I  started  with  that  benediction  because  some  have
           confused peace and rest.  If in my life I have anxiety, fear, fretting
           and if I’m frustrated and confused, that’s proof that I need rest.
           If I have peace and happiness and satisfaction and if I have joy
           and calmness, that is the fruit of rest.  That is not rest.  Peace is
           not the same as rest.  If you have rest, the by-product will be
           peace.  If we are resting in the Lord, the by-product will be joy.
           God does not give us Jesus and something else called “joy”.  He
           doesn’t give us Jesus and something else called “peace”.  He only
           gives us Jesus.  If we have Him, we’ll have joy.  If we have Him,
           we’ll have peace.

                  As you go on in the Lord we must learn not to chase after
           by-products.  If I seek Jesus I’ll have peace.  If I seek peace I’ll
           have frustration.  If I seek the will of God, I will never find the
           will of God.  If I seek the God whose will it is, I will have the
           will of God.  In everything we must seek the Lord; not the book
           of God but the God whose book it is; not the people of God but
           the God whose people they are; not the will of God but the God
           whose will it is.  So, I want to begin by describing what rest is.

                  Please follows these verses, Hebrews 4:4, “For He has
           thus  said  somewhere  concerning  the  seventh  day,  ‘And  God
           rested  on  the  seventh  day  from  all  His  works.’”    Hebrews
   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49