THE GREAT REST
“And it shall be in that day that the Root of Jesse
shall stand as a signal for the peoples,
of Him shall the nations inquire and seek knowledge,
and His dwelling shall be glory
(His rest glorious)!”
(Isaiah 11.10).
“Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still holds
and is offered today, let us fear to distrust it
lest any of you should come short of reaching it.
For indeed we have had the glad tidings (The Best News Ever)
proclaimed to us just as truly as they (the Israelites of old
did when the good news of deliverance from bondage came
to them), but the message they heard did not
benefit them, because it was not mixed with faith
(with the absolute trust and confidence in God’s
power, wisdom and goodness) by those who heard it,
neither were they united in faith with the ones
(Joshua and Caleb) who heard (did believe).
For we who have believed ( trusted in and relied on God)
do enter that rest in accordance with His declaration that
those who did not believe should not enter when He said,
As I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest;
and this He said although (His works had been completed and
prepared and waiting for all who would believe) from the
foundation of the world.
For in a certain place He has said this about the seventh day:
And God rested on the seventh day from all His works.
And they forfeited their part in it, for in this passage He said,
They shall not enter My rest.
Seeing that the promise remains over (from past times) for
some to enter that rest, and that those who formerly were
given the good news about it and the opportunity,
failed to seize it and did not enter because of
disobedience,
Again He sets a definite day, Today, and gives another
opportunity of securing that rest, saying through
David after so long a time in the words already quoted,
Today, if you would hear His voice and when you
hear it, do not harden your hearts.
This mention of a rest was not a reference to their
entering into Canaan. For if Joshua had given them rest,
He (God) would not speak afterward about another day.
So then, there is still awaiting a full and complete
Sabbath-rest reserved for the true people of God;
For he who has entered God’s rest also has ceased
from the (weariness and pain) of human labors,
just as God rested from those labors peculiarly
His own.
Let us therefore be zealous and exert ourselves and
strive diligently to enter that rest (of God,
to know and experience it for ourselves), that no
one may fall or perish by the same kind of unbelief
and disobedience (into which those in the wilderness fell).
For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power
(making it active, operative, energizing and
effective); it is sharper than any two-edged sword,
penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of
life and spirit, and of joints and marrow, exposing
and sifting, analyzing and judging the very thoughts
and purposes of the heart.
And not a creature exists that is concealed from His sight,
but all things are open and exposed, naked
and defenseless to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do.
Inasmuch as we have a High Priest Who has already ascended
and passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God,
let us hold fast our confession.
For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand
and sympathize with our weaknesses and infirmities and
liability to the assaults of temptation, but One Who has been
tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning.
Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near
to the throne of grace (the throne of God’s unmerited favor
to us sinners), that we may receive mercy (for our failures)
and find grace to help in time for every need.”
(Hebrews 4.1-16).
“All things have been entrusted and delivered to Me by my
Father, and no one fully knows the Son except the Father
and no one fully knows the Father except the Son and
anyone to whom the Son makes Him known.
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and
overburdened, and I will cause you
to rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle and
humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls
For my yoke is wholesome and My burden is light and easy to be
borne.”
(Matthew 11.27-30).
THANK YOU LORD JESUS FOREVERMORE!