There Remains A Rest

[Coconut]

I`m going to say something many preachers do not preach, will not like, nor will they hear, and they would probably argue until their Bibles fell apart, their pens dried up, and their tongues fell out...oh well.

Humanity is full to the brim and overflowing with unrest, most live in that valley and have never known anything else...

There are two reasons for that:

The ungodly can find no rest because they refuse God.

The godly (or those seeking God) can find no rest because of the preacher.

(yes I said the preacher)

Yet, here remains a rest for the people of God.

That rest is in Christ.

How shall we rest in Christ anyways? A little revelation can go a long way...and in this case, you should be reveling in rest like a weary man revels in a feather bed when you finally get it.

When Christ comes IN...its no longer me doing anything...but Christ doing it. Could this be why Jesus said:

"All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast [away]" (John 6:37)


Now, if I am dead to sin, and alive to righteousness (His life giving sap running through these veins) - because Christ is the one living in me, and things are not going right, is He going to get mad and frustrated over the work HE is doing? No, He gracefully, lovingly, compassionately, mercifully, patiently, faithfully, tirelessly, wisely, expertly ...PRUNES us.

I do not mean to be so wordy there, but every English word falls pitifully short in expressing the merits of that Gardener.

In all of mans accumulated anthills of theological knowledge, can anyone point me to where God was ever mad at Himself? Sure it is recorded He once regretted He had made man...maybe off the record, He has regretted that a zillion times over...but He that began a good work in us got so mad He could`nt finish it?

To hear most preachers tell it, Christ started the work, but we will be tossed out of His kingdom if WE don`t finish it.

Look:

Joh 15:1 I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener.
Joh 15:2 He takes away every branch in me which has no fruit, and every branch which has fruit he makes clean, so that it may have more fruit.
Joh 15:3 You are clean, even now, through the teaching which I have given you.
Joh 15:4 Be in me at all times as I am in you. As the branch is not able to give fruit of itself, if it is not still on the vine, so you are not able to do so if you are not in me.
Joh 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches: he who is in me at all times as I am in him, gives much fruit, because without me you are able to do nothing. GNB

What do Christs words tell us? There stands the Tree. The Tree longs for branches. The Tree loves the branches. The Tree draws the branch (es) to Himself. The Tree attaches the branch to Himself...and suddenly that branch is cleansed and brought to life by the life-giving sap from the Vine flowing into it ...just like that...and the branch(es) have nothing to do but look to the Vine, cling to the Vine, and drink in the goodness of the Vine....and enjoy the life the Vine gives them while the Vine produces the fruit. (ever try to pull a branch off a tree that is full of life from drinking of the vine?)

Can the message be any simpler?

I`m here to tell the whole world, the whole church, the whole of creation - that if any man has looked to Christ - the work of cleansing us from all our unrighteousness is already FINISHED.

And whatever needs pruned in you, He will take care of that too. That my Brothers and Sisters is rest indeed.

Isa 11:1 "A shoot will come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch will bear fruit from his roots...

Isa 12:1 At that time [referring to the new covenant between God and man that Christs coming will write] you will say:
"I will praise you, LORD, for although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away, and you have comforted me. "Look! God—yes God—is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid. For the LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation." You will draw water joyfully from the wells of salvation."

The time has come!

Col 1:26 For ages and ages this message was kept secret from everyone, but now it has been explained to God's people. God did this because he wanted you Gentiles to understand his wonderful and glorious mystery. And the mystery is that Christ lives in you, and he is your hope of sharing in God's glory.
BBE


I strongly urge a slow thorough read and reread and reread and reread (as many times as it takes) of the letters of John 1-2-3 while praying to God for a revelation of His everlasting love ...


Jud_1:24 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to bring you faultless and joyful before his glorious presence---



Praise HIS Glory!

 

[B-A-C]

I agree, all we have to do to get saved is believe in Jesus. That's it.
But once we get saved, is that all there is to it? We don't need to do anything else?
Just go back to sleep,let life go on. I'm saved, I'm good to go, I don't need to do anything else.
I think the Bible teaches the opposite of this.

Sometimes a little rest is good.
Matt 11:28; Isa 40:31

But let us not forget we are in a war. The Bible doesn't say once you are saved that's the end
of our duties.
2 Cor 10:3; 1 Tim 1:18; 1 Pet 2:11; Eph 6:12; Gal 5:17

Study (to show yourself approved) 2 Tim 2:15
Fight (the good fight) 1 Tim 6:12; 2 Tim 4:7
Run (a good race) 1 Cor 9:24; Heb 12:1
Reprove and rebuke (those preaching unGodly docrines) Eph 5:11; 2 Tim 4:2
Press on (towards the prize) Php 3:14; Col 2:18; 2 Tim 2:5
Walk (in a manner worthy) Eph 4:1; Col 1:10; 1 Thes 2:12
Take up (your cross) Matt 10:38; Matt 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23
Take up (the sword of the Spirit) Eph 6:17; Heb 4:12
Pray (for one another) James 5:16; Eph 6:18
Preach (the gospel) Matt 10:7; Mark 16:15; Acts 10:42; Rom 10:15

Do not grow weary; Be careful of a "little too much rest".
Prov 20:13; Prov 24:33; 2 Tes 3:13; Rev 2:3

 

[Coconut]

"Come unto me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest...but not too much rest" (Matthew 11:28)

So that`s your story and you`re sticking to it huh.

A man can plod along in the muck striving to do all that and growing wearier by the day, until he finally gives up the ghost...

Or he can rest in Christ from the moment he receives the Holy Ghost, and let the breezes of the Holy Ghost carry him, causing him to do whatever the Holy Ghost wants him to do....

"The wind blows wherever it wishes; you hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. It is like that with everyone who is born of the Spirit." John 3:8

"What gives life is God's Spirit; human power is of no use at all. The words I have spoken to you bring God's life-giving Spirit."
John 6:63

Heb 4:9 As it is, however, there still remains for God's people a rest like God's resting on the seventh day.
Heb 4:10 For those who receive that rest which God promised will rest from their own work, just as God rested from his.
Heb 4:11 Let us, then, do our best to receive that rest, so that no one of us will fail as they did because of their lack of faith.
Heb 4:12 The word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It cuts all the way through, to where soul and spirit meet, to where joints and marrow come together. It judges the desires and thoughts of the heart.

I daresay no ones going to be nodding off and going back to sleep when the Spirit is operating.

1Pe 5:10 ...the God of all grace, who calls you to share his eternal glory in union with Christ, will himself perfect you and give you firmness, strength, and a sure foundation. To him be the power forever! Amen.

 

[Boanerges]

His rest is now (by faith) our rest. His yoke is light. His way is life.
We are to do His works, not ours. Yet, if each and every work is consumed by fire at judgement we are still saved (1Co 3:15 ).
In the end, I must rest in the fact that Christ is my righteousness, my justification, my sanctification, and when I hit the gates I will still have but one leg to stand on- the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
So for me at least, I work, but only as He leads, and, in childlike faith I trust only Him for my salvation.