“Coming to Jesus for Rest”
By Pastor Dan Kennedy
© April 27, 2020
Scripture Reading:
Matthew 11:25–30
25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
We are living in a time that we have been sheltering at home to distance ourselves from spreading the Covid-19 virus pandemic …but sheltering at home does not preclude that we are at rest!
Where can we truly find rest?
Jesus says, “Come to Me, I will give you Rest!”
There are three times the Scripture records Jesus Calling out for Us to Come to Him
Jesus is the Water of Life
“Come to Me”: The Call of Christ to the Spiritually Thirsty (John 7:37)
Jesus is the Living Bread from Heaven
“Come to Me”: The Call of Christ to those Hungry for a Spiritual relationship with God (John 6:37)
Jesus is The One who gives Rest
“Come to Me”: The Call of Christ to the weary (Matthew 11:28–30)
Matthew 11:28–30
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Let’s look today at the Call of Christ for the Weary to find Rest!
All of us need rest. God has allocated almost one-third of our day… (and, therefore, of our whole life) to be committed to “Rest” and Sleep. If we do not sleep long enough, then we cannot function the way God meant us to live.
“Going without sleep will make you psychotic and literally kill you.”[1]
o “Poor Sleep Associated With Higher Risk of Chronic Pain”
HuffPost
o “The real marker of adulthood is admitting you need sleep”
The Guardian
o “Poor quality, short sleep ‘prevalent’ among adults, StatsCan says”
CBC.ca
o “A good night’s sleep makes us happier than a 50 percent pay raise”
AOL
o “Waking Up at 5 am Probably Won’t Make You More Productive. Here’s What Will:”
Money Magazine
[Their answer reinforces sleep “Consistency.” “…Participants who went to bed and woke up at different times throughout the week -- fared worse than those who stuck to the same sleep routine.”[2]]
o “‘Catastrophic’ lack of sleep in modern society is killing us, warns leading sleep scientist”
The Independent
“Rest” is the key component of sleep itself.
Have you ever woken up and felt like you didn’t sleep well?
Why?
Because your sleep did not include “Rest.”
What is God trying to tell us as His created human beings when He created us to require 1/3rd of our lives in sleep? Does God have a higher calling for “Rest?”
Yes, He does!
This message is not about sleep patterns, but about Spiritual Rest. A spiritual necessity for God’s Children.
Jesus’ call for rest is not just about sleeping soundly at night, it is about our spirit resting in Him – night and day:
· Rest, when circumstances, tragedies or issues cause great weights of care to burden our spirit down throughout the day.
· Rest, when we should have restful sleep, but our mind is so concerned over troubling events that we cannot go to sleep.
· Rest, when we have no assurance about our eternal life. We are afraid of standing before God. We bear the pain of remembering wrong things we have done, or abusive things others have done to us, and the guilt of it all overwhelms us, so much so that we seek anything to rid us of the shame and pain…something to remove the pain from our mind and let us have some oblivion…some false rest, if nothing else.
What trusted Resource in life can allow us to carry pressure, but not be destroyed by the pressure?
Matthew 11:28–30
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
God was so insistent about us understanding this essential of applying Spiritual Rest in our daily living that He instituted His concept of Rest at the very time He created the world!
· Why did God take six days to speak the world into existence when He could have immediately spoken everything into existence with His same powerful Spoken Word?
· Why did God rest on the seventh day…when God doesn’t need rest in the first place?
Could it have been that God wanted to specifically point out the Spiritual Principle of “His Rest” from the very beginning, by having a Seventh Day – a Day of “His Rest”? And, at the same time, hiding the power of the Resurrection of Christ on the first day (instituting the New Covenant of Spiritual Rest), to be kept as a “Mystery,” until the fullness of time when Christ came?
1 Corinthians 2:7–8
7 …We speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Old Earth Evolution
Those promoting Evolutionary Theories continually react with defiant superiority against lowly Biblical Creationists, with combative and vitric arguments against “young earth.”
This message is not written to convince the evolutionist concerning “young earth” creation – although “young earth,” if one is honest, is what is supported by the Biblical Creation Narrative (unless one jumps through many imaginary Biblical hoops). This message is about “Rest,” but we cannot set aside Biblical Creation and pursue Biblical Spiritual Rest, to accommodate “old earth” apologists, without focusing on the reality of six-day Creation! (By the way, every time you go to church on Sunday you actually confirm six-day creation, and the Biblical New Covenant [Sunday].)
Faulty Dating Systems of Evolutionist
It is interesting that key sources evolutionists rely on to support their theory are radiometric tests such as potassium-argon (K–Ar) dating, and carbon 14 radiological dating…both of which have been consistently unreliable over vast time spans to affirm “absolute age,” because constant accuracy of radioactive decay and levels of carbon cannot be corroborated over billions of years – even throughout 6,000 years.
It has been found that there is not consistency in carbon dating even during the past fifty to several hundred years.
Manning noted that “scholars working on the early Iron Age and Biblical chronology in Jordan and Israel are doing sophisticated projects with radiocarbon age analysis, which argue for very precise findings. This then becomes the timeline of history. But our work indicates that it’s arguable their fundamental basis is faulty – they are using a calibration curve that is not accurate for this region.”
“There has been much debate for several decades among scholars arguing for different chronologies sometimes only decades to a century apart – each with major historical implications. And yet these studies … may all be inaccurate since they are using the wrong radiocarbon information.” [3]
Nothing through ancient ages can verify the consistency of carbon levels to be the same as today, so critically faulty assumptions regarding the age of the earth are being made based on inaccurate or unknown consistency in rates of decay and carbon data while using current standard evolutionary models.[4]
What if radioactive decay or carbon had been generated at vastly different levels during times just after Creation when individuals are Biblically recorded to have regularly lived for hundreds of years in a pre-flood atmosphere? Would this radically different carbon environment be radically different than it is today? All of today’s observations of rate of decay would be obsolete. In any case, we are not here to address these inequities, only to address the validity of Spiritual rest originating at Biblical Creation!
Creation Stories – How does the Bible Compare?
The world scoffs at the six-day Biblical Creation Narrative, discounting God, well before acknowledging the necessity of His Creation Power, but did you ever consider comparing the Biblical account with all of the other cultural traditions over the past several thousand years – including today’s atheist version of how we came to exist?
There are many creation stories in the world – mostly variations of folklore involving a culture’s mythic gods and goddesses.
Why Did God Choose to Create the World in Six Days?
The “Rest” that Christ gives is the fulfillment of the promise offered by God’s Representative Rest at the Creation of the World! Let’s look at this more closely:
At the Creation of the World God Demonstrated a Clear and Reasonable Pattern in how the Earth was Created and why it was Purposefully Made by Him in Six Days to be followed by a Day of Rest!
If one discounts the first six days of creation, then one also discards the seventh day of rest.
In order to bring Reason into equating Rest with Creation, let’s briefly compare The Act of Biblical Creation followed by a short sampling of Myths of Creation around the world – which are similar to the other possibly hundreds of myths of creation – which are truly verifiable myths. After which we will more fully discuss “Rest.”
First, Let’s look at the Biblical account of Creation to give us a standard to follow.
Here is God’s narrative:
Genesis 1–2:1
(Abbreviated version used for these message notes. Use your Bible to amplify!)
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”
Day 1 – God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. [Light from God, who already IS LIGHT! (1 John 1:5; Rev 21:23) No need for the light of the sun or stars.]
“So the evening and the morning were the first day.”
Day 2 – God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” God called the firmament Heaven.
“So the evening and the morning were the second day.”
Day 3 – God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.”
God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
“So the evening and the morning were the third day.”
Day 4 - God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”
God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. 17 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth. And God saw that it was good.
“So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.”
Day 5 - God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.”
God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind.
God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And God saw that it was good.
“So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.”
Day 6 - God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind.”
God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.
“So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”
Thus, the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished.
Now let’s compare God’s Biblical Narrative of His Creation to a sampling of creation myths from tribes and civilizations around the world:
· Babylonian Story[5]
This Babylonian story of creation comes largely from the Enuma Elish and the Astrahasis, which appear to have been written between 1900 and 1500 BC, perhaps during the time of the Babylonian King Hammurabi.
o Apsu, the god of fresh waters, and Tiamat, the goddess of the salt oceans, and Mummu, the god of the mist that rises from both of them, were still mingled as one.
o Apsu and Tiamat parented two gods, and then two more who outgrew the first pair. These further parented gods, until Ea, who was the god of rivers and was Tiamat and Apsu's geat-grandson, was born. Ea was the cleverest of the gods, and with his magic Ea became the most powerful of the gods, ruling even his forebears.
o Apsu and Tiamat's descendents became an unruly crowd. Eventually Apsu, in his frustration and inability to sleep with the clamor, went to Tiamat, and he proposed to her that he slay their noisy offspring. Tiamat was furious at his suggestion to kill their clan, but after leaving her Apsu resolved to proceed with his murderous plan. When the young gods heard of his plot against them, they were silent and fearful, but soon Ea was hatching a scheme. He cast a spell on Apsu, pulled Apsu's crown from his head, and slew him. Ea then built his palace on Apsu's waters, and it was there that, with the goddess Damkina, he fathered Marduk, the four-eared, four-eyed giant who was god of the rains and storms. Etc., etc. From these rose the earth as we know it.
· Classical Chinese Creation Mythology Pan Gu and Nü Wa
o Long, long ago, when heaven and earth were still one, the entire universe was contained in an egg-shaped cloud. All the matter of the universe swirled chaotically in that egg. Deep within the swirling matter was Pan Gu, a huge giant who grew in the chaos. For 18,000 years he developed and slept in the egg. Finally one day he awoke and stretched, and the egg broke to release the matter of the universe. The lighter purer elements drifted upwards to make the sky and heavens, and the heavier impure elements settled downwards to make the earth.
o In the midst of this new world, Pan Gu worried that heaven and earth might mix again; so he resolved to hold them apart, with the heavens on his head and the earth under his feet. As the two continued to separate, Pan Gu grew to hold them apart. For 18,000 years he continued to grow, until the heavens were 30,000 miles above the earth. For much longer he continued to hold the two apart, fearing the return of the chaos of his youth. Finally he realized they were stable, and soon after that he died.
o With the immense giant's death, the earth took on new character. His arms and legs became the four directions and the mountains. His blood became the rivers, and his sweat became the rain and dew. His voice became the thunder, and his breath became the winds. His hair became the grass, and his veins became the roads and paths. His teeth and bones became the minerals and rocks, and his flesh became the soil of the fields. Up above, his left eye became the sun, and his right eye became the moon. Thus in death, as in life, Pan Gu made the world as it is today.
· An India Creation Story - Creation By and From the Self
This story is from the second and fourth Brahmanas of the Brhad-arayaka Upanishad, which was written in India in the 700s or 600s B.C. The principal actor in this story can be taken to be Praja-pati, the Lord of Creation, or Brahma the Creator. Like the original, however, this story uses "he" as its subject, because "he" may be taken more metaphorically as any sentient being who creates by his or her own thought.
Creation By and From the Self
o In the beginning there was absolutely nothing, and what existed was covered by death and hunger. He thought, "Let me have a self", and he created the mind. As he moved about in worship, water was generated. Froth formed on the water, and the froth eventually solidified to become earth. He rested on the earth, and from his luminance came fire. After resting, he divided himself in three parts, and one is fire, one is the sun, and one is the air.
o Thus in the beginning the world was only his self, his being or essence, which then took the shape of a person. At first he was afraid, but realizing that he was alone and had nothing of which to be afraid, his fear ceased. However, he had no happiness because he was alone, and he longed for another. He grew as large as two persons embracing, and he caused his self to split into two matching parts, like two halves of a split pea, and from them arose husband and wife.
o They mated, and from their union arose the human beings of the earth. The female reflected on having mated with someone of whom she was once a part, and she resolved that she should hide so that it would not happen again. She changed to a cow to disguise herself, but he changed to a bull and mated with her, and from their union cows arose. She changed to the form of a mare, but he changed to that of a stallion and mated with her, and from that union came horses. She changed to the form of a donkey, but he did likewise, and from them arose the single-hoofed animals. She became a ewe, but he became a ram, and from their union came the sheep and goats. It continued thus, with her changing form to elude him but he finding her and mating with her, until they had created all the animals that live in pairs, from humans and horses to ants.
o After all this work, he reflected that he was indeed Creation personified, for he had created all this. Rubbing back and forth, he made Fire, the god of fire, from his hands, and from his semen he made Soma, the god of the moon. This was his highest creation because, although mortal himself, he had created immortal gods.
· The Creation Story of Japan and her People[6]
This story is from the Kojiki, the Japanese "Record of Ancient Things". The Kojiki was compiled in the 500s to 700s A.D., at the direction of various emperors intent on standardizing and preserving Japan's mythic history. The Kojiki does not tell the story of the origin of the world and its peoples per se, but it is the story of the origin of Japan and of Japan's aristocratic families.
The Origin of Japan and her People
o When heaven and earth began, three deities came into being, The Spirit Master of the Center of Heaven, The August Wondrously Producing Spirit, and the Divine Wondrously Producing Ancestor. These three were invisible. The earth was young then, and land floated like oil, and from it reed shoots sprouted. From these reeds came two more deities. After them, five or six pairs of deities came into being, and the last of these were Izanagi and Izanami, whose names mean "The Male Who Invites" and "The Female who Invites".
o The first five deities commanded Izanagi and Izanami to make and solidify the land of Japan, and they gave the young pair a jeweled spear. Standing on the Floating Bridge of Heaven, they dipped it in the ocean brine and stirred. They pulled out the spear, and the brine that dripped of it formed an island to which they descended. On this island they built a palace for their wedding and a great column to the heavens.
o Izanami examined her body and found that one place had not grown, and she told this to Izanagi, who replied that his body was well-formed but that one place had grown to excess. He proposed that he place his excess in her place that was not complete and that in doing so they would make new land. They agreed to walk around the pillar and meet behind it to do this. When they arrive behind the pillar, she greeted him by saying "What a fine young man", and he responded by greeting her with "What a fine young woman". They procreated and gave birth to a leech-child, which they put in a basket and let float away. Then they gave birth to a floating island, which likewise they did not recognize as one of their children.
o Disappointed by their failures in procreation, they returned to Heaven and consulted the deities there. The deities explained that the cause of their difficulties was that the female had spoken first when they met to procreate. Izanagi and Izanami returned to their island and again met behind the heavenly pillar. When they met, he said, "What a fine young woman," and she said, "What a fine young man". They mated and gave birth to the eight main islands of Japan and six minor islands. Then they gave birth to a variety of deities to inhabit those islands, including the sea deity, the deity of the sea-straits, and the deities of the rivers, winds, trees, and mountains. Last, Izanami gave birth to the fire deity, and her genitals were so burned that she died. Etc., Etc.
Nothing Made Us: The Most Ridiculous Modern Creation Story!
The most ridiculous creation story is that NOTHING created us (when was the last time NOTHING created anything?), or that a UFO with an alien inside seeded the earth with life as it passed billions of years ago allowing everything to evolve to be what it is today – all on its own.
Problems with Evolutionary Random Chance Self-mutating over Billions of Years
· Species: If everything evolved by random chance, what about the millions of species which cannot reproduce outside their species?
· Male and Female: What about the consistency of two unique living beings – a male and female which are normally necessary for reproduction in each species?
How did evolution evolve to the profound world we have today with these absolute restrictions being the rule, not the exception?
· No Transitional Creatures: If everything evolved from other species, then where are the petrified bones and archeological evidence for those millions of transitioning evolving species? There are none. From the smallest to the greatest fossils and all living creatures confirm that each is amazingly complex, well-suited for their purpose and amazingly beautiful – there is no irrefutable evidence of transitional creatures!
· Consciousness: What about consciousness in human life which reveals intangibles of the soul and spirit such as awareness, reason, creativeness, decision making, perception, personality, perspectives, meaning and purpose, etc. to be gifted to each individual human being?
Who made consciousness? Random Chance? Never.
An Extremely Intelligent, All-Powerful, Almighty God, and our Creator did!
After reading just a sampling of “creation myths,” and the “nothing/alien” theory, can you see that only the Biblical Narrative found in Genesis has reason, veracity and trustworthiness?
God’s narrative found in Genesis 1 & 2 has six logical sequence days of creation concluding on the seventh day with our God resting. This “resting day” is a mysterious hidden Truth of a Spiritual Rest which God, from the creation of the world, in the fullness of time, would clearly reveal in Christ through His Gospel: Salvation from the penalty of sin and thus a relationship with a Holy God through personal belief in Christ’s death and resurrection – our true and eternal Spiritual Rest; and, practical Rest which we rely on every day through the power of His Holy Spirit!
Why Did God Choose to Create the World in Six Days?
At the Creation of the World God Demonstrated a Clear and Reasonable Pattern in How the Earth was Created and why it was Purposefully Made by Him in Six Days to be followed by a Day of Rest!
· God could have spoken, and everything would have immediately burst into existence – like the contrived “big bang” theory, but He didn’t…for a reason.
· God systematically formed each dynamic day of creation to fit perfectly with each logical progressive element.
· God created the world in six days so He could give the pattern and spiritual quality of “rest” (although God does not need “Rest”) on the Seventh Day.
God’s Rest formed a pattern of Rest set by God in Creation
Genesis 2:2–3
2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
In six days, God spoke the world into existence, but He purposely recorded the “Rest” He chose to experience on the seventh day, initiating:
o The Pattern of Physical Rest (a 6-day work week/one day rest),
o The Necessity for Personal Rest (our physical bodies would die without rest)
o The Mystery of Spiritual Rest (our spiritual lives are dead because of sin – but God wants us to have Spiritual Life and Rest in Christ Jesus!)
Let’s look more closely at this eternal “Rest” Mystery Revealed:
God initiated His Understanding of how critical the value of “Rest” really is, when He incorporated and emphasized a “Day of Rest” at the close of His creation of the world.
Why is “God’s Rest” so important?
Hebrews 4:3, 9-10
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.
9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from His.
We “rest” from our works when we cease relying on our own good works, to be pleasing to God, and instead rely wholly on Christ’s Finished Work!
“Rest” for God, is a mystery indeed, because Almighty God does not need rest!
What was God telling His creation?
Throughout the Bible God was telling His Chosen People that they needed to have a physical “Rest” once a week on the seventh day. This example of “rest” was expanded to include specific days or weeks during each year highlighting seven special Feasts and Festivals God gave them. These feasts were also linked to specific Spiritual occasions representing spiritual events, truths and insights throughout their history regarding their personal relationship with God. God wanted His people to draw near to Him through these occasions.
The Seventh Day of Rest was also for our Physical Endurance
Exodus 23:12
12 “Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed.
Legalistically Following the physical “Sabbaths” Does Not Give Spiritual Rest
The People of Israel believed they would achieve Rest when they followed the Sabbath Day Rest and the pattern of Rest in the Jewish feasts, complying with the legalism of the Law; but, they did not find Rest through the legalism to the Law.
People in the church today do not find rest in Christ through legalistically coming to church, giving their tithes, in order to “please” God, or “following” the rules others may lay down for them.
Rules without reality have never worked, instead, they become a burden.
Achieving Spiritual Position or Accomplishing a Spiritual Goal Does Not Give Rest
Israel thought they would achieve Rest when they entered in the Promised Land
Israel received “rest” from their enemies when they obeyed God’s Laws, but eventually they disobeyed His Laws so egregiously that their homeland, homes and Temple was destroyed, and the people were disbursed into all the world until 1948, when the Jewish nation was reestablished.
Hebrews 3:16–19
16 For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.
Hebrews 4:8–10
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, (by bringing them into the Promised Land) God would not have spoken of another day later on. 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from His.
What is Rest?
As you read these scriptures below let the application we glean from them, by the Holy Spirit, apply to our daily life, so we can enter into God’s rest every day through acts of practical faith, bringing incremental Spiritual growth in true spiritual REST!
1. Rest is The absence of war[7]
Psalm 46:8–11
8 Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. 10 “Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth!” 11 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
James 4:1–4
1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
James 3:16–18
16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
Ephesians 4:30–32
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
2. Rest is the absence of social strife
2 Corinthians 13:11
11 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
3. Rest is the absence of fear
Psalm 56:3
3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
Psalm 34:4
4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.
Psalm 27:1
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
2 Timothy 1:7
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
Psalm 127:2
2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for He gives to his beloved sleep.
4. Rest is the absence of anxiety
1 Peter 5:6–11
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Matthew 6:25–34
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Philippians 4:5–7
5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
5. Spiritual Rest is the absence of personal “works” to obtain salvation and righteousness before a Holy God, but instead they are for honorable service
Titus 3:5–8 (see also Rom. 3:27-28)
5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.
Romans 3:27–28
27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
Hebrews 4:3, 9-10
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.
9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from His.
6. Spiritual Rest is fulfilled in dependence on the security and completeness of the work and presence of God in our life, through Christ’s Redemption and the transforming power and daily enablement of His Holy Spirit
Exodus 33:14
14 And He said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Deuteronomy 33:27a
27 The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms.
Matthew 11:28–30
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Romans 15:13 (see also Ephesians 2:18-22)
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Conclusion
There are three times the Scripture records Jesus Calling out for Us to Come to Him
Jesus is the Water of Life
“Come to Me”: The Call of Christ to the Spiritually Thirsty (John 7:37)
Jesus is the Living Bread from Heaven
“Come to Me”: The Call of Christ to those Hungry for a Spiritual relationship with God (John 6:37)
Jesus is The One who gives Rest
“Come to Me”: The Call of Christ to the Spiritually weary (Matthew 11:28–30)
Matthew 11:28–30
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Today we observed the Call of Christ for the Weary to find Rest…Spiritual Rest.
Those who receive Christ as their Savior from sin and hope for eternal life, have Spiritual Rest for their souls – this is God’s desire which He established from the Creation of the World!
Remember, as God’s Children, we need to daily choose to enter this “finished rest” found only in Christ! The practical daily outcome of this Rest is evidenced through reliance on Rest in the Lord through the issues, trials and unresolved circumstances which we face every day. May we yield to the Lord, rely on Him and pray for one another so in our daily living we can experience the power of this Rest in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit present with us.
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[1] https://www.livescience.com/32469-why-do-we-sleep.html
[2] http://time.com/money/4942543/time-wake-up-productive-sleep/
[3] http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2018/06/new-radiocarbon-cycle-research-may-alter-history
[4] https://www.icr.org/article/can-carbon-dating-be-trusted, https://www.icr.org/age-of-the-earth/
[5] Many of these creation myths were gleaned from sources such as: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_myth
[6] http://www.gly.uga.edu/railsback/CS/CSIndex.html
[7] Primary points are found in: Manser, M. H. (2009). Dictionary of Bible Themes: The Accessible and Comprehensive Tool for Topical Studies. London: Martin Manser.