Practical Wisdom from the Word of God

Hebrews 4:9-11 (NKJV) ⁹ There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. ¹⁰ For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. ¹¹ Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.

(I returned last week from a wonderful conference in Northern Ireland at Carrickfegus Community Church in Carrickfergus Northern Ireland. What a blessing Pastors Trevor and Sandy Clark were to us there.)

I believe the Lord has spoken to my heart that 2013 is to be a year of great favor for the people of God. In the natural, it would seem that the church is at a low point of respect and acceptance especially here in the United States. Nevertheless, in the midst of this condition I am convinced God will give us favor.

Historically this has always been the case. In Exodus 3 we saw that God promised to spoil the Egyptians by giving the Hebrew women favor with the Egyptian women. In Acts 2 we see that God gave the church favor and the result was that souls were added to the church daily. In both cases the ruling powers were anything but favorable toward the people of God. God still moved to give them favor where it was needed.

If we are going to see this favor manifested in our own lives we must believe for it. Everything in the kingdom of God works by faith. Favor is no different. We can hear the words that God is giving favor but if we do not choose to believe them actively it will do us no good. We have seen that faith follows certain characteristics such as integrity, hard work and strength. We must add faith to this list.

As I was praying about where to go next in our study of favor, the Lord seemed to place this phrase on my heart, “the rest of faith.” We have studied faith and will continue to study it extensively in this space. I believe faith is one of the foundational elements of our walk with God. Hebrews 11:6 tells us we cannot please God without it. Romans 14:23 tells us that anything which does not proceed from faith is sin. We walk by faith, we live by faith and by faith we are saved. Faith is very important to the believer.

I believe that in order to walk in favor we must find the rest of faith that is spoken of in Hebrews 4. We see from this verse that there remains a rest to the people of God. This verse is speaking of the journey we have been studying in one form or another for 2 and ½ years. The people of Israel were promised a “rest” in the land of Canaan. In verse 8 of this chapter the writer tells us that the children of Israel never entered into the fullness of what God was talking about. Verse 6 says that someone must enter this rest. In Hebrews 4 we are told how.

I believe it is important to remember that God calls this a rest. He does not call it a work. We will see that there is a work for us to do, but the goal is to come to a rest. What is the nature of this rest? There are two Greek words translated rest in this section. The first means a “Sabbath keeping.” The purpose of the Sabbath was that man would take one day in seven and spend it with the Lord. He was to stop doing his normal work and concentrate on God.

The rest of faith spoken of here is the same in nature. We enter his rest when we stop doing our own works. What works are we to do? We are to do the works that flow from relationship with him. We are to rest in that relationship and let what we do flow from that. This dovetails with what we have found in the book of Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy is a book of relationship. It is the final address of Moses to the people of Israel. Where Leviticus focuses on the minutia of the Law, Deuteronomy focuses more on the working out of the relationship that the Law is meant to maintain, that is Israel’s covenant with God.

In Deuteronomy we see three things spoken of over and over again. Israel is told by God to “keep my commandments, obey my voice and walk in my ways.” These are statements of relationship not law. Any relationship has commandments. These are things that we must do to keep that relationship. I raised six children and they all understood that there were some rules, commandments, in our house. These were things you did not break or there would be consequences.

The purpose of the rules in my house was not just to satisfy some whim of my flesh. They were designed to protect, train and guide my children. They were there to keep them safe in relationship with me. They were there to teach them how to be productive people when they went out into the world. If my children broke the rules of my house, the consequences were designed to teach them the importance of certain things that would help them in life and keep them in relationship with me. The door of relationship never closed. The rules were there to see to that.

The Commandments of God, there are 10 primary ones, and the Law of Moses are not the same thing. The Law is a system by which Israel could maintain relationship with God when the Commandments were broken. We are not subject to the Law of Moses because Jesus fulfilled it. He has become the one sacrifice for all that is sufficient for every sin. If we break a commandment we can call on Jesus’ sacrifice and receive forgiveness. That does not mean we are free to break the commandments. The commandments of God serve the same function that the rules in my house served.

God gave us Ten Commandments so that we could understand his nature. When we understand his nature, we are able to walk in relationship with him. The Commandments give us parameters within which we are protected from the devil. Their purpose is not meant to constrain us in a negative way. They are meant to instruct us in things that will cause us to be successful in life and in our relationship with the Lord.

When we cease from trying to do right in our own eyes and simply accept the commandments of God as the ultimate right we begin to enter the Sabbath rest of God. In keeping his commandments without question we stop striving to understand what God wants from us. We flow into that knowledge by understanding his nature. There is plenty of room inside the parameters of God’s commandments for anything we might want or need to do.

Take a close look at your relationship to the commandments of God. Are you keeping them or are you trying to find a more modern substitute. Stop striving against the flesh. Enter the rest of faith in the commandments of God. You will see that life will begin to flow more smoothly than ever before and you will enjoy a depth of relationship with God and protection from the enemy that you will find in no other place.