Enter the Rest of God
By Apostle Andre Pelser
I always try to simplify things. I know a bit about God already, but I want to know the rest of God. As I know more about God I experience more rest and peace, more assurance that He is able to do what He promised.
Jesus’ promise of rest
Mat 11:28, 29 Jesus promised that if we learn meekness and humility from Him that we would find rest for our souls. Rest is ceasing from your own works.
The worldly systems drive people like slaves and unfortunately those systems have entered the church where pastors drive their congregations like cattle to perform according to the chosen system. We have forgotten our resting place.
False shepherds cause sheep to wander (Jer 50:6). A good shepherd will give his people rest (Ps. 23:2). It’s the presence of the Lord that gives his flock rest and refreshes them (Acts 3:19). This is the rest with which He will cause the weary to rest (Is. 28:12).
God can give rest because God has entered His rest. (Heb 4:4). He knows why He gave the commandment to rest on the Sabbath Day (Ex 23:12). Such rest brings refreshment (Ex 31:17).
Jesus invites us to rest a while (Mk 6:31). He wants to give us sure dwellings and quiet resting places (Is. 33:17, 18).
We have to learn to lay aside the sins and weights in our lives (Heb 12:1).
The problem why we do not enter into rest
We have forgotten our resting place (Jer 50:6). Only God can give rest. Like Asa the King of Judah we need to cry out to the Lord, ‘Help us O Lord, for we rest on you!’ Asa and the people made up their minds to continually seek God until he gives rest all around.
Areas in which we require rest
We need rest from all our enemies (II Sam 7:11/I Chr 22:9)
Rest from our sorrow (Is. 14:3)
Rest from our burdens (Ex. 5:5)
Rest from sleeplessness (Job 3:13)
Rest from weariness (Is. 28:12)
Rest from fear (Is. 14:3)
Rest from bondage (Is. 14:3)
Those who believe may enter into rest
We who have believed can enter into the rest of God (Heb 4:3). His Word, His Spirit, His Presence will give us rest. The devils and the wicked cannot find rest (Mat 12:43). He will rest in His love (Zeph 3:17).
Israel could not enter into the rest of God because of their unbelief. They arrived at the entrance to the Promised Land within two weeks of escaping from Egypt. Then Moses sent out 12 spies to spy out the land – one from every tribe. Only two of them, Caleb and Joshua, came back with a good report. The other ten complained and murmured; ‘there are giants in the land. We are like grasshoppers in their sight.’ Caleb and Joshua disagreed: ‘no, they are like grasshoppers in our sight! Let us go up at once and take the land!’ But unfortunately the majority prevailed. It took Israel another 40 years to cross that line again…
What is robbing you of your rest? You are right at the borderline of your Promise in Christ Jesus. You can enter right now – if you release your faith. Or you can sit with the same problem for the next 40 years of your life!
You enter the rest of God by faith! You get to know God in the area where you are being defeated right now and then you enter the rest of God concerning that area.
The Right Stuff
The Movie, The Right Stuff, is about pilots who tried to break the sound barrier and eventually about pilots who ventured out into Outer Space. They had to be made of the right stuff.
When they tried to crack the sound barrier, the planes were not made of the right material yet. As they approached the sound barrier, the plane would shake and they would be under tremendous physical pressure. Many pilots died endeavouring to cross that invisible line. But one day a pilot did it: he pushed his aeroplane to fly faster than sound. It was a tremendous battle, but when he crossed that line, it became silent around him. He was flying faster than sound. Sound followed him! Since then it has become easy to fly faster than sound.
The battle to believe
Faith is a fight. It is a battle. You hear something and faith comes to you. As you put your faith to practice it causes all hell to break loose around you. Everyone and everything try to stop you from believing. But if you hold on and keep trusting Jesus Christ and His Word (The Bible), you will win the fight to believe and you will go through the barrier of unbelief! You will enter the rest of faith! That is the rest of God.
The Old Covenant cannot give rest
It is no longer a specific day of the week – because Jesus Christ has become our Sabbath’s Rest. We have rest within ourselves now, because we believe in Jesus Christ. We operate from a position of rest. We do not let anything or anyone disturb our rest. We have a continual Sabbath. (The Old Covenant commandments were a shadow of things to come. Now that the new things have arrived, we should enter into them in order to experience the better things of the New Covenant.)Our true resting place is not a Saturday or a Sunday: our true resting place is in God! Let us not forget our resting place! Paul says if some want to keep a certain day, let them keep it, but it is no longer necessary! A new day has dawned! It is a new day! There is a new way! Jesus paved the new way for us! He is our Sabbath Rest now! Hallelujah! I rest securely in Him. He is my resting place now! I place my faith in Him and that gives me rest! Amen.