Jesus said: 'Come to Me all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke on you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest to your souls.'

Here are some practical ways to enter that rest in every aspect of your life. Listen to the sermon for more applications and testimonies.
Listen to this sermonRest
By apostle Aje Pelser
Preached at: Harvester Reformational Church, Cape Town.
2 April 2006.

Introduction
At Harvester we have a mandate from God. He told us to: “Give My people rest.”
There are ways to obtain the rest that comes from God.

Realize that Jesus alone gives true rest:
Mat 11:28 Come to Me all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29 Take My yoke on you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest to your souls.
Mat 11:30 For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.
In order to pick up His yoke that is easy, one first has to lay down the yoke we are carrying right now. It could be a yoke of sin; damaging relationships; addiction; the past; unreasonable expectations; demonic oppression; guilt and condemnation.
His yoke includes: faith in His Word; learning from the life of Christ; becoming meek – placing all your strength under God’s control; submitting under spiritual leadership and authority; remaining humble – have a sane estimation of yourself and your abilities.
The choice is ours!

Understand how to labour in faith to enter that rest:
Heb 4:9 So then there remains a rest to the people of God.
Heb 4:10 For he who has entered into his rest, he also ceased from his own works, as God did from His.
Heb 4:11 Therefore let us labour to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of unbelief.
We have to work with our faith to enter His rest.
If we hear God’s word on rest today, we have to mix it with faith to make it profitable in our lives. If we don’t make a wilful decision to believe that we can have rest, we won’t enter His rest.
Apostle Andre always says, we cooperate with God and apply His Word to the best of our ability and the rest is faith!
We can’t produce His rest in our lives.
God works with your mustard seed of faith to produce His rest in your life. You have to put your faith in him and remove any other hindrances and distraction to your faith in Him.

Proclaim God’s kingdom of rest in your life:
Rom 14:17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
For he who serves Christ in these things is well-pleasing to God, and approved by men.
So then let us pursue the things of peace, and the things for building up one another.

Your spirit is at rest knowing you are right with God. Your soul is at rest because you have His Peace. Your body is at rest because the Holy Spirit’s joy does not depend on your circumstances or physical condition. It’s a joy that come from God: “the world did not give it and the world can’t take it away.”

Allow the Holy Spirit to rest in your life:
An allegory of Rest:
As we read the account of Noah, discern the significance of the two birds sent out to determine whether or not the waters had subsided.
Gen 8:7 And he sent forth a raven, and it went out, going out and returning until the waters were dried up from off the earth.
He also sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had gone down from off the face of the earth.
But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot. And she returned to him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth. Then he put out his hand and took her, and pulled her in to him into the ark.

Raven nature – feeds on dead corpses. The wages of sin is death. Our old raven nature feeds on dead spirits and dead habits. Our raven nature has no rest and moves from one decaying corpse of sin to another.

Dove nature – will not rest until waters have subsided and there is clean ground to stand on. This allegory speaks to us of baptism. The dove nature will only have rest when the earth has been cleansed. The flood speaks to us of baptism. Only once the old nature has been buried with Christ through baptism will the dove find a resting place.
We recall the baptism o our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ:

Joh 1:32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
Joh 1:33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
Joh 1:34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

As people start to see God’s Spirit remain on our lives, the Son of God will be manifest. As The world sees the Spirit of God remain on a local church, they will also realize that Jesus is there, yes that they are true Sons of God.

It has something to do with the rest that Jesus alone can give by His Spirit. It is available to you today.