0:00 Thank you, brothers, for sharing. I'll give you my opinion on why I think it's good to have a physical Bible. 0:24 Because it's the legalistic thing to do. No, I'm all for technology. I do have a Bible on my phone. I use it. But I've found that I have learned a lot more about scriptures and what they mean by seeing them in context. And that's probably the biggest reason why I think a book, a physical book, is much better. 0:50 If you don't have a book, that's fine. In a situation, I mean, if you find that you're without a Bible, that's okay. But I find, on a regular basis, this physical book helps me because I can easily look back and glance at the previous page or turn back the page and see what is the essence or the context of the message that God is trying to speak through this book. 1:15 And I have personally learned a lot through that. For example, I pointed out yesterday, when you see the word therefore, I immediately, just without having to scroll back or anything, see what that word is there for, very simply. 1:30 So that's just, I thought I'd mention that. We were speaking about the body of Christ also. And I was really blessed. What all of you have shared, and I was thinking when James was sharing, you know, what was Mary doing when the body of Christ, the first body of Christ was formed in her? 1:50 She was just going about her business, being pleasing to the Lord, a bondservant, living pure, keeping her thoughts pure towards the God she knew, and devoting herself to whatever it is she needed to do. And there, doing that, being faithful in the circle in which God had placed her, God said, I want to form the body of Christ through you. 2:16 And the Holy Spirit came upon her. And this is exactly how it happens today. God looks for those who have a maximum mentality towards him. Those who say, Lord, all I have is yours. And you know what the Father says? Okay, now all I have is yours too. 2:33 If you want to hear that from your Heavenly Father, where all the riches of his kingdom are available to you, come to him. Not expecting him to say, now that I know all that you have is mine, let me give you all that I have is yours. 2:45 But saying, Lord, no, really. All that I have is yours. Absolutely every single bit of it. My goals, my ambitions, my plans, my money, my time. My service, my focus. And in the midst of all those things, you'll find God will build his church through you. 3:05 And this is the greatest calling, to do that which God has placed you on this earth. I'll talk about that a little bit today. Now, I agree with James that in some cases that might not be that you get to build a church. You read some of the godly men who did work that was outside of that. 3:23 And there's a place for that in God's kingdom. Most importantly, remember this, to be doing that for which God placed you on this earth. I think of what Paul said when he said, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ laid a hold of me. 3:40 And I want to tell you how the Lord spoke that to me one time. I pictured myself like this raggedy little puppy dog or something like that that somebody laid a hold of. You know how you grab it by the scruff of its neck. 3:53 And Jesus Christ laid a hold of me by the scruff of my neck when I was living in rebellion and sin. And said, I have a purpose for you, Santosh. Don't end this life before you finish that purpose. See, everybody in this world is trying to die old. 4:11 You know, if you can live to 90, 95, 100 years old. Nutritionists are telling you how you can live a long life, healthy life. You can make it to 110. Don't die old. Don't make that your goal. Die empty. Which means that if you live to 33, you'll be able to say like Jesus, it is finished. 4:32 If you live to 55 or so, like Paul was, you can say like him, it is finished. It's not the age at which you die, but what's left in the tank when you die. Because you can't control the date. You know, with all our healthness and wealthness that the world is pursuing, even in Christendom, sadly, 4:55 people still die in car accidents and die of diseases that they didn't know they had with all their healthy eating. I don't know. But I want to be able to say, if the Lord allows me, like he did allow Jesus and Paul, to know a few minutes or a few days before I get to see my Savior face to face, 5:14 I want to be able to say with them, it is finished. I have finished the course you put me on this earth for. And do you believe that, dear friends, that every single one of you ought to be able to say that? It wasn't just for Jesus, it wasn't just for Paul, it's for you and I. 5:29 These things are written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come, that I too want to be able to say, Lord, you're taking me home, it is finished. There's nothing left to do that you placed me on this earth for. 5:45 Yeah. So we've been looking at perfection, a perfect redemption, and perfect rejoicing last night. I wanted to mention this in passing that I was having a brief conversation this morning with a brother that reminded me of 6:03 the most important and the most effective teaching is teaching that leads you to obedience. And we were talking about how otherwise, it's like going to a restaurant that presents a table full of plastic or paper food. It could look better than the real thing. 6:20 You know, if you had, sometimes plastic apples look really good. And you look at a real apple and think, man, I'd rather have the plastic apple. This is the Christendom in which we live. And what I mean by that is the quality of teaching. 6:32 Most people would rather have their ears tickled by nice-looking sermons, nice-sounding sermons. But it's not the real thing if it's just plastic. It is what's inside of it. If the life is there, if the nutrition is there, 6:49 what determines whether nutrition is there is whether you leave with a call to obedience. Obedience is the essence of food, spiritual food. The word of Christ is effective in your life only if you go away from hearing it, obeying it. 7:07 You are blessed if you obey. He who hears these words of mine and obeys them will have eternal life. Otherwise, you'll just have nice tickled ears. You know, ear tickling is a good sensation. If you've ever had it, sometimes you get a massage. 7:23 It feels good. But after a little while, you need it again. And you can't just live off of tickling your ears. You need food. So as you listen to preaching in this world today, and they could be from different sources, ask yourself this question. 7:40 Do you leave saying, Lord, I have seen a way in which I must obey. This is where you are calling me to apply this in my life. And if you don't know it, ask the Lord to show you. You may not receive it immediately during the message or immediately after. 7:58 But at some point, the Lord wants you to hear the call to obedience. And having picked up that apple or that banana or that rice or curry or whatever, a piece of chicken spiritually now, if you eat it and digest it, you live. 8:14 But if it was just paper, and after a while, you know, you're eating that plastic food and that paper food, and it's all you've been fed, and after a while, you're getting haggard spiritually, shriveling spiritually, it's time to taste the stuff that maybe you don't feel like listening to, 8:31 the broccoli and the Brussels sprouts stuff, which maybe you guys like that. But seek for that which leads you to a call to obedience. And so I thought as I was thinking about that, Lord, have I presented to these dear friends 8:47 a call to obedience in these areas? Or have I just presented a theory of what perfect redemption looks like and perfect rejoicing looks like? Let me apply it to you a little bit here. I'll give you one statement for each of these. 9:02 If you really believe that God has called you to a life of perfect redemption, which he has, I hope I've shown that to you from yesterday morning's message. That means that you can never say, even once, nobody here has an excuse to say, 9:18 my situation is too far gone. That's what perfect redemption means. You can never say, Now, in this case, there's no hope for me. There's no hope for this particular situation. You can never say that. That's what perfect redemption means. 9:34 And you can never say about any aspect of your past, oh, God, you can't do anything about that. I don't trust you. Now, you can say that. But you can't stand before God and say, well, Lord, you allowed my situation to get too bad. 9:49 God will say, no. My arm was powerful enough to solve that problem. You just didn't trust me enough. So, a perfect redemption and obedience means that I can never go through any life, any situation in life saying, Lord, this is too much for me. 10:05 This is too much for you to handle. I'm going to try to fix it. Perfect rejoicing. By the way, that also means that I can never worry. See, worry is one of those sins, and fear are two of those sins that we sort of look at as character flaws. 10:27 I'll tell you this. Worry is not a character flaw. Fear is not a character flaw. I have come to see this more clearly because of the perfect redemption that God has presented to us in his word. It means that I'm not entitled to one moment of worry if, 10:41 I'll tell you honestly, my dear friends, when I find worry in my life, even for a few seconds, I say, Lord, I have sinned. I'm sorry. Because that's unbelief. That's denying that your redemption is really that perfect. And I've tried to take it more seriously. 10:56 Where if I find even a moment of worry or fear about any situation in my life, even if I can't see the physical outcome yet, I say, Lord, no, I'm going to be a believing one. And I'm pressing on to perfection in this area, my dear friends. 11:10 I hope you are as well. You and I are never entitled to even one moment, one second of worry. Look back on this last year, 2016. We're almost at the end of it. How much worry was there in your life? Dear brothers, dear sisters, 11:24 maybe you hadn't heard a message like this before, but the times of ignorance God overlooks. Now he calls all men to repent from worrying and fear. Because he doesn't want you to live that way. He's not asking you to repent because he's angry at you, 11:39 but he's asking you to repent because he wants you to have a better 2017 than you had a 2016 in the area of worrying and fear and anxiety, things that Christians are plagued by. I tell you this, I want to, I have worried and I've been anxious in my life, 11:58 but I don't want to anymore because I'm seeing God more clearly. And ask him for help if you're plagued by worry. I see this in a lot of Christians, sisters. When we, Phil and I sit down and counsel, I find many sisters are affected and weighed down by worry and anxiety. 12:17 I want to encourage you in that. You have a God. You have a Father in heaven who wants you to have a life free of worry. It is possible. I'm getting there. I'm pressing on to perfection. Rejoicing. Perfect rejoicing means that I can never grumble or be in a bad mood ever. 12:38 Is this the life you want? Really? You're entitled? You're never entitled to say, Honey, I'm sorry I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I have a headache. I've got a migraine. So that's why I'm being bitter at you and mean to you right now. 12:51 I'm never entitled to an excuse for why I have a bad mood, whether it's a migraine or a headache. And please understand, I know there are physical circumstances sometimes that are outside of our control. And I might have the headache and the flu and whatever, 13:05 but I'm never entitled to be un-Christlike in my word or my thought or my attitude or my motive in anything that I do. Because that's a spiritual thing. And my spirit must never be affected by my soul or my body. If I truly believe in perfect rejoicing, 13:22 it means I'm never entitled to a bad mood or to grumble or complain even once. I'm not telling you Santosh psychology. Please know that. Everything I've just said you'll find in the word of God. Philippians 2 verse 14, do everything without grumbling or complaining. 13:38 That means 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, and every second of every hour. I mean, that's a lot of seconds. And I find in my life, I'll be honest with you, grumbling and complaining tends to pop up every now and then. But every time that giant shows its head, I'm determined to crush its head. 13:59 Every foot on which the sole, every area on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given to you, God told Joshua. Every second in your life that God has given you, that has allowed you to have, He has given you to capture from thoughts of anxiety, worry, fear, grumbling, complaining. 14:20 I hope I presented to you a way of obedience. That you're not leaving this weekend with theory, but three R's, but obedience. Because I know this is situations I face, and you do too. But we have a Father who's on our side against the devil. 14:38 And the devil's trying to convince you even now, I believe it, that you'll go back to the same old life of unthankfulness and grumbling and complaining like most of the world, including Christians around us. But God is calling us higher. 14:52 Come up higher. There's no grumbling or complaining in heaven. And I'm not waiting until I get to heaven to experience the life of God. Because the gospel is not, I'm going to go to heaven, but this, heaven has come down. 15:06 And glory has filled my soul and your soul. And the kingdom and the spirit of heaven, if it can't happen in heaven, it can't happen in your home, or in your marriage, or in your thought life. And if you're willing to set that as your standard, 15:23 my dear brothers, dear sisters, dear friends, in your marriages, and in your homes, and in your thought life, could this thought be allowed in heaven? If not, it's not allowed in your mind. Could this word be allowed in heaven, 15:36 then it's not allowed in your marriage. Could this action, could that movie, could that little bit of five seconds of sexual impurity in that PG-13 rated movie that you think is so good, be allowed in heaven? If so, then don't allow it in your home. 15:55 Yeah, when it comes down to obedience, it's a little bit more tough, isn't it? It doesn't tickle our ears as much. The third R I want to talk about today, anybody want to take a guess? Relationship, that's a good one. Because you're all going to give me right answers. 16:10 It may not be the one I'm going to give you. Any other R's that you'd like to throw in there? Repentance, okay. Revelation. Righteous, okay. Wow, what's that? What was the other one, Joe? Reconciliation. Good ones, yeah. 16:28 You guys will preach next year at Austin Word of Fellowship on the remaining R's. I wanted to speak on rest. Rest. That's not an easy one to think of or pick. I'm going to speak on rest. Perfect rest. 16:48 Perfect rest. But you're all correct. Now, let's turn to Hebrews chapter 3. Hebrews chapter 3, this is where we were a little bit yesterday. 17:13 I finished reading in verse 19 where it says, Hebrews 3 verse 19, and so we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief. And we looked at how, you know, yesterday I said those verses. Many times he says in chapter 3, 17:30 today if you hear his voice, today if you hear his voice, today if you're hearing his voice, don't harden your heart. I want to say something about that in passing. What I believe that means. You know, I already quoted that verse from Acts 17 verse 30. 17:45 By the way, I'll say this also. One of the reasons I encourage those young men at RLCF to turn to every verse that they read, because I have sat in other churches where I notice when the preacher preaches, even if people have a Bible, 17:59 they're too lazy to turn to it, or often they'll put the verse up on the projection, which means that people don't get in the habit of finding it for themselves in the Word of God. And I found that as I sat in churches where I relied on the projection team to put the verse up for me, 18:17 in my moment of situation where I really needed it, there was no projection screen to find the Word of God. And I had my Bible, but I was like, you know what, I don't even remember where it was. But as I developed, and I was actually trained this way from a young age, 18:32 so I made it my responsibility to share that blessing with others. Because I got in the habit of turning to the Word of God and seeing it there, I found that it was more easy for me to find it when I was by myself, without the projector and the PowerPoint slide, the screen. 18:50 And I could find it for myself and see it and know the scripture reference, so that I can see it for myself, so that my confidence is not based on the Word of man, but on the Word of God, and I could see it for myself. So it's a good habit to turn to every scripture. 19:06 I found, see, I think I'm a relatively not as disciplined student of the Word of God, I'll be honest with you. I'm not as disciplined a student of the Word of God as I would like to be. But I found that just from doing that simple practice, 19:22 that simple discipline of turning to every scripture that I heard in the sermons that I listened to, or whenever I heard a verse, if I didn't know where it was, I'd say, you know what, I don't know where that reference is. 19:33 I didn't realize that was actually in the book of Ephesians. I turned to it, see it for myself. I found that through that process, almost if I could call it intellectual osmosis, where I absorbed it just from listening. 19:48 And God was able to plant seeds of remembrance of the Word of God and scripture references in my heart through that. So I recommend that highly. I'm not saying anything that I haven't tried to implement in my own life and that I haven't found to be effective in my own life. 20:06 So in Hebrews, oh, today, I was saying, today, if you hear His voice, I believe that that means, like I said a little bit last night, that you can't do anything about the past. The times of ignorance, God overlooks, but now He calls all men to repent. 20:20 That's Acts 17, verse 30. What that means when He says, today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart, what that means that if you will come to God with 100% of yourself today, today, what do we, on November 13th, 2016, 20:38 you cannot do anything about even November 12th, 2016, or the days gone by, but today is what you have. And God recognizes it. That's why He goes to great pains to say in Hebrews 3, today, if you hear His voice. He doesn't say, yesterday, if you heard His voice. 20:53 Well, He can't do anything about yesterday, if you didn't obey. But today, if you're hearing His voice. What that means is that God, I believe this, and I've applied it in my own life, and I believe it in my own life, in my own heart, 21:07 that even though I can't do anything about the past, God is able to take from today until whatever the end of my life is. See, none of us knows when the end of our life will be. It's at some point, okay, in my case, somewhere. 21:23 Either I will see Him face to face, the sky, not the grave, is my goal. I'm not looking forward to dying. I'm looking forward to seeing Jesus, to be taken up with Him in the air. But I'm not promised that, James says. Don't assume that you will have tomorrow or even 20 minutes from now. 21:38 If the Lord wills, I will see Him face to face, meet Him in the air. But if He doesn't will, I will die and meet Him face to face. So, but at some point, my life will come to an end, my earthly life. And my life had a beginning. 21:52 My earthly life was finite. And I'm here, I am, somewhere along this journey. You know, I don't know when the end is, so I don't know whether I'm halfway or three quarters or, you know, I'm getting towards this side of it. 22:04 I know that. And so what I have is today. And this is true for every single one of you, from the youngest to the oldest. If you're a child and you're old enough to understand what I'm saying, you're somewhere along this timeline. 22:17 And I used, you know, I used this just to show you. But really, it's like this. It's a vapor. It's about the distance from, you know, if you go out on a cold morning and you blow your air and you see that vapor come out. 22:32 And it's just like that. It's already disintegrating the moment it leaves my mouth. That's your life. It's getting shorter and shorter with every day. That's what the word that Moses uses to describe it in Psalm 90. It's like a vapor. 22:49 Even if I live 80 years, it's like a vapor compared to eternity. It just keeps going and going and going and going and going. And here I am in this vapor, this span of time that I think is such a long period of time. And I, oh, tomorrow, Lord, I'll give up that sin. 23:04 Tomorrow, I'll forgive that person. Next month, I'm waiting for them to really show me that they really are repentance before I'll forgive them. Next month, let me give them one month of probation before I forgive them for what they did to me. 23:17 These are people calculating in this vapor. You see what the foolishness of it is? I'm not even guaranteed tomorrow. How can I wait until next month to forgive that person? How can I wait until next week to give up that sin? 23:30 How can I wait until next year to give up that bad habit or to really decide that Jesus Christ is the only thing worth living for? But I'm not guaranteed two hours from now. I'm not trying to scare you. Please know that. 23:44 Fear-based tactics don't work because it's the kindness of God that leads us to repentance. And I'll tell you this. The more I've understood the love of God, His love for me, His compassion, His merciful, long-suffering that is forever, is eternal. 24:00 The more I see in His love for me, the more I reverence Him and fear Him and value His word. And I realize I can't just play with time. Just think, ah, yeah, one of these days I'll take it seriously. I don't have the flexibility to do that because this is a righteous, holy God. 24:19 But He's my Father. And the more I've seen His love for me and the more I'm secure in His amazing love for me, the greater reverence and fear I have for Him, for His word. It's getting there. I don't do it perfectly all the time, but I'm pressing on in that area. 24:35 But I believe that if you give your life today to God in this way, Lord, 100% of me, even though I was born again, I sort of have this half-hearted, lackadaisical attitude towards my life. But today onwards, I'm going to be serious and I believe you with all of my heart. 24:51 I believe that God is able to take you from today until whenever the end of your life is and finish the work for which He placed you on this earth. The reason I'm saying that is because we tend to think linearly that, okay, if I made this mistake, now I can't really get 100%. 25:12 I have to settle for 99%. Or maybe you're feeling I can only get 20% because 80% of my life is wasted. I want you to know if you are here, let's say you're at the 90% mark in your life and you don't know it, that your 90% of your life is over. 25:28 It could be. I mean, just because you're 18 or 25 doesn't mean that you're not at the 90% mark. But even if you are, my dear brother, dear sister, dear friend, God is able to take that 10% if you will trust Him and give Him that 10% with 100% mentality because He's a multiplier, because He's an eternal God, because there's nothing that's impossible for our God. 25:53 So don't look back on the past because you don't know how much of it is left. And even if you had one hour left in your life and you gave it to God 100% and say, Lord, I don't know why I waited so long to give it to you 100%, but here I am and one hour later you're standing in heaven. 26:11 God will have finished that work in your life. I believe it because that's God. I believe that's why the thief who hung on the cross who had minutes left in his life and didn't know it said, Jesus, will you remember me? 26:24 He gave Jesus 100%. Now, he knew he had only minutes left to live. But even if that was you and you didn't know that you're about to die in a car accident minutes from now, there you are driving and you're praying and say, Lord, I don't know, but you've got a hold of my heart in a new way. 26:39 And I'm giving you 100% right now. And minutes later, you meet the Savior face to face. Do you believe that God will have finished that work? I believe it. Now, I don't think that's going to be true for most of us. I think many of us will live years to come, statistically. 26:55 But how will you live your life now? That's the question. How will you live your life now for the next 20 years if the Lord gives you that? Will you live it with this, I have minutes left to live mentality that the thief on the cross had? 27:09 I have minutes yet to live. But reality is you have 20 years. Will you live that way? Minutes yet, Lord, that I can give of you. How can I hold on to complaining and grumbling and unforgiveness and, oh, do you know how they treated me? 27:22 Or that person just said that to me. That person cut me off in the car. What does it matter if he cut you off in the car if you're going to meet your Savior in minutes? It doesn't, right? And if you can live that way for 20 years, oh, how the Lord will be able to use your life, to build his church, to establish his name in this land and in this world that needs people with that mentality. 27:48 Lord, you have all of me. But we're talking about rest and I'm off track. But it's okay. I think the Lord wants us to hear this, wants me to hear it afresh. Now, verse 4, what is he talking about? That they weren't able to enter because of their unbelief. 28:06 Let us fear, lest while a promise remains of entering his rest. See, after what I've just said, you can get stirred up and think, oh, I need to go out and do something for God. I'm just sitting here in my chair and sitting here in my job and I'm going to quit. 28:22 I'm going to go to South America. I'm going to go to Africa. I'm going to go there. I'm going to go there. I'm going to go there. No. Go where you are first, where God has placed you. Are you willing to go there? Because sometimes it's easier to go to China and Africa than to go to your co-worker. 28:39 That's a bigger battlefield sometimes, isn't it? To that neighbor. Or let's make it closer, your wife, your husband. Do you see that God wants you to be a missionary of love to your husband and to your wife and to your children first? 28:57 Because they love you and you love them. And they may not be as receptive to your gospel the way somebody in China and Africa might. And they already know some of the things you want to say. But the gospel is not in words and in deeds. 29:16 But it is a power. We know that. Do you want to present the gospel to your family first? In power. Which means that you want to receive the power of the Holy Spirit in your life. And that power is one that your husband doesn't even realize at first. 29:34 Or your wife doesn't even realize at first as you leave this building sitting in that minivan or that car. And all of a sudden there's a power that's building up within you. You, in the secret area of your heart, this weekend you got before God and said, 29:46 Lord, I want that power because this is the gospel I want to present. I don't even have to say a word. I want power, Lord. I don't even have to do one good deed. Belong before I do those things which will come. The words and the deeds will come. 29:59 But belong before that. I want power. And I want that gospel to come forth in power through me where it's oozing out of me like a fragrance, like an aroma. And a month from now, all of a sudden your husband on his way to work says, 30:11 There's something different about my wife. The words are the same. The deeds are the same. But there's something different. There's a power that she has and I can't deny it. Or your wife says the same thing. Man, as you drive off to work, she says, 30:27 Wow, there's a change in my husband. Maybe you're not even with your husband or your wife. Maybe you're in a broken situation. But you believe that the power of God can influence your husband far away from you as he is. 30:42 Or your wife. Or your children. Maybe you have a child that's out of your home now. And you wonder whether those years have been wasted where you should have and could have. And if you could do it over, you would have done things differently. 30:57 And here they are. Maybe they've established their own homes. And they're out of your control. But God is not limited by your control. Do you know that? That's why he wants you to let go of those things that you're trying to control in your life. 31:12 So that you could see that he has all things under his control. And those things in your past that you cannot change and undo and redo, God says, give them to me. And see if you will trust me with this power. That the power of God that is manifest in you can have an influence thousands of miles away. 31:33 They could be on the other side of the world. And that power will have an effect in their life. Why? I should show it to you from God's word. Ephesians chapter 6. Because your battle, my dear friends, is not with them. Your battle is not with those people. 31:56 Whether it's your children, your parents, your brother, sister, husband, wife, co-worker, boss. Ephesians 6 verse 12. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood. Whatever that flesh and blood. See, I like that he says flesh and blood. 32:12 Because every situation in this life is with flesh and blood. I mean, I know you're not complaining about the car. You're complaining about the salesman who sold you the car. You're not complaining about the food. You're complaining about the wife who made the food. 32:30 So our battle tends to be with flesh and blood. And that's why he says our struggle is not with flesh and blood. But against the rulers. Against the powers. Against the world forces of this darkness. Against the spiritual forces of wickedness. 32:46 Not in, you know, put your hometown there. Not in Austin. Not in Loveland, Colorado. Not in New York. Not in New Jersey. Not in Atlanta. It's in the heavenly places. Which means I have access, if I really have the power of God here, wherever I am at this moment. 33:05 I have access to bind in the heavenlies what I bind on earth. Like Jesus promised we could do in Matthew 18. And to loose in the heavenlies by loosing on this earth. So that that force that is affecting that person miles away from me physically, I have exercised my spiritual authority over that by my authority in the heavenly places. 33:29 Think of these verses. Ephesians 6 verse 12. You must know that verse. I'll show you the verse in Matthew 18 as well that I referenced so that you know it. Matthew chapter 18. Matthew 18 verse 18. Very easy to remember. 33:50 Truly I say to you, whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. And whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, 34:07 it shall be done for them by my Father who is in heaven. For, and it is in this context that Jesus says, for where two or three have gathered together in my name, there I am in their midst. A lot of churches, by the way, this is one of those two times that Jesus used the word church. 34:24 Matthew 16 and Matthew 18. Both times he talks about authority. Proving to us that the primary mark of any church, whether it is dozens or hundreds or two, Jesus said, minimum two. Which means it could be, it starts with husband and wife in your home. 34:45 There's two of you. And you believe that you're a part of the church. You don't have a local expression of the body of Christ, that's fine. But decide that you're going to have the authority of the church there in your home. 34:53 Because there's two of you gathered in your name, husband and wife. And you're exercising that authority. So the characteristic of the church of Jesus Christ is not that it reads the Bible as opposed to the Quran or the Bhagavad Gita or all the other religious books. 35:09 It's not that we say, in Jesus' name, Amen, and open our eyes. It's not any of those things. Those are things we do because we believe in Jesus. We believe this is the word of God. But this is the characteristic of the true church of Jesus Christ and of every Christian 35:22 is that they have spiritual authority over the devil. That's a responsibility for every single one of us, men and women alike. Spiritual authority in the area in which God has placed you. Where God has given you that place and that responsibility to have that spiritual authority. 35:42 So husband and wife, maybe you're dealing with a child, a son or daughter that's distant from you in rebellion or whatever. You know what you must do often together? Husband and wife. Go to this passage in Matthew 18. He says, Father, you promised it to us. 35:58 And together in the name of Jesus, we rebuke the devil. And we bind the work of Satan in our daughter's life, way over there. And our son's life, way over there. They're not even here now. And maybe their children's lives and their daughter-in-law or son-in-law's life. 36:16 Because you said it, Lord. We take you at your word. Jesus said, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Spiritual authority. So back in Hebrews chapter 4. 36:34 Therefore, let us fear. I talked about fear. You'll hear a lot in Christendom. Ah, the God you preach is a God of fear. I don't believe in that God. Yeah, if you don't want to believe in the Bible, sure. You can tell such a person. 36:49 Well, the God you believe is not a God of the Bible. Because the New Testament God says, let us fear. Lest, while a promise remains of entering his rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it. For indeed, we have had good news preached to us, just as they also. 37:11 But the word they heard did not profit them. They went to the weekend of fellowship and listened to a lot of stuff, but it didn't make a difference in their life. Because it was not united by faith in those who heard. Now, he's not talking about us, by the way. 37:25 I was just hoping to challenge you. He's talking about the Old Testament people who heard the word, heard good teaching. They heard much better preaching than you heard this weekend. They had Moses himself speaking, and God himself writing his law on tablets of stone. 37:40 I can't even come close to that. They received much better teaching than us. And they still didn't get it. How much more are we in danger with my feeble words? Verse 3, for we who have believed enter that rest. This is the proof that you are a believer. 37:59 Somebody says, are you a believer? Yes, you can say, yes, I am. But you know what the Bible says? Here's how you will test that you are a believer. You've entered that rest. You're entering more and more into a life of rest. 38:13 Just 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. For he has thus said somewhere concerning the seventh day, and God rested on the seventh day from all his works. 38:29 And again in this passage, they shall not enter my rest. Since therefore, no, what does he mean by that? He says in 1 Corinthians 10, I'll answer their prayer. Yeah, they're hungry. I'll give them some food. Yeah, they're thirsty. 38:42 I'll give them some water. Yeah, they need a job promotion. And they cried out to me. I'll give it to them. And they'll think, oh, God is happy with me. I got the job promotion I asked for. I need a little bit more money. 38:52 I'm broke. And I said, Lord, give me some money. He gave them some money. But he said, you will not enter my rest. You'll get that job. You'll get the man you want to marry and the girl you want to marry. I'll heal you of that sickness. 39:04 Sure, but you won't enter my rest. This is what he told the people of Israel. And they were doomed. As a people who God answered the prayers for, but who he swore and says, you shall not enter my rest. Therefore, let us fear. 39:19 For whom God answers prayers. And God does mighty miracles. And allows us to be a part of a local church. And to do his work. And to give the gospel to others. And even preach sermons like I am doing right now. Let us fear. 39:32 Lest we shall not enter his rest. Verse 6. Since therefore it remains for some to enter it. And those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience. I talked already about obedience. 39:49 This word will be profitable to you only if you find a way of obedience in your circumstance. I can't preach on that. Because I don't know your life. I don't know your circumstances. I can preach the principle. And I can try through the Holy Spirit to give you a way of obedience. 40:05 An example of what obedience looks like in applying this. But that's where it becomes personal. That's where you decide if you are a man or woman who is building your house on the rock. He again, verse 7, fixes a certain day. 40:20 Today, he says this again. Saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before. Today if you hear his voice. Do not harden your hearts. For if Joshua had given them rest. He would not have spoken another day after that. 40:35 Therefore, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. I don't think any of you celebrates the Sabbath that way. The Saturday Sabbath like the Jews did. But there remains a Sabbath rest for you if you're a person of God. 40:52 A child of God. Verse 10. This is what it means to enter into the rest of God. The one who has entered his rest has himself also rested from his own works. If you've wondered, okay, Santosh, you've been talking about this rest, rest, rest. 41:10 What is rest? Does it mean I go take a nap after the sermon? No. This is the one who has entered the rest of God. He has rested from his own works. Examine, what is it? It's noon right now. You've been up for maybe seven hours or less, maybe more. 41:30 How much of your own works have you rested from today? It's a short period of time. How much of what happened already today was your own works? Honey, we're running late. Why can't you be more, you know, on time? And there she is struggling with the kids, trying to get everything together. 41:49 Honey, watch out. You're going to hit that car. Are these the situations you deal with? Actually, my wife has never said that to me. But I've said that to her. She doesn't drive that often, but the few times she does, I see that I haven't rested from my own works. 42:09 Because I like to drive. And when I drive, I have it under control. But when she drives, I'm not in control. And I'm trying to hit that imaginary brake pedal and that accelerator that's not there. And the Lord says, you haven't rested from your own works, have you? 42:24 Therefore, there remains a rest. Let us, verse 11, Hebrews 4, verse 11, let us therefore be diligent. You don't hear this type of teaching. Be zealous. To do what? To rest from your own works. It seems like a paradox, doesn't it? 42:42 Work hard to be at rest. Be diligent. That means not work hard, but it means have this zealous, serious, diligent mentality. Lord, I have a violent attitude towards that unrestful word, unrestful thought, unrestful attitude, unrestful thoughts that I have in my mind. 43:03 And I'm zealous about being done with that way of thinking. That's a violent attitude that Jesus said in Matthew 12. This kingdom of heaven suffers violence and violent men take it by force. My dear brother, dear sister, are you willing to have a violent attitude towards unrestful thoughts that come up? 43:23 You say, that's a giant. You have no place in my mind. You unrestful thought. You unrestful attitude. You unrestful deed and word. Let us be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall through following the same obedience of, the same example of disobedience. 43:45 Then he goes on to say this verse that everybody loves to quote out of context. For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, the division of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 44:06 You see the context in which that verse comes? Which says God wants to judge the thoughts and intentions of your heart when you listen to the word of God. And when you listen to the sermon and think, I hope they're getting this. 44:18 Honey, did you hear what he said? No. Judge the thoughts and intentions of your own heart. Between the spirit and the soul where you realize that sounds like a nice thought, but it's soulish. And it's full of unrest. And you'll be able to discern between what's spiritual and soulish by this. 44:36 This will lead me to a life of rest. If I allow that attitude, that unforgiving thought, that unrestful motive, that unrestful word to remain there, then that's soulish. And the word of God, if it's clear, will bring you to that point of distinction where you see, no. 44:57 It sounds religious and all that. And I'm absolutely right in what I'm going to say to my wife, but it's soul. You know that the soul can be correct, factually. You may have the right words in what you say to your wife, but if it's an unrestful word, an unrestful statement, you're absolutely correct. 45:19 She should have done it better, perhaps. She, maybe the food has too much salt. I'm not saying you can never tell your wife, honey, the food has too much salt. That's not what I'm talking about. But it's the spirit. And if you don't have the spirit of God, and you're not influenced by the word of God, if that word of God is not sharp in your life, you'll say, well, what's wrong in what I said? 45:40 I was absolutely correct, wasn't I? She needs to do this better, or he needs to do that better. Absolutely correct, factually. But it's a word that's coming out of unrest. You rubbed me the wrong way, and so I'm going to say this thing that is factually correct, and I'm willing to stand before God and say, yes, it's true. 45:59 But God says, I wasn't interested in whether it was true or not. I was interested in whether you're seeking after rest. He says, I swore because I saw you didn't have a serious attitude towards that, and you defended yourself self-righteously. 46:14 He was like, well, I was correct. He needed to hear it. Or maybe it's with your children. Maybe it's the way you discipline your children. And I'm speaking to myself when I say you. I stand in the mirror and says, you. Perhaps the way you spoke to your son or daughter, that teenage son of yours, was absolutely correct. 46:31 You needed to bring correction into her life or his life. But the words came from a spirit of unrest. I hope it will still have a good effect in your son or daughter's life because they need to hear it. But you may never enter the rest of God. 46:48 And God may swear in heaven, which, I mean, I'm just quoting him. I don't know what it means when God swears. But God will swear in heaven, you will never enter rest, you proud man, proud father. The unrestful attitudes and thoughts and motives in us, in the right things that we do, 47:12 are the things that we stand in danger of, preventing us from entering that rest. This is heaven. Do you want to go to heaven? Dear brother, dear sister, find, ask the Lord to show you through the spirit. Those things you say, those things that you think, oh, that's just how I am. 47:30 I've always been that way. Yeah, you've always been an unrestful man or woman. And God may be saying, yeah, I know you're following me and you think you're a Christian and all that. I know I've done a lot with you, but the times of ignorance God overlooks now, 47:44 he calls you to repent from your unrestfulness. Those words and deeds and thoughts and attitudes that come out of unrest. So, my dear brother, dear sister, how shall we apply this? In a moment, in a situation in your life where somebody says something or somebody does something 47:59 and you think, I need to do something about it. I need to set it right. And you find there's unrest in your heart. I know you know that it's unrest because I do. We all have the same flesh. We all have the same nature. And in that moment, I say, there's unrest in your heart, Santosh. 48:15 I see the Holy Spirit telling me, this is unrest. Go take a nap. Go for a drive. Don't send that text. Don't send that email. Don't say that word. Get off the phone right now because you're at unrest and you're about to say something that's 48:29 going to come from an unrestful attitude and an unrestful heart, even though the words you say will be actually correct. And it's those words that will say, Lord, the Lord says, nope, brass ceiling over your head. I know you're crying out to me. 48:42 God, help me. I swore in my wrath. I saw that you didn't want to be freed from that unrestfulness. And I swore you will not enter my rest. Now, God is not holding the door shut against you right now. I want you to know that. 48:57 But he offers you a way. But let us fear lest having, while a promise remains of entering his rest, while he opens the door, the time will come when he does shut the door. Or our hearts will become so hardened that we can't hear him anymore. 49:15 We can't see the door anymore. 1 Corinthians chapter 9. What does it mean to be diligent when it comes to this? Diligent. Zealous. Paul had this mentality, and that's why Paul is a wonderful example for me. 49:36 Paul is living proof that you can make a mess of your life. I don't know. Paul, I think it was at least 50% of Paul's life that he messed up. I mean, he was righteous according to the law and all that. Pharisee of Pharisees, he says in Philippians 3. 49:49 But he took all of that and said, flush it down the drain. When God takes half your life and flushes it down the toilet, you know that you're ready to really have him use you. That's what Paul's life challenges me to. Because he was about in his 60, 60 or so when he died. 50:04 I assume that he was about 30 or so when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. So he meets Jesus and he says, whatever, all the things that I counted as gain for this last up to my life, I count as loss now. Rubbish. So I use the word toilet because that's exactly what Paul did. 50:23 Flushed it down the toilet. God did it for him. And he says, now with what's remaining, give it to me 100%. And that man who wasted half his life, 50%, he said at the end of life when he realized, I'm at the end now. I have a few days left. 50:40 In 2 Timothy 4 says, I have finished. How is it possible that the man who wasted half his life could say, I have finished the perfect race. I'm pressing on to perfection. We read in Hebrews 6. I press on for the goal, the upward call in Christ Jesus, Philippians 3. 50:59 And a few years later perhaps or months later he says, I have finished. Does this give you hope? Does this give you encouragement, strong encouragement? That if you will turn to God today with everything within you and says, maximum Lord, not 99%. 51:13 I've been giving you 99% and losing out. I've given you 100% today. Everything is on the altar. I'm not going to hold on to one ounce of it or one penny of it. 100%. What is it going to take, Lord, for you to fulfill your calling in my life? 51:26 Must I quit my job and go there? Must I move here? Must I be willing to give up that which I've held on to for so long and give it to you 100%? Here it is. My reputation, my honor, my money. Even though I don't think I have the love of money, I realize I really do deep down. 51:42 I give it to you, Lord, afresh. And I tell you this, my dear brothers and sisters. If you are serious, God will show you if you are holding back even 1%. He's not a tease. He doesn't say, well, you're holding back 1%, but I'm not going to tell you where it is. 51:58 You've got to find it. You're not on a treasure hunt to figure out what you're holding back. He will show you. But he wants to see first that you have a heart that wants to give it up. If deep down you really don't want to give up that one thing, then that's the thing he will say. 52:11 Like he did to the rich young ruler. You have need of one thing. Sell all that you have and come follow me. There were two rich young rulers in Jesus' day. The one you read about in Matthew who came to Jesus and says, I've lived a good life. 52:31 All these things that you tell me to do, which is what it means to have eternal life, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself, I've done it. From my youth. 52:41 There was another rich young ruler who said the same thing, rich young man. In Philippians 3. From my youth I have kept, I'm blameless according to the law. Two rich young men. And God, Jesus gave the same call to both of them at different times. 52:57 As rich young ruler, you have need of everything to count all that you have as rubbish and come follow me. And the rich man hung his head and says, rubbish? You mean all my obedience, all the people I've given tracts to, all the good I've done for my wife and my children, 53:16 you mean rubbish? You're going to take that and flush it down the toilet? No, Lord, you can't do that. He left and Jesus was grieved. A few years later, Jesus gave the same call to another rich young man and says, you've done lots of good things in your life, but I'm going to take it and flush it down the toilet. 53:34 And Paul said, okay, Lord, yes, do it. I count it as worthy of just going down the toilet for the upward call of the prize of Jesus. What are you willing to give up for the prize of Jesus? Everything on this earth, then you'll get him. 53:52 But you say, well, Lord, can I have Jesus and my wife and my family, Jesus and my job, Jesus and my ministry, Jesus and this, you'll never get Jesus. I swear in my wrath, you will not enter my rest. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9, verse 24, 54:14 do you not know that those who run in a race, all run, we're all running in a race, but only one receives the prize. Which one will it be? Which one of you is going to win the prize here in this room? Only one. Only one receives the prize. 54:34 If we said, only one of you gets food today for lunch, and you're really hungry, what would you say? Now, most of us are self-righteous hypocrites, so we'll say, you go, even though we're thinking, I deserve it. If God said, only one of you will receive the prize, what will that change about how you've lived your life to this point? 54:55 Only one of you will receive the prize. Only one person here will enter my rest, God says, if he was to say, and he's saying it, I'm reading his word. Only one. And you're looking at your wife and your children and thinking, really, Lord, couldn't it be ten? 55:09 Just me and my family at least, five of us? Only one. Now, the good thing is, it is not only one in terms of one of you, but it must be that mentality. I mean, imagine that you're, it's not us, you know, most of us, all of us, living in this country, are well-fed. 55:28 In fact, we're too well-fed. But go to some poor countries where they're starving, and there's a famine, and you line them up, let's say a hundred of them. And you put one piece of bread, one loaf of bread, some distance away, and say, you haven't eaten in a month. 55:43 And there's one loaf of bread there about a mile away. Then you'll see what Paul was talking about. Only one will get that piece of bread. And they haven't eaten in a month. And there's a hundred of them lined up, starving. 55:56 And this means life or death for them. And they start to run. And their eye is fixed on that bread. I've got to get there before him, before her. I've got to get there. And then the cell phone rings. You know, they have cell phones in these countries, too. 56:12 So let's imagine, hypothetical. Cell phone rings. Oh, hold on. I've got to take this call real quick. Meanwhile, everybody else is running. Cell phone rings. You think they would even, you know what? They would have got the phone out of their pocket before they started the race. 56:24 Because their eye is fixed on the prize. And somebody's texting me. Oh, I don't have time for your word, Lord. But I've got lots of time for Facebook. That's the mentality I'm talking about. It's not that God is only going to pick one of us. 56:38 Here's the thing. This word where he says only one receives the prize is in my Bible. So I plan to be the one that receives the prize. But it's also in your Bible. I hope you plan to receive that prize. And I hope you run with this mentality as if to win. 56:51 Because he says, verse 24, he goes on to say, run in such a way that you may win. See, Paul wouldn't say this if he was planning on winning the prize, if there was only one prize. So he says, I'm running in such a way as if to win. 57:06 I'm running with this mentality that only one of us is going to get that loaf of bread, the prize. And now you too, too, he tells the church in Corinth. And he tells Timothy. He tells the church in Ephesus. Every single one of you run with that mentality. 57:20 Empty your pockets of what's holding you down. Kick off your shoes if that's what it means. Put some shorts on. Get off these things that weigh you down, the sins that so easily beset you. Decide that you're going to be done with it because you're seeing your prize. 57:36 Verse 25, everyone who competes in the games, exercises self-control. In all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore, I run in such a way as not without aim. I hope I have tried in my feeble words to present before you this weekend the finish line. 57:56 Imagine if you went to the finish line, the starting to an Olympic event. And you saw this. I talked about the 100 meters event yesterday. And they're all lined up at the starting line. And then the gun goes off. And then they're all running in different directions. 58:09 You know, somebody forgot to tell them where the finish line was. Or maybe it's a marathon where you can't see the finish line. And so they're like, I think the race goes this way. No, but it goes this way. This is how Christians are running. 58:21 And Paul says, run, having seen clearly what is your finish line. My dear brothers, dear sister, this is the finish line. The rest of God. Where he gives you his life of rest. Where there's nothing that can happen or come into your life. 58:37 There's nothing that people can say or do to you that will shake you from that life of rest. And I repent before God in front of you that, not for your sakes, but that I've seen areas in my life where I'm so far from that. 58:55 Where situations in life are still able to shake me from that life of rest. And I say, Lord, there's something that's still here in my pocket. I'm still answering this phone. I still got too much weight here that allows me to come into unrest. 59:11 And if you will have this zealous attitude, this fervent attitude, when those unrestful attitudes and motives and thoughts come up. And those words come out of your mouth, which is already too late. Because it should have been dealt with in the thought. 59:25 But if that's where you're dealing with it, okay, that's a start. Or if it's even worse, where you're acting out in your unrestfulness. Then start there, my dear friend. And let the Lord do that work, that work where you go further back and further back and further back. 59:40 Where you're dealing with a spirit of unrest and motives of unrest and attitudes of unrest. Like unforgiveness, bitterness, jealousy. These are all fruits of unrest. Comparison with others. Oh, I wish I had their job or their money or I wish I had their gift, their ability. 1:00:04 Why did you allow me to have the life I had? It's a life of unrest. A life of rest. It says, Father, you love me. As you love Jesus. That is the greatest thing. And I've seen the call that you've given me. And I'm pressing on towards that goal with everything within me. 1:00:23 And I don't care what you take away or allow me to have. I don't care what prayers you answer and what prayers you don't answer. I don't care what circumstances you allow in my life or not. I have seen the bread. And I want that. 1:00:38 And I don't want the, oh, he's got pink shirt on and she's got a green shirt on and I've just got this. What does that matter when it's bread? The one thing that will feed you. And this is eternal life. If you have this zealous attitude towards entering the rest of God, you will get there. 1:01:00 Verse 26. See, Paul had this mentality. Paul's gospel. I don't know what your gospel is. This is Paul's gospel, which is the gospel of the word of God. 1:01:23 If you finish second, you're disqualified. I already said it. Only one wins. This is what Paul said. If you finish second, you will be disqualified. Have you heard of such a race? This is the only race that matters. Every other race, even if you finish last, well, A for effort, E for effort, you know, whatever they say. 1:01:44 There's no A for effort in God's kingdom because he doesn't want you. He wants you to rest from your works and your efforts that you're so proud of and say, well, look, Lord, what I did, at least I tried. He says, no, I wanted you to be zealous towards that unrestful attitude in your heart and say, Lord, set me free from that. 1:02:04 And he will. He'll come and deal with it lovingly, caringly, nurturingly. He'll walk with you. He'll walk alongside you. He'll help you. He's there to lift you up. But if you finish second, you'll be disqualified. Paul said it. 1:02:23 Even if you're the preacher, and that's why I recognize that I am in the greatest danger in this room of being disqualified. Because not only do I believe it, I've preached it. And God will start with me. He'll take us in this room and says, okay, you guys heard it from the word of God. 1:02:40 Now I'm going to judge you, each man according to his works. And Santosh, I'm going to start with you. You preached it. Where do you stand before the God with whom everything is, before whom everything is naked and bare, the God with whom we have to do? 1:02:54 He'll stand me and says, you preached it. Now let me examine your life. What about that attitude towards your wife when she says something or does something that rubs you the wrong way and you unrest? And for a day, you're giving her the silent treatment. 1:03:09 You call it the silent treatment if you want. God calls it unrest. He says, I swore in my wrath they will not enter my rest. Because they weren't serious about that attitude, but that motive. Therefore, let us fear while the promise of God remains lest any of us should not enter into his rest. 1:03:28 It is after that that he goes on to say in 1 Corinthians 10 about the Israelites who had all these promises of God. And they had baptism in water and they had all these things. They went through the Red Sea and they had food provided for them miraculously. 1:03:43 Manna and quail and water from the rock and all of that. But God swore in his wrath, you guys can have your quail and your manna and all your stuff. You want your business to succeed? Okay, I'll do that for you. But you will not enter my rest. 1:03:56 Because I see that you're not willing to let go of that attitude. I want to close with this. Matthew chapter 11. Matthew 11, verse 25. 1:04:30 Jesus said, I praise thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth. Jesus rarely said this. It's very interesting to see whenever he said, I praise thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth. You think, what are you going to say, Jesus? 1:04:44 That you praise your Father for that thou didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent. Oops, that's not what I wanted to hear. I thought I had it figured out. You know, me and my sharp mind. Got it. Got the three points. 1:04:57 Three R's. I can even preach it again next year. I praise thee, Father, O Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent, and didst reveal them to babes. Watch a baby sometime. 1:05:12 And by the time they get to like nine months, they're already too old, I think. And us, in our 20s, 30s, 40s, etc., way past that. Watch a little few day old baby as it sleeps. And say, Lord, let me become converted and become like this little child. 1:05:28 Yes, Father. Verse 24, 26. For thus it was well-pleasing in thy sight. All things have been handed down over to me by my Father. And no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son. 1:05:44 And anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal him. And then he says, come to me, all of you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. This is the means to getting the rest of God. Take my yoke upon you. 1:06:06 And learn from me. Watch me. For I am gentle. You know, the word gentle is the same word as meek. I think in Matthew 5, the original word there is tamed. Meek. I think the Greek word is praus. Tamed. Tamed. I am tamed. 1:06:27 That's what Jesus is saying here. Learn from me. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I am tamed. It says about Jesus that he learned obedience in the things that he suffered. You know that Jesus, when he came down to this earth, the one thing, most important thing he had to learn, 1:06:40 that he never had to have when he was in heaven, adored by the angels from before time, what he had to learn was to be tamed. God, in flesh, had to learn what it meant to be tamed. Like a wild Mustang, full of power, but tamed. 1:06:58 He learned taming. He was tamed. In the things that he suffered. And that's why God allows you, my dear brothers, dear sisters, to suffer. This is the most valuable reason. The most important reason for suffering is that the Lord will tame you. 1:07:14 Tame that wild Mustang or that wild female horse that's there inside of you. With all the, you know, meek and quiet appearance. There's still that wildness that needs to be tamed. And Jesus says, take my yoke upon you. And learn from me. 1:07:28 For I am tamed. And humble in heart. And you shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy. My Lord is light. Take my yoke upon you. Take my yoke upon you. It's not a yoke that he didn't bear first. 1:07:49 And if the king of the universe, the king of kings and the Lord of lords, came down to this earth and lived in a body like ours, and faced temptation like ours, like we do, and faced suffering far more like I showed you last night than any of us ever will face. 1:08:05 Husband, husband, wife, brother, sister, what situation are you going through that seems desperate, seems painful, too painful to bear? It is not too painful for bear. Listen to how Jesus proved it. And now he says, take my yoke upon you. 1:08:18 Learn from me. You will find rest. Listen to how the message paraphrases it. Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Burned out on being a part of the New Covenant Church? Having a godly family and a godly home? 1:08:36 And you think, this is good, but I'm burned out. It's just religion. Come to me, Jesus says. Get away with me. And you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to have real rest. Walk with me. Work with me. 1:08:56 Watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me. And you'll learn to live freely and lightly. The unforced rhythms of grace. 1:09:18 You ever seen an eagle fly? Effortless. Just, I mean, sometimes they just soar still. And the wind is carrying them up still. That's a beautiful picture of rest for me. Carried up above the circumstances of this earth. Defeating the law of gravity with their effortlessness. 1:09:39 Now you get up to the top of this building and try it. You know, and flap your hands extra fast. How long will you last? As fast as gravity. You think, no, I wasn't trying hard enough. I'm going to flap my hands a little faster. 1:09:55 Come to the life of rest. Ask God to take away this unrestful you. What will it take if you're standing on the top of the building to jump off and soar? The human being must become an eagle. And you in your unrestfulness must say, Lord, take my life and let it be all yours. 1:10:17 Every part of it, Lord. From head to toe. Show me which part of me is still not eagle. Yeah, maybe I'm 80% eagle, but that 20% human is still dragging me down. Show me, Lord. And he will. He'll give you his life of rest. 1:10:36 It's a gift. You cannot earn it. You cannot work for it. But you must be willing to give up all the unrest in you. And he will give you that life. And you will soar. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. 1:10:53 They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not grow weary. They shall walk and not faint. This is the new covenant. Isaiah 40, which talks about the beginning of the new covenant presented through Isaiah. 1:11:05 The prophet says, the new covenant is characterized by this. It's a life of rest. Will you wait on the Lord? You can't go out and determine, I'm going to rest. Already you have failed. But you say, Lord, I'm going to come and be broken. 1:11:21 And as I sit here at lunch with these brothers and sisters, in my conversations with them, I'm going to be more interested in what they have to say than how I'm going to answer what they said. And will you give me a heart of compassion for these people around me and for my wife and for my children, for my husband? 1:11:37 Will you give me a heart of compassion for the people that are waiting for me when I go back home? Will you change my life? Will you give me that rest? I wait upon you. And you don't have to go on your knees necessarily to do that. 1:11:48 Please do that too. But waiting doesn't mean that you have to be on your knees. It means that in your spirit, you're there. Prostrate before the throne of God. He says, give me your life, your life of rest. And oh, he will give you his power. 1:12:03 The kingdom of heaven, kingdom of God is not in word or in deed. And if your family member or the person that you're thinking about that causes you to come into a life of unrest is not here, you don't even have to say a word about what you heard. 1:12:17 They may not even ask you what you heard during the conference, but it will be power within you. A power that cannot be denied. The aroma of Christ. Rest. You will bring rest into your home, into your marriage, into your workplace, into those unrestful circumstances you've had. 1:12:35 Everybody will die. Some old, some young. But a few will die empty. But the Lord has been able to take away all of that unrestful me that I'm born with. These are the ones that will fly. Come to me, Jesus says. I will give you rest. 1:12:53 Amen. Thank you.
