The Rest of the Story

March 22, 2020 (week 2 of church not-in-person, due to COVID-19) Hebrews 4:1-13

Two questions: 1 - Have you rested from your works?

2 - What activity do you do, when having done it, you’re more at rest? These are not trick contradictory questions. Do you want to stay spiritually healthy in this coronavirus era? If that is a high priority for you, then now is a good time to lock down how you answer these two important questions. Because our answers to these questions reveal a lot about our spiritual condition.

Verse 2 and 10 are keys to understanding the nature of this rest and how it’s obtained.

If we are to be diligent about entering into this rest, we will first cease trying to earn God’s grace and approval. Trying to earn what can never be earned creates the opposite of rest. When your view of yourself is that you’re doing poorly at it, this creates unrest and frustration in the soul. On the other hand, when you feel like you’re doing pretty well, it produces a self-filled righteousness and arrogance. The place of rest comes when you get to the place where you’re done trying to get God’s attention with all of your activities and instead, put the attention back on Him by what you’re doing. For example, right now, look for opportunities to be hospitable to neighbors, help out the elderly, and anyone else who would be blessed by the use of your giftings – all the while not complaining and resisting the urge to post it on some social platform. Tell those you serve you’re doing so in Jesus’ name. Shine the light back on Him and the RFR are yours. Your work then is simply your grateful response to the work Jesus has completed for your salvation. ____________________________________________________

Matthew 6:19,20; James 5:3 the source of RFR ~ Rust Free Rewards

1 Peter 4:8-11

As for what you can do that puts you more at rest… I echo a main point of the sermon - it’s reading God’s word. But it isn’t the mere exercise of reading the bible that does it. As verse 2 verifies, the reading or hearing of God’s word MUST be accompanied by faith or it doesn’t profit you at all.

In other words, if you’re reading and trusting what Scripture says of God’s purposes, love and ultimate care for you, it will put you at ease – at rest. If however, you read as if it’s some religious duty or ritual, and you gotta get it done to get your credit. And to make it worse, you’re not believing what you’re reading is true, it could actually add stress to your life because you’ll end up distorting important truths since your reading is not united by faith. And when we distort truths, we end up distorting our own behavior, which leads to bad consequences.

So get more of the timeless word of God into your life – it’s great for the soul! Read it, trust it, and rest in it. ______________________________________________________

Ephesians 1:13 James 1:21,22 Romans 10:17 Matthew 11:28-30