"The Son of Man is Lord Even of the Sabbath Day"(Part 2)

Hebrews 4:9-10 says, "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his." Rest is the greek word "sabbatismos" which means a cessation from all labour and work. It is a topic that God has given me to elaborate on. In part one we addressed the Sabbath Day and how it relates to the Son of Man, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. In this blog we're going to breakdown God's rest in it's two basic existences in scripture.
There are two basic rests that are identified in scripture:The first is the rest that the children of Israel were to enter into after departing Egypt. This is the rest that God had promised Israel when He made His covenant with Abraham saying, "Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee(Gen.12:1)." It was this Land of Canaan that God had called His people to rest but Heb.3:19 says, "So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief." They fell dead in the wilderness of Egypt after wandering 40 years("But with whom was he grieved forty years? [was it] not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?"Heb.3:17 ). This is the first rest in which that generation of Israel died because they did not believe God and did not enter into His rest because of unbelief and the following generation under Joshua's administration were lead over the Jordan river into the land of God's rest, Canaan(Josh.3:1-4:18).
BUT God hinted to us in Joshua 22:4 that there was another day of rest that was not yet revealed. Hebrews 4:6-8 says, "Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts For if Joshua had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. " So the rest of Joshua 22:4 was only to serve as a figure for the rest that God has called every believer to. Now many who think they already know what this rest is will say this rest is the Kingdom of Heaven or this rest is the rest that we find when we are born again but the scripture speaks very clearly about the nature of the kingdom; The Kingdom comes and finds you: (note:And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.Lk.10:9), and if the rest is the new birth then why does Heb.4:11 say, "Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief?"The new birth does not involve man's works or his labor. This "rest that remaineth to the people of God" involves labor. So what is this rest? Does it have anything to do with the yoke of Christ? What didn't you read what He said? He said His "yoke was easy and His burden was light." Yokes and burdens?!! What does He mean I thought we were resting????? stay tuned for part 3.

"To Lay Hold Upon the Hope Set Before Us"

( "For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;"Heb.6:16-19) I can't help but notice the death our loved ones and their response to death. Forgive me if I seem a bit insensitive but, Whats going on with the permission of Satan being allowed to take away our hope from before us? People die and will continue to die until Jesus "subdues all things unto Himself"(Phil.3:21). The Holy Spirit said this concerning this enemy, Death: "For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool"(Acts2:34-35). The Last enemy to be defeated is Death so until that time we've been instructed to "sorrow not as those who have no hope"(1Thess.4:13). We have a hope laid up for us, holy and undefiled in the heavens where moth and dust cannot corrupt it. So brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus what's with all the sorrow and lost hope? What's with these feelings of hoplessness? I only desire to know one thing of you friends; Did you tell your deceased loved ones about Christ? Do you know if they were saved? This hope that we have set before us is only valid and effective when you are born again through faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.Were your loved ones born again?If your not sure than sorrow for them for their lot maybe with dead indeed but, understand we who are born of God do not die.We are passed from death unto life.We are translated from this world of darkness into the bosom of Jesus Christ; sleep until the time of reformation. Lay hold on the hope of eternal life in Christ Jesus which was freely given to us by our High Priest,Christ Jesus. Let it be your anchor."But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive [and] remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words."(1THESS.4:13-18) Remember these words and save yourselves from this bitter mourning. Your born again loved ones that are asleep shall return but what of your living unsaved loved ones? Weep for them and preach to them the gospel of Christ for they are even dead as I speak.