THE RIVER COMMUNITY CHURCH Ladies Retreat at Fort Caswell, North Carolina April 20-22, 2012 Refreshing Women Saturday Morning, April 21 A time to reflect Good morning, Ladies! How many of you, like me, long for that day in Heaven when in the very presence of God, you will no longer carry the heavy weight of your sin nature? I ache to be free from the effects of this fallen world and the torment my soul feels over the profound brokenness throughout humanity. Please pull the sheet from your folder that has Isaiah 53:4-12 printed on it. Once you have it, please stand and we will open today s session by reading together this wonderful passage. Imagine how the close followers of Christ felt the morning after Jesus died. Because the human experience is the same from generation to generation, we, who have tasted the profound experience of losing a loved one, know that feeling of being stunned by the reality of our loved ones death the morning after they are gone. It is a surreal bag of emotions, because the finality of death begins to seep into our mind and heart, causing us to experience a myriad of troubled feelings. So, we can imagine the feelings of confusion, disillusionment, depression, tremendous fear and/or anxiety, anger, and the profound heartache and grief that Jesus followers most likely experienced on Saturday morning and all through that night. God allowed His loved ones on earth to experience this trial for His higher purposes, so we know that this cataclysmic event was not a mistake or an oversight by God. There are many lessons we can learn from this holy time of trial. Symbolically speaking, those of us who are alive today are living out that Saturday following Jesus death with all its pain, anguish, confusion, persecution, trial and tribulation in this new covenant period of time on Earth. Those of us, who are in Christ, have been given the start, middle and end of the story of God s holy plan of redemption. So, while we reflect upon the sorrow of our past sins and our current struggle with sin in this life, we have the assurance of eternal bliss with the Lord as we persevere and overcome by the shed blood of Jesus as the spotless Lamb of God. III. Refreshing Our Mind by Resting in Christ I want us to consider what it means to rest in Christ and how we can experience His peace in the midst of life s trials and tribulations. Remember that Jesus paved the way for us to walk in victory despite the struggles in this life. Oftentimes, we are tempted to dwell on a myriad of if only statements that keep us in bondage to the pain and anguish of our trials instead of walking victoriously in God s truth for the sustenance we need throughout our trials. For example, we may say to ourselves, If only I had a husband that would lead our family in accordance with God s word, then I could live the victorious Christian life. However, that unfaithful and sinful train of thought leads to anger, bitterness, depression and many false beliefs about Who God is and how He, and only He, is able to sustain us throughout our challenging journey in this life. We have passages like Ezekiel 18 that assure us Page 1 of the Saturday Morning Message (April 21, 2012)
that each person on Earth is accountable for their own sin without regard to the sin of their fathers. And, Hebrews 11:6 says, But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Let us take turns reading the following Bible verses: Genesis 2:2-3, Psalm 37:7, Matthew 11:28-30, Hebrews 4:1-11, and Revelation 14:13? From these verses we understand that God rested in the past following His work of creating Earth and its contents; He created a present rest for His faithful followers who are in Christ; and, He guarantees a future, final rest for the faithful people of God who persevere to the end of their life on earth. I want us to focus briefly on two different types of rest mentioned in Hebrews Chapter 4. In Verse 1, the rest for God s true followers is a noun referring to a resting place 1 and speaks of the heavenly blessedness in which God dwells, and of which he has promised to make persevering believers in Christ partakers after the toils and trials of life on earth are ended. 2 In verse 9, rest is a masculine noun that refers to, the blessed rest from toils and troubles looked for in the age to come by the true worshippers of God and true Christians. 3 In both cases, we understand them to mean Heaven, or God s eternal kingdom, which is reserved solely for God s faithful people under the old and new covenants. In this context, our rest hinges upon our being born-again saints of God who are continuing in this life by faith in Christ as Savior. In Verse 4, rest is a verb that means to make quiet, to cause to be at rest, to grant rest. 4 This type of rest will be evident in the life of the faithful follower of Jesus Christ, who humbly and willingly stays surrendered to Christ s Lordship. To surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ means that we live according to His word and dwell in the hope of all that He has promised to us as His obedient children, not just when it is convenient, but all the time. In the Old Testament, we read the story of how God delivered the Israelites from bondage in Egypt, provided for their every need while traveling through the desert, led them to the land that was flowing with milk and honey (Canaan), BUT, because of their unbelief, they were not allowed to enter into that Promised Land. From this historical picture, Egypt represents our sin; the 40-year wandering in the desert represents the consequences of our sin; and, Canaan represents the hope you and I have because of Christ in us. Canaan speaks of abundance, great joy and rest. Warren Wiersbe says in his commentary to Hebrews 4: we can understand what the wilderness wanderings represent: the experiences of believers who will not claim their spiritual inheritance in Christ, who doubt God s Word and live in restless unbelief. To be sure, God is with them, as He was with Israel; but they do not enjoy the fullness of God s blessing. They are out of Egypt but they are not yet in Canaan. What a sad thing for us to choose in light of all we have been given through our Savior Jesus! 1 http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=g2663 2 http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=g2663 3 http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=g4520 4 http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=g2664 Page 2 of the Saturday Morning Message (April 21, 2012)
My hope for each of us here today is that we effectively learn from the mistakes of the unfaithful Israelites and choose not to repeat their mistakes by living defeated spiritual lives this side of Heaven. While Heaven is our future and eternal inheritance, there is an abundant spiritual life that God wants you and me to enjoy while we have the privilege of faithfully trusting, knowing, serving, worshiping and sharing Him with others this side of Heaven. Hebrews 4:11 says emphatically, Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. In this passage, labor is a verb that means to hasten, make haste and to exert one's self, endeavour, give diligence 5 to. Obviously, this is not meant by God to be an idle activity. He wants us to take this command literally and seriously purposing daily to honor Him in all that we think, say and do. Consider whether the fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23 is evident in your life. This spiritual fruit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. If our life is not currently bearing this fruit of the Spirit, it is likely because we have allowed sin back into our heart and we are not trusting God by faith in our life. We must confess our sin (1 st John 1:9), repent (Revelation 3:3 and 19), submit to God and resist the devil (James 4:7) and let the plea of our hearts to God be, as was David s in Psalm 51:10-11, to Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Psalm 119:17-19 says, Deal bountifully with thy servant, [that] I may live, and keep thy word. Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. I [am] a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me. How many of you have ever gone on a trip to a new place and either forgot to take a map with you or quickly learned that the map you are using is so out of date that it is of no use to you? Thankfully, God s word is never out of date and is always accurate in delivering truth to keep us properly on track in this life. When we allow the cares of this world to choke out the effect of God s word in our life (Matthew 13:22), God s road map for life (the Bible) has no positive effect in our thought life, belief system and consequently, in our behavior and the choices we make. This results in us experiencing anxiety, irritability, a host of other negative emotions, and simply put no rest or peace. And, consider how that darkens our witness for Christ. Since we rest in Christ by feasting upon Him through His written word, I want us to consider the importance of studying God s word, meditating upon it, storing it up as treasure in our heart and mind, and then obeying God at His word. The more often I meet intimately with God in His written word, the more regularly my heart and mind are encouraged and the opposite is also true. God s word is inspired by His Holy Spirit and we know from 2 nd Corinthians 3:17 that where the Spirit of the Lord [is], there [is] liberty. Let us now read Psalm 1:1-3, Psalm 119:33-35, Proverbs 3:1-4, Joshua 1:8-9, John 17:17, Hebrews 4:12 and Hebrews 10:17 & 25 before continuing. John 6:35 says, And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. The amount of spiritual freedom, victory, success and prosperity we experience in our life is directly related to the 5 http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=g4704&t=kjv Page 3 of the Saturday Morning Message (April 21, 2012)
proportion of time we spend spiritually feasting upon Jesus via regular Bible reading, meditation, memorization, obedience to God in His word, times of prayerful fellowship with Him and, finally, gathering together with God s true followers. When I feast upon Jesus through regular times of Bible study and application of His word by faith, my soul is spiritually nourished, refreshed, encouraged, sustained and made steadfast by God. This speaks to that laboring to enter into that rest mentioned in Hebrews 4:11. In order to experience daily freedom from bondage to sin and be spiritually victorious in every part of my life, I must daily spend quality time feasting upon Jesus as the Bread of Life. I know how hard it is to do this faithfully and consistently, but we must never give up trying. I have a plaque on our bathroom wall that says, Oh God of second chances and new beginnings, here I am again. Let s do an activity together to demonstrate how resting in Christ through the written word of God will help us effectively deal with the following life issues that I will mention one by one. Who here can give an example of a time when you were in a family crisis or job-related crisis, and upon calling upon the Lord God for help in the crisis, you remember Him giving you a specific insight from His word that helped carry you through that crises? Who can give an example of a time in your marriage when you thought you would not be able to continue in the marriage but upon calling on the Lord, He spoke His truth to you in a way that changed your perspective to your circumstances and He helped you repair your marriage? Who can give an example of a time in your hostile work environment you were being persecuted for your faith in Christ, and upon calling upon the Lord for strength to do the right thing, God gave you clarity from His word and power through His Spirit to help you remain steadfast. From this exercise, we can see the benefit of having God s holy precepts accurately stored up in our heart and mind so that when we are under the fire of a trial in life, or our loved ones are in that fire, we will be able to draw strength or grant strength from God in times of need. But, if I do not have God s truth and wisdom stored up in my heart and mind when the storms of life crush in on me, I will have nothing but my negative emotions and worldly perspectives to draw from, which will only lead me into the pit of despair, where there is no spiritual rest. First Peter 4:12-19 says regarding persecution in this life, 12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy [are ye]; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or [as] a thief, or [as] an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. 16 Yet if [any man suffer] as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. 17 For the time [is come] that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if [it] first [begin] at us, what shall the end [be] of them that obey not the gospel of God? 18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 19 Wherefore let them that suffer Page 4 of the Saturday Morning Message (April 21, 2012)
according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls [to him] in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator. Joshua, who replaced Moses as Israel s leader, declared in Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that [were] on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. Joshua clearly drew that proverbial line in the sand of his life to say that he would choose to serve the Lord regardless of the opposition from the world system. Even though Joshua did not have an easy life, he experienced a life of spiritual rest, abundance and success because of his faithful obedience to God. Please consider where you are in your walk with Jesus this morning and at this time in your life. Do you even know Him personally as Savior? If not, that is the place to begin. If you already know Him as Savior and are purposing to daily surrender to Him as Lord of all in your life, then you are in the growing phase as His dearly loved child. When children are infants, they need total care from their parents. As they grow and are able to mature, they need less and less parental care and supervision. The greater their independence becomes from their earthly parents, the greater is their individual responsibility to God. Are you still nursing upon God s word to receive basic spiritual milk from His Holy Spirit, or have you matured to desiring the deeper precepts of God that come through a careful, ongoing search of God s word and times of listening prayer before His holy throne of grace? Whatever is our level of spiritual maturity, we never stop needing to receive God s nourishment via His word and in times of quiet, restful fellowship with Him in prayer. Jesus as the Shepherd of my soul leads me into the green pastures and beside the still waters of spiritual refreshment, where my daily needs for rest and healing and grace and provision are all met in Him. Yet, I must make that hard choice to go there and abide in Him by faith. Nobody can or will do this for me. I have discovered in my own Christian life that where I used to have to exercise BIG faith due to my heavy, stressful and painful life circumstances, now it seems like I have to exercise even bigger faith in the small, mundane challenges and temptations in my life because they are less obvious than the big trials and crises. Instead, the little foxes serve as distracters from a constant focus on Jesus and His will for my life. I have to be aware of these little foxes and faithfully cast them upon the Lord and align my focus right back on Jesus. Remember what Isaiah 26:3-4 says, Thou wilt keep [him] in perfect peace, [whose] mind [is] stayed [on thee]: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH [is] everlasting strength: Please take some time to read Luke 7:36-50 in preparation to receive the powerful message from God s word tonight. It gives us a picture of Jesus love for each of us who call upon Him as Savior and trust Him as Lord in our life. In closing, please ponder the question: in Whom or what will I put my trust for the true rest I need in this life of Saturdays? Page 5 of the Saturday Morning Message (April 21, 2012)