TEXT: Genesis 2:1-2: Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. Vs 2: And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
I had mentioned in part
one of this message how that after God had “ended” (finished) His work which He
had made, He was able to enter into His rest and He entrusted the business of the
creation into the hands of the LORD God Adam (male and female), whom He
had made into His own image and after His likeness.
Look at
this. It was the “man” (Adam) that the LORD
God formed of the dust of the ground that fell, and not the LORD
God Adam. In Genesis 2:16: The LORD God
commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: Vs
17: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt
not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt
surely die”. Genesis chapter three you find the “fall of man” or
the “fall of creation”.
· Genesis 3:6: And when the “woman” saw that the tree
was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be
desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave
also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. Vs 7:
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and
they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
The LORD God didn’t give
the command to the “woman”, but to the “man”
(Adam). Even though the “woman” (the adulteress church)
had partaken of the fruit, the creation was still intact (unimpaired;
uninjured). It wasn’t until the “man” (Adam) partook of the
fruit in disobedience to the LORD God, that the creation fell. 1
Timothy 1:14: And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being
deceived was in the transgression.
God has never left
Himself without a remnant. Isaiah 1:9: Except the
LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have
been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
BACK TO GENESIS 2:2: And on the seventh day God ended his work which
he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his
work which he had made.
This word “work” is
from the root word mel-aw-kah’, meaning deputy-ship (to
deputize [appoint as deputy]), ministry, general employment (never
servile).
A “deputy” is a
person appointed to act for another! So God deputized Adam (male
and female), and told them to have dominion over
the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle and over
all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth (Genesis
1:26). Vs 28: And God blessed them
and God said unto them, “Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth,
and subdue it: and have dominion over the
fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that
moves upon the earth”. These people God had deputized
were the LORD God Adam.
One of the definitions
of “rested” in Genesis 2:2, is “repose”. In
the Hebrew it’s the root word shabath’, meaning to
repose, desist from exertion; cease; rest. Repose is
defined in Webster as to place trust in someone; to
place (power, etc) in the control of some person or group.
God entrusted His
power into the hands of a group of people called Adam in
Genesis and today He has entrusted His power into our
hands a group of people called Christians.
Repose is a takeoff of the word “reposition”. The
prefix “re” means to do again. Webster
defines position as the way in which a person
or thing is placed or arranged; one’s attitude or opinion; the place where one
is; location; rank. I stated that God repositioned Himself
in the man (Adam) (male & female) as LORD
God deputizing them with power and authority and
blessed them saying unto them, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the
earth, and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the
fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth” (Genesis
1:26-28). The LORD God deputized the man
Adam that he formed (Genesis 2): Jesus deputized His
twelve disciples (Matthew 10:1): and the Holy
Ghost has deputized us the church (Acts 1:8). But
above everything, God deputized Jesus to be the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). It’s
all because He is before all things, and by him all
things consist (Colossians 1:17): (vs 18c): And
that in all things he might have the preeminence!
God deputized Jesus
to be LORD of the creation because He was and is “the Beginning”.
· 2 Corinthians 5:19: To wit, that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself; not imputing their trespasses unto them.
· Colossians 1:15: Who is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of every creature:
· Vs 16: For by him were all things created, that are
in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be
thrones, dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were
created by him and for him:
· Vs 17: And he is before all things, and by
him all things consist.
· Vs 18: And he is the head of the body, the
church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the
dead: that in all things he might have the preeminence.
· Revelation 3:14: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and
true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.
God (Elohim – Creator)
is doing the work in Genesis chapter one, but in chapter two the LORD
God (Jesus) He had deputized is now creating
and making because God (Elohiym – Creator - the Most High)
is now “resting” in Him as He Jesus Christ is resting in
us today or has taken up “position” in us His Body, the
Church and deputized us by the Holy Ghost and He’s
saying:
· Matthew 28:18: Jesus said, “All
power is given unto me in heaven and in earth”.
Vs 19: “Go
ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: vs 20:
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded
you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world
(age). Amen”.
· Mark 16:15: Go ye into all the world, and preach
the gospel to every creature.
· Luke 10:19: Behold, I give unto you power to
tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the
enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
· John 14:12: Verily, verily, I say unto you, “He that
believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than
thee shall he do; because I go unto my Father”.
· Acts 1:8: You shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is
come upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem,
and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
This power that Jesus
has given unto us as stated in Luke 10:19: “I give unto
you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and
over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt
you”.
This “power” Jesus
has given us is exousi’a, meaning (in the sense of ability) privilege,
force, capacity, competency, freedom superhuman,
potentate, token of control, delegated influence: authority, right, liberty,
jurisdiction, strength.
We must first exercise
this authority over ourselves to bring every area, heart, soul, mind,
and body under the control of the Holy Ghost, so that we can totally
be at “REST” with
a calm and peace that passes all understanding, then we will
be in position to lead others into the place of rest.
These “SERPENTS” mentioned in Luke
10:19 aren’t snakes as some suppose but it
typifies the characteristics of people that oppose what God is
doing in your life. Serpents in Greek is oph’is,
(through the idea of sharpness of vision); a snake (fig) (as a type of sly
cunning) artful malicious PERSON, especially Satan (people
that oppose the things of God).
· Matthew 16:21: From that time forth began Jesus to
show unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many
things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed,
and be raised again the third day.
· Vs 22: Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying,
“Be it far from thee. Lord: this shall not be unto
thee”.
· Vs 23: But he turned, and said unto Peter, “Get
thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto
me: for thou savors not the things that be of God,
but those that be of men”.
At that moment Peter was Satan because
he was opposing God’s plan for Jesus’
life. But of course Jesus took charge of it because He had control
over His own heart, soul, mind, and body, and was determined
that nothing or no one was going to stop the purpose He was sent here for!
And by the way this is
the same “serpent” that lied to the woman in Genesis
3. And it’s the same “serpent” that
portrays himself as the “dragon” that he has
become in the book of Revelation, still operating under the guise of
government, politics, socially, economically, ecclesiastically!
The “SCORPIONS” here are
not “spiders” as some suppose, but typifies the end
results of what will happen after accepting the traditions and
teaches of men. Scorpion throughout
Revelation is defined as skorpi’os, meaning to pierce; a
scorpion (from its sting) (the poisonous sting of the venom that’s in
their tail) (the
death messages preached through religion).
· Revelation 9:3: And there came out of the smoke
locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of
the earth have power.
The power is the “deadly
venom that’s in their tail” (the deceptive teachings of men). Remember Revelation 12:4: (speaking
of the dragon):
· And his tail drew the third
part of the stars of heaven: (not the physical stars out in the sky but those
that were carrying the kingdom message of truth), and did cast them to the earth: and
the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to
devour her child as soon as it was born.
The “dragon” is (the
systems of men): social; political; economical; ecclesiastical [ideas;
philosophies; vain deceit; traditions and teachings of men; rudiments of the
world] (Colossians 2:8]):
· Beware (be watchful; cautious), lest any man spoil
you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the
rudiments of the world, and not after CHRIST.
This is done through the
false teachings of religious order. Proverbs 14:12 states, “There
is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are
the ways of death”.
The only way you can get
anything from God according to the teachings of men is after one dies and goes
up to heaven or by Jesus coming back on a cloud and rapturing you out of
here. Both are deceptions of the enemy. The “tail” is
that which follows the animal – “death” is what follows
the “tales” of religion. Jesus
said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John
8:32).
· 2 Thessalonians 2:10: And with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the
truth, that they might be saved.
· Vs 11: And for this cause God shall send
them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
· Vs 12: That they all might be damned who believed
not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Delusion is plane’, meaning,
a straying from that which is godly; err; wandering; be out of the way / also
from plan’os, meaning an impostor or misleader;
deceiver. (It didn’t say that the devil would
do this but “God would send strong delusion” to those that do
not want the truth).
There is no way one can
truly REST without truth. Think
about this, religiously speaking: if the only way you can have
peace, divine health, eternal life, etc, is when you die and get to heaven,
then you are most miserable living here on earth,
waiting to die and get to heaven to have all of that. That’s a
perfect example of someone sitting on death row. We can have all the
blessings of God right now! We are over comers right
now! We certainly can have “rest” (be
calm and have peace) in Him right here and right now!
The scripture states
that there “yet remains a rest” to the people of God. Hebrews
4 talks about “THE
PROMISE OF REST”:
· Hebrews 4:1: Let us therefore fear, lest, a
promise being left us of entering into his rest (katap’ausis),
any of you should seem to come short of it.
Hebrews 3:12-19, the disobedient generation of
the Israelites did not “enter into
God’s rest (katap’ausis) because of unbelief”.
· Hebrews 4:2: For unto us was the gospel preached, as well
as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not
being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
· Vs 3: For we which have believed do enter into rest (katap’ausis) [calm; tranquility], as
he said, “As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest (katap’ausis): although
the works were finished from the foundation of the world”.
· Vs 4: For he spoke in a certain place of the seventh day on
this wise, and God did rest (katapau’o) [settle down; colonize;
desist; give rest; restrain] the seventh day from all his works.
[God is ETERNAL, so His
REST is ETERNAL]!
· Vs 5: And in this place again, “If they shall enter into my rest” (katap’ausis) (calm; tranquility).
· Vs 6: Seeing therefore it remains that some must enter therein,
and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because
of unbelief.
· Vs 7: Again he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, “Today after
so long a time; as it is said, today if you will hear his voice, harden not
your hearts”.
· Vs 8: For if Jesus (Jehoshu’a )[Joshua] had given them rest (katapau’o) [to settle down, ie to colonize, or to (cause to)
desist: cease; give rest; restrain] after taking them into the
promise land, then would he (God) not afterward have spoken of ANOTHER DAY.
Even with Joshua taking
them into the promise land God’s people still didn’t “rest”. Jesus
said “Come unto me, all you that are heavy laden and I will give you
“rest” (Matthew 11:28), and people still didn’t rest. But
NOW that the Holy Ghost is given, God’s people can now have this “complete
rest” and it’s up to us the Church (Christ’s Body) through
the power of the Holy Ghost to give them this rest through the preaching and
teaching of the Word of God in its fullness in us right here and right now!
· Vs 9: There remains therefore a rest (sabbatismos’) to the people of
God.
· Vs 10: FOR HE
THAT IS ENTERED INTO HIS REST (katap’ausis) [calm; tranquility], HE ALSO HATH CEASED FROM HIS OWN WORKS, AS GOD DID FROM HIS.
In Genesis 1:28,
God didn’t give “man” a job, He gave
him a command: “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish
the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea
and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the
earth”.
Just as when God created,
all He had to do was think it and speak it into existence! All the
LORD God had to do was speak the Word. The same for us, all we have
to do is speak God’s Word by faith to whatever situation presents itself for us
to have the victory over it. Mark 11:23, “For
verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou
removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in
his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith
shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith”.
· Vs 11: Let us labor therefore to enter into
that rest (katap’ausis)
(calm; tranquility; perfect peace), lest any man fall after the same
example of unbelief.
The “REST” God
wants us to enter into is katap’ausis, which is reposing down
in relation to “an abode” which is a dwelling place: [being in
a state of calm, rest or tranquility; perfect
peace]. This rest can only be found in “heaven”
(higher realms of spiritual elevation), not out beyond the blue, but in the
Holy Ghost.
· Acts 7:48-49: Howbeit the Most High dwells not in
temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, heaven is my throne, and earth
is my footstool: what house will you build me? Saith the
Lord, or what is the place of MY
REST?
[God’s place of “rest” certainly isn’t in
physical buildings but He dwell in His people, His heavens which we are]!
Rest in this verse here is (eire’ne, meaning
(to join); peace; prosperity: one; quietness. This “rest” is
being “AT ONE”, in relation to men, nations, man
and God: it denotes harmony!
God’s “rest” is
entered when the believer has become “one” with
God that loves Him and is persuaded, that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to
come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate
them from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans
8:38-39). Then the believer is “resting” knowing
that the “work is finished” when he/she can open their
mouth and speak as God speaks knowing that what they say shall come to pass
because they are one with Him:
· Deuteronomy 30:12: It is not in heaven, that thou should
say, “Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear
it, and do it”? Vs 13: Neither is it beyond the sea,
that thou should say, “Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us,
that we may hear it, and do it”? Vs 14: BUT THE WORD IS VERY NIGH UNTO THEE, IN
THY MOUTH, AND IN THY HEART, THAT THOU MAY DO IT! (Romans
10:8).
· Proverbs 18:21: Death and life are in the power
of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit
thereof.
· Matthew 12:36: But I say unto you, “That every idle
word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day
of judgment”: [meaning the day (at the time) they speak it, it shall begin to
perform what they say-whether positive or negative]: Vs 37: for by thy words thou shalt be
justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
Hebrew 4:9: There remains therefore a rest (sabbatismos’) to the people of
God.
This word “REST” is
from the root word “sabbatismos”, meaning a sabbatism or
the repose (position or place) of Christianity (as a
type of heaven) which is being in Christ Jesus:
· Ephesians 2:6: And hath raised us up together, and
made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
[The
“Sabbath-keeping” is the PERPETUAL (eternal
– everlasting) Sabbath “rest” that is to be enjoyed
uninterruptedly by believers in their fellowship with
the Father and the Son, through the power of the Holy
Ghost right NOW , every day, in contrast to
the WEEKLY Sabbath
under the Law. God’s “seventh day” is ETERNAL AND NOT WEEKLY! “SABBATISMOS REST” of God is
us resting in God Himself, and we can have it
right now! It is an eternal rest and it’s available to us NOW!!!
· Mark 2:27: And he (Jesus) said unto them, “The
Sabbath (God’s eternal or daily rest) was made for man
and not man for the Sabbath” (Sunday rest), as most Christians are yet hung up on.
[Man was not made
for rest, but rest was made for man
especially when he becomes “ONE
WITH GOD”]!
· Mark 3:1-6: (Jesus healed the man with the withered hand
on the Sabbath – [the religious Pharisees got angry and sought
to destroy him].
· Vs 4: And he (Jesus) said unto them (Pharisees), “Is
it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil? To save
life or to kill”? But they held their peace.
· Vs 5: And when he had looked round about on them
with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he said unto the
man, “Stretch forth thine hand”. And he stretched it
out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.
· Vs 6: And the Pharisees went forth, and
straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy
him.
There are people today
that don’t understand what the Sabbath really
is. Many still believe that it is Sunday and won’t
do anything else on that day except go to church. But I had a job
for years that I had to work at least every other Sunday and it didn’t affect
my relationship with God. I guess my question is, “How can
God’s rest be tied down to just one day”? And
it isn’t! It’s “eternal”, it’s every day in Christ Jesus!
· Exodus 20:8: Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
· Vs 9: Six days shalt
thou labor, and do all thy work:
· Vs 10: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD
thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy
daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy
stranger that is within thy gates.
· Vs 11: For in six days the LORD made heaven and
earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore
the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.
In Hebrew sabbath is
from shabbath’, meaning intermission [an interval of time between
periods of activity]. In the Greek it is from sab’baton, meaning a day of weekly repose. Remember, 2
Peter 3:8: Beloved, be
not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand
years, and a thousand years as one day.
From the time of the fall of the creation via
the Adam race in Genesis till the fullness of the time when
God was ready to reconcile the creation back unto Himself through Jesus Christ,
many transitions took place throughout the eons of time. But God swore an oath to
Abraham that He was going to bless him and his “seed”:
· Genesis 22 (when God tests Abraham): vs
15-18: And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven
the second time, and said, “By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for
because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only
son: that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will
multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand
which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the
gate of his enemies. And in thy seed shall all the
nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice”.
The LORD did not
say seeds as many, but his “seed” and
that “one seed was Christ”:
· Galatians 3:16: Now to Abraham and his seed were
the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds, as of
many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is CHRIST:
· Vs 29: And if you be Christ’s, then are you
Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
We are included in that
blessing because we are Abraham’s seed through Jesus Christ! We
are partaking of that blessing because Jesus has delivered us from the power of
sin, death, hell, and the grave by way of the cross through His death, burial,
resurrection, ascension, and descending into us making us the Church, members
of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones (Ephesians 5:30), of
which He is the Head (Colossians 1:18)!
So to totally understand
the “Sabbath” (intermission), we must know what “seventh” means
because the “Sabbath” is contained in the “seventh day”. Seventh in
Hebrew is from shebiy’iy (sheb-ee-ee’), meaning seven;
seventy; an indefinite number; sevenfold. Then it
goes to another root word sheba’ (shaba’) meaning to
be complete; to seven oneself; swear (as
if by repeating a declaration seven times), swear, charge, oath, adjure. Often
to swear or to take an oath is to strongly affirm a promise. Seven
is God’s number of perfection and completeness! This
is because God did all His work within the “SIX DAY” period (or stages of
replenishing He carried the creation through to accomplish His purpose-not just
limited to a 24 hour, six day period). And “six”
is the number of man, the number of flesh or carnality!
· 2 Peter 3:8: One day is with
the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
God saw the “ending” or
“finishing” in the “beginning”. He knew Jesus was “the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8): God knew He
was manifesting His Son Jesus to destroy the works of the devil (1John
3:8).
· Colossians 2:13-15: And we being dead in our sins and the
uncircumcision of our flesh, hath he quickened (made alive) together with him,
having forgiven us all trespasses; blotting out the handwriting of
ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of
the way, nailing it to his cross; and having spoiled principalities and
powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
The “Sabbath” in
Hebrew is defined as “an intermission”. Within
this intermission came the work of the cross. So
the “Sabbath” was contained and completed within the sixth day
period. [Remember, we can’t lock God into just a “24
hour” day period because God uses “dispensations” (a dispensing of time
that He uses to fulfill a divine purpose)]: Ephesians
1:10: That in the dispensation of the fullness of
times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which
are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him.
· Genesis 2:1: Thus the heavens and the earth were finished,
and all the host of them. Vs 2: And on the seventh day God ended his work which
he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his
work which he had made.
God had “finished” or “ended” His
work and could “REST” on the “seventh day”
(the affirmation of the promise of the blessing that had
been completed for us through Christ). And because of Christ we
to can “REST IN GOD”!
· Romans 8:2-4: For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the
law of sin and death. For what the law could not do,
in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness
of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the
righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit.
· 2 Corinthians 5:19: To wit (know), that God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto himself, not imputing (holding against) their
trespasses unto them: Vs 21: For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew
no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
· Hebrews 9:11-12: But Christ being come a high priest of
good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with
hands, that is to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats and
calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having
obtained ETERNAL REDEMPTION for us.
· 1John 3:8: He that commits sin is of the devil;
for the devil sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of
God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
The Sabbath was
the covenant sign of God’s lordship over the creation. The definition of “Sabbath” (shabbath’) meaning intermission, also goes to sha’bath,
meaning, to repose, desist from exertion, cease, rest,
celebrate, leave, still.
Rest in
Webster’s Dictionary means ease or inactivity after exertion; relief
from anything distressing, tiring, etc.
We are no longer under
the Law, but the grace of God. We have
been redeemed from the Law and we can now “rest
in God” under grace!
· Ephesians 2:5: Even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened (made alive) us together with Christ, (by
grace you are saved); vs 8: By grace are you saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.
Jesus by way of the
cross, His resurrection, and ascension, and taking up residence in us
by the Holy Ghost, has made “RESTING” in
God available to us now! So the “Sabbath day” doesn’t
have to be linked to just one particular day now, but
in God we can “REST” every
day because the “seventh day” is an “ETERNAL DAY” which was
the making complete of our RESTING in God Himself
right here and right now!
Hebrews 4:9: There remains therefore a rest (sabbatismos’) to the people of God.
REST (sabbatismos’) a sabbatism, the repose of
Christianity (is a type of heaven), it is the “perpetual Sabbath or rest” to
be enjoyed uninterruptedly by believers NOW in our fellowship or
better yet, our relationship with the Father and the
Son, through the power of the Holy Ghost in contrast to the weekly Sabbath under the Law. This “sabbatismos’ rest” is
the “rest” of God Himself, and we can have it right now
because of the shabbath’ or
intermission [an interval of time between periods of activity] of
Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, destroying
the works of the devil (1 John 3:8), and the power He has
given us through the Holy Ghost:
· Luke 10:19: I give unto you power to tread on
serpents, scorpions, and all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall be any
means hurt you.
· Acts 1:8: You shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come
upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me:
It is up to us now, the
Body of Christ to give “rest” to God’s people through
the preaching and teaching of the fullness of the Gospel to them:
· Luke 4:18-19: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me
to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and
recovering of sight to the blind, and to set at liberty them that are bruised,
to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
· 2 Corinthians 5:20: Now then we are ambassadors for
Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray
you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
Hebrews 4:10: For he that is entered (present tense) into his rest (katap’ausis)
(or sabbatismos’) is reposing right now being positioned in
God Himself in a state of calm, peace, tranquility, and he
also hath ceased from his own works (past tense), as
God did from his!!
Hebrew 4:11: Let us labor therefore to
enter into that rest (katap’ausis) [calm; peace; tranquility] or (sabbatismos’) [heavenly place – in Christ Jesus], lest any man fall after the same example
of unbelief.
That word “labor” (not servile work) is defined from the root word spouda’zo, meaning to use
speed; to make effort; be prompt or earnest; endeavor; be diligent; study;
hasten; be eager, which
is the
same root word “study” in 2 Timothy 2:15 is from, telling us how to show ourselves approved unto God,
through studying so that we can rightly divide the word of “truth”, and live thereby.
So people of God lay
aside every weight that doth so easily beset you (us) and dwell in the “PERPETUAL (continual;
daily) REST” in your Heavenly Father, that’s been given us
through Jesus the Christ!!!
Pastor Gracie Perry