From our Sunday service on June 2, 2024, Philippians 4:11–13, Hebrews 4:9–11, and other passages on finding rest in Christ. Watch the full message: Satisfied: Finding Rest in Christ on YouTube.
The idea of this message is that all we need is Christ to be satisfied. I’m usually an exegetical preacher, which means I go into a passage and go straight through it. The Lord put it on my heart to do a topical message on finding satisfaction in Christ, so I’m trying to step out of my comfort zone. I’ve seen a lot of unrest around me, and I’ve felt unrest myself at times, whether in wages, this stage of life, how your kids behave, or politics. Or maybe we struggle with the feeling that our hardship will never end, one hardship after another, and just when one situation resolves, boom, you’re hit with another. In Bible college we talked about Satan setting up dominoes and knocking them down. He sets up a few events to knock down at the same time to discourage you. Christ promises that we can find rest in Him, and this rest is outside our circumstances and outside this world’s rules. God wants to give you His rest.
Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Philippians 4:11–13
This is a very familiar passage. If you ever went to Bible camp as a kid, you might have said this verse every single meal. Paul was a missionary, so his supply of food and money went up and down all the time, and his freedom went up and down as he was in and out of prison for preaching the gospel. “Not that I speak in respect of want” means he isn’t talking out of his own needs and isn’t worried about them. He says, “I have learned.” You’re not going to wake up one morning and say, “Rest in Christ finally came.” But God has given us a promise of rest in Him. Paul knows how to be abased and how to abound, to be full and to be hungry. No matter what, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
The Rest God Offers
Hebrews is a really great book. The Bible doesn’t tell us who wrote it, and there have been arguments throughout history, but we know one of its authors was the Holy Spirit. He uses the children of Israel as an illustration. They had an opportunity to go into the Promised Land, but because they didn’t have faith, they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. They were so worried about the Canaanites and the Philistines and all the other nations they would have to fight. Rather than going in with confidence in God, they had fear and lost their faith. If we don’t rest in God, we’re also going to lose the comfort of that spiritual Promised Land. How can we enter into rest? First, it requires faith in Jesus Christ. Second, it requires reliance on God’s will. Third, it requires a step of faith.
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. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
Hebrews 4:9–11
First, Faith in Jesus Christ
“There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.” This rest is not for the unsaved or for the entire world. Paul didn’t walk on the road to Damascus, hear Jesus speak to him, and suddenly have all the peace of the Lord. He had to learn day by day. If anyone hasn’t put their faith in Jesus Christ, I’m sorry, but you can’t enter into the rest of God. In John 4, Jesus is speaking to the woman at the well, who is going every day carrying a huge container of water for her family. Jesus says He is the living water. In the Greek, that’s “zoe,” a spring or fountain, water that doesn’t stop. Jesus also says, “I am the bread of life,” which refers to the manna in the wilderness. It came every day, and you couldn’t keep it, except on the Sabbath. It’s not like on Sunday morning you come to church and God says, “Here’s your allotment for the week. Spread it out.” No. “You come to me every day.” If Christ is the source of strength, then the one without Christ cannot enter into His rest.
Second, Reliance on God's Will
Second, entering into God’s rest requires reliance on God’s will. “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.” You have to stop going your own way. Often we can’t see how God is working things out for our good. What percentage can we truly see? Maybe we know four or five people’s opinions. When God comes into our lives with the full view of the whole picture, who are we to question Him? It would be like us taking a puzzle, putting together two pieces, saying “That’s a beautiful picture,” and walking away. Jesus has the whole puzzle. You don’t see the picture until you’ve gone way past today and look at it from the future backward.
How many people learn too late, after spending years pushing away from the will of God? It reminds me of Jacob the deceiver. The blessing was promised to him, but Jacob thought he needed to do it his way. He lied to his father, he lied to his brother, and he had his mother tied up in all these schemes. He ended up marrying the wrong woman because he was deceived, then his marriages fell apart. Time and time again he thought, “I can outsmart him.” He ends up getting kicked out of Laban’s household and is forced to go back and confront his brother. He says one line that I’ll remember for the rest of my life: “with my staff I passed over this Jordan.” It was only when he faced his brother coming with 400 men whom he thought were coming to kill him that he thought, “Maybe I shouldn’t be forcing my own will on God’s will.” He says, “I’ve got to drop my staff and follow You.” What’s funny is that when he wrestles with God, God touches his thigh and gives him a limp, so he has to lean on others for help for the rest of his life. God forbid we be like Jacob, where God has to come and punch our thigh and make us limp so that we realize we need to rely on God.
Come unto Me
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:28–30
Oh, that Jacob would have learned this: yes, there is a yoke and some burden you have to carry, but it’s a lot lighter than trying to do it yourself. It’s not that I’m going to enter into the rest of the Lord, quit my job, sit on the couch and watch my favorite show, and all the blessings of God are going to come to me. But we can drop the burden of the guilt of sin. Should you go to people and make it right if you’ve wronged them? Absolutely, because you’re not going to have peace until that conflict is resolved. But if you are a believer in Christ, you can nail that guilt to the cross and walk away. Looking back on my life, I could not have imagined the path I’ve walked so far. I was so shy as a kid. I never would have imagined I’d go 900 miles away to college, or that I’d get a master’s degree. It wasn’t what I would have done if I were choosing my own path, walking by my own walking stick. But God sees every single person and says, “I know a way I can use you.” This means a few things: Satan cannot destroy us, our sins cannot overcome us, and our God will direct us. Satan can only do what God allows.
A Step of Faith
Lastly, entering into God’s rest requires a step of faith. “Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” God tells Joshua that He is going to cut off the waters of the Jordan and that Israel will cross it on dry ground. The officers had to tell everybody some crazy stuff: follow the ark to a river that was supposed to be dry but was overflowing its banks. They’re all lined up at the river, and it doesn’t part until the priests carrying the ark step in and their feet are dipped in the brim of the water. They would have missed out on the rest of God if they hadn’t had the faith to get their feet wet. “Ye are complete in him.” If we’re looking to find peace in financial security, we’re never going to find it, because you’re always going to need another dollar. If we’re going to find our peace in our health being perfect, I’m sorry, but you’re still going to have aches and pains. If we’re going to find our peace in a plan for the next 20 years, I’m sorry, it’s not going to work. But there is a completeness in Christ. Put down the staff of trying to cross your own Jordan River. God can part that Jordan, but you just have to get your foot wet and step in.
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