Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Spiritual Foundations Pt.5

Lets turn to the book of Hebrews. We want to continue our study on spiritual foundations. We understand that the foundation that we are building upon, of course, is the Lord Jesus--who is the Chief Cornerstone--and the apostles and the prophets who have gone before us--the great cloud of witnesses. We're trying to follow that wisdom that says to be followers of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises of God. We look at the lives of the patriarchs, we look at the lives of the apostles and those who have gone before us and try to learn from the course that was set for them.

We were studying in Hebrews 11 and looking at the great Faith Hall of Fame. Those who have gone before--the great faith of Noah, having heard and obeyed to the saving of humanity. The Father of our Faith, Abraham, who against hope believed in hope, being fully persuaded of what God had promised He was able to perform. We realize that the great prophets of God, like Elijah, were men who were subject to like passions--just like you and I. These weren't super-saints. These were people who struggled with faith just like you and I do. These are people who battled depression just like you and I. These were men who were fearful, just like you and I. As the great prophet ran from the woman Jezebel. We see Peter, the bold disciple, who cowered down before the young maiden. Men of like passions. One thing they had in common, and that is what we want to talk about this morning: When the pressure was on, they still obeyed. When they were afraid, they still obeyed. When it was beyond their ability, they learned the great, great lesson of rest. That's what we want to talk about this morning, divine rest.

Hebrews, chapter 4. We saw that there is a rest for the people of God. That rest was the ability to cease from their own labors, the Scripture tells us, as God did from His. Hebrews 4:9-10, "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."

This is where we left off at our last session, and we're seeing that this is really where Father is wanting to bring each and every one of us. We have heard it expressed a lot of ways over the years, "God just brought me to my own end. I couldn't do anything about this. I was just helpless and then God intervened, praise God, and delivered me." How many of you ever experienced something like that? Let me see your hands; you've experienced that with your walk with the Lord one way or another. Amen? Have a question for you: Why don't we like that, then? Why don't we live with the attitude that without Him we can do nothing? So, the main battle that you and I are fighting on a daily basis, trying to get this spiritual foundation, walking by faith and not by sight, fulfilling that understanding that without faith it is what? Impossible to please God, knowing that the Scripture says our faith is the victory, we still want to be involved, don't we? We will want to do it in our own power, we want to be able to understand what God is doing, we want to judge God and say, "Lord, that just doesn't seem fair to me that so-and-so would have to go through this;" or, "Why are they blessed, and I'm not? How come they got healed, and I didn't?" We always want God to answer to us! It's in our flesh. It's the remnant of father Adam's having partaken of that tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Because that ability is within us to reason, and that ability is within us to be able to set up standards of morality, so often we take our morality and put it above God's, don't we? We kind of take the Ten Commandments and alter those by something we call situational ethics. So then we try to justify our behavior in one way or another. Basically, all we're doing is indicting God, laboring under the power that man had obtained as he partook of knowledge instead of life. It's the battle that every one of us fights continually on a daily basis. We're talking about walking by faith and not by sight. We're talking about ceasing from our own labors and coming to that place where we can finally enter into the divine rest. Now, it's not going to come just because we would like to have it. The tenth verse goes on and tells us very clearly in the midst of this that--actually verse 11--that we're to "...labour therefore to enter into that rest." Now, that seems to be something that is contrary in its statement: Labor to rest. We understand that the labor is to be spiritual and the rest is to be from the natural or the soulical.

Two things are going on here. I want you to get a hold of these as we're looking into this study. There are two things that are going on. We are talking about the overall perception of redemption, and the Spirit is telling us here that we cannot, by our works, obtain righteousness. So, the main theme of Hebrews here is the fact that you have to cease from trying to work the Law, it has to be obtained by faith. You have to cease from your own labors. You are not by your own works of righteousness going to be established in communion with Father; but only by resting in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Okay? So that is the main theme that we are looking at.

The principle carries over into our daily walk of faith and our ability to carry out the tasks of the Kingdom of God; because we've been sent into all the world to represent the Kingdom of God and to preach this Gospel. He said He would go with us and confirm the words that we speak with signs following. So, there is a principle: no more than you and I can obtain righteousness by our works, there is nothing we can do in the natural that's going to affect the spiritual kingdom positively. In fact, everything you and I get involved in, in our own strength, either trying to effect it by the law of God, or by natural wisdom or power, is an abomination in God's sight. In fact, as we go on into the study, you're going to see what it is: It's fruit of the god of this world. It's the fruit of pride. What does God do with the proud? He does what? He resists them! So every time we're trying to get something done in our own strength, who are we fighting against? God! God is resisting us. Do you ever wonder why it's hard to get anything done? You're trying to do it in your own strength, you're trying to do it by keeping the law, you're trying to do it by you're own intellect and by you're own resolve. "Bless God, this time I'm going to make sure I'm never going to do that again." You begin to suck it up and, by sure grit, you say, "I'm going to, by intestinal fortitude, oppose this. Satan will never take advantage of me again." All of that pride rises up inside of you, and God resists you, and what happens? You go down again, don't you? God is wanting us to learn--listen to me--that rest and humility are synonymous.

I'm going to give you three words that we're going to study over this next period of time that we have to learn if we're going to walk in the Spirit, we have to learn if we're going to emulate Jesus' lordship:

Rest -- Humility -- Obedience.

Jesus learned obedience by the things He what? Suffered, endured, rested in, was patient in. He humbled himself, the Scripture says, to take on the form of man. If we're going to succeed in the spirit realm, the one thing that will hinder us most is pride. The one thing we need most is humility. Aren't you glad God is in the humbling business? Amen? He resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.

We're going to talk about these things as we go on in the next couple of sessions. The first thing we have to do is realize that it doesn't have to come to us naturally, and we're going to have to labor to enter into that rest. We're going to have to work at being humble, and hope we don't say, "I'm so proud of my humility. I've worked so hard to become humble and I'm proud of it, praise God." That is what we're contrasting as we go on in this endeavor to walk in the Spirit.

The word "labor" here is an interesting term. In the original language, of course, it means to be a doer, because faith without works is what? Dead, being alone, James tells us. So this studying that you and I have to do here, or this labor, is one not just acquiring knowledge, but it is a life of obedience. Now, the word "labor" here has to do with doing and studying. Then there is another word that is thrown into the mix. We've talked about it in our last session. It has to do with being diligent. The Lord is a rewarder of those that what? Diligently seek Him. Here is this word "diligence" again. Quickly! Not only quickly but with a passion. We do it quickly, we do it soon, we do it first, and we do it passionately. The effectual fervent prayer is what avails much.

We have to ask ourselves a question this morning. How passionate am I in pursuing this rest? Is the Number one item on my agenda today is to die to self? I want to ask you something: Has your life become repulsive to you? Aren't you tired of the fruit of this vile flesh that each one of us drags along every day in this pursuit of Christ likeness? Has your own intellect finally become to you a stench? Has your own natural strength, and vitality, and ability finally come to the place, until you recognize it for what it is in the sight of God? An abomination! Filthy rags! You see, until we come to that place where there is a diligent pursuit, a laboring, an understanding of how vital the recognition of this is, we're never going to be set free. Look at what he is talking about here. When he talks about this aspect of labor he goes on and tells us what we are to labor in; and it's the Word of God.

We all know that the Word is a mirror, isn't it? Scripture tells us very clearly that we take this mirror and we hold it up, and if we'll stay in this mirror we'll not forget what manner of man we are. We forget so quickly, don't we?

I had to laugh yesterday as the--and thank you for all of you, the many hours that were put in yesterday on the house on Carrollton and the work that went on. The transformation that is taking place in that home. In a couple more days, hopefully, we'll be done over there. Kim and Jeff will be able to move in. But one of the things that I had to laugh at as all this work was going on, in this one bathroom they had this light fixture. I walked in there and the first thing that came to my mind as I looked at that light fixture, and I thought, "This is a light fixture purchased by an ugly person." It had four bulbs in it that totaled my be a quarter of a watt. I don't know. But there is something about being able to look in that mirror with that kind of lighting and say, "I'm looking pretty good. Looking sharp today, man." You head out and you've shaved and there is one big patch still right here. You know? You did take a few swipes at your teeth, but one of the bristles is still hanging out there. You know? A little corn flake left over; and you go out thinking you're looking sharp. Thinking of yourself more highly than you ought to think. You walk out into the daylight, and those around you begin to cry, "Unclean!" as you are revealed for what you really are. So many of us, of course, having an image of ourselves before we look into the mirror. We see ourselves through rose-colored glasses, truly looking through a glass darkly. We need to begin to come into the light of His Word and allow His Word to search our hearts as Hebrews 4:12 says, and allow it to become the discerner of the very thoughts and intentions of everything we do.

I want to talk about that aspect of it a little bit this morning, because it's so important for us to understand the necessity of having our intentions revealed. "Why am I doing what I am doing?" Only the Word of God can reveal that to you. It's not going to come at a casual look; you're going to have to spend time meditating, day and night upon the Word, the Scripture says. You're going to have to labor to come into that understanding of your own heart and see what it is that you and I are doing that outwardly may look right but is actually an offense to God. "Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." Now the unbelief that we're talking about, we referred to it back in chapter 3. As you read on the children of Israel, as you know, were being delivered from Egypt. They began to murmur. Every time God did a miracle, they were glad to dance and break out the tambourines, and praise Him as long as God was performing according to their perception of what's right and just. When things got a little tough they began to murmur. They began to take up other gods, or to return back to Egypt where life was "easier." I think they forgotten their heritage of building bricks without straw. It's amazing how, when we get into some adverse circumstances, we forget how tough of a taskmaster Satan really is, and thought those were the good old days.

We're so prone to make judgements based upon the immediate circumstances. The selfish, undisciplined individual makes life decisions based upon momentary adversity, and then pays the consequences. You're lonely, so you marry just to get married and live in hell forever. Sorry, I'm so emphatic about that! I'm not there, by the way. Its what's natural, because we refuse to get into the Word of God and say, "What's really going on inside of me at this moment?" We take the mirror that James speaks of and we look and say, "What manner of man am I, really?" Am I making my determinations based upon an eternal promise or a momentary appetite?" You won't know that if you're a person who casually visits the Word of God.

The one thing you have to understand about this book that you have on your lap this morning is this: it's alive! This is not just leather, and paper, and ink; but this is. Order of service for graduation. "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword..." the Scripture tells us. When you read the Word, these words are spirit and they're truth, and they get inside of us and transforms us, and it illuminates our spirit so our mind is disciplined. "...and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." It divides between soul and spirit. It lets you know what your emotions and what's your spirit receiving and hearing the voice of God. It think that that is one of the biggest problems that we run into. Because of the lack of time in the Word of God, many people's lives are confused and even destroyed because they mistake their emotions for the voice of God, forgetting that Satan comes as an angel of light who will take the Word, and pervert it, and use it against you. "Has not God said? God said He wants you healed--throw yourself off this pinnacle. Go ahead, get off of the medication. Don't go in for that which can alter the momentary life circumstances. Just trust God!" And you die, and that's okay if you die in faith; but I have a question for you. Was that the Word of God? I'm not talking about general revelation. We know what the general revelation says. The general revelation says, "By the stripes of Jesus, you are healed." Amen? What is He saying to you at this moment? Faith comes by hearing and hearing by an audience with God, the Word of God. The general revelation being spoken specifically to me right now. I want to tell you something, there are time to not go in for the surgery. There are times to stop taking the medication. There are times to take you glasses off and just throw them aside. I want to tell you, when God has spoken you will receive an instant miracle.

We need to discern between those voices if we are going to walk in faith, of our own emotion, and our own intellect, and trying to somehow understand the mysteries of a sovereign God. You can't do it! You have to just hear the voice and obey it; and it doesn't always makes natural sense, and God doesn't do it the same way every time. With different individuals, different times, God will perform in different manners. How important it is, beloved, to spend time in the Word and hear the voice of the Spirit of God, and then be willing to stand up and be a fool in the eyes of the world when God has spoken. It's one thing to be a fool in their eyes and another thing to be a fool in God's eyes.

When we look at this passage of Scripture, it's so important. Look what he goes on to say. Study, labor, be diligent, be a doer, to enter into that rest so you won't fall after the same example of unbelief. Now, he defined what that example of unbelief was, didn't he? The unbelief that was going on in Israel was this: God said, "I brought you out so that I may bring you in." They keep saying, "God brought us out here to kill us." The first thing we have to do is determine in our lives, very clearly this. Listen! "...for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." Isn't that what Hebrews 11 tells us? How many of you are convinced, this morning, that God is on your side and that He is doing what is good for you? Even the bad things that are going on right now. It says He will turn them for good, amen? Do you believe that this morning? If not, you're going to start hearing other voices. You're going to start believing that God is speaking or saying this, and is going contrary to what God is really doing in your life at this moment because you just don't believe that He's in it for your good. Somehow I have to take these promises and manipulate them to say what I think should be going on at this moment. Or, I don't have any Scripture for this, I just really believe that it's God. I just since with my spirit--let's at least use the right term, my soul, my emotions, my intellect, and my will. My goose bumps are telling me not the Holy Spirit. My emotions are driving me, not the Holy Spirit. My will be done is driving me, and not the Spirit; because our soul is comprised of emotion, intellect, and will. All of those are powerful forces. All of those can effect life's circumstances. Every one of those are a force in and of itself can effectually work and cause your will to be done. You can go out and succeed like a Gates or a Donald Trump. You can go out and succeed in any of the different avenues of life with soul power--I don't mean James Brown--Yet, the Word of God speaks to us very clearly and says that because that ability is there, you need to labor to enter into rest. You're going to have to labor, study, prepare yourself so you're not drawing on soul power, you're drawing on spirit power.

Now, here is how you're going to be able to tell the difference, the apostle tells us. It's the Word of God, verse 12. It's alive, it's powerful. That word powerful comes from the Greek word energy. The ability to work. The Word works is what it's saying here. It has its own power. I'm not ashamed of the Gospel, it is the power of God to salvation. I want to tell you something. You don't have to convince anybody to get saved. You don't have to go out and be some type of great apologist to win them over intellectually. You speak the Gospel and it has power to bring about repentance; and if that is not what causes people to change, your labor has been in vain anyway. Now watch what it says, the Word is alive "...and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature [creation, any part of creation] that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." That is interesting, isn't it?

Every one of us then, as we go into the Word of God is laid open. This Word begins to reveal our very motives. It begins to tell us why we're doing what we are doing; and in what spirit we're operating; because this Word can divide between soul and spirit. We are called to enter into a rest of ceasing from our own labors. The Word will let me know if I'm resting or not. How do I know that? Because when I go to the Word, and God's wisdom begins to be unfolded to me, it's totally contrary to the wisdom of the world. There is no fellowship between light of the Word and darkness, the wisdom of man. The Scripture says, the things of the Spirit is foolishness to the natural mind and they cannot be received. So, when you read the Word of God and it comes into your spirit and you are at peace, then you know you're walking in the spirit. If your mind begins to say, "That doesn't make any sense. There is another way to do this. Surely God doesn't mean that. Surely, and we begin to try to manipulate this Word to say--and you can do that. You can make it say whatever you want. You can pull things out of context and say pretty much what you want with this Bible. People can take certain proof texts and establish any kind of doctrine they like. What is God saying to you at this moment? Listen, the moment you start doing that, proof texting, is when you're under pressure. You know, like when your at the Red Sea and Pharaoh is coming down on you. Or, you're out in the wilderness and there is no water to drink, no food to eat, and your mind starts going back to Egypt. You can become as perverted as calling Egypt the Promised Land. I've always thought that was one of the great phrases--we shared in many of our teachings in the past. They refer back to Egypt as the Land of Promise. Yeah! Promised death, because those who sew to the flesh are going to reap destruction.

What is wrong with humbling yourself there in the wilderness; and instead of murmuring with everybody else saying, "God brought us out here to kill us," the spies come back and you agree with the majority? "The walls are high." Yes! "The land is filled with milk and honey." "Yes, here is the fruit of the land; but there are giants in the land." What's wrong with coming next to a person who has another spirit like Caleb and saying, "Yeah, there are walled cities and there are giants; but we're well able. Let's go up at once and take it, praise God." I think we need a few more of those folks around, don't you? I think we have come into a time when too many people are analyzing the height of the walls, and the height of the opposition, and failing to realizing that if God is for us nobody can be against us. That every promise of God in Christ Jesus is yea and amen to the glory of God by us if we obey. You see, the issue is this: Do you believe that He brought you out to bring you in? That our faith is the victory, the Scripture says? That nothing is impossible to those who believe? With Sarah, "Is any thing too hard for the Lord?" Is that your first response to adversity? Diligently seeking Him? Quick? What is your first response? "Oooh, I thought God was for me, and now I've got this--I thought God wanted me blessed. I thought God--" You're still in your own labors. "Times are tough. You know what we have to do. We're going to have to suck it up. and I'll tell you what, God will kill us out here unless we begin to pray, and unless we begin to fast, and unless we begin to go out and witness." All of those are great things, but if there done to please God and appease God, guess what? You're not resting.

We're going to study, in Daniel in just a moment, the environment in which we are to pray and fast. It's in obedience, and not out of fear. Fear that somehow we lack and have to make up the difference of what Jesus' blood cannot effect. "I think that Jesus' blood blotted out most of my offenses. The handwriting of ordinances that was against me has been blotted out, but there are a few notes in the margins here, I think I'm going to have to take care of." Where are you in the assurance this morning that you're right with God? And that you've been pronounced righteous with his righteousness, and you stand as an ambassador before the kingdom of darkness, with the seal of faith in your hand, believing that if you ask anything according to His will, He will do it, praise God? If you have that assurance, then there is a peace that passes understanding. If you're assured that you're not out trying to establish your own agenda. The problem is, when you're trying to add to or take away. You get a little antsy when you're not 100 percent sure, "I'm just here doing the will of God. He sent me, I'm obeying. If He's for me, nobody can be against me." What a good place that is, praise God. What a peace that brings to our hearts. But, if there is an anxiousness, if there is an unsettledness--"I believe I'm here. I believe God has brought me to this place, and yet I'm uncomfortable." What is it that you're trying to force? What is it that you're still holding on to? It could be something as simple--and I say simple, but it's not to minimize it at all; but so many times its just thinking, "I'm trusting God." Then why are you afraid? I'm not talking about the anxiousness of the moment, I'm talking about fear that gives direction to your life. That you obey, that you're responding to.

That's another thing that people have trouble understanding. You're not fearful just because there is an anticipation of conflict or adversity. Nobody likes that. It causes an anxiety. It's not fear until it causes you to recoil or to walk in disobedience. When it says we have not been the spirit of fear, it doesn't mean we don't have any type of emotions. A guy pulls a gun out, sticks it at your head and says, "I'm going to kill you." And you go ""Oh, praise God." You might respond that way in grace, but most of the time--I would say that everyone of us in here would have an increase in our pulse, our heart rate. What are you going to do? Dat, dat, dat, dat, dat, dat, there it goes. There is nothing wrong with that! The guy says, "Deny Jesus or I'm going to kill you." You're going to die with your heart beating fast, because I'm not denying Him. Amen? Everything inside of you says, "Lets pretend to. I'll lie, the Lord will forgive me." Fear, like faith, demands obedience; because fear is the opposite of faith. Fear is the force, the power, that unites with pride that causes disobedience. Don't confuse anxiety with fear. "Be [anxious] for nothing; but in every thing with prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." Don't let anxiety continue to dominate to where you won't pray and you won't obey. Labor to enter into that rest.

Now it says as we continue on, it's interesting, this Word discerning the thoughts and the intentions, dividing between soul and spirit. The Word that is alive and powerful, able to work in us. The Scripture said in that previous verse, the Word, or faith, must be united with what? Obedience. They could not enter in, chapter 3:19 says, because of unbelief. That is a very interesting word, unbelief. It means unpersuadableness. It doesn't mean doubt in that, "I don't know if this is right or wrong." It means, "I see what the circumstances are. I know what God said. I look at the consequences and I'm not willing to pay the consequences." That is unbelief. I cannot be persuaded that what God said He is able to perform. That is the opposite of Abraham was doing in Romans 4, isn't it? Abraham was fully persuaded!

Turn over to Romans 4 for just a second and let me show you something. Interesting words here, as you look at the passage here in chapter 4:19, "And [Abraham] being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body...." Romans 4:19, you see that word "considered" is pretty interesting. It's very important as we compare this with what we are talking about laboring to enter into rest. "...he considered not his own body...." That doesn't mean Christian Science. Abraham is now old, stricken in years. His vitality is gone. We made the comparison between the fact than when his body was still alive and he had his natural strength and Sarah's womb was dead, Abraham was still saying, "Praise God, God's able." Now his body is dead and it says he considered it not. That's not Christian Science. It's not the fact that he's denying that it doesn't work; he has dealt with the reality that it doesn't work! The word "considered" means, literally, to fix ones eyes upon and to dwell upon it, and to make it the reality.

Don't let the enemy lie to you when those occasional things come in and say, "Man, by body is dead." "Oh, it hurts." This is the reality of what I am facing right now. That is going to come. These thoughts are going to come into our minds. The enemy tells us, "You're doing that, you're in unbelief. You're not believing God." No, what are you fixed upon? What are you steadying your eyes upon? Are you meditating on the Word day and night? Do you have a course that is set? What are you disciplining yourself to believe? Are you pulling down every thought and evil imagination that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. You see, that is the thing we have to do beloved. That is what this laboring to enter into rest is all about. The thoughts will come of unbelief--the doubts, the fears, and you pull them down. You labor to enter into the rest. "I will not revert to the natural way of doing things." So Abraham considered not his own body now dead. And "He staggered not [verse 20] at the promise of God through unbelief...." The word "staggered" here was very interesting. It means to be double-minded. Literally, the word means to judge between two. He staggered not. He was not double-minded. He didn't give the same validity to the natural that he gave to the supernatural. The unseen, the spiritual, the invisible, was more real than the perceived.

Hebrews 11, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence [or the proof] of things not seen." So I ask you a question this morning: What's more real in your life, the perceivable or the invisible? What do you really have your most, not only hope, but trust in? What is your life built on? Well, by our fruits we are known! Whenever the pressure is on, which avenue do you choose? Which weapons do you take up? Do you go back to lying or manipulation, or intimidation? Do you, like Moses, take it into your own hands and kill the Egyptian? Or, do you now, like Moses, when opposed by Korah and Dathan, humble yourself and just put your face to the ground and say, "God, if you're for me..." The old Moses would have taken care of Korah and Dathan in a heartbeat, and re-established who was in charge. Fix the election, kill the opponent. Where are you today? What are you trusting in? What was the difference between the Moses that killed the Egyptian to deliver the people, to set God's people free in his own strength, and the Moses who could fall on his face when opposed in the wilderness? The difference was the burning bush! The encounter with God. The revealing of who we are and how futile it is to trust in the arm of the flesh. Moses was a mighty warrior. Moses was a man learned in all the wisdom of Egypt; and he trusted in it. Groomed to be Pharaoh; and yet totally inadequate to represent the Kingdom of God. Like Paul, beloved, we have to count everything we used to call gain, loss and dung. Until like Paul, we can come in and say, "Everything I used to trust in--it's useless in this new kingdom. It doesn't work! It just hinders me from affecting the Kingdom of God. As long as I am moving in that way, God is opposing me. Got to count it all loss."

He staggered not, he was not double-minded. Really, it talks about judging against. Double mindedness, it talks about not only having another thought, but it talks about that thought opposing the statement of God. To judge against. That's the unbelief of the Hebrews passage. God said He was going to bring us in; we said He brought us out here to kill us. That is double mindedness, that's staggering thoughts. You see, beloved, it's one thing to just say, "Man, I'm frightened. I don't know what is going to happen tomorrow. The way it looks to me, they're killing us tomorrow. I'm dying of starvation tomorrow, or, this is getting repossessed tomorrow. That's all I know." You're a lot better of there than saying, "God brought us out there to kill us." "God is opposing us." "This is not the will of God to prosper or to heal." Because, then you can pray this prayer, "Lord, help my unbelief." The unbelief of doubt is a different unbelief than unpersuadableness. "I just don't know. The one thing I do know is there is nothing in me that can handle this. I don't have anything in the natural; and you know what? I'm tapped out in faith. I don't have enough faith." "What do you think?" "I think I'm going to die. That is what I think. Think I better pray a quick prayer. Lord help!" And thank God when that kind of prayer is prayed, He reaches out and takes us by the hand like He did Peter and takes us back to the boat for another shot. Can you see this morning how you're better off in that condition than boasting in your own ability? "I'm a good swimmer." You know what? I happen to have interest in this life jacket company. Plan B, life preservers; and if the Lord doesn't come through, I'm swimming to the other side." That's not rest!

As we go into the study this evening, we want to go into Daniel and--I was hoping to get there this morning. As we go into the Daniel passage, I want you to see--let's turn to Daniel just as we end for this morning's session. There is one thing I want you see that is so important in the study. I'm sure most of you already read Daniel and prepared yourselves. There is one aspect of rest that I want you to really get a hold of that will give you some stability in these hours that we're coming into.

Daniel, chapter 1. We're talking about laboring to enter into rest. Let's spend just a second in review. Rest is ceasing from our own labors. We're to labor to enter into rest. Rest is the confidence that I'm in this situation by obedience. I'm here because God sent me. "Go in this thy power, have not I sent thee," was the word that came to Gideon. When I know God sent me, I'm at peace. I'm resting. When I know that God said, "Come" and I step out of the boat onto the raging waves, there is a rest in obedience. If you've gotten yourself into it, there is an anxiety. I don't know what God is going to do. He's not obligated here. The promise--I'm not here by promise, I'm here by presumption. Nervous!

We talk about the rest of God, the ceasing from our own labors, the ability to be comfortable that we're in the circumstances by obedience. Now that the pressure is on, there is another crucial thing that has to happen. We have to allow the Word to judge our hearts and deal with our own character, our own integrity. This is what we're going to talk about a little bit tonight.

Chapter 1:8, "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat...." You see, beloved, one of the things that is so important, if we're going to walk in the spirit, there has to be a purposing that we won't compromise with the world's system and defile ourselves with their methods. The defiling comes when you begin to justify the humanism that you're adding to your faith. When you begin to justify your disobedience and your fleshly rebellions. When you want to be recognized by the world's system, or at least not persecuted.

You see, the thing that was the defiling here--a lot of commentators, they'll talk about the different aspects that they think was defilement. You have Keil and Delitsch that makes one observation, and Barnes makes another. Then you have all of the other guys that are out there--Jamieson-Fausset-Brown. As I studied all of the guys, they varied slightly on what they thought this defilement was. I think the defilement's very clear when you read the context. First of all, the Book of Daniel is about God judging the nations; God's kingdom being stronger than the kingdoms of this world. That is what the book is about. It fits right in to what we are talking about, here, which kingdom we are going to trust. Not only do we have the prophesy of the seventy weeks that are going to come in the Great Tribulation, we have the great visions that took place, and the changing of the kingdoms of the ages from the Babylonian to the Medo-Persian. The vision, of course, Nebuchadnezzar had, and he interprets and talks about those that were to come. The Grecian and the Roman Empire and all of those things that we see again in the Book of Revelation. The immediate testing of Nebuchadnezzar and the craziness that comes about, and the restoration; and the vacillation of "you got a mighty God, and I'm God--Oh no, I'm not! I've got feathers." The great king that sees himself all powerful, not at the admonition, the prophet of God prepares his heart for the judgment and finds himself insane in his power.

I think the thing that is obvious is this, the defilement that Daniel was wanting to keep himself from was the worship of the other God. Some of the other commentators say, well, these weren't kosher things. These didn't fit into the Levitical ordinance. That is not what Daniel was dealing with here. What you're looking at here, really, is the fact that the king's portions, the dainties that they ate, the best. How many of you know what the Priests of the Levitical order ate from? What was their portion? Anybody remember? The best of the best. So God's representatives in the offerings received the portion of the best because they were God's representatives. They were in lieu of God. So the tithes comes to the priests as God's representatives. This is what took place. It's that way in many of the religions that man has established. Of course, when the leaders were deities, such as Pharaoh and these--the offerings that came in--you'll see even as the treasures of Israel were brought to Babylon they were put in the temple. There was no distinction between their god and their prosperity, and power, and their dominance. All of the booty was put in the temple because this was indicative of the might and the worth of their God. Well, what came to the king was these that were offered to the gods. This was food that was offered to the gods. Very similar to what Paul was speaking of in Corinthians, to eat that which was offered up to idols. This is exactly what was being offered to Daniel and them. They said, "We're not going to eat this; we're not interested in this. We don't want to defile ourselves with honoring your god. We don't look to your god to sustain us. What would that god be today? Big Blue? The U.S. Government? Keoghs? IRAs? Everything that the world trusts in?

Daniel says, "God has put us here. We're in the world, but we are not of it. While we're here, we'll serve, we're the captives. God has chosen not to deliver us. We'll do what we're supposed to do, but let God be our source. Just try us. Give us a 10-day trial and see if God is not able. Lets find out whether you can live better off of beans or filet mignon." I'm eating filet mignon this afternoon. Janet brought them home last night for Father's Day. There like this thick! We'll be ending soon. I like a nice filet. I don't eat a lot of red meat. I've eaten probably in the last 20 years, eight million chickens. Trying to be wise. Having a grandfather and a father who both had heart attacks before they were 40. Trusting God and eating chicken... I like a nice filet.

So here is the kings dainties, the best of the best. Daniel says, lets whip up a few beans here. Some people try to say that this is vegetables. It's not a total vegetable diet. The literal word here as the Scripture speaks towards this, talks about vegetable, primarily bean pod type, substance. So the Jolly Green Giant would bring in all of this mush. Here they were going to have pulse (sounds great, doesn't it?) and water. Some say it included grains to be bread. I don't have any problem with that. We do know it wasn't the king's dainties. It wasn't that which was offered to the idols. It was bread and water or vegetables and water. Because of that, some people have gone the other way. They have gone into the arm of the flesh and thought, "You know what? Biblical proof. We're to eat a vegetarian diet. If we're to be successful, brain food--what we need to do is eat this diet!" You've missed the whole thing. You're back in the works of the flesh. The Bible says you can eat anything with thanksgiving. Amen? Does anybody else's Bible say that? You eat it with thanksgiving! "If you eat this and this you're going to be--" Who said? You can't find that in the Word. "Yeah, but the doctors--" That's cool. What are you trusting in? The whole issue is not the pulse and the water. The whole issue is trusting God. Amen? Isn't that what the story is about? It didn't say, "and Daniel trusted in the mush to make him ten times wiser." What he was saying is, I can be sustained with less than you have and be more successful, because God is in it.

It's very important, beloved, to see the subtleness of that. Very frankly, there is a number of you in here that is caught up in that very thing. You think that your diet is what it's all about. I want to tell you, it's God that what is all about. It's being able to walk in His power and in His might and trusting in His ability. You need to understand the subtleness of the flesh and how you can fall over into one area or the other. Diet is obviously part of what God had to deal with in Leviticus. It was because of the different diseases that were there. I wouldn't necessarily encourage you to go out and eat a pig a day. God, in His wisdom, gave us course to follow, and then--listen, this is what Daniel is all about--Then there is the specific supernatural direction that He is going to be exalted in. That is what we're going to pick up tonight.

Father, we thank You for the Word of God and we ask that we would not defile ourselves this day. If we're going to enter into the rest of God, it will be entered in without defiling ourselves. Just what is it of the king's dainties we feel we deserve, and need, by which we defile ourselves? What is that, that we trust in that the world offers us, by which we defile ourselves. Surely, bread and water and God are enough. Surely, having food and raiment, we can be content. Surely, sufficient to the day is the evil thereof. Take no thought for tomorrow, for those things will take care of themselves. Are we anxious? Where is our rest, but in ceasing from our own labors? Help our unbelief, Father, in Jesus' Name. Amen.

Let's stand before the Lord this morning. We'll take a moment as Gary plays for us. You labor, you find that time, and you set yourself apart. You open this Book that is alive, and Jesus says things like, "If you're going to be great in my kingdom, you need to become as a little child." And you say, "Man, I've been spending my whole life trying to grow up and become self-sufficient, smarter, stronger, than everybody around me." Paul says you have to count it as dung because the kingdom isn't of such. "I've worked hard to make it good for my kids, and I want to leave them then an inheritance, and a life that was easier than mine." God says, "Take the lad and offer him up," and all of your life's endeavors are gone in a moment.

You raised them to be a professional athlete. You raised them to be a doctor, a lawyer, a successful businessman. You've labored to leave them a beautiful home, paid for, so life would be easier for them, and God calls them to Kakamega, and the house sits empty. Ceasing from our own labors doesn't mean that we don't plan. It doesn't make we don't make provision. The Scripture is full of that wisdom. Is your heart free to obey this morning? What if you were to hear the words, "Follow me!" and it goes contrary to everything to have prepared for in the natural? I'm here to tell you His grace is sufficient. I've been through that numerous times in my life; and there is no joy outside of that obedience. That is the inheritance that we want to leave our children--a father who has obeyed. "How come you don't have a nice home and a Mercedes to drive, like I do?" Your child says, "Because my dad obeyed God." What a Father's Day! What a Father's Day present to have your children say, "My dad obeys God." What is it that stands out to you about your dad? "He does what God tells him. It's not always easy on his flesh, or ours," but you had this testimony that you obeyed God and you were not. Like Enoch, you walked right off this planet. Make the rest real to us, Father, in Jesus' Name. Amen.

Before you go turn to someone next to you and say, "Labor to enter into the rest." Go in peace, God's love go with you.

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