Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

The Divine Rest Pt.2

Continue to hold Ron up in prayer and realize the warfare that they're in. They truly sense and feel the effectual, fervent prayer and having their hands lifted up. So, we're excited to be able to be a part of that and to continue to minister to them. A lot of good things are going on. The churches are growing, and the men are being established. In the mid-week service, I think, they had seventy in the Nairobi church. Can you say "Praise God!" for that? Nobody else has mid-week services. Just like around here, mid-week services and Sunday night services are a thing of the past. They just start imitating the apathy of America. Thank God that there is a remnant that's being reached there, and a lot of exciting things are taking place! So, continue to be prayerful about that. We need to continue to just seek Father for the potential land there in Nairobi. We're still just waiting. The word we received is that this land is officially, truly, realistically, factually free. I don't mean free in price; I mean it doesn't have twelve owners! It has only one--supposedly. Anyway, we'll just see. That's the last word we received, and we're just waiting on the Lord whether to go forth in the purchase of that land and all that's entailed with that. So, be prayerful that we would know the wisdom of God and understand what the Lord would have us to do in those areas.

Let's turn to where we were Sunday as we were in our study. When we left off on Sunday morning, if you remember, we were in Matthew 11, verse 29, the classic Scripture where Jesus says, "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." We're talking about the divine rest--how to, as believers, return to that place of absolute dependence upon the Lord. You see, sin has had a major effect on us, called independence. Sin has separated us from the presence of God. Sin has caused us, because of the consequences of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, to become independent beings. We think we know; we think we are able. We build towers that will ascend into the heavens. Our eyes have been opened, and we are as gods. And as knowledge increases, and men run to and fro in this generation, our dependency upon Father wanes in direct correlation to the increase of the knowledge of man. We can't let that happen to ourselves. We need to return to that childlike faith. We need to return to that absolute innocence that Adam had in the garden, to where when Father came to walk with him, he would run to Him as the highlight of the day and not hide from Him now because of the knowledge of his own nakedness.

Many of us are shamed by our nakedness, we're shamed by our sin, we're shamed by our independence, we're shamed by our carnality. We need to rejoice in the rest that has been given to us in Jesus and the restoration to innocence to where we can cry, "Abba Father!" We need to realize that there has been reconciliation, and we've been placed back into right relationship with our Father. When His voice is heard, we can run to Him, praise God! He's there to order our steps. The Scripture says that He has given us everything that pertains to life and godliness. So it's been the gift of God to us, in Christ, that indwells us. His Spirit now indwells us. His Word has been given to us to illuminate our steps, so we can walk in that light, the power and the presence of God.

[Congregant suffered a physical attack of some kind in service.]

Let's pray and believe God to touch our brother. Just come against the powers of darkness. This is spiritual warfare; it's not just natural.

Father, we come in the name of Jesus. We take authority over the powers of darkness that would exalt themselves against the knowledge of God, and we will not bow, but we resist in the name of Jesus. We command the power to be broken and for the children of God to be free. Father, show Yourself mighty. Let us see the mighty hand of God, as we humble ourselves and bow our knees to you, Father. Surely, You watch over Your Word, and You will perform it. And we'll be careful, Father, to give You all of the praise and all of the honor, Father, in Jesus' name. Hallelujah! Be glorified, Lord! Be exalted! Be exalted! Hallelujah!

That's the very testimony of what we're talking about. You speak of the greatness of God, and the enemy wants to exalt himself. But we will not bow our knees. We realize that the promises of God are yea, and they're amen in Jesus Christ. We're going to be in warfare with different things--whether it's physical afflictions such as this, whether it's the oppression such as Ron is battling right now in his mind and emotions, or whether it has to do with the circumstances of life. It doesn't matter. We have to understand that we are at war, but there is no weapon formed against us that can prosper. (Can you say "Amen!" to that?) Our weapons are not carnal; they're mighty through God. They're not carnal. You're not going to work it up; it's not going to be in the arm of the flesh; it's not going to be by anything that you can do of your own volition. They are mighty through God to the pulling down of these strongholds.

He says, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me." Now, get the magnitude of what Jesus is saying there. The Son of God divested Himself of sovereign, eternal, absolute uniqueness and absolute independence to make Himself dependent upon Father. He says, "...learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart." We're wanting to become more confident. We're wanting to become more sure of ourselves. We're wanting to have a better grasp on things and really understand what the circumstances are saying and what the future holds. We want to make plans and be prepared for them, and God wants just the opposite for us. How many of you feel better when you're in control?

You know, Jeff just bought a new motorcycle, one of those crotch rockets--a thousand cc, mega really-kill-yourself-bad type of motorcycle. So I got on it today and rode it very gingerly. Those things scare me, so I rode it very gingerly up the road. And realized that it wouldn't take very long to crank back on that throttle (just a half mile), and I was ready to go. I thought, "This could really be fun; I could kill a bunch of bugs on this thing!" Yet, the only way to really be safe on one of those is to stay afraid, to stay dependent and not independent, to never think that you're in control. But we like to be in control, whether it's over the circumstances of life or whatever. When you're riding, don't you like to hold onto the steering wheel? It's just better being in control. Yet, Father wants us out of [our own] control if we're going to walk in the Spirit, if we're going to know that true rest of faith, the true restoration to innocence and dependence. It's foreign to those of us who are the children of the knowledge of good and evil. So, we're going to continually have to renew our minds. We're going to continually have to put our own wills to death. We're going to continually have to take His yoke upon us, and learn of Him, and become meek and lowly in heart, in spirit. We're going to have to deal with that haughtiness. We're going to have to learn to humble ourselves so that, in due time, God can do all of the exalting. When we begin to talk about this rest, we're going to talk about a spirit of humility that can rest in dependence upon God and rest in His timing. And that's important for us to understand.

So, as we get ready to continue on for this evening in the study, remember what He says. He says, "If you take on this spirit, if you'll learn from Me (the meek and lowly Who divested Himself of all His majesty that He would become totally dependent upon the Father), then you will find rest for your souls." Until then, you're going to live in anxiety. The admonition of the apostle, then, will never become a reality for you. The apostle tells us to be anxious for nothing; but in everything, through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. You see that dependence that God is going to do exceeding abundant above anything that we could ask or think, the thanksgiving that God is in control, that our steps are being ordered of the Lord, and we can now rest because God is working and willing His good pleasure in our lives. The divine rest.

What are you warring today? We're all involved in some kind of a battle. If there is any spiritual life in us, every one of us is experiencing some type of purging process. There is a pruning that's going on in our lives. God is either orchestrating it somehow by His own personal visitation, it's being done by trial or tribulation, by adverse circumstances, or whatever it might be. But you and I are being pruned, we're being purged, and we're being purified that we might bring forth some more fruit. Are you at rest in what God is doing in your life right now? Are you absolutely confident with the course that Father has you on? Are you a little bit uptight? Are you requiring of God some more information? "My soul will not calm down until You give me some more pieces of this puzzle, until I become confident that I know what my fate is, what the outcome of this is--whether I should wait one more day for the healing, or take the medication, or keep the appointment. I need one more piece of the puzzle." No; you need to enter the rest of God.

Let's turn over to Hebrews and deal with a passage of Scripture that we're all very familiar with as it pertains to the rest of God. He tells us in Hebrews 3:12, "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God." Paul is speaking here concerning the type of Israel refusing to go into the Promised Land, and it was because of the hardness of their hearts, the unbelief. We saw that unbelief is what God calls defection from dependence upon Him. Unbelief is when we no longer, in innocence, are totally depending upon the promises or the presence of God. (He said, "My presence has gone before you, and it's going to bring rest.) "Unbelief" is an interesting word, as you study it out. That word "unbelief" (you might want to get this in your notes) means "unpersuadableness." They could not be persuaded that what God was saying was correct. They heard the promise. And let us fear (he goes on to say in chapter 4, verse 1) lest the promise being left us, we fail to enter into our rest. They failed to enter into the rest, the land that flowed with milk and honey. Have we entered into our rest of absolute dependence upon Jesus? You talk about a land that flows with milk and honey! Hang out with Jesus, man; absolutely trust in Him. He'll do exceeding abundant above anything you can ask or think. If He's for us, nobody can be against us. We can ask anything in His name and He will do it, praise God! He's given us power and authority over all power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means harm us. In this day, that's something to rejoice in.

Now, do you believe that, or are you unpersuaded? Do you believe that He will never leave you nor forsake you, or do you have an evil heart of unbelief? Are you uptight a little bit? Are you fearful? Did the sniper scare you? Does the war cause anxiety? It doesn't cause anxiety to me; it just causes frustration. That's no war--piddling around over there, afraid to turn the enemy's lights off. I'll put their lights out--go over there and occupy that land, and take their oil wells until we pay this thing off. I'll tell you what. The French would be paying $15.00 a gallon, and we would be paying a dime! Put me in charge of those oil wells! An evil heart of unbelief, unpersuaded that what God has promised, He's able to perform. "There are giants in the land!" Of course there are giants in the land! It's just that we're able to put a thousand to flight, and two of us can put ten thousand giants to flight. Can you say "Amen!" to that? We're the head and not the tail, praise God! We're above only and not beneath. Are you persuaded of that, or is there still that evil heart of unbelief? Are you fearful of the economic situation in the world today? Are you fearful of the new strain of flu that they're not able to identify yet? Do you live in fear? Beloved, we have not received the spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind, praise God! We're becoming a fearful nation because we don't trust in our God. We're trusting in ourselves. We are pitiful gods, and that's why people are afraid. But the children of light, the children of faith, have no fear. We go in the same spirit as the great cloud of witnesses that has gone on before us. We're like David of old, who said, "I'll go down there and whip that guy! Just give me a second; I'll gather up five stones." People have said, "Why five stones? Was he afraid he was going to miss?" No; he knew the giant had four brothers. He would have taken the whole family out, praise God!

What kind of faith are you moving in this evening? Is there an anxiousness in you like there was in David's brother? His brother accused him, "You're a naughty boy; you're sitting here, and you're just vaunting yourself!" But is there something burning within you that says, "How can this man stand? How can this enemy (Satan) stand? How can all of this flesh and sin stand, and oppose, and mock our God? I'm going to go and do something about this!" Are you sitting by passively at home, hoping that you can maintain? Or are you looking for opportunities to go out and resist the enemy and watch him flee? The Scripture makes it very clear, beloved, that we're to become offensive once we enter the divine rest of God. The rest is ceasing from our own works, but don't misunderstand what that means. When you cease from your own works, it's because you've taken up the work of God. It's because now you're busy about the eternal things. You're now moving in the Spirit, and not in the arm of the flesh, and not in your own strength. Having done all, the Scripture says, we're supposed to stand. Have you done all? What have you done to drive the enemy out of your household? What have you done to get rid of the fear, the chronic sickness, the apathy, the carnality? What have we done with the promise that's been left to us? Are we eating the good fruit of the land, or do we have to admit that within us is an evil heart of unbelief? We're not "just lacking God's best." It's an evil heart of unbelief. It's evil in that it is not of God, evil in that it opposes the holiness of God.

So, we begin to understand it's is not just about whether or not we're at peace in our minds. It's whether or not God is being glorified. This evil heart of unbelief exalts the enemy; it exalts the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God." Are you running toward God, or are you departing from Him? Are you quicker to believe today than you used to be, or are you slower? Is it easier to trust in the arm of the flesh and the technology that's available to us today? Or is there still a jealously for the blood of Jesus and the promises of God's Word that says, "by His stripes, we are healed," that says, "the effectual fervent prayers of righteous men avail much?" Are you jealous for those promises? Does it disturb you when those around you (and yourself) are not able to believe when God is mocked in our generation? You see, this is what the Spirit of God is speaking to us. So, what does he say here? He says, "Exhort one another daily." That's what I'm doing tonight. I'm exhorting you. This is exhortation. I'm encouraging you and saying that we've got to do something about the unbelief in our lives. We've got to do something about glorifying God, about seeking His promises, and watching them being fulfilled. "But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened..." If there is not a purging or a purifying, then what is happening? There is a hardening of the heart. If there's not a breaking up of the fallow ground, then it's becoming crusted. We need to understand that. And there is no neutral position.

It's like all of that nonsense that's going on in the war over there. You have France, Germany and these other countries that are worried about what's going to happen, and whether or not after we invade them [Iraq], we'll be obligated to fix it. Well, we built them back! What we need to understand, as it pertains to this spiritual warfare that you and I are dealing with now, is that there is a hardening. If there is not a breaking up of this fallow ground, then there is that crusting over that's taking place. What are you doing? There is no neutrality. At least France is taking a position. I've never understood the Swiss. "We're neutral." You can't be neutral! Who said you're neutral? You're on the planet, aren't you? We all want to be neutral. How many of you know that, as Christians, we of all people cannot be neutral? We have a position to take. We have a war to fight. There is an enemy to be driven out. Jesus said, "I did not come to bring peace; I came to bring a sword." There is no neutrality. There is no neutral; it's full speed ahead, praise God!

So, when we understand the Scriptures, look at what he goes on to say to us here. He says, "You've got to be careful, because there is a hardening that takes place through the deceitfulness of sin." The deceitfulness of sin. The deceitfulness of sin, as it pertains to this context, is the fact that there is a reliance upon self. There's an independence that some people think is acceptable in God's sight because it appears to be "moral." We're out doing "the work of God" in our own strength; yet the Scripture says very clearly, "Without Me, you can do nothing." There is a deceitfulness. It tells us, "You're all right; everything is okay. You're not out in the world. You're not taking drugs. You're not committing adultery. You're bringing a paycheck home and taking care of your kids. You're opposing homosexuality. You're opposing the promiscuity of our day. Everything is all right." Is it? Or are you just a moral individual? Are you just a religious individual? Or are you absolutely dependent upon God as the source of your life, your strength, your wisdom, and your reason for being? Because the whole duty of man is to fear God and keep His commandments. The deceitfulness of sin has made us busy about greater education, the acquisition of more things, the tranquility of mind in the midst of our sociological intercourse. Here we are, and we think that when all these things are in place, this was God's intent for man. God's intent was to have fellowship for man. God's intention was to walk with man in the garden. God's intention was to have man absolutely dependent upon Himself for His own glory.

The deceitfulness of sin, the deceitfulness of the knowledge of the tree of good and evil. We've been caught up in "good," and we're missing God. That's something we have to guard ourselves against at all times. It's a very deceitful thing. We look around and say, "Praise God! Things are well, and the churches are full, and we're working together. And do you know what? We're even working with the Jews, and we're even working with the Muslims with this drug problem, and all of these different things. We're just bringing heaven to earth!" It's an abomination in the sight of God. So, we have to step back and say, "Okay; in my own life, what's taking place?"

We've talked in times past about the Oral Roberts thing out in Tulsa. I talked about that years ago--the big 70-feet hands that come together that he said are the hand of Jesus and the hand of doctors and medicine. And he said that's God's method. We've said in the past, that is not God's method of healing. Now remember that I said I'm not against doctors, and I'm not against people taking medicine. I made the statement, "You go to doctors for God, not instead of God." If you're going to go to a doctor, it should be so that you could be made better to serve God. You should be strengthened to be able to believe God. It should be something that sustains you so that you never have to go to another doctor. You don't go instead of God; if you're going to go, you go for God. You go to get some help, and it sustains you. But in the midst of this thing, are you believing God? Is God your source? Is He your strength? What are you doing with these exceedingly great and precious promises that God has given us? Are they dropping to the ground in unbelief? Are we fainting at the walled cities and the giants that we come up against? What are we doing to make ourselves strong in the spiritual warfare of God so that we don't trust in the arm of the flesh, so that God's methods could manifest in our midst, so that we could be at peace? And we march around the city without weapons, without voice, without natural plan, speaking no unbelief, and holding our tongue until God says, "Shout My praise!" We glorify God, and the walls come down, praise God! What are we doing with the promises of God, the divine rest, the ability to cease from our own labors? Today if you will hear His voice, harden not your heart.

Oh, beloved, we used to hear so freely the voice of God, and yet these hardened hearts don't allow that seed to fall on good ground anymore. We hear the doctrine of man; we hear the voice of science; we hear from our economic advisers. Everyone has the answer for your life. You put together the right team, and all is well for you and yours. And the Spirit of God speaks and says, "...To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. For some, when they had heard, did provoke..." They had heard the promise. They had heard to enter into the land, and yet they couldn't. But, thank God, there is a remnant! Thank God that there are among the people a Joshua and a Caleb, those who have another spirit in them. Don't you want to be one of those men? Don't you long to be one of those men?

Just as we were in worship tonight, as I was just praising the Lord and worshiping Him, I thought, "Lord, I'd like to be one of those men. I'd like to be your friend. I want to see things nobody else sees, and hear things nobody else hears. I've tasted, Lord, but I just want to know You more. There is so much of Your presence that I've not embraced. There is so much more, Father. If I could be emptied out and poured out, You could be seen, and Your name could be glorified in me." Isn't that where your heart is tonight?

Who was it that God was grieved with, that the Apostle addresses? Who were they, those who had hardened their hearts in this provocation? Who were they that grieved the heart of God, those whose carcasses fell in the wilderness, verse 17 says? "So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief" (verse 19). Unpersuadableness--they were persuaded more by the circumstances. They were persuaded more by what they saw, by what they felt in their emotions, and by what their minds could understand, than by what God had promised. They were incapable of the divine math.

Today, we have the new math, and I guess we have new English. It's amazing. In California, the schools were experimenting. They were more interested in the children expressing themselves than in proper grammar and spelling. So, spelling didn't matter. You could spell words any way you wanted, just as long as you'd expressed yourself. What good is expressing yourself if nobody knows what you're talking about? There are laws that have to be followed. There is some communication that has to take place.

God is calling us in this day to be able to enter into the promise of God. There are natural laws, and then there are spiritual laws. There is the divine math, and we saw it with one of the great prophets. You remember when the enemy was getting ready to overwhelm the city. Elisha was standing there with his servant at his side, and he said, "There are more for us than there are for them." The servant looks and he sees the thousands and thousands of natural men who were opposing them. He looks to the natural and sees just the prophet and himself, and it's not adding up. (The evil heart of unbelief, the unpersuadableness of those whose hearts have been hardened through unbelief and the deceitfulness of sin, those who believe the lie of what they can see and what they can understand instead of the truth of the promise of God.) It made no sense; it didn't add up. "There are not, in the natural, more for us than there are for them. There are only two of us and thousands of them!" "Oh God, open his eyes that he could see!" Oh God, open our eyes so that we could see Who is for us!

Do you believe that He has given His angels charge over you, lest you dash your foot against a stone? Do you believe that this room is filled with invisible creatures who are able to close lions' mouths, and slap the wheels off of chariots, and who can spare you from the furnace? Help us, Father, and our evil hearts of unbelief. What do you see tonight? I'm here to tell you that there are more for us than there are for them. Can you say "Amen!" to that? Open our eyes, Father, that we would look to the hills from whence comes our help, that we would look and see the chariots of fire that surround us that are a very present help in the time of trouble.

They could not enter in because of unbelief. They had evil hearts, natural hearts. What makes an evil heart? One that is devoid of the presence of God, one where the presence of God is absent. What makes an evil heart? An independent heart. What makes an evil heart? A heart that understands it all, that has it figured out. It's one that is very efficient in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil instead of the tree of life. Where are you eating? Where are you drawing your strength? From which tree do you gain your sustenance, your strength, and your confidence? Which fruit are you pursuing? Which one has the interest of your heart? Which one is the most exciting to you?

I love technology; I like all the new stuff. But stop and think of everything man has devised in his natural state, and then contrast it with our God. And He just winks and laughs. God can do more with a hiccup than all of our bombs put together! One word, and it's all over. One word, and Lazarus came forth. Our great enemy, death, is overcome by just one word. So, why would we fear death if He stands at our side? One word, and Satan has to come to His presence. Yet Christians live in fear of that roaring lion devouring the fearful, those whom he may devour. There are those that he can't devour. He'll leave you alone, praise God! Just like he left Jesus for a season, he'll leave you alone. Let him show up, resist him, slap him around a little bit, and he'll leave you alone! It's like the joke we told you years ago with the elephant and the lion. The king of the jungle was roaring, and everybody was trembling. The lion said, "Who's the king of the jungle?" And the little gazelle says, "You are!" Everybody is bowing, and here comes the elephant. The lion says, "Who's the king of the jungle?" And the elephant grabs him with his trunk, body slams him, and throws him off the tree. The lion gets up and says, "You don't have to get mad just because you don't know the answer!" Who is the king of your jungle? Are you resisting him and watching him flee? Can I ask you a question? Are you at rest, ceasing from your own labors?

The one thing Father did in my life, in these last number of months as we went down the home stretch with Janet, is that He allowed me to enter into rest. I came into that place of being emptied of myself. I hated it in the natural, but there was a sweet fragrance of the rose of Sharon instead of the foul smell of self-confidence. There was a real refreshing as (just to live) we drank from the deep, still waters of the rest of God's presence instead of the chlorinated, immediate-access faucet of man's understanding and ability. You can't drink of those still waters by just running in and turning the faucet on. You've got to spend time in the presence of God. You've got to get alone in the green pastures. You've got to get quiet from all the cares of this world. There has to be a focusing on the other world (the other kingdom, the invisible city) or you won't know the rest of God. Which tree entices you? Which fruit catches your fancy?

"Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it." Israel missed the natural rest. They missed the promised land; they died in the wilderness. There is a rest that has been promised to you now, since Jesus has won this battle, since Jesus has established His church and His kingdom. There's a rest of faith right now that belongs to those of us who have been regenerated, bought with a price. We're no longer our own, praise God! There is a people who belong in a rest, and he says you need to fear if you're missing out on that. You need to be afraid if you're not eating the fruit of that rest. They didn't partake, he says in verse 2, because the Word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith. What are we doing with the Word that we all can so fluently quote? Are we living it or quoting it? Are we trusting in it or studying it? Is it rejuvenating our hearts, or is the legality of it condemning and binding us through fleshly, pharisaical legalism because we misunderstand His holiness? There is no holiness in legalism; it's just self-assurance, self-righteousness. You see, if there isn't this rest that we're talking about, then your holiness is not holiness. It's legalism; it's morality; it's self-discipline. Holiness only comes by faith, by dependence upon God, by innocence.

So, as the Spirit of God speaks to us here, He says the problem that these guys had is that the Word preached was not mixed with faith. Now, we know what faith is. Faith is trust, assurance, and reliance. Trust, assurance, reliance--powerful words! Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Our faith is the victory. If you had faith as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, "Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea." Faith--trust, assurance, and reliance upon the presence of God. Total, absolute dependence upon God--that's what faith is. Faith is absenting ourselves from all self-reliance to where we're 100-percent dependent upon God. And if God's Word is not fulfilled, then we do without. But, you see, we don't believe that we're to do without, so we always have a "Plan B." We have a natural backup; we work with a net. God is wanting to bring us into a realm of faith that is pure, that will bring Him glory, that is unadulterated, that men could see the work and glorify our Father which is in heaven.

Lets close with this. Turn to Daniel for just a second, and let me show you the great example of this. We're all very familiar with this story, so we don't have to spend a lot of time in it. I want to refer to the one phrase that is so important to this that I'm emphasizing tonight--the pure glory of God, the unadulterated worship of God, the recognition of the divine, the supernatural, the provision of the Most High, that's not skewed in any way by the possibility that it could be circumstantial or natural. We know it's God. That's what He's wanting to bring us to in our daily walk, and it can only be arrived at in one way. We have to mix the Word, the promises, with faith. We have to flee the evil heart of unbelief. We have to willfully look for the invisible. We have to seek it, look for it, and expect it because it has been promised.

In the third chapter of Daniel, the phrase right towards the end of verse 12 says that there's a problem. There are these three young men, gifted of God, and "they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." Don't you want to be known for not serving their gods? When you go to work, when you go into the neighborhood, when you go to the mall, when you go to wherever it is, don't you want to be known that way? "They don't serve our gods; those people are different!" The tragic thing today is that so many people who profess to be Christians want to be thought of just like everybody else. We are not. We are unique; we are a holy people. We are that royal priesthood, that holy nation, praise God! We're that peculiar people, called to show forth the praises of Him Who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. How are you known among the religious? They need to know we're different.

As you read through the story, the question was asked in verse 15, ".and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?" We're at war. Satan is constantly mocking God and opposing God. "If you will not worship me, you will be cast into my judgment. And who is this God that will deliver you out of my hands?" They responded in verse 16, "...we are not careful to answer thee in this matter..." They said, "We have a bold statement we would like to make. We want to let you know loud and clear who our God is. We want you to understand something, king. First of all, understand this: our God is able to deliver us. We want to go on record and tell you that our God is able to deliver us. [But here is where the rest comes in, and we're going to talk about this in the next session.] He is able [and then faith says] and He will." We've kicked this thing up a notch, haven't we? You talk to a good Baptist, and do you know what he will tell you? "God can heal." Do you know what a child of faith will say? "God can, and He will!"

This is where I used to get into it with a lot of the preachers in the Assemblies of God. The Assemblies of God doctrine states their belief in divine healing. So many in the movement began to move away from that, and they began to say, "Well, we believe in divine healing." The devil believes and trembles! Do you have the assurance? Do you believe that healing is in the atonement, that by the blood of Jesus and by His stripes we are healed? It's not, "God can," but "God will; God has. And even if He doesn't, I'm not bowing my knee and serving your god of unbelief." That evil heart of unbelief is in the midst of a lot of Pentecostals, a lot of people that say they believe in divine healing. It's not just the pagans; it's not just the fundamentalists.

So we see here as the Spirit speaks to us, these young men said, "I want you to understand something, king. Our God is able, and He will deliver us; but if not..." Be careful; don't ever lose the sovereignty of God in your doctrine. We don't understand it all. God's promises are yea and amen, and they're sure to a thousand generations, praise God! It is the will of God to heal all, but not everybody gets healed. I don't understand, but I understand this: God's Word is yea and amen. His promises are sure. The prayer of faith saves the sick. All things are possible to those who believe in Him. We can't explain everything. We're not supposed to explain it. The understandable is from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I don't understand God and His ways; they're too deep. But I understand the Word that He has revealed to me. I understand that it is His will for me to be healed. I understand that He has given me all power and all authority over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means harm me. I believe that no weapon formed against me prospers. I believe the prayer of faith saves the sick. I believe that all things are possible to him that believes. And even if He doesn't, I'm not bowing my knee. I will not acknowledge another way, because Jesus is the way.

Now remember, I'm not talking about your going to see a doctor about something. I'm talking about who we're trusting in. Are we jealous for the glory? What are we doing to move from here to there? Are you content? Is this acceptable to you, this evil heart of unbelief? Are you seeking more, like Job, to justify yourself than to seek for a greater glory for God? I want to tell you something. If somebody missed it, it's me. If something is not working right, it's because of my hand in it. But God does all things well, praise God!

Do you want to know what the response is of those of the other kingdom to this kind of statement? It says, "Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed..." Dear God! You start talking about Jesus being the only way, you start talking about trusting only in Him, you start talking about the ultimate glory being God's, that man deserves no praise, that man deserves no recognition, and you're going to get some people ticked off! Oh, that we would have the heart of these young men of Israel--these young lions who were ten times wiser than anything the world could produce, who would not eat the king's dainties, but lived a life of discipline! Their eyes were brightened because of their obedience to the methods of God.

We know the story, don't we? They heat the furnace seven times more, those who throw these young men in are consumed, and then the astonishing of the king. "Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished. He rose up in haste and said to his counselors, 'Did not we cast three men bound [bound in unbelief, bound in fear, bound by their own knowledge, bound by the limitations of the flesh] into that furnace? How is it that I see four men loose, walking in the midst of this fire called life with no hurt on them? Who is that fourth man? He appears to be like the Son of God.' And when the princes, and the governors, and the captains, and the king's counselors gathered together and saw these men upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was a hair of their hair singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire upon them--when they saw them, then Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said, 'Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Blessed be the name of God.'"

Do you remember the story I told you about the little Jewish jeweler when God had raised his mother up from what the doctors had said was imminent death? When he told the testimony, he knew that it was an answer to prayer, and I said, "Isn't Jesus good?" This little Jew, without thinking, said, "Yeah!" Now, when he stopped to think about it... But you can't deny that a notable miracle has been done, amen? God wants to do these miracles in our lives so that He could be glorified, beloved, so that little Jews will talk about how good Jesus is.

Nebuchadnezzar said, "Blessed be the God Who sent His angel and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word..." I like that! The god of this world, the one who opposes the Word of God, the one who says that his word is truth--you resist him, and he'll flee. And look at this next phrase: "...and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God." That yielded their bodies--Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your spiritual service. And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that we might prove what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. To whom are you going to yield your body? Who will be glorified in your life tonight?

Father, help us to enter into that rest. It's not without a war. It's not without a cross. It's not without daily dying. It is not going to manifest until we cease from our own labors. We want to figure it all out. We want to have it all under control. We want to build a safety net. Help us to use our time and energy seeking Your face and Your promises so that our motive for being would not be self-existence, but the glory of our God, not a prolonging of ourselves, but an exalting of Your name. Make it real, Father, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Let's stand before the Lord. We'll take a moment as Gary plays for us. I understand the hour that's on us, yet that's nothing in light of eternity. We push it out of our minds; we bring the thoughts into subjection. "I'm so tired from the..." The presence of God will change that, the refreshing. This is the refreshing--praying in the Spirit, a jealously for the glory of God, a jealously for hearts of faith, a jealously for the unseen, the invisible, not departing from the living God, but departing from the evil heart of unbelief. There is a rest to the people of God. There is a rest to the people of God. Mix that Word with faith, and there is a rest to the people of God. Take the promises, and step out on them, and trust, and rely, and be assured, and there is a rest to the people of God--looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. I gladly bow my knee. Let's sing it together and worship Him. "All Heaven Declares..."

Worship Him tonight; just take a moment, and glory in the Lord and His presence. Declare His majesty! Declare His lordship in your life! How big is your God tonight? He's bigger than your trial, praise God! He transcends time and space. Hallelujah! He is eternal in His being. He is perfect in His ways. He is just in His determination. His Word is to be trusted, His wisdom sought, His methods applied, and His name glorified.

Be exalted in our life, Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Before you go, turn to somebody next to you and say, "There is a rest, praise God!" Go in peace; God's love go with you.

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