I’m going to be reading two passages tonight, one from Mark and another one from Numbers. I’ll be reading from Mark 5. I think that’s on page 1069 of your Pew Bibles. And then Numbers 10, which I believe is on page 150 of your Pew Bibles. Let’s give attention to the Word of God. Mark chapter 5, beginning in verse 25. Actually, I’ll begin at the end of 24. And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him.
And there was a woman who had a discharge of blood for 12 years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, if I touch even his garment, I will be made well. And immediately the flow of blood dried up. And she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.
And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, who touched my garments? And his disciples said to him, you see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, who touched me? And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your disease. Stop there and now turn to numbers. Chapter 10. Once again, let’s give attention to the Word of God. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, make two silver trumpets of hammered work.
You shall make them, and you shall use them for summoning the congregation and for breaking camp. And when both are blown, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the entrance of the tent of meeting. But if they blow only one, then the chiefs, the heads of the tribes of Israel shall gather themselves to you. When you blow an alarm, the camps that are on the east side shall set out. And when you blow an alarm the second time, the camps that are on the south side shall set out. An alarm is to be blown whenever they are to set out. But when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow a long blast, but you shall not sound an alarm.
And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets. The trumpets shall be for you a perpetual statute throughout your generations. And when you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets that you may be remembered before the Lord your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies. On the day of your gladness also, And at your appointed feasts, at the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings. They shall be a reminder of you before your God. I am the Lord your God.”
In the second year, in the second month, on the 20th day of the month, the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony, and the people of Israel set out by stages from the wilderness of Sinai. And the clouds settled down in the wilderness of Paran. And they set out for the first time at the command of the Lord by Moses. The standard of the camp of the people of Judah set out first by their companies.
And over their company was Nashan, the son of Amenadab. And over the company of the tribe of the people of Issachar was Nathaniel, the son of Zuar. And over the company of the tribe of Zebulon was Eliab, the son of Helan. And when the tabernacle was taken down, the sons of Gershon And the sons of Morari, who carried the tabernacle, set out. And the standard of the camp of Reuben set out by their companies. And over their company was Elisur, the son of Shadur.
And over the company of the tribe of the people of Simeon was Shelumel, the son of Zerishadai. And over the company of the tribe of the people of Gad was Elisaph, the son of Duel. Then the Kohathite set out, carrying the holy things. And the tabernacle was set up before their arrival. And the standard of the camp of the people of Ephraim set out by their companies.
And over their company was Elishamah, the son of Amahud. And over the company of the tribe of the people of Manasseh was Gamaliel, son of Ped-ah-huzir. And over the company of the tribe of the people of Benjamin was Abaddon, the son of Gideoni. Then the standard of the camp of the people of Dan, acting as the rear guard of all the camps set out by their companies. And over their company was Ahazir, the son of Amashadai. And over the company of the tribe of the people of Asher was Pegil, the son of Akran. And over the company of the tribe of the people of Naphtali was Ahara, the son of Enan. This was the order of march of the people of Israel by their companies when they set out.
And Moses said to Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, we’re setting out for the place of which the Lord said, I will give it to you. Come with us, and we will do good to you. For the Lord has promised good to Israel. But he said to him, I will not go. I will depart to my own land and my kindred. And he said, please do not leave us, for you know where we should camp in the wilderness. And you will serve as eyes for us. And if you do go with us, whatever good the Lord will do to us, the same will we do to you.
So they set out from the mount of the Lord three days’ journey. And the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them, three days’ journey, to seek out a resting place for them. And the cloud of the Lord was over them by day whenever they set out from the camp. And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you. And when it rested, he said, return, O Lord, to the ten thousands, thousands of Israel.
Let’s find the reading of the Word of God. Amen. Would you pray with me? Father and our God, we need your spirit this evening. Guide us and direct us as we’ve read this passage, these two passages that you’ve given to us for our edification, for revealing yourself to us, for showing us your Son, our Savior, the Lord, our King, help us, guide us now. We ask all this in Jesus’s name, amen.
Are you weary? It seems to be an appropriate question for this particular passage in Numbers tonight. Are you weary? You could ask that same question of that woman who was besieged with bleeding for 12 years, as we read that from Mark’s Gospel. Discharge of blood, 12 years. Suffered much under many physicians, spending all her money to find a cure and not getting it. In fact, it gets worse. She was likely weary.
And as she hears of Christ, she knows where she needs to go to find relief, ultimately, to find relief. And so she comes as the account goes and touches his garment. Indeed, that was all she needed, all she needed to address her weariness. was to touch Jesus’s garment. And we then hear the words of Jesus Christ as the woman comes, having been found out. Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Do you see how she must have left that day? Coming in her affliction, coming in her weariness, and leaving in peace and rest.
It seems to me to be a good introduction to our passage this evening. As we continue this study in numbers, as we have been reading about the preparations that have been ongoing amongst the Israelites in order for them to head out to the promised land, and we’ve been scratching our heads and wondering, when are you guys going to be able to go? And now here we read of it. Everything seems to have been set in place.
The Lord has given his commands. He’s assigned various tasks to various groups, especially the Levites. The priests have lots of work to do on the way. But now we read of those trumpets being made, commanded by God, that which would call the congregations now to pack up and leave, head out, following the pillar of cloud and fire. And then we read of the movement, the movement of the various tribes, of the various companies, the fact that the tent of meeting had been disassembled and now is being carried out. And that the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them to seek out a resting place. That seems to be, for me, the center of this particular passage, that the Ark of the Lord went before them to seek out a resting place. The Israelites were seeking rest.
Tonight, I’d like us to see if we could sum up this passage in this way. Sinners need to be led by Jesus Christ to their spiritual rest. Very simple. Sinners need to be led by Jesus Christ to their spiritual rest. And we’ll see that in three heads, three points this evening. First, sinners need rest. Secondly, sinners find rest. And then finally, sinners enjoy rest. As we begin this passage, I’d like you to be asking yourself that question again. Am I weary? Am I weary? Well, first, sinners need rest. As we read through this passage, the question came to my mind, why leave? Why just not stay put? Why wouldn’t they just stay at Mount Sinai?
They had made it out of Egypt. They had made it out of the iron furnace, out of the land of oppression. They were separated from the Egyptians, from their oppressors. They had a tent of meeting. The tabernacle was in place, all erected with a lampstand set up and shining. Why not just stay put right where they were? It seems to be a valid question. And the answer seems to be fairly straightforward.
God called them out. Like he called Moses out of the Ur of the Chaldeans, he called him out. Like he called the Israelites out of Egypt, he was now calling them from the foot of the mountain of Mount Sinai out now into the wilderness. The trumpets had been fabricated. They had now been blown. The alarm was sounded. The cloud had lifted. And they were called to go. That’s the simple answer. They were called to go out by God. But there seems to be more.
It seems that the Lord is sending these out into the wilderness specifically to pursue rest. Again, that verse 33, so they set out from the mount of the Lord three days journey, and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them three days journey to seek out a resting place for them. Now you might be thinking, as I was, that the promised land was to be that place of rest. Their ultimate end to their journey was to be that place of rest.
In Genesis 17, the Lord tells Moses, I will give to you and to your offspring, excuse me, he tells Abraham, not Moses, I’ll give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, one that’s never going to be taken away from you. Never going to be taken away from your descendants. They’ll have it forever. And I will be their God. That’s rest. Not having to move from place to place. Not living in tents. An everlasting possession.
In Joshua, as the Israelites are now about to enter the promised land. Joshua was told, remember the word that Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you, saying, the Lord your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land, even designated as a place of rest.
And later on in Joshua, as the battles are over, as far as Joshua was concerned, the Lord gave them rest on every side. Not one of their enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands. That was rest. The battles, as far as Joshua was concerned, were over. But what about before they were to enter the Promised Land? That was the ultimate place of rest, as far as they were concerned. But didn’t they need rest even before they entered? Webster’s defines rest, at least a part of it is, the mind is at rest when it ceases to be disturbed or agitated. Does that describe you tonight? A disturbed mind, a disturbed heart, an agitated heart? Maybe you’re saying, no, it’s not me.
Well, think of the attacks of Satan. Satan attacked Job. He went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores. Now that’s physical, but this was all a spiritual attack by Satan on Job. Stretch out your hand and touch his bone and flesh and he will curse you to your… That was Job. That was Satan’s desire. That as he participated in striking Job, that Job would curse God. He was under attack.
Jesus was under attack by Satan as he led into the wilderness. If you see any parallels there to Israel, you should. Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, if you are the Son of God, et cetera. If Satan was bold enough to attack the Son of God, is he not bold enough to attack you?
Of course. He’s constantly seeking someone to devour. Isn’t that what Peter wrote? The devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour, and Peter writes to those Jews and Gentiles in the dispersion, resist him. Resist him. Because Satan is constantly tempting. You see, the Israelites were under attack, but you’re under attack as well from Satan, but you’re also under attack from the world.
At the end of the sermon, excuse me, at the end of the Upper Room Discourse, in John chapter 16, John records the words of Jesus Christ. And he tells, as Jesus is finishing up his last lesson to his disciples, he’s telling them, the hour is coming, indeed it’s come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and leave me alone, yet I’m not alone, for the Father is with me, and I’ve said these things to you, that in me you may have peace, and the world You will have tribulation. As the Greek dictionary defines this Greek word, it’s this idea or metaphorical idea of trouble, distress, oppression, affliction. That’s the idea.
In the world, you will have distress, oppression, affliction, persecution. So you’re under attack from Satan, and Jesus tells you that you’re also under attack from the world, as it will persecute you. But finally, you’re also under attack from within. from the sin that resides within.
Isn’t that what David was actually writing about as he pens Psalm 51? And he opens Psalm 51 by pleading for mercy because he knows what’s going on within his heart. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions. It’s the first thing he writes. He’s under attack from his own sin as he sinned with Bathsheba. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, cleanse me from my sin.
That was the burning desire in David’s heart because he was under attack and he was weary. And Paul was weary as he pens a portion of Romans chapter 7. I know that nothing good dwells in me that is in my flesh for I have the desire to do what is right but not the ability to carry it out. There’s this irreconcilable war happening within Paul and he’s writing it down for everyone to see. I’m weary. I don’t do the good I want. And so there are multiple points of attack.
It was the same thing for the Israelites. If they weren’t under attack, attacked by their own sin and attacked by Satan, then we’ve got to question, why did they need all these animal sacrifices day and night? Why did all those cultic regulations and instructions regarding burnt offerings and sin offerings and guilt offerings and peace offerings need to be given Why did they lean to the Levites to protect them from the wrath of God if they got too close to the tent of meeting? Why did they need a priest to offer blood on their behalf, blood of an animal, if they weren’t under attack constantly? It was because they were under attack by their own sin, by their indwelling and besetting sins, and by the consummate tempter Satan.
And so they needed rest. They needed spiritual rest. And God was sending them out to find it. Just like you. Are you weary? Jesus spoke to those who were weary. At the end of Matthew’s gospel in chapter 11, Jesus says this, these powerful words, come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. The New American Standard translates it this way, come to me all you who are weary. It’s a graphic picture, take my yoke upon you, learn from me from gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls from my yoke is easy.
One who is carrying a load, that’s what he’s describing. Like an ox hitched to a wagon or a cart. Working and pulling and trudging as it pulls that load along, needing help, needing rest. That wagon is filled with a heavy load. But Jesus is picturing a spiritual load, a weight, an unbearable weight of guilt.
Think of Cain. as he sins against his brother by murdering him. And the Lord punishes Cain by sending him out. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. And Cain said to the Lord, my punishment is greater than I can bear. In a sense, Cain is right. This guilt that is not removed from Cain. Just too great.
Think of that woman who was bleeding for 12 years, who had suffered much under many physicians and spent all she had. It was no better, but rather grew worse. Isn’t that a picture of sin? Isn’t that a picture of the guilt of sin? Just continually bearing down upon you. And you know that because of her bleeding, she was unclean. She couldn’t enter the temple. She couldn’t worship. Jesus was referring to being heavy laden with the guilt of sin. Come to me. Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.
You see his offer? Did you hear that? I’ll give you rest. He offers that needed rest. You will find rest for your souls. Have you accepted his offer? Have you recognized, like David confessed, this awful weight of sin, of guilt, overwhelming weight of guilt bearing down upon you? And if you have, have you accepted his offer of rest? It’s a big question for us tonight, isn’t it?
You have to feel that weight before you’re moved to accept his offer of rest. If you haven’t, if you haven’t felt that weight, pray. Ask Jesus to make you feel it. Because those who were coming to Jesus who were weary had felt that weight. And it’s only then, only then when you’ll cry out to him, give me your rest. Brings us to our second point, sinners find rest. Think of that, the Israelites now, as it’s described here in Numbers 10, this packing up that’s going on.
The trumpets have been blown. People recognize now, oh, the trumpets are blowing. I see in the distance the cloud of pillar and fire is raising up. It’s time to pack. It’s time to move. It’s time to march out. Seems a little bit counterproductive to finding rest, but this is God’s plan. that they would pack up, move out, go, follow the pillar of cloud and fire. So they set out from the Mount of the Lord, a three days journey. Tabernacle’s been taken down. The Levites have come in. They have packed it up now. And the last thing to be taken out are the furniture, so to speak, the holy articles within the tabernacle. and without the tabernacle. And they’re marching.
Consider this fact that the Israelites were about to embark on a 40 year journey in the wilderness. Now they didn’t expect it to be 40 years. It came to be 40 as they sinned against God by failing to trust in him when they came to the promised land for the first time and they refused to go up. And as a result of their distrust of God, as a result of their refusal to do that which God had commanded them to do, they would spend 40 years wandering. What would have been a short trek to the promised land becomes a 40-year-long wilderness wandering.
And throughout these next 40 years to come, there is this continual seeking of rest. a longing for that place where they would go to have rest, a longing for that day when they’ll stop packing their tent, stop taking down and packing up the tent of meeting and moving it to the next place, a longing for that day when their feet will no longer be heavy and worn with marching and trudging through the wilderness, constantly longing for and seeking rest. Does that sound familiar? as you’re trudging through this wilderness.
The Israelites were looking for the promised land, yes, but they were also looking for that place where the pillar of cloud and fire would stop and they would have that place of temporary rest where the tabernacle would be re-erected and the Lord would dwell. And the morning and evening sacrifices would recommence and there would be rest. Because there was that picture of forgiveness that was being set before them morning and night, morning and night. That can describe each of us, can’t it?
Born into this world of sin and misery, walking through this earthly wilderness in which we constantly encounter our own sins, the attacks of Satan, the worldly attacks. Our lives are marked by this constant seeking out of spiritual rest. I think, does that sound familiar? Does that describe your life in general?
If we’re honest, I think we can confess with the Apostle Paul that we’re in this raging conflict, this internal struggle, which can only be described as that irreconcilable war going on within each and every Christian, battling that fierce battle against sin and temptation. And if you’re engaged in that battle, then you’re truly seeking for rest, aren’t you? Constantly longing for rest. and asking, where can this be found? Well, the short answer is you can’t actually produce it yourself. The Israelites couldn’t. The Lord didn’t tell them to go to that resting place that you’ve identified. No. You can’t do it because You sinned in Adam.
Remember what the Lord told Eve upon her sin. To the woman he said, I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing. In pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband. He shall rule over you. Where would the rest be for Eve in that? What about Adam? Because you’ve listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you shall not eat of it. Cursed is the ground because of you. In pain you shall eat of it. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread. Where’s the rest in that? Constant turmoil.
Yes, it’s without us also, meaning Satan and the world bring that turmoil to us as well, but this unbearably heavy weight is mostly within, and so we can’t create rest. We can’t find a place of rest on our own. In fact, we look for rest in all the wrong places. There’s a country song that was sung some time ago. And the title of the lyrics went something like this, I was looking for love in all the wrong places. It seems to be very applicable for us tonight. As we continue to think about spiritual rest, for we tend to look out and seek and try to find rest in all the wrong places.
Some of us seek to find rest in our work, our labors, our employments. Some of us seek to find rest in recreation. longing for the weekend to come, longing for every other day to be the weekend so that we can participate or watch sporting events. Some of us seek to find rest in our families, our relationships, our sons or daughters, parents, or even our neighbors or our friends down the street who we like to spend time with. But the truth is that spiritual rest cannot be found in any of these events, any of these people, or these relationships. Christ must lead you into it. Christ must lead you there. And now I just want to think of this very simple example. You’re here tonight. He’s led you here. If you were here this morning, he led you here to this place to worship.
And Isaiah really tells us of the peace and rest and joy that we have in the Lord’s day. If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, this is Isaiah 58, from doing your own pleasure on my holy day and call the Sabbath a delight and my holy day of the Lord, honorable. If you honor it, not going your own way. See, not going your own way. or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly, then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth. I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord is spoken.”
See, if you hear Isaiah, if you hear Christ in that, he’s calling you that this is the place of rest. Come, enjoy. Rest in me as you worship. He must lead you there. His spirit must take you even up to where Christ is through the veil that’s been torn in two so that you can truly rest in the one who made you as you worship him. Just like the Israelites were being led to that next resting place, however long it took, to that next resting place. Each and every week you’re being led to this place, this house of God, this house of worship, for your rest.
And Christ brings you here and leads you by His Spirit in that rest. Yes, sinners do find rest. in Christ. And then finally, sinners enjoy rest. As you notice in verse 35, at the end of this passage, Moses said, as the ark sets out, arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you.
The Lord is protecting. Every time the Israelites set out, the Lord is protecting. He’s guiding and directing by the pillar of cloud and fire, but he’s also protecting. He’s placing this hedge of protection around them so they’re going to make it to that next place of rest.
And as they do, verse 36, and when it rested, he said, return, O Lord, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel. Think of that picture as they arrive as the pillar of of cloud and fire stops at that next resting place, as it stops its movement, as the marching stops, and as the Levites now go, and I envision the first thing they’re doing is setting up, resetting up the tent of meeting, the tabernacle.
And God, in a sense, descends and dwells amongst his people again. I think that’s what what Moses is asking for. And when it rested, he said, return, O Lord, to the 10,000 thousands of Israel, as the tent of meeting now re-erected, as the sacrifices, the morning and evening sacrifices are recommenced. And in a sense, the people are cleansed such that the Lord can dwell amongst them. And he is the rest.
You see that that’s exactly what Moses was told in Exodus chapter 35. As the people had sinned against God with the golden calf, Moses is told, now therefore, or he asks the Lord, now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people. And he said, this is the Lord, my presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.
Isn’t that what Moses was pleading for? Go with us that we may find rest in you. It’s the presence of the Lord that they needed to enjoy. We reviewed that shorter catechism question and answer this morning, didn’t we? What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
And that’s the sense we get as the Israelites were constantly being led to the place where the Lord would dwell with them, as the pillar of cloud and fire was going on ahead of them and searching for that next place of rest for the 600,000 men, plus women and children. What an image for our hearts and minds to be set upon this evening, as the pillar of cloud and fire would raise up from the tent of meeting and head out, and then it would as the Israelites had no idea where it was about to stop.
It would stop. It was headed to that next place of rest. It would stop at that exact point where God would descend once again and dwell amongst His people in the tent of meeting, the tabernacle, and the Holy of Holies, camping and dwelling and abiding in the midst of His people. Each time that’s where the pillar of cloud and fire was headed. That next location, that next place, the next dwelling of the Lord with his people, where the cultic sacrifices would be offered up, where the blood would be shed and worship would be had.
Can you see that picture? You may be thinking to yourself tonight, well, that sounds great for the Israelites. The Lord picking out that next particular place, that geographic location on the face of the earth, where the Lord would dwell with his people with the intent of meeting with them, such that they would camp around it and have rest, enjoy spiritual rest. But what about me?
How can this sweet rest be experienced and enjoyed? I think that’s what each of us should be asking tonight. I’m pretty sure all you’ve answered that question, am I weary to an extent? Yes, I am. But the next question is this, how can you enjoy and experience that sweet rest? Have you experienced it? If you’re here this evening, you might be thinking in your heart, yes, I have. I have enjoyed it. Some may be thinking, no, I haven’t.
But if you have, if you have experienced that joyful, spiritual rest in Christ, I ask you, what does it look like? What does it look like? Could you describe it to anyone? Your neighbor down the street. You know, we’re supposed to be lights, the light of Christ. And shouldn’t we be able to describe what that light looks like? Rest in Christ is light. Can you describe that to anybody, that experiential rest, that which your neighbor doesn’t know of?
I think we should admit right now this is truly a difficult thing to describe, even if you’ve experienced it. Even if you’re able to say, yes, I’ve experienced this rest in Christ, I’ve enjoyed this rest in Christ, can you describe it? And the answer probably is, I don’t know. Let me help us tonight. Let me help us even consider what this experiential rest in Christ might look like. First, it looks like peace within your soul. within your heart with regard to your sin. Now let me explain. A Christian should never be OK with his or her sin. That’s not what I’m saying. A Christian should always hate more today than you did yesterday, your sin.
But spiritual rest looks like Your confession of sin looks like knowing and confessing that I continue to sin, but that you’ve been forgiven in the blood of Christ. To be at rest while yet a sinner is to know that for as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
That’s spiritual rest. Knowing that even as you’re a sinner, your sin has been removed from you in a way that you can’t touch it any longer. It’s so far removed from you in the eyes of God that he looks upon you as being righteous. That’s spiritual rest. To be at rest also means that you know that Jesus has defeated sin so comprehensively so completely that sin is no longer your master. You recognize and confess, as Paul did, that you do sin, and you struggle with sin, and you battle sin, and you can’t rest in your victory, but you can rest in Christ’s. That’s spiritual rest. That you meditate upon his victory evidenced by the empty tomb. That you rest in knowing that your old self has been crucified with Christ in order that the body of sin is brought to nothing. So that you’re no longer enslaved to sin. That’s spiritual rest. That’s experiencing spiritual rest. That you know you’re not enslaved to sin.
To be at rest as a sinner means also that you’re striving against your sin, that you’re not OK that you continue to sin. And you know that you’ve been given the weapons, the spiritual weapons, and you’ve put them on, and you’re using them by the work of the Spirit to combat that which continues to plague you, whether it’s pornography, or unrighteous anger, or covetousness, or anxiety, or bitterness, or ungratefulnesses, whatever it is, you’re confessing it. And as you’re confessing it, you’re striving against it, not in your strength, but in the strength of the Spirit. You know that He’s giving you the weapons that you’re using in the strength of the Spirit.
And you can rest in that. Not that you’re going to achieve perfection. But you can rest in the fact that you’ve been equipped by the Spirit to continue the battle, and that by the work of the Spirit’s abiding in you, you’re actually using all the things that he’s given you. You can rest. You can experience spiritual rest as you put on each one of those weapons of the armor of God.
And then finally, we could go on. I think for many more hours in describing spiritual rest. But finally, as sinners experience spiritual rest, it should look like peace with your brothers and sisters. Your spiritual rest should look like you’ve lowered your own personal interests by the work of the Spirit in your own heart, and you’re raising up the interests of your brothers and sisters in your own heart, such that you’re actively pursuing, constantly pursuing unity and humility and love for your brothers and sisters.
So much so that it’s evident to those who are outside the church. Remember the church as described in Acts chapter two. Together, always together, worshiping together, breaking bread together, praying together, listening to the apostles together. Selling what they had, giving to one another as each one had need.
And the ones who are outside the church looking in, say, wow, they’re lifting up the interests of their brothers and sisters above their own. And that is experiencing the spiritual rest of Jesus Christ. You see, as you’re experiencing Christ’s rest, your interests, your personal interests are not so important any longer. It’s the interest of others, brothers and sisters, that have risen in your heart, in your estimation. And so in the church, it’s to be everyone else’s desire that’s pursued. And that leads to peace and unity and harmony within the body that others can see. Do you see ultimately how that’s a true reflection, a true description of your spiritual rest in Christ that you have found that he has led you to?
Do you long for that? I think all of you are saying yes. Yes, we long for that. We should be praying for that. As we come together in prayer, we should be praying that the Lord would lead us to this rest, that he would enable us to experience that rest individually and collectively. Oh, Lord, help me.
Help this congregation. experience spiritual rest that only you can provide. Sinners need to be led by Jesus Christ to their blessed spiritual rest. That bleeding woman was led to Christ as she was afflicted for 12 years. A bit of a picture of the Israelites as they’re trudging through the wilderness for 40 years seeking rest, which can only be found in Jesus Christ.
Praise be to God that he’s given us his son for our spiritual rest. Amen. Father in heaven, what a joy it is to think about the rest that we can and do have in Christ. Lord Jesus, we thank you for leading us week after week to this place to enjoy that spiritual rest that only you can provide. We thank you, Holy Spirit, for lifting us up to the throne room and leading us through the torn veil that we can truly experience the rest that Jesus Christ has accomplished for us. Help us, Lord. Help us to pray, constantly pray, to be those that experience this rest in Christ. And then, Lord God, help us to share that rest with all those who are lost in darkness. Help us. We ask all this in Jesus’s name. Amen. Brothers and sisters, we’re going to sing hymn number 436 to end our day in worship. My faith has found a resting place. Number 436, let’s stand and sing praises to our God.
♪ I have found a resting place ♪ ♪ From where my soul is free ♪ ♪ I trust the ever-living one ♪ ♪ Where his words for me shall be ♪ ♪ I need no other argument ♪ ♪ I need no other plea ♪ This as I hear and doubt A simple song I give to Him He’ll never pass me out I need no other argument I need no other plea My heart is leaning on the word, the written word of God. Salvation by my Savior’s name, salvation through his blood. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. that Jesus died, and that he died for me.
When my present shine heals the sick, the last thing to say, glory is precious what he shed. Receive now the Lord’s blessing. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. so so 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.