Return to your rest - 2-18-24

The speaker announces that they will be starting a series on spiritual warfare. They emphasize that sickness, death, disease, and sin are brought by the evil one, not God. They discuss the psalmist's longing for God and the challenges they face, such as being in exile and unable to go to the house of God. The enemies taunt them, asking where their God is. They express their distress over the troubles their loved ones are facing. They encourage hope in God and praise Him for His help. They share a personal story about praying for a man with gangrene and emphasize the need to not fear sickness and disease. They talk about the battle being severe but remind listeners that God will command His loving kindness and a song in the night. They transition to discussing Matthew 11:28-29, where Jesus invites those who are weary and burdened to come to Him for rest. They explain that the battle is in the soul and discuss the significance of the soul in relation to Jesus Good morning church. Everybody else is listening. Praise the Lord. And just an announcement that by the grace of God, next Sunday we will be starting a series on spiritual warfare. The Lord willing. And we hope that anyone that can be here will be. Everybody's under attack it seems like. Every family that we're affiliated with. Each person, each family has something going on that doesn't need to be there. God didn't bring sickness. God didn't bring death. God didn't bring disease. God didn't bring sin. The evil one is the instigator of all of that. And God gives us a way to war against it. But for the day, a few weeks ago I shared on a scripture that said, Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? In other words, why are you screaming? And so we're going to relate to that message a little bit. Just review, but not much. And then get started in today's. You want to say something? Okay. But first we're going to look at Psalm 116 verse 7. Mama, I didn't print your scriptures out. Forgot I had eight pages full of them. Psalm 116 verse 7 says, Return unto thy rest, O my soul. For the Lord has dealt bountifully with thee. So we're talking about the soul. We're talking about man. We're talking about the situations we're in. Would you read Psalm 42? You said you had it on you. As the deers panic for the water brooks, so pence my soul for thou, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My heart, my tears have been my food day and night. While they continually say to me, where is your God? When I remember these things, I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go with the multitude. I went with them to the house of God with the voice of joy and praise. With the multitude that kept their pilgrim feast. Why are you cast down on my soul? Why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise him, the help of his countenance. O my God, my soul is cast down within me. Therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan and from the heights of Mount Hermon. From the hill Mizar, deep calls into deep at the noise of your waterfalls. All your ways and billows have gone over me. The Lord will command his loving kindness in the daytime. And in the night, his song shall be with me. A prayer to the God of my life. Okay, so as the deer panted for the water broke, so panted my soul after thee. The deer is thirsty. The deer is in a dry and thirsty land. The stag, he's got no water. He's at the place of death, literally. Either that or he's being chased by a hunter. There's something after him. And he's longing for water. Well, that's the way our soul is. David said, my soul longs after. My soul is thirsting after. I'm at a point of death. I'm at a point of death, God, without you. Without you coming through. Look at this here. Then he said, my tears have been my meat, night and day. While they say continually, where's thy God? Now I want to know who they are. Who is they that say continually? Well, it's, they is sickness. They is COVID. They is dead. They is not the people that he went with in the multitude that kept the pilgrim beast. No, who is they that say, it says, while they, my tears have been my meat. See, David is an exile at this point. King David is an exile at this point. And the writer of this song is in exile with him. He's been cast away. He's been pulled out of Jerusalem. He's been pulled away from the house of God. He's in a place of a desert place. Running from Saul and his men. They're tired. There's been a time that they used to be able to go to the house of God with their friends. There was a time when they had peace. And they were able to rest and enjoy the feast of God and the presence of God. And the days that God had appointed for them. But now they can't get there. They want to be there, but they can't get there. And their enemies are saying, where is your God? Where is he? If he's real, show me. When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me. For I had gone with the multitude. This is when it said I had gone. It's when he went to the house of the Lord. So verse five says, while you cast down all my soul. And why are you disquieted? Why are you screaming within me? We're just reviewing just a little bit. My soul is cast down and is screaming within me because my sister-in-law has been diagnosed with COVID. And continues to say, they continue to say she's got it. My soul is disquieted within me because my cousin's son is going through some things he shouldn't have to be going through. My soul is disquieted within me because my 21 or 22-year-old nephew had to have hip surgery at an age he shouldn't have it. My soul is disquieted within me because my niece has gone under attack for her life. And another one is continually troubled with her life. My soul is cast down because of that. David or the psalmist, this wasn't David, but the psalmist said, why are you cast down all my soul? Hope thou. Hope thou. We can look at what God has cast down or we can look at the place of hope. What are we going to focus on? Ray said, I know what it is. It's an attack from the evil one. That's right. That's what it is. But these attacks keep coming in. And I was talking to Mama this morning before the service. We were talking about when I was in ministry in South Carolina, I took a group of missionary students to Mexico. And they took us to a man that had gangrene in his leg. His leg was rotten and off, literally rotten and off. And they asked us to pray for him, and the students stood around him with their hands up praying. That's fine. You go where your faith is. The Lord impressed me to slap my hand down on the wound, on the rot, and pray for him. And reminded me that's what Jesus would have done. Amen. Would not have stood back in fear, but focused on the healer. Jesus put his hands on the lame. Jesus put his hands on the blind. Jesus put his hands on those that were in need. The scripture came to me as we were talking. He put his hands on the dead, didn't he? Yes, ma'am, he did. The scripture came to me as we were talking, and the Lord reminded me that the scripture says that we shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover, not we shall stand idly by. So we as a church cannot be afraid of sickness and disease. Greater is he, I left my message, that is in me than he that is in the world. Amen. Why are we cast down and why are we crying out and screaming out? It's because of the battle that is so severe. The young ones that are under attack. The older ones that are weak and fallen. They don't have to be weak. Moses was 120 years old and his eyes weren't dimmed and his strength was still with him. Yeah. Joshua and Caleb took the land at 80 years old. Yes, amen. Why don't they cast down all my soul and why don't they disquieted within me hope in God for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. We need to remember who they are that say and who is, who is, where is your God? They are the liars. They're the haters. They're the ones the truth is not in. Truth always acknowledges God. I love verse eight. Yet. Seven says deep calls into deep. At the noise of the water spouts. All the waves and billows have gone over me. Lord, everything is just running over me. It's just it's just running over me. Yet. The Lord will command. See, we got that's where our eyes have to be. Yet the Lord will command his loving kindness in the daytime. And the Lord will command a song in the night. And my prayer unto God of my life. Now we're going to transition into the day's message. Matthew 11. Twenty eight and twenty nine. The psalmist said. God will command yet God will command. And we're saying we have to keep our eyes focused on one thing or the other. For example. When Jesus and the disciples were in the ship. Jesus was sleeping. Their focus was on the wind and the waves. Wasn't their focus wasn't on the Messiah at the end of the boat. Their focus wasn't on him. Until after he stopped the wind and the waves. Now, we can do better than that. At the church, we can do better than that. We've been in this thing for years. They had just been in it for a little while. And yes, they had Messiah walking with them. Truth is, they had Messiah walking with them. And they had Messiah walking with them. And they had Messiah walking with them. Truth is, we have Messiah walking with us. It's no different. After Jesus was resurrected and went to the father. They continued to get stronger and stronger and stronger in the faith. It wasn't until he was gone that they started doing exports. Other than what he sent them out by twos. Come unto me. Come unto me. All you that labor and are heavy laden. Why are you cast down? Why are you just quiet? He says, come unto me, you that are cast down. You that have souls that are screaming out. And I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. Meek and lowly at heart and what you shall find rest. And he didn't stop there. You see, the battle is in the soul. The battle is not just for the soul. The battle is in the soul. You shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. What is the soul? Well, before before we go there, let's look at this. Let's look, let's look at the let's look at the verses before that. First, twenty five through twenty seven. At that time, Jesus answers and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to them. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in your sight. All things have been delivered to me by my father. And no one knows the son except the father. Nor does anyone know the father except the son and the one to whom the son wills to reveal him. And then come unto me all you that labor and heavy laden. All these are in one train of thought. All of these all of these are all these scriptures right here. Twenty five through thirty. They're in one train of thought. I thank you. I thank you, Lord of heaven, that you've revealed these things to the babes and not the wise and the prudent. He's talking about described in the Pharisees, but he's revealed it to his children. And so on. And then he throws a verse in there. First, twenty seven. That seems to be out of place. All things are delivered unto me by my father. And no man knoweth the father or knoweth the son, but the father. And neither knoweth any man the father save the son and he whomsoever the son will reveal him. That seems to be out of place because the next verse says, come unto me. I wonder why they would put that there. Maybe maybe it's the coming unto me that Jesus is talking about is is the revealing. You see, we can't see the father if we can't see the son. We we just not allowed. To do anything spiritually without Christ's blessing on. Come unto me. Now, Jesus said, I want to reveal something to you. I want to show you something. I want to I want to show you how you can get rest for your soul. Where is it at? It's in knowing the father. And knowing the son. It's not in spiritual exercises. It's an intimate relationship. With him. He wants to show us some things. So. A couple of weeks ago, we were talking about why you cast out all my soul this week. We're saying return into the rest. Oh, my soul. Jesus said you will find rest for your soul. We need to ask the question. If God is talking to us about our soul, what is it? What importance is it? How how does it affect mankind? Psalm 143, verse three says, Lord. What is man that thou takest knowledge of him or the son of man that thou makest account of him? He said, God, why are you paying so close attention to us? I see myself. And by the way, Lord, I see all these knuckleheads around me. And I see the kingdoms that are surrounded us. And I see our shortcomings, our pitfalls, our speed bumps. I see the headaches that we cause. Why are you so mindful of us? What is so good? What is so good that you keep thinking about us? You keep coming back to us. We serve other gods and you still keep coming back to us. We commit murder and you still keep coming back to us. We let you down and you still keep. What are we that you are so involved in our lives? What is man? So I made a note. What is man? Man is made in the image of God. He created man. I've heard it said that man is the... I don't even know the word I'm looking for. God's pride, if he had a pride and joy, it would be the mankind. Not the heavens and the earth. He didn't die for the heavens and the earth. He died for mankind. He didn't die for dogs and cats. He died for mankind. So what is man? Man is made in the image of God. And so here's a thought that I would want. This is a commercial break, guys, that are on the recording. This is just so that we can clarify something and clear something up. Man is made in the image of God. I need to rephrase that. Adam was made in the image of God before Adam fell. Adam's sons were made in the image of Adam after the fall. They were born to him after he was put out of the garden, out of paradise, after the curse of the ground had come upon him, after God had told Eve, you will bear children and you will serve your husband, and after God told Adam, you're going to work by the sweat of your brow. His sons and all mankind after that are born on a lower standard than what Adam was created. That is why, by the way, we have to be born again. If there was nothing wrong with his offspring, there would be no need for being born again. If his offspring was made in the image of God, there would be no need for being born again, but were made in a fallen state, into a fallen world, and there has to be redemption. Thus, Jesus Christ died for us. What is man? Man is made in the image of God at the first of it. Man also is made a little lower than angels. Man is spirit, soul, and body. Spirit is the breath of God. Soul is the mind or the intellect, the will, and the emotions. And our body, without our soul and our spirit being united as one, our body is a mess. It's a mess. But if we can get our spirit and our soul united, the body will follow suit. And the three-fourth chord is not easily broken. The battle is with the soul. The soul is going to align with the spirit or the soul is going to align with the body. What is the soul? The soul is controlled by three things. Your will. Our will to do this or our will not to do it. Our will to take out the trash or our will to let somebody else do it. My mind. What I think. What someone has fed into this thing. What I look at every day. What I listen to. My mind. It's affecting me. The lies I listen to or the truth I listen to. It's affecting me. My emotions. Now, this is the kicker. This is the one that really causes a lot of the control. My emotions. Emotions are not bad. They're God-given. God has emotions. God gets angry. God rejoices over us with singing. God has emotions. Emotions are God-given. But they're not given to us to control or direct our life. That's the spirit's place. But if we ignore the spirit, then the emotions and the mind will control the will. And the will just says, this is where I'm going. The will is really the steering wheel. And we're controlled by those three things. What is our body? Our body is our feelings. I don't feel like it. Well, if my soul is not aligned with my spirit, my soul will listen to the body, and the body will dictate to the soul what it will and will not do. Because it's logical. If I'm hurting, not to get up. Amen. It's logical if I need sleep longer. But the natural mind is enmity with God. Hallelujah. We said that man is a little lower than angels. Because Hebrews 2, 6, and 7, and 8, and 9, and 10, and 11. It's like this to that. I'm going to start and stop it here, Bonnie. So I'm going to read. If you want to find it, though, you can read with me. But in a certain place testified, saying, what is man? He's quoting Psalms. Now, he's talking about Adam. He's talking about Adam. Now, the Amplified Bible says, verse 7 says, thou mayest him a little lower than the angels. The Amplified Bible says, for some little time you have ranked him a little lower and inferior to angels. In other words, after the fall, he's lower than angels. Before the fall, he was not. Because it also says, the son of man, verse 8, and thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. Now, we're still talking about man. Now, my question is still this. Why are you cast down, O my soul, if I've got this working with me? For in that he put in subjection under his feet, he left nothing that is not put under him. But we now, but now we see not yet all things put under him. Talking about under Jesus. But we see Jesus. Who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death. He was to be made lower than the angels or he couldn't die. See, this is simple stuff. When he came as a man into the death realm, into the fallen realm, he came a little lower than angels at that point. Before that, he was never below the angels. Neither was Adam before the fall. But we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, bringing many sons unto glory. Verse 10. To make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings, but see if Christ came to bring many sons to glory. Christ came to bring redemption and place mankind back into the place of authority, the place of ruling and reigning in Christ Jesus that we were created to be. Amen. Verse 11 says, for both he that sanctified and they who are sanctified are all of one. He that sanctified and they that are sanctified are one. And only for a little while was he made lower than the angels. Only for a little while did he have to deal with demons. Only for a little while did he have to allow death to attach itself to him. Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you screaming out? Hope now in God. Return unto thy rest. I'm going somewhere. I'm not going to try to keep us much longer. Hebrews chapter 4, verse 9 through 11. There remains therefore a rest to the people of God. What is that rest? Jesus said, come unto me, all you that are weary, all of you that are cast down and wore out. You're tired of the war. You're tired of the drama. You're tired of everything taking place in your family, on your job, to your children. You're tired. Come unto me, you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. You'll find rest in this place. And now he's saying, there remains therefore rest for the people of God. For he that entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works as God did from his. How are you going to cease from your own works as God did? There's only one way. Paul said it like this. For I am dead and Christ lives in me. He said in Galatians 2.20. I am crucified in Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. So the secret then is stop living and let Christ live. Stop trying to be something and just be something. You are what God says you are. You can do what God says you can do. God has called us to be a particular thing in this earth. Light. Life. Sons and daughters. Kings and priests. Rulers and reigners. He's called us to be above and not beneath. He's called us to be blessed and not cursed. What is man that you are mindful of him? Look at that thing. So there remain at verse 9. Therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that entered into his rest hath also ceased from his own works as God did from his. Verse 11 says, let us labor, therefore, to enter into that rest. Least any man fall short of the example of unbelief. The example of unbelief is that the 12 spies that Moses sent into Canaan land to spy out the land. Because of unbelief, they couldn't take the land. Because of fear. The passion translation says of Hebrews 4.11. So then we must give our all and be eager to experience this faith rest life. We must give our all and be eager to experience this faith rest life. So that no one falls short by following the same pattern of doubt and unbelief. Amen. What are we allowing our minds to think? What are we allowing our minds to see? You see, that's where the battlefield is. And it sounds like I've already started on my spiritual warfare series. I may be just a little ahead of myself, but that's all right. Romans 8.29. We know these scriptures, guys. These are not new scriptures. We know them. We just have to be reminded. We have to rehearse them in our memory. Romans 8.29 says, for whom he did foreknow. He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son. We don't believe that. We read it. We say it. But we don't believe that. But we can't enter into that rest without belief. We just read that. We can't become that word you said without it. We are predestined to be something. My spiritual mentor told me, being precedes doing. I am something before I do something. Then you become it. Okay. We'll touch on this in a few weeks, but I'll touch on righteousness right quick. I do not work for a place of righteousness. I work from a place of righteousness. I do not do works to become righteous. I do righteous works because I am righteous. Because of who I am, I do what I do. I don't do what I do so that I can become something. I do what I do because I am something. He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son so that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. I'm jumping all over the place. I know it. I got a lot of scripture, but we're getting there. We're on the last page. 1 Corinthians 15, 45 through 49. And so it is written, the first man Adam was a living soul. The last Adam was made a quickening spirit. There's only been two men in God's eyes on the face of this earth. The first Adam and the last Adam. How be it? I'm going to touch on that in a minute. How be it? That was not first, which was spiritual, but that which was natural. And afterward, that which is spiritual. The first man Adam is of the earth. Earthy. The second man is the Lord from heaven. Jesus Christ is the second Adam. As is the earth. Sorry. As is the earthy. Such are those also that are earthy. His offspring. Adam's offspring. The first man Adam was of the dirt. Of the earth. He fell. All of his offspring were earthy. So as is the earthy, so are they that are earthy. And as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. Those that are born again. The new breed. Jesus was the firstborn of many sons. As we have born the image of the earthy, before we were born again, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. As we were born under Adam, the first Adam, so shall we be born under the heavenly, the second Adam. We need to put that up on a poster at the table. Adam, the first Adam, started in the garden of Eden. He fell. He was kicked out. He bore sons and daughters. And that earthy Adam is still going on today. And will go on until Christ returns. The second Adam is the last Adam. The first one and the last one was Jesus Christ. Born of a woman. And the Holy Ghost. The heavenly Adam. And we get born again so that we can be fashioned after the image of the heavenly Adam. What is man that you are mindful of him? He's in God's image. Again. There was 4,000 years that he wasn't. There was 4,000 years that man lived as a man of sin. With no hope. They had a law that they couldn't keep. They had no hope. Christ came. And brought redemption to the lost and dying world. And offered us a way into the heavenlies. Through spiritual adoption. And we take on his DNA. We are made in his image and in his likeness. Just like the first Adam before the fall was made in the image and likeness of God. Nothing's changed. God's plan is still the same. To have a man made in his image and likeness. Cain still hates Abel. Esau still hates Jacob. Ishmael still hates his brother. Isaac. It's still the same. The worldly continually persecutes the heavenly. But we're the ones that rule and reign. We're the ones with the heavenly and godly inheritance. Why are you cast out, O my soul? Let's go back just a little bit. Psalm 42. 9, 10, 11. I will say unto God, my rock, why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I of mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? As with a sword in my bones, my enemy reproaches me. While they say daily unto me, where is thy God? While you cast down, O my soul, and while you disquieted within me, hope thou in God. For I will yet praise him who is the help of my countenance and my God. Psalm 116, verse 1. I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my supplications. He was talking to himself. That's right. Mama brought a good point up. The psalmist was talking to himself. And he said, why, soul, are you acting like you're acting? Soul, stand up. Man of God, woman of God, rise up. You're called to a higher plane than this. You're living below your standards. You're called to be rulers. You're called to be kings and priests. You're called to be sons and daughters. And you've got to get out of the dust. The snakes, by the way, the serpent, eats dust. God told him in the Genesis, you'll crawl on your belly and you'll eat dust. And he told Adam and Eve, from dust you came, dust you'll return. In other words, you're now serpent's food. We are not serpent's food anymore since Christ. If we live below our standards, it's because we submit to a lower standard. I love the Lord because he has heard my voice in my supplications, because he has inclined his ear unto me. Therefore, I will call upon him as long as I live. The sorrows of death encompassed me about, and the pains of hell got hold of me. I found trouble and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of the Lord. I beseech thee, deliver my soul. Gracious is the Lord and righteous. Yea, our God is merciful. The Lord preserves the simple. I was brought low and he helped me. Here we go. Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for thou hast dealt bountifully with me. For thou has delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. The final thought for today is if God has delivered us, why do we allow ourselves to be cast down? Yes, it's real. Warfare is real. It's ugly. We can look at the news and look at Israel. We can look at, what's another little country that Russia attacked? Ukraine. Ukraine. We know that war is ugly. There's death everywhere. Suffering everywhere. We are in war. So was Christ. That's not changed. So what we're looking at then is the word. The word that I just read said, return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with thee, and thou hast delivered mine eyes from tears and my feet from falling. Depends on one thing. One word. Return. Jesus said, come. I have to tell my soul to return. Now, that's sort of a trick word. This was written in the Old Testament. How can I return to someplace I have never been? What is he saying? Where is he telling us to return to? Return unto thy rest. Where is my rest? My hope and my rest is in God. Where was it in the beginning? In the garden. Perfect peace. Perfect harmony. I ain't careful. I'm going to sound like some of them boys that knocks on your door. Hey, let me give you one of these tracks. I'm not talking about the witnesses. I'm talking about a place in Christ where peace rules. You see, we don't know where the garden is, but we don't know that it's not. We are the garden. We don't know that it's not within us. Go on, though. We're the Lord. We are his Christ-possession, I guess. Yeah, but it was placed in a garden. All I know is it was a place of peace and order. A place where we walk with God every day. A place where the voice of God called out every day. You know what? And they didn't even have clothes on. They didn't even know they were naked. A place of fruitfulness. A place of peace. Return. See, we've got to get past all this earthly stuff that our earth... Here's a good word. Filters. Our earthly filters. When we see things, we see through filters that we've allowed to be there. We see through filters or blocks or walls that we build. I love the New Jerusalem. Everything is transparent. Everything is crystal clear. There are no filters. And so we have to... And we'll get on this in a couple weeks. But we have to tear down what our mind tells us we have to look through. Let me rephrase it. We have to tear down what our natural mind tells us we have to look through. Because that thing will lie to us. And yes, it's talking through experience. Mama's 90 years of experience. Johnny's a few years younger. Watch it. Young people over there is a few years younger than that. So experience is real, but it's not the reality. It's not the deciding factor. Our mind, our will, and our emotions is the deciding factor. We get to live where we choose to live. We get to believe what we choose to believe. We can believe there's a hole in the fabric of society. Or we can believe that Jesus came to fill that gap. It's up to us. Return to thy rest. If Christ said, God said, we had rest in the beginning. Christ came to bring us to that place of rest again. And so we have the responsibility to return to that place. He's made the way. He's made the way. People for the past 2,000 years have shown us the way. There's always been a remnant of people for the past 2,000 years that have fought to get through this earthly realm. And they've touched heaven. There's been revivals. There's been fires. There's been the kingdom of God exploding in certain areas. But we need it to explode again. But it's going to depend on us. We're not waiting on God. God is waiting on us. Let's pray. Lord, we love you and thank you. Thank you for your goodness to us. And, Father, we thank you for your word. Your word declares that you have made a way. Your word declares that, yes, there's a fallen state. But, God, you've not called us to live in that fallen state. Your word says that we're in the world, but we're not of the world. And we thank you for that. Lord, help us to dig. Help us to study. Help us to pray, God, that we might find the place that you called us to be. Praise you for your love, your great grace, and your mercy. Bless each one, Lord. And let this word be life and light to them. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.