EAGLE (2)

1. Whom do we rest in?

a) 37Be still (rest in) before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. (Psalm 37:7 NIV)

2. Why rest is so important?

a) 11Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people, 12to whom he said "This is the resting place, let the weary rest"; and, "This is the place of repose (refreshing: restoring, reviving, renewing) — but they would not listen. (Isaiah 28:11,12 NIV)

b) 19Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, (Acts 3:19 NIV)

c) Times of refreshing: restoring, reviving and renewing

i) Restore us again, God our Savior, and put away your displeasure toward us. (Psalm 85:4 NIV)

ii) 6Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? (Psalm 85:6 NIV)

iii) 31but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:31 NIV)

3. Who need rest?

a) VIP like King David

i) I (King David) said, "Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. (Psalm 55:6 NIV)

ii) This psalm 55 was mostly written during the time of Absalom's rebellion and his advisor, Ahithophel's betrayal (2 Samuel 15 - 17). Even those who are especially a close to God, as David was, have moments when the want to escape from their problems and pressures. Do you feel like that?

b) Ordinary people like you and me

i) 28"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30 NIV)

4. What does Scripture say about the promise of rest?

a) 6Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; 7for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if only you would hear his voice,8"Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness, 9where your ancestors tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what I did. 10For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, 'They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.' 11So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.'" (Psalm 95:6-11 NIV)

i) In Psalm 95:11 God said, "So I declared on oath (swore) in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.'

ii) God had given the Israelites the opportunity to enter Canaan, but they disobeyed and failed to enter (Numbers 13,14). Now God offers us the opportunity to enter his ultimate place of rest - he invites us to come to Christ. To enter his rest, you must believe that God has this relationship in mind for you; you must stop trying to create it; you must trust in Christ for it; and must determine to obey him.

b) In Psalm 95:7-8, God also said, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart as you did in the rebellion."

i) God wants us to enter his rest. For the Israelites of Moses time, this rest was the earthly rest to be found in the Promised Land. For us, it is peace with God now and eternal life on new earth later. We do not need to wait for the next life to enjoy God's rest and peace; we may have it daily now! Our daily rest in the Lord will not end with death, but will become an eternal rest in the place that Christ is preparing for us in John 14:1-4 NIV.

ii) 1"Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4You know the way to the place where I am going." (John 14:1-4 NIV)

c) Today is the best time to find peace with God. Tomorrow may be too late.

5. What are the promises of earthy place of rest in the Promised Land?

a) A land flowing with milk and honey

i) 7The Lord said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. (Exodus 3:7,8 NIV)

b) A land with large, flourishing cities that we did not build

i) 10When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, 11houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, 12be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. (Deuteronomy 6:10-12 NIV)

c) A land of fruitfulness

i) 13He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land—your grain, new wine and olive oil—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you. (Deuteronomy 7:13 NIV)

d) A good land of abundance

i) 7For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; 8a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 9a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills. (Deuteronomy 8:7-9 NIV)

e) A land that the Lord personally cares for

i) 11But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. 12It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end. (Deuteronomy 11:11,12 NIV)

f) A land that produces wonderful crops

i) 14then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. 15I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied. (Deuteronomy 11:14,15 NIV)

6. Prayer focus

a) Pray for the weary (exhausted of strength, endurance, vigor, vision) and heavy burdened so that they find rest for their souls. Also, the Lord to give them times of refreshing - restoring, reviving and renewing.

b) Pray for those who want to enjoy God's rest and peace. And also to receive the promises of earthly rest.

c) Pray that we would soar on wings like eagle way up in the heavenly, ever ready for fresh encounter with the Lord.