God rested, not because He needed to, but because He saw that it was worth doing. God then instituted both work and rest for man. Rest honors God. It is an act of faith. Discover these truths and more in this insightful message.
May this sermon minister to you and enrich your walk of faith in Jesus Christ. We welcome you to make use of the free sermons, Christian books, and daily devotionals available on this website.
May this sermon minister to you and enrich your walk of faith in Jesus Christ. We welcome you to make use of the free sermons, Christian books, and daily devotionals available on this website.
"And God Rested"
Gen 1:31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Gen 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished.
Gen 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.
Gen 2:3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
God who is infinite, limitless in power and strength didn't need to rest.
He rested because He saw that it was worth doing so.
Just as we find our worth in the work we do, we also establish our worth in the rest we give ourselves.
Rest establishes self-worth. You have heard it said "we are human beings" not "human doings". We must learn to "be". We find worth in just being.
Exo 20:8 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exo 20:9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
Exo 20:10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.
Exo 20:11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
God who instituted work also instituted time for rest.
God instituted rest.
Sabbath - the root means "to cease, desist", "to intercept, interrupt". The idea is not that of relaxation or refreshment, but cessation from activity.
An equivalent English word would be "Rest".
The time of rest was given to man to stay away from work. With the rest day, there would be the obvious outcomes of refreshing and renewal.
A key understanding in the establishment of the Sabbath as part of the Ten Commandments is that the "rest day" was set aside as a way of honoring God.
Rest honors God. It is an act of worship toward God.
The Jewish observance of the "Sabbath" unfortunately misconstrued it and made it an end in itself, instead of a means to an end. So the Lord Jesus clarified this for us. (Mark 2:27). (Vines Dictionary)
What we wish to emphasize here is the importance of the day of rest, without getting legalistic about whether it should be on a Saturday, a Sunday or some other day of the week. (As New Testament believers, we are free from legalistic observance of days, seasons, sabbaths, etc. Colossians 2:16,17; Romans 14:4-5)
Give The Land A Break!
Exo 23:10 "Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce,
Exo 23:11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove.
Exo 23:12 Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed.
Lev 25:1 And the LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying,
Lev 25:2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a sabbath to the LORD.
Lev 25:3 Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit;
Lev 25:4 but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the LORD. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard.
Lev 25:5 What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine, for it is a year of rest for the land.
Lev 25:6 And the sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you: for you, your male and female servants, your hired man, and the stranger who dwells with you,
Lev 25:7 for your livestock and the beasts that are in your land—all its produce shall be for food.
The "rest" God instituted not only extended to the people themselves but also to all others and things involved.
God told them that the land needed a rest from their working the land. During the time of rest, God would bless the land and cause it to produce.
From a spiritual standpoint, the time of rest helped man focus on the Lord and depend on the Lord.
From a natural standpoint, the time of rest allowed the natural process of refreshing, renewing and rejuvenation to take place.
Spiritual, Emotional & Physical Rest
Rest for our spirit, soul and body are intertwined (inter-related).
When any part of us is "tired" and "worn out" the other areas of our life are also affected in some way.
Hence it is important for us to learn to rest spiritually, emotionally and physically.
Spiritual
There are several ways to rest spiritually.
A) Coming to a place of quietness and confidence in the Lord
Isa 30:15 For thus says the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: "In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength." But you would not,
B) Waiting on the Lord - being in His presence with our attention on Him
Isa 40:28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
Isa 40:29 He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.
Isa 40:30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall,
Isa 40:31 But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
C) Speaking in Tongues
Isa 28:11 For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people,
Isa 28:12 To whom He said, "This is the rest with which You may cause the weary to rest," And, "This is the refreshing"; Yet they would not hear.
(Refers to praying in tongues 1 Corinthians 14:21. Speaking/Praying in tongues is a God-given way to rest and refresh our spirits)
D) Being in a Place of Faith
Faith works and faith also rests
Jas 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
Heb 4:1 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.
Heb 4:3 For we who have believed do enter that rest, ..
Heb 4:9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.
Heb 4:10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.
Heb 4:11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.
Faith rests from dependence on our own works and rests in the completed work of Jesus Christ.
Emotional
We rest emotionally
Resting in the Lord as our Shepherd
Psalm 23
Psa 37:7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
Psa 116:7 Return to your rest, O my soul, For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
Mat 11:28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Mat 11:30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
Physical
God's promises for our physical rest.
Psa 4:8 I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.
Psa 127:2 It is vain for you to rise up early, To sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows; For so He gives His beloved sleep.
Pro 3:24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid; Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.
Ecc 5:12 The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, Whether he eats little or much; But the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep.
Rest Stealers
We are not advocating laziness
Pro 10:4 He who has a slack hand becomes poor, But the hand of the diligent makes rich.
Pro 19:15 Laziness casts one into a deep sleep, And an idle person will suffer hunger.
We must work hard - but we are not machines that work unceasingly. Remember our worth is not only in our work, but also in the rest we give ourselves.
Here are some common reasons why we don't pause to give ourselves rest. We must learn to avoid / overcome them :
Mar 6:30 Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught.
Mar 6:31 And He said to them, "Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.
Mar 6:32 So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves.
Luk 8:22 Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake." And they launched out.
Luk 8:23 But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy.
Key Take Aways
Get regular times of rest - daily, weekly, annually. Plan your rest days and vacation times. Block them off in your calendar.
Pace yourself - you alone know the pace at which you can perform. Compete with yourself to do better.
Saying "no" to an invitation, an engagement, etc. just because you want to rest, is not wrong.
Gen 1:31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Gen 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished.
Gen 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.
Gen 2:3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
God who is infinite, limitless in power and strength didn't need to rest.
He rested because He saw that it was worth doing so.
Just as we find our worth in the work we do, we also establish our worth in the rest we give ourselves.
Rest establishes self-worth. You have heard it said "we are human beings" not "human doings". We must learn to "be". We find worth in just being.
The Sabbath
Exo 16:23 Then he said to them, "This is what the LORD has said: 'Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until morning.' "Exo 20:8 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exo 20:9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
Exo 20:10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.
Exo 20:11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
God who instituted work also instituted time for rest.
God instituted rest.
Sabbath - the root means "to cease, desist", "to intercept, interrupt". The idea is not that of relaxation or refreshment, but cessation from activity.
An equivalent English word would be "Rest".
The time of rest was given to man to stay away from work. With the rest day, there would be the obvious outcomes of refreshing and renewal.
A key understanding in the establishment of the Sabbath as part of the Ten Commandments is that the "rest day" was set aside as a way of honoring God.
Rest honors God. It is an act of worship toward God.
The Jewish observance of the "Sabbath" unfortunately misconstrued it and made it an end in itself, instead of a means to an end. So the Lord Jesus clarified this for us. (Mark 2:27). (Vines Dictionary)
What we wish to emphasize here is the importance of the day of rest, without getting legalistic about whether it should be on a Saturday, a Sunday or some other day of the week. (As New Testament believers, we are free from legalistic observance of days, seasons, sabbaths, etc. Colossians 2:16,17; Romans 14:4-5)
Give The Land A Break!
Exo 23:10 "Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce,
Exo 23:11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove.
Exo 23:12 Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed.
Lev 25:1 And the LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying,
Lev 25:2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a sabbath to the LORD.
Lev 25:3 Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit;
Lev 25:4 but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the LORD. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard.
Lev 25:5 What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine, for it is a year of rest for the land.
Lev 25:6 And the sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you: for you, your male and female servants, your hired man, and the stranger who dwells with you,
Lev 25:7 for your livestock and the beasts that are in your land—all its produce shall be for food.
The "rest" God instituted not only extended to the people themselves but also to all others and things involved.
God told them that the land needed a rest from their working the land. During the time of rest, God would bless the land and cause it to produce.
From a spiritual standpoint, the time of rest helped man focus on the Lord and depend on the Lord.
From a natural standpoint, the time of rest allowed the natural process of refreshing, renewing and rejuvenation to take place.
Spiritual, Emotional & Physical Rest
Rest for our spirit, soul and body are intertwined (inter-related).
When any part of us is "tired" and "worn out" the other areas of our life are also affected in some way.
Hence it is important for us to learn to rest spiritually, emotionally and physically.
Spiritual
There are several ways to rest spiritually.
A) Coming to a place of quietness and confidence in the Lord
Isa 30:15 For thus says the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: "In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength." But you would not,
B) Waiting on the Lord - being in His presence with our attention on Him
Isa 40:28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
Isa 40:29 He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.
Isa 40:30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall,
Isa 40:31 But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
C) Speaking in Tongues
Isa 28:11 For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people,
Isa 28:12 To whom He said, "This is the rest with which You may cause the weary to rest," And, "This is the refreshing"; Yet they would not hear.
(Refers to praying in tongues 1 Corinthians 14:21. Speaking/Praying in tongues is a God-given way to rest and refresh our spirits)
D) Being in a Place of Faith
Faith works and faith also rests
Jas 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
Heb 4:1 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.
Heb 4:3 For we who have believed do enter that rest, ..
Heb 4:9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.
Heb 4:10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.
Heb 4:11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.
Faith rests from dependence on our own works and rests in the completed work of Jesus Christ.
Emotional
We rest emotionally
Resting in the Lord as our Shepherd
Psalm 23
Psa 37:7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
Psa 116:7 Return to your rest, O my soul, For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
Mat 11:28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Mat 11:30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
Physical
God's promises for our physical rest.
Psa 4:8 I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.
Psa 127:2 It is vain for you to rise up early, To sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows; For so He gives His beloved sleep.
Pro 3:24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid; Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.
Ecc 5:12 The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, Whether he eats little or much; But the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep.
Rest Stealers
We are not advocating laziness
Pro 10:4 He who has a slack hand becomes poor, But the hand of the diligent makes rich.
Pro 19:15 Laziness casts one into a deep sleep, And an idle person will suffer hunger.
We must work hard - but we are not machines that work unceasingly. Remember our worth is not only in our work, but also in the rest we give ourselves.
Here are some common reasons why we don't pause to give ourselves rest. We must learn to avoid / overcome them :
- Pressure to perform
- The drive for success
- The god of mammon (the desire to make more money)
- Work as an escape route
- Getting busy in ministry
Mar 6:30 Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught.
Mar 6:31 And He said to them, "Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.
Mar 6:32 So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves.
Luk 8:22 Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake." And they launched out.
Luk 8:23 But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy.
Key Take Aways
- God instituted rest.
- Rest honors God - is an act of worship toward God.
- Rest establishes self-worth.
- Rest ensures time to refocus and establish dependence on the Lord.
- Rest ensures refreshing and renewal.
- Rest is an act of faith.
- When any part of us is "tired" and "worn out" the other areas of our life are also affected in some way.
- Renew yourself spiritually, emotionally and physically.
- Rest ensures longevity.
Get regular times of rest - daily, weekly, annually. Plan your rest days and vacation times. Block them off in your calendar.
Pace yourself - you alone know the pace at which you can perform. Compete with yourself to do better.
Saying "no" to an invitation, an engagement, etc. just because you want to rest, is not wrong.
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