GOD’S WORD FOR SEPTEMBER 13 ~ ~ Revelation 14:13~ ~ “Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.”

Continuation of Randy Alcorn’s comments in the book, “We Shall See God”

“Present and Future Rest.”

When God created the world, He rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:2). that’s the basis for the biblical Sabbath, when all people and animals were to rest (Exodus 20:9-11). God set aside days and weeks of rest, and He even called for the earth itself to rest every seventh year:

Leviticus 25:4-5 ~ ~ “ 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. 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.”

This is the rest we can anticipate on the New Earth—times of joyful praise and relaxed fellowship, “united,” as Spurgeon writes, “in one mighty circle.” Our lives in heaven will include rest (Hebrews 4:1-11).

Revelation 14:13 ~ ~ “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes, says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”

Eden is a picture of rest—meaningful and enjoyable work, abundant food, beautiful environment, unhindered friendship with God, other people and animals. Even in Eden’s perfection, one day was set aside for special rest and worship. Work will be refreshing on the New Earth, yet regular rest will be built into our lives.

Part of our inability to appreciate heaven as a place of rest relates to our failure to enter into a weekly day of rest now. By rarely turning attention from our responsibilities, we fail to anticipate our coming deliverance from the curse to the full rest.

Spurgeon speaks of another sort of rest—a rest from persecution. “There shall be none to taunt them with a cruel word or touch them with a cruel hand.” Those who know Spurgeon’s life will pick up the meaning behind lines like these. In a day when newspapers held sway over public opinion, Spurgeon was bitterly opposed by many newspaper editors, secular as well as religious. (churches were very rigid and ritualistic in those days, and Spurgeon related to common people.)

For instance, in April 1855, the Essex Standard carried an article that described Spurgeon this way: “His style is that of a vulgar colloquial, varied by rant….All the most solemn mysteries of our holy religion are by him rudely, roughly and impiously handled. Common sense is outraged and decency disgusted. His rantings are interspersed with coarse anecdotes.”

In 1857 Spurgeon wrote in one of his sermons, “down on my knees have I often fallen, with the hot sweat rising from my brow under some fresh slander poured upon me; in an agony of grief my heart has been well-nigh broken.”

Spurgeon’s wife, Susannah, kept a scrapbook of the slanders spoken against her husband. She filled a huge volume with clippings and produced for Charles a framed wall text quoting Matthew 5:11-12

 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you”

The public criticism surely influenced Spurgeon’s understanding of this text in Hebrews 4:11:

“Make every effort to enter that rest.”

He knew he needed to carve out rest for his body and his mind and step back from the battles on every front. Even so, he admitted that he did not excel at doing this.

It’s ironic that it takes such effort to set aside time for rest. For many of us, myself included, it’s difficult to guard our schedules, but it’s worth it. A day of rest points us to heaven and to Jesus who says:

“Come to me, all who are weary…and I will give you rest.” (Mt 11:28)

What feels better than putting your head on your pillow after a hard day’s work? How about what it will feel like after a hard LIFE’S work?! It’s good to sit and have a glass of iced tea, feel the sun on your face, or tilt back and close your eyes. Rest is good, so good that God built it into His creation and His law.

Some people thrive on social interaction; others are exhausted by it. Some love solitude; others don’t. On the new earth, we’ll likely all welcome the lively company of others but also crave times of restful solitude. We’ll enjoy both.

God rested on the seventh day, before sin entered the world. He prescribed rest for sinless Adam and Eve, and He prescribed it for those under the curse of sin. Regular rest will be part of our future lives in God’s new universe.

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A father and his son were going down the road in the car and a bee got in and the boy was panicking. The father reached out, took the bee in his hand, closed his hand on it, then opened his hand and let it fly. The boy again panicked, fearing the sting.

The father opened his hand and showed his son the stinger in his hand. He said, “all that bee can do is fly and buzz, because I took the sting for you.”

That’s physical death for the believer.

1 Corinthians 15:55

“O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?”

Psalm 4:8

I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makes me dwell in safety.

Psalm 91:4 He shall cover you with His feathers and under His wings you shall trust; His truth shall be your shield and buckler (wall).

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