Well, I told you this morning
that we'd continue with the text in Micah chapter 2 and verse
number 10. So if you'll open your Bibles
then to Micah chapter 2 and verse number 10, and we'll look at
this text again. I told you this morning that admonition by the prophet to the people here addressed that they were commanded to depart
from the things of time. That is, that they were to renounce
the things of this world and the spirit of this world. the
acts of this world and the principles of this world. Though they were
to be in this world, yet they were not to be a part of this
world. And he tells them here to arise,
and the word denotes an urgency there. And I went at great lengths
this morning to attempt to tell you that there's danger in and
becoming involved in this world, that it slips up on you and grabs
you, and the first thing you know, you're consumed before
you know it. You're in it, and you're a part
of it before you know it, and the surest way to have any spiritual
energy destroyed is to be overcome with the cares of this world.
And so he says, Arise ye, that is everybody, And I reminded
you that He's talking to all people when
He says here in the second verse, Hear, all ye people, hearken
o'er. All that therein is. So it is directed to everybody,
not just to the chief cities of Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem,
but to all of us, even to now. It's the present speaking to
the future, future generation, that is, and that is us. So, arise ye and depart, for
this is not your rest. This earth is not your rest.
It's not your abiding place. Depart from it. Get out from
it. Cut yourself off from it. Don't become a part of it because
it's polluted. It's dangerous. It's dangerous. It's dangerous for you. It's
not dangerous for the unbeliever. He doesn't know any better. It's
his home. It's his heaven. It's his rest.
It's his all and in all. But it's not your all and all.
It's dangerous to you. It's dangerous to you. See, your
citizenship Your citizenship is not here. Your roots are not
here. Your roots are there. Your citizenship
is in heaven. Set your affections on things
above, Colossians 2 and 1 says. Not on things of the earth. Don't
be earthy-minded, earthbound. Divorce yourself from these things. move in amidst this worldly gang
in this world today and become part of it. All right? Because
this is not your rest, it's polluted, it will destroy you even with
a sword of destruction. Now, I said that I'd talk to
you here this evening a little bit on what is your rest. If
this earth is not our rest, then what is our rest? I think you
all know what our rest is, but I don't think you're tired of
hearing of what your rest is. I certainly am not. I'm not tired
of someone telling me about my rest and who my rest is and what's
involved in my rest. That's what I like to hear. I
like to hear who my rest is and what's involved in my rest, and
that's what I want to talk to you about here this evening.
Now, it's certain that we have nowhere else to rest except in
the Lord Jesus. Over here in Psalm 37 and verse
number 7, if you want to turn real quick and underscore this
so that you might remember it, verse 37 and verse 7 says, Rest in the Lord. Rest in the Lord. That is our
rest, the Lord Jesus Christ. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently
for Him. So I say that it's certain that
we have nowhere else to rest. All the comfort that you find
in earthly friendship and relationships or in the good things of this
life, or any hopes short of Christ, is not your rest. Although there is rest, although
there is rest in Christ, and no rest in these earthly things,
yet we are in this world, and we're not to be a part of this
world. We're strangers and pilgrims passing through. We seek no permanency
here in regard to cities. We look for a city. I can see
Abraham standing out there. He's standing out there looking.
What are you looking for, Abraham? Abraham, what are you looking
for? You're straining there. What are you looking for? I'm
looking for a city. I'm looking for a city. What
kind of a city are you looking for, Abraham? I'm looking for
a city whose builder and maker is God. That's the kind of city
I'm looking for. What are you, Abraham? I'm a
stranger. And I'm a pilgrim. I'm a nomad. I'm a wanderer.
I'm looking for a city. Well, we can't have this rest,
though. Rest in the Lord. over in the
book of Matthew chapter 12, or chapter 11 I believe it is, verse
29 somewhere along there, it says, Come unto me, all ye that
labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. What do
you think of that? All ye that labor and are heavy
laden. Now, you remember I told you
once before, that no man has a right to participate in or
to hope in any promise of God in the Bible unless he fits the
description described in the promise. Do you see what I said? Jesus said, Come unto me, all
ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
Now, I'm saying, think of that now. No man can have this rest
that our Lord's talking about here, which He says He gives.
No man can participate, be a partaker of the comfort of that rest,
who has not to a degree or measure fitly to some degree, described or
fit to promise, or the description that's described in the promise.
Now, what's the description described in the promise? Those that are weary and heavy
laden. That's who gets the rest. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden. If you're not heavy laden, if
you're not weary, if you're not sin sick, if you're not heart
sore, if you're not guilty, if you're not ashamed, if you're
not a sinner, if you come with something in your hand, no rest
for you. No rest for you. Rest is for
who? Rest is for the guilty. Rest
is for the poor, hopeless, helpless, doomed, damned individual that
has no hope in himself or no hope in anything that he can
see. Rest is for the man who comes empty-handed, not to barter
or to bargain with God, but he comes like the publican. God be merciful to me, a sinner. Rest for that fellow. There's
rest then, we've established that. There's rest in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Listen to this. Hebrews chapter
4, verse number 9 says, There remaineth therefore a rest for
the people of God. That rest is Christ. Look up
here in verse number 2 of the 4th chapter. Verse number 1 of
the 4th chapter, Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left
us of entering into His rest any of you should seem to come
short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached
as well as unto them. But the word preached did not
profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard
it. For we which have believed do
enter into rest. as he hath said." There is a
rest, and that rest is the Lord Jesus Christ. Arise and depart,
for this is not your rest. This world is not your rest. There's no comfort or rest in
a permanent way in any earthly friendships or relationships
or any good things of this life. There's no permanent rest. If you have any rest there, it
will be of a temporary, it'll only be temporary, it'll be no
permanency to it, your rest. You remember the story of Noah. God told Noah to build an ark.
And he went about building that ark and he worked 120 years. He and his sons and those laborers
that he hired to build this great boat. Big chest-like boat. Worked for 120 years. 120 years. Preacher of righteousness. Told
folks this is going to rain. God's going to destroy this whole
shooting match with the flood. And they didn't believe him.
He kept on working. Finally, one day, God came down
and He got old Noah and his sons and their wives, Noah's wife,
and put him in the ark, and he shut the door. Remember that?
And he shut the door. Now that ark was the type of
Christ. That ark is Christ. It was a place of safety. It was a place of security. It
was a place that no harm could befall them because God led them
up the ramp, the gangway. God put them through the door
and God shut the door and shut them in. And that ark preserved
them from the wrath of God upon this world. That ark preserved
all that was inside. Everything that was in the ark
was preserved. That ark is the type of the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's our rest. If we get in
Christ, we have a permanent, perpetual, eternal refuge and
rest in Christ our Lord. Arise ye and depart, for this
is not your rest." That's what Noah was telling these fellas.
Did you know that after God shut Noah in and his family in the
ark, they was inside that ark for seven days before it ever
rained a drop? Did you know that? They was in
the ark seven days before God started the rain to fall. Now
can you imagine What? Noah's friends? He loved those
people. He didn't hate those people,
he loved them. He'd make friends with them. They were good friends,
choice friends. He knew their wives, he knew
their children. They worked together for 120
years. And Noah told them, he said, it's going to rain, God's
going to destroy this whole thing, except those who are inside the
ark. Now can you imagine when they went in the ark and God
shut the door and it didn't rain? The first day it didn't rain.
The people was gathered around on the outside. And they was
laughing and joking. They said, I wonder when the
rain is coming. Noah said it was going to rain. He went in
the ark there and shut the door. Him and all the cattle and all
the camels and Erreth, all the animals and insects and reptiles,
they were all in the ark and no one else was in there. It
hadn't rained. The second day they gathered
out there, all Noah's friends. The children, there's probably
a carnival-like atmosphere, and maybe they're having weenie roasts,
and they might have been selling souvenirs. I don't know, looking
at this monstrosity, this big box. Still didn't rain the third day,
and the fourth day, and the fifth day, and the sixth day. I bet
they had a big laugh, don't you? I bet they had a big laugh on
the sixth day. They said, it ain't gonna rain,
that old man's crazy. He's crazy, it's never gonna
rain. But brethren, it began to rain.
And it rained for 40 days and 40 nights. It rained! And they
said when that ark come to rest on Mount Ararat, which they tell
me was 17,000 feet. That was the height of that mountain. 17,000 feet! And it came to rest
on that mountain. But anyhow, finally when the
waters abated, old Noah, he never opened that door. God shut the
door! And when God shuts the door,
no man can open. Now, if Noah could open that
door, he might have heard his friends. You see, his friends
and his friends' children and these workmen that he was close
to, he might have heard their cries as the water came up through
the door. People are pounding on the side
of that ark. Noah let her see it. I don't
know this now. This is only supposition on my
part. But it could have been, if Noah,
if it was possible for Noah to open that door from the inside,
he might have messed up the whole works. I don't think Noah could
have opened that door. I think when God shuts the door,
no man can open it. And anyhow, This ark is a type of rest and
security, and it's a type of Christ, the ark. Get in the ark! Get in the ark! This world is
perishing! Arise and depart! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Separate
yourself! Arise and depart! This is not
your rest! This world is not your rest!
Come to the ark! Here's your rest! Come to the
ark! Finally the waters abated, quit
raining. Old Noah said, well, I'll turn
a bird loose. They took a raven, turned that
raven loose. That raven never come back. It
went to and fro, to and fro. That raven found plenty of dead
carcasses to eat off of, like a crow alongside you, like a
scab. But he turned the dove loose! He turned the dove loose! And that dove flew out there,
wings fluttering, went on and on and on until it went out of
sight. After a bit, that dove After it circled and went here
and went there, that dove came back! And you know what the Scriptures
say? It says that they could not find
no rest for its feet. There was no rest out there for
the dove! The dove wasn't going to lie on that dead carcasses
of the animals and human bodies and all of that that was in that
sea. Oh no! It wasn't going to light
there. No rest for the feet of that
dove. No rest. Rest is in the ark. That's where the rest is. It's
in the ark. It's in Christ. Ah, listen to me. There's rest. Rest in the ark. There's rest
in the Lord Jesus. And I tell you tonight, come
to Him. Come to Him with all your sins, however many. However
many sins you have, come to Him. What will He do? He'll take them
away. He'll put them away. Let me read
something to you. You need to be reminded of this. I preached to you here recently
from this. Hebrews 9, verse 26. Listen to it now. For then must
he often have suffered since the foundation of the world,
but now once... Listen now. But now once... In
the end of the world, hath He, that's the Lord Jesus Christ,
hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself? So Christ was once offered to
bear the sins of many. He bore the sins of somebody. He appeared to put away somebody's
sins by the sacrifice of Himself. So I'm saying, Come to the Lord
Jesus Christ with all your sins, however many, however many. If you come to Him, He'll put
them away. He'll bury your sins away. How will He do it? By offering
Himself in your stead, in your place, in your room, and suffering
what you ought to have suffered. He'll pay what God demands. He'll pay. He'll pay every farthing
that you owe. He'll pay every debt that you
owe. He'll sign the bill. He'll pay
it. He'll put your sins upon Himself
and pay for it. Well, I say, come to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Come as you are. You feel unfit? You say, well, I'm not good enough.
Let me tell you, the worse you think you are, the better prepared
you are to come. Huh? He's not the Savior of the fit,
but He's the Savior of sinners. He's not going to save good people,
people who think they're good. There's no good people. I hear
this all the time. I hear this good people bit. Well, he's a good man. He's a
good woman. Good, good, good. There's nobody good. apart from
God. A rich young ruler came to the
Lord Jesus Christ, and he said, Good Master, what must I do? He said, Why callest thou me
good? Why do you call me good? Either
you don't know what you're talking about, or something's the matter
here, because there's only one good, and that's God. Are you
calling me good because you think I'm God? Huh? That's what he
was saying. Are you calling me Good because
you think I'm God. There is none good, save one. He was God, manifest in the flesh,
wasn't he? He was God, and he was good. But there's no human flesh. No
human flesh that's good. Paul said that, I know in me
that is in this body of flesh dwelleth. No good thing. There's not even a good intention,
good thought. In me that is not contaminated
with self, not contaminated with sin, nothing. So come as you
are, come as you are, come with all your sins. You say, well,
I'm not fit, I'm not prepared, I'm not good enough. Oh, the
worse you think you are, the better prepared you are to come.
He's not the Savior of good people, He's the Savior of bad people,
He's the Savior of sinners. Sinners! What kind of rest will
he give me if I come? He said, if ye who are weary
and heavy laden, guilty and ashamed, sinners of the worst degree, if you'll come to me, if you'll
come to me, I'll give you rest. I'll give you rest. What kind
of rest will you give me? Number one, I'll give you rest. from the fear of sin. That's
rest. Remember, I preached a funeral
here just recently for Ed and your aunt. I told the congregation that
I preached to about the only reason why men were afraid to
die. Remember I said that? I said there's only one reason
why men are afraid to die. That's because of sin. That's
the only reason men are afraid. They're not afraid of anything
under God's heaven. Men will fight beasts. They'll
wrestle animals. They'll fight men hand-to-hand. They'll fight the vicious snake
or anything that they can find in the jungle, but they're afraid
to die. And the reason that they're afraid to die is because of a
three-letter word, S-I-N. If they didn't have to face their
sin and sins, they wouldn't be afraid, would they? Wouldn't
be afraid. No, sir, and I'll tell you tonight, and I can guarantee
you this on the authority of the Word of God, Any man that
comes to God in Christ, any man who is guilty, any man who feels
the weight and the guilt and the load of his sin, if he'll
come to the Lord Jesus Christ, I'll guarantee you on the Word
of God that He'll give you rest. And what's included in that rest
is rest from the fear of sin. Fear of sin. You see, your sin
is against God. Your sin is not against me. It's
not against mother or father, but your sin is against God.
You remember when the prodigal son was down there and away from
home? Finally he said, well, this is
enough. This is enough. He said, I've
come to wit's end. And you know what he said? He
said, I'll arise. Not only will I make a resolution
here, but he said, I'll put I'll do something about it. I'll be
active. I will rise and go to my Father. And this is what I'll
tell my Father. I'll say, Father, I have sinned
against heaven and against Thee. You see, he knew who sin was
against. Most people don't. Most people,
the only thing they know about sin is, is the fellow got drunk
out there. Did you know, oh, he's a terrible
sinner, he got drunk. Oh, he's a terrible sinner. He
smoked a cigarette. Oh, he's a terrible sinner. He did this.
That's the only thing you know about sin. Sin is against God. That's who it's against. It's
not against me. It's against God. It's against
God. And God don't punish sin. He
don't punish sin. But I'm telling you, if a man
will come empty-handed, Daryl, nothing in his hand, Don't bring
anything to bargain or to barter with God. Come as He is, with
all of His sins, the Lord Jesus Christ will give Him rest, and
included in that rest is rest from the fear of sin. He'll take them away. I read
the Scripture to you where He says, He hath appeared once in
the end of the world to what? To take away sin by the offering
of Himself. Took them away. I've got no sin. Say, you're perfect? In Christ
I am. In Christ. He took them all away. How many did He take away now?
Did He take just a few of them? Did He take 50% or 75%? How many sins did He take away,
preacher? He took them all away. He took them all, past, present,
and sins to come. He took them all. He paid for
all of my sins. So this rest, arise and depart! This is not your rest! Your rest
is in Christ! If you'll come to Him, He'll
give you rest, rest from the fear of sin. What kind of rest will I have?
Rest from the fear of sin. You see, they're completely taken
away, forgiven, blotted out, sunk in the depths of the ocean,
cast behind the back of God as far as the east is from the west,
and he said, as a matter of fact, he said, I will remember your
sins against you no more. I'll do something that I cannot
do. I'll forget. I'll forget. God can't forget,
but he said, in your case, I will. I'll forget. I'll not remember
the sins against you anymore, your iniquities. Rest from the
fear of the law. That's what's involved. Rest
from the fear of sin. Rest from the fear of the law.
What's the law say? The law says, Thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, all thy strength, all
thy mind, and all thy soul. That's what God requires. He
requires that of every creature. God requires it. And he will
not accept anything less than what he is. Perfection, and that's
what perfection is, is to love God with all your heart. That's
what the law says. And the law says if you offend
in one point, you've broken it all. You've broken it all. All of us, then, are rendered
hopeless and helpless and guilty before this law. Because we start
at number one, we haven't loved God. We haven't loved God with
all of our hearts, alright? Listen. I say when a man comes
to the Lord Jesus Christ and he gets this rest, what's included
in this rest is rest from the fear of sin and rest from the
fear of the law. Why? Because the law has no further
claims on the man who comes to the Lord Jesus Christ because
his debts are all paid! Christ paid his debts! So the
law has no claim over him no more. I hope you see that. The
requirements of God are satisfied, and the Bible says that Jesus
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. That's what's
included in that rest. Fear from the law. All right?
Here's another thing that's included in this rest. He's our rest. What will He give me? What's
included in this rest? Rest from the fear of sin, rest
from the fear of the law, and rest from the fear of hell. I
used to be deadly afraid of hell when I got to thinking about
it as a young man, as a boy, as a growing man, 23, 24 years
old. I used to shudder when I thought
of hell and all of its fury. I believed even then that hell
was a place of torment, and I believed Even then, unless somehow God
spared me, that that's where I was going. And I thought about
it. I thought about it. Listen, rest from the fear of
hell. Hell can't touch the man who
has come to Jesus Christ. There's no hell for the man who
comes to Jesus. He, our Lord, on the tree bore
our hell. That is, He bore our suffering,
He bore our punishment in His own body. I won't have to bear
it because He bore it for me. You see? Rest from the fear of
hell. The man who comes to the Lord
Jesus Christ, he has rest from the fear of sin, rest from the
fear of the law, rest from the fear of hell. He can lay down
at night. He can lay down at night and
close his eyes. And he can know in his heart
that if God causes a deep sleep to come upon him and takes him
before morning, he'll never go to hell. Because Christ bore
his hell. A lot of people are going to
have to bear their own hell. But this is included in the rest.
Rest from the fear of hell. And then there's rest from the
fear of the devil. Are you afraid of the devil?
I'll tell you, he's mighty and he's powerful. He's like a roaring
lion. seeking whom he can devour. He's
mean, the devil. And his object in this world
is to get man to miss the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the objective
of the devil. He wants you to miss Christ.
He doesn't care whether you gamble or not. People talk about, well,
down there at that hill, why, this world would be such a better
place to live in if we could shut up all the beer joints.
You know, corral the devil. The devil's not down there. The
devil's up here. That's where the devil is. The
devil is trying to get men to miss Christ. That's where the
devil's at. Rest from the fear of the devil.
But he can't touch one who's come to Jesus Christ. He may
sift you, and he may vex and torment you, but he can't destroy
you. You remember now. that I said
that this devil is God's devil. He belongs to God. The devil
belongs to God. And he's on a chain, and he can
only do that which God permits him to do. God may permit him
to sift me like he did Peter, and to shake me like he shook
Job, and sifted Job, and stripped Job, but he can't destroy them.
He can't do that. He can't do it. Rest from the
fear of the devil. Rest from the fear of death. Oh, the sting of death is taken
away when a man comes to Christ. You see, Jesus Christ has overcome
death. And it is a conquered enemy. And the believer is safe. That is, his soul is safe no
matter what happens to his body. Oh, then there's rest, lastly,
in the storm of affliction. He'll comfort you with a comfort
that the world knows nothing about. They don't understand
it. That deep comfort, that abiding comfort, the presence of God
that comforts you in the time of difficulty. You see, He'll
cheer your heart, and He'll sustain your paining heart, and He'll
enable you That is the man who has come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
He will enable him or her to bear loss patiently. Hold your peace in the day of
wrath. The Lord will do that. Oh, rest
from the storm of affliction. Rest from the fear of death. Rest from the fear of sin. Rest from the fear of hell. Eternal
rest in the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen, do you have this rest?
Do you have it? You say, well, I have it, preacher.
I have it. Well, do you enjoy this rest
like you ought to? Well, you say, that's another
question. I have that rest, but I don't
enjoy that rest like I ought to because of the unbelief in
my heart. Well, why don't you cry out unto
God and say, Lord, I believe. help thou my unbelief." You remember
there was a well near Hagar, but she couldn't see it. She
was dying for thirst. She was dying for thirst, and
there was an active well right near it, but she never could
see it because her eye wasn't open. Well, listen, there's rest right
before you, the rest, the eternal rest that I've told you about
right here. Rest, rest, a perfect rest, rest which will give you
a perfect conscience. Because you've got a perfect
sacrifice. It will quiet this screaming
conscience that demands ultimate perfection. You can say, I've
got it because I've got the Lord Jesus Christ. He's my perfection. He's my righteousness. He'll
give you rest. That's what it's all about. You
see, there's safety there for Peter when he was on the water,
but he did not look to Jesus Christ and His praise. But Christ
was there. Christ was there. Rest is here,
if you'll believe it. If you'll believe it. Well, that's the way with many
of us. We give way to needless fear. You remember the man that
the Scriptures speak of? Not one man in particular, but
man or men. back in Old Testament days, who
killed a man accidentally. He didn't mean to kill him. Well,
they provided three cities of refuge for him. If he could get
to one of those cities, if he ever got inside that wall, he
was safe. That's a type of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's rest right there, to get in that city. That's like
the ark. Well, you see, once within the
walls, this man who had fled, the avenger of blood. His next
of kin was out after him. He had the gun loaded. And he
was at his heels. And he was going to kill him
because he was entitled to. He was entitled to kill him if
he could. And he was running as hard as he could, trying to
get to the city of refuge. And once within the walls, there's
safety there, security. That avenger of blood had to
stop at the gate. He had to stop. He couldn't go
any farther. He couldn't execute vengeance on that fellow. He
couldn't do it. Couldn't do it. And this fellow was in the wall
and I could see him as he looked out the gate and he sees that,
excuse me, sees that fellow standing out there with that spear or
that gun or that hatchet. And they said, well, don't worry
about it. You're inside here. You're safe.
You're safe. I don't think at first that man
could hardly believe it. Do you? I don't believe he could. He said, well, it's too good
to be true. Man, you mean it. That fellow, he can't come in
there and kill me? No, sir, he can't do it. You're safe? You're
in the walls here and he can't bother you. There ain't no way
under God's heaven this man, he can't bother you. Now you
mean I'm safe? You're safe. Listen, you're in Christ, you're
safe. You're safe. If you're in Christ. If Christ is your substitute,
if He's your Redeemer, if He's your righteousness, if He's your
all in all, if He's your hope, you're safe. God help you. Arise! Arise! Now! And depart! For this is
not your rest. This is your rest. The Lord Jesus
Christ. Rest in Him. You'll find rest
for your souls in Him. All right.