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"The Rest Of Faith" - Pastor Craig Field - Jun. 9. 2024
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"The Rest Of Faith" - Pastor Craig Field - Jun. 9…
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Praise the Lord. Pastor Nancy sends her love and greetings to all of you. I told her, you don't want to greet all of them. There's only certain ones you want to. I'm just kidding. And I don't know, listen. I don't know if you can, but I would strongly encourage you to listen when I'm away. If your pastor finds it important enough to leave the country, to go through all the effort and the time and the inconvenience and the money, and to go and be there at these meetings, it would behoove you, despite the three hour difference, that you, if you can't watch live because you're going to go to bed, then watch the next day. But I'm telling you, she. Pastor Nancy, I don't know how to describe it. She has come into another level. She really has. She's come into another dimension of depth in her teaching. She's always been in, in my opinion, the best teacher. But I'm telling you, it almost discourages me because I'm sitting there thinking, what is the hope for the rest of us as ministers? There's just no hope for us anymore. Do you know what I'm saying? And it's one of those. She's one of those things where I write, but then I have to listen. And then it's like whatever notes I wrote, it's a page, maybe per sermon, I write another page when I listen again and. And then I listen a third time and I'm writing more notes that I didn't write the first. And I'm thinking, how did I miss that? She said it. How did I miss it? Because you can't pause. Pastor Nancy Live, she just rolls. But when I got her on the screen, I can pause. And I normally pause her at a moment where she's got a weird look on her face like that. And then, you know, just, you can have fun when you pause. You know, you don't have to. I'm just kidding. But anyway, it's one of those things where I have to meditate on some of these things because there is great help. Congregation, I ask that you'd listen and sense what is vital. That means recognize what is important. And I'm humble enough to tell you I'm not in competition with anybody. I know who I am and I know where I stand and I know my limitations and I know where I'm at. I want to go further, but I know where I'm at today and I'm not where she's at. So when God gives us people in the body of Christ. And your pastor is submitting to them and listening with both ears and an open heart repeatedly. I would encourage you to recognize the importance of that and do that yourself because it will help you grow. Hallelujah. And she has given us such. I don't know why, because I really, truly don't feel we deserve it at all. But she has just shown us, my wife and I, such favor and such kindness and allowed me to minister again, which I never go there expecting to minister. You know something interesting, because I can talk to you, my congregation, I wouldn't tell them, but on the Monday night while we were worshiping, the anointing came on. You see, every time I preach, the anointing comes on me. And it comes on me before I preach. Now that's just something that happens with me. I don't know if other ministers have that, but it comes on me in a certain way. I don't know how to explain it and I won't try to explain it. And if it's a stronger anointing, it comes a little bit in a different way than if it's just a normal ministry anointing. But. And there's an actual sensation. It's like a blanket falls over me. And on Sunday night, that happened, sorry, Monday night, the first night of the conference, that happened. And I thought, why would that happen? I don't understand. Why would that anointing to minister come on me? And I'm thinking, she's not going to ask me to minister tonight because I know she's preaching. She never asked another person on the first night of the conference. So I knew she wasn't going to. I said, lord, I don't know what that's for. And I just ignored it. And then, you know, at about 11 o', clock, she texted me and said, because there's dinners afterward and you know, by the time you get home, it's usually later than 11 o'. Clock. But she said, God spoke to me and said that you are to minister in the morning. And so immediately I start going into hyperventilation mode and I have a fever, you know, I start running a fever. Nor I just get, well, I'm kind of not kidding. But anyway, and so as soon as Jenny heard that, she said, I'll leave you alone. And I said, woman, leave me alone. I don't need your distraction because she's so beautiful. And she was just too tired. So she's with our children this morning. But she was up pretty much all night. But anyway, But I went to the Lord, and the Lord said, why you don't be concerned. Why are you concerned? I said, lord, because she is the leading voice. She really is one of the leading voices on earth. And I said, lord, I can't think. I'm trying to think. I'm trying to think of a woman minister. And I've heard quite a lot over the years. I'm trying to think of anybody that feeds me more and that has that kind of anointing anywhere on earth. I'm trying to think of it, and I can't. And I said, it's intimidating, Father, to stand in front of somebody like that because she. Like, she could say one sentence and blow my whole sermon out of the water. And so I. But I heard him say, I anointed you already. I said, no, you mean you will anoint me. He said, the anointing that came on you tonight was for tomorrow morning. And so he showed me what to preach. And I did my best. I don't think I did a perfect job, but I did my best effort to preach it. And, you know, I refused to look at her. I've never looked at her once when I preach. And so Jenny said, you need to look down at us sometimes. I said, no, no, no, I can't, because if I lock eyes, I might fall out under. But anyway, she's so gracious and she's so kind, and she's so honoring to us, and we endeavor to be so honoring to her. And I'm just saying something's happening in a very precious way between us and her and her ministry. It's always been precious, but it's growing deeper. The Lord said to me, he said, I've set you in a place that nobody can take you out of, so you don't have to be worried. Just rest in that place. But he said, it's not just resting in it. Occupy it with honor, and it will grow. And so I'm constantly thinking, how do I show honor? How do I show her honor personally, financially? How do I show her ministry honor, financially? Because financial is a big way that you show honor. How do I show honor with my words? How do I show honor with my time? How do I show honor with my service? And I'm not doing it to get anything. I'm not doing it to get anything. Remember that woman at the great woman at Schumann? He said, what can I do for her? And she said, I dwell among my own people. What she said is, I didn't build you that house because I need Something or because I'm trying to get something from you, I'm fine. I'm just doing it because I perceive you're a prophet, and I want to be close to you. And so very important. You got to do things for people for the right reason, not to try to get something. And so I guard my heart in that all the time with Pastor Nancy. But God told me, if you'll occupy it with honor, it will grow. And I'm telling you, it is growing. It is growing. I can see it growing. Praise the Lord. And now I have to actually be careful because we are getting people starting to. I don't want to say what or I don't want to say any of the details, but we have people now starting to try to get close to us and get close to her. In fact, we have people inviting me to go places just because they want her. And so the Lord dealt with me. He said, you need to protect her because not everybody that wants her is right. And people will try to get to her through you because they see that I've given you favor in her eyes. And so you need to protect. Now, that's a new concept because I've never thought of that before. So, like, we protect her in the spirit and prayer, but we also protect her just, you know, because not everybody is pure out there that wants to get something from her. And sometimes they'll use people that they know are closer to her. And so we have to keep our hearts, Jenny and I, very pure. I'm just saying that promise of life church has a place in the spirit with the defrains, not just me and Jenny. This church has a place in the spirit, and so it would behoove you to pay attention when we're going to these things that you try your best to listen if you can, and if you can't, just don't say, I can't just make the time. You make the time for your social media and for your, you know, your Pilates classes and for your cooking things and for everything else, you can make the time for the word. And so I just want to. I want to thank you for letting me go. When I say letting me go, it's not that you can stop me from going, but what I mean by that is when I'm gone, you don't boycott the church because that's a form. That's the power you do have. You can try to boycott things and say, well, if you go, I'm not coming. And then that puts pressure on me because I'm torn. I don't want to hurt the church, but I have to obey God. I have to go and be fed. Praise God. So I thank you for not boycotting. I thank you for being faithful. And, you know, I wasn't supposed to be here this morning. It's her 40th anniversary. I was supposed to be with her today, on Sunday in her church. But some things changed. And the Lord spoke to me yesterday and said, I want you in your pulpit tomorrow. So we had to rebook flights and cost more money and change everything with all of our plans, but he said, I want you to be there tomorrow morning. I wasn't supposed to be here today. But I'm just saying. I'm just saying all that to say I put great expense and I put great premium to honor the divine connection. I really do. And I live it. I put my money where my mouth is. I really do. And I'm asking you not only to do the same for your divine connection, which is me and Pastor Jenny, but also I'm asking you to pay more attention to your role with my divine connection. Because it comes down if, you know, I'm going try at least to listen every time. We have congregation members that come. We had four or five that came this time, and they're sitting in the services and it's. They're just being imparted to. They're being blessed. It's wonderful. But you don't have to come. It's good to come, but I know everybody's busy, but you can watch, and you can still get a measure by watching. Praise God. And now there's another pastor in Toronto that came and introduced herself and himself to me. And they're downtown Toronto and they've got a great church and they've just connected with Pastor Nancy. And this is the first. This is the first pastor in Toronto other than us that is now connected with Pastor Nancy. And I finally have somebody that I can. Because it feels like there's nobody around that's part of this company and of course, this wonderful church in Saskatchewan, Regina, Saskatchewan. And they've come now for three conferences in a row, and they always come up and say hi to me and, and the pastor there, they have a great word of faith church in Regina, and they've come to every meeting and they're coming in August when she's here. And I just. I just beaming because I'm thinking, my God, Canada is starting. God is raising up voices all over the country. It's not just us. There's 7,000 that haven't bowed their knee. God is raising up people and connecting people with her. And so like the family's growing, this, this company is growing. And we're not alone anymore in Canada. We were alone in Canada for a while, but we are not alone anymore. Now there are others in fof that are Canadians. And so I'm so happy. And I said, just make sure you scream and shout. I told the pastors, I said, just let her know that it's Canadians that are screaming and shouting. And you know, we want her to know that Canada is not dead. Praise God. Anyway, sorry for taking all that long time talking about that, but we've had an important week and the Lord has dealt with me about a lot of things. He speaks to me a lot when I'm gone. Hebrews chapter. If he would be so kind, I want you to read with me a few verses here. Hebrews chapter four, verse one. Watch this. Now let us therefore fear or reverence lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest. Any of you should seem to come short of it. Okay? The writer, which is probably Paul of Hebrews is telling us in the very first verse of chapter one, there's this promise of rest, but a lot of you don't enter it. Now this is symbolic because it is talking about Hebrews and the Jews and you know, the covenant and different things like that. But it also is just as accurate for us to apply to our life as born again believers. It's not just written to the Hebrews, although it is the book of Hebrews. There's a double edged sword to this meaning. But symbolically it applies to us. There is a rest offered, Reverend Dan, that a lot of people fall short of entering. And can I tell you something? I was going to re preach what I preached Tuesday morning to you, Righteousness. I had it already. I was refreshing my mind, my notes, my mind and the notes. And I heard the Holy Ghost say, you're not preaching that this morning. I said, but Lord, it was a good sermon. I mean Lord, a lot of people told me they liked that sermon. I mean Lord, who are you to say that it's not a very good sermon. He doesn't say it's not a good sermon. That's not for this morning. He said, I want you to talk about this other subject this morning. And so that's why I'm on an assignment. So listen, because I believe God has your number in his heart. He's got your name in his heart. That's why he's having me Talk about this. There is a rest offered. We'll explain what that means. And a lot of people fall short of entering it. And I think I am one of the guilty ones. And I think if the rest of you rascals were honest, you would all agree that you're one of the guilty ones. Because we don't all enter into the rest. I don't mean the rest of salvation. There is a rest of salvation all of us have entered into. But I'm talking about a daily rest. And not all of us enter into that. Verse 3. For we which have believed do enter into rest. As he said, I have sworn of my wrath if they shall enter into any rest. Although the works were were finished from the foundation of the world. Notice it says here in verse three that we which have believed. Did you see that? So faith. Believing is faith. Faith is a qualification to enter into rest. I'm going to explain this a little bit more. Just stay with me. So number one, verse one. There's rest available. A lot of people don't take it. Verse 3. The way you're going to get it is through believing. So you got to remember that rest and faith, they go together. Okay, have a look down, please with me in verse six. Where is verse six? I've got a new Bible. Can't find nothing in this Bible. Seeing, therefore you know, when you get a new Bible, everything's out of in the wrong spot, okay? Until you start to memorize that new spot. Seeing, therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein. Seeing, therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein. And they, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of what. So we saw in verse three that by believing you enter. And then we see in verse 6 that other people by unbelieving, didn't enter. You see how Paul is really like. You don't have to be beyond kindergarten to understand this. What he's saying is a lot of people don't take this. But if you're going to take it, you've got to believe. And the people that didn't believe, they didn't take it. So he's repeating so that it's very clear in our minds, faith and rest go together. You can't have rest without faith. Now have a look at verse 9 and verse 9 and 10 and 11. And that's it for this chapter. For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day? There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he is also ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest. Lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. Let us therefore labor to enter into that rest. So there is a rest. A lot of people don't enter into it. If you are going to, you've got to believe. If you have unbelief, you can't enter it. But we've got to labor to enter into that rest. Now I just. There's. Our society is so pace driven and busy and money and pressure and even at church there's so much going on and there's things that we want you to be faithful in and that can also kind of seem very busy at times. But life in general, I don't know if it's just me, but it just seems that everything is just such a pressure cooker these days. There's just so much everywhere you turn. And the Lord's been dealing with me a lot about rest. I know pastor preached a little bit about it, but he's been dealing with me personally about rest. And I believe that's why he wants us to talk a little bit about this today. Because she made a statement on the last night, what was the last night, Friday night that I just thought was like an exploding bomb statement. Okay? And it's very simple and it's very easy to memorize. So let me say it to you. Faith is the diligent effort to rest in God. That is an all encompassing nuclear power throbbing statement. Faith is the diligent effort to rest in God. So this is why it says, those that must labor now, you must labor to enter into that rest. Right now. Can I read to you? Turn with me to first Timothy, chapter six. First Timothy, chapter six. I just want you to see this first Timothy, chapter six and verse 12. And it says, fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life whereunto thou art also called and hath professed a good profession before many witnesses fight the good fight of faith. Okay, Now a lot of this hinges on the way you interpret the word fight. And different cultures interpret the word fight differently. So why do we think that our American Western civilization, 21st century culture Interprets the fight the same way that they did when they wrote this? Now if you actually look at that word fight, it means to struggle, but not like struggle, like, oh, I'm struggling. It means to struggle like a wrestle, like to struggle. And it means, I watch this is not only with a negative connotation in Fact, the primary use of the word is to struggle, as in competition sports. Okay? So you could think of like somebody in a race. It's like they're fighting to win, but they're not fighting an enemy. Somebody in a boxing match, that person is not really their enemy. They're just a competitor that they're fighting against. But it's a competition. It's a. It's a. There is a. You are trying, you are striving to win something. That is the primary reason of the word fight. It's not actually against an enemy. It also means to contend with an adversary, meaning an enemy. So to say that we are fighting the devil, quote, unquote, he is our adversary. And there is a measure of fighting the good fight of faith where we are dealing with the devil. But it is actually not even primarily about the devil, but I think in our minds, because when we think of the word fight, we think of like against the devil. Were in a fight, but we don't really think. The way they wrote this was not necessarily about a fight, it was about a struggle and competition. The reason I'm saying this is because I think a lot of people, a lot of Christians, they have this attitude of, my life is a fight. I gotta fight the devil today. Oh, God, this is the symptom. I gotta fight this today and I gotta fight that. And all this thing that my finances, I'm gonna. And then we'll quote these scriptures like we're covering. I'm just fighting the good fight. But really what we are, is we're worried, but we'll say that I'm fighting the good fight because we go to scripture and it makes us sound religious. But really, really it's not as much. Because when we're dealing with sickness, that's an adversary. That's part of the devil's category. When we're dealing with financial crisis, that's part of the Devil's category. Do you understand? So often I think we use the word fight because we're looking at it about an enemy and we're constantly aware of what is coming against us. I'm not telling. Just listen to me for a minute. I'm not trying to. Just stay with me. There is an enemy. He is very real. But the mentality of most Christians is that I have to war and fight against him because he is assaulting me on a variety of fronts. And if you're not careful, you can get into that mentality of hand to hand combat and you'll start saying that your whole life is One big fight. And the more you say it, the more your life is going to be one big fight. I'm not saying that you don't fight in faith against the enemy. But the primary use of the word fight in the Greek is not about an enemy, it's about a competition. In other words, what Paul is trying to say is, yes, there's a devil, but just put him on the back burner for a second. Really what we're fighting for, the fight of faith, is not really fighting the devil because he actually is defeated. So the real fight is more about circumstances around us. Just like when you're running in a race, there's competitors around you. They are not your enemy, but they are a competitor. They are not the devil. Do you understand? In a war, it's like a vicious fight against a mortal enemy, like the devil. But this is not primarily a war. Fight is not connected to war in the Greek. Here it's connected to competition. Really, you could use the word compete or struggle or strive better than the word fight. But they put the English word fight, and a lot of people now interpret that to mean it's always about the enemy. It's always about the enemy and the enemy. And because the enemy withstands us all the time, it seems like this is the perfect fit verse to justify our war mentality all the time with the devil. But it's actually not even really talking about that fully. It is included, but that's not its primary meaning. What it's saying is you're going through life, and just as in a race, there are competitors, so they're not your enemy. They're just there. Do you understand? They're trying to hinder you from winning because they want to win. But they're not your enemy, they're not the devil. So you go through situations in life and there is a constant pressure to fall into fear and worry and doubt and not trust God. And it's not even that much about the enemy. It's about the competitors around you, the thoughts around you. Circumstance. The competitors are life. Circumstances that we face. Thoughts that we face, people that we face. And they're not our enemies necessarily, but they are trying to hinder us from faith. That's why it's the good fight of faith. What are they trying to do? They're trying to get us to not trust him. Circumstances more than even the devil. Just situations, just life. Just the price at the gas pump, that's not a devil, that's just a price at the gas pump. But it's a Competitor, why it's trying to. All these things are trying to push me out of the faith arena. It's trying to get me to get in my mind, mental arena worry, oh, what am I going to do? And see, the fight is not really with the devil. The fight is against these competitors to stay in the arena of faith. In other words, it is a fight. Fight to remain trusting God. Do you understand? That is the primary use of that word, fight. It is not necessarily just about the devil. Now, the devil is included because he is going to try tooth, nail and claw, obviously, and use circumstances and situations to get you out of the faith arena, out of the trust arena, into worry and doubt. What's going to happen? I don't know what's going to happen. These symptoms, this thing, this thing, my marriage, whatever, I don't know how I'm going to do it. He's trying to get you to not trust God, but I'm just saying we got a mentality that we're fighting. We've got to fight. My whole life is a fight. Everything is a fight. And that is not a very healthy way to approach life. And it's a very unhealthy way to say that all the time. Don't say all the time. My life is a fight. It might feel like a fight, but don't say that. Because I'm sorry, but I don't see in the Bible really where God is telling us that our entire existence has to be with the mentality of warfare and struggle. And I'm gonna. I don't see that. In fact, what I do see is him say, I offer you rest. A lot of people don't enter it. And what I do hear him say is I want you to labor diligent effort. That's faith. Because I want you to enter into this rest that a lot of people don't enter into. But you can't verse three and verse six do it unless you're in faith. So faith is what gets you into that rest. Notice what she said. Faith is the diligent effort. Diligent effort is the fight. It's not really a fight against the devil because he is defeated. Although we do have to face him and deal with him from time to time. But he's actually not really our biggest issue. The issue is all these things that are trying to get us to not trust God. Do you understand? And so it is a fight. It is a struggle. It is a contending. It is a. I am pressing, but I am pressing for what reason? That is the diligent effort, my faith, I have got to do something to enter into rest. The faith or the diligent effort is the fight. But what is its goal? Its goal is to enter into rest. If you're fighting, it should end in rest. But I hear a lot of people fighting, but there's no rest on the other side of the fight. So you're just in a mentality of it's against the devil and me and we're locked in combat. But that's not a healthy way to live. That's not even a scripture way to live because Jesus already whooped him and he's convinced you that he's not whipped and that you have to deal with him constantly, all the time. And I'm telling you, yes, he's out there, but there is a place in Christ where you can be where he can't even really even touch you. And what he's trying is all the stuff around you, all these circumstances are trying to get you to not trust God. And it is a diligent effort to say, I trust him. It takes a fight of faith. Diligent effort is the fight. I want you to change the way you think of the word fight. Fight equals diligent effort. Fight equals striving. Fight does not equal you. Hand to hand combat with Satan. You don't need hand to hand combat because Jesus already went hand to hand with him. If you're always thinking that you have to fight the devil, you're insulting what Jesus did. Jesus is the only and the greatest warrior of all and he completely and valiantly destroyed him. If I have the mentality, I've got to do all this fighting. What I'm really saying is what you did wasn't for some reason, enough. So I have to step up now and finish what you didn't finish Jesus, because the devil's out there and he's very real. And I've got to fight, fight, fight. No, I don't have to fight, fight, fight. Not against the devil, because Jesus already fought, fought, fought and whipped, whipped, whipped. Now, I don't just say that to make you shout and sing and dance. I know that we love to hear Jesus defeated the devil, but how many of you actually live it? Because a lot of Christians don't live it. They'll shout in church, jesus help us. You know, then we're all from Jamaica. Oh, God help us. Right, right, right, Greg. Jesus, help us. Like Deanne, you don't have to be from Jamaica, just anywhere in the Caribbean. I said, deanne, how Was it. She was down there. How was the. How'd you think? Oh, God. And then the other lady come over there. She goes, oh, geez. And there's the two of them, and they're making all these noises, and I'm just sitting there looking at them, and I'm going, you guys are both crazy. I don't understand what's happening here. We're just rejoicing. And, oh, that was so good tonight. I don't care how you want to rejoice. You want to rejoice like that, or you want to, you know, just take out your little pocket protector and just say, praise the Lord. I don't care how you do it. Just. What I'm saying is that there's got to be a revelation. I don't care how you respond to it, what kind of joy, deliverance you have, how it comes out of you. That's cultural, that's personality. You just do it and we'll smile along with you. I'm just saying this is not about a bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. If you think that your life is always in a warfare mode, then first of all, you don't really trust that Jesus already did the war. And yes, we recognize. See, this is where the Devil gets me, because he is there. And we do have to resist him. We do have to resist him, and we're going to resist him, and we're going to resist the competitors around us trying to get us outside of trusting God. The fight is not to try to overcome him, because he's already overcome. The fight is to keep the struggle, the strain, but in a good way, in a competitive sport kind of way. The strain, the struggle, the fight is to keep me trusting God. It's not for me to overcome him because he's already overcome, but from his place of defeat, he will throw things at me through situations and circumstances, try to get me to not trust God because of fear. But I have to fight or strive or struggle to, to remain with diligent effort to remain in my arena of I trust God no matter what. I trust God. I don't care what it looks like, I trust God. So the good fight of faith is the good striving of faith to keep us in faith. It's not to defeat the devil, it's to keep us in faith. So stop looking at the Devil so much and stop talking about him so much, because he's actually far less of an ingredient in this pie than you may initially think. He's already defeated. I don't have to fight Him. But what I do have to fight is my tendency, which comes from his influence, to get out of the faith arena. I'm fighting, striving to stay in faith. That's why it's called the good fight of faith, because it's a striving for faith. So what does faith do? Faith is the great effort. This is the striving. This is the strain, this is the struggle. But not in a negative way. Faith has effort to it. It's the great effort to rest in God. I fight the good fight of faith and I lay hold. Really. Notice that laying hold and fighting the good of faith are listed together. I've been preaching about laying hold. Notice that he says. He said, fight the good fight of faith. Laying hold onto eternal life. Now listen, hold on. If you're already born again, why do you have to lay hold on eternal life? It doesn't mean lay hold like you don't have eternal life. You already have eternal life. What he's saying is things of the eternal realm, the life of God for our life in this earth. Right now, the plan of God really means the plan of God. The things that God authored in that eternal realm, the life of God, the blessing of God, the graces of God for our life. Right now I'm laying hold of that. But I fight and I strive to stay in faith. And I reach out to take what God has offered me in this life. And I've got to stay in faith. And there is a bit of a diligent effort required because all this stuff is trying to get me. The devil's defeated, but things are trying to get me to not trust him. So I am fighting. I am striving against those influences. And I am saying, no, I. I will stay in faith. That's the diligent effort. Are you with me? Diligent effort is not to overcome the devil. He's ready to overcome. We enforce our victory. The diligent effort is to keep yourself in faith. The fight is against yourself. It's against your flesh. It's against your tendencies to doubt. It's not against the devil. He might be behind your tendencies to doubt, but you have to stay in the arena. It is a diligent effort to stay in the faith arena. And we've got to do certain things to stay in that faith arena. But what does the diligent effort produce? Rest. Faith is the diligent effort to rest in God. Did you notice there was something on the other side of faith? And that's called rest. Did you notice there's something on the other side of the fight or the diligent effort. And that's called rest. That's why God says, I offer it to you. Many people don't take it, and you can't have it outside of faith. Verse 3 and 6. So verse 9 to 11, I'm telling you there's a place for the people of God to have rest. And I want you to enter into rest, daily rest for your daily living. But the only way you're going to do it is if you labor. Did you see that verse 11? Labor to enter into rest. What is labor? Labor, it means. And the word fight, actually, if you look it up in the Greek, means all those things I said. But it also means to fervently labor. So really what he's saying is, I want you to labor to enter into rest or fight to enter into rest. Strive to enter into rest. Put out exerting effort. Like Pastor Nancy said, great effort, diligent effort. I want you to do this effort. But it's to the point that this, the labor, the effort, the diligent effort must be made. But what's its point? What is faith's point? So that we rest. What is rest? So that we say, father, I've finally found this place. I'm in the storm. But I found the eye of the storm. I'm in a place of rest. I actually truly trust you that you're going to see me through this. And it took me some effort to get here because I've got to release my faith with my words and renewing my mind. And you know what I'm saying sometimes, yes, Binding the devil, I mean, all that is a part of it. I've made a diligent effort. I have fought. Why? So that I can trust you. And now that I'm in this place where I'm truly trusting you despite the circumstance, I don't know how to explain it, Lord, but it actually feels like it just. Everything's raging, but I just feel so at peace. I just feel so at rest. You prepared a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. They're all around me. I haven't seen the circumstance change yet, But I'm sitting here eating. I'm at rest. Do you understand the point of your faith? That's what I'm trying to get to, is to get you to rest. If you're not resting, something's wrong. I don't mean physically, although that includes physically. I'm talking about in your soul. Does your spirit need to rest? Your Spirit is perfect. Your spirit is sealed. What needs to rest? Your mind, your emotions, your will, your body. Now, I'm going to quote you Matthew 11, 20, 30. Come unto me all ye that labor. But that's not the kind of good labor we're talking about. If you look at it in the Greek, it means heavy, burdensome, irksome labor, crushing labor. Come unto me all ye that are down and hard. And come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden. And take my yoke upon you, my yoke, and learn of me. For I am meek and lowly in heart. And you will find rest unto your souls. Didn't say spirits. Because your spirit doesn't need rest, but your soul, your emotional makeup needs rest. What did Jesus say? Come to me. Who is Jesus? The Word. Come to the word. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. For I'm meek and lowly of heart. You'll find rest unto yourselves. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. The flow of Jesus is light and easy. Are you listening to me? You have got to learn something. I'm telling you a very important truth that has really helped me a lot. I ask myself regularly, is this light and easy? Is this light and easy? Because I find. Because I've been dealing with a lot of stuff, a lot of problems, a lot of ministry, a lot of attacks, a lot of things. And I have to constantly, is this light? If it's not light and easy, Rob, I'm missing it somewhere. It's never God missing it, it's always me missing it. Because somehow I've got out of rest. Because light and easy is rest. Which means if it's not light and easy, I'm not in rest. If I'm not in rest, I'm not in faith. Because rest produces faith. Sorry. Sorry. If I'm not in rest, I'm not in faith. Because faith produces the rest. Faith is the diligent effort to rest in God. If you check yourself, is what you're facing, what you're believing? Are you in a place of light and easy or are you in a place of heavy laden, burdensome? Because if you're in a burdensome place, you're not really in faith. Because the place of faith is a place of rest, and rest is light and easy. Jesus said, you have to take my yoke. Notice he didn't say, I'm putting it on you. He said, you reach out, you learn of me, and you take this yoke with me. In other words, you better say, lord, I Choose to take rest. I take this rest. Take it. It's light and easy. God's flow is joy and peace. The kingdom of heaven. Romans 14:17 is righteousness, peace and joy. You are righteous. Don't get me started on that. But you are righteous already. But now, as you get established in your spirit, you're righteous. As you get your mind renewed and established in that righteous, you'll draw up from the righteousness within you a flow of joy and peace. Because the kingdom or the flow of heaven is joy and peace. There is no burden in joy and peace. There is only light and easy in joy and peace. There is rest in joy and peace. So I think there are five words floating around here in this room, and I want you to equate them all together. There is the word rest, there is the word light. There is the word easy. There is the word joy, and there is the word peace. And they all go together. If you're in rest, you're light. If you're in joy, it's easy. Think of that. Joy and peace. Romans 14:17, Light and easy. Matthew 11:30 and rest. Hebrews 4:11. Remember those. Remember those words. Because the flow of God is supposed to be. I am going to exert effort to trust him, because things are trying to get me to not trust him. And part of it is the devil, and part of it is just life. Some of it is the enemy, and some of it is just competitors around me. But I'm going to exert diligent effort, and I'm going to say things and pray things and believe things and guard this thinking. And I'm going to stay in faith. I'm going to fight the good fight. I'm going to stay in faith. It is diligent effort to get in faith, but that must produce rest. If I'm not in rest, I've missed the whole boat. That's got to produce a light and easy flow. And if it's not light and easy, you're not in rest. If you're not in rest, you're not in faith. Do you understand? That's why you're never supposed to really freak out about things, because you're supposed to be in rest if you're really in faith. I said to Jerry one day, how did you. You got all this stuff. Like you don't understand the money that the ministry needs. Like people like him. It's big money. Big, big money. Like a lot of money every month. Makes our stuff look like a joke. And just to maintain the vision. And he sat in my car one day. And I said, brother Jerry, you are always so peaceful. You're just so peaceful. And he said, I'm peaceful because I've struggled so much. I said, what do you mean? He said, I've gone through so many situations where it was impossible, and every single time, God fixed it. He said, so I'm facing some things, but I'm in rest. He looked at me and he said, young ministers don't understand this because they're always in a fight mode. He said, the more you get older in God, and he's a general talking to a corporal. So I'm listening to him. He said, the further you get mature in God as a minister, the more calm you'll be. He doesn't talk about the anointing to preach. He's talking about internally. The more peaceful, the more light and easy, the more restful you'll be. Because true faith, while it takes effort to get into the hammock, true faith lies back. And he said. I said, but do you realize what you need? I'm in rest. Two days later, we're sitting at the restaurant. He picks up his phone. There's a text that comes in, and he smiles. He didn't say anything. He just said, ha, ha. And he put his phone down. And I said, what was that? I mean, I'm nosy, but he puts up with me. I said, what was that? He said, we just got a blessing. I said, do you mind me asking what? Oh, yeah. Somebody just mailed us a million dollars two minutes ago. They were just telling me that they just opened the thing and they got a million dollar check. And he said, and that covers everything that we were talking about. And I said, brother, like, shouldn't we. Like, shouldn't we do something? It doesn't seem right that you're sipping the cappuccino. We should be rejoicing. And he said to me, he said, I'm rejoicing inside. He said, but when you're truly in rest and you're truly expecting it, you're actually not shocked when it happens. He said, the reason why you're so wanting to dance is because you didn't think it would happen. Now, I'm not saying that you shouldn't dance and rejoice, but listen, your dancing and rejoicing is before you get the victory. It's never after you get the victory. Do you understand? Because I'm not saying you can't rejoice in thanksgiving and gratitude. What I'm saying is you shouldn't be dancing in shock. And a lot of people dance in shock. Oh, my God, I can't believe this happened. Glory, glory. It should be, yes, Lord, I worship you, I'm grateful. But the dancing is in faith before you get the answer. Once you get it, there should be such a rest leading up to it that when it comes, it's like, well, okay, yeah, I knew it was coming. You know, so I'm dancing before, but afterward, I'm not dancing in shock. If I dance at all, it's going to be in gratitude. But I knew it was coming. See, that's a whole other level, Sandy. That's a whole other level when you're facing those kind of pressure, that kind of odds, and you take diligent effort to stay in faith. Faith. And to guard this thought life so that you don't start letting your mind wander. And no, Lord, I trust you. But that faith has got to lead you to a place of rest. It's got to lead you to a place of rest. Because if you're not in rest, you're not light and easy, and you're not in the flow of joy and peace. And then you're not in the flow of heaven. And faith is the flow of heaven. So you need to ask yourself, is my faith leading me to rest? Is my rest truly light and easy, joy and peace? Because if it's not, you got to go back and start making adjustments. A lot of you, like, who was it? I can't remember who it was. Somebody said it at the camp meeting. I can't remember who it was, but whoever. Oh, it was Cindy Black. Pastor Cindy Black. You know that coach that came up, that pitching coach to the guy on the mound, and he kept. He wasn't doing it. And he takes the baseball and he made it 1/8 of an inch turn. He just turned it just a little bit. And he said, put your fingers on the stitching. 1/8 of a turn, 1/8 of an inch adjustment. And he started hitting. Strikeout, Strikeout, strikeout, strikeout, strikeout. Because all he needed was a. A lot of you, you're not like. Now, some of you are. Some of you. It's like turning the safe knob. I mean, I gotta really adjust you. But most of you in this room, you're doing good, but without the skill, you're not going to get the strikeout. It's just a little. It's just a little. And I'm just. Today, the little is the word. Rest. Your faith has got to lead you to rest. Are you with me? If it's not. Don't beat yourself up. Just start to think, okay, am I in a war mentality? Because the devil's already been defeated. I'm not against him. I'm against the forces trying to get me out of faith. Do you understand? Your life, really, when it comes to faith, is supposed to be a rest. It really is supposed to be now. 11:56, you're not going home yet, so don't even listen. If I was up till three, you're going to be here till three. That's all I'm saying right now. But I want to just end with this story, because I thought Pastor Nancy was giving an analogy about floating in the water and how Ruby refuses to float and that's why she can't swim. And about how symbolically the rest the water has an ability to uphold you. And that is symbolism of the power of God will uphold you. And so as I was listening to that, and I'm not competing with Pastor Nancy, I'm just saying I have another kind of a story. She has the Ruby story. I have another story about water. And I think it maybe even possibly could be better than that Ruby analogy. But. But don't tell her I said that. But I just think possibly, because really, with the Ruby, it's holding you up, but I don't see any forward motion. I don't see anything being accomplished other than the fact that you're not drowning. So that is an accomplishment because you are being held up by the power of God and you are not drowning. And that was the point of that story. But as I was listening, I heard the Holy Spirit speak to me and said, I taught you the same principle. It might not be floating, but it is the same principle when you almost drowned. And so I was thinking about that while she was preaching, and I thought, lord, whether you talk about a buoyancy, an example of the power of God is upholding, sustaining you as you rest. Really? What does that mean? The power of God is taking care of business. Okay? But I want to look at it, the same principle from another angle. When I was in that situation and I was swimming as hard as I could against the tide, the tide of the ocean is so strong, you can't overcome it. You don't understand. You can't. It's not possible. And I'm swimming with all my might, freestyle, which is the fastest type of swimming. I'm doing everything, and I'm not making any progress. And that is just like us. There is a tide and there is a pressure of life. That is constantly trying to push us out of advancement. And if you try to struggle or fight the devil in that wrong way and think wrong and worry and everything is always a. You are trying to swim against a tide. And I'm telling you, all you do is wear yourself out. And you look and you haven't made any progress because everything that you're going forward, it's pushing you back. And so it equals out, it cancels out. And I was thinking about that because I remember the feeling. You don't know what that feels like. When you're out in the ocean. Those big umbrellas, you know those big umbrellas. You can't even see the umbrella. It's so tiny. That's how far away it is. Red. Very easy to see against white sand. And I can't even see it anymore. That's how far away I am. And this current is pulling me and I. And Milton has taken care of the other guy. Got him. I'm just fighting for my own life. And I remember the fear. And I know that's a different scenario, but I'm telling you, symbolically, when things are pushing at you all the time, you can feel like, oh, my God, I don't know if I'm going to make it in my money or in my healing or whatever it is, or in my marriage or whatever it is. There is pressure constantly against you. Are you listening to me? Going like this is not going to solve it. I realized if I don't catch the waves, I'm going to drown. I have to. Listen to me. The power of the ocean can kill me, the tide, but the power of the ocean can also save me. That's the wave. Because the wave is energy and force that takes me in the direction I want to go without any effort on my part. Are you listening? And of course, I did a little bit of surfing growing up. Boogie boarding and everything. But body surfing is a completely different. It's completely different. It's much harder. Your body is the board. Unless you've practiced it, which I haven't much in my life. I know how hard it is because I grew up in South Africa and I saw those men body surfing. It's harder than you think it is. And I'm afraid my legs are burning. I've been treading water for an hour. Have you ever tread water for an hour? Go ahead and try it and tell me what your legs feel like. They feel like jelly. Plus the adrenaline, plus the fear, plus there was a shark attack in that area the week before and it's dust. That's when they feed. Everything is against me. I'm trying my best to get in and I can't. And as I'm sitting there listening to her, the Lord said, you actually experience the symbolism of this in real life. But now take the symbolism to help you in your spiritual life. The pressure is against us. My brother and sister, your struggle is not going to get you anywhere. You've got to ride the wave. What does that mean? The power of God. God is like the ocean. He's. He's beyond human comprehension. He's got power. He's got ability and force and energy to take you where you need to go. To get the job done. To fix the finances, to heal the body, to do the miracle. He's got it. That represents the wave. But you've got to get from your struggle into that wave. Are you listening to me? If I can't get the wave, I drown. If you can't get into rest, you're going to drown. What do I mean by that? There is a great effort, diligent effort. Faith is diligent effort to rest. Could I put it this way? There is something required to get into body surfing position. When I'm in that position and I've timed it just right and I'm in that wave. Do you understand, Errol? I do nothing. I'm a rigid board. I'm not. There's no effort. There's no work. There's nothing. I'm just positioned and the power of the wave will carry me 50ft. You have to position yourself for the power of God to help you. How do you position yourself? Rest. When you're in the position of rest. The power of God is moving. When you're doing this. You're moving. When you are resting in God, the power of God is carrying you. That's why rest is so important. Because it's what causes things to change. God responds to the rest, not to all your freaking out effort. Do you understand now? How did I get into the position of rest? When I say rest, I'm not swimming. I. I'm not fighting. I'm just aboard. Your body becomes a board. How do you. Because then the power of God's carrying me. But you know, Greg, you can't. You don't swim, Greg. So you wouldn't understand these things, but. And I don't think Hortense swims either. Or Errol, or anybody that lived in an island. Nobody seems to swim. Anyway. We'll move right along. But Greg, you wouldn't understand this you can swim, I know you can. But when you see that wave, when you see that thing starting to build, you have to time it perfectly, because if you don't, it will come down on you and then you've got a bigger problem, or it will pass you by, and then the tide's still pulling you out. But you're not making any forward progress in life, so you had to time it. Now, how do you do that? Well, after it's crashed on you a few times, you learn how to do it. And I'm telling you, sometimes some of us have had some crashing on us, we've had some hurts, but thank God we're learning. Don't let the wave destroy you. Just come back up and get a breath of fresh air. And just say, I'm going to get this wave. I'm going to learn the flow of God. I'm going to learn the miracle power of God. The wave is the miracle power of God. I'm telling you, while I'm sitting there listening to her, he spoke to me and he said, what you went through in El Salvador is a perfect example of what she's teaching. It takes effort to get into rest. What effort does it take to get me to the place where I'm actually riding the wave? Do you know that there is effort it takes to do that? If you just sit there, it will just pass you by or fall on top of you. You've got to look at it, you've got to time it. And then you know what you do? You start swimming. Do you know that? You wouldn't know that, Danielle, because you don't swim, but. I'm kidding, Danielle. I know you do when you see that right timing. You've got to start with all your might. If you know how to do this, you've got to do with all your might because you have to accelerate. Are you listening to me? You have to accelerate to match the speed of the wave temporarily, because if you don't, it will pass you or it will crash you. So you start to feverishly, fervently. That's what it means. It means fervent struggle, fervent effort, diligent effort. You start to swim as hard as you can so that you're matching as close as you can that wave speed, and then it literally lifts you up. I know that feeling. Oh, it's such a good feeling. It literally lifts you up. It sucks you up. Those waves were 10ft tall. That doesn't sound very tall, but that's tall. It sucks you up. Into it and it elevates you. And you just. Then you stop swimming. If you keep swimming, it will crash on you. Stick your arms out and just go rigid. What is that position of rest? And the power of the wave carries you. But it took effort to position yourself for the power of the wave. It takes effort. Faith is the effort to position myself so that I can rest and the power of God can deal with my situation. I don't know if you're connecting dots with what I'm saying, but I'm trying to help you. So you're facing. And with this, you're facing, let's say, a financial issue. And it's bad. That's the tide coming against you. If you struggle, you'll not make anything. You'll eventually drown because you'll run out and you know, making forward progress by struggling. You need the power of God. You need the wave. So stop struggling. Stop swimming against the current. We've got the financial. What do you do? Lord, I'm going to need your power to help me with this. I'm going to need that wave to give me the forward momentum that I need. I can't get it on my own. But thank God you said that, you've made a way for me. Your power is available to me. So what I have to do is get into the rest position. Because if I can't get in the rest position, the bodyboard position, the wave can't take me. Then I. Then I go under. So I'm going to make some effort to catch that wave. My faith is the diligent effort to swim and position myself for the wave. Are you listening? So what do I do? My faith is the diligent effort. Father, your word says, what am I doing? I'm swimming to catch the wave. Father, your word says now. Your word says this now, Father, I pray this out now. And I lay hold of it in the spirit. And you do that part, that's part of swimming, and you start praying it out, and then you start confessing it out. And then you start rebuking fear and you start guarding your thoughts. All of that is swimming. All of that is positioning. All of that is fighting the struggle to stay trusting God. My faith positions me to come into rest. But if you just sit there and don't do anything, the wave will pass you by and you'll eventually drown. You've got to do something. That is faith. It's effort. You've got to speak, you've got to believe. You've got to renew your mind. You've got to fight the good fight of faith. You've got to struggle. Not the devil, he's defeated, but you've got to fight to say, lord, I trust you, I believe you. That is the swimming. It positions you. Faith positions you for the power of God. It's not you doing it, Hortense, it's God doing it. But your faith gets you in the position, the swimming gets you in the position. And once your faith has released and now you know, I'm in the position for the power of God to fix this, just rest, stop swimming because you'll miss the wave. Just stretch your arms out and go into rest position. And I'm telling you, just like in the natural, in the spiritual, it will pick you up, man. When the power of God is there, you can feel just swells you up. And it just feels like, oh, I'm in his hand. I'm not fighting anymore. I fought to position myself for this moment. All my faith confessions laying hold, praying everything was to position myself for this moment. Now I just. I just rest in you. I just rest. I'm not doing any more struggle. I just rest in you. I've labored to enter into this bodyboard position, and I just rest. And the power, oh, the power. Oh, the power. The power sucks you up. The power, the force of that wave is immense. And it just starts to propel you. What you could never do on your own, it just pushes you in that direction. And you speed up this acceleration, and you can feel the wind depending on how fast you're going. And you can. It's just an amazing feeling when you catch it, right. The bigger the wave, the greater the feeling. It's just an amazing feeling when you catch it, right? And before you know it, you do that a few times, you're 200ft closer. Now you can see the small little thing. Even though your legs are feeling like you're about to fall off, you say, I'm going to make it. I'm going to make it in my marriage. I'm going to make it in my business. But every day you do diligent effort, you swim to position yourself for the power and then rest. Because if you don't rest, if you keep trying to, you will swim and the weight, you'll go too fast, and the wave will come on top of you and it will go bang. You want the power of God to work with you. You don't want things to work against you. Resting is critical. I'm sitting there and I'm thinking, well, Pastor Ruby, Was resting. Well, she was supposed to be resting. And the power of God. The water just upheld her. There's another way to look at it. I'm resting, and the power of God is propelling me. But if I don't swim to get positioned, I cannot catch that power. Faith is the swim. Can you remember that? Your faith is the swim. It positions you for rest. It positions you to catch the wave of power, to accelerate you into your future. So don't not do faith, but make sure you rest. Because without it, you can't catch the power of God. You can't catch it. I'm telling you. I've often said to myself, hannah, my God, there was no good purpose coming out of that awful experience. Almost dying and everything. Just put it out of my mind. That's the only time the Lord's really ever spoken to me and said there was a symbolism attached to that. Not that God put me through anything like that. He had nothing to do with it. That was my own foolish fault, not using common sense. I didn't know how to be led by the spirit back then. But I'm saying, even through the negative of that whole thing, it brings me a story that's very real. Because I know the emotions of it that you can apply every day of your life. Because every one of us is in the ocean of life. Every one of us has the tide pushing against us. Every one of us has the tendency. The first night you're happy is not to catch a wave. The first nature is swim, get to the shore, and you start to panic. And when you realize you're not making any progress and you're losing strength and you're going to drown, you start to really. And a lot of people are in that position that you can't do this on your own. You need God's help. And the faster you wake up and say, if I don't catch the wave, I drown, the better. But the way you do it is release your faith. Do the effort to position yourself with the swim. But then rest. Get in the position of rest, and the power will do the rest. God will turn the situation around, the healing. All of a sudden you just notice, oh, that thing's gone. Oh, that job is there. Oh, those six new clients I need. Oh, they're there. Oh, the favor I needed at that job, it's there. Are you with me? Rest is God's flow labor to enter into rest. Father, I thank you. No matter what they're facing as their day goes on, as their week goes on, as their month as their life goes on. Every day we find ourselves in the ocean. Every day we find things arrayed against us. But because Jesus whipped the devil, we don't have to fight him. All we have to do is release faith. But it's to the point, it's to the goal. It's the reason of the faith is that we will come into the rest of faith. That true tranquility where we know that we know that we know we can't explain it in our brains. We couldn't articulate it to another person because it is a peace that passes human understanding. We can't even understand it fully ourself. We just know there is a divine rest and peace, that it is going to be okay. And that is when we are in that place of peace. That's when the power of God meets us. And just like that body board, resting position, the wave, the force of that energy of that wave carries us into victory. But we have got to release our faith and fight the good fight of faith and make the diligence swim to position ourselves for that rest. So, Lord, let us do our faith life and let us say what we need to say and pray what we need to pray and act like we need to act. But let us remember that all of that is not the goal. The goal is not faith. Faith is a means to an end. Faith positions ourselves for rest. And it's in rest that the power of God meets us. So let us use our faith, but let us have the goal of rest. Because that is where the power of God manifests is in the place of peace. It's in the place of joy. It is in the light and the easy flow. So I thank you, Lord. I know it's a deep subject. I'm trying to make it simple. I'm trying to make it easy to comprehend and understand. But Lord, a lot of people, they're so used to the fight all the time that the thought of rest is very foreign to them. I know some people, they're just used to swimming against the current all day long and they're so tired and the thought of rest is just foreign to them. Help us to get the revelation that faith is the diligent effort to rest in God. Lord, I want this congregation resting in you. Joy, joying in you, being at peace in you. That light and easy flow in their lives, knowing that they know beyond human comprehension, beyond human understanding. They can't understand it or explain it or articulate it, but they just know that peace is so great in them. God is Going to see me through this power is going to accelerate my future. I know it. And my faith has got me into rest. I've labored to enter into rest and now I'm a candidate for the power of God to do the rest. Oh, I give you glory and I give you praise. Lord, I'm so happy I made the effort to come back early so I could be with my precious family, my promise of life family, my congregation that I love so dearly and deeply. Lord, let them leave today feeling your love on them, feeling your hand on them, with hope in their hearts that no matter how bad the tide is against them, the wave of God is coming. The wave of God is coming for them. The wave of God. The power of God is coming to carry them and catch them closer and bring them forward and redeem the time and make up lost steps and make up lost money and make up lost relationships. All the ground they've lost is going to be made up with the wave of God's power. Let them take hope today as they leave that there are waves assigned to them and they're on the way. Let them position themselves by their faith and let them get into the place of rest and they will see that God does the rest. He does what's left over. He carries them forward into victory. Help us remember this, Father. Tomorrow morning when they wake up, let them remember this. Let them release their faith, but with the intention of entering into peace. The peace is the goal. It's not faith, it's peace. Peace is the goal. Rest is the goal. I thank youk that they will get skillful with this in their lives. In Jesus precious and mighty name, and everybody said a big amen and Amen.