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 Re: RESTING IS THE REQUIRED OBEDIENCE

Quote:
[b]For God to swear by Himself[/b] that He will fulfill the promises of the covenant [b]is shocking[/b]; it means that if He did not perform the terms of the covenant, then He would cease to be and all creation would fall into nothingness. His spoken word would be enough, for He is the God who cannot lie; but in order for us to have an understanding of His absolute, unchangeable purpose, He added to His word a covenant oath. God gives us a covenant oath by which we may never doubt that He will fulfill every word of the covenant promises to all who call upon Him.

"For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: [b]That by [u]two[/u] immutable things, in which it was [u]impossible for God to lie[/u], we might have a strong [u]consolation[/u], who have fled for refuge to [u]lay hold upon the hope set before us[/u]: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul[/b], both sure and steadfast, and which enters into that within the veil." (Hebrews 6:16-19)

[b]It is in the oath of God that we discover the uniqueness of the Gospel[/b]. The key words of the Gospel are not "struggle", "try and try harder" but "surrender to", "yield to", "rest in and believe on the Lord Jesus, who is the covenant". All these words indicate that we have come to the end of our struggling and failing attempts to live a godly life and [b]we have come to stake our hope on who He is[/b], and what He has promised and achieved.

God not only made this covenant but He also sealed it with His oath that guarantees the covenant. God swears by Himself that He is the guarantee both of the human and divine side, that the covenant will kept. [u]This is the absolute certainty that we have of the covenant[/u][b], it is made and guaranteed by God[/b]. If the covenant depended upon our oath or faithfulness for its fulfillment, then we would have broken it within hours of making it. It is sworn to by God and it is as sure and unchangeable as God is. [b]He is incapable of making a promise that He cannot perform for every word He says is the perfect expression of who He is. His word is in complete accord with reality; His word and deed are one[/b].

This explanation of the 'two immutable things' - God's inability to lie and His taking of an oath (almost against Himself) has never been better explained to my understanding. Thank you, freecd. And yet I have read and heard that chunk of Hebrews many times, and the attempts made to explain it...

Remarkable how the Spirit picks one unsuspected moment to float meaning into our conscious understanding. Praise the Lord that He does.



 2005/9/3 6:21
baruch_48
Member



Joined: 2005/5/31
Posts: 78


 Re: Stone's hymn

Hi Hulsey,

I have no doubt this Samuel Stone fellow was undoubtedly some strong and serious Christian of yester-year ... but these words of his hymn ~


'Mid toil and tribulation,
and tumult of her war,
she waits the consumation
of peace forever more;
till with the vision glorious,
her longing eyes are blest,
and the great church victorious
shall be the church at rest'

is reflective of a lack of understanding the Sabbath Rest of Hebrews 4 - it seems

implicit in the hymn is that only when the race is over, and there is the consumation, that we the Church find rest

the article by freecd is to the contrary, and so are the Scriptures

in fact, if we're not resting IN Jesus ... we won't finish the race in a glorious manner

- we'll be striving in our own energy, and likely a burn-out ( which the Lord can take and use )

there's a great need for balance in understanding that the great dynamic of "pressing in" and pressing onward .. upward --- is found in Rest-ing ( in Christ - who is our Power to press on - Col. 1:29 / Eph 1:19 )

as I said in my post earlier on this thread ... it seems saints either don't press in, because they think that resting means they don't have to ... or at the other end of this spectrum ... those that exuberantly desire to "press on" .... don't want [b]to rest in[/b] [u]His energy[/u] [i]to press on[/i]

[b]either is disobedience[/b]

Yet He is full of grace

bro baruch

 2005/9/7 13:10Profile
rocklife
Member



Joined: 2004/4/1
Posts: 323
usa

 Re:

There is a right balance of work and rest.

One of His Truths on this subject is found in the 10 commandments, the ones God wrote in stone with His finger and spoke with His voice to a multitude, and Jesus has come to fulfill, magnify, make it bigger and honorable.

The starting point is His Holy Law, the 10 commandments. And God's balance of rest and work, before written in stone with His finger, is also seen in the week of creation.

Yes, there is spiritual rest, but there is also the need of work. The balance needs to be seen, or else rest will just turn into laziness, idleness. The harvest is plentiful, the workers are few.


_________________
Jina

 2005/9/8 8:17Profile









 Re: RESTING IS THE REQUIRED OBEDIENCE



From time to time when legalism, law, works and salvation are being discussed across the forums, I remember this excellent sample of Ernest O'Neill's work.

I hope those who haven't read it before, may be blessed.

 2008/3/7 18:37









 Re:

Thanks dorcas,

I've never read it. If I would of read this a year ago I would of just put it off as "some heresy". But since i've reaches that point to where theres nothing else but Christ and can go no further, these type readings make since. Until were actually able to look through eyes of faith, it just seems like a powerless word. I remember thinking, What is faith? What is the power of faith? Why do so many people talk about faith? Now I know why, and I wish everyone could know.

 2008/3/8 0:00
ADisciple
Member



Joined: 2007/2/3
Posts: 835
Alberta, Canada

 Re: RESTING IS THE REQUIRED OBEDIENCE

Hi Linn,

Thanks for bringing this O'Neill article up again, which I read with great appreciation.

The following two paragraphs really impacted me:

Quote:
"It is in the oath of God that we discover the uniqueness of the Gospel. The key words of the Gospel are not "struggle", "try and try harder" but "surrender to", "yield to", "rest in and believe on [b]the Lord Jesus, who is the covenant[/b]". All these words indicate that we have come to the end of our struggling and failing attempts to live a godly life and we have come to stake our hope on who He is, and what He has promised and achieved."

"God not only made this covenant but He also sealed it with His oath that guarantees the covenant. God swears by Himself that, [b]He is the guarantee both of the human and the divine side[/b] that the covenant will kept. This is the absolute certainty that we have of the covenant, it is made and guaranteed by God. If the covenant depended upon our oath or faithfulness for its fulfillment, then we would have broken it within hours of making it. It is sworn to by God and it is as sure and unchangeable as God is. He is incapable of making a promise that He cannot perform for every word He says is the perfect expression of who He is. His word is in complete accord with reality; His word and deed are one."
End of Quote

That is so awesome to me. What good and comforting words, that He Himself undertakes to fulfill both the Divine and the human side (our side) of the Covenant! (Which is foreshadowed in Gen. Ch. 15, where God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Abram, while He Himself alone "walked between the pieces.")

...And this about the Lord Jesus Himself being the Covenant brought to mind the question put by some on the Sabbath threads, asking where it could be shown that Christ is Himself our Sabbath, as many of us have maintained.

Well, right here.

He is Himself our WHOLE COVENANT. That is to say, it is HE HIMSELF who is the covenant God has made with us.

"I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and give thee [b]for a covenant of the people[/b], for a light of the Gentiles..." (Isa. 42.6).

"Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee, and I will preserve thee, and [b]give thee for a covenant of the people[/b]..." (Isa. 49.8).

And this as well:

"And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: [b]and his rest shall be glorious[/b]" (Isa. 11.10).

What tremendous things!

Thanks again,
AD


_________________
Allan Halton

 2008/3/8 0:17Profile









 Re: RESTING IS THE REQUIRED OBEDIENCE

Bump....

 2008/3/8 12:38
InTheLight
Member



Joined: 2003/7/31
Posts: 2850
Phoenix, Arizona USA

 Re:

Quote:
From time to time when legalism, law, works and salvation are being discussed across the forums, I remember this excellent sample of Ernest O'Neill's work. I hope those who haven't read it before, may be blessed.



Blessed indeed! Thank you sister for bringing this to our attention. I must have missed it back when it was originally posted. This is outstanding.

In Christ,

Ron


_________________
Ron Halverson

 2008/3/8 23:07Profile









 Not O'Neill

This was not O'Neill and I never said it was.

I need to set the record straight.

I assembled this article from many different sources and wrote some of it myself.

O'Neill was not even one of the sources I used for this.

 2008/3/9 7:52









 Re: RESTING IS THE REQUIRED OBEDIENCE


freecd said

Quote:
This was not O'Neill and I never said it was.

I need to set the record straight.

I assembled this article from many different sources and wrote some of it myself.

O'Neill was not even one of the sources I used for this.

'I need to set the record straight.'

Truly, I made the [i]assumption[/i] it had come from O'Neill because of your reticence towards taking credit, and soon afterwards the appearance of O'Neill's testimony.

Please accept my apologies, freecd, and everyone.

It is, nevertheless, as InTheLight said
Quote:
'Blessed indeed!' and 'outstanding'.

Thank you.

 2008/3/9 8:14





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