Way of Rest - 6

Entering into Rest

At this point, we will consider certain ingredients of God’s Word that will help a man
to enter into rest.

They are

(1) Fellowship (5) Hope

(2) Understanding (6) Belief

(3) Obedience, (7) Commitment

(4) Death, (8) Contentment

We are not talking of ready-made formulas by which men accomplish their goals. We are talking of a life that must be lived and ingredients that will help us to be on the way.

For the avoidance of doubt, we enter into rest when we come into an encounter with God. However, there are certain things that God has put in place by which we can have such an encounter and enter into His rest.

(1) Fellowship

We need to consider, on a daily basis, the place of fellowship in our overall response to God. Fellowship is like respiration. In much the same way as the process of breathing in and out sustains ‘the life of the flesh’ that we have, so does fellowship sustain ‘the life of the spirit’ in us. When we are out of fellowship, we grow weak and, eventually, the life of the spirit is choked out of us. Spiritual death becomes the end product of our carelessness.

We need to view fellowship as God views it, as a means to an end, which end is an intimate rapport with Him.

When we are truly in His presence, fear, anxiety and worry disappear, and we are continually transformed (see Isa. 998:11-13, 2 Cor. 3:18). We will discover that the end of worship, prayer and Bible study is a glorious encounter with the Lord. So will the doors of rest be open to us.
However, we need to consider another aspect of fellowship, namely fellowship with the brethren. The Bible tells us that "if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 Jn.1:7). He that walks in the light must, of necessity, fellowship with the brethren; and it is only then that the blood of Jesus cleanses from all sin. Being out of fellowship with the brethren is as grievous as being out of fellowship with the Lord (Heb. 10:25, 1 Jn. 4:20, 21).

As already stated, the peace of God is an integral part of the rest that God gives; and this manifests as peace with God, peace with our fellow man and peace within us. We cannot walk in the peace within us when we do not cultivate peace with God and peace with our fellow man.