I praise the Lord God as the source of rest for the weary! We are commanded: "Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him" (Psalm 37:7). The destination of the obedient believer is to enter into His rest (Psalm 95:11). The blessed Saviour Jesus Christ tells us to take His yoke on us and learn of Him in order to find rest for our souls (Matthew 11:28-29). This rest is offered not only to the Jewish nation, but also to the Gentiles; and we will all find that "his rest shall be glorious" (Isaiah 11:10). When we trust in the Lord, we enter into that rest for our souls by ceasing to seek entrance into heaven by our own works (Hebrews 4:10). But, there "remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God" (Hebrews 4:9). One day, we will enter into that glorious rest. I can rest in my Lord. He gives rest to my soul and will bring me one day into His glorious, heavenly rest. What a Lord and Saviour we have!
According to research, bread can become moldy if it is not stored properly. Two of the big agents in the molding of bread is, exposure to air and being stored in warm, moist environments.
There are five major offerings described in the Old Testament (Leviticus 1-5): burnt, meat, peace, sin, and trespass. One them, the meat offering, does not use an animal sacrifice. The other four do. However, the offerings differ in whether the animals are to be male or female. Here is how they are specified. The burnt offering is to be a male (Leviticus 1:3, 10). The peace offering can be either male or female (Leviticus 3:1, 6). The sin offering is to be male when offered for "a ruler" of the people (Leviticus 4:22-23) but a female when offered for "one of the common people" (Leviticus 4:27-28). Finally, the trespass offering is to be a female (Leviticus 5:6). The question is why.
Last night, Drew Ray preached a powerful message at Antioch Baptist Church. The text of his message was taken from Hebrews 4:9, which states, "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." This idea was that, although we have a present rest in Jesus Christ, our true rest will come after we leave this world. Therefore, our present life is a time for service. We need to work; or, as Jesus said in Luke 19:13, "Occupy till I come." Brother Ray pointed out the word "occupy" is related to the word "occupation." One of the most convicting passages he used was the invitation of Jesus in Matthew 11:28-29. It begins, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." But too often we stop with the rest. The next statement is, "Take my yoke upon you." That is work. We find our rest in Jesus Christ through our service to Him. All this reminds me of a verse I read yesterday: "Their strength is to sit still" (Isaiah 30:7). We have far too many in our churches who are described by that statement.
Matthew 24:7-8 states, "For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." Over the years, I have heard various reports from prophecy teachers of an increase in earthquake activity indicating the soon coming of Jesus Christ. However, I have also read rebutals to these claims from scienctific sources. A couple of the responses were 1) that the totals numbers were up simply because better equipment now detected lighter earthquakes, and 2) that periodic ups and downs being natural are not a long-term rise in earthquakes. Because I considered these responses to be valid, I have always discounted reports of increased earthquake activity. Also, I do not doctrinally believe we would have to see this activity (though we might) before the rapture.
Last month, Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics announced that 5.64 million Jews now live in Israel. This means that for the first time since ancient days, there are more Jews in the land of Israel than in any other country. This reminds us of the parable of the fig tree, "When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh" (Matthew 24:32).
Eastern Lightning is the name of a religious cult in China that is doing much harm. The group appeared in the early 1990's in China's Heilongjian province. They base their cult on Matthew 24:27 - "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." However, they deny the authority of scripture and fundamental doctrines like the trinity. They believe that Jesus has already returned as a 30-year-old Chinese female. Belief in this female messiah is required for salvation.
