The importance of rest

1. A Divine Mandate
Rest And Be At Peace

2.  Revelation 12:7 And there was war in heaven:
Michael and his angels fought against the
dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
 12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place
found any more in heaven.

3.  Hebrews 4:9 There remaineth therefore a
rest to the people of God.

4. The Invitation
Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all
[ye] that labour and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.

5. Return Unto Me
 Isaiah 30:15 For thus saith the Lord
GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In
returning and rest shall ye be saved; in
quietness and in confidence shall be
your strength: and ye would not.

6. Only In Christ
 A life in Christ is a life of restfulness. There may be
no ecstasy of feeling, but there should be an abiding,
peaceful trust.. Your hope is not in yourself; it is in
Christ. Your weakness is united to His strength,
your ignorance to His wisdom, your frailty to His
enduring might. So you are not to look to yourself, not
to let the mind dwell upon self, but look to Christ. {SC
70.2}

7. The Prince of Peace
 Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us
a son is given: and the government shall be
upon his shoulder: and his name shall be
called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty
God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of
Peace.
 9:7 Of the increase of [his] government and
peace [there shall be] no end.

8. Perfect Peace
 Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep [him] in
perfect peace, [whose] mind [is] stayed
[on thee]: because he trusteth in thee.

9. The Conditions For
Receiving God’s Rest
and Peace

10. 1) Take the Yoke

11.  Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you,
and learn of me; for I am meek and
lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto
your souls.
 11:30 For my yoke [is] easy, and my
burden is light.

12. The Yoke of Loving Service
 The yoke that binds to service is the
law of God. The great law of love
revealed in Eden, proclaimed upon Sinai,
and in the new covenant written in the
heart, is that which binds the human
worker to the will of God…

13.  Love for God, zeal for His glory, and
love for fallen humanity, brought Jesus
to earth to suffer and to die. This was the
controlling power of His life. This
principle He bids us adopt. {DA 329.3}

14. 2) Cast Your Burdens
Upon Jesus

15.  The heaviest burden that we bear is
the burden of sin. If we were left to bear
this burden, it would crush us. But the
Sinless One has taken our place. "The
Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of
us all." Isaiah 53:6. He has borne the
burden of our guilt…

16.  He will take the load from our weary
shoulders. He will give us rest. The
burden of care and sorrow also He will
bear. He invites us to cast all our care
upon Him; for He carries us upon His
heart. {DA 328.5}

17. 3) Love Not The World

18.  2 Timothy 2:4 No man that warreth
entangleth himself with the affairs of [this]
life; that he may please him who hath
chosen him to be a soldier.

19.  There are many whose hearts are aching
under a load of care because they seek
to reach the world's standard. They
have chosen its service, accepted its
perplexities, adopted its customs.
Thus their character is marred, and
their life made a weariness…

20.  Our Lord desires them to lay aside this
yoke of bondage. He invites them to
accept His yoke; He says, "My yoke is
easy, and My burden is light." He bids
them seek first the kingdom of God
and His righteousness, and His
promise is that all things needful to
them for this life shall be added… {DA
330}

21. 4) Stop Worrying

22.  Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing;
but in every thing by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your
requests be made known unto God.

23. In The Storms of Life
Mark 4:40 And he said unto them,
Why are ye so fearful? how is it that
ye have no faith?

24.  Worry is blind, and cannot discern the future;
but Jesus sees the end from the beginning. In
every difficulty He has His way prepared to
bring relief. Our heavenly Father has a
thousand ways to provide for us, of which
we know nothing. Those who accept the
one principle of making the service and
honor of God supreme will find perplexities
vanish, and a plain path before their feet.
{DA 330.1}

25.  The soul that has given himself to
Christ is more precious in His sight
than the whole world. The Saviour
would have passed through the agony of
Calvary that one might be saved in His
kingdom. He will never abandon one
for whom He has died. Unless His
followers choose to leave Him, He will
hold them fast. {DA 480.5}

26. 5) Accept God’s Will
And Be Thankful

27. 1 Thess. 5:18 In every thing give
thanks: for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you.

28.  Our plans are not always God's plans. . . . In
His loving care and interest for us, often He
who understands us better than we
understand ourselves refuses to permit us
selfishly to seek the gratification of our own
ambition. . . . Many things He ask us to yield
to Him, but in doing this we are but giving up
that which hinders us in the heavenward
way. . . . {CC 228.3}

29.  In the future life the mysteries that here have
annoyed and disappointed us will be made
plain. We shall see that our seemingly
unanswered prayers and disappointed
hopes have been among our greatest
blessings. {CC 228.4}

30.  When we consider the infinite sacrifice of our
Saviour that we might become children of God and
members of the royal family, when we consider this
exaltation, when we consider that all these
privileges will be ours and may be ours every day,
that we may have the privileges which belong to the
sons and daughters of God, how can any one of us
have any word of complaint? How can anyone utter
one word of murmuring? How can it dwell in our
hearts? We ought to be the most grateful people on
the face of the earth. {TDG 333}

31. 6) Resist Melancholy
Thoughts and Refuse to
Become Discouraged

32.  Nothing tends more to promote health of
body and of soul than does a spirit of
gratitude and praise. It is a positive duty
to resist melancholy, discontented
thoughts and feelings--as much a duty
as it is to pray.--MH 251 (1905). {2MCP
797.1}

33. Follow Our Leader
 Isaiah 42:4 He (Jesus) shall not fail nor
be discouraged, till he have set judgment
in the earth: and the isles shall wait for
his law.

34.  But when we give ourselves wholly to God and
in our work follow His directions, He makes
Himself responsible for its accomplishment.
He would not have us conjecture as to the
success of our honest endeavors. Not once
should we even think of failure. We are to
co-operate with One who knows no failure.
{COL 363.1}

35.  We should not talk of our own weakness
and inability. This is a manifest distrust of
God, a denial of His word. When we murmur
because of our burdens, or refuse the
responsibilities He calls upon us to bear, we
are virtually saying that He is a hard master,
that He requires what He has not given us
power to do. {COL 363.2}

36.  To be clothed with humility does not
mean that we are to be dwarfs in
intellect, deficient in aspiration, and
cowardly in our lives, shunning
burdens lest we fail to carry them
successfully. Real humility fulfills God's
purposes by depending upon His
strength. {COL 363.3}

37. 7) Be Temperate In
Labor

38.  Though time is short, and there is a great work to
be done, the Lord is not pleased to have us so
prolong our seasons of activity that there will not
be time for periods of rest, for the study of the
Bible, and for communion with God. All this is
essential to fortify the soul, to place us in a position
where we shall receive wisdom from God to employ our
talents in the Master's service to the highest account.
{ML 133.2}

39.  When Jesus said the harvest was great and
the laborers were few, He did not urge upon
His disciples the necessity of ceaseless toil.
. . . He tells His disciples that their strength has
been severely tried, that they will be unfitted for
future labor unless they rest awhile. . . . In the
name of Jesus, economize your powers,
that after being refreshed with rest, you may
do more and better work. {ML 133.3}

40. This One Thing
 Philippians 3:13 Brethren, I count not
myself to have apprehended: but [this] one
thing [I do], forgetting those things which
are behind, and reaching forth unto those
things which are before,
 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

41. Living On Borrowed Capital
 God has provided us with constitutional
force, which will be needed at different periods
of our lives. If we recklessly exhaust this
force by continual overtaxation, we shall
sometimes be losers. Our usefulness will be
lessened, if not our life itself destroyed.--
Fundamentals of Christian Education, pages
153, 154. {Te 139.3}

42. Evening Labor
 As a rule, the labor of the day should not be
prolonged into the evening. . . . I have been shown
that those who do this, often lose much more than they
gain, for their energies are exhausted, and they
labor on nervous excitement. They may not realize
any immediate injury, but they are surely
undermining their constitution.--Counsels on Health,
page 99. {Te 140.1}

43. Go To Bed Early
 Make it [a] habit not to sit up after nine o'clock.
Every light should be extinguished. This turning
night into day is a wretched, health-destroying
habit, and this reading much by brain workers, up
to the sleeping hours, is very injurious to health. It
calls the blood to the brain and then there is
restlessness and wakefulness, and the precious sleep
that should rest the body does not come when desired.
{DG 177.1}

44.  Sleep is worth far more before than after
midnight. Two hours' good sleep before
twelve o'clock is worth more than four
hours after twelve o'clock. . . . {7MR
224.3}

45. Labor And Rest
 Those who labor with their hands must
nourish their strength to perform his
labor, and those also who labor in word
and doctrine must nourish their
strength; for Satan and his evil angels
are warring against them to tear down
their strength…

46.  They should seek rest of body and mind
from wearing labor when they can, and
should eat of nourishing, strengthening
food to build up their strength; for they will
be obliged to exercise all the strength they
have. I saw that it does not glorify God in the
least for any of His people to make a time of
trouble for themselves. There is a time of
trouble just before God's people, and He will
prepare them for that fearful conflict. {1T
206.2}

47. Our First Duty
 Our first duty toward God and our fellow beings is that
of self-development. Every faculty with which the
Creator has endowed us should be cultivated to the
highest degree of perfection, that we may be able to do
the greatest amount of good of which we are capable.
Hence that time is spent to good account which is
used in the establishment and preservation of
physical and mental health. We cannot afford to
dwarf or cripple any function of body or mind. As
surely as we do this, we must suffer the
consequences. {CD 15.2}

48. 8) Be At Peace Among
Yourselves

49.  1 Thess. 5:12 And we beseech you, brethren,
to know them which labour among you, and are
over you in the Lord, and admonish you;
 5:13 And to esteem them very highly in love for
their work's sake. [And] be at peace among
yourselves.

50. Answer Christ’s Prayer
 John 17:20 Neither pray I for these alone, but
for them also which shall believe on me
through their word;
 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou,
Father, [art] in me, and I in thee, that they also
may be one in us: that the world may believe
that thou hast sent me.

51. The Worst Evil
 My brethren, the Lord calls for unity, for oneness.
We are to be one in the faith. I want to tell you that
when the gospel ministers and the medical
missionary workers are not united, there is placed
on our churches the worst evil that can be placed
there. Our medical missionaries ought to be interested
in the work of our conferences, and our conference
workers ought to be as much interested in the work of
our medical missionaries.-- MS. 46, 1904. {MM 241.1}

52. Receive His Peace
 John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give
unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let
not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all
understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus.

53. The End