253 - Harmonizing the Word Heard with Faith#
253 - Harmonizing the Word Heard with Faith
(JP Text Group - Organized by the Little Prince of Heaven)
The topic we are sharing is: Harmonizing the Word Heard with Faith.
Today's scripture is from Hebrews 4:1-11,
1 Therefore, since the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2 For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.
3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, “So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest!’” And yet His works have been finished since the creation of the world. 4 For somewhere He has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all His works.”
5 And again in the passage above He says, “They shall never enter my rest.” 6 It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in because of their disobedience. 7 Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it “Today,” when a long time later He spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day.
9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from His. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. Amen!
Let us pray together:
Heavenly Father, we thank and praise You! Thank You for preparing such a wonderful time today, allowing us to harmonize the word we hear with faith. We are not here to learn knowledge; we are here to receive Your life-giving word, so that we can apply it in our lives. We are willing to enter into the beautiful rest that You have prepared for us, to live with Your rest, and to overcome all things in any environment with Your rest. Today, grant us this strength. Thank and praise You! In the name of our Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen!
Today's topic is: Harmonizing the Word Heard with Faith.
Why does God give us His words? God does not want us to learn knowledge; rather, He wants us to live out the power of God that already exists within us. God has placed this power inside you, and what you need to learn is to live it out in your life. Therefore, the Bible mentions that we should be afraid of not being able to enter into rest.
What are the characteristics of entering God's rest? When you enter God's rest, you can face any problem you encounter with confidence. Was Jesus a person who entered into rest? He had rest in everything. You will see that Jesus was busy and faced many problems, but He was never flustered; He was a person at rest. And are people in the world lacking this aspect the most? Many things can actually be solved, but when trouble arises, we become completely flustered.
For example, during students' exams, when we encounter unexpected events, according to our intelligence and ability, we can easily do well, but sometimes we cannot, and it is actually because we have lost our rest inside. Today, God not only wants to give you His power but also wants you to respond to your life in rest. You must believe in God's provision and help. When you truly possess God's rest, it also proves that you can live out the word you have heard and harmonize it into our lives. Our entire life is actually a process of continuously receiving God's word and continuously living it out.
You did not come here to understand more biblical knowledge; if that were the case, you could just go to seminary. The only purpose of your coming here is that even if you receive very little information this week, even if it is just two sentences, if you can apply it in your life this week, that is your greatest gain.
So we must use God's words. When using them, we need to harmonize them with faith. How does correct faith come about? You believe that God's words will surely come to pass, and then you use them according to God's words, not according to your past experiences or encounters.
When you are truly willing to believe and live according to God's way, you will find that sometimes we will encounter unexpected events, which we call miracles. These are things that are beyond our expectations; God has already accomplished them. When we are fully convinced of God's words, faith is manifested. Even if you have not seen the result yet, you have already seen it spiritually, and we can believe that God can give us according to His promises. This is faith. Amen!
It is not according to your random thoughts that things are accomplished; it is according to the promises God has given us in the Bible that He will accomplish them. May we continuously receive God's words and continuously use them in our lives, and you will experience the grace of this great and wonderful God.
Hebrews 4:2, "For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith..."
Did God promise the Israelites while they were in the wilderness? Yes. Did God promise us? In this regard, we all have it. So the first verse says, "Therefore, since the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it," proving that God has already prepared it. Today, all who accept Jesus Christ have equal promises from God.
You must not doubt this point, saying, "God gave that blessing to him but not to me." God gives the same to every believer. So why do some people live abundant lives while others live like Lazarus? It is not God's problem; it is whether you believe that this is for you. You must believe that this is God's promise to you, and God wants to give it to you. We enter into rest and receive it.
What we should be afraid of is that one day we no longer believe in God's promises. When God says, "You can be healed from your sickness because of Jesus' wounds," is this not a promise? A very definite promise. Can you believe this promise? Now I know you can believe, but how many people, when sickness truly comes upon them, say, "Lord! Are you going to heal me or not?" Is this faith or unbelief? This is unbelief!
I emphasize again: At this moment, their unbelief does not mean they do not believe in the Lord or that they are not saved, but in this matter, they cannot believe in God's promise. That is the meaning. If you can believe in God's promises in all matters, you must be in rest. Why does God say to strive to enter that rest? It is to believe His words and that His promises to you will surely come to pass.
Why did they not enter this promise? Because the gospel was preached to us just as it was to them. Brothers and sisters, in this matter, we have the same promises as the Israelites. Last week, I shared with you that God said to the Israelites, "I will bring you out, I will bring you into a land flowing with milk and honey, I will lead you in." Is this not God's promise? Today, when you accept Jesus, what does God say? "If you believe in the words of Jesus Christ, you will enter the kingdom of heaven." Is this not a promise?
But today, many people say, "I feel like I still cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." When you ask them why, they say, "My behavior is not good enough." Is this God's promise? Clearly not. So you must believe not what people say to you or how they define you. You must believe what God's promises in the Bible really are, and then grasp God's promises, and you can be in rest.
Because the gospel was preached to us just as it was to them; but the message they heard was of no value to them. Did they hear God's word? Yes, but why did their lives still not change? Are there many people like this today? Many say, "I have been listening to grace for many years, almost twenty years." I ask, "How much of that have you lived out in your life?" This is what we really need to pay attention to.
One day in the future, when we are taken to the kingdom of heaven, God will say, "I see you have believed in the Lord for fifty or sixty years, good, I will reward you more. She has only believed for a year, a little reward will suffice." God does not distribute His rewards like this; it is based on your faith, how much you have received from God, how much you have understood, and then He rewards you. When you truly understand, there will definitely be actions that follow.
Because they did not combine the message they heard with faith. This is the part we must pay attention to. Perhaps you are a new believer; it does not matter. If you are here for the first time today, and you have heard it, go back and use it, and you will be blessed. The message they heard was of no value to them; who are they? The spies in the wilderness, the Israelites at Kadesh Barnea. God refers to that time when they heard God's good news, but the message they heard had no relation to their lives. God told them, "I will bring you into the land of Canaan, where I have prepared abundant promises for you." How good is this promise? Let us take a look.
Deuteronomy 6:10-11,
10 "When the Lord your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, 11 houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied..."
Have they entered it yet? Not yet, so this requires harmonizing with faith. If you have already seen that there are vineyards, wells, and houses, then faith is no longer needed. It is precisely because you have not seen it that you must believe that God's words will surely come to pass; this is called faith.
If you do not harmonize your faith with this word, can you believe what God says? It is too hard to believe, especially when you see the high walls and the tall enemies, you will say, "It's over; God's words cannot be accomplished." Did that group of people say this? This promise was given to all of them, but more than ninety percent of them did not believe this promise. God said very clearly: "The Lord your God will bring you into the land He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." Is this a promise? God gave them a promise: "I will surely lead you in."
When God gives us this blessing and this promise, can we believe? Some say they believe, but to what extent? Today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow... always believe. Do not say, "I believed yesterday, and that is enough." Faith must be today, tomorrow, and the day after, and from now on, always believe.
There are large and beautiful cities that you did not build; they have not entered yet, which proves that God has made it very clear that it is not a desolate place; it is already a very prosperous place. There are houses, wells, vineyards, and olive groves, and these are not earned by their hard work, but are prepared by God, right? Today, do you know that the grace we speak of aligns with this?
The kingdom of heaven you are going to, the new heaven and new earth, or the New Jerusalem, are the cities you built? Are the houses you prepared? Are they already prepared? You can also understand that place as large and beautiful; you can imagine this process because you have not yet arrived there, so you do not know what it looks like.
Just like the Israelites who had not yet entered the land of Canaan, they did not know what it was like inside. God had already given them the promise, so at this time, you must keep this promise in your thoughts and meditate on it: although the environment is very bad now, I am not a long-term resident here; I am just passing through. The place I am going to is there, and that place is truly beautiful. Especially when you encounter difficulties, you must meditate on God's promises, and you will have rest. In the New Testament, our God has left you a rich inheritance, which you can obtain through Jesus Christ.
John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
Do you think you have a lot now? Some say, "I feel like I have too much health." Well, then, can the devil take some away? If you live too long, can the devil take some away? You will find that you do not want to lose even a little, right? But the devil's work is to steal what you currently have, to cause you to lose, lose, and many times in our lives, indeed, many things have been lost, right?
Some people have broken families, broken relationships, and a mess in their lives; this is the part that has been stolen. So how do we compensate for it? The thief has always been doing this. Today, those who do not believe are constantly being stolen from by the devil. How can they change their lives? You must grasp God's promises. If the gospel had not come to the world, you would know that you have been stolen by the devil, and you would have no way to stop him because you cannot overcome him.
But now it is different; you have promises. What kind of promises? Jesus Christ came to do what? To give life to the sheep (or "people") and to give it more abundantly. Remember: if you believe in Jesus, you will absolutely not lose, but if you believe in the devil, it may not be the case. If you worship demons, you will see the first half of the promise fulfilled, only to find that you have been stolen, destroyed, and killed.
Have those who worshiped idols experienced this? You do not need to tell me the name of your idol; the first half of the promise must have been fulfilled in you. If you believe in Jesus, congratulations! The second half of the promise has been fulfilled in you. He came to give you life; the devil takes from you, while Jesus comes to give you, continuously giving... and what He gives you is abundant life. If you have believed in Jesus, you are already saved, but do not stop there; He also wants you to live abundantly while you are in this world, and in the future, in the kingdom of heaven, that is an abundant promise.
Hebrews 4:3, "Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, 'So I declared on oath in my anger, they shall never enter my rest!'” And yet His works have been finished since the creation of the world.
What do you believe today? Believe in Jesus and the redemptive work He accomplished for you on the cross; this redemptive work is sufficient for you to enter His rest. What did Jesus accomplish on the cross? What are you lacking? You say you are very poor; the Bible has a promise that He was rich, yet for your sake became poor.
When was Jesus the poorest? When He was hanging on the cross, He had nothing. Why was He so poor? To make you rich; you say you are not healthy and need health. What did Jesus do on the cross? Did He not already suffer wounds when He went to the cross? His wounds mean that you can be healed; you say you have no life and do not know where you will be reincarnated in the next life.
Why did He die? He died for your sins so that you can live in Him. So, if you often meditate on what Jesus accomplished for you on the cross, you will find that you lack nothing. Everything you need has been accomplished for you on the cross. What you need to do is believe.
As God has said, "So I declared on oath in my anger, they shall never enter my rest!" Why can they not enter? Because they do not believe; in fact, His works have been finished since the creation of the world. Today, you have the opportunity to make the decision that Joshua and Caleb once made, which is to believe God's words.
God says, "I will lead you into a land of eternal rest, where the houses are not built by you, the wells are not dug by you, and the vineyards are not planted by you." In this case, what can you say to God? "Lord, thank You! For granting me such great grace." What else can you say? You say, "No! I think the houses in Canaan are not beautiful; I have to build my own; I have to dig my own wells; I have to plant my own vineyards." Is that possible? Yes, you can choose to live there; many people choose to live on the other side of the Jordan River, next to Canaan.
Do you think these people's choices are foolish? They could clearly choose Canaan, so why choose the wilderness? Are there people like this today? Yes. We preach the Bible, and the Bible says very clearly that there is nothing new under the sun; one generation goes and another comes, but it is just the past events replayed. Do not laugh at the Israelites for being foolish; many people today are just like them.
Today, God tells you that He is the God of grace. Do you want to live in His grace and receive His blessings? Others say, "How can there be such good things, receiving grace every day? Shouldn't there be some disasters?" Then you can wander outside of Canaan; God has given us all this to enjoy.
Let us look at a passage of scripture, Hebrews 11:8-10,
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Today, why do you need to harmonize your faith with the word you believe? First, I must tell you what God's promises are for you, and then you can have the faith to harmonize. You say, "I do not want to harmonize at all; I think that place is too bitter; why should I go?" You must first know that this place is good, better than where you are now.
Today, many people misrepresent Jesus. Originally, before you believed in Jesus, you were doing quite well, but after believing in Jesus, you became like Lazarus. One day, you will definitely regret it. Is Jesus like this? No. You think you are doing well in the world, but God says, "Compared to the place I will let you go in the future, you are nothing." You say, "I want to go there." Isn't there an attraction to that? It is not that you were doing well before, and now you have to go to church, and I will make you poor, I will make you sick, I will make you more spiritual. You say, "I will not go; I do not believe." How many people can be forced to come to church like this?
Jesus never forces people to believe in Him; He attracts people to believe in Him. Why was Abraham willing to believe God and follow Him? Because God gave him a promise. Abraham was originally called Abram. "You think you are a great father; no, no, no, compared to the promise I am going to give you, that is nothing. I will change your name to Abraham, father of many nations."
Abraham thought, "Wow! Lord, You truly love me. I was only thinking of having a few children, and I would become the father of those few children; I would already be great. I never expected You to make me the great father of many nations; that is something I never even thought of." Abraham said, "I believe You." Are we willing to follow God like this? Are we attracted to Him in this way?
So Abraham, by faith, believed what God said in that promise. At that time, did he see this thing? No, he just believed: "You say so, I believe so." To people today, this may seem "foolish." I tell everyone a very simple thing: In front of God, let us be a little foolish! Do what God says; believe what God says. In front of people, we should be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves, but do not do this in front of God.
Abraham, by faith, when called, obeyed and went out. What command? The promise of God. Does this need to be harmonized with faith? If you do not believe what God says at all, how can you be willing to let go of your big house and your large estate to go out? You definitely would not be willing. You believe what God says, so there is an action that comes from "believing," and he went out to the place he would later receive as his inheritance because God said, "Abraham, I will bless you in Canaan; do you want to go there?" Abraham began to act, even though he did not know where he was going. You see how well this harmonizes with faith? It is wonderful.
Continuing on, he, by faith, made his home in the promised land. I now want to talk about how Abraham harmonized with God's word and what kind of mindset he had, which is why he is called the father of faith. Suppose today I say to David in the church, "You go to that place; I will bless you there, and you will become the father of many nations there."
Then David, by faith, went, and when he arrived, he found that the place was extremely desolate, even worse than where he was now. The place where Abraham used to live was a big city, but where he went was a desolate wilderness. When Abraham went, there was really nothing there. At that time, could you believe? Brothers and sisters, this is the part that needs harmonizing between sight and faith.
God's promise is to bless you in this place; you will multiply and have many descendants... but when you get there, you see, "How is it so different from what I imagined? How can it be so much worse?" Have you ever had such a faith experience in your life? You were originally full of faith, expecting a good outcome, but when you went, you found: "How is it completely different from what I imagined? It is even worse than before." You begin to doubt. If you can harmonize faith with the promise, even if the environment you see now is not as good as you imagined, you will still believe.
Abraham was a guest in the promised land, living like a stranger in tents, just like Isaac and Jacob, who shared the same promise. You will find that Abraham's faith was passed down to Isaac and Jacob. How great was this faith? Do not rely on sight; rely on God's promise. Now we know that God does not lie. Is Canaan a good place? It is a very good place.
Speaking of present-day Israel, initially, the Bible prophesied that they would be without a country for nearly two thousand years. After World War II, they realized that without a country, they would be bullied everywhere, so they returned to establish a nation. At that time, the forces had already formed everywhere, and it was particularly difficult to become a nation.
In 1948, before they returned, they spent their own money to buy a piece of land. Do you think if you were selling land, you would sell the best land to others? What kind of land would you sell? Desert, useless land; I would sell it to you at a high price, anyway, I do not expect to sell it to you; if you want to buy it, buy it; if you do not want to buy it, forget it. The Jews spent a lot of money buying land at that time, but they thought: No matter what, this is the promised land that God gave us! Even if it is a desert, it is the promised desert; I buy it back, and it is my desert; do not let it be that there is not even a desert.
After they bought it back, they found gold and oil underneath. This land was originally the promised land! Including the countries in the Middle East that are currently at war, including Turkey, Afghanistan, and Israel, these places were originally the promised land given to them. At that time, it looked desolate, but now we know it is a treasure. Look at how much oil has been extracted over the years, and the money has been flowing in continuously; this is just part of it.
What God wanted them to see was: You think this place is already good? No! What is on this earth is just part of the blessing; there is more in heaven. Abraham believed this; even if he did not see it with his eyes, he said, "Although this place does not look as good as I imagined, I believe that God's words will surely come to pass; this is a land flowing with milk and honey."
Four hundred years later, after the Israelites left Egypt, did Abraham's descendants see this? Indeed, it was a land flowing with milk and honey. Thank and praise the Lord! You must believe in God's promises and then harmonize the words of the promise with faith. Because he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Brothers and sisters, do you know where your foundation is now? On Mount Zion, on the rock of Jesus Christ. This city with foundations is built and constructed by God. You can also understand this passage as the new heaven and new earth we will go to in the future; is it managed by God? Since it is managed by God, you do not need to worry about corruption, embezzlement... or any unfair things happening inside. The unfair and unjust things you encounter in this world will absolutely not exist in that city in the future.
God has spoken His promises so well. If you cannot harmonize, you will doubt God, and this word will be of no value to you. What does "of no value" mean? It does not mean he did not hear this word; it means he cannot believe it, just cannot believe this part. Take the grace we are talking about today, for example; if you have heard a lot but cannot harmonize, what will be the consequence? If you cannot harmonize, it will be more arrogant than being under the law.
Let us look at a passage of scripture, 1 Corinthians 8:1, "...but knowledge puffs up while love builds up."
God does not want us to learn knowledge; He wants us to understand the love of Jesus Christ. This love can build you up and also build others up. If we hear the word but cannot apply it to our lives, it will become a kind of religious knowledge. This knowledge will not help us when we encounter problems; we may even doubt God's promises.
This is why some people say after believing, "Forget it, I do not believe anymore! Where is God? They are all liars!" Remember: once a person can say this, it proves that he has no faith to harmonize with God's words, and in the end, he doubts that it is a lie. The Israelites were like this; they could not harmonize with the promises of God they heard; they heard it and then moved on. So today, after you finish listening, you need to digest it and make it a part of yourself. Simply put, this week, use this passage of scripture, believe in God's promises, meditate on what Jesus accomplished for you on the cross, and then apply it in your life; it will be effective. What you use will be yours.
Let me give you a real-life example. For instance, when we eat lamb, after you eat it, whose meat does it become? After a few days, if you check, is there still lamb in your body? From head to toe, it is all one component, right? It is all your own; where did those things go? They were digested; they were transformed into your substance. This is beneficial to your body, right? If your digestive system is not developed, it will be troublesome. The more you eat, the more it becomes a burden; your stomach gets bigger and bigger, your intestines get blocked, and in the end, you have to have surgery to remove it. What is removed? Lamb.
That is right; you listen to the word; who is it for? It is for people to listen to. Your stomach will be blocked, and it will not be beneficial to you; instead, it will become your burden. You will feel uncomfortable. You will have to listen to the word again, praise again, and serve God again... this is already indigestion. At this time, do not pursue understanding more; quiet down and receive God's words.
I used to know a friend who said she had been listening to grace for a long time and had heard many pastors' sermons, but she could not solve small problems in her life, and then she complained to God every day, saying:
"Where is God? I do not want to believe anymore; I do not want to live anymore."
I said to her, "Can you quiet down?
I now tell you, even if you listen to one sermon repeatedly and then receive it as your own and apply it, this will be beneficial to you."
She said, "I know everything you said; I have heard not just you but many people say the same thing; it is of no use."
Where is the problem? There is no harmonization, no digestion. Once it is not digested, it will lead to this result.
And she said, "I just want to hear God's voice, to hear more of God's revelations."
I said, "Stop! What is the use of knowing so much? The only thing you need to know now is to digest what you currently have."
The land of Canaan symbolizes the abundant inheritance God wants to give us, also called the land of abundance. Today, many people believe that God will give us the land of abundance, but only after we die and go to heaven. That is not the case; God's promises to you are both on earth and in heaven.
Many people would rather believe that their lives are destined to wander in the wilderness. Congratulations! What you believe now is the same as what the Israelites believed, so they could not enter, and God became angry, saying, "You shall never enter my rest; you shall never enter my promised land." You will find that it seems different from what we think. We feel we are being pious before God: "Lord! Look how pitiful I am; I have nothing; I am full of sickness; I have not given up on You..."
God will become angry and say, "I have told you long ago that my promise is not like this; I want to lead you into the promised land. You have lived like this yourself, and you still want to blame me?" Isn't that a pity? It is also very sad. Brothers and sisters, how do we apply this to our lives? The most direct method is just two words: meditate.
Let us look at Joshua 1:8, "Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." Amen!
At that time, Joshua did not have much ability to lead the Israelites; everyone knows that this group of people is hard to lead; they are professionals at throwing stones. Who would dare to lead such a group? In this situation, Joshua took over and came before God: "I really cannot lead; Moses is already dead; this group of people is hard to lead."
God said, "Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night." This is to tell Joshua not to rely on his own ability; I will be with you. Thus, when you meditate repeatedly, your way will be prosperous. God did not say that when you practice repeatedly or have good behavior repeatedly, your way will be prosperous; no, when you meditate repeatedly, your way will be prosperous.
It seems different from what people in the world say. Today, I want to tell you that this is God's promise. In life, before you want to do something, first meditate on God's promises repeatedly, and after meditating, take action; the actions you take will align with God's will. So how do you meditate?
Have you seen a cow ruminate?
At first, it keeps eating and eating... it knows the amount, knows when it is about right. After the cow finishes eating, does it go to sleep? That is a pig; a cow does not do that.
After it finishes eating, it will find a comfortable place to lie down, and then it will start to ruminate, bringing up the food it has eaten before. It is said that cows have four stomachs; I do not know how it brings it up; I have never seen it. Perhaps the first stomach brings it up first, and then it starts to chew. The chewing process is the process of digestion. After the first stomach is digested, it starts on the second, third, and fourth stomachs. Once the entire digestion is complete, you will find that it has fully absorbed it. This is what we call rumination, which means to receive what you have received in the past again until you have extracted all the nutrients from it.
This is the method I use. When I hear a pastor's sermon that I find beneficial, I will listen to it more than four times. I have only one goal: to extract all the information I have not yet received from that sermon until I have fully absorbed it. But can you exhaust God's words? You can never exhaust them. So whenever you think, "I want to exhaust this passage," you will find that the more you exhaust, the more there is...
This is called meditation.
Now that we have recording technology, I hope everyone can listen to the sermon online after going home, repeatedly meditate on what was preached today, and apply it in your life this week; that will be enough. It does not matter how many sermons you have heard or how many years you have believed; what matters is whether you can receive this sermon today.
What has passed is already in the past; you cannot tell your body, "Last year on this day, you digested a table full of delicacies, so you do not need to digest today." Is that possible? You can, but it cannot. It has needs. So for your life, do not use a pile of past things to satisfy your current spiritual needs; just focus on this fresh sermon, meditate on it repeatedly this week, and it will be enough for you.
I repeat: It does not matter how many sermons you have heard; what matters is how much you have received. If you can grasp one promise from this sermon, it will be enough for you to use. Think about it; today we are more blessed than Abraham.
How many times did God speak to Abraham in his life? You can count them. How many promises did God give him? But he grasped those few, and that was enough for a lifetime. Now count how many promises God has given you; there are thousands of promises. With so many promises, we have not grasped even one; isn't that a pity? You say, "I grasped it yesterday; I experienced God's grace last year; let it go." Did you grasp God's promises this week? I expect that each of you will have new testimonies every week, which proves that you have been living by grasping God's promises. This is harmonizing.
Let us look at what God said to Abraham in the beginning, what His promises were, Genesis 12:1-3,
1 The Lord had said to Abram, "Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
Do you see that God did not say more than this? No, it is all included here, including the covenant He made with him, which is to fulfill the promises contained in it. To this day, we who believe in the Lord are descendants of Abraham and are included in this. If you grasp these few, Abraham said they are enough; to this day, they are still valid.
When you read the Bible, discover how many of God's promises are for you, and hold on to them tightly; they will be enough for you. Not only are there promises, but it also tells him how to live: When you encounter others blessing you, do not be proud; it is not your ability; it is my blessing to you; you should bless others.
As for those who curse you, do not worry anymore; if others speak ill of you, do not curse them; I will curse them. Does this mean that God also has promises for his life? Life and living are both included. Are not our promises today just these two aspects? One is life, and the other is living; both are included here.
Hebrews 4:8, "For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day."
The Old Testament figures like Moses, Joshua, and the prophets did not allow the Israelites to enjoy true rest. I want to emphasize, what is rest? Rest is not doing nothing, nor is it sleeping. Many people think rest means sleeping and doing nothing; I just receive God's grace, receive God's blessings, and expect pie to fall from the sky. This is not rest; it is laziness. Rest is doing things with God's victory, doing things with God's power.
I will illustrate with prayer. A prayer of rest is a prayer made in victory. In the past, many people's prayers were to achieve victory; under the law, we were taught: you must pray to achieve victory. When we do not achieve victory, we conclude that we did not pray enough, did not have enough faith, or had too many sins...
There will always be countless results. You will find it hard to reach that result. Today, I want to tell you that when you meditate on what Jesus accomplished for you on the cross, do you have victory? You already have it. This victorious King already lives inside you, so when you pray, you are not praying to achieve victory; you are praying because you have already achieved victory.
Take work as an example; under the law, all people today obtain blessings through work. Work hard, and you will have good returns; this is what the world has always emphasized. This is under the law. Under grace, truly in the promise, is to work in blessing; these two are worlds apart. What does it mean to work in blessing?
God's blessings are always abundant in me; it is just a matter of how much I receive. Is there any existence where you do not have any effect after working? There is none. Just like a field of wheat, I just want the best one to grow; I do not want the others; this is called willfulness. Because he inherently possesses so many blessings, it is not about working harder to gather more...
You will find that there is not that much. What you have today is what Jesus Christ accomplished for you, just like God said to the Israelites: "Canaan has so many good things; I have already prepared them." Jesus has prepared everything you need today; you stand in blessing and then work. At this time, you can choose to do more or choose to do less, but those who choose to do less do not realize how good God's promises are, so they say, "It does not matter; doing less is fine; after all, I am in blessing." Because you have not realized, once you realize, it will be incredible.
Last week, when I was preparing this sermon, I was thinking: If all the people in the world believed in Jesus, all work would become a kind of enjoyment. For example, teachers would use God's wisdom to teach students to know God, and they would find that many great people would emerge among the students. The teachers would say, "I never realized that there were such great achievements among these students; God is so great; I enjoy my profession..."
This should be realized. One day, when we reach the kingdom of heaven, we will do this; in every profession, we will use God's wisdom... and you will give glory to God. Look forward to that day; that is the eternal rest reserved for God's people.
Revelation 14:13, "Then I heard a voice from heaven say, 'Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.' Yes, says the Spirit, 'They will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.'"
This is what I mean; if you know you are standing in blessing and working in blessing, you will be eager to work for the Lord like Paul; at that time, no one can stop you; no one can hold you back from working for the Lord. Why do people today drag their feet? Because they do not see this promise. Look at how it says here: This is a promise for the future; those who die in the Lord are blessed. Is this not for all who believe in Jesus? So we are all blessed people. Since everyone will die, is it not better for us to die in the Lord? This means that the blessings afterward are even greater.
"Blessed are those who die in the Lord!" The Spirit says, "Yes." Is this not a certainty that tells you this? They will rest from their labor; do people in the world have labor today? But after they die? God does not remember; they just die. But we have already believed in the Lord; do you also have labor? That is different.
God says, "They will rest from their labor, and their deeds will follow them." How long is this? Forever. So today, those who labor for the Lord, that inheritance will exist in heaven forever. After our life ends, there will be no more opportunity to work; that place does not require you to work; it is an eternal rest place. So if you want to work for the Lord, do it while you are alive. Cherish this time of being alive; every day less is one day less.
Now is our time to work. You can also speak from God's spiritual perspective; God worked for six days to create the world, and on the seventh day, He entered rest. Did Jesus also enter rest on the Sabbath? Yes, we are the same; when our life ends, we enter eternal rest. Now is not the time to rest and sleep; now is not the time to rest; it is to work with God's rest.
There are two rests: one is true rest; they have rested from their work, which is also resting; how do we say we are all in rest? Now we are working with rest, and in the future, when our life ends, we will enter the rest of no more work.
After believing in Jesus, this is the beautiful promise of God, but you must first understand this: first enter into Jesus Christ; do not live in the old way; live in God's way!
Let us read Matthew 11:28-30 together,
28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Jesus says to all who labor in the world, "If you feel you are weary and burdened, come to me! I will give you rest." The rest here does not mean death; "You are still alive; come to me, and I will let you die." No, it means to let you enjoy rest, to do things with Jesus' power, and He will work with you.
I am gentle and humble in heart; when you truly understand the grace of Jesus Christ, you will definitely be gentle and humble. As Jesus is, so are you. A yoke is when two oxen stand in parallel in Israel, and a yoke is placed around the necks of both oxen; that is called sharing a yoke. Do you know who you are sharing a yoke with now? With Jesus.
You will find that when the two oxen pull a cart or plow a field together, their goals must be consistent, and their steps must be consistent. Generally, one is an old ox and the other is a young ox. Do you know why? The young one must be constrained a bit; if you put two young ones together, they cannot plow the field; each has their own ideas; one runs this way, and the other runs that way; they get tired and have no effect.
Why is the old ox obedient? It has experience; one old and one young are put together. The young one may not listen at first and may act wildly, but in the end, it finds that it is the one who is most tired. The old one just watches it without saying anything; this is why the older the ox, the more stable it becomes; it has experienced many things, so it listens.
So after the young ox struggles a few times, it finds that it cannot do it; it asks the old ox what to do. The old ox says, "Watch me; just do what I do; keep in step with me; do not run ahead of me or lag behind; walk with me." It is a bit like an army; once the commander says "one," everyone lifts their left foot; when he says "two," everyone lifts their right foot; is it not that their steps are consistent? It seems very simple; why does the army need a commander? Because when everyone listens to the commander's orders, it becomes very easy to do.
We are the same; today, you want to work and walk with Jesus; do not run ahead of God, and do not lag behind God. Jesus is always with you; whatever He says, you just do it. This is harmonizing the word, and you can enter rest, facing all people and all things with a restful heart. Some say, "What if I cannot enter rest? I become furious when I encounter things; what should I do? What I lack is rest."
Let me explain another term to you, faith. In Luke 18, Jesus told a story about a judge who did not fear God or care about people. In that city, there was a widow who kept coming to him, saying, "Grant me justice against my adversary." For some time, he refused. But finally, he said to himself, "Even though I do not fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually come and attack me!" The Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says.
What does "this" mean? He does not fear God and does not love people. But why did he grant this widow justice? It was because of her persistence: "I must find you; if I do not find you, who will I find? I will keep coming..."
In the end, this unjust judge said, "Okay, even though I do not fear heaven or care about people, I am afraid of her; I must grant her justice to avoid her bothering me." Ultimately, he granted her justice.
The Lord said, "Listen to what this unjust judge says." Is the conclusion coming out? Many people interpret this passage by saying, "We must be like that widow; if God does not give us, we must hold onto His feet: 'Lord! If You do not bless me, I will not let You go.'"
It seems to portray God as the old covenant God. Is this the case? God is eager for you to pray to Him; He wants to bless you abundantly. The conclusion of Jesus has already come out: God's chosen people cry out to Him day and night; even though He bears with them for a long time, will He not bring them justice? I tell you: He will quickly grant them justice. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?"
It seems that these two sentences are in conflict. The first part says that God's chosen people seem to cry out to Him day and night, and God still bears with them... but eventually, to a certain extent, He grants them justice. Then it says, "I tell you: He will quickly grant them justice." Which one is true? Why does God bear with them for a long time?
It is because they have never grasped God's promises; they keep babbling about useless things. How can God grant them justice? For example, when we encounter problems and have sickness, we keep saying in front of people, "You do not know; look how pitiful I am; my leg is more swollen than yesterday; my heart disease has relapsed again..." They have been babbling for two years, and God has been patient. Do you know why God is patient? Because one day, when she turns back, God will surely grant her justice.
The latter part is easy to explain: "I tell you: He will quickly grant them justice." This means that once you turn to God, believe in His promises, and grasp His promises, God says, "I will accomplish it for you immediately." Amen! This is what Jesus wants to express.
What exactly is faith? He says, "When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" Faith, in the original meaning, is when I come, can I find those who persistently seek me? Such people are very few.
Most of us start seeking, pray a few times, and then find no effect, and we give up: "God does not love me; He does not want me." Is this conclusion correct? It is not correct. So today, we must harmonize our faith with the word we hear, which means to hold on to God's promises at all times and not doubt God's promises. God's granting of justice is quick; He will not let you suffer loss in the end; He will not let you die in shame. You must believe that God's words will surely come to pass, so do not give up. Amen?
Finally, let us look at James 1:22-25,
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
Today I want to tell everyone, the way to harmonize your faith with the word is to act on the word. At the beginning, we talked about meditation; meditation is still internal, allowing your inside to change continuously, and the final result is to act on the word. It says here, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves."
Many people interpret this passage with a legalistic mindset, saying that because they listen to the word but do not act on it, it is like a person looking at themselves in a mirror and forgetting what they look like. They say, "Look, after you listen to the word, if you do not act on it, you forget you are a sinner, so you must often come before God to listen to the word and always know you are a sinner..."
It seems something is not right. Even if you do not come before Jesus, as long as you hang the Ten Commandments in your home every day, you will know you are a sinner.
What does this passage really mean? Because listening to the word but not acting on it is like a person looking at themselves in a mirror. May I ask, what does your original appearance look like? Is it a sinner or a righteous person? A righteous person. Today, you are justified by faith, so when you look in the mirror, that mirror is actually Jesus Christ. When you look at Jesus, is that not you?
Now, who lives inside you? Jesus. Does Jesus have righteousness? Yes. So are you not a righteous person now? Therefore, many times when you feel discouraged, fail, or are weak, it is because you think God does not want you anymore, that God has abandoned you, that you are a sinner... that is why you feel lost.
What should you do at this time? Go back to listening to the word. Listening to the word is equivalent to starting to look in the mirror. So every time you come before God's words, you know that God's promises are so good. From today on, I am determined to rely on God's words to live; I know I am blessed by God.
After you hear this word, do you regain your faith? This is your original appearance; I am not changing you today; you are originally like this. Jesus lives in you; this is your original appearance. If today you only listen, and when you listen, you say, "Yes, I am like this; in God's eyes, I am precious; I am loved by the Father; I possess the righteousness of Jesus Christ..." Are you not filled with passion and faith when you hear the word? If you do not act on it, once you go out the door, you will forget half of it; by tomorrow, you will forget it all. If you do not act on it, you will quickly forget. You see, after going from the fifth floor to the first floor, you have almost forgotten by the time you get home.
That is why if you do not act on it, you will quickly forget. "Seeing, he goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like." This means you forget that you are a blessed person by God. Do you not need to act on it often? How to act? It is simple; today I let you go back and meditate on the grace of Jesus Christ, and you will meditate on what He has done for you on the cross. Meditate on it often, and then act on it; your words will be different, and at that time, you will have strength.
"But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom..." Is it the Ten Commandments? No, it is the law of the Spirit. Now, does the Holy Spirit dwell in you? If you often think about what Jesus has done for you on the cross, the Holy Spirit inside you will help you, and you will do it often. Do you not often need the Holy Spirit to help you remember Jesus' words?
This person is not just a listener who forgets but is someone who truly acts on it, and they will be blessed in what they do. Which part of God's promise do you believe? In which matter do you apply it? You will be blessed in that matter. I hope brothers and sisters will use God's words more in this week. In whatever matter you use it, you will be blessed in that matter. Amen! The more you use it, the more you will be blessed, and your testimonies will increase.
Let us pray together:
Heavenly Father, we thank and praise You! Thank You for renewing us once again through such words today. Let us know that we are blessed people in You. We know that because of what Jesus Christ accomplished for us on the cross, we are all accepted by God. We believe Your promises. Today, I am willing to apply Your promises in my life. I will repeatedly ruminate on a sermon, digest it, make it my own, and then apply it in my life.
Today, I want to bless myself in the name of the Lord Jesus, and I also bless my children and my work. I believe that in the name of Jesus Christ, God will surely grant blessings in this matter. I receive such blessings. Thank and praise You! In the name of the Lord Jesus, I pray. Amen!