Welcome to the Illuminate Church podcast.
We hope today's message is encouraging to you.
Today I'm talking about faith, rest.
And so if we could, let's just begin in prayer this morning and
then I'll step into the message. So holy God, thank you that you
are here. God, we don't need another
person talking, we need Jesus. And Lord, I ask that you would
do what only you can do this morning.
Lord, that you would open our hearts up to your truth, your
life, your way. You are all, You are everything.
And Lord, I pray you would bless us to hear what you would speak
into us this morning. Lord, I thank you because I
believe that's exactly what you're going to do.
Now if you would right there at your seat, just ask the Lord if
He would speak to you this morning.
Just give you a moment. And then if you would pray for
me that the Lord may speak through me to you.
Holy God, we love you, we trust you, we ask you to do far more
than we could ask, think or imagine because that's who you
are. Lord, I, I pray this knowing
that that's what you'll do Thank you.
God, pray this in Jesus name, Amen.
So in life we know for those who have trusted in Christ that if
we set our lives upon Jesus, by the way, this stands for Jesus.
But if we set our life upon Jesus and we put our trust in
Him, we put our faith in Him, and we build our lives around
Christ, we will find abundant life.
If we simply believe in what He has said and stepped into Him,
we will have life. But many times in life, we can
feel like things get overwhelming and we can feel
like we're weighed down by the worries of the world.
And so, you know, in school, we start out and we, by the way,
Aaron's helping me this morning, in case you're wondering why
this giant, wonderful, godly man is walking towards me.
But we may feel like we start out in school and we're like,
man, I got I got to get some good grades and and we might
even be going through chemistry. You know, we just feel like,
man, Mr. Kraft efforts just making it really complicated for
me, really hard to pass this class.
But we're trying to get into college and and we're just
weighed down by, oh, man, what I wonder if that person who I have
a crush on, I wonder if they have a crush on me.
And I'm not even going to get into what happened to Jason's
party last week, if you know what I'm saying.
And then we get into college and now we've got to start thinking
about what we're going to do with our lives and what we're
going to major in. And, and we've got to start
thinking about what what's going to happen next.
And, and we have all these worries and concerns about
what's happening with our lives. And then, and then all of a
sudden we need give me one more minute.
We meet that person, that special someone, and everything
else just kind of fades away and the Hallelujah course starts and
then we start going on a date and then we go on a lot of dates
and we're like, oh man, this person's pretty great.
My life is pretty great and I may be getting CS now where I
was getting A's, but man, I feel like it's going pretty well.
We get engaged and then we'll start thinking, oh man, I, I've
got to start thinking about a really good job.
I've got to start thinking about how I'm going to pay these bills
and, and pay for this wedding and, and, and Oh my goodness.
Then we finished college and we got to figure out what house
we're going to get and we got to figure out, oh man, we were
starting to have kids and what, what literally are they going to
join and what are we going to do?
What church are we going to join?
And all the while I'm trying to pay the bills.
I'm trying to keep up with Facebook and I'm trying to keep
up with Instagram and I'm trying to keep up with Snapchat.
And I really don't know if I even like Snapchat and and I
don't know what Snapchat is, but OK, OK, OK, OK, so we can get
caught up in the chaos of this world right now.
It's OK. It's a part of what the the
enemy tries to throw at us as a part of this Western culture
that tries to throw at us this mindset of keeping up with the
Joneses and trying to just keep up with life, spin all the
plates. And we, we can feel chaotic at
times. We can feel like we're not doing
enough and we can feel like, man, I don't, I don't know how
I'm possibly going to get through this next phase of life.
And before we know it, the enemy is stolen, our joy is stolen,
our peace, and all we feel is anxiety and chaos.
And as we carry on with the Sabbath message, I wanted to
show us kind of all the the stuff that we have to deal with
in this life. It's not bad, but when we build
our life upon Jesus, then he starts putting in what we really
need and and we find that all the worries are actually just,
we don't necessarily have to have them, but we can step in
with Christ and let him minister his peace to us.
And So what Pastor Tim is preaching in this Sabbath
series, he's helping us reorient ourselves, our lives to God's
rest for our lives. But this morning, what I want to
encourage us in is what the foundation of Sabbath is.
Pastor Tim is helping us step into embracing Sabbath rest one
day a week and how that transforms our life to live from
rest instead of trying to reach Forrest.
But what happens if we step into Sabbath one day a week and we
really don't believe in what God says?
So yeah, we're not doing as many things, but our mind is running
1,000,000 miles a minute. So I want to talk today about
what what the foundation of Sabbath is, which is faith.
And that's really what I want to encourage us.
And I believe God is calling his people in this season deeper in
to faith. I believe one of the greatest
struggles of the American church is this battle between faith and
unbelief. And I don't believe we're really
talking about it much. And so I want to step in with
you all this morning. And I believe the Lord wants to
release hearts of faith this morning.
He wants us to embrace what he wants, which is better than the
anxiety. He has peace where unbelief
wants us to get stuck in anxiety so that when if we embrace
faith, if we embrace faith, rest, we step into that Sabbath
day. Oh man, my eyes are on you,
Lord. I'm embracing your presence and
your peace. And the enemy can't do anything
about it. So that's where we're going
today and we're going to start out in Hebrews 3, that last
verse of the chapter. So just to catch us up on what's
happening in this passage, the writer is referring to the
Israelites and what God did to deliver them out of Egypt.
So if if you want to catch up on this story, this is found, the
original story is found in Exodus where God delivers Israel
out of Egypt. And the story goes like this,
that God in his mercy heard the cry of the Israelites as they
were in slavery, they were being oppressed by Egypt and they were
being a hard pressed start there, that they were treating
them badly. Israel starts praying God, God
delivers them. He sends Moses and through many
signs and wonders. If you've ever seen the Prince
of Egypt or read the book of Exodus, many signs and wonders.
He delivers them out of Egypt and and draws them into the
wilderness. Now the wilderness was just a
holding place where he was providing for them.
He's helping them. He's still miraculously giving
them everything they need, preparing them for the promised
land. But no matter what God did, the
Israelites chose not to believe. They chose not to believe that
God would do what he said He would do.
And so that's where we pick up here in Hebrews 319.
Hebrews 319 says it is clear that they could not enter into
their inheritance because they wrapped their hearts in
unbelief. And so for Israel, they, God had
promised them the promised land, but they refused to believe in
what God had promised them. And so they killed their ability
to receive the promise because of their unbelief.
And I want to encourage us this morning that this is what the
enemy wants to do in our life. He wants to steal what God wants
to give you by telling you, Oh well, you can't believe in his
promises. By even the passive ability of
not to do anything or or or consciously make the choice of
faith, we embrace unbelief. Now the Israelites that first
generation did not go into the promised land because they
didn't believe, but the next generation did Joshua get LED
them believing in God. He led them into the promised
land. We're going to talk a little bit
more about that in a little bit, but let's let's continue.
Hebrews 41 says now the promise of entering God's rest is still
for us today. So we must be extremely careful
to ensure that we all embrace the fullness of that promise and
not fail to experience it. Some of us are here today and
we're wrestling with anxiety and, and believe you me friends,
I'm preaching to me. I'm preaching to all of us here
today. I am not preaching at you, I am
with you. But some of us are wrestling
with anxiety because we're struggling to embrace what God
has said and believing that it's true.
Skip down a couple more verses. Hebrews 46 says those who first
heard the good news of deliverance failed to enter into
the realm of faith rest because of their unbelieving hearts.
Yet the fact remains that we still have the opportunity to
enter into faith, rest life, and experience the fulfillment of
the promise. Praise God.
All right, so I got three points today.
And the first one is faith is a choice.
Now we see this, the Israelites, they made a choice.
They, they chose not to believe. God delivered them by signs and
wonders. He shows he's with them in the
wilderness. He's giving them food
supernaturally, He's giving them water supernaturally, He's
providing for them, He's preparing them for the promised
land. And when they go to scout it
out, they find that there's giants in the land that are
bigger than them. And instead of trusting that God
will provide, they decide, Nope, we're like grasshoppers in
comparison to these people. So what they say Joshua and
Caleb the whole time are like, no, let's believe God.
Let's go. God has given us the land.
Let's do this. Can read about it in Numbers 13
and 14. And and, and, and he's trying to
Joshua and Caleb are trying to be like, Hey, let's believe in
God's promise. And they refused.
And so God says, then I will not let you into the land.
So that generation, they literally died spiritually and
physically, not beholding the promise because of unbelief.
But then God raised up Joshua and Joshua made a choice too.
Joshua chose to believe in God and God gave him this promise.
If if you read Joshua one, it's beautiful.
He says it again and again and again.
He tells him, he says this is the key to the battle that you
face. This is the choice I want you to
make every day and this is what will lead you to victory.
He says be strong and courageous.
Do not be discouraged or afraid. Why?
Someone tell me. I hear it echoed all over the
room. I love that because the Lord
your God is with you wherever you go.
We can be strong and courageous because the Lord our God is with
us wherever we go. Now this is a conscious choice
that I have to make. I can't make it passively.
I can't just kind of assume that it's true and then go throughout
my day. I have to actively make a choice
and believe. I'm walking into a meeting right
now, God, and unless you show up, I don't know how this is
going to go. But the Lord says He is with me
wherever I go. So I'm going to believe that God
is with me and I'm going to step into this meeting and the Lord's
going to have his way and it's going to be wonderful.
And you know what? Every time I do that, every time
I put my faith in him, he opens up heavens.
He does things that I, I couldn't do.
And, and this is our choice to step into this life.
Hear me, faith isn't a vibe, it's a verdict.
Faith isn't a vibe, it's a verdict.
Some of us, we feel like, well, I'm just not really feeling
faith today. I don't feel that thing that
makes me believe. And I want to encourage us.
I'm not here to to step on toes, though.
I'm probably doing that, but I'm not here to do that.
I believe God wants to build us up, but He wants to build us up
in this truth that we aren't feelers, we're believers.
So whether I feel like I have the faith today, I can choose to
believe God is true to what He says.
He's true. What what He says is true is
true. What He says goes, and I can
step into that. I can step into his promise.
And just like Joshua, he stepped onto the battlefield in the
promised land and God took the promised land.
God. God gave them victory in the
Promised Land, gave Israel the land of Israel because Joshua
LED them in faith, because they made a choice.
So we, we make choices all the time, right?
I, I, I choose to believe my wife when she tells me she loves
me. Why?
Because day after day she shows me she's so faithful, so
steadfast in her love. And so I choose to believe it
because it's true. On the other hand, I, I choose
not to believe the news every day when they say that the world
is ending, because every day the world keeps spinning.
And I'm just like, I don't, I don't trust that anymore, you
know? And, and so for our lives, as we
look at God and his track record, we look at, OK, what has
he done to prove that, that I can trust him, that I can put my
faith in him. And I encourage you to look no
further than Jesus, for God said, I love you so much that
there's nothing I will not do to rescue you.
There's nothing I wouldn't do to to redeem your life and to draw
you in and to build your life in me so that you have abundant
life. So I will go to any extent, even
death on a cross, even to be tortured and to bleed out on a
cross so that I can have a relationship with you.
This is God's love for us. And it didn't stop at the cross.
It continues in power. If we will step in and believe,
and if we will activate our faith and choose today, I will
trust in what God has said. Now point #2 like point #1.
It's the opposite of point #1 unbelief is a thief.
I want to unveil this for us because I, I, I think we have
the wrong idea of this. But unbelief is a thief.
Unbelief teams up, I believe it's a spirit, but it teams up
with the enemy and and it tries to steal life from us.
Now John 1010 just totally reveals the enemy's plan and
God's plan and, and John 1010 says the thief, the enemy,
Satan, demons, the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy.
That's their plan. That's the same as Unbeliefs
plan. It wants to take it all from us.
But God has come. Jesus said, I have come that you
may have life and have it abundantly.
So the enemy's plan is to steal life from you.
This is what unbelief does God's, God's desire is to give
life to you abundantly. He wants it to overflow in our
lives. And so when God tells us to make
the faith choice, when he encourages Israel to go take the
promised land and they stepped away, said, Nope, we're not
going to believe you. God was wanting to give them
something. God is wanting to give us
something today by encouraging us to make that faith choice.
Does this make sense? So there was a lady named Gladys
and Gladys, she lived a difficult life.
She didn't have much and in her small town she was known by her
poverty and she didn't really know how to read.
And one day, middle of her life, she gets this envelope and in
the envelope that she can't read is a check for $20 million.
A long lost relative had passed away and he was very, very
wealthy and and so Gladys can't read but she loves the fancy
lettering on the check and she loves the fancy numbers on it
and it's one of the fanciest things she has.
So she framed it and she put it on her wall in her one bedroom
apartment so she was able to see it each day.
And Gladys lived the rest of her life barely having enough to get
by. And after her life was over, the
property management team came in to clean her apartment and and
they found the check on the wall that she looked at every day or
walk past every day. And they were amazed that Gladys
was one of the the most wealthy people that they knew of.
And yet she lived as if she was penniless.
And friends, I'm telling you a life that that doesn't take God
at his word, that doesn't step into the promise of the Lord in
us for us through his word. It is a life like Gladys because
spiritually we are abundantly wealthy in His love and in His
joy. And it is peace.
We have total access to it. It can consume us and we can
overflow with it. If we step into what He has said
and we're going to, we're going to talk about how to do that in
just a little bit. But Gladys, she, she doesn't
know that she's a millionaire and she, she lives in ignorance
of this wealth that she has access to, but doesn't know she
has access to. And that's what we're unveiling
today, that we have access to a heavenly love in Christ.
We have access to a peace surpasses understanding.
We have access to a joy that his pastor Volodymyr says.
It's wonderful. It's so wonderful.
But unbelief tries to make millionaires live like beggars,
beggars in the faith. Unbelief tries to make our
wealthy spirits in Christ what Christ has given us.
I'm not talking about name it, claim it.
I'm not talking about physical money.
I'm talking about what we have in Jesus.
Unbelief tries to steal the beauty of all that Christ would
want us to receive. And God is saying, I want to
give it to you if you would simply believe.
So Unbelief tries to tell us, is God really with you?
Have you guys ever heard these voices right?
Is God really with you? Unbelief tries to get us to look
at self. Unbelief is very self focused.
Maybe another day we can talk about what grows in the garden
of unbelief and what grows in the garden of Faith, and we can
tell OK what's growing in my garden.
But for today, we're going to keep it at this.
Unbelief tries to tell you you aren't strong enough.
Unbelief tries to tell you aren't smart enough.
Unbelief tries to tell you you're less than.
Unbelief tries to get you to do everything in your own strength,
tries to get you to bear the weight of the world on your
shoulders. Unbelief is very filled with
anxiety because we it's all on us.
The weight is on us. And yet faith puts our eyes on
Jesus. Faith believes in what he says,
for God says this is what faith says.
Faith says I am. God says I am with you.
And we receive that faith says, because this is what Scripture
says, that Christ is strong enough and he is in you.
This is Galatians 220, where Paul says there's no longer I
who lives, but Christ who lives in me.
So I don't have to live by my own limits anymore.
I am living from the empowerment of Christ.
And so are you. If we step into it, if we're
willing to believe, if we're willing to believe in what he
says, Faith says Christ has all the wisdom so I don't have to be
enough. He will lead me.
He will help me. Faith says Christ is most worthy
and he is leading me. You see, Faith believes in what
He can do and it allows us to lay every weight at His feet.
Because I can't do it and I'm just being honest.
We aren't strong enough to bear the weight of this life.
But when we lay it at his feet and say, Lord, would you lead my
life? And then we we say, OK, God, I'm
about to do this. What?
What are you saying about that? And then all of a sudden we feel
this nudge in the spirit that oh man, I remember a Bible verse
that talked about this and it said fear not for the Lord is
with you. This is Isaiah 4110, right?
Fear not for the Lord is with you.
He will strengthen you and he will uphold you with his
righteous right hand. Faith keeps our eyes on Jesus.
OK, so I've tried to make the point strong this morning, as
strong as the Lord will allow me to, that this battle between
unbelief and faith is real. But how do we step in to faith?
How do we step into a life of faith?
And I believe eventually the answer is as we get closer to
the Lord, we we grow in knowing Him and knowing His heart and we
gauge our faith-based upon what His Spirit is doing in that
moment. But I believe it always comes
back to this because even in times where we are growing in
our faith, it always comes back to this point.
It begins and is grounded in believing in the Word of God.
We have to believe and what God says.
So Psalm 23, we know this chapter in the Scripture that a
lot of us do. Anyone who's been around church,
you probably heard it a lot, right?
But my question is this morning, do we believe it?
And and here's what God challenged me with in this in
this last year. He's like, he's like, Drew, do
you believe this? And I'm like, well, yeah, I
believe it. You know, he's like, no, no,
Drew, I want you to think about what you're saying when you say
these words because for a long time I wasn't trying to, but
subconsciously I was saying the Lord is my shepherd.
I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green
pastures. It just became a root words that
that were just kind of OK, I'm reading the Bible.
I'm quoting a scripture because that's what Christians do.
That's what I'm supposed to do to follow Jesus.
But God was challenging me. He's like, do you believe it?
And I remember this one day I was I was hiking and he told me
to just begin to quote Psalm 23 is like, believe it, son,
believe it. And I just began to say the Lord
is my shepherd. And I couldn't get past that
phrase. I just began to internalize that
what a shepherd does is as it stands really close to the sheep
and, and the sheep or he doesn't let them out of their sight.
And he, he's protective of them and he's watchful over them and
he leads them to these beautiful places where they're provided
for and he leads them to still waters.
And and I'm like, this is what you're saying, God, that you are
my shepherd, that I shall not want.
And it's not about, OK, when was the last time that that I felt
that way? It's not about do I feel
strongly that this is true? It's deciding, do I take God at
his word or not? Do I make that faith choice
today and choosing to step in and say, OK, I receive you as my
shepherd. You are my protector.
Lord, I trust that you are providing everything that I
need. You are leading me in this
beautiful way. You're leading me to still
waters. You're restoring my soul and
then it becomes prophetic, right?
Because if I believe it, I'm stepping into it.
I'm stepping into what God desires for my life and for your
life. I'm actually activating what
God's word says. And here's how I, this is what I
believe God has taught me to do. He's like, I want you just to
thank me now because it's already done.
Just believe it and thank me, God.
Thank you that you are my shepherd.
I'm going to pray this over us right now.
I'm not done yet, but I'm just going to pray this over us.
God, thank you for being our shepherd.
If you would choose to believe this, thank you for being our
provider. Thank you.
They are leading us to green pastures.
We have nothing to fear for. You are leading us.
God, thank you. We receive you as our shepherd.
We receive you as our life giver.
You lead us to still waters, God, and you're multiplying
life. This is why sheep needed still
waters to have babies. You're multiplying life in us by
leading us where you lead us. You're restoring our soul.
God, thank you. Thank you that you're restoring
every broken place. It's a choice to believe that,
friends. Lord, thank you that you're
leading us in positive righteousness.
Thank you that you are are, no matter if we're on the
mountaintop or in the valley low, if everything's going great
or if we are in a pit of despair, Lord, you are with us
so we have nothing to fear. Thank you, God, your rod and
your staff, they comfort us. Thank you, Lord, the enemy can't
get us because you're there. Are we willing to step into that
and believe it this morning? It's a choice.
We have to consciously believe it.
Lord, thank you that if the enemy's stupid enough to sit at
the table with us, you prepared a feast for us, God, and you are
the feast, as you say, Jesus, you are the bread and you are
the living water that we need. So we come and we feast with
you. We feast on your life.
Thank you God. Thank you, God, that you have
put oil on our heads. This is the oil of the Holy
Spirit, as First Corinthians 317 says.
Do you not know that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit?
Lord, you have anointed us with the Holy Spirit.
Thank you, God, your presence is with us.
Lord, thank you that the cup of life you've given us, it
overflows. Thank you God, whether I feel
like that's true in this moment or not, it's true in the Spirit
because you're doing it. And the more I step into and am
willing to make that choice to believe it, it's true, I will
see it come to fruition. Let us partner with the Lord in
faith. Our cup is overflowing.
Would you just cut, hold out your cup of life and let the
Lord fill it? He has filled it to overflowing.
Thank you, God. Lord, thank you that your
goodness and your mercy, we can't outrun them no matter what
what we're doing. God, your presence is with us
all the days of our life. We're going to dwell in your
presence where life, where abundant life is found.
God, thank you. We step in this morning.
We believe in what you have said.
I pray this in Jesus name, Amen. So what I sought to do there is
to model the choice of faith that when we read the Word, I
want to encourage you not to make the passive decision.
So many times we can read the Word or come to church on Sunday
thinking we're doing the Christian thing when when God
wants us to step in with him and to be like, what is this saying?
Am I willing to believe it? Am I willing to believe that?
Here's my strong tower. Am I willing to believe that He
is my shelter and He overshadows me with His wings, as Psalm 91
says? Am I willing to believe that He
is my light and my salvation? My very strength is Psalm 27
says. Am I willing to believe that He
is the mighty One who fights for us, fights for me?
Am I willing to believe that, as Psalm 35 says, now, these are
just a few promises that the Scriptures replete with them,
But we will find that our lives rise in peace and in love and in
joy and in the favor of the Lord if we're willing to believe what
He says. And I feel like the Lord is
saying to encourage you that this is not a passive choice.
I know I said it already but I just want to make it clear.
Unbelief is passive. Unbelief doesn't really pursue
anything, it just lets gravity pull it down.
But faith makes a conscious choice to step in and believe
and say yes Lord, I choose to believe what you say and because
of that I am filled with faith. I encourage you if you've never
tried it, stretch those faith muscles, take God at his word
and and here's what I want to encourage us to do today.
This is the final promise and I'm going to end with a
salvation call Matthew 1128. Jesus says come to me, all who
are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.
Jesus is promising rest today. Are we willing to receive it?
He wants to give us life. Are we willing to receive it?
The way we receive it is by receiving and believing in what
He says. So if you agree with that, it's
going to lead us in a quick prayer.
If you would say this after me, God I lay down my anxiety at
your feet. And I ask you to invade with
your peace. We're talking about faith today.
And I believe there are people in the room that may have never
put their faith in Jesus. And he loves you, and he bled so
that your sins and my sins could be paid for, so that we could
have life in him. And if you would like to trust
Jesus as your Lord and Savior today I'm going to lead us in a
prayer. And if we could all just pray
it, those who are already Christians and those who want to
step into faith in him, let's say this together.
Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you've done for me.
By your blood, I am saved. I put my faith in you as my Lord
and Savior. I step in in faith with Jesus.
Yes Lord, I pray your blessing on every person here.
I pray that you would bless us to make the faith choice in our
life. I pray this in Jesus name, Amen.
Amen. Thanks for joining us today.
We hope God is speaking to your heart through this message.
If you'd like to connect with us, you can text connect to
407-588-0115 or visit Illuminate dot church.
Have a great week.