Physical Rest Rythms

Background

If we have not had the pleasure of meeting my name is John Colunga and I have the privilige of serving as lead pastor here at New Day Pasadena

I also have the privilige of bringing this weeks sermon

So if you have your Bibles, please turn to Philippians 4

If you forgot your Bible please use the one in front of you and if you dont have a Bible at all, please take home the one in front of you as a free gift to you

Soul Care

If you are joining us for the first time today, you are joining us at the end of our sermon series called Soul Care

And so first - I do want you to know that we care for your soul

We believe that scripture teaches that our body is seperate from the soul and while our physical bodies may die,

Our soul lasts for an eternity

What we find in the very beginning of scripture - in the book of Genesis

Is that all other creation was created instantly - but with man, God formed the body and then breathed life into him

And God then distinguished and gave responsibility to both the flesh and the soul

That the flesh of man was to live and tend to the garden but the soul of man was to be unified with God through obedience

And the soul - to be unified with God is to be eternal

When we die, our physical body is buried but our soul lives on

And because of the fall of Adam and Eve disobeyed God,

They did not experience a physical death - rather they had a spiritual death

Their soul was imperfect and therefore severed from a Holy and righteous God

Their nature became a sinful nature and would be passed on to everyone born after them

Everyone born after them are born with a nature that is spiritually dead, contrary and separated from God’s law

And from the very fall of Adam - God gave a promise that he would redeem Adam and Eve, that he would redeem his all of his people back to him

And God’s plan of redemption is that he would send his one and only son Jesus to earth - to live and walk among the people - fully man and fully God

But remember that Jesus’ mother Mary was impregnated by the Holy Spirit

That Jesus was not born from the seed of man, but from God as God

And so yes, Jesus had the physical body and bodily needs that we have

But his spiritual nature - being from God and being God, was not born seperated from the Father

He lived a life of no sin

And yet - even though he had nothing wrong - he was unjustly sent to the cross

And Jesus, willingly submitted to the plan of the Father

Jesus willingly submitted to the love of his people

And Jesus willingly went to the cross to die

And what we know is that he did not stay dead, but arose from the grave on the third day

And because of his God nature, his death and resurrection solidified the conquering of sin and death

And in his conquering he redeemed all of his people

That as the Holy Spirit draws and changes hearts, the people see and understand, and realize they need Christ, so they put their faith and trust in Jesus, and they are forgiven of their sins

Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30 -

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Jesus has done the hard part of dying for you - He died so that you dont have to fight or work your way to be reconciled to God

But he did so so that by your faith and trust in him - you can find rest for your soul

This is the gospel!

The Question

And so we have been answering the question: How are we to live in the comforting rest of the gospel rest of Jesus Christ?

The Example

And last week we started to use this example of rythm

Rythm - a strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound.

strong - regular - repeated pattern - movement

With the start of school, many families are starting to get their morning rythm in order

Each morning there are regular things that have to be done - wake up kids, dress, lunches, get ready for work, drop off kids, be on time for work, etc.

And each morning at least Mon-Friday these regular things that have to be done becomes a pattern

And the more this pattern is done, the stronger the pattern becomes

The more refined the pattern comes

And when something happens that throws off the rythm, it is felt and completely throws of the rythm

However, no matter messed up that morning becomes, it must be completed

There are breaks in the rythm - Saturday and Sunday are generally different rythms than Mon-Fri

These rythms are intended to be breaks

The same can be said for sound in the rythm of music - pretty music generally has rythm and musicians need to have a sense of rythm in order to be effective

Now there is also something in music called syncopated rythm where there are two or more rythms with a piece of music and both rythms must keep to their own rythm in order for the musical piece to sound good

In music there are breaks within the rythm that are used to help bring balance, musical effect, and rest for the musician who is performing

In the same way - we should have a physical rythm of life (like in our physical example )

But we should also have a spiritual rythm of the soul

And both of these should work together to bring a strong and beautiful life

And what helps to make this a strong and beautiful life -

Is the rest that is inserted within the physical rythm of life and in spiritual rythm of the soul

Last week talk on the Soul

Last week we talked about rest rythms for the soul

That the soul must have a total dependence on God

And that the rest that the soul has comes from faith alone in Jesus Christ alone

And so as we live as believers knowing that our soul finds rest as we go to Christ

When we worship, when we pray, and when we go to God in his word

And the rest of the soul in Christ is what helps us when we are physically and mentally exhausted

When we are stressed, tired, anxious, in despair

The supernatural care/encouragement/strength is what God gives to us because of our active rest rythm of seeking Him.

So we must have active rest rythms of the soul that are strong - regular - and repeated

Rest for the soul

And today - we will talk about physical rest rythms

That in conjunction with our active soul rythm of rest there is a physical rest that we should also make sure is strong - regular- and repeated

And so we will turn to scripture now

Calling an Audible Physical Rythm of Rest

We have talked about this at many points recently that God himself rested from creation on the 7th day

God did not give up his responsibility as God, he was still over all things

But yet he did stop working

And we too should rest from our work

We too should not buy into the notion that we should be on the grind 24/7

Chasing the money and working non-stop

Rather, the principle of resting is there for us

For our bodies to be nourished and restored

And working in conjunction with the soul we find rest in Christ daily strengthens us

And just because we may rest from our paying jobs doesnt mean that we get to give up all of our other responsibilities

Yes we may have house and yard work to catch up on

Yes we still need to feed the kids

Yes we need to run errands

We need to remeber that rest is not lazieness

It is not an excuse to give up your responsibilities

And at the same time, it is important that you do things that you enjoy

watch tv, go to the movies, play sports, videogames, pedicure and manicures

Do these things and rest from your work

Just dont forget that your physical rest also needs to include your spiritual rest of the soul in Christ

And when you practice and have a strong physical and spiritual rythm

That is a strong, regular, repeated, practice of physical and spiritual rest - that you can continue to be strengthened and encouraged to live in the gospel rest of Jesus Christ

How can I know that I am saved

Now here is the thing, even with gospel rythms of rest - the life we live is still tough

And for the Christian - there can be and will be moments where we may question things

Specifically today - we will address the question of salvation

How can I truly know that I am saved?

You see, we have been talking about our soul being eternal -

That because of your faith you are secured with Christ now and will be eternally with him once you pass away

But in our humaness - sometimes we want evidence

Sometimes we want assurances

Especially younger believers or maybe those going through trials

And so we will address this eternal, secured, state of the soul

If you are able to stand, I ask that you please do so for the reading of God’s word. I’ll read it as you follow along,

Philippians 4:4-9 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Context of a believer

As we read these verses, there is so much contained within them that we could literally have multiple sermons on each sentence

As the Apostle Paul is writing from prison to the church at Philippi - he writes to them with great joy and thanksgiving

And he is exhorting them to have great joy and thanksgiving

And the reason for this joy and thanksgiving is because of the gospel of Jesus Christ

What I stated earlier about Jesus coming and being our rest and dying for us is the gospel

And I want to read to you how Paul describes this gospel in his letter to the church at Philippi

Philippians 2:4-11

4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

And so we put our faith and trust in this Jesus Christ to be our savior - and to be our rest

And so our text today in Philippians 4, Paul is getting towards the end of his letter to the church at Philippi

And he is exhorting the church that because of this Jesus - have joy, thankfulness, and contentment

Within the context of this letter Paul is saying that the response to Jesus is rejoycing!

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.

Rejoice in Jesus!

And check this out - resonableness -when you go back to the greek word that is used you can also use the word gentle there for resonableness

And we know that Jesus said that he is gentle and lowly at heart

And so our response to the gospel is rejoicing and to live our lives as Jesus did

Because of Jesus - we no longer should want to act as our former selves

Rather - we are changed to be like Christ

And so what did Jesus do?

Well as we saw last week - Jesus got up early, went away to where he could be alone - and then he prayed

And so here is Paul telling us to rejoice in Jesus, to be gentle like Jesus, The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

So rejoice, be gentle, and pray!

Stop worrying and living life anxiously as if there is no hope

But bring everything you are struggling with to God the Father

And you can bring it with thanksgiving and with hope that God will hear you

You can have peace in this world that guards your heart and your mind

A peace that those who do not know God can’t comprehend

A peace that you even knowing God, cant fully explain

But that you can live and breathe with peace that God has all things under control

That God has you in the palm of your hands

And while you may not know the future - there is nothing that the future can bring that can separate you from the love of God!

And so we are called to walk and live in this peace

That our very faith in Christ is also faith that HE has us

And that is why in the next section Pauls exhortation is of action -

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

And so let me start with the ending of this

Pauls exhortation is not an “if then” statement

Paul is not saying that if you think about what is true, honorable, just, pure lovely, commendable, excellence, worthy of praise

Paul is not saying that if you follow the teachings of Jesus and do them

Then the God of peace will be with you

We are tempted in the english language to look at this text and say that in order to have the peace of God, I have to think about and do these things

But as we just saw in the context of the preceeding verses - is that the peace of God which surpasses all understanding which gaurds your hearts and minds

Comes from your rejoicing and thankfulness of him because you have accepted him as your Lord and Savior

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

In Colossians it talks about your old self and now you put on the new self and putting on the new clothes

We are changed because of Jesus and because of that change our thoughts should dwell on whatever is true, honorable, justm pure, lovely, commendable, excellence, worthy of praise

And our practice should be obedience to Jesus’ teachings

Now what we know is that Paul had a very close relationship with the church at Philippi

He taught and preached and lived among them for awhile

And what he taught and preached was Jesus

So when he exhorts the people to follow his ways and teachings

He is actually exhorting them to follow the ways of Christ

Believe in Jesus

So for us, in order for us - we must first be transformed by Christ and believe in him as our Lord and Savior

Apart from Christ there is no peace that surpassing understanding

Apart from Christ there is no fulfillment

Apart from Christ there is no true rejoicing

But with Christ - your soul is at rest - at peace - fulfilled - has joy - and it spills over into your physical rythm of life

You no longer live physically with the desires that you once had

Rather - now your thoughts should dwell for what God wants

And your actions should be that of obedience to Christ

Test your thoughts and actions

We can use this text to see if we are growing in our sanctification

Are my thoughts dwelling on what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellence, worthy of praise?

Do I have a desire to follow and be obedient to Christ?

And so I have this question - what does your thouts dwell on?

What are your desires and longings for?

We should be on a journey of life that is pursuing holiness

In the book “The Pursuit of Holiness” Jerry Bridges writes,

“We need to brace ourselves up and to realize that we are responsible for thoughts, attitudes, and actions. We need to reckon on the fact that we died to sin's reign, that it no longer has any dominion over us, that God has united us with the risen Christ in all His power and has given us the Holy Spirit to work in us. Only as we accept our responsibility and appropriate God's provisions will we make any progress in our pursuit of holiness.”

Do you believe that sin has no power or reign over you!?!

Do you believe that Christ’s power?

Because there are times when we may question - when we may doubt

And its in those times that the enemy will try to tempt you and lure out with deceit and lies

And its in those times that you can stand up and because you have reckoned with this and believe it

You can stand tall and with the power of the Holy Spirit - you will not give into the lies and deceit

You understand that you are responsible for your thoughts, attitudes, and actions

And so you can ask yourself - what are the evidences of grace that I see in my life

Where in my walk am I being conformed more to the image of Christ?

And this doesnt have to be a huge or drastic change

I submit to you that our growth is gradual and incremental

when you see kids grow - they grow gradually and incrementally

Until one day you are amazed at how tall they have gotten

This is the same with our walk

But we discern and we can discern according to the Spirit and according to God’s word

I love the last phrase “and the God of peace will be with you.”

This tells us that we are not alone

That the Holy Spirit lives and dwells within us - and it is the work of the Holy Spirit that does the changing of our hearts and minds

That it is the Holy Spirit which continues to lead and to guide us as we live

Discipleship

And so when you are descipling another person and they ask the question about how can they be sure that they are saved -

Many times, this question of assurance comes about when a person sins, is struggling with a sin, or has had a change in circumstance that is hard, they are going through something that is making them ask questions

And what ends up happening is that they question themselves

They question their faith -

They still believe in God, their desire to be faithful is there, but it seems like to them that its just not enough

That I have to be missing something!

First, we do want to remind them that faith - even small faith is all that is needed

There is no such thing as perfect faith

Which means that there is no such thing as a fully matured faith

A tiny grain of true faith, rooted in submissiveness to God, is effective

So remind them of their faith and then,

You can start by pointing to God’s love and faithfulness

Romans 8:39 “nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Where we fall short, God has in abundance

God is loving and faithful to his people!

And God who is faithful, will be faithful in keeping you until death or until Christ’s second comming

Lets look back at Philippians 1:6 “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

Christ has done the work on the cross, Christ has changed your heart, and Christ will bring your life to completion

Since the Holy Spirit has changed your heart, and you have put your faith in Christ, theres no going back

And when you are discipling, when you come accross a brother or sister struggling - you remind them of the faith and you can point to the evidences of grace in their lives

you can tell them how you have seen Christ’s attributes in their lives

You can ask them - have your thoughts and desires grown more for truth, for whats honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellence, worthy of praise

Have they had a desire to be obedient and to follow what Jesus has taught?

And as you encourage them and exhort them - you can continue to

Extreme Cases

In extreme cases a person may try to supress, can try to run from the Holy Spirit- but because their hearts have been changed, because they have the peace of God spiritually

The Holy Spirit will still be there convicting and pursuing

And their physical life will be empty and can be in chaos because they are living contrary to their new heart

Never Saved

And then there are those that you would say believed and are now athiests - or have fallen away

THe way social media and the news is now - you can google and find past pastors who have denounced Christ

And I’m not the judge, Christ is, but if you forced me to give a reason, to logically give an answer as to how and why this can happen

My answer would be, that they weren’t probably saved in the first place

You see, the world always wants it both ways

And even within Christianity, we have the tendency to want it both ways - but we cant

Biblically speaking - We cant say that God is all powerful, that he is over all things, that he hold all things, and in this he has changed my heart

But I, a human, in my own will - have the power to revert my converted heart

There are no scriptures that teach that you have the power to undo what God has done

And so I cling to the beauty of the gospel

In the beauty of God’s love and faithfulness,

In the peace for my soul that surpasses all understanding

And I exhort you today to cling to and believe in the everlasting peace of God

And to teach others to do the same

And at the end of the day - no matter the circumstance - we can say,

It is well, it is well with my soul