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QUESTIONS & OBJECTIONS

Point to Ponder

One moonless night, unbeknown to the passengers of a plane, hijackers broke into the cockpit. They took over the controls, contacted the control tower, and demanded that the White House release a large number of political prisoners. When authorities refused to comply with the demands, the terrorists threatened to fire on the passengers and force them out of an open door at 20,000 feet.
During negotiations, the captain was able to scribble a note on official paper warning of the hijackers' threat and telling passengers to reach under their seats. There they would find a parachute, which they were instructed to put on immediately.
As the note was passed among the passengers, there were different reactions. Some saw the note as obviously authentic because it was written on official paper. Besides, they remembered the strange jolt when the hijackers violently took control of the plane. They immediately put the parachute on realizing that they had nothing to lose but their pride if the note was fraudulent, and everything to gain if it was true.
Some passengers refused to believe the note because they thought there was no way that there could be a parachute beneath the seat. They were so sure that they didn't even check.
A couple rejected the note because they noticed a passenger who had only pretended to put on the parachute. They could see that he hadn't bothered to tighten the straps.
Others laughed at the note as though it were some joke, while others didn't bother reading it because they were watching an onboard movie.
Some passengers even ignored the evidence of the official paper and the jolt of the plane and instead maintained that the plane didn't even have a pilot and that there was no aircraft maker. As far as they were concerned it came together by accident, taking millions of years, and could fly itself.
Suddenly, the hijackers burst into the darkened cabin, thrust open the exit doors, and began firing automatic weapons over the terrified passengers' heads, forcing them to jump 20,000 feet into the blackness. Most fell to their deaths. However, those who had had the good sense to believe and obey the captain were saved from such a horrible demise.
There is nothing wrong with sinners questioning the mystery of prayer, the authenticity of the Bible, the existence of God, and the fact of hypocrisy. However, it is wise for them to put on the "parachute" first. They could be made to jump through the door of death into a black and horrifying eternity at any moment. There is a merciless Law awaiting them-a Law far harsher than the law of gravity. They desperately need the Savior. Encourage them to do what the "Note" says-reach under their seat and "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 13:14). After they have secured their own eternal salvation, they can worry about the fate of the pretender. If they think it's important, they can then try to figure out the age of the earth, etc.

Day by Day by Grace

God's Promises and God's Rest

Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. For we who have believed do enter that rest. (Hebrews 4:1-3)

Through the promises of God, all who believe can experience spiritual rest. Initially, those who believe enjoy rest from the guilt and condemnation of sin. Additionally, those whose faith embraces other promises from God can enjoy rest from carnal striving and worldly indulgence.

When the children of Israel were delivered from Egypt, they had rest from the bondage they had known there. This pictures our rest from sin and guilt. Yet, the Lord had more rest to share with His people. He wanted to give them rest from the futile wilderness striving they experienced between Egypt and the Promised Land, the land flowing with milk and honey. This pictures how we can rest from the fleshly striving of doubt and disobedience by drawing upon the riches that are ours in Christ.

The Israelites wandered through the wilderness in hardness of heart for forty years. All of that generation (except Joshua and Caleb) missed the additional rest that God wanted them to experience. "Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, 'They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.' So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest'" (Hebrews 3:10-11). They were out of Egypt, but they would not enter into the Promised Land.

Are we entering into the additional rest that God has for us? "Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it." The Promised Land is a picture of the abundant spiritual life (not a picture of heaven-no battles or failures in heaven). This additional rest is what Jesus offers to all who believe in Him. "I have come that they may have life [eternal life, forgiveness of sin], and that they may have it more abundantly [richness of life, growing in practical righteousness]" (John 10:10). This abundant life is enjoyed as we believe in the word of God, as it describes the riches that are ours in Christ. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3). Will we take the Lord at His word and believe that we might enter in? "For we who have believed do enter that rest." Israel did not believe, so they did not enter in. "The word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it."

Dear Lord, I thank You for giving me rest from sin and guilt, simply by trusting in Your promises. Now, I ask for new measures of additional rest from barrenness and striving, simply by trusting in Your promises of abundant life, in Jesus' name, Amen.

Here at Promise Land Bible Church

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