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Acts 9:11-16 Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.

That is what Jesus Christ, the crucified and glorified Son of God, told Ananias to say to the apostle Paul. He was not going to live in a holy ecstasy and wear a beautiful halo and have a heavenly time and ride in a limousine. He was going to have a drastic time, a desperate struggle, a terrific experience.

That was the price of apostleship. That was the price of the call of God and his service. But God said he shall "bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Isreal." He qualified as God's messenger.

God has promised His people a glorious rest, a rest that includes peace and security for the soul. The Lord offered this wonderful rest to the children of Israel, which meant a life full of joy and victory, without fear, guilt or condemnation. Up to the time of Christ, no generation of believers ever walked fully in this blessed promise. Why was this? The Bible makes very clear that it was because of their unbelief. “So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief" (Hebrews 3:19).

Because of their unbelief, God's people—during the period of the kings and prophets through David’s generation—went through life full of misery, doubt, fear and restlessness. In every generation the rest was promised but it was refused—never appropriated, never understood.

That is why, when we read Hebrews 4, we find this glorious life of faith still unclaimed: “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God” (verse 9). Yet we also read: "Since therefore it remains that some must enter it . . ." (verse 6). The Bible admonishes present-day believers with a warning: "Therefore, since a promise remains of entering into His rest, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have come short of it" (verse 1).

Thousands upon thousands of believers claim to be filled with the Spirit of God, yet few have entered into this promised rest. Many are tossed about by winds and waves of doctrines, restless and guilt-ridden, with no security in Christ. Jesus said, “I will give you rest, for My yoke is easy and My burden is light" (see Matthew 11:28-30).

My prayer is that today you will enter into the rest God has for you. Reach up by faith and receive because it is His free gift!

Jesus said, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me” (Matthew 11:28-29, KJV). Christ tells us very plainly: "Do not attempt to take on a walk with Me until you are at rest in your soul!"

If you do not have this wonderful confidence in what the Word of God says Jesus did for you, His yoke will not be easy or light. On the contrary, you will spend your time striving in the flesh to please God. You will go from hot to cold, living with unnecessary guilt and shame.

I believe the key to this verse lies in the words “learn of me.” Jesus is speaking here of the discipline of learning who He is and what He accomplished on the cross. He is saying, "You must have a knowledge of what I have done for you. Then, once your soul is at rest, you can take on My yoke. So, learn of Me!"

We do not want this kind of discipline. We want to take the easy way! We are like schoolchildren on the playground at recess who do not want to go back into the classroom.

Perhaps today you say, "I'm reading my Bible now and praying a little each day. I'm trying hard to do better!" This is all good, but I assure you that these things will not keep you through the coming storm. It is not enough to try hard, to make promises to God, to strive to be better. Nor is it enough to say, "I'm more diligent than before." No, it is all about going after a revelation of what Jesus did for you at the cross!

Something should cry out in all of us: "Jesus, Your Word says I can live in total rest, peace and security. I don't have to strive in my flesh or be tossed about by guilt or fear. You have set before me the promise of a life at rest, but I don't have that rest. Oh, Lord, I want Your rest with everything that's in me. Teach me by Your Spirit—I want to learn of You."

Picture yourself standing before God's throne with no excuse, no alibi. Satan, your legal adversary, is reading off the list of charges, with times, places, every shameful detail. He makes accusations of pride, prayerlessness, covetousness, unfaithfulness, and your heart smites you because you have to admit, "Yes, that's me. I did it all."

It looks hopeless for you. You know God's eyes are too holy to look upon sin, and His justice demands that you pay for your crimes against His holiness. You are helpless.

But suddenly, here comes your Lawyer, your Advocate. He stretches forth His nail-scarred hands and you know something is about to happen. He smiles and whispers, "Don't be afraid; none of these charges will stand. You're going to walk out of this courtroom free and fully pardoned. When I'm finished, your accuser won't have one charge left against you!"

Best of all, your Lawyer tells you He has adopted you as His brother. Then He tells you He is the Son of the Judge so you now belong to the Judge's family, as well!

But there is still the matter of justice. What about the charges against you? You listen in absolute wonder as your Advocate pleads your case:

"Judge, You know that I fulfilled the law, living a sinless life. And then I took this person's place, taking on all the punishment for his crimes. Through these nail-scarred hands and My pierced side, blood came forth to blot out all of his transgressions. All these charges were put on My back and I paid the penalty for every one of them.”

Your Advocate then looks at your accuser and says, "Satan, you have no grounds to accuse My child. Each of his sins was placed on Me and I have fully pardoned them all. He is not guilty because his faith in the victory of My sacrifice gives him full pardon. You have no case!"

As the devil slinks out of God's court, you can hear the Lord cry out: "Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies" (Romans…

“You will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:29-30).

I know of only one way to enter into this rest that Jesus is talking about. If understood and appropriated, this truth will usher you into the most glorious peace possible on this side of heaven and end all feelings of insecurity.

This foundational truth upon which all others are built is the doctrine of justification by faith. It is the one doctrine you must understand if you hope to enter into the rest that Jesus offers.

I can only touch on the highlights of the magnificent truth of being justified by faith. Yet I believe God desires to lead His church further into this divine truth—to give us a foundational strength that will hold us in the days to come.

Sadly, when you mention the subject of doctrine, many Christians turn up their noses. They say, “I don’t want to hear all that deep, heavy stuff. Just give me Jesus!” Yet what they really mean is, “I don’t want to discipline myself or spend the time to learn what Jesus did at the cross.”

Too many Christians become emotionally involved with the cross but never really study it. I have heard many preachers deliver emotional appeals about Jesus and the cross—about His beatings, the crown of thorns on His head, the spikes driven into His hands. The preaching of the cross is about much more than that, however. It is about the victory of the cross and what Jesus did for all of humankind.

For those who desire to “learn of Him,” who want to understand Jesus’ wonderful work at Calvary, let me try to explain this concept of justification by faith.

Two things are involved in our justification by the cross of Jesus Christ:

First, we have pardon for all our sins. When Jesus went to the cross, His blood pardoned us from all guilt.

Second, we are accepted by God as righteous in Christ, through faith. This means God accepts us on the merits of what Jesus did on the…

Paul gives us a list of those who will not inherit the kingdom of God:

"Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, not adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

But then the apostle adds: "And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God" (verse 11).

How did these people who were saved out of such horrible sin become righteous before God? What happened to them that they no longer were evil but, rather, were accepted by God?

First of all, God is no respecter of persons. He is not at all impressed by a person’s title or earthly honor—whether a king, a queen, a president or a prime minister. And second, God is not charmed by any goodness in us. Long prayers, fasting, tithing, Bible study, benevolent acts—none of these makes us righteous or acceptable to God. Even our "good" flesh—good character, speech, thoughts and deeds—are a stench in His nostrils if used as a plea for our own righteousness.

When Jesus went to the cross, He crucified our "old man" of the flesh. There is only one Man left, only One whom God will deal with—and that is His Son. When Jesus finished His work on earth and sat down at the right hand of the Father, God said, “From now on I recognize only one Man, only one righteousness. Anyone who comes to Me must come through Him—My Son. All who would be righteous must accept His righteousness and no other!"

We are accepted in God's eyes only by faith in Christ and His work: "He made us accepted in the Beloved" (Ephesians 1:6).

Do you see how important it is to abide in Jesus, to come to Him quickly whenever you fail? You must learn to run to Him, crying, "Jesus, I have failed You! I cannot work this out. No matter what I do, I can never be recognized before the Father, except…

When Paul first taught the truth of justification by faith, it shook the church. It was incredible news at that time. In fact, some theologians responded, "If I'm pardoned, if God is so merciful to forgive me freely by faith alone, then let me sin even more, so God can enjoy giving me more grace!" Those theologians did not understand the gospel.

Because of the cross, God considered everything about our old flesh-man done away with. Paul asked, "Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?" (Romans 6:1) and he continued quickly, “Certainly not!" I believe Paul was saying, "Why would any Christian, having been set free from such death, go back and resurrect the corpse? Why go back to a life of sin when God wants to take away all guilt and condemnation and give you security and peace? Now, because of the cross, you can serve the Lord with joy and gladness and obey Him in a new obligation called love."

"So," you ask, "are we simply to take by faith the righteousness of Jesus?" Yes, absolutely! That is what the Christian walk is all about—resting by faith in what Jesus accomplished.

Our old man is dead, and the new Man is Jesus. When we put our faith in Him, God fully accepts us. He considers us righteous, hidden in the bosom of His dear Son. So whenever you sin or fail, run quickly to your Lawyer, your Advocate. Confess your failures to Him, and rest in His righteousness.

You may ask, "Don't good works have any place in this doctrine?" Of course they do, but on this condition: Good works cannot save you, justify you or make you righteous or acceptable to God. The only thing that saves you is your faith in what Jesus did!

What did Jesus do? He saved you, pardoned you and accepted you in the beloved—sins, failures and all. God sees you now only in Jesus Christ and that is why we must come to our Savior every time we fall. The blood that forgave and cleansed us the first time we came to Jesus is the same blood continues to keep us…

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. . . . They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it. . . . I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people! Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them’” (Exodus 32:7-10).

“Then Moses pleaded with the Lord his God, and said: ‘Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? . . . Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people. . . .’ So the Lord relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people” (verses 11-14).

In reading this passage, many Christians mistakenly attribute more grace and mercy to Moses than to God. They think, "Moses is pleading for great mercy upon Israel, while God is ready to destroy them." Nothing could be further from the truth. The only reason Moses could pray as he did was because He knew God's heart of mercy.

God’s justice demanded that the people be consumed but Moses knew it would pain God too much to destroy His children, so he lifted this plea to God, "I know that Your justice is crying out and these stiff-necked people should be wiped out, but I know You would not be able to stand the pain if You did that. I know Your heart, God, and I know You cannot destroy Israel—because You love her."

The Bible says God "repented," which means He changed His mind about how He would judge Israel. He was not going to destroy them; instead, the people would waste away in the wilderness. Although the people would continue to pain His heart for thirty-eight more years with their unbelief, the Lord would still protect them, lead them, feed them and clothe them to their dying day.

The first part of God's "double pain" is when we sin in His presence, against His light and love. The sin itself is not what grieves God, however, but the fact that He knows the consequences of our sin. God knows our sin is going to drive us to grief and misery.

The second part of God's "double pain" is that our sin compels Him to keep His Word in judging us. He has to stand by like a loving father and listen to our cries of anguish as He chastens us—all for the purpose of producing godly character in us.

At one time I came to a crisis—to the end of my rope. Slanderous things were being said about me and after this had gone on for some time, I began to remind God of His Word:

"A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who speaks lies shall perish" (Proverbs 19:9).
"A liar listens eagerly to a spiteful (destructive) tongue" (17:4).

After some time, I cried out in despair: "Oh, God, how long will You let this go on? The lies keep changing so much, I don't even know what they are from day to day. You are my defender, Lord, and You say You will avenge Your people. But I don't see You working any justice.”

As I thought of all the slander coming against me, I began to think of other beleaguered pastors and servants. There are many righteous people today who are enduring awful trials because evil words are being spoken against them.

"Why, Lord?" I prayed. "Why do You continue allowing Your people to be hurt?”

The Lord answered, "David, I am merciful, longsuffering and slow to anger because it pains Me to mete out My justice. If you could feel My pain, you would never, ever, desire to see My judgment fall. You would understand why I wait so long to bring it down. You know how painful it is to discipline your children. It is the same for Me. It pains Me to chasten those I love!"

Paul gives thanks to God for a people who remain steadfast in perilous times. This holy remnant will rise up against the spirit of antichrist and stand strong. They will never be overcome. On the contrary, they will overcome the world, the flesh and the wicked one!

"But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you . . . because God from the beginning chose you for salvation. . . . Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught. . . . Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work" (2 Thessalonians 2:13-17).

This holy remnant loves the truth and are not afraid to be reproved. They examine themselves in light of God's Word, letting it pierce them to the very marrow. Beloved, if you keep your heart open to the truth—if you continue to love God's Word—the Lord will establish you.

"Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people from this time forth and forever. For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous, lest the righteous reach out their hands to iniquity” (Psalm 125:1-3).

The antichrist spirit has a rod, signifying authority. But his power and reign will not be over you because you are part of God’s holy remnant.

"I have written to you . . . because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one" (1 John 2:14).

"And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith" (1 John 5:4).

Let the spirit of antichrist come. You will not be moved, because you will be firmly established on the truth of God's Word. You will be found in God's house, worshiping from a pure heart, and your faith will overcome all that the enemy brings against…