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Transcript of message from TV Broadcast 646 -- taken from Closed Captioning Text -- Brother Thomas: Our subject this morning is our greatest rest--your rest, my rest, our greatest rest. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you..."--Do you have His yoke?--"...And learn of me...." You'll never learn of Him if you don't have His yoke. Let me tell you something--when you do something, I don't care what it is, it's something that you've had clear instructions about. What do you think that Bible means when it says obey them that have the rule over you? When you have to sneak around and do something, you don't even say a word to 'em, something's bad wrong--something's bad wrong. I'm not trying to condemn you because you're not condemned. Besides, you don't get away with nothing. You know why? "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth..." beholding the good and the evil. ( congregational amens ). And did you know this? He says, "Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness..."--Think about it now--"...and make manifest the counsels of the hearts:" I have thoughts and I say, devil, I don't receive it. I cast it down. I intend to cast it down. For the devil will not rule over me by the grace of God. ( congregational amens ). But you know Isaiah 57, verse 20 and 21 says, "But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." Isaiah 26, verse 3 says, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." I have a great calm in my heart. I personally know about this great rest. Never will I forget the time I fell at His feet and said, "You have my life, Lord." I gave it up. As long as I live I'll remember this. I went home that night and before I went to bed I said, "Lord, it's alright if you come now." Everything was right. The burden was gone. Amen. The next morning...we lived in a little shack of a house, no car, nothing. But I had the treasure hid in the field--unsearchable riches. I'm better off than some heir whose daddy died and left him ten billion dollars. ( congregational amens ). "For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" What would you do with this world? You got about...well at best you've got about 50 or 60 years. Of course I've fooled a lot of people. My mother died at 34, my daddy at 52. I'm going on, and I know it's God. I hope I don't sound like I'm boasting. God forbid that I boast. I have nothing to boast about for it's God that works in me both to will and do of His good pleasure. ( congregational amens ). "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee," Isaiah 26, verse 3. In the 14th chapter of Matthew, you have the account there, that's beginning in verse 22. I'm not gonna read it, just gonna refer to it. The disciples were in the ship. Jesus had told 'em to go on over and they were there in the ship and Jesus came walking on the water. They were frightened to begin with, thought it was a spirit. Here it was, a man walking on the water. But Jesus of course calmed their fears and Peter said, well Lord, how about helping me walk on the water. He said, come on. So he walked out and started walking on the water toward Jesus. But he looked and saw them waves. That frightened him. He began to sink. He said, Lord help me! That's a good thing--to know where your help comes from. So he reached up and lifted him back up. The way we get in trouble, or a spirit of fear overtakes us, is when we get our eyes on something other than the Lord. ( congregational amens ). You know, Moses' inquiry to the Lord is really something that we thank God for. This is in Exodus chapter 33, verse 12-15, "And Moses said unto the Lord, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast found grace in my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people." You know what the Lord said? "And he said unto him, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he saith unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence." Isn't that wonderful? That's still so. How many of you know that? That's still so. And that presence you can't buy. You can't get it from any place. You don't have to get one of these psychic hotlines. You don't have to be hypnotized 'cause that presence is God. You know what the Psalmist said? "Whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea...." Did you realize that God is bigger than this universe? ( congregational amens ). I doubt if I'll ever travel across this universe. Of course it won't be here when I start traveling. At very best--this is something I want to get over to you--this world is transitory. This is not the real world. I want you to get that. This is not the real world. What we have in our heart and where we're going, that's real. ( congregational amens ). You look at this as real? If you could go back some places you wouldn't even know it. It's ever in transition. I saw a...I believe it was on the Discovery Channel the other day, they were lifting stones out of the sea. And they had big, huge stones. Those things weighed tons and tons. They had hieroglyphics. They had two different languages I know, Greek and Egyptian, something man did way back yonder, way before Christ was ever born. I think an earthquake came and just shook that thing. It fell into the sea. We don't have anything here. Don't live like you got forever. You live for something that's eternal. ( congregational amens ). Hallelujah! You must learn to go the Lord when you have a problem. Consult Him. You don't need to live a presumptuous life either. "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." If you don't do those things you're surely gonna make a mistake. You're gonna end up one day, as the old saying goes, behind the eight ball. Boy, you need to realize that. The next thing you need to do is to learn to live by His Word. You know why? "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." That's your life. You know, more and more I find that I need the Word. I find that it is my life. I find no matter what I'm going through or where I'm at that Word is quickened to me and does something for me. I know what it is. That's what Jesus meant, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." And I'll tell you, the anointing is what speaks to you. I have to hasten to add this--many things are called the anointing that's not the anointing. You just desire God. One verse of scripture would eliminate all doubt, all misapprehensions, all mistakes--one verse. John 7, verse 17, "If any man will..."--Jesus said this--"...to do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." Now what Jesus really meant was if any man wills to do His will, he'll know if what I'm saying is from God or whether it's just me as a man saying it. I wish everybody... I don't want people to join our church. For Heaven's sake, don't do it if you can get out of it. We want them that can't get out of it. ( congregational amens ). That's real people. What we're in is a heart thing. It's a heart thing, not a head thing. And if your heart isn't open and receptive, there's something wrong. Joining the church ain't gonna help you. Joining the church won't do you one bit of good. You come here because you're coming to feast--feast on the Word. You talk about the Lord's table? This is the Lord's table right here. This is the bread that comes down from Heaven. ( congregational amens ). In Galatians chapter 3, verse 26 through 29, "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." Now watch this, "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." What in the world does that mean--put on Christ? You reckon Christ ever had to worry about getting lost? Well if we put Him on, what about us? Think about it. You mean to tell me we might lose our salvation? Well what about Jesus? Wonder why He didn't lose His? This says we put on Christ. There's so many wonderful things. "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek." "For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit," Romans chapter 2. That's the kind of Jew I am. That's the kind of Jew you are. ( congregational amens ). Praise God! And you know what that means? We're an heir and a joint heir with Jesus Christ. What does Jesus inherit? I'll tell you what He inherited: "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." Everything you see visible and invisible and tangible, material were made by Him. You mean we're gonna occupy a place where we'll be like Him? Well, I tell you, Paul in the 4th chapter of Ephesians he confirms that. The ministry's given that we might reach that place where we're like him--actually conformed to the image of His glory. We need to learn to go to the Lord when we have a need and I don't mean put it off, I mean go. Lift your heart to Him. Don't let things get to you. When you get your eyes off the Lord and you begin to watch the waves and listen to them your gonna get in trouble. That's what it means in Philippians chapter 4, verses 6 and 7, "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Do you realize what that says? Peace that passes all understanding--it's something you can't find in a dictionary. You don't get it out of a can or off deep freeze. It comes down from the Father above. It's Him that's greater in you than he that is in the world. Now God said that. That what He said--don't worry about nothing. Don't get uptight. You're wrong when you do it. You don't know where you're help comes from. You've forgotten it. "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding..."--Think about it--"...passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." ( congregational amens ). I'm glad to see some of you as I quote the scriptures you quote it with me, that's good. We're speaking the same language. That's not like Greeks trying to speak to Egyptians. I'm glad we do speak the same language. You know the devil's the one that takes away your peace. And you know how he takes it away? You listen to him. You listen to him. Now don't live in the past. Forget the past. If God forgot it you ought to be forgetting it. ( congregational amens ). He remembers our sins no more against us. Think about it. He blots it out of His memory. He don't ever remember it anymore. It's the devil that brings it up, digs it up and throws it at you. In Revelation chapter 12 he's called the accuser of the brethren. He "...accused them before God day and night." Now he's not living up there in Heaven. Anywhere he does it, it's before God because God's there--God's there. You can't go where God's not. There is no such place. God help us. Now the more you learn about the Lord the greater will be your peace. "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Isn't that wonderful? The way you learn about Him is by the Word, by the Word. You know that's a great asset to me. Every now and then God will give me scriptures that I haven't thought of in years but they come to me. Just about like that time I drove out in the country so greatly disappointed by men and their promises and all the great things. I didn't know much about the Lord. I did say this, "Lord, why did this happen to me?" He answered me. He said, "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm." I knew that was in the Word. I don't know when I'd read it, didn't know where it was at. But it's Word anyhow. If you'll notice, Jesus nor the disciples would give you the verse and the chapter. You know why? Didn't have any, that's exactly right. It's the Word of God whether you give that out or not. Hallelujah! Praise God1 And above all don't build your own fire and walk in the light of the sparks of your fire. Boy, you can make a bad mistake there. ( congregational amens ). I'm glad to see our men when they want to start some new endeavor really want to move in God's will. That's important. It's vital 'cause you get yourself in a mess if you don't. And that's good that God lets you get in a mess so you'll learn. And so then we can quote the scripture, "...all things work together for good...." 'Course some of us are hard headed. He may have to let us do it two or three times. ( laughing ). Oh me. Praise God. Do you know that's a great truth--"The secret of the Lord is with..."--who?--"...them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant." ( congregational amens ). And that brings peace when you see what the covenant says. I don't have to go to some lawyer's office and say, what's my rights here? I'll say this is my right, right here Lord. There it is Lord. Jesus said to those Jews which believed on him, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall..."--what? -- Congregation: Make you free. -- Brother Thomas: That's right. So you see when you put that yoke upon you, you learn of Him just like a poor old mule or an ox. They don't know anything. You can't go out and get 'em out of the wilderness and put a yoke on 'em. You got something on your hands if you do. You'd be like one of those bucking bulls. He don't become gentle overnight. He has to be well broken. Old Uncle Buddy Robertson, I believe he was a Holiness preacher back yonder years ago, he was talking about how gold is purified. And you know you can boil gold, gets so hot. And you skim it off. He said sometimes he thought he wasn't nothing but skimmings. ( laughter ). I think sometimes that's about all I am is skimmings, but I got the Lord. And greater is he that's in me than he that's in the world. Praise God. There's so many wonderful things I hardly know what to say. You getting anything out of this? ( congregational amens ). Well what I'm talking about is our greatest rest. I got it. I got a great peace that loves thy law and nothing shall offend me. That's wonderful. This is better than turning flips anytime. ( laughter ). I was just thinking about comparing what Jesus was and what man is today. Some turn flips, holler and scream, so far from the truth it's pitiful. Jesus sat down and talked to people. The Bible says, "A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: nor cause his voice to be heard on the street." That's Jesus. It's a million miles from what men have today. God wants to give you life. God wants to give you peace. |
