| Thinking Biblically About Rest A.
Where are you in relation to these words: Rest. Rhythm. Reflection.
Recreation. Refreshment. 1. The average American gets 2.5 fewer hours
of sleep per night than a century ago (Margin). 2. More
than 40 million Americans get fewer than 6 hours of sleep per night
(Rethinking Sleep). 3. The CDC has labeled insufficient sleep a
“public health epidemic” with a host of consequences. B.
How would our Creator have us think of rest? I.
Rest: Built into the______________of Creation A. “God rested from all his work that he
had done in creation”(Gen 2:1-3). B.
“Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a
Sabbath”(Exo 20:8-11). C. “The Sabbath
was made for man, not man for the Sabbath”(Mark 2:27). II.
Rest:_______________by our Lord
A. “And behold, angels came and were ministering to him”(Matt
4:11). B. “Come away by yourselves to
a desolate place and rest a while”(Mark 6:30-32). C. “Jesus, wearied as he was from his
journey, was sitting beside the well”(John 4:6). III.
Rest: Employed as a Figure to_____________ A.
Our Creator does not slumber or sleep (Psa 121:1-4). B.
But he does use sleep as a metaphor for___________(Mark 5:39; John
11:11-14; Matt 27:52;Acts 7:60; 13:36; 1 Cor 15:51; 1 Thes 4:13-15). IV.
Rest: Prescribed by Our Creator for Our__________ A.
The Bible commends hard work (Prov 6:6-11; Matt 25:14-30; 1 Thes 2:9;
4:11-12; 2 Thes 3:10). B. It reminds us that the clock is ticking
(Psa 90:10; 103:15-16; James 4:14).
C. But it also extols the
virtue of rest (Deut 5:12-15; Psa 127:1-2).
D. Both have their place. The
challenge is avoiding the extremes and finding the healthy balance. 1.
The______________(Prov 6:6-11; 13:4; 20:4; 21:25; 24:30-34; 26:13-16;
2 Thes 3:6-12). 2. The____laborer (Psa 127:2) consumed with
the opposite of peaceful sleep (Matt 6:25-27). E.
God made us to spend almost a third of our lives not doing anything
except depending on him. 1. Sleep is intrinsically a_________thing to
do (1 Pet 5:6), a way of saying, “I trust you, God. You’ll be okay without
me, and I’ll be okay in you” (Psa 3:1-6; 4:8; Mark 4:35-40). 2.
“Sometimes the godliest thing you can do in the universe is get a good
night’s sleep.” V. Rest: Promised as a Present and Eternal________________ A. A
present blessing of_________________for the wise (Prov 3:21-24). B. An on going_________________of blessing to
the heavy laden (Matt 11:28-30).
C. A present peace and future
blessing of_____________life for the people of God (Heb 4:1-11). |
