Transcript:
Hallelujah. I want to share with you tonight, going straight into my word about rest. I want to take you from a place of rest to restitution. I don't know if the guys have a few slides I gave them. Tyler is a bit late, but we're gonna be talking here. I want to show you that restitution is God's promise for each one of us.
He hasn't forgotten about you. Don't worry. Amen. But the key to get restitution is to enter the rest. So when we rest, we get restituted. Are you seeing my play on words here? And so we don't get restituted by trying, by, struggling by, um, you know, uh, using our own effort. We get restituted when we rest in the work of Christ, when we look to what he's done rather to what we've done.
And just to remind you, I'm giving you an introduction and then I'm gonna give you five quick signs to see if you are at rest. So you'll be able to see if you are in the right place tonight. Amen. But just to remind us to lay a foundation, there's three things we've been learning about restitution up until now.
First of all, we've learned that it is the heart of the gospel. Uh, God wants to rest his people, not because we deserve it, but because he's such a good and loving, and caring and wonderful God. Thank you for your amen. And there are so many stories in the Bible. Is everybody understanding my English? Give me a wave or a thumbs up, or, you know, have mercy.
No. So I think most people are understanding everybody else has got, uh, earphones. Is that right? Okay. So there are many stories in the scripture that show the principle of restitution. One of them that came to my mind earlier is the story of Naiman. Naman, as you remember, had leprosy a terrible disease that literally made his skin and his flesh grow old and become insensitive and even fall from his body.
Terrible thing. You remember the story. He was healed when he dipped seven times in. Jordan in Israel, who remembers that story. But what's interesting, the Bible doesn't say that he was just healed, but that when he came out of the water, his skin was like a baby child. So in other words, it was more than a healing.
It was a miracle because God rero the clock to give him skin as if he was just a baby boy. That's restitution. He got much more than what Healing said he got. Uh, 10 times more, seven times more. You understanding the principle? Think of Joseph now. A great story too. He started off in his father Jacob's house as the favorite son.
He went through all that trouble because his brothers betrayed him because Potiphar's wife falsely accused him and he passed through 13 years of suffering. In prisons and as a slave. But at the end of it, he wasn't restored to Jacob's house. He was restituted to Pharaoh's house. He didn't just become Jacob's favorite son.
He became the most powerful man on the face of the Earth's favorite son, Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Are you hearing what I'm saying? So you can see restitution is more than just being restored to your former place. We have all sinned and fallen from the glory or the standards of God. That's what scripture says, but in the salvation package in Christ Jesus, he doesn't just take us back to our former position in Adam before we fell.
He actually takes us to a much higher place and puts us now in Christ Jesus, not in the Garden of Eden, but in heavenly places far above principalities and powers. Adam. Remember he had the glory of God in him, but we, excuse me, upon him to cover him, but we have the glory of God in in us. Adam walked with God in the cool of the evening.
We walk with God 24 hours a day. Adam had God come and visit him. We now have God dwelling in us. Adam could always make a mistake and fall. We may fall, but we can never now be detached or thrown out of the presence of God because of the blood of Jesus Christ. Our position is far greater, far superior than Adam's.
That's restitution. So restitution means that your future is so much better than your past. I don't know what your past was, but I'm here to say God in his glory, in his goodness, wants to do wonderful things for you. I was just meditating during the worship time, as we do, as our minds are flooded with the high thoughts of heaven.
I. And it was as if I could see the father and the son and the spirit planning out mankind and, oh, remember, they can't be surprised by anything. Satan is far beneath their feet. I believe that they created us with this enormous heart to see us have the most glorious, glorious life. Because they are glorious, glorious beings.
Oh, with what joy they made us. Oh, with what joy they redeemed us. And now will ute us say amen. So some of the scriptures, we've based this message restitution on Joel chapter 2 25. Pastor Ralph spoke about it yesterday. I will repay you for the lo. The years the locusts have eaten. You will have plenty to eat until you are full.
Who likes to eat until they're half full? So we're not talking about survival here. We're talking about abundance here. Amen. Another great scripture, instead of your shame, you shall have double honor and one of the most extraordinary ones under the law, Exodus 22 and one, if anyone steals your ox or sheep, he shall have to repay five oxen for one and four sheep for one sheep.
So you lose one sheep, but you get four back. That's restitution. Now when you know that God watches over his word to perform it, if you, if you go through a time of loss or of problems, you don't panic anymore, you know that God is setting you up for much more blessing in the future. So rejoice in your trials and your tribulations when things go wrong, uh, say to your wife, say to your kids, get ready.
Get ready. Get ready. God's got something good for us. Something much better than we ever had before. Hallelujah. Now, just remember this, that there is a basis for this restitution. It's not just positive thinking. It's not just a nice way to encourage people. You see, restitution is based, it has a foundation on the work of Jesus Christ.
One of the greatest revelations that Paul says so succinctly in the book of Romans is that we're sin abounds. Grace abounds so much more, or as one translation says, it's super abounds. So, in other words, gr sin put us into debt, but God's grace doesn't just pay the debt. It leaves us in credit. Are you following?
We are not just forgiven sinners. We're not just people with quitted debts. We are a new creation in the image of Christ Jesus. A glorious new being here on planet Earth that has never existed before. Eternal reflecting the glory, filled with the glory and destined for glory. Say amen. Remember again, the basis of the gospel.
This is Paul in Romans four and five, but to him who does not work but believes on him, who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness. The word accounted. There literally is an expression that accountants use and you know, accountants, they have a, on the left hand side of the page, your debits, your outgoings, and then on the right side your incomings.
So Paul here is talking literally in legal financial language. He's saying, look, you might have got all this debt, but into the entrance, the incoming, the income is so much more. Well, why is that? I'll tell you why. Because the blood of Jesus is much more valuable than all the sins of the whole world.
Hallelujah. You understand, you've been purchased, you've been redeemed. A price has been paid for you more than your debts to give you credit for the whole of eternity. Say Hallelujah, somebody today. So that gives us faith, doesn't it? To believe for good things. Now, the second thing we learned about restitution is this.
We don't need to struggle to get ahead. We don't need to struggle to be restituted. In fact, the gospel message shows us that we are inserted into a finished work. I'm moving quickly today 'cause I've got a short time. If you, you see, the Garden of Eden represents Jesus Christ. Remember the word Eden means delights.
It's the place of delights. Jesus Christ is the delight and the desire of our hearts. Say, amen. If you remember, God made the world in six days. He made the world and only at the end of making all things did he make, man. Why is that? Because all things were made for man. When everything was ready, he made, man, he saw that all things were good.
But when he saw, when he made man, he saw all things were now very good or completed total satisfaction, and therefore he stopped working and he rested on the seventh day. Say Amen. Hallelujah. Like an artist who finished his painting. He finally sits down and rests. Then he takes, man, you can all read all about it in Genesis chapter two, and he places man into Eden.
Okay? He placed him into a finished work man. Didn't need to sweat to get Eden functioning. Man wasn't made and then put into a factory. He was put into a garden, a place of rest, a place of delights, of aromas, of flowers and of beauty. Say amen. So the last day of God was the first day of man. God's day of rest was what Adam was inserted into.
Who's following the principle Now you know the story. Adam sinned and because he's sinned in a sense, God had to get up from his rest and work again. To redeem, man, it took a lot more than six days. It actually took thousands of years for God to produce of people into which he could bring his son to be a messiah, a redeemer for the world.
It took words to create the world, but it took blood to redeem us. Say Amen, somebody. Hallelujah. So God worked. Jesus said, I must work. My father is working. I must work. But there on the cross, he finished his work and that's why he declared it is finished. Hallelujah. And now we read in scripture that because of that.
He has sat down. Listen to what the scripture says in Hebrews chapter one and three. When he had purchased, or excuse me, when he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. When did he sit down? When he had purged us from our sins. Hebrews follows that on from that time waiting.
Oh, excuse me. And every priest stands ministering daily, the priests of the temple. Offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. Hallelujah. Jesus sat down where? Why did he sit down?
Because the job was done. You go out to work. You work a hard day. You come in from work, you arrive at home. What do you want to do? You want to head for that sofa? What do you call it here? City couch. Couch. You head for that couch, don't you? And you slab out. You sit down. Why? Because the job's been done.
Hallelujah. Say to your neighbor, the job's been done. So Jesus has finished the job and he's finished it forever because it was one sacrifice for all of sins forever. Amen. Past, present, and future and for everyone who believes. Again, with, with more time, we could look at those wonderful principles comparing Jesus with the high priests of Mo under Moses of Levi.
You know, in the temple, they had lots of pieces of furniture, but they didn't have a chair. Why? No chair? Because their job was never done. Every year, every day they had to repeat their sacrifices. Why? Because the sacrifices of animals could only cover sin, but the sacrifice of Jesus Christ takes away sin.
Say to your neighbor, your sins are taken away forever. That's our message. It's the same as John the Baptist. Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of all the world. Hallelujah. That's what we declare to everyone. Amen. And so this is the kind of, this is the second thing that we need to, that we've understood about restitution.
It's not something that we try to get. It's try. It's what we we receive because of him. Amen. Actually, what the scripture then goes on to say is that we are now seated with him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus say, amen. So he has made us, in other words, sit with him, watch the scripture again. I dunno if you've got it in Ephesians two and six, he raised us up together and made us sit together.
What we need to do in church. Can I tell you what all preaching is about? Huh? It's to make you sit down. Have you ever had a disobedient child who's always running around, making a mess, huh? Causing a disturbance? And what do mom and dad say? Sit down. Sit down. Sit down. God's doing the same with us. Really.
Because we'll see in a moment when we stand up, he sits down. But when we sit down, God stands up on our behalf and he does great things for us. And really, that's the third point here we've learned. That when we rest, God works. And this issue of sitting down is the sign of being at rest. So whether you read about resting or sitting, it's synonymous.
It's interchangeable in scripture. Amen. So the big challenge then in life, and we're gonna look at the signs now, the big challenge is for us to rest no matter what happens. Amen. Rest, no matter what you are facing. If you think about it, the enemy of our souls wants to get us out of the place of rest. You see, if God's working while we are resting, then Satan wants God to stop working for us.
So what he does is he gets us out of a place of rest. I'm preaching, Ben. You're shouting. But I'll continue for the moment. I've still got 35 minutes. The clock hasn't started. I'm in, and that's why. That's why this is the big challenge and it's so subtle of the enemy. Okay, so subtle of the enemy. Let's just, uh, look at what, um, Hebrews says about resting.
You see all the, these promises of restitution are for us today, but we have to rest in order to recede. Hebrews four, one. Therefore, since the promise remains of entering his rest, let us fear lest any of us of 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 of God, which they heard did not profit them.
Imagine that it didn't profit them. They heard it, but it didn't work for them. Many Christians, it's the same today. They hear it, but it's still not profiting them. Why? Because it's not mixed with faith like Pastor Rav said in those who heard it. For we who have believed do enter that rest, say amen. And then in verse 10, for he who has entered his rest, has himself also ceased from his works as God did from his.
Therefore, let us be diligent to enter the rest. That's the big challenge to rest. I want you to breathe deeply. Breathe deeply. I. And say, rest. Rest. Amen. Another modern way to say it is, don't worry, be happy. That's a good thing to say to your neighbor, isn't it? Say to your neighbor, don't worry. Be happy.
Every little thing is gonna be all right, but watch this. Watch how the devil tries to stop us from being blessed. One Peter five and six. Scripture says, therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you. Be sober.
Be vigilant because your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. So in other words, the devil devoured those who don't cast their cares. Can I say that again? The devil's looking. He's going about looking for anxious people. Hello, looking for those who are carrying their cares, uh, concerned about their problems, and he has access to those ones.
The ones who cast their cares upon him, who cares? The Lord God, they're sealed from the attack of the devil, and they remain in the place where they are restituted and blessed by the Lord. Hallelujah. Are you getting it? And you're getting it? So it's really subtle because it's actually by caring that the devil gets you out of God's blessing.
When you start caring about yourself, when you start trying to preserve your life and work it out and look after yourself, you see Christianity, the life of Christ is completely different, exemplified by Paul who pulled himself out as a love offering. Ah, and Christ said, carry your cross. You see, it's when you give your life away that you discover it, that you find it, that you enter into the abundance.
The more you are concerned about it and caring about it and anxious about it and worrying about it, that gives an open door for the prowling line to come in and devour what you already have. Somebody say, have mercy, Lord, I'm just laying a foundation here. We're going to the test in a moment I'm in. So the key once again, is to rest, is to rest.
Whenever some concern comes to you, cast it upon the Lord. Amen. So let's have a think here. I'm gonna give you five signs now to see if you are at rest. And here's the first one. You don't worry when life goes against you. Hello. You see, the real issue is this. You need to get into the right spiritual position in order to get the heavenly provision.
I'm preaching bed and you're shouting here, and what is the position that we need to be in? Sitting down? Once again, if you are sat, which shows that you are rested, you are protected, you are provided for. Let's go to the classic story of the multiplication of the bread and the fish. I'm not gonna read you the whole story.
It's in John six. I'm gonna pick it up in verse 10. You know it so well. Every Bible school kid has heard this story. You know that there were 5,000 men, probably as many women, certainly more children, so probably somewhere around 20,000 people, and they were all hungry, and that's a big pressure point.
Imagine 20,000 people, including children who want to want some food. Now, I dunno about you, but most wives know this, that a husband with a hungry tummy is a dangerous beast to be around. Isn't that right? His temper is short. He reacts more quickly. He's less patient. Imagine a whole crowd. That's just the dads now.
The kids, they're hungry too. There was a certain amount of pressure upon the disciples to resolve the problem. They did the math on it and they reckoned it would take 200 denari just to go and buy enough bread. Isn't that right? But Jesus has, as I've said many times in this church, a supernatural miracle life for all those who believe.
We don't have to worry about what we're gonna eat or what we're gonna drink or what we're gonna wear. By the way, do you like my white jacket? Pretty snazzy, isn't it? I'm now in the Florida style. Hallelujah. I arrived here like an Englishman. I've quickly become a Floridian. I'm then. We don't worry about these things.
God has a different way of providing for us supernaturally of opening the windows of heaven above us and pouring out such a blessing that we're not able to contain it. I want that kind of blessing because that's the blessing of more than enough. That's the blessing of restitution, not just survival, not a half belly, but 12 baskets extra at the end.
Enough. For me, not for my family, and enough for all my friends shout. Amen. Somebody. So where's the key? Well, the key is in this verse 10. Jesus said, make the people sit down. Say that with me. Please. Make the people sit down. Now say that to your friend. Just the last two words. Sit down. Sit down. Sit down.
Let's go modern English. Chill out. Chill, man. Gimme, come on you. Youngsters. What do you say these days? Huh? Because everything's upside down in your vocabulary. Bad is good. And uh, wicked is great. And uh, I dunno, I get lost these days. Huh?
Okay, well I got that one. I got that one. Amen. Chill. Make. Jesus said, the people sit and I kind of love it. 'cause he didn't say, oh, invite them to sit down. Please ask them if they'd like to sit down now. Make them sit down because unless they sit down. I can't do this miracle for them. And of course if you read the story, they sat down, the scripture says in a number, about 5,000.
And Jesus took the loaves. And when he given thanks, he distributed to them, them to the disciples, and the disciples, to those sitting down. And likewise of the fish, as much as they come on, guys, help me here. Gimme some. As much as they, as much as they needed. As much as they had money for, no, as much as they wanted.
Here's the big question in life, how much do you want? Come on, get honest with me. What sort of life do you want? 'cause God is able to give you that kind of lifestyle. You can settle for mediocrity if you want to, but I've discovered a God of restitution, a God of abundance, and I'm gonna sit down and let him serve me instead of me trying to.
Serve him. I'm gonna look to his power rather than my power. His righteousness. Rather than my righteousness. And if he wants to do miracles and he does, then I'm gonna sit down at his feet and let him serve me. Hallelujah. Let God be God. Stop trying to be God in your life. Let him be God. He is the miracle working power.
He is the creator. He can do all things. He can bring water from a rock. He can multiply the loaves, he can part the Red Sea. Why not let him do it for you? Try instead of trying to do it yourself. Sit down. Now watch this again, this theme throughout scripture. Provision. I'm looking at provision, protection and power.
My three Ps. Here's the provision. Psalm 23, 1 and two. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, the word here is recline. So you've got sitting down and then you've got my friend Rachel and Wayne. They're here today. They have got the most glorious sofas in their apartment.
They're all wired up with lots of buttons. And you press here and you press there and. You recline, man. You don't need to go to bed in that household because the sofa turns into the most comfortable bed. Sit down. Why? Why is it here? Because if you want the Lord to be your pastor. Your shepherd so that you don't have any wants, so that you experience the green pastures of life, so that even in this fallen world that is full of your enemies, he will lay a table for you with all the best things on it.
If you want that, then sit down, lie down. That's the first thing he said to the disciples, and it's the first. Thing he says here in the psalm, if you don't do that, you don't. If you, it doesn't matter if you do the other things, you are in the wrong position and therefore you can't have the provision who's following what I'm saying, protection's the same way.
Psalms or in the Psalms 91, 1 and two, you know it well. He who dwells in the secret place of the most high God shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, he's my refuge and fortress, my God in him will I trust. You know the Psalm, it talks about pestilence. It talks about arrows that fly by day and other wicked things by night, but he says, listen, you can be protected from all the things that affect the world just as the children of Israel.
When they were, when they were in Egypt and the plagues came, they were totally protected from every disease, from every plague. Even when the Egyptian households went dark, the light still shone in their household. Why? Because they were under the shadow of the wings of protection of the living guard. But how do you get into that position?
You have to sit down. Once again, he who dwells in the secret place shall abide the word dwells. There literally means, sits or rests. It's by resting that we are protected. You see, you've gotta remember that we are the sheep and he's the shepherd. And if a wolf comes, a sheep is not able to protect itself.
But the sheep who knows, the shepherd doesn't panic. Why? Because the shepherd is more than able to drive the wolf away. It's not your power that counts. Now let's look at, let, let's look at the word power. I talked, talked about provision, protection and power. You want power? We need power for our lives. And let's be honest, we're a church of ministers here and we can't really do something wonderful for God in Fort Myers and beyond and build churches, have overcomers and multiply those churches and raise up a generation of overcomers.
That's the vision, isn't it? We can't do that in our own strength. So God's promise a different kind of strength. It's called the promise of the Father, heavenly power. So how did the disciples get the power? Well, once again, you've gotta read the scripture because the key is hidden in there. Acts chapter two, you know it so well.
When the day of Pentecostal fully come, they were all with one accord in one place, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting, say, sitting. You see, when you sit, the power comes. If you think you get power because of what you've done, you never get it.
But when you understand you get power because what if Christ has done? Then you get it. So you see, this is the principle of scripture. We received the blessing that he deserves. I'll say it in a different way. We get paid the salary that he worked for. He did the work. We get the payment, we get the blessing.
You see, when Jesus spoke about the Holy Spirit, he said, let him who is thirsty come. Okay. He promised rivers of living water flowing out of our bellies. But he gave that to those who believed, not who deserved, but who believed, who trusted in him, who rested in him. Say, amen. Somebody. So say to your neighbor, uh, say to your neighbor, let's just do the test here.
Um, the first one was, don't worry when life seems against you, say to your neighbor, are you still worrying? Sit down, stop it. Don't worry. Don't be anxious about anything. Here's the second one. I'm, I'm running here. Don't fear when things don't go as planned. Don't fear when things don't go as planned. Now watch this in Mark five and 36, the story of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue.
Whilst Jesus was still speaking, some came from the rule of the synagogue's house who said, your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further? You remember his daughter had died. This is an extraordinary story because most of the, the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the synagogue leaders, they didn't want to have anything to do with Christ.
So Jairus is already a standout character in the gospels, but then he hears this report that it's too late. He went to get Jesus. Jesus was busy ministering to somebody else and the news report came through. It's too late. Your daughter's dead. Why trouble the teacher any further? But watch the next three words.
As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, Jesus didn't want to let that spirit behind that declaration that she was dead affect the faith of jarris. So he grabs the words, so to speak. As soon as he heard them, he said something else to the ruler of the synagogue. He said, don't be afraid. Only believe in other words, rest, rest, rest.
Don't fear. Don't be afraid when things don't go as planned. Now, watch this as well. The, the, the, the, the messenger said to Jarus, why trouble the teacher any further? Tell you this, that your trouble is Jesus's trouble. He came for your trouble. That's what you should trouble him about your troubles. Some people have this kind of weird religious idea that they shouldn't bother the master because he's so busy serving everyone else.
He's got much more important things to do. No, you have to understand, you are that important thing. He came for you. Your trouble is his trouble. And so the Lord says to him, look, just believe. In other words, just rest. Just rest. You've started. Well continue. Well say to your neighbor, if it's not working out as you planned, don't worry.
Are you fearing things when the storms of life come? The classic example, it's here again. What did Jesus do in the boat when the storm blew up? He slept in the belly of the boat and then he rebuked his disciples and said to them, why are you so fearful? So when things don't work out, just as you thought or expected or imagined, don't worry.
God's got it sorted out. He's bigger than the death of your daughter. He's bigger than whatever problem. He's bigger than the Devil's plan. I know you never imagined it. I know it took you by surprise, but it didn't take the one who was, who's the Alpha and the Meg Omega. The one who was here before the beginning and was there before will be there after the end.
The one who knows the end from the beginning and the beginning for the end. Don't be afraid. Don't let fear enter your heart. Keep resting. Just believe. Say to your neighbor, don't worry. Don't be afraid. Who's got things that haven't worked out just as you imagined? Don't be afraid. It's all gonna work out in Christ Jesus.
Third thing, third thing to know if you are at rest or not. You keep the day of rest when the pressure's on. What's the tendency when the pressure comes on and you've gotta resolve things in your life. You work, work, work, work, work to try and get things sorted. Isn't that right? But one of the commandments is that we should keep the Sabbath.
And to be honest, it's a principle in scripture. Not that we're under the Mosaic Commandments anymore, but we rest. We come together on the Lord's Day, and like I said in the offering time last night, that when Melek brought the bread and the wine to Abraham, it was to refresh him so that Abraham could rest and remember.
That actually because of this covenant, everything would be provided for him. No matter how many kings rose up against him, he would have the victory no matter what his needs. God was gonna make him rich, hallelujah. So he could rest in somebody else's work. He wasn't gonna get ahead because of his work.
He was gonna get ahead because of Christ's work, say Amen. And so if you are working on the Sabbath, so to speak, it means you're not resting. I know so many people who just don't come to church because they're so busy and they think that they'll resolve their lives working seven days out of seven.
Rather than understanding that if they work six days and then give the seventh to the Lord, God, then consecrates all seven days and blesses them with unmerited favor on the six days that they work. And so at the end they can say. My boss didn't make me rich. It's God who made me rich because I rested on the Sabbath.
I prioritize the ways of the Lord. Are you hearing what I'm saying? This isn't a word to condemn you, it's just to help you understand you can rest in peace. Okay. I know that sounded different there. You can come to church and you can just say, listen, this is, I'm giving my first fruits my first day to the Lord, and that means my six days are gonna be blessed and I can work knowing that I already have the victory, say, amen.
I'm going really, really quickly. Now my time is gone. Number four, don't I? I've written it like this. Are they throwing things up for me or not? They are. Don't wiggle or squirm or try to get ahead. You feel forgotten when you feel forgotten. Quick story, Joseph. We mentioned him earlier, ended up in Pharaoh's prison unjustly.
Have you ever suffered unjustly? He didn't deserve what happened to you, but has put you in a really bad position, and Joseph was in that. Prison. You remember, he interprets the dreams of the cup bearer, the butler, and also the baker. One of them is restored to his former position and the other one is put to death, but he says to the cup bearer before he's taken back into Pharaoh's household.
He says this in Genesis 14 and 14, but remember me when it is well with you and please show kindness to me. Make mention of me to Pharaoh. And get me out of this house. For Indeed, I was stolen away from the land of the Hebrews, and I've done nothing here that they should put me into the dungeon. But if you follow the story, Joseph then had to wait two more years because the Butler forgot him.
And it was only later when Pharaoh had a dream that the Butler remembered him. It's kind of strange that he forgot him, but I think God is trying to teach us something about it. You see, the scripture teaches us that when we humble ourselves, he lifts us up. In other words, if we try and promote ourselves at the wrong time, he'll let us wait a little longer, and sometimes we delay the restitution because we're kind of complaining about the situation we're in.
We're kinda wiggling and squirming and trying to promote ourselves because we feel like we've been forgotten and the world has left us behind. Anybody had that sensation, and so especially in days like today of social media where we can get into so much self-promotion and try and show this wonderful picture of how great and glorious and wonderful we are, we all go down that road to try and get a break to try and get ahead.
I'm here to say once again, rest. You don't need to do that. Stay humble. God has perfect timing for you. He will do things in due season. He's lining up things so that the moment his hands upon you, the whole world is aligned for your immediate promotion to a place far higher and far greater than you've ever been.
Hallelujah. He was aligning things for Joseph. He needed a famine to come. He needed the countries, you know, desperately in, in need of a solution. He lined it up when it was in line. Bang. He got his man out of jail. Amen. The same with David. You know, that rejected despised even by his own father, set up a big battle with a giant.
Everybody ran away, but the moment David showed up. Everything was aligned for him to appear on the stage in front of the Israelites and in front of the Philistines, and bang from Shepherd Boy to Prince in the court or royal court person in a day say amen. So once again, say to your neighbor, don't try and promote yourself.
Uh, get out of that mentality. God's got his eye on you. He doesn't need your Facebook or your Instagram page to know about you. It's he who raises people up. It's the hand of man, it's the hand of God who raises people up. I'd prefer to be raised up by the hand of God because then I'm secure, rather than the popularity of men that could be crying out Hosanna one day and crucify him the next day, ah, I'm gonna stay at rest.
Even if it means staying in the prison. I'm not gonna wiggle. I'm not gonna squirm. I'm just gonna say, Lord, you've got my days counted in your hands. You've got a perfect plan and a perfect timing, and I know my end shall be greater than my beginning. Hallelujah. I know there's restitution promise to me because Jesus has paid the price.
And I'm gonna rest in that. Say, say to your neighbor, he's preaching to you today. Hallelujah. And I'm gonna finish with this. If you could stand to your feet please.
Again, we're here to be blessed, but we're in a conference like this. You have to remember, we don't do conferences in the vine just 'cause we kind of have nothing else to do or just to have a good time. We do have a good time, but actually our conferences are to equip us and empower us for the season ahead.
Amen. These words, listen to me. These words are gonna really bless you in these coming weeks and months. You're going to a new level. Hallelujah. Restitution is your portion. Amen. Amen. But it's not just about us. It's not just about being blessed, it's about being a blessing too. So here's my fifth point that to know if you are at rest and at rest in your ministry.
Okay? And here it is. Don't try to be fruitful. Just simply abide in Christ, rest in Christ. Remember his words in John 15 and four, he who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit. He who rests in me and I in him bears much fruit. I, I, I want that. I like what Bonky used to say. Reinhard Bonky. He said, you can have a passion to be a millionaire of dollars if you want to.
I wanna be a millionaire of souls. Much fruit. He says, for without me, you can do nothing. He explains. Abiding in him is really abiding in his word and his word, abiding in in you. And then in a organic and spontaneous way, you, you begin to just produce fruit. It's just wherever you go, you have the right words.
You have the words. In season, God leads you to the right places. There are hungry hearts and needy souls, and just. One gets saved here and another there, and a cell group here, and a blessing there and just, you're not kind of trying to make it happen, but it's happening all around you because you are resting, you're abiding in the vine.
You know, there's a classic story. You know it so well of Mary and Martha. Jesus goes to their house, the house of Lazarus and Martha. She was distracted serving with much serving. The scripture says she was making lunch for Jesus and trying to prepare the house and food, and she got into all that. And then she complained about her sister and she said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me alone to serve?
Tell her to help me. And why was she complaining? Because the Bible says that Mary sat at Jesus's feet and heard his word. Jesus doesn't buy into that complaint. He actually corrects Martha. He says, Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things, but one thing is needed and Mary has chosen that good part.
Hallelujah. What is that one thing that's needed? Sitting at my feet, hearing my word Once again, sitting means resting. You see, when you hear the word of God, it causes your soul to rest, doesn't it? Perhaps you came in tonight and you were stressed, you were anxious, there was pressure on you pay the bills relationship, you know, even the kind of ministerial pressure of, you know, we gotta grow churches, man, gotta multiply cell, that's gotta have a successful conference.
I know those pressures and the tendency is, okay, let's be, let's, let's do something, let's, let's prepare the building. Let's, I dunno, just do, do, do. Really the main thing, the most important thing is to sit down and just listen to the word. Hallelujah. Let's stop everything else if necessary and watch this as well, guys.
It was Mary who later got up, took the oil and anointed Jesus for his burial, and that is recorded in all the gospels in her memorial. In other words, when you sit and rest at his feet and just allow his word to dwell in you, when you get up, you fulfill prophetic promises. You are mightily used by God and there's so much in there it's worthy of another.
Preach about pouring oil. In other words, you become a fountain, a channel of the Holy Spirit here on earth to bless the body of Christ. Hallelujah. Once again, say to your neighbor, just rest all of you. This me, this message. If you came in anxious, worried, say these words after me. Say, father, thank you that you love me so much, you plan my life before the foundation of the earth on the cross at Calvary.
You thought of me, you planned for me to be blessed, for me to be seated in heavenly places, to have a life of victory, a life of success, and for whatever the devil has done against me. You want to restore and you want to restitute. You want to turn all things around to reveal your goodness and your glory in my life right now, I cast all my cares, all my anxieties, all my fears upon you.
I decide I'm gonna rest. I tell my heart and my soul and my mind. Sit down. Sit down. Rest. God's gonna do it for you. God's gonna do it for you. Let him be God. I thank you, Lord. As I sit you stand up as I rest. Say it with me as I rest. You work and I declare my future days. I'm gonna see wonderful things to the glory of God and for my good.
And if you believe that, shout, amen. Three times. Amen. Amen and amen.
