“ ‘Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.’ ” Matthew 11:28–30
Why are people troubled, heavy-laden? Why is there no rest for their spirit? The Bible tells us very clearly what the problem is.
“ ‘There is no peace,’ says the Lord, ‘for the wicked.’ ” Isaiah 48:22
“But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.” Isaiah 57:20
“The way of peace they have not known.” Romans 3:17
The wicked live like a troubled sea and they are unable to find peace and rest. They may search for it, but they do not find it.
Someone might say, “Oh, I’m not wicked; this doesn’t apply to me.” But are we sure? How can we be sure? We may think we are not wicked, but how does the Bible define wickedness?
David tells us that: “Indignation has taken hold of me because of the wicked, who forsake Your law.” Psalm 119:53 Forsaking or breaking the law of God is sin. “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.” 1 John 3:4. So those who break the law of God are called the wicked.
To those who have forsaken His law, the Lord Himself says, “If a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die.” Ezekiel 18:21
On the other hand, if a person does not turn from His sins, if he continues to forsake and break the law, the Bible says he is a wicked person and he practices wickedness or lawlessness.
So, just how much of the world is wicked?
“We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” 1 John 5:19
“There is none righteous, no, not one.” Romans 3:10
If the Lord does not come—because of the wickedness in this world—to redeem His children, the world would eventually self-destruct. The Bible says very clearly that wickedness will ultimately destroy itself and all sinners. “Wickedness overthrows the sinner.” Proverbs 13:6
All pagan religions teach that man must, in some way, pay a price for his wickedness to finally have peace in his spirit. This is the reason people lie on beds of spikes or walk on hot coals, climb stairs on their knees or beat themselves with whips, sacrifice animals and even children in the name of the gods of wood and stone who cannot see nor hear.
Perfect Peace
The Bible tells me something completely different regarding how the price for my wickedness is to be paid. “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Romans 3:20. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Verses 23, 24
Justification is a gift from God. I might think that I can pay the price for my sins, but that price is eternal death. So, if I want to live, then someone else must pay the price for me—and that is what Jesus did on the cross. “Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.” Verses 27, 28
This does not mean the law is done away with. “Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.” Verse 31. “If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works. ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven. And whose sins are covered; blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.’ ” Romans 4:2–8
Contrary to what all the false religions in the world teach—that is all the pagan and non-Christian religions in the world—the Bible and the Christian religion teaches that having the wickedness and sin taken out of our lives, is by a gift—a miracle—of God. That gift is through the God-man, Christ Jesus, who offered Himself as a sacrifice to purify me from my sins, to take them completely out of my life (1 Corinthians 15:3).
What happens when I put my faith and trust in Him, and surrender my life to Him? “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1. Friends, God wants to give you peace.
God’s peace will give you rest in your spirit. So many people cannot sleep at night. They are restless and fatigued because the wicked are like a troubled sea. They simply cannot rest because there is no real peace in their lives. They search. They try. They fill their lives with all sorts of exciting pleasures. They immerse themselves in the many different things that the world has to offer, but as long as they are breaking the law of God, they will not find the peace and rest for their soul that every human being in his or her deepest consciousness really wants. Do you want peace and rest in your mind and soul? There is only one Person who can give it to you.
The book of Acts tells us that Peter had that perfect peace:
“Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison.
“Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying ‘Arise quickly!’ and his chains fell off his hands.
“Then the angel said to him, ‘Gird yourself and tie on your sandals’; and so he did. And he said to him, ‘Put on your garment and follow me.’
“So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.
“When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.
“And when Peter had come to himself, he said, ‘Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.’ ” Acts 12:5–11
If you were sentenced to be executed tomorrow, would you peacefully sleep all night tonight? Peter had, in his mind and heart, the perfect peace and rest that God gives, even if it meant dying tomorrow. If you surrender your life and everything you have to Him, you can have that same peace. Just as God delivered Peter from prison and his jailers, God will deliver you from the prison house of sin; He will remove your guilt, and give you His peace.
But more than justification, more than giving you peace and rest from the guilt of your past sins, God wants to change your life. He wants to give you the power, through the Holy Spirit, to live a new life. This is the process of being born again—the receiving of the Holy Spirit inside to change our sinful desires and replace them with the desire to only do the will of God. “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” Romans 6:1, 2
“Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” Verse 6. In giving your life to Christ, surrendering completely to Him, you are set free from the bondage of sin.
“Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. … For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” Verses 11, 12, 14
Not under the law? Sin has no dominion over you? A person might think that they do not need to keep the law. But is that what Paul is saying?
“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourself slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. …
“But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Verses 15–18; 22, 23
If I am walking after the Spirit, then I am no longer under condemnation because the Holy Spirit works a miracle of righteousness in my life, enabling me to keep God’s law. “The righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:4
However, there are people who say they cannot keep God’s law, and Paul tells us why. “Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Verses 5, 6
If I am spiritually minded, if the Holy Spirit has come into my life, if I have been born again, if I walk after the Spirit and not after the lusts and desires of my sinful nature, then I will have peace. In fact, it is the only way to have peace. But if I am not converted, if I am carnally minded, if I am living according to the flesh, then I am breaking the law of God and will never find peace unless I determine to allow the Holy Spirit into my life. That is what the Bible says. Why?
“The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.” Verse 7. The carnal mind is unconverted and is not subject to the law of God. It cannot obey because it does not want to obey. So if someone says, “I cannot obey the law of God,” they are telling the truth, and it is pointless to argue with them.
When the Holy Spirit comes into your life, He will make it possible for you to do what you were not able to do before you were born again. In fact, this is the acid test as to whether or not a person is truly converted or not.
Am I a Christian—Christlike—in my life or is it just a name I claim? Have I really been born again? Do I live according to the law of God? Is God’s peace and His gift of eternal life really mine? If the Holy Spirit is in my life, I cannot go on living a life of sin, because as soon as I break the law of God, I quench the Spirit’s voice in my conscience. The Holy Spirit cannot lead and direct and guide my life anymore if I continue in sin, because I have gone directly contrary to what He is impressing upon my mind. I will have no peace because, as long as I remain unconverted, I have no hope for salvation. (Read carefully Romans 8:1–14.)
Jesus said to Nicodemus, “ ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.’ ” John 3:5
When you are born of the Holy Spirit, Paul says the Spirit gives you the power to keep the law of God. “That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:4
He continues, “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die [you will not have eternal life]; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Verses 8–13
Notice that the Holy Spirit gives me the power to turn away from my sinful nature and to live according to the law of God.
False Peace
There are millions of people in the world today who believe that they are going to heaven. Because they have a form of godliness—they call themselves Christians, go to church, do good deeds, make donations, pay tithe—they believe that they have met the requirements for heaven. And surely, the Scriptures tell us that all these things will be part of the life fully surrendered to the in-working of the Holy Spirit. But friends, a checklist of tasks will not see us through to heaven. While they may outwardly appear to be Christians, it is only by the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives, giving them the power to put to death the deeds of the body and to live according to the law of God, that they, and we, have the hope of eternal life with Jesus Christ, the Father, and all the host of heaven. If we are not living according to the law of God, then we have proof that the Holy Spirit is not in control of our lives. The power of godliness is the power to change lives, and only the Holy Spirit can do this for us.
Paul said that a person who receives the Holy Spirit will find peace. The Bible predicts that in the last days there will be multitudes of people who will have a false peace. They will think that they are saved when they are not. They will have a form of godliness, but will deny its power (2 Timothy 3:5).
A Movement for Peace
In the last days, there will be a great international peace movement that will be based on false promises.
“It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it.
“Many nations shall come and say, ‘Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples, and rebuke strong nations afar off; they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.
“But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. For all people walk each in the name of his god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.” Micah 4:1–5
“… Everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree,” walking in the name of his god—not in the name of the God of Jacob.
Other scriptures regarding this false religious peace movement can be found in Isaiah and Revelation. Paul says, “For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.” 1 Thessalonians 5:2, 3
Why will they not escape? They are spreading a peace and safety message, but this message is not based on obedience to the law of God, but rather on a lie of the antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2). The antichrist spreads the idea that you can be saved while you are breaking the law of God. But remember, breaking the law of God is sin (1 John 3:4).
God Will Have a People
The Bible also predicts that God will have a people. They are clearly defined in the book of Revelation as being those who keep His commandments—those who are obedient to His law. “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12
There is no true, lasting peace without the power that the Holy Spirit gives you to keep God’s law in your life. Do you want peace? Do you want to be part of God’s faithful remnant people, to be a part of the saints who in the last days will join with those who have gone before, to be taken out of this world when Jesus returns?
The choice is yours, friend. The world lies in wickedness and becomes more wicked with each passing day. But there will be a people who keep God’s commandments, and He is returning to take them out of this world to live with Him forever. To be among that people, you must, today, surrender your life, heart, and soul to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, and accept the Holy Spirit into your heart to be transformed into the image of Christ.
Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at 316-788-5559.