You've no doubt heard the Latin expression carpe diem, seize the day, live for today. A popular motto, but it's Not biblical. We'll find out why today on Truth for Life and learn about Jesus' greater plan to make the most out of life. Alasterbeg is teaching from the closing verses in Matthew chapter 11.
Well, let me encourage you to turn so that at least you see. Where are phrases? Rest for your souls comes this morning. The promise That in coming to Jesus, in receiving his invitation, Uh this is what We discover I'm not sure that the name Uh Quintus Horatius will mean much to very many of us. He's better known as Horace, And even Horace might not Uh trigger march.
Now Horatius was essentially Um a stoic With a little touch of Epicureanism built into him. We're aware of these people. They're alive and well today, actually. Essentially his approach to life was carpe dium. The idea was you must make the most of the present and give little thought to the future.
Now, when Paul addresses the thinkers in Athens, as I say, who have been influenced by this kind of thinking, he does the exact opposite. He says That God is not someone who is inserted from outside, but God is actually the creator of the universe. And far from not thinking about the future, he says you should be thinking about the future. And the reason you should think about the future is because the God who made you and to whom you are accountable has set a day. A day out in the future.
a day that is fixed A day that will be fair and a day that is absolutely final. And on that day he will judge the world. by the man he has appointed, And he has given proof The assurance that this will happen By raising that man, namely the Lord Jesus Christ, From the dead.
Furthermore, says Paul Rather than just simply chilling out in the moment, God commands all people everywhere To repent. To have a change of heart, a change of mind, and a change of direction. And the response on that occasion was at least threefold.
Some were indifferent. They thought what he said was a bit of a joke.
Some of them were intrigued. They said they would come back and let him speak some more. and some actually got involved. It's pretty much the standard response to any kind of teaching of the Bible. I think that's probably representative of what happens on a routine basis here at Parkside.
Now, I begin in that way because now we're turning for the fourth and final time to the invitation that Jesus has made. And turning our attention to the promise that he makes. It is an amazing promise. you will find rest for your souls. Those who come to him, who believe in him.
Who humble themselves and accept him will find rest for their souls. And as I thought about it during the week, I said to myself, there's really just two things to say here. That is to identify first of all The divine promise. And then secondly, To see the way in which that divine promise addresses the human predicament.
So let me take a moment or two to speak about this divine promise. As I say to you regularly, because I say to myself regularly, it is imperative. that I view the unfolding story of history Through the lens of Scripture. Rather than trying to make sense of my Bible through the lens of the unfolding drama of history. Since the Enlightenment period particularly, Bright people decided That God, if he exists, should at least be reduced from the narrative of history, if not removed from it entirely.
So then they were going to say we can understand the unfolding story of the world without any reference to God.
Now if we're going to do that, it is very, very important that we at least have an understanding of the storyline that the Bible presents for us. The storyline of the Bible does not begin with man introducing a god to the proceedings. That's the notion of Marxism of the 19th and 20th century. God is simply introduced by man to fill in the gaps, to explain the parts that he can't make sense of, and try and fill in for his pathetic existence. No, no, no, no, no.
No, the Bible starts with God created the heavens and the earth. God made man, male and female. He made men and women to know and to enjoy God as their Creator. He made them in such a way our First parents Adam and Eve, capable. of receiving communication from him.
and also of enjoying communion. with him. They lived together. in a place of extreme beauty. They lived in a setting that God had prepared for them, a setting that spoke to the character of God Himself.
And they live in that environment. with a deep consciousness A God-given consciousness. That they have actually been made by him and made for him. For him. As the days of creation unfold, The Bible tells us that at the end of the day he reflected on things and he said, and this is good.
Adam was created on day six. And Day seven. was the day of rest. He rested for From all that he had done.
So Adam's First day was actually The rest day. And into the beauty of that restful situation. They are set. As per God's amazing design. Turn the page.
And Genesis 3 records that in that restful setting Something happened. Slithering into the garden. Representative of the evil one himself. comes The insinuations. And the doubts and the uncertainties and suddenly The couple doubts God's goodness?
They reject his wisdom. They rebel against his authority. And they're banished. from the garden. That's the story.
And that is the explanation that the Bible gives for the entry of sin into the world. Sin enters the world and brings with it The punishment for sin or the consequence for sin. In the day that you do what I'm telling you not to do, you will surely die. Physical death and spiritual death is the result of man's rebellion against God. That's what the Bible says.
Now you're a thinking person, you say, wow, that is so vastly different from contemporary thought. It's m is vastly different from a tremendous amount of thought. Are you humble enough to believe the Bible? Are you humble enough to take God at His word? Or are you just a post-Enlightenment rationalist?
believing that somehow or another, unless you can get your big brain around it You could never ever trust God.
Well, you see, that really is the question. They try to hide from God. It's funny to think of that, isn't it? Hiding from God. The Creator.
They hide him behind a tree. How big a tree was it? But uh so What are you doing? Adam. Where are you?
He's not asking to find out where he is. He knows where he is. He's saying, Where are you?
Well, where was he? Not he. He was going to find out what Joe Lewis, the great boxer of the earlier generations says, you know, You can run. But you can't hide. And that's the story of the Bible.
And the wonderful part of it is this: that the God who comes to seek him out is amazingly gracious. He's so gracious that despite doubting his goodness, rebelling against authority, and going their own way, despite finding themselves on the outside of the gate, he comes to seek them out. He comes to redeem them, to restore them. He comes if you like. to give them rest.
For their souls. And that's why the promises of the Bible, when you read them, Actually, in relationship to these things, begin also right in that chapter in Genesis chapter 3. Because it is there that God addresses the serpent, and this is what he says to him. I will put enmity between you and the woman. And between your offspring and her offspring, And one of her offspring He will bruise your head.
And you will crush. Is he ill?
Now without camping on that Understand this. The promise there Is the promise of one to come? who will overcome Evil and the evil one. And who will triumph over sin. And death.
And hell. The one who is to come.
Now, this Jesus is the one who says, all All things have been handed over to me by my Father. There in verse 27, what he's saying is that all power over everything that concerns our souls. All the interest and concern of our souls in time and eternity. Is placed in the hands of Jesus. And who is this Jesus?
Well, he's the one we considered last time. He's gentle and he's lowly in heart. He's the one who can provide rest for our souls.
Now, if you're still with me, let me just move forward in this way. The story of the the Bible Up until Genesis 3 and the fall of man. Is the story of God's creative handiwork in all of its pristine beauty? In fact, it is into this rest that the creation is said. From Genesis 3 on, the story of the Bible is the story of restlessness.
It's a story of agitation. I mean, immediately get from chapter 3 into chapter 4, and you've got. Adam and Eve arguing with one another. You got a brother killing his brother. And before you go very far, you've got manifold chaos that is running hog wild through the whole culture.
All from that one moment. Where's the rest? Where's the rest gone? And so when Jesus comes to promise rest, This is no marginal thing. This is no superficial thing.
Jesus accomplished the rest he promised. At a bloody cost to himself. Because Jesus accomplished the rest of those who trust him. By entering into the restlessness that is found in another garden. Because it is in the Garden of Gethsemane that Jesus is there in all of the restless reality of it.
Eventually, he's prepared to say, Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done, but he doesn't get there in a nanosecond. No, he is broken, he is distraught, he is overwhelmed, he cries out, if there was another way, and so on. It's the closest you can see in all of the story of Jesus to restlessness. What is he doing? He enters into the darkness of our restlessness.
And then he goes to the cross. in order to deal with the source of our restlessness. We're restless. Because of our rebellion. In fact, when you think about all the talk of alienation today, whatever the alienation is, nations with one another, husbands and wives, parents and children, employers and employees, union workers and their friends, go wherever you want.
The members of the orchestra arguing with one another about who got the best place on the bus and all of that kind of stuff. All that alienation. emerges from this great alienation. That our forefathers have rejected his wisdom, have rebelled against his authority. and have been set outside.
But the wonderful story is That there is one who has come. in order to deal with that. There was no other good enough who could pay the price of sin. He only could unlock the door of heaven and let us in. That we can't actually access God on our own time.
or in on on our own basis. Why?
Well, because the promise is to deal with our predicament.
So let me say Something concerning the human predicament. The longer I live my life, the more I realize that becoming a grandfather brings with it all kinds of privileges and responsibilities, joys and sorrows. And uh without iterating them because if you're where I am then you know them too. And if you are prepared to be honest for a moment, then like me, you may have to admit, That in a way that you never fully anticipated, you start to sound like your grandfather. Before you.
So the temptation is to say, it's never been worse than it is right now. Oh yes, it has. All you need is a little history. Drop in at any point and you'll find chaos. Go six hundred BC.
And God speaks through his prophet. And this is what he says to the people. He says, Those who reject me are like the restless sea. Which is never still. But always churns up mire and dirt.
It's an amazing metaphor. Those who reject me. Who refuse to accept who I am and what I have come to do, who rescind my promise, who reject my invitation, and so on. Eventually they're just like the tossing of the sea. It it turns up that which is the antithesis of all that is true, honourable, pure, Lovely.
Commandable. Excellent. It was true 600 years before Jesus, and it's true today. I mean, it's to be dishonest to To acknowledge anything other. You may not accept the thesis of where the origin of this is to be found.
You may be distanced from that. I understand that. But at least you must give consideration to it. And God speaks through the prophet. To that kind of individual.
This is what he says: listen to my word, you scoffers. Here is a solid foundation, a stone, a tested stone. You're rootless. You're tossed back and forth. You've got no basis of stability.
You're looking for stability in a shaky world. You're looking for purity in a dirty world. You're looking for security in a cardboard world. Here, he says, here's a stone. Here's a foundation stone.
It's a prophecy obviously of Jesus. Place your trust In this And you won't have to keep scurrying around. Here we are, never satisfied. Never grateful. Never relaxed.
And he uses another metaphor. This is what he says. The bed is too short to stretch oneself on, and the blankets are too narrow to cover you. You try to pull it this way, you pull it right off yourself. You try to make sure that you can go down far enough in the bed to tuck the blankets under your feet so you can get back up quick before they come back out.
You go, This is horrible, this is hopeless, there is no possibility of a rest in this miserable situation. Yeah. What are you gonna do? And down through the corridor of time, Jesus says: if you would come to me, you're going to find rest for your souls. People can't sleep Because of the Stultifying the reality of the routine of their lives.
They wake up during the night worrying about the fact that every day is the same. I just keep doing the same thing. I don't know if I can keep doing the same thing. Others are tossing and interning. Because of the Fear of the unusual.
Bereavement. Relocation. Divorce. Unemployment. Young people paralyzed.
by thoughts of climate invading their bedroom. of the ice caps flushing them into oblivion. Of war somewhere in the world finally snuffing out all their potential and all their hopes. Where are you going to go? Buffeted.
When you go to work by language that is full of human deficit. Words. Like emptiness, loneliness, purposelessness, unhappiness. Looking and never find him. Courts rendering judgments.
that are simultaneously legal and immoral. It was a legal judgment. that introduced same-sex marriage. It's immoral. The fact that it's legal is not the issue.
But of course, it was It can't be immoral. Because of the great lies that fill the minds of our culture. One, there is no Creator God. 2. There is no ultimate reality.
and, three, there is no objective truth. As soon as those things begin to take hold in the minds of those who are the influencers in our culture, you realize how rapid the decay actually is. Yes. To return to Horace, which is to uh move to the end, go full circle. To return to Horace, Actually.
The plot. Is in such a tangle. That only God can fix it. Only God can fix it. The words of the prophets echo down through the corridors of time.
Those pictures, those metaphors are just amazing. And yet, you see, if there's no ultimate morality, if there is no God who made me in his image, I have no identity, I have no majesty. I'm just a collection of whatevers. And people say, well, you can't live like that. Of course you can't live like that.
I'm not accountable to anybody. I'm only accountable to myself. How's that working for you? And Jesus steps forward and he sees these fellows coming behind him. And he turns and he says to them.
What are you? Are you looking for? He doesn't say, Who are you looking for? What are you looking for? Let me ask you.
Jesus is asking. What are you looking for? It's as if Jesus is assuming the fact that, like the rest of mankind, they're in pursuit of the thing, the thing, there's got to be a thing somewhere that can satisfy my longings. That forms a foundation for the reality of my dreams. That gives me a basis for Yeah.
And what he's about to say to them, and the answer: you're not going to find the answer in a thing, you're going to find the answer in a person. Come. Come to me. Come and see where I live. Where do you stay?
they said. What kind of question is that? Where do you stay? No, they just want to be with him. She says, come and see.
He's going to take them all the way through the story, and he's going to say to them, Don't let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe in me. I'm going to prepare a place for you. And when I go prepare a place for you, you're going to come and see. And what you see is going to last for the rest of your life.
You're going to discover rest for your souls. Rest for your souls. And Jesus says, Paul. Come to me. And you will find rest for your souls.
And so is So will everyone. who is prepared to humble themselves before him, Admit The depth of our predicament and trust the provision that is found in the promise. Then and only then. Will we ever be able to say that it is well with our souls. You're listening to Truth for Life with Alastair Begg.
Today's message wraps up our brief series titled Come to Me. If you missed a message or would like to re-listen or share this series with a friend, you can watch or listen to all four messages online for free. Go to truthforlife.org. While you're on the website, check out the book we are currently recommending. It's titled The Story of Grace: An Exhibition of God's Love.
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five eight eight seven eight eight four. Thanks for listening this week. Monday, we'll consider what we need to invest now in order to be secure, not just for retirement. but for eternity. I hope you can join us.
The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life. Where the Learning is for Living.
