Romans 4 -The First Witness—Abraham Our Father
The principle from yesterday is established to the Jew, as it is written, “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established’ (Deut 19:15; 2Cor 13:1b). So today we hear Abraham today... and tomorrow David.
Romans 4:1-3 What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For 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.” (Genesis 15:6)
“There is a surprising resistance to the message of ‘justification by faith.’ Not infrequently I have been challenged by people who have said, ‘Do you mean to tell me that if a murderer-rapist repents and believes at the last minute before he dies he will be justified by God because of Christ, but the decent, honest, moral person who doesn’t believe will not be justified?’” (D. Stuart Briscoe) BUT TO THE JEWISH HEARERS OF PAUL'S DAY, this is the real issue at hand: “Gentile reprobates who profess faith in Jesus will be accepted while the actual physical descendants of Abraham, to whom the promises were made, will not.” So, Paul first uses Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, to make his case for merit based on faith.
What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh?... “’Abraham our father’ reveals the importance the Jews attached to Abraham. They reckoned their ancestry from him and consider him the father of their faith..” (Bible Study Fellowship Intnl) Abraham discovered “according to the flesh” that human works could not justify him. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”…
“After these things the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.’ But Abram said, ‘Yahweh God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’ Then Abram said, ‘Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!’ And behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, ‘This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.’ Then He brought him outside and said, ‘Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ AND HE BELIEVED IN YAHWEH, AND HE ACCOUNTED IT TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (Genesis 15:1-6)
Paul loosely quotes Abraham “believed God".... "And he believed in the Lord... The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan are, ‘in the Word of the Lord;' in the essential Word of the Lord, in Christ ‘the LORD his righteousness’ (Jer 23:6); he believed in the promise of God, that he should have a seed, and a very numerous one; he believed that the Messiah would spring from his seed; he believed in him as his Saviour and Redeemer; he believed in him for righteousness, and he believed in his righteousness as justifying him before God.” (John Gill) “…. see how the apostle magnifies this faith of Abram, and makes it a standing example… He was not weak in faith; he staggered not at the promise: he was strong in faith; he was fully persuaded. The Lord work such a faith in every one of us.” (John Wesley)... By it, he acted.
Abraham had such an obedient faith. By faith he “obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” (Hebrews 11:8-10) This all happened before these words were spoken.
and he counted it to him for righteousness… Genesis 15:6 “is the first time we read of believing, and as early do we hear of imputed righteousness.” (John Gill) “Accounted” is a bookkeeping term. This word (chashab in Hebrew) refers to a field in which the accountant has to be one hundred percent right. So, accounted is marking down what is actually the case. When God justified Abraham: “He did not pretend that something was true when it was not. Therefore, if righteousness was credited to Abraham, it must have been a real righteousness received through the channel of faith. As Paul views it, that righteousness was nothing other than the righteousness of Jesus Christ.” (Bible Study Fellowship Intnl)
“If Adam’s sin be mine, though I committed it not; why should it seem so strange, that the merit of Christ’s entire obedience should by the like means be mine, though I wrought it not? See Romans 5:19 2 Corinthians 5:19. ‘If he hath wronged thee aught, reckon that to me,’ said Paul to Philemon, concerning Onesimus; [Philemon 1:18] saith Christ to his Father concerning us.” (Trapp's Complete Commentary)
But this happened afterwards: “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called,’ concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.” (Hebrews 11:17-19) I believe he thought that Isaac was the Messiah... and that God would raise him from the dead.
“And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed.’” (Gal 3:8) By faith, I myself became a son of Abraham... and I study the Scriptures with an expectant heart... and share my findings... and bear reproach, sometimes outside the camp (Hebrews 13:13), for Christ sake.
Yahweh was pleased with Abraham's obedient faith, but he failed by going into Egypt for provision- and lying and scheming rather than totally trusting in Yahweh God of Israel for provision-- both before and after this statement was made. When God considered his worthiness, He saw only the finished work of Messiah on the cross of Calvary. And Abraham was glad for it. Jesus said: “’Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.’ Then the Jews said to Him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM...” (John 8:56-59)
The old Methodist Discipline stated, “Wherefore, that we are justified by faith only is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort.” Today we hear the testimony of comfort of Jesse’s lessor son- king David
Rom 4:4-8 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.” (Psalm 32:1-2)
Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt… Paul teaches that to attempt to gain eternal life through the works of the law is to reject the only way in which God offers eternal life, that is, as a gift!
But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness…"By the mouth of His servant Paul, by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, He takes to Himself the title of ‘Him that justifieth the ungodly.’ He makes those just who are unjust, forgives those who deserve to be punished, and favors those who deserve no favor. You thought, did you not, that salvation was for the good? that God's grace was for the pure and holy, who are free from sin? It has fallen into your mind that, if you were excellent, then God would reward you; and you have thought that because you are not worthy, therefore there could be no way of your enjoying His favor. You must be somewhat surprised to read a text like this: ‘Him that justifieth the ungodly.’ I do not wonder that you are surprised; for with all my familiarity with the great grace of God, I never cease to wonder at it.” (C. H. Spurgeon)
Saying, blessed are those... "These words are cited from Psalm 32:1, and contain the proof of the happiness of justified persons. In this citation the singular number is changed into the plural, to take in all sorts of men, Jews and Gentiles, and very agreeably to the sense of the original; for the word may be rendered ‘blessed are they’,...” (John Gill)
... whose lawless deeds are forgiven, whose sins is covered.. to whom Yahweh does not impute inequity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.... “Therefore, what is involved in justification is a twofold transaction. On the one hand, God imputes or credits His righteousness to us, a righteousness we do not have. On the other hand, He imputes our sin to Jesus where it has been punished completely and forever.” (Bible Study Fellowship Intnl)
Ps 32:1-2 BLESSED IS HE WHOSE TRANSGRESSION IS FORGIVEN, WHOSE SIN IS COVERED. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
David's lawless deeds were adultery and murder, but he confessed these sins, as recorded in Psalm 51, and turned from them... and is called happy.
Ps 32:3-4 When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah
Ps 32:5 I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to Yahweh," and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
Ps 32:6-7 For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You in a time when You may be found; surely in a flood of great waters they shall not come near him. You are my hiding place; you shall preserve me from trouble; you shall surround me with songs of deliverance.
Nathaniel was justified by faith, perhaps just moments before meeting Jesus of Nazarus in the flesh. Perhaps, he comprehended the meaning of Psalm 32 under the fig tree… and understood the mission of the Messiah of Israel to save the ungodly, such as himself, and believed in Him.
“The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow Me.’ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’ And Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, ‘Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!’ (Ps 32:2) Nathanael said to Him, ‘How do You know me?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.’ Nathanael answered and said to Him, ‘Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.’ And He said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’”(John1:43-51)
The Song of deliverance of Jesus Messiah: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; but he who trusts in Yahweh, mercy shall surround him. Be glad in Yahweh and rejoice, you righteous; and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!" (Psalm 32:8-11)
Romans 4:9 Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. 10 How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised.
The blessedness of faith can come on Jews or Gentiles regardless of religious observance or practice. For the Jews, Paul “points to the chronology of events in this part of the divine human drama. When God had made his promise to Abraham, it had been believed with the result that justification by faith was experienced. Fourteen years later the LORD introduced the concept of circumcision. Paul’s inescapable conclusion is that as Abraham was declared justified fourteen years before his was circumcised, he was quite obviously not justified because his was circumcised.” (The Commentator’s Commentary)
Romans 4:11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, 12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised.
Circumcision, like baptism, is meaningless by itself. It is described as an outward sign of an inward change—the Bible prescribed confession of faith. In fact for religious male Jews, circumcision was “a visible sign and seal to his own descendants of the righteousness that is of faith; but not confining it to them, or in itself conferring it.” (Pulpit Commentary) It testifies of that blessed kind of righteousness. BUT “The tenour of the covenants must first be settled before the seal can be annexed. Sealing supposes a previous bargain, which is confirmed and ratified by that ceremony.” (Matt. Henry)
CIRCUMCISION “WAS NOT (as so many of his contemporaries supposed) the cause or condition of Israel’s privileges so much as the sign or ratification of them. It ratified a state of things already existing when it was instituted. Hence, to those who inherited that state of things (justification by faith) the want of circumcision was no bar.” (Ellicott's Commentary)
Abraham is also the father to them who are circumcised, but not all of them-- only those who “walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised.” (vs 12b) You must believe in your heart before you make the good confession of faith… and do the works of Him who sent you. Here are those steps that Abraham walked in outlined in the New Testament: By faith, he obeyed when he was called to go out; dwelt in the land of promise… in tents; waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God; when he was tested, offered up Isaac. (Heb 11:8-10; 17) Likewise, all Jewish seekers of the faith are justified in their walk as they believe the Bible; separate from the world; realize that this world is temporary dwellings; eagerly await for a heavenly city; and give up worldly idols, as they are identified. They begin to work righteousness,
Many churchgoers’ religion is similar to that of some circumcised Jews. In this phase of spiritual development, they have the opportunity to show what they are capable of on their own. The important thing is that they have taken a real interest in the Word of God—their Bibles—and are determined to obey it. And I believe that they are justified in their walks as they learn precepts and obey them. However, if they are earnestly seeking God with their whole hearts (Deuteronomy 4:29; Jeremiah 29:13), they will eventually become convicted of sin… and find the Messiah of Israel-- who justifies the ungodly, freely by His grace. Then, they will continue to be justified only by fleeing to Him and casting all of trophies at His feet, counting these works as dung compared to the excellences of knowing Him (Philippians 3:8). Only then have they obtain that blessed imputed righteousness of faith.
At this point, they partake of a new deal, also based on the Commandments of God. According to Andrew Murray, "In the New Covenant, God proves what He can do with man, all unfaithful and feeble as he is, when He is allowed and trusted to do all the work." If a man goes back to circumcision, he is a debtor to keep the whole law. (Galatians 5:3) but if he is baptized he is given the promise or seal of the Holy Spirit, according to the Scriptures in Acts 2:38, and thus the power to obey.
Abraham’s example is “very large and far-reaching…. Jewish people have, quite rightly, traced their roots to Abraham with great pride, but so have the Arabs—the former, through Isaac, the latter through Ishmael. When Paul speaks of Abraham as ‘the father of us all,’ the family of which Abraham is father is neither the Jewish or Arab family but something that transcends both and incorporates far more. It is the family of all those who believe, the family of faith.” (D Stuart Briscoe)
It is a matter of obeying precepts, as you learn them. In the end, the seeker of God must trust in Jesus. But it is of utmost importance for him to distinguish between steps of faith and manmade traditions. Steps of faith are based on the Word of God. “There is one thing God is looking for in the confused and convoluted world of human religion, tradition, and culture: ‘Is that man in the midst of all the accumulated weight of Jewish tradition a humble believer in the God who justifies the ungodly? Is that Muslim who professes to pray five times a day, to give to the poor, to visit Mecca, to observe Ramadan, trusting in his ritual or in the God who justifies freely by His grace? Is the Buddist who in his spiritual quest for enlightenment endeavors to practice right views, right desires, right speech, right conduct, right mode of living, right effort, right awareness, and right meditation really trusting in the eightfold path or in a God who through the blood of Christ freely forgives our straying from His path? The same can be said for Baptist, Seventh Day Adventist, Presbyterians, Episcopalians…’” (D. Stuart Briscoe) Many within all denominations are trusting in their own works, but others are trusting in the Sin-bearer… and having first believed, they have now been baptized in His name. Baptism, when appropriate, also testifies of the righteousness of faith.
“Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.’” (Acts 2:37-39)
Romans 4:13-15 For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.
Abraham never received even one foot of ground in Canaan as a gift from God (Acts 7:5); he even had to buy a burial place for Sarah (Genesis 23:1-20). He was a stranger in Canaan, and he lived the life of a nomad in tents (Hebrews 11:9). Some reason saying that to give it to his descendants is the same as giving it to him. But I believe that the promise of the faith is eternal life and an earthly inheritance in THE WORLD TO COME... by faith in the Son of God who loves us and gave His life for us. The law brings wrath; it is good (1 Tim 1:8) and necessary but “the law simply declares what is right, and requires conformity to it; it does not give either power to obey, or atonement for not obeying. Hence, in itself, it worketh, not righteousness, but wrath; for man becomes fully liable to wrath when he comes to know, through law, the difference between right and wrong (cf. John 9:41, ‘If ye were blind, ye should have no sin’)…” (The Pulpit Commentary)
Romans 4:16-18 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, "I have made you a father of many nations" (Genesis 17:5) in the presence of Him whom he believed-- God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, "So shall your descendants be."
Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace…“Grace and faith are congruous, and will draw together in the same chariot, but grace and merit are contrary the one to the other and pull opposite ways, and therefore God has not chosen to yoke them together. He will not build with incongruous materials, or daub with untempered mortar. He will not make an image partly of gold and partly of clay, nor weave a linsey-woolsey garment: his work is all of a piece and all of grace.” (C. H. Spurgeon)
It is of faith by grace so that the promise might be sure to all of the seed of Abraham. If we had any minute part of it—if it depended on us, it would not be secured. This does not mean that there is nothing that we need to do. “John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, described God’s grace as threefold: prevenient grace; justifying grace; and sanctifying grace. PREVENIENT GRACE…. stirs up within us a desire to know God and empowers us to respond to God’s invitation to be in relationship with God. God’s grace enables us to discern differences between good and evil and makes it possible for us to choose good…. JUSTIFYING GRACE… , points to reconciliation, pardon, and restoration. Through the work of God in Christ our sins are forgiven, and our relationship with God is restored. According to John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement, the image of God — which has been distorted by sin — is renewed within us through Christ’s death. SANCTIFYING GRACE…Salvation is not a static, one-time event in our lives. It is the ongoing experience of God’s gracious presence transforming us into whom God intends us to be. John Wesley described this dimension of God’s grace as sanctification, or holiness….Through God’s sanctifying grace, we grow and mature in our ability to live as Jesus lived. As we pray, study the Scriptures, fast, worship, and share in fellowship with other Christians, we deepen our knowledge of and love for God. As we respond with compassion to human need and work for justice in our communities, we strengthen our capacity to love neighbor. Our inner thoughts and motives, as well as our outer actions and behavior, are aligned with God’s will and testify to our union with God…” http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/our-wesleyan-heritage
Yahweh told Abraham: “I have made you a father of many nations”; and Paul adds, “in the presence of Him whom he believed,” as it was for him when he was a persecutor of the brethren, but met Jesus on the Damascus Road-- after His death and resurrection... And similarly when Jesus called Peter—a fisherman by trade, He saw a fisher of men. “Jesus saw the real fisherman. He looked beneath that rough exterior and saw what this braggart could become through the riches of His grace. He saw a man who could stand up and preach a sermon that would bring thousands to the altar crying out ‘What shall I do to be saved?’ And because He recognized what this diamond in the rough could become through the power of grace, Jesus loved him and called him to be a disciple. Isn’t that wonderful? And that’s why you and I are where we are right now. It’s why we’re not pulling the smelly nets of sin around anymore. Jesus passed by and looked at us. He didn’t see us as we were, but as we might become through His marvelous transforming power. Oh, the riches of His grace!” (Riches of Grace, Joe Crews)
God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did… “He is the God who specializes in breathing life into deadness, and speaking the Creative Word, which brings into existence things that were previously nonexistent. The magnitude of these concepts of God is so vast that they should not be overlooked because it is possible that some believers believe in a God is so far removed from the One revealed in Scriptures.” (D Stuart Briscoe)
WHAT ABRAHAM DID: Romans 4:19-22 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”[Romans 4:22 Genesis 15:6] WHAT WE ARE TO DO: Romans 4: 23-25 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification
“Notice the parallel between what Abraham did and what we are to do. Abraham gave glory to God (v. 20). He believed in God (v. 17), not in certain random occurrences. Abraham did not just believe the dead were quickened, and that certain inexplicable things happen. He believed in God, the one who brought these things about [revealed in Scriptures-- Gal 3:8]. He believed what was spoken (v. 18) precisely because he believed the Speaker. In the same way, in an identical way, we must do more than believe that Jesus came back from the dead. We must believe on Him who raised Jesus from the dead. We believe in a Person who says and does things; we do not proceed straight to those things which are said and done. But we may not detach them from the other direction either. Just as we cannot be justified by the predicate apart from the subject, neither can we be saved by the subject apart from the predicate.
THE SAME PROMISE: We must also see that, at bottom, Abraham believed the same promise that we do. Abraham believed in the God who quickens the dead (v. 17), and we believe in the God who quickens the dead (v. 24). Abraham believed in the God who gave him the nations of men (4:13, 17, 18), and we believe in the God who raised Jesus for “our” justification (v. 25). Who does that pronoun refer to? Remember that we have just learned that Abraham is the father of believing Jews and Gentiles both, and that he understood this as meaning that God was giving the world to him (4:13). Our justification is therefore, over time, the world’s justification.”—not the whole world but those who respond by faith. http://www.canonwired.com/sermons/sermon-fully-persuaded-romans-4-17-25/
Romans 4:23-25 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification
It was the Word of Yahweh, even Christ who appeared to Abraham in Genesis 15:1 and made the promises to him. “’And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.’ (Luke 17:5) The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’ They went to the right person. They did not say to themselves, ‘I will increase my faith;’ they did not cry to the minister, ‘Preach a comforting sermon, and increase my faith;’ they did not say, ‘I will read such-and-such a book, and that will increase my faith.’ No, they said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith.’ Faith’s author can alone increase it. I could inflate your faith till it turned into presumption, but I could not make it grow. It is God’s work to feed faith, as well as to give it life at first; and if any of you desire to have a growing faith, go and take your burden this morning to God’s throne, crying, ‘Lord, increase my faith!’ If you feel that your troubles have been increased, go to the Lord, and say, ‘Increase my faith!’ If your money is accumulating, go to the Lord, and say, ‘Increase my faith;’ for you will want more faith as you get more prosperity. If your property is diminishing, go to him, and say, ‘Increase my faith,’ so that what you lose in one scale you may gain in the other. Are you sickly and full of pain this morning? Go to your Master, and say, ‘Increase my faith, so that I may not be impatient, but be able to bear it well.’ Are you tired and weary? Go and supplicate, ‘Increase my faith!’ Have you little faith? Take it to God, and he will turn it into great faith. There is no hot-house for growing tender plants in like a house that is within the curtains—the tabernacle of God, where his glory dwells...
For meditation: The Christian has no need to undertake pilgrimages and to seek out so-called holy men to increase his faith. The expert in increasing faith is the very one in whom we have faith, who lives in us by his Spirit (Hebrews 12:2).”(C. H. Spurgeon) http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0032.htm
Jesus will say to you: "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30) Don’t meditate on the Jesus of some well written book or sermon, but meditate on the Messiah of Israel, as revealed in the Holy Bible. Be sure to partake of the whole counsel of God. Jesus also said: You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.” (John 5:39-40) “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)