The deliverance of the afflicted is a foreshadow of what will take place all over the world when the Lord returns. The Kingdom is here now in the saints, and God permits us to show some of the powers of the age to come. The fullness will be brought to the earth when the Lord Jesus, earth's only true King, descends with His saints and holy angels.

God the Father has determined the heavens and the earth will be filled with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now God is resting, allowing His Word to bring to pass what He has determined. We are to enter that rest. Christ Himself is waiting until His enemies have been made His footstool (Ephesians 1:10).

To enter the rest of God requires that we seek the will of God rather than strive to please God by our own religious works.

It may be true that the majority of the Christian efforts of history have been and yet are the blind striving of well-intentioned believers to do the works of God.

It is so difficult to enter the rest of God! There are many forces—not the least of which is personal ambition—that prevent us from resting in God.

God has not called us to save souls, to build the Kingdom, to perfect our own righteousness and holiness, or to become a spiritual person so other people will be impressed.

God has called us to enter Christ, to find our life in Him. There are various efforts we must make, and they are set forth in many passages of the New Testament. The end result of all our efforts must be our abiding in Christ.

Learning to abide in Christ requires considerable experience. We cannot just announce we are abiding in Christ and then have no more difficulties. The warfare is far too intense for such a simple approach. Every day we are to give the utmost diligence to entering the perfect abiding place in the Life and will of Christ. Every day we shall be resisted. Every day the Holy Spirit will lead us into a new arena of warfare and victory.

Our first goal, our initial land of promise, is our own being, our own personality. We, through the Holy Spirit, must gain total victory over our love of the world, our love of sin, and over self-love. Our love of the world, of sin, and of self must be slain by the Spirit's help. It is the love of these enemies of God that keeps us out of the rest of God.

How can God and Christ make Their abode in us if we still love the world, sin, and our own selfish desires? How can God and Christ reach forth through us and release the prisoners of the earth, restoring what was lost in Eden, if we love sin and are not willing to allow Christ to have his unhindered way in us? It is impossible for any person to enter the rest of God while he still is self-centered, seeking to coerce the Lord into meeting all his demands.

To be continued.