Second, the rest of God has to do with the Sabbath. God is resting and the wisdom and power of His Word are bringing the vision to completion.

Third, the rest of God has to do with our entrance into the land of promise, into Canaan.

Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts."  For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. (Hebrews 4:7,8)

Thus we see that the rest of God has three aspects: everything has been finished from the beginning of the creation; God is resting; it is as a land that is occupied by the enemy and must be taken by war.

The rest of God is a person who is perfectly surrendered to God's will. The Lord Jesus Christ is a living Example of the rest of God.

First, his or her life and destiny was established during the first six days of creation, especially when God said: "Let us make man in our image; let us make him male and female; let him multiply his image; let him have dominion over the works of God's hands.

Second, he is not to attempt to create his own life and destiny but is to press into the place where he is doing God's will contentedly and joyfully.

Third, Satan and his demons are not pleased with the idea that a human being should be surrendered to God's will. The evil forces desire that the person do their will. And so, in order to enter God's will we have to fight the good fight of faith.

To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. (Revelation 3:21)

The Lord promised us that if we would choose, through Him, to gain victory over all that hinders us from doing God's perfect will, we would sit with Him in His throne just as He overcame and is seated with the Father in His throne.

This is the rest of God.

So many deadly forces strive against the Christian who would seek to set aside his own works, his own plans and ambitions, and enter the rest of God's will. The spirit of the world, Satan and his demons, the person's own bodily lusts, passions, and self-will all war against the will of God and keep us in a state of unrest.

God's plan of redemption includes forgiveness through the blood of the cross, the eternal dwelling of the Spirit of God in us, the removal of all sin and self-will from us, the forming of Christ in us, and the coming of the Father and the Son to make Their eternal abode in us.

God has given us the blood of the cross and the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit so we can keep the commandments of Christ and His Apostles, as found in the New Testament. The Christian theology of today tells us that our salvation is not dependent on our obeying Christ and His Apostles. This teaching is unscriptural and comes from Satan, not from God.

Notice the following:

Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. (John 14:23)

The coming of the Father and the Son to make us Their dwelling place, Their rest, is based on our obedience to the teachings of Christ and His Apostles. If we are not willing to pray until we can practice what the New Testament commands, we cannot possibly enter the rest of God. This is why Satan has developed the doctrine of faith without works. Satan understands that if we do not do what the New Testament commands we cannot jeopardize his control over the earth.

We American Christians have been greatly deceived with our grace-Heaven-rapture teaching. We need to repent of our lukewarmness and return to the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. If we are willing to do this, if we will keep the Lord's commandments, if we will deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow the Lord Jesus, God will heal our land.

But if we do not, America is doomed as a nation. Some other nation will assume the leadership of the world.

America's greatness has not proceeded from the philosophy of democracy but from Christian people who feared and served God. Once the leaven of righteous behavior is removed, once the moral light of the churches is extinguished, America will fade away until it is nothing more than an item in the history books.