Hebrews 4:1, 2; 9-11 – “Therefore, a promise being left to enter into His rest, let us fear lest any of you should seem to come short of it. For also we have had the gospel preached, as well as them. But the Word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it… So then there remains a rest to the people of God. For he who has entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from His. Therefore let us labor to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of unbelief.”

What is the rest of faith? How can we “ceased from our own works.” How do we “labor to enter into that rest?” These questions must be answered if the Christian is ever to come up to the position that God has called us to; a place of authority, where we are seated with Christ in heavenly places.

What is the rest of faith? It is a place in God where your spirit no longer has to struggle and exert force against the natural or the things of the flesh. It is a place of mastery where your spirit man, the real you, is in ascendancy and your soul and your body have taken their rightful place under its leadership. It is a place where through your knowledge of the Word and discipline of your flesh, the natural things (whether it is your own natural flesh or the things in this natural world) have submitted to the power of our spirit through the Word of God.

This “laboring” is the process you take in order to get your spirit in the ascendancy in a given situation.

How do we “labor” to enter into this place of rest? This “laboring” is the process you take in order to get your spirit in the ascendancy in a given situation. Remember, it is through the knowledge of the Word of God and through the discipline and putting under of the flesh that the spirit will take control. This obtaining of knowledge, not just knowing in your mind but true revelation, and crucifying of your flesh is the labor we must enter into in order to come to the place of rest. We must labor in the Word and in prayer until we know what God’s Word has promised and provided for us. We must labor to daily crucify our flesh and not give into its temptations and desires. We must labor with the knowledge that through it we will enter into that state of rest, where the struggle will be no more.

Let me give you an example in order to illustrate this. Let’s take a person who is bound by drugs or alcohol. Hebrews 4:1 states there is “a promise left” to this person, “to enter into His rest.” This person has a promise that he can come to a place where his spirit man is no longer in a struggle against his flesh in this area. However, he must now “labor to enter into that rest.” So what must he do? He must begin to labor in the Word, allowing the Holy Spirit to give him revelation on what has been provided for him in Christ and how to appropriate those things for himself. He must begin to labor in crucifying his flesh, and say “No” when those cravings and desires come on him. He must labor, with his eyes on the fact that it is this laboring that will cause him to come up to a place where there will no longer be a struggle, where his spirit is in complete control and his body has submitted to the fact that it will no longer get those things desired.

Remember, this is a labor of faith in order to enter into the rest of faith.

Now, the important thing in this is that you do the “laboring” in light of the fact that you are entering into the rest. If you simply labor and labor, without an understanding that this laboring will result in the entering into rest, then you will just be laboring in the flesh. Remember, this is a labor of faith in order to enter into the rest of faith. You must do all by the Word of God and allow the Holy Spirit to take you from the place of laboring to the place of rest.

So, next time you recognize an area where you are constantly at struggle between your spirit and your flesh, begin to exercise this laboring to enter into the rest. Don’t allow yourself to be deceived into thinking it will always be a struggle. Don’t allow the devil to tell you that you just have to learn to live with it. Remember, “there remains a rest for the people of God, and he who has entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from His.” So labor to enter into that rest.