HSS_2021_Q3_EP03

♪ theme music ♪

(Derek) Welcome to Hope Sabbath School,

an in-depth, interactive study

of the Word of God.

We're in a series entitled
Rest in Christ.

I need that rest today,

and I'm sure you do, as well.

Today, we're talking

about The Roots of Restlessness.

We discovered in our last study

that restlessness can lead to rebellion,

which can lead to violence
and destruction.

God wants us to experience rest
for our souls,

so we're really glad you joined us today

and glad to see the team here.

And we're excited that we're

now having some of our team members

joining us remotely.

We've got Shaina joining us from Maine.

Shaina, great to see you

as part of the team today.

And also Puia joining us from Hawaii.

Great to see you, Puia,

as part of our team.

We're always happy to hear from you,

our Hope Sabbath School members
around the world.

You can always write to us

at [e-mail].

We get excited, don't we, when we hear

what God's doing in your life

and how He's blessing you
through His Word.

Here's a note from Cherryl

in Illinois here in the United States,

"Hope Sabbath School

has been such a blessing.

I've been watching for several years

and look forward to doing so every week

and sharing with family and friends,"

that's good, right?

"Thank God for the outreach

of Hope Sabbath School.

Be blessed, keep up the good work."

Well, Cherryl, thanks for writing

to us from Illinois,

and we're excited that you're sharing

what you're learning

with family and friends.

Roger writes to us from Guyana;

that's South America, right?

He writes and says,

"Ever since I was introduced

to Hope Sabbath School

about four years ago,

it has become part

of my welcoming of the Sabbath.

I love how the study

is made simple by your team.

You stir an excitement in me

to study and know more about God."

(Team) Praise God. Amen.

(Derek) "My mother loves

the Scripture songs.

I'm all the way from Guyana,
South America.

May God continue to bless

and have mercy on us all."

Well, Roger, thanks for writing

to us from Guyana,

lovely to hear from you.

Here's a hand-written note from a donor;

we still get hand-written notes.

From a donor in New Jersey

in the United States of America,

and the donor writes, "I watch

Hope Sabbath School every Saturday

and have now become

your 81-year-old student."

(Team) Wow.

(Derek) Wow, you know who you are;

we won't greet you by name

because you're a generous donor.

We thank you for your support, though.

"I love how the lessons are explained

and personal testimonies

of the team are given.

May God continue to bless your ministry,"

and a donation of 25 dollars

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Well, God bless you.

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This is a donor-supported ministry.

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Here's a note from Terrena, a Jamaican

living in the United Arab Emirates,

and Terrena writes and says,

"Greetings in the name

of the Lord Jesus."

Well, Terrena, you got a wave there.

(Team) Greetings.

(Derek) "Thank you for your great work

in spreading the gospel

and encouraging us

to study the Word of God.

I watch your program all the time.

It's been a blessing,

especially during this pandemic.

Keep up the great work.

May God bless you and your team. Amen."

Well, thank you, Terrena,

writing from the United Arab Emirates.

And here is one last email,

from Amanuel, Amanuel, spelt

a little differently with an A, Amanuel.

"I'm writing from Ethiopia,"
Amanuel writes.

"I am a university teacher in my country.

I've been watching

Hope Sabbath School since 2017,"

listen to this, "when I was a student

at the very university

where I'm now a professor."

Congratulations, Amanuel, for graduating

and now becoming a professor
at your university.

"Thank you for making the Bible

so simple and clear.

I feel as if I'm with you literally.

I smile with you; I'm touched

by your testimonies; I love you all.

May God continue to bless you,

speak to you and through you." Amen?

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) Well, Amanuel, thank you

for writing to us from Ethiopia.

We're glad each one of you are part

of our Hope Sabbath School family.

Right now we'd love to invite you

to sing our theme song.

It's taken from Matthew, chapter 11.

It's the words of Jesus, verses 28 to 30,

"Come to Me, all you who labor

and are heavy laden,

and I will give you rest,"
let's sing together.

♪ music ♪

(Derek) I love that song,

and, you know, I love it so much

I want to speak to you

as our Hope Sabbath School family.

We'd like to give you a copy of the song

plus 11 other Scripture songs
in a collection.

All you have to do

is go to our website, hopetv.org/hopess.

You'll see a button

that says, "Free Gift."

Go to our website, click

on the Free Gift button,

and you'll get a link to download,

not only this theme song,

but 11 other beautiful Scripture songs

so you can hide God's Word in your heart.

That's our gift to you

from Hope Sabbath School.

Let's pray together now.

Our Father in Heaven,

we've already seen in this series

on Rest in Christ

how much we need that rest for our souls.

And we've seen the damaging effect

of restlessness and rebellion.

I pray today, as we study

about The Roots of Restlessness,

that we might be convicted even more

to find rest for our souls in Jesus.

Guide each one in our study today.

We pray in the powerful name
of Jesus. Amen.

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) We're going to start

our study today in Luke, chapter 12,

with a story about a restless individual.

Now, we're going to look

at three roots of restlessness.

Maybe you'll say, "Well, Derek,

I can think of four or five,"

and we can share those together,

but I'm suggesting that selfishness

is one of the roots

of a restless spirit.

Let's pick up the story

in Luke, chapter 12,

and, Nicole, if you could begin

our study today, verses 13 through 19.

A restless young man

actually interrupts Jesus who's preaching

and interrupts Him with a demand.

Let's pick up the story

in Luke 12:13-19.

(Nicole) And the New International
Version says:

(Derek) Now, let's take this man,

he has a barn; it's too small.

What are some options

if he wasn't driven by a selfish spirit?

He's had a great crop. Jason?

(Jason) He could give away

some of it to other people.

(Derek) He could find some other people
that didn't have

such a good year. Brittany?

(Brittany) I was going to say
what Jason said, that, yeah,

he should look for those who are needy

or like they had in Israel,

they had this law that they would let

the reapers go through,

and then they would leave some behind

for those who are widowed and poor.

So, he should do the same with his stuff.

(Derek) That's a great example.

I think they call that gleaning,
don't they?

We heard about that

in the story of Ruth

in the Old Testament.

In fact, with Ruth, Boaz gives permission

to leave extra piles, doesn't he?

I think he's already realized

what a precious person she is.

So, one option would be to give away

rather than tear down a barn,

which caused more expense for him.

What indications are there, though,

that this man is driven

by a selfish spirit? Sabina?

(Sabina) I think that we can look

at verse, let's see, verse 19; it says:

So, it sounds like he has

a very great plan for his own life

and his own self, too,

to care for his own problems

and not anybody else's.

(Derek) That's right.

He's certainly not talking to God.

He's kind of praying to himself.

And he's not talking to anyone else around

saying, "Does anyone else have any needs?"

He's saying, "Self, eat,

drink and be merry."

How does the Lord...By the way,

this is a parable, though it may have been

a true story, who knows?

Jesus may have actually seen

something like that,

certainly the interruption

that Nicole read was real.

Someone just interrupted Him.

How does Jesus respond, Pedro,

in verses 20 and 21 of Luke, chapter 12?

(Pedro) I'll be reading

from the New King James Version,
and it says:

(Derek) In another place,

I think it's in Matthew 16, Jesus says,

"What does it profit a person

if she or he gains the whole world,"

like super big barn,

"and lose your soul," right?

But the whole point is,

when this man dies,

how much do you take with you?

(Team) Nothing.

(Derek) Only your relationship

or lack of relationship with God, right?

If you're resting in Christ,

well, death is just a sleep, right?

But you can't change, you certainly

can't take things with you.

So here's an unnamed selfish man.

Can you think of other Bible characters,

do a little scan in your Bible memory,

some other Bible characters

that they were just driven by selfishness,

and of course underlying this theme

of Rest in Christ,

you're restless when you're driven

by selfishness. Nicole?

(Nicole) I would say Jacob

before his encounter with God,

when he took the inheritance and ran away.

I would say that was a bit of restlessness

in terms of self, and, "I want

what my brother has."

But then when he encountered God,

his whole life changed.

(Derek) So, grabbing for that birthright,

which technically would have been Esau's,

but God had promised him, right?

So, there's a selfish grab, if you will.

(Nicole) It's a struggle.

(Derek) Alright, Brittany.

(Brittany) I was thinking of Balaam.

He was supposedly a prophet of God,

and God told him to go...

Well, actually a king came and said,

"Hey, will you curse

the children of Israel for me

because God is blessing them."

So, Balaam at first was like, "No,

I'm not going to do it."

But then when the king

offered him a large sum of money,

he was like, "Oh, sure, I'll do it."

And on his way, an angel of the Lord came

and blocked his way, and it took a donkey,

God using the donkey to speak to him

to open his eyes to his danger

and what he was doing against God.

(Derek) And, of course, when he

finally does open his mouth,

he blesses the people of God
rather than curses them,

but those are two examples.

Another one, Jason?

(Jason) So, I think of Ahab and Jezebel.

I think it's particularly Jezebel,

with a vineyard - Naboth's,

I think, was the name - that she wanted.

And she actually had the guy

falsely accused and murdered,

and both her and her husband

were part of a conspiracy

because they wanted a vineyard.

(Derek) Sure. I'm seeing

Shaina's hand and Puia's hand

raised there in Maine and in Hawaii.

Shaina, another example of someone

driven by selfishness, which, of course,

creates a lot of restlessness
in our hearts.

(Shaina) I'm thinking of King Saul.

Saul was anointed by God

to become the first king of Israel,

but when he saw that...

I mean, he had done a bunch of things

that were wrong in the sight of the Lord,

and when he saw that the Spirit

of the Lord was instead on David,

the rest of his life was somewhat

spent in pursuing David.

And it was a restless pursuit,

even to the point where there was

a time when Saul

was right in front of David, and David

had the opportunity to take his life.

But David was, like, "No,

I'm not touching the Lord's anointed."

So, that's another example
of restlessness.

(Derek) Sure, and selfishness, for sure.

You know, while Shaina was sharing

(Puia, I'll come to your point),

while Shaina was sharing,

I thought, instead of spending

the rest of his life pursuing David,

what if he had spent

the rest of his life pursuing God, right?!

It would mean a totally different story.
Puia.

(Puia) Yes, I was thinking of Satan,

Lucifer in Heaven.

His selfishness drove him

to rebel against God

as he wanted more and more power,

even above his own Creator.

And he, of course,

is the originator of sin, in Heaven,

and later brought it into this planet.

And so, I believe Satan is a good example

of what selfishness does to someone

when you allow that selfishness

to continue to drive you forward.

(Derek) Thank you.

He's also a great example

of the second root of restlessness,

which we'll come to in a minute.

Going to come to you, Pedro.

It seems like we don't have

much difficulty finding examples
of people.

Selfishness is kind of a natural attitude

of a sinful heart, right? Pedro?

(Pedro) I was trying to find
the name here,

and I found it in 1 Samuel 25 - Nabal.

He was helped by David and his men,

and he refused to reward him.

He said, "I don't know who David is."

And Abigail, his wife, had to intervene,

and we saw what greed caused
in his life,

similar to the parable of Jesus.

(Derek) Sure, and that's right.

Eventually Nabal dies in a drunken stupor.

We don't know; his heart

stopped for whatever reason.

And it shows the futility of living a life

simply driven by selfishness.

Well, like I said, we didn't have trouble

finding many examples.

Confession time, oh, was there
ever a time -

Puia and Shaina, you're
joining us remotely,

and here we've got the team -

when, if you're honest with yourself,

you were being driven

a little bit by a selfish spirit

(notice I'm trying to tone it down
just a little bit),

but it didn't satisfy the restlessness
inside?

Anybody can relate to that in any way?

Well, we've got a few brave souls.

Sabina and then Nicole.

(Sabina) I have a sister;

she's older than me.

And I think that if she watches us,

she will be able to agree

with what I am going to share.

I think that we both

were selfish, usually, when we
were not willing to share

our clothes with each other.

And I think that sometimes

in our relationship growing up,

just the fact that I wanted

to hoard my things to myself,

or she wanted to hoard

her things to herself,

made us sometimes to be in conflict.

So, I could give other examples
in my life,

but I'm just sharing this one.

(Derek) Just that one, and I'm assuming

that that didn't result

in a very restful environment.

(Sabina) No, eventually, you know,

we grew up in learning

how to divide things with each other,

but I remember situations

in which we had fights as girls, you know,

not willing to share, just selfish.

(Derek) Sure. Nicole.

(Nicole) When I was in medical school,

I was very much driven

for a particular path

that I wanted to take in my life.

And it was really driven on myself

in wanting to be in a particular position.

And it was a very restless time,

because I was fighting against God

and what He wanted me to do,

and I wanted to do "X."

And so, when I finally gave in and said,

"Okay, where do you want me to go, Lord?"
I found the rest I needed and was able

to choose the career that He
wanted me to be in.

But before that, there was definitely
a struggle

between my desire for my ego

to be stroked and my selfishness

versus what He wanted and saw for my life.

(Derek) So, we found many examples,

and we could probably all

find examples in our own lives

of how a selfish attitude

created a restlessness for us.

But have you ever seen,

either in the Scripture

or maybe even in your life,

someone that really models

an unselfish spirit which results

in rest for our souls?

Anybody? Is there an individual

that comes to your mind?

Puia, anybody that you know

that comes to your mind

that just models that unselfish spirit?

(Puia) Yes, I believe Jesus

is the prime example of Someone

who showed the opposite of selfishness

as He came to this planet as a babe

and then grew up as a man and suffered

to the point of death on the cross.

And so, Jesus showed us

what the opposite side of selfishness is,

and through love He was able

to accomplish the plan of salvation

to give us that rest in Him.

(Derek) Beautiful, it's hard

to find a better example, isn't it?

Anybody think of a family member,

a loved one, a friend?

Can I share someone?

I went on an assignment

to a refugee camp

on the Thai-Myanmar border.

Oh, Puia, that's getting close
to home country.

And there in a refugee camp

were about 35,000 refugees
in no man's land.

And there was a godly woman,

she's still there, named Helen Hall,

who started a school

called Eden Valley Academy.

And at times, there were

up to 1,000 students

in this refugee camp in the school,

and she's in her 80s now.

She could be somewhere

very safe in Australia,

which is her homeland,

but she said, "This is

where God's called me to serve."

I have never personally seen

a more unselfish spirit

than I saw in this precious lady.

And maybe we should just remember

Helen Hall and Eden Valley Academy

in our prayers because things

are quite unstable there on the border.

And yet, she's really kind of modeling
what Jesus taught,

willing to lay down her life for others.

Anybody else, someone you've seen?

If not, let's move on, shall we?

One root of restlessness is what?

(Team) Selfishness.

(Derek) Selfishness, but you notice,

when we were talking about selfishness,

I think, Puia, you talked about Lucifer,

now called Satan, he's lost his place

in the heavenly courts,

is also that desire to exalt self.

Self-exaltation is also

a root cause of restlessness.

We don't have to go all the way

back to Lucifer and the rebellion.

Jason, we could find it

even among the disciples of Jesus.

Take a look with us, if you would,

at Mark 10, verses 35 to 40.

(Jason) Alright, I have

the New King James Version here,

Mark, chapter 10, verses 35 through 40:

(Derek) Now, while Jason was reading that,
Nicole, you were

just kind of shaking your head.

There's definitely a root

of selfishness there, too, isn't there,

but this self-exaltation,

what are your thoughts

as you see these two...

They were fishermen right, James and John,

they were just asking

to be two vice presidents in the Kingdom?

(Nicole) It's a human tendency for us

to want people to praise us

and to give us honor and to give us glory.

And I think that we, if we're not careful,

will want that more than we want

to actually glorify God.

And so this is just us having to fight

against our natural tendency

to want things that Christ knows

are not good for us.

(Derek) Brittany.

(Brittany) When I read the story,

since we know the end of the story,

we know why Jesus came,

it's like they completely missed out

on His whole mission.

His whole mission was

not to raise Himself up

except to die for us.

(Derek) Doesn't He say,

"I've come, not to be served but to serve

and to give My life

for the ransom of many"?

(Brittany) And if they had known,
if they had understood

He was going to give His life,

they wouldn't have asked for this.

They wouldn't have said, "We want
what You are going to have."

He was like, "Yeah, you're going
to receive the grief

and the suffering that I am
going to experience,

but what you are asking,
you don't understand."

(Derek) It's interesting

just thinking about it,

and, Pedro, then I'd like you

to read the next verse,

that one of them, James,

is beheaded by Herod, right?

And Peter almost is beheaded, right?

And then, John, well, he gets

put on a desolate island called Patmos,

but God works with him even there.

But you're right; they had no idea.

They were thinking of an earthly kingdom.

But that desire to exalt self
is very strong.

Pedro, how did the other disciples
respond and why?

Let's take a look, if you can read for us

in Mark 10, verse 41.

(Pedro) I'll be reading

from the New King James Version,
Mark 10:41:

(Derek) Alright, Shaina, I'm going

to ask you a question.

Shaina, I know you're

a student of human behavior.

You've taught and you've seen

a lot of different character traits.

So, let me ask you, Shaina,
up there in Maine,

why do you think the other disciples

were so upset with James and John?

(Shaina) They may have been feeling

like, "Do you guys think

that you're better than any of us?"

Like, "We're all on this same walk
together; we've all

been through most of the same experiences
together.

None of you are better than that,

so why would you be subject

to the next highest position in Heaven,

which is on the right hand

and on the left hand of Jesus?"

(Derek) Yeah, so let me paraphrase that.

They could be feeling a sense

of, "Who are you to push yourselves

over the top of us?"

But it may be actually something
more than that.

We've got three hands here;

who would like to share. Brittany?

(Brittany) They might have been upset

that they hadn't thought to ask
that question first.

"How come they got to ask that question?
I wish I had thought of that."

(Derek) Anybody agree with Brittany?

Okay, well, I'm going to raise my hand.

What evidence, Puia, is there

that they were also contentious,
can you think of...?

(Puia) Right, yes, in another chapter

we find them arguing on the topic

of who is the greatest among us,

like, who is the greatest in our group.

And even today in our church settings,

we may not say out loud

as to who is the greatest among us.

But, truth be told, I believe

we all think about it sometimes,

even in our church settings, even today,

as to who among our members

make the most money,

who among our members

is the most influential or the greatest.

It seems that this is human tendency,

not just for James and John,

but for the rest of us as well.

(Derek) So, lest we sit in judgment

on James and John for being so brash...

By the way, the reference here, I think,

was Luke, at least one reference,

Luke 22:24, where they're arguing

who's going to be the greatest. Sabina?

(Sabina) And I'm thinking also

of Jesus' reaction to the confusion

that is triggered by this comment

because the Bible says in verse 41

that the ten heard,

and they began to discuss about it.

And the way that Jesus intervenes

is by reminding them

that they were called to be servants,

and that even though we need

to look at authorities in the world,

that they look at them

as being the greatest ones,

that, in our case, it was

not going to be so,

with them and with us.

In the Kingdom of God,

the last shall be the first.

So, I think that the way
that Jesus responds

makes us believe that all of them

were having the same sort

of heart issue going on.

(Derek) Well, before we come

to confession time when we've

ever felt like exalting ourselves,

there's a story of an ancient monarch,

"ancient," not being old himself

but many, many generations ago.

In fact, what, 2,600 years ago,

a monarch who had a problem

with self-exaltation,

and it's clear from the story

that he was restless.

You know, when you're

always wanting to be first,

if anybody drives faster than you do
or jumps faster

or gets a higher score on a test

or gets the position you were hoping for,

you're never going to be at rest, right,
if your desire

is to always exalt yourself.

Who's that ancient monarch

we're thinking about?

(Team) Nebuchadnezzar.

(Derek) Nebuchadnezzar.

Now there is a story about Nebuchadnezzar

in chapter 4 of his book.

Would you just read

a few verses for us, verses 28 to 32?

(Jason) Sure, I've got

the New King James Version here;

it's Daniel 4:28-32; it says:

(Derek) So, what happens to Nebuchadnezzar

after this declaration of this messenger?
Yes, Brittany.

(Brittany) He is driven from his kingdom,

and seven years he spends outside.

He's getting wet; he's living
like an animal.

It even says that his hair grew

like feathers of a bird, almost,

and his nails grew

long like eagle's claws.

He became like an animal.

(Derek) And that was

the end of the story, right? Wrong?

How does the story end?

I think it ends hopefully,

with some kind of rest for his soul.

Who would like to read for us,

Daniel, chapter 4, verses 33 to 37? Pedro.

(Pedro) I'll be reading

from the New King James Version,
Daniel 4:33-37:

(Derek) Now, if you've read

the book of Daniel,

he has some things to say about the God

of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego,

or the God of Daniel,

in Daniel 2 and in Daniel 3.

But what's the difference

in Daniel, chapter 4?

Did you notice a difference? Nicole.

(Nicole) He's actually internalizing

the God of Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abed-Nego.

It's not just their God anymore;
it's his God.

He gives the praise to this God,

and so he makes it personal at this point

because of his experience with God.

(Derek) So, why is it so important...

Shaina, let me take your point,

and then I want to ask

why it's so important.

I mean, I guess we could find hope

in the story of Nebuchadnezzar, right?

That if you have been living

trying to just exalt yourself,

you don't have to die that way.

You can change. Shaina?

(Shaina) I also find it amazing

that this king, who built a statue

all of gold because he was like,

"My kingdom is going to last forever,"

in verse 37, he says,

"Honor the King of Heaven,"

so it's a complete shift in character

or language, vocabulary, that he's using

to say, "This is the King; this is

the real deal that we're dealing with."

(Derek) Beautiful. Well, we're talking

about Roots of Restlessness,

and we know that God

doesn't want us to be restless, right,

but to find rest in Christ.

Selfishness doesn't work.

Why doesn't self-exaltation work?

Why don't we find rest?

When do we finally get

to the place, Brittany,

when do we finally get to the place

where we go, "Oh, rest, because I'm

finally at the top of the pile!

I've left all of these broken people
in climbing up"?

Why doesn't that ever work?

(Brittany) Well, we were
created to worship.

When we read throughout the Bible,

we realize that God

created us in His image,

and He created us with this desire
to worship.

And we're never fulfilled

until we worship the One who made us.

(Derek) Alright, so actually,

back to Puia, what you said earlier,

and then I'll come to your point.

Actually, this desire for self-exaltation

finds its original root in Lucifer,

the rebellious angel,

where, if I keep wanting to exalt myself

as the driving force in my life,

I'll want to be above God.

I want to be God, right,

which, of course, will never work. Puia?

(Puia) Yes, picking up

on what Brittany said,

I believe the reason

why self-exaltation doesn't

lead us to actual rest

is because it completely goes

against the nature of God.

And as God is our Creator

and the Author of our lives,

He designs our life in such a way

that our lives will flourish

when we follow His principles.

And God's principles are

never about self-exaltation

but rather about humility

and serving others rather than self.

And so, when we try to exalt ourselves,

we're going against the way

God designed us to function best.

And so, we're not able to find rest

as long as we are going

against God's original plan.

(Derek) We found some examples

of people trying to find rest

in self-exaltation; it doesn't work.

Nebuchadnezzar does become an example

of someone who says, "I'm going

to exalt God rather than myself,"

and he finds rest.

Any other examples in the Bible

of people, Pedro, who find rest

by saying, "I'm just going to exalt God"?

(Pedro) Well, one thing

that got my attention when we

were reading in Mark was Bartimaeus

because the same question

that Jesus made to James and John

was the question He made to him.

But we see that Bartimaeus,

he heard that Jesus was passing by.

He was blind, this multitude
was coming up,

and he was calling upon Jesus,

"Son of David," "Son of David,"

exalting God as who He is.

Everybody thought that He was

Jesus of Nazareth; He was just, you know,

He was the prophet.

But he recognized who Jesus was.

And Jesus came to him and said,

"What do you want me to do for you?"

And what happened to him?

He had an encounter with God,
and God blessed him.

(Derek) Beautiful. And, by the way,

"Son of David" was a Messiah term, right?

And so I just thought

of that beautiful thing, "I want to see,"

and the first thing he sees is Jesus!

It's like, "I want to see Jesus.

I want to see the Son of David."

What a beautiful picture. Sabina?

(Sabina) I'm thinking of the apostles.

After Jesus departed, they were all

given great authority

by the power of the Holy Spirit

to heal, to preach, to teach,

and to do things that were

even greater than those things

that Jesus had made.

And they could have

eventually desired or placed themselves

in the space of being the authority,

doing those things, and not bringing
glory to God.

And I believe that they surely were able

to succeed in their mission

because they were putting

the name of Jesus ahead

and not their own.

(Derek) There was one example,

and I see your hand, Puia,

raised there in Hawaii,

there was one example of someone

in the book of Acts who wanted

the power to exalt self.

Anybody remember what his name was?

Was it Simon the sorcerer?

He wanted to buy the Holy Spirit, right,

"Boy, I could be really famous

if I had this power." Puia?

(Puia) Another person that came to mind

is Daniel in the story

where King Nebuchadnezzar forgot his dream

and was trying to find out
what his dream was

and inquired from all the magicians
and the wise men,

and nobody could tell

the forgotten dream of the king.

And Daniel came along,

God answered his prayer,

but Daniel did not take the credit

when he explained it to the king

that the dream came from God.

So, I believe Daniel is a good example

of someone who gave the credit to God

rather than exalt himself.

(Derek) Great illustration,

and that's repeated in Daniel 5

in his interaction with Belshazzar.

And it's repeated in his interaction

with Kind Darius where he says,

"My God sent an angel,"

rather than saying, "Well, I was

able to tame these lions, O King."

He's always exalting God
rather than himself.

Well, we want to move

on to a third root of restlessness.

Is selfishness going to help us

find rest for our souls?

(Team) No.

(Derek) No. Self-exaltation, is it
going to help us?

(Derek, Team) No.

(Derek) There is a third root
of restlessnes,

and that is hypocrisy.

What is hypocrisy?

Can someone give me a definition?

What is hypocrisy?

Shaina, could you give us

a brief definition

or maybe a definition of a hypocrite?

Unfortunately, Jesus calls

some people hypocrites.

What's the definition of a hypocrite?

(Shaina) In a very simplified version,

it's a person who says one thing,

or they preach one thing, and their lives,

their actions, preach another thing.

So, there is an inconsistency

between their words and their actions.

(Derek) So, let's go back; Jesus calls

some of the religious leaders...

We need to be careful here,

because there were some religious leaders

who were very devoted, godly people.

In fact, they're willing

to identify with Jesus

and even lay down all of their resources,

namely, who comes to mind?

(Derek, Team) Nicodemus.

(Sabina) I was thinking of Nicodemus.

(Derek) Joseph of Arimathea and others,

so not all of the religious leaders agreed

with the majority Jesus called hypocrites.

Let's look at that passage.

It's very strong language.

And, Brittany, if you could read for us

in Matthew 23, beginning with verse 1.

I don't think I've ever heard

Jesus speak more strongly than this.

And so while Brittany's reading,

ask the question, why is Jesus speaking

in such, what appears

to be such harsh language

to these religious leaders?

And it must have something

to do with, that hypocrisy

will never give us the rest

for our souls that we need.

Starting in verse 1 of chapter 23,

down through verse 13.

(Brittany) I'll be reading

from the New King James Version,

Matthew, chapter 23, verses 1 through 13:

(Derek) As you were reading that,

there seems to be a strong correlation

between hypocrisy and self-exaltation
and selfishness.

Maybe it's all one root.

It's all kind of woven together.

Why would a person

make a profession of something

but live differently?

What do you think? Anybody?

Why would they make a profession

but not follow it? Shaina?

(Shaina) I can say I am these things

to look good to people.

And if no one is really checking my life

to ensure that I am living like that,

then, you know, my appearance looks good.

But really, well, Jesus knows.

(Derek) But that ties in

to wanting to exalt myself

beyond where I actually am.

Jason, why would a person do that?

"Hypocrite," Jesus said, "hypocrite,

you say one thing, but you don't do it."

(Jason) Sure, so sometimes people

want the benefits of a certain way

or a certain expression,

but they don't actually want
the responsibility

or the things that may not

make them feel as good.

So, they kind of want

an external good feeling,

but internally they still want to do

what they want to do themselves.

So, they kind of want this

for their own purposes

and not really for anyone else.

(Derek) Nicole?

(Nicole) I recently heard someone say

that hypocrisy is the enemy of love,

because if you don't have love,

you're going to present yourself in a way

so you can appear to have it,

but you really don't.

Because love is authentic,
love is transparent.

And hypocrisy, there's clearly

a shadow and a wall there.

So, I heard that, and it really
kind of stuck to me;

it's the enemy of love, and that's
why Christ can't have it.

(Derek) And it's interesting,

because the rest in Christ

is resting in His love.

I think it's all related, isn't it?

What a beautiful thought.

You know, some people might hear

these stern rebukes, Pedro,

that Jesus is giving

and think, "Jesus, You're a hypocrite.

I mean, don't be so hard on these people;
nobody's perfect."

But in the same chapter, we see

that Jesus actually, He's so hard on them

because He loves them.

That's an interesting thought,

because hypocrisy will always lead to...?

(Team) Destruction.

(Derek) Destruction.

Look at a revelation of His character

there in Matthew 23 and verse 37.

(Pedro) I'll be reading

from the New King James Version,
Matthew 23:37:

(Derek) You see the love of Jesus,

which is a revelation

of the Father's love.

Well, did anyone here,

either here in the studio or Shaina, Puia,

find yourself acting like a hypocrite,

and you're going to testify today

to the world, "Whoops, that didn't give me

the rest I was looking for." Jason.

(Jason) Sure, so, these days,

or at least over my life

I've spent a lot of time on social media,

particularly certain sites like Facebook.

And people get into arguments

and discussions there.

And there were times in my life

when I was in discussions

with people, friends, professors.

And even though people knew

I was a Christian,

knew I studied the Bible,

I was saying things and attacking people

and acting, well, very ungodly

in a public forum, even though people knew

I was a Christian.

So, I clearly was doing things publicly

that didn't match, you know,

my relationship with God, or showed

that there was a disconnect there.

(Derek) I'm hoping you're going
to tell me you changed!

(Jason) Yes, well, by God's grace,

I spend a lot less time on Facebook
and social media,

and I decided to turn my Facebook page,

not so much into debates

and discussions anymore.

(Derek) Well, thank you for sharing that.

I remember a time I was going to church.

I was 18; I looked, and a friend

from high school was across the road,

and I turned my head so he wouldn't

see me go into the church - hypocrite.

And I still feel the pain of that day,

because Jesus was not ashamed of me.

Fortunately, Jesus saved me.

But, we all contend,

if we're not connected, we could all

tend towards hypocrisy, right?

We could tend towards selfishness

and self-exaltation.

So Puia, would you read to us John 14:1-5,

because embedded in this story

we see both restlessness

from the disciples

but also the secret,

the antidote for restlessness,

whether it's caused by selfishness

or a desire for self-exaltation
or hypocrisy.

Read to us John 14:1-5.

(Puia) Sure, and I'll be reading

from the New King James Version:

(Derek) So, why are they restless?

Why are they at least tempted

to be anxious? Brittany.

(Brittany) Well, their Master,

who they've been following
for three and a half years

is saying He's leaving them.

And so, they don't know

where He's going, from what Thomas said,

and they don't know

how to get to Him.

They're worried; they're concerned,

"Now what is our life going to be?"

They had left everything to follow Him,

and now, "What are we going to do next?"

(Derek) And what is the answer

to their restlessness?

Next verse, Sabina,

chapter 14 of John, verse 6.

(Sabina) It says:

(Derek) "Rest in Me."

That reminds us of our Scripture song.

Can someone sing it for us?
Well, no, don't sing.

Could you read it for us, someone?
Matthew 11:28-30.

Jason, do you have it?

Because really, the rest

is not found in selfish grabbing,

self-exaltation, or trying

to project a life that you're not living.

It's found by resting in Christ.

What's the beautiful invitation there

in Matthew 11:28-30?

(Jason) The New King James Version says,

Matthew, chapter 11, verses 28 through 30:

(Derek) So, you finally come to the place

where you say, "I am going

to surrender my life

wholly to Jesus and rest in Him.

Whether I live, whether I die,

whether the result from this test

I just had is negative or positive,

I'm going to choose to rest in Christ

and be secure there."

Do you know there are some people

that, when they make that decision,

not everybody supports them.

Sometimes even friends and family members

criticize them for saying...

You know, it's like the survival

of the fittest, Jason, "Keep climbing up,

even if you have to climb over people.

You're just going to get," we have
an expression in English,

"eaten alive if you just think

you can rest in Christ

and life will go well."

What would you say to someone like that?

Once you've made your decision,

"I'm just going to rest my life," Puia,
"rest in Christ,"

what would you say to someone

who says, "You'll just be eaten alive.

You'll get trampled on by everybody"?

(Puia) I would say, continue

to look at the cross

and how much Jesus suffered

to give us that rest.

And once we have

that personal relationship with Jesus

and we are being persecuted,

either by our family

or friends or other people,

it means that we are sharing

in the journey of Jesus,

and we are carrying the cross

as Jesus calls us to.

And at the end of the day,

as we read earlier, Jesus said,

"I will give you rest."

And the yoke, Jesus said the word "yoke,"

and in some ways the yoke

would seem to be like a problem

for an animal that they often used

to drive the animal to work.

But, according to Jesus, His yoke is easy,

meaning, even when we

go through problems because of Jesus,

we find joy and rest and happiness inside.

(Derek) I've heard stories...

And I see a couple of hands

in the couple of minutes remaining.

I've heard stories, when Christians

are facing great hardship,

and yet the rest in their souls

is a powerful witness to people,

and to unbelievers, even who come

to conviction that they need

rest in God, too. Nicole?

(Nicole) I would say rest is not

just lying down and letting life happen.

Rest is allowing Christ to work

through you and in you to give you

what you need to accomplish

and deal with whatever situation

is presented in front of you.

(Derek) And your life can be a testimony,

that you found rest for your soul. Jason?

(Jason) And one thing also I would say

is the whole idea of, you can get

ahead of others, you know,

by fighting for yourself,

Jesus said, if you live by the sword,

you'll die by the sword.

So, one, that you're

kind of setting your destiny.

And then I would ask that person,

"Do you really want to live this way?

Does this way truly make you happy?"

Because, at least in my experience,

pushing over others doesn't really

make a person happy.

(Derek) Shaina, closing thought.

(Shaina) I also find that when we

truly rest in Christ,

we also get His promise,

that peace that passes all understanding,

and we're able to make

more coherent decisions.

So, it's the comparisons of being stressed

and worrying, and, you know,

being in that 24/7 society

versus taking that peace

and being able to maneuver

life's situations much better.

(Derek) And what a powerful testimony

from Shaina who not many months ago

went through a really tough accident.

And she had to decide

to rest her life wholly in Christ.

Praise God, Shaina, for the miracle

that you're experiencing

through resting in Jesus every day.

And you know, that's what Jesus

wants for all of us.

He wants us to learn to let it go,

the selfishness, the desire

for self-exaltation, the hypocrisy,

and say, "I'm just going

to surrender to Jesus and rest in Him."

And like Nicole said, it doesn't mean

you just don't do anything,

but whatever you're facing,

you're facing it with Jesus by your side.

Let's pray; Father in Heaven,

what a way to live,

instead of these restless ways,
to rest in You.

And may our rest in Christ
be a witness,

that others might seek rest in You, too.

In Jesus' name. Amen.

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) Well, thanks for joining us
for Hope Sabbath School today.

Don't forget that free gift!

Go to hopetv.org/hopess,

click on "Free Gift!" button.

We'll send you some Scripture songs

including our theme song.

Hide those words in your heart.

Jesus wants to give you

rest for your soul.

And as you rejoice in His presence,

go out and be a blessing

to those around you.

♪ theme music ♪