Page 56 - SABBATH

expect to continue in the same way, being full of his own direction as he is led by his reason,
impulses, and will.
Yahshua waited until He was thirty years old to begin His earthly ministry, and then
His ministry lasted only three and a half years. David and Joseph also were thirty years old
at the time of their receiving that which had been promised them. Moses was eighty years
old when he was called of Yahweh to begin his ministry. Moses had attempted to fulfill his
calling forty years earlier, but his premature attempt was a dismal failure.
We see that in all ministry men must be at rest. They must enter into the Sabbath of
God where they have ceased from their own labors. It is no good trying to fulfill the ministry
of the kingdom of God through human effort. It will simply lead to striving, and nothing
built through such human effort will last. All our labors will be tried by fire and much of it
will be burned up, as the scriptures proclaim.

I Corinthians 3:10-15
According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid
a foundation, and another is building upon it. But let each man be careful how he
builds upon it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid,
which is Yahshua Messiah. Now if any man builds upon the foundation with gold,
silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident; for
the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test
the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built upon it
remains, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he shall suffer
loss; but his soul shall be saved, yet so as through fire.

It is a difficult thing to bring a man to understand what is being spoken of here. Men
want to believe that they are completely qualified for ministry. They look at one another and
they say, “I am just as qualified as the next man to be used of God.” Much pride is revealed
in such an attitude, however. Men often fail to look to God to see whom He has proclaimed
as qualified to be a minister in the kingdom. Rather, they compare themselves among
themselves and in doing so they act as those who are unwise (II Corinthians 10:12).
A minister must come to a place of rest before he is considered ready for advancement
in the kingdom. A man that will not wait upon Yahweh, and a man that chafes at the long
and grueling preparation process of a minister - at the abasement and humility that must
become a part of his nature, will never come to a place of effectual service in the kingdom.
The character of God’s workman must be free from ambition and self-initiative. God’s
workman must understand his complete inability to bring forth anything of lasting value
through his own effort. The successful servant of the Lord must live a life of total
submission to the will of Yahweh.
The Father’s school of preparation exacts a toll upon all those who go that way. Joseph
longed to be free of his imprisonment, and he begged Pharaoh’s cupbearer to remember
him when he was restored to Pharaoh’s service (Genesis 40:14). The cupbearer promptly
forgot Joseph, however, and Joseph remained three more years in prison while the word
of Yahweh tested him. I believe that Joseph finally came to a place of rest before the Father
called him out of prison.
David, too, felt overwhelmed at times by all of is trials. He cried out to Yahweh to
answer him and deliver him lest he should be overwhelmed with sorrow and grief. The
Psalms are full of David’s cries for relief from his perilous and woe-filled circumstances. In