(Transcript of a lesson taught at Landmark Baptist Church, Locust Grove, GA, on September 6, 2015.)
Texts: Ex. 31:17, Acts 3:19
“Refresh” is a
pleasant sounding word for a pleasant sounding action. It’s always nice to hear
when a meeting or function is announced that “Refreshments will be served.” It
encourages you to go, doesn’t it? Who doesn’t want to be refreshed?
This word and its
variants is used 16 times in scripture, seven in a Pauline context. So
refreshment is a subject in both the kingdom and mystery programs. In this
study I’d like to look at what the Bible says about refreshing. First we’ll
look at a few passages to get a definition, then we’ll look at three types of
refreshing found across the dispensations.
DEFINITION
As our first text
shows, it’s connected with rest. It’s not equal with rest, but related to it.
Consider Is. 28:12 also, “To whom [Judah] he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may
cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.” In
both passage, refreshing is connected with rest and follows it. So I think that
refreshing, by definition, is the
strength or wellness that follows rest or some other change in activity.
It’s not always rest that brings refreshment, though that’s certainly an agent,
as we’ve already seen, and I think that this will become clearer as we consider
various references from scripture.
RELATION
TO GOD
Our texts show us
that refreshing originates with God and is something that God does toward
others and himself.
· The ultimate
source of refreshing is God. I’m not surprised about refreshing originating
with Almighty God, “seeing he giveth to
all life, and breath, and all things” (Acts 17:25), and when the Messianic
kingdom finally comes, it brings “refreshing…from
the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19). So refreshing others begins and ends with our almighty, all-preserving
God (Ps. 36:6). But that’s not all…
· God not only
refreshes others; he can also refresh himself. God never weakens in any sense,
but the cessation of his creative work brought him some sort of refreshing,
according to our text. Hebrews 4 tells us that this rest is a picture of the
millennial rest, when the whole earth will be “at rest” (Is. 14:7). Zeph. 3:17 also affirms that God himself will
rest in the kingdom age, just as creation foreshadows. I think that the refreshing
came from ceasing one activity and taking up another. God doesn’t need breaks or recess or change like we
do, since by nature he’s immutable or unchanging, but there is a sense that
finishing something brings him satisfaction and renewal. He’s happy because he
can move on to something else, just like we are when we finish a job. I love
the satisfaction that comes finishing a job. Rest is one reward of labour, but
it’s not the only one. There’s a feeling of satisfaction and joy once
something’s done and you can move on to the next thing. I think that God wired
us that way because he’s that way, and we were originally made in his image.
Satisfaction and joy over completion of work and the prospect of something new
precedes the fall, as we see in our text.
TYPES OF REFRESHING
1. Physical. Let’s
begin with the most basic and work our way upward. The Bible speaks of physical
refreshing, a basic need of God’s creatures, especially after the fall. Ex.
23:12, in a sabbath context, mentions rest and refreshment for men and animals,
bond and free, host and guest, namely, everyone. So this weary world needs
physical refreshing. I found three references where travelers needed
refreshing: (1) King David fleeing from Absalom (2 Sam. 16:14); (2) the man of
God sent to prophesy against Jeroboam (1 Kings 13:7); and (3) the apostle Paul
en route to Rome (Acts 27:3). Even the Lord Jesus, as he was passing through
Samaria, became “wearied with his
journey” (John 4:6), stopped for a drink of water, demonstrating his
identification with our infirmities. And if you’ve studied what the Bible says
about hospitality, you know that God not only puts a premium on meeting others’
spiritual needs, but also their physical, even under grace. I think that Paul
may be referring to this type of refreshment, at least in part, when praising
Onesiphorus in 2 Tim. 1:16-18, since he asks God to bestow both temporal and
eternal blessing on his friend for refreshing him often during his final
imprisonment. Onesiphorus’ diligence also shows us something else: we need
refreshing often, not just occasionally, magnifying our weakness and our
dependence on God and one another. Paul stood alone when he had to, but he
never scorned assistance from other saints, humbly recognizing his dependence
on them (Rom. 1:11-12).
2.
Soulish. The
scriptures also speak of a refreshment deeper than the skin and senses. Prov.
25:13 says, “As the cold of snow in the
time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he
refresheth the soul of his masters.” Note that the soul was refreshed, not
merely the body. The cold of snow in harvest time would bring not only physical
relief from the heat, but also a mental break from the heat, which not only
weighs on body but soul as well. We can all relate to that. Doesn’t a sunny day
tend to cheer your soul? It may not do anything for your spirit, per se, but it
changes your mental outlook. That’s your soul, in distinction from your spirit,
your innermost being. In 1 Thes. 5:23, Paul prays that our “whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ…,” so we need to care for our souls and
make sure that they’re serving as good stewards of our spirits, which they
truly are. God means for our lives to be lived inside out, not outside in, and
the soul is critical since it’s the bridge between your spirit and your body. A
dysfunctional soul can inhibit the expression of spiritual life, so it’s
important to watch your thoughts, moods, and emotions and keep them subservient
to your spirit. Brooding over the past isn’t good, nor is worrying about the
future. Live in the “Precious Present,” as Spencer Johnson calls it. He said
that “Pain is the difference between what the present is and what we think it
should be.” That’s profound. A wonderful way to keep your soul refreshed is to
live in the present moment. Don’t be somewhere else. “Wisdom is before him who hath understanding; but the eyes of a fool
are in the ends of the earth” (Prov. 17:24). Johnson also said that the
most pleasant people to be around are the ones who are really with you in the
present moment: their mind’s not somewhere else, they’re not thinking about
what they’re going to say; they’ve suspended their existence, to quote another
writer, to listen to you and really think about what you’re saying. But most of
us are so selfish that we find that quite difficult to do. We want everyone to
listen to us, but we don’t want to listen to others. Well, that makes you a
half-wit, since God gave you two ears and one mouth, and you’ll learn twice as
much by keeping your mouth shut and listening to others, amen?
3.
Spiritual. I’ve
saved the most important type of refreshing for last: spiritual.
·
The Bible speaks
of spiritual refreshment in both testaments.
o
Old testament. Elihu
mentions it in Job 32:18-20, where he refers to the spiritual refreshment that
speaking will bring him, in the sense of discharging a burden. Remember the
fire in Jeremiah’s bones (Jer. 20:9)? Same thought. The spirit constrains one
to speak (v. 18) in certain cases, especially if your full of scripture, and
it’s refreshing to be able to release that burden and start afresh. It’s also
mentioned in the context of David’s music for Saul (1 Sam. 16:23). I heard a
brother say that this verse shows music ministering to each part of man (body,
soul, and spirit, in that order), which I tend to agree with, affirming that
spiritual music brings spiritual refreshment. That’s important to consider when
you’re selecting music to edify yourself and others.
o
The Pauline references
to spiritual refreshment are a study in themselves, since there are 5-6 of them
(Rom. 15:32, 1 Cor. 16:18, 2 Cor. 7:13, 2 Tim. 1:16, Phile. 7, 20). The focus
is almost entirely spiritual, which is no surprise for this dispensation. Paul
magnifies the refreshment of the spirit by various means, but I’d like to point
out one in particular in Phile. 7, “For
we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints
are refreshed by thee, brother.” It took something inner (love) to refresh
their inner parts (bowels). Spiritual ends require spiritual means. We already
saw that with the music, remember. Just like you can’t get blood out of a
turnip, you can’t get spiritual refreshment from carnal or worldly means. That’s
why contemporary music is so deceptive. You think because they’re singing about
Christ that it’s automatically spiritual. Wrong! Carnal music does not refresh
your spirit—it grieves and weakens it. Don’t mistake fleshy and soulish thrills
for spiritual edification. Just because it gives you goosebumps and moves your
emotions doesn’t mean it’s spiritual. If it doesn’t move you spiritually, i.e.
make you want to do something spiritual like pray or read the Bible or
meditate, I doubt that it’s spiritual. Spiritual refreshment, and that “oft” (2
Tim. 1:16), is vital for a child of God. We’re not “leaky vessels” in the sense
that the Holy Spirit could leave us, but we are in the sense that our spiritual
strength can weaken and needs refreshing from God and others. Are you able to
refresh others spiritually? You won’t be if you’re worldly. You can’t refresh
others spiritually if you’re not spiritual yourself. I’ve been around many
talkative saints, but most of them don’t talk about the word of God because
they’re not in it, and you walk away from them feeling empty spiritually, if
not defiled. A worldly believer may inform you or even divert you, but they can’t
refresh you, and there’s a huge difference.
In summary, God has
provided refreshing, through various means, for the entire man: spirit, soul,
and body. We need to become familiar with these means and appropriate them in
our lives. We must go beyond physical and soulish refreshing, which the lost
world seeks, and seek refreshment for our spirits. Then we can help one another
and the world too.
One
of my favorite children’s movies is Willy
Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Do you remember Wonka’s response to
Charlie returning the “Everlasting Gobstopper”? He could have sold it to
Wonka’s competitors, but he returns it since he broke the rules for touring
Wonka’s factory. In response to this, Wonka says, “So shines a good deed in a
weary world,” and he names Charlie his successor! Wonka was refreshed by
Charlie’s honesty, something spiritual. People need that from you, folks, not
just the worldly norm. May God help us, through his grace, to be a means of
refreshing to this weary world and to other saints needing it from us.
