"The Promise of Rest" : Hebrews 4:1-13 : Pastor Ryan Nichols: Sunday Morning Service 10:30AM
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Transcript
Organized into readable paragraphs from the preserved Whisper transcript. Non-speech markers are removed.
Well, good morning, church family. It's really good to see you guys. I'm really glad you're here. I'm sure everybody's probably still trying to wake up after the time change, but glad you guys can make it. I invite you to stand with me. We'll pray and we'll get started.
Father, we come before you this morning. We just thank you for another day. Thank you for allowing us to be here, Lord. Just ask that you bless this time, Lord. May we glorify you, Lord. May your word go out with power. Move mightily this morning by the power of your Holy Spirit. We love you and we praise you. In Jesus' name, amen. Touch the world, measure the things.
Seat if you like.
Father God, we just thank you for who you are, Lord. We thank you for making a way for us, a way out of our sin, a way out of our chains, that bondage that sin and death brings, Lord God. We thank you and we praise you this morning for bringing us freedom, for bringing us new life. We praise you, Lord God. We praise you.
Would you guys stand with me for the last one?
Father God, we just want to come to you this morning and just express our gratitude to you, Father. We want to give you thanks this morning for who you are. God, you are the creator of the universe. You're the one that created us. You're the one that created everything that we see, the one that created everything that we know and experience, Lord God. You created the heavens and the earth.
We thank you. We want to thank you for what you've done for us, Lord. God, nobody could have done what you've done for us. Nobody could have taken our place on that cross, except you left your throne in heaven and took my rightful place on that cross. And so I give you my gratitude. I give you my thanks this morning. I want to thank you for the works that you're doing
and that you're going to do in our lives, Lord. God, you didn't just stop there. Because you are alive today, Lord, means that we have new life too. Not just in eternity, but here and now. Because you are alive, we have hope for a new life here and now. And we thank you. We give you our gratitude this morning, God, because nobody could have done that except you.
And we praise you. And Lord, now as Pastor Ryan comes, I just pray that you would speak mightily through, through him, Lord God. Give us ears to hear and a heart to receive it this morning. We love you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. So do me a favor. Find somebody you've never met this morning and go say hello.
Good morning. If you could begin to locate your seats, grab your bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements.
Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad that you have joined us this morning. A handful of things to take note of. And as always, on the left-hand side, the things that go on throughout the week. In the middle section, a reminder about the March Madness event coming up March 21st at the Rec Center in the South Gym. Looking forward to that. Also, I think that there are still some slots open
if you want to sign up to bring chili for the chili cook-off for that. And then I think all of the stuff, if you want to paint a picture. We should open up an adult division. Well, I can't do that. It's not my job. I have a great picture of a giraffe that you're going to love. Also, a couple of things that are not in your bulletin. Women's breakfast is this coming Saturday
here at the church at 9 o'clock. So ladies, take note of that. And then also, the past few years, we have sent some kids out to Prairie View Christian Camp. There's like a hybrid camp for 3rd through 5th grade kids. And we've sent some pretty good groups out there over the past few years. And I know parents always have questions when they send their kids to camp.
And so with us today, we have Phil Weiss that will be out in the lobby after the break. And he's going to be talking about some of the things to answer any questions for the parents that you have. And happy to share with you about camp that's become really important to a lot of the kids in our church. So those are the things that are going on. If you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced.
That's right. Let's focus more on Jesus. Toss it in the water. For our response to the reading this morning, we are going to be in Psalm 8. Psalm 8. Look at the New American Standard for this part. If you need one, there should be one. There should be one in a row around you. And as you are turning to Psalm 8, if you are able, please stand in the honor of the reading of God's Word.
I will read the odd verses if you will follow along with Pastor Allen and the even verses. Psalm 8. For the choir director, a Psalm of David. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth who have displayed your splendor above the heavens. From the mouth of infants and nursing babes, you have established strength because of your adversaries. To make the enemy and the revengeful
cease. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have ordained. What is man that you take thought of him and the son of man that you care for him. Yet you have made him a little lower than God and you crown him with glory and majesty. You make him to rule over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet.
All sheep and oxen and also the beasts of the field. The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea. Whatever passes through the paths of the sea. And read verse 9 with me. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. And so Father, we do praise you for your majesty, for your power and for your might. But Lord, more than anything, we praise you that
knowing all of that, Lord, you still made yourself in the form of a man and came down and dwelt among us. And so, Father, I pray that you would give us ears to hear you. And I pray that you would give us a spirit which your spirit would have to minister to us this morning. Give us hearts to perceive and minds to take in, Lord. Everything that we would need to learn
so that we can rest in you. We just lift these things to you, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. If you would open up in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews, chapter 4. Hebrews, chapter 4. The title of the message this morning is The Promise of Rest, which probably doesn't hit it nearly as much for second service as it does for first service. But at first service, I thought, wow, what an
apropos title for the day that we just lost an hour of sleep, right? The Promise of Rest. That's right. Later this afternoon, you can go home and take a nap and it's going to be beautiful. But that's not the point of what we're talking about here this morning. So, in chapter 3, the writer to the Hebrews was telling them that Jesus is so much better than Moses.
That Jesus is far superior. As faithful of a servant as Moses was, Jesus was more faithful. He had a better position. than Moses had. But that prompted some Old Testament stories to be told. And he told the story of the children of Israel who had hardened their hearts against the Lord and had failed to enter the rest that God had for them because of their unbelief.
Because they did not believe the promise that God had for them. And so, that prompts a discussion on rest in chapter 4. But before we get into this discussion on rest, I thought it to be interesting to think about this theme as it's given to us in Scripture. It's interesting because rest is a theme that runs all the way through the Bible. As a matter of fact,
it shows up for the first time very early on in Scripture. In Genesis chapter 2 verse 2, we are told that God rested from all of His work of creation. That He ceased His work and He rested from all of His creative works. And I find that there is something so much more to that rest that God has. And we'll talk about that as we get into the message. But it says also that He sanctified
the seventh day and set it apart as a day of rest for man. It was a gift that was given to humanity. Interestingly enough, that's how we've established our work week, is that we've established it on a seven day week. And most of us try to take one of those days off because it's very, not only emotionally and mentally healthy, but very physically healthy for us as well.
And then if you continue to track through the Old Testament, you come to the law that's given in Exodus, and you find that one of the Ten Commandments is actually that they take one day out of seven off. It's called the Sabbath day. And that they would take that day, and that that day would be a day that they not only physically rest from their work, but it would be a day that they would spend dedicated and devoted to the things of God. And so that Sabbath day was very important to them, and that law of the Sabbath was important all the way through the Old Testament Scripture. But that law
of Sabbath was not an end in and of itself. It was a shadow that pointed to the ultimate rest that we would find in Jesus. Because when Jesus comes along, He tells us that, He says in the book of John, He says, Come to Me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. He says, Take My yoke on you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
And we find that that law of Sabbath that's given in the Old Testament finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus, so that now the Sabbath is not just one way, one day that we take for rest, although I still think that's an important thing physically for us to do. But the Sabbath is not just one day that we take for rest. The Sabbath is fulfilled in Jesus because He is our ultimate rest. And so as a New Testament church, we don't gather on the Sabbath any longer because that's fulfilled in Christ. Instead
we gather on the first day of the week, which is what the early church did, celebrating the ultimate victory of Jesus over death as He was raised on the first day of the week. And so this theme of rest runs all the way through Scripture, and it's something that God desires for us. And yet what I find in the culture that we live in today is nobody celebrates rest, everybody celebrates work. Nobody celebrates rest, everybody celebrates busy. Everybody celebrates effort,
where God is the exact opposite. He is calling us to rest. And so with that as a backdrop, we start in verse 1 of chapter 4, and it says this, Let us fear, if while a promise remains of entering his rest, any one of you may seem to come short of it. For indeed we have good news preached to us, just as they also. But the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not
guided by faith in those who heard. For we who have believed enter that rest, just as he has said, as I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest. Although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has said somewhere concerning the seventh day, and God rested on the seventh day from all of his works. And again in this passage they shall not enter my rest.
Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of their disobedience, he again fixes a certain day, today, saying through David after so long a time, just as he had said before, today if you hear his voice don't harden your heart. For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered his rest has himself also rested from his work.
As God did from his. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall through following the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, able to judge the thoughts and the intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. The promise of rest.
One of the first things I want to tell you about rest that he gives to us here in this passage of Hebrews chapter 4. He's going to give us the promise, he's going to tell us about the diligence, and then he's going to remind us of the high priest. The first thing that we'll look at is the promise. And the promise actually begins with a warning. A warning of the fear of failure.
Notice what it says in verse 1. It says, Therefore let us fear if while a promise remains of entering his rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. Now, as we talk about rest, I find it important that we identify what rest is. Because if there's a promise of it, if there's a diligence of it, if there's a high priest that leads us into it, then I think it's important that we understand what it is.
Well, as I asked myself that question, I read several different translations, and I looked at some dictionaries, and this is the best definition of rest in the context here that I could come up with. Rest is inner peace because we are confident in our salvation. And assured of his power. It is inner peace because we are confident of our salvation. And assured of his power.
Confidence in our salvation and assurance of the power of God. That's rest. Rest is equal to confidence. The confidence in what we have in our position in Christ and the confidence that we have in the power of God. And that's what we are looking to enter into as believers in Jesus Christ. But he starts off with a warning. He says, Let us fear, lest knowing that there is
this promise for us, we fail to enter into it. Now it seems odd when talking about rest that there should be a fear inside of our hearts. Why should we be fearful of not entering the rest? Well, remember we have been painted the backdrop of the children of Israel who were led right up to the edge of the promised land and were given all of the promises to be able to go in and take the promised land that all they had to do was walk into and yet they failed to do so and so they had to wander in the wilderness for forty years before they could return to the edge of the promised land and then fulfill what God had led them into. So, why
do we fear not entering the rest? Well, because I think there's two things that can happen to us when we fail to enter God's rest. Either one, we can slip into a system of works, a system of works that will be the checklist that we keep in our mind that ultimately brings us into bondage, that ultimately brings us into this place of fear about whether or not I've done enough. That's one aspect of not entering the rest and then the other aspect of not entering the rest is that sometimes you can just give up and just walk in sin. And you can say, well,
I could never do enough anyway. I could never be enough anyway. I'm just going to live however I want to because that's where I feel comfortable in my life. That is the danger. Both of those things were the danger that the Hebrews, the writer to the Hebrews was addressing. That's the danger that they faced. You see, they faced a great deal of persecution. They faced
a great deal of struggle in their walk with the Lord. And now they had in front of them a danger. And the danger was that that persecution would force them either A, to walk back into a system of works that we call Judaism, or B, they would just walk away from the faith altogether and live lost in their sins once again. Unless they enter into the rest that God has for them.
And so he says, Therefore let us fear because a promise of rest remains. And listen, we don't want to come short of it. We don't want to come short of it. That phrase, to come short, is actually a track term and it speaks of a runner who has fallen short of the leader of the pack. Any distance. But the idea is that you've fallen short of your goal to take over the leader of the pack.
And that's the idea here. We don't want to fall short of the goal of the rest that God has for us. And so he gives us this warning, this fear of failure. But after he tells us about the fear of failure, he tells us about the necessity of faith. Notice what he says in verse 2. For indeed we have had good news preached to us just as they also had preached to them.
The good news was preached to us. Some of your translations may even say the gospel was preached to us. Just as it was to them. Now, the gospel that's preached to us looks mildly different than the gospel that was preached to them, but it was still good news, right? The gospel that was preached to the children of Israel is that they had a promised land waiting for them. That they
had this promised land that was there for them to walk into. And God said, I will go before you. I will drive out the enemy before you. I will give you victory. All you have to do is walk into the promised land. You just have to take one more step of faith every single day, and you will walk in the victory that I have for you. That was their good news. Well, you and I have good news preached to us
as well, right? The good news that we have preached to us is that we have a promised land. It's not actually a physical land. It is a place of victory that we can walk into. A life of peace and confidence and victory over the flesh and over the fear and over the anxiety. But in order to do so, you have to walk in faith. Because they had the same message preached to them that
we have preached to us, but I want you to notice what happens. But the word that they heard, middle of verse 2, did not profit them because it was not united by faith in those who heard. In other words, they heard all of the word, they heard all of the promises, but they failed to believe the promise. They did not unite that with faith. And faith will always have action that accompanies it.
Because when we hear God's word, it requires a belief. You see, I love this book. I love God's word. I love to make all of the connections in it. Historically, it's fascinating. Spiritually, it's invigorating. Emotionally, it's stimulating. But at the end of the day, these are just words on a page if I never start to believe them. If I never really put my faith and my
trust in them, they do me no good. They may look great on a piece of artwork on my wall. It may be an encouraging text that I could send to you, but at the end of the day, it has no power if I don't put faith in it. That's the inherent power that God has, but I appropriate that power through faith. Let me give you a little bit of an example from my own life.
I've shared with you lots of times and this is on my mind because I've been working with a couple of people that were dealing with this over the past couple of weeks that you know that early in my life, I walked with the Lord. I battled a lot of anxiety and I had to learn to overcome that. If you will, that was my own personal walking in the promised land. I dealt with all of these fears and all this angst when it came to my walk with Jesus Christ. As I got
tied up in all these knots of the anxiety that I was struggling with, I realized that two things needed to happen in my life. I realized this from reading a book called Spiritual Depression by Martin Lloyd Jones. I realized that two things needed to happen in my life. One, I needed to identify the problem. Two, I needed to identify the promise. I got that out of Psalm 42
where he says, O my soul, why are you so disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God. You have to talk to yourself. First, I had to identify the problem. What am I anxious about? Once you do that, you go now, what does God's Word have to say about it? Once you realize what God's Word has to say about it,
you have to now unite that with faith. That means every day, you have to believe this is what God's Word says is true. This is what God's Word says is true in this instance. Listen, feelings don't always come right along with that. Sometimes you still struggle with the anxious feelings, but you believe by faith. Because remember, faith is not a feeling, faith is a choice.
Faith is a choice that you make every day. Multiple times a day. And so what I had to do is, I had to take portions of Scripture, and I had to say, this is what's true, this is what I'm going to choose to believe today. And so I would say, this is my choice to believe this today. And Lord, I don't feel it, but I believe it. This is what my fear says, but this is what Your Word says. I choose to believe
what Your Word says. And over a period of about two years, I began to walk in the Promised Land. I began to walk in the freedom. I began to walk in the rest of overcoming that in my life. And I still have anxious thoughts come in my head sometimes. Preparing this message was an anxious thought. I'm just going to be honest about that, because I don't know if you've read through that. Obviously, you listened as I
read through it, and you probably kind of went, huh, I don't exactly know what that said. Samesies, right? As I read through it, I'm like, I don't really know what that says. I'm going to have to really do some studying here. And I used to get what I always called study anxiety. I think self-diagnosed term, but it's the only thing I could come up with. And I would start
studying, and I would just be like, dude. And I'd get so wrapped up in my head. And then I started going, Lord, You're not the author of confusion. Like, this is not from You. Father, this is Your Word. And You want to speak Your Word to me, so Lord, speak Your Word to me. And that's what I started believing that God was able to do. And pretty soon, I started putting aside all of the
anxious thoughts about studying. And I started centering on, what's the message you're trying to get across here? Listen, that's just a little story from my own life. But that's true in every aspect of what you need to do in your life. Whether it's overcoming temptation, whether it's overcoming fear, whether it's overcoming anxiety, whether it's overcoming alcohol, I don't care
what it is, you have to choose to believe what God's Word says about it. And then obey what God's Word says about it. Because as you do so, listen, that's how you reset neural pathways in your brain. It's by believing, by uniting God's Word with faith. It's an incredibly powerful thing. And so, he says, this did them no good, because even though all of the promises were made, which by the way,
you should go back and read the book of Exodus, and see all of the promises that God made to the children of Israel about what He would do in the Promised Land. One of my favorites is that He told them, He said, I will not drive out all of the inhabitants in one year. I will drive them out slowly but surely, so that the beasts of the field do not become too numerous in the land. He said, it will be a slow process of driving out the inhabitants of the land.
There's all kinds of promises God made. And if they had chosen to believe those, in spite of what their fear said, God would have given them victory. That's what Joshua and Caleb did. Joshua and Caleb were the two good spies who went into the land, and they saw all of the giants, and they saw all of the walls, and they saw all of the chariots, and all of the armies. But everything
that they saw, they said, yeah, but God said, but God said He'll give us the land. But God said He'll drive them out. But God said no giant is too big. But God promised all these things, and so I'm going to choose to believe that. The other ten guys, they could only see the problems. They didn't see the promise. And you have to be able to see the promise over the problems.
And so, he says, faith is the key. It is the necessity, because if you don't mix the Word of God with faith, it does you no good in your life. You'll never enter the rest. And so we see the fear, we see the necessity of faith in keeping the promise, but then we see the finished work. Notice what it says. For we who have believed enter that rest. Just as He said, I swore in my wrath they shall not
enter my rest, although His works were finished from the foundation of the world. His works were finished from the foundation of the world. He says, we who have believed, enter that rest. And can I just tell you that at this stage in my walk, twenty-some years into my walk with Jesus Christ, I can see some rest. So much of it took place in those early years of
fighting those battles, of fighting those struggles, of understanding the finished work of Jesus Christ. You see, entering the rest begins the day that you get saved, right? The day that you get saved, that's your release from Egypt. If we're using Old Testament typology, that's your release from Egypt. You've been set free from Egypt. That's the world. That's the day you're saved. And then
God walks you to the edge of the promised land, the land of victory that He wants you to live in. And you make the choice, will I walk into this by faith, or will I continue to live in the wilderness of my fear, the wilderness of my flesh, the wilderness of my anxiety? Will I continue to walk in that, or will I walk in the promised land? You see, the promised land doesn't represent heaven, because there's going to be no battles in heaven. There's no giants
in heaven. There's no walled cities in heaven. In heaven, there is freedom, and there is peace. But on this earth, there's always going to be another battle. On this earth, there's always going to be another giant that you have to face. But you don't face it alone. You face it with the living God, which is why you can enter into rest, even on this side of eternity.
He says, we who have believed enter into that rest, in the same way that those who haven't believed won't enter the rest, which is why he says, I swore in my wrath that they would not enter my rest. But the reason why we who have believed enter the rest is given to us at the end of verse 3. His works were finished from the foundation of the world. That's one of those statements that I hope just overwhelms your mind a little bit.
That all of the works of God were actually finished from the foundations of the earth. I went to my Bible study program. I used this thing called Olive Tree Bible. And I just typed in the little search engine. You should do this sometime in one of your Bible study programs. You should just write, foundation of the earth. And you should see all of the things that God did
before the foundation of the earth. Because I think I wrote down six of them. I only remember three of them. But the things that were done before the foundation of the earth is that Jesus Christ was crucified before the foundation of the earth. All of God's works were finished before the foundation of the earth. Your name was written in the book of life before the foundation
of the earth. Isn't that fascinating? Because God dwells outside of time and space. God dwells outside of the confines that we dwell within. And so God doesn't see an unfinished work in you. He sees a finished work in you. And He sees the rest that He's ready for you to walk into because that work is actually already finished. That's why we're told in the book of Ephesians that
you are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Listen, which He has foreordained that you should walk in them. Because when God looks at you, He doesn't see an unfinished work. He already sees the masterpiece. There's one of those beautiful things about who you are in Christ. That's why the life that you now live, you live by faith in the Son of God
who has already finished His work in you because it's finished before the foundation of the earth. Brothers and sisters, I can't think of a better reason to rest in who God is because the God who shapes the earth with the words of His mouth is the God who is shaping you with the word of His will in this moment. He says, we who have believed enter that rest. Why? Because His works were
finished from the foundation of the earth. He goes on there to say it's my rest. He goes on to say that there is a rest that remains. Notice what it says in verse 6. He says, therefore, since it remains for some to enter it and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, He again fixes a certain day. Today, saying through David after
so long a time, just as has been said before, today if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart. For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has also ceased from His works as God did from His. Therefore, since it remains, since it remains for some
to enter it, even though those who had formerly had it preached to them failed to enter it, there remains this rest that is to be entered. And it's today that He tells us to enter into this rest, which is why He said, Joshua, who was the one that came after Moses, couldn't lead them into rest. It was a temporary rest that He led them into. But today there is a rest that remains for all of us.
Today there is an opportunity for us to walk into this rest. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has rested from all of His works as God did from His. I have a question for you. Have you rested from all of your works? Or are you still trying to earn God's love? Have you rested from all of your works? Or are you still
trying to earn God's approval? Have you rested from all of your works? Or are you still trying to earn God's favor in your life? Because I've got bad news for you, if that's you. You will never be good enough. You will never earn His approval. You can never earn His love. It's just all that there is to it. Because His love cannot be earned. Because we can never be good enough
for that. Because you and I, have fallen short of God's glorious standard. The good news is that you don't have to earn His love because He's already given it to you. You don't have to earn that position in Christ because it's already been granted to you. You don't have to earn that favor in God's eyes because it's already been gifted to you. You need to rest in it.
You need to rest in the position that you have in Jesus Christ. And too many people in the world today are still trying to earn the favor. Too many people in the church today still turn it into a work and they're trying to earn their place in God's kingdom. And because of it, they're going all kinds of different directions and no one's resting. Everyone finds themselves
on the treadmill of good works, right? So I share this with First Service too. I used to like to run when my body operated properly. And I still can't run right now which is probably the most frustrating thing in the world to me because there's too many muscles that don't feel good when I run until I heal up just a little bit more. But when I used to like to run,
it was never outside in the wintertime. The older I get, the less tough about cold that I am. Amen. Testify. So I used to say if it's below 40 degrees, there was a time when I was like if it's below 20, I don't run outside. And then it was 30, I'm up to 50 now, right? A few more years and it's 90. That's it. That's all there is to it. Below 50, I don't run outside.
So when it gets to be about November, I start running on a treadmill. But you know what's the most awful thing in the world to run on? The treadmill. Right? So you get on this treadmill and you get running and you're running hard and you're sweating and you're tired and you're exhausted and you look around you and you're like I'm in the exact same place as when I started.
But I'm exhausted and I'm sweating. I'm just running along like that's the person on the treadmill next to me that I'm running. And I'm running and I'm luckily sports center is on and sometimes a good soap opera every now and then down at the rec center is Telemundo and I enjoy that too. Catching up on my Spanish soap operas. And so I get to watch whatever's on TV right now
and I'm like oh. And so I'm running but I'm not getting anywhere. And I get off the treadmill and I go I got nowhere. But I'm exhausted. That's what works are. When you try to live your life by good works, you're stuck on a treadmill and you get incredibly exhausted. But you never get anywhere. You never accomplished anything. I'll never forget in Bible college this
crazy hippie guy going I used to be on the treadmill of good works bro. But then I jumped off and just got into the race of God's rest. It was amazing. And I was like for whatever reason I totally connect with exactly what that guy just said. Like I am 100% on track with this guy right here. Get off the treadmill of good works and get into the race of God's rest.
Because that's where he wants us to be. Because in the race of God's rest, and I know that doesn't make sense but I'm going to connect it in just a second. In the race of God's rest, you grow in his grace. So he says for the one who has entered his rest has also rested from all of his works as God did from his. But this position that we have, this rest that we have is something that we grow into.
And it's something that we're not natural with. Because in our minds we still have to work. I was listening to Don McClure teach this week at the pastor's conference. Don McClure is absolutely amazing. That guy is super not young anymore. But he can still kill it when he gets up there and teaches. Although he's a little more scattered than he used to be. I told this story at first service too. He's a little more
scattered than he used to be. But dude is just a legend. Right? Like he's one of the only original Calvary guys that are left. And so he gets up and he teaches and a couple of times you're like okay I missed a connection there somewhere but still good. I still like what you're saying here. And there's these two TVs back there. Kind of like that was supposed to tell me what time it is but it doesn't
right now. But it's supposed to tell him what time it is and how much time he has left. And he's not paying attention to the two TVs because he's old school and doesn't believe in that sort of thing. And he looks to the side. It's about 9.52 and he was supposed to end at 9.45 and he looks to the side of Robert Furrow, the guy who runs the conference and he says, when am I supposed to be
finished? And he goes seven minutes ago. And he goes God bless. And just walks off of the stage. And we're just like what a legend. Like nobody else can get away with that. But that dude can get away with it because he's a living legend. Anyway, so he tells this story when he's talking about he's in Ephesians he's talking about the fact that we have been adopted into
God's family. He tells this story about a friend that lived in his neighborhood when he was a little kid. He said, I had this friend and he was from Hungary. He'd been adopted by a family and the place that he came from was so abjectly poor that he had nothing. He didn't understand what it was to be loved. He didn't understand what it was to have enough food. He didn't even understand the language
of the people that had just adopted him. But this wonderful Christian family adopted this boy and they brought him into their home and they made him one of their own. He said they had this great big barbecue in the neighborhood to celebrate the fact that this boy had been brought home. So all the other little kids in the neighborhood are there and there he is.
He can't speak the language but they just put a hamburger in front of him and he's pretty excited about that because it smelled pretty good. So everybody's sitting there eating and pretty soon all the kids start crying. And they realize that he has stolen everyone's hamburger. At the table. And they're like, it's okay, it's okay, he doesn't understand yet. So they got everybody more hamburgers and they said
by the time it was done he had about 12 hamburgers. Because he was just eating as much as he possibly could because he didn't have any food. And he didn't understand his new position. He didn't understand how he could rest in that new position. So after everybody left they took him upstairs and they showed him his brand new room that they had decorated for him to the best of their ability
for a little boy and they got some clothes that they thought were probably going to fit him and they got him settled into his room and he got laid down at night and they said we all went to bed and they said the next morning the family got up and they went to make breakfast only there was no food in the pantry and there was no food in the fridge because he had raided both of them and he had stored all of it in his room. Apparently there were cheese slices between the sheets of his bed that got stuck there for a really long time and had to get him a new mattress because this kid didn't understand how to rest in the position that he had. You see it didn't make sense to him yet. I don't have to hoard food because I'm
one of their kids and they're always going to feed me. I don't have to make them love me because I'm one of their kids now and they're always going to love me. But he was always trying to figure out his position. Eventually he came to the place of understanding it. But that's the way we are sometimes. Sometimes we don't fully understand who we are in Christ
and we're always trying to hoard the food. We're always trying to earn the position and what Jesus says is enter my rest and stop with all of your works. Understand who you are in me. Because you don't have to do all of this. I'm always going to be here. He says for the one who has entered his rest has himself rested from his works as God did from his. Well we've seen the promise.
The next thing that we see is the diligence. Notice what it says in verse 11. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest so that no one will fall through following the same example of disobedience. Now I don't know about you but that feels like two very opposite things. Rest be diligent. Right? Some of your translations may even say work to enter the rest
or labor to enter into the rest. And you're kind of like that's an odd connection to make here writer to the Hebrews guy whose name we don't know yet. What do you mean be diligent to enter into the rest? Well let's kind of break this down a little bit. Starts off with the phrase therefore. Therefore. Because therefore we are to enter into the rest. It reminds us of everything that he said.
Therefore since a promise remains, since some fail to enter into the rest, since faith is required to enter into the rest, since God has finished the work and today is the day, therefore be diligent. The word diligent means to make every effort. To make every effort. And what do we make every effort to do? To appropriate God's promises by faith. To appropriate God's promises
by faith. Because faith is not passive. It requires diligence to trust in and rely upon Jesus. Faith is not a passive thing that we do. Faith is an active thing that we do. Rest is actually an active thing that we do because we actively put our faith in the promises of Jesus Christ. Remember the example I gave in verse 1? How I had to go through the place of understanding
that this is the truth and I have to choose to believe the truth in everything? That's what it means to be diligent to enter into God's rest. It means to appropriate by faith all of the truth of everything that this has to say. Because God's word has to be combined with faith, otherwise God's word does us no good. So we diligently appropriate by faith all of the things that God has for us.
For the children of Israel, they had to be diligent to enter into the rest by following the directions that God gave them. That's what the entire book of Joshua is about, is their diligence of entering God's rest. God said, take the city of Jericho. Do it by walking around the wall seven times. Well, by faith, they walked around the wall and the wall came down. Every
battle that they won was a diligent faith victory. Because they believed the promise, therefore God fulfilled the promise. And they acted on it. And that's the idea of this diligence here. The diligence has to do with appropriating by faith all of the promises of God. Whether, again, that's overcoming temptation, whether that is stepping into what God has called
for you to do, whatever it is, there's a rest that you achieve when you diligently appropriate those promises into your life. And so, as we do so, there's a couple of tools that God gives to us to appropriate these promises into our lives. The first one is the Word of God. Notice what it says in verse 12.
The first tool that we are given to appropriate the promises of God are the very promises themselves, the Word of God. And he describes the Word of God in a handful of ways. The first way that he describes the Word of God is that it is living and active. It is living and active. This Word is a living Word of God because it is empowered by the Holy Spirit. And it's amazing how God's
Word can speak directly into our lives. It's amazing how God's Word can speak directly into your life in every instance simply by being read or by being taken in by you. Many of you come to me after services and you say, you have no idea how much I needed to hear that message. And my response is usually you're right, I didn't have any idea how much you needed to hear that. Because I don't know everybody's
situations all the time. And I don't preach to anybody's particular situation. I just simply speak what the Word says and God uses it to apply to your life. The fascinating thing is to send into a group Bible study and everybody can read the exact same section of Scripture and God will speak something different to everyone. Don't get me wrong, there's a general
there's a general understanding of what the Word says but the application can work differently in lots of different people's lives. Because that's what God's Word is. It's living and it's active. And it speaks into our hearts. I've shared with you lots of times and I'm going to keep sharing this with you because this has become such an important part of my life. I've started
my devotional times by saying what am I struggling with today? And I write that out. Because it's important to say this is what I'm struggling with. But the amazing thing is when I'm willing to own that God's Word speaks to it almost every single time. Is it because I sought out some Scripture that was going to specifically speak to that? No. It's because God's Word is living and it's active.
And it reaches into the depths of our heart and it reaches into the depths of our soul and speaks exactly where we need it to speak. That's what God's Word is able to do. That's why you have to unleash the Word in your own life. But not only is it living and active, it is able to pierce and to divide. It says it's sharper than any two-edged sword. It cuts going in and it cuts
coming out. That's what it's able to do. And it is able to pierce and divide every part of who we are. It's able to cut out the things that are damaging in our lives as it reveals the damage, as it reveals the unbelief, as it reveals the areas of my life where I have either slipped into works or I have slipped into license in my life. It is able to show me that.
It's able to divide all of the contents of my life and show me the areas. It's able to point out what are the strongholds in my life and then it's able to give me what I need to uproot the strongholds in my life. Because the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. They are spiritual. And it becomes that weapon that we use. In our warfare. But not only is it living and active,
not only is it able to pierce and divide, but it is able to judge the thoughts and the intents of the heart. It's able to judge the thoughts and the intents of the heart. In other words, it's able to get past all the things that I put on display for everybody to see. And it's able to get to what's really going on on the inside of me. It's able to cut out the hypocrisy that
I can put up in front of all of you. And it's able to get down to the reality of what's really inside of me. And it's able to do that in your life too. That's why most people avoid reading the word of God. It's not because they don't understand it. That's the excuse we give. But what we really don't want it to do is pierce deep into our heart and divide the thoughts and the intents of our heart.
And really deal with the reality of who we are. Because as you read God's word, God's word reads you. And it's as you begin to divide God's word, God's word begins to divide you. And it's so powerful. And if you want to enter into the rest, then you better get to know God's word. Because I found in my own life, I can't believe things I don't know exist. I can't claim
the truth of God's word if I don't know the truth of God's word. I can't believe the promise of God if I don't know the promise of God. So I get into God's word so that I can know what it has to say for me. So that I can know what it has to say to pierce and divide all the things that need divided inside of me. But not only is God's word one of the tools that I use in my
life to ultimately come to a place of rest, but God himself does the work. Notice what it says in verse 13. And there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have to do. You see, there's also an aspect of me on a daily basis presenting myself to God and saying, Lord, you see everything. You even see the blind
spots that I don't. As self-aware as we can be, we still miss things in our own lives because of our ability to justify the flesh. Because of our ability to justify sin. And God is so good that if we will lay ourselves before him and say, Lord, now's the time for the examination. I won't hide anything from you. I just want you to really look and see what's going on.
He's able to lay bare that heart and start showing you things. I'm here to tell you right now, when God begins to open up and really show you things, it's a little bit of a painful experience. But that's okay. Everything in your life that's going to ultimately make you better is going to be a little bit of a painful experience. I talked to a good friend of mine that's a
physical therapist last weekend. And I said, okay, what do I do now? How do I begin to heal from this injury? Because I want to get back to doing normal life things again, which I can't do right now. And he said, okay, here's a handful of things. He wrote a few things down for me. And he said, now you need to understand, a little bit of pain is okay. Listen to your
body. A little bit of pain is okay. It should be an annoyance, not excruciating. But it's okay for it to hurt, because that means that you're working. And I think that sometimes, as believers in Jesus Christ, we don't believe that statement. We think if it hurts, it must not be from God. After all, once we come to Jesus, isn't our life supposed to be perfect?
Isn't it supposed to be world peace in my own apartment, right? The ultimate Barbie dream? No. And what stage of anyone's life that accomplishes anything is that true? And yet we have been sold this lie. It's okay for it to hurt a little bit. But that's okay. Because God's at work in the midst of it. And you'll find your rest in the midst of that. Because God's Holy Spirit is really good
at being at work. And so we have seen the promise. We have seen the diligence. Now let's spend just a few minutes looking at the high priest. Look down at verse 14. Therefore, in light of all these things, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest
who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, what does he mean by that? We have a great high priest who came to earth to dwell among us. Since we have this
great high priest, listen, let us hold fast our confession. I want to point out to you the fact that this is the third time in as many chapters. Chapter 2, he said, hold fast. Chapter 3, he said, hold fast. Chapter 4, he says, hold fast. It's like he's writing to a group of people who are on the brink of losing their faith because everything had gotten hard
and they were about to let go. Either let go and slip into legalism or let go and slip into licentiousness. Because remember, that's the fear that we have. So he says to hold fast. And I need us to understand something. The high priest is there to help us hold fast. Because those are the two directions that you're going to go. If you don't find your rest in Christ,
you will either slip into a system of works where you can check off a box and feel really good about yourself because you've checked off the box. I have known people that have done this. That said, you know what, I need a little bit more of a works-based sort of a situation. After all, faith without works is dead, right? Well, that's true, but there's still a rest
that we're supposed to have in Christ. And they've slipped into a system of works, and I hope they come back, but that's all that there is to it. And it's because they won't rest in the reality of who they are in Christ. But then I've known other people that have slipped into the reality of licentiousness where they said, it's just too hard. I can't be enough. I can't do
good enough, so I'm just going to give up. And now they're living in sin. And I hope that they come back. But we have a high priest who is there for us. Therefore, hold fast to your confession. Why? Because this high priest is not one who can't sympathize with your weakness. But this high priest is one who is tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.
This is the second time, again, in this book that this has come up, that we have this high priest that understands everything that we've been through. So when we come to Jesus with the heaviness that you're experiencing right now, because I sense it, when you come to Jesus with that right now, He understands. He knows what you're going through because He's lived it. He knows what you're experiencing because He's lived it.
So those of you that brought some heavy burdens in here, whether those be spiritual burdens that you've brought in here, or the burdens of your health, of your life, of your family, of your kids, of your finances, whatever it is, whatever you brought in here, once you know, Jesus doesn't look at you and go, I just don't get it. He looks at you and says, I've been there. Now let me help you. Now let me save you. Because He knows
everything that you've been through. He's been through everything that you have, listen, without sin. So not only can He sympathize with where you are, but He can teach you how to do it right, and He can help you how to do it right. He says, He's been through all the things that we are yet without sin. Therefore, since He's a great High Priest, since He can sympathize
with our weakness, and since He's been tempted as we are yet without sin, therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with confidence. The confidence of being a child of God. I always tell people, when I really get locked into studying, when I really get locked into what I need to do, I try not to answer my phone.
There are three people in the world I will answer my phone for. Well, four I should probably answer for my mom too. There are four people in the world that I will answer the phone for if I'm really locked in. My mother, my wife, and my daughters. But especially my daughters. They know beyond a shadow of a doubt, they can interrupt me anytime that they want to.
They've been doing it since the day they were born. And they do not approach me thinking, Dad won't listen to me today. They approach me going, Dad will listen to me today. Because they approach with confidence. And they can confidently show up. And they know that I'm going to help them with whatever's going on. I will drop what I'm doing and I will help them.
Because that's the confidence that they have in their relationship with me as their father. Because I have tried to foster that confidence in them since they were tiny kids. And they know that they can come to me with anything. That's the kind of confidence that he says to draw near with. Remember, you've been adopted into the family of God, but you don't have
to hoard the food anymore. You don't have to be scared the family is going to leave anymore. You can approach the father with confidence. And as you approach the father with confidence, he'll do two things. Number one, he'll give you mercy. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. As you come to him with your fears and your sins and all your struggles, he will show you mercy.
But then also he will give you grace. He will gift you everything that you need to help in your time of need. Brothers and sisters, God wants us to rest in who he is. He wants us to diligently enter that rest. And he wants the high priest of Jesus Christ to be the one who leads us into that rest. Amen? Let's all stand. And if you'd bow with me. I do sense that there's
some burdens that were brought into here this morning. Just some heaviness. And so, I don't know who it is, but I do want to pray for you. So, if you just need some rest in your life, if you're carrying something that's pretty heavy for you, and you need the help of the high priest, I want to be able to pray for you. Would you just put your hand in the air?
I sense that there's some folks that have some things going on. Amen. Okay. God knows. The Lord knows. Well, Father, I just lift these folks up to you right now. And God, I just pray for your peace in their lives. Father, your word says that we can carry our burdens to you, knowing that you are the one who gives us rest, Lord. And so, Father, each person that put their hand up, they have
something specific in their heart. And Lord, I praise you that you are the God who intercedes when I don't know how to. And so, Lord, hear their hearts cry. And may they find their rest in you. Lord, may they be able to give that over to you every single day, just to roll that burden onto you. Father, for the rest of us that are in here that either we're scared to put our hands up or we're
walking in some pretty good confidence right now, I pray for the strength of your Holy Spirit. Father, I pray that that rest that you have for us would be the reality that we would live in. And Father, I lift up anyone in this room this morning that's never put their faith in you. Uh, Lord, maybe they've maybe they've dissented to it intellectually, Lord, but they've never truly committed their heart to you.
Lord, may today be the day that they just simply they just simply confess that they're a sinner and that they need a Savior and believe that your cross is enough to set them free from sin. And so, Father, do your work in us. And as we go out from this place, I pray that your word would continue to sink deeply into our hearts. Into our souls. Fashion in us the heart of men and women of God.
We just pray these things, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. Love you all. Be blessed.
Father God, this morning we just give you praise and we give you thanks. I thank you for your word. Thank you for how sharp and powerful it is, Lord God. And may it continue to do its work as we leave here today. We love you, Lord, and we praise you. In Jesus' name. Amen. You guys have a wonderful week. God bless you guys.