Danger of Missing Rest

The main idea of this information is that the author of Hebrews is warning Jewish Christians not to turn back to Judaism and to remember that their salvation is through Jesus Christ. The author discusses the dangers of neglecting their salvation and falling into unbelief, using examples from the Old Testament. The author emphasizes the importance of faith and obedience in order to enter into God's rest. The rest being referred to is a spiritual rest that comes through faith in Jesus Christ. So, we are in Hebrews chapter 4 tonight, Hebrews chapter 4. We have been studying and looking on Wednesday night at the book of Hebrews. And of course, I want you to understand the underlying theme of Hebrews is that God wants us to go all the way with Jesus Christ. And what we have is, as the author was writing to Christians that just so happened to be Jewish Christians that had made a profession of faith, that had come to Jesus Christ. But yet, now that persecution was happening and all of this was going on, now they were under the problem of wanting to turn back and wanting to go back to Judaism and to go back under that regimen. And they were forgetting that Jesus Christ was what got them there. And it's Jesus Christ that is going to keep them there. And we've already looked at two dangers already in Hebrews. The first danger we saw in Hebrews chapter 2 verse 1 through 3 where we were aware of the danger of neglecting our salvation. And he said in chapter 2 and verse 1, Therefore, we ought to give the more harnessed heed to things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense or reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him? And of course, the major danger is that if we forget about that we are saved by grace through faith that not of ourselves, it is a gift of God. And things like we trust Jesus Christ for our salvation, but then all of a sudden somewhere or another we think that we have to work in order to keep that salvation. We have to work in order to please God, in order to be obedient to God. And so the first problem that they had was neglecting their salvation. When we have the danger of neglecting the salvation, that often leads to the second danger. And the second danger that we looked at two weeks ago is the danger of unbelief. He says in chapter 3 and verse 7, he said, Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation in the day of temptation in the wilderness. Now remember when we looked at that a couple of weeks ago just to kind of bring us back to where we're at right now, the author is actually quoting from Psalms chapter 95 verse 7 and 8. And he also goes down in chapter 3 and verse 13 and he quotes again from there. He says, Exhort one another daily while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end, while it is said today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation. For some, when they heard, did provoke, howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. And then again in chapter 4 verse 7 that we will look at tonight, he says again he limited the certain days, saying in David, that today, after so long a time, as it is said, today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your heart. When you go back and a lot of people have this problem, commentators, preachers, theologians, students of the Bible, a lot of times when we see the New Testament and they quote from the Old Testament, a lot of us are very good with our concordances. And we go and we take our concordance and we find the Word and we go and we look up that Word and it sends us to other passages. And sometimes what we will do is we tend to take that passage and plug it in to support what we're talking about without looking at the context of it. And when we do that, what we're having is an issue because we are taking things out of context. And so when an author in the New Testament, they wasn't using a concordance and just quoting things to fill time and to fill space. They were trying to teach us something about the Old Testament as it applies to Jesus Christ in our life. And so when they did it, we need to understand that when you go back and you look at the Old Testament, you have to see the context of what is being mentioned there. And as we begin and we look at Psalms chapter 95, we see this mentioned over and over in Hebrews going back to Psalms 95 where God is telling us to not harden our hearts as in the day of provocation. And we discover that that was in the wilderness journey when they did not believe God. And so that is the danger of unbelief. And they began moving toward the promised land. They stopped off at Mount Sinai for 40 days. And God gave them the law and God made them their people. And then he finally brings them to the edge of the promised land. And what did they do? They did not believe God. They tempted God. They tested God in that. And because of that, they were not allowed to enter into the rest of Canaan. And so they turned out of Egypt. They left Egypt and those that left Egypt were never able to go into the promised land because of their unbelief. And so the warning of the Spirit of God in this passage is do not do what Israel did. Don't be like Israel. I don't know who quoted it or who said it or who to give reference to, but I know you've all heard this quote. But it says if we don't beware of history, we're apt to repeat it. And that's what the author is telling us here. Don't be like Israel. Commit yourself to Jesus Christ. Once you have seen the promised land and put your eyes on the promised land, be like Joshua and Caleb. If God has given us this, then we can take it. We can go. And so as we look at this and we see this, we find that it was their unbelief that led to disobedience. And this disobedience led to a hardened heart. The more you disobey and the more you sin, the easier and the more comfortable you get with sin. And the more hard it is for the Holy Spirit to convict us and to break our hearts of it. We found out in chapter 3, verse 7 through 19, the reason that the Jews never made it to Canaanland. And it was because of unbelief. And so I want us to understand and just make a very simple statement. Unbelief forfeits rest. In other words, the whole idea of Canaanland, the whole idea that God, and we're going to look at that tonight, and this is kind of under the same warning as the danger of unbelief, but I want us to be able to understand this rest that God is trying to give us, this rest that we are to have even now in Jesus Christ. And when you go back to Psalms chapter 95, which is being quoted here, it is a reference to them entering into the land of Canaan. That was to be their rest. What? They were going to go into Canaan. God was going to deliver them from all of the enemies. God was going to provide them with houses that they did not have to build, cities that they did not have to build. God was going to provide them with food that they didn't have to gather or work for or plant or hoe. Everything was going to be taken care of. So Canaan becomes, in Psalms chapter 95, this picture of rest, of trusting God and allowing God to do what was supposed to be done. Nobody experiences God's rest apart from faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please him, for he that believeth in God must believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him. If you go back to Numbers chapter 14 and you look at Moses' situation, you find in chapter 14, verse 22 and 23, that God is talking to Israel. And God says this, Because all those men which have seen my glory and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times and have not hearkened to my voice, surely they shall not see the land which I swear unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it. God says basically because you did not never believe in me, but you constantly thought that you needed to put me to the test, you've never accepted me, you've always wanted to prove me ten times, you have tried me, you have never believed, therefore you will not be allowed to enter the land. The Bible says their carcasses would die in the wilderness. They would fall in the wilderness. And then what happens? Well, then Joshua gets to take up the path. And so now everyone has died in the wilderness. Moses has now died. And what did Joshua do? Joshua led the Israelites, this younger generation, all the young people that was under the age of twenty, when they rebelled against God. Now Joshua is leading them into the promised land. And what happened when they got into the promised land? Did they find rest? No. Why? Because of disobedience. They never did occupy all of the land. They never did drive out all of the enemies. And so therefore they never did fully receive the rest that God had for them. And so when you look, there was no rest found in Moses' case. There was no rest found in Joshua's case. The people that died in the wilderness, who entered the land because of unbelief, there is still rest that is available. And that's what the passage is going to talk about tonight. If Moses never accomplished full rest, and Joshua never did get full rest, but there is a rest, then how do we get it? That's what I want. I want to experience that. And so when we look at Canaan, we see this picture of this divine spiritual rest that comes by faith in Jesus Christ. Where Canaan was a physical land, when we look at the rest today, it is a spiritual rest. And so as we look at this, I want us to understand that it only comes to those that are committed to faith in Jesus Christ. Israel never did fully enter into rest because of their unbelief. And they couldn't make it happen under Joshua. And yet they couldn't make it happen under Moses. But they did make it happen under one, Jesus Christ. And so through Jesus Christ, we can now enter into rest. Now, I want to define this term rest for you tonight. Because I want you to make sure that you understand, because as we go through these passages, everything you're going to be thinking the whole time, what does he mean by rest? And so I want to define that up front so that we know it. You look up the word rest in a dictionary, and most of these definitions actually fit into the context of what we find here in the Bible. But first of all, the dictionary defines rest as a ceasing from action or motion. We rest. I've used this illustration before. My wife knows that when I come in from working all day long, when I sit down in that respirator, I have rest. I have ceased from motion and activity, right? And so if you want me to do something, you better get me before I get there, because I am now at rest. And the word in the Greek and the Hebrew is identically the same exact definition. To cease from action or motion. You stop doing what you are doing. The action or the motion is now over with. It is ceased. It means to stop from labor, to stop from exertion. And so it is no more self-effort. It's no more trying to please God by our own feeble, freshly worked, by our efforts. At the moment you enter into God's rest, you cease from all of the work of trying to please God. And you remain perfect in His sight and His abilities. And so this involves – Lisa's been sharing quite a bit with me. She's been studying and looking at a lot about legalism and everything else. When you understand rest, then that does away with legalism. Because there is no one in our righteousness, the greatest righteousness that we can perform is with filthy rags. And so there's no room for legalism in God's rest. The dictionary secondly defines rest as to be free from whatever worries or disturbs you. Now, how many of us don't get rest because we're worried, too worried to be able to sleep? Right? We go to bed and finally the doctor gave me these little white pills that are amazing because they stop my mind from thinking and worrying. Right? Because, man, I'll get in bed and I'll be dog-tired, I'll be sleepy, and all of a sudden something about laying flat, clearing everything off, the quietness of the room, what begins to happen? The wheels start turning. And once they get into motion, then they are there. And so the dictionary defines rest as being free from whatever worries or disturbs you, from whatever is hassling you, whatever is creating worry in your mind. And in reality, in a sense, it means to be quiet, to be still, to be peaceful, to be from guilt and the things which drive us to neurosis, psychosis, and all these other erosions that we can come up with. And so bringing that across to God's rest, we would say that entering God's rest simply is ceasing from our work, but it also simply means to be at peace with God. When we are at rest with God, we are at peace with God, knowing that we are not in our righteousness, but in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. There is no more anxiety. There's no more pressure. There's no more guilt. We are at peace. And then the dictionary thirdly defines rest as to lie down, to be settled, or to be fixed. No more moving around. No more shifting around. And we take this again to God's rest. And we say that God's rest is the kind of rest where a man is positionally established in Jesus Christ. There is no more running from philosophy to philosophy. There's no more being blown about by every wind of doctrine and the cunning craftiness of mankind. There's no more floating over this or that. What it means is that we have become established and rooted. We are on solid, firm ground. We are at rest. We are unmovable, grounded. The fourth definition for rest is to remain confident, to put your trust in something. In other words, you rest in something that has to do with the sense of confidence. That I can rest in the confidence that I have in God, in His security. No more fear that we have, but we have absolute trust and absolute confidence in God's care and charge for our life. And the last thing that the dictionary says about rest is to lean on and to enter into God's rest means that for the rest of your life and eternally, you can rest on God and you can lean on Him and you can be sure that He will never topple over. And so when we talk about rest and what we see with Israel when they go into Canaan land, while it pictured rest was because of this new relationship that they had with God. Where did Israel come from? Egypt. What was Egypt? Bondage. They didn't have rest. They didn't have peace. They were working. They were laboring. As a matter of fact, if you go back and you read, Pharaoh had complete dominance over them. As a matter of fact, so much so that because the people were so great and so mighty, he started taking away their supplies and started making them go and do extra work by getting the supplies, by getting more of their stuff, but demanding the same amount of product. Pharaoh was also so demanding that he demanded that all of the male children be put to death to try to slow down the population and the growth of the people that God was placing. But all of a sudden now, God has taken them out of Egypt and he's sending them to a land of rest. A land that is outside of bondage. When we think about that new relationship in Jesus Christ, what we should think about is that we are confident. We are secure. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. One of my favorite passages that I love to go and read as it goes down, there's no tribulation, there's nothing in heaven, on earth, in hell. There's nothing that can separate us from the love of God. And so this new relationship gives us confidence. It gives us security. We think about the rock of ages and hiding in the cleft of the rock and our anchor in the storm. Why? Because of our security. God said, I will lead you into the promised land. I will give it to you. All they had to do was trust God. All they had to do was believe in God. The other thing about our new relationship is we are settled and fixed. As I mentioned, there's no more of this floating around. We become grounded. How many times did the Apostle Paul, Peter, John, all through the New Testament, talks about us being established, being secure, placing ourselves in the foundation of Jesus Christ. In other words, become rest. Trust the foundation. Trust what God is beginning us. God has promised what to finish it. And so that is that security, that settle, and that fixation that we have. We also see in our new relationship with God that means we can be free from that which disturbs us. All of the guilt. All of the worrying. All of the things that go in life. All of the reasons that we have to worry. And there are a lot of reasons to worry in our world today, right? But guess what? Because of Jesus Christ, we can be free from everything that disturbs us. And that's what rest is all about. It's simply about being secure in Jesus Christ, in that relationship. And so when the Bible talks in chapters 3 and chapters 4 in Hebrews that God offers you rest, and he's going to use this phrase over and over, basically when we draw all of this together, basically we can say that it means that those things which we have talked about, a new relationship with God, is basically multifaceted. There's a lot of different edges to this idea of rest. It is full. It is blessed. It is sweet. It is satisfying. It is peaceful. And that's what God is offering to every one of us as Christians. And these Christian Jews that the author is writing to, that's exactly what he is trying to get across to them. And that's why he goes back and uses Psalms 95, because he is picturing Canaan, rest, that Israel never understood. They never entered into rest because of their unbelief. Even under King David, they never experienced full rest. Even under Solomon, they never experienced rest. It wasn't until Jesus Christ, when he came upon the scene, that now we can experience and have rest. And so there's also two other dimensions of rest that I'll just mention briefly, and one is called kingdom rest. And this has to do with the millennial. This is when Jesus Christ sits on the throne of David and he rules with the rod of iron. It says the lion will lay down with the lamb. The children will be able to play in the vipers' den and there won't be any biting. There won't be any poison. That God is going to have complete control and dominion. The world is going to be at rest. As a matter of fact, it talks about in Revelation that the gates are going to be wide open. There's not going to be locks on them. Because why? It's a kingdom rest. Everything is going to be under the control of Jesus Christ. There's another rest that is called eternal rest. That's what we are going to get when we get to heaven. In other words, we are going to live in heaven with rest. There's going to be no more sin. There's going to be no more of the effects of sin, the results of sin. And that is going to be eternal when we get to heaven. But what we need to understand is that the author here of Hebrews tells us that there is a rest for us to have today. And so many times we as Christians think about, yeah, I'll be able to rest when I get to heaven. But we ought to be in rest right now as believers. And so one of the reasons that they don't and one of the reasons that you and I don't enter into rest today is because of unbelief. We really don't trust God. We really don't believe God and what He tells us about rest. And so it's unbelievable to think it, but it's true that what God says about rest is that God offers this to every individual. But yet we simply don't believe Him. And so just like Israel, there are those that never enter into rest. And so the warning from the Spirit of God is do not pardon your hearts. Over and over He mentions this in this passage in chapters 3 and chapter 4. And what He is telling us is do not be like unbelieving Israel and miss God's perfect rest for your life. Now, I want you to understand tonight that the strength of the gospel is not how hard you work. It's how hard you rest. The strength of the gospel is not how hard we work, but how well we rest. What do you mean by that? Keep your finger here in Hebrews chapter 4 and turn over to Isaiah chapter 30 and verse 15. Isaiah 30, 15. He says, For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, in returning and rest shall you be saved. In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength and you would not. Where was Israel's salvation supposed to come? In their rest. In their quietness. In their peace. As a matter of fact, in two weeks, Lord willing, and keeps me on track, in two weeks, we are going to see exactly how this was to be played out in the life of Israel when they battled Jericho. God gave them those ridiculous battle claims, right? I want you to go, and I don't even want you to take a weapon with you or anything, right? I simply want you to march around the walls one time every day. And on the seventh day, march around seven times and shout. And when you shout, the walls are going to come tumbling down and I'm going to give you the city. They did not have to lift a single finger. They didn't do anybody. And contrary to popular belief, walking around the city did not weaken the walls and all of that, this massive army that was there. In other words, all they did was simply obey God and God gave them Jericho. That's how the whole promised land was supposed to happen. And then in three weeks, we are going to look at the very next battle, the battle of Ai. And we're going to see because of one man's sins, it cost the life of 3,000 individuals because they did not believe and trust God. And they said, you know what? We don't need God. You stay back here and celebrate with the people and what are we going to do? We'll go down there and we'll take a few men and we'll whoop these guys. And what happened? They got whooped because they didn't believe in God. God didn't intend for them to fight. And so as we look at this, Isaiah says, it is the rest shall be saved. In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength and you would not. Spiritual maturity is not always found in how hard a person works. That's what we judge maturity by. Man, they are a mature Christian because every time we have something, they're working or they're doing. That doesn't mean maturity. As a matter of fact, a great example of this would, who do you think was more spiritually mature, Mary or Martha? Martha was busy, right? She was preparing the meal. She was getting everything ready. She was not. What was Mary? Mary was at the feet of Jesus. And when Mary walked her down to bed, Jesus told Martha, said, boy, you'll always have food and work, right? But you'll only have me for a little while. Mary is doing what is the most important. So maturity is not measured by work. So what is maturity readied by? Maturity, spiritual maturity, is measured by rest. How rested are we? What I mean by that is in Jesus Christ. We find rest in Jesus Christ. Overworking leads to all kinds of medical conditions. You realize that overworking leads to heart disease? It's been found in studies that overworking can cause cancer. Overworking can cause lung ailments. Overworking can cause accidental injuries, cirrhosis of the liver. And I could go on and on and on. We all know that overworking destroys families, right? Because we put so much into work that what? We neglect our families. And so we see in the crisis and the erosion of the family in the United States because a lot of it dealing with overworking. Now, I understand working is necessary, right? Every one of us has quoted the Word of God and have used this phrase, If you don't work, you don't eat, right? You've got to work. You've got to work. And God has laid out that from the very beginning, all the way from the beginning. He gave them manna, but what did they do? They had to go gather. They had to trust God. And only for that day. They couldn't gather up. The only time they gathered up for two days was the day before the Sabbath day. And they gathered, and God was able to do it. But because this work is necessary in our culture, work oftentimes becomes our identity, right? What is usually, when you walk up to a stranger or somebody, what is the first thing that we usually talk to the person about? The weather, right? That's just number one. We talk about the weather. What's the second question that we usually ask people? Where do you work or what do you do? Right? And what has our culture done? If you've looked at the world today, all of these stupid titles. Have you noticed, you know, this person will be an assistant supervisor of this function or whatever. They've got three employees, right? Now, how can you think that everybody wants a title, right? Everybody wants just this idea because why? Unfortunately, when we give that title, when people look at us, they identify us by the work that we do. By what we do. And this becomes a constant striving to prove ourselves and to prove these people. And so we start doing this, you know. One of the things, and I've told my wife, and she's proud of it and she claims it, but, you know, a lot of women are embarrassed when they have to tell somebody that they're a housewife, right? I'm just a housewife and a mother. No. But what happens? Our culture has placed upon us where we're identified by our work. And so we become constant in striving to prove ourselves and to please people. If you go back to Hebrews chapter 4, I want you to notice this is what the author of Hebrews is addressing. He is letting us know that if we don't neglect our salvation, then the gospel of Jesus Christ, if we don't entertain unbelief, then we can actually find rest. But if you have unbelief because you are neglecting your salvation in your relationship with Jesus Christ, you will never experience rest. If we fail in these areas, we're going to run the danger of not entering into rest. And so look at what he says in verse 3 of chapter 4. For we which have believed do enter into rest. As he said, as I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world, the gospel provides rest. But the flip side of that coin is that if we haven't found rest, if you are not experiencing rest, then you are most likely under the wrath of God. And God is going to judge you. And that's what we see played out here. And so notice, first of all, in verse 1, the availability of rest. Notice what he says. Let us therefore fear. Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. Now, what's the Holy Spirit use of therefore? Why does he say let us therefore? Because he is going back to chapter 3 to the warning of unbelief, of hardening our hearts against God as in the day of provocation, of not listening to God, of being deceitful in sin with God. And if you remember, as we go back, what did we learn two weeks ago? Israel blew it. They were on the brink of the promised land. They were on the brink of rest, and they blew it. And they never did enter into God's promised rest because of fear. Remember, what did they say? We are as grasshoppers, and there's giants in the land. They allowed fear to make them disobey. And notice what he says, let us therefore fear, fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. And so what the Holy Spirit is leading the author to say here is that we ought to be afraid that God has promised us rest, that God has promised us life and life more abundantly, and we spend our entire Christian life, our entire journey, and we never experience rest or the abundant life. That ought to scare us to death. Paul made this statement. Paul said that I beat my body into subjection, lest when I preach Jesus Christ to others, I myself should be cast away. I should disqualify myself from running, trying to worry about everybody else. That's this idea of rest. And so therefore, what should we do? We need to fear. Fear, why? Because when you don't believe God, you don't enter into his rest. That's something to be afraid of. That's something to fear and to be afraid of. So he's reminded his readers in chapter 3 that the generations which came out of Egypt did not enter into the Canaan rest because of unbelief. Then he warns our possible failure of not entering into rest because of unbelief and not entering into God's perfect rest because of unbelief. Folks, that's not a trifling thing. That's not a small thing. It's not something just to dilly-dally around with with the salvation from God. That goes back to the first danger, neglecting their salvation. And then the danger of unbelief. It's a scary thing to fool around with the rest that God offers. It's a serious thing to fool around with the promises of God. If you've looked in Ephesians, all of Ephesians, chapter 1, verse 3, God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings. But guess what? There is a sin unto death. And so we cannot go. We need to understand that God, we fear God not out of fear that we're afraid of him, but it's out of awe and reverence. It's the fear that God is a God of consuming fire. And notice what it says there in verse 1. It says, Let us therefore fear lest a promise be in left us. There's a promise that is left. What does he mean by that? A promise of being left behind, of remaining. If God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings, I think it was Peter that said, To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. If God has given us all of these blessings, and we don't obtain these blessings, then it's sin on our part. And so therefore we ought to be afraid that we miss a blessing of God. When Israel fell in the wilderness, God didn't say, OK, Israel, out the door. I've had it. I'm done with you. This is over with. Get out of here. I'm going to do this with somebody else. No. What did he do? He continued to promise Israel rest. And he continued to try to give them rest. He said, I'm going to wipe out all of you unbelievers, that hopefully your young'uns will be able to see that I am a God. I want to give you a land flowing with milk and honey. But if you don't believe me, if you don't trust me, then you're going to face my wrath. But what did the children do? They went into the promised land, and then what did they do? They disobeyed God. They didn't serve God. They began to make compromises and all of this stuff. And what happened? They ended up not entering into the rest. And so notice the authority of rest in verse 2 through 7. For unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them, but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, as I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, and God did rest the seventh day from all his works, and in this place again, if they shall enter into my rest, seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief. Again, he limited the certain day, saying to David, Today, after so long a time, as it is said, Today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your heart. Now, I want you to understand that in verse 2 he says, For unto us was the gospel preached. That word gospel is literally translated good news. Now, we in Western culture and Western civilization and this side of the cross of Calvary in the New Testament, when we read the word gospel, what do we automatically think of? Paul says, I declare this gospel to you, that Jesus Christ died and was buried and rose again on the third day. That's the gospel that we think about. Now, was Jesus Christ crucified, buried, and rose again when Israel rejected God and unbelieved? No. So what we're talking about here in gospel, I want you to understand, is not talking about Jesus Christ's gospel here, the gospel of salvation, but what he's talking about is the good news that they heard. What was the good news that God kept telling them? From the time that he called Abraham, he said what? I have a land for you. I have a place of rest. If you will follow me, you'll leave your family, leave your place of living, and come follow me. I will give you a land that is flowing with milk and honey. That was the good news. Ultimately, what did that land represent? That land represented rest. That's what we saw in chapter 3. So what God has promised them from the very beginning is rest, is rest. And so when we look at this, I want you to understand there's three things that this gospel is preached unto them. First of all, when we look at the good news about God and what God wants for us to do, first of all, there is our part. It does us absolutely no good to hear the words of God if you do not believe. How many times did God tell Israel, hear, listen. Hear ye, hear ye. When Jesus Christ came onto the scene, what did he say? He that hath ears to hear, let him hear, right? If you're willing to listen and you really want to go to the kingdom that I'm trying to give you, that I'm going to provide for you, then not only do you need to hear me, but you need to hear me. In other words, you need to obey. You need to respond. What did he say when he told in Deuteronomy 6.6? Hear ye, O Israel. The Lord thy God is one God. Israel heard the good news of salvation, rest by faith. That's what they were looking for. That was their rest, that God was going to lead them. They heard it all along. You go all the way back to Exodus chapter 6 and verse 6. And he says, Wherefore, say unto the children of Israel. He's talking to Moses here. And he says, I am the Lord. I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage. I will redeem you with a stretched out arm and with great judgment. I will take you to me for a people. I will be to you a God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. They heard God say, Believe me, and you'll be blessed. If you believe me, you'll be blessed. If you're blessed, then you'll enter into my rest. They knew what it was. Numbers chapter 14 says they get all the way to the edge of the promised land, all the way to the land of rest, and there was only two that agreed with God. Out of nearly two million people, two believed God. The rest saw themselves as grasshoppers. And look at what Hebrews 4.3 says, For we which have believed, that's our part. We have to believe in God, do enter into rest. As he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. We who believe will enter into God's rest. We come into salvation experienced, how are we saved? By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. By faith. He used to quote Psalm 95 when David was describing Israel in the wilderness, and so he quotes from David's sermon, As I have sworn in my wrath. Now watch the translation. As I have sworn in my wrath, they will not enter in my rest. The if should be a not later in the statement. As I have sworn in my wrath, they shall not enter into my rest. God's own rest and God's rest is not a rest of weariness or inactivity, but God's rest is a rest in his finished work. God has already done it. Who is going to give them the promised land? God. Who is going to provide everything? God. What do they have to do? Believe. Just do as I say to do. Now, when did God's rest begin? I know we're out of time. We'll stop and we'll pick this up next week. But when did God's rest begin? All the way back in Genesis chapter 2. Remember what it says on the seventh day? God had created this earth, I believe, in 26, 24 hour days. He created everything that was in the heavens and in the earth. He formed it, and then he filled it, and what would we find? On the seventh day, after he's put it all together, what did God do? He rested. And that word is literally, he stopped from all of his creative activity. Do you realize from that day even to now, God has not created anything new? Everything that has ever been created was already done in those six days. God stopped. He ceased from the creative work. God said, it's done. I've made this world beautiful. I've made it perfect. And what did he do? The last crowning achievement that he did on day six was he took man and he took woman and he placed them in the middle of the garden. And he said, guess what? I have given you everything. What did he promise Adam and Eve? Rest. What did Adam and Eve do? He said, go and explore. Eat of everything. Try everything. This is all yours. Have dominion over all of the animals. You name them. You give them their names. You provide them whatever you want to call them. And they had control over all of the animals. The animals obeyed them. They were in complete control and in complete dominion. And what did they do? It says that in chapter three, we get a glimpse of it that apparently in the cool of the evening, they would stop what they were doing in their exploration and they would meet with God. Rest. Rest. They would walk with God. They would talk with God. Adam was at complete rest. He didn't have to worry about nothing. God, I'm too busy. I can't get time this afternoon because I've got to go over here and take care of this. No. He had complete dominion over all of the animals. He didn't have to worry about anything. God, I'm too busy. I can't get time this afternoon because I've got to go over here and take care of this. No. He had complete dominion over all of the animals. He didn't have to worry about anything. God, I'm too busy. I can't get time this afternoon because I've got to go over here and take care of this. No. He had complete dominion over all of the animals. He didn't have to worry about anything. God, I'm too busy. I can't get time this afternoon because I've got to go over here and take care of this. No. He had complete dominion over all of the animals. He didn't have to worry about anything. God, I'm too busy. I can't get time this afternoon because I've got to go over here and take care of this. No. He had complete dominion over all of the animals. He didn't have to worry about anything. God, I'm too busy. I can't get time this afternoon because I've got to go over here and take care of this. No. He had complete dominion over all of the animals. He didn't have to worry about anything. God, I'm too busy. I can't get time this afternoon because I've got to go over here and take care of this. God had an exact moment in mind when He did this. There was a certain moment when God rested. All the way back in Genesis chapter 2 is the certain place that God had in mind. And God did rest the seventh day from all of His works. And then I'm going to introduce this and we'll pick up right here next week. And notice what He says again in verse 3. Because we'll read over it if we're not careful. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as He said, as I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into what? My rest. What rest is He talking about on a certain day at a certain place when God ceased from all of His activities and creativity? My rest. And He rested on the seventh day. And that is the definition of rest. That's the definition of rest. God's rest began right after the sixth day of creation. God was satisfied with everybody. And you know what God wanted more than anything? God wanted man to continue in rest. But what did Adam and Eve do? What did they do? They didn't believe God. Right? Adam, now you can go ahead and have anything you want. What? But the truth is the knowledge of good people. And Satan comes to Eve to convince her of what? If you eat that fruit, and you're going to be as wise as God, you're going to go to good people. Right? And they took to their feet. And what did they immediately do? Their eyes was opened. And what did they immediately do? They're no longer at rest and enjoy it. And what did they begin to do? They began to work and make clothes. They began to show people, as you say, the courage of their victims. And then, instead of fellowshipping with God and his army, what did they do? The tumble, the worry, they're over there hiding in the bushes. What kind was that? What kind was it? But praise God. Listen to me. Praise God that God had a plan. When he rested on that seventh day, and he was satisfied, he knew that man was not going to believe him. And so he already prepared for Jesus Christ to come and die to give us rest. That's what we're talking about. And so next week, next week we're going to pick up right here, because this is, I don't want you to miss it, because unfortunately we have so many preachers today, we have so many preachers out there, that are preaching this health, wealth, and prosperity gospel, that if you're a child of God, that you're going to have health, and you're going to be physically good and physically blessed, and you're going to have wealth and possessions, and God's going to give you whatever your heart desires. That is not scriptural. That is not what they were to get in the promised land. It was to trust God and watch how God provides. Remember what Jesus said to the disciples, let your light so shine before Him, that they may see your good works, and do what? Glorify the Father in heaven. Because it's not about me. God didn't expect me not to work. Right? He made me walk around the walls of Jericho. Jericho was a huge city. They had every day they had to get up and walk around that city. On the Sabbath day, on Saturday, guess what? They had to barely go get the letter. They had to make it seven times around the city. That's not rest. But guess what? It is rest, because on top of the four-leaf clover, all they had to do was be on teaching. And God gave them the energy. Right? I don't remember one single person back in the house, or someone, who hurt themselves, or tricked them, or messed with them, or anything. No, it's just people. All things. You know what it is? It's a shock. And God made me believe it. And that's the rest of God's testimony. And so, man, look at what he said to me in verse four. He said, Therefore, let us do it. You ought to be afraid of God, and of His will and of His grace. I don't know if I'm sure that's what he's talking about. I'm hoping it's not. If it's not, that's the way it is. It's not His will. It's not His grace. And I would love to share that with you, but it's too late. We don't have any time. Dearly beloved, we thank you for your love. We thank you for this passage of Scripture. We thank you for your grace. We thank you for the security, the foundation, which you have given us in Jesus Christ. We thank you for the peace. We thank you for the, the ability to do all things. We thank you for having us. And Father, it is right in your heart that we don't allow unbelief to be in our hearts. Let unbelief be in the heart of our hearts. So that we may share blessings and we may share grace. And Father, help us fully trust you in what you do. That whatever you command us, or whatever you tell us to do, is to our benefit and to our blessings. And there's nothing too ridiculous, there's nothing too crazy, if you want to provide for us. We thank you, and we appreciate it. Amen.