That's what our Lord is doing
moment by moment. And I've been looking and looking
at scriptures and scriptures to preach from, and after singing
that song, and I'm talking about preaching in Fairmont, West Virginia,
a week from Friday, I guess. I better be right. I'M THE ONLY
ONE IN IT RIGHT NOW, SO YOU PRAY THAT THE LORD GIVE ME THE MESSAGES.
SO I JUST THOUGHT OF ONE SITTING THERE, SO REMEMBER THIS, VIC,
WRITE THIS DOWN BECAUSE I'LL FORGET IT. CAREST THOU NOT THAT
WE PERISH? THAT'S WHAT THE DISCIPLE SAID
TO THE LORD IN THE BOAT THAT WAS FILLING UP WITH WATER. CAREST
THOU NOT THAT WE PERISH? And our Lord has taken care of
us even before the world began. He took care of us. He took care of us. Everything's
all right. I can say to everyone who believes,
everything's all right. It's all right. The title of
the message tonight is Rest, We're God's Children. There's
a rest that remains with the children of God and every believer,
everyone who truly believes is very interested in this rest,
I am. The older I get, and the older
I get the more I say that, but the older I get the more I find
my interest is in that rest. IT'S IN THINGS ABOVE. IT'S IN
OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. YOU KNOW, WE LIVE IN A WORLD
OF UNREST. EVER SINCE THE FALL, THE WORLD
HAS BEEN AT UNREST. THERE'S NOT AND NEVER WILL BE
ANY LASTING PEACE ON THIS EARTH. IT CAN'T BE. IT'S A WORLD THAT
HATES GOD. How can there be peace when there's
so much hatred of God? And when there's hatred of God,
there'll be hatred of one another. There'll be hatred of men who
are made in His image. That's why man hates man. He's
made in the image of God and he hates God. But there's so
much unrest and sin's the cause of all this unrest. Even creation
itself cannot rest. the storms, the earthquakes,
the volcanoes. Every time I see or hear of a
volcano erupting, I think of the earth throwing up. I do,
I think of the earth just vomiting from the sin and stuff that goes
on on this earth. That's just a thought I have
when I hear a volcano belching out its smoke and fire. But for the believer, there's
REST, but we enjoy this rest by degrees. We have a real rest, a full rest
in Christ, but now our ENJOYMENT of this rest depends on our growth
in grace and knowledge of Christ. SCRIPTURE TEACHES US THAT THERE
ARE BABES IN CHRIST, THERE ARE YOUNG MEN IN CHRIST, THERE'S
OLD MEN, THERE'S OLD MEN, OLD WOMEN, THERE'S YOUNG MEN, YOUNG
WOMEN AND BABES IN CHRIST. A BABY IN CHRIST IS NOT GOING
TO ENJOY THAT REST LIKE AN OLD MAN IN CHRIST IS GOING TO ENJOY.
A FATHER, WHAT IT CALLS, IT DOESN'T CALL THEM OLD MAN, IT CALLS THEM
FATHERS. You know, those who are fathers
in Christ, who are mature in Christ, they enjoy that rest
because they've been taught of God for a good while. But the
baby in Christ, it doesn't take a whole lot to shake them up. We see that in Paul's epistles
to these churches. You know, the church was in its
youth and all the struggles that they went through. But we have,
listen, we have a real rest in Christ, but we also have this
constant warfare. But the Father in Christ, the
older ones in Christ, they know a little bit more how to handle
that warfare. I know by experience, I know
from being a baby in Christ, a young man in Christ, to now
being an elder, I think I could say, in Christ, an older man
in Christ, being around them for 50 years, believing the gospel. And that warfare hasn't let up. But I do know this, I know that
my confidence and hope in Christ is more now than it was when
I began. I understand more now what I have in Christ by experience
than I did nearly 50 years ago. So I'm aware of this warfare
that goes on within me, but I'm also aware that in Christ I'm
holy, I'm safe, I'm saved, I have all I need in Christ, I'm righteous,
I'm forgiven, I'm pardoned, I'm justified, I have it all in Christ. And I know that it doesn't depend
on me. Salvation does not depend on me in any way, shape or form.
It depends on Jesus Christ, my substitute, my representative,
my federal head, my all in all. It depends on Him. And I think as we grow older,
we enjoy this rest more. Now this rest spoken of here
that the Apostle is driving at and he speaks of three rests.
He speaks of God resting in creation after six days on the seventh
day rested and that was a symbol of the Sabbath day later and
then the rest in the land of Canaan but those are just symbols,
types. The real rest is Christ. He's
our real Sabbath. Jesus Christ is our Sabbath.
He's our rest. There is a spiritual rest for
the people of God in this life, in this life right now, in all
the turmoil that goes on outside and inside. There's a real rest. There's a spiritual rest in this
life and in the life to come, which will be perfected. ALL
THIS SIN WILL BE GONE, ALL THIS TROUBLE IS GONE, AND WE'LL HAVE
AND ENJOY A PERFECT REST THAT WE CAN'T EVEN BEGIN TO COMPREHEND
RIGHT NOW. AND I FIND IT HARD TO PUT INTO WORDS, BUT WE'LL
HAVE A REST. I LIKE THAT WORD TOO, I LIKE
THE WORD REST. WHEN I WAS YOUNG, REST WAS ALMOST
LIKE A CURSE WORD. I DIDN'T WANT TO REST, I WANTED
TO KEEP ON ROLLING. But now, REST. Oh, I do, I enjoy
resting. And I enjoy the rest that I have
in Christ and I'm going to have when this is over. A real eternal
rest. But now we are given a word of
warning here again. You know, chapter 3 closed with
a word of warning and he continues it on here. and we're given this
word of warning not to take this rest in Christ for granted. Don't take it for granted. You
know, the scriptures never gives us leave to just presume. An old word that I used to hear
my grandmother use, lollygag around. You know, it's always
urgent. It's always to be SEEK THE LORD. fervent in spirit. That's the
way the scripture speaks. It's never lazy, it's never taking
these things for granted, it's never presumption, ever! And we're warned here not to
take this for granted. True rest, listen, true rest
can only come to us through, by, and in Jesus Christ alone. If you're troubled, Seek the
Lord. If your heart is troubled, if
your conscience bothers you, seek the Lord. He said, Come
unto me all you that labor. Are you laboring under anything?
Is it anything troubling you? Is sin troubling you? It troubles
me every day. My sin troubles me every day.
I know the Lord's put it away, but it molests me every day.
And I go to him every day, Lord, cleanse me, cleanse me from my
unrighteousness. Forgive me of my sins, even though
I know you've put them away. Forgive me for sinning against
such light and love. Forgive me. He said this, come unto me, all
ye that labor and heavy laden, I'll give you rest. That's not
one time event. YOU KNOW THAT? THAT'S NOT SOMETHING
YOU DO ONE TIME. THAT'S SOMETHING YOU DO WHEN
YOU FIRST DO IT AND YOU'LL DO IT UNTIL THE DAY YOU DIE. UNTIL
THE DAY YOU LEAVE THIS EARTH YOU'LL COME TO HIM LABORING AND
HEAVY LADEN UNDER SIN. AND LORD REMOVE THIS BURDEN.
LIFT THIS BURDEN. WE SING A SONG BURDENS ARE LIFTED
AT CALVARY. WHEN WE COME TO CHRIST WE COME
TO CHRIST CRUCIFIED. CRUCIFIED. THAT'S WHO WE COME
TO. Now keep in mind the Apostle
is writing to his Hebrew brethren. He's writing to the Hebrews and
they know something about this Sabbath rest and the rest of
Canaan. They know their history. They
know their history. But he's going to point out there's
another rest. There is a rest that's greater
than what those symbolized. It's the reality of it in the
Lord Jesus Christ. There is a real rest. And so
He's writing to them, but now listen, He's also writing to
us. It's just like He wrote this
this morning and gave it to us. He's writing to us also concerning
this rest. He knew that not all who profess
to believe really believe the gospel. He knew that. The writer
of Hebrews, I'm sure, saw some who had professed Christ leave. Because he writes later on that
we are not of them that draw back but of them that believe
to the saving of the soul. Evidently some have drawn back,
they've gone back. He said we're not of them, we're
them that believe to the saving of the soul. And this is why
he points back to their ancestors as an example of missing the
mark through unbelief. now he says here in verse one
i'm not going to go through all these verses i wouldn't be able
to get through all of them let us therefore fear now that
seems strange doesn't it let us therefore fear it's it seems
strange to speak of fear and rest in the same sentence. That seems like a paradox to
me. Speaking of rest, laboring to rest, is that not a paradox?
Laboring to rest. That just sounds so strange,
but we have to do that. It is a labor to rest in Christ
because we are constantly being molested by sin and evil spirits
and the world, ourselves, that old nature. THERE IS A CONSTANT
LABORING TO REST IN CHRIST. He says in 2 Timothy 1-7, listen
to this, FOR GOD HATH NOT GIVEN US THE SPIRIT OF FEAR. LET US THEREFORE FEAR. BUT GOD
HAS NOT GIVEN US THE SPIRIT OF FEAR. THAT'S TWO DIFFERENT TYPES
OF FEAR HE'S SPEAKING OF. TWO DIFFERENT TYPES. THE APOSTLE TELLS US HERE TO
FEAR. THIS IS WHERE WE MUST RIGHTLY DIVIDE THE WORD OF TRUTH. THIS
IS WHERE I CONSTANTLY PRAY. AND YOU'VE HEARD ME PRAY IT MANY
TIMES. ENABLE ME TO RIGHTLY DIVIDE THE WORD OF TRUTH. ENABLE ME
TO RIGHTLY HANDLE YOUR WORD. SOLOMON SAID THE PREACHERS SOUGHT
RIGHT WORDS, GOD'S WORDS TO SPEAK. THERE IS A RIGHT FEAR OF GOD
AND THERE IS A WRONG FEAR, AND THERE IS NO FEAR, AND THERE IS
NO FEAR OF GOD. THE FOOL WHO SAID IN HIS HEART
THERE IS NO GOD, THERE IS NO GOD, NO FEAR, YOU DON'T FEAR
WHAT DOESN'T EXIST, AND WHAT YOU THINK DOESN'T EXIST. BUT
THERE IS A RIGHT FEAR OF GOD AND A WRONG FEAR OF GOD, A RIGHT
FEAR OF GOD IS ONE THAT IS BORN OF KNOWLEDGE, It's born of experience,
it's born of grace. Grace, a right fear of God. A wrong fear is born of ignorance
and darkness and sin. Listen to these verses of Scripture
in Proverbs 14, 26. In the fear of the Lord is strong
confidence. Proverbs 14, 27, The fear of
the LORD is a fountain of life. Proverbs 28, 14, Happy is the
man that feareth always. Romans 11, 20, Because of unbelief
they were broken off, that is, the branches, and you stand by
faith, be not high-minded, but fear. Let us therefore what has
already been said in chapter 3. let us fear, let us have irreverent
respect of God never to take His grace for granted at all. We are to fear God with irreverent
awe and respectful fear for who He is and what He is to us. God is our Father, does He not
deserve the respect of a father? He's our Father, Listen in Malachi
1 6 A son honoreth his father, and a servant his master. If then I be a father, where's
my honor? And a master, where's my fear? Where is it? This fear is a right
fear it's a right respect someone asked me not too long ago what
this meant they asked me what what does it really mean to fear
the lord i said it is a reverent respect and all of god is our
father he's our father god is our father my father owns this world this
is my father's world He is my Father. Now the thing the Apostle
says we are to guard against is this UNBELIEF! UNBELIEF! Let us therefore fear
lest a promise be left us of entering into His rest. There's a promise right now of
entering into His rest. LOOK TO CHRIST, LOOK TO HIM,
YOU'LL ENTER INTO HIS REST. COME TO ME, ALL YOU LABORING
HEAVENLY LADEN, I'LL GIVE YOU REST. Don't turn your back on that.
Don't turn your back on Him and leave. Don't do that. Lest a promise be left to us
of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short
of it. You know, the Lord said to that
young man when he said, what's the greatest commandment? He
says to love God with all your heart and all your mind, soul, and
your neighbor as yourself. And the Lord said, you're not far
from the kingdom of heaven, but if, but that's not in it. You're
not far from it, but you're not in it. See, don't come short.
Don't come short. TO COME SHORT IS NOT TO COMPLETELY
BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST FOR EVERYTHING. Alpha to Omega
in salvation. It's to look to Him. It's to
rest in Him. It's to be committed to Him for
time and eternity. Paul said, I'm persuaded He's
able to keep that which I've committed to Him against that
day. And Paul committed everything to Him. But don't come short
of that commitment. Don't come short of that commitment. Someone said this, for a promise
to be applicable to me, I must fit the description of the one
described in the promise. All you that labor and heavy
laden, come to me. All you that labor and heavy
laden, I'll give you rest. Come to me. That's the act of
faith. Faith is an act of grace. THOSE WHO BELIEVE, THEY DO COME.
THEY DO BELIEVE. THEY DO FOLLOW THE LORD JESUS
CHRIST. THEY ARE COMMITTED TO HIM. THEY
ARE COMMITTED TO HIM LOCK, STOCK, AND BARREL. I TRIED TO MAKE THIS
VERY CLEAR WHEN I PREACHED AT COLE'S BAPTISMAL SERVICE. I PREACHED
FOR WHOM DID THE LORD DIE. AND I TRIED TO MAKE IT VERY CLEAR
THAT THIS MATTER of salvation. This matter of believing is an
all-out commitment to Jesus Christ. I have no reason to exist except
for Him. He owns me lock, stock, and barrel,
and I'm glad of it. I am a true-born slave of Jesus
Christ. I am a willing slave. That's a willing slave, and I
don't care. You can call me a slave. I'm His slave. I literally am,
I'm HIS, you're SOMEBODY's slave, I promise you. Well, you who believe, you're
HIS slaves. We used to be a slave to sin,
didn't we? We used to be a slave to sin
and Satan and darkness and ignorance, but now we're HIS and we're free. And we're free to rest. You know, Satan is called the
accuser of the brethren. But he can accuse me all day
long, that's all right, go ahead. He can't make it stick. Because
it is God who justified me. And if God justified me, nobody
can condemn me. If God justifies, who is he that
condemns us? Isn't that good news? You see,
those are the things I can get a hold of now that I wasn't able
to really get a hold of nearly 50 years ago. See, now I can
get, I'm able to just lay hold of those things. No, it's HE
that justified me. Nobody can condemn me. Nobody
can condemn me because God Almighty has justified me and cleared
me of all charges. I'm condemnable. I do enough
sin just in a thought to condemn me, but in Christ, I'm not condemnable. He justified me. NOW LISTEN,
HE SAYS HERE, FOR UNTO US WAS THE GOSPEL PREACHED AS WELL AS
UNTO THEM. THAT'S A POWERFUL STATEMENT. HE SAID THE GOSPEL WAS PREACHED
TO THEM. IT'S PREACHED TO US. IT'S PREACHED TO US RIGHT NOW. AND HE SAID IT WAS PREACHED TO
THEM, THE ISRAELITES IN THE WILDERNESS. HE SAID THE GOSPEL WAS PREACHED
TO THEM. You know it says over in Luke 24 44 he said the prophet
spoke of Christ said the prophet spoke of me David the spoken
of him they spoke of David spoke of him in the in the Psalms Look
over in Hebrews 11 Let me see here Hebrews 11 Look in verse 24, we'll read
24 through 27. By faith, Moses, when he was
come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,
choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to
enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach
of," Who? Moses! "...esteeming the reproach
of Christ all the way back there in the
days of Moses. He esteemed the reproach of Christ
greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect
unto the recompense of the reward. He understood, he knew the gospel. He did. You think he understood
what the Passover Lamb represented, the one the Passover Lamb represented?
I think he did. I have no doubt he did. He esteemed
the reproach of Christ. Listen, By faith he forsook Egypt,
not fearing the wrath of the king. For he endured as seeing
Him who is invisible, his Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He endured
as seeing Him who is invisible. I haven't seen Him. Have you
seen Him? We look to the same One. We look to the same One
He looked to. We're looking to the same One,
no difference. THROUGH FAITH HE KEPT THE PASSOVER. HE KEPT THE PASSOVER THROUGH
FAITH, THROUGH BELIEVING GOD. THROUGH BELIEVING THE LORD JESUS
CHRIST. JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONE WHO SPOKE
TO HIM. JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONE WHO SPOKE TO HIM OUT OF THE BURNING
BUSH. THROUGH FAITH HE KEPT THE PASSOVER
AND THE SPRINKLING OF THE BLOOD, LEST THAT HE THAT DESTROYED THE
FIRSTBORN SHOULD TOUCH THEM ALSO. HE KNEW WHAT THAT BLOOD MEANT.
He KNEW! Oh my, listen, for unto US was
the gospel preached as well as unto THEM. Unto THEM. The good news from bondage was
preached to THEM. The gospel was preached to THEM
in type and picture. You know, there's only one gospel.
There are many so-called gospels being preached, but there's only
one that God has given us. And Paul said if anybody else
preaching of the gospel let him go to hell. Doesn't matter if
he's an angel or a man, let him go to hell. Let him be anathema
maranatha. Let him perish under the wrath
of God. That's how serious this matter
is. They had the gospel preached
to them in type and picture. They had the gospel preached
to them in word. When God saved that eunuch, what scripture that
was used did Philip preach from when God saved that eunuch? Isaiah
53. Isaiah 53. That's the gospel
in a chapter, it's as clear as can be. If God opens your eyes,
I mean God has to open your eyes because He said, Who is this
man talking about, Himself or another? And Philip took the
same scripture and preached it unto Him. the Lord Jesus. You see, those who DID believe,
they looked to Him who was to come, and we look to Him who
HAS come, and they are the same person. Same person. But the word preached, the good
news preached, did not profit them, not being mixed with faith
in them that heard it. Faith is the bond, someone said,
faith is the bond that fixes the gospel to the heart and makes
it real. FAITH IS THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS
HOPED FOR. You know, faith, and I don't
know if I'm saying this right, FAITH GIVES SUBSTANCE to those
things we hope for. Without faith, they're not real
to you. But God-given faith makes all these things real to you.
You can see you believe God concerning these things. God said it and
we believe it. We believe it because God said
it. If the gospel is not received
by FAITH, it will not save you. James said, Faith without works
is dead. If God's going to save you, He's
going to send you the gospel, He's going to send you a preacher,
and He's going to work in you faith. He's going to give you
faith by the preaching of the Word. Faith comes by hearing,
hearing by the Word of God. That's why it's so important
to sit under the Word. You want to increase in faith?
Get in the Word of God, sit under the Word of God. Do you want
to increase? it's so important you know for
parents to keep their children under the gospel let them grow
up under the gospel who knows when god who knows when god will
sow that seed you know when my grandson asked
to be you know if you know you don't really know cole but cole
don't say two words you don't know anything that boy doesn't
tell you anything And he told his dad, he went, I mean, somewhere
along the way that word was, the seed was sown. I just, you
know, I remember several, it was probably a year or two ago,
whatever. I told Jerry, I said, just keep him under the gospel.
Just keep him, keep him going, keep him going. And, and just. Because that seed, God sows that
seed. You know, God may sow that seed
now and He not give increase to it until 20 years from now.
It may be 20 years before He gives the increase, if He's purposed
to save. It's important, it's very important,
very important. And then here in Hebrews 3 and
4, FOR WE WHICH HAVE BELIEVED DO
ENTER INTO REST RIGHT NOW. You know, we're not going to
enter into rest. If you're in Christ, you've entered
into rest. Now as I said, if you're a baby
in Christ, that rest is not as enjoyed as the father in Christ
or the young man in Christ. BUT WE WHICH HAVE BELIEVED DO
ENTER INTO REST. AS HE SAID, AS I HAVE SWORN IN
MY WRAP, IF THEY SHALL ENTER INTO MY REST, OR THEY SHALL NOT
ENTER INTO MY REST BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T BELIEVE. ALTHOUGH THE
WORKS WERE FINISHED FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, FOR
HE SPOKE IN A CERTAIN PLACE OF THE SEVENTH DAY ON THIS WISE,
AND GOD DID REST THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL HIS WORKS. When a sinner is brought to faith
in Christ, that very moment, he's entered in he or she has
entered into rest eternal rest you and you can't you might lose
the joy of it you might lose the real sense of it but you
can't lose it because christ is that rest he's that rest in
christ we rest from the curse of the law I don't know if you all have
experienced this, but when I was special, when I was a young believer,
you just come, come to faith. And I started reading the word
of God and I started reading it in the old Testament and I'd
reading thou shalt not, thou shalt. And I can remember just
about breaking into a hot sweat because I thought I've done those
things. You know, I've done some of these
things. Thou shalt not, I have. And I remember it just scared
me. It just scared me. Because I'm
guilty. If you ever know what guilty
is, you'll understand and appreciate what justification is. You will
NOT appreciate justification. It'll be a cold, dead doctrine
to you until you really understand, and God makes you understand,
by experience, I'm guilty. I've done that. I've done that. And Jesus Christ, for everything
that I've done, every thought I've ever had, every sinful thought,
everything about me, He died for it. He suffered the wrath
of God for it and died for it. And now that all that's over,
I can rest. The law's not after me. The law's
not after me. I can't imagine living the life
of a criminal and you're always looking over your shoulder at
the laws coming after you. You know you're guilty and you're
constantly being chased by the law and you're constantly trying
to hide. I'm not trying to hide no more. I don't have to hide
no more. And neither do you who believe.
You don't have to hide no more. rest from the law, from the dominion
of sin, it's not my master no more, from the power of darkness,
but a real rest in Christ. And the rest we have in Christ
is different from the rest spoken of in verse 3 and 4. It's different
than the rest that God rested on the seventh day. It's different
from the rest of the children of Israel in the land of Canaan
because they went in there and they had a lot of trouble. But
that was a typical rest. Ours is real. And he's saying
here, they knew, they knew all about these two rests, but he
said, there's another rest and it's in Christ and it's enjoyed
by everybody who believes. YOU FORFEIT IT BY UNBELIEF, YOU
HAVE IT THROUGH FAITH BY BELIEVING GOD. YOU HAVE IT, YOU ENJOY IT,
IT'S YOURS, IT'S YOURS. And in this place again, if they
shall enter into my rest, speaking here of Canaan, if they believe,
if they had believed, they could have entered that promised land
They could have left the wilderness, but they never believed. They
didn't believe God. I read that today in Numbers
13 and 14. I think that's where it's at,
Numbers 13 and 14. They come back, and the people
from that land where they spied the land, they came back with
those big old grapes, and they came back and they said, well,
we can't take this. I mean, the men scared them to
death. They didn't want to go in, and God didn't let them go
in, except Joshua and Caleb and those under 20 years old and
under. under 20 years old and under
went in with Joshua and Caleb. The rest of them died in the
wilderness. Why? For one reason. Why? They
did not believe God. If anyone in this congregation
perishes, it's for one reason. Not because you might have done
this wrong and that wrong and nobody knows about it. God knows
about it. That's not why. That's not why. The sins, plural,
that I do will determine my punishment. But my condemnation is this.
I did not believe God. Unbelief. God who cannot lie. God who cannot lie. Not to believe
Him. Anyway, seeing therefore it remains
that some must enter in. That's right, God's purpose is
not going to be nullified by our unbelief. God's not going
to be defeated by our unbelief because every one of us at one
time did not believe God. But God's going to see to it
that there's going to be some who do believe. There's going
to be some who do believe. He's going to have a people Jesus
Christ died for. The multitude of sinners no man
can number. they're going to believe the gospel and they're
going to enter into that rest that's in the Lord Jesus Christ.
He says, And they to whom He was first preached entered not
in because of unbelief. It's a word of warning. And again,
He limited a certain day saying in David today, you see, this
is another rest spoken of besides those others. After so long a
time, as it is said today, if you'll hear His voice, harden
not your hearts, don't turn your back on Him. You see, God Almighty
says it's a definite day. Today it's the gospel day. I don't know, the Lord might
come back tonight. It may not be another day. Seriously. You say, well, I've heard that
said so many times. Well, you know, there'll be one
last time it will be said and that'll be it. You know, for
4,000 years, the Old Testament said someone's coming, someone's
coming, and guess what? One day he came. 2,000 years
has gone by. He went back to heaven, and it'll
just, you know how, I look at my age now and think, how did
I get here so fast? You know the scripture says that God is
going to make a short work on the earth, He is going to cut
it short in righteousness, but a short work will He make on
the earth? It's short! It's short! Verse 8, For if Joshua had given
them rest, then he would not have afterwards spoken of another
day. David would not have afterwards spoken of another day if that
rest was the land of Canaan. It's not! It's Christ. It's Christ. In verse 10, For he that is entered
into his rest, who's he speaking of there? For he that is entered
into his rest, the Lord Jesus Christ. What did he say on the
cross? It's finished. It's finished.
He arose from the grave, went back and is seated at God's right
hand. He's entered into his rest. and those who have entered into
that rest who have entered into Christ has also ceased from his
own works as God did from His. Christ has entered into His rest
and those who are in Christ have entered into that rest that's
in Christ. And last of all, LET US LABOR THEREFORE TO ENTER
INTO THAT REST, LEST ANY MAN FALL AFTER THE SAME EXAMPLE OF
UNBELIEF. Let us labor to rest, because
we'll always have to because of sin in this world. We must strive each day to rest
in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have to strive against self-righteousness. It raises its ugly head. You
think it's gone? It ain't. It's not gone. Pride, you think pride's gone?
Just when you think it's gone, it'll raise its ugly head. WE DON'T REST IN OUR SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS,
WE REST IN HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS. WE HAVE TO STRIVE AGAINST FALSE
TEACHERS AND REST ONLY IN HIS TEACHINGS, HIS WORD. THAT'S WHY
WE NEED TO BE SATURATED, SATURATED IN THE WORD OF GOD AND NOT BE
SO EASILY DECEIVED. IF GOD ALLOWED SATAN TO DECEIVE
US, WE'D BE DECEIVED IN A HEARTBEAT. I mean the most taught, learned
one here, if God allowed it, Satan would deceive us. He deceived Eve, and she knew
anything about sin. He s very deceptive. The believer s life is not one
of ease, it s always watching NEVER REST SHORT OF CHRIST. Someone
talked to me some time ago about Christ and about sin, and I told
this person, I'm not going to give you peace. Christ will have to give it to
you. I know because you know, when
I was a young man, when I've heard the gospel and it would
trouble me, I was, there was a period of time I was really
troubled. I wanted to ask Henry if he thought I was saved. I
did. I said, Henry, you think I'm
saved or not? But I didn't ask him that, but
he would have never given me that answer. The Lord's got to
give you that peace. YOU'RE STRUGGLING WITH SIN, THE
LORD'S GOTTA GIVE YOU THAT PEACE. I CAN'T GIVE IT TO YOU. I'M NOT
GONNA GIVE IT TO YOU. I'LL GIVE YOU GOD'S WORD. GIVE YOU THE
GOSPEL OF PEACE. BUT THE LORD'S GOTTA GIVE YOU
THE PEACE. I CAN'T DO IT. NEVER REST SHORT OF CHRIST. I
LIKE THIS VERSE. THIS VERSE I READ TODAY, PSALM
116, 7. AND IT'S FOR EVERYONE WHO STRUGGLES
AGAINST SIN. RETURNING TO THY REST, O MY SOUL. Just like that dove, do you remember
that dove? Flew back to the ark. RETURNING TO THY REST, O MY SOUL,
FOR THE LORD HATH DEALT BOUNCIFULLY WITH THEE. RETURNING TO THY REST. Where is that? Christ. Christ. RETURN TO HIM WHEN YOU'RE TROUBLED
AND YOUR HEART'S HEAVY. RETURN TO HIM. RETURN TO YOUR
REST. THERE'S NO REST NO PLACE ELSE.