Psalm 95. This is the first time we've looked at Psalm 95. It's a fairly short psalm, and it opens up with a call to sing, and I want to look at that with you. There's only 11 verses, and in many ways I could call this the Song of Hebrews, and I'll explain what I mean by that in a minute. In fact, it's because this psalm is expounded in the book of Hebrews that we understand really what it's talking about. It's a great psalm, and I really enjoy the study of this psalm, and I'm sure there's so much more here than we'll ever get to. But look at this psalm with me.

Let's read it together, beginning at verse one. We'll read all 11 verses. O come, let us sing unto the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise to Him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all gods.

In His hand are the deep places of the earth. The strength of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it. And his hands formed the dry land. Oh, come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord, our maker. For he is our God, and we are his people. We are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.

Today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your heart, as in the provocation, as in the day of temptation in the wilderness, when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, it is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways, unto whom I swear in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.

Alright, so before we get too far in this psalm, I want to point out that this psalm is quoted in the book of Hebrews. And if you want to turn to Hebrews chapter 3 and 4, where this psalm is quoted, I'll want to read some of that text as well. In Hebrews 3, start there. It would be very helpful if we could just read through the entire book of Hebrews. in order to understand this psalm.

And I did that myself several times because in doing that I was, even though I've, you know, in the past have really studied Hebrews a lot, I always find when I reread a text of scripture, even that one I think that I'm familiar with, it's fresh again. So I encourage you to read this. This book is not that long. And there's so much to say in here that I'll only begin to touch on it tonight.

But in Hebrews chapter three, it opens up with these words, wherefore holy brethren. So he's talking to people who are holy, holy brethren. These are believers. Partakers of the heavenly calling consider the apostle and high priest of our profession Christ Jesus. So it's clear he's talking about the Lord Jesus Christ.

He says in verse two, who was faithful to him that appointed him as also Moses was faithful in all his house. For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who has builted the house hath more honor than the house. For every house is built by some man, but he that built all things is God. And Moses verily was faithful in all his house as a servant for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after, but Christ as a son over his own house, whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

Wherefore, and here's where Psalm 95 quotations begin, As the Holy Ghost saith, and he's referring to that psalm, today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation in the day of temptation in the wilderness when your fathers tempted me, proved me and saw my works 40 years.

Wherefore I was grieved with that generation and said, they do always err in their heart and they have not known my ways. So I swear in my wrath, they shall not enter into my rest. Now that was the quotation. What we just read there from verse seven to verse 11 in Hebrews three, that is a quotation from Psalm 95.

So you can see why I say that this Psalm could be called the Hebrews, the song of the Hebrews, or the psalm that the Hebrew writer used. It's not the only psalm. In fact, if you look at the book of Hebrews, the entire book of Hebrews is expounding on the first few verses. Look at Hebrews chapter one.

He says, God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past to the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by or in his son. In other words, he's saying that the message that he's about to give to them is the same message that God gave to Israel through the prophets, and through the fathers, through Moses, and through Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and David, and all the prophets. And so the book of Hebrews, and this is something that's very important, the book of Hebrews is simply expounding the Old Testament so as to unfold it and to show how in the fathers, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the law, Moses, the prophets and the Psalms, they're all speaking about Christ. And Hebrews doesn't just say that. The entire book is devoted to doing that. So when you read in the book of Hebrews in the first chapter, what do you read is you read about Jesus, the Son of God.

You read how he is the creator, that he's the sustainer of everything. that only in him is God known and seen. And he's the one God commanded angels to worship. That's how much greater he is than the angels. He's the one, in Hebrews 1, at verse 10, it says, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thine hands. That's Jesus Christ.

In verse 8 of chapter 1, he says, Unto the Son, he saith, thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. And so you can see how chapter one is establishing the deity of Christ and also his mediatorial office, meaning that as God, he was given by God to express God and to do his will. In verse three of chapter one, it summarizes this. He says, who being the brightness of his glory, the express image of his person and upholding all things by the word of his power. That's the son, that's the one who is God, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. So he's the one who redeemed us, he took our sins away. So that's the first chapter. The second chapter talks about how this salvation that he's speaking of here is so great because it's of him, it's not of of a man, it's of one who is God.

And he says that the Lord has spoken to us. And in the Old Testament, men spoke and angels gave messages. But here in Hebrews, he says, the gospel came to us by the Lord himself. He spoke it. And not only did he speak it, but he fulfilled it. So I just use that as a sample of what Hebrews is doing here. Hebrews is expounding the Lord Jesus Christ in his person as God. in his office as mediator, in his nature as man.

In chapter 2, he spends a lot of time talking about how God has made everything and put everything in subjection to man, and yet we don't see that. We don't see it certainly wasn't in subjection to Adam, maybe in the garden, but not after the fall, and it's not in subjection to men in general. They can't control the weather. They can't control a lot of things they would like to control.

So what he's saying here in Hebrews 2 is that it was put in subjection to man, but not just any man, but to Jesus Christ, the man. the one who is the chosen representative of his people. And so in Hebrews chapter 2 he says the way that he comes into this rule as man over all things is through death. In verse 9 we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he might, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man." So in this, it shows that Jesus Christ, the Son and God, who is God the Son and mediator, is also Lord as man. He's the creator as God, but as man, everything's put in subjection to him because he, by his death, delivered up those people who were under the sentence of death. He delivered them from sin and from death by his own death. And then in Hebrews 2, verse 10, it says, for it became him, meaning God the Father, for whom are all things and by whom are all things and bringing many sons to glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

So here in Hebrews 2.10, he says, God the Father was pleased. It became necessary, therefore, because it was his will that Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God, chosen to be the mediator as the God-man, that he would bring many sons to glory. So that's an overall statement of the reason Christ came, to bring many sons to glory.

Now, this is written to the Hebrews, this is written to a people who were Jews, and they are called in chapter 3 as holy brethren because they had heard the gospel, they had believed, they had been sanctified by the Holy Spirit, and through the blood of Christ, of course. And yet he's giving them Psalm 95, and Psalm 95 begins extolling the Lord, and it ends in a warning. And that's the way chapter three of Hebrews is doing it.

It begins by extolling Jesus Christ, the apostle and high priest of our profession. And then also, now that's so significant that he's the high priest, he who is God, And also man, the one to whom all things have been put into subjection, is our high priest. And he's going to expound on that. He's the apostle, meaning he's the one God sent. Moses was sent. He was a servant. Christ was sent. He's the son. Moses was a servant in his house. The household, the whole household is Christ as the son. And we are his household.

If we, as it says in verse six, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. So in chapter 3 of Hebrews, he's emphasizing not only Christ, but he's emphasizing something else that's carried throughout the book. And what is that? Faith. Faith in Christ. So if you just take those two things through Hebrews, Christ and his work, and faith in Christ and in his work, then you'll get the overall of the entire book of Hebrews.

Now, the Hebrews that this was written to were tempted and perhaps some of them were still performing the ceremonies and clinging to the law of Moses. And they thought that somehow that angels were important and these other things. And the writer to the Hebrews, the message is this, Christ so far transcends all of these things, angels, Moses, Abraham, all of the prophets, all of the priests, all of the sacrifices, all of the laws, that old covenant, everything. Christ is superior, so much superior, as the Creator is superior to His creation, as the one worshipped is superior to those who worship Him, as the ones who were mere men whose lives had a start and an end and were sinful in comparison to Christ, whose life had no beginning and no ending, and whose sacrifice of himself was a perfect sacrifice, and the one who sacrificed it was the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God and man. And so Hebrews is all about the transcending comparison between the Lord Jesus Christ His offering to God, the promises concerning Him, God's covenant with His people in Christ, the sacrifice of Christ compared to those other sacrifices, and the eternal versus the temporal nature of everything in the new covenant in the gospel.

Okay? So if you understand the book of Hebrews, at least at an overview level, that it's a message about Christ, which is the message of the Old Testament, but in Hebrews it's unfolded in detail, great detail. Every phrase, every sentence in this book, is drawing from Old Testament scripture and drawing the conclusions of that scripture and applying those things to Christ, to God's eternal promises, God's eternal covenant, Christ's office as our mediator, as our high priest, as our prophet and our king, and how the sacrifice of himself has obtained an eternal redemption and so many other things, and that our inheritance is an eternal inheritance obtained for us by him.

If you see that, then you can understand the nature of Psalm 95. In fact, we have to use Hebrews in order to understand Psalm 95. So let's go through some of Psalm 95 now as we use that as kind of a background for it. I wanna look a little bit more at Hebrews 3 and 4 as we get into this, but look at Psalm 95 now. He says in verse one, O come, let us sing unto the Lord, Jehovah. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. All right, so this verse is telling us that we ought to have an overflowing, joyful singing and praise to Jehovah.

And who is it? Who is Jehovah? Well, he's the Lord. He's the Lord God. In fact, He is the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's that's the revelation that that really comes through strong when we look at Hebrews, the book of Hebrews, because the first chapter gives us that in a powerful way, that Jesus Christ is the God of glory. The son of God. So the first thing you see here when he says, oh, come, he's calling those just like in the book of Hebrews, he says, wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling.

Come, come, he said, oh, come. He says, oh, come, let us sing unto the Lord. You could say this, let us sing unto the Lord, our great God and savior, Jesus Christ. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. So Jesus Christ is God. He is eternal God. And this psalm with Hebrews 3 and 4 requires us to understand that plainly. When it says in Hebrews 1, verse 8, under the sun he saith thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, he's talking about Jesus Christ.

He was quoting from the Psalms in order to establish that this is the nature, the pattern of Hebrews. He quotes from the Old Testament and then he gives us the meaning and the conclusions that we should have drawn from it. In fact, since it was written to the Hebrews, the book of Hebrews, And this was not only written to, the whole Bible was not only written to the physical descendants of Abraham, but it was written to the spiritual Hebrews, the true Jews. Since it was written to the Hebrews who had a background in the law, throughout the book of Hebrews you see him comparing those things in the law to Christ and showing the transcendency of Christ, the superiority of Christ to those things in a very powerful way. And so much so that what he talks to these Hebrews in the book of Hebrews, he refers to their history. And he actually reprimands them during the discourse in the book of Hebrews, for example, in chapter six, where he says, wherefore, leaving the principles of the doctrines of Christ, let us go on to perfection.

And he's referring back to the Old Testament revelation, which was physical, temporal, world, earthly, tangible, material. You could see it and touch it, smell it. And there were physical people involved in that ministry. And it had to do with purifying flesh and sacrificing animals and observing days and months and years and all these rituals and rules and things that they would do.

And he talks to those Hebrews beginning, for example, in chapter six, and he reprimands them in a way because he says, you should have gone on. You knew this. You heard the gospel. You should be far beyond this Old Testament outward shadowy service and worship. And so if you understand that, you can see what the meaning of those texts of scripture are in Hebrews six.

So as we go through Psalm 95, we see there's a call here based on something. There's a motivation given for this call. First, it's just it's just stated, oh, come, let us sing to the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. So what's the first reason? that we make this, that we sing and that we make a joyful noise. Who are we singing to? Jesus Christ. Why are we singing to him? Because he's the Lord our God. He's the rock of our salvation. That's what he's saying here. Considering all that the gospel does to reveal Christ in his person and office and character to us in his work. His words and everything in His ministry and all that is given to us in the gospel. We can join this, can't we? In fact, remember...

When we talked about Queen Esther going into the presence of the king, even though she was the wife of the king, she came in and she had to be accepted. He had to stretch out the scepter to her or she couldn't come. In fact, she would be killed. And so here, though, listen to this, we're not coming to an earthly king who likes to you know, hold to some great power to be able to take lives of people.

We're talking about the King of Glory who says to us, Oh, come. And the Holy Spirit wrote these words that was stated in Hebrews three. Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, he says, Oh, come. You who are the true Hebrews, let us sing to Jesus Christ, the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise.

If you came to King Ahasuerus and you weren't joyful, you were not allowed. You couldn't be near him with rags and, you know, what do they call it, that they would wear? sackcloth, ashes. No, you're not allowed. You can only come to the king joyfully. Why? Because there's only one response that's justified in the presence of the king. Joy. This is the only response. So let me just go through this a little more systematically here. He says, first, I'm taking my notes now. Christ is eternal God. He's the word. He's the uncreated creator of heaven and earth. the only begotten Son of God. He is Jehovah God, the Creator and Sovereign over all, one with the Father, one with the Spirit, the Son of God. John's Gospel, the Book of Romans, Hebrews, Colossians, and in many places in the New Testament begin with this truth. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.

All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made." All right? In Him was life, and His life was the light of men. So you could just go through John chapter 1, or Hebrews. By him the worlds were created. He's the sustainer of all things. Colossians 1, all things were made by him and for him. He's before all things and by him all things consist.

Romans chapter 1, he says, the gospel of Jesus Christ who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh and declared to be the son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead. So that's just a sample. The New Testament makes no apologies. In Titus chapter 2, he says, our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 1.1, the same thing, our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. So throughout Scripture, Jesus Christ is revealed and praised as God Himself, because He is God and therefore He is worthy of all of the worship that is due to God only. And we can only come to the Father by Him. We can't come to the Father directly. I'm the way, Jesus said, no one comes to the Father but by me. And so we have to have a mediator. And Jesus Christ is that mediator.

And He's God as if He had never come from heaven. And he's a man as if he never ascended back to heaven. But he's he's been God from eternity and he will be God to everlasting ages, just as when he ascended and rose to heaven, he still is man and will be man to everlasting ages. And all things are in subjection to him. All right. So that's the first thing we see here. Oh, come, let us sing unto the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation now. Who is the rock of our salvation? Who is the rock of our salvation? Well, it's the Lord Jesus Christ.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 10, for example, he says, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant. This is 1 Corinthians 10, beginning at verse 1. how that our fathers, all our fathers, were under the cloud, all passed to the sea and were all baptized to Moses in the cloud and in the sea and did all eat the same spiritual meat and did all eat the same spiritual drink.

For they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them. And that rock was Christ. All right. The Israelites in the wilderness, absolutely thirsting to death, a rock out of a rock. God brought a river and that water from that rock followed them throughout their wilderness sojourn. That is incredible on a physical standpoint, but even more so on a spiritual, because just as thirsty as they were in the desert, we are even more thirsty in our souls.

And Christ is the fountain of living water. He's the rock that was smitten. And because he was smitten, the water of life flows freely to us and is our life. That's a reason to be joyful. That's a reason to sing to the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, he's the rock of our salvation. In Psalm 68, verse 20, he that is our God is the God of salvation and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death. He's the resurrection and the life, remember? John chapter 11. So Jesus Christ is our God. We should sing to him because he's the rock of our salvation. It's clear this is the message of scripture. There's a case where Jesus came into Jerusalem in Matthew 21. And remember when he came into Jerusalem, the children and the people, they threw palm branches in the way and they sang to him. And what did they sing to him? They sang this.

They said, Hosanna. And that's a quotation from Psalm 118. And in Psalm 118, the words Hosanna are translated this way. Save now. Hosanna means, oh, save. The rock of our salvation. You see, Jesus Christ, the Lord, is our salvation. Isaiah 12 says, the Lord Jehovah has become my salvation. This is very important. We are to sing to him.

Let me see, I'm just kind of skipping through my notes to get some of these verses here. It's in Ephesians 5 verses 19. I'll just go there because I'm not finding where I wrote it in my notes, but in Ephesians, two places in the New Testament like this. Let's go to Ephesians 5 and then Colossians 3. He says in Ephesians 5 verse 19, I'll get there. I don't want to tear these pages in my excitement to try to get them separated.

He says, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. So in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, means because of him, on the warrant of him, his word, his blood, his works, his merit, we come to God through him. Look at Colossians chapter three. The same thing is said there in Colossians three and verse 16.

He says, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom. teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our songs, we sing to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, the rock of our salvation. That's why He says, come and sing and make a joyful noise.

As I said earlier, to come into the presence of the King, unjoyful would be to come as if there's something to be sad about. Why would we be sad if His will is done? Since His will is always done, and His will is good. And He always does His will. And His will, it was His will that made us His people and sent Christ to save us and accomplished our salvation and received Him and us with Him from the dead and made us His children and gave us eternal life and eternal glory in Him, with Him. Why would we not be joyful?

Well, because I've got, you know, I've got these problems. Are they not problems the Lord knows about? Does not the Lord care? Don't we trust him? Isn't our assurance that he who sits on the throne is Jesus Christ and that he has God's will and our salvation and our good and his will and power to do it? Why can't we be joyful then? Isn't the lack of joy proportional to our unbelief? Isn't that the problem then? It is.

The lack of joy is directly proportional to our lack of faith. In Romans 15 and verse 13, he says this, he says, Romans 15, 13, he says, now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing. that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. So the only way you can have joy and peace is in believing. And the only way you can have that faith and joy with joy and peace is through the Holy Spirit.

This is the same thing is spoken of throughout the New Testament. I remember that we came across this in Colossians chapter one. He says, In Colossians 1, he says, verse 9, for this cause, since the day we heard of it, we do not cease to pray for you, to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of his will, and all wisdom, spiritual understanding, that you might walk worthy of the Lord to all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. The book of Hebrews gives you this knowledge, okay?

And then he also says this, strengthened, notice, with all might, according to his glorious power, not ours, unto all patience and long suffering with joyfulness. So joy in the midst of trouble, patience, enduring, long suffering over the long haul. Suffering long time with joyfulness by his power. So you can see here that the basis, I mean, the reason to be joyful is the one into whose presence we come.

It's Christ the Lord, the rock of our salvation. And this joy is the only justified attitude to come into his presence with thanksgiving, because everything he does is absolutely beyond our ability even to think or ask for its wonder. All right. All right. So verse two, Psalm 95, he says, Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise to him with psalms. These are the fruits of faith, thanksgiving and joy, singing to the Lord Jesus Christ.

And when you meditate on the gospel, you meditate on the character of the Lord Jesus Christ because you hear his words or you consider his works and how all that he's done, he's done by himself out of his own heart for you who were opposed to him in all of your ways to save you from your sins, to bring you to himself. You begin the song begins to rise up, doesn't it?

And you begin to think the next the next verse says it this way in verse three, for the Lord is a great God, a great God and a great king above all gods. Everything that I formerly trusted, everything that would challenge me to be distracted from Christ, all of it. The answer to it all is the Lord is a great God, the great king above all gods. Amazing, isn't it?

And then from verse 4 to 7 it talks about Him as being the Creator and Sovereign over all things. The One that we serve, the One who is our Savior is the Creator, the Sovereign over all. He says in verse 4, In His hands are the deep places of the earth, the strength of the hills is His also. The sea is His, and He made it, and His hands formed the dry land. O come, Let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord, our maker. He not only made things, he made us spiritually and physically. He made us. He created us in Christ Jesus. We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works.

Ephesians two, verse 10. Then he says in verse seven, for he is our God. and we are the people of his pasture. This is a covenant relationship. He has put us in a relation with himself, for he is our God, we are his people, we are his sheep, the people of his pasture. Take that and go read John chapter 10, his sheep hear his voice.

And so he says this in verse seven, today if you will hear his voice, Now it seems like a question if you will hear his voice, but it's really a promise. So the end of verse seven is a promise. And this is the thing that we need to, in order to understand what follows, we need to see that this is a promise. Look at Hebrews again, chapter four. the promise here is given in this way.

He says in Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 7, He says in Hebrews 4, 7, again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, here's the quotation from what we just read, Psalm 95, verse 7, he says, today, after so long a time as it is said today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. OK, so what is he saying here?

When Psalm 95 was written, The children of Israel had already been through the wilderness, entered into Canaan, and the people who failed to believe had already died and their children had gone into Canaan. They had lived in Canaan. David wrote this psalm. He says in verse seven of Hebrews four, he limited the certain day saying in David, So David was a long time after they were established in the land of Canaan.

And the writer to the Hebrews uses that historical timeline to say, after so long a time, it is said today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. All right. Well, let's read the next verse, then Hebrews four, verse eight. For if Jesus had given them rest and what he and the word Jesus really means Joshua, If Joshua had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day? Joshua was the one, after Moses, who led Israel into Canaan. If Joshua had given them the rest spoken of, when God said, if you will hear his Today, after so long a time, it is said today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. He's talking about this rest here. If they shall enter into my rest. Verse chapter 3. In chapter 3 he said... Let's see. In verse 11. So I swear in my wrath they shall not enter into my rest.

The rest he's talking about did not mean the land of Canaan. That's what Hebrews 4, 8 is saying. If Joshua had given them that rest that God was talking about, they shall not enter into my rest. He's telling us right here in the book of Hebrews, when you read the Old Testament and God talks about entering into the rest, he was not talking about Canaan.

I say that with emphasis because there's so many today that just want to say, well, we just take the Bible literally. You can't take the Bible literally. God didn't write it literally to mean literal things about physical, temporal, material, earthly situations and nations and people. He wrote it about spiritual things, using those physical things. And so when the Hebrew writer says this, we have to recognize this pattern.

It's wrong. to neglect the spiritual understanding from the Old Testament that's given to us in the New Testament. It's an error. It's not just, well, you're reading too much into it. No, it's wrong to neglect the spiritual understanding given to us by the New Testament of Old Testament language.

And here in Hebrews 4, he says, Joshua did not give them the rest spoken of when God says, if they shall enter into my rest. So what does he mean? Well, this is what the book of Hebrews is all about. It's about the salvation. that God promised to the fathers in the law and in the prophets concerning Jesus Christ. And the Hebrews to whom he's writing here are being persuaded of this by the writer to the Hebrews explaining the Old Testament throughout the book of Hebrews in such a way that brings us to Christ and exhorts us to faith in him. And the reason it gives here in chapter 3 of Hebrews that they fell in the wilderness was because of unbelief.

And in chapter 4 of Hebrews, he says, verse 1, let us therefore fear less to promise, promise, underscore, highlight, blinkies, promise, being left us of entering into his rest, not Canaan, another rest, Any of you should seem to come short of it. So what is he saying here?

Faith. Look at chapter three, verse 19. We see they could not enter in because of unbelief. Chapter three, verse six, Christ as a son over his own house, whose house are we? We're his household. If we hold fast the confidence, the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. Verse 14. We are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end. Faith, faith, faith. That's what he's saying throughout this book.

Hebrews chapter 10, he talks about the just shall live by faith. Hebrews 11 is a point by point explanation of how faith not works, faith in God's promise concerning Christ, not faith in my obedience. or in my steadfastness in entering into a physical land, not faith in a land. Hebrews 11 says Abraham did not look for that physical land of Canaan. He didn't.

God promised the world to him, the world of the new creation. And that's what he looked for, a heavenly kingdom, a heavenly city. And so because of that, he sojourned in the land of Canaan as a stranger. And so throughout the book of Hebrews, he keeps contrasting these.

And I would like to take you to all those things, but I don't have time tonight. Hebrews 4, now just look at this here to understand Psalm 95. Seen therefore, in verse 6, seen therefore it remaineth that some must enter this rest he's talking about, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief. Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, today, after so long a time as it is said today, if you will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, for if Joshua had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.

There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. He that is entered into his rest has also ceased from his own works as God did from his." The rest that God is talking about, and don't miss this, the rest that God is talking about is salvation in Christ. It's eternal life in Christ. It's all of the inheritance God gives to his son with his people in Christ. So the land of Canaan was called the land of promise, and it was also a land of plenty.

They just walked in. There was everything was watered. God watered it. They didn't have to water it. It was all watered. God tended to it. The trees were grown. The fruit was a mature. They just walked in. They loaded themselves up. The land that flows with milk and honey. It was a land of plenty. And it was a land gained by conquest over their enemies. So God promised it. God said is going to be a land of plenty, and it was a land obtained by conquest over their enemies.

Joshua was the captain that went in. to take possession of the land of promise. The Lord Jesus Christ is the captain of our salvation. Hebrews two, verse 10, the captain of our salvation, eternal salvation. By his own blood, he entered once into the holy place, having obtained for us eternal redemption. That's what he's talking about. So the land of Canaan portrayed the land of eternal salvation.

And all the blessings were the blessings in Christ, the unsearchable riches of Christ. Ephesians three, verse eight. So so is talking about Christ, that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in him, aren't they? And aren't we complete in him? Colossians 2, verse 10.

Yes, the fullness of the Godhead dwells in him. It pleased the Father that all the fullness should dwell in Jesus Christ. So Christ is our heavenly captain, the captain of our salvation by his conquest over our sins, over death, over the devil, over this world. And everything that's opposed to us, he bore that himself in order.

He fought and he won and he obtained it. Let me just read one verse in Hebrews nine, verse 15. He says, for this cause, he's the mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, his death for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the First Testament, they which are called might receive what the promise of eternal inheritance. You see, And so the writer to the Hebrews throughout the book is exhorting them to faith in Christ. He transcends everything. The covenant, eternal, from everlasting to everlasting. The priest, eternal, from everlasting to everlasting. No sin.

He became lower than the angels in order to raise us up with himself and everything be put in subjection to him with his people as the man. So this book explodes the Old Testament, the law and the prophets and the fathers, and it teaches us this in a powerful way. And so it's no wonder that Psalm 95 exhorts us, come, let us sing to the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's done it all. We enter into this land of rest through faith. He we who have believed do enter into rest. That's what he's saying in Hebrews four.

All right, and that's why at the end of Psalm 95, he warns us, verse eight, harden not your heart. as in the day of provocation. He uses Old Testament unbelieving Israel to teach us don't depart from Christ. If you depart from Christ in unbelief, you are leaving the living God. You have no hope, no life, no heaven, only your enemies. So don't come into his presence in any other way but by faith. That's what he means in Psalm 95. Come to Christ by faith. And in coming to him by faith, you have the joy and peace in believing.

You enter into rest. All the works are done, cease from your own works, because God completed the work of our salvation. Christ has conquered our enemies. The land of salvation is full because Christ is the unsearchable riches of Christ, of God, all the wisdom of God, the completion of the Godhead bodily. That's what we are, complete in Him, who is the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

Amazing grace, isn't it? And so that's what Psalm 95 is talking about. So if you want to understand it, just read the book of Hebrews. And it's very, very powerful. It's very powerful. I'd like to just take you through chapter 11, but we don't have time to do that right now. But I just have you go through there and see how God contrasts. In every statement about faith, there's a contrast given.

For example, the first one, Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. He's writing to the Hebrews now. He's telling them, listen to me. Abel believed, Cain did not. You don't want to be apart from faith in Christ, do you? And he goes on, Enoch, and Noah, and Abraham, and Sarah, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph, and Moses. He goes on and on, every one of them.

Moses, for example, he counted the afflictions with the people of God to be a greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. What is he saying there? Listen, you Hebrews, you believers in Christ, you're gonna suffer affliction in believing Christ, but Moses considered it much better treasure than all the riches of Egypt, to suffer afflictions with the people of God who believe him. And at the end of Hebrews 13, he says, those sacrifices were taken and burned outside the camp.

Let us therefore go outside the gate to him. Those who offer sacrifices in the Old Testament have no altar. They do not get to eat from our altar. They do not get to trust Christ because they're holding to that Old Testament system of works. So don't do that.

All right, let's pray. Father, thank you for your mercy to us. Help us not to be as those who fall because of unbelief. Give us this grace of faith. Lift Christ up to us and him crucified. Help us to always revel in joyful songs to him and praise. And let it be from our hearts, Lord.

We don't want to try to force or produce something that's spiritual. We can't produce spiritual things. But your word is spiritual, and the gospel is spiritual. So we pray that by the spirit, the gospel, you would give us life. For Christ's sake we pray, amen.