Notice in verse one, let us, therefore,
we who have heard the gospel, let us therefore fear lest a
promise being left. And when he says that you'll
notice the us is in italics, the promise still is left. It's
still here. That's the point. The promise
still is here. It has not left us. And what
we're called upon is to fear falling short. I hope every one of us this morning
will listen to this and think about this. I fear falling short. Fear falling short of what? I
fear falling short of entering into His rest. Now that's the point. I think of what Paul said to
the Corinthians in 2nd Corinthians chapter 11. He said, I fear,
lest by any means, as Satan tempted Eve through his subtlety, through
his deceptions. So your minds will be corrupted
from the simplicity, the singleness, the onlyness of Christ. Now the simplicity of Christ
and resting in Christ is the same thing. And I fear not really
resting. I hope this morning you fear
not resting. And I hope we'll learn what it
means to rest in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now what a blessed thing
this is that the rest is still here. That the gospel is still
here. That it's still today. The gospel still stands. Now listen real carefully. Right now, the Lord says, by
His Spirit, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
laboring and burdened under a sense of sin. He says, come unto me,
not go and do, not go and get things straightened up, come
unto me and I will give you rest. What a promise. Revelation 22
17 says in the spirit and the bride this is what God the Holy
Spirit says this is what the bride the church has to say the
spirit and the bride say come not go and do not Get things
straightened out first. Right now, come as you are right
now to the Lord Jesus Christ. Not go and do, come right now
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Let him that is a thirst come,
let him that heareth say come, whosoever will. Let him take
the water of life, freely. Are you willing to be saved by
Christ? Thank you. Yeah. Whosoever. Are you one of those
right now? Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord. shall be saved. Are you whosoever? This is to
you. Call upon the name of the Lord. Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. I'd like you to Turn with me
to Romans 10 for just a moment. The gospel still stands. This is true today, just as it
was when Paul wrote this in Romans chapter 10, verse six, but the righteousness, which
is a faith, That's better than any righteousness you can produce.
This is the righteousness of faith. The righteousness, which
is a faith speaketh on this wise, say not in your heart, who shall
ascend into heaven? Don't say in your heart, what
can I do? They'll get up to heaven that
he'll hear. Get that out of your heart. That is to bring Christ down
from above. What can I do? Now here's what
this, exactly what this means. What can I do to get him to come
down here and do something for me? Get that out of your thinking. Get that out of your language.
Don't say that in your heart. Verse seven, or who shall descend
into the deep, that is to bring up Christ again from the dead.
Don't say in your heart, what can I do to make his death work
for me? Get doing out of your thinking,
is what he's saying. Verse eight, but what saith it? The word is nigh thee. Right
now, the word of the gospel is nigh thee. even in thy mouth
and in thy heart that is the word of faith which we preach
that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus." Do you confess He's Lord? He's Lord of creation? He's Lord
of providence? He's Lord of salvation? Do you
confess that? And thou shalt believe in thine
heart that God hath raised him from the dead. Do you believe
in your heart that God raised him from the dead? Because he
accomplished what it was he set out to do and he was raised from
the dead. What's it say? If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God
hath raised him from the dead, thou Thou, you shalt be saved
with God's salvation. Turn with me for a moment to
Isaiah 55. The gospel still stands right
now, today. The gospel still stands. Chapter 55, verse 1. Everyone that thirsteth, come
ye to the waters. Now who's told to come? He that
hath no money. You don't have anything to bring
to the table. You don't have anything to recommend you to
God. He that hath no money, come ye buy and eat, yea, come buy
wine and milk without money. and without price, wherefore
do you spend money for that which is not bread in your labor, for
that which satisfies not? You know, the only thing that's
going to satisfy you is the resurrection of Christ. The only thing that
satisfies my conscience, the only thing I'm satisfied with
is the resurrection of Christ. Why would you spend your money
on anything but that? and your labor for that which
says hearken diligent unto me and eat ye that which is good
and let your soul delight itself in fatness, incline your ear
and come unto me. Here in your soul shall live
and I'll make an everlasting covenant with you. Even the sure
mercies of David. Now, do you see how the gospel
still stands? It's so very near. Promise still stands. I love
that hymn we sing. Come ye weak and heavy laden,
bruised and mangled by the fall. If you tarry till you're better,
you will never come at all. Not the righteous, not the righteous,
sinners Jesus came to call. Let not conscience make you linger,
nor fitness fondly dream. The only fitness he requires
is to have a need of him. Whoops. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. Are you a sinner? He came to
save you. The promise is still here. The gospel is still here. Now, notice he says back in our
text in Hebrews chapter four. There's a promise that's left,
but he says, let us fear, lest a promise being left of us of
entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short
of it, lest you fail to enter into his rest, lest you fail
to rest in Christ. Verse two, for unto us was the
gospel preached As well as under them, but the word preached did
not profit them. They received no saving benefit
from the word that was preached. It didn't do them any good. The
word was preached, but they didn't benefit from it. How come? Not being mixed with faith. in them that heard." Now, when
he says, for unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto
them, he's talking about the children of Israel. They heard
the gospel. They heard the gospel preached
in the Passover. When I see the blood, I will
pass over you. In the great day of atonement,
the serpent lifted up on a pole, look and live. The gospel was preached in the
Garden right after the fall to our parents. The seed of woman
shall bruise and crush the serpent's head. Now, he didn't talk about
what Christ would do if, or he'll offer you this or offer you that.
He talked about what Christ has done. The seed of woman shall
crush the serpent's head. And they saw that lamb that was
slain to cover their nakedness. They were watching. The fig leaves,
the covering that they made representing their own self-righteousness,
which is the biggest contradiction of terms, the biggest oxymoron
there is. Self-righteousness? It's filthy
rags. But their self-righteousness
was removed and they were covered by the Lord himself with that
covering. How clearly the gospel was preached
unto them. I think of the tabernacle, how
clear the gospel's preached. How'd you get into the Holy of
Holies? What's the first piece of furniture?
The brazen altar for the sacrifice. And in order to get into the
holy place, there was next a laver with water, filled with water.
Now, I think it's sad that people try to separate the sacrifice. Well, first you need to have
the blood shed for you, and that makes you justified. Then you
need to clean yourself up in water. No, the cleansing comes
from the blood. That's what that water represents.
The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us continually
from all sin. And you get in there, you have
the lampstand, Christ our light. He's the light as to how I can
be saved. The altar of incense, Christ's
intercession for me. The table of showbread, Christ
our food. ark of the covenant with the
mercy seat over it. Oh, they heard the gospel so
clearly in all of these types and pictures. They, the gospel,
they heard the gospel preached just as clearly as you and I
have, but it didn't profit them not being mixed with faith. Now, what is it to have faith? Verse three, four. We which have believed. Now here's
what somebody does who believes. This is what I'll do if I believe.
This is what you'll do if you believe. For we which have believed do
enter into rest. Now the gospel was preached to
them. We've heard the gospel. And before
I go on with what it is to rest in Christ, I want to ask this
question. Have I heard the gospel? Is what you're hearing right
now, the gospel? You know, Paul warned of another
gospel, didn't he? Is what I'm hearing is what I'm preaching
the gospel. What a question. Somebody says, well, if I haven't
heard the gospel, it's your fault. You're the one doing the preaching.
Well, you're right about that. I love what Paul said, woe unto
me if I preach not the gospel. Have I heard, when I hear this
man standing before me preaching, have I heard the gospel? Turn with me to Romans 1, and
we're going to get back to Hebrews 3 about entering into His rest.
But turn with me to Romans 1. They heard the gospel. The gospel
was preached unto them as well as unto us. Well, have I heard
the gospel? Have I heard the gospel preached? Paul, a servant
of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the
gospel of God. Now the gospel, I hate saying
it this way, the gospel of Todd, boy, that's not a good gospel,
is it? The gospel of the Baptist or
the Catholics or the Presbyterians, the gospel of the Reformers,
I'm not interested in any of that. I'm interested in the gospel
of God. Now, what is the gospel of God?
It's the gospel, verse 2, which He had promised to for by His
prophets in the Holy Scriptures. It's the gospel of the Bible.
It's the gospel of the Holy Scriptures. Don't you love that, the Holy
Scriptures? Oh, this book is a holy book. This is the holy Bible inspired
by God. The gospel is the gospel of God
that he has revealed in the holy scriptures. What is the gospel? It's the gospel verse three concerning
his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Well, who's he? He's the one who was made of
the seed of David, according to the flesh, and declared to
be the Son of God with power. He's the Son of God. He's made
of the seed of David, the man Christ Jesus, according to the
flesh. And He's declared to be the Son
of God with POWER, according to the SPIRIT OF HOLINESS, by
the RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD. Now, how do we know He's the
God-Man? Well, He's the only holy man
to ever live, and He was raised from the dead. That is the Gospel
of God. Now, I want to ask a A few questions
real briefly, because remember, we're asking, have I heard the
gospel? Have I heard the gospel? Number one, is my gospel the
gospel of God? Number two, does my gospel line
up with the Old Testament scriptures? If it doesn't, it's not the gospel.
You remember how Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, three, when
he declared the gospel, moreover, brethren, I declare unto you
the gospel. It's how that Christ died for
our sins according to the scriptures. If my gospel doesn't line up
with the Old Testament, it's not the gospel of God. God said,
When I see the blood, I will pass over you. Is that your gospel? Does it line up with the Old
Testament scriptures? Thirdly, does my gospel give
God all the glory in salvation? If man gets any glory, if man
gets any credit at all, it's not the gospel of God. Does my gospel give God all the
glory? Fourth, does my gospel give preeminence
to Jesus Christ in all things? Is Christ all? in all things
in my gospel? Is he all in the scriptures?
Is all God is? Is he all in my salvation? If
my gospel doesn't give the preeminence to Jesus Christ, the Lord, the
blessed son of God, in all things, it's not the gospel. Fifth, does my gospel, listen
real carefully, does my gospel violate any of the attributes
of God? If it does, it's not the gospel. Now let me give you one very
simple illustration of what I'm talking about. God is absolutely
just. Amen? He's just, always just,
all the time. Now if Christ could pay for my
sins and satisfy the justice of God, and yet I end up in hell
anyway because of something I didn't do, God would be unjust. That gospel, the gospel that
would allow Christ to die for somebody and yet they end up
in hell anyway is a violation of the justice of God. If Christ
died for me, the very justice of God demands my salvation. Now, if my gospel violates any
attribute of God, I don't care what it is. If it violates the
sovereignty of God, if it violates the love of God, if it violates
the immutability of God, it's not the gospel. Six, does my gospel honor God's
holy law? Does my gospel reward for obedience
to the law? Does my gospel punish for disobedience? Does my gospel actually honor
God's holy law? Yes, it does. Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. Do
we make void the law through faith? God forbid. Yay, we established
the law. The only way I can honor God's
law is by believing the gospel. That's it. You know, the only
way you're gonna love God's law and delight in God's law is if
you see it's fulfilled in Christ. All the threatenings and punishment
are fulfilled in Christ, all the rewards for obedience are
fulfilled in Christ. My gospel honors in every way,
fulfills every jot and tittle of the law of God. Does my gospel
meet a sinner where he is? Dead in sins and save him. Does my gospel meet me where
I am? Unable, dead. Is it like the
good Samaritan who came to the man where he was? Does my gospel meet me where I am? Not where
I should be, but does he come to me where I am and have mercy
on me? If it doesn't, it won't do me
any good. Will my gospel save the chief
of sinners? If it won't, it's not the gospel. Will my gospel keep me saved? If it won't, it's no gospel. Now unto him that's able to keep
you from falling and to present you faultless. Can I face death and judgment
with my gospel? Listen, the time's coming pretty
soon and all of us are gonna stand for God and judgment. Will
the gospel you believe enable you to face God, the holy God
of glory in judgment and be accepted? I think of that scripture in
1 John 4, 17, by this can we have boldness on the day of judgment. Now think of that concept, boldness
on the day of judgment, standing before a thrice holy God, boldness. Because as He is, so are we in
this world. Here's another way to say all
this. Does my gospel provide everything
that God requires? is my gospel able to make me
perfect, perfectly conformed to the image of Jesus Christ,
so that I will stand and spend eternity perfectly conformed
to the image of Christ, just like Him. Now, that's the gospel,
isn't it? That is the gospel. Now, they
heard the gospel preached, just like we do, But the word preached,
they heard that in all these Old Testament types, but it didn't
profit them for this reason. It wasn't mixed with faith in
them that heard it. Now you and I will not be saved
apart from believing the gospel. Now what is this thing of believing
the gospel? He tells us in verse 3 back to
Hebrews chapter 4, Verse two, 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,
for we which have believed do enter into rest. Rest. Now that rest is the rest
of the Sabbath. For we which have believed do
enter into rest. As I said, as he said, I've sworn
in my wrath, if they or they shall not enter my rest. Verse
19 of chapter three, so we see that they could not enter in
because of unbelief. I've sworn in my wrath they shall
not enter my rest, although the works were finished from the
foundation of the world." Now, I love this verse. As a matter
of fact, Lord willing, next Sunday, Lord willing, I'm going to preach
a whole message on this statement. Although all the works were finished
from the foundation of the world. That's how much we can rest.
All the works are finished and they were from the foundation
of the world. You don't even have to see how
well you're resting. It's done. It's done. I remember hearing, well, I'm
going, I don't want to chase a rabbit. Turn with me for a
moment to Genesis chapter one. Genesis chapter 1 verse 31. Now
remember, they which have believed do enter into rest. Verse 31. This is where this concept comes
from. This thing of resting in Christ. Genesis 1 verse 31. And God saw everything that He'd
made. And behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning
were the sixth day. Thus, the heavens and the earth
were, what? Finished. What did the Lord say
from the cross before he died? is finished. Now if it's finished, you know
what? That means there's nothing for me to do. It's already done. Christ finished the work. John chapter 17 verse 4, he says,
I've glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work thou
gavest me to do. Why did he come here? To save
his people from their sins. Matthew 121 says, I shall call
his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. And
when he said it is finished, they were saved from their sins.
So much so that this work was finished before the foundation
of the world. You can't possibly mess this up because it was already
finished before you were even born. Nothing you can do in time
can mess it up. Finished. And what are we to
do? Rest. Rest in His finished work. It is finished. On the seventh
day, God ended His work. Thus, verse one of chapter two,
thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host
of them. And on the seventh day, God,
what? Ended His work. Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. God
ended his work which he had made and he rested on the seventh
day from all his work which he had made. Now we know that God
didn't rest because he was tired. He rested because the work was
finished. There wasn't anything left to
do. We which have believed do enter
into rest the rest of a finished completed work that we don't
have any hand in this so much so that it was done before the
foundation of the world so you obviously couldn't have done
anything to make it happen because it was finished completed now
let's go on reading for he spake verse 4 for he spake he spake
in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, and God did
rest the seventh day from all of his works. The writer of the
Hebrews is quoting what we just read. He spake, God 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, talking about Psalm 95, if they shall enter or they shall
not enter into my rest, it says, if they shall, the meaning is
they shall not enter into my rest. Seeing, therefore, it remaineth
that some must enter therein. Why must some enter therein?
Because God purposed it. Because God decreed it. Because
God elected the people, Christ died for them, and God the Holy
Spirit gives them life, and they must enter in. They must enter
in. Seeing, therefore, it remaineth
that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first
preached enter not in because of unbelief. Again, He limits. a certain day. Don't hide in yesterday's experience. Don't hide in what you intend
to do tomorrow to make things better. Those are false refuges. Aren't you thankful that he limited
it to today? today if you will hear his voice." The voice of the gospel. Again,
he limits a certain day, verse 7, saying in David Psalm 95,
today after so long a time as it said today if you will hear
his voice Harden not your hearts. Now that frightens me. Becoming gospel hardened so that I do not hear what's
being said. Don't harden your hearts. I know
if man's heart's hardened, God hardened it, and I know this,
it's hardened because he hardened his own heart. Both of those
things are true. And I fear a hard heart because
I know something about it, a heart that doesn't really hear what
God is saying. He said, today if you will hear
his voice, the voice of the gospel, harden not your hearts. For if
Jesus had given them rest, and that's all about Joshua bringing
them into the promised land where they were supposed to enter into
rest, but they didn't, they didn't. For if Joshua had given them
rest, then would he not afterwards have spoken of another day. Now
there remaineth therefore a Sabbath keeping. That's the word. A Sabbath keeping. That's the
only time this word is used in the New Testament. Now when we're
talking about Sabbath keeping, understand, This is not talking
about, well, on Sunday we don't cook, we don't let the kids play,
we just sit and be sober and think about. For one thing, Sabbath's
on Saturday, it's not on Sunday. Someone talks about, well, this
is the Christian Sabbath. No, it's not. It's the Lord's
Day. I love the Lord's Day, but Sabbath
still is on Saturday. And the command of the Sabbath
was to not work at all. As a matter of fact, they found
some people gathering sticks to make a fire. And some people
saw them and they ratted on them. They said, what are we going
to do with these people, Moses? And Moses said, stone them. Now,
if I don't keep the Sabbath, I'm going to be stoned. And keeping
the Sabbath is not keeping a day. So many people make a work out
of not working. That's not what we're talking
about. We're talking about resting in
Christ. And here's what that is. There
remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God, for he that
is entered into his rest. How did God rest? Because the
work was finished. That's why it couldn't be improved. He looked at what he did and
behold, it was very good and God sees things as they are.
You and I don't, he does. He looked at what he did and
it was very good. For he that's entered into his
rest, he also hath ceased from his own works as God did from
his. Now, you know when you rest in
Christ? When you cease from your own works and rest completely
in what He did. When He said, it is finished,
there's nothing for me to do. I rest. Rest. Not work. Not do, rest in what
He has done. Now the only way you're gonna
glorify God, the only way you're going to exalt God, the only
way you're gonna give honor to God is by resting in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He that's entered into His rest,
He also has ceased from His own works as God did from His. You
see Christ's work is all you want. That's all you want. You want to simply be found in
Him. Verse 11, let us labor therefore to enter into that rest. Now
why does he say that? That almost sounds like an oxymoron,
doesn't it? Let's labor to rest. Labor to
enter into that rest. Now the reason he says this is
because he knows the hardest thing, the hardest thing, you
and I are called on to do is nothing. And we're all so naturally self-righteous
that we just have a hard time with this thing of rest. He said,
labor, make it your effort, strive to rest in Christ. Let us labor therefore to enter
into that rest lest any man fall after the same
example of unbelief like those Old Testament people who heard
the gospel, but they didn't believe and they never entered into that
rest. Do you know what you do when
you enter into his rest? You rest. Resting. Do not disturb. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that every one of us, by your grace. Will enter. Into your rest. Lord, for Christ's sake, enable
each one of us. To cease. From our own works. just as you ceased from your
works in creation because what you did was very good and you
were finished. Enable us to rest in him who
finished the work. Lord, don't let us come short
of entering into his rest. Bless this word for Christ's
sake. In his name we pray, amen.