Verse 4, verse 1, the writer of the epistle to
the Hebrews says, Let us therefore fear. Let us therefore fear. And then
in verse 11, he says, Let us labor therefore. Let us therefore
labor to enter into that rest. rest. And then in verse 16, he
says, let us therefore come, come boldly unto the throne of
grace. Now, read verse 1. Let's begin
there. Here are three things that I
want to deal with. Let us therefore fear, fear. Lest a promise being left us
of entering into his rest, his rest, a promise, being left us
of entering in a living union, a personal encounter into his
rest, not a denominational rest or rest of a profession, or rest
of a religious decision, but his rest, his rest, entering
into his rest. Any of you, any of us, should
seem to come short of it. Now, I know this, this fear about
which the apostle is speaking here is not a fear that the grace
of God should fail. The grace of God will not fail.
The scripture says, the Lord knoweth them that are his. The
scripture says, I am the Lord, I change not. The word plainly
declares that the gifts and calling of God are without change. Our
Lord plainly said, all that my Father giveth me shall come to
me, and him that cometh to me I'll in no wise under any circumstances
cast out. So this fear Let us fear, we're
not fearing, aphasia of the grace of God. And then secondly, this
is certainly not a fear that the righteousness of Christ is
lacking, that I shall be trusting Christ, resting in his sanctifying
mercies, in his redeeming obedience and death. And then
I shall come to the throne of God and find out that I didn't
do something that I was supposed to do, that I came up short on
my obedience or my works or the ceremonies or ordinances in some
place. The righteousness of Christ is
effectual and sufficient. No question about the failure
of His perfect, spotless righteousness. And then I know this. Paul is
not speaking, Paul is the writer, Paul is not speaking here of
a fear that the blood of Christ shall fail to atone or to ransom
or redeem any for whom he died. He is able to save to the uttermost
them that come to God by him. So the grace of God is sure,
the covenant of God shall not fail. the righteousness of Christ,
His perfect robe, His spotless, righteous robe is sufficient
and effectual to present us faultless, unblameable, unreprovable, holy
in the sight of God. No lack there. And the blood
of Christ does effectually cleanse us from all sin. I don't have
to fear that at all. The fear here is a cautious fear
and concern over our own faith in Christ. Now that's what he's talking
about, our faith in Christ, mine and yours. Do I really believe
Christ? Do I really trust Christ? Do
I really look to Christ? Turn to 2 Corinthians 11. Now
this is what the apostle is saying here in 2 Corinthians 11. I'm
not just talking to you, I'm talking to me. lest while preaching
to others I become a castaway, lest while trying to keep the
vineyard I neglect my own. In 2 Corinthians 11, verse 3,
2 Corinthians 11, no, 2 Corinthians, I beg your pardon, chapter 13,
2 Corinthians chapter 13, 2 Corinthians chapter 13, 5, Paul said, examine
yourself. Examine yourself. How does a
man examine himself? Well, he examines his motive.
Examines his motive. He examines his objectives. He
examines himself by the Word of God. He puts himself to the
test by the Word. Not by feeling, and not by the
word of someone else, but by God's words. What does God's
word say? How does God's word say? I don't
examine myself by looking to you and say, well, I don't have
what he has. I haven't done what he did. I haven't... I don't
have the enthusiasm he has. I don't have the zeal he has.
I don't have this, that, and the other, you know. I don't
examine myself by others. I examine myself totally and
completely by the Word of God, not by the preacher. Not by the
words of the preacher, but by the Word of God. Examine myself
by the Word of God, my true motives. My true objectives, my true feelings,
and not feelings as external feelings, but my true attitude
toward God and toward myself. And that's what he said, examine
yourself whether you be in the faith. There's just one Lord,
one faith, and one baptism. Whether you be in the faith,
not whether you approve of it, but whether you're in it. Not
whether you're aware of it, but whether you're in it. Not whether
you admire it, but whether you're in it. In the faith. Not aware
of it. Not admire it, but I'm in it.
Examine yourselves by the word of God whether you're in this
thing. Not on the outskirts looking in, even with approval. But am
I in the faith? Am I part of the body? Am I in
Christ? Am I in Christ? Not whether I
profess to be, whether I'm actually in. Prove yourself. Prove yourself
by the Word of God. Prove yourself by the testimony
of the Gospel. Know you're not yourself? I know
the heart's deceitful and desperately wicked. Who can know it? But
there's a sense in which we know where we stand as far as God's
concerned, where the Word's concerned. Prove yourself. Know you're not
yourself? Have it Jesus Christ dwells in you. Not a doctrine. Not a law, but a person. A person. And united with and
joined to a person. Unless you already, now here's
the problem, unless you're already a reprobate, unless God's already
cut you off. Because if a man's a reprobate
and already cut off, he'll call good evil, evil good. God will
send him strong delusions, and he'll believe a lie and think
he's believing the truth. He doesn't know, can't know. He's
a reprobate. He's cut off, already cut off. Like God said, leave Eve from
alone. He's gone to his idols. Like these people in Romans 1,
who made images of the Creator, and where God cut them off. He
turned them over to a reprobate mind, to do the things that are
inconvenient, and thinking they're doing what they're supposed to
do. That's reprobacy. And it's foolish to deny the
fact that reprobation is talking God's Word. There are people
who are walking on this earth who are twice dead and plucked
up by the roots and cut off from God and beyond any gospel help. They're gospel-hardened. That's
right, they're reprobates. Reprobates. And if you read Romans
1, God says three times, He gave them up. God gave them up. to do those things that were
inconvenient. God gave them up to violate their
bodies among themselves. God gave them up. And you know
we've made heroes out of some of these people. We've made heroes
out of reprobates. Entertainers. And it never ceases to shock
me when people who are believers, who say they love Christ and
love the Bible, and yet their idol is one of these wild singers. I don't care what they're called.
Reprobates. That's right. That's their idol.
They pay money to go see them perform. There's something wrong
with that. If you can idolize a reprobate
who has made destruction of the very Word of God and the principles
of truth and wholesomeness and beauty, You've got some problems
somewhere, if you can idolize these people. They're reprobates. No, except you be a reprobate.
Now, you can measure yourself, you can examine yourself, unless
you're a reprobate. All right, enough of that. Let's
go, if you will, to 2 Peter, chapter 1. 2 Peter, chapter 1. 2 Peter 1, verse 10, Wherefore
the rather brethren, brethren, We're not talking here to the
folks outside the ship. We're talking to the fellas in
the same ship, the fellowship. He says, wherefore the rather
brethren, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election
sure. If you do these things, you'll
never fail. You can examine, if I can examine
myself, do I really believe Christ? Am I really trusting Christ alone
for redemption? Have I got a good case and dose
of religion, or do I know Christ? Is my faith a faith that will
persevere? Well, if it's in Christ, it will.
Now, let's look back at Hebrews 4. Now, he gives us an example here.
He says in Hebrews 4, verse 2, Hebrews 4, 2, he said, unto us, unto us right here,
was this gospel. What gospel? Well, it's just
one gospel. Paul said in Galatians, if any
man preach any other gospel, let him be accursed. It's just
one gospel. One gospel, not several gospels. People are always asking
me, do you believe people in Arminianism or Catholicism or
Mormonism or Seventh-day Adventism or some other, you know, do you
believe some of them are saved? Not if they don't believe the
gospel. Not if they haven't heard the
gospel. How can a man be saved without hearing the gospel? I
didn't say a gospel, I said the gospel. Is it more than one gospel? No, there's one gospel. There's
one gospel. And Paul said he didn't care
if it was not a Mormon, a Catholic, or a Baptist or a Methodist,
he said he didn't care if he was an angel. From heaven, if
he preached or believed any other gospel, let him be damned or
cursed. Is that right, Jim? I'm not any
less tolerant than the Apostle Paul. There's one gospel. And that gospel is clearly defined
in this book. It's the gospel of God. Paul
said, I'm separated to the gospel of God. It's the gospel that
was known before any denomination ever arose. The gospel of God,
the gospel of his eternal mercies, the gospel of his eternal grace,
the gospel of his eternal glory, the gospel of his eternal covenant,
the gospel of God, purposed by God, executed by God, applied
by God, sustained by God, consummated by God. It's his gospel. It's
even called the testimony of God. And it's the gospel of His dear
Son. It's concerning His Son. It's not concerning you or me
or what we'll do with Christ. The gospel is not an invitation,
it's a declaration of the person and work of Christ. It's the
gospel concerning His Son. You can't have a gospel quartet
because there's no gospel in a quartet. That's right. You can't have a gospel assembly
because there's no gospel in an assembly. The gospel's in
Christ. That's right. I'm telling you
that the gospel is a person. The gospel hasn't got anything
to do with what you do with it or what I do with it. The gospel
is a proclamation. It's not a recipe. It's not a
proposition. It's the proclamation and declaration
that God, in eternity past, decreed to redeem a people, and made
Christ their representative, their heretic, their federal
heretic. And all the way through the Old
Testament, he pictured him, and prophesied him, and patterned
him, and typified him, and finally he sent him. From the womb of
the virgin, he entered the world, made under the law, made of a
woman, And in perfect obedience, in the flesh, bone of our bone,
flesh of our flesh, he walked this earth. And he kept that
law, and honored that law, and satisfied that law, and honored
it in every respect, and he died on that cross bearing the sins
of those people. that were laid on him, that were
put on him by God himself, that were imputed to him, and reckoned
to him, and charged to him, and the wrath of God fell on him
in the stead of those people. He was buried like they are,
but God brought him forward, and carried him to glory, and
sat him down at his right hand, expecting that his enemies become
his footstool. That's the proclamation. That's
a declaration of a Savior lifted up. And what I say to you, behold
the Lamb of God. Look to Christ. You've got nothing
to do with the gospel, and I've got nothing to do with the gospel.
What you do with it's got nothing to do with it. The gospel is
a proclamation. Believe it and be saved. Disbelieve
it and go to hell. That's the way it is. But the
gospel's the gospel. And the gospel will be the gospel
when you're gone. The gospel was the gospel before
God ever made the world. The gospel was the gospel before
God ever planted a tree. The gospel was the gospel before
you were ever born. And the gospel will be the gospel
when you're gone, judged, and committed to your eternal home.
The gospel is the gospel. And Christ is the gospel. That
right down there, that's the gospel. And it's number one. And you
can't lop off this because you don't like it, because I'll lop
off that because I don't like it. And you can't trim this corner
because you don't like it, and I can't trim this corner. You
take all the gospel and none of the gospel. You take all of
Christ and none of Christ. I respect Christ the preacher,
but I don't care for Christ the sovereign. Then you can't have
Him. You can't have Him. I'm sorry,
the gospel was preached to them, and they didn't want it. How
was the gospel preached to Israel? Preachers preached to them in
type. It was preached to them in picture. It was preached to
them in sacrifice. It was preached to them dozens
and dozens and dozens of times as Moses lifted up the serpent,
as Moses smote the rock, as the bread fell from heaven, as the
Passover lamb was slain, as the blood was put on the door, and
they said, we won't have it. Read that verse too. Unto them,
unto us, This gospel's been preached, as well as to them. But the Word
preached to them, this gospel. God won't compromise it now.
Now, we will, but He won't. Preachers are the world's greatest
compromisers. They think God sent them here
as peacemakers. God didn't send me here as a
peacemaker. He sent me here as a preacher. God didn't send the preacher
to moderate. He sent the preacher to preach,
to declare his truth, to preach his message. That's why he's
here. And that's what Moses did. But they wouldn't have it. It
didn't do them any good. The gospel didn't do them any
good. Why? Not being mixed with faith. You've got to believe this gospel.
And them that heard it, they heard it. I've heard it. You've
heard it. And we've got one of two things
to do. Believe it. Receive it. Embrace it. Submit
to it. Surrender. Or buck it. And you can't buck part of it
without bucking all of it. It's like the law of God. You
can't offend in one point without offending the whole lot. Can't
do it. Can't do it. I'll take Jesus
as my personal Savior, but I'm not going to bow to Him as Lord.
You're not going to have Him either. Because He's Prophet,
Priest, and King. Look back at Hebrews 3 and see
about these people. Hebrews 3, 15. While it's said
today, right now, if you'll hear His voice, His voice, not mine,
His. Harden not your hearts. Why would
a man harden his heart? He doesn't want the whole gospel.
He doesn't want Christ to have the whole glory. He doesn't want
to be stripped and broken and slain and brought down and emptied. He'll harden his heart. He'll
take the part of the gospel he wants and leave the rest of it.
But he's not going to take it all. For some, verse 16, when
they heard, they did provoke God. Howbeit not all that came
out of Egypt by Moses, but with whom was he grieved forty years?
Was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell
in the wilderness? And to whom swear he that they
would not enter into his rest? But to them that believe not,
they could not enter in because of unbelief. I'll give you a few thoughts
on this faith here. Look at verse 2 again. Unto us
is the gospel preached. Just like it was preached to
them. The gospel. One gospel. The gospel. And it's called the
glorious gospel of God. That's the gospel of God's glory.
One gospel. But he didn't profit them because
he didn't believe. Now here's some thoughts on faith
that I picked up. Number one, this faith that saves
has the Word of God as its foundation. The Word of God as its foundation. Now here's a simple illustration. It's just like baptism. Now I'll
submit my faith in believers' baptism to the Word of God. You
can't find any other kind of baptism in the Word of God but
baptism of the believer by immersion. Now, that's just so. Now, you
know that. Go into all the world and preach
the gospel, make disciples, and do what? And baptize them. Not
end their children, baptize the believer. The Ethiopian Union
was riding along. He said to Philip, he said, here's
water. What's hindering me from being baptized? Philip said,
well, you can if what? If you believe. Not if your daddy
was a believer, not if you got a godfather, but if you believe.
He said, I believe Jesus is the Christ, then Philip baptized
him. Philip know anything about God? God sent him down there,
that man. That's what the book says. But
all over this town, they got babies up here, they're sprinkling
water on them, bringing grown people up. And they put on uniforms
and say all kinds of little words and raise their head and sprinkle
some water. Faith believes the book, regardless
if it crosses your tradition, your ancestry, your heritage,
or whatever, you believe God's Word. Same thing through these
women preachers. Turn that stupid television,
Channel 5 over here, it's an abomination of desolation, standing
in a place where it ought to turn it on, And I guarantee you
half the preachers are women. And the other day I turned it
on and a woman was saying, well, a lot of people don't believe
in women preachers. The Bible doesn't teach it. It's
that simple. The Bible is against it. It starts
back in Genesis when man failed, when the woman was deceived in
the transgression. And God said, from now on you
keep your mouth shut. That's what he said to her. Your
husband has a rule over you. You're not to usurp authority
in the church or in the home. That's what he said. God said
that. I didn't say that. And you say, well, they're saved.
They are not saved. They're rebels. And you're putting them in the
category of being God's children. You're calling rebels God's children. They're not God's children. God's
children believe the book. I challenge you. And I'll submit
my faith to God's sovereignty to this book right here. God's
immutably, unchangeably, infinitely sovereign. He said, I am the
Lord. I create light and I create darkness.
I create good and I create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things.
None can stay in my hand and say unto me, what doest thou?
Now, if God is sovereign, then the God that they preach that's
not sovereign is not God. Is that right? That's what the
book says. I'm not going to compromise the
word of my God to get along with anybody in this world. You can't do it. His honor's
at stake. His glory's at stake. His word's
at stake. His kingdom is at stake. I'll
wait your word to give a little here. You give a little here
and you will there, and you give a little there and there, and
that's why you've got nothing but your way, not God's way. Saving faith has the Word of
God as its foundation, and saving faith is born of a need, of a
need, of a need that arises out of an inability. Peter summed
it up when he said, Lord, save me or I perish. Have you ever
been there? Have you ever been there? Everybody
who sings been there. Well, I don't know. I just never
can tell you when I've lost, and you never were safe. Because if a man's not lost,
he's not safe. If he's not lost, he's not found.
If he's not stripped, he's not clothed, he's not dead, he's
not raised. If you never, you say, I can't
remember when I ever didn't believe. Well, you don't believe if you
can't find a time when you didn't believe. Saving faith has one object.
And that's Christ. And I don't care who gets in
the way. I don't care how dear or how near they are to you.
I don't care who gets in the way or what gets in the way.
If they get in the way of Christ, they go. They go. Now, that's
all there is to it. Faith has one object, has one
first love, and that's Christ. Christ. Christ alone. Like the
disciple said, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of
eternal life. old Martin Luther had faith.
If I didn't have but one illustration out of his whole life to know
he had faith, I'd find it right here at the Dodd of Worms. Is
that where it was? He stood there in the center
of all that religious ecclesiastical powers and boards and all those fellows with with their influence, the power
of the government, the power of the most powerful church in
the world. He stood alone, and all of them
were gnashing their teeth and looking down on him, and all
but a leech mob. And they said, what you got to
say? And what he was saying was this, and Martin Luther was a
man who believed in God's sovereignty, election, predestination, and
grace, and Christ's effectual atonement. And he said, here
I stand, I can do no other. Whoo! I tell you, I like that.
Here I stand, I can do no other. Why? Because I stand on the book.
Saving faith has one object, Christ Jesus, and saving faith
will continue. But what he's saying here is
that Israel came and took one look at this, one look at this
gospel of God, of His glory, of His power. And they turned
and went back. And that's what it's, let us
therefore fear. Let us therefore fear. That's
after reading these promises. He that believeth on the Son
hath life. Come unto me, all ye laboring, heavy laden, I give
you rest. Look unto me, and be ye saved. God raised up a root
of Jesse, a son of David, a branch, a Redeemer. Take a look at it
and turn around and go back. Turn around and go back. All right, let's look at verse
11 now. Let us labor, let us tear. Let
us tear. We serve no one but Christ, and
in serving Christ, we serve others. In loving Christ, we love others.
Lord, let us labor to enter into that rest. It's a rest. Lest any man fall after the same
example of unbelief. Now, look back at verse 3. For we which have believed, we
which have received Christ, trusted Christ, as prophet, priest, and
king, as righteousness and redeemer, we have entered into rest. We which have believed on Christ
do enter into r-e-s-t, rest. What is this rest? Well, it's a twofold rest. First
of all, it's a present rest. Right now. It's a rest. Christ said, come in me, I'll
give you rest. I'll give you rest. So this is
a two-fold rest. First of all, it's a present
rest. We rest from the service of the
law. We don't serve the law. We're
free from the bondage of the law. The law has no claim on
us. We are free from the fear of
the curse. We're free from the fear of judgment. Paul said there's no judgment
to them who are in Christ. I'm at rest. As far as the law
is concerned, Tom, do this, do that. I'm at rest. I've been
freed from all the requirements and the servitude and bondage
of the law. When it comes to judgment, when
I think about death and meeting God in the judgment, I'm at rest.
because there's no judgment in Christ. Who can lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? I'm at rest. Aren't you afraid
you're going to have to stand before the judgment, and someday,
and God's going to judge us for not winning souls, and judge
us because we didn't give like we should have paid? No, I'm
at rest. Christ has been judged, found guilty, and punished in
my place. who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect. I'm at rest as far as the judgment
is concerned. I'm at rest as far as ceremonialism. Well, you know, those ceremonies,
I watch the Catholic Church and their ceremonies. They have Mass
and they have Lent and they have Holy Days and they have processionals
and they They do all these things, and you don't do these things,
preachers, you just get up there and everybody sings, and somebody
prays, and you read the Bible, and you preach, and we don't
have any impressive ceremonies. We don't have any impressive
ceremonies. What about the Sabbath? I just feel guilty about the
Sabbath. Well, I know it's not Saturday.
Christ laid in the tomb on Saturday. But how about Sunday? You know,
I feel kind of guilty. I buy a newspaper and feel guilty.
I turn on my favorite television, baseball or football Sunday and
I feel guilty. And I'm just bothered about Sunday.
I'm not. I've entered into His rest. I'm
at rest as far as the bondage of the law, the Sabbath, the
holidays, the ceremonies. I'm at rest. I don't want any
uniforms. I don't want any collar turned
around backwards. I don't want any black robes with red insent
that I've gone through the... Aren't you worried a little bit
about the, you know, baptism or the Holy Eucharist? No. I worship the Holy Savior. I'm
at rest. We who believe enter into whose
rest? His rest. And then he illustrates
it, verse 4. Now watch this. So he spake in
a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, and said, God
did rest the seventh day from all his works. Now my friends,
this is not a rest from fatigue. God doesn't get tired. God doesn't get tired. God doesn't
get weary. What does this mean? This means
that when God created the new, the earth, recreated the earth. He said, let there be light,
sun, moon, stars, the world, the fish, the birds, the trees,
the mountains, the valleys, the streams, the rivers, the oceans,
put a swaddling band around them, created man, six days. God rested. Why? His works were finished. Nothing
to be added. That's the rest. When everything's
done and there's nothing left to be done, that's the rest. You may be running, but you're
still resting. You're running for pleasure,
not to run to do something. It's done. Resting doesn't mean I got my
eyes closed, I may have my eyes open and my mind spinning like
a wheel, but I'm resting. I'm just rejoicing because there's
nothing to do. It's done. God finished His work
and rested. Now, Canaan never offered that
kind of rest. Look at verse 5. Verse 6, seeing therefore it
remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it
is first preached entered not in. Verse 8, for if Joshua had
given them the rest, he wouldn't have spoken afterward of another
rest. Who's Joshua? That's Jesus. It's Joshua there.
Joshua led them into Canaan. And they had material blessings
and material joy and material this, that, and the other. But
it wasn't the rest he's talking about here, because it didn't
last. were a national people with material
blessing, no faith. Verse 9, there remaineth the
rest, therefore to the people of God. What is this rest? Verse
10, for he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased
from his works, as God did from his. Who's that he there? Who is that Paul? That's Christ.
That's Christ. Now here's what Paul, here's
what the writer of the Hebrews is saying. There remaineth a
rest for the people of God. It's not in Canaan, it's not
in material, it's not in having your home paid for and your car
paid for. Israel had that. Everything they
had was paid for. They got divided the land to
a mini-john, and they settled down there, and they said, we
got it made. We don't have any taxes, we don't owe anybody,
we got everything paid for, this is our land. The grapes, this
is big, takes two men to carry them. The honey is just running
down the road, and the milk is everywhere, and there's goats
and calves and sheep, and we have all we need. That's not
it. Because the grapes withered on
the vine. And the honey dried up, and so did the milk. And
they got to fightin' among one another, and God drove them out. You know where they are today.
So Joshua didn't give them that rest. But Jesus Christ, now watch this,
when God created the world, He finished His work. There's not
a blade of grass to be added, there's not a leaf to put on
a tree, there's not an acorn to hang on a limb, there's not
a thing to do to Adam. He's in the image of God. It's
good. It's over. He rested. So when
Jesus Christ came into this world, the Lord from heaven, He came
here to recreate. He came here to restore. He came
here to redeem a people. He came here to speak light out
of darkness and life out of death. and restore our souls. And when
he finished what he came to do, you know what he did? Huh? He
rested. He sat down. Hebrews 1. I'll
show you that. Turn over that. Hebrews 1. Hebrews
1. Verse 3 talks about him. Him,
who being the brightness of His glory, and express image of His
person, upholdeth all things by the word of His power, when
he himself purged our sins, some of them, a portion of them, most
of them, all of them, sat down on the right hand of God. He's
through. Our Lord did what he came to
do and sat down. There's nothing left to do. But the preacher said, you're
supposed to do something. Now, if he's sitting down, I'm
sitting down. If he's entered into the rest,
I've entered into the rest, because I'm in him. I'm seated in him.
He didn't do that for himself. He did it for me. So I'm sitting
down, too. I'm resting. Read the next verse
11. Let us labor, try, endeavor,
refusing the old wives' tales, refusing The influence of religion
is refusing to be drawn into their charismatic foolishness
and hand-waving and give so God will bless you. Keep this Sabbath
day. Do this. Do that. Sanctify it
be your work. Make yourself acceptable to God.
Do your best and you'll go to heaven. Strive. Let us labor
to enter into that rest. His rest. lest you fall in the same way
the rest of them fell, trying to work out a righteousness of
their own. Now, you'll fail if you're not
careful. Oh, look, brother man, you know,
I just, sit down. But, you know, they got such
crowds, and they're so impressive, and they just, this preacher
said he He gave five hundred and God gave him back twenty-five
hundred. Is that what you're looking for? Then join up with
him. Maybe it ain't God that's giving
it to him. Maybe it's the God of this world. He said, after
Christ, he said, you worship me and I'll give you the kingdoms. I'll bless you. They're mine to give. You want a new car? Ask him for
one. He'll give you one. Not him, but him. Bring your time in order to get
something back. You'll get it back if that's
what you want. That's not what I want. I want
a peace in here and a joy in here and a relationship with
God. My sins pardoned. I'd rather wear patches and know
Christ. In fact, I think we'd be better off if we had some
patches. I think we got too much. I think we're rich and increased
with goods and have need of nothing, even God. I really do. Let us labor. When God finished
His work, He rested. Why? There was nothing left to
do. When Christ Jesus, verse 10, ceased from His own works
as the Father did, and entered His rest, let us strive to enter
into Not my rest. Not positive mental attitude.
No sir. Not I'm happy all the time. His
rest. I ain't happy all the time. His
rest. I'm saved because He died for
me. I'm accepted of God because He is my righteousness. His rest. All right. Now the third one. The third one. Let us come boldly. Now if you look at verse 12,
it says, For the word of God is quick, alive, and powerful,
sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing, even to dividing asunder
soul and spirit, of the joints and marrow, a discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the heart. All of you may not be interested
in this, but my friends here who preach and who teach will
be. Now is the Word of God here, is it the incarnate Word or the
written Word? Is it the incarnate Word or the
Word of the Gospel? John Owen, illustrious John Owen. John Gill, greatest writer yet,
uninspired. They say this is Christ, the
Word of God. Christ, the Word of God. John
Calvin, great writer. says that this is the written
Word. Well, they're just men, they
put their britches on one leg at a time, don't they? Well,
Henry Mahan says. And the only reason you laugh
is because you don't think it makes any difference. I say it's both. Because you better not separate
the incarnate Word from the written Word. Because this Word's nothing
without Christ. That's right. This Word is Christ. He's the living Word. He spake
the world out of nothing by His Word. We understand it by the
Word of God. Who was that? By Him, for Him,
through Him. He is the Word who reveals God.
He said, I've manifested Thy Word unto them. How do you manifest
His Word? You've seen me, you've seen God. He is the living word. We are
begotten again unto a living hope by the what? The word of
God as the seed of life. That's right. And I'll show you
something else. Now watch this. It says, this
word, whoever it is, is a discerner. See the last line? A discerner
of the thoughts and intents of the heart. The real heart of you is revealed. Not just in the light of a doctrine.
Turn to Luke 2. And this helped me more than
anything that I've read on this verse. Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter
2. Now turn over here a minute.
Simeon was talking to Mary in Luke 2.34. Luke 2.34. And Simeon blessed them and said
to Mary his mother, you got it? Behold this child. This person,
Jesus Christ, is set for the fall and the rising again of
many. That's where it all is, in Christ.
You either fall or rise. And for a sign which shall be
spoken against, yea, a sword shall pierce through your own
soul also, in parenthesis. that the thoughts of many hearts
might be revealed in the light of Christ. That's where the thoughts
of hearts reveal. Now leave out that parenthetical
statement. Talk about this child set for
the fall and rising again of many in Israel for a sign which
shall be spoken against that the thoughts of many hearts might
be revealed. Christ is the word. Christ is
the word. That's the issue. That's the
issue. It's Christ. He's the issue.
He's the Word of God. He's quick. He's powerful. He's
sharper than a two-edged sword. He pierces even the most secret
places between soul and spirit. Verse 13, neither is there any
creature that's not manifested in His sight. That's what Paul
read a while ago. He knows all hearts. I watch these people. It's so
distressing. They came down and they get this
whole thing all prepared. Here's a man with a bottle of
oil and here's a woman. It's always a woman somehow and
they're preaching or healing or something. And they bring
this fella down and two fellas get behind them to catch them
because they're supposed to fall. They all fall. And if they don't
fall on the first whack, they give them a second whack. I watched
that. That's right. This is distressing. And they
bring them up here and they They put the oil on there, and they
say all these things, and they put their hand right up here
and shove them. And these two fellas catch them,
you know, and lay them down. This is weird. It's weird. And you want me to support that? That's not the God we're talking
about here. They don't preach Christ. They
don't take a scripture like this and get into who Christ is. But I'll tell you, if that's
foolishness to me, think what it is to Him. The great mighty
God. Think what it is to Him. Neither
is any creature not manifest in His sight. Verse 13, all these
shenanigans are naked and open unto Him. Unto Him. You go through the Bible and
you'll find men worshiping God. Filled with awe and reverence
and fear. stricken and smitten with His
glory, with their hands, even the seraphims with their hands
over their mouths and over their feet. You hear them falling down before
Him. And this generation is whooping
it up more all the time. Verse 14, seeing that we have
a great high priest, We have a great high priest, Christ Jesus
the Lord. All I've told you He's done.
And He's passed into the heavens. He is in the presence of the
Father. And He is one who can be touched with a feeling of
our infirmities. I tell you, sometimes we say,
well, I understand what you're going through. I've been there.
I can't understand everything everybody's going through, because
I haven't been everywhere. But my Lord can. He's been everywhere. There's no temptation you've
ever suffered or trial you've ever borne. He didn't back. That's
right. He knows. The Son of God, Jesus, the Son
of Man, the Son of God. Because of that, because of that,
let's hold our profession. It's not because I attended the
Baptist Church. It's not because my daddy was
a Christian. It's not because I'm a preacher. It's because
I have a high priest at the right hand of God who can be touched
with the feeling of my infirmities, and he's my representative. Therefore,
I hold my profession of faith in him. It's not because I pray. You say, well, I know I'm sacred.
God heard my prayer. That's not what it says. It says,
because I have a high priest. If I can do that, you can do
that. That's right. And the drunk can
do it, and the alcoholic, and the drug addict, and the prostitute,
and the blight saver, and any old moth-backed son of an addict. Anybody can look. But you don't
look to a little Jesus down here on your level. You look to Him
who's exalted. You look to Him. You look to
the wrong one if you're looking down here. If you come down here,
or look to me, or go through the motion, forget me and look
to Christ. Don't write me, but look to Christ. Let us, here's the key, yet without
sin. Yet without sin. My representative
is without sin, and therefore I'm without sin. All right, because
all that's so, let us come. Let us come confidently, let
us come boldly, let us come expecting to be received where? Under the
throne. Christ didn't change God's seat from a throne. It's still a throne, a sovereign,
unchangeable throne, but it's a throne of grace. It's the throne
of justice, but the justice has been fully carried out in Christ.
And for you it's the throne of grace, because for him it was
the throne of judgment. That we may obtain not a crown, not a five crowns. I don't know
why we are so gullible to that stuff. Maybe it's because we
think we deserve it. that we may obtain. Let's come
to the throne of grace. Let's come to the throne of God
that we may obtain mercy. I'm a subject of mercy. That's what I need. I don't need
a crown. I need mercy. Mercy, that's what
I need, the mercy of God now, and grace to help us in our time
of need. Have you entered into His rest?
It's just one thing that'll keep you out of His wrist, unbelief. I believe the Bible is the word
of God. This faith has to do with a person. Has to do with
a person. Who he is, what he did, why he
did it, and where he is now. That's it. And it's by that word
and that person that the thoughts and intents of men's hearts are
revealed.