our service tonight reading from
Ephesians chapter 5. I think everyone has heard that
the report about Sue Hume is good. She's in ICU but the doctor
said everything went well. We're thankful for that. Ephesians
5 verses 1 through 7. Be ye therefore followers of
God as dear children, and walk in love as Christ also hath loved
us and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice
to God for a sweet-smelling savor. But fornication and all uncleanness
or covetousness Let it not be once named among you, as becometh
saints. Neither filthiness, nor foolish
talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient, but rather giving
of thanks. For this you know, that no whoremonger,
nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath
any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no
man deceive you with vain words, For because of these things cometh
the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore
partakers with them. May the Lord bless his word to
all of us here this evening. Now if you will, let's bow our
heads in prayer. Our Father, we are thankful this
evening. Thankful Father for your goodness
and mercy. Thankful for your long suffering
and patience and kindness. Father, all that we know that
you have revealed about yourself causes us to give thanks and
to bless thy name. We do pray this evening that
you will help us to worship thee, to put aside and put out of our
minds those things that would distract us and help us, Father,
to concentrate upon thee. And Father, we pray that you
will bless these of our church family who have been in the hospital
or in the hospital. We ask for your blessings upon
them this evening, that you might grant healing unto them. And
for others who are away at this time, Father, we pray for your
watch care over them, and we pray that you will return them
safely. And we do thank thee tonight
for the rain that you have sent. And Lord, we just thank Thee
for the wonders of creation that we see, Thy handiwork, Father. And Lord, help us to acknowledge
Thee and give thanks unto Thee for all of Thy goodness, especially
Thy Son, as we read here just now, Father, who gave Himself
for us as a sacrifice and a sweet-smelling offering unto Thee. For all of
these things I ask in Christ's name and for his sake, amen. Now let's take our hymn books
and let's sing and worship the Lord. All right, let us open to number
291. 291. Guide me, O thou great Jehovah. Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land. I am weak, but Thou art mighty,
Hold me with Thy powerful hand. Bread of heaven, Bread of heaven,
feed me till I want no more. Feed me till I want no more. Open now the crystal fountain,
whence the healing stream doth flow. Let the fire and cloudy
pillar lead me all my journey through. Strong deliverer, strong
Be Thou still my strength and shield. Be Thou still my strength
and shield. When I tread the verge of Jordan,
bid my anxious fears subside. Bear me through the swelling
current, land me safe on Canaan's side. Songs of praises, songs
of praises I will ever give to Thee I will ever give to thee. Amen. Oh, it's good worship tonight,
especially good singing them like this. It's such an intimate
time when you sing them, you know, with just sometimes with
just a few instruments and a lot of voices, you know, it's really
good and it sounds good and it gives glory to God. Let's do
number 280. moment by moment with Jesus. Let's do first, second, and last
verses. Dying with Jesus, by death reckoned
mine Living with Jesus, a new life divine Looking to Jesus,
till glory does shine Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine
Moment by moment I'm kept in his love Moment by moment I've
life from above, looking to Jesus till glory does shine. Moment by moment, O Lord, I am
Thine. Never a trial that he is not
there, Never a burden that he doth not bear, Never a sorrow
that he doth not share, Moment by moment, I'm under His care. Moment by moment, I'm kept in
His love. Moment by moment, I've life from
above. Looking to Jesus till glory does
shine. moment by moment oh lord i am
thine on the last never a weakness that he Sickness that he cannot heal
Moment by moment in woe or in will Jesus my Savior abides with
me still Moment by moment I'm kept in his love Moment by moment
I've life from above. Looking to Jesus till glory does
shine. Moment by moment, O Lord, I am
Thine. Amen. Glory to God. Let me remind us that next Wednesday
we will not have a service next Wednesday evening. Now, if you
will, let's open our Bibles to Hebrews chapter 4. Title of the message is the believers
rest. The believers rest Hebrews chapter
4. And looking at verses one through
10. Let us therefore fear, lest a
promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should
seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached
as well as unto them. But the word preached did not
profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard
it. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said,
as I have sworn in my wrath if they shall enter into my rest,
although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise,
and God did rest the seventh day from all his works. And in
this place again, if they shall enter into my rest, seeing therefore
it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it
was first preached entered not in because of unbelief. Again,
he limited 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, I know it says
Jesus, but that should be Joshua. For if Joshua had given them
rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another rest. There remaineth therefore a rest
to the people of God. For he that is entered into his
rest, he also hath ceased from his own works as God did from
his. Now, as we look at this passage,
I want us to remember to whom it was originally written. And I would remind us once again
of the words which were printed in the first or in the third
authorized publication of the English Bible in 1535, Myles
Coversdale's Bible. In the beginning or in the front,
it said, it shall greatly help you to understand scripture If
thou mark not only what is spoken or written, but of whom and to
whom, with what words, at what time, where, to what intent,
with what circumstances, considering what goeth before and what followeth. And I don't think you could ever
find a better rule than that for studying the Word of God,
interpreting the Scriptures. There are two things in that
statement that stand out tonight. To whom? To whom? It shall greatly help ye to understand
the Scriptures. One of the things we are to mark
is to whom the Scripture was written. And with what intent? With these words, to whom? And
to what intent were these words that we are looking at tonight,
Hebrews 10, verses 1 through 4, originally written? Well, we know they were written
to Hebrews, thus the title of the letter, Hebrews. Written
to Hebrews who had professed faith in the Lord Jesus, that
is, they confessed that they were believers in Christ. But
now they were under pressure to turn back, to look back to
that old covenant, that old economy, that old dispensation, to look
back to that old covenant with its temple. Remember, it had
its temple, first the tabernacle and then the temple. It had its
priest, the high priest and various other priests of the tribe of
Levi. It had its sacrifices. In other
words, it had a lot that you could see, that you could touch. Yes, even the burning of incense
that you could smell. There was a lot that appealed
to the flesh because it was as the ABCs actually of the gospel. But we know the key word in this
letter of Hebrews is the word better, B-E-T-T-E-R, better. Everything is better in this
new covenant. It's a better covenant. It's
established on better promises, a better sacrifice. Remember,
those sacrifices could never take away sin. But the one offering
of Jesus Christ hath perfected forever. them that are sanctified. So all about this letter, the
writer is pointing out to these Hebrews who had professed faith
in Christ, but were now under pressure to look back, to go
back, to turn back to that old economy where they could see
things and touch things and smell things even, the incense that
was burned, to look back, to go back to that, those rituals. Now, in my last message, in chapter
three, we looked at the awful, the warning rather, of the awful
sin of unbelief. And as the scripture has been
divided, we see that that chapter, chapter three, ended by saying
that the unbelief, the sin of unbelief, is what kept the Hebrews,
that God had delivered from Egypt unbelief kept them from entering
into the promised land. God delivered them out of Egypt,
and now they're in the wilderness. They come to the border of the
promised land, but they were not able to go in. Why? Because
of unbelief. They didn't believe God. They
listened to the report of the spies which said there's giants
in the land, and the cities are walled up to heaven." In other
words, they did not believe that God would give them that land
as He had said. Now the verses we're looking
at tonight continue with the warning that unbelief, unbelief
will keep a person from entering into God's promised rest. Unbelief, it's a wicked sin. It's an evil that we don't think
that much about maybe, but unbelief is a wicked sin, not to believe
God. And unbelief has consequences,
and they're awful consequences as we see. Now, one writer pointed
out that the difference between the Hebrews and people today,
People today are seeking rest. Everyone is seeking rest in something
or the other. Contentment, peace, in something
or the other. But the difference, this writer
pointed out, between the Hebrews and people today is the Hebrews
were seeking their rest in religion. People today are not seeking
rest in religion. They're seeking it in many other
ways, in entertainment, in drugs, in and all kinds of things that
are presented and offered as something that will give contentment
and rest to one. But the Hebrews, they were seeking
rest, but they were seeking it in religion. And the writer goes
on to point out, any religion, even if it is called Christianity,
any religion, no matter what it's called, if it's called Christianity,
but If it does not trust and point people, or point people
rather, to trust only in Jesus Christ and in Him alone, it's
not going to bring rest. It's not going to bring contentment. It's not going to bring peace.
It's going to bring misery. The Lord Jesus Christ, remember,
He said this, come unto Me. Come unto Me. all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. The rest that
men need and men desire is not to be found in doing, but it
is rather to be found in the person, the person and work of
Jesus Christ. Now looking at these 10 verses
tonight, I want to point three things out to us that we see
in these verses. These verses speak of three different
rest. That's the first thing I want
us to say. In these 10 verses that we've read, these verses
speak of three different rest. They're not given in their chronological
order as they were given in the Word of God. But that's the way
I want to point them out to us. The first rest you see in verse
four, the first rest that he speaks of is the rest of finished
creation, of finished creation. Genesis chapter two and verse
two, we read, and on the seventh day, God ended his work, which
he had made, and he rested on the seventh day from all his
work, which he had made. And you see that in verse four,
it says about middle ways there, and God did rest the seventh
day from all his work. So that's the first rest. That's
the first rest that we read about in these verses, the rest of
a finished creation. When God in six days created
the heavens and the earth and everything therein and rested
on the seventh day, the rest of creation. The second rest, in verse three,
is the rest of the promised land. The rest of the promised land
that was denied to unbelieving Israel. Notice in verse three,
it says, for we which have believed to enter into rest, as he said,
as I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest,
although the works were finished from the foundation of the world,
the rest of the promised land, which Israel, because of their
unbelief, as I've already said, they did not enter into that
rest. Keep your places here, but look
back with me to Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 12, with
these words of Moses to the nation of Israel. And remember, in the book of
Deuteronomy, the words of Deuteronomy were given to Israel after the
40 years they spent in the wilderness. But in chapter 12 and verse 9, Moses said this
to the Israelites, for you are not as yet come to the rest and
to the inheritance which the Lord your God giveth you. They
were on once out of Jordan, but he tells them, you have not yet,
you've not entered into that promised land as yet. You have
not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which the
Lord your God giveth you. But remember in our text here
in Hebrews chapter 10, we were told that Joshua, he's the one
that led them into the land of promise, but the scripture said,
for if Joshua, had given them rest. Then, if he had given them
rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another rest.
After Joshua, several hundred years later, here comes David,
who wrote the Psalms, and this is what he said in the Psalms.
Look at Psalm 95. We're still speaking about a
rest. rest of the promised land, which
the Israelites, because of their unbelief, did not enter into. Joshua did not give them rest. In Psalm 95, and that's quoted
here in Hebrews 10, Hebrews 4 rather, in Psalm 95, verses 10 and 11. God says, 40 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. Now this is God speaking. Who
was he grieved with? He said he was grieved 40 years
with the nation of Israel, 40 years in the wilderness, he was
grieved with them. unto whom I swear in my wrath
that they should not enter into my rest." So that's the second
rest here in this chapter. The first rest was the rest of
finished creation. God rested from all his works.
The second rest that we read about in this chapter was the
rest that Israel did not obtain. They went into the promised land,
but Because of their unbelief, they did not obtain the rest
of the promised land. Now the third rest, the third
rest, if you turn back here to Hebrews chapter four, it speaks
of a rest that remains. Notice that in verse one. And
the apostle, the writer said, let us therefore fear, lest a
promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should
seem to come short of it. A promise being left us of entering
into his rest. And then in verse 9, he said,
there remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. This rest
is the promise and the fruit of the new covenant. This rest
that remained, that the people of God enter into. This rest
is a rest and it is the fruit of the new covenant, which will
never pass away. And this rest is only for those
who trust in Christ. Now, what is this rest? What
is this rest that those who trust in Christ? If you trust in Christ
tonight, if you know him as your Lord and Savior, you have entered
into this rest. What is this rest? Well, John
Gill defined this rest in these words. He said, it consists in
a freedom from a spirit of bondage to fear. Under the law, with
all of its regulations and all of its rules. It only produced
bondage and bondage produced fear. But this rest that we have
by trusting in Christ, by believing in Christ, we've entered into
this rest and we've been delivered from that bondage of fear, that's
first. And second, he said, from the
yoke of carnal ordinances. Think of all the ordinances the
Israelites had under that covenant. Circumcision was one. We're delivered from that, that
the ordinances. And that's just one, but there
was many others, you know, bringing those animals to be sacrificed. We don't do that. I mean, there's
just a number of ordinances that were The Israelites had to observe
under that old economy. We're delivered from that. We've
entered into this rest. And don't you know that that
economy, there was many things you could do and not even know
that you had offended. You could be out in the field
walking. You could walk over a bone, a human bone. that been in a war or something,
a battle, the body just been left out there, and you were
unclean. You were unclean. And you had
to go through a ritual in order to be back in the camp, to be
cleansed. You can read about all of those
regulations and rules, can't you, in Leviticus. We've been
delivered from that. We're not under. those carnal
ordinances anymore. We worship God in spirit, rejoice
in Jesus Christ, and have no confidence in the flesh. That's
what the Apostle Paul says. We've entered into his rest. And the third thing, 1st John
Gil said, in a freedom from a spirit of bondage to fear, and from
the yoke of carnal ordinances. And lastly, in the enjoyment
of gospel privileges and ordinances. We rejoice in Christ. Gospel
privileges. We come together, we sing and
praise God. We worship the Lord in spirit
and in truth. These are gospel privileges that
are ours now. Why? Because we have entered
into his rest. So that's the first thing I wanted
to point out to us, the three rest that are mentioned in those
verses. The rest of a finished creation,
the rest that the Israelites were not allowed to partake of
because of unbelief, the rest that was promised them in the
land of Canaan, and third, the rest that is a gospel rest. We rest in Christ. Here's the
second thing. These verses speak of the necessity
of faith in Christ alone to enter into God's promised rest. Now
the writer, it seems, sensed that some were tempted to turn
back to the rituals of the law, rituals of the law that they
believed would some way commend them to God. Now there are many
people like that today. Intellectually, they believe
in Christ, They do. Intellectually, they believe
in Christ, but their trust is in their works. Their trust is
in their prayers. Their trust is in burning candles.
There's a multiplicity of things that people trust in. Yes, intellectually,
in their mind, they believe in Christ. They believe that Christ
is the Son of God in their mind, but yet they They look to these
things that they do, their church membership, their whatever, you
know, to make them accepted to God, to commend them to God. Now, notice the first words of
the passage. Let us therefore fear. Let us
therefore fear. John Calvin's comments on these
words are helpful, I believe, and I quote, He said, this fear
is commended to us, not as something that drives us away from the
assurance of faith, but as something that inspires us with concern
that we do not grow slack with carelessness. We do not want
to come short of his promised rest. Remember our Lord, he warned
He said, not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter
into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my
father. When you read that verse or hear
that verse quoted, it begs this question, doesn't it? Not everyone
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven, But he who does the will of my father, it begs the
question, what is the will of his father? What is the will of his father?
Well, I believe the best person to answer that is Christ, don't
you? Look with me in John chapter six. Let's hear his answer. Not everyone who says to me,
Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who
does the will of my father. Well, what then is the will of
the father? In John chapter six and verse
40, the Lord Jesus Christ answers that when he says, and this is
the will of him that sent me. Here it is. This is the will
of him that sent me, his father. that everyone which seeth the
Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life, and I
will raise him up at the last day. This is the will of the
Father, that everyone that sees, how do we see Christ? By faith. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. How do we see Christ? Not with
these physical eyes. We're not talking about a vision
or anything like that, but we understand, we perceive, we see
who he is. And we do that by hearing the
gospel, by hearing the word of God. And we believe. Look back
to verse 29 in John 6. Jesus answered and said unto
them, they had asked him this question, verse 28, what shall
we do that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered
and said unto them, this is the work of God. This is the will
of God. Not everyone that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he
who does the will of my father. What is the will of the father?
This is the work of God. that you believe on him whom
he hath sent. Now back in our text, back in
Hebrews 4, he illustrates and drives home this point in the
example of the Israelites. Verse two, for unto us was the
gospel preached as well as unto them, but the word preached did
not profit them. Well, why did it not profit them?
And why does it not profit men and women today who hear the
gospel? Not being mixed with faith. The
sin of unbelief. The awful sin of unbelief. The gospel, notice that, for
unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them. The gospel
was preached unto them. Now, how was the gospel preached
to them? We're talking about those Israelites
who came out of Egypt. How was the gospel preached unto
them? Well, first of all, the Passover. The Passover. If they observed what was given
to them in the Passover, that was the gospel in picture, wasn't
it? Did it show the need of a substitute? Did the Passover show that there
has to be a substitute? No man can save his son, his
firstborn. There must be a substitute to
do that. Who is that? The Lamb. There
must be a substitute. And did not the Passover show
the sufficiency of the blood? It was the blood. When God passed
over Egypt that night, it was the blood, and only the blood.
And where He saw the blood, He passed over that house. Without
the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. And did
not the Passover also not only picture the need of a substitute,
the need of a sacrifice, that blood, but it also pictured the
need of faith, because They had to take hyssop, didn't they?
And put that hyssop in that blood and shake it on the doorpost
and on the lentil of the house. And the blood is all important,
but we must have faith. We must believe the sin of unbelief. And what about crossing the Red
Sea? The gospel was preached to them
in the crossing of the Red Sea, wasn't it? When they came out
there and there was no escape, and their enemies were following
hard on their heels, and what does God do? He opens up a way
for them to go through. And not only that, but He put
that cloud and that fire to separate them from their enemies. And while it was light to the
Israelites, it was darkness to the Egyptians. And after they
get on the other side, waters cover the soldiers, their enemies
up, what do they see? They see each and every one of
their enemies drowned in the Red Sea. Can you see each and
every one of your sins drowned, covered in the red blood of Jesus
Christ. And then when Moses was given
the instructions concerning that tabernacle, I mean, there were
so many ways the gospel was pictured. The cleansing of a leper. Remember
how they took two birds and they killed one bird over that running
water Then they dip that other bird down in that bowl where
the water and the blood was and let that bird loose, picturing
the cleansing of sin and the cleansing of that leper. The
day of atonement. I mean, we could just go on and
on. The gospel was preached unto them, the scripture here says,
as it was unto us, but The word preached did not profit them.
It did not profit them. Why? They didn't believe. Not
being mixed with faith. The gospel was preached to them
in those shadows and in those types, those pictures. And yes,
we know that those of us who live after Calvary, after the
resurrection, after the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, The
gospel is much plainer to us, isn't it? Much clearer. But it's
the same gospel. It's the same gospel, and it
calls for faith to believe. Believe the gospel, believe God.
Here's the third thing. So we've seen three rest, and
we've seen the necessity of faith, faith in Christ. Just hearing
the gospel is important, but we must believe. Must believe. And as I said in
the message last Sunday, we must believe. Faith is a gift. There's
no question about that. But God does not believe for
us. We must repent. God has nothing to repent of.
He gives the grace of repentance, but we ourselves, we must repent. We must believe the gospel. And
here's the third thing I wanted to point out. These verses speak
of some who actually enter into this promised rest. Notice in
verse three. For we which have believed do. do enter into rest. Now, how are they who must enter
into this rest? As it says further in verse three,
as I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest,
although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. for he spake in a certain place
of the seventh day on this wise and God did rest the seventh
day from his works and again in this place again if they shall
enter into my rest saying therefore it remaineth now watch this that
some must some must enter therein how are those who must enter
into this promised rest, God's rest, how are they identified
in these verses? Well, look at these three things.
First of all, verse nine, those who enter into this rest, they
are the people of God. There remaineth therefore a rest
to the people of God. God has a people in this world,
a people that he loves, a people that he chose, a people that
he has redeemed. They are his people. I know all
people are his, as far as his creatures, but God has his people
in this world. Turn back to Psalm 100, just
a moment. Psalm 100. You know, the church, used to
sing the Psalms. It's a song book, and the church
used to sing the Psalms. And I've read this more than
once, that Martin Luther, when things were looking bad during
the time of the Reformation, and he might get somewhat discouraged,
he would tell the people there with him, let's sing the 100th. Let's sing the 100th. And he's
talking about the 100th Psalm. Let's sing the 100th Psalm. for
encouragement. Make a joyful noise unto the
Lord, all you lands. Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before his presence with singing. Know you that the Lord,
he is God. It is he that hath made us and
not we ourselves. We are his people. Well, isn't everyone his people? Well, everyone is His creature,
but He has His people in this world, and they are the sheep
of His pasture. We are His people and the sheep
of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving
and into His courts with praise. Be thankful unto Him and bless
His name, for the Lord is good. He's always good, isn't He? Sometimes
we may perceive that what we're going through, we might be tempted
to think he's not good. No, he's always good. Always
good. And everything he does is good.
Because he is good. His mercy is everlasting, and
his truth endureth unto all generations. So the people who enter into
his rest, that is, God's rest, are identified, first of all,
they are the people of God. They are they which believe.
Notice that in verse three. They are they which believe,
for we which have believed do enter into his rest. How does a person come to Christ?
He comes by faith, by believing in him. And third, they are identified
here as they are they who have, notice verse 10. ceased, stopped,
stopped, ceased from their own works. They've ceased trying to do something to make themselves acceptable
to God. They've ceased from their own
works. They're trusting solely, only
in Jesus Christ and his finished work. Enter into his rest. And isn't it wonderful if you
tonight know that you have entered into his rest. If you've ever
been in religion, and most of us were, trying to do something,
to please God, to impress God, to earn something, what a blessing,
isn't it? To enter into His rest, to trust
in Christ and Christ alone. Nothing in my hand I bring, simply
to His cross I cling, to rest in Christ. Let us stand and we'll
be dismissed. Kevin, would you lay this in
our prayer? Yes. I pray that you be watch over
us. I pray for our brother, Dole. Watch over him. Father, forgive us for our sins.