Hebrews 4:1-11

Hebrews chapter 4.

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

So this morning I would say that I'm especially thankful this morning that this is the work of the Spirit.

! It feels like this week everything that could have gone crazy did go crazy just in preparation and just in different circumstances in life.

But I'm thankful that we're preaching God's Word.

It's His authority here. It's His Word that is inerrant and it is profitable for us this morning.

So I'm thankful for that.

And yeah, so in Hebrews 4 is where we'll be.

So just a reminder of where we have been at is that last week we took that break for Mother's Day, preached that sermon.

But before that we're in the end of chapter 3 of Hebrews where Nathan preached a sermon all about assurance.

We talked about the realities of pressing on in our faith and by God's grace persevering to the end.

We talked about a really scary reality of beginning really well and then coming to a really poor end.

We talked about the reality of sin's deception and how quickly it can eat away at us if we're not rooted in good soil.

We talked about how the passage is so clear about the church exhorting one another, especially in verses 12 and 13 of chapter 3 about constantly pressing each other on towards holiness, towards Christ-likeness, and leading each other away from sin.

So as we persevere, we prove that that faith that God Himself is preserving in us is that good soil.

And we talked about how such a sad example was given here about the children of Israel not reaching that appointed rest.

But we also saw why.

It didn't leave us guessing as to why they didn't get to that rest.

It was very, very, very clear.

And it was because of their unbelief.

Unbelief is why they didn't reach that rest.

And so with all of that context, that's kind of where we're at today.

So we've just talked a lot about persevering to the end, the dangers of falling away.

And so we have our passage today continuing along those kind of lines.

So let's go ahead and read it, and we will jump in from there.

So Hebrews chapter 4, we'll go ahead and read the first 11 verses.

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

It says,

Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us fear, lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.

For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.

For we who have believed enter that rest, as He has said,

As I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest, although His works were finished from the foundation of the world.

For He has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way, and God rested on the seventh day from all His works.

And again in this passage He said,

Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience,

Again, He appoints a certain day, today, saying through David so long afterwards, and the words already quoted,

Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on.

So then there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,

for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from His works, as God did from His.

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

So before we go any further, let's pray.

God, I acknowledge that anything said here this morning or heard here this morning is of no value apart from Your grace, Lord.

And so we ask for Your grace this morning.

I ask that You would guide my tongue.

You would give me the proper words to speak that Your church needs for its building up, Lord.

And You would truly bring Your word to fruition in our lives, Lord.

And guard my tongue against saying anything falsely, Lord.

And just let Your word be truthfully proclaimed this morning.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

So, for y'all that really like organization and planning,

I'd like to go ahead and give a little bit of the structure for what we're going to look at.

And there are four aspects I really want to look at about God's rest.

So these are the four aspects.

So four aspects of God's rest.

First one is the available rest.

The available rest.

Secondly, the nature of that rest.

The nature of that rest.

Thirdly, the rest now and the rest later.

And finally and fourthly, the striving necessary to enter that rest.

The striving necessary to enter that rest.

So we'll begin with the available rest.

Verse one makes the comment that the promise of entering God's rest still stands.

It then gives us a warning that we should be very careful lest we fail to reach it.

In other words, we should be very diligent to make sure that we enter this rest.

In verse two, notice that it describes two different types of people who hear the good news.

Those who hear it and it benefits them.

And those who hear it and it doesn't benefit them.

And it also, again, like it did in chapter three,

shows the difference between if you benefit or if you don't.

And that difference was one thing.

It was that they were united with faith, right?

It says they were united by faith with those who listen.

So that is the difference on whether this actually benefited or didn't benefit, right?

It was those who were united by faith.

Now, thinking back to chapter three and thinking about the context of this passage,

let's try to remember who the them is that is being referred to because that will help us a lot.

This is post-Exodus Israel, right?

The Israel who were freed from the Egyptians, crossed the Red Sea on dry ground,

followed God's direction by a cloud and fire, right?

Given manna to eat.

And then they were given a couple of faithful messengers, like Caleb and Joshua,

who said, like, we've made it to the promised land, right?

We are here.

We can conquer these people.

The Lord is on our side, so we can do this.

This is going to be a piece of cake to take this land, right?

God is on our side.

But the people were afraid.

They said the men were giants.

Like, we can't do it.

We can't conquer them.

And so these were the folks that could not enter the promised land, that rest, right?

Entering that promised land because they were not united in faith with those who did listen.

So in this passage here in verses 1 and 2, it's comparing us to being in the same situation.

We have good news of rest, just like they had good news of rest in their promised land.

And we have that option today as well.

But there's also similarities there and differences.

The big similarity is we obtain it in the same way, by faith.

It's as simple as that.

We may enter that rest simply if we have faith, and we'll get more into what that faith looks like

and what that rest looks like a little bit later.

But we have that same option.

It's not as if we're inheriting a promised land in the exact same way,

but we are inheriting a beautiful inheritance in the Lord that is that rest.

So we'll get more into what that looks like later.

But for now, in verse 1, it makes it really clear that that rest is available.

Okay, so that rest is available.

So with that rest being available, let's talk a little bit about the nature of that rest.

That's point 2, the nature of this rest.

For Israel, it was the promised land, what it was talked about here.

And it is similar for us.

But let's look at verses 3 through 5 and look at kind of what it is explaining to us.

Before studying this passage a little bit, I honestly was very confused about the way in which those quotations are used.

And it really benefited me to study it this week and try to understand that.

And what I want us to notice is the word my in both of those quotations.

Both in verse 3, as it says,

I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest.

Then down in verse 5, they shall not enter my rest.

That word my is pretty subtle, but I think it's very, very, very important to noticing what is actually being talked about.

That's God speaking there.

He says that there is a way by faith to enter His, right, His rest.

Not just any rest.

His rest.

The same rest that God Himself enjoys.

This is not like a rest that we enjoy here.

Like a nap after a long day of work.

Or a good afternoon reading in a hammock.

Or a nice hike after being in an office.

Or a hike where you get like poison ivy, like I do.

Or anything like that.

Right?

It's God's rest Himself.

And it's such a greater rest because it's God's rest.

Let's reread that again down in verse 3.

For we who have believed enter that rest, as He has said,

As I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest,

although His works were finished from the foundation of the world.

So what is it saying with,

although His works were finished from the foundation of the world?

Let's think about what that looks like a little bit.

Well, in six days, God created the world, right?

And then on the seventh day, He rested.

Let's turn over to that Genesis passage and look at it a little bit.

So turn with me to Genesis 1.

We're going to look at the very end of Genesis 1 and the beginning of 2.

So let's pick up in verse 31 of chapter 1.

Then we'll jump down some into chapter 2 as well.

So verse 31 of Genesis 1 says,

Now, we see the seventh day here that God is resting on.

And back in Hebrews in verse 3,

notes that His works were finished from the foundation of the world.

So God rested on the seventh day after He created everything.

And today, in some way, He's resting from those same creative purposes that He did then.

He's not creating the world in the same way as He did then.

And it says in our passage that what it's saying is that some will enter the same type of rest by faith

and others will not because of disbelief and disobedience.

Note that God had done so many great things before He chose to rest.

If you look just above in the Genesis passage,

we can read and hear about all the majesty of the things He made.

And something I've always loved about that passage is how it talks about God seeing each thing,

and He says it was good.

And then if He'd keep going down after He'd created humans and everything coming together in His whole creation,

He said it was very good.

So the Lord had done all these magnificent things before He chose to rest.

But what does that look like for us?

So let's think about Sabbath for us as Christians and what it looks like for us now.

And because of that, like in verse 6, right, in Hebrews, if you'll jump back over there,

that it remains for some of us to enter it.

So, turn with me to Matthew 11.

Sorry, I'm going to have you flip a few places this morning.

This is a super often quoted passage on this,

but I think it will really give us a good understanding of this idea of Sabbath now.

I'm going to blame Seth if my voice goes away.

I was camping with him and breathed in a lot of campfire.

So, in Matthew 11, towards the end of it,

we're going to look at verse 28 and then go all the way down into verse 8 of chapter 12.

So join me there in verse 28 of Matthew 11.

It says,

At that time, Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath.

His disciples were hungry and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.

But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him,

Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.

He said to them,

Have you not read what David did when he was hungry,

and those who were with him,

how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the presence,

which is not lawful for him to eat,

nor for those who are with him,

but only for the priests?

Or have you not read in the law on the Sabbath,

the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless?

I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.

And if you had known what this means,

I desire mercy and not sacrifice,

you would have not condemned the guiltless,

for the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.

There's a lot here in this passage,

but quite a bit of it is really relevant to our topic here in Hebrews.

Note first, in the end of chapter 11,

that so often quoted passage of Jesus calling us to come to him,

saying his yoke is easy and his burden is light.

He encourages us who labor and are heavy laden to come to him

and find that true rest in him.

And then just after these beautiful words about rest,

Matthew records the story here about Jesus' disciples taking some food to eat

while they're walking through a field on the Sabbath.

And when the Pharisees saw this, they were not having it at all.

It seems that they had finally, no matter how many times they had tried before,

had caught Jesus.

They're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, they're grabbing the food.

It's not okay.

You're breaking the law again.

And how does Jesus respond?

Well, firstly, he reminds of a couple of instances where the laws have been broken,

but for necessary reasons.

The laws need to be broken for some reason.

And when he responds, he doesn't lessen the law,

but instead reminds of its true purpose.

And then check it out in verses 6 through 8 here.

It says,

Jesus says that something greater than the Sabbath is here.

And what does he say next?

That if they had known the meaning of I desire mercy and not sacrifice,

you would not have condemned the guiltless.

I feel like this is a common theme in the passages we read in the Lord's Supper

and in the scripturing before the songs.

Jesus is again pointing to the heart.

Right?

He's taking them back to the heart of the law, the heart of the issue.

And it says that he's saying that he is the Lord of the Sabbath.

So putting all that together,

Jesus offering us rest, being Lord of the Sabbath,

and caring about our hearts when thinking about the law.

And then going back to Hebrews and seeing verse 3,

where it says,

We who have believed have entered that rest.

And verse 6,

it reminding us that those who did not enter that rest,

failing to enter because of disobedience.

And then down in verses 9 and 10,

reminding us about the reality of this rest remaining available to us.

So what is that rest?

I think it, from those passages,

is becoming clearer and clearer and clearer

that what Jesus said in Matthew 11,

that this beautiful rest that is available to us,

that is being talked about here in Hebrews,

is salvation found through putting faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

That's what this rest is referring to here,

our salvation and its outflows in the Lord.

So why was the word rest chosen?

Think for a moment with me about the perspective of unbelievers,

people who have not found our Lord.

Many seem careless.

Many seem to not think about the future,

the time after this life.

But if they're honest,

many seem to think about it.

And I'd like to talk a little bit about

some of my own experience recently.

For those of y'all that don't know,

I teach high school math.

And I've had some really good opportunities

to talk to students about faith this year.

The later it gets in the year,

it tends to open up a lot more.

I think naturally all of us,

as we tend to know someone better and better and better,

we tend to be much more open with them.

And at this point,

I've gotten to know them for a long time.

We only have one week of school left,

and that means that I've been with them for 175 days,

for like at least an hour a day.

And that's a lot of time.

That's a lot of time.

So I've gotten to know some of them really, really well.

And some of them have gotten to know me really, really well.

And they know that I'm a follower of Christ,

and they know that I take that seriously.

They know that I'm super involved in church here,

and a few know that I'm preaching today

and will probably ask me all about it tomorrow.

But it's taken all year to get to that point.

People don't just immediately open up as a general rule.

But anyway, back to the point on that.

I have some students who really think a lot

about their spiritual life

and their life after this life,

but in a totally different way than we do.

I haven't got a super straight answer

about what they would like for me to call them,

but the most straightforward answer that I can get is

I've been amazed at the amount of, let's see,

members of the Church of Latter-day Saints

that I have in my classes.

And I've been able to talk to quite a few of them.

And many parts of their belief system is really tricky

because they use the same words that we do,

but for totally different meanings.

And after, like, many, many conversations,

I think I've gained an understanding that

they believe some things come from grace,

but in reality, most of their thinking about salvation,

and this is all coming from the, like,

perspective of high school kids, right,

is works-based.

And it's terrifying.

So much is based on what they believe they can do

and how they're going to earn these different levels of, like,

heaven and these different things.

And all works-based.

It's sad and it's scary.

And they are so diligent

in trying to do what they have been told

is the correct thing to do.

So diligent.

I've talked to so many who, like,

tell me they go to seminary,

is what they call it, seminary,

every morning at 5.30,

and then they come to school all day,

and then they do other things after,

and all this stuff, it's crazy.

So, so dedicated.

Now, they are working so hard.

I don't think any of us would deny that,

but they are working so hard

in a super-false, super-twisted way.

Super-false, super-twisted way.

Let's think a little bit about the context here in our passage.

Let's think about what the Pharisees were doing

that Jesus was talking to in Matthew.

Weren't they doing similarly?

They were twisting the law of God

to make it about outward appearances

and trying to keep something

that, in reality, we all are aware of

that we cannot keep perfectly.

They were working hard.

They were trying to keep their misinterpretation

of the law to a T.

But they knew they couldn't keep it.

They knew the reality that they

and all of us know that,

in our flesh, we aren't that great.

In fact, we're awful.

Naturally, we don't seek the good of others

above our own.

We're selfish.

We are prideful.

We could just go on and on

about the reality of the nature

of our souls apart from Christ.

But I believe the point's being proven.

Apart from trusting in the work of Christ,

we're forced to try to do something

we simply cannot do

to seek to earn our own salvation.

And that may take many, many, many forms.

Whether it be an LDS member

trying to amass all these works

to get the best reward they can,

or a Pharisee trying to perfectly keep the law,

or one of the believers in Hebrews

tempted to go back to the old system,

or someone of the weird view

that somehow still persists so often

that if you do enough good,

it somehow outweighs your bad,

then you're good.

Or the, me and God, we're good,

we've got a deal worked out.

Or the person who simply tries

and tries and tries and tries

to ignore or suppress their thoughts

about a life after this one.

So many of those systems,

all of those are in some way works-based.

All of them.

There's a hope that if they do just well enough

that they're going to be all right,

they'll have the eternal blessing.

They're relying on their own works.

And because of the reality

of all of our struggles with sin,

and they know it too,

they know they can't earn blessing.

They're relying on their own works

and it's not going to get them anywhere.

And so, getting back to this rest word,

this rest that's being offered

is a perfect word to use

because we are ceasing

from trying to earn our own salvation.

Because we have seen

the work of Christ, right?

We can stop trying to earn

God's favor

and simply accept

in real faith,

through acting out faith,

that our Lord died for our sins,

took our sins upon Him,

that in Him

we can have His righteousness.

He canceled our sin debt

and gave us His righteousness.

We can trust in that

and not try to earn our way

to something that we could never earn.

So it's a rest in

stopping trying to earn favor

and just accepting

that we are found in Christ.

We are washed in the

soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb.

Our sins are forgiven

because our Lord Jesus

bore the wrath of God

that our sins deserved.

Now that's such great rest.

That's the perfect word.

That's rest found in Jesus.

We no longer seek to earn favor

but rest in God's salvation.

But,

I've been here

at Christ's Family

for about six years now.

And I can look around

and say that there are

a lot of people I know

really well.

Some people I know

but not super well

and there's some that I

don't know to my shame.

And if I narrow this room down

to just the people I knew

really well

or honestly if I

narrow down the room

to just my own soul,

I think I can say

with confidence

that we,

even as God's people

resting in this salvation,

don't always feel

that our yoke is easy

and our burden is light

as we seek to follow

Jesus well.

It's hard.

Right?

We often don't

feel that way.

This life is a tough one

and that brings us

to our third aspect

of God's rest.

The rest now

and the rest later.

The rest now

and the rest later.

So it's true

that we experience

like a beautiful foretaste

of God's rest now

and simply

ceasing from our

trying to earn favor

and just accepting the Lord.

Having rested from our works

because we have no ability

to earn it

and have come to terms

with Jesus

giving us our great salvation.

But this life still

isn't easy

but we can rest in the Lord.

Remember that the same Jesus

who said that

his yoke is easy

and his burden is light

also said in Mark 8.34

if anyone would come after me

let him deny himself

take up his cross

and follow me.

I think that's puzzling

immediately

like when we think about

the passages

in contrast to one another.

Denying ourselves

taking up our cross

right?

These don't always

feel restful.

In fact

much of it

shouldn't feel restful.

But

the Christian life

is one of striving

as well.

Right?

It's one of denying ourselves

putting

our flesh

our old desires

our sin to death

it's one of suffering

but it's also one of rest.

It's a rest of

trusting in God

through those hard

circumstances.

It's a rest

that's often confusing

to non-Christians

a rest that

will

make people wonder

like

why are they okay

through these hard

circumstances?

Why do they have this

abiding trust in

God?

So think about

Philippians 4

in fact

please go ahead

and turn there with me

Philippians 4

Let's look briefly

at verses 4 through 7

here.

Super

common passage

again

it says

rejoice in the Lord

always

again I will say

rejoice

let your reasonableness

be known to everyone

the Lord is at hand

so do not be anxious

about anything

but in everything

by prayer and supplication

with thanksgiving

let your requests

be made known

to God

and the peace of God

which surpasses

all understanding

will guard your hearts

and your minds

in Christ Jesus.

Remember what Paul

was going through

when he wrote this

and what he had gone through

before he wrote this

and what he would.

He was writing this letter

while in prison

for the faith

and if you want

a big long list

of what he had suffered

he spelled it out

really well

in 2 Corinthians 11

but he describes

this peace

that we can have

no matter what

we're going through

later in chapter 4

Paul discusses

learning how to abound

in every circumstance

this is that same

rest right

that same peace

that we can have

in the Lord

through trusting

in his work

we're not promised

a completely perfect life

all the time

but we are promised

a rest in him

through tough circumstances.

Remember that

1 Peter right

that all who desire

to live a godly life

in Christ Jesus

will be persecuted

but remember also

the great salvation

we have in the Lord.

So let's talk about

that great salvation

a bit more.

This here in Hebrews

particularly like

in verses

9 and 10

and back in Hebrews 4

sorry I'm making you

flip everywhere

oops

in verses 9 and 10

it says

so then there remains

a Sabbath rest

for the people of God

for whoever has

entered God's rest

has also rested

from his works

as God did from his.

Now yes

there's that rest

we're experiencing now

despite our circumstances

but these seem to imply

our future rest as well.

There's a future

Sabbath rest

remaining for us

that all of our works

from this earth

will be done

and we will be

with our Savior

forever.

I remember at

some point

during college

I was listening

to a sermon

by I think

it was John MacArthur

about 1 Corinthians 15

and the later part of it

of longing for eternity

and that death

has lost its sting

right

it was just rejoicing

in the Lord

who has given us

victory over death

and he made a statement

about the song

in the sweet by and by

that we have to go

through the nasty

now and now

to get to the sweet

by and by

right

and the reality

of that is that

that is true

we have such great

things to look forward

to

think about 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 4:17

4 verses 17 and 18

where it says

for this light

momentary affliction

is preparing for us

an eternal

weight of glory

beyond all comparison

as we look

not to the things

that are seen

but to the things

that are unseen

for the things

that are seen

are transient

but the things

that are unseen

are eternal

we have such a great

rest to look forward

to

we have such great

rest to look forward

to

we must remember

like that during

our time here

even as we're

experiencing God's

rest it may be

really really tough

as we fight

against our own

sin

as we talked

about this morning

as the world

pushes back

against our sharing

of the gospel

as we often

just get really

caught up in

legitimately hard

circumstances

it can be so

difficult

but we should

remember that

a rest remains

here

and a perfect

rest remains

in eternity

it's described

here in 1 Corinthians

as an eternal

weight of glory

beyond all comparison

and right after that

note what it says

that the rest

we're looking forward

to is eternal

these things we see

here are so temporary

it's described

as momentary

momentary

think about how

little time we

have here

in this life

compared to

eternity

that should

remind us

to use our

time

we'll not

be so bogged

down in

these circumstances

but long

for that

eternal

weight of

glory

to set

our minds

on things

that are

eternal

to set

our minds

on our

eternal rest

in Jesus

our sweet

Sabbath rest

does remain

to get a

little bit

even more

excited about

that rest

turn to

Revelation 21

Revelation 21

look at the

first four

verses here

it says

then I saw

a new heaven

and a new earth

for the first heaven

and the first earth

had passed away

and the sea

was no more

I saw the holy city

new Jerusalem

coming down

out of heaven

from God

prepared as a bride

adorned for a husband

I heard a loud voice

from the throne

saying behold

the dwelling place

of God

is with man

he will dwell

with them

and they will be

his people

and God himself

will be with them

as their God

he will wipe away

every tear

from their eyes

and death

shall be no more

neither shall there

be mourning

nor crying

nor pain

anymore

for the former

things have

passed away

I believe

if we just

had the reality

of knowing

that the dwelling

place of our God

is with us

I think that would

be enough

for us to get

excited about

that eternal rest

but look elsewhere

in this passage

too

all things being

made new

with a new heaven

and a new earth

the holy city

coming down

wiping away

every tear

from our eye

death being

gone forever

no mourning

no crying

no pain

how beautiful

of a Sabbath rest

do we really

do have to

look forward

to

so we have

a great

Sabbath rest

in confidence

in Jesus

now

and putting

our trust

in his

salvation

and a beautiful

inheritance

and glory

eternally

so beginning

to tie

that together

a bit

thinking about

our sermon

from two weeks

ago

from chapter

three

we talked

a lot

about that

persevering

to the end

and being

so careful

to be sure

we truly believe

and do make

it to that

point

we talked

about

encouraging

each other

because of

the deceitfulness

of sin

how easy

it can

ensnare

us

so remembering

that

let's look

a bit more

at some more

aspects of

today's passage

so back

in Hebrews

notice something

in the middle

of our passage

there are

all kinds

of topics

about the rest

we have in God

but in verse

one

and in verse

eleven

we see something

a bit different

I think that

brings us to our

last aspect

so fourth one

the striving

necessary

to enter

that rest

the striving

necessary

to enter

that rest

so let's

note verse

one

verse one

says

therefore

while the

promise

of entering

his rest

still stands

let us

fear lest

any of you

should seem

to have

failed to

reach it

let's note

verse eleven

let us

therefore

strive to

enter that

rest

so that

no one

may fall

by the

same

sort

of

disobedience

so

this

passage

starts out

warning us

to be so

careful

that we

don't

fail to

reach

the rest

then it

explains

that why

people fail

to reach it

is because

of unbelief

then it

explains

that the

rest

we're being

offered

is God's

rest

his rest

right

talks about

how

our

ceasing

trying to

earn

God's

favor

is similar

to God

resting on

the seventh

day

and how

we have

a future

perfect

sabbath

rest

and then

all the way

down

verse eleven

that we

should be

striving

to enter

that rest

and be

careful

again

that we

don't

fall

by the

same

sort

of

disobedience

so

this

passage

is kind

of

bookended

right

we have

a

similar

exhortation

in verse

one

as we

do

down

in

verse

eleven

right

the

exhortations

are to

be sure

that we're

entering

that rest

and notice

that that's

a common

theme

from chapter

three

as well

right

that's

that same

kind

of idea

that was

communicated

there

and remember

again

this is a

letter

right

it was

originally read

continuously

so we should

expect

thematically

to flow

like that

so we're

continuing

to be

encouraged

to persevere

to make

it

to the

end

to hold

that faith

strong

keep going

keep going

right

and with

all this

striving

with this

putting our

flesh to

death

we're denying

ourselves

we're taking

up our

cross

right

all the

striving

on our

part

look again

at verses

12 through

14 of

chapter 3

where it

says

take care

brothers

lest there

be in

any of

you an

evil

unbelieving

heart

leading you

to fall

away from

the living

God

but exhort

one another

every day

as long

as it

is called

today

that none

of you

may be

hardened

by the

deceitfulness

of sin

for we

have come

to share

in Christ

if indeed

we hold

our original

confidence

firm to

the end

this warning

encouraging

and exhorting

each other

this holding

firm

right to

the end

it's all

really intense

stuff

that's falling

on us

right

and with

all that

really intense

exhortation

right

that's falling

on us

can we

still have

assurance

note that

verse 1

and verse 11

are encouraging

us to be

sure

to have

that assurance

so it's

absolutely

possible

right

let's look

at 1st

John

1st

John 3

and that's

I promise

the last

place I'm

going to

make you

turn

pretty sure

because this

passage here

in Hebrews

right

is encouraging

us to

have that

assurance

it's what

1st John

is all

about

right

1st John

is about

testing

whether we

are in

the faith

to bring

assurance

of being

in the

faith

or to

even

bring

conviction

of a

reality

of not

being

in the

faith

okay

so

let's

look at

1st John

3

probably

the most

common

passage

that is

used

when

talking

about

this

topic

I want

to

just

look

at

verses

4

through

10

says

that

everyone

who makes

a practice

of sinning

also practices

lawlessness

sin is

lawlessness

you know

that he

appeared

in order

to take

away

sins

and in

him

there

is

no

sin

no

one

who

abides

in

him

keeps

on

sinning

no

one

who

keeps

on

sinning

has

either

seen

him

or

known

him

!

is

righteous

as

he

is

righteous

whoever

makes

a practice

of sinning

is

of the

devil

for

the

devil

has

been

sinning

from

the

beginning

the

reason

the

son

of

God

appeared

was

to

destroy

the

works

of

the

devil

no

one

born

of

God

makes

a practice

of sinning

for

God

for

God

seed

abides

in

him

and

he

cannot

keep

on

sinning

because

he

has

been

born

of

God

by

this

it

is

evident

who

are

the

children

of

God

and

who

are

the

children

of

the

devil

whoever

does

not

practice

righteousness

is

not

of

God

nor

is

the

one

who

does

not

love

his

brother

so

let's

note

some

stuff

about

that

firstly

it's

really

intense

right

really

really

intense

says

that

no

one

who

abides

in

him

keeps

on

sinning

whoever

makes

a

practice

of

sinning

is

of

the

devil

super

intense

right

notice

a couple

things

though

about

it

it

says

makes

a

practice

and

it

says

keeps

on

right

that's

important

to note

because

are we

going

to

have

bad

days

are

we

still

going

to

struggle

against

our

flesh

but

should

it

have

a

trajectory

of

moving

towards

him

absolutely

otherwise

we

have

some

things

we

need

to

check

we

need

to

ask

ourselves

some

things

so

I

just

looked

through

this

passage

and

tried

to

pick

out

some

questions

that I

think

might

be

helpful

to

ask

in

thinking

about

assurance

so

here's

a few

of

them

is

my

life

characterized

by

habitual

continual

sin

do

I

love

the

church

do

I

love

the

world

with

the

gospel

and

do

I

see

myself

growing

in

holiness

so

is

my

life

characterized

by

habitual

continual

sin

do

I

love

the

church

do

I

love

the

world

with

the

gospel

and

do

I

see

myself

growing

in

holiness

think

about

those

think

about

this

passage

we

can

have

assurance

so

we

really

need

to

test

ourselves

I

just

want

to

remind

at

this

point

that

whether

we're

in

the

faith

or

not

in

the

faith

right

the

Christian

life

is

a

life

of

repenting

and

believing

turning

away

from

our

sin

right

treasuring

Christ

in

our

heart

is

greater

than

sin

and

therefore

turning

away

from

it

turning

to

God

in

faith

!

remember

the

sinless

Savior

died

so that

we can

be

counted

as

his

righteousness

and I

hope

this

morning

that

we

do

have

such

great

confidence

Nathan

said

something

a couple

weeks ago

that I

was

thinking

about

and I

think

is very

true

that there

are so

many

people

looking

out

that I

can

really

see

the

Lord

having

done

such

great

things

through

and

you

should

know

that

you

should

have

such

great

confidence

because

of

what

your

life

looks

like

the

trajectory

of

it

remember

too

that

those

good

works

are

evidence

that

the

Lord

is

working

know

that

your

true

desire

for

him

shows

that

he's

begun

to

work

in

you

and

our

Lord

has

promised

that

he's

going

to

complete

those

works

right

so

persevere

and

the

Lord

will

sustain

you

so

grab

there's

a

quote

on

there

from

a

Puritan

pastor

Richard

Baxter

I want

us to

look at

it

together

it

says

sit

not

down

without

assurance

get

alone

and

bring

the

heart

to

the

bar

of

trial

force

it

to

answer

the

interrogatories

put

to

it

set

to

the

excuse

me

this

is

old

stuff

sorry

force

it

to

answer

the

interrogatories

put

to

it

to

set

the

qualifications

of

the

saints

on

one

side

and

the

qualifications

of

thyself

on

the

other

side

and

then

judge

what

resemblance

there

is

between

them

yet

be

sure

thou

judge

by

a

true

touchstone

and

mistake

not

the

scripture

description

of

a

saint

that

thou

neither

acquit

nor

condemn

thyself

by

mistake

to

truly

test

yourself

be

sure

we

can

have

such

great

assurance

and

it's

sad

that

we

so

often

go

along

without

it

wondering

that

are

we

truly

in

the

faith

because

we

can