Hebrews 4, Jesus said something you may recall in the Sermon on the Mount that I think ought to rattle each and every one of us to our core. Jesus said this, he said, enter by the narrow gate. And then right away he starts talking about some other gate altogether. He says, for the gate is wide, and the way is easy, that leads to destruction. and those who enter by it are many. And then he continues to explain, for the gate is narrow, and the way it is actually hard that leads to life. And Jesus is referring to eternal life, everlasting life. And then he says, those who find it are few. There are over 8.2 billion people in the world today, and according to Jesus, the vast majority of those people are actually headed to what Jesus calls destruction. Alternatively, very few of those people will find what Jesus calls life, eternal life, which the writer of Hebrews actually calls rest. Most people never enter God's rest according to Jesus. And that's one of the reasons that God gives us Hebrews chapter four, and it's a relatively heavy passage, but it comes from a God who deeply, deeply loves and cares about us, and he wants to make sure that we are among those who find God's rest. The gate is narrow, but the gate is actually wide open. Do you know, in Hebrews, who God is most concerned might fail to enter and find his eternal rest? It's actually you and me. God is deeply concerned that those in and amongst his people, the church, us, that we might be those who are headed to eternal destruction. And so God calls us in this passage to be certain. He's calling you and me to be certain. that we enter into his promised rest. This is a call, make sure of that. Make sure you have life, eternal life. Make sure you're among those who will one day find themselves in heaven with Jesus. Before we jump into this text, I think a few reminders might be helpful. One relates to the theme of the book of Hebrews. You may recall that at the heart of the theme of Hebrews is the idea of endurance and basically the point that anyone who truly knows Jesus as their savior, anyone who does have eternal life is going to keep enduring in their faith, keep running the race with their eyes fixed on Jesus all the way to the end. with their confidence in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as their hope of salvation. Another reminder related to the audience, this book is addressed to people who profess Jesus Christ as their savior and are primarily of a Hebrew or Jewish descent. And you may also recall that in Hebrews chapter four, we are right in the middle of a very, very big extended illustration. God is using Israel's failure and refusal to enter God's promised land of rest. I don't know if you remember that from Numbers chapter 14. They got all the way to the land, and the spies came back with a report. It's awesome. It's amazing, but we can't do it. No way. We'll be destroyed. We'll be like grasshoppers. This is not going to work, despite what God has told us. And then they spent 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, and that first generation of Israelites that came out of Egypt, all their bodies fell. They died in the wilderness. And God is using that as an illustration of missing his salvation, of missing heaven, of missing eternal life. And so we're being warned by this illustration pretty bluntly. Hey, look at Israel. Don't be like Israel. They failed to enter God's rest. The promised land was a place of rest, but it was also referred to as Israel's inheritance. Interestingly, Hebrews chapter one verse 14 describes God's people, Christians, as those who inherit, not the land of Israel, but as those who inherit salvation. That's God's rest, our eternal inheritance. And so with that in mind, let's turn our attention to this text, Hebrews four, I'll read verses one to 11. 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 or swore an oath 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, they shall not enter my rest. 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 afterward, 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. God makes two urgent calls to us in this text, and they are indeed urgent. And here's the first one. Fear missing God's rest. Look back at verse 1. While the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us fear, lest any of you should have seemed to have failed to reach it. The point being made in that verse is that you could miss God's rest, you could miss His eternal salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ. You could end up not being in heaven someday with the Lord. in the eternal city. And you should fear that possibility because according to God here, it's a very real possibility. And there are some major, major attentions that God wants to draw our attention to related to missing his rest. Danger number one, you could miss your chance to enter God's rest. Verse one, you'll notice that it starts with a time reference. It begins, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear. You have this window of opportunity that is apparently ever closing and shrinking. And there is no way for you or me to possibly predict how much time that you're dealing with. We just read here, while the promise still stands, apparently it still stands. And while that is the case, don't miss it. Well, how long is that? I have no idea. The opportunity, it's there until it's no longer there. And we know from this extended illustration that Israel missed her opportunity. They had the chance to go into the promised land by faith. God promised, I will give you this land. And Israel stood right there at the gate, so to speak, of that land and said, nope, we're not gonna go. And God pronounced his judgment upon the nation. And after that, do you know what happens? Israel says, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, we do wanna go. And they even tried, but it was too late. And through this illustration, God is warning, don't let that be you. My wife is extremely frugal, and so she loves a good deal. And she especially loves this app called the Flash Food app. And I'm not sure she'd approve that I'm telling you all about it right now, because it's so amazing. But basically, Superstore, when it has food that's about to expire, We'll put that food. It'll list it on the Flash Food app. And because it's all happening electronically on an app, as soon as that food shows up on the app, if you want it, you've got to claim it. And so what's happened, my wife and I have been sitting in the living room, and something popped up. And she's maybe scrolling through that food asking, ooh, a $7 taco tray. Do I want that? Do I want to drive all the way to Superstore tonight? Gone. Oh, no. Missed it. We're not talking about food here. Nor are we talking about a limited time sale at Walmart on some massive, incredible TV. We are talking about your soul. And your eternal destiny. We're talking about God's eternal rest in the eternal city. And we read here that God's offer of that still stands. It's available to you. The good news is still being declared. But God is warning here that that will not always be the case. The offer doesn't stand forever. So don't miss your chance to enter God's rest. You should be quite concerned that that window of opportunity might pass you by. Don't let the chance that God has given you come and go. Again, you don't know how much time's on your clock, and you certainly don't know how much time is on God's. You don't want to miss God's rest, and what's so amazing here, it's yours to be had. Again, the gate is narrow, but it is wide open. The second danger that God warns of here is that you could hear the gospel, the good news, but you could fail to believe it. Look with me at verse two. For good news came to us just as to them. What is the good news that the Bible talks about? Well, the good news, it's all about God's son, Jesus Christ, that he left the glories of heaven, that he took on flesh and blood, he became a man, and what did he do? He lived a perfect life without ever sinning. And then the day came where he sacrificed his life on the cross as a sacrifice. He died there as a sacrifice for who? For sinners, for you and for me and he hung there as a substitute and you're in my place because we are sinners. And essentially what Jesus was doing as he was hanging there on the cross, Jesus was taking your judgment day for you so that you would never ever have to take it and experience it. And Jesus took it all. He completely satisfied God's holy, righteous anger, and he's made it possible for now for you to be made right with your creator, right with God. A big word, we call it reconciliation. You can be reconciled to God. And the good news is so amazing, this is not something you buy, it's not something you earn, it's something God hands to you as a gift at great cost to him. And it's simply to be received by faith. God calls sinners to repent, to turn from their sin and put their trust in Christ's death on the cross for you and his resurrection from the grave. That's the good news. Well, verse two here says that the good news came to us. You just heard it. It came to us just as it did to Israel. But the message that they heard did not benefit them. It was of no value to them because they were not united by faith with those who listened. And the point being made here is that hearing God's promise of salvation, of eternal life, of God's rest, that he will give that to you, that is of no benefit if you don't believe it. and choose to put your trust in God's promise. Choose to trust what Jesus has done for you. And again, just ask Israel. God promised Israel, I will give you this land. I will give you this rest. But what they heard was of no benefit to them. Why? Well, we read, because they were not united by what? Really key word, by faith. With those, like Caleb and Joshua, who listened, who believed. You could hear, but not believe. And remember, these words in Hebrews are being addressed primarily to those who are a part of the assembly of God, the church, the gathered and visible church. And the point that is being drilled here, I think, is this. You could regularly gather with us like this. You could hear and know the gospel. You could listen to God's word preached. I mean, you could hear sermon after sermon after sermon. You could be a part of a Christian family. You could even attend a Christian school. You could have so much Bible knowledge that is coming out of your ears. You know this book so well. You could have many, many spiritual experiences, but the point being made here, that does not mean that you are saved and that you have eternal life and that someday you will spend eternity with Jesus in his presence. You could actually have all of that and be headed for hell. This does not mean that you have entered God's rest or that you will upon your death enter God's rest. The question that's being asked here, have you believed? Verse three says this, for we who have believed enter that rest. Centuries ago, Martin Luther used the illustration of a ship. And basically, it would be one thing for you to go stand on the docks and look at some magnificent ship and go, wow, that ship is remarkable. It looks as if it could carry me to beautiful shores far away. It's quite another thing to enter that ship, enter into the belly of that ship and trust it to take you there. And that is precisely what you must do with the gospel, the good news of Jesus' death and resurrection, to believe, to trust in that. To trust in Christ's death and resurrection for you. And again, this is not about information in your head, or even about being convinced that that information is true. It must go beyond that. You must look to Jesus Christ, trusting to Him alone, looking to Him alone, relying on Him alone. to wipe away your sins in their entirety, to give you a new life, to make you a new person, and to carry you to the eternal city. And do you know who Jesus does that for? He only does it for one kind of person. Jesus saves sinners and only sinners. This message is not for good people. This message is for people who are deeply broken and defiled and penetrated by sin through and through and through. And so we have a warning. Don't hear this remarkably good news, this gospel promise, and sit there and go, yeah, I don't believe that. It's too good to be true, I don't want it. You must believe. And again, the gate is narrow. But according to Jesus, it is wide open. You could easily be like John Wesley, if you know who he was, Wesley was an Anglican priest, and he also at one point was a missionary to America before he truly understood the gospel and became a Christian. And he admitted later on that even though he was doing all this mission work, that at the time he wasn't a Christian. And it wasn't until 1738 during a meeting on Aldersgate Street in London that he felt his heart and his words strangely warm. And he came to true faith in Christ. He trusted in Jesus as his Lord and Savior. There are people sitting in this room right now that would share a very, very similar story to that. And I know that because they've shared their story with me and I probably have shared their stories with you. And it often sounds something like this. I grew up in church, and at one point when I was younger, a kid, maybe a teenager, I prayed a sinner's prayer. I asked Jesus to come into my heart, or whatever the case was. And I didn't really realize that at the time, but looking back, when I look at those years, I actually remained unchanged. I wasn't any different. And I had intellectual belief. I knew a lot of things about God and the Bible and even the gospel. But again, looking back, there was a total lack of transformation in my life. And I didn't even realize that I was unsaved. I thought that I was, and then all of a sudden that realization came, often through a deeper understanding of sin. I realized that I was a sinner and that my sin was very personal. It was against my creator. It was against God. And that realization maybe also came through a deeper understanding of repentance that what God calls a person to do is to turn from their sin and turn in faith to Jesus Christ and a deeper understanding of grace. That I'm in desperate, desperate need of God's saving work and he sent his son to die on the cross for me and rise from the grave and it's all a free gift to me. This passage is calling you to slow down and ask yourself, what about me? Do I have new life? Or am I self-deceived and I just think I do and maybe I have a whole lifestyle that sort of revolves around Christianity but I don't actually have new life? Maybe that's you. You could have many things but not the thing. You could hear the message of the gospel and yet fail to believe it where you're personally trusting in Jesus. Have you believed? Have you put your trust in Jesus? There's a fourth danger that's very similar but drives home at the idea of hard heartedness. Danger number three, you could choose not to enter by faith. Look at verses three and four. For we who have believed enter that rest. As he said, as I swore, swore an oath 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. The author is connecting this rest that he's talking about with God's rest after creation. After six days, God completed and then he ceased. He stopped his creative work because it was finished. It was done. He wasn't tired. He was done. And so he rested on the seventh day. And one of the things that's being conveyed here is that God's rest has been available since that time. Basically, since the dawn of time, God's rest has been there and existed. It's been available. But Israel, though it was available, they rejected it. They refused what was right in front of them. And God's making the point that it is a choice to do that. It is a choice to reject God's promise. You could refuse to enter God's rest even though it sits there right in front of you. And it's available. And that's what's being said there at the end of verse three. Although even though his works were finished from the foundation of the world, even though God's rest was there, it was available. Israel deliberately said, yeah, we don't want that. We're not going in. It's a choice. And what kind of heart makes that choice? Well, based on this illustration in God's word here, it's a hard heart that makes that choice. It's a hard heart that in the face of such a good God would say no. When God's day of judgment comes, if you are not in his rest and among those who have entered it, these verses indicate, well, that will have been your choice. A choice you made today. And so God warns, don't harden your heart. A hard heart. Will keep you from. God's rest, I want you to imagine with me that your father dies and he leaves you a massive inheritance, say, of five million dollars, and we would all go, wow, you'd be crazy not to take that. That's amazing. It's yours to have, but you could choose to not even touch it. And I want you to imagine with me that that inheritance sits right in front of you, and you say, I don't want anything to do with that money. That was my dad's. I don't want it. In that case, the rejection of your inheritance is ultimately a rejection of your dad. That's what it's all about. That's what's really going on. And the reason that Israel rejected her inheritance, the reason she rejected God's rest was because Israel despised and she rejected her God. And in Numbers 14, God says that, how long will these people despise me? This is personal. This isn't just about like getting something. Salvation and God's rest is very much relational. It is personal. God and His rest, they are tied together. To enter God's rest is to enter into a relationship with Him and into fellowship with Him. Maybe you don't want Him. Which is mind-blowing on so many levels because God is so good. He holds out this free gift to you and you could sit there in the face of God's goodness and say, I hate Him. I don't want him or his rest. God is warning here that you could make the deliberate choice to reject God and to reject his son, Jesus Christ, and to reject his rest in the face of his goodness. He's offered you a priceless treasure. It's right in front of you. There's only one type of heart that would reject that. And it's a hard heart that's been hardened against God. Don't refuse to enter God's rest. If you're sitting here going, I don't want God, I don't want him to be my king, I don't want him to be my master, I don't want a relationship with him. What is it that's producing that? It's a very, very hard heart. And God wants to give you a brand new heart, a soft heart. Listen to God's voice and respond in faith. And then danger number four is really the culmination of the other three. Danger four, you could be shut out from God's rest. Look at verse five. And again, in this passage, he said, they shall not enter my rest. God did not take Israel's rejection of him and their rejection of his promise lightly, and he won't take yours lightly either. With Israel, what happened? We read about it several times here. God says that he swore an oath in his wrath, his anger. And what did he say? They shall not enter my rest. Never will they step foot in my rest. And if you just look down at the page for a moment and scan over the quotations, you'll see that that quotation shows up three times. They're not gonna enter. They're not gonna enter. They're not gonna enter. The opposite of God's rest is God's wrath. And God here swears an oath out of his wrath. God is saying, you will either enter into my rest or you will experience my eternal wrath. And those are the only two options. And what we all deserve is God's eternal wrath. And God is saying, no, no, no, but the gate is narrow, but it's wide open. I don't want that for you. I want you to enjoy my rest. All those who despised and rejected God, their bodies fell in the wilderness. Speaking of the Israelites. Israel was shut out of God's rest. Once you have taken your final breath or Jesus Christ has returned in glory, whichever comes first, it will be too late. Ancient walled cities often shut their gates at night, typically sunset or maybe a little bit after. And they did that for obvious reasons. It was to protect against thieves and enemies and wild animals. And if you arrived after sunset, it didn't really matter who you were, you weren't gonna go into the city. The gates were barred shut, they were closed. And so you would have to sleep outside the walls, exposed to the danger and cut off from the safety within the gates, the walls. You were shut out, you were barred from the city. God is warning that that's exactly what could happen to you in God's eternal kingdom. You could be shut out from the heavenly and eternal city whose builder and maker is God, the city where God himself dwells. You could be barred from God's rest, and much worse than what the Israelites experienced in the wilderness, you could be forever consigned to an eternal, dark, and flaming wilderness. of God's wrath that's far, far worse than anything the Israelites ever experienced in the desert. And God is saying, rest is right in front of you, and what you do with that is your choice. You enter my rest or you reject me. Don't be eternally shut out from God's rest. I think that God's eternal judgment is far more dreadful than most of us realize. You go, oh, you know, let's yeah, whatever. God would never really do that. No, he would. If we take God and his voice seriously in his word, God is a just, fair God who punishes sin eternally. We've sinned against an eternal God. Hell is real. And God is warning, that's not that's not what he wants for us. And so he summons each and every one of us, he summons each and every one of you to be certain. that you are going to enter His promised rest. Make sure of it. Don't miss it. These words have been given. Why has God given us these words? He's given them to produce saving faith in those who have not yet believed. And maybe that's you. And right now, God is working. He's stirring in your heart because He wants you to cry out to Him in repentance and faith and trust in Him. This text is not meant to terrify those who trust in Christ, but to awaken those who have not. And it's also been given to produce ongoing, enduring faith in those who have put their trust in Christ, to keep running the race. To hold your confidence firm to the end. Perseverance and faith is not about how strong you are at all, but instead about clinging to Jesus. And you might be asking, OK, well, is it too late for me? Have I already missed God's chance? Does this invitation stand for me? I mean, I understand that it's available, but is it available to me? because I don't think I'm worthy of it, and I'm not particularly good, and I've, you know, that hard heart and defiance against God and rejection of God, that is 100% me. I've been the one sitting there wanting nothing to do with God. I've hated Him. Is it too late? Does this offer extend to me? Well, God is so amazing that according to this text, God has given you today. In fact, this passage just highlights God's goodness that he has actually appointed a day. He set aside a day, and that day in this passage is called today. He set aside this period of time, this opportunity for you to hear the gospel and believe before it's too late. He has made his rest available to you today. And that really leads us to God's second urgent call, and again, it is urgent. Here's the second one. Strive to enter God's rest. If we take the bookends of verses six to 11, it sounds like this. Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, to enter God's rest, verse six, let us therefore then, verse 11, strive to enter that rest. And what we have in between those two phrases are essentially motivations to do so. Here's why you should strive to enter God's rest. Okay, let's pause though for a second. Because you might hear that, and you hear the word strive, and you immediately think, okay, I need to work really, really hard here to make sure I make heaven. God is not calling you in any way, shape, or form to earn salvation. The whole point of the cross is that you could never do that. The reason Jesus had to die is because you can't do what needs to be done for you to be saved and forgiven of your sins and washed and made clean and right with God. God is not calling you to earn salvation, but instead to trust his promise and then having done that, to keep believing all the way to the end, to run the race all the way to the end. We don't strive for rest by works. God is calling here to strive against unbelief and to strive against the apathy in our hearts, holding fast to Jesus all the way to the finish line. Hebrews describes God's rest, if we think more about it for a moment, as a place and as a state of being. We'll get to this later in the book, but it's a place. Hebrews calls God's rest a city, a homeland, and a kingdom. It's a place. But it's not only a place, it's a state. It's called rest. It's interesting, when we rest physically, we heal, don't we? Don't you just love a good night's sleep and you wake up in the morning and oh, it feels so much better. God's rest has the power to heal, even to obliterate our grief, our worry, our weariness, even our sin. And so we're called here, strive to enter it. And again, this is not about us working to enter it. But he's gonna give some motivations for that here. And the first motivation is that God's promise of rest is still open and it's open to everyone living and breathing now. And David and Joshua both confirm that God's rest is still available. This wasn't just something with Israel and the Old Testament land. This is proven by David if you look at verses six and seven. 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. What is that day? It's called today. Today, saying through David, so long afterward, after all that happened with Israel, and the words already quoted, today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. Years after the next generation of Israelites eventually entered the promised land, God's rest, the psalmist pens Psalm 95, where all these quotes come from. And he says, today, now. God's rest is available now. God is still offering rest. And not only is that proven by David or the Psalms, it's also proven by Joshua. If you look at verses eight and nine, for if Joshua had given them rest, he's the Israelite leader that eventually led Israel into the land. The next generation after the first generation all died in the wilderness. If Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on in Psalm 95. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. Jesus is the second and better Joshua, who does what the first Joshua could never do, and he leads God's people to their eternal homeland. He leads God's people into their eternal rest. Jesus does that. God's promise of rest is still open, and this passage is there to show you that it's available to you. You have not missed the opportunity. You are not too sinful for this opportunity, this invitation from the Lord. It's sinners like you and I that this invitation exists for. So take it. God's calling you to obey his voice while it's still called today and believe. Now's the time, and that's the second motivation. Motivation number two, today is the day to respond. If you look at verse seven, it says, again, he appoints a certain day. What's the day for all this? Today. Today. God keeps emphasizing all throughout this passage, if you read this whole illustration, he keeps coming back to today. Today, today, today, today, now. God is saying, don't delay. If you hear God's voice, don't harden your hearts. Israel heard it, they hardened their hearts. And you could be sitting here right now, and the Spirit of God could be speaking to you, and probing, and prompting, and working in your heart, calling you to salvation. God says, oh, receive it today, now. Repent and believe. Don't harden your heart against God. God is calling you today to believe, to trust, and to enter His rest. The Chicago fire started on the evening of Sunday, October 8th, 1871. And if you're familiar with the old preacher D.L. Moody, he was actually preaching in Chicago that day. And looking back, Moody said this, he said, on that occasion, I consider I made as great a blunder as ever I made in my life. He said this, he said, I finished the sermon upon what shall I do with Jesus. That's what he was preaching on. What are you gonna do with Jesus? And then he said to the audience, now I want you to take the question with you and think it over. And next Sunday I want you to come back and tell me what you are going to do with him. And Moody wrote, what a mistake that was. It seems now as if Satan was in my mind when I said this. Since then I have never dared to give an audience a week to think of their salvation. And as we know, with the Chicago fire, many people perished that day because of that massive fire that ripped through the city. Today's the day. Now is the time, and that's what God is saying to you, I've given I've I've offered you my salvation, I've offered you my cleansing, my forgiveness, eternal life and eternal inheritance through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Take it today. One more motivation for that is that God's rest is worth pursuing. After all, it's God's rest. It's his very own rest. He calls it my rest, and he is inviting you into what he already enjoys to enjoy it with him. Not only is it God's rest, it's a celebration. It's not just that this rest means that we cease and we stop from something. But it's not just ceasing, it's rejoicing. If you look at verses nine and 10 again, 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. In creation, God labored until he finished his work. Six days and on the seventh day he rests. And the same is true with us. Our earthly labor and toil, and just to be clear again here, this is not earthly labor and toil to earn salvation or anything like that. But if you just think of our everyday labors and toils. Will be finished, all of that will cease someday, it will stop. When we see Jesus and enter fully into his rest. And like a marathon runner, you may be slowly, steadily approaching the finish line. You can think of the Christian life like that. Maybe you're 30 kilometers out from the finish line, or 15, or 10, or 5. And maybe you feel like you're running out of juice, and you're tired and discouraged. Maybe you want to stop, and you hurt everywhere. And maybe you have moments when it's really, really bad where you second guess the whole race altogether. Why did I even sign up for this race? But the finish line is coming. And the writer of Hebrews is saying that it is in view, it's in front of you, and it will be a day of celebration, a day of water and refreshment and rest. It's just around the corner. And if you stop now, you will never experience the glory, the joy and celebration on the other side of the finish line. So the author of Hebrews is urging Christians at this point, when he says, strive to enter that rest, he's saying, keep running this race. Again, not a works-based salvation, but keep your eyes on Jesus, keep running by faith, no matter how hard it gets, because rest is coming, endure to the end. There remains a Sabbath rest, he says, a day of jubilant celebration for the people of God. His big call here, if you have not started the race, start today. And if you have, we'll keep running by faith. And if you're a weary traveler, you are almost there. Imagine stepping into a world where there's no more grief. There's no more guilt from sin. There's no sorrow, pain. There's no sweat. There's no frustration. There is no sin. There's no crying. There's no sickness. There's no loneliness. It's all gone. And there's Jesus. God's rest will be glorious. And as you run the Christian race, if you're a Christian, there will be moments, no doubt, where your friends and loved ones who are further ahead of you in the race, so to speak, they cross the finish line first. They die. And you grieve and you sorrow as is natural and appropriate. Scriptures mention that in 1 Thessalonians. We sorrow, but not as those who have no hope. Why? Because we know that those who have run before us, our friends and loved ones who have died in the Lord, they've entered God's rest. And it is glorious, it's wonderful. But it's not just future, it's present. Our salvation very much is future. It's an eternal inheritance, but it's also now. We have rest today because Jesus rules and reigns on his throne in the heavens. We have rest today because Jesus is here shepherding us now. We have rest today because God's in our hearts working. If you're searching for a rest, It is found in and through Jesus Christ in him alone. Nowhere else. Jesus said this in Matthew 11, 28 and 29. He said, come to me all who labor and are heavy laden. Maybe that's you. And maybe you're searching and you're really looking for something. You don't even know what it is you're searching for. I can tell you what you're searching for is what the Bible talks about here. You're searching for God's rest. That's what you need. And Jesus said, come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Jesus gives rest. Jesus, eternal life comes through him. And you can enter God's rest today through Jesus Christ. Have you done that? God calls you to be certain that you enter his rest, and so make sure of that. And today, if you do hear his voice, and maybe for some of you, you are. God is working on your heart right now. Okay, you need to do something. You need to do something now, today. And that's to cry out and say, Jesus, here I am. Give me your rest. Save me, cleanse me. I trust in your death and resurrection and you and you alone. Find your rest in Jesus Christ.