you, but often I struggle with being tired, right? If I were to ask you in this right now how many of you are tired, I would probably see over half of y'all raise your hand. And this is a common theme actually in our country and probably around the globe. Recent studies show that one in three Americans do not get enough sleep, which is about seven hours a night. And the average amount of sleep per evening is six hours, right? Six hours of sleep a night. So we are not getting the rest that we need. We're not getting the sleep that we need. And actually, 80% of those that say they don't get enough sleep, it comes from binge watching television, all right? It is even easier now to watch what you want to watch with things like Netflix and Hulu and the list goes on. It seems like every single business has their own plus now. And so 80%. And then there's also a group of 70 million people in our country that struggle with sleep disorders. And so it is very apparent, right, that we are tired. We are tired people. We are always busy. There's always things going on. And this lack of sleep, basically, it affects our mental abilities, our emotional status, to the point where they make coffee mugs that say, don't mess with me until I get my coffee, right? Or I've even seen ones that have, like, There's like a level, right? As I drink my coffee, you can start to talk to me, right? Now you can have a little bit more serious of a conversation, right? That we are all tired and that we need rest. Just hopefully, not right now. But that we are all tired and we all need rest. And so this is also the case, I think, on a spiritual level. That we all need rest. That living a Christian life can be difficult if left to our own accord. that we can easily be bogged down in our daily life. And so the writer here in Hebrews this morning is gonna talk about our full and our final rest. Our full and our final rest that is only found in Christ. That we need to latch on to the second Joshua, who is Christ. But before we read our passage this morning, I wanna give a couple quick reminders about the book of Hebrews. The author of Hebrews is addressing a group of Jewish Christians. Those that had followed, been part of the Israelites, their families had probably been those that have come over into the promised land. But now this group of Jewish Christians is considering going back to the old ways. And so the author here is showing them, and basically us as well, that we need not to go back to the old ways. That we need not to go back to the old ways. That Jesus is better. That the new covenant is better. That the old ways of the sacrificial temple, or sacrificial system in the temple, that those are all in the past. And that Jesus is better. The same can be said for us of turning back to our own ways and our past and going back to those things. And so the author here is also reminding us that we need not to go back to the old ways, that Jesus is better. So let me read for us the first 11 verses of chapter 4. It says, therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you shall 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 and those who listen. 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, they shall not enter my rest. Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, And those who formally received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience. Again, he points 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 entered this rest, God would have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest. As we look through these verses this morning, we're going to basically look at three things. First, we're going to see what is this rest that the author is talking about. Second, we're going to look at where do we see this rest? And then lastly, how do we enter this rest? And so first, we see what is this rest? Originally, God had promised rest or God's promised rest was found in the promised land of Canaan. Right, if we look back in Genesis, right, probably the first mention of this land, right, there wasn't much specific, you know, nothing specific about it. But we see this mention of land in Genesis chapter 12, verses 1 to 2. It says, Now the Lord said to Abram, go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation. And I will bless you and make your name great. So that way you will be a blessing. So this is the blessing that's given to Abraham. And we see in these verses this mention of a great nation. To go to the land that I have shown you. And if we actually do a study on the book of Genesis, this promise, right, this blessing, is reiterated multiple times. Right? We see it through all of Abraham's descendants. Over and over they're reminded that God is with them, but also that they will be a great nation. And in order probably to be a great nation, you need to have land. And so there's this promise of land. And so this promise and this blessing is passed on generation after generation after generation as a reminder to know that God is with his people. But then there's this roadblock that's hit. And things seem quite bleak as the Egyptians, right, have taken the Israelites into slavery. And in some ways it seems like they might be going backwards, right, because now they not only have their own land, but they are held as slaves in another land. And yet God, we see, rescues his people from slavery, and they wander in the desert for 40 years. until they enter the promised land. Until they're on the bank of the Jordan, waiting to go into the land that God had promised them. We see in Numbers 34, it kind of gives the parameters of where the land is going to be. where the land is at. So as we go through biblical history, through Genesis all the way through Numbers, that we see this progression and more specifics on what the land will look like. And we see that the promised land of Canaan is a fertile land, right? With brooks and rivers and streams that go into these valleys, into these hills. which produce rich soil for wheat, and barley, and grapes, and figs, and apples, and olives, and there's an abundance, right? That there, in the promised land, that the Israelites would lack nothing. That they would be given everything that they need. There's no more wandering in the desert. There's no more wondering where the next meal is going to come from. Because this land is beautiful. It's fruitful. And the land is often referred as the land flowing with milk and honey. If I was given a piece of land and it was said to be flowing with milk and honey, I'd be like, okay, that sounds interesting, right? But the milk and honey don't reference that there's little rivers of milk and little rivers of honey, right, as nice as that might be. That the milk and honey represent something else. Whereas the milk represents this blessing and luxury. Whereas honey represents prosperity and abundance. That they're going into a land that's flowing with abundance and blessing. It seems like an amazing place. It's somewhere that they've looked forward to going. And that there's this rich fullness, right, in the promised land that surpasses all need. And so we see this promised land, this beautiful and this fruitful place, full of abundance, full of prosperity, surpassing all need. But yet, what the writer of Hebrews is showing us here, is that the promised land is a picture of the ultimate rest that Christ would provide. And we see that this is just a picture because in this passage, right here in Hebrews, the author references Psalm 95. And he says this, he says, for in Psalm 95, seven through 11, it says this, for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as at Meribah, as on the day at Massa in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they seen my work. For 40 years, I loathed that generation and said, they are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways. Therefore, I swore my wrath, they shall not enter. my rest. See, this passage ultimately invites Israel to enter his rest, enter in God's rest. Even though when this passage was written, Psalm 95 was written, they were already in Canaan. Right, when David wrote this Psalm, they were already in the promised land. They were already in the rest that they thought they were gonna get in the promised land. And in some ways they were probably in the golden years. The golden years of the promised land. When David and Solomon were king. Things were going well. It was about this time that there was the peak of the amount of land that they owned was during this time. And so rather what we see here in Hebrews is that this is an invitation about a future greater rest, an eternal rest. This promise of rest still stands today. We see that there in verse, oh, now I've lost it. Where did it go? In verse seven, right? Today, right? This promise of entering his rest still stands today. that a matter of finding rest is not about all of us this afternoon packing up our bags, filling up our suitcases, and traveling across the country and going to the land of Canaan. This is not what this is referring to. This is not about us going on a pilgrimage, right, to go visit the land of Canaan, that we can go see this promised land. But rather what this passage, right, It's a bigger picture. That the author of Hebrews is offering this rest to his readers. That he's not asking that they find rest in the land, right? As beautiful and abundant and fruitful as the land is. That their final rest is not found in this piece of property that God had made. But finding rest in the Lord. by entering this rest through the finished work of Christ. The author of Hebrews reminds us in verse 8, he says, For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. That if Joshua's rest was final, then God would not have spoken of another day of rest. That even though Joshua led the Israelites to the promised land, He was there alongside Moses as his second right-hand man there for a long period of time. He had wandered through the desert. He had crossed the Jordan. They had conquered multiple cities. Walls of Jericho came tumbling down. Joshua was perceived as a hero. Not only did he lead them into the promised land, but that he filled the shoes of Moses. But what we know is that Joshua could not get them to their final and their full rest. See, Joshua was just like us. Was a man that God used in very mighty ways. That God used for his kingdom. But that Joshua was a sinner. Joshua was broken and desperately in need of a Messiah just like us. And so the Lord speaks of another rest. A fuller and a final rest. With a perfect and a righteous hero. One that is without sin. A second Joshua. That is Christ. And so ultimately, what the author of Hebrews is saying here, and is asking these Jewish Christians, Which Joshua are you putting your trust in? Where are you putting your faith in? The Joshua that led them into the promised land or Jesus Christ? And so it's a reminder here to the Jewish Christians and to us that Jesus is better. And so the same question can be asked for us. Not, which Joshua are you trusting in? But rather, where are you putting your trust? For the Jewish Christians, we see that it's in these Old Testament heroes, these founding fathers of the faith that God used in mighty ways that were obedient to the Lord, that led their people, but yet we're still sinful and still broken? For us, what are we chasing after? What are we seeking? In what other ways are we trying to find rest? Vacations, I love vacation. I think everybody loves vacation. Or weekends, or security, or certain comforts, or certain relationships, or by having everything in order, where are we putting our trust? But yet what we see is that these are all matters of temporary rest, things that simply would distract our minds, things that ultimately don't fulfill, that make us happy in the moment, but that often leave us unsatisfied. And so I think in some ways for us today that the writer is saying, don't go on chasing those things because they will never really satisfy your heart. That there is this longing in our hearts that can only be satisfied through a relationship with Christ. Blaise Pascal said this, he says, there is a God-shaped vacuum in our heart of each man which cannot be satisfied by any created thing. but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ. So this is a reminder of the things that we go seeking, that we think that can fill that void in our hearts, that can only be satisfied through a relationship with Jesus Christ. The second thing we see is, where do we see this rest? In verse 4, it references that we are reminded that since the seventh day of creation, that God has been resting in His eternal heavenly Sabbath. Right, this doesn't mean that God is inactive, right? This doesn't mean that God's not at work. I think honestly, if all of us in here could give testimony of where we've seen God at work, in our lives and the lives of others. Maybe most importantly where we've seen that God has worked in our hearts that we may see of his love and his grace and his mercy, right, that we could see that evidence in our lives. I love seeing and talking with those that I've known for a long period of time that didn't know the Lord. And then they've moved away, they've come back. And how awesome it is to sit in front of them and have conversations. And there's just a whole new person sitting right in front of you. And to see how God has worked through that person's heart, it's just so marvelous to see that. That we've seen, right, by the grace of God, that we've seen the depth of our sin. And that we've seen His mercy and His love. But rather it's that God is resting because He has finished the work of creation. And so when we look at this, that there will be a Sabbath rest for the people of God. We see that promise here in this passage and throughout scripture, that those that have put their faith in Christ, those that have a saving faith, those that have entered God's rest, will also rest from their work. That in heaven we will rest from our works. The works ultimately referring to the laboring and the striving and the enduring trials of life. And so heaven in some ways is an eternal Sabbath. An eternal Sabbath. So what does that mean for how we observe weekly worship? Our weekly Sabbath? Our weekly day of worship on Sunday mornings? I think in some ways that the weekly Sabbath or our weekly morning of worship here on Sunday mornings is a little taste of what the heaven that awaits us. It's a little taste of what heaven will be like. Now, we all still struggle with sin, so there are definitely issues that come from that. But what makes it this way is that we, as a body of Christ, come together worshiping the Lord. singing songs of praise, hearing the Word of God preached, that we come together worshiping God. Now, in a united body, we see that there's so much more beauty and it's just so glorious to all come together and be able to worship together. But there's also this fellowship of the saints. So there's a matter of worshiping the Lord, a fellowship of the saints. And then also a time where all distractions can be put aside. All things at work or in family or whatever else, that all those things can be put aside. And that our focus can solely be put on the Lord. That's what Sunday morning is, is a matter of worshiping the Lord, a fellowship with the saints. and putting those distractions aside, that our devotion is solely on Christ and Christ alone. And so ultimately, this should cause us to think how we spend our Sunday mornings, or how we spend our Sundays. That what is the purpose of Sunday? What is the purpose of Sabbath? And we see that it's a day devoted to the Lord. That we would rejoice in the hope of the Lord, glorifying and honoring our creator, the Lord of all things. That it's a taste of the rest that awaits for us in heaven. A day when all sorrow and sin and pain have been made new because of the blood of Christ. That we get a taste of this rest that is only found in the Lord. And so then that leads us to our last thing that we see. Of how do we enter this rest? And as we see in this passage, we see first that it shows us ultimately those that will not enter this rest. We see that some among the people of God, some among the Israelites, those that could be part of the church, will miss this eternal rest. And what this passage is not referring to is those that have lost their salvation. That's not what this is referring to at all. What this is referring to those that maybe have been part of the nation in referring to Israel, or those that are part of the church in the sense that they attend worship and that they're connected in some way to the physical church, but they do not have saving faith. They have not put their trust in the Lord. And so we see, right, we're reminded of the disobedience of the Israelites before the promised land. A people that had failed to worship the Lord and had rebelled against God. And a large group of those, right, they were not allowed to enter into the physical promised land. They were not allowed to enter into the land of Canaan due to their disobedience. Ultimately, I think that this points that there are some we think that might be Christians, but there are not. That they are part of the physical church, but they do not have faith in Christ. Just as there are some of the Israelites that were part of this great nation, but they did not have faith in Christ. And so what is important to see here is that salvation is of the most importance. The Israelites, right, do not have saving faith simply because of their heritage, but because of the work of the Lord. That salvation is of the most importance. There is nothing that's more important than our relationship with God. Nothing more important than our standing before the Lord. And so often in conversations that I have heard people respond in terms of their salvation, I'm sure it will all work out. You know, I'm part of a Christian family. I think I'm okay. I attend church service on Sunday. I think that's enough. I think everything's going to be okay between me and God. I'm really not that bad of a person. And all those things are so far from being true. That there is only one way that we can be saved. And that is through Jesus Christ. And so in some ways, those thoughts or those ideas describe the Israelites. That the Israelites could check off all of those boxes. All those boxes of spiritual privileges, they could check them off. that they had not eaten certain things, they had not done certain things, they had followed certain laws, that they could check off all those boxes. Paul, in the book of Romans, I believe in chapter 3, he addresses these issues of circumcision and following the moral law, and those things offer no advantage in terms of our relationship before the Lord. that we are sinners, that we are broken, and that there is nothing that we can do about our condition. And so the same is said about us, that these spiritual privileges, that they will not save you, and that we are reminded that today is the day of salvation. The second thing we see of how we enter this rest is that we enter this heavenly rest through faith in Christ. But see, this also gives us a rest here on earth, that not only does our faith in Christ gives us a rest in heaven, of this eternal rest that we have, but also it gives us a rest here on earth in a sense of our assurance of our salvation. And we see this really in two ways, that first is that salvation is now. Because it is a gift of God's grace, and apart from human works. That salvation is now because I don't have to wait until I've completed a certain number of works. That I've filled out my time chart and that now salvation is given to me. That salvation is now because it's based on the finished work of Christ, not of my tally of good deeds so that way I could boast, but a matter of what Christ has done for us, that it's already finished, that our salvation and our righteousness are based solely on what Christ has already done. It's like the hymn, come ye weary, heavy laden, bruised and broken by the fall. If you tarry till you're better, you will never come at all. The hymn does not say, come those that have everything figured out, that are always happy, that have no problems. Come those that are heavy laden. Those that are still sinners. Those that are bruised and broken. Those are the ones that Christ is seeking after. Not the righteous. Not the righteous at all. But those that come to the Lord broken in a need of a Savior. All sinners need to come to Jesus. So salvation is now, but that salvation is also certain. Because also it's a gift of God's grace apart from human works. That not only is it now, today, but that it is certain. I don't have to worry that I've done enough. There was a TV show for a while that was based on, it was called The Good Place. People may have seen it. I saw the first little bit. Turned into being a horrible show after that. But I think it's a great picture of basically this woman has ended up in this place and he finds out maybe that she's not, she's not in heaven. She's in this other place. And that she needs to do more things because Right now, her scale is unbalanced, right? She has done more bad things in her life than she has done good things. And that she has gone to this place to hopefully fix those wrongs, to level out the scales, right? To make them slightly more green. And what we see, that is not the case in terms of what Scripture teaches. There's not these scales that have to balance out. Our salvation is certain, right? There's no uncertainty that I can If I can save myself, then I can unsave myself. You know, what bad things could I do to make my condition worse? But we see that our salvation is certain because our salvation is found in the work of Christ, not in our works. That it doesn't waver, that it doesn't change. And so we see this, right? that it offers this rest to us because we know that our salvation is full and final. That we know that our salvation is now uncertain because it is found only in the work of Christ. So the third thing that we see in terms of how do we find this rest is that we're reminded that perseverance is the mark of the true believer. That perseverance is the mark of the true believer. Pastor Brian has referenced this quote in the past, and there's more to it, so I'm gonna read the whole passage. It's from D.A. Carson, and he says this, people do not drift towards holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate towards godliness. obedience to scripture, faith and delight in the Lord. But rather, we drift towards compromise and call it tolerance. We drift towards disobedience and call it freedom. We drift towards superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation. We slouch towards prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking that we have escaped legalism. We slide towards godlessness and convince ourselves that we have been liberated. What we see is that we are not saved by our works. We are not saved by our good works. That we are saved solely by the work of Christ, but yet we're reminded here by D.A. Carson is that the Christian life still involves an effort. That we are marked by the fruits in our lives. That we should see growth in the life of the believer. That we should not be happy with just being stagnant. You know, I'm not going back, but I'm not going forward. I think I'm in a good spot. But that we should see growth in our sanctification. that we should see a growth in our dependency on the Lord. It's not a matter that we see growth in the fact that I'm doing more things, but rather a growth that we see the depth of our need of Christ. It's not a matter that the cross shrinks, but as we grow in the life of the believer, that we actually see how great God's grace is. how much we need the cross. And so, we look at that, and I think there's an element of rest that's found in fully trusting the Lord. That not only is there rest found in our assurance of salvation, of knowing that our salvation is now uncertain because of what Christ has done, But there's also an element of rest that's found solely trusting in the Lord. Imagine if you were traveling to a foreign country on vacation. You and your family are going to London, right? You've never visited London before, right? Let's go somewhere even crazier. Let's go somewhere. Let's go to Paris, all right? They don't speak English there, so it's a little bit more difficult. You go to Paris. You've never been to Paris. No one in your family has ever been to Paris. But you want to see the most that you can see in the week and a half that you're there. And so you hire the best travel guide that you can find. Because you want to do it all. You want to see it all. You want to climb the Eiffel Tower. You want to eat all the delicious French food. And so you hire this travel guide. and you put a lot of trust in them and knowing that they're going to show you this city that you've never been before. That they've done all the work, they've planned all the tickets, right? They've set up all of these delicious meals at these restaurants. All you have to do is get on the plane and go. How much rest is found in that, right? To know that you can just sit back and just enjoy. There's whole restaurants or hotels that are geared behind, right? The all-inclusive. That you can just go and have it all done for you. You're putting all of your trust in the travel guide, knowing that everything's going to work out. Right? There's trust in that. There's rest in that. But also, maybe the case can also be said about parents, right? of watching over their children. Numerous times, I have told my boys not to do something, because I know that if they did it, they would get hurt. Well, guess what they do? They do it, right? And what happens? They get hurt. I know, because I've experienced that exact same pain, right? I've done that stupid thing that they're about to do, and yet they don't listen, and they find the pain that, you know, that I thought was going to come to them, right? There's a matter of rest that's found by trusting in someone, right? Well, how much more can be the case of how much rest can be found by fully putting our trust in the Lord, the author and the perfecter of our faith? who knows us better than we know ourselves. He is a creator, he's a sustainer, he is sovereign, he works all things out for his good. How much more rest can be found in solely putting our trust in him? It's not about chasing after other things, but a matter of striving to live a life for Christ. As I was studying and writing my sermon this week, I was listening to some music and a song came on. I'd never heard it before. It was just kind of shocking because I've heard a lot of music from this group, All Sons and Daughters. They're not together anymore, but the song said this. It says, this is a call to all the dead and disappointed, the ones who feel like they are done. This is a word to all the ones who feel forgotten, but you are not, you are not. We are soaked in all the grace that we have been given, unchained from all that we have done. Your mercy is rising like the sun on the horizon. We're coming home. There's so much rest that's found by solely trusting in the finished work of Christ. In Romans chapter 1, or Romans chapter 5, verses 1 to 2, it talks about our assurance of our salvation. It talks about how we can stand with confidence because of the work with Christ. That we can rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And so, the author here in Hebrews, I think, is addressing the same thing. He's reminding us not only of our rest that it's found in this eternal rest, not only the rest that we have in the assurance of our salvation, but also the rest that we can find here on earth. That the Lord is sovereign, that He is in control, that we can stand with confidence because of Christ, and that we can rejoice in the hope of God. Let me pray for us. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for this passage here in Hebrews, a reminder of your rest, the rest that can only be found in the finished work of Christ. Lord, so often we strive for so many other things that we put our trust in so many other things, things that will make us happy, things that we can find rest and joy, but yet they never really satisfy our hearts. Lord, I pray that you continue to work in us, that you continue to draw us closer to you, that we can fully put our trust in who you are and what you've done, and that we can find our rest in that. In your name I pray, amen. Church family, let's stand together.