Again, I do invite you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews, and we will be beginning in chapter 4 today, Hebrews chapter 4. One of the rules that they give you in preaching is that at the beginning of the sermon, or during the sermon, or at the end of the sermon, you should not apologize. This sermon, in particular, I found very difficult to prepare. In many aspects, the sermon, the text, is very simple to understand. A child can read it and grasp its truth, but as you begin to unfold it, it begins to peel like an onion. And there is great truth in here that I feel like I've just begun to scratch the surface. So in this sermon, I'm not quite sure how far we'll get or how long it'll take to get through it. But more importantly that I would encourage you to be patient. There will be some things I have no doubt that will be more like me throwing out things in order to proceed to the next truth in there. So if in any of this I make no sense at all, Or very little sense or contradict I ask that you would share that with me so that we can clarify it in the coming weeks Or if there's anything in here that just grazed the surface that you would like to look at more I ask that you would let me know because I would like to look at it more With that in mind, let's go to the Lord in prayer Father you are the thrice Holy God And we are sinners only in your presence because of the righteousness found in Christ. Lord, we have come to you in salvation as beggars. We continue to beg your grace in our lives to sustain us. And Lord, this morning we ask that you would speak to us through your word. Lord, there are many manifestations of hearts here this day. Some who have been distracted by worldliness. Some who have been hurt by the world or by friends or family. Those who have had joy of news given to them. Lord, we come this morning as a mixed bag, and we praise you that you are the God who transcends all of our hearts. And because of that, you can speak to us individually, to our specific needs, needs that, Lord, we may not even be aware of. So Father, I pray that as we have been encouraged already in the kids' corner, Lord, that we would be attentive this morning, not to the message that I have prepared, but Your Word, Lord, that we would hear Your voice. We are told that the sheep will hear the shepherd's voice. And we pray, God, today we would hear your voice. So, Lord, open our hearts that we may see. Open our eyes that we may see. Open our lives, God, that we would be able to live these truths out in greater fervency and greater faithfulness this week. So, Lord, we thank you and we praise you in the name of Jesus, our Savior, our High Priest, our Intercessor, our Advocate, our righteousness. In His name we pray. Amen. We read the following quote from Augustine in his confessions and I will modernize it for you. This is what he said of God. You move us to delight in praising You. For You have formed us for Yourself. And our hearts are restless till they find rest in You." See, man was created by God and for God. And man only experiences true happiness true joy, true rest, when they find their rest in God. See, God has set eternity in our hearts. And only an eternal God can fill that gap of that eternity in our hearts. There is no rest, beloved, for the soul of man except for the soul that finds its rest in God. See, the text before us this morning speaks of this rest. And as we look at this rest that our hearts are to find in God and God alone, I pray and I hope that our trust in God would increase. That our joy in God would increase. And that our delight in God would increase. In other words, that yes, we obey the Lord, but that we want to obey the Lord. Not just that we want to obey the Lord, but we delight in doing the things that God has called us to do. Because, beloved, only in finding our delight in God do we find the rest that this text speaks of this morning. I would like to read our text, beginning in verse 1, and just read through the first 11 verses. Hebrews chapter 4, starting in verse 1. 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, 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 some sort of disobedience." Let me give to you our outline this morning. I'll give it to you again as we go through it. I'd like to show you that God's rest was offered. God's rest was offered. That God's rest was rejected. God's rest was rejected, and that God's rest is still being offered. That God's rest is still being offered. Let's start with that God's rest was offered. In this text, the writer of Hebrews continues to use the Exodus generation as an example to us, not to follow after the evil that they followed after, and it is to encourage us or to stimulate us to consider our own hearts. Where are we? Are we really in the faith? So we find in this text of this Exodus generation, that in this offer that God had given them to this rest, that they would not enter the rest that He has offered to them. And we see this, go back with me to chapter 3. Look at verse 11. And this is the end of the quoting Psalm 95. He says, as I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest. You see this in chapter 3 verse 18. And to whom did he swear they would not enter his rest? But to those who were disobedient. You see this in chapter 4 verse 3. As I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest. Verse 5, they shall not enter my rest. There is a constant repetition of a theme that God derives from the Exodus generation to awaken our hearts this very day. Don't be like them. They were offered a rest, but I swore to them that they shall not enter it because of their disobedience. So let's ask this question then. What rest is being offered or was offered? It's the same rest that is being offered to us today. Look what this says in every one of those verses that we just referred to. This rest is none other than the rest that God Himself rests in. This is not our rest that we enter into. This is God's rest that we enter into. He says to the people, you will not enter My rest. And yet we're going to find later that those of us in the faith are in His rest, and there is a remaining promise or hope for those who are yet to believe in Christ, that they can enter into His rest. This rest is God's rest that we are entering into. Now, God's rest is an amazing thought here. God's rest is not a foreign thought to God. God is intimately acquainted with His rest. When God bids a sinner to come into His rest, it is a rest that God knows. It is a rest that God experiences. And by necessary implication, if God has His rest that He is resting in, doesn't God enjoy this rest? Because God does all things for His pleasure, doesn't He? So think about this for a moment. God is resting and he gave an offer to the people of Israel to enter into his rest in which God himself experiences and himself enjoys. And that's what saving faith does. It gives us the rest that God partakes in and gives us the rest that God enjoys. Now, Pastor Kenton Hughes wrote it this way. This rest means that when we are given rest by God, it is not simply a relaxation of tensions, but a rest that is qualitatively the same rest that God enjoys. It is His personal rest that He shares with us. Now how many of us have thought about this in our Christian life? That God rests and He bids us to come into His rest that God is resting in. So let me ask this question, the very thought that God invites you to enter into His rest that He experiences and that He enjoys, does that Cause your heart to pulsate with joy, with excitement. Even if you're thinking to yourself, I don't fully grasp it. Does it excite you to see the grace of God extended to us as believers? See, God, in His grace, lets us enjoy what He enjoys. So here's the question, then, what does God rest from? Look what here it says in verse 4. For he has somewhere spoken on the seventh day in this way, and God rested on the seventh day from his works." Verse 10, so whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his work as God did from his. Now this reference to God's rest takes us back to Genesis chapter 1 and chapter 2, where God worked for six days in creating the world. And on the seventh day, what did he do? He rested. So what we see here is that God worked day one through day six. On day seven, He rested. Each of those six days that is detailed for us in chapter one of Genesis ends with a statement like this. And it was morning, and it was evening, the first day, the second day, all the way through the sixth day. When you get to the seventh day, it says God rested. But do you know what is missing from the seventh day? The seventh day never says, and the seventh day a morning and evening. That is missing from the seventh day. In other words, from that perspective, the seventh day is perpetual. It is an ongoing rest that God enjoys. Because the seventh day never had an ending from that perspective. The Sabbath rest of God continues without end. And that's the clear implication of our passage before us. Now, let me just throw in a parenthetical thought here for a moment. Yes. Day 7 was a literal 24 hour day. Could you imagine what your 7th day would look like if it was not? But beloved, when we read the Word of God, and we go to that 7th day, it is pointing to something much greater than 24 hours. And I hope to unpack that as we go on. Now, when we talk about, or the writer of Hebrews speaks about God rested from His works, we have to understand that this is not speaking of a rest in which God does no longer work. Because in John 5, verse 17, Jesus says this, My Father is always at work to this very day, and I too am working. So how did He cease from His work, and yet He's always working? How does that work? See, when the Father ceased to work on the seventh day, He ceased from a particular work. And that was the particular work of creation. But God still continues to work. Has there been any more creation since day six? No. God has set everything in its creative order, and now He is not creating, but He is Sovereignly over that which He created. See, God rested from the activity of creation, not from work itself. He completed His work of creation, so He completed, or now He's resting from that activity. So God's creation is complete. Now I want you to listen carefully to the following words from Gehardus Vos. This is what he writes. In Hebrew thought, the word rest has a positive meaning. And it stands for consummation of a work accomplished and the joy and satisfaction attended upon this. Such was its prototype in God. So when it says God rested, it means He could That work is completed. And He steps back and He looks at it and He finds joy. He finds pleasure in it. And isn't that exactly what we see in Genesis chapter 2? God looks over His creation and what does He say? It was very good. God found delight in His creation after He completed it. Now Gehardus Vos goes on to say this, for mankind too a great task awaits to be accomplished. And at its close beckons a rest of joy and satisfaction that shall copy the rest of God. In other words, God six-day, seventh-day rest is a prototype for us in which we are to work six days and rest on the seventh day. We are to look back on the seventh day in which we rest and look back at the consummation of the work that we did that week and what are we to find? Joy and satisfaction. I'm going to just throw in this real quickly. There's a lot of stuff I did. I'm going to throw in at you and get out. The reason why I believe so many people are not finding joy and satisfaction in their rest is because they're working seven days a week instead of six. They're taking God, His example, and saying, I don't need that. I can do it my way. And so drudgery wells up in the heart of man and I don't find contentment anymore in work. But what happens if you begin to regularly take that seventh day and to look back and see what God has accomplished through you by doing it His way? Gerardus Foss goes on to say, the Sabbath is an expression of the eschatological principle on which the life of humanity has been constructed. Again, how many days are in a week? Seven! Therefore, we get it from Scripture. It teaches its lesson through the rhythmical succession of six days of labor and one ensuing days of rest in each successive week. Man is reminded in this way that life is not aimless existence, that there is a goal that lies beyond. See, when we look at the seven-day week, we are not simply to say that's a seven-day week of 24 hours, but it is to point us to something greater. And Hebrews chapter 4 is drawing our attention to the fact that God rested on the seventh day, and He offers us entrance into that rest. Now, permit me one more quote here. One pastor writes this, When we say that God rested, we do not mean that He went on vacation or removed His care from our world. The picture is rather that after having made and ordered and subdued the creation according to His desired plan, His control was so absolute, His sovereignty so in question, that God enthroned Himself without effective opposition. His reign is one of rest, that is of absolute supremacy and unassailable sovereignty, so much that He exerts all His rule from the position of rest. It is this kind of rest, or it is the kind of rest possible to a God who could say, I am God and there is no other. I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand. So when we think of God's Sabbath rest, we should immediately think of His utter, uncontested, sovereign rule. God rested from creation. But God is still working His sovereignty. His creation ended, but His superintending over that creation continues, and He does it from the position of rest. So here's the question. What type of rest does God offer? What did He offer to the people of Israel? What does He offer to us today? See, man and woman, Adam and Eve, were in the garden and they were enjoying that rest. But something happened. They sinned against God and they were expelled from the Garden of Eden. And now, man, even in the very beginning, they tried to sow fig leaves to cover themselves. See, man is continuously trying to work their way back into the garden, as it were. Trying to get back into the presence of God by their own merits. But did you see here what verse 10 says? For whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works. See, the rest that God offers is the rest that was completed in Jesus Christ, who on the cross cried out, it is finished. Echoing us back to the day of creation 7. I rested." See, Jesus Christ cried out, it is finished. And then when He ascended to the right hand of the Father, what did He do? He sat down. God completed creation and He rested from that activity of creation. Jesus Christ finished the work of atonement and sat down. The rest that we have is the rest that is found in Jesus Christ. There is no more atoning work to be done. It is finished in Jesus Christ. It is completed. And the one who enters the rest of God ceases. from their works, and they submit to the beautiful reality that it is by grace that we are saved, not of works, lest any man should boast. See, we cease from our works, but we run and hide and we rest in the works of Jesus Christ. So, beloved, in order to enter God's rest, we must cease from our works and depend on the works of Christ. See, as believers, we are not saying to the unbelieving world that we are any better. We are simply saying that we are running to the righteousness that is found in Christ. We have found our rest in the righteousness of another. We have ceased to look to ourselves for hope. We have ceased to look for ourselves for any merit in the sight of God. We have ceased from ourself. And we only look to God in Jesus Christ. And what is amazing about this rest that is offered by God was that it was rejected. by the people of Israel. Let's look at that now, that this offer of God's rest was rejected. What's amazing is that these participants, this Exodus generation, they participated in great, miraculous signs and wonders from God. They had seen things that would blow our minds. But what does it say here? In verse one, therefore, while a promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. Why would you even think that the writer of Hebrews? Because verse two, 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. They heard the words, they saw the works. They did not have faith. They did not have faith to believe. See, God comes to them and says, you're not going to enter my rest. You're not going to come into my rest because of your disobedience, because of your unbelief. See, they did not enter God's rest because God's plan wasn't solid enough. But they didn't enter in because of their own heart condition. Look at verse 6. since therefore it remains for some to enter into it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience." Why did they not enter because of disobedience? You say, well, wait a minute, I'm disobedient too, aren't you? But your life should not be marked by disobedience as a believer. Remember last week what we saw back in chapter 3, verses 18 and 19? The writer of Hebrews ties so clearly that they were unable to enter because of disobedience. Verse 19, they were unable to enter because of their unbelief. Well, which one is it? Well, they were disobedient because they had an unbelieving heart. Their actions manifested the condition of their hearts. So here, these people, the Exodus generation, heard the Word. But they did not believe the Word. They did not have faith in the Word. They did not trust the Word. Literally where it says that they were not united by faith, literally it reads, they didn't mix it with faith. They didn't mix it with faith. They heard the Word, but there was no mixing of their hearing with faith. See, they heard the Word, they saw the miracles, but they sat unmoved in their hearts toward God's. Think about this. They'd seen all of that. They heard all of that. They'd seen Moses on the mountain. And the whole time, their hearts were still at enmity with God. They all experienced firsthand the preservation of God, the deliverance of God. But none of them profited from what they saw and what they heard because they did not have faith. Now is this not the parable of the sower or the parable of the soils? There were four different soils. Only one produced the fruit leading to salvation. And this is the way it is throughout church history. The Word of God goes forth and you've got all these people that receive it with joy, or they receive it quickly, or they don't receive it at all, but only one receives it and fruit comes from it. And it's here today as well. Let's not fool ourselves. The Word of God goes forth. There's nothing wrong with the Word. What's wrong with the reception? What's wrong with my heart? My heart condition, my heart preparation is that which will dictate how I receive the Word or reject the Word of God. Different condition of hearts will hear the Word of God differently. It is so amazing. Somebody can sit right there and go, that sermon was boring. The one right next to you can go, man, you brought me into God. and there's joy and there's excitement. What's the difference? Same sermon, same word, it's the heart. And the people collectively in the Exodus generation had a heart against God and not for God. Now here's the question I have for us. How important is faith? How important is this faith? Because it says very clearly that it was not united by faith, so they could not enter. Let me read to you Hebrews 11 verse 6. And without faith it is impossible to please God? That's how important it is. Without faith, we cannot please God. We cannot do anything that would bring God honor without faith. In fact, again, verse 3 right here, for we who have believed enter that rest. So they could not enter because of their lack of faith. We see that without faith it is impossible to please God. And here in verse 3 we see, but we've entered that rest. Because of what? of our belief because of our faith. Belief, beloved, faith is required to enter that rest. Now let us remind ourselves of something very important, very essential, that God uses means to accomplish his purposes. See, salvation must have faith, and salvation must have obedience to show its reality. Let me put it this way. If you're saved, you have to display faith. If you're saved, you have to obey. See, a lot of times people see God's plan of His sovereignty, but they don't see human involvement in the working out of God's plan. Again, we must remember that God uses means to accomplish His purpose. Let me illustrate this for you, and I wish we had time to really look at it, but we don't. It's a biblical example. Paul was on a ship. He was being taken to Rome. or he'd been put in jail because of his faithfulness to gospel proclamation. If you remember when he was on the ship, a storm came up. I want to read these few verses for you. They're out of Acts chapter 27, verses 22 through 25. This is what it says. Paul says to the people, Yet now I urge you, take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For this very night there stood before me an angel of God to whom I belong and I worship. And he said, do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar and behold, God has granted you all those who sell with you. So Paul gets up and says, guys, don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. God is going to protect all of us. Not one of our lives will be lost. I have to go before Caesar, so I know I get out of here. But God's also promised that every one of you will survive. Now, if you remember this, the narrative goes on. The sailors get more and more concerned, and they're gonna jump off boat to save themselves. There's an analogy there. Think about that. They went to save themselves. Let me read to you verse 31 of that same chapter. Paul said to the centurion soldiers, unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved. Wait a minute, Paul, what are you talking about? You just said everybody's going to be saved. Now you said unless they stay in, nobody's going to be saved. Very simple, God uses means. See, God says everybody's got to stay in the boat in order to get saved. And beloved, we're the same way, aren't we? If you're going to be saved by the sovereign hand of God, you have to display faith. You have to show obedience. You have to respond to the call of God. God uses the means of human interaction and the will that He puts in us to respond to His sovereignty. Now, let me ask this question. Why is this so important? Why is it so important? Why is it so important that we understand that God uses means to accomplish his salvation? And I'm talking to you believers today, those of you who know you're in Christ. I will speak to you on this for a moment. Because of this very reason, we need to stay close to the duties that God requires of us. And not think, well, God's gonna do what he's gonna do without your involvement in it. See, salvation is all of grace, but such grace manifests itself through specific means. And here's what I mean in the context of what we've been looking at in Hebrews. Hebrews has warnings and promises, doesn't it? We've already seen some of the warnings. We see more warnings in here. Verse 1, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to enter it. See, believers, we have to understand that yes, if you're saved by grace, you will persevere in your faith because of the grace of God, but he uses warnings to awaken us. He uses warnings to stimulate us. He gives us these warnings, beloved, not for us to say, huh, I wonder if I can lose my salvation. It's not there for that purpose. It's there for this reason, for us to heed the warning. It's there for us to say, you know what, I love you God, and I don't want to go there. Okay, what are you saying God? It should awaken us to hear what God is saying. See, for God, in His wisdom, He has ordained that such warnings are to be given to us because we need them for us to persevere in His grace. See, although we know that we are secure in Christ, we nonetheless are to be moved by such warnings as further inducements to our godliness. See, we must run into the safety nets of both promise and warning that God provides for us as a proof of our salvation. So for those of you who are like me and understand the Word of God to be clear that God is sovereign even over salvation, He still requires us. to be faithful and to respond in obedience. He uses that to give us security, to give us assurance of our salvation, to give us proof. So with this in mind, let us seek to answer the following question. In verse 6 it says, therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter it because of disobedience. Here's the question I want to try to answer. What disobedience is that referring to? In other words, I wanna know what type of disobedience went on. So I don't do that. Because I want to enter the rest of God, but God says you can't enter it. So what is this disobedience? Now number one, I think that, I think most definitely you can apply this disobedience generically to the whole Exodus generation because you see them constantly disobeying, see them constantly rebelling God. See, here's my point. I think that if you were to take a poll among the Exodus generation, you would find a near universal affirmation that they believed in God. Sounds familiar. But if you were to take the grid of what saving trust looks like, if you were to take the grid of what saving obedience looks like, they would have failed the test. They constantly went astray in their hearts. See, it is one thing to say, beloved, that we have faith. It's another thing to have faith. When the infinite gods searched their hearts, you know what he found? They found unbelief. No matter what their words said, God knew the truth. But I think that there is a specific thing that this is speaking about, a specific event that this disobedience is referring to. And I don't have time to look into it, but I want you to just write this down. Numbers 13 and 14. What you see in Numbers 13 and 14, if you remember that Moses led the people out of Egypt, they're in the wilderness, and they're getting ready to enter into the promised land. The rest that God had promised them. And so God sent them, sent spies into the land. And the spies come back and they complain. They're too big. There's too many of them. There's those giants, the Nephilim. We're like grasshoppers in their sight. We can't do it. Remember what Caleb does? He stands up and says, huh, God will. God will. God will give us them into our hands. What was the end of all that? The people, the bad spies, they showed no trust in God. They came back and they got the whole group riled up against God and God's plan. So what did the people do? We're not going in! So God came along and said, okay, that's fine. You don't get it then. You're going to die. So what did they do? Oh, we're going to go do it! See, God said, go do it, and they wouldn't do it. God said, don't do it, and they would do it. See, no matter what God said, they were rebellious. And so God says of them, you will not enter My rest. You will not enter the land that I promised, the land of milk and honey. You're not going to get. And in fact, Deuteronomy chapter 1 verse 35 and Deuteronomy 12 verse 9 refers to the land as rest that they didn't get. So this land, of rest that was for them, they didn't get because of their disobedience against God. So here's the question, beloved. When God tells you to have joy in all circumstances, in various trials, do you have joy? Or are you like those bad spies? Don't, don't leave this act of disobedience in the wilderness. But bring it home to your heart. Do we trust God? like Caleb and Joshua? Or do we doubt God and His Word like the bad spies did? But let's just talk about this for a moment. I don't mean to be calloused, but see, their refusal opened up rest for us, didn't it? Let's just think about this in Acts chapter 13. Paul, remember, he would go to the synagogues and preach the word to who? The Jews. This is what he says, And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you, since you thrust to the side and judge yourselves unworthy of the eternal life. Behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. In other words, went to the Jews first, you rejected it, You deemed yourself unworthy of eternal life." That's an amazing statement. So we're going to go to the Gentiles. Aren't you grateful? Aren't you grateful that God in the Sabbath on day seven, it meant more than for the Jewish people? Because day seven happened before there was a Jewish nation. It was for humanity and it was a picture of our future inclusion in this rest. I got a lot to address still. Okay, I told you I'm going to say stuff and move on. Verse 2 says that the message they heard did not benefit them because they were not united by faith with those who listened. I just want to, again God uses means, and all I want to do is I want to read to you question 95 of the Baptist Catechism and give you the answer. Here's what the question says. How is the word to be read and heard that it may become effectual to salvation? How should we hear God's word? How should we read God's word so that it will produce the salvation that God offers? And here's the answer. That the word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend thereunto diligence, preparation and prayer. Receive it with faith and love. Lay it up in our hearts and practice it in our lives. So let me just ask this, beloved, do you come prepared to hear the Word of God? And after hearing the Word of God, do you seek to apply it in your lives? Because you love what God has. I wish I could talk more on that, but we've got to move on. I want to address now that God's rest is still offered. God's rest is still offered. See, God offered rest and it was rejected. But beloved, there still is a rest for us. I want you to note in this passage that we see, number one, that there is the rest that God took from creation. Second, we see the rest that we just looked at that was rejected by the Exodus generation. Thirdly, we see this in verse 8, for of Joshua had been given them rest. You see, thirdly, that there was rest offered by God in the days of Joshua. Psalm 95, the writer of Hebrews says David wrote it. You see that here in verse 7. And he appoints a certain day to day, saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted. So we see that God rested, we see that there was rest offered to the Exodus generation. We see that in relation to Joshua, we see that in David. And here it says that, so verse 9, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. And it tells us in verse 11, let us make sure that we're striving to enter into that rest. You know what this whole thing's talking about? Don't read the Old Testament and think the rest had to do with the land. It had nothing to do with the land. What else you see is this, that God's rest is perpetually being offered. Not just to a certain people at a certain time under certain circumstances, but it's being offered all through from Genesis chapter 2 all the way through Psalm 95 into the book of Hebrews. So let me briefly mention Joshua's rest. See, some people think that Joshua gave the people rest. After all, they took possession of the land, didn't they? They took possession of the land of Canaan, they possessed it, they possessed the promised land. In fact, listen to Joshua 21, verses 43 through 45. This is what it says. Thus the Lord God gave to Israel all the land that He swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there. The Lord gave them rest on every side, just as He has sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands. No one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed. All came to pass." Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? Sounds like rest to me. But what's it saying? See, Joshua gave them rest. Did he? Depends what you mean by rest. Not the rest that Hebrews is talking about. Not the rest that Psalm 95 is speaking about. And I'll even argue that it's not the rest that Genesis 2-7 is talking about. See, Psalm 95 comes years later, after Joshua. So, with that in mind, how should we take this? What should we make of this? I have a question for you. It's 12.03, do you want me to keep going or stop? All right, the two elders said keep going. I love elder rule churches. So what should we make of this? This is what we need to get. We need to see that the physical land that was promised and was labeled rest, and was rest, only foreshadowed the spiritual rest that is given by God in Christ. The land, the physical, the material, beloved, was not the point. The point wasn't the land, it was not the substance. The land was pointing to something else. Something much greater than that. In fact, isn't that what Hebrews 11 tells us? Chapter 11 verses 14 through 16 says this, for people who speak thus, make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had an opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city. What it's saying is this. The physicality of material blessings are blessings, but they're not the rest that Genesis 2 speaks about. They're not the rest that ultimately Moses and Joshua was offering the people. It was not the rest that David speaks about, and it's certainly not the rest that Hebrews chapter 4 speaks about. What do you think about that? Some of those people in Hebrews chapter 11, they experienced the promised land, didn't They experienced the land that was flowing with milk and honey. They experienced the annihilation of the enemies of God. But all that did not satisfy their hearts. A true heart for God cannot see this earth and find ultimate pleasure. The ultimate pleasure, beloved, is in God. I'm not saying that you can't find pleasure in it. He used a key word, ultimate pleasure. Because that's where God takes us. And you can see this hand of God extending all through the history of Israel, this offer in Romans 10 verse 21. But of Israel, God says, all day long I have held out my hands to disobedient and contrary people. What do you see through the entirety of Scripture? God offering, God offering, God offering. And is it not true that in the Old Testament they occupied the land? The land, beloved, was not the point. And let me say this to us today. Neither is your pocketbook. Neither is your physical and material security. If God gives it to you, praise Him for it. Acknowledge where it comes from. But this isn't where saving faith ultimately gives us rest. See, the clear implication of all this is that this offer to enter God's rest is a perpetual, ongoing invitation for sinners until the consummation of the ages. Now, I want to bring out a needed clarification. I alluded to this, but I want to work through it a little bit more. The offer of rest that was given in the days of Joshua included the physical land, right? That's what it said. But that was not the ultimate rest that was being offered. The rest was spiritual. Yes, the spiritual ought to impact the material. But beloved, you can lose all your material. You can lose it all and still have rest in God. I want you to think about this just for a moment. Did Abraham ever occupy the land? Did he have rest? Yes, he did. What about Moses? Did Moses ever occupy the land? Did Moses have rest? Yes, he did. See, beloved, we have to get our minds and our eyes off of going after something tangible and going back to faith. Faith in what the Word of God says. The Word of God says, don't look here, but look for the heavenly country so that God would not be ashamed to call us his children. See, we know that not all who entered the promised land had rest, did they? See, physical does not guarantee the spiritual. You could have the physical without the spiritual. But beloved, if you've got the spiritual, it doesn't matter whether you have the physical or not. And this is key. This is key, and that's why I repeated that, this is key to understanding the Christian life. This is key to understanding the book of Hebrews. What do I mean? Where does Hebrews take us ultimately? It takes us outside the camp. Remember? The whole book of Hebrews is building up a theological fortification in our hearts so that we could go outside the camp and suffer for Christ. See, for the first century Jews, Christian Jews I mean, it meant suffering. It meant social and economical hardships. They experienced that because of their faith. I want to turn there. I know we're like way past time, but don't worry about that. Go to Hebrews 10. Go to Hebrews 10. I want you to see this because I think it's so important in our own lives to understand what God really calls us to. Hebrews 10, starting in verse 32. But recall the former days when after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings. sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison and joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. You have need of endurance so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what is promised for yet a little while and the coming one will come and will not delay. But my righteous one shall live by faith. And if he shrinks back. My soul has no pleasure in him. You see what the writer of Hebrews is doing? He's building us, he's building our faith, he's building our understanding of what God has given us in Jesus Christ so that we can endure hardships. Let me tell you this right now, all this funny stuff that's going on in the American churches today, those people are gonna fall. They're gonna fall. And shepherd after shepherd after shepherd will be called in account to God for their lack of faithfulness to the Word of God. Music doesn't save. Skits don't save. Loud, ridiculous bands don't save. The gospel of Jesus Christ saves. And this is what we have to go back to over and over and over. This is where God takes suffering Christians, is not to some theatrical entertainment, but takes us to the very fabric of what God has given us in Jesus Christ. Listen, if this country goes down, which just look at it, it's going to happen. What is going to be your assurance? See, somebody asked this week, okay, if America goes down, Steve, are you going to give us a message? And I said, yeah, I will. I definitely want to do that specifically, but guys, we've already got the answer. We've already got the answer on what to do. It's in Hebrews. And so what we see here is that these people suffered for Christ. Go over to chapter 11. Go down to verse 39. And all these though commended through their faith did not receive what was promised since God had provided something better for us. That apart from us they should not be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Now, why did he tell us to consider Christ? See, Christ just suffered, didn't he? Just endured the cross. But he endured it with joy, didn't he? Look what it says in verse 3. Do you know what's going to fortify you in life? Considering Christ. Christ is the only means by which we will not grow weary or grow fainthearted. Look what he says. In other words, it's like, you know what? Toughen up. Where's the blood? They're not like China. They're not like these other countries that are persecuted for faith. Look how comfortable we are here today. This is easy. This is easy. But when it hits, what's going to carry us through? Considering Christ. See, beloved, we come to salvation considering Christ, and we persevere by considering Christ. And forever, what are we going to be doing? See, it never leaves the need for us to consider our triune God. See, beloved, for the faithful first century Christian Jew, there was not some sort of utopian carrot dangling before them to encourage them to persevere. They knew better. They had experienced suffering and persecution firsthand. They needed to know what they had been given in Jesus Christ. They had to be reminded of that to keep them going. So here's my point. To what are you looking? Are you seeking a better land, a better country on this earth? Are you seeking just a better job? Are you seeking that Joel Osteen better life now? See, we knock Osteen, but isn't it true that that's what we seek? When we don't get it, where is our heart? It complains. It grumbles. Where's the joy? Hebrews gives us this hope by finding our rest in God. See, it's fine if God gives you a better job, give you a better home, give you better friends, and that's great! But what if He doesn't? Can you be like Job? God gives, God takes away. Blessed be the name of God. See, it's your trust in the physical and material, the spiritual rest that God offers. I think we're going to stop here for the day, and we'll pick this up next week, finishing this. But I want you to see something. that God's means for us to persevere is dramatically different than where most of us go. And it is antithetical to almost every popular megachurch out there. I don't say that to knock them. I say that to awaken us. to the fact that we have been given by God and His Word what we need. It's up to us to get into it, so that it can get into us, so that when things in life happen, we'll endure. and continue to endure, not because of us, but because of the grace of God working in us. Beloved, God offers us rest, and we're going to talk more about that next week. Let's go ahead and pray. Our gracious Lord, we thank you that you are so gracious and so kind to us. Lord, you provide everything that we need for life and godliness. Lord, you give us what we need. And I pray, God, that as Peninsula Bible Church seeks you, that you would continue to bless us in knowing what we've been given, knowing how to live it in our lives, to apply it in our circumstances. And I pray, Father, that we would see your Word and see Christ in it. Lord, that we would see that as Joshua delivered or took people into the land, he was only a type of Christ. Christ who takes us into the real promised land. Lord, I pray that when we see and read Genesis chapter 1 and 2, we would see more than what's there in a 24-hour day, but we'd see what it's pointing us to. I pray God that we'd be Christ-centered, I pray that our lives would reflect the truth that we know. And Lord, I pray today that as we've gone through this, that if anyone does not know you as their Savior, if they don't know anything about this rest that we talked about briefly, that you would open their eyes, open their hearts, give them the faith that they need to trust and believe in Christ alone to forgive their sins. And I pray, Father, for those of us who know you, Lord, that we would take this message to a dying world who needs so desperately to hear the words of Christ. Lord, we thank you for this day. We thank you for your rest. And Lord, we do pray that we indeed would find our rest in your rest. And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.