Hebrews chapter 4.
So this morning I would say that I'm especially thankful this morning that this is the work of the Spirit.
! It feels like this week everything that could have gone crazy did go crazy just in preparation and just in different circumstances in life.
But I'm thankful that we're preaching God's Word.
It's His authority here. It's His Word that is inerrant and it is profitable for us this morning.
So I'm thankful for that.
And yeah, so in Hebrews 4 is where we'll be.
So just a reminder of where we have been at is that last week we took that break for Mother's Day, preached that sermon.
But before that we're in the end of chapter 3 of Hebrews where Nathan preached a sermon all about assurance.
We talked about the realities of pressing on in our faith and by God's grace persevering to the end.
We talked about a really scary reality of beginning really well and then coming to a really poor end.
We talked about the reality of sin's deception and how quickly it can eat away at us if we're not rooted in good soil.
We talked about how the passage is so clear about the church exhorting one another, especially in verses 12 and 13 of chapter 3 about constantly pressing each other on towards holiness, towards Christ-likeness, and leading each other away from sin.
So as we persevere, we prove that that faith that God Himself is preserving in us is that good soil.
And we talked about how such a sad example was given here about the children of Israel not reaching that appointed rest.
But we also saw why.
It didn't leave us guessing as to why they didn't get to that rest.
It was very, very, very clear.
And it was because of their unbelief.
Unbelief is why they didn't reach that rest.
And so with all of that context, that's kind of where we're at today.
So we've just talked a lot about persevering to the end, the dangers of falling away.
And so we have our passage today continuing along those kind of lines.
So let's go ahead and read it, and we will jump in from there.
So Hebrews chapter 4, we'll go ahead and read the first 11 verses.
It says,
Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us fear, lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.
For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.
For we who have believed enter that rest, as He has said,
As I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest, although His works were finished from the foundation of the world.
For He has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way, and God rested on the seventh day from all His works.
And again in this passage He said,
Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience,
Again, He appoints a certain day, today, saying through David so long afterwards, and the words already quoted,
Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.
For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on.
So then there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,
for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from His works, as God did from His.
Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
So before we go any further, let's pray.
God, I acknowledge that anything said here this morning or heard here this morning is of no value apart from Your grace, Lord.
And so we ask for Your grace this morning.
I ask that You would guide my tongue.
You would give me the proper words to speak that Your church needs for its building up, Lord.
And You would truly bring Your word to fruition in our lives, Lord.
And guard my tongue against saying anything falsely, Lord.
And just let Your word be truthfully proclaimed this morning.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
So, for y'all that really like organization and planning,
I'd like to go ahead and give a little bit of the structure for what we're going to look at.
And there are four aspects I really want to look at about God's rest.
So these are the four aspects.
So four aspects of God's rest.
First one is the available rest.
The available rest.
Secondly, the nature of that rest.
The nature of that rest.
Thirdly, the rest now and the rest later.
And finally and fourthly, the striving necessary to enter that rest.
The striving necessary to enter that rest.
So we'll begin with the available rest.
Verse one makes the comment that the promise of entering God's rest still stands.
It then gives us a warning that we should be very careful lest we fail to reach it.
In other words, we should be very diligent to make sure that we enter this rest.
In verse two, notice that it describes two different types of people who hear the good news.
Those who hear it and it benefits them.
And those who hear it and it doesn't benefit them.
And it also, again, like it did in chapter three,
shows the difference between if you benefit or if you don't.
And that difference was one thing.
It was that they were united with faith, right?
It says they were united by faith with those who listen.
So that is the difference on whether this actually benefited or didn't benefit, right?
It was those who were united by faith.
Now, thinking back to chapter three and thinking about the context of this passage,
let's try to remember who the them is that is being referred to because that will help us a lot.
This is post-Exodus Israel, right?
The Israel who were freed from the Egyptians, crossed the Red Sea on dry ground,
followed God's direction by a cloud and fire, right?
Given manna to eat.
And then they were given a couple of faithful messengers, like Caleb and Joshua,
who said, like, we've made it to the promised land, right?
We are here.
We can conquer these people.
The Lord is on our side, so we can do this.
This is going to be a piece of cake to take this land, right?
God is on our side.
But the people were afraid.
They said the men were giants.
Like, we can't do it.
We can't conquer them.
And so these were the folks that could not enter the promised land, that rest, right?
Entering that promised land because they were not united in faith with those who did listen.
So in this passage here in verses 1 and 2, it's comparing us to being in the same situation.
We have good news of rest, just like they had good news of rest in their promised land.
And we have that option today as well.
But there's also similarities there and differences.
The big similarity is we obtain it in the same way, by faith.
It's as simple as that.
We may enter that rest simply if we have faith, and we'll get more into what that faith looks like
and what that rest looks like a little bit later.
But we have that same option.
It's not as if we're inheriting a promised land in the exact same way,
but we are inheriting a beautiful inheritance in the Lord that is that rest.
So we'll get more into what that looks like later.
But for now, in verse 1, it makes it really clear that that rest is available.
Okay, so that rest is available.
So with that rest being available, let's talk a little bit about the nature of that rest.
That's point 2, the nature of this rest.
For Israel, it was the promised land, what it was talked about here.
And it is similar for us.
But let's look at verses 3 through 5 and look at kind of what it is explaining to us.
Before studying this passage a little bit, I honestly was very confused about the way in which those quotations are used.
And it really benefited me to study it this week and try to understand that.
And what I want us to notice is the word my in both of those quotations.
Both in verse 3, as it says,
I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest.
Then down in verse 5, they shall not enter my rest.
That word my is pretty subtle, but I think it's very, very, very important to noticing what is actually being talked about.
That's God speaking there.
He says that there is a way by faith to enter His, right, His rest.
Not just any rest.
His rest.
The same rest that God Himself enjoys.
This is not like a rest that we enjoy here.
Like a nap after a long day of work.
Or a good afternoon reading in a hammock.
Or a nice hike after being in an office.
Or a hike where you get like poison ivy, like I do.
Or anything like that.
Right?
It's God's rest Himself.
And it's such a greater rest because it's God's rest.
Let's reread that again down in verse 3.
For we who have believed enter that rest, as He has said,
As I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest,
although His works were finished from the foundation of the world.
So what is it saying with,
although His works were finished from the foundation of the world?
Let's think about what that looks like a little bit.
Well, in six days, God created the world, right?
And then on the seventh day, He rested.
Let's turn over to that Genesis passage and look at it a little bit.
So turn with me to Genesis 1.
We're going to look at the very end of Genesis 1 and the beginning of 2.
So let's pick up in verse 31 of chapter 1.
Then we'll jump down some into chapter 2 as well.
So verse 31 of Genesis 1 says,
Now, we see the seventh day here that God is resting on.
And back in Hebrews in verse 3,
notes that His works were finished from the foundation of the world.
So God rested on the seventh day after He created everything.
And today, in some way, He's resting from those same creative purposes that He did then.
He's not creating the world in the same way as He did then.
And it says in our passage that what it's saying is that some will enter the same type of rest by faith
and others will not because of disbelief and disobedience.
Note that God had done so many great things before He chose to rest.
If you look just above in the Genesis passage,
we can read and hear about all the majesty of the things He made.
And something I've always loved about that passage is how it talks about God seeing each thing,
and He says it was good.
And then if He'd keep going down after He'd created humans and everything coming together in His whole creation,
He said it was very good.
So the Lord had done all these magnificent things before He chose to rest.
But what does that look like for us?
So let's think about Sabbath for us as Christians and what it looks like for us now.
And because of that, like in verse 6, right, in Hebrews, if you'll jump back over there,
that it remains for some of us to enter it.
So, turn with me to Matthew 11.
Sorry, I'm going to have you flip a few places this morning.
This is a super often quoted passage on this,
but I think it will really give us a good understanding of this idea of Sabbath now.
I'm going to blame Seth if my voice goes away.
I was camping with him and breathed in a lot of campfire.
So, in Matthew 11, towards the end of it,
we're going to look at verse 28 and then go all the way down into verse 8 of chapter 12.
So join me there in verse 28 of Matthew 11.
It says,
At that time, Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath.
His disciples were hungry and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.
But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him,
Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.
He said to them,
Have you not read what David did when he was hungry,
and those who were with him,
how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the presence,
which is not lawful for him to eat,
nor for those who are with him,
but only for the priests?
Or have you not read in the law on the Sabbath,
the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless?
I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.
And if you had known what this means,
I desire mercy and not sacrifice,
you would have not condemned the guiltless,
for the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.
There's a lot here in this passage,
but quite a bit of it is really relevant to our topic here in Hebrews.
Note first, in the end of chapter 11,
that so often quoted passage of Jesus calling us to come to him,
saying his yoke is easy and his burden is light.
He encourages us who labor and are heavy laden to come to him
and find that true rest in him.
And then just after these beautiful words about rest,
Matthew records the story here about Jesus' disciples taking some food to eat
while they're walking through a field on the Sabbath.
And when the Pharisees saw this, they were not having it at all.
It seems that they had finally, no matter how many times they had tried before,
had caught Jesus.
They're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, they're grabbing the food.
It's not okay.
You're breaking the law again.
And how does Jesus respond?
Well, firstly, he reminds of a couple of instances where the laws have been broken,
but for necessary reasons.
The laws need to be broken for some reason.
And when he responds, he doesn't lessen the law,
but instead reminds of its true purpose.
And then check it out in verses 6 through 8 here.
It says,
Jesus says that something greater than the Sabbath is here.
And what does he say next?
That if they had known the meaning of I desire mercy and not sacrifice,
you would not have condemned the guiltless.
I feel like this is a common theme in the passages we read in the Lord's Supper
and in the scripturing before the songs.
Jesus is again pointing to the heart.
Right?
He's taking them back to the heart of the law, the heart of the issue.
And it says that he's saying that he is the Lord of the Sabbath.
So putting all that together,
Jesus offering us rest, being Lord of the Sabbath,
and caring about our hearts when thinking about the law.
And then going back to Hebrews and seeing verse 3,
where it says,
We who have believed have entered that rest.
And verse 6,
it reminding us that those who did not enter that rest,
failing to enter because of disobedience.
And then down in verses 9 and 10,
reminding us about the reality of this rest remaining available to us.
So what is that rest?
I think it, from those passages,
is becoming clearer and clearer and clearer
that what Jesus said in Matthew 11,
that this beautiful rest that is available to us,
that is being talked about here in Hebrews,
is salvation found through putting faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
That's what this rest is referring to here,
our salvation and its outflows in the Lord.
So why was the word rest chosen?
Think for a moment with me about the perspective of unbelievers,
people who have not found our Lord.
Many seem careless.
Many seem to not think about the future,
the time after this life.
But if they're honest,
many seem to think about it.
And I'd like to talk a little bit about
some of my own experience recently.
For those of y'all that don't know,
I teach high school math.
And I've had some really good opportunities
to talk to students about faith this year.
The later it gets in the year,
it tends to open up a lot more.
I think naturally all of us,
as we tend to know someone better and better and better,
we tend to be much more open with them.
And at this point,
I've gotten to know them for a long time.
We only have one week of school left,
and that means that I've been with them for 175 days,
for like at least an hour a day.
And that's a lot of time.
That's a lot of time.
So I've gotten to know some of them really, really well.
And some of them have gotten to know me really, really well.
And they know that I'm a follower of Christ,
and they know that I take that seriously.
They know that I'm super involved in church here,
and a few know that I'm preaching today
and will probably ask me all about it tomorrow.
But it's taken all year to get to that point.
People don't just immediately open up as a general rule.
But anyway, back to the point on that.
I have some students who really think a lot
about their spiritual life
and their life after this life,
but in a totally different way than we do.
I haven't got a super straight answer
about what they would like for me to call them,
but the most straightforward answer that I can get is
I've been amazed at the amount of, let's see,
members of the Church of Latter-day Saints
that I have in my classes.
And I've been able to talk to quite a few of them.
And many parts of their belief system is really tricky
because they use the same words that we do,
but for totally different meanings.
And after, like, many, many conversations,
I think I've gained an understanding that
they believe some things come from grace,
but in reality, most of their thinking about salvation,
and this is all coming from the, like,
perspective of high school kids, right,
is works-based.
And it's terrifying.
So much is based on what they believe they can do
and how they're going to earn these different levels of, like,
heaven and these different things.
And all works-based.
It's sad and it's scary.
And they are so diligent
in trying to do what they have been told
is the correct thing to do.
So diligent.
I've talked to so many who, like,
tell me they go to seminary,
is what they call it, seminary,
every morning at 5.30,
and then they come to school all day,
and then they do other things after,
and all this stuff, it's crazy.
So, so dedicated.
Now, they are working so hard.
I don't think any of us would deny that,
but they are working so hard
in a super-false, super-twisted way.
Super-false, super-twisted way.
Let's think a little bit about the context here in our passage.
Let's think about what the Pharisees were doing
that Jesus was talking to in Matthew.
Weren't they doing similarly?
They were twisting the law of God
to make it about outward appearances
and trying to keep something
that, in reality, we all are aware of
that we cannot keep perfectly.
They were working hard.
They were trying to keep their misinterpretation
of the law to a T.
But they knew they couldn't keep it.
They knew the reality that they
and all of us know that,
in our flesh, we aren't that great.
In fact, we're awful.
Naturally, we don't seek the good of others
above our own.
We're selfish.
We are prideful.
We could just go on and on
about the reality of the nature
of our souls apart from Christ.
But I believe the point's being proven.
Apart from trusting in the work of Christ,
we're forced to try to do something
we simply cannot do
to seek to earn our own salvation.
And that may take many, many, many forms.
Whether it be an LDS member
trying to amass all these works
to get the best reward they can,
or a Pharisee trying to perfectly keep the law,
or one of the believers in Hebrews
tempted to go back to the old system,
or someone of the weird view
that somehow still persists so often
that if you do enough good,
it somehow outweighs your bad,
then you're good.
Or the, me and God, we're good,
we've got a deal worked out.
Or the person who simply tries
and tries and tries and tries
to ignore or suppress their thoughts
about a life after this one.
So many of those systems,
all of those are in some way works-based.
All of them.
There's a hope that if they do just well enough
that they're going to be all right,
they'll have the eternal blessing.
They're relying on their own works.
And because of the reality
of all of our struggles with sin,
and they know it too,
they know they can't earn blessing.
They're relying on their own works
and it's not going to get them anywhere.
And so, getting back to this rest word,
this rest that's being offered
is a perfect word to use
because we are ceasing
from trying to earn our own salvation.
Because we have seen
the work of Christ, right?
We can stop trying to earn
God's favor
and simply accept
in real faith,
through acting out faith,
that our Lord died for our sins,
took our sins upon Him,
that in Him
we can have His righteousness.
He canceled our sin debt
and gave us His righteousness.
We can trust in that
and not try to earn our way
to something that we could never earn.
So it's a rest in
stopping trying to earn favor
and just accepting
that we are found in Christ.
We are washed in the
soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb.
Our sins are forgiven
because our Lord Jesus
bore the wrath of God
that our sins deserved.
Now that's such great rest.
That's the perfect word.
That's rest found in Jesus.
We no longer seek to earn favor
but rest in God's salvation.
But,
I've been here
at Christ's Family
for about six years now.
And I can look around
and say that there are
a lot of people I know
really well.
Some people I know
but not super well
and there's some that I
don't know to my shame.
And if I narrow this room down
to just the people I knew
really well
or honestly if I
narrow down the room
to just my own soul,
I think I can say
with confidence
that we,
even as God's people
resting in this salvation,
don't always feel
that our yoke is easy
and our burden is light
as we seek to follow
Jesus well.
It's hard.
Right?
We often don't
feel that way.
This life is a tough one
and that brings us
to our third aspect
of God's rest.
The rest now
and the rest later.
The rest now
and the rest later.
So it's true
that we experience
like a beautiful foretaste
of God's rest now
and simply
ceasing from our
trying to earn favor
and just accepting the Lord.
Having rested from our works
because we have no ability
to earn it
and have come to terms
with Jesus
giving us our great salvation.
But this life still
isn't easy
but we can rest in the Lord.
Remember that the same Jesus
who said that
his yoke is easy
and his burden is light
also said in Mark 8.34
if anyone would come after me
let him deny himself
take up his cross
and follow me.
I think that's puzzling
immediately
like when we think about
the passages
in contrast to one another.
Denying ourselves
taking up our cross
right?
These don't always
feel restful.
In fact
much of it
shouldn't feel restful.
But
the Christian life
is one of striving
as well.
Right?
It's one of denying ourselves
putting
our flesh
our old desires
our sin to death
it's one of suffering
but it's also one of rest.
It's a rest of
trusting in God
through those hard
circumstances.
It's a rest
that's often confusing
to non-Christians
a rest that
will
make people wonder
like
why are they okay
through these hard
circumstances?
Why do they have this
abiding trust in
God?
So think about
Philippians 4
in fact
please go ahead
and turn there with me
Philippians 4
Let's look briefly
at verses 4 through 7
here.
Super
common passage
again
it says
rejoice in the Lord
always
again I will say
rejoice
let your reasonableness
be known to everyone
the Lord is at hand
so do not be anxious
about anything
but in everything
by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving
let your requests
be made known
to God
and the peace of God
which surpasses
all understanding
will guard your hearts
and your minds
in Christ Jesus.
Remember what Paul
was going through
when he wrote this
and what he had gone through
before he wrote this
and what he would.
He was writing this letter
while in prison
for the faith
and if you want
a big long list
of what he had suffered
he spelled it out
really well
in 2 Corinthians 11
but he describes
this peace
that we can have
no matter what
we're going through
later in chapter 4
Paul discusses
learning how to abound
in every circumstance
this is that same
rest right
that same peace
that we can have
in the Lord
through trusting
in his work
we're not promised
a completely perfect life
all the time
but we are promised
a rest in him
through tough circumstances.
Remember that
1 Peter right
that all who desire
to live a godly life
in Christ Jesus
will be persecuted
but remember also
the great salvation
we have in the Lord.
So let's talk about
that great salvation
a bit more.
This here in Hebrews
particularly like
in verses
9 and 10
and back in Hebrews 4
sorry I'm making you
flip everywhere
oops
in verses 9 and 10
it says
so then there remains
a Sabbath rest
for the people of God
for whoever has
entered God's rest
has also rested
from his works
as God did from his.
Now yes
there's that rest
we're experiencing now
despite our circumstances
but these seem to imply
our future rest as well.
There's a future
Sabbath rest
remaining for us
that all of our works
from this earth
will be done
and we will be
with our Savior
forever.
I remember at
some point
during college
I was listening
to a sermon
by I think
it was John MacArthur
about 1 Corinthians 15
and the later part of it
of longing for eternity
and that death
has lost its sting
right
it was just rejoicing
in the Lord
who has given us
victory over death
and he made a statement
about the song
in the sweet by and by
that we have to go
through the nasty
now and now
to get to the sweet
by and by
right
and the reality
of that is that
that is true
we have such great
things to look forward
to
think about 2 Corinthians
4 verses 17 and 18
where it says
for this light
momentary affliction
is preparing for us
an eternal
weight of glory
beyond all comparison
as we look
not to the things
that are seen
but to the things
that are unseen
for the things
that are seen
are transient
but the things
that are unseen
are eternal
we have such a great
rest to look forward
to
we have such great
rest to look forward
to
we must remember
like that during
our time here
even as we're
experiencing God's
rest it may be
really really tough
as we fight
against our own
sin
as we talked
about this morning
as the world
pushes back
against our sharing
of the gospel
as we often
just get really
caught up in
legitimately hard
circumstances
it can be so
difficult
but we should
remember that
a rest remains
here
and a perfect
rest remains
in eternity
it's described
here in 1 Corinthians
as an eternal
weight of glory
beyond all comparison
and right after that
note what it says
that the rest
we're looking forward
to is eternal
these things we see
here are so temporary
it's described
as momentary
momentary
think about how
little time we
have here
in this life
compared to
eternity
that should
remind us
to use our
time
we'll not
be so bogged
down in
these circumstances
but long
for that
eternal
weight of
glory
to set
our minds
on things
that are
eternal
to set
our minds
on our
eternal rest
in Jesus
our sweet
Sabbath rest
does remain
to get a
little bit
even more
excited about
that rest
turn to
Revelation 21
look at the
first four
verses here
it says
then I saw
a new heaven
and a new earth
for the first heaven
and the first earth
had passed away
and the sea
was no more
I saw the holy city
new Jerusalem
coming down
out of heaven
from God
prepared as a bride
adorned for a husband
I heard a loud voice
from the throne
saying behold
the dwelling place
of God
is with man
he will dwell
with them
and they will be
his people
and God himself
will be with them
as their God
he will wipe away
every tear
from their eyes
and death
shall be no more
neither shall there
be mourning
nor crying
nor pain
anymore
for the former
things have
passed away
I believe
if we just
had the reality
of knowing
that the dwelling
place of our God
is with us
I think that would
be enough
for us to get
excited about
that eternal rest
but look elsewhere
in this passage
too
all things being
made new
with a new heaven
and a new earth
the holy city
coming down
wiping away
every tear
from our eye
death being
gone forever
no mourning
no crying
no pain
how beautiful
of a Sabbath rest
do we really
do have to
look forward
to
so we have
a great
Sabbath rest
in confidence
in Jesus
now
and putting
our trust
in his
salvation
and a beautiful
inheritance
and glory
eternally
so beginning
to tie
that together
a bit
thinking about
our sermon
from two weeks
ago
from chapter
three
we talked
a lot
about that
persevering
to the end
and being
so careful
to be sure
we truly believe
and do make
it to that
point
we talked
about
encouraging
each other
because of
the deceitfulness
of sin
how easy
it can
ensnare
us
so remembering
that
let's look
a bit more
at some more
aspects of
today's passage
so back
in Hebrews
notice something
in the middle
of our passage
there are
all kinds
of topics
about the rest
we have in God
but in verse
one
and in verse
eleven
we see something
a bit different
I think that
brings us to our
last aspect
so fourth one
the striving
necessary
to enter
that rest
the striving
necessary
to enter
that rest
so let's
note verse
one
verse one
says
therefore
while the
promise
of entering
his rest
still stands
let us
fear lest
any of you
should seem
to have
failed to
reach it
let's note
verse eleven
let us
therefore
strive to
enter that
rest
so that
no one
may fall
by the
same
sort
of
disobedience
so
this
passage
starts out
warning us
to be so
careful
that we
don't
fail to
reach
the rest
then it
explains
that why
people fail
to reach it
is because
of unbelief
then it
explains
that the
rest
we're being
offered
is God's
rest
his rest
right
talks about
how
our
ceasing
trying to
earn
God's
favor
is similar
to God
resting on
the seventh
day
and how
we have
a future
perfect
sabbath
rest
and then
all the way
down
verse eleven
that we
should be
striving
to enter
that rest
and be
careful
again
that we
don't
fall
by the
same
sort
of
disobedience
so
this
passage
is kind
of
bookended
right
we have
a
similar
exhortation
in verse
one
as we
do
down
in
verse
eleven
right
the
exhortations
are to
be sure
that we're
entering
that rest
and notice
that that's
a common
theme
from chapter
three
as well
right
that's
that same
kind
of idea
that was
communicated
there
and remember
again
this is a
letter
right
it was
originally read
continuously
so we should
expect
thematically
to flow
like that
so we're
continuing
to be
encouraged
to persevere
to make
it
to the
end
to hold
that faith
strong
keep going
right
and with
all this
striving
with this
putting our
flesh to
death
we're denying
ourselves
we're taking
up our
cross
right
all the
striving
on our
part
look again
at verses
12 through
14 of
chapter 3
where it
says
take care
brothers
lest there
be in
any of
you an
evil
unbelieving
heart
leading you
to fall
away from
the living
God
but exhort
one another
every day
as long
as it
is called
today
that none
of you
may be
hardened
by the
deceitfulness
of sin
for we
have come
to share
in Christ
if indeed
we hold
our original
confidence
firm to
the end
this warning
encouraging
and exhorting
each other
this holding
firm
right to
the end
it's all
really intense
stuff
that's falling
on us
right
and with
all that
really intense
exhortation
right
that's falling
on us
can we
still have
assurance
note that
verse 1
and verse 11
are encouraging
us to be
sure
to have
that assurance
so it's
absolutely
possible
right
let's look
at 1st
John
1st
John 3
and that's
I promise
the last
place I'm
going to
make you
turn
pretty sure
because this
passage here
in Hebrews
right
is encouraging
us to
have that
assurance
it's what
1st John
is all
about
right
1st John
is about
testing
whether we
are in
the faith
to bring
assurance
of being
in the
faith
or to
even
bring
conviction
of a
reality
of not
being
in the
faith
okay
so
let's
look at
1st John
3
probably
the most
common
passage
that is
used
when
talking
about
this
topic
I want
to
just
look
at
verses
4
through
10
says
that
everyone
who makes
a practice
of sinning
also practices
lawlessness
sin is
lawlessness
you know
that he
appeared
in order
to take
away
sins
and in
him
there
is
no
sin
no
one
who
abides
in
him
keeps
on
sinning
no
one
who
keeps
on
sinning
has
either
seen
him
or
known
him
!
is
righteous
as
he
is
righteous
whoever
makes
a practice
of sinning
is
of the
devil
for
the
devil
has
been
sinning
from
the
beginning
the
reason
the
son
of
God
appeared
was
to
destroy
the
works
of
the
devil
no
one
born
of
God
makes
a practice
of sinning
for
God
for
God
seed
abides
in
him
and
he
cannot
keep
on
sinning
because
he
has
been
born
of
God
by
this
it
is
evident
who
are
the
children
of
God
and
who
are
the
children
of
the
devil
whoever
does
not
practice
righteousness
is
not
of
God
nor
is
the
one
who
does
not
love
his
brother
so
let's
note
some
stuff
about
that
firstly
it's
really
intense
right
really
intense
says
that
no
one
who
abides
in
him
keeps
on
sinning
whoever
makes
a
practice
of
sinning
is
of
the
devil
super
intense
right
notice
a couple
things
though
about
it
says
makes
a
practice
and
it
says
keeps
on
right
that's
important
to note
because
are we
going
to
have
bad
days
are
we
still
going
to
struggle
against
our
flesh
but
should
it
have
a
trajectory
of
moving
towards
him
absolutely
otherwise
we
have
some
things
we
need
to
check
we
need
to
ask
ourselves
some
things
so
I
just
looked
through
this
passage
and
tried
to
pick
out
some
questions
that I
think
might
be
helpful
to
ask
in
thinking
about
assurance
so
here's
a few
of
them
is
my
life
characterized
by
habitual
continual
sin
do
I
love
the
church
do
I
love
the
world
with
the
gospel
and
do
I
see
myself
growing
in
holiness
so
is
my
life
characterized
by
habitual
continual
sin
do
I
love
the
church
do
I
love
the
world
with
the
gospel
and
do
I
see
myself
growing
in
holiness
think
about
those
think
about
this
passage
we
can
have
assurance
so
we
really
need
to
test
ourselves
I
just
want
to
remind
at
this
point
that
whether
we're
in
the
faith
or
not
in
the
faith
right
the
Christian
life
is
a
life
of
repenting
and
believing
turning
away
from
our
sin
right
treasuring
Christ
in
our
heart
is
greater
than
sin
and
therefore
turning
away
from
it
turning
to
God
in
faith
!
remember
the
sinless
Savior
died
so that
we can
be
counted
as
his
righteousness
and I
hope
this
morning
that
we
do
have
such
great
confidence
Nathan
said
something
a couple
weeks ago
that I
was
thinking
about
and I
think
is very
true
that there
are so
many
people
looking
out
that I
can
really
see
the
Lord
having
done
such
great
things
through
and
you
should
know
that
you
should
have
such
great
confidence
because
of
what
your
life
looks
like
the
trajectory
of
it
remember
too
that
those
good
works
are
evidence
that
the
Lord
is
working
know
that
your
true
desire
for
him
shows
that
he's
begun
to
work
in
you
and
our
Lord
has
promised
that
he's
going
to
complete
those
works
right
so
persevere
and
the
Lord
will
sustain
you
so
grab
there's
a
quote
on
there
from
a
Puritan
pastor
Richard
Baxter
I want
us to
look at
it
together
it
says
sit
not
down
without
assurance
get
alone
and
bring
the
heart
to
the
bar
of
trial
force
it
to
answer
the
interrogatories
put
to
it
set
to
the
excuse
me
this
is
old
stuff
sorry
force
it
to
answer
the
interrogatories
put
to
it
to
set
the
qualifications
of
the
saints
on
one
side
and
the
qualifications
of
thyself
on
the
other
side
and
then
judge
what
resemblance
there
is
between
them
yet
be
sure
thou
judge
by
a
true
touchstone
and
mistake
not
the
scripture
description
of
a
saint
that
thou
neither
acquit
nor
condemn
thyself
by
mistake
to
truly
test
yourself
be
sure
we
can
have
such
great
assurance
and
it's
sad
that
we
so
often
go
along
without
it
wondering
that
are
we
truly
in
the
faith
because
we
can
have
it
because
the
Lord
is
the
one
doing
all
the
work
right
the
Lord
is
the
one
sustaining
us
and
helping
us
to
walk
in
those
good
works
and
giving
us
those
good
works
to
walk
in
as
truly
think
about
it
continue
to
study
these
passages
because
we
can
have
such
great
rest
through
having
confidence
in the
Lord's
salvation
that
we
don't
have
to
try
to
earn
any
favor
because
he
has
given
it
to
us
so
rest
in
the
Lord
in
that
and
let's
pray