Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / It Is Best to Rest Msg 720 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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It Is Best to Rest Msg 720 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: I was raised in a rather large family, and usually
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  Speaker 1: our home was a rather loud and noisy place to be.
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  Speaker 1: Every once in a while, there would be an unusual
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  Speaker 1: moment of hush, just silence. And my dear mother, taking
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  Speaker 1: advantage of the moment, would say, Shh, children, an angel
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  Speaker 1: is passing through. I love the line, I... can see
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  Speaker 1: the brush of angel wings, feel the presence. The scripture
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  Speaker 1: teaches that we entertain angels unaware. We take the Bible
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  Speaker 1: literally here, and I believe that there are angels, and
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  Speaker 1: I believe every once in a while, one manifests itself
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  Speaker 1: in human form and is present among us. That'll give
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  Speaker 1: you a whole new appreciation for welcoming visitors, won't it? Really?
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  Speaker 1: During my years at Dallas Seminary, one of our favorite
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  Speaker 1: profs was Charles Ryrie. We love his study Bible and
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  Speaker 1: appreciate his great ministry. He told a story to a
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  Speaker 1: room full of theologues way back then, and I'll never forget,
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  Speaker 1: this missionary had been many years overseas and came home
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  Speaker 1: for a furlough, which was packed with meetings and Late
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  Speaker 1: one evening, he left for a long journey, which required
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  Speaker 1: his driving through the night to arrive at his destination
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  Speaker 1: the next morning. And it was raining and it was,
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  Speaker 1: he felt displaced, felt kind of down. And he said, Lord,
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  Speaker 1: I ask you to just bring somebody along that'll be
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  Speaker 1: a companion. And even though he never picked up hitchhikers,
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  Speaker 1: he turned around a bend and there out in the
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  Speaker 1: rain stood a man, And he pulled over and he
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  Speaker 1: invited him in, found out he was a believer. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: they knew a lot of the same people. It was
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  Speaker 1: a great time of talking and even praying and did
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  Speaker 1: some singing together. And they finally, dawn came and he said,
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  Speaker 1: let's get a cup of coffee. He pulled over and
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  Speaker 1: they sat down at the table and talked there for
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  Speaker 1: a while in a little tiny cafe and The fellow said, well,
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  Speaker 1: this is where I get off. This is my destination.
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  Speaker 1: He left. Our missionary friend got back in his car
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  Speaker 1: and drove off. He thought, I forgot to get his name.
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  Speaker 1: I'd love to stay in touch with that brother. So
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  Speaker 1: he turned around and he drove back and he was gone.
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  Speaker 1: He said to the cook, he said, did you happen
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  Speaker 1: to see which way the fellow went that I was with?
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  Speaker 1: And the cook said, what fellow? He said, I wondered
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  Speaker 1: why you ordered two cups of coffee. And he looked
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  Speaker 1: over and There was a cup still full of coffee.
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  Speaker 1: And he said he suddenly realized that when the man
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  Speaker 1: had gotten in his car the night before, he wasn't wet.
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  Speaker 1: I feel like going... But it isn't the twilight zone.
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  Speaker 1: It isn't the X-Files. Those things happen. And we hold
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  Speaker 1: the presence of the Lord very carefully, very loosely. He
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  Speaker 1: brings his presence where he wishes, and he especially honors
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  Speaker 1: his word more than the words of any woman or man.
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  Speaker 1: And we open it this morning to the fourth chapter
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  Speaker 1: of Hebrews. If you're not familiar with this section, it's
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  Speaker 1: over toward the end of the New Testament There's a
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  Speaker 1: little letter of James there. It's just before James. And
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  Speaker 1: just follows those letters to Timothy and Titus and Philemon.
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  Speaker 1: Hebrews chapter 4 written to Hebrews. And tucked away in
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  Speaker 1: the scroll of Hebrews is a great section on rest. Rest.
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  Speaker 1: I want to read these first 11 verses. Hebrews 4
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  Speaker 1: verses 1 through 11. Therefore, let us fear, lest while
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  Speaker 1: a promise remains of entering his rest, any one of
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  Speaker 1: you should seem to have come short of it. For indeed,
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  Speaker 1: we have had good news preached to us, just as
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  Speaker 1: they also. But the word they heard did not profit
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  Speaker 1: them because it was not united in faith. It was
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  Speaker 1: not united by faith in those who heard. For we
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  Speaker 1: who have believed enter that rest. Just as he has said,
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  Speaker 1: I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest.
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  Speaker 1: Although his works were finished from the foundation of the world.
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  Speaker 1: For he has thus said somewhere concerning the seventh day.
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  Speaker 1: And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.
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  Speaker 1: And again in this passage. They shall not enter my rest.
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  Speaker 1: Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and
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  Speaker 1: those who formerly had good news preached to them failed
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  Speaker 1: to enter because of disobedience, he again fixes a certain day, today.
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  Speaker 1: Saying through David after so long a time, just as
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  Speaker 1: has been said before, today, if you hear his voice again,
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  Speaker 1: do not harden your hearts. For if Joshua had given
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  Speaker 1: them rest, he would not have spoken of another day
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  Speaker 1: after that. There remains, therefore, a sabbatismas. It's the only
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  Speaker 1: time in all the Bible sabbatismas is used in the
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  Speaker 1: original text. The writer coins a word for sabbat rest.
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  Speaker 1: Shabbat rest, right here. There remains a unique Sabbath-like rest
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  Speaker 1: for the people of God. For the one who has
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  Speaker 1: entered his rest has himself also rested from his works.
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  Speaker 1: Little h. Entered his rest, capital H, has rested from
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  Speaker 1: his own works. As God did from his. Let us therefore.
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  Speaker 1: Be diligent. To enter that rest. Lest anyone fall through
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  Speaker 1: following the same example. Of disobedience. In your song sheet.
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  Speaker 1: There is a last page that's marked notes. It's a
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  Speaker 1: good place to put that. That sheet right there. So
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  Speaker 1: you can find it in a few moments. Our giving
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  Speaker 1: is an act of worship, just as our singing is
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  Speaker 1: an act of worship, just as our hearing and delivering
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  Speaker 1: the message of God's word is an act of worship.
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  Speaker 1: And in our response to him, he simply invites those
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  Speaker 1: who know the Lord Jesus personally and those who can
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  Speaker 1: give with a hilarious attitude to give. If you are
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  Speaker 1: in that category, your gifts will be used carefully, watched
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  Speaker 1: over with great integrity under the superintendence of the Holy Spirit.
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  Speaker 1: Since this isn't our money, this is God's. He owns
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  Speaker 1: it all. May he direct you just as he gives
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  Speaker 1: you direction in your walk, in your giving this morning.
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  Speaker 1: May we bow together. Surely the presence of the Lord
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  Speaker 1: is in this place. Our Father, we acknowledge that and
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  Speaker 1: we bow before you in recognition of your presence, your
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  Speaker 1: right to rule, your authority over our lives. We pause
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  Speaker 1: from a week that has been for many of us
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  Speaker 1: virtually nonstop and perhaps for some hectic, a lot of
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  Speaker 1: loose ends, a number of irons in the fire facing
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  Speaker 1: us tomorrow and the week ahead. But in this.
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  Speaker 2: Day, this day sandwiched between what was and what will be,
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  Speaker 2: We come before you for strength, for direction, for forgiveness,
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  Speaker 2: for reassurance, hope, peace, joy.
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  Speaker 1: And dozens of other things that only you can give.
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  Speaker 1: We haven't them in ourselves. And so we ask for you,
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  Speaker 1: our Father, to take precedence over all the affairs of
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  Speaker 1: our lives, all of the circumstances, and find within us
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  Speaker 1: a hearing ear and an open heart and a ready will.
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  Speaker 1: Be honored in not only the gifts, but the motives
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  Speaker 1: behind the gifts, that all of our service might be
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  Speaker 1: For the glory of Christ. It is in his name
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  Speaker 1: we pray.
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  Speaker 2: Amen.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I asked you last week to read Hebrews 4,
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  Speaker 1: 1 through 11. I was tempted to ask you to
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  Speaker 1: raise your hand if you did that. However, it reminded
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  Speaker 1: me of another preacher that told his congregation the week
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  Speaker 1: before he was going to speak on a special subject
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  Speaker 1: next week. And he wanted them to read Joshua chapter 25.
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  Speaker 1: So the week passed. He stood in front of them
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  Speaker 1: the following week. And he said, how many of you
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  Speaker 1: read Joshua 25 this past week? And about half the
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  Speaker 1: church raised their hand. He said, today I want to
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  Speaker 1: speak on honesty. Joshua only has 24 chapters. So I
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  Speaker 1: didn't do that. Lest some of you feel proud because
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  Speaker 1: you read it or ashamed because you didn't. After all,
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  Speaker 1: there's no magic just in the reading. The remarkable things
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  Speaker 1: happen when we apply what we have read. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: it's transforming. Did you know the teachings of Jesus Christ
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  Speaker 1: are transforming? Let that word sink in. I didn't say
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  Speaker 1: common and easily applied. I didn't say popular and well-received
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  Speaker 1: by the public. I said they are transforming. If you
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  Speaker 1: are the kind of person who is willing to have
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  Speaker 1: your life exposed to the truth of Jesus' teachings... So
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  Speaker 1: that you not only hear, but you heed his teachings.
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  Speaker 1: I'll promise you one thing. You will go through a
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  Speaker 1: radical transformation. Not slight. Radical. It'll make a difference in
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  Speaker 1: your motive. It'll make a difference in your speech. It'll
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  Speaker 1: make a difference in your attitude. It'll make a difference
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  Speaker 1: in your work. It'll change your whole direction in your career.
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  Speaker 1: I'm not saying you'll change careers. I'm saying it'll change
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  Speaker 1: you in your career. It will transform your life. The
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  Speaker 1: truth of Christ. And probably no truth more so than
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  Speaker 1: this truth we're getting into. On resting in Christ, abiding
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  Speaker 1: in Christ, giving him our efforts and in return taking
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  Speaker 1: his strength so that he can work through us. This
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  Speaker 1: transformed life is transforming truth. And I want to tell you,
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  Speaker 1: it won't come easily. Because if the truth were known,
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  Speaker 1: many of you would rather keep on worrying. It's like
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  Speaker 1: your security blanket. I mean, what are you going to
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  Speaker 1: do if you don't have something to worry about? You
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  Speaker 1: have these anxieties and they become friends. You've worked with
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  Speaker 1: them a long time in your life and you've got
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  Speaker 1: these habits built up. And after all, when things happen,
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  Speaker 1: you respond a certain way. And when people ask you why,
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  Speaker 1: you say, look, I've always been like that. As if
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  Speaker 1: that's right. Or, you know, it's worked for me and
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  Speaker 1: I might as well keep on. Is it really working?
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  Speaker 1: Or are you churning? Churning. It's a new word, huh?
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  Speaker 1: Robert Wise wrote a book called The Churning Place. He begins,
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  Speaker 1: everyone has a churning place. You discover it in the
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  Speaker 1: early years of your life. It seems to be located
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  Speaker 1: either near the pit of your stomach or at the
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  Speaker 1: base of your neck where every muscle tightens. When it
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  Speaker 1: begins to turn and pump like an old washing machine,
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  Speaker 1: you find that every other area of your life marches
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  Speaker 1: to its lumbering, dull, paralyzing beat. He continues, adolescence only
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  Speaker 1: increases the beat. All the insecurities of love and money
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  Speaker 1: seem to give an endless prospect to the churning. At
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  Speaker 1: times it appears that the agonies will be eternal in duration.
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  Speaker 1: Now listen to these words. Dreams fail. Hopes are lost.
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  Speaker 1: Nothing exempts us from the relentless process created by haunting
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  Speaker 1: memories and bankrupt expectancies. The existence of the churning place
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  Speaker 1: cannot be denied.
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  Speaker 2: Denied.
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  Speaker 1: And it is not a constructive place. Positive thoughts lead
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  Speaker 1: to action and results. But the churning place is a tank.
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  Speaker 1: Isn't that a good word? It is a tank that
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  Speaker 1: fills with anxieties that just settle into stagnant infection. It's
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  Speaker 1: a tank. It's a tank. Full of stagnant infection. You
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  Speaker 1: know what it's full of also? Your own works. Your
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  Speaker 1: own strength. Your own pride. Your tendency to take charge
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  Speaker 1: of your life and handle the pressures. And the longer
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  Speaker 1: you live, the greater toll it takes on you. And
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  Speaker 1: you are continuing to try to earn some kind of
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  Speaker 1: approbation from God, win his favor. And after all of
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  Speaker 1: your efforts are set out there, you find it doesn't
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  Speaker 1: work like that. And you just become increasingly more anxious
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  Speaker 1: and your tank is just fuller and fuller and fuller.
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  Speaker 3: Wait.
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  Speaker 1: Wait.
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  Speaker 3: Wait.
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  Speaker 1: There's a better way. Following Christ is not about taking
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  Speaker 1: on the labors of another religion. Listen to this. It
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  Speaker 1: is about turning your life over to him and receiving
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  Speaker 1: in return his life, his power. His ability to cope,
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  Speaker 1: to handle life situations exactly as he handled them. Is
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  Speaker 1: that a deal or what? That means when you get
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  Speaker 1: your x-ray back from the doctor and it doesn't look good,
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  Speaker 1: you can handle it through the power of Christ. Had
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  Speaker 1: a lady say to me just this morning after the
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  Speaker 1: first service, she said, I want to tell you what
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  Speaker 1: happened this week. I've got eye problems. And I went
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  Speaker 1: to my doc on Monday. And he gave me some
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  Speaker 1: bad news, humanly speaking, bad news. And I'm facing a
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  Speaker 1: rather bleak future. And I said, fine. And he said,
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  Speaker 1: maybe you don't understand. Let me show you again what
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  Speaker 1: you're dealing with. And he showed her and she said,
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  Speaker 1: I understand. That night he called her. He said, are
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  Speaker 1: you okay? She said, yeah, I'm fine. He said, maybe
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  Speaker 1: you didn't understand what I told you. And he went
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  Speaker 1: back into it because his other patients fall apart. And
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  Speaker 1: she said, you know what I did? I just yoked
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  Speaker 1: up with Christ. You who were here last time, remember that.
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  Speaker 1: Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for
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  Speaker 1: I am humble and lowly in heart and you will
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  Speaker 1: find rest for your souls. My yoke's easy. My burden's light.
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  Speaker 1: Just yoke up. I had two teenagers walk by this morning.
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  Speaker 1: They said, we've been yoking up all week. I thought,
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  Speaker 1: that's a great line. Two seminary students said, we've gotten
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  Speaker 1: yoked together while we've been yoked to Christ. And they said,
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  Speaker 1: we've had the best week in our seminary career. What
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  Speaker 1: a fabulous response. You know what they've done? They've entered
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  Speaker 1: into the rest. They've moved into the space of peace
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  Speaker 1: that God has made available to us that is really
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  Speaker 1: his life. Get this, it is his life, his life
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  Speaker 1: of shalom peace made available to all who are in Christ. Now,
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  Speaker 1: that is what this passage in Hebrews 4 is about.
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  Speaker 1: I want you to turn again to this section of scripture,
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  Speaker 1: and I want to make three general observations about it.
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  Speaker 1: In the process of this message, I want you to
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  Speaker 1: learn some techniques about studying the Bible on your own.
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  Speaker 1: I would love to know believers who are feeding themselves
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  Speaker 1: in the word of God. I love to know that
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  Speaker 1: you need me less and less as you get connected
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  Speaker 1: to Christ more and more. It doesn't mean we don't
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  Speaker 1: continue to have corporate worship. It means that when we do,
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  Speaker 1: you just enjoy the fallout, the benefits that come from
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  Speaker 1: your time with the Lord as you meet with other believers.
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  Speaker 1: Let me show you some things about observation. First of all,
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  Speaker 1: first thing I observe here is that the right is
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  Speaker 1: using an Old Testament story to teach us a New
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  Speaker 1: Testament truth. I'll say that again. This writer, whoever he was,
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  Speaker 1: no one knows who wrote Hebrews, whoever he was, he's
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  Speaker 1: using an Old Testament story to teach us a New
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  Speaker 1: Testament truth. What's the Old Testament story? Back in chapter 3,
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  Speaker 1: which is the context of chapter 4, think of every
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  Speaker 1: passage of Scripture as a diamond. And just as a
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  Speaker 1: diamond needs a setting around it for the beauty to
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  Speaker 1: come out, every passage of Scripture needs to be seen
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  Speaker 1: in its context, its setting. The setting of chapter 4
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  Speaker 1: goes up into chapter 3. In fact, it's an unfortunate
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  Speaker 1: chapter break. In my opinion, it should not have broken here.
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  Speaker 1: Probably should have broken earlier if there is a chapter break.
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  Speaker 1: I think part of 2, 3, and 4 all fold
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  Speaker 1: together in the scroll of Hebrews. But if you go
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  Speaker 1: back up to chapter 3, verse 12, you'll pick up
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  Speaker 1: a thought from the Old Testament picture or story. Take care, brethren,
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  Speaker 1: lest there should be in any one of you an evil,
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  Speaker 1: unbelieving heart in falling away from the living God. Encourage
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  Speaker 1: one another day after day as long as it is
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  Speaker 1: still called today. Lest any one of you be hardened
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  Speaker 1: by the deceitfulness of sin. Those are strong words. These
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  Speaker 1: are believers. Believing Hebrews. He doesn't want them to be
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  Speaker 1: hardened by sin. Verse 15, he says it again. Do
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  Speaker 1: not harden your hearts as when they provoked me. That
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  Speaker 1: tells you he's talking about something from the past. They.
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  Speaker 3: They.
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  Speaker 1: I'll cut to the chase. He's referring to the children
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  Speaker 1: of Israel. The Hebrews who left Egypt in the Exodus
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  Speaker 1: moved out into the wanderings that would lead them to
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  Speaker 1: the land of promise, Canaan. On their way, they doubted God.
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  Speaker 1: They complained. They mumbled. They grumbled. They grumbled against Moses
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  Speaker 1: and they mumbled against God and they shook their fists
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  Speaker 1: and they kept saying, we need to go back to Egypt.
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  Speaker 1: How can we exist in this barren desert as Moses
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  Speaker 1: has brought us out here? On and on. And finally,
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  Speaker 1: they came to the land and they sent in spies.
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  Speaker 1: Ten of the twelve spies came back and said, we
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  Speaker 1: can never do it. I mean, we're like grasshoppers in
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  Speaker 1: the eyes of, in the sight of those giants over there.
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  Speaker 1: There are giants in the land. Two of the 12 said, oh,
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  Speaker 1: we can do it. God's told us he's going to
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  Speaker 1: give us a land. Oh no, we can't. And the
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  Speaker 1: people believe the majority. Arnold Toynbee said in one of
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  Speaker 1: his writings, it's doubtful the majority has ever been right.
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  Speaker 1: It's a little frightening thought when you realize our president
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  Speaker 1: is voted on by the majority. Well, it does make
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  Speaker 1: sense in some cases. But anyway, anyway, don't go there.
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  Speaker 1: The majority came back and said, we cannot go into
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  Speaker 1: the land. We will not be able to make it.
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  Speaker 1: And God said, that's enough. That's enough. I've had it.
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  Speaker 1: And he said to Moses, this generation will die. And
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  Speaker 1: the new generation will go into the land. 20 years
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  Speaker 1: old and under, they'll go into the land. 21 years
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  Speaker 1: old and over, they won't make it. Can you imagine
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  Speaker 1: the funeral services Moses had for the next 40 years?
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  Speaker 1: Because the people didn't believe they could go into the
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  Speaker 1: land and take the peace that God had offered them
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  Speaker 1: by just entering the land. That's who he has in
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  Speaker 1: mind on hardening the heart. Now, he's using an Old
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  Speaker 1: Testament story about the Hebrews to teach the New Testament
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  Speaker 1: truth about resting, about peace. Okay, that's the first observation.
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  Speaker 1: Here's the second. His main concern is that we enter
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  Speaker 1: a lifestyle of rest. All of those words are important.
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  Speaker 1: His main concern is that we today... Enter a lifestyle
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  Speaker 1: of rest. How would I come up with that observation? Well,
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  Speaker 1: let me show you how often it's mentioned. And you'll
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  Speaker 1: realize it wasn't any great insight. Verse 18 of chapter 3.
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  Speaker 1: To whom did he swear that they should not enter
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  Speaker 1: his rest? That's number one.
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  Speaker 3: 19.
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  Speaker 1: So we see that they were not able to enter
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: because of unbelief. That's the second time he's mentioned it.
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: Verse 1 chapter 4, therefore let us fear while a
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: promise remains of entering his rest. That's the third time.
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: Verse 3, for we who have believed enter that rest.
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: That's the fourth time. Verse 3 continues, I swore in
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: my wrath they shall not enter my rest. That's 5.
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: Look at verse 5. And again in the passage, they
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: shall not enter my rest. That's 6. Look at verse 6.
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: Therefore it remains for some to enter it. That's 7.
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: Those who formerly had good news preached to them failed
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: to enter because of disobedience. That's eight. Verse nine, there
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: remains a Shabbat, a Sabbath rest. That's 10 or that's nine.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: For one who has entered his rest, verse 10 is
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: number 10 and verse 11. Therefore, let us be diligent
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: to enter that rest. 11 times in these verses, he's
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: talking about entering the rest, entering the rest. Listen to me.
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: When you read your Bible and a statement is repeated
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: again and again and again and again and again, God's
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: trying to tell us something. His main concern is that
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: we today enter the rest, a certain kind of rest,
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: I'm going to explain it in a minute, that the
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: people of the Hebrews refused to do. There's a way
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: to do it. Here's a third observation. The word rest
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: is used three different ways. One historically, two theologically, three personally. Historically,
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: he refers to the children of Israel who came out
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: of Egypt, were not able to enter the rest of Canaan.
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: That's one way. Go down to verse 9. There remains
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: a sabbatismos. There's that word I mentioned earlier that Hapax legomena.
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: Sounds like we're into tongues now, doesn't it? Hapax legomena
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: is a Greek term that means once spoken. And every
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: once in a while you come across a hapax legomena
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: in the scriptures and you stop and think, wait, wait, wait, wait,
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: that's never mentioned anywhere else, which means the writer coined it.
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: He coined it. He made the word up under the
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Here is an example. There
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. Theologically,
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: God rested on the seventh day. He entered into satisfaction, contentment, relief,
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: because creation was over. That's God. And there's a third
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: rest mentioned in this passage. Personally, it is for the
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: people of God. Do you see the end of verse nine?
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: So much for general observations. Let's get down to some specifics.
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: Go back to chapter 4, verse 1, and let's kind
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: of go through it and first of all address the warning.
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: I fear, he begins. Let us fear. Isn't that interesting?
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: All the way through the Bible, we're told don't fear.
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: Fear not. You have nothing to fear. Fear not, for
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: I am with you. Don't be dismayed. I am your God.
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: Here he says, I fear. Let us fear, meaning what?
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: Let's be concerned about this. Let's alert ourselves to something
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: that we could miss if we're not careful. Let us
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: fear while a promise remains of entering his rest. Any
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: one of you should seem to have come short of it.
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: God's rest is available. Our entering it is not automatic. illustration.
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: You say, I would like to worship at Stone Brow
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: Community Church. Okay. You get in your car, you drive,
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: you come to this place. Your first response is, that's
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: a church. And then after you get past that, you
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: walk inside a gymnasium and you enter this room. The weather,
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: the wind, the rain, the traffic, everything else is outside.
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: Inside is a gathering of believers. Sitting in white patio chairs.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: It's different, isn't it? We even left the tags on
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: there to make it authentic. It's just, you just come
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: into this different place. You have entered this place. If
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: you invited me into your home, I would enter your home.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: I would leave my car. I wouldn't bring it with me.
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't bring any other people because you've invited me
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: and I would enter your home and I would smell
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: the cooking from the kitchen. And I would see how
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: you have decorated the decor. My wife's taught me this word,
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: the ambiance. I would enter the ambiance of your home
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: and it would be different from every other home. I
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: would enter the home. You say, I got a teenager upstairs.
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: Six feet, seven inches, loves basketball. 14-year-old girl. You need
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: to go up there and see that room that she has.
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: So you go up there, six foot, seven inch daughter.
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: There she is, all over her room, her basketball paraphrase.
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: all different kinds. And in that room, which I have
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: entered is a certain, well, personality. And when I enter
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: that room, it's even different than the house. You got
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: the picture. He's not talking about entering a building, entering
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: a home or entering a room. This is a space
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: that don't miss this, a space of peace reserved for you.
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: Is that a good deal or what? God says, I
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: am concerned that you not enter my space. I've got
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: a place for you to occupy during your waking moments.
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: And let's fear while the promise, the offer, come on
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: into this place that any of you should come short
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: of it. How would I ever know what your home
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: is like if I never come inside? How could you
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: ever know what the fellowship of Stonebry Community Church is
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: about if you don't become a part of it? Come
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: in and see for yourself. How could you ever know
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: the peace of God, the rest of God, if you
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: don't come in. Look at the word rest. It's an
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: interesting term. It's the term kata pausis. Kata always means down.
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: Pausis means stop, cease, quit, quit down. I think what
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: it's saying is when we enter his rest, we put
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: down our own worries. We put down all the things
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: that have drained us of energy and hope and joy,
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: have taken from us the peace that God offers. We
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: put those things down that we might take on his peace,
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: his perspective, how he looks at life, what he wants
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: to do with our lives. Isn't that a great thought?
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: I mean, can you imagine sitting in a doctor's office
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: and hearing tough news from the physician and saying, right now,
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: in your mind, right now, Lord, I enter your rest.
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: I enter your peace. I let you take up the
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: space in place of worry. I'm going to trust you.
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: I'm going to lean on you. I'm going to rely
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: on you through this. And that's what he's saying, I
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: don't want you to miss. Now, in verses two through eight,
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: We have an explanation of this peace and how to
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: get in there. How do I know it's an explanation?
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: Look at verse 2. I told you I was going
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: to give you some tips on Bible study. See, verse
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: 2 begins with the word for. For indeed, it's explaining.
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: Verse 3, for. It's explaining. Verse 4, for. That's called
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: an explanatory particle. When you get to the word for
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: at the beginning of a verse, it's explaining what was
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: just said. The next verse begins with again and since,
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: and that's continuing. Again, verse 7. For, verse 8. All
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: of these are explaining that first warning. To make it
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: simple and easy to be grasped, let me give you
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: two thoughts in verses 2 through 8. Both of them
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: are clarifying. The first clarification is this. Entering this rest
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: means we have to have the right formula. You have
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: to have the right formula. Example, if I wanna call
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: you in the office, I've gotta have the right number.
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: If I miss it by one digit, I'm not gonna
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: get you. If I wanna reach you on your extension,
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: it has to be the exact extension. right? If I
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: want to take a flight from here to Los Angeles
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: and I want to fly on Delta, I don't call
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: American Airlines and see what the flight schedule is, do I?
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: I call Delta and I want to know exactly when
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: it takes off. I want to know the flight number
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: and I want to know which gate at Dallas Fort
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: Worth Airport I go to before I can take off
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: and get to Los Angeles because Delta has those flights
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: that get me there. I got to have the right stuff.
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: I got to have the right formula. What's the formula
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: for entering his peace? Look closely. Verse 2. We have
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: had good news preached to us, just as they, the Hebrews,
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: but the word they heard did not profit them. Why? Because,
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: that's explaining, it was not united by faith. United. The
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: term means co-mingled.
• 34:25
  Speaker 3: To mix.
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: To mix. They heard, but they didn't mix it with belief.
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: So they didn't enter the rest. Here's the formula. Hearing
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: the truth plus believing it equals rest. You say, that's simple.
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: I believe it. Wait a minute. You don't know until
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: something happens. And we see if you'll mix hearing what
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: you're hearing today with faith. If I announced right now,
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: this room is on fire. And you said, I hear you,
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: I believe you. But right now I'm interested in what's
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: down in verse 7 and verse 8. No, no, no,
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: the room is on fire. Get out. I believe you,
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: but I'm really interested in the rest of this sermon.
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: You don't really believe me. You don't really believe me.
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: You know what you do if you believe me? You
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: get out. You'd run for your life. You wouldn't even
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: wait to smell smoke. Because hearing, if you really believe it,
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: requires acting. And that will equal resting. You're hearing that
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: it's available. You're hearing about a peace space available. And
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: you've got to have the right formula if you're going
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: to enter it. You've got to hear the right truth.
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: You've got to believe the right things to enter into
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: the space God provides. You can't just hear anybody. You
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: can't just pick whatever God you wish and expect to
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: be led into a life of peace. It doesn't work
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: like that. I read a little jingle this past week
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: that kind of illustrates it. Say a prayer for Jimmy Brown.
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: for Jimmy is no more. What he thought was H2O
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: was really H2SO4. You who passed chemistry got that. For
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: the rest of you, H2SO4 is sulfuric acid. Jimmy Brown
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: is no more. What looked like water was really acid,
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: and he's no more with us. Why? Had the wrong formula.
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: Proverbs 14, 12 says, there is a way that seems
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: right unto a man, But the ends are the ways
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: of death. Had a close friend say to me a
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: couple of weeks ago after coming back from a funeral
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: service at a particular church where he was raised. He said,
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: you know, when I was there, happens to be a
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: place that isn't teaching truth. He said, while I was there,
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: I realized how far I was missing it. As a
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: matter of fact, you know what, Chuck? They would have
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: loved me right into hell. Isn't that interesting? Isn't that
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: an indictment? They would have loved me right into an
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: eternity without God. You've got to have the right formula.
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: Hearing the word of God mixed with faith in the
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus Christ to have his way, to complete his will,
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: to do his work in my life means I enter
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: into rest. I can relax in his strength. I can
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: turn my worry list into his concern. There's a psalm
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: that says, casting all your cares upon him. Cast your
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: burden upon the Lord and he will sustain you. He
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: will never suffer the righteous to be moved. I think
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: that's Psalm 55, 22. It's the picture of rolling your
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: pack on the Lord and he will never suffer you
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: to be moved. You can get the hard news. You
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: can handle it. You need the right formula. You need
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: to be with the right person. If you're not, you're
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: going to miss it. I can hang around Robert Redford
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: all my life and never look like Robert Redford. I
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: may wish to look like Robert Redford, but I won't.
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: I can watch John Elway practice for the Super Bowl
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: for three hours and I'll never be able to pass
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: like John Elway. Won't help. Doesn't work like that. And
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: I can link my life to some religious teacher or
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: leader and think that person is going to get me
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: into the rest place that I want and I'll miss
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: it a mile. I need Jesus to get me from
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: where I am to where I need to be. These
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: Israelites missed it. Here's a second. Entering that rest requires
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: the right attitude. It requires the right attitude If you
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: will not harden your hearts, you can enter that rest.
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: There remains a Sabbath rest. Remember the old hymn? There
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: is a place of quiet rest near to the heart
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: of God. A place where sin cannot molest near to
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: the heart of God. Louis Ferry Chafer heard that song
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: and put a good twist to it. He said, nearer,
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: still nearer, nearer I cannot be. For in the person
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: of his son, I am as near as he. Isn't
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: that good? You don't get near the heart of God,
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: though I love that hymn. You get into the heart
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: of God when you've got Jesus. You enter into his life.
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: So that the way he coped with a tough future
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: is the way you can cope with a tough future.
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: You'll get rid of your churning place. Isn't that a
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: deal worth accepting? I'll give you a little testimony here.
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: There was a time in my life when I worried
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: over ornery church members. Cynthia will tell you. It bothered
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: me that I was pouring my heart and passion and
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: life into this word of God and into the delivery
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: of the word of God, and they weren't changing. I
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: finally realized it's not my job to fix them. It's
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: my job to tell them. Guess who can fix you?
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: The same one we worship, Jesus. And if you don't
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: want to be fixed, he'll leave you unfixed. How's that
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: for a deal? You could just walk right on in
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: your disobedience, keep your heart hardened, hang on to your
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: own worries and your own struggles and say, no, I've
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: made a friend out of these and I'm going to
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: keep walking with them. I just like it better. You
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: know why? Because it requires faith. It takes faith in
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: my sovereign God to listen to my physician, give me
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: hard information about my x-ray and my physical condition and
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: to say to my physician, I'm not worried about that.
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: That's God's business. I leave it in his hands. I
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: trust him to make this all work. And if it doesn't,
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: that's great. I'm his. He's mine. It's his life being
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: lived out through me. It's not mine. You have a
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: quota you have to meet as a salesperson. You've got
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: to sell so many. You say, oh, do I ever? Well,
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: I tell you how to start the month. Starts tomorrow. Okay.
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: I got a great grasp for the obvious. You got
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: it tomorrow. Okay. You know what the quota is going
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: to be. Start the night by saying, Lord, tomorrow morning,
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: I wake up to the quota. It's your burden. Now,
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: it doesn't mean you go in the back room, pull
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: your shades, lock your door and wait for people to
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: knock on your door and say, I really want to buy.
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: That's not the way you do it. It means you're
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: out there, you're selling, you're doing whatever you need to do.
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: And God brings you the business and he builds it
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: or he doesn't. And if he doesn't, you lose your job,
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: he's got a better plan. As long as you say,
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: wait a minute, I like my job more than God.
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: You want God's will or you want your job? Yeah,
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: I told you we were going to get down to
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: the nubbies in this thing. I'm talking about living this truth. Well,
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: I thought it was going to, you know, I know
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: you like to think, but when it comes to your future,
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: You don't know what your future is going to be like.
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: So enter into his rest. It remains for the people
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: of God. Let me show you something you maybe had
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: never seen before. We got time for it. Let me
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: show you. Genesis chapter 1. If you can't find that,
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: you got more trouble than entering into the rest. I'll
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: tell you. It is right there. Genesis 1. I'm going
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: to point out something I bet most of you have
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: never seen before. This great chapter on creation. First day,
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: verse 5. There was evening and there was morning one day. Okay,
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: mark that. I got that marked in my Bible. I
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: got it in red. One day. That's day one. Verse 8.
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: There was evening, there was morning. Second day. Okay, we
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: got the second day of creation. And all that stuff
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: he did there. Verse 13. There was evening, there was morning.
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: Third day. Verse 19, guess what? Evening and morning, fourth day. 23,
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: evening and morning, fifth day. Last verse, last sentence, evening
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: and morning, sixth day. Watch chapter two, verse one. Thus
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: the heavens and the earth were completed and all their hosts.
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: And by the seventh day, God completed his work, which
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: he had done. And he rested on the seventh day.
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: And you'll never read where it ends. Isn't that good? Golly,
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: I just came across that and shouted glory. I was
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: in my study. Nobody was awake. I just shouted it. Glory.
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: Preachers do things like that when they come across stuff
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: like this. The rest has never ended. He's never stopped resting.
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: He did all of his work on all of those
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: days and he got to the seventh day and he
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: made man and he relaxed and he made woman and
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: nobody's rested since then. It's an old joke. I had
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: to slide that in there. It's an old joke, you know.
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: He rested and it never ends. You know what makes
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: this great? Chapter 4, Hebrews verse 9, there remains available
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: the Shabbat of God. You know why? Because it never
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: ended back then. This rest that God engaged himself in
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: is now yours to claim. You say, why did he rest? Well,
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: he wasn't tired. Omnipotence doesn't get tired easily. He didn't go, boy,
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: that was a load. I'm glad that's over. He said,
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: I'm satisfied. It's exactly what I wanted. Made man, made woman,
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: very pleased, very pleased. Made all the, I'm contented. That's
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: exactly the way you can live. I'm contented. Jesus, I
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: am resting in the joy of what thou art. I
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: am finding out the greatness of thy loving heart. I
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: prefer to sing that with a different pronoun. Jesus, I'm
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: resting in the joy of who thou art. I'm finding
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: out the greatness of your loving heart. You mean, Chuck,
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: we can really enter into a life like that? You
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  Speaker 1: can cease from working things out on your own. You
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  Speaker 1: can do that. I want that for you, Scouts Honor,
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: aside from your salvation. I want that for you more
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: than any other thing on this earth. I want you
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: to enter into a yoked up relationship with Jesus so
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: that your day is filled with a space of shalom
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: like this world can even imagine. It remains. For the
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: one who entered his rest, verse 10, capital H, that's God,
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: has rested from His works. That's ours. We enter His rest,
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: started on that creative week, just as God found contentment
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: in His. Look at the closing command. Let us, therefore,
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: be diligent to enter that rest. You know what that
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: tells me? It doesn't come naturally. It's supernatural. It doesn't
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: come easily. It doesn't come automatically. We deliberately say at
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: the beginning and during each day, Lord, I've got this pressure.
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: I don't know where this is coming from. I can't
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: seem to solve it. It's yours. I give it to you.
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: You take care of this. You got a wayward child,
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: 26 year old, not hardly a child. You can't fix
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: your child. You can't make her turn around or him
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: come back. You know whose burden that is? It's the Lord's.
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: He's in charge. He wrote the prodigal son story. He
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: knows how it all is going to end. He's got
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: the end from the beginning figured out. You say, Lord,
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: I can't figure out why my child has done this.
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: It's not the way we raised her. She's choosing to
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: go this way. I've got to trust you. Now, it
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: makes for great preaching. It's just hard living. It's hard
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: to do that. I've been there and done that one.
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: That's a tough one. I never said it was easy.
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: I said his yoke is easy. I never said Making
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: this formula happen is easy. You deliberately, he says it,
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: diligently enter that rest. Let me tell you three enemies
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: and we're through. Three enemies. Presumption, panic, and pride. Presumption says,
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: I've got all this figured out. I already know what
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: God's plan is and I'm just going to help carry
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: it out. We do that, don't we? I read a
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: cute story about a Scandinavian couple named Sven and Holda.
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: Sven and Holda were in Sunday school every week. She
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: sang in the choir. They had family altar, family prayers.
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: They went to church twice every Sunday. But they couldn't
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: get along. They were at each other's throats. After a
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: stormy fight, one morning Huldah said to Sven, Sven, I
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: think I got the answer to this hopeless problem we're
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: living with. I think we should pray to the Lord
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: to take one of us home to be with him.
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: Then I can go live with my sister. I got
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: it figured out, Sven. This is what God's going to do.
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: He's going to take you. And my sister and I
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: are going to move to Hawaii. Presumption. Next is panic.
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: That's what I tend to do. Oh, man.
• 50:23
  Speaker 3: What?
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: What? You ever done that? What? Say that again.
• 50:29
  Speaker 2: How could he do that?
• 50:32
  Speaker 1: Rather than panic. Hold on a second.
• 50:36
  Speaker 3: Lord.
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: Lord. What in heaven's name are you doing right now?
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: Rather than screaming, jumping, running, connecting with the bank, you know.
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: I'll tell you one on panic. Y2K. We got people
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: building bomb shelters. I mean, as if we've never gone
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: through a millennium before, huh? As if God is in
• 51:09
  Speaker 1: heaven going, what am I going to do? We have
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: lost control of things. Are you kidding? Our God is
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: in the heavens. He does what he pleases. Come on, folks.
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: Quit wasting your time on panic and pride. That's the
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: ugly one. I can handle it. I got a nice
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: stash in the bank. I've been here before. I can
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: take this. Let me tell you something. He'll break you down.
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: He'll cut your knees right out from under you. He'll
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: give you a cracked back block like you've never had
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: in your life. And you'll go through a horrendous period
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: of struggle. He's going to make you trust him. He's
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: going to win. In the end, he does, you know.
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: You're not. He's never met his match and you don't
• 52:09
  Speaker 1: make him worry. He knows what he's about. Be diligent
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: to enter into that rest. You know where it starts?
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: At the cross. At the cross. Where I first saw
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: the light. And the burden of my heart rolled away.
• 52:36
  Speaker 1: Isn't that great? Jesus paid it all. All to him
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: I owe. Sin left a crimson stain. He washed it
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: white as snow. Donald Barnhouse used to have fun with
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: that great hymn. He said, it doesn't say, Jesus washed 90%.
• 52:56
  Speaker 1: 2% I owe. Sin left a crimson stain. He washed
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: it light pink. He washed it white as snow. If
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: he could handle your sin problem at the cross, he
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: can handle your worry problems all through your life. But
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: you've got to be diligent to enter his rest. Let's
• 53:20
  Speaker 1: bow together. Let's close our eyes. The hard work now begins.
• 53:30
  Speaker 1: The breaking of habits, the submitting of the will, The
• 53:36
  Speaker 1: release of our pride. The turning loose of our way.
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: The clinging. The pleading. God help us. If you've never
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: come to the cross, you need to know there's nothing
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: you need to pay. It's called the gift of salvation.
• 54:01
  Speaker 1: He who has the Son has the life. He who
• 54:04
  Speaker 1: does not have the Son of God does not have
• 54:07
  Speaker 1: the life. Okay, let's start there. You need the Son
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: of God to begin this formula right. The cross. He
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: paid for your sins in full. Totally, completely paid for them.
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: The only thing between you and him now is unbelief. Today,
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: you can take care of that. Don't harden your heart.
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: Right where you're sitting, simple prayer, Lord Jesus Christ, I
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: believe you died for me. I believe you washed away
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: the sins of my life. I believe you've forgiven me.
• 54:53
  Speaker 1: I believe you have been raised from the dead bodily, miraculously,
• 54:57
  Speaker 1: and you live to give me your life. I take
• 55:01
  Speaker 1: it By faith. By faith. You're a child of his
• 55:08
  Speaker 1: and you've been walking in presumption or panic or pride
• 55:12
  Speaker 1: long enough. Today's a good day to turn around. Simple prayer. Lord,
• 55:21
  Speaker 1: nothing in my hand I bring simply to your cross
• 55:23
  Speaker 1: I cling. Nothing in my life is worthwhile, strong enough
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: to handle the pressures of the future. I turn them
• 55:33
  Speaker 1: over to you. By faith, I take your life and
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: live in your strength and enjoy your peace. It's like
• 55:51
  Speaker 1: angels are passing through right now, our Father. We can
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: almost hear the brush of angel wings. We thank you
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: for your truth, which never mocks us. It always lifts
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: us above the level of where we live and shows
• 56:10
  Speaker 1: us the hope of our tomorrow. Thank you, Father, for
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: solving the problems before we've even faced them. Thank you
• 56:21
  Speaker 1: for strength to endure before we even know the test
• 56:24
  Speaker 1: has come. Thank you for the promises that are ours
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: to claim today. even before we know the setting in
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: which they fit. Thank you for the release that comes
• 56:40
  Speaker 1: in resting in the finished work of Christ. May we
• 56:50
  Speaker 1: all know that sense of peace like never before as
• 56:55
  Speaker 1: a result of this time together. as we've known the
• 57:01
  Speaker 1: presence of the Lord in this place. It is in
• 57:08
  Speaker 1: the strong and blessed, precious, almighty, victorious name of Jesus
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: we pray and we claim this rest. And everybody said, Amen.
• 57:30
  Speaker 3: It Is Best to Rest was copyrighted in 1999, 2000,
• 57:34
  Speaker 3: and 2008, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2008
• 57:40
  Speaker 3: by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: All rights are reserved worldwide.
• 57:45
  Speaker 3: Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.