Hebrews 4:1-10

“Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. 3 For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said ‘So I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest,’ although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: ‘And God rested on the seventh day from all His works’; 5 and again in this place: ‘They shall not enter My rest.’

6 Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, 7 again He designates a certain day, saying in David, ‘Today,’ after such a long time, as it has been said: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.’ 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His” (All Scripture from NKJV).

Last week we talked about Rebellion and Rest. We first spoke about the lost and their rebellion in rejecting Jesus. This is a sad situation; there are many, many people who have heard the Gospel and reject the loving grace of God. But we also looked at the fact that many Christians, even after they are saved, still live in rebellion. They reject God’s leadership and so never actually get the full benefit of the rest they have been given in Jesus. Today, we will look at the rest we have in salvation and hopefully put some of us at ease. There is an uneasiness among many saved people about losing the salvation they have in Jesus, and today we want to dispel that and offer true rest.

• Short of God’s Rest, verses 1-3

The idea here is from the ancient Greek races; anyone who did not win was the loser. There is a saying that second place means you are the best of the losers. But in Jesus, in salvation, we all win. We all come first, and we all hit the mark. Sin, in its basic meaning, means to miss the mark. Think of a bullseye: you take aim and miss the mark; you hit the target but miss the bullseye. Well, we sinners ALL miss the bullseye, but God hits the mark every time without effort. He is perfect; we are not. No matter how hard we try in and of our own abilities, we will never hit the bullseye, and even if we did it once, we could not do it over and over again forever.

This is the problem that many people have; they compare their sins with the sins of others and not the perfection of God. I am not as bad as ‘so and so,’ thus I am okay. No, no, no!! God requires that we be perfect like Him, so it does not matter how many people we are better than; we need to be as good as God. We cannot be, ever. This is where the Gospel comes in that Jesus came to give us. Please notice the term, give us God’s perfection. We cannot gain it; we cannot work our way into it, and we certainly cannot sustain it in our own power once we have it. Jesus came, and He took our sin and gave us His righteousness so we can have rest between us and God.

In 2 Corinthians 5:21, we see this: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Jesus never sinned, and we were never righteous. In salvation, these two verses are exchanged: Jesus becomes sin for us, and we become righteous in Him. Sadly, many hear the Gospel, see the glory of God, hear of God’s wonderful gift, and either dismiss it or reject it. Either way, they refuse the rest that comes with Jesus’ imputed righteousness. They forgo eternal rest for eternal torment, and they do so willfully. The Jews rejected Jesus, and so we have the rest offered to them now offered to us Gentiles.

• God Rested as an Example, verses 4-7

God does not get tired. He is never worn out and needs a break. Yet, He rested on the seventh day of creation and, in the Law of Moses, established a day of rest that was not to be violated. Some of the religious sects like the Pharisees distorted the Sabbath Day and made it out to be more than it is. Jesus made a habit of healing on the Sabbath day so as to show them the truth of the Sabbath.

Mark 3:1-6, “And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Step forward.’ Then He said to them, ‘Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?’ But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.”

These religious zealots, not true Christians in any sense, tried to kill Jesus for healing a man on the Sabbath. Since Jesus never sinned, He did not break the commandment about the Sabbath. Thus, we need to ask what was the main thrust of the Sabbath. It was a lesson for us about rest from works, referring to salvation, not just rest from work referring to a job.

You and I are declared justified (Romans 5:1) and declared as having ‘no condemnation’ (Romans 8:1) in Christ Jesus. We, who have heard the Gospel and by faith accepted the truth of it, having placed our trust in His sacrifice for us, are now righteous. We now ‘hit the mark’; we all win the race, no saved person runs second, and we all pass the finish line together, perfect in and by Jesus. As well, since the righteousness we have has been given to us by faith in Jesus, we do not have to do anything to keep it. It is ours forever.

There are a lot of saved people who are still trying to win God’s favor when they are already God’s children and have His favor, His love, His protection, His provision and His presence. They keep working for something that they already have in Jesus. They need to rest and let God be God. They need to stop struggling and allow God to do His work in them. When you enter God’s rest, you no longer need to work. You are no longer under the Law but under grace. The Law is for the dead, and grace is for the living. The Law was designed to show us our need to be saved by grace.

Galatian 3:24-26, “Therefore, the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”

Jesus fulfilled the Law for us, and once we are clothed in His perfection, there is no more work to be done. All the work is now going to be done by God, and His Holy Spirit in us will transform us into the image of Jesus.

Rest in Galatians 4:19, “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you.”

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

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The title of this message is, Has Anyone Taken You Down the Roman’s Road? The link is below.

https://youtu.be/T81VShapCoM

Have you ever shown someone from the Bible how to be saved? How many have you led to Jesus Christ for salvation? Time is running out for you to learn how to do this. One day soon, you will not be able to lead someone to Christ because you will be in heaven with Jesus. This message is a salvation message, but it is for the Christian to write these verses down and start leading people to Christ. These are the verses that I use to lead someone to Christ. While I deal with the person, the Holy Spirit will bring into remembrance other verses to quote (like John 3:16 and Ephesians 2:8-9). Let us get into the message.

The Roman Empire was known for building roads. This enabled the armies to get to the battlefield so much faster. The first one was in 312A.D. The name of it was Appian Way. The Gospel of Jesus Christ spread down these same roads. Missionaries would use the same roads to spread the Word of God. It is so amazing how the Lord works through our lives and even through an evil empire like the Roman Empire.

Going down the Roman road for salvation, we find that it has seven stop signs along the way. The pavement is of wood from the Old Rugged Cross. Salvation is only by way of the cross through the blood of Jesus. Millions across America call themselves Christians, but they have not gone by way of the cross. I will get back to this in the message. Are you really saved by the blood of Jesus Christ?

1. Stop sign: Romans 3:10, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.”

The Word of God never changes. It does not matter what you think or what you believe; the Word of God will never change for anyone. “As it is written” all through the Word of God points to your sins. There is not one person on this earth that has not sinned.

Psalms 14 (To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.) “1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. 2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. 3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

I read these verses and think of what James said.

James 2:10 “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”

According to this verse, if you have broken just one of the commandments, you are guilty of breaking all of the commandments. For the most part, it seems that most people admit they have sinned. A person needs to realize they are lost and need a Savior before you can lead them to salvation through Christ. If you are dealing with a child, if they are old enough to understand they have sinned (Romans 3:23), that Jesus died to pay the penalty for their sins (Romans 5:8; 6:23), and that they must place their faith in Jesus for salvation (John 3:16), then they are old enough to be led to salvation.

2. Stop sign: Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

Because of the sin that we have committed, we have come short of God’s standard. We cannot on our own reach God’s standards. On your own, you will always fall short of the glory of God. You need a Savior, and there is only one Savior; his name is Jesus Christ. No matter what you do in life, you will not reach his glory. How do you do this? Through the blood of Jesus.

When you have time, read Isaiah 5:20-23. These verses are for those that say sin is not sin or sin is not wrong. These verses are for those that love their sin. They will say anything goes and it is ok. (Not in the eyes of God.) They call sin good and good evil. All of them have come out of the closet in the day that we live. The Word of God is hated so much because it says you have fallen short of the glory of God, and you have sinned in the eyes of a Holy, Righteous God. God’s Word reveals our true condition. For the most part, people don’t like to be told what to do.

3. Stop sign: Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

There is always a price to pay. When someone works, they know they will receive wages for the work done. With sin, there are wages to pay; this payment is death. Revelation 20:14 says, “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” The lake of fire is “the second death.” The first death is physical. At death, the soul leaves the body, and an unbeliever continues to be separated from God. At the second death, the resurrected body joins to the soul, and both are separated from God for all eternity.

There is a way out of the second death. The last part of this verse is “but the gift of God” (John 3:16). You cannot earn a gift (Ephesians 2:8-9). You can only have eternal life through Jesus Christ; there is no other way to heaven. Only one road leads to heaven; all the rest of the roads lead to hell and the second death, which lasts forever and ever.

4. Stop sign: Romans 5:8, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

God loves us so much that he gave his Son (John 3:16). How did he show his love to us? When he gave his only Son, not only for us but because of us. I have another verse in mind; it is 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” We are considered righteous if we are in Christ Jesus. I was the reason Jesus had to die on the cross. I was guilty of my sins, but he took my place. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for giving your Son for me. Thank you, Jesus, for giving your body for me.

5. Stop sign: Romans 5:9, “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”

What does the Apostle Paul mean by “much more then”? In verse 8, God the Father gave his all, and His Son gave his all. There is no more to give to be saved. Mankind wants to keep adding to the cross. The only way to be made right in the eyes of God is through his blood. The blood of Jesus is the only thing that will wash your sins as white as snow. His blood is the way to heaven. You cannot add church membership, baptism, good works, the Lord’s supper, being a good person, or adding man’s traditions to the saving blood of Jesus Christ. If the blood of Jesus has not washed away your sins and you died at this moment, you would be lost forever and in hell. Humble yourself and go by way of the cross.

6. Stop sign: Romans 10:9, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

You have to confess with your mouth and have faith in your heart that God has raised Jesus from the grave. Have you done this? I believe if there was no pride in the hearts of mankind, billions of souls would receive Jesus Christ as their Savior. Those with pride will not confess with their mouth. They love their sin more than Jesus.

7. Stop sign: Romans 10:10, KEY VERSE: “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

So many so-called Christians have confessed with their mouth, and they may even believe Jesus came up out of the grave. But the problem is THEY HAVE NOT GIVEN HIM THEIR HEART. When you give him your heart, you are made unto righteousness. How do you give him your heart? You repent. Luke 24:47, “And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Without repentance, there is no remission of sin. Remission means forgiven. Are you truly forgiven in the eyes of God Almighty?

Repent means a change of heart and mind. Whatever direction you are going in life, when you confess Jesus and believe his resurrection, you are turning from that direction and giving your all to Christ. That is true repentance. Jesus is not only your Savior; he is your Lord and King. Jesus and the Apostles preached repentance. So many have head knowledge of Jesus, but they have not given him their heart. When you give him your heart, you become a new creature in Christ; “old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Yes, it takes confession with the mouth and faith to believe that God has raised him up out of the grave. But I am telling you right now that he wants your heart. There has to be a change. If there is no change in your life, there is no true salvation. Will you give him your heart today?

I am asking all prayer warriors from around the world to join us for a day of prayer fasting and repentance on July 7, 2022, for Turkey and on behalf of over 85,890,471 precious souls and for Ukraine and on behalf of over 43,192,122 precious souls.

Please join in the harvest for lost souls. We are praying for the lost and for the protection of Christians. Please share the post.

I believe we are moving the heart of God.

“Prayer warriors have entered countries that their feet never have entered and never will enter” – Leonard Ravenhill

It is so amazing all the messages that I am receiving from around the world from so many people receiving Jesus Christ as their Savior. God never sleeps; he is always doing something. Someone from around the world is receiving Jesus Christ as their Savior every moment of every day. When you think God is not doing anything, know this: he never stops. Do not believe the lies of the Devil. Are you being a part of lost souls coming to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? You can be a true prayer warrior by giving tracks, soul-winning, giving of your time and money to your church, etc. There are many ways to be a part of bringing the lost to Christ.

Facebook page Prayer Warriors 4Him Online Ministries

Email bkwatts64@yahoo.com

Keith Watts

Online Missionary to the world