Introduction:
Worst excuses for missing work:
No Excuses. Last Call to Enter Jesus' Rest (Hebrews 4:11-13):
- You have the Command . (Heb 4:11)
Luke 16:16 - The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it.
- You have the Information . (Heb 4:12)
- You have the Appointment . (Heb 4:13)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:47-00:51
Hebrews chapter four, we're going to be picking up in verse 11.
00:55-00:56
And 'tis the season, right?
00:59-00:59
For sickness.
01:02-01:06
It seems like everybody I know is either getting it or getting over it.
01:08-01:12
And I guess it's a valid excuse for calling off work.
01:12-01:26
But you know, I was looking this week at some more non-traditional excuses that people have given for calling off work.
01:27-01:28
Now I'm gonna share these with you.
01:29-01:35
Actually, I found these online, these weren't excuses that staff at this church has given for calling off work.
01:36-01:37
But some of these kind of cracked me up.
01:37-01:39
These are the worst excuses for missing work.
01:39-01:42
There's a ton of them, but I just wanna share a couple of my favorites with you.
01:44-01:44
Here's one.
01:45-01:53
A guy said, "Grandma tried to poison me with ham." Grandma.
01:56-01:57
I laughed at this.
01:57-01:59
I don't know, this was just, it just cracked me up.
01:59-02:06
But the one guy called in, he said, "I'm stuck in the blood pressure machine at the grocery store and can't get out."
02:06-02:07
(congregation laughing)
02:12-02:15
There are a lot of them that's actually circled around animals.
02:15-02:19
So animals are really good for excuses for missing work, right?
02:20-02:22
Here's a couple of those.
02:22-02:26
One was the guy said that he couldn't come to work because I was bitten by a duck.
02:30-02:34
Or this guy that said, I can't come to work because I threw my back out chasing a beaver.
02:34-02:35
(audience laughing)
02:40-02:43
Or this one, this one has to be made up.
02:43-02:44
But I'm gonna share it anyways.
02:45-02:50
On the off chance that this is real, this could be the craziest one.
02:52-03:00
The guy said, "I have to attend the funeral "of my wife's cousin's pet "because I am an uncle and a pallbearer."
03:01-03:02
(audience laughing)
03:04-03:17
Or last was this guy just called in and said, you know, I can't make it to work today because I forgot that I was hired for the job.
03:19-03:19
(audience laughing)
03:19-03:21
And that sounds like something that I would do.
03:24-03:26
But there was a bunch of, I read a whole bunch of them this week.
03:26-03:34
A lot of really funny excuses why people gave who were not able to go to, not able to come into work today.
03:35-03:39
And the title of today's message is, "Why Jesus?
03:40-03:48
"Because we must give an account." You know, there's a day coming that you're going to stand before God.
03:52-04:04
And I can't imagine all of the excuses that we're going to hear on that day as to why people refuse the gift of God's provision in Jesus Christ.
04:05-04:07
On that day, it's not gonna be funny.
04:08-04:09
Nobody's going to be laughing.
04:11-04:14
It's going to be tragic on that day.
04:15-04:16
And here's the truth, church.
04:19-04:20
There is no excuse.
04:23-04:27
We've seen over the last couple of weeks the call, do not harden your heart.
04:28-04:37
We talked about the Israelites who were constantly, "Come on God, prove yourself to me, prove yourself to me." They were never thankful, always complaining.
04:39-04:41
They persisted in their sin.
04:43-04:47
Jesus Christ did all of the work to save you.
04:49-05:54
And He calls you to enter His rest because true faith lives in the Sabbath rest of Jesus Christ. So if you're sitting here, or you've been watching this, and you haven't given your life to Jesus Christ, you haven't fully received him as Lord and Savior born again, he is my Lord, he is my life. If you haven't done that, I just got to ask you, what's your compelling reason that you haven't received him? Did he not prove his love for you enough? Are his promises not glorious enough? Is your way working? Have you found some methodology of life that far surpasses Wisdom of your Creator?
06:02-06:09
We've been talking about the rest that Jesus provides, and Jesus actually talked about this.
06:10-06:11
Matthew 11, verse 28.
06:13-06:16
Very familiar verse, but look at it again with fresh eyes.
06:17-06:43
Jesus says, "Come to me, all who labor "and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." And as we fast forward to Hebrews 4:11, the Hebrew writer, in this little passage we're looking at today, he's saying, "Hey, last call.
06:45-06:54
Last call. I know that phrase is usually used in another context, but we're using it here because that's what this passage is about today.
06:54-07:05
Last call. So on your outline, if you're taking notes, which we always encourage, no excuses. This is the last call to enter Jesus rest.
07:07-07:07
No excuses.
07:08-07:11
Number one, you have the command.
07:13-07:15
"You have the command." Look at verse 11.
07:16-07:34
He says, "Let us therefore strive to enter that rest "so that no one may fall "by the same sort of disobedience." Let's stop there for a second.
07:34-07:35
This is a call to urgency.
07:36-07:41
He's saying, "Don't be like Israel and Moses' day." Don't be like them.
07:41-07:42
Don't keep putting God off.
07:43-07:44
Don't keep hardening your heart.
07:48-07:53
But if you just stop and think about it for a second, it's a very interesting phrase, isn't it?
07:53-07:57
He says, here's what I'm, your last call, here's what I'm calling you to do.
07:57-08:02
You need to strive to enter the rest.
08:06-08:07
Isn't that a weird concept?
08:08-08:10
Strive to enter rest?
08:14-08:16
And you might be thinking, "Wait, wait, wait, wait.
08:16-08:19
I thought Jesus gave us rest.
08:20-08:34
So how in the world do we strive to enter this rest that Christ provided?" We need to be abundantly clear here, so please listen.
08:35-08:37
He's addressing unbelievers here.
08:39-08:50
He's not saying, he is not saying, Christians, you need to work in order to get saved and you need to keep working in order to stay saved.
08:50-08:52
He is not saying that.
08:52-08:54
Everyone say he is not saying that.
08:56-09:02
Okay, the Greek word tense here for strive means it's a single act.
09:03-09:05
He's saying you need to do this single act.
09:05-09:08
So this striving isn't this ongoing working thing.
09:08-09:11
He says this is a single thing.
09:11-09:14
He's talking specifically about receiving Christ.
09:15-09:16
And he's not saying work to earn.
09:16-09:21
He's saying you need to get serious about Jesus Christ.
09:23-09:30
Or to use another phrase, he's saying you need to violently turn from your sin.
09:32-09:36
You need to do whatever it takes to enter this rest that Jesus provides.
09:38-09:39
People, what does that mean?
09:42-09:49
I wanna sort of do a flashback to the gospels because Jesus actually talked about this a couple of times.
09:50-09:52
Look at the screen, Luke 16, 16.
09:52-09:53
Do we have that one?
09:53-09:55
Couldn't remember if I put that one on the thing.
09:55-09:55
There we go.
09:57-10:26
Jesus said this, he said, "The law and the prophets were until John," that's John the Baptist, "since then the good news of the kingdom of God preached. Look at this last phrase. He says, "And everyone forces his way into it." You know, in a parallel passage, Matthew 11, 12, Jesus said that last phrase this way.
10:27-10:39
He said, "The violent, take it by force." It's quite a different picture than we're used to, isn't it?
10:41-10:50
A lot of those we talk about receiving Jesus is put a check mark on the card or bow your heads if you wanna pray and receive Jesus, raise your hand or whatever, whatever.
10:50-10:52
And I'm not saying those things aren't valid.
10:53-10:54
I'm not saying that at all.
10:55-11:01
But Jesus said when the kingdom is preached, there's a violence of people getting into it.
11:02-11:04
It's people receiving it by force.
11:04-11:05
You could translate it this way.
11:06-11:13
Jesus was saying the kingdom of God is relentless and relentless people press their way into it and they press in violently.
11:14-11:15
It's sort of like the picture.
11:15-11:18
Have you ever been, ladies and gentlemen, have you ever been to the Pittsburgh airport?
11:20-11:23
And you know, you get on those trains that take you to the terminals.
11:23-11:24
You know what I'm talking about?
11:25-11:26
Okay, you know what I'm talking about, right?
11:26-11:33
Have you ever been there when it's busy and the train pulls up and you've got to get to the terminal and what do you do?
11:34-11:46
Do you stand there and go, "Well, I don't see a clear path into the train, "so I'll just stand here and wait." And if you do that, you're never going to get on.
11:47-11:48
When those doors open, what do you do?
11:50-11:51
You force your way in, don't you?
11:52-11:57
Grab the luggage, grab the kids, and you put your head down and straight through.
11:58-11:59
Plot through, right?
12:00-12:01
No, just me?
12:02-12:07
All right, if there's anybody here that I trampled at the Pittsburgh airport, consider this my formal apology.
12:07-12:08
But you know what I'm talking about, right?
12:09-12:11
You gotta force your way in.
12:13-12:15
And that's sort of the picture here.
12:18-12:19
That it's not automatic.
12:20-12:26
It's not like the gospel is the train that pulls up And you're like, "Oh yeah, that looks good." Jesus said, "No, no, no, no, no.
12:26-12:29
When the kingdom's preached, people are forcing their way into it.
12:31-12:37
They violently press in." Like, what does that look like?
12:37-12:38
I'll tell you exactly what that looks like.
12:38-12:39
It looks like a couple of things.
12:39-12:42
First of all, it's violent repentance.
12:44-12:46
It means violently turning from sin.
12:48-12:49
Here's what I mean.
12:50-13:04
If you're involved in a relationship, an affair of some kind, physical or emotional, violent repentance says, "You know, I can't be in this relationship, it's over.
13:06-13:13
"We're doing things that dishonor God's plan for marriage, "for God's plan for sexuality, it's over right now.
13:14-13:17
"And I'm coming clean." That's violent repentance.
13:18-13:19
That's pressing in.
13:20-13:22
or pornography addiction.
13:22-13:30
You're like, you know, I shouldn't be looking at this and someday, someday I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm probably gonna stop doing this.
13:30-13:34
No, violent repentance is, no, today.
13:35-13:44
I'm getting software installed, Covenant Eyes or something like that, or I'm taking my smartphone and I'm trashing it and I'm getting a rotary phone.
13:48-13:49
That's violent repentance.
13:50-13:51
That's what Jesus said.
13:51-13:55
The people that get serious about the kingdom, they force their way in.
13:56-13:59
Because there's no cost, it's too much when they see the call.
14:01-14:02
Maybe it's addiction.
14:02-14:04
I know I shouldn't have this addiction.
14:04-14:06
I'm taking too much of this.
14:06-14:07
I'm drinking too much of that.
14:07-14:11
Violent repentance is, I'm signing up for Christian recovery group today.
14:12-14:16
I'm getting around a group of people that are going to love me and care about me.
14:16-14:17
And I'm done with this today.
14:18-14:24
I'm not hoping it goes away on its own like like a pimple like that's not going to happen.
14:25-14:27
Violent repentance means I'm going after it.
14:29-14:30
That's what Jesus was talking about.
14:32-14:36
I know this is what God is telling me to stop doing.
14:37-14:39
So I'm violently quitting this now.
14:42-14:43
I'm not just going to hope it happens.
14:45-14:46
That's what he's talking about.
14:48-14:57
And that's why the Hebrew writer says, "Strive to enter this, rest." It's violent repentance, it's also violent faith.
14:58-15:00
It's violently acting on what I know.
15:05-15:12
You're gonna go home, you're gonna talk to a friend later today and they're like, "What did you talk about in church?" Well, the preacher's encouraging us to violence.
15:12-15:13
Yes, I am.
15:14-15:17
Violent faith, violent faith.
15:18-15:22
I'm honoring God with his money right now.
15:22-15:23
It's not mine, it's his.
15:24-15:26
And God calls me to be faithful in doing that.
15:26-15:27
I'm honoring him right now.
15:28-15:31
I'm going to be the spiritual leader in my home right now.
15:32-15:39
Dad's, you know, I've been kind of sitting on the back burner, you know, letting things kind of happen or hoping mom runs the ship.
15:39-15:41
God's called you to run the ship.
15:43-15:50
And if there's any intentionality behind the spiritual leadership, man, it's gonna be on you.
15:52-15:54
You might have to sit down with your kids and say, "Hey, guess what, kids?
15:55-16:09
"We're saying no to some things "so that we can say yes to some things "that God's calling us to do." Let's talk about baptism for a second.
16:11-16:13
Did you know that baptism is a command?
16:14-16:15
Did you know that?
16:16-16:17
Baptism is a command.
16:19-16:24
It's not for some Christians.
16:26-16:29
It's for everyone coming to Jesus Christ.
16:29-16:30
It's a command.
16:32-16:32
It's a command.
16:32-16:33
And what do you do to commands?
16:34-16:36
You obey them.
16:40-16:42
And if you haven't taken that step, why haven't you?
16:46-16:49
And I just want to encourage you, next week we're having a baptism.
16:49-16:51
I'm sorry, I have an eyelash, can you give me a second?
16:52-16:55
Did you ever have that, ladies and gentlemen, while you're preaching a sermon?
16:56-17:00
You get this eyelash, it's just like, did I get it?
17:01-17:01
All right.
17:02-17:03
What was I talking about, Darla?
17:04-17:05
Baptism, thank you.
17:07-17:15
If you're unwilling to obey Jesus Christ in step one, how are you ever gonna take step two in your faith?
17:17-17:19
Like, I just wanna do what God has for me.
17:19-17:21
Okay, well, step one is baptism.
17:22-17:23
That is step one.
17:23-17:26
And if you're not willing to do that, how are you gonna do step two?
17:27-17:29
Like, well, when can I do that?
17:29-17:30
Next, I just told you that, next week.
17:31-17:32
Next week we're having a baptism service.
17:33-17:37
Violent faith says, okay, If that's what God's calling me to do, I'm doing it.
17:37-17:39
And there's no question, I'm just doing it.
17:40-17:42
Because that's what God says, that's violent faith.
17:46-17:48
I've put it off long enough, there's no excuses.
17:52-17:53
Violent faith is like Zacchaeus.
17:53-17:55
Remember Zacchaeus, the wee little man?
17:55-17:56
You familiar with the song?
17:57-17:58
A wee little man was he?
18:00-18:06
I love the story of Zacchaeus because he shows us what this violent repentance faith looks like, remember?
18:07-18:20
Zacchaeus was like, "I'm giving half of my stuff away, "and if I've ripped anybody off of anything, "I'm repaying them back four times." And Jesus said, "This man got saved." Now, did Zacchaeus buy his way into heaven?
18:20-18:21
Absolutely not.
18:21-18:24
But Jesus said, "Look at the fruit of this man's life.
18:24-18:25
"He's serious about it.
18:26-18:28
"He's pressing in to the kingdom.
18:28-18:34
"He's striving to enter the rest." I'm honoring God no matter the cost.
18:35-18:41
And for the guy or gal that's still sitting here saying, well, you know, this sounds like you're saying you're saved by works.
18:41-18:47
No, these are not works anymore than entering the promised land was a work.
18:49-18:53
In all of these cases, it's stepping forward by faith, trusting God's provision.
18:53-18:55
And that's how the gospel is.
18:55-18:58
It's like, I'm done trying to be religious.
18:59-19:02
My Roman Catholic background is no longer my authority.
19:02-19:04
God's Word is my authority.
19:05-19:06
His way is right.
19:06-19:16
I know what He's telling me to turn from and turn to, and I'm doing whatever He wants me to do, whatever He says to do, I'm doing it now, and I'm doing it violently.
19:18-19:19
You have the command.
19:21-19:23
The command is to strive.
19:26-19:27
The command is to strive.
19:29-19:33
Number two, no excuses, last call to enter Jesus rest.
19:33-19:34
You have the information.
19:35-19:36
You have the information.
19:37-19:38
A lot of you know this verse.
19:40-19:44
And I think it's good for us to study it in the context in which it was written, right?
19:45-19:46
Look at verse 12.
19:47-20:03
It says, "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
20:06-20:13
You know, that's going to show up on signs on pastors' offices, or maybe you have a bookmark that says that in your Bible or whatever.
20:13-20:16
But let's understand this in its context.
20:16-20:20
He says, you know, strive to enter the rest, right?
20:21-20:25
And then he says, for the word of God, like, okay, for.
20:26-20:35
That means there's a connection between entering God's rest and the Word of God.
20:36-20:38
And it's a pretty obvious connection, isn't it?
20:39-20:51
Because it's disobedience to the Word that is actually forfeiting entering God's rest here and eternally.
20:54-20:55
And that's where the Hebrew writer is going here.
20:55-21:01
He's like, "Hey, hey, hey, this is God's word." And when God says something, he means it.
21:04-21:06
Breaking it down, first of all, he says God's word is living.
21:08-21:11
We believe that this book was written by God.
21:11-21:11
It's living.
21:12-21:17
And it's called living because the author is alive, the Holy Spirit.
21:17-21:27
He's just as alive today as he was when he wrote this, just as alive as he's always been.
21:28-21:31
This is a living word from God.
21:32-21:39
It's not some archaic, out of touch text, so he doesn't understand the issues that we're facing in 2023.
21:40-21:42
Yes, he does because he's alive.
21:42-21:44
This is the eternal word of God.
21:44-21:45
It's living.
21:48-21:50
So secondly, this word of God is active.
21:51-21:57
Isaiah 55 tells us that God's word always accomplishes the purposes for which He sends it out.
21:58-22:06
There's not another thing on this planet that can be said of, always successful, always does what it's supposed to, God's Word always does.
22:08-22:12
That's why anybody who stands up here to preach, that's our main concern, we gotta get it right.
22:12-22:14
We gotta represent the Word of God.
22:15-22:19
Small group leaders, precepts leaders, that's our concern.
22:19-22:20
We gotta get it right.
22:21-22:22
This is God's Word.
22:24-23:36
And it's active. It's alive, it's active. Then next he says it's piercing or exposing, we could say. Now the word for sword there is actually a dagger. You know, when you think sword maybe you're thinking like He-Man or some giant pirate sword or whatever. It's accurate cut in an accurate place. And that's what he's saying about the Word of God, it cuts us open. It reveals our hearts. Now, we already talked about the deceitfulness of sin back in chapter 3, verse 13. You remember that? We talked about the deceitfulness of sin, well, that's not even the worst part of the problem because God's word tells us in Jeremiah 17, 9, that your heart is deceitful above all things. And this is why we need the word of God, because listen, your heart will lie to you in a most convincing way.
23:38-23:46
And it makes you rationalize your sin. It makes you justify yourself and it'll try to stop you from repenting.
23:48-23:51
That's true of every single one of us sitting here, every single one of us watching this.
23:52-23:57
We have this ability to rationalize our own sin, make excuses for ourselves.
23:57-24:04
Like I realize this is probably wrong, but here's why it's okay for me to do this.
24:05-24:07
When that happens, do you know what's going on?
24:09-24:11
Your deceitful heart is lying to you.
24:11-24:12
That's what's happening.
24:14-24:15
He's using the examples we used before.
24:15-24:18
We talked about having the affair, right?
24:22-24:26
Do you know what is said in the heart of somebody going through the affair?
24:29-24:30
Typically things like this.
24:32-24:37
No one would understand this special bond I have with this woman who's not my wife.
24:37-24:38
Nobody would understand.
24:39-24:45
We have this really amazing connection and we have this really special bond People just wouldn't understand.
24:46-24:47
Love is really what matters.
24:51-24:51
You know what that is?
24:51-24:52
That's your heart lying to you.
24:54-24:56
And you, like a fool, are believing it.
24:59-25:00
We talked about pornography.
25:02-25:04
The heart will rationalize that too.
25:04-25:06
Hey, hey, nobody knows.
25:07-25:10
You're not really hurting anyone by doing this.
25:11-25:12
What's your heart lying to you?
25:14-25:15
We talked about addiction.
25:18-25:20
Well, your heart will lie to you about that, won't it?
25:22-25:23
What's the biggest lie with addiction?
25:24-25:27
I can quit this anytime I want, right?
25:28-25:37
I'm just doing this, it just takes the edge off a little bit, but I can quit doing this anytime I want.
25:38-25:41
That little voice that tells you that, You know what that is?
25:41-25:44
That is your lying heart lying to you.
25:51-25:56
So sin will lie to you and your heart reinforces the lie and deceives you into believing it.
25:57-26:00
And you're like, wait, wait, you took a weird turn here, Pastor Jeff.
26:00-26:02
I thought we were talking about the word of God.
26:02-26:02
Oh yes, we are.
26:03-26:04
'Cause that's the point.
26:05-26:07
It's the word of God that exposes all this.
26:08-26:11
Otherwise, we'd never know what the truth is.
26:11-26:13
We wouldn't have the objective standard.
26:13-26:18
And we'd just be, my lying heart would be talking to you with your lying heart, and what do you think's true?
26:19-26:20
And we're just lying to each other.
26:20-26:24
But God gave us this word here that we can say this is what the truth is.
26:25-26:27
We know what the truth is.
26:27-26:29
And God's word exposes the lie.
26:33-26:34
You see, that's what he's talking about here.
26:34-26:36
God's word cuts you to the heart.
26:39-26:42
It says here that God's Word discerns.
26:43-26:51
That Word discern, that speaks to being a critic or a judge, meaning God's Word analyzes the facts.
26:54-26:57
God's Word ultimately is what determines whether you're real or not.
27:00-27:10
Now you see church, the word isn't just God's standard for self-evaluation or elder evaluation for the church.
27:10-27:19
Yes, it is those things, but ultimately where the Hebrew writer is going with this is look, God's word is God's standard of evaluation.
27:26-27:32
You have in your hands or on your lap or on your phone, did I miss anybody?
27:34-27:39
You have the very thing that God is going to use to judge you if you do not receive Jesus.
27:43-27:47
So you're not gonna be able to stand before him and be like, well, you know what, God?
27:49-27:52
You're telling me that was wrong, but I'm just gonna have to plead ignorance here.
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I didn't know that the thing that I was doing was wrong.
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Yeah, you did.
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God said it.
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You have the information.
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Not just some ink and rice paper book, but a living, life-changing, cut you open and lay out your heart, word from God.
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So you have the command and you have the information.
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So finally, you have the appointment.
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You have the appointment. Look at verse 13.
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It says, "And no creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account." Listen, you will give an account.
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We have to be clear here.
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When we talk about standing before God, we're talking about two different things.
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Because the Bible says standing before God is different for believers than it is for unbelievers.
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Those are two different things.
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Listen, tune in, because I know so many Christians that mix this up, right?
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So standing before God for believers.
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Listen, you will stand before God and your works will be judged to determine your eternal rewards.
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That's 1 Corinthians 3, that's 2 Corinthians 5.
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Write those down, read those, study those.
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That's like a whole sermon series.
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We're gonna have to do that someday, but not today.
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Here's the short version.
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Believers, you will not be judged for your sin.
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You will not be judged for your sin.
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The Bible says your sin was taken away.
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God says, I will remember their sins no more.
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The Bible says there is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
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You will not be judged for your sin, believers.
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I've talked to so many Christians that think they will.
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Yeah, I've talked to so many Christians who are like, you know, when we're in line to get in heaven, don't stand behind me 'cause God's gonna, no, that's not biblical.
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Jesus bore your judgment on the cross.
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You know, we talk about the cross a lot around here, right?
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Do you know why?
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Because that is where God punished your sin.
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That is the means by which your sin is taken away.
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So let's not undermine the promise and the work of Jesus Christ by giving some nonsense that believers have to answer for their sin before God.
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That's not what the Bible says.
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But unbelievers, I got a different story for you.
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Revelation chapter 20 tells us that your sin will be judged and sentence will be passed.
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And the sentence is an eternal residency in the lake of fire.
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And that's why the Hebrew writer gives us this warning.
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He says, "No creature is hidden from his sight." So look, you can fool your spouse.
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You can fool your pastor.
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You can fool your small group leader.
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You can fool your mom.
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You can fool your boss.
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Because your heart is so deceitful, you can even fool yourself.
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But the truth is you will not fool God.
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Interestingly, you see this expression here in verse 13.
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It says, "All are naked and," look at this, "exposed to the eyes." This caught my attention because that phrasing was used in those days to refer to wrestling.
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Now, like, I don't mean like Hulk Hogan.
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I mean the fake wrestling, you know, that Greco-Roman fake stuff that they did.
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Just seeing who's still listening.
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But this was actually a wrestling term, exposed to the eyes, and it spoke to when a wrestler had his opponent by the throat and had him in a position where he can't move, immobilized.
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And his point is this, you can't run from God.
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Sooner or later you're going to face Him and He's going to have you in a position where you're going to give an account.
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He's going to pin you and He's going to expose you.
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You think you're getting away with something?
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You think God's not going to know?
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You think you're not going to face Him?
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You have an appointment and you can't cancel it?
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The question is, are you ready for it?
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He will, on that day, lay out your heart.
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you're going to be revealed truly and totally to Him.
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God knows who you are, not who you say you are, or not who you've convinced Facebook and Instagram, what you want them to think you are.
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God knows what you really are.
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And in the end, all that matters Here's what God thinks about you.
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Once upon a time, Adam in the Garden of Eden sinned.
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And he ran and he hid from God, naked and ashamed.
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And you realize that story plays out in all of our lives.
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God finds us in the garden and the pretense is stripped away and we see ourselves for what we really are.
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And this is what is so glorious about the gospel because when we receive Jesus Christ, That sin and that guilt and that shame, it's all been taken away.
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So we can stand before God exactly as we are.
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We have nothing to hide.
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We have nothing to defend.
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We have no burdens to bear.
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No shame, no guilt.
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Because Jesus removed all of that.
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And that is the rest that He provides.
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Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart.
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There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
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Strive to enter that.
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Don't miss it for anything.
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Would you pray with me please as our worship team makes their way forward.
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Father in heaven, Just simply ask that we would be a church that gets violent.
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Certainly not against people.
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Not really one person, I guess, just we get violent with ourselves.
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And Father, your word tells us to bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
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So there's a word for those of us who do know you that we would violently repent, that we wouldn't make allowances for sin.
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but that we would deal with our sin harshly.
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God, I pray especially for those who don't know you.
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They've been sort of sitting on the sidelines, or I guess in our earlier analogy, where they're just standing in the Pittsburgh airport, watching the train pull up, and people get on and they think, well, maybe they'll get the next one.
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They just look too hard to get on that train.
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You've told us to strive.
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So Father, I pray that as you grant repentance, that you would give people the faith to trust you, to believe in the promise of your rest, and to violently go after anything in their lives that they know either you are calling them to or you are calling them to stop doing.
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Father, let your spirit manifest that striving in all of us.
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We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read Hebrews 4:11-13
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
What does it mean to “strive to enter that rest”? What exactly is “striving”? Give some examples of violently repenting and violently having faith.
How does God’s Word “discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart”?
How do you convince someone in sin that their heart is deceiving them regarding that sin?
Breakout
Pray for one another.
