Now if you have your Bible open to Hebrews chapter 4, I want to read verses 14 through the end of the chapter. It's the invitation to come to Jesus the Savior and rest in him. 

Seeing then that we have a great high priest who's passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Then here's the invitation. Let us come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. 

Come and rest. Rest in Jesus for your eternal salvation. And I want to begin with an example that I've used before. Some of you have heard this example, but it was presented by Major Ian Thomas, the founder of the Torchbearers Organization. He's now in heaven. But he explained it this way. 

Supposing your destiny, the forgiveness of your sins, your eternal salvation, depended upon this project. God has assigned to you to dig a ditch. And he's told you the measurement, the length that should be, the height, and the width. And you have one day to begin at the break of day, and you must be finished by sunset that evening. And he's given you a shovel and a pick. 

And so you've gotten up with diligence on that day to start the project. And you're digging, picking the hard soil away and throwing the dirt out of the ditch. And you're working diligently because you know that your destiny depends upon completing this task. And before long, you begin to realize this is an awesome, almost an impossible task. Still, you plunge into the work, and you cast the dirt out, and you pick the hard gravel and the rocks, and you throw the dirt out. 

And pretty soon, it's nine o'clock in the morning, and you realize you're really getting weary. Your muscles are beginning to ache already, and you know that you're not beginning to complete the task. Nevertheless, you keep on with diligence. And you work until noon, and you're sweating, and you're groaning, and you're in pain with the task. But in your heart, you want to gain eternal salvation. And so you continue on, and you know it's not going to be finished by sunset. 

And then comes a man walking up to you. What a man he is. He's clothed with a robe that's dripping with blood because he's been scorched. He has a crown of thorns on his head. And he walks up to you, and he said, let me dig the ditch. Let me give you a rest. 

Now, the question is, what did he mean? Did he mean you should work harder? You should join him in the task? It's clearly evident what he meant when he said, let me dig the ditch. He meant, give me that shovel and that pick, and you sit down there under a shade tree, and you rest. 

And Major Ian Thomas used that as an example to a group of pastors on faith. This is what faith is. This is what it means to trust the Son of God, to come to him and rest, and to depend upon him for our eternal salvation. Jesus said, come to me and rest. Let me dig the ditch. Let me be the one who will save you and give you eternal salvation. Let me be your Sabbath rest. Come to me and rest. 

And the question we face today as we come to this scripture, every one of us, have I come to Jesus Christ and believed that he will dig the ditch? He's the one who gains this gift of eternal salvation for me. I can accomplish it. For 1,500 years, God taught the Jews the meaning of faith rest. 

I'd like for you to turn back to Genesis chapter 2 in your Bible and look at this first example of what it means to rest. Genesis, the second chapter, and I want you to please look at verse 1 of chapter 2. Thus the heavens and the earth and all the host of them were finished. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. 

Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made. This is an example of rest. When God had finished creation, he spoke this universe into existence by his word. When he'd finished creation, he sat down and he rested. This is the meaning of the Sabbath. 

Also, I'd like for us to look at another example where he teaches this to us in Exodus chapter 20. Would you turn to Exodus chapter 20 in your Bible? And let's again read an explanation of what it means to come to the Lord and to rest. Look at verse 8, Exodus chapter 20 verse 8. God said this, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 

But the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work, you nor your son nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the seventh day and hallowed it. 

And we're not going to take the time to read from Exodus 31, but God said in Exodus 31, the Sabbath day, the seventh day, is a sign between me and the people of Israel. And he said, I want you to keep that sign. The Sabbath is an example of what it means to cease from our own works and to let Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Savior, dig the ditch. To trust him completely to save us. 

And so this new covenant message to the Hebrews is a merciful appeal to come to Jesus, our Savior, to cease from all of our own works and to rest in Christ. This is what Jesus meant when he spoke to the crowds of Jewish people and said, come unto me and rest. All you who labor and are heavy laden, come to me and rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me and I will give rest to your souls. 

In John chapter 19 verse 30, where we have the description of the sacrifice that Jesus made to save us when he gave his life and shed his blood for doomed unworthy sinners, Jesus ended that experience by crying from the cross. It is finished. Dear friend, that's referring to our personal salvation. Jesus finished the work for us and Jesus is our Sabbath. 

We don't have a Sabbath day as new covenant Christians. We have a Sabbath person. We don't rest on one day of the week as a special day. We worship on the first day of the week because that's the day in the book of Acts when the believers met to worship because of the resurrection of Jesus. But Jesus is our Sabbath. And in terms of our own salvation, our own justification, our own pardon from sin, Jesus finished the work. There's nothing more to do. 

There's no work that you and I can do to gain God's favor and to experience salvation. We can only come to Jesus and rest in him. Now there are three major points in chapter four that I'm going to mention this morning and have us to look at. 

First of all, in the first 10 verses, the faith rest promise remains. It's still valid. It's available to us right now. It continues. It'll continue until Christ comes to take his people from planet earth. That's verses 1 to 10. 

And his appeal for diligence is urgent. That's verses 11 to 13. He makes an appeal that we'll be diligent to enter into this rest. And his invitation to come is genuine. His invitation to come and rest is a genuine offer. 

First, let's look at his faith promise. It still remains. Look at verse 1. I'm going to read this scripture again. Therefore, since a promise remains of entering his rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to come short of it. 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. 

For we who have believed do enter rest, as he said, so I swore in my wrath they shall not enter my rest. Now, his faith rest promise remains, and that's important for us to realize today because that's for us. He's saying, I want the people who are at Living Hope Church this morning to remember this faith rest promise is valid for a day. 

And with these statements of verses 1 to 10, the Holy Spirit appeals to us to consider the assuring promise concerning new covenant rest. He said, consider this. This promise is viable for all sinners because of the vicarious death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Paul stated that in 1 Corinthians 15 when he said, here's how you're saved. He clearly states, how are we saved? Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. He was buried. He rose again the third day according to the scriptures. And this is the message of scripture that can give you rest and may you rest if we believe that message. 

Now, note three of the words in verses 1 through 10 that I want to highlight. First of all, in verse 1, notice the word fear. This is Hebrews chapter 4, verse 1. Therefore, since the promise remains of entering his rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to come short of it. Unless we hold fast to this truth that remains, our hearts should be trembling before God right now because the Bible says, unless we believe and experience this personal faith rest, God's wrath is upon us. 

I don't like to say that this morning. I don't want to spoil anyone's good day. But the Bible says this truth. It says God is a consuming fire. It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of God, the living God, if we don't believe in Jesus Christ's saving gospel. John the Baptist said, he who does not believe Christ, the wrath of God abides upon him. 

And what scripture is saying to us, friends, is the only thing that will prevent a guilty person from being saved and having God's mercy and grace is to come short, short, to come short of this faith rest that he promised. Jesus is our savior. And if we don't believe him, if we don't rest in that truth, we will come short and we'll experience the wrath of God. 

Notice that word in verse 1, the word fear. Then in verse 2, notice the word gospel, 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. The New Testament gospel is all about what God did. Friends, this Bible is all about what God did to save us. It's not about what we can do or should do to be saved. 

Jesus said in Matthew 20, verse 28, he said, I came to give myself a ransom. Every one of us can personalize that today. Why did Jesus come to the world? He came to give himself a ransom for you and me. And in the mind of the typical Jew to whom the book of Hebrews was written, believing God was about everything that is required of a man to be saved. It's about man doing many works, many religious and righteous deeds. 

And in the mind of that Jew, it wasn't resting in Christ, it was doing. When that Jew heard the gospel that Jesus died for his sins, his viewpoint was, this isn't adequate. I have to do something also. Remember in Acts, chapter 15, when John was preaching on that chapter, there was a great controversy with the Jews. Is it enough, just enough, is the gospel adequate that Jesus died for my sins? Don't you think I need to add something? I need to keep the Jewish law. That was a controversy in the beginning of church history. 

We must do something to add to what Jesus did on the cross. We must be baptized. We must keep sacraments of a church. We must live by the Ten Commandments. Many people who are in churches like our church today believe there's really something I need to do to add to the gospel. And that is not true, folks. The gospel is the message of how a person is saved. And whenever I wonder about am I saved, I come back to the truth of the gospel. 

Do I believe that Jesus died for me, was buried, and rose again? That is what we need to hold fast, said Paul, in order to be saved. And the third word I want you to notice in the first ten verses is the word rest. Verse three says, rest because the works for our salvation are finished. Let's ponder that right now. And I want each one of us, just as one individual standing before God, to consider this truth. Do I believe that Jesus finished the work for my eternal salvation? Do I believe that? Do I hold fast to that? 

That's what resting is about. We're to rest as God rested on the seventh day. And this passage says, they didn't enter in to rest. They shall not experience the rest because of disobedience. The book of Galatians was written about that. The teachers were coming into the church, teaching there's something you must do. You must add to the gospel. It's not enough that Jesus died. 

But the warning is enter while we hear the voice of Jesus. I wonder, dear friend, do you hear the voice of Jesus today from the scriptures? He said, I love you. I'm your priest. I died for you. You can rest in me. This rest remains, and it's available today, it's available in this year, this first Sunday of 2019, it's available to us. Be careful, said the writer of Hebrews, lest you come short of believing that. 

Now the second thing I want you to notice is in verses 11 to 13, and it's the fact that the appeal to come to God and rest is urgent. It's urgent to be diligent. Let's look at verses 11, 12, and 13 again. Listen to this urgent appeal. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. 

For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there's no creature hidden from God's sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account. 

This merciful chapter, this merciful appeal written to the first century Hebrew people is a call to be serious-minded about our eternal salvation. I want to present that as a thought for every one of us at this moment. Do you consider yourself someone who's serious-minded, you're diligent about your eternal salvation? 

When I say that this morning, I remember when Jesus talked to a Jewish man when he was here on this planet about eternal salvation. This man came to Christ and he asked the question, are there only a few who will be saved? And the first thing Jesus said to that Jewish person seeking about eternal salvation was strive to enter in. And the word Jesus used in the Greek language was the word agonize. 

Then he talked about the fact that many will not enter in because they're indifferent, they're lukewarm. Because it's not a casual question, it's not an indifferent matter. What is God saying to us with these three verses, 11, 12, and 13? He's warning us about the danger of disobedience because God knew not one of the sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob could keep his old covenant, keep the laws. 

He offered a free gift, a new covenant, a free gift of salvation on his terms of faith rest. And the only danger is disobedience and not to mix our faith with that promise. God is saying to us this morning, friends, God, he's saying I've done everything necessary to save you. Now will you stop your efforts and will you stop striving to gain eternal salvation? 

Will you just be willing to come to my son and give him the shovel? Let him dig the ditch for you. Let him save you and stop all of your personal efforts in terms of how to be saved. He said that disobedience is such a danger, such a risk for man. And he said secondly, we must give account to God concerning his saving word. 

He said that in verse 11, verse 12, for the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. We must realize that every one of us faces death. Death is true for every person. 

I received a letter yesterday from a man who's struggling with aging and the fact of death. He's had serious health complications. It's inevitable. And in light of the fact that every man is appointed to die, we need to realize ultimately we're accountable to God and we're accountable for his word. That causes me and I hope also for you, you'll be considering the question right now in this time of worship, what have I done with the word of God? 

We read in John chapter 1 that Jesus is the word of God. What is in my heart concerning Jesus, the word of God? Do I consider him as the one who's accomplished my personal eternal salvation? Has it really been true as Simon Peter said in 1 Peter chapter 2 that I've turned to him? And right now I know he's my shepherd. He's my savior. He's the overseer of my soul. 

So in verses 11 to 13, we see the danger of disobedience. We must give an account concerning his saving word and our heart is known to God. As I speak this morning, I realize that concerning every one of us, we either worship and trust Christ in our heart or we've not come to that place in our life. 

What is my resting place? Church? My good deeds? My worthy life? Or is my resting place the son of God who said, it's finished, I've done it all for you? Have I come to him and trusted him? My faith has found a resting place. We sang this song Sunday morning last week, not in device or creed. I trust the ever living one. His wounds for me shall plead. 

I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and he died for me. Is that our assurance this morning as we consider this great, wonderful chapter of scripture? So we found out that the faith rest promise remains, that it's available today to every one of us. 

Every person living on this, it remains, it's available. And we find that God said our diligence must be with a sense of urgency, an intense desire to know that we're saved. And then the third point I want us to notice is in verses 14 through 15, seeing then that we have a great high priest who's passed into the heavens, Jesus, the son of God. 

Let us hold fast our confession for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may find mercy and grace to help in the time of need. 

These three verses summarize for us today in such a beautiful way, the new covenant invitation to come to God with our sin, our shame, our guilt. As a songwriter said, just as I am without one plea, O Lamb of God, I come to thee. That involves three things. It involves that I believe that he's our high priest. 

Now, we read that verse several times this morning, verse 14, which says Jesus is our great high priest. The question is, do you believe that? It's one thing to talk about it, but it's another thing to believe and to hold fast to that truth, to get a tight grip on this promise that Jesus is the priest who made the ultimate sufficient sacrifice for my sin. 

Get hold of that tight, with a tight grip on that promise and cling to it with desperate contrition. And I think of Simon Peter himself. We've been studying the four Gospels for a number of weeks on Thursday night, and we recently studied about Simon Peter's betrayal on the day of crucifixion, blatantly denied that he even knew Jesus three times. 

And Peter went out with a heart that was broken because of his disobedience and his sin. Simon Peter, you have a great high priest who's making the sacrifice for your sins. Will you believe him as your high priest? Will you believe that he sympathizes concerning our helplessness and our weakness? That's in verse 15. Do you believe that Jesus Christ, the high priest, is mad at you? 

He's got a grudge against you? This verse answers that question. He grieves for us when we fail, and he longs for us just to come and to touch him and trust him. He's not disgusted with us. His heart is grieving for us until we come to him. He pleads with us to come back. He makes intercession at the right hand of the Father until we come to believe him. He says, come now and let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. 

Though they be red as crimson, they shall be as wool. Come and reason with me and trust me. So the last part of this scripture says God is extending an invitation to every person to come, and that invitation, friends, is genuine. It's for all of us to come to Christ and rest in him and to believe that he welcomes us back to come back home. 

One of my favorite chapters of the Bible is the 15th chapter of Luke, the story of the prodigal son who went away, left his father, went away and squandered his living with sin and unrighteousness, with prodigal living. And then he came to himself. This is what salvation is all about. He came to himself and he said, I'm going to go back to my father. I'm going to confess my guilt to him and just trust him. 

He believed in the mercy of his father. That shameful, disappointed son just needed to do one thing. He needed to believe in the merciful welcome of his son just to come and to be saved. This was his desire. 

Well, I just wanted us to look at those three points today in this chapter and to relate them to our own life. The faith rest promise still remains. It's available to us today. God's appeal for us is to be diligent concerning our eternal salvation, have a diligent heart. 

And his invitation to come is valid. It's genuine. It's real. And one thing I'd like to make clear this morning by this part of the word is whoever you are, you have an invitation to come and rest. Don't come and work and don't come and try. Come and rest in the fact that Jesus finished the work of salvation for you at the cross. 

Has there been a time in your life when your heart turned to God's savior son to believe him? Revelation 22 verse 17 is his invitation, standing invitation. Your will, let him come and take this water of life freely. This is the simplicity, just coming as I am to the Lord, taking him at his word. He said, I promise you, if you come to me, I'll never cast you out. 

And as I said many times from this pulpit, Jesus Christ is a man of his word. He always keeps his promises. And any person who's willing to come aware of our guilt and our unworthiness, aware that we're never going to be able to dig that ditch by sunset, we come to Jesus just as we are. And he receives us. He welcomes us. He promises eternal life. He cannot lie. Our part is to come to him and rest. 

Let's bow in a prayer, please. Father, I thank you so much for this part of your word. And I thank you, Father, that this promise remains. It's available to us who are concerned and who have a desire to be saved. I pray for the people who are believers to be encouraged by this part of the Word today. And should someone be with us who's not yet come to Christ, I pray for that person to choose to come to Him. Thank you, Lord, for your faithful work, your grace and mercy and your gift. Thank you, Father. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.