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For those who are just visiting, you're going to get to experience something I do, not all

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the time, but regularly.

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I like to touch sometimes on what happens in the news and then give a biblical or theological

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response to it because I think that we can do that often.

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One quiz question, what was the perhaps the number one headline from this past week?

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Ripples everywhere.

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Lots of folks were talking about it.

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Student loan forgiveness.

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Did we hear that that was announced this past week?

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Alright.

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This is not going to be a commentary on the rights or the wrongs.

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Whatever, that's up to you.

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If that impacts you, if you're making that decision, have at it.

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Talk on the side, weigh your options.

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What I would like to touch on is a viral meme that went around the internet.

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I could not log on to any of my social media once the announcement was made without seeing

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this meme.

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It was all over the place.

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I'm sure it was shared by well-intended folk, but you might have realized that I'm going

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to mention it because it's good to critique it.

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So let's critique it.

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Here's the meme.

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If you're a Christian and you're big mad about the possibility of student loan debt being

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canceled, let me remind you that the entirety of your faith is built upon a debt you couldn't

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pay that someone stepped in and paid for you.

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Sounds nice, doesn't it?

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Sounds accepting.

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Sounds like the kind of thing that Christians could stand behind and support, and many Christians

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were.

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I would like to submit to you that though at first glance this is not so bad, however,

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this statement does continue a long tradition of mixing socio-political happenings with

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bad theology.

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This mixing is usually to help lend biblical or Christian support to something that otherwise

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should be left outside of the biblical and Christian discussion.

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There's a little bit of an oil and water attempt, if you will.

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What do I mean by that?

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Well, first let us look at the Gospel because this meme is attempting to mix the statement

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about student loan debt forgiveness with the Gospel.

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That's the mixture.

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That's the attempt.

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What is the Gospel?

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This is in a nutshell three points about the Gospel, the good news.

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Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the second person of the Godhead, voluntarily offered himself

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as the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.

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He voluntarily sacrificed himself to pay the sin debt that you and I could not pay.

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Is that a fair summary?

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Number two, all the debt was taken upon himself.

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All the debt from past, present, and his time, and all the way until probation ends, all

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of that debt was taken singularly and solely upon Jesus Christ himself.

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Correct?

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He did not share the burden with anyone else and in reality he could not because only Jesus

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could have paid this debt for humanity.

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It could not have been shared.

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And finally, when you are forgiven of sin by the blood of Jesus, your sins are entirely

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scrubbed clean.

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That's the great and fantastic news of the Gospel.

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God treats your sins when Jesus' blood cleanses it and washes it.

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He treats you as if you've never sinned ever.

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They're cast into the trench.

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They're tossed into the black holes that maybe James Webb Telescope is going to show us one

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day.

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When God looks at you after you have accepted Christ's sacrifice, what does he see?

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Christ's robe of righteousness on you.

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Scrubbed clean, wiped, gone.

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There is a totality in the forgiveness of the Gospel.

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By contrast, this student, and again this is not, maybe you're in favor of some of these

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points, I'm just drawing the contrast between the Gospel and what's going to happen with

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this process or this act if it comes to fruition.

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By contrast, student loan debt forgiveness will forcibly transfer the debts from the

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debtors to the broader society.

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I use the word forcibly because I was not consulted on this.

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They did not come to me.

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Maybe you had a different experience.

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Maybe they came to you and they said, how do you feel about accepting someone else's

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debt?

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They did not do that to me.

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So for this to happen means that it will, and we're going to touch on this, it will

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be forcibly imposed on a broader sense.

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That's not voluntary.

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That's a direct opposition.

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This act is not voluntary.

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Often, often the debtors can or could pay back the debt.

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Most student loan debt is held by people that are in the middle to upper middle class.

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They usually have advanced degrees.

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That's where the greater weight of student debt is.

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Not all, but the greater weight is on those with higher advanced degrees, which means

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the higher likelihood of a better paying job, generally speaking.

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So they can or they could pay the debt.

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That's very different than that sin debt, diametrically opposed.

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You and I cannot in any sense, the tiniest fraction of a point pay towards our sin debt.

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Not at all.

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Often the people that can or could find themselves struggling because either they haven't, they

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won't, or their priorities on debt management are out of order.

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Often.

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Second, unlike the debt of sin burdened by Jesus and Jesus alone, the forgiveness is

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a redistribution of debt.

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It is.

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There is no magical wand or eraser that poof lets it disappear into nothingness.

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It is a redistribution of debt.

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Both liberal and conservative sources in economics believe that this will definitely add to the

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current inflationary state.

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They believe that it definitely could increase the likelihood of higher taxes, that it definitely

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incentivizes universities to further raise their rates.

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In other words, that money goes somewhere and it's due somehow.

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It's not just scrubbed clean, unlike your sins when Christ's blood is applied to it.

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Can you see how this is not the gospel?

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That means that there is no totality of forgiveness with this act.

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There is not.

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Forgiveness is a euphemism for redistribution.

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Maybe you're in favor of it.

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I know a lot of people are in favor of the redistribution approach to these things.

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Maybe you are.

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Okay, this is not a commentary on that.

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Again, we're drawing the points on how it's not the gospel.

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The argument is also faulty theology because if it were not faulty theology, then this

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idea would apply to all debt.

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Credit cards, auto, mortgage, et cetera.

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All debt.

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But you don't hear arguments for that, at least not yet.

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I say give it time.

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I say give it time.

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If we're going to apply this, the logical conclusion is to take this application to

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its extent.

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That extent is everything.

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Why not scrub our visas clean and our master cards and our Subarus or Toyotas?

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Why not if we're going to apply this across the board?

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No one's doing that just yet.

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This seems to be a backwards application.

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It sounds good, so we're going to backwards apply the Bible into something.

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What is good theology then when it comes to your debt?

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Well, let's turn to the Bible.

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Don't take my word on it.

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The greatest source for all of our ideas, our theologies, our framework for applying

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it to life, the Bible.

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One, a good principle is to not conflate the gospel with things that are not the gospel.

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If it looks kind of like it but it is not, please don't try and conflate the two.

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That's just a general principle.

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Slow down on it and weigh out these different aspects that I've kind of outlined and say

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do they line up?

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And if not, try to not force that blending.

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Force that square peg round hole kind of idea.

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Pray for discernment.

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Be slow to overly apply the gospel principle.

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The gospel is the gospel.

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There is something more grand about what Jesus did for you and I than just simply how it

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applies to our financial situation today.

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That's so high and lofty.

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I would like to leave the gospel the gospel.

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So now some Bible verses if you're wanting to take note.

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Proverbs 13, 7, and 8, pay to all what is owed to them.

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Taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is

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owed, honor to whom honor is owed, owe no one anything except to love one another.

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That's a great starting point.

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Pay your dues, owe no one except love.

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Proverbs 22, 7, this is B, the second half of that verse.

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The borrower is the slave of the lender.

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Don't borrow outside of your means essentially because then your paycheck comes and as quickly

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as it comes it bleeds right through your fingers and it goes out because you're then working

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for the lender.

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Luke 14, 28, in the context of the cost of discipleship, Christ also gives an illustration

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that can apply here.

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For which of you desiring to build a tower does not first sit down and count the cost

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whether he has enough to complete it?

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We are asking 18, 19, and 20, and 21 year olds to not really consider the long term.

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Can they pay off the tower that they're signing their name to?

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It is good.

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We should be encouraging our children or our grandchildren or you if you're helping them

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out.

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When you put your name on the bottom of that paper on that electronic form, have you weighed

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out what this tower is going to cost you?

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And can you pay for it?

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It's a fantastic principle.

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Apply it to all of your purchases basically.

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It's a good principle.

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And then finally Psalm 37, 21, the wicked borrows but does not pay back but the righteous

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is generous and gives.

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This is not the gospel when it comes to an adult.

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At 18 we consider them adults.

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There's debate.

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At 18 we consider them mature enough to sign on the dotted line which means that at that

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point we are asking them to then weigh out all of these different options.

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And if they get over their head I'm sure there are ways of doing it but please do not conflate

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the ways of relief with what Jesus did for your sins.

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They are not the same.

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So when these memes come around when they catch like fire and it sounds so good, pray

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for discernment my friends.

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It's not always what it looks like on the surface.

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That's my own.

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That's my little bit.

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Now we'll get into our message.

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Let's pray.

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Heavenly Father thank you again that we can come and worship you this morning.

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That in unity, in voice, in song, in prayer we can come before your throne.

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We can acknowledge you as our Lord and Savior.

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So as we open up your word I pray that your Holy Spirit would be present.

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Give me the words to speak but also I pray that you would soften our hearts that we might

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be receptive.

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As we pray in Jesus' name, amen.

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For those who are just here you are catching us on 1, 2, 3,.4 of I don't know how long

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a sermon series.

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I have started to describe the sermon series like a train where we started with the locomotive

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of Hebrews chapter 12, the very end of that chapter and we looked at photos from the James

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Webb telescope and we said how amazing the universe is, how amazing, more amazing is

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God.

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And then how much does he love us and what is our response to him?

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Well we respond to him with reverence, with awe, with worship.

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Then if we're going to ask the question how could that look, well we go to our best human

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example and that would be Jesus Christ himself.

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Where he cleansed out the temple in Matthew the second time in his ministry.

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How did he respond to the children?

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How did he respond to the hypocrites?

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How did he act in that place of prayer and worship, healing, shouting hosannas, etc.

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Defending the innocent.

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Then because he referred to the temple as the house of prayer, we turn to where that

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reference was taken from, Isaiah 56.

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And we looked at how before the house of prayer becomes the house of prayer, we notice that

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the foreigner and the eunuchs, the outcasts are welcomed into the body of believers.

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Those on the fringe, those that are hurting, those that have been damaged, those that are

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converting in.

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We give them room to do so as they are and we allow Jesus to work in their lives.

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We shouldn't close the door and we shouldn't expect perfection before we let people come

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and worship God.

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So are we allowing our doors of this church to be that?

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Are we welcoming in the outcasts because you need to do that first before we can have a

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house of prayer?

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That's our third car.

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If you were paying close attention, you will have noticed that I purposefully did not land

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on the caveat.

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The caveat to the eunuchs and to the foreigners in Isaiah 56 is this in verse 4, to the eunuchs

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who keep my Sabbaths.

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And then in verse 6, the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, everyone who keeps

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the Sabbath.

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Now I purposefully skipped over that because we are following this progression of things.

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Well one, it starts with are we welcoming and are we opening?

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Well now let's look at the next step, the next car.

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Again this is why I say we are just kind of following this train through inspired writings

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and seeing where God wants to take us with regards to worship and reverence.

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Additionally, I want to share with you a purposeful approach to this.

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I don't know, I haven't asked, I haven't heard it.

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Some might be wondering why we haven't talked about the forms of worship.

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Why we really haven't gone into a list of what to do when it comes to worshiping God.

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How should we sing, how should we pray, how should we do all of these things?

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That's by design.

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It is by design that we are not leapfrogging into what it looks like, but rather we are

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laying the foundation for the heart attitude.

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We are laying the foundation for the principles of we respond to God.

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This is a place of healing for the sin sick.

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This is where we allow joyful worship, not dead-panned stoic silence.

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You can have joy in your worship.

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We are laying the groundwork because if we don't have that groundwork laid then we can

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easily fall into just forms.

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Thinking that the forms are the groundwork and that would be reversing it.

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Because we can easily think of Micah chapter 6 when we do this where Micah 6, God is saying,

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With what shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before God on high?

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Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old, forms of worship?

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It's what God had dictated.

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Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

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Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

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Good questions.

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All of that is proper.

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But then God responds, He's told you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require

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of you but to do justice, to love kindness, to walk humbly with your God.

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If all we do is walk in these doors and think that our forms are what God cares most about,

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we've gotten it backwards like the people in Micah's day.

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So we are purposefully laying the foundation for the forms.

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Because if your heart's not in it, my friends, you are not being reverent no matter how perfectly

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you do the forms.

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You're not.

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We touched on that last time.

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If we come here to worship God and our first thoughts are how indecently someone is dressed,

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you are not being reverent.

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If your first thought is why aren't we kneeling, why is that person sitting for prayer, that's

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not reverence.

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If your first thought is, and that list could continue, if that's your first thought, your

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first thought is about criticism or this and that and so on, and it's not about honoring

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your creator and by extension the image of him in those around you, if you're not loving

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those people, if you're not caring for those people, if you're not permitting the space

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for broken hearted, sin-sick, addicted, beat down and exhausted humans to come to their

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God for healing, if we're not allowing that, we're not being reverent no matter what else

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we do.

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So we are going to touch on, we're going to start our look at this caveat, the Sabbath.

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Because it's very clear that these individuals described as the foreigner and as the eunuchs,

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and I would extend that, that's Christians, that's the rest of us, if we are going to

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come into the house of prayer, then this caveat extends to you and to me.

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If you are unfamiliar with the seventh day Sabbath, please forgive me that today is not

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going to be an expounding on the proof text for the seventh day Sabbath.

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Find me afterwards, talk to one of our elders, any one of my church members here will help

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you do a Bible study.

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I have volunteered you all.

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You start a creation, you go to Exodus 16, Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5, a couple of times

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in Isaiah, you go to Nehemiah with the rebuilding of the wall, Jesus in all the gospels, then

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into the Acts and what the apostles did, you go into Hebrews, you go into Revelation chapter

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14, the seventh day Sabbath and its relationship to our creator is all the way through Genesis

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to Revelation.

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It's all there.

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We are instead, like we have been doing, going to look at more of the foundation to it.

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Why the emphasis on the Sabbath for the foreigner and the eunuch in Isaiah 56?

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If you still got your Bibles open or your app opened to Hebrews chapter 4 and verse

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1, that's where we are going to begin.

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Verse 1, therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any

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of you should seem to have failed to reach it.

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A short summary to catch us up to what the writer of Hebrews is saying.

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Hebrews in a nutshell is the Israelites had this and it was good, but now in Jesus we

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have this and it is better.

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In a nutshell, the writer of Hebrews is drawing that comparison to what the Israelites had

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and it was a good and moral and God-centered economy, but now that Jesus has come it is

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now better and perfect and higher and holier.

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That was then, Jesus came, this is now.

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Much of it carried over, but it's better.

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Everything is better in Jesus.

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That's what Hebrews says.

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So he's writing in chapter 3 about how Jesus is greater than Moses.

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Fair enough.

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Then we get to the rest for the people of God because Moses was leading the Israelites

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from captivity, from slavery into the free promised land.

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While in Jesus we are taken from the slavery of sin into eternal glory and life in the

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promised land.

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Can we see that?

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That's the parallels that we're working with.

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When the Israelites though came to that southern part of the promised land, were they able

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to enter in at that time?

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No.

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What kept them out?

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Unbelief and then bold rebellion and then sorrow for the results of the rebellion, which

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then led to more rebellion, which then led to loss of life, etc.

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It was not good for them, but you're correct.

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Initially, they could not enter in because of their unbelief.

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God had said, I'm giving you this land and I'm going to go before you to prepare the

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way for you.

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Then when the spies came back, they said it's everything God said, but we can't do it.

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The giants are too big.

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We can't enter into this promised land.

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That promised land for people just delivered from slavery meant rest.

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God was going to drive out the enemies.

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God was going to lay down the strongholds.

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God was going to conquer for them.

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They were just going in after God.

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That promised land, Canaan, to these freed slaves meant rest, but they could not enter

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in because of their unbelief.

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Now the writer of Hebrews speaking to a Christian audience, a converted audience, many from

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Judaism to Christianity, is bringing this to mind.

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They might be thinking, have we now missed the chance at the rest that God promised the

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descendants of Abraham?

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Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of

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you should seem to have failed to reach it.

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The first note that we're going to get from this is that the emphasis here is not on the

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rest.

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It's not on the rest, but on the entering in.

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Can they enter into this rest that was promised?

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The entering in in the original language is the emphasis, the entering in, the ability

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to go into this rest.

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So what were they fearful of?

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If the entering into the rest still stands, what should they fear?

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Because he's telling them that you haven't lost out on the chance to rest.

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You haven't lost out on the promise of the promised land.

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It's still there.

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Why are you fearing?

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There are a couple of things that they could have been fearing.

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One, that the rest was promised to Israel, and that means the descendants of Abraham

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and that they missed it by becoming Christians, that they just simply missed the opportunity.

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The door was closed and then they couldn't enter into this rest.

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That disobedience, that is, that they were fearful of disobeying kept them out of the

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entering in.

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Do we sometimes worry that our disobeying completely blocks us from the entering into

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God's rest?

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Have we ever thought to ourselves, I'm not going to come to church because I woke up

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grumpy and I was wrathful at my spouse?

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Have we ever thought, I can't show my face there because even though they don't know

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what I did on Thursday, I do and God does.

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That disobeying, has that ever been a wall in your life to prevent you from the entering

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in?

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Because remember, the entering in is the emphasis here.

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Maybe they were thinking that.

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For four, and please note that this is the promise of entering his rest still stands,

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let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.

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In that phrase, what we find is that the failure is not in the disobedience.

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The failure is not in they missed the timing of it all.

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The failure, in other words, you're not too old to enter into God's rest.

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There is no, you're not 80 and all of a sudden I should have done it when I was 30, I can't

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now.

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No, my friends, there's not a missed opportunity.

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The failure is in the entering in.

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That sounds so simple, doesn't it?

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That's not that the disobedience that was the failure and it's not the missing the opportunity.

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The failure is just that they didn't enter in.

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God said, here's the border of the land, enter in and they said, no, thank you.

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We won't enter in.

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Today God is offering you that same opportunity to enter into his rest and are you just simply

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saying no, thank you.

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And then you maybe you come up with a rationale or really an excuse.

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But where the failure is, is in just not accepting the offer.

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The entering in.

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Are you just not?

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I wonder.

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The thing about the gospel is it will.

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I firmly believe I accept the statement.

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It'll be the science that we study through the ages.

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The saving, the salvation in Christ and what it meant for God to become human and then

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for divinity to die, etc.

400
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That's the science that we will be studying forever.

401
00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:42,240
And yet it is also so simple as God has an open door for you to enter in.

402
00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:46,320
Are you just choosing to enter in?

403
00:29:46,320 --> 00:29:49,480
Or do you come up with a reason to not to?

404
00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:51,920
Because the fear.

405
00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:55,920
Is failing to enter.

406
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Not am I fearful that I've done too much?

407
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God can't forgive me or I'm fearful that the fear is just the failing to enter.

408
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Are we taking him up on his offer?

409
00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:18,320
Into verse two now for good news came to us just as to them.

410
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What was read to us today said gospel gospel, good news, same thing as just different translations

411
00:30:25,060 --> 00:30:28,800
of the same word for good news came to us just as to them.

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But the message they heard did not benefit them because they were not united by faith

413
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with those who listened.

414
00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:42,920
The message that they heard that good news was not the gospel in the same sense that

415
00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:45,480
we use gospel and good news.

416
00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:51,000
That's why good news is probably a better translation because for the Israelites, the

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00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:54,220
good news had nothing to do with the sacrificial system.

418
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At that moment, it was the entering into the rest promised by God.

419
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You've been slaves for all those decades and centuries.

420
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I've delivered you.

421
00:31:04,520 --> 00:31:05,800
I'm promising you rest.

422
00:31:05,800 --> 00:31:07,800
I'm going to go before you.

423
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That's the good news.

424
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I'm saving you.

425
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Enter into my rest.

426
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That's the good news.

427
00:31:19,800 --> 00:31:30,040
So the message that they heard was the promise of the rest and that that promise of the rest

428
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comes to us today just as it came to them back then.

429
00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:38,760
I thank God for that.

430
00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:47,280
I know when I've tried to struggle under how can I overcome or I can't come in because

431
00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:55,320
that wall of something I did on Tuesday is preventing me or the shame that I feel is

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stopping me from entering in.

433
00:31:57,200 --> 00:32:01,000
It's good to know that that offer of rest still stands.

434
00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:05,340
Are we entering in?

435
00:32:05,340 --> 00:32:07,520
Good news came to us just as to them.

436
00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:12,360
In other words, this is all for you and I.

437
00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:18,880
Those who heard but the message that they heard did not benefit them.

438
00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:20,800
The message that they heard.

439
00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:29,280
There is a difference between just kind of hearing something and having heard it.

440
00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:32,320
It's like the difference in hearing and listening.

441
00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:33,560
Right?

442
00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:34,560
What's the difference?

443
00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:37,000
Hearing is probably a lot more superficial.

444
00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:38,840
The sound waves come into my ears.

445
00:32:38,840 --> 00:32:44,780
They do all of that anatomy stuff and I know what is said or I know what sound is played

446
00:32:44,780 --> 00:32:46,360
on the piano.

447
00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:53,960
And when you listen, then there's a response, then it's absorbed, then it's applied.

448
00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:55,120
Maybe it's memorized.

449
00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:56,120
It changes you.

450
00:32:56,120 --> 00:33:02,300
It affects you when you listen as opposed to just hearing it.

451
00:33:02,300 --> 00:33:09,180
The listening aspect is what is enveloped in this word heard.

452
00:33:09,180 --> 00:33:14,500
The good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit

453
00:33:14,500 --> 00:33:15,560
them.

454
00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:18,400
Why did it not benefit them?

455
00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:24,160
Because with those Israelites, they did not pay attention by obeying.

456
00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:25,960
What were they to obey?

457
00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:28,700
Enter in.

458
00:33:28,700 --> 00:33:30,220
Enter into the rest.

459
00:33:30,220 --> 00:33:32,880
That was the obeying and they said, no, thank you.

460
00:33:32,880 --> 00:33:38,320
Faith is the proper response to a promise.

461
00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:39,840
Because we're talking about a promise.

462
00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:44,080
The promise of entering his rest is still available.

463
00:33:44,080 --> 00:33:48,040
The promise of his rest available to them is available to you and I.

464
00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:49,920
The promise is there.

465
00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:54,400
By faith, are we grasping that promise and acting on it?

466
00:33:54,400 --> 00:33:59,040
By faith, are we entering into something that doesn't always make sense?

467
00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:01,040
By faith, are we just?

468
00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:03,680
Let me ask it this way.

469
00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:06,240
Is faith merely belief?

470
00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:07,880
No.

471
00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:13,000
The Bible tells us that the devils believe and tremble.

472
00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:17,080
Faith is believing and then acting according to that belief.

473
00:34:17,080 --> 00:34:21,360
If you believe that the rest is available to you, are you acting on it?

474
00:34:21,360 --> 00:34:24,480
Are you coming to Jesus when you need relief for your sins?

475
00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:28,000
Are you coming to Jesus when you are burdened with the stress of this world?

476
00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:31,360
Are you coming to Jesus when you are guilty and you can't shake it?

477
00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:36,520
Are you coming to Jesus when you need peace that surpasses understanding?

478
00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:39,840
Are you acting on the belief?

479
00:34:39,840 --> 00:34:45,000
Are you acting on the promise?

480
00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:53,480
It is in this sense that those who believe have entered into God's rest.

481
00:34:53,480 --> 00:35:05,040
Hebrews 4, 2 does hearken back to Hebrews 2, verses 3 and 4.

482
00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:11,080
How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?

483
00:35:11,080 --> 00:35:16,480
It was declared at first by the Lord and it was attested to us by those who heard, while

484
00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:20,960
God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy

485
00:35:20,960 --> 00:35:25,240
Spirit distributed according to his will.

486
00:35:25,240 --> 00:35:29,800
Here we see the connection between those who heard the promise of the entering into the

487
00:35:29,800 --> 00:35:32,240
rest and now salvation.

488
00:35:32,240 --> 00:35:36,880
Again, we are following a train.

489
00:35:36,880 --> 00:35:42,680
Now we are seeing the connection drawn from the one to the other.

490
00:35:42,680 --> 00:35:47,640
Hebrews 4, 3 if we were to continue indicates that they were in the process of entering

491
00:35:47,640 --> 00:35:48,840
the rest.

492
00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:53,160
We who have believed enter that rest.

493
00:35:53,160 --> 00:36:00,800
It may be that the concept of rest in this passage connotes both a future expectation

494
00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:04,800
and a present reality.

495
00:36:04,800 --> 00:36:10,520
Sometimes we also like to think that the entering of the rest is only at the eschatological end.

496
00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:15,200
When sin is done away, the graves are split open and we are in glory with God.

497
00:36:15,200 --> 00:36:16,840
Can we enter into that rest?

498
00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:17,840
Yes.

499
00:36:17,840 --> 00:36:20,360
Does that mean that we forgo it now?

500
00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:21,600
No.

501
00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:28,480
This is an ongoing process, an ongoing promise that you are invited to enter into.

502
00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:34,000
It's not only a reality for then, it can be yours today.

503
00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:39,720
Are you willing to accept that?

504
00:36:39,720 --> 00:36:47,240
The concept of rest, this is, we are going to start looping back around to conclude.

505
00:36:47,240 --> 00:36:52,720
The concept of rest is not mentioned anymore in Hebrews but the concept of the entering

506
00:36:52,720 --> 00:36:56,280
in is a fairly common reference.

507
00:36:56,280 --> 00:37:03,520
And that's exactly why here starting off the entering in is the emphasis.

508
00:37:03,520 --> 00:37:10,180
Hebrews 6, Hebrews 9, Hebrews 10 entering in comes up repeatedly.

509
00:37:10,180 --> 00:37:14,880
We see this in Jesus, Jesus having entered into heaven so that we may have confidence

510
00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:17,920
to enter now.

511
00:37:17,920 --> 00:37:21,640
It's crucial to the understanding of this epistle and the meaning of rest because the

512
00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:29,080
rest for the believer is surely an eschatological rest but that's not the focus nor the meaning.

513
00:37:29,080 --> 00:37:34,960
Whatever the rest is, it's available now and not only in the future when believers get

514
00:37:34,960 --> 00:37:35,960
to heaven.

515
00:37:35,960 --> 00:37:41,840
So why are we talking about this entering in when it comes to the eunuchs and the foreigners

516
00:37:41,840 --> 00:37:45,780
and Isaiah with the Sabbath?

517
00:37:45,780 --> 00:37:51,040
Because if you're looking at the Sabbath as a list of do's and don'ts, you're going to

518
00:37:51,040 --> 00:37:55,400
disappoint yourself because you're going to come up short.

519
00:37:55,400 --> 00:38:01,240
If you're looking at the Sabbath, the seventh day Sabbath, Sabbath just for y'all who don't

520
00:38:01,240 --> 00:38:08,720
know, in the Hebrews Sabbath and rest share the same root letters.

521
00:38:08,720 --> 00:38:14,600
One is a noun and one is a verb but when they're sharing the same root letters that's extremely

522
00:38:14,600 --> 00:38:15,600
important.

523
00:38:15,600 --> 00:38:20,400
In other words, the seventh day Sabbath and rest cannot be separated.

524
00:38:20,400 --> 00:38:26,440
So when we're talking rest and when we talk Sabbath, we're talking about all of it together.

525
00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:33,080
When we're entering into the rest, when we're entering into Sabbath with God, how are we

526
00:38:33,080 --> 00:38:34,820
entering into it?

527
00:38:34,820 --> 00:38:38,440
Are we entering into it with foreboding?

528
00:38:38,440 --> 00:38:41,760
My parents I think know this, if not they're finding out.

529
00:38:41,760 --> 00:38:47,360
When I was a child I would enter into the Sabbath with, now I don't get to see my TV

530
00:38:47,360 --> 00:38:51,400
for 24 hours, right?

531
00:38:51,400 --> 00:38:56,180
When we entered into the Sabbath, and I was a kid, a lot of kids I think think this way,

532
00:38:56,180 --> 00:39:01,160
when the Sabbath drew near I thought boy I got to cram in all that I want to do because

533
00:39:01,160 --> 00:39:04,400
now I can't.

534
00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:09,000
The Sabbath was boring.

535
00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:16,560
The Sabbath was am I going to get sniped at if I bounce a ball this way or kick a ball

536
00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:17,560
that way?

537
00:39:17,560 --> 00:39:22,160
One is okay after sundown but the other one is not.

538
00:39:22,160 --> 00:39:26,300
Can I swim on Sabbath or can I not?

539
00:39:26,300 --> 00:39:30,880
Some people say no you cannot, you can only get your legs wet to the knee.

540
00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:32,880
I've heard those stories.

541
00:39:32,880 --> 00:39:40,320
I have heard that little toddlers can't play with their Mattel Matchbox toy cars on the

542
00:39:40,320 --> 00:39:41,320
Sabbath.

543
00:39:41,320 --> 00:39:46,280
They're toddlers, they don't know, they're doing what toddlers do, they got their toy

544
00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:48,440
cars.

545
00:39:48,440 --> 00:39:53,600
As a youth I looked forward to the Sabbath hours ending and by that I meant one minute

546
00:39:53,600 --> 00:39:57,460
after sundown because that was guarding the edge.

547
00:39:57,460 --> 00:40:03,900
One minute after sundown and then I could turn on the TV and get back to life.

548
00:40:03,900 --> 00:40:08,120
Because to me as a child, and this is not a commentary on how I was raised, this is

549
00:40:08,120 --> 00:40:14,160
how I applied it, how I applied it, the Sabbath was do's and don'ts.

550
00:40:14,160 --> 00:40:19,320
The Sabbath was walk this way, talk this way, eat this way, sit down this way, etc. etc.

551
00:40:19,320 --> 00:40:21,640
Sabbath was not a rest for me.

552
00:40:21,640 --> 00:40:26,860
Maybe we had lay activities in the afternoon but it was not a rest for me.

553
00:40:26,860 --> 00:40:28,880
It was a burden.

554
00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:37,320
And for too many well intended Adventists those precious, sacred, sanctified 24 hours

555
00:40:37,320 --> 00:40:42,160
are a burden, not a rest.

556
00:40:42,160 --> 00:40:44,520
Are there do's and don'ts?

557
00:40:44,520 --> 00:40:46,000
Yes.

558
00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:48,520
We'll cover those next time.

559
00:40:48,520 --> 00:40:54,800
But if you aren't coming in, if you are not entering into the Sabbath with the right idea

560
00:40:54,800 --> 00:40:57,920
then the do's and don'ts are going to be the burden.

561
00:40:57,920 --> 00:41:02,600
It's going to be the shackle, it's going to be where you find your displeasure in a day

562
00:41:02,600 --> 00:41:06,380
that God wants you to find joy.

563
00:41:06,380 --> 00:41:09,720
Because what does the Sabbath rest mean?

564
00:41:09,720 --> 00:41:13,840
To the Israelites that promised land, that rest they were entering in meant freedom from

565
00:41:13,840 --> 00:41:15,660
slavery.

566
00:41:15,660 --> 00:41:21,300
It meant our creator God is working on our behalf day and night.

567
00:41:21,300 --> 00:41:25,120
The pillar of fire at night keeping us warm from the frost of the desert.

568
00:41:25,120 --> 00:41:30,320
The pillar of cloud in the day shielding us from the desert sun and the heat.

569
00:41:30,320 --> 00:41:32,520
He keeps away the snakes.

570
00:41:32,520 --> 00:41:37,220
He let our shoes last for 40 years and our clothes didn't wear out.

571
00:41:37,220 --> 00:41:42,840
We were fed with angel food every day and now we've got a land flowing with milk and

572
00:41:42,840 --> 00:41:45,080
honey.

573
00:41:45,080 --> 00:41:47,000
That's what that meant.

574
00:41:47,000 --> 00:41:48,000
That's what that rest meant.

575
00:41:48,000 --> 00:41:52,080
What does the Sabbath rest mean?

576
00:41:52,080 --> 00:41:58,760
The Sabbath is a weekly reminder that one, you are not a cosmic accident.

577
00:41:58,760 --> 00:42:03,420
God knew, He knows you and He knew you.

578
00:42:03,420 --> 00:42:07,280
Knew you, knows you, will know you, however you want to phrase that.

579
00:42:07,280 --> 00:42:09,520
You are not an accident.

580
00:42:09,520 --> 00:42:15,080
Humanity did not come about by happen chance or because God sparked life in a germ and

581
00:42:15,080 --> 00:42:17,840
allowed it to take its natural course.

582
00:42:17,840 --> 00:42:24,760
We are purposefully made and we are sustained with His life-giving breath.

583
00:42:24,760 --> 00:42:31,400
Praise God that the Sabbath reminds us of our creator and that we are created.

584
00:42:31,400 --> 00:42:39,760
The Sabbath reminds us that Christ's work for salvation is done and you don't have

585
00:42:39,760 --> 00:42:41,760
to do any work on it.

586
00:42:41,760 --> 00:42:43,720
That's the Sabbath.

587
00:42:43,720 --> 00:42:50,760
The Sabbath, Adam and Eve's first full day of experience was without work.

588
00:42:50,760 --> 00:42:53,840
God had done it, accomplished it.

589
00:42:53,840 --> 00:42:57,960
The Bible records that they really only had kind of one job on Friday and that was Adam

590
00:42:57,960 --> 00:42:58,960
naming things.

591
00:42:58,960 --> 00:43:01,760
Then there comes along Eve and then what do you see?

592
00:43:01,760 --> 00:43:02,760
The Sabbath.

593
00:43:02,760 --> 00:43:03,760
Rest.

594
00:43:03,760 --> 00:43:07,020
God's already done the work for you.

595
00:43:07,020 --> 00:43:08,680
You can rest in Him.

596
00:43:08,680 --> 00:43:11,600
Does the Sabbath remind you of that?

597
00:43:11,600 --> 00:43:18,000
When Christ had finished His laboring on earth and He had died, He rested on the Sabbath.

598
00:43:18,000 --> 00:43:22,620
The Sabbath can remind you that you are saved, you can't earn it.

599
00:43:22,620 --> 00:43:24,400
Jesus has already paid it for you.

600
00:43:24,400 --> 00:43:28,380
You can rest in that reality.

601
00:43:28,380 --> 00:43:32,500
Does the Sabbath bring that to mind for you?

602
00:43:32,500 --> 00:43:38,520
Does the Sabbath bring you or bring to mind a chance where you can, and I encourage this,

603
00:43:38,520 --> 00:43:45,440
set aside the homework, set aside the spreadsheets, set aside the checkbook concerns, set aside

604
00:43:45,440 --> 00:43:51,700
all those other things in life that distract and consume and weigh us down and cause us

605
00:43:51,700 --> 00:43:54,080
to sweat and lose sleep at night?

606
00:43:54,080 --> 00:43:59,840
I encourage you, take that block of time and set all those things aside.

607
00:43:59,840 --> 00:44:05,040
The world is not going to crumble if you just leave them be until Sunday.

608
00:44:05,040 --> 00:44:08,920
That was my wife's and my strict rule when we were in school.

609
00:44:08,920 --> 00:44:14,880
We kind of did schoolwork up until about three o'clock on Friday and then we were done until

610
00:44:14,880 --> 00:44:17,360
about noon on Sunday.

611
00:44:17,360 --> 00:44:21,040
And at times we had assignments.

612
00:44:21,040 --> 00:44:23,960
At times we had big projects.

613
00:44:23,960 --> 00:44:27,200
At times we had a looming exam.

614
00:44:27,200 --> 00:44:32,380
We were purposefully strict about setting all that aside from about three o'clock on

615
00:44:32,380 --> 00:44:35,720
Friday until about noon on Sunday.

616
00:44:35,720 --> 00:44:37,320
And it was wonderful.

617
00:44:37,320 --> 00:44:38,900
We slept better Friday night.

618
00:44:38,900 --> 00:44:40,320
We slept better Saturday night.

619
00:44:40,320 --> 00:44:44,280
It gave us a chance to reconnect as a family and to visit with friends.

620
00:44:44,280 --> 00:44:47,020
Take advantage of those times.

621
00:44:47,020 --> 00:44:48,020
It's all going to be there.

622
00:44:48,020 --> 00:44:49,880
You can pick it back up.

623
00:44:49,880 --> 00:44:51,440
But take that break.

624
00:44:51,440 --> 00:44:52,960
It's wonderful.

625
00:44:52,960 --> 00:44:59,200
Take advantage of the rest that you can find in Jesus and that's what the Sabbath represents.

626
00:44:59,200 --> 00:45:04,680
The Sabbath is also the assurance of the coming promised land.

627
00:45:04,680 --> 00:45:08,800
Because we are talking about a rest that you can experience now, but we've already discussed

628
00:45:08,800 --> 00:45:13,000
it does also refer to an eschatological end.

629
00:45:13,000 --> 00:45:15,040
Jesus is coming back.

630
00:45:15,040 --> 00:45:20,600
He will deliver us from this planet of sin, this body of death.

631
00:45:20,600 --> 00:45:25,920
He will reunite the heavenly family with the earthly family.

632
00:45:25,920 --> 00:45:31,120
He will bind the enemy of souls and he will deliver us.

633
00:45:31,120 --> 00:45:34,080
The Sabbath reminds us of that.

634
00:45:34,080 --> 00:45:36,960
Are you entering into that rest?

635
00:45:36,960 --> 00:45:41,800
Are you entering into that Sabbath rest with that in mind?

636
00:45:41,800 --> 00:45:43,840
The rest can come afterwards.

637
00:45:43,840 --> 00:45:46,680
But are you entering in first and foremost?

638
00:45:46,680 --> 00:45:47,680
Are you entering in?

639
00:45:47,680 --> 00:45:52,360
And then are you entering in with the right kind of heartfelt attitude?

640
00:45:52,360 --> 00:46:00,580
I would encourage us that as we consider worship and reverence with God, that we remember we

641
00:46:00,580 --> 00:46:04,440
need to one, enter into it.

642
00:46:04,440 --> 00:46:08,440
You've got to enter into his presence to be able to praise and honor and worship and glorify

643
00:46:08,440 --> 00:46:10,020
him.

644
00:46:10,020 --> 00:46:11,020
Enter in.

645
00:46:11,020 --> 00:46:12,540
That promise is laid out before you.

646
00:46:12,540 --> 00:46:14,040
That door is wide open.

647
00:46:14,040 --> 00:46:15,040
Don't delay.

648
00:46:15,040 --> 00:46:16,040
Do it.

649
00:46:16,040 --> 00:46:20,840
And then two, are you entering in with the right kind of attitude?

650
00:46:20,840 --> 00:46:23,480
Are you entering in remembering the promise?

651
00:46:23,480 --> 00:46:26,400
Are you entering in remembering the rest?

652
00:46:26,400 --> 00:46:32,240
Are you entering in the way that God wants you to enter into his rest?

653
00:46:32,240 --> 00:46:37,980
My friends, as we continue this train on worship and reverence, I would invite you to take

654
00:46:37,980 --> 00:46:42,860
him at his word, accept his promise and enter into his rest.

655
00:46:42,860 --> 00:46:49,320
So then we can, with reverence and with awe, worship our heavenly father.

656
00:46:49,320 --> 00:46:50,320
Let's pray.

657
00:46:50,320 --> 00:46:54,320
Loving father, we thank you so much for an opportunity to come before your throne with

658
00:46:54,320 --> 00:47:00,200
our burdens, promising that when we are yoked up to you, then those burdens are light and

659
00:47:00,200 --> 00:47:05,200
that the calling that you have placed before us is a light one.

660
00:47:05,200 --> 00:47:06,200
Do we believe you?

661
00:47:06,200 --> 00:47:09,480
Lord, I pray that you help us accept that today.

662
00:47:09,480 --> 00:47:15,840
I pray that these hours on your Sabbath would be a delight, would be a joy, not selfishly,

663
00:47:15,840 --> 00:47:19,040
but rather we would joy in you and your love for us.

664
00:47:19,040 --> 00:47:23,620
I pray that not for myself and not only for those of us here at the Ringgold Church, but

665
00:47:23,620 --> 00:47:27,280
for all of our fellow brothers and sisters around the globe.

666
00:47:27,280 --> 00:47:31,760
Lord, be present with each one of us throughout the rest of today, throughout this week.

667
00:47:31,760 --> 00:47:33,120
Let us know of your love.

668
00:47:33,120 --> 00:47:34,120
We pray in your name.

669
00:47:34,120 --> 00:47:41,120
Amen.