WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.520 I need to start with just saying, I think it's 00:00:03.520 --> 00:00:07.480 really interesting the way God speaks to people. 00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:11.519 You know, we're in this book of Hebrews and in 00:00:11.519 --> 00:00:14.359 the very first chapter of Hebrews, the Hebrew 00:00:14.359 --> 00:00:17.260 writer says, in the past, God spoke to our forefathers. 00:00:17.339 --> 00:00:19.899 He spoke to them through prophets and through 00:00:19.899 --> 00:00:24.920 angels. But now he speaks through Jesus and he 00:00:24.920 --> 00:00:28.769 speaks through the word. And I find it interesting 00:00:28.769 --> 00:00:31.530 because it's like when you're dealing with something, 00:00:31.589 --> 00:00:35.750 you find God speak to you in a way that maybe 00:00:35.750 --> 00:00:38.090 he hasn't before, or maybe you weren't expecting. 00:00:38.130 --> 00:00:41.829 And the reason I bring this up is because today's 00:00:41.829 --> 00:00:46.509 lesson has a lot to do with encouragement. And 00:00:46.509 --> 00:00:49.130 last week on Monday, I had a buddy. He's a friend 00:00:49.130 --> 00:00:52.070 of mine from Montgomery. He has a... asked me 00:00:52.070 --> 00:00:54.229 how things were going up here in a while. So 00:00:54.229 --> 00:00:55.689 he texted me. He's like, hey, man, I just want 00:00:55.689 --> 00:00:57.289 to check in on you and see how things are going. 00:00:57.469 --> 00:00:58.649 And I was like, dude, I'm going to be honest. 00:00:58.829 --> 00:01:03.090 Things are great, but I'm also pretty discouraged. 00:01:04.450 --> 00:01:07.530 And if you don't know how I kind of work through 00:01:07.530 --> 00:01:11.090 my lessons, on Monday is just kind of like a 00:01:11.090 --> 00:01:13.390 debrief of the week and doing more like technical 00:01:13.390 --> 00:01:16.049 work. And then Tuesday, I start working on Wednesday 00:01:16.049 --> 00:01:18.989 night's Bible class. And then Wednesday and Thursday 00:01:18.989 --> 00:01:23.030 is when I start working on my sermon. Well, Tuesday 00:01:23.030 --> 00:01:25.989 comes and I look at my notes and you'll never 00:01:25.989 --> 00:01:29.469 guess what the lesson was about. Discouragement. 00:01:29.829 --> 00:01:33.170 And how Satan likes to use discouragement to 00:01:33.170 --> 00:01:37.810 get us to not do the will of God. And then Wednesday 00:01:37.810 --> 00:01:41.109 afternoon comes and I'm looking at my notes for 00:01:41.109 --> 00:01:44.409 what today's lesson needs to be and encouragement. 00:01:45.730 --> 00:01:47.870 And the idea that if you're discouraged, you 00:01:47.870 --> 00:01:52.730 may be tempted to wander. and not fulfill the 00:01:52.730 --> 00:01:55.269 will of God. And so I say that to say it's really 00:01:55.269 --> 00:01:58.709 interesting that when I'm struggling with discouragement, 00:01:58.750 --> 00:02:01.629 God looks at me and says, hey, dude, I've got 00:02:01.629 --> 00:02:04.310 something for you. And so this morning, maybe 00:02:04.310 --> 00:02:06.129 you've been struggling with being discouraged. 00:02:06.269 --> 00:02:08.169 Maybe you've been struggling with things not 00:02:08.169 --> 00:02:10.569 going exactly how you want them to or things 00:02:10.569 --> 00:02:13.030 not going exactly as you planned. They're not 00:02:13.030 --> 00:02:15.229 working on your timetable. I don't know what 00:02:15.229 --> 00:02:17.830 your struggle may be, but if I had to guess, 00:02:18.030 --> 00:02:19.969 there are people in this room that are pretty 00:02:19.969 --> 00:02:22.129 discouraged right now. And what I want you to 00:02:22.129 --> 00:02:23.949 hear from me this morning, and don't just hear 00:02:23.949 --> 00:02:27.009 it from me, hear it from God, you need to take 00:02:27.009 --> 00:02:31.629 heart because Jesus... has something better in 00:02:31.629 --> 00:02:34.289 store for you than what discouragement does. 00:02:35.150 --> 00:02:38.330 Don't allow Satan to take you off course. Don't 00:02:38.330 --> 00:02:41.430 allow Satan to try to stop what God is trying 00:02:41.430 --> 00:02:44.110 to do. He wants to discourage you so that you 00:02:44.110 --> 00:02:47.310 will either stop or go astray. But God has something 00:02:47.310 --> 00:02:50.889 so much better ahead. We just have to stay the 00:02:50.889 --> 00:02:56.409 course. And so that leads me to the lesson. I 00:02:56.409 --> 00:02:59.229 have this. when I'm going somewhere that I've 00:02:59.229 --> 00:03:01.409 never been before or I'm going somewhere that 00:03:01.409 --> 00:03:03.750 I haven't been in a long time, I do what any 00:03:03.750 --> 00:03:07.090 sensible person would do. I use a GPS or as we 00:03:07.090 --> 00:03:10.349 call it in the 21st century, Apple Maps. And 00:03:10.349 --> 00:03:14.669 so I put this address into my maps and I plug 00:03:14.669 --> 00:03:16.909 it up to my car so that it shows me on the screen 00:03:16.909 --> 00:03:18.430 so I don't have to look at my phone most of the 00:03:18.430 --> 00:03:20.169 time. Sometimes I'm not really good at that. 00:03:20.250 --> 00:03:25.129 And I let it lead me to where I need to go. But... 00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:28.199 I also have this problem, and my wife will tell 00:03:28.199 --> 00:03:32.120 you very clearly, that I will put the address 00:03:32.120 --> 00:03:34.460 in, I'll have the directions on the screen, sometimes 00:03:34.460 --> 00:03:37.860 it'll even talk to me, but I'm really bad about 00:03:37.860 --> 00:03:40.460 not actually paying attention to the directions. 00:03:41.300 --> 00:03:43.560 I'm really bad about, you know, getting caught 00:03:43.560 --> 00:03:45.879 up on the road signs or the billboards or in 00:03:45.879 --> 00:03:49.219 conversation or even my phone, and next thing 00:03:49.219 --> 00:03:53.280 you know, I've missed the turn. or I didn't stop 00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:55.460 where I was supposed to, where I turned where 00:03:55.460 --> 00:03:58.000 I should have kept going straight. And what happens 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:04.099 is I end up lost. Now, yes, the map is telling 00:04:04.099 --> 00:04:06.520 me, it's constantly saying rerouting, rerouting, 00:04:06.539 --> 00:04:08.580 and it's trying to tell me how to get back on 00:04:08.580 --> 00:04:11.379 course. And my wife maybe is even saying, hey, 00:04:11.419 --> 00:04:13.199 the thing is telling you to turn, just turn. 00:04:14.639 --> 00:04:18.339 But I get stressed out and I start to panic. 00:04:19.079 --> 00:04:21.680 Or I'm still so distracted that I can't really 00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:23.959 get myself back on course, even though I've got 00:04:23.959 --> 00:04:25.819 something telling me where to go and what to 00:04:25.819 --> 00:04:32.279 do. And so I'll end up wondering, am I ever going 00:04:32.279 --> 00:04:35.639 to find the place? Am I ever going to make the 00:04:35.639 --> 00:04:38.379 right turn? Am I ever going to just calm down, 00:04:38.540 --> 00:04:41.920 listen to the GPS, and do what it's telling me? 00:04:43.759 --> 00:04:46.899 Because it's trying. It's trying to lead me. 00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:48.740 It's trying to direct me. It's trying to teach 00:04:48.740 --> 00:04:55.639 me. But in my mind, I'm not trusting it. And 00:04:55.639 --> 00:04:57.779 so if you're following along in the fill -in 00:04:57.779 --> 00:04:59.540 -the -blank notes on the back of your bulletin, 00:04:59.540 --> 00:05:03.379 you'll see that the very first thing says that 00:05:03.379 --> 00:05:06.720 the problem isn't that you're not getting the 00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:09.180 directions. The problem isn't that you don't 00:05:09.180 --> 00:05:11.000 have the directions. It's not that somebody's 00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:12.879 not guiding you. It's not that somebody hasn't 00:05:12.879 --> 00:05:14.980 told you where to go, what to do, how to live. 00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:17.579 It's not that you don't have the directions. 00:05:17.699 --> 00:05:20.800 God is still speaking. He's still trying to reroute 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:23.600 you. He's still trying. When you make the wrong 00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:25.519 turn, God says, hey, I just need you to listen 00:05:25.519 --> 00:05:28.120 to me. We can get back on course. My will can 00:05:28.120 --> 00:05:33.240 still be done if you will just go this way. But 00:05:33.240 --> 00:05:36.220 we try to figure it out on our own rather than 00:05:36.220 --> 00:05:39.209 just listening. And that's exactly what the Hebrew 00:05:39.209 --> 00:05:43.930 writer warns about in Hebrews chapter 3 and chapter 00:05:43.930 --> 00:05:47.329 4. He's talking to these Jewish Christians. He's 00:05:47.329 --> 00:05:49.990 going to remind them of a generation that they 00:05:49.990 --> 00:05:53.290 had heard God's voice. They had seen God work 00:05:53.290 --> 00:05:55.430 miracles. They had seen God try to lead them 00:05:55.430 --> 00:05:58.930 physically, visibly, and yet they still never 00:05:58.930 --> 00:06:01.800 reached their destination. And the reason they 00:06:01.800 --> 00:06:03.759 don't reach their destination is not because 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:05.439 they didn't know the way. It's not because they 00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:07.800 didn't have directions. It's because they didn't 00:06:07.800 --> 00:06:11.379 trust the one who was leading them. They allowed 00:06:11.379 --> 00:06:13.620 the things, these minor inconveniences, these 00:06:13.620 --> 00:06:15.839 temporary inconveniences, they allowed those 00:06:15.839 --> 00:06:19.319 things to stop them from getting where God was 00:06:19.319 --> 00:06:22.560 trying to bring them. Instead of remaining faithful, 00:06:22.980 --> 00:06:26.019 they allowed their discouragement. They allowed 00:06:26.019 --> 00:06:30.269 their distrust to take them off course. And what 00:06:30.269 --> 00:06:31.990 the Hebrew writer is going to tell them and what 00:06:31.990 --> 00:06:35.970 he's telling us is that God is still speaking. 00:06:36.670 --> 00:06:38.829 He's still trying to give you the directions. 00:06:38.970 --> 00:06:41.490 These directions are still available. You still 00:06:41.490 --> 00:06:44.769 have access to them. They didn't go away. And 00:06:44.769 --> 00:06:48.529 the time for us to follow the directions is today. 00:06:49.629 --> 00:06:51.290 So let's look at this warning from the Hebrew 00:06:51.290 --> 00:06:55.209 writer, starting in Hebrews 3, verse 7. If it's 00:06:55.209 --> 00:06:56.649 underlined, I would love for you to read along 00:06:56.649 --> 00:06:59.470 with me. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, 00:06:59.790 --> 00:07:02.810 today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your 00:07:02.810 --> 00:07:05.589 hearts as in the rebellion on the day of testing 00:07:05.589 --> 00:07:08.209 in the wilderness where your fathers put me to 00:07:08.209 --> 00:07:11.769 the test and saw my works for 40 years. Therefore, 00:07:11.889 --> 00:07:14.009 I was provoked with that generation and said, 00:07:14.149 --> 00:07:16.910 they always go astray in their heart. They have 00:07:16.910 --> 00:07:21.089 not known my ways. As I swore in my wrath, they 00:07:21.089 --> 00:07:25.279 shall not enter my rest. In this letter to these 00:07:25.279 --> 00:07:27.759 Jewish Christians, the writer, he's constantly 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:30.420 quoting Jewish scripture. He wants to use words 00:07:30.420 --> 00:07:32.160 that they were familiar with. He wanted to tell 00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:34.420 them stories and bring up things that they would 00:07:34.420 --> 00:07:37.000 have known from an early age. And so he's telling 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:39.740 them, he's quoting the scripture. And I believe 00:07:39.740 --> 00:07:41.819 he's doing this to help them see what they're 00:07:41.819 --> 00:07:44.819 facing now is nothing new. And I want you to 00:07:44.819 --> 00:07:47.259 notice who the writer says is speaking there. 00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:50.470 He credits these words to the Holy Spirit. to 00:07:50.470 --> 00:07:53.389 the Spirit of God. He attributes this Old Testament 00:07:53.389 --> 00:07:55.410 quote to someone other than the human author 00:07:55.410 --> 00:07:59.889 of it. He attributes it to God. He's doing this 00:07:59.889 --> 00:08:02.829 thing where he's establishing this divine authority. 00:08:03.050 --> 00:08:05.629 He's telling them, these are the words of God, 00:08:05.790 --> 00:08:09.949 so listen up. Pay attention. These aren't the 00:08:09.949 --> 00:08:13.129 words of me. These aren't the words of the writer. 00:08:13.329 --> 00:08:15.990 These aren't the words of some rabbi. These are 00:08:15.990 --> 00:08:21.579 the words of God, so pay attention. And what 00:08:21.579 --> 00:08:25.660 are those words? Well, it's a passage from Psalm 00:08:25.660 --> 00:08:29.480 95 where David, he's referring to the Israelites 00:08:29.480 --> 00:08:32.159 not entering the promised land, this generation 00:08:32.159 --> 00:08:35.539 of Israelites not getting to be a part of or 00:08:35.539 --> 00:08:39.940 take part in God's rest, not getting to go into 00:08:39.940 --> 00:08:41.879 that land that their forefathers were promised, 00:08:41.960 --> 00:08:43.960 not getting to go into that land that they had 00:08:43.960 --> 00:08:46.179 been marching towards, that they had been wandering 00:08:46.179 --> 00:08:51.549 towards for 40 years. They'd just been wandering 00:08:51.549 --> 00:08:56.629 in disobedience. They'd been allowing their distrust, 00:08:56.629 --> 00:09:00.210 their discouragement. They've been allowing other 00:09:00.210 --> 00:09:02.889 people in their own minds to lead them astray. 00:09:02.950 --> 00:09:06.110 And David warns, like the Hebrew writer is intending 00:09:06.110 --> 00:09:10.730 to warn, don't do as they did. Don't follow their 00:09:10.730 --> 00:09:14.049 example. Don't follow their leadership. Because 00:09:14.049 --> 00:09:16.809 their leadership kept them outside of what God 00:09:16.809 --> 00:09:19.750 intended for his people. It kept them out of 00:09:19.750 --> 00:09:22.210 the promised land. They know no rest. They only 00:09:22.210 --> 00:09:25.370 know wandering because they did not trust the 00:09:25.370 --> 00:09:28.649 directions that God was giving. And so he says, 00:09:28.830 --> 00:09:32.490 don't do as they did. Do not harden your heart. 00:09:34.830 --> 00:09:37.570 And it's not just information for tomorrow. He's 00:09:37.570 --> 00:09:39.929 not saying don't harden your hearts tomorrow. 00:09:40.269 --> 00:09:43.990 He's saying today. If you hear God's words today. 00:09:45.580 --> 00:09:50.879 If you hear the gospel proclaimed today, don't 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:54.039 shut it out. Don't hold back from it. Don't turn 00:09:54.039 --> 00:09:55.960 away from it. Don't walk away from it. Don't 00:09:55.960 --> 00:10:02.779 wander from it. Today, don't test God. Today, 00:10:02.940 --> 00:10:06.419 don't let your hearts wander. Today, don't ignore 00:10:06.419 --> 00:10:09.289 God's way. Because when you do this, what you're 00:10:09.289 --> 00:10:11.830 doing is you are incurring the wrath of God. 00:10:12.009 --> 00:10:14.230 Yes, the God of the Old Testament, the wrath 00:10:14.230 --> 00:10:17.309 of God. I know we want to say that God is all 00:10:17.309 --> 00:10:19.429 loving and God is all gracious and God is all 00:10:19.429 --> 00:10:21.990 merciful, and that is all true, but God is also 00:10:21.990 --> 00:10:25.629 righteous. And He's also a God of wrath, that 00:10:25.629 --> 00:10:28.590 God that struck down cities, the God that flooded 00:10:28.590 --> 00:10:30.610 the earth, the God that brought punishment on 00:10:30.610 --> 00:10:35.870 those who opposed Him. That God, He's still existing. 00:10:36.970 --> 00:10:40.629 He's still active. He still is the same God. 00:10:40.730 --> 00:10:43.350 So we must not mistake him for some laissez -faire, 00:10:43.509 --> 00:10:46.649 anything goes, gentle parent kind of God. No, 00:10:46.690 --> 00:10:50.389 God is still the God that doles out consequences 00:10:50.389 --> 00:10:53.730 where they are due. And when we turn away from 00:10:53.730 --> 00:10:56.570 God, when we harden our hearts towards God, when 00:10:56.570 --> 00:11:00.570 we wander from God, we find ourselves in the 00:11:00.570 --> 00:11:05.049 wrath of God. So what punishment did the unfaithful 00:11:05.049 --> 00:11:07.029 receive? Well, verse 11 tells us they weren't 00:11:07.029 --> 00:11:11.309 allowed to enter God's rest. The moral of the 00:11:11.309 --> 00:11:13.269 story is don't harden your hearts towards the 00:11:13.269 --> 00:11:17.210 direction of God or you'll never reach the destination. 00:11:18.330 --> 00:11:20.830 You know, if you stop paying attention to the 00:11:20.830 --> 00:11:23.429 map altogether and you're trying to go somewhere 00:11:23.429 --> 00:11:26.350 you've never been, then before you know it, you 00:11:26.350 --> 00:11:30.600 may very well be completely lost. And if you're 00:11:30.600 --> 00:11:33.519 like me and you don't know how to navigate in 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:36.200 places that you've never been before, and, you 00:11:36.200 --> 00:11:37.919 know, I know some people, they can figure it 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:39.940 out and they can just find a main road and kind 00:11:39.940 --> 00:11:42.320 of work their way back until eventually they're 00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:46.059 on the right way. I can't do that. And I feel 00:11:46.059 --> 00:11:49.299 like life is too difficult to do that. Life is 00:11:49.299 --> 00:11:52.019 way too difficult to try to find your way to 00:11:52.019 --> 00:11:54.860 the promised land, to find your way to rest without 00:11:54.860 --> 00:11:58.340 the directions from God. It's far too difficult 00:11:58.340 --> 00:12:00.399 because there's way too many curves. There's 00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:03.139 way too many turns and bumps in the road to figure 00:12:03.139 --> 00:12:06.120 it out on your own. And so what we have to do 00:12:06.120 --> 00:12:08.480 is we have to follow the direction. And that 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:11.080 leads us to verses 12 and 13. I want you to look 00:12:11.080 --> 00:12:13.700 at the challenge to this audience. He says, take 00:12:13.700 --> 00:12:16.620 care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an 00:12:16.620 --> 00:12:19.860 evil, unbelieving heart leading you to fall away 00:12:19.860 --> 00:12:23.100 from the living God. Encourage one another every 00:12:23.100 --> 00:12:26.500 day, as long as it is called today, that none 00:12:26.500 --> 00:12:29.019 of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of 00:12:29.019 --> 00:12:34.240 sin. Other translations there say, watch out. 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:38.820 Watch out, brothers. Be careful. Pay attention. 00:12:39.039 --> 00:12:41.840 Pay extra attention. Be extra careful. Watch 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:45.279 out that nothing forms in you that pulls you 00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:48.559 away from God. that nothing builds up in your 00:12:48.559 --> 00:12:50.240 life, in your heart, in your mind that pulls 00:12:50.240 --> 00:12:53.039 you away from God, that pulls you away from the 00:12:53.039 --> 00:12:57.940 path that God has you on. Watch out. And the 00:12:57.940 --> 00:12:59.940 what is the same thing we talked about with the 00:12:59.940 --> 00:13:03.240 GPS, the lack of trust, the lack of belief, the 00:13:03.240 --> 00:13:05.700 lack of attention. And I want you to notice who 00:13:05.700 --> 00:13:08.100 he's talking to. He says brothers. Again, that 00:13:08.100 --> 00:13:09.980 is a collective. That's the whole church. He's 00:13:09.980 --> 00:13:15.360 saying together. Watch out together. And look 00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:19.000 who he's worried about. Any of you, none of you, 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:23.120 he's telling the entire church, you're responsible 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:27.919 for each other. You are, quite literally, your 00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:31.039 brother's keeper. You are your sister's keeper. 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:34.259 Watch out, all of you, so that none of you will 00:13:34.259 --> 00:13:38.919 fall astray. Watch out for each other. Make sure 00:13:38.919 --> 00:13:42.159 you're taking care of one another. Encourage 00:13:42.159 --> 00:13:45.840 one another. Don't allow your brother to be so 00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:48.519 discouraged that he falls off the path. Don't 00:13:48.519 --> 00:13:50.659 allow your brother to start lacking in trust 00:13:50.659 --> 00:13:53.320 of God so much so that the next thing you know, 00:13:53.360 --> 00:13:55.960 they're gone and they're not on the path. Don't 00:13:55.960 --> 00:13:58.919 allow your brothers and sisters to fall away. 00:13:59.039 --> 00:14:03.399 Watch out for each other. And that's perhaps 00:14:03.399 --> 00:14:07.379 exactly what went wrong with Israel. I want you 00:14:07.379 --> 00:14:09.059 to think about the story. If you're familiar 00:14:09.059 --> 00:14:10.559 with the Old Testament, maybe you've heard the 00:14:10.559 --> 00:14:13.460 story of the 12 spies and they're sent to scout 00:14:13.460 --> 00:14:16.639 the promised land. And so they go into the promised 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:20.340 land and they see all of these things. And 10 00:14:20.340 --> 00:14:23.879 of them come back discouraged. They all came 00:14:23.879 --> 00:14:26.799 out. But 10 of those 12 came out discouraged. 00:14:27.100 --> 00:14:29.600 And their discouragement spread among the Israelite 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:32.100 people until eventually the entire nation wanted 00:14:32.100 --> 00:14:35.389 to just give up and go back to Egypt. Yes, Egypt, 00:14:35.470 --> 00:14:37.610 the place where they were enslaved. They thought 00:14:37.610 --> 00:14:40.350 it was so scary. They thought the task was so 00:14:40.350 --> 00:14:42.889 daunting that they did not want to go into the 00:14:42.889 --> 00:14:44.850 promised land, the place that God describes as 00:14:44.850 --> 00:14:47.690 his rest, the place that God describes as a place 00:14:47.690 --> 00:14:50.529 of safety and abundance. They did not want to 00:14:50.529 --> 00:14:54.470 go in there because it was too challenging. And 00:14:54.470 --> 00:14:58.450 so they would rather go back to slavery, to being 00:14:58.450 --> 00:15:02.490 in chains, to being treated horribly, to living 00:15:02.490 --> 00:15:05.659 in poverty. and oppression. They would rather 00:15:05.659 --> 00:15:11.519 go back to that. And their discouragement captivates 00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:14.059 the entire nation of Israel. But there's two 00:15:14.059 --> 00:15:18.559 spies, Joshua and Caleb. These two guys tried 00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:20.860 to encourage everybody. They tried to be a voice 00:15:20.860 --> 00:15:23.100 of hope. They tried to be a voice of courage 00:15:23.100 --> 00:15:26.559 among these discouraged people. But it wasn't 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:30.419 enough. In fact, the people of Israel wanted 00:15:30.419 --> 00:15:36.480 to stone them. They were so discouraged that 00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:41.340 an entire generation of people never entered 00:15:41.340 --> 00:15:46.840 God's rest. And it started with just 10 discouraged 00:15:46.840 --> 00:15:50.940 voices. I want you to hear this. Discouragement 00:15:50.940 --> 00:15:55.799 is contagious. It is like the nastiest virus. 00:15:57.240 --> 00:16:01.200 It's the negative energy that walks in a room 00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:04.299 and it just changes the entire atmosphere. Discouragement 00:16:04.299 --> 00:16:09.980 is contagious, but so is encouragement. If enough 00:16:09.980 --> 00:16:13.879 people enter the room with encouraging voices, 00:16:14.299 --> 00:16:17.000 with encouraging attitudes, with encouraging 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:20.159 mindsets, with encouraging actions and words, 00:16:20.259 --> 00:16:24.580 if enough people walk in with encouragement, 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:30.019 It changes everything. And I do believe that 00:16:30.019 --> 00:16:32.539 one of the greatest plagues in our world today 00:16:32.539 --> 00:16:36.440 is too many Christians, Christ followers, too 00:16:36.440 --> 00:16:39.220 many people among the church walk around with 00:16:39.220 --> 00:16:43.080 a very discouraged mindset, with a pessimistic 00:16:43.080 --> 00:16:46.620 mindset, with a negative mindset. But guess what? 00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:50.159 That's not how we should live because we know 00:16:50.159 --> 00:16:53.720 who wins. We know that God is victorious. We 00:16:53.720 --> 00:16:55.980 know that God has something better in store for 00:16:55.980 --> 00:16:58.200 us. It's like when I'm dealing with my discouragement 00:16:58.200 --> 00:17:00.580 on Monday, I need to be reminded on Tuesday and 00:17:00.580 --> 00:17:03.299 Wednesday that God has something good in store 00:17:03.299 --> 00:17:06.420 and he is not going to allow my discouragement 00:17:06.420 --> 00:17:11.539 to end his plan. We need that reminder. It's 00:17:11.539 --> 00:17:15.099 kind of funny yesterday watching football. I'm 00:17:15.099 --> 00:17:17.059 in a group chat. Two of my best friends are both 00:17:17.059 --> 00:17:19.339 Alabama fans. I know I have poor taste in friends, 00:17:19.619 --> 00:17:22.559 but they're both Alabama fans. And early on in 00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:25.279 the game, one of my friends, he texts in the 00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:27.839 group and he goes, man, it just seems like everybody 00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:30.180 has figured out how to get over on our defense. 00:17:30.440 --> 00:17:32.779 This is just embarrassing. Saban would have never 00:17:32.779 --> 00:17:36.039 done this. And the other friend goes, dude, you 00:17:36.039 --> 00:17:38.940 are way too pessimistic. We're going to win anyways. 00:17:40.579 --> 00:17:44.650 And what happened? Alabama rolled. And they did 00:17:44.650 --> 00:17:47.970 win. They won big. And that's the story for the 00:17:47.970 --> 00:17:52.349 church. Yeah, we take these minor losses. Yeah, 00:17:52.410 --> 00:17:54.910 things get hard. Yeah, the world tries to oppress 00:17:54.910 --> 00:17:58.289 us. Yeah, we get put down. Yeah, in other countries, 00:17:58.309 --> 00:18:02.000 Christianity is a dying religion. Yeah, in America, 00:18:02.140 --> 00:18:04.640 it seems like everybody's gone secular and everything's 00:18:04.640 --> 00:18:06.579 gone wayward. When we look at that and we have 00:18:06.579 --> 00:18:08.759 two choices, we can be discouraged by it and 00:18:08.759 --> 00:18:10.980 we can lay down and we can just say, man, the 00:18:10.980 --> 00:18:13.400 church in the old day would have never stood 00:18:13.400 --> 00:18:15.500 for this or Jesus would have never allowed this 00:18:15.500 --> 00:18:18.920 to happen. Yeah, we can do that. Or we can look 00:18:18.920 --> 00:18:23.000 at God's track record and we can know that no 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:25.920 matter what happens today, God wins in the end 00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:30.650 and he wins big. Because the truth about Israel, 00:18:30.849 --> 00:18:33.690 yeah, that entire generation didn't get to go 00:18:33.690 --> 00:18:35.750 into the promised land, but guess what? Somebody 00:18:35.750 --> 00:18:39.569 entered the promised land. The question is, are 00:18:39.569 --> 00:18:42.589 we going to be among that number? Or are we going 00:18:42.589 --> 00:18:45.309 to allow our discouragement to take us out of 00:18:45.309 --> 00:18:50.130 that will? And so the remedy is encourage one 00:18:50.130 --> 00:18:53.609 another every day. The word for encourage there 00:18:53.609 --> 00:18:56.869 means to come alongside someone, to walk alongside 00:18:56.869 --> 00:18:59.369 someone, not to lecture to them and tell them 00:18:59.369 --> 00:19:01.769 how wrong they are, to tell them how bad they're 00:19:01.769 --> 00:19:04.930 doing or how awful they're living. The word encourage 00:19:04.930 --> 00:19:08.250 is to come alongside and put your hand on their 00:19:08.250 --> 00:19:12.349 shoulder and say, let's walk. Let's walk and 00:19:12.349 --> 00:19:16.089 talk about this. And let's figure out how to 00:19:16.089 --> 00:19:18.960 keep moving forward. Let's figure out how to 00:19:18.960 --> 00:19:21.140 do the right thing and live the right life and 00:19:21.140 --> 00:19:23.359 trust God more. And let's figure out how to get 00:19:23.359 --> 00:19:26.519 back on track and go where God needs us to go. 00:19:27.579 --> 00:19:29.759 And so I want to pause and just ask two questions. 00:19:29.940 --> 00:19:33.240 You don't have to answer these out loud. But 00:19:33.240 --> 00:19:37.900 if your heart started to wander, if discouragement 00:19:37.900 --> 00:19:40.099 was building up inside you to the point where 00:19:40.099 --> 00:19:43.599 you started to drift from God, to drift from 00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:47.049 the church, to get off course, Would anybody 00:19:47.049 --> 00:19:52.430 notice? Would anybody in this room notice? Do 00:19:52.430 --> 00:19:54.769 you have people that are walking alongside in 00:19:54.769 --> 00:19:56.890 a discipleship relationship with you that would 00:19:56.890 --> 00:19:59.309 notice that you are starting to drift away from 00:19:59.309 --> 00:20:01.170 God, that you're starting to drift away from 00:20:01.170 --> 00:20:02.910 the church, that you're starting to drift outside 00:20:02.910 --> 00:20:08.710 of the wheel, off the path? And likewise, if 00:20:08.710 --> 00:20:11.579 someone else in this room. if someone else's 00:20:11.579 --> 00:20:14.059 heart started to wander, if their life started 00:20:14.059 --> 00:20:16.380 to drift outside of the will of God, would you 00:20:16.380 --> 00:20:20.960 notice? Because as we said in the mission statement 00:20:20.960 --> 00:20:24.099 portion of the welcome this morning, and as is 00:20:24.099 --> 00:20:26.160 the message of what the church was established 00:20:26.160 --> 00:20:29.960 for, we are supposed to notice when our brothers 00:20:29.960 --> 00:20:33.819 and sisters are discouraged and wandering. And 00:20:33.819 --> 00:20:36.960 the question we have to ask is what are we going 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:39.279 to do about it? Are we going to pay attention 00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:42.059 enough to our brothers and sisters so that we 00:20:42.059 --> 00:20:46.720 can notice and then act? And if we can't answer 00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:48.759 those questions in a positive way today, then 00:20:48.759 --> 00:20:51.579 this is exactly the divine challenge that we 00:20:51.579 --> 00:20:55.869 need today. Because the window to encourage someone, 00:20:55.990 --> 00:20:58.309 the window to help someone or walk alongside 00:20:58.309 --> 00:21:01.250 them is not going to stay open forever. One day, 00:21:01.250 --> 00:21:04.470 we will all die. One day, our time will be up. 00:21:04.609 --> 00:21:07.190 One day, God is going to send Jesus and it's 00:21:07.190 --> 00:21:09.109 going to be over. And the question we'll have 00:21:09.109 --> 00:21:12.029 to ask is, did we do what we needed to do for 00:21:12.029 --> 00:21:16.809 our brothers and sisters? And if we didn't, then 00:21:16.809 --> 00:21:22.190 we'll have to answer for that. Now look at what... 00:21:22.430 --> 00:21:25.890 the Hebrew writer says next in verse 14. For 00:21:25.890 --> 00:21:28.710 we have come to share in Christ if indeed we 00:21:28.710 --> 00:21:31.509 hold our original confidence firm to the end. 00:21:32.369 --> 00:21:38.009 That word share means to partner. It's a collective 00:21:38.009 --> 00:21:41.869 effort, a joint mission. What he's saying is 00:21:41.869 --> 00:21:44.420 if you're a Christian, You're not just a fan 00:21:44.420 --> 00:21:46.359 of Jesus. You're not just a follower of Jesus. 00:21:46.460 --> 00:21:49.279 You are his partner. He has brought you into 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:51.579 the mission. He's brought you into the work that 00:21:51.579 --> 00:21:54.299 he's doing. You have a stake in what he's accomplishing. 00:21:54.980 --> 00:21:57.299 Back in verse six, we didn't read this, but back 00:21:57.299 --> 00:21:59.940 in verse six, the Hebrew writer says, we are 00:21:59.940 --> 00:22:03.539 his house. If indeed we hold fast. our confidence. 00:22:03.960 --> 00:22:07.519 In that same verse, he says Jesus is the son 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:11.119 over God's house. In other words, Jesus is in 00:22:11.119 --> 00:22:15.599 charge of the house. It seems to me that whatever 00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:20.200 belongs to the son, we have a share in because 00:22:20.200 --> 00:22:24.400 he calls us the house. And so we have a share 00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:27.380 in the work that he's doing. We also have a share 00:22:27.380 --> 00:22:31.160 in his rest. And I want you to notice that this 00:22:31.160 --> 00:22:33.359 is an already true fact. He says, we have come 00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:36.880 to share. Not we will share. Not one day we're 00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:40.200 going, but we have come to share. It's this perfect 00:22:40.200 --> 00:22:42.779 tense in the Greek that means it's already happened 00:22:42.779 --> 00:22:47.180 and it's still true. Like I would have called 00:22:47.180 --> 00:22:51.259 it past present. Like it's already happened. 00:22:51.380 --> 00:22:55.079 It's still happening. This is already going on. 00:22:56.059 --> 00:23:00.680 But then he says, if. We have come to share if 00:23:00.680 --> 00:23:04.059 indeed we hold our confidence firm to the end. 00:23:04.200 --> 00:23:08.299 Now here's why this is important. Every Israelite 00:23:08.299 --> 00:23:11.519 who left Egypt as a slave was then delivered 00:23:11.519 --> 00:23:15.119 and made free. Every one of them walked through 00:23:15.119 --> 00:23:17.759 the Red Sea. They escaped Egypt's armies. They 00:23:17.759 --> 00:23:20.759 escaped the death that was sure to find them. 00:23:20.859 --> 00:23:23.619 And they passed through the Red Sea on dry ground. 00:23:23.720 --> 00:23:26.539 Every one of Israel, every one of those people 00:23:26.539 --> 00:23:29.539 was given a new beginning. They were given that 00:23:29.539 --> 00:23:32.819 redeemed life that only God could give. But that 00:23:32.819 --> 00:23:36.559 new beginning did not get them home. At least 00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:40.119 not all of them. because they let go of the confidence 00:23:40.119 --> 00:23:42.079 that they started with. You know, when you're 00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:44.640 in a rebellion and you're in a revolution and 00:23:44.640 --> 00:23:46.819 you've got a fearless leader, everybody's ready 00:23:46.819 --> 00:23:49.640 to go. And it's like, yeah, let's do it. But 00:23:49.640 --> 00:23:52.519 then you get into it and things get hard and 00:23:52.519 --> 00:23:57.119 your confidence starts to dwindle. And over time, 00:23:57.140 --> 00:23:59.119 the wax and the candle runs out until eventually 00:23:59.119 --> 00:24:01.990 the flame is gone. And that's what happened to 00:24:01.990 --> 00:24:04.450 these Israelites. So an entire generation dies 00:24:04.450 --> 00:24:07.009 before Israel is able to enter the promised land. 00:24:07.130 --> 00:24:12.789 I want you to know that and remember, remember 00:24:12.789 --> 00:24:17.190 when you placed your trust in God. Remember when 00:24:17.190 --> 00:24:19.450 you first heard the gospel for the first time 00:24:19.450 --> 00:24:22.680 and it did something in your heart. And it did 00:24:22.680 --> 00:24:25.039 something in your mind. And all you can think 00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:27.259 about is how I need to do that. I need to respond. 00:24:27.460 --> 00:24:29.680 I need to give my life to Jesus. I need to be 00:24:29.680 --> 00:24:31.880 a part of that mission. That sounds so good. 00:24:31.900 --> 00:24:35.200 I want to be a part of it. I can remember when 00:24:35.200 --> 00:24:38.599 I was baptized, like I was on fire. And it's 00:24:38.599 --> 00:24:40.359 kind of like church camp syndrome where you go 00:24:40.359 --> 00:24:42.440 to camp for a week and you come back and you're 00:24:42.440 --> 00:24:44.920 on fire. But then you go to school and a couple 00:24:44.920 --> 00:24:50.309 of weeks pass and that fire starts to fade. confidence, 00:24:50.390 --> 00:24:52.450 that energy, that passion that you had at the 00:24:52.450 --> 00:24:56.009 beginning, and then it dwindles. I'm sure the 00:24:56.009 --> 00:24:59.349 Israelites could remember the Red Sea. I'm sure 00:24:59.349 --> 00:25:01.029 they could remember all the cool things that 00:25:01.029 --> 00:25:04.309 Moses did in Egypt that led to their freedom. 00:25:04.710 --> 00:25:07.849 I'm sure they could remember how it started, 00:25:07.990 --> 00:25:10.490 but remembering how you started isn't enough. 00:25:10.569 --> 00:25:16.109 You have to hold onto it firm with a tight grip. 00:25:17.009 --> 00:25:20.009 because Satan will do everything he can to rip 00:25:20.009 --> 00:25:23.230 it out of your hand. Satan wants to take out 00:25:23.230 --> 00:25:25.970 that confidence. He wants to take out that passion. 00:25:26.009 --> 00:25:28.470 He wants to take out that encouragement. He wants 00:25:28.470 --> 00:25:32.750 you to forget and to let go. In my study this 00:25:32.750 --> 00:25:35.670 week, I came across a quote from Charles Spurgeon, 00:25:35.690 --> 00:25:37.569 and I want to just give a disclaimer. I don't 00:25:37.569 --> 00:25:39.650 agree with everything Charles Spurgeon says, 00:25:39.750 --> 00:25:41.849 but I love what he said on this subject. The 00:25:41.849 --> 00:25:44.390 concept that he puts out is this idea of holding 00:25:44.390 --> 00:25:47.289 on and holding out. Here's what Spurgeon had 00:25:47.289 --> 00:25:52.089 to say. You are to hold fast, to hold on, and 00:25:52.089 --> 00:25:56.390 to hold out to the end. And the grace you need 00:25:56.390 --> 00:25:59.390 in order to do this is waiting for you if you 00:25:59.390 --> 00:26:03.059 will look for it. and daily live under the power 00:26:03.059 --> 00:26:09.119 of it. But what are we holding on for? What is 00:26:09.119 --> 00:26:12.059 it exactly that we're holding out for? Well, 00:26:12.079 --> 00:26:15.220 it's the very thing that the wandering, unfaithful 00:26:15.220 --> 00:26:17.500 Israelites missed out on, the promised land. 00:26:17.940 --> 00:26:20.240 Except their promised land was just a temporary, 00:26:20.380 --> 00:26:22.519 earthly promised land. But the promised land 00:26:22.519 --> 00:26:24.460 that we are holding on for, that we're holding 00:26:24.460 --> 00:26:28.049 out for, that promised land is eternal. And it 00:26:28.049 --> 00:26:30.109 is far more abundant than the one that they were 00:26:30.109 --> 00:26:32.309 supposed to get to. And that's our destination. 00:26:33.410 --> 00:26:35.430 That's what we're looking for. That's where we 00:26:35.430 --> 00:26:38.930 want to go. Once this life is over, once we finish 00:26:38.930 --> 00:26:42.970 the race, once it's all done, we have the promise 00:26:42.970 --> 00:26:46.890 of an abundant and eternal home with God, a place 00:26:46.890 --> 00:26:51.130 where suffering has no place, a place where pain 00:26:51.130 --> 00:26:54.869 and worry have no place, a place where hurt and 00:26:54.869 --> 00:26:59.019 fear do not belong. And this endless toil, the 00:26:59.019 --> 00:27:01.619 constant working and chasing and striving that 00:27:01.619 --> 00:27:06.160 we do here does not exist. And this is a message 00:27:06.160 --> 00:27:12.259 of hope. Because to a weary people, to a people 00:27:12.259 --> 00:27:14.759 that are struggling with what their life is becoming, 00:27:14.880 --> 00:27:17.079 to a people that are struggling with what might 00:27:17.079 --> 00:27:19.339 become of their life, a people that's worried 00:27:19.339 --> 00:27:21.859 about persecution, a people that's hurting, a 00:27:21.859 --> 00:27:23.799 people that's been working, a people that is 00:27:23.799 --> 00:27:28.940 toiling under the sun, this message. It's one 00:27:28.940 --> 00:27:34.799 that they need. The message of a home. Something 00:27:34.799 --> 00:27:41.359 so grand. Something so pleasant and peaceful. 00:27:42.380 --> 00:27:44.339 It's something that they need and it's something 00:27:44.339 --> 00:27:48.380 we need. Because again, I've been dealing with 00:27:48.380 --> 00:27:50.700 discouragement and I imagine you have too. And 00:27:50.700 --> 00:27:52.539 it may not be personal discouragement. It may 00:27:52.539 --> 00:27:55.599 be what you've been seeing on the news. It may 00:27:55.599 --> 00:27:58.059 be what you've seen online. It may be the conversations 00:27:58.059 --> 00:28:00.480 you've had with people or overheard people having. 00:28:00.680 --> 00:28:02.759 It may be the constant litany of things that 00:28:02.759 --> 00:28:05.079 come in on a prayer request where you just see 00:28:05.079 --> 00:28:07.319 sickness, sickness, sickness, death, sickness, 00:28:07.380 --> 00:28:09.740 sickness, job loss, and all of these things just 00:28:09.740 --> 00:28:12.980 continue to compile, and your life is just, it 00:28:12.980 --> 00:28:15.579 feels heavy, and you're thinking, does it ever 00:28:15.579 --> 00:28:19.000 get better? And the Hebrew writer says, yes. 00:28:20.759 --> 00:28:25.269 The good news of Christ says, yes. In fact, this 00:28:25.269 --> 00:28:29.069 is the worst it will ever be. And I know sometimes 00:28:29.069 --> 00:28:31.589 it feels like it just is going to continue to 00:28:31.589 --> 00:28:34.549 get harder. Sometimes it feels like it won't 00:28:34.549 --> 00:28:38.910 get better. But what we have to know and believe 00:28:38.910 --> 00:28:43.089 is that there is a place waiting for us that 00:28:43.089 --> 00:28:49.569 is fully peaceful. It is fully abundant. And 00:28:49.569 --> 00:28:53.480 nothing bad will ever happen there. Nothing bad, 00:28:53.700 --> 00:28:57.299 negative, horrible has any place there. And only 00:28:57.299 --> 00:29:01.940 Jesus can get us there. You think about Joshua, 00:29:02.079 --> 00:29:05.119 he led Israel into the promised land. But Hebrews 00:29:05.119 --> 00:29:08.720 4 .8 says, even Joshua couldn't give them rest. 00:29:09.099 --> 00:29:11.900 And it's just kind of an interesting note that 00:29:11.900 --> 00:29:15.259 in the Greek, Joshua and Jesus are the same name. 00:29:15.740 --> 00:29:20.000 The first Joshua couldn't give them rest. He 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:22.240 could only lead them into it, and it was just 00:29:22.240 --> 00:29:25.119 kind of a temporary rest like we said. But the 00:29:25.119 --> 00:29:30.680 greater promised land, Jesus brings us to. Jesus 00:29:30.680 --> 00:29:33.599 prepares and establishes and brings us into. 00:29:35.140 --> 00:29:39.500 But again, the hardening of hearts, the unbelief 00:29:39.500 --> 00:29:44.279 and disobedience will be what keeps us out. That 00:29:44.279 --> 00:29:46.539 will be the thing. That keeps us out. And this 00:29:46.539 --> 00:29:49.539 is why Spurgeon says you have to hold on. You 00:29:49.539 --> 00:29:51.640 have to hold out. This is why the Hebrew writer 00:29:51.640 --> 00:29:54.059 has already told us to encourage each other daily. 00:29:54.240 --> 00:29:56.920 This is also why I think the Hebrew writer says 00:29:56.920 --> 00:30:01.079 this in verse 11 of chapter 4. Let us therefore 00:30:01.079 --> 00:30:04.900 strive to enter that rest so that no one may 00:30:04.900 --> 00:30:10.460 fall by the same sort of disobedience. To clarify, 00:30:10.619 --> 00:30:14.950 that's not striving to earn rest. It's just striving 00:30:14.950 --> 00:30:19.009 to enter it, to get there. It's striving to stay 00:30:19.009 --> 00:30:23.210 close to the one who gives it. But we need a 00:30:23.210 --> 00:30:25.089 prescription for how to do that because it's 00:30:25.089 --> 00:30:27.759 one thing to just say, yeah. Pursue Jesus. It's 00:30:27.759 --> 00:30:29.980 one thing to say, stay close to God, read your 00:30:29.980 --> 00:30:32.299 Bible, go to church. But there's some more there. 00:30:32.440 --> 00:30:34.180 And I want you to look at verses 12 through 16. 00:30:34.440 --> 00:30:36.460 It's a little lengthy, but guess what? The word 00:30:36.460 --> 00:30:39.579 of God is worth it. So follow along with me and 00:30:39.579 --> 00:30:41.319 read if it's underlined, if you'd like to. For 00:30:41.319 --> 00:30:44.160 the word of God is living and active, sharper 00:30:44.160 --> 00:30:47.000 than any two -edged sword, piercing to the division 00:30:47.000 --> 00:30:50.079 of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, 00:30:50.240 --> 00:30:52.680 and discerning the thoughts and intentions of 00:30:52.680 --> 00:30:54.980 the heart. And no creature is hidden from his 00:30:54.980 --> 00:30:58.200 sight, But all are naked and exposed to the eyes 00:30:58.200 --> 00:31:01.640 of him to whom we must give account. Since then, 00:31:01.640 --> 00:31:04.339 we have a great high priest who has passed through 00:31:04.339 --> 00:31:07.380 the heavens. Jesus, the son of God, let us hold 00:31:07.380 --> 00:31:10.119 fast our confession. For we do not have a high 00:31:10.119 --> 00:31:12.420 priest who's unable to sympathize with our weakness, 00:31:12.680 --> 00:31:15.720 but one who in every respect has been tempted 00:31:15.720 --> 00:31:19.410 as we are. yet without sin. Let us then with 00:31:19.410 --> 00:31:22.349 confidence draw near to the throne of grace that 00:31:22.349 --> 00:31:26.569 we may receive mercy and find grace to help in 00:31:26.569 --> 00:31:31.170 a time of need. There's two parts there, and 00:31:31.170 --> 00:31:33.890 it all centers around Jesus. First is let the 00:31:33.890 --> 00:31:37.829 word of God pierce your heart. What he's saying 00:31:37.829 --> 00:31:41.589 is let the word of God get in. Find what needs 00:31:41.589 --> 00:31:43.769 to be found. Get out what needs to be gotten 00:31:43.769 --> 00:31:46.670 out. Let the Word of God in and approach Jesus 00:31:46.670 --> 00:31:51.369 with confidence. So let's break those down as 00:31:51.369 --> 00:31:54.509 we wrap up. The first one, let the Word of God 00:31:54.509 --> 00:31:57.890 pierce your heart. He says the word of God is 00:31:57.890 --> 00:32:00.329 living and active. It's sharper than any two 00:32:00.329 --> 00:32:02.450 -edged sword. There's a reason the Hebrew writer 00:32:02.450 --> 00:32:05.289 leads with the word. And there's a reason he 00:32:05.289 --> 00:32:08.450 leads with this like poetic writing. He's explaining 00:32:08.450 --> 00:32:10.769 how the word of God can cut through the heart, 00:32:10.869 --> 00:32:12.990 how it can find even the most hidden things. 00:32:13.069 --> 00:32:15.900 It's like a scalpel. that is cutting into our 00:32:15.900 --> 00:32:18.200 hearts, that's cutting into our lives to find 00:32:18.200 --> 00:32:21.079 the problem. And when it finds the problem, it 00:32:21.079 --> 00:32:23.559 cuts it out. It's kind of like a biopsy. It cuts 00:32:23.559 --> 00:32:25.799 it out and it tests it. And if it's not supposed 00:32:25.799 --> 00:32:27.799 to be there, it gets rid of it. If it's supposed 00:32:27.799 --> 00:32:29.960 to be there, I guess God will put it back. The 00:32:29.960 --> 00:32:35.579 word of God is sharp enough to get in, to find. 00:32:36.619 --> 00:32:39.500 All of those negative things, all those things 00:32:39.500 --> 00:32:41.299 that are plaguing us, all of those things that 00:32:41.299 --> 00:32:43.180 are weighing us down, that are leading to the 00:32:43.180 --> 00:32:45.099 discouragement, that are leading to our wandering, 00:32:45.279 --> 00:32:47.700 that are leading to our disobedience, it'll cut 00:32:47.700 --> 00:32:50.859 it out and it'll remove it. And maybe you've 00:32:50.859 --> 00:32:53.380 felt that before. You've been reading scripture 00:32:53.380 --> 00:32:57.079 and all of a sudden you have this feeling as 00:32:57.079 --> 00:32:59.279 you're reading like God knows exactly what you're 00:32:59.279 --> 00:33:01.599 thinking about, like God knows exactly what you're 00:33:01.599 --> 00:33:05.519 going through and he's speaking directly to you. 00:33:06.440 --> 00:33:08.819 And that's a significant thing because in order 00:33:08.819 --> 00:33:11.859 to fight an issue, you have to first know the 00:33:11.859 --> 00:33:15.240 issue. And so the word of God, like I said, it 00:33:15.240 --> 00:33:19.279 acts like a surgeon, cutting out the issue, scoping 00:33:19.279 --> 00:33:22.160 out the problem so that we can know how to attack 00:33:22.160 --> 00:33:25.759 it. And number two, approach Jesus with confidence. 00:33:26.440 --> 00:33:30.619 He says, let us then with confidence draw near 00:33:30.619 --> 00:33:34.599 to the throne of grace. that we may receive mercy 00:33:34.599 --> 00:33:39.339 and find grace to help in time of need. Reading 00:33:39.339 --> 00:33:42.480 the word and being convicted by it is just one 00:33:42.480 --> 00:33:45.599 part of the equation. We can read the word and 00:33:45.599 --> 00:33:47.460 say, yeah, man, that's powerful. That's so good. 00:33:47.579 --> 00:33:49.779 Yeah, God, that is awesome. That's a great word. 00:33:50.079 --> 00:33:52.819 You can hear a sermon and you can be so encouraging. 00:33:52.839 --> 00:33:54.880 You can be so fired up. And it's, I'm going to 00:33:54.880 --> 00:33:57.869 change the world on Monday. It's one thing to 00:33:57.869 --> 00:34:00.549 hear it and be convicted by it and have a passion 00:34:00.549 --> 00:34:02.890 about it. But if I've said it once, I've said 00:34:02.890 --> 00:34:05.589 it a hundred times, learning something, hearing 00:34:05.589 --> 00:34:07.829 something, being convicted by something demands 00:34:07.829 --> 00:34:13.449 a response. And so when the word of God exposes 00:34:13.449 --> 00:34:16.769 something in you, when it reveals something, 00:34:16.889 --> 00:34:20.289 when it calls you to something, we have to respond. 00:34:20.929 --> 00:34:24.110 And the response the Hebrew writer gives, it's 00:34:24.110 --> 00:34:27.309 not earning our way. It's not accomplishing more. 00:34:27.409 --> 00:34:30.289 It's not proving ourselves, doing more. It's 00:34:30.289 --> 00:34:35.809 simply approaching the throne of grace with confidence 00:34:35.809 --> 00:34:42.079 through Jesus. And this is good news. It's such 00:34:42.079 --> 00:34:44.760 good news for these people because they're used 00:34:44.760 --> 00:34:46.860 to a priestly system where they would have to 00:34:46.860 --> 00:34:49.639 go to a high priest, give him their sacrifice 00:34:49.639 --> 00:34:52.780 to then take before God. And even he was not 00:34:52.780 --> 00:34:55.420 able to approach God confidently because if he 00:34:55.420 --> 00:34:57.440 did the wrong thing or if he wasn't in right 00:34:57.440 --> 00:34:59.460 standing, there was a fear that he would die. 00:34:59.659 --> 00:35:02.239 And so they could not do this with confidence 00:35:02.239 --> 00:35:05.179 and they can only do this like once a year. But 00:35:05.179 --> 00:35:08.639 for us, remember, Jesus closes the gap. So now. 00:35:09.000 --> 00:35:11.780 Any time of day, anywhere we're at, anything 00:35:11.780 --> 00:35:14.099 we're going through, whatever it is, whatever 00:35:14.099 --> 00:35:17.179 our circumstances, we can go to God with confidence 00:35:17.179 --> 00:35:21.840 because of Jesus. And we can lay it all at his 00:35:21.840 --> 00:35:26.539 feet. And we can turn it all over to him. And 00:35:26.539 --> 00:35:30.900 we can let him be the one to give us mercy and 00:35:30.900 --> 00:35:34.760 grace to help us in a time of need. Y 'all, that 00:35:34.760 --> 00:35:38.869 is beautiful. The idea that we don't have to 00:35:38.869 --> 00:35:42.630 wander. The idea that we don't have to try to 00:35:42.630 --> 00:35:44.269 accomplish on our own, that we don't have to 00:35:44.269 --> 00:35:46.610 try to figure out the way to where we want to 00:35:46.610 --> 00:35:49.230 go on our own. We don't have to try to piece 00:35:49.230 --> 00:35:52.989 together the plan, but that Jesus has given us 00:35:52.989 --> 00:35:54.769 the plan. He's given us the directions and he 00:35:54.769 --> 00:35:57.809 is still giving us direction and he's still rerouting 00:35:57.809 --> 00:35:59.789 us whenever we're not really going according 00:35:59.789 --> 00:36:05.469 to the directions. We're warned not to wander. 00:36:07.119 --> 00:36:10.079 But instead, we can and we should approach the 00:36:10.079 --> 00:36:13.159 throne of God through Jesus with confidence, 00:36:13.300 --> 00:36:18.219 knowing that in Him we will be led to the rest 00:36:18.219 --> 00:36:23.400 that God intends for us to know now and for eternity. 00:36:24.139 --> 00:36:26.340 Because there is an abundance that we can have 00:36:26.340 --> 00:36:31.059 in this life if we will lean on Jesus, if we'll 00:36:31.059 --> 00:36:34.719 trust in the Spirit. to guide us, to empower 00:36:34.719 --> 00:36:39.599 us, to strengthen us, and to comfort us. And 00:36:39.599 --> 00:36:41.820 then we can only imagine how good it's going 00:36:41.820 --> 00:36:48.179 to be for eternity. So remember my GPS. Like 00:36:48.179 --> 00:36:50.599 I said, when I miss my turns, I start to stress 00:36:50.599 --> 00:36:53.500 out, and I may not pay attention to it because 00:36:53.500 --> 00:36:55.260 then I try to figure it out on my own and I sort 00:36:55.260 --> 00:36:58.000 of overthink things, and it never stops rerouting. 00:36:58.440 --> 00:37:00.699 It never stops trying to lead me in the same 00:37:00.699 --> 00:37:04.260 way God hasn't stopped speaking. And maybe he's 00:37:04.260 --> 00:37:07.000 speaking to you this morning. Maybe the word 00:37:07.000 --> 00:37:09.460 has started to cut through in your heart this 00:37:09.460 --> 00:37:12.340 morning. And you're thinking about some things 00:37:12.340 --> 00:37:14.300 and you're realizing that you need to get back 00:37:14.300 --> 00:37:16.559 on track with God, that you need to find your 00:37:16.559 --> 00:37:18.780 way back onto the path that he's so clearly laid 00:37:18.780 --> 00:37:21.500 out. Or maybe you're realizing that you've never 00:37:21.500 --> 00:37:25.059 even turned on the GPS. You've never started 00:37:25.059 --> 00:37:29.119 following. You've never started listening. Or 00:37:29.119 --> 00:37:32.239 maybe you know somebody who's wandering, who 00:37:32.239 --> 00:37:35.380 they are outside of the path. They're outside 00:37:35.380 --> 00:37:37.599 of the will of God this morning. And you need 00:37:37.599 --> 00:37:39.639 to encourage them. Whatever you're carrying, 00:37:39.800 --> 00:37:45.760 take heart and know. Be encouraged by the fact 00:37:45.760 --> 00:37:47.719 that you can lay it down at the feet of Jesus. 00:37:47.840 --> 00:37:50.260 And so this morning, we offer you the invitation 00:37:50.260 --> 00:37:54.980 to confidently approach the throne of grace. 00:37:55.760 --> 00:37:58.119 Whatever you carry, whatever it is you need, 00:37:58.760 --> 00:38:00.239 We would love to pray with you. We would love 00:38:00.239 --> 00:38:02.699 to talk with you and encourage you this morning. 00:38:03.099 --> 00:38:05.300 We invite you to come now as we stand and as 00:38:05.300 --> 00:38:05.599 we sing.