The Bible is composed of
66 books, written by more
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than forty different authors.
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And yet with all this
diverse material and diverse
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personalities, we discern
in Scripture, running themes
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cohesive ideas that indicate
the workings of a mind behind
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the scenes, the mind of
the Holy Spirit inspiring
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these various authors.
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Welcome to Books of the Book,
I am Ty Gibson and with me is
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my co-host, James Rafferty
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And the book we are looking
at right now in the Bible, James
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is the book of Hebrews
and we are on chapter 4,
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Hebrews chapter 4, well
we are talking about rest.
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You remember that
stuff we needed when
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first got here to 3ABN?
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It was interesting, was it?
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We were tired, we had
traveled a long way, all the way
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from Oregon, through Denver,
through St. Louis, and then
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driven down here to 3ABN,
and we went into this little
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apartment were we are
staying and we fell asleep
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a little bit
late, set our alarm,
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woke up in the
morning, drug ourselves out
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of bed because of
time change, two hours,
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we're just beat, we just
want a little bit more rest,
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better not, we can't keep
them waiting in the studio,
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Got out here and we
were one hour early.
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Why? Well because the clocks,
in that little apartment we were
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staying in, hadn't been
changed so we had adjusted
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to the wrong time.
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Nobody was here, we
barely got into the building,
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and we just thought,
Oh! we could have used
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that extra hour of rest, REST!
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To have... - Rest! -Yeah!
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What Paul is picking up
here in Hebrews chapter 4, rest.
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Spiritual rest, James,
is far more significant,
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than physical rest,
there is a salvation in rest.
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That is brought to our attention
here in Hebrews chapter 4,
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and just like Paul has
done before, in chapter 3 and
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chapter 2, he begins chapter
4 by introducing a new topic,
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a related topic, but new,
with the word "therefore".
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He is referring back to
what has been covered thus far,
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specifically in chapter 3
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He says, therefore since a
promise remains of entering
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His rest, capital H, this
is Jesus, let us fear lest
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any of you seem
to come short of it.
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So we are invited,
we are indeed admonished
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to enter into this rest
that Jesus holds out before us.
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Based upon His promise,
I like this because this
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is contrasting the promise of
God, that we have just learned
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in chapter 3, is sure and
steadfast, even in our rebellion
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His word stands fast.
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He will allow us to experience
the consequences of sin.
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Many times in our lives
so that we can understand
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what those consequences
are, and so we can understand
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that He is faithful, He
can be trusted and His word
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is faithful to accomplish.
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When He makes a
promise it will accomplish,
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it will, He will
follow through with that.
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So the promise here is
contrasted with the fear the
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phobia of losing out,
missing out, now we have phobias
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about a lot of things.
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You know some people
have phobias about height,
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I'm kind of
scared of the myself.
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Spiders, small
confined places, claustrophobic.
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This is a phobia that is
natural to the human heart.
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One, that Paul is
saying, is contrasted with the
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promise of God's word.
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This fear and this phobia that
we of missing out, of losing out
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on something, a lot of people
are undermined in their faith
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in and their confidence in
God, because there is a phobia
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built up about trusting in
His word, thinking or making it
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making believe that His word
is fairy tales, it can't be real
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the Bible isn't trustworthy.
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So God has to work through
this and establish faith,
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First of all in His word,
who He is, so this phobia can be
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destroyed and you
can trust His promise.
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It seems like in
Paul's context, that faith is
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the antonym for fear.
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Faith is what we are invited
into, in order to displace
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fear from our hearts.
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To build up within us a
confidence that Jesus will
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complete that He has begun in
us, and to build up a confidence
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in us that He is the one
that initiated, and in Himself
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achieved the work
of salvation apart from
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our
contribution, or participation.
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Referring back to chapter 1,
and verse 3, which was a guiding
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point that we really
need to keep in mind.
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And that is that Jesus as the
Creator, as the God of Heaven,
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come down to earth, in
our human nature, accomplished
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our salvation,
purged our sins, by Himself.
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That is the basis of the
rest that we are invited into
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in Hebrews chapter 4.
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We are to rest in a
salvation that He has achieved.
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Now it is clearly brought
out verse 2, when you look at
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verse 2, it says, "For
unto us was the gospel preached,
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as well as unto them, but
the word preached did not profit
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them with faith in
them that heard it. "
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Now this is one of my favorite
texts in the New Testament.
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Why? Because it indicates,
that in the Old Testament
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the gospel was preached,
in the Old testament people
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were saved by the
gospel of Jesus Christ and the
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Old Testament salvation was
through faith and not by works.
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Lot of people today, are
under the wrong impression
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that the Old Testament and the
Old covenant people were saved
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through obedience to the law.
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NO! Never, never
has been, never will be.
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It has always been salvation
through faith in Jesus Christ.
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Always been the
good news of the gospel.
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And this is another place where
we see Paul as the author of
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Hebrews, because Paul warns
us, not only here, but also in
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Galatians who
were being bewitched by
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this legalistic experience.
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He warns us that we
need to trust in the gospel.
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We need to be grounded in
the gospel, and the gospel is
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preached in the Old Testament
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Here it is preached to Israel,
there it was preached to Abraham
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The gospel was, has always
been the foundation, the bases
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of salvation, it
parallels Ephesians 2 that we
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talked about earlier, "for
by grace you are saved through
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faith and not and not of
yourselves it is the gift
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of God, not of works
less any man should boast. "
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Well a lot of people, James,
are going to have difficulty
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ah, pinpointing where
the gospel was preached
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in the Old Testament because
the dispensationalist idea
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that strictly divides the
Old and New Testament and says
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that salvation was by obedience
to the law, in Old Testament
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times, but by grace in
the New Testament times, that
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idea is so common, and people
are so entrenched in that way
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of thinking, that often
times people draw a blank.
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What do you mean
the gospel was preached
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in the Old Testament?
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But I know of at least two
examples that are prominent
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examples of what Paul
is talking about here,
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that the gospel was
preached in the Old Testament,
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number one, in the context
of Hebrews, which referring back
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to the entire, typical sanctuary
service, that entire service
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revolved around the sacrifice
of the Lamb on the alter
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and the carrying of the blood
into the Holy Place, into the
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Most holy place in the
day of atonement, very clearly
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that entire symbolic service,
it was a type, it was an object.
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lesson of the sacrificial
death of Jesus, the love of God
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manifested in Him, and the fact
that the blood of Jesus Christ
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all the way through the process
of salvation, is the power
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by which we are saved.
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So clearly, in that sanctuary
service, we have the gospel
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being preached in type
and symbol, but I also, James,
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and this really came as a
surprise to me as I was studying
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the Scriptures, and it dawned on
me that even the Ten Commandment
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law of God is a place in
the Old Testament where the
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gospel is preached.
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The gospel is actually infolded
in the Ten Commandment law.
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It is in fact, you know what
is really interesting? there are
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two places in Exodus chapter 20,
where we look at some parallels
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right here with
Hebrews chapter 4,
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the first one is in Ex. 20:1,2,
where God says, I am the Lord
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thy God that delivered you
out of the bondage of Egyptian,
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out of the Egyptian
bondage, I delivered you.
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And when you look at you
realize that comes before any
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thou shalt or thou shalt not.
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That's right! That's right!
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I delivered you out of Egyptian
bondage therefore have no
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other Gods before me.
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How did God deliver
them out of Egyptian bondage?
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It is so clear if
you look at the history,
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if you go to Exodus
20, where this statement
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is made of the, in
the Ten Commandments
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You go back to chapter
16, and we can see clearly
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that the point of deliverance,
for the children of Israel,
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from slavery in Egypt, was
the blood of the Passover Lamb.
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On the door post..., that's
right, that blood of the lamb
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was symbolic, it pointed
forward to the Lamb of God
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Jesus Christ, Who would
take away the sins of the world.
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So literally, the gospel,
or the cross of Jesus Christ,
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is explicit in
the Ten Commandments.
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Basically what the
Ten Commandments say
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if you read the whole law,
beginning at Exodus 20 verse 1,
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God doesn't just say, thou
shalt, thou shalt not, God says
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I delivered you, by the
blood of the Passover Lamb
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there fore in the power of
that grace, of that deliverance
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my accomplishment, therefore
have no other Gods before me.
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and the Ten Commandments
unfold, so in that sense,
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we can look at the Ten
Commandments and say wow,
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these commandments are promises.
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This is God, not simply
telling us we ought to do,
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this is God saying, if you
will partake of the delivery
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grace that is provided for
you in Jesus, I promise you
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you will have no other
Gods before me, I promise you
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won't commit adultery, I promise
you won't kill, lie, steal
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because My grace will
empower you and will deliver you
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in such a way that
you won't be in bondage
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to these things anymore.
00:10:22.27\00:10:23.49
So there is that same principle
again, defined right here in
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Hebrews chapter 4
in relationship Exodus,
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in relationship
to the Old Testament
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in relation to the gospel.
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Another principle you find
is the same one in Hebrews 2
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Fear, the fear factor
is part of our experience.
00:10:34.69\00:10:37.67
In Exodus chapter 20, as he
closes, as Moses closes this
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admonition, he talks to
the people and he says to them,
00:10:41.49\00:10:44.62
verse 20, "Fear not for God
has come to prove you, that His
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fear may be before your
faces that you may sin not. "
00:10:49.60\00:10:52.72
Now this is really important
because while God wants to
00:10:52.75\00:10:55.95
remove fear from our hearts,
He also wants to put fear
00:10:55.98\00:10:59.15
into our hearts.
00:10:59.18\00:11:00.45
And that's what is being
talked about in Hebrews 4.
00:11:00.48\00:11:02.21
There is a fear that
God wants to remove, Hebrews
00:11:02.24\00:11:04.91
chapter 2, and there is a
fear God wants us to have.
00:11:04.94\00:11:06.77
The fear He wants us to
remove is the fear of having a
00:11:06.80\00:11:10.43
relationship with Him, the fear
of missing out on salvation.
00:11:10.46\00:11:13.58
The fear He wants us to have is
the fear of reverence for Him.
00:11:13.62\00:11:16.73
An awe of Him, honoring
Him, following Him in responding
00:11:16.76\00:11:21.29
to Him, of being in
communication with Him,
00:11:21.32\00:11:24.64
as He wants to be with us.
00:11:24.67\00:11:26.46
I think it's fascinating
the Exodus 20:20 verse
00:11:26.49\00:11:28.84
uses the word "fear" twice in
one sentence, and one time the
00:11:28.87\00:11:34.72
word fear is used in a negative
sense, and the other time it is
00:11:34.75\00:11:36.95
used in a positive sense.
00:11:36.99\00:11:38.18
It's almost contradictive if
you don't understand the word
00:11:38.21\00:11:41.73
is used two different ways
in Scripture, because Moses
00:11:41.76\00:11:43.70
basically says,
don't fear, FEAR!
00:11:43.73\00:11:46.78
Don't fear in some way, on some
level, but do fear in some way
00:11:46.81\00:11:52.32
on another level.
00:11:52.35\00:11:53.97
That's why it is really not
a contradiction of verse like
00:11:54.00\00:11:57.75
Revelation 14, where we are
told by the first angel message,
00:11:57.78\00:12:02.15
Fear you God and
give glory to Him.
00:12:02.18\00:12:03.91
But then you have 1
John chapter 4 that says,
00:12:03.94\00:12:07.05
perfect love casts out fear.
00:12:07.09\00:12:09.41
So which is it? Fear or no fear?
00:12:09.44\00:12:12.29
Well the fact is, it's both.
00:12:12.32\00:12:13.85
Fear and don't fear.
00:12:13.88\00:12:15.56
Fear God in a reverential
way, fear God with love and awe.
00:12:15.59\00:12:21.19
Fear God even with
trembling in that awe.
00:12:21.22\00:12:24.67
But don't fear God as a
person, don't fear God's
00:12:24.71\00:12:28.48
motives towards you.
00:12:28.52\00:12:29.54
Don't fear God's
attitude towards you.
00:12:29.57\00:12:31.96
God loves you, God wants to
save you, let His love cast out
00:12:31.99\00:12:36.47
banish all that kind
of fear from your heart.
00:12:36.50\00:12:38.41
But instill within us a
fear, is what the Bible calls in
00:12:38.44\00:12:44.38
another place, Godly fear.
00:12:44.41\00:12:46.02
Here is another thing
that the book of Hebrews 4 is
00:12:46.05\00:12:48.73
working toward, Paul here
is encouraging us also to look
00:12:48.76\00:12:53.13
at the experience of ancient
Israel, and fear that we would
00:12:53.16\00:12:56.85
follow them and not enter
into a different experience.
00:12:56.88\00:12:59.71
Now verse 3 he says, "For
we which do believe enter into
00:12:59.74\00:13:03.14
rest as he said, as I have sworn
00:13:03.17\00:13:06.77
in My wrath, they
shall enter my rest:
00:13:06.80\00:13:08.08
although the works were
00:13:08.12\00:13:09.67
finished from the
foundation of the world. "
00:13:09.70\00:13:11.64
Paul here, and in the following
verses, is making a comparison
00:13:11.67\00:13:16.54
between spiritual rest and
the seventh-day Sabbath rest.
00:13:16.57\00:13:21.05
The Sabbath rest
of the commandments.
00:13:21.09\00:13:23.27
And he is saying there is a
spiritual rest and there is a
00:13:23.31\00:13:26.64
Sabbath rest, and he contrasts
the two for a, to make a
00:13:26.68\00:13:29.95
very important point and that
is this, these Jews, the Nation
00:13:29.98\00:13:34.51
of Israel, while keeping
the seventh-day Sabbath, failed
00:13:34.55\00:13:38.16
to enter into spiritual rest,
salvation rest in Jesus Christ.
00:13:38.19\00:13:40.90
In fact, when Jesus was
crucified, they went to Pilate,
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they went to the Roman
governor, and actually asked him
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if they could remove the body
of the Messiah, their Redeemer,
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remove that body from the cross,
so that they could keep the
00:13:51.94\00:13:54.94
seventh-day Sabbath of the law.
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Now understand this, Paul
is not against the law, not
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in anyway, but Paul
was raised law-keeping.
00:13:59.67\00:14:02.14
Paul was raised emphasizing
the law, Paul was raised
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trusting in the law of
salvation and he's realized
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NO! so he is sending a directive
here to the Hebrews, a directive
00:14:07.01\00:14:10.86
to the sins of the Galatians,
00:14:10.89\00:14:12.03
NO! We can't trust
in salvation by works,
00:14:12.07\00:14:14.58
salvation by the law, that
is never been the way God saves.
00:14:14.62\00:14:17.58
We need to look at the
experience and realize, there's
00:14:17.62\00:14:20.70
a difference between
the way we are saved,
00:14:20.73\00:14:22.40
and the seventh-day Sabbath.
00:14:22.43\00:14:24.12
They are connected, but there
is a contrast between the two.
00:14:24.15\00:14:27.51
And we are going to
see how they are connected
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as we follow these verses down,
but for now he is saying there
00:14:28.68\00:14:31.89
is a distinction between the
two let's make that distinction
00:14:31.92\00:14:33.96
clear, we are not saved by
keeping the Sabbath, we are
00:14:33.99\00:14:36.44
saved through
entering into Christ's rest.
00:14:36.47\00:14:38.85
For now James, we just
need to take a short break.
00:14:38.88\00:14:41.03
But we will be right
back in a moment to continue
00:14:41.06\00:14:43.34
our study of Hebrews chapter 4.
00:14:43.37\00:14:46.12