Make Sure to Enter God's Rest - Part 3

Well if you would take your Bible turn back to Hebrews chapter 4. I did say earlier in our scripture reading we will be in verses 11 to 13 this morning. I'll mention a few other verses. I know I say this from time to time. Jot those verses down, make those a part of your Bible study time because here at Grace Life Brookhaven we always encourage one another to study in our own personal private time what we're studying together on Sunday mornings, Sunday nights and Wednesday nights. Now we've been in these verses verses 1 to 13 for two weeks and we have seen the authors urgent call to those who were receiving this letter.

Now first and foremost he was warning them not to have an evil unbelieving heart. We saw this in chapter 3 verses 7 to 19 and then right behind that he was calling them to enter into God's rest which was and is entering into a personal saving relationship with Christ and we're seeing these things in chapter 4 verses 1 to 13. Now remember remember the author was writing this way because there really were some in this congregation who were not born again believers. There were some who profess Christ but they did not savingly believe in Christ.

I have said this in the last two messages some of them were unbelieving believers, unbelieving believers. I know that sounds contradictory but that's what they were. Some were unbelieving believers like we see in John chapter 2. In John chapter 2 we had these great crowds who were following Jesus and some in the crowds professed to believe in Jesus but Jesus would not entrust himself to them because he knew they were unbelieving believers. As a matter of fact the text says that Jesus knew their hearts and he did that because he was God. And we can say it like this. There were some in this congregation who were tares or weeds among the wheat.

In Matthew 13 we see the fact that in God's Kingdom on earth which is the church there are some who are not saved. The wheat in the parable represent true believers and the tares or the weeds depending upon what translation you have the tares or the weeds represent false believers in the parable. And the tares, the weeds look just like the wheat or the true believers in every way but they are false. And that is what we have in this congregation that was receiving this letter. Some of them were unbelieving believers. They profess Christ but they did not savingly believe. So they were tares or weeds among the wheat.

And to me this leads us to two facts that we must see and embrace. I know I mentioned this the last time we were in these verses. First there will always be unbelievers in and among the church. While on earth the church is imperfect so there will always be tares or weeds among the wheat. And then second we must never forget that we are to be calling unbelievers to savingly believe in Christ and especially those who profess to believe but they have not entered into true saving faith. Now in our study of these verses we have seen that rest, spiritual rest is the main subject of chapter 4 verses 1 to 13.

The author mentions rest in verse 1, in verse 3, verse 5, verse 8, verse 9, verse 10, and verse 11. And we have seen what this rest actually is. Simply rest in God is rest from self effort and somehow trying to earn our salvation. Rest in God is spiritual rest which comes from entering into a personal saving relationship with Christ Jesus. And we have seen that rest in God produces rest in all of the different areas of our lives. I'll mention a few. Worry and fear are replaced. Worry and fear are replaced by rest in God. Identity and purpose in life are found in God by rest in God. Death and eternity are no longer feared. Why?

Because those fears have been replaced by rest in God. I know I said this in last week's message or the last time we were in these verses. This rest is imperfect. This rest is imperfect. Why? Because we as believers we still struggle with sin. We still struggle with our flesh and in the world all around us. But also this rest is perfect. This rest is perfect because as believers when we pass from this life into the next we enter into a perfect rest in God and with God for all of eternity. So what we have been studying is simple.

The author was calling those Jews in this small Jewish congregation to make sure that they had entered into God's rest and God through the author of the book of Hebrews here is doing the very same thing in our day right here with you and with me. Now this leads me to the title of the message. It's a simple part 3. Make sure to enter God's rest. Make sure you enter God's rest. Now so far we have had two messages in verses 1 to 13 and I will zoom through the outline that we have carried along the way. Number one we saw that rest is available in verse 1 and then number two we saw the components of this rest.

You can call that the nuts and the bolts of this rest in verses 2 to 3 and then number three we saw that rest is found in God in verses 4 to 7 and then number 4 we saw the character of this rest in verses 8 to 10 and then starting in verse 11 we began to see number 5 the urgency of this rest. We began to see how the author expressed the urgency that is needed in seeking out and finding this rest that had been that he had been describing since verse 1. So this is how we're going to cover our verses.

We will simply continue with the outline that we've had all along we will look at number 5 the urgency of this rest and this will finish out these verses. So number 5 the urgency of this rest. The urgency of this rest. Let's read our verses again verses 11 to 13. "Let us therefore strive," it's a key word there, "to enter that rest so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit of joints and of marrow and discerning the faults and tensions and intentions of the heart.

And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account." Now we need to see that verses 11 to 13 can be approached in two different ways. They can be seen as a part of the overall message that is found in verses 1 to 13 which is the call to make sure we enter God's rest. That's the title of these verses. But they can also be seen as independent verses with an independent message that speaks to the powerful penetrating power that is found in the Word of God. Now that leads me to a question, how are we gonna approach the verses?

To me, we must see these verses as a part of verses 1 to 13 in the author's call to make sure we enter God's rest. But these verses can also stand alone and tell us of the powerful penetrating power of the Word of God to do God's work. So I will apply the verses really in both ways. But here in these verses we see the climax of this teaching that is seen in verses 1 to 13. This is a call to action. This is the climax of the teaching and the author is reaching the pinnacle here and he's calling them to action and he's been calling them to action all along.

Now let me pause here and say something I've been wanting to say really since we started in verse 1. We need to understand we see man's responsibility here and there is an error that many can make when it comes to things like this. Those who hold on to what is called a reformed soteriology. You know what soteriology is? It's a big fancy word for how we view salvation. Those who hold on to a reformed view of how man comes to faith in Christ understand that man must be born again first. A man can never trust in Christ, demonstrate saving faith unless they are born of God first.

We learned in Ephesians that a dead man can never come to faith in Christ unless they are made alive by Christ. And the error that some can make in this camp is this. They can overlook or ignore or sometimes even look down on man's responsibility. Now what am I showing you here? All throughout these verses we see man's responsibility. The author of Hebrews was calling these people to action, action and we must see that we have a responsibility. We are called to action here. But let me show you how we are called to action and how he was calling them to action.

Earlier the author called them to beware and to be discerning that they did not have an evil, unbelieving heart. That was a call to action. That was a call to take some spiritual responsibility. Look back at chapter 3 verse 12. What does he say? Take care brothers, brothers and sisters. Lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart leading you to fall away from the living God. And then he called them to fear. But he called them to a fear that would motivate them to make sure that they had savingly believed. Therefore they would not fail to enter God's rest. Again a call to action.

This was a call to take some spiritual responsibility. We see this in chapter 4 verse 1. Look back at verse 1. "Therefore while the promise of entering his rest still stands let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it." And here in these verses before us the author calls them to another action and to another responsibility. In verse 11 he calls them to strive to enter rest. Look back at verse 11. "Let us therefore strive to enter that rest." Now here the legacy standard Bible and the New American use the word diligent.

The New American reads, "Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest." The English standard that I normally read from and preach from it says, "Let us strive to enter that rest." And this diligence or striving it comes from a word in the original that means to exert oneself, to be diligent but also to exert oneself with an eagerness. It means to exert oneself but to be diligent, to be quick about it. So what we have here is this. The writer was calling these professing Jewish believers to a place of fear, a place of fear. But this was not a paralyzing fear, no. This was to be a motivating fear.

He called them to be afraid that they could fail to reach or to attain rest in God and rest from God. Now I know it is my habit throughout my preaching and teaching to ask rhetorical questions. But folks I want to ask you to be honest with yourself. I want to ask you to be honest with God to the best of your ability this morning. And I've got a series of questions for you that you desperately need to ask. Are you fearful? Are you fearful that you may possess an evil unbelieving heart? Are you fearful that you may not be a true born-again Christian? And a question for you, really for all of us, is it good?

Is it good that we should be seized with fear that we may be lost? Is that good? Well what is God through the writer of Hebrews showing us? This kind of fear is good but this fear should not paralyze us. No, this fear should motivate us. This fear should light a fire under us. And another question, will you diligently strive to enter rest in God? Will you exert yourself with great urgency to enter spiritual rest which can only be found in Christ Jesus? Will you let that fear motivate you? You see your responsibility? Now let me show you how this works for us who are born again. We're not seized by fear here.

When we study these things we're seized by worship. Oh because we think back to what our life was like before we came to faith in Christ. We think back to when God the Holy Spirit seized us with fear and we think back to when that fear motivated us to saving faith. You see? But next in verse 11 the author gives them more motivation. He gives them a motivating example that was meant to help them in their diligence in striving to enter this rest. We have seen this example over and over and over and overall throughout these verses the first generation of Jews.

Now obviously the author does not want these unbelieving believers in this congregation to take the same path as their Jewish forefathers. This is why he repeatedly used the example of that first generation of Jews in the lives of those receiving this letter. Now we covered this two weeks ago but there are two things we need to see here. First there was a real possibility that these unbelieving believers there in that congregation could all hear every bit of this teaching and still disobey, still hold on to their evil unbelieving heart and go straight to hell.

And then second repeatedly hearing of this first generation of Jews who did not obey and they paid the consequences it was needed in the lives of these believers they needed to hear it over and over and over and they did. And the lesson for us here is vital. There is a lesson here that is much needed. There is a real possibility that people within our congregation even our very own children can hold on to an evil unbelieving heart. Have you noticed that I say evil unbelieving heart all the time? What does the text say about an unbelieving heart? It's evil.

And that is a real possibility that we can have folks within our church even our own children who hear this teaching over and over and over for years and they can still hold on to an evil unbelieving heart. So we must be like this author. We must repeat these things to our children and any around us that we fear can have an evil unbelieving heart. I was reminded of how vital this is this past week. When I was up at Shelbyville visiting with Pastor John O and Pastor Jason Johns who's been here with us before we got to spend some time together just as pastors.

Brother John O told us the story of a young man that he knew all of his life he grew up in his church and and he had the privilege of teaching him the Word of God year after year teaching him the Word of God in youth camp. He professed to know Christ came from a family in the church he grew up in the church literally but yet when he became a young adult out of college he demonstrated that he had an evil unbelieving heart by going the way of the cult and no matter how much Pastor John O reasoned with him and loved on him and told him and taught him he still went the way of a cult demonstrating that he had an evil unbelieving heart.

So the lesson here that we must take home is this we never stop warning of these things. So what we have here is this the writer was giving the lesson of that first generation again which was meant to be a great motivation to all of those receiving the letter. Now I said this before but as our children and as our teenagers grow up and they can understand negative examples I think it is good to point out those around us that our children may know who have gone the way of unbelief and they paid the price.

I guess if we take our teenagers and children and those in our family and we point to those who've gone the way of unbelief and they paid the price if we point to them repeatedly we're being just like what we see in the book of Hebrews. And now beginning in verse 12 the author shifts to explain why these Jews should strive to enter this rest and why they should be motivated by fear to make sure they did not possess an evil unbelieving heart. And actually the author here gives them three reasons why they should be motivated and we see these three reasons in verse 12 and verse 13. So the first reason the Word of God is able to divide.

First the Word of God is able to divide. Let's look at verse 12. For the Word of God is living and active sharper than any two-edged sword piercing to the division of the soul and of spirit of joints and of marrow and discerning the faults and intentions of the heart. Now here in verse 12 the author tells us what the Word of God is and what the Word of God does in the lives of those who have an evil unbelieving heart. Remember context who's he writing to? So let's just unfold the verse. First he tells us the Word of God is the Word of God. You might say pastor that's kind of redundancy. The Word of God is the Word of God.

And notice that all of the translations we use use the same phrase the Word of God. Simply this tells us that the Word of God is anything and everything that God has said in His Word. This would include the words of the Old Testament prophets, the writings of the Old Testament, and especially what God said through His Son Jesus. The Bible scholar Leon Morris says and I'm quoting "The author has begun the letter by pointing to the revelation in Christ as the supreme revelation and this thought is before him constantly." Let me restate that because you need to hear that and get it.

Morris says "The author began the letter by pointing to the revelation in Christ as the supreme revelation and this thought is before him constantly." So the Word of God here is any and all of God's Word especially what God said and did through His Son Jesus. Now let me give you some examples that you can hang your hat on. When we are studying the book of Hebrews together we are studying the Word of God. The Word of God. When we're studying the seven churches in the book of Revelation on Wednesday night we're studying the Word of God. When we meet in small groups we're studying the Word of God. What am I trying to show you?

We are studying the Word of God not my opinions. Man's opinions are the latest book that's popular. And then second he says the Word of God is living. Now in all the translations we see that the Word of God is living. This means it is alive. It means it's living. It is living. It is breathing. It is not lifeless. It is dead. And then third he says the Word of God is active. In all the translations we see that the Word of God is active. This is the word where we get our word energy. This means it is active. It is operative. It is effectual. I like something that Leon Morris says here. He says we are not to think of dead words in a book.

A kind of parchment pope. I guess he's poking fun at the Catholics. Continuing with a quote. We are to think rather of any utterance of God as full of vital force, as dynamic, as active in bringing about God's purpose. And then fourth he says the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged or double-edged sword. Now I hear all of the translations say the same thing. The New American, the English Standard, the Legacy Standard Bible, the King James says sharper than any two-edged sword. Now we may struggle to see this but I think it is obvious that the author is using an analogy, an example, to make a point.

But in their day the double-edged sword was very powerful. It was very effective in battle. It could slash both ways as well as be used for for penetrating the victim in battle. And by making this comparison the author was saying that the Word of God is powerful. It is effective to do what God intends it to do. So notice how the author is showing what the Word of God is. The Bible is the Word of God. It is God's Word and all of God's Word and all of God's Word is alive, active, effective. All of God's Word is operative. It is full of energy. It is full of the energy of the power of God.

It is powerful and effective to do all that God intends it to do. As one commentator said it, "It has an inherent power that cannot be thwarted." Folks, do you realize that nothing can stop the power of God through His Word? And the opposite will be that God's Word is dead, inactive, inoperative, powerless to do what God intends it to do. Now a couple of questions here. Do we react to God's Word as the living, active, effective Word of God? Do we?

I mean when we're looking into our copy of God's Word that we have all around us in our homes and in our lives, do we react to and view and see God's Word as the living, active, effective Word of God? Do we react to the Bible as God's Word which is full of energy and power, the power of God to be effective to do what God intends it to do? I'm afraid we just kind of see it as God's book when it's more than that. And now the author shifts to what the Word of God does.

He says, and I'm reading from the English Standard Version, "The Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of the soul and of the spirit of joints and a marrow and discerning the faults and tensions of the heart." Now right here we need to see that the author does not mean that the Word of God literally divides the soul of a man from a spirit of a man. He does not mean that the Word of God literally divides the joints of the body, even the marrow from the bone. Actually this is quite simple. He was and is saying that the Word of God can penetrate the innermost, the deepest part of a person.

The Word of God can penetrate even the deep and secret recesses of a person's very being. The Word of God can penetrate and expose the secret thoughts of the mind, even the secret intentions that are hidden away in the heart and the mind of a man. Simply nothing inside a person can be hidden away from the penetrating, exposing, revealing work of the Word of God. No part of a person is immune from the powerful effects of the Word of God. So what we see here is this.

The author tells us that God's Word, all of God's Word, and especially what God said and did through His Son, all of God's Word is living and active and full of power, making it operative, energizing, and effective. It is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as the division of the soul and spirit, the completeness of a person, and of both joints and marrow, the deepest parts of our nature, exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart, quoting from the Amplified. Now there is a very important lesson that we need here, folks.

For the one that is holding on to an evil, unbelieving heart, what needs to be put before them is the Word of God. They don't need counsel from you. They don't need counsel from grandma. They don't need counsel from a pastor. Oh, if a pastor or grandma or you give them the Word of God, that is what they need. What needs to be put before them is the very living, active Word of God, the one who has or they may have an evil, unbelieving heart. They need to be under the Word of God. Some of you are sitting here saying, "Pastor, you're preaching with a little more spunk." You know why? Because folks desperately need the Word of God.

Look, church, we believe that our precious little boys and girls need desperately to be born again. Our children need to be under the Word of God. Our teenagers who've not come to faith in Christ, what do they need? The Word of God. And I'm forgiving our children and teenagers all that we could give them. Vacations, yes. Sports, yes. The blessings of life, sure. I'm not against those things, but oh folks, do not let the blessings of life, do not let the busyness of your life pull your children and your teenagers out from under the Word of God. What do your children and teenagers need? The Word of God, the Word of God, the Word of God.

How will they come to faith in Christ if they're not under the Word of God? Oh, in all my years of ministry, I've seen people say they love God, they want their children to come to faith in God, they want their teenagers to come to faith in Christ, but what do they do? They have them everywhere but in God's house where the Word of God is taught. I mean, look, sir, you are the leader of your home. Don't look for your wife to lead your family. You are. If you do not have your sons and your daughters under the Word of God and they go to hell, you will stand before God if you haven't had them under the Word of God. It starts with you, sir.

It starts with me. And look, church, as a church and as a people, we must throw ourselves onto the Word of God, especially the gospel. We must put the Word of God and especially the gospel into the ears and the minds and the hearts of the lost. It is the Word of God, especially the gospel, that divides and destroys lost sinners and it is the gospel that has the power to save lost sinners. Paul says it clearly in Romans 1 16, "For I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes." Do you see that? Now, let me give you a warning here. I want everybody to listen close.

There is always the danger of substitution. If we believe that something or someone, something besides the gospel, will save our children, then we have become smarter than God. If we believe that some plan or something or someone can save our children, besides the gospel, we have set ourselves up to be smarter than God. And if that's the case, we are the biggest fools. Now, I say this from time to time. When it comes to schooling your children and how you raise your children, we look to what the scriptures say clearly and then we step over to Romans chapter 14. We are led by the Spirit of God. We don't violate our conscience.

If we homeschool or private school or public school, how you raise your children in your home, the type of Christian education you use, it is up to you. We do what the scriptures say and then we don't violate our conscience. And the way that works for you could be different than the way it works for me. But look, mom and dad, do not think that your way of schooling and your way of Christian education in your home will guarantee your children will come to faith in Christ. I have literally had moms and dads look me in the face and they say, "I thought I had it figured out.

I thought if I did this just right and I did this just right and I did just this just right, they would come to faith in Christ." That is relying on a plan, not the gospel. It is the gospel that has the power to save the most vile and wicked sinner on the face of the earth and your little boy who has never done evil and wicked and vile things by our standards. So my point is this, it's the power of the gospel that saves the evil, unbelieving heart. And just to shift here, folks, for those of us who are born again, it is the Word of God that feeds us. It's the Word of God that nourishes us.

It's the Word of God that corrects us and rebukes us and guides us and comforts us. You see how it works? But for those who are lost, the Word of God judges and destroys. And another rhetorical question here, would you like to have God's Word judge and destroy you right here in time and in human history and then bring you to saving faith in Christ? Or would you rather have God's Word judge and destroy you at the great white throne judgment when it is too late? Some people might say, "Pastor, you're being mean." No, I'm being biblical.

We better have God's Word destroy lost sinners right here in time when they can come to saving faith in Christ. So the Word of God is able to divide to the very deepest part of a person. And then second, the person of God is able to expose. Let's look at verse 13. Verse 13, "The person of God is able to expose, and no creature is hidden from his sight." Who is his sight? It's God. "But all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account." Here we see that the author moves from the Word of God to God Himself. Here we can clearly see the author's shield from impersonal pronouns to personal pronouns, you see?

But he is still on the same subject of revealing and exposing the one with the evil unbelieving heart. Remember the context? And notice what the author says God is able to do. First, God is able to uncover. We see that in the beginning of verse 13. Now here all of the translations basically say the same thing. The English standard says, "And no creature is hidden from his sight." But notice how the author says the same thing but in a different way. Next he says that all are naked before him. Here the English standard uses the word naked.

The New American says, "But all things are open." The legacy standard Bible says, "But all things are uncovered." And this word here in the original simply means naked. It means open. It means lay bare. And this literally means that all things, including all people, are uncovered. They are open. They are naked before God. The same word is used in other places in Scripture. In Acts 19-16 we see that the body is exposed or naked without clothing. In 2 Corinthians 5 we see that the soul is exposed. It is open or naked before God without the body. And that there is no covering that will shield us from the living Word of God.

So the person of God, God Himself, is able to uncover a man in his sight. Man is open. Man is naked. Lay bare in the sight of God. And then second, God is able to expose. We see this in the second part of verse 13. Here we see an unusual word in the original language. The English standard uses the word exposed. The New American uses the word laid bare. And language scholars tell us this was a very expressive word in their day in the original. And it was used in different ways in their day. I will mention a few. In their day this word was used by wrestlers when taking their opposition by the throat.

And by taking their opposition by the throat they were literally face to face. It was also used in a criminal trial. A dagger or a knife would be held to the neck of the accused with the point just below the chin so that he could not lower his head but he had to face the court. So they were face to face with those who were in the court. And it was used to describe a skinning of an animal so that the inner parts of the animal were seen. They were exposed. But what we need to see here is this. In all of the uses of this word the main point had to do with coming face to face with a very serious even life and death set of circumstances.

The main point had to do with exposure. So the person of God, God himself, he is able to expose any and all men like when an animal is skinned. The person of God, God, he is able to expose any and all men face to face life and death. And the life and death has to do with man not with God. It is man who is face to face with a life and death circumstances when they face God. Now the lesson right here is this.

When the unbelieving believer, the one who has the evil unbelieving heart, when any person comes under the word of God that is living and active and full of power, making it operative, energizing, and effective, it is sharper than any two-edged sword penetrating as far as the division of the soul and spirit, the completeness of a person, and both joints and marrow, the deepest parts of our nature, exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart. They are actually and truly coming face to face with God. And no creature exists that is concealed from God's sight, but all things are open, exposed, and revealed.

God's eyes are upon them. In Luke Church, that is what all people need, especially the one who has an evil unbelieving heart. All people need to be skinned alive by the word of God and the person of God. You might say, "Oh pastor, that's harsh." Would you rather stand before God in and through the word of God? And that experience leads you to salvation? Or would you rather stand before God at the judgment and have the word of God judge you and be sentenced justly to eternal judgment? Which one would you rather have? And then third, the author says all people will give an account. We see this at the end of verse 13.

Let's read verse 13 one more time. He says, "And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account." Now here this seems pretty basic, but there is a little more here that meets the eye. This term give and account, it was used in accounting circumstances in their day. I think we understand what it means when we go see our account when it's time to pay our taxes. The accountant runs the numbers and tells us how much we owe the IRS, right? Always breaks our heart that we're having to pay the IRS. Well the idea here is the same.

The author is saying that no person is hidden from the sight of God. As a matter of fact, all are open, naked, and laid bare before God. All are exposed face to face in a serious life and death circumstance before God, and all will give an account. When God runs the numbers and God's numbers are always true, all will give an account. And again, would you rather give an account and have God settle your account in Christ Jesus here and now and be saved or at the judgment and then be lost for forever? So we have the person of God is able to expose.

Now as I close, I want to make sure we see how these verses and this teaching applies in three ways in three circumstances. This will be rather short. First and foremost, the original audience. I've taught you faithfully church. Context is keen. If we get it out of context, we ruin it all. We know that the author was writing to this Jewish congregation and he was aiming at those Jews who profess to believe in Jesus, but they did not. They didn't have true saving faith. And right here he was calling them to diligently strive to enter God's rest. Otherwise they would be laid bare.

They would be exposed by the Word of God and the person of God in coming face to face with God, they would have to give an account and there's no escape. But then we have our audience, our context. These verses and this teaching applies to us in our day, those who profess Christ but do not have true saving faith. And right here these verses are calling those in our day to diligently strive to enter God's rest. These verses are calling those in our day to be laid bare, to be exposed by the Word of God and the person of God to come face to face with God, to give an account to God to be saved. Otherwise it's judgment.

But I want to make a shift here and notice we see that this applies to our audience or our context in another way. This is simple as believers. The Word of God and the person of God found in the Word of God is what we need. Now I want to close with a challenge to believers. Grace Life Church Brookhaven. We spend way too much time on social media. Right now some of you are saying amen. We spend way too much time on our televisions. You know sometimes the folks that get on social media spend more time on television. We spend way too much time in our hobbies. We spend way too much time doing everything, anything but in the Word of God.

What's our excuse? You got a copy of God's Word in a language that you can understand. It's not in Latin. I'm not against the King James but you don't even have to study. And in the King James, I'll just raise my hand and tell you the King James is a struggle for me. What's our excuse? Look folks, we've got to have the Word of God. Let's turn off the television a little. Let's get off social media a little while. Let's be disciplined with our time. Let's get into the Word of God. There's no excuse. All you got to do is study what we give you on Sunday morning and Sunday night and Wednesday night and your plate is full all throughout the week.

So the title of the message, make sure to enter God's rest. Let's pray.