Make Sure you Enter God's Rest - Part 2

Now if you would take your Bible, turn back to Hebrews chapter 4. Hebrews chapter 4 and the message will be in verses 4 to 11. Of course verses 1 to 13 really all go together. That's why we're working hard to keep all this teaching together. Now last week we started these verses that are all about making sure that we enter into God's rest which is true spiritual rest, which is entering into true saving faith. But we actually have two subjects or two themes here and these subjects are definitely connected and to me one is bigger while the other is smaller. Let me explain what I mean.

The overarching or the bigger subject here has to do with this great warning that the author was giving this congregation. We see this from chapter 3 verse 7 all the way to the end of chapter 4 or excuse me to chapter 4 verse 13. And the author was warning the Jews in this congregation to beware and to examine themselves so as not to have an evil heart of unbelief which would eventually lead them to falling away from the true and living God. They would have fallen away into apostasy. And it is very important for us to see that those who were in danger here were those who professed to believe in Jesus but they did not have true saving faith.

They were just like the unbelieving believers that we see in John chapter 2. I know I mentioned them last week. John chapter 2 there were these professing believers. They were unbelievers and they were following Jesus but Jesus knew who they were and he wouldn't entrust himself to them. And this teaching and the application of this teaching is much needed for us in our day. The problem of unbelieving believers plagues our churches in our day. So we must always be warning those who profess to believe but they do not believe. We must be warning them to come to true saving faith.

But the smaller but a very important subject is that we also see here it has to do with finding and entering God's rest which comes from savingly believing in Christ. And we see the subject of entering into God's rest in chapter 3 two times. We see that in verse 11 and verse 18. But in chapter 4 we see that the author really makes God's rest and entering God's rest the main point of his teaching. He writes about this rest in verse 1, verse 3, verse 5, verse 8, verse 9, verse 10, and verse 11. So obviously entering God's rest is the main point of chapter 4 verses 1 to 13. But it's all tied together.

Now let's make sure we see how this is all connected and how all of this applies to us. The author is warning us to make sure that we do not have an evil unbelieving heart even if we profess to believe. He then shows us that those Old Testament Jews who held on to their evil unbelieving hearts they were actually rejecting rest in God. And by rejecting rest in God or spiritual rest they forfeited spiritual rest in life and in eternity.

And look church because of the easy believism and the decisionism that has infected the theology and the teaching from our pulpits and churches and because cultural Christianity which comes out of easy believism and decisionism that's been substituted for biblical Christianity in so many homes and churches. We have an unbelievable amount of professing believers who have never been born again. They've never entered true spiritual rest that comes in God and from God. They do not have true spiritual life or true spiritual rest and they don't have eternity in rest. Now you might say pastor those are some bold statements.

How can you make statements like that? Let me give you proof of my position. If you look at the evangelical churches in our community, if you look at what we would call Protestant churches in our community. Churches that on paper at least have what we would call Christian doctrine. If you look at those church roles what do you see? A vast number of people on those church roles who do not even attend much less live like a bible Christian. And if you look into our culture at the amount of professing believers that fall away from the true and living God. People who used to be active in churches.

People who used to profess Christ who live in the world away from the church and away from the things of God. The numbers around us of professing believers that fall away are staggering. So to me that is why this second warning against the evil heart of unbelief is very very important for us in our day. It's very relevant. Now last week we got started in these verses and what I called make sure you enter God's rest. And before we got started in the verses I took the time to make sure we understood what God's rest truly is. Now think about it.

If God's rest is the main subject here and it is and if we're going to make sure we enter God's rest we should make sure that we know what God's rest is right. We saw that God's rest is the spiritual rest that is found in the free gift of saving grace and salvation. This is a rest from one's self effort that is meant to somehow please God or attain favor with God. This is a rest from somehow trying to earn salvation. And this rest is very personal in that it is personally found in the person of God. And this is experiential in that we experience the saving grace of God and entering into rest with God and in God.

But we also saw how attaining rest in God also affects all of the life. Simply finding rest in God provides rest in one's life. Worry and fear are replaced by rest. Rest in God. Identity and purpose are found in God and by rest in God. Death and eternity are no longer feared because that has been replaced by a rest in God. And we could expel further on how rest in God brings about rest in life and other places in life. And this is the kind of rest that the author has in mind here. Simply at the center of these verses is a spiritual rest in God that has brought about rest in God in all the life.

And a rest that is even found in eternity with God. Now I did not say this last week but it definitely needs to be understood. This rest is imperfect and perfect. Now some of you need this more than you know. This rest is imperfect and perfect. This rest is imperfect. This rest is imperfect in the life because we struggle with sin. The world and the devil. Let me give you an example. One can be a true believer who is entered into God's rest but at times they can struggle with the sin of worry. So this rest is imperfect in life but this rest is perfect. This rest is perfect in the life to come.

When the believer passes from this life to the next life they will enter perfect rest. They will no longer struggle with sin so ultimately in heaven they possess a perfect rest in God and with God. Now as we got started in our verses we saw how the author was calling these in this congregation to make sure that they entered into this rest. And let me quickly look back on what we saw in verses 1 to 4 and then we'll pick up with verse 4 and move into some new verses. But first in verse 1 we saw that this rest is available. Here the author was still warning those. He was writing to to be on guard for the evil heart of unbelief.

But here in verse 1 he took another step. He literally called them to be afraid. He called them to be fearful that while the promised rest in God was right before them that they did not fall short and miss the rest. So he was warning them that if they held onto their evil unbelieving hearts and if they were not careful they could miss out on rest in God. So he was truly calling them to a fear that would motivate them to make sure they attain rest in God that was available to them and for them. And then second in verses 2 to 3 we saw the components of this rest or what this rest was made of.

Here the author just really takes the next logical step and now he called them to see the elements of this rest. They had the good news that God had given them. Of course for those for those who are receiving this letter they had the good news of the gospel and then they had the personal responsibility to believe the gospel to demonstrate faith. Then he explained the consequence of their decision. Their response to the good news provided rest in God and no rest in God if they refused. And then third in verse 4 we saw that this rest is found in God's rest.

Now this can be hard to see and understand but it is quite simple and I will expound on this a little more this morning. But here the author shows us that rest in God has been seen in God and available from God, in God from the beginning. If they would believe simply God's rest is seen in Genesis 2 too which was and is an example. And God's rest was and is the source of the rest that was before them. Now let's just continue in our verses as we continue with the same theme the same title. Make sure to enter rest. Of course this is a part two. Make sure to enter God's rest. Let's look back at verse 4 down to verse 11. Verse 4 down to verse 11.

"For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way and God rested on the seventh day from all his work. And again in this passage he said, 'They shall not enter my rest.' Since therefore it remains for some to enter it and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day today saying through David so long afterward and in the words already quoted today if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts. For if Joshua had given them rest God would not have spoken of another day later on.

So then there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience." Now this is how we'll cover these verses. We will look in our third truth from verse 4.

This rest that is found in God's rest and we'll go a little further here go from verse 4 to verse 7 and then fourth we will look at the character of this rest in verses 8 to 10 and fifth we will look at the urgency to enter this rest out of verse 11 and then next time we are here in Hebrews we will revisit verse 11 and then continue on into verse 12 and 13. So continuing with our outline from last week number three this rest is found in God's rest. This rest is found in God's rest.

Now last week we covered verse 4 but I did not go on into what the author was and is saying on down to verse 7 so I only covered part of what the author is saying here. Now before we jump back into this teaching I want us to understand that in verse 4 and following the author was and he is explaining a vital fundamental truth concerning this spiritual rest that is to be sought after and to be attained. This is fundamental in that this truth is the bedrock of spiritual rest. This is vital in that if we miss this we totally miss true spiritual rest.

But here in verse 4 the author is explaining that rest has been seen in God, exemplified in God, available from God and in God from the beginning. Here the author is quoting Genesis 2 2 where God rested from his creative work in the beginning. Of course God was not tired like a man we discussed that last week. His rest was that his creative work was complete so he was finished. He was satisfied. God's work of creation was done. It was perfect so he rested from that work. And what the author was saying here is this. This spiritual rest is seen in God. It's available from God and in God and it has been there all along from the beginning.

Now last week I gave us two examples that'll help us here. Adam and Eve they had perfect rest before they sinned and their rest came from God and it was found in God. And get this their rest was relational. They had a perfect relationship with God which is where they got their rest. But Abraham before Abraham became a follower of the one true God he was a pagan. He worshiped many gods. He had no spiritual rest because those false gods could never bring him true spiritual rest. But when Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness he entered into a rest that is seen in God and was available to him from God.

And get this his rest was relational as well. As a matter of fact James 2 23 speaks of this relational rest because that verse says that Abraham was a friend of God. So what the author is saying is this God did more than exemplify rest in Genesis 2 2 because God is God spiritual rest is in God and all true spiritual rest can only come from God and be found in God. And we must see that for any person to ever into God's rest they must savingly believe in Christ. And the one who savingly believes does not believe in a plan. They don't believe in a religion. They don't believe in a theology or even the true things of God. Now let me pause here.

So many people look for a plan to save them or their religion to save them or their theology to save them or even the true things of God to save them. But those things won't save. When one savingly believes they savingly believe in a person who is the person of Christ Jesus. And just like in our marriage we have a personal relationship. Our saving relationship to Christ is personal. It is relational. We see that personal relational aspect of the Christian life and marriage in Ephesians chapter 5. And true rest in God comes out of and in this personal saving relationship with Christ. Now here in verses 5 to 7 the author just continues.

And here I want us to see that God through the author here makes some definitive authoritative declarations. He makes three. First, God declared the door to spiritual rest was shut for some. Look at verse 5. And again in this passage he said, "They shall not enter my rest." Now here the author is quoting Psalm 95 again. Really he's quoting verse 11 of Psalm 95. And what he is saying here is this. It's simple. And it's at the center of this teaching. Simply the first generation of Jews who came out of Egyptian captivity. They had the opportunity for spiritual rest right in front of them. But they rebelled against God.

They rejected God in every way. They had held on to their evil unbelieving hearts. And because of their unbelief and their continued unbelief God said definitively and authoritatively, "They shall not enter my rest." So for them the spiritual door of rest that was before them was shut. It was closed. Never to be opened. And then second, God declared the door to spiritual rest was open for some. Look at verse 6. "Since therefore it remains for some to enter it and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience." Here the author pivots from what he had just said. That first generation did not enter rest.

They refused to believe the good news they received from God. So what happened? God shut the door. But as we have seen God had determined and promised that people would share in his rest. So that door, that promise was still open. But a question. Who is this pertaining to? Of course this pertained to Joshua and Caleb. The only two of that first generation who did believe. And this applied also to any in that second generation of Jews who did believe. And it applies to others as well. Of course this promise was open before the first generation because we know there were Jews who did believe savingly. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and others.

But how? How would they enter this rest? Simply by believing the good news they had received as seen and written about in verses 2 to 3. We've already covered those verses. I like what one commentator says here. "Speaking of those who enter this door, this promise rest, he said, 'But they must always be appropriated by faith.'" What is he saying? This must be appropriated by faith. Human responsibility. And he goes on to say, "If one does not approach the promises by faith, he does not obtain what God offers and the offer is made to others." So the door of spiritual rest was open. God had not shut the door for others.

And then third, God declared the door is open today. Look back at verse 7. Again, he appoints a certain day today, saying through David so long afterward in the words already quoted, "Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." Now here the author is still dealing with the subject of entering God's rest and its availability. He has just said that the promises of rest were still available or the door was still open. But here he adds something that we need to see. In verse 7, he continues to quote Psalm 95. But notice that the author seizes on this word today. He emphasizes this word today.

And by quoting Psalm 95 and emphasizing this word today, the author is simply saying this, "The promise of rest in God was available for those Jews in David's day. The promise of rest in God was available for the Jews in Moses' day. And the promise rest in God was available for those who were receiving this letter in that day. So the door of rest was open to the original recipients of this letter today. Today. And the application for us is that the opportunity to enter into God's rest is still open today. The door of salvation is before us today.

And today is the day of salvation that leads us to God's rest if we've not already savingly believed. But we need to see that today one ought will not always be here. We need to see that today will not always be here. Today will not remain before us indefinitely. First, we do not know when God will close the door of opportunity to enter his rest for the individual in the life. Now there is a mystery here and these things can be unknown. But what I'm showing you is this. There can be a person, someone who is rejecting faith in Christ, and finally God says enough. And he withdraws from that individual and that day of opportunity is gone.

But yet sometimes that day of opportunity is extended all the way up into the end of life. What am I trying to show you? We do not know when God will close the door of opportunity for a particular individual in life. That's a mystery that's God's business. But second, we do not know when God will close the door of opportunity to enter into God's rest for the individual because they die. We know that when someone dies, their opportunity of coming to faith in Christ is gone. It is gone forever. So the application for us is today.

Today, if you are not a born-again believer, today is the day for you to come to faith in Christ because you might not have a tomorrow. You may not have a tomorrow. So notice what we see here in these verses. This spiritual rest in God is seen in God and it comes from God because rest has been demonstrated from God, in God, from the beginning. And the promise and the provision of rest was offered to that first generation, but they would not believe, they would not believe, so God closed the door of rest to them. But that door was not closed.

It remained open for some like Joshua and Caleb and it was open for those in this original audience who received this letter. The author was saying to those unbelieving believers, "Today, please believe the good news today and enter rest that is found in God and comes from God." Now, two words before I move on here. In application, two words. The word relational and the word today. Look folks, you must see that this is relational. Our external religion won't save us. Our theology won't save us. Our external works won't save us. Anything we do can never save us. Believing the right things won't save us. Memorizing the Bible won't save us.

Church attendance won't save us. All of these things are good. It's relational. We are saved by Christ and in Christ we relate to Christ relationally. But I come back to the word today. Today. Today. Do not harden your heart today. Look folks, do you realize procrastination is hardening your heart? Procrastination is a hardening of the heart. So rest is found in God's rest today. Then number four, the character of this rest. Number four, the character of this rest. And we see this in verses eight to ten. Let's go back and look at those verses. "For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on.

So then there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from here's." Now here we can have a big misunderstanding if we're not careful. If we're not careful we can think that the writer here is talking about physical rest. The rest of the promised land or the land of Canaan. Now think about it. We know that Joshua did take that second generation of Jews into the promised land and into a type of rest. But the land of Canaan or any physical rest in the promised land was not what the writer had in mind here. And two things will prove this case.

First of all, Psalm 95, which the writer has been quoting. And this word today as seen in Psalm 95 is written about 200 years after Joshua. And if Joshua had given them rest after delivering them into the promised land, then why did Joshua speak of a rest to come for those Jews living in the promised land? You see? So this promised rest is spiritual, not physical. Now at this point I want us to see a few details about this spiritual rest which help us see the character of the nature of this rest. First, this is a Sabbath rest. We see that in the beginning of verse 9. This is a Sabbath rest. Here the author uses a very unusual word.

As a matter of fact, this is the first time this word has been used and scholars tell us that the writer actually made up a word here. Now the English standard, the legacy standard, and the new American standard use the term Sabbath rest. And in the original this speaks of keeping the Sabbath and rest. And what the writer was doing was this. He was linking the original Sabbath with what God did when he finished the creation. He rested or he ceased from his work because creation was complete. And what that means is this, Sabbath or a day to cease from work and to rest. And then second, he says this is a perfect rest.

We see this at the end of verse 10. Here the writer goes back to the language he's used before. He speaks of a rest from work just as God ceased from his work. After the creation was complete and perfect in every way, God was finished. So he rested, his work was finished. But then third, we see this in verse 9 as well. This is for God's people. Here the author simply says the people of God. And this would mean any and all who savingly believe.

Those Old Testament Jews, specific Jews like Joshua and Caleb from the first generation, Jews later on who would believe, those who received this letter who would savingly believe, and any Gentiles who would believe, and believers today. See the people of God encompasses all. But a question, is this rest present tense or future? Is this here and now or is this tomorrow? And answering these questions will really tie all this together. The writer was and is saying that for the people of God or those who believe, there remains a day of rest that is to come.

When that believer dies physically and they leave this world, they enter into a perfect, a final Sabbath rest. But he was also saying that for the people of God or those who believe, there came a day of rest that did come. When that believer savingly believed, they entered into a rest from their work just like God did from his. I like something that Leon Morris says here. It's not very deep, it's just catchy. He says of this rest, it is true of the future, it is true of the here and now. So this rest is spiritual in nature.

For the people of God who did come to savingly believe, they entered God's rest and they ceased from work as God ceased from work as well. God's creation was completed. Their salvation was completed. There is no more need to try and work for salvation or to somehow attain a good standing before God through their efforts. Salvation's work was done. Salvation had been completed. The believer has entered into God's rest. And finally, for the people of God, when they did leave this life and go to the next world, they entered into God's Sabbath rest. They reached the day of a final rest, a perfect rest with and in God.

Now an application, a couple of personal questions. First, was there a day when you entered into a spiritual Sabbath rest because you came to saving faith in Christ? When did that happen for you? How did that happen for you? Was there a day when you entered into a spiritual Sabbath rest because you came to saving faith in Christ? When did that happen for you? How did that happen for you? I have shared my testimony many, many times. I wasn't that religious. As a matter of fact, I wasn't very religious at all. I was just lost. No one had to convince me that I was a sinner. I was just lost. I had no religious pretense.

But oh, when I came to faith in Christ, I came to rest, rest, rest. I know when, I know how. I entered into that rest. But let me turn that around. Are you in nothing more than just turmoil? Inner turmoil? Spiritual turmoil? Are you in just nothing but worry and fear? Fear, worry, turmoil? See, the opposite of rest is fear. The opposite of rest is turmoil. The opposite of rest is anguish. It's all of those different ways we can describe the opposite of rest. When did you come to rest? If you're not in rest, you're in fear, worry, turmoil.

And then second, when you leave this life, will you enter into a final Sabbath rest because you have not misrest in God while on earth? Listen, folks, some of you need to hear that because when you leave this world, there is no other opportunity to come to faith in Christ. And you will not enter a Sabbath rest with God in eternity. You will not. There's no second chance. There's no do-over. There's no purgatory to pray you out of. No. And listen, folks, some of you need to hear verse one again. Look back at verse one. "Therefore, while the promise of entering rest still stands, the promise is right in front of you.

Let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. There should be a healthy motivating fear in you if you've not come to saving faith in Christ." So the character of the nature of this rest. And then number five, the urgency to enter this rest. Here we'll only cover part of this teaching. I've already said that. But we're going to look at verse 11 specifically. Let's look at that verse. "Let us therefore strive to enter that rest so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience." Now this morning we're only just going to cover part of what's here. We're going to stay right here in verse 11.

But here the author is really reaching the climax of this teaching, which is a call to action, which is what he's been doing all along. Notice, earlier he called them to beware and to be discerning that they did not have an evil unbelieving heart. That was a call to action. He called them to fear, but to a fear that would motivate them to make sure that they had savingly believed. Therefore, they would not fail to enter and find God's rest. That was a call to action. And here the writer calls them to another action. He calls them to strive to enter this rest. Now here the legacy standard Bible and the New American use the word diligent.

Listen to the New American. It says, "Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest." The English standard says, "Let us therefore strive to enter that rest." And this diligence, this striving, it comes from a word 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, or to be quick, or to be fast about it. So what we see here is this. The writer has been calling these professing Jewish believers to a place of fear, not paralyzing fear, but motivating fear.

He was calling them to be afraid that they could fail to reach or to attain rest in God, or rest from God. And now he was calling them to diligently strive to enter that rest. Now right here we need to see that a motivating fear should lead to a diligent striving to enter that rest. Let me repeat that. We need to see that a motivating fear should lead to a diligent striving to enter rest and to find salvation in Christ. But look at this teaching as compared to what is normally taught today. Today in most Baptist churches, people are taught to make a decision for Christ.

The evangelistic message and the evangelistic methods all center on getting someone to just make a decision, to just make a decision. And sadly the lost are rarely, if ever told, that they should be fearful that they might miss rest in God, which is salvation. It seems that the lost are never told to be fearful and to let that fear motivate them to diligently strive to enter that rest. Now a couple of probing questions here. How long should this take for the individual? That's God's business. Some people are seized with the fact that they're lost and without Christ and in a short period of time they come to faith in Christ.

But oh some languish for a very long time. This is a very important question. How long should it take? As long as it takes but that's God's business, that's God's timetable. Second question. What is their hope? The Holy Spirit of God. When someone is seized with the fear that they might be lost or that they are lost and they are striving and struggling to come to genuine faith in Christ, what is their hope? Is there hope for you to come alongside and say, "Well honey, I know you're saved." Is there hope for you to come along aside and say, "Would you repeat this prayer after me?" No. Their hope is Christ. The Holy Spirit of God.

The Holy Spirit of God is God folks. The Holy Spirit of God is the one that convicts the world, prosecutes the world, the lost of their sin. And the righteousness of God and the judgment to come is the Holy Spirit of God that does that work and it is that same Holy Spirit of God that births them into the kingdom that enables them to trust and believe in Christ. Look folks, I repented of my easy believe-ism and decisionism and all of those tricks and gimmicks that never did work when I discovered who the Holy Spirit of God was. What is their hope? Listen, some of you here are languishing in unbelief. You are wallowing in unbelief.

The only thing I can do is teach you truth and wait on the Holy Spirit of God. Your only hope is God. And then how should we react and relate to them? We should pray, teach them the Word, pray, tell them the Gospel, pray, tell them the Gospel, wait, wait, and back off and give the Holy Spirit of God room. It is the Holy Spirit of God's place to reveal to lost sinners who they are and to bring them to faith in Christ. You see? And look church, finding rest in God's salvation is a work of God and a work of man. Have you noticed how much emphasis the writer of Hebrews is placed on the responsibility of man here?

But the work of salvation in a man is the work of God. The only way a man can ever trust and believe is if they're born again. But what I'm showing you is this. The salvation work that I'm describing here is the work of God and a work of man. And sometimes it takes time, even a long time, and a waiting on God to bring that lost sinner all the way to the end. How long do we wait? As long as it takes. And the next I want us to see that he gives them a motivation. He gives them a motivating example that was meant to help them and to motivate them in their diligence, in their striving after rest in God. Well, who is the example?

The first generation of Jews again. Look back at verse 11. We see it in the second part of the verse. "Let us therefore strive to enter that rest so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience." Obviously, the author does not want these unbelieving believers in this congregation to take the same path as their Jewish forefathers. That is why he has repeatedly over and over used the example of the first generation of Jews. And look folks, there are two lessons here that we need to see before we move on. First lesson, disobedience. First lesson, disobedience.

Disobedience was definitely a possibility even after this repeated clear teaching. Do you see that? Those who received this letter could have disobeyed every bit of this. And the same goes today. Our children can grow up hearing the gospel and the word of God taught over and over and over in their homes and in the church and they can still hold on to an evil, unbelieving heart. We can do it all right in the home. We could do it just right with our children in the church and they can still hold on to an evil, unbelieving heart. Disobedience is a reality. And the second lesson, repetition. Repetition. We can never repeat the gospel enough.

We can never warn lost sinners of the danger of unbelief enough. Repetition. Repetition. How many times does this writer teach these things and repeat his teaching and then add a little more to his teaching? All while he was simply warning them not to hold on to the evil heart of unbelief. Why does he repeat? Why does he add? Why does he repeat? Why does he say it over and over and over? Let me tell you why.

Because Jesus said in Matthew 7 13, "Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction and those who enter it are many." Now why does Jesus say, "wide is the way of destruction and many enter that way"? Because wide is the way of destruction. And many enter that way. And we must tell people, especially our children, especially our teenagers, that if they do not savingly believe, they will stay on that wide path to destruction. And they will find themselves in hell with that first generation of Jews who rejected God. So again, the lesson of that first generation was meant for a motivation.

Now let me personalize this. As your children get older, it is a good practice to use bad examples in their life. It is. When you have family members who are lost and they die without Christ, those are good examples. Those are living examples. And I encourage you to use those examples. Now in conclusion, notice how this teaching in these verses are all about action. Action. First, the author was and is all about warning those who just may have an evil unbelieving heart. He was all about warning them not to hold on to that evil unbelieving heart. You see, he was motivating them to action.

And then second, the author was and is all about calling those who may be in unbelief to seek after and define spiritual rest in God. He was and is calling them to be motivated by fear and to diligently seek after rest and to find rest. So that leads me to the thought of the message. Make sure to enter God's rest.