The Gathering Surf City

It really and truly,

it is an honor to be able to share with
you all this morning because I

have to tell you,

it was really neat.

If anybody is familiar with
the gathering in the word,

and if you're not,

that's okay.

Guess what?

I'm your guy.

I can hook you up with the gathering
in the word videos.

But we've been recording
ahead this year,

and because we wanted the gathering in
the word devotionals to follow the

Sunday morning message that we had a
whole week to meditate on it after

Bobby has preached it,

right? And it was neat.

This was the,

let's see,

the week that just came out,

I think Michael recorded
I might be a week off,

but I don't know.

I was gone that week.

I wasn't able to record that one.

And the following week,

the week that's about to show,

it was really cool because I was
sitting with Bobby in the room,

and a lot of times I'm just like watching
the screen and watching all the

levels and everything,

making sure it records well.

That way we don't have
to do a take two,

which we try to avoid,

but it happens sometimes.

But as he was going through
this whole week,

I told him whenever
he got to Friday,

I was like,

man, Bobby,

this is going to be an awesome,

fun sermon to preach,

not realizing that I was
preaching this week.

And so whenever I realized that,

I was like,

dude, God is so cool.

That is just awesome.

So I had a lot of fun,

like reading and praying and studying
and prepping for today.

So if I get excited and
start talking fast,

you all just give me
the slow down sign,

okay. But this morning we are
going to be in Hebrews,

chapter four,

verses one through eleven.

So if you have your Bible,

you can go ahead and flip there.

But wanted to give you a little bit
of context for where we're at,

how we got to where we're at,

and where we're at in the
grand scheme of things,

because we are still talking about how
Jesus is the object of our faith

as we're working through Hebrews.

And so just a reminder that the book
of Hebrews was written to a jewish

audience, right?

They were Christians now,

they had converted,

but they had jewish history,

they had a jewish background.

And so as a Christian in year 2024,

if it's a little bit difficult
to understand,

that is okay,

because I don't have a jewish background
and I don't know how many of you

guys do.

But if you don't,

that's why sometimes it can be a little
bit difficult to understand.

Hebrews.

Okay, so just wanted to lay that
out there first and foremost,

because it was really neat as I was
prepping and studying for this.

One of my favorite preachers that I like
to listen to and watch is John

Piper. I was listening to a message,

and he started out this same
passage with guys,

this is probably one of the most difficult
passages in the whole New

Testament, because it
jumps around a lot.

He goes back and does a lot of
history and talks about rest,

which is what we're talking
about today,

but talks about the historical rest,

talks about present rest,

talks about future rest.

But he does it jumping around rather
than in chronological order.

So it can be a little bit more
difficult to understand,

especially if you don't have that
jewish historical background.

So just laying those two things
out there right out the gate.

But following up from what Bobby
had mentioned last week,

I don't know if you remember or not,

but he had mentioned that
in the book of Hebrews,

there's four warnings.

And that last week in Hebrews
chapter three,

we were in the second warning.

This is part two of
the second warning.

Okay, but it's neat because
it's framed as a promise,

and it's just cool how God
works that stuff out.

But since we are talking about
rest and everything,

well, before I jump into that,

let's go ahead and read the text.

That's a great place to start.

So let's read,

and then we'll pray.

Hebrews, chapter four,

verses one through eleven,

says, 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.

For good news came to
us just as to them.

But the message they heard
did not benefit them,

because they were not united by
faith with those who listened.

For we have believed,

for we who have believed,

enter that rest.

As he said,

as I swore in my wrath,

they shall not enter my rest.

Although his works were finished from
the foundation of the world.

For he has somewhere spoken of
the 7th day in this way.

And God rested on the 7th
day from all his works.

And again in the 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 it because

of disobedience.

Again he appoints a
certain day today,

saying through David,

so long after,

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.

1 may fall by the same
sort of disobedience.

Let's pray.

God, we just thank you
for this morning.

God, we thank you for the opportunity
to open your word and read God

today. As we read about
and talk about rest,

I pray that you would give us
a greater understanding.

God, I pray that the Holy Spirit would
just impress on us what we need to

not just learn,

but God,

to take from this and apply
it to our lives.

God, help us to leave here
this morning changed.

And not because of my words,

but because of your word.

God, we do thank you
for being a loving,

caring God who wants us to draw
close and draws close to us,

help us to walk lockstep with you.

We thank you.

We love you.

It's in your beautiful
and precious name.

We pray.

Amen. All right,

so I wanted to start off by giving a little
bit of context about rest and

this whole word that if you've grown
up or been in church for any length

of time,

you may have heard the word Sabbath,

right? Everybody heard that word.

Or the hebrew word Shabbat,

which is the same word
just in Hebrew.

We understand it oftentimes a lot differently
than the way the Hebrews

understood it,

the way the Jews understood it.

Let's look at Exodus 20,

verses eight through eleven.

And if you have your Bible,

and as you're flipping there,

I'll go ahead and talk about
it a little bit.

But it's in the ten Commandments that
we get the text for what the

Sabbath is supposed to look like,

right? And this is something to keep
in mind as we read the ten

Commandments, is that this list of ten
and all the other laws that were

found in the Old Testament,

they were how they gained
salvation and holiness,

right?

That's how they viewed it.

It was by keeping the law.

Fortunately, 3000 years
after the fact,

we have the knowledge that God was gracious
enough to show us that the

law was just to show that we can't
keep it because it's so rigorous.

But the way the Hebrews saw it and the
way the Jews saw it was this is

how they obtained personal holiness
and closeness with God,

right? So what the Pharisees did,

and kind of how they got a bad rap was
they put a fence around this idea

of Shabbat,

of Sabbath.

And they said God made rest so important
that we're going to put a fence

around it.

And make rules that protect you from
even going near these laws,

right? And they were supposed
to be kept.

These rules were supposed to be kept
so that way you don't break the

ultimate law,

God's law,

right? Okay,

so let's read Exodus 20,

verses eight through eleven.

We'll see just how important it is.

And I'm going to read from the screen
because I forgot to mark it.

It says,

remember the Sabbath day
and to keep it holy,

six days you shall labor
and do all your work.

But the 7th day is a Sabbath
to the Lord your God.

And on it you shall not do any work,

you or your son or your daughter,

your male servant or your
female servant,

or your livestock,

or the sojourner who is
within your gates.

For in six days the Lord
made heaven and earth,

the sea and all that is in them
and rested on the 7th day.

Therefore, the Lord blessed the
Sabbath day and made it holy.

Right? So that Sabath law came from God
resting and giving the example,

right? And I think it's a good thing.

God is a God of rest.

He's shown it in his own work,

in his creation,

and he's given it in a law for his
people to continually rest.

Right? So his people were supposed to
rest and that's one of the ways

that they obtained their
personal holiness.

But I want to give you an idea,

give you some context behind how important
they made the Sabbath,

okay?

Because I know I didn't have as much
context for this until a couple of

days ago,

but that fence that I'm
telling you about,

that kind of moat that
protects the castle,

right? It's a wide moat.

I ain't going to lie.

All right?

There is this thing called
the 39 melchote.

And what it is is 39 different
categories of work.

Did y'all know that there was 39
different categories of work?

I didn't know I could,

I didn't know you could come
up with that many,

to be honest.

That's a lot of different
categories.

Hey, Michael,

can you pull up that picture?

Oh, I don't have it back here.

I'm sorry.

Yeah, it looks like a
table of elements,

doesn't it?

But those are all different
categories of work.

And I just want to give you
an idea of the first ten,

okay? They are carrying,

burning, extinguishing,

finishing, writing,

erasing, cooking,

washing, sewing and tearing.

All right?

Tearing. Don't.

If you rip a Bible page,

even if it's on accident,

you done messed up.

All right,

if you're trying to catch up on
your laundry before Monday,

sorry, you got to go wearing
dirty clothes.

You can't carry anything
outside of your house,

okay? These are how stringent
these rules are,

but they were to protect
the Sabbath.

And I want you to see
too or understand.

I learned about it a couple
of months ago,

and it's cool how God
brings it up now,

but there is this thing,

there is a thin wire.

It's basically a fishing line in multiple
cities that hangs above the

streets that most people
would never see.

But it's very important to orthodox
Jews because it's called an eruv.

It almost sounds like A-roof,

but it's not.

It's Eruv.

And what it does,

it expands the domain of the home,

so that way you can carry things for
necessary parts of life outside of

your house.

Right?

I want you to get just
picture with me,

all right?

These eruves are massive,

some of them,

okay, so there's one
in New York City,

it covers all of Manhattan.

There's either 24 or 26
different sections,

but it's a massive thing.

Okay, it is 42.3 sq.

mi.

Pretty big,

right? There is 121.9 linear miles of
this thread that runs above the

subways, and everything runs along the
lines and everything that most

people don't ever notice.

But it's like a thin fishing line,

121.9 miles of it,

to create this eruv.

This semi public is what they were,

semi private,

which in New York City,

I can't imagine anything
is actually private,

but it creates a semi private domain
where you can carry things outside

of your house.

Just for reference,

121.9 linear miles would equal about
you getting off onto 40 from exit

408, and it would take you all
the way to the airport.

That's how long this line is.

Okay? Not Wilmington airport,

not Albert J.

Ellis in Jacksonville,

but I mean RDU International
Airport.

All right?

There's no short strand
of fishing line.

It's a long one.

There's also one in Los Angeles.

It is nearly 100 sq.

Mi and about 60 linear miles.

So that's from here to Faison
where all of our fresh,

beautiful produce comes from.

Right? These are not small things.

And it's crazy to me that so much effort
is putting into protecting this

rest.

It's pretty intense to protect rest,

don't you think?

And here's the other thing.

Not only is there that
much fishing line,

but there is a group just
in New York City,

there's a group of 80 people that have
to go around and inspect it every

week, because if the
air roof is broken,

they cannot carry outside
of their house.

So it has to be mended every week.

If there's something that happens,

and this is rain,

sleet, snow or hail,

all right,

they're just as good as
the US Postal service.

They've got to go out and check it.

But that's the thing,

is, there's a lot of things that
go to protecting this rest.

And it shows how intensely and how seriously
the jews take the idea of

Sabbath.

But I want us to see something
real quick.

Verse one of chapter four says,

therefore, while the promise of entering
his rest still stands,

the reason there's a warning in the prior
chapter is because rest hadn't

actually been achieved.

There's a lot of work that people
still put into resting,

but they hadn't actually
achieved it,

right? So there is a promised rest.

There is a rest that God has said,

it's yours for the taking.

You just have to get it.

Not work for it,

not work toward it.

All you have to do is grab onto it,

right? And he says that
it still remains.

So here's the thing.

You may be asking yourself,

why is rest needed?

I think with the hour less of sleep,

everyone can understand
a little bit,

right? But it's all the reasons that we
just heard about is because there

is so much work that you can put into
protecting rest that you actually

don't even accomplish any rest.

There's also the know,

we think of rest in our modern
society and culture.

That. Man,

whenever I hit retirement,

I'm sleeping in every day.

Ms. Kelly,

you were recently retired.

Have you slept in much?

No. Okay.

Do you feel well rested?

You do?

Okay, that's good.

But I tell you,

retirement isn't the rest that
God's talking about.

It just isn't because you can still work
yourself to death in retirement,

too. Physical rest isn't it.

You may wake up well rested,

but spiritually and emotionally,

you can be completely drained.

There's been many times I've told people
whenever I have gotten a full

night's rest that I'm well rested and
stressed rather than tired and

stressed, right?

It's possible.

But that goes to show that physical rest
isn't where our true rest lies.

And I'll tell you,

too, we get to be a place where people
come after they save up for an

entire year,

and we get to live here,

right? And so,

as residents,

we often go away from
here for vacations.

But I tell you what,

vacation isn't the idea
of rest either.

And I don't know if it's just because
I got two little kids,

but vacations are more hectic and stressful
than just staying at home.

There is not true rest
in a vacation,

right? So we know why we need it.

It's because every form of rest that
we can come up with right here just

doesn't, it's not the full picture.

It's just pieces and partial bits,

right? We know that there's got to be
something better than physical rest

and still waking up tired than vacations
and just a brief pause from

reality and work.

Right? There's got to be something
more to this rest.

So the next question you can ask is,

who needs it,

really?

Every single person can raise their hand
because we know that we all need

it, but we can also ask
who it's offered to.

And if we look in verse two,

it says,

for good news came to us.

Just as to them.

He's talking about the Jews.

The good news has come to the Jews,

but it's also come to us.

Right? So it's for everyone who
has heard the good news,

believed it,

and has a heavenly inheritance.

Right. And it's not a new idea
at all in the slightest.

So if you want to do some,

a little more research and a
little more study later,

you can look up deuteronomy
chapter three,

verses 18 through 20,

and deuteronomy twelve,

verses nine through eleven.

Is that me?

Do I need to quit moving?

Okay.

But, yeah,

look up deuteronomy 318 through
20 and deuteronomy twelve,

nine through eleven,

and it'll give you a better idea of how
this view of rest and inheritance

go together.

It's something that we as
christians inherit.

We get to walk into this rest because
it's been given and bought for us

by Jesus way before us,

and we get to inherit it.

Right? And so the next question
you could ask is,

when?

When do I get it?

When do I need it?

And I would say the answer is now.

Right. Because if you
look in verse three,

it says,

for we who have believed,

enter that rest.

There is no other qualifiers,

no other adverbs,

no other anything.

It says,

we who have believed,

not will enter or shall
enter or have entered.

It's we enter that rest.

Right? Words are important.

If it had been something that we
get later on down the road,

he would have said will or shall,

but he doesn't.

He says,

you enter that rest,

it's released immediately,

and we get to get it now.

Right? So now I know we've spent a
lot of time in these first three

verses and given some context,

right? I'm just going to kind of jump
through real quick verses four

through ten,

to answer the question
how we get it right.

So let's read it all together.

Verses four through ten,

it says,

for he has somewhere spoken of
the 7th day in this way.

And God rested on the 7th
day from all his works.

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 formally receive the good
news fail to enter because of

their disobedience.

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 heart.

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
forever has entered.

God's rest has also rested
from his works,

as God did from his.

So there's a couple different
points in there,

and y'all hear it this week in the
gathering here in the word.

And Bobby,

he does a fantastic job
breaking it down.

But the whole idea is you get to see
a couple different historical

accounts of where people have sought
rest in different things,

and it completely leave
them deserted,

right? We get to see rest
being founded as a day,

which is all good,

God ordained Sabbath.

But if it had have been a day,

they would have had rest.

Because it was so important to them that
they built this moat around the

law and created all kinds of rules.

So if it had been a day,

they would have had it.

Israel wandered around in
the desert for 40 years,

seeing a land far off that
was promised to them.

Yet many were not able to enter it.

But then when the time came through,

Joshua and Caleb,

right? They finally were
able to walk in.

But did it provide them rest?

It didn't.

There was not this eternal rest
which God promised them.

Don't get me wrong.

It was there.

It was offered to them.

But they were looking
in the wrong place,

as we often do.

Right?

So if it had been a day,

they would have had it.

If it had been a land,

they would have had it.

If it had been a nation,

they would have had it.

But they didn't get it.

So what does the rest
actually look like?

I think it's really cool
that in verse eleven,

it says,

therefore, because he's looking back
to everything he just said,

all those historical counts,

he says,

therefore, let us strive
to enter that rest.

That's for us,

right? He said,

here's what's happened in the past.

Hey, look,

guys, here's what's
for you right now.

Strive to enter that rest.

And you may think,

okay, man,

we're just back at the beginning.

We're using the word strive again and
working hard and creating rules and

boundaries and laws and everything.

And no,

we're missing the point if that's the
direction that we start thinking

towards. Right?

He's saying,

strive to enter that rest,

because you have to think of
what the actual rest is.

It's not a day.

It's not a land,

it's not a nation.

He's already covered that,

so it's got to be something else.

And that's closeness with Jesus,

with the savior,

the one who provides ultimate rest.

He is our Shabbat rest,

our Sabbath rest,

our eternal rest.

Right?

Because there have been a lot
of failures in the past,

but we can make it right by
looking towards Jesus.

Looking at Jesus,

and like I prayed earlier and
like Scott had mentioned,

like, reconnecting with him and
walking in lockstep with him,

right? And as I was trying to think of
an example to help you understand

what I mean by this is in school,

how God does it,

right? But God gave me the example
because after I had been reading,

thinking, and praying about,

okay, what does rest
truly look like?

My son walks up to me
and puts up his arms.

Sorry, I need a longer shirt,

but he puts up his arms.

I was like,

man, that's it.

Because how many times through scripture
do we see the example of a

child? Right?

Let me ask you all,

do you all think kids worry
as much as we do?

No. I can tell you they don't.

No. But why do you think that is?

Is it because they don't have a
lot of responsibility or worry?

And really and truly,

I think that is the answer.

They don't worry where their
next meal is coming from.

They're not worried where they've
got to be in 30 minutes,

unless it's to bed.

Then they run in the
opposite direction.

But they're not worried about the
things that we're worried about.

Not in the slightest.

But that's why I think God said,

or Jesus said in Matthew 18,

let's read Matthew 18,

verses two through four,

says, and calling to him a child,

he put him in the midst
of them and said,

truly, I say to you,

unless you turn and become
like children,

you will never enter the
kingdom of heaven.

Whoever humbles himself like this child
is the greatest in the kingdom of

heaven. Jesus is saying,

right here,

you got to do the hard work.

Strive.

That word that we were
just looking at,

to become childlike in faith,

you have to strive and do the hard work
of thinking the way a child does.

Kids don't worry.

Kids don't stress.

They're not worried about where their
next meal is coming from.

They're not worried about
where they got to be.

They're not worried about work.

They're not worried about
ten years from now.

They're not worried about any of
that because it's the parents

responsibility, right?

But guess what?

We have a heavenly father who carries
all of our responsibility.

If we let him,

and we get to rest,

in that,

they're allowed to truly rest.

And let's read first.

Peter, chapter five,

says, humble yourself,

humble yourselves therefore under
the mighty hand of God,

so that at the proper time
he may exalt you,

casting all your anxieties on him
because he cares for you.

He's telling you right there,

he's like,

look, dad's here.

Cast all your cares on me
because I care for you.

The offer is there,

right? And again in Matthew
eleven says,

come to me,

all who labor and are heavy laden,

and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you
and learn from me.

For I am gentle and lowly in heart,

and you will find rest
for your souls.

For my yoke is easy and
my burden is light.

If you're looking for rest,

not just a nap,

don't get me wrong,

I think there's a lot of people going
to be Sunday napping today.

But if you're looking for
more than just a nap,

Jesus tells you where it's at.

And it's in closeness with him because
he is our Sabbath rest.

He is the inheritance
that we're promised,

right? And that is beautiful,

joyous, great news.

So that is my prayer for everybody in
this room today is that we have a

greater understanding of rest and that
it's not something that you work

and strive towards working
like 40 hours a week,

60 hours a week,

whatever you work to go on vacation.

It's not setting timers like,

oh, bedtime.

That's not cutting it.

We all know it's not.

And it's not because the world's
getting busier and faster.

It's because we're seeking
something else,

and that's Jesus.

Even if we're christians,

we can still fail to
enter that rest.

He gave us examples of it.

Right? So I'm going to pray.

If you don't know Jesus,

that's the first step.

Then come on up here.

Let's have a conversation.

I'll introduce you to him.

But he's how you get that rest.

So let's pray.

God we thank you for this morning,

God, we thank you for
the promise of rest.

God, not something that's
short lived,

but God is eternal and it's something
that you've already won for us.

God, it's an inheritance for us.

God, I pray that you would help
us to understand that.

God, help us to realize where we're working
and striving to gain physical

rest.

When God,

you say that's not the
ultimate goal,

but it's to rest with you forever.

Point those areas out in our lives and
the actions that we do and the

words that we say help us
to feel convicted by it.

God, thank you for your word
and the promise of rest.

It's not something that even
needed to be brought up.

But God,

it is so important for you,

for your people to rest.

So, God,

I'm thankful that it's written about so
much and points us to the greater

rest, which is you.

So again,

God, help us to walk in
lockstep with you.

Help us to be so close that we don't
miss what you're doing and help us

to chase after you.

We thank you.

We love you.

It's in your beautiful
and precious name.

We pray.

Amen.