WEBVTT

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As we move forward,

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we continue in the topic of the object
of our faith being Jesus.

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And we continue to talk about Jesus.

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And perfect song for us to begin
this particular message,

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because Jesus is the one who paid the
price for our admission into God's

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rest. See?

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I mean,

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if there's an admission charge,

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if there's something that it costs
for us to enjoy the rest of God,

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then Jesus is the one
who paid that price.

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Y'all know what admission
looks like,

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right? I mean,

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think about it.

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We had a family just now,

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just this week,

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got back from Disney World.

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I remember a couple weeks ago,

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he said,

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yeah. He said,

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I hadn't been paying on it for like,

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months now,

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so we could go to Disney World,

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take the grandkid.

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And I was like,

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yeah, see?

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Because it costs something,

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right? There's a price to be paid.

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Well, as we read this passage,

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I want you to hear it in the context
of what God has offered and how God

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turned around and paid the price
for what he offered.

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All right,

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here we go.

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It's in Hebrews,

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chapter four,

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verses one to eleven,

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says, therefore,

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since the promise to enter
his rest remains,

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let us beware that none of you be
found to have fallen short.

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For we also have received
the good news,

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just as they did.

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But the message they heard
did not benefit them,

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since they were not united with
those who heard it in faith.

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For we who have believed,

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enter the rest,

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in keeping with what he has said.

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So I swore in my anger,

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they will not enter my rest,

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even though his works have been finished
since the foundation of the

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world.

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For somewhere he has spoken about
the 7th day in this way,

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and on the 7th day,

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God rested from all his works.

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Again, in that passage,

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he says,

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they will never enter my rest.

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Therefore, since it remains
for some to enter it,

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and those who formally received the
good news did not enter because of

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disobedience, he again specifies
a certain day today.

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How about that?

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So that whole day conversation
about rest and Sabbath,

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God says it's today.

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It's a big deal,

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y'all. He specified this,

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speaking through David after
such a long time today,

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if you hear his voice,

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do not harden your hearts.

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For if Joshua had given them rest,

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God would not have spoken
later about another day.

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Therefore, a Sabbath rest remains
for God's people,

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for the person who has entered his rest
has rested from his own works,

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just as God did from his.

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Let us then make every effort to enter
that rest so that no one will fall

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into the same pattern
of disobedience.

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Let's pray.

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God, we thank you.

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And we praise you again
that as we gather,

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God, your word promises that
you meet with us here.

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God, we gather in your name.

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We gather to celebrate you,

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to exalt you,

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to worship you.

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God, we want our lives and our time
together to bring you glory.

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And so,

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God, I'm so grateful for
every person here.

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We've had new folks all morning long
that come to be a part of worship.

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So we want to make it worship God.

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We want to set aside the distractions
of this world so that we may

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concentrate, prioritize,

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focus on Jesus.

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So help us to do that.

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We pray it in Jesus name.

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Amen. So the point of today's message
is simply rest revealed.

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God has revealed a rest,

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right?

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So I remember back in
October or October,

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early November,

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when I preached on this passage,

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I brought a chair up here.

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Y'all remember?

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And I put a chair up here,

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and I just kind of went,

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sat down in the chair and I said,

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all right,

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does that look like rest?

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And then I may truly do rest,

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right? But that wasn't really rest.

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Sitting in the chair
is not really rest.

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So what is it that God is describing
as rest to us?

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And in this passage?

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Because the writer of Hebrews is giving
us the layout of how God has

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already accomplished the rest.

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So we got to fold back a little bit and
take a look at some things here

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that I want us to understand.

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God promised a rest.

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Therefore, since the promise
to enter his rest remains.

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Now, this is the writer of Hebrews
probably writing somewhere in the

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ballpark between 55 AD and 70 AD.

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And so he's writing about a
rest that is still there.

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There is a promise of rest.

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Now, if the writer of Hebrews is
writing to more than likely a

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predominantly hebrew audience,

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jewish people who have trusted
Jesus as savior,

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messiah, lord,

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and he's writing about
a rest that remains,

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these hebrew people are going,

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well, wait a minute.

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We celebrate rest every Sabbath
day on that Saturday.

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It's important that 7th day.

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We can't walk more than 25 steps.

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We can't relight our lamps
if they go out.

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We can't do any work of any kind,

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right? So they've got this rigid practice
of the law that gives them this

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sort of definition of rest.

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And even so,

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the day for the jewish people
began at 06:00 at night.

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So this whole idea of rest to them is
almost sort of conflicted in this

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rigid legal system.

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And now there was a reason for it.

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God purposed it and planned it,

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but it was to understand something
bigger than a day.

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Now, I remember when we preached
through romans.

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Last year,

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I did a whole day on the whole thing
of some people regard a day,

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some people regard a different day.

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You see?

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And so when God speaks about
entering arrest,

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is he talking about a day?

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I grew up under the.

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Let's see.

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I have to be careful
what I say here.

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I worked in a textile mill
when I was young.

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You worked for five days,

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8 hours a day,

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and you had a weekend,

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right.

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And so I took the other shift.

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I took the 212 hours weekends on.

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212 hours days on the weekend
and got paid for 40.

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I thought that was a deal,

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right? 24 hours to get paid for 40.

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Whoo. That was good
stuff right there.

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I had a whole week for my weekend,

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Monday through Friday,

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right? Guess what?

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I was in school.

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See? So the rest that God is talking
about is not a rest of stopping

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work. Now,

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most definitions,

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even the greek words that we find
right here in this passage,

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refer to the stopping or the cessation
of activity or work.

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So when we get all bound
up in a calendar,

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we've missed the point
of what God's doing,

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because this is what he
says right here says,

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for we also have received
the good news,

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just as they did.

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But the message they heard
did not benefit them,

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since they were not united
with those who heard it.

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In faith,

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for we who have believed
enter the rest.

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So in Christ,

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in our faith,

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we have already entered the rest.

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What is he talking about?

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Not talking about time off.

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Not talking about.

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My watch tells me when to go to bed,

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y'all. And then in the morning,

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when I get up,

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I can mash the button.

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It'll tell me how much sleep I had.

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It'll tell me how much
of it was deep sleep,

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how much of it was light sleep,

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and how many times I woke up
in the midst of the night.

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Do you know what?

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Every morning,

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I get up,

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I really look at that thing,

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and I go,

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no wonder I'm so tired.

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You see what I mean?

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So we're not talking about rest
like a physical rest.

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What God is sharing with us right here
is that he has established from

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creation a rest,

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a rest that he has provided for us,

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and then subsequently,

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he's paid the price of admission.

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For now,

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I'm going to back up a minute,

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because there is a place here where
when it talks about Jesus and what

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Jesus has done,

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remember when it said that he is
the one who passed through?

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Now, translations say the heavens says
he's the one that passed through

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the heavens,

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and the translation would
better be made there,

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that he passed through the skies to enter
back into the presence of God,

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because heaven is God's presence.

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Heavens is this physical separation of
waters from what is above and what

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is beneath.

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Okay, so Jesus passed through the heavens
back to and sat down at the

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right hand of God,

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right hand of glory on the throne.

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So where is God's rest?

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Is it on Sunday,

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Saturday, thank you.

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Or from 09:00 at night to
04:00 in the morning,

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which is what my watch tells me,

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right? Is that my rest.

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See, the point of this is that the rest
God's talking about is to be in

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his presence.

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See, that is the promised rest.

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The promised rest we get to return to
rest is to return to the presence

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of God.

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And God is the one by
his own person.

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God the Son has paid the price of admission
for us to enter the presence

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of God,

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to enter God's rest.

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And yet we create the same
kind of legal system,

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the same kind of Do's and don'ts.

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To think that we can somehow work,

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earn or achieve a rest that God has already
accomplished and made for us.

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He says to him,

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I swore in my anger they
will not enter my rest.

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Even though his works had been finished
since the foundation,

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God's rest was established
at creation.

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For six days he labored 7th.

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He entered his own rest.

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He rested.

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See, I like the way that kind of
lays that out for somewhere.

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He has spoken about the
7th day in this way.

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And on the 7th day,

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God rested from all his works.

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Again, in that passage he said,

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they will not enter my rest.

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Therefore, since it remains
for some to enter it.

00:10:27.286 --> 00:10:30.058
And those who formerly received the
good news did not because of

00:10:30.058 --> 00:10:32.852
disobedience, he again specifies
a certain day.

00:10:32.906 --> 00:10:35.124
Today. He specified this,

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speaking through David after
such a long time today,

00:10:37.306 --> 00:10:38.192
if you hear his voice,

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do not harden your hearts.

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God's promised rest is his presence and
our relationship with him through

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the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

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God, I heard Kyle preach
earlier this morning.

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How many of you parents,

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how many of you like watching
your kids sleep?

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Yeah, I know.

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I see some of your smiles.

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I was the same way.

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He's most beautiful
when he's sleeping.

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But there was an enjoyment in watching
him just give himself over to

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sleep, to just rest.

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And you know,

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when a kid goes down,

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man, they go down,

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they'll fight it so much because
they don't want to go down,

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right? So the rest that God's offering
us is a rest that is without

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worry, it's without anxiety,

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it's without this need
to accomplish.

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What do we do today?

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I mean,

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think about physical rest.

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What do we do we got to have
the right mattress,

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the right sheets and the right blankets
and the right fan overhead.

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And I got a friend who can't sleep unless
he's got this noisy going on in

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the work in the room.

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I'm like,

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man, you see?

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So we work to rest,

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right? Well,

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we've adopted the same kind of attitude
or idea with the rest of God,

00:12:16.442 --> 00:12:20.420
that somehow we've got to
work to enjoy God's rest.

00:12:20.490 --> 00:12:23.740
And that's not what he said
to us right here,

00:12:23.740 --> 00:12:24.472
because, see,

00:12:24.526 --> 00:12:25.182
throughout history,

00:12:25.182 --> 00:12:27.678
and he gives us a great historical
background right here,

00:12:27.678 --> 00:12:29.716
he said on the 7th day he rested.

00:12:29.716 --> 00:12:30.654
But guess what?

00:12:30.654 --> 00:12:33.624
The 7th day didn't become
rest for God's people,

00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:39.416
right? And then the promised land was
supposed to be rest to enter God's

00:12:39.448 --> 00:12:42.590
rest. But rest is not about the land.

00:12:43.380 --> 00:12:45.350
For if Joshua had given them rest,

00:12:45.350 --> 00:12:48.530
God would not have spoken
later about another day.

00:12:49.460 --> 00:12:50.486
And listen to this.

00:12:50.486 --> 00:12:55.490
Therefore, a Sabbath rest remains
for God's people,

00:12:56.840 --> 00:13:00.650
for the person who has entered his rest
has rested from his own works,

00:13:00.650 --> 00:13:02.630
just as God did from his.

00:13:04.920 --> 00:13:07.230
You can't work to get God's rest.

00:13:07.960 --> 00:13:10.330
I can't work to get God's rest.

00:13:11.740 --> 00:13:18.808
See, Jesus already paid the price of
admission to enter God's rest.

00:13:18.894 --> 00:13:22.030
And God's rest is the very
presence of God.

00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:24.156
You see,

00:13:24.258 --> 00:13:28.402
it's interesting that when I was listening
some of the studying I did

00:13:28.402 --> 00:13:31.922
this week about Jesus passing through
the heavens or passing through the

00:13:31.922 --> 00:13:35.340
skies, that sometimes the
sky's called a veil,

00:13:37.920 --> 00:13:38.716
right?

00:13:38.898 --> 00:13:40.960
Sometimes the sky's called a veil.

00:13:41.460 --> 00:13:44.252
And we know that when Christ
died on the cross,

00:13:44.252 --> 00:13:47.222
that the veil of the temple
was torn apart,

00:13:49.060 --> 00:13:53.620
which opened up that secret place,

00:13:53.690 --> 00:13:55.340
that holy of holy place,

00:13:55.466 --> 00:13:57.116
that place of God's abiding,

00:13:57.152 --> 00:13:58.576
that place of God's dwelling.

00:13:58.576 --> 00:13:59.888
And the veil was ripped.

00:13:59.888 --> 00:14:02.276
And so when Jesus passed
through the skies,

00:14:02.276 --> 00:14:06.862
he passed through the veil of the skies
so that it opened up so that we

00:14:06.862 --> 00:14:09.850
could abide and dwell in God's rest.

00:14:11.100 --> 00:14:12.090
You see,

00:14:12.860 --> 00:14:14.962
it's not for us to work
to get there,

00:14:14.962 --> 00:14:15.660
folks.

00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:20.008
Man, I see so many christians
just spinning their wheels.

00:14:20.024 --> 00:14:22.160
It's like they're on a hamster mill,

00:14:22.160 --> 00:14:24.470
right? They're running
in a little wheel.

00:14:26.420 --> 00:14:27.740
You can't earn it.

00:14:27.750 --> 00:14:29.014
You can't get there.

00:14:29.014 --> 00:14:32.390
You've got to abide there through
the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

00:14:32.390 --> 00:14:37.716
And it becomes a part of our identity
in Christ that not only have we

00:14:37.738 --> 00:14:39.204
been promised a rest,

00:14:39.322 --> 00:14:41.270
but we need the rest.

00:14:41.880 --> 00:14:44.230
We need the presence of God,

00:14:45.640 --> 00:14:46.630
you see?

00:14:48.380 --> 00:14:53.930
And the rest that God has
promised is there.

00:14:54.460 --> 00:14:59.530
It was finished in that 7th day.

00:15:00.780 --> 00:15:01.790
You see,

00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:08.350
God has done everything required
for us to enter his rest.

00:15:09.520 --> 00:15:10.524
Verse ten says,

00:15:10.562 --> 00:15:14.822
for the person who has entered his rest
has rested from his own works,

00:15:14.822 --> 00:15:16.694
just as God did from his.

00:15:16.694 --> 00:15:17.836
And then verse eleven,

00:15:17.836 --> 00:15:25.650
let us then make every effort
to enter that rest now.

00:15:26.520 --> 00:15:27.840
Sounds like a contradiction,

00:15:27.872 --> 00:15:28.710
doesn't it?

00:15:29.720 --> 00:15:32.100
Effort to enter rest.

00:15:32.170 --> 00:15:33.642
Sounds like we're working
to get there,

00:15:33.642 --> 00:15:34.550
doesn't it?

00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:36.224
What are our efforts?

00:15:36.224 --> 00:15:39.430
What can you do to enter God's rest?

00:15:43.700 --> 00:15:44.278
I mean,

00:15:44.278 --> 00:15:47.248
what I think the text is
saying is nothing.

00:15:48.040 --> 00:15:50.740
You can't enter God's rest.

00:15:50.810 --> 00:15:52.826
God's the one who's done the work.

00:15:52.826 --> 00:15:58.824
So then it becomes sort of incumbent
upon us to make every effort to

00:15:58.862 --> 00:16:01.690
abide in the rest.

00:16:03.660 --> 00:16:05.044
Let me ask you a question.

00:16:04.846 --> 00:16:06.786
I've been saying this for
a year and a half now.

00:16:06.786 --> 00:16:07.550
You ready?

00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:12.970
Where do you spend the
most of your time?

00:16:13.760 --> 00:16:16.730
Do you spend time in
the word of God?

00:16:16.960 --> 00:16:18.472
Do you go into the Bible,

00:16:18.472 --> 00:16:19.312
God's word,

00:16:19.446 --> 00:16:23.010
and look for the rest of God?

00:16:26.420 --> 00:16:34.630
How much time do you be still to know
that God is God and we are not?

00:16:35.560 --> 00:16:42.372
See, how much time do you spend loving
the people around you because

00:16:42.426 --> 00:16:44.890
you're an ambassador of God's rest?

00:16:46.140 --> 00:16:50.920
See, these are all things that become
the product of enjoying the rest.

00:16:50.990 --> 00:16:54.520
We've already been given entrance
into God's rest,

00:16:54.590 --> 00:17:00.670
and so the product of that rest becomes
the outflow of God's spirit in us.

00:17:04.380 --> 00:17:08.126
Let us then make every effort to enter
that rest so that no one will fall

00:17:08.126 --> 00:17:11.432
into the same pattern
of disobedience.

00:17:11.496 --> 00:17:18.552
Remember, the warning in chapter three
was that God's people couldn't

00:17:18.616 --> 00:17:20.590
enter the rest.

00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:22.280
And in that context,

00:17:22.312 --> 00:17:27.680
it was enter the land because of their
disobedience in rebellion.

00:17:29.220 --> 00:17:32.166
See, so when we consider
this rest of God,

00:17:32.166 --> 00:17:38.870
you know what prevents most christians
from enjoying the rest of God?

00:17:39.800 --> 00:17:46.070
It's sin separates us in
relationship from God.

00:17:47.880 --> 00:17:54.616
See, there's a book that I read years
ago that had a profound impact on

00:17:54.638 --> 00:17:55.958
my walk with God.

00:17:56.300 --> 00:17:58.760
It's called returning to holiness.

00:18:00.540 --> 00:18:01.298
And in there,

00:18:01.298 --> 00:18:03.292
Gregory Fazelle talks
about the fact.

00:18:03.346 --> 00:18:05.804
He says,

00:18:05.842 --> 00:18:09.138
the reason people feel that they work
so hard is they don't know how to

00:18:09.138 --> 00:18:17.010
repent and confess their sin and seek
the holiness of God in their lives.

00:18:19.060 --> 00:18:22.038
It's almost like we feel like
we've done this over here,

00:18:22.038 --> 00:18:25.560
so we got to work doubly hard
over here to make it up.

00:18:25.560 --> 00:18:28.150
See, God's given us rest.

00:18:28.680 --> 00:18:31.830
God rested from all his work.

00:18:32.680 --> 00:18:37.436
God's given us rest from the work
of achieving his presence,

00:18:37.568 --> 00:18:39.610
of achieving his rest.

00:18:41.180 --> 00:18:42.490
Who needs rest.

00:18:43.580 --> 00:18:45.336
God knew we'd need rest.

00:18:45.438 --> 00:18:46.478
That's why he offered it.

00:18:46.478 --> 00:18:51.224
That's why he spoke about it all the
way from creation to enter God's

00:18:51.272 --> 00:18:53.964
rest. See,

00:18:54.002 --> 00:19:00.236
I grew up in a family where I think sometimes
we were taught things had

00:19:00.258 --> 00:19:01.260
to be earned.

00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:03.064
Yeah, and truthfully,

00:19:03.112 --> 00:19:03.950
they do.

00:19:04.720 --> 00:19:05.950
But not this.

00:19:07.600 --> 00:19:09.910
I have to earn love from God.

00:19:10.018 --> 00:19:10.514
Do you know,

00:19:10.514 --> 00:19:11.446
it doesn't matter.

00:19:11.446 --> 00:19:13.878
God can't love you less
than he loves you.

00:19:13.878 --> 00:19:15.198
Do you know that?

00:19:16.520 --> 00:19:20.390
He can't love you less than
he already loves you.

00:19:20.840 --> 00:19:25.190
Therefore, he can't love you more
than he already loves you.

00:19:26.600 --> 00:19:29.270
See, God's opened his arms to you.

00:19:29.980 --> 00:19:32.090
God's opened his rest to us.

00:19:33.340 --> 00:19:35.240
We enter it by faith.

00:19:35.740 --> 00:19:37.560
We enter it through Jesus.

00:19:38.380 --> 00:19:41.680
See, maybe you feel like
you got to work harder.

00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:45.340
Maybe you feel like there's
something that's missing.

00:19:46.560 --> 00:19:48.540
God has shown us his rest.

00:19:49.360 --> 00:19:51.340
We just have to abide there.

00:19:52.580 --> 00:19:56.800
The effort we make is to
abide in his presence.

00:19:58.420 --> 00:20:00.060
Set aside the distractions.

00:20:00.140 --> 00:20:01.680
Set aside the toil.

00:20:02.100 --> 00:20:03.570
Set aside the pain.

00:20:05.460 --> 00:20:07.110
Find our way in Christ.

00:20:07.460 --> 00:20:08.592
If you don't know Jesus,

00:20:08.592 --> 00:20:09.680
you need Jesus.

00:20:09.840 --> 00:20:12.122
If you want to know God's rest,

00:20:12.122 --> 00:20:13.772
you got to know Jesus.

00:20:14.280 --> 00:20:17.328
Okay, we're going to sing one
more song in just a minute.

00:20:17.328 --> 00:20:18.208
You get to respond.

00:20:18.208 --> 00:20:19.108
If you don't know Jesus,

00:20:19.108 --> 00:20:21.418
we want to introduce you to him.

00:20:21.420 --> 00:20:26.040
If you know him and you know that you
feel like you're working yourself

00:20:26.860 --> 00:20:29.256
beyond anything else,

00:20:29.358 --> 00:20:34.490
then stop and abide in God,

00:20:34.800 --> 00:20:36.220
because he's our rest.

00:20:36.370 --> 00:20:37.324
All right,

00:20:37.522 --> 00:20:39.480
maybe you want to join
the gathering.

00:20:39.480 --> 00:20:40.866
I always mention that third,

00:20:40.866 --> 00:20:41.938
because there are a lot
of people who say,

00:20:41.938 --> 00:20:42.968
how do we join?

00:20:42.968 --> 00:20:43.938
Just come down here and say,

00:20:43.938 --> 00:20:44.552
I want to join.

00:20:44.552 --> 00:20:45.872
We'll tell you how.

00:20:46.100 --> 00:20:51.056
But bigger than all of that stuff is
that you answer God's question this

00:20:51.078 --> 00:20:53.110
morning. Whatever it is
he's asked of you.

00:20:53.110 --> 00:20:53.770
All righty,

00:20:53.820 --> 00:20:54.540
let's pray.

00:20:54.620 --> 00:20:55.814
God, thank you for today.

00:20:55.814 --> 00:20:56.772
And, God,

00:20:56.826 --> 00:20:59.514
thank you that your word
tells us of rest,

00:20:59.514 --> 00:21:00.676
speaks of rest,

00:21:00.778 --> 00:21:02.070
reveals rest,

00:21:02.680 --> 00:21:04.100
provides for our rest.

00:21:04.170 --> 00:21:07.290
God, you have paid the admission
for us to enter rest.

00:21:07.290 --> 00:21:07.706
And so,

00:21:07.706 --> 00:21:11.590
God, my prayer would be
is that we enter rest.

00:21:13.720 --> 00:21:18.390
God, we want to be in the
midst of your rest.

00:21:18.920 --> 00:21:21.230
God, you've made a way to it.

00:21:21.600 --> 00:21:22.242
So, God,

00:21:22.242 --> 00:21:23.562
help us to enter.

00:21:23.840 --> 00:21:26.882
God. If there's anybody here this morning
doesn't know Jesus doesn't know

00:21:26.882 --> 00:21:29.260
the rest that we have in Christ,

00:21:29.330 --> 00:21:32.242
God, my prayer would be that
they know it today.

00:21:31.842 --> 00:21:33.822
We pray it in his name.

00:21:33.842 --> 00:21:34.280
Amen.