TV 1743 | Promised Land Part One

today to a scripture that we have used many times over the years. And I suspect there will be people here who will have said, who will say, oh, we've heard that before. Oh, you know, let's get on to something else. But I'm wondering if the people who need this are the ones who would react that way. I'm going to go ahead and begin by reading from Hebrews 3 and 4, a few verses. And then I want to back up and look at that in a larger context. Because the writer to the Hebrews was concerned. He knew and he recognized that there were many people who were of Jewish background. They knew about the law and the prophets and Moses and all of that. And they had professed to become followers of Jesus. But there was something about the situation that caused him to question and to say, are you really? And so I feel like the Lord wants to address that. I mean, the entire book really raises that issue. Be careful, wake up. And it's not meant to cause believers to be fearful, but it is meant to wake people up who are just professing. Did not Jesus warn about this when He talked about the two gates and the two ways? And how many there would be on that day, that's the day of judgment, who would say, Lord, Lord, have we not? And then they would list all the things that they did in His name that caused them to believe that they were His followers. But He pointed out there was something that was the real condition of their heart was that they were unbelievers. They were still self-willed in their hearts. They had never really surrendered. And so that's, that's the real question. And I feel like the Lord is burdened. Perhaps some here, perhaps some who will hear this today through Zoom or later, we'll see

what the Lord has in mind. That's up to Him entirely. But I'm going to go ahead and read these familiar scriptures, and then we'll, we'll go on from there. In Hebrews chapter three, beginning in verse seven. So as the Holy Spirit says, today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion during the time of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for 40 years they saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation. I said, their hearts are always going astray and they have not known my ways. So I declared on oath in my anger, they shall never enter my rest. See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. As has just been said, today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion. And then He talks about those, the ones that fell were those who, He led them out of the wilderness, Moses did, and they sinned and they died in the wilderness. And they were, He says in verse 10, so we see that they were not able, 19 it is. So we see that they were not able to enter because of their unbelief. That really gets down to the heart of the issue. Therefore, since the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. That's the issue, not you've got it, but you lost it because you didn't measure up somewhere. This is people, about people who have never entered in. They've never crossed over. They've sort of gone along with and professed, but it's never really gotten down to the heart

level. That's the issue. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did. But the message they heard was of no value to them. Why was that? Because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. Now we who have believed enter that rest, praise God. See there's a rest. That's what God is concerned about. He loves everyone here, wants everyone to experience what He's talking about. Just as God has says, so I declared on oath in my anger, they shall never enter my rest. And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words on the on the seventh day, God rested from all his works. And again, in the passage above, he says, they shall never enter my rest. Therefore, since it still remains for some to enter that rest. And since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience. God again set a certain day calling it today. It gets complicated, but basically Lord is saying, I'm not just talking about what happened to the wilderness, because David wrote this centuries later, didn't he? And the Holy Spirit inspired him to say today, if you hear his voice, he's not just talking about history. He's talking about whenever today is. I could be today. All right. When God is still speaking. All right. I'll go down to verse eight, for if Joshua

had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains then a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For anyone who enters God's rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. We'll get to all these things. But what in the world is he talking about? I want to stop. I want you to stop working and enter into rest. But I want you to put an effort to do it. Which is it? Do I work or don't I work? Well, one is let's go back to the beginning and just kind of skim through the what he's really talking about in this book. It's an amazing book. Every time I get into it, it's just there's a richness to it. We don't know who wrote it, who the physical author is, but we do know who the heavenly, heavenly author of this book is. It's tremendous. And so the first chapter begins with lifting up who Jesus Christ is. Because all that had gone before in their history was based upon what God did through Moses. But now the message is God's replaced that. That was a placeholder. That was just something God did for a time. Now we've come to something different. Let's understand what that is and how much greater it is, because now you're dealing with God's son. And who is he? Oh, by the way, he's the one through whom God created everything. He's the one who created the heavens.

All the things, the amazing things that they're discovering. Anybody want to just ignore him and not listen to him? Somebody like that? He's the one who created it all. Praise God, he made the universe. And you want to know what God is like? We've said these things many times, but I feel like God wants to bring this home in a way today. You want to know what God is like? God's a spirit. You'll never see him. He's everywhere. He's all powerful. But he brought forth a son who is born of his very life and nature, who is the perfect and full expression of himself. You want to know what his nature is like? Look at Jesus and you'll see it. Praise God. All right. And then he compares how much better he is than the angels. He said, you are my son, and today I become your father and all of that. But there is a throne that God has given to his son, a place of rule, a place of authority, a place of preeminence in all that he has purpose to do. He is number one. Boy, we better honor him and look to him and lift up that name. There is no name that's greater than his. Praise God. All right. He says it like in verse 10, for example. He also says, in the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth

and the heavens are the work of your hands. He's talking about Jesus. They will perish, the heavens and the earth and all that. They will perish, but you remain. They will wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe and like a garment. They will be changed. But you remain the same and your years will have no end. What a picture. How many pictures there are. We could see somebody who takes a garment and OK, it's soiled. It's done. I'm done with that. I'm going to take it off and change my clothes. What he's talking about is this world, this universe, this present world that we live in. It's just nothing but soiled clothes that he's about to get rid of. Man, this this issue that he's dealing with in the book of Hebrews, it matters. There's nothing in all the world that matters more than what he's talking about. And that's why he continues and say, we need to pay attention. God took seriously the word that he spoke through Moses and people who ignored that and rebelled against it, they paid a price, didn't they? How much more those who ignore what the Son of God says, how shall we escape, verse 3, if we ignore so great a salvation? That's the issue. All right? And he testified to it and all of that. But now he gets to an interesting issue down in verse 5. He says, it is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come. Didn't create angels to rule over creation about which we are speaking, but the world to come about which we are speaking. That's an interesting phrase he throws in there.

Because he hasn't said anything about the world to come yet, has he? But this is the underlying issue that this world is temporary, there is a world to come. And everybody has to reckon with that truth and you're either part of one or you're part of the other. It's that simple. All right? So, what he's talking about is the world to come, all right? Let's see where I was. Praise God. The world to come about which we are speaking, but there is a place where someone has testified, this is going back to the words of David again, what is mankind that you are mindful of them? A son of man that you care for him. Who are we? How do we, why do we matter? You made them a little lower than the angels. You crowned them with glory and honor and put everything under their feet. He created the human race to rule over his creation, to have a place of preeminence. That's the destiny that God has designed for the human race. And of course, he points out that in putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to them, yet at present we do not see everything subject to them. You think? Yeah, we see a world and a universe that's a mess. God gave it to us to rule over and we messed it up big time. But what do we see? We see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. I'll tell you, God didn't give up on his plan. In fact, the reality is God planned in the beginning knowing everything that was going to happen.

Everything that God has set in motion will happen. There's no devil in hell that can stop it. The only question is where do we fit in to God's plan? That's what the issue is. And then he talks about the destiny, he says, in bringing many sons and daughters to glory. That's what this is about. God has planned to bring many sons and daughters to glory. It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. That's incredible. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. Is there anybody here who knows him who hasn't come to a place sometime in your experience where you find that hard to imagine? That he would not be ashamed to call me his brother? What an amazing love and mercy that this one has that we're talking about. He is not somebody who's looking to judge people, doesn't get any pleasure out of it. He wants to do everything possible to avoid things coming to that. That's what this is about. Again, it's not to make us afraid, it's to show us the truth so we'll take it seriously and benefit from what he's done. So he quotes scriptures that make it evident that he looks upon us that way. Those are my brothers and sisters. And you know, we're heirs, aren't we? He is the heir of everything. But we're called joint heirs, are we not, with Jesus Christ. There's an inheritance. inheritance that God has a people who then we will share in that inheritance and it's not about this world. This is not about a religion to practice in this world so you can have a better life here.

This is about getting people, calling them out of this darkness and getting them ready for a light that will last forever in another world. Praise God. Thank God he's with us while we have to be here though. Alright? So he talks about the fact that he became flesh and blood. He shared our humanity and by his death he broke the power of death that was held by the devil. Thank God that power is broken because there's not one thing that anybody here could do to break that power. It rules. But I'll tell you there is a greater power and a greater authority that even though these bodies die, we don't die who know him. Praise the Lord. Alright? And he talks about the fact that he was made fully human in every way in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God and that he might make atonement, might take care of our sins. And because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. Aren't you glad of that? I need somebody who's not only willing but able to help me when those times come because they come. Thank God. So you see how the author here is concerned about two kinds of people. He wants to encourage God's people to stand fast and to get a real honest picture of what faith means in this broken world. At the same time, he's very concerned that some have just gone along and professed but they don't really, they're not really a part of it. That's the burden upon his heart.

That's a burden on God's heart. Alright? So then he calls us to fix our thoughts in verse chapter three. Fix our thoughts on Jesus. Acknowledge him. He's greater than what he's building. God sent him to build something. God sent him to build a house for God. That's a place where God feels at home, where he gets to live. How could somebody who is spirit actually live somewhere? Didn't the prophet say, where is the house that you build me? He doesn't dwell in temples made with hands. He dwells in temples, these temples. We are the house that he's building, a place for God. I'll tell you, something has to change, not just on the surface of what we do and what we profess. Something has to happen at the heart level for God to come in and be at home. He can work on the rest, but for him, there has to be a real point of surrender for him to come in here and stay and live. Well, I'll tell you, I'm so glad he can take care of the things that hinder that. But we have a part to play, don't we? Praise God. All right? This is where we find out we're his house. This is what he's building. This is where he comes into this today if you hear his voice. So that's the key. The reality is, as we've said many times, if God did not speak, if God did not intervene in our little earthly existence here, we would be born, we would live, we would seek the things of the world.

We would die, and that would be the end of it, and we wouldn't have a clue as to what it was all about. Oh, people think, this is what the world is about. This is what life is. No. This is every bit of it. It's temporary. Totally temporary. And I'll tell you, those who get everything they can out of this world and don't have what he's worried, what he's concerned about here, have missed everything that God in his love and mercy has prepared, the destiny of the human race to have a creation that God has made, and then to rule over it and enjoy it, and have a meaningful existence where everyone has a place of honor and joy and acceptance with him. What an amazing call that he has. Now one thing you see throughout this book especially, and it helps us to understand the Old Testament a little better, is the fact that in the Old Testament days, God did a lot of things that were meant to be pictures. They were things that happened in the natural, but they were pictures of things that are real in the real realm. So anyway, one of the pictures that is painted here is God's picture. God's promise to give the people, his people, a land. It was a territory, wasn't it? And he called it, we refer to it as the promised land. And God said, it's yours. One of the things that I see in this is a picture of what I believe God wants us to understand, that God has staked out a territory, spiritually, in this broken world. It's not a geographical place. There's no place in this world where you can say, oh, there's the promised land. Just like Jesus was talking about the kingdom. And he said, no one's going to say, there's the kingdom, or there's the kingdom.

The kingdom is unseen and it's within his people. But there is a place that God has promised for his people in this world. It's real. It's a realm where we can enjoy his presence. We can enjoy a fellowship with his family, and we can be, and God can work in us and meet our earthly needs, but get us ready for the real promised land. It's eternal. Maybe that's a title. I don't know. Promised land is a possible title on this thing. But anyway, what you see, though, in the original picture is an example of what God wants to warn people about in this. Actually that there were plenty of people who were glad to march out of Egypt. I mean, which is better, to go out with the hope of a nice place to live or being a slave? There are a lot of people in this world who will attach themselves to Jesus because of the advantages they see in this life. I'll have a better life. I'll have a promise of heaven or whatever it is. And I'm going to go. I'm going to go along. And they danced on the shore, on the far shore of the Red Sea when God finally dealt with them at Mount Sinai and said, are you going to serve me or not? And they said, yes, Lord, we're going to serve you. What was the problem? The problem was in here. You had people that would go along for what they perceived to be some kind of an advantage to them, but their hearts never really believed in the God they professed to be serving. And all God had to do was allow the right circumstance to arise and that unbelief just came right out. And all of a sudden they were ready to stone Moses.

They were ready to leave him behind and go back or whatever it was. They were complaining about this and complaining about that. And they're complaining about when they got to the land and they searched it out and they said, no, we can't possibly take this. Just unbelief. And I'll tell you, the world that we live in, at any point in history, this is true. How much more now is it true that if we're going to have to have faith, if we're going to have faith in this hour, it's going to be a tested faith, isn't it? God is going to put his people in places that will make manifest what's really in here. You remember how Abraham just didn't believe what God said. He believed God. It was something that was just, he understood who it was that was speaking. So it didn't matter what God said, Abraham was already, I believe you Lord. Remember who he's talking about. How he set this up. Who is Jesus? Who is the one who has proclaimed this message of hope where you need to give your heart and your life to me and allow me to save you from all of this and get you ready for something? Do you really believe it? Do you believe that you need it? Do you believe without it you are destined to perish? That's the question because there's so many people, like we mentioned, where Jesus warned about how many people are going to get there and they practiced their religion. They went to church every Sunday. They didn't rob banks. They didn't do a whole lot of stuff. They lived good lives. They even gave to charity. I mean, all the things that they did that caused them to have a confidence that I'm one of His, but they never, ever surrendered what was in here.

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