johnz

God is showing us allot in these verses. He is comparing 3 things. 1: Creation 2: The Promised Land 3: Salvation. If we can understand the first 2, then we can better understand salvation. Hebrews 3 16 For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? 17 Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. ------THere were a whole lot of sins that they Children of Israel commited. But what Kept them from the Promised Land? Unbelief. Nothing else. Hebrews 4 1 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. ------Come Short of What? Come short of entering into His rest. How can we come short? Let's keep reading... 2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. ------Just as it said in Hebrews 3:19. The same way that the promised land did not profit them because they did not have faith is the same way that the Gospel will not profit us if we do not have faith. 3 For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: "So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest,' " although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all His works"; 5 and again in this place: "They shall not enter My rest." ------Praise God! This is where it starts to get fun. When did God create Adam? On the sixth day. God created everything that Man would ever need before he ever created man. After God had created everything that man would need he created Adam and put him smack dab in the middle of it all and said him "All of this is yours. You have dominion and authority over everything there is." So now when Adam needed an apple did he have to say, "I want an apple. Do you think you could make an apple tree God because I'm really hungry and I like to eat an apple"? No. Praise God! God had already supplied and provided for every need that Adam would ever have. Did he have to ask for it or work for it? No. All he had to do was know what was allready his and partake of it. So God created Adam on the sixth day after all the work of creation was done and all Adam had to do was rest with God on the seventh day. Adam was the last creation on the last day of creation. All he had to do was rest. 6 Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, 7 again He designates a certain day, saying in David, "Today," after such a long time, as it has been said: "Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts." 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, ------Here is where we'll get into the Children of Israel and the Promised Land. Remember back at the end of Hebrews 3 that this is what he is talking about. Praise God. This is going to get even better, here goes... What Kind of Land did God bring them into? A land that might be flowing with milk and honey? A land that would some day be flowing with milk and honey? No. It was a land that was allready flowing with milk and honey, before they ever got there. Look in Dueteronomy 6:10-11 "So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant--when you have eaten and are full--" Praise GOd! Everything was allready done. It was complete and prepaired before they ever got there. Did they have to build houses? Did they have to dig wells? Did they have to plant food? No. Praise God, it tells us that the spies brought back a cluster of grapes that was soo big that it had to be carried between two grown men. Thats grapes bigger than your fist! It was an abundantly blessed land. But my point is that it was allready blessed and prepared before they ever got there. They did not have to wait for God to bless the land, it was pre-blessed. You say "Well they had to fight many battles and kill giants." You're missing the point. What kept them in the wilderness for 40 yrs? They SAW the giant and had no faith in God but put faith in their own strength which they knew was not enough. So becasue their faith was in themselve and their strength they did not want to go in to the promised because they thought they would be killed. If they only had faith in God and believed that it was GOD who was going to conqure the people. That it was GODS strength that would cause them to prevail. Thats what their children did 40 yrs later. If only we had faith in God and believed that it is GODS righteousness that has secured salvation for us. But we would rather be like the Children of Israel and put our faith in ourselves and never enter into the Promised land, never enter into salvation. Do you know that Jesus is doing the same thing right now.He said in John 14:2-3 "In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." Prasie God! Heaven will be ready for us when we get there. He will allready have your mansion. You wont have to wait 2 wks while they finish up the landscaping. It will allready be done. 8 ...then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. ------We are in this day of rest. We are in the day that they were talking about. This is where the 3rd point comes in. It's all been leading up to this. Leading up to the Gospel, to salvation. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. ------Let's bring this all together. The same way that God created everything that Adam would ever need before came on the scene. The same way that the Promised was allready blessed and ready before Israel got there. Is the same way that salvation ahs been provided before we could do anything about it. All Adam had to do was rest and enjoy creation. All the Children of Israel had to do was go in and inhabit the land. And now salvation has been provided, and in order to enter into God's rest we must "cease from our works". I want to ask you this; Are you resting in redemption? If you are working then you'll never obtain it. If you're working, then you faith is in you and your strength, not in God. Really examine what you believe, where your faith is. Is all of your faith in God, or is some of it in you? This is Gods love for us, that while we were sinners Jesus died for us. God did his part. He created everything else before Adam could earn it. The promised land was ready while Israel was still in rebellion. Salvation was provided while we were still in sin. Dont be like Israel, who missed out on what God had provided for them. They missed out because they thought they would do it themselves, in their strength. If you try to do it in your strength you will always fall short. Don't miss out on the promised land that God has provided for us. In order to enter into what God has, you have to cease from your works. Prasie God, there is rest in redemption. God's rest. John _________________

I think allot of the time as Christians we are our own worse enemies. We will never be free if we base our beliefs on the actions of others; whether good or bad. So many people see believers abuse spiritual gifts and the get turned off. They never recieve the best that God has for them. They dont believe in healing because of that Faith Healer died of cancer. They dont believe in prosperity because of that Preacher on TV in the 2000 dollar suite who ripped people off. They dont believe in faith becaue somone tried to claim something that God has not provided or they "tried" faith and it didnt work. They dont believe in speaking in tongues and the gifts of the Spirit because of some crazy Pentacostals who got off into abuse and excess. You ask them and God wants us sick, broke, depressed, lonely, dryed up, defeated and dead. Always base your beliefes on Gods word. In Christ, john.

Dont get me wrong, I like goosbumps as much as the other guy. If you have them or if you dont; Praise God anyhow. I remember how I almost questioned wheter or not I was saved because I kept hearing all these spectacular stories from people about when they got saved... All I did was believe

Thats awesome. I had never even heard about it and was obviously not reading much of the bible. I was raised lutheran, and the most we heard about the Holy Spirit was "In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." About three yrs ago I started going to a church that really teaches the word. I bought a tape called "Questions and Answers about the infilling" Man it was good teaching, took everything right from the scriptures. The teaching was about 1 1/2 hrs long and I must have listened to that thing about 20 times. I believed it, I knew why I believed it, I could see it so clearly in the word, but everytime I got down to it fear talked me out of it. I remember the scripture where it said "They spoke as the spirit gave utterance". I knew that the Holy Spirit wasnt going to force himself on me, that it was up to me to open my mouth in faith and believe that as I spoke the utterance would be there and I would speak in tongues. Well after a couple months of frustation I had my friend ( I was too timid to do it myself) ask my pastor if he would lay hands on me so that I would recieve the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues. And guess what, he wouldnt do it. I was so frustrated. He told me that he recieved by himself in his room one night without anyone laying hands on him and he said that I should do it the same. MAN I was frustrated and dissapointed. Well, a couple more months go by and I am at home spending some time with my mother, we were talking about some things and I told her "Mom, the same way you recieved your salvation is the same way you recieve everything from God. You did see a vision of Jesus or hear the angels shout, you just believed even though you could not see the result, you believed that you were saved." That night I was praying and I remembered what I had said to my mom that day. So I said "Father I believe what you said in your word about the baptism in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. The same way that I recieved my salvation is the same way that I recieve this." I opened my mouth and started speaking in tongues. No goosbumps, no tears, just me speaking and not understanding a word that I was saying. Praise God for teachers teaching the word of God!!! Much love, In Christ, John.

Praise God!!! How did you guys first start speaking in tongues?

Do you speak in tongues? If not, do you want to?

My people perish for lack of knowledge. Most people dont know the word. Most churches I've been to dont preach the word. Most people can quote "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." But thats not what Jesus is trying to say... Read the whole thing in context. 31-37 31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And (THEN) you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." My friend Sara was going to this HUGE baptist church. She was going to get baptised and thet asked her to share her testimony. They wanted to do a short video of everyones testimony that they could play before they got dunked. Well she met with the pastor and was a little nervous about being video taped. She asked him what she should say. He told her "Just keep it simple, half the people in the church arent saved anyway." Even in these huge churches the word is not being preached. They dont even know the foundation of christianity. Half the people arent saved and the other half probably dont know why they're saved. In Christ, John

There is no Gospel of works (obedience). There is no such thing. There is only one Gospel, one WAY: Jesus. Look at Romans 9:30-33 30 What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; 31 but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. 32 Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law.For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. 33 As it is written: "Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame." Why did the Gentiles obtain righteousness? Because they sought it by faith. Why did the Jews not obtain righteousness? Because they did not seek it by faith but by works. Allot of people put 50% of thier faith in jesus and 50 % in themselves. It does not work that way. Galatians 1:6-9 6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. You I plead with you, turn fully to Christ. 2 Cor 4 3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them 2 Cor 3 But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament (LAW=WORKS), because the veil is taken away in Christ. 15 But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. 16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 2 Cor 5 20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. At the same time God took your sins, put it on Jesus and took Jesus's righteousness and offered it to you. Hebrews 4:1-10 1 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. 3 For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: "So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest,' " although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all His works"; 5 and again in this place: "They shall not enter My rest." 6 Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, 7 again He designates a certain day, saying in David, "Today," after such a long time, as it has been said: "Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts." 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. There is soo much you can get from these verses, but to keep it short focus on vs 10. IN order to enter in God's rest you need to CEASE FROM YOUR WORKS. Turn to Christ. Put all you faith in his grace, in what he has done. Much love, In Christ, John.

What is the Gospel. How do you get saved and stay saved? God is not counting anyones sins against them, no ones sins are sending them to hell: 2 Cor 5:19. The Holy Spirit is only convicting the world of one sin, rejecting Jesus: John 16:7-11. The only thing that will send someone to Hell is not believing in Jesus John 3 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God . 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God." The Gospel is the Good News of Jesus Christ. If you add anything else to the message, if you put any other stipulations on salvation other than Faith in Jesus Christ then you are preaching a false Gospel. You DON