If your faith does not give you rest and peace, you may be missing the central message of the Gospel. The gospel provides rest for us in three phases:
- The Past – God resolves our guilt, our sins, and our bitterness by forgiving us
- The Present – God promises to provide, and has finished our Salvation AND promises our progress will be completed (sanctification), even if we don’t yet see the latter.
- The Future – We have overcome death, the biggest future fear of all humankind. We have eternal life.
Here’s the sermon, with outline below.
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- Hebrews 3-4
- Numbers 26
1. REST FOR THE
A. Many of us are still bothered by our past
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ~ 1 John 1:9
Facing the Past
- We may still need to pay our
- We may still need to remain
2. REST FOR THIS
A. Provision
- Luke 12:22-31
B. Progress
And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. ~ Philippians 1:6
For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. ~ Philippians 2:13
3. FUTURE REST, VICTORY OVER
Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting? ~ 1 Cor. 15:54-55“Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell. ~ Matthew 10:28
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. ~ John 3:16