1. Entering the Promised Rest Hebrews 4:11-13

2. Diligence is Vital Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:11) Hebrews 4:11 2 Peter 1:5-8 Hebrews 4:1 Revelation 14:11 Hebrews 4:12 James 1:23-25 Hebrews 4:13 Mark 9:41 Literally refers to “speediness”— the opposite of sluggish or tardy

3. Diligence is Vital But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self- control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2Pe 1:5-8) Hebrews 4:11 2 Peter 1:5-8 Hebrews 4:1 Revelation 14:11 Hebrews 4:12 James 1:23-25 Hebrews 4:13 Mark 9:41

4. Diligence is Vital Hebrews 4:11 2 Peter 1:5-8 Hebrews 4:1 Revelation 14:11 Hebrews 4:12 James 1:23-25 Hebrews 4:13 Mark 9:41 Fear is a powerful motive Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. (Hebrews 4:1) The root of this means “terror”—It means something that causes you to run in fear. “They have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name” (Revelation 14:11).

5. God’s Word Can Help Us Hebrews 4:11 2 Peter 1:5-8 Hebrews 4:1 Revelation 14:11 Hebrews 4:12 James 1:23-25 Hebrews 4:13 Mark 9:41 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12) For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. (James 1:23-25)

6. God’s Judgment Motivates Us Hebrews 4:11 2 Peter 1:5-8 Hebrews 4:1 Revelation 14:11 Hebrews 4:12 James 1:23-25 Hebrews 4:13 Mark 9:41 “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13). This word originally meant “to seize and twist by the neck”. It was used to describe sacrifices. Later it was used as a sign of submission and vulnerability.

7. God’s Judgment Motivates Us Hebrews 4:11 2 Peter 1:5-8 Hebrews 4:1 Revelation 14:11 Hebrews 4:12 James 1:23-25 Hebrews 4:13 Mark 9:41 “For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward” (Mark 9:41). Jesus knows it all…even the good that we do is noticed!

8. What About You? Are you diligent, or are you sluggish? Are you concerned for the souls of others? Are you regularly studying the Bible to help motivate you to do good? Do you think about the judgment to come? Have you been baptized to have your sins forgiven? Why not now?