If you can turn your Bibles with me to Hebrews chapter 4, and I'm going to read again 7 through 11, just so that we'll be familiar with the text that we're in this morning. Hebrews chapter 4, verses 7 through 11. And again, this is the NASB. "Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, 'Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked me, as in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tried me by testing me, and saw my works for forty years.' Therefore I was angry with this generation and said, 'They always go astray in their heart, and they did not know my ways.' As I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest." Let's pray.

Patience and loving Father, we are gathered here together because we want to hear from you, not from man's experience, man's knowledge. We pray, Father God, that it is your word that is exposited, it is your word that goes forth, it is your word that would convict us and lead us.

We entrust this time to you, Lord God, as you've given us the privilege to gather together as a corporate body. We genuinely desire to worship you in spirit and in truth, so we ask for your help. Help us, Lord God, to put behind whatever things that we've entangled ourselves with, Lord, before we've come into this room.

May this time be truly sacred, that we may hear from you and to receive grace and mercy. We ask for your blessing, in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Without having to show with hands, just kind of a rhetorical question for you to just think about, how many of you are working in the field that you study?

So if you did go to college, how many of you are actually in the field that you study? And no, no, you don't know, don't raise your hand. Yeah. How many of you have changed your major at least once while you were in school? Again, don't raise your hand, I would just want to think about it, okay.

National statistics is 80% of college students change their major at least once before they graduate, 80%, right? That's quite a few people. 33% work in fields that didn't need a college degree at all, right? 33% are actually working long-term in a job that didn't require a college degree at all.

Only 27% work in the field that they've actually studied. That means 73% of the people are working in fields that had nothing to do with their major. So whether you spent four years or five years in your studies, whatever you're doing, maybe it got you through the door, but really didn't train you for whatever it was that you're doing.

Now, all of this is not to say college is useless, right? That's not my point, right? But why is that? Why do so many students come in and some point in their career, they end up changing their major? Well, I mean, there could be a lot of explanation, but the simplest explanation is when you first came in, you didn't really know what you wanted.

So you probably were told when you were younger, you'd be a great engineer, you'd be a great scientist, you'd be a great doctor, and then once you start studying, you realize that this is not you. And maybe from the pressure from home, because you did certain things, or maybe because you've already invested two years of your life into it and you couldn't change for whatever the reason when you first came in, more than 80%, like not once, more than once changed their major and by the time they graduate, even then they're not exactly sure because very small percentage of people just graduate and end up doing exactly what they studied.

The reason why I mention this is because so much of our Christian life reflect what we do with our majors. So many people who grew up in the church, the statistics is, at least for the younger group, 80% and it matches the number of students who actually changed their major.

80% of students who grew up in the church, sometime during their college career, they end up drifting away from their faith and they abandon their faith completely by the time they graduate. 80% of people who graduated from college, who are actively involved in campus ministries, 80% of them, by the time they get into their careers and they're young adults and they settle down, 80% of them also fall away and they no longer walk with the Lord.

So if you calculate, I don't know the exact math in that, but I don't have the statistics above that, but if you calculate, the majority of the people who grew up in the church are walking away from their faith. Why is this taking place? Now, we can have all kinds of studies and sociologists and church planters and evangelists, theologians have been studying for years what causes all of this, but in the end, this is not unique to younger people.

I don't know the numbers of how many people fall away after they get married, but from my observation from years of doing ministry with this group, I can tell you it is high. There are, again, I don't know the exact number, but people who get married and then after they have children, what percentage of them are persevering and fervently pursuing the Lord?

I don't know the number for that either, but I know it's pretty high. The confusing part of that is once you pass a certain point, when they walk away from their faith, they don't walk away from the church. They still remain in the church. You can be apostate, at least where you and I are.

In every way, there is no personal relationship with Christ. There is no faith driving them anymore. It's more sociology. It's more because that's what you studied, that was the pressure, you've invested too much, so it's too late to turn around, so this is my lot in life and you just end up going because to forfeit your faith by physically walking away from the church, you have too many friendships, family ties, your whole social interaction is all centered around Christianity and the church.

And so some people physically walk away, many people stay in the church, and yet their life has nothing to do with their faith. It just happens to be the culture of the church. This warning that is given in Hebrews chapter 3 is not unique to the book of Hebrews.

All throughout scripture, there is this warning not to drift. We looked at last week about these traits of apostasy, and the reason why it's important for us to look at that is because every single one of us needs to be sober as to the message of what he is saying.

Last week, we looked about how he said, the first one, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart." Today. Apostasy, oftentimes in the church, begins with delayed obedience. And the reason why that's so confusing is because when there is delayed obedience, it doesn't feel like disobedience.

Even though our hearts have drifted away from God and we're no longer walking with him, we never say no. We never deny Christ. It's just delayed. And so when we delay our obedience, it is disobedience. That's the first step to apostasy. And secondly, when there is delayed obedience, which in God's eyes is disobedience, it causes our hearts to be hardened toward God.

And that's why he says, "Today, if you hear his voice." If the voice of God makes any sense, if God convicts you and softens your heart and calls you to himself, and you say, "Not now." Tomorrow may not be there. Physically, you may not be there. Spiritually, you may not be in the same place.

And God may not be calling you. God is not somebody that you can turn on and off whenever you are ready. He says that when you, when God calls you today, today do not harden your heart. Last week I said there was five. I actually condensed it into two.

So today we're going to be looking at the third and the fourth one. Step to apostasy. One, delayed obedience. Two, hardened heart. And three, a heart that strays away from God. In verse 10, "They always go astray in their hearts and they did not know my ways." In Psalm 78, 7 through 8, it describes this hardened heart.

And again, it's a description of what happened to the nation of Israel. That they should put their confidence in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments and not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not prepare its heart and whose spirit was not faithful to God.

What does it mean that they didn't prepare their hearts? The Hebrew word for prepare, kun, literally means to make firm, to establish, or to make steadfast. That word is described in establishing an object, founding of a city, adjusting a weapon toward its target, or making something ready or ordaining something for something specific.

So in other words, the word kun, to prepare, basically means to establish the foundation to prepare it for whatever work that you're trying to do. So if you're shooting a weapon, you're targeting, you're making sure before you pull the trigger that it's ready. The Bible describes something similar to this when it says to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

It means to allow yourself, to let yourself to be filled, to establish, to prepare your heart. And so what he is saying is, when the trials and testing comes, if you have not prepared your heart, it will reveal what your heart is filled with. And so because they did not prepare their heart, they didn't establish their heart toward God, when they were squeezed, it immediately showed what was inside.

It said that they were constantly going astray, they were constantly grumbling against God. And again, this is given to us as an example, a negative example not to follow. Now just in case that we think that God sent them out and at the first sign of some grumbling, God said enough and he squashed them.

We need to understand the context of what God says here. When he says he was provoked and he swore to himself that they would not enter the rest, when he was angry with them, it was not a knee-jerk reaction, that he didn't tolerate it at all. In fact, whenever we look at the Old Testament, people typically think, when you look at it superficially, God is a God of harsh judgment and righteousness in the Old Testament, and God is a God of mercy and grace in the New Testament.

Because on the surface, we talk about the cross and how Jesus forgives our sins, and he's merciful. And then we look at the Old Testament, how he gave the law, and when the Israelites rebelled, God punished them. But when you dig deeper, you'll find that the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament is exactly the same.

That the God of the New Testament is just as righteous, just as holy as the God of the Old Testament, and the God of the Old Testament is just as gracious and mercy as the God of the New Testament. And the reason why is because it's the same God.

I want to go over with you the brief history, just through the book of Exodus and Numbers, because this text is based upon that period of experience. Exodus chapter 3, 7 through 8. This is the beginning of God responding and deliverance to the nation of Israel. This is what he says.

The Lord said, "I have surely seen the afflictions of my people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey." So remember, this is the beginning of God responding and showing mercy to the nation of Israel.

They cried out to God in their affliction. In their suffering, he has mercy on them, and he begins this process by establishing Moses to go have a power encounter with Pharaoh, and then through that process, he would deliver them to the nation of Israel, and then take them to the land filled with milk and honey.

That was his plan. But all of this was started, at least that period, because they cried out to God in their affliction. The grumbling doesn't take long. They're not years into the desert before the grumbling happens. Moses is sent, and he says, "My God, Yahweh, told me to tell you to let my people go, so that they may go out and worship." Pharaoh hardened his heart, and he said, "These people, it's because maybe they have too much time to go out and worship." So he makes it harder for them.

He makes the work harder for them. And as soon as they got squeezed, in Exodus chapter 5, verse 21, "They said to them, 'May the Lord look upon you and judge you.'" He's talking to Moses and Aaron. "'May the Lord look upon you and judge you, for you have made us odious in Pharaoh's sight and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.'" So right off the bat, as soon as things got a little bit difficult, right, they cried out to God.

They are the ones who cried out to God in their suffering. "Lord, where are you? Help me." And when God answers and sends Moses, initially they probably thought, "Wow, Moses. God sends Moses." But as soon as Pharaoh puts a little bit of squeeze, they turn on Moses. "What are you doing making our life hard?" Well, God is patient and He's merciful.

He has a power encounter. Basically He has a power encounter with the 10 plagues, right? And He shows great power to the nation of Israel and Pharaoh, and they are delivered. And as a result, the Pharaoh lets them go. But as they are going, they run into the Red Sea.

And they begin to be fearful. We come all the way out here, and what if Pharaoh is going to come and he comes and kills us? So they hear that Pharaoh changed his mind, and now that he's coming after them. And this is what he says in Exodus 14, 11-12.

The nation of Israel, then they said to Moses, "Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?" Again, they're complaining to Moses. "Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt saying, 'Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians?'" Where did they say that?

They cried out to God, begging for God to deliver them. But as soon as they got squeezed, they have a completely different view of what happened. We never want deliverance. Why are you coming? "Leave us alone," they said, "for it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness." God doesn't squash them.

You would think by this time, "Really? After everything that I've done, after all the miracles that I've shown you, after sparing your children and delivering you from Pharaoh himself because you're scared?" God is gracious. He opens up the Red Sea. And you know the story. They come after him, and they cover.

They're on the other side, and they're so elated by God's mercy and grace, they break out in song. Moses actually writes a song, and the whole nation of Israel is partying it up. So you would think that the rest of their journey in the wilderness would be reflecting upon their delivery.

Three days, three days after being delivered through the Red Sea, they begin to grumble. Exodus chapter 15, 24. So the people grumbled to Moses saying, "What shall we drink? We had all that water. You know, now we're over here. We're thirsty. What is this about?" God doesn't squash them.

He leads them into these 12 springs. Not only are they drinking, their animals are drinking, their children are swimming. And you would think, "Wow, even after all of that, God doesn't squash them, and he leads them to the spring." Exactly one month later, about five, six weeks later, Exodus chapter 16, 2-3.

The whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The sons of Israel said to them, "Would that we had died by the Lord's hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the post of meat, when we ate bread to full, for you have brought us up out of the wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger." So now that our thirst is taken care about, what about our stomach?

God doesn't squash them there. He gives them manna, miraculous food, manna, for the next 40 years. This miraculous food that they're able to pick up from the ground and eat. But after a while, they get sick of the manna, and what do they say? "Oh, this is it? All we're going to get is carbohydrates?

What about some protein?" And God doesn't squash them. He starts to give them quail. So they begin to eat the quail. But that's not enough. Exodus chapter 17, they grumbled again about the water, because they got thirsty. And then you know the story in Exodus chapter 32. So they're grumbling and grumbling.

And by the time Moses goes up to the mountains to receive the law from God, they're like, "Where did this guy go? How come he's not here leading us? Where's our God?" And then they come back down, and they're worshiping this gold calf, and they ask Aaron, "Aaron, what did you do?" And Aaron's response is almost comical.

He says, "I put some gold pieces, and I threw it in the fire, and this golden calf came out." And so they wanted to worship, but I was only doing what they wanted. And so obviously, God got angry. He splits the camp in half. If you are for Yahweh, stand here.

And if you're going to worship this golden calf, you stand over there. And God judges them, but He is merciful to those who repent. And He continues with them. But the complaining doesn't end there. Even after that. Numbers 11, they complained because they didn't have meat. Numbers 12, they complained about Moses.

Are you the only leader? Has God only speaking through you? Numbers chapter 14, 1 through 4, you know what happens there. God is preparing them to get into the promised land, and the spies that go in, they come back, and their lack of faith in God again is revealed.

And this is what they said. Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt, or would that we had died in this wilderness.

Why is the Lord bringing us into this land? To fall by the sword. Our wise and our little ones will become plunder. Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?" So they said to one another, "Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt." And then Numbers 24 through 5, again it kind of reveals to us in conclusion what they believe.

"Why then have you brought the Lord's assembly into this wilderness for us and our beasts to die here? Why have you made us come up from Egypt to bring us into the wretched place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink." Oh my gosh.

Now I've highlighted some of their complaints. There's more. The ones that have risen to be recorded in Exodus and Numbers is because it was an organized grumbling. But my guess is the grumbling was happening all the time. Individually, in the homes, in conversations. And every time they got squeezed just a little bit.

"It's so hot." Because the desert's pretty hot. They start moving. "Oh, we've got to move again. We just settled down." They said, "Only you guys touch the pole." How come only they can do it? I'm so tired. How come I have to do the heavy lifting? Cows. We have to every time we sin, we got to do it.

Can you imagine? These are just the grumblings that rose up to the top. But can you imagine the grumbling that was taking place within the camp constantly? They kept on testing God, it says. Remember last week's passage, it says that God was testing them and instead they turned it around and they began to test God.

And they tested God in two ways. They tested God by demanding God to prove himself worthy of them. They turned the tables around and they were constantly examining God. Are you going to be faithful enough? Are you gracious enough? Can we put our trust in you? So every time they got squeezed, they turned the tables and they began to get their laser focus at God and said, "Is God really here?" And when they got squeezed, it revealed what was really in their hearts.

It was not God that they were serving. They were serving comfort, they were serving their stomach, they were serving each other, and God just played a role in them pursuing what they wanted. So when they got squeezed, it was revealed that their real faith was not in God. God just happened to play a role in that.

So many Christians fall away from their faith for that very reason. As long as friendships are around and bills are paid and things are going well, but as soon as we get squeezed, it reveals that it is not God that we pursue. And once God doesn't do it for them anymore, there's no reason to follow him.

And that's why many people begin to walk away from God. But they were testing God for another reason. They were testing God to see how far God's going to let them get away with this. They were testing him. Grumble after grumble, testing after testing, patience after patience, until it says in Hebrews 3 that their hearts got hardened and God was provoked.

This provoking isn't just God decided to become angry. Something would be where, you know, or something happens and you just like, your anger just comes out. Whether somebody cuts you off on the road, you know, maybe your younger brother just knows your button and he just pokes at it and you just get provoked.

You know what I'm talking about, right? Those of you who've been married for a long time, your wife and your husband, they know your weaknesses and when they're in their anger, they'll poke at it, right? And it's not a gradual climb. It's just like, "What?" That's the word. God was provoked because he kept on waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting.

After everything that he has done for the nation of Israel, they would not turn. And as a result, in Hebrews 3, 11, it says, "I swore in my wrath they shall not enter my rest." When God swears that he's going to do something, it is done. This is not a warning.

God's not saying, "I swear in my anger that they will not enter my rest." He's like, "Okay, okay, okay, now, now, now, now, don't get that angry. Give us one more chance." Just as God is reliable when he says he will save us, when he says judgment is coming, it is done.

It is complete. So, in other words, they took his patience to the far end until the point where he was provoked and he says, "That's it. You will not enter my rest." You know what's interesting is Psalm chapter 81, 11 through 12, it describes God's anger toward Israel and what he does to them.

And he says this, "But my people did not listen to my voice and Israel did not obey me, so I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart to walk in their own devices." That doesn't sound too bad. God was so angry and he said, "Just do whatever you want." That sounds like a lot of freedom.

That sounds like exactly what a rebellious person would want to hear. Because a rebellious person is wrestling with God to do whatever he wants and then God's the one pounding and saying, "Hey, stop." But the judgment he describes is in the stubbornness of their heart. He says, "Then go at it." That was his judgment.

Understand this. All God has to do to judge mankind is to disappear. Stop sending prophets. Stop planting churches. Stop having accountability. Stop sending messengers. Stop preaching. Stop opening up the Bible. All he has to do is just draw back and then let sin run its course. That's why in Romans chapter 1 it says, "Wrath of God is being revealed in this generation." How is it being revealed?

How is the wrath of God being revealed in our generation? Romans chapter 1, 22 to 28, "Professing to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and the birds of the four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

Therefore, God gave them over in their loss." That was the wrath of God. Giving them over in their hearts of impurity so that their bodies would be designated among them for they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever.

Amen? For this reason, what? God gave them over to their degrading passions over and over again. His wrath is giving them over to their rebellion. Go do it. "For their woman exchanged the natural functions for that which was unnatural. In the same way, also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward another.

Men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their errors. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind to do those things which are not proper." God's wrath, according to Romans, is being revealed by just letting them go.

If that's what you want, do it. Now let me describe why this is the judgment of God. If you have a child at home, 10, 13, 14, 15, however old they are, if you have a child at home and you're fighting over the internet, you know, you're trying to put parental control, you're doing this, you're doing all for the purpose of protecting them, what would happen to a child if you didn't put limitations on them?

You put a 10-year-old or 5-year-old in front of the computer and said, "I'm tired of this," and you just wash your hands, go at it. "I'm tired of fighting with you." What will happen to that child? Is he going to Google, "How to clean my room?" Is that what's going to happen?

Is he going to Google and find search, "Oh, I got the freedom to do whatever I want," and then he's going to type in, "How to honor my father and mother." Is that what's going to happen? No. The reason why the parents come in and put restriction is for their own good.

Reason why they get discipline is for their own good. It's because the parents love them and it's trying to protect them. We often think about, well, you know, when Israel committed sin, God came down and he hammered them. And we say, "Oh, that's the judgment of God." We look at the book of Revelation and say, "Oh, the wrath of God," because that's what the wrath of God, in our mind, we think that's what the wrath of God looks like.

But why go through all of this trauma? Because all he had to do is to one time smash and be over with. Couldn't God have just said, "Israelites," and just... You got a bunch of ants coming into your house and you don't want them there? Finish. That's my version of the flood.

That's all it took. I don't think about it. And I don't worry about their souls. It was annoying me and I got rid of it. That's all God needed to do. But what is this trauma of dividing them and causing them to repent? And you go to the book of Revelation, you have the seals, you have the bowls, you have the trumpets, and every time he brings these judgments, why go through all of this trauma?

He's using that to bring sinners to repentance. And the Bible clearly says he's disciplining because he's trying to bring them to repentance. If God was truly, if he was truly done, there would be no drama of Revelation. Revelation would take us straight to the right throne judgment and just done.

Finished. It's his kindness that leads us to repentance. It's his kindness that brings discipline. It's his kindness that warns us repeatedly because if you provoke him and if you continue at some point, he will swear you will not enter my rest. And that's what happened to the nation of Israel.

Israel pushed and pushed and pushed and they tested him and tested and tested him until he said that is enough. You know, we love to quote the passage in 2 Timothy chapter 2, 13, where we say, if we are faithless, he will be faithful because he cannot deny himself.

We love that passage. We love that passage because it gives freedom for our faithlessness. We screw up, we're sinners. Well, all of it is true. But we kind of use that as a get out of jail cart. If we're faithless, he's faithful. But here's a problem. Right before that passage in verse 12, it says, if you deny him, he will deny you.

What do you do with that? I don't hear that being quoted too much. You go to people's homes, it's like, if we are faithless, he is faithful because he cannot deny himself. I love that. But if you deny him, he will deny you. What do you do with that?

The perfect example of that is the nation of Israel. If you deny him, he will deny you. If you are faithless, he will remain faithful. You know what happened? You know why they wandered in the desert for 40 years? Because he was waiting for them to die off. Judgment was upon the nation of Israel.

Those people who were grumbling and complaining and they did not heed the warnings from God, he waited 40 years for that generation to die off and a new generation to be risen. So he was faithful to his promise to the nation of Israel. He was faithful to the promise to the nation of Israel.

But those who denied him did not enter into the promised land. That's how that verse is actualized in Scripture. Those who deny him, he will deny them. Those who are, although they were faithless, God remains faithful to himself, to the promises that he made. It says their hearts went astray and they did not know him.

They did not know his way. He's not saying they didn't know about him. They said, "Oh, we didn't know you didn't want us to grumble. We didn't know that we should have been asking for food. We didn't know we shouldn't have been worshiping the golden calf." It wasn't because they didn't have knowledge.

That's not what he's talking about. He's talking about they don't know God. They didn't have a personal relationship with God. Their affection was not toward God. So as soon as they got squeezed, it revealed what was in their heart. In John chapter 17, verse 3, it says, "This is the eternal life that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." He said that's eternal life.

He said this is eternal life that they may know you. And that's why in Matthew 7, verses 22 to 23, Jesus says, "Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never," what?

"Knew you, apart from a you who practiced lawlessness." He says salvation is knowing him. So in their hardened hearts, what happened was during those 40 years of trial, every time they got squeezed, it revealed that they knew nothing of their God. They were more concerned about their safety, about their stomach, about their thirst, about comfort, about the land, and they did not know God.

You know, it's interesting, the way he describes his judgment is that he says he was provoked, he was angry that they would not enter their rest. And that's what happened to the nation of Israel. At least that generation dies off, new generation rises, and God allows them to get in.

The Bible describes our salvation as finding rest, rest in Christ. That's why Jesus, when he invites people to come, he says, "Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you that rest." I'm not going to go too deep into this theology because we're going to get deeper into it when we get into chapter 4.

But the Bible describes salvation as finding rest. So you know what that means? Those who do not know Christ is in a perpetual state of restlessness. And that's how Solomon described his life. Here's a man who's not only a billionaire, you know, people fantasize about if I was a billionaire I could do whatever I want.

You can't. You can't do whatever you want because there's laws. Even if you have all the money in the world, you have to do it, you have to abide by the law. And even if you had all the money, and even if you had the law, you don't have the wisdom.

You can go and blow your money, invest in the wrong place, and become poor the next day. Well, Solomon had all three. He had all the money in the world, he had all the power, he was the king, and he was the smartest man alive. And he took all the resources.

So if anybody can experience the pleasures of this world, without limitation it would have been Solomon. So his whole life was dedicated in experimenting. Where is he going to find life? And you know the end result. He had women, he had money, he had pleasure, he had everything that he could possibly, intellectually, socially, everything that he looked at, he wanted, he could have had instantaneously.

And at the end of it, what does he say? Vanity, vanity. Empty, empty. All is empty. There's nothing new under the sun. There's nothing new under the sun. How often do we fool ourselves to think that only if we had more money, only if we had more freedom, only if we were younger, only if this, only that.

Well Solomon had all of it. It's empty. You know what another word for empty is? Restless. He was restless. He was trying to find rest. Why do we do what we do? Because we want to find rest. We want to find joy. At the end of his life, all he found was emptiness.

Psalm 434 verse 8, it says, "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. How blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." What is refuge? What a place of rest. Blessed is the man who knows true rest in him. In Habakkuk verse 3, 17 to 18, it says, "Though the fig trees should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail, and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exalt in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation." This is foolishness to somebody who does not know Christ.

Why would you exalt, why would you give him glory when he didn't give you bounty? When you have no food, you have no fruit, you have no harvest, and all of this is cut off, you have no cattle. You have to understand, this is not a farmer who just casually has these things.

When he says he has none of that, this is a man who doesn't have anything. And he says, "Yet I will exalt in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation." Unless you have tasted the goodness of God, this passage will never make any sense. If you are pursuing Christ, hoping that Christ is somehow going to lead you to the green pastures, and you're more committed to these green pastures, and that Jesus is only an avenue to get to the green pastures, the same temptation will overcome us.

Every time we're a little bit squeezed, we turn to tables. Is God worthy to be praised? So we praise him when we have good news. We praise him when our bills are paid. We praise him when our relationships are going well. We praise him when our children are healthy.

But as soon as we are squeezed, we begin to grumble. Is he worthy? Is he worthy? The Bible describes non-Christians whose eyes have been blinded because they do not see the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They don't see the joy in Christ. They don't see the glory in Christ.

And that's why they pursue the world. So a Christian is somebody whose eyes have become open, and we found life and rest in Christ. And that's why Paul says in Philippians 4, 12-13, "I know how to get along with humble means and I also know how to live in prosperity.

In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of being content and going hungry, both of having the abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me." Is Paul saying that he's learned, when he doesn't have money, how to stretch that dollar? Is Paul saying that when he has abundance, he knows how to save and put in the right investment and make sure that this never happens again?

Obviously, that's not what he's saying. He's sitting in prison, chained to a Roman guard, uncomfortable as you can possibly be, possibly facing death, and he's trying to encourage the Christians outside and said, "Don't worry about me. I've learned the secret of being content." This is a man who knew Jesus.

And that's why he says, "He desired to suffer to know Christ." If it means I can have more Christ, if I can have more of him, even if I die, if you ask me what I want, I'm ready to go because what I've tasted in Christ is so much better than everything that I've experienced before.

That's basically what it says in chapter three. Everything that I knew before I met Christ became rubbish in light of the surpassing knowledge of knowing my Lord Jesus Christ. Only a man who has tasted the goodness of God can say what he says. And when he is squeezed, what comes out?

Praise. It's so subtle. This difference between faith and unbelief, it is so subtle because it is not the distinction between church and non-church, small group or not small group, discipleship and non-discipleship. Sometimes we can look at the external things and think that that is the evidence of Christianity. It is not.

And you know it is not. Those are the fruits of it, but it's not the cause of it. The cause is always Christ, always Christ. And that is the danger that you and I live in today where we are because we are busy. We are active. We are in the church.

We have membership. And yet when we get squeezed, every time we get squeezed, it shows where we are. Let me conclude with this because I read this testimony from Desiring God. So if you wanted to go, this is only a portion of his testimony and I thought it was relevant to today.

It was written by a man named Greg Morse. And this is a testimony of a man who was in the church serving and realized that he did not know Christ. I thought I was a Christian for years. I swore I had a relationship with God. I believed I could die at any moment and be welcomed into heaven.

I wasn't. I didn't. And I wouldn't. I did not have a category for someone thinking that they were a follower of Christ and not actually being one. I assumed that if I had any desire to be a Christian, God should welcome me with shouts of joy. I had never read that there would be people on Judgment Day who would emphatically greet Jesus calling him Lord, Lord and yet be rejected by him.

No one ever told me that people could do a lot of mighty works for God and yet still be lost. I convinced myself that I was safe from the wrath of God. No one told me that lukewarm Christians get spit out of God's mouth. No one informed me that if God was not first in my heart, I was either in urgent need of repentance or was lost.

In the words of Francis Chan, I was lukewarm and loving it. I did not have a category for something, someone thinking that they were a follower of Christ and not actually being one. I didn't curse much. I wasn't sleeping around. I went to church most Sundays. I must be a Christian.

I said that Jesus died for my sins. I sang the lyrics on the screens. I prayed before meals. I gave God props for my athletic achievements. I must be a Christian. Sure, God wasn't my all in all. Sure, I never read his word. Sure, I didn't pray very much.

Sure, I secretly loved sin. Sure, holiness seemed dreadfully boring. Sure, I rarely owned him in public or spent time with him in private, but he understood. I was only human after all. No one is perfect. If God had not intervened, I would have awoken from my delusion to a lake of fire.

I imagined I feasted at the table of grace, drank from the chalice of eternal life, but I was eating garbage and drinking sewer water. I was dreaming like those described in Isaiah 29.8. It will be as when a hungry man dreams and behold, he is eating, but when he awakens, his hunger is not satisfied.

Or as when a thirsty man dreams and behold, he is drinking, but when he awakens, behold, he is faint and his thirst is not quenched. What a sober reminder for all of us. Is our faith real? The question is not did you go to church, did you grow up in the church, how many Bible verses did you memorize, are you active, are you tithing?

That is not the question. The question is do you know this Jesus? Are you living in restlessness, jumping from relationship to relationship, from experience to experience, from one stage of life to the next stage of life, because you do not know Jesus? Have you tasted the goodness of God?

Did he actually open your eyes and did you actually see the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ that caused you to want him more than this world? Do you know this Jesus? The danger that you and I are in, grown up in the church, spending years committed, actively serving maybe even leading in the church, we may automatically assume when Christ comes, Lord, Lord, and he may turn the tables on us and say, I never knew you.

I pray that that is not the case with us. There's a reason why the Bible keeps warning over and over and over. This is not the end of his warning. This warning is going to keep coming up. He's going to tell us about the goodness of God and the glory of Christ and how he is above all else and how he's worthy to be exalted, and then he will always couple that with how can you escape if you ignore such a great salvation, if you just kick the can down the road and thinking tomorrow.

If today if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart. If God is calling you to repentance, repent today, not tonight, not at your home, today. If you've drifted away from God, you know all the right things to say about Christianity. You've got all the things checked mark, but there is no affection for Christ and it taints everything that you do.

Everything's a drudgery. Everything is work. Everything is irritating because you have not rested in Christ. Is Christ truly your all? Do you know this Christ? Have you met this Christ? Has your eyes truly been opened? Salvation is knowing Jesus Christ. Do you know this Jesus? Put away all the external distractions.

If none of your friends came to this church, would you still come to church? If the songs didn't meet your preference, would you still come to church? Would you still serve the church if you were the only Christian in Irvine? Would you still serve the church if it meant you would lose your job?

Would you still follow Christ if you would lose your bank account as a result? Is Christ your treasure? Is he your goal? Is he your hope? Do you know this Jesus? If you hear his voice, do not delay. It is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance.

Anything else, we're fooling ourselves. Anything less than that, we're fooling ourselves. God is not demanding that hardcore, disciplined, strong-willed people come to Christ. God is calling people who are weak-willed, who are weak and easily distracted, and to surrender our lives to Christ and see that he is worth more than anything else that we are tempted in, anything else that we've been entangled with, that is straining the joy and the life that he has given us.

And until we repent, that we really truly come to Christ, you will never know. You will always watch from a distance and hear other people's testimony and think to yourself, "Maybe one day, I hope I can experience that." But it never comes, because you're always delaying. Tomorrow, when it's easier, when circumstances change.

Do you know this Jesus? If you hear his voice, do not harden your heart. Let's take some time to pray as we ask our worship team to come. As our worship team leads us, I pray that his word and the example of the Israelites would sober us. Again, our natural response to something like this could easily be, "Well, thank God I'm not like that.

I wish that person was here. I wish my mom, my dad, my brother, they really needed to listen to this." If we're not careful, we can easily check off the box and look at the things that we're doing in life without really examining where your heart is. Do you really love Jesus?

Have you seen him? When's the last time you actually conversed with him? When you get squeezed, where do you turn to? Do you look for counselors, your leaders? You turn on Netflix? You take a trip? Is Jesus really your refuge? Why do you come to church? Because your friends are here?

Did you invest it too much? Is it out of habit? Or did you come this morning wanting to hear from the Lord? Did you come this morning because you wanted to hear his voice? Come to the Lord. Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden. He said he was going to give us rest.

Where are you looking for this rest? Come to Christ. Confess your sins. Ask the Lord to save us, restore us, revive us. Let's take some time to pray as our worship team leads us.