This post is part two in our sermon from Sunday 11-30-14. If you missed part 1 you can find it here:

http://wp.me/p39vIx-1mB

Our leading Scripture is found in Hebrews 4:11

“ Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest lest any man lest any man fall after the  same example of unbelief.”

So what does laboring to rest mean?

Does it mean that if we work hard eventually we will get to rest in Heaven as a reward for our labors?

Some say that Christianity is a religion of “do’s” and “don’ts”, that if we are ever to make it to Heaven we have to work very hard for it.

They might say something like,”Be good.Be saintly and God might just find you good enough to let you enter Heaven.”

Many people  labor under the false idea that God  is up in Heaven with a calculator right now tabulating good works versus bad works. When asked if they expect to go to Heaven their answer is that they hope that they are basically good people and that God will find their good works to outweigh their bad works and so He will let them into Heaven; But this is not biblical and it is certainly not what Jesus or the writer to the Hebrews meant when they suggested that we labor to enter into rest.

Paul the apostle Paul questioned

 “What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage?”

And he was right when he concluded

” Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. 10 As it is written:

 “There is no one righteous, not even one;

11     there is no one who understands;

    there is no one who seeks God.

12 All have turned away,

    they have together become worthless;

there is no one who does good,

    not even one.” Romans 3: 9-12

Later he wrote:

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Eph. 2:8-10

The work and the labor spoken of do not speak of our own works or of Heaven.

Good works can never earn us entrance into Heaven. Our works will never be good enough to earn us a place in Heaven. Our place in Heaven is only guaranteed by our faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus , himself,said “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

So we see that what God requires of us in order to get into Heaven is not a list of good works but a daily living faith in Jesus Christ.

Paul the apostle wrote in Romans 10 that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame. 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

And again in the book of Ephesians chapter 2 He tells us it is by grace you are saved through faith.

Have you realized what we are to labor at yet? Tune in tomorrow!