"Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard. 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said,
“As I swore in My wrath,
They shall not enter My rest,”
although His works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; 5 and again in this passage, “They shall not enter My rest.” 6 Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, 7 He again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying [c]through David after so long a time just as has been said before,
“Today if you hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts.”
The Christian life is not to be one of striving to earn favor with the Lord. Rather, it is a life entered into, and lived out by faith. We are exhorted to rest in God. That is, we are to simply trust Him to do in us what only He can do. Jesus has paid in full the penalty for our sins, therefore, we do not merit, nor can we achieve salvation by good works. It is to be experienced by faith in the Son of God and in His finished work on the cross.
In spite of the fact that Jesus paid it all for us on the cross, people continue to struggle, trying to earn the Christian life. If that is your situation today, I plead with you to stop trying, and start trusting.The most prescribed medication in the United States is Lisinopril, which is used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure as well as reduce the risk of death after a heart attack. If this pharmaceuticals are any barometer to where our culture is at emotionally, we’re likely the most uptight, stressed-out, anxiety-ridden culture on the face of the earth. Perhaps, you feel like life has become a rat race and you are concerned that you will never truly have peace.
Let us pray.
Heavenly Father,
As we continue our series of the Book of Hebrews, and we come to chapter 4. It has often been said, that the Book of Hebrews is a book that tests your courage. So, in order to be faithful to the call of the ministry, I must not only give you the things that you like to hear, the things which you may to be entertaining or affirming but also give you those things that you need to understand because they’re so so important to your understanding of the Word of God and to your Christian life. Our text today, verses 1-13, is a continuation of previous passage and not a hard break of ideas, it takes us from warning to promise.
I invite you to follow along with me as I read to set the text in our minds, let us now prepare our hearts for a Word from the Lord. Hebrews 4:1-13.
"Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard. For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said,
“As I swore in My wrath,
They shall not enter My rest,”
although His works were finished from the foundation of the world. For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; and again in this passage, “They shall not enter My rest.” Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, He again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before,
“Today if you hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts.”
Most people have never learned how to rest, therefore, we likely do not understand what it means to rest. Most of us would probably describe rest as sleeping in on a rainy Sunday morning, or an afternoon nap on the couch. But the rest the Bibles talks about is much different. It is available all day, every day. In fact, it’s as close as a prayer!
Much like many people today, the people of Israel were so close to entering into God’s rest, they literally stood on the banks of the Jordan looking over into the Promised Land. It was not that they did not understand what God had promised. They understood God's promise, they just would not believe God. Instead of being filled with faith, they became filled with fear, therefore, they did not enter. Though they stood before the Promised Land, just as the promise of God’s rest stands before all of us, entering into it, is not automatic.
Verse 1, teaches us about the availability of God's rest. "Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it." It's important to understand, that the author is not talking about an experience of inner calm that some believers may lack; rather, he is talking about experiencing God’s salvation. The word "therefore" takes us back to chapter 3, particularly verses 12 and 19. He is warning against having an evil, unbelieving heart. His readers were Jewish believers in Christ who were tempted in the face of persecution to go back to Judaism. Twice he exhorts them to "hold fast" their confession of faith.
Rest, is the Greek word "katapauó," meaning to cause to cease, to rest. When applied to God’s rest, it means no more self-labor as far as salvation is concerned. It means the end of trying to please God by our own feeble efforts. God’s perfect rest is a rest in free grace. He cited Psalm 95:7-11, which recounts how the Israelites in the wilderness provoked God They all had applied the blood of the Passover lamb to their doorposts. Though they all had passed through the Red Sea and escaped from Pharaoh’s army. Yet, with most of them, God was not well pleased, and He laid them low in the wilderness.
I believe that those who rebelled in the wilderness and incurred God’s wrath represent many believers today, which I refer to as "cultural believers." They are a part of the people of God, but their hearts are far from trusting in the Lord. Their hearts are repeatedly hardened by unbelief, disobedience and sin. The author is clearly talking about a person’s response to the gospel, not to an experience of a deeper Christian life. He twice states that these people, like many Christians today, had the good news preached to them, but the good news did not profit these people, because it was not united with faith.
Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." When we come to Christ by faith we find salvation rest. That is what Jesus was talking about. It is the rest of knowing that your sins are forgiven, that the load of your guilt has been lifted, that you now have a home in heaven. It is the conscious awareness that you now belong to Christ! I believe that it is important to note, that when we yield to Christ, we learn to obey Him and submit ourselves completely. I want you to understand, that it is not possible to do that by holding onto our sin, things the Bible clearly calls sin. It is by believing that we enter into rest and it by obeying God by faith and surrendering to His will that His rest enters us. We need to understand that.
So, the author exhorts us to fear, lest we may come short of entering God’s rest, the thing we are to fear is unbelief and its horrifying consequences of eternal judgment. We should fear that like these grumbling unbelievers, we may fall through the same example of disobedience. Either we have entered God’s rest through faith or we are the objects of His wrath through unbelief and disobedience. If we do not believe God’s Word, hold fast to His promises, then those promises turn into frightening warnings of judgment! My concern is for our salvation from God’s wrath through genuine saving faith and obedience to His Word.
Beloved, God always has offered His salvation to people, and He is still offering it, under the imagery of rest. However, we must choose to into in to it. The author says in verses 3-4, "For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, "As I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest," although His works were finished from the foundation of the world. For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: "And God rested on the seventh day from all His works;" Notice, he is citing Psalm 95 again, "As I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest," He then goes on to cite from Genesis 2, how "God rested on the seventh day from all His works." It was not because the ‘rest’ of God was not yet available that the wilderness generation of Israelites failed to enter into it; because it had been available ever since creation’s work was ended, that is the connection that he's making here.
The Jewish Sabbath was rooted in the creation narrative. It is the imagery that God’s people enjoy through His salvation. It was a day to cease from normal labors and to be refreshed through time with God. It was a weekly opportunity for God’s people to stop and reflect on His goodness and care for them. The soul being in harmony with his creator found a sense of satisfaction and rest on that day.
Verse 6-7, "Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, He again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before,
"Today if you hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts."
Here the
author makes the argument, that Canaan was not God final rest. We can
see that because David wrote that rest was available in his day, when he
said, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." Then, in verse 8, he illustrates that even those who entered the Promised Land under
Joshua did not experience the fullness of God’s rest, in that David,
over 300 years after Joshua, spoke of the need to enter God’s rest. In
the Greek text, Joshua is Iesous, "Jesus,"which means, "Yahweh
saves." So the original readers would have seen the play on the names:
the original Jesus, Joshua, was only an indication of the Jesus Who was to come. Joshua
led the people into the Promised Land, however, that was only a picture of
the rest of God’s salvation that Jesus Christ provides.
Even today, God is still appealing to us to enter His rest through faith! "So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His." Notice that the author uses the unique word, "sabbatismos," which is translated "Sabbath rest. Here, he is calling our attention to the spiritual aspect of God’s rest. He wants us to know that it goes beyond observing the seventh day as holy, beyond the physical entering the Promised Land. This Sabbath rest is a soul-rest. The author says that this rest remains for "the people of God."
In Luke 14:16–20, Jesus told a parable one time about God's great salvation and how people neglected it. "A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.’ Another one said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.’ Another one said, ‘I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come." I believe this is a classic example of what it means to reject true faith in Christ. If the words of Jesus do not strike a terrifying fear in your heart, they should!
So when the author talks of entering into God’s rest, he is not talking about believers learning to trust God in their trials so that they will experience His inner peace. He is instead talking about God’s salvation under this imagery of rest, in line with the Old Testament teaching. He is issuing a warning to his readers about the dangers of living as Christians, associated with God’s people, while missing His salvation because they have failed to respond in faith to its message. I believe that this is an extremely important lesson for all of us today!
In verses 11-13, "Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do."
This a closing warning, and I really want you to hear it well. The idea that you diligently seek to enter God’s rest by faith. That you would move rapidly, urgently, with great diligence. That you would understand that the Word of God is alive, and it’s very powerful. That you would be moved to give diligence to enter into God’s rest because the Word of God is living and powerful. Because God’s Word will penetrate your heart to see if your faith is real.
In Luke 13:24, Jesus said "Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able."
While it is certainly true that the Word of God is wonderful, a great source of comfort and of joy, a source of food, it is all of this and more! However, the Word of God is also a source of terror. It’s that sword that penetrates in and cuts you in to the innermost being and lays bare your thoughts and your intentions.
In Closing..
It is not enough to go to church, to believe in Jesus, to profess that Christ died for your sin, our intellectual belief is not enough! You must see your need as a sinner before God and come personally to the cross in faith to receive God’s mercy. It is my fear that there are many professing Christians in our churches today, like those Jesus referred to, who will say, "Lord, Lord," who will be shut out of heaven.
Many today are encouraged to simply "invite Jesus into their hearts" by saying a prayer, and then are told
that they have eternal life and never need to worry about losing it. What they are not told
that they need to repent of their sins, turning away from their sin. They are not told that God, through His Holy Spirit must
change their hearts. They are not told that they must be obedient to His Word! There must be a distinct difference in the way we live as Christ's followers live and the way the rest of the population thinks and lives! Just because someone believes in Jesus, does not mean that he is truly saved. If you are truly saved, you know that your heart is different than it
was before. It is not that as a Christian you never sin, but that your
attitude towards your sin is radically different. True saving faith is always obedient faith, which is demonstrated by our transformed life! If a person's life bears a strong resemblance to what it did before he accepted Christ, if he is not growing in obedience to God's Word, he should question whether his faith is genuine saving faith, or just cultural religion.
I pray that through this message, that I have disturbed the comfortable and comforted the disturbed. If you began hearing this, feeling comfortable in your standing before God because you are associated with a church, or because you serve in the church and do not live in obedience to His Word, I pray that you are now disturbed, that you now understand that you are standing on shaky ground.
However, if you were feeling disturbed because you were despairing of your propensity toward sin, and you believed that if salvation depended on your performance, that you could never qualify, I pray that you are comforted with the good news that you can enter God’s eternal rest through faith in Christ alone. I pray that you will fear the unbelief of cultural Christianity and that you will trust in the Savior who gives true rest to His people!
May it be so..
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen