God’s Promised Rest – Part 2
HEBREWS 4:1-11
HERE’S WHERE WE LEFT OFF LAST WEEK…
NAS Hebrews 4:6-8 Since therefore 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.” For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that.
“THE WILDERNESS WANDERINGS OF THE NATION OF ISRAEL represent the experiences of believers who will not claim their spiritual inheritances in Christ, who doubt God’s Word and live in restless unbelief. To be sure, God is with them, as He was with Israel; but they do not enjoy the fullness of God’s blessing. They are ‘out of Egypt’ but they are not yet in Canaan.” – Warren Wiersbe
LET US BE CLEAR, WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT LOSING ONE’S SALVATION. The writer to the Hebrews, both here and in other places in the epistle, is not threatening or teaching his readers – or us – that we can lose our salvation; he is, rather, warning and encouraging believers to go on to maturity in Christ. We, too, are out of the “Egypt” that is metaphorically the world; we are no longer imprisoned by sin and lust; but we are not yet in “Canaan,” that is, we have not reached heaven and complete Christlikeness. The wilderness lies between the Egypt and Canaan; we now are in the analogous wilderness. The writer to the Hebrew is exhorting us to go on in our journey. He is warning and encouraging us to go on to fullness in our Christian lives and to claim the full inheritance of the rest that awaits us…
NAS Hebrews 4:5 and again in this passage, “They shall not enter My rest.”
- The writer is referring to 3:11, a quote again from Psalm 95…
NAS Hebrews 3:11 As I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.'”
- They did not enter God’s rest because of disobedience (the KJV’s “unbelief” in not accurate). The Greek word for disobedience here is απειθεια (a-pie-thee-a). It is an intense word. It is not just unbelief (as if that weren’t bad enough); but απειθεια is willful, obstinate disobedience – “I hear God, yeah, but I will not be convinced.”
- “They shall not enter My rest” are strong words, indeed. The ancient Israelites hardened their hearts in unbelief. Delay hardens the heart. They had heard the words of God; they had even seen Him work mighty works on their behalf, but they remained unpersuaded. Disobedience is hearing God’ Word and willfully not being persuaded. “I hear what God has said, but I am not impressed; it has not persuaded me.”
“TODAY.” DON’T MISS THAT. Rest is urgent. God wants you to act upon what you have heard right now. God’s Word demands immediate response.
THEN THERE IS A “CHRISTIAN REST” ASPECT THAT IS IN CHRIST…
NAS Hebrews 4:9-10 There remains therefore 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.
“THIS REST WHICH IS RESERVED FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD IS PROPERLY CALLED A ‘SABBATH REST’ – a sabbatismos or ‘sabbath keeping’ –
NAS Hebrews 4:3 For we who have believed enter that rest,
WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE NOT WORKS…
NAS Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.
WHEN WE COME TO CHRIST WE ARE RESTING FROM OUR WORKS.
“THE SABBATH IS THE IMAGE OF THE WORLD TO COME.” – Montefiore
REST MAY HERE IN HEBREWS 4 BE SEEN AS EQUALING SALVATION.
IN A NUTSHELL, CHRIST IS GOD’S PROMISED REST!
KJV Matthew 11:28-30 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
ISN’T THAT EXQUISITE?
I DO NOT THINK IT IS UNREASONABLE TO SAY THAT SOME OF US, SURELY, ARE HEAVY LADEN AT THIS MOMENT, and that we are laboring under the load. Permit me to say to all of us, “Come unto Jesus.” Yes, I know you are saved; you “already” have positional rest in Christ. But God is telling you and me from the book of Hebrews that there are two-dimensions of the rest of believers. The second dimension is “not yet.” There is another dimension to which God calls us. This is progressive rest. We need to remember that rest is ceasing working. We must put our present burdens in that context. Whatever we are going through, we should cease striving and rest in Christ. And we must remember as well, God’s timetable for rest is now – “Today!”
NAS Matthew 11:28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
NKJ Matthew 11:28 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
ESV Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
NET Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
REST IS A PROMINENT PRINCIPLE IN GOD’S DEALINGS with His creation. From the very beginning, in God’s establishment of the Sabbath rest, and to His interactions with man throughout history. Rest was such a vital part of God’s relationships with man that He even commanded man to allow the land to rest…
NAS Exodus 23:10-11 “And you shall sow your land for six years and gather in its yield, but on the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so that the needy of your people may eat; and whatever they leave the beast of the field may eat. You are to do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.
GOD WAS TEACHING MAN THE PRINCIPLE OF REST. He is still teaching us the principle of rest today.
AND, FINALLY, OF ALL THE NUMEROUS NUANCES AND DIMENSIONS OF REST, THERE IS “ETERNAL REST” IN HEAVEN. It is possible that these past two, “Christian rest” and “Eternal Rest” are really the same thing seen in two dimensions or aspects: present and future, while the other categories – if we may speak about these rests as actually being different – are past. I hesitate to classify these different aspects according to time, but maybe that is a good way to approach them: past, present, and future.
THERE IS GREAT COMFORT IN GOD’S PROMISED REST.
GOD’S REST IS MADE AVAILABLE BY HIS FINISHED WORK. From His viewpoint it is finished, completed. But from our viewpoint, with no contradiction, it is both “already” and “not yet.” We have this rest, but simultaneous to this wonderful realization, we are to strive to attain it. Rest is ceasing from work, yet we are to work in order to enter into God’s rest…
NAS Hebrews 4:11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall through following the same example of disobedience.
“LET US BE DILIGENT.” The word in the Greek, σπουδαζω (spoo-dahds-zo), means to do one’s best, be eager to spare no effort. Could each of us say that σπουδαζω describes his or her walk with Jesus? Are we diligently living for the Lord? If we are not, “today” is a good day to begin to be obedient to God’s Word, to immediately act upon what we have heard today by faith…
GOD DOES NOT WANT US TO REMAIN STAGNANT; He wants us to grow, to mature, to be perfected in the image of Christ. When something ceases to grow, it is usually dead. This, it may be said, is the writer’s main concern; the people were not growing. Growth is one indication of good health. This is true spiritually as it is physically. Some may be satisfied to just be alive, but God wants us not just to live but to live life to the full for Him…
KJV John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
THE POINT THE WRITER TO THE HEBREWS MAKES IS THAT FAITH IS THE CONDITION OF ENTERING GOD’S PROMISED REST. We are saved by faith and we live this Christian life by faith. “Faith is God’s way of appropriating that which God has for the individual believer.” – Kenneth Wuest
“THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH”…
NAS Hebrews 10:38 But My righteous one shall live by faith; And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him.
NAS Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
THE MORE I STUDY HEBREWS THE MORE I THINK THAT FAITH is the writer’s main message. More specifically, maturing faith, a faith that grows stronger and prevents the believer from drifting, or hardening, or shrinking back. At this point, not yet half way through the book, I think the preacher/teacher’s controlling purpose in writing this sermon to the early Hebrew Christians was to call them to go on in their faith. “The just shall live by faith.”
FAITH IS THE MEANS BY WHICH WE ENTER INTO GOD’S PROMISED REST…
NAS 2 Corinthians 5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight–
WHEN WE EXERCISE FAITH – particularly in the face of trial and tribulation, we please God. When we live by faith and not by the appearance of the world, when we keep our eyes on Christ, not circumstance, we enter into God’s promised rest. The writer of the Hebrews is warning us to make every attempt to do our best to enter into that rest…
WHAT IS GOD’S PROMISED REST? Here’s another take on the definition of rest: “It is a state of unbroken fellowship with God that is diligently entered into by faith. There is but one rest of God. It began on the seventh day of creation when God rested from His works. This is His Sabbath rest. Canaan was a picture of this rest, a ceasing from works through faith in God. Stubborn unbelief and disobedience keep man from this rest. Rest is entered into by faith. You must believe God before you will ever stop your own efforts and trust Him. Today this rest is available as in the past. Rest may be seen as salvation in its three dimensions of past, present, and future. We did enter this rest at salvation; we must diligently enter it today; and we will enjoy eternal rest in heaven: three aspects or dimensions of rest. Rest is “already, not yet”: “the two themes of present journeying and final rest” – Montefiore
REST IS SALVATION BY GRACE… REST IS CHRIST…
GOD’S PROMISED REST: (1) It is a rest that can be experienced. (2) This rest of God has been available since creation; and (3) God’s promised rest must be entered into now. Positionally we enter God’s promised rest when we are saved; practically, however, we are to continually work to enter that rest. “Already, not yet.”
GOD’S PROMISED REST: The main thing chapters 3 and 4 of the book of Hebrews says to us, I believe, is that the main thing that can prevent us from obtaining God’s promised rest is unbelief, hearing God’s Word, seeing God’s works, and hardening not your, not being persuaded, and willingly not believing.
GOD’S PROMISED REST IS BASED ON 3 THINGS: (1) His sovereign decree (rest is commanded); (2) personal faith; and (3) immediate action.
ONE FINAL NOTE: ABOUT “WORK”: We should not take away from this passage the idea that we are to charge ourselves up to work harder. Hard work is fine, so long as it is done for Christ. But that is not what is in view, I don’t believe. In my view, what the writer to the Hebrews is implying is that this work is done through total surrender to the Spirit. It is a work of cooperation with the Spirit. We surrender to Him and He works the works of Christ through us…
NAS Philippians 2:13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
NAS Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
KJV Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
THAT IS A GOOD WORD FROM GOD’S HOLY WORD FOR US TO THINK UPON. I pray we all act upon it by faith…
NAS Hebrews 4:11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall through following the same example of disobedience.
FINAL REPEATED WARNINGS: DON’T DRIFT FROM GOD AND HIS WORD. Don’t neglect so great a salvation.
DON’T HARDEN YOUR HEARTS.
DON’T COME SHORT OF GOD’S PROMISED REST.
WARNINGS FROM THE BOOK OF HEBREWS FROM OUR LOVING GOD!
– Professor Thomas A. Rohm
