Hebrews 4:1-10 Jesus Gives Rest

Intro: What is the best way you recharge?

When you think of getting some rest what comes to your mind?

Maybe a nap or good night’s sleep?

Is it a day off of work?

Maybe it is a vacation somewhere tranquil?

People will do all kinds of things to find physical rest and peace of mind

Meme: People who say, “Go big or go home” seriously underestimate my ability to go home.

At the same time some might be thinking, “My life is so busy that I don’t have

What if I told you there is a perfect rest that is available to you no matter if you’re busy or not

It is a rest for your soul and mind that can give you peace and joy no matter the circumstances

Read Hebrews 4:1-4

Transition:

Joshua vs. Jesus

Today we are going to see a comparison between Joshua and Jesus

Joshua led Israel into the promised land

It was to be a place of rest and God’s provision

Jesus leads us to the promises of God

It’s a place of rest from the requirement of the law and a place of peace with God

The basic idea of rest is that of ceasing from work or from any kind of action.

You stop doing what you are doing.

Action, labor, or exertion is over.

Applied to God’s rest, it means no more self-effort as far as salvation is concerned.

It means the end of trying to please God by our feeble, fleshly works. God’s perfect rest is a rest in free grace.

The only kind of fear a Christian should have is that of reverential awe

This is the fear of respect and honor, not the fear of condemnation or fear in the sense of terror, of which this text speaks.

Rest does not mean freedom from all hassles; it means freedom from being so easily bothered by them.

It means to be inwardly quiet, composed, peaceful.

To enter God’s rest means to be at peace with God, to possess the perfect peace

It means to be free from guilt and even unnecessary feelings of guilt.

It means freedom from worry about sin, because sin is forgiven.

God’s rest is the end of legalistic works and the experience of peace in the total forgiveness of God

To enter God’s rest, therefore, means to enjoy the perfect, unshakable confidence of salvation in our Lord.

We have no more reason to fear.

We have absolute trust and confidence in God’s power and care.

The rest spoken of in Hebrews 4 is full, blessed, sweet, satisfying, peaceful.

It is what God offers every person in Christ

The Promise of Rest vs. 1-2

To possess the rest Jesus gives you must understand the promise

vs. 1 What is this Promise?

There is a promise of rest

When we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ we receive a promise of rest

No more needing to do anything to justify ourselves before God

We can rest from the requirement of the law and enter into the joy of being a son of God

We start off this chapter with the word Therefore

This refers to Israel’s failure to enter God’s rest

Israel’s unbelief led to their failure of enter God’s rest in Canaan

A Christian’s unbelief can lead to a life of anxiety and fear

To make up for it we fill our life with works

When we try to prove ourselves to God or others we exit the rest God has for us

Galatians 5:4–5 ESV

You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.

Jesus gives us rest from requirements and regulations of following him

He gives us peace in our souls

If we don’t have that rest and there is no peace we may have failed to reach it

One more note: You can go in and out of the rest of God

vs. 2 Receive it as a Gift

To get this promise of rest you must receive it as a gift

The Gospel came to both the Jews and the Gentiles

Many Jews rejected the Gospel and clung to the Law

They heard the message but in their unbelief it didn’t benefit them

They were not united by faith because of their unbelief

To enter into the promise of rest you have to receive it as a gift

The Gospel is a free gift you can’t earn or purchase

With that gift comes the promise of rest

That rest happens by trusting Jesus on a daily basis

Finding God’s Rest vs. 3-5

To possess the rest Jesus gives you must know how to find it

vs. 3 Find it in Faith

“We who have believed enter that rest”

You find that rest, not in action, but in faith

You have to accept the rest that God giving you

The human nature defaults in wanting to do something

We either feel the need to earn everything we have or we feel compelled to make it better

Couple that with a view that idleness or stillness is being lazy

Do you know that many Christians feel ragged because they don’t know how to take a sabbath

God commands us to physically rest but we over fill our calendar

If you don’t believe God created you to rest you never will and subsequently you will never experience the peace and joy that He promises

That was Israel’s problem… they didn’t believe

Psalm 95:10–11 ESV

For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.” Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter my rest.”

The first generation never saw the promised land

They were constantly chasing after what they wanted

They didn’t listen to the Word of God, hence they didn’t know God’s ways

We can be guilty of the same thing

We do what’s right in our own eyes and neglect the Word of God and then are confused why our life is a mess and so chaotic

vs. 4-5 Resting from Works

Here is the best part of this whole section

You can stop trying to impress God or feel obligated to deserve all of the blessings He has given

God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh

True rest comes from waiting and trusting in the Lord

Psalm 62:5 ESV

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.

Sabbath rest was instituted as a symbol of the true rest to come in Christ.

Adam and Eve were completely righteous when they were created.

They walked and talked with God as regularly and as naturally as they walked and talked with each other.

They were at rest, in its original and fullest sense. They relied on God for everything.

They had no anxieties, no worries, no pain, no frustrations, no heartaches.

They did not need God’s forgiveness, because they had no sin to be forgiven of.

They did not need His consolation, because they were never grieved.

They did not need His encouragement, because they never failed.

They only needed His fellowship, because they were made for Him.

This was their “rest” in God. God completed His perfect work and He rested.

They were His perfect work and they rested in Him.

But something terrible happened.

They trusted Satan rather than God.

And when they lost their trust in God, they lost His rest.

The entire purpose of the Bible and the entire working of God in human history have one theme: bringing man back into His rest.

Rest is another name for life, life as God meant it to be

Don’t Delay vs. 6-7

To possess the rest Jesus gives make sure you don’t put it off

vs. 6 Missing Out

The rest He has provided, some will enter: It remains for some to enter it.

There are those who have heard the gospel and have yet to enter into that relationship God desires

The rest that God promises comes through the relationship God desires

Are you missing out?

We are saved by two things:

God’s will, expressed in His sending His Son to save men; and our will, expressed in our trust in His Son to save us.

We can be saved because He planned to save us before the world was created

Personal faith is necessary before God can apply His redemption to us.

Yet our personal faith is effective because the Father has first drawn us to the Son.

Because God wants us to be saved, we can be saved.

Only disobedience keeps us out

That disobedience hardens your heart

vs. 7 Don’t Harden Your Heart

God appoints a certain day for you to hear the Gospel and make a choice

Israel had the Messiah walk their streets, show acts of compassion, and preach the Good News

They rejected him

Jeremiah 17:23 ESV

Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck, that they might not hear and receive instruction.

Today isn’t referred to as a date, but one of

Enter that Rest vs. 8-10

To enter the rest Jesus gives you must do it by faith

Joshua is an OT version of Jesus Christ

In fact, Jesus is the Greek rendering of the Hebrew name Joshua

In Hebrew it is pronounced “Yeshua”

Joshua led the people into the promised land, a land of rest

It was to be filled with provision (Milk & Honey)

They would inhabit houses they didn’t build and harvest crops they didn’t plant

They would have rest from their enemies if they were obedient

Unfortunately they didn’t obey and entered one of it’s darkest time, the Judges period, where everyone did what was right in their own eyes

Jesus leads us into God’s rest, a spiritual rest

vs. 8 More than physical rest

The rest Jesus brings is more than physical rest

It is a rest for the soul

While a nap might help from time to time, Godly rest helps all of the time

Your life can be hectic busy and still have the rest of God

Your soul can be content no matter the circumstances

Joshua 22:4 ESV

And now the Lord your God has given rest to your brothers, as he promised them. Therefore turn and go to your tents in the land where your possession lies, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan.

vs. 9-10 More than a Day Off

You can enter the rest God has for you

There remains a sabbath rest which is more than a day off

When we learn to trust the sovereignty of God we will find this soul rest

Psalm 91:1 ESV

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

No more striving to impress God or earn your blessings

You discover that the finished work of Christ is in you

Galatians 2:20 ESV

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.