Resting In His Presence

Lets Read God’s word together, Would you stand with me?

Hebrews 4:1–13 (ESV)

1 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.

2 For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.

3 For we who have believed enter that rest, 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 somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.”

5 And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.”

6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience,

7 again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”

8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on.

9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,

10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Warning of Rejection/unbelief

So far, the author of Hebrews has given us two warnings.

1. What the Prophets and angels spoke on God’s behalf came to happen. There was just punishment for everyone who did not listen. How much more should we regard the words of Jesus?

2. When you hear God’s voice, when you read His word, when the Holy Spirit brings conviction, do you adjust your life to find alignment? Or do you allow the conviction to fade over time and ignore God’s call on your life?

In quoting Psalm 95, our author compares the posture of Moses to the posture of those following him. This comparison continues through chapter four. But notice, that it is the readers of this letter who are drafted in with those who followed Moses.

Yet, there is an invitation, to turn to the Lord today. “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

We all fall short. We hall harden our hearts from time to time. Sometimes its a slow fade, other times, it is a quick fall. The question becomes, how do you respond.

Consider the 10 Commandments in Exodus 20:1-17

I am the lord your God, you shall have no other god’s before me.

You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything.

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it Holy

Honor your father and your mother

You shall not murder

you shall not commit adultery

you shall not steal

you shall not bear false witness

you shall not covet

There are two points I want us to consider from these commandments:

Whenever you stumble and fall, turn to the Lord to seek forgiveness.

When you seek forgiveness, you also need to carefully consider appropriate guard rails to keep you accountable.

If you are genuine in your confession, you must also adjust your life by repenting. Meaning, that if I confess I am a liar, I need to stop lying. Otherwise, all I am doing is offering lip service to God.

But if I repent, I need to establish a plan, one that keeps me from entering into that temptation again or provides a way to resist that temptation.

Maybe I would choose to learn how to correct myself in the moment. Or perhaps, I would find a passage of scripture to claim about the reality of being a liar. Or maybe, I would ask others to follow up with me. To remind me again and again that I need strength in this area.

We always think we are stronger than we are.

But if I am prideful towards sin, if I get defensive, if I try to justify it, or ignore it, I am making a condemning claim. My actions are claiming that I know better than God and I can live how I want. Worse than that, I might even believe I am going to get away with it.

There is no such thing as getting away with sin. Maybe in this life, to some degree you will, but you will be judged for it in the next. Even if you do get away with it, having no natural consequences, there are always spiritual consequences. Friends, wherever you have sin in your life, humble yourself, turn to God, make confession, and repent. He is forgiving, He is purifying, He will restore you if you trust Him.

But know that trusting Him means, He will ask you to take steps of faith. Steps like, confessing your sin to everyone you sinned against. Not controlling outcomes, but trusting God with them.

One really good reason for choosing to live this way, is that is how you enter into God’s rest. You cannot enter into God’s rest when you are living in sin. Maybe a delusional version of it, but that delusion is not nearly as satisfying as what Jesus offers.

Do you know which commandment is given the most description by the Lord?

Exodus 20:8–11 “8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

I believe the reason is because you will never uphold the rest unless you make time for God. It’s when we find rhythm, being in His presence daily but also throughout one day each week. It keeps our eyes fixated on what matters most. It allows us to function from a place of rest instead of a place of hurry or anxiety. We make better decisions as we live out priorities in our life.

One of the key failures of churches, ministries, or businesses is when they lose sight of their vision.

Can you imagine if here at Grace, we lost sight of our vision; To Know Christ and to Make Christ known?

What if we fell into a habit of embracing part of the vision but not all of it?

If we didn’t do anything that points our attention to Jesus? We are not personally growing in our worship, in our relational with God, But we were eager to reach people with the gospel. Eager to grown the church that doesn’t seek Jesus, just other people?

Or, what if we fell into only the first half. That our focus and attention is entirely on those who are here growing in their faith. That we never aim to reach the lost, we never share the gospel but instead, just keep Jesus for ourselves? It may well be the worst form of selfishness to ever exist.

The reason we have the vision statement “To know Christ and to Make Christ known,” Is because it is the call of the believer. This is what it means to live as a Christian. That just as God reached you with the gospel and wants you to grow in your trust, in your faith with Him, He also wants you to reach people and to help them grow in theirs.

Titus 3:3–7 “3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

Friends, as we come into chapter 4, here is the beautiful reality for us, His Rest still stands! As long as it is still called today, you can turn towards God and find alignment with Him. In finding alignment, through repenting and choosing to live your life God’s way, you can choose to enter into His rest. This is the Grace of God for you.

What Does it mean to enter God’s Rest? - We are going to talk about this by walking through this chapter.

Observations

Verse 1, tells us it is still available. You can start moving towards it today.

But we also see that some will fail to enter (verse 6). Those who are disobedient to God’s word. Maybe they confess but do not repent. Those who justify their sin.

We are told to secure our rest by entering into it together. It is when we are united by faith, united in being obedient to the Lord that we as a church will experience the fullness of God’s rest in our lives.

So often we think of God’s rest as something we get after we die, that it is our heavenly reward.That view is not the full promise. We live in an over committed, over extended society that has all the wealth and comfort available. As a result, we work extra hard to get the things we want. Or we give up, falling into the comfort we can afford.

Neither of these honor the Lord and both will lead you to very unhealthy places.

Friends, if God rested on the seventh day, so should you. This is the first rhythm in the Bible. It is one modeled by God for us but is also one that is commanded for us.

Hebrews 4:3–5 “3 For we who have believed enter that rest, 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 somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” 5 And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.””

Sabbath - I think this is one of the most overlooked and ignored commandments in our culture. We do not know the value of sabbath or even what it means to have one. Most of us think it means we don’t do anything on Sunday’s, that we just go to church and then kick back. To not do anything on your sabbath day, whichever day of the week that may be for you, means you at not taking a sabbath, you are taking a day off. To practice a Sabbath day is to give a day to the Lord.

Remember, our author is talking about the Israelites who lived in Egypt, who were slaves and worked seven days a week. So now they are commanded to step away from something they have always known. You might be surrounded by people who work every day, but you don’t. You were brought out of slavery by the Lord, you belong to Him. You are to rest in the Lord’s presence every week.

What does that mean?

STOP - working, studying, accomplishing, hurrying

There should be time for extended prayer, meditation on God’s word, time to simply praise Him.

Its a life skill that is cultivated over time

Sometimes as Christians, we can get so focused on evil schemes, symbols, or practices in the world that we forget to cultivate. We functionally live our Christian life as one who always plays defense and only plays offense when we have too.

Friends, we are called to cultivate our souls so that we can take ground........

When we are faithful to cultivate, developing regular time with the Lord and setting aside a day for deeper spiritual movement in our life, the Lord will give you ground to take.

Just as He did with the Israelites.

Promised Land -

Stability - Know what to expect

Security - peace of mind - not anxious or fear driven about whatever may be lurking

A place to call home - where you can be comfortable.

A place where you can be present with God.

Presence made manifest in the temple.

Is His presence made manifest in your life?

How do you know you are not living in God’s rest?

When I have a daily tendency to be anxious and fearful

When I am rushing and hurrying

when my body is in a knot

When my mind is racing when I stop

When I am doing to many things

When I am not present with people

when I am irritable and angry over stupid things

When I need to be doing something - cant rest

When I am skimming my time with God.

When I feel numb to what the word of God says.

When I feel constantly overwhelmed.

You see, we all have tendency’s. Warning signs in our lives that reveal a unsettled heart that needs to be with the Lord. You see true enrichment comes from being with the Lord. This is why we all have to have a rhythm of resting in God’s presence. It doesn’t matter what day of the week, but find a weekly rhythm where one day, every week you can be intentional about being with the Lord, dwelling on His word.

Can I believe that God will work out my life by intentionally stopping to be with Him?

It’s when the rhythms of our life demonstrate trust in the Lord that we begin to find peace. But we also receive even more. Deeper enrichment. Take a look Hebrews 4:11–13

“11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

The longer you are in rhythm with the Lord. The longer you are in alignment with Him and diligent to pursue Him, the more depth you will find in God’s word. The more depth you find, the more enrichment you will experience in your soul.

The Word of God in the hearts of those who rest.

Psalm 23 ESV

A Psalm of David. 1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

In an anxious world, we know the pathway to rest and fulfilment. We have been invited to take God seriously again and again. For those who choose to enter into His rest, they have an ever growing trust in God as they see Him provide again and again.

Not only are we called to enter God’s rest, but we are called to invite others to join us. Lets pray.