We Rest By Faith

Introduction

After winning the NBA championships in 1987 and 1988, Pat Riley, the coach for the 1989 Lakers trademarked the term “Three-peat.” Riley claimed that player Byron Scott used the term to describe the Lakers goal of a third straight championship for the 1989 season. It is one thing to believe in your team. It is another to go out and trademark the term in an effort to instill confidence in your fanbase and players. Pat Riley really believed that they could do it. However, belief in the 1989 Los Angelos Lakers wasn’t quite enough. Byron Scott was injured before the finals and Isaiah Thomas and the Detroit Pistons would sweep the Lakers in the Finals. The Lakers wouldn’t three peat afterall.

Belief is interesting in that way. Riley’s confidence in his team got them to a third straight finals, but the object of his faith was found wanting with the injury of Byron Scott. Today in our text we will see that faith is a in order to enter into God’s rest. And what I want us to see is that this needs to be real faith. Like trademark a saying at the beginning of the season kind of faith. A faith that leads to action and living a particular way. Yet, faith in faith is not what God calls us to. We aren’t to just have a faith in some intangible idea, but our faith is in a person. Christian faith is in Jesus, the Son of God who tasted death for everyone. A real man who really was fully God and fully man and who did make propitiation for our sins. He really did exhaust the wrath of God for us. You and I are called by God to place our faith in the person and work of Jesus in order to enter into God’s rest. We must real faith in the real Jesus, the object of our faith. Let’s read Hebrews 4:1-13

We Enter By Faith v. 1-3

We come to this passage directly after a warning passage in Hebrews 3 in which the author tells the reader to not be like the wilderness generation from Numbers 13 and 14. This wilderness generation was the generation of Israelites who refused to enter into the promised land. They did not trust in the promise of God but rather they feared the people of the land of Canaan. They rebelled against God and disobeyed Him as they picked up stones in order to kill their God appointed leader, Moses. This disobedience was the manifestation of their lack of faith. And in Hebrews 3:19 “So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.” This generation of people were not able to enter the promised land, aka God’s rest, because of their lack of faith.

The writer continues in Hebrews 4:1–2 “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. 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.” The them in the passage refers to the wilderness generation. They heard good news, but they did not benefit from that good news because of their lack of faith. Some translations even say that their listening was not mixed with faith, instead of united by faith with those who listened. They heard good news, but not benefit because of they did not believe. Yet, the author is also arguing the opposite from this negative example. The negative example is that without faith the wilderness generation did not enter God’s rest. But that also means that those who do have faith will enter God’s rest. Faith in the good news we hear, does result in the enjoyment of God’s rest.

The writer implores us who read his letter to fear lest any of us should seem to fail to reach God’s rest. John Owen says this fear is comprised of two things. “First an awful apprehension of the holiness and greatness of God, with his severity against sin… Secondly, a careful diligence in the use of the means, to avoid the evil threatened unto unbelief and disobedience.” This fear that the author of Hebrews is telling us to have is the same as the fear of the Lord that Proverbs 1:7 tells “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” It is the rightful common sense fear you would have if you really believed there was a God that punished sin and sinners, and if you believed that you yourself were a sinner. Sinners should rightfully fear the judgement of God. And that fear is a means that God uses to awaken the sinner to their need for Christ. And it is a means for those in Christ to avoid sin in their lives because sin leads to unbelief and disobedience. The two reasons given in this passage for the wilderness generation’s inability to enter the promised land. If you want to enter into God’s rest then you must do so by faith. A faith that is real and works itself out in your life.

So the wilderness generations heard good news, but did not respond in faith. Numbers 14:8–9 “If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.”” Joshua’s call to fear God and not the people of the land of Canaan was the good news that the wilderness generation heard. It is a good news of God’s promise to give His people rest in the land of Canaan. It is the Gospel. The Gospel is the good news that God has done the work on our behalf, and in Him will find our rest. The wilderness generation did not have a good reason to believe they could take the land without God’s help. The choice to enter the land would have been an exercise of faith in the Lord’s ability to “bring them into the land and give it to them.”

Yet, instead of placing their faith in God, then chose instead to rebel against Moses and Joshua and tried to stone them. Their lack of faith was manifest in their act of disobedience. Faith results in obedience but a lack of faith will result in disobedience. This is what James is referring to in James 2:19–23 “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.”

This is what the author of Hebrews is warning against. A false faith that only acknowledges God’s existence like the demons do. The phrase that God is one is a doctrinal statement about the nature of God. It is a claim of monotheism, and Christian tenant. But these demons are not Christians. Abraham on the other hand had faith that resulted in acts of faith. Works that justified him, not in of themselves but because they were the result of true faith. True faith will result in true obedience.

Now while this is a warning passage we must still here the optimism of the writer. in Hebrews 4:3 “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.” The writes uses Psalm 95:11, which he has already quoted in chapter 3 as argument of the positive from the negative. If God swears that they will not enter his wrath because of their unbelief then God also swears that those who have belief will enter his rest. When God swears in his wrath he has to swear by himself. Since there is nothing greater by which he can swear. He is saying, if I let anyone into my rest who does not have faith, then I am not God. Which it is impossible for God to be anything or anyone other than God. Thus, it is impossible to enter is rest without faith. But that also means the opposite is true. It is impossible for the one with faith to do anything other than enter into God’s rest.

God grants us faith, he does the saving. And if those who have faith do not enter his rest then God would cease to be God. If you have faith in God, true saving faith, then you will enter his rest.

T/S- And what is this rest that we are talking about? I believe it is the eternal rest promised to all who have faith. It is the rest of heaven and we come to understand this by faith as well.

We Understand Rest By Faith v. 3-10

Hebrews 4:3–10 “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. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.” Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, 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.” For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.”

The author begins to unpack what this rest is in these verses. He helps understand the rest of God by tracing the idea of rest throughout the biblical narrative. He begins with God’s resting on the seventh day of creation. Christians believe that God created the world in six days and on the seventh day he rest from his work. This pattern of six days of work and one of rest ingrained itself into the Hebrews weekly rhythm. Jews would work for six days, and on the seventh day they would rest. This rest day was called the Sabbath day. It is commanded in the 10 commandments and we see its importance crop up throughout the early books of the Bible. God even provides a double portion of bread from heaven on the sixth day of the week so the people do not have to gather bread on the seventh day. Not working on the seventh day was an act of faith. They had to believe that God would provide for them, even if they gave up an entire day of labor.

However, this seventh day is not the end all be all to rest. It was a weekly rhythm that pointed forward to something better. It point forward to the rest that the people would have once they entered into the promised land. A land they were to enter into by faith and find rest from their wanderings. Yet, David after being king over this promised land, because the people did eventually enter into it, still says in Psalm 95 that the people are not to harden their hearts lest they fail to enter into God’s rest. So, the rest cannot ultimately be the promised land either. Joshua did not give the people rest like the Sabbath rest. And in the original language the author has been using another word for rest until verse 9. In verse nine he uses the word sabbatismos which means rest, but obviously you can hear the similarity between that word and the word sabbath. The author is saying there is a Sabbath rest for the people of God that still remains. Because this rest is not like the rest you have at the end of the week, it is not like the rest the people had when they took the promised land, it is not obtained by the Israelites in David’s day as he encourages them that another rest is coming, and even for NT christians who would read the book of Hebrews there is a rest that still remains. A rest that once entered allows the one who has entered to rest from his works like God did from his.

So, what does it mean to rest as God rest? To answer that question I want us to see four truths about this rest from the text. I want to do this because I want you to see how to read your Bible well. When the answer is hard to find start with the things which are most clear and work to that which is less clear. Here are four clear truths:

The Promised Rest was planned from the beginning. Hebrews 4:4 “For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.””

The Promised Rest can still be entered. Hebrews 4:1 “Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands…

People can fail to enter The Promised Rest if they do not believe. Hebrews 4:6 “Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience,” Remember if you believe, you will enter it. But there are those who will hear, but they will not have faith, that lack of faith will manifest in disobedience and they will not enter. And they might even make it to the cusp of the promised land. They may seem to have saving faith, but because of deceitfulness of sin not have saving faith.

The Promised Rest is a complete rest. Hebrews 4:10 “for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.”

There is a debate about the rest of this text. Is it temporal blessings or eternity in heaven. I believe it is referring to an eternity in heaven because of these four truths. The promise still standing and only being for those with faith seem to eliminate a temporary reward. Even non-christians can gain temporary blessings, but only the Christians can enter into heaven. The other reason I believe this speaking of heaven is because of another textual debate and how I land.

Is the he in Hebrews 4:10 speaking of the Christian who has faith or is it speaking of Christ. I believe it speaks of Christ. Christ is the one, and the only one, who had entered into God’s rest and can rest from his works as God has rest from his. You see, our rest in this world is always tainted by our sin. When we rest, we cannot avoid the reality that some of our toil is the direct result of our sin. We don’t know what it is like to work for six days and perfectly complete our task. We don’t know what it is like to actually do something and be able to say without any disclaimer, this is good. Only God can do that. God works and works perfectly, and therefore his rest is perfect. His rest is fundamentally different from our rest. We simply cannot rest as God has rested.

We sing in Come Thou Fount, and oh that day when freed from sinning… while that is good and true to sing, Jesus wouldn’t sing that like you would sing that. He never sinned, he was always free from sinning. But that doesn’t make his rest less complete. It means his rest is truly complete because he knows what it is to rest from a perfect work. This is something you and I simply cannot do.

Unless, somehow we are brought in to one that has done what God has done. Unless, somehow we are able to take part in the life of one who has labored with perfection and has entered into God’s rest as a result of that perfect labor. And that is exactly we do when we place our faith in Christ. Christ is the one who has entered into God’s rest when he seated himself at the righthand of the Majesty on high. And if you are in Christ, then you too get to enter that rest and all of its benefits. Benefits that impossible to you because you have sinned. You and I will rest as God has rested, but only because we are in Christ by faith.

T/S- The supreme joy of resting from perfect work is yours in Christ. Therefore we must strive to enter that rest by faith.

We Strive by Faith v. 11-13

Hebrews 4:11–13 “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 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. 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.”

We only enter by faith and yet we are to strive for entrance into the rest of God. Faith enables to us to strive to enter in 2 ways. 1) Believe that we will enter God’s rest by Christ work. We strive by faith to enter God’s rest when we enjoy the promise’s of God in this life. When we realize that we will enter into a rest we don’t just simply not deserve, but that is impossible for us to enjoy apart from our unity with Christ. It requires faith to imagine that kind of rest. It requires that you trust God if you are to actually enjoy the promise of that rest.

Listen to a testimony for author Jerry Bridges, “One morning in my private devotions I was reflecting on my sin, which for some reason seemed particularly painful to me that day. In my discouragement I blurted out, "God, You would be perfectly just in sending me to hell." Immediately on the heel of those words, though, came this thought: "No, You wouldn't, because Jesus satisfied Your justice for me."This is the stand we must take as believers. We must not allow the accusations of Satan or the condemning indictments of our consciences to bring us under a sense of God's unrequited justice. Instead, we should by faith lay hold of the wonderful truth that God's justice has been satisfied for us by our Lord Jesus Christ. If you are to enjoy God’s promises today, then you must believe that you are truly qualified to enter into God’s rest, right now, just as you are because you are united to Jesus. This is what it means to strive to enter that rest.

2) We believe that God will judge sin. God’s word is his agent of action in this world. Jesus is called the Word in John 1 and Revelation 19:13. When God acts in this world he does so through the power of his word. Again, we see that explicitly mentioned in Hebrews 1:3 “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power…” This passage is talking about the Scriptures, what we call the Bible. But there is no divide between what the Bible says, and what God says. When the Bible speaks, God speaks. So, when he talks about the word of God being living and active know that God is living and active. His word pierces into your being, soul spirit, because God knows the depths of your heart and soul. God’s word discerns our thoughts and intentions, meaning the Bible interprets us as we read it and interpret it, because it is in God that we find all meaning. Therefore, because his word is true and it interprets us, we are naked and exposed to God. There is nothing we can hide from him and we will give an account. And if you believe that, then your life will reflect that belief.

You cannot simply worship God with lip service. He must have your whole heart because there is nothing that is hidden from him. He knows the contents of your heart and he knows if you believe of not. You can fool your church, your pastor, your family, and your friends. But you cannot fool God. And it requires faith to actually believe even that. It requires faith to believe that an invisible God knows the depths of your soul.

And the exercise of that faith by living a life that strives to be holy is the striving that we are encouraged toward in this text. We must strive to enter God’s rest, but we strive through faith. We must believe that his work in Christ really is enough to get us into the kingdom, and we must know that God knows the heart. God’s word will lay you bear. How do we strive for Christ, through is word. If you are fearful for your salvation then run to the Bible. Drink from it until you are assured of your position before God. Read, study, memorize it, until you know that you will enter his rest through Christ. Read it with faith, knowing it is true.

Conclusion

Faith is a necessity in the Christian life. We enter into God’s rest, know God’s rest, and we strive in this life by faith. May we echo Paul as he says: Galatians 2:20 “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.”