Untitled Sermon (8)

Entering God's Rest: A Call to Faith

Bible Passage: Hebrews 4:1–13

Summary: Hebrews 4:1–13 discusses the promise of entering God's rest, emphasizing the importance of faith and obedience. The passage warns against hardening hearts and provides an invitation to seek God's rest through reliance on His Word.

Application: This passage encourages Christians to trust in God's promises and find rest in Him amidst life's challenges. It reassures believers that true peace and rest can be attained by putting their faith in Christ and avoiding disobedience, which can lead to spiritual unrest.

Teaching: The sermon teaches the vital connection between faith and entering God's rest, highlighting the consequences of disbelief. It articulates the importance of responding to God's invitation to trust Him fully, which brings spiritual renewal and peace.

How this passage could point to Christ: In this passage, Christ is presented as the ultimate source of rest and fulfillment. He parallels the Israelites' journey and the ultimate rest that believers can find in Him, linking the Old Testament promise with the New Testament reality of salvation through Christ.

Big Idea: True rest is found through faith in Christ, who invites us to cease from our own works and trust in His finished work, guaranteeing our spiritual well-being.

Recommended Study: As you prepare this sermon, consider exploring the nuances of the Greek terms used in Hebrews 4, particularly those related to rest and disobedience. The Logos library contains theological resources that discuss the implications of God's rest in both the Old and New Testaments, which could enrich your understanding of the author's intent and the historical context. Additionally, a study of the consequences of disbelief in the wilderness narrative may provide further insights into the admonitions made in this passage.

1. Promise of Perfect Peace

Hebrews 4:1–3 “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.”

Today we get back to the heeding warnings of the author to the Hebrews concerning the hardening of their hearts against God and choosing not to enter His rest.

However, now we see that warning turn to this positive news of this promise God had made to them of His rest being open to them still stands.

God’s promises never fail us, even in the long term where our faith might not be there, God and His promises aren’t reascended because of us.

The Israelites were being given this information from the author because of just that, their faith had dwindled into nothing through their persecution and trials they were facing in the early biblical world.

And all because they chose to believe and follow in the gospel message that our world around us passes off as the words of crazy people.

It was the message that was getting them killed, getting them beaten, and if were being honest, in some parts of the world, still do!

But God is still here telling us, “My promise is still open, my rest is within your grasp!”.

The author is telling the Israelites here, God’s rest is still available, but this news falls on deaf ears and the reason is there in V2:

English Standard Version Chapter 4

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

The author tells them essentially that their ancestors did not have the benefit that you have, they were not united by faith, but you are!

They did not have the unification that the gospel gives to believers, but you do!

The same could be said of us, the amount of blessing you have, simply because you have been born in the time period you have been born in….

You have the blessing of being bale to look at the stories of the bible in their entirety, what that means is that you can learn the lessons of these stories and apply them to your life without having to live them.

you have the blessing of being in God’s rest simply because you walk with Him daily and fellowship with like minded believers, and you do all this in a country that allows you to do it freely. It is actually against the country’s laws to discriminate against you because of your faith, this is protected in the 1st amendment

you have been blessed to have readily accessible to you, the word of God for free! there is no finding a synagogue, sitting and listening to the only bible you would get WEEKLY.

and the only thing you have to worry about denying your ability to enter into God’s rest… unbelief…

Unbelief in Christ, unbelief in the fellowship walk with Christ each and everyday.

and its through that faith in Jesus being the Christ, being the Son of god, its that belief that is the key to a peace and a fulfillment that God offers us.

2. Past Warnings, Present Choice

Hebrews 4:4–7 “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.””

This idea that we have the ability to enter into God’s rest, that choice rests in each of you. The individual, not the group.

And as the point title tells us, this warning was for them of their past generations but challenges them to make this present choice.

God’s standard that he gave to this generation was absolute, it wasn’t to be challenged, and the author tells the biblical audience of this with their ancestors that tried it.

Remember that when God gives us a directive or a commandment it is to be followed, without contorting its parameters, without perverting it with eisegesis.

So let us look into our lives, seeing if there are areas that we can realign our lives to enter into God’s rest in those areas.

Re aligning these areas by expressing our faith in Him to provide for our needs.

3. Fulfillment in Faithfulness

Hebrews 4:8–10 “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.”

Even in the rest that God’s people enjoyed through the leadership of Joshua. The man that would succeed Moses and bring Israel into the promised land. That rest wasn’t complete.

This rest that the audience would have known about from the history, a historical moment for them.

Even that rest was not complete, but was made complete in Jesus, the Messiah.

they had relied on that for generations, relying on their identity as God’s people for so many years. And now that it had changed through God’s Son coming to Earth and through His ministry that gave them the gospel.

Now they had continued to do what they knew, that was following the OT law. it was a kind of works that they started to rely on.

Again, being blessed with the complete word of God, we know that OT law was only there to show them that they could not do it themselves and pointed out their need for a Savior.

When they had accepted Jesus’ gospel that put away that need to work for their salvation. Now struggling with their temptations and trials, they now were essentially wanting to go back to the works for salvation system.

When we stop relying on our own works for our salvation, we then can rely on Christ’s finished work on the cross, that finished work leads us to a spiritual renewal a re aligning our hearts and minds to Him.

And our works don’t look like the OT believers, we don’t go to temple on a schedule to offer sacrifice.

We don’t live in a dietary restrictive life or even in a life that limits our clothing.

But we do live in a world that will tell us our membership to a church is just as important to us as our salvation.

We live in a world that will tell us that we must give to the church and that will absolve us of any sin we might have committed that week.

We live in a world where false teachers will tell you if you give, God will multiply your finances.

Our works should be nothing more than a product of our salvation, a product of our faith.

And its through that salvation and through that faith that we are to draw strength. Drawing strength in our times of trouble, and even drawing strength in our times of joy and contentment.

4. Word That Works Wonders

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 final challenge the author gives to those he is writing to is that they should be diligent in their effort of entering into God’s rest.

And yes its an active thing to continue in God’s rest, a fellowship tactic that allows us to stay in sync with Him each and everyday we can wake up and choose to fellowship with Him.

The Word of God, he describes to them is sharper than any two edge sword, active and piercing the soul and spirit, the joints and marrow of each believer.

The word of God is an active thing! it’s sharpness describes the black and white nature of the laws and statutes of God it presents

its piercing of our soul and spirit, the joints and marrow of our bodies describes the way that it guides and directs our lives for Him.

Its not just this book we pull out to gain some academic knowledge, but a guidebook for our lives.

True rest comes from the surrendering that we do to God’s word, and that surrendering that we do then turns to a transformation of our lives and even deeper spiritual rest as we continue to grow.

What do i do?

Let us rest in God’s promise of His rest by making a present choice, each and every one of us, and fulfill that choice to enter into His rest by living in faith and being guided by the Word of God.