Hebrews 4:1-13
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
ANNOUNCEMENTS
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SCRIPTURE MEMORY
SCRIPTURE MEMORY
If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
We continue our study of the book of Hebrews this morning. We’ll cover chapter 4, verses 1-13.
The author has taken a bit of time to speak of the rest that God promised his people. It began back in verse 7 of chapter 3 when he wrote about their Hebrew fathers who were rebellious, disobedient and unbelieving. Their thinking and behavior kept them from entering the promised land, entering rest.
The topic continues here in chapter 4 and our passage is divided into three sections:
A warning
An opportunity
An exhortation
Rather than read the passage in its entirety, I will read the verses for each section.
Pray.
EXPOSITION
EXPOSITION
THE WARNING: FEAR OF MISSING REST
THE WARNING: FEAR OF MISSING REST
SCRIPTURE (4:1-5)
SCRIPTURE (4:1-5)
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.
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.”
MY SERMON NOTES
MY SERMON NOTES
After putting before his readers the example of the Israelites in the wilderness, many of whom didn’t make it to the land of Canaan, he first assures them that God’s promise of rest still stands.
Then he quickly turns it to a warning. BECAUSE the promise of rest is still available, let us fear that some of us might fail to reach it.
Fear (phobeo) = typically the verb means to regard with feelings of respect and reverence; considered hallowed or exalted or be in awe of
But here in this context, it seems more in line with the way we understand fear. Considering the terrible consequences they faced as wavering Jewish Christians, fear was an appropriate emotion. Much was at stake. Eternity is at stake.
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
The NLT, which I wouldn’t treat as a study Bible, but can be useful as supplemental resource in our study of the word, here’s how they translate this verse:
God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it.
I think that captures the gravity of the situation.
Failed = fall short of (Caitlyn’s dunking a basketball analogy)
So the warning that we read in 3:15...
As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
Is reaffirmed here in chapter 4. Don’t be like those in the wilderness! Fear missing out on God’s rest!
The author delves deeper into this warning with three consecutive “for” statements:
for good news came to us as to them (vs 2)
for we who have believed enter that rest (vs 3)
for he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day (vs 4)
The first for: these first century Christians had the gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed to them. It’s a gospel of freedom from sin and the promise of entering God’s eternal rest.
The ancient Hebrews had the same good news: freedom from slavery in Egypt and the promise of rest in the land of Canaan.
The problem for many of those Israelites in the wilderness is the fact that they might have listened, but it wasn’t united with faith.
United (synkerannymi) = to put together, to be or become assembled into a unified whole by mixing or combining different parts.
Reminds me of something our son, Eli, said back in 2019 when he was about 10. Here’s the memory I wrote down...
Eli is eating rhubarb pie and Michelle asks him if he prefers the inside or the crust. Eli responds, "I don't like either one separate, but together they make something great!"
That’s the essence of verse 2. Not just listening, but listening in faith, which leads to obedience.
Charles Spurgeon: God, send us this holy mixture of the hearing and the believing, to our soul’s salvation, to His glory.
The message the Israelites heard was of no value to them because they didn’t mix it with faith, so as to walk in that message. So the unbelievers were not united with the believers.
It didn’t matter that they were all physical heirs of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. What mattered is whether they believed or not. And so it was for those first century Jews who became Christians. It was all about faith. And nothing has changed since there, nor will it ever change.
The message is clear: in order for the readers of this book, including us, to profit from God’s invitation to rest, we must exercise faith.
Which leads to the next “for”
For we who have believed, or we who believe, enter that rest.
The “rest” of promised land in the OT is a shadow of the true rest found in Christ. Do you want to ender that rest, that permanent, eternal rest? Believe.
And here’s an example of the already and the not yet. We have entered God’s rest in Christ, but we have not yet finished our walk, and look forward to future rest. Already and not yet.
This rest was established from the foundation of the world, leading to the third “for”
The author is quoting Genesis 2.2
And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.
The point here is that the idea of rest began with God. He finished his work of creation and then rested, setting a precedent for us.
Later his Son would say...
But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”
God’s work at creation may have been done, but his work of redemption began when Adam and Eve sinned.
That redemptive work culminated in his Son who would pay the ransom for us to be free - the price? His blood. At the cross, Jesus declared, “It is finished.”
And because Christ’s work is finished, he resting, seated at the right of the father. Is he tired? How can the all-powerful creator of the world ever be tired. No, his work was complete.
Here, we move on from the warning to the opportunity: rest still remains.
THE OPPORTUNITY: REST STILL REMAINS
THE OPPORTUNITY: REST STILL REMAINS
SCRIPTURE (4:6-10)
SCRIPTURE (4:6-10)
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.
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.
MY SERMON NOTES
MY SERMON NOTES
This is good news: there is still opportunity to enter God’s rest. Yes, there was the promise of rest for the Hebrew people after being rescued from Egypt, and yes, that rest involved a land of their own, a land flowing with milk and honey.
The author has already established the fact that just being a Jew by birth didn’t mean automatic entrance into that rest. Rebellion, disobedience, unbelief kept an entire generation (minus a few) from experiencing the promise.
But God called upon Joshua to lead the remaining Hebrews into Canaan. Did Joshua lead them to rest?
Well, listen to these passages from the book of Joshua...
Thus the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there.
And the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands.
Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.
And then from chapter 22...
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.
So, that’s all there is to the concept of rest, right. God promised and he delivered. Done deal?
Of course not, because we know that was merely a shadow of God’s ultimate rest.
As our author points out...
For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on.
What is the other day later on that he’s referring to?
What David wrote in Psalm 95, what’s he’s been quoting over and over again in the last two chapters...
Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
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.”
Long after the rebellion in the wilderness, long after Joshua had accomplished the Lord’s work in the promised land, we get this challenge from David: Today, if you hear his voice...
This tells us that there is rest still available for those who put their trust in God. It’s not a rest found in a piece of property on earth - that was just a shadow. No, there’s a greater rest available and if you want to experience it, it will take faith to grab hold of it.
This greater rest is rest from mankind’s greatest striving - to earn our salvation. Sin has separated us from God, so we work and we work and we work to try to get back into a right relationship with our Creator, hoping our good works will outweigh the bad.
And if you were a Jew, you were striving with never-ending sacrifices, hoping to appease the wrath of God.
Do you know someone striving to get into God’s good graces? Maybe that someone is you. Just when we think we’re close, the Law brings to light another area of our lives where we fall short. It’s like that elusive carrot on a stick - we can never seem to do enough to reach it.
No wonder Jesus said...
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
This is Jesus, who declared himself to be Lord of the Sabbath, offering Sabbath rest from our labors. Whoever enters God’s rest in Christ, has also rested from his works as God did from his.
Do you remember the account when Jesus fed the 5,000 plus crowd with 5 barley loaves and two small fish?
Afterward, he gets into a boat and the crowd follows him to the other side of the sea. Here’s the exchange in John 6...
When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.
Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”
Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
Believe. Believe in God, the Creator of the universe, the One who so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever BELIEVES in him shall not perish but have eternal rest, eternal life.
There is only one work that is acceptable to God that gains us access into his rest - that one work is believing in Christ and His work on the cross.
We’ve covered the warning: fear missing out on God’s rest
We just talked about the opportunity: God’s rest remains. TODAY if you hear his voice...
So now comes the exhortation: strive to enter that rest!
THE EXHORTATION: STRIVE TO ENTER REST
THE EXHORTATION: STRIVE TO ENTER REST
SCRIPTURE (4:11-13)
SCRIPTURE (4:11-13)
Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
MY SERMON NOTES
MY SERMON NOTES
That word strive means to be eager, to be zealous. Again, it’s not about our works, but about Christ’s finished work on the cross. So our striving, what we ought to be eager to do is to believe and to continue to believe.
Don’t fall short like the Israelites did in the wilderness. Don’t allow the struggles of life to undermine your faith in God and his promises, leading to rebellion, disobedience and ultimately unbelief.
There may be a number of things that we are eager to do in this life, things we are zealous for - our family, sports, fishing. May there be one striving that rises far above all these temporal things: striving to enter God’s rest.
Is anything more important than that? When all is said is done, will it matter how many Instagram followers we have, how much wealth we’ve accumulated, or how many titles are behind my name?
For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
Strive to enter God’s rest; it’s available in Christ. Don’t let unbelief creep into your heart, keeping you from laying hold of God’s promises.
And it’s not just about ME keeping on eye on Me.
Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
So that no one may fall. I hear in these words an exhortation to watch out, not just for myself, but also for each other. This is what it means to be part of Christ’s body.
There are two more verses in our passage. They might seem out of place in light of all this discussion about God’s rest.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
Take a look a the general outline of Hebrews:
The Superiority of Christ’s Identity (1:1-4:13)
The Superiority of Christ’s Priesthood (4:14-7:28)
The Superiority of Christ’s Sacrifice (8:1-10:39)
The Sufficiency of Faith (11:1-13:25)
Today we are wrapping up the first section, and the final two verses of our passage provide a fitting closing.
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.
Just think about all the OT references that our author used in this first section. And remember how this book started?
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
Our God speaks. He spoke through the prophets and now finally through his Son.
This word of God is living and active because our God is a living, all-knowing, all-seeing. His word is like a surgeon’s knife discerning our innermost thoughts and ideas.
One commentator made the following insightful comment...
Hebrews: Verse by Verse The Standard-Bearer: The Word of God (4:12–13)
The description of the word as “sharper than any double-edged sword” (see also
Paul writes about the armor of God in Ephesians 6. Listen this...
and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
And from God’s revelation to John...
In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
Spurgeon wrote...
The CSB Spurgeon Study Bible: Notes Chapter 4
A sword with two edges has no blunt side; it cuts both this way and that. The Word of God is edge all over. It is alive in every part, and in every part keen to cut the conscience and wound the heart. Depend on it: not a verse in the Bible is unnecessary or a chapter that is useless.
The author of Hebrews is using that sword to cut through all the doubts, all the confusion, all the noise of the Judaizers to point them back to Jesus, the way, the truth and the life.
If these Jews want to get to the Father, it won’t be by returning to the old ways under the old covenant. In other words: it won’t be by returning to Egypt.
It will only be through Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, ratified with his blood.
Friends, none of us are hidden from his sight. We are like Adam and Eve in the Garden after they sinned: naked and exposed.
We try to hide; we try to cover our nakedness with our own self-righteousness. But that will never do.
Don’t settle for fig leaves when God has already provided the clothing of the sacrificed Lamb of God. Let the merciful and gracious deliverer take your sin and replace it with his righteousness.
When we put our faith in Jesus, we enter God’s rest, for Jesus is our Sabbath rest.
It’s no longer about a day of the week, but an everyday rest in Christ.
Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, but put your faith in God.
APPLICATION
APPLICATION
I want to close with some insightful thoughts from one of my favorite commentators, Warren Wiersbe.
He writes...
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Three: Greater than Moses (Hebrews 3:1–4:13)
The Canaan rest for Israel is a picture of the spiritual rest we find in Christ when we surrender to Him. When we come to Christ by faith, we find salvation rest (
He draws these insights from Matt 11, which I referenced earlier..
Salvation Rest
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Submission Rest
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Wiersbe goes on to write: The first - salvation rest - is peace WITH God...
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
And the second is the peace OF God from Philippians 4:6-8
do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
He concludes by writing:
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Three: Greater than Moses (Hebrews 3:1–4:13)
It is by believing that we enter into rest; it is by obeying God by faith and surrendering to His will that the rest enters into us.
Amen!
Pray.
REFLECTION
REFLECTION
CLOSING SONG
CLOSING SONG
Christ Our Hope In Life and Death
BENEDICTION
BENEDICTION
