The Lord's Rest

Therefore, since the promise to enter his rest remains, let us beware that none of you be found to have fallen short. For we also have received the good news just as they did. But the message they heard did not benefit them, since they were not united with those who heard it in faith. For we who have believed enter the rest, in keeping with what he has said,

So I swore in my anger,“They will not enter my rest,”

even though his works have been finished since the foundation of the world. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in this way: And on the seventh day God rested from all his works. Again, in that passage he says, They will never enter my rest.

This is the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.

Last week, we saw how the Israelites, who were not allowed to enter the Promised Land, had angered God because of their disobedience. The author of Hebrews then stated that Israel’s disobedience was actually a sign of their unbelief. They didn’t believe that God was their ultimate Savior worth giving honor, praise, and worship to, but instead was someone to call out to when they wanted something or were tired of God’s provision because they wanted more. He was their vending machine, not their Lord.

Unbelief leads to unrest. The author has repeatedly quoted parts of Psalm 95 and will continue to do so many more times in the upcoming weeks. The psalmist says that those who rebelled against God were not allowed to enter into the Lord’s rest. If we continue in disobedience, it will show that we are not actually a part of God’s family, but are to be considered unbelievers who will not be given the rest that God has appointed for those who submit to him.

Our passage today continues to provide warnings for the church to stay vigilant, assessing our standing with the Lord on a consistent basis. This passage also tells us that God’s children will enter into his rest, but not just a heavenly rest. We must understand that when we submit our lives to Christ, we can experience God’s rest here and now, in this world.

Big Idea: God’s rest is available for you today.

We do not have to wait for our death, or for Christ to return, to begin experiencing the rest that God provides for his people.

Hebrews 4:1

Therefore, since the promise to enter his rest remains, let us beware that none of you be found to have fallen short.

The author continues his line of reasoning concerning the Israelites' disobedience due to their unbelief. Remember, the people of Israel failed to obey or trust God 10 different times from the Exodus out of Egypt to the entering of the Promised Land. Canaan was supposed to be their land of rest, a place they could call their own. The author goes on to say that the promise to enter God’s rest remains. There is still a place of rest that humanity can enter into; however, our passage says that we should be careful not to fall short.

There are a couple of things that we must understand about this warning. The first is that there is a promised rest for God’s children, his people. For a very long time, the people of Israel were a nomadic people. Abraham was not from the land of Canaan (which we know as modern-day Israel and Palestine), but was from Ur of the Chaldeans, on the Euphrates River in southern Iraq.

Abraham’s father, Terah, left Ur to head toward Canaan with his two living sons, their wives, and his grandson Lot, whose father was Haran, and they settled in an area they called Haran, after Abraham’s brother who had died. This area is around the border of Northern Syria and Southern Turkey, northeast of Israel today. If you were to walk that distance today, by yourself, not having to keep track of a massive amount of livestock, servants, family members, and hauling your tents, tools, and everything you own on camels and donkeys, it would be like hiking from Tacoma, WA to Redding, California (about 600 miles). That is 220 hours just of travel time for a single person without having to also tend to everything else you own.

While in Haran, God calls Abraham to leave his family, take his wife, his nephew Lot, and all their belongings, and go into the land of Canaan. Abraham travels through Canaan because of the people groups living there, and settled in the area of the Negev in southern Israel (another 500 miles). Due to a famine, he travels to Egypt for a bit (another 300-400 miles). Then he comes back into Canaan. His son Isaac does a little bit of traveling through Canaan, but doesn’t move around nearly as much as his father did.

Jacob, however, ran off to his uncle Nahor back up in Haran (400 miles north) after buying his brother’s birthright with a bowl of stew and stealing his brother’s blessing by pretending to be his brother to his blind father. While in Haran, Jacob gets married…twice (that is a whole other story of deception and bad family dynamics that we don’t have time for today). Starts having kids, gains livestock for himself, and returns with his family and possessions to Canaan. His sons are horrible to each other, selling their second youngest brother, Joseph, into slavery, sending him to Egypt, where, through the grace and providence of God, Joseph becomes second in command of all of Egypt, helping the people store up food for a coming famine. During that famine, his family ended up coming down to Egypt for food, and they were all reunited (400 miles south of central Canaan).

Though they lived in Egypt for 400 years, the Israelites knew that Egypt was not their home. They weren't even allowed to live in Egypt, because they were mainly shepherds, and Egyptians looked down on shepherds, so the Israelites lived in Goshen, which was part of the Nile River delta on the coast of the Mediterranean.

(Now you know the basics of what happens from Genesis 11 through the end of Genesis 50.)

The Israelites did not have a country of their own. And then, while in Egypt, they were eventually enslaved by the Egyptians. Estimates say that Israel was enslaved in Egypt for about 200 of the 430 years they were there.

These people did not really know rest. God had promised rest to the people of Israel. That is what Canaan was supposed to be. It was the Promised Land, the place that Israel could finally call home. But as we saw last week, Israel was not allowed to enter because of their unbelief and disobedience.

The second thing we must see in this first verse is that God still promises rest for his people. God’s rest is still a reality that we can take part in. For us, that rest is in knowing God as our Father through submission to Jesus Christ.

And just so we are clear, I am not just talking about heaven. Yes, if we have submitted ourselves to Christ, he has taken out our heart of stone and given us a heart of flesh, we will have rest in heaven. Revelation 21:4 tells us that heaven is the place where…

Revelation 21:4

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.

In heaven, there is no need for tears because there is life, joy, happiness, and health! I don’t know about the rest of you, but when I read there will be no more pain, my knees start screaming amen! And while we are still in this world here on earth, where there is death, grief, tears, crying, and pain, we can still experience the Lord’s rest in this life. As the Big Idea states for today:

Big Idea: God’s rest is available for you today.

When we submit our lives to God, the Holy Spirit works in our hearts and starts planting seeds, growing the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. These fruit are part of God’s rest!

When the world wants nothing to do with Christianity, when we see people celebrating the deaths of Christians, when we see that since 2009, around 100,000 Christians have been killed just in the country of Nigeria by Islamic extremists, when we see on the news that Christian street preachers in London are being harassed by the police and arrested for proclaiming that people need to repent of their sins and turn to Christ as the only way of salvation while Muslim calls to prayer are being played out over a loud speaker, we can have rest.

Now these types of events can cause a lot of angst, concern, and even fear over the fact that we might have to endure the same things as we live for Christ and proclaim him as the only way to heaven. I have had a lot of conversations with my wife and with other believers about the uneasiness that the church is experiencing because we are seeing more persecution of the church. And yes, it gives me concern about what someone may do if they don’t like what I preach here to this congregation.

At the same time, being in Christ, sharing in the benefits of knowing him, I can have love for those who would persecute me, praying for them to experience the love and grace of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit’s work within me helps me to extend love, grace, kindness, and goodness to those who hate me, pointing them to something outside of me that cannot be explained by human reasoning.

I can have joy when strong Christian leaders pass on from this world and enter into the presence of Jesus because I know that they are no longer in pain. They are no longer in a world of suffering and hurt and destruction. They have reached the ultimate goal of being with Jesus.

I can have peace that no matter what happens to me, whether I am persecuted or going through financial struggles because of a bad economy, God is still in control and will work out all things for the good of those who love him. This then helps to establish faithfulness to God in my heart.

When someone yells at me and calls me names for what I say, I can have patience with that person, showing gentleness and self-control, realizing that they may be responding to me out of a hurt or wound that is years or decades old and has nothing to do with me. I am just the person with whom the overflow of that person’s trauma finally spilled out. If you were listening, you would have noticed that I mentioned all nine of the fruit of the Spirit.

When the author of Hebrews gives the warning that we should beware not to fall short, this is not a call for works-based righteousness, but for full submission to Christ. As I said last week, there is no amount of serving your family, friends, or the church, no amount of good deeds that you can perform that will make up for your sin. Even in light of doing all those things, we cannot think that we will reach God’s standard by our works.

Romans 3:23

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

You want to know what this verse is saying?

Our good works are not good enough.

Saint Augustine has been quoted many times concerning his thoughts on how we should view the great works that we humans perform:

"Our best works, because of the way in which they remain tainted by our human pride, are, at best, splendid vices"

St. Augustine of Hippo

I mentioned last week that one of the pastors and theologians who has had a major impact on my preaching passed away at the age of 56: Voddie Baucham. One of my favorite quotes of his has to do with the clarity of what it means to “fall short” of receiving God’s rest.

“All the gospel requires is repentance and faith. That’s it. Nothing else.” Then he waits a few seconds and says, “I paused there intentionally because some of you are getting really uncomfortable right now. You’re going, ‘Well, what about obedience?’” He says, “That’s not what the gospel requires. That’s what the gospel produces. If the gospel were to require obedience from us, then that would mean we could be obedient apart from the person and work of Christ, and Jesus died for nothing. The gospel produces obedience in us, joyful obedience in us. If we get these things mixed up, that’s when we end up in legalism, moralism, and works-righteousness. And that is when the good news is not really good news at all. It becomes burdensome.”

Voddie Baucham

See, when the author of Hebrews warns his readers not to be found to have fallen short, he is telling them to look at their lives in response to what he was just saying about Israel being unable to enter the Promised Land because their disobedience was actually a sign of their unbelief.

Falling short means not believing God for his salvation, for his provision, and for his rest. We cannot do anything to earn all of that. Only Christ has done enough to earn God’s rest. We receive that rest through Christ’s righteousness when we submit to him.

Hebrews 4:2

For we also have received the good news just as they did. But the message they heard did not benefit them, since they were not united with those who heard it in faith.

Those who read Scripture have received the good news, or the gospel, the message of God’s plan to rescue his people, just as Israel did. However, we see that the message did not benefit almost the entire first generation of Israelites coming out of slavery in Egypt because they did not believe. The fact that they didn’t believe means they were not united with those who heard the message of God’s salvation in faith and believed.

The gospel does nothing for you if you do not believe it. You can know everything there is about the Bible, but if you have no faith to believe what it says, it is of no value to you.

There is a man on social media that I follow named Wes Huff. His area of expertise is in ancient documents. He is a strong Christian, whose knowledge, humility, and clarity about Scripture and how we got the collection of books and letters that we now have in the Bible have given him the opportunity to talk about the Bible and preach the gospel for 3 hours on Joe Rogan’s podcast, which is regularly the most listened to podcast in the world. Joe Rogan is not a Christian, but has started attending church and has kept in contact with Wes since that interview.

Wes has told the story of one of his professors in seminary. This professor knew the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke; John is a completely different style compared to the other 3 gospels) so well that if you named a story, like the healing of the synagogue leader's daughter that is found in Matthew 9:18-26, he could tell you from memory that the same story is also found in Mark 5:21-43 and Luke 8:40-56.

This same professor did not believe the Bible to be God’s Word or even to be historically true. He knew what the Bible said and where it said it, but it did not change how he viewed God.

I wonder the same thing about a person like Jordan Peterson. I have heard Jordan Peterson talk about Scripture and the beauty of what it says, and how it is a fantastic guide for how we should live in this world. And at the same time, the way he talks about Scripture does not indicate that there has been a heart change, that Christ has so overwhelmed him that he cannot help but proclaim Jesus as The Way, The Truth, and The Life. I do not know Jordan Peterson’s heart and cannot say that he is or isn’t a Christian. But I can look at the fruit of his life and of his words and think that, while it sounds and looks good, it's missing something.

If you have not proclaimed Jesus as your Savior and believed in him for your salvation, you are not a part of his family, and the gospel has not been a benefit to you…yet. But like I said last week, that does not need to be the end of the story. You can call on Christ today to save you from your sins, believing in him for your salvation.

Romans 10:9-10, 13

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation…For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Next Step: Memorize Romans 10:9-10, 13

Today is the day to submit to Christ.

Next Step: I will repent and submit my life to Christ.

If you are making that commitment today…

Hebrews 4:3

For we who have believed enter the rest, in keeping with what he has said,

So I swore in my anger,“They will not enter my rest,”

even though his works have been finished since the foundation of the world.

The author now contrasts those who have not believed in God for salvation with those who have. Those who believe the Word of God, who submit their lives to him, they enter the Lord’s rest. We saw the past couple of weeks in Psalm 95, which the author quotes from again here in our passage today, that God was angry and would not allow Israel, the unbelievers, to enter his rest.

God is right to be angry against sin. When we sin, we tell God we know better than him. When we give our attention and praise to things other than God, we are stealing praise, honor, and glory from him and giving it to someone or something else, perhaps even to ourselves.

Some people shudder at the fact that God is a jealous God. He wants what belongs to him. We see this in the second commandment that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai.

Exodus 20:4-6

Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. Do not bow in worship to them, and do not serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commands.

He created this world. He can set up the rules and laws that he wants. We have no right to complain against the God of the universe, who was kind and loving enough to actually create each and every one of us in his image, giving us breath, allowing us to take part in the blessings that he bestows upon all of creation. He did not have to create any of us. His creation came from an overflow of love between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When we do what God says is wrong, we deserve punishment.

One way I heard a preacher explain it is this way:

This preacher had heard Oprah say in an interview that she couldn’t believe that the Bible says God is a jealous God. She said that the idea of an all-powerful, all-loving God being jealous of her didn’t “work” for her. (This is true. You can see video clips of it all over YouTube.)

The preacher goes on to say that Oprah has made a lot of money for herself and has built a media empire. He says that if someone came into her company and said, “So, I don’t like the rules that are set up around here. I am running this company now. You can all just do what you want.”

He says, “How do you think Oprah would respond to that? Would she be all-loving and say, ‘Oh, that’s nice. You can still work here and think that, while also influencing others to disobey the rules I have set up for my own company.’ No! She would have a security guard escort that person out of the building and never let them in again.”

Why? Because it is HER company. This person just tried to usurp her authority and take in all the earthly benefits that Oprah had rightfully earned herself. Oprah would be angry, showing the rightful jealousy of wanting the credit, honor, and benefits of her efforts to go to her and not to someone who just walked in and tried to claim they were now in charge.

We must understand that when we sin, when we do what we want because it “feels right”, or because “it makes me happy”, that is us telling God, “I am taking over the job of declaring what is moral, what is fair, what is equal or equitable, what is right or wrong, etc.” My friends, that is a very dangerous game to play. When our attitudes start heading that direction, we are falling into a place of our hearts being hardened to sin, building up callouses on our hearts that can feel less and less conviction, falling farther from God’s grace and mercy.

That does not mean that God cannot pull you back! But it does mean that there may be more discipline, more hurt, more reconciliation that needs to take place with others as God refines, sanctifies you, and leads you back to the truth.

The spiritual rest that the author mentions from Psalm 95 is not something incomplete or unfinished. God’s rest is based upon a finished work which God purposed in eternity past. We can know God’s rest because of the work of Jesus Christ. His perfect life, his death, and his resurrection have provided all the work necessary for us to enter God’s rest. And as I said a couple of weeks ago, the cross was always plan A. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit set this plan in motion before the creation of the world.

In God’s creation, he also provided rest for his people.

Hebrews 4:4-5

For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in this way: And on the seventh day God rested from all his works. Again, in that passage he says, They will never enter my rest.

The author goes back to Genesis 2:2, telling of how God rested on the 7th day. God did not NEED to rest. However, he rested for a reason.

This passage is used to show that God’s rest is real, that it can be “entered into.” God himself rested when he finished creation. His resting was setting an example, pointing to the rest we can have in him when we submit our lives to Him as our King. And as we saw earlier, we get to see a shadow of that rest as Christians in our daily lives even before we get to heaven.

One of the ways we can experience a foretaste of God's rest is through observing a Sabbath. This is a day where you actively rest, not going to work and getting caught up in the everyday hustle and bustle of life. You choose to spend time with your family. You only answer your phone if it is a family emergency. You spend more time in the Word and in prayer to seek the Lord and point your family and friends to the Lord. Maybe you have friends over for a potluck and just take time to catch up and encourage each other in the faith.

The Sabbath should not be legalistic. That was what the Pharisees had done to the Sabbath. They put so many man-made rules around the Sabbath that they got mad at Jesus for healing and restoring a man's shriveled hand on the Sabbath. Doing a good deed and serving someone else was not allowed. That is not the purpose of the Sabbath.

The Sabbath is a reminder, a looking ahead to the full rest we will be able to enter when we leave this world and run into the physical arms of Jesus.

However, the Israelites in the wilderness were not allowed to enter that rest because of their disobedience. Their disobedience was a sign of their unbelief. They did not actually believe in God.

If you do not submit to God’s authority, giving your life to him, laying down your wants, desires, and dreams to take up your cross and follow Jesus wherever he leads, you will never know God’s rest.

Today is the day to give your life to Christ. Do not wait. Our lives and bodies are too fragile to think, “I'll have time to submit to God later.” You might not. Voddie Baucham did not wake up thinking that he was going to have a heart attack that day and leave behind a wife and nine children. Charlie Kirk was not expecting to be shot that day three weeks ago.

However, both of those men knew where they were going when it was their last day. You can have that same confidence. It is not a confidence in your accomplishments, or in your good deeds, but a confidence in the work of Christ applied to your life. Our good deeds are filthy rags. But the works of Christ provide the peace of salvation that can only be found in him.

If you need to submit to Christ today, I will repeat my next step from earlier for you.

Next Step: I will repent and submit to Christ

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