The Promise of Rest

Pastor E. Keith Hassell

Foundation Scripture: Hebrews 4:1-16

I. This passage establishes three realities

A. God has given us a promise of rest

B. Some never enter His rest

C. The characteristics of those who do enter His rest

D. Today we will focus on the characteristics of those who do enter His rest

II. The characteristic of faith (vs. 2-3)

A. Faith must be mixed with the word of God’s promise

B. Those who believe do enter His rest

C. Hebrews 6:13 “that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”

III. The characteristic of obedience (vs. 4-10)

A. Hebrews 3:17-18 “Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey?”

IV. The characteristic of diligence (v. 11)

A. Hebrews 10:35-36 “Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.”

V. The characteristic of accountability (vs. 12-13)

A. Accountability to Jesus, the Word of God who sees all

VI. The characteristic of confession (vs. 14-15)

A. NOT the confession of our sin but the confession of our faith

B. Romans 10:8-10 “But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

C. The “Word of Faith” includes:

1. Belief in the heart resulting in righteousness (i.e. “right standing before God”)

2. Confession of the mouth resulting in salvation (i.e. “deliverance from danger, evil, difficulty, destruction, etc.)

VII. The characteristic of grace (v. 16)

A. We need God’s mercy and grace to go the distance

B. Only through God’s mercy and grace can we enter His rest