Enter the Rest

Introduction

How many of you have ever been promised something only to later be disappointed because the person who made the promise failed to deliver on their word? Carol Spear wrote this in the Sun Magazine regarding broken promises: I was seven when my sitter’s feisty dog chewed up my favorite doll. I waited, for years, for her to fulfill her promise of a new doll to replace it. About the same time the doll was destroyed, my mother promised that she would soon be able to give me an allowance of five dollars a week. I was thrilled.

But like the doll that never arrived, the extravagant allowance became just another wish that never came true. Fortunately, time puts such small matters into perspective. Eventually, I forgave my babysitter, and I forgave my mother, too.

Still, there remain broken promises that touch a chord of sadness. These are not the ones that others made, but that I made myself. Mostly unspoken, they were promises, nevertheless — to my parents, child, friends, first husband, second husband, my husband now . . . and me. Small promises, for the most part. Like the thank-you notes I intended to write, the gifts I meant to give, the love I intended to show, the words I meant to say.

We live a world of broken promises. We have all had our feelings hurt by people simply breaking their promise to be there for us, to help us out or to buy us something. We have had our feelings hurt by people who say that they promise to love us and they end up doing the thing or saying the thing that hurts the worst! To make matters worse, we ourselves break promises each and every day. Today I am going to start living right, I’m going to stop doing this thing or acting this way and I’m going to straighten up - by 5pm we look back and realize that we have failed ourselves and we have broken our own word. This is the human condition and we are all at fault in some capacity! Sadly, for some, this has resulted in their refusal to ever believe and trust fully in someone else. This has fed the movement of self as many people simply trust in themselves and in no one else - yet we know that even that is a trap because we let ourselves down.

As Christians, though, we are encouraged daily to know that God does not let us down. He is faithful on His Word and He is the covenant-keeping God who does not turn His back on His promises! In Scripture there is a promise of rest and we introduced this idea last Sunday in looking at Hebrews 3:7-19 and seeing how the Israelites failed to enter into the rest and how we are encourage one another and believe in the Lord. Our text this morning continues this idea of entering the rest - experiencing peace with God, salvation! Our passage will show us that there certainly is time for work and obedience, but we can never work our own way to heaven - we must rest from our work and trust in Jesus Christ. Our message will look at entering the rest and ask 3 questions that will help us apply this message to our lives:

How do we enter the rest? Through Faith!

When can we enter the rest - do we have to wait until we die? No! Enter in today!

Why should I enter the rest? The Bible commands it!

Trust in Jesus Christ today and rest from the worry of this world and the stress of being “strong enough” on your own.

Hebrews 4:1–13 NASB95

1 Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard. 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, just 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. 4 For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; 5 and again in this passage, “They shall not enter My rest.” 6 Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, 7 He again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, “Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. 9 So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. 11 Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

How? Through Faith (1-2)

What are some of the things that you fear? For some of you it might be snakes or spiders. For others it could be heights or being out on a boat in the lake. For others it could be being lost in a big city while others might be afraid of being lost in the country with no cell reception! We are all afraid of things. According to a study done in 2016 these are the top 10 things that people are afraid of:

Public Speaking

Heights

Going to the Dentist

Snakes

Flying

Spiders/Insects

Closed spaces

Mice

Dogs

Thunder/Lightning/Storms

This is a pretty loaded list and I can attest to being scared of some of the things on this list - but there is something not on this list that should scare all of us even more. Failing to enter the rest. Failing to trust in Jesus Christ and believe in the promise of God that there is salvation through Jesus and through Him alone! It should frighten people to live in opposition to what the Bible says. The preacher of Hebrews starts off this passage by saying that we should fear if we fall short. What does it look like to fall short? It means to reject God and His offer of salvation. The Israelites had the opportunity to enter the rest - yet they disobeyed God and they fell short. Even though they eventually entered the rest, they did not truly have the spiritual rest that is being talked about here. Verse 1 starts with a “therefore” that connects Hebrews 3:18-19 with 4:1 and the end of Hebrews 3 reminds us that the Israelites were disobedient and did not enter because of unbelief. There is a warning here - we’d better believe so that we don’t fall short!

Why do some people not believe in Jesus Christ and what He did for them on the cross? For some people they simply don’t buy the resurrection of Jesus and they see Jesus as a good guy and nothing more. Others think of Jesus as one way to God among several others. Possibly like there are 4-5 paths to get to the top of a mountain and Jesus Christ represents one of those paths but Muhammad and Buddha represent 2 of the other ways. The great news about the Bible is that Jesus Christ isn’t one of several ways, He is the only way. We can have hope in Him because He didn’t stay atop the mountain top - He came down and dwelt among us (John 1:14) and lowered Himself during the incarnation. Jesus, the God-man, taught that there is salvation through Him and Him alone. We’d better consider Him today!

So, how do we enter the rest talked about in Hebrews 4:1? We see verse 2 state that some people have good news preached to them but they did not have faith - they did not believe it. Friends, listen to me today, if you hear nothing else, hear this! Simply hearing Bible stories and hearing the miracles and message of Jesus Christ is not enough for salvation. Listen to the words of Jesus as He quoted the prophet Isaiah in Matthew 13

Matthew 13:14–15 NASB95

14 “In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; 15 For the heart of this people has become dull, With their ears they scarcely hear, And they have closed their eyes, Otherwise they would see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, And understand with their heart and return, And I would heal them.’

We must believe and have faith in Jesus’ message that we must repent because the Kingdom of God is at hand

Matthew 4:17 NASB95

17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

The people of Israel heard the promises and warnings of God but they did not believe and they did not have faith - as a result they died in the wilderness. Likewise for people who do not enter the rest, for the people who do not have faith in Jesus Christ, they will sadly be punished as well. Is this true of you today? Do you identify with the Israelites who heard sermon after sermon and saw God do miracle after miracle and yet whenever it comes time to own your own faith you simply go your own way? Friend - trust in Jesus today.

The awesome news of verse 2 is that there is good news - Romans 5:8 reminds us of this good news that Jesus Christ died for the ungodly and that includes yourself and myself. You have heard that good news and there is time to repent and believe today - what will you do? Will you let this truth profit you and have faith or will you reject it and continue to do what is right in your own eyes and try to work your own way?

Don’t do this - church, have faith and enter the rest that Jesus offers.

When? Today! (3-10)

Whenever we talk about salvation, sometimes we talk about what we are saved from - eternal punishment in hell and separation from God. What we fail to talk about, though, is what we are saved to - we are saved to go out and be ambassadors for Christ and to tell others of the good news! You see, salvation is an already/not yet reality. You are saved immediately! You experience the benefits of salvation immediately whenever the Holy Spirit comes into your life and changes things. That is an “already” dimension to salvation. But there is also a “not yet” dimension as we know that one day we will see our Savior face to face. The only people who have this wonderful assurance in the future and who experience the power of the Holy Spirit in their life today are those who believe and this is the preacher’s main point in this section - believe in Jesus and enter the rest.

Whenever we talk about our timeline and our lives, we have a tendency to get way ahead of ourselves, do we not? I am certainly guilty of this! We are told to take things one day at a time, but it can be easy to plan and think weeks, months and even years in advance! This is true whenever there is something big on your schedule or calendar like turning 16 and getting your license - you plan and can’t wait to be able to drive yourself around. The same can be said for parents who are expecting a child in a few months time, we plan ahead and we think months in advance. There’s nothing wrong with planning and there’s nothing wrong with doing some preparation work and saving money back for a car or preparing a room and setting up a crib for a baby. But the same principle can sadly be taken by some when it comes to spiritual matters as well. Some people think that they have months and months or years and years left to “get right with God” before their time comes. Sadly, we are not guaranteed tomorrow, friends. This rest is freely offered to all and we must respond before it’s too late, why not today?

The preacher notes in verse 4 that God rested and the opportunity to join God in His rest remains available to us today, yet if you reject Him then you shall not enter His rest as the preacher has noted in several places (Hebrews 3:11, 3:18 and now again in 4:3 and 4:5). Some enter in and some reject this invitation - just as was the case for the Israelites in the wilderness.

Why do some people reject and disobey? Why did the Jews reject Jesus? In the words of Stephen in Acts 7

Acts 7:51–53 NASB95

51 “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. 52 “Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; 53 you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”

I think it’s fair to say that we too are stiff-necked and resist what we should do time and time again. This is our human nature - to do what feels right in our own eyes and sometimes that means we disobey what the Word says because our thoughts do not always line up with what the Bible says. In moments like that, friends, we should not disobey but rather our prayer is that we would be reoriented and transformed by the renewing of our mind. That we would respond TODAY. Rather than continuing in disobedience, respond to God’s promise in faith.

Verse 7 stresses this point that we are not guaranteed tomorrow but we do have today. As long as you have today, you have an invitation to respond in faith to the Lord. So if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart! Maybe you think that this is one big accident and mistake. Maybe things aren’t going well for you right now and you’re wondering why is the world in the mess that it’s in right now? I’m not going to pretend to know all of the answers. Our medical experts don’t know all the answers because for every article you see that says something positive you read 2 or 3 that are written not by media members but by other medical experts who say that this situation is going to get worse. We don’t know what tomorrow holds and there is much uncertainty in our world today, but friends know that this is not some random cosmic accident that you are where you’re at right now. God has a purpose and a plan! Don’t feel like you’re in this on your own, trust in the Lord while there is still time to do so.

Verses 8-10 finalize the idea of responding in faith and entering the rest as the preacher uses Joshua as an example. Moses helped lead the Israelites out of Egypt but he disobeyed the Lord and was not allowed to enter the promised land - Joshua, therefore, was the one who led the Israelites into the physical land. The preacher has talked in previous passages about the fact that Jesus is superior to angels and He is superior to Moses, now the preacher notes that Jesus is superior to Joshua - the one who led the Israelites into the promised land and led them to victory after victory in the land.

Listen to verse 8

Hebrews 4:8 NASB95

8 For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that.

Joshua led them into the land of promise, but he could not lead them into God’s rest. Joshua was a great leader, but the Israelites still sinned and messed up. As great a person and leader as Joshua was, he could not give the people true rest. Only Jesus Christ can do that!

How many of you are fans of watching the sun set on your porch? That is one of the most relaxing things that we enjoy doing, especially now that it is a little warmer outside! We enjoy the rest and leisure that can be found in little things like that, but we also know that there will be storms like we experienced a couple of nights ago in which we will not be relaxed but rather a little concerned about the safety of ourselves and others. There are moments of rest but also moments of stress that we experience as humans. Joshua led the people to the rest, but it was not a lasting rest. There were storms and tragedy on the horizon. As verse 8 illustrates, God spoke of another day, a day of everlasting rest. As Christians we know that this is only possible because of Jesus Christ.

That rest remains for the people of God and as verse 10 demonstrates the one who enters this rest does so by resting from his works. This seems a little backwards does it not? We think that we have to get a lot of things done before we can eventually rest, but that’s not how the rest offered by Jesus Christ works. We can never work ourselves in on our own. We must rest from our own works in order to enter His rest. Some people say that Christianity is about living your best life now or here’s 5 or 6 steps to be a better you or to be more graceful or merciful as a human, but that’s not the message of Jesus. His message is this: I am Lord, trust in Me! The work is finished - the end is written. Don’t trust in your own work - rest - trust in Jesus and do so today.

Why? The Bible commands it (11-13)

The final 3 verses in our passage help answer the “so what” question. Why should we believe in Jesus and enter the rest? Why does it even matter? It matters because God see’s all and we are commanded to not disobey like the Israelites did in the wilderness. Verse 11 notes that we must be diligent to enter the rest - this highlights the importance of persevering in difficult times. Whenever things get tough, we don’t back down, rather we encourage one another to hold fast. We don’t follow the example of disobedience, rather we encourage one another to be obedient.

We talked about this last week in Hebrews 3:13 as the preacher notes that Believers should encourage one another day after day so that no one would be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Aren’t you thankful that some people have the gift of encouragement? Certainly all Christians are commanded to encourage others, but some people just have the gift of being a super-encourager of sorts in our lives.

Take Barnabas for example in Acts 11

Acts 11:21–24 NASB95

21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord. 22 The news about them reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas off to Antioch. 23 Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord; 24 for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord.

Barnabas’ name was Joseph but he was called Barnabas by the other apostles and that name means “son of encouragement” - can you imagine being so encouraging to others that they start to call you “son of encouragement?” We could all use a Barnabas in our lives who encourages us to persevere in tough times and to let us know that they are supporting us and praying for us along the way. Sadly, many people both inside and outside the church nowadays are the opposite of Barnabas. We look out for our own best interests and we are not willing to compromise or help others if it means doing something out of our comfort zone - church may we learn from Barnabas and strive to exhort one another to faithfulness. This is the purpose of Christian community - we encourage one another as we study Scripture, sing songs of praise, fellowship and pray with one another and I can’t wait to get to do that in person with you all next week on Mother’s Day! But even apart from one another we can still encourage one another - Are you a Barnabas? Are you encouraging others? How can you do abetter job of encouraging someone else today?

Verses 12 and 13 conclude our message by highlighting the living nature of God’s Word. God’s Word, the Bible, is living and active - it’s not just words on a page like Great Expectations or any other novel that you want to throw in there. It is alive! It changes and transforms lives! I pray that it has transformed your life today because it can melt even the hardest of hearts. The Word is also sharper than any two edged sword - it penetrates and judges! Sometimes there are passages in the Bible that encourage us. There are other passages that challenge us. Others that will convict us and others that will cause tension in our finite minds. That’s ok! We must read Scripture with a humble mind of submission because the Bible is alive and the Bible is God’s truth. That means that in order for us to properly understand it, we must both study and pray for discernment along the way. Scripture cuts deep and it makes us uncomfortable sometimes, but that’s a great thing because Scripture shows us that we are not good enough on our own. We fall short daily. We are close-minded, mean, insensitive, selfish sinners who deserve punishment but Jesus Christ came and offers us eternal life - without the Word of God we would be dead in our sins, but the Word of God is alive and breathes life into our dead bodies.

Verse 13 notes that God see’s all and nothing is hidden from Him. Why do we prioritize the Bible above all else as Christians? In part, because we understand Hebrews 4:13 that states that God is sovereign and His Word is divinely inspired. Therefore for us to understand God, we must read His Word. His Word must trump all else. In the words of Al Mohler, “If we are to become like Jesus, we must study God’s Word.”

Are you studying His Word today? Have you entered His rest?

Conclusion

Even in times of uncertainty, look to Scripture. Trust in what the Bible says because as Calvin noted hundreds of years ago, “When the Bible speaks, God speaks.” This is our hope today as Christians that the same God who spoke the world into existence is the same God who inspired the authors of Scripture to pen the words in our copy of Scripture today! God speaks through His Word today. What must our response to this incredible fact be? We must enter the rest.

We must believe in Jesus Christ and stop trying to work our own way by doing works of our own accord. Rather, we rest from this and trust in Jesus. Whenever we do this, we do work (Faith without works is dead - James 2:14-26) but our works are not done in order to save us, rather they are done because we have been saved.

So how do you enter the rest? By faith in Jesus Christ!

When can you enter the rest? The invitation is available to you today! Don’t keep on pushing it off.

Why should you enter the rest and trust in Jesus Christ? The Bible commands it:

Acts 4:12 NASB95

12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

Trust in Jesus today and experience the rest that gives you peace in the midst of the storm and confidence in the middle of a global pandemic!