Strathalbyn Church of Christ

Heb 4:1-11. Theme: Strive to enter his rest! Sermon by Pastor David Williams. Strathalbyn Church of Christ. 12 Sept 2021.

(Supplementary readings - Numbers 13:1-2 and 13:25-14:2)

Pray: Thank you Lord we can come to you wherever we are at. Especially when our hearts are troubled, our minds perplexed, our energy gone. Grant us your peace, Lord. As we come to your Word, help us to know your rest. In Jesus name, Amen.

Apart from Christ, there is no rest.

A Christian friend is tired and stressed and is turning to Buddhist meditation to find peace and rest. Others turn to drugs, or counselling. But apart from Christ, there is no rest. This is not to scorn counselling or legal drugs, they have their place, but spiritual rest – rest from shame, guilt and fear – that needs a deeper healing than any human can bring. Only Christ can bring permanent healing to these wounds.

Augustine said of God, “You have formed us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in You”. Pascal made a similar point: “There was once in man a true happiness. All that now remains is only the mark and empty trace, which he in vain tries to fill … The infinite abyss can only be filled … by God himself”. Only in Christ can we find rest. Today’s passage has 4 parts:

God’s rest:

1. Don’t miss it!

2. What is it?

3. It is for the taking!

4. The challenge to rest

1. Warning – don’t miss the rest!

When Israel first got to the edge of the Promised Land, some spies went ahead and came back with terrifying stories of giants. Israel said, let’s go back to slavery in Egypt. But two spies, Joshua and Caleb, brought good news (literally, the gospel). They said, the land is ours for the taking. Giants? So, what! God is on our side (Num 14:7-9).

Israel heard the gospel – the good news – yet did not believe.

For good news came to us just as to them (Israel). But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God, v2.

Yes, they believed in God, but doubted him. They doubted his power and his promises. They doubted his power over giants, they doubted his promises to protect them. They rebelled against their Creator and Saviour. They wanted Egypt back. This is staggering as they had seen his mighty works – sending plagues upon the Egyptians, parting the Red Sea, and providing miraculously for them in the Wilderness.

So God swore an oath that none of those Israelites – none but for Caleb and Joshua – would enter his rest – the Promised Land (Num 14:30).

Don’t think that we can sit smugly and think that we are somehow different to those Israelites. They had the Gospel yet rebelled. We can hear God’s words and believe in him, yet not trust him. We can doubt his power and his promises. Are you hearing and trusting his word today?

Belief and trust

You may believe. You may believe passionately. But do you trust him? Are you willing to let go of the things that are important to you for his sake? Even the demons believe, and shudder, James 2:19. They don’t trust.

What father would be impressed with a son who says, “Yes, I believe you are my Dad, but I didn’t trust you to pick me up, so I found my own way home with a stranger”.

Simply believing something is true will not bring rest. Only trust will do that. The disciples were amazed at Jesus being fast asleep in the boat that was about to go down in a ferocious storm. Jesus trusted his Father and could rest despite a storm that even terrified fishermen (Mark 4:35-41).

There is a rest for you. You can know it today. It only needs trust.

2. What is this rest?

There are three rests spoken of here.

i. God’s rest from creation

And God rested on the seventh day from all his works, v4.

ii. Joshua’s rest in the Land

So, God’s rest is there for people to enter, but those who first heard this good news failed to enter because they disobeyed God, v6.

God promised rest to Israel – the Promised Land – but most failed to enter because they refused to enter it.

iii. A rest yet to come

a. David

So, God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today. God announced this through David much later in the words already quoted:

“Today when you hear his voice,
don’t harden your hearts”, v7.

David warned the readers of his day, don’t harden your hearts like they did in the Wilderness, or you won’t enter God’s rest either. But David’s readers were already in the Promised Land, so there must be a future rest David was talking about. The writer goes on:

Now if Joshua had succeeded in giving them this rest, God would not have spoken about another day of rest still to come, v8.

So, the Promised Land was just a taste of a future heavenly rest.

b. Hebrews

And this is not the end of the story. For the Spirit speaks through his word (3:7) and so writer of Hebrews could say to his readers, Today, if hear … don’t harden your hearts, v7_._

c. Us

And for us today, Spirit stills speaks through David’s words! Today, if hear … don’t harden your hearts.

But what is God’s rest?

a. It is ‘my rest’.

God warned, “As I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest!” v3. We are invited to share the rest that God himself enjoys! Imagine Prince Charles invited you to the royal retreat in Scotland and took you out grouse shooting – or in Charles’ case, probably picking his organic beans. Then going for a walk around the Lochs. We have a rest far better than hanging out with Prince Charles and his organic beans!

b. It is a cosmic rest.

God’s rest is much more than a holiday. After creating the universe, God rested on the seventh day. This is the rest we’ve been invited to share. On the first six days, each ended with, and there was evening and there was morning … This doesn’t happen for the seventh day. The reason is that we are still in the seventh day. His rest began when he completed his work of creation and continues today, and we can share in it!

c. God’s rest is joyful and satisfying.

Creation was such a joyful event that even the “the morning stars sang together, and all the angels shouted for joy”, Job 38:7. As each day’s work was done, God pronounced it good, and then very good. God rested satisfied with what he had accomplished.

d. God’s rest is a productive rest

God’s rest is not a laying down of tools. It is more like a builder who finishes a house and looks back to admire the completed work. God’s rest is a working rest. God’s main work of creation was finished, but that doesn’t mean God has now gone fishing or fallen asleep. Jesus said, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working", John 5:17. God’s rest is a productive rest. Our rest in heaven will see us engaged in productive, satisfying and joyful work, as we do his work.

3. Rest is for the taking!

a. Both now and then

God’s rest is available to us now: For we who have believed enter that rest, v3. We can experience heaven now. As we trust in his promise of rest, so we will experience it.

And we also live in the hope of that future rest, for “there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God”, v9. We are living in that transition period. It’s like a concert. The entry ticket has been paid for – your entry is guaranteed. But you haven’t arrived yet. Actually, it’s even more certain than a ticket to a concert – there won’t be any COVID cancellations in heaven!

b. Disbelief = Disobedience

Only two things can stop us entering his rest – unbelief and disobedience. Notice how unbelief and disobedience are interchangeable.

For this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God, v2.

So, God’s rest is there for people to enter, but those who first heard this good news failed to enter because they disobeyed God, v6.

Unbelief and disobedience are interchangeable. Faith is shown in works. Unbelief in hard hearts and disobedience.

c. Enter Today!

So God’s rest is there for people to enter, v6. God’s rest is offered to all. Do you know his rest? This offer is not available forever. There is urgency in the warning, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts!”, v7. If you have not entered his rest, you can do it today! You can have it now. It is as simple as walking through a door. Will you walk through that door into his kingdom, into his rest? Will you leave behind your guilt, your shame, your pride, and walk through that door to give your life to him?

Today, you can know rest, you can know peace. You don’t have to do anything. He has done it all for you. Simply trust and obey.

4. The challenge to rest.

Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience, v. 11.

How do we make every effort?

Focus on the rest

Like Paul, we need to be focused:

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of the goal. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus, Phil 3:13-14.

Remember, it is God’s rest we are invited to share in. It is a rest that is joyful, satisfying and productive.

Trust in his promise.

Are you fully confident that God will give you the rest he has promised? Dispel your doubts. Trust your Creator, trust your Saviour. Know the peace and rest that Christ has won for us. There is a God-shaped blank in us all. By allowing God to fill that blank, to fill your life, you will know his peace, his rest.

Prayer: Lord, fill that God shaped blank that lies in the heart of us all. Fill it with the love, grace and peace – the rest – of your son Jesus Christ. Amen.

Source:

Hughes, R. K. (1993). Hebrews: An anchor for the soul. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Books.