HEBREWS: “A Greater Test & Rest, pt.2 (Hebrews 4:1-13)" | 9/17/23
Hebrews 4:1-13 | 9/17/23 | Will DuVal
I subscribe to Voice of the Martyrs’ monthly email list, and just this past week, I received the following update on our Christian brothers and sisters in Eritrea:
“VOM contacts in Eritrea have reported police raids on church meetings. Christians who dare to ignore government warnings and gather with other believers are taken to prison. Last month, 42 Christians were arrested for gathering to pray… Eight of those arrested were children. Today, almost 400 Eritrean believers are being [detained]. The conditions inside these “prisons'' are some of the harshest in the world. Christian prisoners are provided meager rations and held in metal shipping containers in extreme desert conditions — searing heat by day and bitter cold by night. Others have been held in underground cells without light or ventilation. Some who have refused to renounce their faith in Christ have been kept behind bars for more than 15 years. Christian prisoners are held without charge and without trials, and they are forbidden from seeing their families. [Even if] prisoners are released, they are blacklisted by the government. They are unable to get jobs and are watched constantly. ”
Now, if I asked you to put yourself in the shoes of our Eritrean brothers and sisters in Christ this morning, and imagine what they must FEEL like, living under that kind of persecution, you might come up with a list of 10 or 15 adjectives to describe their presumed emotional state, but I bet NOWHERE on that list would be the words: “RESTFUL”. Well-RESTED.
And yet, this morning, as we continue our study of the book of Hebrews, a book written to a 1st c. Roman church facing the same kinds of circumstances as the modern-day Eritrean church, our anonymous author carries on for THIRTEEN VERSES, all about REST - the REST that God is offering them in His Son Jesus. And when I put it that way, you may at first think, “Well how INSENSITIVE! Rest must be the FURTHEST thing from his congregants’ lived experience.” And yet, this good pastor knows that rest is NEVER far from the MINDS of his people - it is the thing they LONG for the MOST, amidst their suffering. And so this morning, in ch4, he’s gonna show them how to GET it.
In case you missed LAST week, in ch3, part ONE of this 2-part message on Jesus’ offer of a “greater TEST and Rest”; last week we examined the TEST - God’s TESTING of our faith, here in this world, this lifetime, our own “wilderness experience”, analogous to the ancient Israelites whom God tested for 40 years in the desert to see if they were FIT to enter His “rest” in the Promised Land, Canaan, analogous to HEAVEN. No test, no rest. And sure enough, Israel FAILED God’s test, and so that generation - MOSES’ generation - was BANNED from enjoying God’s REST, in the land flowing with milk and honey. And the author of Hebrews used their example as a WARNING to his own church: “Don’t be like our forefathers, who QUIT on God, and REJECTED Him, as soon as the going got tough; rather, we must PERSEVERE.” And last week, he offered them (and US!) 6 tips for running the race - the marathon! - of faith with ENDURANCE:
#1 - First and foremost, we need to Hear God’s VOICE & SOFTEN our hearts. (3:7-8) ““Today, if you hear his voice,do notharden your hearts” - we must listen to God’s call, as voiced in His word, that we would turn from our sins and trust in Jesus, and then soften our hearts to receive His gospel invitation and BELIEVE!
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#2 - We need to Witness God’s WORKS & HUMBLE ourselves (3:9). We can look back over our lives and realize all the many ways God has come through for us thus far, in SPITE of us - how He has proven faithful even when WE were faith-LESS - and therefore we TRUST Him to do it again, no matter WHAT trial we may be currently enduring here in the desert.
#3 - We Follow God’s WAYS & WATCH our steps (3:10-11) AS we listen for God’s voice, we begin to discern His WILL for us - God’s good and perfect will - as evidenced in His COMMANDS: “Do this, don’t do that.” And we are compelled to OBEY; we strive to stay on the straight and narrow path that leads to LIFE.
#4 - We Heed God’s PEOPLE & BEWARE our sin (3:12-13). Hebrews 3 exhorted US to exhort ONE ANOTHER DAILY - every single day - because our hearts are naturally sinful and prone to wander, and sin is inherently deceitful and tempting. So we need a community of faith around us - teammates, co-runners - who will both encourage us and admonish us, support us and correct us, when needed.
#5 - We Remember God’s SON & we FASTEN our hope in Him (3:14-15). The author reminded us of the glorious good news that “we share in Christ [we are UNITED with Christ in His death and resurrection, so we too will be GLORIFIED for life everlasting WITH Him in Heaven one day - we “SHARE IN CHRIST”...]... IF - oh, that MASSIVE little two-letter word: “IF”! - if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” What is true for marathons is true of the Christian life as well: it’s not how you start but how you FINISH that counts. So he left us last week with this final bit of advice for finishing strong:
#6 - We must Know God’s WORD & APPLY IT TO our lives (3:16-19). The author of Hebrews did with David’s words in Psalm 95 what David HIMSELF had done with MOSES’ words from Numbers 14, and what God wants US to do with the words of Hebrews 3 & 4 here, namely: to INTERNALIZE God’s word. It’s not enough to HEAR God’s word - that’s just step #1, even the APOSTATE Israelites HEARD God’s word; that’s not enough. We’ve got to INTERNALIZE it - take God’s word into our hearts, RECEIVE it, and let it CHANGE us from the inside out.
So on that note, and now that we know what it takes to pass the TEST, let’s find out how to enter God’s REST…
SCRIPTURE: I invite you to STAND… Hebrews 4:1-13:
“4:1 Therefore, while the promise of entering [God’s] rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. 2 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. 3 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. 4 For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” 5 And again in this passage he said,
“They shall not enter my rest.”
6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, 7 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.”
8 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.
11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 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. 13 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.”
[This is the word of God… PRAY: “Father: help us to not just HEAR your word this morning, but to take it to heart - to INTERNALIZE it - we pray in JESUS’ name, Amen.” You may be SEATED…]
#1 - First and foremost, more important than ANYTHING else this morning, we CANNOT miss this: if we want to enter God’s REST - His ETERNAL rest, in HEAVEN! - we must Listen to God’s PROMISE & BELIEVE IN our hearts. (4:1-3a)
V3 could not be more clear: who enters God’s rest? “we who have… [WHAT?] BELIEVED enter that rest”.
Believed WHAT? Now we back up to v2: believed the “GOOD NEWS”. The “euangelion”, the GOSPEL. He says, this “good news came to us just as it had to them,” to these ancient Israelites under Moses.
And what IS this “GOOD NEWS”, that must be BELIEVED, if we are to attain God’s REST? Back up to v1: it is “the promise of entering his rest”.
We don’t just have an INVITATION to enter God’s rest. We don’t just have a CHANCE, a HOPE of entering it. No friends, we have a PROMISE, from God Himself, of perfect REST, if we will but TRUST His word.
The same was true for the Israelites. In Numbers 14, Israel stood on the EDGE of the Canaan, the Promised Land, and the words that SHOULD have been ringing in their ears were GOD’S words, His PROMISE to them, after He had led them out of Egypt, in Exodus 23, when God VOWED:
“Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared… If you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. 23 “When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, I [WILL] blot them out… I will send my terror before you and will throw into confusion all the people against whom you shall come… And I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates, for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand” (vv20-31)
God had PROMISED them victory, and subsequent REST; later on, after Joshua led that generations’ CHILDREN into Canaan, to take HOLD of God’s promise of inheriting the land, we read this: that “the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers.” (Josh 21:44) So God had promised them VICTORY and REST, but what was the problem?
Hebrews 4:2 - “but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.”
There were a FEW Israelites who didn’t just HEAR the good news of God’s rest - they actually LISTENED. Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Caleb… We read the story last week from Numbers 14 - THEY stood at the edge of Canaan and said, “Let’s GO! Let’s take HOLD of our INHERITANCE - God’s angel will even do the fighting FOR us; all we’ve got to do is BELIEVE!”
But the rest of the nation DIDN’T. They SAW the people who occupied the land, their ARMIES, and they FEARED: “We can’t defeat them”. But what they were REALLY saying was “GOD can’t defeat them. We don’t TRUST him to make GOOD on His promise.”
They had no FAITH. And friends: the best news in the world does you absolutely no good, if you don’t BELIEVE it. The author of Hebrews is warning us, AGAIN this morning, that the message WE have received - the good news that has come to US - is even BETTER than the gospel ancient ISRAEL received, because it’s an even better promise of an even better REST. And here it is:
Jesus Christ offers you REST this morning from your aimless, hope-less wandering down here in the wilderness - as you struggle to make sense of your too-brief life in this too-broken world, as you search IN VAIN…
For REST in entertainment, but the dopamine wears off…
For rest in your JOB, but it brings only WORK…
For rest in your RELATIONSHIPS, but they bring ANXIETY - to love is to be vulnerable, and open yourself up to a WORLD of hurt…
You look for rest in your FINANCIAL SECURITY, but wealth brings its OWN problems - how to manage it, spend it, invest it, grow it, keep it, bequeath it.
We look for rest in our RELIGION, but it brings only condemnation - if you want to EARN God’s love, EARN Heaven, you better be PERFECT, Jesus said (Mt 5:48). Cuz GOD is, and HEAVEN is. So if you’re looking for GOD’S approval, admission into HIS heavenly abode, then that’s HIS standard: perfection.
But amidst ALL our searching for meaning and purpose and identity and joy and REST in all these other vain pursuits, we need to hear the words of JESUS this morning: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest… [REAL, LASTING REST!] you will find rest for your souls”, because friends: only JESUS can deal with your biggest problem of ALL: your SIN.
Jesus LIVED the life of perfect obedience to God the Father that you should have but FAILED to...
Jesus DIED the death that you deserved, in your place on the cross, to pay for your sins and purchase you forgiveness…
And then Jesus ROSE from the dead to offer you new life - ETERNAL life - in Him…
This is the GOSPEL; the best news - the TRUEST news - there is!
But friends: merely HEARING it this morning does you no more good than the faithless ISRAELITES who HEARD God’s promise of rest without “BENEFIT”, v2, “because they [didn’t RECEIVE it] by faith”.
God’s rest, v3, is ONLY for those “who believe”.
Have you BELIEVED this morning? Not just with your HEAD; with your HEART. The Bible’s not talking about mere mental assent to some abstract doctrinal truths - passing a theological orthodoxy test won’t get you into Heaven; the Bible says even the DEMONS can pass that test - they know exactly who God is; they just HATE Him for it. No, it takes a genuine, whole-hearted TRUST in Jesus to get his REST, His SALVATION. And how do you know you’ve GOT it? That you have the kind of FAITH required, to enter God’s ETERNAL rest?
When you’re already RESTING. Reread v3 again more carefully: did he say, “we who have believed WILL enter that rest”?
No. He said, “we who have believed… ENTER that rest”.
Look back at v1: did he say, “let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to be PREPARED to ONE day reach [God’s rest]”?
No. He said, “be afraid that you’ve failed to REACH it” - all the verbs are participles are in the PRESENT tense.
Friends: we know that we have come to truly trust in Jesus, that we will inherit his ETERNAL rest, when we are already resting in Him, here in the wilderness.
REST has TWO opposites: WORK, and WORRY (Jason Lim, “Hebrews 4:1-11”). Work is outward activity; worry is inward anxiety. REST is the cessation of BOTH work and worry.
If your life is characterized by a constant FLURRY of activity - you are ALWAYS on the go, you STRUGGLE to sit still for even a minute; you should probably ask yourself: WHY IS THAT? I know I’ve told y’all the story of 4 or 5 years ago, I took a day off work, and it rained or something, so we had to cancel our plans, and we basically wound up stuck at HOME all day. And I was so frustrated about it, all day long. I finally laid down in bed that night and griped, “Well, THAT was a waste of a day off!” And Polly asked me, “What’s so terrible about just spending time with your wife and daughter?” And in that moment, it was like God hit me with a TWO-by-four, and I told her: “I LOVE y’all. But I think I’m just now realizing that I don’t really like ME. So it’s hard for me to sit still with MYSELF, without constant distractions.” I wasn’t RESTING in God’s LOVE for me.
Some of you work constantly because you need to feel in CONTROL; the thought of RESTING, of giving control over to GOD, for even one day a week, or a few minutes a DAY, is TERRIFYING to you. Cuz you’re not RESTING in God’s Sovereignty.
If your life is just PLAGUED by constant WORRY -
you worry about your health,
you worry the KIDS,
worry about that work deadline,
worry about the upcoming trip to your in-laws,
worry about the dead tree in your backyard falling down,
worry about PAYING to get it TAKEN down,
worry about being a whole week behind in your Bible reading plan (what’s my life group gonna THINK of me?!),
THEN you worry about WORRYING too much!
If you just go from one worry to the next, it’s because you’re not RESTING in God’s all-sufficient CARE for you.
God’s unconditional LOVE, His Sovereign control, His Fatherly CARE… these are PROMISES - GOSPEL promises - that are now OURS in Christ Jesus, friends. We can REST in them. Because we can rest in HIM.
So according to v1, the only thing we have left to FEAR - ya know, FDR said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”; well GOD says: “The only thing you have to fear is UNBELIEF”! If those who TRULY believe God’s promises of LOVE, CARE, FORGIVENESS can REST EASY, trusting Him, then the only thing we SHOULD rightfully worry about and FEAR is “FAILING to REACH His rest,” because of our UNBELIEF.
“If you hear God’s voice - TODAY! - do not harden your heart” - LISTEN to God’s PROMISE to you - 2 Corinthians 1:20 says “ALL God’s promises find their ‘Yes and Amen’ in JESUS” - TRUST in Him, REST in Him, and you will be saved, and find eternal rest for your soul.
#2 - To enter God’s rest, we must Observe God’s EXAMPLE & FEAR our disobedience. (4:3b-6)
You say, “Wait a minute: I thought you just said the only thing to fear was UNBELIEF; now you’re saying we oughta fear our DISOBEDIENCE too?”
But he’s really just restating the same point AGAIN here; look at the CONTEXT of this “disobedience” he’s talking about in v6: “those who formerly received the good news failed to enter [God’s rest] because of disobedience” - he’s talking about the ISRAELITES again. And what WAS their disobedience, specifically? They didn’t OBEY God’s COMMAND to trust Him. God said, “I will be with you, fight FOR you, now go take the Land. Come and ENTER my rest.” It was a COMMAND, actually. And Israel said, “NO!”
Did you know that God’s offer of eternal REST to you, in His Son Jesus, isn’t just an invitation; it’s actually a COMMAND?
In John 6, Jesus was talking to a group of nice religious JEWS, who had been told all their lives that if they followed all 613 laws of the OT, plus the 1,000s more that the Pharisees had added TO God’s Law - “God says, “NO WORK on the Sabbath”; but what constitutes WORK? Let’s write THIRTY-NINE ADDITIONAL BOOKS outlining what WE think work is…” - and these poor 1st c Jews (just like our 21st c ones) didn’t realize that the whole PURPOSE of the Law was to expose their SIN and point them to their need for a SAVIOR, Galatians 3 says, so when JESUS came along in John 6 and told them, “I’m gonna give you ETERNAL LIFE”, THEIR immediate response was: “Great; “What must we DO, to be doing the works of God?” (v28)
We want eternal life; just show us which COMMANDMENTS we’ve got to follow. What must WE do?
And Jesus says, “You still don’t get it, do you? Fine: you want a commandment? Something YOU can do? Here is God’s command: “that you believe in him whom [GOD] has sent.”
FAITH IN CHRIST… IS God’s commandment, the ONLY one you can - you MUST follow - to be saved. We ought to FEAR our disobedience, of THAT command.
But then the author reminds us of the perfect EXAMPLE of rest that is offered us by God Himself. He starts in v3 with repeating God’s WARNING to the faithless Israelites: ““As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest””, but then he continues: “although his works were finished from the foundation of the world.”
In other words, God’s offer of rest wasn’t NEW in the New TESTAMENT; it wasn’t even NEW for Moses’ Israelites; No, He has been offering us His REST ever since God HIMSELF first rested on Day 7 of Creation. The author quotes Genesis 2:2 here, “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works” - there were no chapters or verses in the 1st c. yet; that’s why he just says, “[God] has somewhere spoken” - but his purpose is to emphasize just how LAVISH, how LIBERAL, how AVAILABLE God’s REST is to us. It’s nearly FREE for the taking! All it costs you is: BELIEF!
NOT works. “It is by grace we are saved through faith. And this is not our OWN doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Eph 2:8-9)
THAT’s why God rested on the 7th day. Do you think God was TIRED? No! He was giving US an EXAMPLE to follow, not only of our need to take a break from PHYSICAL work one day a week to rest, but of our even GREATER need to take a break from our SPIRITUAL striving, and simply trust in Christ’s finished work on our behalf.
That’s point #3 - To enter God’s rest, we must Understand God’s PROMISE & STOP our striving. (4:7-10)
The author is still trying to get us to understand God’s PROMISE of rest here, from Psalm 95, in v7, that it’s for US, when he says: “AGAIN… he says, “Look: I’ve already QUOTED this verse for you, a COUPLE times now, but you’ve gotta UNDERSTAND, that when GOD says THROUGH David, 450 years AFTER Israel had already rebelled, “TODAY if you hear my voice…”, God couldn’t have just been referring to rest in the PROMISED LAND. OTHERWISE, v8: “if Joshua had given them rest” - Moses’ generation proved faithless and had to wander in the wilderness til they all died out - but 40 years later, JOSHUA would lead their OFFSPRING into Canaan. But v8 here is saying: “if the ONLY rest God had in mind was the Promised Land rest that JOSHUA won them, then why would KING DAVID tell HIS listeners to soften their hearts and seek God’s rest “TODAY”, in HIS day 4 centuries later? He WOULDN’T.
So, the author concludes, DAVID must have still been waiting for a BETTER Joshua to come along, and bring us a BETTER REST.
Wanna guess what Jesus’s name is, in Hebrew? [JOSHUA]
In fact, if you read this verse in the King James Version it’s REALLY confusing, cuz it reads “For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day…” - because the names “Jesus” and “Joshua” are identical in the original Greek text: Iesous.
Jesus is LITERALLY the better Joshua.
But here’s the upshot: v9- “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God”.
This whole passage has been about… [WHAT?] REST - 12x he uses the word “rest”. But here in v9, the author introduces an entirely NEW word for rest - “sabbatismos” - this is the only place it’s used in the entire NT. WHY? What does he MEAN in v10 when he says “for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.”
Well, he’s not making a theological argument for continuing observance of the Sabbath, the literal, physical rest one day out of the week. Romans 14:5, Colossians 2:16… they say “If you want to go on observing the Sabbath: that’s GREAT. But Jesus has FULFILLED the Sabbath, He is our BETTER REST; He is LORD of the Sabbath.”
So Hebrews 4:10 isn’t just talking about resting from our PHYSICAL works - he’s not just saying “there’s no work in Heaven”; that may be true, that we will be at perfect peace once we enter Heaven, freed from any distractions or hindrances to worshiping God; Rev 14:13 says, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord… that they may rest from their labors” - that’s a beautiful promise in its own right.
But remember all those present tense verbs and participles - he’s not just talking here about our eventual, heavenly rest; v10 doesn’t say, “WHEN you one day enter God’s rest…”; he says, “whoever HAS entered [it]”. This rest is YOURS for the taking, “TODAY”. Jesus is offering you not just an end to outward activity, but a rest from inward ANXIETY concerning your sin, and all your spiritual STRIVING that results from it.
Some of you are here this morning because you think that God LOVES you more if you come to church. You’re really no different from those 1st c. Jews who asked Jesus, “Show us what WORKS we must do, to receive eternal life” - church attendance is your “work”.
Some of you read your Bible first thing in the morning, and say your prayers last thing before bed at night because you think if you scratch God’s back, maybe He’ll scratch YOURS. Your “quiet time” is your “work”.
Some of you think you’re going to Heaven because you made a decision, prayed a prayer, walked an aisle, signed a card, got baptized 30, 40, 50 years ago. Your decision, your prayer, your baptism… is your “work”.
And you need to take a long, hard look in the mirror that IS Hebrews 4:10 this morning and realize that it is entirely possible that you haven’t actually “entered God’s rest” if you haven’t yet “RESTED from your works” - your attempts to EARN God’s love, His favor, his forgiveness, through your spiritual striving. And some of you need to be set FREE this morning from your RELIGION by the power and the truth and the REST of the GOSPEL: the good news that God LOVES you not because of anything YOU’VE done or COULD do, but because of EVERYTHING that JESUS has done for you; Religion says, “DO”; Jesus says, “DONE. It is FINISHED - ALL your sins, paid in full on MY cross.” So you can REST in Him today, friends. [*Pause*]
Now, the COUNTERBALANCE to that beautiful truth comes in v11, when he immediately turns around and concludes: “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest”. I purposely used that phrase “stop your STRIVING” in the outline, so we’d see the TENSION here. How do we STRIVE to enter God’s rest?
Well, we know it’s NOT by striving to attend church enough, or read our Bibles enough, or pray enough… no amount of religious activity, “WORKS” on OUR part, can EARN us the rest. So how do we GET it?
Think back to where we started, point #1: we must… [BELIEVE!] “we who have believed enter His rest”. John 6: “This is the work [God desires], that you believe in me”, Jesus said (v29). So our STRIVING is a striving to BELIEVE. A striving to TRUST. A striving of FAITH.
Does anyone else ever have difficulty believing the good news of God’s promises?
That God really loves you unconditionally? Even when you mess up AGAIN - same old sin, same old SHAME, and self-hatred… that God’s love never falters?
That He’s working ALL things together for your good, even this present suffering you are currently experiencing?
That if God takes care of the birds and the flowers, He’s gonna take care of you too, cuz He cares even MORE about you.
That God WILL one day right EVERY wrong we witness down here in the wilderness.
That after 2,000 years, Jesus hasn’t forgotten about us; He’s STILL coming back for His Bride, His Church.
That Heaven is REAL, and it will REALLY make ALL of the trials of this life WORTH it, one day, when you finally cross that finish line.
Anyone else ever have trouble BELIEVING any of that?!
Sometimes I think we read Ephesians 2, “it’s by grace we’re saved through faith, NOT by works”, and we take a little too DEEP a sigh of relief… “PHEW! Just FAITH - THAT’S all it takes…”
Listen: FAITH IS HARD! REAL faith… the kind of faith that doesn’t just turn a blind eye, or over-spiritualize all the UGLINESS we experience in this world… the kind of faith it takes to look that sin and brokenness in the FACE and say, “I STILL BELIEVE!” – THAT is HARD!
I’ll be honest: there are days when I’d take the WORKS - “Give me the 613 commandments back, God, cuz faith, down here in the REAL world, is TOUGH!” Anyone else honest enough to admit that outside of GOD’S SUPERNATURAL, SUSTAINING grace, you are one bad phone call away from just throwing in the towel?
“Mr. DuVal: your wife and kids have been in a terrible accident… I am so sorry…” – short of a miracle of GOD, I’m honestly not sure my faith would survive that. Y’all’d be looking for a new pastor.
So what’s his directive: “Let us strive to enter His rest”!
#4 - we’ve got to DISCIPLINE our faith.
“work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12)
“train yourself for godliness” (1 Tim 4:7)
“I discipline my [self]” Paul writes, “lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” (1 Cor 9:27)
We STRIVE to not only KEEP the faith, but to CULTIVATE it, to GROW our faith - faith is like a spiritual MUSCLE we’ve got to “work out”, “train”, “discipline”, STRENGTHEN. And how do we DO it?
By SUBMITTING to God’s WORD. That’s why the author immediately adds in v12: “For…” - BECAUSE we must STRIVE to strengthen our faith - “the word of God is living and active”. And I know what some of you thinking: “Wait a minute: I recognize this verse; I think I memorized this one years ago, and he’s just now getting to it… just now starting point #4 of 6… and we’re 40 min in…” But don’t WORRY (relax… REST 😌), I don’t need a whole ‘nother sermon for v12. Cuz we don’t need to do an in-depth word study on “living” and “active”, or a 5-point comparison on swords and Scripture, or an anatomical lesson on “joints” vs “marrow”, or a theological lesson on “soul” vs “spirit”, or a psychological lesson on “the thoughts” vs “the intentions” of our hearts… NONE of that is the author’s main point here. His point is simply that God’s word has the power to CUT US TO OUR CORE, in the BEST way possible - to EXPOSE our sin, and our need for a Savior… for REST - that only God’s WORD has the power to reveal that to us, and only if we will LISTEN, and NOT harden our hearts to it, to the perhaps painful, but always PURIFYING sword, the SCALPEL of Scripture.
THAT’S how you discipline - strengthen - your faith, friends: you submit yourself under the authority and the guidance and the transformation of God’s word: “All Scripture is God-breathed… and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that [we] may be complete” (2 Tim 3:16-17) - that we may have a STURDY faith, a RESILIENT reliance on the Lord, and REST in Him.
Because #5 - we need to Remember God’s SURVEILLANCE & CONSIDER our account. (4:13)
“no creature is hidden from [God’s] sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”
Job 26:6 declares “Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering.” Even Hell and DEATH aren’t hidden from God.
Job 28:24 “he looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.”
And in LIGHT of all God sees, Romans 14:12 warns that “each of us will give an account of himself to God”; 2 Cor 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”
So… WHAT? “Make sure your GOOD deeds outweigh the BAD”?
NO! Remember: there’s only ONE “deed”, one “work” by which we can enter God’s rest, and it’s not even TRULY a “deed”, a “work”, AT ALL - it is BELIEF! It’s TRUSTING in JESUS’ work on our BEHALF!
That is what we must all “give account” for, friends: did we REST in God’s promise of REST, a promise that finds its “Yes and Amen” only in CHRIST?
That is his concluding question for us, so I will leave us with one final Summary Exhortation, #6 - to Trust God’s SON & CHERISH your salvation!
If you’re resting on anything ELSE in this world, it won’t BE rest, cuz “all other ground is sinking sand.” But if you’re resting on the ROCK, on CHRIST, then you have “a sure and steadfast anchor for your soul” (Heb 6:19), come what may. Persecution, cancer, car accidents, loss, grief, death. Jesus over everything.
Trust Him. TREASURE Him. And REST in Him, today.