Enter Into Rest

Introduction — A World That Teaches Us To Be Exhausted

A photographer snapping pictures of first graders was making small talk. He asked a little girl, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

She thought about all the busy adults in her life and answered one word:

“Tired.”

Our culture has discipled us into exhaustion.

We run on caffeine and panic.

We fill the calendar so there’s no room for breath.

We drag into Sabbath hoping it might fix what the week destroyed.

People today aren’t looking for loud religion.

They’re longing for quiet rest.

Hebrews 4 speaks like a cool stream in a desert:

“There remains a rest for the people of God.”

Not the kind where you collapse from burnout.

The kind where you finally feel safe.

So I want to preach tonight about a heaven-sized invitation:

Enter into His rest.

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I. A Promise Left On The Table (Hebrews 4:1–3)

The Bible points back to the generation that left Egypt. They got out of slavery but never lived free. They saw God split a sea but doubted He could handle a desert.

They were almost in the Promised Land… but fear built a wall faith could not climb.

Scripture says:

“They were not able to enter because of unbelief.” (Hebrews 3:19)

They tasted miracles.

They witnessed deliverance.

They stepped up to the border.

They even had the right day marked on the calendar.

Yet they never entered in.

Physical bodies in the right place.

Hearts stuck in Egypt.

That can be us.

Sabbath-keepers who never really rest.

Believers who never really trust.

Hebrews pleads:

Don’t miss what they missed. The promise still stands.

Rest is not weak faith.

Rest is fearless faith.

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II. Entering In Requires More Than Showing Up (Hebrews 4:9–10)

The writer uses a phrase loaded with Adventist DNA:

“There remains a Sabbath-rest for the people of God.”

Not a superstition.

Not a checklist.

Not a stopwatch religion.

A Sabbath that takes root in the bones.

You can walk into a sanctuary with your arms crossed and worry clenched inside your ribs. Physically you came. Mentally you never arrived.

Entering in means: Presence + Peace.

Many of us were raised to believe Sabbath is a timeline.

Friday sundown to Saturday sundown.

Heaven checking a clock.

Trying not to spill the “holy soup.”

Friends, Sabbath is not a balancing act.

It is a homecoming.

Sabbath means:

“I don’t have to be my own Savior today.”

“I don’t have to fix everything I broke.”

“I get to rest because God is in charge.”

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III. When Sabbath Goes Wrong — Sinai Religion (Hebrews 12:18–21)

Hebrews warns:

“You have not come to a mountain that burns with fire… where even Moses trembled…”

Some of us camp Sabbath at Sinai:

• Fear

• Obligation

• Condemnation

• Anxiety

Sabbath becomes

“Don’t… stop… be careful… hold still… don’t break it!”

That’s not holy. That’s hostage.

At Sinai, even the right day can feel wrong.

You watch the sunset waiting for release instead of worship.

By sundown you’re so spiritually exhausted you don’t want Sabbath anymore.

The enemy doesn’t care if you keep the day

if he can steal the delight.

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IV. Sabbath Done Right — Come To Zion (Hebrews 12:22–24; Hebrews 4:14–16)

“You have come to Mount Zion… to Jesus, mediator of the new covenant.”

Zion is where the throne of grace stands.

Where mercy wears a crown.

Where the Lamb reigns as Priest-King.

In the Most Holy Place there is no trembling.

No suspicion.

No God waiting to pounce when you slip.

There is a Savior saying:

“Come boldly. Come freely. Come rest.”

The throne you approach is named:

Grace.

Sabbath isn’t about what you’re avoiding.

Sabbath is about Who you are approaching.

Every Sabbath God sets out a welcome mat that says:

“Rest here. You are home.”

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V. Rest Is A Person — And His Work Is Finished

“Anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works…” (Hebrews 4:10)

Why can we rest?

Because Jesus already did the work.

He took sin

Bore shame

Paid the debt

Defeated death

Opened heaven

Every chain broken

Every accusation silenced

Every barrier smashed

He didn’t just lie down in a tomb.

He sat down on the throne.

If Jesus finished the rescue,

why are you still trying to finish the rescue?

We don’t rest because life is easy.

We rest because Christ is enough.

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Look around any church. You’ll meet people who serve faithfully but collapse emotionally. We believe in grace but function like employees on divine probation. The heart can sit in a pew but still be wandering in the wilderness.

God is calling us out of fear-based religion and into finished-work faith.

Tonight the voice of Jesus still says:

“Come unto Me… and I will give you rest.”