I Will Give You Rest

Title: I will give you rest

Text: Hebrews 4: 1-16

Subject: How do we enter God’s rest?

Complement: by faith, obedience, honoring his word, & leaning on our priest.

Preaching idea: I will give you rest.

4:1 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.2 For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. 3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, “So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. 4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.”5 And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”6 Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, 7 God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage 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 later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.12 For the word (Logos) of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then (therefore) approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Introduction; What does rest look like for you?

• The couch? (and a nap?)

• Reading a good book?

• Fishing?

• Hiking ?

• A cruise?

***It depends in part on whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert.

Q. What does stress (worry) look like?

• Everyday stress...stress is an everyday thing!

• Kids food...clothes...activities...

• Balancing the dollars and cents

• Work

• Chores

• Busy, busy – no margin.

then there's stress created by crisis events - sickness... joy loss... divorce...grief.

The Biblical context of hebrews is this: stress was everywhere for these believers

From the Roman Empire ... the fear of persecution was everywhere... the young, upstart church is still “underground.”

Persecution was frequent.

The people to whom this book is written were looking for stress relief!!! ...

and ... here’s the shocker... here’s how desperate they were - their solution was, “let’s go back to what we had before – Judaism.”

Chapters 3 and 4 are an extended plea to believe – and include a warning against unbelief.

3:12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

Why is the temptation to unbelief so strong?

Have you ever thought of doing this?

Many people today seem to agree - Church engagement/attendance in Canada is at historic lows.

That’s what’s happening in this local church in Rome. “Let’s fold up the tent...call it quits”

It's not the first time it's happened... in the OT, Israel’s history of one of rebellion & idolatry... a turning to other gods.

It's similar to the Exodus story – travelling through the desert from Egypt to the promised land.

The promise from God was to receive “a land flowing with milk and honey!!!”

• 4x in Leviticus we find this mentioned.

• 4x in numbers