¬¬¬¬The Christians’ Rest
Hebrews Chapter Four
Introduction:
1. In chapter three the writer of Hebrews made the argument that Christ is better than Moses.
a. He has showed why Christ faith is superior to that in which Moses had.
b. The author established that Christ position is superior to Moses.
c. He pushed the house of God onto a greater faith.
i. He encouraged then to remember their confession of Christ
ii. He warned them to beware of unbelief.
2. In chapter four the writer continues in this vein.
a. He will show that the reward of the Christian is greater than the reward of the ancient Israelites.
b. He will show the power of Christ word.
c. He will show why Christ priesthood is better.
I. The Prize v. 1-11
a. Heavenly rest v. 1-5.
One Sunday, a minister preached a sermon about heaven. Next morning, as he was going to town, he met one of his wealthy members. This man stopped the preacher and said, "Pastor, you preached a good sermon on heaven, but you didn’t tell me where heaven is." "Ah," said the preacher, "I am glad of the opportunity this morning. I have just returned from the hilltop up there. In that cottage there is a member of our church. She is a widow with two little children. She is sick in one bed and her two children are sick in the other bed. She doesn’t have anything in the house-no coal, no bread, no meat, and no milk. If you buy a few groceries and go there yourself and say, ’My sister, I have brought these provisions in the name of the Lord Jesus,’ ask for a Bible, read the Twenty-third Psalm, and then go down on your knees and pray-if you don’t see heaven before you get through, I’ll pay the bill." The next morning the man said, "Pastor, I saw heaven and spent fifteen minutes there. There’s no bill for you to pay."
i. They are told to fear.
1. “let us therefore fear”
a. A proper fear of God is one of awe and reverence.
Hebrews 12:28-29
(28) Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
(29) For our God is a consuming fire.
b. The Christian doesn’t need to fear anyone but God.
Hebrews 13:6
(6) So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
c. Paul is reminding these Hebrew Christians of the consequences of apostasy.
2. The “promise being left us of entering into his rest”
a. Paul mentions the word “rest,” which he takes from Psalms 95:11
Psalms 95:11
(11) Unto whom I swore in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.
b. The word “rest” in the Greek κατάπαυσις (katapausis) means abode.
c. When God promised rest to the ancient Israelites he meant more than just a land promise.
3. “seem to come short of it”
a. “seem”
i. The word “seem” δοκέω (dokeo) can also mean think or judge, which gives the reader a since of impending punishment for coming “short of the rest.”
ii. They are told to listen.
1. “for unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them”
a. “Us” includes Paul and his readers.
b. “Them” refers to the ancient Israelites who came out of Egypt.
c. “the gospel preached” was the message of a coming rest.
2. “did not profit them”
a. Both Paul’s readers and the ancient Israelites have the same message.
b. Both groups are expected to respond to the message.
c. The Israelites did not act upon the promise and therefore it “did not profit them.”
3. “not being mixed with faith”
a. God’s people were expected to act on what they heard.
Romans 10:17
(17) So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Ephesians 2:10
(10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
b. This is the first time Paul uses the word “faith” in the book of Hebrews.
c. This word will be used over thirty times before the letter is finished.
iii. They are told to believe.
1. “For we which have believed do enter into rest.”
a. This is a claim that believers will enter into rest.
b. These believers had not obtained the rest yet, but could obtain it through a process of continual belief.
c. It was something that the believers could come short of (v. 1)
d. They were to make every effort they could to accomplish the reward of rest (v. 11)
Dag Hammarskjold once wrote: "When the morning’s freshness has been replaced by the weariness of midday, when the leg muscles quiver under the strain, the climb seems endless, and suddenly nothing will go quite as you wish-it is then that you must not hesitate." He was unwilling to give up; he refused to quit!
The successful life prescribed by Christ requires faithfulness until death: a hand on the plow with no looking back, steadfast perseverance; racing hard for the tape, fighting the good fight of faith. The devil loves it when we simply relax our efforts. He has a good day if we become discouraged.
There are temptations to overcome, disappointments to handle, personal sins that beset us, burdens that depress us. And Satan is standing by urging that we quit trying. But wait; Christ is present. "Consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart" (Heb_12:3).
Someone once asked James J. Corbett, at that time heavyweight champion of the world, what was the most important thing a man must do to become a champion. He replied, "Fight one more round." The Duke of Wellington said that the British soldiers at the Battle of Waterloo were not any braver than Napoleon’s soldiers-but they were brave for five minutes longer.
That is about it for the Christian. A secret for success is: "fight just one more round. Be brave for five more minutes." It is the difference between defeat and victory.
2. “as he said”
a. Paul goes back to Psalm 95 and shows that the rest promised to the Israelites was never fully accomplished.
b. Jesus clearly is the agent who fulfilled this promised rest for all people.
b. Hebrew rest v.6-7
i. They did not listen.
1. There is still a promise of rest.
2. The Israelites were preached a message of rest.
3. The Israelites had the promise of rest but could not obey God.
ii. They did not believe.
1. They failed to enter because of unbelief.
2. “The idea that the wilderness generation was finally rejected (missed “rest” – heaven) was one the rabbis found hard to accept. In their writings we find statements such as the following: ‘Into this resting place whey will not enter, but they will enter into another resting place’ (Mid. Qoheleth 10:20.1). The rabbis also had a parable of a king who swore in anger that his son would not enter his palace. But when he calmed down, he pulled down his palace and built another, so fulfilling his oath and at the same time retaining his son (ibid.). Thus the rabbis expressed their conviction that somehow those Israelites would be saved. The writer of Hebrews, however, has no such reservations about the wilderness generation. They disobeyed God and forfeited their place.” Morris, Leon. Hebrews. Expositor’s Bible Commentary.
3. God is repeating his invitation “today”
iii. They hardened their hearts.
1. They would not hear Moses, and in doing so, they hardened their hearts.
c. His rest v. 8-11
i. The Christian is offered rest.
1. There is a parallel between the Old Testament Joshua who led his followers into the earthly Canaan, and the New Testament Jesus who leads New Testament followers to Heaven.
2. If the “rest” that God had promised to Joshua’s generation was only a land promise that was fulfilled in his day, than why does God continue to speak of a “rest” even in David’s day.
3. The “rest” that the Israelites looked for is found in Jesus.
ii. The Christian must watch for his rest.
1. Jesus is the “he that is entered into his rest”
2. We will find “rest” because Jesus has made “rest” possible.
iii. The Christian must work for his rest.
1. “Let us labour”
a. There is here an exhortation to give careful attention to the goal of entering the rest.
b. They are encouraged to renew faithfulness in Jesus Christ.
2. “lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief”
In the days the eastern emperors were crowned at Constantinople, it is said to have been a custom to set before his majesty a certain number of marble slabs, one of which he was to choose to be his tombstone. It was considered good for him to remember his funeral at his coronation. Life is time, and the purpose of time is to prepare for eternity. A Greek philosopher, Anaxagoras, was asked why he thought he was born. His answer was, "That I may meditate upon heaven."
II. The Power v.12-13
a. The strength of the Word v. 12
i. “the word of God”
1. This refers back to Psalm 95 and speakst of the warnings and promises given in that text.
Psalms 95:7-11
(7) For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today if ye will hear his voice,
(8) Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
(9) When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
(10) Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
(11) Unto whom I swore in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.
2. The “word of God” is not Jesus in this passage, but his “judgments.”
3. In other passages we see the sword being used not in reference to Jesus but coming out of his mouth.
Revelation 1:16
(16) And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
Revelation 19:15
(15) And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Ephesians 6:17
(17) And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Isaiah 11:4
(4) But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
ii. It is Quick
1. The word translated here as “quick” is a Greek term ζάω (zaō) meaning living.
2. The idea is that all scripture is constantly produce faith in the lives of its readers.
Acts 7:38
(38) This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sinai, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:
1 Peter 1:23
(23) Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.
3. The word of God is active.
Isaiah 55:11
(11) So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Jeremiah 23:29
(29) Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
iii. It is Powerful
1. The word translated here as “powerful” is a Greek term ἐνεργής (energēs) meaning active.
2. The word of God is active.
Isaiah 55:11
(11) So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Jeremiah 23:29
(29) Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
b. The sword of the Word v. 12
i. It is “sharper than any two-edged sword.”
1. The word can cut both ways.
2. It can bless you, or condemn you.
ii. It is piercing and divides.
1. The word pierces the very soul of man.
2. It divides the spiritual man from the human physical side of man.
3. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart
c. The salvation of the Word v. 13
i. It shows man his sin.
1. “manifest in his sight”
2. Nothing can hide from the sword.
ii. It reveals our sin to God.
1. We become “naked” before God in that our sins are uncovered.
2. The word translated “opened” is a Greek word τραχηλίζω (trachēlizō) and it suggest the throat is left unprotected.
3. When a boxer is fighting he never leaves his throat unprotected.
III. The Priest v. 14-16
a. Translated priest v. 14
i. He is the great High Priest.
1. No priest in the Old Testament was ever called a “Great High Priest.”
2. Jesus is better than any priest from the Aaronic priesthood, and this priesthood was the central thrust to Hebrew salvation.
ii. He is the ascended High Priest.
1. On the day of atonement the sacrifice would not be complete when the animal had been killed at the altar of burnt offerings
2. It wasn’t until the blood was taken through the holy place, past the veil, into the most holy place, sprinkling the blood and water on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant before the presence of God.
3. Likewise Jesus, our Great High Priest, has ascended past the veil, beyond the mercy seat, to the very presence of God in Heaven.
4. It is interesting to note that Jesus’ atonement was not complete until he had entered heaven as the high priest, having made atonement for sin.
Heb 9:12
(12) Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
iii. He is the Son of God.
1. This title is why he is called our “Great High Priest.”
b. Tempted priest v. 15
i. He has felt our pains.
ii. He has felt our desires.
iii. He has remained faithful and true.
Heb 2:17-18
(17) Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
(18) For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.
c. Tender Priest v. 16
i. He is full of Grace.
Heb 2:9
(9) But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
Heb 1:8-9
(8) But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
(9) Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
1. “Let us therefore come boldly”
a. This word “come” is better translated “to draw near”, and is addressed to the reader as opposed to the high priest of old or to Jesus.
i. In the Old Testament sinners would have to come to the high priest, and he would then be able to determine if the penitent ones sins could be forgive and which sacrifice to perform.
ii. This is not unlike our Christian process of coming to Christ for cleansing the prayer.
b. The word “boldly” is better translated “confidence.”
i. The Greek word is parresia which comes from a combination of two words, pan + resia, which means full story.
ii. “In ancient Greece, the word denoted the right of a full citizen to speak his mind on any subject in the town assembly – a right that the slave did not have.” Reese, Commentary on Hebrews. P.69
2. “unto the throne of grace”
a. Thayer says that there are two synonyms for “mercy,” and the word used here in verse 16 is “Eleeo” which means to feel sympathy with the misery of another, especially sympathy the manifest its self in an act as opposed to just word.
b. The other synonyms for “mercy” are “oikteiro” and it gives the idea of compassion from the heart.
i. Reese give this analogy.
“A criminal begs eleos of his judge; but hopeless suffering is often the object of oiktirmos.”
ii. He is full of Mercy.
1Ti 1:16
(16) Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.
iii. He is full of Love.
1. It was love that motivated God to make such a promise of “rest.”
2. It was love that motivated Jesus to make such a sacrifice as he did.
Conclusion:
1. We can truly find the Prize.
2. We can have the power to make this promise real.
3. We have a “Great High Priest” who makes “rest” possible.
The late Harry Rimmer penned the following letter to Charles E. Fuller of the Old Fashioned Revival Hour, shortly before his death.
"Next Sunday you are to talk about heaven. I am interested in that land because I have held a clear title to a bit of property there for over 50 years. I did not buy it. It was given to me without money and without price; but the Donor purchased it for me at a tremendous sacrifice.
"I am not holding it for speculation. It is not a vacant lot. For more than half a century I have been sending materials, out of which the greatest Architect of the universe has been building a home for me, which will never need remodeling or repairs because it will suit me perfectly, individually, and will never grow old.
"Termites can never undermine its foundation for it rests upon the Rock of Ages. Fire cannot destroy it. Floods cannot wash it away. No lock or bolts will ever be placed upon the doors, for no vicious person can ever enter that land, where my dwelling stands, now almost completed and almost ready for me to enter in and abide in peace eternally, without fear of being rejected.
"There is a valley of deep shadow between this place where I live, and that to which I shall journey in a very short time. I cannot reach my home in that city without passing through that valley. But I am not afraid because the best Friend I ever had went through the same valley long, long ago and drove away all its gloom. He stuck with me through thick and thin since we first became acquainted 55 years ago, and I hold His promise in printed form, never to forsake me or leave me alone. He will be with me as I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, and I shall not lose my way because He is with me.
"I hope to hear your sermon on heaven next Sunday, but I have no assurance I shall be able to do so. My ticket to heaven has no date marked for the journey, no return coupon and no permit for baggage. Yes, I am ready to go, and I may not be here while you are talking next Sunday evening, but I will meet you there some day."
