Hebrews: Chapter 4
September 14, 2008
Sabbath Rest
I started off this week worn out. From the very beginning I was drained. This was just one of those weeks were everything caught up with me at once. A little over a month ago we found out that my sister was pregnant. My wife and I were really excited we were going to be an aunt and uncle. A few weeks later we found out that she lost the baby. It was really hard but it didn’t fully hit me until this week. Then I found out that we had some unexpected bills come up that we were not financially ready for. It wasn’t anything really big just a number of incontinently timed bills. So I started off worn out and then got hit with financial stress. You know how life is a lot like a roller coaster with ups and downs. Well this week was just a down. There was so much going on and so much to do. I had an insanely long checklist of things that had to get done this week and little to no energy to do them. I managed to get a lot done on Monday but that only drained me even more. I feel like I made it through this week mostly on autopilot. This week was just really hard because it seemed like there was just one problem after another. All I wanted to do was rest. I was getting plenty of sleep but there is a difference between sleep and rest. I had so much I wanted to get done but there just wasn’t time to do it all. I was hoping to get further ahead on our Spiritual warfare study on Wednesday night but didn’t have the energy to even glance at it. The whole idea of getting through the process of righting a sermon was painful. Over the last month or so I have just been adding weight to this burden I have been walking around with and this week it really caught up with me. I just wanted to lay that burden down. I wanted to rest. It was really strange though. Jordan and I began to talk on Wednesday and I found out we were both having a very similar week. I realized when I was talking with him that this week was a perfect example for our need for rest. We all have weeks like this. We have weeks were it seems like life is out to get us. Weeks characterized by conflict where there is just one difficulty after another. You know those weeks? You have those times where it feels like all your are doing is jumping hurdles and you just don’t know how much more you can take? Do you have those weeks where you just want rest? Ever have those weeks where you feel like the burden you are carrying is too heavy and you just cant keep going anymore? That is exactly what this last week was for me. As I was trying to force myself to study for this sermon I came across this text from Matthew 11 where Jesus says:
Mt 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Mt 11:29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
What a wonderful promise. What a wonderful hope. Christ our king has promised us rest. To be honest we need it. In a life where we experience so many trials and hardships, we experience so many difficulties and so much pain. Life can make you very weary. We need the rest that He promises us because we don’t get it on our own. I sometimes tell people that all this being awake really makes me sleepy. Sometimes we need a break don’t we? Life can be tiring. There is so much to do and it seems like the older you get it seems the more there is to do and the less energy you have to do it. Our lives sometimes seem like one series of to do lists after another, further complicated by unexpected expenses financial, personal, and family crisis and a complete lack of energy. There is just so much to do. Yet there is hope. It does not always have to be like this. Our God and King promises us rest. A time for rest is coming, but it is not here yet.
This week we move into Hebrews chapter 4 so if you want to turn there in your Bibles we are going to look at Sabbath rest. Our author has just finished showing us the superiority of Christ in relation to the major aspects of the Jewish faith. He has just shown that Jesus is greater than Moses and noted that Moses could not lead people into the rest that God has promised to them. So then God’s promise for rest still stands and so we must be careful so that we do not miss it. Let’s look at the text:
Heb 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. Heb 4:2 For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. Heb 4:3 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 work has been finished since the creation of the world. Heb 4:4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “And on the seventh day God rested from all his work.” Heb 4:5 And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.” Heb 4:6 It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. Heb 4:7 Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” Heb 4:8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. Heb 4:9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; Heb 4:10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Heb 4:11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.
The Israelites heard the message of God but it was of no value to them because they did not combine it with faith. God who had delivered Israel from Egypt promised that He would safely lead them into the Promised Land and give them possession of it. They were not allowed to enter God’s rest because of their disobedience. God told Israel what to do and they didn’t do it. They disobeyed Him. He instructed them to take the Promised Land but because they were afraid they said it could not be done, they doubted God and they ignored God’s command. Despite seeing on numerous occasions the power of God they still did not have faith that He could do what He promised. For this they were punished. They were forced to wander in the wilderness for 40 years. They were never allowed to enter into God’s rest because they disobeyed. They heard His word, they believed He was God but they failed to combine that with faith. God’s rest is only for those who accept His message of salvation with faith. It has been available since the creation of the world but we have not yet taken hold of it.
There is a parallel between the Israelites who were not allowed to enter into the Promised Land and this Hebrew audience. There is also a parallel between this Hebrew audience and us today. This parallel is significant enough that we ought to pay attention to it. Israel was not allowed to enter God’s rest because they disobeyed Him and did not have faith. This does not mean they didn’t believe in God. This means there is more to faith than simply accepting that something is real. True belief is to put complete trust in God which leads to obedience. If you trust someone you do as they say. Faith and action are inseparable. So we see that the purpose of our belief in God is not that we accept that there is a God or that we call that God by the right name, the purpose of belief is that we trust Him and as a result obey Him in doing whatever it is He asks of us.
God’s promise for rest is a double promise. First, it was a physical promise where God would take Israel into the land of Canaan. Second and more important, it was a Spiritual promise for God’s eternal rest. This Spiritual rest points to Heaven. Israel fell short and was not allowed to enter into God’s physical rest. We must be careful so that we do not fall short and miss our opportunity to take part in God’s Spiritual rest. We keep from falling short by hearing, believing, and acting on those beliefs. Faith is not faith without action. So we must learn from the mistake of Israel. We must learn to act on what we believe. It is not enough to just believe. In fact without action your belief is meaningless. A time for rest is coming, but it is not here yet.
Core values of Cornerstone-Action-faith means nothing without action to validate it. We must put our belief into action, live out the Gospel message. If we do not act then we do not have faith.
Verse 11 tells us to make every effort so that we can enter that rest. It’s interesting the way our author words this. His says we must take every effort….so that we can enter into rest. Entering into God’s rest takes effort. What kind of effort is he talking about? He is talking about being faithful to God’s word and obeying the commands God has given us. Hebrews 10:36 tells us
Heb 10:36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. Heb 10:37 For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. Heb 10:38 But my righteous one will live by faith.
Through hardships and difficulties through pain and doubt we must persevere. We must press on through it all. We must never give up so that we can receive what God has promised…His rest. In order to enter that rest we must persevere. Our faith in God cannot be something that we have only when it suits our needs or we find it convenient. We must serve God through the hard times. We must obey Him even when we don’t see how things will work out. In order to enter into God’s rest we must stay true to His word and persevere in the faith. If we do not put our faith into action, how can we enter into God’s rest? We must not only know the word of God we must apply it to our lives. We must follow the example that was set by His Son.
We have too often put our faith in reason, justification, logic, emotions or feelings. These are only things of the mind and of the heart both of which can be wrong. Just because a decision is reasonable or logical, just because you can explain why you made that decision or how your feelings led you to that point does not make it right or ok. Our actions have been based on what we see as fair. What we do has been a result or what we understand. Where is the obedience? If God called you to walk around a city for seven days blowing trumpets would you do it, or would you laugh at God and tell Him that it doesn’t make any sense? For some reason we seem to think that we can ignore God when He doesn’t make sense to us. Where we get this notion I do not know but I know it is wrong. We ignore God because it doesn’t make sense to us or because we don’t feel like doing what He asks. The truth is that faith requires following God even when He seems unreasonable and even when He seems illogical. Faith requires putting your trust in God to the degree that you do not doubt or question His commands. In order to enter God’s rest we need to persevere. We need to work. A time for rest is coming, but now it is time to work. There is so much left to be done it is time we got to work.
God has given us another command that we so often neglect; the great commission.
Mt 28:18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Mt 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Mt 28:20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
We all have hard weeks. This week was rough for me. I know that for some of you it was worse. I know that there are more of you here that are hurting than I would like. There is a lot of pain and a lot of hardship in this world…but can you imagine going through that without Jesus? Can you imagine how hard it would be to get through these trials if you did not know Christ? Can you imagine suffering the pains of this life with no hope of a life to come? As I was preparing for this week I began to notice something. As hard as things get in my life they could be much worse. I sometimes forget that it is not my job to solve all of life’s problems. It is my job t take the message of the gospel to the nations. It is not your job to make everything good it is your job to proclaim the message of God to anyone who will listen.
Mosaic church illustration: average 2 people a month for 6 years going into missions in persecuted country-that is what you do when God calls you. That is obedience. That is the radical minimum standard of God.
If we truly believe then we must do something about it. Faith requires action. We must put the word of God in our hearts so we will know the truth. We must persevere through hardships and we must share the good news with the world. Our job is not done until everyone has had a chance to hear the truth of God’s love for them. Our job is not yet done because there are still people who haven’t heard. God’s rest is coming but it is not here yet, now it is time to work.
We must press on through the hardship so that we can enter into the rest that Christ will bring when He returns. We must share the message of His Son and bring light to this dark world until He comes back for us. When He does we will rest from our toil against the evil of the world. We will rest from battles against evil. We will rest from evangelism and our work of spreading the Gospel a time of rest is coming where we will no longer have to work at these things but it is not here yet, now it is time to work. We must make effort so that we will be allowed to enter into the rest that God brings. For if you believe in Him then you will share the good news with anyone who will listen.
Now for those of you who are weary and drained. For those of you have carried a heavy burden for so long. For those of you who just don’t know how much more you can endure I want to offer this encouragement. You don’t have to hold on forever. Rest is coming. Just don’t let go, don’t give up. For there is a rest to come and it is worth holding on to get it. For when our God returns He will take those who were faithful in following Him into His eternal rest and into the very presence of God. He is coming back…and when He does He will bring you rest for your soul…until then we must keep working.
