Fear, Faith & Rest
The title of my sermon this morning is Fear, Faith and Rest. It’s the last message in our series of sermons dealing with the all—important topic of faith. In our first sermon, “Walking by Faith, I dealt with what I believe are the 5 primary reasons we should strive to nurture, grow and guard our faith. 1. By faith we access the saving grace of God.(Ephesians 2:8,9) 2. Faith is our shield (Eph 6) 3. Faith gives us the ability to “see” beyond our physical, temporal dimension into the eternal, Spiritual realm. 4. Faith is the key that unlocks the unlimited power of God through prayer. 5. Faith can afford us heavenly peace that far exceeds human understanding, even in the midst of the most violent storm.
In our second sermon, Faith the Overcomes, we talked about how it is by faith that we overcome the world—meaning that, in Christ we can overcome anything the world can throw at us. We also talked about how we should examine ourselves regularly to see whether or not we are actually “in the faith” and we looked at biblical ways we can strengthen and consistently grow our faith.
And finally, today I want to conclude this series by taking a look at an interesting New Testament passage that points back to a well-known Old Testament event that actually sheds light on the critical nature of faith that in the lives of we Christians who are living in these very turbulent last days.
Turn with me to the book of Hebrews chapter three.
The letter was originally written to Jewish believers. But it is certainly also written for our encouragement and admonition—in fact, the message contained here is extremely important for the time in which we live.
Warning Against Unbelief
7 So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice ,8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, 9 where your fathers tested and tried me, and for forty years saw what I did. 10 That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ 11 So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”
12 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. 15 As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.”
16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.
Recount some of the miraculous signs they witnessed firsthand: plagues on Egyptians, the Presence of God in the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, parting of the Red Sea, daily manna from heaven, water from a rock, the Sinai experience… After nearly two years of God performing miracle after miracle; revealing His presence and power to these people, He finally brought them to Kadesh Barnea—the very edge of the Promised Land, where they should have been poised, eager to seize their inheritance and enter into that blessed rest God had promised them.. But then they insisted on sending in some spies—instead of trusting and obeying God, they decided to do a “feasibility study”! (Deuteronomy 1)…......... Most of the spies said, “ the land devours those who live in it; walls up to the sky; giants live there, we seemed like grasshoppers compared to them.....let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!”
Why didn’t they go in? Why didn’t they enter that rest?: (vs 19) Because of their “unbelief” or lack of FAITH…
Can you see the painfully clear parallel between our own spiritual journeys today and that of ancient Israel’s journey through the wilderness?? He delivered them from bondage to Pharaoh and led them on a journey through the wilderness in order to find rest in the Promised Land... So, He has delivered us from our bondage to sin, and is leading us through the wilderness of this sinful world; and we too have a destination in mind....
We are all on this journey because we desperately desire REST: spiritual rest, that subsequently brings us emotional and even physical rest as well. However, most importantly, we must enter into and remain in that spiritual rest if we are to, one glorious day, enter into that ultimate, eternal rest in the earth made new; where there will no longer be any sin, heartache, pain, grief, fear or death….
Can I ask you, fellow traveler, have you entered that spiritual rest? …….
Hebrews 4:1-12. 1 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful (fear) that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 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. 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.’ ”
(Genesis 4 God told Cain, after he killed his brother Abel, that he would be driven from His presence and become a “restless” wanderer on the earth../ Revelation 14:11 And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.)
And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world. 4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “And on the seventh day God rested from all his work.” 5 And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”
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. 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.” (This is the 3rd time in this short passage God is telling us this..)
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 his own work, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.
12 For the word of God is living 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.
Romans 15:4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
Psalm 119:105 Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path..
—Illustration: Just a few years ago (in late 2012) 75-year-old Marion Shurtleff purchased a Bible in a used book store near her home in San Clemente, California. After making her purchase and returning home, she discovered a couple of folded pages tucked in the middle of the Bible.
The contents of the yellowed notebook sheets contained a child's handwriting that looked familiar. To her amazement, Shurtleff discovered her name at the top of the first page. When she looked closer, she realized that she was actually reading a four-page essay she had written as a ten-year-old to earn a merit badge for the Girls Scouts in Covington, Kentucky—more than 2,000 miles from where she had just purchased the Bible.
By her own account, Shurtleff was deeply moved. “I opened the Bible and there was my name,” Shurtleff said in a phone interview from her home. “I recognized my handwriting. I was shaking, literally. I was crying.” (Brian Mains, “Marion Shurtleff makes amazing discovery in used Bible, finds childhood essay she wrote 65 years ago,” WCPO Digital, 5-28-13; www.Preaching Today.com)
No one knows how an essay written 65 years previously ended up in a Bible halfway across the country, but one thing is certain. When you look deeply into God’s Word, you can see your name there, as well; you can see people just like you: people who pursue faith and hope in God, people who also battle depression, doubt, lust, and pride, believers and unbelievers alike, honestly portrayed, that will help you reveal what’s truly in your own heart.
Matthew 11:28-30 (about 1500 years from the time God offered His people rest in the promised land until Jesus offered us rest )
28 “Come to me, all you labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
(Faith naturally leads to obedience; lack of faith naturally leads to disobedience../ Luke 6:46 Jesus says, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and yet do not do what I say?”
You see, true faith always demonstrates itself in obedience. So if you’re living your life in clear disobedience of God’s Word, it may be that you don’t really believe what He says. If you’re living with your boyfriend you’re not married to, if you refuse to forgive that one who has hurt you, if you choose to worry instead of praying every time, then you better examine your heart to make sure you’re a true believer.
Don’t count on a religious experience you had in the past. Make sure you’re counting on Christ, and Him alone, for your salvation.
Ellen White. Desire of Ages, page 429
“If Thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.” How many a sin-burdened soul has echoed that prayer. And to all, the pitying Saviour's answer is, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” It is faith that connects us with heaven, and brings us strength for coping with the powers of darkness. In Christ, God has provided means for subduing every sinful trait, and resisting every temptation, however strong. But many feel that they lack faith, and therefore they remain away from Christ. Let these souls, in their helpless unworthiness, cast themselves upon the mercy of their compassionate Saviour. Look not to self, but to Christ. He who healed the sick and cast out demons when He walked among men is the same mighty Redeemer today. Faith comes by the word of God. Then grasp His promise, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:37. Cast yourself at His feet with the cry, “Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.” You can never perish while you do this—never. .
