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.”
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VI. Rest Even When Life Gets Violent — Stephen’s Story (Acts 7:55–60)
Stephen stood before a furious council.
They didn’t like his theology.
They hated his courage.
They resisted his Jesus.
Dragged out of town.
Thrown off a ledge.
Crushed under stones.
By all human measures:
this is a nightmare.
Yet Stephen had Sabbath peace in the worst moment of his life.
Scripture says:
“He saw heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:56)
Standing.
Not seated.
Not distant.
Not disinterested.
The King stood for His servant.
Stephen’s ribs are cracking.
Blood blurs his vision.
Every earthly support collapses.
Yet Stephen rests.
There is a Sabbath that stones cannot break.
A peace that panic cannot touch.
A rest that doesn’t depend on circumstances
but on presence.
He echoed Jesus:
“Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” (Acts 7:60)
Rest empowers forgiveness.
Rest manifests mercy.
Rest looks insanity in the face and says:
“My God is near.”
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VII. Rest Close To The Heart Of God — The Hymn’s Story
Pastor Cleland McAfee watched two nieces die within days.
One family.
One heartbreak after another.
Preparing for a double funeral, he whispered to himself:
“There must be a place of quiet rest… near to the heart of God.”
Those words became a hymn:
“There is a place of quiet rest,
Near to the heart of God…”
That wasn’t theology written in comfort.
That was hope carved in grief.
Rest is not the absence of pain.
Rest is Jesus in the pain.
Sometimes the most powerful worship happens
when tears blur the hymnal.
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VIII. Today Means Today (Hebrews 4:7)
Hebrews repeats a phrase from Psalm 95:
“Today, if you hear His voice…”
Not tomorrow
Not when you feel ready
Not when the budget balances
or the diagnosis improves
or the conflict resolves
Today
The devil’s favorite word is “later.”
Jesus’ favorite word is “now.”
You don’t rest because your life is perfect.
You rest because His grace is.
You don’t enter in once you’re holy.
You enter in and He makes you whole.
The promise is not:
“When you behave, you can come.”
The promise is:
“When you come, you will be changed.”
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IX. Appeal — Enter His Rest
God is not inviting you to try harder.
He’s inviting you to trust deeper.
Some here know the correct Sabbath.
Yet Sabbath has not corrected them.
You keep the day
but the day hasn’t kept you.
Jesus isn’t asking you to memorize another rule.
He’s asking you to lay your burdens down.
Enter the spiritual Canaan
while it is still
Today.
Let this be the Sabbath you finally say: “Enough striving. Enough fear. Enough self-condemnation.
Jesus, I enter Your rest.”
Tonight:
Walk out of Sinai.
Run into Zion.
Come boldly to the throne of grace.
Approach the King
who stands for you
like He stood for Stephen.
Let heaven open over your life.
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Conclusion — The Throne Named Grace
Sabbath is not about escaping work.
Sabbath is about embracing the Worker who finished the work.
The rest of God is not a nap.
It’s a new way of being alive.
The Sabbath of Jesus says: “You are safe with Me.”
“You are loved in Me.”
“You can rest in Me.”
“You can enter in… now.”
Tonight, make a sanctuary in your soul and say:
“Lord, I’m done with wilderness living.
I’m done acting like I’m still a slave.
I enter Your rest.
Today.”
