The "rest" Of Your Life Series

Christmas is coming! Did you know that its only 57 days away? Any of you have your Christmas tree up yet?

I wondered when the earliest day it is appropriate to put up your Christmas tree. The magazine, Southern Living tells me that “Black Friday.” Yet, I often find myself humming Christmas carols all year, do you?

One of my favorite is the song: “God rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.” I love the song because:

a) If affirmed the birth and salvation of Christ

b) It recounts the nativity even and the love of God.

c) It reminds me of where real rest and peace are found.

Sometimes when we hear it in church during the Christmas season we might think that when it says, “God rest ye merry Gentlemen” it is an invitation to the guys to take a Sunday afternoon nap, yet I understand that some of the guys don’t wait till Sunday afternoon; they just go ahead and get started by nodding off right here in church. (Right?)

Yet, I made an interesting discovery this week. The phrase, “God rest ye merry Gentlemen” was actually an “old English” phrase that means something entirely different. In the old English language the word “rest” meant “to make “ and the word “merry” meant “mighty.”

So basically, it’s a Christmas song about how God makes men mighty. Therefore, think of it this way, the song is actually saying: “God make you mighty gentlemen, let nothing you dismay, remember Christ your Savior was born on Christmas day, to save us all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray, O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy, O tidings of comfort and joy.”

Transition:

In reality, the carol was spot on. To live a victorious life, we have to experience rest for our souls. We have to have confidence in life, an assurance of our salvation that will give us a peace in the most difficult of life’s storms and crisis. We have to live with hope.

As the writer of Hebrews talks about rest, He talks about a rest that no one can provide for you. In verse 8 this is confirmed as we read about the fact that “mighty Joshua” although he fought the Battle of Jericho could not provide the rest for the Hebrew nor any human soul.

Only Jesus can give us real and authentic rest as He promised saying: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking; I need some of that rest. After all, isn’t that what the sabbath day is all about? The ancient Jews day made God’s rest a priority and in doing so they honored the Sabbath or Shabbat as a mandate for weekly living. Yet, for them it was much more than a day off. It was a significant need for the human soul.

Transition: Today, lets allow the writer of Hebrew to explain and experience the kind of rest God wants for us in life. In this passage he instructs the Hebrews on how to enter into God’s kind of rest.

Transitional Sentence: How does God give us rest?

I. Through An Answer to One of Life’s Biggest Questions

Vs. 1- “Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, if any one of you may seem to have come short of it.”

Explanation:

One of the things that troubles us most in life is the questions about “why?” Why has God let me go what I’ve gone through? Most people can’t and won’t answer the question but today I’m going to tell you.

Understand, I don’t have the answer. This is not my idea. It’s deep. It’s what God says. You may not like it. You may not want it. Yet, the answer is right here in Hebrews 4.

To provide the answer He takes us back to the wilderness wanderings. He reminds us of the Israelites and the tough 40 years of trial they experienced.

During that period of time, God was trying to prepare them for the Promised land. He wanted them to experience the goodness and the glory of what He had prepared for them.

Yet, write this down: They would never get to the Promised land without faith.

Unfortunately, the writer of Hebrews recalls many who set out on the journey to the Promised land never really got to the Promised land. They died in the wilderness. They never got to where God wanted and intended them to be. He wanted them to enter into His “rest” but they failed the test and missed the opportunity to enter the Promised land.

In recollection of this event, he warns us saying: “Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, if any one of you may seem to have come short of it.” Vs. 1