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Enter God's Rest

March 19, 2017 Preacher: Jeff Griffis Series: Hebrews

Scripture: Hebrews 4:1–13

Enter God’s Rest: Hebrews 4:1-13

 

Here’s my goal in the next 35-40 minutes this morning. I’m going to read the passage and plead with the Lord to use it to expose our hearts. Then we’ll get a birds-eye view of the author’s argument in the section. Then we’ll go back into exploring the details as we go along to be sure we don’t miss anything. Finally, we’ll aim to drive home the powerful working of God’s truth for our lives today. Ok? (Birds-eye view, details, why should I care?)

 

  1. Read Passage & Pray (See v. 12 again – Whoa, are you ready for this? Is that what you signed up for in coming to meet with God’s people today? I hope so, buckle up. J)
  2. The view from the Goodyear blimp. – The other side of the warning (which began at 3:7 – a faithless generation)… There remains a promise of rest for God’s people. à Fear God and enter His promised rest through a tested heart of faith. (4:1-13)
    1. The promise of entering God’s rest still stands. (v. 1a)
      1. Let us fear to miss it. (v. 1b)
      2. Let us strive to enter it. (v. 11)
    2. For good news came to us. (v. 2)
      1. We who have believed enter that rest. (v. 3)
      2. The message is of no benefit to those who do not receive it by faith. (v. 2)
    3. There is a deeper meaning to this rest. (vv. 3c-5) That is, we will rest from our works as God did from His. (v. 10)
    4. “Today” the door remains open to enter God’s rest. (vv. 6-7)
      1. This promise of true rest was not fulfilled in entering Canaan. (v. 8)
      2. There remains a Sabbath celebration for the people of God. (v. 9)
    5. We will enter God’s rest only through a proven heart of faith. (vv. 11-13)
      1. God’s living word tests the genuineness of our faith because it discerns hearts. (v. 12)
      2. We are accountable to the One who makes the promise. (v. 13)
  • Back through the passage to mine it carefully. [use my printed copy with handwritten notes]
  1. Allow God’s word to test your heart. (Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!)
    1. We have heard the promise in the gospel, and those who believe will enter God’s rest.) à There is only one method of entry into God’s rest—through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
      1. We are told, so as not to be a hopeless chaotic mess of a society, that we are basically good inside and just need to find or tap into that. And that we can achieve anything we desire or dream, if only we believe in ourselves. That is the humanistic worldview, and we are lured to buy into that every day. But that is patently false. It is a treacherous lie of the devil. We will not find rest for our souls in seeking it from within. Rest comes from outside of us, from God. We will not achieve rest (joy and contentment) from reaching some height in our imaginations. Rest from our achievement is offered to us from the achievement of another. We will not enter eternal rest by any merit of our own, but only on the merit of our Lord.
      2. The rest Christ offers is not merely immaterial rest of spirit (although that becomes a derivative), it is a literal state and place of God’s perfect rest. (Heaven is for real, but not because somebody had a harrowing experience with death and trip to Never Land… but because God says it is real.)
      3. Again, faith must be genuine. Saving faith is proven through testing, through endurance. – God’s truth revealed means we are accountable. It is God’s word, his gospel truth, that tests our hearts. Not what we claim, not how we say we feel… We are accountable to the living God who authors the living word.
      4. Today is the day to listen and seek Him in repentance and faith. The door stands open. But the simple truth remains that the door has two sides. (You may be standing near, peering in the screen windows, but not in.)
    2. Many of you, true believers, can apply today’s truth this way: What does being in the inaugurated rest of God mean for God’s people? How should I live in light of a future perfect rest? (a perpetual celebration of God’s Sabbath rest) – Better rest of a better promise.
      1. Again what is this rest? (A place – God’s presence in heaven. And a state – To cease from labor) – The truth of that future rest has implications for how we live now. To cease from works in trusting God’s promise. That is rest. (By resting from works we don’t mean stop working and become a useless bump (a wart, a mole) on the face of the earth. God always meant for us to enjoy him in our work.) Resting from works is clearly a reference to meritorious work. à It is the difference btwn working under the smile of God versus working to earn the favor of God. For if you obey your Father in your labor, he is pleased. But a servant does not labor to become a son… it’s not possible. By the gracious choosing of the Father, he adopts us as sons.
        1. Do you attend worship gatherings to achieve favor with God or because you firmly believe that he has made you his son, citizen, and soldier and you therefore come to be further equipped to serve as his ambassador on a mission to make and mature His disciples?
        2. Do you read God’s word to find out what rules you need to try harder to follow or to grow in intimacy with the God who has invited you into a loving fellowship with him?
        3. Do you pray to get what you can out of God or to commit your concerns to the will of the God you know already loves you and is perfect in his determinations?
        4. You see the difference, right? J
      2. Rest in Jesus by faith. And that rest will be made complete when your Lord calls you home. à All our striving, our effort, then, is directed at being certain that our faith is in Christ and never in ourselves.
    3. There is rest, joy, and motivation today in God’s eternal rest still to come.
      1. Naked and exposed or naked and unashamed à God everything that I am is laid bare before you. But I am unashamed because of Christ who covers me, who makes me someone new. Surely this is a wonderful, a glorious freedom. To live in the presence of God free from shame and free from working to achieve favor. – I believe that he has loved me and offered me Christ as my covering. And that is enough. In my Savior I rest.
      2. As you strive to die to self and live for Christ, remember that the achievement has already been accomplished. You do this as a daughter who loves her Father, and a son who knows his Father is watching with loving pride. à Do you feel the difference? Get a taste of that rest? This is pure, unmerited favor. This is grace unmeasured, and it is glorious in our eyes. Lord we love you, Lord we thank you. Amen.

 

Enter God’s Rest

 

 

Fear God and enter His promised rest through a tested heart of faith. (Hebrews 4:1-13)

 

The promise of entering God’s rest still stands. (v. 1a)

  • o Let us fear to miss it. (v. 1b)
  • o Let us strive to enter it. (v. 11)

 

For good news came to us. (v. 2)

  • o We who have believed enter that rest. (v. 3)
  • o The message is of no benefit to those who do not receive it by faith. (v. 2)

 

There is a deeper meaning to this rest—that is, a permanent rest from works. (vv. 3c-5, 10)

 

“Today” the door remains open to enter God’s rest. (vv. 6-7)

  • o This promise of true rest was not fulfilled in entering Canaan. (v. 8)
  • o There remains a Sabbath celebration for the people of God. (v. 9)

 

We will enter God’s rest only through a proven heart of faith. (vv. 11-13)

  • o God’s living word tests the genuineness of our faith because it discerns hearts. (v. 12)
  • o We are accountable to the One who makes the promise. (v. 13)

 

ARE YOU PASSING THE REST TEST?

  • There is only one method of entry into God’s future rest—through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
  • If you believe, you do not labor as a servant but a son.
  • There is rest, joy, and motivation today in God’s eternal rest still to come.

 

Take It Home: (for further discussion and reflection)

  • Having read and thought through this text, which aspect of it is really piercing for you? (captures your attention and exposes your heart)
  • Do doubts mean that our faith is not genuine? How do you know your faith is genuine?
  • Talk about the relief, comfort, joy, motivation, and even current restfulness of being among those who will experience God’s final rest.
  • Are there people you desire to pray for whom you think might not truly have a proven heart of faith? Will you pray for how you might talk to them about it?

 

 

Hebrews 4 (ESV)

 

1 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,

“As I swore in my wrath,

‘They shall not enter my rest,’”

although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” And again in this passage he said,

“They shall not enter my rest.”

Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,

“Today, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts.”

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

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