LIVING WITH A CONFIDENT FAITH IN CHRIST
God’s Promised Rest

Hebrews 4

Jerry A Collins

1/27/02
SCC

% What is the nature of the rest we have in Christ?

How do we enjoy this rest God has provided?

What danger must we avoid as we apply God’s rest?

If you were to ask two painters to paint a picture of ‘rest’ they might paint the following. On might paint a beautiful tranquil scene of a quiet lake surrounded by a peaceful forest in the summertime. Everything inside us would agree that that is a picture of rest. Another painter might paint a bird nestled in it’s nest on a branch extended out and above a roaring waterfalls. There it sits peaceful, safe, tranquil while all around there is the sound of restlessness just a few feet away. The tranquil lake is like the eternal rest we are promised in heaven. The waterfalls and bids nest is like the rest God promises to us here and now. It is this promise that we pass into a new kind of life to be enjoyed here and now that is the subject of Hebrews 4. To enjoy God’s rest for us now we must enter into it by faith, our faith must be in the promises of God’s Word to us, Entering into and enjoying this rest is possible because of Jesus.

1. WE ENTER THE NEST REST BY FAITH 1-10

The most basic word for ‘rest’ means to cease, stop or finish. That something is not always activity. Sometimes it means to stop worrying (2 Cor 7:5-7), to stop being overloaded (MT 11:28-30), or to stop being out of God’s will (Heb 3-4). Considering all usages a good definition for rest is to be a state of contentment with the will of God. The ‘stop’ doing something always results in being at peace with what God is doing. The rest, then, is being at peace with the will of God. 1. This rest is still available tho it may not be experienced (1) God has done His part by delivering His promises to us in His Word just as He had with Israel on their way to the Promised Land (Deut 12:9-10). God has provided the opportunity to enjoy this nest rest in our lives. The warning for us is that we may not experience it. So this is a failure we must avoid at all costs.

2. We can only profit from God’s promises with faith (2) The good news we have and they (Israel) had was the promise of victory in our present circumstances. For them it meant believing that God would give them the land and would prosper them in it while they sat over the waterfalls of regional and international intrigue all their days. For us it means deliberately involving ourselves in the promises of God while the temptation of the world, flesh and devil cascade all around us. How tragic it will be to end our days realizing the mistake of missing the opportunity God has given us with our lives. Like Israel giving yourself to the wrong things and wandering instead for 40 yrs in the wilderness of uselessness to God. Your faith will bring you no profit.

3. God purposed that our entrance into rest be dependent upon our faith (3-5) There is a rest still available for us to enter into. God has not concluded his program of promise begun with Israel who never enjoyed the rest God provided for them. This concept of rest goes all the way back to creation when God Himself rested on the 7th day of creation. Israel just chose not to participate in it by faith. That does not mean it is still not available for God’s people. On the 7th day there is no mention of there being an evening at its end like the other six. This creation rest draws our attention to fact that God’s rest is available for all people in every age. God has given promises of victory in the present circumstances of each generation. The illustration of Canaan rest promised Israel points out the failure of that generation to enter God’s rest for them because of their unbelief. So we should learn from their tragic mistake today, in our generation. Every time we choose unbelief we perpetuate the same mistake and invite into our lives the same consequences. However, we can have this rest as we believe what God says and apply it in our lives.

4. God’s offer of rest is valid for each successive generation (6-9) This invitation is still being given (6a). Instead of withdrawing the offer of Nest Rest to believers, God reoffered it thru David in Psa95:7-11. It is a timeless offer that finds its roots in creation itself. It has always been on the table. The crux of the argument is that if Joshua had provided the people with the only rest God had in mind, David 300 years later would not have referred to yet another rest. Jesus reoffered His rest to the disciples and the church in Matt 11:28-30 a 1000 yrs after David. So a Sabbath-life, a life content with the will of God being worked out for the kingdom of God, remains available for us to enter by faith (9). This rest is not maintained by our works (10). Our relationship with God is not the result of our self-efforts but is based on grace thru faith. It is not our works but our faith that pleases God.

OUR FAITH MUST BE IN THE PROMISES OF GOD’S WORD 11-13

1. We have to work hard at believing God (11) When Israel crossed the Jordan there was a conflict of faith that was necessary, they had to fight Jericho and Ai etc.,. The xian life is not a life of ceasing of warfare. While faith rests, faith also wars against enemies that must be defeated as one enters. God says all we have to do is confess our sins to be forgiven (1 Jn 1:9). It is hard for us to forgive ourselves, much less comprehend being forgiven by a perfect God. God says we are to seek His kingdom and He will assume responsibility for all our needs (MT 6:33). Its hard for us to believe that our daily needs do not have to be our number-one priority. The battle is the Lord’s but we must take up our swords and attack unbelief, disobedience, compromise and deceit.

2. Believing God’s promises gains us entrance into His rest (12-13) This word is living and it is the nature of a living thing to reproduce itself. It does so life a surgeons knife that pierces the immaterial parts of us to discriminate between belief and unbelief in the Christian’s life (12). Our unbelief is known by God. Our thots are completely unveiled to Him. No believer can afford to be indifferent to the matter of unbelief. The answer is to believe what has been revealed as God’s Word. It is not ignorance but unbelief that is at issue!

JESUS ALONE HAS MADE THIS REST POSSIBLE FOR US 14-16

There were many things Aaronic priesthood could not understand but Christ’s priesthood can because of Jesus

(1) MEDIATION (14) Passing thru the heavens He is our defense attorney.

(2) COMPREHENSION (15) He was tempted like we are not in all specific situations but in all the ways we are! Because He was tempted He can now be touched. We have a common link.

(3) RECEPTION (16) Since we have a compassionate High Priest, lets use Him! Grace here refers to special help for a specific need we have.

1. There is no rest without faith in God’s Word. Unbelief only produces restlessness

2. Rest comes from submitting self to God’s will. Nobody controls his life (Where born, parents, eyes, country, ability). People resist submitting for control.

3. Perfect rest found in heaven Rev 14