Hebrews 4 - A Promised Rest

Happy July 4th! I hope that you get a chance to enjoy this day and celebrate the freedoms that we enjoy as a nation. It takes diligence to continue to enjoy our freedoms. I saw an interesting post yesterday from an AG missionary to our troops in Germany. He writes this:

Our state in Germany (Baden-Württemberg) has officially declared that places of worship and those who attend will continue to bear the brunt of their targeted and excessive COVID-19 regulations. In spite of restaurants, theme parks, cultural institutions, and public swimming pools opening without restrictions churches are still required to insist that all congregants wear masks, maintain 1.5 meters distance, and keep a record of everyone in attendance.

These most recent regulations signal that churches will be the very last to receive any restoration of freedoms that were stripped away to compensate for the federal government's gross mishandling of entire situation. How long will we continue to allow the government to threaten and bully us without the presentation of evidence that church attendance presents a greater risk than any of the above mentioned activities. I for one feel the time for cooperation has long since come and gone.

This is a reminder of the responsibility that we must continue to work for freedom and understand how the erosion of our freedoms can be very subtle.

Enjoy Your Much Deserved Long Weekend!

There are 2 types of people – the first sees a long weekend like this one and figures a way to pack a week’s worth of activities into 3 days. The other kinds tries to build “down time” into the weekend, an extra day to stay up late and sleep in. Hang out on the lake or pool. Everybody is different, but we all need a break – a time of rest.

In chapter 4 of Hebrews, the idea of REST plays a major theme. These Hebrew leaders that are receiving this message are pretty frazzled. The author shares the point that Jesus Christ has secured for them a rest that is “already begun”, “available now”, and with “more still to come”.

Let’s think about the idea of rest for a moment. It is wonderful to have a “good night’s rest”. We spend months looking forward to that special vacation. Fridays are the 2nd best day of the week (Sunday’s are 1st, of course). For the Hebrew, the idea of rest had special significance. It represented:

· Freedom from slavery and a national identity

· Rest from physical labor and worldly striving

· It provided mental and spiritual restoration

· It was found in safe places

· It is a place of calm

· It was a promise from Christ

Matthew 11:28–30 NIV

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

We could go on and on, but I think it is important to understand the psychological significance of the idea of rest. What are you STRIVING with right now? Jesus Christ has secured that rest for you, and it is available to you even now.

The Rest That Jesus Offers Us

A Promised Rest Already Available

This rest is the Gospel that has already been shared.

Hebrews 4:1–2 NIV

Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.

When Cindy and I travel, I try to spread out the breaks as far apart as possible. If there is anything that needs to have a national standard, it should be rest areas along the interstates. You never know when they are gonna show up. And, as the driver, you never know when your sleeping passengers are gonna wake up. So, in our car we often have this recurring situation. I see a rest area. Cindy is asleep. I want to knock out some more miles, but she wakes up as I am in the passing lane. The exit to the rest area passes by as she says, “Why didn’t you stop?” Oops.

Paul is telling these Hebrews that the rest is available. It has already been provided. However, for some reason some of the unbelievers have just passed it by because “it was of no value to them”. What a tragedy to pass up salvation, the great news of Jesus Christ and the work of the Cross that he has done.

Hebrews 4:6 NIV

Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience,

The option is yours. Have you taken the exit? Do you believe the message?

The Rest Available TODAY

There is a rest area in Ohio that the kids loved to stop at when they were, well kids. It had lush green grass, probably Kentucky blue grass, but it was soft. Your house probably has a manicured southern lawn; but, our lawns have been typically the grass where you do NOT take off your shoes. At the Ohio rest stop we’d break out some lunch and the kids would enjoy the soft cushioned feel of northern grass in the summertime.

For the exhausted Christian leaders of the early church, those who have believed the message have already entered into that rest.

Hebrews 4:3–5 NIV

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.’ ” And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.” And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”

What does it mean to “believe”? Believing in Jesus may seem easy, almost effortless, just a nod, a quick prayer, or a walk forward at a church service. While making a profession of faith in Christ is simple, truly believing in Jesus leads to a life of commitment and discipleship that will put the believer at odds with the greedy, self-centered, cruel, and power-grabbing world. People who believe in Jesus find that each day requires a full effort. Those who believe in this way enter God’s place of rest. The phrase “they shall not enter my rest” describes realities both present and future. When we believe, God’s “rest” becomes ours as we live in this present evil world. The “rest” also remains in the future as we look forward to heaven.[1]

To all of us Christ offers “rest,” not in the other life only, but in this. Rest from the weight of sin, from care and worry, from the load of daily anxiety and foreboding. The rest that arrives from handing all worries over to Christ and receiving from Christ all we need. Have we entered into that experience? F. B. Meyer[2]

Notice that the rest mentioned in verse 3 is undergirdedby the rest that God took on the 7th day, or the Sabbath. Of course, the “certain place” that verse 4 refers to is Genesis 2. God rested on the 7thday, not because He was tired, but because His creation was perfected. God is at work today –

John 5:17 NIV

In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.”

But, rest is available TODAY. Jesus has secured it. Don’t pass up the opportunity to slip out of your shoes and get your feet into the cool, soft grass TODAY!

The Rest Available Tomorrow

It just gets better! The book of Hebrews is about the better –

He is the better Word

Better than angels

A better hope

Better than Moses

The better high priest

Better covenant (Just to mention a few)

There is an even better rest coming. “God’s rest is both present peace with God and future eternal joy when creation will be renewed, every mark of sin removed, and the world made perfect again. Those who believe will join God in his rest and one day be restored to a perfect condition. Our rest in Christ begins when we trust him to complete his good and perfect work in us.[3]These 3 ‘rests’ converge in verses 8-11:

Hebrews 4:8–11 NIV

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

What will it be like to have perfect rest? Step away from anxiety. Throw out the blood pressure medication. Let your mind take a vacation from the constant strain of worry, planning, and providing. No more bills, no more regrets, no more terrible memories, no more fear!

Isaiah 65:17–25 NIV

“See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. “Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; the one who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere child; the one who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands. They will not labor in vain, nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the Lord, they and their descendants with them. Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,” says the Lord.

This is the promise of the future rest, the future Sabbath that God has in store for us.

The REST is Still Available

We’ll pick up Hebrews again next week and do a deep dive into Jesus as our high priest. However, we skipped verses 6-7 so let’s pick them up now as we conclude.

Hebrews 4:6–7 NIV

Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”

We have seen warning after warning to the leaders to be sure that they pay attention to the Gospel so that they can enjoy the REST that had already been available, continued to be available, and will be available to us in fullness in the future. It is my hope that you have received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and are walking closer and closer to Him each day.

Back in the late 80’s Cindy and I traveled to India and worked in missions for several months. I remember seeing the idols of gods as we traveled from town to town but never noticed rest-stones. Apparently, kind people along the road provide places for travelers to get some shade and recline against “Rest Stones”. One woman missionary once passed a weary little fellow as he reclined against one of these stones, and quoted Matthew 11:28 to him: "Come unto me. all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." The lad was invited to the mission school, and there he learned to love Jesus. His face lit up as he heard the verse beginning, "The Lord is my rock." "That is better than any resting-stone," he said. "It keeps one rested all the time."

I guess in the simplest statement, that is what the weary Christian leaders needed to hear in this message. There is rest available. I believe that is what we needed to hear this morning, “Rest is available in Christ”.

I suppose that because I am a driver that focuses on completing the trip, I tend to see rest areas as exits. Is it really an entrance? I guess it all depends on how badly we need it. How badly do you need rest?

[1]Barton, B. B., Veerman, D., Taylor, L. C., & Comfort, P. W. (1997). Hebrews (pp. 49–50). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers. [2]Barton, B. B., Veerman, D., Taylor, L. C., & Comfort, P. W. (1997). Hebrews(p. 50). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers. [3]Barton, B. B., Veerman, D., Taylor, L. C., & Comfort, P. W. (1997). Hebrews(pp. 50–51). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers. [4] The New International Version. (2011). (Heb 4:8–11). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

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