In the book of Matthew, you can
turn to Hebrews chapter 4 if you'd like. That'll be our text
again once for today. We've been in the book of Hebrews
chapter 4. And we took it as a whole, considering
the four different places where it says, let us. And then we
broke it down a little bit in the last couple of weeks. I want
to read something for you in Matthew 28 verse 1. It says,
in the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn, now catch that,
in the end of the Sabbath, the seventh day, as it began to dawn,
that would be the eighth day, the next day, toward, but this
is what it says, in the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn
toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other
Mary to see the sepulcher. Now what that's talking about
here is the end of the Sabbath as it begins to dawn towards
the first day of the month, the Sabbath, the day of rest, resting
in Christ. It's talking about when the Lord
Jesus died at Calvary and rose again, the old Sabbath of the
law had ended and the new Sabbath of grace That's what we rest
in. We don't rest in the law. The
law is good, but Christ has fulfilled it for us. That's not our rest.
Our rest is in Him. It's in His works. Behold our
exalted Savior. Picture Him. Picture Him seated
on His throne in heaven. He sits on His throne undisturbed. Folks, He's God. Nothing can
turn His hand. Everything He's done is perfect
and righteous. He's sitting on His throne undisturbed,
serene in His absolute sovereignty. His rest is His glory. Listen to these words of John
17, verses 4-5, I have glorified thee on the earth, I have finished
the work which thou gavest me to do, and now, O Father, glorify
thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with
thee before the world was. The fact that our Redeemer has
entered into His rest declares He has finished His work. Listen
to John chapter 19 verse 30. And when Jesus therefore had
received the vinegar, He said, It is finished. And He bowed
His head and gave up the ghost. He has, by His obedience in life,
brought in an everlasting righteousness, and by His obedience in death,
the Son of God has obtained eternal redemption for His people. Because
the work that He was sent to do is finished, salvation is
sure. Because Christ has finished His
work, the salvation of His people is certain. Turn over, if you
would, to Hebrews chapter 9. Let's look at that where the
writer declares here in Hebrews chapter 9, verse 12. Listen to
these words carefully. In Hebrews 9, 12, neither by
the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, He entered
in once, now that's where He is now, He's in the holiest of
holies, entered in once into the holy place, having what? What's that next word? Obtained. Is there anybody that doesn't
know what that word means? That means already done. It's finished. The work is complete,
having obtained eternal redemption for us. So we see here His work,
His finished work is a sure salvation for His people. All of His redeemed
ones must enter into His rest, as we read in our text in Hebrews
chapter 4 verse 6, seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter
in. See that? That some must enter
in. Those speaking of those who had
not entered into God's rest yet, those who still walked in darkness.
Seeing as we must enter into His rest, as it says there, the
works were finished from before the foundation of the world and
according to God's purpose. And you can read about that in
Revelation 13, 8. also in Romans 28, 29 through
30. They were finished in time when
the God-man took his seat in heaven as our forerunner. Look
over at Hebrews 6 verse 20. Whether the forerunner is for
us entered even Jesus, we see right there, he is our forerunner,
made and high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
You know what Melchizedek was? He was the king of Salem. Abraham
was told to go to him and pay tithes. It doesn't tell us where
Melchizedek came from, but he's the only king priest ever spoken
of in scriptures outside of Christ. It's declaring here that he who
is our forerunner Because of Him, there is no more work to
be done. Christ, our Savior, has done it all. And since He
has finished His work, He sat down in His glory. There He is resting. There is
what the Sabbath days of the Mosaic law and the Mosaic economy
pictured. But notice in verse 11 of our
text, back in Hebrews chapter 4, notice it instructs us to
do something. Does it not? Let us labor, desire,
therefore, to enter into that rest, the rest of Christ, the
rest that God has been doing of His own works as God did from
His. Let us labor therefore to enter
into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of
unbelief." Speaking of those who fell in the wilderness because
of unbelief. In the fourth chapter of Hebrews,
we are called to rest in Christ, to look to Christ alone for acceptance
with God, to trust Him alone for our wisdom, to trust Him
alone for our righteousness, to look to Him only for sanctification
and redemption, And that is what it is to truly keep the Sabbath. That is what it is to labor. Folks, we look. We look to our
Savior. That is a labor, but it's a labor
that God has given us. It's a labor because He has saved
us from our sin. We must labor to quit looking.
It says there in verse 11, we must labor to quit laboring.
But we must labor to quit laboring. There is nothing in the world
more difficult, more contrary to our flesh than this, to rest. I remember Don Fortner one time,
he was given a message on resting in Christ and he said, here's
what rest is. He grabbed his chair and he Remember that? That made such
an impression on me that all these years later, that was long,
long ago. That was over 20 years ago. That
was one of the first messages I remember him preaching. And
he made such a lasting impression on me. It's today. But this is
something we have to remind ourselves of all the time. We're going
to come to the table at the end of our services today. What is
that? but a reminder of who it is we're
to labor to be in His rest. We must strive against that which
is of the flesh. We must strive against that that
is most horrid of all of our sins, that we may rest in Christ
alone. Look at verse 12. Hebrews 4 verse
12, For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than
a two-edged sword, piercing even the dividing asunder of the soul
and the spirit and the joints and the marrow, and is the discerner
of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. We see here, God
tells us that His word is quick and powerful. It's His word that
we look to. It's His word that we stand upon.
Turn to Jesus. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look
into His Word. Where do we go? We go to church
on Sundays. We go to Bible study Friday nights.
We join those who are worshiping God and seek out His Word to
see His strength. To be reminded. That's laboring. But it's not something that we
are doing to bring salvation to ourselves. It's something
we are looking to, and that's to the works of Christ. Looking to Him, and looking to
Him alone. Pastor Mahan, in his Bible class
commentary, he explains the passage in four ways here. He says, first
off, the Word is alive. The word quick is an old English
word for alive. This is a living book. The words
of our living Redeemer. Turn over to 1 Peter chapter
1. 1 Peter chapter 1. In verse 23 we read this, being
born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, by
what? By the word of God which liveth
and abideth forever. For all flesh is grass, as it
says in verse 24, and all the glory of man is the flower of
grass. The grass withereth, and the
flower thereof falls away. But the word, verse 25, but the
word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by
the gospel is preached unto you. Look at another one if you would.
Go to the left, just before Hebrews, the book of James. James chapter
1, look over there at verse 18. Speaking of the word of God,
it's alive, it's quick. In James chapter 1 verse 18,
of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should
be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. The Word is the
Living Seed, goes on to write Henry Mahan. The Word is powerful. Our Lord in His Word is active
and effectual. He spoke for the elect in the
Council of the Covenant of Grace over in Hebrews chapter 7. Go
back to Hebrews and look at chapter 7 with me. Verse 22, By so much
was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. That's talking about
Christ was made a better surety before anything was ever created.
That's talking about Christ and His Word being in the elect and
the counsel of God and the covenant of grace. He spoke all things
out, quoting Henry Mahan. He spoke all things out of nothing
in creation. That's in Hebrews 11, verse 3.
Turn over there, Hebrews 11, verse 3. Through faith we understand that
the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which
are seen were not made of things which do appear. So we see here,
also you can read in Genesis 1.6 and Genesis 1.9, but we'll
go on from there. He spoke and revealed the Father
as we read in John chapter 14 verse 10. Let me read that for
you. I'll flip over there quickly
to John verse 14. Chapter 14. At verse 10 we read
these words. Believest thou not that I am
in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak,
writes the Lord, says the Lord, the words that I speak unto you,
I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me. He
doeth the work. So we see here, He spoke and
revealed to the Father. He spoke and the dead came forth
as we read in John chapter 5, verses 24-25. Look at that if
you would, John chapter 5. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me,
hath everlasting life. and shall not come into condemnation,
but be passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto
you, the hour is coming. And now, when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall
live." Does that not go well with what it says over, I believe
in John 6, my sheep hear my voice? No, John 10. Back in our text. Henry goes on to say this, he
says, the word is sharp as a two-edged sword. The Word is an edge. It has no blunt side. It is alive
all over. You cannot come near the Word
of God, writes Henry, without its having some effect on you.
Our Lord comes not to send peace, but a sword. And that sword begins
in our own souls, wounding and killing. However, it kills nothing
but that which ought to be killed, our pride, our envy, our lust,
and our sins. The word is piercing and can
find its way anywhere. Although the soul of the spirit
is invisible and the joints and the marrow are covered and hid.
So penetrating is the divine word that it reaches the most
hidden and secret things of men and women. It is a discerner
of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. Christ knows the
heart and will make manifest all that is therein by his word. Look over at Luke chapter 16
verse 15. And he said unto them, Ye are
they which justify yourselves before men, but God knoweth your
hearts. For that which is highly esteemed
among men is an abomination, the sight of God. He knows our
hearts, the depths of our souls. And with that in thought, we
look back in our text again, this time at verse 13 of Hebrews
chapter 4. Neither is there any creature
that is not manifest in His sight. Knowing the depth of His Word
and how deep it goes into your heart, into the marrow, into
the bone, there is neither any creature that is not manifest
in His sight. Nothing is hidden from God. But all things are naked and
opened unto the eyes of him of whom we have to do. Christ our
Lord is omniscient, meaning all-knowing. Nothing is hidden from him. By
his word he strips us naked and he lays us open, exposing the
thoughts and the intents of the heart. That's why we have no
confidence, folks. That's why there's no confidence
in the flesh to God's people. We see clearly there's nothing
in this flesh of any good. See how it draws us to Him. See how it causes God's people
to labor, to rest in Him, to seek Him for our rest. We rejoice
and we find comfort. And knowing the Lord knows every
thought before we even think it, even in the teeth of our
sins. Unbelievers, hypocrites, they
tremble at the thought of our Lord's omniscience. They love the darkness they walked
in. Why? Because the light reveals the
truth of their darkness. Our Lord Jesus is a priest like
no other. Look at Hebrews 4.14. So then,
that we have a great high priest. What was the purpose? What did
the high priest do? What was his function? His function
was to take the sacrifice, the blood, and go into the holiest
of holies. Only one could go in there, the
high priest. Those guys were all nothing more
than just pictures. of the true high priest. And
the true high priest is Christ Jesus himself. He's the true
high priest of his people, am I right? So all these high priests,
what was their purpose? Their purpose was to go in to
the holiest of holies with blood and sprinkle it on the mercy
seat, who is another picture of Christ. See how Christ fulfills
it all? He's the high priest. After the
order of Melchizedek, seeing that we have a great high priest
in verse 14 that is passed into the heavens. Jesus, the Son of
God, let us hold fast our profession. We can hold on to it with steadfastness. This is what we profess. Christ
Jesus is God. Sovereign ruler of all things. He is my Savior. He's the only
true priest. He is Christ, our eternal priest,
and he has no successor. He needs no successor. All the other priests were but
men on earth. Christ is our great high priest
in heaven. Moreover, he who is our great
high priest is a priest who is touched by our infirmities. Look at verse 15. For we have
not a high priest which cannot be touched by the feeling of
our infirmities, but was in all points tempted, like as we are,
yet without sin." Our Lord Jesus is a compassionate high priest.
He understands. He knows what we're going through.
He's one who has been pierced by the very same things that
pierce you and I. He was tempted in all points
like we are, yet he is a priest that is accepted in heaven because
there was no sin in him. And because he is a priest without
sin, God accepted his sacrifice, his blood, his mercy. But yet there's still more, is
there not? Christ is a priest upon a throne right now. He's
on his throne of grace as we read in verse 16. Let us therefore
come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy
and find grace in times of need. What reason we have to rest in
him? If Christ is ours, we have all
that can be required to give us peace. Let us ever come to
Him. Coming to Him we shall find rest
for our souls. Listen to Matthew 11, 28 through
30. Come unto me, the Lord says,
all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly
in heart. Ye shall find rest unto your
souls, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Come. Come unto God upon his throne. Come freely as to a friend. Come gladly to him whose throne
is the mercy seat, the place of grace. Come for the grace
that you need. Come to Christ, our great high
priest who sits upon the throne of grace, to dispense mercy to
his people as often as we need it and every time we need it. Amen.