Turn in your Bibles, if you would,
to Hebrews chapter 4. This is a continuation of last
week's sermon, but as is usually the case, I won't be able to
refrain from reviewing and going back over some of that ground,
because that's just the way my mind works. I don't know if you
find it a bother. by reviewing those things, or
if you find it helpful, but I find it helpful. So, Be Thou My Vision,
that song, actually, and all the songs we sang today go right
along with this text of scripture, which you would expect. If the
Bible is the revelation of God's eternal purpose in Christ, which
is essentially the gospel, revealed here in the New Testament, then
we would expect the hymns and the songs we sing about Christ
and the scripture to agree. I have entitled this message,
Rest. All right, let's pray. Father,
thank you for such a gracious word to teach us to rest in the
Lord Jesus Christ, to look upon him. We pray in agreement, we
know it's by your spirit and your word that you would enable
us so to rest. And You wouldn't leave us outside
of this great rest You've promised and You've described for us here.
Help us to understand Your Word, we pray, dear Father. Help it
to sink deeply into our hearts and souls so that we would live
upon You. Live upon You through Your Word
upon our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, constantly taking, eating,
Depending upon him and rejoicing in him and admiring him, we ask,
as the song said, be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart. In
Jesus' name we pray, amen. Now Hebrews chapter four is a
continuation of chapter three and it's talking about the rest,
the rest. Look at verse nine, Hebrews chapter
four. There remaineth therefore a rest,
to the people of God. You might wonder who enters into
the rest that God is talking about here. Well, he says right
there, it's the people of God and no others, only the people
of God. How do we become the people of
God? How did we become the sons of God? Scripture teaches us.
that it was by God's choice, by Christ's redeeming work, and
by the operation of the Spirit of God, consistent with that
eternal will and that work of Christ for us, to give us his
word so that in our hearts we would understand and believe
him. And so this action of God, this act of God is his work,
and that's the way we become his people. Because it's God's
work, we have to stand humbled, don't we? We're entirely dependent
upon God doing something to save us. And that's what the gospel
is about. It's about what God has done
from eternity and time and shall yet complete. and make known
in eternity in our salvation, but it's revealed in the scriptures.
The scriptures tell us God discloses his heart, his purpose, his will,
his love, his work, and his glory in the gospel. It's amazing,
and it's all concerning his son. And so if you recall in the Old
Testament, the people of Israel were delivered from Egypt, brought
through the Red Sea. God provided for them in the
wilderness with the bread from heaven called manna, with the
water from the rock that Moses was instructed by God to strike
with his rod. They were supported in the wilderness
in all of their goings. They were led by the cloud by
day. with protection and by the fire
by night, both of which were a picture of Christ. And they
were also given tabernacle, the service of God, the high priest,
the sacrifices, and all these things were meant to teach them
the gospel. So if you look in Hebrews chapter
four and verse two, it says, for unto us was the gospel preached
as well as unto them. Was the gospel preached to them?
Well, it was. It certainly was. He says it
was here. And how was it preached to them?
Well, it was preached to them in these things we just mentioned,
through the deliverance from Egypt, the Passover lamb, coming
through the Red Sea, coming through the judgment of God, by which
God destroyed our enemies and we were saved. the manna, the
daily provision of God for us in Christ, the water from the
rock, our hunger and thirst for righteousness is satisfied when
the Spirit of God entering into us. reveals Christ to us, and
that's a constant taking in of Christ's work for us by the Spirit
of God. And then His maintaining our
life in the wilderness of this world, where we walk by faith. We walk by faith, we live by
faith, and we walk by the Spirit, both of which are synonyms, and
we depend upon Christ. All these things are teaching
us the gospel. Some of the people then believed,
most didn't, And there was also this land of rest. And that was
the land into which Joshua led Israel and gave it to them. God gave that land to them. And
the land itself, that land of Canaan, represented this rest
that's spoken of here in Hebrews chapter four. And so God is giving
us these things in the Old Testament in order to teach us the spiritual
things. And the gospel that was preached
to them was preached in a way that was cloaked, was not clear. It was hidden by the parables,
if you will, of the way God spoke and the way God revealed the
gospel to them in the law. And they were kept under that
law until the time appointed by God, as it says in Galatians
3, where the law was our schoolmaster until Christ, until Christ came
and faith was made known. Faith meaning the work of Christ,
the object of our faith, the doctrines that we believe concerning
Christ, what God has revealed, the truth. And so, In Hebrews
chapter four, it's speaking of this rest that we enter into,
but it's also speaking of those things that God used in anticipation,
in anticipation of this rest, which he taught then in obscure
language or in these physical things, entering into Canaan
in fulfillment of a promise God made to Abraham and to them.
And so that's what we want to look at. We want to see the things
that God has used to teach us about this rest. We want to understand
what the rest itself is. We want to understand who enters
it and how they enter and what it really means to rest. And
so that's what these scriptures are about. I want to walk through
them with you. Verse one, let us therefore fear lest a promise
being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem
to come short of it. The Israelites came short of
Canaan because they wouldn't believe God. They refused to
believe Him. They accused God of bringing
them into the wilderness and to the land of Canaan in order
to kill them. That's calling God a liar. That's
saying His promise was a lie, that God had an evil motive.
And that's exactly what these people who perished in the wilderness
had. They didn't have faith. And so he says to us now, let
us fear therefore. Let us therefore fear lest a
promise being left to us of entering into his rest, any of you should
seem to come short of it. How did they come short? By not
believing God. What was the rest they fell short
of? They fell short, in their own history, of Canaan. But that
was to teach us that they also fell short of the eternal rest
that God has for his people. And that's the rest we must not
fall short of. Because to fall short of the
eternal rest means we fall short of salvation. We fall short of
everlasting life. These are the promises, you see,
lest a promise be left us of entering into His rest. And this
helps us understand what the rest is. It is what God has promised
to His people. That's what the rest is. What
did God promise Israel? He promised to bring them as
he had promised to them even before they were born. When Abraham
alone was there, he promised Abraham, for example, in Genesis
12 and 15, that he would give to his children, physical children,
the land of Canaan for a possession. And that possession was actually
given to them in Joshua chapter 21 and 23. He gave them that
land in fulfillment of the promise God gave to Abraham. Everything
God promised Abraham concerning the promise of giving that land
of Canaan to Israel, he actually fulfilled then when he brought
them in by Joshua. And he says so, that was the
fulfillment of it. And yet, he says, that wasn't the fulfillment
of what God intended when he meant rest. It wasn't the full
meaning of what he meant by that word rest. In fact, it only pointed
to that other rest. But they fell short of it. It
was a land of promise. Remember, that was the name given
to it, a land of promise, which teaches us that all that it typified
was what God promised his people. And so whatever God promises
his people to give to them is essentially this rest. It's the
fulfillment of it. And what has God promised his
people? Well, in 1 John 2, it's summarized this way. In 1 John
2, in verse 25, he says, and this is the promise that he has
promised us, even eternal life. That's the promise. And he talks
about how this eternal life is in Christ later on in 1 John
and throughout scripture. And then he also says this in
2 Timothy, if you want to turn there, this is a key text of
scripture to help us understand this rest that God has in view
because it's a land of promise. Therefore, it signifies the promises
God has made to his people. And we see that those promises
can be summarized as eternal life. Second Timothy chapter
one in verse nine says this. Well, in verse eight, he builds
up to verse nine. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, Paul
writes to Timothy, but be thou partaker of the afflictions of
the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and
called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began." This is the promise. God has saved us and called us
with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. And then in verse 10, but now
is now made manifest by the appearing of our savior, Jesus Christ,
who hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel. The gospel preaches how God has
fulfilled his promise to his people to bring eternal life,
that's the promise, to us to light in the work of Christ for
us. And this work and the gift of
eternal life and all that goes with it was given us in Christ
before the world began apart from our works. And we're called
to this. We're called to this by a holy
calling. because God has saved us and called us by that holy
calling. So you can see here that the promises God made to
his people are where? In Christ. And when were they
given to us by promise? They were given to us by promise
in Christ before the world began. And in fact, they were given
to us in the very substance of them then when God gave to Christ
the the whole covenant of His grace to save us from our sins
by His work in redemption. So what is the rest then? What
is the substance of the rest God has given to us? It's all
that God has for sinners in Christ. Everything God has for sinners
in Christ is the substance of this rest. That's the essence
of it, whatever God has. Everything, all the promises
of God, according to 2 Corinthians 1, verse 20, all the promises
of God in Christ are yes and amen to the glory of God. Everything
God has for sinners is found in Christ alone. This is so essential,
if we understand it, that we will be able to rejoice. Where
is our salvation? It's in Christ. Where is our
life? It's in Christ. Why do we receive
life? Because of righteousness. And
where is that? It's in Christ. Where is our wisdom? God has
made him unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
It's all in Christ, isn't it? The fullness of the Godhead bodily
dwells in Him, and you are complete in Him. Colossians 2, verse 9
and 10. He is our wisdom. He's our life. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in glory.
He's everything to us. He is our present life. I've been crucified with Christ.
Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. He's our future life. He is eternal
life. He is the way, the truth, and
the life. It's so simple that a child can answer the questions,
the deep questions of scripture with this. What is your hope?
What is your salvation? Where is your righteousness?
Where is your wisdom? They could say, well, it's in
the Lord Jesus Christ. And there they would express,
if it's expressed with faith, the very wisdom of God. the eternal
wisdom of God. All the promises of God are in
Christ. Galatians 3, 16 through the end
of the chapter talk about this. The promises God made to Abraham
were given to us in Christ. In fact, let me just read a couple
of those verses to you. Galatians 3, 16. says now to
Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not,
and to seeds, plural, as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed,
which is Christ. Hence, Hence, because of that
singularity, the promises of God were given to Christ, and
not to Christ alone by himself, but to his people as Abraham
was. Verse 17, Galatians 3, 17, This I say, that the covenant
that was confirmed before of God in Christ which came before
the law, the law, which was 430 years after, cannot disannul
that it should make the promise of none effect. The promise,
again, underscore, promise, not law, promise. For if the inheritance
What was Canaan? An inheritance. What is our salvation? It's an inheritance. For if the
inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise. But God
gave it to Abraham by promise. Wherefore then serveth the law.
Why was the law even given then? It was added because of transgressions,
till the seed, Christ, should come, to whom the promise was
made. And it was ordained by angels
in the hand of a mediator. So the law was given until Christ
came, the one to whom the promises were made. And what was given
to us? All the promises of God in Christ
Jesus. 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 9,
we just read it. He saved us, he's called us with
a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. Now in 2 Peter, in 2 Peter chapter
1, it says this, in verse 1, Simon Peter, a servant and an
apostle of Jesus Christ, listen to what he says. He's writing
to these people. To them that have obtained like precious faith
with us. To obtain it here means to obtain
it as an allotment, a bequeathing, a gift. That faith was given
to us as an allotment, like the land of Canaan was given to Israel
as a possession by Lot, Joshua, obtained the land by conquest. Jesus, the Lord, obtained our
salvation by conquest, by his own work. And he gives us, out
of his inheritance, like Joshua did Canaan, he gives his people
this allotment. Part of that is faith. In fact,
faith at present is our possession of that promised inheritance.
And we have this faith by what? By the Spirit of God. We're given
faith because the Spirit of God, by the operation of His grace
in us, causes us to see, to look to, persuades us of Christ, and
embrace Him with His glad trust that we have because of Him.
Now listen to these things. This faith was given to us by
an allotment out of Christ's provision for us, His purchase
for us, and He says His precious faith So he said, to them who
have obtained precious faith with us, Peter and who's writing,
through the righteousness of God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Why was this faith given to us?
Because of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. In
fact, this faith is in, it has as its object, the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this comes to us because
Christ purchased it for us by his blood and overcame our enemies,
and now he gives it to us. and is part of the inheritance.
It's what we now have. He's given us his spirit, and
his spirit has given us life, and this life is seen in our
believing Christ. Paul says, the life that I now
live, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and
gave himself for me. So faith is the result of life.
Life is the gift of the Spirit of God. That life is because
of the righteousness of Christ, and that faith we're given, which
is in this life that we have, points us to, makes Christ and
Him crucified, the only object of our faith and trust. And so, now back to Hebrews chapter
four, he says, therefore let us fear, lest a promise, all
that Christ is, all that His people are in Him, what do we
have? What has God given us? Why, He's
given us everything that Christ has obtained by His work. Everything
Christ has obtained by his work of redemption is the possession
of his people and faith enables us to see that. Faith is the present evidence
that that what God has testified concerning his son is the very
truth on which our lives and eternities depend. And it's the
very hope, it's the expectation of what Christ has obtained,
what He has obtained. God's consideration of Him, that
makes up our rest, our possession. And faith enables us, as it says
in Hebrews 11.1, faith is the substance. It's the present substance
of things hoped for, not yet experienced in our experience,
but hoped for. We expect them. We expect them
because Christ is the one to whom they were given. And it
all depends on his work, not ours. So we expect them because
he's been given these things to him for sinners, for us. and faith is the evidence. We
can't see these things now, but we have faith, and faith is the
concrete, now-present evidence that they're true. We're convinced
of it. How do you know God created the
world? He said so, and I'm convinced what He said is the way things
are. How do you know that Christ came into the world to save sinners?
Because He said so. And how do you know He accomplished
the work? Because He rose again, and God said so. So faith is
that confidence in God's Word, that the testimony of God concerning
His Son is the way things are. And since God has appointed His
Son, and received His Son, and blessed His Son, not by Himself
alone, but for His people, then our possession, our promise,
our rest, is in what God has given to His people in His Son.
All the promises of God given to us are in Christ, and what
we have from God is only found in Him. And because it's found
in Him, we know we have it because of what He has done, not because
of what we've done. It's not by works of righteousness
what we have done. Now, that's an introduction,
but it's really the summation of everything that's about to
be said here. In verse one of Hebrews four, let us therefore
fearless to promise being left us of entering into his rest,
any of you should seem to come short of it. Now look at verse
two. For unto us was the gospel preached
as well as unto them. But the word preached did not
profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard
it. Now, what was preached? The gospel. What is the gospel?
Christ and him crucified, isn't it? What is the gospel? Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures. And that contains everything.
Who is Christ? What he did. Who he did it for.
What he accomplished by what he did. Where he is now. It's
all about what he did as our savior crucified for us. The
gospel. The gospel was preached to them.
The Passover lamb whose blood was shed to redeem Israel from
Egypt and conquer Pharaoh and his army and the judgment of
God in the Red Sea through which the Israelites passed through
were upheld in the wilderness of their sojourn until they reached
that land of promise. The gospel was preached to them,
and it was preached to us so clearly. All the revelation is
now by the Son of God. It's full, it's complete, it's
fulfilled in Him. It's been preached to us. And
what is it that gives us faith? How does God, what instrument
does God use in order to give us faith in the Lord Jesus Christ?
What is the object of that faith? Faith comes by hearing. And hearing
comes by the word of God. And that word is Isaiah 53, who
has believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed.
So therefore faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
The report is what Christ did as our substitute. Right, that's
what Isaiah 53 is about. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many. Having paid for their sins, he
made intercession for transgressors. He was wounded for our transgressions.
He was stricken for my people. The chastisement of our peace
was put upon him. All these things are about what
Christ did. This is the gospel. And when we hear this by the
Spirit of God, through this operation where he gives us ears to hear,
It produces faith in us. And it's not just a one-time
work of God of producing faith. When we hear the gospel, what
happens? It's not magic. It's the work of God. He tells
us what is true, and he attends that word with this grace that
gives us faith to be convinced this is the way things are again
and again and again. It's a continual ministry of
the word in our own walk in this world, in the wilderness. But
in the case of the Israelites, as an example, when they heard
the gospel preached through all these things, the word and the
outward signs, it wasn't mixed with faith. In other words, they had no faith. It wasn't like they had a little
faith. It wasn't like they had some kind of subjective faith,
but it wasn't enough. A lot of times you'll hear people
make a mistake. They'll say, well, they had an
intellectual faith, but they didn't have true heart faith.
That's a mistake. That's a mistaken notion of understanding
what this is about. Is that what God is saying here?
That they had a measure of true faith but not a full measure
of true faith? You see, it had nothing to do
with how much faith they had. The problem is they had no faith
because the object of their faith was their own works. The problem is they didn't have
faith in Christ. He's the only object of true
and saving faith. And the degree of our faith is
immaterial. The strength of our faith doesn't
save us. It's the one we believe whose
strength saves us. And so it's very important to
get these things nailed down and not be shaken by the good
intentions of men, which are actually not striking at the
heart of the problem here. The heart of the problem was
Israel didn't believe Christ. To believe Christ is to have
everlasting life. Can someone believe Christ one
day and then not believe the next? Absolutely no. They can't happen. Why? Because
the gifts and callings of God are without repentance. Romans
11 verse 29. And what is the gift of God?
It's eternal life, it's righteousness, it's faith, isn't it? All these
things are the gift of God. Our salvation itself is the gift
of God's grace. And faith, according to Jesus,
the one who believes the Son, has present possession, everlasting
life. We can't believe unless we live
spiritually. And that life is eternal life.
If God has given us faith, then he's given us life, and that
life is eternal. Christ is in us. by His Spirit. And if Christ is in us, the body
is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. As sin has reigned unto death,
even so might grace reign. As an absolute sovereign, grace
reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ
our Lord. Romans 5.21. So faith is given, according
to God's grace, as a gift. And that faith, once given, will
not be taken away, because God doesn't back up. He doesn't repent. He is not a man, according to
Numbers 23, 19, God is not a man that he should repent, neither
the son of man. He doesn't start down the road
and back up and go another direction. God's will and work are always
forward only. But we are wandering around.
We're going back and forth and all over the place. But God's
salvation isn't. He always saves his people. Jesus
said, my sheep hear my voice. And they know me. Let me read
this to you in John chapter 10. This is such a wonderful promise. This is the promise. We're laying
hold of these promises by faith. The work is God's work. And that
is what faith teaches us. Verse 27, John 10, verse 27,
my sheep hear my voice. They hear my voice. That's not
just like they heard the sound of it. They heard the truth of
it. They understood it. They were
persuaded of it. And they laid hold on it. They
embraced it gladly as their complete trust. My sheep hear my voice,
and I know them, and they follow me." They follow me, that's faith.
We not only see Christ, but we continue in this life of faith. We live by faith. The just shall
live by faith. Not because of faith, but it's
the evidence of life. He says here in verse 28, and
I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish,
neither shall any pluck them out of my hand." That's a challenge,
isn't it? He threw the gauntlet down right
there. No one is going to take them from me. My father, in case
you're concerned, which gave them me is greater than all,
and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand. I and
my father are one. This is just like Romans 8, isn't
it? Who, go ahead, who shall lay anything to the charge of
God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. Nothing
can separate us therefore from the love of God because it's
in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Did these people in the nation
of Israel, did they believe once and then stop believing? No,
it says, it was not mixed with faith. in them that heard. They didn't have any faith. And
so Deuteronomy chapter 32 teaches this to us. In Deuteronomy 32
and verse 20, God said, I will hide my face from them. Deuteronomy 32 20, I will hide
my face from them. I will see what their end shall
be for they are a very forward generation, children in whom
is no faith. So don't be intimidated by the
prospect of starting in faith and then not continuing in faith.
It can't happen. You see, God's work is the reason
we believe. We believe God because of his
grace. We are His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works. And faith is not of ourselves,
therefore it's the gift of God, it's the gift of His grace, if
we believe it's because God has done that work in us. And that
work in us is by hearing in our soul, our spirit, The gospel
concerning Christ and Him crucified and seeing in Him our everlasting
life, our hope for glory, the forgiveness of our sins, our
righteousness, everything God has for sinners is in Him, and
God gives us this grace of faith to say, it's for me. It's all
my salvation, all I look for, all I long for, all I want to
live for, okay? So back in Hebrews 4, Verse three,
for we which have believed do enter into rest. There it is. The believer does enter into
rest, believing Christ, as he said, as I have sworn in my wrath,
if they shall enter into my rest. So the if, spoken then, was a
promise that some must enter. They who did not enter, did not
enter because they didn't believe. But those who do believe do enter. And so he says that here, as
I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest.
Some are going to. Those who didn't, didn't believe.
Those who do enter are believers. And then he adds this. Now that
phrase, as I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into
my rest, that comes from the Old Testament. And it also comes
from not only the Old Testament in the law, but it comes from
Psalm 95, which we'll look at in a minute. And then it goes
on in this verse, verse three, although the works were finished
from the foundation of the world. So this is a complex statement
in some way. In Psalm 95, David, speaking
by the Spirit of God as a prophet, speaks of another day. Now in
history, David came after Joshua. Joshua, he's the one through
whom God brought Israel into Canaan. Joshua died, he's about
110 when he died. He died, all the generation that
came into Canaan, they also died. Several generations later, David
came up and God spoke by David in Psalm 95 and he said these
words, if they shall enter into my rest. Look, let's look at
Psalm 95. And this is the fact that David
spoke these words after Israel had entered Canaan teaches us,
is proof of what God is teaching us in Hebrews 4. One of the main
things he's teaching us there is the land of Canaan was not
the rest that God promised. That seems like an obvious thing,
right? If they entered into Canaan, and yet they didn't enter into
the rest, Joshua brought them into Canaan, and that wasn't
rest that God is speaking of. What does that teach us? Canaan,
the land, on this earth, Israel, the nation, the physical boundaries
of that nation, is not the promise of God to the people of God. How many people nowadays teach
the opposite? that somehow we're waiting for
a physical nation to enter into a physical land. That's not the
promise, is it? Psalm 95. Oh, come, let us sing
unto the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to
the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence
with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise to him with songs. This
in essence, this is the work of the people of God. What do
we do? nothing towards our salvation, we worship God. As Rommel was
saying earlier, we enter into His presence through the blood
of Christ. and with thanksgiving in our heart and we make a joyful
noise to him with psalms in our heart. Speaking to ourselves
in psalms and hymns, spiritual songs. Verse three, for the Lord
is a great God and a great king above all gods. In his hand are
the deep places of the earth and the strength of the hills
is his also. The sea is his. He made it and his hands formed
the dry land. Speaking about creation, everything
was created by God and for God. Now look at verse six. Oh come,
let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord
our maker. For he is our God. He is our
God and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of
his hand. Notice these next words. Today. if you will hear his voice. Harden not your heart, as in
the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness,
when your fathers tempted me and proved me and saw my work.
Forty years long was I grieved with this generation and said,
it is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not
known my ways, unto whom I swear in my wrath that they should
not enter into my rest. Okay, so those people didn't
enter into his rest, and yet he says, today. David said, today. Joshua was dead, the generation
that entered Canaan was dead, and yet God speaks of another
day. Back to Hebrews chapter four, he says in verse three,
as I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest,
so he's speaking about there a fact that some must enter. And then he goes on, although
the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
What is creation, why is he mentioning creation here? Well, first and
foremost, because God mentioned it back in Genesis chapter two,
as we saw last week. When God made the earth, he looked
at everything he had made and he said, very good. And then
in chapter two of Genesis, he said, and the Lord finished the
work and he rested on the seventh day. He blessed it and he sanctified
it. So God ceased his work because
the work was done, the work of creation, but here he's taking
the work of creation, like he did in Psalm 95, he's adding
that into this whole concept of rest because the work of creation
included within its scope the work of redemption. How could
Christ come into the world? How could he be made like his
brethren? How could he redeem us by his own precious blood
on the cross from the curse of the law? How could he establish
for us an everlasting righteousness? How could he preach the gospel?
How could he raise men and women and boys and girls from the dead
if there wasn't a creation? So creation is the environment
out of which and in which God has redeemed his people. We're
physical people. We're material in that sense.
There had to be a material world. And so God brought it all into
existence. And then in creation, having accomplished the work
in six days, He rested because the work was done, and he's teaching
us there, although it wasn't clear until Hebrews 4, that he's
saying that that work of creation, which included in its scope the
anticipation of redemption by Christ, that work would be completed
by God, and having completed his own work, he would cease
from his own works, because they were finished and perfect. And
we enter into his rest meaning the finished work of God, when
it's told to us and we believe it, you see. And so he says here,
he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise,
and God did rest the seventh day from all his works. And in
this place again, if they shall enter into my rest, quoting from
Psalm 95, seeing therefore Hebrews 4, verse 6, seeing therefore
it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it
was first preached enter not in, because of a total lack of
faith, unbelief, again, he limiteth a certain day, a certain day,
saying in David, today. You see, that's a present day.
We're sitting here listening to the gospel today. You might
not hear the gospel anymore. But you are hearing it today.
God's preaching concerning Christ, you hear today. Every day of
your life you hear the gospel, that's today. There is a day
in which the gospel is being preached. And there's a day coming
when the gospel will no more be preached, or you might not
hear it. Either by your own life being cut short, or your own
faculties being taken from you, or just the gift of God's grace
not being given to you. So when you hear the gospel,
that's today. And the entire time where Christ
sent his preachers, his ambassadors into the world to preach the
gospel, that's today. And when you hear it today, believe
Christ. That's the exhortation here.
Don't be without faith. Believe him. Don't be ignorant
of his ways. His ways are not merely providing
for physical things like he did the Israelite people. It's providing
eternal things in Christ. All spiritual and heavenly blessings
are given us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 1.3, right? And so
he's speaking about that day, this day, now when the gospel
is preached. Again, verse seven, again, he
limited a certain day, saying in David, today, after so long
a time, as it is said, today, if you will hear his voice, harden
not your hearts. So the Hebrews that this epistle
was being written to, among them were those who simply did not
believe Christ, although they were attending outwardly the
hearing of the gospel, and they were tempted in their heart to
go back to Moses, go back to the whole Old Covenant. So he's
pointing them forward. No, you need to believe Christ.
If everything God has for sinners is in Christ, what do you lack?
Why do you need to go back to Moses, thinking that you're going
to provide something here? Verse 8, for if Jesus, or Joshua,
is what he means here, if Joshua had given them rest, the rest
God is speaking of here in this chapter, then would he not afterward
have spoken of another day? Because Joshua spoke of a rest,
he brought them into Canaan, and that promise was fulfilled,
but that wasn't the promise God's speaking of. It was an eternal
rest, a spiritual rest. Verse 9, there remaineth therefore
a rest to the people of God. Verse 10, for he that is entered
into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works as God did
from his. When did God cease from his works?
In creation on the seventh day. The work of creation was finished.
Who else ceased from their works? The Lord Jesus Christ. When from
the cross he cried, it is finished. Look at Hebrews chapter one. who being the brightness of his
glory and the expressed image of his person and upholding all
things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged
our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high.
That's rest, isn't it? Look at Hebrews chapter eight,
verse one. Now, of the things which we have
spoken, this is the sum. We have such an high priest who
is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the
heavens. Look at chapter 10, Hebrews 10,
verse 12. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God. The Lord Jesus finished the work
of our redemption and sat down Remember Leviticus 16? The people
were told on that day of atonement, what were they supposed to do?
On this day, you are to afflict your souls and do no work. Underscore. Repeat it, do no
work. Because Christ alone could do
the work and Christ alone has finished the work by himself. He purged our sins. When were
our sins purged? Before he sat down. when he offered
himself to God once. He perfected forever. We as believers
see by God's testimony that our salvation is in what Christ has
accomplished for us. We can't add to that. To try
to add to it would be to It would be to blaspheme God, it would
be to cast, it would be to despise, really, the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ, as if he didn't finish the work. And somehow
our puny something, attitude, or tears, or actions, or resolve,
whatever we want to think of, would somehow improve on what
the Son of God did? Can't happen. So in verse 10,
he that entered was Christ. And to his rest, he also, Christ,
has ceased from his own works as God did from his. But it's
also speaking of the believer, because when we see that Christ
has entered and sat down, what do we do? We don't try to offer
anything. In fact, we have an active role
in going the opposite way. We abandon. all attempts to bring
something to God for our own approval before God, for our
own acceptance, for our own defense, in our own plea, then what do
we do? We relinquish all that, abandon it all, forsake it all,
and we rely as a man hanging over empty space, standing on
the foundation of God's word alone. concerning Christ. He's our hope. We look at this
verse in Hebrews 1.3, we say, that's it. That's all my salvation. Christ has done it, and he sat
down. When he cried, it is finished.
He accomplished the work. So we also enter into that rest
now by faith. And because we enter it now by
faith, we have everlasting life. We know God. We have the life
of God in us, Christ himself in us by His Spirit. And we live
upon Him by faith. We walk by the Spirit now, looking
to Christ. And one day, we're going to enter
our rest in glory. That's what we have in hope now,
by faith. We hope now, we wait by the Spirit
of God, Galatians 5.5, we wait for the hope of righteousness
by faith. We expect God's going to do what
he said. We expect it because he gives it to Christ because
he's worthy of it, he earned it. Him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith of Christ
himself is counted to him for righteousness. He says in verse
11, let us labor, therefore, to enter into that rest, lest
any man fall after the same example of unbelief. That's a conundrum. Doesn't that sound like a paradox?
You labor to enter into rest. But when we believe Christ, we
cease from our own works as God did from his, according to verse
10. So these two things seem like
they're at odds, don't they? You see, In this life, there's
this constant laboring in order to believe, isn't there? Remember
Paul? Oh, wretched man that I am. Who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? And then it's
as if it comes in like a breath of fresh air from the throne
of God. I thank God through Jesus Christ,
my Lord. And every time we face the enemies,
as it were, the Israelites did going into Canaan, our faith
is tried, isn't it? Enemies within, enemies without,
an opposing religious world, an opposing sinful nature, an
accusing devil. All these things are against
us. What does it prove when these things come against us, within
and without? It proves that we flee to Christ. We say, Lord, save me. Say unto
my soul, I am thy salvation. And we're continually going.
We're laboring to look only to Christ because we know only in
Christ our salvation in its entirety lies. And so this is a labor. Faith is tried. Faith is refined. Trials, all these things. Tribulation works patience. Patients
experience and experience hope and hope doesn't make us shamed.
This life we live now is a life we live by faith. The just shall
live by faith. So it's the evidence that we
have eternal life because the fruit of our life is faith. We're
asked in our conscience, are you going to leave too? And we
say, Lord, where else would we go? You have the words of eternal
life. We believe and are sure that
you're the Christ, the Son of God. And faith overcomes the
world. That's the victory, is our faith.
In other words, the one we look to, the one we cling to, the
one we see, the one we're persuaded of, the one we trust, embracing
him. And this is the operation of
faith. So we labor, strive to enter in at the straight gate.
And so our life is a struggle, and it's a struggle of faith.
Fight the good, fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life. We
wrestle not with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers.
And so what do we do? We put on the breastplate of
righteousness, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the spirit,
which is the word of God. Our loins are girt about with
the truth. Our feet are shod with the gospel.
These are all metaphors to show us we live by faith. in this
warfare, and this is a struggle. It's not like we're laying down,
doing nothing here. We daily take part of Christ
by faith. We daily live upon the bread
of heaven. And so doing, Christ is in us,
and we're in him, and it's the proof of it that we have everlasting
life. We know. Maurice Montgomery wrote
an article I hope to put in the bulletin one of these days. It
says, who are those who are saved? He said, those who are being
saved. Who are those who know God? Those who want to know God.
Who are those who are in Christ? Those who say, oh, then I might
be found in Him. That's the way faith operates
in our lives. It doesn't leave us as a, well, I remember a long
time ago, I believe, no, faith is a constant, living thing.
We hold to Christ, now by faith, by the grace of God, until we
die, and then we enter into glory. That's why Abraham's life was
called patience. He believed that God was gonna
do what he said. He was fully persuaded of it, and therefore
he was strong in faith, giving glory to God, and God brought
life out of his death, and so on. Let's pray. Thank you, dear
Lord, for the grace you've given to us, your own spirit, producing
this life and this faith in Christ. We pray that you would hold us
fast by your almighty power, because it is only your almighty
power by which we can be held fast and be kept in this grace
of faith. And we know, Lord, that believing
Christ, we have all that is in Christ, You've given us all Your
promises in Him. We thank You, Lord, that Your
will doesn't change, Your work doesn't back up and go the other
way, that You who saved us will keep us, and You will bring us
to glory, and that You order all things in our life, and You
do all things in this world in order to bring Your elect to
glory. What a work! We see Your work in this, and
we're amazed that it was accomplished. before the foundation of the
world, all your works were known to you then, and you're just
bringing them about, and you rest in your love, you rest in
your love, and we rest in your love, and in your work in our
Savior, in Jesus' name we pray, amen.