Welcome to our program. Now,
if you'd like to follow along in your Bibles, I'll be reading
from Hebrews chapter 4. The title of the message today
is Christ Our Rest. There's several rests mentioned
in here in the first verses of Hebrews chapter 4. And I want
us to enter into this message of truth that shows that Christ
is the eternal rest the eternal Sabbath, if you will, for all
who know him and believe in him. Now back up in Hebrews chapter
3, the apostle had used an example of the Hebrew children in the
wilderness who could not enter into the promised land, the promised
land of Canaan, that earthly land, because of their unbelief. Now, beginning in Hebrews chapter
4, he takes that and makes the application to us today who are
under the preaching of the gospel. Now, you've got to keep the connection
here to understand what he's saying. Back in the Old Testament,
God made a promise to Abraham that his seed should realize
the promise of an earthly land. And 400 years later, the children
of Israel, having been brought out of Egypt, were to go over
and take possession of that promised land. But they did not and could
not because of their own unbelief. Their unbelief provoked God.
And because of their unbelief, God swore in His wrath that they
would not enter into that promised earthly land, and they wandered
in the wilderness, in darkness, in sin, for forty years, until
they all died, and their carcasses, the Bible says, fell in the wilderness. Well, now, how does that apply
to us today? We're not looking for an earthly land, but we're
looking for a heavenly land, salvation itself. Well, let's
look at Hebrews chapter 4 and see. He says in verse 1, he says,
Let us, therefore, fear, lest the promise being left us of
entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short
of it." Now here he's not speaking of an earthly land. We're not
looking, as I said, we're not looking for an earthly land.
We're not looking for real estate here on earth. What he's talking
about is the rest of eternal life in Christ. And he begins
with this statement, let us therefore fear. Now, this fear is not a
terror or an apprehension as such. This fear is the fear which
comes from saving faith. Now, remember, he'd been talking
about unbelief, and they could not enter in because of unbelief.
What is it that keeps a sinner from entering into that eternal
rest that God has provided by promise in Christ? Unbelief. And anyone who does not enter
in, by faith in Christ, has reason to fear the wrath of God. But
this fear here is a reverence and a respect. Do you believe
God? Do you believe His Word? Those
who hear the Word of God, who hear the gospel of God's free
and sovereign grace in Christ, but who do not believe that message,
the Bible is very clear, they have no fear of God before their
eyes. In other words, they have no
respect for God. They have no reverence for God.
They have no regard for the honor and glory of God. If you have
respect and regard and honor for the glory of God, let me
tell you how you know that. You'll believe His gospel. you'll
enter into that rest that he's provided in his Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And that's what the Apostle is
saying here, let us therefore fear. It would be just the same
as saying, let us believe. Let us believe God. Do you believe
that God will do what he says he will do? Well, the Gospel
tells us that God will save sinners for Christ's sake. This is a
faithful saying, Paul wrote, and worthy of all acceptation,
that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom
I am chief." Somebody says, well, I don't know if God will save
me. Well, he said he would save sinners. Any sinner who comes
to him seeking salvation, his way of grace, through Christ,
shall have it. Christ said that in John 6.37.
He said, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and
him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. God has
never and will never turn away any sinner who comes to him as
a sinner seeking mercy in Christ. He never has and never will.
So he says, Let us therefore fear, lest a promise be left
us of entering into his rest. The promise here is the promise
of eternal salvation, eternal life, redemption in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Entering into his rest means
the rest that God has provided. It's not resting from our labors
as if we've worked hard and now we've earned our way into God's
favor and now we can rest. That's not what he's talking
about. He says, entering into God's rest, that's the rest that
God has provided for his people in Christ. And he said, lest
any of you should seem to come short of it. Now, how do you
come short of entering into that rest, that rest of eternal salvation
in Christ? The same way that the children
of Israel, the Hebrew children in the wilderness, came short
of the Promised Land by unbelief. It's very simple. It's not complicated
at all. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Well, look at verse 2. He says,
For unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them. The gospel
means good news. And they had good news. They
had good news both of an earthly promise, an earthly land, but
they also heard the good news of eternal salvation in Christ. Moses wrote of me, Christ said.
You see, when Moses talked to them and preached to them and
revealed the truth to them about the earthly matters and the earthly
promises, he didn't stop there. He went on to talk about Christ,
the coming Messiah, the promised Messiah. And we know that because
Christ himself said that in John chapter 6 when he was talking
about the scriptures to the Pharisees. He says, you do search the Scriptures,
for in them you think you have eternal life, but they are they
which testify of me. And he went on to say, he said,
you trust in Moses. That means they trusted in their
works. But he said, Moses will condemn
you. Moses wrote of me. Moses wrote about the coming
Messiah, salvation by grace in the promised Messiah. When the
Lord took Peter and James and John with him, and he appeared
upon the Mount of Transfiguration, There were two men standing with
him. They had two visions there, the Lord in the center, white
raiment, glistering in his glory. And beside him speaking was Moses,
who represented the law, and Elijah, who represented the prophets.
And they spoke of Christ. They spoke of his decease, his
death, which he should accomplish. The Lord told his disciples,
after his resurrection, before he ascended unto the Father,
that he opened up the scriptures to their understanding, all that
Moses had written, all that the prophets and the Psalms were
written in those books concerning himself. So you see, this gospel,
this good news given to Israel, the Hebrew children, was not
just concerning earthly things, earthly promises, it was concerning
eternal salvation, and the gospel was preached to them, but it's
also preached to us, But look at verse 2 again. For unto us
was the gospel preached, as well as unto them. But the word preached,
the hearing of the gospel, you see, the word that they were
given, did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them
that heard it. They heard it, but they didn't
believe it. They refused to believe it. They
hardened their hearts against it. Will you do the same? You
see, salvation is the promise of God to sinners who believe
it. It's not to all without exception,
it's to all who believe. The gospel is to be preached
to all without exception, but it's to as many as God the Father
calls into his kingdom through Christ. And they believe it.
Don't just be a hearer of the Word. James wrote that in James
chapter 1. Oh, how foolish to just be a
hearer. You see, it's not enough just to hear it. It's not enough
just to be around it. It's not enough just to memorize
it. We've got to believe it. And that belief means this. It
means we trust in Christ. He's our hope. He's our salvation. He's our comfort. And that's
the only way to put it. Everything that I need for salvation
I find in Christ. He's my all in all. Now, he says
in verse 3, now look at this, now he starts mentioning these
rests. And he says in verse 3, for we which have believed do
enter into rest. If we believe in Christ, that
means we rest in Him. You know, there are a lot of
people today who claim to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but
they're not resting. Oh, they'll tell you, you've
got to get busy and work and work and work in order to earn
your salvation. Or you've got to get busy and
work in order to at least preserve or maintain or keep your salvation. Because if you don't, you'll
lose it. That's not rest. You see what I'm saying? That's
not peace. That's not the green pastures that the sheep lie down
into under the guidance and the power of the shepherd. They'll
tell you, you have to work hard to earn your reward in heaven.
You see, that's not rest. But we who believe in Christ,
we've entered into rest. How do you know if you truly
believe in Him? Are you resting in Him? Do you have peace in
Him? Assurance in Him? Confidence
in Him? Is He your all in all? Do you
have a confidence of eternal life and glory, knowing that
Christ, His blood, It brings forgiveness of all sin. You know,
I know people today who claim to believe in Christ, but they
don't believe their sins are forgiven. They think they have
to do things. They have to cry. They have to
beat themselves. They have to do penance in order
to earn their forgiveness. They're not resting in Him. They
don't believe in Him. To believe in Him is to rest
in His blood alone for all of salvation. There's power. in the blood of Christ. What
can wash away my sins? My tears? No. My repentance? No. My remorse? No. My reformations? No. My promises
to do better? No. What can wash away my sins? Nothing, nothing but the blood
of Jesus. And that's where I rest. Do you
rest there? What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What is my righteousness before God? Something that I do for
Him? No, sir. What Christ has already accomplished
for me in His obedience unto death. And that's where I rest.
I rest in Him. Who's going to make sure that
I enter Heaven's glory? Is it my power, my works? No, sir. It's Christ who saves
me and who keeps me and who will bring me to glory, and I rest
in Him. He's all my peace. He's all my life. He's all my
righteousness. He's all my holiness. Am I resting
in him? And we which have believed do
enter into rest, as he said, as I have sworn in my wrath,
if they shall enter into my rest, although the works were finished
from the foundation of the world." You see, this peace and this
rest that sinners enter into by faith in Christ is a promise
that God has established from the foundation of the world.
Oh, this is an old, old story, the gospel. Tell me the old,
old story, the hymn goes. Tell it to me again. One more
time. I love to tell the story. I love
to hear it. It's a story that's older than
this world. You see, salvation in Christ,
according to the purpose of God, is older than the fall, older
than sin. Before there was ever a sinner,
there was a Savior. Now, that's so. Before there
was ever redeemed people, there was a Redeemer. Christ is the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And those who believed
enter into his rest, because God has sworn in his wrath, if
they shall enter into my rest. You see, his anger was poured
out upon Christ for his people. If you've entered into his rest,
By faith in Christ, you don't have to fear the wrath of God.
Why? Because you've done so good? Because your faith is so strong?
No, sir. You don't have to fear the wrath
of God because Christ has already taken the wrath of God for you. He became accursed for us. The Bible says it, who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect. God will not charge
them with their sin, even though they're sinners. They are not
charged legally with their sin because God laid them upon Christ. He was made to be sin. Christ,
who knew no sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's delay? It is God that justifies. Who can condemn us? It is Christ
that dies. Yea, rather, that is risen again,
and seated at the right hand of the Father, making intercession
for us." He is our advocate. He is our surety. He is our propitiation. He is our mercy-seeker. His blood
was poured upon the mercy-seeker, and it atones for all our sins. And that was set up in the purpose
of God from the foundation. It was finished in the mind of
God from the foundation of the world. Now, that's comforting,
isn't it? Well, look at verse 4. It says,
For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise,
and God did rest the seventh day from all his works. Now that
rest there is referring to the rest of creation. Remember, God
created the world in six days. People argue about whether or
not they're 24-hour days or whatever. That's not the point here, and
I'm not going to get into that argument. I believe it was 24-hour
days. I don't have any reason to think otherwise, but that's
an immaterial point that will just get your mind away from
the real point here. On the seventh day, God rested
from his work. Now, let me show you this. That
doesn't mean that God got tired. and had to re-energize. You know,
some of you, I'm sure you probably work 5, 6 days a week, 40 hours
a week or more, and then you get a day off. And on that day
off, you like to, if you can, if you possibly can, you like
to rest. You like to let your body regenerate and re-energize
so that you can be ready for the next day's work or the next
week's work. That's the infirmity of the flesh,
but God's not flesh and blood, He's Spirit. And it's not that
God worked six days and then he got tired and had to rest
and re-energize. Rest here, when it applies to
God in creation, simply means this. That God ceased the work
because it was finished. It was completed. God rested
the finished work of creation. That's what it means. It doesn't
mean he got tired. He just finished. He stopped
because it was done. So, he spake in a certain place
on the seventh day on this wise. God did rest the seventh day
from all his works. He finished it. See, after the
sixth day the work was done. There was no more work to be
done in creation. And God finished it. And that's
his rest. Now, that's important. Hold that
thought and look at verse 5. He said, and in this place again,
if they shall enter into my rest, Now again, that rest that we
enter in is the completed work of God. It's not our finished
work. It's not a work that I do or
you do. It's not a work the church does.
It's not a work of any man or any woman. It's the work of God. And this is what we enter into
by faith in Christ. In verse 6, he says, seeing therefore
it remaineth that some must enter therein. and they to whom it
was first preached entered not in because of unbelief." Now,
again, he goes back to the Hebrew children. It was first preached
to them through Abraham, then 400 and some years later, through
Moses, the patriarchs you see before Moses, and it was preached
to the children of Israel. And what he is saying here is
the message of grace to enter into the completed work of God. The finished work of God was
preached unto them But it was first preached to them that they
didn't enter into it. Why? Because they didn't believe.
You see, you enter into this rest, not by working hard and
then resting, but by believing. Just believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's what entering into this rest is. Now, in verse
7, he goes to another rest. He says again, He limiteth 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." Now think about this, he said, if you will hear
his voice today, hear the gospel, don't harden your heart in unbelief. Verse 8, For if Jesus had given
them rest. Now that word Jesus there, if
you have a concordance in your Bible, or you can look this up
in a bigger concordance, That word Jesus, that's not talking
about the Lord Jesus Christ there, that's Joshua. And it's speaking
of Joshua of old, who was with Moses. And he's the one who eventually
led the Hebrew children, that next generation, into the promised
land. So read it this way, for if Joshua
had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken
of another day. Now I want you to think about
this. Some say, well, that's real confusing. Here's what he's
saying. Now, you remember, the first
generation did not enter into the Promised Land, the earthly
land of Canaan, because of unbelief. But later on, after that first
generation died out, their carcasses fell in the wilderness, Joshua
led the next generation into the Promised Land. Now, that
was an earthly rest. That earthly rest is not what
he's talking about here. Here he's talking about an eternal
rest in Christ. You see, there's a difference.
That earthly rest of Canaan, that earthly land, that was temporary. It was just for a time. But this
rest that sinners have in Christ, which we enter by faith in him,
is eternal. It will never be interrupted.
And so that earthly rest that Joshua led them over into the
Promised Land to, that was not the ultimate rest. If it had
been, Joshua would not have spoken of another day. Joshua himself
spoke of a future rest, an eternal rest, a heavenly rest. You see that? That earthly rest
in Canaan just typified the eternal rest that we have in Christ.
And if that weren't the case, then Joshua would not afterward
have spoken of another day. But he did. Well, look at verse
9. He says, "...there remaineth
therefore a rest to the people of God." Now, that earthly rest
in Canaan is over. It was just temporary. It's finished.
And it's never going to be brought back up again for the people
of God, whatever they do in Israel today. That doesn't matter as
far as heaven, as far as salvation. But there does remain a rest
to the people of God. And that word rest there in verse
9 is the word Sabbath. There remains the keeping of
a Sabbath to the people of God. Well, what is that Sabbath? Now,
here we're going to get into some things that you need to
learn. Most people, when they think of the Sabbath, what do
they think of? They think of a day, don't you? Back in the
Old Covenant, it was the seventh day. It was Saturday. Many people
think that under the New Covenant, the New Testament, since the
resurrection of Christ, that the Sabbath has changed from
the seventh day of the week, Saturday, now to the first day
of the week, Sunday. And I don't want to shock you,
but I want to show you something. That's not so. Sunday, the first
day of the week, is not the Sabbath. Saturday was the Sabbath under
the Old Covenant, but that's over. That's finished. It was
completed. It was fulfilled. Today, our
Sabbath is not a day. Now, Sunday is the Lord's day.
It's a day set aside. It was the day on which our Lord
resurrected from the dead. It's the day on which the church
meets to worship God. So what is that Sabbath that
remains for the people of God? Well, he tells us in verse 10.
For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from
his own works, as God did from his. Now who is he talking about
there? He is speaking of Christ. Christ
is entered into his rest. He also has ceased from his own
work. Christ enters into his own rest
when he finished the work of salvation. He did it all. He completed the work. And our
Sabbath today is his work. It's Christ himself. Christ is
our Sabbath. He's our eternal Sabbath. Not
a day. It's him. Christ is our rest. We rest in him. We rest in him
who he is. We rest in his finished work,
what he has accomplished. And he ceased from his work just
like God did from his. When God created the world in
six days, he finished his work and he rested on the seventh.
That was the completion of the work. When Christ came to this
earth, as God-man, he walked the earth in obedience to the
law. He went to the cross of Calvary and suffered and bled
and died for the sins of his sheep and feuded to him. He drank
damnation dry, he paid the debt for their sins, and when he gave
up the ghost, he said, it is finished. It's finished. He finished the work. And he
died and was buried and rose again the third day. He entered
into his rest. Now, we enter into his rest,
his work, when we believe on him, when we enter it by faith.
And he says in verse 11, let us labor. Let us diligently strive,
therefore, to enter into that rest, not a day, not Saturday,
not Sunday, but Christ, enter into Him, believe in Him, lest
any man fall after the same example of unbelief." Now, you see, Christ
is our Sabbath. And that doesn't mean that we're
not to meet when the church meets, where the gospel is preached
now, where Christ is exalted. That doesn't mean that we disregard.
Every day is the Lord's Day, actually. We regard every day
as of God. There's a special day that in
God's providence we're able to set aside on that given day,
on Sunday, to meet with the people of God and hear the gospel preached.
and to grow in grace, to assemble ourselves together, but that
day is not our Sabbath. We meet there on that day to
hear of Christ, who is our Sabbath. So how do we enter into his rest?
By believing in him, looking to him, resting in him. He is our peace. He is the Prince
of Peace. He is our rest. He is our Sabbath. Everything. that God has for
his people is in Christ. And the gospel command is to
enter into this rest. Enter into this eternal, this
everlasting, this uninterrupted rest that will never go away.
Not like that earthly land of Canaan. Not like a day. That day, you see, the Sabbath
day under the old covenant was a type of this rest, this eternal
rest that we have in Christ. That Sabbath day was a shadow,
it foreshadowed Christ who was to come and finish the work for
us. So that when we rest, we're not
resting from our own labors, we cease from our own labors.
He said, let us labor therefore to enter into that rest. We're
to cease from our own labors, that is, we're to stop trying
to work our way into God's favor, and we're to look to Christ and
His finished work as our only salvation, our only acceptance
before God. As Christ, I rest.