Open your Bibles, if you would,
to the book of Hebrews. Book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 4. Hebrews chapter
4. The name of the message is true
rest. True rest. Now, all of us in our lives,
we toil, don't we? We work. We have things that we have to
do in this life, things that we do each day sometimes, or
sometimes we plan to do certain things, sometimes we don't plan
to do certain things and we end up doing certain things. But
we, through the week, toil and work. And then, after toil and working,
it's sure nice to rest, isn't it? It's sure nice to rest. But have you ever noticed that
there's always something to do? Something either needs fixing
or repairing, And have you ever noticed, I don't know if it's
true for you, but I find myself sometimes when I'm at rest, I'm
not really resting because my mind's racing about other things.
You ever find that? You ever think even when we're
sleeping, we're dreaming, our mind's still going? So we never really have true
rest, do we? Well, we enjoy that when we get
that time to be able to sit and to rest and to recuperate. They
used to say in the Forces, R&R, rest and recuperation. And we need that. Each week that
comes, there's new things, which again, must be accomplished. And we seek to do them. And sometimes
in doing the things every day in our lives, we don't have much
time to rest. We just fall down in bed at night. But I'd like to talk today about
true rest. True rest. Just to rest and let the things of this world
just fade away. And have true rest in He who
is our rest. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's the true rest for the believer. Let's look at here in Hebrews
chapter 4. We'll read verses 1 to 10. Now, chapter 3, they've
been talking about the unbelief that prevented the people of
Israel from entering into the promised land. The rest. It was called a rest. and equating
not to the danger that unbelief presented to those that heard
the gospel, and yet hardened their hearts." And the writer
picks up the theme of rest here in chapter 4, and it brings forth that the
unbeliever misses the rest, the true rest, and that is Christ. Look at Hebrews chapter 4, verses
1 to 10. 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, fall short. 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. For we which have believed do enter into rest, We which believe have entered
into a rest. As he said, as I have sworn in
my wrath that they shall enter into my rest, although the works
were finished from the foundation of the world." Look at that. The work of salvation was finished
from the foundation of the world. And that which was planned and
purposed occurred in time and space, didn't it? Marvel at that,
beloved. So we were chosen in Christ before
the foundation of the world. My, oh, my. It says here, though
the works were finished from the foundation of the world,
for he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on the wise,
and God did rest the seventh day from all his works. So here
he's speaking about creation. And in this place again, if they
shall enter into my rest, Seeing, therefore, it remaineth that
some must enter therein. They to whom it was first preached
entered not in because of unbelief." So again, he's talking about
the Israelites, the ones who perished in the wilderness. Again,
he limits 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. That's a warning for anyone here
today who does not know Christ. Don't
harden your hearts to the gospel. Don't harden yourself to Christ.
Oh, our prayer is that God would soften your heart, give you a
new heart to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Like it says here. And in this
place, again, if they shall enter into my rest, seeing, therefore,
it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it
was first preached entered not in because of unbelief. Again,
he limited it to a certain day, saying in David, today, after
so long a time, as it is said, today, if ye will hear his voice,
harden not your hearts. For if Jesus has given them rest,
then would he not afterward have spoken of another day? There
remaineth, therefore, a rest to the people of God. There's
a rest to the people of God. That's what the scripture here
declares. There is a rest to the people of God. For he that
is entered into his rest, that's God's rest. Look at this. He also has ceased from his own
works. Look at that. Just as God ceased
from his work on the seventh day, the believer has ceased
from their labors. They've ceased from trying to
save themselves. They've ceased from any self-justification. Well, if I do this, God will
bless me. God doesn't work that way. Because
all spiritual blessings for the believer is in Christ. If you
have Christ, you have all spiritual blessings. He that has entered into his
rest, God's rest, he also has ceased from his own works as
God did from his. So the rest that's being addressed
here is not the eternal rest of all the saints in glory, but
rather the present rest of the saints born of faith in the finished
work of Christ. Who is our rest? The Lord Jesus
Christ. And what do we rest in? His complete,
finished, sinatoning work, praise be to God. We rest in the fact
that He has saved us from all our sins. We who are the people
of God. He saved us. It's a fact, isn't it? And who
do we look to now? We used to look to ourselves,
didn't we? Well, now we look to Christ and
Him alone. We look to He who is God's rest. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ. And this rest that we have in
Christ is not fully realized by us while we're here on this
earth, but it will be fully realized when we're in glory. Oh, what a rest we have in Christ.
Oh, what a rest we have in Him. And the writer of this epistle
is here addressing the current issue of the danger of hearing
the Gospel and returning to the Old Covenant. And only believers enter into
the true rest of Christ, having trusted our eternal souls to
the only acceptable sacrifice for our sins, and that's the
Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only One who we can
come to God in. And He is our rest. We cease
from the labors of religion, haven't we? Do this and do that.
Oh, you don't read your Bible enough. You don't pray enough.
You don't do this enough. Do you know what? I get to pray.
Hallelujah. I get to pray. See, religion says you have to
do this. I get to pray. It's a privilege. So for you
too, right? I get to read my Bible. I want
to, but I get to. And I get to read the Bible and
He gives me understanding. That's amazing. You see, it's
not work. It's a blessing. It's a blessing
from God. And all that we know about God
and all that we know about Christ and all that we know from the
Scripture comes from above. He's the one who's taught us
all these things, so He gets all the glory, He gets all the honor,
and He gets all the praise. And we look to who? Who do we
look to? The sinless Lamb of God. We look to the sinless Lamb
of God, the one who had no sin in life or in death. And He arose
in the grave sinless. Death couldn't hold Him, beloved.
It couldn't hold Him. He arose. He's in glory right
now. It's wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful. So
we cast aside all our works. It's filthy rags, don't we? All
our religious labors is filthy rags. We don't want to have nothing
to do with them anymore. We don't want to have nothing
to do with self anymore, do we? Self-justification. Self-salvation. There's no such
thing. And we rest, as believers, we
rest in holy trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, that when He died
on that cross, He died in my place. He took all my sin away. Past,
present, and future. All of it. And he paid it all. My. And again, the fact that
he rose from the grave shows that God is satisfied with the
sacrifice of Christ. He's absolutely satisfied. And
who are we in? Who are we in as believers? We're
in Christ. He's the head and we're the body.
So if God is satisfied with Christ, then He's satisfied with all
who are in Christ. Because He paid our sin debt. He paid that which we could never
ever pay. No amount of work can justify
us before God. Nothing. You could do all kinds
of things that you think you're doing for God, and not one of
them will justify you before God. Not one. The only way we
have justification, which is acceptance, right? The only way
we have acceptance with God is in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ, clothed in His righteousness, justified before God. It's absolutely
wonderful. This salvation is wonderful.
This is why it's good news, beloved. This is why it's good news. So the writer again here, he's
addressing the current issue of the danger here in the Gospel
and returning to the old covenant, to works, to works. You return to your works, you're
perishing your sins. See, but God will not let His
people wander, will He? We're on a leash too, beloved.
We may wander a little bit, and He just pulls right back, doesn't
He? Because He cares for us. If He ever watches over us, beloved,
All the time. His eyes are ever upon His people. With love. Some will say, well, how could
you say with love? Because He purchased me. And if you're a
believer, He purchased you with His precious, precious blood. Greater love hath no man than
a man who laid down his life for his friends. And Christ laid
down His life for His people. The sinner's substitute, the
only salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ. The only salvation for sinners.
All that a sinner needs is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what is it to rest in Christ?
I often hear this. What is it to rest in Christ?
It's just to believe on Him. It's just to trust Him with your
soul. That's what it is. So the question
comes, are you resting in Christ? Do you trust Him as Savior? Well, if you trust Him as Savior,
you're resting in Him. It's to trust Him. It's to believe
on Him as the only Savior for sinners. Do you believe that? If you do, it's because God gives
you the grace to believe it. As we saw this morning, every
good gift comes from above. Christ came down from above.
We're born again by the Holy Spirit. It comes from above.
Salvation is the gift of God. It comes from above. It all comes
from God. All through His mercy and His
grace. And we who are believers, we who have tasted that the Lord
is gracious, we can say, praise His mighty name. He didn't leave
us where we were. He saved us by His grace, showed
us mercy. Why? Because He's loved us from
eternity. Oh, it's so wonderful. And so it just means to rest
in Him, to completely trust Him for all your salvation. That's
what resting in Christ is. Do we struggle with that as believers?
Yep. And why? Because of our flesh
and because of our sin. But we keep trusting Him, don't
we? You know why? Because He keeps us keeping on. It's wonderful. He gets all the
glory, beloved. He gets it all. It's absolutely
wonderful. In religion, They're always telling
you there's something you must do, something you must perform
to be able to have a right standing with God. That's what they do.
Something based upon what you do. I'm here to tell you that
based upon nothing we do will gain us merit with God. The only way, again, the only
way, the only salvation that we have is wholly based upon
the Lord Jesus Christ. in what He has done, what He
has accomplished. He came to this world. He lived the perfect life that
you and I could never live. And in Him was no sin. Again,
He was manifested, what? To take away our sin, right?
Take it away means take it away. Doesn't mean leave a little bit.
He took it away. Hallelujah. He took it all. And
so He comes to this earth. He lives the perfect life. They
nailed Him to a cross all according to the purpose and counsel of
God. But wicked men took Him and did
that, right? And then they buried Him in a
burial tomb. And when He was on that cross,
though, and He's dying, He cried out. What's the words He cried
out? It is finished. It's done. The work of salvation is done. And then they go to the tomb
and he's gone. Because he arose. Because God was satisfied again
with the sacrifice of Christ. And it's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. So our salvation We call ourselves
grace believers, and the reason we do is because the salvation
that we have in Christ is all of Him. All of Christ. All of Him. He's done it all. He died in our room and place.
He lived as our substitute. He died as our substitute. He
rose as our substitute. And now He's seated at the right
hand of God, mediating for us. Oh, my goodness. It's wondrous. It's absolutely wondrous. Now
look at that too. He comes from above. He does
all that God's purposed him to do. He goes back to glory and
he accomplishes our salvation. So that means then that he's
the Alpha, which is the beginning, and he's the Omega, which is
the end of our salvation. And it all comes from above.
It all comes from the Father, in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ, to we who are the receivers of God's grace and mercy. All
because you have compassion on whom He will. Isn't that wonderful? Oh, it's wonderful. Oh, it's
wonderful. Now, we may go through times,
tough times. We may lose our assurance of our salvation. But
you know what? We can never lose it. We can
never lose our salvation. You know why? Because who saved
us? God incarnate in the flesh. Can
anybody thwart God's will? Can anyone pluck themselves out
of God's hands if they're in His hand? Nobody. Nobody. So we may lose our assurance. We may sometimes doubt our sonship,
but that doesn't change the fact that we're saved and that we're
God's sons. Isn't that wonderful? Why? Because it's not dependent upon
us. It's not dependent upon us. And usually, usually, when we've
lost that assurance is when we've looked away from Christ. And
that's why we continuously need to be drawn to Him. We continuously
need to have our minds set upon Him. That's why we need to hear
the Gospel. That's why we need to hear about
the complete, finished, sin-atoning work that the Lord Jesus Christ
performed in our place. He who knew no sin was made sin
for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
So the sinless one dies for sinners. My, it's incredible. God Himself
becomes a man and dies for sinners. It's glorious. It's absolutely
glorious. So our salvation is in Christ
and in Him alone. That's why it's secure. Because
Christ is God. Christ is God and the rest...
Now think of this too. Think of this too. God, after
He created all the worlds, He rested, didn't He? He rested. He rested. Look in Hebrews chapter
4 here, verse 4. For He spake in a certain
place on the seventh day of this wise, and God did rest the seventh
day from all His works. He rested from His works. He
finished the work. And then he rested. Where's Christ
right now? He's in glory, isn't He? He's
finished the work. And now He's seated at the right
hand of the Father, which is a position of reposing. And reposing,
as the old timers used to say, rest and repose in Christ. And that means to sit and not
move a muscle. He's sitting up there and the
work's done, beloved. It's finished. It's totally finished. There's nothing left to be done.
It's wondrous. And then the example that the
writer here uses too is the rest of the promised land. Second
example here in verse 2. For under us was the gospel preached
as well as under them, but the word preached did not profit
them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. So we see here two examples brought
forth before us. Two examples brought forth before
us in the Scriptures. about rest. You know, grace does
a two-fold work in a man or a woman. Number one, it makes the sinner
who's being drawn to Christ a consciously needy sinner. Grace makes us
a consciously needy sinner. We didn't feel our need for sin
before the Lord saved us, did we? Or before we were drawn to
Christ. I didn't feel my need for Christ
before He was drawn to me. I didn't at all. So it gives the sinner, and remember,
we who are saved are but saved sinners. That's all we are. We're
still sinners. We're just saved sinners. But
it makes the sinner who's being drawn to Christ a consciously
needy sinner. And then what does it do? Then
it shows them a full supply. A full supply. So grace shows
us our need. And then it shows us a full supply
already provided. already provided in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ. Outside ourselves. So it shows
us that we're just poor, bankrupt sinners. Grace does this. And
then grace shows us there's a full supply in Christ. Just flee to
Him. Oh, it's marvelous. And then
He makes us willing to flee to Him, doesn't He? Oh, this grace
is amazing. That's why John Newton penned
Amazing Grace. How sweet the sound that saved
a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm
found. Was blind, but now I see. Oh, it's amazing. God's grace
is amazing. Oh, my. To as many lost ones,
sinful ones, helpless ones, as received Christ, as God's appointed
way of salvation, received Him as their only hope, Their only
Savior to them gave He the power to become the sons of God. It's
all God's work. To become the sons of God, to
flee the Christ, to be made willing in the day of God's power. And
they are the saved ones. They are the saved ones to whom
He has given eternal life, and they shall never perish. If you're
one of God's people, trust and rest wholly in Christ, in the
finished work of Christ, The Scripture declares that we will
never perish. Now, we're going to die physically, aren't we?
But we're going to go into eternal life with Christ. All because
of what He's done. All because of what He has accomplished. My, oh my. And the notion that a believer
ceases from works and rests in the finished work of Christ simply
does not compute to multitasking, labor-intensive religion. I remember
telling someone who's in religion, I told them this. They said,
Wayne, what should I teach this class I'm going to teach? And
I said, you teach them just to look to Christ and rest in Christ.
You know what that person said to me? I can't do that. You can't do that. No, I've got
to give them something to do. No, you don't. You point them to Christ. The
One who's completed the work. The One who's done it all. And
having received Him, Christ, all things are theirs, the Scripture
declares. The world or life or death or
things present or things to come. We're safe and secure in Christ.
We have true rest in Christ amidst all the turmoils of this world.
And there's a lot going on, isn't there? There's a lot going on
in this world. There's a lot in this world that
troubles us. But the only way for us to have rest during those
times is to look to Christ. That's the only way. Because
if we get our eyes fixed on all those things going on, we're
going to get worked up. We will. I know it's so for you. It's so for me. I know it's so
for you, too. Now, what triggers you might not trigger me, but
there's things we look at in this world that go, oh, my goodness,
what is going on? And we look to Christ, who's
above. He came down from above. He finished
the work. And now he went back up. It's wonderful. That's why Paul
says to set your mind on things above. Set your mind on Christ.
Set your affections on Christ. Now, the Hebrew believer of the
day, when this letter was written, as well as the believer who's
been rescued from free will, works, religion in this day,
the bent of the flesh is still to labor and work for righteousness.
That's why we have to keep looking to Christ and keep entering into
that rest, don't we? And to cease from our labors.
We've ceased from self-justification. We've ceased from self-salvation
because there's no hope in that. We've been showing that, haven't
we? But there's no hope in that at all. And we see here that
Paul uses, again, two examples in verse 4. For he spake in a
certain place of the seventh day and the wise, and God did
rest the seventh day. So he's going to give us two
examples here. And in verse 2, 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. So why do some believe and some don't believe? because some are granted faith
to believe. We see that right here. And some, the Word doesn't
profit them at all. That's why I always say, praise
God that He didn't pass us by. Praise God that He didn't pass
us by. So again, who is this rest for God's people? Well, verse 2 brings forth that
the Gospel is preached. Look at that. Let's read verse
2 again. 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." My, oh, my. What is good news for sinners?
What is good news for God's born-again, blood-washed people? Well, the fact that Christ came
into this world to save sinners. Because that's what we are. That's
good news for sinners, isn't it? That's good news. Because without Christ coming
into this world, there'd be no hope for sinners. That's good news. And the fact that He came into
this world to save sinners, the fact that He went to the cross
and He died as our substitute, and the fact that He rose again
from the grave, it's good news. It's wonderful news. He rose
for the justification of His people. And also the fact that
he's now seated right now. This gives me great hope and
great rest. The fact that right now he's
seated at the right hand of the Father. That he's ruling in majesty. So the things that are going
on we can see and we don't understand. You know why we don't understand?
Because we're finite. We look at things with our minds,
right? That we have. And we don't understand the things
that are going on. But remember, God sees the whole
picture. He knows the end from the beginning. He knows everything that's going
to happen. Nothing catches God by surprise. Absolutely nothing. And that's the God who saved
us. See, so we look at things from our perspective, in our
lives, but God sees things from the end to the beginning. It's
a totally different perspective, isn't it? And the fact that He
is God, and we're finite, just animated pieces of dust, to think that man thinks that
he can change God's will? Or to think that man who says,
well, I don't believe in Him, do you think that affects God? who holds every atom and molecule
in place, doesn't affect them at all. And then we bring it
home for believers. I'll have mercy on whom I have
mercy and I'll have compassion on whom I have compassion. And
that hits home, doesn't it? That the God of the universe,
the ruler of all things, sent His Son to die in my place. That's incredible. That's absolutely
stunning, isn't it? That He who holds the universe
in place, when you see a shooting star, it's because God's ordained
for that thing to shoot out. You look up that canopy of space,
no matter where you are in the world at night, you can look
up and see that canopy of space, can't you? Just see the glory
of God on full display. They say when you're on the ocean,
I'm not being on the ocean at night, but they say when you're
on the ocean at night and you look up and there are no lights,
it just takes your breath away. That canopy. And He just spoke
all that into existence, beloved. And that's the One who saved
us. Oh, what rest we have in Christ
Jesus our Lord. what rest we have in Him. Let's
look at verse 1 here quickly. Let us therefore fear lest the
promise left us of entering into the rest, any of you should seem
to come short of it. And the coming short there is
unbelief. Coming short with unbelief. In
fact, not believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. We must have Him. We must have Christ. We must
have Him. If we miss Him, we miss all.
We must be washed in the precious blood of Christ. We must be robed
in His righteousness. We must be born again of the
Holy Spirit of God. We must be united to Him by faith.
And that's all the work of God. It's wonderful. Those who believe
on Christ have ceased from our labors. Again, we've ceased from
our religious works. We've ceased from anything we
do to try to justify ourselves before God. Look at verse 10.
For he or she that has entered into his rest, that's God's rest,
he hath also ceased from his own works, as God did from his. And we see in this passage, the
chapter before us, that the Old Testament types are tied together
with the rest found in belief. In this manner, Paul assures
the reader that returning to the Old Testament practices after
having heard the Gospel is to abandon the substance for the
shadow. Christ is the substance. All
those shadows and types represented the Lord Jesus Christ. And look
at verse 9. There remained, therefore, a
rest to the people of God. Notice it's singular. It doesn't
say rest. It says rest. A rest. Singular. There remaineth a rest
for the people of God. Now the other two have actually
passed away that was spoken of. Look at verses 1 and 2 in this
passage. We see the examples here. Let
us therefore fear lest a promise be left of us entering into his
rest. Any of us should Any of you should
seem to come short of it. 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 let's
talk about the people in the wilderness. The gospel proclaims the accomplished,
complete, sin-atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And to
leave that and to return to the elements of the Old Testament
reveals unbelief. and assures that the rest of
God will not be enjoyed by them who go back to that. Unbelievers. Now we see in verses
3-10 that we're showing the meaning of the rest declared. It means to believe by faith,
to enter into the rest brought by Christ. Let's read verses
3 and 4 now. And we see here that God entered into a completion
of creation. After entering into the completion
of creation, He rested. He rested. And it was typical
of the rest that Christ entered into when He had finished the
work of redemption. Look at verses 3 and 4. Or for
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.
For he spake in a certain place on the seventh day on this wise.
And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. So we
have a picture right there of what Christ did. Because God,
when he was finished all the works, he rested. Christ is now resting and reposing
in glory, beloved. He finished the work. Redemption's
work is done. Oh, it's wonderful. It's wonderful. And that's who we rest in. See,
that's true rest, isn't it? True rest is to look to Christ
and Him alone. Oh, it's wonderful. And there's no more work to be
done. For a believer to enter into rest by faith is to cease
from all our labors. That's what verse 10 brings forth
so clearly. Look at this. For he that has entered into
his rest, being God's rest, he also has ceased from his own
works, as God did from his. So we have an example here. God
ceased from his work. The work was done, and then he
rested. Isn't it wonderful? It's absolutely
wonderful. Oh my, so we've ceased from our
labors. And to resort to a works approach for acceptance with
God is to say, you know what it actually says? When a person
is trusting in their own works, it says that God didn't accomplish
the work. By people trying to justify themselves
before God, they're saying, he didn't finish the work. See,
that's why we've ceased from our labors. Because now we trust in the one
who's completed all the work for our salvation. The sinless
one dies for sinners, right? God's satisfied with the sacrifice
of Christ, and we are accepted in him. And what's the scripture
say? Now tie this in too. What's the scripture say? Ye
are complete in him. Complete in Christ. He did it
all. My. So the resort to a works
approach for acceptance with God is to say that God did not
finish the work. And the use of the creation here
and subsequent rest assures us that the salvation is a work
that is entirely accomplished by God. Because God did that
original creation, right? No one helped him. No one helped
him at all. He's the one who did it all.
And then he rested. Who accomplished our salvation? God in the flesh,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And when he accomplished the
work, he rose from the grave, and now he's resting, isn't he?
He's resting. It's done. Salvation's complete. Oh, it's finished. So would anyone
be so bold as to say that they had anything to do or any part
of the original creation? No, no one would say that. God
did it all, didn't he? He did it all. See the picture
that's being brought forth here? He did it all. No one would say
we helped them create anything, because we can't do that. We
have no ability to do that. We have no power to do that.
But he did it all, beloved. Work was completely accomplished
by God. Well, to say that anyone has
part in a new creation is arrogant. equally as arrogant is saying
that someone had something to do with the original creation.
Because here before us, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit
of God, the writer is using creation in the context of rest and entering
into it by faith. One needs faith to embrace the
Lord Jesus Christ, don't we? That's why the Lord said you
must be born again. We're born again, we receive the gift of
faith, don't we? And repentance before God. And then we trust
Him. Then we trust Him. It's accomplished
by the power of God. That's why we give Him all the
glory. That's why we give Him all the glory and honor and praise.
He did it all. The One who accomplished our
salvation is God incarnate in the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ. He did it all. Aren't you glad? Because we'd messed it up. We
couldn't even accomplish it. He did it all. Perfectly. Perfectly. So the picture we
have here of creation, natural creation, pictures the spiritual,
eternal creation of the body of Christ in believers who have
entered into the rest. We had nothing to do with it.
We're just receivers. And the message of the first
creation was the message of eternal redemption of the elect. The
work finished from the foundation of the world is the language
used to declare the work of Christ, planned and purposed by God and
executed in time. But the work was done. He's a
lamb slain from the foundation of the world, beloved. Let's now read verses 5 and 8. And in this place, if they shall
enter into my rest, seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter
therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not
in because of unbelief. Again, he limith a certain day,
saying unto David, Today, after so long a time, as it is today,
if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. For if Jesus
had given them rest, then we would not afterward have spoken.
another day now I had brother Tom read Psalm 95 because let's
turn to Psalm 95 right now and look look what's bought forth
here We just read there in Hebrews chapter 4 Verses 7 to 8. I'll read that again again He
limits a certain day saying to David today after so long a time
as it is said today if you will hear his voice Harden not your
heart. Don't harden your heart Oh, don't hurt me. May God soften
your heart to the gospel. Oh, that's my prayer. That's
the prayer of the saints here. Oh, that God would soften your
heart to the things of Christ. For if Jesus had given them rest,
he would not have afterward spoken of another day. Now look at this
in Psalm 95. We see where that came from in
verses 8 to 11. Harden not your heart, as in
the provocation, as in the day of temptation in the wilderness.
When your fathers tempted me, verse 9, 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. They have not known my ways, unto whom I swear my
wrath. They should not enter into my
rest." Look at that. So unbelievers will not enter
into the rest of Christ that God has prepared, no matter how
much religious works they do. No matter how sincere a person
is about the things that they do, if they're doing it to justify
themselves before God, they will never see God. They will never
be in the eternal presence of God and glory. The believer who enters into
the rasp, which is Christ, which is believing on the Lord Jesus
Christ, we cease from our labors. Cease from our labors. You know
what Joe Terrell told me one time? He said, the hardest thing
for us to do is to enter into the rest of Christ. Because we're wired for works,
beloved. That's why works-based religion
is appealing to the flesh. Because they glory in the things
they do. Now, in grace, we glory in Christ. Everything we do is
for Him. for His glory and for His honor
and for His praise. When we labor, we labor for the
Lord, don't we? That's what Scripture tells us
to do. Labor for the Lord. Be thankful. So we cease from our labors,
though, in justifying ourselves before God. Why? Because the
work's done. It's finished. It's all finished. Christ did it all. There's nothing
left. Praise God. There's nothing left. He finished
the work completely. And He's at rest now. He's the
one who's accomplished it from the foundation of the world,
and then He's the one who came into time and space and accomplished
it in time and space. Isn't it amazing? Just incredible that God would
do that for us. for His people. That's amazing
grace. That's boundless mercy. You can't
find the bottom of that ocean, of the ocean of mercy. You cannot
find the bottom of the ocean of God's mercy and God's grace. Never plumb the depths. The only way then for a person
to enter into this rest of God is by faith, by resting in the
complete, finished, sin-atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Have you entered into this rest? It's true rest. It's true rest. I'm not saying we're not going
to struggle because we struggle all the time, don't we? But we
have a rest, don't we? We have a pace with God and in
and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's now read verses 9 and 10
here. It says, There remaineth therefore
a rest to the people of God. For he that has entered into
his rest, God's rest being Christ, he also has ceased from his own
works as God did from his. Look at that. Ceased. It means
to not work anymore. It means to cease from our labors.
And that's talking about the religious sense. And we see in these verses that
the people whom God has chosen, for whom Christ died, and who
believe on Him, do enter into a spiritual rest. And you know
why? All because of God's mercy. And
all because of God's grace. That's it. but a perfection and continuation
of that which He begins in our hearts when He brings us to rest. The rest Paul speaks of here
is Christ. He's our rest. The work was given
to Him, wasn't it? See, we couldn't accomplish salvation.
So the work's given to Him by the Father. And He came here
and He accomplished it, didn't He? And now He's up in glory. Because it's done. He came here. He did the work that He was to
do. He saved His people from their sins. That's what He came
here to do, right? To save us. And we're sinners.
And we are saved, but we're still sinners. But He saved us who
believe on Him. Oh, it's wonderful. Christ had
a work to do in preaching the gospel and obtaining salvation
and the redemption of His people. And this work was given to Him,
and He finished it. And He's now ceased from His
works. Never to do them again. Never to do them again. He offered
Himself up once. One sacrifice for sins. And that's
the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh my. And in Christ we have
the rest of complete pardon. The rest of, think of this too,
perfect reconciliation. When we fell in Adam, right? We fell in Adam and we were not
allowed in God's presence. God had to clothe them in the
skin of an innocent animal. That pictured Christ dying in
our place. And that skin pictured the righteousness of Christ.
And they didn't do anything, right? God did that for them,
right? God did that for them. So in Christ, we have a complete,
finished atonement, complete, finished pardon. We have the
rest of a perfect reconciliation with God in and through the Lord
Jesus Christ. Let this sink in your mind, you
who are the people of God. We have absolute security in
Christ. May that just comfort your souls
this week. We who believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ have absolute security in Christ. So when you see the
news and the things going on, set your mind on Christ and say,
I have absolute security in Him. Praise His mighty name, all because
of what He did. Oh, it's wonderful. It's wonderful. So let us labor to cease from
our labors. This is what we do now. Now we
labor to cease from our labors. Right? Because we still struggle
with the flesh, don't we? Now we labor to cease from our
labors. I'm just going to trust you, Lord. I'm just going to
trust in you wholly. I'm going to rely on you and
you alone for all my righteousness. And I find in thee complete and
perfect justification.