Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Niver. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nibbert. I'm going to be speaking this
morning from the fourth chapter of Hebrews on the subject rest. One of the words that would best
describe the day in which we are living is restless, constantly
moving. disturbed, agitated, and people
go to therapists and counselors because they have some awareness
of restlessness. According to Webster, let me
give you the dictionary definition of rest. Cessation from motion
or disturbance, quiet, peace, Repose. Sleep. Death. Trust. An interval of silence in music. Cease from action. Stand. Be satisfied. Lean. Lay to rest. Cause to cease from
labor. desist from presenting evidence
in a law case. Now you can see that rest is
a highly desirable thing. In Hebrews 4, verse 1, the writer
to the Hebrews said, "'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.'" He said, let us fear of not actually entering
into this rest. Now, every true believer rests
in Christ. When you rest, that means you're
not doing anything. You're resting. You're not working. You're resting. Every believer
rests in Christ's person. If I'm in him, that God requires
of me, I have, simply being in Him. We rest in His finished
work. What were His last words from
the cross? It is finished. Not, it's part finished, but
I need to do something to make it work. No, it is There is absolutely nothing for
me to do, no works for me to perform in order to gain God's
favor. I have it in Christ and I rest
in Him. I rest with regard to the past. All my sins are paid for. I don't have to look back into
the past and have resentment. Because I know God is in control
of the past and everything that's taken place has worked together
for my good and His glory. Therefore, I don't have to look
at the past with resentment, but I look at the past with thankfulness. All my sins are forgiven. I have rest regarding the future. I don't need to worry about Judgment
Day because I've already been accepted. Christ Jesus is my
salvation. He finished my salvation. I have
rest right now because I know who's on the throne, who's ruling
and reigning and controlling. Now, have I rested? myself that
question. As a matter of fact I'm putting
myself on trial. And I want you to do the same. Have I rested? The writer says we ought to fear
coming short of this rest. And I do fear coming short of
this rest. I don't want to presume. So I
want to put myself on trial. Have I ever rested in Christ? Isn't that a wonderful word,
rest? In verse 2 of Hebrews chapter
4, He says, 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. They heard the truth, but they
had no They didn't believe the Gospel. Now what he is referring
to is those people who did not enter the Promised Land. They
are spoken of in Hebrews chapter 3 beginning in verse 17 it says,
"'But with whom was he grieved forty years? Was it not with
them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? And to
whom swear he that they should not enter into his rest, but
to them that believed not?' So we see they could not enter in
because of unbelief." Do you remember what took place? When
they came to the Promised Land they sent spies. The spies come
back with the evil report, they're giants in the land, they're too
strong for us. We're afraid to enter in. Now they'd seen how God had brought
them out of Egypt, but how quickly they gave in to unbelief. We're
afraid we can't enter in. And that's because they were
depending upon their own strength to enter in, and their own works
to enter in. They knew nothing of rest knowing
that the Lord would bring them in. Now, they had the Gospel
preached to them. I think of the Passover. They
saw there was safety only where the house was with the blood
over the door. God said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. They saw the safety there is
in the blood of the Paschal Lamb. They saw manna come down from
heaven, Christ, our bread, our sustenance. They saw the rock
smitten and water actually come out of that rock which lets us
know that when Christ was smitten by the wrath of God, the waters
of God's grace flow from Him. That's how we're saved is by
the rock smitten. They had the Sabbath day. They
knew that they were forbidden to work for salvation. That's
what the Sabbath is, it's resting. That's what the Sabbath is all
about, it's resting, not working. It's amazing how men make a work
out of not working. But the point behind the Sabbath
day is rest. There's nothing to do. Rest,
but this Word did not profit them. They heard the Gospel,
but they didn't hear with faith. Now, they should have, and we
should, believe God. Is God able to bring them in?
Of course He is. If God be for you, who can be
against you? did not hear with faith." Now
let's go on reading verse 3 it says, "'For we which have believed
do enter into rest.'" If I believe the Gospel I do in fact rest. And this rest spoken of is typified
by three things in the Scripture. First the rest of creation and
you can read about that in Genesis 1 and 2 where God created the
heavens and the earth. He created everything and when
He was finished what did He do? He rested. Now He didn't rest
because He was tired, He's God. He rested because there was nothing
left to create. Everything he did was good. His
rest was in response to a finished work. And then we have the rest
of the children of Israel entering into the promised land. They
were to go into a promised land with the cities already built,
the walls already up, a land flowing with milk and honey where
they wouldn't have to work, the food is provided. The rest of
the promised land And then we read of the rest of the Sabbath
day. On the Sabbath day, you were
forbidden to work. Now this wasn't given just to
give them a day off. It was to teach them that we
do not work to be saved. We rest in the work of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Now they which have believed
do enter into rest. You really believe that what
He did has made you acceptable before God. We rest in Christ. There is no work to do. Our rest is in response to Him
who finished the work. Now let's go on reading in verse
3. For we which have believed do enter into rest. As he said,
as I've sworn in my wrath, they shall not enter into my rest.
Talking about those people who refused to trust the Lord and
to bring them into the promised land, he said, they're not going
to enter into my rest, although the works were finished from
the foundation of the world. Now, what in the world does that
mean? With God, there is no time. There's no yesterday, there's
no tomorrow, all is in the present. And those who believe have always
been in Christ before time began and all their works were finished,
their salvation was completed before time began. Now, this obviously goes into
the great glorious truths regarding God's electing grace. How He
chose who would be saved before time began, it has something
to do with predestination. How He predetermined that the
elect would be just like Christ. But all of these works, it doesn't
say, it says, if they were finished, it says they were finished. You see, whatever God does is
eternal. Whatever He does was done before
time began and became historical before it even happened. Now,
I realize that we can't grasp that being creatures of time,
but it's what the Scripture tells us. All the works were finished
from the foundation of the world. Now here is why I'm resting.
My salvation is already completely accomplished and was so before
time began. Now that is glorious. It's high. It's holy. It's who God is. All
the works were finished. Have you ever rested in a work? the work of the Lord Jesus Christ
that has already been finished since the foundation of the world.
Now he says in verse 4, for he spake in a certain place of the
seventh day, talking about the Sabbath day, on this wise and
God did rest the seventh day from all of His works. Now this is speaking of the rest
of creation when He was finished He rested from all of his works,
verse 5, and in this place again, if they shall enter into my rest,
or they shall not enter into my rest. Here he speaks of those
who would not believe, so he swore, you're not going to enter
into my rest. Verse 6, seeing therefore it
remaineth that some must enter therein. Although these people
who did not believe did not enter in, it's still true some must
enter in. Well, why must they enter in?
because it was determined before time began that they would enter
in. This is talking about all of God's elect, all who will
believe, they must enter in. They must enter into this rest. Seeing therefore it remaineth
that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first
preached entered not in because of unbelief. They didn't come
in. They would not rest. Verse 7, again, he limits. God
makes this limitation. He limits a certain day. There's a certain day for you
to enter in and for me to enter in to this rest. He limits a
certain day, saying in David, today, after so long a time,
today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. Now, listen to me real carefully.
The only time you can experience this rest is right now. If you're looking to something
that took place yesterday to give you rest and peace, if you're
looking at some kind of religious experience you had, or how you
turned things around and straightened up, and surely you were saved
then because look how you felt, look how you cried, look how
you repented, look at this experience you had. Surely I must be saved
because of that experience yesterday. No, that's looking to the flesh. You're not to find confidence
and rest in yesterday's experience, and you can't find any rest Your
intentions for tomorrow. Well, tomorrow, I'm going to
believe. Tomorrow, I'm going to change. Tomorrow, boast not
thyself of tomorrow. Tomorrow may never come. And
as far as that goes, that's leaning on the arm of the flesh. You're
thinking about what you will do tomorrow. No, the place of
rest is not yesterday's experience. It's not tomorrow's intentions.
The place of rest is resting in Christ right now. believing that He is able right
now and He does make you perfect before God. Now if you try to
rest in yesterday's experience, it's going to do what yesterday's
manna did. Do you remember on the Sabbath day, they couldn't
gather manna? As a matter of fact, every day
you could only get one day's worth. You couldn't get manna
for the next day because if you did, it would breed worms and
stink and you couldn't eat it. You had to get it for today.
Today is the day of rest. Today is the day to come to Christ
and believe on Him. Now, this is God's limitation.
He's limited it to this certain day Right now, don't work but
rest. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Look what he says in verse 8.
He says, for if Jesus or Joshua had given them rest, then would
he not afterward have spoken of another day? Now, these people
that did not enter into this typical place of rest with Joshua
never really rested. because this was never meant
to be the true rest. Joshua would have never spoken
of another day, another day of rest. Now look in verse nine,
there remaineth therefore a rest, a rest for the people of God. And this is literally a true
keeping of the Sabbath. a true keeping of the Sabbath
for the people of God. I remember when I was a young
boy I did not like Sundays because I thought on Sundays you couldn't
have fun, you couldn't do things, you just had to sit and Sundays
were not an enjoyable day to me. Somehow I thought Sunday
was the Sabbath whereas Saturday is the Sabbath and people try
to make a Christian Sabbath, make it on Sunday. The Bible
never does anything like that. But the one thing I knew about
the Sabbath is you weren't supposed to work. Now this didn't seem
to be a good thing to me. It didn't seem enjoyable because
I didn't understand it. But there is a true keeping of
the Sabbath to the people of God. Now what did you do when
you kept the Sabbath? You did not work at all. You rested. You did not work. The Sabbath teaches, do not work
for salvation. Rest. Rely on Christ, who he
is, and what he did. to where you need nothing else. You are complete in Him. Now, that's what it is to rest.
It's to believe that nothing else is needed. All that God
requires I have in the Lord Jesus Christ, and I rest in Him. Now, this rest is where the believing
life begins. It's not where it ends. It's
where it begins, just like forgiveness. Forgiveness is not the end. If we do these certain things,
we'll get forgiveness. No, salvation begins with the
full, free, frank forgiveness of sins. This rest is where salvation
begins. You've never believed. I've never
believed if we have not rested. in the Lord Jesus Christ. That
means we do nothing but wait on him. Now, in resting in Christ,
I don't try to keep the law. I've kept it. If you're trying
to keep the law, that means the work is not finished. I don't
try to keep the law. I've kept it. I rest in him who
kept it for me. I do not try to do something
to secure God's favor. In Christ, I have God's favor. I trust in the finished work
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and I don't try to add something
to enhance it. What if Da Vinci or Michelangelo,
they did one of their great paintings, and then when it was finished,
what if I would say, well, let me put the finishing touches
on it. Let me add my little part to it. Well, I would ruin it,
wouldn't I? It is so ridiculous when men and women think that
they can add something to the work of Christ to make it better
or to complete it. You can't do it. You rest in
Him who finished the work. Rest. Verse 9, there remaineth
therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered
into his rest, he also hath ceased. from his own works as God did
from his. Now how do you enter rest? By ceasing from your own works. Do you find any safety in that?
Have you ever thrown all your works, all your experience, all
your religion, all your feelings, you've thrown them all away,
you ceased from your works and trusted Christ alone, rested
in Christ alone. We only rest when we cease from
our own works as God did from his. How did God cease from his
works? He looked at the work of creation
and he said, Behold, it's very good. It can't be improved on. There wasn't anything left to
do. He rested not because he was tired, but because he saw
what he had done was very good and needed nothing else. When
I rest in Christ, I see that I'm complete in him. His righteousness
is all I need. His shed blood took care of all
my sins. When He said, it is finished,
it was finished and there's nothing left for me to do. Simply rest
in Him to cease from my own works, to cease from my own labors as
God did from His. Now, He says in verse 11, let
us labor. Therefore, to enter into that
rest, let's work real hard to enter into that rest. Now, that
almost seems like an oxymoron, doesn't it? Labor to rest. The hardest thing that you and
I are ever called upon to do is to trust Christ alone. Not Christ and, not Christ and
my experience, not Christ and my good works, not Christ and
my decision that I made when I was 17 years old, not Christ
and anything, but Christ alone. Somebody once said, if all you
have is Christ, is that enough? And someone replied to the person
who asked that question, well, it is if he's all you got. Is he all you have? Oh, labor to get rid of anything
that would hinder you in simply resting in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what we're called on to
do. They which have believed do enter into rest, resting in
what he did. You know, concerning this thing
of his finished work, the reason most people in this generation
do not rest is because they don't really believe he finished the
work. They believe that he died savingly for all men. He shed
His blood for all men, hoping men would believe on Him, making
an opportunity for men to believe on Him, but His blood didn't
actually secure salvation. It just made salvation potential,
but it's up to you to do something in order to make what He did
work for you. Well, no wonder you can't rest
in something like that. That's salvation by works. And
if you believe in salvation by works in any form, you're never
going to be able to rest because you don't believe in a finished
work. but all they which believe enter
into a rest," the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
completed it and I am complete in Him. Now, you labor to enter
into that rest. Here's another Scripture that
I think will be helpful to understand what this thing of resting in
Christ is. In 2 Timothy 1.12, Paul said, I know whom. I have believed." Notice he didn't
say, I know what I believe. He said, I know whom I have believed. Salvation is a person. And he said, I am persuaded,
I'm convinced that he is able to keep that which I have committed
to Him against that day. Now, Paul, what did you commit
to Him? Everything concerning the salvation
of my soul. I don't have a plan B. I've burned
all my bridges. I've committed the entire salvation
of my soul to Him only. If He doesn't do it all, it's
over for me. Now, to fail to commit the entire salvation of
your soul to Him is a failure to rest. And oh, what a miserable
failure that is. You know, so many people, my
heart breaks for you. You have a religion that makes
you miserable. You've never done enough. You have a secret gnawing
inside saying, have I done enough? Have I done enough? Is God really
pleased? Does God really accept me? Grind, never having done enough,
but oh, the joy and the peace of simply resting in the Lord
Jesus Christ, having committed the salvation of your soul to
him. They which have believed do enter
into rest. I'd like to hang a sign on myself,
resting. Do not disturb. Do not disturb
me with salvation by works and man's error. Don't disturb me
with any of that. I'm resting at peace in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And my dear friend, if you rest
in Christ, you're saved. If you let go of all your works
and simply trust who He is, And what He did, you are completely
saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. And what a rest there is in His
salvation. All my sins paid for, His righteousness
as my righteousness before God, the promise that everything is
working together for my good, and His glory, the promise that
He's for me, and if He's for me, nobody can be against me,
and the promise of knowing I'm going to stand before God in
judgment perfectly holy. And He'll say to me, well done,
thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy
Lord. Oh, what a rest. Now, we have this message on
CD and DVD. If you call or write or email
the church, we'll send you a copy. We'd like to invite you to services
this morning at 1030 and this evening at 6 o'clock. We'd love
to have you come out and visit with us. This is Todd Knight,
we pray that God will be pleased to make Himself known to you.
That's our prayer. Amen. To request a copy of the
sermon you have just heard, send your request to messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.