Christ Offers a Better Rest
Hebrews 4:11
Introduction.
On Sunday mornings we have been talking about the light at the end of the tunnel.
There is hope found in Christ.
Another way to express that light is rest after a hard day.
We’ve all had hard days, hard weeks, hard months…. and this has certainly been a hard year.
How great does it feel when we are able to kick back, relax, and enjoy?
It reminds me of Solomon’s statement in Eccl. 5:12.
As Christians, are we not to labor in the Lord? Paul implores us not to grow weary doing good, and that our labor is not in vain in the Lord (Gal. 6:9; 1 Cor. 15:58).
We find the writer of Hebrews emphasizing this idea of rest in today’s passage, particularly that we should be diligent to enter that rest (it doesn’t just happen).
Do you look forward to that rest to come? I sure do.
Context.
Recall the first chapter is all about how Christ is better than the angels.
The second is about how Christ was made a little lower than the angels to live as one of us, and to die a painful death on the cross for us.
The first half of the third chapter talks about how much better Jesus is to Moses.
This leads us into a discussion on the wilderness wanderings and entering into the Promised Land.
In all this, let’s keep in mind one of the themes of this book—to hold on. Hold fast to your faith, and don’t let it slip away (3:6).
That is on full display in these two chapters.
Preview.
Rebellion in the Wilderness (3:7-19).
Rest in the Promised Land (4:1-13).
Body.
Rebellion in the Wilderness (3:7-19).
Warning (3:7-11).
Here we see a quotation of something that talks about something else.
The events described here take place in Exodus and Numbers, but the quotation is from Psalm 95:7-11. It recurs several times in this section.
The psalmists often reflect on things that occurred in Israel’s past.
These are called didactic psalms, i.e. they are meant to teach the people of these events.
Psalm 95 is not attributed in any inscription, but here, the writer of Hebrews plainly states that the Holy Spirit is the author.
But later (4:7), this writer attributes it to David. This shows that David is inspired by the Holy Spirit!
The words we have translated as “wilderness” and “trial” correspond to the names Meribah and Massah (Exo. 17:1-7).
The Israelites had just passed through the Red Sea a few chapters earlier, and they were complaining about a lack of water for the second time.
Moses was told to strike a rock and water would flow from it. He did and the people had water.
The place was called Massah (tempted/trial) and Meribah (contention/rebellion).
You see, the people did not trust in God, but rebelled in their testing of God.
They continued to test God despite seeing so many of His wonders already.
If He can part the Red Sea for them, He surely can provide for their needs, but they didn’t see it that way.
So, the Lord was angry with them and said they wouldn’t enter His rest.
This was certainly evident when the twelve spies came back from checking out Canaan, and ten of them said taking the land was impossible.
Their unbelief had reached its height as the Lord sentenced them to a slow death in the wilderness for forty years (Num. 14:26-35).
Only their faithful children along with Joshua and Caleb would enter that rest.
Application (3:12-15).
The writer of Hebrews notes the dangers of unbelief, and cautions his readers against it to the extent that he calls it an “evil heart of unbelief.”
In addition, the result is departing from the living God!
This was the big problem the writer is addressing in this book—Jewish Christians leaving Christ to return to Judaism.
Doing so would cause them to depart from God, because God wasn’t with those who were ethnically Jewish any longer, but with those who were of spiritual Israel—the Christians.
The psalmist David was encouraging his readers not to harden their hearts just as the writer of Hebrews was encouraging his readers.
One’s heart is hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
You see, sin tricks you into thinking that’s what you want.
When you get it, you realize it’s the last thing you wanted, and now you’re trapped.
We can help each other out of that predicament by exhorting and encouraging one another to stay away from sin!
It worked in David’s day and in the first century—it can work today!
And again, the writer repeats the concept we find in 3:6, that we are partakers of Christ (heavenly calling 3:1), if we hold fast.
Here he uses the phrase, “the beginning of our confidence,” which is the same Greek word that’s used to describe faith (11:1).
We must hold fast to the end!
Recap (3:16-19).
Hearing is important, but it’s not all.
Those who hear the truth could still rebel.
They had Moses to listen to, the greatest teacher and prophet in the world up until Jesus, and yet they still fell away.
God was still angry with them as they wandered around the wilderness for forty years because of their lack of belief.
They had departed from the living God, so they all fell in the wilderness except for their children, Joshua, and Caleb.
Here we also see a connection with belief and obedience!
Faith is not true faith without obedience!
This is evident here because those who did not enter His rest refused to obey due to their lack of faith (3:18-19 are parallel verses).
You see, hearing wasn’t good enough—it had to be mixed with faith as we’ll see.
Rest in the Promised Land (4:1-13).
A rest remains (4:1-11).
Moses led a grumbling group of people for 40 years from Egypt to Canaan, the Promised Land.
They heard the gospel, so to speak, but they did not believe it, so they grumbled and complained until they weren’t allowed to enter into the Promised Land.
But there are several different forms of rest that the Hebrews writer discusses.
The first is the rest of the Promised Land, the second is the Sabbath day, the third is “another day” which we’ll talk about in a little while.
This other day is mentioned in 4:1 as a “promise [that] remains of entering His rest.”
The writer is urging his readers to strive for it and not to fall short of it by actions that showed a lack of faith.
We must make sure that the gospel is mixed with faith.
While they had Moses yet still fell, how many heard Jesus yet fell away? One very notable example is Judas Iscariot?
How many others heard great preachers of the past, but fell away?
Hearing is great and necessary, but unless we mix it with faith, it becomes worthless and we will not enter that rest.
Faith is required, a faith that works!
Then the writer brings up another kind of rest, the Sabbath rest.
You see, the Sabbath was to commemorate the last day of the week in which God rested from His creative work—in other words, He ceased creating.
The Sabbath, along with the Promised Land, typified the rest that we would find in Christ (Col. 2:16-17).
This is the promise of a rest that would come another day, the rest in Christ (Matt. 11:28-30).
The Sabbath was instituted at Sinai and some enjoyed that, the Promised Land was entered into 40 years later and some enjoyed that, but David wrote of another day of rest for the people of God.
In 4:10-11 we see that concept of “here but not yet.”
Since our Sabbaths are fulfilled in Christ, we rest in Him just as God did from His works on the Sabbath Day.
So many people, Sabbatarians in particular, believe that we still have a particular day in which to rest—but we know that we rest every day in Christ.
But while it’s here, it is not yet, because we must be diligent to enter that rest.
While we have that rest here on earth in Christ, ultimate rest will not be until we receive our heavenly reward.
And we will enter into that rest unless we “fall according to the same example of disobedience” that the Israelites portrayed in the wilderness.
But wasn’t their sin unbelief? True, but recall, their lack of faith resulted in disobedience to the will of God.
The power of God’s Word (4:12-13).
Much time and study has been spent in talking about these two verses, particularly vs. 12.
But let’s consider it in context of entering that rest.
You see, we have no proof of that rest outside of God’s Word, outside of His promises that He gives to us through it.
Yes, there is plenty of evidence for the Scriptures in general, but the only way we can be aware of the rest in Christ and the final rest in heaven is through God’s Word.
And certainly God’s Word is the only way to know how to attain to that rest.
So the writer here is assuring the reader that God’s Word is indeed powerful!
It is able to carry out what it promises.
It can pierce through every heart, getting to the truth of the matter.
But no matter how powerful the Word of God is, unless it is mixed with faith, it cannot save you (4:2).
But it can separate soul and spirit, joints and marrow, righteous from the wicked, believer and unbeliever.
While the Lord was here on this earth, how many times do we read of Him reading the thoughts of those with whom He spoke?
The word does that, too, digs deep into our hearts, convicts us of sin, and tells us how to escape it
Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit doing this (John 15:8-11), and here we read how—through His Word.
God, the one who speaks the Word, knows us, knows who we are, knows what we’ve done.
And we cannot escape His judgment on our own.
This leads into the writer’s discussion of Christ as our High Priest.
While we cannot escape His judgments on our own, He can sympathize with our weaknesses, but we’ll discuss that next time!
Conclusion.
Do you want to enter into His rest?
Rest sounds pretty nice right about now, doesn’t it?
But it’s not a Sabbath rest—we still must work to eat (2 Thess. 3:10).
It’s not a rest that we might experience at our homes—again, we must still work and serve the Lord.
It’s a rest from the anxiety and anguish that this world has to offer.
It’s a rest in Christ, a promised hope of something better.
It’s a rest that Christians experience, or can experience, every day—and an ultimate rest that we will experience.
It’s truly a beautiful thing that we want to share with everyone.
There’s no maximum occupancy limit when it comes to that rest, thank our precious Lord Jesus!
I pray you do want to enter into that rest.
Here’s how you can do just that.
Just as the Israelites heard, we, too, must hear the sweet gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But we must mix it with faith, truly believe in the gospel we have heard.
True faith requires action, it requires obedience to His will.
This includes repenting of our evil deeds, confessing His name, and being baptized for the remission of our sins.
Will you do that this evening?
If you are a Christian already, you may be in danger of departing from the living God, or perhaps you have already departed.
Hold on to the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.
Only then will we be able to enter that final rest one day.