There remains A Rest For the People of God
Hebrews 3:15-4:1-13
I. The Wilderness Warning! 3:15-19 & 4:1-7
A. This section, including 3:7-11, is a continual restatement and repeating of Psalm 95:7b-11. While it is a Psalm of David, Hebrews prefaces the initial quote with, “As the Holy Spirit says”. See I I Peter 1:10-12.
1. “Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion”. Vs 15 Who rebelled? Those who saw the miracle of the Red Sea, those who saw the Lord God descending on Mount Sinai. And not only that, they saw His miraculous provision for 40 years.
a. Notice vs 16-19. Israel’s behavior is defined by four words: rebellion, sinned, did not obey, and unbelief. In other words, God considers these words as synonyms in His description of Israel’s testing Him! (3:9) They went astray in their hearts, and this was the symptomatic evidence.
b. God had promised them the land of Rest, the Promised Land. But they could not enter in because of unbelief. With God, believing is seeing! Unbelief is evil and incurs His Wrath! (4:3)
2. 4:1-7 There is still a promise of entering His rest, and Israel’s falling in the wilderness should lead us to Godly fear! This entering into rest is not a mere suggestion. It is the ultimate blessing of the people of God. To come short is to fall in the wilderness!
a. The gospel is the means of entering His rest. It was preached to Israel (vs2) as well as to us, but they did not believe it (did not mix faith with it) Believing the Word of the Lord is to enter His rest. (Vs 3a)
b. He states the warning 3 more times, vs3, vs5, and vs7.
II. So What is the Rest of God?
A. 4:3a, 4:8-9 “Although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day (Sabbath) in this way: ?And God rested on the seventh day from all His works.” And again in vs 10, “For he who has entered into His rest has himself ceased from his works as God did from His”.
1. Very plainly, God’s rest in creation, His Sabbath, is the pattern for our rest. We must cease from our works as God did from His.
2. Titus 3:5 “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” God’s ultimate rest is in His Son as He testified on the cross, “it is finished.” Ephesians 1:4 declares that we are chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. It goes on to speak of the Father’s will, to gather in one all things in Christ. The Father’s plan was before the foundation of the earth, so in reality, His works were already settled and accomplished in the heart of God. Our rest is to rest where the Father rests–in His Beloved Son in Whom He is well pleased.
3. Matthew 11:28-30 Gives us the Savior Son’s view of our rest. Here he says that rest is found by coming to Him, and learning of Him. He is the Rest-Giver! All that He IS, and all He has done is the source of Rest. And learning from Him is God’s “methodology”.
But we are bound in sin, bound to striving, trying to outshine everyone, or wishing we could. We know no rest! We live by comparison, ever in dissatisfaction. How then does God teach us of Christ and bring us into His rest? That’s verses 12-13
III. Vs 12-13 God’s curriculum and His teacher.
A. Vs 12 His curriculum–the Word of God!
1. We are not talking about a mere book, but the book that God “inhabits”. It is “living and powerful, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” That is the description of a book with a “personality and a purpose”. It is not about the dissemination of information. It is sent to unveil the flesh dependencies of its readers, that flesh that keeps them striving after the wind! It unveils false motives and egomania–any non-restful fleshly root, and they are all non-restful.
B. Vs 13 His teacher–the Holy Spirit.
1. “There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do.”
2. This is in keeping with His ministry in coming as Jesus stated in John 16:8-13. He will convict of sin, righteousness and judgement. He will guide us into all truth, and He will glorify Christ! He is always about Jesus Christ and He is all about peace and rest. But He must use the scalpel of the Word of God to bring us into that Rest.
Conclusion: Rest is not optional. To enter into it is salvation, to fall short is to abide in unbelief. But God has given us totally sufficient means to enter into Rest. He has given us His Word, and His Spirit. And their ministry is to bring us to The Word made flesh that we may have His “It Is Finished” reigning in our hearts.
And that leads us into our next study. As the Spirit by the Word reveals our desperate need, He brings us to the glorious resource prepared for a needy and sinful people–the Throne of Grace where our great High Priest mediates abundant mercy and powerful grace!!
Hebrews 3:15-4:1-13
I. The Wilderness Warning! 3:15-19 & 4:1-7
A. This section, including 3:7-11, is a continual restatement and repeating of Psalm 95:7b-11. While it is a Psalm of David, Hebrews prefaces the initial quote with, “As the Holy Spirit says”. See I I Peter 1:10-12.
1. “Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion”. Vs 15 Who rebelled? Those who saw the miracle of the Red Sea, those who saw the Lord God descending on Mount Sinai. And not only that, they saw His miraculous provision for 40 years.
a. Notice vs 16-19. Israel’s behavior is defined by four words: rebellion, sinned, did not obey, and unbelief. In other words, God considers these words as synonyms in His description of Israel’s testing Him! (3:9) They went astray in their hearts, and this was the symptomatic evidence.
b. God had promised them the land of Rest, the Promised Land. But they could not enter in because of unbelief. With God, believing is seeing! Unbelief is evil and incurs His Wrath! (4:3)
2. 4:1-7 There is still a promise of entering His rest, and Israel’s falling in the wilderness should lead us to Godly fear! This entering into rest is not a mere suggestion. It is the ultimate blessing of the people of God. To come short is to fall in the wilderness!
a. The gospel is the means of entering His rest. It was preached to Israel (vs2) as well as to us, but they did not believe it (did not mix faith with it) Believing the Word of the Lord is to enter His rest. (Vs 3a)
b. He states the warning 3 more times, vs3, vs5, and vs7.
II. So What is the Rest of God?
A. 4:3a, 4:8-9 “Although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day (Sabbath) in this way: ?And God rested on the seventh day from all His works.” And again in vs 10, “For he who has entered into His rest has himself ceased from his works as God did from His”.
1. Very plainly, God’s rest in creation, His Sabbath, is the pattern for our rest. We must cease from our works as God did from His.
2. Titus 3:5 “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” God’s ultimate rest is in His Son as He testified on the cross, “it is finished.” Ephesians 1:4 declares that we are chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. It goes on to speak of the Father’s will, to gather in one all things in Christ. The Father’s plan was before the foundation of the earth, so in reality, His works were already settled and accomplished in the heart of God. Our rest is to rest where the Father rests–in His Beloved Son in Whom He is well pleased.
3. Matthew 11:28-30 Gives us the Savior Son’s view of our rest. Here he says that rest is found by coming to Him, and learning of Him. He is the Rest-Giver! All that He IS, and all He has done is the source of Rest. And learning from Him is God’s “methodology”.
But we are bound in sin, bound to striving, trying to outshine everyone, or wishing we could. We know no rest! We live by comparison, ever in dissatisfaction. How then does God teach us of Christ and bring us into His rest? That’s verses 12-13
III. Vs 12-13 God’s curriculum and His teacher.
A. Vs 12 His curriculum–the Word of God!
1. We are not talking about a mere book, but the book that God “inhabits”. It is “living and powerful, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” That is the description of a book with a “personality and a purpose”. It is not about the dissemination of information. It is sent to unveil the flesh dependencies of its readers, that flesh that keeps them striving after the wind! It unveils false motives and egomania–any non-restful fleshly root, and they are all non-restful.
B. Vs 13 His teacher–the Holy Spirit.
1. “There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do.”
2. This is in keeping with His ministry in coming as Jesus stated in John 16:8-13. He will convict of sin, righteousness and judgement. He will guide us into all truth, and He will glorify Christ! He is always about Jesus Christ and He is all about peace and rest. But He must use the scalpel of the Word of God to bring us into that Rest.
Conclusion: Rest is not optional. To enter into it is salvation, to fall short is to abide in unbelief. But God has given us totally sufficient means to enter into Rest. He has given us His Word, and His Spirit. And their ministry is to bring us to The Word made flesh that we may have His “It Is Finished” reigning in our hearts.
And that leads us into our next study. As the Spirit by the Word reveals our desperate need, He brings us to the glorious resource prepared for a needy and sinful people–the Throne of Grace where our great High Priest mediates abundant mercy and powerful grace!!