Our scripture reading today is Hebrews 4, 1 through 13. As we were reading the words to that song, I'm so glad that we don't have to work, we work out our salvation, but we don't have to work for our salvation. And that's just a tremendous blessing that we can rest in the assurance of Jesus Christ. Our scripture reading today is from Hebrews chapter 4, verses 1 through 13. In these verses, the writer of Hebrews wants to make sure his readers understand that God's rest is still available to each one of them. God's rest was not just something that was offered to the sons of Israel, but his rest is still accessible today. Think of the last time that you were working outside in the hot sun. After your project was completed, you were completely exhausted. All you could think about was going inside to rest in your easy chair. Amen. That is a small picture of the rest that God is offering to each one of us in this passage. Not just physical rest, but spiritual rest. As I read Hebrews 4, 1 through 13 from the NIV Bible, ask yourself if you have attained God's rest. Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, Let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have the good news proclaimed to us just as they did. But the message they heard was of no value to them because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. Now we who have believed enter the rest of just as God has said. So I declared on oath in my anger, they shall never enter my rest. And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words, on the seventh day God rested from all his works. And again in the passage above he says, they shall never enter my rest. Therefore, since it still remains for some to enter the rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, God again set a certain day calling it today. This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. For Joshua has given them rest. God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains then a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For anyone who enters God's rest also rests from their work, just as God did from his. Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. For the word of God is alive and active, sharper than any two-edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give an account. Thank you, Brother Bill. All people are born in sin. And sometimes that sin has some pretty terrible results. Quite a few years ago, a man by the name of Mel Trotter testified to that fact. When Mel was a young man, a young married man, he was a terrible drunk. He would spend every last dollar that he earned on alcohol, even while his family was starved for food. In fact, when his daughter was four years old, she died of malnutrition. But the depth of Mel's depravity was manifested that night before her funeral when—well, I guess I should back up. He was so poor that he didn't have any money that he had spent all on alcohol that his neighbors actually had to come together, pool their money to be able to buy a casket and a new set of clothes for the little girl. But still Mel's heart wasn't changed. In fact, the night before her funeral, he broke into the mortuary and took the clothes off of his dead daughter's body and sold them for another drink. But it was after that that God finally began to work in his heart, softening his heart. Mel began to understand his sin in light of the Holy God. And it was later that he confessed this and put his faith and trust in what God has done for him through Jesus Christ. And he was saved and he entered into God's rest. Mel was so overwhelmed by the grace of God, the rest of God that he received, that he dedicated the remainder of his life to serving God vocationally, becoming a great preacher that is known in America, at least in American history. For that rest that Mel received from God is still available to each one of us this morning. It begins with a decision to believe. Put your faith and trust in God, entering into salvation rest. But God's rest is more than just that initial step of salvation. It continues and deepens, as the writer of Hebrews is going to explain here in Hebrews chapter four. As we go through this passage this morning, it's important to keep in mind Matthew chapter 11 and verse 28 because it connects with what we're looking at this morning. Matthew 11, 28, Jesus says, The word rest means simply to cease, to stop. It goes beyond that as well, but that's what the base meaning means. All human beings are born with the desire to prove themselves. We're striving to obtain acceptance in one form or another, and sometimes that striving has some very unique manifestations. But all human beings are longing for purpose, are longing for meaning in their lives. But without God, a person's life that is striving for that purpose, striving for that meeting, is exhausting and burdening. As Jesus says here, it makes a person weary and heavy laden. And so that's why Jesus invites all of us to come to him and receive his rest. The rest that only he can give. When a person receives that rest from the Lord, they no longer need to strive for acceptance. When we confess with our mouth, Jesus is Lord, believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead, we are saved and we're able to enter into God's rest. We no longer have to strive to be good enough to become acceptable to God so that our good outweighs our bad because our good can never outweigh our bad. We are able to rest in the assurance that Christ has paid our debts. We are forgiven and we do not need to continue aimlessly trying to make ourselves better to be acceptable to God. We're able to rest in Him. But that rest that we receive in salvation goes on from there. Truly experiencing God's rest as his child involves fellowshipping with God. Resting in his sanctifying and perfecting work in our lives as he continues to shape and mold us into the men and women that he wants us to be as he continues to prepare us for the final rest that we will experience in heaven one day. Resting in God's presence today as a Christian means that you have peace amidst turmoil, purpose during the storms, and blessing throughout all of life. This is the rest that Jesus wants all of us to have, and he will give you that rest if you come to him and trust in him. It begins with that decision, but that it continues as you grow in your relationship with Him. And so the question that we're examining this morning is, that we need to ask ourselves is, do you have that rest that Jesus is offering? Are you at peace in your soul? Or are the storms of life causing you to be on edge, nervous, or anxious? Are you fully experiencing the rest that only God can offer? And if not, this passage is for you. As we study these 13 verses together, we're going to be looking at five facts that we must understand, be aware of, in order to be able to attain the rest that only comes from God. As we prepare to jump in, it's important that we understand the context in which we find these verses. You might remember from last week as we looked at chapter 3, the writer was explaining how the sons of Israel, who God delivered from Egypt, He had promised them that they would be able to enter into His rest, the promised land. But as we saw in chapter 3, because of their disobedience, because of their unbelief, they were not able to enter into God's rest in the promised land. And so with that in mind, the writer says, therefore, in verse 1, because of the fact that they were not able to enter God's rest because of their unbelief and disobedience, therefore, verse 1, we must fear. And so we see the first fact that we must understand is that the emergency of attaining rest is genuine. There is an emergency that exists here, and it's genuine. The writer is not trying to use a scare tactic here in verse 1 to get his readers to respond and turn to God with a genuine heart. But instead, the writer in verse 1 wants his readers to understand the emergency that exists obtaining this rest. The emergency speaks to the danger or the possibility of a person coming short of receiving the rest that God has promised through Jesus Christ. It happened to the nation of Israel, as we saw in chapter 3, and the writer doesn't want the same thing to happen to his readers here in chapter 4. So there's an urgency to attaining this rest. The emergency to attaining rest is genuine. Each person needs the rest that God is offering. Their eternal destiny hangs in the balance. As we talked about last week, none of us are guaranteed tomorrow. Thus, there is an emergency. We must decide today to enter into God's rest so that we do not come short of it. Each person needs this rest. And thus, we must fear that we don't miss it, we don't come short of it. Remember, the writer of Hebrews is writing to a group of people who call themselves Christians, and many of them were, but there were some in that group who called themselves Christians who had not truly believed, not truly put their faith and trust in what Christ has done. And it's for these people that he was warning them to fear, to take this seriously. By application, you and I, we too need to fear. As we saw last week, we need to examine ourselves, we need to test ourselves to make sure that we truly have received that promise of salvation and have entered into the rest that God is presenting to you. And so if you understand the seriousness, the emergency of attaining this rest is genuine, you're then ready to understand the second fact, which is that, oh yes, Matthew 7, 21 talks about this as well. It's so easy to deceive ourselves, right? To think that we're saving really not. And so Matthew 7, 21 is a very convicting verse. I remember the first time I heard it, it convicted me greatly. When Jesus said, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. But, so how do we enter the kingdom of heaven? He who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter. So we see we must believe. Wow, now it's really working. So we see the second fact to attaining rest is that the entrance into rest is by faith. We're going to see this in verses 2 and 3. You'll notice that the text says there in verse 2, In this verse, we give the formula for being able to enter into God's rest. And the formula is hearing plus believing equals resting. You see, it's not just enough to hear the truth, but you have to believe it. The writer includes himself here in verse number two in the group of people who have heard the good news preached to them. They heard what Jesus Christ had done for them when he died on the cross to pay the penalty for their sins. That truth about what Christ has done for them, they had heard. The writer is going to say he received it. And he's comparing that to the sons of Israel who also had the good news preached to them. The sons of Israel heard Moses explain what they need to do in order to enter into the rest of the promised land. But as we see here in verse number two, the hearing did not profit them because they didn't believe it. It was not united by faith. Because hearing plus believing equals resting. Just hearing facts does not change a person's heart. It's only when the truth that is heard is believed and acted on in faith that we are able to enter into rest. Then and only then can a person receive the rest that comes from God. As he says there at the beginning of verse three, for we who have believed enter that rest. They didn't just hear, they believed it. This past week I read about a group of blind people who do skiing. And not just cross-country skiing, but downhill slalom skiing. That's the kind of skiing where they're skiing through gates. I look at them as poles, but the sports calls them gates. They're going back and forth skiing down through these poles. And these people are blind. First, I thought they were a little bit crazy, honestly. But when I read more, I learned the way they do that is they have a sighted skier skiing beside them, shouting, left, right, straight, as they make their way down the course. That blind skier can hear the instructions of the sighted skier, but if he doesn't believe them, if he doesn't act on them, it's going to be a catastrophe. You see, it's either complete trust or complete crash, right? Failure. And in the same way, in our lives, we can hear the truth, But if we don't believe it, if we don't act on it in faith, we're not gonna be able to attain the rest that God is offering each one of us. Hearing must be united with believing and acting in faith. So the question is, have you done that? Have you acted in faith? Have you put your faith in the Lord? Have you confessed with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, believed in your heart that God raised him from the dead? Have you been saved? Just going to church week after week, hearing the gospel week after week does not save you. Even reading your Bible day after day just for the purpose of accumulating knowledge, accumulating facts will not give you rest. It's only when you believe, when you have faith, when you act on the things that you are reading that you will be able to enter more fully into the rest that God is giving to us. The question is, have you exercised that faith? The third fact that we see about attaining rest in verses 3 to 7 is that the epoch for rest is now. I'm using all E's in the outline, so that's why I'm using the word epoch. If you don't like alliteration, you can put the time, the word time, all right? The time of the epoch for rest is right now. In verses 3 to 7, the writer is explaining from the Old Testament the fact that God's rest is still available for us today. It was not something that was just offered to the nation of Israel, but it's something that is still available to his readers, and by application, you and I, today. You'll notice the writer begins in verse number three, in the middle of verse three, by quoting again from Psalm 95, reminding us of the fact that God swore in his wrath, they, the sons of Israel, shall not enter his rest. Some people would think, well, then therefore God's rest doesn't exist anymore. But he goes on to say in verse number three, The rest that God is talking about, the writer is talking about here, basically what he's trying to explain here, is the fact that that rest continues on. It was not just that one opportunity there that was offered to the sons of Israel. The rest has been available, as you can see in verse number four, ever since creation. That word, although, if you have an NIV, it translates it yet, introduces a clause which prevents the false conclusion that God refused his rest to Israel because his rest no longer existed. That's false. You see, on the contrary, what the writer is saying is that God's rest has existed since creation. And therefore, because God's rest has existed since creation, it is still available today. Because God has never stopped resting from that seventh day of creation. Adam and Eve were the first people to experience God's rest. As John MacArthur has explained, Adam and Eve were completely righteous when they were created. They walked and talked with God as regularly and as naturally as they walked and talked with each other. They were at rest in its original and in its fullest sense. You see, they relied on God for everything. They had no anxieties, they had no worries, no pain, no frustration, no heartache. They did not need God's forgiveness because they had no sin to be forgiven of. They did not need God's consolation because they were never grieved. They did not need God's encouragement because they never failed. They only needed his fellowship because they were made for him. That was their rest in God. God completed his perfect work on that seventh day and he rested. Adam and Eve were his perfect work and they rested in him. Now as we understand, as we read in Genesis chapter 3, that rest didn't last too long because of the fact that Adam and Eve sinned. Adam sinned. And because they chose to sin against God, that rest was interrupted. They no longer had that intimate fellowship, that rest with God because of their sin. Now, of course, a type of God's rest was still available to them through salvation as they, by grace, through faith, accepted that gift of salvation that God pictured as He took those two animals, or took the animal, killed the animal, took the skins of that animal, that blood was shed and covered with the skins of the animal, Adam and Eve. But He did that as He was looking forward to the time when Christ would shed His blood to pay for all But even when that happened, the rest that Adam and Eve experienced in salvation even then was not the same rest that they had experienced before in the Garden of Eden. And in a similar way, for each one of us, all their descendants, from Adam and Eve all the way up to us today, each one of us is born apart from God's rest. We do not have that rest because of our sin. But once a person is saved, they begin to experience God's rest. And then as they grow in the relationship with God, they begin to taste aspects of the perfect rest that God gave to Adam and Eve and that is promised to us as well when we get to heaven one day. So the writer is trying to explain to us that the rest that was available to the sons of Israel, which was pictured in the promised land, was refused by them, as you can see in verses 5 to 6. But that doesn't mean that God's offer of rest is no longer available. And he does that in verse number seven by explaining that David, who he identifies as the writer of Psalm 95, says that today is another opportunity to not harden their hearts like the sons of Israel. It's another day to believe and enter into the rest that God is offering. You see, there were hundreds of years from the time that the sons of Israel refused to enter into God's rest, when God did not allow them to enter into His rest of the promised land, and the time that David wrote Psalm 95. In Psalm 95, God says, enter into His rest today. And so the writer of Hebrews uses that fact to say, since God's rest is still available to David, even hundreds of years after God's rest was refused by the sons of Israel, by application, his rest is still available to the readers of Hebrews and by application to you and I today as well. The time, the epoch for rest is right now. And so if there has never been a point in your life, I ask you again, if you have never confessed with your mouth Jesus as Lord, believed in your heart that God raised him from the dead, today is the day. We're not promised next year, next month, next week, tomorrow, not even in the next hour. All we have is right now. Right now is the time. Once a person believes and enters into the rest of God, it's like beginning a journey. That initial step of faith sets you on the path to be able to experience more and more of the rest that is available in God. Not just the initial rest of striving to be good enough for God, resting in God's salvation, but also resting in God's presence, resting in God's peace, resting in God's joy and the fellowship that comes as we grow in our relationship with God. That's what the writer is gonna go on to explain in verses eight through 11 as he explains the extent of the rest that we have is incredible. So, the extent of rest is incredible. In verses 8 through 11, the writer is helping us to see the bigger picture of what God's rest includes and involves. Already he has explained that that rest was more than just the rest that God offered to the sons of Israel. And he continues to explain that here in verse number 8, as he explains that Joshua, Jesus through Joshua, gave them rest. But yet, that's not the final rest. We read in Joshua chapter 22 and verse number 4 that Joshua gave them rest. The context for this verse is Joshua and the people have entered into the promised land. They've conquered many of the kings. You can read about that in Joshua chapter 13, the whole list there. And after they've accomplished much of what needs to be done, Joshua speaks to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, who you might remember had settled on the east side of the Jordan and had entered into the promised land with their brothers to help conquer it. And so now Joshua is speaking to them, and he tells them in Joshua 22, verse 4, It's true that God had given them rest. But the rest that he was giving was a physical rest, right? He was talking about the fact that there was no more large fighting that needed to take place. They had a home in the promised land. But that rest that Joshua mentioned cannot be the ultimate rest that God is offering because David, who came over 300 years later, offered rest, saying today. You can see that in verse 8. For if Joshua had given them rest, he, I understand that to be the Holy Spirit speaking through David in Psalm 95, would not have spoken of another day after that. God wants you and I to understand that he called his people to rest in Moses' day. He called his people to rest in David's day, and now he's calling us to rest today as well. The rest that he is calling us to is more than just physical rest. rest from enemies or difficulties in the world as Joshua talked about it. But it's a spiritual rest that is far greater, enabling us to have peace and joy amidst the storms of life. This is the rest that Jesus is inviting his followers to experience in Matthew 11, 28. This is a spiritual rest that has physical impact. Notice in verse 9, the writer goes on to explain what this rest is, and in verse 9 he refers to it as a Sabbath rest. Those two words Sabbath rest are actually one Greek word in the Greek New Testament, and it's the only place in the entire Greek New Testament that that word Sabbath rest is used. But the writer uses that word to drive home the point that the rest that he is speaking of is greater than any of the rest that was offered to the sons of Israel. This is the rest in God that brings God's presence and blessing. It's a sharing in the rest that God entered into on that seventh day, hence the Sabbath rest. It's the kind of rest that Ab and Eve experienced before they sinned against God. You see, this is an incredible rest. It begins with a decision to believe and place one's faith and trust in Christ. But it continues on from there in all of our lives to impact all of our lives as Christians. I think unfortunately today, we often as Christians sometimes disconnect spiritual problems from physical problems. We try very hard to find a medical solution to something that is actually a spiritual problem. Now, I'm not saying that medical problems don't exist. That's not what I'm saying at all. They do exist, and we need medicine and all that for those things. But what I am saying is that there are times that as Christians, when instead of seeking the rest that God provides, we can sometimes turn to a medical doctor or a bottle of pills to address the problem that has spiritual roots. You see, we're looking for temporary relief from symptoms instead of addressing the heart problem. And what do I mean by that? I'm speaking of worry and anxiety. You see, it's only in God and the rest that he has given to us that we're able to attain peace and relief from our striving against worry and anxiety. It's only in God and his rest that we're able to experience joy and purpose amidst the trials and difficulties in life. As we see here in verse number nine, so there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. You see, we're able to rest in God for all of life, not just for our salvation, but for every care, every difficulty that we have. And so the question is, are you truly resting in God today? Verse 10 is a little bit harder of a verse to interpret. There's a couple ideas of ways that It can be understood. The thought that I've come to my conclusion at this point is I believe that verse 10 is referring to a believer who has died and has entered into his final complete rest in God. Revelation chapter 14 and verse 13 says, And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Why are they blessed? Yes, says the Spirit of God, that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow after them. You see, this rest is the ultimate fulfillment of the rest that God has promised to believers. This is the rest that many of our loved ones are already experiencing right now in heaven. You see, this is the end goal of our faith, final rest in God. Life is hard. Life doesn't always make sense. That's why the extent of God's rest is not just something we experience here on earth, but it continues on into eternity when we, as God's children, are in perfect fellowship, perfect rest with God in heaven. You see, it's in heaven that we'll finally be able to experience the fullest extent of the rest of God as we bask in His presence. It will truly be an incredible day. At that time, we'll have no desire to come back to this earth. If you think about that, if we truly understand that fact, we should really have no desire for our loved ones to come back to this earth even after they died, even though we miss them a bunch. You see, if they are believers, they're experiencing that incredible rest of God that right now, the rest that right now we're only getting to be able to experience a taste of as we walk in close fellowship with God. In verse 11, the writer is explaining, because of the incredible rest that is available to us in God, we must be diligent to enter into that rest. We must take care to enter into that rest. You see, he doesn't want any of his readers to turn away in disobedience, following the example of the sons of Israel. He wants all of his readers, and by application, you and I, to enter into God's rest. He wants us to be focused, to be determined, to walk by faith and in obedience to the Lord so that we can attain God's rest right now and for the rest of our lives and then on into eternity as well. So the question is, are you experiencing the full extent of God's rest that is available to you right now on this earth? If you're not attaining or if you're not experiencing the full extent of God's rest that he is talking about, please understand the fifth truth, which is that the evaluator of attaining rest is God and his word. When I was first studying for this passage, I didn't understand how verses 12 and 13 fit in with the writer's argument. I knew they were incredible verses pointing to the efficiency, the complete sufficiency of God's word, but I didn't quite understand how they fit. But the more I read, the more I studied, I began to understand that the writer is wanting his readers to understand that he can't convince them. He can't show them whether or not they are receiving, entering into that rest of God. But it's God's Word, as God's Spirit uses God's Word, that is able to be the evaluator for each person, to be able to understand, to be able to know whether they are fully experiencing the rest of God. As you can see there in verse number 12, God's Spirit uses God's Word to judge our thoughts and our intentions, helping us to understand where we truly are in this journey towards rest. You'll notice in verse 12, the word of God is first described as living. As one man has said, it is filled with the vitality of God himself. You see, the God who wrote the Bible is still alive and active. The Bible that he wrote is not a dead book that no longer has any worth today. Instead, it is living. It is just as alive and applicable today as in the day when God wrote it. There are no new issues facing us today that God has not addressed through specific principles and statements in his living Word. This is further amplified in the fact that the Word of God is active. You see, God's Spirit uses God's Word to actively impact our lives. As one man has said, it is energetic in its operation. You see, it's the Word of God that gives us the details of what we must do to live life in order to enter more fully into the rest of God. You'll notice also here in verse number 12 that the Word of God is described as sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. A sharp two-edged knife is able to cut into the flesh. If you think of a surgeon and his scalpel, he's able to do very fine, delicate surgery. But that's nothing compared to the Word of God that is able to cut or divide or discern the tiniest details and the actual state of our hearts. You see, God's Word is able to cut through all of the fluff, all of the acting that we do, and work directly on our hearts, exposing our true motives and heart's desires. So the question is, have we allowed God's Word to do that? Or are we scared of what will happen? If we want to attain the incredible rest that God is offering to us, we must allow God's Spirit to use God's Word to examine our hearts. Here in verse 12, the writer of Hebrews uses the illustration of a sword to describe the Word of God. In the book of James, he uses the illustration of a mirror, which we're able to look in to judge and show us who we truly are. The question we need to ask ourselves this morning is, are we using God's word like a sword or like a mirror in our lives? Or are we just using God's word like a textbook or a paperweight? As we see in verse number 13, we cannot hide from God. Verse 13 reads, and there is no creature hidden from his sight. You see, God's Spirit uses God's Word to evaluate whether or not we are truly entering into the rest that God is offering. And for a Christian, the more that you and I submit to the Word of God, the more and further extent of rest that we will be able to enter into with God. Now as we read these words, there's a certain amount of fear that can come over us. But make sure you come back next week as we see in the verses that follow that even though God can see all, Jesus is our great High Priest. But as this morning, as we think about the fact that God is all-knowing, we must remember we cannot hide from him. So don't try to trick him. Turn to him today and experience his incredible rest. Jesus' offer of rest is still available for each one of us. Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. This is rest from trying to work your way to heaven. Rest from trying to find purpose and meaning in life outside of God. Rest from the anxiety and stress that surrounds us. Rest and peace during the storms of life. Rest in the very presence of God. So will you come to him today and attain that rest? Do not wait. The time for rest is now. The entrance into rest is by faith. The extent of rest is incredible, and the evaluator of rest is God and his word. And so will you allow God's word to work in your hearts so that you can begin to experience the true rest of God, the rest that brings peace, joy, satisfaction, fulfillment, and an inheritance that is out of this world, literally, better than anything you can ever imagine. The decision is yours.