Hebrews chapter three, what we're gonna be considering today is in Hebrews chapter four. But turn to chapter three, we're going to read actually most of Hebrews three because what we're covering in chapter four follows right on with that thought. And I think that's pretty important to remember today. is that what we're looking at in this section is a warning and an exhortation, and so what we got last week was part one of that, and this is part two. Last week concentrated on an Old Testament image, an example, and this week, in a sense, goes straight on from that to a different picture. And so Hebrews chapter 4, we're going to begin at, or excuse me, chapter 3, we're going to begin reading at verse 7, and then read through chapter 4 and verse 13. Hebrews 3, verse 7. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness where your fathers tested me, tried me, and saw my works forty years. Therefore, I was angry with that generation and said, they always go astray in their heart and they have not known my ways. So I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest. "'Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you "'an evil heart of unbelief "'in departing from the living God. "'But exhort one another daily while it is called today, "'lest any of you be hardened "'through the deceitfulness of sin.'" For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end. While it is said today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt led by Moses? Now with whom was he angry 40 years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest? But to those who did not obey. So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them, but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. "'For we who have believed do enter that rest, "'as he has said. "'So I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest.' "'Although the works were finished "'from the foundation of the world. "'For he has spoken in a certain place "'of the seventh day in this way. "'And God rested on the seventh day from all his works. "'And again in this place, they shall not enter my rest.' Since, therefore, it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience. Again, he designates a certain day, saying in David, today, after such a long time as it has been said, today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. For if Joshua had given them rest, then he would not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered his rest has himself also ceased from his works, as God did from his. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and powerful and 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. And there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. We'll end the reading there at verse 13, and may the Lord today open his word to all our hearts. Let's ask for his help. Let's now bow in prayer and ask the spirit to come. Oh Father, we do bow now in your presence and we thank you for the gracious promise that you have given us, that we will be taught from on high, that the Spirit of God will minister truth to us, that he has been sent forth by both the Father and the Son, according to your word, to minister that truth to us and to teach us. And Father, every last one of us is before you this day, and I ask you, O God, that you will speak to every heart here. I pray today, Father, that you will open this book and its word, especially in a passage as serious as this one, and that it will, O God, today speak to us life, speak to us this rest of which it talks, and O God, minister Jesus Christ to each of us in the nearest and dearest way. So Father, receive our thanks now, send your spirit, do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think as your word says, and oh Lord, let the Lord Jesus Christ be lifted up in all our hearts we pray, in his name, amen, amen. Well, for most of us very busy Americans, the idea of rest is attractive. It's an attractive word, it's an attractive concept. But in the Bible, the word rest is even more attractive and it possesses a rich array of meanings. And that array of meanings when you come to Hebrews chapter four has led to quite a bit of difficulty for commentators and scholars and just average Christians like us in understanding what this passage actually means. As we were reading, if you paid careful attention, you probably could see where's that going and what does this mean and what's that referring to? It's not an easy passage to follow, and one of the things that as you read different translations of this passage, you'll find there's some real translation issues, some places where it's not that easy to understand the translation and the flow, and so you have to look very carefully at it. But the question is not whether these different meanings of rest, whether they are true or not, but only whether this passage is actually talking about them. And now let me explain to you what those types of rest are. First of all, there is a rest to live in. A rest of soul, and I think the best example of this is straight from the Lord Jesus' own words in Matthew chapter 11. He says, come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. So there's a rest there, it's a rest of heart. It is a rest that the Lord Jesus ministers with his presence, all right? So it's a rest to live in, a rest of soul. And that kind of rest is the kind of rest that leaves our burdens and cares on the shoulders of the Lord Jesus, where they belong, and truly rests in the fact that He controls everything and will take care of us in every way if we'll only trust Him. It's that kind of rest meant to leave all the weight of our lives on the shoulders of the Lord Jesus Christ. But the next kind of rest is what I'm gonna call a rest of practice. And what I'm speaking of there is a Sabbath rest. And there are many who come to Hebrews 4 and say, here's a Sabbath rest being talked of. Now Sabbath rest, for instance, let me give you just one Old Testament example, Exodus 23 verse 12. Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest. So it's a rest of practice. One of God's commands is that we give him time. We give Him one day in seven. And yet, that is a command not intended to harm or to hinder or to restrict us in some sense, but to bless us. It is what we need as humans and what we will benefit from immensely if we'll only take God at His word and obey Him in this and truly rest on His day. By the way, there have been some occasions where societies have experimented with 10-day weeks. or weeks that were anything other than seven. And many, many people have proved that if you continue to go and go and go and you don't take the God-ordained rest that you suffer, in the end of the day, no matter what you think you gain, you will suffer as a result of that. And so again, there is a rest of practice, a Sabbath rest. But then the final kind of rest is a rest to anticipate. It is the ultimate rest when this life is done, it is the rest in heaven. Revelation 14, 13 refers to this, that I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, write, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors and their works follow them. So there is coming for all God's people a rest that will be the final rest. A rest that will be the reward of the work of Jesus Christ to bring us safely into the presence of God. And it's this final kind of rest that I believe this passage is dealing with. Though, as I've said, the other three, or the other two kinds of rest, they're true. and they're found elsewhere in scripture, but I don't think they're preeminently what this passage is addressing. Because you see this passage, as we saw last week in chapter three, it's preeminently a warning. Just as many of the Hebrews in the Old Testament missed out on the promised land and did not enter into that rest in the promised land, well, we are here being warned to learn from them and not to fail to enter that rest as they failed to enter it. So God wants us to enter the ultimate rest in His presence forever. And that's the main point, that's the driving force of this passage. And so I want us to consider today a rest worth pursuing at all cost. Boil this passage down and God is saying there's a rest I want you to pursue and you need, whatever the cost is, you need to pursue it with everything in you. Now, the passage teaches us three things, and I want you to listen carefully to this and think about it, because I'm in a sense, as you're gonna see, we'll put the words together, we'll go and we'll see how various verses emphasize each of these three points of teaching or points of instruction. But I want you to step back from this, because this is big picture truth. So, the three things these verses teach us are these. One, God is for us and He is speaking to us. And that is a tremendous mercy. Secondly, He has prepared a rest. He's prepared that, that it exists. There remains a rest we're gonna read. But then thirdly, don't miss out on it. Don't miss out on it, but believe Him and enter into it. So that is the outline of what this passage is emphasizing to us. So let's begin with this first section. God is for us and is speaking to us. Now, first of all, in the big picture, the whole passage shows us the love and the mercy of God while He reasons with us and pleads with us that we take our lives seriously and we make sure we enter the rest that He has promised. I mean, that's the big picture from chapter 3, verse 7, all the way to chapter 4, verse 13. He is saying, look, take this seriously. Do not see a people, and you remember we looked last week at the example of the children of Israel who saw the 10 plagues in Egypt, who walked through water in the Red Sea, who were fed manna by the living God, who saw all of these things that God did for them, and yet they could come to the time when it's actually ready to go into the promised land, and they're scared. and they're scared, and they're fearful, and they forget how big their God is, and they forget all that he did, and so what do they do? In unbelief, they rebel. They said, you may remember this, I didn't mention it last week, but they said, let's make us a captain and let's go back to Egypt. Let's make us a captain and go back to Egypt. Now we look at that and say, man, if I had seen what they saw, no way I would think that way. I wouldn't be too sure. And that's why we have this passage. It warns us. It pleads with us. It sets the enormity of the issue of our souls and where we'll spend eternity before us. And then what God sets before us is the way to that eternity. He's saying enter into the rest. But we don't only see it from God being merciful and loving enough to give us this warning, but we also see it in verses 12 and 13 that actually talk about God's perspective and talk about the word of God. Look at verse 12 with me, Hebrews 4 verse 12. For the word of God is living, Living, it's life-giving. It is supernatural. And by living, it is talking about something that has the ability to give you life. It has the ability to stir you in a way nothing else on earth can. It has that ability. And so it is living. And then the next word is powerful. The Greek word here, and I'm gonna say it because I think you'll hear it. The Greek word here is energeis, all right? It's the word from which we get energy. It's the whole concept of something that has power, that has, as it were, electricity behind it. It energizes. And so here is this book, here is this word that is alive and gives life. It is quickening, it's powerful, it's energizing, it is supernatural. And you may remember from other parts of scripture, The Word of God is said to be a fire that burns and consumes all. It's said to be a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces. We just keep getting these different images to say it is in God's hand, it is supernatural. In God's hand, it is powerful. But let's go on in verse 12. The Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. Now, this is a picture. All right, you're taking this book, and I don't see any edges on my Bible, okay? So we're not talking about something that is meant to be understood literally. It is a picture that God is giving us. And so it has this sharpness to it, and how we see what that means is the words that follow. It pierces even to the division of soul and spirit. Now, if you want to get, I find it pretty boring, but if you want to be bored or helped with insomnia or something like that, go and read all the literature and all the ink that has been spilled on whether man is two-part, body and soul, or three-part, body, soul, and spirit. So here you have a passage that's talking about the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, piercing, dividing that. And you can't even get people to agree as to what that is. Can you tell me where my soul starts and my spirit starts? What the dividing line is? In other words, here is this supernatural book where God deals with things in this life-transforming word that are beyond our comprehension. This is the sword that pierces. It's so sharp that it can do that in us. And the next words, I think, are even more powerful. And of joints and marrow. And, last thing, is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And that's where the word of God shows its supernatural power. I don't know about you, but how many times do God's people read the word of God and your eyes are going over it, you're thinking about something and all of a sudden the spirit of God takes the sword out. And remember the Bible says the sword of the spirit is the word of God. But the spirit takes it out and he does something in your heart. He's a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. He does something, he makes some truth alive to you. He takes an absolutely black situation and all of a sudden just blows it away by giving you light, by letting some truth come and just settle your heart and encourage you. Or he works in some way that takes a truth of his word and just applies it to give you direction where you were clueless a minute before. This is what the word of God does. It is a supernatural book. And so he reasons with us, he warns us, but then in verse 12 he shows us that this book that he has given us has this supernatural power to work in our hearts as well. But notice verse 13. Verse 13 he says, and there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. So telling us that God is speaking in this world and he's speaking to us specifically, it then says, and realize that nobody is hidden from God. Realize that every single one of us has this individual relationship with God of one kind or another, but every single one of us is made by Him, will stand before Him someday. And so again, here's the picture. None of us are hidden from His sight. All things are naked. In other words, there's no way of defending ourselves or hiding in some sense. We're all naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. And so here, This passage is telling us He knows us personally, He knows us completely, and here He is speaking to us for our earthly and our eternal welfare. Well, that brings us then to the second point of instruction, and that is this. He has prepared a rest for us. Chapter three ends with these words, verse 19. So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. So here's the picture, they couldn't enter the promised land because of unbelief. Now that leads us right into chapter four, and chapter four puts an equal sign between the promised land and the word rest, and says they didn't enter into the rest. The promised land signified, and remember, for 400 years they had been in Egypt. Most of that time they had been slaves in Egypt. And so from 400 years of bondage, they go into a situation that surely they would view as rest. We are going to a promised land that God has given us. We're going to a place where God is casting out the inhabitants to make that land our land. We're going to a place that flows with milk and honey where everything that God wants to provide for us is provided. And so this is the picture here that we are given. So chapter four is gonna use the word rest for all of that. But just as the promised land pictured a rest for them, there is a rest for us. An ultimate rest when we enter God's presence in heaven and live with him forever. So let's trace this rest here in chapter four. Beginning verse one. Therefore, since a promise remains of entering his rest, let us fear, lest any of you seem to have come short of it, okay? There's a rest he's prepared for us. Then verse three, for we who have believed do enter that rest. It's for those who believe, as he has said, so I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest. If we believe, we do enter the rest. Then skip down to verses eight and nine. For if Joshua had given them rest, then he would not afterward have spoken of another day. If that was the only rest, entering into the promised land, and that's why Joshua is mentioned here, Moses led them up to the plains of Moab. Moses had to endure, as it were, the fruit of that unbelief, which was all the people who were age 20 and above dying, with the exception of Caleb and Joshua, in the wilderness. And once they were all dead, after that period of 40 years, then Moses too died, and Joshua was the one who was to lead them in. So if Joshua had given them the final and the full rest, Okay, but then you don't speak of another rest after it, but God did. So there is another rest, a spiritual rest, an eternal rest for us. Then look at verse nine. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God, them and us. There is a rest for the people of God. And then verse 11, let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest. That's the rest we want, we want to do that. Now who is it that enters that rest? Well, it is the believing ones of both testaments, by the way. Joshua and Caleb did believe, and so they did enter in, even though everybody else didn't. They entered into that rest. They, And you think about their faith, they looked at the enemies who were so big and so scary to the rest of the people, and they said, are you kidding? They're bred for us. And what they meant by that, and Joshua says more words to say, are you kidding? God set all this up for us to be ours. to provide everything that we need. Caleb says, let us go up at once. We are well able to overcome because he has had his eyes fixed on God instead of on man. And so they believed, they entered in. Well, look at verses two and three. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them. But the word which they heard did not profit them, those who didn't enter in, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. Verse three, for we who have believed enter that rest. So that's the first important thing here is that Those who enter in to the rest are the ones who believe, the ones who trust what God has done for them and trust God himself. Now there are two important things to look at in that truth. The first is this, the gospel was the same in both testaments. Now, There are those who actually dispute that. Some of them will actually say, well, in the Old Testament, weren't they saved by certain kind of works? Okay, you've got people who'll say that and no, this passage contradicts that. But then you've got those who say, well, the Old Testament salvation was by faith, but it was a different kind of faith, a different content of faith. Well, in this particular passage, we read no. Indeed, the gospel, the good news, the substance of which is the life and the atoning death of Jesus Christ. That good news was preached to us as well as to them. So in both testaments, it was the gospel in each case. And that's no small point because you see, the old covenant believers, they were saved the same way we are. In one case, in the old covenant, they're looking forward to Christ. In our case, we're looking backward. to the Lord Jesus Christ, but in both cases, we are looking at Christ and looking at his finished work. And Peter makes this point, by the way, in Acts chapter 15 at the council at Jerusalem, that we were saved the same as they were, by faith in Jesus Christ, by faith in the work of God. Paul makes the same point in Romans chapter four, saved by the same faith. So it's the same gospel because in the end of the day, there's only one way to be redeemed. It's through the work of our mediator, the God man, Jesus Christ, doing for us what we could not do for ourselves, living out a righteous life we did not live out, dying an atoning death for each of us. But then, It kind of leads us to the second thing here, and that is that the means of entering this rest is believing in what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. And this is kind of a... To me, it's a fascinating thing here. He did the work, he provided the rest, and he only asked that we trust in him. You may wonder as you're going through, why mention the Sabbath? Well, I'll tell you why. It's for this very point. It is because God did something and then he rested. And it's pointing us to this same truth. God did what was necessary for our salvation. We can't do it. He did it, and we may rest in Him. We may trust Him for that. So that is the reality that is emphasized to us here. And we cease from our labors and our own works. Look at verse... Verses nine and 10. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God, for he who has entered his rest, the rest God provides, the rest in Christ, has himself ceased from his works as God did from his. You see that? You cease from your works. You are not made righteous because you do something that quote unquote makes you a Christian. You are not accepted and you do not enter in the rest because in some fashion you save yourself. No, you trust in what Jesus Christ has done. You trust in what he has given. And you rest in that. So that's verses nine and 10. Look back at verse seven. No, verse four. He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way, and God rested on the seventh day from all his works. God rested, he was finished, it was done, and then the rest is the fruit of that finished work. So this is the gospel, believing, resting in the finished work of Jesus Christ who lived for us a perfect life and then died for us to atone for all our sins. He did the work. He provided the rest and only asks that we trust Him for it. So we believe Him and what He did and we rest in that truth. And we walk in this life in peace, in joy, implicit trust in God's goodness. We rest, you see. We rest in what He did to redeem us. And if our Christian living, as it were, is just full of buzzing and irritation and frustration and unbelief. It's not entering into this rest. Even those verses that I read to you earlier. Jesus Christ saying, come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Years ago, Joey read somebody and we've reminded each other about it again and again. Somebody just saying, if on any particular issue in your life, the devil is just at you, it's like gnats buzzing around your head, if you are unsettled and troubled and miserable over that particular thing, then it's not the yoke that Jesus has given. You are not entering into what he has for you in that thing. Why? Because his yoke is easy and his burden is light. He has intended us to walk trusting him to carry all that weight. We cast our cares on him, scripture says, for he cares for us. We're anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. We let our requests be made known to God and the peace of God which passes understanding, guards, protects our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. So he has done this work. He prepared a rest. He did everything that was necessary to make it ours. All he's asking us is to trust him. So that brings us then to the final point. Don't miss out on it, but believe him and enter into it. Just like chapter three, this passage is a warning and an exhortation all through. Let's trace it for a minute here. Start again at verse one of chapter four. And I'm just gonna point out to you, on the one hand, the warnings, on the other hand, the exhortations. Therefore, since a promise remains of entering his rest, let us fear warning. Lest any of you seem to have come short of it, you don't want what happened to them to happen to you. So fear that. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well to them, but the word which they heard did not profit them. Not being mixed with faith in those who heard it, it was right there to be believed. But they didn't. For we who have believed do enter that rest. As he said, I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest. That's solemn. And then to verse four, for he has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day this way, God rested on the seventh day from all his works. And again in this place, they shall not enter my rest. Since therefore, it remains that some must enter it and those to whom it was first preached did not enter. And here's what I talked to you about last week, because of disobedience in this translation, if you have an authorized King James version, it's faith, it's unbelief. But as I told you last week, the word that is translated that is half the time translated faith and half the time translated obedience. And it just shows the obedience and the faith are right on top of each other. The one is the fruit of the other. The obedience or the disobedience comes from a heart that either believes or doesn't believe. So same thing here in verse six. But then verse seven, again, he designates a certain day, saying in David, today, here's that urgency again we saw last week. Today, after such a long time, as it has been said, today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. Verse eight, for if Joshua had given them rest, then he would not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God, and it climaxes in verse 11. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. Let's do everything we can to enter into that rest. That is the point. And you know, verse 11 really is a great summary of the whole passage. Let us be diligent to enter that rest, Why, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience or, as the case may be, of unbelief. The word here in this verse 11 for be diligent, It speaks of exertion, it speaks of haste, it speaks of effort, and it speaks of urgency. You see, one of the things that we learn from verse seven is that the only time to believe is always today. It's right now, it's not something you make an appointment to do. It's not something you put on a list and say, I'll get to it. It's your soul standing before the living God, and it is entering in. The only time to do it is today, is right now. Now what is the result of that, the fruit of that in your life? It's rest. It's rest. First of all, it's ultimate rest. Rest in heaven, it's knowing my soul is safe in the Lord Jesus and so many Bible pictures we could go to, that our citizenship is already in heaven. that we already belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, that he's already there interceding for us, and that we're already, as it were, in him, already in heaven. But when ultimate rest is secured, it becomes the basis for immediate rest, right now rest, living rest. In other words, when you are in Christ and know you are secure, and that the Bible says your citizenship is already in heaven, then you're free. to rest on him for everything, for everything. To know that if he cares for me so much to die for me and then to say that all things are mine and then to say that all things are gonna work together for good and to say he will supply all my needs according to his riches in glory, every last one of them. If he says all that, then if I'm carrying weight around in my life and on my shoulders, I'm carrying what doesn't belong to me. what he lived and died to take from me. He's the shepherd. To me, that's such a graphic picture. Does a shepherd look to the sheep for anything? I confess, I think that's the lie of the devil that I believe the most is that God's waiting on me, is that I need to do more or be more. That's exactly what has to happen for things to get any better. And the Lord is saying, no, I finished all that work. Didn't you hear me cry out on the cross? It is finished. I finished all of that. And I'm just asking you to trust me. Let me be God. Let me be the shepherd. Let me feed you. Let me provide for you. Let me protect you. Let me keep you. I lived and I died to offer you that. Enter into that rest. And of course, there's so many other things as well. He's our bridegroom. He takes full responsibility for our welfare. He's our friend. He's our head. You know, in other words, he not only provides the sustenance that the whole of the body needs, but he provides the direction that the whole of the body needs. And so, so much more. So let us make sure we trust in Jesus alone for that ultimate rest, but then also trust him every day for the immediate rest, the rest he wants us to walk in. And may the Lord make that so for all of us. Let's bow in prayer. Let's all pray. Father, we are so thankful today for the mercies that are ours in the Lord Jesus. Thank you, Father, that he lived for us. that he fulfilled all righteousness so that we have a righteousness imputed to us, put on our account that is perfect and spotless and unchanging. But Father, we thank you also that he died for us. Thank you that he took your wrath on our sins on his head so that we didn't have to take that wrath. Oh, Father, and he gives it to us as a free gift if only we'll believe. And so I ask you, oh God, enable us to believe it and walk in the confidence of our citizenship being in heaven. But then, Father, to live out the implications of that by resting in him every day and with every burden and every difficulty. Lord, truly, we would have it be the way we practice any difficulty is that we are anxious for nothing, but we let our requests be made known unto you. Lord, make that so. Father, you didn't write those words for us to explain them away or marginalize them in some way so that they mean nothing to us for how we live. So Father, pour out your goodness, we pray. Let us rest in our Lord Jesus Christ, and we thank you in his name.