Sunday Morning Service (Hebrews 4:1-13)

Hebrews 4:1-13

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“Where Can I Find Rest?” • 12.3.17 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service

Intro

- We find ourselves in the middle of an impassioned plea from an unknown author to a group of conflicted church members.

- They are of Jewish descent and are being tempted to return to Judaism. They are either young believers or they are repeat nominal visitors with great interest, but no clear commitment.

- This particular train of thought began in chapter 3:7 with the introduction of Psalm 95. We learned last week that this was a passage used in the Temple as a call to worship.

- Ironically, because a Christian has a heavenly invitation, any step away from that call is a step away from the worship that the True God desires from His people.

- Judaism requires work from it's adherents. God desires that they enter in His rest. Our author is attempting to make that case. Those that had followed Moses didn't come into rest.

- How then must we enter in His rest? He will clarify that in the section before us. Verse 1.

Text

• Hebrews 4:1-3 : "Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it." : In the original text, this reads "Let us fear therefore." Usually, the Bible instructs us not to fear. In this case, it's appropriate.

- Think of the anticipation that you might have with regard to driving to an unknown address. It's healthy to be on the look out, especially if you've been told that many have missed the entrance!

- Because the first generation, led by Moses failed to enter into God's rest, let us who are listening be alarmed that we might miss it as well! There is a very real danger that is before us.

- The amazing news is that God has left His people a promise which remains in operation. The promise is still standing but it must be entered. The fact is that there were some that failed to enter it.

- To "come short" speaks of arriving late. The event was here, but the person came after everything was put away. It's interesting to think about it that way.

- The offer to enter God's rest is presently on the table, but there is a bit of a timeline isn't there? There is a "day" of salvation and "today" is the day that that offer stands!

- This group of people, by their potential indecision, were in danger of arriving at the destination too late in their lives!  How many people have we seen miss it?

- They have died without Christ, without entering in His rest. At that point, it's too late. Verse 2.

• Hebrews 4:2 : "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." : The way into God's rest is through the gospel! There is no other way to enter it!

- To our ears, this seems a very strange proposition, but, the gospel that was proclaimed to the first century church had been proclaimed to the Old Testament saints as well!

- The gospel isn't a new invention made up by the New Testament church, though she has the clearest vantage point and the most complete, specific information.

- The Gospel has been God's program of redemption from as early in human history as Genesis 3:15, though we will discover it has roots that pre-date even that ancient time.

- In Genesis 3:15, God announces the victory of "the Seed of the Woman" over the Serpent that had caused Mankind's fall. This first mention is called the "Protoevangelium."

- That victory is then unveiled piece by piece throughout the Old Testament. From Genesis 3:15, we learn that a Man will be the victor over Satan.

- When an innocent animal was slain to provide covering for Adam and Eve's sin, we learned that the coming victor would provide a substitutionary covering for the sins of His people.

- We discover that He is the Lamb that God would be provided in the place of Isaac upon the Mount of God in Genesis 22, the Passover Lamb pure from birth defect or fault in life in Exodus 12.

- Throughout the Old Testament, the data was adding up, the unveiling becoming increasingly clear until Jesus Christ.

- He was conceived in a virgin's womb, escaping the sin nature that is passed from Father to children. He lived a spotless life and was executed on the basis of false charges, as a criminal.

- He was slaughtered on the same hill that Abraham brought Isaac up to and was resurrected three days later because God accepted His sacrifice. Over 5,000 people witnessed Him alive!

- The Old Testament saints had the puzzle pieces. New Testament saints have the box with the completed picture! They had the same ingredients, but it didn't benefit those that didn't enter.

- Was it possible to believe God and enter His rest given the information that they had? Certainly! Consider all of the saints that we know who did enter in!

- But there were some with the same information and the same opportunity that it was wasted upon! Why? Because their hearing was not mixed with faith.

- "Mixed together" refers to commingling, uniting two elements into one. The gospel information has power in itself. But transformation only occurs when one applies it by faith!

- People can hear the gospel message but not heed it. They can agree to it in principle, comprehend it logically, but not exercise personal investment.

- These cannot be saved because they will not trust in the One that is seeking to save them! But how can he say that the Jews hadn't entered into His rest? They had the Sabbath right? Verse 3.

• Hebrews 4:3-5 : "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.'" : Believers in Christ do enter that rest. You and I have come to trust Jesus Christ by looking back into history.

- The believing Jews who lived prior to their Messiah, believed forward, trusting God to bring His promises to pass. We all have received the benefits of His rest. We are profited.

- But that isn't the case simply by being a Jew who lived under the covenant or by merely claiming to be a Christian or by regular attendance to a church. Nobody is grandfathered in!

- The author points his audience back to his central passage from Psalm 95. God spoke to the delivered Jews in His anger: "They shall not enter my rest!" These were Jews of the first order.

- They had the Sabbath ordinance given to them via the law of Moses. They had been delivered physically and they will have practiced Sabbath but they would not enter His rest!

- Certainly, God's works were finished from the time of creation. All that needed to be created, as well as the plan of salvation. All of it was completed in the mind of God.

- This has been the record since Genesis 2:2 and yet, here he says again of that generation that they would not enter His rest generations later! What does he mean? Verse 4.

• Hebrews 4:4-7 : "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.'" : Some have entered His rest and there are some that must still enter it. The invitation is open today.

- The Jews that stood at the border of Canaan and refused to trust in God's power over that of the giants, did not enter in. This wasn't a logically deduced argument. This was sheer disobedience!

- Consider their fear in the light of the their knowledge of God's power to deliver!

- This was the gospel that was preached to them. "Enter into my rest. Trust and believe my Word. Their disobedience cut them off, but it did not cut off the extension of the promise!

- God designates a certain day! God is so gracious to the people of Israel and indeed to all of us! God keeps saying "Come" to each of us, despite our unwillingness to!

- Psalm 95 repeated the promise to the Jews nearly 500 years after the events of Numbers 13! The offer is implied by the word "today."

- Today, as in David's time, a person could respond to the voice of God in belief and come into a settled, satisfied relationship with the Lord.

- Because the word of God is ever living and current, that offer remains to the day in which the letter was written as well as to this very day!

- That rest had nothing to do with having the right leader, the right law or being part of the right people. Neither was it related to a right location! Verse 8.

• Hebrews 4:8-11 : "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." : Moses was not allowed to bring the people of God into the promised land. Joshua was God's leader for that purpose.

- That physical settlement may have been a picture of entering into Christian life, but it was not God's rest. If it was God wouldn't have spoken of it again!

- There remains a rest for the people of God! There is something to enter in. What is it?

- The person who has enter God's rest has stopped working in the same way that God stopped working. Think about that from the perspective of these first century Jewish Christians.

- They were about to or had already begun to settle themselves in Christ when the fervor of the Temple's restoration reached their ears.

- As the pressure mounted from rising governmental persecution of the church, the temptation to return to the relatively safe confines of Judaism was overwhelming.

- Aside from some of the obvious tension relief, such a return would mean a return to a works based covenant! Anyone that is still working to please God for their salvation isn't resting in it!

- Judaism, like every other religion on Earth, is a religion of works. Christianity is a relationship based upon the finished work of Christ, and is therefore, of rest!

- Our author cannot be more clear. The only work left for the Jewish Christian to do is to enter God's rest! If we heard this today, we would hear, "let us make every effort to enter into that rest."

- Whatever work that you might expend in returning to Judaism, put it toward resting in Christ. That will mean enduring through persecution. That will mean being the outcast at family dinners!

- That might even mean the end of your very life on Earth, but it is worth it! The alternative would be far worse!

- If the people of the first century church fail to believe in Christ like the first Exodus generation failed to believe in God's power to deliver the Canaanites into their hands, they would fall too!

- There isn't any other way to put it. The Israelite example might have been romantic to the first century Jews in the "New Temple Delusional" way of thinking.

- Unfortunately, the scripture is clear: They failed to enter into what God intended for them. That brings us to this monumental section. Verse 12.

• Hebrews 4:12-13 : "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." : What does the author mean by "the word of God?" Certainly, what is said here can refer to the entire canon of scripture.

- I might suggest however, that we narrow the view a bit. I believe that he is directly referring to the warning that is contained in Psalm 95.

- If the word offers a valid, current promise for entry into rest, then the warning of incurring the wrath of God for disbelief, is just as viable!

- The author is telling them that they cannot rely upon Moses to lead them into rest. He wasn't able to do it for that first generation.

- They could not rest in the law giver nor in the laws, ie., the Sabbath, that he administered! Their rest couldn't even be found in their location. It had to be found in obeying His Word alone!

- The word of God is alive. It's not dead. It's not dormant. It's alive now and it's claim upon a Christian life is powerful.

- Literally, it's effectual, active. It has the capacity to confront our ideas and imaginations, to stop them in their tracks. Have you noticed that about the Bible?

- There are times when I have believed certain things about myself, only to be confronted by an ancient text that seems more relevant than today's newsfeed!

- I'm sitting there alone, Bible open and I'm stunned by how it is working to confront or comfort me! You are holding a supernatural, living and effective document!

- The word of God is powerful and it is also precise. It is "sharper than any two-edged sword." What does that mean? The sword in question was a hand held short sword.

- The double edged sword was a relatively new innovation in ancient times. Until only recently, most swords were sharpened on one side, while the other side remained blunt.

- That was a more cost effective option expended for the lower class military fieldman and would often issue in mass casualties because of inefficiency of the blade.

- A double edged sword allowed you to hack in various directions and be effective!

- The fact that the word of God is "sharper" than any two edged sword speaks to two truths. The first is in regard to it's longevity. It will not dull.

- A physical sword could become blunt on both sides in the midst of a battle or just over time, removing the intitial advantage. God's word is sharper!

- No matter what comes up against it, no matter how much time has been expended, the word remains as capable, as sharp it was at the beginning of it's use!

- The other allusion might be the secondary use of such an instrument. A soldier would have one of these to fight with. The other person that might have access to one was a field surgeon!

- Think about that. The same blade that is effective for indiscriminate killing and wounding of ideas that are contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ is just as proficient in matters of delicacy!

- This is where the precision factor really comes in. God's word is able to cut between that which belongs to the soul, the psyche, the personality of a person, and the Spirit.

- This is the proverbial correlation between the physical joints and marrow of the body.

- There are endless debates among theologians on this question: Is man a "dichotomy" or a "trichotomy?" Are we body and soul or are we body, soul and spirit? I thought I was a Mexican!?

- At the very least, without attempting to get near an answer, this text seems to indicate that there is a difference between our soul and spirit.

- I might explain things along this line: You have been shown ways to respond to situations. Your examples in life have modeled actions to you and have even applauded you for taking them.

- Additionally, there are personality traits which are passed down genetically. These are a part of your psyche. From that place, you can be angered, moved, inspired or challenged.

- Then you come to Christ and His Spirit begins to renovate the person that you have become. He begins to change you and redirect your authority structure.

- His word helps to cut between what is a part of your soul and what is a part of your spirit. "This belongs in this category and this belongs in this higher category!"

- The word of God teaches you the difference between what feels right and what is right! God's Spirit in you manages that training through the word!

- He goes further. The word is a "discerner." The word can also be translated "to judge." We get our English word "critic" from this. Does the word mean to judge or critique?

- It is true that God judges matters via His Word. There are actions which are definitively commanded and some that are strictly prohibited. In that way, God's word acts in judgment.

- But I'd very much commend the thought to you that God's word offers it's critique, it's analysis of your inner thoughts and intents. The word "thoughts" refers to deliberation.

- These are the things that we take the time to consider, which require us to weigh out positives and negatives.

- Our intent deals with the desired outcome of a given action. God's word exposes and governs our thought process from beginning to end.

- In that respect, understand that the author is expressing the comprehensive nature of God's word, both to govern actions and attitudes.

- It's effect is so thorough, it stands against every person that has ever lived! Nobody is exempt from it's gaze. All creatures stand before the word, naked and open.

- These words are quite picturesque. Greek athletes, especially those of the Olympiad, competed in the nude. The Hebrews are pictured as being in a wrestling match with God.

- The word of God is dealing with their duality, their conflict over Judaism and perhaps their bargaining with God over what was right and wrong.

- At every turn, with every argument, God's word is wrestling them into submission and ultimately, when the athlete was in the submission hold, his head would be pulled back by his hair.

- The audience would know that if they saw a competitor's neck, it meant victory. He had no choice but to submit to God. There was also another way that the Greeks employed this phrase.

- When a person was convicted of a crime, the executioner would raise his head in order to make him face those he had committed the crime against. The knife would sit over his neck.

- The picture is quite clear isn't it? The word of God will justify or condemn you! For those that believe God's Word and enter into Christ, there will be justification based upon His promise.

- For those that refuse, there will be a nagging witness that stands against you until you are cast away from His favorable presence.

- The Jews may have believed that they could justify their actions or explain the nuance of their potential decisions. Our author takes that away from them.

Conclusion
- God's Word stands to remind us today that we can enter into His rest by believing in His Son Jesus Christ. That rest will be entered by putting all of our trust in Him and none in ourselves.

- That rest will be like God's, who looked around at His creation and said, "it was good!" We too will be satisfied with what Christ has provided for us.

- When we have come into His rest, His Word will no longer confront us. It will comfort us as the Holy Spirit uses it to conform us into the image of Christ.

- Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest! Let's pray!