"Entering Rest: There Remains a Sabbath Rest" Sermon: Hebrews 4:8-13

“Entering Rest:  There Remains a Sabbath Rest”

[Hebrews 4:8-13]

July 1, 2012 Second Reformed Church

            What is the promised Sabbath rest?

            We have been looking at the idea that God promises entrance into His rest – into a Sabbath rest.  We looked at Israel in the wilderness and saw that most of the people who left Egypt – who were freed by God’s Mighty Right Hand – ended up dying in the wilderness and never entering the promised rest.

            We saw that the reason they didn’t enter into God’s rest was unbelief – in fact, the only unforgiveable sin – according to the Scripture – is unbelief.

            We saw the author of Hebrews argue that the seventh day Sabbath that happens once a week since the creation of the world is a type – a foreshadowing – of the rest which is to come – that all those who believe in the Gospel of God would enter.

            We explored the idea that God’s rest is life in the Gospel.  That is:  God’s rest is belief united with faith in obedience.  God’s rest is not doing nothing – it is not the cessation of action.  God’s rest is living out the Gospel through faith in obedience – living what Jesus said – striving towards holiness in all our lives – eventually becoming like Jesus through the Holy Spirit working in us and through us.

            And we said that this call to repent and believe was not just for those in the wilderness, but today is the day – every day – until Jesus returns – that each and every person throughout Creation is called to repent and believe the Gospel.

            And now, as we come to verse eight of chapter four, we find the author of Hebrews answering another unspoken objection:  if God’s rest was not entrance into the Promised Land, then why did Joshua say that in entering the Promised Land God gave them His rest? 

            And we read:  “At that time Joshua summoned the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and said to them, ‘You have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you and have obeyed my voice in all that I have commanded you. You have not forsaken your brothers these many days, down to this day, but have been careful to keep the charge of the LORD your God. And now the LORD your God has given rest to your brothers, as he promised them. Therefore turn and go to your tents in the land where your possession lies, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan. Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.’ So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents” (Joshua 22:1-6, ESV).

            Notice the distinction the author of Hebrews makes:  “For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on.”

            The author of Hebrews has already stated that the seventh day rest is a type of the rest that God will bring all of His people into.  It is a foreshadowing of that rest.  The rest Israel was to have on the Sabbath was like the rest that would come to them finally, but it was not the ultimate rest.

            Similarly, the rest that Joshua led Israel into when they came into the Promised Land was a type – a foreshadowing of the rest – that God will bring all of His people into, but it was not the ultimate rest.

            And just as the Hebrews of the first century – and we now – enter into rest in believing the Gospel and taking on the light yoke of Jesus in striving to follow after Him in holiness – God’s rest is like this rest, but this rest – today – is not the ultimate rest.

            That’s why the author of Hebrews writes, “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,”  God’s rest does not change – but our understanding and experience of it does – the day changes – we move from the day of the first seventh day Sabbath to the day of the entrance into the Promise Land to the day of our belief in the Gospel of Jesus Christ – in living the Gospel Life – in taking what we believe and uniting it with faith and living it out in obedience – and we get closer and understand more fully what it means that there is a Sabbath rest promised for the people of God that all those who believe in Jesus Alone for salvation will enter into.

            And let us remember:  the idea of the Sabbath rest – of God’s rest – is not the idea of inactivity.  It is not the absence of labor.  We do not die and go into a void.  We do not die and sleep.  We do not die and amuse ourselves for all of eternity.  The rest of God is the assurance we find in obedience and especially in worship.  The image that we have again and again in the Scripture is that in God’s rest – the primary thing we will be doing is worshipping God.

            Hear one description:

            “Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished.

            “And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,

            “’Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!  Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name?  For you alone are holy.  All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed’” (Revelation 15:1-4, ESV).

            We will be in the Presence of God, our Savior, and we will be before His Glory, and we will respond with the only reasonable response to seeing God for Who He is in singing and praising, and glorifying and lifting up His Name, and crying out in thanksgiving – looking at and experiencing the wonder, the beauty, the awe, the power, the wisdom, the glory – the greatest religious experience we have in this life will pale away as we worship Him Who is and was and is to come.

            That is the Sabbath rest that remains – that is the fullness of God’s rest that remains – that is what everyone who ever believes throughout time and space will enter into.  That is real rest – in the Presence of God.

“for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.”

The author of Hebrews tells us that whoever enters into God’s rest, rests from his or her works in the same way that God rested from His.  What does that mean?

When God rested in Genesis, it was at the completion of the Creation.  Our rest comes when we believe and unite that belief with faith in obedience to Christ and His Gospel.  Paul writes, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV).

When God gave the promise of rest in the Promised Land, it was completed as Joshua entered Canaan.  Our rest comes as we wait to be received into the new earth – the Kingdom of God – God’s rest.  As Peter wrote, “But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13, ESV).

When God gave the promise of life through the death of Jesus, He declared, “It is finished” on the cross.  Our rest comes in knowing that we cannot stay dead, but we will rise in these bodies, perfected, like Him:  “So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable” (1 Corinthians 15:42, ESV).

God rested from creating the Creation and giving us the Law to tell us that we can only be saved by God Alone.  Our rest comes in believing that we are saved by God Alone, and He will raise us from the dead and bring us into His Kingdom where we will live in the joy of eternal worship of our God.

And so, he continues:  “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.”

Since we are moving towards that day of ultimate rest in God, in which we shall be perfected and brought into the Kingdom of God and an eternity of joy-filled worship, let us make absolutely sure of what we believe and that we will be received into that rest – lest, like the Israel in the wilderness, we assume everything is fine, only to find out that we drop off before we enter in.

Let us strive, not for salvation, which is the free Gift of God, but in response to salvation – let us work hard – very hard – to put to death sin in our flesh.  Let us do everything we can to be obedient and live Christ-glorifying lives in thankfulness for what He has already accomplished for us.

We are in a life-long fight against the flesh, the world, and the devil – not for our salvation – but for obedience in thanksgiving – in belief united with faith in obedience.  Paul wrote, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12, ESV).

Now, understand, salvation is completely God’s Work and God has already won against the devil – he is a defeated foe – but God has seen fit to allow him to work against us – to tempt us and to attempt to lead us into sin – to get us to be ungrateful for what God has given us and for taking more when God has said, “no.”

Please understand – we do not need to fight for our salvation.  Nor do we need to defeat the devil.  We fight for our obedience to prove ourselves God’s and to show God’s Salvation lived out through us to the world – that the whole world would see Jesus and have reason to believe and repent.

“For the word of God”

“Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.  For the word of God” – because the Word of God – what is the author of Hebrews talking about here?  Who or what is the Word of God?

More often than not, we would say that the Word of God is the Scripture – the Bible – but that is not what the author of Hebrews is talking about here.  If we notice, he writes some things about the Word of God in verse twelve, and then he writes, “and no creature is hidden from his sight” in verse thirteen.  So, the Word of God in verse twelve is a “He” – a Person – the Word of God in verse twelve – is Jesus.

So, we have the author writing to the Hebrews, telling them to spend the time in careful consideration of what they believe – proving and living out what they say they believe – showing the fruit that they are bearing as Christians – if, indeed they are! – and not being found not obeying – not believing – committing the one unforgivable sin.

Because Jesus – the Word of God – “is living” – Jesus is the Giver of Life – in this life and the next:  “for ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are indeed his offspring’” (Acts 17:28, ESV).

Jesus is “active,” – and the word there means “effective, able to cause something to happen, life-giving” [Bible Windows].  Jesus not only has life in Him, but He is able to give life – to effect life – to raise us from spiritual death in this life and raise us from physical death in the Kingdom.

Jesus is “sharper than any two-edged sword,” – we see this image used by John, as he described Jesus in his vision on Patmos:  “In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength” (Revelation 1:16, ESV). 

Why is the sword two-edged?  Because the sword has two purposes – and seen as His tongue – the sword – Jesus’ Word – is used both to cut through the opposition and to pass judgment on the opposition against God.  He cuts through the defense of pride and security and unbelief so Who He is is clear and no one has an excuse for not believing – and He judges based on the moral life lived.

It may seem like a trick question, but, “Are we saved by the keeping of God’s Law?”  The answer is “yes” – but we need to understand that we cannot keep God’s Law – we are saved by Jesus’ keeping God’s Law.  That’s why Jesus didn’t just come down from Heaven as grown Man and die on the cross – He had to live a perfect life under God’s Law so we could be credited with a perfect keeping of the Law – otherwise, no one could be saved.  God requires holiness – and Jesus is the Judge of humanity:  “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us” (Romans 8:34, ESV).

And in Jesus’ Victory and through His Judgment – by His Word – “piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow,” the point here is not that the soul and spirit are different from one another and the joints and the marrow are different from each other.  The language is being used to say that Jesus – in His Wisdom and Knowledge and Judgment – reaches to the innermost parts – the deepest, darkest, most hidden, most intricate labyrinths of our selves fly open before Jesus.  It is no trouble for Him to see what is between two atoms of a thought.

“and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  Jesus said, “and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works” (Revelation 2:23, ESV).  Nothing can be hidden from the God Who made us; we can fool each other about what we believe, but God is not fooled.

“And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

The author of Hebrews – in the expression of “naked and exposed” – is raising two images of the day before his readers:  the first is the image of the sacrifice, which, after it was killed, would be laid on its back, and then the priest would draw the knife down its belly and peel back it’s skin, exposing its insides – “naked and exposed.”

The second image is from a wrestling move – and wrestling was performed in the nude then – one wrestler would get another in a hold, whereby his back would be to the ground, and his head would be pulled back, with his neck protruding upwards – “naked and exposed.”

Nothing has changed from the Garden, has it?  After Eve had been deceived by the serpent, we read:  “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

            “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ And he said, ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself’” (Genesis 3:6-10, ESV).

            Not even lead fig leaves would have hid Adam and Eve and their sin from God!  God is the Almighty – the Creator – Who sees all and knows all.  And still we think, “Maybe I can get away with it; maybe God won’t know.”

            Brothers and sisters – there is an ultimate Sabbath rest – a final and full Sabbath rest – awaiting all those who truly believe in Jesus Alone for Salvation.  The day will come when we will rest from our works, just like God rested from His in the Creation – as He brings us into the Kingdom – into the restored earth – the restored Creation – when we will forever be before God is the joy of eternal worship.

            But be sure – be sure of what you believe – be sure that it is not just words, but that you really believe and that you are striving to live out that belief as you work, by the action of God the Holy Spirit in you to holiness.  Be sure you understand the Gospel and believe the Gospel – and understand that there is only one unforgiveable sin – everything you and I ever do against God and man is forgiven us in Christ Jesus if we believe.  But if we do not believe, we will never be forgiven.

            And let us understand that Life and Judgment are in the hands of the same One God, Jesus Christ, Who will judge the world and bring His Kingdom in all its fullness to earth, while banishing those who do not believe – even those who just casually do not believe – into Hell.

            Our God and Savior is with us now and He is giving us His Grace through the reading and the preaching of His Word – and He has also set before us the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper as a visible representation of the Gospel Message – Christ has come, Christ is here, Christ will come again. 

We have heard the warning not to receive the Sacrament if you do not believe, because God will not hold him guiltless who profanes the Sacrament – who takes it not believing the Gospel.

But for those who do believe, Jesus invites us to come – to meet with Him spiritually in these symbols that He might continue to meet with us and minister to us by His Grace – that we would be able to do and be all that He has called us to be and do.  The Lord’s Supper is not magic, but Jesus does meet us in it and give us the power and ability we need to be His people and to live lives which confess our belief and unite it by faith in obedience.

So let us pray:

Almighty God, we rejoice and give thanks that You are not some dime-store god, but You are the Almighty God, the Creator of Heaven and earth, the Savior of Your people.  You are the One Who sees all and knows all and for the love that You have for us, came to earth that we might be made right with You through Your Life, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension.  Help us to be sure of what we believe and to look forward with full assurance of the Sabbath rest which is to come in Your Kingdom.  For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.