"Entering Rest: Today is the Day" Sermon: Hebrews 4:1-7

“Entering Rest:  Today is the Day”

[Hebrews 4:1-7]

June 24, 2012 Second Reformed Church

            “Therefore,” and so we look back from where we have just come: the author of Hebrews was writing to Jews who had professed faith in Jesus and were now turning away and wondering if they ought to forsake the Gospel and take up again the ceremonies and sacrifices of the Old Testament Law.  They had heard the Gospel – and even known Jesus – they had heard it preached that God came to earth in the Person of Jesus, that He lived a perfect – sinless – life under the Law of God, that He died for the sins of everyone who would ever believe, and that He physically rose from the dead and ascended back to His Throne – and now they were wondering – “What if we were wrong?  What if Jesus and His Salvation is not enough? Aren’t we safer turner back to the ceremonies and sacrifices that God gave to Israel?”

            And, so the author of Hebrews showed that Jesus is greater than the angels and the Law and the Prophets and the Sacrifices.  And he presented to them the death of the nation of Israel in the wilderness because they apostatized.  After having seen God’s Mighty Right Hand at work – after being saved from slavery, delivered through the Red Sea, and meeting with them in the wilderness – the people questioned whether God was with them.  They complained that their life in Egypt was better than what Moses had led them into.  They accused Moses of desiring to watch them die in the wilderness.  They did not believe God.

            The author of Hebrews then explained that we share in Christ through our confession of the Gospel about Him – the historical facts about Him – and through His having flesh and blood just like us – so He could live sinlessly under God’s Law and take our place under the Wrath of God – paying the debt for our sins and crediting us with His Holy Life.

            But, just as it was possible for Israel to hear God and see God work in their midst and still not believe, it is possible to come to the church, know all the right things to say in the church, believe the historicity of what the Bible teaches, and still deny Christ and His Gospel.

            The author of Hebrews explained that to say you are a believer and then turn away from that belief – to deny that you believe – is apostasy.  (We also saw that it is not possible for a true believer to turn away from belief in the Gospel, however.) 

            My sister was raised in the church, she confessed Christ, and now she repudiates Him.  She calls herself an atheist.  Two of my friends in college – who God used to lead me to the Reformed understanding of the Scripture – in the midst of their divorce, denounced Christ and His Gospel – he now practices Buddhism and she Cabbalist Judaism.

            It is possible to think you really believe and then to realize you don’t – it’s possible to fool yourself – to one day say, “Wait a minute – is that really what this means?  Is that really what the Gospel is?”  I read a book recently that said the Gospel is to love everyone and take care of the planet.  That is not the Gospel!  The Gospel is a set of historical facts that Christians believe about Jesus and what He did.

It’s possible that you take part in the church and think you should say you believe when you really don’t – or to just want to fit in because you like the people or the coffee or the free cake – and you’re willing to abide here for what it gets you, but you don’t believe.

My grandmother taught Sunday School for years – as an atheist – because she wanted her children to be raised to be good people.  My grandmother was a lovely person, but she was not a Christian.  She knew the words, but she turned away and said she did not believe.

The author of Hebrews – and Jesus – says that there is only one damning sin – only one unforgiveable sin, and that’s not believing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  That’s why Israel didn’t enter into the rest God had prepared for her – that is why anyone does not enter into the rest of God.  The author of Hebrews wrote, “So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief” (Hebrews 3:19, ESV).

Now, after explaining to the Hebrews why Israel didn’t enter God’s rest – they did not believe – he turned his sights on the Hebrews themselves, as we heard, “Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.”

Therefore – since you now understand why Israel did not enter into God’s rest – now that you understand that apostasy is turning away from your stand on the Gospel – that it is unbelief in the Gospel – now understand that the promise of entering God’s rest stands and is available only to those who believe in this life.  You only have this life to believe – if you do not, you are cut off from God’s rest.  So, he told the Hebrews, be in fear lest you not reach it.

Understand, he was not telling them to be fearful irrationally.  He was not denying that there is assurance of salvation.  What he was telling them was to seriously assess whether they truly believe in the tents of the Gospel or not.  Did they really believe that God came to earth in the Person of Jesus, lived sinlessly under God’s Law, died for the sins of everyone who would ever believe, and physically rose from the dead and ascended back to His Throne?  (I hope the Gospel in the short form as I have been presenting it is getting stuck in your heads, brothers and sisters.  There are too many people who teach that the Gospel is “just love everybody.”  It’s not.  And the gaining of the rest of God is found in the belief in the right – the true – Gospel.)

Paul wrote, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,” (Philippians 2:12, ESV).  Make sure you believe the Gospel – seriously assess what you actually believe, as before the Awesome and Almighty God Who will receive us into His rest or turn us away based on our belief or unbelief.

And, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it” (1 Corinthians 9:24, ESV).  Belief is not simply saying certain facts are true but coming under the obedience to the One about Whom they are true.  Saying that the facts of the Gospel are true facts is not belief.  Belief is saying that the facts of the Gospel are true facts and then living them out.  Going to a race and knowing the route and how one wins the race does not mean that you ran the race – and we are called to run – to work hard – to prove ourselves to be His followers – His disciples. 

The author of Hebrews continues:  “For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.”

The author of Hebrews explained to his readers that Israel in the wilderness received the same Gospel that they received in the first century – the same Gospel that we receive now. The only difference is that we know the name of the Man Jesus, Who is God Incarnate. Ancient Israel cannot be excused for their lack of belief – they had enough information to know to believe the Gospel and to unite it by faith. What does that mean?

What the author of Hebrews is saying is that belief must be united with faith – holding a set of facts to be true, must be united with the conduit of faith to action. As we already said believing in a set of facts is not enough. We can believe in a set of facts and not be saved. We can say a set of facts are true, and they can have no effect on us.

Is the author of Hebrews saying that our works save us?

No!  What the author of Hebrews is telling us is the same thing that James tells us: faith without works is dead. The wording is different but the point is the same. Unless we act in obedience on the things we say we believe, we don't really believe them.

For example: we can say we believe that if a bus hits us it will seriously hurt or kill us. However, if we stand in the road and do not move when the bus is bearing down on us, either we don't really believe it – or we’re suicidal. In either case, the outcome is the same: we're dead.

Jesus unites belief and faith in his explanation of the parable of the sower: “Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty” (Matthew 13:18-23, ESV).

Notice what happens in the last case: the sower sows the seed on good soil – this is the person who hears the word and understands it and believes it. But then he unites it with faith and he bears and yields fruit – he lives out the Gospel in obedience.

The same Gospel came to the people in the wilderness that the Hebrews received and that we receive. Some of them denied it was true. Some of them believed the words were true, but did not trust God. And some believe the Gospel and lived out that belief in faith, and they entered God's rest.

At this point we may well ask:  what is God's rest? And the answer, we see, is not as simple as we might think.

“For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, ‘As I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter my rest,”’”

The first thing we notice is that the author of Hebrews tells us that those who do believe – and unite their belief with faith – enter into God's rest now.  He wrote, “For we who have believed enter that rest.” So, God's rest must be something that the living can enter into – because he said that those who have believed have entered that rest. It's already done. They – being alive – have already entered God's rest.

So what is the author of Hebrews talking about?

Well, what has he been talking about? He has been talking about the difference between unbelief and belief united with faith. He has been talking about apostasy from and belief in the Gospel. God's rest is believing and uniting with faith in the Gospel. It is living the Gospel.

Where does it say that?

Listen to the words of Jesus: “Come to me, all 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” (Matthew 11:28-30, ESV).  God's rest is wearing the yoke of Jesus; it is carrying the burden of Jesus. God's rest is believing and uniting with faith in the Gospel.

The Hebrews were considering committing apostasy – turning from their stand on the Gospel – committing unbelief toward the Gospel. They were considering turning back to the Old Testament Sacrificial and Ceremonial Law. They were going to go back and try to earn their salvation.

Do we understand how stupid that was? Do we understand the insanity of trying to earn salvation? What is the Law?  Jesus put it this way: “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48, ESV).  In other words, “be perfect like God, and you will earn salvation.”  So, it's difficult to earn salvation.  Right?

Or is it?

How are we born? David wrote, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5, ESV).  We are all born sinners.

Do we understand, then, that the point of the Law is not that it is a way to salvation? The Law says be perfect, and it is not possible for us to be perfect. The Law says all you have to do is fill seven holes with six pegs. And we in our insanity say – then there must be some arrangement that we can put six pegs in that fill the seven holes! We cannot put six pegs in seven holes, and we cannot keep the Law of God. If we try, we will never enter God's rest.

Jesus was saying, “Are you tired of carrying a heavy load? Do you understand that it is not possible for you to save yourself? Do you understand that you are a sinner worthy only of God's Wrath? Do you understand that salvation can only come through God becoming flesh and blood Man, living under God’s Law sinlessly, dying for everyone who would ever believe, and physically rising from the dead and ascending back to His Throne? That is the Gospel; that is what I have done. I have taken the heavy yoke; I have taken the heavy burden. Believe in Me, and take on My yoke – take on My burden – it is light.”

And yes, there is still a yoke, there is still a burden – we are called not merely to believe, but to unite that belief with faith in obedience. We no longer seek to follow the Law for salvation, but we follow the Moral Law in thanksgiving for what God has done for us.

            The author of Hebrews continues:  “although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: ‘And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.’”

            The author of Hebrews now directs his readers to the opening chapters of the book of Genesis, and he shows them a type of God's rest. In the book of Genesis we read how God created the world in six days, and then rested on the seventh day. God acted with creative imagination for six days, and then He rested by merely sustaining what He had created.

God has given humanity that pattern of seven days in which to live: six days are for us to work to use our creative imagination to provide for ourselves and for our families – the seventh day is to be given in trust to the worship of God.

God created in this way and gave us this example – this pattern of living our lives and worshiping Him as a type – as a foreshadowing – of the fullness of God's rest in Gospel Life in Jesus. In God's rest, we give up all of our striving for ourselves and give ourselves over in trust to the worship of God – in living lives now in the worship of God.

“And again in this passage he said, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’” There was a very large number of people in the wilderness who died not entering God's rest, yet there were some who did enter God's rest – through the Gospel – through belief in the Gospel and uniting with it through faith in obedience. 

And we know that because the author of Hebrews is using this argument for people in the first century that God's rest was not cut off from them at that time, and we understand that God's rest is not cut off for us – in our day.

“Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience,”

Again, there are people who hear the Good News – the Gospel – and reject it – they do not believe it. Then there are people who think they believe it, who want to believe it – for whatever reason, but they fall away – they apostatize – they turn away from where they stood.  These will not enter God's rest.

However, “it remains for some to enter it.”  There are some yet still to enter God's rest. There are some who have not heard the Gospel – who need to hear the Gospel – who will believe the Gospel. And there are those who have heard the Gospel, and have not yet believed the Gospel – but will.

How do we know that?   Because Jesus said there are a certain number of people who will believe.  Jesus prayed,”All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled” (John 17:10-12, ESV).

And John records, “But nothing unclean will ever enter [the New Jerusalem], nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life” (Revelation 21:27, ESV).

Not merely are there a certain number of people who will be in the Kingdom, but from all of eternity, God has planned that particular people will be in the Kingdom – and every one that God has chosen to be His will believe in the Gospel and unite it with faith in obedience – and “not one [will be] lost except the son of destruction, that the scripture might be fulfilled.”

Everyone God intends to save will be saved. Everyone God intends to bring into God's rest will come into God's rest. And until that day, there is still time to believe.

“Again he appoints a certain day, ‘Today,’ saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.’”

            As David puts it in Psalm 95, as he writes about the events of the rebellion in the wilderness, he stresses the word “today”– you have today – you have now – you have this moment – you have until God takes your life.

            The warning is given in this text – not to harden our hearts – not to apostatize – but to believe the Gospel – to unite the Gospel with faith in obedience – to enter into God's rest – to take on the yoke and the burden of Jesus – which is light, because He has paid the debt for the sin of everyone who ever believe, and He has credited His Righteous Life to everyone who will ever believe.

            But we can't put it off – we don't have any idea how long we have. Today could be the last day of your life, and if you do not believe you will not enter God's rest – you will have committed the one damnable sin.

            Yesterday was the funeral for my brother’s mother-in-law. One thing I greatly appreciated about the service was her desire to make sure that everyone who attended heard the Gospel and received a call to believe it. She purchased two booklets to be handed out to everyone who came to the service, and shortly before her death, she recorded a video about her life and in it she also explained that the only way to be received into the Kingdom of God – God's rest – is through believing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She had the privilege of knowing that she was dying for about a year, so she could prepare how she wanted to say this message to make sure that everyone heard it. But most of us don't know – we may not live through this worship service – we may not live through coffee hour – we may not live through this afternoon.

Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. Today is the day to believe – you may not get another.

Let us pray:

            Almighty God, we thank You that we live in a place where the Gospel can be preached in relative ease. We ask that You would convict us – that we would assess what we believe seriously – lest we fail to come into Your rest.  Help us to understand that Your rest is living the Gospel Life – not merely believing the facts of the Gospel but living them out by uniting them with faith in obedience.  And let none of us take the call to believe the Gospel lightly, but understand that today is the day – there might not be another.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.