Lessons From Hebrews – Lesson 4
Last week we saw how Paul was using the Israelites in the wilderness as an example for Christians. We looked at how God looked down after wards and said that He saw no iniquity in Israel. As far as salvation was concerned God saw them covered in the blood. They were His children. And He took care of them for those 40 years. However, they were not allowed to enter into the Promised Land. Which is a picture of the victorious Christian life where you show up in faith and God gives the victory.
A life of being used for God and a life where God is fighting the battles for you. And the reason that they could not enter into the rest that God had for them was because of unbelief. What did they not believe? They did not believe that they could conquer the land. Their hearts were too hard, and God finally said I can’t use you people. They got put on a shelf so to speak and just spent their life wondering around in the wilderness.
I am sure that we have all seen people like this. They get saved, and then get a heart of unbelief, not about God saving them, but about the promises that God has for their life. They trusted God for their salvation, but they don’t trust God in their daily walk. Their life has no victory over spiritual battles. They are always worried and anxious. They have no spiritual rest in this life. They are doing nothing for God. Just wondering around in the wilderness.
Heb 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left [us] of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
Paul says let us. Again we see that Paul is including himself in this group. Paul is writing to fellow Hebrew Christians. He is not writing to lost people.
He says Let us therefore fear. In other words, based upon the example of the Israelites that had to wonder in the wilderness, Let us therefore fear. We need to learn from their example, and we need to fear making the same mistake.
Many people have the wrong idea about the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is a good thing.
Pro 1:7 The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of knowledge:
Psa 19:9 The fear of the LORD [is] clean,
Pro 8:13 The fear of the LORD [is] to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way,
Pro 10:27 The fear of the LORD prolongeth days:
Pro 14:27 The fear of the LORD [is] a fountain of life,
And in the New Testament we still see the fear of the Lord being a good thing.
Act 9:31 Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.
That is a great verse. They had the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Ghost at the same time. Fearing God’s chastening is a good thing and has great results. Heb 4:1 Let us therefore fear
If God did it to them, He will do it to us, if we harden our hearts like they did and refuse to trust God.
Heb 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left [us] of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
So we see there is a rest promised to us, just like to them, and we can come short of it. It should be obvious that the rest spoken of here is not salvation. Paul says this promise being left us. Paul is saved.
Heb 4:2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard [it].
Context is always very important in the Bible. The topic being discussed is the spiritual rest offered to Christians. The rest where God is fighting the battles and using you. The gospel of eternal salvation is not the context here.
What does the word gospel mean? It means good news.
They were preached the good news of the rest that God had for them in Canaan. But this good news did not profit them. Why? Because they did not believe it.
Heb 4:3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
Heb 4:4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh [day] on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
Heb 4:5 And in this [place] again, If they shall enter into my rest.
Heb 4:6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:
Verse 6 again brings up the example again of Israel not entering into the land of Canaan.
Heb 4:7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
He brings up another example of scripture. He uses David and says today there was then an offer of rest and it was possible to enter into it.
It must be a rest that was also existing in the time of David. This rest was offered to Israel in the wilderness. It was still being offered in David’s time.
David said if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. A hard unbelieving heart in the promises of God is what kept them from entering Canaan, and it was still a hard unbelieving heart in David’s day that was the problem.
Heb 4:8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
Jesus is a New Testament name for Joshua. Joshua was a type of Jesus, like Moses was, and Joseph. And who was it that was really the one working everything out in Joshua’s day? Jesus was. It is no accident that Joshua has the same name as Jesus. Translated from Hebrew you get Joshua. Translated from Greek you get Jesus. God ordained that Joshua would be named Joshua and that he would be used as a type of Jesus.
Look at verse 9
Heb 4:9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
A rest to who? A rest to the lost? No. A rest to the people of God.
There are different rests mentioned in the Bible. There is heaven rest, and Canaan rest.
David talks about this rest and says today. Well that rules out Heaven rest. It is not Salvation rest because it is promised to those who are already the people of God.
The rest being talked about here is available to the believer now.
Jesus said, I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly.
God did not create this rest for us in vain. It is to be enjoyed. There is a rest to which we are invited but are in danger of not entering into.
Verse 10 says for he that is entered into his rest. Paul shows that some have already entered into this rest. This rest is the Spirit-filled life, which like salvation is acquired by faith.
It comes from trusting God.
Look at the spiritual battle of the psalmist in Psalm 73. He doubted God concerning his chastening and others prosperity. And he became a spiritual mess. At one point he said.
Psa 73:14 For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.
Psa 73:16 When I thought to know this, it [was] too painful for me;
You go down the road of doubting God and you are NOT going down the road to spiritual victory. You are NOT on the path of walking close to God. All that awaits you down the road of doubting God is pain in the soul.
Doubting God will keep you out of the rest that God has for you in this life today. The psalmist got his attitude right and confessed his sin of doubting and finds peace. At the end he says
Psa 73:28 But [it is] good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.
Trusting in the Lord is the place of spiritual rest in the midst of the storm.
Let me give you some practical examples.
Let us say you get hit by a car, while you are out walking. (This actually happened to me) You have been hurt, you are suffering some pain because of it. You know that God says in His word.
Luk 17:2 It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.
Rom 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but [rather] give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance [is] mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Now you have a choice to make. Get mad. Give place to wrath. Don’t trust in God’s promises here. That is one choice. The wrong choice. No rest down that road.
Or you can just trust God and let Him deal with it. Understand that God had a reason or even reasons for allowing it to happen. Understand that God will give out judgment in His perfect way in His perfect timing.
Down that road is spiritual rest, comfort, and victory.
God said it, that settles it, even if I don’t understand the why or the how.
Trust in the Lord’s promises.
Heb 4:10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God [did] from his.
You quit trying to work in your own power. You rest in the Lord and let Him do it.
When Israel finally went into the land it was God that really fought the battles.
God sent the horrent before them. He drove the armies out before them. He took the courage and the fight out of the enemy. It was God that made the walls of Jericho fall. The people really did not do any of it.
Their part was simply to believe and be obedient and God did all the work. That is the rest we are talking about here.
Someone does you wrong, let God deal with it.
This principal goes for every promise of God. Whatever topic it is, believe Him and trust in Him. That is how you enter into rest. So we are to stop our labors. That is talking about laboring in the flesh. Doing things our way.
Heb 4:11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
Some people get confused here. First is says to stop our labors and now it says Let us labour therefore. The first labor that it tells us to stop is talking about laboring in the flesh. Doing things our way. We are to stop those kind of labors.
However, we are not to just sit and do nothing. We do have a part in all this.
Heb 4:11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
We are to put some effort into NOT falling into the same example of unbelief that kept the people out of Canaan.
We are to fear falling into that, and we are to do something about it. Put some effort into it. Pay attention so it does not happen to us.
Heb 4:11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest
How do you do that?
Well we do not have to guess. We are about to be told in the next few verses. These next verses you hear all the time for a variety of different messages, but not usually in the context of this chapter.
Verse 12 starts with the word for. That ties it back to what has been said before
Heb 4:12 For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The word of God reaches into the very heart of man. It is powerful. It cuts right to the heart of the matter. The word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The word for connects this verse with the last exhortation which was that believers must strive to enter into the rest of the victorious Christian life by simple faith.
What is the opposite of faith? Unbelief.
Verse 12 is saying that God uses His Word to search our hearts to see if there is faith or unbelief there.
Ok. We have seen that there is a rest offered today for the people of God.
I can fall short of entering into that spiritual rest.
The reason is unbelief.
So I need to labor to make sure that I don’t have unbelief.
How am I to know if I have unbelief in my heart?
The Word of God.
His Word is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
So what is our labor so that we can enter into rest?
Being in the Word of God. Knowing what it says. Spend time in the book.
And NOT hardening our hearts against it.
Understand that the Word of God will bring conviction. It is powerful.
Don’t fight it, yield to it.
Don’t make excuses.
Heb 4:13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things [are] naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
Paul is driving it home. The Word of God will show you your unbelief. It will bring conviction. And now a reminder that God see’s all. He sees the deepest recesses of your heart. All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
You listen to a message from God’s Word, and you feel its convicting power. It shows you that you have doubted God. You know when God tells you to do something and you don’t do it.
In a way you are doubting God. You might doubt that He means what He said. You may doubt that doing what He said would really be better for you.
The point is being made. Christian you have been shown in God’s Word what you are to believe and yes you are to act accordingly. Now don’t make excuses. You are NOT going to fool God. You can’t pull anything over on Him.
So I have been shown something from the powerful word of God. Something that I need to change or put my trust in. Some area of doubt that I am to put aside.
And I might as well, because God sees everything.
But where to get the help to do it.
Where to get the strength.
How to get rid of my unbelief in some area.
How do I hold fast, in all the storm around me?
The next verses have the answer.
Heb 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast [our] profession.
We have a great high priest. Jesus is the head of all. He is above all the other high priests that were only a picture, a type, they were only point toward the great High Priest to come and that is Jesus.
And He is our intercessor. He is on the throne interceding for us.
Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin.
Our High Priest is not cold and unfeeling.
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
God shows you some area of unbelief. Unbelief keeps you from having spiritual rest.
Harden NOT your heart. God sees all.
You need help. Go to the throne for mercy and grace. God to Him for the help you need.
Confess your unbelief. Ask Him to help your unbelief. Ask Him for the grace to keep you strong. Ask Him for the grace to trust fully in Him.
He loves us. He want us to have spiritual rest in this life. He wants to fight our battles for us.
Our part is to believe.
Our part is to trust in Him
Our part is to keep our hearts tender and to let His powerful word do its work.
And our part is to go to the throne and ask for help, ask for mercy, ask for grace.
What a blessing it is to have a throne of grace to go to.
Sometimes I just like the way someone else put it. Barnes said,
“Rejoice that there is a throne of grace. What a world would this be if God sat on a throne of justice only, and if no mercy were ever to be shown to men! Who is there who would not be overwhelmed with despair? But it is not so. He is on a throne of grace.
By day and by night; from year to year; from generation to generation; he is on such a throne. In every land he may be approached, and in as many different languages as men speak, may they plead for mercy. In all times of our trail and temptation we may be assured that he is seated on that throne, and wherever we are, we may approach him with acceptance.
We need the privilege of coming before such a throne. We are sinful – and need mercy; we are feeble, and need grace to help us. There is not a day of our lives in which we do not need pardon; not an hour in which we do not need grace. How obvious are the propriety and necessity of prayer! “
Put it all together. You will not have the spiritual rest that is being talked about here in this life if you don’t listen to the Word of God, apply what it says, and you must go to Him in prayer and ask for His loving mercy and grace.
That is how you enter into His rest.