Hebrews 4:1-14
Your Sabbath Rest in Christ
This morning we are continuing our exposition of the preacher's 2nd point of his sermon: that Jesus Christ is your merciful and faithful high priest before God (2:17; 3:1).
The preacher is now focusing your attention on the faithfulness of Jesus Christ as your high priest, which he concludes in our passage this morning and then in v. 15 through 5:10 he will focus our attention upon the compassion of Jesus as your high priest before God.
Last Sunday we heard the stringent warning of the preacher to not turn away from the gracious offer of salvation through the finished work of the Jesus Christ (3:7-19). And the preacher made use of the sad story of Israel's failure to receive the promise of God's rest in the land of Canaan because of unbelief. They did not receive the promised rest of God because they did not join the promise with faith and their unbelief resulted in death in the wilderness outside the Land of Promise.
But the question now arises for us, if Israel failed to enter the promised rest of God, does that mean that the promise is no longer available? If the children of Israel refused the believe the promise, does it end with them or is there still hope today of entering that promised rest through faith in God? Has the promise of Sabbath rest in the Old Covenant been permanently revoked through Israel's unbelief?
The good news of the New Covenant is that you have become an heir of the same promise of rest through faith in Jesus Christ. But as we have noted from the beginning, the promise of God's rest in the Old Covenant has now been infinitely elevated to its final, glorious fulfillment through Jesus Christ. What the Sabbath-rest-promise pointed to in the Old Covenant was the land of Canaan. But that land served only as a type or shadow of the greater reality to come: the heavenly Sabbath rest of God.
The promise held out to Israel pointed forward to a greater promise to come, which has now arrived in these last days with the coming of the Son of God (cf. 1:1-3). So the promise held out to you is now far greater than the promise of rest in the Old Covenant, which served only to thrust our eyes forward to Christ.
And now with the greater promise comes a greater and more intense warning of not turning away from God's ultimate fulfillment of Sabbath rest. Israel did not want to turn away in unbelief from God's promise to them at Kadesh, but you certainly do not want to turn away from this greater promise because the stakes are now infinitely higher.
Today, if you hear the voice of God preaching the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ and you turn a deaf ear and walk away, you don't simply forfeit rest from your earthly enemies in a piece of land in the Middle East, but you forever, eternally forfeit your rest from the wrath of God and you give up eternal life with God in Heaven altogether. Today, if you reject the promise of Christ, the tragic end of your unbelief is an eternity of suffering the fullness of God's wrath for your sin and rebellion against God.
That's why the preacher begins this new section in 4:1 with these words: "Therefore, let us fear if, while the promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it." The preacher says to all of you this morning, "Believe God, this is not a promise you want to reject. This is not the hour of hardening your heart before God and rejecting His Son Jesus Christ. The stakes are much too high. You are no longer dealing with questions that merely affect you here on earth, but you are dealing with the most important question of your life which will affect your eternity." Why? Because as Paul says:
Romans 1:18 the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
Jesus described the future destiny of those who reject Him in the most terrible and dreadful manner:
Matthew 13:37-42 37 And He said, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, 38 and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. 40 "So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. 41 "The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
What could possibly be a more horrible death than to be burned alive in a furnace of fire? How much more terrible would it be to suffer the wrath of God for all eternity? But this is what awaits all who reject the offer of salvation, the promise of God's rest, through Jesus Christ. That's why we must fear if we do not believe. As the preacher said in chap. 2:
Hebrews 2:2-3 2 For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, 3 how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?
And further, look at vv. 12-13 (READ). These verses are sometimes taken out of context and memorized as almost a confessional statement about the nature of the Word of God. But look at them once again within their context. The preacher speaks of God's Word as an instrument of judgment and destruction. And it is the perfect instrument because of its nature as being living and active able to judge the most inner thoughts and intentions of your heart.
The rebellious Israelites experienced the double edged sword of the Amalekites and the Canaanites when they failed to receive the promise of God to give them the land of Canaan (cf. Num. 14:43-45). That's why in Ps. 95, the Holy Spirit says, "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart to Him." Why? Because those who remain insensitive to the voice of God in the Scriptures will discover that God's word is also a lethal weapon that will destroy them. Paul speaks of the gospel in the same way:
2 Corinthians 2:14-17 14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. 15 For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; 16 to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? 17 For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak of Christ in the sight of God.
Paul is speaking of the preaching of the gospel to the world. To those whom God is saving, the gospel becomes to them the aroma from life to life. But to those who are perishing, the same gospel is to them the aroma from death to death. The same gospel goes forth and accomplishes all that God intends it to accomplish. Peter says similarly:
1 Peter 2:6-8 6 For this is contained in Scripture: "BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED." 7 This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, "THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone," 8 and, "A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE"; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.
The gospel goes forth and to some it is of precious value . . . it becomes the chief cornerstone upon which their entire life is built. But for others, to those who are appointed by God for destruction, the Word of God has become a "stone of stumbling" and a "rock of offense" upon which they will be destroyed.
The Word of God is a powerful weapon in God's hand because it is able to penetrate into the deepest recesses of our hearts (v. 13). What we seek to mask for the world and to hide from all to see, God sees clearly. Everything about you is instantly exposed before God. Nothing can be hidden from His all-penetrating word. Total exposure, utter defenselessness before God's omniscient eyes.
Therefore, in the presence of such a powerful and penetrating examination of your hearts intention, you, today, have no hope of escaping the judgment to come any more than did the Exodus generation who perished in the wilderness.
But the preacher does not end there, and this is the good news, no, the great news of the New Covenant that the promise of rest remains even today. The promise of rest did not end with Israel in the wilderness. It has found its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. And you can have it today. You can enjoy the promise of God's rest, which He promised all the way back there to Israel, you can possess it only if you grasp it by faith. How is this possible?
Because the preaching of the good news did not stop with Israel in the wilderness (v. 2a. 6 READ). The children of Israel heard the good news of God's promise through the lips of Caleb and Joshua (cf. Num. 13:30; 14:7-9). They alone returned from spying out the land and they cried out to the rebellious Exodus generation:
We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it (Num. 13:30).
For the land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the LORD is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us -- a land which flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them (Num. 14:7-9).
But you too have heard the good news of salvation. But what you have heard is far greater than what the Exodus generation heard, for God spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, but in these last days He has spoken to you in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world (Heb. 1:1-3).
Therefore, you must now pay much closer attention to the good news you have heard in Jesus Christ and do not respond as the children of Israel responded at Kadesh (READ v. 2b). For they were disqualified from the race and did not finish and receive the prize because they did not join the promise of God with faith.
Notice how the preacher is using the word "faith" here in our passage. The picture of faith is of the present grasping or holding onto the future reality. That is what faith is -- it joins you in the present moment to the future reality that is being promised. Faith says today - right now - I have what I will one day possess in full.
It is not enough to merely hear the promise -- it must be joined with faith in order to receive what God is promising. You must rest in it today as if you already possess it in hand. But the Exodus generation did not receive the promise because when they heard it they did not possess it, receive it, rest in it. Instead they refused the free gift and rejected God's promise.
And so, we see here that the lone instrument of entering into the promise of God is what? What is the only way you can be qualified to enjoy the rest of God? Faith! Today, when you hear the voice of God in the promise of the good news, rest in it. "Only faith as a confident expectation for the future can secure the promised reality" (Lane, 98). You will not be disqualified from the prize if you grasp a hold of it through resting in the finished, faithfulness of Jesus Christ.
Therefore, the preacher announces in v. 3 that you, who have believed the promise, have already entered the Sabbath rest of God.
And just what is that rest? Well, in v. 3 the preacher quotes again from Ps. 95:11, and from the lips of God, calls it "My rest." Do you see the incredible promise of God? You can actually enter into God's own rest through faith in Jesus Christ.
With Israel's failure to grasp the promised rest of God, the promise did not end with them in the wilderness of Kadesh. Why? Because the promised rest of God actually predates Israel altogether. In vv. 3b-5 the preacher explains that the true reality of rest, that God promised, actually goes all the way back to creation when God rested from His own work of creating the whole universe. He quotes from Gen. 2:2 and then ties it in to Ps. 95 that the rest that God promised to Israel was "My rest" -- the rest of God when he finished making the world out of nothing.
So you too have access to the same promise of rest because the very rest that God promised to Israel was already prepared and available since the beginning of the creation of the world. God's rest is His rest in Heaven -- it is unseen, it is heavenly. And you have it already if you have believed in Jesus Christ.
Therefore, you see what the whole purpose of the Sabbath promise has always been about. The promise was never limited to merely one day a week. That commandment was only a type, a shadow of a greater promise that was offered long before God called Israel out of Egypt. That earthly promise of one day out of the week looked up to Heaven to God's own heavenly rest. And as the preacher says in v. 3, you already possess it now if you have believed in Jesus Christ. That's why in 3:1 the preacher calls you the "holy brethren and partakers of a heavenly calling" you who now "consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession."
You have already entered God's rest promised all the way back in creation. But how? How can you now have in your possession the heavenly Sabbath rest of God Himself? Because through faith you are joined to Jesus Christ, who according to 1:3 has "made purification of sins and has sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high." Your life is Jesus Christ and where He is, there you are in full possession of all that He has merited as your faithful high priest. Look at v. 14 -- you have a great high priest who has already passed through the heavens -- and then in v. 16, therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of God's grace in Heaven.
You already possess the Sabbath rest of God because Jesus has worked for you. He did not come to be served, but to serve and give His life as a ransom for you (Mark 10:45). His work is finished and by grace through faith alone you have been counted, reckoned before God's heavenly throne, as possessing the righteousness that Jesus Christ has won for you. You have Sabbath rest because God considers the finished work of Jesus Christ as if you, yourself, had done all of it. Through faith, you have all that belongs to Jesus Christ and therefore, since He is at rest in Heaven, there you are at rest in Him. As Paul says in Col. 2:
Colossians 2:16-17 16 Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day-- 17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.
Therefore, the preacher once again proclaims the good news in v. 6: the promise of God's rest remains. Just because the children of Israel failed to receive it does not mean that God has revoked the promise permanently. That rest is still available to all who believe the Lord Jesus Christ.
For this was even true in King David's day when the promise was repeated to that generation and to all the generations that come after them. In v. 7, the preacher again quotes Ps. 95, the Psalm of David, where God once again offered the same promise to Israel through David. Even in that day, God again "fixed a day" of promise: Today.
But why did God offer the same promise to David's generation if Joshua had given Israel that rest? (v. 8). If Joshua had provided that rest when Israel finally conquered the land of Canaan under his leadership then there would have been no need for another promise in David's day. But Joshua did in fact lead the next generation into the land (Deut. 3:20; 12:9; 25:19; Josh. 1:13; 21:44; 22:4). Why wasn't that the fulfillment of the promise of God of rest? Why wasn't their eventual entrance and settlement of the land of Canaan the fulfillment of God's promise?
Because even then, the settlement of a piece of property in the Middle East was not the final goal of the promise. Rather, the settlement of the Land of Canaan only pointed to a greater rest to come. Had Joshua achieved that rest there would have been no need for Ps. 95. But Ps. 95 reminds us of a greater rest to come -- a rest that is not merely found in Canaan, but God's own rest in Heaven.
So there remains a rest even to this day (v. 9) and you can enter into and possess that rest of God even today (v. 10). Note the connection between vv. 9-10 -- You can fully participate in God's Sabbath rest today because your work is now complete. Your work is finished today just as God's work was finished on His Sabbath day. But how? How can the preacher say your work is now finished? That you can enter into your Sabbath rest of God? That you can now have the promise of God's rest?
Once again: only because you have a faithful high priest who has passed through the heavens to God (v. 14). There, in Christ, is your Sabbath rest in Heaven at the right hand of God.
Therefore, the preacher says in v. 11, be diligent to enter that rest. Here the preacher tells us how we celebrate the Sabbath today in the New Covenant. We diligently enter God's rest through faith in Jesus Christ. You now have rest in God's presence because that's where Jesus is at rest. He is your Sabbath.
And therefore, your Sabbath day celebration is no longer limited to one day a week, but fills every hour of every day. The Sabbath day finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. He is your rest in God's holy presence in heaven. Do you see the fullness of the blessings of the New Covenant? Your Sabbath celebration is your whole life hidden in Christ. Every day, every moment of every day, your whole life is your Sabbatical rest in Christ.
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession (v. 14). The work is finished. Jesus has ascended to heaven and sits at the right hand of God. Hold fast to Him. Never take your eyes off of your great high priest and forever rest in His finished work alone.
Amen! -SDG-
