Rest in Jesus

Hebrews 4:1-11, “Rest in Jesus”

Little children never appreciate naptime. I know I didn’t. I don’t have too many memories of that age, but I distinctly remember fussing and complaining about naps I was made to take. When Marilyn and I became parents, we saw the same reaction from our daughter, just as every other parent of small children. Little kids complain about being put down for naps; adults complain that we don’t get naps enough! 

The reason for naps is obvious: our bodies require rest. And it isn’t only our physical bodies…we need rest from a spiritual/eternal perspective. People know this inherently. We are each aware that we will one day die, entering the afterlife where we hope to find rest. Our very language recognizes this. What is often said when people die? RIP…rest in peace.

But will they? How can anyone know that he/she will finally rest after this life is done? Not everyone will. Many multitudes find no rest in death, but punishment. It is because of this fear that so many people in so many religions work so very hard to prove themselves. They want to prove themselves worthy to God through all their good works, in order that God might reward them with rest at the end. But that isn’t the way things work. The Bible is clear that no one can earn his place in heaven; the only thing we earn is judgment. We have each fallen short of the glory of God, and the wage for such sin is death and judgment.

What can be done? How might anyone enter the rest of God in eternity? Simple: by entering into the rest of God right now. Jesus offers us grace to find rest in God, and it is something received only by faith.

It is to this end that the writer of Hebrews exhorts his own readers. Thus far, the author has been pointing his readers to Jesus through a series of comparisons. Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God, is truly superior to everything in the otherwise wonderful Hebrew traditions, and the writer took on these traditions one-by-one. Jesus, as the incarnate God, is superior to every angel. Jesus, as the Son of God, is superior to Moses as a faithful servant. Jesus has been shown to be both priest and sacrifice – ideas to which the writer will soon return in additional comparisons.

It was in the comparison with Moses that a warning was introduced in Chapter 3. Moses had been a faithful servant in the house of God, but Jesus is the Son over the house, whose house we are if we hold fast in confident faith in Jesus (3:6). That warning (of “if”) was explained through a discussion of Psalm 95:7-11, in which God decried His people’s disobedience when they refused to enter His “rest,” contextually defined as their refusal to enter the Promised Land. Their disobedience was seen to be a lack of faith in the God who freed them from Egyptian slavery, something for which God condemned them to death.

In Chapter 4, the writer explores what the “rest” of God actually is. In Israelite culture, God’s rest was seen as a day, or perhaps as a land. The writer of Hebrews shows that it is neither; it is the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus freely offers His true rest, the very thing for which we each long. Let us be diligent to enter the rest of God by believing upon Jesus in faith!

Hebrews 4:1–11

• Falling short of God’s rest (1-8).

1 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.

3. Chapter breaks, as we remember, are imposed upon the text, not being part of the inspired text. The original author did not write with chapter numbers or verse numbers in mind (although chapters and verses are helpful for us in our own study). This is one of the places that perhaps the chapter break hinders more than it helps. The “therefore” shows that the thought from the previous chapter continues, the author building upon his argument. This is the continuation in logic from what was being said in Chapter 3. There was an entire generation of Israelites whose corpses fell in the desert “because of unbelief,” (3:19). “Therefore,” the current generation of Hebrews (particularly the Hebrew Christians reading this book) should fear falling short of the promise of God’s rest. The warning of 3:6 and 3:14 thus continue. Not all would hold fast to their confidence in Christ. Some would maintain “unbelief” against the promise of God, coming short of the rest He offered them. Like a runner coming short of a finish line and being disqualified (DNF), so might others “come short” of God’s promised “rest” by disbelieving the gospel.
4. This was something to “fear.” Whereas the various translations in our Bibles are accurate, the KJV and NASB each show something that the other major English translations do not: the emphasis on “” The statement of fear is actually the first word in the Greek sentence, showing it as the position of emphasis. Grammatically, the verb is not a direct imperative, although its translation provides the same sort of idea. We should fear falling short of God’s promised rest. When taking a broader look at the Bible, this ought to stand out as being unusual. Normally, God tells His people not to fear. “Fear not… Don’t be afraid…” appear hundreds of times in various permutations throughout the Old and New Testaments. That said, there are indeed some things the Bible tells us to fear. Primarily (and repeatedly!) we are supposed to fear the Lord. Of Israel, God spoke of His desire for His people to fear Him and to obey His commandments, “that it might be well with them and with their children forever,” (Dt 5:29) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov 9:10) and of knowledge (Prov 1:7). God’s saints are supposed to fear Him, for “there is no want to those who fear Him,” (Ps 34:9). When we have a righteous fear of God (fully trusting Him, believing Him and His promises), then we have very little need to fear anything else. Yet here, we are supposed to fear. Of what should we be afraid? Of coming short of God’s rest, of following the example of the previous generation of Hebrews who fell short of faith and thus fell in death in the wilderness.
5. Why should we fear? Because not everyone enters God’s rest. There is indeed an offer of rest: “a promise remains of entering His rest,” but not everyone receives the promise. Recall that the word commonly used for “rest” in Ch 3-4 (with a notable exception in v8) refers to the cessation of work, or (depending on the context) a resting place. Katapausis ~ κατάπαυσις. Used 9 total times in the NT, almost exclusively in Hebrews 3-4. When God offered His people rest, He meant it. His, was not an empty offer. What He promised, He truly intended to give – and He was absolutely prepared to give. Like race volunteers standing just beyond the finish line are prepared to hand out medals and bananas to everyone who crosses the line (everyone who crosses, gets one…regardless if the person was first or last), so is God fully prepared to lavish rest upon His people. The only way we don’t receive it is when we “come short.” It is when we follow the footsteps of the generation in 3:19 and live in “unbelief.” And yes, that is reason to fear!
   1. Modern evangelicalism has tended to divorce fear from evangelism, under the assumption that it doesn’t feel very good. We don’t like feeling guilty, nor do we like making others feel guilty, and fear gets all messy with guilt. We can’t have that, so we start making the gospel of salvation about life fulfillment. “You want to feel good, right? You already feel bad. Everyone feels bad. If you want to feel better, just ask Jesus into your heart!” The problem with that approach (with all due respect) is that it is backwards. It puts the feeling in front of forgiveness, when forgiveness is the main point. Don’t misunderstand. Do we experience true joy when we are saved? Of course. Who doesn’t feel good, knowing that God forgives us of every sin, because of Jesus? It feels wonderful to be forgiven! It is wonderful to know that we are beloved by God, made His own children through the Holy Spirit – that He will never leave us nor forsake us, that Jesus will be with us until the end of the age. That does feel good. It should feel good! But…our feelings are not the main point. Even Christians have good days and bad days. Even Christians go through severe valleys at time. And though we don’t traverse those valleys alone, at times it might ‘feel’ very lonely. If our Christianity was all about ‘feeling good,’ a lot of Christians might well question their faith on a regular basis!
   2. It comes from a false representation about the gospel. The gospel is not good news because it makes us feel good; it is good news because it tells us of our forgiveness. It is good news because it shows us how we can be reconciled with our Creator God through Jesus Christ. It is good news because it confirms to us how we can live forever in the presence of God, being freed from God’s righteous judgment. And yes, that is something to fear. We should fear falling short of true faith and forgiveness. After all, the Bible tells us that some will. Jesus Himself tells us that many will. Matthew 7:21–23, “(21) “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. (22) Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ (23) And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” There will be men and women in the day of judgment who seek to be confirmed by Jesus as His own through all the wonderful things they did in His name. But He won’t know them. As God, He obviously knows them, but He will say that He never knew them as His own people. They never belonged to Him in faith. At that point, there will be no more opportunity to receive forgiveness. When facing Jesus after death (for we will all face Him, as the writer of Hebrews tells us it is appointed for men to die once, then face the judgment ~ Heb 9:27), there are no more second chances, no purgatory in which to work off our sins (as if it were even possible for us to work them off!). At that point, it is too late.
6. Notice that the writer of Hebrews is giving this warning specifically to his own readers: “lest any of you…” Elsewhere in the book, the writer seems to have been convinced of his own readers’ salvation. They were his “holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling,” (3:1), and to the best of his knowledge, they were. Even so, they still needed the warning. He could only see the outside. He could hear their professions of faith and see their faith-filled acts; he couldn’t know their hearts. He couldn’t see inside their souls. The ultimate question of their salvation was something that each of them must answer alone with God. From his point-of-view, he could basically say, “I think each of you are my brothers and sisters in Jesus! I praise God for you. But take care to look to yourself and your own faith, lest you come short of salvation!” – The same might be said to any of us. Quite possibly, there are some who look the part, but remain on the edge of God’s promise, potentially falling short in the end. It is time to listen up! Heed the appeal to fear falling short, and act upon it in faith!

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. 3 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.

1. The danger of falling short of God’s promise should have been glaringly obvious to the original Hebrew Christian readers. Their forefathers experienced this very issue firsthand, as they fell short of God’s promised rest because of their lack of faith. Once again, the writer turned to Psalm 95, this time quoting only from v11 to make his point. Literally, the verse might be translated: “So I swore in My wrath; If they enter My rest,” the original Hebrew not implying a question in the “if,” but showing an emphatic negative in God’s oath. The idea is that God swore against these faithless Israelites ever entering His rest. His wrath forbade them from ever doing so. What was the proof of God’s oath? The nation’s 40-year death march. They had a “gospel…preached” to them, but their hearing of that word was not “mixed with faith.” Is the gospel the power of God unto salvation (Rom 1:16)? Without question, yes…but the gospel apart from faith does not save. The gospel of Jesus Christ has been preached to untold multitudes, but only a percentage of those who heard are saved. Why? Because only a percentage heard the word of God, mixed it with faith and believed upon Jesus. Hearing the gospel is not enough; we must heed the gospel, responding to it in true believing faith. Only then do we “profit” from it, entering the “rest” of God.
2. This might raise a few questions. (1) When did the ancient Israelites hear the gospel? (2) What gospel had they heard? (3) Is there a different gospel for different people? To answer, remember that the term “gospel” merely refers to good news. It is the announcement of God, proclaiming how those who respond to Him in faith can be saved. That gospel is fundamentally the same in every generation. The details in revelation of this gospel have grown through the millennia, but the basic message has always been the same. Think of it like a rose: whether it is a tightly wound bud or it is fully blossomed does not change the nature of the rose. The rose is still a rose, even if it is later seen in more glory. Likewise, with the gospel of God. The gospel (good news) itself never changes. It is the good news of how God provides salvation / deliverance to the world through His promised Messiah, how He redeems the world back from death, offering victory through the Man He promised to send. This gospel was proclaimed as far back as the Garden of Eden, when God promised to send the Seed of the Woman to crush the head of the serpent (Gen 3:15). It was seen again through the covenant God made with Abraham, that in Abraham’s own lineage all the nations of the world shall be blessed (Gen 12:3). It was seen when Abraham offered his only son on the altar, being stopped only by the Angel of the Lord. It was seen in the Passover, with the blood of the lamb covering the Israelites from death and judgment. It was seen through every blood sacrifice, how each one pointed to the need of a Greater Sacrifice. And again through the bread in the desert and water from the rock…all of it showing God’s provision for His people, pointing to the ultimate provision He would provide through the promised Son. Everything in the religious system of Israel pointed to the gospel in some way. Each aspect was meant to point to God’s promised Deliverer and God’s miraculous deliverance, something that must be believed by faith. The Bible says that Abraham “believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness,” (Gen 15:6). – What gospel had the Hebrews heard? The only gospel there is! Salvation is only by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. The ancient Israelites looked forward to the future fulfillment of God’s promises; we look backwards through history at the same. It is the same gospel in all centuries; becoming gloriously full in Jesus’ cross and resurrection.
3. The key that opens the promises of the gospel? Those who have faith do enter God’s rest; those who do not have faith do not. This is what was so clearly seen in Israel. They heard, but they didn’t believe. But “we” (the author being hopeful, including his readers with him) “who have believed do enter that rest.” When it comes to salvation of God (His promise of true rest), faith is not optional or an add-on; it is essential. It is something we cannot do without. Not one person in all history has been saved apart from faith. Abraham was not saved because he put Isaac on the altar in obedience to God’s command; Abraham believed the Lord and righteousness was accounted to him. Moses was not saved because he faithfully spoke God’s word and did what God commanded him to do; Moses was saved because he believed the Lord from the moment he saw the burning bush. Something similar could be said of men like David, Isaiah, Daniel, and other Old Testament saints. Likewise, with those of the New Testament church. Not one person is ever saved because of ritual or works of obedience. Those things might be good and even God-honoring…but they are not salvific. Baptism, for instance, is commanded but it does not save. In Acts 2:38, Peter told the Jews on the day of Pentecost that they needed to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, yet later Paul and Silas told the Philippian jailer that he needed to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and he would be saved (Acts 16:31). Are these contradictory events? Not at all…each centers on faith. Do our actions flow from faith (including that of baptism)? Of course, but faith is the key. Apart from faith, acts of repentance aren’t really repentance (for your mind towards those things haven’t changed). Apart from faith, baptism is just getting wet. The only way we enter the promises of God (the rest of God, the salvation of God) is through faith. We must believe.
   1. The question for some of you is simple: What do you believe? You’ve heard the gospel of God’s salvation through Jesus Christ. Is your hearing yet mixed with faith? Some people hear of Jesus all their lives, perhaps even going to church every Sunday. Yet they stop short of God’s promises because the word they heard isn’t mixed with faith…they do not yet believe. They might believe many things about the church they attend (they believe that their priest speaks words of absolution – they believe that Jesus has been sacrificed anew through the mass – or, they believe that their prayer / baptism / giving / etc. is what saves them)…they believe all these things about their church, but they do not yet believe upon Jesus. Yet it is only “we who have believed” who enter God’s rest. What do you believe? (What is stopping your faith?)
4. The remainder of v3 contains an abrupt (but related) transition to the idea of creation. When God promised His rest to the ancient Israelites, it wasn’t as if God was about suddenly cease working. His own creative “works were finished from the foundation of the world.” 

4 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”; 5 and again in this place: “They shall not enter My rest.”

1. When it comes to the idea of rest, even the very institution of rest (when it originally came), it hearkens back to the original week of creation. God worked for six days, resting on the seventh. Once again turning to the Bible, the author quotes “a certain place” in Genesis (knowing it was Genesis), hearkening back to the dawn of history: Genesis 2:1–2, “(1) Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. (2) And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.” As the 4^th Commandment says, “In six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it,” (Exo 20:11).
   1. Incidentally, this is why the Sabbath day is always Saturday, for it is the 7^th Day that God set apart from the rest. Although there is a day in the New Testament recognized as the Lord’s Day (Rev 1:10), and it was known that the church gathered on the first day of the week (Sunday) to break bread in congregational fellowship (Acts 20:7), nowhere in the New Testament is there even one hint that God somehow ‘changed’ the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. The Sabbath is the Sabbath, and the Lord’s Day (resurrection day) is the Lord’s Day. The only reason one would believe the Sabbath has been changed is if one was taught that the Sabbath has been changed. It is a religious tradition; it is not a Biblical doctrine.
   2. That being the case, why do so many churches teach it? Reasons might differ from place to place, but generally speaking, it is because it becomes a way for New Testament Christians to keep the 4^th The other 9 Commandments are typically within reach of Christians (or, so goes the argument!). We can worship our one God, honor our parents, abstain from adultery and lying and the rest. But how can we observe the 4^th Commandment of the Sabbath if our church congregations never gather for worship on the Sabbath? Thus, based on the historical fact that churches prior to the close of canon were meeting on Sunday for worship, designating it as the Lord’s Day, the doctrinal argument says that the Sabbath must have been changed to Sunday. – There are several problems with that line of thinking, not the least being the so-called ability to keep any part of the law! Who among us perfectly worships God as He revealed Himself? Who honors their parents without flaws? If we hate without cause, we have committed murder. If we lust, we have committed adultery in our hearts. This is what the law shows. The law was never given for our self-justification; it was given to show us our need for Jesus! None of us can honestly look at the 10 Commandments and claim, “I did such a good job in keeping the law this week.” Rather, we look at it, beat our chests and say, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner!” The law is what drives us to Jesus. It is our schoolmaster that takes us to Christ, finding mercy and forgiveness in abundance!
   3. With that in mind, we know that the law is still a standard to which we strive. What then, does a Christian do with the 4^th Commandment? That is part of the point of Hebrews 4. If we grasp the point of God’s true rest referring to His salvation, then we can see easily that ‘keeping the Sabbath’ has nothing to do with a day of the week, but it has everything to do with having faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. This is seen in the text of Hebrews 4:4-5 (seen in both Greek and English). Of the “rest” that God enjoyed in Genesis 2:2, the same root word is used in the quote from Psalm 95:11. This was the rest offered to the Israelite people. God’s ceasing from work on the 7^th Day (the Sabbath) is likened to the resting place offered to Israel by God. Just like when God ceased His work of creation, so too did He offer a home for the Hebrews to cease from their slavery and their wanderings. Sadly (tragically!) they didn’t enter. Thus, the contrast. God rested; God’s people did not. In fact, because of their disobedient unbelief, God swore that they would not enter His rest. All of this leads to a clear logical point for the author: the Sabbath Day is not God’s promised rest. If the Sabbath Day was the promised rest, then the Hebrews would experience it every week. But they didn’t experience God’s rest at all. God went so far as to swear that they would not experience it in that generation.

6 Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, 7 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.”

4. Verse 6 sets up the premise, making clear at least one theme that has been repeated throughout Chapter 3, leading into Chapter 4. “Disobedience” = unbelief. In 3:12, unbelief was the description of an evil heart – in 3:16, the disobedience to enter was labeled as rebellion – in 3:19, the people’s refusal to enter was specifically said to be unbelief. Disobedience kept God’s people from entering His rest, but if those who have believed do enter God’s rest (4:3), then it follows that unbelief = disobedience; disobedience = unbelief. The two terms are contextually interchangeable. – It makes sense, even from a perspective outside of Israel’s refusal to enter the Promised Land. What does God constantly call people to do? We are commanded to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Jesus said, “This is the work of God, that you belief in Him whom He sent,” (Jn 6:29). A refusal to believe is disobedience. It is rebellion against the God who created us, who calls us, and who desires us to be saved from wrath. Unbelief is sin, and it is sin that will be rightly judged. 
5. All that is background for the premise. Earlier, people “did not enter because of disobedience,” yet “it remains that some must/will enter it.” When? When will anyone enter God’s rest? How might anyone enter God’s rest? Once again, the writer turns to Psalm 95:7. We need not look for a future time; now is the time! God has indeed designated a “certain day” in which to enter His rest. But it isn’t the Sabbath Day. It isn’t any day of the week, feast day, or anything of the sort. It is the present day. It is today. In the psalm, David wrote “Today,” opening up the day of God’s rest to anyone who heard.
6. To this, some might object that still, the question is not answered. The promised rest of God was not the Sabbath Day; God’s rest is available “To” Okay, but the context of Psalm 95 was about the sin of the Israelites when refusing to enter the Promised Land. Was the “today” the original day the people rebelled against God at Kadesh Barnea? Was it the day (40 years later) Joshua led them across the Jordan river? Part of the answer comes in v8…

8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day.

1. Joshua did not give the people God’s rest. Don’t let the “if” throw you…the grammatical construction is a premise that is presumed false/untrue (2^nd class condition). Joshua did not give them rest. He certainly led the people into the land. Following 40 years of watching everyone die who was over the age of 20 at the time of the rebellion, Joshua finally brought the nation into the Promised Land. And they saw God do exactly as He promised to do. City walls literally crumbled before them, and nations feared their approach. They were able to defeat armies mightier and stronger than they, because the Lord was with them. The 12 tribes of Israel began moving into their land in 1406BC and it has been their homeland ever since. (By the decree of God, unchangeable by the politics of the nations!) Yet in all of that, Joshua did not give them the promised rest. He gave them the promised home, that which God 400+ years earlier gave to Abraham…but although the Hebrews could finally cease from their wandering, they did not enter God’s rest. There was “another day” spoken of in Psalm 95, one that “Joshua” did not provide.
   1. Simply the name is interesting. Literally, the Greek for “Joshua” is Iesous (Ἰησοῦς), Jesus. Is the author saying that Jesus did not give God’s rest to His people, i.e., Jesus of Nazareth? Not at all! In fact, the whole point of the author’s argument is that only Jesus of Nazareth provides the true rest of God. The confusion (on our part) comes from the name, for the English equivalent of Jesus is Joshua. The question then becomes: Which Joshua? Contextually, the writer makes it clear. Verse 8 does not refer to Jesus of Nazareth, but to Joshua the lieutenant and successor to Moses. But the wordplay is likely intentional on the part of the writer. (Leon Morris, EBC) “There had been a ‘Jesus’ who could not lead his people into the rest of God just like there was another ‘Jesus’ who could.” The writer of Hebrews is leading his readers to a very specific “Joshua”…the only Joshua/Jesus that leads anyone into God’s promised rest is the Lord Jesus Christ!
2. As to Joshua son of Nun not providing God’s rest to the Israelites, this is proven in the psalm quoted in the previous verse. Remember the invitation in Psalm 95:7 (Heb 4:7), “Today, if you will hear His voice…” When was the psalm written? Centuries after Joshua led the nation into the Promised Land. The day of “today” cannot be Joshua’s day, for his day is long-past. Thus, a rest remains. The rest of God is offered “today.” When is that? Right now! Today is today. It refers to the present time…and we always live in the present time.
   1. There is good news here for anyone who has ears to hear. If you’ve not yet believed upon Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then you haven’t yet lost your opportunity. If you hear His voice, today you can respond! Today, you can believe. Today, you can receive God’s own assurance that you are His and that you can rest in His salvation. It’s too late to do anything about yesterday, and tomorrow is not guaranteed. But you have today. Today, respond to the grace and call of Jesus to be saved!

• Entering God’s rest (9-11).

9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

1. What kind of “rest” remains for God’s people? Other translations make it clear: a Sabbath rest. The word used here by the author is different than the word he’s used every other time. Elsewhere, he has written of the katapausis (κατάπαυσις) of God (which is used yet again in v10). In v9, the word is sabbatismos (σαββατισμός ~ Sabbath), a word found in the Bible only here, perhaps even originally coined by the author of Hebrews. There is a Sabbath rest that remains for the people of God, the same type of rest enjoyed by God on the 7^th Day of creation week. In fact, v10 makes that connection explicit. The σαββατισμός rest that remains is also the κατάπαυσις (resting place) into which we enter when we cease from our works just like God ceased from His own works.
2. The main idea is that a rest does exist “for the people of God.” This isn’t some ‘pie in the sky’ promise that sounds good but never comes. This isn’t like a mirage that disappears as soon as we get close. There is a real rest for God’s people. It is a cessation of work – it is a place of peace and quiet. It is a real thing, and it is really offered to us. Specifically, it is offered “for the people of God.” How are we made part of God’s people? Through faith. Obviously, the author of the book was a Hebrew writing to fellow Hebrews, but the Bible is clear on the point that it takes more than a bloodline to be part of the people of God. Paul wrote to the Romans that “they are not all Israel who are of Israel,” (Rom 9:6). Faith is required, a spiritual circumcision of the heart (Rom 2:29). This is true for Jew and Gentile. If anyone is included among the “people of God,” it is through faith. And those who have faith have the promise of God’s rest. We enter God’s rest through faith.
3. At this point, we can start to put the author’s argument together, coming to the logical conclusion to which he has been building this entire time. There is a Sabbath rest that exists in which we cease from all work, a resting place in which no work is required. Yet it is neither a specific day of the week (“today” referring to every day in the present day), nor is it a specific place (for not even the Promised Land opened by Joshua gave the rest). What remains? A person. The true rest of God in which we cease from all our works, striving to prove ourselves worthy to God…that rest is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Moses couldn’t provide it through the law (even the covenant sign of the Sabbath Day); Joshua couldn’t provide it through the conquest of Canaan. Only the better-than-Joshua, the Lord Jesus Christ can provide it, Himself being the very fulfillment and embodiment of the promised rest of God. – Consider who Jesus is…
   1. He is the Lord of the Sabbath, having authority over the Sabbath (Mk 2:27-28).
   2. He is the One whose yoke is easy, and whose burden is light, in whom we will find rest for our souls (Mt 11:29-30).
   3. He Himself is our peace between Jew and Gentile (Eph 2:14).
   4. He is the Lord of peace that gives us peace (2 Ths 3:16).
   5. He is the one Mediator between God and men (1 Tim 2:5).
   6. He is our ransom (Mt 20:28) – our redeemer (Tts 2:14) – our Advocate (1 Jn 2:1) – our Savior, Lord, King, and God.

Where else would we turn to find God’s rest? Who else offers the words of eternal life? It is Jesus alone who offers it. He alone brings us into sweet communion with God, giving us the right be made the children of God. It is Jesus alone. He is our Sabbath rest, our resting place. Through faith in Christ, we stop striving through our works to prove ourselves righteous (or, at least more righteous than the next guy). Through faith in Christ, we stop stressing about whether we’ve done enough to be saved. Through faith in Christ, we rest. Like the ancient Israelite was supposed to truly rest on the Sabbath as he/she trusted God’s provision – like their nation was supposed to rest in God’s promise of the land, believing He would give them the home they desired…so do we rest in Jesus. We believe upon the Son of God as the only One who provides God’s rest for He Himself is God’s rest.

All of this leads to an obvious exhortation…

11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.

1. The writer goes back to how he began, with this impassioned appeal and warning. The difference this time being that instead of commanding a holy fear of coming short of God’s promise, he gives a plea for eager diligence. The idea is to hurry, hasten into God’s rest. Don’t waste time hanging out at the edge of the Promised Land, like ancient Israel at Kadesh Barnea. The longer you wait, the more you might want to wait. Hurry up, be eagerly diligent and enter in!
2. Why? Because anyone might get distracted and “” Just like the ancient generation of Israelites fell into disobedient unbelief, so might the writer’s current generation of Hebrew brothers and sisters. If they weren’t resting in Jesus, they would attempt to find their rest in other things, especially in terms of going back to the old sacrificial system at the temple…and it would be in vain. If they weren’t resting in Jesus, then they would strive to prove themselves through their religious deeds. They would strive to pray harder, to serve more, to give more offerings, to engage in more rituals. If they weren’t resting in Jesus, they might try to substitute the assurance only He can give, by deadening themselves with the stuff of this world. Something would have to quiet the turmoil within their souls, each one knowing they needed to be reconciled with God, but being unable to find anything that met the need. Thus, they would always strive and squirm, never settling down, never finding peace with God. And peace would never come…not as long as they stayed on the edges. As long as they remained on the outside, they remained in “disobedience.” Only diligent faith would move them past the edge to the inside…and that is when they would finally find peace.
3. Thus, the call to “be diligent to enter that rest.” NASB: “Make every effort,”; ESV “strive,” KJV, “Labour therefore to enter.” In the words of a certain shoe company: just do it! We are saved only by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, our faith involving our own intentional response. Theologians through the years have debated how our own freewill and God’s electing will interact (if they interact). From a practical perspective of our own human point of view, the debate is irrelevant. Not one person is saved who did not willingly respond to Jesus in faith, freely believing upon Him. Each one must make the choice to enter His salvation, His promise of rest. Be diligent to do it!

Conclusion:

Parents of small children can always tell when their kids need a nap. Usually, it is when the boy or girl tries to fight it off. They get fussy and irritable, sometimes throwing temper tantrums. Mom and Dad are trying to help, trying to get the child to go to sleep…but until they settle down, trusting that Mom and Dad know best, they won’t get their needed rest and won’t know peace.

It is more than toddlers that fight against our needed naptimes! We need the rest that God offers. It wouldn’t merely be ‘nice’ to be saved, to be put at true peace with God; it is life-and-death necessity. But many people fall short. They live their entire lives on the edges with God, maybe even having one foot in the church and one foot outside. Some don’t mind the morality, thinking it nice and even helpful in society. It’s the total surrender that they lack, thinking that kind of devotion belongs only to the ‘fanatics.’ Others love the church and the stuff they do, thinking that it is their ritualism or their spirituality that cleanses them in the sight of God. The more in which they engage, the better…the problem being that they never know how much is enough.

Neither of these conditions describes true rest. But that is what God offers…that is what He provides. Rest…real rest. No more flurry of activity always trying to prove yourself better or worthy in His sight. No more uncertainty about loyalties, never quite knowing where you spiritually “live.” Jesus offers rest from all of that. He offers peaceful assurance, total contentment in His work on your behalf.

This is the rest He offers…and this is what we must receive. We must be diligent to enter His rest, fearing lest we fall short. This is how we obey the 4^th Commandment in keeping the Sabbath holy. When we turn to Jesus in saving faith, we turn to Him as our Sabbath rest. He’s already done the work of salvation. All we do is faithfully trust in Him.

Although there is in this passage a clear call for those who are not-yet saved to get saved by believing upon Jesus (particularly those who have been previously trusting in their own works, striving to prove themselves worthy), there is also the reality that many born-again Christians aren’t resting in Jesus. They fully believe in Jesus, knowing Him to be God in the flesh who died for their sins on the cross and rose again. They know they have no hope for salvation except for Jesus, and they’ve asked for His forgiveness and for Him to be their Lord and Savior. (Which is wonderful!) The problem? They aren’t resting in His promise. They aren’t resting in His ‘rest.’ They trust Jesus to save, yet they still try to prove themselves. They believe upon Him as Lord, but they still strive and squirm, never assured of their place in His love.

Maybe that’s you. Beloved, if you know you are in Christ, rest in your Savior!