Obedient FaithBrings Divine Rest

Hebrews 3:7-4:11

Adapted from aGreg Nance sermon

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A preacher assured his congregation he was their servant and that they should feel

free to call him anytime they had a problem.The preacher’s phone rang at 3 a.m., and

an elderly Church member said, “preacher, I can’t sleep.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” he comforted her. “But what can I do about it?”

“Preach to me awhile,” she replied.

Maybe you’ve heard in the news that a large percent of Americans today are

suffering from sleep deprivation. It causes road rage, traffic accidents, health issues,

conflict at work and at home. We suffer from the curse of not enough rest. For many it’s not that we don’t have the time to rest, it is that we don’t have the motivation to say no to the demands and desires that keep us

from rest.

And even for those that do slow down, there is that gnawing sense of incompletion that prevents peaceful rest. In fact, there is the illusion that life is made up solely of what

happens here and now so that you have to get it all now or you’ll never get it at all. But when you look at what people are chasing after that is supposed to bring satisfaction,

what do you find?

Who succeeds in getting what they are after? Looking for the fulfillment that brings rest, everyone charts their own course in life instead of following the way that God has set before them. So many people are striving to enter the wrong rest. They are

chasing after the wind.

But is there a rest that we may enter and find true joy? Hebrews 3 and 4 tell us about

God’s rest that he has prepared for us to enter. It is that sense of satisfaction where

the soul finds completion and the heart finds the joy of fulfillment. It is that quality

that everyone pursues, but in all the wrong directions, fruit of the Spirit that cannot be

found anywhere but in Christ.

Listen to Jesus words in Matthew 11:28 NET Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not

hard to carry."

Even in the Old Testament this was understood. Listen to Jeremiah’s testimony

in Jeremiah 6:16 NIV This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where

the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, ‘We

will not walk in it.’ Listen to David’s testimony in Psalm 62:1 NIV My soul finds rest in God alone, my

salvation comes from him.

The Hebrew writer bears witness to a blessing from God that speaks to all people

of all times and in all places. We all want the joy and fulfillment that brings peaceful, divine rest. Rest for our very souls. What a beautiful picture! What do you think of when you see a sleeping baby? What cares and

worries stir in the heart of a sleeping infant? Would you like to have unburdened rest?

God has much greater rest in store!

Lets look at the text and see what divine rest God has planned for our lives, what hinders that rest and how we may enter

that rest.

Hebrews 3:7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, "Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks! 8 “Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of testing

in the wilderness.

9 “There your fathers tested me and tried me, and they saw my works for forty

years. 10 "Therefore, I became provoked at that generation and said, 'Their hearts are always wandering and they have not

known my ways.' 11 “As I swore in my anger, 'They will never enter my rest!' "

(Ps 95:7b-11)

This is a quote from Psalm 95:7-11 and the context is a Psalm of worship. But at the last third of this Psalm he breaks into this warning. Notice the four sections here. It opens with, Oh, that today you would

listen as he speaks! Then it says what not to do. And we see three things God says of

the people of Israel that angered him:

They hardened their hearts, they tested me, they saw my works for 40 years! God then

becomes angry and says: 'Their hearts are always wandering and they have not

known my ways.'

Finally, what consequence did Israel suffer for hardening their hearts and testing God

and rejecting his ways? God swore,“'They will never enter my rest!”

Hell must be a place where endless futile labor continues forever with no rest. Some people have already entered that kind of

labor! Let’s continue…

Hebrews 3:12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has an evil,

unbelieving heart that forsakes the living God. 13 But exhort one another each day, as long as it is called "Today," that none of

you may become hardened by sin's deception.

Did you hear those words? Look at them again. Here is a warning and a way. First

the warning: Notice the 2 elements that are dangerous here. evil, unbelieving heart that

forsakes the living God, and being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. The big danger that hinders divine rest is an

unbelieving heart that is hardened by sin’s deception.

Second we see the way. The way of rest in these verses is daily encouragement. How

often? Daily. Is that Sunday’s and Wednesdays only? No, it is daily! "Today," EVERY DAY. How often do you eat and

drink? Why? What would happen to you if you only ate and drank as often as you

receive and give spiritual encouragement?

Would anyone be starving or dying of thirst? Encouragement in Christ is more important that physical food. The way to rest includes

daily encouragement in Christ. Verse 14 lays out the main point the writer wants us to learn from this section. We all need to take it to heart! It is obvious he’s writing to Christians. 3:14 For we have

become partners with Christ, if in fact we hold our initial confidence firm until the end.

partners with Christ, seems to be pointing back to, Hebrews 3:1 NET Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, partners in a heavenly calling, take note of Jesus, the apostle and

high priest whom we confess,Jesus is my Lord, Savior, King…but how

are we partners? I think Paul clears this up for us in his letter to the Saints in Rome.

Romans 8:16 NET The Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we are God's children. 17 And if children, then heirs

(namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ) — if indeed we suffer with him

so we may also be glorified with him.The last part of verse 14 indicates we’ll be

partners… if in fact we hold our initial confidence firm until the end.

This same thought is stressed again in, Hebrews 6:11 NET But we passionately

want each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of your hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be

sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and perseverance inherit the promises.

Now he gives us an example of what will happen if we do not hold our initial

confidence firm until the end.15 As it says, "Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks! Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion." (Ps 95:7b-8) 16 For which ones heard and rebelled? Was it not all who came out of Egypt under Moses'

leadership?

17 And against whom was God provoked for forty years? Was it not those who sinned, whose dead bodies fell in the

wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear they would never enter into his rest, except those who were disobedient? 19 So we see

that they could not enter because of unbelief.

To avoid hard hearts, hear God speak through Jesus, heed what he says, hold on

to it and help others in it by daily encouragement. Hear, heed, hold and help!

These make up obedient faith. Obedient faith leads to the joy of divine rest. We are on the path to rest in Christ. But we are not

there yet! Read on…

Hebrews 4:1 NET Therefore we must be wary that, while the promise of entering his rest remains open, none of you may seem

to have come short of it. 2 For we had good news proclaimed to us just as they did. But the message they heard did them no good,

since they did not join in with those who heard it in faith.

Just as in 3:14 again the main point of this section is stressed.

There is a real danger that a Christian might come short of entering the divine rest.

Notice his comparison. The good news of God’s rest was preached to them and to us,

but they didn’t believe what they heard. Israel that failed to enter God’s rest, failed because of unbelief. It wasn’t that they quit

sacrificing or quit going to worship.

It wasn’t because they stopped hearing the God’s Word preached or stopped practicing

their religious practices. It was because they stopped believing. Unbelief leads to

disobedience. Do you know how important it is that we keep on believing God? Faith is the foundation of the obedience that brings divine rest. Faith is the foundation by which

we receive all the blessings of God.

Obedience that comes from faith reveals faith. God continues to invite believers to

enter his rest. Let’s read on… 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has

said, "As I swore in my anger, 'They will never enter my rest!' " (Ps 95:11) And yet God's works were accomplished from the

foundation of the world. 4 For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day

in this way:

"And God rested on the seventh day from all his works," (Gen 2:2) 5 but to repeat the text cited earlier: "They will never enter my rest!" 6 Therefore it

remains for some to enter it, yet those to whom it was previously proclaimed did not

enter because of disobedience.

7 So God again ordains a certain day, "Today," speaking through David after so

long a time, as in the words quoted before, "O, that today you would listen as he

speaks! Do not harden your hearts." 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken afterward about

another day. 9 Consequently a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God.

When are you invited to enter God’s rest? Today! How do you enter? Hear his voice and in faith, heed his words, lay hold of

Christ, and help others remain faithful and remain faithful yourself by daily

encouragement.Is this rest a reality? Of course it is! Jesus promised it in the verses we read earlier

from Matthew 11 just as The Spirit inspired the writer of Hebrews encouraging us to

make every effort to enter God’s rest.

Hebrews 4:10 For the one who enters God's rest has also rested from his works,

just as God did from his own works. 11 Thus we must make every effort to enter

that rest, so that no one may fall by following the same pattern of disobedience.God has shown us we must be diligent in

our faith & obedience to him.

The Israelites saw firsthand the miracles of God. They walked across the Red Sea & the Jordan River on dry ground and heard

the voice of God, & feared the glow on Moses’ face. They ate manna from heaven & drank water flowing out of a rock. They

failed to make every effort to enter that rest. Disobedience & unbelief kept them from the

promise of God rest.We must not let that happen to us!