Rest

Hebrews 4:1-11

“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. 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. For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, ‘As I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter rest,’ 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.” And again in this passage he said, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’ Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, 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.’ For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.”

This is a rough summary today's sermon, based on my notes.

The promise of rest was given to the Israelites with the Promised Land. However, they disobeyed and were forced to wander the wilderness instead of coming into their rest. This promise of rest, however, didn’t just apply to the Israelites. It is a long-standing promise to God’s children. It remains even today. To attain it, we must first of all believe that it is indeed still available to us. Second, we must also fear greatly that we might miss it. We must also unite faith in the messages we hear. If you don’t apply with faith the Word of the Lord, the messages you have heard will do you no good and you will not reach rest. Through faith and peace in Christ, we will find the rest in God. There is always still room for us. We must still strive to enter the rest, however. It doesn’t come freely. If we do nothing, we will get nothing. But if you apply God’s Word to your life through much effort, you are truly striving to enter rest.

Revelation 14:13

And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”