Shawn’s teaching on Hebrews 4:1-3 focused on the importance of having a healthy reverence and awe for God, rather than a slavish fear. He emphasized the need for faith to be mixed with the promises of God in order for them to be effective in our lives. Shawn also addressed the idea of King James Onlyism, pointing out that no version of the Bible is 100% inerrant and that it is important to approach scripture with discernment and an open heart.

Watch on YouTube

Hebrews 4:1-3 Bible Teaching Script

Welcome.

If you have never been here before we are glad you’re with us today.

If you are a regular or are returning thanks for coming back.

There is something nice about not feeling alone out there in our beliefs so your presence does more than you might believe.

Let’s open with prayer, listen to a few passages set to music (you can sing along if you dare) and then we’ll spend a few minutes in “quiet reflection” before coming back and picking up our verse by verse in John 3.

PRAYER
MUSIC
SILENT REFLECTION

Okay. Last week we took a brief respite and talked about the two Christian commandments – faith and love.

The week before we concluded with our verse by verse study of Hebrews chapter 3.

Most of the chapter was dedicated to the writer comparing believers, members of the body of Christ, with the COI, and warning us NOT to fall into faith, which in every case or situation the COI faced while in the wilderness, was the result of fear.

In fact we ended our open question period with a question from Dave regarding fear.

Are we to fear God or are we to have faith in Him? Are we to fear Man? Is there a difference in the Greek word for fear and if so what do they imply?

The COI certainly were punished for their faithlessness (which was founded on fear) and yet . . . well, let’s just read our passages for today and present ourselves with one heck of a paradox . . . because after warning, and warning, and warning us NOT to fall into faithlessness like the COI, he says:

Hebrews 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.
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.
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.

If we can say anything we can say that the Word of God will present us with some paradoxical ideas – at least to our way of thinking.

We are to be empty but full.
We are to die but we are to live.
We are taught that Jesus is 100% man and 100% God.
That God is love, all powerful, sovereign and that he allows people to suffer.

This stuff is paradoxical.

So here we have been reading how the COI failed in faith (due to fear) time and time again, then this chapter opens up with telling us to therefore FEAR but that’s not enough . . . it ends with the opposite description of what fear seems to entail and says –

“Let us come boldly unto the throne of grace!” What are we to make of all of this?

Let’s talks for a minute about biblical fear.

I can assure you right off the bat of one fact – we are NOT to fear Man – that is a given and this is especially true when it comes to fearing Man more than we fear God.

Are we to fear God?

Absolutely. But the word fear does not mean fear in the sense of wanting to hide from Him but fearing Him in the sense of having ultimate awe and respect for Him.

Those are different responses of possessing fear, aren’t they – hiding and respecting.

And I would suggest that there is a very thin line that divides them in terms of operation.

Because of time I am not going to talk about the kind of fear non-believers possess (or lack thereof in some cases).

But I do want to talk a little about the fear, the awe, the respect we ought to have for God. Right off in the introductory chapter of Proverbs we read:

Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Job 28:28
And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

Solomon ends ecclesiastes with this advice:

Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

We have to note a couple of things about this advice.

First, fear of the Lord is the BEGINNING of knowledge. But in our examination of most Old Testament figures of faith this fear was present and healthy and manifested itself in serving and following God but it did NOT prohibit or inhibit these Old Testament figures in their communications and transparency before God.

They talked with him as a man speaketh with his friend, complained to Him, admitted to Him, confided in Him, trusted Him – all the while making Himthe revered object of their devotion and worship.

It was the proper application of fear that worked with love and hope, and is therefore not a slavish dread, but rather total reverence and awe.

When Moses was on mount Sinai he saw the burning bush that was not consumed and wondered.

Exodus 3:3 continues, saying:

And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
4 And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
6 Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.

That is great imagery isn’t it? And it gives us some idea of the type and application of fear we are talking about.

Some people have no problem knocking – even pounding on God’s front door and trapesing into His holy house with mud all over their feet.

But those who understand His holy nature, His eternality, His being a consuming fire, out of ut-most respect and honor refuse to even lift their eyes.

Do they trust Him? With all they’ve got? Believe and rely upon Him? Certainly. LOVE him? The first great commandment.

And this love CANNOT be mixed with the hiding kind or application of fear. We know this because

1st John 4:18 “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”

So maybe we ought to call the fear we have for God “holy fear.”

Now in the New Testament fear is mentioned (and recommended even) as a preventive of carelessness in our walk.

There is this sort of reoccurring reminder (if you will) that is letting us know we have to be mindful of our walk – (lest we somehow let the world assume us again).

I cannot explain any other reason for passages being present in the New Testament that clearly warn us to be cognizant of our faith and walk.

Again, I am only talking about in the lives of believers.

Speaking of judgment (which I am almost convinced is the same judgment as the Great White Throne where sheep and goats are present, 2nd Corinthians 5:10-11 says:

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.”

In this day and age of modern Evangelicalism run amok there seems to be a tendency to forget that our salvation carries with it expectations.

We frequently refer to salvation as a free gift (which in and of itself is a redundancy because a gift is not a gift if it is not free) but anyway . . . ?

We know that it is bestowed upon us and for far too many the notion is the gift of salvation is over upon our receiving it.

I think it might help us to think of salvation as a total gift – but it is a living gift – a living organism – and having received it, we are so grateful for it we work to keep it alive.

So let’s liken salvation to a potted plant. I cannot help but believe that many, many people receive this gift, put it in the corner of their room, never water it, never expose it to more light, and when asked say:

I was gifted with salvation in August of 2001 – see, there it is, over in the corner.

But on the other hand, there are those who upon receiving the gift remain conscience of its value, and out of “a constant respectful awareness of its bestowal” (what scripture calls fear) they water and feed the plant with faith and love.

After supplying believers with promises of bearers of the Good News, Paul says in the first verses of chapter seven of the same book:

2nd Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man.
I speak not this to condemn you: for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die and live with you.

Philippians 2:12 adds:

“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”

I would even go so far to suggest that it is a healthy fear (reverence or awe) for God and His power and His gift to us that sometimes causes us to choose love rather than our own will.

Let me assure you if this is what motivates a believer to take the proper course with another person it’s far better than not taking the right course at all.

Ephesians 5:21 says it well, explaining the importance of

“Submitting ourselves one to another in the fear of God.”

In other words we can see that in the day to day operation of being a Christian there can be, there is nothing wrong, with there being the presence of the fear of God with us.

It just might serve to remind us of our need to maintain faith and to exercise love – even if it is only because of the awe and fearful reverence we have for Him.

I would be remiss, however, if we did not make sure that the fear is healthy reverence and not overwhelming dread.

While a consuming fire God, by faith in His only begotten, has become our papa, and with fear being the beginning of wisdom, I would suggest that if we are perfect in love, there is no need for it . . . even as a reminder.

But with none of us being perfect in love, which is the fulfilling of the law, a healthy reminder of reverence for Him, and our need to continue to pursue Him in faith and love, is in order.

Alright, chapter four.

This chapter is comprised of two parts.

In the first, (verses 1-13) the writer completes the teaching he started with back in chapter three, drawing on the comparison between those who follow Jesus and those who follow Moses.

Then in verses 14-16 he starts in on talking about Jesus as a high priest, which he stays with until the end of the doctrinal part of the whole epistle.

In the first part, verses 1-13,) he describes more at length the character of the “rest” to which he had been talking about entering in the previous chapter.

Remember, in chapter three he wrote about our being careful that we are not like the COI who did not enter in (to their rest) due to unbelief.

So let’s read verse one where the writer continues on, saying:

Hebrew 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.

Let us maintain a little apprehension to the possibility that we have the ability to fail to enter into our rest too.

The NKJ says:

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

I would liken this fear to our consciously wondering if the plant has been watered today, if we have placed it in enough sunlight, if we are letting too many weeds collect around it.

We have to note that the writer assumes right here that a “promise” is out there yet to be fulfilled.

Next week we will get to Paul’s evidence of this promise of rest which he pulls from the Old Testament.

Remember, the writer did not have a New Testament to pull from and so his references to promises are taken from the Old.

We have the New available to us so the promise he speaks of is clear. But when he wrote he had to resort to Old Testament concepts to teach the principle.

So the promise he is speaking of is entering into God’s rest – the “rest” that exists in the world where He dwells.

We cannot doubt that he is speaking of the rest of heaven that awaits (by promise) for those who do not fall into unbelief, or, as he uniquely puts it:

“let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.”

The word “seem” here is used as a form of gentle and mild address, implying the possibility of thus coming short.

Short of what?

Entering into His rest.

The model from the Old Testament that he uses is (again) the COI that came out of Egypt coming short of entering into the promised land, and he says (in a very gentle way) we ought to therefore fear in case any of us “seem” to come short of heaven.

The argument (by once saved ALWAYS saved proponents that the use of the phrase “Seem to come short of it,” is the writers way of motivating those lacking in faith while at the same time sort of “winking” that they are just fine.

I would dispute this interpretation.

The word here– dokew – and the way it is used is casual, like a modest expression, when we will say (modestly) that a thing seems to be so and so, instead of saying “it is.”

“Jim seems to be troubled today,” we might say, instead of, “Jim is really ticked off.”

This first passage is presenting us none the less with an important truth –

that though heaven is offered to us, and that a “rest” is promised to us if we seek it, there is reason to think that some (many?) may fail entering in who had fully expected to obtain it.

Maybe we could attempt a partial list of what those who come short of receiving the promise look like.

We know according to scripture, there will be those who

profess religion, who even profess Christ, but He will not know them. These will come short of it.
There will be those who are expecting to be saved by their own works, and are looking forward to a world of rest on the ground of what their own hands can do – they will come short of it.
And according to Matthew 24 there will be those who humbly loved others but those who did not . . . who will come short of it.
Jesus also said if we forgive all men we too will be forgiven so I would include in this casual list those who refuse to forgive will come short of it.

To all these the promise of “rest” has been made but in every case they came short of entering in. Maybe that element of healthy reverential fear made all the difference?
(So the writer continues saying in verse 2)

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.

According to this, it would seem that the Gospel, as we understand it, or the whole plan of salvation, was communicated to the nation of Israel like it has been to us.

“For unto us was the Good News preached, as well as unto them.”

Not so.

The Greek word (not words) for Good New preached here is “yoo-angelidzo” and it means a reassuring promise was presented to them, as it was to us – NOT that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was preached to them like it was to us.

The point only has reference to promises being made of future rest.

The COI were promised to enter into a place of rest and so are we. This, I believe is the meaning.

Or . . . maybe we could say that under the Law the COI had received some Good News and under this dispensation of grace we too have received Good News, and both came with promises of entering into a place of rest – for the COI, the promised land, and for us, heaven on high or maybe it means the rest we have of entering into a living relationship with God – both are possible.

But the assertion of the writer seems to be that the promise of rest made to them was also made to us.

They faced a danger in not obtaining that promise – and so do we.

“Rest” was promised to them in the land of Canaan—and they fell short of it.

The writer took this event for granted and uses it to warn us.

He goes on saying:

But even though they were given the promise, it “did not profit them.”

What does this mean at the end of the day?

The parallel is the COI were given a promise but it did not work to their advantage – they still died out in the wilderness, never entering in.

Therefore the clear message is we cannot be like them having received the promise but failing to enter in.

The promise given to the COI exerted no influence over their hearts and lives, and they lived and died as though no such promise had been made.

How did this happen? Or why did this happen to them? The writer tells us:

“but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.”

A person can read the word ad nauseum, study it, memorize it, know it – but if it is delivered but never mixed with faith, it will fail to deliver.

It’s quite paradoxical when you think about it. It is hearing the Word that helps create of produce faith, but it is also entirely possible for someone to hear the word – I mean really understand it intellectually – but never mixing the reception of it with faith, they completely fail to see the promises of God as having merit.

I can think of five or six men and women out in the world today who could teach the Word of God better than anyone else alive relative to original languages, history, and overall doctrinal meaning who do not believe a word of it.

(beat)

The promises read must be met with faith or they have no capacity to deliver.

This was the COI problem – I would suggest it can be our problem too.

Let me sort of try and break this down:

There seems to be three apparent factors to the establishment of saving faith and the continuance of growing faith.

The Word (or promises of God)
The Holy Spirit (or testator)
And the Heart of the Individual involved.

We could approach each of them in whatever order you want but let’s first look at the word.

In and of itself –ink on paper. Different inks, different papers, different words if you really want to get down to it.

John 1:1 reads this way in English, this way in Greek, this way in Spanish, this way in Tagalo, and this was in Chinese.

All alone – again ALL ALONE – there is NO POWER in ink and paper or letters formed. That is the magical thinking of Man.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I love and live to read His Word. But all alone, they can mean nothing but information.

Remember the scribes and Pharisees? They knew the words, but missed their meaning. This caused even Jesus to say to them:

John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

I would liken the Word of God we have in our hands to the literal flesh and blood body of Jesus.

Yes, God did become incarnate, just as His verbal messages to man have become formed letters and words.

But in and of itself, the flesh and body of Jesus would bear no significance of any other flesh and body except what was in it – God.

This takes us to the second factor in knowing and maintaining and growing in spiritual truth – the Holy Spirit.

We noted last week that it is the Holy Spirit working in conjunction with the printed word that gives them meaning and depth and dimension.

No God in Jesus, no significance to Him in His flesh. No holy spirit to accompany His word, no significance to His word.

They must come together. Certainly, the Holy Spirit can and does work on us and our lives outside of our eyes being on the pages of scripture, but everything He says and does is couched and supported in the Word He makes living.

To remove the Holy Spirit from the confines of God’s written Word, and have Him teach or lead contrary to it is simply the makings of false religion, of Man’s ideas, or our own religious imaginations.

So there are two of the three factors to salvation and spiritual growth.

But each of these are meaningless (in the true conversion and growth of an individual) if the human heart is not right, not willing, not prepared to receive what is being promised and what is being sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise.

And we could order these in any way we want:

A heart is desiring to know the truth about God . . .
The Holy Spirit leads her to opening a Bible . .
The Words she read convincing her and bringing her to receiving salvation.

OR

The Holy Spirit is calling to all to come to Jesus . . .
A willing and receptive heart receives the promptings . . .
And the Word of God preached creates the faith to bring it all together . . .

OR

A man is thumbing through the Bible . . .
His searching heart is touched when he reads a passage . . .
And the Holy Spirit fills Him to the brim, changing his life forever.

If you haven’t noticed these factors work together, hand in hand, interchangeably. And I would suggest that there are two sort of rules associated with them.

First, they all have to be present, and second, the only variable is the human will.

The Holy Spirit is always calling and working.

The promises found in scripture have been made and stand.

And they both can work and work and work and work but if the human heart has closed up, has walked from faith, their combined effort cannot force anyone into rest . . . and we, like the COI, will “come short of it.”

This is the factor the writer of Hebrews is tapping upon.

Now at verse three (which is not the easiest passage to understand in the King James), the author begins by supplying us with a line of supreme positive affirmation. What does he say? (verse 3)

3 For we which have believed do enter into rest ( and then He continues on which we are going to explain next week, saying,

“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”.

But the first line of the passage, which says “For we which have believed DO enter into rest,” is a reminder of one of His most beautiful promises – those who have believed will, like the COI, enter into the Promised land, and those who have believed on the Son, will enter into a relationship with God, and will enter heaven.

“Those who believe.”

We cannot mess around on this passage and try and assign a weak “devilish belief” to the definition of belief (as in even the devils believe). That would not be contextually fair.

But what we can say is those who have “TRULY believed” on the Son do enter rest,.

We could further qualify true belief on the Son as those who receive, operate by, and grow in faith and love (as we mentioned last week).

To support the statement the writer (once again) returns to the Old Testament and some examples included therein as a means to validate his point.

It’s a fantastic illustration that he makes because he ties our rest as believers to the rest God took on the Seventh day (or Sabbath) day.

We’ll get to that next week.

Before we get to questions or comments about today’s message last week we had a dear brother (during the Q&A) make some statements about the King James Bible being the Only Bible and that the translators were inspired by God to choose and use the words they choose and used.

Now those of you who know me know my love and respect for the King James – in fact, if you were in our gathering this morning you would have been provided with some really profound background relative to other modern versions (which I readily admit have great spiritual merit).

Nevertheless, regarding the inerrant nature of the King James Version of the Bible I hold in my hands, let me give you a couple of examples where God – in actually translating the King James Version – must have played fast and loose with truth.

Now, the question has to be asked, “Why Shawn would you purposely point out issues with the modern KJV of the Bible?”

My answer is because they are there.

I believe and receive total biblical inerrancy only relative to the actual mouth of God to the pen in hand manuscripts.

To suggest that ANY version of the Bible that we have today is 100% inerrant is irresponsible, false, and leads trusting people to believing they have been lied to.

Again, the words themselves are only part of the faith building process (as Charles pointed out last week.

So what are some general issues with King James ONLYISM?