Hebrews 4.end
September 22nd 2013
Welcome welcome.
We are in Hebrews chapter 4 beginning at verse 14 today.
First let’s pray, hear the Word put to music, and spend a few minutes of quite time with the Lord.
PRAYER
MUSIC
REFLECTION
Okay, we’re going to approach chapter four a little differently today and we’re actually going to wrap it up all up in one fell swoop.
Yes, we are going to read it verse by verse, and yes, we have already discussed verses 1-3 last week.
Now, I’ve read and re-read this chapter trying to get my mind around it. And it’s meaning remained elusive. Then last week, after having read it twenty times at least, I discovered “the wonder of it all” – which is all about . . . ”Christian rest, faith, and labor.”
Hopefully I can impart what I think the writer is trying to tell us and it will benefit you in the Lord.
There are segments in the chapter that are of great value (like verses 1-3 and then verses 4-11) but in order to truly appreciate THE BIG PICTURE we will have to sort of step back to view it after we dissect the individual segments.
So let’s first examine verses 4-11 and the general idea the writer delivers.
Admittedly, comprehension in the King James can be really tough (in the other versions as well) and you really have to read and absorb before being able to see what the writer is doing.
So last week we read:
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
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,
And we stopped there, noting that the author was telling us to be conscience of the fact that “a rest awaits us,” and being aware of this we ought to mind or take note that to “enter into it” we must mix the promises we have received from God of this rest with faith.
Never lose track of the fact that everything in the Christian walk is fueled by faith.
So let’s re-read verse 3 then verses 4-11, come back and discuss them, then step back and try and see the big picture I believe is being presented.
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.
4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:
7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
11 Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
Okay, back to verse three. This passage is frankly very irritating to me because what it says is the opposite of what the quote it is taken from says (in the King James).
Let me explain.
The writer is quoting Psalm 95 again. If you recall, much of what is said in chapter 3 is quoting Psalm 95 and here in four the writer continues to quote it – this time verse 11. So, after giving us the hopeful reminder that says
“For we which have believed do enter into rest,”
the rest of verse three says:
“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.”
What makes this a difficult and frustrating read is Psalms 95:11 says:
Psalm 95:11 “Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.”
Again, the Hebrews passage says:
“If they shall enter into my rest” and the Psalm passage reads, “they should NOT enter into my rest.”
The reason is the word “IF” used in Hebrews 4:3 passage acts as the word NOT in the Psalm 95:11 passage.
(And I know, I know, all your other versions say NOT and make it much clearer) but comprehension is EXTREMELY difficult if you are just reading this in the English.
Anyway, the meaning of this passage seems to be this:
God made a promise of rest to those who believe. Those who He first offered rest (the COI) failed to enter into it because they did not receive the promise with an “admixture of faith.” We talked about this at length and the point was made.
The writer then goes on and shows how the promise “of rest” has been extended to others (us) since God designed (from the foundation of the world) that some should enter into it.
In the end, the importance of possessing faith is reiterated.
Here’s the deal about the topic of rest and “entering” into it:
We will see that the first example the writer gives is that God first entered into rest after six days of creation.
Secondly, the writer is speaking of a future rest which the Nation of Israel looked toward, third, the writer mentions the Nation of Israel under David still looking to enter into rest, and then finally we are reminded that we too both enter and look to enter His rest.
Huh?
The construction of the Greek lets us know that along the way of our Christian walk we have both entered into rest and that we are constantly (over and over again) entering and re-entering into His rest.
The Word “enter” here is in the present tense and it expresses the idea that we “continue to” enter into His rest.
Add in the fact that the middle voice of the Greek includes the idea that is our own choice and that we participate in the results/effects of the entering or not.
So, in light of all of this, I think we can confidently say that the rest we experience of God does not cease when we enter into salvation, but it is a dynamic, on-going “entering” which will culminate in a final entering (at the death of all believers) who enter heavenly rest.
I appreciate this because any honest and or mature Christian knows that upon discovering Christ we certainly experience an immediate rest – many describe it as feeling like a thousand pound weight has dropped off their shoulders.
But we also know that this rest often recedes (or wanes) but . . . is rediscovered over and over again along the course of our walk with Him.
Maybe this is the result of our picking our own burdens back up – for whatever reason. Re-establishing law, right?
Or maybe we forget that He is the one who has born our load once and for all.
Such work is (I remind each of us) absolutely antithetical to faith.
And so the writer tells us (through the Greek construction) that we have to enter into His rest continually.
And, I would add that we enter and re-enter His rest continually only by . . . faith.
Think about this for a moment. We are admitted professing Christians. And we are faced with a problem – any sort of problem.
All of us, in some way or another, depart from the rest given and firmly established at rebirth by turning to our own will and ways rather than relying upon His.
And rest flees.
So time and time again, the Greek suggests, believers are entering into His rest.
We might liken this aspect of the Christian walk to our also having to consciously choose to “walk in the Spirit” instead of the flesh.
Again, this is not a singular decision made in a singular moment that stays with us for life – it is a day to day, even a minute to minute choice or decision.
And again, it is made by and through dying to the self . . . which AGAIN . . . is founded in faith on Him.
See the cycle?
In other words there is a continual battle (or war) between the flesh and Spirit and often we need to re-embrace “walking in the Spirit” lest we find ourselves overcome by the flesh.
Hand in hand with this we find cycling around our heads and hearts “an entering and re-entering into His rest.”
It sounds like an awful lot of WORK . . . and it IS IF we are approaching it through the will and the flesh.
But when the spirit is leading and reigning, the labor is His – we are only traveling along in a faithful ride.
(okay)
The last line of verse three says something very strange – and something explained in a dozen different ways till Sunday. It says:
“although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.”
Instead of citing what all the major thinkers think this means – Tyndale, MacArthur, Clarke, etc. – I would suggest that the passage is admitting to us that everything – the entering and rest, the labor, the faith – all of it – was not only known but it was finished from the foundation of the world – meaning God exists outside of time and space and He knew who would enter . . . and who would remain and that the work or labor was complete in Him before the world was.
(beat)
Chew on that for a while when you are laying in bed at night.
Now, we could spend the rest of the hour meticulously detailing what is being said in verse 4-9.
And it would be meticulous, guaranteed.
But because I think there is a bigger picture to make known here I am going to read and summarize what the verses are saying, so we can return to the chapter as a whole and get to the Heart of it as it were.
The whole point of the verses are to prove:
There have been periods of rest in every dispensation since the beginning of time.
That just because they have all existed does not mean there is not another more profound and permanent rest awaiting the faithful.
In verses 4-9 the writer points out that the first rest was the one God took upon completing creation, the second rest was that which the COI could have entered (but in the majority did not because of unbelief), and the third was a rest that David spoke of relating to the COI during his life, and all of these examples of rest are pictures for the recipients of this epistle – Jewish converts to Christianity first and readers of the Bible since.
(So speaking of the first rest, verse 4 says)
4 For he spake (in a certain place) of the seventh day on this wise, “And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.”
(Then speaking of the second rest, the COI in the wilderness, the writer says in 5 and 6):
5 And in this place again, “If they shall enter into my rest. 6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief,”
(Then speaking of the third dispensational rest, he says)
7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, “To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
Verses 7 and 8 is the writer calling attention to the fact that after 500 years (“so long a time”) since the COI actually entered the promised land had passed David was still speaking of a time when they were still to enter “rest.”
Meaning that the rest (or the final rest) for the COI was NOT entering into the promised land but that it was actually waiting them in the future.
The point is made clear in verse eight when the writer adds:
8 For if Jesus (that means Joshua, who lead them into the promised land) had given them rest, then (David) would not afterward have spoken of “another day.”
Now, the Syriac version of the Bible actually translates the name here in the King James that reads Jesus, to “Joshua the Son of Nun.”
And this is who the writer is referring to – Joshua, the son of Nun who lead the COI into the Promised land.
So while it would really be convenient to use the name Jesus here and believe it was speaking of our Lord (because in a number of ways we could make this work and in a number of ways it does work) the name ought to read Joshua the son of Nun.
Of course the reason “Jesus” is written here is because the Greek mode of writing Joshua is Ieasous, which translated into English is Jesus.
The object is to prove that Joshua did not give the people of God such a rest that they never spoke of entering into rest thereafter.
In other words we might read it this way:
“If Joshua the Son of Nun had given them a “complete and final rest . . .”
. . . “if, by his leading them into the promised land all had been done which God had contemplated by His promise . . . then “their rest” would not have been alluded to again in the years of David.”
Here’s the point:
Joshua certainly did give them a rest in the promised land (just as Jesus does give all who receive Him rest too upon entering into a relationship with Him) but this was not all which was intended for the COI by God (just like our earthly rest in Christ is not all that is intended for us) and it did not exclude the promise of another (more important) rest awaiting them (and us).
In stead of me saying it I’ll let the writer summarize it all in verse nine where he says:
9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
This is meat – where we talk about the mature Christian walk. Yes, we have entered into the promised land of Jesus and experienced a rest.
But there lies out before us a land we need to conquer – and land full of enemies and pagan peoples, a land where we daily decide if we are going to exhaust ourselves trying to beat them down by and through our flesh and will and ways . . . or through Him and His.
Here’s the deal – when we labor in Him, for Him, and by His means, it is NOT work. The work is done and therefore rest and peace abide.
This is the ultimate point the Holy Spirit is making through the writer. Verse ten helps us comprehend this point when it says:
10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
WOW. Let me read this again.
10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
The promise of rest was not only to those entering the Promised Land, nor the COI in the time of David, but to all believers of every generation.
And just as God entered “His own rest” after His “labor of creation” believers too (the people of God) enter our own rest“after our labors are complete (which apply to us in two distinct ways).
The first way is obvious, once we have completed the labors assigned to us by God, we too, will enter into His rest.
The end of earth life – the end of His creative work for us – results in our entering His rest on our own seventh day, our own perfect day of completion, our own Sabbath as it were.
But there is an application of what I believe is of far greater urgency to understand at the present.
Throughout all the passages of chapter three and four we (as noted) know there is a warning about “failing in faith” because to fail in faith assures we will not enter into His promised rest.
Rest is first mentioned in the second chapter of Genesis where it reads:
“And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.”
The application is that even after God was done with His labors He rested.
Now don’t take this wrong. God did not rest because He was tired or worn out. Understanding His rest is critical to our understanding ours while alive here on earth.
The idea of God resting was that He ceased to create. It was done.
There was nothing more to create so He stopped – He rested from the creation because there was nothing more to do.
It’s like a “rest” in music.
In verse 10 where we read:
10 For he that is entered into his rest,(that is you and I and all those who have come to faith) he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
How does this apply and what does this mean?
First of all, when we become Christians we are supposed to “cease from our own works.”
Ever think of this? As new creatures in Christ, all things become new. So our labors and work and efforts and exertions “ought to” . . . “can” also become something new, or better put, something that is NOT our own.
It doesn’t matter if you are a ditch digger or the CEO of a major corporation, we have ceased from our own labors, as God rested from His.
This is possible when we are laboring on behalf of Him and His will and not our own.
Get it?
In our former lives we worked to earn money to go out on Friday night, we labored to get notoriety, we worked to build up empires of gold.
As His we labor for Him, for His purposes and glory. And it takes the onus, and weight off us, and puts it in His hands.
Even if we are a slave to someone or servant, Paul says in Ephesians 6:5:
“Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;
6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;
7 With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:
8 Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.
He puts it more succinctly in Colossians
Colossians 3:22-24 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God:
23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.
But again, this is relative to physical labor and temporal employment.
The higher application is our getting to the point where we realize (or accept) that fact that our “spiritual or our religious stuff or OUR works for (or in the name of God) ought to also end – otherwise we again are not living in His rest.
But here’s the paradoxical gig – does work end once we are His? Not the work or labor He calls us to do.
This is key. Verse ten says:
10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
In other words, OUR WORKS are over. Done for. But NOT His.
See, when we enter into His rest (as believers while here on earth) we certainly ought cease from “our own works and labors” (which are always the product of fleshly faithlessness and always amount to weariness and pain and toil) just as the example is given that God rested from His.
Now think about this for a minute. The model we are given is God rested from His labors and so Christians ought to rest from theirs too.
If a person has truly entered into His rest, and we accept the fact that we are complete and a finished creation in Him, what would cause us to continue to do “our own works?”
I would suggest three (and there may be more).
First, I would suggest we resume or continue in our own labors because we lack faith.
I would suggest we continue to show off and please and impress Man,
And I would suggest we do not understand the finished work of Jesus Christ on our behalf.
AGAIN – listen now . . .
We are told we will enter into His rest over and over again.
What causes us to step from His rest?
We take up doing our own work and not His.
What are some main reasons we would take up doing our own labors again after we have received Him?
Faithlessness.
Trying to impress each other.
Failing to understand the finished work of Christ.
Got those in place?
Let’s talk about the first one – faithlessness.
What was God doing before He rested on the seventh day?
Creating the heavens and their hosts, and the earth, and the animals, and Man.
When the creation was complete “from the foundation of the world,” Genesis 2: 3 says:
“And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.”
After the creation, God rested.
The question for us is, “Do we believe that God completed (finished) His labors?
Extrapolating this out and applying it to our rebirth into Christian life, do we believe we are complete in Christ?
Look, until we accept that our new creation is complete, we will not rest. And we will continue to put our hand to the plow and look back.
We will continue to try and improve upon it, and reassure ourselves it is done and in place.
What does the new creation, the new creature look like?
Yes, it is in its infancy but it is complete.
Everything that we are physically is present at birth. Our entire DNA is in place.
So with our new man or woman – the promises made and fulfilled from the foundation of the world.
Only when we fail to see that we are COMPLETE IN HIM will we return to our own labors instead of pursuing God’s.
Do we labor as believers? By all means, look at verse 11 where it says:
“Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.”
But here’s the gig – the labor is in partnership with Him, by His Spirit, and by faith and the tools of spiritual labor, not physical.
This is the main point throughout all of Paul’s and James and Peter’s and John’s writings – we enter in, we die to self and the former life, and we then labor by faith in love – which if done by and through trusting in Him – is restful, and not arduous and tiring.
Get it?
So we have to remember that we are complete in Him, and there remains nothing for us to do.
But being complete in Him at rebirth does not mean we will not labor in partnership with His Spirit by faith NOR does being complete in Him mean we get ahead of Him in the labors he has for us to do with Him.
To get ahead of Him (because we know we are complete in Him) would be like laying a baby on a bench press and expecting it to lift.
All that is necessary for the baby to lift is present but maturity. But as we mature in Christ, we will discover that it is only failures to rest in Him, to walk by His spirit, that hinders the fullness present in our New Creation.
In other words, the more we can see that our creature is complete in Him, we can rest. Just like when God finished His creative work He rested.
The goal is not to become complete in Him – we are complete. The goal is to realize it, and then labor by this new identity.
Hear the Word – may it speak plainly to your souls:
Ephesians 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
Ephesians 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
1st Corinthians 14:20 Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.
Hebrews 5:12-13 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
13 For every one that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
You want to know when you are doing too much in your own strength?
When you are tired, irritable, and burned out. When you are critical of others – condemning.
So the first reason we fail to rest in Him, and return to our own works is a failure to believe or see or remember that we are, in fact complete in Him, and we can –by faith – relax and trust in His promises.
Okay.
Deep breath here.
As I read and re-read this chapter I could not for the life of me understand WHY the writer, who has been talking about rest, and labor and Sabbath rest (which is just a picture) suddenly launches into verses 12-16.
Now I know. And while they are some beautiful passages, and are used quite frequently by believers out of context (bust still effectively) their purpose here is mind-blowing!
Read them with me.
12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
13 Neither . . . is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
14 Seeing then . . . that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
If we had read from verse 1 to verse 16 and tried to comprehend what is being saif I am not sure we would have ever mined the contextual treasure these passages deliver.
You see, from chapter three up until verse 11 of chapter four, the writer has been talking about “rest,” and entering His rest – both immediately and the rest promised in the future.
And he has repeatedly warned us that it is faithlessness – unbelief – that keeps us from the immediate rest available and even the ultimate rest promised if unbelief abides.
We’ve also seen that in the course of a dedicated Christian walk, we will enter into rest continually, because for a number of reasons (stated and not) we choose, as believers, to step from who we are in Christ – completed new creations – and back into the works or labors of “our own.”
We asked, what are reasons a believer would re-embrace their own labors of toil instead of pursuing to work in the peaceful labors of God? And I proposed three – remember them?
Faithlessness.
Trying to impress each other (or Man).
Failing to truly understand the finished work of Christ on our behalf.
How did I come up with these three things?
First of all they make sense. But the credit lies with God because they are the reasons He gives . . . in verses 12, 13 and 14.
But, because the scripture is the living word, and needs to be mined for its deeper treasures, sometimes these things are not so apparent at first.
So let me make them so in conclusion.
The first reason we return to our own labors is faithlessness. And how does the word say faith is generated?
By hearing the Word, right?
So what does the Holy Spirit have the writer suddenly say? Verse 12
12 For . . . the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
In other words, if you are returning to your own labors and not His rest, your faith my be the reason. To increase faith, turn to the Word, for it is
. . . quick, and powerful, and sharper than any tw o-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The second reason believers will return and do their own works we suggested was to please and impress men.
Read verse 13 which too, seems to come out of the blue:
13 Neither . . . is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
In other words, put a check on your motives (especially if they are to be seen of Man) because God sees us clearly, and any labor we undertake of our own is clearly understood by Him.
Finally, we suggested that a third reason men and women will engage in their own efforts and work, was they have lost, or forgotten, or never understood the finished work of Christ done on their behalf. (verse 14)
14 Seeing then . . . that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
Isn’t He and His word amazing!
And teeing off on this description of who Christ is to us as our high priest, the author concludes with:
15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Praise God, Praise God, Praise God.
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