Good morning, church.
It's good to see you this morning.
So we're going to continue our series in Hebrews this morning,
looking at Hebrews chapter 4, verses 1 through 11.
That's page 1002 in your pew Bible, if you want to turn there.
If you don't own a Bible, I'm giving you permission to steal that one.
Go ahead, take it home with you.
I'm telling you to break one of the Ten Commandments.
Just take it away.
No, I'm just kidding.
So page 1002.
There we go.
Hey, I'm on.
All right.
Good.
Hebrews 4, 1 through 11.
Let me read this for us.
The writer to Hebrews says,
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 my 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.
Let's pray together.
God,
we thank you that your word is living and active,
and that it uncovers the deep recesses of our hearts that need to be exposed,
and brought into the light of your healing and sovereign grace.
God,
we pray this morning that your Holy Spirit would do his work in our hearts through your word,
to draw us nearer to Christ,
or nearer to our hope,
and to the source of our joy in him.
Lord,
we ask all this in Christ's name.
Amen.
So,
one of the fun things about overseeing our youth ministry here at Trinity,
is not that,
not just that we get to go on fun retreats like we did last weekend,
but I get to read all these great articles about adolescent culture.
And a survey was conducted not so long ago of high school students,
and they were asked what their biggest problems were,
or what did they see as their greatest challenges,
what were the things that they were really struggling with and dealing with.
And I was really surprised by what was at the top of that list.
It wasn't loneliness,
or fitting in with their peers,
and it wasn't family problems,
even though massive numbers of adolescents today are coming from broken homes.
It wasn't dating or relationships,
even though that seems to be what's on every high schooler's mind.
That wasn't the thing that was their biggest problem as they saw it.
The number one issue or problem that they identified
was stress.
Stress.
Isn't that interesting?
And of course,
that's not just true of high school students, right?
We live in a culture of deep,
deep unrest.
We're busy.
We're overworked.
I mean, come on.
When you ask someone how they're doing,
what is the first thing that they say?
How was your week?
It's busy.
Right?
I'm guilty of doing that.
What gives?
Right?
I mean,
the 40-hour work week is like a dinosaur relic
that we go look at in the Peabody.
Nobody works 40 hours anymore.
We're deeply,
deeply restless people.
And you know what's crazy about that?
What's crazy about that is that we live in a society
where for the most part,
everything that we need is at our fingertips.
Right?
Like at no other point in human history,
we who live in the West have unprecedented resources
at our command to meet our physical
and our emotional and our cultural needs.
Right?
I mean,
don't we have access to basic physical necessities
like never before?
Food,
clothing,
shelter.
And don't we have,
through technology,
fabulous resources to connect us relationally
with people here and all around the world?
And can't we participate
and enjoy cultural productions
like music and art and theater
like we never have been able to in the past?
It's all at our fingertips.
And yet,
despite all of that,
despite having everything,
we still live lives
that are deeply,
deeply unrestful.
Which ought to point us to the fact
that there's something much deeper going on.
Right?
If none of these things can sort of give us
the rest that we need,
then it must point us to the fact
that we've lost something.
We've lost something
that we can't seem to find
and is producing in us
this deep,
deep unrest.
So when we come to our passage this morning,
we're coming to a text
that I think you and I desperately need.
Because this text is all about what?
Entering into God's rest.
It's a phrase that's repeated
over and over and over again.
And in verse 1,
it just announces it.
The promise of entering
God's rest
still stands.
Now, if you're here last week,
you'll remember that
in this section of Hebrews,
in 3 and 4,
the writer to Hebrews
is unpacking for us
Psalm 95.
He's kind of giving us
a little sermon
within the sermon here.
And last week,
we saw that this portion
of Psalm 95 that he's unpacking
carries this explicit warning
against hard-heartedness
and unbelief.
You can go listen
to Greg's sermon online
if you missed it.
But now,
in chapter 4,
he's turning a corner.
And he's saying that
Psalm 95 isn't just
this explicit warning
against hard-heartedness,
but it's an implied promise.
There's an implied promise.
That entering God's rest
still stands.
Now, all commentators
will agree,
it was sort of funny
as I was reading
through the commentators
this week,
that these 11 verses
are some of the most
kind of logically
and exegetically challenging
of the whole book.
You know, sometimes
as we move from verse to verse,
maybe you thought this
as you're reading,
you're like,
wow, how many non-sequiturs
could there be
in a single passage
of Scripture, right?
Those who believe
enter the rest.
As he said,
they shall not enter my rest.
What?
What's going on there, right?
It's kind of like
we're sort of in the race car
with him
and we're moving
at 200 miles an hour
and then he takes a turn
and we sort of hit our head
against the, you know,
the window.
Which doesn't mean
that Scripture's,
you know,
wrong
or fallacious,
you know.
It just means
we have to slow down.
We have to pay attention.
Because if we keep our sights
on the main thrust
of this passage
of entering
God's rest,
I think what we see
as we move through it
that he's unpacking
this promise for us
in at least four ways.
And here are the four ways
that he impacts it,
I think.
First, he's going to tell us
who enters,
who enters the rest,
and then he's going to tell us
what we're entering.
What are we entering
when we enter God's rest?
And then he's going to tell us
how we enter,
and then he's going to conclude
by saying,
what do we do about it?
Make sense?
Who?
What?
How?
And what do we do about it?
So first,
who enters?
So it's clear from verses
one and two
in the first half of three,
that it's those who believe,
right?
Those who have faith,
those who hear with faith,
they're the ones
who enter into God's rest.
We see that word again and again
in these first few verses.
Faith and belief
in two and three,
they're the same root word,
both meaning to trust.
And that sort of tricky quote
at the end of verse three,
I think what he's saying there
is that if those who didn't believe
will not enter God's rest,
then it's implied
that those who do believe will.
You see,
there's the implied promise.
And then he uses this example
of the wilderness generation
to bring something very important
before our eyes.
He brings forth
the wilderness generation
to show
that it's not merely those
who hear the good news
who enter in,
but it's those
who respond in faith.
It's those who actually believe it
and put their trust in it.
Now think about that.
The wilderness generation
under Moses
saw God's saving power
in Egypt
and at the Red Sea.
They saw God
part a sea
so they could walk through it.
And at Sinai,
they heard God's voice
booming
and promising
that he would be their God
and he would lead them
into the promised land.
But sadly,
that message,
what they saw
and what they heard
did them no good.
It didn't benefit them.
Why?
Because they didn't
receive it
with faith.
Or more exactly,
the way he puts it here,
they weren't united
by faith
with those who actually
did listen
and believe
and trust in it.
And that means
you can be sitting here
right now
and you can have
come to church
your whole life
and hear the message
about Christ
and the good news
of entering God's rest
and you can intellectually
know that message
forward and backward
and you can listen
to the preaching
and you can see it
displayed in the ordinances
and baptism
and the Lord's Supper
and you can have even
partaken of those things.
And for all that,
you can still not be
among those
who actually enter in.
You can still not be united
with those
who truly listen.
Because it's not merely
hearing that gets you in,
it's believing.
Do you know the difference
between hearing
and trusting?
It's pretty simple.
I mean, we know it every,
we see it every day,
don't we?
I mean, it's like
the difference between
hearing
that if you go down
to the station,
hearing, there's a train
that will take you
from New Haven
to New York City.
There's one there.
They leave like every 15 minutes.
And you can hear that
and you can hear that
and you can hear that.
But the difference is
is that actually trusting it
is getting on one
of those trains
and letting it take you
to the city.
Now, if we step back
a moment,
you know,
this is why
this sort of difference,
this is why some of you
may have encountered
some very upright,
morally respectable people,
very religious people,
who are very
and truly
just unrestful.
In fact,
maybe it's you this morning.
Maybe you're
keeping all the rules
and you're showing up
to church
and you're working
at being a very good person
and you know
the Christian lingo,
but deep inside,
there is no
rest.
And maybe you've been
at this for a long time.
And maybe you've convinced
yourself that that's all
there is to Christianity,
just a sort of laboring.
And you've been lulled
to sleep.
And yet there's a restlessness
that still troubles you
deep in your soul
and it's telling you
that there's something more.
Or maybe you're,
maybe you're pretty new
to Christianity.
Maybe you're still exploring it.
Maybe you're trying it out.
Maybe you're just getting a start.
And maybe you've been
going at it
and honestly,
you're just getting close
to giving up
and moving on.
Because it doesn't seem to work.
You're trying this religious thing
and it's not working.
And you're starting to realize
that the rest
that your soul longs for
isn't just found
in the moral
or religious routine
that you think
stands at the center
of Christianity.
This morning,
we need to hear
that it's not those
who work,
but it's those who trust
that truly enter in.
But you know,
this first point
about who are the ones
who enter in,
it really speaks
to those who are,
those of us
who are overly casual
and familiar
with the Christian message.
For those of us
who have maybe heard it
time and again,
but still hold it
at arm's length.
Those of us
who might be hearing,
but not really believing
and not really trusting.
And because of that,
did you notice
in these first three verses?
Because of that,
because it's not just
those who hear,
but those who actually
trust with their hearts.
Because of that fact,
he says,
fear.
Now you realize
that there's a good
and right kind of fear.
Don't you?
Not all fear
is bad fear.
How many of you
saw the movie
Life of Pi
last year?
Anybody see that?
Yeah.
Oh, wow.
A lot of you.
Do you remember the scene
where sort of
the young Pi
sneaks into his father's zoo
and he wants to sort of
connect on a deep
spiritual level
with the tiger?
Remember that scene?
Am I the only one
who remembers that scene?
Okay, I'm going to tell it
to you then.
He sort of sneaks
into the zoo
and he wants to sort of
have this,
he wants to look
into the eyes
of the tiger
and I don't remember
if he wants to feed him
something or just pet him.
But you know,
just as he's about
to hold up his hand
to the bars,
his father races in
and scolds him
and stops him
and says,
what are you doing?
Don't you realize
what you're playing
with here?
And then he proves
the point, right?
He takes a goat
and he puts a goat
in front of the cage
and the tiger
just rips it
through the bars.
Friends, you see,
there's a right kind
of fear.
The author of Hebrews
is telling us
that there is
an earnestness.
There is a sobriety
and a seriousness,
a right and reverent
kind of fear
that ought to attend
what we're doing
on Sundays
and what we're doing
throughout our lives
with respect
to the gospel.
We are often
much, much
too casual
and flippant
about these things.
Don't you see,
there's a rest
that we are able
to enter,
but a casual
attitude,
a comfort
with just hearing
the message
and let it wash
over us
could devour
our hopes
of entering in.
So how about it,
friends?
Are you serious
this morning?
Or are we just
playing games?
Because it's not
merely those who hear
but those who believe,
those who trust.
rest.
Now there's this first
way of unpacking
this promise
of the rest.
Second,
what are we actually
entering?
What's the nature
of this rest
that is open to us?
Now,
to unpack
this part of the promise,
the author of Hebrews
is going to engage
in a little bit
of what we would call
today,
biblical theology.
Now here's what
I mean by that
and hang with me
on this because
you'll find it interesting.
You know,
think about two
related ways
of understanding
God's revelation.
Two ways of doing
theology, if you will,
that go hand in hand,
right?
Roughly speaking,
there's systematic
theology on this hand
and what that does
is it sort of takes
a topic like God
or sin or humanity
or creation
and it goes
through Scripture
and it arranges
what God has revealed
about that
in a very logical
fashion.
It moves through
Scripture and says
here's all we know
about God and creation
and sin,
et cetera,
et cetera.
But what we call
biblical theology
on this hand
is more concerned
with how certain
themes develop
along the course
of Scripture.
For example,
biblical theology
would ask
how does the theme
of the temple
develop along
the history
of Revelation?
How does the theme
of kingdom
and the king
develop and progress
through Scripture
as we go along
the sort of history
line of Scripture?
Now both of these
ways of doing theology
are biblical
in the sense
that they're concerned
with what God
says in the Bible
but systematic theology
does it in logical
categories,
biblical theology
does it in sort
of a historical
progression.
Now,
that little nugget
helps you to see
what Hebrews
is up to
in the rest
of this passage
starting at the end
of verse 3.
Verse 95
is talking about
my rest,
right?
But when we start
to look at the theme
of God's rest
as it develops
along the course
of the whole Bible,
we realize that
rest is something
that's even bigger
and more stunning
than we could have
ever originally thought.
And verses 3-5
begin by taking us
back to Genesis 2-2.
Remember that
after the six creation
days described
in Genesis chapter 1,
we come to Genesis 2,
right?
And there's a seventh day.
And on that day,
God rests.
And here's what it says
in Genesis 2.
Thus, the heavens
and the earth
were finished
and all the hosts
of them.
And on the seventh day,
God finished his work
that he had done
and he rested
on the seventh day
from all his work
that he had done.
So God blessed
the seventh day
and made it holy
because on it,
God rested
from all his work
that he had done
in creation.
Now,
God doesn't rest
on the seventh day
of creation
because he's tired
and he needs a break,
right?
That's not what's going on.
And God's resting
doesn't mean
that he isn't
intimately involved
in caring for
and ruling over
his creation.
But the seventh day
is God's way
of showing
that his creation
is complete
and whole
and good.
It's like a composer
who steps back
from her score
once the last part
and the last note
is written in
because she knows
it's complete
and ready to be performed
in all of its beauty.
It's done.
And that's what
the seventh day
is like.
God steps back
and is ready
for his full symphony
to begin.
And you'll remember
that the first
six creation days
all came to an end,
right?
There was morning
and there was evening
and they came to an end.
But the seventh day
doesn't end
and it keeps going.
You see,
God's rest
is an eternal reality
instituted
in creation itself.
And it's the thing
that humanity,
remember,
created at the pinnacle
of the sixth day
what we were created
to enjoy.
You see,
human beings,
you and I,
were made in God's image
to bear his glory
in creation
and we were made
to work
and to love
and to create
and to cultivate
the earth
all in light
of God's rest
on the seventh day,
all in light
of his enjoyment
of standing
before his creation
and saying
that it's good
and perfect
and whole.
Now,
flash forward
in the biblical storyline
to the history
of Israel.
This is where
the writer of Hebrews
wants to take us.
After delivering them
from slavery in Egypt,
God promises
to bring his people
into the promised land
where they would
worship God
and have abundance
and be free
from their enemies
and Deuteronomy
again and again
and again
calls it
a place of rest.
And though the first
generation failed
to enter,
the next generation
under Joshua does.
And that's what
the first half
of verse 8
in Hebrews 4
is alluding to.
Occupying the land
under Joshua,
the land of rest.
And of course,
it's not just the land,
right?
God didn't just give
Israel the land,
but he gave them
the Sabbath day.
And as you know,
this was an ordinance
in Israel
that every seventh day
would be a day of rest
and not just a day
of stopping from work,
but a day of celebration
and joy.
The Sabbath
as originally intended
was a great gift,
rich with meaning.
In Exodus 20,
the Sabbath
is connected
to God's rest
and enjoyment
and creation.
And in Deuteronomy 5,
it's connected
to enjoying
and resting
in God's great work
of redemption.
So here's where
he brings us.
As the story unfolds,
as we follow
this theme of rest
along the course
of Scripture,
we have God's people
now celebrating
a day of rest
in a land of rest.
But,
and here's where
things get interesting,
there's more.
Now we go to
Psalm 95,
written in the time
of David,
hundreds of years
after Joshua.
They've been in the land
for hundreds of years,
they've been celebrating
the Sabbath,
or supposed to have been
celebrating the Sabbath
for hundreds of years.
They're under a king,
the best king that Israel
ever saw
or probably would see.
And David's talking
about entering
God's rest.
As if to say
that the real rest
is still
in front of them.
You see what that means?
It means that the day,
the Sabbath day,
and the land,
that wasn't really
what the rest
was all about.
Otherwise,
God through David
wouldn't have spoken
of another day,
right?
That day
and that land
must have been
part of a promise,
a signpost,
a type,
a picture,
pointing ahead
to something greater.
Or to use the metaphor
we used a little earlier,
the day,
the Sabbath day,
and the land,
they were part
of a melody line
that the great composer
was beginning
to rewrite
into his fallen creation
to remind us
of what we'd lost,
and to point us
ahead
to what God
would one day accomplish
once and for all.
Otherwise,
reasons the author
of Hebrews,
why would David
be speaking
of another day
so long afterward?
And in verses
9 through 10,
Hebrews puts
all the pieces together
and he says,
so then,
there remains
a Sabbath rest
for the people
of God.
In other words,
there is a future,
a festival joy
that is coming
for those who believe.
And God wanted us
to know that
and believe that
so deeply
that into the very
warp and woof
of redemptive history,
he put these
unmistakable signposts
for us to see,
these unmistakable
melody lines
for us to hear
that would draw
our hearts back
to creation
and forward
into the consummation,
into the completion.
Back to the seventh
day of creation
when humanity
enjoyed the presence
of God
and his rest
and forward
into the new creation
where the real
Sabbath celebration
would be realized
in all of its fullness.
Do you see?
Do you see what he's weaving here?
Do you see how he's reading Scripture?
The promised land
was just a melody line.
The Sabbath day
was just a melody line,
a signpost,
a sketch
of the eternal
festival joy
that God holds out
for those who believe.
The joy of his presence,
the rest of God's presence.
And don't you see
that's finally
what our hearts
need and long for.
If it wasn't the land
and wasn't the day,
then friends,
surely it's not
a bigger paycheck
and it's not
a larger house
and it's not
a more exotic
vacation spot
that's going to
give you rest
and it's not
more obedient kids
and it's not
a more loving spouse.
Friends,
none of those things
will bring you
the rest
that you need
because you can have
all those things
and be terribly tired
and troubled
and even tormented.
What you long for
is the rest
of God's festival joy.
Think about it.
Why do we bounce
from one thing to another?
Why do we bounce
from one relationship
to another?
From one hobby
to another?
Why do we work
like mad
even though we know
that we can't sustain it
and it's not good for us?
Why are we so stressed
and we see it
and yet we can't
step back
and take a break?
Could it be
that our hearts
are trying to create
some kind of
permanent rest
where it just
can't be found?
We're trying to find
or even create
through our own efforts
the place
where our souls
can rest
and be at home
but it never works
and it always
slips through our fingers.
The money's not enough
and the kids aren't enough
and the spouse
isn't enough.
Because there's a deeper
thing going on
and God
in his mercy
and his love for you
has been writing it
into history
for you to see
with a promised land
and a Sabbath day
and all those little
glimpses of rest
that God gives you
from time to time
that are so sweet
but so fleeting
pieces of music
that the divine composer
has been writing
into history
and into your life
bars of the symphony
that we lost
but towards which
God is taking
those who believe.
Augustine famously
wrote at the beginning
of his confessions
you've made us
for yourself
and our heart
is restless
until it rests in you.
So then there remains
a Sabbath rest
for the people
of God.
Yeah?
Now as we've seen
Hebrews
is the great book
of perseverance.
And don't you see
if this is what
is out ahead of us
if what we are
entering into
is the festival joy
that God created us
to have.
What wouldn't you
be able to face
now
for his sake?
Beth and I love
to do pre-marriage
counseling with couples
and one thing
we've learned
as we've done this
again and again
is that it's amazing
what couples
will face
in light of
the coming festival joy
of their wedding day.
They will face
pressure from family
and financial stresses
and sleepless nights
and long hours
making completely
tedious decisions.
What color
should we pick?
Right?
They will endure
days apart.
They will endure
unfulfilled longings
because it's all worth it
when the music starts
and the bride walks
down the aisle
and they enter
into their union
and the reception
the party begins.
But doesn't that
doesn't that day
pale in comparison
to what God
has in store
for those who believe?
Couples plan a wedding
for what?
Six?
Okay, that's kind of short.
That's how Beth and I
did it.
Six months,
twelve months
maybe you take
to plan a wedding
celebration.
God has been planning
his festival joy
for you
from the beginning
of creation
ever since
the seventh day.
And even more
than that,
Hebrews 13
talks about
an eternal
covenant.
Friends,
if human beings
can throw a pretty
great party
in six months,
just imagine
what God
has in store
for you
from all
eternity.
if you knew
that was out
ahead of you,
wouldn't you be able
to face another
year of singleness
without chucking
your trust in Christ?
If you knew
that that
is what God
had in store
for you,
couldn't you face
another round
of job searching
without doubting
God's love for you?
wouldn't you be able
to face the fears
of retirement
and growing old
if you knew
that that's what
was to come?
Friends,
couldn't you even
face death itself
if you knew
that there was
a Sabbath rest
for the people
of God?
Friends,
hold on to that
hope and you
can face anything
with courage
and with joy
and with rest.
I promise you.
But third,
how do we enter?
How do we get in?
Because you know
this theme of rest,
it goes even deeper
than we've been
touching on.
Because when you
think about it,
rest always comes
at a cost,
doesn't it?
When humanity fell
and we lost
our true rest
in God's presence
as a result,
our work being
filled with toil
and sweat
and our relationships
were fraught
with conflict
and our identity
becomes restless
with guilt and shame
and ever since then,
any rest that we get
in this life
comes at a cost.
Think about it
at the most mundane level.
You want to take
a rest from work
and either you have
to work ahead
before you take
that rest
and pay the cost
on the front end
or you've got
to play catch up
when you get back,
right?
Then the cost
you have to pay
for a week's vacation
is the mountain
of email
that's waiting for you
when you get back
in the office.
3,000 new messages
in my inbox,
how is that even possible?
Of course,
it's pretty easy
to pay that cost,
right?
You just hit
the delete button
hoping you miss
the important ones.
Done.
Cost-borne.
But think more deeply
than that.
What's the cost
of getting rest
in a relationship?
Especially relationships
where we've hurt
one another.
It's a deep cost,
isn't it?
Sometimes it's
the cost of tears.
most certainly
the cost of forgiveness,
the cost of long,
hard talks
late into the night,
the cost of time
to rebuild the trust.
And that's a cost
that's much,
much harder to pay.
So it makes sense,
doesn't it?
When the gospel
tells us that
our rest with God
comes at an infinite cost.
rest.
We read earlier
the words of Jesus
from Matthew 11, 28.
Come to me,
all who labor
and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.
Jesus says,
I'm the true rest giver.
That deep
and lasting rest
that you were created
to enjoy,
that was lost
through the fall,
it's in me.
The rest that was written
into the history
of redemption
and that I've been speaking
into your life,
it all comes together
in me,
Jesus says.
Come to me
and I'll give you rest.
And how is that so?
How does he grant it?
How does he pay the cost?
It's through the cross.
At the cross,
the source of our deepest
and most troubling unrest,
the unrest of being sinners
before a holy and just God.
At the cross,
those sins are paid for
and taken away
and in their place
were given the true rest
of forgiveness
and eternal life.
You see,
like verse 8 says,
Joshua couldn't give
the people rest.
Because even in the land
and even celebrating
the Sabbath
and even with all our gadgets
and gizmos today,
we still have to contend
with our sin.
But he's telling us
that the true
and better Joshua
has come.
Jesus Christ.
That's how we enter
into the rest.
Through the person of Jesus.
He's the one we trust.
It's not just a
general belief
in something,
it's a trust in him.
That he's our rest
and he'll take our sin
and he'll give us
his righteousness
so we can finally
know rest.
So lastly,
what do we do
about all this?
What do we do?
What do we do
in light of this?
Well,
the passage ends
somewhat paradoxically,
doesn't it?
Verse 11,
here's what the author says.
Strive.
Wait a second.
There's a whole paragraph
about rest
and now you're telling us
to strive?
That doesn't seem
like the right conclusion.
What does he mean?
Of course,
as we just saw,
he can't mean
that now somehow
we have to earn our way
into the rest.
We have to keep our noses clean
so God will accept us.
We enter always
and only
through believing
the good news
of Jesus Christ,
through faith
in what Christ
has done for us.
So,
this exhortation
to strive
doesn't throw us back
on some sort of form
of works righteousness.
Rather,
here's what he must mean.
He must mean
this,
that if we enter
God's rest
through faith in Christ,
then this exhortation
to strive
must mean
that we should make
every effort
to keep the fires
of our faith in Christ
burning bright.
That's how we strive.
Not at works,
not at moral performance,
but keeping the fire
of faith
burning bright.
And that matches
what he goes on to say
in the rest of the verse.
So that no one
may fall
by the same sort
of disobedience.
What's that sort
of disobedience?
He's referring back
to the wilderness generation.
Look at the end
of chapter 3.
What was their type
of disobedience?
It was unbelief.
Not believing
what they heard.
Which just confirms
that the striving,
verse 11,
calls us to,
is a striving
to keep our faith
in Christ awakened
and alive.
Now,
this doesn't mean
that the author
of Hebrews thinks
or is afraid
that genuine Christians
can lose their salvation.
So you better keep believing
or else you're going
to fall away.
But he does mean
two things.
First,
a genuine saving faith
is persevering faith.
Hmm?
A faith that doesn't
persevere
wasn't saving faith
to begin with.
But,
when you really come
to know the rest
that we have in Christ,
it breaks in
and you want to
strive after it
more and more
and make it more
and more your center.
Second,
when we make
every effort
to keep the fires
of our faith
in Christ burning bright,
it has an effect
on the people around us.
You can read
verse 11 this way,
can't you?
You,
strive to enter
that rest.
You,
keep your faith
in Christ burning bright
so that others
might not fall
by unbelief.
So,
not only is saving faith
persevering faith,
but persevering faith
is a means
of bringing others
to believe.
As we set our eyes
on the great
festival joy
that Christ
has purchased for us,
as we allow
his everlasting rest
that we have in him
to be our all-consuming passion,
others will start
to catch that vision
and the hope
will become
infectious.
So,
as we,
as we strive
to keep our faith
in Christ
passionate
and hot
through,
through reading
and through prayer,
through,
through giving
sacrificially,
through fellowship
with one another,
right?
Through creative witness
to our neighbors,
through,
through heartfelt worship,
through acts of mercy
and justice
and love,
when hope
fuels all these things,
when we gladly strive
to keep our faith
in Christ rich
and alive,
when others see
that in us,
God uses it
as a means
to turn mere
hearers of the gospel
into genuine
believers
in the gospel.
So, friends,
what are you striving
after this morning?
Are you striving
after mere
temporary
rest?
Are you putting
all your energies
into a rest
that's only going
to last
for a week
or two
over the summer?
Are you putting
all your energies
into a rest
that's only going
to last
for a handful
of years
when you retire?
Are you striving
for the rest
that truly lasts?
The rest
of God's
festival joy
that He's
purchased for us
through the work
of Christ?
Friends,
that's the only
striving
that will bring
you peace.
Let's pray.
Father, this morning,
Father, we want
to pray for
those who are
in our midst
who are experiencing
this deep restlessness.
Lord, you know
their hearts.
God, we ask
on behalf
of those
that they would
come either
for the first
time
to put their
trust in you,
Lord Jesus,
or they would
come to realize
what they have
in you for the
first time.
Lord, we pray
that we would
become a people
who so grasp
and know
and look forward
to that coming
festival joy
that you've
purchased for us,
Christ,
that our lives
would be marked
by a deep
and abiding joy
and peace
and endurance,
God.
Lord, many of us
this morning
are facing
hardships
and troubles
and trials.
Lord,
and we're tempted
to doubt you,
and we're tempted
to have our
faith waver.
Lord, we pray
for those
that in light
of all that you
are doing in us
and you have
prepared for us,
Lord, that we
would be able
to hold on
with courage
and joy
and fearlessness.
Lord, we ask
all this in Christ's
name.
Amen.