Entering God's Rest (Hebrews 4:1–13) with Pastor Andrew Courtis

What a wonderful reminder.

Boys and girls, and the big people too in the room.

We can always run to Jesus.

He's strong and kind.

Remember those words at all times.

It's an absolute delight to be back with you.

I do bring some greetings from some of the pastoral staff at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California.

Our friend Dr.

Joel Beakey and Mary bring greetings to Emmanuel Baptist Church as well, and they very much look forward to visiting again next year with a Puritan conference and with a strong desire to bring some of their friends to come and speak here as well.

And so it's a joy to bring those greetings, but I have to say the best thing in the world is being back at Emmanuel Baptist Church with this dear church family.

So thank you for your prayers.

Turn with me this morning in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter four, and our reading this morning will be from verses one through to thirteen.

We'll see how we go in how much of this is covered today, but what doesn't get covered with detail we may pick up in another time.

But let us begin with the reading of God's Word.

Hebrews four, beginning in verse one.

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

For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them, but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.

For we who have believed do enter that rest, as he has said.

So I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

For he has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way, and God rested on the seventh day from all his works, and again in this place they shall not enter my rest.

Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience.

Again he designates a certain day, saying in David, Today, after such a long time as it has been said, Today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.

For if Joshua had given them rest, then he would not afterward have spoken of another day.

There remains therefore a rest for the people of God, for he who has entered his rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from his.

Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest any fall according to the same example of disobedience, for the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

And there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

That is the reading of God's holy word.

Let us pray.

Our gracious and almighty God, I thank you for this service today.

We thank you for holy scripture that has been read.

I pray that we would be able to embrace the message that you have declared for us.

May we submit to the Lordship of Christ in all of life.

Give us the understanding we need and give us the comfort and refreshment that our souls desperately need.

And I do pray this in our dear Savior's name.

Amen.

I do wonder, is anyone here this morning tired?

Does anyone need rest?

Some of you go, Of course I'm tired, of course I need rest.

Some of you thought I managed to forget about it, but now you've reminded me how tired I am.

Well, I'm not here this morning to weary you anymore.

I don't want to burden you with anything that's going to already weigh you down as tired and as weary as you may feel.

But tiredness is a real thing, isn't it?

There's no surprise that we are in a culture wired for restlessness.

Studies have been done that people today are sleeping one to two hours less than people were 60 years ago.

And in this lack of sleep we have all sorts of culprits for it: artificial lighting, devices, social media, but also routines that are just completely different to how life was a long time ago.

And with this lack of sleep that we're getting, we've actually got a whole lot more problems that didn't seem to be there as much before.

There is actually more anxiety, there are more accidents, there is more depression, and there is other fatal outcomes from this lack of rest.

Stress levels are going through the roof.

But as horrible as this physical tiredness is, and it's real, it's a reminder that we do need rest.

One of the reasons we neglect rest is not just due to all those culprits, but one of the big reasons is we think we're in control.

But sleep has a way of reminding us something that is actually so profound.

Sleep is a great reminder.

You do not run the universe.

You are not in control.

And when we actually sleep, in addition to replenishing ourselves physically, in addition to getting the rest that we most desperately need in our bodies, we're actually quietly acknowledging the fact that while we rest and do nothing, God continues to govern the universe the way that he always has.

He doesn't need us to be awake in order to accomplish his purposes.

But I'm not here this morning to give you tips on how to have a good night's sleep, and I am really sorry if I've disappointed you.

There are good uh respiratory physicians, I'm sure you could speak to, and breathing specialists who could help you, but that's not my task today.

I actually want to talk about a restlessness that's far worse, a sleeplessness that's far worse, a lack of rest that is far worse than anything physical, and it's a spiritual one.

I think we have people here today who are spiritually tired.

And the worst kind of restlessness in this world is not a physical one, it is a spiritual restlessness.

And this is the worst kind of tiredness because to miss out on the ultimate spiritual rest is to miss out on the greatest gift anyone could ever receive.

And that's what I want to talk to you about today.

Now, this morning we're going to be looking at Hebrews chapter 4, verses 1 through to 13.

Hebrews 4:1

But you need to remember that Hebrews 4, 1 to 13 is a part of a broader section of scripture.

It began in chapter 3 and verse 7.

And what happened in chapter 3 and verse 7 is the writer reminds us of a terrible experience the children of Israel had in the Old Testament.

He quotes from Psalm 95, verses 7 to 11, and quoting that there in Hebrews 3, verses 7 to 11, using this past example as a reminder tells us that there was this entire generation of Jewish people who were under severe tyranny, who were under exhausting labor in Egypt, were delivered and released from Egypt through Moses by the mighty hand of God.

Psalms 95:7–11 Hebrews 3:7–11

They went into the wilderness, and in the wilderness they tasted of the heavenly manner.

They experienced the enlightening work of God.

They saw the power of the Spirit.

They experienced the blessings of the covenants and the promises.

Yet the people were not grateful to the Lord.

They had hardened hearts and ultimately did not believe God.

And as a result of their lack of true faith, all they had it on the outside, but on the inside it was missing, they were not allowed to enter the rest, the rest that would be experienced in the land of Canaan.

And to think that an entire generation, with the exception of two men, Joshua and Caleb, were refused entry into the land of Canaan.

And the writer to Hebrews, back in chapter three, gives this to us as a warning, lest any of us miss out on the rest because of a hard heart.

A heart that refuses to submit to the Lord, believe in him, and take hold of his promises and trust him.

Well, the passage that we're going to look at today continues this theme.

The emphasis of chapter 3, verses 7 to 13 is primarily a warning.

The warning continues, but we move more positively in chapter 4, verses 1 to 13, because what happens in these verses is we're reminded that the opportunity to enter that rest is still available today.

It is yours for the taking.

It is yours to receive.

You who are heavy laden, you who are weary, you who are tired, you who are feeling the frustrations of this sinful world can find release and refreshment.

There is a rest that is yours, and it's a rest that you can experience now, but it's a rest that will find its ultimate experience in the age to come.

That is the rest that I want to talk to you about today.

The title of my message from Hebrews 4 1 to 13 is Enter his Rest.

And if you were to reread these 13 verses, you will note the repetition of that word rest.

You can't unsee it.

It's all over the passage.

So this passage is clearly about rest.

But there's also something else that is found in this passage.

It's the repetition of the word today.

And the word today is indicating an opportunity, an urgency that must be received now.

But the idea in this passage is the moment will disappear.

The opportunity will soon close.

It will be removed from you.

So the call of this passage is enter the rest.

But there will be a time where it's too late.

And it would be so unkind of me to just assume that everyone here has already entered into that rest, that everyone here has certainty and assurance that they have received the comfort and the encouragement and the blessing and the satisfaction of receiving rest for their souls now and for all eternity.

Is there anyone here today who is not entered into this rest?

I want you to know that there is still opportunity for you to enter a rest that will endure for eternity, a rest that will genuinely satisfy like nothing else in this world.

It is better than a good night's sleep.

It is something that will last.

It is something that will give you the ultimate satisfaction.

And it is available.

But don't harden your heart.

Do not be like the children of Israel, because a time will come when the Lord will say, I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest.

I plead with you today.

Search your heart.

Ask yourself honestly before the Lord, have I entered this rest?

That's my plea with you today.

And if you have entered that rest, I want you to know about it.

I want you to be refreshed by it.

I want you to hold, have it hold on to you and give you the encouragement that you need in this weary world.

For the times that we live in will weigh us down.

The struggles that you and I do carry on the inside will burden us.

Tragedies and trials will befall us.

They can cause us to grow depressed, despondent, and even greatly disappointed.

And as we all go through this weary wilderness of this world, we must not lose sight of the rest that is ours now, but ultimately of the rest that is to come.

Weary Saint, are you ready to receive the comfort that is yours for the taking?

Well, it's found in this passage, and my earnest prayer today is that the Spirit of God will refresh you and satisfy you in all the ways that only He can.

And I want you to know, dear child of God, whatever you're going through today, whatever is creating in you uncertainty, anxiety, fear, stress, or even an outburst of anger because of what's going on in your life.

There is rest for you to experience.

So may the Lord help us in this today.

Well, I want to give you a roadmap to the journey of rest.

Just as the children of Israel were on a journey in the wilderness, we are also on a journey in the world's wilderness today.

It's a spiritual wilderness, isn't it?

We live in a dry and thirsty land.

And as a result of the conditions of living in this world, both due to the difficulties that beat upon us, the trials that arise in our circumstances, but also the internal difficulties that you and I bring with us wherever we go.

We can move locations, we can get a new set of friends, we can do all sorts of things, but we still bring all these things with us.

We're on a journey in a weary wilderness, this world, a world that is plagued by the curse.

We need a roadmap.

And that roadmap is found in Hebrews 4, 1 to 13, as it calls for us to enter.

Enter the rest.

And some people, when they read this passage, I think go in two extremes.

I've read some people who, when they teach Hebrews 4, give us the idea that the rest that the author is talking about is a rest that's exclusively experienced now.

But there are others, on the other hand, say, no, no, no, the rest in Hebrews 4 is exclusively about the future rest that we have in eternity.

Now I don't want to make those two views enemies, but what I want to say is they're both right.

And what we have in this passage is a promise of rest that is already, but not yet.

It's a rest that is to be experienced now, but it's a rest that will be experienced in its fullness in the age to come.

So this is not just hope for the future, it is help for the present.

And we need to have both of them before us as we go through this passage today.

And I hope that I can make that clear to you as we go through these verses.

But like any journey, if we are going to go and we don't know the direction, we need to have a look at the map, don't we?

But if you're like me, sometimes you can be a little bit proud, maybe very proud, and not always look at the map.

Because you know how to get there, don't you?

Of course, you go the long way, and you could have got there a lot quicker if you looked at the map.

So I think we would be wise to humble ourselves today and say, let's look at the map.

And what is that map that we're going to see?

I want you to note in Hebrews 4, verses 1 to 2, we first of all have the promise of rest.

Hebrews 4:1–2

A promise.

And when you hear that word promise, that ought to be precious to you.

Because the promises from God, He keeps His promises, He never breaks them, never gets wobbly about His promises and maneuvers out of them.

We're going to see the promise of rest, verses 1 to 2.

But then we're going to see some pictures of rest.

And these pictures are found in verses 3 through to 10.

And these pictures of rest are given to us to show that God has given rest to his people before.

But the purpose of these pictures is to show us that there is still a rest available to us now.

The rest remains.

And finally, we're going to learn about the pathway to rest.

And that's found in verses 11 to 13.

And that's how we enter into that rest.

That's how we take hold of it.

That's how we make it ours and our personal experience.

We have the promise of rest, the pictures of rest, and the pathway of rest.

So let's have a look at the very first one found in this text.

And we see it in verses 1 to 2.

The promise of rest.

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

For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them, but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.

Do you notice there in verse one?

Glance down at verse six and have a look at verse nine.

And those three verses all say the same thing.

They repeat the word remains.

What remains?

Well, the answer is in verse one.

A promise.

There remains a promise of rest.

This promise is current, it's live, it's available.

It's not a historic promise.

It's a promise that brings meaning and significance and reality in the present.

There is a promise that remains, a promise that is still good, a promise that is yours for the taking, a promise for you to personally experience and partake of.

And what is that promise?

Well, it's a promise of rest.

God has promised a rest.

And what I want you to note about this promise of rest in Hebrews 4, verses 1 to 2 is two things.

Hebrews 4:1–2

Number one, I want you to note that this promise of rest that God gives is a certain promise.

You can count on it, you can bank on it, it's a reality.

And how do we know that it's certain?

Well, I've already mentioned the repetition of the word remains.

This promise remains.

God hasn't canceled his promise.

The promise is not restricted to an ethnic people group.

It's not limited to a certain time period in history.

This promise is available today.

And that has been the emphasis of the writer from chapter 3, verse 7, all the way to chapter 14 and verse 13, that this promise is available today.

God's promise of rest is certain.

It's not hypothetical.

It's not something we long to somehow obtain.

But it's something that is real.

And what makes this a certain promise is the character of God.

Promises are truly meaningless when it comes from a person of bad character.

Maybe you've experienced people making promises to you, but you've got very skeptical when they make those promises going forward.

And one of the reasons you may be skeptical is because they've let you down again and again.

Sometimes people have to break their promises, not necessarily because of their bad character, though that is very common.

But sometimes it's purely because of circumstances that we're out of their control, right?

You've done that, I'm sure.

You've said, we're going to go do this.

I promise you we'll do this.

And then all of a sudden a crisis happens, and you think, well, I didn't know that was going to happen.

I have to adjust.

But the beauty of God's promises is that they're in line with his righteous character.

God is true, he is good, he is just and he is wise.

And whatever he promises is in line with who he is.

But not only are God's promises in line with his character, his promises are in line with his sovereign control.

Because of God's sovereign decree, that is his plan in which he determined the outcome of everything in this universe before the foundation of the world.

He determined the end from the beginning, according to Isaiah 46.

Because of his sovereign decree, no circumstance will thwart his promises.

Nothing gets in the way.

Nothing derails God.

And that's where you and I are just so different to him, right?

We make promises, but our bad character cancels them.

We change them, or we just get moody, and it's like, well, I'm gonna do that anymore.

Or things out of our control come along and we and we and we feel terrible.

We're like, I'm so sorry, I wanted to do this, but I just can't, it's out of my control.

But God's made a promise, and this promise of rest that he has issued to his people, those that have been given to his son before the foundation of the world, is a promise that remains.

So the first thing I want you to know about the promise of rest in this passage is it's a certain one.

You can count on it, you can rely on it.

Is that an encouragement to you in an uncertain world?

Does that help you even in the midst of your own uncertainty and how you live your own life?

Does that unchanging rock to build your life on give you encouragement?

It should because there is no other promise out there that remains, but God's promise does.

It's certain.

But you need to notice something else about God's promise of rest.

It's certain, but his promise of rest comes with a caution.

As certain as God's promise is, there is a warning.

Now that's interesting that a warning comes because in Psalm 95, remember the passage that the writer to Hebrews has in mind here is Psalm 95, verses 7 to 11.

Psalms 95:7–11

And verses 7 to 11 of Psalm 95 is a caution to worship, a caution for those who don't believe God.

But Psalm 95 begins with a call to worship.

So it begins with a positive and then moves to the caution.

And that's what the writer here does.

He begins with this beautiful call to worship.

Know and understand that there is a promise of God to enter rest, and it remains, it's available for you.

Come, he says.

Come and enjoy this rest.

But then he's very quick to say, But there is a caution, a warning that goes with it.

And what is that warning?

It's found in the second half of verse 1 and verse 2.

Let us fear, lest any of you seem to have come short of it.

Who are the you in verse 1?

Those who claim to be believers in Christ.

These are members of the visible church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And the writer says to his congregation in his sermon, church, fear.

Fear, he says, lest any of you come short of this promise.

What is he saying?

We ought to examine ourselves to see that we have actually experienced this promise.

That we've actually taken hold of it.

And it's not enough if you just say with your words, I believe in the promises.

I even sing from time to time the song Standing on the Promises of God.

But the writer says, fear, lest any of you have come short of it.

What he's acknowledging here is that it's possible to be self-deceived.

It's possible to think that you have taken hold of the promises of God's rest, but you've missed it.

And for something to begin to grow, and it looks like Christianity.

But then the trials of this world will come, and whatever it will be, unique to us all, it will pull us away, and we will chase after those other things, and in the end, we will forsake Christ for our present love of this world.

And the writer says, I plead with you, congregation, and through the word of God, dear church family here at Emmanuel Baptist Church, the promise of God's rest remains.

But fear lest any of us have fallen short of it.

Are you falling short of entering this rest?

He reminds us that the gospel that was preached to us, that gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ, the message of Christ coming into this world to save sinners.

This same gospel that was preached to his congregation, also preached to us, was also preached to the children of Israel in the past.

Now that's actually a really fascinating point.

The point there is obviously there was more clarity of the gospel after Christ had come, but the gospel message, the way of salvation, has always been the same in Old Testament and New Testament.

Sometimes we create a wall between the Old Testament and New Testament that really needs to be removed.

Yes, there is a different administration of how God dealt with the nation of Israel in the Old Testament and how he deals with his people in this new covenant, but there's always been one gospel.

And we'll learn later on in this passage there is only one people of God.

And the people of God are those who believe.

Whether you're Jew or Gentile, a bond or free, if you believe, you're a part of that people of God.

But the writer here says, be warned.

The same gospel that was preached to us was also preached to them.

The people in the wilderness heard the gospel.

They heard the good news.

They heard about the promises of God, they heard about the message that had come from God through his messengers, yet the gospel, the word that they heard, it didn't profit them.

Why was the word defective?

Was the gospel message not good enough?

Why did the gospel not profit those people in the wilderness?

The answer is found at the end of verse 2, isn't it?

It wasn't mixed with faith.

The fault was not with the gospel, it wasn't with the deliverance of the message, the fault was with the people, for they refused to actually believe.

And we need to remember that.

No one will go to the great white throne and receive the fullness of God's fury and be condemned to the lake of fire and will be able to say, It wasn't my fault.

The only reason a person is condemned to the eternal lake of fire is because of their unbelief.

And the writer here is saying, There is a promise of rest, but take caution, lest the promise becomes unprofitable for you, and it will be meaningless to you if you do not receive the message of the gospel with faith.

You must believe.

Examine yourself to see do you truly believe?

Not do you believe things about God, do you believe God?

Not that you believe that he exists, because the demons believe that he exists and tremble.

There is such a thing as counterfeit faith.

Do you have genuine faith, persevering faith, living faith?

Are you clinging to, holding on to the one true God?

Well, the writer says to us in these first two verses, there is a promise of rest.

It's a certain promise, but this promise comes with a caution.

Are you taking hold of the promise?

But with faith.

Faith is coming with empty hands of none of our efforts, none of our abilities, none of our ego, all that's out the door.

We come empty and we say, I cling to Jesus.

His righteousness is my righteousness, his death is my death.

I cling to him.

I hold to him.

Are you believing in him or are you holding on to something else?

Are you holding on to your abilities?

Are you holding on to your reputation, your knowledge, your experiences?

These things is simply being like the children of Israel.

They thought they were going to Canaan, but they were not.

Verses 1 to 2 teaches us about the promise of rest.

But he goes on in verses 3 through to 10 to tell us about some pictures of rest.

Now, for me personally, when I first read these verses, I did find them pretty hard to get my head around.

It's very dense.

There's a lot of information there.

But the best way I've been able to summarize verses 3 through to 10 is to recognize that there's two pictures that he's using, two illustrations.

And these illustrations are pictures of rest.

And he gives us these pictures to teach us this big lesson.

There is right now a real rest for us to experience.

Because he's already said that the promise remains, right?

Verse 1, verse 6, verse 9.

But in verses 3 to 10, he says, I want you to know that this rest is real and it's available to you now.

And he wants us to realize how urgent this is.

Now I know many of you have heard about, and maybe you've got this clinical disease.

It's called FOMO, the fear of missing out, right?

I I hear people say that all the time.

Um I I just don't want to miss out, you know, and and they they really stress out if they don't um know what's going on or if something's happening and they're not invited or they're not there, and they've got this real disease called FOMO.

I think it's something that's particularly plaguing our generation today.

But this disease called FOMO, the fear of missing out, well, I actually don't think it's entirely a bad thing to have FOMO.

As long as we've got the fear of missing out on the right thing.

And what we ought to fear is missing out on the eternal rest.

Are you fearful that you might miss out on the eternal rest?

Well, the writer wants to know well, you don't have to because it is available today.

But he makes the argument to prove that that rest is still available by giving us these two pictures.

He gives us a picture from creation, and then he gives us a picture of Canaan.

And both of them illustrate God's rest.

Have a look at what he says in verse 3.

For we who have believed do enter that rest, as he has said, so I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

For he has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way, and God rested on the seventh day from all his works.

And again in this place they shall not enter my rest.

What he's saying here is God established the promise of rest after he labored for six days, and then on the seventh day, Genesis 2, he rested.

He didn't rest because he was tired, he didn't rest because he was exhausted, he rested because he was done.

He had completed his grand work of creation, and interestingly enough, unlike the other days where there is morning and evening, this last day of rest that God has just continues.

It's never stopped.

And what the writer is wanting us to know here is God has actually created a rest for his people to enter into, to experience.

It's rooted in creation and it hasn't been canceled out.

But then he goes on to say in verses six and following that the children of Israel experienced rest.

They experienced rest in the land of Canaan.

Now it wasn't the generation that came out of Egypt, but it was those who were born in the wilderness.

And this large mass of people led by Joshua and Caleb went into the promised land, and in fulfillment to the promise that God had made to Abraham, they inherited the land.

And they took hold of the promises of God.

And every promise that God had laid out was fulfilled.

We read that in the book of Joshua.

They took hold of these promises, they experienced rest.

But the writer wants us to know, but we're not to make the mistake of thinking that that physical rest they got in the land is the fulfillment, and therefore there is no longer a rest available to the people of God.

Because he says, and note this, note the flow of what he says in verse 6, since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, again he designates a certain day, saying in David, Today, after such a long time as it has been said, today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, for if Joshua had given them rest, then he would not have afterward have spoken of another day.

What he's saying is, if Joshua led the people into the promised land and gave them rest, and that was the final rest, then why would David, who writes hundreds of years later, say in Psalm 95 to the people alive at the time, Today, if you hear his voice, you will enter his rest.

The writer to Hebrews is saying that rest that the children of Israel experience under Joshua was a limited rest, but it's not the eternal rest.

There is still a rest available for us today.

And I think he mentions Joshua here because the name Joshua in the Greek text is the exact same word for Jesus.

And his idea here is the Jesus of the Old Testament led the people into Canaan but gave them a limited rest.

But Jesus today leads his people into an eternal rest, and it will always endure.

That's why he concludes in verses 9 to 10 there remains, therefore, a rest for the people of God.

For those who are God's people, there remains a rest, a rest that is yours, a rest that you can take hold of, a rest that will remove you from weariness and bless you.

It remains.

And what is this remaining rest?

I mentioned at the start of my message that this remaining rest isn't just talking about the future.

It's something that's experienced now, but it's something that's experienced in its fulfillment and fullness in the age to come when the Lord returns.

What is the rest?

Well, the rest was given to us as a picture at the time of creation.

God labored for six days, and on the seventh day he rested.

And that then became a part of God's requirement for the children of Israel in the fourth of the Ten Commandments, that six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest.

The last uh day of that week was the Sabbath, and they were to cease from their labor and to rest.

And that rest was to help them physically, but more importantly, it was to remind them of the rest that is to come.

But when the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world as the ultimate Joshua, as a better than Joshua, as the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world and lived a life of perfect righteousness for us, went to the cross, suffered and died, he was buried, and on the first day of the week he rose again.

And in the words of the great theologian B.B.

Warfield, the Lord Jesus Christ took the Jewish Sabbath into the grave with him, and he took it out as the Christian Sabbath, which is now the first day of the week, which commemorates his resurrection.

He's come out of the grave as the new Adam with authority and power.

And he has been granted all authority in heaven and on earth, endowed upon him, Lord over all, and he commands his people to meet on the first day of the week.

Every resurrection appearance to his disciples was always on the first day of the week.

When the Holy Spirit came upon the people in the book of Acts and the day of Pentecost, it was on the first day of the week.

The church gathered on the first day of the week and gave their offerings.

The apostle John was on Patmos and received the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ on the first day of the week, on the Lord's Day.

What's so significant about this?

The Lord's Day, the first day of the week, is a day set apart from the other six.

Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the first day of the week is the Christian Sabbath.

And the Christian Sabbath is supposed to give us spiritual rest, it's supposed to strengthen our souls, and it's supposed to be a foretaste of what we're going to experience for eternity.

And when the writer says in verse 9 that there remains, therefore, a rest for the people of God, it is a rest now.

And that's why we need to, as Christians, be very wise as to how we use the Lord's day.

The Lord's Day is not the day where we think, oh, I didn't get everything done that I needed to get done, so I'll get all that done on that first day of the week.

No, God gives you six days to get everything done.

But there is this one day he wants you to experience rest for your weary soul.

You need it.

He needs you to not forsake the assembling together of the saints, as is the manner of some.

Sunday is not to be merely viewed as fun day where you get to do whatever you want.

No, Sunday, the first day of the week, is the Lord's day, not the Lord's hour, the Lord's day for the public and private refreshment of your souls.

But I think sometimes we might even weary ourselves too much doing things that we really ought not to be doing.

The Lord's Day is a preview of the eternal rest that we have.

That's why that when we meet on the Lord's Day, we ought to do it the Lord's way.

Because that's what actually refreshes the souls of the people of God.

The Lord's day is a preview of the world.

Of an enduring rest that we experience in the Lord Jesus Christ for all eternity.

Well, I'm only going to introduce to you the last part, but we won't have time to exposit it this morning.

We'll pick up on it in a few weeks' time.

But what I want you to see, what happens next in this passage, is this.

After telling us that there is a rest that remains for the people of God in verse 9, he says, For he who has entered his rest has himself also ceased from all his works as God did from his.

When you enter into the rest of covenant relationship with God, you have ceased from your works.

And what that means is you have been released from all your strivings and labors, and you're experiencing the refreshment and blessing that is yours in Christ Jesus.

The question that remains for us now is how do I specifically enter that rest?

Because if that rest has been promised, and if that rest is still available today, because it remains, verse 1, verse 6, and verse 9, how do I enter it?

Well, all I can do is just introduce to you what we'll look at next time.

Verses 11 to 13 tells us that there is a pathway.

And the pathway is seen in the opening of verse 11.

Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest.

Strive to enter the rest.

But what is the diligence?

What is the striving?

It's not you trying to do your best, but it's a striving that comes as a result of the empty hands of faith in which we cling to the Lord Jesus Christ, believe in him, and continue to hold on to him and persevere.

It's looking to Christ and living for him.

That's what it means to strive.

That's the pathway to rest.

Ironically, the pathway to eternal rest is keeping our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ and striving to live for him, laboring for him, but looking to him at all times.

And the beautiful promise is that when we enter this pathway, we can receive the words of comfort of our Lord Jesus in Matthew 11, where he says, All you who are weary and heavy laden, come to me, and I give you rest.

There is a rest found in him, because he has upheld the law of God for you.

He has died the death that you deserve to die, and in him is rest.

And the comfort that you need to hold on to is the comfort of Revelation 14 and verse 13, and that is, blessed are those who die now from now on.

Why?

Because they will cease from their labors and experience rest.

There is a blessing of rest for us in the age to come, but we get a foretaste of that rest when we prepare our hearts well and gather with the people of God on the Lord's day and enjoy the market day of our souls.

Have you entered that rest?

Are you clinging to Christ?

Well, weary Saint, be refreshed, be encouraged, cling to Christ.

There is rest in him.

Our gracious and mighty God, I thank you for what you have made known to us in this text.

Help us to embrace these things.

Help us to rest in the Lord Jesus Christ, who has done all the work necessary for us to enter the kingdom.

But help us in believing in him to then strive by persisting, persevering, holding on to him, clinging to him, and living for him.

Help us in a weary world.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.