LEARNING TO REST
Hebrews 4:1-11
All around us people are struggling;
struggling to “make things work out”–the way WE think they should!
It would be great if the only people struggling were “the pagans down the street.”
But Christians are caught up in the struggle too.
We have our own idea of how things are “supposed” to be.
When it doesn’t go our way, we churn and struggle,
trying to make things happen–according to our plan.
“What am I supposed to do, just sit back, and ‘let God do it?!!’”
There’s always a certain tone behind that question.
“That’s not realistic!” “If I do that, it won’t work out the way I want it to!”
Fighting for our way doesn’t work!You never find peace by fighting for it!
Swindoll: “Stop Churning and Start Resting!”
No amount of material success, physical comfort, psychological counseling,
or religious activity will provide the peace and rest God has promised.
We only find peace—learn how to rest
—when we trust GOD with our problems, and rest in Him.
The problem: we don’t really believe that. We have a better idea!
“Excuse me God, while I work this out my way!”
Then we wonder why we never find rest.
PROBLEM ILLUSTRATED FROM ISRAEL’S HISTORY HEB. 4:1-11 (3:19-4:11)
Israel never entered the rest God offered them
because they never learned to trust Him.
They continually sought to work things out their way; they were always struggling.
When they can’t see how it will work, they panic, and try their own way.
Finally God says, “That’s enough!”
He swore they would never enter His rest
because of their unbelief and disobedience.
THE PROMISE CONCERNING GOD'S REST 4:1-11
THE WARNING CONCERNING GOD’S REST 4:1
If Israel was denied entrance to their rest because of unbelief,
it’s even more important that WE trust God, so we might enter His rest.
The reference to God’s judgment goes back to Kadesh Barnea.
God wanted to give them the land and inheritance He promised them.
They were ready to enter and receive it.
Spies’ confirmed it was just like God said.
But they didn’t trust God to give it to them.
Instead of being filled with faith, they were filled with fear.
Unbelief kept Israel from entering God’s rest,
and enjoying what God wanted to give them.
God has promised to give us rest also.
We can trust God and enjoy it, or we can miss out on it.
What is this rest that God wants to give us?
THE EXPLANATION OF GOD’S REST 4:2-8
For the O.T. people—It isn’t about salvation
They’re redeemed by blood. They didn’t lose that!They’re still God’s people.
They miss out on God’s blessing; they forfeit the peace and rest He wants to give them.
Follow the sequence:
God promises blessing, for trusting Him to take them into the land.
They doubt God => They begin to grumble
They harden their hearts => They rebel against Him
They experience God’s judgment, instead of His rest.
Israel had a problem4:2-3a
They heard good news about what God wanted to do for them,
–as we do. They heard the message.
God’s blessing, His rest, doesn’t come from just listening to the right message.
They didn’t take advantage of the offer; they didn’t find rest, because . . .
Hearing the good news wasn’t united with faith.
Just hearing the message that God offers rest isn’t enough!
We will never experience His peace, until we trust Him and stop struggling.
HEARING + TRUSTING => REST
Universal principle God established:4:3a
“Those who trust Him enter His rest.”
He established that principle before He made the world.
In fact, the writer tells us, God’s work has NEVER been in doubt–from the creation!
Do you want to stop fighting and struggling? Trust Him! HE can handle it!
God is the Author of rest. 4:3b-5
Creation presents a pattern to teach us what God’s rest is like.
Gen. 2:2-- even God stopped work and entered into rest.
He quit working after 6 days. It was finished.
Now Christ’s work is completed. It is finished.
No additional work is necessary. Therefore, we can rest.
We can enter into and enjoy the rest He has already provided for us.
The offer continues to be extended to us. 4:6-8 Today it’s available.
Long after Joshua led them into the land, God still offers rest to His people.
He warns us not to harden our hearts and miss what He wants to give us.
“Today, when you hear His voice, don’t harden your heart!”
That’s how they missed it!
Joshua later led them into Canaan, . . . God fulfilled that promise.
But the rest God promised means more than just entering Canaan.
The rest is still out there.
God offered it again after Joshua led them into the land.
It’s been promised to us.
It’s for those who leave works behind—who stop struggling—and trust Him.
Jesus said those who are tired and loaded down can come to Him,
and He will give us rest. The offer still stands.
But many who have trusted Him with our sin, continue to try to carry our other burdens ourselves. We’re tired and loaded.
But we don’t trust Him to take the load and give us rest.
God’s rest became available the day He set the pattern at creation.
God’s rest was available to Israel at Kadesh, but they missed out on it.
God’s rest was available to Israel under Joshua, but that wasn’t final rest.
God’s rest was available to Israel in David’s day.
God’s rest is still available to us TODAY!
Throughout history God has offered REST to His people, but we resist His offer.
Today is the issue. Will we take advantage of the offer today?!!
THE OFFER OF GOD’S REST 4:9-11
The promise 4:9-10
Still doesn’t refer to salvation–he includes himself in the promise.
Does refer to the blessing God promised.
Ultimately, the promise finds total fulfillment in the millennium.
Here emphasis is more general: He who trusts God, enters rest.
He who trusts God, experiences His blessing in their life.
Two major obstacles stand as road blocks to enjoying God’s rest
1. Panic
Like Israel, when we come up against giants in our life
and don’t see how God is going to give us victory over them, we panic.
We fail to trust God because there’s no escape in sight to get us out of the mess.
When we panic, we don’t rest. We fight.
Philip of Macedon—Father of Alexander the Great trapped by Persian forces.
Wild animal backed into corner with no escape will fight its way out.
Drunk walking through a graveyard at night.
“It’s no use mister, you can’t get out of here!” But he did!
Panic may get us out of man-made messes —at least sometimes!
Panic will never produce rest. It won’t bring God’s peace!
2. Pride
Some of us grew up thinking we could get ourselves out of anything.
If we break it, we can fix it.
Pride tells us we can fix it ourselves!
We can handle the problems without God’s or anybody else’s help
Pride keeps us from trusting God. We have to help Him out!
So, we claw and struggle to “make things happen!”
Pride motivates us to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps,
instead of reaching out to God for help.
Do you want to enjoy God’s blessing in your life?
Don’t panic Don’t be filled with pride
Don’t get discouragedDon’t be unbelieving
Don’t reject the promise Don’t turn back. Don’t give up
Keep trusting Him.
4:10 “for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work.”
What does it mean to rest from our own work?
It means: stop churning and start resting!
Stop trying to fight the battle for ourselves.
Entrust ourselves and our battles to Him.
The urging 4:11“Make every effort to enter His rest!”
That sounds contradictory:
“Struggle to rest!”
Like the introduction to the passage:
“Let us fear lest we fail to enter His rest.”
If you’re going to fear something . . .
If you’re going to strive for something . . .
If you’re going to invest your energy, place it in something that works!
Faith isn’t a passive, fatalistic, se la vie! attitude.
It’s an active, diligent, surrender of self.
We decide to trust Him and enter His rest.
Invest your energy in Him. Dedicate yourself to trusting Him.
WHAT DID THAT MEAN FOR 1ST CENTURY CHRISTIANS?
For them, it meant to trust God to protect them from enemies that wanted to destroy them.
It meant to hang in there when the going gets tough.
WHAT DOES GOD WANT US TO DO?
Learn to enjoy God’s rest. => RELAX!
Experience His peace, His rest–stop trying to make things happen!
Louis Evans tells about 1st time he flew in storm with his flight instructor; rain began to pelt the windscreen like an angry drummer, he was far from a state of rest. Clouds shrouded the wing tips. Anxiety clutched his breathing; his legs became taut; his hands gripped control horns with a sweaty fear. He jerked and overcompensated and the plane zigzagged through the sky as though the pilot were drunk. As fatigue began to build, his tension went from bad to worse. Perspiration cascaded down his face. His instructor sat quietly. His eyes had a twinkle. He firmly took Evans’ right hand off the control horn, and put his lower fingers on his right knee, a position of ease he taught him in 1st lesson. His thumb and index finger were enough to control the plane. “Relax.” he said softly. “Louie, this is a normal warm front; you’re flying a stable aircraft with strong wings, made for carrier landings! Trust them! Sit back; turn your head and eyes a bit. Now, slow, smooth corrections; keep your instruments in our normal pattern. Rest and enjoy it!” “. . . the rest came when I was still in the clouds, the rain was still pelting the windshield, and yet I got my first taste of peace.”
That’s what rest is about.
To be wherever God wants us, doing what He planned, confident in His resources, . . .
Trust God to handle the stress.
We can trust Him with the stressors.
What good have hypertension, migraines, ulcers, nervous exhaustion, illness, insomnia, or angry frustration ever done us?
We need to trust Him with our concerns, and enjoy His peace.
A lady came to me and told me they were praising God for a new job. She was soon to have a child and was going to quit hers. She would lose her benefits and it was going to be tight for them. They could have struggled and churned over that. God knew what they needed. The day she was to join the unemployed, he started a new job. God had it all arranged. There was nothing they could do about it! God did it for them.
Stop churning and start resting!
The song writers have the idea: There is a place of quiet rest, near to the heart of God
* My faith has found a resting place
My faith has found a resting place -
Not in device or creed:
I trust the Everliving One -
His wounds for me shall plead.
I need no other argument,
I need no other plea;
It is enough that Jesus died,
And that He died for me.
* Jesus, I am Resting, Resting
Jesus, I am resting,
resting In the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
Of Thy loving heart.
Thou hast bid me gaze upon Thee,
And Thy beauty fills my soul,
For by Thy transforming power,
Thou hast made me whole.
O, how great Thy loving kindness,
Vaster, broader than the sea!
O, how marvelous Thy goodness,
Lavished all on me!
Yes, I rest in Thee, Beloved,
Know what wealth of grace is Thine,
Know Thy certainty of promise,
And have made it mine.
Simply trusting Thee, Lord Jesus,
I behold Thee as Thou art,
And Thy love, so pure, so changeless, Satisfies my heart;
Satisfies its deepest longings,
Meets, supplies its every need,
Compasseth me round with blessings:
Thine is love indeed!
Ever lift Thy face upon me
As I work and wait for Thee;
Resting 'neath Thy smile, Lord Jesus,
Earth's dark shadows flee.
Brightness of my Father's glory,
Sunshine of my Father's face,
Keep me ever trusting, resting,
Fill me with Thy grace.
Jesus, I am resting, resting
In the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
Of Thy loving heart.
Are you tired of churning?
How about learning to trust Him and enjoy His rest?
That’s what our writer is urging us toward this morning:
“There remains a sabbath-rest for the people of God;
for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest.”