Hebrews #08: an exposition of Hebrews 4:1-11. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, June 1, 2014.
Intro:
It is as old as creation – the promise of rest. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. After each days’ work He said, “that’s good.” We also note the formula, “and there was evening and there was morning the first day.” In chapter 2 of Genesis we read, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seven day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from the work 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.” In Exodus 20:8-11 we learn this is the basis upon which the Jewish Sabbath is established. It also becomes clear that this “rest” is a picture of something greater. It is a sign pointing beyond itself. That is made clear in the passage that serves as our text this morning, in Hebrews chapter 4. Note the absence of the “day formula” concerning the seventh day. It is a day that does not end. There is no end to this rest. What is this rest foreshadowed in creation and memorialized in the law? It is a reference to our ultimate rest in Our Savior.
As the people of God we understand there is no rest for the soul apart from Christ. St. Augustine, in the fourth century, expressed this truth beautifully in his Confessions. “You move us to delight in praising You; for You have formed us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in You.” (Confessions Book I.1.1)
Blaise Pascal wrote about man’s futile attempt to fill the emptiness of his life with anything and everything. He concluded by writing, “But these are all inadequate, because the infinite abyss can only be filled by an infinite and immutable object, that is to say, only by God himself.” (Penseese VII, para. 425)
There is no rest apart from Christ. Yet every believer will have to confess that the initial experience of rest is not always constant or abiding. It is often buffeted by trials and tribulations. It is present but sometimes obscured by heartache in this fallen, sin-cursed world. We have entered into rest yet there is a greater rest yet to come. That small, stormed tossed band of believers in Rome are struggling because their experience of Christ was not living up to expectations. Instead of rest they are experiencing turmoil. They had given up so much to believe and now that initial experience of rest seems a cruel delusion. Now the biblical writer exhorts and encourages them on entering into God’s rest. Our text is found in Hebrews chapter 4.
Text: Hebrews 4:1-11
This text is as relevant today as it was in the first century.
The church is once again an alien culture at odds with the world around.
Thus “rest” seems in short supply.
With a firm yet loving pastoral hand the writer make it clear that…
Thesis: Entering into God’s rest demands wholehearted trust in God’s sure and certain promise and is accompanied by a shared responsibility.
I want to point out three things from our text.
- An urgent warning. (4:1-2)
- A Comforting Assurance. (4:3-10)
- A Shared Responsibility. (4:11)