Sunday Night Bible Study Hebrews 4:3-16 February 27, 1994 Hebrews 4:3-16 Hebrews 4 HEB 4:3 For we who have believed enter that rest, just 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. HEB 4:4 For He has thus said somewhere concerning the seventh {day}, "\And God rested on the seventh day from all His works\"; :4 He has thus said somewhere ... I like the idea that the writer of Hebrews isn't sure just where the reference is, but he knows the reference. I think it's great to know where things are in the Bible, but don't feel guilty just because you can't find a specific verse that you know is there. :4 And God rested... GEN 2:1-2 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. 2 And by the seventh day God completed His work which He had done; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. HEB 4:5 and again in this {passage}, "\They shall not enter My rest.\" HEB 4:6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, HEB 4:7 He again fixes a certain day, "Today," saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, #"\Today if you hear His voice\, \Do not harden your hearts.\"# :7 He again fixes a certain day... In other words, since there still remains the possibility that someone might not enter into God's rest, the writer of the Psalms gives us the warning to not harden our hearts, and to not just be careful sometime in the future, but to be careful each day, as long as it is called "Today". :7 saying through David Make a note in your Bible because Psalm 95 doesn't tell us who wrote it! HEB 4:8 For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. :8 Joshua KJV - "Jesus" The name "Jesus" is the Greek form of the Hebrew name "Joshua". They are two forms of the same name. The KJV translators translated it Jesus, but it makes better sense to think of it as Joshua. Joshua had taken the people into the promised land, but if he had given the people complete rest, then David wouldn't have written some four hundred years later a warning about not entering God's rest. Jesus has given us rest. HEB 4:9 There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. HEB 4:10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. :9 A Sabbath rest What's all this "rest" stuff mean? When God rested, He was finished with His works, He did no more work on the Sabbath day. When we have entered into God's rest, we have to rest from our works too. Some people feel that being a good Christian means doing a lot of good things, that entering into the promised land is done by doing a lot of good works. Wrong! Entering into the promised land comes by believing, not working. Remember Heb 3:19? HEB 3:19 And {so} we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief. The point of their unbelief came when they refused to believe that God would be able to given them a promised land that was full of giants. Instead they believed that they would surely die in the process. :10 For the one who has entered His rest There are two ways of understanding this: 1) The One who has entered is Jesus Jesus has finished His course, and is in heaven. He has now rested from His works in that His salvation is complete, it was finished on the cross. 2) If we really have entered into God's rest, realizing and obtaining God's promises, we too will rest from our works. Realizing God's promises in our lives comes from believing, not working. The priests' clothing - linen, not wool Mary sitting at Jesus' feet. LUK 10:38-42 Now as they were traveling along, He entered a certain village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who moreover was listening to the Lord's word, seated at His feet. 40 But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up {to Him,} and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me." 41 But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; 42 but {only} a few things are necessary, really {only} one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her. " You don't have to worry about producing good works in your life, they will come naturally if you really are believing God. Good works will naturally flow from a life that believes in God. It's like wanting to have your own rose garden. You might visit someone's house who has a beautiful rose garden. You admire the rose garden and wish you had one just like it. So you go to Home Depot and buy a bunch of wood, and plant sticks in the ground, then go to the local florist, buy a couple dozen long stemmed roses, and staple the roses to the sticks in the ground. Voila! A rose garden? It sounds ridiculous, but very often we try to live our Christian life by trying to produce good works without ever having planted the real plant in the ground. If you plant a rose bush in the ground, and learn how to tend it, it will produce roses all by itself. You won't have to visit the florist. But if you haven't learned to trust God with your life or your problems, you aren't going to see much real fruit (or flowers) in your life. HEB 4:11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall through {following} the same example of disobedience. :11 diligent ... rest ... disobedience 4704 spoudazo {spoo-dad'-zo} 1) to hasten, make haste 2) to exert one's self, endeavour, give diligence Sounds confusing! Diligence sounds like hard work, not like rest! Be careful though, it's not being diligent to do good works, but being diligent to believe God in what He promises. Hold on tight to Jesus :11 the same example of disobedience The example of Israel not entering into the promised land because of unbelief. HEB 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. HEB 4:13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. :12 For the word of God What's the connection here? This whole section on diligence, watchfulness, being careful about hard hearts, entering into God's rest, etc, comes from Psalm 95. The writer has pulled out Psalm 95 and nailed us on being careful about our relationships with the Lord. :12 living It's not just 5,385,623 words on a piece of paper. It's like a seed. You plant it and it will grow something. If it weren't living, but dead, then you would plant it, and nothing would happen. If you put God's word deep into the soil of your life, give it some water and time, it will produce results in your life. LUK 8:4-8 And when a great multitude were coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable: 5 "The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road; and it was trampled under foot, and the birds of the air ate it up. 6 "And other {seed} fell on rocky {soil,} and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 "And other {seed} fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it, and choked it out. 8 "And other {seed} fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great." As He said these things, He would call out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." LUK 8:11-15 "Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God. 12 "And those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 "And those on the rocky {soil are} those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no {firm} root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. 14 "And the {seed} which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of {this} life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 "And the {seed} in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance. What kind of soil is God's Word planted in, in your life? If you plant God's Word in your life, you'll see things growing. TJTA testing, getting yucky scores. But when you sow to the Spirit in your life, feeding the Spirit, these things will be produced in your life: GAL 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. :12 active Greek word: "energes" - energetic, powerful God's Word produces change in our lives. Almost it seems by itself! MAR 4:26-29 And He was saying, "The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27 and goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts up and grows-- how, he himself does not know. 28 "The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. 29 "But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come." Get God's Word into your life, watch it work! :12 sharper than any two-edged sword The Bible is a sharp weapon. It's a sharp cutting tool. Be careful about not sharing God's word with a skeptic. "It's not going to affect me", they say, "I don't believe it's God's Word." If I put a loaded gun to your head, even if you don't believe it's a gun, will it blow your head off if I pull the trigger? Yet God's word is far more powerful than any gun. It doesn't destroy lives, it transforms them. :12 piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit It goes right down into your heart. :12 of both joints and marrow Apparently the Greek doesn't mean that it can divide between joints and marrow, but that it is sharp enough to cut through both joints and marrow. That takes a sharp knife! :12 able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart lit., "Skilled in judging" The picture is of a surgeon who skillfully opens you up, then is able to tell where the cancer is and able to skillfully remove all the crud and leave the good parts intact. Ever have trouble understanding your own heart? The heart is desparately wicked, who can know it! Get into the Word of God. Open yourself up to it! :13 no creature hidden from His sight You can't hide from God. Terry Hill came up to me in the hall this morning and told me he has an idea for a song, something about, "you can't hide your evil from God", because God will always find you out. HEB 4:14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. HEB 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as {we are, yet} without sin. HEB 4:16 Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.