Hebrews 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. 2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. 3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. 5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
Today is the day that the U.S. celebrates its’ birthday. Too often I have heard the phrase, that the U.S. is the greatest nation there has ever been. The greatest nation there has ever been is the nation of Israel. God chose Israel to be His people. During the latter days of king David and the early days of king Solomon, Israel enjoyed great peace and prosperity. King Solomon squandered that blessing and chose to follow his lusts. The U.S. has been a nation that offered many opportunities to people for a number of years. It has assumed that it is the police force of the world. The problem is that the nation does not know right from wrong. It has been a number of years, but the U.S. has been falling for some time now. It will be up to God when that fall is final. The hope for the U.S. is the same as for Canada. It is to turn to the true God and submit to Him as God and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. The leadership of that nation is not interested in that. As we look at the political and military leadership of that nation, we see no hope for a better nation. God directed the writer of the book of Hebrews to remind us that the hope of man is Jesus Christ.
Psalm 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.
It is essential that people turn to God in repentance and be saved. In verse 1 of our text, we are reminded to fear, lest we take a careless approach to life as so many before us have. This was the message for the saints in the first century and it is still the message for us today. We cannot enter into God’s rest if we reject His gift of salvation. It is not enough to know the name of Jesus. It is important to know Jesus. Falling short is to reject the truth. In verse 2 we are reminded that the gospel was preached in the first century and it certainly has been preached in our time. Sadly, many churches that once preached the gospel, no longer do. They became careless. They chose worldly alliances over Godly separation. The writer reminded the saints that the Jews of Moses’ day also received the gospel. They knew better than what they chose. They knew their rebellion was sin. They were too stubborn to listen to the work of the Word in their hearts. They saw the mighty hand of God, but they dismissed that in their selfishness. As we read, they did not have faith in God. They refused to trust in God’s way and know His blessings. The writer was referring back to portions of Psalm 95 in this chapter. The nation of Israel missed a great blessing due to their unbelief. God was very gracious to them, but they continued to reject His blessings. He had every right to express His wrath toward them. We, those who are truly saved, have entered into His rest. That is the issue. Most of the Jews of Moses’ time never trusted in God’s provision of salvation. They never trusted in the atonement provided through the sacrifices. Those sacrifices were the type of the coming Sacrifice, Jesus Christ. The people were all about the flesh. They could not look forward to God’s promised Messiah because they rejected the truth. We are reminded in verse 3 that God’s plan of salvation was already in place before He ever created the world. He did not force man to sin. He provided all that was needed for man to know His blessings. However, in His foreknowledge He knew the fact of the weakness of man. Even prior to man having a sin nature, he was weak. God created man to be dependent upon Him. Adam soon chose to rely on himself. That was a massive failure. Adam’s descendants are born as lost sinners and thus need to be saved. In verse 4 the writer referred to the seventh day of the first week. Genesis 2:2 tells us that God rested from all His work that He had made. Creation was finished. There was nothing more that needed to be done. God rested and He offers His rest to us. He offered that rest to Adam. That rest did not mean there would be no work to do. Adam needed to tend to the Garden that God had given him. He needed to rest in God and trust in Him. That is rest. We do not need to scheme and fret. We need to know the true God and follow Him. We tend to make life much more complicated than it needs to be. We need to learn to walk by faith. God will continue to show us that His rest is available through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other way. The prophets and apostles declared the truth. They spoke of the coming and of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He came and the apostles declared that fact. The angels announced His coming and they ministered to Him during His earthly ministry. The prophets, apostles and angels could not save anyone. Moses could not save anyone. He was a faithful servant in his house. He was despised by many. Many of the prophets were persecuted and killed for their faith. All of the apostles were persecuted and most were killed for their faith. Jesus Christ was also persecuted and hated by many. He laid down His life to make it possible for us to be saved. The danger is that we would reject God’s gift of salvation, just as the people of Moses’ day did. We can rest in God today. We can know His salvation and we can walk humbly with Him and appreciate the blessings that come with walking in His rest. Spiritual rest is the greatest need we have. That rest is only satisfied through faith in God’s gift of salvation. There is no other way than to trust in God’s provision for us. He will lead His children safely home. Let us rest in Him. Pastor Bartel
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