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Resting in Christ (Hebrews 3:7-4:13)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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Take your copy of God's Word or the copy that
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is in the pew back there in front of you and
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Open up to the New Testament book of Hebrews
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We'll look at Hebrews chapter 3 verse 7 and take
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it through chapter 4 verse 13 And so would you
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follow along with me Hebrews 3 7? therefore as
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the Holy Spirit says Today, if you hear his voice,
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do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.
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On the day of testing in the wilderness, where
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your fathers put me to the test and saw my works
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for 40 years, therefore I was provoked with that
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generation and said, they always go astray in
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their heart. They have not known my ways. As
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I swore in my wrath, they shall not. Enter my
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rest. Take care, brothers. Lest there be in any
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of you an evil, unbelieving heart leading you
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to fall away from the living God. But exhort
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one another every day, as long as it is called
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today, that none of you may be hardened by the
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deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share
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in Christ if indeed we hold our original confidence
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firm to the end. As it is said today, if you
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hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as
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in the rebellion. For who are those who heard
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and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left
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Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked
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for 40 years? Was it not with those who sinned,
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whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom
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did he swear? that he would not enter his rest,
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but to those who were disobedient. So we see
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that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.
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Therefore, while the promise of entering his
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rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you
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should seem to have failed to reach it. For good
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news came to us just as to them, but the message
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they heard did not benefit them. because they
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were not united by faith with those who listened.
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For we who have believed enter that rest. As
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he has said, as I swore in my wrath, they shall
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not enter my rest. Although his works were finished
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from the foundation of the world, for he has
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somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way.
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God rested on the seventh day from all his works
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and again in this passage. He said they shall
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not enter my rest Since therefore it remains
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for some to enter it and those who formerly received
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the good news failed to enter because of disobedience
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Again, he appoints a certain day today saying
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through David so long afterward and the words
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already quoted today if you hear his voice do
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not harden your hearts. For if Joshua had given
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them rest, God would not have spoken of another
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day later on. So then there remains a Sabbath
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rest for the people of God. For whoever has entered
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God's rest has also rested from his works as
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God did from his. Let us therefore strive to
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enter that rest so that no one may fall by the
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same sort of disobedience For the word of God
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is living and active, sharper than any two -edged
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sword, piercing to the division of soul and of
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spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning
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the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And
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no creature is hidden from his sight, but all
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are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom
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we must give account. Friends, this is God's
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word. Let's pray. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
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we believe. Help our unbelief. Strengthen us
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now by the power of your inspired, inerrant,
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infallible, and holy word. This we ask for Christ's
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sake. Amen. Of the several reasons given that
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Paul likely did not write the book of Hebrews,
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one of them is that this book of Hebrews does
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not read like a letter. Think about it, compare
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Hebrews to say, I don't know, Romans or Ephesians
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or First Corinthians. It reads differently than
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that. Actually, when scholars have looked at
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this, many of them have said the book of Hebrews
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reads less like a letter and more like a sermon,
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more like a sermon manuscript. And so as we look
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at this, this is how I kind of view it as well,
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like a sermon. But sermons oftentimes are explanation
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and application of what? A biblical text. And
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so what is the biblical text? Well, within this
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particular pericope, the biblical text that the
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writer of Hebrews keeps on coming back to is
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Psalm 95. Psalm 95, the one that we sang earlier
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for our hymn of adoration. As you see all of
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these quotations in here, within Hebrews three
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and four, they all come from Psalm 95. And so
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what the writer of Hebrews is doing here is he
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quotes this Psalm, or at least a portion of it,
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and he keeps going back to that text. He kind
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of, in a way, you might say, teaches us how to
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preach. He keeps going back to the word. He explains
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it. And he applies it. And so this is what we're
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gonna do with this text as well this morning.
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But first, you see that he highlights the special
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nature of the very word of God. Because once
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again, he highlights not himself. He doesn't
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even highlight the writer or the human writer,
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we might say, of Psalm 95. Look at verse seven.
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Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, how interesting
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is that? The writer of Hebrews knows who wrote
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Psalm 95. He's gonna say it in chapter four.
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But instead, what he is showing us is that the
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very word of God is indeed the very word of God.
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He keeps the focus on God as the author of all
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of scripture. There is no portion of holy scripture
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that does not belong to God. You know 2nd Timothy
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3 16 right all scripture is breathed out by God
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and profitable for teaching for a proof for a
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correction and for training and righteousness
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that the man of God may be complete equipped
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for every good work and yet sometimes if we're
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honest with ourselves We talk about the very
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Word of God. We talk about the Bible in a very
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casual way, as if the Bible is just one more
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book on the shelves at Barnes and Noble. But
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it's not, friends. And we can see this just by
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flipping to the end of our text today. Go to
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verse 12 of chapter 4. For the Word of God is
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living and active, sharper than any two -edged
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sword, and In chapter three, verse seven, it
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says that the Holy Spirit says it speaks presently,
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doesn't it? Meaning that the very word of God
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still speaks today. Now, let's see the next John
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Grisham book do that. This one is living and
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active and it's useful for you in every single
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way. And one of the things that the writer does
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that he highlights in this is to show us what
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the Bible does with our sin. Again, from chapter
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four, verse 12, we see that the holy word of
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God penetrates deep down to expose our sin and
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show us from what we need to repent. John Calvin
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said that the law acts as a mirror, which shows
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the spots on our faces. It does. It exposes the
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thoughts and the intentions of the heart. And
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we could spend, I don't know, years of Sundays
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on just explaining and applying and illustrating
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the very Word of God. But let me ask you this
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question. How important is the Word of God to
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you? How important is God's Word to you? Do you
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see the Bible as just one of many good books
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or do you see that the Bible is above all because
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it comes directly from God? I really like what
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R .C. Sproul said. He said, when I read books,
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I critique them. But when I read the Bible, it
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critiques me. Do you feel like that? Do you see
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how the Bible does this? Well, this is certainly
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going to happen as we move further into our text.
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And so let's spend a few moments on verses seven
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through 11. Now, I've already mentioned that
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this comes from Psalm 95. Well, what happens
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in Psalm 95? Well, if you know your Bibles well,
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Psalm 95 is largely a Psalm about worship. It's
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actually very similar to the Psalm we're going
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to look at tonight, Psalm 100. But it also speaks
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historically about the Israelites in the wilderness
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after the Exodus. And what are the Israelites
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doing in the wilderness after the Exodus? They
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are grumbling, right? Now, I don't want to downplay
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how difficult it must have been to wander in
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the wilderness for 40 years, right? I tell you
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what, when I go hiking, sometimes if I get off
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the path and I'm lost for five minutes, there's
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grumbling. I'm just being honest with you, right?
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So I don't want to downplay that, but they're
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sort of grumbling. It's actually explained very
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well in Psalm 95. It's not mentioned in our text,
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the geographical locations, but in Psalm 95 it
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is. It mentions two distinct places, one of Mariba
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and one of Massa. And these two terms refer to
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provoking and testing. The Israelites in the
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wilderness were testing God and they're complaining.
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And Moses is in a really difficult spot. So Moses
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cries out to God as the people are saying, we've
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got no water. And so Moses cries out to God and
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God tells him exactly what to do, strike the
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rock. And so he strikes a rock and gushing forth
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from it is water. And not just a little trickle
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of water, enough water to quench the thirst of
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this nomadic people in the wilderness. And that's
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incredible. When you really think about water
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gushing from a rock that is incredible and yet
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the Israelites continue to groan and grumble
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and So we see this episode a similar episode
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happen again in the wilderness in the book of
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Numbers because once again, they're complaining
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and Moses cries out God tells him what to do
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Which is this time to speak to the rock? But
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Moses does not speak to the rock. Instead, he
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does what he did formally. He strikes the rock.
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He disobeys God. And what's the consequence for
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this? God says, you shall not bring this assembly
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into the land that I have given them. And our
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text today tells us why. Why they could not go
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into the land. It's because their hearts were
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hard. It's because they rebelled. It's because
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they went astray. They did not know his ways
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and consequently they come under his wrath and
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they are prevented from getting into the promised
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land. Think about that. Think about the Israelites
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and all that they had experienced, all that they
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had seen. Water gushing from a rock. Manna from
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heaven, the quail, they had been delivered from
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Egypt through the plagues and the parting of
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the Red Sea. They had experienced all of this.
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They were eyewitnesses of God's power, protection,
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and providence, and yet their hearts were hard.
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They had a front row seat to it all, and yet
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they still put him to the test. Now, when we
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think about all that, When we think about the
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very mercy of God and all that they had seen
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the care the protection of God upon their lives
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We might say this is inconceivable How could
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you harden your heart? How could you rebel against
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the living God when you had experienced all of
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that and you were the recipients of all of his
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love and protection and kindness How in the world
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could they do that? It's inconceivable until
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we recognize that we do the same thing We do
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the same thing Jesus provides a greater salvation
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over a greater enemy into a greater promised
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land, and yet sometimes it's just not enough
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for us. Because every time we sin, we are in
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rebellion against the living and holy God, and
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we are easily irritated, we are easily frustrated,
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and we are unsatisfied. We're just not that different.
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Friends, life is hard. I get it. It's hard for
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me too. But are we able to go through the trials
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of life in such a way that honors God? Or do
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we respond to the bitter providence of life in
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sin? When things aren't going well in my life,
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and I wonder if it's like this for you, do you
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sometimes feel like, well, I'm deserving of a
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little bit of sin? Things have been so hard,
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I'm just gonna indulge in myself. for a little
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bit. Do you ever do that? Friends, this passage
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is very clear in chapter three, verse 17, sin
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deceives, sin deceives, and if left unchecked,
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it will lead to the hardness of heart. All of
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this is getting at unbelief, hardness of heart
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and unbelief. Do you remember that Jesus tells
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this parable, of the sower. It's in Matthew 13
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and Luke 8. Do you remember the seed that falls
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on the different soil, right? And so there's
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seed that falls on a path and among thorns and
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on good soil, but there's also seed that falls
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upon rocky soil. And as Jesus explains the parable,
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he shows that the seed that falls on the rocky
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soil, this is like the people who receive receive
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the Bible, receive the good news for a time.
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But then in a period of testing, they fall away.
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Well, friends, the same word is used here in
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verse 12 to fall away. And we've already seen
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this in the book of Hebrews. And from it, we
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get this word from it. We get this word to apostatize,
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to fall away from the living God. And there's
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nothing scarier than that. One commentator says
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here, implicit in the description of God as a
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living God is a warning that evil, unbelieving
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hearts that fall away from him will need to face
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the consequences from a God who is very much
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alive and active. Those who fall away, those
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who harden their hearts, those who rebel against
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the living God will hear these terrifying words
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depart from me. For I never knew you. And friends,
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if I'm honest with you, I'm worried. I'm worried
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that there are people in our churches who know
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about Jesus, but do not know Jesus. Did you hear
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me? There are people who know about Jesus and
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there are people who know Jesus, people who make
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an empty profession of faith, people who want
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some of the benefits of salvation without having
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to trust Jesus and without having to obey Jesus.
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There are people who need to have rest, but they're
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not gonna get it. And actually, I think there's
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a good case study about this in The Two Thieves.
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alongside Jesus on the cross. You remember Jesus
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has crucified two others, right? And they have
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totally different responses to Jesus, right?
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Okay, so the first one says to Jesus, are you
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not the Christ? Then save yourself and us. That's
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one of them. The other one says to him, do you
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not fear God? since you are under the same sentence
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of condemnation. And we indeed justly, for we
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are receiving the reward for our deeds. But this
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man has done nothing wrong." And then he turns
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to Jesus and he says, remember me, Jesus, when
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you come into your kingdom. This one over here
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is guilty of sin, but doesn't acknowledge it.
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This one over here is guilty of sin and acknowledges
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it. This one over here only fears death, but
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this one over here fears God. This one over here
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only wants off the cross, but this one over here,
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he is saved for all eternity. This one over here
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receives the promise of eternal judgment. This
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one over here receives the promise of a greater
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promised land of paradise. These two criminals
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represent people within the church. Those who
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know a thing or two about Jesus and those who
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know Jesus. Those who want to want to take from
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Jesus and those who want to give their hearts
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to Jesus. Friends, I know that we love the promises
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of God and we should, but we also need to heed
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the warnings of scripture, which is what this
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is all about. These Israelites in the wilderness
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they hardened their hearts and they went astray
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They ignored his ways and not because he failed
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to make himself known but because they Metaphorically
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speaking covered their ears to drown out the
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truth Think of the Israelites grumbling against
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God even though he had taken care of them in
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every single way Friends, as this is a very stern
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warning, we also need to be prepared to share
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this kind of a warning with one another. Look
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at verse 10 of chapter three, or verse 13, sorry.
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But exhort one another every day as long as it
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is called today, that none of you may be hardened
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by the deceitfulness of sin. Exhort one another
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every day. We have more than the Israelites in
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the wilderness had. We have more than they had
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for we have the very word of God in its completion.
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And we know from scripture that Jesus was struck
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and he was repeatedly beaten. He was placed up
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on a cross and he ultimately breathed his last
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for you. And we need to take this in. We need
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to preach the gospel to ourselves, but not just
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to ourselves, but to one another. Because verse
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13 is clear. This is talking about sharing it
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with one another. Today, if you hear his voice,
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that's what we can say to people. Today, if you
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hear his voice speaking in scripture, do not
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rebel against him. Do not harden your hearts.
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And so friends, we need to exhort one another
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here. But maybe you say, well, I don't know how
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to exhort. I don't even know what it means to
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exhort. One commentator may help us here. Exhorting
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can refer to encouraging, comforting, consoling,
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begging, entreating, imploring, admonishing,
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or persuading. And this commentator says, it
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means saying what we need to say in order to
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keep each other walking with Christ. And so let
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me ask you, what kind of lengths would you go
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to to help other people keep walking with Christ?
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Or let's actually flip it. What kind of lengths
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would you want others to go through for you?
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Anything and everything? Yes. And so do it. Do
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it. Remember Galatians 6 .1, brothers, if anyone
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is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual
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should restore him in spirit of gentleness. And
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friends, that verse is clear. This is not just
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the work of the pastor. And it's not just the
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work of the elders, and it's not just the work
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of the deacons, and it's not just the work of
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your Sunday school teacher or the wick or the
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men of the covenant. It is for everyone who is
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spiritual, everyone who has given their lives
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to Christ in faith. We are to look out for one
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another. It's to be done by us all. And those
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who do not persevere in faith, they will not
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enter his rest. and those who do not enter His
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rest will instead enter His judgment. Now two
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points because I want to be very clear on this.
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One, if you are in Christ there is no losing
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your salvation, okay? You cannot lose because
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Jesus loses none. But I also don't want to soften
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the warning. because only God truly knows our
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hearts. And so everyone in this sanctuary needs
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to listen. Are you resting in Christ for your
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salvation? We have already affirmed our faith
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using the shorter catechism. As it says, faith
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in Jesus Christ is a saving grace. whereby we
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receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation
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as He has offered to us in the gospel. Friends,
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God has always provided rest for those who trust
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in Him, and we have always needed it. Is there
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anything that you need more than rest? Anything.
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God knows that you need rest. And if you'll take
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yourselves all the way back to the Garden of
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Eden and to the covenant that God made, with
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Adam, the covenant of life, covenant of works,
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right? He was not to eat of the tree of the knowledge
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of good and evil. If he had not eaten of that
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tree, he would have been resting with God forever.
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But we know that he didn't do that. We know that
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he disobeyed. And then what happened? Life became
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hard. Work became hard, didn't it? And yet, even
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as hard as life is, God still provides rest.
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He has set aside one day in seven, namely the
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Lord's day, for resting in Christ. And think
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about what an incredible gift that is. And also
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think about what an incredible, what incredible
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evidence that is for the truthfulness of God's
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word. I don't know anybody who works off of an
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11 -day week. Do you? No. We all have a seven
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-day week, right? And yet, in that, God knows
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we need rest, and He provides a day for us to
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rest in Him to worship together, right? And this,
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has not gone by the wayside just because Jesus
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came. No, Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. And
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so will you keep the Sabbath today? I have a
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great way of keeping the Sabbath. Come back tonight.
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Come back and continue our worship this evening
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and also recognize that when we worship together
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on the Lord's Day, we are looking forward to
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eternal rest. Look at chapter four, verse eight.
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Chapter four, verse eight, as it begins to talk
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here about Joshua. For if Joshua had given them
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rest, God would not have spoken of another day
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later on. You see, even as Moses does not get
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to bring these Israelites who disobeyed, he doesn't
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get to bring them into the promised land, but
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another generation does get to enter and Joshua
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leads them. But even that is not the ultimate
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rest. It's not. The rest comes in Christ Jesus.
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I love what Douglas Kelly says here. One of the
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surprising things about the gospel is that Almighty
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God himself invites us into his rest. Most of
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us would probably give some money to someone
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suffering with a disease or a newly released
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prisoner, but we would be less likely to invite
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him to live in our homes. But that is precisely
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what Jesus does. He says, come unto me, all who
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are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you
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rest. He invites us into his rest. Now, you might
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say, well, how does God rest? We know that he
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neither slumbers nor sleeps. And so what are
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we talking about? Friends, it's much more than
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a nap. When God finished his creative work and
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he said that it was good, he stopped. Because
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it was referring to completion. He didn't stop
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creating because he was tired He stopped creating
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because it was finished and he saw that it was
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good Like a painter who is creating a work of
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art and then puts the paintbrush down. It is
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finished Rick Phillips says here the point here
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and it is a weighty one indeed is that the rest
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God offers to us in salvation is nothing less
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than the very rest He Himself has enjoyed since
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the completion of His creation work. Forever
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rest. And friends, as I begin to land the plane
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today, there's three words that I want you to
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take home with you today. Three words that we
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see throughout chapters three and four. The first
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one being one that I've said a bunch already,
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rest. resting in Christ. But that in Christ part
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is very important. Okay, because one of the most
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dangerous heresies that exists is to believe
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that somehow I can work my way into God's favor.
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And that is dangerous for three reasons. One,
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it's not what the Bible teaches. Two, it causes
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some to believe that they have done enough to
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please God. And three, it takes the glory of
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salvation off of Jesus. But look in chapter four,
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verse 10, very briefly, for whoever has entered
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God's rest has also rested from his works as
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God did from his. The question is, who is the
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whoever? And some very fine theologians, namely
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Jonathan Edwards and John Owen, have both said
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that the whoever is referring to Jesus because
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Jesus completed his work. He said on the cross
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what? It is finished. And so are you tired of
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striving into God's favor? Lay down your strivings
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and trust Him. And that leads me to the second
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word I want you to take home with you today,
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faith or belief. It's all over these two chapters.
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It's in 312, 319, 42, and 43. Friends, what is
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the condition for salvation? It's faith in Jesus
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Christ. who has accomplished what you could not.
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And then finally, the word today. You've seen
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the word today appear over and over again in
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these two chapters. Today, if you hear his voice,
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do not harden your hearts. Friends, not tomorrow,
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not next week, today. Today, repent of your sin
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by trusting in Christ because today is the day
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of salvation. Let's pray.