God’s Rest Found in God’s Promises

Text: Hebrews 4:1-16

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Hebrews 4:1-16

Jonah Albrecht
22nd Sunday After Trinity
October 20th, 2024
Hebrews 4:1-16
God’s Rest Found in God’s Promises

Now to Him, who has loved us and washed us in His own blood and called us to be kings and priests, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever, Amen.

In the Name of Jesus, who grants us the Father’s rest through His work on the cross, dear fellow redeemed:

I’d like to paint a picture for you this morning: Imagine that you are running the Marathon des Sables (day sable) that runs across Morocco and the Saraha Desert. This is something you have trained for your whole life; you are in the best shape of your life. A grueling 7-day journey totaling nearly 160 miles in which you run in a self-contained fashion, carrying your own supplies of food, clothing, sleeping bag, compass, portable stove and emergency kit with a signal flare within your backpack, whereas water was supplied at race checkpoint stations.

Starting out you are on a good pace and even find yourself in fourth place at one point. But on the fourth and longest leg of the race, an 8-hour sandstorm clouded your vision. Instead of remaining in place, you decide to continue to push forward assuming you are still on the trail. By the time the sandstorm clears, you realize that you have lost the trail, lost the other runners, and are all alone in the vast expanse of the Saraha Desert.

This was the reality for Mauro Prosperi, a former police officer who ran the Marathon in 1994. For 8 days Prosperi was lost in the desert as he had wandered 180 miles off track and crossed the border into Algeria. By the grace of God, he was found by goat herders and survived the ordeal, and was able to return home.
There is a point to this long story. Like Mr. Prosperi who wandered aimlessly through the desert, we wander in our own spiritual deserts when we fail to trust in God’s promises. It is only entering God’s rest by faith that we are able to find peace and grace to help in time of need. Today we will consider the theme: God’s Rest Found in God’s Promises.

The Bible spends a lot of time talking about rest. From the very beginning when God rested from His work of Creation, to the very end when John reveals the beauty of eternal rest in heaven. Our sermon text this morning discusses we enter God’s rest, but also how easy it is to fall short of it.

What is the rest that we so desperately need? God’s rest that is talked about here is something that is only truly understood by faith. Take the Sabbath Day as instituted in the Old Testament. The Sabbath day was meant to be a day where the Children of Israel rested from their physical labors to restore their souls and hear the teaching of God’s Word. This, however, became twisted by the Pharisees into another work performed by man rather than God’s blessing to them. They failed to understand the purpose of the Sabbath because they lacked faith.
What about the rest Joshua had given the people?

Joshua 21:44-45 says, 44 And the LORD gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the LORD had given all their enemies into their hands. 45 Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.
The Lord had fulfilled His promises and given them rest from all their wandering in the desert, from their enemies in the Promised Land. But what happened to this rest? The people did not hold on to their faith in God’s promises. Instead, they left the pagan nations around them, intermarried with them, fell into idolatry, and eventually they lost possession of that promised land. Not even 1,000 years later, the kingdom of Judah would come under the thumb of the Babylonian empire, never to regain their independence.

In both of these instances, the Children of Israel had God’s rest in their possession. . .but they lost it. What happened? 2In fact, we have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did. But the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united in faith with those who did listen. 6Therefore, since it is still the case that some do enter this rest, and yet those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not enter because of disobedience, 7God again set a certain day, namely, “today,” when he later said through David, as quoted before: Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.

In short, they lacked faith. They disobeyed God. Rather than continuing to trust in, they looked to what the paganism around them could offer. They traded eternal rest and joy for the momentary pleasures and desires of the world. They could hear the gospel for years on end, which they did, but it would do them no good because they did not have faith to believe it.

There is a strong lesson that we need to learn from this. We too have been blessed to receive the Gospel in the Word of God. But, like the Israelites we are in danger of losing God’s rest. We are faced with sandstorms of temptation and beautiful mirages that serve only to drive us off the trail of God’s rest. There is only one way for you to stay on the trail and that is by your own faith. You cannot ride on the curtails of your parents, your wife or husband, brother or sister, or whomever it might be. The faith of another is not able to get you into God’s rest.

12For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates even to the point of dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, even being able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart. 13And there is no creature hidden from him, but everything is uncovered and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we will give an account.

We must all pass before the judgment throne of God and give account for our words and actions. He will use His Word, the Law to pierce through any concept of self-righteousness. Even the sharpest sword needs perfect circumstances in order to pierce through the joint and reach the marrow inside the bone. The Word of God is more powerful than that. Not one single sin, hidden in the deepest recesses of my soul can escape the glaring judgment of the Law of God. You and I will stand before God completely exposed. What will the verdict be?

Without an intercessor, there is no opportunity for faith, there is no rest. That is what the Law reveals about us.
As deep as the Word of God cuts into our hearts and souls with the Law, it also reaches with the Gospel to restore and heal by providing us with that Intercessor. 14Therefore, since we have a great high priest, who has gone through the heavens, namely, Jesus the Son of God, let us continue to hold on to our confession. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin.

This is the Gospel Promise: God has provided that intercessor for you. The high priest was the go-between between God and the children of Israel. Only he could go into the most holy place and live, but even then, only once a year and under very strict regulations. Just cutting one corner would result in death. For that reason, the only one who can stand firm between sinful man and God is the one who passed through the Heavens. The One who is true God and took on human flesh. Jesus, the Son of God.

Do we always remember how incredible the love of our God is? Jesus owed us nothing, we owed Him everything. And yet, He still wanted to step into your history and mine to take our sinfulness, disobedience, and failure to trust on Himself. What if a total stranger had found Mauro Prosperi, took his place being lost in the desert, and gave Prosperi a free ticket to his home. That would be incredible and make the news across the world.
What Jesus has done for every person on this earth far surpasses that hypothetical in love and magnitude. In the first place, because Jesus actually died for your sins. He has established a confession by which you and all believers enter that Sabbath rest of God. What is that confession? Take your pick: You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God (Matthew 16:16). Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God (1 John 4:15). Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us (Romans 8:34).

Your confession is the truth of God’s Word that you hold onto by faith; the faith that God has created in your heart. This faith holds onto Jesus for dear life, the author and finisher of your faith. Every time you go to God in prayer, it is that faith, clinging to Jesus to find that mercy for the forgiveness of your sins and the grace to grant your requests according to the will of God. Faith is the assurance that Jesus walks with you always. Whether you are lost in a sandstorm of sin or failure; or whether you have found yourself living a lie; there is mercy and grace for you. Through your Savior, you can approach God’s throne without doubt without fear because He stands with you.

Amen is a term that is often used at the end of sermons. We have also used the word a few times earlier in the service and we’ll close the service with the same. Why? What significance is in Amen? Amen literally means, Yes, or It is True. When Amen is used, it means that you are affirming to everything just said.
When Amen is used today, remember what you are agreeing to: You are affirming that the promises God makes in His Word are meant for you. Because they are meant for you, He will bring them to pass for you. Most importantly, it means that God’s promise of a rest for His people is a guarantee. You do not have to be afraid that you might fall short. The righteousness of Jesus Christ covers all of your sin.

More than that, you do not have to wait until eternity to enter God’s rest. He gives you a rest right here, right now. That rest is the peace of mind knowing that Jesus loves you and offers you His continual protection and forgiveness completely free of charge. God’s Rest is secured for you. Thank you, Jesus, Amen.