JESUS -Provides Rest - Studies in the Book of Hebrews #2

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Text: Hebrews 3&4

We are continuing this morning with our series on the first Sunday of each month to look at this great book known as Hebrews. The entire book you will recall focuses in on the claim of Jesus that He is the way, the truth and the life and that no-one can get to the Father except through Him!
Last month we looked at chapters 1&2 and saw that Jesus is the one person that God speaks through today and that through His death a great salvation has been offered to mankind and we are called upon not to neglect it (2:14,15)!

Today I want us to look at chapters 3 & 4 and basically the message of these two chapters is that if we remain faithful to Jesus He will give us what we so desperately want: rest!
My father retired on Friday from 36 years of being a stationary engineer! Though, he has retired there is still a lot of work for him to do! Many of us long for the day when we can retire from all labor and even better yet, all stressful living!
The Hebrew writer tells us how it's going to take place!
  1. 3:1-6! Remember that Jesus is the best of the best!
    He is better than the old prophets of the Old Testament and He is better than the angels.
    Now, the writer goes to a very dear spot in the Jewish Christians heart! Jesus is better than Moses!
    The writer begins by calling on his readers to focus their attention on Jesus! He calls him two things that we don't normally consider him as:
    the Apostle and High Priest of our confession!
    Our confession basically is that God sent His Son to die for our sins and that Son is Jesus Christ!
    Jesus is the Apostle then- he was sent by God for that very thing- John 3:16,17 & John 17:4. We are to focus on Him!
    We are to focus on how He was sent by God and completed His work and now our faith is tied into that! The writer says both Jesus & Moses were faithful, but Jesus is deserving of more glory, why?
    Moses was a servant, but Jesus built the house!
    John 17:5, 8:58!
    The writer now gets to the great promises- we are that house- if we hold fast to our confidence & rejoicing of the hope!
    What is that?
    Jesus is the Messiah!
    We can't shrink back from that confession! Matt.13:20,21
  2. vs.7-14- Do we have the confidence in Jesus?
    The writer now urges us to not tempt or test God the Father! He quotes from Psalms 95:7-11 but read vs.7-9!
    Israel in the old days tested God! How did they test God?
    Exodus 17:1-7- they wanted water and asked if God was really among them!
    Imagine after seeing all they did, they challenged God to provide for their needs! So, God was not pleased but He still proved Himself to them for 40 years!
    God will always prove Himself, but He is not to be tested but trusted!
    Matthew 4:7!
    We today are to stand guard against such a false move!
    How are we to encourage people?
    Reminding each other that the promise of Jesus Christ is true!
  3. Vs.16-19- Who was disqualified from the land of promise?
    -rebellious. - those who sinned. - thhose who did not obey.
    This all amounts to unbelief!
    What does it mean to have a true faith?
    It means you will follow God in obedience!
  4. 4:1-11- the wonderful promise of rest! We long for rest!
    So often we feel like David in Psalms 55:4-8! That's what we long for isn't it?
    I want to be done with stress, fear, struggles, hurts, discouragement, and work!
    I need rest!
    Isa.40:1- yet, we don't feel very comforted. Matt.11:28- come unto me..rest! Yet, we don't seem to have much rest.
    So, we are told in vs.1 that while there are great blessings to living the Christian life, the life of no more unrest is still in the future. John 16:33.
    What is the future for the people of God?
    Vs.3- we will enter the rest if we believe. Vs.4- God worked and rested afterwards. Why?
    His work was finished. Vs.6- some must enter that rest. Vs.8- final rest was not the land of Canaan. Vs.9- there remains a rest for the people of God. This word is different than just inactivity, but this means a rest of attainment or accomplishment, a retirement from a finished work. We will share in the rest of God! (vs.10)
    God will say to us after our work is over on this earth, come Home my children and enter into My rest! All struggles, all effort, all tears, all pain, all hurts, all discouragement will fly away and we will rest.
    What are we to do?
    Don't fall into unbelief. The road gets so hard and long, don't fall into the belief it won't come!
    God will see who is truly believing and who is not!(11-13)
  5. 14-16- a beautiful passage of scripture- Jesus is a superior Priest!
    He died for our sins, he rose again from the grave, he ascended into the heavens with God and when this was done he entered into heaven with God and atonement was made complete. (chapter 9:12)
    Salvation is guaranteed because Jesus lives in heaven and intercedes on our behalf. What can this heavenly priest do?
    He sympathizes with our weaknesses (moral & physical) and we can approach his throne of grace and receive grace and mercy!
    We don't get what we deserve and we get what we don't deserve and He helps us in this time when we need it.
My friends, there is a sweet rest that awaits every child of God who remains faithful to the call of Jesus Christ!
Don't you want to live in a land of no tears, no pain, no sickness, no dying, and no hard labor?
Then come to Jesus the way he says to come…

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