The Promised Rest For God's People
Hebrews 4:1-13
- What is your favorite way to spend a Sunday afternoon?
Scripture Graphics
Hebrews 4 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. 2 For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, 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. 4 For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” 5 And again in this passage he said,
“They shall not enter my rest.”
6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, 7 again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.
11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
- God is ... What do we learn about God in this passage?
- We are ... What do we learn about people in this passage?
- What is the author warning his readers about from the story of Israel's rebellion? What "message" (v. 2) was given each community (see Exodus 3:7; Numbers 14:7-9)? With the reception and results? Why is "hearing" not enough?
- What is the "rest" promised by God: The promised land? Sunday off? Heaven? God's presence? How do verses 3b-10 support your answer?
- What is the proper response to the warning in verses 1 and 11?
- What does it mean that God's Word is "living"? Active? That it penetrates? How has the author used the "Word of God" thus far?
- How would you explain the "promised rest" to someone who is not a Christian? What situation today would make this type of exhortation necessary?
- What efforts (v. 11) can help you enter into God's rest (see Mathew 11:28-30; John 6:27-29)?
- What evidence do you have that the Word of God is living and active in your life?
- I will ... What has the Holy Spirit revealed to us in this passage? How can I apply it to my life this week?
- You can ... Who do you know who needs to hear this? Feel free to share with others by social media links at the bottom of this.
Word Study: Nephesh - "Soul"
I Want To Rest
If we were to poll all of the people whose hearts have become hardened, how many of them do you suppose would already be aware of that condition in themselves? My suspicion is not many. How does this happen, that the very people of God begin to ignore His voice? Could we believe ourselves to be generally “good guys” and thus rarely stop for self-examination? Do we water down the truth of God’s exaltation of Jesus? Do we demand to still be spoon-fed truth, when we could and should be out there using it to teach and nourish others?
I’m sure that you, like me, very much look forward to times of rest. There’s nothing like a good rest after work well done. After a long workout. After finals. After completing all the chores in the house after it looked like a sharknado has come through. And at the end of my (hopefully long and active) life, I. Want. To. Rest.
Lord, protect and warn me from places where my heart could grow hard and keep me from your rest!
Written By Elizabeth McElroy
Staff Member, Oklahoma Christian University
7 Signs God Is Trying To Grab Your Attention
How do you know when God’s is trying to
get your attention?
Your
Friends Confront You
Your real
friends will tell you the truth, and it’s not always what you want to hear,
but the proverbs teach, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an
enemy” (Prov 27:6), so sometimes God
will send friends into your life who are trying to get your attention over
something you’re doing. If a friend sees a friend living in sin and says nothing,
then that person is not really their friend.
The Word Convicts You
Students of
the Bible know that “the word of God is living and
active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and
of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions
of the heart” (Heb 4:12), and that the Word
of God exposes us all as guilty before God. Nothing is hidden from Him (Heb
4:13), so if you read some Bible verses that really convict you deeply, God may
be trying to tell you something, and using His own written Word to do it.
Whatever it was that convicted you may be what God’s trying to get your attention for.
Financial Storm
Every one
has times of their lives when they encounter storms. Sometimes we don’t even see them
coming and we’re blindsided, but other times we see it coming, but we’re still
helpless to do anything about it. Is that you? Is God using a financial
difficulty to get your attention? Have you not been giving to others…or to
even, anyone? Maybe it’s something else. Getting near the bottom dollar is
scary. That will get your attention.
A Lack of Peace
I heard one
man who was thinking about going on a missionary trip to South America. He was
prepared, well equipped, and had raised all the funds necessary (as
missionaries sometimes do), but as he got closer to departure, he didn’t have peace
about it. He couldn’t explain it, but he knew he wasn’t supposed to go on this
trip. He ends up not going, and his wife falls terribly ill. If he had left, he
would have left behind his spouse who was not gravely ill. When you don’t have
peace about something, it may be God telling you, “No,” “Wait” or “I’ve got something
better.”
A Damascus Road
Sometimes it
takes a “Damascus Road” experience to knock us on the ground and put temporary
limits on us, like Jesus did Saul. Saul was blinded for three days until he
could finally see, and you know that must have gotten Saul’s attention. Saul
was later renamed Paul, because Saul means “destroyer,” which he was for a time
with the church, but now, having had to be humbled by the blinding light of
Jesus’ Shekinah glory, he would have to depend on others for a time. God may
not send a “Damascus Road” encounter, but that encounter can look like any
number of different things (DUI, Jail, Prison, Cancer, etc.).
BONUS CONTENT
A Divine Appointment
I remember a
prisoner who our church ministers to and he was really down because he was sent
from a county jail to a state prison and he couldn’t figure out why God was doing
this. It was only later when I came to visit him that we both saw what God was
doing. He had allowed this man to go to a state prison so that I could visit
him and then later, the entire prison allowed us to minister to all who sought counsel
or biblical guidance. The prison even allowed me to preach to the inmates, so
when this man’s apparent evil sent him to a prison, and neither of us could
understand, it was only later that we saw God wanted us to go into this prison
as we’re commanded to do (Matt 25:36). God was trying to get the gospel into
the prison but He had to use another means for us to enter, so what looked like
a bad thing for this inmate brought much good to those who may have never heard
the gospel preached (Gen 50:20).
Death
How can the
death of a person be used by God to get someone’s attention? The fact is, when I
presided over a funeral and told them that they would never see their loved
ones again unless they repent and believe, a few came up to me after the
service and ask me about what I said. The person who was laid to rest had
trusted in Christ and so I told them that Jesus said, even if a person dies,
they will live again (John 11:25-26), so their only hope of seeing their loved
one again was if they put their trust in Christ. Then, not even death can
separate them from the love of God (Rom 8:37-39). For believers, the death of a
family member or friend is not goodbye but “See you later,” however for the person who rejects Christ,
that is the last time they will ever see their loved one because they will be
with the Lord and the lost person will forever be cut off from God.
Conclusion
Hopefully
God won’t have to take such drastic measures to get my attention but He must
do it if I keep ignoring Him. Living in sin will bring God’s discipline, but
it’s a discipline that is motivated out of love and not anger. Any parent who
loves their child will prove their love by disciplining them, and so when we
see that God is trying to get our attention, we had better take notice,
otherwise, God might shake our life up a little more until we fall on our
knees. If I keep praying and reading the Bible every day, it may help, but
don’t forget about your friends who love you, and in their love, they seem
concerned about something you’re doing. Friends are born for such adversity
(Prov 17:17).
May God richly
bless you,
Pastor Jack Wellman
💁🙏
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