Labor to Enter Rest – Heb 4:11
September 1, 2024
salvation, forgiveness, confession, repentance… all simple in Christ…
Acts 10:43… “everyone who believes in Him… receives forgiveness of sins…”
Acts 16:30-31… “believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved…”
Acts 26:20… “I preached that they should change their mind and turn to God…”
2Cor 11:3… “fear, you be deceived… minds corrupted from simplicity in Christ…”
1John 1:9… “if we say the same thing; agree with… He is faithful to forgive…”
etp struggles with that… tradition is powerful… don’t let it void scripture…
Mark 7:1-15… “ignore word of God, hold to tradition… nullify word by tradition…”
akyroo… render void, deprive of force and authority; cancel; make of no effect…
John 8:31-32… “if you continue in My word… know truth… truth set you free…”
oxymoron… figure of speech in which contradictory terms are combined… kinda like when we rest on Labor Day… actually, that’s quite biblical…
Heb 4:10-11… “rest from your own works… let us labor then, to enter that rest…”
grace and faith are partners… amazing together… not as amazing apart…
Rom 1:5… “we have received grace… to bring about the obedience of faith…”
Rom 4:16… “that is why promise is by faith… so it may be according to grace…”
Rom 5:2… “obtained access thru Him by faith into this grace…”
Eph 2:8-10… “saved by grace thru faith… not from yourselves… gift, not from works…”
1Tim 1:14… “grace overflowed… along with faith and love… that are in Christ…”
gospel is true whether you believe or not… but you won’t receive benefits and blessings unless you believe it… if you don’t believe you’re forgiven, you won’t walk in forgiveness… if you don’t believe you’re holy and righteous, you’ll become frustrated… waste time and energy trying to become holy and righteous…
2Cor 5:21… “He became sin… we become the righteousness of God in Christ…”
Titus 2:11-12… “grace teaches us… to turn from sin… live righteous and godly…”
Heb 4:2… “gospel preached… did them no good… wasn’t mixed with belief…”
faith doesn’t make God do anything… doesn’t get Him to forgive us… doesn’t make things real that weren’t real to begin with… faith makes them real to you…
Acts 13:39; Rom 8:1; 10:11… “everyone who believes in Him is freed from all guilt… no condemnation for those in Christ… believers never put to shame…”
2Pet 1:3… “everything required for life… found in the knowledge of Him…”
how’s that fit with Labor Day… faith is rest, not work… faith is a noun, not a verb… faith is going to a place where you’re persuaded that God is who He says He is… has done what He said He’s done… and will do what He’s promised to do…
Num 23:19… “God is not a man, that He might lie… does He promise and not fulfill…”
2Cor 1:20… “all of God’s promises are yes in Him… that’s why we say amen…”
Heb 6:17-18… “promise… guaranteed with oath… impossible for God to lie…”
faith is being fully persuaded… when you are fully persuaded… you can rest… issue
is settled… mind is made up… heart is at ease… either God is faithful or not…
Psa 16:7-11… “the Lord guides me… set the Lord always before me… I will not be shaken… no wonder my heart is glad and I rejoice… my body rests securely…”
Rom 4:20-21… “didn’t waver thru unbelief… fully persuaded that God promised…”
2Tim 2:13… “if we are faithless… He remains faithful… cannot deny Himself…”
when you gaze at goodness of God… faith and rest come easily… unbelief is much harder… unbelief is work… takes real effort to not see the goodness of God…
Job 12… “animals, birds, earth, fish all know… wisdom is found in God…”
Psa 19… “heavens declare the goodness of God… day after day they pour out…”
Rom 1:18-32… “people suppress the truth… what can be known about God is
evident… clearly seen… they knew God, but wouldn’t worship… became fools…”
unbelief is not passive… it’ actively hardening your heart to God’s goodness… it’s resisting HS and clinging to worthless idols… keeps us out of heaven…
Matt 12:31… “every sin can be forgiven… except blasphemy against the HS…”
Acts 7:51… “you stiff-necked people… you are always resisting the HS…”
Acts 14:15… “proclaiming good news… turn from these worthless idols to God…”
Acts 19:9… “some became hardened… would not believe… slandering the Way…”
Heb 10:26… “deliberately go on in unbelief… no longer a sacrifice for sins…”
look at how the NT describes unbelief… and how Jesus describes unbelievers… unbelief is restlessness… wandering in search of what God has already provided…
Matt 7:23… “depart from Me… you evildoers and workers of iniquity…”
John 3:36… “one who believes has life… one who rejects will not see life…”
Acts 13:46… “reject the Word and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life…”
2Thess 2:12… “those who did not believe truth… delighted in wickedness…”
Heb 3:7-19… “do not harden your hearts… watch out so there won’t be an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from God… they were unable to enter His rest because of unbelief…”
Heb 10:29… “trampled on the Son… regarded as ordinary the blood of NC…”
Jude 1:4… “ungodly say grace allows us to live immoral lives… denied Jesus…”
rest doesn’t mean we don’t do anything… rest is HS-inspired activity… rest from dead works… trying to earn God’s favor, righteousness, holiness, forgiveness…
Matt 11:28-30… “are you tired, worn out, burned out on religion… come to Me… get away with Me… recover your life… I’ll show you real rest… learn unforced rhythms of grace…”
Heb 4:10-11… “we who believe have entered the rest… person who has entered His rest has rested from his own works, just as God did from His… make every effort to enter that rest…”
Heb 6:1-2… “not laying a foundation of repentance from dead works…”
Heb 9:14… “blood of Christ… cleanses our consciences from dead works…”
issue is not what you do, but what you believe… action follows belief… identity leads to behavior… true rest and work comes from who you trust… you or God…
Gen 3… “did God really say… you will not die… you will be like God…”
Exo 19:8… “we will do all the Lord has spoken…”
Prov 3:5-6… “trust in the Lord… do not rely on your own understanding…”
2Cor 3:5… “do nothing of lasting value on our own… only success from God…”
when troubles come… do you try or trust… work or rest… not how can I fix this…
but how is HS leading me… believe Word… focus on Jesus… enjoy rest…
Job 1-3… “sacrificed for his children regularly… what I feared has happened…”
Isa 30:15… “in rest you shall be victorious… trust shall be your strength…”
Matt 8:23-27… “violent storm arose… Jesus kept sleeping… why are you afraid…”
Gal 5:24-26… “let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives…”