An Invitation to Enter into God’s Rest

St. John’s United Church of Christ
Greeley, Colorado
August 11, 2024
Rev. Juvenal Cervantes

“Who am I becoming?” That was the question nagging pastor and author John Mark Comer. Outwardly, he appeared successful. But inwardly, things weren’t pretty. So, he turned to a trusted mentor for guidance and heard these words:

“Ruthlessly eliminate hurry and worry from your life. Hurry and worry are the great enemies of the spiritual life. Find rest in Christ.”

It wasn’t the response he expected, but it was—and continues to be—the answer he needs. Too often we treat the symptoms of toxicity in our modern world instead of trying to pinpoint the cause. A growing number of voices are pointing at hurry, or busyness, as a root of much evil.

There is a need for soulful, gospel rest. There is a reason we cannot stop and the reason is within us, it starts in the heart. And you don’t have to be physically busy in your day, rushing from here to there, to have your mind mentally racing, always running, never arriving.

Are you living your life this way, always running, never arriving?  We know we need physical rest to live, its why sleep deprivation is a form of torture. We can’t live that way and so the Lord calls us to stop. He calls us to slow down. And what we’re going to learn today, in part, is how do we rest? We’re holistic people, our bodies need rest, our soul, our heart needs rest.

In Hebrews chapter four we learn that rest comes from remembering, it leads to rejoicing and it allows for reflecting.

Rest comes from remembering. Now, one of the reasons it is difficult to preach through the book of Hebrews is that the audience was the converted Jewish people. We do not have the background knowledge that they had so we have to stop and explain the passage. Whereas the recipients of this letter were Jewish folk who understood clearly what the writer was saying. They got it, it was common knowledge to them, when the writer referenced the Old Testament. The writer of Hebrew is harkening back to their collective memory, which a lot of us have adopted. The people of Israel, as described in Exodus, wandered in the desert, and he is reminding them that the lack of faith is the result of an evil, unbelieving heart. The hardening of the heart and deceitfulness of sin.

Unbelief is not a small thing before God who says trust me. So, he is drawing from Exodus, and Psalm 95

Hebrews 4:1

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

Hebrews 4:2

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.

In this passage, the writer is talking about three rest: the past, the future and the present rest. Primarily, he is talking about a future rest to come. But here he is talking about the past rest of the people of God. He is using the analogy of future rest and then how we can experi3ence this present rest.

The past rest we see in chapter three, people entering the promise land, there were giants in the land, they were afraid, they knew that God had promised them the promised land, but they did not go in. Disbelief kept them, a lack of faith and God vowed they would never enter it. That’s what happens when we do not believe.

Why is it that we can never stop? Why is it that we’re always running, never arriving? Because we’re not remembering what God has done in our lives, if we are a believer. We have forgotten that we’ve been justified already, not through our works, not through our own efforts, not through trying to please everyone around you, running around non-stop.

Why are we anxious? Because we have forgotten who we are. My friends, all of the Christian life is about remaining in him. We need to be aware how much God loves us, that we’re covered in His righteousness; we’re fully forgiven, totally loved by you, that’s who we are.

Nothing that’s said or done by us is the truest thing about us. The truest thing that that God loves us and we’re to remain in Him. Not that we’ll lose our salvation, you have salvation. You don’t achieve it, you receive it. That’s where rest begins. That’s why you can’t stop and your mind can’t stop.

There is a past rest that the writer is pointing to that result in this present rest. Then look at this, there is a future rest and this is the rest that still stands, the future rest that is to come. My friends, even in a small group like ours today, perhaps not everyone has received this rest that comes though faith.

We will never stop running until we find our rest in Him and this comes as we place our faith in Him. This future rest is an eternal rest is the new heaven and the new earth, for all eternity. Christ will remake all things when He comes again and between the past and the future there is a current rest that we can live in.

Jesus brings a better rest. Look at verse 3:

For we who have believed enter that rest, (we have believed and we have rest in God, now watch this, this is God’s reaction to disbelief. Disbelief has consequences, disbelief is met by the wrath of God) as he has said,

“As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest,’”

The God of Love, and yes, the God wrath tell us that we will suffer the consequences if we’re not covered in His righteousness. We will be on our own, exposed by our own self-righteousness. Rest comes to those who have received, this is the eternal rest.

Verse three continues,

although his works were finished from the foundation of the world (God did his part before the foundation of the world).

For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works” (that’s Genesis 2:2). (Hebrews 4:3-4).

Now look at these converging analogies. This rest theme goes back to Genesis, God rested on the Sabbath. Now God did not rest because He is tired, God rested because He paused to rejoice in what He had created, “This is all very good!”

So, he is combining all there three aspects of the past, the future, the present. Now that we have experienced what god has done, he brings this fourth analogy: Creation. God establishes rest and it is implemented in the law, Exodus 20.

This is one of the ten commandments: God says stop, stop. Psalms 46:10 says, “Cease striving and know that I am God.”

For some of us, the most holy thing that we can do today is to go home and take a nap.

Tuesday afternoon, the most holy thing that you can do is to step away from it all and remember how much God loves you.

There is a way to live the Sabbath, it is instituted in law and then Jesus comes and he says, “That’s the sabbath that was made for men, made for us.” Then Jesus comes and in Mark 27 he says, “I am the Lord of the Sabbath.” Meaning, he is Lord of all, He is talking to the Pharisees and he says, “I’ll determine how to institute the sabbath. Because there is a sabbath way beyond one day, way beyond the one command is scripture, it is found in me, I am the Lord of the Sabbath.”

All of this, the past faith, the future faith, the current faith is all entered in by faith, by trusting in the finished work of Christ.

Look at verse five:

And again in this passage he said,
“They shall not enter my rest.”

Verse 6:

“Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience,”

Verse 7:

again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,

Again, he appoints a date on the calendar for this rest. He set a date on the calendar for you and for me: Today is the day of salvation.

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”

My friend, I’m pleading this morning, “If you do not know the Lord Jesus, I am pleading with you, do no hardened your heart.

Some folks say, “I’m trying with belief” and I get this. There comes a point when you say, “I’m tired of justifying myself, of trying to be good enough, I can’t rest and even when I rest, my mind cannot stop, I am anxious.”

You will never find rest until you find it in Jesus and today is the day of salvation.

I want to commend you for being in worship today. Next Sunday, if you’re in town and if you are able, don’t let anything keep you from coming to church. We need to remember what God had done, we need to rejoice and we need to reflect. Some of us come to church burdened with the cares of life, we may feel disappointed, depressed, hopeless and we think “I can’t do it anymore.” Then we hear someone next to us sing and rejoice and hope begins to flourish, excitement begins to show up in our life, we feel strength once again. O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. This is God’s invitation to us.