October 21 Sermon: A Great High Priest

Consider these questions as we look at Hebrews 4:

1. How does the concept of rest, both physical and spiritual, play a significant role in our lives? Can you relate to the need for rest in your own life, and how do you prioritize it?

2. In what ways does the Sabbath rest in the Old Testament serve as a foreshadowing of a greater rest to come? How does the author of Hebrews emphasize the significance of Jesus as the fulfillment of this rest?

3. Hebrews warns against turning away from the rest offered in Christ, paralleling it to the unfaithfulness of the Israelites in the wilderness. How does this serve as a cautionary reminder for us as believers? How can we maintain our trust in Christ's deliverance and remain faithful?

Transcript:

Rest is something that is not only needed but it is something that is greatly desired.  From a personal stand point we can all really relate to the need for it.  Even when we believe that we can work all the time our bodies will let us know that we are delusional if we think that we can work all the time and go without rest.‌

As many of you know, I worked at Toys R Us as a manager for several years.  From the middle of November until Christmas Eve I would work and work and work.  Nearly every year my Christmas Day was miserable.  I was sick or something else was wrong with me.  We are inherently designed for rest.  In fact, the created order has been designed this way.  There is something distinctly Biblical about our seven day week.  Work six days and a sabbath rest.  This is so inherently Biblical that during the time of the French revolution when they tried to do away with all religious order one of the things that they did was enact a ten day week.  Nine days of work and one of rest.  You can imagine that this didn't go over very well.  People inherently need rest and they had to wait another three days to get it.‌

As we have seen before in our journey through scripture together, this Sabbath rest is not just about a law to keep every week.  Throughout the Old Testament the idea of Sabbath rest is pointing to something greater.  In their day they were looking for a rest in the Promised Land where they would be where God had promised them to be.  A rest from slavery and wandering and a rest from war.  In essence, a return to the Garden of Eden.  But even when the people came into the Promised Land the rest did not last as it was supposed to.  The people turned from God and were once again slaves and wanderers.  And so we see that the Sabbath rest spoken of is pointing to something greater.  It is pointing to a time when the Messiah would come and truly give them rest and how one day he would give his people a Sabbath rest for eternity.‌

This is the theme that we find as we dive into our New Testament lesson this morning in the book of Hebrews.  Over the course of the next several weeks we will find ourselves in Hebrews a few times and so it is really important for us to look at is going on in this book as it helps us to really understand what the book is about.‌

Hebrews, as the name suggests, is written to Hebrew people.  The descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  The people whose ancestors came out of the land of Egypt and walked through the Red Sea on dry land.  The people who looked to the Messiah for generations upon generation.  This book is written to these people because this group of Christians who are Jewish is seeing the persecution that is going on in the church and they are wondering what is going on and there is a temptation for them.  Just go back to what we believed before and all of this persecution will be over.  You can understand why that would be tempting and so the author of the book of Hebrews writes to let them know how Jesus is so much better than going back to the rites and rituals they have followed in the past.  He is the fulfillment of all that they have been looking for and so why would you go back to the types and shadows of sacrifices and priests when you have the real thing in Jesus. In other words, Jesus isn’t just a part of the story of the Bible and the story of redemption, he is the point of the whole thing.‌

This is what is operating in the background as you read through the book of Hebrews and when you read the book with that in mind it opens up the book for us.‌

So, as we come to chapter 4 we see that the author of Hebrews is bringing us back to the idea of Sabbath rest.‌

As this passage starts for us today the point we see coming out is that the Israelites in the wilderness were offered a rest in the promised land. The same thing has been offered now in Jesus Christ.  Even though they had the message though there was a problem.  We are told that the promise did not benefit them.  Not because the promise of God was not good or sufficient but because there was a lack of unity of faith.  What is being said here is that the wilderness generation was not faithful.  And we know this.  Just think back on the things that highlight the story of the Exodus.  The golden calf.  Pretty big sign of unfaithfulness.  Constant grumbling about the conditions were signs that they did not trust God and what he would provide. And even though they were at the edge of the Promised Land they didn’t believe that God would deliver them into it. This was a rebellious people. We see here in Hebrews that these people did not have faith in God to deliver them and that is what they are being pointed to now. ‌‌

The main idea here is to show us that there were those who did not enter the rest but now there is a greater rest that is here. As it says “we who have believed have entered that rest” but others did not. As we saw before the issue was that they did not have faith. They saw what was put before them and instead of trusting that God could win the victory they wanted to go back to the slavery that he had rescued them from.‌

What this verse is saying is that even though God rested on the seventh day in a past, historical event he still says that people won’t enter it. In other words, the idea of rest is not a past thing it is a future thing too. It is something that God grants to his people as a gift of his grace. We have been given his rest but we have also been promised a future rest.‌‌

You can see this so clearly in the way Joshua is talked about. Joshua brought the people into the Promised Land and yet they spoke of another day. Another Sabbath rest.‌

To really boil down what is being said here is that there is more than the land here. The rest that God promised was not about simply being in a physical tract of land in the Middle East. It wasn’t about defeating the enemies and being in charge. It was about a true rest where God has won the victory for his people over all time.‌

It was at this point in the writing of this sermon that I stepped away and didn’t come back to it for a day or so. In that time, I really contemplated what the idea of Sabbath rest means for us. This idea of Sabbath rest is so significant and yet I don’t think we really grasp it. This passage wants us to really get down to what this means for us as Christians. It points us to the Sabbath rest on the seventh day of the creation week and it points to the idea that Joshua led the people into the Promised Land. Yet, as I said before the point is what God has done for us in Christ and we can so easily miss this.‌

I believe that when this topic usually comes up we want to hear one or two things. We either want a clear outline or checklist of what we can or can’t do on the Lord’s Day or we want a free pass to do whatever we want. I think that’s natural but on both sides of the equation we miss completely what resting on the Lord’s Day is all about. As we think about this idea of Sabbath being more than being about land or a day of rest, we see that this truly and deeply relates to us as believers under the new covenant. What we are doing here each week is living in hope. We are practicing coming into the presence of God through his word by the power of the Spirit and we are resting in the mercy and grace of God that will one day bring us to our true Sabbath rest in the new heavens and the new earth. Lord’s Day worship is so much more than a rally to get us aligned to go out and do good things in the world or to give us the strength to make it through another week. We gather because we really trust that God has given us rest. We have been set free from sin. Christ gives us victory and we can truly rest from trying to earn salvation on our own through our works. We come into the presence of God by the Spirit and we rest in the mercy and grace of our Go.‌‌

You can see this here in verses nine and ten. The people of God are looking forward to a true Sabbath rest where their labors have ended. A time where we enter the true Promised Land of the new heavens and the new earth for eternity. Where we no longer feel the sting and pain of the curse in the present age but instead what the Bible calls the age to come is fully realized and every tear has been wiped from our eyes. True freedom from toil and struggle.‌

​The author of Hebrews points us to live looking forward to that rest. To keep our eyes on it and to hold fast to it. Let’s not forget what the context is of this statement here. He has been talking about a people who entered a Sabbath rest in the Promised Land. Joshua, by the hand of God, took possession of the Promised Land but they did not remain there. This book has been written to Hebrew people and they are being reminded of the history of their people to show them what not to do. This verse is saying, they had it but they rejected it. They turned their backs on the God who had miraculously brought them into the land and they went after pagan gods. The book of Hebrews is saying you have been brought into a Sabbath rest through Jesus Christ. Don’t turn your back. Don’t do what your ancestors did. Trust in Jesus.‌

For the word of God tells of their unfaithfulness and we are told that it will show unfaithfulness and expose it. It will show that God is the true judge and our thought and attitudes are in rebellion to him. The word exposes that God knows these things about us and we must not turn away from Christ as those who ran after foreign gods. Instead we must know that God’s word will show us that we must keep the faith and trust his deliverance.‌

The word of God can cut us through. This is a really powerful way of describing it but it is really true. It exposes that we are sinners. That can be a painful realization but let’s think about it. The people of God who turned away and rejected the God who had brought them into the Promised Land. They had seen the mighty hand of God. Of those who turned away there would have been those who saw the walls of Jericho fall down. Someone who saw the sun stand still for them to defeat their enemies went off and worshipped false, pagan gods. For just a second let that sink in. They desired something other than the God who had brought them deliverance and they saw who he was and what he had done with their own eyes.‌

I don’t know about you but this cuts me deep. If they can turn away from God do I have what it takes to remain faithful. Their hearts went after what they wanted instead of remaining faithful to God. Can I stand firm? The clear answer here in Hebrews 4 is yes.

To do this we must not stand on our own but instead on our crucified savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. In the beginning chapters of Hebrews we read that in the past there was a high priest who was fallen and sinful like us. This priest had to offer sacrifices for the people but also for himself because he was a sinner too. But now there is Christ. He was without sin and offered himself as the sacrifice for our sin. At the cross he took on the wrath of God for us. The author of Hebrews sees this as an astronomical change in the way we view God and ourselves.‌

We can remain and trust that God will bring us to true sabbath rest because our sins have been paid for. This is how these people who are looking at going back to the sacrificial system of the old testament are told to remain in the faith. Know that Jesus has done everything for you and it is so much better than rites and rituals and it is so much better than trying to save yourself. Trust in Jesus. Look to him.‌

These three verses are familiar to us. You have heard them as our call to confession recently. I paraphrase verse 16 in the congregational prayer on a regular basis. They are foundational to who we are in Jesus Christ. While this book was written for Hebrews telling them to resist going back to the Old Covenant rituals this still really and truly applies to us here and now. While there is no longer the temptation of temple worship and sacrifices we can be tempted to think that we need something more to really experience God or to have some kind of blessing. Some ladder we need to climb. But the beautiful truth of the gospel is that Jesus has done this for us. We have access to God because of his saving work for us. The division between us and God has ended because of him. The war with God is over and we have peace and rest in Jesus Christ.‌

That is how we are called to live our lives and each week we gather here to be reminded of this foundational truth. We have rest in Christ and one day we will have eternal rest in him. We worship God each week as a small foretaste of that truth. May the confidence we have through Jesus give you rest and assure you of the sure promise of his salvation and Sabbath rest.