Jesus Will Bring You into His Rest

(Hebrews 3:1-4:16)



I. Introduction.
A. Orientation.

Were looking at some of the reasons

We should hold on to Jesus,

And not leave Him for this world

The same reasons the author to the Hebrews

Gave to these Jewish Christians

So they wouldnt go back to Judaism

To save their lives in this world

Only to lose them in the next.


You shouldnt leave Him because of who He is:

He is your Creator, and the One who holds you up.


He is the One who guides your life

Hes in control of everything that happens to you.

He also governs everything around you

So that everything that happens to you

Works together for your good (Rom. 8:28).


He sends His angels to minister to you

So that nothing can ultimately hurt you.


2
He even for a time

Became lower than the angels

He became a man

To taste death for you

So you wouldnt have to,

So you wouldnt have to be afraid of death.


And in doing so went through everything

You have to go through in life,

So that He could help you as you do.


Its hard to find anyone today

Who really loves us,

Who really cares for us.

Jesus loves you,

And He loves you more

Than anyone else ever could.

Could you really leave Him

For a world that pretends that it loves you

But that really wants to destroy you?


Could you leave Him

Knowing what would happen to you

If you did?

Hes the only One who can save you
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The only One who did what needed to be done

To free you from your sins.

If you dont hold onto Him,

God will judge you for your sins,

Just as He judged those

Who wouldnt listen to His prophets or angels,

Only more so,

Because He speaks to you now through His Son.


You must hold onto Jesus.

If you dont, your sins will destroy you.

But if you do,

He will save you,

He will bring you to heaven.


B. Preview.

How do we know that He can?

Because He entered into heaven

And in doing so,

Provided a door for you to go through

If you will only trust Him.

The author now goes on

To show us that Jesus can do

What even Moses couldnt:
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He can bring us into Gods rest.


Lets consider three things:

1. First, that Moses wasnt able to bring Gods people into His rest.

2. Second, what Moses couldnt do, one greater than Moses did.

3. Third, what you must do to enter that rest.

II. Sermon.
A. First, as great as Moses was,

He wasnt able to bring Gods people into His rest.


You do need to understand first of all,

That it wasnt his fault

It was the peoples fault.


The author will go on to show us later

That the problem with the Old Covenant

The covenant God made with Israel

Wasnt with that covenant

But with the people

They didnt want to do what God said.

They didnt want to keep His commandments.

They didnt trust Him.

And so He didnt care for them.

This was because

The Law written on stone tablets
5

Wasnt able to change their hearts

It couldnt give them the power to obey.


Moses did what God called him to do

By His grace.

He was a faithful servant

He obeyed God.

He went to Egypt,

He led the people out

Not without difficulty.

He brought them to the border of the Promised Land.

He sent the twelve spies as God commanded.


But when the spies returned,

The people listened to the ten

Who said they would not be able to possess it

They are too powerful for us

And more than our God can handle

And they refused to listen to the two

Who knowing their God,

Were fully convinced He could do it.


They hardened their hearts against God,

And so He vowed they would never enter His rest

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A rest that was purely of grace,

A rest they didnt deserve

Instead, God gave them something they did deserve

He sentenced them to wander

For forty years in the wilderness

Until they all died off.


Moses failed to bring them in,

But only because the people he led

Didnt have faith

They didnt trust God.


B. But the good news is,

What Moses failed to do,

One who was greater than Moses

Jesus

Did He brought His people into Gods rest.


Now we do need to understand first

What the author means by rest.


Hes not talking here about the land of promise.

That land was only a picture of the true rest

Of heaven,

Of the rest God enjoyed

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At end of Creation week (vv. 3-5)

It wasnt the true rest of God.


How do we know?

Because many years

After Joshua brought them into that land,

We see David still exhorting Gods people

To enter His rest (vv. 6-8),

Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked
Me . . .

If they were already enjoying Gods promised rest

David wouldnt have written this.


The true rest is heaven

Its the same rest God enjoyed

At the end of the Creation week,

The same rest Jesus entered

When His work was finished (4:10).


This is another reason

Jesus work was better than Moses,

What Moses did was merely a shadow

Of what Jesus was going to do

Jesus is the One who brings the reality,

He is the One

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And He has always been the only One

Who alone can bring us into heaven.


When Adam sinned,

He not only cut himself off from heaven,

He cut us off as well.

The Bible says that in a certain sense,

He destroyed the entire creation

It again became formless and void (Jer. 4:23).

He brought it under the curse of sin,

And you along with it.


But Jesus, through His work, redeemed the creation.

Thats why there will be a new heavens and earth,

Thats why when you trust Christ

You are called a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17),

Because you become part of the new creation in Christ.

What the first Adam destroyed,

The Second Adam restored.


And when He was finished,

When He rose again on the third day,

He entered into His rest

He entered into heaven itself

To finish the work of bringing you there
9

Through His mediation,

If you are trusting Him this morning.


Thats why there is still a heaven,

The place where all the redeemed will be gathered.


Thats why there is still the possibility

Of entering that rest

As David and the author to the Hebrews tell us.


Thats why there is still a Sabbath Day

If there was no rest for you to enter,

There would be no need for a picture

That points forward to that rest

The picture we enjoy every Lords Day

When we rest from our work,

When we separate ourselves from this world,

And gather together to worship

The Lord who redeemed us.


You can still enter Gods rest

You can still go to heaven

The door is still open,

Because of what Jesus did.


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C. Finally, what do you have to do

To enter that rest?


First, you have to trust Jesus to bring you in.

God wont accept you as you are.

Theres nothing you can do to make Him accept you.

Jesus is the only One

Who was able to enter His rest,

And the only One who can bring you in.

If you havent looked to Him

To forgive your sins

If you havent turned from your sins

And trusted Him to save you,

Thats where you need to start.


But having done that,

The struggle to enter has just begun.

You have to do

What the author encouraged his readers to do.


You must hold fast your confidence

And the boast of your hope firm until the end (v. 6).

This is the whole thrust of the authors sermon:

You must hold onto Jesus Christ.

You must not let go of Him,
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Not for fame,

Nor for fortune,

Not for anything or anyone in this world,

Not even to save your own life.

You must hold onto Him until death.


To do this,

You must guard your heart

From becoming hardened (v. 15)

To the things of the Lord.

The Jews Moses led out of Egypt

To the boundary of the Promised Land

Already had their issues.

But the final straw was when

They refused to listen to the two men

Who were telling them the truth about God and the Land.

They hardened their hearts and would not listen

They would not trust God,

And so He did not let them go in (vv. 7-11, 15-19).


You also need encouragement

From your brothers and sisters in Christ,

The encouragement that can only come

When you meet together for worship and Christian fellowship (v. 13).
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Youre not going to get this from the world.

The world will only throw water

On the fire of your love for God

Thats all it can do.

Worship and fellowship will add the kind of fuel

It needs to make it burn stronger.


You need to push forward toward heaven

And not fall away by doing the same thing those did

Who came out of Egypt led by Moses (v. 12).


The Lord hasnt left you to do it all on your own

He will help you.


He gave you His Word

To reveal His love for you,

To show you what Hes done for you,

To show you whats in your heart (4:12),

And how to overcome the sin thats there.

But you need to read it,

Every day,

In faith

You need to believe what it says

And you need to let it work on your heart

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Dont just stock your head with knowledge,

Let the Word stir up your heart for Him

So that you will hold onto Him.


Remember, He sees whats there

You cant fool Him,

So be honest with Him and with yourself (v. 13).


And finally, dont forget,

Whenever you need help,

There is One who stands ready

You have a great high Priest,

Who not only gave His life to save yours,

But who knows what youre going through,

Who is merciful,

And who is willing and able

To give you the grace you need

To enter into His rest (vv. 14-16).


He has made every provision for you.

If you turn from your sin and this world,

And trust Him,

He will bring you there. Amen.


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