Rest | Hebrews 4:10

INTRODUCTION

We human beings have made the world a very busy one. The increase in science, technology and AI has made life busier. We live in a culture which is demanding to be high-achieving and highly productive. And what is counterculture to a fast-paced life is – rest.

Have you ever tried to sleep to find some rest only to wake up still feeling exhausted? You see, sleep and rest are not the same thing. Sleep is only one part of rest. Many of us are going through life thinking we have rested but are chronically tired and burnt-out individuals.

Well today I want to speak to you on the subject of rest.

Main Theme: Rest is found in Christ: received by faith, enjoyed daily by the Spirit, and completed when He returns.

Hebrews 4:10

….for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.

1. Rest was REVEALED in Creation

God’s rest shows completion, satisfaction, and fellowship.

I want to pause here and go back to the early pictures of what God called, “the day of rest.”

Genesis 1, in the beginning the earth was formless and empty. Then God created the heavens and the earth and finally creates man on the 6^th day. In Genesis, each day has morning and evening but on the 7^th day is not closed with ‘morning and evening,’ God stopped and rested.

Genesis 2:1-2

¹Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

²By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. ³Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy (day is set apart), because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Creation is brought to its completion on the 7^th day and God rested. The 7^th day in creation was a day of rest where God’s presence filled his creation. God’s good world and human existence was supposed to flourish in the day of rest.

But in Genesis 3, the humans are deceived and go back into the chaos, in sin to work as slaves to the land. God wants to restore humanity back to that 7^th day rest. So he chooses to give the family of Israel the experience of that ultimate rest, so they can share it with others. But they are in Egypt, slaves to an oppressive empire who is grinding them into hard work and no rest. So God confronts Egypt and liberates the Israelites, taking them through the wildness to the promised land. But while in the wilderness God invites them to live in rest as if they are in the promised land.

How do you practice the future rest in the wilderness?

God tells them that every 7^th day they are to stop their work, rest from their work, or in Hebrew the Sabbath, so that they can rest and enjoy God’s good world. They are to live as if the ultimate rest has already come.

Exodus 20:9-11

⁹Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. ¹¹For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Israel was not even given manna on the 7^th day. They were to prepare the manna from the 6^th day and use it for the 7^th day.

7 is connected to the idea of fullness or completeness in Biblical Hebrew

• God rested on the 7^th day.

• Now God ask the Israelites to rest on the 7^th day, Sabbath.

• Remember the Year of Jubilee is also a multiple of 7 where their slaves will be liberated and loans forgiven by creditors and lands restored.

So the sabbath is holy, a complete day which point back to the Garden of Eden of completeness and point forward the hope of future rest that God would provide. But they enjoyed the rest enroute in the wilderness enroute the Promised Land.

2. Rest was EXPERIENCED as a Sign

The Sabbath gave Israel a weekly foretaste of God’s promised rest.

Exodus 31:12

Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹³“Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.

God gave the Sabbath for a sign. A sign is not an end in itself. It points us to something of far greater importance. The sabbath is a sign for the rest God was preparing for Israel in the Promised Land.

ILLUSTRATION

Imagine you are on a road trip from Bangalore to Goa. You have been driving for hours down the NH48, navigating the Western Ghats. Finally, as you cross the border, you spot a massive highway sign reading, “Welcome to Goa.”

Do you park your car, take a quick selfie with the signboard and declare, “Wow, the vacation is complete. I am in Goa?” Of course not! The sign is thrilling to see, but you do not settle there. It is merely a pointer. The sign points to something.

The purpose of the Sabbath is to point Israel:

The Sabbath was a sign that Israel belonged to the Lord and that the Lord was the One who sanctified them.

To the rest they will enjoy in the Promise Land, back to the 7^th day God’s rest for his creation.

The sign also pointed us to a Messiah who will them complete rest.

3. Rest was SPOILED by Unbelief

Israel failed to enter and enjoy rest because of unbelief, rebellion, and disobedience.

In Numbers 13, Israel send 12 spies to the Promised Land.

Ten spies come back with a negative report

Numbers 13:27-28

²⁷They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. ²⁸But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.

Joshua & Caleb:

Numbers 14:6-8

⁶Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes ⁷and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. ⁸If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us

God said, “This wicked generation will meet their end in the wildness, but only Joshua and Caleb will be able to enter the rest in the Promised Land.”

Hebrews 3:11

¹¹So I declared on oath in my anger,

‘They shall never enter my rest.’”

Hebrews 3:16-17

¹⁶Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? ¹⁷And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? ¹⁸And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? ¹⁹So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

Only Joshua and Caleb from the unbelieving wilderness generation entered the promised Land, along with the new generation.

The New Generation in the Promised Land Distorted the rest.

Now, when the Israelites went into the land, they forgot their God. So, they forfeit their chance to rest in the promised land.

Isaiah 1:13

¹³Stop bringing meaningless offerings!

Your incense is detestable to me.

New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—

I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.

Isaiah 58:13-14

³“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath

and from doing as you please on my holy day,

(If you stop labouring, you stop following your own plans on the Sabbath)

if you call the Sabbath a delight

and the Lord’s holy day honorable,

and if you honor it by not going your own way

and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,

¹⁴then you will find your joy in the Lord….,

Israel desecrated the rest in God and trust in God in the Promised Land. As a result, the people of Israel are exiled and enslaved again by an oppressive nations, led back into a world of chaos and disorder.

Rest Promised by the Prophets

But, Israel’s prophets said that their exile will end one day and that the ultimate jubilee of freedom and rest would come.

The Promised Land was not the ultimate rest

Hebrews 4:8-9

⁸For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. ⁹There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God;

Canaan was real rest, but not final rest. It was a shadow, a foretaste, and a signpost pointing forward to the greater rest fulfilled in Christ. But generations go by and they are still waiting. It is at this dark point in the story that Jesus appears. And he launches his public mission on a Sabbath day.

Yeah, he read aloud from the scroll of Isaiah and read: “This is the year of the Lord’s favour? What did Jesus mean? He was saying that it was time for all captives and slaves to be released because this was the year of the Lord’s favour. He was talking of the ultimate jubilee. So, Jesus is claiming that seventh-day rest would come through him. Jesus comes as the fulfilment of the sign of Sabbath.

4. Rest is TRULY Found in Christ

Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, giver of soul-rest, and the One who brings final rest.

In Matthew 12, Jesus is with His disciples. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

Matthew 12:6-8

⁶I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.

⁸For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Then he goes on and liberates a man with a shrivelled hand on the sabbath day, bringing rest and restoration to a human facing the consequences of the fall.

If the Sabbath was a sign, and if the Promised Land was a foretaste, and if Israel’s history shows us the danger of unbelief, then the question is this: Where is true rest finally found?

The answer of Scripture is clear: true rest is found in Jesus Christ.

Jesus does not merely teach about rest. Jesus gives rest. Jesus does not merely point us to rest. Jesus is the One to whom all the signs of rest were pointing.

Matthew 11:28-29

²⁸“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

The Rest Jesus Offers

Now we come to the heart of the matter.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Notice carefully: Jesus does not first say, “Come to religion.” He does not say, “Come to more rules.” He does not say, “Come and prove yourself.” He says, “Come to me.”

The deepest rest of the human soul is not found in a lighter schedule, a better job, a quiet holiday, or even a peaceful home. All these are gifts, but they are not ultimate rest. The deepest rest of the soul is found in Christ Himself.

A. Jesus Offers Rest for the Guilty Soul

The first rest Jesus offers is spiritual rest: Rest from guilt, condemnation, self-righteousness, and the endless burden of trying to make ourselves acceptable before God.

Matthew 11:28

²⁸“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

You know this is an imperative. He’s saying, “Hurry.” Don’t hesitate. Don’t wait any longer.

And notice who He’s inviting to come: All who may have grown weary carrying a heavy load.

Man’s greatest burden is the burden of sin. We are all sinners before a holy God. On the cross, Jesus carried the deepest burden we could never carry — the burden of our sin. He bore our guilt. He took our judgment. He fulfilled the righteousness we failed to fulfill. He cried out, “It is finished.” That means the work of redemption is complete.

So the gospel is not, “Work harder and maybe God will accept you.” The gospel is, “Christ has finished the work; therefore, come to Him and rest.”

Romans 5:1

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

This is the first and deepest rest: peace with God. But when a sinner comes to Christ by faith, he receives rest. Not because his work is finished, but because Christ’s work is finished.

B. Jesus Offers Rest for the Weary Believer Today

Now, You may have come to Jesus for your salvation, and many in this room have. This is your eternal rest. But can I ask you another question? What about your daily rest? Rest for your weary soul. Jesus does not only give rest at the beginning of the Christian life. He gives rest for the daily journey of the Christian life.

“Come unto me, all ye that labor, you’re heavy laden.” “Take my yoke upon you.”

Now remember, a yoke is something that’s going to actually bind you, join you together with another. It’s this, in visual terms, it’s this wooden beam that is going to allow two oxen to be hitched up together, yoked together.

What is it that you are right now bound to?

Is it your job? A challenging situation? Is it your reputation? Are you bound to your image, your success? Maybe it’s pressure from others that you have to live up to, or could it be some kind of self-imposed expectation?

Have you hitched your wagon to these unfulfilling and unsatisfying, wearying burdens, which never lighten your load, but they only add to it? Jesus simply says, “Come and try My yoke on you.” “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

But we must also understand something: Rest is not only spiritual, it is also holistic.

6 Types of Rest:

Many of us think we are resting because we are sleeping, but sleep and rest are not the same thing. Sleep is only one part of rest. We can sleep for eight hours and still wake up exhausted because other parts of our lives are drained.

And even in very practical terms:

Good rest includes:

• Healthy sleep— not too little, not too much.

• Balanced/timely food — not overeating, not neglecting the body.

• Physical exercise – which God has designed to strengthen and refresh us.

These are not replacements for Christ. These are gifts from Christ. We do not trust in these things instead of Jesus. We receive them as part of His care for us.

So resting in Christ does not mean neglecting your body or ignoring your limits. It means trusting Him enough to live wisely with what He has given you.

We rest in Him spiritually, and we steward our lives practically. This is the rest Jesus gives for today.

C. Jesus Offers Final Rest When He Returns

But Hebrews 4 also tells us that there is a future rest still waiting for the people of God.

Hebrews 4:9

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God.

This means that the rest we experience now is real, but it is not yet complete. We have rest for our souls now, but we still live in a fallen world.

We still face sickness, weakness, temptation, grief, death. Our bodies still get tired. Our minds still become anxious. Our hearts still become heavy. Creation itself is still groaning.

This is important. Christian hope is not merely that our souls will rest somewhere away from creation. Christian hope is the resurrection of the body and the renewal of all things when Christ returns. When Jesus comes again, He will not only give rest to the soul. He will give rest to the whole person.

The body that becomes tired will be raised in glory.

The mind that battles anxiety will know perfect peace.

The heart that carries grief will be fully comforted.

The believer who struggles against sin will be completely holy.

The church that suffers now will reign with Christ.

Revelation 21:4

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.

That is final rest.

So Hebrews gives us both promise and warning.

The promise is: Rest remains.

The warning is: Do not miss it through unbelief like the Israelites in the wilderness.

Hebrews 4:7

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

Israel heard the promise, saw the works of God, tasted deliverance from Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, received manna from heaven, and still failed to enter because of unbelief. That is a serious warning for us.

It is possible to hear sermons and remain hard. It is possible to sing songs and remain unbelieving. It is possible to attend church and still refuse the rest Christ offers. It is possible to know about Jesus and yet not rest in Jesus. So today, the call of God is clear.

Do not harden your heart. Come to Christ. Receive His finished work. Take His yoke. Walk by His Spirit. Wait for His return. Rest in the strength of Another.

CONCLUSION

Today Jesus is inviting all of us to come to His rest now.

ILLUSTRATION

Imagine an exhausted little toddler who has been running at a hundred miles an hour… I mean, there’s so much energy. There’s so much going on. There’s so much he doesn’t want to miss out on. He’s just going, going, going. And you can tell the kid is exhausted, but he won’t stop. He just keeps going. He doesn’t want to miss out on something. “I got to do the next thing, the next thing.” But you can tell, he can’t keep up this pace forever.

And then finally, he usually has this meltdown. You know, he just, he blows up, and he’s crying, and he can’t stop. And then there’s something about a dad or a mom that picks this kid up, and the kid,—have you ever watched him cry so much that they just cried themselves out? And finally, have you ever watched this kid take his head, turn it a little bit, and tuck it right in the shoulder? And then he’s being completely cared for, supported, held up, resting in the arms of the one who’s got him. A cessation from his own labours, a ceasing of his own striving. And you and I can look at that, and we can say, “Ah, rest.” A baby in the arms of a parent who is at rest.

There’s something that we understand that is beautiful. In fact, sometimes we use the expression, “Oh, wow, sleeping like a baby.” You know, you and I have the invitation from the only One who has the means to make it good. He says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden.” You’ve been running around 100 miles an hour. He’s not saying you’re going to cease from any activity. He’s just saying, “Would you come jump into My arms? Here, take My yoke upon you. Learn of Me.” How do I want you to proceed? How would I approach this? Here’s My strength to carry this burden. Here’s My ability to carry this load. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Why? Because “my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”