SUNDAY 12/4/16 Heb 4: 1-16
A Redemptive Relationship With God Restores Us To Rest (Heb. 4: 1-16)
- Heb 4: 11 Key Verse: “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
- Heb 4: 1 (Rest Still Remains) the Promise of entering his rest still stands.
- It remains because God/Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Heb 13:8)
- The Heart of Unbelief Rebels & Resist God’s Rest (Heb 3: 12-14 & 16-19)
- Heb 4: 1 let us fear lest any of us fail to reach & remain in rest.
- Heb 4: 2: The same Good News came and comes, but it must be mixed with faith in the listener / the listeners must receive it with faith.
- Heb 4: 14-16 Our Faithful High Priest Christ Gives Us the Redemption and Walks with Us Today, So We Can be High Achievers Who Overcome by not striving but by abiding in a rest that allows God to use us to do incredibly active things..
Key Verse ” Heb. 4: 11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. God explains there are 2 contrasting ways to respond in our Christian walk 1) is “Rest”; the other 2) is disobedience.
Heb 4:12-13 – For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
- God explains that when the Word of God has done its work in us we our Christian walk is characterized by rest. So God’s work produces in us the capacity to rest.
- God models this rest when He created for 7 days and the rested. He rested “over” what He created. he did not walk away from, nor abandon it. He did not detach Himself from it. He arranged things so they would replenish and rejuvenate themselves, but God did not go to sleep and rest in a way that detaches Himself from it.
- Thus we are “in” the world (fully engaged, doing our jobs well, understanding what’s happening here), though we are not “of” the world – meaning we are analyzing and responding to it with th Biblical value system that God gives us, which is of His Heavenly world/Kingdom.
- The rest God wants us to have is a Godly posture and attitude, as we conduct ourselves by carrying His message and work while we are “in” but not “of this world.
The rest God wants us to have as we walk in the Spirit is in contrast to
- The carnal/human effort of the works’ system the Scries and Pharisees prescribed for people.
- There are Pharisaical tendencies within each of us. We all make up or have rules or interpret Bible verses in a legalistic way that overshadows our primary relationship with God – as we think within ourselves, “Boy, am I something, keeping this rule or provision of scripture.
- We actually may be misinterpreting scripture, but are self-deceived into believing we are right with God by doing so. Is not this the basis of false doctrine upon which enormous religious institutions are built? Doctrinal error is what all false religions are built on. Doctrinal error is that which man prescribed in the name of religion which directly conflicts with what the bible literally says. They may justify violating the literal word by saying, “Well the Bible is spiritual.” That phrase is a subtle deceit to entice people away from adhering to that the literal Word says – and entire denominations and religions are constructed from these man-made interpretations (as opposed to Bible Scripture confirmed interpretations that weigh one scripture against others).
- Those who are so deceived are operating in a mode we call “Our will for as opposed to doing Gods work God’s way.
Disobedience = Resisting Rest Heb. 4: 12Rest = a Relaxing Trust
If we are not resting we are walking in disobedience.
- Disobedience is an outgrowth of unbelief. Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief
In this verse “unbelief
- is a heart problem
- is like a cancer that spreads
- is a little mistake
- evil
Evil = “poneros” “malignant evil that causes labor, pain, sorrow”
from the heart which is the seat of reasoning power, moral nature and spiritual life,
Knowing Christ Correctly = Resting in Grace Gal 3: 24
Galatians 3:24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith [in Christ].
God responds to our faith in Christ by giving us grace.
no Christ = No grace.
know Christ = Know grace and walk in rest.
To know is to enter into relationship with God by believing
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Rom 10:9 “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Once saved, God’s goal is for us to enter into a deeper relationship of rest in Him, trusting His work to complete in us all He wills to do. Phil 1:6 I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus
A Relationship with Christ Conveys Character that Exceeds the Conduct of the Law Heb 3: 6
Heb 3:6 … Christ, as God’s Son showed us Godly Character which He elevated Above the Law In the Sermon on the Mount in Matt 5 & Luke 6
- Mt 5:11-12 & Lk 6:22-23 Explains what we can expect by keeping 10 Cmds 1-4 11“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
- Mt 5:21-22 & Lk 6:27-29 Explains how we exceed 10 Cmd 6 to display how Mercy Mitigates Murder 21“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brotherc will be liable to judgment; whoever insultsd his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the helle of fire.
- Mt 5:27-29 Explains how we exceed 10 Cmd 6 x27“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.
- Lk 5:29-30 shows us how to exceed Cmd 8, for instead of stealing we are empowered to not withhold our tunicb from one who takes away our cloak, and. 30Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.
- Luke 6:35-36 All acids are exceeded when we prove we are sons of the Most High, by 35… loving our enemies, and doing good, and lending, expecting nothing in return,- and your reward will be great, …for our God and role model is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
- Luke 6:37- 38 37“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
CHRIST REDEEMS SOCIETY BY Giving Us the Opportunity to be Transformed into His Image
The deeper message of Christmas is that “Once the incarnate word is in us, everything changes.” This is the hope expressed in Luke 2: 22-38, when Jesus is prophesied over when He is brought to be dedicated in the temple.
Christ our Faithful high priest leads us To incredible service in which we can participate if we walk in the Rest of his Redemption
Heb. 4:15-16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
- All Christians have times of NEED. We’re in denial if we say this is not true.
- Our need means we continually need to receive God’s mercy. Mercy is to not receive what we deserve.
- We also continually “need” God’s grace grace. Grace is getting what we don’t deserve. G-R-A-C-E = God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense
- Grace gets us Out-Of-The- BOX of works that confines us and others in the restrictions of our pasts. In Christ, people can change so rapidly that you may not recognize them from one month to another. The mistakes they last year are now far removed from them, but we keep trying to respond to them as if they are that old creator. If you know someone who only knows the new creature we are in Christ, and you speak negatively about that other person, responding from your outdated information of the past, people look at you as if you are a crazy trouble maker, because the new creature is resting in a new way, while you are responding to something that most people today never knew existed.
- God’s Holy Spirit works by developing within us more and more “Faith [that] comes by hearing the Word of Christ, which Heb 4: 12-13 tells us cuts sharper and deeper.
- It completely cuts open the boxes we are in, so we experience 2 Cor 5:17 … Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
To view the recorded message, go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V54FuKT99b0