Hebrews 4:8-11 Modern English Version
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have later spoken of another day. 9 Therefore a rest remains for the people of God. 10 For whoever enters His rest will also cease from his own works, as God did from His. 11 Let us labor therefore to enter that rest, lest anyone fall by the same pattern of unbelief.
The Word of God for the People of God
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
The Christian life from beginning to end is to be a life of faith and dependence on God and His grace provisions for us in Christ.
The fallen world we live in and the flesh undermines dependence on God making us think we are sufficient of ourselves.
The flesh is that indwelling spiritual principle, inclination, or force in all of us to operate out of our own provisions independent of God to meet our needs.
Living by the flesh is the opposite of trust in God. It is a spirit of independence and faith in self. Christians are not only saved by faith but are to live by faith.
Our faith allows us to depend on the power of God’s indwelling Spirit and our new nature to live in this fallen world (Galatians 5:17).
Galatians 5:16-18 The Message
16-18 My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are contrary to each other, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?
Real faith is a rest where you are not struggling, frustrated, or anxious, but trusting in the finished work of God for man (which is His grace).
Christian’s rest comes out of the concepts of the Sabbath rest introduced in the Old Testament keeping in mind it was only a shadow of good things to come.
The reality would come with Jesus.
It is resting in faith based on a finished work like God’s Creation Rest (God ceased from His work Genesis 2:2,3), an advance provision made (rest on the seventh day because the Lord gave the bread of two days on the sixth day Exodus 16:23-30), and a defeated enemy (Joshua 21:43-45) all made available due to Jesus’ work in redemption.
It is not the potential of a Sabbath day of rest, but a Sabbath life of rest.
In the Sabbath under law, man was to cease from his own work for one day in seven.
In the Sabbath under grace, Believer is to cease from his own work, constantly, as he wholly yields to Jesus’ finished work in redemption every day Ephesians 1:7.
He is to rest in the advance provision of God who has already blessed us in advance with all spiritual blessings in Christ Ephesians 1:3.
He is to rest because our enemy has been defeated Colossians 2:15.
The Sabbath rest under grace is a life delivered from all works of the flesh, self-effort, struggle, striving, and free from every dependence on the flesh.
No burden was allowed to be borne on the Sabbath day under the law.
Under grace, every burden is to be cast on the Lord every day, producing a burden-free life.
The Sabbath of the law was a day of “rest for self.”
The Sabbath of grace is a life of “rest from self.”
It is a life lived to the praise and glory of another, which is Jesus and the work He did.
In Hebrews chapters 3 and 4 the writer declares five different times that the time to hear God’s voice is “Today” (Hebrews 3:7, 13, 15; 4:7 twice).
Why warn us of the dangers of unbelief and missing God’s rest if it not a possibility?
This potential rest is not entered into by being passive and it is not automatic as we can see from the following exhortations and warnings:
- God’s grace must be entered into (Hebrews 4:9, 10).
- God’s grace can be frustrated (Galatians 2:21).
- We can come short of God’s grace (Hebrews 4:1).
- We can fall from or fail God’s grace (Hebrews 12:15 and Galatians 5:4).
- We must labor to enter into this rest (Hebrews 4:11; labor – Grk. “spoudazo” to make effort, give diligence, study; translated “study” in 2 Timothy 2:15).
The years Israel spent in the wilderness were a time of testing.
Would they learn to trust in God to provide for their every need?
Unfortunately, they often grumbled against Moses, God’s appointed leader.
They complained, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” (Exodus 17:3).
They continued to quarrel with one another to the point where they began to doubt whether God was with them at all (Exodus 17:7).
They became so angry that Moses began to fear for his life (Exodus 17:4).
Reflecting later on that experience, the psalmist wrote,
“Today, if only you would hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did … in the wilderness” (Psalm 95:7-8).
The writer of Hebrews wants us to know “Today” is still the day of God’s grace!
Don’t follow the example of the people in the wilderness whose hearts were hardened.
Enter into the Sabbath rest God has for you.
Salvation is not found through our own efforts or our own work.
We can rest because Jesus has won salvation for us through his sacrifice on the cross. We don’t need to bring anything to God other than our need for mercy.
What is the meaning of Hebrews 4 9?
The Sabbath in Hebrews
“’The Sabbath rest that remains for the people of God‘ (Heb 4:9)
is not only a physical cessation from work to commemorate God’s perfect creation but also a spiritual entering into God’s rest (Heb 4:10) made possible through Christ’s complete redemption.
How do I enter into God’s rest?
Trusting God means we give up worrying, reasoning, and anxiety and we enter into His rest with simple childlike faith—we live by grace through faith!
Mark 10:13-16 Modern English Version
Little Children Blessed
13 They brought young children to Him, that He might touch them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, He was very displeased and said to them, “Allow the little children to come to Me, and do not forbid them, for of such is the kingdom of God. 15 Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall not enter it.” 16 And He took them up in His arms, put His hands on them, and blessed them.
What does Mark 10 14 mean?
The kingdom is open to those who come humbly with no illusions that they belong there. Here, Jesus says that leaders in His ministry must not only accept the powerless, they must recognize that they are powerless, as well.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God!
In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit …..
Praying …..
Psalm 16
A Miktam of David.
1 Preserve me, O God,
for in You I take refuge.
2 I have said to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
my welfare has no existence outside of You.”
3 For the holy ones who are in the land,
they are the majestic ones; in them is all my delight.
4 Those who chase after other gods,
their sorrows will be multiplied;
their drink offerings of blood I will not offer,
nor lift their names on my lips.
5 The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup;
You support my lot.
6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
yes, an inheritance is beautiful for me.
7 I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel;
my affections also instruct me in the night seasons.
8 I have set the Lord always before me;
because He is at my right hand,
I will not be moved.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;
my flesh also will rest in security.
10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,
nor will You suffer Your godly one to see corruption.
11 You will make known to me the path of life;
in Your presence is fullness of joy;
at Your right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 