Mom, Rest in Jesus
Hebrews: Jesus is Greater 2022-2023 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
Introduction
Dr. G. Campbell Morgan was a renowned pastor and author in the 19th and 20th centuries in London as well as Los Angeles. As a young boy, his parents taught him about the Bible and Jesus Christ. At the age of 10 he heard Dwight L. Moody preach the Gospel and at age 13 he preached his first sermon. At 23 he felt called to preach the Word and this is what he devoted the rest of his life to do. He was contemporaries with the likes of Charles Spurgeon and Martyn Lloyd-Jones and was a respected preacher who stood on the authority of God’s Word and presented the Gospel clearly with a call to respond. Morgan married and he and his wife had 4 sons, all 4 became pastors. Years later after the boys were in ministry, they came home for a family reunion of sorts and a family friend asked one of the boys this question, “Who is the best Bible teacher in the family?” Without hesitation, the son said it is his mother. Praise the Lord for godly parents who raise their children up in the fear and admonition of the Lord!
Sadly, our society doesn’t view this as an important task. Our society prides itself in fluidity, feelings, and fueling busyness day after day. In this strange world, we don’t know where to look and we don’t know how to rest. We don’t know how to train up a child because we ourselves are tempted to look in all the wrong places for answers and satisfaction. What do we need to succeed in such a fallen place? We need the shining light of the Gospel. We need the good news that Jesus alone provides. We need the peace and rest and hope and grace that Jesus promises to His people. We need to know God’s Word in order to teach God’s Word to ourselves and those around us. This morning, yes, we celebrate Mother’s Day as a family and we give thanks to God for godly mothers, but this morning as we remind ourselves every Lord’s Day, we need to be reminded of the Gospel and our need for a Savior because only Jesus will provide us with the rest that our hearts truly need.
If you have a copy of God’s Word, turn in your Bible to Hebrews 10 as we unpack Hebrews 10:11-18 this morning and fix our eyes on King Jesus and the forgiveness He brings.
11 Every priest stands day after day ministering and offering the same sacrifices time after time, which can never take away sins.
12 But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.
13 He is now waiting until his enemies are made his footstool.
14 For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are sanctified.
15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. For after he says:
16 This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, the Lord says, I will put my laws on their hearts and write them on their minds,
17 and I will never again remember their sins and their lawless acts.
18 Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.
In a world that is obsessed with going, going, and going, we see in Hebrews 10 that there is a better option before us today. We can be still and rest with confidence in what Jesus Christ has done. His work is finished. His sacrifice still saves. His blood still speaks. His cross still forgives. The most important thing that we need individually, as a family, and as a church body is to experience the forgiveness and salvation that Jesus alone offers. This morning, let’s pray that Jesus would help us experience rest in Him.
Rest in Jesus Because He Makes Us Perfect (11-14)
Rest in Jesus Because He Makes Us Perfect (11-14)
What does the word perfect mean? Most of the time we toss that word around, we do so and we mean it subjectively. We eat or drink something and we say, “That was perfect - it was exactly what I wanted!” Someone else could come and eat or drink the same thing and feel the opposite and not really like it all that much. We’ll do the same thing with people. We’ll elevate some people to idolatrous levels and say this person is perfect but someone else comes around and thinks differently of the same person. Is there such a thing as an objectively perfect thing? We know that in the world of school there is! Say you’re taking a test and you get every question correctly, you get a 100% or a “Perfect” score! You can’t do better than perfect. Not, your version of perfect, but objectively perfect. That’s quite a lofty standard - some people think very highly of themselves and those they love, but how well do we really measure up to this standard of perfection?
10 as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one.
5 The boastful cannot stand in your sight; you hate all evildoers.
So we’re in trouble from the onset here this morning. We have a problem - each one of us. Whether we’re 5 or 95, the Bible shares with us that we are not righteous. We are sinners. We have dropped the ball over and over again and we keep on dropping the ball and falling short of the mark. Do you know what the definition of insanity is? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. We, sometimes, act a little insane whenever we try to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results. The problem here in the book of Hebrews is that the people have sinned against God and sin requires sacrifice and you have these priests offering sacrifice after sacrifice and the work is never done because there’s always more sin that requires more sacrifices to be offered. Yet, even these sacrifices don’t solve the root of the problem. They don’t make people perfect. They don’t take away sin. They just cover up the problem. This is a bad situation and we equated it a few weeks ago to having dirty clothes.
You get married and as newlyweds you adjust to doing laundry for 2 people rather than just 1. For whatever reason, though, whenever you go from 2 to 3, the laundry triples. There’s always dirty clothes and the way that you get them clean is to do laundry. Now, for a period of time this works out… but then those clothes get dirty again because kids get dirty… then there’s more laundry and it seems like this work will never end. Why do things work this way? Because we just get dirty as people. The Bible shares that this is our reality spiritually as well as physically. We get dirty. We sin. We fall short. Therefore, something has to be done. The problem we face is that we can’t fix our dirtyness ourselves. We need outside help here. We’re not perfect just the way we are… we have a stain of sin that we can’t get rid of. That’s why these priests always were standing and working. But what about Jesus? He’s seated. His work is done. In fact, He’s waiting instead of working… that’s impossible, right Mom’s? There’s always more work to do. For some of you, there’s always a dirty diaper to change. There’s always laundry to do. There’s always a lesson to learn and teach. There’s always more work because the work never seems to stop. Where can we find rest in such a world? Not in ourselves - that’s for sure! Instead, we find rest in the finished and completed work of Jesus as verse 14 tells us, Jesus perfects forever those who are sanctified. That’s what each one of us need.
21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Spurgeon once shared that Christians stand before God as if they were Christ because Christ stood before God as if He were us. Therefore, we have rest and salvation because of Jesus Christ! In Jesus, that work is finished. There’s no more dirty laundry - sin has been dealt with. There’s no more dirty diapers - the punishment of sin is paid in full. There’s no more heartache or sorrow or suffering or sleeplessness - in Jesus, we have peace and rest that will last for all eternity.
Martin Luther, “There is nothing more sanctifying than marriage.” Try raising a child and having to put your self to death day after day after day in order to help your child grow and thrive. For one to live, it seems as though the other must die. Where is the good news and hope in that message? By ourselves, there is no hope there. There is no rest because there is always more work to be done. Mom, find your rest in Jesus. His sacrifice on the cross has paid the price of your sins in full. He is sitting down. His blood changes you 2000 years later. You don’t have to keep fighting to earn your way and to do enough works yourself - you can breathe and you can rest at least momentarily in the finished work of Jesus Christ on your behalf.
Rest in Jesus Because He Changes Our Hearts (15-17)
Rest in Jesus Because He Changes Our Hearts (15-17)
Not only does the blood of Jesus change our standing as we are declared innocent and perfect before our Father. Jesus Christ gives us the Holy Spirit to guide us each day of our lives as we walk this life. Lots of people are confused as to what the Holy Spirit exactly does. Some think that the Holy Spirit is an invisible force and not a person - the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is a He and He is God, not just a cosmic energy. Others think that the Holy Spirit slays people over and over and over again - the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is our guide, comforter, convicter, encourager, and He opens our eyes to see our need for Jesus. What is the purpose behind the Holy Spirit? Whenever you and I sin and drop the ball, we experience guilt. On Mother’s Day, we can all remember a time where we disobeyed our mom years ago, or possibly this morning, and whenever we disobey our parents and let them down, we feel a sense of guilt in our lives. This is what happens whenever we disobey God as well. We have this reminder in our brain all the time that we haven’t done enough and what we have done is bad and separates us from God. We are guilty. We don’t need a self-help book to tell us 5 tips to do better. We don’t need a cosmetic job done on the outside to make us look better before others. What we need is a resurrection. We need the Holy Spirit to open our eyes and see the depths of our sin and our great need for Salvation. We need God to give us a new heart and to change us.
This is what Jeremiah 31 tells us that God one day will do and the preacher of Hebrews quotes from this Old Testament passage often. Have you ever considered the miracle that it is to be born on this side of the cross of Jesus Christ? In the Old Testament you have all of these sacrifices to offer over and over and if you forget what God’s law is, you have to go to the temple and be reminded of what the 10 commandments say on tablets of stone… friends, it’s such a blessing to have the Holy Spirit in our lives as a part of the New Covenant. God’s laws aren’t just written on stone or on a church wall… they’re written on our hearts and minds. The Holy Spirit not only saves us from ourselves but He helps us grow in our understanding of God’s Word and reminds us over and over again of our forgiveness before the Father through the sacrifice of the Son.
What Jesus does is He creates in us a new heart. A forgiven heart. A heart that desires to do the things He wants us to do. Because of this, we can rest in what Jesus has done. We don’t have to keep wrestling with the guilt of our past wondering if we’ve done enough to earn our own way - that’s a burden none of us can bear. Instead, through Jesus, we have forgiveness as God promises to never remember our sin. Does this mean that God forgets them and we have a license to continue living in unrepentant sin? Absolutely not. Look at Romans 6:1-2
1 What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply?
2 Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
What does it mean that God doesn’t remember our sin anymore once we are saved? It means that instead of remembering our mistakes - God remembers His mercy through Christ, our mediator. Mom’s, the best thing that you can do for your family is to model what it looks like to live each day with a heart that has been changed by Jesus Christ. You display mercy because you have been given mercy. We get 18 years with our children before they graduate high school. That’s 157680 hours. About 1/3 of those are spent sleeping. About 1/4 of those are spent at school. Several hours a week on homework, sports, traveling, practice, and a part-time job. Now we’re left with 10-20 hours a week or about 14,000 hours across 18 years that you have free with your kids. Suddenly, that large number doesn’t quite look so large! How do we make a kingdom impact during those hours? By demonstrating in our homes what it looks like to have a saved and changed heart and by praying that Jesus would save and change the hearts of our family. We rest in His finished work and we pray that He would change those we love too.
Rest in Jesus Because He Forgives Us (18)
Rest in Jesus Because He Forgives Us (18)
Usually on Mother’s Day the preacher man will stand up and he will give 10 tips to make this the best Mother’s Day ever and there will be 10 Scripture verses often taken out of context and the heart might be in the right place to celebrate a godly mother but the execution isn’t as Biblical as it could be. Each one of us today is facing a problem of eternal proportions and Mom’s are no exception. I’ve seen this post on Facebook over and over since 2020 and it’s about all of the things that Mom’s provide for their families. Whenever a child gets sick, they go to their mom and mom makes them better. Whenever a husband is exhausted, his wife helps him recharge. Whenever a friend is in need, another mom comes running to the rescue. Mom’s provide and give and serve sacrificially.
Mom’s, you give and give and give… but what happens whenever you don’t have anything more to give? This makes all the difference in the world. You don’t need a deeper well to pull from, you need a different water to give out. In this life, we will all run dry at some point and have nothing more to give. But what Jesus Christ offers us is a living water that never runs out. At the end of our rope, there is a Jesus Who is all satisfying and all providing and all wonderful and all glorious and all powerful and all forgiving who says, “I am gentle and lowly at heart and I’ve got you when you feel like you have nothing more to give.” To the Mom who is running empty today, there’s a well of living water available for you in Jesus Christ. He’ll give you rest. He’ll forgive you of your sins and He will change you today. Come to Jesus and find rest and forgiveness in Him
10 “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Friends, we must stop trying to earn our own way to glory - we can’t do this! Our works will never make us deserving of salvation regardless of how nice we are, how many diapers we clean, how many good things we say to other people. We must be born again as John 3 reminds us. We must be changed from the inside out by Jesus Christ. If you have repented of your sins and been forgiven by Jesus Christ, understand that the same grace that saved you is the same grace that will sustain you. Jesus has a perfect plan for your life and He will stop at nothing to accomplish that perfect plan… but there are times where that plan might be a little uncomfortable or painful.
Think of your life today as a marble sculpture. The Bible teaches that God is the potter and we are the clay. God goes to work in our lives and He molds us and shapes us, just like an artist shapes his sculpture. This work takes time! Sometimes months, if not years of hard work as the artist has an idea in their brain that they have to bring to fruition through hard and careful work. How does the artist enact these changes? By chiseling away piece after piece that doesn’t belong. The slab of marble is the same slab throughout the process, but it looks completely different from start to finish. This is what God does in the life of a Christian. We belong to God - He bought us through the blood of His Son! And He desires to make us look more like Jesus Christ. Sometimes, just like a chisel, God will remove things from our lives that don’t belong there and that can be painful… but God has a perfect plan for His people
28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
If you are saved today, friend, God is at work in your life. The Holy Spirit is sanctifying you and helping your grow to look more and more like Jesus and it’s all because you have been forgiven - not because you deserved it. But because God is rich in mercy and sent His Son to save sinners like you and me, sinners like your dad and your mom. See, you’ll never meet a person who doesn’t need Jesus Christ. And you’ll never meet a person who is so bad that Jesus can’t forgive them and save them. If you are saved, rest in that forgiveness today. Drink in the mercy of God’s grace each day. Maybe you’re thinking that that mercy and grace is too hard to find because of a situation you’re going through or a circumstance you’re enduring right now. Let’s do a checklist together:
You woke up this morning because you’re here right now
You were able to breathe and possibly eat some breakfast or drink some coffee
You are at church studying from God’s Word and singing songs of praise to your Creator
As a Christian, Christ has already saved you and forgiven you - so regardless of what comes your way, you walk not as a slave but as a Son or Daughter of God
God promises to not remember or hold our sins against us any longer because of the blood of Jesus that credits our accounts with righteousness. So, I ask you this morning, have you found your rest in the finished work of Jesus? If your answer is yes, it can be so tempting to take that position for granted or to fix our eyes on earthly things that distract us from the purpose God has in store for us. We get so fixated on one thing in our lives and we forget all that God has done in the past and is doing in the present and promises to do in the future. Piper shared this truth as he once said, “God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of 3 of them.”
On this day, it is good and appropriate to give God thanks for our mothers. It is good and right to thank our mothers for their faithful service to Jesus Christ and their raising us up in the fear and admonition of the Lord. These are good and true things! But perhaps you’re here and you didn’t have this upbringing. Maybe you’re here and this is a hard day. For many, Mother’s Day is the only day outside of Christmas and Easter that they will consider coming to church and it’s to please mom… but for others, there is pain associated with this day and coming to church makes that pain intensify as mother’s are praised and almost deified in some churches. On a day like today, what matters most of all? The answer is Jesus.
To the person who is struggling with a thorn in the flesh - you need Jesus because with Jesus, His power is magnified in human weakness.
To the child who is being bullied by someone who might or might not claim to be a Christian - you need Jesus because with Jesus, you’re never alone and He provides even in the darkest of nights.
To the parent who is struggling with feelings of failure as you look back at the past year - you need Jesus because with Jesus there is forgiveness that is greater than all of our regrets.
To the husband who has turned cold and narcissistic - you need Jesus and your family needs you to realize your need for Jesus because with Jesus you realize that your world is not about you.
To the mom who is running on empty - you need Jesus and the living water He offers to our tired, timid, and at times terrified lives.
FBC Salem family, we all need Jesus. We need Jesus to wipe the slate clean and forgive us once and for all as only He can. As we continue onward in this life, let us be a people who trust in Jesus and find refuge in the hope that He alone provides. Let us also be a people who proclaim the truth of Jesus with others who are trying to find hope in all the wrong places. We don’t need more self-help. We don’t need more motivational messages. We don’t need more TED Talks. We don’t need more positive platitudes. We need help. We need a miracle. We need a Savior who comes to seek and save lost sheep. Mom’s, today you need more than a day of rest and appreciation… today, you need Jesus. You need a Jesus who will save you from your sins and provide your soul with eternal rest. Jesus is able to do this. His work is finished. His salvation is secure. He is sitting down - you can let Him to the work and you can rest in His victory today. Repent and be saved today.