Our Hope in Jesus Christ (Hebrews 4:1-13)

Daniel L. Arter

Advent • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

Hebrews 4:1–13

Hope

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Announcements

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Prayer of Repentance and Adoration

Pray for the forgiveness of sins

Give thanks for God’s willingness to forgive sins

Give thanks for God

And give thanks for God sending his son to be born of a virgin to become our substitutionary atonement for sins.

Scripture Reading

Isaiah 64:1–9 ESV

1 Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence— 2 as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil— to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence! 3 When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. 4 From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him. 5 You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved? 6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. 7 There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities. 8 But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. 9 Be not so terribly angry, O Lord, and remember not iniquity forever. Behold, please look, we are all your people.

Mark 13:24–37 ESV

24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. 28 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 30 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. 32 “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. 35 Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— 36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”

Introduction

This morning and actually over the next five weeks, we’re taking a brief break from our series on the Gospel according to John and we’re going to start directing our attention towards what historically is called Advent. The reason for this is actually quite simple, this time of year typically ends up going by so quickly that most of us don’t actually take the time to focus on the reasons behind why we celebrate Christmas. Thus, Advent, through the past 1,700 years has been utilized by the church to slow us down enough to reflect and prepare our hearts and minds on the Christmas season and we’ll be utilizing it for that specific purpose as well.

So advent as a word comes from the Latin word adventus and it literally means “the arrival” or “the coming.” and while it has been utilized in the past (particularly in Rome) to celebrate the formal arrival of the emperor into the city; we now utilize the term to speak of the coming of Jesus Christ—both his first coming, which we celebrate at Christmas, but also his second coming that will occur in the future.

There are various ways that churches celebrate advent and not every church calls this season Advent, I grew up in a church that never utilized the term Advent (and quite honestly, we might not utilize the term every year either). The church that I grew up in, like most Baptist or fundamentalist churches never used the term, but of course they did have a time in their calendar set aside to reflect on the coming of Jesus Christ. Other churches sometimes light candles each week and emphasize different aspects of the birth accounts of Jesus Christ; and some churches take a more topical approach (which is what we’re doing this year) to discuss different aspects of Jesus’ coming and hist second coming.

So, what you’ll see over the next four weeks as we prepare our hearts and minds to focus on Jesus Christ’s coming, is that each week focuses on a different aspect of what Jesus’ coming means to true believers and what we’ve obtained in believing in Jesus Christ. Over the next four weeks, each Sunday is dedicated to a different them: hope, peace, love, and joy—and in each message, we’ll take time to understand what each theme means in general, what they mean for true believers, and how we can partake in the themes.

This week’s theme is on hope and I’ve actually chosen to study through a passage that isn’t typical for Advent because I think that this passage helps us to understand hope better than simply reading through Jesus’ birth account would. This morning we’re in Hebrews 4, but before we read it, I do want to give you an actual definition for hope.

Hope is a word that we utilize frequently, but we utilize it in a way that it actually isn’t meant to be used. In fact, the way that we utilize hope is actually better defined as wishful thinking. A few examples of this would be: (1) we hope that when we get into our cars this afternoon that the car will actually start, (2) I hope that the weather is nice, or (3) a child might hope that he gets a new toy or video game for Christmas this year. The issue is that in each one of those examples, they aren’t actually talking about hope; they’re wishing and they would be better off saying that (1) I wish that my car would start, (2) I wish that the weather is nice, or (3) I wish that I get a new toy or video game for Christmas; because in each of these examples, they’re exhibiting wishful thinking, not hope. The issue is that in our modern use of the word hope, it now means something along the lines of wishful thinking. In fact, Merriam-Webster’s first definition for hope states that hope is “to cherish a desire with anticipation: to want something to happen or be true.” It is simply wishful thinking that reveals uncertainty in our hearts and minds. In the modern sense, we hope because we don’t know if these things would occur.

The issue is that when the Bible speaks about hope, it doesn’t mean wishful thinking. Rather hope in the Bible always refers to a specific mindset. And I can actually illustrate this by utilizing some verses in the Bible:

(1) Jeremiah 29:11 (which is often taken out of context and misused) states, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” We misuse it because we claim that it applies to us, but in the original context God is speaking to the Israelites and he tells the Israelites that he will give them a hope. Our modern definition for hope wouldn’t fit in here, God has a plan to give them a future and wishful thinking?

(2) Another example would be Romans 12:12, in which Paul tells the believers in Rome to “rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” If hope simply meant “wishful thinking,” how could they rejoice in it? There is no substance behind wishful thinking.

(3) And even the author of Hebrews, later in the book in Hebrews 11:1 makes the statement that, “faith is the assurance of things hoped for.” It simply doesn’t make sense that we could have faith in something that we’re wishfully thinking about.

Rather, this illustrates that hope isn’t wishful thinking like our modern use of the word implies, rather biblical hope is a mindset of confident expectation.

(1) Jeremiah 29:11 doesn’t make sense if God is simply giving the Israelites wishful thinking, but it does make sense if he is giving them a confident expectation.

(2) Romans 12:12’s command to rejoice in hope doesn’t make sense if it is simply wishful thinking, but if hope means a confident expectation we can truly rejoice.

(3) Hebrews 11:1 doesn’t make sense if we are to have faith in something that we’re simply wishfully thinking about, but if it is something through which we can have a confident expectation in, it makes complete sense.

To have biblical hope means to have a confident expectation that what you’re hoping in will actually occur. An illustration of this would be, when we drive a vehicle over a bridge, we have a confident expectation that the bridge will hold the weight of the car or when we board an aircraft, we have a confident expectation that the pilot will fly the plane correctly. Or in the case of our faith in Jesus Christ; we have a confident expectation that Jesus Christ will accomplish what he said he would do.

Keep this in mind as we study through Hebrews 4:1-13.

Hebrews 4:1–13 ESV

1 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. 2 For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’ ” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” 5 And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.” 6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, 7 again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. 11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 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.

As we study this passage, we’re going to take it in two parts (1) Vs. 1-5 speaks of a coming Sabbath rest for the people of God. We’ll learn of this promise of entering into his rest, what that means, who can enter into this rest, and how we can take part in this rest, and (2) Vs. 6-13, gives us instructions as to what we should do knowing that there is a coming rest for us.

Prayer of Illumination

Give thanks for the Word of God

Give thanks for our ability to study the Word of God

Pray for the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom as we search the truths in God’s Word.

The coming Sabbath Rest (1-5)

Hebrews 4:1–5 ESV

Hebrews 4:1, starts with the word “therefore,” which means we have to look to the chapters before to understand why the author is saying what he’s saying in chapter 4, so let me catch you up with what’s happening in the book of Hebrews.

In the book of Hebrews, one of the author’s primary themes is the supremacy or primacy of Jesus Christ, which simply means that Jesus is better. This theme is seen over and over again through the book so for instance: Hebrews 1-2 states that Jesus is “superior to angels” and that God has given Jesus authority that the angels don’t have; Hebrews 3 plainly states that “Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses,” which is a significant statement to make to Jewish people because the Jewish people venerate Moses—they have a very high respect of Moses, so the author’s statement that Jesus is greater than Moses necessitated some explanation, which he gives in Chapter 4. The author states that Moses was a faithful servant, but Jesus is greater because Jesus is God’s son. And not only is Jesus greater than Moses because Jesus is God’s son, Jesus is greater than Moses because Jesus can bring people into the rest.

And even though Moses was faithful as a servant, he still was unable to bring God’s people into God’s rest and he shows that by quoting Psalm 95. The author of Hebrews explains that even though Moses was a faithful servant, he was unable to lead the Israelites to God because they were hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. So, even though Moses was a good, faithful servant; he failed to lead the people to the rest that God had promised the Israelites—which was the Promised Land. Or put another way, Moses was unable to lead the people of Israel to the eventual rest that God had promised them; but because Jesus is greater than Moses; Jesus can lead them to a rest.

And then in Hebrews 4, he makes the statement, “Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. 2 For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.”

What this shows us is that the rest that the author is speaking of is still being offered. Which means that the rest that was being spoken of in Chapter 3 wasn’t simply walking into the Promised Land—it was more than that.

And you might be wondering what exactly this rest is and you’ll actually find that answer at the end of the paragraph in Vs. 9, the Bible says, “there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.”

This Sabbath rest is a different rest then just simply taking a nap or for the Israelites entering into the Promised Land. And this Sabbath rest is still applicable for us today and the promise of entering this rest is still available for people today.

Which infers that this Sabbath rest that he has promised to those who are united by faith is the rest that we receive in heaven. The rest that the author of Hebrews is alluding to is the rest that all believers experience when they are in the physical presence of God in heaven.

Now the author gives a significant warning, “Let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. 2 For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.”

Now remember, the author is comparing these people to the Israelites who were wandering in the wilderness and were unable to enter into the Promised Land. And the very real statement that the author is making here is that not all of the Israelites who wandered in the wilderness made it into the Promised Land.

And the very real statement that he is making is that there’s certainty in the fact that even amongst people who claim to be Christian, there will be those that don’t make it into this Sabbath rest that God has promised—why is that?

Because not all who say that they’re a Christian actually is a true believer in Jesus Christ. There are plenty of people who are regular church goers who had heard the good news (just like us), but received no benefit from the Gospel because they don’t believe. Just like not all of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness made it into the Promised Land.

There are people alive today that will not enter the Sabbath Rest that God has promised to those who believe.

Vs. 3-5 issues a warning and some encouragement. Vs. 3 then says, “For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, ‘As I swore in my wrath, They shall not enter my rest,’ although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: ‘And God rested on the seventh day from all his works’ 5 And again in this passage he said, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’

And we have to take this in two parts. The first one being for those that believe, Vs. 3 states, “For we who have believed enter that rest” and there’s something unique about this statement.

The unique part of this statement is in the word enter. εἰσερχόμεθα is the word utilized here and it is the only time Scripture utilizes this Greek term. It is a present, middle passive, transitive verb, which probably means nothing to you, but the idea is that when someone comes to actually believe in Jesus Christ, he then starts the process of entering the rest that God has promised him.

Or put another way, “For we who have believed, we are already entering into that rest.” David Allen (NAC), “It may be that the concept of rest in this passage connotes both a future expectation and a present reality.” In other words, when we believe in Jesus Christ, we have hope in the form of a future expectation of entering into the rest that God has promised us and we’re already starting to experience that rest now.

The second part is a warning, “As I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest.’ although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: ‘And God rested on the seventh day from all his works’ And again in this passage he said, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’”

This first quote that we read in the middle of Vs. 3 and then in Vs. 5 is from Psalm 95: and its actually part of a Psalm of Praise from God. And in this Psalm, the Psalmist states, “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. For forty years I loathed that generation [because] ‘they are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.’ Therefore I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’”

What the author of Hebrews is reminding the readers of is the fact that heaven or as he calls it “the sabbath rest” is reserved for people who actually believe in God; and for people who follow God’s ways; but those that harden their hearts and put God to the test will never enter God’s rest. The implication is that we today need to do as Peter says in 2 Peter says to confirm our calling and election—actually make sure that we do believe otherwise we won’t enter God’s rest either.

The second quote is from Genesis 2:2, “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,” which obviously, refers back to creation. And it seems to be a little out of place here in Hebrews 4, but what the author is essentially getting at is that the pattern that God set up concerning the Sabbath was to be experienced by all believers. And I’m not referring to a weekly Sabbath, I’m referring to the same Sabbath rest that the author is referring to. The imagery of our earthly life as being work and then our lives in heaven as being a Sabbath rest with Jesus Christ.

The implication here is that from creation this sabbath rest has been readily available for all to partake of, but those that have hardened hearts of unbelief cannot partake in this rest.

Taken altogether, what this first section is teaching is actually quite simple—that God intends and desires for people to partake in this Sabbath rest that he has offered mankind since the beginning of the world; but if the individual man rejects the good news and isn’t united with belief, he cannot and will not enter into the Sabbath rest that God wants him to partake in—thus, be sure that you actually believe in Jesus Christ so that you don’t get to the end of this life and realize that you didn’t actually believe.

Striving to enter the Sabbath Rest (6-13)

Hebrews 4:6–13 ESV

6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, 7 again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. 11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 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.

This last bit of Scripture, does two things (1) it reiterates the point that he’s trying to make and (2) it gives us some insight into what we ought to do because God’s rest is still available in conjunction with what he had already told us to do. He says, “Since therefore it remains for some to enter [this rest], and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, 7 again he appoints a certain day, ‘Today,’ saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.’”

He’s again reminding them that there is still an opportunity to enter into the Sabbath rest that God promises. Or put another way, salvation is still readily available to those who want to believe in Jesus Christ. Since there is still an opportunity to be saved, Vs. 7, “if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” Actually respond to what God is saying

Unlike the Israelites who (as Vs. 6 says), “received the good news [of the Promised Land], but failed to enter the Promised Land because of their own disobedience.” Which again speaks to the supremacy of Jesus Christ in comparison to Moses who couldn’t lead the people to that rest.

Now, there’s one thing that you might be thinking and the author of Hebrews was prepared for this, you might be thinking, “well yes, Moses never entered the Promised Land and neither did the whole generation of Israelites who were disobedience, but what about Joshua and the next generation of Israelites, who did enter the Promised Land?”

And that’s where Vs. 8 steps in, “For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on.” What the author is doing is differentiating between the temporal rest that the Israelites experienced in the Promised Land and the eternal rest that awaits all who believe.

What he’s saying is that the temporary rest that the Israelites experienced in the Promised Land was not the rest that God has been referring to. No, rather as Vs. 9 says, “there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.” Or in other words, the Promised Land wasn’t the actual rest that God has been promising for his people and we can tell because those that enter God’s rest also rests from his work.

Because what the Promised Land wasn’t the actual rest that God has promised, then we need to do what the remaining passage says.

Vs. 11-13 says, “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 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. 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,”

Because there is still time to enter the rest that God has promised those who believe, let us strive to enter that rest so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

What the author is ending on is an exhortation to be sure that you’re actually going to enter into that promised rest. David Allen states that the Greek word “Spoudazo (which is utilized here) is translated ‘let us make every effort.’ The idea is ‘to push on with something zealously.’”

If you’re wondering, how exactly do I make sure that I’m actually entering into that Sabbath rest or put differently, how do I know that I’m actually saved, let me help with that: (1) have you repented from your sins, called on Jesus’ name and believed in your heart? Because if you definitely haven’t done that yet, then you definitely aren’t entering the Sabbath rest promised to believers. (2) I have a sort of Litmus test that I can recommend for you from 2 Peter 1.

In 2 Peter 1, Peter encourages them to confirm their election. In 2 Peter, Peter writes, “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

The idea is that if you actually believe in Jesus Christ, your belief should result in virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. If in your life today, you realize that you aren’t growing in these qualities, you should be concerned about your “calling and election.” Which means this, if you aren’t growing in these qualities, you need to question whether you’re actually saved through Jesus Christ or not.

And in conjunction with Hebrews 4:11, we need to confirm our salvation with some amount of zealousness. Or in other words, take your salvation seriously and seriously consider whether or not you actual believe.

And here’s why, in Vs. 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. 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.

Now oftentimes, this is utilized to speak of the Bible itself, which the Bible is living and active, the Bible is sharper than any two-edged sword and can definitely do the things listed here; but I don’t think that’s the actual point of what the author of Hebrews is saying.

And I would actually argue that in context, “the word of God” that is referred to here is actually Jesus Christ and much like John 1 does, the author is equating the word of God with Jesus Christ and he’s saying that Jesus is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow.

But to get into a debate on that verse, would actually miss the point of what he’s getting at—regardless of whether or not the “word of God” is referring to the Bible or to Jesus Christ, his points is actually that whatever the word of God refers to, it can discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

“And that no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account”

Or to say it differently, we all as God’s created beings cannot hide anything from God. We are all naked and exposed to him, he knows our thoughts and intents; he knows our hearts.

A perfect example of this would be the account of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4. Cain kills Abel and when God confronts Cain, he asks him, “‘where is Abel your brother?’ He said, ‘I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?’ And the Lord said, ‘What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.’”

Another example of this would be the account of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 who sold a piece of property and gave some of the proceeds to the church, but lied and said that he gave all of the profit to the church. And Peter confronts him and says, “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?” “Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” And after Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. Peter than asks Sapphira about the land and Sapphira lies just like her husband did and she immediately fell down at his feet and breathed her last. Peter happened to be the human agent who confronted Ananias and Sapphira, but it was God who knew their hearts because Ananias and Sapphira’s thoughts and intents were exposed to God.

Just like Cain, Sapphira, and Ananias, all of our thoughts and intents are known to God.

And what the author of Hebrews is trying to get across to us is this--salvation is readily available and our salvation makes us partakers of this ultimate Sabbath rest that he has promised all who truly believe in him, but God can see whether or not you truly believe, so be sure that you actually do believe and you aren’t just a Christian in name only.

Now as we wrap up with application, let me tie all of this together. I chose this passage for Advent because it is a passage that shows us a reason for true, biblical hope, at least for those that are truly believers in Jesus Christ and for those who are unbelievers it is yet another call from God to come to him—repent of your sins, believe in him so that you too can enter into the Sabbath rest that he has promised all believers.

So, for some more specific application:

Application

Now usually when I give application I divide it based on the various parts of the text and we work through the different parts and build to a cohesive statement about how to apply the passage, but this week will be a little different because the author of Hebrews is giving a cohesive statement that we need to focus on.

The author writes about the promise of entering his rest and he states that this promise is still available to anyone who believes. Thus, my first application point is quite simple—check your heart to make sure that you actually believe in Jesus Christ.

Have you repented from your sins? Have you determined to follow Jesus Christ? Have you believed in your heart that Jesus was born, lived a perfect, sinless life, was crucified, buried, and resurrected to be a substitutionary atonement for your sins? Because this is really the first step. If you can’t say yes to this, then you can’t enter into the rest that God has promised.

Now for those that claim to believe, do the qualities in your life reflect the qualities that we mentioned from 2 Peter 1? Are you growing in faith? Are you growing in virtue? Are you growing in knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, and godliness? Are you growing in brotherly affection and love? Because if you aren’t growing in these qualities, like Peter says, you should be diligent to confirm your salvation. Check your heart. If you aren’t growing in these qualities, be sure that you truly believe in Jesus Christ.

And if you need further help in determining whether or not you believe, remember that 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.” Regardless of if that verse is speaking of Jesus or the literal Bible, we still have God’s words in the Bible and as you careful read and study the Bible, it is a mirror that you ought to compare yourself to. Do you resemble what the Bible calls the fruits of the Spirit? Or do you resemble what the Bible calls the works of the flesh? Use the Bible to determine whether or not you believe.

And don’t wait to do this, do it now, before you leave—your eternal soul is at stake and don’t ever think that you can trick God into thinking that you believe, “no creature is hidden from his sight.” That includes you, so take it seriously.

Now if you truly are a believer and you know that, then this passage actually gives you something great to hope in.

As a true believer in Jesus Christ, you have been promised the ability to partake in a Sabbath rest that is promised from God himself. This is something that you can confidently expect because God is a promise-keeping God. You can have hope.

Which means, that despite how terrible you might feel about your life right now, there is and always will be hope because our hope is in Jesus Christ and the promise that he’s made to bring you into Sabbath rest.

Find your hope in Jesus Christ and his promises and praise him for his promises, particularly his promises concerning salvation and his eventual return.

Finally, because the promise of entering into God’s rest is still applicable to people today, this means that we still have a responsibility to go and make disciples of every nation.

Because salvation is still available, we as Christians ought to want as many people as possible to partake in the Sabbath rest that God has promised those who truly believe.

This means that we need to take seriously making disciples of Jesus Christ—and I’m not saying that you have to become a street preacher or anything of the sort. What I’m encouraging is that you do whatever you can to live a life worthy of the calling of Jesus Christ and unashamedly proclaim the Gospel to those who you interact with on a daily base.

Make it known that there is a Sabbath rest for those who believe in Jesus Christ and make it known that salvation through Jesus Christ is readily available to any who repent and call on his name.

Put simply, be zealous in making sure that you truly believe in Jesus Christ—confirm your salvation through the Word of God; reflect on Jesus’ first coming and look forward to his second coming and the coming Sabbath rest—allow the fact that he came the first time like he promised to develop hope for his second coming and the coming Sabbath rest; and then share this hope with those around you.