The Rest of the Righteous

In the English language, rest can take on so many different meanings. According to the dictionary, rest is somewhat of a break from normal activities, or even a reward from all that has happened before. Interestingly, in all of the definitions, there was the word refresh. Now if rest deals with the end of working or exertion, then for the Christian, there would be the understanding that we no longer need to try and work to gain our salvation. We can rest right now, since Jesus has taken care of everything.

Rest also implies peacefulness. I’m sure several of you have gone to bed to rest for the night, only to find that your mind doesn’t have an off switch. There doesn’t seem to be a simple way of truly getting rest, since not all of your being is at peace. I’m convinced that when you can give everything to God, He enables you to experience more of His rest that He has provided at salvation. This is especially true when one wonders if there is something else that ought to be done to make sure our salvation is secure. We can rest and be at ease in Jesus.

I have noticed that I need more rest since my stroke, so I will sit down in the living room after lunch for awhile, listen to a story and maybe even doze off for a few minutes. Notice I don’t stand, nor do I hover in a sitting position. I let my body rest on the couch or easy chair. You might say I’m leaning on it for support and to help me experience rest. In the same way, I can lean upon Jesus for everything and allow Him to refresh me, knowing that He’ll take care of all my needs.

Now, the question comes as to how does one enter into this rest?

In order to experience the ultimate rest, we must have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, taking upon ourselves His righteousness.

Rest of the Righteous Is Available. - 4.1-3

Hebrews 4:1–3 NASB95

Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard. For we who have believed enter that rest, just 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.

Therefore brings to mind what the writer was talking about previously as to how Israel had so miserably failed by their unbelief and disobedience and were not allowed to enter into the rest of the Promised Land. This doesn’t apply to the believer, for promises of salvation are secure for those who truly believe. Those who had lived and are living in unbelief, in spite of God’s blessings and presence, have set themselves up for condemnation. The Bible reminds us that for those who are in Christ, there is no condemnation.

We might wonder why the writer encourages the readers to fear. Remember that a good number of these readers are unbelievers, who felt that going back to the old ways of the law were easier. They couldn’t bring themselves to place their complete trust in Christ. Sadly, just as in our time, there are many who have the knowledge and experiences, but do not have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. As a result of what they do know, there really doesn’t seem to be a fear of condemnation. They have decided in their own minds that what they believe is all that really matters. The writer of Hebrews, however, wants them to have a fear of the terrible consequences.

Then he lets them know that there is still a chance; while a promise remains of entering His rest. Fear without hope would result in hopelessness and depression. In other words, if a person is still drawing breath, there is still the opportunity to turn to Jesus Christ for salvation. My friends, regardless of how evil we might think someone is, if they are still alive, we need to do all that we can to point them to the Savior, Jesus Christ. Specifically, here, the promise is to God’s chosen people, the Jews. There is definitely a plan and a purpose for Israel as seen in the Bible. This is very clearly pointed out in Acts 3, as Peter made clear that God’s covenant was unconditional. When you think about all the evil Israel had done throughout the Old Testament and the terrible role the Jewish people played as they rejected the Messiah, you cannot help but see in this passage a continued picture of the grace of God. Even Paul, in Romans 1, spoke of salvation being first of all to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

My friends, just like for Israel, as long as a person is alive, it is not too late to turn to Jesus Christ for salvation. However, there are certain things about this rest that we must know.

Obviously, this rest requires faith on our parts, even though salvation is all of God. Just knowing the information and being able to recite it, doesn’t make one a Christian. It requires believing faith. Even with all the pride of the Israelites, in that they were given God’s law, etc., Jesus made it clear that unless they believed in faith the way Abraham did, they were not really children of Abraham. Having the Law, yet not obeying the law did not give the opportunity for that Rest which God was offering. One writer stated: Having a Bible, reading it, knowing it, taking it to church every Sunday, and even teaching from it does not make us Christians. Only trusting in the One to whom it testifies makes us Christians.

Something else we need to understand is the concept that this rest is all completed for us by God. To enter into that rest, is to trust that God has it all in order and it is finished with nothing left for us to do. That leads us into the next section.

Rest of the Righteous Is Complete. - 4.4-7

Hebrews 4:4–7 NASB95

For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; and again in this passage, “They shall not enter My rest.” Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, He again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, “Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.”

We’ve talked often of the Old Testament types and shadows of what was to come in the New Testament. The Sabbath rest that was given to the Jewish people was a type or a symbol of that completed, true rest which would come in Christ Jesus. Colossians 2, speaks of this when it states that the substance belongs to Christ, as Paul relates about food, drink, special days, Sabbath, etc. In other words, the Sabbath rest, as given to the Jewish people, was a foreshadowing of what Jesus would provide for those who would take upon themselves His righteousness by experiencing salvation, entering into that perfect rest.

I think of a phrase that often is heard when people are on vacation, totally separated from the worldly concerns. They will often use the phrase, Now this is the life. In the Hebrew language, the word for rest is often associated with the word life. Think about it! When you and I have asked Jesus to be our Lord and Savior, it is then when we have entered into this rest; it is then we experience eternal life. Indeed—this is the life!

Verse 6 reminds all of us that there is still opportunity to enter into that rest. There is opportunity for those who will choose to exercise faith which leads to obedience and belief. However, for those who think they know better, as long as they continue to act in unbelief, they will not enter that rest. The reality of this is that this rest is God’s doing. God will draw you to His Son. We then must believe in faith. Just as the Israelites, the only thing keeping us from that promised rest, is disobedience.

As I shared last time, we never know when our last moment on this planet will be. When the opportunity presents itself, it is imperative that a person act immediately. That is why we see the word Today in verse 7. One never knows when the last invitation will be issued for them. After a person is dead, it is too late to believe. Right now is when the decision needs to be made in order to enter into that rest which is reserved for the righteous in Christ.

Rest of the Righteous Is Unique. - 4.8-10

Hebrews 4:8–10 NASB95

For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.

This rest is not a rest such as when taking a nap or an overnight rebuilding for the next day’s work. This rest is a spiritual rest. If it were physical, then Moses or Joshua would have been capable of delivering it. This rest which is spoken is that which can only come from God. In fact, a rest which consists of that which is physical only, is not spoken of as rest provided by Jesus in the Bible. The rest as promised through Jesus Christ is spiritual, even as it was in the Old Testament, requiring belief and obedience. Regardless of how frazzled you may find yourselves on this earth, you can be at peace because you have entered the rest of the righteous. This comes from being born again.

Verse 9 speaks of people of God, which needs to be understood as referring to Israel, especially since the use of the phrase, there remains a rest. We remember Paul stating that salvation was for the Jews first of all, then also to the Greek. The phrase people of God is almost always used in reference to the nation of Israel, especially as seen in the Old Testament.

This is also understood to be ultimately in the future, as John spoke in Revelation when he spoke about believers resting from their labors. You might see that this is the climax of the rest of the righteous.

But is this really necessary or desirable? Absolutely so!

Rest of the Righteous Is Essential. - 4.11-13

Hebrews 4:11–13 NASB95

Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

The rest of the righteous is indeed essential. It should be sought after diligently. The readers who were wanting to go back to attempting to earn their salvation, hoping to work for their rest, needed to grasp that if they didn’t do this God’s way through Jesus Christ, there would never be the chance again, once the invitation ceased. Instead of being diligent with constantly working trying to obtain salvation, they needed to be diligent in heeding what the Bible stated.

Verse 12 should remind them that if they thought they could fool God and ignore the Word of God, it would be impossible; for the Word is alive and active. It can delve into the deepest part of a person to know if a person’s belief is genuine or not. The Bible provides great hope and blessing. Yet, it will also lay wide open all of a man’s heart and deeds to reveal the unbelief among many.

The idea in verse 13 with the word open deals with the individual being forced to come face-to-face with the truth about God’s Word and how they related to that.

Reflections

John MacArthur tells the following story:

In his younger manhood Mel Trotter was as debauched as can be imagined. His children were starving because he spent his money on alcohol. His little girl died of malnutrition when she was about four. The neighbors gave enough money to buy her some new clothes and a casket to be buried in. In the middle of the night Trotter broke into the mortuary, took the clothes off his dead child, and exchanged them for a drink. Not long afterward, however, Jesus Christ reached down and changed his life, and he became one of the great preachers America has known.

Mel Trotter went on to found one of the largest rescue missions in the United States. He was not at all a perfect man, but when he did accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, he entered into that rest, where he was finally able to experience the peace of God. When he died, he truly entered into that final rest, where he is able to experience peace in the presence of God.

Folks, the rest of the righteous is only for those who belong to Jesus Christ, who have accepted Him as their Savior. As we’ve seen this morning, it is available to all by our loving Lord.

And once a person has entered into that rest by means of salvation, or being born again, as Jesus states, it is completed. There is nothing more that is required of us in order to earn or keep this rest.

In fact, that makes this rest totally unique, in that it is spiritual in nature.

Yet, the warning is once again given for those who have been ignoring the invitation, or merely pretending to fool others and maybe themselves. This rest is essential; pay attention to the Word of God while the opportunity is still there. The Bible is able to clearly show whether or not you have entered that rest or are simply among those who want to do things their own way. If you are one of the latter, your way will not bring you to the rest which the righteous experience.

In order to experience the ultimate rest, we must have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, taking upon ourselves His righteousness.

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