The following is a sermon transcript from our Sunday Service at The Rock Church in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. Each week, we gather to worship, learn from God’s Word, and grow together. This transcript is provided as a free resource to encourage and equip you in your walk with Christ. While you’re welcome to read and share this content for personal use, we kindly ask that it not be redistributed or published elsewhere without prior written consent from The Rock Church.
Introduction
What is rest? Rest. Is it simply the absence of activity? Retreat from all labors of life? Now surely that’s the physical rest, and there’s no question we all need that. We need time away. We need days off. We need to be able to push pause and reset. But that’s not the kind of rest I’m talking about. It’s spiritual in nature, it’s deep down within the soul. John Owen describes rest this way, peace with God, freedom from sin, and sharing in the very rest that God himself enjoys.
Hudson Taylor, the missionary to China, knew something of this rest, but he didn’t just understand it with his mind. He lived it. At two or three in the morning, amid enormous burdens and pressures, He would quietly sing this wonderful hymn, Jesus, I am resting. I am resting in the joy of what Thou art. Through countless trials, inward and outward, He learned the secret of resting in Christ. Not merely how to find rest, but where true rest is found.
And that’s exactly where Hebrews 4 is going to take us. Not a formula, not a list of five easy steps, not a self-help strategy. Hebrews takes us to a person, as the author has been faithful to do, and that person, of course, is Christ himself. The rest Hebrews speaks about is not ultimately found in better circumstances. It’s not found in a lighter schedule. It’s not found in retirement or vacation. It’s found in a person. The person is Christ. What we understand is that that is not a mere one-time event. The Christian life is learning to rest in Christ again and again and again. Resting in Christ today, resting in Christ tomorrow, and one day entering perfect rest with Christ forever.
The wilderness generation knew about God. Witnessed God’s mighty works, professed to belong to God’s people, yet they failed to enter God’s rest. Why? Because they did not trust His promises. Today we’re going to explore the Christian life, where it begins, how it continues, and glory to God, where it ends. The Christian life is a long pilgrimage. There are trials. There are temptations. There are seasons of weariness. But man, we have a better promise. Better than what Moses offered. Better than what Joshua provided. We have Christ. And in Him, all the promises of God are yes and amen.
So with that in mind, we’ll focus our attention on this main reality. The Christian life, it begins with rest in Christ. It continues by resting in Christ. And it ends in perfect rest with Christ.
So as we walk through the text, we’re going to look at it as a movement. It’s a connection. There’s three connected movements that are happening here.
The first one is the present rest. And that’s for those, it’s promised to those who hear the gospel with saving faith. So we’re going to distinguish between the kind of faith that is necessary for saving faith.
Secondly, there’s the continuing rest. That belongs to those who believe God’s promises. That heed God’s voice, the voice of Christ.
And third, perfect rest will be fully enjoyed. Focus on that full enjoyment, perfectly, with Christ forever.
So throughout this passage, the author is really continuing to show us the stark contrast between this unbelieving wilderness generation and then those, the people of God, that truly trust in Christ. You know, one group heard God’s Word. But then failed to enter his rest. The other hears God’s word, believes God’s promises, and then enters into the rest that Christ provides.
Point 1: Present Rest Promised to Those Who Hear the Gospel with Saving Faith
Hebrews 4:1–2
So we’ll begin where the text does. Chapter 4, verses 1-2. Present rest promised to those who hear the gospel with saving faith. Let’s look at verses 1-2. We read together.
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. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them. Why? Because they were not united by faith with those who listened.
It’s one of the most remarkable statements of Hebrews. The promise of entering God’s rest still stands. Despite Israel’s failure, despite generations of unbelief, the door remains open. God is still inviting sinners to enter His rest. But notice, this promise will not remain open forever. It’s not to be taken for granted. It’s not to be delayed. There is a day when the invitation will end. A day when we know that faith will become sight. A day when the opportunity to enter God’s rest will be gone. This is why Hebrews continually repeats the word today.
There are many people who want the rest that God promises. They simply don’t want it God’s way. Some look to personal holiness, piety. If I can just become a better Christian and perform better, then maybe God will accept me, love me more. Others look to good works. I’ll prove it. I’ll show the Lord how good I am. While others keep postponing, tomorrow, next year, when I get my life together. But God’s rest is never found in what we do for Him. Listen, it’s found in what Christ has done for us.
The author is providing a warning. It’s a fear. But different kind of fear. Not the sinful kind, but the godly kind. It’s a sober fear, a reverent concern that we would hear God’s promises and yet fail to enter into them. Don’t be confused here. The issue is not that people fail to do something. The issue is that they fail to believe something. God’s promises.
But biblical faith is more than just mere acknowledgement. Many people believe that God exists. Many believe Jesus lived. Many believe the gospel is true. Yet they never entrust themselves to Christ. So what does genuine saving faith look like? Well, R.C. Sproul helpfully summarized saving faith with these three words. Knowledge, assent, and trust.
First, there’s knowledge. You must understand the content of the gospel. What Jesus has done for you. Your condition, your standing before a holy God. Your bearing up the wrath of God upon you for your sin. Must understand the content of the gospel that without grace we are lost and then there’s this assent we gotta agree that the gospel is true. But then comes trust. Trust is that personal reliance upon Christ. Faith is not merely believing that Christ, oh, He can save sinners. Yeah, sure. No, no. It’s trusting that Christ can save you.
It’s the chair illustration. You’ve heard it. You know a chair exists. You believe it can hold your weight. But faith is actually sitting down. Faith is resting your full weight upon something that is outside of yourself. And the object of saving faith is not faith itself. No, it’s Christ. Knowledge, assent, trust. Saving faith includes all three. You miss one of them and you don’t have saving faith.
You see, the author tells us about the Israelites. The good news. You might be saying, good news? How do they have the gospel? The good news of the promise of deliverance. The good news of the promised land. Yes, give us. Exodus 19:5-6 says, Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice, keep my covenant, You shall be my treasured possession among all peoples. For all the earth is mine. And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. It was Mount Sinai, just before God gives them the Ten Commandments. But I want you to notice the order of that text. Exodus 19:5-6. God had delivered them from Egypt. And then He calls them into covenant obedience. Listen, obedience is not the basis of redemption. It is the response to the redemption. That’s the key understanding here. As God says, be holy, reflect who I am. What I’m like. Not that I would accept you, but because of what I’ve done for you.
You see how tragic it is for these Israelites? They saw the plagues. They walked through the Red Sea. They ate the bread from heaven. They watched God provide water from the rock. And yet an entire generation died in the wilderness. Not because God’s promise failed, but because they refused to trust the God who made the promise. They got close enough to see the land, but they never entered it. Imagine that. 40 years of walking, 40 years of seeing God’s power, and dying within sight of the promised land. They left Egypt, but Egypt never left them.
Privilege alone does not save. They thought they were all God’s people. I don’t have to trust. I don’t have to obey. No, no. Saving faith rests in Christ through the promises of God. Many will hear the gospel, the promise of the gospel, but will never embrace it by faith. And if we don’t embrace it by faith, then it profits us nothing. This is why Hebrews was written. Not to pagans, not to atheists, but to people sitting among God’s people. The most dangerous place to be is close to Christ without actually trusting Christ. Close enough to hear the gospel, close enough to know the language, close enough to look like every other Christian. But nobody saved by proximity to the things of God. Not by church attendance or Christian parents or I got my verses memorized. No, not even years spent in the visible church. We must personally trust Christ.
The Israelites were familiar with God, but they never rested in the Lord. They heard His acts, they heard His word, they saw His power, yet their hearts remained far from Him. That must be the most frightening realities in all of Scripture. It’s possible to know about God without actually knowing God. To be around His people without belonging to Him. To hear His promises and then not actually rest in Christ. This is what happens when the gospel doesn’t move from the head to the heart.
And maybe that describes someone here today. Maybe you’ve heard the gospel for years. You know the facts. You believe them. Yet you’ve never rested your soul in Christ. I’d encourage you to stop trying to earn what Christ freely gives. Stop looking within. Stop looking somewhere else. Look to Christ. Rest in Christ. The rest that you’re seeking is not found in a better version of yourself. This is why many people are attracted to Christianity, so they can be a better person, a better whatever. No. It’s found in Christ, and that’s the person that we’re looking for. That’s the one I’m trying to hold out to you that you’d see Him today. Listen, the promise of rest still stands. It’s received by faith alone. A faith that’s gifted by God. Not by works, not by effort, not by religious performance, but by trusting Christ. So, do that. Trust Him. Rest in Christ.
Point 2: Continuing Rest Belongs to Those Who Believe God’s Promise and Heed Christ’s Voice
Hebrews 4:3–7
And Hebrews immediately asks another question. Once we enter that rest, we receive, we embrace Christ through faith, saving faith, knowledge, assent, trust. How do we keep from becoming like that wilderness generation? How do we continue in that rest? Well, the author answers that next, and that’s number two here. Continuing rest belongs to those who hear, who believe God’s promise and heed Christ’s voice. And that’s verses three to seven. We’ll read that together.
For we who have believed enter that rest. As he has said, as I swore my wrath, they shall not enter my rest. Although his works were finished from the foundation of the world, for he has somewhere spoken, hmm, where? 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, since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience. 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.
So now that we’ve entered rest through faith, the promise is, continues. Unbelief excludes entrance. Faith gains entrance. And this is where, and this is the rest, kind of rest is not something new. It goes all the way back to Genesis 2, verse 2. And on the seventh day, God rested, finished His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. So was God tired, worn out, sit back on the couch for a little bit, enjoy all that he’s done? No. Did he resort to idleness? No. His rest was the climax of his completed work in creating all of the universe. Yet God’s work did not and does not cease. He’s upholding, He’s governing all of creation all the way from the beginning. God entered into the enjoyment of all that He had done. Ooh, it was good. It was finished.
Even as God rested from all His work in creation, He never ceases His work of providence. John Owen put it this way, God rested from one kind of work while continuing another. And this is clearly revealed here. We see it in John 5 and 17 as Jesus responds to the religious leaders, how dare you heal a man on the Sabbath. Jesus says this, my father is working until now. And then he says, and I am working. But Jesus didn’t stop working until he cried out on the cross, it is finished. The work of redemption. Done. Yet even now, Christ finished one work, continues another work of intercession for us.
The theme is clear. Working from rest. That’s not… Sloth, lazy believers. No, those that are energized by the Spirit. Often we have it backward in our culture, wouldn’t you say? We work really hard so that we can rest really hard. But believers actually work from rest. God rested because His work was finished. Christ rested because His work was finished. And now believers, those that trust Christ, live from that finished work.
Imagine two people working on a family farm. One is the hired employee. The other is the farmer’s son. The employee works… But always wondering in his heart, am I gonna keep my job? Have I done enough? Will I be accepted? Everything that he does, that other employee, is done by uncertainty. But his son, he works a little differently. The son is already part of the family. He already belongs. He already has his father’s love. He is not working to become a son. He’s working because he is a son. And that is the difference between religion and the gospel. As religious works for acceptance, Christians work from acceptance.
But that raises an important question. If we have entered God’s rest, truly, how do we keep this going? I know in my own soul, I tend to get restless. How do I stay in your rest, Lord? And the author’s not merely concerned about how we enter the rest. He’s concerned also how we continue in this rest. Remember this church, the Hebrews, these guys were not feeling great. Persecution, difficulty. They’re not thinking they’re going to make it. They’re not restful. But the author’s concern is how we continue in that rest. And that’s why he returns once again back to Psalm 95. Today, listen, do you hear me? Today, if you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts. It’s a persevering rest. It’s not merely entering God’s rest, but continuing in God’s rest.
The wilderness generation heard the good news and turned away through unbelief. But believers, we have to actively continue in God’s rest through what we know as faith-filled obedience. And that day is today. Today is the day to hear Christ’s voice, trust His promises. It’s an acceptable time. The answer is not found in looking inward. Nor is it found by looking somewhere else. It’s found by looking again to Christ and all of his promises that are ours in him.
So what does that look like in real life? It’s a great question. Looks like the retired saint sitting in another doctor’s office waiting for test results. Nothing about circumstances feels restful. Medicine not working, challenges faced, pain, difficulty, weariness. The body is weaker than it used to be. The future is more uncertain than it ever has. Yet that dear saint can say, my life is in Christ’s hands. My sins are forgiven. My future is secure. My Savior reigns. You want to know what it looks like to rest in Christ? I’d say that describes it. Not because life is easy, but because Christ is enough.
And that’s exactly what David’s calling God’s people to do in Psalm 95. This is some 500 years after entering the promised land. David speaks about it. He quotes from Psalm 95 again. So we have two options here. We can harden our hearts toward Christ’s voice, or we can continue to believe, to hear, and to receive his promises.
So many of you might be thinking, I would, well, that’s not me. I would never harden my heart toward the Lord. Why would I do that? Why? Well, some want to do it because they want control. We want certainty on our own terms. We want the evidence. We want the guarantees. Just like it was for the Israelites, so it can be for us. We harden our hearts because we prefer what we can see. The Israelites saw giants in the land, scared them so much that they couldn’t receive God’s promise. For us, it’s things like this. I know God cares for me. It’s going to provide for me. I look at my bank account and it says something else. I know God totally and fully forgives me, but I still feel very guilty. I know that God is sovereign, but my circumstances are overwhelming.
And then, of course, there is the cynic in all of us. Prayers seem like they’re unanswered. Health continues declining. Relationships disappoint us. And what do we have is a wounded heart can easily become a hardened heart because it stops bringing its pain to God. It’s so easy to forget who God is. Hardness grows when remembrance dies. Listen, when God has not left you alone in the wilderness, he’s called you to make this journey not on your own. He’s given us the church, the ordinary means of grace, the preaching of his word, prayers, fellowship, baptism, communion. Why do we do all those things? To point our hearts and our minds and our souls back to Christ. The very God who loved us so much that he sent his own son to suffer and die on a cross.
The opposite of a hardened heart. It’s not merely a compliant heart. It’s a believing heart. 1689 Baptist Confession describes saving faith as embracing the promises of God in this life and the life to come. Christian, that’s exactly what a believing heart does. It hears God’s voice. Hear the voice of the Savior. Trusts in his promises and rests in Christ. That’s how believers continue in God’s rest.
Point 3: Perfect Rest Will Be Fully Enjoyed Forever with Christ
Hebrews 4:8–10
The Christian life begins with rest in Christ and then it continues with rest in Christ. But one day, as we know, faith becomes sight. One day, every burden laid down, every struggle with sin will cease. God’s people will enter the fullness of rest that Christ has purchased for us. That brings us to the final movement here of the text. It’s the perfect rest. We’ll be fully enjoyed forever with Christ. Verses 8 to 10 we read together.
For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For whoever has entered God’s rest is also rested from his works as God did from his.
See, the rest that we experience now is only just a little foretaste of something much greater. It’s a picture of God’s people. They entered the promised land. The battles were over. The inheritance was theirs. Yeah. Surely this was the rest that God had promised, but it wasn’t. Because the land was never the destination. It was only pointing to something greater. Joshua could bring them into Canaan, to that promised land. But Joshua could never help them come into God’s eternal rest. Only Messiah, only Jesus. And that’s where he says, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
If you look at that theme of rest throughout all of Scripture, Genesis 2-2, all the way through, it’s not merely a weekly rest. It’s not merely a temporary rest. But eternal rest. This is why Jesus could say, the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. Why? Because the Sabbath was always pointing to Him. The Sabbath was never merely about a day. Oh, I can’t do this, can’t do that. No, no. It’s about a Savior. The rest that God established at creation, the rest Israel longed for, and the rest that still remains are all found in Christ. He is the Lord of the Sabbath because He is the one who gives the rest the Sabbath promised. The Sabbath was always pointing beyond itself to Christ.
Every Lord’s Day that we gather together reminds us, man, this world is not my home. In fact, I’m not looking forward to going back out there. It points beyond itself to a greater Sabbath still to come. A coming kingdom. Where God’s people will rest forever in the presence of Christ. Now what does that rest look like? Some get bored, jumping around with the angels. No, no. It’s the rest Hebrews is ultimately describing. The presence of Christ, the absence of sin, perfect fellowship with God, perfect joy, perfect peace, perfect worship. Full enjoyment of all that Christ purchased for his people.
Revelation 21.5 says, And he who is seated on the throne said this, Behold, I’m making all things new. And also he said, write this down. Write it down. These words are trustworthy and true. God does not say, I’m making all new things. Listen, He says, I’m making all things new. The promise is not the destruction of creation, but it’s renovation. For weary Christians, this is what it means. Every effect of sin removed. Every burden lifted, every tear wiped away, every broken thing will be made whole. Everything sin has touched will be undone by the redeeming power of Christ. And the reason, believers, you and I can rest in that promise is that these words are trustworthy and true. We rest in Christ, because now, now because God’s promises are trustworthy. We continue in that rest because God’s promises are trustworthy. And one day we will enjoy perfect rest forever because His promises are trustworthy and true. That’s where our rest is leading us.
And not only the creation, but we ourselves Who have the first fruits of the Spirit do what? We groan. Anybody groaning today? Inwardly, waiting for your adoption as sons, redemption of your body. Oh, Lord. That’s what Romans tells us. We already have, think about it, Christ, Forgiveness, justification, adoption. We got the Holy Spirit in us. Yet we still groan. Why? Because we have not yet entered the fullness of what God has promised. Paul says even spirit-filled believers. We got the Holy Spirit. We are groaning not in the absence of faith. No, no, no. We’re groaning in the longing faith. We groan because we know something better is coming. It’s good to groan. Just don’t let your kids use it as an excuse to complain.
What are we waiting for? The redemption of our bodies. One day. This is the one day. No more pain. No more weakness. No more cancer. No more anxieties. No more funerals. No more sin. The burdens that you’re carrying today will not follow you there. And best of all, Christ Himself will be there.
Revelation 14.13 says this, and I heard a voice from heaven. Write this. Go ahead, write it down. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Blessed indeed, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them. One of the most beautiful verses in Scripture on the theme of rest. Notice a couple things here. They die in the Lord. The blessing is not found in death itself. We know death is the last enemy. The blessing belongs to those who are united to Christ. They rest from their labors. It doesn’t mean inactivity or boredom. It means the struggle with sin is over. The burden of suffering is over. The weariness of life in a fallen world is over. For the Christian, there comes a day when the battle ends.
Our deeds will follow us. Not on the basis of salvation. Not because we earned heaven. Lord, look what I’ve done for you. Will you let me in now? No, no. But because every act of faithfulness, every small thing, every ordinary thing, for Christ, has eternal significance. God remembers. Nothing done for Christ is wasted. Every prayer offered in faith, every little act of obedience, every unseen sacrifice, every battle with sin, Christ remembers them all. One day faith will become sight. When every weary saint who dies in the Lord hears the words from Revelation 4:13, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. Oh, we get to rest from our labors. Thank you, Jesus. That is the perfect rest that still remains for the people of God.
Until that day, we remain pilgrims on the journey. We have not arrived yet, but we know where we’re going. Some of us are weary. Some of us discouraged. Some of us carrying burdens no one else can see. Some of us are wondering if we’re going to make it all the way home. But Hebrews reminds us that God’s people don’t walk toward an uncertain future. We walk toward a promised rest. A rest that is purchased by Christ, secured by Christ, and a rest that we will one day forever enjoy with Christ.
Conclusion and Application
So as we close this section of Hebrews, Hebrews reminds us that every person here in this room is looking for rest somewhere. I know that. Some are… Not because I know your heart, but because that’s the human nature. Some are looking for rest in success. Some are looking in comfort. Some just in their control. If I can control everything, then I will have rest. Others, it’s just my performance. If I perform enough, if I do enough, if I get enough done, then I’ll rest. I can feel good about myself. Others are still trying to prove themselves to the Lord. And others just exhausted. Don’t raise your hand if you’re exhausted, but you may be carrying burdens that you were never meant to carry.
This passage directs our eyes away from ourselves. Get out of yourself. Fix your heart on Christ. The wilderness generation heard God’s promises but failed to enter His rest because they would not trust Him. The warning is clear. He says, do not harden your heart. Do not delay. Do not assume that hearing the gospel is same as believing the gospel. The invitation still stands. Come to Christ. Trust Christ. Rest in Christ.
Because the Christian life begins with rest in Christ. We know this. We’re justified by faith alone. Accepted by grace alone. Saved because of Christ alone. And the Christian life continues by resting in Christ. It’s day after day. Trial after trial. Burden after burden. And the answer is not looking inward. It’s not by trusting ourselves. It’s by hearing His voice. It’s believing His promises. It’s continuing to look to Him. And one day, all who belong to Christ will enter perfect rest with Christ. That struggle with sin will be over. That burden, that suffering will be no more. And the fight against that temptation, gone. Gone. Every tear wiped away. Every broken thing made whole. And again, best of all, Christ is going to be there face to face.
We’re not home yet, but we’re closer than we were yesterday. Every Lord’s Day, every trial, every step of faith brings us nearer to the rest Christ has prepared for his people. The promise still stands. Stop looking to yourself. Stop looking to this world. Look to Christ. Christian life begins with rest in Christ. It continues by resting in Christ. And one day ends in perfect rest with Christ forever.
Closing Prayer
Let’s pray together as we prepare to come to the Lord’s table, the table that he’s given us to show us where the rest is that he truly desires us to walk in. So let’s pray as we prepare. And then I’ll have a few words before we distribute the elements.
Oh Lord, we have heard your voice today through your word. So grateful that we can keep our hearts open to the reality of what you have done for us. The power of the gospel that you have given us life, life abundantly. And now we get to work from rest, not to find rest. So Lord, reorient our hearts so that we would know what this rest we keep hearing about is. That it would become a reality in us, that we would turn from our sin and turn from the places that promise rest but never do, never provide it, never carry forward their promise. Help us find rest in you, Lord. To work and serve and labor, fight sin, the power of your spirit, knowing all that you’ve done. So we thank you and we ask that you would meet with us now as we share this meal together. You’d encourage and strengthen your people today. And if there’s one lost soul that today They would come to Christ. Today they would know salvation because they received the gift of faith to believe the gospel and be transformed. A new creation. Thank you, Lord. We ask it in Jesus’ name.
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