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
A struggling brother or sister comes to you with a question. My friend, how do I know I am saved? How do I know that I’m going to heaven? How do you answer that? It’s not an easy one because there are two dangers. We can trust in ourselves and our efforts, or we can look to Christ and and recognize His gracious work within us. Certainly we don’t hold to easy believism, as though praying a prayer many years ago means there’s no need to be concerned. Nor do we live in morbid introspection, constantly asking, have I done enough to be saved? We look to Christ alone as the ground of our salvation. But God graciously strengthens the assurance of our salvation by giving us evidences of his grace.
And sometimes that evidence is easy to overlook. Why? Because we have been taught to expect the dramatic, the spectacular, the instant breakthrough. But God often works more quietly. He works through the ordinary means and ordinary evidences of his grace. So don’t overlook God’s work in your life. And that’s where Hebrews 4 takes us today. Yes, Hebrews contains warnings and exhortations. But it also contains comforts and assurances. And these are vital for weary pilgrims pressing on towards God’s promised rest.
So if you’re taking note, here’s the main idea. God graciously strengthens his saints by giving them evidences of his grace. And in these verses, 11 to 13, we’re going to see what grace produces. Grace produces holy desires. Grace produces holy tenderness. Grace produces holy honesty. These three evidences move us from hope to conviction to communion. And three things that we’re going to look at.
The first is that believers long for the rest that God has promised. That’s an evidence of his grace.
The second one is that believers increasingly welcome the loving wounds of God’s word. Another evidence of grace.
Third evidence here, believers increasingly walk openly before God. The last one.
Point 1: Believers Long for the Rest That God Has Promised
Grace Produces Holy Desires — Hebrews 4:11
So we’ll begin where the text does. Verse 11 certainly contains a warning. That’s very clear. But inside that warning is something beautiful about God’s people. Grace produces holy desires. Read with me verse 11, Hebrews chapter 4.
Let us therefore strive to enter that rest. So that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
Notice the first two words, let us. It’s not you, it’s us. All of those in the visible church. There aren’t any super Christians exempt from this statement. All believers, all professing believers should strive to enter into the rest that God has promised.
Now on the surface, that may seem a little confusing. How do I strive to enter into rest? Surely we strive in several ways. In fact, all of us can admit that we are striving for something. We’re making every effort to reach some desired goal. We strive for financial security by working and saving. We strive in our relationships by sacrificing and investing in our families. Some of us even wake up at 4 o’clock in the morning to perfect their golf swing.
Striving is a wholehearted effort towards something that you value. But when it comes to rest, the idea is not anxious labor, trying to earn salvation, but rather an earnest diligence in pursuing Christ and persevering in the faith. To strive is to be diligent, to make every effort, to refuse to drift. And that desire itself is evidence of God’s grace in your life. It’s not sinless perfection, no, far from it, but a living, active faith that pursues Christ. You’re making every effort to pursue Christ, to look to Him, for the Scripture says everyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame. It’s not the quality of your striving. It’s the presence of the holy desire.
Unbelievers don’t long to know Christ better. They don’t long to enter into the rest that he alone provides. Same concept is found in 2 Peter 1, verse 10. Peter says, Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent… To do what? To confirm your calling and election. For if you practice these things, you will never fall. So what does confirm mean? Is he saying make yourself elect? No, we’re to make our calling and election sure. How do we do that? by pointing to the evidences of God’s grace in your life.
Listen here. Election is God’s work, not yours. Confirmation, though, is our assurance that we are His. But here’s another reality we can’t miss. You see, we are all terrible at pointing out the evidences of God’s grace in our own lives. And so because of that, we need others. We need the church to come alongside us to point them out. Some of you need to encourage a struggling saint this week. Tell them what you see. No matter if it’s a small thing or not. Brother, I see God sustaining you. Sister, I see your love for Christ. I see how you’re enduring that trial.
Listen, Christ is the ground of our salvation. The fruit of grace is the evidence of that ground. The wilderness generation revealed their unbelief by what? Persistent disobedience. And so if you have absolutely no desire to obey the Lord, then you should be concerned that you may fall away and miss that share in salvation. But that’s not what struggling believers are asking. And that should encourage us. Because the mark of grace is not sinless perfection. Rather, it’s a heart that is grieved by sin and longs for righteousness.
God has placed holy desires in you. Yes, they are mixed with corruption, with remaining sin. Nonetheless, they are there. And that longing, that longing for God’s rest is evidence of His grace. Brothers and sisters, do not despise these holy desires. Yes, they are weak. Yes, they are mixed with remaining sin. Yes, they ebb and flow. But unbelievers do not long for Christ. Dead hearts do not strive to know Him better. But struggling saints do.
And if you find yourself longing for the promised rest, grieved by your sin, pressing on toward Christ, however faltering, then praise God. The Lord is at work in your life. Those desires are not the root of your salvation. They are the evidence of His grace. The Lord has placed them there. And that longing for His rest itself is an evidence that He is bringing you home.
Our own confession speaks this way. The 1689 London Baptist Confession says this in chapters 16 and paragraph 2. Good works done in obedience to God’s commands… Are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith.
Brothers and sisters, fruit doesn’t give life to the tree. Fruit reveals that the tree is alive. And these holy desires are evidences that God is at work in you.
Point 2: Believers Increasingly Welcome the Loving Wounds of God’s Word
Grace Produces Holy Tenderness — Hebrews 4:12
God not only gives his children holy desires, but he nourishes them. And one of the primary ways he does that is through his word. And sometimes that work is painful. Sometimes the word exposes our sin, our motives, our wandering hearts. But those wounds are not the wounds of an enemy. They are the loving wounds of our Heavenly Father. And that brings us to our second evidence of grace in our lives. It’s this reality. Believers increasingly welcome the loving wounds of God’s Word.
Verse 12. For the Word of God…
Wow. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that because God’s word is living, it’s subject to change. No, it remains the same. In fact, the word of the Lord abides forever. The grass withers, the flowers fade, but God’s word remains forever. So how is it living? It’s living because living things bring about effectual change. Dead things change.
Are just that. They’re dead. They’re without life, without hope. But God’s Word is living because it always accomplishes its intended purpose. It never returns void. Praise God for the preacher. 1 Peter 1.23 says, Peter reminds us that regeneration, new life in us by the Spirit, is God’s work. And we’ve literally been given new life. That life will never die. Contrary to natural life that has a beginning and an end, the Word of God is not some dead relic sitting on a shelf collecting dust. No, it’s evidence that God speaks today. Brothers and sisters, the Word that gave you life is the same Word that’s keeping you alive. And it’s the same word that creates faith and continues to sustain that faith. For where does faith come from? Faith comes from hearing. And hearing the word of Christ.
One of the most beautiful things about God’s word is its piercing power. The author says that it’s sharper than any two-edged sword. You know Ephesians 6 and 17 refers to it as the sword of the Spirit. The same Spirit who gave us life through His Word now wields that Word as His sword. And though the sword often cuts deeply, It’s never the cut of an enemy. It’s the loving work of our Heavenly Father who wounds to heal and exposes to restore.
Surgeons use knives. Enemies use knives. The difference is not the sharpness of the blade, but the purpose behind it. An enemy cuts to destroy. A surgeon cuts to heal. Likewise, the Spirit uses the sword of God’s Word not to destroy His children, but to restore and to sanctify. And so it is with the Word of God. God’s Word does not always kiss us with comfort. Sometimes it wounds us with this conviction. Sometimes it exposes sin in us that we’d rather just hide. Sometimes it uncovers motives we’d rather keep buried. But faithful are the wounds of a friend. As Hosea says, he has torn us that he may heal us. And that’s why believers increasingly welcome the loving wounds of God’s Word.
Notice the figurative language. Piercing to the division of soul and spirit. The author’s point here is not to give us a lesson in psychology. What is the soul? What is the spirit? Are we three parts or two? His point is that God’s Word reaches down into the deepest part of our being. And it’s able to diagnose what no human being, not even ourselves, can fully see.
And so, as the Spirit uses the Word to pierce us, He also uses it to expose us. That’s one of the scariest things to think about. If I recorded all of my thoughts for just one hour… And then played them on a tape for you in this service, you would all go running and screaming, never to return again. That’s how deep our depravity is. But that’s also how great God’s grace is. He knows us completely. Every part, every thought, every struggle, everything. And yet he loves us perfectly. He sees every thought, every intention of the heart. And yet he does not cast away his own.
And that brings us to the difference between condemnation and conviction. It’s vitally important that as believers, we know the difference. Romans 8.1 says, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. You’ve got to be in Christ Jesus. That means condemnation has already fallen upon Christ for His people. The condemnation is for those who are lost in their sin and apart from Christ. Jesus says this, whoever believes in him is not condemned. But whoever does not believe is what? Condemned already. Because why? He has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
Conviction comes to the believer. And if you’re sensitive to the Spirit, it comes quite often. As the Word does this piercing and revealing of our sin, conviction often serves as evidence that in fact you are a child of God. According to Hebrews 12 and verse 6, the Lord does what? He disciplines those that He loves. And he also chastises every son he receives. Conviction is not evidence that God has abandoned you. It’s evidence that he loves you. He wounds because he is a good father. He exposes because he intends to heal. He convicts because he is committed to your holiness.
Brothers and sisters, condemnation and conviction are not the same thing. Condemnation says, you’re guilty. God is finished with you. Run from him. But conviction says this. You’re my child. Turn back to me. Come into the light. Receive my mercy. Condemnation drives us away from Christ. Conviction draws us back to Christ.
John Owen once said, when sin drives us from Christ, it is a sign that we never truly knew Him. But when sin drives us to Christ, it is a sign that His grace is at work within us. Conviction does not drive believers away from Christ. It drives them back to Christ. And because believers know the difference, they increasingly welcome the loving wounds of God’s Word.
Once again, faithful are the wounds of a friend. The same Father who wounds us is the same Father who heals us. The same Spirit who pierces us is the same Spirit who comforts us. And the same Word that exposes our sin is the same Word that leads us back to Christ. That’s why we can increasingly welcome these loving wounds of God’s Word.
Point 3: Believers Increasingly Walk Openly Before God
Grace Produces Holy Honesty — Hebrews 4:13
So having shown us the searching ministry of his word, the author now reminds us that we live continually before the searching gaze of God himself.
After hearing all this, some of you might be tempted to hide. That’s what sinners have always done. Adam hid. Cain evaded God. It’s what we do where we naturally cover ourselves. We pretend. We conceal. We don’t want anyone to know what’s going on in our hearts. We fear exposure because we think exposure means rejection. But children of God do something different. Why? Why? Because grace teaches us to come into the light. Grace is teaching us to stop pretending. Grace teaches us to live openly before God.
Brothers and sisters, because we are so deeply loved in Christ, we don’t need to hide anymore. That brings us to the third evidence of grace. Grace produces holy honesty. Read with me verse 13 as we consider that believers increasingly walk openly before God. This is verse 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 an account.
The observation here is obvious. Of course, we know that nothing is hidden from God. But is that how we function? Day by day? Hour by hour? To some, that’s a horrifying reality. The holy God of Israel sees the entirety of my life. He sees my thoughts. He sees the intentions of my heart. Nothing is hidden from him.
How foolish we are to think that we can hide from God. Oh, I’ll just go to a place where no one can see me. There I can safely sin in the confines of my home. It doesn’t affect anyone else. It’s a harmless sin. It may be pornography. It may be bitterness. It may be pride. It may be envy. It may be unbelief hidden deep within the heart. But we keep saying this. No one can see my thoughts. No one truly knows my intentions. And so we remain in the darkness for fear that our deeds will be exposed.
It’s one of the greatest burdens upon all of humanity. The fear of judgment. Even as believers, we fear judgment. I simply cannot let my brother know that I’m struggling with this sin. Because if he finds out, he’s going to judge me. He’s going to cast me aside. He’s going to look at me differently. I will no longer be accepted in the Christian community.
There’s so many examples in Scripture of sinners that hide. After Adam sinned, he said, I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. Sin produced shame, fear, and hiding. Adam covered himself and fled from God’s presence. After murdering Abel, Cain tried to evade God. He famously said, Am I my brother’s keeper? Instead of confession, he concealed.
Dear friends, there’s no need to hide now. If you’re in Christ, you know that all your sin has been forgiven. Jesus was exposed openly on the cross. The most wicked, vile, detestable, horrific death. And judged in our place as a substitute. Paying for our sin.
Isaiah says he was pierced for our transgressions. He bore our shame. He endured our condemnation. He was exposed. He had no sin. He was exposed so that we could stop hiding.
Have you ever watched little children? When they break something, they go running to hide. Why? Because they think exposure means punishment. But mature children… Learned that loving parents already know. And that home is the safest place to come clean.
Brothers and sisters, our Heavenly Father is far more compassionate than our earthly parents. We no longer have to hide. We can come into the light. We can confess our sins. We can live honestly before the Lord. Why? Because exposure no longer means condemnation. Christ has already borne that condemnation for us. Therefore, grace produces holy honesty.
Calvin said that true repentance arises from a sincere fear of God joined with the love of him. The sincere fear of the Lord joined with an understanding of how great his love is for us.
We come into the light not because we fear rejection. But because we’re persuaded by the mercy of our Father.
David said in Psalm 139, Oh Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You discern my thoughts from afar. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, oh Lord, you know it altogether.
You think David was terrified of being exposed? No. He was amazed. And that led him to say, where shall I go from your spirit? Where shall I flee from your presence? There’s nowhere to hide. That’s exactly what verse 13 is telling us. It’s that very grace that teaches us.
Guys, live openly before the Lord with one another. Live honestly because in that holy honesty, guess what happens? You become more and more free for what the Lord has for you. We’re more and more seeing the bondage and destruction that sin brings into our lives. Let the reality… Of God seeing all of you be the very best thing for you.
David says in Psalm 103, as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. And the same David who knew that God saw everything also knew that God had forgiven everything. Christ has borne the penalty of all of our sin. Therefore, we no longer need to hide.
The Reformers used the phrase for this, Coram Deo. C-O-R-A-M-D-E-O It means, before the face of God. All of life is lived consciously before God’s all-seeing gaze. Nothing is hidden from Him. But for the believer, this is not a terrifying reality. It should be a comforting one. Because the God whose eyes see everything is the same God whose Son has paid everything.
So what does this holy honesty look like? It’s two things. Confession and repentance. Because of God’s abundant grace, we are able to confess our sins very freely. And to look at one another and say, well, I’m not surprised. Are you surprised? Wow, there’s still sin in my life? Yeah. Confess them before God. Confess them before one another. And once we bring our sins into the light, something amazing happens. Once sin is brought into the light, its power begins to wither. You know this. Sin grows in secrecy, but it withers in the light. Mold grows in the darkness. Sunlight kills it. Sin is much the same way. Secrets, they nourish it. But confession starves it.
Brothers and sisters, don’t think it’s strange that you still battle with sin. The question is not whether temptation will come. The question is, what will you do when it comes? Will you bring it into the light? Or will you keep it hidden? Know this, God is faithful. He always provides a way of escape. Bring your sin into the light.
Repentance is not something that we did one time long ago when we first believed. No, repentance is the Christian life. Martin Luther said that the entire life of believers is to be one of repentance. There’s no graduating past repentance. No, we grow deeper and deeper into it. How and why? Because we are aware of our sin more and more and more.
The husband may speak harshly to his wife. The spirit convicts him. He doesn’t justify himself. He doesn’t say, well, that’s just the way I am. God has wired me to be angry. No, he says, honey, I sinned against you. Will you forgive me? That sounds like repentance to me. Obviously there needs to be a change of behavior, but that looks a lot like Christianity. A brother is struggling with pornography or anxiety or anger. And instead of suffering in silence for years, he reaches out to another mature brother and says, man, I need help. Would you pray for me? That’s walking in the light.
Walking in the light doesn’t mean that you never sin. It means that you stop pretending that you don’t. Unbelievers hide. Believers confess. Unbelievers cover. Believers come into the light. Walking in the light, it’s not the absence of sin. It’s the absence of pretending. And that holy honesty is evidence of God’s grace.
Conclusion and Application
Grace produces holy desires. Grace produces holy tenderness. Grace produces holy honesty. And all of these are gifts of grace that points us away from ourselves and back to Christ. They strengthen us as weary pilgrims pressing on to God’s promised rest.
Brothers and sisters, If God has given you even weak desires, even tender convictions, honest repentance, don’t despise these things. They’re precious evidences that the Father has not abandoned you. So as we close, it’s possible that some of you hear these evidences and immediately begin to look inward. You immediately begin to think, My desires are weak. My repentance is imperfect. My heart is often cold. My honesty before the Lord is inconsistent. Remember, these evidences are precious. But they’re not the foundation. Christ alone is.
So for just a moment, Can we stop looking at ourselves? Can we stop measuring and evaluating and asking, have I done enough? Can we look to Christ again? Can we look to Him as the one who perfectly obeyed His Father’s will? Look to the one who was pierced for our transgressions. Look to the one who was exposed and condemned in our place. Look to the one who bore our shame, carried our sins. Look to the risen Savior who now, even now, intercedes for his people and promises he will cast none out that come to him.
Your assurance ultimately rests not in the strength of your grip on Christ, but the strength of his grip on you. As Spurgeon once said, I have a great need for Christ. I have a great Christ for my need. We are not carried home by the strength of our hands, but by the strength of our Savior. And the Savior who began this good work in you will surely bring it to completion.
So let’s go to him now in quiet reflection and communion with our Savior. And after that moment of silence, after you’ve come to him, I’ll close us in prayer. Let’s take a moment now.
Closing Prayer
Oh, precious Savior. We acknowledge your glory, your power, your majesty, your wisdom. And we confess our sin. We confess that we are prone to wander. We confess that we are prone to hide in the darkness.
Lord, we are a fearful people. We fear judgment. We fear being shamed. We fear being cast out. But all of these fears are not from you because we know that perfect love casts out all fear. It’s your love that perfects us. It’s your love that enables us to be able to confess our sins freely to you and to one another. We confess our sin from a place of acceptance, from our adoption. You’ve sealed us in your family. We will never be sent away. So, Lord, we want to walk in the light. We want to have fellowship with one another. We don’t want to pretend anymore that we have it all together. We want to come as weary sinners that have been brought to the table to feast with their king. Oh Lord, we have everything we need in you. You’ve made the way for us. So help us by your grace. May your grace teach us to confess and to repent and to do it over and over again, knowing that your grace is sufficient, not as a license to sin, but as a license to pursue holiness, to pursue Christ. So may we rest under that balance of fear of the Lord, proper reverence of the Lord.
And also understanding how deeply you love us.
Oh, Lord, give us a right mind. Help us to understand all of these things.
Encourage your church today with these words. We pray it all in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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