Tag Archives: Hebrews

Finding that Place of True Rest

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We’ve been working our way through Genesis, and then we made what might have seemed like a big jump over to the book of Hebrews. The reason for that is tied directly to Genesis 2.

Genesis 2 begins with God resting on the seventh day. And the author of Hebrews picks up that truth and uses it to explain something deeper—what the believer’s true rest is. So that’s why we went there, and that’s what we’re continuing to look at.

The author of Hebrews is drawing from Psalm 95, where David reflects back on the wilderness generation. Those people had the opportunity to enter God’s rest, but they didn’t. They were disobedient. They didn’t believe. And so they missed it.

Then David says in Psalm 95, “Today, don’t harden your hearts like they did.” And Hebrews takes that and brings it right into the present—into our lives.

The Weight of “Today”

That word “today” keeps coming up, and it matters more than we usually think.

We tend to live either in the past or in the future. We think about what we wish we had done, or we worry about what might happen next week. But the reality is, all we ever actually have is today.

If tomorrow comes, it will be “today” when it gets here.

That’s true in everyday life. If someone says, “Someday I want to learn something,” that “someday” has to become today at some point, or it never happens. It’s the same with simple things—we tell ourselves we’ll get to it later, but what really matters is whether we do it now.

And the writer of Hebrews presses that same point spiritually. Today is the day not to harden our hearts. Today is the day to enter God’s rest.

The Problem: Hearing Without Believing

Hebrews says something that can be a little uncomfortable. It says the people in the wilderness had good news proclaimed to them, just like we do—but it didn’t profit them.

Why not?

Because they didn’t unite it with faith.

You can hear the Word of God, sit under teaching, listen to a message—and it may not benefit you at all. Not because the message wasn’t true, but because it wasn’t believed.

Belief and obedience go together. If I really believe what God says, it shows up in how I live. It’s not just agreeing with facts. It’s responding to what God has said.

God’s Rest and Finished Work

Hebrews then brings us back to creation:

“God rested on the seventh day from all his works.”

Why did He rest? Because the work was finished. There was nothing left to do. He didn’t take a break so He could get back at it the next day. He was done.

That becomes the pattern.

God rested because His work was complete. And now we’re told that there is a rest for us—and that entering that rest somehow means resting from our works the same way God rested from His.

That’s where the question comes in: what works are we supposed to stop?

What Are “Dead Works”?

To understand that, we have to look at what the same writer calls “dead works.”

Hebrews 9 talks about being cleansed from dead works. And I’m convinced those works include more than just trying to earn salvation. We know we can’t earn salvation. But there’s another kind of work we fall into—especially as Christians. It’s when we try, out of ourselves, to produce something for God. We try to be better, to be more acceptable, to be more pleasing—coming from the wrong place within us.

Even as believers, we can operate that way.

Isaiah says that “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” That means there is a kind of righteousness we can produce that still isn’t what God is after.

So the issue isn’t just whether we’re doing the right things. It’s where those things are coming from.

The Subtle Shift in Motivation

I’ve seen this in my own life, and I’ve heard others describe it too. You can be doing all the same outward things—living a clean life, making good decisions—but something underneath changes. The motivation shifts.

You might be doing it for approval, or out of habit, or because that’s what you’ve always done. And from the outside, nothing looks different. But inside, something is off.

That’s the difference we’re trying to get at. And it’s not always easy to identify. It’s something you have to discern before the Lord.

Are We Perfected by the Flesh?

Galatians presses this even further.

“Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”

We understand that salvation is by faith. But then we can slip into thinking that our growth—our sanctification—comes by our own effort. The passage pushes back on that.

Just as we began by faith, we continue by faith. That doesn’t mean we do nothing. But it does mean that what we do is not coming from our own strength in the way we often assume.

God Working Within Us

Philippians brings balance to this.

“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling… for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”

That’s a striking statement. Even the desire to do what is right—the will itself—is something God is working in us. And the doing flows from that. So when I find myself wanting to do what is right in a genuine way, that didn’t originate with me. That’s God at work.

No Confidence in the Flesh

And then there’s this:

“We… worship in the Spirit of God… and put no confidence in the flesh.”

But we tend to do the opposite. We hear what we’re supposed to do, and our instinct is, “I can do this.” There’s a kind of determination that sounds right but is rooted in the wrong place. And that’s the line that’s hard to see.

Seeing Sin More Clearly

At one point, this became very personal for me.

For a long time, I thought of my daily failures as a handful of small things—maybe two or three I needed to confess at the end of the day.

But then I started thinking about what Jesus actually said: love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.

If that’s the standard, then how often do I fall short? Not a few times a day, but constantly.

And when I realized that, it changed how I saw forgiveness. It wasn’t that I had a few minor things to clean up. It was that the whole day fell short of God’s standard, and yet all of those failures and sins were all forgiven.

The Limits of Our Effort

We can try to improve. We can raise the level a little. But the gap between where we are and God’s standard is still enormous. So when we respond by saying, “I’m going to do better,” we’re still operating in that same framework of self-effort. And that’s where the frustration comes in.

We sing things like giving everything to God, putting it all on the altar—but it doesn’t stay there. It jumps off of the altar almost immediately. That’s been my experience over and over again.

Resting in Christ Instead

What this passage is pointing us toward is something different. Not a life of trying harder from the same place, but a life of resting in Christ—trusting what has already been finished.

God finished His work in creation.

Christ finished His work on the cross.

And the invitation is to rest in that.

To live out of that reality—not striving to reach some standard so that God will accept us more, but living as those who are already accepted.

And from there, to live, to love, to serve—not perfectly, but from a different place.

That’s the rest that is being offered.

May every one of us find that place of rest each day of our lives so that we can serve God faithfully and from a true heart of faith.

Patience – Part 2

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Patient endurance is required of all Christians. The passage under consideration  (2 Peter 1:5,6) tells us to be diligent in adding it to our faith. Peter also tells us in I Peter 2:20 that when we do good and suffer, it is commendable before God to take it patiently. Paul tells Timothy in I Timothy 6:11 that patience is one of the things a man of God is to pursue having fled from youthful lusts and other evils. In 2 Tim 3:10 we find that Paul commends Timothy for having followed his example in the area of patience among other things. An older man who would be a good example to the young men around him must have patience as one of his personal characteristics (Titus 2:2).  Patience is one of the attributes that commended Paul as a minister (2 Cor 6:4).

The kind of patience or endurance spoken of here is not the simple patience that we normally think of when we say we might need some patience when the car ahead of us is moving too slowly or something like that. Patience is the enduring of a trial whether that trial is directly from the hand of God for our discipline or is being applied by the world and its system in opposition to God and His people. We are strengthened by God Himself so that we might endure. (Col 1:11)  It is a goal to be sought after, not avoided. According to James in chapter 5 we are not to grumble against one another while enduring the trials. So rather than grumbling and complaining as we often do when going through hardships, we are to be joyful and accept the trial without complaint. That’s a tough assignment.

God shows his pleasure in this kind of endurance when he commends the Ephesian church in Revelation 2. He says in verse 2, “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary.”

Being able to endure trials with endurance and patience is helpful in providing the support and encouragement needed by others coming after us who may face the same or similar trials (2 Cor 1:6-7).

As I mentioned earlier, there is a strong connection between patience and hope. We already looked at the fact that patience produces the proof in our lives which gives us hope. When Paul wrote to the Thessalonians he said he remembered their “patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” Patience helps produce hope and hope also strengthens patience. When we have a sure hope, we wait for it more patiently like the farmer does for his harvest (James 5:7-10). Even though the word is different, Hebrews 6:11 says that “we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” In other words through our patience we demonstrate the full assurance of the hope we have. Romans 15:4 tells us that through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures we might have hope.

One of the things that is most interesting to me is the close connection with endurance and the final reward. Heb 10:36 tells us, “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.” He goes on to say in verse 38 that the just shall live by faith, but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him.  In speaking in an “end time” context, Jesus tells us that His followers will be hated by all for His name’s sake. He then adds, “By your patience possess your souls.” In the same kind of “end time” context Matt 24:13 says that he that endures to the end will be saved. 2 Timothy 2:12 tells us that if we endure, we will reign with him.

Our pastor, in preaching on 2 Corinthians 4 called our attention to verse 8 which tells us that though we are hard pressed on every side, we are not crushed. Then in verse 16 we see the evidence of perseverance. “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

In a message during prayer meeting he spoke from 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4. It was interesting to see the connection with what we are studying here. Paul boasted of the Thessalonians for “your patience and faith in all your persecutions.” He goes on to say in verse 5 that this is a “manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer.”

Patience or endurance then is to be the hallmark of the Christian life. It is the pattern of life that results in God’s approval of our lives. We are told to run with patience the race that is set before us. Jesus said that the seed that fell on good ground are those who heard the word and keep it and bear fruit with patience (Luke 8:15). This is the characteristic of a true believer. Love endures all things. As our lives are marked by the love of God, they will also be marked by the kind of endurance that only comes from the power of God at work in us for His glory.

(This article was first posted to Faithful Men Blog in October 2006)

Patience – Part 1

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In 2 Peter 1:5, 6, Peter gives us characteristics which we are to diligently add to our faith. First we are to add virtue and to virtue knowledge. To knowledge we are to add self-control and to self-control perseverance. As I am studying through these characteristics, I wanted to take some extra time to delve into the meaning of perseverance.

Perseverance is a translation of the word “hupomone”, which means to remain under. The person who is persevering or enduring is remaining under some circumstance or pressure and he is doing so in such a way that his spirit is not crushed by the circumstances. Perseverance can be the result of remaining under the pressures which God brings directly in the form of discipline.  Hebrews 12:7 “If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons.” Perseverance can also be the result of enduring the pressures inflicted by the world and its system of evil and persecution. Either way we are to remain confident and strong in spite of the pressures.

In the passage under consideration, Peter instructs us to be diligent to add this trait to the others that are being added to our faith. Diligence means that we will focus our attention on and work toward accomplishing this goal of adding endurance to our faith. Endurance is gained primarily by practice. In order to be diligent in adding it to our faith, we will have to go through various trials and be diligent about taking those trials patiently. Needless to say, that is not an easy task.

What does the New Testament teach us about endurance?  James 1:3 tells us that the trying of our faith produces patience. Similarly,  Romans 5:3 tells us that tribulation works patience and patience brings experience and experience hope. This is why James says that those who endure are to be counted blessed (James 5:11).  It is also why he tells us to count it all joy when we come under the various pressures because we know that these trials will produce endurance in us. Perseverance/patience/endurance is a tremendous goal to reach for. Trials bring joy because we know the result will be good.

The word “experience” in Romans 5:3 is an interesting one which would take an entire study of its own. In essence it means proof or evidence. So the patience that comes from tribulation brings about the kind of experience that proves the genuine nature of our Christian life. Experience is not the flimsy, superficial feeling-oriented concept that we have today. It is the documentation of our Christian faith. Tribulation brings about patience which gives rise to the documentation of our genuine faith which then provides hope. Someone has said that hope looks to the future while endurance helps us get there. You don’t get there if you don’t endure. We will see hope in close proximity to endurance throughout this study.

(This article was first posted to the Faithful Men Blog in October 2006.)

Memorization Monday

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Hebrews 3:12–13 (NKJV)

12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

 

Note that calls an unbelieving heart an evil heart. One of the solutions to the danger of slipping away into an attitude of unbelief is that we as Christians should be exhorting one another daily. Usually we only get to see each other once or twice a week and then it is usually very superficial. We need to be involved in one another’s lives in such a way that we can stir one another up to love and good works.

 

These verses are Fighter Verses provided through the following site:

http://fighterverses.com/set-4-core-esv/week-50/

Hymn of the Week – Solid Rock

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The Solid Rock by Edward Mote

*See my notes at the end

  1. My hope is built on nothing less
    Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
    I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
    But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

    • Refrain:
      On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
      All other ground is sinking sand,
      All other ground is sinking sand.
  2. When darkness veils His lovely face,
    I rest on His unchanging grace;
    In every high and stormy gale,
    My anchor holds within the veil.
  3. His oath, His covenant, His blood
    Support me in the whelming flood;
    When all around my soul gives way,
    He then is all my hope and stay.
  4. When He shall come with trumpet sound,
    Oh, may I then in Him be found;
    Dressed in His righteousness alone,
    Faultless to stand before the throne.

 

Notes:

Verse 2 “My anchor holds within the veil.”   This comes from the book of Hebrews:

“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil,” (Hebrews 6:19, NKJV)

 

Jesus Christ has entered heaven as the first glorified man, the God-man. The earthly Jewish tabernacle had two sections. The one behind the veil was the holiest of all where no one could go but the high priest once a year. Jesus is our faithful high priest who is present behind the veil making intercession for us. The earthly veil was torn when Jesus died. The way is now open and he is already there waiting for all of those who trust and follow him as their savior and Lord.

 

Verse 3 We have a sure foundation when everything else fails. These are the oath of God with all of his promises toward his children, his covenant with them and the shed blood of Christ which paid the price for it all.

 

Verse 4 We need a foreign righteousness. Our righteousness is not sufficient. We need to be dressed in the perfect righteousness of Christ. Only then can we stand faultless before the throne of God.

“And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—” (Colossians 1:21–22, NKJV)