Title: Striving to Rest (11 of 66)
Author: Mike Stone
Text: Hebrews 4:1-11
From the series: The Supremacy of Christ
A Study of the Book of Hebrews
The book of Hebrews is a book of exhortation and encouragement. But it is also a book of warnings. The first warning in chapter 2 was about the danger of drifting. The middle of chapter 3 began a second warning about doubting and disbelief. That warning continues here into chapter 4.
And the first 11 verses are about the danger of depending. In this case, it's the danger of depending on the self, rather than resting in the full, final, and finished work of Jesus Christ.
The theme of this section is obviously "rest." The word appears in one form or another at least 10x in 11 verses and the idea of rest appears a few more times.
But the most interesting use of the word "rest" appears in verse 11 where the writer says, "Make every effort to enter that rest."
One translation says, "be diligent to enter that rest."
And another says, "Strive to enter that rest."
That's a strange concept: striving to rest.
A commercial fisherman was pulling into the dock one day when he saw a young man sleeping on the deck of a tiny little boat. He rebuked him for laziness. He admonished the young man to go fish, catch fish, and sell fish. That way he could make money, buy a bigger boat, catch more fish, and make more money. That way he could retire, relax, and rest on his own boat. The young lazy man replied, "That's what I'm doing now!"
While I don't want to even humorously condone laziness, one man was resting and the other was striving to rest.
Well, that's NOT AT ALL what the writer means here. While MUCH could be said from these verses, I want to just draw out one main truth from the verses as we talk about striving to rest.
HERE IT IS: The work of salvation has been finished. And God wants His children to REST in that fact...by faith.
1. There's a rest that was denied at Canaan (1-3a)
The word ...
Author: Mike Stone
Text: Hebrews 4:1-11
From the series: The Supremacy of Christ
A Study of the Book of Hebrews
The book of Hebrews is a book of exhortation and encouragement. But it is also a book of warnings. The first warning in chapter 2 was about the danger of drifting. The middle of chapter 3 began a second warning about doubting and disbelief. That warning continues here into chapter 4.
And the first 11 verses are about the danger of depending. In this case, it's the danger of depending on the self, rather than resting in the full, final, and finished work of Jesus Christ.
The theme of this section is obviously "rest." The word appears in one form or another at least 10x in 11 verses and the idea of rest appears a few more times.
But the most interesting use of the word "rest" appears in verse 11 where the writer says, "Make every effort to enter that rest."
One translation says, "be diligent to enter that rest."
And another says, "Strive to enter that rest."
That's a strange concept: striving to rest.
A commercial fisherman was pulling into the dock one day when he saw a young man sleeping on the deck of a tiny little boat. He rebuked him for laziness. He admonished the young man to go fish, catch fish, and sell fish. That way he could make money, buy a bigger boat, catch more fish, and make more money. That way he could retire, relax, and rest on his own boat. The young lazy man replied, "That's what I'm doing now!"
While I don't want to even humorously condone laziness, one man was resting and the other was striving to rest.
Well, that's NOT AT ALL what the writer means here. While MUCH could be said from these verses, I want to just draw out one main truth from the verses as we talk about striving to rest.
HERE IT IS: The work of salvation has been finished. And God wants His children to REST in that fact...by faith.
1. There's a rest that was denied at Canaan (1-3a)
The word ...
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