[Transcript represents full sermon's text]

       Hebrews chapter 4, starting in verse 1: “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, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest, 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. For he has somewhere spoken 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” (ESV).

       The opportunity to come into God’s rest manifests itself, to come into his peace today, if we don’t know God. The encouragement is that the opportunity is still there, the door is still open. And how is it that the door would become closed? How does that work? The mind might surmise that it becomes closed because God gets fed up with unbelief. That seems to be the easy, obvious answer that comes into thinking. Actually, however, the problems begins when we first harden our heart, and then continually choose to make that choice. It is a choice we are making. In doing so, the day will come when we may no longer be able to enter, to come into personal relationship with God, because we have hardened our heart so much that it is the inevitable choice we will make. It has become ‘who we are.’ It is our essence. That is the reason the author says, “let us fear.” The passage could be read that one in the Christian walk needs to stay on the straight and narrow. But truly, that approach to it wouldn’t make any logical sense because if one is loving God, if one is seeking to please him, that is becoming the person’s character. A positive snowball effect happens wherein the person is only going to get closer to God over time. Our believing in God leads us to peace, really, in this life and certainly peace in the next life. That’s a beautiful aspect of the whole thing.

       Even though those in the Old Testament times of Moses heard a version of the Good News, heard God’s Law, some, not all, but some choose to take benefit from it. A difference of opinion existed with their fellow brothers and sisters who choose to believe. Truly, this is the way God has setup the Universe. It is set up in such a way that any person has the free choice whether to believe in God, to believe in the truth, or not to believe. Contrary to what some people believe, even Christians, God does not use force and he does not forcefully call persons into relationship with him. In examining the truth, what God presents, it becomes easily obvious that it is aligns with that which is good. God never says anything that would lead to something that’s more in line with the character of evil, that something we would expect to hear from Satan. It was Jesus who said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10, ESV). For sure. Now, sometimes ‘religious people’ might make certain individuals feel that God is otherwise. Christians haven’t always done what God has desired, and they haven’t always interpreted the Scriptures in a positive way. Nonetheless, the whole concept of coming into personal relationship with God proves itself a good and positive one.

       Indeed, some Israelites of old did not embrace the deliverance that God had provided—even though this deliverance had been setup, planned, from the foundation of the world. God always knew that he was going to have a way for persons to be saved. No doubt existed as pertained to that in God’s mind. Paul would tell the Ephesians, “he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:4, 5, ESV). So, God had the plan in place—the plan of adoption—for anyone who would choose to accept it. The desire, on God’s part, was for the people who chose to believe in him to be “holy and blameless” and adopted as his children. They would have to be adopted, for the people were not by default his. God is a planner, and he had a plan in place in the case that Adam and Eve, or someone after them, ended up sinning. That was his part, “his works.” Thus is demonstrated the Father’s love for the Israelites back then, and it demonstrates his love for us today. Not negligent are God’s actions, and he isn’t one who plans for evil to occur. That part is due to what Satan accomplished by going against him.

       The theme continues in verse 6: “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.” 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 has also rested from his works as God did from his” (ESV).

       In the past it has been discussed how God does not always get what he wants. For sure, the Apostle Peter has told us, “The Lord… is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9, ESV). That’s the reality of situation, and it was no different for the Israelites back at the time of Moses. Unfortunately, some still need to enter it, and the author notes that the Israelites of old didn’t enter it. They didn’t do what was right. The incorrect choice was made. No inheritance of Promised Land for them (see Deuteronomy 1:34, 35). Historically, the Psalm 95 passage being quoted referred to the Israelites’ failure to enter into Canaan. Of course, people later did enter the land under Joshua. Yet, it’s also apparent that the Psalm has a double meaning that would apply to the future. That is, a future day, “another day later on.” Thus, anyone who believes in Christ for the forgiveness of one’s sins enters into his or her own, personal “Sabbath rest.” The Israelites of old rested on the seventh day of the week, just as God had done. This day was devoted to closeness to, to fellowship with, God. And as God rested from his works on the seventh day, so all those who believe under the new covenant, the New Testament, those who believe no longer are required to do the ‘works’ the old Israelites did in keeping the Law. For it is as the Apostle Paul told the Galatians, “For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:15, 16, ESV). This is the new way—which applies to both groups of people, both to Jews and to Gentiles.

       Verse 11: “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (ESV).

       It’s not that one has to be good for awhile then reaches a certain point where they have arrived at a good enough state that they are now considered in the “rest.” We know that’s not the way it works. Rather, one has to “strive to enter.” Let us recall a scene from Acts chapter 17 to understand how this process can work. If we go to Acts 17, and read in verse 11: “Now these Jews [in Berea] were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Many of them therefore believed” (11, 12, ESV). Thus, these Jewish individuals in this particular city of Berea, in central Macedonia, searched the Scriptures to see if what was spoken to them was true, and then after this choose to believe. This was how they “strive[d] to enter that rest.” Everyone has this opportunity even in our day, and especially with all the resources available. A great amount of writings exist, and even a lot of ‘scientific’ or ‘archaeological’ discoveries that both Jewish people and non-Jewish people can look into when considering the faith. Truth be told, an abundance of information is present. And one would think that it would be an easier time now than ever to believe. However, we know at the same time that Satan was worked hard against this, presenting ideas like the Theory of Evolution (which seems to have lost that ‘theory’ part in recent times) and other perspectives to try to persuade individuals from believing in the Jewish God as Creator, or from believing in some of the miracles or judgments from the Old Testament. It’s really unfortunate. While there is a lot of good information out there, there’s also a lot of bad information.

       The writer presents some kind words as pertains to the “word of God.” Usually, when this passage is quoted, we hear it being applied to the Bible, whether in whole or part. Contextually, the writer seems to be referring to the Gospel message, and not actually the Bible. So, it would be For the Gospel is living and active. The Gospel is sharper than any two-edged sword. The Gospel pierces to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow. The Gospel discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart. That’s how we can understand the passage. Really, when we break it down like that, it shows the power and light of the Good News, doesn’t it? What does it do? Well, it judges sin, right? It exposes sin. One has to recognize that they have a problem—that they haven’t been doing right—and the Good News provides a solution to that. It is based on the premise that one day in the future, on some future day, God is going to evaluate (of which we might say judge), all thoughts, words, and behaviors that humans have done. Those thoughts in the mind, words of the mouth, and behaviors of the body are going to be compared against what could have actually been done instead, or should have been done instead, when acting in a right way. We know there was actually a human at one point living on the earth who did that. Who always acted right. We know that. Life contains ways of which are right, and ways of which are wrong. And no one will be able to escape this evaluation, not by sliding by, or being left out for some reason. Every person who has ever lived on the earth, from the beginning of time, will have to speak about their life and what they did.

       Now for the famous section. Verse 4: “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (ESV).

       Holding on to Christianity versus simply practicing only Judaism is worth it because of the greatness of the Son of God—that’s the argument. The greatness of Jesus. Yes, Jesus was crucified; he was killed. He died. But he didn’t remain in the grave. He isn’t dead and gone like everyone else who passes away. Rather, he rose back to life, and he “passed through the heavens.” Back to life he came, rising through the sky of the earth, passing through outer-space, and returning to Heaven, the throne room of God, from where he came. Certainly, that is enough reason to “hold fast” to what they had originally believed. Isn’t that something? To think about no longer holding fast? How does that occur? The facts haven’t changed. In the past, Jesus rose from the dead. He left the earth, and now he is back in Heaven. If something changed, it had be down here, at the present time. There were outward pressures, pressures from the fellow Jews to go back to the way it was without the ‘Christian’ part. Pending consequences would likely manifest if that wasn’t accomplished. The Hebrew Christians understood that; they perceived that. Yet, they had a conscious choice to make inside themselves, inside their minds. Each had to make the independent choice within themselves. They could choose to stick with the choice for Christ made in the past, knowing that nothing factually had changed, or they could choose, based on troubling circumstances, to go back on that decision. Truly, we all face this choice, at one point or another, don’t we? We all cross this bridge.

       Even in our American society, we’ve become so used to changing our minds when life gets tuff. We know how this is; some folks living today have already made this choice. We see it commonly (for it seems this cross references well with what we’re talking about), we see it commonly with marriage. A choice, a decision, was made in the past to choose to marry a particular person. A promise is made. Vows exchanged before God. Nevertheless, years later, sometimes three years, sometimes five years, sometimes ten or twenty, one of both parties decided they don’t like the other person anymore. They liked them at one time, and now they don’t like them. Yet, nothing factually has changed. A conscious decision was made the marry this person, and that fact hasn’t changed. But the going got tuff for one reason or another. People want that constant state of bliss, right? Well, it’s not all about bliss. It never has been, and it never will be. That’s unrealistic. If you’re a fair-weather marriage partner, you’re going to be in trouble, aren't you? And it’s no different with Christianity. Becoming saved is like when a couple first becomes married. It’s fun, it’s exciting. But then life continues to unfold. The world manifests as the world. It has to be dealt with.

       This is pointed out by the writer. He says, “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses.” When our weaknesses manifest themselves, as they certainly will, we can remember that Jesus has already walked the earth. He’s already faced the same kinds of situations that we face. He knows what it’s like to be in an earthly family with brothers and sisters. He knows what it’s like to have parents. He knows what it’s like to be an older single person. He knows what it’s like to have friends and everything that brings along with it. He knows what it’s like to have his friends abandon him, believe it or not. He knows what it’s like to have people, religious people, religious leaders, come against him. He’s already been here and he’s already done all this. Therefore, that’s why the writer says he can “sympathize” with us. With all these things—all of them—comes temptation. It comes the temptation to get mad and not to forgive. To be disobedient to parents. To be promiscuous instead of pure. To not be there for friends when they need it. To simply cave and do the wrong things, whether that’s with friends or whether that’s changing the beliefs to match what others want. Whatever it is. Whatever it is. He’s faced something similar. That’s the beauty of it. He knows how to sympathize with us, and he acted, within human flesh, in such ways that were the correct ways. That didn’t sin. And so we can to. We are indwelled by the Spirit. We also have that power. We just simply need to make the choice. We need to not let the mind pull us into things it’s afraid of and things it even wants to do, that we shouldn’t do. We need to rise above our minds and instead have the mind of Christ.

       Verse 16: “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (ESV).

       The first thing we want to focus on is receiving mercy. Receiving mercy. That’s one benefit to being Christian. In fact, this whole concept is likely what brought us to Christ in the first place. We realized we have done wrong in our lives, and, in some cases, there was no way we could rectify those wrongs. A comparison of ourselves could be made with others, and that’s what we often do. We would say, “Oh, I’m not as bad as this person, so I’m okay.” Yet, at the end of the day, we still didn’t feel okay. We felt we were lacking. We felt guilty. That’s normal. A guilty feeling should have been present because we had done wrong—wrong against ourselves, wrong against God, wrong against others. A solution to that problem was provided by God. The need was to count on Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, and we knew that we could be forgiven from all the wrongs we had done. No longer would God hold those things against us. Any wrath in the future—any justice for those wrongs—that would be escaped. A big relief came over us, a big relief. (That’s why there is no Karma by the way, but that’s getting off topic). And, and, hopefully, as we were forgiven by God for our sins, we are then able to turn around and give that forgiveness to others when they have sinned against us, or even against others. A decision was made to be like God in character, full of forgiveness, full of kindness, full of compassion. We are a changed person, completely different from that which we once were. That’s a way one can tell a person has become a Christian in the first place. A marked difference will be apparent.

       So what is the grace that we find which helps us in a time of need? What is that? What does it look like? This is another benefit to becoming a Christian, in that God says he will help us with this, that, or the other beyond what is the normal experience of other individuals. ‘Extra’ help with daily living is received. That’s why we pray, right? Prayer is made to God that he will help us with this or that. And then comes the grace. It may take the form of money given or money saved, it may be someone helping us out of their own time, it may be supernatural in the sense that God himself helps us inside our minds. Perhaps God helps us not to think a certain thought, or shows us a truth about a situation that makes it easier not to worry about it. Often God can work on the inside of us, giving us his grace. That doesn’t mean we don’t mature and grow. It doesn’t mean we learn to only lean on him and not do anything ourselves. But it does mean that God offers us help in only ways that he can help us.

       We remember these early Jewish Christians were facing persecution for their faith, and so this idea of receiving grace would have been particularly hopeful for them. We ourselves, in twenty-first century America, usually aren’t facing the kinds of trials the early Christians faced. A few of us do, but most of us don’t. Nevertheless, when we are going through particularly hard times, times that are unusual, we need to remember that God is going to give us grace. It doesn’t mean he will prevent or eliminate the situation. Sometimes he may indeed be able to do that. But grace doesn’t mean we always get our way. What it does mean is that no matter what happens, in knowing God is with us, he’s going to bring help for us in some way, even if that help is inside our minds. Maybe we need to view a situation differently, or to come to accept the situation and stop fighting against it inside ourselves. God will help us with that. Perhaps we need to let a person go, or a group of people go, and wait to embrace what is new. God will help us with that. In all of these kinds of situations grace will help us beyond what the normal person has. It can make it so that with that new knowledge, that new perspective, that extra strength, we can move forward and persevere where we might have taken longer, or might have otherwise failed. The grace of God is something that makes life so much better, and makes our experience more full of light so that we can actually be happy and enjoy our lives.

- Daniel Litton