A Sabbath in which One Rests from Their Work (Heb. 4:1-10)
Let us bless one another, Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. I hope that the great grace of God and blessing will be upon all the individuals and families that are worshipping in the church, in their homes, and especially out of state. The title of today’s message is from Hebrews 4:1-10, “A Sabbath in which One Rests from Their Work.” Hebrews is a book that was written as a message for the Hebrews, the Jewish people who believe in Jesus.
1. Sabbath
1) Old Testament
(1) Land of Canaan
(2) Jesus Christ will come to this land
(3) Goal of the Exodus
The people who are holding onto the Old Testament are now coming into the New Testament and are faced with some kind of confusion, so this is a direct and specific message about who Jesus Christ is. People were comparing Jesus and the angels, and this reveals that Jesus Christ is the creator of the universe and He is the one who is maintaining and sustaining everything in the universe through His Word, and we’re told that we must fix our thoughts and concentrate on Jesus Christ.
After Hebrews 3, it talks about the Old Testament about the people who are wandering in the wilderness, and received the gospel of salvation by grace, but they could not go into Canaan. What exactly is this land of Canaan? It is the land God showed Abraham, the land to which God told Him to go. Land is land, but it’s not just land. It is the land where Jesus Christ would be born. In order for Jesus Christ to be born there, the Jewish people had to live there first, and that was the goal for the Exodus.
2) Disbelief
Why is it that the saved children of God who applied the blood of the lamb crossed the Red Sea in order to go, were not able to go into the land of Canaan? In Hebrews 3, it says it’s because of their disbelief.
(1) Couldn’t enter God’s rest (Heb. 3:11, 19)
The Israelites sent spies to survey the land of Canaan, and they saw the weapons and the strength of the people fighting there and said, “We cannot fight against them.” This is the land God promised to send them, and that’s why we’re told that our forefathers were not able to go into the land of Canaan because of their disbelief and they could not have rest. You have to go into the land of Canaan in order for Jesus Christ to be born there. Then Jesus Christ will fulfill the ministry of salvation there, and from the land of Canaan, the salvation of the gospel will be spread throughout the world. They were not able to participate within that absolute plan of God in faith.
(2) Did not share the faith in the Word (Heb. 4:2)
Therefore, disbelief will prevent you from having true rest. It says in Hebrews 4:2 that even though they had received the good news of the gospel, they were not aligned with it because they did not believe in it.
(3) Hardened hearts (Heb. 4:7)
In Heb. 4:7, it says their hearts were hardened. Therefore, today, when you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts. Hardening your heart means you’re very stubborn. You listen to God’s Word but you’re still more stubborn. That stubbornness makes you live a life irrelevant to God’s Word, and that’s why we cannot enter into God’s rest.
3) Sabbath
(1) Rest after seven days of the works of Creation (Heb. 4:4, Gen. 2:2)
(2) Finished the ministry of Creation – Sabbath
(3) The beginning of God’s rule and control
I hope today you will go into the true rest of God, where your hearts that are so hardened will be softened by the Word of God. Heb 4:4 says that God rested from His works on the seventh day, referencing Gen. 2:2. God finished the ministry of creation from the first day to the sixth day, and on the sixth day, He rested. Does this rest mean you’re not doing anything, you’re just relaxing? That’s not what it means, but it means He has finished the ministry of creation, and from that point on, the ministry of reigning over and driving everything began.
2. Mankind
1) Creation
(1) Image of God (Gen. 1:27)
In Gen. 1:27, we were created in the image of God to naturally go into the rule and control of God. Human beings were never created to live however they wanted, as their own God; we were created in Genesis 1:28 to be with God, within the power and plan of God, to rule and subdue the world. Therefore, “resting” does not mean “stop working.” If you argue whether this is about working or not, then a lot of things in the Bible will be wrong. Jesus Christ did work on the Sabbath day and the Jewish people persecuted him, saying “Why are you working on the Sabbath?” It’s because these people understood “rest” in terms of whether you’re working or not.
(2) Rule over, Subdue – Work (Gen. 1:28)
(3) God’s rule, Obey His orders – Sabbath
“Rest” is talking about the faith where you go into the reign and control of God. God is working even now. In John 5:7, Jesus says, “My Father is always working and I am working, too.” If Genesis 2:2 says God is resting, then even now, God should be resting, but the Bible says that even now, God the Father is working, ruling and subduing over His Kingdom. For us to enter into this state of rest, we have to have the faith and obedience to go into the reign and control of God.
2) Disbelief
(1) Satan’s temptation (Gen. 3:4-5)
(2) Departed from God’s rule (Gen. 3:24)
(3) Painful toil (Gen. 3:17-19)
That’s how we were created to live originally, but in Gen. 3:4-5, we escaped from God’s reign through the disobedience from Satan’s temptation. That’s why in Gen. 3:17-19 and onward, we have to do hard work and toil. Before that point, while we were still under the reign of God, we still did the work of reigning and subduing; they still did their work in the Garden of Eden. Therefore resting is not about whether you’re working or not. It’s a matter of whether you’re doing your work within God’s control by faith.
3) Jesus Christ
(1) Father is working and I too am working (Jn. 5:17)
(2) Lord of the Sabbath (Mt. 12:8)
The Lord Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. The people looked at the law and they said that you have to rest so you can’t work on the Sabbath, but Jesus Christ says he is the one who creates rest. Jesus Christ is the one who rules over and controls all things, and we go into that with faith.
(3) Those who are weary and burdened will receive rest when they go to Jesus (Mt. 11:28-29)
That’s why in Matthew 11:28-29, Jesus Christ says, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” What does this mean? It means you have to have Jesus be your Master.
The Jesus Christ of Creation is still with us right now, doing His work. Stop going into the fake rest where you’re trying to live your own life and do your own work, but come into the true rest. May you restore true rest. Coming to church on Sunday is not true rest, but doing nothing and relaxing on Sunday isn’t true rest, either. True rest is going into the control and ruling of God’s Word that will govern the rest of your week. In other words, it’s talking about liberation from yourself.
3. Kingdom of God – Sabbath
1) Word
(1) Liberated from me (Rom. 8:2)
You must not trust yourself. You keep trying to rely on and trust in yourself because you don’t know yourself. We have no choice but to lose hold of true rest unless we go into God’s reign and control. If someone doesn’t have that true rest, they’ll always be spiritually and mentally oppressed. We have to bear the heavy burdens of life ourselves, and it’s always pressing on us. Even though we come to worship at church, we’re still stressed because we’re not escaping from ourselves.
The religions of the world are all centered on “me.” The religions of Hinduism and Buddhism are about finding my true self, and the transcendental meditation movement now is about finding your true self. They’re saying the “fake you” is the one that is so greedy, that wants to possess more, and is so competitive. These movements say, “Discard all of that; the true you is within yourself, and once you discover your true self, you will become one with the universe,” and they say that that’s God, and that’s power. That’s how the people in the world are moving everything in their lives as if it is the truth.
If you’re not able to come to church to receive the Word of who you really are–the truth–then you can’t save these people. You can’t compete with their words, and that’s why we’re pushed aside by the world, because, what is true rest? It is being freed from myself. You are escaping from becoming your own master and living for your own plans and desires. How can you escape from that? You have to change yourself, you have to change your master so that Jesus Christ is the Master.Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified on the cross,” and now Jesus Christ who is life is controlling within me. Because Jesus Christ has finished all problems on the cross and is with me now as Spirit and Life. You must go into that. It’s not about throwing yourself away, but it’s about changing yourself.
If you come to church and don’t receive the accurate truth, you’ll misunderstand thinking, “I shouldn’t do this and that,” and you’ll revert to your old state, and the evidence of that is the work that our ancestors did for 40 years in the wilderness. It’s not that they lacked faith, because if they lacked faith, they wouldn’t be able to escape at all. They did have faith, but they weren’t aligned with what God desired.
(2) Holy Spirit changes heart of stone into heart of flesh (Ez. 36:26)
That’s why in Ezekiel 36:26, God promised us a new work. The way He will remove our heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh is by giving a new spirit within us. What do you think is our heart of stone? It is our stubborn heart, a heart that can never think of anything beyond myself. It is the “me” that is never able to yield when the Word of God and my thoughts are in conflict. Even now, when the Word of God goes into you and conflicts with your own thoughts, you’ll emphasize your own self, and that’s why even if the Word of God is given to you, you control your own life, and that’s a state where you cannot go into the reign of God.
(3) Follow the word (Ez. 36:27)
It is impossible for humans to do that, and that’s why God promised to give a new spirit within us. Once that happens, it says in Ezekiel 36:27 that we will move to follow God’s Word. Today, we realize that only when the Word and faith are combined can we go into Canaan, and yet, the forefathers were not able to do that. He is saying it’s the same for the Hebrews that are being addressed in the passage, you are also shaking. The Spirit of Christ within me must control me for my heart to change. I could never change myself with my own abilities.
But if you keep going to church in a state where you’re not changing, then only your exterior appearance will change. Your outer appearance means you know a lot of the words of the Bible and you talk about it a lot, but you’re always in difficulties. There’s never true rest in your life. You’re always oppressed by the burdens of your job and people and life itself, that’s why even if you go to church, you have no answer, and you run out into the world because they claim to have the answer, and if you hear about something new, you go to that. That’s what happens if you wander around without changing yourself; you are at your own level. That’s why these words are going to change the things the Israelites couldn’t do for 40 years by pouring out the Spirit of Christ within you. Even now, I hope you will enjoy that blessing.
You shouldn’t think about your own life because that’s not the right level. People who have something to show off think they’ll be okay, but the Bible tells us that’s foolishness. “Even if I don’t do that, I can do my work well,” but you will always have fear and anxiety of life. Where does that fear come from? You’re shaking in fear all your life because you don’t want to die. You’re holding onto a fear that you’re not even aware of, but because you don’t know where that fear is coming from, you’re trying to resolve it with the physical things you can see. Let’s say you listen to quiet music, or you try to be alone in a quiet place, or because you’re so afraid, you go to a very noisy, bustling place to try to talk to people, but it will never go away. Even if you raise dogs, it will never go away. Because you’re afraid to be alone, you have one or two dogs, but even then, the fear will not go away.
That fear is within me because I’m not able to enjoy the life of Jesus Christ, so I’m spiritually dead, seized by a physical fear, controlled by Satan. We can never change that “me.” How can we be liberated from the law of sin and death, from being controlled by Satan? It is only possible by the law of Spirit and Life within Jesus Christ. It’s only possible when the life and spirit of Jesus Christ control me, then I change.We have been given a very simple thing and the answer is within that, because it doesn’t matter what the Israelites of the Old Testament tried, they all failed. The fact that they couldn’t go into the land of Canaan doesn’t mean they didn’t receive salvation. Then does that mean Moses wasn’t saved? Does that mean Aaron wasn’t saved? No, that’s not what it means, it’s talking about rest. Of course, complete rest comes when we go into heaven, but we have to live within the rest of God on this Earth, that’s what this is talking about.
How is this possible? You have to change yourself, how could you change yourself? Christ has to come into you and control you in order for you to change. I hope you will pray for the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, to control you fully, that’s what God has given us newly in Ezekiel. That Word is fulfilled in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit came upon them.
The Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ within me must control me, and even now, you must go into that. As you worship, that’s the way to change your heart; it doesn’t matter how much you resolve in your heart to try to change yourself, you’ll go back into your old state. The ones who know that and completely surrender will rely on the Holy Spirit, then it’s a really easy opportunity. But if that doesn’t take place, it’s a very complicated road, so don’t bear your heavy burdens, but come to Jesus, “and I will give you rest, I will reign over you,” Hallelujah? May this time be that time.
May the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ within me completely control my thoughts, heart, and spirit with faith. “God, in every work that I’m doing, may the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ work.” If you don’t believe that, it’s very difficult, but if you do believe it, it’s very easy. Even right now, as you’re worshiping, pray for the Holy Spirit to work fully upon your family, studies, and work, and He will work, transcending time and space. Why do we pray for that? We’re asking for God to reign, that’s how you go into true rest. We must enjoy that rest well.
2) All work, all people
(1) Find the plan God desires – 24 hours (Phil. 3:12)
Then God’s plan is within all the work I do and all the people I meet. How do I escape from myself? What is God’s plan? If you keep on going into your own plan, you cannot escape from yourself. Ask, “What’s God’s plan?” Then God will give you an answer as a result of His ruling and control. Even if you just ask like that, you will receive God’s answer because God is working right now. Our walk of faith is very simple and easy if we have faith, and no problem in the world can overcome the Holy Spirit of God. It doesn’t matter what kind of weaknesses we have; when God works upon us, it’s not a problem.
(2) That time, that place, that work
Enjoy that right now. Right now, may the Holy Spirit of the Lord completely control me and fill me. May the Holy Spirit of the Lord work and control all the things that I see and the works that happen, transcending time and space. That’s how you go into God’s control. Then, the answers are there. But if you move your own life, you won’t have a masterpiece. Do you know what happens when you move your own life? All you have are heavy burdens. Because you have to succeed and live for your own benefits, you’ll have to fight and get into conflicts with others, and without realizing it yourself, you’re mentally oppressed.
One day, you’re going to face things like depression, panic attacks, and bipolar disorder, and this is the reason why. Then one day, even though you’ve lived so diligently, all these things manifest as cancer. Diseases do not come from nowhere, all of a sudden, and it’s true that we have to do surgery to get rid of diseases, but that’s not enough. Right now, your mind is so burdened with the heavy burdens of life that it will happen again, and you’re constantly having this fear, so that disease is bound to come again.
(3) God’s answer – 25
A lot of diseases in America today are mental problems, and that’s not something the president can solve. Even if the president were Christian, they couldn’t solve this at all, and if the president were non-Christian, they also couldn’t solve this. Then could the churches solve this problem? It’s possible, but they might not. It’s only possible for the ones who enter into true rest. You have to be liberated from yourself, but some people are more heavy-burdened the more they work in the church.
We’re told to work and serve with the Holy Spirit’s power, but we do it with our own strength. Then one day we will face our limitations. The fact that we must do this work with the Holy Spirit means we must be filled with the Spirit of the Lord. When you come to church to worship on the Lord’s Day, you need to receive the strength to be filled with that Spirit.
If you see people who are weak, pray for the Spirit of God to work upon them. Pray about whatever you think about, then one by one, you will see the evidence of God’s work. That’s why it’s impossible without faith, it’s impossible to go into rest without faith. It’s not that the 300/3,000 people didn’t have faith. It’s not that they didn’t have faith, but they were not aligned with God’s covenant. It’s not that the people who go to church don’t have faith; they have faith in their salvation, but they are oppressed because they don’t believe in the Word of God that is working even right now. Where do we get our boldness? From Jesus Christ who is life, from our status as children of God.
I have more fear than anyone. I was very sensitive, and that’s why I was easily mentally afflicted, and I easily had indigestion. If something happened, I would get indigestion, and that’s how sensitive I was. Because I was so sensitive, imagine how hard it was for me to live? And because I was so sensitive, I was cutting people up with criticism. I like to dissect and rip things apart. I used to overanalyze, “Why is this person saying this to me?” I would judge and dissect everything. “Why did that person make that expression to me?” Imagine how afflicted I was, that was me.
Because I was so afraid, I thought those things would harm my life or give me more fear, so imagine how diligently I lived to try to overcome my fear. I thought I was overcoming my fear but I actually had more fear, and because of that, I tried to cover that up with alcohol and by being very active with people. Fortunately, I didn’t even know about drugs, otherwise I would have tried it. Not because we want to do it, but we think, “Maybe if we try this, it will get rid of my fear.” Children try to get rid of their fear by playing video games, and adults try to get rid of their fear by watching TV shows, but there is more fear inside of them. But when you enjoy the life of Jesus Christ, that fear will depart. People become more confident.
Before that point, when I had so much fear, whenever I tried to do something, I would just collapse, and I would avoid the people I didn’t like. But when you enjoy the life of Jesus Christ and He is the Master, not yourself, there’s no one you don’t like, you just go to meet them. And there’s no more fear regarding your job because God is with you. That doesn’t come from your mental state.When you enjoy the life of Jesus Christ, you’re able to challenge, and it doesn’t matter what words you hear, you’ll be okay because it’s irrelevant to you, but if you’re not able to enjoy the life of Jesus Christ, you think it’s going to ruin your life. You keep having thoughts, “What happens if my kid fails?” You’re seized by strange thoughts, and because of that, you have to do other things to prevent yourself from doing that.
The Bible gives us the answer and it’s that we’re able to overcome everything if we’re able to enjoy the life. You have been liberated by the law of the spirit and life. You have been liberated from all curses and disasters of fear of death, and Satan. May that life and that Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ completely reign over my thoughts, heart, and spirit. Try that in faith, because God has promised that to you. Then, your heart which is so hardened like stone, refusing to follow after God’s Word, will change into a softer, obedient heart.
That’s how the work I am doing will go into the will of God, which is to save lives. When that takes place, you’re able to see how much people are suffering because they’re not able to enjoy life. You realize people are shaking and trembling even with such small words because they always have fear, but if you have this life, it doesn’t matter to you because it is not you, but it is the Lord inside of you. When you go into that with faith, the life of the Lord controls you. That is how you restore your true self.
You can never do anything with your skills, you can never do that with your diligence. It’s not because of a lack of diligence; the Jewish people were so diligent.3) Eternity
(1) Relay the Gospel (Heb. 4:2,6)
(2) Root of word – Church
(3) Prize for which God called me – Evangelism (Phil. 3:14)
Only when the Holy Spirit and the life of Jesus Christ completely control me, may the work I’m doing be the work of God to fulfill God’s plan. If there are evil people in your life, pray for the Holy Spirit of God to fill them and to work upon them. When you go into your job, there will be a lot of people you don’t like seeing, because you see them from your own perspective. “God, please bless this person with the filling of the Holy Spirit.” That’s what Joseph did.
Joseph went into Egypt as a slave with the plan of being with God, and nothing affected him. No matter what he did, whether he was sent into prison, it didn’t affect him at all because it wasn’t him, but it was the Holy Spirit of Jesus within him that was working, and he was within God’s promise to save all of Egypt and the world through him. People like this receive confidence through that, so the work they are doing is greater and much more effective than the work they do on their own, because God is working there. It is the meetings and the work used to fulfill God’s plan. I hope you will pray to change all the people you meet into opportunities for blessings, and may you save everyone in your workplace. I hope your work will be the work to save people. That’s how you will escape from your own work.
Today’s title is, “The Sabbath in which One Rest from Their Work,” it doesn’t mean to stop working, but may your work go into rest, and may this be the work that God controls. May you go into that Canaan, then God works very accurately. You pray to bless the people you don’t like seeing, and you pray for God to work upon the work you’re doing, because it must be the work that saves people’s lives. If you see an empty place or a problem in the church, you pray for God’s Spirit to work upon you so that you can solve it. When you go to your region, there are many problems, so pray for the Holy Spirit to work so you may save them, but if you don’t know that, your life will be very hard. Even if you go to church for a very long time, your life will be hard. That’s the very reason why the Israelite people were not able to go into the land of Canaan even after the Exodus from Egypt.We must live for the eternal things, we sacrifice the physical things for the spiritual things, but the non-believers sacrifice their spirit for the physical things. They reject God’s existence, even though that is a blessing for their physical work. We are investing our moment for eternal things. The only things that are eternal are spiritual things, there’s nothing that lasts for eternity other than the lives and souls you save. God is eternal, the demons and angels are eternal, and the spirits of people are eternal. May the physical work I’m doing now be used to save the eternal lives of people’s spirits, that is the only way for you to escape from your own work.
Only then can you go out into the world and give the answer to all the false religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, and Transcendental Meditation that tell you to go out and find your true self. Apostle Paul says, “It’s not that I’ve attained or achieved any of this, but I am simply racing towards that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me,” it is God’s plan; it is not about me. It’s not about whether I did something or whether I was not able to do something, everything I thought was for my gain, I now consider rubbish in order to gain Christ.Students, may you study for Christ. May you work for Christ. May all the work we are doing be used to gain Christ; that’s how we go into rest. May you and I have the blessing of our lives going into the words of Jesus Christ through faith and being controlled by His Word to gain true rest.
Conclusion
1. Words of Jesus Christ
2. Into His rule through faith
3. Become the witness of the Sabbath
Prayer
Let us pray holding onto the Word we have received.
Offering Prayer
God, we thank You. Allow us to go into the true rest by true faith. May every aspect of our lives be used to fulfill God’s will. May You control us with the Holy Spirit now, and we pray for the work of the Holy Spirit to be upon all the works and meetings that we have; may all the people we meet and the work we do be used to save people.
We have returned our material blessings to you as offering. We pray that everywhere this offering is used, the lives that are dead may be saved. We pray that You will bless the offering we have given so that it may allow people to go into true rest. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.