Don’t Stop Believing (Hebrews 3:1-4:13)
The sermon outline can be found here in the ministry guide .
We are one of the most sleep-deprived countries in the world. Compared with 42 other cities in the world, a study found that Singaporeans get the third-lowest amount of sleep. Last year, a separate survey said only one in four Singaporeans gets more than seven hours of sleep each night.
Most of us probably feel like we’re not getting enough rest. We spend long hours at school or at work. Parents (and grandparents) are tired out from raising kids. Even when we’re supposed to be resting, we don’t feel well-rested. Some of us take leave just to catch up on work. We have lots of leisure and entertainment, but so little rest. After a holiday, we feel like we need another holiday just to rest. Life wears us down. We have restless hearts and tired minds in exhausted bodies. Our lack of rest reveals a deeper need. We long for spiritual rest for our weary souls.
The first readers of the letter to the Hebrews also wanted rest. These Christians were growing weary and fainthearted (Heb 12:3). Their hands were drooping, their knees were weak (Heb 12:12). Some of them wanted to give up the faith. It seemed easier to return to the comfort and safety of Judaism. Since the Roman authorities recognised Judaism as a religion, those who went back to Judaism could escape persecution and suffering. Others may have been tempted to ditch the gospel and go back to the world.
We face similar challenges and struggles today. How might we be getting tired of following Jesus? Does it seem better to us to turn to other things? Maybe we’ve been searching for rest apart from Jesus—in our success, our wealth, our relationships, or in earthly sources of security. But have we found the rest we’ve been looking for?
To enter God’s rest, don’t stop believing in Jesus. Focus on Jesus, beware of unbelief and strive to enter God’s rest.
Our passage is about finding true rest. The early church father Augustine famously said, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in God.” In these last days, God has spoken to us by His Son. Therefore, true rest is found only in Jesus. Here’s the big idea of our text: To enter God’s rest, don’t stop believing in Jesus. Therefore: (1) Focus on Jesus; (2) Beware of unbelief; (3) Strive to enter God’s rest.
Focus on Jesus (Heb 3:1-6)
Last week, we heard how Jesus, who is fully God, became fully man to save sinners like us. By humbling himself and coming in the flesh, Jesus identifies with us in our weakness and suffering. Jesus entered our mess to save us. Because he experienced our struggles, he knows what we are going through. Therefore, Hebrews 3:1a says, “consider Jesus”: Focus on Jesus. Reflect on the good news of what Jesus has done. Think on the glories of Christ and the cross. Keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. In the Gospel of Matthew, the disciples are crossing the Sea of Galilee in a boat beaten by the wind and waves. What’s even more terrifying is seeing the ghost-like figure of a man walking on the water towards them. It’s Jesus, who says to them, “take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid. (Matt 14:27)” Peter gets out of the boat and walks on the water towards Jesus. Peter is fine as long as he keeps looking at Jesus. But when he focuses on the wind and waves around him, he starts to go under. Like Peter, we might start out well by focusing on Jesus. But we get into trouble when we get distracted by our circumstances, by the busyness and cares of life, by the things we think are “better” than Jesus. We’ll sink in the storms of life if we take our eyes off Jesus.
Focus on Jesus by understanding who he is and what he has done. We know Jesus through His word. So be intentional about listening to, trusting, and obeying the Bible.
Hebrews urges us to focus on Jesus by understanding who He is and what He has done. We know Jesus through His word. So be intentional about listening to, trusting, and obeying the Bible. Do spiritual good to one another by sharing God’s word with one another. Jesus is “the apostle and high priest of our confession” (Heb 3:1b). We confess that Jesus is our apostle, which means he was sent by God. Jesus came to show us the Father, and to do His Father’s will.
We also confess that Jesus is our “high priest”. As it says in Hebrews 2:17, He is “merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people”. We need a priest to be our mediator and bring us back to God. We have all failed to glorify God. Instead of living for Him, we have lived our way for ourselves. Because of our sin, we face God’s judgment and wrath against us.
But God, who is rich in mercy, sent His Son to save us. Jesus died on the cross to bear God’s judgment in the place of all who repent and believe in Him. He is our propitiation, which means He turns God’s wrath away from us by bearing it himself. Because Jesus died for sinners, He has opened up the way for us to return to God. In Christ, our sins are forgiven; we are reconciled to a holy God. When we trust in Jesus, we are made right with God. Jesus our high priest continues to faithfully plead and pray for us before God. He will continue to help us until He brings us safely home.
Here’s another reason to focus on Jesus: He is greater than the greatest prophet of the Old Testament. “Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses” (Heb 3:3a). Hebrews references an incident in Numbers 12 when Aaron and Miriam, Moses’ own brother and sister, opposed him. God himself speaks up for His servant, saying of Moses, “He is faithful in all my house.” (Num. 12:7) What’s more, God spoke with Moses face to face, unlike how He spoke to the other prophets in dreams and visions.
Moses surpassed the other prophets, but the Son surpasses him. Moses served in God’s house “as a servant” (Heb 3:5). But Jesus is the King who fulfils God’s promises. He is “faithful over God’s house as a son” (Heb 3:6). “House” refers to God’s people. Moses served among God’s people as a part of the house, but Jesus rules over God’s people as the builder of the house. Jesus is God, for “the builder of all things is God” (Heb 3:4).
God revealed the old covenant law to His people through Moses. But now, God has spoken fully and finally through His Son, Jesus. Since Jesus is better than Moses, the new covenant that Jesus has come to establish must also be better than the old. In fact, Moses himself spoke of the coming of Jesus. He “testified to the things that were to be spoken later” (Heb 3:5). The Old Testament law and the prophets point to Jesus. Therefore, don’t turn back to the rituals and ceremonies of the law now that the Son has already come.
Focusing on Jesus means knowing who He is, and also knowing who we are in Him. If we have believed in Jesus, then “we are His house” (Heb 3:6); we are God’s people. Jesus said, “I will build my church. (Mt. 16:18)” He has made us holy by His blood and joined us to God’s family. Therefore, we are “holy brothers (and sisters)” who “share in a heavenly calling” (Heb 3:1). As citizens of heaven, we have a sure hope of glory.
What a blessing it is to belong to God’s house with Jesus as our Head! Beloved, don’t take our membership in the church for granted. Jesus has brought us together by His grace. We are God’s house “if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope” (Heb 3:6). Persevering until the end shows that we are truly God’s people. So, don’t throw away the confidence we have to draw near to God through Jesus. Don’t stop believing and throw away our hope of glory.
Beware of unbelief (Heb 3:7-19)
In these verses, Hebrews quotes Psalm 95 to warn us of unbelief. This psalm speaks of the Israelites whom God graciously saved from slavery in Egypt. As we heard from Exodus in our previous sermon series, these Israelites saw for themselves God’s power in the ten plagues. They were led by Moses, the greatest prophet of the Old Testament. They witnessed God defeating Egypt’s mighty army at the Red Sea, and how God parted the sea for Israel to cross over. They ate manna from heaven and drank water from the rock. They saw the glory of the LORD fill the tabernacle.
Yet, despite these spiritual privileges and blessings, that entire generation of Israelites (except for Caleb and Joshua) died in the wilderness. As Hebrews 3:16-17 say, “For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?” The rebellion mentioned in Psalm 95 refers to the disastrous incident in Numbers 14 when Israel refused to enter the promised land. Because of the bad report by the spies who were sent to spy out the land, Israel grumbled against the LORD. Rather than trust and obey him, they complained, “Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” (Num. 14:3) As a result, the LORD pronounced this judgment on Israel: “I, the LORD, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.”
What can we learn from Israel’s negative example? Firstly, be warned that unbelief is spiritually disastrous. We will face God’s wrath if we reject him. Therefore, we must “take care, brothers and sisters, lest there be in any of (us) an evil, unbelieving heart, leading (us) to fall away from the living God (Heb 3:12)". Israel was “unable to enter (God’s rest) because of unbelief” (Heb 3:19). This is the second warning passage in Hebrews. We may be tempted to think, “I’m fine; this will not happen to me.” But that’s what the Israelites thought too. This warning is for all of us, because any one of us is vulnerable to the danger of unbelief. If God judged the Israelites by barring them from an earthly promised land, then how much more severe will be our judgment if we reject the better Saviour?
Unbelief is the root of disobedience and it is spiritually disastrous.
Unbelief is the root of disobedience. It’s no coincidence that the first temptation in human history began with the serpent insinuating that God is not good and we can’t take Him at His word. We disobey because we don’t believe God and His promises. For example, I don’t trust God to provide for me, so I idolise work and wealth, and chase after worldly success. I don’t believe God’s promise of glory, so I just live for the here and now, or I’m constantly worried about the future. I don’t believe God shows grace to the undeserving, so I’m impatient, judgmental, and critical of others. I don’t trust God’s design for sexuality and marriage, so I seek pleasure and fulfilment my way. I don’t believe I’m made right by Jesus, so I fear man and crave approval from others. I don’t believe Jesus is better, so I put other things above him.
Secondly, be warned that having great spiritual privileges and experiences do not make us immune to unbelief. Like the Israelites, we have received so much from God. We may have grown up in a Christian family where our parents shared the gospel with us. We may be long-time, regular church goers. We may have heard the good news about Jesus countless times. We may have experienced the love and joy of fellowship with God’s people, the church. But, like Israel, how might we be tempted to throw it all away and return to Egypt—to go back into the world?
Starting well does not guarantee ending well. How shall we guard our hearts against unbelief? Hebrews 4:13 tells us how to protect ourselves from falling away: “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” Beloved, each one of us needs the church because we need our brothers and sisters to exhort us to persevere in the faith. Who is encouraging you to keep believing in Jesus? Who are you encouraging? Let us to make every effort to gather weekly with God’s people for corporate worship. And be purposeful when we meet. Let us not just come and go for our Sunday gatherings are not primarily about our individual worship but about building one another up as we worship God together. Get to know one another, especially those we are less familiar with and those who are less connected. Talk about what you’ve learnt from God’s word and the sermon. Share encouragements, burdens, and prayer requests. Speak God’s truth in love into one another’s lives.
We cannot run the race of the Christian life on our own.
Spur one another on to know, trust, and obey Jesus. And not just on Sundays but “every day”. Invest time and energy into building deeper spiritual friendships with one another. Make this a part of our everyday life. Don’t wait; do it “today” while it is still the day of salvation. Meet with at least one other church member during the week. Read the Bible one-on-one. Pray with one another. Join a care group. Share life together. Beloved, we cannot run the race of the Christian life on our own. In fact, it is foolish and spiritually dangerous to try. Join a local church. Get plugged in, build relationships, and do spiritual good to one another. Our spiritual wellbeing depends on it. Being a church member means we are responsible for one another’s spiritual health. We cannot be indifferent to those among us who are in danger of drifting away. Reach out to absent or irregular members to encourage them to gather as a church.
Guard one another, because we are vulnerable to sin’s lies. We’re usually the last one to realise when we’re in sin. Sin deceives us into thinking we’re ok. We’re so prone to justify and rationalise our sin. Sin blinds us to spiritual danger. We don’t notice our hardened hearts until it’s too late. Because of sin’s deceitfulness, we need one another’s help to lovingly point out our blind spots. Confess our sins to one another and pray for one another. But this can only happen if we intentionally invite others to speak into our lives, even if it means saying difficult truths to us. Be humble, not defensive.
We exhort one another because “we have come to share in Christ” (Heb 3:14a). To be a member of a local church is to have a shared stake in Christ with other believers. Therefore, we help grow and guard one another in the gospel. Don’t love our own comfort and convenience more than we love our brothers and sisters. Make the effort to encourage one another to “hold our original confidence firm to the end” (Heb 3:14b). Have we been drifting away? God is calling us to turn back to him now. “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” (Heb 3:15)
Strive to enter God’s rest (4:1-13)
Beloved, press on “while the promise of entering (God’s) rest still stands” (Heb 4:1a). God has promised that if we keep trusting in Jesus, we will finally share in His rest. After creating all things in six days, God rested on the seventh day from His work of creation (Heb 4:4). It wasn’t because he was tired. God’s rest refers to him taking delight and joy in His creation. He saw all he had made, and it was “very good”.
The Israelites were meant to enter God’s rest in the promised land, but they refused and rebelled. That wilderness generation died, and Joshua led a new generation into the land. But that is not the final rest for God’s people. David wrote Psalm 95 many years after Joshua. If Joshua had led Israel into ultimate rest, then why would David write about a future rest? Thus, the promised land is only a foretaste of a perfect rest to come. “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.” (Heb 4:8-10) Why does this matter to us? It means Jesus is better than Moses and Joshua. He is the better prophet and Saviour. Therefore, Jesus leads us into a better rest.
Jesus has already come to save sinners, but the ultimate rest He promises us is not yet here.
Like the Israelites after the exodus, we are journeying through the wilderness of this world to the promised land. The trials and troubles of this life can be disappointing, discouraging, and depressing. We wrestle with fatigue and burn out while living in the gap between promise and fulfilment. Jesus has already come to save sinners, but the ultimate rest He promises us is not yet here. How should we live between the already-and-not-yet? “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. (Heb 4:11)” Keep going, don’t stop believing. Fight for rest, make every effort, be diligent, persevere, exert ourselves. Yes, we are saved by faith alone in Christ alone. But such saving faith works—it leads us to follow and obey Jesus.
I’m thankful for our seniors and their example of persevering faith. Get to know our seniors. They model for the rest of us what it means to keep running the race of faith in Jesus. The world has its views on growing older. May God keep us from worldly views of retirement that are self-serving and self-centred. Pray that we will age with grace, so that we leave behind a rich legacy of faith for future generations. May we be a positive example of faithfulness, not a negative example of unbelief like the Israelites.
How should we strive to enter God’s rest? We strive with fear: “Let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.” (Heb 4:1b) This isn’t a timid, spineless, cowering fear that makes us passive but a sober-minded watchfulness that moves us to alertness and action. While we live in this world’s wilderness, adopt a war-time, not peace-time, mentality. Don’t get complacent. Don’t take sin lightly and provoke God’s wrath. If we reject God’s word, that same word will judge and expose us. This fear is to be in awe of God’s holiness and righteousness. “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.” (Heb 4:12-13) We may be able to deceive ourselves and others, but we cannot hide from God. He sees our hearts. He knows if we are trusting and obeying until the end.
We strive with faith. The Israelites let unbelief harden their hearts against God and His word. They heard the good news of God’s salvation (c.f. Heb 4:2). We have also heard. May we not neglect the gospel and grow tired of it. May the good news that Jesus saves become sweeter to us because we see more of Jesus’ lavish love for us, as well as more of our need for grace and mercy. Keep trusting in Jesus, “for we who have believed enter that rest” (Heb 4:3a).
We will not struggle forever. The perfect, everlasting rest that we long for shall surely come.
Living faithfully as a Christian in a fallen world is tough. We struggle with restlessness, weakness, suffering, and sin as we deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus. We labour and toil now. But take heart, beloved. We will not struggle forever. The perfect, everlasting rest that we long for shall surely come.
The sands of time are sinking
The dawn of heaven breaks
The summer morn I've sighed for
The fair, sweet morn awakes
Dark, dark hath been the midnight
But dayspring is at hand
And glory, glory dwelleth
In Immanuel's land
Beloved, keep our eyes on the prize. We look forward to something far greater and more glorious than the promised land. We are headed to “a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (Heb 11:16). So, don’t stop believing. Look forward with faith and hope in Christ to the new heavens and new earth, where we will enter into the joy of our Lord. “He will wipe away every tear from (our) eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. (Rev. 21:4)”