Rest IV:  Barriers to Rest

I.                    Introduction

a.       We have been talking about rest for 3 weeks now, and I think that the thing I have been learning the most about rest is that it is a lot easier to tell when you AREN’T resting in Christ than when you are.

b.      I have been able to be aware of the anxious moments I have had, the worry, the trying to figure things out, trying to control life itself, and have found that I have not been very good at resting in Christ.

c.       So how do we know when we are resting in Christ?

                                                               i.      The bible says that we will know we are resting when we experience the “peace of Christ, which surpasses all understanding”

                                                             ii.      That passage comes from the book of Philippians 4:6-7

1.      “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hears and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

2.      “Do not be anxious about the big stuff, but go ahead and worry about the little stuff” is not what that passage says. 

a.       It declares that the secret to rest is giving your needs to God and allowing Him to meet them.

b.      This is done through prayer, which is simply talking with God.

c.       And as we release our needs to Him, we will experience His peace which is so powerful and great that we cannot even comprehend it, explain it or understand it…the only thing that we can do with His peace is to experience it as it guards our hearts and minds in Christ.

d.      What is troubling you?  What burdens are you bearing this week?  Why carry them alone?  Give them to Jesus…release them.

                                                            iii.      Let’s Pray.

II.                 Obstacles to Rest.

a.       This morning I am going to address the biggest obstacles to rest that we face. 

                                                               i.      Before we go to far, we need to be reminded what “rest” is:

1.      Rest is ceasing from our own efforts to do three things:

a.       Ceasing from our efforts to gain God’s favor.

b.      Ceasing from our efforts to maintain God’s favor.

c.       Ceasing from our efforts to meet our own needs.

                                                             ii.      Two weeks ago we learned that God’s original plan for mankind was to meet his needs, fully and completely.  But Adam (and the rest of us) decided he could do a better job, and chose to try to meet his needs in his own way. 

b.      We are going to read several lengthy passages from the book of Hebrews that address the barriers to entering God’s rest.  As you see them while we are reading, I invite you to underline them in your bible.

c.       Read Hebrews 3:6-19

                                                              i.      But Christ, the faithful Son, was in charge of the entire household. And we are God's household, if we keep up our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ. 7That is why the Holy Spirit says,   "Today you must listen to his voice.  Don't harden your hearts against him as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested God's patience in the wilderness.  There your ancestors tried my patience, even though they saw my miracles for forty years.  So I was angry with them, and I said, 'Their hearts always turn away from me. They refuse to do what I tell them.'  So in my anger I made a vow:  'They will never enter my place of rest.'"

                                                            ii.      Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning (falling away) you away from the living God.

                                                          iii.      You must warn each other every day, as long as it is called "today," so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. But never forget the warning:

                                                          iv.      "Today you must listen to his voice. Don't harden your hearts against him as Israel did when they rebelled." And who were those people who rebelled against God, even though they heard his voice? Weren't they the ones Moses led out of Egypt? And who made God angry for forty years? Wasn't it the people who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom was God speaking when he vowed that they would never enter his place of rest? He was speaking to those who disobeyed him. So we see that they were not allowed to enter his rest because of their unbelief.

d.      4:1-11 –

                                                              i.      God's promise of entering his place of rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to get there. For this Good News—that God has prepared a place of rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn't believe what God told them. For only we who believe can enter his place of rest. As for those who didn't believe, God said, "In my anger I made a vow: 'They will never enter my place of rest,'" even though his place of rest has been ready since he made the world. We know it is ready because the Scriptures mention the seventh day, saying, "On the seventh day God rested from all his work." But in the other passage God said, "They will never enter my place of rest." So God's rest is there for people to enter. But those who formerly heard the Good News failed to enter because they disobeyed God. So God set another time for entering his place of rest, and that time is today.

                                                             ii.      God announced this through David a long time later in the words already quoted: "Today you must listen to his voice. Don't harden your hearts against him." This new place of rest was not the land of Canaan, where Joshua led them. If it had been, God would not have spoken later about another day of rest. So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who enter into God's rest will find rest from their labors, just as God rested after creating the world. Let us do our best to enter that place of rest. For anyone who disobeys God, as the people of Israel did, will fall.

III.               Barrier to Rest#1 Developing an Unbelieving heart that “falls away” (

a.       Hebrews 3:12) Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning (falling away) you away from the living God.

b.      Hebrews 3:18-19 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 {So} we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.

                                                               i.      We are told in these two passages that a heart that harbors “unbelief” will “turn away” from God. 

1.      This makes it sound as if a Christian can somehow turn away from God and end up in hell!  For us to understand this concept that is being taught here in Hebrews, we need to look at what we commonly call “salvation.”

                                                             ii.      Salvation is neither a commodity or a contract.

1.      Most of us have the belief that if we are “once saved, we are always saved.” 

a.       And that is very true, it is what we teach here. 

b.      But too often, we look at salvation as a commodity or contract that we own. 

2.      But salvation is not so cheap or simple.

3.      You see, salvation is the fruit of grace received by faith; and faith is the glue that cements the two way relationship with God that we have.

4.      Salvation isn’t something you own and it is not a contract. 

5.      Salvation is what happens as a result of our entering into and living in a relationship with Jesus Christ. 

a.       The relationship is the viable element. 

b.      The salvation is merely the fruit.  Jesus is the root! 

6.      And the bottom line here is that if you want the fruit, you gotta take the whole tree, because the fruit isn’t going to be yours if you don’t take the root too. 

a.       You cannot have salvation without Jesus. 

b.      You cannot have freedom from sin without Jesus. 

c.       You cannot have forever forgiveness without Jesus. 

d.      You cannot have the Holy Spirit without Jesus.

e.       You cannot hear God without Jesus.

f.        A relationship with Jesus is the key to everything.  And if you toss the relationship away you won’t get the fruit of the relationship either.

7.      There are a lot of people who have walked down an aisle of a church, thinking that they are going to trade in a bit of their sorrow for sin for eternal life, and that they can return to the way they lived and reject the claims of Jesus upon their lives. 

a.       That if somehow they can simply “do the right things” or perform or receive the right sacraments, that they will get a contract from God that says they are promised eternal life.

b.      But in this process, they never enter into a relationship with Jesus.  They want the promise of eternal life without the person of eternal life.

8.      The bible never says that. 

a.       That is cheap grace. 

b.      That is forgetting the price that Jesus paid for your sins.

c.       It cost him everything. 

d.      He comes with the deal.  There is no deal without Jesus. 

e.       With Jesus, you get everything. 

f.        You get life, you get peace, you get rest, you get hope, you get God’s provision, you get everything that belongs to Jesus when you get Jesus.

g.       Apart from Jesus you and I have nothing!

9.      On Wednesday night, during our bible study on Ephesians, we talked about citizenship in heaven…and our conversation led us to discuss how one obtains citizenship in another country.  He must first renounce or give up his citizenship in his former country. 

a.       It is the same with us.  We cannot experience eternal security if we don’t leave behind the self-led life we once lived.  That would be like trying to keep one foot in heaven and one foot in the world.  There is no such provision for those who follow Jesus.  It is all or nothing!

                                                            iii.      There is a principle that shows us what kind of belief we have…that is…

1.      Persistent sin in the face of God's mercy is a sign of unbelief.

2.      Verse 19 of Hebrews 3 says, “And so we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief."  

a.       In other words, their unbelief was demonstrated by their conduct. 

b.      If there is persistent sin in your life…that is,

                                                                                                                                       i.      a separateness from dependence upon God,

                                                                                                                                     ii.      a refusal to listen to Him,

                                                                                                                                    iii.      a demand that you have your own way

                                                                                                                                   iv.      an attitude that refuses God’s best…

c.       then your life is demonstrating unbelief.  Your life is showing a contradiction between what you say is important (Jesus) and what actually is important (you choose your own way).

3.      The people of Israel were embittered because of God's testing them (v. 8);  but beneath all that was the root problem: they didn't believe God, that is, they didn't trust his goodness -- to lead and protect and provide and satisfy.

a.       Even though they saw the waters of the Red Sea divide and they walked over on dry ground, the moment they got thirsty, their hearts were hard against God and they did not trust him to take care of them.

b.      They cried out against him and said that life in Egypt was better.

4.      That is what this passage is written to prevent.

a.       How many professing Christians make a start with God.

b.      They hear that their sins can be forgiven and that they can escape hell and go to heaven.

c.       And they say: what have I got to lose, I'll believe.

d.      But then in a week or a month or a year or ten years, the test comes -- a season of no water in the wilderness.

e.       A weariness with manna, and subtly a growing craving for the fleeting pleasures of Egypt, as Numbers 11:5-6 says, "We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna."

f.        This is a terrifying condition to be in -- to find yourself no longer interested in Christ and his word and prayer and worship and missions and living for the glory of God.

g.       And to find all fleeting pleasures of this world more attractive than the things of the Spirit.

5.      If that is your situation this morning, then I plead with you to listen to the Holy Spirit speaking in this text.

6.      Decide today to leave your old way behind and give your allegiance and life to Jesus Christ. 

c.       Let us examine what “unbelief” is. (What is unbelief?)

                                                               i.      If we read the passage again, we see “they were not able to enter (God’s Rest) because of unbelief.” (v19)

1.      The Greek word for “not able word used here in the text is Dunamas, which refers to Power, (it is where we get our word for dynamite or dynamo).

2.      If we reread this verse with this substituted for “they were not able” we would read this passage as “they did not have the power to enter God’s rest because of unbelief.”

3.      Something had robbed them of the power or strength or ability that they needed in order to enter God’s rest.

4.      And that power is eroded or corroded by something.

a.       That “thing” that erodes our power to enter is explained by the Greek word for “unbelief.”

b.      Apista – negative faith. 

c.       In mathematics, it would be using a negative sign. 

d.      It wouldn’t be saying that they had too little faith (oligopistia), if it were just too little, it could be grown.

e.       No, what we have here is NEGATIVE faith. 

f.        And negative faith must not be grown but changed. 

5.      Whenever Jesus rebuked people ofr being of “little faith” he used a specific Greek word. 

a.       But when he spoke of “unbelief” it was this word that he chose. 

b.      It is not like having a small number. 

c.       It is like attaching a negative sign to a number. 

d.      It is like having negative faith or DISBELIEF.

                                                             ii.      Unbelief = negative faith.

d.      What does negative faith do?

                                                               i.      As we said earlier, unbelief or Negative Faith corrodes and erodes the power of God in our lives.  It is like an acid that counteracts all traces of positive faith in our life.

e.       What does negative faith look like?

                                                               i.      There is a story in the Gospel of Mark of a man who went to Jesus’ disciples because his son needed healing.  But the disciples weren’t able to do it.  So when Jesus came along, he complained to Jesus that his disciples weren’t up to the task. 

                                                             ii.      Mark 9:21- And He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood. 22 "It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!" 23 And Jesus said to him, " `If You can?' All things are possible to him who believes." 24 Immediately the boy's father cried out and said, "I do believe; help my unbelief."

1.      As usual, Jesus zeroes in on the source of the problem.  The father of the boy has what appears to be “conditional faith.”  That is, “if you can do anything.”  It wasn’t faith, it was “hope so faith.”  It was skeptical faith. 

a.       “if you can do anything, take pity on us…” which sounds a lot like a cry of desperation, but also of disbelief, almost as if he is saying, “no one can fix this problem, it is so big.  Just do something, anything, and we will be happy.”

2.      It was the same “unbelief” that the gospels say “prevented Jesus from doing miracles in his hometown.”

3.      Jesus addresses this man’s unbelief head on.  He challenges him to believe.  And the man responds differently than those in his home town who continued in their negative, corrosive, faith. 

a.       He cries out with a desire to believe…”I do believe” and then apparently realizes how his faith has been “negative.”  H

b.      e had the right idea, he cries out for help with his “negative faith.” 

4.      The outcome might have been different if this man hadn’t asked for help with his “disbelief.” 

a.       His son might not have been healed.

b.       But as it was, he realized that he needed more than just “hope for” faith. 

c.       He needed confidence in God. 

d.      The father's answer - "I do believe! Help my unbelief!" - is a fairly clear example, it seems to me, of "commitment with mental reservation".

e.       This story has been included, because it give us a negative example, of the unnecessary self-torture that people put themselves through when they feel God's call to let Him meet their need, that they refuse to give in to Him entirely and take what He says with complete trust and act on what He says in complete faith.

                                                                                                                                       i.      A true faith, undivided, single-minded, zealous and not lukewarm, is a very powerful thing.

                                                                                                                                     ii.      But a little doubt (negative faith) can destroy the whole equation

                                                            iii.      Doubt based upon Negative faith is common to all of us.  If we are honest, we all have periods in our lives in which we express reservations about God’s desire or ability to meet a need we have. 

1.      There are some here who are struggling to believe God for something in your life.  Why not start with the position of humility and admit to God that you need help, because “negative faith”…a very corrosive chemical, is active in your life and you want freedom from its power. 

2.      God…help my unbelief!  

f.        .2^nd Barrier:  A hardened heart

                                                               i.      Heb 3:13, 15 “You must warn each other every day, as long as it is called "today," so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.  TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS, AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME.

                                                             ii.      As a result of deceit (untruth) and sin.

                                                            iii.      How does a heart get hard?

1.      Sin is Deceptive: 

a.       If you take my definition that sin is choosing less than God’s best for you, imagine how deceptive that choice has to be.

b.      I need a new car…I will go buy one, I will provide for myself

c.       But God has a plan that you can’t even imagine and you will miss it when you choose less than his best.  (Lucille’s heat).

d.       

                                                           iv.      What is a hard heart?.

1.      A hard heart is one that has resisted God’s grace to such an extent that it no longer is able or capable of receiving or even recognizing God’s favor. 

2.      Pharoah, in Egypt is an example of a hardened heart.  The bible says that “God hardened his heart” but that means that God’s actions of offering grace had the consequence of hardening his heart further because he rejected and continued to reject God’s overtures to him.

3.      Heb 3:7-8:  “Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts”

a.       What happens so often is people who grow up in church harden their hearts, unconsciously, because they  hear God’s word and get in the habit of NOT RESPONDING. 

b.      Part of the reason we have a “ministry time” at the conclusion of our service is to make it possible for you to “respond to God’s word” as you have heard it in your life. 

c.       When God speaks to you, and you don’t respond, it is like curing compound being added to epoxy.  The more you add, the harder it gets. 

d.      What will happen to us, if -- the big "if" of verse 6 and 14 --If we harden our hearts in the day of trial and murmur against him and throw away our confidence and hope in God.

e.       The story of Israel is an example for the professing church. Do not treat the grace of God with contempt -- presuming to receive it as an escape from the Egypt of misery, but not being satisfied with it as guidance and provision in the wilderness of this life.

f.        O how many professing Christians want the mercy of forgiveness so that they won't go to hell, but have hard hearts toward the Lord when it comes to daily fellowship with him!

                                                             v.      How does the heart become hardened?

1.      What can cause a hardened heart?

a.      Preoccupation with wrong priorities, such as worldly desires and goals (Matthew 6:33) – seeking first our own needs instead of the kingdom of heaven.

b.      Neglect of private devotions and public worship (Hebrews 10:25) – forsaking the assembly of Christians.

c.       The deceitfulness of sin, which falsely promises fulfillment (James 1:13-16) choosing to meet our own needs and not looking to God’s way to do it.

d.      Hardening of the heart can cause you to fall away and miss God's best for you.

e.       Therefore, be sure to conduct regular "checkups." Pray for God to search your heart and reveal any areas of resistance to Him. (Psalm 26:2, 139:23-24; Jeremiah 12:3; 1 Thessalonians 2:4) Also, ask someone—perhaps an accountability partner—to watch you for signs of a hardening heart. (Romans 15:14)

(might want to move this last one under “negative faith”)

g.       Barrier #3:  Loss of endurance

                                                               i.      Hebrews 3:14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end,

                                                             ii.      Notice first that this condition -- "'if' we hold fast to hope" -- is a condition for being something now.

1.      Verse 6 does not say: you will become God's house if you hold fast to your hope.

2.      It says, "We are God's house" if we hold fast to confidence and hope.

3.      It's like saying, "You are a Southerner if you pronounce Ronald Reagan's wife's name 'Naintsy' instead of 'Nancy."

4.      Talking like this does not make you a Southerner; it shows that you are one.

                                                            iii.      Hebrews 3:6 teaches that "if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm to the end, we show that we are God's house."

1.      This is what defines the household of God: God's people hope in God. God's people are confident in God. They hold fast to God as their boast.

2.      It's clear that the point here is not: hold fast to your assurance in order to become in the future a partaker of Christ.

3.      The point is: hold fast to your assurance in order to show (prove, evidence, demonstrate) that you are a partaker of Christ.

4.      It would be wrong to say, "If we do not hold fast our assurance, then even though we were once partakers of Christ, nevertheless now we lose our part in Christ."

5.      That is the opposite of what this verse says. It says, We have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast our assurance to the end; and if we do not hold fast to our assurance to the end, then we have not become a partaker of Christ. Not holding fast to our assurance does not make us lose our salvation; it shows that we were not truly saved.

                                                           iv.      The people of Israel are a example or a picture or a lesson-book for these readers.

1.      They had been treated with great mercy as God brought them out of Egypt by signs and wonders.

2.      And these people had seen signs and wonders (Hebrews 2:4).

3.      They had tasted the powers of the age to come (6:5).

4.      The Holy Spirit had been at work in their midst and they had participated in his power (6:4).

5.      All this is like what the Israelites experienced as they came out of Egypt. And for a short while they were very happy and seemingly confident in God.

a.       But it didn't last.

b.      And that is why this example is so important to the writer of Hebrews.

c.       He wants the professing Christians to last, to persevere.

h.       Because that's the only way they will prove they are truly God's house and truly share in Christ's salvation. So he says look at Israel and don't be like them.

What is your life filled with?  Is your heart tender toward God or are you seeking your own way?  Do you ask God to meet your needs or do you try to meet them yourself?  Your life may be demonstrating “negative faith” or a “hardened heart” or may even be missing the faith necessary to experience endurance.  You recognize that you don’t have a relationship of dependence on Christ.  If that is so, you will want to pray this pray with me.

Let’s pray:

Jesus, I must confess that I have been living independent of you.  I have been trying to meet my own needs.  I cannot do it anymore.  I don’t want to do it anymore.  I have been settling for less than your best for my life.  It is time for that to stop.  Fill my life.  Change my life.  Become the ruler of my life. 

With every head bowed and eye closed, if that was your prayer this morning, slip your hand up and acknowledge that you have been changed. 

Amen.
Answer:  Why are we meeting in small groups?  To build up our church body and to help us grow in relationship with one another and with Christ…together.  It is what the early church did (Acts 2:42) and it led to many lives being changed in the world they lived in.

I