Take a second to get this picture in your mind: a beautiful white sandy beach, waves softly crashing in the distance, a perfect 79.6 degrees, a white lounge chair with your towel placed perfectly on top, and the book you have been looking forward to reading at your side. You have your headphones on to block out the noise and your favorite ice-cold drink all ready to go (that would be a Coke for me, or maybe on a crazy day, a Ruby Red Squirt). Is this rest? If not, what would it look like or where would you have to go to find rest? I believe "rest” to be one of America’s supreme goals, maybe even a higher value than fame or wealth. We think, “I’ll just rest if I can make it to retirement; I’ll rest when the vacation comes; or I'll rest when the weekend gets here.” Just like the song says, “Everybody’s working for the weekend.” However, when we come back from the vacation or weekend, we are oftentimes more stressed than when we left. We start Monday more tired or hungover, and many times less rested than when we started the weekend. I would argue that our culture today has more toys, more vacations, more retirement, and less work than ever before. Yet, I would also dispute that we are less rested as a nation than we have ever been. Why is that?

Looking back at the first example, I can almost hear some of you answering this question. There is no rest because I know how much that trip to the sandy beach is going to cost. There is no rest because I know the work that is piling up at home. There is no rest because of a family issue, sickness, or failure. The Bible clearly tells us that rest is important. It also clearly tells us how to find it. The Church must learn to rest, or we will be in trouble. Church, the truth is we cannot afford to be tired.

The goal of this book is to take an in-depth look on how to be The Church. In this next chapter, we will look at Jesus calling us to rest. I hope to explain how crucial it is for the Church to find true rest. When thinking about this and having an idea of rest, we need to ask ourselves some important questions: How does the Church find rest? Are you good at rest? If not, what things are causing you to miss the rest of the Lord?

In Hebrews 4:11, we have the next “Let us” statement, “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.”

I love the word “strive” here. It seems like an antonym to the word rest. I enjoy the KJV translation of this passage even better. It says, “Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest.” This begs the question, “What labor must we do to find true rest?”

First, let us define rest. The literal meaning of rest is “to cease working.” However, when applied to God’s definition, this rest means “no more self-effort. As far as salvation is concerned, it means the end of trying to please God by our feeble fleshly works” (John MacArthur).

MacArthur goes on to say, “Rest is freedom from whatever worries or disturbs you. Some people cannot rest mentally and emotionally because they are easily annoyed. Everything upsets them or bothers them or everything is a hassle to them. Rest does not mean freedom from nuisances and hassles. It means freedom from being so easily bothered by them. It means to be inwardly composed and peaceful. To enter God’s rest, it means to be at peace with God. Free from guilt, and free from worry about sin. God's rest is the end of legalistic works and experience of peace in the total forgiveness of God.”

A Picture of Unrest

When describing rest, the author of Hebrews takes us back to the Old Testament. In chapter four verse one, he is speaking of the rest that God offered and the Israelites missed. The rest God offered was the Promised Land. Now, it wasn't just the land, it was a relationship with God, trusting Him, believing Him, and resting in Him. The specific story Hebrews is pointing to is found in Numbers chapters 13-14. The Israelites had come right up to the edge of the Promised Land. They sent twelve men to spy out the land and after 40 days the men came back with the results. “At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, ‘We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.’”Numbers 13:25-27

Finally, the Israelites would find rest. They would no longer be wandering and no longer be homeless. Except that there was much more to their report. Numbers chapter 13 continues, “However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there...‘We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.’ So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, ‘The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height’” (Numbers 13:28, 31-32).

Two of the men, Joshua and Caleb, tried to convince the people to trust the Lord. Caleb said it this way, “‘The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.’ Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones” (Numbers 14:7-10).

Caleb says they are “bread for us.” Kent Hughes remarks that this is basically the expression, “This is a piece of cake.” Twelve spies went to check out the land that God had promised; ten saw stress, and two saw rest. The ten who saw stress, missed God’s rest. Kent Hughes adds, “The Israelites in this section were faced with a new challenge. They simply did not trust God and failed to enter rest. Many, maybe even thousands, were believers of the Lord, but only two really chose to enter the rest of the Lord.”

The warning is that the Israelites had heard the good news; however, they did not trust God enough to enter into His rest. I believe the writer of Hebrews is telling us that we cannot miss the rest of God. So then, what is the rest the Lord offers and how do we find it?

Trusting in the Lord is what gives our soul rest.

“For we who have believed enter that rest…” (Hebrews 4:3). As the writer of Hebrews does over and over again, we see this text points out that it is belief in Jesus that will give ultimate rest. As you continue in the book of Hebrews, you will find the author explaining that Jesus Christ is greater than angels, Moses, and Joshua. He desperately desires that the readers will know the peace that only comes through Jesus Christ. In both the Old Testament and New Testament, rest came through belief.

“In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.” Ephesians 1:13

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” Romans 1:16

Faith is trusting God wholeheartedly. Leon Morris puts it this way, “Faith here in Hebrews 4:2 is the attitude of trusting God wholeheartedly.” A true believer is one who can rest in the word of Jesus Christ. Later on in this chapter, it speaks of Jesus as the Great High Priest in whom our confidence rests.

Kent Hughes says, “First, trusting in Christ's sacrificial death begins our rest. By giving us rest from the burden of guilt for our sins and our gnawing conscience, an almighty God and a loving Savior gives us rest as we place our burdens upon Him. Just as a child sleeps so easily in the arms of a parent, we may rest in the Lord.” This rest that Hughes mentions is when we realize that all that needs to be done in order to have peace with God has already been completed by what Jesus, and only Jesus, did on the cross.

In Matthew 11:28-29, we read, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Have you received this rest? You can know about God just like the Israelites did. You can know the truth of the cross and what Jesus did, but do you believe it wholeheartedly? Have you accepted the rest that is offered from the cross, knowing that the debt of your sins has been paid? It is not something that you work for, rather it is accepting the work that Jesus did. Maybe right now, right where you are, you can find that rest. If you are a Christian, take a deep breath and sit in the promise of Jesus as Savior. He has you. He has covered your past, predestined your future, and He is with you in the present.

Working through His Word helps us find rest.

The verse that follows Hebrews 4:11 puzzled me. It is a well-known verse that I have heard quoted many times, but I struggled to understand it in the context of rest. “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” (Hebrews 4:12). Morris helped me to better understand by stating, “Living and active shows that there is a dynamic quality about God’s revelation.” God's Word can reach the innermost recesses of our being. Albert Mohler also gave this insight, “The word is living and effective. It is able to pierce the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Scripture untangles the human heart and unearths sin like no other book can. No other book can discern the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. Only God’s word can do that. The word of God cuts through the sin and darkness of the human heart to restore the spiritual heart for Christ.”

The Word frees us from confusion. It gives us clarity on who God is and on His amazing love. It gives us direction on how to live and walk; therefore, giving us peace and direction. It gives us the truth, and tells us walking in disobedience to the Word leads to hurt and pain.

A few years ago, I had just finished a round of golf with my son. We were carrying our clubs out to the car as I pulled out my key fob and hit the unlock button, nothing happened. The battery in my key fob was dead. It was one of those key fobs where you don’t have to use a physical key for anything. When the car wouldn't open, I hit a little small button on the key fob and pulled out the hidden key. I stuck this little key into the door lock, unlocking the door. As I opened the door the car decided to explode with horns and lights. This really puzzled me because I had used the car’s own key to open it! With a dead key fob, I was helpless to shut the car alarm up. Finally, after a few minutes, it stopped, but not before I got some vicious looks from other golfers in the parking lot.

My son then opened the passenger door and it started all over again. I remember sitting in the driver's seat with no clue how to start the car. I opened the glove box and pulled out the car manual (I think the plastic wrap was still on it). I found the section on how to start the car with a dead key fob. I have to say, I thought the instructions were kind of ridiculous. I live in Southeast Michigan and we have many engineers who work for the big three car companies. I blame these ridiculous plans on them! The instructions said to look to my right and find the cup holder. In the bottom of the cup holder there is a rubber insert and to pull out the rubber insert. Then, set the key fob in the cup holder. Honestly, at this time I was pretty annoyed. I was annoyed that the car alarm went off because I opened the door with the key. I was annoyed at these ridiculous instructions. Reluctantly, I set the key fob in the cup holder. The next instruction said, “Press the start button.” So, I did and the car started. The instructions worked. I may not have understood the why or how, but it worked.

The author of Hebrews brings us back to the Word of God to find rest. Why? Because it works. You may not understand it all, but the Word of the Lord is true and in it you will find rest. This is why the Israelites did not find rest. They did not believe His Word to be true. Therefore, they did not follow in obedience and they missed God's rest. “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:11).

Albert Mohler, Jr. says it beautifully, “This is one of the things we do every Sunday in corporate worship when we sit under the preaching of the Word of God. This is what we do when we sing together. This is what we do when we pray together. This is what we do when we fellowship together. We gather in corporate worship to encourage one another to be fully satisfied in Christ and in Him alone, lest we fail to enter His rest.” The Word untangles our lives around sin and sets us a path to follow Him.

Serving the Lord is rest.

There is one more point that I believe to be so important. In our world today, we think rest is found in doing nothing. I believe that if we are followers of Christ, we will have unrest in our soul if we do not serve the Lord. By serving and loving one another, we will have rest.

To the Church in Corinth, Paul says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort also. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3-7).

I love verse four; we have received this comfort so that we may be able to be a comfort to others. I truly believe you will find great rest when you strive to serve Jesus. When you strive to comfort others by sharing the amazing comfort you have received in Christ, you will have rest. God's rest offered to the Israelites was not for them to go to a land and do nothing. The goal was to go to a land, where they could trust the Lord and grow their relationship with Him. The rest that God offers here is not a “do nothing” kind of rest. It is striving to grow, laboring in the Word, serving the Lord, and trusting in Him kind of rest.

Church, let us find true rest in Him.

Questions for personal study or group discussion: