Memory verse:
Heb4.1(ESV) 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.
The promise of God’s Eternal rest is still standing. So, let us be careful to work towards it with fear and trembling that none will fail to experience it by falling short of the standard which God has set. For this is the good news, the news that God has prepared such a Rest for us, which has been announced to us in this age, generation and dispensation just as it was to them who were under the Law or the Old Covenant. Yet, this truth was not profitable to them; because of their unbelief, they weren’t positioned to truly yield from faith like all those who choose to truly accept and walk by God’s Word.
The Apostle’s revelation about this Rest is not merely about the seventh day (the Sabbatical rest or the promise land that Moses started with them and then later Joshua finished), but it is about the glorious eternal rest for all those that will be counted worthy through the blood of the Lamb and qualified to enter into the coming glorious city and country which has been prepared by the hands of the Lord. It will be a more glorious Rest, where the people of God will enjoy the endless Life of their faith, and the reality of True Peace.
It is a Rest in which people experience, receive, and abide forever in our Lord Jesus Christ—Yeshua Hamashiach—when He appears for the 2nd time. It will be an absolute Rest, a Rest in which there is no more crying, weeping, shame, worry, emptiness, etc.; but only praises, singing, joy, peace, comfort, worship, glory, and everything that is pure and excellent. Prepare yourself for that coming Eternal Rest! Let nothing or no one stop you from entering, in Jesus Christ mighty name, amen.
For just as God rested after He finished His work, so will He cause those who have believed in His only begotten son Jesus Christ, finished their earthly assignment, and fulfilled their godly destiny and the work to which they were called, to enjoy their Rest in the coming Kingdom.
But those who do not believe, shall neither enter into this glorious spiritual Rest of grace here in this life nor in the glory hereafter. God has always made these things clear: that man’s rest is to dwell in Him, that His love for man is the soul’s only real happiness, and that faith in His promises, through his Son Jesus Christ, is the only way of entering into that true and eternal rest.
Whenever men are in the position of wavering in their confession and profession, it causes them to fall short, suffer loss and face the consequences of neglecting their faith in the Word of Truth. Therefore, let us then be diligent in holding fast to our Faith and working on our salvation, that we may have a clear entrance into the Kingdom of God and Heaven. Whenever the hearers of the Truth choose to have Faith in the Word, it serves as the life of the Word in them. Although the gospel that was preached under both Testaments has remained the same in substance, the advantages for those who are under the gospel of the new covenant (the dispensation of Grace) are far greater than those who were under the old covenant during the time of the prophets and the law of Moses. Throughout all the ages and dispensations, many have been unprofitable hearers of the gospel; and the root cause of their problem is their unbelief which yields their unfruitfulness even though they too were exposed to the word.
Main Scripture:
Hebrews 4.1-11 (BSB)
1Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be deemed to have fallen short of it.
2For we also received the good news, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, since they did not share the faith of those who comprehended it.
3Now we who have believed enter that rest. As for the others, it is just as God has said:“ So I swore on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter My rest.’” And yet His works have been finished since the foundation of the world.
4For somewhere He has spoken about the seventh day in this manner: “And on the seventh day God rested from all His works.
”5And again, as He says in the passage above: “They shall never enter My rest.
”6Since, then, it remains for some to enter His rest, and since those who formerly heard the good news did not enter because of their disobedience,
7God again designated a certain day as “Today,” when a long time later He spoke through David, as was already stated: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.
”8Now if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day.
9So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
10For whoever enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His.
11Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following the same pattern of disobedience.
References:
*Acts 3:19Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away,
*2Corinthians 6:1As God's fellow workers, we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain.
*Galatians 5:4You who are trying to be justified by the Law have been severed from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
*Hebrews 12:15Be careful that no one falls short of the grace of God, so that no root of bitterness will spring up to cause trouble and defile many.
*Psalm95.7For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice,
(Heb4; Ps.Ps95; Gen2.1-3; Ex16.22-36).*
Prayer:
Pray fervently that the Lord should help you to not miss His Eternal Rest.
Conclusion:
The Lord of Rest is coming soon, but the question is, will you be able to enter The Master’s rest on that dreadful day? The Lord—Yeshua Hamashiach is coming soon.
Shalom
-Bishop Dr Apau-
