March 16, 2025
Antonio Blanco

Hebrews Arrested Arrival

Sermon #
5
in the series
We all deeply desire rest, yet often find it elusive. Hebrews 4 speaks directly to believers experiencing pressure to abandon their faith, urging them toward obedience and perseverance despite life's challenges. Just as the Israelites' disobedience in the wilderness prevented them from entering God's promised rest, our busyness, pride, and fear can similarly hold us back from God's intended rest for our lives. True rest isn't mere relaxation, but rather a fulfillment, completion, and arrival at the home God has prepared—a rest modeled by God Himself in creation and promised fully in Jesus Christ. Gratitude fuels faithfulness, helping us endure trials and trust God's promises. Ultimately, entering God's eternal rest requires perseverance rooted not in our own strength, but in God's unwavering faithfulness and grace.
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Introduction:

  • We all need and desire rest, but it’s often elusive.
  • Rest is meant to give us delight, just as it did for God in Genesis 2 when He completed His creation and found rest.‍
  • TEXT: Hebrews 4:1-11

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Context of the Text:

  • The Book of Hebrews speaks to an audience experiencing pressure to abandon their faith.
  • There is a connection to their struggle to endure and the importance of fixing their eyes on Jesus. They feel marginalized and disconnected from society.
  • DaSilva's insight is on the struggles of early Christians who lost strength and purpose.

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Arrested ARRIVAL and The Importance of Obedience: Hebrews 4:1-7

  1. Disobedience leads to a delay in entering God's rest.
  2. The Israelites in the wilderness were unwilling to trust God despite witnessing His miracles.
  3. Psalm 95: "So I swore in my anger, 'they will not enter my rest.'"
  4. Failing to recognize God's grace leads to ungratefulness and disobedience.

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Gratitude Cultivates Faithfulness:

  1. Gratitude fuels faith and encourages perseverance in difficult times.
  2. Gratitude allows us to trust God’s promises despite challenges.
  3. 1 Samuel 10: Story of Saul’s anointing and disobedience (1 Samuel 10:1-9, 13:8-14, 15:22-23)
    1. Saul's disobedience caused a delay in God’s promise.

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Signs and Warnings:

  1. Signs and wonders do not create faith but confirm it.
  2. G.K. Beale, A New Testament Biblical Theology: "Signs and wonders do not create faith; they confirm the faith that is already present."
  3. Disobedience can prevent us from entering God's rest and experiencing His promises.
  4. Psalm 95:7-8: "Today, if you hear His voice, don’t harden your hearts."
  5. Signs of not entering God's rest: busyness, pride, fear.

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A Rested Arrival:

  1. Hebrews 4:8-11:
    NT Wright: "All of us face the challenge to trust God rather than to trust the way we feel or the things we see in front of us. All of us need to keep before our eyes the promise of God’s eventual, and eternal, 'rest. '"
  • G.K. Beale, A New Testament Biblical Theology: “God’s 'rest' after his six days of creating was to be imitated by humanity. That is, God has designed that his people finish their good works in this life and enter that same rest at the end of history that he experienced when he had finished his good, creative works. In other words, God's resting in Gen. 2:2 is to be imitated by his people at the eschatological consummation.”
  1. The Christian’s rest is not just relaxation but completion, fulfillment, and coming home to God’s new creation.

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The Invitation to Finish Well:

  1. 2 Timothy 4:7:
    "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful."
  2. Hebrews 12:1:
    "Let us run with endurance the race God has set before us."
  3. Rest is not simply about relaxation but about completion.
  4. N.T. Wright’s Sequence of Three Rest:
    1. God rested on the seventh day of creation.
    2. Joshua’s temporary rest in the Promised Land.
    3. The future “rest “is still promised to us.
  1. Jesus offers the final rest, which cannot be earned by works but is given by grace through faith.
  2. Joshua and Jesus: Joshua could not provide the rest Jesus offers, the ultimate rest of salvation.

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Conclusion:

  • Disobedience can prevent us from entering God’s rest.
  • Today is the day to soften our hearts and surrender.
  • Life's challenges can cause delays, but God offers us a final, eternal rest.
  • Perseverance in faith leads to the eventual fulfillment of God’s promises.
  • Eugene H. Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: "Perseverance is not the result of our determination; it is the result of God’s faithfulness."
  • God’s rest is available to us; we must pursue it with faith and obedience.
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