How to Get a Hard Heart, Part 4

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. A heart that is not surrendered to its creator is often a restless heart. To that heart, Jesus calls, Come to Me, all you 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, for My yoke is easy and My burden is light. Today, Pastor Rich will share from Hebrews 4, 1 through 10 in this message titled, Rest in God. This is the third part of the sermon which was first preached on May 27, 2012 at Grace Bible Church. The Bible says much about keeping our eyes on what God has in store for us, and when we do that, it changes how we live and think here. But there was one who responded in an editorial in the next issue, and he responded this way with a little bit of surprise that 85% of Americans still believe in a place called heaven.

And this is what he said. They think of heaven as quiet and peaceful with no need to do anything. That sounds pretty dull to me.

What do you do with all of that free time? And it goes on forever and ever. Christians, is that how you think of heaven? Maybe that's why it doesn't transform us today, because we think we're going to be doing nothing. I don't think so. When God created Adam and Eve, were they doing nothing?

I don't think so. But think about what we've considered already, being in the very presence of this one and being so compelled to speak of his awesomeness, his goodness, and his majesty, and his grace. And the things that we get to do, God created us as physical beings, and he created us for a physical environment. And did you know that for eternity, we will be physical beings living in a physical environment, because that's how God made us.

And we were created for one of the purposes is to rule that physical environment. We will have dominion over it, just as Adam and Eve had dominion over the physical environment in which they were placed. And we will do so as a delight in serving the purposes of God. So what are we going to do for eternity? We'll be pursuing relationships for eternity. We'll be pursuing relationships, loving relationships with no pretense and no competition. We will be discovering new arenas of God's infinitude, because that's the definition of infinitude. There is always something new to discover. And every day is going to be a, wow, did you see that about God, about what he has done in history.

And in that, it will be a great joy and a delight for us to be ruling and managing the physical universe that he has created for us to rule and manage. Now, just think of it. That's okay. Second, think about this.

It's going to be fun. Do you remember Jesus after he rose from the dead? Okay. Jesus is the first fruits of those who rise from the dead. That means as he has been has been and is, we will be. Did he rise from the dead with a physical body? Yes, he did. And when he rose from the dead, did he see people? Did he meet with people? And what did he do? And how did he get around? Remember when the disciples were in the upper room and they were sitting there crouched and they were afraid with the Jews and all of a sudden, boom, there's Jesus.

Wow. But the doors were locked. Listen, think about this. Jesus was resurrected with a physical body and he got into the room when the windows and the doors were locked. I think heaven's going to be fun. Time. We will be able to travel, listen to this, at the speed of thought.

The speed of light will seem slow to us. Okay, but this is not a message about heaven. What is the rest that God has ordained for the people of God?

What is it? I want you to consider some things because we will be fulfilling the purpose. The third word on the triangle there is the purpose. Okay, so we will be in his presence. We will be proclaiming his praises.

We will be fulfilling his purposes. You put all of that together, then we will be perfectly experiencing the peace of God. Peace.

The word in Hebrew is shalom and peace doesn't do it justice because the word actually means wholeness. Wholeness. We will be delighting in a state where everything is as it ought to be and every bit of it will be founded upon the fact that we are in his presence. This is the rest that God has for us. Everything will be as it ought to be and we can count on this because this is what he has revealed to us and what he has revealed to us is anchored in historic reality. Just like the illustration that I gave, how do I know I'm going to rise from the grave one day and my body is going to rise up? Because Jesus did. Historic Jesus Christ walked out of the grave with a physical body and one day this body is going to rise out of the grave glorified forever to be in the presence of God.

Now just think about that and the peace that that brings. Now this is not just a message about heaven because look what the scriptures say. Although his works were finished from the foundation of the world, what does David say? Look with me at verse 7. Again, he designates a certain day saying in David, today, after such a long time as it has been, today if you will hear his voice do not harden your hearts.

Now what's the point of this? What is the rest of God? Consider this statement by Morris West. If a man is centered upon himself, the smallest risk is too great for him because both success and failure can destroy him.

If he is centered upon God, then no risk is too great because success is already guaranteed. The successful union of creator and creature beside which everything else is meaningless. There it is. That's the rest that God has for us. And when we understand the successful union between creator and creature, there's a theological and biblical word for that.

What is it? It begins with an R. It's called reconciliation. The successful union between creator and creature beside which everything else is meaningless.

Now what does that mean? Everything else is meaningless. If we do not grasp the why of our existence, then we will never be able to realize success and satisfaction. It can't happen because it has everything to do with God.

Our existence has everything to do with God. So consider what the psalmist says, the psalmist also says, I shall be satisfied when I awake with your likeness. Paul the apostle said he was between a rock and a hard place. He wanted to stay here and minister to people so more people would come to Christ. But he really desired to depart and be with the Lord, which is what word did he use? Far better.

Far better. That's a man who understands the rest of God. Consider Revelation 21, three and four. This is what makes heaven heaven. It is the very presence of God. Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.

He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be any mourning nor crying nor pain anymore for the former things have passed away. Now, let's step back and put this in a little bit of context. And we're almost actually done for today where this message is crafted to span two Sundays here, okay? But the historic context is the people of Israel not being able to go into the promised land.

Why? Because their hearts got hard. They thought following God was hard and so therefore their thoughts drifted.

They fell for deception. They became disobedient and then they accused God of not coming through for them and therefore they were not able to enter into the rest. What the writer of Hebrews is telling us, God's ultimate rest for his people wasn't Israel going into the land. It's just a picture of the rest that he has for us. Our rest is being in Christ where the work of being reconciled to God is complete. That's our rest where we can enter into the very presence of God. That is our rest because David quoted it in Psalm 95 and David lived 400 years after Joshua. So going into the land wasn't the ultimate rest that God has for his people. It was another rest.

It was a rest for another day. But he says there is a certain day and that's what we read in verse 7. There is a certain day and what day is that certain day? It's today.

Today. You and I can enter into that rest. God's rest for us can be understood and guaranteed today and even enjoyed to a degree so that it characterizes the life of his child.

And how is that? Well it's what the scriptures say there is a rest for the people of God. But we need to understand what the writer of Hebrews is telling us here. The rest of which he speaks isn't just heaven. The rest of which he speaks is being in Christ. And we're going to have to pick it up from there a little bit later on.

Okay. I want you to pore over Hebrews chapter 4 verses 1 to 10. Do you know God's rest? Rest for the people of God is the opposite of restlessness and how is one restless?

Because we have a hard heart. But God's people, he has intended and ordained rest for his people. And what does that mean as we live today with the end in view? We're so glad you've joined us for Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You can hear this message and others anytime by visiting our website www.delightingrace.com. You can also check out Pastor Rich's book, Seven Words That Can Change Your Life, where he unpacks from God's word the very purpose for which you were designed. Seven Words That Can Change Your Life is available wherever books are sold. As always, tune in to Delight in Grace weekdays at 10 a.m.