Entering His Rest  |
| by David A. DePra |
|
| Wherefore,
as the Holy Ghost says, "Today if you will hear |
| His
voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the |
| day of
temptation in the wilderness, when your father's tempted |
| Me,
proved Me, and saw My works forty years. Wherefore I was |
| grieved
with that generation and said, "They do always err in |
| their
heart and have not known my ways." So I swore in my |
| wrath,
"They shall not enter into My rest." (Heb. 3:7-11) |
| |
|
Here, in these verses, begins the comparison of the promised |
| land to the
believers true rest in Jesus Christ. It is a tremendous |
| picture of God's
grace, and it's effects upon us. It is therefore |
| helpful to
briefly review the story of Israel if we are to grasp that |
| Truth as it
pertains to us. |
|
When God delivered Israel from Egypt, He brought them to the |
| land He promised
Abraham and said, "Send thou men, that they |
| may search the
land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of |
| Israel.."
(Num. 13:1) Notice the words, "Which I give." God's |
| giving of the
land to them was no longer in the future. It was a |
| thing done. The
land now belonged to them. They simply needed |
| to believe God. |
|
Initially, Israel did believe. Or, at least they acted like it. We see |
| no indication in
the Word of God, at least initially, that Israel |
| doubted that the
Lord had given them the land. Afterall, they had |
| finally arrived,
hadn't they? Their slavery was over. They were |
| ready to move in
and take possession of their inheritance. |
| God's first
command to them was to spy out the land. Twelve |
| spies were
appointed from the twelve tribes. They went in and |
| scouted out the
promised land, returning after forty days. They |
| back brought some
of the fruit of the land, along with a report of |
| what they had
observed. (see Numbers 13) Their report about the |
| benefits of the
land was good. They said, "Surely it floweth with |
| milk and honey,
and this is the fruit of it." But their report about the |
| inhabitants was
not good. They said, "Nevertheless the people be |
| strong that dwell
in the land, and the cities are walled, and very |
| great, and
moreover we saw the children of Anak (the giants) |
| there."
(Num. 13:27-28) |
|
We can hardly grasp how this report must have shaken the |
| children of
Israel! They had not expected this! A land filled with |
| walled cities and
giants? What kind of inheritance was that? |
|
As babes in Christ, we often expect that the free gift of God in |
| Jesus Christ
means we are going to have a big party. The benefits |
| of being a
Christian are what we are interested in: Prosperity, |
| health, blessing,
protection, and miracles. We don't want to hear |
| about walled
cities and giants abiding in the "inheritance" God |
| gives us. Surely,
God would not give us an inheritance like that! |
| Once we find out
that it is precisely what God gives us, we may |
| cry, "There
must be some mistake!" We may even begin |
| wondering if what
we have received is the real thing! |
|
Can you identify with this? Have you ever become |
| discouraged at
your spiritual condition, fearing that your failings |
| and imperfections
mean you haven't received the real gift of God? |
| Are you
overwhelmed by the presence of giants and walled cities |
| in your life?
Have you asked yourself, "How can I expect God to |
| fellowship with a
mess like me?" |
|
These things offer a source of doubt to many Christians. It is |
| not that we doubt
God, or His Word. But we do sometimes doubt |
| ourselves -- our
understanding and our ability. When we see |
| walled cities and
giants we are apt to say, "There must be some |
| weakling like me.
Surely if I were in God's will, I would not have |
| such spiritual
problems to contend with. I have no chance of ever |
| overcoming these
things." |
|
Do you see what such words suggest? They suggest that |
| somehow these
giants and walled cities got onto God's property |
| while He wasn't
looking. Now it is up to me to drive them out. But |
| more than what
such words suggest, notice what they reveal: |
| They reveal that
I am still looking at myself -- rather than at |
| Christ. I am
taking MY spiritual temperature and using it to judge |
| whether I am
worthy of God's rest, i.e., His grace in Christ. That is |
| legalism. |
|
According to the Bible, the normal spiritual condition for the |
| Christian -- upon
entering God's rest by faith -- is to |
| immediately face
walled cities and giants. Get that. To do so is |
| normal. It is
expected. God knew those giants were in the land |
| He gave to
Israel. He planned things that way. |
|
Have you ever wondered why God gave Israel a land in such a |
| condition? Why
didn't He drive out all of those tribes ahead of |
| time so that He
could give Israel a perfect land, free of all of those |
| terrible
obsticles? And while we're asking, let's apply the question |
| to our spiritual
inheritance in Christ. Why, after we have died in |
| Christ, and been
raised in Him, do we have to overcome sin, stand |
| in faith, engage
in spiritual warfare, and have such a hard time? |
| Why doesn't the
new birth translate us out of all of those things? |
|
The answer points to God's eternal purpose in His people. |
| God could have
driven out all of the inhabitants of the land FOR |
| Israel. He could
have done all of that FOR them. But God had |
| a greater purpose
than that. He wanted to do a work IN Israel. And |
| that could only
be accomplished if they, themselves, |
| overcame the
obsticles in the land, through faith in God. |
|
Get that. God does many things FOR us. But He really wants to |
| do a work IN us.
He wants to take what Jesus Christ has done for |
| us and make it a
living reality in us. Why? Because He is |
| preparing us for
the eternal ages, when we will live with Him |
| forever. |
|
The instruments of God's work will be those giants and walled |
| cities. As we
"drive them out" by standing in the faith of Jesus |
| Christ, all which
God has done for us will be made articulate in us. |
| This is spiritual
growth. |
|
Isn't it amazing how we don't even meet the giants until we get |
| into the promised
land? Clearly, the promised land isn't heaven. |
| There are no
giants living up there. The "promised land" is the |
| spiritual
inheritance in Jesus Christ which God has given you and |
| I. We must enter
in and take possession. As we do, God's primary |
| purpose will be
accomplished: We will be conformed to the image |
| and likeness of
His Son. |
|
Now on with the story. Israel did send in the spies. And they |
| brought back a
report which basically accused God of being |
| unfaithful to
them. The people chose to believe that report instead |
| of trusting God. |
|
We know what happened. They had to wander in the |
| wilderness for
forty years. Quite a judgment God pronounced |
| upon them. All of
that generation, with a few exceptions, died. |
|
Now, note again why Israel did not enter the land: They would |
| not believe. This
is clearly verified by Hebrews 3:19. "They |
| could not enter
in because of UNBELIEF." |
|
Let's understand what this DOESN'T mean. It doesn't |
| mean that God
locked them out of the land because they |
| weren't spiritual
enough, or righteous enough. God never |
| " I have
given you this land. Believe, receive and enter it." It |
| was Israel's OWN
refusal to believe God that kept them out of |
| the land. THEY
refused to go in. (see Numbers 14:1-4) The |
| refusal to enter
was THEIR choice alone. |
|
The reason they refused was, of course, because they |
| calculated that
THEIR qualifications did not measure up to |
| the obsticales
they saw in the land. This is often what WE do. |
| Rather than
believe God despite our limitations, we focus ON |
| them. We let what
we see and feel overwhelm us. We simply |
| won't look away
from ourselves to God's grace in Jesus Christ. |
|
God's judgment upon Israel was to give them exactly what |
| they wanted: A
place outside of the land. He told them they |
| would have to
wander in the widerness for forty years. Yet |
| once this
judgment was pronounced, Israel said, "We will go |
| up to the place
which the Lord has promised. For we have |
| sinned."
(Num. 14:40) Was this repentance? No. God knew |
| why Israel was
now so compliant with Him: They wanted to |
| avoid the
punishment for their actions. All of a sudden a land |
| filled with
giants didn't look so bad. It was preferable to |
| forty years of
wandering in the wilderness. |
|
This reveals a important Truth. It shows that obeying God |
| simply to avoid
negative consequences is not faith, and is |
| totally
unacceptable to God. It is nothing more than unbelief |
| in action.
Incredibly, it is actually possible to "obey God" -- |
| not because I
believe Him -- but because I don't. Real |
| obedience is the
result of faith in God. Not fear of judgment. |
| See I Cor. 7:10.
"For Godly sorrow leads to repentance to |
| salvation, not to
be repented of. But the sorrow of the world |
| works
death." Israel had "worldly sorrow." Worldly sorrow is |
| because of the
consequences of my sin. Godly sorrow is |
| sorrow because of
the sin itself. It is towards God Himself. |
|
The message here, and that of Hebrews, is that we cannot |
| enter into the
rest of God through unbelief. It does not matter |
| how much we want
to get in. We can't enter on our own terms. |
| We can enter only
by faith in Jesus Christ. |
|
Note this passage from Luke: "Then said one unto him, |
| 'Lord, are there
few that be saved?' And He said unto them, |
| 'Strive to enter
in at the strait gate. For many, I say unto you, |
| will seek to
enter in, and shall not be able." (Luke 13:23-24) |
|
Jesus is talking about people who "seek to enter in," They |
| WANT in. Yet He
says they "shall not be able." How can it |
| be possible to
SEEK to enter into the things of God, yet not be |
| ABLE to enter ---
especially since entering does not depend |
| upon OUR works?
The answer is the same as it was with |
| Israel. I cannot
enter God's rest on my own terms -- no matter |
| how much I seek
to enter. . And I certainly cannot hope to |
| enter based on my
spiritual credentials. I can enter God's |
| rest only if I
cease from MY labors (i.e. cease trusting in my |
| own works and
spirituality), and begin resting in the finished |
| work of Jesus
Christ. Then I will "be able." |
|
This message of Hebrews 3 and 4 is fundamental |
| Christianity. It
is really the gospel -- the same one proclaimed |
| by Jesus, and
expounded by Paul. There is only one way into |
| God: Through the
Way, Truth, and Life. And we enter into |
| God's free gift
by faith. |