"There remains therefore a rest for the people of God."

Preface - Contemplation

I am beginning a study on the subject of the Sabbath Day. This is a much debated topic, it seems, and became a controversial one for me many years ago. If the truth be told, I did actually depart from a church surrounding this subject (it was not the main reason, but rather it was a good bit of arrogance on my part that I left). The good pastor of the church was to teach a series on the subject and I had left before I heard it.

I do not want to state the differences here or make this a polemical research project. Lately my heart has grown more and more in its desire to follow all the ways of our Holy and Awesome God. In my Scripture readings I have been in Deuteronomy and have been impressed by the Word with regard to the commandments of the Lord. In Deut. 30:2,6; 11-16; 20 we can read of God's heart and commandment for His people. He desired they be circumcised in their hearts in order to love the Lord God with all their hearts and soul, to walk in His ways, to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments. It was God's desire and commandment that His people truly love Him, obey His voice, and cling to Him because He is their life and length of days. As I read these words my heart burned within me and my mind was aflame with joy. When I read them I long and yearn to fulfill every single one of them. And I should because His mercy has saved such a man as me, most unworthy, and has written His Law upon my heart.

I found my heart saying to the Lord God of all the earth, 'Father, if thou hast commanded a Sabbath for thy people still, and if in my arrogance I rejected the notion, forgive my foolish ignorance and show me thy truth. I will keep thy Sabbath to the end of my days and teach my house the same for thy glory and honor."

It is with such a heart that I seek the truth of the matter. And if truth continue to be told, I can say gladly that a good part of my desire would be to find that such a Sabbath day is given to the Christian to keep. I cannot tell you for certainty as to why, but if this is indeed the case my heart would delight in it and run eagerly now to obey without hesitation and without any grief at all. I love the Lord Jesus and desire with all my heart to obey His commandments. Concerning the truth of Jesus' own teaching we have the promised that "If anyone will do to His will he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority." John 7:17 It is my hope and prayer that God tests my heart and sees that it is my desire to do His will and that He would be pleased help my understanding to know the truth of the matter.

What is before my mind is to answer the question that is taught and practiced by many holy brethren today and has been taught by many more who came before me regarding the Sabbath Day. Is one day in seven still binding upon the people of God? Has this day been moved from the 7th day to the 1st (from Saturday to Sunday) by the Lord Jesus? Are Christians to keep holy one day in seven as the people of God did under the Old Covenant did, but now to keep this under the New Covenant showing the Law truly written upon our hearts to now keep the Lord's Day as a Sabbath? So that my reader may know that this has been taught and believed for centuries, consider that great and wonderful confession of the Westminster divines. Taking an early version of this, The Westminster Confession of Faith of 1646, in Chapter 21, under the heading "Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath-Day" we read: 

VII. As it is of the law of nature, that, in general, a due proportion of time be set apart for the worship of God; so, in his Word, by a positive, moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men in all ages, he hath particularly appointed one day in seven for a Sabbath, to be kept holy unto him: which, from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, was the last day of the week; and, from the resurrection of Christ, was changed into the first day of the week, which in Scripture is called the Lord's Day, and is to be continued to the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath.

VIII. This Sabbath is to be kept holy unto the Lord when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering of their common affairs beforehand, do not only observe an holy rest all the day from their own works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employments and recreations; but also are taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of his worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.

So far I have taken a conscientious objection to these points. My personal statement of faith is the 1689 London Baptist Confession which contains the identical language as this concerning the Sabbath-Day. Now I wish to re-examine my view in light of Holy Scripture. When J.C. Ryle wrote of the life of John Wyclif he exhorted his reader that Wyclif ought to be remembered as one of the first Englishmen who maintained the sufficiency and supremacy of Holy Scripture. I give the following quote from Ryle's work:

The importance of this great principle can never be overrated. It lies at the very foundation of Protestant Christianity. [...] The true Christian was intended by Christ to prove all things by the Word of God, all churches, all ministers, all teaching, all preaching, all doctrines, all sermons, all writings, all opinions, all practices. These are his marching orders. Prove all by the Word of God; measure all by the measure of the Bible; compare all with the standard of the Bible; weigh all in the balances of the Bible; examine all by the light of the Bible; test all in the crucible of the Bible. That which can abide the fire of the Bible, receive, hold, believe, and obey. That which cannot abide the fire of the Bible, reject, refuse, repudiate, and cast away." -Light from Old Times

I wholeheartedly agree with this statement. I believe there is a small danger in presuming at times that all our beliefs are gold, silver, and precious metals having survived the fires of Holy Scripture. I acknowledge that there is a genuine openness in my heart to believe the old Reformers and Puritans and follow them in this teaching. However, my present viewpoint does not think this teaching stands to the teaching of the Bible. It is my present belief that I wish to put on trial again. I wish to pass it though the fires of the Scriptures once more and beg God's mercy to correct my thinking if He will (and if needed!) My only desire in this, as best as I can tell, is to obey the Lord in all His ways, commandments, statues, and judgments. I trust wholly in Him and lean upon Him alone. I am clinging to him for this grace. May the Lord Jesus be pleased to show me His truth that I might more fully walk in His ways and teach my home the same.

Prayer before Study 
Truth in Jesus 
Life-Giving God, Quicken me to call upon thy name, for my mind is ignorant, my thoughts vagrant, my affections earthly, my heart unbelieving, and only thy Spirit can help my infirmities. I approach thee as Father and Friend, my portion for ever, my exceeding joy, my strength of heart. I believe in thee as the God of nature, the ordainer of providence, the sender of Jesus my Saviour. My guilty fears discourage an approach to thee, but I praise thee for the blessed news that Jesus reconciles thee to me.

May the truth that is in him illuminate in me all that is dark, establish in me all that is wavering, comfort in me all that is wretched, accomplish in me all that is of thy goodness, and glorify in me the name of Jesus. I pass through a vale of tears but bless thee for the opening gate of glory at its end. Enable me to realize as mine the better, heavenly country. Prepare me for every part of my pilgrimage.

Uphold my steps by thy Word. Let no iniquity dominate me. Teach me that Christ cannot be the way if I am the end, that he cannot be Redeemer if I am my own saviour, that there can be no true union with him while the creature has my heart, that faith accepts him as Redeemer and Lord or not at all.- The Valley of Vision


The Study

The title of this blog post is from Hebrews 4:9 "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God." The word here in the original, as best as I understand it, is Sabbatismos, which means "to keep the Sabbath" and is the same word used in Exodus 16:30 and Leviticus 26:35 in the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament) and so this shows that the meaning is consistent and understood correctly. This is indeed a Sabbath. The next question we may ask is which Sabbath is it referring to? There were many Sabbaths under the Old Covenant. For example, in Leviticus 16:31 we read of a Sabbath regarding the sin offering for the whole congregation of Israel that took place "In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month.." I believe the context of the passage in Hebrews supplies the answer.

In verse 4 of chapter 4 we read, "For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: And God rested on the seventh day from all His works." This quotation is from Genesis 2:2 where the Scriptures declare that after God had completed all his creative works he ceased from His works of creation and hallowed the 7th day. In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and all that is in them, and on the seventh day he ceased, or rested, from His work.  I think our first point is clear: This is the the 7th Day Sabbath that is referred to in Hebrews. It may serve us well now to look at a slightly larger context than the the few verses we have just looked at. Our text is found in Hebrews chapter 4 which before this the apostle has been teaching us regarding the supremacy of Christ Jesus. If there is one great theme of epistle of Hebrews it is that Jesus is highly exalted. in every sphere of creation, from everything in heaven and on the earth, Jesus has the preeminence. In comparison to Moses, who indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, Jesus was faithful as a Son over His own house. It is on this testimony that the apostle says "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested me, tried me, and saw my works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, they always go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways. So I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest." Heb. 3:7-11

Here the great apostle lays at the feet of everyone, Jews in particular, the words of God found in the 95th Psalm to warn and exhort us to beware. "Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God." v. 12 "But exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said: Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion."

Friends and brethren, there are a multitude of applications that could be made from these texts and a thousand sermons that might be preached from them. I do not want want to lose sight of our topic for them, but if God by chance may bring some poor sinner along to read this obscure and unknown blog who may need to hear these things then I will not have wearied my reader with a small digression. We are seeing the broader context here of our text in chapter 4 and we are seeing much more. There is a solemn atmosphere with these verses as in a moment when all seems to pause and time stands still for a second. "Beware, brethren.." He speaks to us as fellows citizens. Surely the apostle had in mind his Hebrew brother. And if I be permitted, I could have in my mind my fellow American. Beware my fellow citizen...take careful heed and pay strict attention here unless there be in any one you the same evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. When you hear the great and glorious news that some 2,000 years ago how this Jesus from Nazareth came and lived and did miracles and wonders, was crucified, and rose again. That He, Jesus, is the promised Messiah. Jesus is the one God told Eve about at the very beginning of time. The first woman was tricked by Satan and it grieved her heart I am certain. But God made a promise to her, the mother of all the living, and to Adam, the father of all mankind, that He would through the woman's seed, through a child from mankind, bring in a Savior who would destroy the power of Satan and save mankind from the destruction of sin we all were plunged intro through their disobedience.

This Jesus is that Savior, that holy Child promised by God from the beginning of time, foretold and prophesied by all the prophets, given testimony to by all the Law and Psalms. He has come. The Son is has come and redeemed us and His Name is Jesus. Today, dear sinner, if you are lost yet and separated from God. If your sins have not been washed away. If your guilt and the guilt of your father Adam still abides upon you, today...if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart. Do not allow an evil and unbelieving heart prevent you from entering His rest. Jesus is that Savior and He is alive from the dead. Our sins were born by Him on the cross and He speaks to you today: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel." Mark 1:15

But this day is not for you alone dear sinner. It is also for you my backslidden brother or sister. "For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence to the end." Any who are truly the followers of Jesus Christ, any who are really His disciples, are the ones who hold the beginning of their confidence steadfast to the end. O backslider, I have been where you are. I have wearied along the path from the city of destruction to the celestial kingdom. I have stepped out of the way and grew slothful and returned to the mire. If you are in this awful condition, hear me! Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your heart! Stop from your sinning and return to your Savior. Remember from where you have fallen and come back! The promise is still for you, but only while it is still called 'Today.' He will not be angry with you forever if you repent! "With who was He angry forty years?" "to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest?" "Was it not with those who sinned, with those who did not obey?" "So we see that they could not enter because unbelief." (see verses 18-19 of chapter 3).

And so we have our slightly broader context and some needed application. There are many in America today possessed of an evil heart of unbelief and many brethren who have fallen back into sinning. In this context, after showing the supremacy of Christ Jesus and announcing the day to hear the Voice of God and enter His rest, we are exhorted this:

"Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of your seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heart it. For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He said: 'So I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest' although the works were finished from the foundation of the world."

There are several things we must note from these words. The first, that the gospel was preached to them as well as to us. Those whom the apostle refers to, of course, are the people of Israel whom the Lord brought out of Egypt by a mighty hand with signs and wonders, and who promised good and glad news to them of a land flowing with milk and honey, but that generation did not inherit those things because they did not believe the Lord by keeping His commandments, His ways, His statutes, and judgments. But Caleb and Joshua did enter. Why? Because they believe the Lord, because they wholly followed the Lord. As it is written, "Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me, except Caleb the son of Jephuneh, and Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord. So the Lord's anger was aroused against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was gone." See Numbers 32:11-13

Friends and brethren, it was unbelief that kept that generation out of the land of Canaan and it will be unbelief that keeps us out of heaven. It is most certainly unbelief that leads to disobedience. If you were in a store one day, and a man came running inside yelling that a meteor was about to strike the store, would you not run out and seek shelter? Only if you believed the man. If you did not believe him you might continue shopping or even laugh. And yet if he were right then you would perish when the meteor struck. Many preachers have preached for years of a terrible destruction, one far worse than death, and that is the second death. The second death is what the Bible calls Sheol, the lake of fire, what we know as hell. Hell is a place of everlasting burnings and everlasting death. And it is the place every wicked evil person will go. It is the place where those with an evil heart of unbelief will go. Be sure that you do not go there. Be certain that you do not perish here in this wilderness of the world and fail to enter that great Canaan rest promised by God.

Good news was preached to them and good news has been preached to us. The word did not profit them because it was not mixed with faith. "So I swore in My wrath they shall not enter my rest" although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. Why does the apostle add here "although the works were finished from the foundation of the world" ? I believe the very next verse supplies the answer, "For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: And God rested on the seventh day from all His works; and again in this place: They shall not enter My rest." v.4-5 The apostle is tying two Scriptures together, one in Genesis 2:2 and the other in Psalm 95. One by Moses and the other by David, far removed from each other. Why? Because line upon line, little by little, God reveals His truth. Isaiah 28:10-13 teaches us this great principle,

"For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little. For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people, to whom He said, This is the rest with which you may cause the weary to rest, And, This is the refreshing. Yet they would not hear. But the word of the Lord was to them, Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little. That they might go and fall backward, and be broken and snared and caught."

For anyone who may doubt that these passage speaks of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and in particular the miracle of the gift of tongues and their purpose, may refer to 1 Corinthians 14:20-22. This is why tongues are a sign for unbelievers and not for believers. 'That they might go and fall backward, and be broken and snared and caught.'

The apostle contends that some must enter God's rest, This is His Holy Sabbath spoken of in Genesis and later spoken of again in David. "again He designates a certain day, saying in David, "Today," after such a long time, as it has been said: Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts." So we can see the point made plainly. The rest spoken of in David is His rest. That is, it is God's rest that He first spoke of at the dawn of creation and after a long time spoke again of in David which we find in the 95th Psalm. The apostle, I think, then anticipates that some may have supposed that it was Joshua who gave the people rest because he is the one who by God's hand brought Israel into the promised land. "For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day." says the apostle in verse 8. The rest spoken of here was not what Joshua the son of Nun did.

And now we come to our text "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God." There remains therefore a Sabbath keeping for the people of God. "For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

This is quite an extraordinary statement. If I may phrase it is this way, 'There does remain a keeping of the Sabbath for the people of God. And when we keep this Sabbath we cease from our works as God did from His. The remaining verses of 11-16 I will leave for another blog post. For now it is good after such a long path to re-trace our steps and follow where we all should want to go: into the Sabbath of the Lord. Let us enter into His rest. There are five things that I think are noticeable from the text.

The first is to take notice of is the warning, "Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God." It is plain that our first step is to believe. We are to trust in the living God and not be like those who did not trust or believe in Him.

The second is to take notice of is the day. "Today, if you will hear His voice." The day is not tomorrow, is was not yesterday. The day is Today. "again, He designates a certain day, saying in David, "Today," after such a long time, as it has been said: Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts."

The third is to take notice of is those who are partakers are partakers to the end. There is no such thing as a half-way road to heaven. A road that does not lead all the way is not a good road to take at all to any place. And the pathway to the Kingdom of God is path of holding steadfastly to the end.

Fourth, we can take notice and find comfort and hope that good news has been preached to us also, and we who have believed do enter that rest. The good news, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, has been preached to us. It has been preached to you this day as you read these words. Therefore, the promise is to you who hear His voice and do not harden your hearts. If you believe, you have entered His rest.

Fifth, that a Sabbath-Day keeping is taught in this passage. There is indeed a Sabbath that remains for the people of God, which is His rest, and is the clear teaching of the passage. That the seventh-day rest spoken of by God found in Genesis 2:2 is His rest is also clearly taught in this passage. That the day in our text in Hebrews is designated as "Today" is also plain.

What remains is to see is how we might arrive to moving from "Today" to one day in seven. Perhaps that the Scripture here unite Genesis with the Psalms is sufficient. If then taken with other Scriptures we can arrive that the Sabbath-Day is still indeed binding on the people of God. If I have any readers I would welcome any comments.

My next course of action will be to continue to pray and think on these Scriptures, compare Scripture to Scripture, and then to make use of some good commentaries and works by proponents of Sunday Sabbath-Day keeping to see how those holy men treat these texts. I will be considering John Own, John Bunyan, Matthew Henry, and perhaps a few others.

For my next texts I will examine how the Lord Jesus treated the subject in the Gospels.

Till the next post,

Soli Deo Gloria