Enter His Rest: Why The Gospel Isn't About Striving (Hebrews 4:1-13)

This is a transcript edited for reading purposes from a sermon preached at The Heights at Night, The Heights Baptist Church’s weekly Young Adult Ministry on Monday Nights.

Hebrews 4:1–13

Last week we heard a serious warning. You can escape from Egypt and still fail to enter into God's rest. You can clean up your life, escape from addiction, do all the religious things, and still live separated from the communion and rest that God offers in Christ.

So the question tonight is, how do we actually enter into that rest? And how do we make sure we don't miss it?

I. The Promise Still Stands

Hebrews 4 begins, “Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands…” That’s the good news. If you’ve missed it, the promise still stands. There’s still hope. You’re not hopeless. Even if you did everything wrong: if you prayed the prayers, did the liturgy, and still feel disconnected from God. Today, right now, you can still enter into His rest.

So let us fear lest any of us should seem to have failed to reach it.

We’ve heard the gospel, just as they did, but the message didn’t benefit them because it wasn’t united by faith. The rest is entered through believing. Through faith. Not by effort, not by trying harder, not by performance, but by belief.

“For we who have believed enter that rest…” (Hebrews 4:3)

What do we believe in? The gospel. The finished work of Christ. His death, burial, and resurrection. That’s where the work was completed. Hebrews says His works were finished from the foundation of the world. God is not surprised by your failure. He is sovereign. He knew from the beginning and still offers salvation. That is a gift.

The passage reminds us of the seventh day when God rested from His works. That theme of Sabbath keeps showing up. And this is the key: Sabbath rest is more than a day,  it is about entering into the person of Christ. Rest is not a place. It is a person. The good news is God Himself. The good news is rest.

So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For whoever has entered God's rest has rested from his works as God did from His.

II. The Nature of True Rest

We are resting from works. That means the gospel is not about earning. It is about believing. And yet, right after that, we read:

“Let us therefore strive to enter that rest…”

There’s a tension here. We don’t strive to earn it, but we do strive to stay in it. The Christian life is not a passive one. We are told to take up our cross daily, to be crucified with Christ. That’s not easy. Obedience takes effort. But obedience is not how we earn God’s love. It flows from it. If you love Him, you obey Him. That is the order. We do not brute force obedience and hope love follows. We love Him, and then obedience naturally follows.

So we strive not to produce, but to remain. Not to earn, but to focus.

Here’s where a helpful lamp illustration comes in. You can try all you want to make a light bulb glow. You can force it, twist it, focus really hard, do the Jedi hand wave. Nothing happens. The bulb cannot produce light on its own. But when it is connected to the source, it shines.

Your life is like that. You can be close to the source. You can look like it works. But if you’re not actually connected, you’re not producing anything. The effort we give is not to create the light. It is to stay close. It is to remain connected. Just like Peter on the water. When he took his eyes off Jesus, he sank. But when he focused, he walked.

Focus is the work. Strive to stay with Him.

III. How Do We Enter?

Hebrews 4 also reminds us of something powerful:

“The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword…”

You can fake it with people. But not with God. He sees your heart. You are naked and exposed before Him. No matter what spiritual mask you put on, no matter what justifications you have, God’s Word will cut through them all.

Let it convict you. Don’t defend. Don’t delay. Because the promise still stands.

In Sum:

1. The promise still stands. You can be delivered from Egypt and still die in the wilderness. You can strive your whole life trying to earn grace, and completely miss it. Salvation is by grace through faith. Not works. Not striving. Just Christ.

2. True rest is a posture in Christ’s sufficiency. You cannot power yourself. Just like a bulb cannot light up on its own, you cannot produce anything spiritually apart from God. Focus on the source. Stop striving. Just focus.

3. Practice the Sabbath. This one stings. But if you are not practicing a physical Sabbath, you may not be living in the spiritual one either. Sabbath is an act of faith. It is saying, “God, I trust You to uphold my world. Not me.” It is a spiritual discipline of release and surrender. If you think one more day of effort will get you further, then you're saying your striving is more trustworthy than God's provision.

The Sabbath says, “God, I’m not in control. You are. I trust You.”