Tag Archives: Completion

Full Stop – Sermon on Hebrews 4:9-13 for Sexagesima Sunday

Hebrews 4:9-13

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

When we think of rest, we think of it as the opposite of work. Most of the time, rest means we can change into comfy clothes and sweats and sit on a couch or recliner after a long day at work or school. Monday through Friday, rest probably means going to bed at descent time to gain enough strength just so you can get up and get back to work tomorrow and the next day and the next day until the weekend comes. Sadly, many Christians have accepted and adopted the phrase, “Everybody’s workin’ for the weekend.” We’ll work hard for days, weeks, and months to go on vacation – notice how the word ‘vacate’ is the root of the word ‘vacation.’ We vacate our work to visit sandy beaches, cruise ships, or lake cabins where there are no alarm clocks or calendars or to-do lists. Often, rest is nothing more than being inactive or idle. Even though this idea of rest isn’t completely contrary to the Bible – in fact, some of those ideas are right – but the concept of rest in the Scriptures is much fuller and more beautiful than that. 

We know that rest is something more than just recuperating from work because the first being to rest in Scripture is God. And He doesn’t need to recuperate! God’s work of creation ends with Him resting on the seventh day. Gen. 2:1-3 says, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all His work that He had done in creation.” The Hebrew word translated ‘rest’ there means “cease” or “come to an end,” which has a different nuance than our concept of ‘rest.’ But that word alsohas a specialized meaning of ‘celebrate.’

The first Sabbath day was God celebrating the finish and completion of His work of creating. It wasn’t as though God needed to catch His breath and sit on His Lazy-boy in the clouds to regain strength. No! His work was done, complete, nothing more to do. Everything was in harmony. Everything was ordered exactly the way God intended it to be. God’s rest on the seventh day was His delightful celebration that He had finished His work, and He had done it well.

You’ve probably experienced this kind of rest when you’ve finished a project that has cost you effort, time, and skill. You step back and see that everything is spot on. Imagine the satisfaction of when all the ice and snow is cleared from the cement of your driveway and sidewalk. Or when the house is clean and the meal is spread out on the beautiful table. The job is done, and you have that sweet sense of satisfaction. That’s the idea of rest in Gen. 2, and that’s why God blesses the seventh day and makes it holy.

All of God’s work of creating was moving toward that holy, blessed seventh day of rest. But also, each individual day of creation has hints of moving toward this rest. The picture Gen. 1 gives us is that God works for a time each day and has mini rests each night. But notice how the summary of each day in Gen. 1 is ordered. Each of the six days of creation end with the statement, “And there was evening and there was morning the X day” (Gen. 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31). The thing you need to notice with that phrase is that each day starts from the time of rest. Evening is mentioned first, then, comes morning. The time of rest comes first. The picture is that God doesn’t get His work in so that He can rest; instead, He works from or out of rest; His work is the fruit of His rest. Then, when the six days are done and everything is complete, God takes a whole day to celebrate and rejoice in His orderly, finished, beautiful creation. God’s rest isn’t Him pulling back from creation. Instead, it’s Him delighting in His creation. He’s celebrating and enjoying everything that He done and accomplished.

Also, think about what the timing of that first Sabbath means our first parents. Adam and Eve were created on the sixth day and were the final two pieces of God’s creation. So, their first full day of existence is the seventh day – the day when God rests. God ordered creation so that He could share His celebration of its completion with mankind. Adam and Eve hadn’t done anything yet. They hadn’t done any work, but they are there to celebrate with God in the ‘very goodness’ (Gen. 1:31) of His complete creation. 

This is the background of why God gave us the third Command to “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy” (Ex. 20:8). The Sabbath day was established so that you would remember and celebrate the wonder of God and all that He has done. In Ex. 20:8-11, when God first gave the Ten Commandments, He gives a long explanation of why the Sabbath Command exists. It’s the second longest explanation of all the Commandments. The only one that has a longer explanation is the First Command. And God ties the Sabbath Command to the fact that He made the heavens and earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day and blessed and made it holy (Ex. 20:11). The interesting thing is that when the Ten Commandments are repeated right before Israel entered the Promised Land, God ties the Sabbath Command to something different. God ties it to the fact that He had brought His people out from slavery in Egypt (Dt. 5:12-15). God connects the Sabbath Command to two things: 1) creation and 2) redemption.

So, the Sabbath Command to rest exists so that we can celebrate with God in the goodness of His works of creating and saving every week. God did all the work of creating humanity, and God did all the work of redeeming His people. The people didn’t do anything because they couldn’t do anything. God did everything that needed to be done. So, the point of the Sabbath Command isn’t only to get you to stop working. The point of the Sabbath is so you can sanctify, honor, and celebrate the work God has done for you. That point is so you would delight in the wonder and joy of His creation and His redemption.

After all that, we can get to this text from Hebrews. When our text talks about the Sabbath rest that remains for the people of God, God is promising more than a time for you to physically recover and get back to work. Instead, God is promising that you will rejoice with Him in the abundant gifts He gives. It’s a reentrance into the same rest with God that Adam and Eve had with God before the Fall into sin. This Sabbath rest is delighting in all of God’s works which make and redeem everything so it is all perfect, pristine, and complete.

One of the ways the text highlights this isn’t clear in our translations, but it is clear in the Greek. In v. 9, the text says that a ‘Sabbath rest’ remains for the people of God. In Greek, ‘Sabbath rest’ is a single word sabbitismos, and it’s a word that only appears here in the entire Bible. It’s like the author of Hebrews had to make up a new word to capture all of the meaning of the rest that is in your future. It’s a rest that is greater than all the rest that has come before. Then, in v. 10-11, the text uses a different word that gets translated as ‘rest’ three times. The word is katapausis. You can hear in it the word ‘pause’ and the ‘kata’ at the beginning just amplifies it. It means a ‘complete stop’ or a ‘full stop.’ 

Dear saints, your Sabbath rest is full and perfect because it is found in the perfect restoration that Jesus has worked and won for you. By His death and resurrection, Jesus has completely redeemed you. And because of His work, you are a new creation (2 Co. 5:17).

This Sabbath rest, this full stop, is something you have to strive after. You have to strive after it because you aren’t God. Because God is eternal and all-powerful, the reason for His rest is different than yours. Sharing in God’s rest isn’t about recovering after work. Instead, it’s the pure delight of being exactly what you are created and redeemed to be.

You have to strive to enter this rest because you want to be your own god and master. And you’ll never have God’s rest if you think that you are your own master and that everything depends on you. That kind of independence is actually horrifying because it requires and demands constant vigilance, work, and activity. Stop deluding yourself! You aren’t in control or responsible for everything. God is. Strive to let go of your need to control your corner of creation because you’ll always need to control a little more. And you can’t. Instead, be still (cease) and know that He is God (Ps. 46:10).

You enter God’s Sabbath rest by hearing His living and active Word. In John 6, Jesus is asked by a crowd point-blank, “What must we do to be doing the works of God?” In other words, “How can we strive to please God?” And Jesus responds, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent” (Jn. 6:28-29). So, let’s drive all of this home:

There is a Sabbath rest for you, people of God (Heb. 4:9). This rest is yours now, but it is also a future promise. It’s yours now because God the Father has finished His work of creation. And God the Son has finished His work of saving and redeeming you. But the permanent possession of that rest is still in the future. God the Holy Spirit keeps working on you through God’s Word. That’s why you need to strive and work to not fall into the disobedience of unbelief and of giving up faith in God’s promises. You need to strive to give up on trying to be your own master. You need a full stop. And how do you get that?

Well, you come here. You begin each week in the rest that is yours right now. You come into this sanctuary where Christ is (Mt. 18:20). By coming here, you receive what He promised in Mt. 11:28, “Come to Me all you who labor and heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” or, more literally, “I will rest you.” And it is from that rest that you are strengthened to go out from here and live your life day after day, week after week. You go back into creation after celebrating the fullness and completion of God’s work in you. You go back to your vocations knowing that God is in control, knowing that He is busy completing the good work that He began in you (Php. 1:6).

This place is truly a sanctuary. It’s a holy place where holy people meet with the holy God. From Him, and from Him alone, you receive the full stop from your futile works of trying to claw your way back to God. And always, we look forward to the day when we will forever enter into God’s rest and joy and celebration of His redeemed and sanctified creation. May that day come soon. Come quickly, Lord Jesus (Rev. 22:20). Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Php. 4:7). Amen.

Escape – Sermon on 1 Corinthians 10:6-13 for the Ninth Sunday after Trinity

1 Corinthians 10:6-13

6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

When you’re nearing the end of a task or a project, that’s not the time to get lazy, sloppy, or careless. As you get near to the goal, you need to pay close attention to what you’re doing and finish strong and make sure that you are doing things right. You’ve maybe seen replays from football games where a receiver or kick returner makes an amazing play, outruns the defense, and is about to cross the goal line. But he starts celebrating a few inches too soon and drops the ball right before the endzone. That one, careless act erases everything that he did before.

Well, here, Paul says that the end (τέλος, ‘the completion’) of the ages has come (1 Co. 10:11). And remember, he’s saying this to Christians nearly 2,000 years ago. Since it was true way back then then, it’s even truer now. Paul is encouraging us to finish strong and cross the goal line. He says, “Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall,” (1 Co. 10:12). In other words, don’t fall away, don’t fumble the ball, when you are so close to Christ’s return.

Plain as day, Paul tells us exactly what might drag us down and cause us to fall. In the opening verses of 1 Co. 10, he invites us to think about all the ways God’s people sinned, rebelled, and were judged after God had delivered from slavery in Egypt. He reminds us how they fell into idolatry, sexual immorality, and grumbling, causing them to be destroyed. Paul says that those things took place as examples for us.

Even though they had had God’s protection under the cloud, even though they had God’s miraculous deliverance and passed through the sea, even though they were all baptized in the cloud and in the sea, even though they ate the same spiritual food we eat and drink the same spiritual drink we drink – even though they had all those blessings from God, they were overthrown. So, Paul warns us to not be like them. To not be idolatrous, going after our own golden calves, and to not indulge in sexual immorality. To not put Christ to the test and become destroyed.

We need to learn from their example so that we don’t stumble and fall into temptation and sin right before the end of the ages. Christ is returning, and we need to persevere. If you think that you stand on your own, repent. You’re in big trouble and are about to fall (1 Co. 10:12).

Paul concludes here in v. 13, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. But God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability. But with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

So according to Scripture, we need to learn from from the failures of others, because we are also prone to fall. We face the same temptations they did, but God is – and always will be– faithful to provide the way of escape. Often in ways that we don’t expect.

Everyone faces the same temptations. Now, being tempted is not a sin. But coveting is a sin. That’s why God gives us the final two Commandments about coveting. Coveting is the stealth bomber of sin. It flies under the radar of your conscience. Your conscience usually detects the sins that you commit in an outward way. But the sin of coveting is committed in an inward way.

You might feel guilty about replying to your spouse or someone else in an angry way that is rude and inconsiderate. But you might not be too troubled about feeling anger if you don’t let that anger out. To be clear, both of those are sins need forgiveness. Both need repentance and faith. But the 9th and 10th Commandments about coveting show that God’s Law governs even our inner thoughts, feelings, and emotions. You’ve heard this before, but it’s worth repeating over and over again. Scripture equates coveting with idolatry (Col. 3:5; Eph. 5:5).

Coveting is, basically, saying, “God, You messed up. That thing over there should be mine over here.” When we realize that coveting is idolatry and is how we place ourselves above God, then coveting becomes gross and disgusting. Don’t falsely desire what God hasn’t given you. Let God be God.

So, the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh always tempt us first to covet. They will put things in front of us that we think should be ours. Coveting is the way in which we begin to break any/all of the commandments.

But look closely at verse 13, and you’ll see three comforting truths:

First, the temptations that you face are not unique. Yes, the devil, the world, and our own flesh will individually tailor certain temptations to each of us. But everyone is tempted by the same things. Maybe in different ways, maybe through different processes, but the things that tempt you are the same things that tempt others as well.

Second, God is faithful and will not allow you to be tempted beyond your ability. God knows precisely how much weight, how much pressure, of temptation you can bear. Imagine temptations as ropes or chains that the devil would use in order to pull you toward sin. Satan cannot use ropes or chains that are too strong for you. God simply doesn’t allow it. Those chains of temptation will completely snap at the exact weight that God Himself has determined. But also, realize what that means: 

Whenever you or I sin, we aren’t pulled into that sin by forces stronger than us. No. We just didn’t fight back long or hard enough for those cords to break. In other words, when we sin, we jump headfirst into those pits. So, fight back. Fighting temptation isn’t just a mortal combat for your physical life. It’s an eternal combat for your soul. If you want to see the chains of temptation snap, just read Mt. 4 or Lk. 4 to see how Jesus resists the devil’s temptations.

The third promise that God gives here in v. 13 is that God will provide the way of escape. You have an escape out of temptation. Sometimes, people will misconstrue v. 13 and say things like, “God won’t give you more than you can handle.” On the one hand that’s true, but it’s only half true. And half-truths are often worse than blatant lies. That phrase places all the weight of fighting temptation on you and your own psychological capabilities. That phrase is basically saying, “You just need to be mentally strong enough to handle it.” Well, God gives something much better than that. He gives a way of escape.

Think of Joseph. Joseph gets attacked by his brothers and thrown into a pit, but Joseph can’t handle staying in the pit the rest of his life. So, God gives an escape, and that escape is that he is sold as a servant to Potiphar in Egypt (Gen. 37:28; 39:1). Later, Joseph can’t handle Potiphar’s wife asking him day after day to fornicate with her. So, God gives Joseph another escape by putting him safely into an Egyptian prison (Gen. 39:7-20).

In Joseph’s life, we see that God causes all things – even things we think are bad or horrible – to work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Ro. 8:28). 

In every temptation, God gives a way of escape. I know that example of Joseph might not be comforting, so think of Paul himself. In 2 Cor. 12:7-10, he talks about having a thorn in his flesh. He prays three times that God would remove that thorn, but God’s response is simply, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”

It may be that your escape from temptation is only going to come through other trials, like it was for Joseph. Or, it may be that your escape from temptation is God’s promise of His continual grace, like it was for Paul. But ultimately, your way of escape is coming because Christ is returning.

Believer, Christ is returning to bring you to the new creation. The end/completion of the ages and the resurrection of the body is the ultimate escape from temptation. So, press on in your fight against temptation and sin.

Rose, that brings me to you. Rose, today you are baptized, not just into Moses, but into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now, Rose, you bear His name (Mt. 28:19). Persist. Persevere. Fight against the temptations that the devil, world, and your own flesh will throw at you.

And all you dear saints, you fight too. To strengthen you in that fight, Jesus now invites you to His table. Here, He delivers His Body and Blood, given and shed for the forgiveness of all your sin. Here, you receive God’s grace and mercy. Here, you see God’s faithfulness to you. Resist, fight, flee temptation because the end of all things is at hand. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.