2015년 히브리서 제3강-Hold firmly till the end the confidence(영어,중국어 본문포함)

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2015년 히브리서(希伯来书) 제3강

끝까지 견고히 잡으라

말씀 / 히브리서(希伯来书) 3:1-4:13

요절 / 히브리서(希伯来书) 3:14

[3:1] 그러므로 함께 하늘의 부르심을 받은 거룩한 형제들아 우리가 믿는 도리의 사도이시며 대제사장이신 예수를 깊이 생각하라

[3:1] 同蒙天召的圣洁弟兄阿，你们应当思想，我们所认为使者，为大祭司的耶稣。

[3:1] Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.

[2] 그는 자기를 세우신 이에게 신실하시기를 모세가 하나님의 온 집에서 한 것과 같이 하셨으니

[2] 他为那设立他的尽忠，如同摩西在神的全家尽忠一样。

[2] He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God's house.

[3] 그는 모세보다 더욱 영광을 받을 만한 것이 마치 집 지은 자가 그 집보다 더욱 존귀함 같으니라

[3] 他比摩西算是更配多得荣耀，好像建造房屋的比房屋更尊荣。

[3] Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself.

[4] 집마다 지은 이가 있으니 만물을 지으신 이는 하나님이시라

[4] 因为房屋都必有人建造。但建造万物的就是神。

[4] For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.

[5] 또한 모세는 장래에 말할 것을 증언하기 위하여 하나님의 온 집에서 종으로서 신실하였고

[5] 摩西为仆人，在神的全家诚然尽忠，为要证明将来必传说的事。

[5] Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, testifying to what would be said in the future.

[6] 그리스도는 하나님의 집을 맡은 아들로서 그와 같이 하셨으니 우리가 소망의 확신과 자랑을 끝까지 굳게 잡고 있으면 우리는 그의 집이라

[6] 但基督为儿子，治理神的家。我们若将可夸的盼望和胆量，坚持到底，便是他的家了。

[6] But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.

[7] 그러므로 성령이 이르신 바와 같이 오늘 너희가 그의 음성을 듣거든

[7] 圣灵有话说，你们今日若听他的话，

[7] So, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you hear his voice,

[8] 광야에서 시험하던 날에 거역하던 것 같이 너희 마음을 완고하게 하지 말라

[8] 就不可硬着心，像在旷野惹他发怒，试探他的时候一样。

[8] do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert,

[9] 거기서 너희 열조가 나를 시험하여 증험하고 사십 년 동안 나의 행사를 보았느니라

[9] 在那里，你们的祖宗试我探我，并且观看我的作为，有四十年之久。

[9] where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did.

[10] 그러므로 내가 이 세대에게 노하여 이르기를 그들이 항상 마음이 미혹되어 내 길을 알지 못하는도다 하였고

[10] 所以我厌烦那世代的人，说，他们心里常常迷糊，竟不晓得我的作为。

[10] That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.'

[11] 내가 노하여 맹세한 바와 같이 그들은 내 안식에 들어오지 못하리라 하였다 하였느니라

[11] 我就在怒中起誓说，他们断不可进入我的安息。

[11] So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.'"

[12] 형제들아 너희는 삼가 혹 너희 중에 누가 믿지 아니하는 악한 마음을 품고 살아 계신 하나님에게서 떨어질까 조심할 것이요

[12] 弟兄们，你们要谨慎，免得你们中间，或有人存着不信的恶心，把永生神离弃了。

[12] See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.

[13] 오직 오늘이라 일컫는 동안에 매일 피차 권면하여 너희 중에 누구든지 죄의 유혹으로 완고하게 되지 않도록 하라

[13] 总要趁着还有今日，天天彼此相劝，免得你们中间，有人被罪迷惑，心里就刚硬了。

[13] But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

[14] 우리가 시작할 때에 확신한 것을 끝까지 견고히 잡고 있으면 그리스도와 함께 참여한 자가 되리라

[14] 我们若将起初确实的信心，坚持到底，就在基督里有分了。

[14] We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.

[15] 성경에 일렀으되 오늘 너희가 그의 음성을 듣거든 격노하시게 하던 것 같이 너희 마음을 완고하게 하지 말라 하였으니

[15] 经上说，你们今日若听他的话，就不可硬着心，像惹他发怒的日子一样。

[15] As has just been said: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion."

[16] 듣고 격노하시게 하던 자가 누구냐 모세를 따라 애굽에서 나온 모든 사람이 아니냐

[16] 那时听见他话惹他发怒的是谁呢。岂不是跟着摩西从埃及出来的众人麽。

[16] Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?

[17] 또 하나님이 사십 년 동안 누구에게 노하셨느냐 그들의 시체가 광야에 엎드러진 범죄한 자들에게가 아니냐

[17] 神四十年之久，又厌烦谁呢。岂不是那些犯罪尸首倒在旷野的人麽。

[17] And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert?

[18] 또 하나님이 누구에게 맹세하사 그의 안식에 들어오지 못하리라 하셨느냐 곧 순종하지 아니하던 자들에게가 아니냐

[18] 又向谁起誓，不容他们进入他的安息呢。岂不是向那些不信从的人麽。

[18] And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed?

[19] 이로 보건대 그들이 믿지 아니하므로 능히 들어가지 못한 것이라

[19] 这样看来，他们不能进入安息，是因为不信的缘故了。

[19] So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

[4:1] 그러므로 우리는 두려워할지니 그의 안식에 들어갈 약속이 남아 있을지라도 너희 중에는 혹 이르지 못할 자가 있을까 함이라

[4:1] 我们既蒙留下有进入他安息的应许，就当畏惧，免得我们中间，（我们原文作你们）或有人似乎是赶不上了。

[4:1] Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.

[2] 그들과 같이 우리도 복음 전함을 받은 자이나 들은 바 그 말씀이 그들에게 유익하지 못한 것은 듣는 자가 믿음과 결부시키지 아니함이라

[2] 因为有福音传给我们，像传给他们一样。只是所听见的道与他们无益，因为他们没有信心与所听见的道调和。

[2] For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.

[3] 이미 믿는 우리들은 저 안식에 들어가는도다 그가 말씀하신 바와 같으니 내가 노하여 맹세한 바와 같이 그들이 내 안식에 들어오지 못하리라 하셨다 하였으나 세상을 창조할 때부터 그 일이 이루어졌느니라

[3] 但我们已经相信的人，得以进入那安息，正如神所说，我在怒中起誓说，他们断不可进入我的安息。其实造物之工，从创世以来已经成全了。

[3] Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, "So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.'" And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world.

[4] 제칠일에 관하여는 어딘가에 이렇게 일렀으되 하나님은 제칠일에 그의 모든 일을 쉬셨다 하였으며

[4] 论到第七日，有一处说，到第七日神就歇了他一切的工。

[4] For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: "And on the seventh day God rested from all his work."

[5] 또 다시 거기에 그들이 내 안식에 들어오지 못하리라 하였으니

[5] 又有一处说，他们断不可进入我的安息。

[5] And again in the passage above he says, "They shall never enter my rest."

[6] 그러면 거기에 들어갈 자들이 남아 있거니와 복음 전함을 먼저 받은 자들은 순종하지 아니함으로 말미암아 들어가지 못하였으므로

[6] 既有必进安息的人，那先前听见福音的，因为不信从，不得进去。

[6] It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience.

[7] 오랜 후에 다윗의 글에 다시 어느 날을 정하여 오늘이라고 미리 이같이 일렀으되 오늘 너희가 그의 음성을 듣거든 너희 마음을 완고하게 하지 말라 하였나니

[7] 所以过了多年，就在大卫的书上，又限定一日，如以上所引的说，你们今日若听他的话，就不可硬着心。

[7] Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts."

[8] 만일 여호수아가 그들에게 안식을 주었더라면 그 후에 다른 날을 말씀하지 아니하셨으리라

[8] 若是约书亚已叫他们享了安息，后来神就不再题别的日子了。

[8] For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day.

[9] 그런즉 안식할 때가 하나님의 백성에게 남아 있도다

[9] 这样看来，必另有一安息日的安息，为神的子民存留。

[9] There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God;

[10] 이미 그의 안식에 들어간 자는 하나님이 자기의 일을 쉬심과 같이 그도 자기의 일을 쉬느니라

[10] 因为那进入安息的，乃是歇了自己的工，正如神歇了他的工一样。

[10] for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.

[11] 그러므로 우리가 저 안식에 들어가기를 힘쓸지니 이는 누구든지 저 순종하지 아니하는 본에 빠지지 않게 하려 함이라

[11] 所以我们务必竭力进入那安息，免得有人学那不信从的样子跌倒了。

[11] Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.

[12] 하나님의 말씀은 살아 있고 활력이 있어 좌우에 날선 어떤 검보다도 예리하여 혼과 영과 및 관절과 골수를 찔러 쪼개기까지 하며 또 마음의 생각과 뜻을 판단하나니

[12] 神的道是活泼的，是有功效的，比一切两刃的剑更快，甚至魂与灵，骨节与骨髓，都能刺入剖开，连心中的思念和主意，都能辨明。

[12] For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

[13] 지으신 것이 하나도 그 앞에 나타나지 않음이 없고 우리의 결산을 받으실 이의 눈 앞에 만물이 벌거벗은 것 같이 드러나느니라

[13] 并且被造的，没有一样在他面前不显然的。原来万物，在那与我们有关系的主眼前，都是赤露敞开的。

[13] Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

HOLD FIRMLY TILL THE END THE CONFIDENCE

Hebrews 3:1-4:13

Key Verse 3:14 “We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.”

   Chapter 3 begins with “Therefore” meaning chapter 2 teachings lead into chapter 3. In chapter 2 twice we are taught God sent Jesus to help humanity. 2:16 “For surely it is not angels he helps but Abraham’s descendents, and 2:18 “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” Now in this passage the author shows us very practically how we can connect ourselves to Jesus to find the help that chapter 2 informs us Jesus is able and willing to give us. Let us read verse 1. “Therefore holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.” Unlike in this life where we need at least a phone to call someone for help, to find help from Jesus all we need to do is fix our thoughts on him.

   Also we will study how to enter the Sabbath rest God promised for us. I pray that we may not repeat the same mistakes the Israelites made in the wilderness. Their disobedience prevented them from entering the Promised Land. Learning from their mistakes let us strive to enter God’s rest through Jesus. May God bless us to pay more careful attention to the word of God and have rest in God!

   Look again at the contents of verse 2. We notice the author addresses his readers as holy brothers who share in the heavenly calling. In this life we are not always very certain what our calling is. As we see here every true believer is given a heavenly calling. In context with this chapter what this means is God has called every true believer not to Jinju or to a retirement home but to heaven. Hebrews 11:9, 10 talk of the heavenly calling Abraham and the other patriarchs lived their lives for: “By faith he made his home in the Promised Land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” By the wonderful grace of God he has given us a heavenly calling as he did Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Achieving this Heavenly calling is the main reason we need to go to Jesus for help.

   Look at 1b. “Fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.” Above all other help we should look to Jesus Christ for is to achieve this heavenly calling. He does this when we make the personal decision to fix our thoughts on him. I can’t make you fix your thoughts on Jesus. Nor can you make me fix my thoughts on Jesus. The one single area of our life God has given each person is our personal thought life. People can push us to go to Christian schools, church and fellowship meetings but no one can make us think about Jesus Christ. It’s entirely up to the free will of each one of us to either decide we will fix our thoughts on Jesus or we won’t fix our thoughts on Jesus. If we choose not to fix our thoughts on Jesus we find other thoughts come into our mind and hijack our thoughts. These anti-Jesus thoughts can actually lead us farther and farther from our heavenly calling.

   This is why the writer calls Jesus the apostle. According to John 3:34 “apostle” means “sent from God.” According to bible scholars all collections of the first four books in the New Testiment were placed in the Holy Bible because they had been approved by one of Jesus’s apostles. For example Mark’s gospel was approved by Peter and Luke’s gospel by Apostle Paul. Here we see Jesus is an Apostle sent directly from God himself to us. In others words there is absolutely no one more qualified to guide us back to God and his kingdom than Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ God’s Son is the only compass we need to guide us back to the Kingdom of God. As you know Jesus boldly proclaimed to his confused disciples in John 14:6 “I am the way, truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” To find our way back to God we need only to fix our thoughts on Jesus.

   There is one more point about fixing our thoughts on Jesus. Should we start fixing our thoughts on Jesus today or tomorrow? To help answer this question let’s read verses 7, 13 and 15. “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” The passage teaches us Today we should start fixing our thoughts on Jesus because there might not be a tomorrow. Today is the day we must fix our thoughts on Jesus. Tomorrow we very well may not even be able to fix our fragile thoughts on Jesus.

   Look at verses 2-4. “He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of the house had greater honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.” The writer of Hebrews obviously wrote this letter to Hebrew Christians who knew of Moses before they knew Jesus. The author of Hebrew in verse 3 writes Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. Jesus Christ is God incarnate. Moses’ greatness according to verse 5 was the fact he was a faithful servant in God’s house. That he faithfully testified to the coming of the Christ. Jesus is the fulfillment of Moses’ testimony. Jesus is the Son over the house Moses served in. In this passage what the author is teaching is that even though Moses was faithful we must understand Moses was actually faithfully serving Christ the Son over God’s house. Jesus is the one we should think about to please, not Moses. Jesus, not Moses, is the one who can help us.

   Look at verse 6. “But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.” God has placed Jesus his Son over his house. In this verse it is interesting what the author writes we have to do to be part of Jesus’ house. He writes if we hold onto our courage and the hope of which we boast.” To be a messianic Jew takes great courage. Holding on to this kind of courage is what the author says we must do to become part of Jesus’ house. We must hold onto our courage and the hope of which we boast. Now we will study about a time when God’s people lost their courage and the hope of which they boast.

   Spanish philosopher George Santayana wrote: “Those who do not learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it.” In a bit of contrast and with more pessimism the English writer Aldous Haxly wrote: “The most important thing we learn from history is that we never learn from history.” Both men bring forth applicable points when it comes to learning or not learning from history. As we know since the Bible is nothing less than the words of God Almighty it is very optimistic. As a result it is not surprising we find God uses his history to teach future generations not to make the same mistake of previous generations.

   Let us now read the history lesson given us in this chapter in verses 16-18. “Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies felled in the desert? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.” We know movie called “Ten Commandments.” This classic reenacted God’s judgments of Egypt. It showed the plague of blood, plague of frogs, then the plague of gnats and the plague of flies. On top of these came the plague of livestock, hail and locusts and darkness. The last plague was that of the firstborn. The movie showed God’s plague in a blues mist form snaking down deserted dark Egyptian streets and going only in the homes of the Egyptians killing the firstborn prisoners, Egyptian livestock all the way up to Pharaoh’s own firstborn. As a grand finale the movie showed God using Moses’ staff to open the Red Sea, so all the Hebrews walked across on dry land. When the Egyptians charged after them God closed the Red Sea upon them. Not withstanding, according to today’s passage the movie missed the main point of that generation. The main point was even with all God’s show of great miracles to save his people only two men and their families were able to enter his rest. All the others God saved out of Egypt eventually fell dead in desert because of either sin or unbelief.

   What then is the lesson we can learn from this? Let us read verses 12 and 13. “See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” What we learn is that even though God may start great and majestic work in our lives, sin or unbelief can slowly slip into our lives and like the Israelites we just read about can turn us away from the living God. This possibility is my greatest fear as a Christian. If any Christian does not fear this possibility I feel that is not a good sign. I have heard of preachers who pastured thousands of people only to have their ministry come crashing down around them because of immoral behavior. Did you know Elvis Presley’s first love was singing for the Lord Jesus Christ? I see the author warning about the power of the deceitfulness of sin can lead even the most sincere.

   What can we possibly do to prevent ourselves from making the same mistake as these Israelites? Look at verse 13. “But encourage one another daily as long as it is called today so that none of you may be hardened by sins deceitfulness.” These days one preacher is boldly teaching his flock to leave the encouragement of Christian churches. He tells them each one should just stay home and listen to his preaching on TV. It wouldn’t be so bad if he said leave the churches and go into all the un-church part of the world and preach the gospel. But he’s teaching people leave all source of encouragement and go home. This to me is exactly what causes people to slip into sins deceitfulness.

   Finally look at verse 14 “We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.” Here we find the whole purpose why we struggle to fix our thoughts on Jesus, why we endure hardships for Jesus and why we fellowship with God’s people. We have this great promise that if we keep our confidence in Christ to the end we will by the grace of God share his eternal glory with him. We will be like him. He will be our brother and share his inheritance, glory and power for all eternity with us.

   Look at chapter 4. There are various kinds of rest in the world. But passage talks about three.

   First, is to enter the Canaan land. God promised to give Abraham the Canaan land to his offspring. (Gen 12:7) Israel was born in Egypt through the 12 sons of Jacob. Then, God led them out of Egypt with Moses as their leader. God gave them the Ten Commandments as their constitution and wanted to make them a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. During their wilderness journey, God repeated this promise to give them the land of Canaan. (Num 13:2) Deuteronomy 12:9 says, “Since you have not yet reached the resting place and the inheritance the Lord your God is giving you.” Here the rest means entrance into the promised land.

   Second, is the Sabbath-rest after the six-days of creation. Genesis 2:2 says, “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.” God completed his creation and satisfied saying, “It was very good.” Adam and Eve had rest with God while they had fellowship with God in the Garden. There was no labor or toil in Paradise because there was a perfect relationship with God. But when Adam disobeyed God and was driven out of the Paradise, he labored to earn his bread and women suffered pain in child bearing. Later, Jesus offered the Sabbath rest for believers by saying, “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, I will give you rest.” (Matt 11:28) Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath and is eligible to give us rest from pain and suffering comes from sin. He offered this rest to all believers.)

   Third, is the promised rest. This is related to the future kingdom of God. Psalm 95 is an enthronement psalm anticipating the coming kingdom. Hebrew 4:1 is a future promise. Rev 14:13 talks about rest from labors in heaven. The Old Testimony describes the kingdom of God as rest (Ps 132:12-14, Isa 11:10, 14:3 32:18, Ezek 34:15 Hebrews focuses on “world to come” (2:5), “promised city” (11:10, 16), New Jerusalem (12:18-24). This is what the author is talking about in this passage. (4:1, 3, 6, 8-11) This time, we will focus on the promised rest in this passage.

   The author of Hebrews gives an example of failure to warn the reader’s generation so that they might not fall short of entering the promised rest. The Israelites crossed the Red Sea as on dry land by faith under Moses’ leadership. They sang and danced because they saw the great work of God with their own eyes. Also they heard the good news that they would enter the Canaan land and possess the land as their own inheritance. They were excited to have their own home and rest from their wilderness journey. They chose twelve leaders from each tribe and sent them to the Canaan land to spy out the land. When they entered the land, they recognized that the land was flowing with milk and the grapes were big and juicy. The land was good and spacious as God promised. The only problem was that they also saw giants the size of linebackers. The leaders were split into two groups: the disobedient group and the obedient group. So they gave different reports on what they saw. The disobedient group said, “The land is devouring and there are giants living there. We are like the grasshoppers to our eyes and to their eyes.” When people heard their bad report, people grumbled against Moses and Aaron. They wept aloud. They hardened their hearts and wanted to go back to their old life in Egypt. Their spiritual sight was low because they only saw the reality of life. They had the slave mentality. M. Joseph Jun complained when his group got a harder assignment than the other group in his nursing class by saying, “It is unfair. They have an easy project while we have a hard project.” But he later thanked God later because he learned more his more difficult project. When we face hardship, we should give thanks to God instead of complaining. Complaining comes from lack of faith. The amazing fact was that ten leaders were disobedient and only two leaders were obedient. Ten leaders seemed to be right because they were the majority. They thought that the majority could not be wrong. But two leaders gave them a positive report. They were Joshua and Caleb. They said, “The land is good. We can conquer the land. Just do not be afraid. They are our food. We can certainly do it.” They encouraged the people not to rebel. They believed the promise of God. They believed that everything was possible with God. Though they were the minority, they acted by faith.

   Why did the wilderness generation fail to enter God’s rest? Look at verse 2. “For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but those who heard did not combine it with faith.” Many manuscripts said, “Because they did not share in the faith of those who obeyed.” They heard the good news but did not combine it with faith. They heard the message of God’s promise but were overcome by fear of their enemies. What can we learn from this event? Combining the good news and action by faith is important to enter God’s promised rest. Here we can draw a formula to enter the promised rest. G for good news + F for faith = R for rest. When we go to McDonalds, we like to order combo meal like number 1 which consists of a Big Mac and fries and a soft drink. Who orders just a big Mac? Nobody does that. If we only order a big Mac, we will be thirsty. If we only order a coca-cola, we will be hungry. In order to enjoy the meal and sustain our body, we need a combo. By the same principle, in order to enter God’s rest, we need to act upon God’s promise by faith. Hearing the word of God is not sufficient. We need to meditate on the word of God by writing testimonies. Then we can digest the word of God and apply it to our practical life. After hearing the Sunday message, we must chew on the word of God and then we can have true rest comes from God. The wilderness generation heard the message, but they did not act on it. Instead of faith, they hardened their hearts. They disobeyed God. Their disobedience invited God’s anger. God said in Psalm 95:11 says, “So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” God made a negative oath here. He kept that oath. It is not enough to hear the message, the message must be acted on in faith.

   Joshua and Caleb acted on in faith and they combined the message with faith and entered the Promised Land while all other people perished in the desert. The word “faith” appears 243 times in the New Testimony and 32 times in the Hebrews and 40 times in Romans. Faith in Jesus, our high priest, allows us to enter God’s rest. The failure of the wilderness generation gives us a warning. Do not make the same mistake. We have heard the good news preached to us as well as they have. We must respond to today’s message. It is believers who enter God’s rest with an attitude of trust. One time someone asked Jesus, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” (Luke 13:23a) This man thought that he was saved because he heard the message of Jesus. He said, “We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.” This man faithfully attended food fellowship with Jesus and Bible study meetings. But Jesus surprised him by saying Luke 13:27, “I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!” Jesus did not know him because this man did not combine the message with faith action. He was a superficial follower. The opportunity was given to him but he missed it because he did not accept Jesus’ word by faith. He came to Sunday worship service many times but did not accept the word by faith. The message of Jesus has no value to him because he did not act on it in faith. We have to take the word of Jesus very seriously and obey God.

   We live in the Christian generation. We are blessed to have the gospel message preached to us. We are privileged to be surrounded by many sincere Bible teachers and servants of God. We have an open invitation from Jesus. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” By the grace of God the invitation is still open. We are luckier than the wilderness generation because we have full revelation from God. Look at verses 7-9. “Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God.” Here the people of God is the nation of Israel in the Old Testimony but in the New Testimony it signifies believers. “Today” is a limited period of time within which the response must be made. Thousands of people die daily and to them there is only “Today” and there will be no tomorrow for them. Tomorrow will be too late and they will miss the opportunity to enter the kingdom of God. Billy Graham had a famous program called “decision hour.” We have to decide to accept Jesus’ invitation right now without delay.

   According to verse 10, to enter rest means to cease from ones’ own work as God ceased from his work. But to God’s people retirement means re-tire which means to change tires for more work. Jesus said, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.” (John 5:17) He also said in John 9:4, “As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.”

   It is true that there will be hardship to serve God’s work. But the reward is great because we can have rest in God. When can we have rest in the end? We can have real rest in the kingdom of God. Apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:7-8, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day- and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” Now the crown of righteousness is waiting for him. He was anticipating eternal rest in the Kingdom of God enjoying the glory of God. Until he entered that rest, he worked hard pressing on toward the heavenly goal.

   What should we do since God opened the door to enter the rest right now? “Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter the rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience. “ The author exhorts his readers to make every effort to enter the rest. Why? Many people will fall by following the example of the wilderness generation. History repeats itself. As mentioned, rest does not mean “do nothing and lie down.” It means to have fellowship with Jesus. We are living in the post-modern generation. The main characteristic of the post-modern generation is to seek unlimited freedom. “Do not bother me and I will not bother you.” They do not like authority. They are individualistic and seek unlimited human freedom. They hate cops. This generation repeats the same mistake the wilderness generation made. Young people harden their hearts when they hear God’s voice saying, “No, I do not need to study the Bible. I am okay.” They are following the example of the wilderness generation. But there are some students who are listening to the voice of God. Matthew C. studied the word of God and acted on in faith. He combined the Bible study with faith by writing testimonies. He no longer follows the pattern of this world. He is following Jesus. He is growing in the image of Jesus. Arnold Toynbee said, “Life is challenge and response. History belongs to people who respond to challenge.” What is our challenge today? We have Jesus, our true rest. But many people are occupied with the present realities of life. Unbelief, rebellion, and disobedience are the main problem though we seem to have many problems. They are seeking a false American dream which will end in this world. God’s plan is to invite us to live in the paradise enjoying eternal life. Our home is not where we live today. It is the kingdom of God where whose builder and architect is God himself. We need to keep the kingdom dream. Therefore, we need to strive to enter that rest.

   From passage we learn why we should fix our thoughts on Jesus. When we do our lives always choose the best way. We also learn we should encourage one another as long as it is called Today so that we may not be hardened by sins deceitfulness. Today let us pray and ask Jesus to help us to be faithful to the end so we can share with him his eternal glory.

   Also how can we practically make every effort to enter God’s rest? Look at verses 12-13. The word of God helps to enter the rest. We are shaky without the word of God. The word of God transforms our lives because it is living and active. No one can change other’s lives. Jesus changed his disciples to become the world famous Bible teachers through his word. The word of God changed Isaiah to become the prophet who spoke the word of the truth. To him the word of God was like a polished arrow. The word of God enables us to follow the example of Jesus not the example of the wilderness generation. At the end of our life we must each give our life report card before God. When we obeyed God and lived by faith, we will be rewarded to live in the paradise. If we disobeyed by hardening our hearts and rebelled against God, we will be judged and suffer eternally. God’s word is living and piercing. My suggestion through this passage is that we must not harden our hearts but listen to Jesus. We must hold on the word of God firmly and strive to enter the rest by holding on the word of God. We need to go back to deep Bible study.