They shall not enter My rest

In the last education letter, I spoke about Jesus Christ as the High Priest of our confessions. I also pointed out that our Lord Jesus is not the High Priest of anything else then our confessions. Many people still assume that our Lord Jesus will stand up on their behalf and will fight for them in every situation of their life. That simply is not true and it is not what the word of God says. The only thing that makes our Lord Jesus move on our behalf, as our High Priest in heaven, are the confessions we make that are in line with His word. What do we confess? Our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in His word. That is the only thing we can do to please our God: speak and act in faith. It is the basis of our salvation, which is written in the letter to the Ephesians.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Ephesians 2:8,9

Here it becomes very clear that our salvation depends on two things: grace and faith. Grace is given to us for free. It means that we receive something we don’t deserve. Without it, we all would have to spent eternity in hell. Thank God for the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ, Who made the grace of our God available to us! But verse 8 also points out that it takes faith to receive His grace. What you confess with your mouth is the fruit of what lives inside your heart. Faith is that what you confess with your mouth. One way or another, you are confessing some sort of faith. The question however, is if this is your faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and in His word, or in something else. The test is simple. Just listen to yourself when you speak and you will know what lives inside your heart.

For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

Matthew 12:34

But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.

Matthew 15:18

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Luke 6:45

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Proverbs 18:21

Again I want to warn you all how very important it is to be very careful what you say and confess. The Bible warns us several times on this subject, not only in the Old Testament, but as you see, also in the New Testament. We must be aware of the fact that there is a spiritual world around us and that our words can have the power to build faith or to destroy it, with all the consequences following. This is not always easy, but it is possible. We should be aware that the whole spiritual is watching us all day. The only thing that gives demons rights to come into our lives and to destroy it from the inside out, are sins. As soon as we violate God’s word, they pay a lot of attention. Most of the demons will not enter your life right away, but as soon as you continue in one or more sins, it means that you didn’t really repented yourself and that gives them the legal right to enter your life. From that moment on it will only become worse and you will need deliverance then. This is a very wide area to teach about, so in this study we will only stick to the power of our confessions. 

It works exactly the same as with all other sins. When we speak, the whole spiritual world is listening. If we speak in unbelief and in contrary to God’s word, then satan will sent his demons to you to do exactly that what you confessed. However, when we speak in faith, proclaiming the word of God, then our High Priest in heaven, our Lord Jesus Christ, will stand up and fight on our behalf.

Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus.

Hebrews 3:1

Losing the promise for your life

In these days, many people are longing for a new work of the Holy Spirit, a work that will change our lives, Churches and nations. The good news – I remain proclaiming this – is that God wants the same thing. Then why don’t we see much change? I see a lot of people, churches and organizations trying really hard, but without the real result they long for. According to the word of God, it all starts in our hearts, with our motivations. The key to having a real relationship with our God is worship. In worship we humble ourselves before our God and offer our lives to Him as a living sacrifice. By doing that, we are entering His rest. However, there is one question that I want you to ask yourself. What kind of life are you offering Him when you worship Him? Is it a life of faith? Or is it a life of unbelief? In the same chapter of Hebrews, it continues:

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.’

Hebrews 3:7-11

The situation that the Holy Spirit is referring to here is a very good example for us today. We can learn a lot from this, if you are willing to learn. As we all know, the people of Israel were made slaves in Egypt. Their situation looked hopeless. But God was and is faithful and did a few things to help them:

1. He delivered His people from their prison (slavery)
2. He gave them the promise that He would give them a place to live
3. He never left their side and pointed the way for them
4. While they were on their way, He defeated their enemy for them
5. While they were on their way, He provided for them by giving food and water

At that moment, they were the most privileged people on the world. The God of the universe was on their side and fighting for them. Still they were complaining and started to doubt the promise that God gave them. What is that? It is unbelief. That attitude had huge consequences for them. The thing that really points out here is that God specifically mentions that “They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways”, which is exactly what God said through the mouth of Hosea, when He said “My people are being destroyed because of a lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). You can’t believe something that you don’t know. If you don’t know the word of God, then you have a lack of knowledge. God gave us His word so that we can live by it. But if we don’t know the word, then it can’t reach our heart. If it can’t reach our heart, it can’t sow faith. If it can’t sow faith, it can’t change our life. If it can’t change our life, then we are still living in the flesh. It all comes down to unbelief, starting to doubt the promises of God. The people of Israel had to pay a huge price for their unbelief. Because of their unbelief, they were no longer able to receive God’s promise for them. The letter to the Hebrews comes to exactly the same conclusion at the end of chapter 3:

So we see that they could not enter in (the promised land) because of unbelief.

Hebrews 3:19

But there was also another consequence: they could no longer enter His rest. I believe this was even the hardest thing to deal with. All these consequences, just because they had a lack of knowledge. Did God punish them just because they didn’t knew? No, He punished them because they could have known His ways, but they refused it! Therefore they missed the promise that God had for their lives. 

Revival starts by a change of heart

All these things still apply for us today. Our mighty God gave us so many promises. With each promise we see more of His love for us. But the storerooms of heaven are filled with blessings, while only a few are coming to get it. He wants to give us a brand new start by giving a revival to our nations. What are the key words for such a revival? Repentance, faith, confession, humility, hungry for His word and worship. In that order. These are all things that you can do by a choice of your will. Repentance is a choice, faith is a choice, you choose what you confess, humility is a choice (an act of your body, not an emotion in the first place), reading His word is a choice and worship is a choice. So it is all possible and all the keys are available to us. Repentance without faith is not real repentance. It is very important that we work on our faith. The Bible says, in Romans 10:17, that faith comes by hearing of the word of God. It means that it is something that we can do. It also means that we have to take His word serious and that we have to take the time to study His word and to make it our own. When we (start to) know His word, then we can actually (start to) live by it. 

If we do not take the time to study His word, then the same curse is applying to us as well: ‘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.’ In practice this means that we can worship as long as we want, but we will not be able to enter His rest, one of the things that normally always happens when we worship. It is in those moments of rest that God speaks directly to our hearts. But why should God bother to speak directly to our hearts, if we are not even willing to listen to the words He already gave us in the Bible? God didn’t tell you to just listen to the preacher every Sunday, He wants you to read the Bible and to study His word so that you will receive more faith. When you receive more faith, it will change your life. A gospel that doesn’t change your life is no gospel at all.

God gave beautiful promises for your life, for your Church and for your nation. But if you will not listen to His voice by taking the time to study His word and to make it your own, you will never receive the promises that He gave you. You can miss the promises of God for your life, simply by not taking His word serious enough. You can miss His rest and peace in your life, simply by not reading your Bible. Don’t take this for granted. God is challenging us to enter His rest.

Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you 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 heard it.

Hebrews 4:1,2

Here you see that there are always two groups of people who hear the gospel. Those who hear it, believe it, confess it and act like it, and those who hear it, don’t believe it, confess their unbelief and act like their unbelief. You have the choice to which group you want to belong. It really only takes a choice from your side.

Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, 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.

Hebrews 4:6,7

The people of Israel had to pay a huge price for their unbelief. The promise passed on to the next generation. If God would treat us in the same way as He did with the people of Israel, we would not have a chance. Then the promise would just pass on from generation to generation. Especially in The Netherlands, where we are very familiar with complaining about everyone and everything in almost every circumstance. But times have changed and the big difference between us now and the people of Israel back then, is that we now have His grace! That means that we don’t have to wait another generation, before we see the promises of the Lord come to pass! That all thanks to our Lord Jesus! All the promises He has for us, are available for this generation. How? We just need to repent from our disobedience and start taking His word serious by studying it and by confessing it.

Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

Hebrews 4:11-13

If faith comes by hearing of the word of God, and if we choose to study the word of God and to make it our own, then our faith will reach enormous high levels, according to the time we spent in the word of God. The Holy Spirit is ready to fire you up and to teach you everything that God wants you to know. The more time you spent with Him and His word, the more of His secrets He will reveal to you, the more you will grow in faith. That faith will grow inside your heart. And do you remember what the mouth speaks? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34). Does this mean that we will never sin or make mistakes again? No, but it does mean that we have Someone in heaven who knows exactly what we are going through. As soon as our confessions are in line with His perfect will, then He will act as our great High Priest in heaven, fighting on our side. It enables us to enter His rest again. It enables us to come before His throne of grace, as we worship our Creator. It enables us to find grace to help in time of need. We must not be lazy and we must not take this lightly. Our precious Lord Jesus gave all He had to give. The least we can do is do the same by offering our lives to Him as a living and pleasing sacrifice.

Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 4:14-16