WE ARE NOT IN HEAVEN YET

"Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:12-13)

Devotion 18 of 37

LABORING TO ENTER REST

There is every reason for the children of God–those who have been born again–to have strong faith and unwavering confidence in God. Certain commitments are made to them that are marvelous. Among the promises regarding those in Christ, the following are a great solace. "They shall never perish" (John 10:28). God will "never leave them nor forsake them" (Heb 13:5). The Lord is "able to keep" them "from falling" (Jude 24). They are "kept by the power of God through faith" (1 Pet 1:5). ‘Whom He justified, them He also glorified" (Rom 8:30). All of these, and many more, are evidences of the grace of God, which is the bearer of salvation in all of its glorious aspects. These are all received "by faith," for salvation is ever "by grace THROUGH faith" (Eph 2:8). No such commitments are made to those who are NOT believing, and none of them are withheld from those who ARE believing.

The Spirit speaks to us about the appropriation of these blessings. He speaks with the panorama of redemptive truth before Him. Because He searches the "deep things of God," He always states things precisely, and in full harmony with both the nature and utterances of God. If His language ever appears inappropriate to us, it is our understanding that is faulty, not His words.

With this in mind, let us consider a most solemn exhortation of the Holy Spirit. He speaks to believers, not unbelievers–to those who are in Christ Jesus, not to those who are without Him.

"Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." (KJV) "Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience." (NIV) - Hebrews 4:11

On the surface, or according to the flesh, the words seem to be contradictory: laboring to enter rest. And, indeed, they do contradict some perceptions of salvation. For those with a penchant for context, there certainly is a clarifying one in this case. But faith can receive it, so we will not shrink back from repeating it.

1. We are to take heed lest there be in any of us an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the Living God (3:12).
2. We are to exhort one another every day, lest any of us be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (3:13).
3. The Spirit admonishes us, "harden not your hearts" (3:15).
4. Some of the Israelites who left Egypt provoked God (3:16).
5. Though delivered from bondage, God was grieved with some of them for forty years (3:17).
6. God swore those who did not believe would not enter His rest (3:18).
7. Some delivered from Egypt could not enter God's rest because of unbelief (3:19).
8. We are to fear, lest being left a promise of entering rest, any of us should seem to come short of it (4:1).
9. The preached Gospel only profits when it is "mixed with faith" (4:2).
10. We that believe do enter into rest (4:3).
11. There remains a rest for the people of God (4:4-9).
12. The rest into which we have entered consists of ceasing from our own works (4:10).

At this point we are admonished, "Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief" (4:11). How is it those who believe have entered into rest, yet are exhorted to labor to enter into rest? We are in much the same position as the Israelites who spied out the land. They were in the land, yet did not fully possess it. They enjoyed Divine protection while in the land, yet were not yet fully occupants of it. They ate the fruit of the land, yet were not permanent residents of it. It was AFTER they spied out the land that these were excluded from it. The only exceptions were Joshua and Caleb, who continued to believe (Num 14:30).

The "labor" of which the Spirit speaks is not the "works of the law," but the "work of faith" (1 Thess 1:3; 2 Thess 1:11). It involves putting on the whole armor of God and standing "against the wiles of the devil" (Eph 6:11-18). It includes resisting the devil, "steadfast in the faith" (1 Pet 5:8-9). It is fighting "the good fight of faith" (1 Tim 6:12), refusing entrance to "an evil heart of unbelief."

It is ludicrous to say there is no need to "labor to enter into that rest" when the Spirit admonishes us to do so. That response is itself evidence of unbelief. There is yet a rest to be entered–it ‘remains." We are not fully in that rest, else we would not have to stop an evil heart of unbelief from entering into us. We carry about in our persons "another law" that "wars against the law of our mind" (Rom 7:23). We have "members" in our being that must be "mortified," or put to death (Col 3:5). There remain things in some believers that must be "put off" (Col 3:8).

We have not fully entered into rest, but must "labor" to do so! Although we have the "treasure" of salvation, it is in an "earthen vessel." This is a deliberate arrangement "that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." While in this condition, we will contend with "trouble," perplexity, persecution, and being cast down. There is a process of dying going on in us as well as one of living (2 Cor 4:7-10). These conditions are certainly not impossible ones, for though we are "perplexed," we are not in "despair." Although we are "persecuted," we are "not forsaken." Even though we are struck down, we are "not destroyed." The presence of these things, however, is what requires a "labor" to enter into "that rest."

In a wonderful expression in the fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians, the Spirit alludes to this "labor." "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord" (verse 58).

When the mighty Apostle Paul arrived at life's finish line, he assessed his life. The manner in which he spoke underscores the significance of laboring to enter into "that rest." "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith" (2 Tim 4:7). That was nothing less than laboring to enter into that rest. Do not imagine that you can avoid the "good fight" and enter the rest. Do not suppose you can fail to run the course that is set before you, and still obtain the rest of reference. Let no one think there is no effort involved in keeping the faith.

Now, be up and laboring to enter the rest. Your labors will not be in vain. If you think you are not equal to this challenge, then think again. The very Spirit who delivered the exhortation will strengthen you with divine might to accomplish it.

PRAYER POINT: Father, I thank You through Jesus for declaring there remains a rest for the people of God. I also thank You for strengthening me to labor to enter that rest.

-- Tomorrow: THE EXAMPLE OF ADAM AND EVE --