Chapter IV

Verses 7-10. “‘Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.’ For if Joshua had given them rest, then he would not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.”

Joshua was not able to lead the people into rest. They could have come to rest from all their outward enemies if they had done everything that God and Moses had commanded. Unbelief also overpowered them when they were in the land, so they could not keep that glorious land but were led captive to Babylon instead.

They could never come to rest from their inner enemies, the lusts in the flesh, through the help that Joshua and Moses could give. It was only the Son of Man, Jesus Christ who was manifested in flesh, who was able to drive out the enemies within so they could keep a pure heart and mind. This shows us the difference between the earthly Canaan and the spiritual. The spiritual Israel destroys every enemy that God’s light exposes. All things are possible for those who believe. By faith it is possible to enter into that Sabbath rest which God has prepared for His people. In this Sabbath rest we can also rest from all our own works, just as God did from His. Our own human works cause us nothing but unrest and pain. Our own ways lead us astray. But when we come to rest from our own works, so that we are being prompted and led by the Spirit, we are led into the works which God has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Eph. 2:10. We are His workmanship, and the works in which we are to walk are also His work. God did not rest until all this was brought into order. If we enter into this glorious Sabbath rest of God by faith we can truly come to rest from all striving and turmoil according to the flesh. It is as if all our worries simply vanish.

Verses 11-13. “Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall after 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.”

An exhortation to be diligent to enter into rest can sound as if we once more are to do our own works. However, that is not the case at all. We are to be diligent to enter into God’s works. That means to be diligent to enter into rest, because God’s word, the word to which we are to open our hearts, is living and powerful, two-edged and sharp. It pierces to the division of soul and spirit. The enemy that binds our soul and spirit together is killed by this sword, so that our spirit can be set free and made alive by the second Adam. “And so it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living soul.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” 1 Cor. 15:45.

“Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain ‘He yearns zealously for the spirit that He made to dwell in us’? Therefore He gives more grace.” Jas. 4:5-6.

God yearns jealously to reclaim that spirit (human spirit) that He caused to dwell in us. Therefore, He gives more grace. The sword of the Spirit judges the thoughts and intents of the heart. For this reason, we must always stand firmly on the side of Him who swings the sword so that we can be separated and divided according to the flesh and thus become perfect and entire, a new creation standing on resurrection ground.

No creature is hidden from His sight, and all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. He is the One who wields the sword. He knows how to find the sacrifices in our inner being, even the most hidden ones.

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” Phil. 2:12-13.

From this we again see that we are to work out our salvation by presenting ourselves with fear and trembling to obey God’s promptings, both to will and to do, and that we do not allow ourselves to drift back into doing our own dead and carnal works.

Verse 14. “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.”

What does it mean to have a great High Priest who has gone through the heavens? The kingdom of heaven is within us. It consists of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Rom. 14:17. When Jesus went through the heavens, it was because while He was down here He brought all the kingdom of heaven into the body, for all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in it. All the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily in Him. Col. 2:3, 9. This is what it must mean to come through the heavens. Every nook and cranny in the whole body was filled with the fullness of God. In order to lead us to this same tremendous salvation, Jesus Christ has become our High Priest on the new and living way through the flesh. Let us therefore hold fast our confession of Jesus Christ as our High Priest, as Advocate, as the One who chooses the sacrifices from our inner life.

Verse 15. “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.”

It is good that we have a High Priest who can understand us, One who was tempted in all points as we. He suffered being tempted. He always denied His own will and did God’s will instead. God’s will is our sanctification. Obviously, if He was tried in all things as we are and always did God’s will and never His own, then it is clear that He never committed sin and that He had to suffer in the flesh.

It is this suffering that is called the suffering of Christ, and it is the fellowship with Christ in this suffering that the Scriptures call the fellowship of His sufferings. It is in this suffering that we are conformed to Christ in His death. However, this suffering and this death are little known among Christians, because they can only be understood through obedience to the Spirit and to the Word in battle and victory over the desires in the flesh. Here the knowledge of Christ manifested in the flesh is revealed. It is in truth a great mystery of godliness, and superficial Christians believe they are doing God and mankind a great service by trampling it underfoot. Nonetheless, they themselves will be trodden underfoot because of their unbelief. This “yet without sin” means without transgression. He stood the test without sinning.

Verse 16. “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Here grace is in its right place—grace and help when it is needed to overcome sin. This is a grace that is meaningful. All this “sin and grace” only serves to strengthen a person in his sin so that he never stops sinning. That is why it is written, “‘Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.’ Now where there is a remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.” Heb. 10:17-18.

The next verses show us the way: “Therefore brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest in the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” Verses 19-22.

This is what it means to find help in time of need. “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age . . . .” Tit. 2:11-12.

Let him who stole steal no more. Let the proud and worldly-minded repent, in truth. A person who demonstrates such a repentance will certainly find grace; but if he continues to steal or to be vain and worldly-minded, he sins against the grace and his religion is in vain. His conversion is false, and he cannot comfort himself by saying “sin and grace,” because grace has not been used as help in time of need.