Hebrews 4:9-11 Work At Not Working

Hebrews 4:9-11 KJV

There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

One could view this verse as a kind of play on words. We are to "work at not working."

This entire chapter is taken up with the doctrine of a spiritual rest that be longs to those who believe. This rest was rejected by the first people to hear it, those Jews in the wilderness, - carrying forth to those Jews who, looking the rest of God I the face in the person of Jesus Christ, crucified him rather than give up their religious traditions. It was once again offered to Gentiles of whom the Bible says, they would hear. 

Apostle Paul writes to those believers here and warns them of "seeming to come short of it". It is not that they could come short, for a believer can never come short of salvation, but that they might seem to come short of it by not enjoying the fullness of rest in Christ.

John Gill writes, "....is here meant, that rest which believers now enter into, and is at this present time for them, and though true believers are entered into it, yet their rest, peace, and joy in Christ, is not full; they enter by degrees into it, and by believing enjoy more of it: and this is to be laboured for by prayer, hearing the word, and attendance on ordinances..."

It would serve us well to see also that the remainder of Hebrews four offers at least four helps for entering into this full rest:

The Word of God

Which is able to cut deeply into our hearts and souls to remove unbelief and replace it with faith.

The watchful eye of God

Who sees our faith as well as our lack thereof. He knows we believe, if we are believers. He also knows we do not yet believe perfectly.

Our High Priest, Christ

Whose function it is, to minister towards our weakness. He serves as our advocate whenever we miss the mark of faith. When the weakness of our faith becomes apparent it is then that we best hold tightly to our profession of faith in Christ. He is the overcomer of our unbelief.

The throne of grace

To which we are invited to come boldly. When we lack faith, when our rest is less than full, when we struggle between our two natures of belief and unbelief, we are invited, urged even, to come without hesitation to the throne where we may obtain mercy cover our lack of faith and grace to help us strengthen our faith.