Ephesians; 1:4 – Election of church age believer, part 35

Ephesians; 1:4 – Election of church age believer, part 35.

The Hebrew word sabbat describes the enjoyment of accomplishment, the celebration of completion. This is the rest we must enter into.

The entire purpose of this letter to the Hebrews is to get these believers to enter the fulness of Promised Land rest.

Heb 4:1 Therefore, let us fear lest, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it.

Heb 4:2 For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.

Heb 4:3 For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said,

"As I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest,"

although His works were finished from the foundation of the world.

Heb 4:4 For He has thus said somewhere concerning the seventh day, "And God rested on the seventh day from all His works";

Heb 4:5 and again in this passage, "They shall not enter My rest."

Heb 4:6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience,

Heb 4:7 He again fixes a certain day, "Today," saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before,

"Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts."

Psa 95 is quoted three times in this short passage. “Today” is emphasized (5 times). Do it now. “They shall not enter” is emphasized. Fear not entering. “Do not harden your hearts” is emphasized. Don’t be disobedient but rather believe.

Heb 4:8 For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that.

Joshua had given them an earthly rest for part of a generation, but he could not give them or their children the Sabbath Rest of faith resulting in obedience.

Neither Joshua nor any great man of faith can give another person the rest of mature faith. The writer is refuting any belief that rest can come from being a part of great nations or having great leaders. This is actually a real problem in any society and is getting worse in our own. Soon, as the world becomes more and more connected and they demand equality (of result and not of opportunity), the world community will demand rulers that give them what they want, and the anti-christ will step in and promise it.

God will prove to the world that this solution for personal happiness is the worst, and the condition of the world will become the worst it has ever been by far.

Heb 4:9 There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God.

Sabbath rest – sabbatismos = not the Sabbath day but rather the Sabbath observance or celebration.

Heb 4:10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.

This is a part of the offer of God to mankind to enter into relationship with God in time. In time there are all kinds of opposition to that relationship; sin, persecution, deception, pride, lust, distraction, lies, ignorance, etc., but God has set the way of receiving that relationship and thus enter into His rest so that it can be enjoyed now.

In the media, it would seem that the world is headed away from the rest that God is offering. Prophecy admits this trend. It will sadden us and cause sorrow, but don’t let the sorrow overcome you. Sorrow is temporary. Joy is lasting, and is maintained even in sorrow. Keep shining your light and keep praying. The Sabbath was a day of celebration, even though so many of their ancestors died in the wilderness.

Mat 5:11 “Blessed are you when men cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me.

Mat 5:12 Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Phi 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!

Phi 4:5 Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.

Phi 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Phi 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The origin of the word “anxious” (merimnao) is merizo, which means to be drawn in different directions, or to distract. Anxiety is a distracting care. Mat 6:22 – single eye.

Mat 6:22 “The lamp of the body is the eye; if therefore your eye is clear [Greek: haplous = simple or single], your whole body will be full of light.

Mat 6:23 But if your eye is bad [Greek: poneros = evil, bad, or wicked], your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”

Let’s read it in Luke’s account.

Luk 11:33 "No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar, nor under a peck-measure, but on the lampstand, in order that those who enter may see the light.

Luk 11:34 "The lamp of your body is your eye; when your eye is clear [haplous again = single], your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness.

Luk 11:35 "Then watch out that the light in you may not be darkness.

Luk 11:36 "If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it shall be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays."

A single eye is a body of light and a life of rejoicing that is anxious for nothing. Anxiety is a distracting care.

Remember in Heb 12, “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Prince Ruler and Completer of our faith, who instead of the joy then present with Him, endured the cross, despising the shame.”

When you put these truths together, you can see that a single eye is an obedient eye. I may not want to do what God commands, I may not feel like doing it right now, but my eye is fixed on Jesus, who resisted sin to the point of shedding blood, and armed with these precious truths, I will obey.