How to Experience Happiness

There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God . . . let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest. – Hebrews 4:9, 11

What is true happiness? It is the everlasting rest of the saints of God. In Hebrews 3:7-4:11, the idea of rest appears eleven times. This rest, therefore, is the central message of this portion of Scripture.

According to Professor Leon Morris, this rest is “a place of blessing where there is no more striving but only relaxation in the presence of God and in the certainty that there is no cause to fear” (Leon Morris, Hebrews, Vol. 12 of Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Hebrews-Revelation, edited by Frank E. Gaebelein, et al, [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981], 35). In his Confessions, St. Augustine also spoke of this peace and rest: “Lord God, grant us peace . . . the peace of rest, the peace of the sabbath, the peace without an evening. All this most beautiful array of things, all so very good, will pass away when all their courses are finished-for in them there is both morning and evening. But the seventh day [of rest] is without an ending, and it has no setting, for thou hast sanctified it with an everlasting duration . . . [All this thou hast done, that] we may find our rest in thee in the sabbath of life eternal” (quoted by Philip Edgecumbe Hughes, A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977], 162). John Newton wrote in his hymn: “Safely through another week God has brought us on our way; let us now a blessing seek, waiting in his courts today; day of all the week the best, emblem of eternal of eternal rest.”

I. Rest Revealed in the Gospel

The gospel reveals this rest to us. The bad news is that our sin dooms us to a destiny of everlasting restlessness. But God has good news for us, achieved by his Son’s sacrificial death on the cross for our sins. Isaiah anticipated this, saying, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’ . . . Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem” (Is. 52:7, 9). How did this redemption come about? “The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed” (Is. 53:5b, KJV). And in the fullness of time, the angel brought this gospel to the despised shepherds of Bethlehem: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).

Jesus calls all sin-weary people to everlasting rest: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). The eternal torment and weariness of sinners can be exchanged for the saints’ everlasting comfort. This is what the Bible declares, for the whole Bible is the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. This gospel of eternal joy and peace was also preached to the people of God in the wilderness, as the writer to the Hebrews discloses: “For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did . . . It still remains that some will enter that rest and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience” (Heb. 4:2, 6).

How does this gospel come to us? In Hebrews 3:7 he writes, “So, as the Holy Spirit says. . . .” Through the Scripture, through parents, through pastors, and through every believer, the Holy Spirit declares the good news of God’s everlasting rest to the people of the world who have no rest. As we are told seven times in Revelation 2 and 3, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is speaking to the church.”

II. Responding to the Gospel of Rest

Hebrews 3 and 4 tells us what the vast majority of the people in the wilderness did with the gospel. They provoked God, went astray from his ways, and worshiped and served idols, not the living God (Heb. 3:8, 10, 12). They hardened their hearts to the message of salvation and exchanged the truth of the gospel for the lie of the devil. They rejected the Lord and his gospel, in spite of experiencing God’s goodness in delivering them from Egyptian bondage, bringing them through the Red Sea, providing them daily with water from the rock and manna. God protected them from all their enemies and guided them by his own presence.

They also saw God’s deeds of judgment. Hebrews 3:17 speaks of carcasses lying in the desert, the bodies of thousands of his unbelieving people killed by the sword, plague, and fire of divine judgment. Yet they continued to revolt against God. They discovered in the gracious and saving God their enemy. They deliberately chose eternal restlessness over the everlasting rest of the saints by becoming sinful, unbelieving, and apostate.

The Lord was testing them in the desert, as he tests all his people, to see whether they will truly walk in his ways. But these also people tested God. They did not mix the gospel they heard with saving faith. Instead, they mocked the voice of the Holy Spirit and turned a deaf ear to him.

In Hebrews 3:10-11 God gives justification for the righteous anger by which he destroyed these people: “That is why I was angry with that generation and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray and they have not known my ways.’ So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter into my rest.'”

It is time that we understood that the God of the Bible is angry at sin and sinners every day (Ps. 7:11) unless they repent, believe, obey, and worship him. Paul writes in Romans 1 that “the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men” (v. 18). It is not wickedness that God sends to hell. God sends wicked people to everlasting restlessness and torment.

What is God’s diagnosis of the human problem? “Their hearts are always going astray and they have not known my ways” (Heb. 3:10). The problem of wickedness is not circumstantial, but internal. It is endemic to our nature. “Their hearts” means their intellects, their wills, and their affections have become twisted. We are told the heart is “deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jer. 17:9, KJV). Psychiatrists and psychologists cannot truly know the human heart. The Lord alone knows and reveals the nature of our twistedness in the Holy Scriptures.

The heart is the problem. Jesus Christ said, “Out of the heart comes all evil” (cf. Matt. 15:18-19). Genesis 6:5 says that “every inclination of the thoughts of [man’s] heart [is] only evil all the time.” The human heart is so perverted that it refuses to believe the truth. In 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 we find a profound revelation of the nature of human depravity: “They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”

Twisted man exchanges truth for lie. Not only does he not will God’s will, but he also refuses to do it. He says, “I am, and my will be done.” His affections are devoted to evil; he loves wickedness from the depths of his being. This is not only the problem of atheists; it is also the problem of so-called Christians, who claim they can have a faith characterized by disobedience and still be part of the family of God.

Look again at Hebrews 3:10: “Their hearts are always going astray.” The hearts of the wicked go astray in the morning, at noon, and at night. They go astray when they are young and when they are old. They are always moving away from the straight and narrow way that leads to the living God and the everlasting comfort of the saints. They prefer the broad way of human will and desires.

Look at Hebrews 3:11: “So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter into my rest.'” God’s declaration is authoritative: what he declares shall happen. He declared that these people would not enter into rest. But if God’s declaration is not enough, there is also God’s oath. In Numbers 14, God swore that these people would not enter Canaan, and they did not. He declared it and then made it more certain by an oath (vv. 21ff.).

We see a similar oath in Luke 14, where a great feast was prepared, but those who were invited refused to come: “I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet” (v. 24). The banquet is the saints’ everlasting comfort.

God swore that his rebellious people would not enter into his rest. But God swears also about salvation. Hebrews 6 says he promised to save us, and then made an oath to prove he would keep his promise: “Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things [his promise and his oath] in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged” (vv. 16-18).

If we turn away from God and seek our own will, God promises to judge us, and then adds an oath to prove it will be done. But for those who trust in him, he gives his promise and oath to save them. God himself sees to it they will enter into the everlasting rest.

Notice the language of Hebrews 3:11: “They shall never enter my rest.” Never! There are only two destinies: eternal restlessness or eternal comfort. Jesus spoke about this in the story about the rich unbeliever and the poor believer, Lazarus. After they died, one found himself in hell, the other in heaven. Abraham told the rich man, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, and you are there in agony” (Luke 16:25). Revelation 22:14 tells us, “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.” They are going into the city of God to enjoy eternal life. But notice verse 15: “Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”

The writer to the Hebrews is speaking about those who had heard the gospel. This is the story of any who hear the gospel yet refuse to believe, including children who are brought up in a church. PGM All who reject the gospel enter into everlasting restlessness and eternal torment when they die.

III. The Promise of Rest Still Remains

The good news is that God’s promise of eternal rest still stands! The writer is not emphasizing the restlessness of the dead; rather, he has a positive message for the living, that God’s promise of eternal rest still remains for all who believe and obey God: “Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands . . . Now we who have believed enter that rest . . . It still remains that some will enter that rest. . . There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God” (Heb. 4:1, 3, 6, 9). The seventh day was not described as having morning and evening. It is speaking about endless rest.

We enter into that rest now by faith in the gospel, and we will experience greater enjoyment of it at the moment of our death. Our earthly lives are mixed with suffering, and when we are afflicted, we should pray for healing so that we can labor more for the Lord. But do not become discouraged if you are not healed. God may be ready to call you to himself. Death is a promotion, that we may experience everlasting rest. I hope, therefore, that we will be able to say, by the help of the Holy Spirit, “To me, to live is Christ and to die is gain,” and “To depart is to be with Christ” (cf. Phil. 1:21, 23). Revelation 14:13 tells us, “Blessed are those who die in the Lord. ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labor.'”

We will experience rest in its highest degree when Christ returns in the new heaven and the new earth. The apostle John writes,

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Rev. 21:1-4).

Those who died in unbelief did not enter this rest (cf. Heb. 3:15 and 4:7). Although they were God’s people, experienced God’s grace and mercy, and saw God’s judgment, they refused to believe, revolting against the true and living God, choosing the way of the devil and death to God’s way of life. God swore they would not enter his rest, and they did not.

Their opportunity is gone forever. But we still have opportunity to hear the gospel, believe it, obey it, and enter into rest. In Hebrews 3:7, 15; and 4:7 we find a verse from Psalm 95 repeated. Through it, the Holy Spirit is telling us, “Today, if you hear God’s voice, do not behave like those people in the wilderness. Do not harden your heart as in the day of provocation.” The emphasis is positive. Rest still remains for the people of God.

“Today, if you hear his voice. . . .” Listen to the preacher of the gospel; the Holy Spirit speaks through him. Children, when your parents speak to you, they are speaking by the Spirit of God. When our fellow believers speak to us, it is the voice of the Holy Spirit.

Today is our day of opportunity. Today the gospel still comes to us with comfort, salvation, peace, hope, and joy. Today the Holy Spirit is still speaking to our hearts. Today we can still assemble to hear the gospel clearly proclaimed. This Today will continue until Christ comes again, though our own Today ends with our death.

Yet for many people, their Today has already ended, though they are still alive, because the Holy Spirit does not speak to us forever. Such people only experience the Spirit’s silence. Saul wanted to hear the voice of Samuel, but he could not. Someday, you also may long to hear the voice of a preacher, or the voice of your mother or father, but there will only be silence, because your Today, is over.

Thank God, the Holy Spirit is still speaking to us now. Do not harden your heart or be deceived by sin and the riches of this world. Ask God to give you a soft heart, a heart of flesh. Cry out for the gifts of godly repentance and obedient faith. Come to Jesus, who by his death and resurrection, accomplished redemption for all who come to him. As the Holy Spirit applies this salvation to you, you shall enter into God’s endless rest. It is the rest of forgiveness of all our sins; the rest of justification, that God is declaring us righteous, qualifying us to stand before him and not be consumed by his anger; the rest of adoption, that we can call him “Abba, Father,” and he will hear our prayers; the rest of glorification, that the presence of sin itself will be removed, and we will be given glorious bodies like unto his own and dwell with him forever; the rest of eternal fellowship with God, which can be described as blessing; and the rest of the beatific vision.

The pleasure of sin lasts only for a season, but the pleasure of salvation from sin is eternal. Unbelief in the gospel is the greatest sin we can commit. Whether young or old, educated or not, all unbelievers are by definition mocking the living God, calling him a liar.

May we be like the Philippian jailer, who cried out in utter panic in the middle of the night, “What must I do to be saved?” The Holy Spirit replied through Paul: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on him who died for your sins and who was raised for your justification. Trust him, and be saved-saved now and saved forever (cf. Acts 16:30-31).

IV. Divine Demands Leading to Eternal Happiness

Do you want to be eternally happy, with a happiness that infinitely transcends all the happiness we can imagine? We are created to enjoy such happiness. God himself came in the cool of the day to fellowship with Adam and Eve. That is true happiness. Such happiness will be able to stand in the face of death itself.

How, then, do we obtain this happiness? There are several imperatives in this passage directed to us. They are not suggestions, but divine demands. As believers, we must pay attention.

1. Make every effort (Heb. 4:11) The Greek word means to strive, to make haste, to spare no effort, to labor, to run, to be in earnest, to concentrate all one’s energies on achieving this goal of eternal rest. Paul speaks of such striving in Philippians 3: “Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (vv. 13-14). This is not giving superficial attention to religious matters. When Mary heard the gospel from the mouth of the angel, she went in haste to see Elizabeth. When the shepherds heard the gospel, they also went in haste to see this baby, Christ the Lord. It is the same word.
2. Fear (Heb. 4:1). John Newton wrote, “‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved.” If we are touched by grace, we will fear God and be eager to do his will. Let us fear, not people nor death, but God, by doing eagerly his will. The fear of God is godliness. The fear of God keeps us from sinning. Read Hebrews 10:26-27, 31; 12:21, 29.
3. See to it (Heb. 3:12). In the Greek it is, “Be watchful.” We must not live carelessly. And it is not enough to watch ourselves; we are our brother’s keepers. We must observe whether or not others are walking with us in the straight and narrow path to everlasting rest, and do our best to see that not a single member of our family, our small group, or our church becomes apostate and perishes because of a sinful and unbelieving heart.
4. Encourage (Heb. 3:13). The Greek word means to put strength into a weak person, that he may be able to walk with us. Each one is to do this. Thus, we must speak to others in the church and know their situations, just as we do in our own families. The antidote to falling away is being encouraged by others. Notice, it says, “Encourage yourselves,” not “Encourage one another.” Here “yourselves” is seen as a unity, as a family. We are to encourage, exhort, admonish other believers, not through psychology or politics, but by the word of God. Nothing else will help. The word of God alone can truly encourage people (see Colossians 3:16, Romans 15, 1 Corinthians 10 and 2 Timothy 3:16). Jesus himself said, “My word is spirit and my word is life” (John 6:63, author’s translation). Whenever we preach the word from the pulpit, we are encouraging you. The weak are made strong.

   It is the responsibility of every believer to do this, and we are to do so daily. Therefore, have some kind of connection with other believers. Call a brother or sister on the phone, or send an email to encourage that person. Encourage each other when you are dating. Encourage each other, husband and wife and children, especially during family devotions. Encourage each other in your small groups and in the church whenever you come together. Encourage, so that no one will fall away, but that everyone will enter into this everlasting rest. And if you are not a member of a church, join one to ensure your daily progress to the heavenly city of eternal happiness. The theologian F. F. Bruce said: “In a fellowship which exercised a watchful and unremitting care for its members, the temptation to prefer the easy course to the right one would be greatly weakened and the united resolution to stand firm would be correspondingly strengthened” (F. F. Bruce, New International Commentary on the New Testament: The Epistle to the Hebrews, revised edition [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990], 101). We must encourage others as long as we live.

   What is the purpose of it all? That none fall away, but persevere to the end and arrive at rest. Hebrews 3:14 says, “We have come to share in Christ.” We are Christians. It is statement of fact. “We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.” Look at Hebrews 3:6: “But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.” Those who persevere to the very end will have security. They will not be fall away, as did Lot’s wife and Demas.

   How can we persevere to the very end? God will help us. In Hebrews 13:20-21 we read, “May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, though Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” If you are born of God, you will persevere to the very end. As Paul exhorted the Philippians, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Phil. 2:12-13).

5. Harden not your hearts (Heb. 3:7, 15; 4:7). We find this imperative repeated three times in this passage. Whenever someone preaches the gospel to us, the Holy Spirit is speaking. We must not harden our hearts but believe. How do we keep our hearts soft? Through repentance, prayer, reading of the word, fellowship with God’s people, and worship.

The promise of rest still remains for those who believe the gospel. May God help us to strive to enter God’s rest while it is still Today, that we may join the throng of God’s saints even now marching to Zion to their everlasting comfort and rest.