Entering Into Rest

Entering Into Rest

In Hebrews 4:3 the apostle says, “For we who have believed do enter that rest.” He says that we do that. In other words, all those who have not entered into rest in God, who are not at rest in their inner man in all the various circumstances they encounter in daily life, have not come to that faith that the apostle writes about.

The fact that there are many, even most, people who have not entered into this rest is evident from the admonition in verse 11: “Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest . . . .”

The common saying at a funeral, “X has entered into rest,” is very significant. The person concerned has fallen silent; he no longer sins either with his mouth or with anything else. All murmuring and complaining, judgment, criticism, reproach, accusation, anger, wrath, chatter, etc., has ceased. Death produces rest.

However, now the great and glorious and wonderful thing is this: there is an opportunity—by faith—to depart this life, to partake of the death of Christ (a death to our old man) even while we are in this body that has served sin. Thereby we have the opportunity of entering into rest—into that rest— while we are alive, into rest in God: resting from our own and other people’s works; resting from serving sin; the rest of death from living in sin, from living in anger, jealousy, murmuring, accusation, all kinds of dissatisfaction and anxiety, etc., etc.

We enter—march if you will—into rest who have laid hold of this faith—the faith that our old man is crucified with Christ so that the body of sin might be destroyed, so that we should no longer be slaves of sin. Rom. 6:6. Glory to God!

This faith leads us to this rest.

How can we know that we have really entered into this rest? We know this in the same way as we know that a person has died a natural death: The old man is silenced and is put out of action; you neither see nor hear anything more from him.

When a person dies a natural death, the tongue and the other members are no longer in use. By partaking of the death of Christ, the tongue and the other members continue to be used, but they no longer serve the old man; they serve only the Holy Spirit and the new man.

The old man has been silenced and is laid to rest. He was not loved, and he is missed even less! Glory to God! This is the glorious liberty of the children of God! Free from anger, free from anxiety, free from all the dissatisfaction and complaining of the world, free from all this world’s vanity, ostentation, conceit, disappointment, and deception! Free from all arguing and uproar!

Rest in God—what a blessed fate;
The foundation and fortress of joy so great.
Some people have lived there as a guest,
Yet to abide in it is the very best!

The rest in God that is evident in our daily life when we encounter all the hardships and difficulties of this world proves clearly what God has been able to accomplish in us. 1 John 5:4 is exceptionally fitting: “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world.” Victory over sin is the same as rest in God.

We enter into rest—always deeper—all of us who have come to faith.

What an indescribable rest must necessarily result from continuously entering into that rest for many years! What deep peace and unspeakable blessedness! Then this word is very fitting: “I am all peace.” Yet this does not prevent the rest of the verse from being just as applicable: “But when I speak, they are for war.” Ps. 120:7.

Who possesses undisturbed rest and tranquility and blessedness inwardly and also outwardly when he is badly wronged and slandered, especially if it lasts for a longer period of time? Nevertheless, the way is open! The opportunity for obtaining it is perfect. Every soul can reach that point and could already have reached it after having been converted for a time!

First, it is questionable whether the person has even heard this word about this rest. Next, it is questionable whether this word—if it has been heard—has been mixed with faith in those who have heard it. In Hebrews 4:2 it is written that some people had heard this word in vain. They had not become one with the Word.

Verse 12 in Hebrews, Chapter 4, shows clearly (“piercing even to the division of soul and spirit”) that the Word, when it is received, kills us according to the flesh. It leads us into death, into the death of Christ, and so we enter into rest. Every word kills us. Every word leads us into rest in God if it melts together with us by faith.

The way of the Word is the way of faith; it is the way of death, the way of rest.

Example: “Be anxious for nothing.” If I hold fast to this word in reality, it kills all my vain striving for a livelihood, for honor, and other things. What do I receive instead for all that has been killed? First of all, rest. Then, everything I need for my livelihood, true honor, and whatever else may benefit me at the right time (even though I may have to wait “long”) and in the right amount.

Another example: “He who humbles himself will be exalted.” If I believe this word, I will practice it; for who would not like to be exalted? When I practice it, I will first be put to death according to the flesh. My greatness and honor are brought into death. There is a division that takes place between my pretentious and conceited soul and my spirit. What does my spirit receive when this pretense and conceit is separated from my spirit? First it receives rest and blessedness, then exaltation to true greatness and true honor—greatness in God’s eyes and everlasting honor! God be praised for such indescribably great grace! The way goes through death to rest and life. I find life by losing my own life.

May there be many who partake of this rest.