Gary Gleans

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.     For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.     And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Since the goal is to enter the eternal rest that God has promised, we must pay close attention to the teaching of this passage.  We are warned again that it is possible to fall short of entering that rest.  God has provided His Word to show us how to make proper preparations by studying His Word.  Because, one day we will stand before Christ and give an account. WORK TO ENTER REST BY OBEDIENCE: Salvation is by grace through faith alone and not by any works that we can d...

Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”     For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on.     So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. The availability of rest does not guarantee that we will experience it.  There are many who hear the promise but do not experience God’s rest for a variety of reasons.  The author of Hebrews warns of this possibility and wants to prepare his readers so they can avoid these pitfalls.   DON’T DISOBEY: The children of Israel were given a promise but failed to receive what was promised to them ...

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.     For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.     For we who have believed enter that rest, 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.     For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.”     And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.” This world is a place of difficult and often futile work and not of rest.  God has promised a place of rest in Himself where we will still work but in ways that are fulfilling and joyful.  In Christ we can have a foretaste of that kind of work here on earth,...

As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”     For who were those who heard and yet rebelled?     Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses?     And with whom was he provoked for forty years?     Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?     And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient?     So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. It is a privilege to be exposed to and to know God’s Word.  This implies a responsibility to respond correctly to the revelation and blessings that have been received.  Failure to do so results in consequences that we do not want.  We can control our response to God’s Word but we cannot control the consequences of that response.  The children of Israel who were liberated from Egypt ...

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.     But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.     For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. Even as believers we run the risk of allowing our hearts to slip into a state of unbelief and sin.  We must be intentional about preventing sin and persevering in the faith.  There are some key steps we can take that will allow us to stand firm for the long haul. AVOID EVIL UNBELIEF: The author is speaking to brothers in this passage, so these are presumed to be believers.  However, they still run the risk of falling away from God because of an evil, unbelieving heart.  In times of persecution and suffering in a sin-cursed world, we can run the risk of doubti...

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years.     Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’ As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’” The Word of God is meant to be used by the Spirit of God to soften and transform our hearts through obedience.  It is an honor to have and be exposed to the Word of God.  However, there are serious consequences to not allowing the Word of God to work in our hearts.  This passage speaks of two kinds of hearts and the result of receiving God’s Word into these kinds of hearts. A HARD HEART LEADS TO REBELION: The Spirit of God is working to draw men’s hearts to the Lord.  This is the work of God’s grace and is a privilege to exper...

Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house.     For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself.     (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.). Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope. The author of Hebrews changes from demonstrating the Jesus was greater than the angels to showing how Jesus was greater than Moses.  Though there are many similarities between Jesus and Moses, Jesus is beyond comparison. ...