They could not enter (My rest) because of unbelief

Just like  us, Jesus had the full range of human emotions, but without sin (Hebrews 4:15). He could get angry (Mark 3:5), and sin not (Ephesians 2:26). What this means, is that He was fully in control of His anger, and when He was angry and acted, what He did was totally appropriate. I am saying these things up front,  because in some Christian circles it’s considered wrong to get emotional, or to express things in strong terms, or even to raise you voice at injustice. So when I am talking about operating out of rest this morning, I am not talking about operating out of an emotionless state. I am talking about living life out of a settled assurance that God is in control of everything that He does, and everything He allows. The Lord is not taken by surprise by happens with us, the good, the bad and the ugly. And operating out of rest is about living life fully in the trust and the reality that He has our backs,  and that is actively working all things for good for those of us who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

Now we are told that those who did not enter His rest, were those who did not obey, and that  they could not enter in because of unbelief (Hebrews 3:18,19). These verses make it clear that unbelief and disobedience are inextricably linked, and that they are what prevent us today from entering into His rest. When the Scripture talks about His rest, it is talking about both the hereafter, and the here and now. In the here and now, it’s about taking His yoke upon us (Matthew 11:28-30). It's about living in the peace that He gives (John 14:27; Philippians 4:7). Peter tells us, that when we have armed ourselves with the same mind as Christ, responding to our suffering the same way that He did, we have actually ceased from sin (1 Peter 4:1). Most of us are not there yet, but as I keep saying, these are things to aim for, as we receive more of His Grace to press into them.

But the writer to the Hebrews gives us no quarter. He talks about an evil heart of unbelief (verse 12) which, as we said above,  is also about disobedience. He is talking primarily to Christians, to those who have tasted the Heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit (6:4). Paul puts it this way “He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them” (2 Corinthians 5:15). Elsewhere he asks “Shall we continue in sin that Grace may abound?” It is unthinkable, and in the words of the writer to the Hebrews it's evil. Indeed the only reasonable response to the tender mercies of God is to present our bodies as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1 NKJV). 

Father, the world is watching, often just waiting for us to mess up so that they can dismiss what we say about You. After all You've done for us Lord, it's so very very wrong not to give You our all.  Thank You for Your Mercy Lord for the multiple times we mess up.  Please give us Grace Lord to enter Your rest Lord, in order that like Jesus, for the joy set before us, we can endured the cross You call us to bear (Hebrews 12:2) in Jesus Name Amen