The Rest of the Saints
J. Burns, D. D. Hebrews 4:9 There remains therefore a rest to the people of God. Scripture allows us to know so much of the future state as to satisfy us that it is a state of continual exalted employment. I. They rest FROM THE TOILS AND PURSUITS OF THE PRESENT LIFE. Toils and pursuits of various kinds, and in different degrees, necessarily occupy much of our attention. We are animated with a strong desire of preserving ourselves and those who depend upon us in life and comfort, hence much labour and exertion fall to the lot of the generality of mankind; it is also a part of the curse denounced against our apostate race: "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." Of the small proportion of men who do not procure their subsistence by bodily labour, exertion of another kind is required; they have to undergo the labours of the mind, study, and reflection, and extensive research in managing the religious and the civil concerns of their fellow-creatures. To those who exert themselves vigorously and conscientiously in the one or the other of these kinds of labour, it is no unpleasant view of heaven that it yields a relief from such toils and pursuits. II. In heaven there is rest FROM THE TROUBLES OF LIFE. These are inseparable from our present condition, being the natural and penal consequences of sin. "Although affliction cometh net forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground, yet man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward." It arises from what we feel in ourselves, from disease, and pain, and weakness, and from "the fear of death"; it arises also from our connection with fellow-creatures: those with whom we are united by the most tender and endearing ties are subject, like ourselves, to a variety of distresses. How soothing in such situations the belief, the hope, and the prospect of that " rest which remaineth for the people of God" — a state where disease and pain are wholly unknown, or remembered as " former things which have passed away;" "a land, the inhabitants whereof shall no more say, I am sick"; and where those whom death had separated shall meet to part no more! III. "There remaineth a rest to the people of God" FROM SIN AND TEMPTATION. The former views which have been presented of this "rest" may engage the attention and please the imagination of all men, Whatever be their slate and character. It is natural to human beings to desire exemption from toil and from trouble. Too many, it is feared, wish for heaven chiefly or wholly on these accounts; they have little or no desire of heaven as a deliverance from sin and from temptations to sin; they are the justified and sanctified alone who delight chiefly in this view of a future state. Besides this painful contest with inward corruption, there is also a conflict to be maintained with Satan, the great spiritual adversary. The world also in which they live, both the men of the world and "the things that are in the world," present many powerful temptations; snares beset them on every side; prosperity and adversity have each their several dangers to Christians. It is, therefore, to them the most pleasing view of heaven that it is a rest from sin and from all temptations to sin. (J. Burns, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. WEB: There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God.