When God rested on the seventh day, Adam also rested. Likewise, when God has no rest, man has no rest either. In John chapter four, the Lord Jesus was laboring because He was hungry. Moreover, both He and the Samaritan woman were thirsty. Was there any rest there? No, there was no rest because man had not yet been gained by God for His expression and representation. Not until man has been gained by God to express and represent Him can God and man have rest. If in the church life today all the brothers and the sisters go their own way and no one goes God’s way, there will be no rest, even if we come together in a very active way. In such a case, there is not the wonderful church life. The church life is a life in which man is gained by God on earth for His expression and representation. When this situation appears, we all shall be in the rest, because God will be satisfied to see Himself expressed and represented through a group of human beings. Whenever this happens on earth so many angels in heaven will be rejoicing for God’s satisfaction. How do we know when God is satisfied and at rest? We know it because our spirit is satisfied. Now we know the real meaning of the Sabbath rest: it is the satisfaction of God with man in having gained man to express and represent Him on earth. Whenever such a situation appears, that is the Sabbath, and both God and man are satisfied and rested. This is the Sabbath rest.
In type, this Sabbath rest was the good land. In actuality, however, this rest was not realized by the children of Israel when they entered into the good land. Therefore, the psalmist prophesied of a remaining Sabbath rest for God’s people (Psa. 95:7-11). The book of Hebrews quotes Psalm 95 concerning the rest. What is this Sabbath rest? In principle, it is the situation in which man is gained by God to express and represent Him. This situation did not come into being until the church came into existence.
In a positive and good sense, the proper church life is God’s Sabbath. Now we can understand why the book of Hebrews warns the believers not to miss the Sabbath, telling them to be diligent to enter into it. What is this Sabbath? It is the proper church life. The writer seems to be saying, “O Hebrew believers, don’t go back to keep the old Sabbath, That is past. In the Psalms God prophesied of another day, the remaining Sabbath rest.” If you read chapters three and four of Hebrews carefully, you will find this promise of the remaining Sabbath rest. These two chapters speak of “another day.” This “another day” is “Today” (3:7, 13, 15; 4:7). This “another day,” “Today,” is the promised Sabbath rest that remains for us. The writer seemed to be saying, “Hebrew believers, don’t be foolish. The Sabbath rest that God kept in Genesis 2 has been destroyed and will never occur again. In the Psalms, God has assigned another day, ‘Today.’ This is the remaining Sabbath rest for you. You must enter into it.”
What is this Sabbath rest? Firstly, it is the church life. We must enter into the church life so that God may be expressed and represented on earth today, be satisfied, and find rest. When this happens, God and we shall have our Sabbath rest. If we do not get into the proper church life, we shall miss the rest. However, as we shall see, this is not altogether the meaning of the Sabbath rest in Hebrews.
In Matthew 11:28-29 the Lord said, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Many Christians understand this verse in a very superficial way, thinking that it means they will find comfort whenever they are heavy laden and come to the Lord Jesus. Although this may work for you the first time, it may not work after that. If you just take the Lord as your rest according to your natural, selfish concept, the Lord will eventually turn His face away from you. Many Christians experienced this kind of comfort at the beginning of their Christian life only to find that it did not work well later on. Why? Because Christ is not our life and rest for our individual enjoyment but for the building up of God’s house. If you want to enjoy Christ as your rest, you must come to Him. But where is He? Where do we go to meet Him? We must come to the church. The rest, which is Christ Himself, is in the church. Why is this rest in the church? Because in the church God is expressed and represented, and where God is expressed and represented, there is the Sabbath. If you do not believe this, try to take your own way and pray to Christ for comfort. If you stay away from the church, you will probably find yourself unable to pray.
Today there is only one good land—the church life. Today’s church is the good land because in the church God has His habitation for His expression and representation. God’s throne, kingdom, and government are in the church. Thus, it is in the church that God is satisfied. If He is not satisfied there, then where is He satisfied? There is only one situation that can satisfy God: a situation in which a group of people has been gained by Him to be His expression and representation. The angels do not have this privilege because they have not been ordained to express and represent God. But we have been destined and ordained to express and represent Him. Therefore, God’s satisfaction and rest are in the church.
Although many Christians are truly saved, they are not in the church life. Likewise, many of the children of Israel were saved at the time of the Passover. They struck the blood, ate the lamb, came out of Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, and were saved. But how many of them came into the rest? Very few. In like manner, although there are so many real Christians, those who have been truly saved, very few are in the church life. Do you believe that all Christians are in the good land? No, many are wandering, and others still remain in Egypt, doing such worldly things as going to the movies. Since they have believed in the Lord Jesus, we cannot say that they have not been saved. However, they are in Egypt or in the wilderness, not in the good land. We need to be diligent to press on to enter into the rest. Where is our rest today? It is in the church life.
God is not the only one who desires to rest in the church life. So many unbelieving human beings are wandering, dissatisfied with their way of life. This is why we need to have the proper and high church life, the church life that will be the high gospel for the thirsty ones. This is not a matter of having a Sunday morning eleven o’clock service; it must be the proper church life in which God and man are satisfied. When the hungry and thirsty ones come to such a church life, they will see that this is what they have been looking for, that this is what they desire, and immediately they will enter into the Sabbath rest. All the believers as well must endeavor to enter into this rest. But today the book of Hebrews is closed to most Christians, and no one will touch it. We all must realize that the book of Hebrews is a part of the full gospel. Let me say what is on my heart: I want to encourage all the young brothers and sisters to go to the campuses to preach the gospel according to the book of Hebrews. They need to go and preach this high gospel for the proper human life.
When I was preaching the gospel years ago, my favorite messages were on the meaning of life, vanity, and drinking at the fountain of life. On New Year’s Day in 1932, I preached on the subject of vanity. After preaching for only twenty minutes, so many people stood up even before I had finished my call because I had touched their inward feeling, the feeling of vanity in their life, the vanity in their being. Although I did not preach very much on sin, eventually everyone repented of his sin. Oh, we must go to the thirsty people, to the hungry people, and preach the high gospel of the church life that can satisfy the hunger and thirst in their lives. The church life must be today’s Sabbath rest, the good land flowing with milk and honey.