`Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief'.

Now we are already acquainted with the fact that the grand exhortation of Hebrews is to `go on unto perfection',

perfection being the doctrinal equivalent of the rest that remaineth. So therefore in Hebrews 6:1 we read:

`Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine (word of the beginning) of Christ, let us go on unto perfection'.

this `perfection' we see to be the parallel with the `rest' of chapter 4 by observing the second half of chapter 6:

`Things that accompany salvation' (9).

`The full assurance of hope unto the end' (11).

`Followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises' (12).

`And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise' (15).

In 4:3 we read of works that were done since the overthrow of the world, and in 9:25,26 we read that Christ did

not offer Himself often as the High Priest who entered the most Holy Place yearly with the blood of another, for in

that case He must have suffered often since the overthrow of the world.

The work of the six days' creation is brought into line with the work of redemption, as indeed it was a part. The

rest that remaineth unto the people of God is a rest which follows completed work. The epistle will go on to develop

the twofold character of this rest. It will first of all show it to be the result of the great finished Work of Christ

Whose one Offering caused the oft-repeated sacrifice of the law to `rest' (pauo - cease) from being offered (Heb.

10:2). And secondly it will show it to be the result by grace of that faith which obtained promises and was the

substance of things hoped for. Sabbath succeeding work is not gospel, it is reward. `Let us labour therefore' while

we at the same time rest in the finished Work of Christ.

It is tolerably certain that in the book of the Revelation the Lord Jesus Christ enters into His office as the great

King-Priest, `after the order of Melchisedec' (see Psa. 110). This brings the Apocalypse and the epistle to the

Hebrews into line. The fact too that both books treat of the overcomer and the New Jerusalem will add to this sense

of similarity. We have been considering the `rest that remaineth unto the people of God' and in Revelation that rest

is materialized. There too we have the words:

`Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours;

and their works do follow them' (Rev. 14:13).

The concluding verses of Hebrews 4 contain a two-fold presentation of Christ: (1) as He appears to the seven

churches (Rev. 2 and 3); and (2) as the merciful High Priest, Who can sympathize with His people's weaknesses.

`For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing

asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the

heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the

eyes of Him to Whom we must give an account' (Heb. 4:12,13 not AV JP).

In Revelation 2:12-16 Christ says:

`These things saith He which hath the sharp sword with two edges ... Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and

will fight against them with the sword of My mouth'.

The words spoken to each of the seven churches are searching indeed. Their works are known; the One Who

speaks is a Judge of the thoughts and intents of the heart. His purpose too is to lead them on to perfection or as the

Revelation words it, to `overcome'. So in Hebrews 4, the searching statement of verses 12 and 13 is addressed to

those who are being urged to endure to the end.

Some commentators say that the reference in Hebrews 4:12 is exclusively to the written Word, while others

maintain that it can only refer to the living Word. It is evident that somewhere before verse 13 the personal element

is introduced. The simplest view seems to be that which is expressed in the figure of Revelation 1:16, `And out of

His mouth went a sharp twoedged sword' and Revelation 19:13 `His name is called The Word of God'. The apostle,

in Hebrews 4:12,13, speaks of Christ together with the Word, using it for His people's good. There is possibly a

reference also to that specific passage of the Word which underlines the apostle's argument, viz. Psalm 95, which