Text Hebrews 4:12-13 PP When God Speaks 3/6-7/2010 Illus The great evangelist of the 18 th century, George Whitefield, was an incredibly used by God to bring revival. But he was hounded by a band of men who called themselves the Hell-fire Club who would gather to mock and deride him, whom they called Mr. Squinty on account of his small eyes. One of them, Mr. Thorpe, stood up in their midst and gave a brilliant imitation of Whitefield delivering one of his sermons. It was incredibly accurate, a perfect imitation of his tone and facial expressions as he quoted scripture and Whitefield s sermon. All of a sudden, amidst the laughter of his friends, Thorpe had to sit down, because he was pierced through and was converted on the spot. The Word of God, so powerful, changed him in the midst of ridiculing one of its preachers. Thorpe went on to be a prominent Christian leader in the city of Bristol Our passage today is well known and often misunderstood, because typically its first word is overlooked For The entire book of Hebrews is like a string of pearls tied together by the insistence that Christ is supreme and we must put our faith in Him to enter His rest Verse 11 tells us: Let us therefore strive [eagerly and hurriedly seek] to enter that rest, so that no one may fall [literally be a day late ] by the same sort of disobedience. PP Paraphrase-Don t hesitate, hurry, trust in Jesus Christ for salvation and become obedient to Him lest you come up a day late and miss the rest He has for you PP That rest is, verses 9-10, both the rest from trying to earn God s forgiveness and grace as well as eternal rest Don t be guilty of the same sort of disobedience like the Israelites who had hardened their hearts that would not trust But what was it that they wouldn t trust? 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. (4:2) They heard from God through Moses, through God s miraculous works, but they would not trust this good news that God loved them and would deliver them They murmured and complained against God and wanted to go back to Egypt Just like some in this little church in Italy were drifting away from the good news of Jesus Christ and back to the Law, which had made them prisoners of sin Now we can begin to see that the phrase word of God in verse 12 isn t referring to Jesus Christ, nor even necessarily to the Scriptures itself PP The Word of God includes any method God uses to communicate to human beings Primarily through His Scriptures, but it has been His angels, His Son, His Spirit, His creation, His people and sometimes even dreams and visions that He gives All of these are ways that God has and that God does speak to us And when He speaks, we cannot repeat the deadly mistake of Israel when they hardened their hearts to God s message, the good news of hope and rest Let me briefly make one comment on what I just said
I just said that the word of God in verse 12 is the message of God primarily spoken through His Scriptures, but it has been His angels, His Son, His Spirit, His creation, His people and sometimes even dreams and visions that He gives All sorts of crazy and dangerous messages from God have been claimed and it moves many to say He only speaks through His Word today God always speaks consistently with His scriptures, and never in addition to them He hasn t written a P.S. to His bible, there is no postscript that can claim infallibility and inspiration There are no necessary truths that were left out of the original scriptures Yet sometimes He speaks to us in a way that personally applies that truth I remember sitting under a large oak tree praying and reading my Bible, my heart full of grief and anxiety over what looked like my father s last fight with cancer My eyes were drawn to those great, spreading branches and I sensed God speaking to my heart that the canopy of protection that tree provided for those beneath it reveals the heart and power of my Heavenly Father He knows all my family s struggles, and He is a sure refuge where I can hide beneath The anxiety within me was overwhelmed by and replaced with a deep sense of peace and it moved me to the Psalms that speak of God s sovereign, tender care for His people PP the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven. Colossians 1:23 God spoke to me through His creation and confirmed His message by His infallible, powerful Word Hebrews is telling us, when God speaks, it is We do not love a mute God He speaks to us to encourage us, exhort us, to change us And to some, He speaks to reveal deception, hardness of hearts, and unbelief And this is the context to what we are about to see in these two beautiful verses PP Four reasons why we must listen when God speaks PP 1-The word of God is alive For the word of God is living (12a) The messages that God speaks is alive, precisely because He is alive! Plato was once one of the supreme thinkers of the world But today, it would be unlikely to find a huge public interest in Daily Studies in Plato God speaks to us what is always perfectly suited for right now in our lives He speaks to the exact condition of our hearts And this is the immediate context, to those who are hearing the gospel of salvation but have not yet put their hope and trust in Christ The word of God will uncover that unbelief and address it To His weary children, He speaks of His gracious promises to help us persevere
He speaks of His eternal intimate presence to those who are lonely To those who have been rejected, He speaks of the extent of His love And when He speaks, it s not an email that you can assign a priority flag to Everyone to whom He speaks, Christian or not, must assign God the greatest priority To postpone is to further harden your heart We need, like Job, to clap a hand over our mouths and listen and obey when God speaks PP 2-The Word is active and active God s Word is powerful! The scriptures, God s primary voice today, is not just an archived record of God s actions It is living today and it is working out the purposes of God around our world, in each of our lives The same voice that spoke the world into existence, and made the devil run in fear, that melted hearts in fear and seas became calm, brought a dead girl to life and a dead man from the grave That voice is active, it is filled with energy, not static, and it breathes life for people today Haven t you ever heard someone testify to God s acts of grace in their lives and it convicts or encourages you? Haven t you ever been reading the Bible and like a bolt of lightning, it grippingly speaks right to your heart and your situation? But the difference between the Scriptures and a well-written book is that it exerts the mighty power of God within us to change our character, kill pride and sin in us, transform our desires, strengthen our faith, and reveal the right way forward PP The Scriptures were not given to increase our knowledge but to change our lives. D. L. Moody When God speaks, His message goes deeper than any human voice or book can go Listen to God s message, His Word, His voice, His good news because it is filled with the very life of God and it is working out God s perfect, glorious purposes PP For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:10-11 But remember the context, God s living and active Word is speaking to those who are beginning to drift away, to those whose hearts are hardening to His voice Notice 3:7 ( Hear his voice ), and 3:15 (ditto), and 4:2 ( message they heard ) and 4:7 ( hear His voice ) Respond now, before it is too late, because His living and active Word is diagnosing the condition of each of our hearts
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. PP 3-The word of God is penetratingly precise How often do you hear a sermon and it seems like you are the only one in the room Or a testimony of God s grace and it cuts you to the heart Or a portion of Scripture that is the exact encouragement for what you needed? God message is sharper than a two-edged sword able to pierce even the hardest of hearts His Word penetrates past our defenses, our ridicule of the gospel and past our excuses Illus Chuck Swindoll and visiting a woman in the hospital whose husband smoking As we saw last week, the central strategy of sin is deception, the pleasant illusion of evil We need something to penetrate these shadows in our hearts, to cut the mask of deceit away and show us the true and awful face of sin To clear the cobwebs from our minds so we can think with belief and faith We must listen diligently, daily and constantly to God s voice as His Word penetrates to the utter depths of who we are and brings about His purposes PP 4-God sees all as the perfect judge 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. Verse 13 is a warning that must be heeded God sees everyone with crystal clear accuracy We are naked and exposed to Him naked means not only does God see all of every person, but even more, His voice strips away all that they hide behind Look with me at the power of God s voice in Hebrews 12:25-26 There were people in this little church, as well as our own day, that are deceived to think that they are righteous before God when they really aren t The word exposed is even more vivid and was used in several ways in ancient Greek PP a. It was a wrestler s word, and was used for bending back the head of the opponent and gripping the throat with such a hold that it brings him to exhaustion where he cannot move PP b. It was also a word used for bending the neck of an animal to inflict the knife s fatal stroke PP c. Finally, sometimes when a criminal was being led to judgment or to execution, a dagger, with its point upwards, was fixed under the chin so he could not bow his head to avoid recognition People may plug their ears to the words of God, but in the end He will grip them in such
a way that they cannot help but meet Him face to face There comes a time where every person will meet God face to face, and look Him in the eye and give an account His Word, as sharp as a dagger will hold each of our chins up to face Him eye to eye For His children, they will look into those eyes and see grace, love and acceptance But those who harden their hearts to God, they will see the fire of His wrath! Is God speaking to you today? Listen and respond to what verse 11 has said, eagerly seek to enter God s rest so that you may not be a day late for salvation by disobedience Pray