CHAPTER FOUR HEBREWS CHAPTER
FOUR THE TITLE OF THE MESSAGE WHAT THE WORD OF GOD IS WHAT
THE WORD OF GOD IS THE WORD OF GOD IS ALSO CALLED THE GOSPEL
IT'S CALLED THE GOSPEL Christ. He's the Word of God. Christ
is the Gospel, the Gospel is Christ. And the Gospel is no
weak message. It's no weak message. That's
why we don't have gimmicks here to get people to make a profession. The Gospel is enough. It's enough. Craig read over in Jeremiah 23.
Turn over to Jeremiah 23. He read this back in the study. In Jeremiah 23 in verse, let
me see here, 29. It's not my word. LIKE AS A FIRE, saith the LORD,
AND LIKE A HAMMER THAT BREAKETH THE ROCK IN PIECES." The gospel is the power of God,
Paul said in Romans. It's the power of God unto salvation. My persuasiveness IS NOT THE
POWER OF GOD TO SALVATION, IT'S GOD'S UNADULTERATED WORD, THE
GOSPEL, AND WE DON'T NEED ANYTHING ELSE. WHAT DO YOU DO FOR YOUR
YOUNG PEOPLE? WELL, WHAT FEW YOUNG PEOPLE WE
GOT, WE PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THEM, THAT'S THE TRUTH, WE PREACH
THE GOSPEL. PRAYING THAT GOD IS PLEASED TO
TAKE HIS WORD, HIS GOSPEL and penetrate the heart like He has
some of us, to penetrate the heart, to lay it open, and let
them see what they are, and let them see who God is and their
native Christ. That s why we preach the gospel, and we preach it also for His
glory. WE PREACH IT FOR HIS GLORY, WE
PREACH IT TO FEED THE SHEEP, AND WE PREACH IT BECAUSE IT IS
THE POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION. IT IS A POWERFUL MESSAGE, IT
HAS BROUGHT DOWN KINGDOMS, OR THE KINGDOM OF DARKNESS, WHERE MEN AND WOMEN WERE JUST
LIVING IN ABSOLUTE IDOLATRY AND DEBAUCHERY. Like the Thessalonians,
I think of them, He said, The word of God, the gospel came
to you, not in word only, but in power and demonstration of
the Spirit, and you left your idols and you followed us. And
you have become such a witness that people tell us about you.
That's what it will do. It'll bring down the kingdom
of darkness. It has set the captive free. It set me free. IT SETS
SOME OF YOU FREE. YOU KNOW THE TRUTH, AND THE TRUTH,
HE SAID, SHALL SET YOU FREE. WE ARE FREE TO WORSHIP GOD IN
SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH. WE ARE FREE FROM THE CEREMONIES.
I'M SO GLAD OF THAT. WE'RE FREE FROM THE LAW. WE'RE FREE TO WORSHIP HERE TONIGHT
WITHOUT ANY FRILLS, WITHOUT ANY SHOW, WITHOUT ANY CEREMONIES. WE ARE FREE. IN OUR HEARTS TO
WORSHIP GOD IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH. THE GOSPEL HAS ENABLED
US TO DO THAT. IT'S THE GOSPEL. THE GOSPEL HAS
CONQUERED ME AND YOU. IT'S ACCOMPLISHED WHAT OUR PARENTS
TRIED TO DO. IT HAS MADE US OBEDIENT SONS
AND DAUGHTERS. THAT'S WHAT THE GOSPEL CAN DO
FOR US. NOW WE HAVE BEEN WARNED BY THE APOSTLE OF HAVING AN EVIL
HEART OF UNBELIEF IN DEPARTING FROM THE LIVING GOD. WE ARE TOLD IN THE SCRIPTURES
TO MAKE YOUR CALLING AND ELECTION SURE. It's not teaching us to
go around doubting, but it's to be sober-minded and not presumptuous
because we are by nature presumptuous. All the time presuming, aren't
we? HE WARNS US OF AN EVIL HEART
OF UNBELIEF IN DEPARTING FROM THE LIVING GOD AND FALLING SHORT
OF THAT TRUE REST THAT'S IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. WE HAVE A
REAL REST IN HIM, AND I'VE LEARNED THIS OVER THE YEARS. THIS REST
COMES BY DEGREES. AS WE GROW IN GRACE AND IN KNOWLEDGE
OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, WE GROW IN THIS REST. WE LEARN TO
REALLY TAKE GOD AT HIS WORD We learn to rest in the Lord Jesus
Christ and not our feelings. Feelings come and go. They just,
you know, one day we feel good, one day we feel bad, but the
Word of God does not change. It doesn't change. And I've learned
as I've grown older in Christ to take God at His Word, study
the Word, digest the Word, and when you need it, it's there.
and you can stand on it. You can stand on His Word when
your feelings are all out of sorts, when they're all out of
sorts. God's Word is never out of sorts,
it never changes. He now tells the Hebrews and
us that the Word of God, which is the Gospel, is SHARPER, it's DIVIDING, it's REVEALING
when it comes in power, this is what happens. Now we know as I've said that
the written word and the incarnate word are never divided, I've
said that many times. They're interchangeable, but
they're never divided. And so He's going to speak here
and tell us about the Word, the Gospel of God, what it is, what
it is. I can say this from EXPERIENCE,
NOTHING EXPOSES THE HEART. NOTHING EXPOSES ME AND YOU FOR
WHO WE REALLY ARE, LIKE THE GOSPEL DOES. When it comes in POWER,
IT PENETRATES THE DEEPEST RECESSES OF THE SOUL. THE DEEPEST RECESSES
OF THE SOUL. IT DIVIDES THE REAL FROM THE
FALSE. He's been speaking here and warning about hypocrisy,
about a profession and not a possession. And the Word of God REVEALS to
us. It reveals to us, it lays open the heart and it reveals
the real or the false. Lord, I can say this and you
can say this. Some of you who believe, you
can say, Lord, you know all things, you know I love you. YOU KNOW
I BELIEVE LORD HELP I BELIEVE HELP THOU MINE UNBELIEVED I DO
BELIEVE I DO BELIEVE AND WHEN I HEAR THE GOSPEL PREACHED IT
JUST ENCOURAGES ME IT ENCOURAGES ME THAT THAT I CAN REJOICE IN
IT THAT I CAN LITERALLY REJOICE IN THE GOSPEL WHEN I HEAR IT
MY HEART LEAPS WITHIN ME And that's evidence to me, that's
HIS SPIRIT BEARING WITNESS WITH MY SPIRIT that I'm a son of God
when I take such joy in the gospel. When I hear the gospel preached,
when I hear Christ preached, it brings me great joy. Now He
tells us here in verse 11, the labor to enter into that rest,
not just rest, but to enter into that rest, a particular rest. THAT REST PROVIDED BY JESUS CHRIST,
HIS PERSON, HIS WORK OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, HIS BLOOD SHED FOR THE ATONEMENT
OF OUR SINS. REST IN THAT! REST IN IT! I MEAN SOUL REST, SOUL QUIETNESS, A QUIET CONSCIENCE. Well, you know what? Therapists
have made big money Big money from people just trying to do
find something that will quiet their conscience They give me
a pill give me a drug do something But only the blood of christ
can truly quiet our conscience and give us real peace Only his
blood can do that And we have that in the lord jesus christ
Now this word LABOR means there in verse 11, and this is a strong
word, LABOR. It means this, INTENSITY OF PURPOSE
FOLLOWED BY INTENSITY OF EFFORT TOWARD THE REALIZATION OF THAT
PURPOSE. It s a real intense effort to
REST. It's a real intense effort that
you might rest, you might realize that rest that's in Christ. And
then he tells us here in verse 12, this is the verse I was really
wanting to get to, or to start with anyway. And he gives us here what the
gospel, what the Word of God is. Well, the Word of God is
quick and powerful. and sharper than any two-edged
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." The Gospel which is the Word of God
is what's spoken of here. Now, what the Word of God is,
First it says it's quick. This is an old English word and
it means living, living. This book, I'm telling you in reality, this
book is a living book. This word, these words, this
book is a living word because it's his word. I just read to
you these verses a minute ago. Do you know who was speaking
to you? You say, well, you were John. I read his word. He's speaking. Our living Lord,
the living word, Christ, the word of God is speaking. And
when you open this book, it's a living book. It's not a dead
book. Every other book I've ever read
is a dead book. It doesn't change me. I can read a book and it doesn't
penetrate my heart. It doesn't open me up to myself. It doesn't change me. This one
does. This one does. Powerful. It's quick. It's a living book. Look over in 1 Peter. 1 Peter
chapter 1. and look at verse 23 being born
again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the word
of god which liveth and abideth forever the word here that we're
looking at that we're reading is living it's alive it's a living
word FOR ALL FLESH IS AS GRASS, AND ALL THE GLORY OF MAN IS THE
FLOWER OF GRASS. THE GRASS WITHERS, AND THE FLOWER
OF THE EARTH FALLS AWAY. BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURETH
FOREVER." It's the everlasting gospel, isn't it? It's called
the everlasting gospel. And this is the Word which by
the gospel is preached unto you. This is the Word which by the
gospel is preached to you. Christ is preached to you from
this Word. This is His Word. It's a LIVING WORD. That's why
it is so important. It's so important that we study
the Word of God. It's a LIVING WORD. It's a LIVING
BOOK. And then it's POWERFUL. It's
ACTIVE. It CONVICTS and CONVERTS the
soul. No other book does that. If God's going to save a sinner,
He's going to send that sinner the gospel. I mean THE gospel. He's going to send him a preacher.
And that preacher, like Philip, is going to take the Word and
preach Christ from the Word. And God's going to convert the
soul. You see, it's a Living Word, it's a Living Seed. the Living Seed and it's POWERFUL,
it's ACTIVE. Listen to this in 1 Thessalonians
2, verse 13. For this cause also thank we
God without ceasing, because when ye received the word of
God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of
men, but as it is in truth, as it is in truth the word of God. Now listen to this. WHICH EFFECTUALLY
WORKETH ALSO IN YOU THAT BELIEVE. It's a work in you. When you
get up in the morning, when you go throughout the day, you who
believe, the Word of God is working in you. It's effectual. You'll
go throughout the day and a scripture will come to your mind. Some
portion of scripture you'll think upon Christ. It's effectual. It's always, always working in
you. It's alive. It's alive and it
continues to work, it continues to subdue this old flesh that
we have to carry around. The Word of God, I tell you this
is why it's so important studying the Word, it helps subdue this
flesh. We are constantly being instructed
out of the Word of God. And when our Lord speaks His
Word, Whatever it is He speaks, IT HAPPENS! IT'S POWERFUL! IT HAPPENS! Isaiah 55, verse 10, He spoke
of the rain coming down and watering the earth, and the earth bringing
forth its bud, its fruit, and He says, So shall My word be
that goeth forth out of My mouth. I don't believe I'm the only
one speaking here tonight. If I am, it's a pitiful service. He said, THE WORD GOES FORTH
OUT OF MY MOUTH. So shall my word be that goeth
forth out of my mouth, it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that
which I pleased, that for which I sinned. The word tonight being
preached It will have its effect on every person in this room. Now God knows the effect, I don't. I don't know how this is affecting
you but it will have its effect and it'll be a saver of life
unto life to some and a saver of death unto death to some.
That's what the scripture says. It will have its effect, its
intended effect that God sent it IT SHALL PROSPER IN THE THING
WHERETO I SENT IT." The word went out of my mouth and I sent
it and He has sent it here on a Thursday night to Bethel Baptist
Church to everyone in this room everyone and it will have it
and you know it can it can soften it can soften and it can harden you know I've been reading we've
been going through Exodus and I was reading there today where
Pharaoh twice hardened his heart you know God said let my people
go and uh after he sent the plagues and took them away and I said
Pharaoh hardened his heart all those all those plagues as
he saw and he just hardened his heart that's all it did harden
his heart GOD'S WORD IS POWERFUL AND IT
WILL ACCOMPLISH EXACTLY WHAT HE SENT IT TO ACCOMPLISH, AND
IT'S SHARPER. I SAT DOWN IN MY STUDY OVER AT
THE HOUSE, I HAVE A STUDY HERE AND I HAVE ONE OVER AT THE HOUSE,
BECAUSE I GET OVER THERE AND I THINK IF SOMETHING HITS ME
I GOT TO SIT DOWN AND WRITE IT DOWN OR LOOK AND READ IT. I'VE LEARNED ABOUT STUDYING,
IT NEVER STOPS. But it's sharper. And I sat down there and I sharpened
my knife. I keep my knife, I keep my knife really sharp. And I
just took all three blades and I sharpened them with just, it
would shave the hair on you. God's word is sharper. You see, it never gets dull.
God's Word never gets dull. My knife, I've sharpened it many
times, and I'll have to sharpen it many more times. It gets dull
as I use it. But you know, the Word of God
doesn't have a dull edge. It never has a dull edge. There
is no part, I thought about this today as I was reading that,
and putting down on my notes, I thought, THERE IS NO PART of
this book right here, this Word, there's no part of it that's
dull! I might be dull, but the Word's not! The Word of God is
never dull, it's SHARP! Sharper. Be careful how you handle
it. It's sharper than any two-edged sword. That's why it's dangerous
when somebody gets the Word of God and they start to handle
it, and they don't know how to handle the sword. Instead, they
just cut people to pieces with it. They don't know how to handle
it. They twist the Word of God to
their own destruction and those who HEAR them. That's why I say
to people all the time, BE CAREFUL WHO YOU LISTEN TO! BE CAREFUL
WHO YOU LISTEN TO! It's very, I can't tell you how
sobering it is to handle the Word of God. You know, Tommy
was up here Sunday, brought a good message up here Sunday. It's
a blessing to me to stand here and brag on Christ and to talk
to you about Jesus Christ. It's also very sobering because
I better use right words. Solomon said the preacher sought
right words, acceptable words what he said. The preacher sought
acceptable words. What are acceptable words? What
are acceptable words? God's Word. That s the only word
that s acceptable, it s God s Word. Thus saith the Lord. It s God
s Word. It s sharper, there s no dull
side to it, it cuts, it lays bare the soul. This I think as far as this is
concerned, this particular verse, it first definitely concerns
those whom God saves because there's many who sit under the
Word of God and they don't hear a thing, they are as dead as
a doornail, they come and go and they just never have any
interest in Christ, they never confess Christ, they just come
and go. But now if it comes in power, IT COMES AS THE WAY WE
ARE READING IT HERE. YOU'RE GOING TO KNOW IT. YOU'RE
GOING TO KNOW IT. AND THERE'S GOING TO BE A CHANGE. AND THEN I THINK THIS ALSO IS
SECONDLY CAN BE APPLIED TO THOSE IN JUDGEMENT. HE SAID MY WORD
WILL JUDGE YOU. BUT THEN IT'S TOO LATE. it's revealed those in judgment
it's revealed who they are and what they are what they've done
but it's too late it's too late but it's sharper it's not dull
it cuts it cuts it lays bare the soul our lord said this i
come not to send peace but a sword this is a sword i'm handling
here this evening This is the sword of the Lord. Isn't that
what's on the front of this, a sword? It's a sword. And our Lord said, I didn't come
to send peace. Everybody thinks Jesus wants
peace here. It's just all getting long. It's
just, why can't we, what was the song years ago? Here I go
again. Why can't we all live together? I can't remember who
sang that. But there's a song, why can't
we all just live together? We can't. And we'll see that
in the, if the Lord enables me to deal with it, in the message
Sunday. Because God said, let my people
go, three days journey. And Pharaoh said, would you just
go ahead and sacrifice to the Lord here? Moses said, can't
do that. Can't do that. I'll tell you why, Sunday. But
he said, we can't do that. There's got to be a separation.
Come ye out from among them, touch not the unclean thing.
Got to be a separation. But he said, I didn't come to
send peace, but a sword. It'll divide families. This word right here will divide
families. It'll divide the closest friends.
It'll divide. Someone wrote this. When this
sword comes to you in power, it wounds and kills, yet it kills
nothing but that which ought to be killed. It kills our pride,
self-righteousness, lust, and envy, and sin. That's what it
kills in the believer. That's what that sword, that's
what this sword right here is doing for you whom God has saved. He's killing that pride and that
self-righteousness and that sin and that lust that we hang on
to. And that sword right there, I
couldn't tell you how many times I've sat and looked, and still.
I listen to Henry all the time, I listen to a lot of other preachers
also and the Word just isn't it convicting? It's convicting
but in that conviction is DIRECTION. He's leading and guiding us with
His Word and His Word is convicting us and it shows us our sins,
it shows us our shortcomings. WE THINK WE BELIEVE, WE DO BELIEVE,
WE DO, WE DO. And we say this, WE KNOW THAT
WE DON?T BELIEVE LIKE WE OUGHT TO BELIEVE, DON?T WE? But every
one of us believes that we believe more than we actually do. And then listen, IT?S PIERCING,
IT?S SHARPER, BUT WHAT?S A SHARP SWORD GOOD FOR? IF YOU DON?T
USE IT, IT?S really if it just stays in its sheath and that's
where it stays forever it's good for nothing but when it's drawn
out God uses it to pierce the heart the soul he says he plunges
it right into us he plunges his word which is his sword right
into the heart right into the soul IT GOES RIGHT THROUGH US,
THE GOSPEL GOES THROUGH THE SOUL OF A PERSON AND REVEALS WHAT
IS IN THERE. UNTIL THE GOSPEL COMES TO YOU,
YOU THINK YOU'RE THIS, THEN THE GOSPEL COMES AND YOU SEE YOU'RE
THAT. YOU THINK YOU'RE THIS PRETTY GOOD PERSON, AND YOU SEE YOU'RE
THAT WRETCHED MAN. THAT'S WHAT YOU SEE. IT'S PIERCING. I thought of Christ
looking at Peter when Peter denied Him. You know, when he looked at Peter,
that look pierced right into his heart and Peter remembered
what he said and he went out and he wept bitterly. Now think
of it this way, the Word of God looked at him. The Word of God,
the Living Word, the Incarnate Word WITH HIS EYES, WHICH ARE
AS A FLAME OF FIRE, SPOKEN OF IN REVELATION, IT PIERCED HIS
SOUL WHEN HE LOOKED AT HIM, AND HE WEPT BITTERLY. HE WENT OUT
AND WEPT BITTERLY. AND I TELL YOU, WHEN THE WORD
OF GOD, WHEN GOD SENDS THE WORD IN POWER AND IT PIERCES THE SOUL,
THEN WE FINALLY SEE WHO WE REALLY ARE. AND WE SEE OURSELVES in
a measure as God sees us I don't think we could ever see ourselves
as we really are as God really sees us we couldn't handle it
we wouldn't be able to function I don't think we could function
if we could actually see what our Lord experienced what He
could see we couldn't even function we wouldn't be able to get out
of bed it's piercing it goes it goes
right to the very soul and it's dividing it says here even to
the dividing the sunder of soul and spirit joints and marrow
that's man you know what i thought of of course you don't you i
gotta tell you Mr. Obvious here. But anyway,
here's what I thought of when I thought of dividing the center
of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. I thought of, is it the
coroner that does the autopsy or the person that does the autopsy? He takes that person, and this
person is laid out on a gurney, and they just do an autopsy. They cut into the brain and look
into it and see if he can tell if he had a stroke. Cuts into
the heart, cuts into the lungs, cuts into all different parts
of the body, and he can see if this person was diseased, if
the heart was diseased, if he had hardened into the artery.
All that stuff is evident when he lays it open. And that's what
He's doing here, He's laying us open COMPLETELY, NOTHING HID! He's GONE THROUGH and THROUGH
us, if that makes sense. He's GONE THROUGH us, DIVIDING,
of soul and spirit. There is no other book or word
that is written that can do this. This is LIVING! This is POWERFUL! This is SHARPER! This is PIERCING!
This is DIVIDING! The Gospel penetrates the innermost
recesses of the soul and spirit and as a sword it cuts through
the bone and marrow and shows what all is there. And that's when you can say,
Woe is me, I'm undone. I'm undone. Job said, Job said,
By the hearing of the ear, I have heard of thee, now mine eyes
see of thee, I abhor myself. I abhor myself. You know, we
abhorred others until God showed us ourselves, then we abhorred
ourselves. We're the worst one of the lot. That's why Paul said,
He's the chief of sinners. It's one tribe where everybody's
a chief. Everybody's a chief in this tribe. I tell you what it does, I said
it's dividing, it's also dividing the sheep from the goats. This
word will divide the sheep from the goats. It will. And it's a discerner. You know
what that means? To judge. To judge. God lays everything open. And His judgment of us is true.
this is who you are, this is what you are. The discerner means
to SIFT OUT and ANALYZE the evidence. Like I said, it's like an autopsy. Analyze the evidence and the
intent of the heart. It's revealing. It lays open
the thoughts and intents of the heart. What's really going on
in there? We can hide and we do. We hide a lot from each other,
but God knows the heart. God sees exactly who I am. And
I'm telling you, when you learn that, that is like a death blow
to hypocrisy. Because what really matters is
my standing before God. It's not my standing before you.
And it's not what you think of me. I hope you think well of
me, but really, does that matter? You're not going to send me to
hell. I mean, I hope you think well of
it, but that's not the one that really matters. The one that
matters is what God thinks of me. What matters is my relationship
to Him. That's what matters. My relationship
to Him. God sees the heart. He sees the
thoughts and intents of the heart. Listen here to Genesis 6. AND
GOD SAW THAT THE WICKEDNESS OF MAN WAS GREAT IN THE EARTH, THAT
EVERY IMAGINATION OF THE THOUGHTS OF HIS HEART WAS ONLY EVIL CONTINUALLY,
AND IT HASN'T CHANGED. EVERY THOUGHT BEFORE GOD SAVED
YOU, EVERY THOUGHT YOU HAD WAS EVIL. YOU KNOW THAT? I DO NOW,
I DIDN'T THEN. BUT EVERY THOUGHT HAD A SELFISH
MOTIVE TO IT. And this word INTENSE, the INTENSE
of the heart, means the state of mind with which an act is
done. It's the VOLITION, it's the PURPOSE,
the WILL of the person. This is why I'm doing it. God
sees that. God sees it. Neither is there
any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things
are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
Christ is the LORD OMNISCIENT, He's everywhere. There's nothing
created that He does not know altogether. No person He doesn't know. Psalm
139, verse 4, Psalm 139, verse 4, Psalm 139, verse 4, Psalm
139, verse 4, Psalm 139, verse 4, Psalm 139, verse 4, Psalm 139, verse 4, Psalm 139, verse 4, Psalm
139, verse 4, Psalm 139, verse 4, Psalm 139, verse 4, Psalm 139, verse 4, Psalm
139, verse 4, Psalm 139, verse 4, Psalm 139, verse 4, Psalm 139, verse 4, Psalm 139, verse
4, Psalm 139, verse 4, Psalm 139, verse 4, Psalm 139, verse 4, Psalm 139, verse
4, Psalm 139, verse 4, Psalm 139, verse 4, Psalm 139, verse 4, Psalm 139, verse
4, Psalm 139, verse 4, Psalm 139, verse 4, Psalm 139, verse 4, Psalm 139, verse 4 You know the meaning of this
naked and open has this meaning and it has to do with the sacrifice. They would take that animal and
they would take a stretch and twist its neck and expose the
juggler. That's the meaning of it. It's to seize and twist the neck
or the throat so they can cut the throat of the sacrifice.
Naked and open. God sees us as we are and we
know that, don't we? He sees us, He sees faith if
we believe, He sees faith, He sees those who believe and those
who don't believe, He sees that too. To be naked and open is simply
this, to be exposed, to be completely exposed. That's what it is. The Gospel EXPOSES US TO OURSELVES. God ALREADY KNOWS WHO WE ARE.
It EXPOSES US TO OURSELVES. That's why I said this applies
to those whom God SAVES FIRST. And we're NAKED AND OPEN BEFORE
HIM WITH WHOM WE HAVE TO DO. Everybody's got to deal with
Everybody's got to deal with God sooner or later, everybody. Now, if the gospel has come to
you in power, you realize you need one to stand in your place,
to stand between you and God, and I'll deal with that next
week. I sure don't have time to finish that. So we'll pick
it up there next week, Lord willing.