The Living and Powerful Word of God (Heb. 4:12-13)

This sermon was preached on 28/4/2013

In our previous study, we noted how one of the marks of modern society is restlessness and how this problem is handled by the author of Hebrews in this chapter. The answer to restlessness and unease is Jesus. In verses 12 and 13, we can that the author is dealing with another contemporary problem, the lack of truth. We live in a cosmetic age, in which the truth is hidden by all kinds of things. The term ‘cosmetic’ means superficial, and that is what a society becomes when it loses truth. One of the saddest features of postmodernity is its use of words to hide the truth. We call it ‘spin’, but spinning is not limited to politicians. What our society needs is a source of truth, a source that will not only detail the truth in general, but which will also tell me the truth about myself. Here, our author tells us that the source of truth is here, the word of God.

A great deal of discussion has taken place as to who or what is meant by the phrase ‘the word of God’ in verse 12. Some, such as John Owen and John Gill, argue that it refers to Jesus, who as we know is called by this title in John 1; others, such as John Calvin, argue that it refers to the Bible or to the message of the Bible. Arguments in favour of the phrase referring to Jesus would include the overall purpose of the letter to the Hebrews which was to get the them to focus on Christ. In addition, verse 13 refers to a divine Being, and therefore could refer to Jesus as the future Judge. Yet there are aspects of the author’s description that suggest he means the written word rather than Christ; it is peculiar to say that Jesus is sharp or that he personally penetrates into a person’s inner life. So for what it is worth, I think it refers to the Bible.

Yet we must bear in mind the imagery from the Book of Revelation in which Jesus is depicted as speaking to the church (‘Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth’ – Rev. 2:16) and to the world (‘Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should strike the nations’) with a sharp sword. So I think it is possible to find a solution which does not mean that Jesus or God is not involved when the word of God is declared or read. The Lord is always present to apply his word, and this explains the author’s statement in verse 13 that God makes all things open to his own eyes through the declaration of his word. I suppose I am suggesting that we can take both interpretations and combine them in order to get the answer. In fact, I think that is often the solution to a biblical passage where more than one interpretation is possible

What is the Bible?

In these verses, the author says what the word of God is and what the word of God does. He says that the word is alive and powerful. We have already noted one aspect of its ‘aliveness’, which is that its effects are not limited to when the words were first said or written. In saying that the word of God is alive, the author is saying that God’s word is always relevant. It does not become irrelevant because of a different era or culture. Whatever the time or whatever the place, the Bible is God’s word for today. This does not mean that we react to it in the same way as previous generations may have done. Because of the coming of Jesus and the spread of the gospel throughout the world, we read Old Testament passages through the light of these developments.

For example, when an Old Testament believer sang Psalm 23, he might have in mind that his Shepherd was the Lord who wrought the great deliverance of Israel from Egypt. We can think of the Shepherd in that way too, but in addition we think of him as Jesus who called himself the Good Shepherd who died for his sheep. The increase of understanding has continued to make the word of God relevant. Instead of making it irrelevant, as is what happens with other types of informative literature, the developments make the Bible more relevant to our situations.

What we did with the title of God in Psalm 23 can be done with the entire Old Testament. For example, what happens to all the chapters that detail the rituals for the sacrifices that the Israelites were to offer? The New Testament is clear that the sacrificial system has passed away for ever. Does this mean that these passages have become irrelevant? No, it does not.

I can point out at least four ways in which these passages in Leviticus are relevant for us. First, they still remind us that God is holy and can only be approached through a suitable sacrifice; second, they remind us that only a flawless sacrifice is acceptable, and this requirement helps us to understand the necessity of the perfectness of the Saviour; third, they remind us that the sacrifice that God requires is an entire one resulting in death, and this points to the agony of the Saviour’s death on the cross; fourth, they remind us that sacrifice is costly (offer a perfect animal), and this challenges us regarding the nature of sacrificial service.

The fact is, every passage of the word of God is always relevant. The exact situation may no longer exist, but the principles that were detailed in that situation always apply.

The Bible is also powerful

Yet we know that a message can be relevant but ineffective. A politician may make a speech that accurately describes our society and may include helpful suggestions in what he says. Yet because he delivered the speech in the back of beyond or made it to a powerless group, his relevant message has no effect on the public. This cannot be said about the Word of God. Whenever it is spoken, it does something. For example, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2:15-17: ‘For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.’ When Paul passed on God’s message, his words did not have a neutral effect. Instead they wither brought spiritual blessing or spiritual hardening.

The word of God is always powerful. In Isaiah 55:10-11, he says through the prophet, ‘For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.’ These verses that we have quoted prove that the word of God is the word of a King that always come sovereignty. We trifle with it at our own danger.

The author also points out that the word of God comes sharply. In other words, when it comes we feel it. It probes into the hidden depths of our beings, here called the soul and spirit. When it comes into our inner man, the word of God analyses us. Our thoughts and attitudes come under the review of God. Things that we thought were secret suddenly come under a heavenly scrutiny. Thoughts that we regarded as harmless are now perceived as serious rebellions against the throne of God. Motives which we may have imagined as being pure are seen in all their self-centredness. What is happening is that the word of God is convicting us of our sins or pointing out to us our needs. We find ourselves like David, when Nathan the prophet delivered God’s word and said to the self-righteous king, ‘You are the man!’

At times, the heavenly Swordsman gives several thrusts one after the other, a sequence of powerful assaults that weaken the sinner in his heart. All his defences are removed and he finds himself naked before the all-seeing eye of God. His filthy garments of self-righteousness in which he was trusting have been torn apart by the living and powerful word of God. It can almost seem that God as pointed out to him that he has broken all the divine commandments, and he lies crumpled in heart before the omniscient God.

Yet, at other times, this sharp use of the sword of the Spirit may come suddenly, without any expectation of it. I recall the first time a verse from the Bible challenged me. It happened when I casually picked up a Bible which had suggested readings in it. Out of curiosity, I looked at what it had to say about life and was directed to John 10:10, where Jesus says, ‘I am come that they might have life, and have it more abundantly.’ I was not converted on that occasion, but the effect of that sharp thrust of the sword of God never left me. Although I did not realise it, the word was pointing me to Jesus as the answer to the needs of my soul.

There is the well-known story of an incident that took place in the life of Spurgeon that illustrates this aspect of suddenness. On one occasion, he was checking the acoustics in a place where they had to worship while their church was being built. Unaware that anyone else was present, Spurgeon proclaimed, ’Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.’ Unknown to Spurgeon, a workman was performing a task in the gallery. He heard the words of Spurgeon, and was converted shortly afterwards.

Continuing with Spurgeon, he, in a sermon on these verses, tells the extraordinary experience of a Mr. Thorpe of Bristol. This man belonged to an organisation called the Hell-Fire Club and its purpose was to mock Christianity. Thorpe went to hear George Whitefield with the intention of imitating him at the next meeting of the club. The time of the meeting came, and Thorpe began to speak, imitating the mannerisms of Whitefield and quoting his words. Suddenly he stopped and sat down, and announced he had been converted while making his mocking speech. The word of God is alive and powerful even when it is spoken in jest.

Similarly, I knew a man who was suddenly converted on the upper deck of a London bus. The bus stopped at traffic lights near to where an open-air preacher was speaking. During the few seconds in which the bus was stopped, the passenger heard the words of the open-air preacher, and was converted.

Yet eventually, the word of God comes sweetly into the heart of the sinner. The voice that condemned now pardons. From heaven, the convicted sinner hears the glad message, ‘Son, your sins which were many are forgiven.’ The word that analysed and convicted now comforts. And the sinner finds that the word that could convict in such detail can also comfort to a great degree. Jesus, in his word and through his word, pours his joy into the pardoned heart.

The obvious deduction that can be made about the Bible is that it is unique. There is not another book like it among all the millions of books that have been printed throughout human history. We can think of its effects in the days of the early church when its message brought the Roman Empire to its knees; we can think of its effects at the Reformation when the return to the Bible by the Reformers liberated millions and opened up for humanity the variety of ways by which individuals could glorify God in the various areas of life. While we rightly admire and rejoice in the way that the word of God changed the world, we have also to ask, ‘Is the word of God changing me?’