Today we are reading from Hebrews 4. For a bit of review, I’ve been going over the book of Hebrews, verse by verse for my past five posts. The author of Hebrews has discussed the supremacy of Jesus Christ in many ways. In Hebrews 1 we read that Jesus is superior to the prophets, in Hebrews 2 we learn that he’s superior to Angels, He’s superior to all the Kings and leaders of Israel. Hebrews 3 discusses how He is superior to all humans and to everything that we can see in creation, because he is the builder of everything that we can see. Just as the builder is worthy of more honor than a house, Jesus Christ is worthy of more honor than anything you can imagine that is part of creation. In Chapter 3 of Hebrews, the author takes this further and discusses how Jesus Christ represents a new covenant of Grace that is superior to the previous covenant of the Mosaic Law. In the beginning of Chapter 4, the author discusses at length how this New Covenant completes the law of Sabbath. The author affirms that Jesus Christ is our sabbath-rest. We can rest from our works and the idea that we are justified by those works, only when we are trusting in Jesus Christ. When we are in Christ we are declared righteous, we are declared worthy, we are declared forgiven of our sins. There is no good work that we can add to that; there is no bad work that we need to avoid to be eligible for that. It’s Grace; and nothing we bring to this arrangement makes us any more saved. Here’s where the author ends the idea about rest.
11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.
This is kind of where the author leaves us off at Hebrews 4:11. He leaves an exhortation that says let’s make every effort to enter that rest. Let’s not be disobedient. How were the Israelites disobedient? They did not trust God. They demonstrated their unbelief in Moses, and they preferred to trust in man or their own minds instead of trusting GOD or God’s word through Moses.. We need to realize that disbelief leads to perishing. This matter is so important that the author tells us to make every effort that we can to live a life of trust and faith in God. We need to make every effort that not just us but all of our brothers and sisters truly believe in God. That all understand that being saved and being right with God doesn’t mean being good. It means believing in Jesus and believing in the Sabbath Rest that he represents. It sounds like he’s switching gears here, but he’s actually moving on to describe how to make that effort. How do we strive to live lives of faith and trust? If you come to church here regularly, you probably have a good idea of what the answer is. We stress here that it’s most important for Christians to understand the Book. To Study the Bible. That’s our main goal here. So let’s start reading Hebrews 4:12
12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
First, the Word of God is alive! When you read John 1:1 you come to the understanding that in the Beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God. In some way, our Bibles are a form of God. That’s why you’ll hear many Christians say that the word of God is infallible. Some people who call themselves Christians say that the Bible merely contains the words of God. The Bible contains the message. But according to the Bible, that isn’t really enough. The Bible doesn’t just contain the word of God the Bible IS the word of God. I personally believe that. That means all of the Bible. You don’t need to sift through the Bible and take out extra extraneous information. Even though scripture contains quotes from Satan when he tempts Jesus, and even though there are parts that show the ugliest sides of humanity, I believe that every word in the Bible is from God and is truthful and honest in a way. The ugliness and lies grieve the Spirit and show us how far humanity’s relationship with God has fallen. In the book of 2 Timothy, it’s stated that all Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching and training and correcting and rebuking. Some might argue that the Bible is thousands of years old and hopelessly out of date, but Truth doesn’t have an expiration date. In the book of Isaiah we read about the enduring nature of the word of God: Isaiah 40:6-11
“All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
7 The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”
We place our trust and our hope in ourselves or in each other. But the bible compares us to Grass and compares our faithfulness to flowers.. There’s nothing wrong with grass or flowers, They are beautiful and a vital part of a wonderful creation. But they are temporary. We are expiring, and our faithfulness, while beautiful like a flower, is destined to fall. We trust in each other, but we change with seasons we wither and expire. The Bible is not telling us to be unfaithful. The Bible is saying that our faithfulness is not like God’s faithfulness. Our faithfulness can not be like God’s because we are not like God. We do not endure forever, and we are not perfect. The word of God is Perfect and endures, and is forever. That means the Word of God is alive! Let’s read on in Isaiah:
9 You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!”
10 See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm.
See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.
11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.
When we read in Isaiah about the enduring word of God, we are also directed towards a good news, or a message. The Message is that we will see God and need not be afraid. Remember that! We don’t face wrath, but grace. We will read about this more at the end. God brings reward and his recompense accompanies him. Whats a recompense? It exists in a legal framework that has to do with making amends for a loss or a harm suffered. It’s like a reparation for wrongdoing or a compensation or restitution. This word points towards an offering or a lamb, in the context of old testament law. This recompense accompanies God and is with God. God is compared to a Shepherd who gathers his flock and lambs in his arms, and carries them close to his heart. He leads Gently. Jesus Christ stated that he was the Good shepherd and his sheep hear his voice, so when we read a part of Isaiah about God’s word, we also are directed toward a prophecy about God’s recompense or His Shepherd. The Bible is consistent in this message, that Jesus Christ is the word of God who became flesh. Like the word of God that’s alive, Jesus Christ is risen and he is alive. Lets go back to Hebrews and read more about the Word of God.
Second, the word of God is active! The word of God is able to do miraculous things. The word of God is able to change people’s hearts and minds. You might think it sounds like a bit of an overstatement. Is is really a miracle that someone who was against God now believes? Absolutely! That’s more of a miracle than a sick person getting healed. When you understand how serious unbelief is, and you understand the magnitude of how sinful humanity is, it starts to make sense. Calvinism says that humanity is totally depraved. That doesn’t mean we are as bad as we possibly can be, but it does mean that there’s no part of our humanity that hasn’t been touched and broken by sin to some degree. The manner in which we are affected by sin is complete. We are actually entirely overpowered and overcome by sin. The Bible describes it as bondage, or slavery. We are not masters, and can’t defeat sin alone. In fact the Bible calls us dead in our sins. So if the Word of God is able to change your mindset from defiance to repentance, you realize that the Word of God can raise the dead, make blind see and deaf hear. These things are miraculous. When you read the word of God, it’s active. The Word of God engages the mind, and strengthens us, not just mentally, but emotionally, affecting our hearts. The Bible isn’t just effective on a mental and emotional level, but a deep spiritual level as well. Second Corinthians chapter 10 explains that understanding the word of God allows us to wage a spiritual war, demolishing strongholds and arguments against knowledge of God.
Like a sword, the word of God is a weapon that can cut and penetrate a person. It can divide soul and spirit, joints and marrow. This is deep stuff. Dividing joints and marrow is opening and revealing something that is in our innermost parts. Much of what happens inside my bones and joints is a mystery to me. I know generally what is happening, but I am not usually that self-aware that I am thinking about what is happening on such a deep level. I know generally why I do things that I do, and believe what I am believing, but studying the deepest and innermost motivations and desires sheds light on things that we sweep aside in a day to day basis. Many religions discuss awareness or self discovery, being aware in the present moment. If you want something that really gets to the essence and core of your being, read the Word of God. Think about what the Bible is revealing and claiming about your heart. We are told not to judge one another, but the Hebrews 4:12 says the Word of God judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.. When you read the Word of God slowly and critically with the goal of comprehending it, you realize it reveals your motives, your attitudes, your thoughts. It is a great way to truly gain a deep level of self awareness. The problem is it’s easy to read the Bible quickly and say, “ok, now this guy did that, and these people disobeyed.” That’s important to do also, in order to keep track of the various people in the story. But when you read the Bible slowly and start to think about what each person was going through, or what everyone must have felt, or thought, it’s an entirely different experience.
Moses led his people out of Egypt, and came to the red sea. I got it. Moses, Red sea, exodus.. Hmm.. What would that be like to be Moses. I just convinced a nation of people to leave their homes and follow me away to worship God. There’s no turning back, but Now Pharoah has changed his mind, and we realize we are being followed by the army of Egypt, and all of a sudden, we’re cornered. There is no place left to go. We’re at the edge of the red sea. Imagine what it would be like to be in Moses’ shoes. I think I would say I’ve made a terrible mistake. I would look around at all these people who have followed me to the edge of a large body of water. Men, Women, Children, Elderly Grandparents, Infants, babies.. When they catch up to us, these Egyptians will treat us worse than they’ve ever treated us before, that’s if we’re even allowed to live. If you skim the story, you just assume Moses had faith the whole time, and never second guessed anything. Maybe he did, but I don’t know. He was human, so he must have been tempted to be anxious, tempted to worry. In my life, I know I’ve worried a lot about different things. I don’t want to look foolish, or say something foolish around anybody. I don’t want to be wrong. I don’t want people to hate me or ridicule me. Or even worse I don’t want people to trust me, and I let them down! Moses brought a nation of people to a place where they were cornered!! If I make a wrong turn I get flustered. Did Moses think about these things? When I read the Word of God immersed in the people and their relationships with God, I want to read more about what they felt or thought or believed. I want to see how moses responded to difficulties. If he didn’t worry, why do I worry? I’ve never been in such a precarious and dangerous position. If Moses did worry, how did God reveal Himself to Moses? What do these stories say about me, what do they say about God? What do I learn about God’s character, and what about mine? That’s just Moses, and one part, one little snapshot of his long life. There are so many other things that happen, and so much more of Moses life that we can study. Stories in the Bible can really cut deeply into our being and teach us a lot about ourselves. When we read, and really think about what we are reading, the word of God then acts somehow to change us and transform us into something different than what we were.
We learn these secret and innermost things about us when we study the Word of God, but look what’s the very next thing that Hebrews 4:13 says
13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
When we read the word of God, it uncovers things about us. But God is omniscient. He can see and know all. Nothing is hidden to Him. When we study the Word, we begin to learn and see things. But these are things that God can already see. These are things that are laid bare before the eyes of God. Studying the word of God reveals things to us, but they are things that God can already see. Studying the word of God benefits us greatly, because it penetrates and cuts deep. It reveals our thoughts and attitudes. It shows us things we want to hide, but we must remember God can see those things already. Therefore, Studying the word of God gives us a Godly perspective. Unless we study the word, we have no idea how God sees us, and we live our lives covering things up. Let’s go way back for a second. In Genesis, we read about Adam and Eve in the Garden. They sinned against God and ate some forbidden fruit; the fruit was from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The result was they didn’t have that closeness to God anymore, and they began to hide things. They covered themselves physically to hide their nakedness. They hid from God. The result of knowing right and wrong is that we know what we should hide, what should be covered up. For them, it was a big change from how they’d been, but we are used to this covering of things. Our whole lives are spent making sure that the embarrassing, indecent, or unflattering things remain out of focus. While the things that make us look good enough, smart enough, and capable enough are highlighted. But living that way takes us away from the Gospel. Living that way hides our need for a savior, and our distance from God. We are used to hiding and sweeping things under the rug. We hide from each other but we can’t hide from God. To God we must give an account. Studying the Word of God means being ready to give an account and to have things revealed.
When we are honest with ourselves, we might realize that we aren’t ready or prepared to give an account to God. When we look deep within ourselves, we might find out that we don’t want to reveal ourselves entirely. Especially to a holy and perfect God. Especially when we know right from wrong, and still seem to love the things that are wrong. So what’s the plan for people like us? Let’s read on:
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.
In following the laws of the Old Testament, when we need to approach a holy God, and we ourselves are unworthy, unclean, and unholy, we need some sort of intercession. We need something to clean us, take away our sins, and bring us to a righteous state. Especially if we are called to give account of all we’ve done and all we’ve said and all we’ve thought. The Old Testament had procedures for this. The Great High Priest would first make atonement for his sins, because he himself was unclean. Then that high priest would make atonement for your sins. An offering would be made, and a sacrifice would be given. Blood would need to be shed, because the consequences of sin was death, and sin had to be paid for, as long as God would continue to be a just and fair God. What we learn from reading the Word of God is that Jesus Christ was the high priest that god had been alluding to for centuries. Jesus Christ was that sacrifice as well, but since he was perfect, Jesus was able to give himself as the atonement for your sin, for my sin, the bible says it’s a worthy and acceptable sacrifice for whosoever believes in Him. Jesus was the sacrifice, but he was also a High Priest. He was a priest in the order of Melchizedek which the author of Hebrews will discuss at length later, but Jesus was the ultimate high priest. The author of Hebrews loves to make comparisons, so let’s read on and see how Jesus compares to a High priest. Heb 4:15-16
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.
This part of Hebrews really get to the heart of who Christ is. The entire first 4 chapters of Hebrews make the case for Jesus Christ’s supremacy. He is the way that God had communicated with his people. God used to use prophets, but Christ is supreme and has made them obsolete. God commanded Angels to rejoice at the arrival of one who is Lord. One who was to take a name above all other names. That name being Son. God has only one Son who is begotten, not created. When Jesus was baptized, God miraculously said “This is my Son, who I love and with whom I am well pleased” Jesus is supreme over all the Kings and lords of this Earth. Jesus Christ is superior to Moses, and Jesus’s covenant of Grace from God is superior to the Covenant of Law that Moses brought from God. Jesus is Lord over all creation, and he alone is worthy to have every knee bow down before him. These are all the things the author says about Jesus. He is superior to all the high priests too, but the reason? Even though Jesus Christ is vastly superior to everything that came before, he is also humble and empathetic towards our weaknesses. Paul described it this way in the book of Philippians, Chapter 2 vs 5-8
have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
Jesus had supremacy, but even though he was in the very nature God, he didn’t use that supremacy for his own advantage or gain. He didn’t consider his equality with God to be understood by us. He didn’t He became a servant to us and made himself a lowly human. He washed his disciples feet. Service was part of his ministry as a sacrificial Lamb, but it was also necessary to do for him to be the most effective high priest.
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need..
Because of his humanity, and because of the incarnation, He can sympathize with our weaknesses. He is perfect, but he understands our hearts and our humanity. This part of the Bible says that Jesus was tempted in every way, just as we are. This is hard for me to really fathom. I don’t believe I was ever really tempted to murder anyone. I never felt any serious temptation to shoot heroin or rob a liquor store. But some people are tempted to do those things, because those things get done. So did Jesus get tempted at some point to do those same things? Maybe some of the temptations that people on this earth deal with have been felt by Jesus Christ. I don’t know exactly which ones.. Was Jesus tempted to commit sexual immorality, sodomy, or adultery? The Bible doesn’t go into lurid details about what Jesus went through, but He was tempted by Satan in the wilderness. He fasted for 40 days and grew hungry, and then Satan tempted him three times. Now, if I am hungry, and miss a meal (not 40 days of meals, but just one) or even if an expected meal is a few hours late, I can be cranky and less patient than normal, so Jesus was in a position where his flesh had desired something different than his spirit. And Satan tempted him three times. The First was to tempt him to indulge his creature comforts, but do so in a way that dishonors God. He was supposed to turn stones to bread. I think this type of temptation is probably similar to any of the temptations we have to ignore GOD, and indulge our flesh and make our bodies feel good. The second temptation was to throw himself down and let angels save him. This second temptation seems like a different type of temptation. Satan was telling Jesus lies about God’s character and God’s word. If we don’t study God’s word, we might expect to treat God like a genie or a magic safety net. We put him to a test that we make up and often ignore certain aspects of God’s character. We ask him to perform for us, as if He needed to prove something to us. In this mindset, we make God into the image that fits our situation or our need in that current moment. We might be tempted to live our lives our way and then rationalize it later by crafting our understanding of God to fit our sin. The third temptation is when Satan takes Jesus out on the high mountain and offered him all of the kingdoms of the world. Any time we are tempted to make this Earth our home and look away from the eternal we feel this type of temptation. Any time we are tempted to live for ourselves and make our own desires our god, we are faced with this type of temptation. I don’t know the extent that Jesus felt tempted in each of those scenarios, and I am not sure what other temptations he faced in his life. I don’t think he was tempted in the exact same ways that I am. I doubt he ever was tempted to play Pokemon Go while he was supposed to be studying God’s word. But I do know that Jesus faced a similar TYPE of temptation as I do. I do know that Jesus can sympathize and empathize with the feelings that pull me away from a place of worship, and towards a place of sin or self indulgence. I know that when I am tempted by something I want, it’s not the thing that I want that’s usually the problem, it’s the fact that God didn’t give me something he gave to someone else. It doesn’t have to be physical like a car or a salary. It could be youth, strength, mental abilities. It could be talent, patience, spare time. It could even be lack of traffic on a commute. In all of these temptations, I wanted a different cup than the one that God had for me. I wanted elements of a different life that belongs to someone else, rather than the life that God has in store for me. Jesus had that temptation too, and I know that because in the Garden, he was pleading with God to take away the cup that was his life. To take away, if it was possible, the suffering that was part of the life and purpose of the Christ. It wasn’t God’s will for his Son to be spared, but Jesus asked to remove that suffering if it was part of God;s will. Jesus’s flesh wanted to not be tortured and beaten, but Jesus’s spirit was to follow God’s will, no matter where it took him. I know that for those reasons, Jesus is worthy to be a high priest. I know that when he was tempted, He did not waver, and kept following his God Given destiny. His cup. I know that the cup of suffering that Jesus experienced paid the way for me to be forgiven, reconciled, and adopted into the family of God. I know that because of all of that, I am confident that I am going to a throne of grace, instead of one of judgement. I know that I can be the recipient of mercy, instead of wrath. And I know that Jesus is ready and willing to minister to me as a high priest; he’s ready to help when I need it, instead of lording his supremacy over me like the high priests before him. Instead of using his position to condemn me, he uses it to befriend me and make me an object of love. When we study the Word of God, it gives us that confidence!