Much Needed Grace, Part 5

Hebrews 4, 11 to 16 is our passage, and we have been here for a while, a lot like we were in Hebrews 1, 1 to 3, where we spent 11 weeks looking at those First, three verses, or Hebrews chapter 3, verses 1 and 2, where we spent several weeks looking at those two verses considering Jesus Now, in Hebrews 4, 11 and 16, we We have taken a break just to spend some time here to understand more of what God has for us Right in the middle of this ending section, the second warning section of Hebrews, about why these Israelites in the past, Did not enter into rest was because of their unbelief

The Write of Hebrews wants this Jewish audience to know that the promise of rest still remains That's why he begins chapter 4, verse number 1: that the promise still remains for you That's why there's much needed grace because we need the grace of God to be able to be sa because we enter into his kingdom through his grace And so he says the promise of eternal rest is still available And he doesn't want them to follow in the same example of those forefathers Who did not enter into rest because of their unbelief? In other words, because they would not be persuaded

And so he goes into this verse to explain to them how it is they will be persuaded and can be persuaded Signifies the power and the persuasive elements of the Word of God That's why He says that the Word of God is living, Word of God is active, the Word of God is sharper than any two-ed sword because It's not his comments that's going to save them It's God's commands that save someone We tend to think that it's our comments about the Bible that's going to persuade somebody to be saved Not so It's the command of Scripture that causes someone to be saved It's the power of the living word of God

Think about it this way: the word of God incarnate is equivalent to the word of God inspired. I wonder how many of you believe that Psalm 138, verse number 2 says, Thy word, O Lord, is magnified even as thy very n So the word of God is on the same plane as the name of God or the character of God or the person of God The Bible is not God, it is the voice of God And that voice is the living breath of the Word of God, who is a living God But I would venture to say that most of us in Christendom today do not see the Word of God equivalent to, or the Word of God inc equivalent to the Word of God

Inspired And let me give you a couple of examples The writer says that the Word of God is living Okay, that's how he begins This is how you're going to be persuaded There is a word that's a living word It's a living word because it's given to us by a living God We've already seen throughout our study already that our God is a living God He's not a dead God He rose from the dead, and we understand that our God is the living creator of the universe He is the everlasting Father And so we understand that God is living So if God is living, His words are alive

In other words, the Word of God incarnate is equivalent to the Word of God inspired We need to grasp that If God is living, He speaks living words He speaks words that give life That's why He's called the life. I am the way, the truth, and The life Only a living God can give life to dead people And we are dead in our trespasses and in our sins Only a living God can give living water Now, listen to this This is so incredibly good Okay? Remember in John 7, if you've got your Bible, turn to John 7 with me for a second John chapter 7

The Bible says in verse 37, now on the last day, the great day of the feast What feast is that? It's called the Feast of Tabernacles Okay? The Feast of Booths It's the feast, a seven-day feast, where Israel celebrates God's provision and protection in the wilderness In anticipation, Of the arrival of the Messiah, listen carefully, the one that would be sent to them to provide and protect them Are you with me so far? You got to follow this through with me if you, if I don't want to lose you, so hang tight The Feast of Tabernacles celebrates God's provision and protection in the wilderness

So they go out and they build these tents out in the backyard of their house, even today, and they live in them for seven days Realizing that this is what their forefathers did, and that one day the pro, protector, Messiah will come and bless them immensely through his arrival On the last day of that feast, the Feast of Tabernacles, something happens Okay? It says these words Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink He who believes in me, as the scripture said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water Now you have to get the picture

If you miss the picture in the passage, you're going to miss the point of what Jesus is saying The Feast of Tabernacles Remember, I showed you in the picture, the pool of Siloam, right? Why is that so important? The Pool of Siloam is fed by the Gah Spring And that po of Shiloh is called the pool of the sent, S-N-T, the one who would be sent The pool of Siloam would be the location where they would take this golden pitcher, this high priesthood, and fill it with water

And they would make their way up from the pool of Siloam, which is here, make their way up from the pool of Siloam all the way up to The inner gate, which would be the water gate, and as they would enter, the people would recite Isaiah chapter 12, verse number 3 Isaiah twelve, verse number three, read as follows It says, with joy you will draw water from the well of salvation Why? Because the water was brought from where? The Pool of Silo Which is the pool of the sent one

In other words, they believed that the Messiah in the Old Testament was called, and he is the one who was sent, the coming one And so, in drawing the water, the priests would make their way up on the western side of The city of David to the temple, and they pour out that water As they poured it out, the people recite Isaiah 12, verse number 3, because they know that Messiah is going to come and give them living water They know that

Because in their celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles, they were celebrating God's provision, and part of God's provision was the water that would sustain them during their journeys But he would provide for them living water He would provide for them eternal water, based on Zach 13:1 and the book of Ezekiel, which speaks about the eternal waters that flow from the Messiah Himself So as they would come up and they would pour out that w from the pool of the sent one

They would be celebrating the fact that at the end of their feast, they are celebrating the fact that Messiah is going to come and give them salvation Give them eter life And the temple choir would sing from the hillel, Psalm 113 through Psalm 118, and they would be singing praises to God And so Jesus uses three key words Jesus, when they're pouring the water out, stands up in the temple and proclaims these words If anyone is th, let him come to me and drink Wow What's he referring to? He's referring to Isaiah 55, verse number 1, which says, Ho, every who thirsts Come to the waters

Come to the living water Come to the Messiah It's a psalm about the arrival of the Messiah who brings eternal life That's why he goes on to talk about listening to the words of the one who is speaking You see, the word of God incarnate is equivalent to the word of God inspired God, who is the living God, speaks living words who produces living water in dry, thirsty souls that are dead Isn't that great? I mean, I mean, can I get a holy grunt? Can I get something from you that says that you're awake? I mean, for crying out loud, that is just so incredibly amazing on how all this comes together

And so the living God speaks living words that produces living water in dry, dead, thirsty souls that are in desperate need of a deliverer Amen There you go There you go Now you're waking up So the bottom line is that This is so important So, we talk about the fact that the Word of God is living See? That's what the writer says And he's a Jewish writer, writing to Jewish people Speaking to them about a God who is supreme, right, and sufficient Everything about the book of Hebrews is about the supremacy and sufficiency of the Messiah So he sets out to prove all that

And as he proves it, He is referring to all this Old Testament analogy that points to the Messiah Now, I don't think any of us who know the Lord would ever say that the Lord is a dead Lord, He's a living Lord And we would test the fact that he gives a living word Ah, but N's word is very unique Living and power, living and filled with energy, living and active How many of us would believe that the Word of God incarnate God Himself and the Word of God inspired Are equally as powerful

See that? Now we're going to get down to brass tacks and see where you stand about what you believe about the authority Sufficiency, supremacy of the Word of God Because none of us in the auditorium would say, Well, yeah, our God, He's not that powerful, because we saw His messianic credentials all throughout their study of Luke, nine years In Luke's Gospel, he had power over the diseased He had power over the disab He had power over de He had power over the depths of the sea He had power over everything And that power was exemplified when he spoke a word

He had power over death when he said, Lazarus, come forth And Lazarus came forth And he had to use Lazarus' name because if he just said, come forth, everybody from the dead would have come forth So he had to qualify who was coming forth, just Lazarus Lazarus, come forth The power of his word, the power of the living word of God is so unique that in Mark's gospel in the fourth chapter on the Sea of Galilee, remember when Jesus went to sleep And there was a great storm He told his disciples: Let's get into the boat and go to the other side

They get into a boat and there's a supreme storm. I love to preach this message on the Sea of Galilee And there's a supreme storm that erupts And the disciples are fearful for their lives You know the story And the problem with knowing the story is that you become so familiar with the story, you miss The power of that story And they become so fearful for their lives that they wake the Messiah and they say to him, Don't you care? That we are perishing

What kind of question is that? Don't you care? Don't you care that we're going to die? And so the Bible tells us in Mark's Gospel, the fourth chapter And he got up and rebuked the wind and the sea and said, Hush, be still And immediately everything bec as calm as possible There is no more wind, there is no more rain, there is no more storm, there are no more waves, everything is perfectly calm, and the disciples are fully drenched And Jesus simply said, hush, be still Why? Because the Word of God incarnate is powerful And the word of God inspired is power

Because He is the living God who speaks a living word His word now is powerful And so what does he say? Hush, be still And the wind died down It became perfectly calm And he said to them, Why are you Afraid Why are you so timid? Maybe your translation says But the literal translation says, why are you Such cowards Imagine the Lord God of Israel looking at you and saying, Why are you a coward? Why are you that way? He said, How is it that you have no faith? What is faith? Believing in what God has already said And what did he say? Get into the boat and let us go to the other side

That's what he said But in the middle of their travel, The storm erupted, they became afraid, and they doubted that God's word was true, that what he said would come to pass So he says, after he calms the storm, because it was a test for them Why is it you, of all people, my men, the ones who follow me, the ones who say they love me? The ones who say they're committed to me, why is it you, of all people, have no faith? Not, why is it you guys have just a little bit of faith? No, he says, You have no faith because you did not believe in what I said And then it says, They became very much afraid

And said to one another, Who then is this, or what manner of man is this, as the King James Version says it, that even the wind and the sea Obey him What other world kind of man, what other kind of Dimension does this one come from that even when he speaks, the winds and the waves obey the power of God And yet for some reason, we don't believe in the power of that God's word And that is an indictment against all of us, myself included

Do we believe what God actually has said? Do we believe that the Word of God is as powerful, that the Word of God inspired, is as powerful as the Word of God inc? That's where your faith is tested That's what the writer of Hebrews is trying to help them to understand, because remember Their forefathers were in the wilderness and they saw the power of God on display Right? They saw the pillar of fire by day, by night

The cloud by day, they saw the party on the Red Sea, they saw the water gush from the rock, they saw the manna come down from heaven, they saw all the miracles God on display, but when God spoke, They did not equate the power of the spoken word with the power of God on display in the past And unfortunately, neither do we We read the Word of God and say, wow, that's pretty amazing But then when we read the Word of God, we say, Well, that can't happen in my life Nah That's the way God used to work That's not the way God works No, the scripture is not a record of the way God did things

The Bible is a record of the way God does things And we need to understand that The power of the Word of God inspired So we try to show that to you That's all introduction to what we talked about at this point That if God's word is powerful, it's powerful enough to crush the soul Jeremiah 2:2, a word like a hammer that crushes the heart, the soul of a man Do you believe that? Do you believe that God's word is powerful enough to crush the hardened soul of the unbeliever in your family, at work, in your neighborhood? Because that's what it says

If it's powerful enough to crush the soul, it's powerful enough to what? Convict the soul. 1 Corinthians 14, 24, and 25 Faul prophesied, and a man comes in who's an unbeliever and hears the word of God, he's convicted, falls on his knees and bows and claims Christ as Lord It's powerful enough to crush the soul, it's powerful enough to convict the soul, it's powerful enough to convert the soul, right? Talk about all this. I review it for you because repetition is the mother of learning

These are things you can teach your children, your grandchildren, you can sit down with them and talk about the power of the Word of God and what it does It crushes the soul It convicts the soul It converts the soul The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul Psalm 19, verse number 7 Powerful enough to cleanse the soul John 15:3, you've been cleaning to the word that what? I've spoken unto you. I've spoken unto you We are cleansed by the blood of the Lamb Correct? Correct

But we are also cleansed by the word that God has spoken unto us because the word of God incarnate is equivalent to the word of God insp You've been cleansed by the word that I've spoken unto you That's why I tell you, it's not your comment on script that saves anybody It's the command of Scripture that saves somebody You did nothing You were just a vehicle You were just the ambassador You were the spokesperson That's all you are Now that's a great thing to be, but your job is just to communicate truth to people Because the Spirit of God does all the work You just Give him the hammer

Give him the fire that purifies the soul Jeremiah 23, 29 We talked about last week, it powerful enough to correct the soul. 2 Timothy 3:16 It takes that which is bent and straightens it, tells you how to get in the right Direction It's powerful enough to conquer the enemy of your soul Do you think when Jesus quoted scripture in Matthew 4 and Luke 4, he did it because He had nothing else to do? No, he did it as an example He could have conquered the enemy of his soul by saying anything he wanted to say, but he specifically went back and quoted the book of Deuteronomy

The law of God to show you how the power of the Word of God defeats the enemy of your soul Jesus is the overwhelming conqueror Any word he speaks conquers the enemy of his soul But he did it for you and me to show you how you defeat your adversary The devil who goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour Such power in the Word of God On top of that, it comforts the soul Remember, we talked about that last week This is my comfort in my affliction Your word has revived me It gives you perspective, right? Perspective on the providence of God, perspective on the purposes of God

Perspective on the promises of God, perspective on the power of God, perspective on everything you need in life to be comforted in your soul That's what God's W does That's where we left off last week That's why Paul said to the Ephesian elders, when he was about to leave after three years of ministry He said simply in Acts 20:3, I commend you to God and the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, strengthen you, establish you, make you strong It's the word of his grace that does that Paul knows that

So he talks to the Ephesian elders and says, listen, I know I'm leaving, but you have The ever-present truth of God among you And that word is a living word That word is an active word, a powerful word So I commend you to God in the word of his grace, which is able to build you, establish you, and make you firm Do we believe that? I don't know what you're going through in your family. I have no idea what's happening in your own personal lives But I do know of the power of the Word of God But I'm not done yet Oh no, I have only just begun because I could go on for months

Right here. I won't do that just a few more weeks, but I could do months here And why? Because you know what? I told you last week You know, the people in the pew Every one of us, myself included, because I sit in a pew too, every one of us have issues that we are dealing with every day They could be family issues They could be work-related issues They could be school issues They could be relational issues They could be coming from every Every way possible But there are issues that we deal with every day

How do we handle them? How do we deal with them? How do we know what to do? See? I could talk to you about what's happening in our government And the evils of our government and all that's taking place That does nothing for your soul Nothing But I can tell you what the word of the Lord says, so you now know how to handle whatever the government brings your way That's what Peter did In 1 Peter chapter 1, and 1 Peter, the first epistle and the second epistle It's my job as your pastor to show you what God's word actually says That pertains specifically to you and your situation

Although I don't know what's happening in your own personal lives, I do know about the power of the Word of God So let me give you another way in which God's word is powerful This is really good This is the eighth one If you're keeping count, it's number eight in our list of 15 Okay, I'm just going to give you 15. I could give you 115. I'm just going to give you 15, and this is number 8 If it comforts the soul, listen carefully, it cheers the soul It cheers the soul It brings joy To the soul Psalm 19, verse number 8 The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart

Isn't that good? The precepts of the Lord are right It doesn't mean that they're righteous, although they are It means that they are able to make a path That gives you a clear direction that will end up bringing joy to your heart So the precepts of the Lord give you the right way to go In order that you might have joy in your heart It's like what Solomon said Okay, we're going to study Solomon here in a few days on Wednesday evening This is what Solomon says Okay? Solomon says this: My son, observe the commandment of your father That's Solomon Do not forsake the teaching of your mother

Okay, that would be The woman of the song of Solomon Before he had many wives, and then his sons had many mothers So do not forsake the teeth of your mother Bind them continually on your heart Tie them around your neck When you walk about, they will guide you They'll give you direction, right? Listen to this When you sleep, they will watch over you, and when you awake, they will Talk to you How does the Word of God talk to you? Well, if it's a living word given by a living God, which is the living breath of God, we talked about it last week, it's the law of his lips, right? It talks to you

It communicates to you everything you need to know about his generosity, his goodness His supremacy, his sovereignty, his mercy, his grace, his love Listen, if you bind them around your neck, If they are ornaments around your head, what these commandments do is communicate to you everything you need to know when you walk each and every day about how God is in charge How God will protect you And then he says, For the commandment is a lamp, and a teaching is a light, and reproofs for discipline are the way of life to keep you from the evil woman Wow

To keep you from the evil woman, the power of God's word for direction, protection, convers, illumination Admonition, it's all right there So the precepts of the Lord are right Rejoice in the heart Go to a heart that's filled with joy You need to know which way to go, right? Don't want to be confused You want a heart filled with joy? It needs to be a heart illuminated by the lamp of God's word You want a heart filled with joy? You need a commandment of God to keep you from the evil woman, to keep you from going astray into sin Because that just leads to misery

Would it be that Solomon would have heeded his own words? By the way, which really were the words of God because they are inspired words of God But you see, that's what God's word does, it provides joy To the heart. I wonder if you have joy today If the soul that you possess Has been filled with the joy of the living God Because divine truth produces joy Remember over in Luke chapter 10? Luke chapter 10, the 70 returned The 70 returned in Luke chapter 10. I gotta get there Hold on a second Verse number 17, the 7 return with joy Why? God has sent them out

God had given them instructions, God had set them out, they returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name Lord, this is amazing You can't believe what took place as if he didn't know Lord, we know this is so amazing The demons are subject to your name He said to them, I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you Nevertheless, do not rejoice over this Don't let this cheer your soul

Instead, he says Do not rejoice that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven Do you know that your name is recorded in heaven? Because that's joy Circumstances are going to come and go In your ministry, you'll have ups and downs You're going to go out and you're going to have success on this trip, and maybe the next trip is not going to be nearly as successful So don't rejoice over the min before you, but rejoice in the eternity you will experience with me in gl That's where you need to be focused That will always keep you joyous Put joy in your heart

How great is that? That's why the precepts of the Lord are right They always show you the right direction They always show you the right path to follow And that's why John said, These things I have written unto you, 1 John 1:4, that your joy may be what? Made full, made complete Why? Because these things are written that you may know that you have eternal life How great is that? How great is that? So let me end with this My time is gone We covered one more today Well, half of what we wanted to cover today But listen to this

The words of the great Charles Spurgeon from this past week on February the 21st When he refers to Hebrews 13:5, the phrase, he hath said Listen to what he says If we can only grasp these words by faith, we have an all-conquering weapon in our hand

What doubt will not be slain by this two-ed sword? What fear is there which shall not fall smitten with a deadly wound before the arrow from the bow of God's covenant? Will not the distresses of life and the pings of death, will not the corruptions within and the snares without Will not the trials from above and the temptations from beneath all seem but light afflictions when we can hide ourselves beneath the bulwark of the phrase he hath said Yes, whether for delight in our quietude or for strength in our conflict, he Hath said, must be our daily resort

And this may teach us the extreme value of searching the scriptures There may be a promise in the word which would exactly fit your case, but you may not know of it and therefore you miss its comfort You are like prisoners in a dungeon, and there may be one key in the bunch which would unlock the door, and you might be free but if you will not look for it, you may remain a prisoner still, though liberty is so near at hand

There may be a potent medicine in the great pharmacopoeia of Script, and you may yet continue sick unless you will examine and search the Scriptures. to discover what he hath said Should you not, besides reading the Bible, store your memories richly with the promises of God? You can recollect the sayings of great men You treasure up the verses of renowned poets

Ought you not to be profound in your knowledge of the words of God? so that you may be able to quote them readily when you would solve a difficulty or overthrow a doubt? Since He hath said is the source of all wisdom and the fountain of all comfort, let it dwell in you richly. a well of water springing up unto everlasting life So shall you grow healthy, str and joyous in the divine life That is great He hath said the word of God inc Is equivalent to the word of God ins simply because the Bible says that God has magnified his great character, his great name

Even as he has magnified his great word Let's pray Father, we thank you for today Wow, you are so great And here we are under the direction of your holy word, seeking direction, seeking comfort Seeking the joy that only you can give through the power of your Spirit who produces joy Lord, our prayer is that you go before us And I pray for every soul in the room that you bring joy to their hearts Because, Lord, they have heard what you have said And they believe it and act upon it In Jesus' name, amen.