Much Needed Grace, Part 7

Thank you, Kristen If you have your Bible, turn with me to Hebrews chapter 4 Hebrews chapter 4, we're looking at the sufficiency and the supremacy of the Christ If Christ is supreme and sufficient, then his word is supreme and sufficient And the writer of Hebrews in the fourth chapter is getting this Jewish audience to understand their need to come to saving faith, that they might enter into God's eternal rest He has shown them how supreme and sufficient the Lord God of Israel is And now he's showing them how supreme and sufficient that the word of God is

In other words, the word of God incarnate is equivalent to the word of God inspired So in verse 12, he says that word, which is inspired is living because God is alive His word is alive In other words, the living God speaks living words That word is not only living, it's active, it's energetic, it's powerful And because God himself is all powerful, because God himself is omnipotent, and Israel had seen the power of God in the wilderness His word is just as powerful as he is because he is the one speaking that word So the word of God is living and the word of God is powerful

And we have been looking at how powerful that word is, how powerful that word is to crush the soul Jeremiah 23, 29, knowing to crush the soul, to make it break under the pressure of the word, but to convict the soul First Corinthians 14, 24 and 25 talks about the convicting work of the word of God And once it convicts the soul, it converts the soul Psalm 19, verse number 7, that the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul Once it converts the soul, it's in the process of cleansing the soul

The Bible tells us in John 15, verse number 3, you've been made clean to the word that I've spoken unto you So God's word is a cleansing agent It's powerful enough to cleanse the soul, to correct the soul In other words, to take the soul that's bent and make it straight Let me show you how that works because you're talking about this on Wednesday night If you're with us on Wednesday, we said David's sons were bent They were not correct They did not follow the word of the Lord

And so we tried to show the parallel on how it is we are so concerned about how we correct the physicality of our children For instance, if your children have crooked teeth, what do you do? You give them braces Why? Because you want them to look a certain way We're so concerned about the physical appearance of our children that we forget about handling the crookedness of their hearts And so we do all we can We'll spend all the money we can to put into their mouth

Or if there's something wrong with them physically, we'll spend all the money we can to make them better looking for their quote self-esteem But what about their God esteem? That they can esteem themselves in the truth of God's holy word You see, God's word corrects the soul It takes that which is broken and bent and makes it straight And that's why it's so imperative to understand the power of the word of God as it pertains to your life and mine And I plead with you as parents Yes, if your children got crooked teeth, straighten them

There's nothing wrong with that. I'm all for that. I think all my kids had braces, every one of them All right But I'm more concerned about the condition of their heart, the condition of their soul That makes more sense to me than their teeth You see, because when they get old, their teeth are going to fall out anyway, right? Absolutely So you want to work on the condition of the heart And God's word corrects the soul And if it corrects the soul, it conquers the enemy of our soul Matthew 4, 1 to 11 It is that which comforts the soul It's that which cheers the soul

It's that which counsels the soul We've been going through these things with you to show you the power of God's word and how it is that it relates to your life and mine How practical is that? How simple is that? How real is that? If it's living, it's as alive now as it was way back when Bathsheba spoke to David about following the truth of God's holy word And so it is for you and me today to understand the power of the living and active word of God And we left off last week with the fact that it counsels the soul So let me give you the remaining ones that I wanted to give you

And then we'll finish verse number 12 and 13 So we can go on to verse 14, 15, and 16 next week That's the plan, okay? So God's word is powerful enough to compel the soul Did you know that? To compel the soul If you're keeping track, this should be number 10 in your outline It compels the soul In other words, it moves the soul It motivates the soul See, what God's word does for us is move us from the inside out God's word moves intrinsically, not extrinsically That is, it moves us on the inside so that we have a permanent motivation God's word compels us It moves us to action

Remember we told you last week, Paul said that the love of Christ compels me It moves me It constrains me It moves me to action Well, if the love of Christ moves us, then the law of Christ will move us because the love of God gave us the law of God And so therefore, we know that the word of God is powerful enough to motivate us You see, when we want to move people to action, what do we do? We can do all we can do externally, right? To play on people's emotions But what moves people is the power of the word of God to convict the soul so it compels the soul to action

The psalmist said these words in Psalm 119, verse number 32 He said, I shall run the way of your commandments for you will enlarge my heart In other words, as you read through Psalm 119, you see the psalmist running the way of God's commandments It moves him to action It moves him to sprint toward the way of God's commands And when he does, God just enlarges his heart It explodes It just is so overwhelmed by what God does It just makes him know more of who God is, makes him want to know more of who God is and what he does

So he runs the way of God's commandments. A verse of Scripture or several verses of Scripture that we will repeat over and over again on Wednesday nights with our study of Solomon is found in the book of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy chapter 17 It speaks about what God says concerning when you have a king over you in the land because they're going to want a king God's going to give them a king And this is the law for the king It says, verse 18, it should come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom

He shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests In other words, he is to write down the law of God in the presence of the priesthood It should be with him and he should read it all the days of his life So why should the king read what he has written all the days of his life? It tells you, it says, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God If you're going to have a king, he must fear me And the only way he's going to fear me is if he writes down the law and then reads it all the days of his life Because when he does, it's going to move him

It's going to compel him to fear me And I want the king above all else to fear me, not to fear man, not to fear what man can do, but fear what I can do So you tell him to write that law down And then you tell him to read it all the days of his life Could it be that just the simple reading of the word of God can do more than anything else to move us to action? Answer, yes, it sure can If you believe in the power of God's word, because it works effectively in those who believe First Thessalonians 2.13, right? It doesn't work in those who don't believe, but it does work in those who do believe

And so he writes it down He reads it, that he may learn to fear his God by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen. I don't want my king to be proud. I want him to be humble, to live by humble means And then he may turn aside from the commandment to the right or to the left, so he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel Wow, how powerful is that? Do you think the same truth applies today? Yes Do you think the same effect applies today? Answer, yes

So the question comes, what happens to David? What happened to Solomon? What happened to the kings of Israel? Did they not write down the law of God in the presence of the priesthood? Did they not read it all the days of their life? Did they not seek to obey and observe all that God said? Answer, yes It's exactly what happened You see, God laid down the principle for success God laid down the principle for leadership God laid down the principle for kingship, because the king leads the people The king models to the people on how they are to live their lives

So if the king doesn't do it, i.e. if the father of the home doesn't do it, then why would the children ever do it? The kings don't do it, why would his people ever do it? God laid down the principle for success, so that there would always be a king on the throne who would follow in the footsteps of the previous king to honor him, but they did not do that That's the problem If they would have, it would have compelled them to fear the Lord their God So you see, God's word is powerful enough to move us to action, to move us that we might obey more and more and more

God's word, number 11, is powerful enough to challenge us God's word challenges us Look what it says in Psalm 119. I just love this Psalm 119, verse 33 Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes, and I shall observe it to the end Give me understanding that I may observe your law and keep it with all my heart Make me walk in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it You know, God's word challenges you to live a godly life, to live a godly life, not just to live a godly life, but to lean dependently upon that God

For he says, incline my heart to your testimonies and not to dishonest gain Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity and revive me in your ways Lord, I need you So if I'm going to live godly, I must learn to lean dependently Having leaned dependently, I can now look reverently upon my God It says in verse 38, establish your word to your servant as that which produces reverence for you Turn away my reproach, which I dread, for your ordinances are good Behold, I long for your precepts Revive me through your righteousness If I look reverently, I will long deeply for the Lord God of Israel

That's the challenge before all of us That's the challenge we place before our children, before the people in our home, for the people that we work with We want them to live godly, lean dependently, look reverently, long deeply for the truth of God That's the challenge before us The psalmist knew that challenge, and the psalmist would rise to that challenge because of the power of the word of God Number 12 Number 12 Right? Keep a count Those of you who take notes, those of you who don't, well, you don't know where we're at anyway, so what difference does it make, right? So, number 12

It confirms the soul It confirms the soul God's word's powerful enough to confirm the soul, to make it firm, to establish the soul, to strengthen the soul Psalm 119, verse number 28 My soul weeps because of grief Strengthen me according to your word Isn't that good? It confirms it It solidifies it It strengthens it It holds it strong God's word does that Nothing else can God's word confirms in my mind, not just my iniquity that I'm a sinner in need of a savior, but it confirms my destiny Once I give my life to Christ, I'm going to spend eternity with the Lord God of Israel

It confirms my identity as a saint, as a priest in the kingdom of God It confirms my responsibility to my church, to my family, to my Lord It confirms all that It is that which truly is something that I need We all need to be strengthened, made strong, solid, and God's word is that which does that Not only that, it's that which controls the soul That's why Paul said in Colossians 3, 16, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly Let it be at home in your hearts Don't let God's word become a stranger to your life Let it be at home within the inner parts of your being That's what Paul said

Why? Because a saturation of scripture in the soul is that which truly controls my emotions, my responses, my attitudes, my actions Everything about my life is controlled by something or someone And if I let the word of Christ dwell in me richly, let it be at home in my heart, then that word then is that which controls everything about me That's what a psalmist said in Psalm 19 These words, God's word is more desirable than gold Yes, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb Moreover, by them your servant is warned In keeping them, there is great reward

Why? Because in the keeping of the word of God, there is a blessing that comes to the soul of an individual So therefore, we are to be controlled by God's word Listen, every one of us is controlled by something But if God's word saturates the heart, fills the heart, it controls the heart Number 14, it completes the soul, right? Completes the soul Psalm 19 verse number 7, the law of the Lord is perfect or complete. 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17, the inspired word of God is that which makes the man of God thoroughly furnished, thoroughly complete

It's that which rounds out the man that makes him fully man, that makes him fully mature, fully complete, fully perfected That's what the word of God does It simply completes the soul Then number 15, it critiques the soul It critiques the soul And we're going to move on in our text to show you exactly how it critiques the inner part of a man In other words, it is that which penetrates the soul so deeply that it effectually critiques everything that you do Let me show you The word of God is living Word of God is active or powerful or energized

And then it says what? It is sharper than any two-edged sword Sharper than any two-edged sword Now remember, the Romans are the ones who perfected the two-edged sword And while the two-edged sword could be used for destruction, the primary purpose of the double-edged sword was for separation, for division, to divide Okay, very important to know that Because as we go through the rest of this verse, you're going to see how God's word divides, how God's word then discloses, how God's word then discerns, and then how God's word displays everything that's on the inside

That's why we tell you we give people invitations to come and be a part of our service We know the power of the word of God And once the word of God is preached, we know how powerful it becomes in the life and soul of an individual God's word is sharper than any double-edged, two-edged sword Think about that

None of us wants to cut anything with a dull blade, right? None of us. I just got done moving into my house, okay? I moved from my house, I sold my house, moved to an apartment for four months, and now that my house is complete, I'm in a new house, okay? But as I'm cutting open my boxes, if I have a dull blade, that's frustrating to me Nobody wants to use a dull blade We want a sharp blade We want one that cuts crisp and clean, right? Sure we do Well, that's the way the word of God is See, the word of God, when someone says to you, you know, I read the word of God, it's just so dull and boring

Ooh, there's a problem there Not with the word of God, because it's sharper than any double-edged sword, right? God's word is not dull You're dull You're the boar, not the word of God God's word is sharp, clean, crisp when it does its cutting work That's so important to understand that So the writer of Hebrews says that the word of God is living, it's powerful, and so powerful, so energetic, and so active, it's sharper than any double-edged sword that's used for the purpose of division Now, once it divides, it will ultimately destroy

But the purpose of the sword, the double-edged sword, is to divide Because as it does its dividing work, it begins to open up what's on the inside Very important to how the text progresses in verse number 12 and verse number 13 You see, listen to what John says in the book of Revelation to the church of Pergamon, which is the church that compromised the truth It says, Therefore repent, or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth The sword of my mouth In other words, the words of God are like the piercing sword that divides

Why does God have to come to the church of Pergamon to divide it? Because he always divides the wheat from the tares He always divides the true from the false That's why the Bible says these words Remember these words in Matthew chapter 10? Jesus says this, For I came to set a man against his father Oh, I'm sorry, verse 34 Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth That's what Jesus says Do you think that I came to bring peace? I did not come to bring peace, but a sword What kind of sword? A sword that divides

He says, I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man's enemies will be the members of his own household Whoa, wow How can that possibly be? I thought God was the God of peace He came peace on earth, goodwill toward men That's what the Christmas story is all about Why don't we talk about peace? Christ says, I came to bring a sword Why? Because what I'm going to do is I'm going to divide truth from error. I'm going to divide it

And through that division, you'll be able to know what is right and what is wrong Very important to understand that So when Christ says to the church of Pergamum, I'm coming to you with the sword of my mouth. I'm coming to you with the word that comes out of my mouth, a word that's going to divide those who are true from those who are filled with error Interesting that in the book of Revelation, a little further, 19th chapter says these words, I saw heaven open, behold, a white horse And he who sat on it is called faithful and true And in righteousness, he judges and wages war

His eyes are a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems And he has a name written on it, which no one knows except himself He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the word of God Okay His name is called the word of God Why? Because the word of God incarnate is equivalent to the word of God inspired So when he comes, his name is called the word of God, because he comes to fulfill everything he said he was going to do His name is called the word of God

And that says this, and the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following him on white horses And from his mouth comes what? A sharp sword, a sharp sword So that with it, he may strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron See, the sword is going to divide, then destroy It divides the sheep from the goats, according to Matthew 25, right? Because there's going to be a sheep-goat judgment in the Kidron Valley, or the Valley of Jehoshaphat, or the Valley of Decision

If you go with me to Israel, I'll put you in the middle of that valley, so that you can make the right decision about who Christ is But it's called the Valley of Decision And in that valley, he will divide the sheep from the goats And so when he comes, there's a sword that protrudes from his mouth He's going to divide the wheat from the tare, the sheep from the goats, and then he's going to enact his destructive force

It says in verse number 20, And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet, who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast, and those who worshipped his image These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire, which spurs the brimstone, and the rest were killed with the sword, which came from the mouth of him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh There was a division, and then there's a destruction

The right of Hebrew says, This word, the word of God inspired, which is equivalent with the word of God incarnate, if God is sufficient and supreme, his word is sufficient and supreme, and therefore he's given us his word, which is living, active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, because it comes to divide And once it divides, it opens everything Why? Because once it divides, it penetrates It penetrates, that's what the text says It says in Hebrews chapter 4, verse number 12, For the word of God is living, active, sharper than any two-edged sword

And it says, And piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit of both joints and morrow So once the word of God divides, it then discloses what's on the inside, because of its penetrating work This is the most powerful verse in scripture to talk to you about the energized work of the word God's word is sharper than any two-edged sword Piercing, penetrating, so deep, so deep, it divides the soul and the spirit Now, you can read a thousand different commentators on the soul and spirit, because a lot of commentators will say, well, we are a tripartite being We are made up of three parts

We are made up of body, soul, and spirit, okay? Others will say, no, we're more than just three parts We are four parts We are body, soul, mind, spirit So now we're four parts But we're also, we love the word of God with all our soul, heart, mind, strength, body How many parts are we, right? We're two parts, material and immaterial We can see the material You can't see the immaterial You don't need to see the immaterial, because God's word is powerful enough to penetrate the immaterial part of man Can't see it You can't see soul and spirit

Some say, well, the soul is psychological and the spirit is spiritual How do you know that? Where do you come up with that stuff? I don't know All I know is that man is physical and man has a inner part, the soul made in the image of the Lord God of Israel, and God's word is able to penetrate that which is immaterial part of man So much so we can divide the soul from the spirit So much so that it divides the joints from the bone So you can see the marrow on the inside In other words, everything is laid bare before the Lord Everything is disclosed

God's word is so sharp that when it penetrates the soul and divides the soul, it divides the immaterial part of man It divides that which cannot be seen except by the Lord God of Israel He can see it because the word of God penetrates it It opens it up That is so incredible See, I don't have to convert anybody. I don't have to convince anybody. I don't have to debate anybody about anything All I have to do is read the word of God That's it Because God's word does what it says it's going to do. I believe that. I believe God's word is powerful enough to do just that

It declares what is really on the inside of your heart and my heart It exposes everything So when the word of God is preached, when the word of God is read, it is so sharp, it divides Once it divides, it penetrates Okay, so that it can disclose everything that's on the inside And once it discloses it, then it discerns it

In other words, it says that the word of God is living and active and sharper than any twedged sword, piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. I don't have to judge your intentions. I can't judge your heart God's word can, though God's word discerns all of that It discerns your motives Listen to Proverbs chapter 15, verse number three The eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching the evil and the good It says, Sheol, the unseen world, and Abaddon lie open before the Lord

How much more the hearts of men Then over in Proverbs 16, these words are spoken Proverbs 16, verse number three. I'm sorry, not verse number three Proverbs 16, verse number two All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the motives Every man sees his ways as clean, but God is the one who truly weighs the motives And then over in Psalm 44, verse number 21, or verse 20, it says, If we had forgotten the name of our God or extended our hand to a strange God, would not God find us out? For he knows the secrets of the heart And then over in Psalm 90, verse number eight

You have placed our iniquities before you, our secret sins, in the light of your presence How powerful is that? See that? That is the uniqueness of the word of God Nothing else can do this No man can do this No instrument of man can do this Only the word of God can do this It divides, because it's sharper than any two-edged sword It then discloses because it pierces, it penetrates into the immaterial part of man So that it can properly discern what's on the inside Then once it discerns what's on the inside, guess what happens? God displays all that for all to see For it says these words

Verse number 13, and there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have to do All things are laid open All things are now displayed Unique word, used two different ways in Greek culture One was used of a wrestler, who when he would go into combat and grab his opponent's throat and cause him to be face to face with him, to show that all things are open and laid bare, that we will one day be face to face with the living God

Another is used of a dagger in a courtroom, where they would strap a dagger under the neck of the accused, that it would keep his head always pointed up, so he can never look down or bow down or keep his head down, because a dagger then would pierce his throat So it caused him to keep upward at all times to look the judge in the eye face to face That's what God's Word does Once it divides, once it discloses, once it discerns, it then displays for all to see exactly what's going on That's why the writer of Hebrew pleads today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts

All this is in the context, the second warning that we've been talking about for months Hebrews 3, verse number 7, all the way to the end of chapter 4, verse number 16 If you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, because God's Word, the inspired Word of God, living, active, powerful, piercing, penetrating Word of God, is going to dissect the inner part of your being It will all be displayed before the living God And one day, it will be displayed before all people at the great white throne of judgment, right? Listen, everybody in the room was born

Anybody here not born? Right? Everybody in the room has been born That's why you're here Everybody in the room breathes Anybody here not breathing? Of course you are Everybody born breathes Everybody who breathes will one day be buried They're going to die And once you're buried, you will be before the King of Kings to either be blessed forever or burn forever Those are the five B's that make up life Everybody's born Everybody breathes Everybody will be buried And everybody will be before the King of Kings to be blessed forever or to burn forever out of His presence

Because the Word of God will divide you from His presence And then you will live in a place of torment forever or in a place of blessing forever So the writer of Hebrews says, listen, today of yours is a day of propagation in the wilderness because of what will happen if you don't obey, if you don't enter into the promised rest The unique thing about the writer of Hebrews is he switches from the danger of not responding to the delight if you do respond He tells you this will happen if you don't respond But look what will happen if you do respond So he says, Hebrews 4, these words

If you do respond, guess what? You'll have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God Let us hold fast our confession for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted on all things as we are yet without sin Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need Listen, the throne of judgment now becomes the throne of grace to those who believe That's why there's much needed grace

There's grace because of the promise of eternal rest There's grace because of the persuasion of the word of God And there's grace because of the presence of a great high priest If you respond and do not harden your hearts, you can draw near with confidence and you'll have a priest that will sympathize with your weaknesses You'll have a priest that identifies with your infirmities You'll have a priest that will dispense to you mercy and grace during your time of need Who wouldn't want to respond to that? Let me pray with you Father, we thank you, Lord, for today

So much to say, so little time to say it But we are grateful, Lord, that you can allow us a brief moment to look into a word that is not dull, but incredibly sharp, crisp, clean, filled with energy, power, to cut to the depths of our souls that we might see and understand who you are, what you've done, and live in the light of your glory We pray, Lord, for all who are here today If there be one among us who does not know you, may today be the day that they realize they've been exposed

They have sinned against the Almighty God of the universe and need to respond by embracing Christ, the Messiah, as Lord and Savior We pray in Jesus' name Amen.