The Power of the Word
Introduction:
Listen to the words of this great old hymn: “Earth holds no treasure but
perish with using, However precious they be; Yet there’s a country to which
I am going, Heaven holds all to me.”
Text:
Hebrews 4:11-13
Heaven Holds All To Me
1.
Earth holds no treasure but perish with using, However precious they be;
Yet there’s a country to which I am going, Heaven holds all to me.
2.
Out on the hills of that wonderful country, Happy contented and free,
Angels are waiting and watching my coming, Heaven holds all to me.
3.
Why should I long for the world and its sorrows, When in that home o’er the
sea Millions are singing the wonderful story? Heaven holds all to me.
Chorus:
Heaven holds all to me, Brighter its glory will be; Joy without measure
will be my treasure, Heaven holds all to me.
Tillit S. Teddlie
Hebrews 11:16
“But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God
is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”
NKJV
Body:
I.
The Need for Diligence
Hebrews 4:11
“Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according
to the same example of disobedience.”
NKJV
·
The writer established the fact of the promise of rest which awaits the
faithful people of God.
(Hebrews
4:9-10)
“There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has
entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from
His.”
NKJV
Now he urges the reader to be diligent to enter that rest. The word means
to hasten, to be eager or zealous, to exert oneself and make every effort.
(II
Timothy 2:15)
“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need
to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
NKJV
This tells us we must exert ourselves in order to reach that heavenly rest.
The rest is out there in front of us but it will involve effort and
determination to reach it. It will not be easy. (II
Peter 1:10)
“Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election
sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;”
NKJV
·
The Israelites serve as an example of disobedience. (Hebrews
4:1-3, 6)
“Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest
any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was
preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not
profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. For we who
have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: ‘So I swore in My wrath,
They shall not enter My rest,’ although the works were finished from the
foundation of the world.
6
Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was
first preached did not enter because of disobedience.”
NKJV
They did not have faith in God and His promises and thus failed to obey His
instructions. What happened to Israel in the wilderness can happen to us.
II.
The Nature of God’s Word
Hebrews 4:12
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper that any two-edged
sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and
marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
NKJV
·
“Living” – God’s Word is called “living oracles.” (Acts
7:37-38)
“This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord your God
will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall
hear.’ This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the
Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who
received the living oracles to give to us,”
NKJV
They are capable of giving life. (James
1:18)
“Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be
a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.”
NKJV
·
“Powerful” – The Bible is dynamic, active, capable of accomplishing things.
(Isaiah
55:10-11)
“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.”
NKJV
It is the “power of God unto salvation.” (Romans
1:16)
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel if Christ, for it is the power of God to
salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the
Greek.”
NKJV
It is able to save your soul. (James
1:21)
“Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive
with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”
NKJV
·
“Sharper than any two-edged sword” – The picture is that of a razor sharp
blade that divides what seems indivisible. Note
Revelation 1:16
which describes Christ.
“He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp
two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its
strength.”
NKJV
The point here is to stress the ability of Scripture to probe the innermost
recesses of our being and reveal our true nature and motives. (I
Corinthians 4:5)
“Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will
both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of
the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.”
NKJV
The Word detects every twist and turn of our minds. Therefore our thoughts,
feelings, and motives should all be governed by God’s Word.
III.
The Nakedness of Our Lives
Hebrews 4:13
“And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked
and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”
NKJV
·
The writer switches the subject from the Word of God to God Himself.
Nothing escapes the scrutiny of God. We may deceive everyone, but never
God. He sees all and knows all.
·
“Naked” – This word stresses our total exposure before God. We are stripped
of any and every disguise. We are fully exposed.
·
“Over” – Bending back the neck. This stresses how helpless and vulnerable
we are before a Holy God.
·
“Give account” – Each of us will give account of our lives. (II
Corinthians 5:10)
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one
may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done,
whether good or bad.”
NKJV
Christ will be the Judge. (Acts
17:31)
“because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in
righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of
this to all by raising Him from the dead.”
NKJV
Conclusion:
Our God has promised a rest for His people, the faithful who die in the
Lord, those whose sins have been washed away by the blood of Christ. (Revelation
14:13)
“Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, ‘Write: Blessed are the
dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they
may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.’ ”
NKJV
Bobby Stafford
January 28, 2018
