The Piercing Word

4 Reasons We Must Not Disregard God's Word - Excerpt from Hebrews: An Anchor for the Soul by R. Kent Hughes (HT Crossway)

The Piercing Word of God

I was twelve years old when I came under the knife of God's Word. The cuts went deep, deeper than blood, as they cut my soul in gracious surgery. I was cut with the clear understanding that though I was an outward son of the church, I was not a son of God. The other cut that the knife brought was the conviction that Jesus Christ was God and that he had died on the cross for my sins.

My pastor directed me to read John 1:12 and Romans 10:9-10. And as I read, the lights came on. It was as if the marrow of those verses were sucked off the page and into my soul. I did believe! Thus began my experience with the penetrating power of God's Word. It has cut me untold numbers of times since. But each pain, responded to, has brought a fresh, satisfying healing.

All Scripture is, as Paul has said, theopneustos, "breathed out by God" (2 Timothy 3:16). It is the very breath of divine reality. There is nothing like it. Hebrews 4:12-13 give us four reasons we must not disregard God's Word:

1. The Living Word

The writer of Hebrews directly warns that God's Word is alive, saying, "The word of God is living and active" (v. 12a). It lives because it endures forever (Psalm 119:89). Even more, it lives because it has life in itself. God is "living" (3:12), and the Word, as God's breath (2 Timothy 3:16), partakes of God's living character. It is alive!

The character of the Word's aliveness is that it is "active," or as that word is sometimes rendered, "effective." God's Word vibrates with active, effectual power as it rushes to fulfill the purpose for which it was spoken. As Isaiah 55:11 so beautifully says: "so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it."

Indeed, the Word of God is alive and effectual! It does what it promises to do. It regards neither age nor education. It can change you if you are twelve or 102. If you will listen to God's Word, it will change your life. This truth is both a promise and a warning to all of us.

2. The Penetrating Word

God's Word is not only living, but penetrating, as the next line so clearly states: "sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and marrow" (v. 12b).

What we have here is a poetic statement of the power of God's Word to pierce the human personality to its very depths. God's Word can cut through anything and bring conviction.

God's Word cleaves through our hard-shelled souls like a hot knife through warm butter. Certainly we Christians find this to be true in our lives. There are sections of God's Word that cut through all the pretensions and religious facade, leaving us convicted.

When God wills it, his Word will pierce anyone. The soul safest from God's penetrating Word is never the unhappy hearer, but those who, though hearing, never hear and never resist. Tragically, many of these are regular church attenders. The true hearer wittingly or unwittingly invites the divine surgeon to do his gracious cutting.

3. The Discerning Word

Having established that God's Word is living and penetrating, the writer adds, "discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (v. 12c). The root word for "discerning" is the word kritikos, from which we derive critic. So the emphasis here is on the discerning judgment of "the thoughts and intentions of the heart". The heart is the seat of human personality. It is hidden from all. Yet God's Word sifts through its thoughts and attitudes with unerring discrimination.

"The sword of the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:17) will tell us what is in our hearts. Fellow-believers, if we really want to understand ourselves, we must fill our souls with God's Word. God's Word–read, meditated upon, and prayerfully applied–will give you brilliant discernment and profound self-knowledge. James indicates that God's Word functions as a mirror revealing who and what we really are (cf. James 1:23 24). This gift of self-knowledge is no small grace because when we grasp something of the serpentine ways of our hearts, we are disposed to cast ourselves even more on God's grace. And that is no small grace! The wise Christian invites the penetrating, discerning work of God's Word in his life.

4. A Reckoning God

Verse 13 gives us one of Scripture's great descriptions of God's knowing: "No creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account."

God sees everything. This can be discomforting if we have something to hide. "The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good" (Proverbs 15:3). The psalmist likewise witnesses, "You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence" (Psalm 90:8).

This is sobering truth indeed. But the metaphorical language that follows makes God's knowing absolutely terrifying for those who imagine they can avoid his gaze: "All are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account." "All"–everything–everyone–is stark naked before him. There is nothing to hide in or behind. All creatures are in the grip of God, totally vulnerable, and helpless.

Blessed be the double-edged sword of judgment and sanctification. God cuts us deeply that we might die. God cuts us again with his Word that we might live.

Continually Bearing Witness....

Did signs, wonders and spiritual gifts cease after the apostolic age? Here's Sam Storms' view, based on a passage in the Book of Hebrews - "Hebrews 2 and the Continuationist - Cessationist Debate"

The author of Hebrews asks, “how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will” (Heb. 2:3-4).

Does this passage support the notion that signs, wonders, miracles, and spiritual gifts of a certain sort ceased to exist at some point in the first century? No.Several things should be noted.

First, the author does not limit this text to the apostles, nor does the word “apostle” even appear in the passage. The phrase “those who heard” would surely include the apostles but by no means must be limited to them. Many more than the Twelve heard Jesus, did miracles, and exercised spiritual gifts.

Second, to “what” or to “whom” did God bear witness by signs and wonders? Most likely he has in mind the gospel of “salvation” (v. 3). Jesus first proclaimed the message, those who heard him confirmed it to those who did not have the privilege of hearing it firsthand. God in turn confirmed the veracity of this gospel by signs, wonders, miracles and gifts of the Spirit.

Third, nothing in this text suggests that the miracles that confirmed the message were performed only by those who originally heard the Lord. The text allows for the possibility that when God testified to the gospel he did it among and through the author of Hebrews and his audience as well. The present tense participle, “God also bearing witness,” at least suggests that “the corroborative evidence was not confined to the initial act of preaching, but continued to be displayed within the life of the community” (William Lane, Hebrews, 1:39).

Fourth, nothing in the text asserts that these miraculous phenomena must be restricted either to those who personally heard the Lord or to those who heard the message of salvation secondhand. Why wouldn’t God continue to testify to the message when it is preached by others in subsequent generations? In other words, in saying that God “bore witness” to the people of the early church he is not necessarily saying that God never “bore witness” for the benefit of those in the church of more recent days.

Fifth, we must not forget that there are other purposes, uses, or benefits in the display of the miraculous beyond that of gospel attestation. Paul believed that “miracles” and “healings” and “prophecy” and the like were designd by God to build up the body of Christ. They were given for “the common good” (1 Cor. 12:7). The error of reductionism must be avoided. That is to say, we must not take one stated purpose of signs, wonders, and miracles and reduce God’s aim in such phenomena to that alone. There is no reason why signs, wonders, and miracles could not easily continue to function in numerous other ways beyond the age of the apostles.

Sixth and finally, note that the author distinguishes between “various miracles” and “gifts” of the Spirit, suggesting that by “gifts” he intends more than what we would call miraculous charismata. I doubt anyone would restrict all spiritual gifts (such as teaching, mercy, evangelism, etc.) to the first century simply because they served to authenticate and attest to the gospel. So I find nothing in this text that would require a cessationist view of spiritual gifts. 

Jesus is Leading Worship Today

What a wonderful way to think about Sunday worship! From Zach Hicks:

 ...Hebrews 2:12 tells me something even more profound.  It tells me that while I'm praising God with the assembly--"in the presence of the congregation"--Jesus stands next to us, praising God alongside us.  Jesus is perfecting our worship in that very moment, too.  He's standing in our midst, singing, praying, and listening along, in real time, in real space.  He's also declaring God's name to us, meaning He's encouraging us to worship, cheering us on.  He's Prophet, Priest, King, and Cheerleader.  

Nearly every Sunday now, as I lead worship, I have a kind of Braveheart experience.  At the end of that movie, as Mel Gibson is being tortured on his death-table, he looks out into the mixed crowd of haters and sympathizers and suddenly fixates on a single figure, calmly moving through the crowd, eyes locked on his.  It's his wife, who had died previously and awaits his arrival in the afterlife.  It's a gripping scene.  When I lead worship now, as I look out on the mixed crowd of hand-raised charismaniacs and bored stiff yawners, I envision my Lord walking among us, singing as He goes, praying as He goes, encouraging as He goes.  I see Him declaring God's name to my brothers and sisters, and I hear Him singing God's praises amidst the congregation.  And our broken, selfish, mucky, sinful praise becomes perfected praise, in that very moment.

The good news about our bad worship is that Jesus worships for us.  He didn't just worship (past tense) for us, though that is remarkable enough.  Fulfilling yet another glorious aspect of His High Priestly office, He worships (present tense), in real time, in our midst.  And God the Father, through the power of the Spirit, sees Him...among us, through us, around us, and in us...and He loves it and revels in it.

What freeing news.  This means that whether I had a good Sunday or bad Sunday, Jesus was there, making it the best Sunday, every time.  Because of Jesus, God the Father loves my worship.  This is the gospel, worship-style.

Hindrances That May Not Be Sins

In Hebrews 12:1 we are admonished to "lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely" (ESV). Can that weight refered to there be something that is not sin? Can it also refer to good things that also hinder us from our calling in God? Michael Spencer speculated on this at his IMonk site - The Weight May Not Be A Sin: A Thought On Hebrews 12:1:

The central insight I’m going to be bringing in my Sunday morning sermon tomorrow at the local Baptist church is an optional reading of Hebrews 12:1. Specifically, I want to suggest this: the “weight” that holds us back in the “race” is not always a “sin” as specifically defined by scripture.

Someone could legitimately say that “weight” and “sin” are a parallelism, and I would agree, but the parallelism may be because of the effect of hindering our ongoing life as a follower of Jesus.

There is no doubt that we are called to lay aside, i.e. repent of, sin. I would contend that we are admonished, with just as much authority, to lay aside whatever may hinder us that is not a matter of repenting of sin, but of giving up what is not necessary, what distracts us and what makes it difficult to carry out the calling and mission of the church.

I think he is right. I know that there have been things in my life that, although not necessarily sin, have held me back. I can also see many things in various churches and groups I have known - traditions, structures, prejudices, attitudes - that take us off mission.

Spencer concluded:

What if your WAY of doing church is a weight. Not a sin.

What if your way of living the Christian life is too comfortable, too predictable, too safe and too “in the niche” of a tradition that answers all your questions?

What if your schedule is so full of things that aren’t sinful that you can’t do anything new this week for the Kingdom? What if your life at church is so full you already know everything you are ever going to do for Jesus? What if your life is so full of your current friends you could never make a new one?

What if you are investing so much in what is good that you can’t sacrifice or joyfully give away money for the Kingdom?

What if your good life, good morals, good witness are the reason you don’t have a life of discipleship filled with risk, impact and Kingdom adventures?

What if your problem isn’t the sin that clings so closely, but the weights you are so easily and comfortably carrying around in order to be a “good Christian?”

Ouch!