“The Road to a Better Life: Living On the Cutting Edge”
Heb. 4:1-13
It happens so often. I’ll sit back and turn on the news, largely because I want to catch the weather and sports reports. It’s not long before the weather report comes on, and the next thing I hear is the news anchor thanking me for watching! I’ve awakened to realize I’ve missed what I tuned in to hear! Then, of course, when I go to bed I have some trouble getting to sleep! It all has to do with how to enter into a good rest.
Hebrews, chapters 3 and 4 is all about resting - resting in the Lord. And near the end of the discussion there are some unexpected words about God’s Word. The author knew God’s people needed to discover a whole new lifestyle - called resting in the Lord. And He knew that the Word leads us to that discovery. WE CAN ENTER THE REST OF GOD BY SUBMITTING TO THE CUTTING ACTIVITIES OF THE WORD. Read again verses 12-13: “For the word of God is living 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. Nothing in all creation is hidden form God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Like a surgeon’s knife, the Word of God penetrates the depths, judges the heart, and exposes the truth.
God’s Word, first of all, PENETRATES THE DEPTHS. “..It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow…” Whenever the Word is heard - be it through preaching, reading, speaking, singing - it penetrates deep into the recesses of our being. LIKE A DOCTOR IN SURGERY, THE WORD PROBES OUR DEPTHS. It cuts into and through what nothing else can; it goes where nothing else can go. It pierces to the very core of our life.
According to Hebrews, the Word even differentiates between body and soul, between the flesh and the spirit. We are often confused about how we feel, or think, or act; we question our reactions and motives. But the Word clarifies definitively, as nothing else can do. That’s why Phillips translates ‘penetrates’ as “to the innermost intimacies of a man’s being.”
NO SURGEON CAN DO WORK ON OUR SOUL. There is no surgical procedure that can correct a bad attitude, open a closed mind, change a lustful heart, alter a rebellious spirit, refocus a judgmental eye, or clear a clouded soul. These are all soul things and only the Word can penetrate and change them. Listen to this letter from the files of the Gideon’s Bible ministry.
“One winter morning in San Diego, after I had wandered many miles along the waterfront, in a daze, I turned my steps wearily toward my hotel room. I had been drinking heavily for weeks. My mind was tortured by the thoughts of the wife and four children whom I had deserted. Just yesterday, it seemed, I had been a radio executive, in charge of two radio stations. The home in which we lived, Beverly Hills, the cars, the servants--the things money and social position can provide for a man and his family--were just a memory. I had dragged my family down with me until they were living in a little hovel, and then, I had deserted them. I had suffered a complete nervous breakdown and, worst of all, I had completely lost my voice. For a year and a half, I had not been able to speak one word aloud, each effort to talk was just a whisper. The future held no promise. I opened the door of my hotel room and flung myself into a chair in utter despair. My gaze fell upon a (Gideon) Bible on the floor. In a distracted sort of way, I picked it up and started to read. Old familiar words I had learned as a child, words of life, quick and powerful, leaped out of those pages and found their way into my heart. I fell to my knees, and spread the Bible upon the chair, and made a vow that I would not leave that hotel room, if I died of starvation, until there came into my soul a knowledge that my sins had been forgiven, until I knew that I passed from death unto life. With a surge of joy, I realized that God's promises were even for men like me. In that hotel room, I found Calvary's Cross; there I laid my burden down; there, the old man died, and a new one was born. From that place I walked in newness of life, a new creature in Christ Jesus, praise His Name! God straightened things out between my wife and me, and today she and I and our four children are back together again. The "peace that passeth all understanding" has loosed the taut nerves and muscles which had prevented normal speech, and God gave me back my voice.” The writer went on to become "First Mate Bob" on the long-time religious radio show "Haven of Rest." (1)
Is it any wonder that, when explaining to the chief priests and Pharisees why they did not arrest Jesus, the Temple guards said (Jn. 7:46): “No one ever spoke the way this man does?” Because His words were God’s! And God’s words penetrate! I can’t tell you the number of times someone will say of a sermon I’ve preached, “Have you been reading my diary?” The Word cuts deep, penetrates to the
innermost intimacies of our being! The Word penetrates and goes where nothing else can. Martin Luther wrote: “The Bible is alive, it speaks to me. It has feet, it runs after me. It has hands, it lays hold of me.” The Word of God penetrates the depths.
A second cutting activity, according to Hebrews, is that the Word JUDGES THE HEART: “It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Most of our best kept secrets are tucked away in our hearts. We hide them there so no one else can see. But we cannot hide from God. Remember Adam and Eve in the Garden after they had eaten of the forbidden fruit? They hid in the bushes; but God knew where they were and called them out to face Him. WE CAN DECEIVE OTHERS, BUT NOT GOD. And that makes us uncomfortable. There are things we do not want known! You do not want me to see the entire book of your life, with every thought, word, deed included. Nor do I want you to see my book! But God does see it! And through His Word He deals with what He sees. The Word acts as critic; it sifts, analyzes, and scrutinizes the heart. It audits our accounts.
Most of us have had an X-ray taken of some part of our body. It reveals things we cannot see with the naked eye. Sometimes it reveals things we do not want to see but need to see if we are to remain healthy. So the Word reveals to us our thoughts, intentions, and motives. Someone once said to me, “I don’t so much need to know myself as face myself.” And I realized how true that is for me as well. And it is the Word of God which X-rays my heart and gives me the opportunity to do so. And it is only the Word of God which can do so.
THERE IS NOTHING SO HIDDEN THAT GOD CANNOT SEE, OR SO BLENDED THAT HE CANNOT DISCERN. God’s Word is like a chemical process that finds and discerns the constituent parts of material bodies. It will show us what we’re made of! We can discover the negatives, the detriments to growth; we can also discover the positives, the potentials for growth. That’s why we often fear going to the doctor - we do not want to hear the diagnosis. It’s also why many people try to avoid the Word of God - they fear its diagnosis. Yet the diagnosis is intended to heal. If the doctor, for example, tells me I have a broken leg and I will need surgery to repair it or else it will never heal and I will never walk again, that’s all he can do; I then must make a choice. So it is with the judging God does through His Word; what happens as a result is up to us - God simply gives us a diagnosis. That’s why those who choose to live by His Word really live on the cutting edge - the surgery is ongoing and never complete
in this life. The Word of God judges the heart.
There’s also a third cutting activity of the Word - it EXPOSES THE TRUTH. “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.” The Word sees things as they really are. I have a box here. You have no way of knowing what, if anything, is inside it. Only by opening it up, uncovering it, can you see and know the truth. Similarly, opening the Word reveals the truth, and lets us see ourselves the way we really are! And we need to realize that no creature has any cover from the sight of God. God’s eyes have unlimited exposure! Before him we are laid bare, uncovered, naked!
The word for “laid bare” is the word from which we get “trachea.” A picture which comes to mind is that of the criminals who were marched to execution. They had a dagger strapped to their chest, pointing upwards, so their head would always be lifted up, exposing the trachea. This way they could not bow away from God but had to face Him. So the Word makes us face the truth about ourselves and God. He will lay bare our lives, uncover all we’ve tried so hard to hide. Some people try to keep things hidden all their lives - but beware; surgery will happen. GOD DOES SURGERY ON ANYONE, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE. He does so to heal and set us free. It was Jesus himself who said to the Jews who believed, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” That’s why the woman from Samaria, who encountered Jesus at the well, eventually told her friends, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.” She was free! Exposing the truth frees us. Back before it was discovered that hands carried germs, many surgeons were frustrated to perform successful surgery only to have patients die from an infection of unknown origin. Then came the discovery about hands
and germs. It was this truth which set us free from death. Exposure heals.
A Christian university student shared a room with a Muslim. As they became friends, their conversation turned to their beliefs. The believer asked the Muslim if he'd ever read the Bible. He answered no, but then asked if the Christian had ever read the Koran. The believer responded, "No, I haven't, but I'm sure it would be interesting. Why don't we read both together, once a week, alternating books?" The young man accepted the challenge, their friendship deepened, and during the second term he became a believer in Jesus. One evening, late in the term, he burst into the room and shouted at the long-time believer, "You deceived me!" "What are you talking about?" the believer asked. The new believer opened his Bible and said, "I've been reading it through, like you told me, and just read that the Word is living and active!" He grinned. "You knew all along that the Bible contained God's power and that the Koran is a book like any other. I never had a chance!" "And now you'll hate me for life?" queried the believer. "No," he answered, "but it was an unfair contest." (2)
We need to remember that TO BE COMPLETELY KNOWN IS ONE OF OUR DEEPEST NEEDS. We need, and deep down inside we want to find someone who knows us completely and who will still be for us. We cry out with Job (23:3-5): “If only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling! I would state my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments. I would find out what he would answer me, and consider what he would say.” I am deeply moved every time I read these words of A. W. Tozer: “God knows us completely. No tale bearer can inform on us; no enemy can make an accusation stick; no forgotten skeleton can come tumbling out of some hidden closet to abash us and expose our past to God. No unsuspected weakness in our characters can come to light to turn God away from us since He already knew us utterly before we knew him. And He called us to himself in the full knowledge of everything that was against us.” God’s Words exposes the truth so we can experience the overwhelming love and grace of Jesus Christ and be freed from the burden of hiding so much for so long!
That’s why the author of Hebrews puts these words about the Scriptures into the discussion on rest. THE WORD IS AN OASIS FOR PARCHED, TIRED LIVES. Even Psychologists say that mental health consists in coming to know ourselves fully, in losing our illusions and exposing our pretenses, in squarely facing all the facts, in confronting all our fears, in admitting all our failures. But this can only happen under the grace of Christ. So Hebrews continues, “Therefore, since we have a great high priest, who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith that we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” If we can just live each moment knowing Jesus, who knows all and sees all, and still bears with us, we would begin to understand what entering into God’s rest is all about.
So WHAT DOES ALL OF THIS MEAN? So we believe the Word penetrates, judges, and exposes. So what? Let me suggest two applications. First, SUBMIT TO SURGERY. You must prepare for surgery by being in the Word, being where the surgeon can operate on you. If you were to have surgery at a local hospital, you’d receive a list of things to do in preparation; you would make yourself ready and available. So with God’s surgery - get where He can perform it - get in the Word.
Second, COOPERATE WITH THE DOCTOR. We do not tell a surgeon where and how to cut! Nor do we expect him to spare us all pain. In fact, we would leave a doctor who told us we had a potentially deadly tumor but he would not remove it because it would cause us some pain! God will cut and it will hurt - but it will heal.
Agta people in the northern Philippines have some interesting insight in their language for the phrase “The word of God is living and potent.” Their word madagat can mean stinging, venomous, or potent. A poisonous snake is madagat but so are some medicines that can heal. Referring to the Word of God they believe it means that if we disregard it, it’s like the poisonous snake. But if we live by it its potency is like the medicine. To illustrate they point to the samrid, a small caterpillar that infests certain trees and plants. Human contact with the samrid will result a burning welt. But if you would take a leaf and scoop the samrid onto it, fold the leaf and crush the samrid, you can remove the caterpillar and rub to fluids left on the leaf directly on the welt and experience immediate and lasting relief. Sounds just like the Word of God, doesn’t it? If you don’t open it, it holds nothing but judgment; but if you open it, inside there is healing like nothing else. The road to a better life runs through the cutting edge of the Word. And it alone leads into the rest of the Lord.
(1) Paul Myers, "Down and Out from Beverly Hills: One man's encounter with a Gideon Bible," in "The Golden Age of Hymns," Christian History, no. 31.
(2) Floyd Schneider, Evangelism for the Fainthearted (Kregel, 2000); quoted in Men of Integrity (March/April 2001)
