Hebrews 4:12-13 - The Word of God

So far in our look at the letter of Hebrews, we have seen how our author has used one argument after another in his attempt to persuade this group of Jewish Christians about the greatness of Jesus Christ.

We have seen how he seeks to persuade them of their need to continue to trust in Christ, to have faith in Christ, as well as their need to continue in lives of faithfulness. He seeks to persuade them to reject trusting in their good works, or in the law, or in the temple, or in the sacrifices, but to instead trust in Christ, and Christ alone for their salvation.

And as he builds his case for the greatness of Christ, and as he builds his case for the assurance of salvation that we have in the gospel of Christ, the one thing that he does time and time again, is he quotes Scripture, the Bible, the Old Testament, to back up, and to prove what he is saying.

Some eighteen different times in these first four chapters he quotes or refers to Scripture in order to prove his point. And the way that he does this, and the number of times that he does this, makes it clear that for him:

What the Bible says, is absolute truth.
What the Bible says is the solution to every question.
And what the Bible says, resolves every argument.

And so when the author of Hebrews wanted to prove the deity of Christ, he quoted Psalm 45:6:

But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of your kingdom.[1]

When he wanted to prove the full humanity of Christ, he quoted Psalm 22:22.

I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.[2]

As well as Isaiah 8:18a:

Here am I and the children whom God has given me.[3]

When he wanted to prove the superiority of Christ to the angels, he quoted Psalm 2:7 as well as 2 Samuel 7:14:

For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”?[4]

When he wanted to prove the superiority of Christ to Moses, he referred to what Numbers 12:7 talked about.

Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken later. Christ, however, was faithful over God’s house as a son, and we are his house if we hold firm the confidence and the pride that belong to hope.[5]

When he wanted to challenge this group of believers who were beginning to "drift" from Christ, he used Psalm 95:7-11 to warn them, and to challenge them to continue in faith and in faithfulness.

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, as on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors put me to the test, though they had seen my works for forty years. Therefore, I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘They always go astray in their hearts, and they have not known my ways.’ As in my anger I swore, they will not enter my rest.[6]

And when he wanted to assure this group that there is a "rest" to be found in God through faith in Christ, and not through their own works, he, quoted Genesis 2:2.

For in one place it speaks about the seventh day as follows, “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.[7]

And when he quoted Scripture to these people, when he took those different parts of the Old Testament and he expounded them, explained them, taught them what they meant, and he applied the Scriptures to their own lives and situations, then as far as he was concerned, that was the end of the argument. As far as he was concerned, his case was proven.

Throughout it all, he makes it clear that the Word of God is the origin of the message. And he makes it clear that he, the author of this particular letter, he is simply a person who is bringing the Word of God to them. For in referring to Scripture, gaining his understanding of the plan of God, and his understanding of Christ from Scripture, he appeals, not to himself as his own authority, but he appeals to God's word as his final authority for life, faith, and practice.

And, having done all of that, having used Scripture some eighteen times, having expounded it and explained it, he says in Hebrews 4:12-13:

Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.

And the first thing that we notice here is that "the Word of God is living, and it is active".

For our author, the Bible, and for him that meant what we call the "Old Testament", but for our author the Bible was not some dusty old book that was written centuries ago by a bunch of people who are now dead. For him, the Bible is a book that is "alive". It is a book that is relevant for today as it teaches, and guides, and rebukes, and instructs people through all of the challenges and trials that we face in this life.

For him, the Bible is a book that is "active" as it seeks to encourage people to a life of faith in God, and to a life of faithfulness to God.

For the Word of God is not simply these black images on the white pages of this book that we call "the Bible". If "the Word of God", were mere images on a page, then it would be yet another "dead" book. A book that we could quite happily ignore.

I have dozens of good books on my shelves which I have read once, thoroughly enjoyed, and most probably will never read again. The words are just "images and figures on a piece of paper". Books that I enjoyed, but which I can quite happily never read again, in fact, over the years I have given many of them away.

But if the Word of God is "living", if the Word of God is "active", then it is more than dead letters on a page. It is, instead, something that continues to speak, to teach, to guide, to instruct. If it is living, then it is something that we, of necessity, need to pay attention to, as Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:16-17:

All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.

And notice how both Paul and Hebrews put this:

The Word of God is living and active.

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful.

By the time of Paul and the writer of Hebrews, all of the Old Testament had been completed for roughly four hundred years. The last book in the Old Testament to be written was most probably Chronicles, which was written "around" 350BC, some four hundred years before Hebrews was written.

And yet, even though it had been written so long ago, and by our day we can add nearly two thousand years to that, but even though it was written so long ago:

The Word of God is living.

All Scripture is inspired by God.

For being "inspired by God", being "living and active", does not merely speak about what happened way back then when Isaiah, Ezekiel, or Paul sat down to write something.

Being "living" and "inspired" speaks about the Bible's present, ongoing "speaking" to us, being "useful" to us by "teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training" us in the path of righteousness.

When we pick up our Bibles in the morning to have our morning devotions, or evening devotions, or lunch-time devotions, but when we pick up our Bibles and read it, what do we think that we are reading?

Are we reading a book written by people who are long dead to other people who are long dead? Or are we reading a book that is "inspired", that is "living", that is "active", and that is written to us, and is written for us?

There is this great Peanuts cartoon where Linus is coming home from Sunday School.[8] Charlie Brown starts talking to him and asks him what he did at Sunday School, and Linus tells Charlie Brown that they are studying the letters of the Apostle Paul. Charlie Brown says, "that should be interesting", to which Linus replies, "it is". But then Linus continues by saying:

Although I must admit it makes me feel a little guilty. . . because I always feel like I'm reading someone else's mail!

But when we read the Bible, are we reading "someone else's mail"? Or "our mail". Is it letters, books, history, poems, and wisdom that were written "to those people way back then". Or is it instead letters, books, history, poems, and wisdom, that is written to us, and for us today.

For if it is only the letter of Paul to the Romans, or Corinthians, or Colossians, then it has nothing to do with us. If it is only a "Psalm of David", then it has nothing to do with us. If it is only the memoir of Ezra or Nehemiah, or if it is only the words of Ezekiel to the exiles in Babylon, then it has nothing to do with us because it is old, and past, and dead. But if "the Word of God is living and active", if "all Scripture is inspired", if, as Peter said in 1 Peter 1:24-25a:

The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord endures forever.

If this is true, then these aren't dead books and letters written to people in the twelfth century BC, and neither are they letters written to long lost churches and communities of the first century.

They are instead "living letters", "active letters", "inspired" letters, "words that stand forever" from God to us in the Chidlow Community Church here in the twenty-first century. And being "living and active", being "inspired", being a word that "stands forever", it is not just a book to be studied for what it "said" to those people, way back then. Instead, it is a book to be read, studied, thought about, for what it continues to say to us "now". "Today".

And that is what the author has done. He has taken the living word, the active Word of God, originally written by David, Jeremiah, and a host of anonymous people, and he has applied it to this particular church and its situation.

Do you remember what he said in Hebrews 3:7? In Hebrews 3:7 he quotes Psalm 95, written centuries beforehand, and he says:

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice".

Today! This psalm, written centuries beforehand, was still a word that speaks "today". It didn't only speak to those in the time of whoever wrote it. And it didn't only speak to those in the church that Hebrews was written to, but as the "living, active, inspired, lasting forever" word of God, it continues to speak to us, Today! And because it is "living and active", Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:16 that it continues to be:

useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.

That is why, as we read the Word of God, we find, as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10:11:

These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come.

That's why he also says in Romans 15:4:

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.

And notice that in both 1 Corinthians and in Romans, Paul says that the things written down in the past, the things written down a thousand or so years previously, were written down "for us". And why "for us"? Because the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, are books written for "today". Whenever "today" happens to be.

The Bible was written for Augustine of Hippo who was in anguish over salvation, judgement, the wrath of God, and peace with God. Augustine wrote about his anguish in his Confessions:

I flung myself down . . . under a certain fig-tree, giving free course to my tears, and the streams of my eyes gushed out.

And, not indeed in these words, yet to this effect, spoke I much unto you, --"But you, O Lord, how long?" "How long, Lord? Will you be angry for ever? Oh, remember not against us former iniquities;" for I felt that I was enthralled by them. I sent up these sorrowful cries, --"How long, how long? Tomorrow, and tomorrow? Why not now? Why is there not this hour an end to my uncleanness?"

I was saying these things and weeping in the most bitter contrition of my heart, when, lo, I heard the voice of a boy or girl, I know not which, coming from a neighbouring house, chanting, and oft repeating, "Take up and read; take up and read."[9]

Immediately my countenance was changed, and I began most earnestly to consider whether it was usual for children in any kind of game to sing such words; nor could I remember ever to have heard the like. So, restraining the torrent of my tears, I rose up, interpreting it no other way than as a command to me from Heaven to open the book, and to read the first Chapter I should look upon.

I quickly returned to the place where . . . I had put down the volume of the apostles.

I grasped, opened, and in silence read that paragraph on which my eyes first fell,

Not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires."[10]

No further would I read, nor did I need; for instantly, as the sentence ended, a light of security infused into my heart, and all the gloom of doubt vanished.

And at that moment, the written word penned by Paul to the church in Rome over three centuries earlier, became for Augustine "the living, active, inspired and eternal word" that spoke to his heart, transformed his life, and gave him the assurance of God's love, grace, and forgiveness that he was so desperate to find.

The Bible was written for Martin Luther in the sixteenth century when he read, "the just shall live by faith", and when, in the sixteenth century Martin Luther read the "living, active, inspired and eternal" Word of God, and as he listened to the living and active Word of God, not only his life, but nations and peoples throughout Europe, changed.

The Bible was written for Billy Graham in the twentieth century. In his biography he writes about the time when his good friend and fellow evangelist Charles Templeton tried to convince him that the Bible was only a book written by men. He writes that he went away, studied, and then prayed:

O God! There are many things in this book I do not understand. There are many problems with it for which I have no solution … I can’t answer some of the questions Chuck and others are raising. . . Father, I am going to accept this as your Word — by faith! I’m going to allow faith to go beyond my intellectual questions and doubts, and I will believe this to be Your inspired Word.

And as he allowed the living, working, Inspired, and abiding Word of God to become God's word to him “Today”, he was enabled by God to proclaim the Gospel to millions throughout the world. Souls were saved, lives were transformed, and one of Billy Graham's constant, oft repeated statements was simply this:

The Bible . . . says.

And because God was speaking to the people "Today" through his word, what the Bible says, was all that was needed.

Do you know why I believe in creation? It isn’t because of the ministry of the work of any of the creation ministries. It is, instead, because as a young boy I read in the Bible that:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.[11]

And my belief in creation isn’t because of the scientific evidence (for or against), because to be honest, most of it goes right over my head. It is instead because, as Hebrews 11:3 says:

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

God has revealed it to us in his word, and that is good enough.

And this same word is God's word to us, “Today”. Written long ago, but used by God in the "Today" of our own lives and experience to teach us, guide us, rebuke us, instruct us, and enable us to live and to be all that God wants us to live and to be, if only we will have eyes to see and ears to hear what God is saying to us through it.

Our author then goes on to say that the Bible is like a "sharp, double-edged sword". No one uses swords now days, except for sport or in the movies, but a "double-edged sword", that is, sharpened on both sides, was the standard equipment of the Roman soldier. And the great thing about a "double edged" sword was that it could cut in both directions. You could swing it this way, and you could cut from right to left. And then you could swing it that way, and it would cut from left to right. Because of its design, a "double edged" sword would never give an ineffective blow. Unlike an axe or a club, a "double-edged sword" would always cut, divide, and do the task that it was designed for.

And what is it that Isaiah said in Isaiah 55:10-11?

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 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 succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

The “double-edged sword” of the Word of God will always be effective. But for it to be effective, a "double edged sword" also required skill and practice so that it could be used effectively. That is, the Roman soldier had to practice, and practice, and practice. And so, Paul said to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15:

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

The Greek word which is translated here as "rightly handling",[12] is also used in the Greek translation of Proverbs 3:6, for "making your path straight". And, again, in Proverbs 11:5:

The righteousness of the blameless keeps their ways straight.

And so this word has the idea of going straight ahead, without deviation. The New Jerusalem Bible translates this verse as:

Make every effort to present yourself before God as a proven worker who has no need to be ashamed, but who keeps the message of truth on a straight path.

I love that phrase, "keeps the message of truth on a straight path", because it reminds us, and it warns us that, if we are not careful, it is easy to deviate from the truth of Christ.

That is, in fact, what the people of this church in Hebrews were doing. They were "deviating", or, as Hebrews 2:1 says, they were "drifting" from the truth of Christ.

And Paul warns us about this as well. He tells us that even in his day there were some people in the churches who were denying the resurrection. There were others who were using the preaching of the Gospel as a means to make money for themselves, who were preaching a Gospel of greed. There were still others who used the Gospel, and who "wrongly used the word of truth", as a means of manipulating others into doing what they wanted. For gaining power and status for themselves. And so Hebrews tells us that it is as we allow the double-edged sword of the Word of God to "slice through" all of our own ideas, all of our pretence, all of our selfish ambition, all of our misunderstandings, all of our jealousies, all of our pettiness and grandstanding, or, as he puts it in Hebrews 4:12, as we allow the Word of God to slice through our:

Soul and spirit, joints and marrow; the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts.

Then, as verse thirteen talks about, the God who sees everything anyway, will make reality clear to us by means of his "living and active word", and we will be "uncovered" and "laid bare" as we see ourselves, our desires, and our ambitions for what they truly are.

By allowing the Word of God to "cut a straight path" through us, we, who have perhaps deviated from the truth of Christ in our lives, our lifestyles, our doctrine, or our attitudes, we will be brought back to the truth as we listen to the Word of God, as we respond in faith to the Word of God, and as we apply the living, active, and inspired word to our lives.

That is what the writer of Hebrews was doing in this letter. Using the Word of God in a "straight line" to bring this group of people who were "drifting" from Christ, back to faith in Christ, in order to establish them solidly in faith, and to help them live each day by faith in Jesus.

That is also what we seek to do here, every Sunday morning as we seek to understand what the Word of God says.

Not merely studying to give us "knowledge", although that will happen also, but studying the Word of God so that the living and active Word of God might speak to us, touch us, and by the work of the Spirit, transform us.

Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.[13]

[1] Hebrews 1:8

[2] Hebrews 2:12

[3] Hebrews 2:13b

[4] Hebrews 1:5

[5] [Hebrews 3:5-6

[6] Hebrews 3:7-11

[7] Hebrews 4:4

[8] See Appendix

[9] Tolle Lege, Tolle Lege

[10] Romans 13:13-14

[11] Genesis 1:1

[12] ovrqotomew

[13] Hebrews 4:12-13

Hebrews 4:12-13 - The Word of God

So far in our look at the letter of Hebrews, we have seen how our author has used one argument after another in his attempt to persuade this group of Jewish Christians about the greatness of Jesus Christ.

And as he builds his case for the greatness of Christ, and as he builds his case for the assurance of salvation that we have in the gospel of Christ, the one thing that he does time and time again, is he quotes Scripture, the Bible, the Old Testament, to back up, and to prove what he is saying.

Some eighteen different times in these first four chapters he quotes or refers to Scripture in order to prove his point. And the way that he does this, and the number of times that he does this, makes it clear that for him:

What the Bible says, is absolute truth.

What the Bible says is the solution to every question.

And what the Bible says, resolves every argument.

And so when the author of Hebrews wanted to prove the deity of Christ, he quoted Psalm 45:6:

But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of your kingdom.[1]

When he wanted to prove the full humanity of Christ, he quoted Psalm 22:22.

I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.[2]

As well as Isaiah 8:18a:

Here am I and the children whom God has given me.[3]

When he wanted to prove the superiority of Christ to the angels, he quoted Psalm 2:7 as well as 2 Samuel 7:14:

For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”?[4]

When he wanted to prove the superiority of Christ to Moses, he referred to what Numbers 12:7 talked about.

Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken later. Christ, however, was faithful over God’s house as a son, and we are his house if we hold firm the confidence and the pride that belong to hope.[5]

When he wanted to challenge this group of believers who were beginning to "drift" from Christ, he used Psalm 95:7-11 to warn them, and to challenge them to continue in faith and in faithfulness.

And when he wanted to assure this group that there is a "rest" to be found in God through faith in Christ, and not through their own works, he, quoted Genesis 2:2.

For in one place it speaks about the seventh day as follows, “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.[7]

And, having done all of that, having used Scripture some eighteen times, having expounded it and explained it, he says in Hebrews 4:12-13:

And the first thing that we notice here is that "the Word of God is living, and it is active".

For him, the Bible is a book that is "active" as it seeks to encourage people to a life of faith in God, and to a life of faithfulness to God.

For the Word of God is not simply these black images on the white pages of this book that we call "the Bible". If "the Word of God", were mere images on a page, then it would be yet another "dead" book. A book that we could quite happily ignore.

All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.

And notice how both Paul and Hebrews put this:

The Word of God is living and active.

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful.

By the time of Paul and the writer of Hebrews, all of the Old Testament had been completed for roughly four hundred years. The last book in the Old Testament to be written was most probably Chronicles, which was written "around" 350BC, some four hundred years before Hebrews was written.

And yet, even though it had been written so long ago, and by our day we can add nearly two thousand years to that, but even though it was written so long ago:

The Word of God is living.

All Scripture is inspired by God.

For being "inspired by God", being "living and active", does not merely speak about what happened way back then when Isaiah, Ezekiel, or Paul sat down to write something.

Being "living" and "inspired" speaks about the Bible's present, ongoing "speaking" to us, being "useful" to us by "teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training" us in the path of righteousness.

When we pick up our Bibles in the morning to have our morning devotions, or evening devotions, or lunch-time devotions, but when we pick up our Bibles and read it, what do we think that we are reading?

Are we reading a book written by people who are long dead to other people who are long dead? Or are we reading a book that is "inspired", that is "living", that is "active", and that is written to us, and is written for us?

Although I must admit it makes me feel a little guilty. . . because I always feel like I'm reading someone else's mail!

But when we read the Bible, are we reading "someone else's mail"? Or "our mail". Is it letters, books, history, poems, and wisdom that were written "to those people way back then". Or is it instead letters, books, history, poems, and wisdom, that is written to us, and for us today.

The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord endures forever.

If this is true, then these aren't dead books and letters written to people in the twelfth century BC, and neither are they letters written to long lost churches and communities of the first century.

And that is what the author has done. He has taken the living word, the active Word of God, originally written by David, Jeremiah, and a host of anonymous people, and he has applied it to this particular church and its situation.

Do you remember what he said in Hebrews 3:7? In Hebrews 3:7 he quotes Psalm 95, written centuries beforehand, and he says:

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice".

useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.

That is why, as we read the Word of God, we find, as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10:11:

These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come.

That's why he also says in Romans 15:4:

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.

The Bible was written for Augustine of Hippo who was in anguish over salvation, judgement, the wrath of God, and peace with God. Augustine wrote about his anguish in his Confessions:

I flung myself down . . . under a certain fig-tree, giving free course to my tears, and the streams of my eyes gushed out.

I was saying these things and weeping in the most bitter contrition of my heart, when, lo, I heard the voice of a boy or girl, I know not which, coming from a neighbouring house, chanting, and oft repeating, "Take up and read; take up and read."[9]

I quickly returned to the place where . . . I had put down the volume of the apostles.

I grasped, opened, and in silence read that paragraph on which my eyes first fell,

Not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires."[10]

No further would I read, nor did I need; for instantly, as the sentence ended, a light of security infused into my heart, and all the gloom of doubt vanished.

The Bible was written for Billy Graham in the twentieth century. In his biography he writes about the time when his good friend and fellow evangelist Charles Templeton tried to convince him that the Bible was only a book written by men. He writes that he went away, studied, and then prayed:

The Bible . . . says.

And because God was speaking to the people "Today" through his word, what the Bible says, was all that was needed.

Do you know why I believe in creation? It isn’t because of the ministry of the work of any of the creation ministries. It is, instead, because as a young boy I read in the Bible that:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.[11]

And my belief in creation isn’t because of the scientific evidence (for or against), because to be honest, most of it goes right over my head. It is instead because, as Hebrews 11:3 says:

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

God has revealed it to us in his word, and that is good enough.

And what is it that Isaiah said in Isaiah 55:10-11?

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

The Greek word which is translated here as "rightly handling",[12] is also used in the Greek translation of Proverbs 3:6, for "making your path straight". And, again, in Proverbs 11:5:

The righteousness of the blameless keeps their ways straight.

And so this word has the idea of going straight ahead, without deviation. The New Jerusalem Bible translates this verse as:

Make every effort to present yourself before God as a proven worker who has no need to be ashamed, but who keeps the message of truth on a straight path.

I love that phrase, "keeps the message of truth on a straight path", because it reminds us, and it warns us that, if we are not careful, it is easy to deviate from the truth of Christ.

That is, in fact, what the people of this church in Hebrews were doing. They were "deviating", or, as Hebrews 2:1 says, they were "drifting" from the truth of Christ.

Soul and spirit, joints and marrow; the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts.

Then, as verse thirteen talks about, the God who sees everything anyway, will make reality clear to us by means of his "living and active word", and we will be "uncovered" and "laid bare" as we see ourselves, our desires, and our ambitions for what they truly are.

That is what the writer of Hebrews was doing in this letter. Using the Word of God in a "straight line" to bring this group of people who were "drifting" from Christ, back to faith in Christ, in order to establish them solidly in faith, and to help them live each day by faith in Jesus.

That is also what we seek to do here, every Sunday morning as we seek to understand what the Word of God says.

Not merely studying to give us "knowledge", although that will happen also, but studying the Word of God so that the living and active Word of God might speak to us, touch us, and by the work of the Spirit, transform us.

Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.[13]

[1] Hebrews 1:8

[2] Hebrews 2:12