Please note that this article is notes from a short sermon given on a Zoom call for Bermondsey Gospel Hall during lockdown as a result of Coronavirus.
Just a few weeks ago, shortly before we were placed in lockdown, we worked our way through Hebrews 3:7-4:10. We said that the verses running up to our passage today resembled the classic movie, Back to the Future. In 3:7-11, he the author A Voice from the Past, using the words of David in Psalm 95 to retell the story of Israel’s faithlessness in the wilderness. In 3:12-19 he delivered A Warning for the Present, exhorting us not to be overcome by deceit and disbelief as they were, but to take care of both our own hearts and those of our brothers and sisters. The author completes his Back to the Future journey in 4:1-10, where we heard a Promise for the Future. We are told that the promise of entering God’s rest still stands today.
Our passage for today comes at the end of this Back to the Future journey. However, it also concludes a much larger journey we have been on, one we started almost two years ago in May 2018. That was when we began our series in Hebrews and in the very first session, when giving you an overview of the book, I told you it broke into three parts: chapters 1-4, chapters 5-10 and chapters 11-13. Therefore, this morning we arrive at the end of the first section. This is a turning point in the book, the pivot upon which the author moves from his first to his second section.
The turn is evident even within our passage. It first looks back on what we have learnt before looking forward to what will be taught next. The first half of the passage looks back. Hebrews 4:11-13 speaks of Activity and Accountability in light of chapters 1-4. The second half of the passage looks forward to what is to come. Hebrews 4:14-16 speaks of Compassion and Confidence, summarising much of what will be taught about Christ’s Priesthood in chapters 5-10. Today we will focus on 4:11-13, Activity and Accountability, largely saving 4:14-16 for the future.
1. ACTIVITY – We must spiritually strive to enter the rest of God (v11)
As much as this has been a challenging and difficult time, it has also been amazing to see all that has been achieved so far. Hospitals have been built, laws rewritten, society reshaped, science pushed to its limit. It has been a time of great activity, as a nation we have come together to strive for a common objective. What is it that has caused this national effort? What has led to this level of activity? In one word, it is fear. Not the kind of fear that results in panic and a breakdown of order. But the kind of fear that is a result of our recognition of just how terrible the consequences will be if we don’t get this right. We have been told by Imperial College that 500,000 people would die as a result of this pandemic if we did nothing and all recognise that we must take every available action to avoid such a catastrophe. The fear of what would happen if we got this wrong has resulted in a fight to get it right. It is fear that leads us to fight.
There are two key commandments contained in Hebrews 4. The first is in 4:1, ‘Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.’ We are told to recognise the catastrophe that will befall us if we do not get the Christian life right. If we do not receive the gospel by faith, if we do not persevere and endure in that faith, we will suffer a fate far worse than the Israelites. They failed to reach the earthly rest of the Promised Land, we will fail to reach the eternal rest of God. The second commandment in 4:11 is fuelled by this fear. ‘Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.’ Let us fear. Let us therefore strive. Fear leads us to fight. This fight we are currently engaged in as a nation is incredibly important, there is much at stake. However, the fight of the Christian life is even more important for even more hangs in the balance, namely eternal rest or wrath.
What exactly is this striving, activity and fight we care to engage in? As Paul labels it in 1 Timothy 6:12, this is the ‘fight of faith’ (NASB). This striving is certainly a call to obedience, for we are to strive in order that we don’t ‘fall by the same sort of disobedience’ as the Israelites in the wilderness. However, the author isn’t just telling us to behave ourselves, to live good moral lives, to try to be kind, to strive to be good. The disobedience of the Israelites in the desert was not one of deeds, but of disbelief. If you remember, the root of their rebellion was their unbelief. It wasn’t their behaviour that primarily angered God, that was just a symptom of the underlying problem. It was their belief, or rather their failure to believe in God’s promise, that caused them to fall away. This fight we are engaged in as Christians, is the fight of faith. We ought to strive, to fight, to be active in ensuring that our faith is flourishing. It is faith that ensures we will not fail to enter into that future rest (4:1). It is faith that means we will not fall as a result of following the disobedience of the Israelites (4:11). We must strive, be active, fight, to be people of faith. We must do all we can to build up our belief, to strengthen our trust, to increase our reliance on the promises of God.
In light of the current crisis, many NHS doctors, nurses and support staff have been reassigned. Given the necessity of caring for Coronavirus patients, many less essential operations and treatments have been postponed to free up capacity and space. However, not everything can be put on pause. There are many important operations and treatments that must still go ahead. As many of you know, Sarah works in children’s cancer care. And while coronavirus poses a serious threat, cancerous cells are not taking a time out. Sarah’s ward has to keep treating their patients, for if they stop, their patients will die, not of coronavirus, but of cancer. Even in these exceptional circumstances, we cannot ignore other important responsibilities. Though it may seem like it, not everything in the world has stopped. As Christians, we may be dealing with a pandemic, but the Devil isn’t going to delay his attacks. There is no truce with sin. It is not possible to suspend our striving. The fight of faith cannot not be halted, it only moves to and is fought on a different battlefield. For some, this new battlefield for your fight of faith has provided you with more time, take this as an opportunity to study your Bible more, listen to sermons, read good Christian books, let us talk to each other about what we are learning. Use this time to train yourself in godliness, to strengthen your spiritual life. Others will find they have significantly less time than they did before, the pressures of combining work with caring for family means that your battlefield looks entirely different. And yet, it is still an opportunity to strengthen your faith. Perhaps you are crawling into bed at night exhausted and worn out, being able to pray nothing except for the strength for another day before you succumb to sleep. That is not sustainable in the long term, and yet it is a good way to be reminded in the short term that you are entirely reliant on your Father to provide the power, the patience, the providence, you need to get through another day. In your busyness, consciously place your trust in God. For those who are carers at this time, despite the many challenges you will face, again this is an opportunity for you to rely upon God, whether for protection from the virus or provision of equipment. No matter what situation you find yourself in, it is an opportunity to strive. Times like these can act as a spiritual bootcamp, intense periods of training and strengthening, that allow us to emerge from the crisis in better spiritual health than we were before. This is an opportunity for activity, to put the engine of our faith in gear and press the accelerator. A chance to fight the fight of faith, for we must spiritually strive to enter the rest of God.
2. ACCOUNTABILITY – We will give account for our hearts at the throne of God (v12-13)
Hebrews 4:12-13 contain a famous description of the nature of God’s Word. Perhaps you are so familiar with these words that at first glance, like me, you assumed you knew what the author was saying. Having called us to Activity in 4:11, the author is now pointing us to the Armoury. He is doing what Paul does in Ephesians 5:17, ‘take…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God’. In that passage, Paul is calling us to use the Bible as a weapon in our fight. Following in the example of Jesus’ encounter with the Devil in the wilderness in Matthew 4, we can wield the word as a weapon to overcome sin and temptation. It is a powerful exhortation, because it is true. But it is not what the author of Hebrews is talking about here.
If you read 4:12-13 slowly again you will see that just as the fear of 4:1-10 leads to the fight of 4:11, ‘Let us therefore strive…’, the activity in 4:11 is to be acted out in light of the accountability outlined in 4:12-13, ‘For the word of God is…’. If you remember back to 3:7-11, we said that the author not only declares that the word of God is living and active, but demonstrates it to be so. The words spoken in the desert to Israel, recorded in Psalm 95 by David are then taken and applied to the readers of Hebrews. God’s word is alive and active. His word works throughout history. It is working with us even today. When the eternal God speaks, his words are eternal. When the God of truth speaks, his words are true for all time.
What is it that God’s word does? In what way is it active? Our assumption is that because the author describes the word of God as a sharp as a two-edged sword, we are to wield this weapon. And yet, if you read 4:12 carefully you will see that the word of God here is described not as a sword to be used by us, but a scalpel to be used on us. The word of God here is pictured less like a weapon, and more like a surgeon, ‘…piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.’ The word of God cuts through our seemingly good deeds and outward actions, it reaches into, opens up and discerns, judges, exposes our hearts. This is what happened with the people of Israel in the wilderness. From a distance, they looked like they were God’s people destined to enter his rest. They had been miraculously delivered from Egypt and had followed Moses into freedom. However, when the word of God came to them, when on that day they heard God’s voice speak to them, in the promise of future rest in Canaan if they trusted God, the thoughts and intentions of their hearts were exposed. When confronted with the promise of God, their unbelief was exposed. They hardened and went astray in their hearts in reaction to the probing and piercing promise of God.
There has been much talk over the last few weeks about testing for Coronavirus. At the moment we have a number of tests which can establish whether you currently have the virus. However, so far, we have been unable to develop a reliable test which tells us whether you have previously had it. Whenever we overcome a virus, we do it by producing antibodies to counteract and defeat it. Therefore, the idea of such a test is that it would identify the presence of those antibodies. If you have the antibodies, you have had the virus and overcome it. Finding a test that does this is believed to be key in helping us through these challenging times. Here, the author of Hebrews tells us that the Word of God is like that test. God’s Word pierces down into the depths of our hearts and exposes us. It tells us what is there. What do our hearts produce when they encounter the promises of God? When our heart is pierced by the sword of God’s word, is it faith that flows out? Trust in his eternal truth? Reliance on his revealed will? Or, do we, like the Israelites, respond with unbelief? Do we reject his promise? Do we refuse to look to him for help in our daily lives? Do we refuse to trust in the salvation offered to us in the gospel?
What God’s word finds when it opens up our hearts is of even more importance than the test which determines whether we have antibodies or not. For the test of God’s word will determine whether our eternal future is one of rest or wrath. The testing of God’s truth is not being conducted as a science experiment in a laboratory, this is a cross examination before a judge in a courtroom. Or better yet, a king in his throne room. 4:13 tells us that the word of God exposes the deepest thoughts and intentions of our hearts before the eyes of ‘him to whom we must give account’. In a future day, we will be held accountable for how we respond to the word of God. The author has told us this is the case throughout the first section of Hebrews. We will be held responsible for how we react to revelation, revelation that is far greater than the Israelites ever received, for ‘Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it…how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?’ (1:1–2; 2:1–3). The word of God exposes us. On that future day, we will not be able to fake faith or fool the judge. Our reaction to revelation will demonstrate what is really in our hearts. We will be completely exposed, naked before him and we will give account for our hearts at the throne of God. We will be held responsible for our failure to trust in his word on that day.
CONCLUSION
If you are not a Christian, if you have yet to confess your sin and receive forgiveness, if you have not responded in faith to the promise of the gospel, if you reject Jesus today, know that one day you will face a judge. You will be held accountable for the thoughts and intentions of your heart. You will find yourself naked before the holy eyes of God, your heart will be examined, you will be judged to have fallen short of the perfect righteousness required, you will be sentenced to eternal punishment under his just and righteous wrath for sin. Again, God’s promise of salvation in Jesus Christ, forgiveness in him for all who would confess and believe. How will your heart react to this offer today? Will it receive the promise? Or harden and reject it once again?
If you are a Christian this morning, you can rejoice that as you stand on that future day looking up at the throne of God, when the deepest thoughts and intentions of your hearts are exposed and examined, your eyes will able to not only gaze at your Judge, but glance at Jesus. For having outlined our accountability before God, the author immediately moves on to tell us about our advocate before God in 4:14-16. Though the thoughts and intentions of our hearts may be stained with sin. Though our faith may falter, and we might sometimes feel like we are losing the fight, on that day, already today, we have a great high priest, one who was without sin, who gave himself up to pay the debt owing to your account, who purchased your new heart at the price of his own blood. Yes, we will be held accountable. And yet, we have an advocate who has already settled our account.
Charitie Lees Smith, in her poem entitled ‘The Advocate’, which was later adapted into a familiar hymn, builds on the words of Hebrews 4 when she reminds us: ‘Before the throne of God above; I have a strong and perfect plea; A great High Priest whose name is love; Who ever lives and pleads for me. When Satan tempts me to despair; And tells me of the guilt within; Upward I look and see Him there; Who made an end of all my sin. One with Himself, I cannot die; My soul is purchased by His blood; My life is hid with Christ on high; With Christ my Saviour and my God.’
ALEXANDER ARRELL