Hebrews chapter 4 and the verses 11 to 13 of this chapter. Hebrews 4 verses 11 to 13 and I read these verses to you. Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom he hath to do. Our theme this evening is simply this. In relation to these verses, Why Christians take Christianity so seriously. Why Christians take Christianity so seriously. Now in regards to Conservative Evangelicalism, the general refrain of many people is that they are far too serious. And the remedy is that they should lighten up, get a life, have fun and enter into the many wonderful things that are around us and enjoy everything. And it seems to me that the ideology of Christian hedonism, which has arisen in our age, has really arisen to satisfy that craving that we should all lighten up. But the Apostle Paul takes a different approach. And the Apostle lays down for us here in these verses the comprehensive and compelling nature of the Christian life. A comprehensive and compelling nature of this Christian life that God has called us to. Notice firstly then in verse 11, Gospel duties. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. The compelling nature of the Christian life is laid before us here in this verse. And we have here three simple things that are stated. Firstly, the task. Enter into that rest. Enter into that rest. There is the task that is set before the people of God. Here is that compelling aspect of the Christian life. Here is the thing that drives the Christian onward. This is what makes the Christian life so serious. There is this compelling aspect to it, labor to enter into that rest. And then secondly, you have the manner. He says, labor to enter into that rest. So you have the task, enter into that rest. You have the manner in which that rest is to be entered, and that is to labor. It's a word that speaks of diligence, of endeavor. of striving to gain something that refers to the intensity of the Christian life. You see, there is an intensity about being a Christian. This is why when we talk to some people, they think we're being very heavy. We're taking things far too seriously. They say you want to be careful because you know if you get so intense about these things it might drive you mad. The Christian life has an intensity about it. Paul's call to us is to focus, to concentrate and endeavour like a runner in a race. We are called to lay aside every weight, anything that would hold us back, anything that would distract us, because we strive for masteries, we strive to reach the goal. That's what we're being called to do as Christians. A hastening forward, a pushing on, a running on, labour to enter. And thirdly, the motivation. The motivation is set out as follows, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. Clearly expressed in the context When you go back to chapter 3 and in the verse 17, but with whom was he grieved forty years? Was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? So when he says, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief, he is saying to us as Christians, look you back at the Israelites of old. And there you saw them fall in the wilderness. The carcasses fell in that wilderness because they failed to do what God had told them to do, the same thing that we are called to do. There is this intensity, this compelling nature of the Christian life. And they were called to walk a path that would end in the land of promise. And there was that compelling nature to it. There was an intensity to it. But look what happened. There were those who murmured and they whinged and they complained. But the reason they did so was because of unbelief. They did not believe the promise. They did not believe the words that Moses brought to them, standing before them. I tell you, there is a land before you and God has promised it. Come with me, walk with me, let us journey to that land of Canaan. And as they went along, they said, is there really such a land? We have concluded that you, on God's behalf, have brought us into this place, not to bring us to a promised land, but to kill us. Oh, that we were baptized in Egypt. How wonderful it was. All the leeks and the cucumbers, all the wonderful dishes that we enjoyed. You see how they ignored the reality that in Egypt they were slaves. And so there is this motivation that drives the believer on, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. And then secondly in verse 12, lively oracles, lively oracles, for the word of God is quick and powerful. sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Gospel duties are led before us in verse 11. They're always led before us. The word of God comes and says before us, evangelical duties, that we should engage in. But the issue always is, what shall rise our hearts? What will so stir our souls that we will rise up and say, yes! I shall engage in that gospel duty that is set out for me in verse 11, to labor to enter in what will rise our hearts, what will stir us, what will, if I can use the word, excite us. What instrument will stir our hearts that we hasten to enter as opposed to failing to enter. Well, we have before us the Word of God. That is the instrument that God uses to convict us, to persuade us, to entice us, or as Calvin would often put it, God allures us by His Word. Well, I want you to notice five things about these lively oracles as they are described for us. First of all, scripture is a divine word. He could have said for the word. He could have said for the scripture is quick. He didn't. He said the word of God. When you go to the first book of Genesis, there we see the scripture opens with God speaking. And God said, Genesis 1-3, let there be light. When you go to the last book of the Bible, in Revelation chapter 22, you have that word which God spoke Again referred to, these sayings are faithful and true. Verse 6, And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angels to show unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. And then in the verse 18, For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. For one thing we know, God hath spoken, and these are the words of God. And over and over throughout this book, You have that idea, that truth presented. So in Exodus 20, in the verse 1, God speaks all these words. So when Paul refers to the Word of God, this is why he is doing it. Because God has spoken. And then when you turn to 2nd Timothy, that well-known text in chapter 3, all scripture is given by inspiration of God. The words have come directly from Almighty God. So Moses, as he spoke to the Israelites, he warned them, there is a word that comes from God. And you must distinguish that word from the words of men. And he set out for them a means by which they could discern the truth. And you have that formula of the Old Testament prophets that distinguish the word of God, thus said the Lord. And often the prophets, the books would open that a particular prophet saw innovation or saw the word or God spoke on to them and declared his word to them and said, go and speak. due time that spoken word would be written down. It was still the word of God. And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. The words that God spoke in due time be written down. Not only in Exodus 24 do we read that, but in Deuteronomy 31. Lo and behold, we have the very same. Moses wrote this law, delivered it unto the priests, the sons of Levi, which bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and unto all the elders of Israel. So scripture is a divine word. It's a very impressive word. It comes with all the authority of the living God. So when this word comes to us, and this word says, Believer, this is what God requires of us. We do not argue with the word of God. Because it's a divine word. That word we pray unto the work of the Spirit of God will grip our hearts. That's what we need. We need men and women's hearts arrested by the Word of God. But that can only happen by the Word of the Spirit of God. But it is a divine Word. And then secondly, he tells us that Scripture is a living Word. That Word quick, the Word of God is quick. There's a word that means living soul, for example, in Hebrews 3 verse 12, Take heed brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief and departing from the living God. It's the same word. It's a living word. Now to call it a living word is to insist and to declare that it is the opposite of being dead. So in Matthew 22 and in the verse 32, I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead but of the living. There is a wee word, quick. He's a God of the living. So to be alive is the opposite of being dead. And that's what the Apostle is telling us about this Word of God. It is a living book. And in John's Gospel and in the chapter 6. John 6. Verse 63, it is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are light. That's the wonder of this book. It's alive. It's a living word. It is also a life-giving word. For in John 7 verse 38 we read, He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. It's a life-giving word, this word that God has sent. And to be a living Word is to say that this Word shall always exist. It shall endure, because in 1 Peter 1 verse 23 we are told, being born again, so it's a life-giving Word, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever, so it is a word that shall last. And always the people of God, the public professing people of God, as well as true and sound converts, always acknowledge this. about God's Word because we read in Acts chapter 7 of the lively oracles of God. This is he that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which speak to him in the Mount Sinai and with our fathers who received the lively oracles to give unto us. So the Israelites always acknowledged the word that God spoke They were oracles in the sense that they came from God, they had authority, there was important content with them, and they were to receive them, and they were to believe them, and they were to live by them, but they were lively oracles. But as they read, and as they heard, they were changed. They could never be the same. after they heard the word. And then thirdly, scripture is an active word, an active word. He says the word of God is quick and powerful. Now this Greek word translated powerful is a word from which we get our English word energy from. The roots of this word refer to work. Here then is a word that accomplishes things. This word shall accomplish that for which it has been set. It's a word that accomplishes. It's a word that acts. Here then, this word that accomplishes things, we're immediately taken back to the psalmist, for we read, by the word of the Lord, were the heavens made, in Psalm 33. But look at Psalm 147. Psalm 147. Verse 18, He sendeth out His Word and melted them. It's the context of the snow and the ice and the cold. He sendeth out His Word and melted them. It melts the snow. It melts the ice. The Word accomplishes it. This Word that is used here, is also used in 1 Corinthians 16 and verse 9. For a great door an effectual is opened on to me. An effectual door. So it is an effectual word. We are familiar with that word effectual. It is used in effectual calling. For God's power is used to bring us, savingly, unto Jesus Christ. And you have it in Philemon 6, because he's thankful by the acknowledging of every good thing. So it's a word that accomplishes. Once, and I can understand what he means when he talked about defending the Bible. He said, you know, in one sense the idea of us defending the Bible is a bit of a nonsense. It's like trying to defend a lion. Let the lion loose and it will defend itself. As you see, we know this don't we? There are those who have tried to burn the Bible. They have tried to corrupt the Scriptures. They have tried to bend them and break them and arrest the Scriptures. They have tried to ban the Bible. They have tried to obliterate the Word of God. But all that needs to happen is that God in His providence causes one of these enemies to even secretly get a copy of this verse for themselves and to read it. And they are transformed. They are transfixed by its content. Just as we had in the Old Testament when the Book of the Law was found in the Temple. It was brought to the King and the priest read the Word. And he was startled, astonished, astounded. And then he put all his sacks off and I says, oh we have not obeyed this word. But it was only the word that he heard. No one put a sword to him. He said, no you've got to do this, that and that. The state uses guns and tanks and all kinds of things don't they? What do we need? God has come to us with his word and changed us. That word has overwhelmed us. The Bible itself, in describing its effectualness, its energy, its powerfulness, talks about it being a devouring fire, a flame that burns up all in Jeremiah 5.14. More like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces. It's the Word of God that is breaking the rock like a hammer, like a fire that burns everything in its path. There is that convicting force to the Word of God. You have a demonstration of it in the book of Acts. And in Acts chapter 2, verse 41, Then they that gladly received his word. They were baptised, and the same day they were added unto him by three thousand souls, and so on. Here is this word, they believed the word of God. But in Acts chapter 2, In verse 34 we read, For David is not ascended into the heavens, but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou in my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart. The Word of God heard and applied to their souls. They were convicted. When you turn to Acts 19 and verse 20, so mightily grew the Word of God and prevailed. The Word of God is powerful. It accomplishes It's effectual. Then the fourth thing, describing this powerful instrument, he says, Scripture is a piercing word, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow. It's a piercing word. From our perspective, as we read through the Bible, soul and spirit are often synonymous. They are used as synonyms one for the other. What Paul is doing as he talks about the word piercing, dividing asunder soul and spirit, joints and marries, is not giving us a lesson on anatomy. He's talking about how the Word of God, like a sharp sword, nothing can stand in its way. It pierces right to the very heart. Nothing can hinder the Word of God. No matter what opposition there may be to the Word of God, like a two-edged sword, exceptionally sharp sword, nothing can resist it. That's what he's saying. This word of God will pierce right into the very depths of our souls. And that this word cannot be resisted, he says, even to the dividing asunder In other words, it goes right to the very heart of our existence. I read a moment ago from Acts 2. Well, that's what happened there in Acts 2 and the verse 37. They were pricked in their heart. The Word of God pierced them. And this is God's instrument. This Word. He used fallible men to declare his word as in Acts 2. They took up the scriptures, they coded through them the scriptures and then they directly applied the scriptures and they were convicted of their sins. The word pierced them. Peter didn't need to use any carnal weapons. Did he? Didn't need them. He had confidence in the Word. It was enough. And you know there's a contemporary application, isn't there? Men and women have lost faith in the piercing quality of the Word of God. And that's why we have entertainment evangelism. They don't believe the Word of God is the all we must do something to rise sinners, to rise the answers. It's a laudable aim, wanting to see sinners coming to faith. And we have that gospel aim constantly, that we want to see sinners coming to faith. But how will it be done? The word shall do it. piercing quality of the gospel, piercing quality of scripture. It is a word that must be said before men and women. And then the fifth thing is scripture is a judging word. He says there, it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. This term discern refers to passing judgment. to passing judgment on our thoughts and our motives. It's a very interesting term, but it's a very powerful term. The Word of God, it sifts, it weighs, it evaluates, but it does more than that, it judges our thoughts and motives. Because the root of this word, to discern, is the word judge. So the Bible then, the scripture, critiques what we think. Not just what we say and do, but the very things we think. And the motivations that there are in our hearts, the why we do things. That is why in the context in Hebrews 3, we read verse 7 today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. The word of God comes to us and it says, friend, I know all about you. And here are all of these truths laid down. Here is the law of God. Now take your thoughts and your motives. Every affection that you have experienced, the word of God says, see how crooked you are in comparison to the rule of righteousness. It judges. And then thirdly, verse 13, divine omniscience. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. The word of God is a lively oracle because of what God himself is. Here he is said to know all things. In fact, there are two things said in this verse. And the first is that God is the one to whom we are accountable. And secondly, since God is the judge, he must know everything about us. God knows everything there is to know. And you will have noted that truth in the very first psalm that we sung. What is of interest to us is how Paul couches it in the negative. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sign. There is not a creature that is not manifest. He puts it in the negative. Because it's much more powerful. He's making it absolutely clear there are no exceptions. Not a single exception to the rule. Every creature without exception is known to God. Every rock. Every tree. Every blade of grass. Every strand of hair. Everything is known to God. That's what he's saying. Every creature, everything God has made. There's not a single thing in this entire universe that God does not know intimately. He knows in death. He knows in an absolute sense. And as far as man is concerned, and evidently Paul wants us to as we follow through the line of reasoning to understand that since God knows everything there is to know about everything that he has made, then he knows everything there is to know about us. There is nothing secret are hidden to God but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Every insinuation, every idea, every thought, every single word, everything about us, God knows. He sees. There's nothing hidden from God. We can't hide anything from Him. We can hide lots of things from lots of people. But we can't hide anything from God. Nothing. All is open to Him in an absolute sense. Having spoken of God's Word in terms of discerning and judging, he now speaks the same way about God. What is true of the Word is even more true of God, because God himself sees it. He sees all. And in seeing all, he goes on to speak of with whom we have to do. That's fleas there, with whom we have to do. The idea here in this fleas is To this God who knows all, who sees all, who made all, it is to him we have to give an account. That's what he said. To whom we shall answer, give an account. Why do Christians take the Christian life so seriously? Here's the answer. Verse 11, Gospels it is. And verse 12, these lively oracles of God have arrested us, convicted us, persuaded us, we have been tested and tried by this word already. And ultimately, verse 13, We shall stand before this God. That's why we take the Christian life so seriously. Let me finish the end of application of the whole. Firstly, there are obstacles and oppositions to all your endeavors to entering heaven. That's the first lesson that we learn as Christians. From the moment you have stood up and confessed Christ as Lord of all, you face nothing but obstacles. And you will have obstacles before you from now until you die in this life. Obstacles all the way. That's why we need these statements like verses 11 to 13. In order that we will not be put off with the obstacles. In order that we will not come along and say you know it's got very tough and it's got very hard and I'm getting discouraged and you know I feel very limp and very weak and I've lost my energy. Well in order that we don't arrive at that position. And you know there are many things that could discourage us. many things could discourage us. And there are lots and lots of things that have happened in our lives which in God's providence did not discourage us. Well maybe they did for a while but in God's kindness we got over that. And what do we come to time after time we come back to these basics. What is it all about being a Christian? What's the motivation? What's the drive? It's that compelling, intense nature of the Christian life. And then second, examples of God's judgments on others are to be noted by the rest of us. Examples of God's judgment on others as to be noted by the rest. Luke chapter 13. There were present at that season some that told him of the Galileans whose blood piled and mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans because they suffered such things? I tell you nay, but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. He says, you take notice of all these judgments of God in the world. And you have that notable example of the Israelites, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness, and he says in verse 11, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. John Owen puts it this way, better to have an example than to be made an example. far better that we learn from the Israelites of old than God do the same with us. And then thirdly, it is God's way to encourage us to our duty by showing us the wonder of His word and to incline our hearts. Isn't this how God works? We hear the Word of God and it just fills our minds. Calvin has put it a many a time to be enraptured by the Word of God. This is what God does. God in kindness comes to us. And the word is open to us. You know what happens sometimes in your private time, your quiet time, you're reading the word of God. You know the spirit of God working in our hearts and it just all seems to open up so wonderfully. And you know we just don't want to close the book. We want it like that all the time. What's happening? God is alluring us, showing us the wonder of his word. And we will come, be stirred up and say, yes, I shall follow my Savior. That's God's way to encourage us through today. Setting before us the wonders and the marvels The diamonds and jewels are to be found in scripture. And then fourthly, men and women may close their ears and eyes to God's word, but thankfully to no avail, if he is pleased to cause that word to pierce their hearts. All sinners fight the Word of God. And they resist the Word of God. They close their ears to the Word of God. They don't want to hear the Word of God. They don't want to think about the Word of God. But you know the wonderful thing about it is, when God is in pursuit of us, with that sharp sword of His, it shall pierce our hearts. And every single one of us here this evening are converted. It's because the Word of God pierced their heart. I don't know the background of every one of you, but I'm sure in light of scripture, some were brought out religiously, some were not brought out religiously. It doesn't really matter. The Word of God pierced. That's the wonder of this book, isn't it? That's why, you know, we don't mind giving people a Bible. You know, the Mormons, the JWs, they come round our door, you know, and they say, well, you know, you've got to have this pamphlet, that pamphlet, you've got to have all these other things, in order that you may understand a little of the Word of God. And you've got to buy this and buy that, buy the other and all the rest of it. And in conversation, you may say to them, But why do we need all these things? If I were on a desert island, had nothing but the Bible, would I come to know the truth? God is pleased to enlighten, to awaken, to cause me to understand his word. I don't need to buy all your materials, I need to buy everything. Oh, I'm not despising all the literature that believers in the churches produce over the centuries. And it is very valuable. And I hope you get lots of it. And as much of it as you can fill your house with. And it's all wonderful stuff. But at the end of the day, it's the Word of God that is used. I love studying the lives of famous believers over the centuries. To see what tax the scripture God used. You know, famous tax. What passage of scripture, what tax the scripture God used to awaken them. It's fascinating. The entirety, the entire corpus of scripture God uses. It is by this word that men and women come under conviction of sin. That is where it's great power lies. It humbles, it shows us our hearts, it shows us what we don't want to see, what we don't want to know, what we don't want to think about. The Word of God comes along and says, this is what you're like. That's why sinners don't like the Scriptures. I like all those verses, mind you, that talk about love, kindness, They don't like those types that say that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. No, they don't like that, because it tells them what they don't want to hear. But God takes that word, convicts them, humbles them, and they come and cry, Oh God, be merciful to me a sinner. Fifthly, the omniscience of God is enough to convince us of the need to persevere and of the place of repentance. It is precisely because God does know everything that we have every encouragement to persevere. He knows my trials and my problems and my difficulties. And so when I pray to him, I pray to one who knows all my troubles and all my state. And it is because he knows that I am very encouraged to persevere. But by the same token, that same truth, the other side of it says, it is precisely because God knows everything about us, He also sees our sins. So there's the place of repentance in our lives. And as long as we live, we have sins to repent of. But not a day goes by, but we do not repent. Our forefathers had a phrase, making up our accounts at the end of the day. To take time to survey the day, to recall the sins of the day, and then to repent of those sins. That's that God who has seen us. He knows what we have done. All that for Christ's sake. He would send us afresh. That we would begin the next day, so to speak. The account has been cleared. We start again. But every day it's the same. Because He knows, we have sins to repent of. And then secondly and finally, the reality of coming judgment should make us have dealings with God now rather than wait until the day of judgment. You know there is a missing note I think in modern evangelicalism. And the missing noun is this great reference to the Day of Judgment. To the fact that God shall call all to account. What is the Apostle saying here to us? He is saying have fear of God, not in this doctrinal age. And why is that? He will abundantly pardon. Adam and Eve hid themselves after they sinned to no avail. The Bible tells us that on that great and terrible day when Christ shall come, such will be the glory of Christ that the wicked will call upon the mindless, all upon us, hide us from the faith of him who is all glory. Hide us from his face. Sinners will want to escape. that they could find some dark hole that they could crawl into. But to no avail. Believers, this note of warning and of judgment, we must keep on emphasizing. One of the things, you know, that John and Edwards was criticized for, and that conservative evangelicals have been criticised for, for a hundred years or more, is that of hellfire pitching. I don't like the phrase, but I can see what they're referring to. This note of judgement, to said before men and women, the day shall come whenever ye shall be called to account. Oh we know they mock and they scoff. But we mustn't forget as believers, Paul is writing to believers, with whom we have to do, we have to do. This God who has saved us is a holy God and he called us to account. That note of judging, If we would judge ourselves, not neutral judging, don't let it slip. Don't ignore it. But use it in this gospel sense of being careful. May God then bless His Word to our happiness. Amen.