Bulletin in the invocation Hebrews 4 12 through 13 I wanted to do that Get it into the worship service somewhere. That is our text today, and we're only going to look at those two verses And they're so well known and We have heard them many many times and So it makes you wonder, how do you preach a passage like this? And so what I'm going to do is I'm going to ask a couple of questions, and those are going to be how we look at the text this morning. And so the theme of the two verses, Hebrews 4, 12 through 13, is God's word. For the word of God, it begins that way. And so I want to ask, what is the word? And then I want to ask, what does it do? And that's really what we're going to focus on today. And these are terribly important questions that arise and that we need to have answers to. And I hope that as we go along, you'll understand why I say that it's that important. So to ease us into it, I want to consider a couple of different responses to those questions. What is it? What does it do? And these are responses that have been seen in the visible church in our own day and in days past. So the first one that I want to look at says that it believes that the Word of God is powerful. The Word of God is very powerful, but not in an orthodox, biblical kind of a way. Rather, it takes ideas from cults like New Thought, which popularized the idea that sickness and suffering have their origin in bad thinking, and it applies the Word And that's a phrase they use all the time. It applies it like magic to anything you can dream of, but especially to health and to wealth. So if you just speak the word, all of your dreams will come true. Hence, the health and wealth prosperity gospel. It was amazing this week, Kenneth Copeland and whoever the other guy was that have these jets came out and did the whole program. I don't know why. It is that God is blessing them for having jets as pastors. And it all comes from this health and wealth prosperity nonsense that's so incredibly dangerous to people. Hank Hanegraaff has written a lot about this and I think he's right when he says its emphasis is on faith and the authority of the believer and the absolute veracity of scripture could appear to be just what today's church needs and yet I'm convinced that this movement poses one of the greatest contemporary threats to Orthodox Christianity from within. Through it, cultic theology is being increasingly accepted as true Christianity. Perhaps the biggest reason why this threat is so real is because the movement has made its way into some of the biggest Christian groups to spring up in the past century, in some Pentecostal circles and some charismatic circles, and also through the power of television and books and lots and lots of money, they're beamed straight into the homes of anybody who wants to turn to the channel, placed before the eyes of millions of unsuspecting people, and some of them desperately want to buy that information that they're selling. So that's one response. It's very powerful, but it's not the right word. The second response is kind of the opposite. It essentially says that the word doesn't do much at all. It isn't the word of God. It isn't that it doesn't convey information. Of course it is that, but any word conveys information. So the idea is that the word of God isn't really that different from other words. So consider this quote. Whenever the churches get settled down into a form of doing things, they soon get to rely upon outward doings of it. And so retain the form of religion while they lose the substance. And then it has always been found impossible to arouse them. Listen to that. It has always been found impossible to arouse them so as to bring about a reformation of evils. and produce a revival of religion by simply pursuing that established form. Now that quote stems from his theology of conversion, which he says is, quote, not a miracle. Conversion is not a miracle or dependent on a miracle in any sense. It is purely philosophical and the result of the right use of human means. That's all it is. Those means are what he called new measures. And most of these new measures are emotional manipulations, sometimes through positive reinforcement, like the use of certain kinds of music at just the right time in a worship service, or an anxious bench that dramatizes the struggle between heaven and hell. Sometimes it's through very negative, guilting techniques, like he used to do when he would single out individuals who he said are going to hell in the name and right there in front of the whole group. Quote, without new measures, he says, it is impossible that the church should succeed in gaining the attention of the world to religion. So it's impossible to gain the world's ear, that is to arouse enough interest in Christianity to bring people to Christ without new measures. And it's impossible to reform bad behavior and to bring about conversion if you use the wrong means. Now, where is God's Word in all of this? It isn't there, because it isn't necessary. The man who said these things is Charles Finney. He was once described as, quote, a splendid pagan, a young man rejoicing in his strength, proudly conscious of his physical and intellectual superiority to all around him. And he became the hero of the Second Great Awakening in church in the United States. Of all the things you could say about Mr. Finney, perhaps it's his lack of confidence in the word of God that stands behind everything. Sadly, the seeds he planted 200 years ago have become crops and fields that see no end of ever newer and ever stranger measures that he called them. And the word of God, the real word of God, that is, has less of a place in today's church than at any time previously in our country's history. When there is little to no confidence in the word to actually do anything to anyone, then we become the deciding factor. We and our means, and our manipulations, and our excitements, and our measures, and our novelties, and our relevance, and our coolness, and our happiness, and our yelling, and our berating, and our scolding, and our music, and our dry ice machines, and our professionalism, and our bigness, and our savvy, And we could go on and on, couldn't we? We bring someone's will to make that good choice for Jesus, whatever that choice even happens to be these days. So with those two options just to think about in the background, I'm left wondering, what is the Word of God and what does it do? If those aren't right, what is? Well, that's what we want to think about this morning. So the answer is unfolded in these two verses in Hebrews 4. These verses come at the end of a big, long argument, the first long argument of Hebrews. And so the verses in some ways might seem to come out of the blue. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account." Now it's obvious from reading this that Hebrews believes that the word of God is powerful. But the first question I want to ask is, what is the Word of God? Now that question might seem absurd. Everyone knows that the Word of God is the Bible. That's what I heard growing up when this passage was quoted. So am I hinting here that the Bible is not the Word of God? Now listen carefully. No, not at all. The Bible is the Word of God. And I believe it means that right here. Now, how might we know that? Let's look for some context. Verse 12 begins with the word for, and therefore it connects it to what came earlier. The gospel is the word of God, and Hebrews has just been talking about the gospel. Verse 2 in chapter 4. The good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them because they were not united by faith with those who listened. And verse 6, since therefore it remains for some to enter God's rest and those who formally receive the good news fail to enter. So he obviously has the words of God in the form of a message in his mind. And this message is communicated to us today in the Bible. That's where we get it from. You don't get it by looking up at the stars in the sky. Since we've already noted that the verse says the Word of God is powerful, let's look for a moment at one aspect of what the message is said to do. So Romans says, Romans 1.16, the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. Now someone might look at the passages quoted in Hebrews about the good news and how the people didn't enter God's rest and they say, but they didn't receive its power. They weren't able to enter even though the word was preached. Charles Finney might have said just sort of a thing. But listen carefully to what Romans says. The gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. You see, it's through the gospel that God grants belief. For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, I have made you a light to the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord. And as many as were appointed to eternal life believed, it says in Acts. Belief is a gift of God. Faith is the gift of God. And faith comes through the word of God. And so it's through the word, the message, the law and the gospel, that God comes to save people. And hence the word is powerful. First Corinthians 118, for the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. Or in first Thessalonians, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. Or Ezekiel 37, for it is no empty word to you, but your very life. Well, this is Deuteronomy 32. It is your very life. And by the word, you shall live long in the land that you're going over the Jordan to possess. Or in Ezekiel 37, with the valley of dry bones, the Lord asked the prophet, can these bones live? And the Lord says, Lord God, you know. And he said, prophesy over the bones and say to them, oh, dry bones, Hear the word of the Lord. Behold, I will cause breath to enter you and you shall live. And the story goes on to tell you that that's exactly what happened. As someone here might hear this and ask, well, does that mean that the word is not powerful for those who are perishing? It's only powerful for those who are being saved. No, God's word still accomplishes what God intends it to accomplish. So listen to these verses. In Isaiah, for as the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return, but water 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 shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. Or Jeremiah, behold, I'm making my words in your mouth a fire, and this people would and the fire shall consume them. Or Jeremiah again, is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces. Therefore, behold, I'm against the prophets. Now, these are very negative words, and many people have a difficult time believing that God hardens people through his word. And yet he does. He also uses his word to punish them for their sins by bringing about circumstances in their life that are in and of themselves horrible things. But these circumstances have a double purpose, and I want you to listen carefully to this part as well. One of them might surprise you, and it has to do with the idea of the word being a fire, because you might think fire is only, only for judgment. But the fire is there to bring people to repentance. Those doubting disciples on the road to Emmaus, do you remember? They did not believe the reports that they had heard until the word came to them. And they said, using Jeremiah's fire illustration, did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road? While he opened to us the scriptures. God's word is a fire. But if God's word is not accompanied by the spirit in an act of effectual grace, then people will not repent and the word will become a verdict against them on the day of judgment. And this is its other purpose. As if God was saying, I was good to you. I did all kinds of things to bring you to repentance. I offered you my son out of love, but you would have none of it. And now all that is left is fiery torment. May the word be your judge. So the twofold purpose of the word there. Now, this power of the Word to do whatever God sends it out to do is a general way of talking about what becomes very specific now in these two verses in Hebrews. It's powerful. Notice again that it begins, the Word of God is living and active. And yet, I'm not done asking, what is the Word of God? Because even as we delve into this power of the Word, we're gonna see time and time again I want us to note something that Jesus says, because we're not done asking, what is the word? Jesus says, it is the spirit who gives life. The flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. Now, curiously, Hebrews has talked not only about the word of the gospel in recent verses, it's also talked about the Holy Spirit. In 2.4, God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, distributed according to his will. And in chapter 3, he says, therefore, as the Holy Spirit says today, if you hear his voice, don't harden your heart. Now, the spirit of God is a person. And of course, Hebrews has been talking about another person for four chapters. Jesus is the focus of everything in this book. Jesus said that these are His words and that His words are life. In other words, they're living and active. He also said, I am the way, the truth and the life, and no man comes to the Father but by me. And the reason I bring this up is because something I never heard growing up was that the Word of God, at least here in Hebrews 4.12, could be the Son of God. We've seen this, we've seen it in the scripture. This is the scripture, the word, but is it also the son? What we're going to see as we go through these verses that much of what is, what it said about the word or the words, the scripture is also identically said about the son. This is because the son's words cannot be divorced from the son who is God's word. John one one in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. Now, many people take the position that the son of God is not in mind here. And they do so, I think, because it seems strange to them that out of the blue he would suddenly call the sun the word. He said many things about the sun so far in this book, but he's not yet called him the word. But does that mean that he couldn't just start calling him the word right here? I don't think so, and neither did virtually any church father. Quoting our verse, Athanasius said, for the son of God is living and active. And works by day. and works day by day and brings about salvation, the salvation of all. And Ambrose said, it is the Word of God, the Son alone, which is neither an utterance nor an inward concept, as they call it, but works effectually, is living and has healing power. What should what thou know? What should you know? What is the nature of the word here the scriptures for the Word of God is living and mighty? Yes working effectually sharp and keener than the sharpest sword and I could cite a whole bunch of other church fathers, but I don't have time to do it in his massive commentary on Hebrews John Owen says but it is Christ himself who makes the word powerful and sharp and The principle efficacy is in himself acting in and with it. And then which is here intended is the spiritual almighty penetrating efficacy of the Lord Christ in his dealing with our souls and consciences of men by his word and spirit. Now Owen knows that many do not like the interpretation that this is about the Son, and yet he goes on for page after page after page demonstrating why this Word is Christ. One of his lines of thought has to do with verse 13. I wonder if you ever noticed this. After talking about the Word, it suddenly says, No creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account. So it's a personal pronoun here, him, his. The word is a him, not an it in verse 13. Now, some commentators are so uncomfortable with this thought that they think that Hebrews moves from the it of scripture to the hymn of just God in his essence or perhaps the father in verse 13. But he does so without ever telling us. Because he hasn't talked about the word is the son yet. The antecedent noun, the subject is the word and Owen concludes the same person all along is intended. It is God's son. He is the hymn who is the word of God in verse 12. Now, given what we're about to see as we look into the various things said about God's Word, my opinion is I don't know why we have to decide between the two things. Is it the Scripture? Is that God's Word? Yes. Is it the Son? Is that God's Word? Yes. Why can't both be intended as both are said to have the very same kinds of attributes that are listed here in other parts of the Scripture? After all, it is the Word of the Word and both are life. Now, before moving on, I want you to think about why this matters. As far as the Scripture being powerful, it helps us have confidence that God's Word will not return empty, doesn't it? That we can trust God's Word, that when His Word goes out, it will accomplish everything that He intended it to do. If you're hearing this right now, then you know that it's doing something to you and you are responding in some way to the word. And so the question is, is it softening you or hardening you? Is it going to lead you to repentance and faith? Is it going to sanctify you or is it going to bring you to judgment and to damnation because you refuse to hear it? You're to trust that God's word is powerful, even this very moment, even if it doesn't seem like it. When all around you seems just ordinary and boring, it's just some guy up there spouting off. A lot of people think that. For those with faith, it is the very power of God for their justification and sanctification and glorification to bring us to heaven. This very word is a means to help you in your Christian life. To understand these verses helps you in your Christian life, helps us in our Christian practice. Yet the Word of God is not just an abstract bunch of ideas that come together and form sentences either. The Word of God from Genesis to Revelation is also a person, and it is alive in this verse. The Word of God is an eternal person, the person that created all things. This person is himself God. This person is behind the words of the scripture. They are his words. This person sends the Holy Spirit who gives life to these words. This person is himself alive, for Jesus has been raised from the dead. And so to have no confidence in the Word is not merely to have no confidence in the scripture. That's bad enough. It's to have no confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have a crisis in the American church precisely because it has lost confidence in both this power of the scripture and the power of the son of God. But even now, God is sending the word out And if we will repent of our lack of faith in these things, God will still bless us through the Word and the Word, because as it's been saying, it's still today. Let's enter God's rest. So with that, let's turn and see what the Word of God does. Again, we've seen it just a little bit. We've said that the Word of God, it begins, it's alive, it's living and active. We've seen that Jesus's words are said to be alive and that Jesus himself said that he is life. So what is said of the scripture or the words is also true of the son. You see, they're both alive. They have the same qualities. I kind of liken it to a sacramental union. I don't know how else to explain it. There's something about the words of Christ that are distinct and yet they're the same. That's why the Reformed have often said that the preached Word of God is the Word of God, even though it's not. It's not the scripture, but yet it's got that life to it. So what is said of one is equally said of the other. Calvin said this about the efficacy of the Word, meaning that the Word is itself powerful. So he probes like a pastor and he says, whenever the Lord addresses us by His Word, He deals seriously with us. in order that he may touch all of our inmost thoughts and feelings, so that there's no part of our soul which ought not be roused." And this takes us to the next phrase, and this begins to flesh out what Hebrews means when it says it's living and it's active. It gives this strange metaphor of a sharp, two-edged sword. The word is a makaira. Sometimes a makaira means a sword, and a sword isn't a weapon. A weapon that kills. Revelation 13 talks about this. Revelation 19. Now in this sense it's curious that Jesus is said to have a sword and that the sword is his mouth. Have you ever thought about that with regard to this passage? From his mouth comes a sharp sword which will strike down the nations and he will rule them with a rod of iron. And also another revelation, we read this this morning in the gospel. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword. It even has the two-edged part there from Hebrews. And his face was like the sun shining in full strength. And so it's with this sword that he smites the nations. Revelation 19, and the rest were slain by the sword that came from his mouth. The mouth of him who was sitting on a horse and all the birds were gorged on their flesh. So this is a figurative way of talking about the eternal judgment, which was foreshadowed in the Old Testament by the angel of the Lord who had his sword and he would go before Israel and he would smite the nations physically. That's a type of the eternal judgment that's coming. Now, there's a little bit of transition here. It's a sword, but listen to how Isaiah talks about it. This sword becomes a sort of sacrifice. It's cutting up the nation's the Lord has a sword it is sated with blood It is gorged with fat with the blood of lambs and goats with the fat of the kidneys of rams For the Lord has a sacrifice in Basra a great slaughter in the land of Edom This is the day of vengeance It's the day that in Isaiah 63, he talks about the same thing, but this time it's a man who comes from Basra and he's stained in bloody red garments. Where has he come from? And is he coming for us? But it's the sacrifice idea that's so interesting here. And it's also very important because not only does Makaira mean a sword, it can mean a knife, specifically a knife that's used for two things. It's used for circumcising and it's used for sacrifices. When Abraham pulls out his knife to slay his son, it's the word that's used here in the Greek. Put another way, swords belong in the hands of kings and knives belong in the hands of priests. Both are there in the message in the person of Jesus. Now, we've seen the sword of Christ the King in Revelation. Consider how the topic of the next verse that we'll look at next week, verse 14, naturally moves from the word to the son as a priest. And they go, why does he do that? Well, I think this is one of the reasons. Since then we have a great high priest who's passed through the heavens. Jesus, the son of God, let us hold fast our confession. And that verse actually helps conclude this long section that began in chapter three, one. So I wonder, did that sword idea help him move back into the priesthood that he began chapter three with? Well, the sword and the knife ideas bring together something I said earlier. The Word of God is sent even as a fire for both judgment and salvation. And in Christ Jesus, the sacrifice of judgment and of mercy meet together. So that anyone who would trust in that judgment, that it was met in Christ, that he suffered judgment, the judgment of God, they won't have to suffer it in their own bodies because he suffered it in their place. So the question becomes what kind of a sacrifice will you be? Will you be slaughtered in the valley of slaughter with those who trample the Son of God underfoot or will you be your life be a living sacrifice offered up to God through faith in Christ's sacrifice? Those are the only two options that there are. It talks about two edges. As for the two edges, I just want to say this. There's a curious idea that's found in the early fathers. Some of them said that the double edge refers to the two parts of God's word. Tertullian said, see we then whether that which has another action be not another sword, that is the divine word of God, doubly sharpened with the two testaments of the ancient law and the new law. Or Augustine said something almost exactly the same. The scripture says the word of God is doubly sharp sword on account of the two edges, the two testaments. Now it always fascinates me to read the fathers when they spiritualize like this, because it's so completely different from what we do today. If I did that in a sermon at seminary, I'd get kicked out of the seminary. I'd get an F in my sermon. But you know, they did it because they were preachers. And their point is to help you focus on the whole Word of God here. Not the New Testament-only Christianity that we see today. All of God's Word is powerful. And that includes the Old Testament, which for them would have been the only Word of God that they had as they're hearing Hebrews spoken. All of it is living and active. All of it is sharp. I don't understand why the joke is that Baptists are always either beginning Colossians, in the middle of Colossians, or at the end of Colossians. God's Word is powerful, the whole thing. And it's why I constantly press upon you both Testaments from as many texts of scriptures as I can do that with. And the sharp sword or knife then is said to pierce and to discern. Okay, so knives and swords piercing, that makes a lot of sense, right? What does it pierce? It pierces the division of soul and spirit of joints and in marrow. Now, this is a rather strange thing to say. Should we take it literally is the point here that, well, the human being is composed of a separate soul and spirit. They're different things. That's two components of a person. Well, some people use that as this is a proof text for that. What about piercing joints and marrow? From a medical point of view, that's completely wrong. It doesn't make any sense. Marrow is inside of bones and isn't attached to joints. So what's going on here? Well, I think the next part helps us understand that this is figurative language. Swords don't discern things. They're just pieces of metal, okay? So a sword discerning doesn't make a lot of sense, but Jesus discerning something makes perfect sense, doesn't it? The word of God is alive. Not only does it, he pierce, he cuts. This is personal language from a personal God. And when you set piercing and discerning as parallels, it's easy to see the figurative language. Wayne Grudem has a helpful thought on this in his systematic theology. Here's a fairly long quote, but I think it's helpful. He is using a number of terms, soul, spirit, joints, marrow, thoughts and intentions of the heart, to speak of the deep inward parts of our being that are not hidden from the penetrating power of the Word of God. If we wish to call these our soul, then scripture pierces into the midst of it and divides it and discovers its inmost intentions. If we want to call this inmost non-physical side of our being the spirit, then scripture penetrates into the midst of it and divides and knows the deepest intentions and thoughts. If we wish to think metaphorically of our inmost being as hidden in our joints and in the marrow, then we can think of scripture being like a sword that divides our joints and that pierces deeply into our bones and even divides the marrow in the midst of our bones. In all of these cases, the Word of God is so powerful that it will search out and expose all disobedience and lack of submission to God. In any case, soul and spirit are not thought of separate parts, they are simply additional terms for the inmost part of our being. End of quote. So what kind of a power does the Word have? What has the same power that God has? Because God's Word and God's Word are one. Perhaps having Jeremiah in his mind throughout this whole passage, it's easy to think of something like this. I, the Lord, search the heart and test the mind. You see how the Word of God in Hebrews has the very power of God to do that? God knows even your thoughts. He knows your thoughts in Psalm 94 and 139. In 1 Chronicles, He searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. In Jeremiah, He sees the heart and the mind. In Samuel, the Lord sees not as a man sees. Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. Again, we may usually think of Hebrews 4.12 here as talking about the scripture, and rightly so. But these things are also said of the son. Listen to this, amazing. At his birth, we read, and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for a sign that is opposed. And a sword will pierce through your own soul so that your thoughts from many hearts may be revealed." Five words that are the same as this one verse. Almost identical to what Hebrews says, but it's said of the Son. John's Gospel confirms this kind of thing when it says things of Jesus like, He knew all people. He himself knew what was in a man. And it's not just talking about good guessing. And then there's Jesus in Revelation. I am he who searches the heart and mind. I will give to each of you according to your works. And so Calvin says it's Christ's offer office to uncover and to bring light to light the thoughts from the recesses of the heart. For this is he does for the most part by the gospel. And I wonder, are you listening to this? I pray that you are, because all of this is really incredible stuff. There's a reason why this is such a loved part of God's Word. What kind of a God is this to know things like this? Who knows these things? I don't even know my own heart and soul like this. But more than incredible, it is, apart from faith in Christ, a terrifying thing. If God searches your heart and tests your mind and knows your thoughts, if He's able to discern not only your actions, but your intentions, that means you cannot run from God. You cannot fool him. He sees absolutely everything about you. Wherever you go, there he is. He knows every thought you've ever had, every motive from which you've done any act, every sin you've committed, not only outwardly, but in the inner man. And as I was writing that, I thought this. What's more, you know that what I'm telling you is the truth. That's why when you commit sins that you know nobody else knows about, your conscience still condemns you. Why would that even be, friends? If no one knows what you have thought or done, why should you have any guilt whatsoever? If sin is only wrong because you get caught, if all we are held accountable to is some arbitrary law created by a majority opinion in a democracy, then the conscience thing makes absolutely no sense. It's there because it's testifying to you that God knows your heart and you can't run away from it. So why run away from a God you know will find you? Why hide from a God you know can see you? Now that isn't just my conclusion, this is the actual direction that Hebrews is taking you. It talks about the Word in this way in order to make you understand in verse 13 that no creature is hidden from his sight. You see that? Whose sight? The sight of the Word of God. It's the sight of the Word and the Spirit who do what they do on behalf of the Father. This is God in three persons of the blessed Trinity. So I'm going to conclude by thinking about what it would mean for the Word of God to search our hearts. The verse in Jeremiah that I read above says, I, the Lord, search the heart and test the mind. And the Lord here has to include the Father, Son, and Spirit. But to the question, the verse continues, I search the heart and test the mind in order to give every man according to his ways. According to the fruit of his deeds and that is judgment The word judges you see now again seeing the word as Impersonal like the scripture or the words of God is necessary because the word that goes out is living inactive But Jesus himself also said the word that I have spoken. I Will judge them on the last day the word that he has spoken. I But Hebrews 4.13 is fascinating in another way, continuing with that personal imagery of the Word, all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him. And so it says that the Word has eyes, it sees, and the Word is Him. How do I know that this Him refers to the Word and not more generally to the essence of God? Well, there's a few ways. As I said before, The word is the subject of the sentence, and he hasn't told us that he's switching. That would be strange. But more than this, did you know, I didn't know this until studying it in the Greek, that logos is in both verses. Some have commented on the nature of these two verses, noting that they almost seem to read like an early church hymn because they have imagery and metaphors and colorful language and repetition. And besides this, verse 12 begins and verse 13 ends with the word Lagos. Now, you wouldn't know that from the English. The first Lagos is, of course, the word of God in verse 12. The second one in the ESV that we use for our pew Bible, is the word account in verse 13. In 4.13, exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. That's the word logos. Now this is a difficult phrase to translate. John Owen says logos is an account and there is no other word used in the New Testament to express that. And so it's rightly rendered to whom we must give an account. And yet in using Logos twice, it seems to me that he's using a deliberate wordplay. And so Owen continues for evidencing to them the efficacy and the omniscience of the word of God, who tries all things and discerns all things. He minds them of their near concern in these matters in that he and they must all give up their final accounts to and before him who is intimately acquainted with what they are and whatsoever they shall do in the world. To bring out this wordplay in English so that you could more easily see that Christ is in view and doing some kind of judging here, we could say something like, all are naked and susceptible to scrutiny by the eyes of the one whose word is meant for us. Or perhaps, to Him who is for us the word. Now clearly the word of God judging here is just like in Jeremiah 1710, it's a judgment, it's giving an account. But curiously, I want you to understand that judging, the Word is judging, the Logos, giving an account, this is what Jesus does throughout the New Testament. So listen to just some of these verses. The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son. Or, He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom He has appointed. Or, that day when according to my gospel God judges the secrets of men by Jesus Christ. Or, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Do you get the point? Remember how it says that no creature is hidden from His sight? but are all naked and exposed to the eyes of Him? So in Zechariah 4 and Revelation 5, the eyes of the Lord of hosts appear to be the eyes of the Son of God and they are the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit again comes into view. Hebrews loves alluding to the Holy Spirit. He's the very breath of the Word. Some of the fathers took the idea that Christ is the Word and the sword is the Spirit, taking it from Ephesians. And so they saw both persons throughout this verse. Beloved, these two famous verses are packed full of important theology for your salvation, for the well-being of the churches. They teach us that we must have confidence in the power of the Word of God. Without this confidence, the church and we ourselves will slip into using our own means to achieve the ends that only the Word of God can produce. The church is in desperate need of repenting of this sin and trusting in the power of God's Word again. But if she will, she can know that the Word is still powerful to do everything God desires it to accomplish. It has not grown weak. The Word of God is the same. Rather, we have grown weak in our faith in it. The greatest cure for the ills that plague the church today is to trust once more in God's powerful word. It's all we need to do. That means starting with actually learning, reading, teaching, and preaching the word of God again. Because how else can we know about God unless the scriptures are understood? It's ironic and sad how little we know about the Bible, given that we have more access to it than any other generation in history, and it's not even close. But going to the Bible is an end to itself, like the Pharisees did when Jesus said they searched the scriptures thinking that in them you have eternal life. That's not the solution either. The scriptures are given to us to point to him and he says it, they bear witness about me. And that's why we must see the word in our passage refers to the scripture and it refers to Christ, to the words and to the word. And Jesus himself points us to the Father and has given us the spirit of truth who searches the minds and hearts and leads us to God. It's Jesus's job to judge. Judgment has been given to the Son. He sees and knows all men. He knows you and you have to give an account to the Word who will judge you one day. And so I would call you to trust anew or maybe for the first time to trust in the Son of God today, to repent of your sins, to rely solely upon Christ alone for your salvation. I leave you with the words of Isaiah and of Ambrose. Isaiah long ago prophesied, And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a blossom shall come up from his root, and the Spirit of God shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and godliness shall fill him, the Spirit of the fear of God. And he shall not judge according to appearance, nor approve according to report, but he shall judge the cause of the lowly. and shall reprove the lowly of the earth, and he shall smite the earth with the word of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall destroy the ungodly one." Ambrose concludes, now to whom did he point but to the people of Christ? God blesses him into whose heart the word of God enters, even to the dividing asunder of the soul and the joints and the marrow. Let's pray together. Lord, we've heard your word today, and I don't know that we really recognize what it is that we do when we come together to worship you. I don't know that we see that, that we have much of a glimpse of it at all. It's just too far from our physical sight, and it takes such great faith to recognize the power of your word. We've heard about it, though, today, and I've tried to proclaim it. And so I would pray, Lord, that you might open our eyes to see these things, that you would help us to take very seriously your word and your scripture. a word of God that is alone, the only way that we can know how we can be saved from our sins, and to know what it is that you desire for us to do with our lives, to be godly, to love your testimonies and your statutes. But I also pray, Lord, that this would drive us even closer to your Son, the Lord Jesus, in whom we have union by faith. Help us not to have the Word as an end to itself, but that we would go to the person of the Son who leads us to the Father by the Holy Spirit. This is so that we might know and commune with our triune God, so that we might have lives that are changed and sanctified by a person and not just by ideas. We thank you that your word is alive. We thank you that Christ is alive. And Lord, we would ask that you would bless us today for hearing this word, that you would convict us where we need to be convicted, that you would cause us to turn from our sins and turn back to Jesus when we sin against you, and that you would give us faith. And we ask you hear this prayer in Jesus' name. Amen.