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For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ¹³ Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

I often think about the words attributed to Spurgeon: ‘You need no more defend the Bible than you do a lion. Just let it out of its cage!

Apparently Martin Luther said, ”The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me.”

Our text reads like this in ‘The Message:

 God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one can resist God’s Word. We can’t get away from it—no matter what.

It is by believing and obeying this Word that we fully enter into our inheritance in Christ.

PRAYER: Lord help me to never neglect your Word

4 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. ² For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.³ Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,

“So I declared on oath in my anger,
    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”

And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. ⁴ For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.” ⁵ And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”

⁶ Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, ⁷ God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
    do not harden your hearts.”

⁸ For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. ⁹ There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; ¹⁰ for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. ¹¹ Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

¹² For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ¹³ Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

I have to admit that this is not the easiest passage to unpick, and I spent some time last evening reading a number of commentaries to try to get an understanding of what is going on here. The consensus seems to be along these lines:

There is a rest for the people of God hereafter, but it starts here and now; and just like a whole generation of Israelites in the past, we too could fail to enter into it because of unbelief and disobedience. Everything hangs on our on-going response to God’s living, active, heart-probing Word. Faith and obedience are spiritual twins! Note the irony that entering into this rest of faith demands diligence (11); the effort involved concerns the Word of God.

Matthew Henry’s wise words remain relevant centuries after he first wrote them:

‘The word is preached to us that we may profit by it…There have been in all ages a great many unprofitable hearers. Those who are not gainers by hearing are great losers. That which is at the bottom of our unprofitableness is our unbelief. If the hearers have not faith in their souls to mix with the word, they will be never the better for it. This faith must mingle with every word, and be in act and exercise while we are hearing.’

 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. ² For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.

One translation says the message was not mixed with faith.

Jesus had important things to say about the responsibility on those of us who hear. The seed of the Word, when sown, does not always fall into responsive ‘soil’.

In Luke 8:18 He says,

Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.”

Warren Wiersbe writes: ‘Spend time daily reading the Word and meditating on it, always applying its truths to your heart. One day you will give account to God for what you have done with His Word, so be faithful.’ (‘With the Word’, p.815).

PRAYER: Lord grant that I should not fail to enter everything you have for me because of unbelief. I pray that my heart will be ‘good soil’, where your Word is mixed with faith and translated into obedience.

Then you will know that I am in Israel,
    that I am the Lord your God,
    and that there is no other;
never again will my people be shamed.

Just one further thought on God being among His people:

Doctor J. Sidlow Baxter, in volume 6 of ‘Explore the Book’ (p.45), refers to Acts 5;12-16, and says that the early church had been given the power both to attract and repel:

The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. ¹³ No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. ¹⁵ As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. ¹⁶ Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.

He writes:

‘That holy band had the power to create fear…Most people today think that the only power needed by the churches is the power to attract. They are wrong. The local church needs also the power to repel – to repel the hypocritical fraterniser, the worldly compromiser, the intriguing insinuator. Oh, the curse of the ”mixed multitude” in our churches, whose appetite is for the leeks and garlics of Egypt! In that first church the Spirit-charged atmosphere was was life to holiness and death to pretence.’

²⁸ “And afterward,
    I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
    your old men will dream dreams,
    your young men will see visions.
²⁹ Even on my servants, both men and women,
    I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
³⁰ I will show wonders in the heavens
    and on the earth,
    blood and fire and billows of smoke.
³¹ The sun will be turned to darkness
    and the moon to blood
    before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
³² And everyone who calls
    on the name of the Lord will be saved;
for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
    there will be deliverance,
    as the Lord has said,
even among the survivors
    whom the Lord calls.

This great prophecy was fulfilled, at least in part, on the Day of Pentecost.

It is encouraging to see that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit will affect all types, and all ages. Everyone can have meaningful work to do, ministries to fulfil, under the inspiration of God’s Spirit. The very notion of outpouring points to plenty, generosity and abundance. God gives over and above the level of our asking and expectation.

The Acts 2 version of this story was read out in our church recently, and we were encouraged to meditate on it, and think, ‘Is there a word or phrase that jumps out and catches my attention?’ For me, it was primarily this line:

”And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved…’

Perhaps there is someone on your mind today for whom you want to pray this very thing – that they will call on Jesus’ Name for salvation?

Surely he has done great things!
²¹     Do not be afraid, land of Judah;
    be glad and rejoice.
Surely the Lord has done great things!
²²     Do not be afraid, you wild animals,
    for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green.
The trees are bearing their fruit;
    the fig tree and the vine yield their riches.
²³ Be glad, people of Zion,
    rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given you the autumn rains
    because he is faithful.
He sends you abundant showers,
    both autumn and spring rains, as before.
²⁴ The threshing floors will be filled with grain;
    the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.

²⁵ “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—
    the great locust and the young locust,
    the other locusts and the locust swarm—
my great army that I sent among you.
²⁶ You will have plenty to eat, until you are full,
    and you will praise the name of the Lord your God,
    who has worked wonders for you;
never again will my people be shamed.
²⁷ Then you will know that I am in Israel,
    that I am the Lord your God,
    and that there is no other;
never again will my people be shamed.

“Nothing in or of this world measures up to the simple pleasure of experiencing the presence of God.” ~ Aiden Wilson Tozer.

A chapter that begins with threat – a dark cloud hanging over the nation – culminates in glorious sunshine. The hinge point is somewhere in the middle where God’s people genuinely get right with Him and seek His face. Then He generously and abundantly pours out His blessing. Of all the wonderful blessings catalogued, surely the greatest is in verse 27: The knowledge of the Lord’s presence in the midst of His people.

The apostle Paul writes about a scenario where God’s Spirit is so powerfully at work in the church, and unbelievers come in and ‘…fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!” ‘ (1 Cor.14:25).

“If the presence of God is in the church, the church will draw the world in. If the presence of God is not in the church, the world will draw the church out.” ~ Charles Grandison Finney

Then the Lord was jealous for his land
    and took pity on his people.

¹⁹ The Lord replied to them:

“I am sending you grain, new wine and olive oil,
    enough to satisfy you fully;
never again will I make you
    an object of scorn to the nations.

²⁰ “I will drive the northern horde far from you,
    pushing it into a parched and barren land;
its eastern ranks will drown in the Dead Sea
    and its western ranks in the Mediterranean Sea.
And its stench will go up;
    its smell will rise.”

“The greatest tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, buy unoffered prayer.” ~ F.B. Meyer

“My life is one long daily, hourly record of answered prayer. For physical health, for mental overstrain, for guidance given marvelously, for errors and dangers averted, for enmity to the Gospel subdued, for food provided at the exact hour needed, for everything that goes to make up life and my poor service. I can testify, with a full and often wonder-stricken awe, that I believe God answers prayer.” ~ Mary Slessor

See what happens when God’s people return to Him with all their hearts; when they seek Him whole-heartedly: He answers their prayers with words and deeds, with provision and deliverance. He speaks and He acts (Do we catch resonances of what happened at the Red Sea in verse 20? I think so).

“Four things let us ever keep in mind: God hears prayer, God heeds prayer, God answers prayer, and God delivers by prayer.” ~ Edward McKendree Bounds.

It seems to me that this is God’s ‘normal’ work: when we walk humbly and repentantly before Him, striving to live with clean consciences, and seeking to keep ‘short accounts’. There will always be mysteries we cannot explain, but God’s usual way with His own is to bless us with answered prayer.

Then the Lord was jealous for his land
    and took pity on his people.

¹⁹ The Lord replied to them:

I have one question today: When exactly was then?

Looking back through this chapter, we remember that it opens with a vision of an invading army. In the light of the threat, the people are called to genuine repentance (sincere, not superficial). They are to gather in a nationwide prayer meeting and call on the Lord together.

Jesus taught: ”Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matt.5:3). Generally this is taken to mean those who mourn for their sins (i.e. the genuinely repentant).

Following such mourning in chapter 2 there comes this ”Then”: there is a great turnaround. God intervenes. He acts and He speaks.

So we are once more exposed to the power of prayer.

In his excellent book, ‘Praying like monks, living like fools’. Tyler Staton argues that if Christians took the words of Jesus about prayer seriously, pastors would have a hard time getting their people to do anything but pray! But manifestly this is not the case.

¹³⁷ You are righteous, Lord,
    and your laws are right.
¹³⁸ The statutes you have laid down are righteous;
    they are fully trustworthy.
¹³⁹ My zeal wears me out,
    for my enemies ignore your words.
¹⁴⁰ Your promises have been thoroughly tested,
    and your servant loves them.
¹⁴¹ Though I am lowly and despised,
    I do not forget your precepts.
¹⁴² Your righteousness is everlasting
    and your law is true.
¹⁴³ Trouble and distress have come upon me,
    but your commands give me delight.
¹⁴⁴ Your statutes are always righteous;
    give me understanding that I may live.

‘The peculiar worth of the word as stated in this section is that it mirrors God (137a,144a).’ New Bible Commentary.’

It is:

• A righteous Word (137,138a, 144a): revealing the character of the God who is always righteous; teaching us to do the right in a world full of wrong;
• A fully reliable Word (138b): Rock beneath our feet;
• An ignored Word (139): by and large (and even among professing believers oftentimes);
• A beloved Word (140,143): full of proven promises, and especially precious in times of trial;
• A remembered Word (141b): here is someone holding on to the truth he knows and loves through wind and rain;
• A prayed over Word (144b): This day, may He open our eyes that we may see, wonderful things from out of His law (119:18).