BOOK OF HEBREWS
THE WORD OF GOD
DR. JIM DIXON
JUNE 17, 1984
HEBREWS 3:11-13
The Bible is the word of God. It is the word of God, written and given to the world. The gospel is the word of God. It is the word of God spoken and proclaimed in this world. And Jesus Christ is the Word of God. Here is the word of God incarnate in the flesh. All that the Father has to say is summed up in Him. God has spoken in the Bible through the gospel and by His Son. And whenever God speaks, it is simply called the Word. In our passage of scripture for today, we are told three things about the word of God. First of all, we are told that the word of God is alive. It is living and it I s active. The two words are “zoe” and “enus,” words from which we get the word zoo and energy. We are to understand that the word of God is teaming with life.
It is full of life, and it gives life, and it never dies. There is a bird that is known to all of you that none of you have ever seen, and it is called the dodo bird. No one has ever seen a dodo bird in three hundred years. And the truth is that no one ever saw a dodo bird anywhere in the world except for one place. And that was on the island of Mauritius which is a remote volcanic island in the Indian Ocean. There the dodo bird lived in a virtual paradise for centuries untouched by the world. But in the year 1,07, the Portuguese came to the island of Mauritius. And there they saw many animals they had never seen before, including the dodo bird. And they were fascinated by that bird. And it was the Portuguese who gave the bird the name dodo, which means silly or stupid.
And they called it that because it was unable to defend itself. It was a strange bird. It was obese. It weighed more than fifty pounds. It had a stubby tail, it had short wings, it could not fly. And when it walked, its belly dragged on the ground. It could not even climb a tree to get away from its pursuers. Laid one egg a year and it was left out in the open for anyone to get it. And over the course of time, the Portuguese, the British, the Dutch and the French began to eat the dodo bird. They liked its meat. And some explorers actually took three and four hundred dodo birds back to their homeland, not to breed but simply to eat. And they brought non-indigenous animals to the island of Mauritius, and they trampled the dodo bird’s natural habitat. And after 170 years of colonization, the dodo birds ceased to exist, and it faded from the earth.
It became extinct. And the words of man are exactly like the dodo bird. They fascinate for a little while. People feed on them, but eventually they become extinct. That is their destiny. Some of the greatest words ever spoken were spoken by the Greek philosophers, Anaximander, Plato, Aristotle, Socrates. And yet their words have faded. They were fascinating for a while. People fed on them. But you probably cannot remember the last time you went to a group meeting of Anaximander followers or Plato followers or Socrates. Their words have passed into oblivion, though they retain an academic interest in the philosophers of the world. But you see the word of God never fades. It is vital to the common man, the person who is on the street, the person who is working in the business world. The word of God gives life, and it remains, and it endures forever.
And it feeds the human soul, and it feeds the human spirit. Barb and I very much want Heather and Drew to love the word of God. A couple of weeks ago, Barb and I were eating at the school cafeteria. Heather was with a friend at her house and Drew was with us. We went through the line. Drew picked out some macaroni and cheese and a vegetable and that is all he picked. He is just a little guy; he does not need to eat too much. I picked out about ten things because I am a big guy. And when we sat down at the table, I ate all my food and Barb ate all of her food. But Drew was still kind of puttering away on his two little things and he was kind of playing with a macaroni and cheese and you know, I said, Drew, we do not want to be here all day. Why don’t you begin to eat? And he kind of putter around with a little more. And after a while I got kind of upset, so I decided to correct him. But I blew my words and I said, Drew, don’t you know where that food came from? Don’t you know that your mom and I had to pay money for that food? Do you think food grows on trees?
At about that time, Barb started laughing and I knew my point was blown, and I could see Drew’s wheels began to crank. And he was thinking, you know, food does grow on trees. But of course what I wanted to share was how important it is that he eat as earthly parents. We want our children to eat. We know that physical food provides physical life, and it provides physical growth. And how much more God who is in heaven wants us to partake of spiritual food, to feed our soul and to feed our spirit. Did you know that your soul and your spirit is infinitely more important than your body? And there is only one food for your soul, only one food for your spirit. And that food is the word of God. I thank God on this Father’s Day that I had a father who wanted my brothers and I to love the word of God.
He wanted us to love the word of God written that we would read the Bible. He wanted us to love the word of God spoken, that we would come to church and hear teaching and preach. And he wanted us to love the word of God incarnate, that we would come into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and savior of life. And he did not just want those things for us, but he showed us how, because he gave his life to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. And he went to church week after week that he might hear the word of God’s spoken. And he read his Bible time after time, as he still does that, he might read it, written the word of God gives life. The words of earthly fathers pass away. But the word of God never passes away. The Bible says all flesh, all flesh, all flesh is like grass and all of its glory like the flower, the grass and the grass withers and the flower falls.
But the word of the Lord abides forever. And that word is the good news that was preached to you, the word of God, living and active and endures forever and it gives life. Secondly, this passage of scripture tells us that the word of God penetrates, it penetrates to the inner person. It is sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing the division of soul and spirit of joints and moral and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. It penetrates to our hearts. The word of God does it convicts us, and it can heal us. 13 years ago, Barb and I lived in Pasadena, California. I was attending theological seminary. I was, uh, Barb and I were living in an apartment at that time. I had a bad temper in those days. I had had a bad temper most of my life. And I remember one day I was coming back to the apartment, and I was really tired.
I had had a hard day. I had taken two final examinations and I had written, uh, a term paper. I had stayed up late the night before and I was really exhausted. And I drove the car around the back of the apartment into the garage area and as I pulled in, Barb was there, and she told me that her parents had called, and they wanted us to come over for the night. I was looking forward to just sitting down, having something cold to drink and reading the paper and I became angry, and I reached in my pocket and in a rage, I took my keys, and I just flung them to the top of the garage, and they just stuck in the plaster on the top.
Barb told me that she thought that was perhaps a less than mature response to her invitation for the evening. But I did not care. It did not bother me in the least that I had done that. In fact, I was kind of proud that I was able to make those keys stick in the plaster. You know, the next Sunday we went to church at Glendale Presbyterian Church and Bruce Steelman was speaking and he preached a sermon on anger. And I heard the word of God as he explained that anger is not necessarily a sin. Even our Lord Jesus Christ was angry, but sometimes we can use anger in a sinful way. And as he spoke, the word of God penetrated, and I was convicted, and I knew that something was wrong in me. And I begin to pray that the Lord would heal that, that he performed surgery within me and through the years, by the grace of God, I have not proved, and I do not nearly have the anger that I, the temper that I once did. I do not throw my keys in the ceiling anymore. I throw them in the wall now where I can reach them.
But the word of God penetrate it convicts and it heals. It is actually able to perform surgery on our hearts. 60 years ago there lived a man whose name was Dr. Evan O’Neil Kane, and he was chief of surgery at Kane Summit Hospital in New York State. He had been a successful surgeon for 36 years, but he was something of a rebel within the medical community because he did not believe in general anesthetics. And he believed that general anesthetics were more dangerous than surgery itself. He believed that all surgery, no matter how major, should be performed with a local anesthetic. He could not find a volunteer; he could not find a person who was willing to prove his theory, someone who needed significant surgery but was willing to receive just a local anesthetic. People were afraid that, you know, if they were awake while they were being operated on, they might kind of be grossed out.
They were afraid that the local anesthetic were wear off. But finally, Dr. Kane found a volunteer. He found a volunteer, a patient who needed an emergency appendectomy. That was on March 15th, 1,921. A very important date in medical history. Dr. Kane took that volunteer, and he did emergency surgery with only a local anesthetic. It was no big deal. He had done three thousand appendectomies before, but this one was special simply because the volunteer and Dr. Kane had a lot in common. The truth is they were the same person. Dr. Kane, on March 15th, 1921, performed surgery on himself sitting up in bed at Kane Summit Hospital. He did his own appendectomy with a local anesthetic to prove his point and he was successful. Now the truth is, it would be great if most of us, spiritually speaking, spiritually speaking, were able to perform surgery on ourselves. It would be great if we had some disease, some something wrong in our heart and soul and we were able to just go in and perform surgery ourselves and take it out.
But we cannot. In fact, only the word of God can perform surgery on the human heart and the human soul and the human spirit. You may have some problems today. Maybe you have a problem with your temper. Maybe you have a problem with lust. Maybe you have a problem with greed or with jealousy or with gossip or slander. But the word of God is able to help because you see the word of God penetrates, it, penetrates, it convicts, and it is actually able to heal. It is sharper than any two-edged sword. It pierces the division of soul and spirit joints and moral discerning the thoughts and intentions of the human heart. It is profitable for teaching, for rep proof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. It is the word of God. Thirdly, and finally, this passage of scripture tells us that the word of God is unavoidable.
You cannot hide from the word of God before God. No creature is hidden, but all are open and laid bare before the eyes of him with whom we have to do. In the year 565, the Abbott at St. Columbus discovered a hideous monster in a northern lake in the land of Scotland. He said the monster looked like a giant frog but was not a frog and the lake was Loch Ness. Since that time, more than two hundred people, some tourists, some local residents, some scientists have claimed to see that monster scientists have used submarines. They have used echo sounders, sophisticated scientific and technological equipment. They claim there is some creature in that lake. They no longer think it is a giant frog, but some kind of sea creature, perhaps ninety feet long. Some suggest a Palaeosaurus, a dinosaur that allegedly lived seventy million years ago and somehow was trapped in that lake when allegedly it was once joined to the sea.
The truth is, none of us know if there is something in that lake or not. And we must admit, if we are honest, that there is much hidden from us. A lot of things are possible that perhaps we didn’t think was possible simply because we do not know everything. We do not know where the statues came from on Easter Island. We do not know how the stones were placed at a stone hinge outside of London, England. We do not know how the great pyramids were made. We do not even know what UFOs are. Some people think they are intergalactic travelers. Some think they have fallen to demonic manifestations. Some think they are simply hallucinations, visual distortions of natural phenomena. But the truth is we do not know many things are hidden from us. And even the most humanistic scientists would have to admit that the sum of man’s knowledge is simply a fraction of all the knowledge that could be known.
We are not omniscient. Many things are hidden from us, but nothing is hidden from God. God knows everything he sees to the bottom of every lake and to the depths of every soul. No person is hidden from God before him. The Bible says all things are open and laid bare. The Greek word that is translated lay bare is the word Chao. It is a rare word. In fact, it is only used in that passage and nowhere else in the Bible it was, it was a word that was sometimes used of a wrestler who would get another athlete or another wrestler into a grip from which the other wrestler could not escape. And the word of God is like that. Ultimately everyone will be in its grip.
And the word of God is like that. Someday everyone will be laid bare before the word of God. But most often this word, this unusual Greek word was used in a military sense. It was used for a soldier who had committed a crime and the crime was brought before the supreme commander who was brought before the king. The soldier would be embarrassed as he approached the king as he approached the throne, and he would not want to look into the king’s face and his head would be down, but they would place a little knife underneath the soldier’s chin, which would force him to raise his head and look the king in the eyes or judge him. And there is a sense in which the word of God is like that. Everyone in this world will one day have to face the King of Kings. Everyone in this world will one day have to face Jesus Christ and they will one day half to hear his word whether they want to or not.
The word of God is simply unavoidable. Jesus says, do not marvel at this. The day is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear my voice and come forth some to everlasting life and others to everlasting judgment. The word of God is unavoidable. There is some people in this world who would love to avoid the word of God. They do not want to read the Bible, they do not want to go to church, they do not want to hear the gospel. But that is a dangerous thing because one day in the life to come, they will hear God’s voice and it may indeed be a word of judgment. It is unavoidable.
And yet what God wants us to understand is that in this life, God’s word is a word of salvation. It is an offer of salvation. In this life, God’s word is simply the gospel. It is an offer of eternal life to everyone In this world, God is not willing or wishing that anyone should perish. And so He has sent forth His word, a word that proclaims His Son, a word that is entrusted to the saints, a word that is entrusted to you. We are actually the custodians of that word, and He sends us forth in this light that people might hear the word of God, repent and find salvation. We are entrusted with the good news and that is a tremendous responsibility.
Five hundred years before Christ, the Isthmian games were held in the city of Corinth, in the land of Greece. They were one of the four great Greek festivals, and they were second only to the Olympic games.
At the end of the Isthmian games, the first relay race was run, and torches were given to the athletes who stood side by side and they raced to the next group of athletes, and they passed the torches on to them. And from that, the Greek philosophers coined a phrase: “Let him who has the light pass it on.” That phrase fits perfectly with our charge. As Christians, we have been given the light, have been told to pass it on. Jesus Christ is the light of the world. The Bible says when you become a Christian, when you receive him as Lord and savior of life, that light comes into you and you have the light of the word dwelling within you, but you have not been called to hide it. You have been called to share it, that it might penetrate and that it might give life in this world, and that is a tremendous responsibility.
I think sometimes as Christians, we do not understand the power of the word of God. I do not have a Sunday when I am not afraid to stand up here and speak to you. It is an incredible privilege to be able to share with you the word of God. But if it were dependent upon me, I would never get up here. You see, it is dependent upon God and the power of the word of God. Charles Spurgeon, one of the great ministers of history, a Britisher who lived in the 19th century, went into the agricultural hall in the city of London. He wanted to test the acoustics because he was going to speak in that hall that evening, and this was the afternoon to test the acoustics. He went up to the front of the hall and he simply said, behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
The acoustics sounded fine, and he walked out of the hall. He did not know that there was a workman in that room. He did not know it at that time, that there was a workman in the hall who heard his words and somehow the word of God, those simple words penetrated, and he was convicted, and he became a Christian. The word of God is that powerful. Billy Graham in the last 30 years has spoken to fifty-three million people and 1,650,000 people have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior through that ministry because the word of God does not return unto him void. You may not have the gift of evangelism, but God still wants you to go forth into this world and share the love of Jesus Christ. And you cannot possibly know what God could do through you as you share his word and as the word of God incarnate lives in you.
You may not have the gift of evangelism, but you may lead someone to Christ who does. And there is no telling what fruit may ultimately come. Andrew did not have the gift of evangelism, but he brought Peter to Christ and in one day, Peter led three thousand people to Jesus Christ. A man named Ezra Kimble did not have the gift of evangelism. He was a Sunday school teacher, but he led Dwight L Moody to Christ and Dwight L Moody shook two continents with the gospel of Jesus Christ. You see, the word of God is living, and it is active. It is sharper than any two-edged sword. It pierces the division of soul and spirit of joints and morals. It discerns the thoughts and the intentions of the human heart. It is full of life. It cannot die. It gives life. It penetrates to the human heart. It convicts and it heals, and it brings salvation. And God wants us to know that no one is ever going to be able to escape the word of God one day. All must stand before him and see his face and hear his word. Shall we pray?
Lord Jesus, You are the word of God incarnate in the flesh. We look at You, we see God, we hear God. We love You, Lord Jesus. We have committed our lives to You and to the work of Your kingdom in this world. We know that Your word is a lie. It gives life, it penetrates, it convicts, and it heals. It is an awesome thought, Lord Jesus, to contemplate that You have entrusted that word to us, and You have sent us forth into the world seeing preach, saying, preach my gospel, make disciples. Lord, we pray that we would be faithful to that tax, that the people of this world might hear a word of salvation rather than a word of judgment. We love You, Lord Jesus. We give ourselves a new to You this day and we pray these things in Your great and precious name. Amen.