Labor to Quit Laboring                   -- Hebrews 4:11-16

 

                In the fourth chapter of Hebrews, we are called to rest in Christ, to look to Christ alone for acceptance with God, to trust him alone for wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. This is what it is to truly keep the sabbath.

 

Verse 11 -- “Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.”

                We must labor to quit laboring. There is nothing in all the world more difficult, more contrary to our flesh, than this. Without question, we all, if we enter into Christ’s rest, enter into it by degrees. We have a constant struggle with self-righteousness. Therefore, we must strive against that, the most horrid of all sins, that we may rest in Christ.

 

Verse 12 -- “For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged 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.”

                It matters not whether we say the Word in this verse is Christ or the Scriptures. What is said here is true of both the written Word and the living Word. Pastor Henry Mahan, in his Bible Class Commentary, explains the passage in this fourfold way…

 

1.        The Word is alive. The word “quick” is an old English word for alive. This is a living Book, the words of our living Redeemer (1 Peter 1:23-25; James 1:18). The Word is the living seed.

2.        The Word is powerful. Our Lord and his Word are active and effectual. He spoke for the elect in the council and covenant of grace (Heb. 7:22). He spoke all things out of nothing in creation (Heb. 11:3; Gen. 1:6, 9). He spoke and revealed the Father (John 14:10). He spoke and the dead came forth (John 5:24, 25).

3.        The Word is sharp as a two-edged sword. The Word is an edge; it has no blunt side. It is alive all over. You cannot come near the Word of God without its having some effect on you (2 Cor. 2:14-16). Our Lord comes “not to send peace but a sword”, and that sword begins in our own souls, wounding and killing. However, it kills nothing but that which ought to be killed -- our pride, envy, lust and sins.

4.        The Word is piercing and can find its way anywhere. Although the soul and spirit are invisible and the joints and marrow are covered and hid, so penetrating is the divine Word that it reaches the most hidden and secret things of men and women. It is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Christ knows the heart and will make manifest all that is therein by the Word (Lk. 16:15).

 

 

Verse 13 -- “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.”

Christ, our Lord, is the omniscient God. Nothing is hidden from him. By his word, he strips us naked and lays us open, exposing the thoughts and intents of the heart. Believers rejoice and find comfort in this, as Peter did (John 20:17), even in the teeth of our sins. Unbelievers, hypocrites tremble at the thought of our Lord’s omniscient discernment.

 

 

Verse 14 -- “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast [our] profession.”

                Our Lord Jesus Christ is a Priest like no other. All the priests of the Mosaic economy were but typical priests. All those who claim to be “priests” today are mere impostors. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only real Priest there is. All the priests of the Aaronic order died and, therefore, had successors. Christ is our eternal Priest, and has no successor. All other priests were but men of the earth and earthly. Christ is our great High Priest in heaven. Moreover, he who is our great High Priest is a Priest who is touched by that which touches us.

 

 

Verse 15 -- “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ is a compassionate High Priest, one who has been pierced by the very same things that pierce us. He was tempted in all points like we are. Yet, he is a Priest accepted in heaven, because he is a Priest without sin. Still there is more. Christ is a Priest upon a throne, and his throne is a throne of grace.

 

 

Verse 16 -- “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

                What reason we have to rest in him! If Christ is ours, we have all that can be required to give us peace. Let us ever come to him. Coming to him, we shall find rest for our souls (Matt. 11:28-30). -- Come reverently, as unto God upon his throne. -- Come freely, as to a friend. -- Come gladly to him whose throne is the mercy-seat, the place of grace. -- Come for the grace you need. -- Come to Christ, our great High Priest, who sits upon the throne of grace, to dispense mercy to his people, as often as you need it, in every time of need.