Hebrews 4:12-13
7 September 2025
For the word of God is living and active,
sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit,
of joints and of 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 account. (Hebrews 4:12-13)
So, this evening, we come to a subject that, on one level, could be deemed a stand-alone subject. However, as we have been working through the Book of Hebrews, it is of great relevance to the context of what we have been dealing with in the past two chapters, which has been on the subject of rest. Tonight, we come to the authoritative standard by which one can be known and judged, and that is the Word of God, the Bible.
This is one of those verses, one of those short passages out of all of Scripture that would be one of the most quick to be quoted regarding what the Bible is and what the Bible does. So it is a very significant short passage and a very exciting one to be working through. But what we also need to realise about this specific passage is how terrifying it is if we were to just quickly glance at what is contained in these two verses and see what it is saying about the Word of God. It is saying that it is living and active. That is an encouraging start. Then it goes on to give us this picture of being "sharper than any two-edged sword". So we can picture that that is sharp, "piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow". So what it is able to cut through, what it is able to penetrate. And also, even more than just the picture being painted, is what it does in and about our lives, "discerning the thoughts, the intentions of the heart". This is what this verse 12 is saying about the Bible. And it goes on to say in verse 13, "no creature… is hidden from His sight". We all must give an account. That is what we have here in one of the most known and recognised passages in all of the Bible about what the Bible is, this text.
Now, before we work through what is being stated in these two verses, let us just establish an argument that has already been reaching its climax, particularly in verse 10, and then we have the exhortation in verse 11 of chapter 4, and why verses 12 and 13 are of such relevance and significance in the context of that argument.
If we think particularly about chapter 4, it is dealing with the subject of rest. And there is a contrast being given between the rest that we see in the time of the Old Testament and now the rest that we have in Jesus Christ. We considered when we were in verse 10 that that verse is actually speaking of Christ, Who rests from His work, His completed work at the cross. Therefore, He is seated on the throne, victorious Lord over all. And on this basis, we as Christians have rest. And that is a very different rest from the type of rest that we see even Joshua leading his people into as they go to the Promised Land. Because even though that meant physical rest from their enemies reaching the land that the Lord had promised, it was not going to bring the spiritual rest that we now have and know in Jesus Christ.
And so we have that, we have this picture here. And this is also why it is of such significance even for us to do what we are doing here on the Lord’s day. Think again of the Old Testament and the subject of rest in relation to the Sabbath. That was a seventh day in relation to the Creation principle, a seventh day given to the Israelites. And on the first six days, the people would be working, busy, toiling, and then eventually they would work towards their rest on the seventh day. Now, because the Lord has risen from the dead, we now have our rest on this first day of the week where we come knowing that our rest, our security, our hope, everything is in Christ. And on this basis, we can then go to our working week knowing that we are in Christ. So that is the picture, the change, the significance on eternal proportions of what we have in Christ. And that needs to be stressed because in verse 11, we do have the exhortation, "Let us therefore strive to enter that rest". Now, why is there such an exhortation being given for us to strive to enter this? Well, it is because we have another contrast that we have particularly seen in chapter 3. What did we see of Israel in the wilderness? Well, Israel in the wilderness, they even chose not to enter that promised rest in the time of the Old Testament. Instead, they operated based on their fear, on the basis of their "evil, unbelieving heart", as we see mentioned in chapter 3. So Israel did not enter this rest, but we now have that rest in Christ. And this is where there are warnings being given, there are challenges being given. For example, in verse 2, when it says, "good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them". So there are some people for whom this message does not benefit. Who are these people? Those who are not in Christ. Why does it not benefit them? Because they have not received it by faith, they are not united by faith. We, however, as Christians, we are united by faith in Jesus Christ because of this life-saving message, the Gospel.
And here we come then to our passage this evening. What is the standard by which we can know? What is the standard by which you know you have this rest? And this is why, at this point, after there is just in the previous verse, an exhortation, "Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience" as Israel in the time of the Old Testament. Then we have, "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword", and on it goes. That is the context in which this passage about the Bible is written, where we have this picture of the rest we have in Christ. Then we have the exhortation to enter that rest, and then we come to two verses which tell us about the authoritative and penetrating nature of what the Bible does in your life. And we are going to consider as we work through it, just why that is so significant. Because even when it comes to subjects like the assurance of your salvation, the life by which you are living, how you are living it, why you are living it, the Bible is your standard, and that is what this passage is dealing with. So that is dealing just so far with the context of the passage we now come to address.
We are going to explicitly deal with the language, the wording that is being given here. We are initially going to be quickly asking what the Word of God is. We have already mentioned the Bible, but there is a bit more to unpack. And then we are going to see what the Word of God does before considering some closing applications in our lives. So first of all, briefly, we are going to ask, what is the Word of God? You might be thinking, well, it is the Bible, right? Well, normally, actually, if you think, it is usually the other way around. People may ask, well, what is the Bible? And then you answer, the Bible is the Word of God, the Word of the living Creator God, the One Who is all-knowing, all-powerful, the One Who is before the beginning of Creation. He is the One Who has no end, this almighty, glorious God. His Word. This is His Word. And that is significant, that carries weight. And this is why in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, it says, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work".
So that is the significance of the Word of God, that is the weight and power of the Word of God. And yet when we look at Scripture itself, we see that there are often mentions, often references to the Word of God. And at this point when it is mentioned in Scripture, we know that there is not a completed closed canon. Let me just give you a few examples of where this phrase, the Word of God, is mentioned in the Bible. In Luke 5:1, it says, "On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on Him to hear the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret". Then also in Acts 4:31, "And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness". And one more example, Acts 8:14, "Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John". This Word was what God spoke through prophets, through His law, through His apostles, and centrally through Jesus Christ. Because after all, we are saying, this is the Word of God, God’s Word, His spoken Word. But when we come to it being spoken through Jesus Christ, the Word that Jesus Christ spoke was not simply what He said. The Word is also Who He is. Note this. The Word of God is not simply what Jesus Christ said. The Word of God is Who Jesus Christ is. For we see at the beginning of John’s Gospel that Jesus Christ is described as "the Word", "with God", and "the Word was God". And in Revelation 19:13, it says, "He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which He is called is The Word of God". That is Revelation 19:13, speaking of Jesus, and He is called the Word of God.
And so more specifically to this passage speaking of the Word of God, here in Hebrews 4:12-13, it is speaking of Who Jesus is. And we know this because the previous verses have been dealing with Christ. And as we get to verse 13, speaking of the Word of God, "living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword", it then says in verse 13, "and no creature is hidden from...[not from its sight, but] His sight". And then verse 14 goes on to speak explicitly about Jesus Christ, "Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens". So when we are asking the question, what is the Word of God? Well, we would say it is the Bible, it is this book that we have before us. Speaking explicitly here, this Word is Jesus Christ. And what do we learn of Jesus Christ, this Word, the Word of God? Well, we see in verse 12 the Word of God is, first of all, "living and active". And in John 1:4, it says, "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men". We have already considered in Hebrews, Jesus Christ is the Author of life. It says it in Acts 3:15. And this life is the risen and exalted life of the Lord, Who is the Lord and King over all. To the evil, unbelieving heart, this book is rejected because "the fool says in his heart, 'There is no God'". And it is why the Christian goes forth to proclaim to such fools, to the people in this world, the spiritual reality of this truth which is before our eyes, which is on our laps, this living and active Word. We are not just saying, well, this is a book that has some relevance to your life. No, it is living and it is active. This Word does things. This Word does things.
Let me give you some examples from Scripture. The Word cleanses. This is one thing it does, it cleanses. Psalm 119:9, "How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word". The Word keeps us from sin. Psalm 119:11, "I have stored up Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against You". You see the impact of the Word. And as we are looking at this, as we are reading verses, meditating on verses like this, be thinking in your head, is this a book that I can afford to spend the next week neglecting on some shelf in my room? Also, we see in John 8:31, our Lord says, "If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples". If you abide in it, if this is where your sure and steady anchor is in this Word. Also, assurance is found in this Word of our salvation, 1 Corinthians 15:2, "and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain". That is what we hold fast to. And our faith comes from hearing through this Word. Romans 10:17, "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ". Do we see this picture being built, of it being living, of it being active?
And this Word works in the lives of believers. 1 Thessalonians 2:13, "And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers". It is living and active, it is the Word which is at work in you. And then 1 Peter 2:2, in the Authorised Version, it talks about how the Word helps us to grow, saying, "As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby". So it is powerful when proclaimed, it transforms life. And when somebody says, oh, but it is just a load of fairy tales, oh yes, the devil will have us believe that. The devil will gleefully rub his hands together if he hears people saying, it is all just a bunch of fairy tales. Are these verses, is this Word which is before our eyes, just a bunch of fairy tales? This is not just a book of relevance or even the most important book you could read. This is the living and active Word. We need it for our very life. That is the point being made here. When we read the language of it being "living and active", then we go on to read that it is "sharper than any two-edged sword".
Now, first thing to say, this is language that we see elsewhere in Scripture. Specifically, it is written about the Lord Jesus in the Book of Revelation. So if you just turn a couple of passages in Revelation, first of all, Revelation 1:16. So we are dealing with this phrase "sharper than any two-edged sword". Revelation chapter 1, verse 16 says, "In His right hand He held seven stars, from His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and His face was like the sun shining in full strength". Then notice what is said to the church in Pergamum in Revelation chapter 2, verse 16, when it says, "Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of My mouth". The sword of My mouth. And we see even more explicitly one more in Revelation chapter 19 and verse 21 where it says, "And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of Him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh". Now the word for sword here, just to give us a clear understanding of the picture, is the word for a sharp dagger which can make an accurate cut in dangerous places. This is not just some random sword slashed out anywhere it likes. No, it is a specific sharp dagger. It will cut in very dangerous and precise places. That is the language here of a two-edged sword. It will cut in dangerous places.
And what are these dangerous places in Hebrews 4:12? Well, it goes on to say it will come in and cut through "joints and marrow". That is very powerful, deadly. It will cut through joints, marrow. So if, for example, unbelief is seen, it cuts through that. This is where we get very personal, practical regarding even maybe your profession of faith and where people are in their spiritual walks and journeys and all of these sorts of things. The Bible is the authoritative standard. And this is what the Bible, the Word of God, has the power to do. It will cut through. It will have in check and be the standard of authority by which what you say, what you do, what you claim to be, will be checked and verified and confirmed. So if, for example, you are saying, well yeah, I am a Christian because 20 years ago I got up on an altar call and I accepted Jesus into my heart. That was my experience and nobody can take it away from me. Look at what Hebrews 4:12 is stating about what the Word of God does. It will cut through the joints and marrow. It will penetrate the heart of that profession of faith, that claim of being a Christian, that life that you are living, in some cases in outright rebellion against God. This is what the Word does, and this then therefore should be very clear as to why the preaching of the Word is of such central significance in the life of the church. What would we be expecting the Word of God being preached from a pulpit to do? Well, today, we would not have a clue.
Today, we would go in and people are expecting a nice "pick-me-up" message, like we are going to be able to lie in a bunch of nice comfy pillows and that will just prop me up for the week ahead, a week which is going to be laced with sin. But dare any preacher challenge that sin? You will give me something that will make me feel good, feel good about my sin to see what utter folly the preaching of the Word has become. The preaching of the Word as we see here, should be convicting. As the Word of God goes forth, you should be being convicted by this sharp dagger that is going to strike in very precise, particular and penetrating places in your life. That is what the Word of God is. That is what this verse is saying. And people will fridge magnet this verse and say, yeah, Word of God living and active is sharper than any two-edged sword. What are you saying? Do you understand the meaning and the weight of such words? And so we need to understand as Christians that this is a significant thing. And to the flesh, it is terrifying because what does the verse go on to say at the end? It goes on to say, "discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart".
Brothers and sisters, sinful man, you and I here this evening, we need this Word. To the flesh, we do not like it. Oh, it is something we want to run away from. But this has the power to save you. When we understand the perilous condition of our fallen state, think how dangerous it will become if the devil turns the preaching of the Word and the Word, our understanding of the Word, into some nice fluffy feel-good thing. That sort of message plummets people to hell. That is how serious this is. And yet 1 Corinthians 1:18 states, "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". It is the power of God. And we can praise God for this reality. We can praise God that the foolishness of a man getting up and speaking from the Bible is the profound and powerful means by which God blows apart such worldly wisdom. It cuts through "joint and marrow" and by which the message of the eternal saving hope of the Lord Jesus Christ can sting, penetrate and transform lives. Is that what we long to hear from the pulpit? And praise God that the Word of God makes clear this is the reality, this is the spiritual reality.
Isaiah 55:11, "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". That is God declaring what He will do with His Word. Yes, it is the last thing that the flesh wants. We know this from Hebrews 3:13, "But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today,' that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin". One of the ways that we will be deceived by sin is by closing our Bibles, shutting our ears to the truth of this Word. And yet, brothers and sisters, this is how powerful the Word of God is. You can shut your Bible and you can put it away in a cupboard and pretend as if nothing is happening. But look what this Word does. It is "discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart". This is what our God does. Not just superficial, "you have worked hard, that is your ticket into heaven". God is discerning the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7, "For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart". And this is true for every single person in this room. This is true for every single person on this earth today. This is true for every single person who has ever existed, even from Adam and Eve. Look at what verse 13 goes on to flesh out. "No creature is hidden from His sight". What did Adam and Eve do in their sin? They just disobeyed God in the Fall. They tried to cover up the shame of their nakedness and they tried to hide from God. And we read that account and we think, what utter foolishness! Do you think you can hide from God? Do we think we can hide from this book? This authority, this is the authority on the lives of every single person. And when some are standing before the Lord on the day of judgment, saying, well, I never knew anything about the Bible, I never picked it up, is that the "get out of jail free" card? Look what this is saying. "No creature... is hidden from His sight. All are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to Whom we must give an account". And this is a picture, this language here, of being naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to Whom we must give an account, of being forced, propelled in our countenance to look directly at the Lord. I know it is quite difficult to see that in English, but if you were to look at the way the Greek is structured, it is giving us a picture of looking at the eyes of the One to Whom we could give an account.
Now, can you imagine standing in the presence of the living God? And He is looking, penetrating, knowing the thoughts and deeds of who you are, and how are you going to stand? How do you stand before this God? There are some who genuinely, like that rich young man we considered a few weeks back, rich, famous, successful, they think they look the part, they have done enough. Friends, it does not matter how rich or poor, how successful, how unsuccessful, how much you have done, how little you have done. We all stand before this God, this authority, the Word of God, penetrating the thoughts, intentions of the heart, nobody being hidden. We look before Him and we are all in this wretched, corrupted state. And this is the power of the Word of God, "sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow". This is what the Word of God does. This is what our Lord does in our lives.
And this takes us just in our final minutes to some closing applications here this evening. Are you trusting this Word? Do you trust the Word of God, what it is, what it does? Active, "sharper than any two-edged sword", able to "judge thoughts" and "intentions of the heart", as we see elsewhere, "a lamp to our feet, and a light to our path", Psalm 119:105. We know what the devil wants to do, take us away from our Bibles, keep them closed, we are too busy. Again, we have had this challenge many times, but we can never exhaust hearing it. How much we prioritise the frivolous, whether it is on your phone, scrolling through Instagram and Facebook for about two hours a day and yet you can barely spend five minutes in this book. Really, that is where we have come to at this point. But throughout the existence of man on this earth, this is what the devil has sought to do, to pull people away from the Bible. And it is even including what happens in churches. This, as we see in Ephesians chapter 6, is the "sword of the Spirit". And what does the devil seek to do? Disarm the church of its sword, bringing some counter-rival authority, whether it be modern-day "prophecy" in inverted commas, other apostasies or error being brought in, counterfeit liberalism, all of these things, anything that will be people’s random musings or thoughts and feelings. All of this to confuse, to muddle up the power of this truth.
Are you here tonight, Christian, or perhaps one not sure where you are, trusting this Word, not what you think this Word is saying according to your own experience or what you think the Bible is like? No, trusting in this authority because it is what God has declared. And are you living according to this authority? Almost any church, not all, but almost any church will say, yeah, we are biblical churches, we believe the Bible, we preach the Bible, but when it comes to actually the application of the Bible, we have so many different compromises, contradictions and things that will be based on what we suit and our circumstances. That is not trusting and living according to the Bible. And it is often why there is then such an indifference. Or perhaps for some, it is because there is such a fear. Well, if I pick up this book, it is going to make me do things that I do not want to do. It is going to say things that are going to make me uncomfortable in the way by which I am living. Is this not why Ephesians 4:23 says we pray for "a renewing of our minds"? If you are feeling that sense of apathy towards the Word of God or a sense of uncertainty about picking it up, or you are just too busy in your life routine, this is the spiritual fight that you need to bring before the Lord in prayer. That not simply you would be reading your Bibles and yes, absolutely be in the routine of doing so, but understand all the more spiritually the significance and the weight of what the Word of God is, that there would be an even greater growing hunger to know it, to feast our eyes upon it, to "search the Scriptures", to live according to the Scriptures, that our lives would be governed by the Scriptures. Because this is the Word of the living God. This is Who He is. And we see that it is "living and active. Sharper than any two-edged sword". It cuts, it penetrates exactly in the way that we need for the glory of our God, for the upbuilding of the church, for the advance of Christ’s Kingdom. Christ’s Kingdom does not advance with a Bible-less mindset or where the Bible will be put to the periphery so that we can get all the thrills, spills and entertainment in the house of God. No, that is an abomination in the sight of God. And the very Word of God would speak and condemn such folly and wickedness.
This is why we need the Bible to guide and govern all that we do. The Bible which reveals Who God is, the Bible which reveals who we are, the Bible which reveals which is the Word of God becoming flesh, dwelling among us, which is the very message of salvation through Christ and Christ alone, the means and authority by which we then live as those who come in repentance and saving faith in the Lord Jesus. All of this is governed, driven and centred upon what we know and see in the Bible, which is the Word of God. And in the context of Hebrews chapter 4, for those who have that rest, we cannot pretend or pull the wool over the eyes of our Lord, because we see that the Word "discerns the thoughts, intentions of the heart". And if we are those who truly have that rest in the salvation we have in Christ, then what the Word penetrates, what the Word does in our lives, it is cutting, it is convicting. But oh, thanks be to God, it is transforming, for the sake of a people who have that rest in Christ and who one day will have that eternal rest with Him in glory. Let us give thanks to God for what the Word truly is. And may it be that in our hearts and our lives we would understand and live according to this all the more for His glory and for our sake.