Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Genesis 2:8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
Genesis 3:1-3 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (2) And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: (3) But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Genesis 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
Genesis 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
The sword in the Garden entrance has a negative effect, in most minds when reading of the expulsion.
But we can look at it as a positive thing.
Notice the words of Jesus directed to the apostles for them to preach:
Luke 24:47-49 MKJV and that repentance and remission of sins should be proclaimed in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. (48) And you are witnesses of these things. (49) And behold, I send the promise of My father on you. But you sit in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high.
That was said 40 days after Jesus resurrected.
· They’d BEGIN to preach something they never preached before.
· So they went to Jerusalem.
Acts 1:8 MKJV But you shall receive power, the Holy Spirit coming upon you. And you shall be witnesses to Me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
Acts 1:12 MKJV Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount Of Olive Grove, which is a sabbath day's journey from Jerusalem.
Acts 2:36-39 MKJV Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God made this same Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. (37) And hearing this, they were stabbed in the heart, and said to Peter and to the other apostles, Men, brothers, what shall we do? (38) Then Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ to remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (39) For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all those afar off, as many as the Lord our God shall call.
Acts 3:18-19 MKJV But those things which God before had shown by the mouth of all His prophets, that Christ should suffer, He fulfilled in this manner. (19) Therefore repent and convert so that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.
Acts 4:8-12 MKJV Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers of the people and elders of Israel, (9) if we are examined today on a good work for an infirm man, by what this one has been healed, (10) be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, in this name does this man stand before you whole. (11) This is the Stone which you builders have counted worthless, and He has become the Head of the Corner. (12) And there is salvation in no other One; for there is no other name under Heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
Acts 5:30-32 MKJV The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you killed and hanged on a tree. (31) This One God has exalted to be a Ruler and Savior to His right hand in order to give repentance and remission of sins to Israel. (32) And we are His witnesses of these things. And so also is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.
The message is the same to GET BACK TO WHERE GOD WANTS US,
Once we get back, God has to show us what the work of the cross accomplished in us…
Romans 8:18 KJV For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Glory is to be revealed in us.
· Like a veil that hid the glory from view in the temple.
· The veil is removed and rent so the glory can be seen.
· Jesus Christ's flesh was like a veil that released glory of salvation when He died.
So there is a suffering that we need to see is not worthy to be compared because we are being urged towards this suffering.
The Bible calls the WORD of God a two-edged sword.
Verse 11 says we must labour to enter into a Rest....
Hebrews 4:11-12 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. (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 sounds contradictory to labour in order to enter rest.
Whatever this labour is, it is associated with unbelief.
· We must labour so we do not experience unbelief.
· It's like saying you better get off the road so you do not get hit by a car.
· The reason the road was mentioned was because that is where the cars go that can hit you.
· Labour so you do not fall into unbelief.
· The labour somehow deals with unbelief.
Notice also that ENTRANCE is emphasized here.
· Unbelief caused Israel to NOT ENTER the promised land.
Hebrews 3 through 4 used the Exodus ENTRANCE INTO CANAAN as our example of becoming partakers of Christ.
Hebrews 3:8-14 KJV Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: (9) When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. (10) Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. (11) So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) (12) Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. (13) But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. (14) For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
Everything Jesus has for us is noted in "partakers of Christ, IF WE HOLD the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end."
Everything Christ has for us involves many things some believers have never experienced.
· And as much as many in Israel did not enter Canaan due to unbelief, many Christians will not experience ALL Christ has for us due to UNBELIEF.
Hebrews 3:19 KJV So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Verse 12 begins saying FOR.
· The reason we must LABOUR to enter rest, and remove the threat of UNBELIEF from stopping us, is because the WORD OF GOD IS A SWORD.
· Why would he say the word as a sword is REASON for us to labour?
· "Labour, because the word is sharper than any sword."
· That is basically what he said.
· What does that mean?
Let us go back a bit in chapter 4 to see what LABOUR he referred to that will answer this question.
Hebrews 4:1-3 KJV Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. (2) For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. (3) For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
What did Israel NOT DO in the form of a particular LABOUR that Hebrews is telling us to do?
MIX THE WORD WITH FAITH.
The word is like a sword.
· And now we see the reason we read of the Word being sharper than a sword when we are told to LABOUR to enter the rest.
· The labour we commit is the MIXING OF FAITH WITH THE SWORD OF THE WORD.
· That SWORD of the word is sharper than any other two edged sword.
The Garden of Eden had a SWORD in the entrance.
· And the REST of all rests would be the GARDEN OF EDEN where God created man to live and reign.
· Recall that WORK was part of the curse inflicted on mankind for his sin.
· So there is TRUE REST in the Garden.
· When man was cast out of the Garden he had to work.
Genesis 3:17-19 KJV And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; (18) Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; (19) In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Getting back into the Garden would be rest.
· God planted the trees and God supplied all Adam needed to live.
· But outside the Garden man had to plant.
Genesis 2:8-9 KJV And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. (9) And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Canaan was also considered a REST like the Garden.
Deuteronomy 6:10-11 KJV (10) And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, (11) And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;
So ENTERING the REST requires a WORK TO BE DONE.
· It is the work of mixing our FAITH with the WORD that works like a SWORD.
· So the SWORD at the Garden entrance stands for something we require in order to get back in!
· It is not something to keep us out!
· It is something we require to get back in or else we cannot get back in!
Hebrews 4: (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.
Notice that the SWORD cuts EVEN TO -- the ultimate ability it has -- to divide spirit and soul, and discern our thoughts!
This is VITAL!
Unbelief kept Israel out of Canaan.
· Labour to GET THIS SWORD and let it cut.
Hebrews 4:3 KJV For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
WE WHO BELIEVE enter in.
· Labour with the sword of the word is encouraged by telling us this sword is sharper than any other two edged sword since it CAN
DIVIDE AND DISCERN OUR VERY Thoughts.
· And I need that kind of sword to cut because it will seek out and destroy every thought inside me that is UNBELIEF.
Unbelief kept Israel out of Canaan.
· Unbelief will keep us out of the REST.
· And if we want to go back into the rest like the Garden, we need something that can successfully root out every bit of unbelief there is.
The image of God is lost inside us.
· Unbelief is all over our hearts.
· Like something all caked over with unbelief.
Verse 3 mentioned the works finished from the foundation of the world.
This means we have to apply the word to our lives.
· Our HEARTS are the part of us that believe.
· The sword in the Garden turned every way.
· It cuts and gets into every crevice.
· Whirling devastation that can reach and find any trace of unbelief that will keep us out.
Revelation 1:16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
Revelation 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
The WORD is like a SWORD FROM HIS MOUTH.
REVELATION means UNVEILING.
· And it takes a SWORD to remove the VEIL.
· So in the first vision the thing God put above all His name is symbolized BY A SWORD from His mouth -- HIS WORD.
John 6:29 KJV Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
Cherubims were around the sword just as cherubims were on the Ark of the covenant AROUND WHERE GOD SPOKE to Israel.
· In order for the word to cause Faith -- faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word -- there needs to be cutting.
Paul said some more words that connect us with the sword.
2 Corinthians 3:13-16 And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: (14) But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. (15) But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. (16) Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.
The veil is OVER OUR HEARTS.
· And when we turn our hearts to the LORD - THE SWORD - THE WORD - CUTS THE VEIL OFF.
· Rips it open.
· OUR MINDS ARE BLINDED.
· You cannot see if EYES blinded, and you cannot understand if MIND is blinded.
· VEILED.
2 Corinthians 4:4 KJV In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
The veil is the UNBELIEF that covers our hearts.
· The veil is the HINDERING FACTOR.
Deuteronomy 10:16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.
Deuteronomy 30:6 And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
Jeremiah 4:4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
Romans 2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
And something beautiful happens when you you let that SWORD cut away the VEIL FROM YOUR HEART.
My heart must be fully freed from the veil.
· I want to believe God for everything He can do.
2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
The image of God is caked over with unbelief and fleshliness.
· Let the sword cut away all the unbelief and leave the image of God so we can enter in.
Walk right on into the sword.
· It will start cutting away the unbelief.
· Leaves the IMAGE!
2 Corinthians 3:16-17 KJV (16) Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. (17) Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
This is why the SPIRIT gives liberty,
· We are liberated from the veil.
· From unbelief.
Romans 6:11 KJV Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Jesus is a door.
· He is the door as well the sword.
· Put the two together.
· Sword at the entrance.
Reckoning means we go through the door, Jesus, and let the sword of His word CUT away unbelief and realize ourselves to be dead and alive to God!
Joshua 5:13 KJV And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?
At the entrance to Canaan was a SWORD.
