************ Sermon on Hebrews 4:13 ************

By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman

This sermon was preached on August 31, 2004

Hebrews 4:12-16
Hebrews 4:13
"Nothing is Hid From God's Sight"

Introduction
Topic: Omniscience
Subtopic: Of God
Index: 3850
Date:
Title: Nothing Hidden

There is a story of a photographer who went to the docks to take a picture of The Great Eastern. Its hull was black, having been coated with tar. That same day the man went to his own darkroom to develop the film and print it. As the picture of the ship began to take form, the word Lewis appeared on the hull. Immediately the photographer returned to the wharf to see whether that name actually was on the vessel. But it wasn't visible. Astonished, he contacted the office of the shipping company and inquired about this strange phenomenon. He was told that the word Lewis could be found underneath the tar. The camera's powerful lens and the sensitive film had picked it up.
Imperfect though the image may be, the eye of God is like the eye of the photographer's camera. It sees everything, it misses nothing. Or, as out text puts it:
(Heb 4:13) 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.
God is all-seeing.

I The Omniscience of God
A Life is plagued with mysteries. There are so many things we don't know, so many things we don't understand, so many times when we ask "Why? Why God? Why did you let this happen?" I am talking about such things as trials, suffering, starvation, death, sickness, war, decisions about the future, questions about the past.

We can turn on the TV and the psychic hotline promises to give us the answers we need. We can open the newspaper and the horoscope holds out answers to our questions. We can attend the county fair and a palm reader or a fortune teller tell us they can trace our past and our future. All of this is bunk, sheer bunk. No committee, no activist group, no ministry, no fortune teller, no astrologer, no psychic is capable of solving all the riddles of life. None of these can answer our questions because all of them are but finite human beings. That means their understanding, their knowledge, and their wisdom is limited. Therefore we should never listen to them or put our trust in them.

B The Bible tells us that God alone is omniscient. This means that God alone knows all things and understands all things and sees all things. God alone is the fountain of wisdom. God alone has no limitations. As our text puts it:
(Heb 4:13) 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.

What a difference there is between us and God, a vast difference. Remember what God says through Isaiah the prophet:
(Is 55:8) "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.

What really is omniscience? It means to have total knowledge, to know everything. Since only God is omniscient, we would have to add that omniscience means to have perfect knowledge and understanding.

The eyes of God rove over the whole earth and pierces into our innermost thoughts. Nothing is hidden from Him, not even the future. He gives names to all the stars and counts the hairs on our heads. God knows everything. But "knowing" in the Bible is not quite the same as our English idea of knowing – a mental apprehension of something. In the Bible, to know something is to experience it.

God knows us. In Christ He has lived among us and taken on our flesh. He is a Father Who is involved in the lives of His children. He knows our frame. He understands our ways. He hears our prayers. He is fully aware of our struggles.

C Do you want to know the truth about yourself or about another person? You might realize that because of insurance concerns our child safety policy now requires a background check on everyone who works with our children and youth. We've been doing this online. And, not all of you have turned in your forms. Amy punches in the name, address, birth date, and social security number and in 4 days or so we are told whether or not you have a criminal record as well as the date your social security number was issued. For $50 – or less – I can also find out the size of your mortgage, your monthly payment, the amount of your credit card debt, the address of the property your own, what you paid for the property, the bank you use, and the government subsidies you get. Yet, no matter how hard I try I cannot discover your thoughts. But God knows.

Do you want to know the truth about yourself or about another person? God knows and He reveals the truth about us in His Word. That's the whole point of verse 12:
(Heb 4:12) For the word of God is living 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.
Nothing is more inaccessible and unknown, humanly speaking, than the notions and motives and thoughts concealed in the depths of a person's mind. No scalpel can dissect them, no background check can reveal them, no private eye can discover them. Only God's Word can pierce through the layers and the disguises and the coverings we use to cloak our inner self from each other.

What does the Word say? What does it reveal about us? Though we have been created good and holy and in the image of God, we are fallen. We are sinners who deserve eternal judgment. And, even when we believe and have been made new in Christ, our thoughts as well as our deeds continue to be full of wickedness and evil.

God knows this. And He reveals this truth about us in His Word. And, in His Word He gives us the standards by which He judges our thoughts and attitudes and the direction of our heart. God knows everything about you and me.

II In the Bible
A The omniscience of God is found many places in the Bible. One of my favorite selections is found in Psalm 139:
(Ps 139:1-18) O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. (2) You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. (3) You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. (4) Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD ... (17) How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! (18) Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.

B Remember what happened after Joshua's conquest of Jericho. A man named Achan stole and hid some of the "devoted things" of Jericho (Joshua 7:1). This angered God, so when the Israelites attacked the tiny town of Ai, "they were routed" (vs 4).

Joshua cried out to God, and God told him what to do. The next day, all of the tribes gathered and lots were cast to determine the guilty party. Who can forget the scene of what happened. When Israel came forward by tribes, the tribe of Judah was taken. When the clans of Judah came forward, the clan of the Zerahites was taken. When the families of the Zerahites came forward, the family of Zimri was taken. When the men of Zimri came forward, Achan was taken. Achan was chosen by the Lord's lot. The Lord knew who was the guilty one.
(Heb 4:13) 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.

C Do you remember King Jeroboam (1 Kings 14)? He badly wanted a hearing with Ahijah, the prophet of the Lord. Jeroboam's son was seriously ill and the king wondered whether the boy would be able to live and succeed him as king. He knew he could get the true answer only from the Lord's prophet. The problem was, Ahijah wouldn't gave Jeroboam the time of day because Jeroboam was the king who established the two golden calves as idols for Israel to worship before.

The king came up with a brilliant plan. He gave his wife ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and honey. He had her dress down as a farmer's wife. She was to go to the prophet in this disguise, ask about the fate of the king's son, and, they hoped, get a good answer.

Jeroboam's wife traveled down to a little town called Shiloh. She located the prophet's house, adjusted her tattered garments, and walked up to the door. Before she could knock an old, cracking voice from inside called out, "Come in, wife of Jeroboam."

Imagine how the queen must have felt. Here she came all that way in her careful disguise and suddenly found herself exposed before the prophet even saw her.

As it turned out Ahijah couldn't see her. The aging prophet had lost his sight. But Ahijah didn't have to see her to know the truth. Because the omniscient God told him what was going to happen. God's wisdom pierced through all the layers – the prophet's blindness, the closed door, the disguise – and hit the bull's eye.
(Heb 4:13) 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.

D Do you remember King Nebuchadnezzar and his dream? The king was so angry when his "magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers" (Dan 2:2) could not interpret his dream that he ordered the execution of all the wise men in the kingdom. This decree included Daniel and his three friends.

Daniel asked the king for time that he might interpret the dream. He and his friends prayed for "mercy from God of heaven concerning this mystery" (vs 18).

That night the Lord revealed the mystery to Daniel in a vision (vs 19).
(Heb 4:13) 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.

E Just one more example. Do you remember the woman at the well? Much to her shock Jesus knew she had five different husbands and was now living common law with a sixth man. Jesus knew everything about her.
(Heb 4:13) 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.

III Today
A What was true for Bible times is also true for today. Sometimes today, as with Ahijah and Daniel, God gives His servants insight into others lives. Let me first tell you about a California pastor.
After the plane on which the pastor was a passenger took off he happened to glance over at a middle-aged businessman across the aisle ... and then did a double-take. In that split-second he had spotted in very clear and distinct letters the word "Adultery" written across the man's face. The pastor glanced over again. There it was, plain as day, "Adultery."
Now the man became aware he was being stared at. "What do you want?" he asked with some irritation.
Just then a woman's name flashed into the pastor's mind. He leaned across the aisle and asked, "Does the name Jane mean anything to you?"
Immediately the man's face turned ashen and he whispered, "We've got to talk."
The two went upstairs to the jumbo jet's cocktail lounge. As they sat down, the man asked suspiciously, "Who told you that name?"
The pastor blurted out, "God told me." He was too rattled to think of a way to bring it up gracefully.
The man crumbled and began to weep. He explained that his wife was the woman in the seat beside him and he didn't want to lose her. In a choking voice he asked, "What should I do?"
Before the plane landed, the man had repented and turned his life over to God.
We know what happened, don't we?! God knows all things and sees all things and understands all things.
(Heb 4:13) 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.

B In the same way as God knows what was going on in the businessman's life, so God knows what is going on in your life and my life.

Are you honest? Are you honest with money? Are you honest in your relationship with your wife or husband? Are you honest in how you deal with your parents? Are you honest with your friends? Are you honest with the elders or deacons or pastor when they come for a visit? Do you think God doesn't know when you are being dishonest?

Have you ever misrepresented yourself? Like Scott Peterson, have you ever pretended to be someone or something you are not? Do you think no one would love you or care for you if they knew all of your weaknesses and lies? Do you think you can hide your true self from God?

All Christians have questions, struggles, trials, doubts, fears. Do you try to hide them? Do you think God doesn't know about them?

In this life and on this earth we all face sin and temptation. All too often we fail and fall. Do you think God doesn't know when you do?

The fact is, my brothers and sisters, God knows everything about you and me and everyone who lives. No one may ever catch us in living a lie, but God knows when we are not being honest. We can try to hide our true selves from those around us, but we can never hide our true self from God. Others may never know but God knows all about our questions, struggles, trials, doubts, fears. Those around us may think we are a saint, but God knows the sin and temptation we face; He knows when we fail and fall and how we fail and fall.
(Heb 4:13) 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.

Conclusion
God knows you. He knows me. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows all about us. He knows our innermost thoughts, our most secret deeds. He knows what we do under the cover of darkness. He knows.

Does this scare you? It doesn't have to. Notice what Hebrews tells us. Our text informs us that "nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight." It warns us that someday we will have to give account. But then it goes on to say, "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence ..."

God knows us as we are. Yet, we can approach His throne of grace with confidence. God knows us and still invites us to come to Him in prayer and worship. He invites us to ask for grace, to seek forgiveness, to request the strength we need. He invites us to come to Him and find in Him everything that we need.

Why? Because in Christ God has already forgiven us. Even with all our imperfections, the obvious and not-so-obvious, God still loves us and accepts us. He accepts us as we are. The difference is Christ. If we know Christ as our Savior and Lord, then the God Who knows us forgives us, accepts us, and loves us. But if we don't know Christ as Savior and Lord, then God holds us accountable for all that He knows about us.

God knows us. But, in Christ He also forgives us and accepts us and loves us. What could be more wonderful than that?
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