Hebrews 12:12-17 - Don't Stop Now
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction:
Art Carey described his experience of hitting the wall as he went on to complete the Boston Marathon in the Philadelphia Inquirer years ago…
Now the real battle begins. Up the first of many long inclines I start to climb—one-two, one-two, one-two, right-left, right-left, right-left. I keep watching my feet move, one after the other, hypnotized by the rhythm, the passage of the asphalt below… shoulder cramps, leaden legs, seething blisters, dry throat, empty stomach, stop—keep moving—must finish.… A radio-listening spectator reports that the race is over. Six miles away, Bill Rodgers has won again. His ordeal is done; the most intense of my own is about to begin.
“Heartbreak Hill”—the last, the longest and the steepest, a half-mile struggle against gravity designed to finish off the faint and faltering. Hundreds of people stand along the hill, watching… [urging] the walkers to jog, the joggers to run, the runners to speed on to Boston.… Slowly, ever so slowly, the grade begins to level out.…
The last four miles are seemingly endless. Some runners, their eyes riveted catatonically to the ground, trudge alone in their bare feet, holding in their hands the shoes that have blistered and bloodied their feet. Others team up to help each other, limping along, arm-in-arm, like maimed and battle-weary soldiers returning from the front.
Finally, the distinctive profile of the Prudential Building looms on the horizon. I begin to step up my pace. Faster, faster… smoother, smoother. Suppress the pain. Finish up strong. Careful—not too fast. Don’t cramp.…
I can see the yellow stripe 50 yards ahead. I run faster, pumping my arms, pushing off my toes, defying clutching leg cramps to mount a glorious, last-gasp kick… 40 yards, 30 yards, 20 yards… cheers and clapping… 10 yards… finish line… an explosion of euphoria… I am clocked in at two hours, 50 minutes and 49 seconds. My place: 1,176. I find the figures difficult to believe, but if they are accurate, then I have run the best marathon of my life.
While times and places are important, and breaking a personal record is thrilling (especially as you grow older), the real joy of the Boston Marathon is just finishing… doing what you have set out to do.
Friends, the Christian life is a marathon. The author has used this analogy of running a few times already, and he will finish with this last metaphor of running one last time before hitting the climax of the book that we will see next week. His blaring admonition today is Don’t Stop Now! Just like Art Carey described, you might be at a point in your life where you are sore, blistered, bruised, battered, and fatigued. However, we are to keep running to the finish line. Now is not the time to stop. Now is the time to be sure that we are running well! But how do we run well? Let’s dive into our Scripture today and find out…
Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees,
and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.
Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;
that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.
For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.
Prayer
Today we will see three encouragements of how we are to finish the race. The first is…
I. Keep Running as You Are Sustained by the Lord (12-13)
I. Keep Running as You Are Sustained by the Lord (12-13)
Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees,
Last week we were encouraged to accept the Lord’s discipline in our lives. We were charged not to despise discipline - or despair when we are disciplined.
Now the author finishes this section with some further charges to persevere and remain obedient.
First, he says to lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees.
When long-distance runners begin to get tired, one of the first things that starts to happen is that their arms don’t swing like they used to. Arms are actually very important in running well. If you aren’t pumping your arms well, your legs and the rest of your body have to make up for it. But when a runner gets tired, their arms quit moving and their hands droop.
Then eventually the runner’s legs begin to get shaky and weak. Once a runner’s legs get weak, they are at risk of falling and injuring themselves, and they are at risk of quitting the race.
I am sure we all know what it is like to hit the wall in some form or fashion. Even if you are not an athlete, you have probably hit the wall mentally, or in some other area. Some of you might feel like you are there right now.
Brothers and sisters, running the race of this life is difficult. Like the initial account we read, there are countless aches and pains that seem to afflict us in this life. Whether physical, emotional, or spiritual - there are always struggles in our lives.
There is a saying that we have today that has likely come from this verse among others (Isaiah 35:3, Job 4:3-4). We talk about being weak in the knees. If anyone has any knee problems you know the importance of having strong knees! It is impossible to run well and even walk well when you have a bad knees.
Unfortunately some people have spiritually weak knees. They seem to struggle to continue along the road of the Christian walk. Their drooping hands show their hopelessness. Their weak knees show their lack of perseverance.
However, we are told here to persevere in the midst of this struggle. Despite the weight of affliction or suffering that you may be experiencing, the author here commands you to stand strong in the Lord - to run strong in the Lord.
This is quite an admonition! How can you stand strong and keep running with good form when you are fatigued? How can you keep your arms pumping when you are having debilitating shoulder cramps?
You can do this only by being sustained by the Lord.
We must avoid failing to run in the power and energy of the Lord. If not, we will quickly have drooping hands and weak knees.
The writer of Hebrews is encouraging us to keep going. He is like a coach reminding his runners to stay focused on form - stay focused on the finish line. And next we see him remind us that we need to stay focused on our path as well…
and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.
This idea of straight paths also can mean level paths. It can mean to be sure to stay in your lane.
How can we continue forward in the right path?
Only by the power of Christ through His Word.
As we continue reading the Word of God, as we continue sharpening one another as believers and encouraging one another in obedience to the Word, the Holy Spirit will continue strengthening us. He will heal our weak knees. He will lift our drooping hands. He will make our paths straight and runnable.
Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us the following:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
So if we trust in the Lord and lean on His understanding (NOT OURS!), He will direct our paths and make our paths straight.
Proverbs 4:26-27 also gives us a beautiful example of following the straight path.
Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.
We are charged to ponder the path of our feet.
Brothers and sisters - I think it is fairly common for many people today to not ponder the paths of their feet. They don’t consider where they are going during the day. They don’t consider where their phone scrolling takes them, where their internet browsing takes them, where their car takes them, where their feet take them.
And they end up in dangerous places. They end up on crooked and unlevel paths.
Friends, may we ponder the paths that we take. May we stay on the straight path - not swerving to the right or to the left. May we maintain the path that the Lord has laid out for us.
And as we walk this straight path, we must rely on the Lord to heal our joints - namely to carry us along by His power.
Part of maintaining a straight path involves frequent confession of sin as well. When you do swerve to the right or to the left, you must confess your sin and repent of it. Repentance means a change of direction. You make a complete change - you go from going the wrong direction to back on the straight path by the Lord’s power working in and through you.
Part of many people’s fatigue is that they aren’t running on the right path.
Many of us can quickly swerve onto a path filled with rocks and other stumbling blocks. We can find ourselves running a path that was not set out for us by the Lord. In those moments, we need to take a step back and ask the Lord to lead us to the path He has laid out for us.
Unfortunately, when we get out of our lane, we not only wear ourselves out, but we can also interfere with the races of others. When we end up in sinful areas, we can cause others to stumble and follow in the same. When we even try to do good things that we were not called to do, we can keep others from serving in those areas.
I have seen many pastors and church leaders who struggle with this. They have a hard time letting others run their races and want to micromanage everything. My job as a pastor is to coach you and encourage you to keep running well! My job isn’t to run your race!
You need to get involved in serving your local church. You need to get involved in giving to your local church. You need to get involved in helping disciple others. You need to get involved in evangelizing the lost.
And we can do all of this as we are being sustained by the power of the Lord.
This Scripture for today isn’t going to get any easier as we move forward and see that we need to…
Scripture References: Isaiah 35:3, Job 4:3-4, Proverbs 3:5-6, Proverbs 4:26-27
II. Keep Running as You Strive to Follow the Lord (14)
II. Keep Running as You Strive to Follow the Lord (14)
Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
I love this word strive. It is a word of action - a word of command - a word of necessity. It means to do something with all effort - to chase after or pursue with all endurance.
It reminds me of someone running a sprint. They strive with all they have to get to the finish line. They are leaving it all out on the track.
What are we to strive to do?
We are to strive for peace with everyone.
First we must strive for peace with God. This only comes through Christ.
There is no true and lasting peace apart from the saving work of Jesus Christ.
If you want to have peace, you must repent of your sins and place your faith and trust in Jesus Christ - God-made-flesh - who came to earth, lived the sinless life that we could not live and died on the cross for our sins. And three days later He rose and is now at the right hand of the Father! When you repent and trust in Jesus Christ, you are given peace eternally with God.
Praise the Lord, once you come to a saving knowledge of Christ, there is no more striving for peace with God. There is no work that can save you, and no work that keeps you saved. You are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). You are adopted as a son or daughter of the King of kings.
However, that doesn’t mean that life will always be easy with those on earth!
As believers, we are also called to strive with peace with everyone else.
This only happens through the working of the Holy Spirit within us. As we have discussed before, peace is a fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Our natural-self desires to have our will done no matter the cost. Only in Christ can we truly obey Philippians 2:4:
Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
The reason peace is often so difficult is that we must be willing to humbly lay down our own desires in order to care about someone else.
This certainly does not come naturally!
If you have lived very long, you know that peace with everyone can be very difficult! It most certainly takes some striving to have peace with some people!
But as Romans 12:18 reminds us, as far as it depends on you - seek peace with everyone.
Getting back to verse 14…
Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
The third charge we receive in verse 14 is that we are to strive for holiness.
What is holiness?
Holiness refers to us being set apart by the Lord. It describes the moral purity, sanctification, and consecration of believers who are dedicated to the Lord.
We are made holy first off through salvation. We are justified, and we are set apart. This is often referred to as positional sanctification. We are eternally viewed as perfected in Christ. Despite our continued sinning, the righteousness of Christ has been imputed to us, and God sees His beloved Son instead of our sin.
However, God continues working out our progressive sanctification day by day throughout our Christian lives.
This is the ongoing process of spiritual growth in the life of a believer. It is both active and passive - being done through one’s own efforts in putting to death the things of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-23, Romans 8:13) accompanied by the work of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, and other believers. Even in one’s own efforts, we cannot negate the need and power of the Holy Spirit working in and through us. God promises to bring this good work to completion - Philippians 1:6. Progressive sanctification is a lifelong process that continues until we die and are perfected in eternity.
Holiness is important for our witness. In fact, the author gives a difficult statement at the end of verse 14 - without which no one will see the Lord. In essence, the writer of Hebrews is telling us that if are not practicing what we preach, we are going to prevent people from the coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
The late Brennan Manning once said:
“The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”
Brennan Manning
Obviously we know that God is sovereign and in control, and we know that He has the ability to save souls no matter what. However, He has charged us to be His ambassadors to a lost world.
As ambassadors, we serve God as His representatives to this lost world. We must not only proclaim the correct Gospel, we must live it out as well. To do otherwise is to defame our wonderful Lord and Savior.
Friends, as we continue running this race, may we run sustained by the Lord, strive to follow the Lord, and finally may we…
Scripture References: Ephesians 2:8-9, Philippians 2:4, Romans 12:18, Galatians 5:19-23, Romans 8:13, Philippians 1:6
III. Keep Running as You Stand Strong in the Lord (15-17)
III. Keep Running as You Stand Strong in the Lord (15-17)
See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;
The Greek word translated ‘see to it’ means to look diligently and to exercise oversight. In fact, this word is very closely related to the Greek word for overseer or elder also known as pastor. The elder or pastor exercises oversight over the church. The command given here actually tells everyone in the church that we are to oversee and encourage four important aspects of our church.
This is a command of action - requiring one to always be striving to obey it.
We are given four distinctives following this command.
1 - See to It that No One Fails to Obtain the Grace of God
How does one fail to obtain the grace of God?
Consider Hebrews 4:1 - those who failed to enter into the rest of the Lord.
One fails to obtain the grace of the Lord by rejecting the free gift of eternal life through salvation in Jesus Christ.
Salvation involves repentance and faith. You must repent, or turn from your sins as we mentioned earlier, and turn toward Christ in faith. You must believe that Jesus is God-made-flesh Who lived the sinless life we could not live and died on the cross in our place. You must believe that He rose three days later proving His victory over death and the grave.
Those who have trusted in Christ through faith and repentance obtain the wonderful and free gracious gift of salvation as Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us.
How are we to see to it that others come to a saving knowledge of Jesus?
Through active evangelism. We need to be telling others about Jesus. We need to also be asking good questions even to those without our fellowship. We need to make sure that they are truly in the faith.
Unfortunately there are many in churches across our world that have failed to obtain the grace of God. They have not understood the true Gospel. And they are on a path of eternal destruction.
Friends, be sure that you keep your eyes opened to those around you. Keep the Gospel the main thing always.
Next we are told to…
2 - See to It That No Root of Bitterness Springs Up
The Scripture that is alluded to here is found in Deuteronomy 29:18:
Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit,
This bitter root was found in those who forsook the Lord and turned to worthless things such as idols.
We need to be sure that our church does not give into worthless things. We need to make sure that the Lord is exalted, that His Word is taught, and that we obey Him in all things.
We must all be on the lookout for false teachers. They creep in among believers and spread lies. Their lies and false teachings bring poisonous and deadly fruit.
Water hemlock is one of the deadliest plants in North America. Just a small amount can lead to rapid central nervous system failure, seizures, and even death in humans and livestock. The most dangerous part of it is that it resembles wild parsnips.
However if one slices the root of a water hemlock it reveals distinct horizontal chambers filled with a yellow, oily liquid that smells like parsnips but is highly lethal.
Despite the fact that it looks edible, it is fatal.
The same is true regarding false teaching. It may resemble true teaching. Consider the teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons who use Biblical language but twist it. Though they may appear kind, though they may appear to be bearers of truth at first, their fruit is poisonous and leads people astray.
However, roots of bitterness can also come in other varieties other than false teachers. People within the congregation can become embittered with God or one another. Disappointments, illnesses, accidents, health issues, loss of loved ones, among others can lead people to becoming bitter with God or others.
We must be sure that no root of bitterness is harbored within our churches. We must encourage those within our church who are struggling to look to the Word of God and cling to Christ during difficult times. We must remind them of the goodness of Jesus.
We are given two more commands in verses 16-17…
that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.
Now we come to our third see to it…
3 - See to It That No One Is Sexually Immoral
Esau married two pagan Hittite women who we are told made life bitter for his parents (Genesis 26:34-35). His brother Jacob, in turn, was sent to his relatives to marry a woman of their lineage. Esau, attempting yet failing to right his wrong, married a daughter of Ishmael - the other son of Abraham who was not part of the chosen lineage (Genesis 28:6-9).
Something that continually seemed to trip up the men of Israel was the intermarriage between them and pagan women.
Even King Solomon, who was the wisest man to ever live other than Jesus, was tripped up by marrying pagan women.
These women led their husbands to worship idols. They led them to be unfaithful to God.
We will go into some further teaching on sexual immorality more during chapter 13. However, sexual immorality is pervasive in our culture. Everywhere you turn, there are inappropriate images. Those seeking to keep their eyes off of evil things as Psalm 119:37 asserts, often find it hard to avoid seeing things they were not seeking to see.
Remaining pure in a defiled culture requires the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through you.
May we, like Job in Job 31:1, seek to keep our eyes from sexual immorality and instead fix our eyes on Christ (Hebrews 12:2).
May we also rightly teach Biblical morality within our church and encourage God’s people to follow God’s commands.
And lastly, we must…
4 - See to It That No One Is Unholy by Being In Love of the World
We end with another teaching about Esau from the book of Genesis. He was known as a worldly man. In fact, he was so dominated by his worldly desires that he sold his birthright to his brother Jacob for a bowl of stew (Genesis 25:33). Though they were twins, Esau was born first - which meant the birthright was his. This birthright meant that he would be the head of the family, and that he would receive a double portion of the estate.
Esau was so worldly and living in the moment that he was willing to give up so much for so little.
Friends, many today are willing to give up so much for so little as well. Countless people live their lives in the moment - seeking one pleasure after another - only to end up empty and alone and apart from God.
They are trading eternal life with Christ for a bowl of stew that lasts only a moment. The pleasures of this world are fleeting. The happiness experienced by those who continually seek these temporary pleasures are quickly replaced by depression and despair.
One only needs to look at many of our world’s so-called influencers to see the darkness in their lives. Suicide, alcoholism, drug addiction, and despair mark many of their lives. Despite the rainbows and butterflies that they project, there is often much darkness behind the curtain.
That is because the love of the world and the things of this world can never bring peace and joy. True peace and joy are only found in Jesus Christ.
As fellow church members, we need to see to it that we live holy lives and encourage our brothers and sisters to follow hard after Christ in holiness as well.
In verse 17, we are told that Esau was tearful about his sin, but that he found no chance to repent. This doesn’t mean that he couldn’t have repented. But it means that he could not get the blessing back that he had sold to his brother for a bowl of stew. It also meant that he could not live for this world as well as live for the world to come - namely heaven.
We have a choice to make. As this picture shows… we must either live for Christ or live for self - namely for worldliness. Esau refused to truly repent and change direction. He mourned the consequences of his sin, but he refused to turn to God in true repentance.
Friends, we cannot straddle the fence like Esau did. We must submit fully to Christ. We must turn from worldliness and turn to Christ in faith and repentance.
Each of these four ‘see to it statements’ starts with us. We must be sure that we are in the truth. We must be sure that we are obeying God’s commands.
And then and only then can we encourage our brothers and sisters to follow Christ in obedience.
We need to avoid standing in judgment over one another. But we also need to avoid being afraid to encourage one another in living holy lives as well. We need to welcome accountability within our church. We must warn those who are trying to live for the world and for Christ at the same time. We must call them to repent and give their lives fully to Christ.
We must remind them that you can’t run while sitting on the sideline or laying down. And we must remind them that if you are running toward the world, then you are running from your Savior.
Scripture References: Hebrews 4:1, Ephesians 2:8-9, Deuteronomy 29:18, Genesis 26:34-35, Genesis 28:6-9, Psalm 119:37, Job 31:1, Hebrews 12:2, Genesis 25:33
Conclusion:
As we come to a close, we have seen the author use what Raymond Brown calls a mosaic of Biblical ideas. We have seen images drawn from the prophets in verse 12, the wisdom literature in verse 13, the Psalms in verse 14, the Law of Moses in verse 15, and the patriarchs of Genesis in verse 16.
He has used each of these examples to remind us to not stop in our race. Don’t Stop Now. Keep striving to finish the race. See to it that your brothers and sisters also keep striving and standing strong as they finish their races as well. And do all of this by being sustained and carried by the Lord.
Church: Persevere Through the Power of Christ, Stand Strong, Keep Running… And…
Don’t Stop Now.
