Hebrews 12

Verse 1

What kind of witnesses are we talking about?

Not those who witness our achievements

but those who are a witness to God’s achievements.

Lay aside every weight AND sin

There are things that may not be bad things but can still weigh us down

there is also the sin which clings so closely.

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. HOW?!

In this athletic vision it can be to easy to turn it into a picture of us surrounded by this crowd cheering us on but I think we have to be careful not to miss the point here.

We are going to see that even though we are encouraged to run this race with endurance, our endurance and our ability to complete the race is not dependent on us.

If it were dependent on us we would fail every time.

There are three things I want you to gain this morning.

If we are incapable of running the race to completion who is?

How is he capable to get us through to the end?

By what means are we kept through this race?

Now to answer our first question lets look at verse 2

Verse 2

Now let’s take a look at verse 2

Jesus was the founder of our faith. He is the forerunner to all who have come before us, and he is the perfecter of our faith. He is the one who has completed the race perfectly. Not only has he completed it perfectly but the wording here is the perfecter of OUR faith.

This is how we can be certain that all he has called to himself will complete the race, be cause it is Him who is the perfecter of our faith.

Look at verse 3

For the JOY that was set before Him endured the cross

How can this be JOY?!

Verses 3-4

He endured all of this, so that you can finish the race.

We have not endured trails like Christ has.

The Father’s wrath was poured out on the Son and he endured it for our sake.

He has made the completion of the race possible.

So all the Father has called will complete the race because he will see it to completion.

But by what means will he bring us through?

Verses 5-6

The means by which we will be brought through the race is God's discipline.

*Let me be clear! This discipline is not punishment. The punishment has been paid. This discipline is the training that brings about endurance.

He will not let us fall out of the race but will discipline us to completion

We are told not to regard lightly the discipline of the Lord. What does it look like to regard His discipline lightly?

One of the main ways I believe we often do this today is by passing His discipline off as anything other than discipline

Think about it. When was the last time you heard someone going through a difficult time say, “God is disciplining me into holiness for His glory”.

Instead people say, “The devil is trying to hold me down”

I think we give the devil too much credit

Nor be weary when reproved by him.

God’s discipline is not something that should leave us defeated

In the NASB translation it reads “nor faint when you are reproved by him”

We should not feel defeated by have joy , because of what verse 6 tells us!

Verse 6

God disciplines us into holiness because He loves us!

At times it feels so difficult but it is for our good

And this verse tells us that he does this for all of his children. We are all being disciplined into holiness. We may experience it differently but it is for the same purpose, for our good and his glory

Verse 7a

the beginning of this verse can also be translated: “It is because of discipline that you endure”

Again, we are able to complete the race before us because Christ is the perfecter of our faith and God’s discipline is what gives us the endurance.

Verses 7b-8

King illustration

The son who will receive the crown is raised differently than the son how will receive nothing

Verses 9-10

We are given the illustration we can relate to the most

If we can appreciate the discipline of our earthly fathers, shouldn’t we, even delight, in the discipline of our heavenly father!

Our fathers disciplined us so that we may live good and god honoring lives but their wisdom was not perfect and not complete

God disciplines us in his infinite, perfect wisdom

Our fathers struggled to discipline us the best way they new how but there were times they made mistakes in their discipline.

There were times they disciplined out of misinformation, anger, our wrong motives.

We can be confident that God’s discipline is always pure and for our good, that we might be made holy.

You see, just like the father who disciplines his son who will one day share his success, God disciplines us that we may share his holiness

This is it! This is the end goal of the race, what all of our endurance is for!

Verse 11

I know this discipline seems painful. I know it is unpleasant. But it is planting seeds in you!

It hurts and may seem like more than you can bear but later it yields peaceful fruit!!!

At the end of the difficult marathon there is the peace of righteousness.

Isn’t that what we all want! the peaceful fruit of righteousness!

Maybe some of you are longing for that fruit now. That fruit sounds so good.

But… if you want that fruit what must you take away from this passage?

it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained in it.

We must not “regard lightly the discipline of the Lord”.

If we desire the prize, we should desire the discipline even more.

We can look to all the witnesses who came before us and hear their testimony to God’s faithfulness.

We can have assurance in Jesus who is the founder and perfecter of our faith

We can delight in the discipline that brings endurance

And we can look forward to the peace and holiness that we will receive when the race is complete