21: Peace & Holiness (Hebrews 12:12-29)

Welcome & Scripture from Mt 7:7-12

Matthew 7:7–12 CSB

“Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Who among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him. Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

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Last week we talked about becoming Disciplined Children, and a lot of you seemed to ENJOY the story about my Dad spanking me and having to change weaponry when I broke the 7-eleven paddle.

Like good earthly fathers, we recognized that if God is our Father, then He WILL discipline us.

He will confront and correct our sin. He won’t allow us to wallow in it without His conviction.

Secondly, God will allow and use tough times to shape us, refine us, and use us to offer hope to those who are hopeless.

We ended with this passage.

Hebrews 12:9–10 (CSB)

Furthermore, we had human fathers discipline us, and we respected them. Shouldn’t we submit even more to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time based on what seemed good to them, but He does it for our benefit, so that we can share His holiness.

Hebrews 12:11 (CSB)

No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

So, if you’re a child of the King, God will discipline your disobedience and walk with you THROUGH the tough times, so that you will grow in purity, character, endurance, eternal focus, love for God and love for people.

For those who are discouraged, these truths should encourage us to pick our heads up and look toward the finish line that is awaiting. The weary Christian is to KEEP ON RUNNING and not quit. The author is - like a good coach - challenging his players to SUCK IT UP!

Hebrews 12:12–13 (CSB)

Therefore, strengthen your tired hands and weakened knees [Is 35:3], and make straight paths for your feet [Prov 4:26], so that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed instead.

The author of Hebrews calls on 2 Old Testament passages that encourage these weary runners to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Is 35:3 “Strengthen the weak hands, steady the shaking knees!” and

Prov 4:26 “Carefully consider the path for your feet, and all your ways will be established.” Rather than run a bumpy & crooked path of inconsistency & sin, we are to make paths straight - to live in purity & consistency.

Instead of running on bumpy & crooked paths that could cause more damage to those who have taken a pit stop in the race, the runner should follow the pure and consistent path which leads to healing instead of further damage like dislocation of a foot.

The author gives his ancient audience - and US - 2 very specific challenges to PURSUE.

Hebrews 12:14 (CSB)

Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness—without it no one will see the Lord.

First, we are to pursue peace with everyone. Other translations say, “strive” (ESV) or “make every effort” (NIV) to be at peace with all. This isn’t a PASSIVE - “hopefully it will work itself out” - kind of attitude. This is an aggressive pursuit of peace, of course, starts with those who are in our faith family, but extends to everyone else we come into contact with. Paul writes:

Romans 12:18 (CSB)

If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Remember, you aren’t responsible for the other person’s response. You are responsible for your OBEDIENCE to do your best to live at peace with everyone.

A person flicks you off at a red light - you don’t respond in kind. You and I are to “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.” (Rm 12:14)

Next we are to pursue holiness. This is not just a preferred practice that Christians should consider. Without it - holiness - no one will see the Lord. Christians are COMMANDED to walk in holiness. It’s NOT optional! First, holiness is the great GIFT of God given to all who turn from their sin and follow Jesus. We have no holiness in ourselves. Here’s how we are made holy.

Colossians 1:22 (CSB)

But now He has reconciled you by His physical body through his death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him

Titus 3:5 (CSB)

He saved us—not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy—through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus didn’t DIE for our sins so that we would LIVE for them. We can’t continue to live for the stuff Jesus died for! The dear disciple of Jesus, Simon Peter - remembering Jesus’ bloody payment - writes these words.

1 Peter 2:24 (CSB)

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

Simon Peter also writes this:

1 Peter 1:15–16 (CSB)

But as the One who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy.

So, we are to WALK in the holiness that Jesus has given us.

William Lane writes that: “Christians...are to make the pursuit of holiness their great quest in life.”

[William L. Lane, Hebrews 9–13, vol. 47B, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1991), 450.]

So, followers of Jesus are commanded to...

BIG TRUTH: PURSUE PEACE with PEOPLE, and LIVE in the HOLINESS Jesus has given us.

But the author is doing more than calling individuals to pursue peace and holiness - he is calling the Christian community to pursue peace and holiness....TOGETHER!

He now gives some specifics on what this should and SHOULD NOT look like.

Hebrews 12:15 (CSB)

Make sure that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness springs up, causing trouble and defiling many.

Those who are experiencing the grace of God, should be the first to extend the grace of God to each other.

Sadly, sometimes its church folks who get angry quickly & hold grudges instead of attempting to reconcile with each other. If the enemy is going to destroy a church he more often does this through internal bitterness IN THE CHURCH rather than external persecution from OUTSIDE THE CHURCH.

Someone in the church does something we don’t like. Rather than being quick to forgive or humbly confronting, we talk about it to other people who aren’t a part of the problem or solution.

Factions develop. Smirks replace smiles, and the body of Christ starts acting like immature teenagers fueling the drama rather than snuffing out the sparks beginning to ignite.

We are called to:

Rm 12:10 “Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honoring one another.”

Rm 12:16 “Live in harmony with one another...”

Rm 14:19 “So then, let us pursue what promotes peace and what builds up one another.”

2 Cor 13:12 “Greet one another with a holy kiss...”

Let’s put that into practice right now! Turn to your neighbor and lay one on ‘em!

If you’re at odds with another believer, it’s time to make it right. We will talk more about this at the end of today’s teaching.

Next the author gives some vivid examples of how WE - the Body of Christ - should walk in holiness.

Hebrews 12:16–17 (CSB)

And make sure that there isn’t any immoral or irreverent [NET & NIV = godless, ESV =unholy] person like Esau, who sold his birthright in exchange for a single meal. For you know that later, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, even though he sought it with tears, because he didn’t find any opportunity for repentance.

You can find this story back in Genesis 25:27-33. Esau came in from an unsuccessful hunt for dinner and smelled what Jacob was cooking. He asked Jacob for some of the stew. Tricky Jacob offered an exchange - ONE great meal for Esau - the older brother’s birthright.

The birthright was a double-portion of inheritance. So Esau exchanged his 2/3rds for Jacob’s 1/3 portion…for ONE MEAL!

[John H. Walton, Genesis, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001), 550.]

That’s crazy isn’t it!?! But how many times have WE done the same thing!!!?? We give away our sexual purity, we dilute our integrity, we spit in the face of our Holy God and make an ungodly decision...in exchange for a single meal - one moment of satisfaction that ends in frustration, fear, tears, and wishing we could have a do-over…but we can’t. The damage is done. The lifelong blessing that could have been Esau’s was exchanged to fill his stomach for ONE MEAL.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his book entitled “Temptation”, writes: “It makes no difference whether it is sexual desire, or ambition, or vanity, or desire for revenge, or love of fame and power, or greed for money, or, finally, that strange desire for the beauty of the world, of nature. Joy in God is in the course of being extinguished in us and we seek all our joy in the creature. At this moment God is quite unreal to us, he loses all reality, and only desire for the creature is real; the only reality is the devil. Satan does not here fill us with hatred of God, but with forgetfulness of God. [Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Temptation (London: SCM Press, 1961), p. 33]

Followers of Jesus - isn’t that TRUE? When we lean toward ungodly actions, the Presence of God is less and less on the front burner of our minds.

And yet, when we do a spiritual survey of our lives, how much happier are we when we weigh our immediate decisions in light of the future impact of those decisions?

Oh that we will be known as MORAL and REVERENT, GODLY people!

BIG TRUTH: PURSUE PEACE with PEOPLE, and LIVE in the HOLINESS Jesus has given us.

The author then reminds his Hebrew audience of WHO they are obeying or disobeying by retelling the history of what happened

when God met with the Hebrew people on Mount Sinai and spoke His 10 Commandments to them. You can read about this in Exodus 19-20, and Deut 9:7-10:5. Here’s the cliff notes version:

Yahweh told Moses to prepare the people to meet with Him in 3 days. During those days they were to wash their clothes, put up boundaries at the foot of the mountain that people nor animals could cross or else they would die, and married couples were to abstain from intimacy (Ex 19:10-15).

On the 3rd day, the mountain grew dark with a thick cloud from which came thunder and lightning and a very loud blast from a ram’s horn that grew louder and louder while the mountain began to shake violently - and the people were SKEERED! (Ex 19:16-19)

Then God spoke the 10 Commandments to the people from the smoke of the mountain (Ex 20:1-17).

God had more to say, but people asked Moses to speak on behalf Him, because they were afraid if God spoke anymore to them, they would die (Ex 20:18-19).

THAT is the context of what the author says next.

Hebrews 12:18–21 (CSB)

For you have not come to what could be touched, to a blazing fire, to darkness, gloom, and storm, to the blast of a trumpet, and the sound of words.

Those who heard it begged that not another word be spoken to them, for they could not bear what was commanded: If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.

The appearance was so terrifying that Moses said, I am trembling with fear.

Kent Hughes writes: “The people were visibly, physically assaulted with the holiness and majesty of God. This palpable divine display on Sinai communicated far more than any speech or written word ever could—and all Israel, young and old, could understand.” [R. Kent Hughes, Hebrews: An Anchor for the Soul, vol. 2, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1993), 189.]

All of this pointed to God’s holiness and the separation between Him and sinful people. But NOW…through Jesus, there is NO MORE SEPARATION!

We don’t come to Mount Sinai in FEAR, but we come to Mount Zion in FAITH!

Hebrews 12:22–24 (CSB)

Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God (the heavenly Jerusalem), to myriads of angels, a festive gathering, to the assembly of the firstborn whose names have been written in heaven,

Look at all the characters here at Mount Zion - the heavenly Jerusalem:

1st we see myriads of angels. These are not naked babies, but messengers of God often sent to protect God’s people and punish God’s enemies. And there are myriads of angels - Greek meaning a number so large it is ‘countless, innumerable’. [Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 602.]

Next, we see people whose names have been written in heaven! God KNOWS those who are His! When Jesus sent His disciples off to do ministry they came back excited that they had authority over demons. Jesus tells them: “...don’t rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20)

to a Judge, who is God of all, to the spirits of righteous people made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which says better things than the blood of Abel.

Now we see:

The God of all, the Judge of mankind.

the spirits of righteous people made perfect are believers who find their righteousness in...

Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, by His sprinkled blood.

So, in contrast to Mt. Sinai, we don’t approach God careful to keep our distance, in FEAR that He might strike us down.

Instead, we can approach in FAITH - as His children - whose names have been written in heaven, righteous people made perfect, because of what Jesus has done for us - bringing us into a new covenant - a better covenant - because His sprinkled blood has been applied to our sins to make us holy!

While the blood of Abel cried out that Cain was GUILTY (Gen 4:10), the blood of Jesus shouts that we are FORGIVEN and FREE!

Hebrews 12:25 (CSB)

See to it that you do not reject the One who speaks. For if they did not escape when they rejected Him who warned them on earth, even less will we if we turn away from Him who warns us from heaven.

Who is this One who speaks? Earlier the author wrote:

Hebrews 1:1–2a (CSB)

Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, He has spoken to us by his Son.

This is the Lord Jesus. God didn’t just speak from clouds & thunder at a mountain, God spoke through the GOD-MAN - Jesus!

While God has been patient and shown much grace to all people, His judgment IS coming to the earth on all on it.

Hebrews 12:26–27 (CSB)

His voice shook the earth at that time, but now he has promised, Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens [Hag 2:6]. This expression, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what is not shaken might remain.

God had shaken the ground at Mt. Sinai, but God will do more than cause the earth to quake, He will destroy & renovate the earth as we know it! Simon Peter writes these words:

2 Peter 3:10–13 (CSB)

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; on that day the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed [NET=laid bare; ESV=exposed].

Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, it is clear what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and godliness as you wait for the day of God and hasten its coming. Because of that day, the heavens will be dissolved with fire and the elements will melt with heat. But based on his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

But followers of Jesus are included in Mt. Zion - the Heavenly Jerusalem - the Kingdom that will never be “shaken” or destroyed - where “the assembly of the firstborn whose names have been written in heaven” (Heb 12:23).

Hebrews 12:28–29 (CSB)

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful. By it, we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

This is our great hope! This life is NOT all there is! God will return and JUDGE ALL! Those who think they are getting away with what they’ve done…NOPE! And those who have obeyed God when know one else knew - God knows!

So, until that day, may we...

BIG TRUTH: PURSUE PEACE with PEOPLE, and LIVE in the HOLINESS Jesus has given us.

FEET2FAITH

First, are you a FOLLOWER of Jesus? Are you putting your hope in your good works or HIS? Trust Jesus with Your Life!

Are you AT PEACE with all as much as it depends on you?

Meet and make things right with your faith family! Don’t wait. Don’t put it off and hope it will resolve itself. Be gracious & kind, with the desire to make things right.

Are you LIVING in the HOLINESS Jesus has given you? If He returned today, would you be EXCITED or ASHAMED?

Turn from your sin and walk with others who want to live holy! You can’t live in sin and stiff-arm other believers. TURN TO THOSE NEXT TO YOU AND SAY: My sista and brotha, we need each otha!

Get involved in a small group on Sundays, Wednesdays or in a Home setting.

If you have questions & need help, we’re here to serve you.

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