Sermon Tone Analysis

Review Chapter 11

In chapter 11, provided a tour through the Hall of Faith

He examined the lives of many Old Testament saints, learning from their examples of what faith live-out looks like

He was concerned about Christians who step back from living with eyes for eternity

To inspire his readers to persevere even in the face of trials and persecutions, the writer presented many examples of Old Testament saints who willingly accepted trials and persecution for the opportunity to please the Lord

The Great Race Hebrews 12:1-3

Discussion Questions

What is the “therefore” there for?

Explain the phrase “we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses”.

Who are they?

Are they watching us?

What is the difference between “weight” and “sin”?

What kinds of things could be “weight” and perhaps not “sin”?

What is the race that we are in?

What does it mean that this race “is set before us”?

What analogy to the life of faith is offered in 12:1?

In what way is Jesus the “founder” of our faith?

How did he live by faith?

In what way is he the “perfecter” or “finisher” of our faith?

A Cloud of Witnesses

In this passage, the context of what we have studied in chapter 11 is very important

It laid the foundation for the writer’s discussion in chapter 12

He encourages his audience with examples of faithful believers

He then challenges them to take to heart the good lessons learned from the Old Testament saints

All those saints from the Old Testament have passed out of this world

But they leave behind a legacy of faith and God’s grace

They are not actually witnessing to us from Heaven, but that is not the point

The main point is that their good examples should encourage us

Their lives demonstrate that it was not impossible to face the trials and adversities in this world and conquer them by faith

Hebrews 11 showed us that they were not perfect but that they were faithful believers who chose to have faith in God even when it wasn’t easy

Noah, Abraham, Moses, Rahab, Samson, and David are all encouraging us to persevere

This “Great Cloud of Witnesses” may also refer to any saints around us today: friends or parents

These saints are not there to watch us “run the race” but for us to see them

They are reminding us that this race is not impossible; it can be finished and we are not alone

We are meant to run this race with God’s people

Lay aside every weight

In preparation and during a race, runners must avoid hindrances

Likewise, spiritual runners need to avoid hindrances

The writer instructs the readers to “lay aside every weight”

The “weight” that he is speaking about is not a sin

It is something that gets in the way of walking in faith

It is something that slows down the believer’s walk of faith

The writer is reminding the readers and us that we should always keep our focus on our goal

Do not allow the things of this world to keep you from the best thing

Do not allow anything to distract you from what you know God wants you to do

It is easy in this busy world to fill our schedules with things that are not the most productive

The writer’s purpose is to remind the readers that they (and we) need to evaluate and consider our activities

And maybe we need to cut some out so that we can be the most productive

Like runners preparing for a race, the writer is urging us to throw off everything that hinders

Removing “anything that hinders one from doing something”, is to remove anything that is a weight, burden or impediment

Additionally, a well-prepared runner should also rid themselves of the “sin that so easily ensnares”

The writer is not speaking about any specific sin, such as apostasy, which would completely disqualify a Christian from the completing the race

Instead, he is referring to sin itself and how sin impedes one’s progress in the race

Sin that is easy to begin to be tolerated in our lives

And before you know it, that sin has entangled you

The point here is that we don’t have to put sin on - it’s already there

Instead, we have to remove it so we “can run” the race

We must remember that we are in a race and our life on earth is short

Our life is meaningless apart from our purpose and goal

Looking to Jesus

The writer continues with the similarity to a physical race

The physical runners need a finish line to focus on

Without a finish line, a runner can lose focus, get distracted, give up

A sure way to not finish a race is to not have a finish line

Now the spiritual runners also need a finish line

We have the greatest finish line imaginable: Jesus waits for us

Jesus is not just a spectator like the other saints, he’s the finish line

Jesus in not just one who has faith, but is the “founder and perfecter of our faith”

We are urged to keep our focus on Jesus “so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted”

So what can we learn from Christ’s example

He ran with great endurance: “endured the cross”

“Endured from sinners such hostility”

The cross was not about the physical pain, but about shame

He ran with a goal: “the joy set before him”

He received the reward: “seated at the right hand of the throne of God”

Jesus is the goal and motivation for our Christian life

The writer is telling the readers to focus on Jesus, the finish line, and don’t take your eyes off him

God’s Loving Discipline Hebrews 12:4-17

Discussion Questions

Why does God discipline His sons?

What is the purpose?

What does this teach us about the nature of discipline?

In what ways might God discipline us?

If we suffer trials or hardships, does that mean we are being disciplined?

How can we discern whether a specific circumstance is discipline or not?

Can you think of people in the Bible who experienced discipline from the Lord?

How should we respond to discipline?

Understanding God’s Discipline

So the question is, why do we need discipline?

God disciplines in order to correct sin

God disciplines us in order to train/shape us

And we see the writer presenting both types of discipline in this section of chapter 12

Now, what means does God discipline?

The writer presented in chapter 10 the many struggles endured by his audience: persecution, slander, imprisonment, but not to the point of shedding blood

He is showing that discipline involves painful things

But he is not suggesting that all earthly trials are due to discipline (John 9:3) but some are (John 5:14)

Then what is the purpose of God’s discipline

Discipline comforts us because it proves that we are really God’s children

For example, think about how difficult it is to constantly discipline a child, it’s hard work

But you only do this hard work if you love a child