1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
The first few verses of Hebrews 12 discuss the importance of running with perseverance. We need to approach our lives as a race. Not as a leisurely stroll. Not as a Christian “walk”, like a lot of Christians like to call it, but a race. How do athletes do well in races? Look at what they wear. They aren’t wearing parkas. They have identified what is optimal in terms of their clothing, gear, and other equipment. They don’t run races with luggage or any heavy baggage. What does this have to do with being a Christian? Sometimes Christians allow themselves to carry burdens which ruin our race. We will hang on to things that tend to slow us down or hinder our growth and progress. What am I talking about? In Hebrews 12:1 it says what hinders us, or entangles us. It’s sin. We are sinners and we have a tendency to drift or wander away from God. Hebrews Chapter 2 is a warning not to drift away. And the remedy in that chapter is to remember the Word of God. To study and pay attention to the word that is preached. So we drift when we should be running toward Him. That’s like running a race without knowing the course or the directions. Not only does sin cause us to drift away, but it also hinders us even when we’re AREN’T drifting. Hebrews 12 tells us that it entangles us. When we hang onto sin, it’s like an elite runner going to a race wearing jewelry, a ballroom gown and high heels and running the race carrying a suitcase. Sin is a burden! It’s not just a simple pleasure or a creature comfort. But by the nature and the very definition of sin, it replaces God. When we sin, we are disobeying or disrespecting God’s rules and authority. So acting out on our sinful desires actually replaces God with something else. It’s idolatry to choose something else over God and his rules. Since those sins have replaced God in our lives, they can become precious to us, like the ring to Smeagel in the Lord of the Rings. We tend to keep a strong grip on those sins that we enjoy the most, whether those are sins that make us feel comfortable, excited, powerful, in control, loved, desired, worthy or whatever it is that makes you tick.
Throwing off sin is crucial for our development. Clothing ourselves with righteousness and taking off sins is how to equip ourselves to be prepared. Leaving our sin behind is what will make us run a good race. Now we need to remind ourselves what the Gospel says. We aren’t justified by our actions. The success or failure of our attempt to throw off sin will not keep us in or out of heaven or hell. Jesus died for us so we could be reconciled. Jesus was our perfection. Jesus is the reason we can be reconciled to God. Sometimes Christians understand that, but use it as an excuse not to throw off sin. Just because our sins are forgiven doesn’t mean they are no longer harmful. If we are Christians, Jesus made the eternal consequences of our Sin irrelevant. However something that isn’t counted against us eternally can still cause problems in this life. And it’s only because of Jesus that we CAN throw off sin that is entangling us. We don’t have the power to do that ourselves. But by God’s power, we are empowered not to be slaves to sin anymore. Just because sin doesn’t have the power to enslave us, doesn’t mean it can’t still entangle us. So we should continue reading our Bibles to learn what sin is, who God is, what the rules say, what are all the things that could potentially entangle us. Only when we know this can we recognize what to wear to this race, what to bring, what to leave behind, which path is safest, and where there might be potholes or traps along the way.
Runners who know they will be in a race will train hard. They overcome obstacles. They test themselves. If you read any magazine or website dedicated to running, you will see training plans. Some training runs are longer distance, but keep a slower pace that won’t get you out of breath or winded. Other times the runs will be short bursts of high intensity sprinting followed by time to catch your breath. When you are trying to develop speed those intervals are crucial. Another way to build strength and endurance is to run up and down hills. Hill repeats. These are very uncomfortable at the time, but then when you endure them, you equip yourself to handle similar encounters during a race. Suddenly a shift in terrain during the race will be manageable. What happens is you will notice improvements in your race times and speeds. Not necessarily overnight, but over longer periods of time you will find your speed or your breath or your stamina improve. Sometimes your muscles don’t ache as much afterwards. In Hebrews 12:5-11 it talks about how our hardships in our lives are like a discipline from God. Just like the hardships that runners endure in order to improve their strength, endurance, and ultimately their times, hardships in our lives produce good things in our lives.
5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
When we experience hardship, it’s an evidence that God loves us according to verse 6. Our hardships and discipline are for our good according to verse 10, so that we can share in His holiness. Just like hill repeats and sprint intervals produce stronger legs and lung capacity, hardship in our lives and discipline from God produce holiness and a harvest of righteousness and peace. Does hardship always produce those results? No. Look at the qualifying verse at the end of 11. “For those that have been trained by it”.
Let me ask you this question. If you are going through a hardship, and it’s unavoidable, would you want to benefit in going through it in some way? Of course! You can either be trained by your hardship, and then harvest righteousness and peace and other benefits, or you can close your eyes and refuse to be trained. You can gripe and complain, you can blame God and put yourself in the place of the victim. But then you aren’t allowing yourself to be trained by your hardship. Imagine you go to the gym and do all the hard work, but then at the end you have the option to make that workout not count to improve your health. Who would ever go through that and not want the benefits?? But we do the same thing when we aren’t trained from our hardships. Throughout all of chapter 11, the writer of Hebrews discusses all these saints throughout the Bible. They all did amazing things “by faith”. They all endured such hardships and persecutions. And none of them received everything that they were promised. But they were looking beyond their current situations. They were looking to God’s plans for something better. Something bigger than just them that actually includes you and me and the present day church. Because of all the things that these people and other heroes of the faith have endured, we have even more motivation to keep running. The motivation to allow ourselves to be trained by the things that we’re going through. I can’t tell you exactly what it is that you need to learn, because everyone has their own races that they are running. Everyone has their own hardships. Everyone has their own training program. The question is are we going to allow ourselves to be trained by it and benefit from it? By God’s grace and His mercy we will learn from our hardships. That is the first half of Hebrews 12. So what does the second half say?
14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17 Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.
Verse 14, we must make every effort to live at peace with each other and to be holy. These two things are mentioned together but we typically don’t think of them along with each other. Be holy means don’t sin, and being at peace with each other tends to mean not getting into fights or holding grudges. But both of these two seemingly different things have a lot to do with each other. Because we have peace with God, we can have peace with each other. We won’t let anger get the best of us when we are holy. The word Holy means set apart, or separate from other people. Not separate distance wise, but different in our natures. We need to act and think differently. What this is NOT saying is that we need to avoid other people at all costs and live separately. But it is saying that most of the world doesn’t live at peace with each other. There are a few choices here, 1) we can live in conflict with each other like the rest of the world. 2) we can live without conflict but in isolation, like some of the crazy monks that never see the world outside their monastery, OR 3) we can live at peace WITH each other like the Bible tells us to. That means we we are living among each other. We are interacting and engaging each other. That means we will sometimes be tempted towards conflict. That means we will have to forgive people who wrong us and maybe even don’t ask for forgiveness. We will have to be patient with people who try our patience. That means we will let go of our anger and bitterness. (Verse 15 says to not let the bitter root grow up.) That means we will not hold grudges. It means that we will act differently than the rest of the world, while still remaining IN the world. Verse 16 explains that it means we will not act like animals, in either sexual immorality or living like there’s no God. Esau lived like an animal by selling his inheritance for a single meal. We can make the mistake of exchanging something temporarily good for something permanently GREAT. We can act like animals and exchange our allegiance to God for a meal or another creature comfort, but we shouldn’t. Let’s read on.
18 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19 to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20 because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” 21 The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”
22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
Verse 18. You haven’t come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire. You haven’t come to darkness, gloom, and storm. Or a trumpet blast or voice speaking words that the listener begs to cease. He references Exodus 19:12-13 “even if an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned”. He references Deuteronomy 9:19 when Moses said, “I am trembling with fear”.
We haven’t come to the mountain of the old covenant. We have come to mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem. (The name of the city of Jerusalem is a combination of “hieros” meaning the holy or sacred and of “shalom” which means peace, with the same root word “Shalem” which is not just peace but a wholeness, completeness. When something is shalemized it means it was made at peace usually by some form of payment or covenant offering) The verse says it’s the city of the living God. We have come to God’s city, and we have come in peace, not as enemies. Verse 23 we have come to the church of the firstborn, Jesus. We have come before the Judge, which at some point in history was a dreadful and frightening thing. But we have come to a place where we are among spirits of righteous ones who have been made perfect. We come before the Judge, not perfect, but made perfect. We were perfected, we were “shalemized” with a payment or an offering. We come before the Judge, not directly, but through a mediator. Jesus Christ. Verse 24 explains that Jesus Christ’s blood was sprinkled for our reconciliation, his blood pays for our sins. Jesus’ blood speaks a different word than Abel’s blood. Cain killed his brother Abel, because Cain was jealous of Abel’s relationship with God. Abel’s blood was the result of Cain’s inability to be the master of his sin. God said to Cain, “Sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it”
Abel’s blood illustrates Cain’s (and our) inability to master our sin. Jesus’ blood illustrates His ability to master all sin. He was tempted, but remained without sin. He took on our sins, and paid our penalty. Abel’s blood is the result of Cain’s disobedience. Jesus blood is the result of His obedience (while paying for our disobedience).
The relationship between us and God is not like it was during the old covenant. Look at the difference between verses 18-21 and 22-24. One is Mount Sinai and the other is Mount Zion. The big difference isn’t that God has changed, or that we have changed. People think the Old Testament portrayal of God is inconsistent with the New Testament portrayal of God. Vengeful/Wrathful in the Old Testament and Merciful/Loving in the New Testament. But He doesn’t change. And the other side of the picture isn’t any different either. Humankind or people in general haven’t changed between the Old Testament and New Testament. We are still sinners. We didn’t solve the issue of what separates us from God. The only difference now is that we have the Mediator. We have Christ between us and God. Now it’s possible for us to experience God’s Love and His Mercy. We can now see a side of God’s character that few people had ever seen. Christ was the gate or the door that we enter through to see God’s presence.
25 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our “God is a consuming fire.”
Verse 25. See to it that you don’t refuse him who speaks. We are without excuse. God speaks to us, and warns us. Throughout history He has warned us with prophets, and nobody who ignored the prophets escaped their judgement. Now he has spoken to us with His Son. (Hebrews 1) Who came to earth in the flesh and walked among us. He is still alive and in heaven. His life and his works still speak to us. His Word is still alive in scripture. If people weren’t able to escape from refusing the prophets, how much less will we be able to escape from refusing His Son? God’s voice shook the earth, but at some point God promises to shake the earth and the heavens once more. When that happens, there is no escape possible. When that happens, if we refuse God’s word, we will be like Esau who sought his blessing with tears, but it was too late for Esau. And at that point it will be too late for those of us who refuse God and His son. As long as it is called Today, it isn’t too late for us to seek and receive our blessing. If we receive this blessing, we receive what verse 28 calls a kingdom that can not be shaken. If we have received this blessing and the gift of Jesus Christ, that blessing and that Kingdom is ours when our time here is over. This mercy and this grace should be amazing to us. This salvation and forgiveness should continue to fill us with thanksgiving and a heart for worship. We should offer our praise and worship not just in songs on Sunday but with our entire lives and our entire being. When we understand God’s great mercy, we should be filled with reverence and awe.
Chapter 13 goes into a lot of the results of what it means to be adopted into God’s Kingdom. I am not writing about 13 today, but if you want an application for what we’ve gone over today, read Chapter 13. We should keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters, not at conflict with each other. We should honor our marriages and other people’s marriages and our bodies. We should be satisfied with the portion God gives us, not greedy for money, but satisfied that God Himself is pleased to be called our portion. We should remember to study the word, and not get carried away by false doctrines. Our sacrifice need not be pure animals, because we have Jesus as our lamb. Our sacrifice should be a sacrifice of praise. We should obey our leaders, but only when they are leading us in accord with God’s teaching , which is another reason to keep studying God’s word. And we should pray for each other continually. OK. So maybe that covers most of Chapter 13, but it’s always good to read it slowly and understand each word, and what all the implications are when taken with the rest of scripture.