Hebrews 12:12-17. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on August 20, 2017. Today we will continue in looking at Hebrews 12 and the importance of faith in the life of a Christian. We have looked at how faith is a long-distance, endurance race, which includes times of discipline from the Lord. In the verses we will look at today, we are given instructions that will help us to keep living by faith and what that looks like.
Prepare yourself for God’s work
As the Holy Spirit instructs us to lay aside the weights and sins that would hold us down (vs. 1) and to keep our eyes on Jesus (vs. 2), here we are given further instructions in verse 12. Before we get into what those instructions are, it is imperative to recognize that faith involves doing what God has for us to do. These instructions are teaching us how to prepare ourselves so that we can do His work by faith. Running the race of faith is a series of actions in life that flow from our confidence in Christ (his commands and direction), as opposed to doing our own thing.
So we start with strengthening our hands and knees for the work. Both of these aspects of our body are important to many tasks of life. We use them to move, touch, and help others in so many ways. Of course other body parts could be mentioned as well. The point is really about strength to obey Jesus. In fact the word for “feeble knees” could be translated as “paralyzed knees.” Why would I have my hands hanging at my side and my knees paralyzed when Jesus has given me my marching orders? It could be because of fear and discouragement, whether from past failures or present threats. It could also be from the temptation of sin, its debilitating effects, and even deception. The devil loves to get us in a position where we are neutralized from doing God’s will for any reason possible. We need to first know what our Father’s business is, and then we must strengthen ourselves to do it. I believe keeping our eyes on Jesus (vs. 2) and praying for the help of the Holy Spirit will go a long way to giving us the strength we need to obey Jesus. However, don’t think that means you will feel strong. The flesh often “feels” weak when you are exercising faith in God. So trust God to help you as you step forward in faith.
Next we are told to straighten our path with others. A straight path is an important image in the Bible. In fact it reminds me of John the Baptist who quoted from Isaiah when he called himself, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the LORD; make His paths straight.” This image of building a road could be seen as making a path for the Lord Himself to walk on. However, it can also be seen as straightening our lives because they belong to Him. We have been purchased by Jesus and our lives (the way we live them) should take on the same form as the Lord himself. My flesh makes me want to go to the left and to the right. My flesh doesn’t want to go through the hassle of tearing down the high and proud places in my life, or the hassle of letting him lift up the low places (humble or weak) in our life. To build a life that walks straight with our fellow man and is flat before them and the Lord is not easy. In fact, without God it is impossible. Repentance is the first step in asking God to help us in this endeavor, and believe His Word, He will. Don’t let your flesh, or the world, dictate how you live among others or for what purposes. Instead focus upon Jesus and the path you walk will be straight (correct). His way must become our way.
Pursue peace with others and holiness with God
The next steps come in verse 14. We must pursue peace with others and holiness with God. A common thing in the Bible is the three aspects of self, others, and Jesus. In verses 12 through 13 the instruction is focused on what we should do in ourselves. Here we deal with the other two aspects “others” and “God.”
When we are told to pursue peace with all people, it assumes that it will be hard to achieve for both internal and external reasons. It is easy to quit seeking peace with others. But that door is not left open for us. No matter what we are to pursue peace. Yet, peace cannot be contrived. It must be real. On one hand it is God’s will for His people to dwell in peace together, and it is His will for us to live peacefully among unbelievers. However, Romans 12:18 gives us more information on this command. “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” It even goes on to tell believers that they must refrain from seeking revenge for wrongs done to us. Instead we are to trust God’s judgments. So recognize that though peace is the goal, we must not become people pleasers in order to get it. We are to remain God pleasers always. Thus for our part we act peacefully towards others, even though they may reject us and act without peace back towards us. In those cases, we pray for them and wait for God to bring them around. One of the surest ways to snuff out faith in others is to seek your own revenge, or to be overly obsessed with peace. Both extremes side step the power of the Gospel and replace it with human power.
Now the holiness part needs to be looked at. Holiness with God cannot be skipped in our lives. It is often the first thing to be jettisoned when dealing with others. What do I mean by that? The essence of “holiness” is that we are not just another person. We belong to the Lord and thus are to use our lives for his purposes only. This is a holy thing. But hurt and anger tempt us to reject holiness and choose to use our lives as we please. We cannot continually reject our Lord and think such a life will end in our salvation. I am not saying that our works save us. But I am saying that the Lord has saved us for us to follow Him. If we say we are following Him, but do whatever we want, we are simply lying to ourselves and the world around us. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6), and faith involves learning to follow Jesus. Praise God that He helps us and knows that we are weak. Trust His love and His instructions and He will bring you through.
In verse 15 we are told to watch again. In verse 2 it was to look to Jesus for direction and encouragement. But here we are told to watch for those things that are hazardous to our faith, and pitfalls spiritually. As a band of brothers and sisters we must not only watch out for ourselves, but for one another. We don’t want anyone to fall short of the grace of God, that is, to quit the race for one reason or another. One of those hazards is bitterness. Bitterness is likened to a root that starts out deep in our heart. Someone wronged us somehow. It can even be bitterness at God for allowing something to happen in our life. We become frustrated and angry of how things went and can hold on to grudges and anger. Like the roots of a weed, the roots of bitterness can go deep quickly. We must be ruthless in digging it out of our own lives. We must be careful in helping others who are dealing with bitterness because trying to force them to do it can become another source of bitterness for them. In fact the writer says that bitterness can grow up and come to the surface. We can be defiled through the turmoil and dissension caused by it. It is good to be able to recognize wrongs, but we must not let self-pity and fear have a place, or we will become another part of the problem.
In fact the writer brings up Esau as an example of what not to be. He grew up in a home that worshipped and served God. He was the eldest and thus stood to be the inheritor of the birthright and blessings of his father. Now two words are used. “Fornication” is any sex outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. It is sometimes connected to food in a metaphorical sense because both are appetites of our flesh. Proverbs says that those who go to a harlot have been reduced to bread. Both by being the means of her obtaining the money to buy food, but also the sexual act itself is simply two people satisfying their fleshly appetites. Sex is something far greater than a means of satisfying our libido. The word “profane” means to treat or use something that is holy for common or selfish purposes. Esau stood to inherit a great spiritual blessing, but He treated it as if it was merely a commodity that he could trade for a meal. Later his repentance was only a physical repentance. In other words, his flesh was sorry that he would not get the blessing. His tears are not about his own sin, but the effect of that sin. True repentance is not just sorry because of the effects of sin. It is also sorry that it chose the wrong path in the first place. Though he sought to blessed by his father Isaac with tears, Isaac would not repent of giving the blessing to Jacob. We cannot obtain the blessing of God without a life of faith in Jesus and avoiding those materialistic pitfalls that find a place in our heart.
Take time today to examine your heart and life. Have I become profane and am I using the life that God has given me simply to please my flesh? The good news is that even now if we recognize it to be true, we can have true repentance. May our lives be filled with strength, straightened, peaceful, and holy. May we be the saints of God!