Hebrews 12:1-13

Teacher: Rusty Kennedy
Series: Hebrews

Rusty's Notes

THE CALL TO ENDURANCE
HEBREWS 12
1 Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us,

• Those mentioned in Hebrews 11.
• These people are not witnessing what we are doing; rather, they are bearing witness to us that God can see us through.[1]
• We are watching them for encouragement rather than them watching us in examination.[2]
• One of the best ways to develop endurance and encouragement is to get to know the godly men and women of the Old Testament who ran the race and won.
• If you are having problems with your family, read about Joseph.
• If you think your job is too big for you, study the life of Moses.
• If you are tempted to retaliate, see how David handled this problem.[3]
• Weight – encumbrance – bulk – burden - impediment
• The race will not be won unless there is a willingness to ‘run light’ and be rid of sins and unhelpful ways that hinder progress.[4]
• Randy Parker – A Christmas Story – Bundled up for the snow and fell over… couldn’t get up.
• A winning athlete does not choose between the good and the bad; he chooses between the better and the best.[5]
• The writer most likely was referring to the sin of returning to Judaism.

2 keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

• 2 pitchers – works/sin vs God’s perfection
• Focus on Jesus and how He sees you.
• You won’t win the sin management game.
• You don’t overcome the problem by focusing on the problem…
• You overcome the problem by focusing on victory… Jesus.
• “joy” is not happiness. Happiness is an emotion. Joy is a state of being.
• Joy is accessible to the believer while happiness is on vacation… as so for the Hebrew Christians.

 
FATHERLY DISCIPLINE
3 For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, so that you won’t grow weary and give up.

• It was easier for them to remember what Jesus endured because they lived during that period.
• I believe the Spirit allows us and teaches us to have the same consideration.
• Being in the garden of Gethsemane.

4 In struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

• None of the Hebrew Christians had lost relatives at this point.
• Therefore, they were not part of the church in Jerusalem because Steven & James had already been martyred.

5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons:
My son, do not take the Lord’s discipline lightly
or lose heart when you are reproved by him,
6 for the Lord disciplines the one he loves
and punishes (scourges) every son he receives.

• Proverbs 3:11–12
• The key word in this quotation which the author develops is paideia, whose meaning ranges between training and corporal punishment.[6]
• Discipline – train, educate, nurture, correct a child.
• It refers to education in Greek tradition and to discipline by punishment in Hebrew tradition.[7]
• The writer viewed the trials of the Christian life as spiritual discipline that could help a believer mature. Instead of trying to escape the difficulties of life, we should rather be “exercised” by them so that we might grow[8]
• It does not carry the idea of wrathful punishment.
• God’s wrath will be greater than the punishment I have already received.
• God’s wrath is reserved for nonbelievers.
• God’s discipline is for believers because He loves us!
• God doesn’t always come in and rescue us from our logical negative consequences.
• Parents would be wise not to do the same.
• I am not physical with my kids… I teach them… I direct them… I protect them… I release them in trust… I let them fail.
• You will always struggle with this if you don’t know your identity.

7 Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline?

• This confirms our sonship.

8 But if you are without discipline—which all receive—then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

• Another way of identifying believers from nonbelievers.
• Why do bad things happen to good people?

9 Furthermore, we had human fathers discipline us, and we respected them. Shouldn’t we submit even more to the Father of spirits and live?

• A child who is disciplined (properly) will respect their parents… usually not during the discipline but after maturity.

10 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.

• Short time – while under our roof.
• I like the word “seemed”
• God’s discipline is perfect.
• He desires for us to walk in a holy manner.
• God’s will for your life and mine is the same.

11 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.

• Exercise – Soreness – Good or bad
• God’s discipline (training) brings the understanding of righteousness.
• Understanding our righteousness greatly impacts how we behave.
• When we behave out of our righteousness we experience true peace.

12 Therefore, strengthen your tired hands and weakened knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed instead.

• At Leavener, we race in a pack.
• To encourage one another.
• Some who are weak will drop out.
• They do not lose their salvation.
• They just don’t get to experience the victory of living a spirit-filled life even though they have the capability.

[1] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Heb 12:1). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[2] Hacking, P. H. (2006). Opening up Hebrews. Opening Up Commentary (82). Leominster: Day One Publications.
[3] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Heb 12:1). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[4] Hacking, P. H. (2006). Opening up Hebrews. Opening Up Commentary (82–83). Leominster: Day One Publications.
[5] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Heb 12:1). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[6] Allen, D. L. (2010). Hebrews. The New American Commentary (580). Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group.
[7] Allen, D. L. (2010). Hebrews. The New American Commentary (580). Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group.
[8] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Heb 12:5). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.