Hebrews 12

Hebrews 12:1

C. Exhortation to Hope in Christ (Chap. 12) 12:1 We must bear in mind that Hebrews was written to people who were being persecuted. Because they had forsaken Judaism for Christ, they were facing bitter opposition. There was a danger that they might interpret their suffering as a sign of God’s displeasure. They might become discouraged and give up. Worst of all, they might be tempted to return to the temple and its ceremonies. They should not think that their sufferings were unique. Many of the witnesses described in chapter 11 suffered severely as a result of their loyalty to the Lord, yet they endured. If they maintained unflinching perseverance with their lesser privileges, how much more should we to whom the better things of Christianity have come. They surround us as a great cloud of witnesses. This does not mean that they are spectators of what goes on earth. Rather they witness to us by their lives of faith and endurance and set a high standard for us to duplicate. This verse invariably raises the question, Can saints in heaven see our lives on earth or know what is transpiring? The only thing we can be sure they know is when a sinner is saved: I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance (Luk_15:7). The Christian life is a race that requires discipline and endurance. We must strip ourselves of everything that would impede us. Weights are things that may be harmless in themselves and yet hinder progress; they could include material possessions, family ties, the love of comfort, lack of mobility, etc. In the Olympic races, there is no rule against carrying a supply of food and beverage, but the runner would never win the race that way. We must also lay aside … the sin which so easily ensnares us. This may mean sin in any form, but especially the sin of unbelief. We must have complete trust in the promises of God and complete confidence that the life of faith is sure to win. We must guard against the notion that the race is an easy sprint, that everything in the Christian life is rosy. We must be prepared to press on with perseverance through trials and temptations. 12:2 Throughout the race, we should look away from every other object and keep our eyes riveted on Jesus, the foremost Runner. A. B. Bruce comments: One stands out conspicuous above all the rest … the Man who first perfectly realised the idea of living by faith … , who undauntedly endured the bitter suffering of the cross, and despised the ignominy of it, sustained by a faith that so vividly realised coming joy and glory as to obliterate the consciousness of present pain and shame. He is the author, or pioneer, of our faith in the sense that He has provided us with the only perfect example of what the life of faith is like. He is also the finisher of our faith. He not only began the race but finished it triumphantly. For Him the race course stretched from heaven to Bethlehem, then on to Gethsemane and Calvary, then out of the tomb and back to heaven. At no time did He falter or turn back. He kept His eyes fixed on the coming glory when all the redeemed would be gathered with Him eternally. This enabled Him to think nothing of shame and to endure suffering and death.

Today He is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.12:3 The picture now changes from a race to a fight against sin. Our undaunted Captain is the Lord Jesus; no one ever endured such hostility from sinners as He. Whenever we have a tendency to grow weary and discouraged, we should think of what He went through. Our trials will seem trifling by comparison. 12:4 We are engaged in a ceaseless striving against sin. Yet we have not resisted to the point of bloodshed, that is, to the point of death. He did!12:5 The Christian view of suffering is now presented. Why do persecution, testings, trials, sickness, pain, sorrow, and trouble come into the life of the believer? Are they a sign of God’s anger or displeasure? Do they happen by chance? How should we react to them? These verses teach that these things are part of God’s educative process for His children. Although they do not come from God, He permits them, then overrules them for His glory, for our good, and for the blessing of others. Nothing happens by chance to the Christian. Tragedies are blessings in disguise, and disappointments are His appointments. God harnesses the adverse circumstances of life to conform us to the image of Christ. So the early Hebrew believers were exhorted to remember Pro_3:11-12, where God addresses them as sons. There He warns them against despising His discipline or losing courage under His rebuke. If they rebel or give up, they lose the benefit of His dealings with them and fail to learn His lessons. 12:6 When we read the word chastening, or chastisement, we tend to think of a whipping. But here the word means child training or education. It includes instruction, discipline, correction, and warning. All are designed to cultivate Christian virtues and drive out evil. In this passage, the chastening was not punishment for wrongdoing, but training through persecution. The passage in Proverbs distinctly states that God’s discipline is a proof of His love, and no son of His escapes chastisement. 12:7 By remaining submissive to the chastening of God, we permit His discipline to mold us into His image. If we try to short-circuit His dealings with us, He may have to teach us over a longer period of time, using more instructive, and consequently, more difficult methods. There are grades in the school of God, and promotion comes only when we have learned our lessons. So when testings come to us, we should realize that God is treating us as sons. In any normal father-son relationship, the father trains his son because he loves him and wants the best for him. God loves us too much to let us develop naturally. 12:8 In the spiritual realm, those who do not experience God’s discipline are illegitimate children, not true sons. After all, a gardener does not prune thistles, but he does prune grapevines. As in the natural, so in the spiritual. 12:9 Most of us have experienced discipline from our human fathers. We did not interpret this as a sign that they hated us. We realized that they were interested in our welfare, and we paid them respect. How much more should we respect the training of the Father of spirits and live! God is the Father (or source) of all beings that are spirit or that have a spirit. Man is a spirit dwelling in a human body. By being subject to God we enjoy life in its truest sense. 12:10 The discipline of earthly parents is not perfect. It lasts only for a time, that is, during childhood and youth. If it has not succeeded then, it can do no more. And it is as seemed best to them, according to what they think is right. Sometimes it may not be right. But God’s discipline is always perfect. His love is infinite and His wisdom is infallible. His chastenings are never the result of whim, but always for our profit. His objective is that we may be partakers of His holiness. And godliness can never be produced outside God’s school. Jowett explains: The purpose of God’s chastening is not punitive but creative. He chastens that we may share His holiness. The phrase that we may share has direction in it, and the direction points toward a purified and beautified life. The fire which is kindled is not a bonfire, blazing heedlessly and unguardedly, and consuming precious things; it is a refiner’s fire, and the Refiner sits by it, and He is firmly and patiently and gently bringing holiness out of carelessness and stability out of weakness. God is always creating even when He is using the darker means of grace. He is producing the fruits and flowers of the Spirit. His love is always in quest of lovely things. 12:11 At the time, all discipline seems painful. But it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. That is why we often come across such testimonies, like this by Leslie Weatherhead: Like all men I love and prefer the sunny uplands of experience, where health, happiness, and success abound, but I have learned far more about God and life and myself in the darkness of fear and failure than I have ever learned in the sunshine. There are such things as the treasures of darkness. The darkness, thank God, passes. But what one learns in the darkness one possesses for ever. The trying things, says Bishop Fenelon, which you fancy come between God and you, will prove means of unity with Him, if you bear them humbly. Those things that overwhelm us and upset our pride, do more good than all that which excites and inspirits us.Or consider the following testimony by C. H. Spurgeon: I am afraid that all the grace I have got out of my comfortable and easy times and happy hours might almost lie on a penny. But the good that I have received from my sorrows and pains and griefs is altogether incalculable. What do I not owe to the hammer and the anvil, the fire and the file? Affliction is the best bit of furniture in my house. 12:12 Believers should not cave in under the adverse circumstances of life; their lapse of faith might have an unfavorable influence on others. Drooping hands should be reinvigorated to serve the living Christ. Feeble knees should be strengthened for persevering prayer. 12:13 Faltering feet should be guided in straight paths of Christian discipleship. Williams writes: All who follow the Lord fully smooth the path of faith for feeble brethren; but those who do not follow fully, roughen the path for others’ feet and create spiritual cripples. G. H. Lang gives a fine illustration: A weary traveler, tired of the road and the buffeting of the tempest, stands dispirited and limp. With shoulders bowed, hands hanging slack, knees bent and shaking, he is ready to give up and sink to the ground. Such can God’s pilgrim become, as pictured by our writer. But one comes to him confident of mien, with kindly smile and firm voice, and says, Cheer up, stand erect, brace your limbs, take heart of grace. You have already come far; throw not away your former toils. A noble home is at the end of the journey. See, yonder is the direct road to it; keep straight on; seek from the great Physician healing for your lameness. … Your Forerunner went this same hard road to the palace of God; others before you have won through; others are on the way; you are not alone; only press on! and you too shall reach the goal and win the prize.Happy is he who knows how to sustain with words him that is weary (Isa_50:4). Happy is he who accepts exhortation (Heb_13:22). And thrice happy is he whose faith is simple and strong so that he finds no occasion of stumbling in the Lord when His discipline is severe. 12:14 Christians should strive for peaceable relations with all people and at all times. But this exhortation is especially needful when persecution is prevalent, when some are defecting from the faith, and when nerves are frayed. At such times it is all too easy to vent one’s frustration and fears on those who are nearest and dearest. We should also strive for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. What is the holiness referred to here? To answer the question we should remind ourselves that holiness is used of believers in at least three different ways in the NT. First of all, the believer becomes positionally holy at the time of his conversion; he is set apart to God from the world (1Co_1:2; 1Co_6:11). By virtue of his union with Christ, he is sanctified forever. This is what Martin Luther meant when he said, My holiness is in heaven. Christ is our holiness, that is, as far as our standing before God is concerned. Then there is a practical sanctification (1Th_4:3; 1Th_5:23). This is what we should be day by day. We should separate ourselves from every form of evil. This holiness should be progressive, that is, we should be growing more and more like the Lord Jesus all the time. Finally, there is complete or perfect sanctification. This takes place when a believer goes to heaven. Then he is forever free from sin. His old nature is removed, and his state perfectly corresponds to his standing. Now which holiness are we to pursue? Obviously it is practical sanctification that is in view. We do not strive after positional sanctification; it is ours automatically when we are born again. And we do not strive after the perfect sanctification that will be ours when we see His face. But practical or progressive sanctification is something that involves our obedience and cooperation; we must cultivate this holiness continually. The fact that we must follow it is proof that we do not fully attain it in this life. (See notes under 2:11 for a more detailed description of the various aspects of sanctification.) Wuest writes: The exhortation is to the born-again Jews who had left the Temple, to live such consistent saintly lives, and to cling so tenaciously to their new-found faith, that the unsaved Jews who had also left the Temple and had outwardly embraced the New Testament truth, would be encouraged to go on to faith in Messiah as High Priest, instead of returning to the abrogated sacrifices of the Levitical system. These truly born-again Jews are warned that a limping Christian life would cause these unsaved Jews to be turned out of the way. But a difficulty remains! Is it true that we cannot see the Lord without practical sanctification? Yes, there is a sense in which this is true; but let us understand that this does not mean that we earn the right to see God by living holy lives. Jesus Christ is our only title to heaven. What this verse means is that there must be practical holiness as a proof of new life within. If a person is not growing more holy, he is not saved. When the Holy Spirit indwells a person, He manifests His presence by a separated life. It is a matter of cause and effect; if Christ has been received, the rivers of living water will flow. 12:15 The next two verses seem to present four distinct sins to avoid. But there is a strong suggestion in the context that this is another warning against the single sin of apostasy and that these four sins are all related to it. First of all, apostasy is a failure to obtain the grace of God. The person looks like a Christian, talks like a Christian, professes to be a Christian, but he has never been born again. He has come so near the Savior but has never received Him; so near and yet so far. Apostasy is a root of bitterness. The person turns sour against the Lord and repudiates the Christian faith. His defection is contagious. Others are defiled by his complaints, doubts, and denials. 12:16 Apostasy is closely linked with immorality. A professing Christian may fall into gross moral sin. Instead of acknowledging his guilt, he blames the Lord and falls away. Apostasy and sexual sin are connected in 2Pe_2:10, 2Pe_2:14, 2Pe_2:18 and Jud_1:8, Jud_1:16, Jud_1:18. Finally, apostasy is a form of irreligion, illustrated by Esau. He had no real appreciation for the birthright; he willingly bartered it for the momentary gratification of his appetite. 12:17 Later Esau was remorseful at the loss of the older son’s double portion, but it was too late. His father could not reverse the blessing. So it is with an apostate. He has no real regard for spiritual values. He willingly renounces Christ in order to escape reproach, suffering, or martyrdom. He cannot be renewed to repentance. There may be remorse but no godly repentance. 12:18 Those who are tempted to return to the law should remember the terrifying circumstances that attended the giving of the law and should draw spiritual lessons from them. The scene was Mount Sinai, a literal, tangible mountain that was all on fire. It was enveloped in a pall or veil that made everything seem indistinct, obscure, and nebulous. A violent storm raged around it. 12:19 In addition to these natural disorders, there were terrible supernatural phenomena. A trumpet blasted away, and a voice thundered out so ominously that the people pled for it to stop. 12:20 They were completely unnerved by the divine edict that If so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death. They knew that if it meant death to a dumb, uncomprehending animal, how much more surely would it mean death to those who understood the warning. 12:21 The entire scene was so terrifying and forbidding that Moses himself was trembling. All this speaks eloquently of the nature and ministry of the law. It is a revelation of God’s righteous requirements and of His wrath against sin. The purpose of the law was not to provide the knowledge of salvation but to produce the knowledge of sin. It speaks of distance between God and man because of sin. It is a ministry of condemnation, darkness, and gloom. 12:22 Believers have not come to the forbidding terrors of Sinai but to the welcome of grace: The burning mount and the mystic veil, With our terrors and guilt are gone; Our conscience has peace that can never fail, ‘Tis the Lamb on high on the throne. James G. Deck Now every blood-brought child of God can say: The terrors of law and of God, With me can have nothing to do; My Saviour’s obedience and blood Hide all my transgressions from view. A. M. Toplady We have already arrived in principle where in full reality we shall be forever. The future is already the present. In today we possess tomorrow. On earth we own Heaven (Selected). We do not come to a tangible mountain on earth. Our privilege is to enter the sanctuary in heaven. By faith, we approach God in confession, praise, and prayer. We are not limited to one day of the year, but may enter the holiest at any time with the knowledge that we are always welcome. God no longer says, Stay at a distance; He says, Come near with confidence.Law has its Mount Sinai but faith has its Mount Zion. This heavenly mountain symbolizes the combined blessings of graceall that is ours through the redeeming work of Christ Jesus. Law has its earthly Jerusalem but faith has its heavenly capital above. The city of the living God is in heaven, the city which has the foundations, whose Architect and Builder is God. As we enter the presence of God, we are surrounded by an august gathering. First of all, there are myriads of angels who though untainted by sin cannot join with us in song because they do not know the joy that our salvation brings.12:23 Then we are with the general assembly of the firstborn ones who are registered in heaven. These are members of the church, the Body and Bride of Christ, who have died since Pentecost and are now consciously enjoying the Lord’s presence. They await the Day when their bodies will be raised from the grave in glorified form and reunited with their spirits. By faith we see God the Judge of all. No longer does darkness and gloom hide Him; to faith’s vision His glory is transcendent. The OT saints are there, the spirits of just men made perfect. Justified by faith, they stand in spotless purity because the value of Christ’s work has been imputed to their account. They too await the time when the grave will yield up its ancient charges and they will receive glorified bodies. 12:24 Jesus is there, the Mediator of the new covenant. There is a difference between Moses as mediator of the Old Covenant and Jesus as Mediator of the new. Moses served as a mediator simply by receiving the law from God and delivering it to the people of Israel. He was the go-between, or the people’s representative, offering the sacrifices by which the covenant was ratified. Christ is Mediator of the new covenant in a far higher sense. Before God could righteously make this covenant, the Lord Jesus had to die. He had to seal the covenant with His own blood and give Himself a ransom for many (1Ti_2:6). He secured the blessings of the New Covenant for His people by His death. He insures these blessings for them by His endless life. And He preserves His people to enjoy the blessings in a hostile world by His present ministry at God’s right hand. All this is included in His mediatorial work. Bearing the scars of Calvary, the Lord Jesus is exalted at God’s right hand, a Prince and a Savior. We love to look up and behold Him there, The Lamb for His chosen slain; And soon shall His saints all His glories share, With their Head and their Lord shall reign. James G. Deck Finally, there is the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than the blood of Abel. When Christ ascended, He presented to God all the value of the blood He shed at the cross. There is no suggestion that He literally carried His blood into heaven, but the merits of His blood have been made known in the sanctuary. Again, J. G. Deck puts truth into poetry: His precious blood is sprinkled there, Before and on the throne; And His own wounds in Heaven declare The work that saves is done. His precious blood is contrasted with the blood of Abel. Whether we understand the latter as meaning the blood of Abel’s sacrifice or Abel’s own blood which was shed by Cain, it is still true that Christ’s blood speaks more graciously. The blood of Abel’s sacrifice said, Covered temporarily; Christ’s blood says, Forgiven forever. Abel’s own blood cried, Vengeance; Christ’s blood cries, Mercy, pardon, and peace.12:25 The closing verses of chapter 12 contrast God’s revelation at Sinai with His revelation in and through Christ. The incomparable privileges and glories of the Christian faith are not to be treated lightly. God is speaking, inviting, wooing. To refuse Him is to perish. Those who disobeyed the voice of God as it was heard in the law were punished accordingly. When privilege is greater, responsibility is also greater. In Christ, God has given His best and final revelation. Those who reject His voice as it now speaks from heaven in the gospel are more responsible than those who broke the law. Escape is impossible. 12:26 At Sinai God’s voice caused an earthquake. But when He speaks in the future His voice will also produce a heavenquake. This was, in substance, predicted by the prophet Haggai (Hag_2:6): Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land.This shaking will take place during the period from the Rapture to the end of Christ’s kingdom. Prior to Christ’s coming to reign there will be violent convulsions of nature both on earth and in the heavens. Planets will be moved out of orbit causing raging tides and roaring seas. Then at the close of Christ’s Millennial Reign, the earth, the stellar heavens, and the atmospheric heavens will be destroyed by fervent heat (2Pe_3:10-12). 12:27 When God said, Yet once more, He anticipated a complete and final removal of the heavens and the earth. This event will explode the myth that what we can see and touch and handle is real and that unseen things are unreal. When God ends the sifting and shaking process, only that which is real will remain. 12:28 Those who were occupied with the tangible, visible ritualism of Judaism were clinging to things that could be shaken. True believers have a kingdom which cannot be shaken. This should inspire the most fervent worship and adoration. We should unceasingly praise Him with reverence and godly fear.12:29 God is a consuming fire to all who refuse to listen to Him. But even to His own, His holiness and righteousness are so great that they should produce profoundest homage and respect.