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HOLY HELP FOR THE HOPELESSWHO JOURNEY TO HEAVEN TOGETHERHebrews 12:14-17INTRODUCTION Almost every March for 20 years I traveled to Daytona Beach, Florida with a group of college students for the annual Spring Break outreach sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ. The number of students I traveled with varied from year to year. Sometimes there were enough of us going that we would rent a bus or two but on other occasions the numbers would be smaller and we would form a caravan of three to five cars. Traveling by bus was far easier because we were all in one place and someone else was in charge of the driving. We played games and talked and pretty much ignored the fact that we were traveling. However, when we took several cars the journey took on a whole different aspect. The level of alertness to the outside world and to each other’s situation was far greater. We would borrow CB radios and talk to one another almost constantly to make sure we were all heading in the same direction, informing each other of traffic conditions, warning about upcoming exits and helping each other stay awake on the non-stop, 24-hour trip. We, the church of Jesus are on a journey as well. Our destination is heaven. We need to stay in constant communication with one another to make sure we are all headed in the same direction and to keep each other awake on this life long journey. This idea that the Christian life is a journey to heaven in the company of others is prevalent throughout this letter to the Hebrews. It is rooted in the OT description of Israel escaping Egypt and traveling to the land of rest, the land of Canaan. This motif was first referred to in chapters 3 & 4, then again in chapter 10 with the call to endurance and has reappeared again at the beginning of chapter 12. It is referred to in v. 12, which is a quote from Isaiah 35. Isaiah 35 is a description of the glory of God's salvation. It contains the exhortation of v. 12 and then it ends with this: “ And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it. 9 No lion will be there, nor will any ferocious beast get up on it; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, 10 and the ransomed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.” We need strong hands and knees to enter into Zion . Then also v. 13 quotes Proverbs 4:26-27, which says in full, “Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.” So this idea that we are on a path towards a destination is the dominant motif. Notice also these verses are addressed to the entire church. Together we are to lift drooping hands, strengthen weak knees and make level paths. The reason, as I mentioned last week is because there are lame people among us who will be permanently disabled and therefore become unable to finish the journey if we do not help. As we move into these next four verses this corporate view is still dominate. The verbs are all in the 2 nd person, plural form. All the members of the church are to pursue peace and holiness and all of us are to “see to it” that no one fails to obtain the grace of God, etc. This passage clearly sets before us the necessity of traveling on this journey to heaven in the company of other Christians in the church. Again, when we remember the great danger facing these people is that they are under threat of persecution and the quickest way to escape persecution is to stop identifying with the church, you can see why the author keeps coming back to this idea. It is especially appropriate in light of the immediately preceding discussion of God’s sending suffering as his discipline. It is hard to endure God's discipline but it is especially hard if you have to do it alone. So the reminder that all the trouble that comes to us is sent by God is followed with this strong exhortation to keep traveling together. MAIN POINT Only those who travel with an alert church will make it safely to heaven because…I. Christ is the only path to heaven (v. 14) This verse provides us with an excellent example of how to figure out what a verse means by paying attention to the context within which the verse occurs. Understanding this verse requires first of all seeing what it says in the original language. Unfortunately the only English translation I found that comes close to the exact words is the ESV. The first clause says: “Strive for (literally: pursue) peace with everyone…” This little statement can be understood in one of two ways. It can mean, as the NIV has it, “Make every effort to live in peace with all men…” In this translation pursuing peace refers to having peaceful relationships with all other human beings. This is a very biblical concept. Paul says in Romans 12:18, “If it is possible, as far it depends on you, be at peace with all men.” However, while this is a biblical concept it does not fit with the context at all. First of all, the last word “everyone” or “all” does not refer to all human beings without exception. This is an important thing to understand when you are reading your Bibles. When the church chairman asks at the beginning of the congregational meeting, “Is everyone here?”—he does not mean are all human beings without exception present. He means are all the members of the church present. When you get ready to carve the turkey at the extended family Thanksgiving dinner and ask, "is everyone present?"--you are not asking if the whole world has come to your house. When you see the word “all” or “everyone” you have to look at the context to know to whom the author is referring. Look at the next verse. “See to it that no one misses the grace of God…” If the “all” in v. 14 refers to all men than the “no one” has to also refer to all men. In fact, in vv. 15-16 this phrase, “no one” occurs three times. In other words if we are to seek peace with all men then also we are to make sure that no human fails to obtain the grace of God, that no human is troubled by a root of bitterness and that no human is sexually immoral or godless like Esau. Obviously this cannot be what the author means. We are to see that no one in the church is negatively impacted in these ways. Also, the reason we are to prevent a root of bitterness from growing up is because it will defile many; it will have a negative impact on lots of people. Who are we to care about becoming defiled? It must refer to the church, not the whole world. Second, the preposition “with” while it is used in Romans 12:18, “be at peace with all men”, it is also used in 11:9 where Abraham is said to live in tents along with or "in company with" Isaac and Jacob. Then in 2 Timothy 2:2 it is used with the same verb “pursue” when Paul tells Timothy, “Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue …peace along with those who call on the Lord with a pure heart.” So “with” does not mean to be at peace with all but rather to pursue peace as a goal along with other members of the church. Finally, in Hebrews, Jesus is called the king of peace and God the Father is called the God of peace. In other words, the Triune God gives his peace to human beings. We are to pursue the peace that God gives through Christ. In other words, what that first clause is saying is not that we should seek to live at peace with other humans but that we, together, as the church are to pursue the peace that Christ has purchased for us by his life, death and resurrection. As Paul says in Romans 5:1 we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and as he says in Ephesians 2 Christ has made peace between people through the cross. Therefore, v. 12 tells us that we are to pursue the peace that Christ has won for all who trust in him. How do we do that? We earnestly seek Christ together. We encourage one another to believe the promises of peace with God and man that Jesus gives are infinitely superior to the counterfeit peace that the world offers. We are on the road to salvation together by our faith in Christ and so we aim to help each other keep trusting in and loving Jesus. Now, it is also true that when a community of people does this they will also live at peace with one another, but that is not the main emphasis here. What does it mean to pursue holiness? Again, we have to ask how does the author talk about holiness in this letter? One of the central themes of this letter is that Jesus by being our high priest and sacrifice has made us fit to enter into the holy places without fear but with confidence. Christ makes us holy so we can live with the holy God in a holy place. In 10:10 we are told, “…we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” In other words, the holiness we are to pursue is not us living a holy lifestyle but rather we are to energetically pursue the holiness that Christ died to give to us. How do you do that? You pursue holiness by pursuing Christ. You will only see God if you are in Christ and thus have obtained that perfect holiness that he gives to us by means of his death. This is simply restating in a different way what the author said in Hebrews 3:14, “We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly to the end the confidence we had at first.” Now again, it is also true that everyone who is pursuing the holiness that Christ has obtained by his death will also seek to live a holy life. The author said exactly that in 10:14, but that is not the emphasis here. So then if I can give you an expanded translation of this verse here is what it says: “Pursue that peace with God and men that Christ has obtained by his life and death and which he freely gives to all who trust him. Do this together with all the believers in your local church. In addition, pursue that holiness that Christ obtained by offering himself as a once for all sacrifice because you will never see God if you do not have that holiness he died to obtain.” So what is to be the primary focus of every Christian and of every Christian church? Jesus. Our lives are to be about knowing and trusting and loving Jesus. Everything else comes from this and after this. Jesus makes the journey to heaven that we are on possible and we will be welcomed into that kingdom of peace and holiness at the end because of Jesus. Therefore, these are the questions we must ask ourselves. Is Jesus the object of our attention and affection personally and corporately? Are you, am I, are we pursuing Jesus? Is he the one around whom we gather every Sunday? Do you fathers seek to bring your children to Jesus each day in family worship? Do each of us personally seek to be with Jesus and to know Jesus better each day? Is our concern for each other that we are growing to know and trust and love Jesus better? Only those who travel with an alert church will make it safely to heaven because…
And because…II. Grace can be missed (v. 15a) You will notice that in my main point that I have said that the only safe way to go to heaven is by traveling with an “alert” church. The first word in v. 15 is the reason I chose to use that word “alert”. That phrase “see to it” is a translation of a verb that means to “keep close watch over, to oversee.” It is the verb that is used to describe the job of pastors and elders in 1 Peter 5:2, “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, working as those who oversee/keep watch…” Here in Hebrews it is not just the job of pastors and elders to keep watch over the church but every church member is given the task of keeping watch over everyone else. Salvation is a community project. It requires that all of us be alert and attentive to one another and to the difficulties of the road. The emphasis in what follows is that we are to be on the lookout for potential problems. We are to be so involved in one another’s lives and committed to one another’s well-being that we are alert to how each of us is responding to that race set before us, to the discipline of our father. We are aware of one another’s condition and then we take action to assist each other to keep on the path, to keep moving on towards the land of rest. The first danger we are to be alert for is the possibility of someone who is a member of the visible church but who misses out on or falls short of or fails to obtain the grace of God. The grace of God refers to God’s freedom to give salvation to whomever he wants on the basis of Christ’s life and death. As we are told in 2:9 it was by the grace of God, by God’s free decision to save sinners contrary to what they deserve, that he sent Jesus to die. All humans deserve to go to hell. No humans have any way to gain God’s approval. There is no reason for God to save anyone except for the fact that he is a gracious God. Salvation is entirely motivated by God’s decision to have mercy on sinners through Christ. God does not save any sinners because of some value or worth in them. Rather, salvation is entirely motivated by God’s delight to love and be kind to worthless and wicked sinners. According to 4:16 God’s throne is a throne of grace, that is the place from which God sovereignly and freely acts on behalf of sinners, contrary to what they deserve, giving help to those sinners on the basis of Christ’s work. So the grace of God means his delight to reward evil people with heaven rather than send them to hell by punishing his own son instead of them, counting the wicked perfectly just through Christ and giving the HS to create new hearts that trust Christ. What does it mean to miss or lack the grace of God? I think there are two basic ways to miss the grace of God. First, some miss the grace of God by thinking too highly of themselves. Some are unwilling to admit that they are hell-deserving sinners and that God is under no obligation to be kind to them. Their confidence that God has accepted them is based on their performance rather than upon Christ’s performance. Often, these people’s confidence vacillates with their performance. If they feel like they are performing well, they feel good about their standing with God but it they do poorly in their religious and moral duties they despair of knowing God. Their eyes are fixed on themselves, not Christ. A second way to miss the grace of God is to treat the benefits given by the grace of God with indifference or disdain. These are people who can explain clearly that God accepts them only on the basis of the work of Christ but who give little or no attention to Christ and his kingdom in their daily lives. If you ask, "why should God let you into heaven?" They will immediately reply, "because Christ died for me." However, their lives are taken up with enjoying life on earth rather than living in anticipation of heaven. It is clear from the way they spend their time, the things they talk about, the ways in which they spend their money, their plans for the future that knowing God and being forgiven and going to heaven are not that interesting to them. In both cases what is lacking is faith. People miss the grace of God by not trusting in Christ but rather in themselves and by not believing that what Christ offers to them is better than the whole universe. Only those who travel with an alert church will make it safely to heaven because…
And because…III. The defection of one can impact all (v. 15b) In the second half of v. 15 we are told to see to it that no one is troubled by a root of bitterness growing up which will then defile many in the church, that is, make them unclean and thus unacceptable to God. This verse is a paraphrase of Deuteronomy 29:18 which says, “ Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison.” The root of bitterness refers to a person within the church who begins to worship a false god. What is interesting in that passage in Deuteronomy is that the person who worships a false god yet remains in the visible church and believes that he or she is safe to do so. These are people who claim that God loves them and accepts them even though they are not worshipping the true God, the Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Therefore, a “bitter root” is a person who rejects the gospel as it is taught in the Scriptures or who rejects the way of life that is associated with the gospel as revealed in the Scriptures but who yet wants to call himself or herself a Christian. It is called bitter in the sense of poisonous. False teaching is indeed a poison which kills. The warning against false teaching arising from within the church is all over the Bible. In Acts 20:29 Paul says to the elders of Ephesus , “I know that after I leave savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.” Paul tells Timothy that he wants him to remain in Ephesus in order to “charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies which promote speculation rather than the stewardship from God which is by faith.” The entire letter to the Galatians is written against “bitter roots” that have grown up in the Galatian church and are teaching a false gospel. So the entire church is to be alert to any and all forms of false teaching about Christ and the way of salvation that he has instituted. Notice that the reason we must watch out for these bitter roots that cause trouble in the church is because if we do not keep them out of the church and they do grow up many in the church will be defiled. In other words, false teaching will deceive many within the church and thus make them unfit for God. As Paul says in Galatians 1, all those who teach and believe a false gospel are under God’s condemnation. There is only one gospel that saves and if you teach or believe any other gospel than this one you will fall under God’s judgment. Throughout the OT this is the cause of God’s fury with Israel . In Ezekiel 13 God says to the false prophets, “’Because of your false words and lying visions I am against you,’ declares the Sovereign Lord… ‘By lying to my people who believe lies, you have killed those who should not have died and you have spared those who should not live… Because you disheartened the righteous with your lies, when I had brought them no grief and because you encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways and so save themselves, therefore…in my wrath I will unleash a violent wind, and in my anger hailstones and torrents of rain will fall with destructive fury.’” In order for you to be able to identify that a “bitter root” is growing up among us you need to know the true gospel. This is not just the task of pastors and elders. Rather this is the work of the entire church. One of the reasons you should make use of the catechism at home and attend the Foundations in the Faith classes and Discovery Groups and listen to sermons and read books about Christian doctrine is so that you will be able to identify when another member of our church is beginning to grow up as a bitter root and then take action to help that person turn around. If they do not turn away from this bitter teaching to the true milk of the word, then you are to make sure that he or she does not have the opportunity to spread their poison among us. Only those who travel with an alert church will make it safely to heaven because…
And because…IV. Temptations for immediate gratification abound (v. 16) The final thing we are to make sure does not happen is that no one is sexually immoral or godless like Esau. The assertion here is that Esau was both immoral and godless. There is a problem in understanding this statement in that we don’t have any indication in the OT that Esau was sexually immoral. It is clear he was godless as the text says but where was he sexually immoral? There are two options here. It is possible that sexual immorality is implied in Esau’s marrying the two Hittite women as recorded in Genesis 26:34 followed by his marrying an Ishmaelite woman as recorded in Genesis 27:8-9. The problem with that view is there is no indication of any sexual impropriety in the OT texts. The other possibility is that the author to the Hebrews is using the word for sexual immorality as a metaphor for Esau’s idolatry. It is a regular feature of the OT that idolatry, the worship of other gods is regularly referred to as sexual immorality, adultery and prostitution. The idea is that God’s people are married to him and when you worship a false god you commit adultery. This is a very common metaphor. Thus what we are to be watching out for is people who engage in the worship of false gods or who act in a godless way just like Esau. The particular example of Esau’s idolatry and godlessness is taken from Genesis 25:29-34. Esau came home from a hard day of hunting without having eaten the whole day. He was famished as anyone who has spent the day outdoors for the day can relate to. He enters into the tent to find Jacob about to sit down to eat his supper which consisted of a rich, red stew. When Esau demanded to have some Jacob told him he would gladly give him a bowl of stew in exchange for his rights of inheritance as the firstborn son. Esau swore an oath, selling his rights as the firstborn son of Isaac to Jacob for a bowl of stew. The story ends by saying that Esau despised his birthright. The critical thing to understand is that the birthright that he despised was not simply inheriting a double portion of Isaac’s property at his death but more importantly becoming the recipient of God’s promises to make him into a great nation and give him the Land of Promise and bless all the nations of the world through him. In other words, Esau worshipped the bowl of stew in preference to the salvation that God was giving to Abraham's descendants. He believed that satisfying his hunger was a greater salvation than belonging to the people of God and being the recipient of all God’s promised blessings. We are the recipients of God’s promised eternal inheritance through Christ. We have been given the rights of the firstborn. The warning here is that we not be like Esau who despised these enormous though future blessings for the immediate, short-term pleasures offered by this world. Don’t be an adulterer by preferring the pleasures of sin and of this world instead of the eternal pleasures offered to us in Christ. It was not a sin to be hungry. It is not a sin to eat a bowl of stew. However, it is a great sin to trade your salvation for a legitimate creation pleasure. John Calvin says about this warning: The ungodly “are all they in whom the love of the world so reigns and prevails that they forget heaven: as is the case with those who are led away by ambition, or become fond of money or of wealth or give themselves up to gluttony or become entangled in any other pleasures; they allow in their thoughts and cares no place or it may be the last place to the spiritual kingdom of Christ.” We are to keep watch over ourselves and one another so that we do not forfeit the blessings of God’s eternal inheritance for the meager pleasures offered us by this world. Only those who travel with an alert church will make it safely to heaven because…
And because…V. Repentance is hard (v. 17) The author finishes this exhortation to keep watch over one another with another grim warning. He takes us back to Genesis 27 and reminds us that after Isaac gave the blessing of the firstborn to Jacob that Esau came to him and asked to receive that blessing even though he knew that he had sold it to Jacob. He wanted to have the stew and the kingdom of God. Isaac told him that the blessing belonged to Jacob and that he had no other blessing to give to Esau. At this point in the story we are told that Esau let out a loud and bitter cry and begged his father to please give to him the blessing of God as well. But this was all to no avail. He had traded the blessing for a bowl of stew and there was no way for him to get it back. Then Isaac announced upon him the curse of God, the woe of divine judgment. As the author to the Hebrews says, even though Esau desired the blessing he was rejected by God and he found no opportunity to repent even though he sought the blessing of God with tears. Esau stands as an example of what the author has already said in chapter 6 and chapter 10. He grew up in a household where God’s blessings were revealed by his word. He lived in a family that knew the presence of God and the provision of God and the protection of God. He had heard the word of God since a child. Yet, he despised the word of God, the salvation of God and exchanged the glory of God for the glory of stew. In doing so he consigned himself to God’s condemnation with no way back. He could not repent because he could not say desiring the stew was wicked. He could not repent because he was unwilling to lose the pleasures of the world in order to have the kingdom of God. As Jesus said, you cannot serve two masters. Repentance is a hard thing. It requires that I denounce and label as evil something that I at one time approved of and labeled as good. Esau felt entirely justified in preferring the bowl of stew to his birthright. His tears were due to his loss, not his sorrow for despising God’s blessing. He was unwilling to call his selling his birthright for a bowl of stew a wicked and evil act for which he was entirely responsible. This can be seen in his immediately blaming Jacob and plotting Jacob’s destruction. People regularly cry over the negative consequences that they experience for their sin. Sin often brings pain and sorrow into our lives. Being sad about the pain of sin is not the same as being sad about my sin. Sinners regularly shift the blame for their sin to the actions of others rather than take responsibility for what they have done wrong. That is what Esau did. He said, "These two times Jacob has deceived me." Then he begins to plot how he is going to kill Jacob when his dad dies. Repentance is taking full responsibility for what I have done without any “buts” or blame shifting or plotting to get back at others. What makes repentance hard is others have done wrong and there are indeed circumstances that make obedience hard. Yet, being hungry and having a deceiving brother is no excuse for despising your birthright. Others doing wrong never gives me an excuse for doing wrong. The way back to God is always through my taking responsibility for me and never excusing my sin by blaming the sin of others. The fact that he was rejected and found no opportunity to repent points to the fact that repentance is a gift from God. This is what Paul says in 2 Timothy 2:24, “The Lord’s bondservant must not be quarrelsome, but kind to all, able to teach, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition if perhaps God may grant them repentance, leading them to a knowledge of the truth and they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil…” God was not obligated to give repentance to Esau. He was not unjust when he paid no attention to Esau’s cries because Esau had made it clear that he had no interest in God. So Esau stands as a warning to us who also hear the word of God and know the promises of God given to us in Christ that we should be careful to not despise our birthright and prefer the pleasures of sin to the promises of God. We should remember that repentance is hard and it is a gift. Every time I sin I am walking down a road away from God and it is possible to walk down that road far enough that there is no turning around no matter how sad I am about not obtaining the promised inheritance. We should remind one another of these realities, especially when we observe our brothers caught in sin. Only those who travel with an alert church will make it safely to heaven because…
© Copyright 2007 John Swanson.
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