Another Call to Endurance
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Another Call to Endurance
Hebrews 12:12-13
January 4, 2009
Series 3 Sermon 64
12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.
Introduction
Have you ever just had enough? Have you ever gotten to the point where you thought that you just can’t go on? Have you ever been so tired that as soon as your head touched the pillow you fell asleep? No turning, no thinking, just immediately asleep? Life can make us tired. Raising children and dealing with family and work and responsibilities can cause us to grow weary very quickly.
Life in general can wear us out and then toss in some affliction and difficulty and things get harder. Specifically in the context of Hebrews 12 the discipline of the Lord can cause us to grow weary. We are told in verse 5 of Hebrews 12 that we are not to grow weary when we are disciplined by the Lord.
But this is the natural reaction. When the heavy hand of the Lord’s discipline finds us we can easily find ourselves worn down. The Christian life itself can be very tiresome. We have a testimony to keep in a world that is hostile to biblical Christianity. We have a Lord to represent in our day to day activities and even when those activities grow difficult we are still called to walk in holiness. But this can be a very difficult thing to do. It’s much easier to lose your temper. It’s much easier to give up. It’s much easier to walk away from the discipline rather than endure it.
Whether its being an elder for a church or a husband or a wife or even a teenager or Christian child in a world full of difficulties we are called by our Lord to walk a certain path and that can be hard and difficult. And when you walk biblically you are walking against the flow of the rest of the world. Homeschooling moms cans grow weary while teaching a difficult child. They can grow weary while teaching an easy child. Dad’s can be so weary from work that family worship can easily be put aside for much needed rest. Parents can get so caught up in the lives of their children that they grow weary in their relationship to each other. Students can grow weary of their school work and forget to cultivate that relationship with the Lord. Married people who have no children at home can grow weary of all that life sends their way as well. Single people can grow weary of seeking a mate. Weariness permeates our lives already and then the discipline of the Lord comes and it is difficult to remember that we are called to sanctify that discipline that may come in the form of affliction.
Context
Since it’s been a little while since we were in the Epistle to the Hebrews let’s do a quick review. You will recall with me that the people who first read this epistle were a persecuted people. Chapter 10 showed us all the persecution they have endured up to this point. They were publicly humiliated. Their property was plundered and some were thrown into prison. And the writer calls this church to further endurance and faith in God even in the midst of this great trial and affliction. The writer then tells them that they are not to shrink back but are to endure as those who have real, genuine, saving, biblical faith. In chapter 11 the writer shows the readers that Christians are in a long line of God’s people who had real faith and endured in very difficult situations. And in chapter 12 the writer picks up the theme of why the Lord allows His people to go through such difficulty. Look at verse 1 of chapter 12.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
As Christians the race is set before us by our Lord. We do not choose which race we run it is chosen for us. If you are not happy with your life then talk to your Lord. He gave it to you for a purpose. Unhappy with your spouse or your children or your career then take that up with your Lord. Everything and everyone in your life is for your sanctification.
I was talking to a man not to long ago that was having marital difficulties. I explained to him that as a believer the Lord gave him his wife and family in order to mold him into the image of Christ. We can quickly develop a martyr’s complex with that understanding until we realize that our sovereign Lord also gave each of us to our families for their sanctification as well.
So this race that we are called to run is to be ran with endurance and we are to cast aside every sin that will weigh us down on that journey. The Lord chooses the race and even sets in front of us hurdles. These hurdles are often in the form of difficulty and affliction and in the midst of those hurdles we are to remember that we may be experiencing the disciplining hand of the Lord. The Lord will use these hurdles for our sanctification. Look at verses 5-8.
5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.
6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
And what we learned the last time that we were in Hebrews is that the Lord has given us these afflictions for us to sanctify. We are called by our Lord not to walk down a path of ease and comfort on our way to Heaven but rather to walk a path often filled with difficulty. Our Lord Himself warned us of the broad path that leads to destruction. The narrow more difficult way is the way of salvation and the Lord Himself warned that there were few that would find this path.
So what is the purpose behind the affliction that the Lord takes us through? We find the purpose in Hebrews 12:11. Look at it with me.
11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Our God given task on this course set before us is to take the discipline that the Lord brings our way and to be trained by it. We are to be sanctified by it. We are to learn from it and be changed more into the image of Christ by it.
Now some will want to argue with me here. Some will ask, why doesn’t the Lord just zap us and make us into the image of Christ? Why does the Lord not treat His people better?
The problem that we have is that we have a warped view of how things ought to be. In our society wealth and comfort and ease are the higher purposes. So we do everything to avoid anything that will conflict with that. And then we raise our children to avoid hardships as well. We try to give them the very best we can and give them a life of comfort and ease. Many children do not even know what a chore is. But our heavenly Father knows how to raise His children. He is going to make us like His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ who was and is perfect. So how did the Lord treat His only begotten Son? Listen to Hebrews 5:8.
8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.
So if the Lord allowed His only begotten Son to learn obedience through suffering and affliction then it should be pretty obvious to those of us not born sinless that we will learn obedience through suffering and affliction as well. Let me give you a few other passages of Scripture that will shore this truth up for you.
Listen to 1 Peter 2:21.
21 For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,
I Peter 4:1-2.
1 Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
1 Peter 5:10.
After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.
Suffering and affliction is not fun. It is difficult but we are to rejoice in it because when we are trained by this discipline we then see the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
The problem that the writer is addressing with the original readers of Hebrews and with us this morning is the natural human reaction to discipline accompanied by affliction and that is weariness. The appropriate response to divine discipline should have been a readiness to get back on the course and continue the race. But look at what happened to the readers. Look at verse 12.
12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees,
The readers had done exactly what verse 5 told them not to do and they had grown weary. Now they had drooping hands and weak knees. The writer has been using imagery from athletic events this whole time in chapter 12. The concept of a race particularly a marathon has been utilized. Have you ever seen a runner with their hands drooping to the side and wobbly knees? What happens to a boxer when his knees are weak and his hands begin to droop? He gets knocked out. The runner slows down and the other athletes pass them by.
Purpose
My intention for this morning is to introduce you to the last section of Hebrews. The final section of Hebrews deals a great deal with congregational life. And in the midst of that life we are called both to corporate discipline and corporate endurance. And just like the Lord’s discipline is part of the Christian life, church discipline is part of the Christian life as well. Let’s make things very clear here. There are two types of discipline that our Lord utilizes. The first is formative discipline where He teaches us His ways and shows us His will. This is like when we teach children what to do and what not to do. It is in essence the how to of the Christian life. This plays out in church discipline in the teaching of the Word of God. This is why preaching through books of the Bible is so beneficial to congregational life. If we know what God’s Word says then we have been given formative church discipline. More on that at another time. Then the second type of discipline that the Lord uses is corrective discipline. This is the wood shed experience for believers. And as a congregation we are sometimes called to correct a brother or sister in Christ who is in sin. We will see examples of this in Scripture at a later time as well. I just want to make you familiar this morning with where we are headed.
So we need endurance in our individual Christian lives and in our corporate church life.
PNP
So this morning from our text, Hebrews 12:12-13, I want you to see two commands that are both individual and corporate for our endurance in running the race set before us.
1. We are to prop up or support what is weak.
2. We are to live in a manner that promotes holiness.
One of the fantastic truths of the Christian life is that we need the Lord. He is our strength and our shield. But another truth is that we need each other. And the Lord has designed the Christian life this way. There are no Lone Ranger Christians. I need all of you in order to live and endure in the Christian life and you all need me and each other. We do not run this race alone.
One of the best illustrations for this is the team effort in the Tour de France. There are not just individuals racing but teams. And the teams help each other out in the races. They may block the wind for the fastest or block bikes that are trying to pass. Whatever they have to do for the team they do.
RPNP
So look with me at these commands that are both individual and corporate for our endurance in running the race set before us.
1. We are to prop up or support what is weak.
Notice verse 12.
12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees,
The verb for lift and strengthen is imperative. It is a command for us. And I want to make sure that you understand that the word your in verse 12 is plural. That is why it is inclusive of the whole congregation and not just the individual Christian. The reason is because we can’t always lift our own drooping hands or strengthen our own weak knees.
Now I know there are some Christians who believe that they don’t actually need anyone else. Surely the great ones of the Bible would never grow weary or need help would they? In Exodus 17 the Israelites were fighting the Amelikites. As long as Moses hands were lifted then the Israelites prevailed. But when Moses grew weary and his hands drooped then the Amelikites prevailed. So the Israelites brought a stone to prop up Moses and Aaron and another man held up his drooping hands so that the Israelites would be victorious.
In other words we all need each other at times to help lift us up and to encourage us on in the race. If Moses needed others surely the rest of us do as well.
So what would be the benefit of obeying this command? After all it may cause you a lot of trouble and extra effort to come to the aid of another believer. One reason is the promise that it is connected to in the Old Testament. The writer quotes a passage that is translated several ways but the ESV picks up on the connection. The passage is Isaiah 35:3. Let me read you the verse in context from Isaiah 35:1-4.
1 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; 2 it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of
Did you notice that verse 4 had to do with fellow believers? Specifically the verse is for believers who have an anxious heart. The promise is that the Lord will come and save us. And until he does we are our brothers’ keeper. We are to look out for one another and this is so important and the writer takes it so far as looking out for our salvation. Look at Hebrews 12:15.
15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God;
So our command is to not only strengthen and lift ourselves but also to do what is necessary to lift and strengthen our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Second I want you to see that:
2. We are to live in a manner that promotes holiness.
Notice verse 13.
13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.
The verb for make in verse 13 is our command. It is another imperative. It is also in the present tense which calls us to make these straight paths for our feet constantly. The writer is alluding to another Old Testament passage here in verse 13 as well. His reference is Proverbs 4:26-27. Let me read to you verses 23-27 to give you the full context.
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
24 Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you.
25 Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.
26 Ponder (or make level or straight) the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. 27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.
What we are to do as Christians is to live a life that is holy so that we may promote holiness in our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is not a Pharisaical holiness that is put on for show but rather a quiet integrity that permeates the whole of our lives. Remember that verse 23 of Proverbs 4 began with dealing with the heart. The command was to keep your heart with all diligence. From the heart then we deal with our speech and our eyes and our minds.
And this is not just holiness for our individual sake. It is holiness that is for the sake of each other. All Christians are equal in the sight of God however all Christians are not at the same maturity level. The goal of the Christian life is to become like Christ and hopefully you are more like Christ today than you were one year ago. Some of us have further to go than others. So we are all responsible not to make our brothers and sisters stumble by what we do or say even to the point of sacrificing our Christian liberty to avoid causing a weaker brother or sister to stumble.
Notice verse 13 again.
13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.
The lame is a fellow believer who could be in temptation or could be weak or because of affliction is struggling in their faith. So what we want to be careful of is that by our lives we do not do or say anything that would cause this brother or sister more problems but rather by our words and deeds we want to contribute to their maturity and restoration.
The best biblical example of this comes from 1 Corinthians 8 and had to do with whether or not a Christian could eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols. In the first century world meat was a delicacy. You didn’t just stop by the Waffle House for a t-bone steak anytime you wanted one. Meat was very expensive. So the only place most people could ever afford to buy meat for their family was after the meat had been sacrificed to one of the many idols in the
He begins with a warning that we need to be careful how we show the knowledge the Lord has bestowed upon us and understand that no matter how wise we have become in this Christian life we are still not as wise as we think we are. There is a warning against becoming puffed up. Then he talks about how as Christians we know there is only one God and all idols are just foolish creations of mankind. So an idol is nothing and if some pagan wants to sacrifice meat to nothing and then sell it to us really cheap then we have every right as a Christian to buy that meat at the discount price, cook it and enjoy it with the people that we love. But then comes the warning. Listen to verses 7-13 of 1 Corinthians 8.
7 However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8 Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. 9 But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? 11 And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. 12 Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.
It was so important to Paul not to make lame a weaker brother or sister in Christ that he was willing to sacrifice his Christian liberty for the healing of that brother or sister in Christ.
The way that we lift our drooping hands and strengthen our weak knees and make straight paths for our feet is by considering those for whom Christ died, our brothers and sisters in Christ, as far more important than ourselves. What you do affects me and what I do affects you as well as the whole of the church. And when we understand this biblical truth not only will we benefit but so will all of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ that was purchased by His precious blood.
Let’s pray.
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