Sermon Cloud

The Need to Care for One Another 3

Hebrews 12:14-17

Grace Fellowship Church

January 25, 2009

Series 3 Sermon 67

14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 16 that no one is [apostate] sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

Introduction

We have been talking about discipline for the past few weeks and in our section of Hebrews 12 we are talking specifically about church discipline.  Church discipline is the caring and protecting of one another from the world, the flesh, and Satan.  The three headed enemy of us all truly seeks to destroy us and our faith and our testimony before a watching world. 

We have warnings in Scripture about the enemies of our souls.  Listen to Romans 8:5-6.

⁵ For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,

The world is our enemy as well.  Listen to the Words of Jesus Christ to His disciples in John 15:18-19.

¹⁸ "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. ¹⁹ "If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.

Then of course the verse that I mentioned last week about Satan which is 1 Peter 5:8.

⁸ Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

So as Christians we walk through this world with enemies.  One enemy, the flesh, we carry with us all the days of our lives.  And then we walk through the world which is also our enemy and Satan is in the world as well.  No wonder we have the admonition to be good soldiers.  But soldiers do not just look out for themselves.  They look out for one another. 

As we saw last week we have a biblical command to carry out church discipline by watching out for one another.  Last week we saw that we are to see to it or watch diligently that no one falls short of the grace of God.  We do this by helping our weaker brothers and sisters in Christ and by taking great pains that we walk in holiness before the Lord and before one another so that no one is offended by our lifestyle.  This is not Pharisaical outward holiness in conformity to man made rules but rather a heart that has been changed to love and desire the ways and the Word of the Lord.  Look back at verses 12-15.

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. 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God;

I want us all to grasp the seriousness of this call to watch out for one another in church discipline.  Most in churches today, because of a lack of understanding about what Scripture teaches about church discipline, think it might be okay to overlook a matter.  This could be a serious moral issue like we saw in 1 Corinthians 5 or it could be a matter of false teaching that is taking place.  Or other issues as well.  So how serious is the Lord Jesus Christ about discipline in His church?  I want you to turn to Revelation 2 and see how serious He is.  Look starting in verse 1 at the church in Ephesus.

1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.  2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary.

The church at Ephesus was doing what God called them to do as far as church discipline and protection was concerned but in their obedience they had failed at the commandment to love one another and now the Lord would warn them of the discipline to come if they did not repent.  Look at verse 4 and following.

4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

So a lack of love in a church is something that the Lord will discipline.  A lack of love and concern for one another can manifest itself in many ways in a church.  In Revelation 2:12-16 it manifests itself in the allowing of false teachers and teaching in the church at Pergamum.  Look starting in verse 12.

12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword. 13 “‘I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.

Here is a strong faithful church that had endured the fires of persecution.  But look at verse 14.

14 But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. 15 So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.

What the Lord Jesus says to this church is very simple.  Either you handle this or I will.  They were to repent of their neglect in correcting and if necessary putting out these false teachers and those who followed their teaching.  Looking the other way when false teaching and immorality is being practiced by fellow believers is sin that must be repented of. 

We live in a day that is permeated by false teaching and false teachers.  This is why formative church discipline is the need of the hour.  God’s people must know what the Bible says and then be encouraged by faithful brothers and sisters to obey Scripture even when the flesh, the world, and Satan are saying something different. 

The ways of the world resonates with our flesh because of sin.  We are drawn to sin like a moth to the flame.  But as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ we are called to be sanctified or be made holy in a world that is not holy while living in a suit of flesh that is rapidly decaying because of sin.  Left on our own we could never be what God has called us to be.  We would be susceptible to the savage wolves and the roaring lion.  This is why we need the Lord and we need one another and we need church discipline.    

PNP

Last week from our text, Hebrews 12:15-17, we saw the first of three spiritually dangerous scenarios that we are commanded to work diligently against in the life of the church.  We saw that:

1.  We are to work diligently against anyone falling short of the grace of God. 

Briefly put we are spiritually responsible for the people in our church and we are responsible to them in the pursuit of peace and in personal holiness.  My actions should never cause a brother or sister to stumble. 

This morning I want you to see the final two.

2.  We are to work diligently against any “root of bitterness” in the church.

3.  We are to work diligently against anyone falling into apostasy or great sin. 

Purpose

My purpose in preaching this passage is to show that we all bear spiritual responsibility for one another. We are our brothers’ and our sisters’ keepers.  We are to be spiritually watchful of what is taking place not only in our own lives but also in each other’s lives as well.  And I want you to understand that not being spiritually concerned and watchful is a violation of this command to the church. 

Do you recognize the serious need for church discipline?  Has it crossed your mind that you are personally responsible for everyone in this room who names the name of Christ?  Do you understand that you are to sacrifice yourself for the care and protection of one of the Lord’s lambs? 

RPNP

So look with me at these final two spiritually dangerous scenarios that we are commanded to work diligently against in the life of the church.

2.  We are to work diligently against any “root of bitterness” in the church.

Look at verse 15. 

15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;

Last week I told you that the word for see to it or watch carefully or diligently is the Greek verb “episkapao.”  It means careful and diligent oversight and in verse 15 “episkapao” is a command to the whole church.  Our second point of verse 15 is that we are to work diligently to make sure that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble.  This hearkens back to verse 14.  Look at verse 14.

14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

In the church we are to pursue peace along with everyone else and we are to strive for holiness personally and congregationally.  Anything less than this will cause this root of bitterness to spring up. 

I want you to notice in verse 15 some things that happen as a result of this root of bitterness.  This is a very serious matter.  Look at verse 15.

that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;

Notice that this root of bitterness has to spring up.  What we are to see to or watch diligently for is that this root of bitterness does not spring up at all.  Why are we to watch so carefully?  Because if we allow this root of bitterness to spring up then it causes trouble.  The word for trouble in verse 15 is a very interesting word.  It means to cause a continual annoyance or problem.  In other words it does not go away soon.  But rather hangs around for a while and continues to cause problems.  Its like a sore that will not heal and the infection could get out of hand any time. 

I also want you to notice where the problem is.  Look at the last part of verse 15. 

and by it many become defiled;

Who are the many?  The many are those in the church.  Neglect of our spiritual duty will allow a root of bitterness to spring up that causes a constant nagging annoying problem that could affect the entire congregation negatively.  How negative is this effect?  Look at the end of verse 15 again.

and by it many become defiled;

This word defiled was used in the Old Testament to pronounce something unfit for religious use.  Some animals were unclean and therefore the Jews were forbidden to eat them.  Touching some things would cause a person to be unclean or become defiled.  So if something or someone was ritually unclean or defiled it or they could not participate in the worship of God. 

So here we have the possible defilement of a large group of people that has happened as a result of spiritual neglect.  Not seeing to it that this root of bitterness does not spring up will cause trouble and the possible defilement of the whole congregation.  Paul said this in 1 Corinthians 5:6-8.

6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

So what is this root of bitterness that we are to take great pains in making sure it does not spring up?  The writer of Hebrews is making an allusion to Deuteronomy 29:16-19.  Listen as I read this. 

16 “You know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed. 17 And you have seen their detestable things, their idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold, which were among them. 18 Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, 19 one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.’ This will lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike.

Verse 15 echoes an earlier verse in Hebrews as well.  Listen to Hebrews 3:12-13,

12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

It is one thing for a person to declare their unbelief in the Gospel and the Bible and to leave the church. That will happen and when it does it is a very sad thing. It is a different thing for them to do this subtly and to try and lead others astray as well.  They will play church and then teach others to sin.  This is what was taking place in the church at Thyatira in Revelation 2.  Listen to verses 18-25.

18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.

19 “‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. 20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants  to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 22 Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, 23 and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works. 24 But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden. 25 Only hold fast what you have until I come.

In Thyatira the spiritual neglect had led to the intervention of the Lord Jesus Christ personally into this situation.  The root of bitterness that sprang up as this woman Jezebel was allowed to teach her unbiblical ideas and lead Christians astray was now causing great trouble and many in this church had become defiled.  It was so bad at this point it was out of the capability of the church to handle the matter effectively.  So the Lord would come with vengeance and use his own fiery discipline on this woman and those who followed her.  Needless to say there was going to be a lot of funerals taking place in that congregation. 

The root of bitterness that we are to watch diligently for is false teaching that springs up and defiles many. Folks, this is the opposite of pursuing peace and holiness.  This root of bitterness is the pursuit of strife and carnality and immorality.  It is the sin of seeing how much you can get away with.  Which leads us to our third and final point in this section.  So far we have seen that we are to work diligently that no root of bitterness springs up causing trouble and now we need to see that:

3.  We are to work diligently against anyone falling into apostasy or great sin. 

Notice verses 16-17.  Also the verb “see to it” still tells us what we are to do here.

16 that no one is [apostate] sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

The writer now gives us a living and breathing example of what he is talking about.  Esau was a wicked man.  He sold his eternal inheritance for a single meal.  Spiritually he took what was rightfully his as a son of Abraham and Isaac and tossed it aside to please his flesh. 

Christians should not be so.  The flesh is the enemy and will always lead us astray.  We do not throw away our eternal inheritance in Christ for a bowl of stew or any other self gratifying thing.  And in verse 17 we have another warning passage that we should all take very seriously.  I want you to look at verse 17 at the consequences of Esau’s action and the possible consequences of one becoming immoral and unholy in the church like Esau. 

17 For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

The momentary fleshly desire had led Esau to renounce the inheritance and now that the flesh was satisfied the understanding had come back.  Oh, yes.  My inheritance.  Esau’s unholiness and immorality had led him down a road that he could not turn back from.  And when he saw the error of his ways repentance could not be found even though he sought it with tears.  The door had been closed.  This is a two fold warning.  To those of you who may be toying with the idea that you need to do a few things in your life in the way of sinfulness and then after you have sown a few wild oats then you will repent and come to Christ and live a good and godly life then.  Your warning is this.  It may be too late at that point.  You may seek repentance with tears and find that repentance and salvation can not be found.  There is a second warning here as well.  To those of you who are professing Christians the warning is to not let the desires of the flesh rule over you.  One flirtation with sin can lead you down a road that you may never come back from.  Listen to the warning from Hebrews 12:17 and listen to the warning from James 1:13-16.

13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

I hold strongly to the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints.  That means that those whom the Father has chosen will persevere or hold fast to the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation until the very day that they depart this earth for Heaven.  By that I do not mean that I believe that someone who makes a mere profession of salvation is eternally secure and can live any way they want to live.  A tree is known by its fruit.  I don’t care how long someone lived as a Christian if they walk away into unholiness and immorality we have great reason to doubt their standing before God. 

So how do we as a church prevent this root of bitterness from springing up and prevent these unholy and immoral people like Esau from coming in to the church and spreading their disease to weaker brothers and sisters? 

First we need to understand that the church as enemies that the local rotary club does not have.  There are those empowered by the devil that desire nothing less than the destruction of the church. And they will come in to the church talking and acting like Christians and then start teaching their destructive heresies to weaker members of the body.  Like the false teachers that had infiltrated the churches in Revelation 2 these false teachers are wolves in sheep’s clothing.  And they must be dealt with by those in authority in the local church. 

In the last chapter of John the Apostle Peter is restored to fellowship with Christ and to the service of Christ’s Church.  The Lord told Peter to feed His sheep and to tend His lambs.  From that very conversation the Apostle Peter writes to the elders at the church his first epistle is sent to and in chapter 5 verses 1 through 4 Peter says this.

1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

Shepherding not only means leading and feeding but also protecting the flock from savage wolves.  And this is where the first part of church discipline comes in.  Formative discipline requires a biblical church structure with elders who are qualified spiritually for that position. If an elder is living in immorality and unholiness himself then he is not fit for that position and he is definitely not going to handle appropriately a false teacher or another person who is immoral. 

Then these biblically qualified elders are called to do some very important things.  First they must provide a biblically informed environment for God’s people to gather and worship.  It can not be an “anything goes” where anyone and everyone can get up and speak or teach.  I want you to listen to Titus 1:5-11.

⁵ For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you, ⁶ namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. ⁷ For the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, ⁸ but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, ⁹ holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.
¹⁰ For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, ¹¹ who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.

So what are these elders to focus on?  If you read the Second Epistle of Paul to Timothy you will find a lot of instruction.  But the culmination of that instruction happens in chapter 4 specifically verses 1-5.  Here the Apostle Paul is laying on Timothy the same charge that the Lord Jesus Christ laid upon him.  Listen as I read. 

 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: ² preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.

Why is this the high mark of pastoral ministry?  Why is this the task that Timothy and every other pastor should devote their very lives to? Why can’t I as pastor of this church devote myself to golf or fishing or some other profession or leisure?  Why must a pastor be ready in season and out of season?  Why should we be so saturated with the Word of God that at a moments notice we are prepared to reprove, rebuke, exhort and to do so with great patience and with lots of instruction?  Because we as pastors and elders and as a congregation have been commanded to make sure that no one falls short of the grace of God, that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble and defiles the many, and that no person among us is unholy or apostate like Esau.  Listen to the rest of the passage in 2 Timothy 4.

 ³ For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, ⁴ and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. ⁵ But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

The consistent proclamation of the Word of God is going to accomplish exactly what God has intended it to accomplish and that is either the salvation and perseverance of the elect of God or the driving away of the wolves and the false sheep.   Either the Word will resonate in the heart of the true Christian or the false believer will be driven away by it. 

This is why we can not be seeker sensitive.  This is why this congregation is Bible and Gospel driven and not purpose driven.  This is why we are not emergent.

In a war there is no time for foolishness.  The soldiers must be equipped to battle the enemy and so the Word of God is our weapon.  The flesh, the world, and the devil desire to destroy the church of God and we are called to wage war and not surrender.  And we do so by the knowledge of the truth and the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Let’s pray.