Grace Community Church of Ramona Podcast

"What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up" (1 Corinthians 14:26, ESV).

This is our 27th and final lesson from the book of Hebrews. Let's think about what we have learned from Hebrews.

Author's final appeal to leave Judaism.

As the Preacher continues to spell out the practicals of the life of faith he instructs his readers to remember and imitate the faith of their church leaders. "Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith" (Hebrews 13:7 ESV).

That they are to remember likely indicates these leaders are dead. These leaders may very well have lead them to faith in Jesus. Previously, these folks had been encouraged to imitate the faith of the Old Testament saints listed in chapter 11. In addition they are to remember and imitate the faith of their church leaders. This morning we are going to do just that. Remember with me these spiritual leaders who have lead us and are now with the Lord awaiting the Rapture.

In Hebrews 11 the Preacher emphasized that faith pleases God and those who live by faith are accepted by God. In chapter 12 he exhorts us to run the race of faith with endurance keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Now, in chapter 13, the Preacher spells out what the race of faith looks like. These are the things in which we are to endure.

07/05/2015
Bill Carnahan; Chris Holloway

Especially in times of suffering, the church family is responsible to make sure that no one in the family "fails to obtain the grace of God" (Heb. 12:15; cf. 4:14-16). For the original recipients of Hebrews this was particularly acute on account of the persecution they were suffering. Failure to obtain God's grace would spiral into bitterness; bitterness into spiritual contempt and spiritual contempt into defection back into Judaism (12:15-16).

Esau traded away the covenant and material blessings of his birthright for a bowl of soup. Consumed by hunger, he made a tragic decision. He remained Isaac's son, but received far less than what he might have. Consumed by bitterness, hurting believers are at risk of making a similarly tragic decision.

The church family needs to do all that it can to help strugglers obtain the grace of God lest they spiral past the point of no return as did Esau.

We were running stride for stride when we hit the sand dune. By the time we came out of the dune my opponent had dropped back 40 yards and in the half mile to the finish line was unable to recover. That day, as a high school freshman cross country runner, I came to value more deeply my coaches and the training they required of us. In a workout earlier that week our coaches had us run sprint repeats across that sand dune. It was an incredibly hard workout; I distinctly remember tasting blood from my throat through the last several sprints. But the results on race day made the pain of that workout worthwhile.

We are running the race of faith (Heb. 12:1-2). Our race includes pain and suffering at many levels and in many ways. That is why we must run with patient endurance. And the key to patient endurance is attitude. The point of my running story is that my attitude changed. My attitude prior was not bad. But on that day my belief in the value of our workouts and my commitment to endure the pain of our workouts increased. Rather than thinking, "Oh no, what are they going to make us do today?" my attitude became "Bring it on, let's do this!"

In Hebrews 12:3-11 the Preacher speaks to the attitude of the Hebrew Christians towards their suffering. Whether they become bitter or better will be determined by their attitude towards the suffering which God was allowing them to suffer. The key word in 12:3-11 is discipline. It refers not to punishment nor church discipline but to child rearing. A better word would be training. The Preacher has in mind the parenting process by which a child is brought to maturity. As any good father (and mother) trains his children so also God trains His children.

In 12:3-11 the Preacher shifts from the metaphor of a race to child rearing. Just as a good Father requires hard things of his son in order to bring him to maturity, so God uses suffering/persecution to bring His children to maturity. Though some of us may not have had a father or a good father, we can relate to the comparison through a good coach or teacher who required hard things of us in order to bring us to maturity.