Hebrews Chapter 12

Applying God’s Grace

Now that we been exhorted and encouraged with the incredible Truth of how Faithful Believers in the past have chosen to live their lives in the Faith of God’s promises; how should we respond? These Believers have shown us we must learn to live each day, each moment of our lives, in complete and total Faith in Jesus Christ. God wants us to walk in Faith. True, we are saved by Faith, and yet, we must also walk by Faith. It’s not good enough to just SAY you Believe, you must ACT like you Believe. He has shown us we are not to sit around and do the minimum. Do you want God to see that you settled for mediocrity or worse for your life? God wants men and women of Faith that step up to the challenge and seek to know His Will ~ and then to DO IT! Remember we heard God speak to us in Hebrews 6, telling us NOT to be slothful, meaning sinfully lazy and unproductive, but to follow all those who through their Faith and Patience will inherit the promises. So too, we must exercise our Faith and at the same time act with Patience, always believing that God’s wonderful promises WILL BE FULFILLED! So what on Earth are YOU DOING for Heaven’s sake?

12:1

Therefore ~ Once more, there is our strong clue to pay close attention to what we have previously learned, and how we should apply it to our lives: Now we see and understand that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses! Who are these Witnesses? Angels? The Hall of Faith Believers? Are they somehow aware of what we are doing here on Earth? Does God allow them to see our struggles, our Faith, our failures? Yet, now we KNOW that there are WITNESSES, seeing us; seeing our actions, and perhaps even hearing our words! How does that Truth strike your heart, soul and mind? It seems almost mind boggling to know that we actually have Witnesses watching everything we do! So what do we do with that knowledge? The author tells us the answer: We are to set aside every excuse, get rid of the baggage of false beliefs; get rid of everything that hold us back from doing God’s Will. Also we are to get rid of every sin that so easily distracts us from obeying God. Now, the author tells us we are to RUN THE RACE WITH PATIENCE! What RACE? The Race that is set before us: The Race of Life. Ever feel like life is racing by? Maybe God is trying to get your attention, to help you see that you are in the most important Race of all ~ your life on Earth! We are to run this Race of Life with Patience and endurance, meaning we don’t give up, we never quit! When your life is over, so is your Race; so RACE TO WIN!

12:2

Now we are admonished to look away from any distractions. Just as a runner in a race does not look at the crowds yelling and cheering, instead he is focused on the race itself, and on the Finish Line, his goal. The runner knows he cannot allow anything to distract him from his efforts and the goal, absolutely nothing! So we must have that same fierce determination to focus on the Goal, the Author and Finisher of our Faith Race, Jesus Christ. We must not let anyone, or anything, take our attention away from the goal of Patiently and steadfastly pursuing the goal of obeying our Savior in all of our life’s endeavors. Both the Greek and Hebrew emphasize Yeshua as the Beginning and the End; and so we must focus on the Truth that Jesus began in us, our Faith journey, and He will see us through to the Finish. Jesus alone is the power that allows us to begin our Eternal Life with Him, and He alone will bring us to perfection. Jesus gives us the ultimate example of His Life: He endured the agony of execution on the cross, despising the shame, yet always focused on the Joy set before Him. Jesus is, right now, seated at the right hand of God’s Throne; that is the Place of Honor by God’s Throne. See Psalm 110:1 and Matt 22:44. So we as True Believers, must endure the trials and tribulations that come our way, keeping our focus on the Author and Finisher of our Faith, Jesus. Yes, we scorn the shame, yet remain joyful in keeping our Faith in Jesus.

12:3

We are told to keep in mind, this means to constantly keep in our memories, the bitter hostility that Jesus constantly endured against Himself. Why should we remind ourselves of His great sufferings? So that we will not be tempted to give up, quit, and become despondent. Jesus was tempted in every way that we are, yet He never sinned. He always chose to obey His Father’s Will, so must we. Remember, the easiest thing to do is QUIT! Don’t do it!

12:4

Now the author really gives it to us: We, in striving against sin, have not been required to shed our blood by dying on a cross. Lest we think in our minds that it is too difficult to resist some sin, we must constantly remind ourselves what Jesus endured for us throughout His entire life, all the way to the cross ~ and He was totally innocent, without ANY SIN!

12:5

The Holy Spirit asks us to review the Scriptures that tell us that we are to expect to be disciplined as God’s sons and daughters. See Proverbs 3:11-12. God corrects and chastises those He loves and delights in.

12:6

We are clearly reminded that God will chasten those He loves. Those who are True Believers are GUARANTEED to suffer. This discipline from God is proof that He loves us. See Psalm 34:16, Job 5:7,15-16, John 16:33, 2 Timothy 3:11-12. So we often say, or maybe whine, Why? Why ME? I don’t understand why I have to suffer! Naturally, none of us LIKE to suffer, yet we must understand Why it is necessary.

A. So let’s take a careful look at some of the reasons we suffer:
1. Because of our own stupidity and sins. (1 Peter 2:20)
2. For taking a stand for Truth and Righteousness. ( 1 Peter 3:14).
3. As the result of our past sins. (Galatians 6:7).
4. Some unknown purpose of God. (Job).
5. For our Faith. (Hebrews 11).
6. For discipline (Hebrews 12:6)

B. What about trials, why do True Believers have them?
1. To Glorify God (Daniel 3:16-18, 24-25).
2. Discipline for known sin. (Hebrews 12:5-11; James 4;17; Romans 14:23; 1 John 1:9)
3. To prevent us from falling into sin. (1 Peter 4:1-2)
4. To keep us from Pride. Paul was kept from pride by his “torn in the flesh.” (2 Cor. 12:7-10). His eyes? (Gal. 4:15; 6:11).
5. To build Faith. (1 Peter 1:6-7).
6. To cause growth (Romans 5:3-5).

7. To teach obedience and discipline (Acts 9:15-16; Phil 4:11-13).
8. To enable us to comfort others (2 Cor. 1:3-4).
9. To prove the reality of Jesus Christ in us. (2 Cor. 4:7-11).
10. For testimony to the angels (Job 1:8; Eph. 3:8-11; 1 Peter 1:12)
Also see James 1:2-4. “Fellow Believers, count it as Joy when you fall into trials.”

12:7-8

We are told to consider all chastening as discipline from God. It is NOT punishment, but rather, it is designed to strengthen and transform us into the perfect person God intended. Just as we know that self discipline is necessary in order to form godly characteristics, often God must discipline us to form those godly attributes within our character. He does this because He loves us so much He can’t stand to let us wallow around in our sins and failures; keeping those terrible disgusting character traits that stop us from being His perfect child. (8.) So, you still don’t want any discipline? Well then, the author tells us that IF we are without discipline from God then we are only bastards and not God’s true children. So, which would you prefer?

12:9-10

In addition, we are reminded that we all have earthly fathers who disciplined us and we obeyed them and respected them for training us. Perhaps not when we were young, but certainly in our older years we recognized their intent was to teach and train us. Sometimes earthly fathers make mistakes. Yet we know that our Heavenly Father is perfect and that His discipline is always good and perfect and is exactly what we need for our ultimate benefit. God never makes mistakes with us. He always disciplines us towards growth and holiness and will bring us to righteousness. So knowing ALL these Truths, we should be all the more willing to yield ourselves to God’s corrections in whatever way He chooses to discipline us. Keep in mind that sometimes God will chose to severely discipline those we love in order to bring them to Him. To try to alleviate their suffering, or remove them from a trial, may be hindering the work of the Holy Spirit. We do not want to be quenchers of the Holy Spirit and hinder the Salvation and Sanctification of our own loved ones, do we? Be very careful in ‘helping’ loved ones avoid trials ~ those trials may be coming from God for the ultimate benefit of those we love! (10.) Our earthly fathers disciplined us for a fairly short period of time, and did it in a manner that seemed best to them, even if it did not always bring about the intended result. Yet our Heavenly Father disciplines us with an absolute certainty that His discipline will always bring about perfect results for our best benefit; making us partakers of His Holiness. Yielding to His discipline brings us into spiritual maturity and increased holiness.

12:11

During our time of trials, tribulations and chastisement, we are suffering and our lives seem filled with pain, grief and sorrow. Yet, after the trial and discipline is completed we will experience the joy and fruit of righteousness as, AND IF, we have yielded to God’s Will.

12:12-13

So in order to experience these good results we must strengthen ourselves and determine to yield ourselves to God’s chastening. The author uses physical weaknesses to give us a word picture of someone who is weak and faltering, ready to quit the Race. We can almost picture the runner panting, arms hanging down, knees ready to give out and allow him to collapse and crumble in a heap. (13.) We are encouraged to make straight paths for our feet. This means we are to seek the strength and power of the Holy Spirit, and keep to the straight and narrow path as a True follower of Jesus. (See Psalm 23:4) We even have the saying “keep to the straight and narrow”, meaning to do the right thing according to God. We must not attempt to take a steep path, or work, that is beyond what we can accomplish. We should also not place ourselves where temptations are lurking. Thinking we can evangelize all the people at the local bar by going there every day is not a reasonable or prudent ‘work’.

12:14

We are urged to constantly pursue peace and holiness. The pursuit of peace should be with everyone, even the ungodly. The pursuit of holiness must be continual, without ever giving up or quitting. Why should we do these things? The author immediately gives us the answer: Without Holiness, no one will ever see the Lord! This warning is for those who foolishly think that mere intellectual acknowledgment of God’s existence and that Jesus is the Savior, would be sufficient to get them to Heaven. Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! It is this false belief that leads many, many people astray. Remember that True Faith demands obedience! Jesus tells us over and over again that those who are True Believers will “Follow Me”. That means that we follow Jesus in obedience. Please understand the Truth that Jesus told those who claimed to be His followers: “… why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ yet not do the things I say?” See Luke 6:46-49 Jesus says He will deny those who deny Him (by disobeying His Word). Jesus warns us in Matthew 7:15-23: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in Heaven.” Notice the next verse 22: “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ Vs. 23, “Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness! Notice that Jesus did not say that they had not prophesied, or cast out demons or done ‘wonders’, but that they were disobedient! We must be careful to not be taken in by those who ‘seem’ to be godly. Jesus tells us He will say “I do not know you!” to those who claim to be His followers, yet do not obey God’s Word. ” The next verses 24-27, many of us have memorized: “Therefore, whoever hears these words of Mine and does them, is like a man who built his house on the rock…” These and many other Scriptures clearly warn us that we MUST SEEK HOLINESS THROUGH OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S WORD in our lives. As we study these next few verses and all the warnings they contain for us, seek the Holy Spirit in your own life. Ask Him to reveal to you where you are disobedient and then repent, and diligently pursue Holiness in your own life. Seek to be Holy like your very life depends on it, because it does! I challenge you to look up all these scriptures and seek to hear the Holy Spirit speaking to your heart ~ Hear and obey. Remember the seven letters to the Churches? That’s us; and each time Jesus said, “Let him who has ears, Hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.”

12:15

Be on the watch, be careful, make certain, oversee, inspect, look after, care for, be diligent; all these phrases tell us this is an all important Truth the author is conveying to us. Why? So that no one will fall into a root of bitterness. This means we have rejected God’s grace and chosen to seek our own way. It’s like the Holy Spirit has put up neon signs flashing, and sirens wailing to us: Beware! Beware! So what happens if we allow bitterness to enter our soul and spirit? It always causes trouble and defilement. We entangle others in our bitterness and cause heartache and hurt to the body of Christ. Ever know anyone who is bitter? They try to drag you into their bitterness and are hateful to the one they are bitter with. These bitter people drag us down with them into their sin! So how in the world do we avoid bitterness? If we begin to feel anger, resentment, or any other negative feeling, we must immediately confess the negative feeling to God and seek His guidance and direction. It may mean lovingly confronting the person; or removing ourselves from involvement with them, or even forgiving someone who doesn’t deserve to be forgiven. After all, we didn’t deserve forgiveness and Jesus gave it to us at the cost of His Life! If someone else tries to involve you in their bitterness; do your best to stop the verbal complaints and ask if you can pray for them. Then take a deep breath, and silently ask the Holy Spirit for His Wisdom and direction for your prayer. Keep it short and simple and avoid being pushed into ‘taking sides’ or sympathizing with the bitter person. It may even mean that you may have to say. “I’m sorry to interrupt you, but I’m really not comfortable discussing this.” Note that this verse says it causes the “defilement of many”.

12:16-17

Now the author goes on to give other areas of sin that will result from not seeking to obey God. The word ‘fornicator’ refers to ‘spiritual fornication’ because Esau profaned his birthright. He not only sold it cheaply, to satisfy his hunger, but he actually despised it! See Gen. 25:34. Our decisions to obey God or disobey can have irreversible consequences. The firstborn status gave one the headship, or leadership of the family; they were the priesthood of the family, the spiritual leader; and they were to receive a double portion of the inheritance. Esau forfeited all these blessings for a morsel of food! The Hebrews reading this letter were all very aware of the terrible losses that Esau suffered. (17.) The author continues on about Esau, reminding them that afterward, when he changed his mind and wanted to inherit the blessings, he was rejected, even though he sought it with tears, begging his father to give him a blessing also. Once the blessing had been given, it could not be withdrawn; even though Esau wanted his father’s blessings, the repentance was too late. The lesson is clear: Sometimes, even when we repent, we must still suffer the consequences of sin. The author wanted to warn the Hebrews about returning to the ‘old system’ which was based on fear and terror; rather than continuing on in grace; patiently trusting God to give them His promises.

12:18-19

Now the Holy Spirit tells us, and them, that we are not threatened and terrified by a mountain that couldn’t even be touched without causing death; Mount Sinai, that burned with fire; and experienced blackness, darkness and horror. (19.) And then came the blast of a loud trumpet and such a thundering voice from God that it caused them such terror that they all begged that the Word should not be spoken to them anymore. We can hardly imagine the fierceness of the fire they saw and the thundering voice of God that they heard.

12:20-21

The author goes on to remind them that the Israelites could not even bear the commandment that even if a wild animal so much as touched the mountain, it was to be stoned to death, or thrust through with an arrow! (21.) The frightening fire, blackness, darkness, terror and fierce and loud thundering voice of God utterly terrified all the Israelites. Even Moses said he was terrified and trembled with fear. The law was given to them with Fear and Terror. God is a God of consuming fire. See Exodus 34:6-7; Mark 9:43-49; Rev. 20:11-15. The law was filled with negatives and threats of punishments and death. The Holy Spirit wanted them to realize that to go back into Judaism was to go back to a place of fear and terror; rather than remain in God’s Grace and Love.

12:22-23

Now the good news of where we are now; in God’s Grace. We are now coming nearer to the City of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. We will be in the company of countless angels. We will be experiencing great joy and celebration! We are reminded that Jesus is preparing this wonderful City of the Living God, also known as Heavenly Jerusalem, and sometimes Mount Zion; all this for us! See John 14:2-3; and Rev 21:1-22:5. (23.) We will also be in the presence of all of the Church Assembly; the firstborn, or first fruits, meaning the Jewish Believers; and also the spirits of just men made righteous. Some believe that these ‘spirits’ are the old testament saints who may not have yet received resurrected bodies. This will be a gathering of True Believers, all our loved ones; those who trusted in Jesus on earth, no matter what! Be prepared for times of wonderful celebrations and joy!

12:24

Best of all, we will also be in the presence of Jesus, our Savior and Lord; our Mediator of the New Covenant; that is, the blood of Jesus which alone can bring us into God’s presence. Eternal Life with Jesus will be unbelievable ~ filled with such excitement, joy, happiness and celebrations, we will be overcome with Praise for God; it will flow out of our being with shouts and songs and all kinds of expressions of great joy and gratitude for all God has done for us. Abel was the first recorded person to offer a blood sacrifice, so the comparison is made of how much better is the blood sacrifice of Jesus.

12:25-26

So now that you know all this, Beware! See to it, or make absolutely certain that you do not refuse to hear God speaking to you right now. The Greek is emphatic that we now have a stronger obligation than ever before, because of the Truth’s that have been revealed to us. What obligation? To obey God’s Word! Now an even stronger warning: If those who came before you were not able to escape God’s wrath, we should be even more concerned of what will happen to us if we are disobedient. Woe to us if we turn away from our Father who speaks to us from Heaven through His Word. We have the ultimate privilege of holding His very Word in our hands; we are able to hear His Voice anytime, anywhere; just by opening His Word and our hearts. (26.) God’s voice shook the earth; yet in the future His voice will shake not only the earth, but also Heaven. The author is quoting Haggai 2:6 that refers to the shaking that will come just before the Second Coming of Christ.

12:27

Now the author refers to things that will be removed with God’s shaking, those things that are made. This may be a reference to the temple being destroyed in the future. The temple needed to be destroyed so that Believers were not tempted to return to Judaism and the old covenant; and also that Jews would carefully consider Jesus as the Messiah and accept the New Covenant. The old Levitical system needed to be shaken and destroyed. The things that would remain would be the Truth of the New Covenant: Jesus their Messiah would remain forever; He is Eternal and so are His promises. Ever feel like Jesus is allowing you to be ‘shaken’ to remove some old false beliefs so He may bring new, correct Truth into your life?

12:28

Therefore, now the summary of Truth for us: Since we are certain of receiving a Kingdom which cannot be shaken; this would indicate a Kingdom that is ordained by God, let us appropriate or utilize God’s wonderful Grace in our lives. Notice that we must chose to accept God’s Grace, chose to use His Holy Spirit in our daily life, and chose to use His Grace to overcome sin. God offers His Grace to us, yet we must make the choice to apply it to our lives. We have been warned about drifting away. We have been warned about the results of disobedience. We know we must study His Word in order to become mature Christians. We know the dangers of wilful sin. And the terrible consequences of indifference. Great and sorrowful loss awaits everyone who fails to persevere. There will be the loss of reward and honor in Christ’s coming Millennial Kingdom. Yet the loss of becoming the person God chose you to be will be the most heartbreaking of all. Never give up, Never quit. Keep seeking to obey the Holy Spirit within you.

12:29

God is a consuming fire. See Deut. 4:24. Our God is a God of Grace. Yet He is also a God of judgment for those who refuse to use His gift of Grace in their lives. May we prayerfully seek to obey His Will by the Grace and power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus tells us in Rev. 3:11: “Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold tightly to what you have so that no one may take your crown”. We must hold tightly to God’s Grace and use it so that we will produce Eternal Fruit and Glorify God.

“Oh, you of little faith”… is that you? You can change! You can appropriate God’s wonderful Grace in your life; every day, every moment, in everything you think, say, and do. Commit today to begin to strive more diligently to seek God’s Truth for your life. Seek his, power, grace, strength, guidance, wisdom .. All the wonderful benefits He has promised us. Remember, “you have not because you ask not.” Be an asker, that means, pray fervently, every day, for God’s incredible, powerful, grace, to saturate your life, all day long, all night long; so that you become the perfect, holy, obedient child of God you were meant to be. Pray and memorize Psalm 119: 10-11! Are you really Serious? Then pray and memorize all the way to verse 16! Come on, dear Christians; chose to Run the Race with every ounce of strength and commitment in your being! Remember, Jesus provides everything you need to Run the Race Successfully!