Please turn to the book of Hebrews, chapter 12. We will read from Hebrews 12:12-29.
Wherefore lift up the hands that hang down, and the palsied knees;
and make straight paths for your feet, that that which is lame be not turned out of the way, but rather be healed.
Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord:
looking carefully lest there be any man that falleth short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby the many be defiled;
lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one mess of meat sold his own birthright.
For ye know that even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no place for a change of mind in his father, though he sought it diligently with tears.
For ye are not come unto a mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that no word more should be spoken unto them;
for they could not endure that which was enjoined, If even a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned;
and so fearful was the appearance, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:
But ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable hosts of angels,
to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better than that of Abel.
See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh. For if they escaped not when they refused Him that warned them on earth, much more shall not we escape who turn away from Him that warneth from heaven:
Whose voice then shook the earth: but now He hath promised, saying, Yet once more will I make to tremble not the earth only, but also the heaven.
And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which are not shaken may remain.
Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God, with reverence and awe:
for our God is a consuming fire.
Dear heavenly Father, as we are before Thy Word, we pray that we may be those who tremble at Thy Word and obey Thy voice. We commit this time into Thy hands and ask Thee to encourage us, to warn us, and to exhort us. In the name of our Lord Jesus, amen.
This morning we come to the last exhortation found in the book of Hebrews. We have mentioned that Hebrews is a book of exhortation. Exhortation is to call attention to, to warn against, and to encourage.
In this book of Hebrews, we have five distinctive exhortations, and each exhortation is centred upon a very important theme.
The first exhortation is centred upon so great salvation. The salvation that we receive from the Lord is not a small one. It is so great that it is beyond description. The Bible calls it “so great salvation.” We do not know how great it is—so great. We know that it concerns glory.
The second exhortation is centred upon the heavenly calling. We are called to be the house of God, to be companions of Christ, and to enter into His rest—a heavenly calling.
The third exhortation is centred upon perfection. We are urged to press on to perfection, not to remain babes in Christ, but to become grown-ups in Christ Jesus.
The fourth exhortation is centred upon life in the holiest. We are privileged to live a life in the very presence of God. Or, to put it another way, we are so privileged that we can have God as our home, and we can be at home all the time.
Now we come to the fifth exhortation. We find it in the last three chapters of Hebrews: chapters 11, 12, and 13.
This exhortation is centred upon the goal, the prize of the calling on high. It is centred upon the better, heavenly country; the holy city, the New Jerusalem; the birthright and blessing of the firstborn; and the kingdom that cannot be shaken. We find all these as the goal set before us. Because of such a goal, we are encouraged, and we are also warned.
In Hebrews 11, we find a chapter on faith. Sometimes we call this chapter the arena of faith. It is as if the Holy Spirit has put us into that arena and allowed us to view these men and women of faith.
The faith of these men and women may be summed up in Hebrews 11:6:
And without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto Him;
for he that cometh to God must believe that He is,
and that He is a rewarder of them that seek after Him.
Without faith it is impossible to please God. This is how important it is. What is the faith spoken of in this chapter? It is the faith that he who draws near to God must believe. Believe what? Believe that God is.
It is not merely believing that there is a God, because we have already believed that there is God. We have already believed in God. But the faith here is that we believe that God is—or, to put it another way, that God is the great I AM. We believe that He is the I AM, as we find in the Gospel according to John. We also believe that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
This is not the initial faith by which we begin to believe in the Lord Jesus as our personal Saviour. We need that faith, but here it is assumed that we already have it. This is a more advanced faith.
We not only believe that our Lord Jesus, the Son of God, is our Christ and our Saviour; we also believe that He is the great I AM. If we seek Him, we will be rewarded. It is not a matter of gift; it is a matter of reward.
If we believe in the Lord Jesus as our Saviour, we receive the gift of eternal life. But that is a gift. After we believe in the Lord Jesus and believe that He is the great I AM—that He is what He is, that He is all that He is to us, that He is everything to us—then we will be rewarded.
These men and women all received revelation from God, because without revelation there can be no faith. Everyone mentioned in this chapter, in the arena of faith, received some revelation from above. When God revealed Himself to them, they responded with faith. Through faith, they turned their vision into vocation.
Every one of them achieved something—the achievement of faith. They all received testimony from God that He was pleased with them. Yet, as you read the chapter, in spite of all they achieved for God by faith, and in spite of the testimony they received from above, the Bible says they did not receive the promise.
And these all, having had witness borne to them through their faith, received not the promise,
God having provided some better thing concerning us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
—Hebrews 11:39-40
What is the promise? They received many things. They even received testimony from God that they had pleased Him. Yet the Spirit of God says that they did not receive the promise. Why? Because they could not receive it apart from us.
This promise must be something corporate. It is not something merely personal. It is a corporate promise, and it cannot be fulfilled individually. It must be fulfilled together—these men and women of faith together with us.
If you read Hebrews 11, you find that it is the promise for which Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob looked. By faith Abraham left his native place. He obeyed God and followed Him to the place promised to him. Yet during his lifetime he never actually received the promised land. He only bought a cave and an adjoining field for burial. That was all he received.
Yet the Bible says that he was looking for something far more than Canaan. Canaan was promised to him, that is true. But through Canaan he saw the promise, and the promise was the heavenly country.
Abraham could have returned to his old country if he had wanted to, but he refused to go back. He would rather be a stranger and a sojourner on earth. Why? Because he was looking for a better country, a heavenly country—a city with foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Brothers and sisters, there is only one city with foundations: the holy city, the New Jerusalem. In Revelation 21 and Revelation 22, we find that this city has twelve foundations. It is a city with foundations which God has built.
This is what these men and women were looking forward to. Dear brothers and sisters, in a sense this is what we are looking forward to. Thank God, we have an eternal home—a place where God is all and in all.
In that holy city, the New Jerusalem, the glory of God is manifested. It is all of God. It is God’s eternal home, and it is our eternal home. In that city Christ is indeed all and in all. This is the goal set before us.
In order to reach that goal, we are still in the process of arriving at it. It is as if we are all put on a racecourse. That is what we find in Hebrews 12.
The moment you are saved, God puts you on a racecourse. The end of the course is to win Christ, to know Him and the power of His resurrection, to be conformed to His image, and to attain unto the out-resurrection from among the dead.
Every brother and sister, as soon as we are saved, is put by God on a course that we have to run. We mentioned last time that it is an obstacle course. It is not a smooth course, but one filled with obstacles, and we have to overcome these obstacles in order to arrive at the goal and gain the prize of the calling on high.
Brothers and sisters, salvation is never cheap. It may be free, but it is not cheap.
In order to save us, God had to sacrifice His only begotten Son. He spared not His own Son in order to save us. In order to save us, our Lord Jesus gave up His life. No one took His life from Him. He said, “I lay down My life, that I may take it again.” Our Lord Jesus laid down His life for us.
Salvation is very expensive—so expensive that you cannot pay for it. Because it is beyond your payment, God gives it to you freely. But it is not cheap.
After we have received the Lord Jesus and have been put on that racecourse, do you think the Christian life is cheap? Not at all. The Christian life is very expensive. It is costly, because we have to run an obstacle course in order to arrive at the goal. It is not for those who are fainthearted.
How should we run that race? We have to lay aside every weight.
Now, brothers and sisters, weight is different from sin. Sin is something that easily entangles us. In Hebrews 12, we find that we are to cast aside the sin that easily entangles us. Notice that “sin” is singular. In other words, the sin that easily entangles us in our race is the sin of unbelief.
The sin of unbelief must be laid aside, and then we must lay aside every weight. Weight is not sin, but it is weight. It may not be sin, but it weighs you down so that you are unable to run well.
Have you ever seen a runner, when he is going to run, put on heavy boots, a fur coat, and all kinds of weight? No. A runner strips himself of everything that can be stripped away in order that he may run.
Brothers and sisters, that is what we are all called to do. We are not only to cast away the sin that easily entangles us, but we are to lay aside every weight—anything that slows us down. It may not be sin; it may be the world. But we have to lay it down in order that we may run with endurance.
It is an endurance race, not a one-hundred-metre sprint, nor even a cross-country race. It is a lifetime race. We are racing toward the goal, and all the time we are looking away from everything unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.
When you are running and try to look around, it slows you down. When you are running, your eyes are set upon the goal. That is all you set your eyes upon. So, dear brothers and sisters, as we are running this race, let our eyes be fixed upon the Lord Jesus.
It is a difficult race. Because it is so difficult, only by setting our eyes upon the Lord Jesus, only by thinking of Him and considering Him, are we able to endure the race.
We think of our Lord Jesus—how He ran, how He endured the cross, despising shame, for the joy that was set before Him. We remember how our Lord Jesus fought against sin even unto death, shedding His blood. Brothers and sisters, we have not shed our blood yet. Let us take courage and press on.
It is true that the enemy tries in every way to hinder us, to discourage us, to stop us, and to turn us aside. It is true that we have to suffer. But thank God, through the things which we suffer, we learn obedience.
All the time, we remember that our heavenly Father allows hardships, difficulties, and sometimes problems that cannot be explained to happen in our lives because He uses all these things as child-training. He wants us to grow up. He wants us to develop. He wants His own character to be developed in us, that we may be partakers of His holiness.
So, brothers and sisters, remember these things. As you remember them, lift up the hands that hang down, strengthen the failing knees, and make straight paths for your feet.
Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord.
—Hebrews 12:14
Dear brothers and sisters, in pressing on toward the goal, the prize of the calling on high, negatively we need to lift up the hands that hang down, strengthen the failing knees, and straighten our path. Positively, we need to pursue peace with all and holiness.
The word pursue is very meaningful. You do not pursue without a goal. If there is no goal, you are wandering; you are not pursuing. If you are pursuing, you must pursue after something.
Christian life is not a life of wandering. It is not an aimless life. Christian life is very purposeful. We are pursuing after something. As a matter of fact, we are pursuing after Someone. We are pursuing after Christ.
Here we find that we are to pursue peace with all and holiness. Why are these two things especially mentioned?
As we run this difficult course, we may feel that it is so difficult and so hard. We may begin to faint, and probably we begin to lose our peace. As we struggle and try to press on, sometimes our eyes get off the Lord Jesus. We begin to look at ourselves, and we begin to feel how strenuous it is. We try our best, and yet we seem to get nowhere.
Then we become frustrated and begin to lose our peace with God. We may even begin to murmur against God: “Why is it that God makes it so hard?”
Or we may look at other people who seem to have a much easier time than we do. Because of that, we become jealous. In our pursuing, we may become ambitious and competitive. We want to be above everybody else. When we see someone who has gone ahead of us, we become envious and jealous. Or, if we run ahead of others, we become proud of ourselves and look down upon our brothers and sisters who move slowly.
Then we lose peace with our brothers and sisters. Yet the One whom we are pursuing is the Prince of Peace.
In this pursuing, it is very easy to get lost. Yet the very purpose of pursuing is to take on the character of the One whom we pursue. What a tragedy if we are not developing His character within us.
How easy it is when people are really pursuing, as it were, and think they have found the truth—or some truth—to become proud of themselves. They give people the impression, “We are holier than you are.” They look down upon their fellow citizens, their brothers and sisters.
Dear brothers and sisters, is it worth it? They lose the character of the One whom they pursue. What have they gained? A little truth? Some interpretation? It is nothing. It is the character of Christ that has to be built within us in the pursuit, because He is the One whom we pursue.
Therefore, pursue peace and holiness. His very nature is holy. Our Lord is holy. Holy means uncommon; it is different. It is not natural; it is supernatural. It is not you and me. It is He. It is all of Him.
We are pursuing after holiness because without holiness no one can see God. The word holiness literally means “holy-making.” In other words, we ought to be made holy. We are to be made like Him.
To put it another way, we ought to be transformed and conformed to His image. We ought to let Him be our character; let Him characterise us. This is what holiness really means: not I, but Christ. That is holiness, and we ought to pursue after that holiness.
That we may be made partakers of His holiness, and that we may yield the fruit of peaceful righteousness. Is that not wonderful—peaceful righteousness? Can there be righteousness that is not peaceful? Sometimes people can be over-righteous, and when you are over-righteous, it is not peaceful at all. But here we find peaceful righteousness and holiness.
This is our goal. Because of this, we find a threefold warning immediately following.
Looking carefully lest there be any man that falleth short of the grace of God.
—Hebrews 12:15
The words “falleth short” mean falling short. Watch lest there be anyone who falls short of the grace of God.
What is the grace of God? On the one hand, the grace of God is what He has called us to. On the other hand, the grace of God is what He has supplied us with.
It is the grace of God that calls us. His grace calls us into all that He is. Then His grace supplies us with all that we need to enter in. That is the grace of God, and the grace of God is here with every one of us.
You are saved by grace through faith. The grace of God is already here. The grace of God has called us into all that He is for us, and the grace of God has supplied us with all the energy, all the strength, and all the power needed to enter into Him. It is all given to us. All we need is by grace through faith: believe, take it, respond to it, receive it.
If you do not respond to grace calling, and if you do not receive grace supply, then you fall short of the grace of God. The grace of God is there, but you are not able to enjoy it. You fall short of it.
If you fall short, there is no excuse. You cannot excuse yourself by saying, “I do not know what He has called me to do.” You cannot say, “I have not found any supply from Him.” No, He has already shown you, and He has already given to you; but you do not receive it by faith.
Thank God, it is falling short of the grace of God; it is not falling out of the grace of God. In Galatians 5:4, there is falling from grace, and that is serious. But even if we fall short of the grace of God—if we do not arrive at that to which God has called us because we become lazy or content with a little—we despise this calling and do not reach out and rely upon His grace, which is sufficient for every need.
Be careful about it.
Lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby the many be defiled.
—Hebrews 12:15
It is very strange, but usually those who fall short of the grace of God will find a root of bitterness in their hearts. If you really embrace the grace of God, you find joy, worship, and peace. But when you fall short of the grace of God, you begin to blame God. “It is all His fault.” The root of bitterness begins to arise within you.
Look at the history of the children of Israel. Because they did not apprehend the grace of God, they turned against God and murmured against God. Even in Matthew 25, the wicked servant was lazy and wicked. He did not want to work with the talent his master had given him, so he buried it. When he faced the master, he blamed him: “You are a hard master.” That is the root of bitterness.
The problem is that if the root of bitterness arises in your heart, it affects not only you, but many will be defiled. Why? Because we are one body.
That is comforting: we are running together. It is a team race. If any one of us becomes bitter, soon it spreads to others. It is just like murmuring. A little murmur may begin somewhere at the extremity of the camp, but gradually it travels—faster than light—and enters even into the centre of the camp until the whole camp begins to cry.
Many will be defiled. Dear brothers and sisters, it is a tremendous privilege to be a member of the body of Christ, but it is also a serious responsibility. We are responsible not only for ourselves, but also for our fellow members in the body of Christ.
Be careful. We should edify people and not offend them.
Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one mess of meat sold his own birthright.
—Hebrews 12:16
The word profane is the very opposite of holy. Profane simply means that, instead of being set apart for God, instead of being sanctified and uncommon, we become common. We mingle with the world, we love the world, and we become one with it.
Esau, for the love of one meal—not even a luxurious dinner, but a bowl of soup—sold his birthright. Because he sold his birthright, he could not receive the blessing connected with it.
Dear brothers and sisters, we have a birthright. The church is the assembly of the firstborn whose names are registered in heaven. Because our Lord Jesus is the Firstborn, the church is the church of the firstborn. We all have that firstborn right in Christ Jesus.
We all are priests and kings. We all have a double portion. That is our birthright, and that is the blessing that goes with our birthright. But, dear brothers and sisters, we may lose the blessing of the birthright if we become profane instead of loving Him—Christ our Lord.
Thank God, we are further encouraged. Dear brothers and sisters, we are not coming to Mount Sinai; we have come to Mount Zion.
Here we find a contrast between two mountains: Mount Sinai and Mount Zion. It is a contrast between law and grace.
What is Mount Sinai? It is law. The description of Mount Sinai is that it is a mountain that can be touched; it is physical. Yet whoever touches it must be stoned to death. It can be touched, but you cannot touch it, because it means death.
It is all fire, darkness, tempest, trumpet sound, and voice of words. In other words, it was a terrible sight. When the children of Israel saw this terrible sight, when the law was given, they trembled and begged Moses, “Do not let God speak with us, lest we die. Speak to Him, and let Him speak to you; then tell us.”
Even Moses said that it was so terrible that he was in fear and trembling. Brothers and sisters, this is what law is: “Thou shalt,” and “thou shalt not.” Can you bear it? Can you hear it without fear and trembling? Whenever you touch the law, you touch death.
But thank God, we do not come to Mount Sinai. We have come to Mount Zion. Mount Zion, of course, is not Zion in Jerusalem below; it is the Zion in heaven. We are coming to Mount Zion, where God reigns.
We are coming to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, where God dwells among His redeemed. We are coming to myriads of angels in the universal gathering. Thank God for the myriads of angels ministering to those who are redeemed and praising God.
We are coming to the assembly of the firstborn who are registered in heaven—that is the church—and to God, the Judge of all. He is the Judge of all, and thank God, we can stand before the Judge of all with holy boldness because of the blood of the Lamb.
We are coming to the spirits of just men made perfect. These may be the saints of Old Testament times. Thank God, we are coming to Jesus, the Mediator of a new covenant.
He is the Mediator of the new covenant of our Lord Jesus. We come to the blood of sprinkling—not only the blood poured out, but the blood sprinkled; in other words, the blood applied. We are coming to grace.
As you read, you find that He says, “Ye are come.” We may think the holy city is still in the future. Dear brothers and sisters, one day the holy city, the New Jerusalem, will come down from heaven. Yet the Bible says, “Ye are come.”
In spiritual reality, there is no time factor. It is true that one day the holy city will come down from heaven, but spiritually we have already come. We are already under grace. We have already received grace.
Brothers and sisters, do you not know that we are children of grace? We are not under law; we are under grace.
Because it is grace and not law, does that mean we can be careless? It is very strange—our human mentality is very strange.
If we think we are under law, we know we have to be careful. But no matter how careful we are, we violate the law. When we think that we are under grace, then we may think we are free to do anything we like. After all, it is grace.
Do not deceive yourself. Grace is so much greater than law. Because grace is so much greater than law, our responsibility to grace is so much greater.
See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh. For if they escaped not when they refused Him that warned them on earth, much more shall not we escape who turn away from Him that warneth from heaven.
—Hebrews 12:25
Brothers and sisters, we have come to grace. The grace of God is none other than the Lord Jesus. We have come to Him; we have come to Christ. Therefore, let us not refuse Him.
God spoke in times past unto the fathers through the prophets in many portions and in many ways. But now He has spoken to us in His Son. Brothers and sisters, God has spoken. He has spoken to us in His Son. Let us not refuse Him who speaks to us.
Let us not excuse ourselves like the children of Israel. Let us not decline to hear His voice.
If people refused to hear him who spoke on earth—the oracle of God, Moses—how much more serious is it if we turn away from Him who speaks to us from heaven?
Brothers and sisters, we are warned against turning away from Him. Let us not turn away, let us not decline, and let us not refuse to hear Him.
Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God, with reverence and awe:
for our God is a consuming fire.
—Hebrews 12:28-29
We are exhorted and encouraged again: let us not turn away, let us not decline, and let us not refuse to hear Him. Rather, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace.
Do you know that it is the good pleasure of our Father to give us the kingdom? The Lord Jesus said in Luke 12:32:
Fear not, little flock;
for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
The little flock means the church, because in comparison with the world, the church is a little flock. Yet it is the delight of our heavenly Father to give us the kingdom.
The kingdoms of the world are all being shaken. But God has given us a kingdom that cannot be shaken. It has been given to us.
Because He has given us a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace. What does this mean? Grace has already been given. Why not have it? Why not receive it?
Again, we find the principle: by grace, through faith. Grace has been given. We have come to Mount Zion. We have come to grace. Grace has been given. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, let us rise up and take it by faith. Believe it.
Believe that He is for us, that He is all to us, and that we have received an unshakable kingdom. Believe that we have sufficient grace in order that we may enter into the kingdom abundantly. Let us have grace.
Let us serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe. There is only one way to serve God, and that is through grace.
We cannot please God in ourselves. We cannot serve God by our own ability, by our own ingenuity, by our own strength, by our natural life, or by natural energy. It will be completely rejected.
The only way we can serve God is by His grace, through faith. “Let us have grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God.” This is the only service that He will accept.
It has to be Christ—Christ in you. We serve with reverence and awe. That is our attitude. We are always afraid lest our own self and our flesh enter in, lest we stretch out the hand of the flesh, that we may serve God acceptably.
Brothers and sisters, you find that it is grace from the beginning to the end. It is all of grace. It is grace, grace, amazing grace. Everything is grace.
Now the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, even our Lord Jesus,
make you perfect in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
—Hebrews 13:20-21
Here in Hebrews 13:20, God has already demonstrated His grace in Christ Jesus. He has brought again from among the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, in the power of the blood of the eternal covenant.
God has expressed and demonstrated His grace in Christ Jesus and in all that Christ has done for us. Now He is going to do all these things through Christ Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, in each one of us—that we may be made perfect in every good work for the doing of His will, working in us what is pleasing before Him through Jesus Christ.
Not only Christ and what Christ has done on Calvary’s cross, but Christ in us—the hope of glory. Brothers and sisters, again, it is all His doing.
In the book of Hebrews, all these wonderful things are set before us: so great salvation, the heavenly calling, perfection, life in the holiest, the goal, and the prize of the high calling. Remember, all these are what grace calls us to.
At the same time, the very same grace is in each one of us to supply us with everything needed to arrive at the goal. It is He who does it. All that we need to do is to believe.
Dear heavenly Father, how we do praise and thank Thee that what Thou hast done in Christ Jesus, and what Thou hast called us into, is not small. It is of such tremendous magnitude that it is beyond our understanding.
But we praise and thank Thee that by Thy Holy Spirit it is revealed to us, and continually revealed to us. Father, we pray that we may not be fainthearted, but that we may rise up by Thy grace and apprehend Thy grace.
May we find that Thy grace which calls us is the grace that supplies. Father, we pray that through it all may be unto the praise of Thy glory. In the name of our Lord Jesus, amen.