Sermon Tone Analysis

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PRAY
Intro: Jungle trails and survey trips
In Hebrews our author is concerned for those who are tired and weary (and perhaps tempted to give up bc of fear and exhaustion, or stray bc of tiredness and lack of focus, or bc of persecution): So he’s trying to keep them focused, comforted, and motivated - Hebrews 12:3 and then our text for today:
Because we risk growing weary, and because there is opposition to our race, we need to...
Straighten Up and Run Right (vv.
12-13)
You picture the exhausted and disheartened runner… losing good running form (with hands/arms) and whose knees seem ready to give way.
- What is it that is supposed to give them the inner encouragement and courage to keep running?
With What Motivation?
First, “Therefore” - Jesus, our perfect sacrifice and perfect priest (still interceding/mediating) - And a Father who proves his love for his children.
Furthermore, our text in v. 12 is an allusion to...
If God is for us, who can be against us?
(Rom.
8:31) - If you are truly God’s runner (if you are his child by faith in Jesus Christ), who can take you out of the race?
- We can become exhausted with sin’s affects on the world, disheartened by our own struggle with sin, paralyzed with fear of those who would do us harm….
So we have seen from this reference to Isaiah and with remembrance of the earlier verses… Here is our inner motivation to keep running faithfully:
Confident in Christ
Comfort in the Father’s love
Courage in God’s power & plan
Your confidence is Christ, your comfort is the Father’s love, and your courage is God’s power and plan.
Right Posture and Right Paths
And just like righting your posture, you also need to choose right paths for your feet:
- allusion this time to… (Prov.
4:26)
If you’ve ever run any trail races as I have, you know that careful placement and sure-footedness is imperative.
With confidence in Christ’s work and the Father’s love, we need to straighten our posture and paths… so that any member not functioning right (lame, crippled) won’t become dislocated but rather healed (restored, renewed).
Try to imagine the ugly risk of playing basketball or skiing on a knee with no ACL.
- I have a reconstructed ACL.
I believe this to be the beginning reference to what clearly becomes collective discussion in the verses which follow.
So while this could refer to us righting some weakness in ourselves, it likely refers to helping each other so that we don’t suffer a more serious injury to the Christian community.
Together we must straighten our posture and run on straight paths for our feet so that any weakness in us might not become a more serious spiritual condition.
- Thus the next exhortation is to pursue holiness together.
Strive After Peace & Holiness... Together (vv.
14-17)
First we are meant to feel a sense of urgency and intensity here with the idea of striving after (chasing, pursuing to catch something)… and added to the second pursuit (and the one most developed in subsequent verses) is the absolute necessity of possessing holiness—“without which no one will see the Lord.”
And what’s interesting (if not also perplexing) about telling us to chase after peace and holiness is that the context has already described those things as being accomplished through Christ and coming from God… by His grace.
(They are divine gifts we receive through the gospel.)
What is ours positionally (Heb.
10:10 and Heb.
10:14) we must choose to walk in practically.
- In fact, this positional sanctification that has practical evidence is a test of our Christian authenticity.
(recall Heb.
12:10-11)
- So the sense here is most definitely the concept of sanctification, of growth in holiness.
Sanctification = growth in holiness
*A Daily Practice: (Heb.12:14)
We have peace issues with one another bc of sin’s persistence: envy, rivalry, deceit… and plain old pettiness
Running the jungle trail in PQQ
So too in this spiritual struggle we need to grow in holiness
Sanctification then is...
becoming more devoted to God to be more distinct and undiluted (morally pure)
- Now the need for holiness is not only individual but also communal/corporate.
- In our striving for peace & holiness we are to be “seeing to it” three things:
“Seeing to it”
that no one falls short of God’s grace
that no “root of bitterness” springs up to cause trouble (which taints the whole group)
and that no one is immoral and godless like Esau
Notice that this “seeing to it,” this oversight, this taking great care to be watchful and prudent, is the responsibility of each member in the body, not simply those who are the established leaders.
Team Vigilance - the race includes obstacles and even opposition —> so we strive for unified holiness, seeing to it that… (list again)
1.
How does one fail to obtain, or fall short of, or miss out on God’s grace?
We all have fallen short of his glory, but grace is a free gift, so how does one fail to obtain a free gift?
There can only be one answer—by rejecting the gospel.
Heb.
3:12-14
A free gift needs to be accepted
2. The “root of bitterness” is a reference to Deut.
29:18, dealing with idolatry and apostasy.
The falsehood and straying hearts and disobedience of individuals in the community can’t be allowed to grow into a chronic trouble (annoyance/harassment) — bc by it a multitude become defiled (stained/contaminated). (which is the opposite of purity/holiness)
The root is underground, unseen, but it produces poisonous fruit.
- The impact of our apostasy and unholy living on others...
[The third and final parallel thing that we are to be watchful for brings home the ultimate impact that apostasy has on the condition of the one who proves to be false.]
3.
That no one is immoral or godless like Esau - while the first term referring to Esau here is literally a sexually immoral person—πόρνος (pornos)—there is no OT biblical reference to Esau being sexually immoral (although Jewish tradition taught that he was sexually immoral for marrying the two Hittite women).
This is more likely being used, as the Bible often does, metaphorically of a person who is given to idolatry and thereby is abandoning, being unfaithful to the living God.
So too the adjective describing Esau is “unholy,” or worldly, godless; also profane, impure.
- And then comes a specific instance from his life that explains how he was unfaithful and ungodly = when he traded his birthright (a double portion for the firstborn son) for stew.
[Eat a banana and drink water before making any decisions based on hunger craving.]
The illustration continues into v. 17 as a warning of judgment, explaining that he also therefore missed out on the blessing.
Our author skips over the deceit by Jacob and his mother Rebekah.
He just goes straight to the fact that when Esau sought to inherit the blessing, it was too late: he was regarded as unworthy.
Two Major implications for today:
Implications:
The time for repentance is now.
Growing in peace and holiness is the privilege of legitimate children.
1.
The time for repentance is now.
- It is right to fear God and his just judgment against sin:
This is what it means to know God: When we fear God rightly (based on who he truly is, on His terms), then we will trust him wholly (bc he is good), and we will love him dearly (bc he has freely loved us), and we will aim to obey him fully (bc he is worthy).
- Now the means that God has given us (and it is the ONLY way) to be restored to God is through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.
The time for repentance is now.
- Run from your sin into the arms of Jesus.
2. Growing in peace and holiness is the privilege of legitimate children.
So too persistent waywardness and lack of growth should give us serious pause.
And in both cases we should be working hard to comfort and challenge one another.
With confidence in Christ’s work and with comfort and courage in the Father’s love and plan, we can straighten our posture and right our paths to help one another run faith’s race well.
To do that, we need to work peaceably with each other and prioritize holiness.
Back to Jason - It wasn’t wise, and he won’t do it again.
But he made it.
He didn’t die.
He literally thought he was going to, and he was completely ready to give up.
But he wasn’t alone.
The team saved his bacon.
They divided up the weight of his pack and carried it.
And when Jamie and Mike went on ahead to reach the destination at the appointed time, Dad stayed behind to help Jason.
Seriously, without that Christian brother, he was going to drop out.
He was done.
But he had someone comforting him, challenging him, cheering him on.
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