Philemon and Hebrews
***denotes visual lesson
Hebrews
**Hebrews 4:16 - Confident! (Holy Day Lesson - Pentecost)
**Hebrews 7:25 - Atonement -Saved to the Uttermost (Holy Day Lesson - Day of Atonement)
**Hebrews 10:24 - Stir Up One Another
**Hebrews 10:36 - Keep On Keeping On
Hebrews 12:1 - Are you Ready to Run?
**Hebrews 12:12 - Persevering
**Confident!
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, Hebrews 4:16
Materials: collection of “things” your dad might agree that you can have (balls, stickers, crayons, notebook) and things you probably can’t have (balloon, bell, popgun)
Do you know what it means to be confident? It means you are comfortably sure of something. If you are confident that you can go ask your dad for something, you wouldn’t hesitate. But if you’re not confident that he’ll like your request, or if you’re not confident that now is a good time, you will probably be hesitant or reluctant to go ask your dad for what you want.
But here’s a scripture that talks about being confident when we go before God’s throne! How comfortable are you in going to God to ask for what you want?
It’s a curious thing. God has given us the privilege of coming before Him with our concerns. He wants to hear from us. But we humans can get off track too far on either side of the road. Our daily prayers can start looking more like a grocery list of things that we want - almost treating God like He’s a genie in a bottle. Then when we don’t get what we want, we doubt God and His goodness for us. That’s not right. He loves us so much.
On the other hand, we can think that God doesn’t want to be bothered by our little problems. That’s not right either. God is the One who graciously gave us His Son; what could be bigger than that? (Romans 8:32) But if we need the confirmation that God loves us and that we can go to Him to find help in time of need, God also gave us His Holy Spirit.
As we talked about yesterday, the Holy Spirit teaches us, warns us, keeps us safe in Christ, intercedes for us when we pray, and testifies with our spirit that we are the children of God. (John 16:13; Acts 20:23; Ephesians 4:30; Romans 8:26-27; Romans 8:16) This last one should resonate with anyone who has had a good dad. We are confident that we can go to our Heavenly Father with our request because we’ve had that experience with our earthly fathers. We are confident going to our earthly father because our relationship with him; we are confident going to our Heavenly Father because of our relationship with Him. Pretty cool that we get to celebrate Pentecost on Father’s Day this year.
***Atonement - Saved to the Uttermost
(Holy Day Lesson - Atonement)
Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25
Materials: dry erase board, dry erase markers, permanent markers, eraser
Sin is the transgression of God’s law - and we all sin. We all fail to obey God perfectly all the time. So then what? Well, we either have to pay the penalty for our sin, or we have to find someone who can pay the penalty for us. The penalty for sin, the consequence of disobeying God, is death. And unfortunately for us, there’s only One Person who can pay that penalty for us: Jesus Christ. No other person can die in our place. No other person can be the proper payment for our sins. But Jesus’ payment for us goes beyond just paying for our sins; He also reconciles us to God. We are then restored to a position of relationship to the Father because of what Jesus did on our behalf. And yet, it’s more than payment and reconciliation. After Jesus died, He sat down at the right hand of the Father in heaven - and ever lives to make intercession for us. So when we sin, we know that we have an Advocate before the Father.
Take a dry erase board. Write an example of a sin in permanent marker on the board. Once you’ve written it, you can’t erase it. It’s permanent ink. That’s what sin is like. Once you’ve committed a sin, you can’t just erase it.
On the Day of Atonement, however, a very important ceremony was observed every year. Two goats were killed as a sacrifice. The first goat’s blood was taken into the Holy of Holies (which could only be entered once a year) and sprinkled on the mercy seat. This first goat made atonement for the tabernacle, the place where God would meet with His people.
The second goat had all of the sins of the whole congregation - all of them - for all of the people - confessed on its head. Then it was led into the wilderness. Symbolically, the goat carried away all of the sins of the people.
Jesus Christ is both the One whose blood provided a covering for our sins and carried our sins away when He died on the cross.
The dry erase board looks like it’s completely ruined; it can’t be redeemed again for any use. But use the dry erase marker. Mark completely over the permanent marker until you can’t see the permanent marker any more. Now use the eraser. The permanent ink is gone.
That’s what God says about our sins. He will remove our sins from us as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12).
This dry erase marker, which was unusable because of the marking on it, is now useful again. And we all, whose sin has made us unholy and unusable, is now made clean and is a useful vessel again for God’s glory.
The Day of Atonement is all about redemption and cleansing and being made useful again for our God. The picture of this day is one of being saved to the uttermost because Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us. Amen.
***Stir Up One Another
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, Hebrews 10:24
Materials needed: stiff cardboard or clipboard, colored sand, pencil, rubber band
Imagine that I have a piece of cardboard onto which I’ve sprinkled colored sand. Now imagine that I’ve run a rubber band around the pencil the long way, to simulate the bow on the violin. What will happen to the grains of sand on the cardboard when I run the rubber band perpendicular to the cardboard? The cardboard will vibrate and will pass along the vibrations to the grains of sand. They’ll “dance.” In fact, if I continue long enough, the grains of sand will form a pattern.
My dog Pepper gets very excited when he hears words like “ball” and “grass” (Don’t ask me why!!!) and “Laissez les bonne temps rouler.” He doesn’t know what the French means, but he thinks it means something pretty exciting!! It’s quite ironic because that phrase means “Let the good times roll.” But how in the world would he know that? Nevertheless, Pepper can be rapidly stirred to a frenzy of barking and dancing with just a few words.
Do you know that we, as people, are very much like the grains of sand and Pepper? We can be excited when stimulated in just the right way. We can be stirred up to anger. We can be stirred up to do wrong things. But the author of Hebrews tells us to think about, to plan ahead, to devise a way to stir each other up, to get ourselves all excited. For what purpose? To love one another and to good works, to do things that please God, to do what is right.
Words can do that. Your words and your actions towards your family, your church family, your friends - they are very powerful. They can get other people excited and ready to “dance.” So the first thing to learn from this verse is that our words can be powerful motivators for good.
But it’s very curious: your job is not just to excite other people. The way this verse is phrased leads us to believe that we’re stirring up one another and ourselves. We’re supposed to think about ways not just to get others to do good things for God, we’re supposed to be participating. We’re intimately involved. We’re working together in love to serve God. That’s the second thing to learn from this verse: we’re in it together.
The sand is easily excited. But it takes consistent work to get a pattern to form. In the same way, we can get people stirred up, motivated to love and do good works for the Lord, but it takes some sustained effort to achieve something really valuable. The third lesson is to continue to look for ways to encourage one another. It’s not one and done.
When you spend some time thinking about this verse, it’s actually very cool. One: look for ways to encourage one another in love to serve God. Two: We need to encourage one another and work together. And three: we need to persevere. Keep on encouraging one another. Laissez les bonne temps rouler!!
**Keep on Keeping On
For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. Hebrews 10:36
Materials: cups, warm drink, ice, green tomato, red tomato
What is it that we have need of? According to the writer of Hebrews, we have need of endurance. But this is not endurance like who can walk up all the steps of the tallest building in St. Louis or ride your bicycle all the way from here to your home. The writer of Hebrews is talking about something else: doing the will of God until God tells you you’re done. That means keeping God’s commandments and doing what honors Him when it’s hard, when you’re tired, when no one else around you is worshiping God, even when you don’t particularly want to, you keep on doing what is right, according to God’s standards.
Some Bible translations say “you have need of endurance.” Others say that you must persevere. The KJV says that you “have need of patience.” It’s very similar to hearing your mom saying, “Just be patient. Dad will be home soon.” You know that means you have to finish the job she’s given you, but when Dad gets home, there will be a reward.
The concept of endurance makes me think of struggling to continue doing something. So I like the translations which use “patience” because that reminds me that sometimes enduring through having to wait can seem harder than struggling against something that requires physical effort. Is it harder to run three times around the house or to sit, without moving or talking, for the same amount of time?
We don’t like to be patient. We don’t like waiting. It’s hard to wait for the first tomato to turn red. It’s hard to wait for the watermelon to get ripe so that we can eat it. It’s hard to wait for the ice cubes in a glass of warm juice to melt enough to cool off the drink. But who likes warm juice? Who likes eating a green tomato? Who likes ruining a perfectly good watermelon because you cut it before it was completely ripe? No one does. You have to wait, patiently. And if you do, there’s a reward at the end.
The writer of Hebrews tells us to persevere through difficulties, to patiently continue obeying God, to keep on doing what is right in His sight. There is a reward coming - and it’s going to be worth everything we’re going through to get it - even waiting patiently.
Are You Ready to Run?
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race set before us. Hebrews 12:1
Imagine you are in a race, a contest to run. You have fans urging you on, cheerleaders really encouraging you. But you have this heavy weight you have to carry, and there are other runners who are so close to you that you cannot break out and get away from the crowd. The phrase “which clings so closely” is defined as “well standing around.” That is, whatever is around you is very well entrenched. Furthermore, it has the connotation of thwarting a racer in every direction. The racer can’t run; there’s nowhere to move.
O.K. So what is this thing that clings so closely. In Hebrews 12:1, the author says that it is sin. What sin? There are several clues what the sin is which clings so closely and impedes a Christian’s forward progress. The “therefore” at the beginning of the verse is our first clue. That word “therefore” says, “Remember what we were just talking about? Well, based on that conversation, I’m going to tell you something else.” What were we just talking about before Hebrews 12:1? Well, Hebrews 11. You know, as in the Faith chapter - the Faith Hall of Fame. Therefore, our first clue that this sin which clings so closely is a lack of faith is found in the use of the word “therefore.”
The next clue is this great cloud of witnesses. Which cloud of witnesses is this? The most logical explanation is those listed just previously in the book of Hebrews.
The next clue is the phrase “let us also.” If the author of Hebrews had just said, “let us lay aside every weight,” we might not have mentally thought about who the “also” refers to. But when he writes, “Let us also lay aside every weight . . .”, we automatically think, “Well, who else laid aside a weight?” Again, it refers to those witnesses who are listed in the Faith Hall of Fame as those who laid aside every weight and the sin which clings so closely.
So why is a lack of faith sin? Why is having faith such a big deal? Hebrews 3:19 and Hebrews 4:11 make it very clear that a lack of faith, or unbelief, causes disobedience. Disobedience is very displeasing to God, just as faith, followed by obedience is very pleasing to God. That fact is emphasized in Hebrews 12:2 which calls Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith!
So if the sin which clings so closely is a lack of faith or unbelief, then what is the weight that we must lay aside? It is the fear which causes us to not trust God. It can be fear of pain and death, fear of rejection from others, fear of failure, fear of the unknown, fear of humiliation. But Jesus gives us the example of what to do with this weight - this fear. Hebrews 12:2 says that Jesus, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,” despised the shame. Jesus did not allow the shame of the cross prevent him from obeying His Father.
And neither did that great cloud of witnesses. Some of the saints listed in Hebrews 12 achieved great victories! Look at Hebrews 12:33-35: “who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection.” But some of the saints didn’t enjoy the victory here in this life. Yet, it didn’t matter. They still believed God. They still obeyed Him to the very end. They still had great faith even though “Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated - of whom the world was not worthy - wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”
This great cloud of witnesses is the same Greek word that we saw in 1 Timothy 6:12. As in Timothy it means “one who has knowledge, who remembers.” It can also be translated “record, witness, or martyr.” That won’t come as a surprise to you when you see the Greek word translated here “witness.” It’s martys. A martyr. One who is willing to die for what they believe. For what they have faith in.
But the author of Hebrews is just talking about a race . . . right? Hebrews 12:1 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” So it’s just a race, right? Well, the Greek word here for “race” is agon. It implies force or violence, strife, contention, a contest for victory. And it’s the exact same word that we saw in 1 Timothy 6:12 which was translated there “fight” as in “fight the good fight of the faith.” It’s the idea of standing firm in the faith, being strong, not giving up.
It’s having endurance. The word “endurance” is the Greek word hypomone. It means cheerful or hopeful endurance, constancy, patience, waiting. It refers to the quality that does not surrender to circumstances or succumb under trial. Interestingly enough, it is used in reference to situations, not to people. There’s another Greek word which means enduring people!
So. We have a race to run. Let’s lay aside our fear and unbelief. Let’s run with cheerful and hopeful endurance. We, like Jesus, have a joy set before us that makes it all worth while.
Are you ready to run?
***Persevering
Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. Hebrews 12:12
Materials: a glass of water (or object of similar weight)
One of the things God exhorts the seven churches of Asia to do is to persevere - to overcome - to keep fighting the good fight - to endure to the end. Sometimes we look at what we are called to do and think that it isn’t that hard. But consider a glass of water.
Can you hold that glass of water out in front of you? Sure. That’s easy. What if I asked you to hold it out in front of you for 2 minutes? You might find it a little more challenging: it’s boring; you don’t see any sense in doing it; and your arms get tired. What if I asked you to hold it for twenty minutes? Two hours?
Sometimes that’s how Christians approach following God’s commandments. They don’t see what the big deal is in obeying God in every minute detail. It’s not as “exciting” as doing what they want to do. And it requires effort; sometimes you get tired of fighting the good fight. It’s easier to go with the flow.
But our God is not capricious. He doesn’t make up commandments just to give us a hard time or to keep us busy. On the contrary, God’s laws are designed for our good. Keeping them makes life work better. There’s a purpose in everything that God asks us to do.
There’s an interesting story in Exodus 17. The Amalekites attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. Moses told Joshua to take the people to fight while he stood on the top of the hill holding up the staff of God. As long as Moses could hold up the staff, the Israelites were winning. Whenever his arms grew tired and he lowered his arms, the Amalekites were winning. So Aaron and Hur told Moses to sit on a stone, then they stood on either side of Moses and held up his arms. Joshua defeated the Amalekites. Moses built an altar to the LORD there and called it the LORD is our Banner or Jehovah-Nissi. (This is the same name of God that is used in Isaiah 53!)
Here’s the lesson: God expects you to uphold His laws, honor His Name, revere Him as holy. But sometimes we get tired. We need someone to come alongside and hold up our arms, so to speak. We need someone who believes in God as we do to encourage us and tell us to keep fighting the good fight. We are going to grow weary at times. But just as Moses had some help from Aaron and Hur, we need to have people we can depend upon when we are feeling like we can’t persevere - someone to help strengthen our feeble arms and weak knees.
***denotes visual lesson
Hebrews
**Hebrews 4:16 - Confident! (Holy Day Lesson - Pentecost)
**Hebrews 7:25 - Atonement -Saved to the Uttermost (Holy Day Lesson - Day of Atonement)
**Hebrews 10:24 - Stir Up One Another
**Hebrews 10:36 - Keep On Keeping On
Hebrews 12:1 - Are you Ready to Run?
**Hebrews 12:12 - Persevering
**Confident!
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, Hebrews 4:16
Materials: collection of “things” your dad might agree that you can have (balls, stickers, crayons, notebook) and things you probably can’t have (balloon, bell, popgun)
Do you know what it means to be confident? It means you are comfortably sure of something. If you are confident that you can go ask your dad for something, you wouldn’t hesitate. But if you’re not confident that he’ll like your request, or if you’re not confident that now is a good time, you will probably be hesitant or reluctant to go ask your dad for what you want.
But here’s a scripture that talks about being confident when we go before God’s throne! How comfortable are you in going to God to ask for what you want?
It’s a curious thing. God has given us the privilege of coming before Him with our concerns. He wants to hear from us. But we humans can get off track too far on either side of the road. Our daily prayers can start looking more like a grocery list of things that we want - almost treating God like He’s a genie in a bottle. Then when we don’t get what we want, we doubt God and His goodness for us. That’s not right. He loves us so much.
On the other hand, we can think that God doesn’t want to be bothered by our little problems. That’s not right either. God is the One who graciously gave us His Son; what could be bigger than that? (Romans 8:32) But if we need the confirmation that God loves us and that we can go to Him to find help in time of need, God also gave us His Holy Spirit.
As we talked about yesterday, the Holy Spirit teaches us, warns us, keeps us safe in Christ, intercedes for us when we pray, and testifies with our spirit that we are the children of God. (John 16:13; Acts 20:23; Ephesians 4:30; Romans 8:26-27; Romans 8:16) This last one should resonate with anyone who has had a good dad. We are confident that we can go to our Heavenly Father with our request because we’ve had that experience with our earthly fathers. We are confident going to our earthly father because our relationship with him; we are confident going to our Heavenly Father because of our relationship with Him. Pretty cool that we get to celebrate Pentecost on Father’s Day this year.
***Atonement - Saved to the Uttermost
(Holy Day Lesson - Atonement)
Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25
Materials: dry erase board, dry erase markers, permanent markers, eraser
Sin is the transgression of God’s law - and we all sin. We all fail to obey God perfectly all the time. So then what? Well, we either have to pay the penalty for our sin, or we have to find someone who can pay the penalty for us. The penalty for sin, the consequence of disobeying God, is death. And unfortunately for us, there’s only One Person who can pay that penalty for us: Jesus Christ. No other person can die in our place. No other person can be the proper payment for our sins. But Jesus’ payment for us goes beyond just paying for our sins; He also reconciles us to God. We are then restored to a position of relationship to the Father because of what Jesus did on our behalf. And yet, it’s more than payment and reconciliation. After Jesus died, He sat down at the right hand of the Father in heaven - and ever lives to make intercession for us. So when we sin, we know that we have an Advocate before the Father.
Take a dry erase board. Write an example of a sin in permanent marker on the board. Once you’ve written it, you can’t erase it. It’s permanent ink. That’s what sin is like. Once you’ve committed a sin, you can’t just erase it.
On the Day of Atonement, however, a very important ceremony was observed every year. Two goats were killed as a sacrifice. The first goat’s blood was taken into the Holy of Holies (which could only be entered once a year) and sprinkled on the mercy seat. This first goat made atonement for the tabernacle, the place where God would meet with His people.
The second goat had all of the sins of the whole congregation - all of them - for all of the people - confessed on its head. Then it was led into the wilderness. Symbolically, the goat carried away all of the sins of the people.
Jesus Christ is both the One whose blood provided a covering for our sins and carried our sins away when He died on the cross.
The dry erase board looks like it’s completely ruined; it can’t be redeemed again for any use. But use the dry erase marker. Mark completely over the permanent marker until you can’t see the permanent marker any more. Now use the eraser. The permanent ink is gone.
That’s what God says about our sins. He will remove our sins from us as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12).
This dry erase marker, which was unusable because of the marking on it, is now useful again. And we all, whose sin has made us unholy and unusable, is now made clean and is a useful vessel again for God’s glory.
The Day of Atonement is all about redemption and cleansing and being made useful again for our God. The picture of this day is one of being saved to the uttermost because Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us. Amen.
***Stir Up One Another
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, Hebrews 10:24
Materials needed: stiff cardboard or clipboard, colored sand, pencil, rubber band
Imagine that I have a piece of cardboard onto which I’ve sprinkled colored sand. Now imagine that I’ve run a rubber band around the pencil the long way, to simulate the bow on the violin. What will happen to the grains of sand on the cardboard when I run the rubber band perpendicular to the cardboard? The cardboard will vibrate and will pass along the vibrations to the grains of sand. They’ll “dance.” In fact, if I continue long enough, the grains of sand will form a pattern.
My dog Pepper gets very excited when he hears words like “ball” and “grass” (Don’t ask me why!!!) and “Laissez les bonne temps rouler.” He doesn’t know what the French means, but he thinks it means something pretty exciting!! It’s quite ironic because that phrase means “Let the good times roll.” But how in the world would he know that? Nevertheless, Pepper can be rapidly stirred to a frenzy of barking and dancing with just a few words.
Do you know that we, as people, are very much like the grains of sand and Pepper? We can be excited when stimulated in just the right way. We can be stirred up to anger. We can be stirred up to do wrong things. But the author of Hebrews tells us to think about, to plan ahead, to devise a way to stir each other up, to get ourselves all excited. For what purpose? To love one another and to good works, to do things that please God, to do what is right.
Words can do that. Your words and your actions towards your family, your church family, your friends - they are very powerful. They can get other people excited and ready to “dance.” So the first thing to learn from this verse is that our words can be powerful motivators for good.
But it’s very curious: your job is not just to excite other people. The way this verse is phrased leads us to believe that we’re stirring up one another and ourselves. We’re supposed to think about ways not just to get others to do good things for God, we’re supposed to be participating. We’re intimately involved. We’re working together in love to serve God. That’s the second thing to learn from this verse: we’re in it together.
The sand is easily excited. But it takes consistent work to get a pattern to form. In the same way, we can get people stirred up, motivated to love and do good works for the Lord, but it takes some sustained effort to achieve something really valuable. The third lesson is to continue to look for ways to encourage one another. It’s not one and done.
When you spend some time thinking about this verse, it’s actually very cool. One: look for ways to encourage one another in love to serve God. Two: We need to encourage one another and work together. And three: we need to persevere. Keep on encouraging one another. Laissez les bonne temps rouler!!
**Keep on Keeping On
For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. Hebrews 10:36
Materials: cups, warm drink, ice, green tomato, red tomato
What is it that we have need of? According to the writer of Hebrews, we have need of endurance. But this is not endurance like who can walk up all the steps of the tallest building in St. Louis or ride your bicycle all the way from here to your home. The writer of Hebrews is talking about something else: doing the will of God until God tells you you’re done. That means keeping God’s commandments and doing what honors Him when it’s hard, when you’re tired, when no one else around you is worshiping God, even when you don’t particularly want to, you keep on doing what is right, according to God’s standards.
Some Bible translations say “you have need of endurance.” Others say that you must persevere. The KJV says that you “have need of patience.” It’s very similar to hearing your mom saying, “Just be patient. Dad will be home soon.” You know that means you have to finish the job she’s given you, but when Dad gets home, there will be a reward.
The concept of endurance makes me think of struggling to continue doing something. So I like the translations which use “patience” because that reminds me that sometimes enduring through having to wait can seem harder than struggling against something that requires physical effort. Is it harder to run three times around the house or to sit, without moving or talking, for the same amount of time?
We don’t like to be patient. We don’t like waiting. It’s hard to wait for the first tomato to turn red. It’s hard to wait for the watermelon to get ripe so that we can eat it. It’s hard to wait for the ice cubes in a glass of warm juice to melt enough to cool off the drink. But who likes warm juice? Who likes eating a green tomato? Who likes ruining a perfectly good watermelon because you cut it before it was completely ripe? No one does. You have to wait, patiently. And if you do, there’s a reward at the end.
The writer of Hebrews tells us to persevere through difficulties, to patiently continue obeying God, to keep on doing what is right in His sight. There is a reward coming - and it’s going to be worth everything we’re going through to get it - even waiting patiently.
Are You Ready to Run?
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race set before us. Hebrews 12:1
Imagine you are in a race, a contest to run. You have fans urging you on, cheerleaders really encouraging you. But you have this heavy weight you have to carry, and there are other runners who are so close to you that you cannot break out and get away from the crowd. The phrase “which clings so closely” is defined as “well standing around.” That is, whatever is around you is very well entrenched. Furthermore, it has the connotation of thwarting a racer in every direction. The racer can’t run; there’s nowhere to move.
O.K. So what is this thing that clings so closely. In Hebrews 12:1, the author says that it is sin. What sin? There are several clues what the sin is which clings so closely and impedes a Christian’s forward progress. The “therefore” at the beginning of the verse is our first clue. That word “therefore” says, “Remember what we were just talking about? Well, based on that conversation, I’m going to tell you something else.” What were we just talking about before Hebrews 12:1? Well, Hebrews 11. You know, as in the Faith chapter - the Faith Hall of Fame. Therefore, our first clue that this sin which clings so closely is a lack of faith is found in the use of the word “therefore.”
The next clue is this great cloud of witnesses. Which cloud of witnesses is this? The most logical explanation is those listed just previously in the book of Hebrews.
The next clue is the phrase “let us also.” If the author of Hebrews had just said, “let us lay aside every weight,” we might not have mentally thought about who the “also” refers to. But when he writes, “Let us also lay aside every weight . . .”, we automatically think, “Well, who else laid aside a weight?” Again, it refers to those witnesses who are listed in the Faith Hall of Fame as those who laid aside every weight and the sin which clings so closely.
So why is a lack of faith sin? Why is having faith such a big deal? Hebrews 3:19 and Hebrews 4:11 make it very clear that a lack of faith, or unbelief, causes disobedience. Disobedience is very displeasing to God, just as faith, followed by obedience is very pleasing to God. That fact is emphasized in Hebrews 12:2 which calls Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith!
So if the sin which clings so closely is a lack of faith or unbelief, then what is the weight that we must lay aside? It is the fear which causes us to not trust God. It can be fear of pain and death, fear of rejection from others, fear of failure, fear of the unknown, fear of humiliation. But Jesus gives us the example of what to do with this weight - this fear. Hebrews 12:2 says that Jesus, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,” despised the shame. Jesus did not allow the shame of the cross prevent him from obeying His Father.
And neither did that great cloud of witnesses. Some of the saints listed in Hebrews 12 achieved great victories! Look at Hebrews 12:33-35: “who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection.” But some of the saints didn’t enjoy the victory here in this life. Yet, it didn’t matter. They still believed God. They still obeyed Him to the very end. They still had great faith even though “Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated - of whom the world was not worthy - wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”
This great cloud of witnesses is the same Greek word that we saw in 1 Timothy 6:12. As in Timothy it means “one who has knowledge, who remembers.” It can also be translated “record, witness, or martyr.” That won’t come as a surprise to you when you see the Greek word translated here “witness.” It’s martys. A martyr. One who is willing to die for what they believe. For what they have faith in.
But the author of Hebrews is just talking about a race . . . right? Hebrews 12:1 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” So it’s just a race, right? Well, the Greek word here for “race” is agon. It implies force or violence, strife, contention, a contest for victory. And it’s the exact same word that we saw in 1 Timothy 6:12 which was translated there “fight” as in “fight the good fight of the faith.” It’s the idea of standing firm in the faith, being strong, not giving up.
It’s having endurance. The word “endurance” is the Greek word hypomone. It means cheerful or hopeful endurance, constancy, patience, waiting. It refers to the quality that does not surrender to circumstances or succumb under trial. Interestingly enough, it is used in reference to situations, not to people. There’s another Greek word which means enduring people!
So. We have a race to run. Let’s lay aside our fear and unbelief. Let’s run with cheerful and hopeful endurance. We, like Jesus, have a joy set before us that makes it all worth while.
Are you ready to run?
***Persevering
Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. Hebrews 12:12
Materials: a glass of water (or object of similar weight)
One of the things God exhorts the seven churches of Asia to do is to persevere - to overcome - to keep fighting the good fight - to endure to the end. Sometimes we look at what we are called to do and think that it isn’t that hard. But consider a glass of water.
Can you hold that glass of water out in front of you? Sure. That’s easy. What if I asked you to hold it out in front of you for 2 minutes? You might find it a little more challenging: it’s boring; you don’t see any sense in doing it; and your arms get tired. What if I asked you to hold it for twenty minutes? Two hours?
Sometimes that’s how Christians approach following God’s commandments. They don’t see what the big deal is in obeying God in every minute detail. It’s not as “exciting” as doing what they want to do. And it requires effort; sometimes you get tired of fighting the good fight. It’s easier to go with the flow.
But our God is not capricious. He doesn’t make up commandments just to give us a hard time or to keep us busy. On the contrary, God’s laws are designed for our good. Keeping them makes life work better. There’s a purpose in everything that God asks us to do.
There’s an interesting story in Exodus 17. The Amalekites attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. Moses told Joshua to take the people to fight while he stood on the top of the hill holding up the staff of God. As long as Moses could hold up the staff, the Israelites were winning. Whenever his arms grew tired and he lowered his arms, the Amalekites were winning. So Aaron and Hur told Moses to sit on a stone, then they stood on either side of Moses and held up his arms. Joshua defeated the Amalekites. Moses built an altar to the LORD there and called it the LORD is our Banner or Jehovah-Nissi. (This is the same name of God that is used in Isaiah 53!)
Here’s the lesson: God expects you to uphold His laws, honor His Name, revere Him as holy. But sometimes we get tired. We need someone to come alongside and hold up our arms, so to speak. We need someone who believes in God as we do to encourage us and tell us to keep fighting the good fight. We are going to grow weary at times. But just as Moses had some help from Aaron and Hur, we need to have people we can depend upon when we are feeling like we can’t persevere - someone to help strengthen our feeble arms and weak knees.
