Chapter 12:3-11

“³ For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. ⁴ You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. ⁵ And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: ‘My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; ⁶ For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.’ ⁷ If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? ⁸ But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.

⁹ Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? ¹⁰ For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. ¹¹ Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

This next section flows from last week’s lesson. There we explored how the saints that have gone on ahead of us are watching us and seeing how we live out our salvation here as we await our flight home. We are encouraged to lay aside the weight of life and the sin that keeps us distracted and unable to be fully surrendered to the Lord. In the lesson today, we will look at how the Lord helps us to lay aside these weights. Now, as we can see from the patriarchs that have proceeded us, none of us will be perfect in this life; but God will still do all He can to imprint in us the image of Jesus. Jesus lives in us; the goal is to have us transformed and more obedient. This is a lifelong progress.

• Resisting the Devil, verses 3-4

Sadly, most of us do not resist the temptations that may come our way. There is a fatal flaw that we all have, to which the devil can appeal (James 1:14 NKJV).

But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.

We have our own desires that betray us. These allow us to be susceptible to the tempting of the devil. The devil does not ever make us sin; rather, he entices us and uses our own weaknesses against us. Each man, and each woman, all have this fatal flaw that leaves us vulnerable to being tempted. These temptations attack our beloved sins and play to things we favor. Nonetheless, we have this promise from God in 1 Corinthians 10:13 ASV:

“There hath no temptation taken you but such as man can bear: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation make also the way of escape, that ye may be able to endure it.”

Yes, the devil plays to our weaknesses, and he is very good at it. But God promises that we are always given a way out if we are looking for it. Paul calls us here in Hebrews to resist to the point of bloodshed. Paul fought with himself against sin; we are told that he ‘beat his body’ into submission daily. Do we do the same things? Do we beat our bodies into submission so as not to surrender to sin as often as we do?

• The Lord Treats us as Children, verses 5-7

God loves us. God loves His children, and as such, He must then discipline us to bring us into the image of Jesus. Like any parent, God has an array of tools He can and does use to train us up as we are to be for His glory and to be useful to Him in the Kingdom. Human parents, and fathers, train us up to become useful and productive members of society. God, as our heavenly Father, is doing the same to raise us up to be protective members of the society that is to come and the Kingdom that is being prepared here on earth.

This testing, this discipline, is a sign of God’s love to and for us. We are living in a time when children are not truly disciplined, and we can see the wave of truly uncivilized youths that have been unleashed on our society. God will never be and cannot be an absentee or disengaged parent. He is all in, all the time. He is working to shape us and form us into the image of Jesus.

• Necessary but not Fun, verses 8-11

A truly loving parent disciplines a child, even by spanking, out of love. Not hatred, but love. A good parent understands that a child must be taught, raised, and pointed in the right direction. A child needs to learn obedience, humility, submission, honor, and all other manners of manners. A child has to learn how to behave in various situations. A child has to learn how to act, how to react, how and when to speak, or if to speak. These are all disciplines. A child has to learn math, proper speech, the proper tone of speech, and on and on we can go.

God, as a parent, has to teach us the same way in the growth as Christians. We need to learn to be kind, merciful, obedient, and forgiving. We need to learn to be faithful in the toughest of situations. We need to learn how and when to speak and when to be quiet. We need to learn to trust God first, not as a last resort. Paul, in Romans 5:1-5, in talking about saved people, says this about God’s disciplining:

“Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

Godly discipline has a plan and a goal; one step leads to the next and builds upon the last. There is a foundation for us to grow upon and become more and more like Jesus. This is the ultimate goal. Thanks be to the Lord that He loves us and is patient with us so as to make us useful for Him and His glory; to be productive members of His family, and to be prepared to be called upon to be used to serve and help others. God’s loving and faithful discipline is needed for us to become all that we can be in Jesus. Thankfully, God loves us too much to not discipline us and leave us helpless.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

How To Connect with Us

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MississaugaMissionaryBaptistChurch
Online: https://mmbchurch.ca/
Email: seangooding@mmbchurch.ca; support@mmbchurch.ca

Chapter 12: 1-2

“Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Our journey through the ‘Hall of Faith’ in Hebrews 11 was a long one, but a good one. We explored some of the most amazing men and women that we see in the scriptures. The thread that ties them together is their faith in God. Their trust in God and what He says He will do stayed alive in the midst of great pain, suffering, waiting, and in some of the hardest situations, yet they kept their faith in Jesus.

We all know of the life of Job and how he stayed faithful to God in the midst of great suffering. Most of us living in this time have not really suffered to the point of pain and/or imprisonment as far as the Gospel is concerned. Paul, who I think wrote this book, brings this great chapter to a sobering conclusion, and he (via the Holy Spirit) calls us to action. Please remember, there were no chapter breaks when these books were written. So, there was no break between chapters 11 and 12. Notice how the chapter begins with ‘Therefore’; this means that he is coming to a summary based on the information given to us before. So let us take a look at the things that Paul throws at us and challenges us to be and do.

• Be aware we are being watched, verse 1

I have been asked several times in my ministry if our loved ones who are dead are watching us. Now, I am not going to say that they all do, but at least these ones from Hebrews 11 are watching us. Paul says here we are ‘surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses’; they are watching how we live out our faith as well. Now, it may be that all of the saved are watching how we live out our faith down here. That is a crazy thing to consider. They are aware of what is going on down here, and we are not lost in the crowd; they know who we are.

• So, how are we living out our faith?
• Are we all in like Abraham and Moses were?
• Have we given up on our own hopes and dreams for God’s hopes for us only?
• Are we enduring the trials of life like Job and crying out ‘though He slays me’?
• Are we constantly blaming God for the tests of life, or are we actively asking God to get the glory no matter what it costs us?
• One day, if the Lord tarries, you and I will be in the crowd watching; what would we hope to see in our brothers and sisters?
• What do the witnesses see in us right now?
• Lay Aside Weight and Sin, verse 1

We focus on sin a lot, but there are a lot of things that may not be sinful, but they are in the way of us serving the Lord with all of our love, strength, and soul. These are weights; they hold us down. It could be friends, careers, dreams, and a host of other things that stop us from being completely sold out to and for the Lord.

Sadly, many of us are still sinning more often than we should be, and the weakness of the flesh is a constant battle we have to fight. For some of us, it is not the sins of the body that betray us; it is the sins of the mind. The indifference to the loss around us, the lack of care for the hurting, both physical and mental. A hardness towards those that are less fortunate and a calloused view of life. We lack mercy and compassion. We hate to forgive anyone, and we keep a very accurate record of those that sin against us. We can recall the details on a whim.

The sins of the mind and the heart are way more corrosive in our lives than the sins of the flesh (this is not to condone either). Beloved, let us seek the best for and from the Lord. Let us humble ourselves and seek to love spiritually disciplined lives so that we can be very useful to the Lord for His work.

• Run with endurance, verse 1

The Christian life is more a marathon than a sprint. We are called to patient endurance and know that each race (each life) is individually set for us by God. Stop comparing your walk to others; each person has a ‘race,’ a life set before them by God. One that is designed to live up to God, glorify God, and help us to be more and more humble and more obedient. What works for me will not work for you, and vice-versa. You run your race, and I will pray for you; please pray for me as I run mine.

Anyone can have faith in God for a short time; many do. But to have it over decades of service, decades of trials and testing, and to have our faith grown over years of service not being noticed by anyone but God, can be difficult. Keep the faith, serve the Lord, and He will lift you up when the time is ready.

1 Peter 5:6, “Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time” (NKJV).

• Look to Jesus, verse 2

Our only hope, our only strength, and our only comfort is in Jesus. He is the one who gives us the ability to get through the toughest of times. He knows our frailty, and He is there to help us. And help us He has promised…

Hebrews 4:14-16, “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (NKJV).

Hold on to Jesus; He is on your side. Trust in Jesus; He will not leave you. Call on Jesus for help; He will hear and help. Trust Jesus; He cannot lie, and He is our eternal friend and strength. We can put off the weight, sin less, and endure life until Jesus comes for us.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

How to Connect with Us

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MississaugaMissionaryBaptistChurch
Online: https://mmbchurch.ca/
Email: seangooding@mmbchurch.ca; support@mmbchurch.ca