Christian Character Under the Discipline of the Lord

Order of Service

• Scripture Reading — Hebrews 12:12-17
• Sermon
• Closing Prayer

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Sermon Title: Christian Character Under the Discipline of the Lord

Scripture: Hebrews 12:12-17

I. Context: The Nature of the Christian Life Under Discipline

A. Chapter 12 portrays the Christian life through images of a runner in a race and a boxer in a match — it is not a walk through the daisies B. Verses 5–11 call believers to a right perspective on the Lord's discipline

1. The Lord disciplines those he loves for their good
2. The goal of discipline is that believers might share in his holiness and bear the fruit of righteousness C. Verses 12–17 address the Christian character and mindset required in response to that discipline
3. The passage uses both exhortation (vv. 12–15) and warning (vv. 16–17)

II. The Exhortation: Lift Drooping Hands and Strengthen Weak Knees (vv. 12–15)

A. The spiritual maladies identified in vv. 12–13

1. Drooping hands, weak knees, and lame joints picture weariness, fear, hesitancy, and discouragement in the Christian race
2. These maladies impede the believer's run and slow spiritual progress B. Biblical examples of these maladies
3. The Thessalonians were filled with grief and fear over believers dying before Christ's return — Paul comforts them in 1 Thessalonians 4
4. Galatians 6:9 — "Do not grow weary of doing good"
5. Psalm 73 — Asaph's honest struggle with envy of the ungodly; his feet almost slipped
6. Psalm 42:5 and 43:5 — "Why are you cast down, O my soul?"
7. Matthew 26 — Jesus in Gethsemane: "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death"; yet he resolved to trust the Father: "Not as I will, but as you will" C. The individual response to drooping hands and weak knees
8. Pray to the Lord and call on his name
9. Speak God's promises to yourself — hope in God (Psalm 42:5)
10. Preach the gospel to yourself
11. Matthew Henry: knowing the usefulness of the discipline of the cross ought to put new vigor in all your members D. The corporate response — a reciprocal responsibility among believers
12. The language of vv. 12–13 is also plural; the whole body is called to strengthen drooping hands and weak knees among one another
13. This corporate burden runs throughout Hebrews:
    • Hebrews 3:13 — "Exhort one another every day… that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin"
    • Hebrews 6:10 — loving service to the saints acknowledged by God
    • Hebrews 10:24-25 — "Stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together"
14. The language of lifting weak hands and making firm feeble knees draws from Isaiah 35 — speak strength to those with anxious hearts E. Strive for peace and holiness (v. 14)
15. The body of Christ is made up of saints who are still sinners; strive toward reconciliation and learn to live with one another's weaknesses
16. Balance: strive for peace as far as possible, but never at the expense of holiness — "without which no one will see the Lord"
17. Paul makes a similar call in Romans 14:19 F. "See to it" — shepherding one another (v. 15)
18. The verb translated "see to it" is related to the word episkopos (elder/overseer) — a verbal idea of shepherding
19. Beyond the special office of elder, every believer is called to watch carefully over one another
20. Guard one another so that no one fails to obtain the grace of God — a warning against falling away within the visible church
21. Pull the weeds: let no root of bitterness spring up, defiling many — don't allow rampant sin or heresy to take root

III. The Warning: Do Not Be Like Esau (vv. 16–17)

A. The examples given: sexual immorality and unholiness (v. 16)

1. These are examples of the "root of bitterness" — overt sin and falling short of true religion toward God B. The example of Esau
2. Esau was born first to Isaac, grandson of Abraham — heir to the covenant promises with incredible proximity to the grace of God
3. He sold his birthright for a single meal (Genesis 25) — in that moment the birthright meant nothing to him; he chose to gratify his flesh over eternal blessing
4. His problem: a sensual appetite to serve the flesh rather than the spirit — the malady of those who fall away
5. Contrast with Moses, who rejected the pleasures of Egypt and looked forward to the promises of Christ (Hebrews 11) C. Esau's tears could not recover what was lost (v. 17)
6. Once the birthright was forfeited, no amount of weeping could restore it
7. Rick Phillips: "Esau wasn't sorry for his sin or depraved attitude, but only for its consequences"
8. An ocean of tears does not itself amount to true repentance
9. Parallel to the man in the iron cage in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress — one who gave the reins of his life to his lusts and hardened his heart against the grace of God D. The positive call: endure with the mind of Christ
10. The Christian endures to the end only as the Lord works the right character and mindset — the mind of Christ — within us
11. Deal honestly with sin where it is found; let the Word do its work again and again
12. Drooping hands can be lifted, weak knees strengthened, and straight paths made for our feet as we look to Jesus