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Listen "Get Rid of the Weights that Slow You Down (Hebrews 12:1-2)"
Episode Synopsis
Introduction: Overview of Hebrews 11
Those who are regularly with us know we've been traveling through the Book of Hebrews over the last several months. Just a few more Sundays and then we'll be in the Psalms for the summer. We are excited for the summer. My wife is pregnant, and we're expecting our third child in July. Very excited about that. I've lined up a few guest preachers for the summer. I'm excited to come and share from the Psalms throughout the summer.
I've said this before: The Book of Hebrews is, in essence, a transcribed sermon. The writer of Hebrews at some point preached this sermon, wrote it down, and then sent it to this church that was significantly being persecuted. A church that was predominantly composed of Hellenistic Jews or ethnic Jews who spoke Greek and were part of Greek culture, likely located in modern-day Italy.
He writes this sermon, this letter, and he sends it to them as a means of encouraging them to stick with the faith. His goal is that he doesn’t want any of them to abandon Jesus ever. He wants every person who's a part of the church to stick with Jesus and love him all the days of their life. He knows the best way to do that is to make sure they know how great Jesus is. They need to know that Jesus is better than anything else they could compare him to.
Jesus is better than whatever you think he is. If you have a high view of Jesus, that's great, but he's even better than that. If you have a low view of Jesus, that's an error. He is significantly greater than that. But whatever you think of Jesus, he's better than that. That's been the overarching theme of the Book of Hebrews. Jesus is better than the angels. He's better than Moses. He's the best brother that's ever been. He's the greatest human that's ever been. He's a great high priest, greater than the high priest of the Old Testament.
He establishes a covenant greater than the covenant that they mediated. He does it with a sacrifice greater than the sacrifices that they provided. Because Jesus is better. That's his overarching goal. I want you to be convinced that Jesus is better. That anything you consider going to, anything you think about leaving Jesus for, just know whatever that thing is, it's not as good as Jesus. Jesus is better.
Then he gets to Hebrews chapter 11. In that chapter, as we've seen the last few weeks, he begins to highlight all of these great people from the Old Testament who lived like they believed that God is better than anything else they could think of. He mentions these various people, and he's writing to these Christians who were ethnic Jews who had become Christians.
As Jews, they would have loved the Old Testament. They would have esteemed the Old Testament. He begins to highlight some of their heroes. He explicitly mentions 16 different names and then alludes to at least 10 other people throughout the chapter. He says, see all these great people in the Old Testament, Abel and Enoch and Abraham and Noah and Isaac and Moses and David and the Prophets. They demonstrated great faith, and they stuck with God.
Do you know why? Because they know that Jesus is better. That's the overarching message of Hebrews chapter 11. His exhortation to them is, continue to live your life demonstrating faith in Jesus, just like your heroes demonstrated faith in God in the Old Testament. By the way, we know more about God than they did. God has revealed more of himself. We know more of who God is today than even they did. So if they lived out in faith, how much more should we live out in faith?
That's, in essence, the message of the first 11 chapters of the book of Hebrews. Then we come to Hebrews chapter 12. We will see in Hebrews chapter 12, in the opening few words, that he gives us three exhortations. Number one, he's going to tell us to get rid of sin. Number two, he's going to tell us to get rid of anything that could weigh you down, even if it's not sinful. Number three, he will say,
Those who are regularly with us know we've been traveling through the Book of Hebrews over the last several months. Just a few more Sundays and then we'll be in the Psalms for the summer. We are excited for the summer. My wife is pregnant, and we're expecting our third child in July. Very excited about that. I've lined up a few guest preachers for the summer. I'm excited to come and share from the Psalms throughout the summer.
I've said this before: The Book of Hebrews is, in essence, a transcribed sermon. The writer of Hebrews at some point preached this sermon, wrote it down, and then sent it to this church that was significantly being persecuted. A church that was predominantly composed of Hellenistic Jews or ethnic Jews who spoke Greek and were part of Greek culture, likely located in modern-day Italy.
He writes this sermon, this letter, and he sends it to them as a means of encouraging them to stick with the faith. His goal is that he doesn’t want any of them to abandon Jesus ever. He wants every person who's a part of the church to stick with Jesus and love him all the days of their life. He knows the best way to do that is to make sure they know how great Jesus is. They need to know that Jesus is better than anything else they could compare him to.
Jesus is better than whatever you think he is. If you have a high view of Jesus, that's great, but he's even better than that. If you have a low view of Jesus, that's an error. He is significantly greater than that. But whatever you think of Jesus, he's better than that. That's been the overarching theme of the Book of Hebrews. Jesus is better than the angels. He's better than Moses. He's the best brother that's ever been. He's the greatest human that's ever been. He's a great high priest, greater than the high priest of the Old Testament.
He establishes a covenant greater than the covenant that they mediated. He does it with a sacrifice greater than the sacrifices that they provided. Because Jesus is better. That's his overarching goal. I want you to be convinced that Jesus is better. That anything you consider going to, anything you think about leaving Jesus for, just know whatever that thing is, it's not as good as Jesus. Jesus is better.
Then he gets to Hebrews chapter 11. In that chapter, as we've seen the last few weeks, he begins to highlight all of these great people from the Old Testament who lived like they believed that God is better than anything else they could think of. He mentions these various people, and he's writing to these Christians who were ethnic Jews who had become Christians.
As Jews, they would have loved the Old Testament. They would have esteemed the Old Testament. He begins to highlight some of their heroes. He explicitly mentions 16 different names and then alludes to at least 10 other people throughout the chapter. He says, see all these great people in the Old Testament, Abel and Enoch and Abraham and Noah and Isaac and Moses and David and the Prophets. They demonstrated great faith, and they stuck with God.
Do you know why? Because they know that Jesus is better. That's the overarching message of Hebrews chapter 11. His exhortation to them is, continue to live your life demonstrating faith in Jesus, just like your heroes demonstrated faith in God in the Old Testament. By the way, we know more about God than they did. God has revealed more of himself. We know more of who God is today than even they did. So if they lived out in faith, how much more should we live out in faith?
That's, in essence, the message of the first 11 chapters of the book of Hebrews. Then we come to Hebrews chapter 12. We will see in Hebrews chapter 12, in the opening few words, that he gives us three exhortations. Number one, he's going to tell us to get rid of sin. Number two, he's going to tell us to get rid of anything that could weigh you down, even if it's not sinful. Number three, he will say,
In God we trust