For you have not come to the mountain that may not be touched and that burned with fire, and to the blackness and darkness and tempest, (19) and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore……(22) But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, (23) to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, (24) to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of the sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

The author of the letter to the Hebrews is unknown. The thrust of Hebrews is the warning of rejecting Jesus. Because of persecution Christian Jews were in danger of apostasy – they were in peril of rejecting God who continues to speak through His Son Jesus Christ. The grace of God has brought and is bringing believers to better things than those which characterized Judaism. If you don’t know what you have you disregard it or give it away; give away eternal blessings for instant gratification. Don’t do it.

In our verses today the author is using the imagery of contrasting and comparing living on two mountains; Mt. Sinai – Jewish life under the law – with Mt. Zion, representing the joy of new life under the new covenant. The road to Mt. Zion goes through Mt Sinai and here, Mt. Zion is synonymous for the heavenly Jerusalem which is the city of the living God. Mt. Sinai represents the the unapproachable God of the Old Testament. It is a symbol of all that has gone wrong and still goes wrong when we are severed from God. The other mountain is Mt. Zion – “the heavenly Jerusalem”. It is a place (a real place) but one we haven’t seen yet. It is a city filled with”all the firstborn” by virtue of their being in Christ who IS the firstborn, resurrected from the dead having finally and fully dealt with the sin of His people; Who has created open and free access to Himself for all time. It follows that when God’s blessings are rejected there is greater responsibility and culpability.

The Jewish story can be summed up as a long journey from Egypt to Jerusalem which symbolizes two opposite spiritual states. Our verses remind us the Old Covenant is obsolete – that on Mt. Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem – we are trusting in Christ who paid for our sins. This point is driven home in the musical, Fiddler on the Roof which ends with the cry “Next year, Jerusalem”. The world is not our home. We were made for better things. Next year, Jerusalem.

And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as 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? (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. (12) Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, (13) and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.

The author of the letter to the Hebrews is unknown. The writer’s goal was to stop harassed and persecuted Christian Jews from drifting away from Jesus which will incur the judgment of God. Discipline trains us in righteous behavior. We will, in this world, experience suffering and injury. There will be mental and physical hindrance but we are to finish the course God has set before us. Some physiological problems may lead to depression, discouragement, anger and we must learn to deal with that. What happens to us may also be for us. Pain can be our friend forcing a change of perspective and teaching us to deal with hardship as discipline. Suffering here is not meant as vindictive; not accidental, capricious or random. Persecution does not mean God has abandoned us. It means we are being trained, raised by our good Father. God’s rebuke and correction is aimed purposefully even if painful. What some see as harm God means for good. The writer of Hebrews wants readers to expect hardship as necessary and unavoidable in this world. It means we are loved by God.

There is a difference between wrath and discipline. Punishment stems from God’s wrath against sin. Discipline stems from God’s love for His children. In wrath God is our judge; in discipline God acts in love as a Father. Under punishment the sinner pays for his sin; under discipline Christ has already paid for our sins. In adversity we are fearful, alarmed and disquieted; tempted by impatience and our minds are noisy and restless. But chastened, we acknowledge with resigned minds how profitable adversity was to us in retrospect. Fear will constrain us and we turn from God’s way. There is always a struggle but our main aim should be to rest in God. Losing heart is a great spiritual danger. Discipline/suffering is designed by God ro drive us to Christ that we might mature in our Christian lives.

For the Christian life finishing well means everything. C.s.Lewis wrote “I suggest to you that it is because God loves us that He gives us the gift of suffering. Pain is God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world. You see, we are like blocks of stone out of which the Sculptor carves the form of men. The blows of His chisel, which hurt us so much are what make us perfect.”

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. (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 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;

The author of the letter to the Hebrews is unknown. The author devotes Chapter 11 to the many examples of Old Testament saints who endured by faith and now, in our verses, continues the theme of perseverance in faith. The original readers of this letter were Christian Jews who were suffering socially but not yet unto bodily harm and were tempted to apostasy. Facing persecution, the Christian Hebrews were contemplating turning aside from Christ and returning to Jewish life before they became Christians. The author appeals to them to pay the price, to be faithful unto death – to look to Christ, the author and focus of our faith. He/she speaks of a great cloud of witnesses who have run the race before us as examples – a lifelong race we must all enter.

We should lay aside anything that impedes our running this race successfully – using the metaphor of running a marathon is illustrative of Christian life. Encumbrances and weights may not be sin but make perseverance difficult; love of this present life, lusts of the flesh, worldly cares, riches, honors. We are to wear this world lightly. Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of faith and trust – He is our North Star. He set the example. He endured the pain, humiliation and the disgrace of the cross. He alone is the source of hope and help in the time of need. This is the central theological and practical message of Hebrews.

Our race is won or lost on the training field to continue the metaphor of running a marathon. We are in constant training/discipline – one day at a time with our eyes on Jesus. Faith in Christ Jesus always proceeds discipline or or all will end in failure. Faith in Christ Jesus always involves work. Our course is set by God; we may stumble, break stride, or fall but do not give up. Not finishing this race has eternal consequences.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen. (2) For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. (8) By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. and he went out, not knowing where he was going. (9) By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise (10) for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. (11) By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. (12) Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude – innumerable as the sand is by the seashore.

We do not know the author of the letter to the Hebrews. It was written to Christian Jews who were in danger of renouncing Christ because of persecution and trials. The subject in our verses today is enduring faith. Chapter 11 is an explanation and illustration of faithfulness; a study of God’s promises and the reality of the unseen world. Verse 1 is not a definition of faith but a declaration of action and the power of faith – the assurance and settled conviction respecting things hoped for though unseen. What faith is NOT is; not positive thinking, not a hunch, not just hoping for the best. It is trusting God who has revealed Himself in Scripture.

The most important thing about faith is not faith itself BUT the object of faith. Sincere but misplaced faith leads to ruin. It must have as it’s object Jesus Christ. True faith endures and real faith perseveres – faith that does not persevere is not real faith. Spiritual truth and God’s promises are real whether we believe them or not. The spiritual world is more real than the passing physical world about us and we enter this world through faith. The Spirit of God shows us hidden things, the knowledge of which cannot reach our senses. The author writes of Old Testament characters to motivate Christian Jews; as patterns of faith to imitate to suffer for the indemonstrable. We are to follow the example of men of old – this is a direct warning to Hebrew Christians.

I first heard of c.s.Lewis from Stuart Briscoe who died this week after a long and faithful life. Lewis write “To have faith in Christ means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in saying you trusted a person if you would not take his advice. Thus if you really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him. But trying in a new way, a less worried way. Not doing these things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already. Not hoping to get to Heaven as a reward for your actions, but inevitably wanting to act in a certain way because a first faint gleam of Heaven is already inside you.”

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. (2) Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. (3) For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (4) When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. (5) Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. (9) Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, (10) and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, (11) where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all in all.

The letter to the Colossians was written by the apostle Paul. In our verses today Paul tells them (and us) what to stop doing and what we should do to be consistent with our new nature in Christ. The gospel was revolutionary and teaches us how to stop a life of pretense and keeps us from guilt – it’s called religious liberty. We are all sinners in need of grace and externals don’t matter. Our salvation is in Christ; we are all in the same predicament; the same problem of sin, the same means of salvation in Christ and for those responding, the same eternal destiny . All earthly distinctions are abolished. We live in a world where men compare, evaluate, rank, ridicule, dismiss, ignore. We need to remember where we come from and what the basis of salvation is. And refuse to be distracted. I had a wonder dog, Bob, who would never take his eyes from the tennis ball in my hand. No matter how I would try to fool him his eyes never left that ball. We should never lose sight of Christ as our eternal home.

Christians are seeking believers, seeking God. Our minds and wills should be set on things above. We do live in the body and in this world, but here the apostle is talking priorities – the things that are above are eternal values, eternal truth and eternal life. Do we need approval of men or of God? Because we have died as a new man/woman in faith in Christ, our lives have been hid in Christ. It is a covenantal union because He stands for the people of God. We are born twice; born physically and born again spiritually and our spiritual resurrection has already taken place in faith in Christ.

We are to behave as we believe and to become what we already are in Christ. Not just reason and knowledge but our will is involved. Old practices no longer fit and we are to put on a different lifestyle – there should be an outward manifestation that accompanies the reality of our new internal life. Step 11 of Alcoholics Anonymous is “Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.” This is not just a suggestion.