Strengthen and Protect One Another

Hebrews 12, as many of you know already, opens by comparing the Christian life to a race. It’s not a race that simply exists “out there;” it is a race we need to be running, and we’re called to run with endurance and perseverance.

Endurance is necessary because if we’re truly running the race, pain is going to come. As we learned in our passage last week, that pain has a purpose. God, as our loving Father, uses the pain to draw us near to Him and to conform us to the image of Christ. That’s a vitally important message to understand. We need to run the race and embrace the pain that comes.

As we think about the importance of staying focused and running well, there is another element we need to keep in mind, and that is the corporate nature of the Christian life. Biblical instruction can, and should, feel very personal, but we need to be careful not to live the Christian in private, or all on our own. You are responsible for running the race, but, as a member of the body of Christ, you are responsible for helping others run too.

Coming to Hebrews 12:12, we move into a string of exhortations that point to the corporate nature of God’s people. We are in this together, and we each have a part to play. If we don’t do our part, then the community will suffer, and there will be a greater possibility of disaster. This is the nature of being part of a family. If Dad abdicates his role, or if Mom walks away, or if a son or daughter doesn’t do what is required, problems come.

What part should you and I be playing to avoid those problems? What should we be doing to help one another stay on course and run the race? This passage gives us three ways to answer that question. Three responsibilities that every member of Christ’s body has.

Responsibility number 1 is strengthening.

Strengthening

We all need to be strengthening those around us. Look at verse 12. Based on the possibility that pain will either lead people to grow or to quit, it says this—Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees.

The picture here is that some people aren’t going to be running the race properly. When fatigue sets in, you stop pumping your hands. When we think about a race, we usually think about the legs, but your arms need to pump too. Your arm motion helps bring balance and cadence. Moving your arms correctly makes you a more efficient runner; you’re wasting energy unnecessarily.

So, if someone’s arms start drooping when they run, that’s not only a sign that they are tired; it means they’re wasting more energy than they should be. They are working against themselves because now the body has to work to keep them balanced.

I remember in junior high, our P.E. teacher used to shout at us about pumping our arms while we ran. Why did he do that? Because when you’re tired, you forget, your body starts moving down instead of moving forward. If you want to pick up the pace, pump your arms faster.

Verse 12 also talks about strengthening weak knees, which is obvious in the analogy of running. I don’t think there’s a specific emphasis here on the knees themselves; I take it as a reference to weakness in the legs, which is a normal part of running a long race.

Drooping hands is more about improper technique, which connects to mental fatigue. But weakened legs is physical fatigue. Either way, the result is the same—people aren’t running well; they aren’t running effectively.

The language of verse 12 comes from Isaiah 35 which is a great analogy to what’s happening here. Take a moment and turn there with me. Isaiah 35. Isaiah was writing to faithful Israelites who were experiencing the painful consequences of the nation’s wickedness and disobedience. God promised them that restoration would come.

Here’s Isaiah 35 says, starting in verse 1—The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; [2] it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. [3] Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. [4] Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.”

Isn’t that an amazing promise? Maybe you needed to hear that from God this morning. We all need to hear it. And we all should be strengthening one another with the same message. Yes, there’s pain and difficulty right now, but relief is coming. Joy is coming. Our reward is coming. Our Lord is coming!

That’s part of how we can strengthen one another. Remind one another that the pain is temporary. The pain has a purpose. And the pain will be gone one day. There is always hope.

Keep your eye out for people who need that message. When people share prayer requests or challenges they’re facing, strengthen them. Their mental and physical fatigue can be fixed; it must be fixed. That doesn’t mean it’s going to go away, but it means it’s not going to win.

Another element of strengthening other comes in verse 13. It says there—make straight paths for your feet. The language there is taken out of Proverbs 4 which says “Do not swerve to the right or to the left.” In Proverbs, that applies to our pursuit of holiness, but in the context of a race, it also includes the idea of wasted time and effort. Someone is tired, an instead of running a straight line to the end, they’re drifting side to side.

There’s a picture of that in Luke 10, when Jesus visits Mary and Martha. Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to His word, but Martha was worried about the snacks and the centerpieces and the decorations. And Martha complains to Jesus, “Don’t you care, Jesus, that I’m working all by myself? Tell Mary to help me.” And what did Jesus say to say? “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things, but there’s only one thing you need to worry about right now.”

We do the same kinds of thing in our own spiritual lives, don’t we? Instead of focusing on Jesus and running in a straight line, we bounce around. We allow all kinds of distractions to pull us away. We go chasing after stuff, investing time and energy into things that work against us. We need to run in a straight line, and we need to help one another do that it. We need to encourage and remind and strengthen one another.

What can happen if we don’t? What’s the danger? The end of verse 13 tells us. We strengthen one another, we help encourage one another—so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.

Sometimes, you meet someone who is sick or hurt, and you know that they’re going to get over it on their own. No special attention required. But if you are injured more seriously, like if you dislocate or break a bone, that needs to be dealt with properly, right? You need to put it back. You need to set it. Otherwise, it’s not going to heal properly, and you’ll end up worse than before.

Well, in our church, we are going to have people who are spiritually weak. They’re tired. They’re close to quitting. Maybe you’ve been there already. Maybe that’s you right now. Maybe that’ll be you soon enough. That spiritual weakness needs to be addressed properly, otherwise there could be permanent damage. Someone might walk away from Christ forever. That’s not what we want. We want healing. We want restoration. And we all have a part to play in that. If we don’t address fatigue and pain properly, there will be permanent damage. We all need to do what we can to encourage and strengthen one another.

Let’s move on to a second responsibility we all have. We should all be strengthening others, and, number 2, we should be striving.

Striving

That’s the word in verse 14. Strive. Literally, the original Greek word here means “to pursue” or “to chase after.” It’s talking about effort and intentionality.

As a member of the church, you help set the tone and the culture of our church. When a new person visits our church, and especially if they start to get more involved, they get a sense of what our church is like. I’m not talking about the administrative structure of the layout of the building. They see the kind of people we have.

If most of you showed up late to service, and you didn’t sing, and you didn’t bring a Bible with you, and you didn’t interact with one another, that would shape people’s perception of our church. I’m glad that isn’t the case. Visitors say we have a very loving and welcoming church.

But wouldn’t it be sad if we were known as a lazy church? A church where people did the bare minimum? A church where no one cared? A church where there was no energy, no passion?

Well, apart from Sunday morning hospitality and friendliness, what is it that we are supposed to be pursuing? What should we be striving for? Verse 14 gives us two answers: peace and purity. Peace and purity. Strive for peace, and strive for purity.

Verse 14 says—Strive for peace with everyone. That could be a general attitude toward the world, but I think he’s talking more directly to a congregation. Do what you can to make sure there is peace.

Biblical peace is not simply the absence of overt conflict. And it’s not uniformity either. Biblical peace is joyful unity despite our differences. Jesus and the Apostles place a high value on peace among God’s people. A local church that isn’t working toward true peace isn’t going to be an effective church. I fact, it will be a miserable testimony to Jesus Christ who is the Prince of Peace.

The gospel of Jesus Christ gives us peace with God. The gospel reunites rebellious sinners with an infinitely holy God. And it will do the same with two sinners. Sin breaks relationships, but the gospel brings restoration.

In Romans 12:18, Paul says—If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. In Ephesians 4, it says we should be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirt in the bond of peace. It says—do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.

Jesus said if you are ready to worship God, but there’s a relational problem with your brother, go fix it. In other words, God places a high premium on peace. If there’s no true peace, there’s no true worship.

Because of our love for one another, the world will see a difference. We need to pursue peace. And if there’s a conflict that doesn’t directly involve you, you have an opportunity to be a peacemaker. Pray for those involved. Offer advice where it is appropriate. Ask God to open doors and open hearts so that peace can prevail.

A second pursuit, a second thing we should be striving after, is purity, or holiness. This is what the second half of verse 14 says. Strive for peace and strive for holiness. Pursue peace, and pursue purity.

We can say and do whatever we want on Sundays, but what do our lives look like when we’re not at church? Are we fighting against our sin? Are we helping to motivate one another to holiness and purity? Or do we look just like the rest of the world?

We need to be very careful about what we allow in our hearts, into our eyes, into our ears, into our homes. What we allow in shapes our values. We need to be shaped, not by the world, but by the word and the heart of God.

Just like a church without peace is a poor testimony to Jesus Christ, so is a church without holiness. That’s a hypocritical church. That’s an ineffective church. That is a church that will be judged by God rather than blessed.

In Revelation 2 and 3, there are some messages given by Jesus to seven different churches. And in those letters, you have a repeating theme of a call to repentance. If a church doesn’t repent, Christ will remove it. That’s what God did with Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5, and that’s what God will do with a church that professes the name of Christ, but there is no holiness.

The default position of this world is not holiness. It is to pursue every fleshly desire and lust. It is to ignore every sting of the conscience and declare that there is no God; there is no Lawmaker and Judge. You and I can’t live like that. We are called to walk in holiness and fear.

First Peter 1 says—if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile. How can we say we are children of God if we don’t listen to our heavenly Father, or if we don’t look like Him in holiness?

That was the problem of the Pharisees, whom Jesus vehemently opposed. They claimed to represent God, but they didn’t have God’s heart, and they were leading people to hell.

Look at what it says at the end of verse 14. It’s talking about holiness, but it applies to peace as well. It says—without [it] no one will see the Lord. There are a few ways to understand or apply that statement.

First, it could mean that if you don’t pursue holiness or purity, you will not see God in salvation. If the pattern and direction of your life is not consistent with the character of God, you’re not a Christian. Our holiness doesn’t save us, but it is an evidence of true salvation.

Another application of this principle is that if you don’t pursue holiness, you will not see God in sanctification. You will not be able to grow spiritually. You’ll be stuck where you are. Jesus said “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” An impure heart keeps you from enjoying and being changed by God.

A third way to take this passage is to say that if a church doesn’t not pursue holiness, outsiders/unbelievers will not see God among you. In that case it would be a warning that the church’s testimony is meaningless. There is no spiritual power. There is no effectiveness.

All three of those possibilities would be problems for a church—no salvation, no sanctification, and no evangelism. Those are problems we avoid if we’re striving after peace and purity.

Again, you need to do your part to set the tone for the church. Lead others to value peace and purity. Help others see areas in their life, in their words, in their attitudes, in their habits, where they look more like the world than like the people of God. Similar to a bone being put out of joint, we need to work to avoid problems getting worse. We want healing. We want restoration. We want effectiveness and power for the purposes of God.

There’s one final responsibility we all have in relation to the church. We all need to be strengthening. We all need to be striving. And lastly for today, we all need to be supervising.

Supervising

Why do I use that word? Well, verse 15 starts with the phrase “See to it,” which means “make sure this happens.” Isn’t that what a supervisor does? That’s what a manager does, right?

The Greek verb used here is episkopéo, and it means to inspect, to have oversight, to look after. It’s a verb that is used in 1 Peter 5 for the elders of a church. They give oversight. The noun form of the verb is episkopé which is used for an overseer, or an elder, in 1 Timothy 3.

Elders have a distinct role and responsibility to care for the church, but we have a responsibility too. When our church takes 70 kids to Smith Park or to Chuck E. Cheese’s for Kids Camp, there are over a dozen adults that go with them. They watch over them. And when I’m with them, even if I haven’t been charged as an official chaperone, I’m watching them. And I’m looking around for possible threats. I take care of them. As a dad, I feel the same way when I see kids I don’t know walking by themselves. I feel a sense of responsibility to protect them if needed.

That’s the attitude we are all called to have toward the church. We all need to embrace our role in the spiritual protection of the church. Protection from what? Verses 15 and 16 give us a list.

See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; [16] that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.

We are watching out for the spiritual health and spiritual life of one another. We don’t anyone to fall away. We don’t want anyone to think they’re fine with God but come up short in the end. Self-deception is a very real and tragic possibility.

For the original audience of Hebrews, there were people at the point of a major decision. Were they going to leave the church? Were they going to abandon the faith because of the external pressure and persecution? The preacher says, “Don’t let anyone fall short of the grace of God. Do whatever you can to help them run the race.”

A second danger is that someone would stay in the church but be a corrupting influence. That’s the “root of bitterness” it’s talking about. These people are like weeds in the garden or cancer in the body. They don’t allow for productivity, and they spread; they corrupt; they defile.

And specifically in verse 16, we have a warning against sexual immorality. Make sure that there is no corrupting influence like that in the church. People who have no problem claiming to follow Christ, but they give themselves over to pornography or prostitution, or premarital sex, or any other deviation from God’s standard of sexuality.

Today, this would also include anything within the LGBTQAI+ community. Those are people we are called to love and minister to with the gospel, but we cannot compromise the biblical standard. Sin is sin, and God is gracious to forgive and transform, but we can’t use the grace of God to allow sin to spread among God’s people. Where there is repentance, praise God. But where a commitment to sin is greater than a commitment to holiness, the church needs to take action. This is part of self-preservation and protection.

The example and the comparison we get in verse 16 is Esau. He was the one who sold the blessing of his birthright for some soup. He cared more about his physical desires and appetites than he did about the glorious plan of God. And what happened to him?

Verse 17 tells us. Every exhortation we cover today comes with a serious problem if left unaddressed. If we’re not strengthening others, there will be no healing, there will be permanent damage. If we’re not striving after peace and holiness, people will not see God. And if we’re not protecting the church from sin, people will fall away with no hope of coming back. And that can happen to you and to me as well.

Verse 17. Here is the warning to all of us—For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

We’ve talked about this before in Hebrews. It’s possible to fall away from God in such a way that you will never come back. There will be no way to undo what has happened.

Esau begged his father for the blessing, but it was too late. There was no way to fix what he had done. And so, his heart was hardened against his brother.

That’s what happens with someone who knows the truth of the gospel, someone who know what the Bible says about salvation and about sin, someone who has seen the power of God in his own life and in the people around him, but walks away from the faith. That person’s heart is hardened beyond repair. We can’t definitively know when that has happened in someone, but it’s a possibility nonetheless. They have apostatized from the faith, and they will not come back. What a tragedy!

There is a famous quote by the English pastor Charles Spurgeon, dated to 1860. He was talking about evangelism, but it applies to this situation as well. Spurgeon said, “If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies; and if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay.”

It’s a graphic picture but an important reminder. Whether someone is part of our church or not, we can’t just let people walk into hell. We need to plead with them. We need to watch over them. We need to protect them.

The final sentence in the book of James says this—My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

That’s your responsibility as a member of the body of Christ. Strengthen one another. Help bring healing and restoration. Strive for peace and purity. And Supervise one another. Watch out for one another’s souls. It’s a tremendous responsibility and privilege before the Lord, but it should also be a great blessing knowing that others will be doing it for you.