Hebrews 12:12-17

Good morning, church.

Jeret would want me to be clear that I'm not Jeret Foshee, the pastor here at Cornerstone. I know we have some new faces around. I'm Gary Brett. I'm one of the elders here.

My joke around, that is. I am literally one of the elders here. Okay. And. And I just got some other news on that in the last few weeks from a friend of mine that found out that I am.

I am now out of warranty. Yeah. The scripture says we get three score in 10. And so I've passed that mark, so I am no longer under warranty here. But.

But I'm in good hands. All right, so just one other thing. Told Jeret, I appreciate him giving me the day to follow the kids. That's a tough thing to follow. But I just want to brag on your church just being fruitful and multiply things you're doing well at.

Okay, so good job there. But that was precious, wasn't it? So we're in Hebrews chapter 12 this week, beginning in verse 12. And it starts with a therefore. And just as Jeret's been telling us all along, the therefore, you go back to see what it's there for.

And obviously, it's for what was going on in chapter 12 that the writer was giving us here about running a race and preparing and training the discipline around that and running to win. Talked last week about the Father's love for us that would discipline us. And then if we take it further back to the beginning of the letter, the whole Jesus is greater theme that we walk through, that Jesus is greater than the angels. He's greater than Moses. He was greater than the priest of Aaron's line of priests, that he is the superior high priest who gave us a better covenant, a better sanctuary, and a better sacrifice.

And so we're getting toward the end of the letter now. And, you know, some think Paul write this. We really don't know who wrote the letter, but this part of it kind of lines up with how Paul wrote. In Paul's letters, he would spend the time at the beginning kind of telling them the doctrinal, theological things. He's telling them who Christ is, who the Father is, who they are in Christ and the Father, and laying out all those things.

And as he gets toward the end of the letter, he says, now, here are some things to do right. And so we're going to be. That's where we're picking up today. So buckle up. Here we go.

All right. Hebrews 12, beginning in verse 12, therefore strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. Make paths level for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy without holiness, no one will see. The Lord see to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

See to it that no one is sexually immoral or is godless, like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears. So we're going to kind of walk back through these scriptures for a little bit, but what you're already hearing in it is he's telling us the writer of Hebrews is now telling us we have a part to play in this. There are choices for us to make, there are responsibilities for us to live up to in our relationship with God and with the Father.

And so he's going to start off with, so strengthen your feeble arms, you. You strengthen your feeble arms, you strengthen your weak knees, you make level the paths for your feet so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. So he's telling us there is work for us to do, there's intentionality for us to have choices to make. But you see, what is after, it's not just correction and discipline, it's healing. He's after healing.

In Genesis 6:13, Paul tells us that sin is in the members of our body. It's in our hands, and it's in our eyes, and it's in our feet. That's where it acts out. Our feet run to evil. Our eyes look lustfully on the things of the world.

Our tongue, we ain't even got tongue to time to go there today, do we, of the problems with the tongue and the problems that it creates. And so he's saying, we, while sin is in our members, the encouragement is, the instruction is. The kingdom way of living is we use those for instruments of righteousness. And there is a part of a choice that is up to us in making that happen.

It goes on, says, make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy. Anybody having problem with that one? I mean, it's. It's kind of big okay. Make every effort to live in peace with all men.

Everybody. I mean, we're all struggling with our own right? And now it's everybody. And to be holy, which he goes on to say, without holiness, no one will see the Lord. So that's kind of big, kind of weighty, right?

I mean, it sounds like a promise, but he's saying, make every effort. So we're back to us and a responsibility and choices that we are making in lining up with our Father. Then he says, see to it that no one misuses the grace of God. Kind of like the. The previous thing, living in peace with everybody.

He's saying, see to it that no one, not just me, somehow I'm to be influencing others, not to miss the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. Amen. One of my hearts for the church is that somehow we could learn to be healed and to deal with bitter roots. Bitter roots can be along a lot of things. But I really think the main thing he's talking about here is the bitter root is those things that have happened to us, those things that have injured us.

Maybe it's the things we've done ourselves right, that we just can't shake the failure, we can't shake the shame. And that thing grows up to be some kind of cancer in us, some kind of cancer that makes us to be not enough to make us to be unlovable. Or it's just some kind of a wound that we had that 40, 50 years later, we still carry it. And not only does it, is it injurious to me, but it is to all those around me. It taints my ability to relate, my ability to love, my ability to trust.

And so he's saying that we have a part to play in this, that we won't allow that bitter root to grow and take charge and govern our lives. And. And of course, if we go on to that, we could talk about that one the rest of the day. But the deal there is, begins with forgiveness, right? We're holding something in that we will not forgive somebody or something or us.

So he says, see to it that that doesn't happen. And then he gives us see to it that no one is sexually immoral or godless like Esau Man. How would you like to have your name listed in the story? Like that. Not what we're after.

Right? So look. So sexually immoral is any sexual activity outside the guides of marriage for one man and one woman. That's sexual immorality. That's the scripture tells us sexual immorality makes all the list.

Wherever the list is of what you don't do, sexual immorality is there. It made the top 10 in the Ten Commandments, right? It's in the Mosaic Law, it's in the Levitical law, it's in Proverbs, it's in Psalms. Jesus gives it to us in the New Testament in the Sermon on the Mount. Paul talks about it in his writings to the various churches.

It's always on the list, guys. And there's a part of us to play in that where it says, don't let that happen. So there is a choice for us. And then he obviously calls Esau a godless man and tells a little bit of the story around Esau, that afterwards, when he wanted to inherit a blessing, he was rejected. And he could.

He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears. So the. The picture of Esau here is a man who was driven by the now and what he wanted and how he wanted it right now. And that's how he lived his life. And the repentance thing that the scriptures talk about in here, it isn't that he wasn't sorrowful.

He was right. He was sorry that it didn't work out. He was sorry that he lost that blessing. Man, he lost a pretty big deal in life by losing that blessing, but he wasn't sorrowful enough to really repent. He was just sorry it didn't work out.

And so the picture of Esau is a man who refuses to live in the government of God. And I wonder if we were to go back and study his life, if we couldn't go back to verse 12 and come all the way back down through those scriptures and see how he ended up there. He did not strengthen his arms and his weak knees. He did not make level his pass to walk in wisdom and integrity as the law that he was under in that time instructed him to do. He did not make every effort to live in peace and to be holy.

He did allow a bitter root to grow up in him and control him. And so. And then here we are. He gives himself to sexual immorality and he lives in bitterness and he won't repent. And that's the picture of Esau.

So what the scripture is telling us in here, that about our part in this, that we have choices and responsibilities in it. And so the. The common answer for what do we do with that is don't do it. Just stop it. Right?

Stop it. Don't sin. But what does that do? That really doesn't help, does it? I mean, there's a part of that where it is our choice.

But we are humans and we are flawed and we are corrupted in our flesh. We live in a corruption. So I want to try to give us something this morning that will help us in our journey to be able to say, no, I ain't doing that. I'm walking away from that. That is not God's government on me.

So let's talk about God's government for just a minute.

And you, some of you, you've heard me do this. But it brings us to where we are today. So ultimately there are only two kingdoms of all time. And eternity is down to two kingdoms. And there's a line that cuts it down through every choice and every decision lines up out of one of these two kingdoms.

So this is the kingdom of light and this is the kingdom of darkness. On this side is the kingdom of life. This is the kingdom of death. This is the kingdom of truth. This is the kingdom of lies.

This is the kingdom of God and this is the kingdom of Satan. So in those kingdoms we are born into a fallen world, corruption world. And however we different philosophies around this, we're not going to go into that. But we know that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. So the whole earth that we live in is corrupted.

We're living in the kingdom of darkness here. And Jesus love and plan is he comes into that kingdom to rescue us and to pull us out. And he comes and he is the one that is chasing us and choosing us. And he comes with that and he draws us out of that. And at some point in that journey of us beginning to follow Jesus, this thing happens that we called being born again.

And Jesus told Nicodemus that if you want to see the kingdom, you have to be born again. So when we're born again, now we're able to see the difference in those two kingdoms. And so now we're understanding that we're making kingdom choices. And so the plan is, as we move into the kingdom of light and walk this out, that we are to be journeying and changing and growing to become conformed to the very image of Christ himself. That's the whole goal, guys.

That's the goal of the story, the goal of the scripture, that's the goal of our time here on earth is to be changed into be more like Jesus. And that means his attributes, that means his compassion, his love, his forgiveness, his joy, His Long suffering. It's the real person of him. We're not called to do all the things he did. We're called to be like him so that we can see the world the way he sees it and respond to it in a kingdom way rather than a worldly way.

Now one other thing on this, this separation looks all nice right here and we can see it, that's why we do it that way. But this whole kingdom of light thing and life that we're talking about is happening in here, right? We're living on this earth in the kingdom being ruled by the kingdom of darkness. It's a kingdom of lies. It's a kingdom.

It's a kingdom of the enemy. It's a kingdom of destruction. It's a kingdom that brings chaos and confusion and fear. What's the number one thing that humans have on this earth? Fear what the kingdom of God promises in the midst of all of this, he promises righteousness, which Hebrews told us we must have holiness, peace and joy.

So the kingdom invitation is for us in the middle of the world of darkness and lies and confusion, to begin to be governed inside of that thing by the kingdom of God. And he begins this deep work in me of transformation. And as he's transforming me, I see the world different, I see the issues different, I see him different. And that changes who I am. And so then it changes what I do.

And so the wrap up, not wrap up exactly, but the answer that I want to give you today is called the yoke of Jesus. So turn with me to Matthew, chapter 11.

And so what I'm building to and saying here is that when I am born again, what's waiting on me is an invitation to take on the yoke of Christ. And that's what we're looking at now, beginning in verse 28. Come unto me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

So when we're born again, there is this invitation to be yoked with Jesus.

And he says, but it's an invitation. He says, take it. So we have to make that choice to take it. Just like Hebrews was telling us, see to it, make every effort. Our part is to receive what he's given us.

And so isn't it weird that we can receive Jesus believing that for all eternity I'm going to be alright, but I can't receive Jesus and trust him for today.

Does that make any sense?

I mean, we're trusting him with our eternity, right? But I don't want to trust him with today.

What's that about?

So he offers the yoke. And so the promise is that he will give us rest. And the how to that he's going to give us rest is the yoke. If we don't yoke with him, we'll never know the rest that he has for us. We'll never know the righteousness and the peace and the joy that he has called us to and says we can have on this earth and all the chaos and all the crazies and all the stuff we have to be yoked with Him.

Let's see how the yoke works. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart. And the promise is you will find rest for your souls. What are we learning in the yoke?

We're not learning three ways to live a more successful life. It's not about the external things that we're learning to be wiser about or better about so that we can win or we can be more than whatever it is. Not that I can even win in my marriage or with my kids. We are learning about him and that's where the transformation takes place. I am learning about him, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.

And there is this miraculous transformation as I stay yoked with Him. Now our problem is we keep breaking out of the yoke, right? And so what do we do when we break out of the yoke? We repent. We go yoke up again.

And the promise is, is that he gives us rest for our souls. So our soul is our mind, our heart and our will. And so how many of us are real person in there, right? That's what's really driving us. We what we're doing in more class this morning.

Where do decisions come from? We process things with the brain, but we're making decisions out of the heart. And so being yoked with Jesus is what begins to change how we see life and feel about life. And what really happens in that is we're beginning to understand who he is. We're understanding his love and his compassion.

And we're experiencing it in a way that makes us go, man, if I can have this, then I'll get rid of that. I'll trade that. Because truth is that over there is killing me, right? It is not life. It is end up some sort of death, some kind of separation.

So he's given us a way to live this life on the earth that actually works. And it's through a yoke. Now, obviously, it's not a. Not a physical yoke, right? And so it's a.

It's a relational understanding. It's what the yoke is. Well, I'm in a covenantal kind of a relationship with him. That's what he's called me into, right? He said, I'm.

My covenant with you is I'm going to do this so that you can be mine. And so he's done the work, he's done the hard lifting. We're invited into this thing that's going to do something. And so it begins as a training tool, like we talked about with the kids. Our father training up his children last week.

But it becomes a life skill tool, right? I've got to stay connected. And it is this relational connection that we have to learn and practice and choose. And you go, so how do I do that? The way we do in other relationships.

Joan and I have been married for a few years now, and I know her and she knows me. When I'm off somewhere, there's a part of her that's always with me, right? I'm aware of her. I mean, when I'm off and not just opportunities to not go be stupid and do that stuff, but just other opportunities of life. When often somebody said, hey man, why don't we go do this?

I already know if she's in or out, right? I mean, I know what she's going to say because I know her and that helps govern me and keeps me out of dumb stuff. So good deal, right? And so, you know, I'm thinking I got about a 9 out of 10 chance of knowing how she's going to respond and react to something. So it's that 10% that keeps us on our toes, right?

Because we really don't, you know, it's just there. But that's the kind of relationship that Father is inviting us into, is that we know him and that if we carry him with us everywhere we go, it's not just a morning devotion. It's not just a Sunday morning church. We learn to live and to walk with him daily. He's involved in our daily.

I'm checking in, Father, what do I need to know about this? What's going on with that? How do I respond to this? And it's that relational connection that brings freedom and it brings life. And finally we realize there's so much we're trying to control that we can't control and he's got it.

And it's just an easier. It's a way to live life and have life. I think we call that trading up.

So the yoke is a beautiful gift that he's given us to live this life. And for me, it's the only way that we can go back to Hebrews, chapter 11 and that I can see to the things he's saying to see to that I can make every effort. The only way I got any hope of doing that is through the yoke. So the question today is obvious, right? Are you yoked to Jesus?

Are you in that kind of relationship that he's governing you, that you're getting to know Him? I'm not asking you if you've prayed to prayer. I'm not asking you if you're going to heaven. I'm asking you, are you yoked to Jesus?

If not, what are you yoked to? What is the single thing that's governing your life today? And by the power of the scripture, I just say, if it's not Jesus, you need to figure out how to get in the yoke with Jesus, and it's to respond to his invitation. Amen. Let's pray.

Well, Father, your love and provision for us and over us just continues to be more. And so I just pray for us in this room this morning, Father, for honest hearts that would be able to see that we would allow you to show us, Father, what is governing my life today? What is the one thing more than anything else that's governing me? And so is it a root of bitterness? Is it some unforgiveness thing, Father?

Is it some sin thing? Is it some failure? What is it that is really governing my life? What fear is there, Father? Why would I fear giving myself holy to you?

Why would I fear the one fountain of life that's being offered to drink from? What can I not see? Or in this world, why am I holding on to all that stuff that I know is a lie?

So, Father, as only you can, would you make the invitation to these folks this morning, who's ever at the right place at the right time, it is time to choose to yoke up and truly follow you. May it be so. Would you give courage this morning and would you give clarity? I pray.