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Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven! (New Living Translation).

In spite of the contrasts drawn between the Old and New Covenants, and the privileges of belonging to the New, we must not think we can rest on our laurels. We are called to obedience, and it remains a serious thing to dig our heels in, insist on our own way, and ”refuse” God.

“We must allow the Word of God to confront us, to disturb our security, to undermine our complacency and to overthrow our patterns of thought and behaviour.” John Stott.

It has been pointed out that this brings us back full circle, to 2:1-4, and indicates that the writer is completing his argument and starting to pull together the various threads.

What was the last thing God showed you to do? Don’t neglect to act!

¹⁸ You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai. ¹⁹ For they heard an awesome trumpet blast and a voice so terrible that they begged God to stop speaking. ²⁰ They staggered back under God’s command: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” ²¹ Moses himself was so frightened at the sight that he said, “I am terrified and trembling.”

²² No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering. ²³ You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect. ²⁴ You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel. (New Living Translation).

There is a strong contrast drawn in these verses between the Old and New covenants. When we come to Jesus (”the one mediator between God and mankind…” 1 Tim.2:5) we also ‘come to church.’ We are brought into the church which is a holy mystery. Let us tread with sacred wonder. It is a place of supernatural encounter where, above all, we meet God in and through Jesus, but we also share communion with angels and believers (both visible and invisible).

”Therefore with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven,
we proclaim your great and glorious name, for ever praising you…”

In one sense, believers have already arrived in the heavenly city (they/we are seated with Christ in ”the heavenly realms” Ephesians 2). ”They already belong there; in prayer and worship they are already welcome before God’s throne. This leads to the obvious question: does your life of prayer and worship, whether alone or with your fellow believers, carry the sense of joy and excitement that comes bubbling out of these verses? If not, why not?” Tom Wright: ‘Hebrews for everyone’, p.163.

 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; ¹⁹ to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, ²⁰ because they could not bear what was commanded: ‘If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.’ ²¹ The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, ‘I am trembling with fear.’

²² But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, ²³ to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, ²⁴ to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ 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. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’ (Matthew 11:28-30).

The word ”come” is repeated in today’s passage, and it is a word expressive of movement. No-one can come to Jesus and stay where they are. I think the New Testament word which best captures this movement is ”repent”. You could say it has movement built into it. It means a change of mind leading to a change of direction. It is to turn. In fact, it is an ‘about turn’: a turn through 180 degrees.

No-one can respond to Jesus’ most gracious invitation without movement. No-one can come to Him without repentance. There are those who admire Jesus from a distance, but that is where they stay. They admiringly look from afar and appreciate the view, but they do not ”Come”.

”See to it…See that…See to it…

As we have seen, pursuing holiness (14) involves availing ourselves of all the resources God provides (15a). We cannot become holy apart from God’s grace. But these repeated exhortations in Hebrews 12 point to our personal responsibility to take action, as we draw upon God’s power – a power, by the way, we may not always feel, but it is none the less really there for us. We can count on it; even more, we can count on Him.

Here is a very important quote from Don Carson:

“People do not drift toward Holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.”

Watch out for the Esau syndrome: trading away God’s lifelong gift in order to satisfy a short-term appetite. You well know how Esau later regretted that impulsive act and wanted God’s blessing—but by then it was too late, tears or no tears.

Literally, the Bible says of Esau here ”he found no opportunity for repentance.’

Tom Wright comments:

‘Human character and reputation is like a tree; it takes decades to grow, but it can be cut down or burnt to a cinder in a matter of minutes…the point of the sharp warning in this passage is that it is indeed possible to do things which bring our character crashing down in ruins and to discover that there is no way back…We should be cautious about suggesting that someone who genuinely wants to repent of their sin and get right with God will ever be refused; but we should be equally cautious about imagining that someone who enjoys Christian fellowship but then plays fast and loose with the consequent moral responsibilities will be able to come back in whenever they feel like it. Decisions and actions have consequences.’ Tom Wright: ‘Hebrews for everyone’, pp.155, 157,158.

Here, then, are some words to take to heart:

”Be very careful, then, how you live…” (Ephesians 5:15a).

See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. ¹⁷ Afterwards, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.

She took sermon notes, and I found a sheet in her Bible on which she had jotted down some great ‘quotable quotes.’ I was struck by this phrase: ‘Don’t sacrifice the ultimate on the altar of the immediate.’

That’s what Esau effectively did.

‘Short-term relief, long-term misery’, observes Tom Wright.

Someone said, ‘We make our choices, then our choices turn around and make us.’

Esau’s issue was not sexual, but he did nevertheless cave in to another lust of the flesh. He was like a child who preferred to have a chocolate bar, rather than a cheque for £1,000.

However, the text does speak seriously about avoiding sexual immorality. The church is increasingly hated in these days because we applaud, and communicate, and seek to honour the fences God, in His Word, has put around sex. ‘For best results follow the Maker’s Instructions’, and He who created human sexuality knows what is best for us. People are quick to say that the church is oppressive and repressive, but we want to simply say that the Lord has put those fences there for our protection, not to spoil our fun. He knows the danger that lies beyond them.

We cross His boundaries at our own peril.

‘God’s grace does not fail, but we can fail to depend on God’s grace. Esau is a warning to us not to live for lesser things.’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘New Testament Commentary’, p.841.

 See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 

Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. (New Living Translation)

To fall short of God’s grace is to fail to avail ourselves of it.

Hebrews 4:16 says:

”Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Whatever our trials, tests, temptations, challenges, difficulties etc, the grace of God is available to enable us to endure, resist, turn away, press on – whatever it is we need to do to ‘pursue holiness’.

‘God’s grace does not fail, but we can fail to take advantage of His grace. At the end of the chapter, there is another emphasis on grace (Heb.12:28).’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘New Testament Commentary’, p.841.

The way the ‘New Living Translation’ puts this, we see that we can remind each other of the resources richly available in Christ, and help one another lay hold of them. ”Peace” is important (v.14) because fellowship is crucial to growth in holiness. As Christians, we are to be watchful of the spiritual welfare of our brothers and sisters in the church.

One thing that can happen when someone fails to receive and rely on God’s grace, is that they can become a bitter root and cause trouble for the entire congregation. David Peterson, in the ‘New Bible Commentary’, says that the imagery recalls Dt.29:18, where Moses warned that bitterness could be spread throughout the entire community of God’s people by one rebellious member.

 Keep a sharp eye out for weeds of bitter discontent. A thistle or two gone to seed can ruin a whole garden in no time. (The Message).

It is possible for Christians to disagree without being disagreeable. But where bitterness starts to mark the debate, and then fuel and control it…in that direction lies damage, and even, possibly, ruin.

 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

Two other key verses come to mind:

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:3)

 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. (Romans 12:18).

I find it interesting that the writer seems to be bracket peace and holiness together. To my mind, living at peace with others is a social manifestation of holiness. As we grow in our vertical relationship with God, so there should be a healthy outgrowth into our relationships at a horizontal level. (See 13:1-3, 7, 16,17).

What will it mean to ”Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy…”? Each one of us will need to think and pray this through, and then act accordingly.

‘It is not possible to live at peace with everyone, because some people will oppose us simply because of our faith in Christ. But we must try as far as possible to remain at peace with everyone. And if we are supposed to remain at peace with non-believers, how much more should we strive to remain at peace with our fellow-believers.’ Tom Hale: ‘Applied New Testament Commentary’, p.880.

Clearly, ”holiness” is not an optional extra for a few especially saintly types. Literally, ”be holy” means ‘pursue holiness.’ But we know from verse 10 that we cannot grow in holiness apart from God’s work in us.

The implications of verse 14 will be drawn out in the following verses

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

An old hymn says, ‘It is not by trying, but by trusting.’

Really?

We get the point, of course, that we are not saved by works, but I think the New Testament continually calls believers to try trustingly to make progress in the life of discipleship.

Someone said that grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to works.

Paul expresses the balance called for exquisitely in 1 Corinthians 15:10:

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace. (New Living Translation).

Haven’t I worked hard trying to do more than any of the others? Even then, my work didn’t amount to all that much. It was God giving me the work to do, God giving me the energy to do it. (The Message).

Try trustingly!