KEY PRINCIPLES FROM THIS MESSAGE:
In God’s grand plan for the ages, OT and NT saints are all in this together, as a family. Salvation is an eternal concept, not a point-in-time one. Therefore, to fully understand God’s salvific plan, we mustn’t be nearsighted; rather, we must consider it as spanning millennia (all human history, even).
Ch 12 represents a clear shift from historical recitation (Ch 11) to pastoral exhortation.
A pastor’s job is to hold up the “mirror”; however, the conviction must come from God the Holy Spirit when YOU look intently, humbly, and honestly at what He reveals to you through His Word.
Although faith is still the underlying theme in Ch 12, piggybacking off the momentum gained in Ch 11, it is more about seeing it actualized in endurance and submission under discipline. The writer encourages patience and trusting perseverance despite hardship.
Apostasy is once again a key motivator for the writer in Ch 12.
“run” – from trecho – means properly, to run (like an athlete competing in the ancient Greek games); (figuratively) advance speedily, like an athlete moving forward with full effort and directed purpose (see 1 Cor 9:24); conveys intense desire to get to the goal as quickly as possible; was used of runners in a race, of swiftness or of effort to attain an end.
“endurance” – from hupomone – means properly, remaining under, endurance; steadfastness, especially as God enables the believer to “remain (endure) under” the challenges He allots in life.
Sin has the direct result of not only diverting our eyes from Jesus Christ, but ultimately, it becomes a deterrent to endurance. In fact, it is rightly categorized as discouraging to God’s children.
The hallmark of spiritual maturity is the habitual absence of being controlled by sinful flesh; instead of that, a spiritually mature person is habitually controlled by the Spirit.