We come to a very interesting place in our study of the Book of Hebrews. We read:

Hebrews 12:15-22 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; 16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. 17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. 18 For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, 19 And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: 20 (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: 21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) 22 BUT …

We stop reading at the word “BUT”. We’ll come to that in a few moments, if God so allow. What causes a person to be forever lost? What causes a person to lose the blessings of God? We are told:

Hebrews 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God

Word Study: We are told to be “Looking diligently” lest we “FAIL OF THE GRACE OF GOD”. The word translated “FAIL” is the Greek hystereō (hoos-ter-eh’-o), which means “to fall short of, to fail to reach the goal, to suffer for lack of”. The same word is used in:

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and COME SHORT OF (hystereō) the glory of God.

Because we all have sinned and hystereō the glory of God, we all deserve eternal separation from God. None of us deserve entrance into God’s wonderful Heaven. None of us deserve to be born again, nor to be adopted into the family of God. All of us deserve eternal damnation.

But God offers us GRACE!

Grace is when God gives us what we do not deserve. To receive grace, we must have faith in God. To receive grace, we must TRUST God to be honorable, truthful, and faithful. Grace turns from my ability to God’s ability. Grace looks to the Cross of Christ and the empty tomb. We are told …

Word Study: We are told to be “Looking diligently” lest we “FAIL OF THE GRACE OF GOD”. The words translated “Looking diligently” are very interesting. It is the Greek episkopeō (pronounced ep-ee-skop-eh’-o), which means “to look upon your life, to carefully inspect it, to OVERSEE yourselves”. This word is often used in the Scripture for the Office of the Pastor, as in:

1 Peter 5:2 (KJV) Feed the flock of God which is among you, TAKING THE OVERSIGHT (episkopeō) thereof …

The Pastor is to feed the Church, and to carefully watch over its members to insure that they stay on the path of God’s Word. But in our text today God is tell YOU to PASTOR YOURSELVES. To carefully examine your lives. Because Beloved, if you miss the boat of Grace, YOU WILL NOT ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.

The blessings of God are fully dependent upon His Grace and our reception of it!

Faith Leads To Grace, Feelings To The Flesh

What can cause us to fall short of the Grace of God? The Bible gives us a perfect illustration.

Hebrews 12:16 Lest there be any fornicator (pornos), or PROFANE (bebēlos, pronounced beb’-ay-los, the wicked) person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.

Word Study: What is it that keeps us from the Grace of God? It is FEELINGS. The text speaks first of the FORNICATOR, the pornos or sexually driven person. People today chase after sex in all forms because of the good fleshly feeling that it brings. They do not heed what God says, but their flesh is their god – or as the Apostle encouraged and warned us:

Philippians 3:17-20 (CSB) Join in imitating me, brothers and sisters, and pay careful attention to those who live according to the example you have in us. 18 For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame; and they are focused on earthly things. 20 Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Word Study: Those who are Christ’s are not focused on sexual satisfaction, but on Grace. Our focus is on Jesus, and on the glory of God. Those who are into PORNOS or PORN are devoted to the flesh, not to God. Then we see the text refer to the bebēlos, or the wicked or unholy person. What is interesting about this word is that the Hebrew word bāḇel (don’t they sound about the same? Yes, I know they are two different words, but I don’t think its a coincidence!) takes us back to the descendants of Noah, in particular the man named NIMROD:

Genesis 10:8-10 (ESV) Cush (the grandson of Noah through Ham) fathered NIMROD; he was the first on earth to be a mighty man. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. … 10 The beginning of his kingdom was Babel …

God gave Nimrod the ability to be a mighty hunter and a man’s man. But Nimrod was not focused on God’s Grace. He created eight cities in his glory, the first of which was Babel. It would be at Babel that the people would get together with a horrid plan:

Genesis 11:4 (ESV) … Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.

God had told mankind to “be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth” (Genesis 1:28; 9:1). But man followed FEELINGS RATHER THAN FAITH. Humanity did not say “Let’s glorify God and do as He says”, but instead we said “Let’s MAKE A NAME FOR OURSELVES. Let’s do what makes US FEEL GOOD, regardless of God”. It was at Babel that God confused the language of mankind, causing us in our discomfort to scatter. Later in the Bible Babylon would become the place where wicked, man made religion was developed. Babylon is the place of sexual immorality (Revelation 14:8), the place where the wrath of God would one day destroy (Revelation 16:19), a place of DEMONS AND UNCLEAN SPIRITS (Revelation 18:2).

A place where FEELINGS are placed above faith.

In chapter 11 God gave us a look at the heroes of the faith. But in chapter 12, God gives us a look at the heroes of FEELINGS. We are re-introduced to Esau.

Hebrews 12:16 … as ESAU, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.

ESAU is a PROFANE PERSON, a child of Babel.

He was his daddy’s favorite child. Just as Nimrod was a mighty hunter, Esau was a mighty hunter. And Esau as the firstborn, was the next child who would inherit the blessings of Grace from his father Isaac. But Esau was a greedy, self centered, self absorbed man. His brother Jacob was not much better, and if there was a picture of “dysfunctional family” in the dictionary, it would have shown these twin boys. One day when Esau had been unsuccessfully hunting, he came in from the field and found his brother Jacob cooking a red (lentil) stew. Jacob told his brother:

Genesis 25:31-34 (ESV) … “Sell me your birthright now.” 32 Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” 33 Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Esau relied on FEELING rather than FAITH. He was not going to die of hunger. The birthright that was his, was his by GRACE. He should have trusted in God. But Esau instead trusted in his FEELINGS, and sold his birthright to Jacob.

Hebrews 12:17 For ye know how that afterward, when {Esau} would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

Esau despised the Grace of God, and chose SELF over the SAVIOR. Later when he sought out his birthright, Esau NEVER REPENTED and turned to God, but begged his father Isaac to bless him (Genesis 27:30-41). Why did this happen to Esau? He caused it by choosing self over the Savior. And God knew that this was going to happen. God told Esau’s mother Rebekah “The older will serve the younger” (Romans 9:12). God would tell Rebekah while the children were still in her womb, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated” (Romans 9:13). Why did God love the younger Jacob, but hate the older Esau. Because God, Who knows “the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things not yet done” (Isaiah 46:10).

God knew that, though Jacob was initially as bad and self centered as his brother Esau was, that Jacob would eventually receive the Grace of God and become Israel, the Prince of God, a Child of God. But Esau and his descendants would become enemies of the faith, Edomites who would loot the Temple.

It is FAITH, not FEELINGS that bring us into the love and Grace of God. As the great Evangelist D.L. Moody once said,

“Satan can change your feelings, and make you feel almost any way; but he cannot change the Word of God.”

What Is Your Faith In? Yes, It Matters.

Hebrews 12:18-21 For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, 19 And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: 20 (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: 21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)

What is this mount that burned with fire … blackness, and darkness, and tempest? This terrible place where God told Israel:

Exodus 19:12-13 (ESV) … ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, {only then} they shall come up to the mountain.

Where is this place? A place of condemnation, a place of fear. Not only did all the “people of Israel tremble with fear” (Exodus 19:16), but Moses himself, a mighty man of God, said “I was afraid of the anger and the hot displeasure that the Lord bore against you” (Deuteronomy 9:19).

This was Mount Sinai.

Mount Sinai was a horrible place, the very mountain of God. Why did God lead Israel to Mount Sinai? Because Israel rejected the grace of God, and trusted in their feelings rather than faith. God saved Israel from Egypt by GRACE. Israel followed God, and left their slavery behind. Israel went through the Red Sea by GRACE. They followed the Lord. Israel was given manna and meat in the wilderness by GRACE. Israel was given water by GRACE. And yet, at every instance where there was the slightest lack, the leanest of suffering, Israel reverted to FEELING rather than FAITH.

So God brought Israel to Sinai, a terrible place. A fierce place. Why? Because Israel would not follow God by faith. They kept defaulting to FEELINGS. So God gave Israel the Law, a harsh, unkeepable Law. The Law illustrated the absolute holiness of God. The Law convicted of sin. The Apostle wrote:

Romans 3:19-20 (ESV) Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Though the Law offered a “sacrament” of animal sacrifice, it did not actually save. As we learned through Hebrews,

Hebrews 10:1-2, 4 (AP) … the Law was a SHADOW of good things to come … with animal sacrifices offered year by year that could not make you perfect. If they could, they would have been ceased … it is NOT POSSIBLE that the blood of animals take away sins …

God gave the Law – a harsh Law of circumcision, and ceremony, and sacrifice – to teach Israel and us that we cannot by our own efforts make ourselves right before God. If we want to be saved, we must follow God in faith. God sent his Son Jesus into this world to teach us that we are all sinners in need of the Savior.

Jesus came calling us to repent and follow.

Jesus explained the difference between the Law and Feeling and faith in:

Luke 18:9-14 (ESV) {Jesus} also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Don’t miss the introduction to the parable. Jesus specifically spoke to “some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt”. They “TRUSTED IN THEMSELVES”. They were centered on THEIR feelings, what THEY thought, what THEY did. But they never secured the Grace of God. Who did? The hated tax collector who, contrary to most people, abhorred himself, humbled himself, and called upon God’s Grace as a sinner devoid of hope.

It is not my ability that will get me to Heaven. It is not your ability that will get you to Heaven. It is the Grace of God that saves us, and keeps on saving us.

We Procure Grace By Faith (TRUST)

Hebrews 12:22-23 But ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect …

If you are recipients of the Grace of God, then you are not where Esau was. Further, you are not standing at the base of Mount Sinai. The Bible says “ye are come unto mount Zion”. What is Mount Zion? Mount Zion is the highest point in Jerusalem, a holy place that overlooks the city of David.

Abraham offered his son up to God on this mountain. (Genesis 22:1-24)
Here Jacob had his dream of a ladder to Heaven. (Genesis 28:11)
And Solomon built the Temple here (2 Chronicles 3:1)

Mount Zion speaks of the Presence of God. You enter the Presence of God not through FEELINGS like Esau, or SELF ASSURANCE like the Law would test. You enter the Presence of God through His Door, through Grace. You come unto “the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem”, that place we call Heaven by Grace, by faith in God’s goodness. We will one day look at the home of the “angels” of God. We will one day stand with “THE CHURCH OF THE FIRSTBORN”, those whose names are “WRITTEN IN HEAVEN” in God’s Book of Life. How do you get your name in that Book? By having faith in God, by believing on Him Whom God has sent. One day we will see “God the Judge of all, and … the spirits of just men made perfect”. We will stand before God cleansed on all sin. How will we get into His Book?

By faith in Christ.

Hebrews 12:24-25 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. 25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh.

How is a person saved? It is by FAITH in Jesus. It is not by FEELING, but by FAITH. What does it mean to have FAITH.

Faith means to TRUST GOD.

God entrusts salvation to those who trust HIM. The Apostle said:

2 Timothy 1:12 (ESV) … I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.

Trust means I believe that GOD IS ABLE. Not me, but God. I do not trust people, but I trust God. As the Psalmist said, “It is better to TAKE REFUGE IN THE LORD, than to TRUST IN MAN” (Psalm 118:8). In the New Testament the word FAITH is frequently used. But throughout the Old Testament God used another word.

TRUST!

Jeremiah 17:5, 7 (ESV) Cursed is the man who trust in man, and makes FLESH HIS STRENGTH, whose heart TURNS AWAY FROM THE LORD … 7 BLESSED IS THE MAN WHO TRUSTS IN THE LORD, WHOSE TRUST IS THE LORD ..

I have heard people say, “There is a member of such and such a Church, and that person cheated me out of some money. I won’t have anything to do with Churches or Christians again”. Your very words convict you. Your trust is not in God, but in man, in people. Those who are God’s children put their trust in Him.

Psalm 9:10 … Those who know Your Name will put their trust in You, for You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You …

Isaiah 12:2 .. Behold, God is my Salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; for the Lord God is my Strength and Song, and HE HAS BECOME MY SALVATION …

Salvation is all of God. Salvation is placing your trust, your hopes, your very life into the hands of Jesus.

When our Lord Jesus was in Bethsaida the Bible tells us in:

Mark 8:22-23 (ESV) … some people brought to {Jesus} a blind man and begged Him to touch him. 23 And {Jesus} took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village…

Before Jesus can save us, He has to get us to the place where our trust, our faith, is totally in Him. Jesus “LED THE BLIND MAN OUT OF THE VILLAGE” before He ministered to him and gave him his sight. When you are saved, you follow Jesus.

I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.

The Christian puts his or her faith in Jesus Christ, in His finished work of Calvary, in the empty tomb. We believe the Word of God because Jesus believed the Word of God. And we follow Him, albeit imperfectly. But it is in Him we trust!

A group of explorers wanted to get a few eggs from a nest on the side of a steep precipice. They asked the local villagers if there was anyone able to reach the area, and there was a young boy who said “Yes, I can”. The explorers said, “We’ll lower you down by a rope, and pay you well for your time”. The boy refused. He didn’t trust them. But he told the explorers, “I’ll go, but only if my Father holds the rope. I know He won’t let go.”

Beloved, that is where faith should be. Not in man, not in our strength, but in the power and majesty of God. Our faith must rest full in Jesus, the One sent to mediate the New Covenant. Do you know Him? Oh, that God would draw you to Jesus this very day! Amen and Amen.