Hebrews 12:1-17 - Endure

Listen along as we continue our series through Hebrews.

Notes//Quotes:

Hebrews 12:1-17

“It is not so much they who look at us as we who look to them—for encouragement.” - FF Bruce

“In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through—all that bloodshed! So don’t feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children?” - The Message

“When God wants to drill a man, and thrill a man, and skill a man, 
When God wants to mold a man to play the noblest part; 
When He yearns with all His heart to create so great and bold a man 
That all the world shall be amazed, 
Watch His methods, watch His ways! 
How He ruthlessly perfects whom He royally elects! 
How He hammers him and hurts him, and with mighty blows converts him 
Into trial shapes of clay which Only God understands; 
While his tortured heart is crying and he lifts beseeching hands! 
How He bends but never breaks when his good He undertakes; 
How He uses whom He chooses, and with very purpose fuses him; 
By every act induces him To try His splendor out— 
God knows what He’s about.”

The theme of endurance works as the thread binding 12:1–17 together. In each use of figurative or illustrative material—a race, parental discipline, the foolish Esau—difficult experiences and the struggle of Christian perseverance form the backdrop. The image of the race and that of loving, parental discipline also reveal God as a great redeemer of pain and, therefore, as the God of hope for believers who find themselves in painful circumstances. - George Guthrie

“surely from this period of ten months this is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty — never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. We stood all alone a year ago, and to many countries it seemed that our account was closed, we were finished. Do not let us speak of darker days: let us speak rather of sterner days. These are not dark days; these are great days — the greatest days our country has ever lived; and we must all thank God that we have been allowed, each of us according to our stations, to play a part in making these days memorable in the history of our race.” - Winston Churchill