SEE THAT NO ONE MISSES
Hebrews 12:14-17
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: GROUND SIRLOIN ON SALE
1. It was a holiday weekend when a man walked into a butcher shop that had a sign in the window saying, "Ground Sirloin: 29 cents per pound.”
2. “Wow!” He exclaimed, “that’s the best sirloin price I’ve seen in years! I'm having a cookout so I'd like 25 pounds of your ground sirloin, please."
3. The butcher shook his head and said, "I’m sorry but I'm all out."
4. The disappointed man went down the street to another butcher shop and asked, "How much is your ground sirloin?"
"It's $4.29 per pound."
5. "Four dollars & 29 cents?" exclaimed the man. "Just up the street they are selling it for just 29 cents a pound!"
6. The butcher smiled calmly at the gentleman and asked, "Does he have any?" "No. He's out of it right now."
7. "Well," said the butcher, "When I don't have any, I’ll sell mine for 29 cents per pound too!"
B. TEXT
14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless [KJV – ‘profane’] like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17 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. [NIV, 1984]
C. THESIS
1. The writer of Hebrews brings up many areas we need to hear about today: the need for holiness, the danger of bitterness, immoral sexual behavior.
2. When he warned that people might “miss the grace of God,” the Greek word for ‘miss’ (ustereo) means "to fall short," to be insufficient.
3. 3 times in the Bible people were said to “miss” or come short of the grace of God. This means THEY DIDN’T MAKE IT TO HEAVEN!
4. So we’re going to look at those 3 examples and see whether we might be in danger of missing the grace of God.
5. The title of this message is “See That No One Misses.”
I. ESAU
The writer of Hebrews brought up a specific example of missing the grace of God, a man named Esau. Genesis 27 tells the story of Esau, a rugged, outdoorsman who loved to hunt. He was a ‘man's man.’ He was strong, well-built, he wore a beard. He was a Hugh Jackman kind of guy. He had a lot of good traits, but a few fatal ones too!
A. THE WRONG VALUES OF ESAU
1. Hebrews 12:16, "Lest there be any... profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright."
A. "Profane" -- "to treat something sacred with abuse or contempt."
b. His problem was -- Spiritual things were low on his list of priorities. He lived only for the here and now.
2. Esau had been out hunting all day and caught nothing. He came home and Jacob was cooking a big pot of chili. Ah! It smelled so good! (His senses took over).
3. "Give me some of that chili, brother." "Okay -- for a price; sell me your birthright!" Now the birthright was Esau’s inheritance rights – it was worth a fortune! It would affect his descendants. It was like the King of England abdicating his rights to the throne!
4. Esau should have said, “You’re crazy!” But Esau did it!
5. It was like selling Manhattan for $24 in beads! Like selling the Hope diamond as a paperweight in a garage sale! We can't help but say, "How foolish!"
B. INSTANT GRATIFICATION
1. At that moment -- as he smelled the chili -- his spiritual inheritance didn't seem all that important! It happens to people all the time; they get in a situation of temptation and surrender all for the pleasures of the moment.
2. A case in point:
a. Karen Glance, age 36. She traded her happiness and peace for a $100,000-plus yearly income. "I was a workaholic," she says, "a crazy, crazy woman. I was on the plane four times a week. I just wanted to get to the top. All of a sudden, I realized that I was reaching that goal but I wasn't happy."
b. Another case: a girl in her teens. Her trade-off included her virginity for the chance at love and security. But she found that "having premarital sex was the worst mistake I ever made... someday I will marry someone and share something very special with him, but I will also have to tell him of my sickening experience. I dread the day that I have to tell the man I truly love that he is not the only one, though I wish that he was."
c. With others, it's drugs, or alcohol, or pornography. The pot of chili changes forms, but it’s still just as cheap and reckless of a decision.
3. Be careful you don’t let instant gratification wreck your spiritual future. It’s NOT WORTH IT.
C. THE ANNIVERSARY FLOWERS
1. On a young married couple’s second anniversary, her husband sent the wife flowers at the office.
2. When he placed the order he’d told the florist to write "Happy Anniversary, Year Number 2" on the card.
3. The wife was delighted when the florist arrived, but her joy was heavily clouded by the note on the card. It read...
4. "Happy Anniversary. You're Number 2."
5. Sometimes without meaning to, we can make God #2 in our lives!
II. THE RICH YOUNG RULER
1. Another example of a person who "missed the grace of God" is found in Mark 10:21. This is the story of the Rich Young Ruler who asked Jesus what he lacked. Jesus answered with the word "lack," ‘usterei, the same word used in Heb. 12:15.
2. 17As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 18"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. 19You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'" 20"Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy." 21Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." 22At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. Mark 10:17-22.
3. Look at the good qualities of this guy!
A. HE’S THE PERSON WHO NEVER MESSED UP
He said He’d kept God’s commands all his life (Vs. 20), and
the Lord didn’t deny this was true. He must have been a model son growing up.
1. Never Smoked a Cigarette.
2. Never tried marijuana. (Forget the “not-inhaling” group, this one stayed clear of it.
3. Never Tasted Alcohol.
4. Never rebelled against his parents.
5. Always drove his car responsibly.
6. Treated his Dates with courtesy and respect (he’s the guy all you mothers wish your daughters would marry).
7. I congratulate you man/women who’ve lived like this.
B. HE’S THE ONE WHO ALWAYS WENT TO CHURCH
1. He’s called “A Ruler” (Luke 18:18) – undoubtedly, a ruler of a synagogue. So he must have been exemplary.
2. HE HAD FAITH. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” He was a believer! despite the doctrine of the Sadducees.
3. HAD RESPECT for God and God’s ministers. He knelt in the presence of Christ and called Him “Good Master.”
4. WAS SINCERE, when many Jews were hypocritical.
5. We’d love to have a church house full of men/women like him – God bless all of you who are!
C. HE’S THE MAN NOT SATISFIED WITH RELIGION
1. He’d heard the Bible’s teaching, kept it, and was wanting more! Today he’d attend seminars, retreats, prayer meetings, etc. Matthew 19:20 “What lack I yet?”
2. Summary: He had a Seeking heart. Thank God for people who aren’t satisfied!
3. He was willing to change! Many people are so set in their ways it would take dynamite to loosen them up. He wasn’t. It’s refreshing to meet people who’re open to change!
4. This man believed himself willing to:
a. DO anything
b. To GIVE UP anything
c. To SUFFER anything, to gain eternal life.
5. And so are most of you. Congratulations!
D. BUT THERE WAS ONE PROBLEM
1. The gaze of Jesus pierced through all his accomplishments and shown upon a sin (a heart problem –
greed) which must be conquered or he couldn’t possess eternal life.
2. God was his master in everything but this one. The Lord is not trying to be nitpicking. One bad link breaks a chain.
3. Like a man who tells his wife that he’ll be faithful to her 364 days a year; he wants one day off to have an illicit affair. Would any wife gladly accept such a situation? Of course not! Neither will God. He wants you exclusively for Himself.
4. As God, Jesus commanded him to lay down the one thing that was his mastering motive. He wouldn’t lay it down!
5. If Jesus is your Lord, there should be some self-denial in your life. A times you should have to:
a. alter your plans,
b. curtail the places you go,
c. restrain what you say.
d. surrender what’s important to you.
6. Check your life; is there a “one thing” you don’t want to give up?
III. 3RD EXAMPLE: YOU, ME, & the WHOLE WORLD!
A. WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS
1. In Romans 3:21-24 NLT, Paul writes, "But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him….by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God freely and graciously declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.”
2. The words “fall short” is the same Greek root word as “ustereo.” Everyone in the world has “missed” God’s righteous standard; none of us are worthy to go to heaven.
B. WE DON’T LIKE TO ADMIT IT
1. A man was getting his windshield washed and wiped at a filling station. When the attendant finished doing his windshield, the man said, "Terrible job! Redo my windshield. That windshield’s as dirty as when you started."
2. The filling station attendant did it again. The man in the car looked it over and then in frustration said, "My goodness! Can't you even clean a windshield? This window has not changed." So the attendant did it again.
3. The man's wife was sitting next to him in the car, fuming. She reached over, pulled off his glasses, wiped them, and gave them back to him.
4. The attendant had been doing his job correctly. The man himself was the problem all along. Tony Evans, p. 225.
5. But the Bible says, Isaiah 59:2, “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.”
C. MANY THINK THEY’RE WISER THAN GOD
1. I heard about a man of science who was riding a ferryboat. He was talking to an uneducated man on the ferry. He asked, “Do you know Geology?” He said, “No, he didn’t.” The man replied, “Well, ¼ of your life is gone.”
2. He then asked him, “Do you knew Biology?” Again, he said, “No.” The man said, “Well, ½ of your life is gone.”
3. He further asked him if he knew Zoology? The man answered him, “No, he didn’t.” The man came back and said, “Well, ¾ of your life is gone.”
4. About that time, a wave hit the ferryboat, knocking the man of science into the water. The uneducated man shouted at him, “Do you know how to swim?” He hollered back, “No.” He said, “Then, all your life is gone!”
LIKEWISE…
5. You can know a lot of things about this world, but if you’ve never been to Calvary and met Jesus as your Savior, one day when death comes, your life will be gone!
6. Because Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life – if you don’t have Him, you don’t have eternal life.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: JOY OF A CLEAN CONSCIENCE
1. Dr. Jacob Chamberlain, an early missionary to India, recalls that while preaching to a group who had come to bathe in the "sacred stream" of the Ganges, a man joined them who had crawled many agonizing miles on his knees and elbows to reach that spot.
2. The poor exhausted soul made his prayer to Gunga, and then slipped into the water, but emerged with the same
conviction of sin as before. The fear of death still tugged at his heart.
3. Then he heard Chamberlain tell the wonderful story of grace and how Christ died on the cross to pay the debt of sinners before God.
4. He quoted the verse, “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!”
5. The man staggered to his feet, clasped his hands together, and cried, "Oh, that’s what I need! That’s what I came for! Tell me again this happy news!” The missionary soon led him to Jesus.
B. THE CALL
1. Are you in danger of missing the grace of God? Are you like Esau, not putting priority on spiritual things? Are you settling for instant gratification instead of pleasing God?
2. Are you like the Rich Young Ruler – a person who’s doing most things right, but unwilling to surrender the one thing that God is speaking to you about?
3. Are you willing to acknowledge that you have a problem? That you are a sinner who needs a Savior? That without the Cross & blood of Jesus you’re not going to heaven? Are you willing to accept Him today?
4. Also, we’re supposed to see that no one misses God’s grace by telling everyone around us the Good News and encouraging fellow believers to keep the faith.
5. Let’s pray.
