Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Hebrews 12. I'd like to look at verses 12
and 13 this evening. And before we read, let's ask
our Lord's blessing. Thank you for the evening that
you've given us to assemble ourselves together in worship. And Lord,
as we come before you tonight, we do so in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ, realizing that our only acceptance is in Him. Lord, I ask you now to help us. Lord, teach us through your Word. Bless the Word to our hearts
by Your Spirit. And forgive us for Christ's sake. Amen. We've been considering the chastisement
of the Lord. In verse 5 of chapter 12, the Apostle says, And oh, how we need to be reminded
often of the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children. My son, despise not thou the
chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him.
Why? For whom the Lord loveth. He chasteneth and scourgeth every
son whom he receiveth." Almighty God does not deal with
His people as enemies. He deals with His people as His
children, as sons. Verse 8 tells us, if you be without
chastisement. And I want to remind us, we all
need to hear this. Everyone goes through troubles.
Everyone has trials. Believers and unbelievers. But
a believer, is in the chastisement made to realize again that his
sin is before God. He has sinned before the God
that loves him, that chose him, that redeemed him, that regenerated
him, that keeps him, that shall forever be with him. We need to be reminded who we're
dealing with. The unbeliever doesn't care.
He does not care that he's sinned before God. He has. But he doesn't
care. That's why David said in Psalm
51, against thee and thee only, have I sinned and done this great
evil in thy sight. The prodigal. Remember what he
said? I've sinned against heaven and before you. Make me one of your hired servants."
What broke his heart was his sin against his dad. Disappointed
his dad. Disappointed the one that loved
him and cared for him. Had heart for him. That's chastisement. You disappoint the one you love
that loves you. It breaks your heart. If you
be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then you are
bastards and not sons. And then the Apostle reminded
us that our fathers, verse 9, after the flesh corrected us,
we gave them reverence, shall we not much Rather be in subjection
unto the Father of spirits and live? And then he tells us something
in verse 10 that we're keenly aware of. I'm sorry, verse 11. Now no chastening
for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth
the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised
thereby." These afflictions, chastenings outwardly, inwardly,
mostly inwardly. Outwardly, yes, but inwardly
we feel the sting of it and the disappointment in ourselves.
But these afflictions, It struck God's people concerning hope
in Him, patience in Him, humility and self-denial. And by these
afflictions, by these chastisements, we're taught to trust God, to
believe Him. We think back. We look back. No chastening for the present. I told you last time, We look
back and we think, oh, that which He's taught me. That which He's
kept me through. That which He's sustained me
under. And it's hard. These chastisements
are painful. They don't seem to be joyous.
They're grievous. But there's a profit in them. It yields that peaceable fruit
of righteousness unto them that are exercised. Wherefore, knowing
all these things, knowing that all of God's people are going
to go through trials and tribulations and chastisements, wherefore,
lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, You that are fatigued yourself
with the weight of trials and sufferings. And those that are
going to live godly in this world, this is what the Word of God
promises, they that will live godly in this life, in this world,
are going to suffer persecution. You're going to have it. Stand fast. This is the word
of encouragement from our Lord. Look unto Him who is our strength. Do we not need to be reminded? I mean, while we're right here,
and while we're in this building and we're sitting and we're listening
to God's Word, and we agree with this, we know this, we know this. But when we're in the fire, When you're thrown into the burning
furnace of God's loving, chastening hand, lift up the hands which
hang down, the feeble knees. Be of good cheer. I need something that's going
to keep me in the midst of that. And I'm telling you, and you
know this, a word from a well-meaning friend, if it's just their opinion, What's that? But according to
His Word, according to the Word that is life, David said in Psalm
27, 13, 14, I fainted, lest I believe to see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord. Be of good
courage. He shall strengthen thine heart.
Wait, I say, on the Lord. A believer in the midst of adversity
and trials and tribulations. And we all have them. Without
them, we're illegitimate. But that word of encouragement
I need to my heart. Lord, make that real to me. Lord,
help me. If I, by the grace of God, am
kept and taught, and that word is heartily applied to my heart,
I can be encouraged. But not only is this an encouragement
to the one in the affliction, but it's also an exhortation
to lift up the hands that hang down in the feeble knees of our
brethren. Those that need our encouragement and reminding of
God's Word. Again, we want to be an encouragement. But give encouragement where
encouragement does good. It's got some strength to it.
Isaiah 35 reinforces, Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm
the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful
heart. That is, forgetful of His promises. And who's not guilty? Who is
not guilty of forgetting? Whatever the trial is, whatever
the tribulation is, that word from Him that, I will never leave
you. I'll never forsake you. I remember one time I was with
one of the little nephews, and we were in a little game room
or something. It was dark. It was dark. It was just pitch black and it
was a little maze. And I can remember him holding
on to my hand. The darker we were walking, it
got darker, darker, darker. And the darker it got, the tighter
his hand was on mine. He's going to make sure I'm not
going to get away from you. Wherever you are, that's where
I want to be. I need to be reminded, Lord, wherever you are, that's
where I want to be. Because you've promised wherever
I am, that's where you're going to be. Lord, I need that strength. I need that Word. Say to them
that are forgetting of a fearful heart, be strong. Fear not. Behold, your God will come with
vengeance upon the oppressor that oppresses you. Upon Satan. Even our God with a recompense.
Even God with a recompense, a punishment upon the wicked, those who are
the pawns of Satan. He will come and save you. Comfort
God's people. Encourage those that need encouragement,
that are ready to faint. Isaiah chapter 40, this is a
word that we've read so often, but a word to God's people. from
God's preachers especially, but every believer to another believer. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. Speak ye comfortably. Speak to
the heart is what it means. Speak comfortably to Jerusalem
and cry unto her that her warfare, her appointed time is accomplished,
that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all of her sins. Speak comfortably to
God's people. Comfort them in the Lord. Rehearse
the words of God's promise to those that are going through
the trials and tribulations. He's faithful. I know He's faithful.
He'll never leave. He's steadfast. 2 Corinthians
1.20 says, For all the promises of God in Him, in Christ, are
yea in Him. Amen. Unto the glory of God by
us. Say to them that are of a fearful
heart. And are we not all in that place
often? I know. Who we are in Him. Redeemed. Kept. But I'm telling you, we're in
this world. And we're still in this flesh.
Be strong. Fear not. Don't doubt the fulfillment
of His promises. I remember talking with Brother
Scott, right after I'd received some news from a doctor that
I really wasn't expecting. And I was talking to Brother
Scott about it. And I knew he'd been there. And I just related
what had happened. And this is what he told me.
He said, the worst part of it is when you first hear it. The Lord will provide. He'll
keep you. And you know, in time, as my
heart settled, and musing upon His words, reading His Word,
His Scriptures, His truth, that proved to be so. The Lord Jesus Christ who came
into this world, took our nature to live for us, died for us,
buried for us, rose for us, ever liveth to make intercession for
us. He's coming again. This life is but a vapor. This
life is almost over. We're going to see Him and going
to be with Him. Forever behold the glory that
was given unto the Son from before the foundation of the world.
Verse 13 says, And make straight paths of your feet, lest that
which is lame be turned out of the way, but let it rather be
healed. Make straight, make right, make
honest paths, your conduct. For your feet, your walk, Make
the Word of God your desire and your instruction to yourself
and to others, following after Him by faith. Proverbs 4, verse 26 says, Ponder
the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Brother Henry said one time to
a group of men, I believe it was to the preacher's school
where he was, and one of the men related this to me. I was never in that preacher's
school that Brother Henry taught. He told those men, he said, listen,
he said, if God calls you to be a pastor, if God places you
in a place and raises up a church and puts you as the under-shepherd
there, He said, I want you to always remember one thing. He
said, you're cut out of the same lump as everybody else. He said, you were redeemed by
the same blood. You have the same passions as
everybody else. You're just like everybody else.
But you're held to a higher standard. As God's preachers, He said,
you're in a fishbowl. And he said, you walk accordingly. That's right. Make straight paths
of your feet, lest that which is lame, lest that which is weak,
walk worthy, Paul said in Ephesians 4.1. of the vocation wherewith
you're called, with all lowliness and meekness, long-suffering,
forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Walk worthy. Make straight. Make honorable. Make honest. Your feet, your
path for your feet, lest that which is lame, weak, be turned
out of the way. Rather, let it be healed. lest
a weak believer, one through weakness of maturity or judgment,
stumble and be offended because of your lack of consistency.
You say, but I'm just a sinner saved by the grace of God. That's
right. Walk accordingly. Restore that one that's fallen. Encourage that one which is weak.
Galatians 6 says, Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault,
ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of
meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Remember,
though redeemed by grace, regenerated by God's Spirit, we are still
in his flesh. The emotions of sin are still
there. And if a brother is overtaken
in a fault, one overtaken because of the presence of sin, and we
all have it, make every effort to recover, to restore, to reestablish
that place, that position of fellowship for Christ's sake. He said in 1 Corinthians 10.31,
whether therefore you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do
it all to the glory of God. God's people are frail creatures. And they're the ones that are
most aware of it. We're going through this world
lovingly chastened by the Lord. And because of the weakness of
our flesh, We find ourselves cast down often. We feel the
weakness of our flesh, that old nature. Be an encouragement to
believers and encourage believers. Encourage God's people. Remind
them of His promises. Walk worthy of the calling. But Almighty God's called you
to, for Christ's sake, and for the good of His people.