and turn to the passage that
Brother Darrell read, Hebrews chapter 12. And I had prepared, of course, with
the snow and the days that we tried to be sensitive to the
weather conditions. And I know this, the Lord is
the one that handles the weather And we don't question. I know there's been some services
that we've not had recently. And I had prepared something
for today, I thought. And I was planning, and I'm not
saying that I won't. I probably will preach the message
that I had prepared as I feel the Lord would have me to do
it. I was going to preach on what
is true worship. began to study along, I asked
the Lord, and I don't want that to sound religious. I really
don't, because I just don't like, you know, anybody can be religious. But I'm sincere here. I asked
the Lord to give me a message. I wanted a message for God's
people. And it's one thing to just have
a doctrinal message. Five points of Calvinism. You
know, I understand that. I understand five points of Calvinism. Total depravity and unconditional
election and limited or particular redemption, limited atonement,
irresistible grace and perseverance of the saints. We say that's
what we believe. Well, our message is as we set
forth are concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. And I know that
there is a sense in which I can set forth a doctrinal message
and be right. I know that. I know that. But
God's people are not concerned, as I heard Brother Henry Mahan
say this one time, God's people are not concerned about hearing
a message. They want to hear God's message. Now let me ask you this. Would
you not rather, you that believe, would it not be the most desirable
thing to you if truly you absolutely believed that this is the message
that Almighty God, God Almighty, had purposefully particularly
sent to the people, that this was God's message. That's what
I ask. I ask, Lord, would You, you know,
and I know, Daryl, I know that sounds ridiculous. I know that.
But I don't want it to. I want it to be sincere. What
is God's message? And I ask the Lord for a message
for you. And this is the message. This
is what I truly believe God Almighty has impressed on my heart. Hebrews chapter 12, the sixth verse says this, For
whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom
he receiveth. Now I know today that I need
and you need To hear a message of encouragement because we're
frail creatures. We're frail. We're just dust. That's what we are. From dust
we came and we're going to return back to dust. We're fading. We're just dependent upon His
power and His grace and His mercy. I need and you need a message
of hope in days of uncertainty. I do. This comfort is found in
the realization of God's love for His people. That's the only
thing that gives me any comfort at all. For whom the Lord loves. I want to bring out three points. this morning. Number one, I'm
absolutely convinced God has a people that He loves. I know that. Scripture says,
for whom the Lord loveth. There's absolutely no possibility
that Almighty God loves no one. I know that. Secondly, how does
God reveal His love to His people? If the Scripture clearly reveals
that God has a people, how do they know it? Can they know it? Can they? Is this just left to
just guesswork? I mean, how do I know? And thirdly,
what is their attitude toward that divine revelation? If God
Almighty loves a people, He's going to reveal to them that
He loves them. They're going to know it. How
are they going to react to it? Number one, God has a loved people. Contrary to popular belief, now
listen to me well. You've heard this before, but
hear it again. Contrary to popular belief, Almighty
God does not love everybody. God doesn't love everybody. Psalm
711 says this, God judgeth the righteous,
and God is angry with the wicked every day. Now let me tell you
exactly what that passage of Scripture says. God judgeth."
Now that word judgeth means pronounces the sentence to vindicate the
righteous. God vindicates the righteous. He vindicates them totally on
the merit of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
judges. He passes a judgment. Now you
know we see that word judge right there and we think that word
always means something bad. God judges them. But let me ask
you this. When the judge that sits in the
courts takes that gavel and hits the gavel and he says, not guilty,
you know what he did? He passed a judgment. That was
a judgment call based on the evidence. that has been presented
in court. He passed judgment. God judgeth,
or pronounces, the sentence to vindicate the righteous. And
God is angry. That word, angry, the root word
of that word, anger, right there, means foams at the mouth. Angry. He's mad. He's angry. enraged is what that word means. God is angry with the wicked
every day. Every day right there is interpreted
all the time. All the time. And listen, God
changes not. You know what that means? God
Almighty doesn't change. If he's ever pleased, he's always
been pleased. If he's angry, he's always been
angry. God does not change. You say, I can't figure that
out. If Almighty God reveals that to you, you'll bow to it. Lord, as you say you are, you
are. Jacob, Romans 9.13 says, Have
I loved, but Esau have I hated? The word hated there means detest. Now, these two boys, based on
Scripture, represent one or the other of all mankind. I want
you to turn to Genesis chapter 25, and I want to show you something. You know, I made that statement
one time. I hear what men say. They say,
well, God loves everybody. I say, well, I can tell you one
that I know He doesn't love. He doesn't love Esau. They say, well, that's just one.
That's just one person. Well, no, that's not just one
person. It's one person in the sense
that it was one man at that time. But I want to show you something.
Genesis 25 and verse 21. And Isaac entreated the Lord
for his wife because she was barren. And the Lord was entreated
of him. And Rebekah, his wife, conceived. And the children struggled together
within her. And she said, If it be so, why
am I thus? And she went to inquire of the
Lord. And the Lord said unto her, Two
nations are in thy womb. Now read well. Two nations are
in thy womb, and listen, two manner of people shall be separated
from thy bowels, and the one people shall be stronger than
the other people, and the elder shall serve the younger." When
Jacob and Esau were brought forth, what did Almighty God say concerning
those two boys? He says, two manner of people,
that's two nations, that's two kinds. And all men and all women
are going to be represented, as it will, by these two boys
right there. Jacob have I loved and Esau have
I hated. That the Lord Almighty loves. If God Almighty loves anyone,
someone says, well, the Lord, you know, started loving a people
whenever they gave their heart to Him. Really? Huh. Jeremiah 31.3 says, I've
loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving
kindness, or with a good deed. That's what loving kindness means,
a good deed. You remember when Moses said
to the Lord, he said, Show me your glory." He said, I'm going
to cause all my goodness to pass before Thee. I'll have mercy
on whom I have mercy and on whom I will. I'll harden. Harden there. You know what that means? I'll
leave you alone. I'm going to leave you alone. With lovingkindness have I drawn
thee. God commendeth His love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. If Almighty God loves a man,
loves a woman, He has everlastingly loved them. Then in time, those
that have been everlastingly loved, redeemed by the blood
of Christ, shall be called by the Spirit of God irresistibly
unto the Lord, and shall in that day willingly by His power, not
of their own ability, not of their own will, leave a man to
himself. And that man left to himself. Offer him. You know, I hear that. I hear that all the time. Men
just say, you know, the Lord wants to save you. He wants to, if you just let
Him I'm going to tell you something, that God that men are preaching,
that little G God, is not the God of this Bible. The God of
this Bible does as He will, the way that He will, and when He
will, according to His power and His purpose and His will. Someone said, one time I heard
this, they said, the God you're preaching is my devil. I said, well, then you best be ready to meet
the one you say is my devil, because He's God Almighty. Nebuchadnezzar
says, He doeth as He will in the army of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth. And no man, Stacey is saying,
no man, no man, no man, God Almighty has a loved people. That's the
first thing that we have to understand. And God Almighty did not set
His love and affection because of anything that He saw in you
or in me. There was nothing there to set
His affection on. There was nothing in us that
caused His affection. He set His affection on a people
because He chose to. And don't you dare If that thought
went through your mind just then, that's not fair. You know what
Paul said? Who art thou, O man, that replies
against God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, why have you made me thus? Does the potter
not have the right over the clay? Someone says, well, I tell you,
you've just been just a little bit too hard. No. I may be being a little bit too
truthful, but this is according to Scripture. This is the Word
of God. And I'm telling you that the
God, the little g-God that's being preached in pulpits all
over this city right here, in this state, in this nation, is
not the God of this Bible. The message that the Spirit of
God will bless is the truth, the message concerning Christ
alone. God has a people for whom the
Lord loveth. God's got a people that He loves.
Secondly, then, how does He reveal His love to those people? How? How does He reveal it? The Scripture says that He chasteneth. Now, there's a word that we usually
don't understand. Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. Now, you mothers and fathers,
let me ask you something. You love your children. You love
them? Well, if you do, let me ask you
this. Do you show your love to them
by all the time? Just, you know, take a belt.
I'm going to just, okay. I love you. And here's the way
you're going to know it from the time you get up to the time
you go to bed. I'm going to whip you. I'm going
to whip you. And that'll prove to you that
I love you. You say, well, that's kind of a distortion of the word
love. Well, this word chastening right
here, we always think of that word chastening meaning a spanking. Now, I'll tell you
this, there's another word that I'm getting ready to deal with,
the word scourgeth. Now, that word scourgeth means
to flog, to spank. That's what it means. But the
word chastening right there, whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth,
that means trains and educates. Whom the Lord loves, He trains
and educates. Now we must stop right here and
we must admit that one who is unmeasurably wise, unmeasurably
loving, deals with his own in ways that in themselves they
might never come in this life to completely understand. I'm
just going to have to admit, I don't know why things happen. always the way they do. I don't
know. But I do know this, that Almighty
God does all things well. I was singing that song just
a minute ago. You know, God leads His dear
children along, some through the water, some through the flood,
some through the fire, all through the blood. Now, there are some
things that happen to some that don't happen to others of God's
people. Some suffer great things, and
some, as far as we're concerned, don't suffer as many things. But all of God's people, all
of them, for whom the Lord loveth, He scourgeth every son, every
one of them. And if you be without, the Scripture
says, verse 8, chastisement, teaching, instruction. Wherefore,
all are protectors, then are you bastards, illegitimate, and
you're not sons. Though you may say you are, but
you're not. His ways are not our ways. Whom
He loves, He chastens. That word, they're chastening.
Training and instruction means like a father. Like a father. trains them. Now, I know that
those for whom the Lord Jesus Christ died, there is now, right
now, therefore, no condemnation. So therefore, this word chastening
does not mean divine judgment. I know that. There is a great
difference between divine judgment and divine chastisement. for God's people was spewed out
upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Almighty God charged to the Lord
Jesus Christ the guilt, the sin, the filth, the rebellion, the
guilt of that rebellion on Christ. And Christ Himself was made to
be sin. And Almighty God He judged him. He judged him. He laid down his
life. He said, I lay down my life.
Everybody I hear today that's not telling the truth says that
he died for everybody. He died for everybody. Died for
everybody. That's not what the Lord Jesus
Christ said. He said, I lay down my life for the sheep. I lay
down my life for the sheep. for the sheep. That's who I'm
dying for. I died for the sheep. You say,
well, everybody's a sheep. That's not what the Lord Jesus
Christ said. I'm going to tell you something.
You know what we need to start doing? We might need to start listening
to what Christ said rather than what men say. Everybody's a sheep. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ told
some Pharisees, He said, you don't believe because you're
not My sheep. You're not my sheep. My sheep
hear my voice, and they follow me. You know, Scripture sometimes
messes up what we think is so. Almighty God has a people that
He everlastingly loves, and He says, those I love I chasten. And that chastening That is not
divine judgment. Everybody goes through stuff,
believers and unbelievers. Believers get sick and unbelievers get
sick. Unbelievers have financial problems
and believers have financial problems. Sometimes believers
have family Unbelievers have family problems. Everybody goes
through stuff. Let me ask you something. What's
the difference? Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. You know, some want to say, well,
I'm going through great trials. How do you know the difference?
Have you ever thought about that? How do you know the difference?
What's the difference in someone that has no heart, no love, no
affection for the Lord Jesus Christ? What's the difference
in what they go through and what a believer goes through? Whom
the Lord loveth, He chastens. You see, divine judgment speaks
of condemnation. And who shall lay anything to
the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifieth. Who
is He that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather,
that is risen again. who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us." Judgment speaks of judicial
chastisement. Judgment speaks of judicial. Chastisement speaks of parental. There's a big difference. Big
difference. Whom the Lord loveth, He chastens. He chastens. Psalm 34, 19 says,
"...many of the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth
him out of them all. And these afflictions, as parental
love, may take a form and accomplish His purpose for reasons known
only to Him." I got to thinking about that. Whom the Lord loveth,
He chasteneth. How do I know the difference,
Pat? How do I know? How do I know? How do I know? What's the difference? What is
the difference in the way God deals with me if I be a believer
and one that has no heart for it? This word chastisement. You know, we always think that
that whom the Lord loveth, He'd chasten it. And it's always because
of something that we did. It's always because of something
we did. Now, I want to tell you this. Let's stop just a second
right here and let me establish this. There's never a time when
there was something that you didn't do. OK? There's never a time you think,
well, there was something that I did yesterday. There's never been a moment since
you believed that you did not continually, you have never,
never, been at any point in your life. I don't care if you were
sitting down watching television, not doing anything, but just
sitting there watching TV. You think, I'm not doing anything
right now. I'm not doing anything to sin. Yes, you are. Because of what
you are. You know, we always think it's
what we did. No, it's what you are by nature. We are by nature. We're sinners. We perform acts
because of what we are. I said the other day, a man plowing
in a field, he's going out hard working, plows. The Scripture
says whatever is not of faith is sin. There's not one man or
one woman that's ever gone to work and worked the hardest they
ever had in their life and performed their duty and did their job
and bring home money and work and this, that and the other.
that did it perfectly in faith. Perfect faith. So first of all,
get it out of your mind that there's times when you're doing
good things and then bad things. You've never, you have never,
based on everybody's attitude in this room this morning, there's
not one person in here, you know, you think, well, I'm just sitting
here listening to a message. Therefore, I'm not at this point,
I'm not sinning. There's enough sin and pride
and disrespect in every one of us this morning. If judged on
that point, God Almighty sends us to hell. So let's get off
of our high horse this morning. There's not one person here that's
not absolutely in the need of Almighty God's mercy and grace.
Whom the Lord loveth. What then is he talking about
when he says, whom the Lord loveth? He chastened. He teaches, instructs
them. Sometimes, first of all, this
word chastening, sometimes we are allowed by Almighty God's
grace and mercy to endure. I'm going to give you some examples
of why some things happen. And then by God's grace and mercy,
I'm going to try to tell you the greatest chastisement that
a believer goes through. Whom the Lord loves, He chastens."
Surely there must be something that comes right down. Where
does the rubber meet the road on that statement right there?
What is the greatest chastisement of a believer? What is his greatest
struggle? I'll tell you in a minute, by
the Lord's permission. Sometimes in chastisement, things
happen. And here again, I mean, There's
no sense in me going into examples. The Lord Himself, things happen
in every one of us, whatever it is. But things happen for
the prevention of things that we would do. Sometimes things
happen. God Almighty, you know, as I
said a moment ago, we always think that things happen to us
because we do something bad and we establish it already. Well,
there's none good. Okay? So there's not a time that
you're doing something good and bad. But things happen. Things
come in our lives, by God's permission, that come there that Almighty
God would prevent us from doing or performing something that
we would do because of our nature, that Almighty God, who is all-knowing,
knew would happen. If he didn't intervene, things
happened to us. Paul the Apostle said in 2 Corinthians
12.7, you know, Paul, a man that Almighty God was pleased to grant
great revelation. God taught him some things. And Paul said this, and lest
I should be exalted, above measure through the abundance of the
revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, messenger
of Satan, to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure."
This is what Paul said. He said, if God Almighty hadn't
chastened me, hadn't instructed me, hadn't taught me, and He
did so by a messenger of Satan, a thorn in the flesh, of which
I ask Him Thrice! Over and over and over, is what
he said. The Lord's answer to him was
this, my grace is sufficient. Why am I going through this?
Why am I suffering these things? Why has this entered my life? To the believer, it's because
the Lord loves you. And He has by His grace and mercy,
possibly, allowed something to come into your life that would
prevent you. He knows our weaknesses. He knows our weaknesses. And
God Almighty, because of His love for His own, will not leave
them to themselves, but allowed something to come in that would
prevent them from doing something if He left them alone. Leave
an unbeliever to himself And there's no limit to what he would
do. There's no limit. There's no limit. Have you ever told your children,
you know, now don't, I don't want you to go out, don't go
out in the street. They went out in the street.
Now I don't know how you handled it, but I'll tell you how I handled
it when mine went out there, you know. There was a, we got
a spanking. You know, this is the way I did
it, you know. I'd take them down and I'd tell them I'd never spanked
them. Never spanked them until first
of all I told them, I said, this is the reason I'm going to spank
you. I want you to know I love you. I want you to know I love
you. And you know the old saying, it's going to hurt me more than
it hurts you. Well, that is so. And then I
would give them a spanking. And then after I spanked them,
I sat them on my lap, I kissed them, and I told them, I said,
I love you. I want you to know that. I love
you. And I know that you think that that's spanking. But listen,
let me tell you something. You don't understand. If you
go out in that street and a car hits you, you're going to either
get hurt or killed. One of the two. If a car hits
you, you're not going to be without injury at all. That spanking
that I gave them, you know what it was? That chastisement. I
taught them something. I taught them. It was for instruction. Was it because I didn't love
them or I loved them? It's because I loved them. I
didn't want to see something happen to one of my children.
Almighty God, for whom the Lord loves, He chastens. Sometimes
for the prevention. Sometimes, secondly, trials are
sent for the strengthening and the proving or the setting forth. of the graces that Almighty God
has given. In James chapter 1, James says,
my brethren, count it all joy, or call it to be so. Count it
all joy. It's a call like an umpire. He
makes a judgment call. Count it all joy. Call it to
be this, and you do that by the grace of God. When you fall into
divers temptations, knowing this, that the trying of your faith
worketh patience." Patience. That is, the grace to wait on
God. Wait on Him. Sometimes things
come our way because God Almighty proves or sets forth or evidences
the graces that He has given. Patience. To wait on Him. Why do these things happen? Well,
sometimes it's that God would prevent you from doing something
that you would have done by nature. Secondly, sometimes it's to prove
or to set forth that He has granted you the grace to wait on Him. And a believer will do it. Sometimes, thirdly, God's people
are called upon to endure persecution for the confirmation, to the
testimony, to the truth of God's grace. Acts 5.41 says, the confirmation, the setting
forth that He has taught you something of the gospel of free
grace. I think this congregation knows
something about that. You know something of that. How
easily someone would say, you know what, it's just not worth
it. It's just not worth the fight. It's not worth the argument.
Let me ask you this. Is the gospel of Christ, is it
worth it Is it worth it? If it came between your family
or your friend or your neighbor, if it came between them and Christ,
is it worth it? Yes, it is. Yes, it is. You think, that's just hard.
You know, that's hard. Not my family. Not my family. You know, maybe somebody I don't
care about, Is it worth it? Yes, it is. Yes, it is. You think
that's a tough call. God's grace is sufficient. Whom
the Lord loves, He chastens. Remember this, all the trials
that God's people endure, all of them, all of them, whatever
you're going through this morning. And I know this, I know that
their son, that especially this morning, of suffering. I know
that. But I'm going to tell you something.
All that are suffering this morning, all these trials are necessary. They're necessary. You say, why
am I going through? I don't know. I can't tell you
the purpose. I know this, that sometimes it's
for the prevention of that which we would do. Sometimes it's the
setting forth or the projecting of the graces that He's given
us. It's for the confirmation that God's people will not deviate
by God's grace, not by themselves, by His grace. They're kept by
the power of God through faith. They're kept. How do they know
it? God graciously teaches them,
chastens them. The trials of His choosing are
for our profit. And there is a blessing in all
trials. Therefore, we glory, Paul says,
we rejoice in tribulations and afflictions, knowing that tribulation
worketh patience, or endurance, and patience, experience, or
proof of our calling and experience. expectation of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
There is nothing that is more beautiful, there is nothing that
is more gloriously beautiful, I'm telling you, than beholding
the evidence of God's grace to keep His people. To watch Him. Watch Him. And to see Him. To behold Him. To behold His
grace upon a man or a woman. They stay. They just stay. They endure. They endure afflictions
whom the Lord loves. He chastens them. He teaches
them. And He knows just exactly as
the great physician, just exactly the exact The combination, as
a doctor wisely prescribes medication, knows just exactly how much to
meet out or how much to give out. He knows just exactly what
to do. We are in no position to conclude
the exact reason for God's loving chastisement, but to say that
it is for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and our good. We
are incompetent. to diagnose our own lot and certainly
pronounce judgment concerning others. But in closing, before
I leave this last point and close with the third moments I'll be
done, I want to ask myself and you this question. What's the
difference between God's saint being tried and the unbeliever? As I said a while ago, surely
all these things happen to both. What's the difference? I'll tell
you this, the difference is how the believer reacts to the trial. He realizes, first of all, that
he's received much less than he deserves. He beholds the trials
to be that which surely is from the hand of him who definitely
will do good. And I will tell you this, God's
people, by God's grace, will not charge God with foolishness.
Job didn't, and God's people won't. The peace of God rules
the heart, though they constantly struggle in themselves with God's
dealings. But the greatest trial, the greatest
trial, I'll tell you what it is. Here it is. The greatest
trial is this for the believer. Here is his greatest struggle.
There are times when the Lord, in dealing with his people, seems
to look from a distance, and the distressed saint perceives
something of an apparent loss of his presence. Hear the cry of the bleeding
heart. Psalm 10.1, Why standest thou
afar off, O Lord, and why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble? Do you know, believer, if he
is convinced of the presence of Almighty God, he'll endure
anything. He'll endure it. He will. But
the perception that he may be looking from afar off... Let
me just read you something out of Job. Job 23, verse 8 to 10. Job says, Behold, I go forward,
but he's not there, and backward, but I can't perceive him. On
the left hand, where he doeth work, but I can't behold him. He hideth himself on the right
hand, I can't see him, but he knoweth the way that I take.
When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." What does
this loving chastisement do for a believer? I'm going to tell
you something. I think I know something. I think I do. I think I know
something of what this is talking about right here. I told somebody
one time, I used to know, I thought, a whole lot more. I think the
older I get, I think the dumber I get. But I think I know something
about this. The greatest trial of a believer
is when Almighty God lovingly sets him out on a limb and leads
him to believe, I don't know where he is. I don't know where
he is. That right there will cause a
believer to cry out for mercy. Lord, if you be not there, I
can't go. Lord, if you're not there, I
can't stand it. If I don't perceive you, Lord,
I can't handle this. That's the greatest trial of
a believer. Sickness, I'm telling you, I'm telling you, a believer
will endure sickness. Financial, a believer will endure
that. But to perceive or to think that
the Lord is not there, that's the greatest trial of a believer.
An unbeliever knows nothing of that. There's the difference
right there. What's the difference? What is
the difference? I'll tell you. The difference
is that a believer is concerned with his presence. with him. John's apostles, remember when
they came to the Lord Jesus Christ, and this was their question,
Lord, where dwellest thou? Where are you? When it comes
right down to it, you know where a believer is going to be. When
it comes to worship, you know where a believer is going to
be. He's going to believe where he believes and he knows and
he's convinced that's where God is. That's where God is. That's where the truth of God's
grace is set forth. That's where Christ is set forth. That's where the glory of Almighty
God is. But to be able to go and just
without thought attend something or to hear something that absolutely
is inconsistent with this scripture, Will a believer be there? No. No. Almighty God sets forth the
glory of His Son in the gospel. The greatest burden of a believer
is being somewhere where he cannot perceive his Lord, whom the Lord
loves. He chastens, He teaches. And
if you be without chastisement, if you be without teaching, Without
instruction, you're none of His. Whom the Lord loves. I want Him
to teach me something. I want Him to instruct me. Don't think like me. Don't think
like me. Don't think that God's instruction
in chastening is a light thing. Whom the Lord loves, He chastens. Amen.