Thank you. Okay, let's ask the Lord to bless His Word. Our God, we thank You in the
name of Christ for everything You are and do. Thank You for salvation in Christ and the
revelation of it through Your Word, the Gospel. And now we ask that you would
speak to your people through your word. This is your voice. This is how you speak. And so we all say together, speak,
Lord, thy servant heareth. We are all here to hear from
thee, from thy word. So speak. Reprove, rebuke, correct, instruct. Do all through Your Word, we
pray, which shall not return void, You promise. Accomplish in us life, O Lord. May it be a savor of life to
everyone in here tonight. Thank you for bringing us here
in your good province. We pray for your people that
meet together all over the land and other lands. Be with them. We pray especially for your missionaries,
our brethren. Be with them. It is in Christ's
name we pray and ask this time, giving thanks. Amen. After Sunday's
message from Hebrews 11, I just continued to read Hebrews 12
and was blessed, so very blessed to see how it all ties together. It even goes with the message
from Luke 18 on importunate prayer. Faith was a subject in chapter
11. And we saw how faith is trust
in Christ. That's what faith is. That's
what faith is, trusting Jesus Christ, looking to him. And chapter 11 gives us many,
many examples of people like us who trusted, who believed
God, who trusted Christ and lived their lives and went through
trials and persecution and so forth. And then in chapter 12,
look at verse 1 of chapter 12, verses 1 and 2. He says, wherefore, or since
all of these people like us went through what they did, seeing
we are compassed about the so great cloud of witnesses, witnesses
to God's truth, witnesses to God's faithfulness, promises
to save them, to keep them, to lead them. Then let us, he said,
let us lay aside every weight. Well, that is burden or care
or heavy, heavy burden. Let's lay aside every weight. You remember Peter said, cast
it on him. Casting all your care on him,
for he careth for you. And he says, the sin which does
so easily beset us. What is that sin which does so
easily beset us? Unbelief. That's right. Unbelief. That's what we're so prone to. Unbelief. And if you look at
the examples of all these Persons here in chapter 11, each one
of them at various times acted like they didn't believe
the Lord at all. Abraham, and on and on it goes. Well,
let us, though, lay aside that unbelief and let us run with
patience, run the race, this life, that is. Paul said, Christ
is the prize. That's who we're after. The prize,
the mark, the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Run with
patience. And do you know what the trial
of your faith worth of patience? The trial. before. How do you run this race? How
do you live this life? How do you endure? Verse two,
looking unto Jesus, the author, the one who started it, and the
finisher, the one who finished it. He started it, Paul said
to the Philippians, I'm confident that he that hath begun a good
work in you, he'll finish it. God never, he always finishes
what he starts. So if this work is begun in you,
he's the author and the finisher of our faith. Looking unto him. Chapter 11, verse 27, it says
that, if you remember, Moses endured how? I seen him. who is invisible,
as seeing Him. Faith is sight. Faith is sight. As seeing Him who is invisible,
Peter said, whom have you not seen? You love, and though you
see Him not, yet you rejoice with joy unspeakable. So, that's
how we go on. We go with patience through the
trial of our faith, looking unto Him, looking to Him, looking
to Christ, looking to Christ for all, for our health, our
strength, and looking at Him, looking at Him. Why does it say
Jesus? Why does it say, Paul's not in
the habit of, we believe Paul wrote that, Paul's not in the
habit of calling the Lord Jesus only, is he? Why does he say
that? Looking to Jesus. Because there's
a man in glory. And Hebrews talks about this
man who was made perfect through suffering. Doesn't it? He says,
we have a high grade, a man touched for the feeling of our infirmity,
tempted in all points of life. That's all in the book of Hebrews.
Talks about a man. This man, after he offered one
sacrifice, talks about a man all the way through. Now he's
more than a man. But there's great comfort in
knowing that the Lord is a man. We're going to see a man in glory.
A man that we'll touch and handle, speak to and be spoken to by,
hug and hug up to, be hugged. Looking at Him as our example. He lived like we lived. He lived
on this planet. He sure did. And Paul gives this
example in verses 2 and 3. Christ, the supreme example,
who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross. The cross. Not a cross, as we're
called, you know, persecution. But the cross. Crucifixion. He endured it. Why? How? Do you remember how that
Paul said earlier, he committed, Peter said, he committed himself
to the judge? Well, he endured the cross. Read
on. Despising the shame, or that
is, despising means not thinking anything about it. If there's anything that we It's
harder to bear for a human being than shame. I don't know what
it is. It says he thought nothing of
shame, being put to open shame for our sake. He thought nothing
of it. Why? For the joy, as I said before,
making us his people? Well, There's joy set before
us, too, of becoming Him, being with Him. And He says, so we
endure this way by looking to Him, looking at Him. You understand? Looking to Him, looking at Him. That's our example. Verse 3,
Consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against
Himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds. will
never do it. Some come close. Some of his early followers did,
didn't they? Came close. All did. The early church martyred. But
in our day, the Lord has put great restraints upon this generation. We have many freedoms and will
not be called upon, I don't think, to endure such contradiction. But He says, if you do, look
to Him. Some of what we will receive
we deserve. He deserves none of it. He says in verse 4, you
have not yet resisted unto blood striving against sin. We haven't
resisted striving against sin. Sin brings
consequences. It does. We reap, sometimes,
the consequences of our own sin. And so the troubles, some of
the troubles we get into is our own fault. Right? So it's not really enduring anything. So he upbraids us here. He admonishes us. You've not
yet resisted, under sin, under blood, striving against sin.
Christ did. Thank God he did it for us, didn't
he? And then verse 5 says you've
forgotten. First he says it's something you haven't done, and
then says it's something you have done. We're all guilty of
these has and have not. Have not resisted, and we have
forgotten. You see that? He says, you have
not resisted. Paul is talking to us like a
spiritual father here, talking to children. He said that over
in Hebrews 4. He said, you're babes. You ought to be men that you
bathe. We've got to start over again. That's all of us at times.
Well, he said, you have not resisted, Sam, and you have forgotten the
exhortation. I want you to turn, well, let's
read verses 5 and 6. He says, You've forgotten 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. For whom the Lord loveth, he
chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. Now this comes from Proverbs
3. I want you to turn there. Proverbs 3. Let's turn and read some other
things here, which lead up to that. He says we haven't resisted,
and we have forgotten the exaltation. And we're all guilty, starting
with me. Proverbs 3. And here's what we've forgotten.
We've forgotten to do what our Father told us to do. And so
we get into trouble. Right, children? My little children,
John said, I write unto you that you sin not, but if any man sin,
and we did. Because we forget, we forget
what he told us to do. Look at, read, let's just read
down through here, beginning with verse one. My son, or my
daughter, forget not my law. God's word is not, is not counsel,
it's not recommendations, it's not advice, it's not options, it's the law. It's commands
from the Father. Is it not? Do this. And live. Read on. He's going to tell us
that. Let not thine... Let thine heart keep my commandments
for length of days. And long life and peace shall
they add to thee. Now remember Peter saying that? He that will
love life and good days. You remember that? Remember?
I forgot. He that will love life and good
days. Let him... so on and so forth. That's what he said. Length of
days and long life and peace shall they add. What shall add
unto you? God's love. Freedom. Let not mercy and truth
forsake thee. Not only Christ, who is mercy
and truth, not only the gospel, which is mercy and truth, but
don't leave off being merciful. That's what that's saying. Bind
it about your neck. Write them upon the table of
thine heart. Read on. So shalt thou find favor and
good understanding in the sight of God and man. Trust in the
Lord with all thine heart. Not half a heart, James said.
Not a double-minded man or woman, unstable in all the way. With
all the heart. My son, give me your heart. Read
on. Lean not unto thine own understanding.
Oh, how often do we forget that? Huh? I just don't understand. No, we don't. In all that way,
first acknowledge him. In everything. Didn't Paul say
that? In everything. Give thanks. But
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Read on.
He'll direct your paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes,
fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy
navel, marrow to thy bones, strong bones. Honor the Lord with thy
substance, with the firstfruits of all thy increase. So shall
thy barns be filled with plenty, thy prestige shall burst out
with new wine. My son despised not the chastening
of the Lord. Why would he chase him? Because
you forgot to do what he just told you. Just like a parent,
you see. Just like a parent. Do this. Do this, son. You didn't do it,
did you? Chase him. Chase him. Neither be wary of his correction,
for whom the Lord loveth, read on, verse 12, whom the Lord loveth,
he correcteth, even as a father to the son in whom he delighteth. Parents don't correct other people's
children. They do their own, because they
delight in them. Now look at this verse. Happy. Happy is the
man or the woman that find this wisdom. And the man that get it understanding,
happy. Back to the text. Happy. So that's
where Paul is quoting from. And there's much that leads up
to that, he said. Happy is the man or the woman
The young person who commits their way unto the Lord, acknowledges
Him in all their ways, leans not on their own understanding,
trusts the happy, happy, who doeth His command, happy. So what's the opposite of that?
Misery. Unhappiness. can be traced to our forgetfulness.
Sure can. Like children who've been told
the thing over and over and yet either forget or ignore. And then they mess up. And then
what are they? Unhappy. They're miserable in
their state, and like a faithful parent, our Heavenly Father chastens
his children. Look at verses 7 through 10.
If you endure chastening, God dealing with you is with sons.
What son is he whom the Father chastened not? But, verse 8,
if you be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, you're
bastards, not sons. Furthermore, we have had fathers
of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence.
Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of
spirits and live? Our fathers barely for a few
days chastened us after their own pleasure, for it seemed good
to them, and they were finite in their understanding, and they
were oftentimes perhaps wrong. God's never wrong. He's always
for our profit. Fathers sometimes, mothers sometimes
chase them out of anger and wrath, and not He. He's slow to that. Slow to anger,
Scripture says. And it's always for our good.
We might do it hastily and for, you know, out of You're in a
building or whatever, chasing, but not He? Uh-uh. It's always
for our profit, to a good end, to a good purpose. What is it? What is the purpose? Look at
verse 10. That we might be partakers of His holiness. Partakers of His holiness. God's
children, all of them, are partakers of Christ's twofold righteousness. And what that twofold righteousness
is? It's twofold. Imputed. Christ imputed righteousness,
which He worked out for us, right? By His perfect life, and He just
charged it to us, and then we're accepted and abloved, and we're accepted and made perfectly holy
in Christ, and imparted. We are predestinated to be conformed
to the image of Christ. We have the spirit of Christ
in us, which is growing in grace and the knowledge of Christ.
Under the measure of the stature and the fullness of Christ, a
man imparted, made like Christ, in other words. And so he tells
us here that we might be partakers of his holiness. If there's no imputation, there's
no holiness. No imputed righteousness. John Wesley one time said, imputed
righteousness is imputed nonsense. He actually said that. Well then
he's in hell if he has not in righteousness
of Christ imputed to him, if he doth not If all of his hope is not based
upon Christ and his imputed righteousness, he's in the place of the damned
right now. No imputed righteousness, no
holiness. Without which no man shall see
the Lord. No imparted righteousness. Any man be half not the Spirit
of Christ, the Holy Spirit, he's none of it. No imparted right
is good, not being made like Christ, no holiness, and shall
not see the law. No correction, correction, chastening
is to this end. That's what chastening is for.
You've heard the old illustration, maybe someone in your house,
about the fellow whittling a hound dog. Somebody in there? This fellow sitting there whittling
a hound dog. Somebody was watching him and
said, boy, that's good work. How do you do that? How do you
whittle that piece of wood until it looks like a hound dog? And
the fellow said, well, I just cut off everything and it don't
look like a hound dog. And that's a good illustration
of chasing. Lord winning us, correcting us, removing that
which does not look like the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not becoming
sons of God. Right? It's a lifelong process. But if it's not there, then we're
not sons. We're not sons, and this chastening
is how he does it. Now, most chastening, we've noted
this, most chastening, and this is how good our God is. This
is how tender and full of compassion our God is. Most of his chastening
is with this right here. Don't think of chastening as
him dealing real hard with us. No, no, no, no. This is his power. This is how he, David said, when
thou with rebukes doth correct man, oh, he's iniquity. It always comes and melts away,
David said. Doesn't God's Word, first and
foremost, That's what Paul said in 2 Timothy. He said all the
word of God is possible for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
the word of God, for instruction in righteousness, that the man
or woman of God might be truly furnished, perfected, truly furnished
unto all good work. God, thank God, rebukes and corrects
through the Word. If not through the reading of
it, through the preaching of it. And sometimes, yes, through
providential dealings. Yeah. But don't think of everything
that happens as being disciplined. No. Because there's a much bigger
picture than that. Okay? Understand that. Not everything
is disciplined. Do you remember the time, and
for sin, do you remember the time they asked about the man
that was born blind? They said, who sinned that he
was born blind? Remember that? Who sinned that
he was born blind? His parents or him? Who's responsible
for that? He said, neither. But for the
glory of God, you see, there's a much bigger picture to the
end of God's glory. Chastening is mostly by His Word. If we don't hear His Word now,
He does deal with us properly. You understand that? We understand.
All right. Verse 11. Look at this. Now, no chastening
for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous. If you... Oh, some poor, pitiful
parents. I've seen them dealing with their
children, you know. If you don't stop this, I'm going
to, I'm going to. If you don't stop that, quit that now. I told
you I quit that time. All right. Whack. Well, they learned a lesson.
Boy, you're rough on them, aren't you? They didn't learn a thing. Didn't learn a thing. It's got
to be a painful experience. to learn. It's got to be hurtful. And we won't learn. We just won't
learn. That whipping, that spanking, it's got to be felt. It's got
to be felt. Well, he says it's not joyous,
but it's grievous. Nevertheless, nevertheless, read
on. Afterward, now there's a good word of comfort. Afterward. That means it has an end. Don't
let anybody tell you it doesn't. Peter said that. If need be,
for a season, this too shall pass. All right? He said, afterward,
it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which
have exercised thereby. Peaceable fruit of righteousness. What's that? Well, that's what it's all about.
The peaceable fruit, or peace-giving righteousness. That's what we
get when we look to Christ. And God sometimes removes things
and does things and rebukes through His Word, convicts us and so
forth, and makes us look to Christ, and Christ will see that truly
He is all. He gives peace then. He gives
peace. Peace-giving righteousness is what we get by looking to
Christ and peace-giving righteousness. Now listen very carefully. Peaceable
fruit of righteousness by being conformable to Christ. Now listen to this. This is very
helpful, very needful. I needed it. I need to hear it. A true believer in a state of
sin, disobedience, forgetfulness, is a miserable person. A miserable
person. Everybody in here has been there,
is there, or will be there. Just like children who are rebellious
or forgetful or fall into some sin, And they become absolutely
miserable. Until there's some peace about
it. Until there's confession of it
and removal of it. Well, you know, we always know,
we'll never think of ourselves as being good boys and girls
or anything like that. We'll always know that after
we've done all that's required of us, we're still unprofitable. And we can't do all that's required
of us. We won't even come close with
it. Our Lord is saying that figuratively. We'll always know we're unprofitable
and we're sinful, yet we don't need to live that way. You understand? God didn't ordain
for us to live. Before we were salt, we were,
Ed, unprofitable and worthless. But now, he says, you're salt
of the earth. Now we don't need to live that
way, and we don't need to live in a constant state of guilt. And that constant state of guilt
is by being a forgetful hearer. And falling and forgetting and
not doing. Being a hearer and not a doer.
Understand? I didn't understand it. And so
God chases us to affect disobedience. You understand what I'm talking
about? If you feel in a state of guilt over something,