Hebrews chapter 12, beginning
there in verse 3, it says, For consider him, speaking, of course,
of Christ, who is looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith. For consider him that endured
such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied
and faint in your minds. ye have not yet resisted unto
blood, striving against sin. And ye have forgotten the exaltation
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. If ye
endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what
son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? For if ye be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore, we have had fathers
of our flesh, which corrected us, and gave them reverence.
Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of
spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days
chastened us after their own pleasure, but he for our profit,
that we might be partakers of his holiness. 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. Lift up the hands which hang
down and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your
feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way, but
let it rather be healed." Now, this is a very important consideration
that we are given here as Paul writes concerning pointing of these Jews to consider
the Lord Jesus Christ. And he said, in light of what
the Lord Jesus has undergone, our trials and troubles are of
a light nature. Because he says, consider him
that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself. Now
he's, of course, saying this in light of the fact that many
of them were being persecuted, perhaps not necessarily physically,
but they were being persecuted by their kindred after the flesh,
those whom they grew up with and who still embraced the Jewish
religion, and they were constantly being drawn back to Him. And they were being made a spectacle
of by those who had remained true to that way of religion,
as these who were converts to Christianity, and they were constantly
trying to draw them back. And Paul writes to them saying
to them, don't fall for that. He says, don't forget this, that
the Lord Jesus Christ was also persecuted by that same religion. Because the Lord Jesus came,
and if there was ever a perfect Jew, He was in. I mean, He was
a perfect Jew. He kept the law in its jaunt
and piddle. He didn't ever slack back from
one thing. He said that He didn't come to
overturn the law, but He came to fulfill it. So He was born
a Jew, and He died a Jew. He was born in the Jews' religion,
and He died in the Jews' religion. Now, keeping in mind that he
was the perfect, he had the perfect understanding of what that religion
was. They did not because they had
an understanding of it from a carnal standpoint. And that's why when
Nicodemus came to the Lord Jesus by night, The first thing that
the Lord Jesus told him, he said, and Nicodemus, except a man be
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of heaven. He said, all
of you Jews are blind as bats. You can't see what the truth
is. You can't see what the purpose
of the giving of the law is. You can't understand these things.
And so he was persecuted because of that, because the Jews, being
lovers of their religion rather than lovers of God, they hated
him because he pointed out what was wrong with them, because
that's what the law does. And he was a perfect preacher
of the law. He declared the law as the law
is. Now men talk about liking the
Ten Commandments. You'll see them, people will
paste it up on the wall somewhere or they'll put them a little
sign out in front of their house with the Ten Commandments on
it. But the reason that they love it is because they don't
know what it says. Because you see, when you know
what the Ten Commandments says, you hang your head. Before you
say, Lord, deliver me from it, because if I'm going to live
by the Ten Commandments and that's going to be the standard by which
I'm going to be judged and judge others, I'm in trouble, big time. Now, I might fool myself and
get to thinking that, brother, I love the Ten Commandments.
Now, I love the one who gave the Ten Commandments. But you
see, the purpose of the giving of the Ten Commandments was to
uncover to men what they are by nature. Because when you read
the Ten Commandments, it will plainly tell you what's wrong
with you. And if you can't see it, then
you are spiritually blind, because that's what the Ten Commandments
is for. And so he's saying here, to these
Jews consider him that he endured contradiction of centers against
himself. He was perfect in his obedience
to the law, and yet they condemned him. They said, you're not good
enough. You're overturning the law. No,
he was keeping the law. He was setting forth the law
as it was and as the truth of it is. And so consider him that
endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest
ye be weary and faint in your minds. Don't stop and think that
you're the only one that's been persecuted. Remember that he
was. far more greater than you have,
for consider him in this fashion. Ye have not yet resisted unto
blood." He said, they haven't killed you yet. He said, you've
not stood against these things in the same fashion in which
Christ has. So don't consider that you somehow
have an excuse to go back for having put your hand to the plow.
And looking back, you're not worthy of the kingdom of God.
Now, one thing that is true throughout the Scripture, and that is, is the exhortations and demands
that the people of God continue steadfast unto the end. Now,
the religion of the day, And that which purports to be Christianity
says, oh, if you'll just come and accept Jesus, everything
will be fine. You just get it and, buddy, that's
it. You just go on your way. It doesn't matter what you do
from then on out, anything else, brother, you're in, bingo, you
got it. But the Scripture speaks about
continuing on, does it not? I mean, you know what the whole
book of Hebrews is about? He said, don't turn back. He
said, don't go back to where you were. He said, it's by the
patient continuance of keeping on in these things. And so that's
why He's exhorting them to keep striving against sin. You have
not yet resisted unto blood striving against sin. Had you been brought
to that place, Is your struggle and your trials so great that
you've been brought to destruction, not only of the body?" He said,
don't fear them that can destroy the body. He said, fear Him that
can destroy both soul and body in hell. Because see, that's
the one to whom our fear is set forth. And that's the one whom
the Lord Jesus feared, was it not? When He said, My God, My
God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? He said, The greatest of fears
has come upon Me. The one thing that was the most
troubling aspect of the giving of the Lord in our behalf was
the fact that He was cut off from His Father, the very One
whom He desired with all of His heart to serve. And yet for our
sakes He was cut off. The Father forsook Him. And that's what he said. He strove
even striving against sin. But you've not done that. And
ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto the children. My son, despise not thou the
chasing of the Lord. Now don't think that these things
have come upon you just as a happenstance. He said don't you understand
that the people of God are going to encounter troubles. You're going to encounter struggles. You're going to encounter opposition
against the things that you would set forth and would stand for.
It's going to happen. They that will live godly in
Christ Jesus, Paul said, will suffer persecution. It's going
to happen. Now, let me say this. When we
come across the word chastening, The primary and usual consideration
that people have about the concept of chastening is that, well,
you did something wrong, so you're going to get a whipping for it.
I mean, wouldn't we say that's it? I mean, if we think about
chastening, well, Daddy caught me and I got chastened. But that's
not what the Scripture is speaking about here when it's talking
about chastening. What the Scripture is standing
for here is the fact that the Lord will chasten His children,
not just when they do something bad. But you see, the concept
is that the Father is a faithful Father who chastens His children.
And we could use Lot as an example. We could use Abraham. We could
use any of the children of God throughout the Scriptures, even the Lord Jesus
Christ. He was a Son, and He was made perfect, the
Scripture says, by the things which He suffered. Now you see,
the Lord is going to chasten His children from the time they're
born till the time they die. Now that's what He's talking
about here. He's not talking about, well, you know, I've avoided
chastening all through my life. And the other day I chewed tobacco
and the Lord chastened me. Now, I mean, that's how a lot
of people think about it. Well, I did this and the Lord,
He really chastened me. Look, if we're sons, the Lord
is constantly chastening us. He chastened David. He didn't
chasten David because of what he did with Bathsheba. He chastened
David with Bathsheba. I mean, you see, he showed David
what he was. He didn't chasten Peter when
he denied him. He chastened Peter when Peter
said, Lord, I won't forsake you. I mean, the Lord was constantly
chasing His children. He's chasing us daily, every
day. And don't despise it. It's not
a terrible thing because, you see, those whom the Lord loves,
He chastens. Now, did He chasten Sodom? No,
He didn't chasten Sodom. He destroyed Sodom. You see, that's the difference.
He chastened Lot, but he didn't chasten Sodom. He put Lot in
Sodom to show Lot what he was. Just like you vaguely pointed
out, this is what Lot was. But what does the Scripture say
about Lot? He was righteous. Why was he righteous? Because
of all the good deeds that he did while he was in Sodom? Because the Lord made him righteous. The Lord made him righteous.
And because he was a son, he learned obedience. You know,
the Lord has people at different places and times. He doesn't
bring everybody in exactly the same fashion. He teaches some
people more than does others. And His chastening hand is harder
upon some than it is upon others. But it's still faithful in all
God's people. Their whole life is a life of
teaching. That's what the Word literally
means at its base root is instruction. Train up a child in the ways
you'll go, and when he is old, he'll not depart from it is what
the Proverbs says. It means instruct him. Now sometimes
in that instruction, the rod must be applied, must it not?
And sometimes the chastening hand is more evident in such
troubles and trials than it is in the times when we are perhaps
free from some of that more rigorous chastening. But the chastening
of the Lord is constant. He's always teaching His people.
bringing us in the way that He would have us to go. Don't forget,
my son, despise not thou the chasing of the Lord, nor faint
when thou art rebuked of them. Does the Lord rebuke us? Well,
sure He does. Now, does He do it because He's
mad at us? No, He does it because He loves
us. He would move us from those things
to which we are by nature moving towards. Now, I don't know why, well I
do know why it is, but you know a child will go towards the things
that he shouldn't. I mean, if you're walking along
and there's cars in the street, a child will run to the street,
will they not? I mean, and if you tell them
don't go to the street, guess what? They won't go to the street
even more. And such shows the corruption
of the human heart. That is just the way that we
are wired. That is the way we are. We are fearful and wonderfully
made, but we are fearful and wonderfully made to be exactly
what the Lord would have us to be. And He will bring His people
in a way which they knew not. You could not have mapped out
your life. If you had started out when you had reached a place
of understanding, and you had written out how your life would
go, you would have never written it out the way that it has. You
couldn't have, number one, but you wouldn't have. But yet the
Lord, who is rich in mercy with the great love wherewith He loves
His people, He has marked out the path of every one of His
children to go exactly in the path He would have it to, to
bring glory unto His name, because He will be the one that will
be praised in the end. It won't be that we'll be sitting
around saying, oh, we did such great things for the Lord. Now
we're waiting and wondering what the Lord is going to reward us
with as a result. Will there be any stars in my
crown when at evening the sun goes down? That's not what the
people of God are not called upon to look at our lives in
such fashion as that, but to recognize that we are the sons
of God. Brethren, we've been given a
great blessing. Don't despise the troubles that come our way
and the doubtings and fears that arise because of our wayward
thoughts and mind. Don't think that the troubles
are not worth the perseverance, because the Lord has shown us
that it is. He endured contradiction of sinners
against Himself. And the greatest contradiction,
the greatest sinner that ever has contradicted you is the one
you see every morning when you look in the mirror. Paul said,
good that I would, I do not, and that which I would not is
what I do. Now why is that? Because you
see, he said it's no longer I that do it, but sin that dwelleth
in me. Now did he mean that he wasn't accountable for his sin
as a man, as some have accused us of saying sin that grace may
abound? Of course not. He knew that when
he sinned, he sinned. It wasn't somebody else. But
he knew this, that the principle that was at work in him was that
the good that he would not do was brought about by the fact
that he was a sinner. And he couldn't escape it, but
he said, thanks be unto God that there is one. who shall deliver
me from the body of this death. And he is presently, dear brethren,
working in us, both willing to do of his good pleasure. He is
constantly chastening his people, bringing his people exactly where
he wants them to be. And so he says, For whom the
Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth every son that he receiveth. He certainly scourged the Lord
Jesus Christ, did he not? Absolutely. If ye endure chastening,
God dealeth with you as with sons, if you are able to see
that. For what son is he whom the Father
chasteneth not? Now, we should learn some practical
things about that, and that is that a father that won't correct
his children doesn't love them. A father who just lets his children
do whatever they want to, and never says anything about it,
doesn't love his children. Now that's what the Scripture
says, is it not? I mean, because the Father teaches
His child. He guides His child. He draws him back when necessary. He does what's necessary to guide
him in the right way. And you can't ever cause a child
to believe a word you say. You can't do it. But you can
teach a child what you believe he ought to do. because He can
see you doing those things, and He can know that what you have
taught Him is that which you believe. And that's what we ought
to do, is to teach our children what we believe, so they'll know
that's what we believe. Now, it's only in the grace of
God that they grow up and believe it. We can't cause them to believe
it. But they can't ever depart from
it in the sense that they can't ever say, well, Daddy, I never
knew what Daddy believed. Why? Because we love them. And we want them to know what
we believe. And we've said it before them. But if you be without
chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards
and not sons. You're illegitimate children.
You're not children who belong. in society in the proper sense. You're not a child which is in
a legitimate fashion. He said those are the ones who
are not chastened. Furthermore, we've had fathers
of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in
subjection to the Father of spirits and live? Why did the Lord tell
us to honor our father and mothers, that your days may be long upon
the earth. Now there is a practical application
of that to be sure. But this is the primary reason,
is because he would have us to honor him who is our father,
that our days might be long upon the earth. That is, that we might
have blessing in the course of our lives. as He causes us to
see His love for His people. Honor your father and your mother. We have reverence, He said, even
to our natural parents. And when they chastened us after
their own pleasure. Now a parent, the only thing
he knows to do is to react to things. Now He guides in the
course of His children, but the only thing He can really do ultimately
is react to what the child has done. And that is to His own
pleasure. That is the thing which He sees.
But our Heavenly Father knows what we have need of before we
think or ask. So He knows what we are. He knows
that we are dust. And His chastening is not simply
after a carnal incident that takes place that can be seen
with carnal eyes, but He is chastening us before we ever get there.
He is bringing us to a greater place because what does He say? That He, for our profit, that
we might be partakers of His holiness. All that the Lord has done, He's
done in the behalf of His people. Now, He's done all things for
His glory, but the fashion in which He has manifested to us
His glory is in the revelation of His determination to bring
a people out of darkness into light for the glory of His name. in their redemption in Jesus
Christ. And that's what we come to remember
today, to remember the Lord's death till He comes. And so it
doesn't make any difference what else we might gain or not gain
as we study the Scriptures. This is the thing that really
it all boils down to right here, is what the Lord Jesus Christ
has done in our behalf. It's not what we've done in His
behalf. Because in reality, what have you ever done? I mean, if
you look at yourself, what have you ever done that would be worthy
of Him saying to you, you deserve my mercy and my kindness? Dear brethren, if you can see
that that is not true, then you need to look a little deeper
and pray that the Lord will give you an understanding of what
you are by nature, but most of all, that He'll show you what
this represents, the righteousness of Christ, which is our hope.
We remember His death until He comes again, because it's in
that death, that burial and that resurrection that all of our
hope rests, and we desire to be found no other place than
in Him.