Correction from God (Part A)

Come out right. He said that he would be accused posting what I get. I believe it is Paul that wrote this letter, increasing multiple endings and still going reasons why believe is him but there are some Christians and I hope it's not you. You won't even not you, but whoever the one is guilty, you will not resist inconvenience.

This is cross reference radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville.

Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of Hebrews.

Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about cross reference radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching, but for now let's join Pastor Rick in the book of Hebrews chapter 12 as he begins his message correction from God. We are in Hebrews chapter 12, you have your Bibles read Hebrews 12 versus three through 11 for consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself less you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed striving against sin and you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as two sons, my son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him or home. The Lord loves he chastens and scourges every son he receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons for what son is there a father does not chasten but if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.

Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect, shall he not much more readily be in subjection to the father of spirits, and live for. They indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness now know chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful, nevertheless. Afterword, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Well, last section, where we had this just the outpouring of faith in and put tying in the Hebrew letter. Now the rider turns to correction. Well the entire letter is one of correction. That is why he has taken them to task what we now know was of the letter to the Hebrews he is trying to correct the course that some of them are born which is a collision course to apostasy and reading from Psalm 19 verse seven the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. And that is to make the simple lives of the untrained wise you have to educate them.

You have to train them. You have to turn lights on in the dark and then explain what is being looked at.

All instruction, all education is an attack on ignorance and so should be. You can use the word ignorance and insulting way or you can use it, use it in a very general way and that is how I'm using it now, but here these Hebrews that were considering abandoning the faith were making a grave mistake and they needed correction so we look now in verse three. Again, he writes for consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself less you become weary and discouraged in your souls, as I'm reading this and saying to myself. There are so many directions to going to make application from this and it is important to stay disciplined and and according to how the Lord is first shared it with me and hopefully be a benefit to you that first or second work. Consider, for consider in the Greek that word is the word we get our our English word analyze from. In fact, it is pronounced, almost identically. In the Greek and he is saying, contemplate, analyze, consider studies, scrutinize Jesus. Remember verse two of you look up, he says, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith as we know him to be. But looking unto Jesus and then he says for consider him analyze him now where he's going with this of course is Jesus who has taken head on persecution that was hurled at him and these Hebrews at the time of the writing.

They were beginning to want to abandon the faith because they just retired of the persecution now that not yet suffered the blood and as we we just read in the reading of this passage and will come to that. So he says analyze him and this is and of course forth to criticize is to gain we do it when we study the word of God, analyzing God in its proper form. He who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, he that being Jesus.

This example that he has left us what you might say what that was the son of God, he could endure persecution he's made of finer stuff we we bet he is by he has had many of his sons and daughters stared down and swallowed to the dregs the cup of persecution and bring glory to his name on the left, so there's no way out of this.

It is in our interest as Christians who in this country live in relative peace with our faith right now. For now it is a good idea to be more more mindful of persecution. One way is praying for those who are persecuted and another one is this just considering that it can happen here in a very, very possibly will may we be ready because we have been in the Scriptures are Lord of course he endured what was. Not fair well we know life is not fair that doesn't make it all that much easier. But it is important to understand this and so we consider him who was persecuted for what righteousness sake. That's for what wasn't persecuted simply because he had a different opinion. Though he did have that righteousness, his righteousness, and so it D. He taught he taught about persecution. He taught his disciples to face this Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake cannot leave out that word falsely is very important that is just where these Christians were, they were being reviled not yet physically assaulted, but they were being reviled and they were looking to get out of it.

It is not easy.

It is not supposed to be easy it cannot be easy.

That's why it's not supposed to be about the terms that we are faced in this life.

Any idea that someone may have that obedience leads to easy street as an opinion that is contrary to Scripture.

Obedience leads to obedience and that is worship that is one of our ways of honoring our Lord is doing what he is told us to do if you love me, he said, keep my commandments, and of course he is made provisions for when we stumble. If obedience brought in an easy life than they never would've crucified Christ live more obediently than any no one. He followed the father completely.

More than any of us put together could ever do. And yet he was scourged and shamed and crucified so that when we are persecuted for righteousness sake. It is not that something wrong is happening to us to do something right happening to us on the battlefield of humanity fallen humanity and so he says consider the one who endured such hostility from sinners against himself less you become weary and discouraging your souls that list, lest you become. It will show up a couple of times in this remainder of this chapter. It is so that none of you that is the meaning behind it's it's placement there weary and discouraged to the point of uselessness that is Satan's plan for your life to make you weary to the point of uselessness for the kingdom, no glory is radiating a coming out of the life just living for yourself. The woe is me will put you there. The doldrums others in older I'm treated wrong, I'm not getting my share so easy happens to all of us what he learned about Satan has a plan for your life. You know, we've heard that's all God has a plan rely well I don't dispute that that plan is a blood he rode as a hard road and each one of us needs to go down again that's Cleveland Bunyan, John Bunyan was trying to illustrate in Pilgrim's progress while Satan has a plan to verse two. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed striving against sin, and of course the writer speaks as though he has that is the tone I think it's inescapable that the come out right and said that he would be accused of posting, but again I believe it is Paul that wrote this letter for increasing multiple endings and still growing reasons why believe it is him, but there are some Christians and I hope it's not you. You won't even not you, but whoever the one is guilty, you will not resist inconvenience. It says here you not yet resisted to bloodshed. How many of us won't resist inconvenience and are grappling with sin and not just our personal sanity. You have that opinion that all sin is just yours and you do your life. What about everybody else that we are called to reach to strengthen, to encourage to uphold. So this audience they have suffered persecution but not the blood. We read that in chapter 10, but recall the former days. Hebrews 10 verse 32 in which after you were illuminated.

That is, come to the faith. You endured a great struggle with suffering, partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated or you had compassion on me and my chains in my chains. That is, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods. Knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.

So he says to these believers. Once upon a time, you are solid in faith you are saying you are willing to take persecution on even for me when I was in a shameful state I was in jail and chains you reached out to me were not ashamed to do so and to be associated with me now you wanting to go back. You've not yet resisted to bloodshed, so don't feel too good about yourselves be harsh with them but he being straight on her knees got a lot to say. He says, striving against sin. All that's a lifelong affair for us.

There will be no rest for use striving against sin personal or someone else's trying to lead them to crimes trying to keep them. The is the author via striving against sin, the sin of their up a potential apostasy is striving against it is resisting is not taking this sitting down, so we must prepare ourselves as we strive against it. Is there any Christian here that is not don't raise your hand, but that is not striving against sin. Something is wrong with you very seriously.

According to the Scripture which is a standard, not because it is my opinion you say. I resent that well with that resentment you are making an admission you are admitting that you're not striving, and if you're good with that. That should be proof striving against sin. Does this not some of the lives of the apostles, the Disciples of Christ examples for us to follow those there's not some of the Christian experience when carried out obediently. Christians obey are they not striving against sin. This is the role of the individual Christian service of the king. This is the role of the obedient church wherever she works in whatever age she stands if she is not standing she is not a church but shirts is called out by definition of the name to the Lord to stand against the words of the devil.

If the church is not doing that.

She is apostate. She has fallen from the faith. Otherwise why we left here in this cursed world. If were not to strive against sin. When we lose sight of this. We begin to amass for ourselves the pleasures of this life in Christ begins to reduce in our lives. The light begins to dim who needs the church. The church will not do what she is called to do stand and strive for righteousness. God doesn't need that kind of a church. Sin is the cause of all suffering in the population of hell sin is that the reason we are not to take it lightly. The church at Laodicea all the way back in Revelation chapter 3 all the way back in the age of the apostles church of light at Laodicea stop striving against sin.

She had bigger fish to fry things that would make people happy, instead of holy. I have a poem here. I don't know who the author is. I know the name but I'm unfamiliar with the man and I read the poem because I think he says just what needs to be said in every age. Let us not think what is the church today.

The church is been struggling against churches who refuse to struggle since there was a church and is one we ever going to win when we get to heaven is the ones that come out of being wrong, that are corrected. Those are the victories the others will reap what they sow the church begins the poem has failed to tell me that I am a sinner. Churches failed to deal with me as a lost individual churches failed to offer me salvation in Jesus Christ alone.

The churches failed to tell me of the horrible consequences of sin and the certainty of hell, and the fact that Jesus Christ alone can save we need more of the last judgment and less of the golden rule more of living the living God in the living devil as well, more of a heaven to gain in a hell to shun the church must bring me not a message of cultivation but of rebirth. I might fail that kind of church with that kind of church will not fail me was written sometime back, probably before I was born or when I was a lad, but it's right on Jesus again out our subject is correction correction from what straying off the course. The Christ has set for us. That is what the writer is doing and we should be very we should be all over this. If you are nervous about it. That is a good thing we are saved.

Sinners and it falls to us to reach out to unsaved sinners to win them that they would be saved and not lost and those who are already Christians.

They need us. Believe it or not I've made this comment quite a few times in the past and hopefully will continue to is very easy. As a Christian to tell someone else. The God loves them and wants to use them. But do we believe that about ourselves. We believe that God loves me and wants to use me see the problem is that we know in detail our personal flaws that others are not aware of.

Perhaps, and we get started right there. We feel disqualify what you are. If you lie down you are. If you let it be that way.

I'm not talking about gross overboard sins and talking about those common things that cause us to fail to live that high standard of holiness which we are called to we have to move forward nonetheless verse five he says and you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons my son, do not despise the chastening of Yahweh, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him. Now he's quoting Proverbs 3. Most of us when we think of Proverbs 3 we think of you know, lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge the Lord, which is often quoted and seldom practiced it seems how many Christians are genuinely led by the spirit and the spirit of obedience and love and true. But back to this that he is quoting again that proverb he takes them to their Scriptures as he should. This writer again, whoever he may be has roamed the Old Testament to extract his points of truth that must be made to encourage them to win them to turn their course away from the rocks so he is been all over the Old Testament and again as you read through Hebrews you get a feeling this is the Old Testament and the New Testament that is the Scripture. And so, my son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked the second part of the of Proverbs 3 comes in verse six will come to that but there is much here at first to to lay the groundwork to continue. Again, the correction that he is now speaking of is education is striking them with relevant truths. Virtual reality of truths for them truth that they couldn't escape that were right there in front of them. They were for some know distant generation. They were not for other people outside the church. It was for them personally is not random, it is spot on virtual reality and I emphasize it for them.

From this verse five to verse 12.

The word chastening appears seven times.

That emphasis there that we must not bypass now the Greek word chastening is not like our English word. The Greek word used here for chastening means the training of a child.

The education of a child and all that is that belongs to that it does not bear the idea of harshness, like our English word dusty and in the English language when we say I will chasten you we mean we going to put some pain on the right guy wrestled with this room. I couldn't translate as of done it differently because if you go to the Greek it's clear you go to how the Greek word is used in Scripture. You come away with.

Clearly this word is not a word of harshness scourges and he'll use that in a minute. So don't you feel like you don't not yet not at all. And so to instruct, to learn to teach and the disciplines that go with that are implied without harshness.

This can be grueling, especially on higher levels of education. Ephesians chapter 6 I'm going to read the verse and then I'll point out the same Greek word how it issues patterns is how we get to with what is being said, what is the writer saying and how is the audience going to accept it and what am I supposed to do with it. We go to the patterns he says in Ephesians 6 and you father's, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training at and admonition of the Lord. There were training. There is the same Greek word translated here is chasten it should be training corrective training in the case of the Hebrews, father's, I need to say that again don't provoke your children to wrath mothers don't nag them to death. If you're a parent as part of parenting. Second Timothy chapter 3 verse 16 all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that word instruction in righteousness same Greek word translated here is chasten the word correction is is not the say that Greek word he would've used every minute harshness at this point.

So what I'm trying to let you know is where the writer of Hebrews says my son, do not despise the chastening's of the is saying to them, don't despise the education in the faith move.

You've been listening to cross reference radio the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick asked Calvary Chapel in Mechanicsville, Virginia.

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