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e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e welcome back to the house of God for our evening worship if you would turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 16 for our call to worship psalm 16 I'll begin reading in verse one a mcum of David preserve me oh God for in you I put my trust oh my soul you have said to the Lord you are my Lord my goodness is nothing apart from you as for the Saints who are on the earth they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another God their drink offerings of blood I will not offer nor take up their names on my lips oh Lord you are the portion of my inheritance in my cup you maintain my lot the Lions have fallen to me in Pleasant places yes I have a good inheritance I Will Bless The Lord who has given me counsel my heart also instructs me in the night Seasons I have set the lord always before me because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices My Flesh also will rest in Hope for you will not leave my soul in sheld nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption you will show me the path of life in your presence is fullness of joy at your right hand our Pleasures forever more amen well please turn with me to Psalm 9 Psalm 9B as in bravo we'll stand as we sing together heart will sing PR praise the Lord Earth praise the Lord praise the Lord his and him all for for all Mery for the praise the Lord is praise the Lord praise the Lord he all Mighty has Chen pra PR his pra the praise the and all his my AFF my Mercy Lord in the of and praise PR Lord pra Earth his pra the pra the to car his and give him all [Music] for well let us pray our gracious God and Holy Father We Gather again on this Lord's day and it is our great privilege to do so to come into the presence of the the great king of all the Earth as the prophet and as the Apostle asked who would not fear thee Oh King of the Nations for indeed it is thy due We Know by Nature we didn't fear you we know by Nature we went astray from you but by your Sovereign Grace you've taught our hearts to fear and we rejoice in your loving kindness and in your goodness we rejoice in the mission of the Son of God who took on our Humanity who lived for us who died for us and was raised again that third day for us we look forward to his glorious return from heaven with all of his mighty angels and that he will take Vengeance on those who do not know him and he will be glorified among those who have believed God we pray that that Kingdom of Glory would come until such time we pray that your kingdom of Grace would continue to prosper in this world that you would bless the proclamation of your truth that the Holy Spirit would attend preaching and that you would open the hearts of needy Sinners and cause them to see that Christ is altogether lovely and chief among 10,000 we ask that you would be glorified in our in our time together tonight we pray that you would indeed be praised and glorified and worshiped we ask now that you would forgive us for all of our sin and transgression the commands of of scripture the exhortations in our Bibles concerning sanctification and our conduct being worthy of the Gospel are are there we know them and yet we find that principle that Paul States in Romans 7 and Galatians 5 we know that the good that we wish to do we don't always do those evil things that we don't want to do we find ourselves doing and as he cries out oh Wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death how we thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ and the Forgiveness of sins that we have in him we thank you that he is our Advocate with the father at your right hand we pray that even now you would cleanse Us in that precious blood we ask God that you would be gracious and merciful in this local body to all of our children to all of our young people to the baby to the babies in the womb we just pray father that in time in your time they would be brought forth by Sovereign Grace that you would call them out of darkness and The Marvelous Light that they by Grace would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and know that salvation that is so wondrous and So Glorious we ask you would bless other churches here in our community we thank you for those men Faithfully preaching the gospel we pray that they would know The Nearness of God as their good that you would bless that word as it goes forth and be merciful here in this community and God we pray for other churches those churches that have expressed a desire to enter into formal Association bless the brethren in medicin hat bless the brethren in panoa and also in Regina we thank you for these men we pray father that they would be Faithful Servants of Christ and of his church in those places and we ask God that you would continue to do a good work all throughout this nation of Canada for certainly this is a needy time certainly there is much lawlessness and wretchedness and wickedness we know ultimately the answers and the solutions and the remedies do not come from political power it comes from God most high so again bless that word send it forth conquering and to conquer For Your Glory for your honor and so that we may see what we see in Scripture that from every tribe and every tongue and every people and Nation there will be a great multitude assembled Before the Throne of God and of the Lamb who sits upon the throne and that testimony that consistent testimony will be to to declare that salvation belongs to God and to the lamb we know it's not by our works we know it's not by an A A A supplement to Faith it's not by any sort of a of a of a good gesture on our part but we see Divine initiative in the salvation of Sinners and this gives us great hope great encouragement at the prospect of church planting the prospect of gospel missions God continue to send forth that word Lord please continue with us now may you draw near to us may you cause us to receive with Thanksgiving your holy word and may it be a great encouragement to our hearts and may you build us up in our Most Holy Faith may you cause us to run with endurance the race that is before us and we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen we can turn with me again in your hym books to 284 284 we stand as we sing together master and his wonderful GL of Jesus his kingom is glor rules over all R High all to is we the Great Sal to Jesus Sal to God all and thees of Jesus the angels all down on their and worship the his all glory and and and all and bless angels of and will you can turn with me in your Bibles to Joshua chapter 5 Joshua 5 for our scripture reading this evening remember the broader context this is the conquest God had promised Abraham Isaac and Jacob a land by way of inheritance it was a gracious provision from God and the Book of Joshua is about that Conquest entering the land taking the land dividing up the land and retaining the land the Book of Judges follows and it is a less optimistic or positive view of that Conquest they didn't decimate all of the enemies of God and therefore they had to contend with those oppressors in their own land but Joshua 5 we'll begin reading in verse 1 so it was when all the kings of the amorites who were on the west side of the Jordan and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the Sea heard that the Lord had dried up the Waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel until we had crossed over that their heart melted and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the children of Israel at that time the Lord said to Joshua make flint knives for yourselves and circum ized the sons of Israel again the second time so Joshua made Flint knives for himself and circumcised the sons of Israel at the hill of the forkins and this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them all the people who came out of Egypt who were males all the men of War had died in the wilderness on the way after they had come out of Egypt for all the people who came out had been circumcised but all the people born in the wilderness on the way as they came out of Egypt had not been un circumcised for the children of Israel walked 40 years in the wilderness till all the people who were Men of War who came out of Egypt were consumed because they did not obey the voice of the Lord to whom the Lord swore that he would not show them the land which the Lord had sworn to their fathers that he would give us a land flowing with milk and honey and Joshua circumcised their sons whom he raised up in their place for they were uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way so it was when they had finished circumcising all the people that they stayed in their places in the camp till they were healed then the Lord said to Joshua this day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you therefore the name of the place is called gilgal to this day now the children of Israel camped in gilgal and kept the Passover on the 14th day of the month at Twilight on the plains of Jericho and they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover unleavened bread and parched Grain on the very same day then the Mana ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land and the children of Israel no longer had Mana but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year and it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted his eyes and looked and behold a man stood opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand and Joshua went to him and said to him are you for us or for our adver adversaries so he said no but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come and Joshua fell on his face to the Earth and worshiped and said to him what does my Lord say to his servant then the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua take your sandal off your foot for the place where you stand is Holy and Joshua did so amen well let us pray Our God and Father we thank you for your faithfulness exhibited throughout Holy Scripture faithfulness to your promises faithfulness as well to your threats of curse we know that first generation died they were judged because of a lack of faith we know God that you are a gracious and a merciful father we thank you for the the the superiority of the New Covenant we thank you that Christ our covenant head is done or has accomplished all that was given to him and that for us as one as well said the Covenant of Grace is the Covenant of Works kept for us and we bless you for that we praise you for all that we have in our Lord Jesus Christ for every spiritual blessing in the Heavenly places in Christ Jesus and we pray in his name amen well we can turn finally to 195 195 we'll stand as we sing together to my [Music] according to theing [Music] will you answer with all our so children and well you can turn with me in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 12 as we finish this particular section verses 1 to 11 we looked at verse one last week the great cloud of witnesses that serve as a constant reminder and testimony that God is indeed faithful this morning we looked at verse two the believer as he runs with endurance the race that is set before him does so by looking consciously to our Lord Jesus Christ in other words exercising faith in the living Christ as he has gone before us and as he has made the way for us and then tonight we'll consider the purpose of the father in verses 3 to1 but I'll read the section verses 1 to1 therefore we also since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ens snares us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and is sat down at the right hand of the Throne of God for consider him who endured such hostility from Sinners against himself lest 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 to Sons my son do not despise the chastening of the Lord nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him for whom the Lord loves he chastens and scourges every son whom he receives if you endure chastening God deals with you as with sons for what son is there whom 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 respect shall we 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 no chastening seems to be joyful for the present but painful nevertheless afterward it yields the Peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it amen will let us pray our father again we thank you for the written word we know it's God breathed we know it's profitable for all things we ask now that you would guide us by the Holy Spirit cause us to reflect upon this most essential component in our Christian lives even fatherly discipline from a God who loves us a God who cares for us a God who is in the business of conforming us ever unto the image of his only begotten son forgive us again for all sin and unrighteousness and those things which darken our understanding we pray in jesus' name amen well as we come to this this particular section in verses 3 to 11 we see that the Apostle invokes or appeals to the Book of Proverbs and I think that underscores for us the divine inspiration of the Book of Proverbs but also the utility of the Book of Proverbs for the children of God in this new covenant setting Bridges says we must not Overlook the apostles testimony to the divine inspiration of the Book of Proverbs showing the instruction throughout to be te the the teaching of our heavenly father to his beloved children so in another words we have both the New Covenant and the old Covenant that instructs us and informs us concerning the nature of God and the relationship that we sustain to him by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ so now as we come to this third incentive remember the exhortation or the duty or the responsibility is to run with endurance the race that is set before us we're to lay aside weight we're to lay aside the sin which so easily entangles us we're to have that consciousness of that amphithe populated by the heroes of old where their consistent testimony is that God is faithful along the way while we run we're looking unto Jesus he is the author and the finisher of our faith our faith in the sense of subjective in other words it's a gift of God that we believe the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ but he's the author and finisher of the Faith with reference to the objective content of Christianity it's his life his death his resurrection that is the sum and substance of our fashion and then we have this admonition to look to the purposes of our father in terms of Parental discipline so there are three things that I want to consider this evening in verses 3 to 11 first the necessary consideration in verses 3 and four secondly the practice of divine discipline uh in verses 5 to 10A and then finally the purpose of divine discipline in verses 10B and 11 and again this jives with what we saw in John 15 at verse 2 the vine dresser tends to the branches it says that every branch that bears fruit he prunes that it may bear more fruit sometime that pruning is somewhat uh uh Sublime it's gentle it's the lady with the Bonnet with the snippers in the in the Rose Garden snipping away some of the Dead branches or it could be with a chainsaw God at times comes to us in a way that does uh indicate his uh determination to sanctify us and conform us under the image of his beloved Son so note first the necessary consideration you see that in verses 3 and four for consider him who endure notice that same word run with endurance Christ endured the cross consider him who endured verse 7 if you endure as I said this morning the Christian Life or the Christian race is not a 100 yard dash it is rather a marathon it's the Long Haul we need to be engaged we need to be steadfast fast it's all too common for persons to make a profession of faith and then once things start getting a little bit difficult say well you know that's just not for me now that's obviously a false profession of Faith but the children of God at times are tempted by the various challenges in their lives to say what's it all worth I don't get anything out of this religion I don't get anything quantifiably different than my Pagan neighbor neighbor next door again I think that verses 3 to 11 are crucial in helping to sort of crush that mindset in the lives of God's people so notice again verse three for consider him who endured such hostility from Sinners against himself lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls you have not yet resisted to Bloodshed striving against sin so the believer must consider our Lord Jesus Christ this is consistent with what we see in verse two we are looking onto Jesus Christ the author and finisher of our faith so this idea of looking or considering simply means we are trusting we are believing we are looking unto him by God's grace through faith in him so we need to consider the one who endured we must look to him and ask the question the Bible answers for us how did he endure and as well we have particular reasons given for this Duty so consider him who endured such hostility from Sinners against himself and then he gives reasons why we're so supposed to consider other words we're to look unto Jesus for this reason we're to consider him for these particular reasons in the first place to promote spiritual stamina to promote spiritual stamina note the end of verse three lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls turn back to chapter 2 and verse one I know that we rehearsed these last Sunday night but it Bears constant repetition notice in chapter 2 specifically at verse one therefore we must give the more Earnest heed to the things we have heard lest we drift away and the same language or similar language is here lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls it's almost as if the Apostle envisages apostasy as not something that happens overnight in other words most professing Christians don't wake up on a Thursday morning and say that's it I'm done it's all over over there's been no benefit there's been no sort of asset involved in my life as a Christian in the here and now so I'm done never again will I pick up a Bible never again will I listen to Sermon Audio never again will I go to church it seems to be that the Apostle envisages this discouragement this drifting away these steps as it were to apostasy now I guess it is the case that some do apostatize overnight but I would suggest that the overarching trajectory is one of I'm not going to read my Bible anymore because I don't get anything out of it I'm not going to attend both services on Sunday because I don't get anything out of it we look at God as if it's somehow a formulaic relationship I will fulfill my oblig obligation in so far as you give me 15 units of blessing if you don't give me 15 units of blessing well then I'm not going to come and so we need to be on guard against that reality it's unbelief it is a drifting away it is a discouragement and a weariness that is often times the precursor to fullblown apostasy notice as well in chapter four specifically at verse one therefore since a promise remains of entering his rest let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it and then again in 5 12-4 notice in chapter 5:2 for though by this time you ought to be teachers you need someone someone to teach you again the first principles of the or of God and you have come to need milk and not solid food for everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness for he is a babe but solid food belongs to those who are a full age that is those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil again it's not full-blown apostasy at this particular point it's leaving off scripture it's not attending the corporate means it's not putting yourself subject to The Living Word of God it is this idea that well I've had enough and I don't really need much more because there hasn't been a lot of benefit with what I already possess he says you should be teachers by this time you should be holding Sunday School classes you should be proclaiming the truth you should be well skilled in the word of the living and the true God but you're not notice in chapter 6 specifically at verses 11 and 12 chapter 6: 11 and 12 and we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full Assurance of Hope until the end that you do not become sluggish again I suggest that the greatest sort of advancement towards apostasy is usually not an overnight decision to utterly defect from the Christian faith it is sluggishness it is weariness of Soul it is discouragement it is a drifting away those are the precursors precursors to full-on apostasy that you do not become sluggish but imitate those who through faith and patience inher at the promises so back to our verse notice the reason why we are to consider him who endured such hostility from Sinners against himself lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls but as well notice it promotes sober assessment you have not yet resisted to Bloodshed striving against sin I think this particular section calls them to reflect on the past they've already known some hardship they've already known some travail they've already known some difficulty for their profession of Faith turn back to chapter 10 specifically at verses 32-34 chapter 10:32 but recall the former days in which after you were illuminated you endured a great struggle with sufferings partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations and partly while you became Companions of those who were so treated for you had compassion on me and my chains and joyfully accepted the plundering of your Goods knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven so they had tasted they had known they had seen some deprivation as a result of faith in Jesus they had seen Goods plunder they had seen the effects of a Godless World antagonistic to the Lord Of Glory but it's not only a reflection on the past but our verse tells us there is to be a reflection on the future he says in verse 4 you have not yet res resisted to Bloodshed so I think what he's saying is that it can get worse there can be more hardship there can be more difficulty there can be Bloodshed for your association with our Lord Jesus Christ your confess uh confession of Christ as Lord and Savior can bring with it prison can bring with it disenfranchisement can bring with it job loss can bring with it family separation and can bring with it martyrdom and so the Apostle says you have not yet resisted to Bloodshed and then note he says striving against sin so this calls them to reflection on the primary enemy it's not the unbelieving Jews that were trying to crush these believing Jews it's not the Roman civil state that increasingly gets antagonistic to the Jewish Believers it is rather their own sin that is always the present enemy so when you drill lift away when you are sluggish when you are weary and become discouraged in your souls what typically replaces that sin and when that happens you're in a bad place as John Owen rightly points out it was not their persecutors directly but sin in them that they had to conflict with uh conflict with all it's other words the Apostle says consider him who endured such hostility from Sinners against himself consider the Earthly Ministry of our Lord Jesus consider that he came to his own his own received him not consider that he had to debate constantly with the religious leaders of his time consider the fact that he was arrested there in Gethsemane that he was brought before the Sanhedrin that he's slapped and spat upon by the religious leaders in Israel that he's then shipped over to pilate because the religious leaders of Israel didn't have the right didn't have the power didn't have the prerogative to execute him so they ship him off to Pilot he stands before this Godless Heathen this Godless Pagan who ultimately condemns him he asks the question do you want barabus or do you want Jesus and of course the crowd says give us barabus away with Jesus let him be crucified so the author wants us to consider that he wants us to understand that whatever hostility we Face whatever difficulties we go through whatever challenges that we see these are not unique to us we are not snowflakes when it comes to the hostility of Sinners against uh the people of God not only our Lord Jesus Christ but the history of martyrdom read Fox's book of Martyrs read what the early church endured some have postulated there were more Martyrs in the 20th century than there had been in all the previous centuries combined now I realize there's a lot more people but I think it is staggering when you consider that in our Sunday morning prayer meeting and in our Wednesday evening prayer meeting what do we do we read voice of the martyrs and as we read voice of the martyrs you know what we meet up with we meet up with opposition from false religionist we meet up with opposition from government we see the people of God persecuted we see hostility targeted against the people of God we have that Promise To Us by our lord Jesus that if the world hate hated me they're going to hate you so the Apostle says while you're running with endurance the race that is set before us as you've got this Amphitheater faithful Witnesses declaring that God is faithful as you've got looking unto the Lord Jesus Christ one of the particular aspects you should focuses on focus on is to understand the one who endured such hostility from Sinners against himself this functions in a two-fold way lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls and then by way of reminder you have not yet resisted to Bloodshed striving against sin so think consciously of that look unto him and consider the the suffering Savior and what he went through on our behalf and never forget that on the other side of that suffering that suffering was the joy that was set before him Visa the glory of God and the salvation of All Those whom the father had given him that brings us then to the practice of divine discipline in verses 5 to 10 a notice for uh uh verse 5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to Sons there's a problem forgetfulness Amnesia leads to apostasy this is why so many times in the Bible we're told to remember this is why they put up those stones when they crossed the river in the Book of Joshua why so that they could remember why are we called to the supper and OB observance of the supper so that we may remember what do you think God is saying if we're not remembering we're forgetting and if we're forgetting we're not running and if we're not running we were never in the race to begin with or if we are running we're running not with full speed not with a great stride but we're just sort of hobbling along so the Apostle addresses a particular problem you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to Sons there's an assumption there that they knew that word of exhortation and that's a great assumption when you're dealing with Jewish believers because they had the Old Testament they had the law and the prophets and the writings they had the Book of Proverbs they had solom they had David in the Salter they had Moses in the in the pentat toe they had all that so the problem isn't you need to learn brand new information I've often thought that if we just acted on the knowledge that we currently possess we'd probably be a whole lot better off but we do tend to forget we do tend to let Amnesia set in and so the the Apostle addresses a particular problem you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to Sons when I or other preachers say you should read your Bible it's not because we want to be your third grade teacher it's not because we want to be your mommies it's not because we want to Harang you into duty it's because we know that the scriptures are there for your encouragement they're there for your admonishment they're there for your instruction they're there to to urge you on in running with endurance the race that is set before you Philip Hughes says the discouragement of the recipients of this letter is attributable at least in part to a false reading of the situation in which they find themselves typically when bad things happen where does the mind go boy God's using this for his glory and my good if that's your reflex good for you I want to commend you and encourage you to keep it up but for a lot of us when bad things happen when difficulties ensue when there's obstacles on the race course we think oh no everything's falling apart God is against me God is doing this because he's angry with me that's typically the way it goes he goes on to say such hardship and affliction as they have had to endure in consequence of their Christian confession does not mean as some seem to have assumed that God is unconcerned for their welfare and has left them without his Aid and support so we're running with endurance the race that is set before us there are obstacles now in the path and we conclude that God doesn't care there's no Divine Aid there's no Divine resources there's no help coming from Heaven to us to help us along this way but that's the wrong conclusion and that's what the Apostle is going to address now the word of exhortation here I believe is the Book of Proverbs specifically but the entirety of the Old Testament one commentator says the writer regards Proverbs 31- 12 as God's personal word to those who enjoy sunship through the mediation of Jesus who inaugurated the New Covenant so Proverbs 3 11 and 12 in the hand of the Apostle Paul is another incentive as to why we run with endurance the race that is set before us God has his purposes and I think that will help us as we run that race and we see those obstacles they're still obstacles they're still hard to navigate but they're not there to destroy us they're there to further conform us to the image of his only begotten son look back to chapter 5 specifically at verse 8 relative to the savior in his Earthly Ministry Hebrews 5 specifically at verse 8 though he was a son yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered so when Jesus is in his Earthly Ministry and Jesus is going to the Cross there's a lot of obstacles in his way and he doesn't say oh these are things destined to destroy me he understands it's the will and purpose of the father he understands that this is the nature of his ministry he understands that this hypostatic Union where he assumes to himself a human nature is going to be riddled with Sorrows grief difficulty and hardship so back to Hebrews 12 notice he appeals specifically to Proverbs 3 so verse five you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to Sons my son do not despise the chasing of the Lord have you ever wondered why so many times in the New Testament there's admonitions to to give each one a holy kiss probably because it was not uh as desirable an activity then as it would be now and I'm not suggesting that the men give holy kisses to the ladies I remember ashel Blaze before he died he was a Reformed Baptist pastor in London and he warned the men in the church there'll be no holy kisses for the ladies and in our church but there's things that are repeated in scripture and that repetition is necessary notice the specific emphasis my son do not despise the chastening of the Lord remember where Paul is talking about wives and husbands and their relationships to one another husbands love your wives ephes uh Colossians 3 and do not be bitter against them huh he doesn't say don't backhand them which I'm sure he would agree don't backhand them he doesn't say pack up all their goods and throw them out under the front yard which I would think he wouldn't want you to pack up all their goods and throw them under the front yard he speaks to the issue that most often tempts us bitterness it's the same thing with parental discipline my son do not what despise the chastening of the Lord so the author appeals Paul appeals to Solomon in the Book of Proverbs my son do not despise the chastening of the Lord nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him for whom the Lord loves he chastens and scourges every son whom he receives notice the apostles assumption we bear a fatherson relationship with God son and daughter I'm not going to keep saying son and daughter there used to be a day son included daughter so let's go back to that day but the bottom line is by God's grace through faith in Jesus we are adopted into the family of God Christ is the only begotten son by Nature not by creation not by adoption we are sons of God by adoption and so the Apostle assumes the reality of that the lord loves whom uh whom the Lord loves he Chas chastens and scourges every son whom he receives notice the reminder in case you forgot this is part of what you signed on for this is what you ought to expect you shouldn't be surprised you shouldn't lose your mind you shouldn't say oh I can't believe I'm actually being disciplined by my heavenly father the Apostle wants you to forsake that mindset wherein you despise it or wherein you are discouraged again take the parental analogy Paul goes there later in this particular section and we'll see that in a few minutes but with reference to Parenting do you discipline your children because you hate them do you discipline that your children so that they may despise it do you discipline your children so that they may be discouraged of course not you discipline them because they need it you discipline them because that shapes them you discipline them because that's beneficial for them I mean just look at the world today hey there's a lot of people who should have got discipline when they were under their father's and mother's care and we are reaping the the the the rotten fruits of that kind of a mindset O'Brien says Hebrews citation of Proverbs 3 shows that Divine discipline and sunship go hand in hand and then note the specific exhortation here do not despise the chastening of the Lord go back to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 8 Deuteronomy chapter 8 a couple other passages that illustrate this not just Proverbs but Deuteronomy and then first Peter Deuteronomy chapter 8 specifically at verse 5 you should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son so the Lord your God chastens you you should know this in your heart this isn't up for grabs it's not up for de it's not a negotiable item well you know God I I want all the Salvation benefits but I don't want all that nasty discipline I just want to soar through this race with my best stride ever I want no obstacles and I want no discipline along the way you don't get to dictate the terms of sanctification turn to First Peter chapter 4 First Peter chapter 4 specifically at verse 12 beloved do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you right I can't believe this is happening really you can't believe this is happening what Bible are you reading what scriptures have you thought through what experience in the parental child relationship has gone right past you you you can't can't believe that at times we grow through adversity you know there's books today written do hard things go out and live in the forest in the snow with you know a pocket knife and a piece of wood and if you can do that then you can do anything you can face those Executives in the boardroom Brethren it is a given reality in our lives the the immune system I bet people that you know ate a lot of dirt when they were kids probably don't get as sick as much as the non dirt eaters why because you got to strengthen the immune system you got to give it something to do you got to make it work uh muscle building you don't just build big muscles because you want them you have to actually tear the fibers down and replace or rest and protein for repair so back to verse 12 beloved do not think it's strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you but Rejoice to to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings that when his glory is revealed you may also be glad with exceeding Joy if you are reproached for the name of Christ blessed are you for the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you on their part he is blasphemed but on your part he is glorified none of you suffer as a murderer a thief an evildoer or as a busy body in other people's matters yet if anyone suffers as a Christian let him not be ashamed but let him glorify God in this matter for the time excuse me has come for judgment to begin at the house of God God and if it begins with us first what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God now if the righteous one is scarcely saved where will the ungodly and The Sinner appear now note verse 19 all the other stuff don't not note that you basically have to expect persecution exalt or rejoice in it evaluate its cause if you're suffering because you're a thief or You're a murderer don't say oh I'm glorifying Jesus no you're getting your Just Desserts because you broke civil law as well you're to entrust yourself to god notice in verse 19 therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God we don't live in a halfhazard universe we're not governed by cha chance and fate we're not dependent upon horseshoes or dice or or any such things horoscopes or or you know whatever God is The Sovereign over the suffering that we endure therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to him in doing good as to a faithful Creator so you're supposed to survey the suffering that you're going through you're supposed to recognize it's from The Sovereign God and in the midst of that you're to entrust him because he's doing good for you so back to our particular text don't despise the chasing of the Lord don't be discouraged when you are rebuked by him and then specifically the rational For Whom the lord loves he chastens and scourges every son whom he receives Hughes makes the observation he's reflecting a bit on on the history of the church in light of this text he says five young students imprisoned in Lion in 1552 and shortly to suffer martyrdom wrote to the church in Geneva quote we testify that this is the true School of the children of God in which they learn more than the Disciples of the philos phos opers ever did in universities they say and they praise God for giving them his grace quote not only the theory of his word but also the practice of it Benjamin Palmer was a southern Presbyterian and watched his daughters die and he was a very skilled very competent Theologian and he mused that I learned more theology watching my daughters die than I did in the University now that's not saying don't go to Seminary don't study at University but the point is the Practical emphasis in the Christian Life is often times a wonderful wonderful teacher and then note the demonstration of God's fatherhood in verses seven and 8 he says if you endure there's that word again seems to be a theme with the Apostle in this particular section God deals with you as with sons for what son is there whom a father does not Chas it the presence of Divine chastisement is a demonstration of God's fatherhood the Proverbs are filled with the necessity of a faithful father to discipline his son the one who spares his Rod hates his son and if you don't get that you need to get that parents don't discipline their children because they hate them now I'm not talking about abuse I'm not talking about the ghouls and the Monsters out there that are horrible people that should be imprisoned because of their viciousness toward their children but with reference to parental discipline it's born out of love and it's an evidence that we have this particular Bond it is evidence that we have this fatherson relationship so if you endure chastening God deals with you as with sons for what son is there whom a father does not chasen but then he goes on the presence of discipline is a given if a person lacks discipline he must not be God's son look at verse eight but if you are without chastening of which all have become partakers because that's essential you enter into this filial relationship with the father and the father disciplines you he chastens you he does what he does to conform you everm more to the image of his only begotten son but if you are without chasing of which all have become partakers then you are illegitimate and not Sons you see how this functions in the context we're prone to judge or to survey or to see the various hardships in our lives and conclude this is an evidence that God is not with us or to conclude that the presence of these difficulties is the proof positive of God's abandonment of us and the apostles argument is exactly opposite the fact that you're going through this the fact that you may strive to Bloodshed the fact that you have seen your goods plunder the fact that you have all of this opposition is proof positive that the father is for you and that he is the one who is Sovereign over these things and that suffering even suffering is under the Providence of God wherein he governs all his creatures and all their actions so don't think opposite to that rather embrace it and again paradoxical we got to embrace the difficulty yes we got to embrace the Difficulty chrysostom says see it is those very things in which they suppose they have been deserted by God that should make them confident that they have not been deserted oh these difficulties are happening God must have abandoned me did you ever stop and think that the Sovereign God Of Heaven and Earth gave you these difficulties so that you'll draw closer to him so that he can further conform you under the image of his only begotten son has that ever entered into your mind the opposite the contrary the reality well that's what the Apostle is saying while you're running with endurance the race that is set before you you've got ecclesiastical tyrants civil tyrants you've got busy bodies you've got criminals you've got lawlessness you've got wickedness you've got all kinds of evil in this present age and yet you need to run and be faithful and understand that everything that befalls you is under the control of a sovereign God so entrust your uh uh uh entrust yourself to him knowing that he is working it out for for your good and then from there he makes a comparison to Earthly fathers in verses 9 and 10 a further more just to further solidify the analogy to further bring home the point you bear a filial relationship with your father by the grace of adoption and then he looks to the to the Earthly analgate he looks around and he says furthermore we have had human fathers who corrected us and we paid them respect shall we 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 Prophet our human fathers corrected us and we respect them for right right if you kids aren't thankful that your parents take the Bible seriously perhaps tonight's a good time to thank them praise God Almighty mom and dad that you actually take the scripture seriously cuz I don't want to end up like one of these people that should have been disciplined and was not and now they're going to go to prison or they're going to go to the death uh death penalty whatever not in Canada of course but you get the point thanking the parents that looked out for us not only in terms of provision of food and shelter and clothing which by the way not a bad thing to thank parents for that as well but for the discipline and the love and the correction and the the the travail and the toil involved with that you know kids I'm going to tell you a little secret especially as you hit your teenage years you probably will observe how to be a wonderful parent and you'll probably say well I'm going to do things so much differently than they did maybe not if not great you're on the right path but I I have found that single people and young people are great parental advisers they know it all well you should this you should that yeah maybe we should but parenting ain't no joke it is one of the most serious responsibilities on the face of the Earth that's why our culture and its anti-am mentality is an attack at the very sum and substance of nature God created the world the basic fund mental unit in that world is family it ought not to surprise us that Satan and his Earthly minions are about trying to destroy that institution but with reference to Parenthood it's not easy I'm not saying cut them slack and let them sin but understand that perhaps you're not an expert yet when you don't have a brood that you have to watch over so the Apostle says furthermore we have had human fathers who corrected us and we paid them respect shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the father of spirits and live Hughes explains to be subject to the father who is the source of all life is indeed to live to turn away from him is to turn away from life so our human fathers corrected us and we respected them for it notice our human fathers chastened us for a few days from childhood to maturity I guarantee you when you're 20 25 you're living at home you're raising your own kids your parents aren't going to come over okay it's time for some parental discipline there is a a cap there is an endgame so if you're despairing don't despair just live a few more years and Soldier on but they do this for a few days God chastens us now and for eternity and then notice the Apostle understands that the analogy does break down see whenever we look at God the infinite and then we make analogy in terms of the finite there's always a breakdown because the finite is not infinite the infinite is not finite so analogies are good but at some point they typically break down so notice in verse 10 for they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them what does that mean they did it imperfectly and they did it inconsistently as seem best to them I guarantee if you ask parents who actually take the Bible seriously and try to correct and instruct and discipline their children they will confess I don't do it perfectly they will confess I don't do it consistently they will confess there's a lot of shortcomings in my parental Reign Over my children but in the final analysis I did do the best that I could I should have and could have and would have done better with the information I now have imposed back all that notwithstanding they did it as seemed best to them so having shown that the analogy breaks down he then moves into the purpose finally of divine discipline in verses 10 B and 11 so they indeed verse 10 for a few days chastened us as seen best to them but he for our Prophet that we may be partakers of his Holiness now no cha uh chastening seems to be joyful for the present but painful nevertheless afterward it yields the Peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it so of course the purpose of discipline is that we profit and that profit there isn't money it isn't Cars it isn't wealth it is rather Holiness to participate in his Holiness notice we recognize that Divine discipline is painful the argument has never been it's going to be joyful as you're getting discipline no again the human analogy you don't tell your child that oh this is going to be great you're going to love it no you know that that's not going to be great they're not going to love it at least initially but there's a purpose in view it's for your profit it's got a remedial end it's got a purpose behind it so therefore and so the Apostle tells us that and then we understand that Divine discipline ultimately produces good fruit we're back to John 15 to he prunes the branches so that we bear more fruit that pruning of the branches can take on a whole host of Contours and dimensions it can be a small obstacle a big obstacle but we're to run with endurance the race that is set before us understanding the purpose of the father behind us so finally conclusion application the incentives to run the race cloud of witnesses looking unto Jesus the discipline of the father in terms of our Conformity unto the Lord Jesus Christ I would say that the chastening of God that is necessary in running the race notice the words necessary correction is necessary in light of our remaining corruption if you doubt remaining corruption you don't understand remaining corruption if you're not loving God right now with all your heart soul mind and strength and you're not loving neighbor as yourself you've got remaining corruption Paul deals with remaining corruption in Romans 7 uh: 13-25 he deals with it in Galatians 5 verse1 17 the spirit lusts against the flesh the flesh against the spirit these are contrary to one another so that you do not do the things that you want there is a proness to wander and a proness to leave the god that we love that's a reality the HW writer didn't make that up he is reflecting upon biblical Revelation so correction is necessary in light of our our remaining corruption Bridges asks a valuable question he says comparing our Affliction with our sin is not the Marvel that it's so light that's a perceptive observation comparing our Affliction with our sin the surprising thing isn't that there's discipline the surprising thing is that it's not more overwhelming and again I don't think that bridg is pulling this out of the hat in the book of Ezra in chapter 9 specifically at verse 13 and after all that has come upon us for all for our evil deeds and our great guilt since you our God have punished us less than our iniquities deserve Psalm 103:10 he has not dealt with us according to our sins nor punished us according to our iniquities Lamentations 339 why should a living man complain a man for the punishment of his sins the nas be renders it why should any living mortal or any man offer complaint in view of his sins so if we truly understand the nature of our sin we might be inclined to ask with Bridges comparing our Affliction to our sin the big issue is why isn't the Affliction far greater than it is I would suggest secondly that correction confirms that we are indeed the children of God look at the argument but if you are without chastening of which all it become partakers then you are illegitimate not Sons third correction is a necessary part of being the children of God therefore we must not despise it and we must not be discouraged by it now these are tough mustn Nots I get that I'm not saying this is easy Brethren preaching to myself correction is painful now but it yields good fruit and Corrections pain now is significantly less than glor's Joy later turn to Second Corinthians you see that emphasized in chapter 4 at verses 16 to 18 2 Corinthians 4:1 16 therefore we do not lose heart even though our outward man is perishing yet the inward man is being renewed day by day for our light Affliction which is but for a moment and and is work is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory while we do not look at the things which are seen But at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporary but the things which are not seen are Eternal and then one final thought turn to the Book of Revelation chapter 3 just to confirm what we see in this passage with a pretty unlikely group while you're turning there think about which was the worst Church in the seven churches in Asia Minor in Revelation 2 and 3 it was leody deia I'll go ahead and give you the answer leody deia had been threatened to be vomited out of the mouth of Christ you're neither hot you're not not cold you you've got big problems you're lukewarm you you think that everything's great you think that you're on the right path you think that you are just doing everything you're not you're lukewarm it it's gross to have you in the mouth Jesus I think is using that analogy from the old Covenant what happened when Israel went into the land and they were Unfaithful the land would vomit out its inhabitants so in the New Covenant our lord Jesus says because you're lukewarm I'm going to going to vomit you out of my mouth but then notice specifically at chapter 3 and verse 19 as many as I love I rebuke and chasen therefore be zealous and repent Brethren be careful against the assumption that the discipline or the hardships or the afflictions or the trials or the Sorrows of life come from a god who's angry with you and trying to destroy you as well be careful against the assumption that the presence of discipline means the absence of the of the father it's just the opposite the presence of those things argues demonstrates validates and confirms that God is with you God is in the business of conforming you under the image of his beloved Son and if the son learned obedience through suffering then certainly the adopted sons are going to learn obedience through suffering well let us pray Our Father in heaven we thank you for your word we thank you for these emphases here in 12: 1 to 11 I pray for our Lord local church that all of us would run with endurance the race that is set before us that that endurance that perseverance that steadfastness would be present that we would rightly uh survey your hand in our lives that we would not immediately conclude in the midst of trial that you've abandoned us but may it always resonate that you are there you are in the midst of these things that you are sovereign in all of Providence the good things that that we experience and the bad and the difficult things that we experience as well encourage us strengthen us build us up in our Most Holy Faith and we pray through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen we'll close with a brief time of meditation for