The Practice of Discipline (Hebrews 12:312-17, Jeff Kliewer)

You think about maybe the Hubble telescope that looks out and sees these stars that are unnumbered and our

Lord knows every single one of them and he put them in place and the heavens praise the wonders of God because they know their creator.

Your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones and so people turn to God and give him praise and then in verse six it says for who in the skies can be compared to our

Lord. We're here this morning anticipating meeting God in an incredible way as we worship, as we pray, as we hear his word and there is absolutely nothing else today or in the rest of your life that compares to coming in front of the throne and experiencing

God. So as we're here together and as we're ready as Michael and the worship team will be leading us, we have communion, we have pastor

Jeff teaching us, let's bring our hearts down out of the world and let's get in front of the throne.

I'd like you to bow your head briefly in a moment of prayer and preparation. Lord even the heavens praise you and all those who are faithful in the assembly call out to the holy one.

You are the one. Who else in the skies can compare to the Lord?

We come to you with open hearts. We come to you with anticipation to draw close to you, in love with you, in a relationship with you.

We pray these things in Jesus name. It's an exciting time of the year but it's getting gorgeous out.

Everybody have a good week out there. You get to see the beauty of God's creation.

I want you to come back tonight at six o 'clock. We gather for prayer and it's really fun to see as the people sitting around the table are able to open their hearts and the things that are being brought in front of the throne.

Come back with us at six o 'clock and then on Saturday at nine o 'clock. Please be part of the prayer walk, the love life prayer walk.

Even today there are unborn in the womb that may not make it through the week.

We can be in prayer. We can come in front of the Lord in prayer and we can walk in front of this area according to the law but there are going to be those who will see.

We pray that even if it's just one child that is spared. So join with us on that.

Be part of our midweek studies. So many opportunities to draw closer in discipleship, nurture and admonition.

Men's studies, women's studies. There's a new one that I just heard about that's going to be starting up on Saturday.

It will be every other Saturday seven o 'clock here at the church. Young adult bible study.

I asked Kyle what's a young adult bible study? And he said if you're not sure if you're young then you are so come.

But it's going to be Kyle and Jacob Hoke are going to be leading it. If you have any questions about it you can ask them, contact them but come here seven o 'clock every other

Saturday starting this Saturday. We have a baptism now. It looks like it's going to be in approximately three weeks.

If you're interested in being part of the baptism, being baptized, contact myself,

Pastor Jeff, one of the elders. We would love to get you lined up for baptism. It will be at the end of second service on a

Sunday. And then the men's retreat coming up in November and men's prayer breakfast.

Guys join us tomorrow morning. It's the first Monday of the month. Six o 'clock.

I know you can't wait to get up at 5 30 to be here at six o 'clock. But it's a great time of fellowship.

Let's turn to prayer. Our Lord Father we come to you. Oh what a privilege it is to come to you.

And right now there are some concerns. There are issues we bring in front of you because you are the sovereign

God. You know and take care of your children. We bring Bob Zellum who is still recovering from his lung issues.

He's in rehab. We pray Lord that you would touch his body. We pray for Loretta who is in the hospital suffering severely with with the cancer.

We pray Father that you would touch her heart, heal her completely and be with the family that your close comfort would be there.

And so Lord we do continue to lift those who are going through the process, who have lost loved ones.

Be with them very close we pray. Father we praise you because the dialogue that Pastor Jeff is having and has had about the woke free move that's going on in churches is is here having voices that are hearing and responding.

We pray Lord that you would protect your church. That your lampstand would shine bright to the true message of the gospel.

We lift our youth to you and those who are now considering colleges and having to fill out applications.

We pray that you send them right where you would want them. And so as Lord we gather together now.

We lift our hearts to you and we pray in Jesus name. Amen. I'm going to sing a few songs together.

The world before was not your home.

A love like this, a love that sacrifice.

You are safe. You are our shield. You rose to life.

You defy any foe. A love like this, the world has never known.

On the altar of our praise, let there be no higher name.

Jesus Son of God. You lay down your perfect life.

You are the sacrifice. Jesus Son of God.

You are Jesus Son of God. Be lifted higher than all you've overcome.

Your name is louder than any other song.

The cross was enough.

The cross was enough. The cross was enough.

The altar of our praise.

Let there be no sacrifice.

Come together because of God's mercy.

Because of his grace. His redemption in our lives. Have communion in a little bit.

That's our reminder that Jesus died once for all. For our sin.

Because we are sinners every day. And not only once a month, but every day we have to remember that we are saved because of him and him alone.

Let's sing together. Sin of sorrows,

Lamb of God, by faith betrayed.

The sin of man and wrath of God has been on Jesus' name.

Silent as he stood accused, beaten, mocked, and scorned.

Into the Father's will he took a cry.

On that rugged cross, my salvation.

Where your love poured out, oh my soul cries out.

Hallelujah, praise and honor.

Silent of heaven, God's own

Son, to purchase and redeem.

And right beside the very ones who failed to do the truth.

On that rugged cross, my salvation.

Where your love poured out over me.

Now my soul cries out, hallelujah, praise and honor, love to thee.

Now my debt is paid, it is paid in full.

By the precious blood that my Jesus spilled.

Now the curse of sin has no hold on me.

In the sunset gleam of his radiant day.

On that rugged cross, my salvation. Where your love poured out over me.

Now my soul cries out, hallelujah, praise and honor, love to thee.

On that rugged cross, my salvation. Where your love poured out over me.

Now my soul cries out, hallelujah, praise and honor, love to thee.

In the time leading up to what we know as Good Friday, that Jesus was aware of the practice of crucifixion.

This was not the first time that it would occur. And he would see those who had been convicted, suffering on a cross, a cruel, brutal death, knowing that he would go there and it would be even more cruel and it would be even more brutal.

Not just because of the physical pain he was about to endure, but because he knew at the very end of it, as he hung on the cross, all of the sins of mankind would be laid upon him and the

Father in his holy nature would have to turn his back and the Son would say, my

God, my God, why have you forsaken me? But we know at the very end of it, he said to Telistai, it's finished.

My sins are paid for, incomplete, total. And then he would proclaim,

Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit and that fellowship, once that sin had been paid for, again, restored anew.

Paul writes in the 11th chapter, as Jesus is in the upper room with his followers, for I have received of the

Lord that which I delivered unto you, that the Lord, the same night in which he was betrayed, and he institutes what we know as communion, the

Lord's table. It's a remembrance for us. It's a celebration and it is a offering back to God, remembering his bloodshed, his body broken on behalf of us, and that's what we're celebrating today.

It does say in that chapter that if you eat this bread and drink this cup unworthily, the

Lord shall, he shall be guilty. Therefore, examine yourself. Let's bow our heads.

Let's determine that our sins, although they are many, we have offered them in forgiveness and request of his cleansing, we pray.

Lord, you are the omniscient God, you are all sovereign, and you knew from before time my frailties, the flesh that battles, and that Satan tricks me in temptation, and that I submit and I fall,

I sin, I confess that to you, Lord. I can only stand in awe and wonder that your son, knowing the sins that I would always be committing, still went to the cross on my behalf, and as he was with his followers in that upper room, gave them this remembrance that could be taken so that we remain sure of the power of the body, the blood broken and shed for us, we pray.

And when he had given thanks, he broke the bread and said, take this is my body which is broken for you, this do in remembrance of me.

And so we have our little wafers, these symbolize, these represent the body of Christ.

Take them in full remembrance of the agony that he went through for you and for me, for our sins.

Take, eat. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had stopped saying, this is the cup of the

New Testament in my blood, this do ye as oft as ye drink in remembrance of me.

Take, drink, celebrate the cleansing blood of Christ. Our Lord God, we do celebrate you.

We stand in awe and we can only say thank you. We accept your sacrifice on our behalf, pray in Jesus name.

Amen. I'm going to sing one final song before Jeff comes to prepare our hearts for his word.

To receive the fruit of your truth planted deep in us, shape and fashion us in your likeness that the might of Christ might be seen today and our acts of love and our deeds of good speak to the world.

Lord, in fulfilling us, all your purposes, for your good, we just love, for your true humility.

Taste our thoughts and our attitudes, be the radiance of your beauty.

Cause our faith to rise, cause the eyes to see your majestic love and authority.

Let the truth prevail, over all the world.

You must flatter the sheep, the dog of tyranny.

My grace will stand on promises, and my faith will walk as one.

So Father God, we come to you this morning asking that you would speak to us. That you would correct us and help us to walk by faith.

We pray Lord that you would build your church through your word. We pray

Lord that we would have ears to hear. And Lord change us by the preaching of your word.

Let it come forth to us with power for your namesake. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen. What are the marks of a true church?

Now when I went out to lunch a couple days ago with a guy named Hamilton. He's part of our church here and he's from Malawi.

He and I were walking in Pensaken to go grab some rice and chicken and we noticed on one side of the street here a

Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall. Now they claim the name Jehovah, but it's not a true church.

And then we looked and there was the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

The Mormons. Claiming the name of Jesus, but not a true church.

So what are the marks of a true church? How do you know that of these thousands of groups that meet in the name of Jesus, how do you know a true church from a false one?

Well, we're going to know that from the word of God. And I'm going to give you three marks of a true church.

But before we do that, I want to introduce to you somebody named Guido. Guido Debris.

Not Drew Debris. Guido Debris. Anybody ever heard of him? He was one of the

Protestant Reformers in the 1500s. And at age 14, living up in Belgium, he heard about Tyndale.

William Tyndale had translated the Bible into English so that people in England could have the

Bible in their own language. And at age 14, he heard about how Tyndale had been put to death for the faith.

And this lit a fire in young Guido. And he began to pray and seek the

Lord and came to saving faith and devoted his life to the cause of the gospel.

At age 14, then he began to share the gospel with friends. And before long, he grew and moved to England to study under Martin Butcher to learn the doctrines of Christianity.

He would spend time with Calvin in Geneva and learned the Greek and the

Hebrew and became a prominent pastor back in Belgium. At age 30, he returned to Belgium as an evangelist and began to preach.

He started a church that they called the Church of the Palm. And later another church they called the

Church of the Eagle. And in each of these cases, it was Bible preaching, good doctrine, and it was illegal.

Because the Roman church was persecuting those who stood against the papacy.

Finally, they took Guido de Bries and threw him in jail. And he was allowed visitors and many would come to encourage him in the faith.

But sometimes the visitors came not to encourage him, but to mock him.

One Romanist princess came and said, Mr. de Bries, I don't see how you can eat, drink, or sleep this way.

He was in heavy chains in a prison. How can you even eat or sleep like this? She mocked.

She went on to say, I think I would die of fear if I were in your place. But Guido de

Bries responded, My lady, the good cause for which I suffer and the good conscience

God has given me make my bread sweeter and my sleep sounder than those of my persecutors.

And then still responding to the princess, he said, it is guilt that makes a heavy chain.

Innocence makes my chains light. I glory in them as my badge of honor.

He was willing to suffer. He understood the providence of God. And he was delighting in God, even in a prison cell, being mocked by a princess.

He continued believing and at a time wrote in 1561 what is called the

Belgium Confession of Faith. This was a document that, first of all, united Christians around common doctrine.

But it was also meant to be sent to Rome and to the leaders of the empire to get them to stop persecuting

Christians. And in it, in the 29th article of the Belgium Confession, Guido de

Bries tells us the answer to our opening question. It's been a cliffhanger, hasn't it? What are the marks of a true church?

How do you know a true church from a false one? What are the marks of a church?

We believe that we ought to discern diligently and very carefully by the word of God what is the true church.

Writes Martin, I'm sorry, Guido de Bries. For all sects in the world today claim for themselves the name of the church.

The true church can be recognized if it has the following marks.

One, the church engages in the pure preaching of the gospel. Two, it makes use of the pure administration of the sacraments as Christ instituted them.

Namely, baptism and communion. You must have this in order to be a church and not just a gathering.

And finally, number three. You guys know what it is?

Anybody know? Number three, what Al Mohler has called the missing mark of a true church.

He says it practices church discipline for correcting faults.

The early reformation saw the preaching of God's word, the heralding of the gospel from the scriptures, administration of communion and baptism, and church discipline as the marks of a true church.

But today, very few Christians would have guessed that that third element would be considered a mark of the true church.

Church discipline indeed is a mark of Christianity, of a genuine church.

So, we come to this today from Hebrews chapter 12. Turn with me there. Last week we learned about discipline.

Discipline from a father to a child. And in view here is the discipline of God as father.

Father God disciplines us because we are legitimate children. If he didn't discipline us, then we would be illegitimate children and not sons.

But he disciplines us because he loves us, and that is quite different from condemnation.

Because we are under the blood of Christ, there is no condemnation for us.

There's no punishment. He paid the price of our sin in full, so there is no punishment, and yet there remains discipline.

Discipline is different from condemnation. It is for our good, for our correction, to train us in righteousness.

That's where we left off last week. Let's pick up Hebrews 12, verses 12 to 17.

Therefore, lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.

Strive for peace with everyone and for the holiness without which no one will see the

Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God, that no root of bitterness spring up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled, that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.

For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

This passage of Scripture from verses 12 to 17 begins with the word, therefore.

And so to understand what we're being exhorted to do, we must ground these thoughts in what preceded.

Chapter 12 verses 3 to 11 are the ground upon which this exhortation is built.

In verses 3 to 11, we have the principle of discipline. We learn about what discipline is, that it is good, it is the correction of a loving father to change things about us to make us holy.

That's what discipline is. But now we move on in the text to the practice of discipline.

So we move from principle to practice. It is not the case that just because God is at work in us, disciplining us, that there's nothing left for us to do.

Rather, therefore indicates what we are to do, what we are to practice relative to discipline.

Discipline is a key and important part of the Christian life. If becoming

Christ -like was only a peripheral concern, if it was only something that's optional, then discipline would be no big deal.

But if the very goal of the Christian life is to be made like Christ, then this becomes a key to the

Christian life. God disciplining us, and us responding to God in the following ways.

So let's look at them. First, each of us must practice self -discipline in our thoughts.

Therefore, lift your drooping hands, and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.

The exhortation to lift your drooping hands, and to strengthen your weak knees, is not about physical strength at this particular point.

Rather, it's analogous to overcoming fear. Your knees become weak when you're anxious.

When the opposing army is coming with chariots, and horses, and swords, and you're standing to defend the city, and as they approach, your knees become weak, and they begin to knock together, and your hands feel limp.

You are being overcome by anxiety. The battle here is a battle for your mind.

Self -discipline begins in your mind. Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Self -discipline begins in your mind. Overcoming anxiety and fear is a key to the

Christian life. Fear is a liar, and it robs Christians of the growth in Christ that is ours, and that is our inheritance.

Consider this. According to Hebrews 2 .15, we've already been told that Christ, having died, conquered the fear of death.

For if one has died on our part, and broke through the veil of death, conquering death itself, rising from the dead, and promises to bring us with him, why are we afraid of death?

We need not be. According to Hebrews 2 .15, we were held for all of our lives in the bondage of fear of death.

But Christ set us free from the fear of death. And if we have no fear of dying, what left is there to fear?

If even death doesn't faze us, then our hands become strong, our knees become firm, and we are ready to go to battle for the king.

But as long as we cower in fear, our minds controlling us, anxiety overwhelming us, we're stuck.

We're enslaved. The world offers a solution to this, but it's a false one that never sets anybody free.

In fact, it makes people think they're okay when really they're not. They call it mindfulness.

Anybody seen all these things about mindfulness these days? Go to Barnes and Noble, and you will see shelves of books about mindfulness.

Their prescription is to live in the present, not worry about what's happened in the past, not be afraid of the future, just live in the present, and so center your thinking on the present moment that you have no fear of suffering.

The roots of this teaching are Buddhist. This comes from Zen Buddhism. To really die to any fear of suffering and to embrace it and to live in it.

But here's the problem with mindfulness. The mindful one who knows not the

Savior Jesus Christ will die in his sins and be mindful for all eternity of the flame that is consuming him.

Mindfulness changes nothing. It is denial of the reality of this world.

But Christ conquers death itself. Christ changes the eternal destiny of sinners like us and rescues us from hell and brings us to heaven.

There is real deliverance there. And the Christian, listen, we of all people need to understand this.

There is a real deliverance from fear because we can not only stand in the present moment, we can look to the future, see death, and have no fear because we know the one who conquers death itself.

What fear is there for the one who knows the Savior, the risen king?

If he conquers death, why are we afraid of it? We can look beyond death and dying to the eternity of the new heaven and the new earth where the streets are made of gold and the lamb is the light, where there is no pain, there is no suffering, every tear is wiped away.

There is only perfect delight and joy in the presence of God himself. You see, when you set your mind on things above, you have no fear of the things of earth.

That's the teaching that we saw for the last two weeks in Hebrews 12. Looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of God.

Picture him on the cross, picture him risen, picture him seated at the right hand of the Father.

Consider him. Think of him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself.

In this struggle, we look to Christ, and as we see him, we are made strong.

That is real hope for the fearful. Look at him. Just look at Christ. That's where anxieties die, and hope overwhelms the drooping hand and the weak knee.

So first of all, this happens in the mind. We must discipline our thinking.

Don't let your mind just wander. Go where the

Scripture tells it to go. Control your thoughts through the Scripture. Fix your mind on Christ.

Next, strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the

Lord. We must be self -disciplined in our behavior.

There is a prominent strand of theology that teaches that people can live any way they want without being transformed into the image of Christ.

And it comes from, I think, a right understanding of justification by faith that the only thing that's necessary to be forgiven and to go to heaven is faith in Christ.

Justification is by faith. But it misses the point that if this faith is genuine, it will be worked out in real -life actions, in behavior.

So think about this. You're saved by faith alone, but genuine faith will not remain alone.

Amen? If you've genuinely been born again, you have faith in Christ, that faith will be worked out in fruit.

You will be righteous. Now, does it mean you will not fall? No, but looking to Christ each time you stumble, you'll genuinely seek

Him. Our friend that we talked about today, Guido de

Briz, also wrote the following words in the 29th article, where he doesn't just describe the true marks of the

Church, he describes a true Christian. Does this describe you? As for those who can belong to the

Church, we can recognize them by the distinguishing marks of Christians, namely by faith and by their fleeing from sin and pursuing righteousness once they have received the one and only

Savior, Jesus Christ. They love the true God and their neighbors without turning to the right or left, and they crucify the flesh and its works.

Though great weakness remains in them, they fight against it by the

Spirit all the days of their lives, appealing constantly to the blood of the

Lord Jesus, in whom they have forgiveness of their sins through faith in Him.

Our text says, without holiness, no one will see the Lord. The genuine

Christian is one who is being made holy, being sanctified by looking at Christ, by considering His blood and striving for Him, disciplining the mind and the body to behave in a way that reflects genuine salvation.

If someone claims to be born again, they say they have faith, but then there's no pursuit of Christ, there's no studying of the

Scripture and pursuing and confessing. That faith is actually a charade.

It's dead faith, according to the book of James. Genuine faith will work.

And again, we're weak, we're fallen, we're in the flesh. So we'll all stumble and fall short, but each time we do, we're clinging to Christ.

We're still calling on Him. We're still repenting, confessing sin. So we've seen so far, in these verses so far, that we must be self -disciplined.

We can't just live like the world and think that all is well.

We must discipline our minds and think the thoughts of God after Him from the

Word of God. We must live in a transformed way. But as we move into the last few verses of this text,

I want you to notice a change. Because in verses 12, 13, and 14, who is being addressed?

You, and you and you. It is your drooping hands, your weak knees.

Make straight paths for your feet. It's a very personal direction to each self, each person in the church.

So whoever's reading this book, he's talking to you, right? But notice something in verse 15.

It says here, see to it that no one fails. And in the

Greek, that word is plural. See to it is addressed not just to you, but addressed to us, to the church.

So here we now have a teaching on church discipline. And to strengthen that argument, the actual

Greek word is episkopontes. It's in the plural, but that word is the same as where we get episkopos, bishop.

A bishop is an overseer. So here where it says see to it, it's saying oversee the flock to make sure of something, right?

You get the transition here? Here we have church discipline. All of us are addressed as a whole, a plural.

To see to something, and we're gonna see that there's three things that we need to be concerned about, okay? It's gonna be that there might be false converts among us, bitter roots forming, and finally, sexual immorality.

We're to guard against those three things that we'll see in here. But whenever I say church discipline, people get nervous, right?

When you hear about church discipline, what's the first thing that comes to mind? A big congregational meeting where all the members come together, and the unrepentant sinner, according to 1

Corinthians 5 .5, is handed over to Satan. Meaning put out of the church, excommunicated.

It's very scary to think about church discipline if that's what you have in mind. But notice that's not the starting point that we have here.

Indeed, that's what 1 Corinthians 5 teaches. But notice in Matthew chapter 18, verses 15 to 20, we're taught if your brother sins, go to him personally.

Just between the two of you, and talk about the fault. And if that doesn't work, you bring one or two other with you, witnesses to talk this thing through.

And then to the elders, and finally, if there is a person who is persisting in unrepentant sin, it can rise to the level where the church would put someone out of the church.

By God's grace, we've never gotten to that level at this church. But see, church discipline is not just that scary final step that could happen.

It begins when you or I see fault in a brother that will harm them, and you privately, just between the two of you, talk about it.

You know, I saw you're moving in with your boyfriend. I need to talk to you about that.

And you just pull the person aside, and you begin to exhort them from the scripture to encourage them to walk worthy of the calling that we have in Christ.

Church discipline is not just the final scary step. It is the love of a family.

If you love your brother, you'll slap him. Because the

Bible says in Proverbs, a slap from a friend is better than a kiss from an enemy. How much would you have to hate your brother to ignore something that you know will lead to their destruction?

So now let's look. What is the number one concern in the church? As we love one another, what is the first thing?

Look at verse 15. This is the first. Most important, this is the eternal.

See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God.

See that? This is the danger of false converts. If our goal at Cornerstone were to fill every seat and get the offering as high as it could be, we would do things differently than we do.

It's not our goal. Our goal is to be like Christ and to obey his word.

You see, there are in churches all across America and probably some that can gather with us here who are not genuinely born again.

Even if they think they are. False converts are a great danger to themselves.

Raised in a church, your parents brought you and you seem to do everything that everybody else does.

So ostensibly to one another, we have no idea who's genuinely saved.

And it's particularly dangerous if you were raised well. Your parents taught you the difference between right and wrong.

And so you act morally. You behave well. And so nobody would suspect that in your heart you don't yet believe in Jesus Christ.

We are to see to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God. This means that we must be all about the gospel all the time.

Teaching one another, exhorting one another with sound words to trust in Christ.

Having deep conversations. Some of you who have become members of Cornerstone know what the process is like.

It's not all that complicated, but it is serious at one particular point. It's when elders sit down and ask diagnostic questions to make sure that you're trusting in Christ, in him alone, and not in yourself.

We baptize new believers here. And the serious moment comes when we sit down and we make sure that you're trusting in Christ and not in yourself.

Asking these diagnostic questions and pressing for your testimony. Not because we want to meddle in other people's business, but because we love you enough that we want to be sure you're genuinely born again, that you get the gospel, you believe the gospel, that you're truly saved.

Because what would it profit if you gain the whole world but lose yourself? It is not only the job of the episkopos, the elders, the bishops of this church, to oversee this.

This is addressed to you. You can be an evangelist right here on Sunday morning by having good conversations with one another.

And it could be that you'll lead someone to Christ right here after church. Ask one another about their walk.

How's your walk with the Lord? If they have no desire for this book, and I never read the

Bible, that's a bad sign. We must be concerned about these things.

We cannot just assume that everyone who comes through the doors has been born again. And this is the most important thing.

It is the eternal thing. Let's look at the second of three. That no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble.

And by it, many become defiled. Those of us who have been in church life, for all of our lives, some of us, we've seen it too often.

A root of bitterness that's under the surface, but it springs up and causes trouble.

It's the work of Satan in the church. Satan would like nothing better than to tear down what

God builds. Of course, we know that Christ is the one building his church, and the gates of hell will not stand against it.

Well, how do we overcome the devil in his divisive work in churches? He wants to sow gossip.

He wants to sow dissent and discontent in the body of Christ to divide

Christians one against another. This is a grave danger in the churches. I've been sad to watch some of my heroes, if I could use that word, guys like John Piper, David Platt, introduce elements of social justice into their churches, and now

Bethlehem Baptist Church is completely in ruins in Minneapolis. Same is true of McLean Bible Church in Virginia.

Each of these guys allowed the root of bitterness, a divisive doctrine, which categorizes people according to their skin color, and therefore divides the body up like a pizza.

People separate from one another, and the inevitable result of such teaching is division.

It can be under the surface as well. There are many things that can cause division. In Romans 16, verse 15, it says, to mark and avoid those who cause division.

Well, what is that like? I would liken it to a bamboo tree.

Anybody have bamboo in your yard? You know about bamboo if you've ever worked with it. The thing about bamboo is its roots go underground and travel and have great strength to break up through the ground.

I once was over at somebody's house and a friend was cutting down bamboo. He told me, this is harder than it looks because you can't just chop it off at the bottom and think that you're done.

Bamboo roots can shoot underground, and they're so strong, they can crack concrete to find a way up.

Very strong. That is a great image of what this passage is talking about.

A root of bitterness. Where does bitterness come from? Well, James 4 tells us that, doesn't it?

You fight and you quarrel because you don't get what you want. You covet, and so you grasp.

It is possible for Christians to become covetous, jealous, which is, by the way, what social justice is all about.

But in any area, desiring and not being given causes bitterness, and therefore it causes quarrels and fights among you.

Brothers and sisters, we need to unearth that. If you carry bitterness in your heart, and I praise

God, for years I have not seen that in this body. I don't know of any roots of bitterness right now.

But if you carry that, unearth it, and if you know of it, fight it. Because this is what tears up the concrete in the driveway, and this is what can tear up churches from the inside out.

We must preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace, not by ignoring differences, but by getting to the root of them and understanding what's causing that bitterness, to unearth it, to keep us unified.

Praise God, the growth and the people being saved. We baptized 10 young men months ago, and we have more baptisms coming.

I think a lot of that is because of the unity we're experiencing in the faith.

Satan hates it. So how do we preserve the unity? This way, we uproot bitterness.

First of all, in our own hearts, but when you hear chatter, don't participate in gossip. And again, I don't know of any.

I'm teaching from the Word. When you see those things, uproot it. Cut it off before it grows, before it spreads underground.

Lastly, a danger to all of us, a reason why church discipline is important, see to it that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.

Well, are we talking about sexual sin or overeating? We're talking about sexual sin, but the common denominator here is appetite.

It's lust. His appetite was so strong after working in the field, he was willing to forsake every future benefit of his inheritance for one solitary meal.

It is the most extreme example in Scripture of an undisciplined life.

Discipline is to delay gratification. It's to trust

God for His timing. It's to rest in His sovereign plan and often to deny the flesh.

That self -denial is discipline. Esau had none of it, and so it says in verse 17, for you know that afterward, this is the sad part of the story, when he desired to inherit the blessing, what did he want?

The benefits. He wanted the good thing. He wasn't repentant. He came to Isaac after Jacob had gotten the blessing, and Esau said, but Father, isn't there something left for me?

Bless me too. I mean, why not just bless me also? Isaac said, no, son, and instead what he speaks over him is essentially a curse that the

Edomites would become the people that they were and ultimately destroyed. Why was there nothing left?

He sought repentance, but he could not find it. That doesn't mean that his heart was repentant and he wished that he wasn't such a sinner and he was looking to God to be forgiven.

It means he wished he had the blessing that he wanted, but it was too late.

He was rejected for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears. There was no repentance because it was too late.

Scary, isn't it? He reached a certain part of, a point of hardness of heart that he no longer related to Yahweh.

And so it is for all eternity that the world will be divided between the

Jacobs and the Esau's, the sheep, the goats, the wheat, the tares. If you belong to him, walk in that holiness.

Do not allow a root of sexual sin to spring up.

Often people begin to dabble with sexual sin, perhaps pornography or some image that then becomes more and more and takes over a life.

And there does come a point where a person is given over. According to Romans 1, sometimes that's various forms of perversion.

And a person no longer can come back. According to Hebrews 6, there can be a point in time where they're given over.

And we know that that point in time for all people is death. If they don't find repentance and faith in Christ before they die, they're given over for all eternity.

This is the sad story of Esau. But there's hope in the gospel.

There's a free gift offered to all, including those who are to this day entangled in sexual sin.

There is the offer of forgiveness of sin and eternal life in Christ and deliverance for the sinner.

So in closing, we've studied a hard passage. It's about church discipline.

It's not this scary final step of being excommunicated, although that is the final point of Matthew 18 and 1

Corinthians 5. But church discipline is about all of these areas of love.

It follows the same principle that we saw in Hebrews 12, 3 to 11. It's the principle of love.

The father disciplines the son. And now we're to practice a similar thing, to love one another enough to inquire about their spiritual life.

Maybe you lead them to Christ and they obtain grace through your teaching. It is to root out the bitterness that can spring up and divide a church.

And it is to uproot sexual immorality, which time and again has ruined individual

Christians and churches. I mean, I grew up in a United Methodist church in Palm Harbor, Florida, and the pastor was like a hero to me.

It was amazing. When I went down to Eckerd College, I invited him to come speak to the