Embracing God's Discipline (Heb 12:4-5) Part 1 | Worship Service

And good morning, and we welcome you to Kootenai Church today. Would you please stand as we sing

How Firm a Foundation. How firm a foundation, ye saints of the

Lord, Is laid for your faith in His excellent

Word. What more can He say than to you He hath said,

To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed, For I am thy

God, and will still give thee aid. I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,

Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,

My grace all -sufficient shall be thy supply. The flame shall not hurt thee,

I only design Thy trust to consume, and thy gold to refine.

The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, I will not,

I will not desert to His foes. That's all, though I'll fail, should endeavor to shake,

I'll never, no never, no never forsake.

I once was lost in darkest night, yet thought I knew the way.

The sin that promised joy and life had led me to the grave.

I had no hope that you would own a rebel to your will,

And if you had not loved me first, I would refuse you still.

But as I ran, my help outpaced, indifferent to the cost,

You looked upon my helpless state, and led me to the cross.

And I beheld God's love displayed, you suffered in my place.

You bore the wrath reserved for me, now all I know is grace.

He is Christ, Allelu -

Jesus is my life, Allelu -

He is Christ, Allelu - Such is the

Lord, and if so almighty, The strength to follow your commands would never come from me.

O Father, use my ransom life in any way you choose,

And let my song forever be, my only boast is you.

He is Christ, Allelu -

Jesus is my life, Allelu -

Jesus is my life, Allelu -

O I is Christ, Allelu -

Jesus is my life,

Allelu - Peace like a river attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll.

He has taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.

It is well, it is well with my soul.

It is well, it is well with my soul.

Though Satan should profit, though trials should come,

Let this blessed assurance control.

As regardless as state, and hath shed his own blood for my soul,

It is well, it is well with my soul.

It is well, it is well with my soul.

My sin, not in part, but the whole,

Is nailed to the cross, and I know more.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul.

It is well with my soul.

It is well, it is well with my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll,

The trump shall resound, and the gourd shall descend,

Even so, it is well with my soul.

It is well with my soul.

It is well, it is well with my soul.

It is well with my soul.

It is well, it is well with my soul.

You may be seated. Will you please take a moment to turn in your

Bibles to Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12 for a scripture reading.

And while you're doing that, I would just remind you that there are some Bible studies that are starting up.

The men's Bible study a week from tomorrow, and the women's Bible studies are starting up this week. So please take note of that in your bulletin, and if you need to sign up for either of those, then please do so out at the table, outside, or talk to one of the ministry leaders for that.

Hebrews chapter 12, and we're going to read together, beginning at verse 1, catching again the context, and going down through the end of verse 13.

Hebrews chapter 12. Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

For consider him who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin, and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons.

My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by him.

For those whom the Lord loves, he disciplines, and he scourges every son whom he receives.

It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as with sons, for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

And if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them. Shall we not much rather be subject to the

Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time, as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, so that we may share his holiness.

All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful but sorrowful, yet to those who have been trained by it afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.

Let's pray together. Our gracious Father, we are thankful for your good work in our lives that has enabled us and called us to be here and to worship you.

It is a high joy and a high honor not only to be called into fellowship with you as our

Father and we as your sons, but also then to be treated as sons and disciplined as sons, loved as sons, and even to receive the inheritance, sons and daughters, in Jesus Christ.

This is all your work and we thank you for it, and the mercy that we have received by your grace in the work that Christ has done on our behalf to not only make these things a reality in our lives, but then also to call us and join us to him in ways that we cannot understand.

There is an intimacy to our relationship and a level of our relationship that we do not even now comprehend.

But we thank you that by faith we have received these gifts and that you, by your grace, have given us not only the faith to believe, but that you have turned our hearts from evil and sin and wickedness so that we may see

Christ and embrace him and be embraced by him. So thank you for this great mercy.

Thank you for the joy that it is to be part of your family and to gather here together and worship. And we pray that as we do, that you would strengthen our hearts and open our eyes and encourage us together in your

Word and be glorified and honored through the praises of your people, both now and forever, we pray.

In Christ's name and all God's people said, amen. Let's stand together and sing how deep the

Father's love for us. See.

I will be. I sit.

His show. I hear my.

I said that. It's.

I know that it is. I will not boast in anything.

No, no. But I will boast in Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection.

What should I gain from his reward?

I cannot give an answer. But this

I know with all my. Sorry, it's your sin and Psalms nine.

Yahweh also will be a stronghold for the oppressed. A stronghold in times of distress and those who know your name will put their trust in you.

For you, oh, Yahweh, have not forsaken those who seek you. We're going to end our worship service this morning, the singing portion of it with God moves in a mysterious way.

God moves in a mysterious way.

His wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the sea.

And right. The. Oh, my.

He. He. His bride.

And worse. God of mercy,

God of grace. Give us eyes to see.

Eyes to see your smiling face.

With the mystery. With the mystery.

Mystery. Fearful. Fresh.

Take the. So much. With mercy.

Shall break. Blessings on your.

And. Judge. By.

But. Him for. Behind.

Providence. He hides. Face. God.

Mercy. God of grace. Give us eyes.

Eyes. To see your smiling face.

With the mystery. With the mystery.

Mystery. His. Will ride.

Fast. For. Every. The. May have.

Taste. Will be. Blind.

Be. His. And. In.

God. Interpreter. And he.

Will. Get. God.

Mercy. God. Get. To see.

Eyes. To see your smiling face. With.

The mystery. With. The mystery.

God. Mercy. Grace. Give.

Us. Eyes. To see. Eyes. To see.

Your smiling face. With. The mystery.

With. The mystery. And you will need your

Bibles open to Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12.

And now that you've found your place there, let's pray before we begin.

Our Father, we gather now before your word. We come to you with a confident expectation that you will speak to us through the written word of God.

That you have been preparing our hearts this entire week to be here today and to hear this.

You have been preparing the preacher. You have been preparing us as a body for this.

And we pray that you would now accomplish all of your purposes that you have ordained for this. That you would open our eyes and our hearts and make us obedient hearers of the word.

And we pray that you would work your grace within us so that we might embrace your purposes and discipline.

And lovingly respond to all that you are doing in our lives for the glory of Christ in whose name we pray.

Amen. Well, discipline. That is a word that probably conjures up in a lot of your minds a lot of negative images.

Perhaps there is in your mind some negative memories that are associated with the idea of discipline.

You had parents who didn't do it properly or didn't do it lovingly. It is certainly a concept that is abused in our fallen world and a concept that is misunderstood in our fallen world.

And sadly, it is misunderstood even within the church. When we hear the word discipline, we typically think of pain and discomfort.

Right? How many of you think of pain and discomfort when you think about discipline?

Think about something that is sometimes horribly painful. Or you may be thinking of an abuse of authority.

Somebody who used quote -unquote discipline in order to justify their abuse of authority.

Perhaps you think of punishment for wrongdoing. Oftentimes that is what people associate discipline with.

If I do something wrong, then I have to endure the discipline. This is a punishment for something that I did wrong.

Or maybe in your mind you conjure up the ideas of anger and hatred and violent wrath that is unleashed against you whenever the matter of discipline comes up because that is what you have experienced in some sense or at some time during your life.

There certainly is an element in discipline that is admittedly difficult for us to endure. The author is honest about that.

In Hebrews 12, look at verse 11. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful.

Yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. The author admits, discipline is not an easy thing and in the moment, discipline, whatever he is describing here in this passage, in the moment, discipline is not a joyful thing.

It can often be very sorrowful. Not all things that we associate with discipline are painful or necessarily sorrowful.

For instance, sometimes discipline, as we use this term, is not painful at all, really. It's just uncomfortable.

So for instance, not eating every sweet thing that was put before you over the holidays, that takes discipline.

That is not painful. If you think that that is painful, you need a reality check. That is not painful.

Shoving ice picks underneath your fingernails is painful. Passing by the cookie plate a couple of times in the holiday season is not painful.

It might be uncomfortable. It might be difficult. It might take some mental and emotional and spiritual focus, but it's not at all painful.

Or not filling your plate to overflowing every single time you dish up, even for seconds, that is not necessarily painful.

It might be uncomfortable for you. It might be difficult, but it's not painful. Going to the gym and exercising is not painful.

You say, Jim, you don't know what would happen to me if I exercised. No, it's not painful. It might be uncomfortable. It might make you sore, but it's not painful.

It might make you uncomfortable. Turning off the TV so that you can spend more time reading, it's not painful. It's just uncomfortable.

Getting up an extra 30 minutes early on a workday so that you can read Scripture, it's not painful.

It is uncomfortable. These things are not painful, and they just involve saying no to some things so that we can say yes to other things.

Those things make us uncomfortable, but they do not cause us pain, and we need to think clearly in terms of the difference between pain and discomfort.

We need to think clearly, in fact, in terms of saying no to some things so that we can say yes to other things.

In many instances, that is the heart and soul of discipline. Some discipline is educational.

For instance, if you want to acquire a new skill, say the ability to play a musical instrument, or some new bit of knowledge, or some new craft, or some new art, it's going to take some discipline.

It's going to take some practice and some sacrifice and some repetition and muscle memory, and all of that goes into disciplining yourself so that you can pick up a new skill.

The point of that discipline is instruction. It's training in some way. In all of these cases, these things are not joyful in the moment.

Even in the case of enduring discipline for the sake of acquiring a new skill, in the moment, during the practice, it involves sometimes sweat.

It involves sometimes a focus. It involves a sacrifice of time. It's not necessarily enjoyable in the moment, but the reason we discipline ourselves for certain things is so that we may enjoy the fruit of it, right?

You go to the gym and exercise so that you can enjoy the fruit of that exercise. You pass by the cookie plate so that you can enjoy the fruit of passing by the cookie plate, which is sometimes not as delicious as enjoying the cookie plate, but there is a fruit or a thing to be gained at the end of that.

That's why you discipline yourself. Now, my objective, and I'm going to be honest with you here, right at the beginning of this, what we might call a mini -series of sermons on the subject of discipline, my objective is to disabuse you of all of the false and wrong notions of discipline that you might have lodged in your mind.

There are a lot of them, and I'm not going to give them to you right now, but by the time we get to the end of verse 11, and actually into verse 12 and 13, that deal with the body's response to the discipline of God in the lives of God's people, by the time we get through the end of 11, 12, and 13,

I am hoping that you will see the need and have a love for embracing

God's discipline. Did you expect anybody to ever say that in your life? To embrace

God's discipline. Because it is something that we ought to embrace, and it is something that we ought to love, and it is something that should be of great encouragement to us.

Not because we enjoy the discipline itself, as verse 11 says, no discipline in the moment is joyful.

We don't enjoy it in the moment, but those who have been trained by it enjoy the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

So that's why we embrace God's discipline. Not because we're masochists who love pain and discomfort, but because we enjoy and love and long for and delight in the fruit that God brings into our lives through that discipline.

So I'm going to challenge your understanding of discipline over the next few weeks. I want to dispel any unbiblical and worldly notions of discipline that have crept into your thinking.

Remove some of the misunderstandings of it and bring some clarity to what it is and what it isn't and the ways in which

God disciplines us so that we can see the hand of God in our lives as He brings discipline into our lives and then we can gladly embrace that and be encouraged by it.

We're encouraged by it because then we know this is evidence that I am a son and this is evidence that He loves me and if He has brought this into my life then

He will do something profitable and fruitful and glorious through it and so therefore I can embrace it and I can be thankful for it.

So here's our outline. We're in chapter 12, verse 4. Here's our outline for those of you who like sermon outlines.

I know there are some of you who do. You know who you are. More importantly, I know who you are and so I'm going to give you a sermon outline here for chapter 12, verse 4 all the way through the end of verse 11.

There are four things in these verses that you and I must understand about God's discipline. First, in verses 4 and 5 we have to understand

God's discipline. Verse 4, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons.

My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord nor faint when you are reproved by Him. Second, we have to understand the proof of discipline or know the proof of discipline that it proves that we are

His children and that He is our Father. Verse 6, for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines and it is for discipline that you endure.

God deals with you as with sons for what son is there whom His Father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline of which all have become partakers then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

That's the second thing. Third, we have to understand the purpose of discipline in verse 9. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us and we respected them.

Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them but He disciplines us for our good so that we may share

His holiness. That's the purpose of it. And fourth, the product of discipline in verse 11.

All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful but sorrowful yet to those who have been trained by it afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

The proper perspective on discipline, the proof of discipline, the purpose of discipline and then the product of discipline, what discipline produces.

And that's what many ES speakers do not have and that is that I don't have any obligation at all to fit all of that into one sermon.

And I don't feel any obligation at all to fit all of that into one sermon. And I'll be honest with you,

I'm not even going to try to fit all of that into one sermon and my lack of trying is going to become evident to you very quickly into this sermon.

I don't know how many weeks it is going to take to get through all of this passage but we will get through all of it and I will be referring back to that outline from time to time as we do.

But I want you to watch this because I think that there's something, I think that there's a number of things in this passage that will equip us for life and for godliness and I'm confident that God is going to do things in our hearts through this passage as we understand the purpose and His intentions in discipline.

Now I want you to see some of the contextual connections that are here. It is tempting for us to think that when we get to verse 4 we're switching subject matters.

Verses 1 to 3 was what? God's purpose for us. The purpose of the race, how we're to persevere through it.

The example that we have, Jesus who did it by faith. Verse 3, we're to consider Him who endured such hostility against Himself at the hands of sinners so that we will not lose heart and we will not faint.

And then we get to verse 4 and it says you've not yet resisted the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin and you've forgotten the encouragement

Discipline is essential for an athletic contest, is it not? You must be trained in the race.

You must be trained how to run the race. You must be trained and disciplined yourself so that you might be competitive in the race.

So the author, switching to the subject of discipline is really not a switching. He's simply now addressing another aspect of running the race which is the discipline that we endure from the

Father which equips us for the running of the race. That's in verses 4 through 11, that of a father and a son.

It's the family analogy but in verses 1 to 3 it's the race analogy. It's still really a race that we're talking about as we talk about the discipline that equips us and trains us for the race but now he brings in the father -son analogy and the family, the father disciplines his son simply to show that the discipline is necessary and simply to show that the discipline is an evidence of God's love for us and it's kind of an analogy layered on top of another analogy which is really still the race metaphor that he began in verses 1 through 3.

There are some important themes that are consistent through the entire passage and I want to highlight four of them for you.

The first one is considering Jesus. There is a comparison in verse 4, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.

Who might he have mentioned right in the immediate context who in his striving against sin shed blood?

It's not him. It's Jesus in verse 3. You see, he's just simply continuing the comparison that he began in verse 3 as he moves into verse 4 and begins to apply it to us showing us that there is something that we are to consider in our consideration of Jesus who endured that hostility.

We are to consider and remember that we have not yet shed our blood in our striving against sin. Jesus in his faithfulness did.

And in that context is that of striving against sin itself. Look at verse 4. You've not yet resisted the point of shedding blood and you're striving against sin.

Look back up at verse 1. We are to lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us.

So in both the race analogy as well as in the discipline analogy in talking about discipline and in talking about the race there is a sin issue that is at the heart of all of this.

Why is discipline necessary? That's the point of discipline.

Again, we'll get into this more next week. It is not punishment for our sin. It is purging us from our sin.

So we have an obligation, a moral obligation to lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us to fight that fight, to wage that war, to go to battle against it.

That's our obligation. But here's the good news. We have a Father in heaven who loves us enough to protect ourselves from sin.

That's where discipline comes in. The next theme is also that of losing heart.

Look at verse 5. He says that we, my son, look at the quotation from Proverbs 3.

My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord nor faint when you are reproved by him. That is the idea of losing heart, of losing spirit, of sort of collapsing within.

That was also up in verse 3. We are to consider him and see how he's continuing the same idea.

We are to run our race and we are to do it with endurance and with faith to persevere, to look to Jesus so that we don't lose heart.

And then we have the Father who disciplines us for that purpose and we are to embrace that so that we don't what? So that we don't lose heart.

The theme of enduring is also here. Endurance is a theme that has been present with us in Hebrews for quite some time.

I look down at verse 7 in our passage. It is for discipline that you endure. Have we heard about discipline or sorry, endurance anywhere in this context?

It is for discipline that you endure. Look at verse 1. We are to run with endurance the race that is set before us.

Verse 3, we are to consider him who endured such hostility against himself. In fact, the theme of endurance goes all the way back to chapter 10 at the very end where he says you have need of endurance so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what was promised.

So from back in chapter 10 he has been talking about enduring so you are to do it.

Chapter 12 verses 1 to 3 and then we have the Father disciplining us to enable us to run that race so that we don't lose heart and it is for discipline that we are to endure.

So the theme of endurance traces all the way through as well. Then in verse 11 notice the reference to training to those who have been trained by it that is discipline afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

The idea of training is core it's central to the athletic metaphor. It fits the athletic analogy of a dramatically changing course in verse 4.

I want you to see that. He is taking the same things we have been talking about really since the end of chapter 10 and now he is weaving them through chapter 11 and he is bringing them to an applicable conclusion in chapter 12 verses 1 through 11.

We are to run our race not lose heart persevere through it because the Father in heaven is disciplining us training us to enable us and is intended to work in us those things which will strengthen us for the race.

The purpose of discipline is to strengthen you for the race it is to train you for the race so that you will lay aside the sin that sometimes causes the discipline and you will look to Jesus and run the race that is set before you and carry you across the finish line so that you can receive the reward.

Our job is to run the Father's job is to discipline and train us so that we can run.

Now if the Father knows perfectly and precisely and wisely infinitely so what is necessary to bring you and I home to our eternal glory and to give us that reward if he knows everything that is necessary for that to happen why would you not embrace that?

Right? If he has called you to run and then he knows exactly what is necessary to take you across the finish line and bring you to that reward and give it to you why would you not embrace that thing that he has planned for you?

Why would you not embrace that process and do so lovingly? Listen, especially if you know that it will for all of eternity infinitely increase your joy and your reward.

You would embrace that, wouldn't you? So now let's jump into verses 4 and 5.

You say, Jim, that wasn't the first point? Not even close yet. Let's talk about discipline.

Remember, I want to challenge you to embrace God's discipline in your life and to cooperate, as it were, with him in the discipline and through the discipline so that it may accomplish what it is that he has designed for you in the difficulty that he has brought into place.

The proper perspective on discipline verses 4 and 5. And this deals with our thinking, our mindset. We need a proper perspective on it so that we can think of it rightly and when we think of it rightly then we are more likely to embrace it.

So we have a mindset here that is being described for embracing God's discipline. The mindset is in verse 4 and the beginning of verse 5 and then the manner in which we are to embrace

God's discipline is in verse 5, the quotation from the Proverbs. So here's the mindset. You've not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood and you're striving against sin and you've forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons.

The way in which we are to view our relationship with the Lord and then the manner in which we are to embrace this discipline is in verse 5.

My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord. In other words, don't despise his discipline. And then second, don't despair in that discipline nor faint when you are reproved by him.

There are two errors that we can make when God disciplines us. One is to despise it and the other is to despair underneath of it.

These are two opposite errors. They're both folly in some regard. And the other one is caused by a foolish misunderstanding of the purpose of discipline.

So we want to have the right mindset for embracing discipline. That's what we're looking at today, the mindset that we have.

And we're to remember two things. So if you're keeping track of your outline, those of you who know and like your outlines, here it is. Verse 1 was the purpose, understanding the proper purpose of discipline.

Under that is two points, okay, if you're keeping notes, the afflictions that we endure are less than we deserve and second,

God disciplines his children not his enemies. Those are the two things that affect our mindset. So this is two points.

Today we're going to deal with the first of the two points under the one of the two points which is under one of the four points.

Did you catch that? Okay, it's really much more simple than I make it out to be and there are some people, let me just say this real quick.

There are some people who think I don't believe that at all.

I'm going to milk all four of these points so long you're going to think that there's a Jersey right here in the middle of the sanctuary and we're going to take our time going through it.

So if you're not keeping track of the outline, then wake back up. This is where we jump into verse 4.

Our mindset, we are to remember that the afflictions that we endure are less than we deserve.

This is verse 4. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood and you're striving against sin. Now notice that the author is aware of their affliction.

He's aware of their suffering. He admits it. He knows it. Maybe because he has experienced some of what they have experienced.

Do you remember back at the end of chapter 10, verse 32? Turn back there if you don't remember what they endured through.

I'm going to read it, verse 32. But remember the former days when after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings and tribulations and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated.

For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one.

They had endured all of that affliction and he recognizes that at the end of chapter 10. Their suffering was real. Their affliction was real.

Their pain and agony in all of that was real. And from what the author describes here, it looks as if it is only in his mind about to get much worse.

And he is equipping his readers to deal with that affliction. So he recognizes at the end of chapter 10.

Then in chapter 11 he reminds them that this is not at all uncommon for the saints of God. You go through the catalog of the heroes of the faith.

They all sacrificed something. They all endured something. It wasn't easy for any of them. There were good times and there were bad.

Yes, but some of them, you remember, they were sawn in two. They were stoned. They wandered about in caves and what they were enduring was not out of the ordinary in terms of God's saints.

And then in chapter 12 he counsels them to run the race with endurance just as the heroes in chapter 11 have done.

So at the end of chapter 10 you're suffering. Hebrews chapter 11, what you're enduring is the same thing that all the saints of old have endured.

How do you handle that? Chapter 12 verses 1 to 3, you're to run your race with endurance that is set before you.

Do so looking to Jesus, that's one key question that anybody with two brain cells to rub together in that congregation would have been asking.

They would have had a very pressing question. Why do I endure these things?

Why am I going through these things? If I am the object of God's love,

His infinite and unbounding love, then why do I suffer? That's a good question, isn't it?

Why, if I am elect and I have been granted grace in Christ from eternity past and the plan of salvation was hatched with me in mind and the

Son came to live in my place and to die in my place and to rise again in my place and then to bring me to Himself and to secure me everlastingly and then to pour out upon me

His infinite grace and love for all of eternity, if that is the plan and if that was the object of my salvation, if those things are true, then why is the heavy hand of God upon me in this life?

It's a very good question. If I've been granted all of the blessings of the New Covenant and the blessings of the

New Covenant and the Spirit are mine and the Word of God is mine and salvation is mine, then why do

I feel like God is against me in this life? Why do I suffer? Why does it feel like I'm being punished for my sin if all my sin is my cause?

Then why now do I feel like I'm being punished for the things that I have done? See, that's the question the author up to this point has not answered.

I've been adopted into God's family. Can I not, at least in some way, enjoy some of the family comforts?

There are saints who ask themselves these questions. I'm in the New Covenant and I have received the fullness and yet I suffer persecution and hatred from the world and persecutions and temptations.

This is my lot in all of this life. Why is it, why is it that it always seems as if God's enemies have the upper hand?

If you've never asked yourself that question, you're not watching the news. Why is it that it always seems as if God's enemies have the upper hand and we have to suffer the afflictions?

He answers that question in verses 4 through 11. The Father is doing something through these things as proof of His love.

That is why you are enduring these things. You see how the author since chapter 10 has been building to this point?

Now you get to chapter 12 and you realize, okay, the reason I endure the seizure of my property, the trials, the tribulations, the mockery and the insults, the hatred of the world, being pushed out of polite society, the reason that people hate me is the

Father has allowed these things, yea, even ordained these things for me and for my good.

And that's not just to talk about the affliction and suffering that you experience because other people just hate you and you're a

Christian, but these things apply also to the physical disabilities that plague us in this life, the way that life sometimes just falls out and it's not anybody's fault, it was just a result of living in a sin -cursed and fallen world.

God ordains these things for us as well. Why? Because He loves us and because we are His sons and the afflictions that we endure are a passage to a proper estimate of our sufferings.

You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin. Notice that they were striving against sin and they were resisting temptation and they were engaged in a great conflict and they had paid a price for their faithfulness, we know all of that, but not to the point of shedding blood.

What does the author mean by that? He means that it has not yet cost you what it might and could end up costing you.

The fight against sin could be more intense than it is. You've resisted, yes, but not to the point of shedding blood.

Okay, so this helps frame the mindset in which I must view my war against sin and my struggle in this world.

It hasn't cost me, the temptations always could be worse, right? The struggle always could cost me more than it has, right?

That's true. Temptations can always be more acute, and more long -lived.

So you have resisted, but not as much as I might have resisted had things turned out differently.

Their fight for their faithfulness and their endurance had not cost them yet everything. They had not shed their blood.

It had not yet cost them their lives. They paid a price, but they hadn't paid the ultimate price. These were their lesser sufferings and by this time, by the way, remember in church history, by this time that the author is writing this, they would have been familiar with saints who had shed their blood, who had been faithful unto death.

Already Stephen in Acts 7 and 8 had been stoned. Already by this time,

James, the Lord's brother in Acts 12 had been pierced with a sword and killed. So they're familiar with saints who had shed their blood and had paid the ultimate price.

And this is a needful corrective. Yeah, you're striving. Yes, you're enduring. But it hasn't cost you the ultimate price.

It has not yet cost you the ultimate price. The great faithfulness of others ought to motivate us to our own faithfulness, by the way.

I want you to catch this. Others had endured more and suffered more and sacrificed more. And you and I always, when we look at what we are afflicted with in this life, we can always look at somebody else and say, yeah, but that hasn't happened to me yet.

And if you can't find any example in any of your life or in all of church history that hasn't happened to me yet, then you just need to read a little bit more church history.

You need to meet a few more people. And if nothing else, you need to look at Jesus Christ and realize that has not happened to me yet.

So I've resisted, but not yet to the point of shedding blood. The great faithfulness of others motivates us to faithfulness.

And friends, it is shameful for us to faint under lesser degrees of suffering. You can always know others who have endured more.

And when we look at others who have endured more we can't endure more.

It's a shameful thing for us to faint under sufferings and afflictions that are less than what others have endured.

What have others endured? Some of them have shed their own blood. And by the way, don't miss this encouragement.

The most that they can do to you is shed your blood. That's good news.

That's the most the world can do is take your life. The most they can take from you is your blood. Once they have shed your blood and killed you, that's the most they can do to you.

You say, Jim, that means they've taken everything. Oh no, they haven't taken everything. Not even close. They can't take your forgiveness.

They can't take away your justification. They can't rob you of your eternal reward. They can't remove your status as sons and daughters of God in Christ Jesus.

They can't take away from you the new heavens and the new earth and your resurrected body. All they can do is shed your blood.

That's the most they can do to you That's the most you'll be asked to pay. And I would suggest to you that that is a small price to pay when you realize that the alternate is to spend eternity suffering for your own sins.

Then you realize, my life is not that much, really. After all, it's just my blood. I've got a whole body full of it, at least

I think. Got a whole body full of it, so I can shed that. I can lose that. Is that really that big of a deal?

Because that's all they can take. Jesus said something similar when he said don't fear those who can kill the body but fear those who can cast both body and soul or fear the one who can cast both body and soul into hell.

That's his point. The worst they can do to you in this life is take your life. Notice also from verse 4 that God himself appoints our afflictions.

You've not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood. There's a recognition there that others had shed their blood and you have not.

Who determines that somebody else suffers more than you or that you suffer more than somebody else? There's only one being in all of the universe who has decreed that and determined that and that is

God himself. So he is the one who appoints our suffering and our afflictions. Not everyone dies a martyr.

Not everyone sheds their blood in striving against sin. Remember that Jesus said of Peter, Simon, Simon, behold

Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat but I have prayed for you and if you were

Peter you would want to know the answer to this question so did you give the devil permission or not?

He's asked for permission from me and I'm praying for you. Okay the prayer is good Lord but there's another question we need to deal with.

Did you say yes or did you say no? But the point is not whether he said yes or no.

The point of that temptation, the point of Peter's trial is to show us number one that there is nothing that the devil could do to Peter that he was not given permission to do.

Same thing with Job. Remember Job chapter 1 and the second point of that trial is that Jesus preserved

Peter all the way through that denial and all the way through to his restoration and then used him greatly afterwards.

God has appointed these afflictions for us. Nobody else has. Nobody can come at us.

Nobody can do anything to us but he was appointed and designed by God to that end and he appointed by the way afflictions and sufferings for his own son the righteous one in whom he is well pleased and if the father will teach the son teach him obedience through the things that he suffered and if the father will allow afflictions and suffering into the lives of his only begotten son the one upon whom he has set his love from eternity past whom he loves with an infinite measure of love how do you think that you and I can be saved at all?

Remember the whole point of this message is not to terrify you but to remind you and encourage you to embrace the discipline because it is a good thing.

Given verse 3 who might the author have in mind when he says in verse 4 you've not yet resisted the point of shedding blood he has there the

Lord Jesus Christ in mind we are to consider Christ remember beginning of verse 3 it was several weeks ago when we talked about this summing things up like an accountant might do remember it was the word that had to do with summing things up and adding things up so that you might compare it to some other sum or list of things that was added and the idea being there that you consider the

Lord Jesus Christ and his afflictions and then you look at your own afflictions and you realize his far outweigh mine so in verse 4 when he says you have not yet resisted the point of shedding blood he is applying that very principle when you tally up your own afflictions your own hostility that you have endured at the hands of sinners we have not endured as he has endured we have not suffered as he has suffered we have not paid the full price none of us has and the truth is thankfully that none of us ever will pay a price like Jesus paid why?

because he paid the price that our sin deserves so again there is the reminder that whatever affliction

I endure it is not as great as it could be it is really not as great as it should be if I got justice instead of grace so this then reminds me that I will never suffer to the degree that the

Lord Jesus suffered because I will never suffer the infinite wrath of a holy God against me for all of my sin and rebellion however heavy my afflictions or your afflictions are we can take solace in the fact that they are lighter than they could be remember that however heavy they are they are much lighter than they could be and until you or I have suffered as much as Jesus has suffered for our sin we are getting off really easy no matter what we endure in this life no matter what affliction or suffering or discipline comes into our lives it is far less than our sin merits far less we cannot even fathom in our minds what our sin merits this is why the psalmist says blessed is the man to whom the

Lord does not impute his iniquity the Lord if you were to count up my transgressions who could stand who could stand before him who could stand before God's holy bar and his iniquities could any of us stand before that no we couldn't and what would we get if we got what we deserved for that we would get eternal separation from God under his wrath in the torments of hell in bodily punishment forever and ever and ever that is what my sin has merited so no matter what discipline comes into my life in this life it is less than I deserve it is less than it could be this is the beginning step to having the mindset to embrace the discipline of God in our lives to be clear we're going to get into more of this next week and I don't want you to misunderstand me so I don't want to leave you hanging on this to be clear

God's discipline is not punishment for our sins who paid for your sins

Christ did we're going to develop this next week who paid for your sins Christ did so whatever discipline comes into your life it is not a punishment or a payment for your sin it is the full every last measure of the debt that your sins merited laying them upon his son and punishing them fully in Christ he has borne all of that wrath he has drank that cup down to the last bitter drop for our wrath so there is no punishment to be meted out to God's people none whatsoever so discipline is not about punishment

Christ has borne that punishment discipline is about being trained in righteousness so whatever you are going through you will always be wrong always be in error and always be saying something false if you say

God is punishing me for my sins God is not unjust and he is not unloving and it would be both unloving and unjust for God to punish his son for your sins and then to punish you for some sin discipline is not

God's punishment for your sin this is the proper perspective God's discipline, our afflictions though they cost us things our faithfulness though it may cost us it has not cost us yet everything and it has not cost us what it cost others and whatever it has cost us it cost us far less than we deserve now what sin is it that they were resisting this is something that is true regarding reference to sin in general that you and I strive against sin but it is also something that is true of a specific sin that this congregation they were faced with the temptation and persecution helped bring about this temptation they were faced with the temptation to step back in their profession of faith in Christ to abandon their confidence that they had in Christ because having come out of Judaism and having left the temple worship and all of the forms and figures of Old Testament Judaism now they have come to Christ they have none of that they have left and come out of that into a new covenant community, the church and now all of their old family and friends and their old system they were now persecuting them and this congregation then would have been facing the very real temptation that would have said if I just give up my confession of Christ abandon my confidence in Him and go back to what

I had before when things were easy life would be easier but it would also be sin, wouldn't it to abandon that so that's the temptation that they are facing the temptation to abandon their profession and to fall back and to walk away that was the sin that presented itself and these believers had then to resist that sin and to strive against that sin and the more they resisted the temptation to apostatize and go back and make it easy on themselves the worse and the worse it got for them so he says you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood and you are striving against sin that is the sin, the sin that they had to fight was the temptation and the sin of denying

Christ was ultimately probably going to cost them everything to deny

Him would be a sin to remain silent would be a sin to adopt the perspective of this world and its values would have been their sin to abandon their profession give up their confidence in Christ for ease and comfort and relief from affliction and persecution would have been sin they had to resist they had to strive against it and that was the temptation that they had to endure and not give in they say you grew up in a

Christian family none of my kids are facing persecution for being Christians from their family members none of them are probably not very many people in here are really striving against the sin of the temptation of abandoning

Christ just so your life will be easier at least not at this point we aren't it may come around sometime in our lives we don't know but at this point we don't face that but we do nonetheless strive against sin and we are obligated to strive against sin notice how the author assumes that in verse 4 you're not here to resist to the point of shedding blood and you're striving against sin this was nothing unique for them and it is something that is true of every believer that every believer has a responsibility to strive against sin if you are in Christ this is your lifelong war the word striving here is antagonizumai antagonizumai and it means to struggle or to strive or to conflict with and you can hear the word our

English word antagonism or antagonist in that word antagonizumai to antagonize someone so when you're antagonizing someone you're picking a fight with it you're striving against it you're struggling against it that's what an antagonist does an antagonist doesn't make life easy for you and as sins antagonist you should not make life easy for your sin this is what it means to go to war with your sin to say no to it to resist it to not yield your instruments as members of unrighteousness but to yield them instead as instruments of righteousness to do the will of God our striving against sin means that we repent of sin we kill it we mortify it we put it to death it's not easy but it is essential and whether that sin is the temptation to deny

Christ in order to make your life easier as it was for them or whether that sin is the temptation to lust or to lie or to be lazy or whatever the sin is you and I are to strive against it to be an antagonist against the sin in our own lives you and I cannot hope we cannot possibly hope to persevere in faith faithfully and receive the reward if we will not fight the fight against indwelling sin and this is the beauty of God's discipline it helps us to fight the battle against indwelling sin and if we understood how ugly how hideous and how horrid our indwelling sin is which none of us here does if we understood it we would embrace that discipline understanding that this is necessary for me to finish my faith for me to finish my race for me to cross the finish line and to get the reward and the

Father knows exactly what my indwelling sin is and He knows exactly what needs to happen to me and what

I need to endure in order to get rid of that indwelling sin and to have that indwelling sin mortified God's discipline makes the mortification our striving against sin easier and therefore we should embrace it and we should love it sin in us will strangle our faith it will quench our holy desires it will numb our conscience it will cripple your walk with God it will rob you of your assurance and here's the kicker it gives us nothing in return it does all of that and gives us nothing in return a walk in faith is going to produce in us a striving against sin and if there is no striving against sin there is no true faith only believers strive against sin only believers hate their sin unbelievers don't and if there is no striving against it then you have every reason to question whether there is genuine faith inside at all we must strive against sin it is our obligation so this is the very first thing that you and I must remember if we are to embrace

God's loving discipline that the afflictions that we endure are less than we deserve the second thing of our mindset is that we have to remember that God's discipline is for his sons and not his enemies and we will get to that next week let's pray our

Father we love you because you have been so gracious to us in calling us as sons and daughters into your family into your kingdom and we thank you that we are not orphans that we are not illegitimate children that we have the blessing and the benefit of your spirit and your grace and your love we thank you for your infinite wisdom that has ordained and appointed our every trial and affliction our every suffering and our every moment of discipline in this world and so now we would just pray that you would help us to embrace that and to think rightly about what it is and what you are doing through the trials that we endure so that you may be honored and glorified as we obey you and as we learn what must be learned and as we walk in holiness before you we pray that you would produce in us holiness that we may share your holiness and that you would produce in us the peaceful fruits of righteousness that discipline is intended by you to produce in us so help us to yield to that and to respond to your every scourging your every bit of discipline with love and worship and affection that you may be glorified in our hearts and through our lives we pray in Christ's name

Amen. Let's stand and enter service this morning by singing Christ our hope in life and death.

What is our hope in life and death Christ alone

Christ alone What is our only confidence that our souls to him belong who holds our days within his hand what comes apart from his command and what will keep us to the end the love of Christ in which we stand

Oh sing Hallelujah Our hope springs eternal

Oh sing Hallelujah Now and ever we confess

Christ our hope in life and death What truth can call the troubled soul

God is good God is good Where is his grace and goodness known

In our great Redeemer's blood Who holds our faith when fears arise

Who stands above the stormy trial Who sets the waves that bring us nigh

Unto the shore the rock of Christ Oh sing

Hallelujah Our hope springs eternal

Oh sing Hallelujah Now and ever we confess

Christ our hope in life and death

Unto the grave what will we see Christ he lives

Christ he lives And what reward will heaven bring everlasting life with him

There we will rise to meet the Lord Then sin and death will be destroyed

And we will feast in endless joy When Christ is ours forevermore

Oh sing Hallelujah Our hope springs eternal

Oh sing Hallelujah Now and ever we confess

Christ our hope in life and death Oh sing

Hallelujah Our hope springs eternal

Oh sing Hallelujah Now and ever we confess

Christ our hope in life and death Now and ever we confess

Christ our hope in life and death Our benediction today comes from the book of Romans.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our