Training for the Kingdom.
Hebrews 12:3-11 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 2 viewsThe discipline of God on His children is to train them spiritually to make them like Him because He is not like us... He is good, whole and perfect in all righteousness and He is restoring us to our original state, which is the image of Him. (God)
Notes
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The readers are being challenged because they seemed to have forgotten the encouragement found in their Scriptures,
The readers are being challenged because they seemed to have forgotten the encouragement found in their Scriptures,
Only one professional football team that plays its home games in the comfort and luxury of a domed stadium and artificial turf has ever won the Super Bowl:
While a climate-controlled stadium protects players (and fans) from the misery of sleet, snow, mud, heat, and wind, players who brave the elements on a regular basis are disciplined to handle hardship wherever it's found.
The Green Bay Packers were the 1996 Super Bowl champions, in part, because of the discipline gained from regularly playing in some of the worst weather in the country.
Scripture says we are to
"Endure hardship as discipline.”
This is not an easy thing to do!
11 Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
No discipline is pleasant at the time that it is being experienced, but rather it is painful!
Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it"
So what Hebrews chapter 12:4–11 is telling us is that ‘God uses discipline to produce ‘HOLINESS’ in his people.’
As we are going through this training, and we are experiencing these very difficult times, it is very natural for us to overestimate the severity of our trials.
It is also difficult to watch loved ones or if you are an overly compassionate person, to watch people being trained by the discipline of the LORD!
Especially our kids, and this is when we can get in the way of what it is that God is wanting to train them in...
Stephen Ministry has some of the best teaching that explains how to walk along side people who are going through very difficult times, without getting in the way of what God is want that person to learn.
I have learned so much about the different areas of leadership through the Stephen Ministry model and training.
I have learned so much about Pastoring people through the compassion of the Stephen Ministry, learning to be Processed oriented rather than Results oriented.
You see, generally speaking, we as compassionate, caring people, we want to help those who are hurting and rightfully so because Jesus says,
‘if you have the means and siply say “bless you” and move on without helping...’
In the process, we many times dont stop to pray and think things through about how we should be going about helping someone, moving in a way that is not really helping in the long term...
We want to shorten the time of suffering when maybe its not a part of God’s plan for that person to be painless right at that time.
This is one of the BIGGEST lessons I have had to learn as a Pastor.
Put a you mom who had called the church…
Two little kids, about 9 months and maybe two years.
Put them in a motel by the bus depot, bought them bus tickets so she could go stay with her dad...
Pick them up, took them through the Tim Horton’s drive through for a breakfast,
Dropped them off at the bus depot,
The little guy clinging to me and the big eyes of the 9 month old...
I was so moved coming back to the church and felt a strong challange by the Holy Spirit,
“this is one Mark! There are so many many more in this world and always have been. Dont get so emotionally attached because you will not last and you will not be able to help all the people I plan to send your way...
Stephen Ministry has been the best training for me on how to propperly care for those who are going through very hard times, without being overcome with grief and carrying something I am not graced to carry.
I have had to learn through a number of situations that God cares and is working His plan in the midst of suffering happening in peoples live.
To often we get in the way trying to fix things we are not to be fixing, getting to invol
I was talking to one of my sons at a time when I could see God’s hand all over him as he was going through some very difficult times,
I could see he was at his wits end and having a very hard time.
It was obvious to me because I had just been through a very hard time.
I thought I would encourage him and told him, ‘what I had discovered was that when you feel like you dont think you can take any more, you might be 2/3rds the way through!
The pour boy just groaned.
God uses discipline to produce holiness in us!
A couple of examples of this is seen in the life of David
He was anointed by Samuel to rule and reign Israel and before he was king, he was running for his life from king Saul for 13 long years.
Then there was Joseph, who was sold into slavery and falsely accused, and thrown into prison.
His difficulties also lasted 13 years And wounded him deeply!
It’s in these times when we question, Is God really in control?
As we spend time in scripture, it doesn’t take long before it becomes very obvious that God uses discipline and brokenness to produce Holiness!
Sometimes it is very difficult to watch the governments and decisions that are being made in our world,
because the destructiveness that will be the result of many of the direction we see the world going and how the innocent will ultimately be the ones to suffer the most;
Do we really believe God is in control of all this?
I shared a bit at a prayer meeting a couple weeks ago, the story of Ahab.
(Ahab Reigns over Israel)
1 Kings 16:29-33
Ahab Reigns Over Israel.
29 In the thirty-eighth year of King Asa of Judah, Ahab son of Omri began to reign over Israel; Ahab son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years.
30 Ahab son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD more than all who were before him.Ahab Marries Jezebel and Worships Baal
31 And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, he took as his wife Jezebel daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshiped him.
32 He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria.
33 Ahab also made a sacred pole. Ahab did more to provoke the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, than had all the kings of Israel who were before him.
We sometimes complain about our governments,
King Ahab would have made our government look like such a mild mannered individuals!
King Ahab, as bad as he was, ruled over Israel for 22 years.
We have had our government we for what.., 7 years?
These people of the book of Hebrews were grieving what they were suffering,
And the writer was encouraging them to keep the struggles they were experiencing in the proper perspective.
What we are being challenged with here is to remind us to always remember all Jesus went through so we can be Holy.
Isaiah 53:3–5 (NRSV)
3 He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account.
4 Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.
All that Jesus went through on their behalf!
It wasn’t only the cross where Jesus suffered by what I see in scripture!
Jesus was trained by the disciplines of God as well, to prepare Him for his task as the Messiah!
And the writer was challanging the people to think about it!
Hebrews 12:3–4 (NRSV)
3 Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.
4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
If they would consider the opposition from sinful men which Jesus confronted and endured alone, they should be encouraged!
After all, unlike Jesus, they had not yet resisted the sinful men to the point of the shedding of their own blood!
And no doubt the author also had their own sin in mind, which they had to resist in order to maintain a steadfast Christian witness!
God was working out their salvation!
Hebrews 12:5–8 (NRSV)
5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as children— “My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, or lose heart when you are punished by him;
6 for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves, and chastises every child whom he accepts.”
7 Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline?
8 If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children.
The readers are being challenged because they seemed to have forgotten the encouragement found in their Scriptures, Proverbs 3:11-12
11 My child, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof,
12 for the Lord reproves the one he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.
Which presents “divine” discipline as an evidence of “divine” love.
And he is telling them, “don’,t forget the scriptures, but expect to have to endure hardship as discipline, and regard it as an evidence of sonship, that is, that they are being trained for the glory of the many sons.
10 It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
All God’s children are subject to His discipline, and what the author is saying here is that we are “companions, sharers,” in this suffering.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”
1 Therefore, brothers and sisters, holy partners in a heavenly calling, consider that Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession,
14 For we have become partners of Christ, if only we hold our first confidence firm to the end.
4 For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit,
Also used in, the“ discipline, of which we all have become sharers, or participants.”
In speaking of those who are not disciplined and are thus illegitimate children,
The writer was probably thinking of Christians whose disloyalty to the faith resulted in their loss of inheritance, which is acquired by the many sons and daughters.
In the Roman world, an “illegitimate child” had no inheritance rights.
What such Christians undergo, the author had shown, is “severe judgment.”
On the other hand believers who undergo God’s “discipline” are being prepared by this educational process, “discipline, child-training” for a millennial reward.
4 And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Drawing on the analogy of the discipline of earthly fathers,
The author was encouraging a submissive spirit to the discipline of the Father of our spirits which is life-preserving, and live as well and as productive examples of His holiness, which encompasses a rich harvest of righteousness and peace.
But Christians must let this discipline have its full effect and be trained by it.
Our problem is that we have a hard time separating the world we live in, from the Spirit from which we are encouraged to be transformed to!
When tough times come our way, its so easy to slip back into dealing with things the way the world deals with things.
The Apostle Paul challenged the Corinthian church with this when he said,
1 When any of you has a grievance against another, do you dare to take it to court before the unrighteous, instead of taking it before the saints?
2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases?
3 Do you not know that we are to judge angels—to say nothing of ordinary matters?
4 If you have ordinary cases, then, do you appoint as judges those who have no standing in the church?
5 I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to decide between one believer and another,
6 but a believer goes to court against a believer—and before unbelievers at that?
7 In fact, to have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?
8 But you yourselves wrong and defraud—and believers at that.
9 Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites,
10 thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers—none of these will inherit the kingdom of God.
11 And this is what some of you used to be. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
Hebrews 12:9–11 (NRSV)
9 Moreover, we had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live?
With a picture being drawn of the discipline of earthly fathers, the author is encouraging a submissive spirit to the discipline of the Father of our spirits which is life-preserving,
As well as productive of an experience of His holiness, which involves a rich harvest of righteousness and peace.
Theologians say, we Christians must let this discipline have its full effect in our lives and allow ourselves to be trained by it!
This is a common way that God trains us because as we grow He is wanting to get to the place where we will trust Him regardless of what is happening on this planet.
It was spoken over Karen and I… We were as dough, and God was going to kneed us, roll us over, punch us down, let us rise, and kneed us some more, let us rise, then put us in the oven and turn up the heat.
When we were ready, He would take us and set us aside and then He would take us and break us to feed the hungry.
It was very uncomfortable and very painful, and when the training lightened up, I was so afraid of the discipline of God that I ran from being willing to go through more of it for a number of years.
I had come to the point when I was saying yes to the LORD, I was willing for Him to continue His training in my life.
And I have shared it before, but when I was in the deepest, darkest valley,
Over at a relative of Karen’s I saw on the refrigerator the verse, Hebrews 12:12
Hebrews 12:12–13 (LB)
“Take a new grip with your tired hands and stand firm on your shaky legs and mark out a straight smooth path for those who follow, so that they don’t trip and stumble.”
The author sensed the tendency of spiritual weakness in his readers, and in the light of the truths he had expounded to them, he was encouraging them to renew their strength.
If they would do this and would pursue the level paths which real righteousness demands, the weakest among them (the lame) would no longer be disabled, but rather healed.
Their own strength would benefit weaker Christians.
Peace with all men as well as personal holiness must be vigorously sought since without holiness no one will see the Lord.
Since no sin can stand in God’s presence, Christians will be—sinless when they see the Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:51–52 (NRSV)
51 “Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”
15 For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died.
16 For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever.
2 Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.
This realization should motivate us to purse holiness!
16 See to it that no one becomes like Esau, an immoral and godless person, who sold his birthright for a single meal.
17 You know that later, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, even though he sought the blessing with tears.
We cannot take what God is offering us for granted!
I have been by the side of people about to pass into the next life,
And I have witnessed that if we think we can repent in our own time and on our own terms, I think we may be in for quite a surprise!
Think about it, is it humility when we say no to the LORD’s call, thinking that we have the ability to answer the call whenever we think we might want to?
It does not work like that!
IF God is calling you now, ‘NOW’ is the time for you to respond to Him!
Not tomorrow, not next week, and definitely not on your deathbed!
Salvation does not happen unless we hear God calling!
Holiness cannot be taken for granted.
We must come when the LORD is calling!
Such a person would be godless (“profane, unhallowed, desecrated”) like Esau, Jacob’s brother,
whose loose and profane character led him to sell his inheritance rights as the oldest son for the temporary gratification of a single meal.
He warned the readers not to yield to transitory pressures and forfeit their inheritances.
The pressures of this world are transitory, temporary!
If some did, they would ultimately regret the foolish step and might find their inheritance privileges irrevocably lost as were Esau’s.
This would of course be true of one who ended his Christian experience in a state of apostasy, which the writer had continually warned against.
I dont know where you are this morning in your relationship with Jesus.
The LORD says we are to “Be Holy, because He is Hol!
16 for it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
The New International Version (Chapter 12)
14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.
Closing; We are afraid that heaven is a bribe, and that if we make it our goal, we will no longer be impartial.
This is not the case!
Heaven offers nothing that a covetous soul can desire.
It is safe to tell the pure in heart that they shall see God, for only the pure in heart want to.
Do you want to see God this morning/Afternoon?
Close in Prayer!