The Character Construction of Love
Seeking Renewal • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Constructive Criticism
3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.
4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.
6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
Come in Close to Jesus!
Come in Close to Jesus!
3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.
The Greek word translated here “consider” (aorist imperative) is actually a compound word coming from the verb (λεγω) which means to say and the prefix and suffix giving to actual meaning as “sum up”. English translators seek to make it more readable by saying consider.
The original would take us to the point of analyzing the words of Jesus for the purpose of recognizing His direction, example, attitude, and actions.
We are not looking here at a word here that means for us to observe from a far, but on that says we are to dive in deep.
One opposition to us growing and having a regularly renewing relationship with Christ is a lacking of reckoning or summing up or deep consideration of God’s Word.
Notice in our text that Christ’s endurance was at the hand of those called “from sinners such hostility against himself...”
“Hostility” from the Greek “ἀντιλογίαν”. It is another compound word made of the prefix “anti” meaning against and “Logian” meaning his statements or words. So here the idea is that he endured at the hands of those who stood in opposition to His Word.
How do we not find ourselves as those referred to in this text?
We Come in close to Jesus!
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
James reminds us that we draw near to THE LORD for cleansing, purification, and lets be clear unity of thought.
31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
How do we wait on Him whom we do not know and how do we know Him well apart from coming in close to all that He has said?
So First, “Come in Close to Jesus!”
The Struggle Is Real!
The Struggle Is Real!
4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
Don’t miss it here!
This statement is not our struggle against our own sin or apostasy. (The struggle is real as well!)
This verse is about the resistance against honoring God in the midst of persecution.
There is a reason the Apostle Paul said:
9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
One of the most burdensome things about walking the Christian’s journey is in the fullness of the persecution that a Christian faces when doing the right thing.
The writer here communicates that there has not yet been persecution to the point of their death; otherwise, they would not be reading his words.
Yet, he does not deny the need to look to Christ, to Come in Close, to recognize the same opposition we face today — He faced to a greater degree.
So, we come in close because the struggle is real, because we recognize a need to cling to Him that we not grow weary or faint of heart.
In reality, so we don’t give up.
I think it is interesting how we don’t use these words that often in the church in the U.S.
Maybe it’s because of “freedom of worship”, but we are not free from persecution. It is just more subtle at times and more direct at times. Persecution in the U.S seems to be from the direction that we are considered ignorant or intolerant. We are ostracized by the society if we do not call sin normal or regular. We live in a day and age where when you stand for life beginning at fertilization of the egg, marriage between one man and one woman for life, sex inside of marriage between a male husband and a female wife only, and now we are moving towards the legalization of drugs for recreational use (which God’s Word opposes).. all of these things we would stand with God’s Word and the world would call intolerant, exclusive, and now moving towards hate speech.
So yes, the struggle is real and there is still real persecution.
This is why we should pay attention to the words: “not yet”. In essence, there is the understanding that there will be persecution. And there will be a time when the persecution could lead to death/shedding of blood.
First we should “Come in Close to Jesus”; second, Recognize “The Struggle is Real” and our tertiary idea is:
Do Not Resent What Builds!
Do Not Resent What Builds!
5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.
6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
Character is built in the midst of struggle.
So The Lord permits and brings the struggle not as a temptation, but as a development of our character.
We do not discipline our children because we are mad, but because we want better for them/from them. We want to redirect and guide them to a greater life.
Likewise God is not testing us, but developing us.
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
So He is not tempting us, but what He is doing is growing us.
The writer here exhorts us to pay attention to the discipline and not becoming fatigued or losing of hope as He corrects us.
This is a direct quote from Proverbs 3.
11 My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof,
As a matter of fact if we look back in the O.T. to Job 5:17 we learn that the one corrected of God is blessed.
17 “Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty.
Why? Why is it a blessed thing to be corrected of the Lord?
Hebrews 12:6 (ESV)
6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
Walking Away, But In...
Walking Away, But In...
If you want renewal:
Draw near to God/Word.
Expect Persecution.
Relish Discipline .