Encourage One Another; Hebrews 3:12-15 & 10:24-25

Text: Hebrews 3:12-15; 10:24-25                                           9/25/2011

Thesis: We are to encourage one another out of sin and into love and good works.

As we look into God’s word this morning I want you to think about bricks. When bricks are made they must be hardened. The two most common ways bricks are hardened are either by firing them in an oven or baking them in the sun. Now think about your soul. How is your soul hardened? In Hebrews chapter 3 we are told that the deceitfulness of sin hardens us. Bricks are hardened by the sun. Christians are hardened by sin.

God in his grace has warned us about the effects of sin on our souls. It is not good that any of us be insensitive toward the Holy Spirit or cold and unresponsive to the God who is worthy of all glory and honor and power. So God in his grace has given us the means of escaping the soul numbing effects of sin. I think at this point it will not surprise you that the phrase “one another” has something to do with the cure. Loving one another and serving one another naturally lead to encouraging one another. As you love and serve others you will come face to face with that person’s weaknesses and struggles. When it happens (and it will) you have a decision to make, will you faithfully encourage your loved one or will you quietly let the hardening effects of sin take over? Will you come with biblical helpful encouragement or will you in bitterness add to the hardening of the soul? Be self-controlled sober-minded and prayerful God is calling us to encourage one another.

We’ll read two passages this morning: Hebrews 3:12-15 and 10:24-25.

 

I. Christians care for one another’s hearts (3:12; 10:24)

1. We must come alongside one another’s faith

Let’s take verses twelve and thirteen together, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

We must come alongside one another. The word ‘exhort’ in verse 13 literally means to call out to, appeal to, or beseech. The word in the original is parakaleo which sounds an awful lot like paraklete; a New Testament word for the Holy Spirit (John 14:16, 17, 26; 15:26). Paraklete describes the work of the Holy Spirit as he comes alongside the believer to comfort, guide, help, and encourage. And one of the ways the Holy Spirit acts as paraklete is through our faithfulness to exhort or parakaleo one another. The Spirit wants to exhort, comfort, help, encourage, and come alongside Christians through you.

Unfortunately we’ve defined “worthwhile ministry” as doing church stuff to the most people; the bigger the group the better the ministry must be. This error is precisely why it is easier to get someone to teach a Sunday school class than it is to get someone to come alongside and personally disciple an individual or couple; 10 people are worth the sacrifice but 2 are not. Let’s throw out this terrible mistake and define ministry in the church according to Scripture. Ministry is any opportunity you have to come alongside a brother or sister and encourage him/her to be more like Jesus.

In this sense everyone who claims the name of Jesus Christ is a minister. It is your responsibility and calling to find ways to help your faith family avoid unbelief and reject sin in all its deceitfulness. And we do this with words. Last week we looked at 1 Peter 4:11 and the speaking gifts, “whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God.” God has placed you in this church so that you will come alongside your brothers and sisters in order to call out the truth of God to them. Encourage one another’s faith.

Verses 12-15 are chalk full of the heart.

Protect one another from an unbelieving heart. Come alongside and encourage those struggling against sin; that’s heart work. Holding our original confidence firm to the end is all about clinging to and loving Christ our savior. Verse 15 warns us to obey and not harden our hearts against God. Our Father wants us to be concerned about what is going on inside of one another.

Let’s take stock for a moment. Of all the things that you and I have said over the last week what percentage would fall in the category of heart work? You see, as the Gospel decreases in our conversations then expect the deceitfulness of sin to increase. But, as Christ increases in our conversations expect faith and fruitfulness to increase. So how much Jesus was in your conversations with your spouse, your children, your church family, and your friends? Where there is sin let us repent and walk faithfully alongside one another.

What I want you to see in this passage is that Christians, plain ole followers of Christ care for one another’s hearts. The goal is that none of us is hardened by sin or refuses to obey God. Sharing Gospel truths with one another daily how we help one another. We come alongside and encourage one another’s faith with the truth of the Gospel. We exhort one another out of sin and into love and good works. And we should start small because

1. Unbelief always starts small

Israel’s unbelief in the wilderness started with the gathering of straw in Egypt. The moment God said, “let my people go” life became more difficult for his people. The temptation to complain and ultimately to believe God doesn’t care or isn’t going to change things always begins small. One author wrote, “How different might have been the story of the Israelites in the wilderness if only they had daily fostered among themselves a constant faith in God instead of mutually inciting a spirit of rebellion and unbelief!” (PE Hughes, 147) When faced with small things and little disappointments we will be tempted to complain and grumble to one another.

You must decide if you are going to be a grumbler who hurts the hearts of others or an encourager who guards the hearts of others. And I guarantee that if you don’t commit yourself to being an encourager you will be a complainer. We need encouragers. I need encouragers.

1. We need daily encouragers

What is the prescription for encouragement in Hebrews 3:13? Exhort one another daily. Church we are so blessed to have home phones, cell phones, text messaging, email, the real post office mail, facebook, something called google plus, and the like. Opportunities to encourage one another every day have never been easier. But with all of these advances has come a deceptive “busy-ness”. We’re too busy reading and listening to the mundane and meaningless to encourage someone with the magnificent and meaningful. Join me this week in a commitment to encourage one person a day with the hope of Christ. You might share a verse. You might share a phrase. You might point them to a helpful sermon or audio clip online. You might share something beneficial from this sermon. The point is that the people around you need daily encouragement from you.

Hebrews 10:24 puts it this way, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.”

God wants you to put some energy and thought into how you are going to help others along. Think about how you can help that person you’re mad at or frustrated with love and do God-things. Pray about it. Dig into the Word for it. Intentionally say something that is going to help that person love more and serve more. Dream with me about what this church will be like when husbands and wives are considering how to daily stir one another up and then we actually do it. What about when teenagers stop dreaming about the best come back line to slam someone and instead speak the gospel truth for the good of others? What about when grandparents are used by God to reverse the hardening effects of sin on their children and grandchildren? Church we need to get together and stick together

1. Hebrews 10:25 warns against unexcused absences

“Let us consider how to stir up on another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

Jesus is coming soon. In the mean time this world will go from bad to worse. You are not meant to make it through on your own. You were saved to encourage. The weaknesses in each of us cry out for gospel exhortations. Simply put, you cannot give what others need and you cannot receive what you need outside of the church. And I don’t mean just Sunday morning 11am worship. Hebrews 3 prescribes daily exhortation. Don’t neglect daily meeting together for encouragement around the Word.

The temptation here is to think that the problem is we are all too busy; too busy to give time daily to one another. But that’s just deceit. The problem isn’t that we’re too busy. The problem is a small unbiblical view of sin. We have downplayed the power of the world, the flesh, and the devil to distract and destroy us so we do not seek out daily encouragement. We have downplayed the power of the Holy Spirit working through us so we leave the real ministry for the big boys and girls. You have an enemy who wants to devour you and you have the Holy Spirit you wants to use you to keep others from being devoured. Meet together and encourage one another with the truth. I need it. You need it. We need it.

In 2 Corinthians 2:10 Paul tells the church not to be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs. Did you know that Satan’s plan is to keep you away from access to gospel-centered encouragement? He wants to get you off by yourself and deceive you. You and I need the church. Here’s why:

1. We often don’t see our sin that’s why it’s called deceitful

I begin to think that what I’m doing or saying is actually good or appropriate when it is not. I convince myself that I should be angry about what was said when I should not. I agree with my heart that what I’m going to do really isn’t all that bad when it is. The humble Christian who listens to the exhortations of his/her church will be well equipped to reject the deceitfulness of sin. The fragmented self-centered church will see its family members hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Think about oatmeal. I cook my oatmeal in the microwave which is incredibly quick and easy but potentially dangerous. If I don’t pay attention that oatmeal will boil over and make a big mess. If I don’t take care of that oatmeal, watching it, it will turn out badly for me. I will have a big hot mess. It’s not smart to touch boiling oatmeal so you have to let it cool. And here is the greater danger: forgetting or avoiding that spill. If you let that oatmeal harden in the microwave you are in for a big job.

Being the church is like cooking oatmeal in a microwave. We are to take heed of or watch one another. We are to stay close by one another daily helping one another along. We do this because we love and long to serve one another. We know what can happen when the oatmeal of life boils over and hardens so we exhort one another. And it’s a marathon.

1. We must come alongside one another to the end

Verse 14 is pretty much straight forward, “For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” Take care of one another and come alongside one another for the long haul. Those who do not remain in the faith, those who do not hold their original confidence firm to the end, do so because they never came to share in Christ. Look at verse 14. We have come to share in Christ IF we hold our original confidence firm to the end. Holding onto the Gospel to the end is the product of being joined to and sharing in Christ. Many people start well and make bold professions of faith but it is only those who cling to the Gospel and fight the hardening effects of sin and lean on their church and let people care for their hearts that have come to share in Christ. Anyone can start well but the pressures of life overtime will reveal if you have an evil unbelieving heart or if you have been made new in Christ (See Mark 4:1-20).

Being the church isn’t something we do for a couple of hours a week on a quarterly basis. Being the church means we see our need for brothers and sisters to come alongside of us and guard our hearts until death or Jesus returns. Being the church means we see the need of our brothers and sisters to have us come alongside their faith until death or Jesus returns.

Here is where it all begins

II. Listen to God

Look with me at verse 15, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

1. Do what God is leading you to do

If God is telling you right now that your faith is weak or you’ve been deceived by sin do what God is leading you to do. If years of sin have hardened you toward God and others then listen to his voice. Right now I want to offer you the chance to do what God is telling you to do.

If God is telling you right now to go and pray with someone or go encourage someone then do not harden your heart. There is great joy for us as we abide in Jesus’ love and obey his commands.

This is what we’ll do. Charlotte is going to play one verse of that great hymn Only Trust Him. As she does I want you to pray and ask God what he wants you to do. Weigh your thoughts against Scripture to be sure it’s not your sinful flesh speaking and do what God tells you; do not harden your heart. As we listen, pray that your faith family seated around you will do what God tells them to do.

 

Pray for Us; Hebrews 13:18-19

Text: Hebrews 13:18-19                                                 5/18/08 p.m.

Thesis: Pray brings unity and progress to a church

 

Intro: If we could do a quick sound-bite recap of the sermons from this letter to the Hebrews it would be obvious that there have been many hard things said.

The author even calls the letter “a word of exhortation” in chapter 13 verse 22.

Their tradition was drawing them away from Christ and they had to be told their tradition was wrong.

They thought they were mature men and women but in all honesty they were still elementary children in their thinking.

They had won a hard fought battle of faith and were tempted to coast. They had to be told to get ready because God would bring even greater difficulty.

They had to be told to obey and submit to their leaders with a good attitude.

You’re wrong, you’re a bunch of babies, you’re growing lazy, you need to do what you are told, and you need to be happy about it.

But this pastor is not being mean or tyrannical in his writing. Out of a love for Christ and a correct understanding of Christ’s great work of atonement love pours from his pen.

This pastor says what needs to be said because he knows Christ and wants the church to know Christ as well.

Love always leads us to say and do hard things. That means love always leads us to the need for prayer.

It is no surprise that as we come to the close of this Spirit-inspired letter we see a genuine plea for prayer.

This pastor calls on the church he loves to pray for him.

 

Read Hebrews 13:18-19

 

I) Prayer is necessary

a)      When you attempt hard things you will feel your need for prayer

i)        He says to them, “All of you keep praying for us.”

ii)      He’s not asking the prayer warriors to keep an annual prayer vigil. Because he knows his great need he is demanding that the young and the old continue in prayer for their church leaders.

iii)    He wants to be restored to them. There is separation that breaks the heart of this pastor. He can’t stand to just write them a letter.

iv)    The desire is to be with them. Pen and paper though beneficial fall short of the encouragement and potential of being together face-to-face on a regular basis.

v)      He wants to personally show them the splendor of Christ that far surpasses the beauty of the Old Covenant.

vi)    He wants to work with them side by side so that they will grow strong in the faith.

vii)  He wants to be the type of man who cares for their souls and engenders their willingness to follow him.

viii)            “Pray for us” is not a phrase this pastor feels he has to say in order to keep up the appearance of godliness.

ix)    “Pray for us” is the command of a pastor who knows God’s call on his life is far greater than his own personal abilities. He needs the spiritual assistance of those he loves and longs to lead to Christ.

x)      He also knows that he must be a pastor striving to be the man he is calling them to be.

b)      Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience

i)        This call to prayer is not the last ditch effort of a man who has failed in character and conduct so now he’s going to try the prayer thing.

ii)      This pastor according to Hebrews 10:22 has had his heart sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and his body washed with pure water.

iii)    According to Hebrews 9:14 the powerful blood of Jesus Christ has purified his conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

iv)    He is convinced that because of the atoning work of Jesus Christ his conscience is good.

v)      He has said hard things but for all the right reasons.

vi)    What was done needed to be done. What was said needed to be said.

vii)  Through Christ this pastor has been faithful so he calls on the church not to pray for his restoration because of some sin but to pray because he has been faithful.

c)      His desire was to act honorably in all things

i)        This is helpful for us as we continue to grow up in Jesus Christ. A clear conscience is not based on the fact that a person agrees to some facts about Jesus Christ.

ii)      A clear conscience is based on the work of Christ that leads a person to obey Christ.

Titus 2:14 says Jesus Christ, “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

iii)    When we understand the amazing work of Jesus Christ for us it makes us pure and it empowers us for ministry.

iv)    Right faith in Christ doesn’t just lead to wanting to go to church. Right faith in Christ leads to a desire to live honorably in all things.

v)      Following Christ will cause you to do things that some people do not like and say things some people do not want to hear.

vi)    What we must do is call on people to pray for us, be sure that we are acting on faith in Christ, and strive to live in a manner pleasing to God in every aspect of our lives.

vii)  This pastor could call on his church to pray because his conscience was clear and his live was characterized by a desire for holiness.

viii)            What is encouraging for us is that this man of enduring godliness still needed help.

II) We help each other through prayer

Read verse 19

a)      When we grasp the power of prayer it will drive us to pray more and ask for more prayer.

i)        The person who has tasted the power of God is a person who joyfully asks for prayer.

ii)      It’s not a statement of weakness to ask for prayer it is a statement of faith. I know God is able to help so I need you all to pray for God’s help.

iii)    Do you see the urgency in the voice of this pastor?  More exceedingly I encourage this.

iv)    I beseech you to pray. I urge you to pray. I particularly urge you to pray.

v)      These are not the words of a washed up rock bottom has been.  These are the words of a powerful man of God who knows where his power comes from.

vi)    A prayer request is never a sign of weakness. A prayer request is a sign of faith.

vii)  Here’s the specific request

b)      Pray earnestly for my restoration

i)        We are not given the specifics of what he needed to be restored from.  Obviously his readers would have known.

ii)      It is possible that he could be imprisoned but that does not seem to be the best fit for the content of the letter.

iii)    Timothy has probably been in prison and the wording is different concerning Timothy’s situation and this pastor’s situation.

iv)    It seems better to understand that because of the persecution in this Christian community their pastor is not able to immediately return to them.

v)      Prisoners during these times were allowed access to the outside world in a way foreign to our prison system today.

vi)    If their pastor was down town in the city jail they could see him and he could see them.

vii)  But in verse 23 he talks also of his desire to see them when he joins up with Timothy.

viii)            So, he’s probably in a foreign country driven and kept there by the level of persecution in this community.

ix)    Though he is separated from them and kept out by hostile forces this pastor trusts God.

x)      He’s like Mordecai talking with Esther

“For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14)

xi)    This pastor is sure of God’s work of restoration but he also is sure of the fact that God has placed these people in this situation to do something about it.

xii)  Like Esther going before King Ahasuerus the congregation is to go before the King of the Universe and ask for the quick restoration of their pastor to them.

xiii)            And God will answer their prayer. God will do his great work. God will fulfill his perfect will.

xiv)            This man of God will be restored to the church of God because the people of God prayed.

xv)  I pray and I call on you to pray not simply because God tells us to pray. I pray and urge you to pray because the prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective.

xvi)            Prayers coming from a clear conscience and an honorable life accomplish God’s work.

III) Conclusion

a)      Turn in your bibles to Hebrews chapter 4 verse 14

i)        Read verses 14-16

ii)      If you are a Christian you are in need.  If you are a Christian in need the sovereign God of the universe is inviting you right now to draw near to Him through faith in Christ.

iii)    God is inviting you right now to trust in Jesus who knows what it’s like to be tempted like you are.

iv)    This Jesus who knows your temptation and has beaten your temptation will shower on you the mercy and grace you need to feel your conscience cleaned.

v)      This Jesus will give you the grace and mercy you need to live an honorable life in every area of that life.

vi)    There is no reason not to pray and there is every encouragement to pray.

vii)  We are not going to sing. We are going to pray. Confess your sins. Praise God. Ask God to meet your needs. Plead with God that he would bring unity to this church and use you to do it.

viii)            As your pastor I urge you to earnestly pray for me. Pray I will live strong in the Lord with a clear conscience. Pray that because of Christ I will act honorably in all things.

ix)    As God’s beloved children let’s pray to our gracious father through faith in Christ Jesus.

To Your Advantage; Hebrews 13:17

Text: Hebrews 13:17                                                       5/11/08 p.m.

Thesis: A church that functions properly is full of advantages.

 

Intro: Tonight I want to show you one of God’s many and wonderful truths.

The truth is a church that functions properly is full of advantages.

Our passage tonight makes a distinction between church leaders and the congregation, the pastors and the members.

When these two groups faithfully fulfill God’s calling on their lives there is a harvest of joy.

The sad thing is we do not have to look very far to find the harvest of pain that is brought in when these two groups deny God’s calling on their lives.

We’ll look at one verse tonight, Hebrews 13:17, and see what God has to say to these two groups in the church.

 

Read Hebrews 13:7-17

 

I) God calls leaders to lead

a)      To lead means to live in such a way so that others hear what you have to say and follow your directions.

i)        Again, as with last week, we have the illustration of Joseph ruling over Egypt.

Acts 7:9&10 say, “And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him ¹⁰ and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household.

ii)      God made Joseph ruler, or leader, over Egypt. Ruler in Acts 7:10 and leader in Hebrews 13:17 are the same words.

iii)    You see, God places men in authority positions for the benefit of others.  Through Joseph God provided the provision needed to keep His chosen people alive.

iv)    God gave Joseph oversight of the raising and storing of grain so that Egypt could be a blessing to the nations.

v)      So, with the humility of a child and the lowliness of a servant leaders must exercise authority in the church for the benefit of others.

vi)    For a marriage and a church to work properly God has ordained different roles. God makes a distinction between church leaders and the congregation as a whole.

vii)  God does this in the same way that he makes a distinction between the roles of a husband and a wife.

viii)            The husband leads and loves his wife the way Christ leads and loves the church.

ix)    Under the authority of Christ, pastors lead and love the church.

x)      And we need to be clear that leading is more than preaching.  Preaching is a large part of leading but so is setting the direction of the church as God leads.

xi)    God gives leaders to the church so that it can be clear where the church is headed and how the church will arrive there.

xii)  I admit this is one of my weaknesses as a pastor but through the power, love, and self-control given by the Holy Spirit my weakness will work out for the glory of Christ and the building of this church.

xiii)            I do not pretend that means I need to just sit back and wait on God. I must do the work of seeking God, listening to the wisdom of others, and articulating the vision God gives.

xiv)            During either the 1^st or 2^nd week of June I plan on getting away for a few days to pray, fast, study, and worship with the express purpose of finding out how God wants me to lead Mambrino Baptist Church.

xv)  When that day gets closer I will let you all know so you can be in prayer for me.

xvi)            What I hope comes from that time and the years ahead is the development of a clear plan for making disciples.

xvii)          In Hebrews 13:17 God tells me that the day is coming when I will stand before Him and give an explanation for how I led this church.

xviii)        I must keep watch over your souls as one who will give an account.

xix)            A pastor must speak and lead in such a manner that souls are clearly challenged by the commands of Christ.

xx)  There should be no lost person who enters this church that does not understand God’s command to repent (Acts 17:30).

xxi)            There should be no Christian who enters this church that does not understand the call to follow Christ with their entire life.

xxii)          I will give an account for every encouraging word spoken rightly as well as every encouraging word that I did not utter when it was needed.

xxiii)        I will give an account for every word of correction spoken right as well as every word of correction that I did not utter when it was needed.

xxiv)        I will give an account for how I handled God’s Word and led you to follow Christ.

xxv)          You are ultimately responsible for your soul. But if I do not sound the alarm and you are taken away by your sin then your blood will be required on my head.

xxvi)        Every leader leads out of love for Christ and the church for whom Christ died.

xxvii)      Every leader leads knowing that God will require a reckoning for every soul on the church role.

xxviii)    God calls pastors to lead and

II) God calls church members to follow their pastors’ leadership

a)      Obey your leaders and submit to them

i)        To obey means to hear someone and to act accordingly.

ii)      This is what he said to do so this is what I will do. That is against our natures so we need the Spirit’s help.

iii)    To submit means to willingly put oneself under the loving authority of another.

iv)    That also is against our natures so we need the Spirit’s help.

v)      Now a person does not need to be told to do something that they do naturally and joyfully.

vi)    I do not need to tell Abigail to splash in the puddles after the rain.

vii)  But when something is against our wills and not what we would consider a good idea we need to be told to obey and submit.

viii)            Abigail needs to be told to clean up her toys before we go outside and play.

ix)    I need to be told to lead and you need to be told to obey and submit.

x)      But here’s the grace of God. When we do what we do not naturally want to do namely lead, obey, and submit it is for our advantage.

xi)    When we joyfully fulfill God’s calling His will is done, lives are changed, and the kingdom of Jesus Christ moves forward.

xii)  But when we buck, when like the Apostle Paul we kick against the goads, we find ourselves kicking against God which never works out in our favor.

xiii)            The advantages are many. There is the blessing of unity. There is the blessing of souls being saved. There is the blessing of broken lives being restored.

xiv)            God intends for this church to be a powerful tool for bringing the good news of Christ to every living room and to the ends of the earth.

xv)  Are you willing to work and sacrifice for that? If so, it will be to your advantage.

xvi)            If you are not willing to work and sacrifice for that then coming to church will just plain ole stink.

xvii)          I want to lead and I want you to follow so that everyone is blessed. For that to happen we must all sacrifice and when we do everyone will taste the advantage of obedience.

Be Sanctified- Hebrews 13:7-16

Text: Hebrews 13:7-16                                                   4/20/08 p.m.

Thesis: God uses people and Christ particularly for our sanctification.

 

Intro: 1 Thessalonians 4:3 says, “for this is the will of God, your sanctification.”

God’s great purpose for your life is to make you look more like Jesus at the end of the day than you did at the beginning of the day.

I have to remind myself that a successful day is not a day when I get to check everything off the to-do list.

A successful day is when I end up more like Jesus than when I began. And a successful day is when I am used to help others look more like Jesus when they began.

Since this is what we are after and since this is what God is after we can assume there will be some difficulty along the way.

Our flesh, this world, and the Devil will battle against us so we better have a game plan for sanctification.

Hebrews 13:7-16 gives us that game plan. In Hebrews 13 we are told by God how to be sanctified.

 

Read Hebrews 13:7-16

 

I) God uses dead people for our sanctification

a)      If we’re going to grow we need to get to know people who know the Lord.

i)        Read verse 7

ii)      Every one of us no matter our age needs someone to look up to but e must be selective in choosing our heroes.

iii)    Long dead people make good heroes because there has been time for all the skeletons to come out. And history has time to shift through their contribution and decide if it’s worth or not.

iv)    A worthy contribution is speaking the word of God to you. You can find any number of people who will teach you how to cook meth and make bags of money.

v)      But everything that can be taught is not worth learning. Be selective in what you are learning. God will use Word-saturated people greatly in your lives.

vi)    Seek these people out and listen to them.

vii)  But notice as well that it’s not enough just to get the bible right. We must also consider the outcome of their way of life.

viii)            How did their kids turn out? How did their marriage turn out? Did they make a positive impact on the church? Did they serve and share the gospel with their neighbors?

ix)    Were they growing in Christ up to the point of death?

x)      Don’t waste your time holding up people who did one thing well like go to church every Sunday but their families are a wreck.

xi)    Find someone who was word-saturated and by that I mean the gospel was brought to bear on every circumstance of life.

xii)  Find that person and imitate their faith. Don’t do what they did. Don’t try to be a copy or clone of that person. God doesn’t want that.

xiii)            Believe what they believed about Jesus because it’s what they believed about Jesus that caused them to live the life they lived and have the outcome they had.

xiv)            The way we do things will always change but Jesus will never change.

xv)  Verse 8 says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

xvi)            This verse teaches the immutability of Jesus Christ; the unchanging eternal quality of God the Son.

xvii)          Remember, God’s will is your sanctification and God uses dead people who lived for Jesus to make us more like Jesus.

II) God uses Christ-bought grace for our sanctification

a)      If we are going to grow we need to avoid fillers

i)        Read verse 9

ii)      There apparently was this strange teaching floating around this Hebrew church in regards to the spiritual benefits of foods.

iii)    All things considered it’s not all that strange when you think about the Old Testament Passover meal. A person could very easily begin to think that there was some spiritual benefit to be gained simply by eating that meat.

iv)    In the church today there are even entire denominations that teach there is spiritual benefit to be had by simply eating the bread and drinking the wine of the Lord’s Supper.

v)      But according to the Bible it is grace and not food that benefits us.

vi)    It is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace. It is good for the guilty heart to feed on grace.

vii)  It is good for the discouraged heart to feed on grace. It is good for the frustrated or wounded heart to feed on grace.

viii)            We want to be devoted to a Passover meal, the Lord’s Supper, an all natural diet, or even an all blue bell diet but those give no benefit.

ix)    The Jew, the catholic, the vegan, the food-addict, and the anorexic all devote themselves to some aspect of food but they gain no heart-benefit.

x)      The heart is strengthened by grace and this is a good thing. So seek grace and avoid fillers.

b)      If we’re going to grow we need to understand Christ

i)        There is so much to Christ. I’ve been a Christian for 21 years now and I’ve only begun to scratch the surface of what Christ is all about.

ii)      The further up and the further in we go the more we will grow. Let’s go further up and further in.

iii)    Read verses 10 &11

iv)    This is an allusion to the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. Remember, once a year the high priest would sacrifice a bull for his own sins and a perfect lamb for the sins of the people.

v)      The blood would be collected, taken into the holy of holies, and sprinkled on the mercy seat which was pretty much the cover of the ark of the covenant.

vi)    There were many sacrifices commanded in the Old Testament and the priests would be survive because God would allow them to eat all or a portion of the sacrifices the people brought.

vii)  Do you remember the wicked sons of Eli? They were going around and instead of using a hook to pull out the priests’ portion of the sacrificed meat they were demanding the best cuts (1 Sam 2:1-14).

viii)            Some sacrifices could be eaten but others, particularly the sin sacrifices on the Day of Atonement, could not be eaten. The blood was collected and the bodies of the bull and lamb were taken outside of the city and burned.

ix)    In relation to the altar in the temple and tabernacle some sacrificial food could be eaten and some could not.

x)      Hebrews 13:10 says we have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat.

xi)    The church has an altar where even the high priest isn’t invited to bring a fork and come eat.

xii)  It doesn’t matter how many laws you keep, it doesn’t matter how ritually clean you are, it doesn’t matter what your lineage is, if it’s outside the camp and you’re inside the camp you don’t get to eat it.

xiii)            We must understand that Christ is outside the camp.

xiv)            Read verse12

xv)  The day of Jesus’ death is THE Day of Atonement.

xvi)            The ultimate price for the forgiveness of sins was paid by Jesus outside the gate.

xvii)          You don’t get to have your Old Testament sacrifices and Jesus too.  You don’t get to bat both ways.

xviii)        You’re all in or it’s nothing at all.

xix)            If you’re all in than Jesus’ sufferings are for you. The sufferings of his righteous life are for the purpose of securing our righteousness.

xx)  The sufferings of Christ to pay for sins are not for the purpose of paying some vague amount of some unknown people’s sins.

xxi)            Jesus suffered under God’s righteous demands because of your sins and because of mine.

xxii)          Christ’s blood was poured out on Calvary in order to fulfill God’s will: our sanctification.

xxiii)        How serious is God about His church looking like His Son? God is dead serious about us growing up to look like Jesus.

xxiv)        To sanctify something is to make it holy; it is to make it useful for God.

xxv)          Jesus died for your sanctification that means it is a sure thing. If you are a Christian you will be sanctified.

xxvi)        And we now understand that the cross is not just about buying forgiveness. The cross is also about securing our sanctification.

xxvii)      The Day of Atonement has found it’s fulfillment and completion in the atoning work of Christ.

c)      The benefit of Christ’s work for sanctification is experienced when we go out to him

i)        Read verses 13 &14

ii)      Salvation and sanctification are not entirely beautiful things. There is a great deal of humiliation involved in salvation and sanctification.

iii)    There is first the humiliation or reproach of Christ and then there is the call on every Christian to go out and join in the humiliation.

iv)    The cross is a scandal.  Look at the cross. Our sin is so bad this is what it demands.

v)      Look at the cross. God’s wrath toward sin is real and it is consuming.

vi)    The world does not want to bear that kind of reproach. The world does not want to bear the humiliation of repentance for sins.

vii)  Tell them God loves them. Tell them God has a great plan for their lives but do not tell them to go outside of the camp and join themselves to Christ.

viii)            Tell them everything except how to be saved.

ix)    Verses 13 and 14, sanctification and salvation call for an abandonment of all other means of gaining favor with God.

x)      After the Exodus and the golden calf incident God told Moses to move the tent of meeting outside of the camp.

xi)    Remember, the tent of meeting was the forerunner for the tabernacle which was the forerunner for the temple.

xii)  God would come down in a pillar of smoke and speak to Moses in the Tent of Meeting.

xiii)            The Tent of Meeting started out inside the camp. Inside camp was pure. Outside camp was unholy.

xiv)            After the people turned their hearts from God in the golden calf incident the Tent of Meeting went outside of camp. If you wanted to meet with God you had to leave camp.

xv)  Jesus was crucified outside of the city. Wouldn’t it have been more impressive for someone during the trial of Jesus in the temple to have shot him with an arrow or stabbed him and then he bleed out on the very altar where the sacrificial lamb bled out?

xvi)            God could have done something and that would have been a great event sealing the connection between the Old and New covenants.

xvii)          That didn’t happen because God is not interested in smoothing out the differences in the Old and New Covenants.

xviii)        There is a clear break between the two. It’s not about that altar. It’s not about that temple. It’s not even about Jerusalem. We have no lasting city here.

xix)            We’re seeking Christ and the His city that is to come.

xx)  So, we too must go out after Him. We must leave behind our empty traditions. We must leave behind the tatter rags of the way things used to be.

xxi)            Our commitment is not to tradition. Our commitment is not to an idea called Mambrino Baptist Church. Our commitment is to Christ and our sanctification depends on us leaving this city behind and going hard after Christ.

xxii)          But that also does not mean we do not have a sacrifice to give.

III) God calls us to give our lives as living sacrifices.

Read verses 15 &16

a)      We will grow in Christ as we strive to praise God

i)        The sacrificial worship that pleases God is worship that is offered to God through Christ.

ii)      Christians must be intentional not just to think nice thoughts and say nice things to God.

iii)    We must work to remind ourselves that nice thoughts about God and saying nice things to God is possible only because of the work of Jesus.

iv)    We must give him the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.  We’re talking about the product of hearts that bow to the sovereign Lord.

v)      We’re talking about the overflow of hearts that see Christ as primary and everything else as secondary.

vi)    Let me tell you if you are not intentional to continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God throughout the week, when you come in here on a Sunday you’re going to stink it up.

vii)  If our lips don’t acknowledge him Monday through Saturday how can we expect just to show up and our hearts and lips go to work for Christ on Sunday?

viii)            Faithful worship on Sunday that pleases God is a product of faithful worship Monday through Saturday that pleases God.

ix)    Put the work in to praise God throughout the week and I guarantee it will bring great blessings on Sundays.

x)      But this is a mega-gospel we’re talking about isn’t it? It’s not just a matter of singing it’s a matter of living.

xi)    Verse 16 says, “do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”

xii)  A heart that is gives throughout the week is a heart that will be ready to give on a Sunday.

xiii)            If you are working to give love to your neighbors, to your spouse, to your kids, and to your coworkers through the week then it will make it so much easier to give love to God when the church gathers.

xiv)            Every one of us has something to share. I love it when the pears start showing up in the foyer.

xv)  The sacrifice to pick those pears, bring them up here, and share them is pleasing to God.

xvi)            Every one of us has been given a gift to share. It could be pears or it could be preaching.

xvii)          It could be a small thing or it could be a big thing. It could be humiliating to share or humiliation to tell the church you have a need.

xviii)        It pleases God when the church makes it’s needs known to each other and then responds to meet those needs.

xix)            I want to give you an opportunity to make your needs known to the church tonight. It may be sanctification or it may be a pair of socks. What do you need and how can we help? Would you tell us?

Radical Christianity; Hebrews 13:1-6

Text: Hebrews 13:2-6                                                     4/20/08 p.m.

Thesis:  Radical Christianity is life lived content in Christ and fearless.

 

Intro: I want to issue a call tonight for radical Christianity. By radical Christianity I do not mean that you should move to a foreign country.

In all honesty moving to a foreign country is no longer all that radical. With the advances of transportation, communication, and global medicine leaving this place for a different place isn’t all that spectacular.

By radical Christianity I mean real Christianity: living a life content and fearless in Christ in your home, in your neighborhood, and in your city.

Honestly as a denomination we cannot currently support the number of people waiting for missionary deployment.

We don’t need an uprising of people who will go and live radical Christian lives overseas.

We need ministers and business men and retirees and soccer moms and teenagers to live life content and fearless because of Christ.

What I want to do tonight from Hebrews 13 is describe for you the wonderfully simple radically real Christian life.

And I pray God will raise up radical Christians.

Read Hebrews 13:1-6

 

I) Radical Christianity is based on brotherly love

a)      Brotherly love begins with Christ

i)        Turn to Hebrews 2:11-13

ii)      It has been my intention over the past month to point you again and again to God’s great work through Christ that makes us family.

iii)    God’s will was never just to keep individuals out of hell. God’s desire has always been to redeem a people through Christ who would eternally and corporately worship Christ with their lives.

iv)    We are a gift from God to Christ and one day Jesus will lovingly return us fully redeemed to the Father.

v)      Even today Jesus is in our midst worshipping the Father and telling us all of the Father’s magnificent glory.

vi)    Jesus speaks to us as brothers; we are like children Christ has redeemed for God the Father.

vii)  Radical Christianity is not first about loving strangers across the street or across the sea.

viii)            Christianity is first about loving the person across the pew because you both have been redeemed by Christ and made members of God’s family.

ix)    It is when we love each other in the local church that we prove we have begun to understand what Jesus came to do.

x)      To make this radical Christianity happen we have to reject the Southern Baptist myth that the more we do the more successful we are.

xi)    Real Christianity is not a monstrous multiplication of ministries or being up here every night of the week.

xii)  Radical Christianity is all about simplifying our lives both on and off this property so that we are free to live passionately for the glory of Christ and the good of others. It’s sacrificially meeting the needs of others.

xiii)            Radical Christianity is based on brotherly love and

II) Radical Christianity is showing hospitality to strangers

a)      Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers

i)        Positively put, we should show hospitality to strangers.

ii)      Hospitality is the word philozenia. Philo is love and zenia is stranger.

iii)    Brotherly love is the word Philadelphia

iv)    Unfortunately our English translations have removed the obvious call on the church to love those outside of our immediate group.

v)      Verse 2 is literally “The love of strangers do not forget”

vi)    Don’t get so busy that you unknowingly push loving brothers and strangers out of your daily life.

vii)  We don’t have to be told, “Don’t be mean to strangers” that’s not the issue.

viii)            But we do have to be told, “Don’t neglect to love people you don’t know.”

ix)    Don’t get so wrapped up in business as usual that you miss being used by God in life-changing ways.

x)      Don’t get so busy with ‘ministry’ that you stop caring for people and meeting their real needs.

xi)    How much have we missed because we just forget to be salt and light to the world around us?

xii)  One thing we have missed is the blessing of God.

xiii)            Some people have entertained angels without knowing it. I believe this is true for Abraham in the Old Testament and it’s true for us today.

Hebrews 1:14 says, “Are they (meaning angels) not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?”

xiv)            Angels throughout time have given direction to God’s people, strengthened the faith of God’s people, and some even drug Lot out of Sodom and Gomorrah so that he would not perish.

xv)  Do not be ashamed to realize that loving strangers will bless your life. It will cost you but it will bless you.

xvi)            Read verse 3

III) Radical Christianity is dangerous

a)      Join those who are in prison for the faith

i)        By calling the Christian to remember those in prison, God is calling on us to reach out physically, emotionally, and spiritually to those who are being persecuted for their faith in Christ.

ii)      We do need to minister to those who are in prison because of a sin they committed but that’s not the main meaning of this text.

iii)    I want Hebrews 10:32-34 to be in your heads here like it would have been in the heads of those people who read this letter in the first century. (read 10.32-34)

iv)    Following God meant going against the laws of the land and some people in the church were thrown in prison for their faithfulness.

v)      This has happened throughout history and we should not be surprised when it happens to us here at Mambrino Baptist Church.

vi)    A Christian never breaks rules for the sake of breaking rules or making a point. A Christian follows God no matter what.

vii)  To them obedience to God is more important than obedience to the laws of man.

viii)            And when fellow Christians lose their property or their freedom for following God the church needs to remember them.

ix)    Think about them like you are with them behind bars.

x)      Put yourself in their shoes and radically minister to them. As days turn to months and months turn to years we will be tempted to forget about those people.

xi)    Let brotherly love continue by not forgetting.

xii)  Church history has seen fellow members sacrifice so that they could bring food, clothing, and even bribe guards in order to spend the night with fellow members who were imprisoned.

xiii)            Remember those who are in prison and

b)      Remember those who are mistreated

i)        Mistreated means persecuted for the faith. Remember those who are physically persecuted, financially persecuted, mocked, and abused for the faith.

ii)      You have a body just like the person being mistreated. When negative things are done to a person it hurts.

iii)    Strive to love a brother or sister to the extent that when they hurt you hurt.

iv)    Think this way: sharing prayer requests should be a gut-wrenching affair because we hurt with each other.

v)      The big hurdle is we don’t love each other enough to share the gut-wrenching requests.

vi)    We are very quick to tell the church about everyone else’s pain but very slow to tell the church about our own pain.

vii)  We are the body and when the body functions properly it is impossible for one member to hurt and the rest of the body not know about it.

viii)            A healthy church is a body where no one is alone and everyone is together.

ix)    When we consistently follow Christ loving our brothers and sisters in Christ and loving strangers it will bring us into dangerous situations.

x)      Living for Christ may get us thrown into prison or cost us our possessions.

xi)    Being in the center of God’s will may actually be the most dangerous place to be.

xii)  Radical Christianity is dangerous and

IV) Radical Christianity is satisfying

Read verse 4

a)      The premise here is that God always provides the way of escape when we are tempted and the way of escape is better than the temptation.

i)        Sexual immorality is the temptation to find physical pleasure outside of marriage.

ii)      Marriage is a blessing given to humanity.

1 Corinthians 7:8&9, “To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am. ⁹ But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion.”

iii)      God has given us marriage, a covenant relationship between one man and one woman for our good.

iv)    Any sexual thought or deed committed outside of the marriage covenant is immorality.

v)      Adultery is sexual infidelity committed by someone who has entered the marriage covenant.

vi)    In response, the church should honor marriage because it is a blessing and it guards against sexual immorality.

vii)  The church should honor the marriage bed because it is a blessing and it guards against adultery.

viii)            1 Timothy 6 has a lot to say to our current passage so I want to read 1^st Timothy 6:17

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.

ix)    God provides the safety of the marriage covenant and the satisfaction of the marriage bed for us to enjoy.

x)      1^st Timothy 4 says it is the doctrine of demons and insincere liars who forbid marriage and certain foods which God gave us to enjoy.

xi)    God’s rules are not intended to keep us from having fun. God’s rules are intended to increase our satisfaction through Him and guard us from destroying ourselves.

xii)  God will judge those who are sexually immoral and adulterers. Do you want that? Does that sound like fun?

xiii)            Get married and enjoy a radically satisfying life lived God’s way.

xiv)            Radical Christianity is satisfying and

V) Radical Christianity is all about being content

Read verse 5

a)      The satisfied Christian is an individual who fights to keep Christ at the center of all his/her affections.

i)        Don’t be greedy and be content often feels like God is saying, “stop breathing like a human and start breathing like a fish.”

ii)      Don’t breath by sucking in gas, breath by sucking in water. That’s how we feel when we are told to be content. It feels impossible.

iii)    But the key to being content is ours. Being joyfully satisfied with who you are, what you are doing, and what you have is experienced through the satisfying presence of God.

iv)    Being content is not about having stuff but about knowing God.

v)      Read verse 5 again

vi)    For too long the church has bought into the American dream.  If you are successful you will be happy.

vii)  And successful is defined as having enough money to do the things you want to do.

viii)            The house with acreage, that dream car, the perfect vacation, a reputation for being successful, a weekend home, or just enough to feel comfortable until you die.

ix)    Greed is working over time to pay off the boat as much as it is fretting over paying for Christmas presents during retirement.

x)      We must fight greed with a greater satisfaction: walking with the creator God who will never leave or forsake us.

xi)    I don’t think there are many of us in here fretting over paying off the boat we never use but I bet it’s fair to say many of us worry that we will disappoint our friends, kids, and grandkids by the low sticker price of the gifts we give.

xii)  We’d rather have their approval than God’s approval.

xiii)            So let’s be honest, living the radical life of faith doesn’t just happen. But as we love each other, love strangers, and engage in difficult situations our faith in Christ and our experience of contentment in the presence of God will increase.

xiv)            For many of us writing another tithe check every month wouldn’t be that big of a sacrifice but regularly engaging the widow and the orphan would push us into a brave new world.

xv)  I want to push you into a brave new world of confidence.

VI) Finally, radical Christianity is confident

Read verse 6

a)      To live real Christianity we need help

i)        It is true; being in the center of God’s will is the safest place to be because God has promised to bring you into his eternal rest.

ii)      If you die you go to heaven. That’s a sure thing.

iii)    But being in the center of God’s will can put you into situations that get you to heaven faster.

iv)    So, we need help to get over our fear of pain and our fear of death. I’m not necessarily talking about fear of physical pain but fear of the pain of being offended by others, taken advantage of by others, or being made fun of by others.

v)      It’s the fear that says my grandkids will love me more if I buy them what they want instead of giving them the brotherly love that they need.

vi)    What can man do to me? A whole lot. Man can kill you, persecute you, torture you, take your stuff, and try to make you miserable.

vii)  The radical side is displayed in the confidence of a person who is satisfied in Christ in the face of death, persecution, torture, confiscation, and being forgotten.

viii)            God won’t leave me, God won’t forsake me, Christ is my helper, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

ix)    I will not fear. I will love my church. I will love the strangers. I will minister to those in need. I will be satisfied in my marriage. I will be content with God.

x)      I will live a radical Christian life.

xi)    Let’s join together and pray for a pastor who is radical, deacons who are radical, Sunday School teachers who are radical, retirees who are radical, parents who are radical, teenagers who are radical, and children who are radical.

xii)  Let’s pray that Mambrino Baptist Church becomes Radical Baptist Church.

 

Brotherly Love- Hebrews 13:1

Text: Hebrews 13:1                                                         4/13/08 p.m.

Thesis: We must work to strengthen our love for one another

 

Intro: Guys, I don’t know if you realize it but we’ve come a long way in 3 1/2 years.

Our Members’ Meetings of today compared to our Business Meetings in 2004 are almost night and day different.

It’s not because of some name change. The change has been born out of heart change.

There are three things I want for us as a church. I want us all to grow personally in Christ. I want us to grow as a church in Christ. And I want us to impact our community for Christ.

Here they are again, personal growth, church growth, and community impact.

Let me recap some of the amazing things we’ve seen just in the last year that reflect growth personally, as a church, and as we impact our community.

Our personal stand to love the revealed word of God by joining the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention is huge.

Our names are in the latest edition of the CrossRoads magazine kind of a cool deal.

Guys, that was a big deal.  But even bigger than that was the way we treated each other in the process.

I do not know of any member that we lost because of that decision. And I know of numerous conversations that were had, born out of love for each other, that kept us together and moving forward.

I am proud of our display of brotherly love for each other in that whole process.

Our children’s Sunday school teachers have gone for training and we’re going to implement some new curriculum with our kids that will strengthen their personal knowledge and love for Christ.

I am so excited about that and it’s going to start in June.

I went to the first meeting ready and prepared to do the hard work of convincing and it wasn’t necessary.

A love for these kids and a love for Scripture made the transition so easy and joyful for me.

There has been an outpouring of love and support for families in this church over the past year that greatly exalts Christ.

Support for Selina and Chelsey has been strong.

Support for the Heneburys has been strong.

Support for Ota and the family through Sabrina’s death was strong.

I’m excited about what God is doing in us and through us here at Mambrino Baptist Church we must work to keep it going.

I want us to look at one verse together tonight and then we’ll have our members’ meeting

 

Read Hebrews 13:1

 

I) What is brotherly love? What are we after?

a)      Brotherly love is love that is kind, sympathetic, and helpful

i)        Remember, there are three things I want for us. I want personal growth, church growth, and community impact.

ii)      Church growth is all about brotherly love.

iii)    When I say church growth I don’t mean mainly numerical growth. That idea is there but it is the minority idea not the majority.

iv)    By church growth I mean a strengthening of the church, a coming together of the church, a deepening of relationships in the church.

v)      That’s what I mean by church growth. How do we get there?

vi)    1 Thessalonians 4:9, “Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another.”

vii)  If you are a Christian you know all about brotherly love because God taught you.

viii)            You didn’t go to the university of God or God High School. Every Christian was taught brotherly love through the life and work of Christ.

ix)    1 John 3:16, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”

x)      The more we know about Christ, the more we grow personally in the faith, the more the church will grow.

xi)    How does Jesus show his love for us?

xii)  Even before the foundation of the world he committed to die for us so that we could be redeemed (Rev 13.8)

xiii)            Jesus committed to die for us and our names where written in the book of life even before God created the heavens and the earth.

xiv)            Jesus was shaping the history of the Old Testament in order to build up to and explain what his coming would be all about.

xv)  We have Noah so we can know the glory of salvation through one man.

xvi)            We have Abraham so we can know the provision of a sacrifice for God’s chosen people.

xvii)          We have David so we can know the glory of the coming sinless and all powerful king.

xviii)        We have God’s faithfulness to the Hebrew people so we can know his great love for sinners.

xix)            And then Jesus takes on flesh. Out of love Jesus becomes a helpless babe.

xx)  Out of love Jesus faithfully obeys God in all things. Out of love for us Jesus fulfills all righteousness because he knows we cannot fulfill one iota of righteousness.

xxi)            Out of love Jesus lays down his life for us. Knowing the heartache knowing the excruciating pain Jesus obeys the redemptive will of the father.

xxii)          Out of love for us Jesus bears all of God’s wrath against sin for us.  Jesus makes it so we can be restored to God.

xxiii)        God is just- sin is punished in Christ.

xxiv)        And God is the justifier- through Christ God has provided a way for restoration.

xxv)          Jesus went through torture, crucifixion, and death for sins for us so we wouldn’t have to go through it.

xxvi)        And ever since then he’s been interceding for us in the very presence of God.

xxvii)      Jesus love us. It is my calling as your pastor to help you understand the love of Christ for you.

xxviii)    It is my calling as your pastor to show you from Scripture what it means to be satisfied, to be joyfully content, with all that Jesus is for you.

xxix)        It is my calling as your pastor to show you from Scripture what it means to obey Christ.

xxx)          When you get those things then it leads to brotherly love.  He laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

xxxi)        Personal growth is going to happen through your individual bible study and through preaching.

xxxii)      Church growth is going to happen through Sunday School small group bible study.

xxxiii)    Strong relationships must be seen in corporate worship but it doesn’t come from corporate worship.

xxxiv)    Strong relationships come from gathering together to challenge and encourage one another with the truth of all that Jesus Christ is.

b)      Hebrews 13:1 says, “Let brotherly love continue.”

i)        Let brotherly love remain

ii)      John Calvin wrote, This instruction “is generally very needful, for nothing flows away so easily as love; when every one things of himself more than he ought, he will allow to others less than he ought; and then many offences happen daily which cause separations” (Hebrews, 339).

iii)    When we stop loving Jesus as we should we stop loving each other as we should.

iv)    When we start loving ourselves we stop loving others.

v)      And this multiples separations and increases divisions.

vi)    Let brotherly love continue. Keep growing in your knowledge of Christ and it will cause brotherly love to continue.

vii)  Jesus Christ didn’t die just to show you what true love is. Jesus Christ died to restore you to God thus making it possible for you to truly love.

viii)            We’re going to start our members’ meeting with a very specific time of prayer.

ix)    Let me give you my prayer requests.

x)      Pray that God will show me, Brother Paul, how to love you with all kindness, sympathy, and helpfulness.

xi)    Pray that God will direct me as I lead this church to increase your personal growth. Pray that God will show me what discipleship should look like here.

xii)  Pray that God will direct me as I lead this church to increase our growth as a church. Pray that God will show me how to work to bring us together.

xiii)            And finally, pray that God will lead me as I structure this church to impact our community.

xiv)            As Dale sings one verse of our invitation hymn I want you to form groups with those people around you so we can pray.

xv)  So, Dale is going to sing, you are going to form groups, and I’m going to lead us as we pray for these specific things.

xvi)            I’ll give you one thing to pray for and you will pray as a group. Then I’ll give you another thing and you will pray. Then I’ll give you another and you will pray.

xvii)          Dale, come and sing. Church form up for prayer.

The God Who Speaks; Hebrews 12:25-29

Text: Hebrews 12:25-29                                                   4/6/08 p.m.

Thesis: All that is God’s is eternal; thank Him and do not refuse Him.

 

Intro: Let’s dive into our text tonight; Hebrews 12:25-29. Here’s where we are going: all that is God’s is eternal; thank Him and do not refuse Him.

 

Read Hebrews 12:18-29

 

I) Do not refuse the God who speaks (v. 25)

a)      The book of Hebrews has been about listening to God

i)        Hebrews 1.1&2 say, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.”

ii)      Hebrews 2:1 says, “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.”

iii)    Hebrews 4:4, “Today, if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts.”

iv)    I could go on but you get the point. God has spoken and we must listen to Him.

b)      With the word of God comes the responsibility to obey

i)        Verse 25, “for if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.”

ii)      We are often tempted to believe that the worst form of pride is the pride of one person over another.

iii)    We can’t stand it when someone thinks they are better than us and we can’t stand to fell inferior.

iv)    Therefore, we believe that the pride of one person over another is the worst form pride but it’s not.

v)      The worst form of pride is when a person refuses God. We exalt ourselves over God and so we disobey God.

vi)    We fancy ourselves smarter or wiser than God so we turn from God and do our own thing.

vii)  Sin is not a misunderstanding of the rules. Our sin is the outworking of our pride.

viii)            God can’t give me what I want but I can. God doesn’t know what’s best for me but I do. God will make exceptions for me.

ix)    I know that’s what God said but what I say is what really matters.

x)      This is what it is to refuse God. It’s an attempt to remove God from His glorious throne so we can sit in his place. God won’t go for that.

xi)    God warned the people on Mt. Sinai. They disobeyed, they refused God, and they did not escape.

xii)  They came under his righteous judgment.

xiii)            Instead of the new covenant backing off a bit on the whole righteous judgment thing the new covenant ratchets the righteous judgment thing up quite a bit.

xiv)            If those people who refused God when he spoke from Mt. Sinai were killed by a plague, poisoned by snakes, swallowed by the earth, destroyed by fire, and died in the wilderness why should we expect less?

xv)  We should expect more. We’ve been given a greater revelation. God isn’t warning us from an ugly mountain.

xvi)            God is warning us from His glorious heaven.

xvii)          What’s the theme of Hebrews? Jesus is better.

xviii)        With better things comes greater responsibility.

xix)            Some will say, “It’s okay if I disregard God’s word I’m under grace. I’ll escape.” No you won’t.

xx)  If God punished those who trampled on his 10 commandments how much more will God punish those who trample on the blood of His perfect Son?

xxi)            It’s one thing to tear up a letter God sends you. It’s quite another thing to tear up the Son God sends you.

xxii)          When we refuse to listen to God that is exactly what we are doing. In our pride we are trampling on Christ.

xxiii)        Us refusing God is like the child who sticks his fingers in his ears and hollers jibberish so he cannot hear the commands of his parent.

xxiv)        He knows the authority of his parent, he knows his parent is making a command, and he deliberately refuses to listen.

xxv)          See to it that you do not do that to God. God in his great grace is warning us.

xxvi)        Watch yourself and your teaching. Be involved in godly biblical accountability.

xxvii)      Watch how you pray. Watch how you sing. Watch how you serve. Watch how you love God and others.

xxviii)    Are you refusing God some where? Are you refusing to listen to him? Are you refusing his forgiveness and grace to change?

xxix)        Are you refusing to listen to God by refusing to get into the Scripture? In our pride have we found something better?

xxx)          Let us boldly approach the throne of grace because God has told us to.  He has given Christ to perfect us.

xxxi)        He has given the Spirit to strengthen us. He has given us Scripture to guide us.

xxxii)      He has given us everything necessary to obey. In faith go to God knowing that he is able; clinging to the fact that Christ gives all that you need.

xxxiii)    Or in pride stay where you are clinging to the fact that you are incapable. Know this

II) The God who speaks will shake heaven and earth (vs. 26 & 27)

The day is coming when God will rise up against all pride and in vindication of his great name put down all enemies, exalt the throne of David, and make [His Kingdom] the center of worship and allegiance for the nations (FF Bruce, 364).

a)      God has done it before

i)        This shaking is judgment.

ii)      When God shook Mount Sinai he was drawing a line between his holiness and the people’s sinfulness.

iii)    He was judging them and making a distinction between his holy self and the people in need of guidance and purification.

iv)    He spoke then and his voice caused an earth quake on the mountain.

v)      God did it before and he’ll do it again

b)      God has promised he will do this

i)        Verse 26, “At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised”

ii)      We live in the age between what God did then and what he will do in the future.

iii)    These are the days awaiting the fulfillment of God’s promise.  God cannot lie. It is impossible to stop the coming judgment of God when

c)      Everything will be shaken

i)        Verse 26, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”

ii)      Call it a sifting, call it a winnowing, call it a testing by fire, call it a shaking, it does not matter. All are references to the idea that God will one day test all things and only the things that pass the test will remain.

iii)    This day of judgment promised by God is coming and it is the day of Christ’s return.

iv)    With the 2^nd coming of Christ comes the joy of his redeemed people and the establishment of his kingdom.

v)      And with the 2^nd coming of Christ comes testing.

vi)    There will be some things that pass and some things that fail.

d)     Everything will be shaken so that only the things of God will remain

i)        Verse 27, “This phrase, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of all things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain.”

ii)      The destruction and deterioration of things is the product of God’s judgment.

iii)    The fact that our bodies wear out and die is the product of sin.  The fact that our families fall apart is the product of sin.

iv)    The erosion of the body, relationships, and even creation itself is because of man’s attempt to reject God.

v)      All that is born out of a refusal to listen to God will be shaken and removed.

vi)    All that is connected with Christ who said, “Behold I have come to do your will” (Heb 10:7) will remain.

vii)  Everything that you are and everything that you care about will one day be shaken by the judgment of God.

viii)            Your life, your family, your dreams, everything you have wanted and everything you have attained will be tested.

ix)    Only the things done for Christ will remain. Only the things of faith will stand the test.

x)      Only in Christ do we have hope in this life and the next.

xi)    Verse 28, “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot by shaken.”

III) We must be grateful and worship (v. 28)

a)      Be grateful because ours is a kingdom that cannot be shaken

i)        Mambrino Baptist Church, we are a thankful people because the most important thing to us will never be taken from us.

ii)      We have a king and his name is Jesus Christ. God has already transferred us from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of his beloved Son (Col 1.13)

iii)    Those that listen to the God who has spoken to us through His son have been made eternally a member of the unshakeable kingdom.

iv)    Everything around us changes. We live in a world of instability and insecurity.

v)      How do you know the bridge you are on during your commute home won’t collapse? You don’t.

vi)    How do you know that routine doctor’s visit won’t reveal a terminal illness? You don’t.

vii)  How do you know the person you love will be there tomorrow or the money you are depending on is going to be there in 20 years? You don’t.

viii)            Since this world is unstable headed toward God’s great shake down it is crucial that we anchor ourselves in the everlasting, unshakeable, and unending kingdom of Jesus Christ.

ix)    Hebrews 6:19 tells us that Jesus is the sure and steadfast anchor for the soul.

x)      In heartache, in difficulty, in persecution, and in death.

xi)    In joy, in prosperity, in smooth sailing, and in life we have Jesus, the kingdom of God, and that cannot be shaken.

xii)  The only proper response is gratitude. When you lose something be intention to remind yourself of the kingdom of Christ which can never be lost

b)      Let us worship God with reference and awe because he is a consuming fire

i)        The God who speaks has revealed to us who He is. In response to Him we are to offer to God acceptable worship.

ii)      Romans 12:1 should be playing in your head right now.

iii)    “I appeal to you brothers by the mercies of God to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

iv)     Call it life, call it worship, or call it service it doesn’t matter. What matters is that we understand we’re not just talking about what we do on Sundays.

v)      All of life must be worship. All of life must be service for the cause of this unshakeable kingdom.

vi)    And as we live this way we must do so with an attitude of reverence and awe.

vii)  If you want to see to it that you do not refuse him who speaks then you must devote yourself to cultivating a heart full of reverence and awe for God.

viii)            Where there is reverence and awe there will be listening.

ix)    Reverence is a type of fear.

x)      One of my many jobs in high school was working at the city hardware store. I stocked shelves, swept the floor, ran the cash register, made screened windows, and cut glass.

xi)    When I first learned to cut glass the most important thing I was told was to never stop fearing the glass.

xii)  The minute you get comfortable with what you are doing, the minute you stop consciously thinking about the potential that glass has to cut you is the minute you’ll get cut.

xiii)            One day I got in a hurry and lost all reverence for that big sheet of glass. I nearly cut the cuticle off of my right thumb. Talk about bleeding.

xiv)            As Christians we must cultivate a reverence for God or eventually we’ll stop listening. We’ll grow comfortable with him and his words and we’ll start to reject him. We sin because we stop fearing God.

xv)  Read those hard things in the Old Testament. Read what happened to the people who lived in Canaan during the conquest under Joshua.

xvi)            Study God’s work of creation. Think of the largest star and the smallest particle knowing they are all his handiwork and they all fit in the palm of his hand.

xvii)          You and I have got to make time to be reverent. We’ve got to cultivate a healthy fear of the power of God.

xviii)        Awe is being overwhelmed with the size or power of God.

xix)            It’s a healthy thing to feel what it means to be small. We run from those moments when we taste our own mortality but they point us to God.

xx)  Go and peer into the depths of the Grand Canyon. Go and ride a boat as close as you can to Niagara Falls.

xxi)            Mediate on Hebrews 12:18-21. Go to the terrifying image of God in all his glory on Mt. Sinai.

xxii)          We must be full of reverence and awe because God is a consuming fire.

xxiii)        Hebrews 10:26&27 say, “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.”

xxiv)        If we keep on listening to God. If we hear the call of Christ to come to him and find rest. If we hear the invitation of Christ to come with him boldly to the throne of grace there is every reason to be grateful.

xxv)          Live a life of worship cultivating reverence and awe.

xxvi)        But know this. The loving God of all grace and mercy who has showered his love upon those who listen is the same God of all justice and wrath who will shower his judgmental fire upon all those who reject him and refuse to listen.

xxvii)      If you have lost the spirit of gratitude today is the day to begin afresh with repentance and faith in Christ.

xxviii)    If you have lost the spirit of fear today is the day to begin afresh with belief in the consuming fire of God.

xxix)        It is a terrible thing to fall into the wrathful hand of God. If you pridefully stand by yourself outside of faith in Christ God’s wrathful hand is your future.

xxx)          But it is a glorious thing to rest in the strong hand of God. If you humbly listen to God and hear his call to trust Christ your future is with him in a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Listen to the God who speaks.

Marching to Zion; Hebrews 12:18-24

Text: Hebrews 12.18-24                                                 3/16/08 p.m.

Thesis: Through Christ we experience the blessed presence of God.

 

Intro: Tonight we will compare two mountains; one mountain, Mt. Zion, being so much greater than the other mountain that in the text it’s not even worth mentioning the name of the other mountain.

It’s like a newspaper write-up before a football game where the glories of one team so far overshadow the other team’s that the other guys are never mentioned.

So of all the things we could look at tonight, why geography?

The reason is because we are getting the theme of the letter to the Hebrews in yet another package.

What’s the theme of Hebrews?  Jesus is far better so don’t go back.

So tonight we will compare an old mountain with a new one.

 

Read Hebrews 12:18-24

 

I) The old mountain of the law was terrifying

a)      This is an explanation of the foolishness of returning to the old covenant and the focus on the Law.

i)        Remember, this is a Christian letter written to a Christian church. Obviously they were Jewish and boldly they were Christian.

ii)      They, like us, have not come to God through Mt. Sinai but like all Christians they have come to God through Jesus Christ.

iii)    This terrifying way is not our way but we need to know about it because like them we can be tempted to abandon faith for legalism and law keeping.

iv)    So let’s look into this mountain and learn why it is so horrifying.

b)      First, it was God’s people who came to Mt. Sinai

i)        Aaron read for us from the book of Exodus so you could see first hand what we’re talking about in Hebrews 12:18-21.

ii)      This is no make-believe story about some imaginary place. This is the historical account of a terrifying time in the life of God’s people.

iii)    God brought his people out of Egypt. In Exodus 19:4 God said, “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.”

iv)    This was no half-baked deliverance by a god who did not care for his people.

v)      This was a glorious deliverance by God who desired the worship and dedication of his people.

vi)    In Exodus 19:5 God said, “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”

vii)  What I want you to bear in mind as we continue through Hebrews 12 is that God is not punishing the people with the law and with this terrifying vision.

viii)            In fact, because God desires a relationship with His people He must make it clear that holiness is required.

ix)    So, first, it is God who brings his people to Mt. Sinai because he desires to make a nation of holy priests out of them.

c)      Second, Mount Sinai was a place of terrifying holiness

i)        This was not a not a spiritual mountain seen with faith and experienced upon death.

ii)      That was a rock mountain that could be touched.

iii)    It had real fire, real darkness, real gloom, and a real storm.

iv)    Hebrews 12:29 tells us that our God is a consuming fire this is true under the old and new covenants.

v)      Nothing impure can stand in his presence and what is impure is burned away by his blazing holiness.

vi)    The darkness would have been a result of the smoke put off by the fire.

vii)  Generally we think of light when we think of fire but since the people are becoming aware of their sinfulness and God’s awesome holiness there is a smoky gloom that paints the vision of the people.

viii)            With amazing flames come incredible updrafts of hot air. When that hot air collides with a desert’s cool evening air storms are what is produced.

ix)    In my mind of think of Mount Doom from the Lord of The Rings Triology.

x)      I wish I had the capability to show you a picture of Mt. Sinai. It’s a big hunk of vertical, jagged rock.

xi)    There is no vegetation even today on Mt. Sinai. Without the blazing fire, darkness, gloom, and storms you still would not pick this as a vacation spot.

xii)  It is a hard intimidating mountain.

xiii)            It looks terrible and it sounds terrible.

xiv)            Read verse 19

xv)  Compare this again to Exodus 19:18-19

xvi)            Can you imagine seeing the Lord descend on an intimidating mountain in smoke and fire but there is also sound.

xvii)          It’s the sound of a trumpet calling you to attention. It begins faintly but as God draws nearer the trumpet grows louder and Louder and LOUDER

xviii)        Moses speaks to God and God answers him in thunder. Like Paul’s vision on the road to Damascus the others hear the sound but not the words.

xix)            Paul heard the words of the Lord, Moses heard the words of the Lord, but the people here the mighty rumble of thunder.

xx)  God tells Moses to come up and he goes. When Moses returns this is what the people say. Read Ex 20:18-21

xxi)            This is all about holiness, the people realize that, and so they are afraid. They run from God.

xxii)          They begged for no more of God. No further messages from God. No more thunder. We want to words of a man not the words of God.

xxiii)        The people were scared out of their minds.

xxiv)        Read Hebrews 12:20

d)     Third, Mount Sinai was the place of God’s presence

i)        What is true of the mountain will one day be true of the Ark. Uzzah was not allowed to touch the ark.

ii)      The very touching of the ark, the symbol of God’s presence, even in apparent innocence was a mortal sin.

iii)    The very touching of the mountain, the place of God’s presence, even in apparent innocence was a mortal sin.

iv)    Even if a goat touches the mountain it is to be killed from a distance. Don’t go after it. Don’t drag it out.

v)      Kill it because it was transgressed God’s holiness.

vi)    The presence of God makes a place holy and this holiness is evident.

vii)  It’s not the holiness we feel at times around some one who is particularly godly and their manner of life convicts us.

viii)            This is the pure holiness of God that shakes the sinful soul from it’s slumber with pure fear.

ix)    Read verse 21

x)      Moses, who had spoken with God so many times before and seen first hand the display of God’s power is rattled by this powerful display.

xi)    He was shaking with fear and he had a personal invitation.

xii)  Now remember this as well, God hasn’t changed. He is still this holy and powerful. The new covenant does not lessen God’s terrifying holiness one bit.

xiii)            What the new covenant does is clothe us in the righteousness of Christ so that there is no reason to fear the holiness of God’s presence.

II) The heavenly Mt. Zion of God’s presence is wonderful

Hebrews 12:22, “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God.”

Can I get an ‘amen’ that we aren’t marching to Sinai the terrible terrible Sinai?

Let’s look at and I pray be encouraged by the different facets of God’s glorious presence

a)      First, you have come to Mount Zion

i)        As I mentioned earlier this is one of those already/not yet portions of Scripture.

ii)      We have already come to Mount Zion but it’s fullness is not yet.

iii)    Notice we’re talking about being a part right now of the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.

iv)    We saw in chapter 8 that right now Jesus, our great high priest, is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven.

v)      He is right now a minister in the holy places, in the true tent, or true tabernacle, that the Lord set up not man.

vi)    Things on the earth are only copies of the true heavenly things.

vii)  We are not ultimately waiting on earthly things. I say ‘ultimately’ because there still are earthly promises to be realized but they too will pass away.

viii)            We’re waiting and yearning for the new heaven and the new earth of Revelation 21. We’re looking to the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven.

ix)    And it’s not the fact that it is a new Jerusalem that makes it spectacular. What makes it glorious is, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God” (Revelation 21:1-4).

x)      Mount Zion, the city of the living God, and the heavenly Jerusalem are different ways of referring to the same place.

xi)    The fullness of this promise is not yet but the blessing of experiencing it by faith is ours already.

xii)  Hebrews 10:19, “Therefore brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus…let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

xiii)            Let’s not be like the terrified Hebrew people who said, ‘no more, we want to hear God no more.’

xiv)            Let’s be Christians who desire to draw near to this holy and awesome God.

xv)  This is a blessing for us to enjoy even today. Even right now. You have come to Mount Zion.

b)      Second, Mount Zion is a place of joyous celebration

i)        It’s a place for the holy angels and the redeemed of humanity

ii)      God’s presence is a place of innumerable angels in festal gathering.

iii)    Mount Zion and Mount Sinai are two different experiences of God’s presence.

iv)    One is an experience of fear and the other is an experience of joy.

v)      The angels are not gathered for judgment; to exact the righteous wrath of the Father.

vi)    The angels are gathered for worship; to sing the praises of the Creator. They gladly serve God and do His will.

vii)  This is no somber gathering before a lethal injection. This is a party celebrating the living God.

viii)            And here in God’s presence at his party are the firstborn. It’s the ecclesia, the assembly, or the church of the firstborn.

ix)    Those who are enrolled in heaven. Jesus told the 72 when they returned from preaching, healing, and casting out demon, “do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Lk 10:20).

x)      Some want to say these are only Old Testament saints. Some want to say these are only New Testament believers.

xi)    I believe in light of the call to these New Testament believers to not be like Esau who rejected the birthright of the firstborn; this is a reference to all those from both covenants who have died and whose names were written in the book of life.

xii)  It’s the same as saying what the end of verse 23 says, “the spirits of righteous or just made perfect.”

xiii)            This is not a place of down trodden souls. This is a place where every hurt is healed, every weakness made strong, and every tear wiped away by God himself.

c)      Third, Mount Zion is the presence of God

i)        Combine verses 22 and 23 to read, “But you have come…to God, the judge of all.”

ii)      The living God is the God of all and the judge of all. No one is there partying in the presence of God because he gave them a get out of jail free card.

iii)    This terrifying God of Mount Sinai is here the jubilant God of disembodied spirits made perfect.

iv)    To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8).

v)      How is it that God doesn’t change but we’ve gone from a terrifying picture of being in God’s presence to a rocking party in God’s presence?

d)     Fourth, Mount Zion is possible only because of Jesus

i)        Read verse 24.

ii)      We come to God through Jesus. He’s the mediator of a new covenant.

iii)    Moses was the mediator of a covenant clouded with fear and terrifying images of God.

iv)    Jesus mediates a new covenant by doing something amazing. He doesn’t erase the old covenant.

v)      Jesus fulfilled the old covenant. He kept all the laws. He came to do God’s will and that’s exactly what he did.

vi)    The new covenant says, “do not come by your own merit and the merit of bulls and goats. Come by the merit of Christ.”

vii)  Come by the blood of the holy Jesus Christ shed for the sinful you.

viii)            I love it that Jesus’ blood speaks a better word than that of Abel.

ix)    What did Abel’s blood say? Genesis 4:10, “And the Lord said [to Cain], ‘What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.”

x)      The blood of murdered Abel was crying for the death of Cain. 

xi)    “He has tried to climb the holy mountain of God but he is a man full of sin. Stone him, kill him, crucify him.”

xii)  The blood of Abel cried out to God to punish sin.

xiii)            The blood of Christ speaks a better word; the word of forgiveness.

xiv)            The difference in Sinai and Zion is not geography are a change in the standards of God.

xv)  The difference in Sinai and Zion is the perfect shed blood of Jesus Christ for sinners like you and me.

xvi)            Even though we are sinners like Cain there is no reason for us to fear God.  Moses is not our mediator.

xvii)          Christ is our mediator. The murdered should not run to a geographical safe haven or a city of refuge.

xviii)        We must run to Jesus who takes our sin and gives us his righteousness. Immediately upon faith we will come to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the party where the angels and the redeemed celebrate God.

xix)            And we wait for the coming physical reality; be it the return of Christ or the resurrection of the dead.

xx)  John Owen wrote, “When the body is fully redeemed by its resurrection, it shall be so purified, sanctified and glorified that it will no longer be a hindrance and an encumbrance to the soul. Instead it will be a blessed instrument for the soul’s highest and most spiritual activities.

xxi)            Our eyes were made to see our Redeemer and our other senses to receive all that he communicates to us, according to their capacity.

xxii)          Just as the bodies of the wicked shall be restored to them, to increase and complete their misery in their sufferings, so shall the bodies of the just be restored to them to heighten and complete their blessedness” (Owen, The Glory of Christ, 125).

xxiii)        For those trusting in the blood of Christ we are going to celebrate.

xxiv)        For those trusting in themselves, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion” (Hebrews 3:15).

xxv)          Do not run from Mt Sinai. Run to Christ and find the joys of forgiveness, the joys of God’s presence, the joy of Mt. Zion.

How to Flourish as a Church; Hebrews 12:12-17

Text: Hebrews 12:12-17                                                     3/2/08 PM

Thesis: We must strive for Christ or fall into apostasy.

 

Intro: If you’ve ever tried to raise a vegetable garden or grow flowers in your front yard you know there are really two different approaches.

There is the laissez-faire approach where you deliberately do as little as possible.  You may till up the ground and throw out some seeds but that’s pretty much it.

Laissez-faire means literally to let people do as they choose (Merriam-Webster dictionary)

Some plants will make it and a few will flourish but the majority will either be eaten by birds, choked by weeds, or never make it into the soil.

There is also the deliberate approach.  Here the gardener will purposefully take care of the weeds, till the garden, plant the seeds appropriately, monitor the amount of water, weed the garden, use fertilizers, and do everything possible to ensure the most productive growth.

Here there will be minimal loss and maximum growth.

What I want us to see tonight is that a laissez-faire approach to the church is not found in the bible and if we want to flourish as a church we must be deliberate.

Hebrews 12:12-17 gives us some very specific avenues by which we are to be involved in each other’s lives.

And we do this, we are involved in each other’s lives and deliberate in all that we do, because eternity is at stake.

 

Read Hebrews 12:12-17

 

There are two principles from our text tonight; one is negative and the other is positive.

Principle one is if the church is going to flourish we cannot give up. Principle two is if the church is going to flourish we must deliberately pursue peace and holiness.

I) For the church to flourish we cannot give up

Read verses 12 and 13

a)      In order to not give up you must seek strength from others when you feel beaten down

i)        The idea of drooping hands and weak knees comes from Isaiah 35:3

ii)      Read Isaiah 35

iii)    The worst thing a boxer can do when he is tired to is let his hands fall down.  No longer is there a defense and his opponent will pound his face.

iv)    There are two dynamics playing out here.  On the one side is the call to individuals to lift up their own hands and strengthen their own weak knees.

v)      The other side is that the household of God must lift up the limp hands and strengthen the lame knees of each other.

vi)    Think of a pecan tree. One pecan tree by itself can make it and produce some fruit. But the reason pecan trees are put together in an orchard is because there is great benefit to being surrounded by other pecan trees.

vii)  There is cross pollination that is so helpful.  There is an environment where trees do not compete for nutrients with other plants.

viii)            That plot of ground is all about raising the most productive pecan trees as possible.

ix)    For the church to flourish we must be about raising the most productive Christians as possible.

x)      That means we need to be constantly on the watch for those who are in a season of weakness.

xi)    It also means we must be open to the help of others when we are in a season of weakness.

xii)  James 5:16 says plainly, “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”

xiii)            A healthy church is not a church where there is no weakness in response to sin or the Lord’s discipline.

xiv)            A healthy church is a church that gracefully and with a Christ-centered approach works to strengthen the weakness in it’s midst.

xv)  Do not give up and do not give up on each other. Set your eyes on Jesus, pursue Him, and take others with you.

b)      That means we must always follow the straightest path to Christ

i)        Make straight paths for your feet. Don’t roam around without purpose or direction.

ii)      Don’t let go and let God. There is a great danger to not being deliberate as a Christian.

iii)    Turn to Proverbs 4:23-27

iv)    Guard your heart and weigh your desires against the commands of Christ.

v)      Guard your lips and only speak words that build up.

vi)    Set your gaze on Christ. Make seeing Christ and being like Christ the goal of your existence.

vii)  We’re not on a Sunday drive in the Christian life; living to be living and going anywhere we desire.

viii)            We must set an intentional course to know Christ and be involved in ministry.

ix)    What does it look like to make straight paths for your self and for your brothers and sisters in Christ?

x)      The simplest way to put it is found in Ephesians 6 where we are told to put on the full armor of God.

xi)    Pursue truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation, and the sword of the Spirit.

xii)  It’s being alert in prayer and diligent to seek God’s strength.

xiii)            Seek the power and benefit of the church. Be involved for the good of others.

xiv)            Otherwise face paralysis. What is translated “put out of joint” in Hebrews 12:13 is the Greek word from which we get our English word paralysis.

xv)  When I was in college I was playing knock-out with a bunch of youth and the basketball rolled off the driveway and into the yard.

xvi)            I took off running full speed after it and in the process stepped in a hole and severely sprained my ankle.

xvii)          I had to get x-rays and was on crutches for a while. The holes in the yard did not bring me a win but a loss.

xviii)        If we are nonchalant about holiness and spreading the gospel it will lead to problems.

xix)            And unresolved problems lead to paralysis. Instead of healing there will come dislocation.

xx)  We need to pursue the potholes in the yards of our lives and we need to be open to others pursuing the potholes in our lives as well.

xxi)            Like in your physical yard at home you’ve grown accustomed to where the holes are and you just avoid them instead of fixing them.

xxii)          When someone else comes along they don’t know where they are and they fall into them.

xxiii)        We as a church must be open to others as they help to fix the potholes of weakness in our lives.

xxiv)        These are not individual commands but corporate duties of the church.

xxv)          Those are some big pictures items now we need to get a little more specific.

II) The church must pursue peace and holiness

Read Hebrews 12:14

a)      Pursue peace and do not settle for a lack of unity

i)        There are two different words dealing with how intentional we must be in our pursuit of Christ.

ii)      One word is often translated as “seek”. It carries the idea of purposefully looking for something.

iii)    We should think of a child’s game of hide and seek. There is a purpose and there is good to be gained but there is not a great deal at stake.

iv)    Then there is the word strive.  This is a step above seek.

v)      Think of the woman who has lost her coin and she turns her house upside down and sweeps the floor looking intently until she finds that coin.

vi)    Think of the shepherd who has lost one of his sheep and he goes on a mission to find that one lamb.

vii)  This must be our mentality and dedication as we pursue peace at Mambrino Baptist Church.

viii)            Dave Ramsey says, “the only way to true financial peace is by walking daily with the Prince of Peace.”

ix)    That’s a true statement for peace in every area of our lives.

x)      Walking daily with the Prince of Peace means we are searching for sin and repentance so that we can be more like Christ.

xi)    We’re searching for ways to serve so we can be more like Christ.

xii)  We’re looking for opportunities to tell others how to be saved by Christ and we’re looking for ways to encourage those that are weak.

xiii)            Peace is never achieved by looking to what I want. Peace is only achieved by setting your eyes on Christ and bringing Him to bear on every circumstance in our lives.

xiv)            And this must be a peace with everyone. Peace with God, peace with church members, and peace with the lost world.

xv)  Peace and holiness go hand in hand

b)      We must demand holiness because heaven is only attained by the holy.

i)        We are to work hard for peace and we are to work hard for holiness.

ii)      This is so practical.  You will not realize the holiness of Christ in your life by doing nothing.

iii)    In the same way that a garden won’t be productive if you just dumped everything in a pile.

iv)    You’ve got to work the garden. And we’ve got to strive for holiness.

v)      Being holy takes effort.  God declares us righteous through faith in Christ and then we workout that salvation.

vi)    Many people are uncomfortable with the Philippians 2:12 command to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling because they are comfortable with their sin.

vii)  This is so important because if you do not strive for holiness then you won’t see God.

viii)            Stop waiting for God to do something amazing in your life. He’s already done something amazing.

ix)    There is nothing more life changing and soul shaking then what God did for you through the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

x)      Here’s where our individual Christian lives striving for holiness connects to others.

c)      We must get involved in people lives and be concerned about the salvation of other church members

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

ii)      Stick your nose in other people’s salvation business.

iii)    Look carefully says the NKJV. Look diligently says the KJV.

iv)    It is the Holy Spirit’s command, it is God’s command, that you investigate the salvation of fellow members.

v)      One of the most loving questions you can ask someone who sits in the pew across from you is, “When you stand before God and He asks you why He should let you into heaven what will you say?”

vi)    When you care enough to ask that question it will reveal areas of weakness. The response will show you if their hands or knees are weak.

vii)  God will show you how to minister to them.

viii)            Or, you may find yourself encouraged by their faith. A strong joyous answer of faith in Christ will spur you on to love and good works.

ix)    For the health of the church see to it that no one in your Sunday School class and no one on the church roll fails to obtain the grace of God. 

d)     And see to it that no one is bitter

i)        Turn to Deuteronomy 29:16-22

ii)      There was a stubbornness about the people when they left Egypt.  They didn’t like Moses, they didn’t like the wilderness, they didn’t like the manna, they didn’t like the size of the people in Canaan, and they didn’t like the fortified cities. They didn’t like everything.

iii)    They would rather be back where they were.

iv)    It’s the heart that says, “I shall be safe, thought I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.”

v)      I won’t work for the good of others, I won’t pursue peace, I won’t pursue holiness, I’ll complain about everything, and God will be okay with that.

vi)    Guess what? God’s not okay with that.

vii)  One bitter root can spring up in a church and cause trouble and defile many.

viii)            Be on guard about what you say about this church. You may have a justified concern but if you complain about it instead of dealing with the person involved it will cause problems.

ix)    Many a church has been defiled by whiners and complainers and many a church has flourished because people had joyful faith in the God who promised to work all things for good.

x)      There was a “we can’t do that” attitude in the people of God and in response God killed them in the wilderness.

xi)    Then there was a “we can do that” attitude in the people of God and they conquered the Promised Land.

xii)  When someone starts to complain you need to graciously smile at them and say, “hope in God.”

xiii)            If it is an honest concern then take them to the person involved and through faith in Christ see to it that no root of bitterness springs up and defiles many.

xiv)            Faith in Christ and a commitment to pursuing peace are the herbicides for the root of bitterness.

xv)  Vow today that you will serve God by refusing to let yourself and your spouse and your family and your friends become bitter.

e)      And see to it that no one acts like Esau

i)        Read verses 16&17

ii)      Esau rejected the promises of God for a bowl of soup.

iii)    Esau married against God’s command thus committing sexual immorality.

iv)    And Esau cared little for his birthright which was God’s blessing on the firstborn.

v)      How is it that we are to see that no one is like Esau because in Esau’s case what was done was done and there was not going back?

vi)    Esau couldn’t change what had happened though he tried to do so with tears.

vii)  Often what happens with this text is we get caught up either trying to identify people we know who could be Esau’s or we get wrapped up thinking that we are Esau’s.

viii)            The worst thing we as a church could do in relation to this command to see to it that no one is like Esau is to do nothing.

ix)    The greatest sin we commit as a church is the sin of doing nothing.

x)      So what does it look like to be an Esau?

xi)    Esau’s don’t care about Christ they only care for themselves.

xii)  Esau is the stereotype for worldly sorrow that leads to death instead of godly sorrow that produces repentance leading to salvation (2 Cor 7:10).

xiii)            Worldly sorrow is what can be classified as the poor-pitifuls.  I’ve had it hard. I deserve better.

xiv)            It’s a commitment to attaining the things of the world to the neglect of attaining the things of God.

xv)  Godly sorrow realizes I have sinned against God. Esau made no confession of sin against God he just wanted the stuff.

xvi)            We must warn people who begin to show the signs of being an Esau.

xvii)          Here are some of those signs: they stop coming to church. Hebrews 10:25 says they forsake the assembling of the brethren; they neglect meeting together because they have better things to do.

xviii)        For a single meal Esau gave up the things of God. That is despicable.

xix)            So in response we must be a people who are always quick to repentant.

xx)  We must be a people who care for each other’s salvation not wanting any to be like Esau.

xxi)            We must dedicate ourselves to praying for each other. I would encourage you to join me in praying through the church role.

xxii)          Take a page a day or two pages a day and pray for each member by name.

xxiii)        Pray specifically for his/her strength in weakness, healing, peace, and holiness.

xxiv)        Pray he/she will not become bitter but have joy in Christ. Pray he/she will not trade the marvelous riches of grace for the empty things of the world.

xxv)          And get involved in people’s lives. Honestly care about people and I promise you we will see this church explode.

xxvi)        It’s time to get off the side lines of stubbornness and get into the game of Christianity.

Understanding Discipline; Hebrews 12:4-11

Text: Hebrews 12:4-11                                                     2/17/08 PM

Thesis: God’s discipline is based on love and for our sanctification.

 

Intro: 1 Thessalonians 4:3 says plainly, “This is the will of God even your sanctification.”

Now this is the matter that is dealt with in such an extraordinary and perfect manner in this twelfth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews where the theme is, that sometimes God promotes sanctification in His children by chastening them, and especially by enabling them to understand the meaning of chastisement (Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression, 235).

It is God’s will for your life that He use you and in order to do that He is going to sanctify you.

God will not allow you to remain where you are. He will shape you and sometimes this is a painful process.

But it is a process for our good. It is a process we must understand.

Because when we understand what God is doing we bring our lives in-line with Him and this produces great fruit.

 

Read Hebrews 12:1-11

 

I) As sons we are called to fight against sin

a)      This is the sin of hostility

i)        It is essential here that we define sin in its context because if you’re like me you can be tempted to understand the sin here as a Christian’s willful disobedience to God.

ii)      I choose to sin against God so God in turn disciplines me. But that would be wrong in the context and not near as helpful as God intends the passage to be.

iii)    There is in the immediate context the idea of stop willfully sinning against God; lay aside the sin that clings so closely.

iv)    But remember, we are to lay that sin aside is so that we can run the race that is marked out for us.

v)      And the race that is marked out for us is the race of the cross.  That’s why we are to look to Jesus who endured the cross.

vi)    The cross is summarized in verse 3 as the hostility of sinners.

vii)  In verse 4 we are to resist sin and be prepared to resist sin to the point of shedding blood.

viii)            We are to resist sin to the point of martyrdom.

ix)    God’s purpose for our lives is to know Him and make Him know.  We are to go and stand against the sin of unbelief and uphold the truth of the gospel.

x)      God is constantly reshaping us to be better at this.

xi)    And there will be times that the world hates us for doing this. This Hebrew church had already experienced the hostility of having their possessions confiscated and church members were thrown into prison for believing the gospel.

xii)  They had struggled against sin but not yet to the point of being killed for their faith.

xiii)            In the context of Hebrews 12, the struggle against sin is the struggle of the believing church against the unbelieving world.

xiv)            Now as we being to transition into verse 5 it is important that we understand the sovereignty of God.

xv)  If we do not affirm the fact that God is in control then this passage will not make sense and that means we will lose the benefit of God’s living word.

xvi)            Whose idea was the cross? Whose plan was it? Did it start with man or did it start with God?

xvii)          Obviously the cross was God’s plan.

xviii)        Acts 2:23 says Jesus was, “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God”

xix)            Is man responsible? Yes. Is God sovereign? Yes.

xx)  Now, let’s ask another question. Was the cross only about us or did Jesus learn something specific through what he endured?

xxi)            We know he gained joy but did he learn anything?

xxii)          Hebrews 5:8, a passage so important for us tonight, says, “Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.”

xxiii)        Easy commands in a resistance free environment are helpful but ease does not teach us a great deal about ourselves or about God.

xxiv)        Difficult commands in a hostile environment teach us a great deal about ourselves and about God.

xxv)          The abundant fruit of obedience is gained not through ease but through suffering.

xxvi)        And remember, we’re not talking about suffering we deserve because of our sin. We’re talking about suffering that God in his sovereignty brings upon us in order to sanctify us.

xxvii)      Notice this, it is important

II) The Lord disciplines us because He loves us

The hostility of sinners, even the shed blood of a Christian martyr, is considered to be the discipline of a loving Father (read verses 5&6). How do we live with this mindset?

a)      First and always, rejoice that you are a son of God

i)        If we do not begin with the truth the God loves us as His own children this difficult passage derails.

ii)      In our daily reading why are we seeing Job struggle so much? He has no concept of God lovingly bringing suffering on His children in order to teach them.

iii)    Discipline here in Hebrews 12 is not correction for wrong but training or teaching so that we will be equipped for righteousness.

iv)    Do not think of the principle’s office think of the practice field.  You go to the principle’s office when you’ve done something wrong.

v)      You go through the discipline of the practice field so that you will be trained to do what is right.

vi)    The team that never practices will be sorry. The Christian who is never trained will be near to useless.

vii)  God knows this and God loves us so much he will ensure that we never become useless.

viii)            God does not discipline us because he is a sadistic tyrant who takes pleasure in hurting us.

ix)    God loves us and He takes great pleasure in seeing the fruit of righteousness in us. The call on every Christian is to be like Christ; to reflect His glory.

x)      Since God loves us he will bring things in our lives that will ensure we grow in Christ-likeness.

xi)    Love is the foundation of discipline.

b)      So, don’t blow off discipline understand it

i)        Don’t give up when you feel the chastening hand of God. Don’t think that the hostility you are experiencing is of little or no value.

ii)      There is no such thing as accidents in the Christian worldview. Nothing is inconsequential.

iii)    When we are in a rush and the tire blows out, when we are faced with something we feel is crucial and get sick or something goes wrong in the home don’t overlook it.

iv)    When you give your life for ministry and the spread of the gospel but you keep facing hostility do not give up and do not consider it a closed door.

v)      There is something to learn here. Because God loves you and wants to make you godly He’s brought this difficultly about to teach you about your weakness and His strengths.

vi)    If you don’t know what I mean it’s because you’ve never been a part of a family, tried to spread the gospel, or had children.

vii)  We must not run from discipline because discipline teaches us and

c)      Non-Christians don’t experience discipline

i)        Read verses 7&8

ii)      It’s not because you’ve done something sinful that you must endure. This isn’t “you made the bed so you sleep in it” discipline.

iii)    So that you and I will be like Christ we must suffer.

iv)    Although Jesus was the only perfect Son of God he learned obedience through what he suffered.

v)      Do you fancy yourself smarter than Christ? Do you perceive in yourself a knowledge greater than Christ’s?

vi)    Then stand firm for the joy set before you; this difficulty will produce steadfastness.

vii)  And when steadfastness has done it’s work you will be perfect and complete lacking in nothing (James 1:2-4)

viii)            And as Calvin said there is no soldier who receives his discharge in this life. It is upon death that we receive the crown of life.

ix)    If you are alive and a Christian you are a candidate for God’s school of loving discipline.

x)      Either that or you are not a Christian.

xi)    If God is not knocking the sharp edges of the sin that still remains off of you then you should be concerned.

xii)  Oh how my soul longs for perpetual green pastures and never ending still waters but I must remind my soul that what I’m longing for is heaven.

xiii)            Because while I am still in this world I will have trouble.

xiv)            Jesus said in John 16:33, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

xv)  Through discipline we become more like Christ and grow in the peace that is in Him. While we remain in this world there will be no shortage of difficulty.

xvi)            And even that is meant to drive us to the sustaining grace of Christ who has overcome this world.

xvii)          Do not consider this discipline as God’s hatred toward you. Bear up under it knowing that you are in this difficulty because the Father loves you.

xviii)        Job said, “The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God are secure, who bring their god in their hand” (Job 12:6).

xix)            Why is this the case? How is it that Joran van der Sloot can feel no remorse and sleep like a baby the night Natalee Holloway died?

xx)  How can a man bludgeon his therapist to death with a meat cleaver?

xxi)            How can people commit such heinous acts against themselves, other people, and animals without remorse?

xxii)          In the words of Hebrews 12:8, those who are outside of the discipline of God are there because they are not sons of God.

xxiii)        If God loved them as sons they would feel the weight of discipline.

xxiv)        It should cause everyone who claims the name of Christ to tremble when we can sin without remorse.

d)     Here’s our next principle, we must respect the Lord and not hate Him for His discipline

i)        Look at verse 9, “Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who 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 it seemed best to them.”

ii)      I believe there are seasons that most if not all of us go through where we hate to do chores.

iii)    For me it was taking out the trash twice a week every week. I grew to despise this task but it was required of me.

iv)    What about the morning and evening requirement of feeding animals? The never ending mowing, washing dishes, and cleaning the house.

v)      Our earthly fathers trained us to do these things because there is great benefit in them.

vi)    My father did not make me take out the trash because he hated me. He made me take out the trash because he loved me and it was for my good.

vii)  I learned to care for others, put the family first, and to be responsible without being asked.

viii)            If dads understand this how much more does God understand the benefit of discipline?

ix)    And the truth is that our earthly fathers got some things wrong and as earthly fathers we get some things wrong.

x)      That’s the beauty of the infinitely wise and sovereign spiritual Father. He doesn’t get things wrong.

xi)    There are no mistakes with God. His discipline is always loving and never brutal.

xii)  Though we may feel it to be unloving and brutal our feelings do not change the truth.

III) The Lord’s discipline produces great benefit

Look again to verse 10, “But he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline  seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

a)      Foundationally, the Lord’s discipline is for our good.

i)        It must be repeated because we are prone to explain it away or not believe it.

ii)      God brings pain in our lives because he loves us and desires what is good for us.

iii)    Because we know he is infinitely powerful and infinitely loving we can trust Him through the valley of the shadow of death.

iv)    Church we must uphold the truth. It’s not all health, wealth, and prosperity for Christians and suffering because you’re sinful.

v)      That message would have destroyed this struggling Hebrew church and that message destroys souls today.

vi)    In my short life I have seen the sovereignty of God over miscarriages of the unborn and the painful early deaths of the godly.

vii)  No doubt you have seen more and worse than me. But with eyes of faith do you see the good with me?

viii)            Church I’m not calling you to show up on Sundays. I’m calling you to stand beside me and set your eyes on Christ Jesus.

ix)    At times you will lift my hands when they droop and I will do the same for you. I will strengthen your weak knees and you will do the same for me.

x)      Together we will seek the good knowing that

b)      The Lord’s discipline causes us to share His holiness

i)        Wait Paul, I thought I was made holy through the work of Christ on the cross.

ii)      You are that’s right you are justified and you will realize the holiness of Christ in your life as you follow the path he walked. You will be sanctified.

iii)    As you pick up your cross and follow Him to a hill called Calvary and there on that cross you die to yourself you will tangibly learn what holiness looks like.

iv)    I preach hard sermons because I love you and I want you to share in the holiness of Christ.

v)      I have high expectations for myself as a pastor because God’s expectations of holiness are high.

vi)    I have high expectations for our deacons because God’s expectations of holiness are high.

vii)  I have high expectations of every member because God’s expectations of holiness are high.

viii)            God will be hard on you because he loves you. I will be hard on you because I love you.

ix)    My desire for your life is that you experience the holiness of God. It is ours to be had.

c)      And remember, painful discipline produces the peaceful fruit of righteousness

i)        For a time it hurts. The joy we experience when we face trials is not some sick joy that loves to suffer.

ii)      The joy in trials is the joy that comes be realizing what this trial will produce.

iii)    Discipline is not pleasant it’s painful, but later it produces the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

iv)    Forgive the sports analogies but hey, it’s the context of Hebrews 12.

v)      Have you ever run sprints or lifted weights with someone who pushed you and wouldn’t let you stop short?

vi)    This is why we need coaches who have the authority to punish us on this earth.

vii)  If it weren’t for them we won’t run as hard as we could or do that extra rep.

viii)            It stinks in the middle of it but when you’re done and the workout is over the benefit is yours.

ix)    You’re a little stronger and a little faster; there is fruit from the pain. The same is true with God’s discipline.

x)      We endure difficultly with joy knowing that on the other side is the fruit of righteousness.

xi)    You face it and preach to yourself, “I will endure by faith and when this is over I’ll be more like Christ.”

xii)  There is a peacefulness in the storm when you know the power of Christ in your life.

xiii)            When he’s in the boat you trust him.

xiv)            We’ll be done with this

d)     We must be trained by discipline

i)        There is no peaceful fruit of righteousness for those who run from the discipline of God.

ii)      Verse 9 told us that it is those who are subject to the Father of spirits that live.

iii)    The peaceful fruit of righteousness is not for everyone.

iv)    Righteousness if for those who are trained by the Father’s loving discipline.

v)      To reject His discipline is to reject Him as Father.

vi)    It’s the prodigal son telling his father, “I want the benefit of your life but I don’t want you. I wish you were dead.”

vii)  To say, “I want the benefit of Christ but I don’t want to be godly like Christ,” is to look to the Father and say, “I want to be in heaven but I wish you were dead.”

viii)            God’s will for you is your sanctification. God’s will is that everyone who claims the name of Christ lives and looks like Christ.

ix)    Will you submit to his loving discipline?

x)      Will you consider the strength and grace of God in the life of Christ as he grew and endured for joy?

xi)    Will you set your eyes on Christ, the author and perfector of your faith?

xii)  Will you run the race?

xiii)            Will you come with me? Let’s go out in joy and be led forth in peace (Isaiah 55:12).