Hebrews 11:4-11

Amen. Please take your copy of God's Word and join me in Hebrews chapter 12. Our sermon today will be a change from our plan.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

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Preparing to preach the following quote, I always find that I can preach best when I can manage to lie a soak in my text.

I like to get a text and find out its meaning and bearings and so on, and then, after I have bathed in it, I delight to lie down in it and let it soak into me.

It softens me, or hardens me, or does whatever it ought to do to me, and then I can talk about it.

And so this week, the text that had been planned for before us was from John chapter 3, verse 22 through 36, the final kind of recorded testimony of John the Baptist by John the Apostle.

John 3:22–36

And I have done the work of getting the text and finding out its meaning and bearings, doing that careful work, forming an outline, looking at language.

But I have had a difficult time this week lying a soak in this particular text.

There's another that my mind has gone to again and again and again, not just in this past week, but in the week before that as well.

And so that's the text I would like to preach this morning.

You know, a true thing about all shepherds is that they are also sheep.

And I find sometimes, as the task falls to me to preach, that I also need to be particularly ministered to by the Word.

And maybe it could be considered selfish, perhaps.

But I think this is what I need to hear this morning.

And my hope, then, is that it's also what you need to hear this morning,

and that God will bless our time together in His Word.

And so Hebrews chapter 12, verses 4 through 11 will be our text for today.

Hebrews 12:4–11

And before I read it, I'd like to pray that God would bless our time in it.

God, we thank You for Your Word.

And we recognize that it was written long ago, that it had an original audience,

but that it is a word to us this morning for us to take up and to read and to consider and to believe.

We know that it was written for Your glory, that You would be known.

And it was also written for our good.

And so we ask this morning that You would help us as we take some time to consider it.

that we believe its promises, obey its commands,

that You would move our affections towards You as we look at it,

and we would respond as we should to it.

And we pray this for the glory of Christ.

Amen.

Hebrews 12, beginning in verse 4 and following.

In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by Him.

For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives.

It is for discipline that you have to endure.

God is treating you as sons.

For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated,

then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined 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.

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.

Some time ago, we studied through the book of Hebrews,

and at the very beginning of that study, I read to you a quotation by William Lane,

who's a contemporary, respected New Testament authority,

and he said this of the book of Hebrews.

Hebrews is a delight for the person who loves puzzles.

Its form is unusual, its setting in life is uncertain,

and its argument is unfamiliar.

It invites engagement in the task of defining the undefined.

Undefined are the identity of the writer,

his conceptual background,

the character and location of the community,

addressed the circumstances and date of composition,

the nature of the crisis to which the document is a response,

the literary genre, and the purpose and plan of the work.

Although these undefined issues continue to be addressed and debated vigorously,

no real consensus has been reached.

Lane then goes on to do a very careful work

to give us the probabilities and the likelies in his commentary.

But one matter is without contention.

Lots of contention about this letter,

but one is without it.

The theme of Hebrews is the supremacy and the finality of Jesus Christ.

Christ is greater than, the argument goes,

the angels, priests, the old covenant redemptive economy,

and Christ is the final word.

We need no new revelation.

The original audience of this letter were Hellenistic Jewish Christians,

that's Greek speaking,

that had not seen Jesus,

but had heard the gospel and believed,

and they were located most likely outside of Rome.

They'd most likely been chased out of Rome and were on the outskirts.

They were suffering, the book tells us,

and they would suffer further,

which is a fact that develops the letter's secondary theme,

the necessity of faithful endurance.

We just sang,

O Lord, my rock and my redeemer,

and in verse 2, the last three lines,

my hope when tides of sorrow rise,

my joy when trials are abounding,

your faithfulness,

my refuge in the night.

And so these original Christians who would have received this letter

had many trials all around them,

and so this secondary theme sets on top of that primary theme

that Christ is supreme and he is final.

The hope, the confidence, the joy that they could have

because of Christ,

even in the midst of their trials.

In the first three verses of chapter 12,

the author uses the metaphor of a race

to encourage these believers, right?

To press on, to press on to the end, right?

After a sweeping Old Testament summary of faithful endurance

in chapter 11,

he writes in Hebrews 12, verse 1 through 3,

Hebrews 12:1–3

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,

let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely

and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

looking to Jesus,

the founder and perfecter of our faith,

who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,

despising the shame,

and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself

so that you may not grow weary or faint-hearted.

And that sets us up for verses 4 through 11, right?

The pressing here of the author is that we would endure faithfully to the end,

even amidst all of the trials that this life will throw at us.

Another Spurgeon quote,

I go through a rotation of these coloring sheets for the kiddos,

so if you haven't seen this one out there,

this is a picture of Charles Spurgeon in a saddle,

riding on the back of a snail.

It's because he once said,

by perseverance, the snail reached the ark.

A bit of a picture of the Christian life, right?

That we press on to the next thing,

and sometimes it feels like applauding.

We want to do this by the grace that God provides faithfully.

We want to press on.

And that's what he's doing in this section of Scripture, right?

And so this will be our outline for this morning,

and I will explain a little bit further

why this text is where my mind has been going.

Number one, we see a correction for faltering endurance.

Number two, a challenge to sustained endurance.

And number three, reasons for sustained endurance.

So we see in verses four through six,

firstly, a correction for faltering endurance.

At the very outset of today's text,

he begins with two corrections.

First, he corrects them with the fact that

while they had suffered,

no one had yet been martyred.

I think he's working here to give them a bit of perspective.

In your struggle against sin, verse four,

you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

There seems to be a shift in metaphor here

from the Christian life being described as

the race that is set before us in verse two

to that of a wrestling match with sin.

Truly, the Christian life is one that must be run with endurance.

And it certainly is a struggle against sin.

Now, in verse three of chapter 12,

he has just exhorted them to consider him

who endured from sinners such hostility against himself.

Jesus had shed his blood.

They had not.

It is as if he is saying,

quit being so dramatic.

None of you has died yet.

In your pursuit of Christ,

your master and Lord,

he died,

but you haven't arrived there yet.

And I find this a particularly striking correction

for myself and for the church today.

We have suffered so little

compared to the death of our Lord.

What trials we could list in this room, right?

Don't quite measure up to martyrdom

for the sake of our faith.

If we are considering,

mindfully thinking about him

who endured from sinners

such hostility against himself,

then we also,

the logic follows,

should not grow weary

or faint-hearted.

That's the one correction.

Second,

the author corrects them

because they had failed to remember

and apply the scripture

to their situation.

He says in verse five,

and have you forgotten

the exhortation that addresses you

as sons?

They had forgotten.

They had forgotten.

So,

he is reminding them.

And ladies,

do not forget that the Bible

was written at a time

when all of the inheritance

of a father

was granted to his sons.

So,

you want to be a son

as the Bible expresses it.

And,

you are.

Paul wrote in Galatians chapter 3,

Galatians 3:26

verse 26,

in Christ Jesus,

you were all sons of God

through faith.

Right?

Inheritors,

that's what you want to see

in that place.

So,

with this in mind,

hear the scripture

that the author of Hebrews

now cites.

He said,

have you forgotten this text?

They had.

So,

he reminds them,

still verse five,

my son,

do not regard lightly

the discipline

of the Lord,

nor be weary

when reproved by him.

for the Lord disciplines

the one he loves

and he chastises

every son

whom he receives.

They had forgotten

the application

of this text.

In verses five and six,

there are

two negative

implications.

Right?

Don't disdain.

Do not regard lightly.

Do not think wrongly

about the discipline

of the Lord.

And,

don't dismay.

Don't be weary

when reproved

by him.

Recognize the place

of suffering

in the life

of a Christian.

Don't disdain.

Don't dismay.

And,

the opposite,

therefore,

the positive implications

can also be found

from those

two verses.

We are to

regard rightly,

to think correctly

about

the discipline

of the Lord

and we are to be

refreshed.

So,

don't disdain.

Don't dismay.

Do regard.

Do refresh.

Or,

be refreshed.

The author wants us

to see that the

challenges that we face

in this world

are for

our

good.

They are given to us

by God's

kind hand.

Every single one of them.

Whatever trial

may come

for the life

of the Christian,

it's given to us

by God's

kind hand.

Why?

It seems like

I could come up

with some better ways

for God to express

kindness

towards me.

Why does God

do it this way?

It's because

He

loves us.

The Lord

disciplines

the one

He

loves.

That's where my mind

was going again

and again

and again

over these past

two weeks.

Of interest,

I've preached this text

before

and I had to

grab the notes

from someplace else.

My study is

displaced right now.

I'll talk a little bit

about why

in a minute.

I had to

do some technological

things I don't

normally do

and I grabbed

these notes

and I pulled

them over

to another place

and I had to

do some formatting

and I did a

control off.

I selected everything

and I went back

to the standard

formatting which

took out all

of my boldfacing.

I like to boldface

the text.

You ever look

at my notes?

It's usually

the only thing

that's boldfaced.

It's just the text

that we're in

and everything else

is indented

and I keep my head

straight in other ways.

But the text,

the text,

and it took

out all of the

boldfacing

of the text

and so this morning

I'm reading through it

and I'm making

some little changes

and I'm re-bolding

the text

and I got to

the top of the

second page

and the only thing

in this entire

set of notes

that didn't

unbold itself,

which is probably

some bizarre

formatting thing

I did the last

time I was doing

this,

but the only thing

that wasn't unbolded

was that phrase

at the top of page

two in my notes.

The Lord

disciplines

the one

he loves

and I cried.

It's where my

mind had been going.

It's what I needed

to see.

The Lord disciplines

the one

he loves.

Why do trials

come into our life?

If you're a Christian,

it's because God

loves you.

Being disciplined

is a sign

that you belong

to God

and that he

is seeking

your

good.

Do you believe

this?

Do you

love

the discipline

of the Lord

the way

that you

ought to?

Or do you

think that you

know better

that the

challenges of

your life,

the things

that seem

to keep

you from

enduring

faithfully

are unfair

and misplaced?

That they

couldn't

possibly

be

kindnesses

from God.

I think

we're all

tempted

to do

that very

thing.

So,

this is my

anecdotal,

this is why

my mind

has been

on this

text.

My life's

just been

really chaotic

lately.

Lately may

not even be

the right term

for the past

five years.

Those of you

who know us

well know

that we

decided to

take on

a big

house

project

where we

built a

house

for my

parents

and now

we're

remodeling

a house

and it's

taking

forever.

And it's

my fault.

I chose

to do

this

thing.

It has

been a

major,

major,

major

task

and it

is making

me go

thin.

I'm just

running on

fumes all

the time.

It's where I

spend any

extra energy

that I have

on working

on this

project.

And I'm

grateful for

it for a

lot of

reasons.

I think

there's a

lot of

good that's

going to

come out

of it.

I don't

doubt

God's

goodness

in it,

but has

it been

a challenge

chugging

away at

this thing,

trying to

get it

done.

So it's a

major area

of my

life that

is just

incomplete.

Things are

just in

pieces right

now.

Even the

home that

I finished,

got a

CO4 so

that my

parents could

move into

it,

is not

really

finished.

My sweet

mom has

just been

opening her

kitchen drawers

without drawer

pulls on it

this entire

time since

the beginning

of January.

because I

still got to

put knobs on

the drawers

down at

their house.

It still

needs to be

painted,

things like

that.

It's not

quite done.

And then

two weeks

ago,

you all

were likely

aware that

the downstairs

of this

church building

flooded.

Septic system

backed up.

We had

remediators

come in

Friday night

and into

Saturday and

rip out two

thirds of the

flooring and

flood cut the

sheet rock

downstairs.

Totally

displaced me out

of my study.

It was maybe

the one place

in my life

that things

were steady

and stable

because it was

the thing I

get to control,

my little zone,

my space that

I got to

hang on to.

And it got

thrown in boxes

and moved to

the other end

of the hall

down here.

And I

frantically

packed up the

things I

thought I

needed most

and set up

a folding

table at

the house

that I'm

trying to

remodel,

which is

pretty chaotic.

So I'm

juggling all

of those

kinds of

things.

We're finding

that we

didn't have

the flood

coverage that

we had hoped

for and

that the

work that's

already been

down there

is being

exorbitantly

charged for.

We're going

to have to

enter into

a whole

issue with

that company

trying to

get that

sorted out

and then to

get it all

put back

together in

some reasonable

amount of

time.

Where we're

living right

now is

being really

kindly provided

for by my

father-in-law.

They're so sweet

to us.

We're living

rent-free,

but we're

living in a

one-bedroom,

one-bath

apartment.

It's 640

square feet.

We've been

there for

five and a

half,

six years.

We've been

making it

work.

Praise God,

there's a lot

of good

things that

have come

out of it.

We've now

been there

long enough

and old

enough that

things are

starting to

fall apart.

So not only

do I have

projects here

and projects

out the other

house,

I have projects

at the place

that's supposed

to be free

and easy.

My father-in-law

did a cool

thing, I think.

It looks really

neat.

He used a

galvanized

tub for the

sink.

The bathroom

sink is this

galvanized

tub and it

looks neat,

but it just

doesn't function

very well.

And we

discovered this

week that it's

rusting through.

It has pinhole

leaks all over

it.

And I tried

to use some

roof flashing

to seal it

up just for

temporary and

it failed.

So the

sink is

leaking, it

needs to be

repaired in

some more

proper way.

That's why I'm

not totally

clean shaven

this morning

because I

really couldn't

use the

sink this

morning when

I got up.

So many

things going

on and on

top of that

for the last

couple of

months I've

discovered,

I've noticed

some, I'll

call it

unexplained

bruising on

my body.

The inside of

my forearms,

the inside of

my biceps,

ribs, wrapping

around onto my

back, up my

back, backs of

my knees and

legs.

And we're

running blood

work and

praise God

the things that

might be popping

into your mind

that it could be

not those

things.

Got a clean

CBC panel

back.

But we're on

this road now

trying to figure

out what in

the world is

going on, why.

I feel okay but

we're just not

sure what's

happening there.

Nothing, nothing

seems settled.

Nothing seems

stable.

On top of that, I

worry about you

guys.

There's so much

going on in the

life of our

church.

I can't disclose

details to you

but I got a

text this morning,

hey we won't be

here, rushing a

toddler to

CHOA, to the

emergency room,

passed out,

blue lips.

I mean, and

praise God, just

before I got

up here, I

prodded for

an update and

everything's fine,

she's doing

well.

Those types of

things, I mean, I

carry them, I

worry about you

guys and there's

so much going on

in the life of

our church.

It's a temptation

to lose hope in

the midst of all

of that.

There's a

temptation to

think it's

unfair, but

God, I'm doing

all the things

I think you've

had me do.

Why does it

have to be so

hard all the

time?

Beloved, if

our faith is

faltering, we

need this

correction.

We need

perspective and

we need the

promises of

God.

The Lord

disciplines the

one he

loves.

Take a phrase

away today, if

you just blank

out everything

else that's

said this

morning.

Let that

sentence just

catch in your

head and in

your heart.

The Lord

disciplines the

one he

loves.

To make the

point just a

little bit

further, I'll

give you one

more text.

This is Psalm

84 and

verse 11.

There it

says,

No good

thing does

he withhold

from those

who walk

uprightly.

good.

So if you

are in

Jesus Christ

this morning,

if you've

repented and

believed in

the person and

work of

Jesus, then

you are

clothed in

his righteousness.

You

therefore walk

uprightly before

God.

And as

such, he

withholds no

good thing

from you.

That is,

your life is

full of

good.

Every

circumstance

that comes

your way,

good.

It's a

good of

God's

defining

because it

is a

good that

is meant

for our

sustained

endurance.

Second

point, the

challenge to

sustained

endurance.

Verse 7

says,

It is for

discipline that

you have to

endure.

The author

has told us

that Jesus

endured,

verse 2,

and it

is imperative

that we

endure.

Culturally, we

tend to have a

negative view

of discipline.

You may have

either never

been disciplined

in your home

or were

possibly

disciplined

with severity.

The word

discipline simply

means to

teach or

instruct.

So you

could read

verse 7,

that first

part, it

is for

instruction

that you

have to

endure.

That means

that discipline

ought to be

viewed as

a positive

thing,

especially that

discipline which

comes from

the Lord.

Additionally,

the discipline

of God for

his children

never involves

his wrath.

Theodore,

I'm going to

spell his

last name

and not

try to

pronounce it,

L-A-E-T-S-C-H.

If you know

who this is

and how to

pronounce that

last name,

please tell me

later.

I want to

say Lech,

but I

don't know.

Theodore,

an Old

Testament

scholar,

put the

point this

way,

quote,

his plans

concerning

his people

are always

thoughts of

good,

of blessing.

Even if

he is obliged

to use

the rod,

it is the

rod not

of wrath,

but the

father's

rod of

chastisement

for their

temporal

and eternal

welfare.

This is not

a single

item of

evil in

his plans

for his

people,

neither in

their motive,

nor in

their conception,

nor in

their revelation,

nor in

their

consummation.

So we

should

endure

our

hardships

as

kindnesses

from God,

as

helpful

discipline.

This

discipline

takes

three

forms.

First,

corrective

discipline.

Sometimes we

need to be

shown the

error of

our ways.

We need

to experience

the temporal

consequence of

our sin to

keep us

mindful of

its eternal

consequence if

we are not

found in

Christ.

An example

of this is

found in

Paul's

letter to

the

Corinthians.

Some of

them were

sick and

some had

died because

of their

abuse of

the Lord's

Supper.

Paul writes

in 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 11:32

11,

verse 32,

but when we

are judged

by the

Lord,

we are

disciplined

so that

we may

not be

condemned

along

with the

world.

Discipline

also takes

the form

of preventative

discipline.

Sometimes we

need to be

kept from

sin by

discipline.

An example

of this is

humility God

worked in

Paul,

which he

speaks of

in 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12

and verse 7,

where he

wrote,

so to

keep me

from becoming

conceited,

because of the

surpassing greatness

of the

revelations,

a thorn was

given me in

the flesh.

We don't

know what

that was,

specifically

what it

was.

He calls

it a

messenger

of Satan

to harass

me to

keep me

from

becoming

conceited,

to prevent

pride in

me because

of the

revelation

of God

shown to

me.

This

thorn

was given

to me.

The third

type of

discipline

that we

see in

the Bible

is

instructive

discipline.

Sometimes

we are

taught

lessons

proactively

through

discipline.

This was

the case

for Job

after enduring

much

suffering,

was neither

corrective

or preventative.

He then

declares,

I heard

of you

by the

hearing

of the

ear.

This is

Isaiah 42:5

chapter 42

verse 5.

But now

my eye

sees you.

I had

some

understanding

of you,

but now

I have

beheld

you.

And I

think

God

pushes

at us

in this

way

all

the

time.

We've

come to

the end

of ourselves

thinking

that we

have it

figured out,

thinking

that we

have anything

under

control

that we

would flee

to him,

find our

value,

our worth,

our joy,

our peace

in him.

Through

Job's

suffering

and following

dialogue with

God,

he reached

a new,

more complete

understanding

of God.

Because Job

was doing

well,

God allowed

suffering so

that Job

would do

all the

more often

instructed

through our

hardships.

God says,

good,

keep running,

endure more,

press on.

We must

remember

that the

challenges of

our lives

are discipline

that comes

in one of

these three

forms,

and we

must remember

that it

is loving

and it

is for

our good.

We have

options

when it

comes to

our

understanding

of God.

God

could be

good and

not

sovereign,

hoping that

things work

out for

his people,

or God

could be

sovereign

and not

good,

not enacting

his rule

over the

world to

bring about

the good

of his

people,

or he

could be

both,

and he

is.

And he

is all

the time

sovereign

and good.

James

Moffat

stated in

his commentary

on this

text,

to endure

rightly,

one must

endure

intelligently.

You must

take up

these truths

and know

them that

we might

endure.

Third

point,

and lastly,

reasons

for

sustained

endurance.

We picked

this up

in the

last half

of verse

7 and

on through

verse 11.

The author

gives three

reasons for

sustained

endurance.

Number

one,

a paternal

reason.

Halfway

through verse

7,

God is

treating you

as

sons.

The logic

goes,

if you are

sons,

then you

will receive

discipline.

discipline.

If you

are not

sons,

then you

will not

receive

discipline.

Because

this is

true,

we should

not regard

lightly the

discipline of

the Lord,

nor be

weary when

reproved

by him,

but should

rather be

encouraged to

press on

by it.

I am

being

taught.

Oh,

it's so good

to be taught

because it

proves that

God loves

me.

Secondly,

we see a

lesser to

greater

reason.

The logic

here goes,

if this

is so,

then this

must be

even

more

so.

He says

in verse

9,

besides this,

we have

had earthly

fathers who

disciplined

us,

and we

respected

them.

Shall

we not

much more

be subject

to the

father of

spirits

and live?

Now,

I recognize

that not

all of

you have

fathers who

disciplined

you or

disciplined

you well.

You may

not have

the type

of respect

for your

fathers that

the author

is here

implying.

If that

is the

case for

you,

I want

you to

know that

he is

speaking

in

generalities

and that

the lesson

he is

teaching

does not

have to

be lost

on you

because

your frame

of reference

is different

from the

one he

is

implying.

So here,

if you

have a

father who

disciplined

you and

you respected

him,

or if

you have

ever

noticed

a

father

who

disciplined

well and

you respected

him,

then how

much

more

should

you

respect

God?

Of course,

the answer

is much,

much

more.

His loving

correction

is always

perfect

and therefore

always

respectable.

We then

see a

sanctifying

reason.

I'll tell you

there were

three,

there was

actually

four.

A

sanctifying

reason.

Verse

10,

they

discipline

us for

a short

time as

it seemed

best to

them,

but he

disciplines

us for

our good

that we

may share

in his

holiness.

God's

discipline is

aimed at

making us

more like

him.

And this is a

great joy for the

Christian heart

that we would put

off the world and

put on and look

more like Christ,

that God would be

exalted in our

lives.

A parallel to

this is Romans

Romans 8:28

chapter 8,

verse 28 and

29.

Many of you are

very familiar with

verse 28,

and we know that

for those who

love God,

all things work

together for

good, for those

who are called

according to

his purpose.

Every Christian

loves verse 28.

I've not heard

anybody try to

argue against

what verse 28

means, but I

think they missed

some of the

point of it.

I think a lot of

Christians look for

the good, and

there are some

tangible things that

we can touch.

We can see how

particular things

are being produced

out of the good.

I'll go through

an intersection,

there's an accident

in, and I'll be

so thankful for the

delay that I had

earlier, because I

could have been in

the middle of that

accident.

I can see, oh,

that person that

pulled out in front

of me, who was so

annoying because they

were going so slow.

Oh, look at the

good God worked.

I wasn't in this

intersection when

this accident

happened, but we're

constantly doing

that kind of thing,

and the text doesn't

leave us guessing

what the good is.

It doesn't leave us

guessing.

Paul has something

very specific in

mind.

He goes on in

verse 29, for

those whom he

foreknew, he also

predestined to,

here it is, be

conformed to the

image of his

son, that we

would look more

like Christ, in

order that he

might be the

firstborn among

many brothers.

flesh.

So we're being

disciplined for

holiness.

And then

fourth, there's a

joy-filled

reason.

Verse 11, 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.

The author

recognizes that

there is a

disconnect between

the experience of

this discipline and

the reality of

this discipline.

He notes in

verse 11, it

seems painful.

It doesn't seem

pleasant at all,

but by

implication it

yields

pleasantness,

which he calls

the peaceful

fruit of

righteousness.

Doesn't that

sound wonderful?

in the midst

of trial,

in the midst

of temptation,

we can be

steadied.

We are

steadied by our

loving God as

he trains us

to produce

the peaceful

fruit of

righteousness.

As we don't

forget the

promise that

calls us

sons,

as we remember

that he brings

things into our

life because

he loves

us,

because he

wants us to

look more

like Christ.

We're being

trained to

produce the

peaceful fruit

of righteousness.

Ah,

I want through

any trial that I

experience,

and through any

trial that you

experience,

even the suffering

that Christ

experienced to the

point of death,

to produce this,

right?

Unshakeable,

steadiness,

confidence in the

hope of the

gospel of Jesus

Christ.

So hold up

and hold on.

Regardless of

what you're

walking through

right now,

we have a

loving God who

disciplines us

for the sake

of faithful

endurance.

look to

Christ,

the author

and perfecter

of our

faith.

May we be

those who

declare,

Hebrews 10,

39,

that we are

not of those

who shrink

back and are

destroyed,

but of those

who have faith

and preserve

their souls.

Let's pray

together.

here.