Sea Legs Hebrews 12

You wanna see Jesus? You wanna see him? You wanna

see him? We come to that moment in time where

we talk about how God has been at work. What

have you seen of the Lord this last week? What

scripture did you read? When did God say, hey,

pay attention to that. That's important. That's

something that you need to recognize as wisdom

for me or something you need to respond to or

whatever. This is our opportunity as a body to

work together and say how God's been speaking

to us and showing us during the last seven days

since the last time we were here. And so, what

have you seen? What have you heard from the Lord

this week? Anybody? I got this book. It's kind

of cool. I got it when I was going to my mom

and dad's anniversary. And I went to church.

It's like my other church, you know. in their

town, and they just had this book, and I picked

it up. It wasn't a book I bought, or I saw this

was given to me, and it just felt like it was

a gift from God. And it's called Paul David Trift.

It's about parenting, the 14 gospel principles

that can radically change your family. It is

just absolutely amazing. And I saw I was going

to read a couple things from it. There's one

about grace, and what I thought was really cool,

it talks about, you know, we have to part on.

past grace that He died for transgressions. Then

there's future grace when we go beyond, we'll

be in heaven with Him. It was talking about present

grace. It was talking about our inability. This

is what it said. It says, inability doesn't mean

that God has made a massive mistake by giving

you children and somehow He's gotten the wrong

address or your children would be better off

elsewhere. Rather than your inability being the

way of God's plan. It is part of His plan. He

knows that parents who admit that they are inadequate

and run to God make the best parents. You see,

He doesn't ask you to be able. He asks you to

be willing. If you're willing, He will meet you

in your weakness and change you. And as He changes

you, He will work good things through you into

your hearts and the lives of your children. There's

so much more about it. Right there is one other

part of life. And if anyone wants to borrow this

book, let me know. I'm actually going to hand

out some money, but I also might get some copies

too. Just let me know if you guys are interested.

It says this. It says, God never calls us to

a task without giving us what we need to do or

what we need to do it. God never sends you in

anything without going with you. He never tells

you to do something without giving you what you

need to do it. This is the story of the whole

Bible. This is why God sent his son to earth.

There is only one hero in the Bible. Every other

character is flawed in some way. God is the hero

of every story in the Bible. In fact, the Bible

is not a collection of stories, but one big story

with lots of chapters. It's the story of how

God meets weak and failing people of this powerful

race. Amen. Amen. What's one of my favorite sayings?

God doesn't call the equipped, he equips the

called. Amen. Anybody else? I was at the life

station yesterday working, and Josh and Dan Rose,

who's a professor, worked there as well. And

Isaiah was on the road taking deliveries and

happened to step into the lobby. It was the first

time I was in the lobby all day. And we only

run deliveries on Saturdays. We don't do pick

-ups. So unless we have an appointment, I'm not

in the lobby at all. So I hadn't been in the

lobby all day. I just had it at the desk. And

as I sat there, there was a rattling of the doorknob.

Somebody was trying to get in. And I was like,

oh, it's okay, you know, we don't do walk -ups

on Saturday. And the Lord kind of provoked my

heart. I better help him if I can. So as I walked

the door, she already got in her car. You may

or may not know me before I was saved. Just remember

that I'm not, in talking to people that I don't

know, I was never a person to push past barriers.

Like, I was that guy who wouldn't risk anybody

looking at me in a way, you know, thinking he's

gone with me or bad with me or whatever. And

so I got to the door, and she got in the car.

I'm like, oh, no, she'll come back Monday. And

then the Lord said, no. So I opened the door,

and I walked out there. And she's in the car.

She starts the car. She starts the car. I'm like,

oh, no, it's too late now. I can't talk to her.

It's too late now. And then I went up to the

window that rolled down the passenger window,

which was interesting, because it was warm. And

if it hadn't been warm, the window probably wouldn't

have been rolled down. I don't know, maybe she's

like me and her AC doesn't work. But anyway,

I walked up to the window and I said, was that

you just at the door? And she said, yeah. And

I said, do you need, did you need help? And she

said, yeah. She said, I've been trying to get

her all week, but I didn't make it. I was having

some troubles and I was hoping to get food. And

I said, well, turn the car off. Let's go. I'll

take care of it. So go back to the life station.

And the end of the story is really cool because

she prays, while she's praying to accept Christ.

But that was, well, that's really cool. That

wasn't the point of what God said. You pay attention

to that. It was as I was sitting at the desk

and I was busy, I was sending texts, important

texts, right? In fact, what was scary was after

I did all that, I almost forgot to send one of

the important texts that I needed to send, you

know? So I was sending important texts and I'm

saying, well, how importantly busy I was, and

the Lord said, get up and go to the door. Then

I'm like, well, she's there and she could come

back on Monday. She's not supposed to come today

anyway, so no big deal. I didn't know it was

a woman. I didn't know who it was. The curtain

clocked the door. And I would have in the past

made that excuse. I would have said, no, it's

no problem. I'm not going to do it. But the Lord

said, do it. And then I get to the door and I

saw her getting in the car. I'm like, oh, it's

too late. No, guys, it's not too late. And I

open the door and I walk outside. She starts

the car. She's going to pull away. And I said,

oh, it's too late. And the Lord said, no, it's

not too late. And what the Lord said to me as

I was walking back, before she ever wanted to

pray, and I don't know, maybe it added confidence

to my presentation or whatever, but before that

ever happened, what the Lord said to me was,

see, my people, are people who don't say it's

too late, it's too hard, that there's a barrier,

that there's a reason or an excuse to quit, to

stop, to give in. My people don't do that. And

I thought, you know what's really sad is as one

of God's people, I have done that. And I think

that the church at large has done that. And I

think that's, God would just say, that's not

who we're supposed to be. And I don't want to

get into the sermon today because it really touched

my heart and it may come up then, but I do want

to say, I feel like God was saying to us, every

time you think there is an excuse, every time

you think there is a reason, that excuse or that

reason is actually a prodding or an encouragement

to do exactly what it is that God would have

you do over top of that escape that you might

have. Somebody said, well, I'm not going to do

that. Because X, and as soon as you think X,

you need to go, but that's exactly why I need

to do it. I need to do it because God's people

are a people that don't quit. They don't take

the excuse. They don't back down. They go past

the barriers. They reach people. They love people.

We love the unlovable. Jesus prayed for those

who were crucifying him while they were crucifying

him. If that's the standard, I'm not sure how

well we're living up to that standard, but I

would just say we need to push past the barriers

and love people and reach out and find people.

And I think there's a spiritual awakening happening.

I think there are people that are right now open

to the discussions of God, open to the things

of the Bible that have maybe not been in their

whole lives. They might be 30, 40, 50, 60, 70

years old, and right now they're going, no, what

I'm seeing, what I'm feeling, what's going on,

God is an answer. And they don't know whether

God is the answer or not. And we need to show

up and show them that he's the answer and ask

them to believe him. And I think they will. And

so I was very encouraged by that experience.

And I think she was too. And I was hoping to

see her here this morning. But who knows? So

if you're watching, we're going to pray for you

in a minute. And then we'll pray for ourselves

to press past those barriers. As we transition

to tithes and offerings. Is there anybody else

that really needs to say something or really

have something on your heart this morning? Okay.

Well, let's pray together. I'm going to pray.

I will name her in my prayer. Her name is Carmen.

And then I'll also pray for our tithes and offerings.

I'll also pray for a transition to the rest of

our worship and the lesson and so on. You pray

with me. Father in heaven, we come to you in

unity. We come to you in equality. Not equality

like we are the same individually, but equality

like each of us is uniquely made in your image

and each of us has the ability to be in relationship

with you, an ability that you bestowed in us

from the beginning of time and have brought to

pass through your Son, Jesus Christ. We come

to you in unity today. And we lift up this laundry

list of things. We are under great pressures

from a pandemic and political and civil unrest

and a desperate need for wisdom to know how to

do the right thing in this day. The thing that

honors you. The thing that could bring people

to you. Lord, we also ask that you forgive us

when we failed you. Because if we are a people

that presses past barriers, if we are a people

that redeems everything we touch, if we are a

people that brings the redemption word into lives

so that people can figure out that God really

loves them, that he wants a relationship with

them, that he's paid for all of it, that he's

made it possible, if we are that people, then

we have not been that people the way we should

have been. So we ask your forgiveness, Lord,

and we're grateful that it is available through

Jesus, your son. We pray very specifically for

those. It's not a short list of those who committed

to be here today, and we pray very specifically

for Carmen, Lord. I'm quite certain that she

would have had to have pressed past the barriers

to be able to be here this morning, having just

been born again yesterday. I would just ask you,

Lord, that you would teach the babes in Christ

how to crawl, how to crawl in your direction

and the direction that you would take them. Where

we are babes in Christ, we ask you to teach us

how to crawl. We ask you to teach us how to eat

so we can be fed, both physically and spiritually.

Lord, that we can be healthy and strong. As we

go into the latter portion of our worship, we

ask you to help us lift up praises to you. We

ask you to help us honor you with our tithes

and offerings, which are really yours anyway.

We ask you to help the teachers teach an amazing,

power -packed, God -inspired lesson from the

Bible. As Tony Tate just read, that story that

really is all about you and every hero's... that

anyone would look up to in scripture is not really

a hero, they're just a people looking up to you.

And that we would do that. And that we would

put our eyes on the shepherd as we go to the

word. And we would let you lead us and grow us

individually and corporately. And we just ask

you, Father, for your will to be done here on

earth. Here in this place at least. Let us be

planted firmly within the house of the Lord.

and then flourish in the temples of our God.

We pray all this in Jesus' precious name. Amen.

and sing with me on this song, partially because

I am overcoming an asthma attack this morning,

but also because this song really speaks to me

with a message that is kind of an anthem for

those particular moments when you are overcoming

those barriers. or if this comes from the New

Heights Fellowship Podcast website. August 9th,

the transition. Two ways it won't work. If you

have left the way, I'm not saying you'll lose

your salvation, but you cannot go deeper, you

cannot learn more, you cannot live the things

that really free a person up in God. You cannot

live on the other side of the transition if you've

left the way because God's help is needed to

make the transition every time we need to make

the transition. Also, you can't do it or you

won't do it if you're dull of hearing. You should

be teachers, at least in the ministry of reconciliation,

teaching the basic things of Christianity. Foundational

Teachings, Part 1, August 16th. It does not have

faith in Jesus above all as you're motivated

for everything that you do. If you have not testified

before people that you have been washed by Jesus

and that you're living only for Him now through

baptism and hopefully every day through the speaking

of your mouth. If you have not practiced the

laying on of hands and gone out and loved on

people and touched them so that they can receive

that which God has blessed you with, freely you

have been given, freely you should give. If you

have not thought daily about the fact that you

are not going to die and stay dead, you are going

to die and go to heaven if Jesus doesn't come

again first. If you have not... you have been

exempted from the eternal judgment, that you

have escaped hell by the love of a living Savior,

then the doctrine of Christ probably really doesn't

make all that much sense to you. You're not ready

to make a transition into deeper teaching and

a better understanding. Thank you. A better understanding

because you're still resisting the fundamental,

the foundation. Your house is all jiggy -jaggy.

And now if we try to go in, you're going to cheat

because you're like, I don't know. He's talking

about... You actually... You try to tell me that

when I'm talking to somebody about Jesus, and

I seem to be getting through to them, but...

From August 23rd, The Foundational Teachings.

Mark off or push away or have nothing to do with

the other things that come in that aren't in

line with the foundation. I'm asking you to do

that because it's dangerous to be a Christian

in this lifetime. a high priest forever from

August 30th. You can only get to heaven by allowing

Jesus to eternally intercede for you. First,

with repentance from dead works, and onward through

faith, fellowship with other believers, and putting

behind the old, dead you, and living forward.

Reaching for what God would have for you. He

was a sufficient sacrifice. September 6, 2020.

A necessary sacrifice. The New Deal. The New

Testament. September 13, 2020. Let me not be

downtrodden. Yes, I'll be surrounded by enemies,

but I know from where my help comes. Yes, I will

fall, but the righteous man falls and gets up

again seven times. Take it! It's the best you're

going to get! Lest you find yourself begging

for a drip of water from a dead man who did take

the deal. The judgment has already begun on September

20th, 2020. They were supposed to go past the

fines, the fees, everything. people out there

today in order to be able to come to worship

who are experiencing those same things in different

formats. I understand they're experiencing the

same things. And yet they know in their heart

of hearts as we talked about last week, the new

covenant is I will write my commands upon their

heart and I'll put them in their mind. You know

when you know what you're supposed to do. And

you know where you're supposed to be if you're

in a relationship with Christ. And when you stand

before him and he says can you pay? You better

be able to say no. But Jesus paid it all for

me. And we don't shrink back. We live that today.

And the confidence we have in Jesus, September

27th, August 9th. And so then on the 27th, we

talked about the confidence we have in Jesus.

And we were reminded that confidence... in the

biblical sense, does not simply mean the ability

to press parents' barriers and do what we're

supposed to do, but also that boldness, that

desire to be seen, not to be seen for our own

sake, to be seen to be able to point to our Savior,

that we would be good at speaking up, speaking

out, seeming different, so that we can then tell

people about Jesus. And then last week, we talked

about faith and the faraway finish line and continuing

the course. So if you've been following that

train of thought, and each one of those was just

short excerpts, those were the actual me preaching,

standing right here, recorded, and then kind

of pulled out of those sermons. They're just

to remind us where we've gone, where we've been,

what we've been trying to do. So as we look at

these texts today, you need to realize that we

are long into, we're talking about the teachings

that would, be part of what's after the transition.

And so as we talk about these things, they can

be offensive. They can not only be bothersome

and call you to go somewhere that you would not

normally want to go. It is these very things

that we're talking about that have caused 19

-year -olds to go, I want to be a missionary

in Uganda and to give 40 years of their life.

of their life telling people about Jesus. And

if you're a parent, you might go, I don't want

my 19 -year -old to do that. But it's these very

teachings that have allowed parents to release

their children into the mission field. It's these

very teachings that... have taken people from,

yes, I believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior

and I'm beginning to live for him, to now I'm

on the other side of some very difficult things

or some very challenging things or some very

big opportunities and maybe I made it, maybe

I blew it, maybe I did what I was supposed to,

maybe I didn't, and now we're past that sort

of shallow water and we're actually living for

God on a daily basis and making difficult decisions

on what we're supposed to do. That's where we're

now at as we look at this today. Last week, we

talked about faith in a faraway finish line.

This is the way it's going to be until Jesus

comes again. So when people accept Jesus Christ

as Lord and Savior, and they basically stay right

there. They don't get outside their box. They

don't reach out to worship. They don't reach

out to give. They don't reach out to serve. They

don't go the extra mile and push past things

that would stop them from doing that. They just

sort of stay in the shallow water. It doesn't

mean they're not saved. We're not talking about

shallow water now. So the message that I'm going

to share with you today, understand that if you're

still in the shallow water, you're going to find

certain things offensive. There are things that

you're going to go, I don't really care for that

notion. But if you're willing to make the transition,

then today could be the day that you make it.

Or if you already made the transition, then you're

going to go, yeah, this sort of makes sense to

me. It's not a pat on the back per se, but it

is an encouragement for me to understand that

what God is doing in my life actually is this

biblical picture. that we're looking at. And

so today's title for the sermon, as you can see,

is Straight and Strong. And the author of Hebrews

would call us to that then after having made

the transition. I want to share with you very

briefly a simple illustration that I think will

lead us to the text, and I'll ask you to keep

it in mind as we read the 17 verses that we're

going to read today. Our daughters, Brother Tony

and I, Brother Tim was there, I believe. Anyway,

it was in the early days of New Heights, and

we had a father -daughter campout. And when we

went on the campout, we decided we were going

to really kind of live it up. And we walked all

around the campground, did all kinds of cool

things. We went canoeing and stuff. And one of

the things we did was we rented three -wheel

bikes. And I'm about to tell you this story.

It's a little embarrassing, but it was a very,

very formative story in my young Christian. Life

as a pastor, anyway, because I was a mission

pastor of New Heights at that time. So we rented

three -wheel bikes, and the way those bikes work

is there's a center wheel in the front, two wheels

in the back, and then your seat is suspended

between the wheels. You have handles, and the

handles basically are for braking, but they're

also for... to keep you from tipping. So you're

sitting suspended in the seat. If you tip to

the right, the bike turns to the right. If you

tip to the left, the bike turns to the left.

Then it's very, very agile. Very quick to turn.

Turn a 90 degree turn at 10 mile an hour. Just

like that. So we rented the bikes and we figured

out how to use them. We started to go downhill.

Brother Tony was walking along. He had decided

not to rent one of the bikes, but he was walking

along over there. I could see him walking. And

I don't know if he witnessed the event. I don't

remember if he witnessed the event or not, but

he came right afterwards. And what happened was

as I was going down the hill, the bike started

to go a little bit to the right. And so I made

a quick adjustment to get it back to center so

I could go straight. And then when I did that,

I over -adjusted and the bike went just a little

bit to the left and then a little bit to the

right. And every time I would try to adjust the

bike and get it centered up again, the adjustment

that I had to make was more radical. So I was

swaying way further to the right. I had to adjust

more back to the left, but I didn't hit the mark

exactly. So then I went way to the left and it

got worse and worse. And all of a sudden the

bike just sort of went and flipped up into the

air over the front wheel. And I went scattered

on the gravel and I ground up my arm and tore

my pant leg and whatever, or tore up my knee.

I think I was wearing shorts and Tony come running

over to see if I was okay. And I was okay, but

I was pretty dinged up. And then I got back in

the bike and I did it again and I didn't crash

after that. I learned in that moment in time

that making the adjustments that are necessary

in our lives can lead us to making too radical

of an adjustment, which then requires an adjustment

which is even more radical than the last. I was

watching a show on TV with Ariana and Sherry,

and one of the characters was talking about how

when you tell a lie, you then... tell even more

lies to cover up that lie and you wind up having

more and more grandness to your lies or more

and more creativeness or more and more things

to keep track of. And it's kind of like that.

When you get off course just a little bit and

then try to redirect to get back on course, you

don't get back on course. You miss it by a little

bit and then you have to redirect again. The

hope would be that the redirections would get

smaller and smaller until you're really on course,

but it really never happens that way in practical

living. You miss the mark and go, man, And how

often do people go, like, now I've had three

or four conversations with my boss at work, and

that's it, I'm just going to quit. Or how often

do people say, well, we just can't seem to be

happy together, and say, that's it, I'm just

going to get a divorce. And what has happened

in that moment in time is there were so many

minor adjustments, so many corrections attempted,

that we finally said, that's enough corrections,

and we blow it up. We toss the bike in the air,

we bail out, and... there's no more corrections

because the thing ceases to exist in the way

that it did. I want you to bear that in mind

then as we look at this text today. The first

three verses we actually read last week, and

they're just so good, we're going to read them

again. So maybe you would give me an amen or

who to holler or something as we dive into Hebrews

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12. Amen! Thank you for a few folks who

are on board with me. That is just a psychological

marking, a reminder that we are now turning it

over to the text of God. Whatever I get right

or don't get right, if we listen to the word

of God, you can be changed. I can be changed.

In fact, I already have been changed in the writing

of this message, so I can guarantee that's true.

Okay, so here we go. Hebrews 12 .1. Therefore,

since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding

us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and

the sin which... So easily entangles us and let

us run with endurance the race that is set before

us. Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and

perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before

him endured the cross, despising the shame, and

has sat down at the right hand of the throne

of God. That's verses 1 and 2, but you'll notice

it's all one sentence. Pretty powerful sentence

at that. So basically the author of Hebrews is

asking us to, since we now see and... Chapter

11 was all about those quote -unquote heroes

of the faith that we've already been reminded

twice today since we've been here that those

heroes of the faith are not the heroes, right?

God is the hero. Jesus is the hero. Our God is

the hero. The rest of us are sort of just kind

of like satellites, if you will. And those people's

lives revolved around God. They did amazing things.

And as we see God doing those amazing things

in a people that ran the race that way, we should

be encouraged to win. run the race the same way

with our eyes on Jesus. I'm reminded that how

the sheep sort of follow out the shepherd and

more often than not, the shepherd doesn't have

to make a noise. They don't have to do anything

really. They just walk ahead of the sheep and

their sheep know them. And so the sheep just

follow them and they keep their eyes on the shepherd.

They don't get lost, but occasionally they'll

get their eyes off on some water or a particular

tuft of grass that looks interesting or other

sheep or, or the sheep dog. And they'll start

to sort of fade away and go in the wrong directions.

But when they get their eyes on the shepherd,

they can easily follow him and he will take them

to green pastures. This is what the author of

Hebrews is calling us to put your eyes where

they belong. And stay on course. We have such

a great cloud of witnesses showing us that that's

the right thing to do. Verse 3 says, For consider

him who has endured such hostility by sinners

against himself so that you may not grow weary

and lose heart. So the end of verse 2 and verse

3 combines together to show us that we can consider

Jesus and Jesus' suffering his sacrifice. Let's

be realistic. Jesus endured what you and I would

never want to endure in order to carry out the

mission of God. Nobody here wants to be crucified.

I submit to you, you could be dying from cancer

in a vat of acid, burning alive your flesh, being

removed off your skin, and you still would not

want to be crucified. It doesn't matter because

crucifixion is a long, painful, slow, it's like

suffocating while bleeding, while... joints stretched

out, filleted skin off your back, grinding it

along the wood to be able to exhale so you can

take another breath. It is a horrible experience.

They invented the word excruciating for the pain

of crucifixion because it is the only pain, the

only thing that has pain like that. We would

not want to go through what Jesus did in order

to accomplish what Jesus accomplished. But Jesus

did go through what he did in order to accomplish

it. If our Savior, our Lord, our example, Jesus,

can go through that to accomplish what God set

before him, and we're not even asked to go through

that, but we are probably asked to go through

some things that we also might not like to go

through. Basically, the author of Hebrews says,

so keep your eyes fixed on him and realize that

by his example, you can literally overcome whatever

you are facing. You can go through there. You

do not need to grow weary and lose heart because

look at the example of Jesus. We have a cloud

of witnesses of those who did not grow weary

and lose heart. They also did not ever see Jesus

in their lifetime. But we did see Jesus. We have

known Jesus is real. We have seen in history

that he lived, that he died, that he rose again,

that he did amazing miracles. And we can look

at his example and not grow weary and not lose

heart, even if, God forbid, we should. be required

to be crucified. Verse 4. You have not yet resisted

to the point of shedding blood in your striving

against sin. So we take this from the back to

the front. First of all, sin is when you don't

do what God wants you to do or when you do what

God doesn't want you to do. That's sin. It's

simple. And basically, he's simply saying you

have not put in that kind of effort. The kind

of effort that Jesus put in on the cross, you

have not put in that kind of effort. You have

not even bled. Literally, not even bled to avoid

sin. Now, most of us have bled. and most of us

have avoided sin, and most of us have done sin.

But in order for this statement to not be true

of us, we would have to have bled specifically

not to sin. So you would have to literally put

yourself in the way of the hazards of life and

suffer in order to not sin. So in order to not

lie, you have to actually take a punch. In order

to not steal, you might have had to actually

go without, starve, or bleed, specifically, because

you weren't willing to take it yourself. He says,

you have not resisted to the point of shedding

blood in your striving against sin, and you have

forgotten the exhortation which is addressed

to you as sons. Notice that and in there, it's

really important. He says, you have not strived

against sin so strongly that you have bled or

truly suffered. That's what the author first

says. And then says, and you have forgotten,

in the midst of all this, you have forgotten

the exhortation, which is the encouragement,

the thing that you need to understand, which

is addressed to you as sons. My son, do not regard

lightly the discipline of the Lord. nor faint

when you are reproved by him. That means corrected

or punished to go in the right direction. For

those whom the Lord loves, he disciplines, and

he scourges every son whom he receives. And so

what the author of Hebrews is reminding us is

that there is no Christian journey. There is

no following of Christ. There is no going God's

way for you that does not go through difficulty.

even to the point he uses the imagery of being

scourged, which is whipped, filleted, literally

have the skin whipped off your body. It doesn't

mean that everybody is going to be literally

whipped, but he means we are going to go through

difficulty. And that's where you can find it

all throughout the Bible. It's not what we're

going to talk about, but you can find all throughout

the Bible, the principle of suffering with the

Savior. And they praised God that they were found

worthy, Acts 4, to suffer the way Jesus had suffered.

There is no Christian life without difficulty.

There is no Christian life without suffering.

I'm going to submit to you that there is no Christian

life. If you live your whole life, there is no

Christian life. Hear me now, this is important.

There is no following Jesus lest you are willing

to bleed to avoid sinning against God. If your

Christianity is tiresome to you, If the compulsion

to do what is right exhausts you. If your desires

overtake the desire of your heart to serve God,

if you're more concerned about whatever it is

that's in your life that's entertaining you or

bothering you or blessing you or showing you

or showing up for you, if you're more concerned

about any one of those things than your legitimate

following of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior,

then you're probably not following Jesus. Because

there is no Christian life that does not go through,

and I'm going to say it this way, that does not

go through things that are more difficult, more

trying, and more dangerous than any normal individual

would ever put themselves in line for. The imagery

here is that you actually could, Jesus said it

himself, take up your cross daily. That doesn't

mean that you have to bear your own burdens.

Right? It doesn't mean that at all because Christ

bears our burdens. So that's not at all what

he was talking about. He's talking about actual

crucifixion and suffering. So he's saying you

have to be willing, right? Deny yourself, take

up your cross daily and follow me. You'd have

to be willing to literally be crucified. You're

willing, not that you should have to do it, but

you're willing every day. That's what Jesus calls

being a follower of Jesus. Understand. It's a

little deeper and a little more difficult to

swallow than the, hey, if you believe in Jesus,

you'll be saved and go to heaven. For God so

loved the world he sent his only begotten son

that whosoever believes in him shall not perish

but have eternal life. You just need to believe

in Jesus. That's all you need to do and you'll

get to heaven. And I am not in any way saying

that that's not true. Every bit of scripture

is true. We understand faith as a fundamental

teaching and grace delivers salvation through

that faith. We understand that as a fundamental

teaching. You cannot dismiss the fundamental

teachings. But the fundamental teachings of Jesus

do not inherently lead a person to accept and

understand this deeper teaching, which is that

you don't get from where you are to where you

want to go. Where you are is not all that great.

Where you want to go is everything great. And

between here and there is a lot of places where

it's way worse than not all that great. This

is the cost we count. But the problem is, remember

earlier on in Hebrews, y 'all ought to be teachers

by now. So we're going to leave behind the fundamental

teachings and go into something a little bit

deeper. But the truth is, you really just want

the milk. You want the easy stuff. That's what

he's saying. These people that he was writing

to, he was saying, you're at that place where

you just want the easy stuff. Now I'm a follower

of Jesus, so now my finances are going to line

up. Now my relationships are all going to be

good. I'll always have the right thing to say,

and they'll always say good things to me, and

we'll all just be peachy keen, as my friend Tim

likes to say. But that is not the Christianity

that Jesus is talking about. You want to be peachy

keen? I'll tell you how to do it. You want to

always be okay? I'll tell you how to do it. Get

saved. Believe in Jesus. Don't leave that out

because there is an eternity. in which you will

not be okay without that. But after believing

in Jesus, stay in the shallow water. Don't try

to go deeper. Don't actually try to do anything

for yourself in heaven or let God reward any

of your... Just understand that I just give myself

into a laundry list of bad deeds and I'll try

to be better, but I just know I'm going to fail.

I'll try to be strong, but I just know I'll always

make mistakes. I'll try to understand, but I'm

not going to read the Bible and actually dig

into it and see what it says because that's going

to just make it harder. Don't do any of that.

Don't go deeper. Become dull of hearing. And

as a dull of hearing person, your life can be

pretty good because you won't hear the doorknobs

rattle. You won't hear the people that are crying

out in pain and suffering and have an empty soul

and need God. And you won't have to go to minister

to them and you won't have to tell them about

Jesus because you won't hear it because you're

dull of hearing. That's how you live a life that's

always going to be like that. It isn't actually

always going to be like that, is it? There will

still be suffering. But you, in your dullness,

will think, you know, this is just the way it

is. And this is what lost people do all the time.

They do it every day. They justify the difficulties

that they're going through. Because everybody

goes through them. They justify the loneliness

that they're experiencing, the aching heart that

they have, the open wound that's in their soul,

because everybody has that. This is just the

human condition. And they accept it for what

it is. And so then they don't accept Jesus Christ.

And then some people do accept Jesus Christ,

and then they do the same thing. They make excuses,

they come up with reasons why it's just got to

be this way. Now I'm not saying that... They're

saying that people who have accepted Jesus Christ

and are staying in the shallow water are saying,

well, I'm not going to do anything for the Lord.

Usually they do. They usually think they're going

to do something for Jesus. Like, I think I know

what God wants me to do. And they go about doing

it. But they do that thing to the exclusion of

the thing that they actually should be doing

for God. It's very easy to do. The enemy has

perfected it over the last 10 ,000 years or so.

The world has woven it deeply into everyone's

lives. And it used to be there was no social

media, no cell phones, no TV or whatever. And

people actually talked to people. And the discourse

that took place between people was the world

saying, you don't need that Jesus stuff. And

actual people in the kingdom saying, but actually

you do need that Jesus stuff. And the battle

is the same today, just different terrain features.

They had come to the place where they had forgotten

the exhortation. Where God says, if you are truly

following me, it will be difficult at times.

And you will push through. You will be victorious,

but you will pay. Victories are not won without

sacrifices. Victories are not won without casualties.

Victories are not won without pain and suffering.

Yes, Jesus has won the ultimate victory. Yes,

you're on the way to heaven. But your development,

your growth, your discipleship in Christ, your

ability to lead others to him, your ability to

do the deeper things that he has led you to do,

that he is preparing you for. There is a greater

future in suffering for Jesus while at the same

time advancing the kingdom of God and building

relationship between God and men than there is

in just going, well, I'm just going to take it

easy. And we are called not to just take it easy.

But to expect this discipline, to expect to be

reproved, to expect the scourging. Because it

says, he scourges every son whom he receives.

Verse 7 says, it is for discipline that you endure.

God deals with you as with sons. But what son

is there whom his father does not discipline?

But if you are without discipline, of which all

have become partakers, then you are illegitimate

children and not sons. You see, so if you are

without discipline, Of which all have become

takers. So what is he saying? How is somebody

who has become a partaker of discipline going

to be also without discipline? They've got to

be ignorant. It's happening, but they don't realize

it. Or they have to be dull of hearing. It's

happening, but they don't want to realize it.

Or they've got to be off the way. So they accept

Jesus Christ as their Savior. They believe, but

then now after they believe, they say, well,

I'm going to not do really the things that God

wants me to do. So they're off the way. So God

is not making it evident to them. They're still

facing the discipline. He says, but then you

are illegitimate children and not sons. So it's

truly dangerous to not accept Jesus Christ as

Lord in the first place because you're probably

not saved then. So those who accept Jesus only

as Savior and not Lord, they're not actually

saved. They're illegitimate sons. But those who

accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, but then forget

the exhortation which is addressed to you as

sons, verses 5 and 6, they... will not grow,

they will not push past, they will not, in the

deep teachings of Christ, flourish and take deep

roots in the kingdom of God. Verse 8 says, But

if you are without discipline, of which all have

become partakers, then you are illegitimate children

and not sons. We're going to talk about discipline

in the points. Verse 9, Furthermore, we had earthly

fathers to discipline us and we respected them.

Shall we not much rather be subject to the father

of spirits and live? In other words, if you realize

that your father, whether he got it all right

or all wrong or whatever, but he was trying his

best and you respect him for making an effort,

you wouldn't be here without your father, your

human father. And if you respect that, then ought

you not all that much more? Be subject to the

father of spirits and live because he actually

knows how to be a good dad. He actually knows

how to provide. He knows all the future will

bring. He knows all the barriers you'll face.

Should we not be subject to him and live? For

they disciplined us for a short time, as seems

best to them, but he disciplines us for our good,

that we may share his holiness. Ultimately, that

is the goal. Holiness, set apartness, sanctified,

complete in Christ, away from the world's...

Tender ministrations to drag us off course. Verse

11. All discipline for the moment seems not to

be joyous. Nobody likes being disciplined. I

get that. You don't want to go through difficulties.

When I tell you you're going to, you don't want

to hear that. But it's a reality and to prepare

for a reality is better than to be blindsided

by it. All discipline for the moment seems not

to be joyous but sorrowful. Yet to those who

have been trained by it, afterwards it yields

the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Do you hear

that? All discipline, the bad stuff that we're

talking about going through as Christians, afterwards

it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

You know where peace is found? Peace is found

in righteousness. There's been a lot of wars

over the years and one side wins over the other.

And the side that wins gets to write the history

about how the war was fought, why it was started,

etc. It may not be true and for a generation

or three they know it's not true, but the side

that wins the war gets to write the history.

Hear me now. Righteousness will win the war.

And ultimately you will be found to either be

right or not. And in that, there is great peace.

The righteousness of him bestowed upon us by

Jesus Christ and living out of that righteousness

in that there is great peace. Even in the midst

of great trials, even burned alive, even shredded

by lions. And even if, you know, you lose a job

or you don't get a compliment that you wanted

or your relationship is a little rough because

you're trying to put God first and the other

person isn't. Because that peaceful fruit of

righteousness is what we desire, he then says

in verse 12, Therefore, strengthen the hands

that are weak and the knees that are feeble and

make straight paths for your feet so that the

limb which is lame may not be put out of joint

but rather be healed. God understands that you're

messed up, I'm messed up, right? God knows that

we are but dust. But God asks this of you, that

in the moment of your question, in the moment

of your trial, in the moment of your difficulty,

in the moment of your decision, that you would

step up, that you would be strong, that you would

take what you have and put it into the mix. So

often people go, oh, I'm struggling in my finances.

But they don't take 100 % of their money and

put it under God's care. They go, I'm struggling

in my relationship. But they don't put their

mouth, their attitudes, the way they treat the

other person in God's charge and do it God's

way. So it doesn't get the healing and the peace

that righteousness brings. Back to 12 real quick.

Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak

and the knees that are feeble. Step up. Be strong.

Do whatever you can with whatever you have. To

what? Make straight paths for your feet. So that

the limb, which is lame, that part of you that's

messed up, whatever it is, may not be put out

of joint, but rather be healed. Verse 14, and

we're almost there. Pursue peace with all men

and the sanctification, that means the holiness

or being set apartness, the sanctedness, if you

will, without which no one will see the Lord.

Hold on. Pursue peace with all men and the sanctification

without which no one will see the Lord. In other

words, if you are not different. if you are not

breaking out of the mold of the world, if you

are not made clean and useful by God, you will

not see God. Now, it doesn't mean you won't literally

stand before him in judgment. It means you will

not spend your life with him in eternity and

you will not recognize him at work today. It'll

come and go. There'll be times where he gets

your attention. But you'll be so often going,

I didn't see that. I didn't realize. I didn't

know. Oh, I made a mistake. Oh, I should have.

Oh, why not do this? Oh, no, it's too late to

do that now. I should have listened. I should

have done what God wanted me to do. Verse 15.

See to it that no one comes short of the grace

of God, that no root of bitterness springing

up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled.

Defiled means made useless or made unclean to

God. 16. That there be no immoral or godless

person like Esau. And this, here it comes, in

case you thought just how important this passage

of Scripture is and how much emphasis we need

to put on it. Listen to how this ends, going

16, 17. Back to the beginning of 16. It says

that there be no immoral or godless person like

Esau who sold his own birthright for a single

meal. For you know that even afterwards when

he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected.

For he found no place for repentance, though

he sought for it with tears. Now the story of

Esau is that indeed he was the favored one of

God. He was the older child. He was the one who

should have, by all rights, received everything.

Except God wanted to use Jacob. In fact, later

elsewhere it says, you know, Jacob I love, Esau

I hate. Esau sold his birthright, came in out

of the field, and sold his birthright to his

brother for a bowl of hot soup. He disrespected

the gift that he had, not knowing exactly how

awesome it was probably, and I think we're in

that place too. He disrespected the gift that

he had and gave it away for a bowl of soup. He

said, what good does my birthright do? I'm so

hungry, I could die. Maybe he was three days,

five days, seven days. He was in the field for

a number of days hunting and it didn't go well.

So he was really hungry. And he's like, I'm going

to sell my birthright for a bowl of soup. And

then when his father is on his deathbed and he

goes in and after Jacob has stolen also his blessings,

or he got his birthright then and then later

kind of Jacob sort of stole the blessing. He

goes in and his father says, there's nothing

for you. There's nothing left. I gave it all

to your brother. And it was right that it should

be so because Esau did not respect what had been

done, who he was, what was coming to him. You

remember last week we talked about the future.

Because we see a future with God, we build the

future moment into our lives today. Your future

hinges on whether or not you're going to do today

what it is that God wants you to do today. Whether

or not you're going to be today the person that

God wants you to be today. Your future hinges

on that. You've heard the people talk about money

and stuff and they say, you know, do you drink

coffee? Yeah. How much money do you spend on

coffee a week? Well, I spend $4 when I go get

a coffee because, you know, I've got to get the

fancy ones. And I spend those $4 four times a

week. And so you do the math. And so, well, four

times a week, $4 for coffee, that's $16. Times

52 weeks out of the year, you get up there. And

the person's like, well, I can't pay my rent

this month. Well, let's see if you stop drinking

coffee, you'd have the money. Well, I can't buy

a used car. If you stop drinking coffee in two

years, you'd have enough money to buy a fairly

nice used car for coffee money. But when you're

buying the coffee, or when you're buying the

fast food, or you're buying the games, or you're

buying the entertainment, or you're buying a

streaming service, or you're buying nicer clothes

when you already have clothes, or you're buying

a nicer car when you already have a car, or you're

saving for retirement or whatever, you're doing

all those things and you're like, this is working,

this is great, I'm getting what I want. Realize

that what you're doing right now is determining

what's going to happen there. And don't say to

yourself, That in that moment in time, if I have

not done what's right, I'll go to God and I'll

say, oh, I'm so sorry, God. And God will forgive

me and remove the consequences of my unwillingness

to spend today building my eternity. Now, Jesus

is preparing a place for you. He says, I go prepare

a place for you. And if I prepare a place for

you, I will come and then I will take you to

be there with me. And I'm not saying that's not

going to happen. But there is a desire by the

Lord, is what we're reading in this text, for

you to be participant today. in the building

of the kingdom of God, which ultimately is the

city that God is building in heaven for you.

Alright, so there's three kind of key, very important

things that I want you to see in here. The first

one is I want to ask you, and it's a rhetorical

question, you don't have to answer me, but you

can definitely think about it in your head, and

that is, how can you be too smart for your own

good? The writers, the writer and the readers

of Hebrew had a, A context in which they're talking.

This is a Christian book written by a Christian

individual, man or woman, to a Christian folk.

And we are talking in that context today. If

you would claim the name of Jesus Christ, and

you would say, I believe that Jesus Christ is

the Son of God, that he died on the cross for

my sins, that means he's your Savior. And you

say, I believe in him as Lord, I believe he was

the Son of God in the flesh, and God the Son

in the flesh, so I believe he has the right as

creator of the universe to... Order my life.

Tell me what to do and I'll do it. So he's Lord.

So he's Savior and he's Lord. And you believe

that God raised him from the dead? And you have

believed that in your heart and confessed it

with your mouth? Then you are saved. And if you

would repent of any dullness of hearing or any

being off the way, you can understand this teaching

just as the author of Hebrews knew they could

understand it. It could have been written to

us today. How can you be too smart for your own

good? As humans, we've become pretty good at

avoiding suffering, at avoiding difficulties,

seeing, developing problems. Problem starts to

develop, it's not going the way I like it, and

I think, how can I avoid that difficulty? And

everyone in this room is pretty smart. And so

we say, well, if the difficulty is... Car breaks

down on the side of the expressway because I

got a flat tire. And I don't want to have to

call a tow truck. Then I'm going to need a spare

and a jack. And I need to make sure they work.

And I probably ought to make sure my lug nuts

are not seized on there because I might not be

strong enough to do that. So periodically get

your tires rotated, things like that. And then

you get a flat tire on the side of the expressway.

And you go digging in the trunk, hopefully not

buried under too much stuff. And you pull the

tire and the jack out. And you take the old tire

off. You put the new tire on. And then you're

back on the road and you go. Because we can see

some problems developing and we can take the

necessary actions to avoid them. Hear me. Some

problems that are developing, they're not developing

so that you can avoid them. They're developing

so that you can walk boldly into them in the

confidence that we talked about two weeks ago

and bring Christ into that scenario. And if you're

doing what it is that God would have you to do,

More often than not, if you're not dull appearing,

and you're not off the way, and you're literally

walking out your salvation, more often than not,

you're going to be in the midst of that trial,

in the midst of that difficulty, or suffering

in that very dangerous place, before you even

know it. I remember when we were back over on

Main Street on Friday, and I was having trouble.

I'm having the same trouble that I'm having now,

making visits and trying to talk to people about

Jesus. And I decided on Friday nights, instead

of going to game night, every other week, they

were game night every week, but every other week

I decided instead of going there, I would go

out on the north end over by our church plant

at that time and I would knock on doors starting

about 7 o 'clock. And then fall came and it was

getting dark about 7, 7 .30 and I was knocking

on doors after dark and I was trying to share

the gospel, trying to talk to people about Jesus,

trying to invite them to come to worship, come

to the Lord and so on. And I did that for like

six months. The end of which it was so dark by

like 5 .30. that I was starting after dark. And

I had trouble finding house numbers. I had trouble

seeing on porches that didn't have porch lights

and so on. And the Lord sort of led me to do

things differently. And I started doing the visitation

when it was lighter out, whatever. Afterwards,

I talked to our church planner, Rick Morris,

and I told him what I'd been doing. And Rick

is a big guy. He's very physically fit. He works

out literally like every day, five days a week.

And he has a personal trainer ministry and all

this. And he's had some health concerns in the

past. That's a big thing. Rick spent over 20

years in prison. He got saved out of drug dealing.

He's a pretty rough -looking guy. And I told

him, I said, I was going out on Friday nights

every other week for six months, and I was knocking

on doors over there. And he went like this. And

I said, what? He said, let me get this straight.

He said, like, off Galena, the north end, you

were over there knocking on doors? I said, yeah.

And he said, dude, white men don't go to that

part of town after dark. And I said, what are

you talking about? And he said, especially not

white men who look like you. And I was like,

wait a minute, what does that mean? What do I

look like exactly? He goes, you know, kind of

frail. And I'm like, what? I mean, like, I swear

I ate my vegetables when I was a kid. I don't

know why this happened to me. But anyway, the

point is, he's like, you don't do that. They

will literally, people will shoot you from the

window of their house and you won't know which

house shot you. And no one will be convicted.

And I'm like, well, that didn't happen. If you're

walking in the confidence in Christ that we talked

about last week, you will suddenly find yourself

in a difficult spot. You will suddenly find yourself

outside your box so far that you can't find the

box anymore. You'll go, what happened to that

box? Where did it go? I was feeling more comfortable

there. I tucked my little binky in there and

I haven't seen it in months. And that's where

you'll live your life. You'll live your life

outside the box so far that you're like, I'm

a little freaked, but at the same time, I'm a

little super, this is awesome. And that's what

we're being called to in Christianity. But we're

so smart, we've figured out so many ways to justify

the various excuses that answer the questions

that might arise, so many ways to plot the path

around the quagmire that is the world, that is...

So many ways to not share Jesus. So many ways

to not bring Jesus into the conversation. So

many ways to not make an illustration about faith.

So many ways to not mention a Bible verse. We're

busy not memorizing verses in case we would accidentally

slip one into conversation. We don't want anybody

to know, and we're really good about that, because

if we were out there telling people about Jesus

all the time, here's what's going to happen.

You're going to run into more people. That don't

want to hear about it. They get mad at you for

bringing it up. That say nasty things. You're

going to surround yourself with people who use

vulgarity in every sentence. And you don't even

like to hear that anymore because you've been

cleansed from that. You're going to find yourself

persecuted and you're going to have to persevere.

And guess what? That's literally Christianity.

Yes, the cool thing is this is also Christianity.

It's cool. We listen to the word, we worship,

we sing songs together, we serve one another,

we show up when one another is in need, we give

money, and then that money is used to get the

gospel throughout the whole world and also right

here and to buy groceries for people who are

hungry. So you can come to your church. Are you

running to somebody that doesn't have food? You

come to your church and you talk to Jamie and

I guarantee that person will eat within an hour

of her hearing that there's no food in that house.

I guarantee it. We don't have to wonder about

that because our church shows up. That's what

we do. Yet, when we go out there alone, when

we go out there with a brother, it's not our

go -to to go to Jesus. Because there's trouble.

Because this life in Jesus is hard. And we're

smart. And we're too smart to let it be hard.

We have just a little bit of money in the bank,

just enough to make sure that things are going

to be taken care of. So we're too smart to give

until it hurts. Except that's the New Testament

example of giving. We have enough time to rest,

enough time to eat right, enough time to spend

a little time with our family, enough time to

do a little bit of ministry. And we've got a

half -decent balance being established. And we're

too smart to surrender our entertainment time,

to surrender our relaxation, to get up an extra

hour and a half early knowing that at the end

of the workday we're going to be very tired to

spend a little time with the Lord. to pray, to

be in His Word. We're too smart to when we wake

up at 4 o 'clock in the morning not knowing why

we woke up to get up and sit up and turn on the

light or get a flashlight or whatever to pull

on our glasses and whip out our Bible and start

reading. Oh no, because we know we'll be tired

the next day so we go right back to sleep if

we can. And if not, we lay there and rest. It's

not about God. This is what God says. I'm not

going to flip through these passages but I just

want to share a few. on this topic with you.

In Job 5 .13, it says, He captures the wise by

their own shrewdness, and the advice of the cunning

is quickly thwarted. You're smart. God's smarter.

1 Corinthians 3 .19 says, For the wisdom of this

world is foolishness before God, for it is written,

He is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness.

Luke 20 .23, Jesus is actually involved, and

it says, He detected their trickery and said

to them, Show me a denarius. Whose likeness does

it have? They said Caesar's. Then render unto

Caesar the things that are Caesar's and render

to God the things that are God's. I ask you,

by the way, where do you find God's likeness?

Created in his image, right? To represent him.

So go ahead, render your taxes. And then give

literally everything else to God. All that you

are. That's surely not how they interpreted it.

They were too smart to interpret it that way.

2 Corinthians 4 .2 But we have renounced the

things hidden because of shame, not walking in

craftiness or adulterating the word of God. This

is maybe one of the worst sins that Christians

get into. They take the word of God and they

misinterpret it to be the way that they like

it. They'll even take out this it's going to

be hard message that the author of Hebrews clearly

put in there and they'll say, no, it's going

to be easy because I said so. Because here God

says I'll always be with you even unto the end

of the age. So obviously it's going to be easy.

I'll turn everything out for your good. So obviously

it's going to be easy, right? So they'll make

it out to be an easy instead of a challenging

passage, course, life. He says, but we have...

renounced the things hidden because of shame,

not walking in craftiness or adulterating the

word of God, but by the manifestation of truth,

commending ourselves. That means putting ourselves

up. Remember that confidence? It means showing

yourself to every man's conscience in the sight

of God. Every man's, not just Christians. You

don't just get to teach the lessons of Christ

in Sunday school on your one time a month. You

don't get to teach the lessons of Christ when

you stand up in the pulpit. You don't get to

just do it during an inspirational moment or

while you're singing a praise song that is the

song that's going to drive home the point for

you. not just then, but every day, in every man's

conscience, we commend ourselves so that they

can see us, so that we can point to God, and

all this is done in the sight of God. Ephesians

4, 14 says, As a result, we are no longer children

to be, we are no longer to be children tossed

here and there by waves and carried about by

every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men,

by craftiness and deceitful scheming. By the

way, that passage is talking about the results

of being the church and together and working

together in ministry. and acting out the rules

that we each have. Because we do that, we are

no longer to be children tossed here and there

by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine

by the trickery of men. And you can put smartness

or craftiness in there if you wanted to, where

it says trickery, by craftiness and deceitful

scheming. No, no. Stop it. The games you're playing,

trying to make an end run around what's right,

trying to avoid suffering and difficulty, stop.

God will catch you in it. And if he catches you

in it, you just may get the consequences for

it. And you'll be defiled, which means not usable

by him. And if you never were clean, because

you hadn't accepted him as Lord and Savior and

believed that God raised him from the dead, both

in your heart and by your profession of faith,

by your mouth, then you'll never make it into

heaven. But if you did accept Jesus and then

live like that, You're never going to make it

into the deeper teachings. You're dull of hearing

or off the way. And then amidst the deeper teachings,

when the difficulties come, you're going to wonder

for sure, am I saved? It shouldn't be like this.

Second thing in there to see then is how to understand

and interpret the bumps in the road. Now, obviously,

this passage of Scripture is not fully conclusive

on every difficulty you're ever going to face.

It simply says that God sends a lot of difficulty

and that through that difficulty that God sends,

It is so that we endure. He deals with us as

sons, and we receive the peace that righteousness

brings. How to understand bumps in the roads.

Well, bumps in the roads could be chastisements.

It's corrections. It could be punishments. It

could be consequences. It could be the groaning

of creation. It could just simply be time and

chance happen to all men, like it says in Ecclesiastes

9. Regardless of what the source of difficulty

is, there's really just one answer, right? I

hope you know that. If you're a Christian, you

should know that. Regardless of what the source

of difficulty is, there's just one answer, and

that is repent and turn unto the Lord. You say,

but if somebody's persecuting me and I'm getting

hurt, why should I repent? Because the experience

of being persecuted is a challenging one. You

could develop psychological issues. You could

develop emotional struggles. You could develop

spiritual struggles. And for all of that, there

is only one solution. Turn to the Lord. It doesn't

matter whether you did it to somebody else or

somebody else did it to you. Your response is

the same. Turn again to the Lord. Lord, I've

been through some difficulty. Now teach me out

of this. The author of Hebrews says it this way.

He says, in the midst of those difficulties or

trials, I want you to shore up. Get a grip. Get

firm. Get strong. push back and do the things

that God would have you to do. We do that so

that no root of bitterness would develop, so

that no person will become an immoral person

like Esau. If you are not willing to step up

and be strong and do the things that God would

have you to do in the midst of those trials,

you run the risk of going a different way. And

if you go a different way, that goes a different

place. Very briefly, I'm going to read an excerpt

from a book so we can just understand this word.

There are differences between punishment, discipline,

and consequences. Punishment is condemning. It

says, you did wrong, now you've got to pay the

price. It is about the person who committed the

crime or the sin. Jesus took our punishment on

the cross, so ultimately, as Christians, we no

longer receive punishments for our sin, not corporately,

now, or in heaven. Right? After death. The punishment

is taken care of. Discipline is correcting. It

says, you shouldn't have done that. Now, in the

future, you're going to do this instead. Right?

It's like conviction, but it's actual steps taken.

So, you stole, and God... brings it out that

you stole. Maybe you go to jail. That's actually

consequences then would be going to jail. Or

maybe people don't trust you now. That's consequences.

Or you feel pain. That's consequences. Or you

feel guilt. God doesn't use guilt, by the way.

That can be consequences of doing something wrong.

But God doesn't do that. God convicts. God says,

there's no punishment, but there's definitely

discipline. And if there is no discipline, there

is no salvation. And then, He says that we have

all become partakers of that discipline. So if

you think that God's not going to discipline

you when you do something wrong, your only hope

that that's actually true is if you don't actually

belong to God. And I don't think that's what

you want. Now, punishment and discipline are

two different things, right? Punishment is correction.

Punishment is about making the person who did

something wrong pay for their debt. They stole,

they pay back, they broke, they fix. They borrowed

and didn't return, they replace. A child lies,

they get a spanking. It's a punishment, but if

it's only a punishment, then it's not good parenting.

Because it really should be discipline. They

get the spanking, and they're told with the spanking

that they can do what they need to do in the

future. That the reason they got spanked was

because they are better than that. They are a

better person. They can do better. They don't

have to do that. They don't have to be like that.

And they're told about the damaging consequences

of continuing to be like that. So if punishment

is only discipline, then it has no value. I'm

sorry, if discipline is only punishment, then

it has no value. But if discipline builds a future

person better, then it has value. And that's

what God is doing for us. He says, get a grip.

Remember Jacob. Remember Moses on his knees pleading

with God for his people. Remember Abraham courageously

bartering with God to save Sodom. If only there'd

be some righteous men found there. Remember David

writing the words, You make me lie down by still

waters, anoint my head with oil, fill my cup,

prepare a table in the presence of my enemies,

and more. Remember the second mighty man of David

who was abandoned in the face of the enemy. It

says, And after him was Eliezer the son of Dodo

the Ahohite. One of the three mighty men with

David, when they defiled the Philistines who

were gathered there to battle, the men of Israel

had withdrawn. He arose and struck the Philistines

until his hand was weary and clung to the sword

or froze to his sword. And the Lord brought about

a great victory that day and the people returned

after him to strip the slain. And they had to

pry his sword out of his hand because in the

midst of that, when it was just him against all

of them, he fought and every time he thought

he might stop fighting, he gripped his sword

tighter. It isn't easy to live here on earth.

It hasn't been since Adam sinned against God.

All the reasons would take a lifetime to understand

and then probably wouldn't be transferable wisdom

because your reasons are not somebody else's

reasons. But the responses God desires are simple.

So simple it becomes painful. Get a grip and

do what God would have you to do. There will

always be a reason. You're that smart. You will

always come up with some way to waffle, some

way to back down, some way to slip through, some

way to avoid the trial. There will always be

a reason if you are the kind of person who will

tolerate a reason. And as Christians, we are

asked to be the kind of people who will not tolerate

a reason. When we are asked to stop doing what

God would have us to do, we already know our

answer. It is no. When we are asked to start

doing something that God would not have us to

do, we already know our answer. It is no. And

exactly how far do you resist? You resist until

you bleed. Even die. That's the cloud of witnesses

that we have. They all died awaiting the promise

of God and were never able to see it in their

lifetime. And that for us, so that we could be

included in receiving the promise with them.

But if you brook no opposition, if you will cast

out the enemy at the first rearing of his ugly

head, you will win the day and be the person

that God has made you to be a little more each

day, and sometimes in leaps and bounds. The author

of Hebrews wrote, and we read, all discipline

for the moment seems not to be joyful but sorrowful,

yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards

it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

But four to five hundred years earlier than the

author of Hebrews, the prophet Malachi wrote

this. He says, but for you who fear my name,

the sun, S -U -N, not talking about Jesus, the

sun of righteousness will rise with healing in

its wings and you will go forth and skip about

like calves from the stall. The road to righteousness

is a road that runs past discipline and correction

when and where it's necessary. Usually. Always.

But it leads to not just righteousness, but healing.

Healing lives in the shadow of righteousness.

The things that you want, that you're trying

to get for yourself, the avoiding difficulty

and troubles, there won't be any difficulty and

troubles in heaven. You're clamming up, you're

building up armor to not be sad, to not allow

your compassion button to be pushed so you don't

struggle for the people that are around you.

There's none of that in heaven. And we're either

on a journey there or we're not. And if we are,

we need to realize that this earth is full of

suffering and we're meant to do something about

it. Most of the programs from the New Deal we

only have because the church didn't show up and

make sure everyone was fed and clothed and working

and whatever. The church didn't do it, so the

government stepped in and did it. To the tune

of trillions of dollars. And now the church is

too weak to do it. And that brings us to our

last point. The author of Hebrews talks about

one, quote, turn back, unquote, too far. One

turn back too far. And the author of Hebrews

implies that the next one could be that one.

The next time you sin against God, being a willing

participant in that which you're not supposed

to do, the next time you, find an excuse not

to do what God would have you to do because I'll

bleed or because I'll suffer or because I'll

go without or because I won't get what I want

or because my kids will be in danger or because

my house will be in danger or because my finances

won't go long enough to buy certain things that

I'm looking to buy now or down the road or whatever.

Whatever your excuses are, you say, well, no

one should have to do that. And it's perfectly

reasonable to go to a place where you're going

to have to then turn back and say, okay, God,

I'm sorry I didn't do what I was supposed to

do. But the author of Hebrews talks about one

turn back too far. There is a moment in time

at which you do what it is that you know you

shouldn't do, and then you try to repent and

turn back to God. And the author of Hebrews is

talking about a time at which God will say no.

I'm done with you. I have tried again and again

and again to get you to give again and again

and again to get you to serve again and again

and again to get you to speak up. I have sent

people who were thirsty in their soul for me

who I'd call unto myself and all you had to do

was bring up the name of Jesus and they would

ask you questions about Christianity and you

had literally nothing to say. I'm done with you.

Malachi, they were chastised by God because their

tears were raining down on the altar. God is

not going to put up with this lack of Christianity

in Christians forever. You've got to do what

God wants you to do and you've got to not do

what God doesn't want you to do and you're going

to have to make those decisions. This is not

me. This is the author of Hebrews. But I wholly

agree and I am deathly afraid that I would ever

go to the point of one turn back too many and

then come back to God and say, okay God. I'm

sorry. Please bless my life. Please lead me.

Please guide me. Please show me what to do. Please

talk to me like you used to do. Please... Lead

me into the situations that will be difficult

so I can be the light and be the confident person

there that I'm supposed to be. Like you said,

I should in the first place. And God's going

to say, no, I said, and you didn't. And I said,

and you didn't. And I don't know if it's going

to be one strike, three strikes, 50 strikes,

or 100 strikes. And I'm not talking about losing

your salvation. I'm talking about being in the

deeper teachings of God and understanding what

God is about and hearing God's voice and walking

out Christianity. And God says, it's okay. You

don't have to do it anymore. I got somebody else

or we just won't let it be done. Because I'm

sick and tired of asking you and you say no to

me. That's what the author of Hebrews is talking

about when he says, remember Esau? Here's a guy

who had virtually everything. A big, ruddy, mighty

warrior, a successful hunter. And he had his

father's favor. And he was due to get the blessing

and the birthright. But he gave it up. He gave

it up. And always for a reason that made sense

at the time. But then when he went to get some

portion from his father, he got nothing. There

was no room left for him to receive a blessing

or a birthright. That's what the author of Hebrews

is talking about. There is one turn back too

far. I was driving through the city of London.

These thoughts came back to me this week as I

was helping Isaiah learn how to drive a stick

shift. And I remembered very... my time driving

in London, and I had to drive a left -handed

stick shift instead of a right -handed stick

shift. The shifters are normally over here in

American cars, and you drive on the right side

of the road, and the traffic's kind of over there.

And over in London, the shifter was on the left

-hand side, and I kept trying to shift the door

handle, and it didn't work, so I had to shift

the shifter on the left -hand side, and it was

very confusing to me. And we were driving, we

were going out along the coastline when Sherry

and I were there for our 25th wedding anniversary,

and as we were driving out of the city, we got

in this horrible traffic jam, and it was... We

were moving about 5 to 10 miles per hour bumper

to bumper for 45 minutes. And if you know, that's

the worst time to be driving a stick shift because

you're constantly first gear. You've got to match

the clutch and the gas and get going again. And

then you've got to stop and get going again.

And you've got to stop and get going again. And

it was like that for 45 minutes. I was literally

stopping every 15 seconds for 45 minutes. My

legs, my thighs were burning. My arms were burning.

But we needed to get out of town. And it was

only going to get worse because it was the first

part of rush hour. So we knew we might not even

get out of town if we didn't do it. And then

we're following the GPS, which was built into

the car. And the GPS says turn left. And I look

left. And the only thing that looks like left

is like a driveway with cars parked on both sides.

And there was enough room to get our car down

the driveway. with about an inch or maybe two

on either side of the car. And I thought, that

can't be right. That doesn't even look like a

road. And it said, turn left there. And so I

said, it's got to be coming up. You know, sometimes

GPS says 1 ,000 feet. And like in 500 feet, I'm

looking for the road. And 600 feet, I'm looking

for the road. And I'm starting by 1 ,000 feet.

I'm thinking, I don't think the road's coming.

And then there it is, right? So it's because

I don't have a good estimate of how far away

that 1 ,000 feet is. So I'm thinking, that can't

be right. And I didn't turn left on that tiny

little road that I thought was a driveway with

cars parked up on both sides and barely enough

room to get through. And I didn't turn left.

That's why we were in a traffic jam for 45 minutes.

Because after failing to turn left there, there

was literally not another left turn for over

three miles. There was nowhere to turn. It was

a university. and there were buildings lining

the road, and there was nowhere to turn left.

Sometimes, if you don't turn when you spoke to

turn, there ain't going to be a way to turn for

a long time, maybe ever. And God is saying, you

may go one turn back too far. This message is

not for people who are lost. For lost people,

there's no... If they haven't turned back, they

haven't turned back. If they haven't accepted

Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, they haven't.

And that's always available to them until they

die. Right? Jesus is always entreating them,

always pulling them, but once they die, then

it's hell for an eternity and I can't do anything

about that. That's not anybody's fault, but the

choice that they've made. This is for Christians.

This is for people who are following the Lord

and then you do what you're not supposed to do

and you go, oh, again. What if you go one turn

back too far? What if you go, oh, again, and

then you go, But God, please. And God says, no,

it's all right. Don't worry about it. I really

have nothing left for you. I've tried to give

you all these blessings and you wouldn't take

them. I've tried to give you all this power and

authority and working of me in your life and

you wouldn't take them. You're one turn back

too far. God's not holding back his blessings.

Take what God's offering or there may be no room

for repentance. And receiving blessings when

you finally reluctantly decide to honestly come

to God, there may not be any room to do that.

The lesson learned here today, for anybody who's

not saved, of course, is don't wait. You can

wait if you want to, as long as Jesus doesn't

come again first, or you don't die. You're only

missing out on the great blessings of God in

your life, on the great healing and forgiveness

of sin and peace that comes out of His righteousness.

You're only missing out on all that, and you

didn't have it yesterday, so if you don't have

it today, you can still wait. Unless Jesus comes

again, or unless you die, then you're in trouble.

Right? But as for Christians, there's no waiting.

All in for Jesus right now. Because that's where

all the blessings are. It's where the righteousness,

the power, the growth, the ability to do the

things that God would have you to do. The peace

and healing that comes from righteousness. Don't

go to the place later where you want to say,

oh, I should have got a grip. I should have strengthened

my weak knees and lifted my weary arms and just

done in truth what I was called to do. I'll review

very briefly and then we're in the conclusion,

which is short. Number one, let me just say it

this way. Don't be too smart for your own good.

Dismiss the excuses and the scheming and the

trickery. Dismiss all the reasons that arise

to not do what it is that God would have you

to do. Number two, understand that the bumps

in the road can come from all kinds of places,

but the simple solution is to repent and turn

to the Lord. God disciplines us. He doesn't punish

us. And then also, I think there are consequences

that we sometimes face the consequences for our

sin, and sometimes God miraculously alleviates

those consequences for our sin. But if there

is no discipline, then there is no relationship.

And don't go one turn back too far. Because this

life that the author of Hebrews is talking about

is us living in the kingdom of God, advancing

the kingdom of God, filled with his power. Knowing

that he who is in us is greater than he that

is in the world. It's everything. It's everything.

And we come to the conclusion. There will always

be an excuse or an adjustment if you look for

it. The fact is that you are just that smart.

Created in the image of God, you can both create

and destroy. You can encourage and tear down.

You're just that smart. God wants you to get

strong and go straight. He wants you to do things

the best possible way, a way that is good for

you and right by him. By the book, living for

the one who died for you, not for the you that

died. Or he died for all. Then all died. So that

those who live may now live for the one who died

for them rather than for themselves. But don't

forget the bike. Because in this deep water,

after the transition, you can choke on this meat

if you want to. And you can continue making minor

adjustments and try to avoid the effects of what

we're talking about here today. And eventually

the bike will explode out from underneath of

you. You'll blow up your relationship one final

time and say, I just can't deal with it. I'm

just done. Or you'll blow up your job or you'll

blow up your money or you'll blow up your reputation

because that's easier. Bailing out is easier.

It's less painful. But if you take that craftiness,

that same craftiness that allows you to make

excuses and kind of cut corners, make yourself

feel better in other ways, And instead, pit it

to figuring out who you are in Christ and what

it is that God wants you to do. And what does

that verse mean? And how do I apply it? How do

I become that person? How do I find room in my

schedule to read my Bible and to pray and to

share with anybody who will listen? If you'll

use that same creative craftiness that you might

be using to circumvent the struggles, if you'll

use that instead to live for God, Imagine the

power in that alone. But then he's going to take

that craftiness and he's going to regenerate

it. It's being used now for something that doesn't

honor him. He's going to regenerate it. He's

going to make it holy. And you will come to the

point like when Saul was first unleashed to be

king of Israel before he became actually coronated.

And Samuel said, just go and do whatever your

hand finds to do. Say whatever your mouth finds

to say. And Saul, who would be the king and who

would eventually be disowned by his nation and

the priesthood for all of his sins later. That

day, he prophesied on behalf of God and everyone

listened. Everybody knew that he was speaking

for God. That day, he was so filled with the

power of the Holy Spirit because he could do

anything, he was unleashed. But then he turned

from God and he turned back and he turned from

God and he turned back and he turned from God

and he turned back until finally, he got to a

place where he was one turn back too far. Don't

be there. Don't go there. Turn back to God this

time. As long as it's not one turn back too far,

unleash His power in your life. Let Him do what

He would do. And I'm sad to say, but not really,

that it might hurt at times. But out of that

pain comes righteousness. And out of that righteousness

comes a healing like we have never known. God

help us. I'm going to pray for you briefly and

then we're going to have a song of close and

impatience that close our service today. I want

to be completely transparent. In my human self,

I am a coward. In Christ there is great courage

and confidence. I may have lost the mistake we've

all made. I've had to turn back to God a whole

bunch of times. I'm not saying you're going to

get it perfectly. What I am saying is that God

has a perfect plan. If you turn to him, you'll

begin to unleash it in your life. My story is

the author of what the Hebrews has inspired in

the Holy Spirit of God. It's God himself who

has inspired. God in heaven helped us this day.

In a day when we are surrounded by people and

we live in a city where the nearest neighbor

is not very far away at all. It's our neighbors.

our co -workers, our fellow students, the lady

at the grocery store, the restaurant, the supply

store, walking the other way on the sidewalk.

They all need you. The same as we do. Lord, I

believe that New Heights Fellowship Baptist Church

of East Toledo, that this people here, you are

calling us to be a light, to be a city on a hill,

to be outreaching, to be sharing the gospel,

to be loving our neighbors and our family members

who don't already know you or who haven't gone

deeper in the faith. It is both terrifying and

at the same time a truly joyous thing. They're

small. But Paul is just one man. David is one

man. John, Peter, they weren't even good men.

None of them. Not even me. Lord, help us be that

which you're calling us to be. Help us shore

up our weak knees, not be afraid of outcomes

that we can't control, but to submit those outcomes

back into your hand. If you want to take us out

of this world, come be with you. Truth is, I'm

pretty excited about that day. Sure, I'll miss

lots of things that I foresee coming, but I'm

asking you to teach me, and I think we all might

be doing the same. At least there are others

in this room who certainly are. Teach me how

to endure. Stop using my craftiness to try to

dodge my responsibilities. Teach me how to be

clean and right. Be truly healed and set free.

Jesus, take the throne of my life. Be my Lord.

Show me what to do. When I don't understand it,

you want to put me right in the midst of it and

me all of a sudden go, whoa, where am I at right

now? just had me doing the right thing in that

time? Would there be somebody here who would

not submit their life to Jesus Christ? Or would

there be somebody here who needs to make this

their home church for the first time ever? Would

there be somebody here who needs to be baptized?

Would there be somebody here who needs to start

a ministry? They realize they know what it is

that God wants them to do. They know how to serve.

Maybe they're being called to knock on the doors

around their house to volunteer themselves with

prayer or service or to tell somebody where they

work. or to put something that's eating up their

time, or eating up their resources, it should

be used for you to put that out of their life

completely. And Lord, help us to turn to you

today and receive in us that completion that

only you can offer. That we would be saved, that

we would be widely open to your work in every

area of our life, and we would face the difficulties

with you as our Lord. Savior, and as our protector,

and as our commander, and as our father. In Jesus'

name. Amen. That's a great thing to come forward.

Lead us in the singing of this last hymn. If

you're comfortable and able to do so, would you

stand as we sing? And give God all the glory.

That cross is crucifixion. That cross is suffering.

We say this would be it. Whatever you take us

for, whatever we go through, no turning back.

Last verse. We're done singing. Does anyone have

a comment or a statement or a question before

we pray in closing? Alright, I'm going to ask

Brother Ron Mack. Would you close us in prayer

today? Father, you are so good. Lord, I wish

that we could be better for you. God, I come

to you now praying for this body. that you would

show us your way every day, regardless of the

decisions that we make. Lord, I pray that you

would continue to carry with us, that we would

be given that time to come to you in proper.

And Lord, I pray that all people on this earth

would come to that decision, come to know you.

But Lord, I know there's a time coming that you're

going to have to draw the line. And that you

will have to send your son to this world to come

again and to claim his church. Lord, there will

be a lot of weeping and gnashing of teeth that

day. And I'm sorry, but Lord, help us to love

you and to show you to the masses, to the people.

And just help us to follow you and to tell others

about you. Father, bless this day. Thank you

for this message. Thank you for our pastor and

his family. Lord, they work so hard. Thank you

for all those that do the ministry that you set

before them, Lord. I pray that you will be with

each and every individual person and family in

this room. All those that are online watching,

Lord, represented, I pray for them as well, that

you will protect us, that you'll heal us, that

you'll keep us safe. And that you'll bring us

back together again, Lord, in the appropriate

time to worship you and to see your will done.

In Jesus' name, amen.