1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,300 What an amazing, probably if I had to guess, one of the most 2 00:00:06,300 --> 00:00:09,600 famous hymns of all time, Amazing Grace. 3 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:13,340 And no matter what tech issues we have, that song resounds in 4 00:00:13,340 --> 00:00:16,400 our hearts and tech is great until it doesn't work. 5 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:20,580 But that grace will lead us home. 6 00:00:20,580 --> 00:00:24,200 Like I said, this is one of two more sermons we have in the book 7 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:24,700 of Hebrews. 8 00:00:24,700 --> 00:00:27,680 We have this week and then we have next week because Advent 9 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:29,540 starts later than normal this year. 10 00:00:29,540 --> 00:00:30,740 It starts in December. 11 00:00:30,740 --> 00:00:34,340 Usually it would be normally next weekend. 12 00:00:34,340 --> 00:00:37,700 But I was told once of a story at this church and I don't 13 00:00:37,700 --> 00:00:41,140 remember the name and I don't want to say it to get it wrong, 14 00:00:41,140 --> 00:00:45,300 but that years and years and years ago there was a child that 15 00:00:45,300 --> 00:00:47,500 was misbehaving in the church. 16 00:00:47,500 --> 00:00:51,600 And as the parent was bringing them to the back of church, they 17 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:56,740 yelled out for all to hear, pray for me, because they knew that 18 00:00:56,740 --> 00:01:00,440 they were going to be disciplined in some way, shape or form when 19 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:02,500 they got out of the sanctuary. 20 00:01:02,500 --> 00:01:03,200 Okay? 21 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:08,000 Now, if that were to ever happen here, that would be amazing 22 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:12,000 because it's just hilarious of the understanding that a child 23 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:16,240 really knows when discipline is coming. 24 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:20,000 And that's another reason why we understand that we as children, 25 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:23,000 right, though we are called to have faith like a child, which 26 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:26,540 is unquestioning, right, that is a faith that is assured that mom 27 00:01:26,540 --> 00:01:31,740 and dad love us, that as we though we as we are younger and 28 00:01:31,740 --> 00:01:34,440 we get disciplined, we still want to make sure that mom and 29 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:38,900 dad are there, that we may have a child that when you go out 30 00:01:38,900 --> 00:01:41,500 maybe on a date night or on a vacation, they want to know when 31 00:01:41,500 --> 00:01:45,100 you're going to be back to the minute or the date of when 32 00:01:45,100 --> 00:01:49,980 you're going to be back and that there's a comfort in our parents 33 00:01:49,980 --> 00:01:52,700 even though they might be disciplinarians. 34 00:01:52,700 --> 00:01:56,900 Now I understand that me saying that not everybody here had that 35 00:01:56,900 --> 00:01:59,500 and that not everybody when they think back about their 36 00:01:59,500 --> 00:02:04,000 relationship with their mom and dad is a positive one. 37 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:06,340 And so I don't want to continue with that sermon illustration 38 00:02:06,340 --> 00:02:09,100 knowing that for some of you that might bring pain, the 39 00:02:09,100 --> 00:02:12,340 discipline in your life has happened nonetheless. 40 00:02:12,340 --> 00:02:15,040 Though like the child that understands whatever kind of 41 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:17,740 beating that child was going to get, he wanted the church to 42 00:02:17,740 --> 00:02:21,380 pray for them, there's an understanding of discipline in 43 00:02:21,380 --> 00:02:24,940 the Bible that really starts from the very, very beginning. 44 00:02:24,940 --> 00:02:28,280 If we go all the way back to the Garden of Eden, I would think 45 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:31,800 that after the fall when Adam and Eve bit the apple and sin 46 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:36,140 entered the world that God was pretty upset, that God 47 00:02:36,140 --> 00:02:39,580 disciplined and he did that via a curse, right? 48 00:02:39,580 --> 00:02:42,740 That he cursed the ground, all of those things that the fall 49 00:02:42,740 --> 00:02:45,540 happened, sin now had entered the world, that there is 50 00:02:45,540 --> 00:02:48,800 something now in our DNA, there's something in Hudson, 51 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:53,240 there's something in Addison that wants to always fight 52 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:57,040 against discipline, that wants to fight against a father or a 53 00:02:57,040 --> 00:03:02,000 mother or a parent who disciplines them. 54 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:06,540 And even like us, when we were kids, we didn't like to be 55 00:03:06,540 --> 00:03:07,080 disciplined. 56 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:09,880 I don't know anybody that was like, no, I enjoyed being 57 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:12,400 disciplined by my parents. 58 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:16,140 That discipline is hard, but it's a principle and really an 59 00:03:16,140 --> 00:03:20,000 attribute in the Scriptures that we see from the very beginning. 60 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:23,500 Our confessions even speak about it now, our confessions that 61 00:03:23,500 --> 00:03:26,240 we hold the three forms of unity here in the church, the 62 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:29,100 Heideberg Catechism, the Belgian Confession, the Canons of 63 00:03:29,100 --> 00:03:29,280 Dorian. 64 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:32,780 These are historical writings that are there to help us 65 00:03:32,780 --> 00:03:35,180 understand God's Word. 66 00:03:35,180 --> 00:03:38,880 That as a Christian-informed church, we hold to those, that 67 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:41,940 myself included, none of us are endowed with all wisdom of all 68 00:03:41,940 --> 00:03:45,840 things in the Bible, that there were people before us that had 69 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:51,340 deep, amazing thoughts of how to make sense of the Scriptures. 70 00:03:51,340 --> 00:03:57,340 And so we look at Article 32 in the Belgian Confession this 71 00:03:57,340 --> 00:03:57,980 morning. 72 00:03:57,980 --> 00:04:01,140 We've been in the Heideberg a lot and the Canons of Dorian, 73 00:04:01,140 --> 00:04:02,200 the sermon series. 74 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:06,040 But the Belgian Confession, Article 32 says, we also 75 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:09,200 believe that although it is useful and good for those who 76 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:12,100 govern the churches to establish and set up a certain 77 00:04:12,100 --> 00:04:15,040 order among themselves for maintaining the body of the 78 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:19,140 church, they ought always to guard against deviation from 79 00:04:19,140 --> 00:04:23,340 what Christ, our only master, has ordained for us. 80 00:04:23,340 --> 00:04:26,400 Therefore, we reject all human innovations and all laws 81 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:30,840 imposed on us in our worship of God, which bind and force our 82 00:04:30,840 --> 00:04:32,840 consciousness in any way. 83 00:04:32,840 --> 00:04:38,100 We also accept whatever it is proper to maintain harmony and 84 00:04:38,100 --> 00:04:41,640 unity to keep all in obedience to God. 85 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:45,440 To that end, excommunication, it involves according to the word 86 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:47,740 of God, is required. 87 00:04:47,740 --> 00:04:53,040 So you can leave that, that's a really harsh last paragraph. 88 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:57,900 But when we talk about discipline in the church, it is 89 00:04:57,900 --> 00:05:01,600 there for order, that God is a God of order, right? 90 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:07,800 That we as a church, we order ourselves in the way of Jesus. 91 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:12,940 And that if any of us deviate from that without repentance, 92 00:05:12,940 --> 00:05:17,900 that's key, that discipline ought to be enacted. 93 00:05:17,900 --> 00:05:21,240 Just like we are to be disciplined as children by our 94 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:24,200 parents and even as adults, we break a rule, there are 95 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:25,840 consequences, right? 96 00:05:25,840 --> 00:05:30,940 There are times that we as adults get disciplined. 97 00:05:30,940 --> 00:05:31,840 Does it look different? 98 00:05:31,840 --> 00:05:32,140 Sure. 99 00:05:32,140 --> 00:05:33,100 Does it feel different? 100 00:05:33,100 --> 00:05:33,340 Sure. 101 00:05:33,340 --> 00:05:35,100 But the same thing is happening. 102 00:05:35,100 --> 00:05:39,040 We are being corrected in life. 103 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:43,400 The church has the obligation and in some ways the honor, 104 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:46,600 though that's a weird way of saying it, to discipline those 105 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:49,700 that deviate from the truth. 106 00:05:49,700 --> 00:05:52,800 Because it's a truth that as a Christ-reformed church and a, 107 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:56,540 what I would call a church of God, a true church, the Belgian 108 00:05:56,540 --> 00:05:58,440 Confession also talks about that. 109 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:00,800 That there are three tenets of the true church. 110 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:03,240 The pure preaching of the gospel, right? 111 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:06,740 The pure administration of the sacraments and church 112 00:06:06,740 --> 00:06:07,940 discipline. 113 00:06:07,940 --> 00:06:12,300 That church discipline is being used in a Godly, God-honoring 114 00:06:12,300 --> 00:06:15,360 biblical way. 115 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:17,660 It's not a three-strike rule and you're out. 116 00:06:17,660 --> 00:06:20,200 It's not you mess up and you're gone. 117 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:24,700 No, it's an understanding that there is grace, a grace that is 118 00:06:24,700 --> 00:06:26,540 greater than all of our sin. 119 00:06:26,540 --> 00:06:28,440 The church should reflect that as well. 120 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:33,100 However, the church should also correct. 121 00:06:33,100 --> 00:06:36,560 The church should also maintain unity. 122 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:40,340 Now, are we all, each and every person, going to agree 100% on 123 00:06:40,340 --> 00:06:41,500 everything in the Bible? 124 00:06:41,500 --> 00:06:43,200 No, we're not. 125 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:46,740 Hopefully we agree on the, what I would call the essentials of 126 00:06:46,740 --> 00:06:50,860 the faith, faith Christ, Christ crucified and was raised from the 127 00:06:50,860 --> 00:06:52,140 dead. 128 00:06:52,140 --> 00:06:54,240 It's in Christ that we are saved. 129 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:56,300 That is the most important thing. 130 00:06:56,300 --> 00:06:59,500 But there are other theological things as well that I hope we 131 00:06:59,500 --> 00:07:01,560 have agreement on. 132 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:05,400 Things that are necessary for the faith. 133 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:10,240 And when that's not there, that discipline and accountability 134 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:12,340 have to happen. 135 00:07:12,340 --> 00:07:14,000 This isn't an easy topic. 136 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:16,900 It's not super comfortable to preach up here on the stage, 137 00:07:16,900 --> 00:07:19,860 especially as a sinner. 138 00:07:19,860 --> 00:07:23,660 And so these are the journeys of discipline that we see in the 139 00:07:23,660 --> 00:07:25,600 book of Hebrews. 140 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:30,640 And I find it interesting, I actually find it fascinating that 141 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:34,360 in a book that's telling us Jesus is better than everything, 142 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:37,960 Jesus is supreme over everything, he is the best, 143 00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:40,540 he is simply irresistible in life, 144 00:07:40,540 --> 00:07:42,940 that following Jesus is the greatest thing you could ever do 145 00:07:42,940 --> 00:07:47,100 in your life, he's ending with discipline. 146 00:07:47,100 --> 00:07:50,960 This is after the faith sections. 147 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:54,940 So he wants us to have defined what faith is, right? 148 00:07:54,940 --> 00:07:56,960 It is the belief in what we cannot see, 149 00:07:56,960 --> 00:08:01,500 the assurance that God is there, that we have new life in Christ 150 00:08:01,500 --> 00:08:05,400 though we are tempted and attacked day in and day out, 151 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:08,560 that God is with us. 152 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:11,600 Then he even goes on last week and says we're surrounded by 153 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:13,100 those that have gone in the faith. 154 00:08:13,100 --> 00:08:16,840 We can look to Moses, we can look to Elijah, 155 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:21,040 we can look to David, to all of these people in Scripture, 156 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:23,300 but our ultimate view should be Jesus, 157 00:08:23,300 --> 00:08:28,560 the author and perfecter, the artist of your faith is Jesus. 158 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:32,300 And what I love about that is he doesn't paint with the same 159 00:08:32,300 --> 00:08:34,600 brush for all of us. 160 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:37,900 That I could sit with, I don't know, 250 people here, 161 00:08:37,900 --> 00:08:40,600 you've all come to faith differently. 162 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:46,700 But I find it fascinating, it's faith in Christ alone. 163 00:08:46,700 --> 00:08:49,060 That if there is another entity, another person, 164 00:08:49,060 --> 00:08:54,100 another belief that you're putting on par with Jesus, 165 00:08:54,100 --> 00:08:56,000 then you can't say that. 166 00:08:56,000 --> 00:09:00,200 You can't say that you have faith in Christ alone if you put 167 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:04,200 something else, an ideology, a political system, 168 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:08,940 a other belief, a world religion with that. 169 00:09:08,940 --> 00:09:09,460 Right? 170 00:09:09,460 --> 00:09:14,600 We believe that you can't say that I believe in Jesus but I'm 171 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:16,360 a Buddhist. 172 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:16,560 Right? 173 00:09:16,560 --> 00:09:22,300 That doesn't make sense that we understand that in Christ alone 174 00:09:22,300 --> 00:09:26,600 our hope is found, our definition is given. 175 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:29,360 That there is a difference. 176 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:33,260 He is the author and the perfecter of our faith. 177 00:09:33,260 --> 00:09:37,260 If you think you are, then you're putting yourself on the 178 00:09:37,260 --> 00:09:38,800 same level as Jesus. 179 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:41,860 It's a real dangerous place to be. 180 00:09:41,860 --> 00:09:45,960 But we know in time and in life we may be tempted to do that. 181 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:47,600 For some of you it may be in there right now. 182 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:51,600 Your love for a certain potential sin is on par with 183 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:52,560 Jesus. 184 00:09:52,560 --> 00:09:54,160 And pastor, what do you mean by that? 185 00:09:54,160 --> 00:09:57,300 That you engage that sin week in and week out more than you 186 00:09:57,300 --> 00:09:59,200 engage Jesus. 187 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:00,000 Right? 188 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:04,700 If all of a sudden, how do I kind of understand that analogy 189 00:10:04,700 --> 00:10:08,260 if my wife Carrie and I, if I went a week without talking to 190 00:10:08,260 --> 00:10:10,360 her, actually you may like that. 191 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:14,560 So if I go a month without talking to her and she's going 192 00:10:14,560 --> 00:10:16,800 to want to know, well then who are you talking with? 193 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:18,320 I know you need to talk. 194 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:20,100 Babe, you talk to the wall. 195 00:10:20,100 --> 00:10:25,200 Like what else have you given this affection for talking to? 196 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:29,060 That at some point I'm desiring to talk to this or do this or 197 00:10:29,060 --> 00:10:32,960 whatever this is on par with my wife. 198 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:35,860 And all of us say that's completely messed up. 199 00:10:35,860 --> 00:10:38,000 That is not right. 200 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:41,120 Yet we do that with faith and we do that with Jesus all too 201 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:42,820 often. 202 00:10:42,820 --> 00:10:46,820 Our ideology, our sense of identity, ourselves, we can put 203 00:10:46,820 --> 00:10:51,960 on par with Jesus to the point where we may even say, well, 204 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:55,020 I'm going to actually put that, because I believe this, I'm 205 00:10:55,020 --> 00:10:59,660 going to, Jesus, you have to believe in me like this. 206 00:10:59,660 --> 00:11:03,300 Any stance you're going to have over Jesus is not a stance, not 207 00:11:03,300 --> 00:11:04,260 a Christian stance. 208 00:11:04,260 --> 00:11:06,360 Just like we say a Christian stance is not to have a stance 209 00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:11,520 over anybody else but to come alongside them in life. 210 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:17,120 To come alongside them in unity, even in discipline. 211 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:21,720 Now we see there's that statement of excommunication 212 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:23,760 and that's a scary word. 213 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:26,160 Friends, that is a process. 214 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:27,160 Right? 215 00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:29,320 No elder in a church, well, you know what, I'm just going to 216 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:30,520 speak for our church. 217 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:34,720 No elder in this church is going to look, A, we don't take 218 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:39,060 attendance, but if so and so is not at church on a Sunday, they 219 00:11:39,060 --> 00:11:41,260 don't come to me or they don't come to the rest of the elders 220 00:11:41,260 --> 00:11:44,220 who go, it's time to excommunicate. 221 00:11:44,220 --> 00:11:45,360 We don't do that. 222 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:48,980 That excommunication in Matthew 18, Jesus makes it very clear, 223 00:11:48,980 --> 00:11:52,720 there needs to be a process of offering repentance and 224 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:58,860 forgiveness to make relationship with an airing way of somebody, 225 00:11:58,860 --> 00:12:00,860 a deviation of the gospel. 226 00:12:00,860 --> 00:12:03,260 And I love how the Belgian Confession uses that word 227 00:12:03,260 --> 00:12:05,220 deviate, that there's a deviation. 228 00:12:05,220 --> 00:12:09,460 A deviation isn't, I accidentally did that or, oh, 229 00:12:09,460 --> 00:12:12,580 man, I just completely messed up and I fell that way. 230 00:12:12,580 --> 00:12:16,680 A deviation is a premeditated thing that we are going to go 231 00:12:16,680 --> 00:12:19,680 away from the truth. 232 00:12:19,680 --> 00:12:23,060 That if there's someone in the church that is trying to bring 233 00:12:23,060 --> 00:12:29,520 people away from the truth of God, that that is a deviation. 234 00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:31,520 And it doesn't mean, and you're done. 235 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:33,060 No. 236 00:12:33,060 --> 00:12:36,160 That there is a process of walking alongside them, of 237 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:37,680 correcting them. 238 00:12:37,680 --> 00:12:40,520 And yes, I understand that that puts the elders and myself in a 239 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:45,020 very high position, but that is our governance structure. 240 00:12:45,020 --> 00:12:48,420 There's sinners just like I am, just like you are, but that we 241 00:12:48,420 --> 00:12:52,560 are called to hold each other accountable for when we deviate 242 00:12:52,560 --> 00:12:56,180 because it says in the book of Hebrews, chapter 12, if you're 243 00:12:56,180 --> 00:13:00,180 new, we read from the ESV, but you have whatever translation of 244 00:13:00,180 --> 00:13:02,380 the Bible you might have on your phone or with you. 245 00:13:02,380 --> 00:13:06,060 Starting with verse 12, we're going to go 12 through 14. 246 00:13:06,060 --> 00:13:09,820 Again, this is after he is saying, do not despise the Lord's 247 00:13:09,820 --> 00:13:13,480 discipline because the Lord chides or disciplines those that 248 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:14,620 he loves. 249 00:13:14,620 --> 00:13:16,520 I use the example of my boys. 250 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:21,480 I discipline them because I love them. 251 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:23,920 Now, they may not feel that way, right? 252 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:25,520 Do you guys feel that way all the time? 253 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:26,820 No. 254 00:13:26,820 --> 00:13:29,280 And I'm sure if you asked your kids, they would say the same 255 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:32,080 thing, but we discipline because we love. 256 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:36,180 We see an error or a deviation in some way, right? 257 00:13:36,180 --> 00:13:39,620 Like we learned this past week, you don't throw a poop bag on 258 00:13:39,620 --> 00:13:43,620 the roof and then tell nobody that it's up there. 259 00:13:43,620 --> 00:13:45,860 Now, you don't even know my kids, but you're looking right 260 00:13:45,860 --> 00:13:48,060 at them, and I appreciate that. 261 00:13:48,060 --> 00:13:50,160 I do, yeah. 262 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:52,280 Went up on the roof today, found a poop bag. 263 00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:54,120 How did that get there, right? 264 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:56,380 I had one of my sons say, I tried to throw it over the 265 00:13:56,380 --> 00:13:59,880 house. 266 00:13:59,880 --> 00:14:02,160 That's not a thing, right? 267 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:04,760 How many people is that a thing in your house? 268 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:07,620 Like we're going to try to throw poop bags over the house 269 00:14:07,620 --> 00:14:08,960 and see what sticks. 270 00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:11,080 No, that's disgusting, right? 271 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:13,120 So we learn, we correct. 272 00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:15,420 That one's fairly easy. 273 00:14:15,420 --> 00:14:18,460 Hey, don't do that, right? 274 00:14:18,460 --> 00:14:19,820 Not okay. 275 00:14:19,820 --> 00:14:23,480 But whatever that is, whatever the deviation from what your and 276 00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:28,360 your spouse or your family agrees upon that is right in the 277 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:30,680 society, right? 278 00:14:30,680 --> 00:14:32,880 You want to correct that. 279 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:36,320 You can go to like law and justice and all of that. 280 00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:39,120 Now, again, I understand that we all may feel different things 281 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:42,020 about different laws being put in place, but the laws are there 282 00:14:42,020 --> 00:14:44,680 to help correct, right? 283 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:49,260 You're doing 80 in a school zone and you get a pretty hefty 284 00:14:49,260 --> 00:14:50,620 ticket. 285 00:14:50,620 --> 00:14:54,420 Please don't come to me and go, this is not right. 286 00:14:54,420 --> 00:14:57,760 You're doing 80 in a school zone. 287 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:01,180 At least do it on ridge, not a school zone. 288 00:15:01,180 --> 00:15:04,780 You know, you will find no compassion from me if you get 289 00:15:04,780 --> 00:15:07,560 pulled over doing 80 in a school zone. 290 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:11,820 But the police officer has every right to correct you and say, 291 00:15:11,820 --> 00:15:13,980 don't do that. 292 00:15:13,980 --> 00:15:18,120 That correction and discipline in life is what the writer of 293 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:21,080 Hebrews brings up in the beginning of chapter 12. 294 00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:22,520 He continues with verse 12. 295 00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:28,020 Therefore, lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak 296 00:15:28,020 --> 00:15:33,160 knees and make straight paths for your feet so that what is 297 00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:37,880 lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 298 00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:41,380 Strive for peace with everyone and for the holiness without 299 00:15:41,380 --> 00:15:45,060 which no one will see the Lord. 300 00:15:45,060 --> 00:15:49,120 So he's continuing, this writer is continuing with this 301 00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:53,320 understanding that discipline is put in place as a mature 302 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:56,820 believer to make things right. 303 00:15:56,820 --> 00:16:01,620 But what this says is that discipline should strengthen 304 00:16:01,620 --> 00:16:03,460 you. 305 00:16:03,460 --> 00:16:08,420 Though in the moment you may feel weak, right, on my mom's 306 00:16:08,420 --> 00:16:13,160 side of the family, my papa didn't slap with his hand. 307 00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:16,620 He hit with his belt, right. 308 00:16:16,620 --> 00:16:22,820 And I was a frequent recipient of that form of discipline. 309 00:16:22,820 --> 00:16:27,280 Now, you get hit once with a belt and you're thinking, why 310 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:28,580 would I ever do that again? 311 00:16:28,580 --> 00:16:31,320 Like nothing about that felt good. 312 00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:34,060 And I would love to be able to give testimony that papa only 313 00:16:34,060 --> 00:16:35,380 had to do it once. 314 00:16:35,380 --> 00:16:37,260 But that's not true. 315 00:16:37,260 --> 00:16:41,680 Or, and you all, and maybe you remember my grandma, right, 316 00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:45,660 Grandma Bonnie Wells, my mom's mom, right, who I get my 317 00:16:45,660 --> 00:16:51,680 glorious height from as she died at 4'8", 5'7 tall to 4'8", 318 00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:54,180 Rick, don't look at me like that. 319 00:16:54,180 --> 00:16:57,620 She was a ninja when it came to discipline, right. 320 00:16:57,620 --> 00:17:01,420 The two times that I remember vividly being disciplined is 321 00:17:01,420 --> 00:17:04,680 when we were at the table and my elbows were on the table and 322 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:09,860 then out of nowhere what seemed like a samurai sword, it was 323 00:17:09,860 --> 00:17:15,780 only her fork, was jabbed into my elbow. 324 00:17:15,780 --> 00:17:18,280 Grandma, what in the world? 325 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:21,660 No elbows on the table. 326 00:17:21,660 --> 00:17:26,380 Grandma, words work, right, but she understood me and understood 327 00:17:26,380 --> 00:17:31,320 that maybe a little poke in the elbow would get the point 328 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:34,620 across and then I will remember, and a lot of you will remember 329 00:17:34,620 --> 00:17:36,060 this as well. 330 00:17:36,060 --> 00:17:41,380 I remember in junior high, I would say that in junior high 331 00:17:41,380 --> 00:17:44,660 the verbal disrespect in my mouth was probably somewhat at 332 00:17:44,660 --> 00:17:49,320 an all-time high and I remember I said something sarcastic to my 333 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:53,980 grandma as I'm standing over her at 5'7", because I haven't 334 00:17:53,980 --> 00:17:58,780 grown since junior high, at least vertically, all of a 335 00:17:58,780 --> 00:18:01,260 sudden my mouth's hurting. 336 00:18:01,260 --> 00:18:06,160 That without me even seeing it, she whacked this part of my 337 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:10,660 mouth, this upper lip, and so fast that I really didn't even 338 00:18:10,660 --> 00:18:11,580 see it coming. 339 00:18:11,580 --> 00:18:14,280 And I looked at her and I said, grandma, what did you do that 340 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:15,420 for? 341 00:18:15,420 --> 00:18:20,360 And she looked at me dead up and said, because it won't leave 342 00:18:20,360 --> 00:18:24,580 a mark. 343 00:18:24,580 --> 00:18:27,920 You say that in 2023, where's grandma going? 344 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:29,980 To jail. 345 00:18:29,980 --> 00:18:34,380 But that was her form of discipline and she's doing it to 346 00:18:34,380 --> 00:18:37,220 correct that you don't sass your grandma. 347 00:18:37,220 --> 00:18:41,460 Now, again, grandma, words work, but she chose that form of 348 00:18:41,460 --> 00:18:42,360 discipline. 349 00:18:42,360 --> 00:18:45,360 It strengthened me. 350 00:18:45,360 --> 00:18:45,720 Right? 351 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:48,860 It's the people we know in life that when they get disciplined, 352 00:18:48,860 --> 00:18:51,020 they just flop on the floor. 353 00:18:51,020 --> 00:18:53,620 They think it's the worst thing ever. 354 00:18:53,620 --> 00:18:54,420 Right? 355 00:18:54,420 --> 00:18:57,980 I don't know if you guys ever saw the video or the meme of 356 00:18:57,980 --> 00:19:01,580 there's a dog chewing, I think it's a bone on a couch and it 357 00:19:01,580 --> 00:19:03,160 falls off. 358 00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:07,220 And so funny, the dog looks at the bone and just falls 359 00:19:07,220 --> 00:19:08,260 backwards. 360 00:19:08,260 --> 00:19:11,560 Super dramatic, like I cannot believe this bone fell on the 361 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:12,060 floor. 362 00:19:12,060 --> 00:19:14,480 That's not what discipline is supposed to be. 363 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:17,160 We're not supposed to wallow in discipline and go, whoa, it's 364 00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:17,720 me. 365 00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:21,220 The writer of Hebrews is saying, no, it strengthens your legs. 366 00:19:21,220 --> 00:19:22,460 It strengthens your arms. 367 00:19:22,460 --> 00:19:25,160 It strengthens your person. 368 00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:30,480 Because regardless of your discipline, you have a job to 369 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:32,320 do. 370 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:32,520 Right? 371 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:36,420 You may always joke that if you get in early on a Monday morning 372 00:19:36,420 --> 00:19:38,220 to work and something bad happens, you're like, I just 373 00:19:38,220 --> 00:19:40,120 want to quit today. 374 00:19:40,120 --> 00:19:41,760 No, grow up. 375 00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:43,260 That sometimes things happen. 376 00:19:43,260 --> 00:19:49,720 We get disciplined and we are to continue moving on. 377 00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:52,020 We don't, oh, we're disciplined, so that's it. 378 00:19:52,020 --> 00:19:53,080 I'm going back to bed. 379 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:57,820 No, it's there to strengthen us because we still have a job to 380 00:19:57,820 --> 00:19:58,960 do. 381 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:01,720 I think of the manufacturer, right, who's on the line in a 382 00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:02,460 factory. 383 00:20:02,460 --> 00:20:05,120 They do something wrong and they get disciplined for it. 384 00:20:05,120 --> 00:20:07,580 Maybe they get written up, verbal warning or whatever, and 385 00:20:07,580 --> 00:20:09,760 they go, that's it, I'm out. 386 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:12,620 No, the cars still have to get made. 387 00:20:12,620 --> 00:20:14,680 There's still a job to do. 388 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:17,580 Discipline does not destroy your life. 389 00:20:17,580 --> 00:20:23,380 Discipline strengthens your life. 390 00:20:23,380 --> 00:20:28,560 Now, maybe you've had this moment where as you got older, 391 00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:31,220 you've reflected on your relationship with your mom or 392 00:20:31,220 --> 00:20:33,780 your dad or whoever was kind of the disciplinarian in your 393 00:20:33,780 --> 00:20:38,860 family, and one day you went to them and just said, thank you. 394 00:20:38,860 --> 00:20:39,920 I know I was a handful. 395 00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:43,060 Hopefully you don't wait until that person's gone, but you 396 00:20:43,060 --> 00:20:48,460 have that connection moment that you recognize that the 397 00:20:48,460 --> 00:20:53,020 discipline you had in your life worked, at least in some way, 398 00:20:53,020 --> 00:20:55,960 because you stopped doing that thing. 399 00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:58,580 You stopped making that mistake. 400 00:20:58,580 --> 00:21:02,460 You grew up and you grew out of it. 401 00:21:02,460 --> 00:21:07,260 That is part of this discipline process of faith. 402 00:21:07,260 --> 00:21:10,260 That, believe me, the Lord is everlasting and everlasting, and 403 00:21:10,260 --> 00:21:13,360 the Lord plays the long game with you as he does with me. 404 00:21:13,360 --> 00:21:17,120 He is willing to discipline you about the same thing over and 405 00:21:17,120 --> 00:21:21,120 over and over again, but I guess the question I would ask then is 406 00:21:21,120 --> 00:21:23,120 you're the common denominator. 407 00:21:23,120 --> 00:21:25,560 What are you going to do differently? 408 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:30,560 As a dog returns to his vomit, so we return to our sin. 409 00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:33,120 And if we're being corrected about something, we should 410 00:21:33,120 --> 00:21:36,620 really be mature enough to look inward and go, oh, maybe I 411 00:21:36,620 --> 00:21:39,420 shouldn't do that. 412 00:21:39,420 --> 00:21:42,360 Yet for some of us that's hard, because the other thing that 413 00:21:42,360 --> 00:21:46,620 discipline does, discipline exposes. 414 00:21:46,620 --> 00:21:48,820 That when we are disciplined, when we're called out, when 415 00:21:48,820 --> 00:21:51,420 we're held accountable, when we didn't make the right choice or 416 00:21:51,420 --> 00:21:56,060 we hurt somebody or whatever, discipline can expose the sin 417 00:21:56,060 --> 00:21:57,360 in our life. 418 00:21:57,360 --> 00:22:00,260 It strengthens us, but it also exposes. 419 00:22:00,260 --> 00:22:02,520 Verse 15. 420 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:06,120 Starts with, see to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of 421 00:22:06,120 --> 00:22:10,720 God, that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, 422 00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:15,960 and by it many become defiled, that no one is sexually immoral 423 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:21,100 or unholy like Esau who sold his birthright for a single meal. 424 00:22:21,100 --> 00:22:24,760 For you know that afterward when he desired to inherit the 425 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:29,620 blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, 426 00:22:29,620 --> 00:22:31,620 though he sought it with tears. 427 00:22:31,620 --> 00:22:35,560 You go back to Jacob and Esau, that there is, you know, there 428 00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:37,000 are problems on both sides. 429 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:41,300 Jacob, he tricks his mom, right? 430 00:22:41,300 --> 00:22:46,320 He tricks the understanding of his parents and he steals Esau's 431 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:54,820 blessing, that Esau for a mere thing of soup gives his 432 00:22:54,820 --> 00:22:58,000 birthright and his blessing away. 433 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:01,860 Talk about a giant wah-wah in Esau's life. 434 00:23:01,860 --> 00:23:05,400 I guarantee he probably would have wanted that back, and maybe 435 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:07,500 you have been there in life. 436 00:23:07,500 --> 00:23:09,420 Maybe you have given away a part of yourself. 437 00:23:09,420 --> 00:23:12,500 Maybe you have made decisions that has completely changed your 438 00:23:12,500 --> 00:23:15,860 course of life in your mind. 439 00:23:15,860 --> 00:23:18,720 And maybe you are sitting here weeks, days, weeks, months, 440 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:26,200 years later, and you go, oh, I wish I wouldn't have done that. 441 00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:35,200 You guys all know the saying, woulda, woulda, coulda, shoulda. 442 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:39,200 We look back and we go, man, I shoulda done that. 443 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:41,200 I coulda done something different. 444 00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:43,660 And this is different than thinking you could make it in 445 00:23:43,660 --> 00:23:45,460 baseball or whatever it was. 446 00:23:45,460 --> 00:23:48,760 These are decisions that change the course of your life because 447 00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:53,900 of maybe a mistake you made or something you chose to do. 448 00:23:53,900 --> 00:23:57,600 And you go back and you go, ugh. 449 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:00,620 But the mature believer doesn't go back and go, ugh. 450 00:24:00,620 --> 00:24:03,560 The mature believer goes back and goes, man, but God still 451 00:24:03,560 --> 00:24:05,500 found me. 452 00:24:05,500 --> 00:24:07,400 God's still there. 453 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:09,700 God did not give up on me. 454 00:24:09,700 --> 00:24:12,800 God did not say, and you are out. 455 00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:16,220 That God still not only desires a relationship with you, but he 456 00:24:16,220 --> 00:24:19,320 wants to guide your life. 457 00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:23,620 God is the number one person in the world that could say to each 458 00:24:23,620 --> 00:24:28,500 and every one of us, told you so, but he doesn't. 459 00:24:28,500 --> 00:24:31,120 That's grace. 460 00:24:31,120 --> 00:24:36,460 He doesn't give us what we do deserve, wrath, death, but he 461 00:24:36,460 --> 00:24:39,200 gives us grace when we don't deserve it. 462 00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:40,620 None of us have earned it. 463 00:24:40,620 --> 00:24:44,020 None of us has gone to church as much to earn his grace. 464 00:24:44,020 --> 00:24:46,420 All of you that are gonna sign up for nursery and actually do 465 00:24:46,420 --> 00:24:49,360 it, you're not gonna earn the grace of God. 466 00:24:49,360 --> 00:24:53,560 He gives it to you so you can say, oh, I did sign up a year 467 00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:54,060 ago. 468 00:24:54,060 --> 00:24:56,460 I forgot that I did. 469 00:24:56,460 --> 00:24:57,960 Or whatever it is. 470 00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:01,300 That he's correcting that in your life. 471 00:25:01,300 --> 00:25:03,560 Do not despise the Lord's discipline. 472 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:07,420 And there he makes it actually very specific. 473 00:25:07,420 --> 00:25:12,560 He knows that in our society, sexual sin and sexual immorality 474 00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:14,500 is going to run rampant. 475 00:25:14,500 --> 00:25:16,060 I think he's right. 476 00:25:16,060 --> 00:25:19,720 We look at 2023 and it is all over the place. 477 00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:22,860 That God understands that that is going to be something that 478 00:25:22,860 --> 00:25:26,760 his followers and his people fall in time and time again in 479 00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:29,360 a myriad of sins, right? 480 00:25:29,360 --> 00:25:31,960 And understanding that he's saying stop. 481 00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:33,360 Come back to me. 482 00:25:33,360 --> 00:25:37,800 This is what my desire is for you. 483 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:40,660 And understanding that forgiveness. 484 00:25:40,660 --> 00:25:42,920 But it's one thing to understand the forgiveness. 485 00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:46,520 It's another thing to correct the behavior. 486 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:48,820 God, I get it, but I still want to do it. 487 00:25:48,820 --> 00:25:51,060 Oh, but I know that the hundredth time I do it, you'll 488 00:25:51,060 --> 00:25:52,720 forgive me that too. 489 00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:55,120 Dieter Bonhoeffer calls that cheap grace. 490 00:25:55,120 --> 00:25:57,620 We talked about that weeks ago. 491 00:25:57,620 --> 00:26:01,400 That's probably an ideology that's going to sting of a false 492 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:04,400 conversion. 493 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:08,420 That if you think God is just this immoral or moral ATM 494 00:26:08,420 --> 00:26:11,000 machine that I'm going to step in the sin but I'm going to get 495 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:14,400 grace so I keep stepping in the sin so I'm going to get grace, 496 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:18,220 that is a very ugly understanding of Jesus. 497 00:26:18,220 --> 00:26:20,820 Of the grace he actually affords you. 498 00:26:20,820 --> 00:26:24,320 That he went to the cross to die and then perfect it in you. 499 00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:26,320 That's not a perfected faith. 500 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:29,220 That's taking advantage of faith. 501 00:26:29,220 --> 00:26:32,200 And so we understand, see it was a good idea. 502 00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:36,420 We understand that not only does this strengthen us when we get 503 00:26:36,420 --> 00:26:40,520 discipline, it exposes our need for discipline, especially for 504 00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:43,960 all those that think we can hide our sin from God. 505 00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:46,560 Spoiler alert, you can't. 506 00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:52,060 And the understanding that he's with you every step of the way. 507 00:26:52,060 --> 00:26:56,500 I remember growing up in youth group when youth group people 508 00:26:56,500 --> 00:26:59,460 would date and all of that because that happens in the youth 509 00:26:59,460 --> 00:27:00,460 group. 510 00:27:00,460 --> 00:27:03,520 Our youth leaders, our youth pastor would always say, hey, 511 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:07,200 leave room for Jesus. 512 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:10,020 Super awkward. 513 00:27:10,020 --> 00:27:12,820 And I may or may not have responded but I have him in my 514 00:27:12,820 --> 00:27:17,800 heart so this is okay as my way of saying no, I want to do these 515 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:19,400 things. 516 00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:20,860 We can't justify it out. 517 00:27:20,860 --> 00:27:24,220 God is not going to, he understands. 518 00:27:24,220 --> 00:27:26,800 Jesus doesn't go, God doesn't go, oh, I didn't know Jim was 519 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:28,800 going to say that. 520 00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:32,060 And I know there are a lot of parts of my testimony, my life 521 00:27:32,060 --> 00:27:36,160 where all, I think what Jesus is doing is the hand and face emoji. 522 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:37,260 I get it. 523 00:27:37,260 --> 00:27:40,160 But he's shown me that and says, hey, grow from this. 524 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:43,660 He puts people in by life. 525 00:27:43,660 --> 00:27:46,800 I remember when internet filters became a thing and I was a 526 00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:51,020 sophomore in high school and part of my journey was to find 527 00:27:51,020 --> 00:27:53,860 areas of the internet I probably shouldn't be and I would get 528 00:27:53,860 --> 00:27:55,160 access denied, right? 529 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:57,860 Because that was the, or like, and it was like, okay, I'm going 530 00:27:57,860 --> 00:28:00,520 to try to fly past this one. 531 00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:04,320 I remember one night after youth group, and this, guys, a lot of 532 00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:05,320 you have met my dad. 533 00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:07,700 He didn't come in to parent, he came in to disciple because I 534 00:28:07,700 --> 00:28:09,600 was about ready to start high school and my sister was already 535 00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:11,020 in high school. 536 00:28:11,020 --> 00:28:13,520 No one was home and it was very strange because I was like, this 537 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:14,960 is Sunday night, why isn't anybody home? 538 00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:17,220 My little brother has to go to bed. 539 00:28:17,220 --> 00:28:19,820 And he's down by my room in the basement. 540 00:28:19,820 --> 00:28:24,860 And every time the computer went, eh, access denied, he made 541 00:28:24,860 --> 00:28:28,300 a copy of it and he printed it out. 542 00:28:28,300 --> 00:28:32,220 And there was this little mini phone book of access denied. 543 00:28:32,220 --> 00:28:35,020 And all he said to me was, you've been in places you 544 00:28:35,020 --> 00:28:36,720 shouldn't be. 545 00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:39,860 You got to talk about this. 546 00:28:39,860 --> 00:28:41,360 Oh, believe me, I was grounded. 547 00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:43,820 Yeah, there's a definitely grounding part of that story. 548 00:28:43,820 --> 00:28:47,520 I don't think I was able to touch a computer for six months. 549 00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:51,220 But it was understanding that we have to correct this behavior. 550 00:28:51,220 --> 00:28:54,760 Because if you go off now as a sophomore in high school and you 551 00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:58,200 go, let's say, five years, you're going to be here. 552 00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:01,020 And his worry is that that place on the internet was going to 553 00:29:01,020 --> 00:29:03,300 become second nature to me. 554 00:29:03,300 --> 00:29:07,860 And he knew that can't be the case. 555 00:29:07,860 --> 00:29:09,760 And maybe that's your story. 556 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:13,360 Whatever your internet filter is, maybe God is trying to get 557 00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:16,520 you to understand that you keep going and trying to do that 558 00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:18,000 thing. 559 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:21,360 God is going to give you those messages, those, eh, access 560 00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:22,160 denied. 561 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:27,460 And a mature believer takes that and says, all right, I'll stop. 562 00:29:27,460 --> 00:29:30,060 But the immature believer says, nope, I'm going to try to go 563 00:29:30,060 --> 00:29:31,260 right around it. 564 00:29:31,260 --> 00:29:34,660 Maybe if I spell it this way, we're going to try to justify 565 00:29:34,660 --> 00:29:36,400 sin. 566 00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:37,720 And that is a foolishness. 567 00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:41,700 That's not a maturity in Christ. 568 00:29:41,700 --> 00:29:45,100 So God's discipline not only does it strengthen, it exposes 569 00:29:45,100 --> 00:29:46,800 and that hurts. 570 00:29:46,800 --> 00:29:49,960 When our sin is exposed, right, when that wound of sin is 571 00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:52,100 exposed, it doesn't feel good. 572 00:29:52,100 --> 00:29:55,800 We want to get rid of it. 573 00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:58,600 So we need to accept the Lord's discipline. 574 00:29:58,600 --> 00:30:01,260 We need to correct that error in our life. 575 00:30:01,260 --> 00:30:05,260 We need to be held accountable for those things. 576 00:30:05,260 --> 00:30:08,900 Because the final thing that discipline, the end game, I 577 00:30:08,900 --> 00:30:12,700 believe of discipline is that discipline emboldens. 578 00:30:12,700 --> 00:30:14,260 I had a different word for that. 579 00:30:14,260 --> 00:30:15,800 You can put the slide up. 580 00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:19,960 And Mike helped me and found a way better word for this. 581 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:21,960 That discipline emboldens. 582 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:23,200 Verse 18. 583 00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:26,860 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire 584 00:30:26,860 --> 00:30:29,960 and a darkness and a gloom and a tempest and the sound of a 585 00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:34,000 trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no 586 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:36,400 further messages be spoken to them. 587 00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:39,440 For they could not endure the order that was given. 588 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:43,860 If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned. 589 00:30:43,860 --> 00:30:47,300 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, I 590 00:30:47,300 --> 00:30:52,340 tremble with fear that you have come to Mount Zion and to the 591 00:30:52,340 --> 00:30:55,860 city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem and the 592 00:30:55,860 --> 00:30:59,960 innumerable angels in festal gathering and to the assembly 593 00:30:59,960 --> 00:31:02,660 of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven and to God, 594 00:31:02,660 --> 00:31:05,740 the judge of all and to the spirits of the righteous made 595 00:31:05,740 --> 00:31:10,060 perfect and to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant and 596 00:31:10,060 --> 00:31:13,700 to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the 597 00:31:13,700 --> 00:31:14,900 blood of Abel. 598 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:20,160 That we are emboldened. 599 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:24,760 That when we are disciplined, not only are we strengthened by 600 00:31:24,760 --> 00:31:28,640 the Lord's discipline because it's exposed what is going on 601 00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:32,740 in our life and saying if you keep following this, not only 602 00:31:32,740 --> 00:31:37,700 are you a fool, but you're not going to get anything from it. 603 00:31:37,700 --> 00:31:40,000 You're not going to add this to your life. 604 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:45,400 This is going to bring you spiritual death. 605 00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:49,740 The word I had was reverent fearlessness. 606 00:31:49,740 --> 00:31:54,260 But I think emboldened makes it so much better that we know 607 00:31:54,260 --> 00:31:57,600 and we are emboldened that we come to the Mount of Zion. 608 00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:01,360 We come to the city of Jerusalem which is now Christ 609 00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:05,100 and we lay down our sins. 610 00:32:05,100 --> 00:32:09,900 A beginning person of faith, a new believer's faith isn't 611 00:32:09,900 --> 00:32:13,660 tied up with if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just. 612 00:32:13,660 --> 00:32:16,200 They don't realize that yet. 613 00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:21,000 But it's the seasoned person of faith, the mature believer as 614 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:27,200 Hebrews says understands and recognizes that when we confess 615 00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:31,540 our faith, he is faithful and just. 616 00:32:31,540 --> 00:32:35,200 The new believer may think if I confess my faith, not only 617 00:32:35,200 --> 00:32:39,800 are you going to be disciplined, God is going to be done with me. 618 00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:43,160 I likened that to maybe when you were dating, right, and you 619 00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:46,240 didn't want to bring out your inner crazy or whatever it was 620 00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:48,600 because you wanted that person to like you for the version of 621 00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:53,740 the person you wanted to give them. 622 00:32:53,740 --> 00:32:57,660 But the relationship takes a whole new turn when you feel 623 00:32:57,660 --> 00:33:00,960 like you can be yourself. 624 00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:04,940 When you don't feel like the date mask has to be put on. 625 00:33:04,940 --> 00:33:10,400 When they see you, really see you in the good, the bad, 626 00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:11,400 and the ugly. 627 00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:13,500 How do I know? 628 00:33:13,500 --> 00:33:15,840 Not that I've ever been on a dating site because those weren't 629 00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:18,300 a thing when Carrie and I got engaged and got married but I 630 00:33:18,300 --> 00:33:22,440 hear stories of people on dating sites and there's a myriad of 631 00:33:22,440 --> 00:33:24,500 them, I'm not going to say them because I'll probably say the 632 00:33:24,500 --> 00:33:28,160 wrong one and you're all thinking of me very differently. 633 00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:29,760 But what do people put on? 634 00:33:29,760 --> 00:33:33,760 Do they put all of their failures on there? 635 00:33:33,760 --> 00:33:37,300 Come date me because I keep trying to find those places on 636 00:33:37,300 --> 00:33:40,400 the internet, I keep traveling 80 down school zones, I keep 637 00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:44,200 doing all of these things, please date me. 638 00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:46,640 No. 639 00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:49,200 And what person is going to be like, oh, yeah, give me some of 640 00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:50,200 that? 641 00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:51,200 No. 642 00:33:51,200 --> 00:33:52,960 And the boss, they're like, oh, they're a project, I'm going to 643 00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:53,960 fix them. 644 00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:57,840 Danger, do not go, do not collect $200. 645 00:33:57,840 --> 00:33:59,920 Don't do that. 646 00:33:59,920 --> 00:34:04,400 People put what they think those people want to see. 647 00:34:04,400 --> 00:34:05,520 Right? 648 00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:10,600 If you're on some kind of fitness dating app, you're not 649 00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:12,640 going to, first thing you're going to say is I'm a couch 650 00:34:12,640 --> 00:34:14,480 potato. 651 00:34:14,480 --> 00:34:17,760 I love chili and I hate working out. 652 00:34:17,760 --> 00:34:20,520 Oh, pastor, why do you have to throw chili under the bus? 653 00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:23,120 I don't know why that came into my, are we having chili 654 00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:24,120 today? 655 00:34:24,120 --> 00:34:25,120 I don't know why. 656 00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:26,120 I have chili in my head. 657 00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:27,600 But to me couch potatoes eat chili. 658 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:30,200 You're welcome. 659 00:34:30,200 --> 00:34:32,600 But understand, like, we're going to try to put our best 660 00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:35,800 foot forward in those dating apps, I assume. 661 00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:40,200 Yeah, I went, I tried out for a triathlon. 662 00:34:40,200 --> 00:34:41,560 Didn't finish but I did it. 663 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:42,560 Right? 664 00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:45,040 I go to the gym all the time. 665 00:34:45,040 --> 00:34:48,500 I go to the snack bar but I go to the gym all the time. 666 00:34:48,500 --> 00:34:50,320 We try to put our best foot forward. 667 00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:54,240 The immature person tries to do that with God. 668 00:34:54,240 --> 00:34:57,680 That's what the writer of Hebrews is saying. 669 00:34:57,680 --> 00:35:01,200 Don't be a failure in your faith. 670 00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:04,400 Don't try to be what you think people want you to be. 671 00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:05,400 Be you. 672 00:35:05,400 --> 00:35:08,920 And if you are encouraged, if you are emboldened, if you are 673 00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:14,000 exposed and you've learned and now strengthened in the follies 674 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:17,920 of your life, lead with that because that's the power of your 675 00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:20,960 testimony. 676 00:35:20,960 --> 00:35:23,160 That's what a mature believer does. 677 00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:27,000 That's why Jesus is the greatest because Jesus says, no, no, no, 678 00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:29,200 no, no, I'm going to use your good and your bad and your 679 00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:34,840 ugly to help bring my word of the gospel to the world. 680 00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:39,120 So you may be coming here this morning and go, God can't use 681 00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:40,880 me because I do this. 682 00:35:40,880 --> 00:35:42,920 Oh, no, he can because guess what? 683 00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:45,080 He already knows you do it. 684 00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:50,360 So as we turn and we finish this book of Hebrews with chapter 13, 685 00:35:50,360 --> 00:35:53,320 he's going to tie it up in a nice bow, but I think the ending 686 00:35:53,320 --> 00:35:55,320 is really here. 687 00:35:55,320 --> 00:36:02,440 And if Jesus is the greatest thing in your life, live that 688 00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:05,440 out. 689 00:36:05,440 --> 00:36:08,480 Because so often we're tempted to live another version of that. 690 00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:11,880 We're tempted to say, oh, no, I get that. 691 00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:13,400 Me and Jesus, yeah, we're tight. 692 00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:14,400 We're BFFs. 693 00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:18,400 But in the world, I don't want to be seen like this. 694 00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:21,400 I want people to see the way I want them to see me. 695 00:36:21,400 --> 00:36:24,400 But the real believer says this is me. 696 00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:29,400 This is the good, the bad, and the ugly, and Christ died for me. 697 00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:34,400 I think that makes a lot more sense in a fallen world because 698 00:36:34,400 --> 00:36:38,400 people are going to, wait, if Jesus can love a Jim Holland 699 00:36:38,400 --> 00:36:41,400 owner, I'm not nearly as bad as him. 700 00:36:41,400 --> 00:36:48,400 He can love me or it could be if Jesus can save a Jim, he can 701 00:36:48,400 --> 00:36:50,400 save a me. 702 00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:53,400 I'm so sorry that sounded like Mario. 703 00:36:53,400 --> 00:36:55,400 I am so sorry for that. 704 00:36:55,400 --> 00:36:57,400 But it's the same holds true. 705 00:36:57,400 --> 00:37:00,400 That he can save you and he wants to save you and if he has 706 00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:03,400 saved you, walk that out. 707 00:37:03,400 --> 00:37:05,400 Not your own version of it. 708 00:37:05,400 --> 00:37:10,400 Walk out the fact that you are saved by Jesus in your muck, in 709 00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:11,400 your mire. 710 00:37:11,400 --> 00:37:13,400 You are saved by Jesus. 711 00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:15,400 Your sin has been exposed. 712 00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:18,400 You've been strengthened and you've been emboldened to walk 713 00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:21,400 that out. 714 00:37:21,400 --> 00:37:24,400 And he has one more encouragement for us next week. 715 00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:40,400 Let's pray.