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11 Well, no chastening, for the president seems to be joyous, but greedy nevertheless. Afterwards it yielded the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet. Let that which is lame be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed.
Follow peace with old men, and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.
Looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up, trouble you, and thereby many be defiled, lest there be any fornicator or profane curtain. As Esau, who were one morsel of meat, sold his birthright, for you know how that afterward was he would have inherited the blessing. He was rejected, for he found no place of repentance.
Though he thought it carefully with tears.
For ye are not come unto the amount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness and darkness, and Tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words, which voice they'd have heard and treated, that the word should not be spoken to them and.
Anymore, for they cannot endure that was commanded, And it's so much as a beast touched the mountain, it shall be sown or thrust through the dark. So terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake, but the art come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels to the General Assembly and Church of the first born.
Which are written in heaven.
And to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, Thank you, Jesus, the mediator of the New Covenant, And to the blood of sprinkler that speaketh better things than that enabled see that he refused, not him that speaketh.
For if they escaped not, who refused him to spake on earth? How much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth? But now he had promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word yet once more signifies the removing of those things that are shaking, as the things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken, may remain.
Wherefore we receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is the consuming fire.
Yesterday our brother remarked on this verse that.
It ends up saying unto them that are exercised. Thereby. It doesn't say those who understand why the trial came.
And in our experience, we find that to be so quite a few of our.
Chase things.
We don't understand why quite a few of them we do. Personally, I can remember when my Mama spanked me that she would say, now this is going to hurt me more than it does you, and I couldn't understand that. But I see her weeping, and she had chastised me until I was weeping and we could be thankful for it. And then she'd make me sit there and think about what I had done. Now that's an exercise. We can be exercised after many of the chasings that our Father, who is faithful, gives us.
And learn why they have come to us. But in the 77th Psalm I think it is, we find that God's way is in the sanctuary, and a little farther down it's in the sea, and in the sea his footsteps are not known, but in the sanctuary I believe they are. And perhaps most of the chasing we get is in communion with the Lord as children.
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Of a faithful Father, they should come to us as being in fellowship with Him. As to why they have come, but not all of them, well, we know, but we certainly can be exercised about every one of those trials.
I believe that's very important because of the feeling in the minds of some that a Christian could be triumphant in every situation. But there is a time when God does intend us to feel his hand upon us, just like you were saying. Your mother wouldn't have been very pleased when she punished you if you just laughed and pretended you didn't feel what had taken place. She wanted you to feel it, but it was always with ultimate blessing in mind that she did that. And so with God our Father, there are times in our lives when.
Trials come that we can't be at once triumphant.
We are cast down, perhaps, and we realize the Lord is speaking, and that's good. That's proper. No? Chastening. For the present saveth to be joyous but grievous. But afterwards, afterward the blessing comes, and so many of us look back and we're thankful that our parents corrected us. We're thankful, and we trust it has yielded in our lives the peaceable fruits of righteousness. That is a desire to walk in a way that was pleasing to the Lord, for that was their desire for us.
And so I believe this is important. I say this because.
People speak as if in every situation the Christians should be positively triumphant. We should take everything from the Lord, brethren. But there are times he intends us to feel it. And Paul could say cast down, but not destroyed.
And it's the peaceable fruit of righteousness that is the characteristic of the Christian our God is the God of peace, and you want he gives us peace as to the question of our sins and what intends that we should have the peace of God ruling in our hearts too.
And that's characteristic as a Christian life Not to be full of unrest, but rather to see the wisdom and love of all God's ways with us.
There is so much in us that needs correction. It's it's not that It's child training. That's what we're the word discipline means is child training and we all need that. There's so much in us. There's there's self esteem, there's pride, there's.
Wrong thoughts about ourselves, Wrong thoughts about God.
Wrong thoughts about our brethren.
Oftentimes, we will fall into the snare of imputing motives to another when we're told in Scripture not to do that. And so this child training involves all kinds of things more than just outward acts of disobedience.
It has to do with God wants us to be a partaker of His Holiness verse 10.
And he goes on in verse 14 to say, follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. So if one makes a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus, and there is no indication in the persons life that they desire holiness, there's no indication that they abhor that which is evil and cleave to that which is good, if there's no indication of that.
The strong thought that would follow that is that they've never become a partaker of the divine nature, they've never really been born again, and they don't have eternal life and they're not in dwelt of the spirit there. We know we all fail, that's one thing. But every newborn soul that has divine life has a nature which hates sin and abhors evil. And that's what holiness is. Holiness is.
Delight in what is good.
And abhorrence of evil.
Christ was that holy thing which was born of Mary, called the Son of God. His humanity was holy humanity. Adams before the fall was innocent without sin, but capable of sinning. The Lords was without sin and incapable of sinning. That's the very nature of holiness. Holiness delights in what is good.
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And abhors evil so. And now we are partakers of a fallen humanity, and we have two natures, and he and everything that flows from the old nature in me and in you.
Requires that we judge it and that we do not nurture it and we do not tamper it and give way to it. It needs to be judged and denied and restrained, and there's such a complexity of action in each of us.
And among our brethren, some things that we think and do are from the Spirit working on the new life and then the flesh will come in and there's a mixture. If it was always black and or always white, it would be very simple, wouldn't it? But it isn't that it's 1000 different shades of Gray between the new nature having his way absolutely or the flesh having its way absolutely. There's a there's a mixture. So often times.
And it takes real discernment to see, especially in connection with the problems and troubles that confront us today, what is of God and what is of the flesh? What is of him? And what is of man? Very difficult. And only the Spirit of God can give us that anointed eye, so that we can see things as he sees them. And the greatest hindrance for my doing, that is me. The greatest hindrance for you doing that is you. We get in the way.
And our own reputation, our own self esteem, a word that's so used in psychological circles today. But God never tells me in His word that I should have good thoughts of myself. He tells me that I should abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes. That's what Job was led to. And he that thinketh of himself more highly than he ought to think is not thinking God's thoughts.
So we need to think God's thoughts, don't we? We need to have His thoughts filling us, and we need to have all of our thoughts corrected by the word of God. That's the value of a Bible reading, isn't it? That's the value of ministry, is to have my thoughts corrected and say, oh, I had this thought that was wrong, give it up, and then come into God's thoughts. We need that in all our relationships with one another.
It's weird. Exercise has been said to be one of the Brethren's words. And folks that come in and say you folks are always talking about being exercised. What do you mean being exercised?
I think this.
Verse explains it and what we've just heard. We are to think about what God is doing and what his thoughts are, what his ways are, and why he is doing this and that.
And profit by thinking about these things, dwelling on what God has to say in His word as to the truth in a positive form, and then in the corrective form that we're talking about here, get God's thoughts about it and get the profit out of it. That's what the word exercise means, I believe as we use it.
Used in the 5th chapter of Hebrews. Isn't that a fifth chapter of Hebrews that says that in the 14th verse? But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age even by those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. These Hebrew believers had remained babes. They hadn't really gone through an increasing knowledge of the things of God.
That would produce an exercise as to the practical result in their life. And now in this chapter it has to do with God's feelings. With us. Job was constantly defending himself, and what Elijah said to him was very apartment. He said that surely it is meat to be said unto God that which I see not teach thou me. If I have done evil, I will do it no more. His friends had.
Falsely accused him. Thought the discipline was for something different than the purpose God had in it. That sometimes happens.
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We might misjudge a brother going through trial, but Eli, you told him you should be before the Lord for yourself. You should seek the Lord's mind and what he is trying to show you through this that which I see not. He didn't yet see what God had in that trial that he passed through, and it was a deep trial.
But when he got into the presence of God, then he saw that, he discovered that. And then there's the second thing.
It says that which I see not teach thou me. If I have done evil, I will do it no more when the Lord shows it to us then to be willing to own the thing in His presence and not go on with it. So all those two things are necessary. I believe that's really what the exercise is. Just as growing in the knowledge of God's mind, there's an exercise to discern good and evil.
So when we go through trial, there's an exercise as to why we think of various things. We weigh things in the light of the sanctuary, and if there's a willingness, he shows us. And the result was much blessing for Job. It says the God blessed the latter end of Job more than the beginning. Where would any of us be if God didn't send that correction in our lives? If we lived our whole lives without that exercise, Without Him and his wisdom and love correcting us, where would we be?
So God wants our latter end to be more blessed than the beginning.
Sometimes a child will say to the Father who is punishing him. If you really love me, you wouldn't punish me like this so severely. And the truth is, I punish you because I love you.
So that's what Scripture teaches, that we need correction. And sometimes, you know, we even make that mistake with God our Father. Sometimes we become bitter. Things have come into our lives.
Hard to take terrible trials and then we think that God doesn't love us or he wouldn't have allowed us to go through such a trial.
No, we don't interpret God or His love for us by our circumstances. We interpret our circumstances by the sure and certain knowledge of His love for us, which was expressed in all its blessed fullness at the cross.
He could not have done more. He could not have given more than he has given in the gift of his Son. He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? And all things are ours, beloved, They're all ours. Whether life or death, or angels or principalities or powers, all are ours, and we are Christ, and he is God's.
We have all things in Him, and He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Him.
And what comes upon us down here? How does Paul calculated? We had that before us just recently in 2nd Corinthians 4. He went through such terrible trials, but he says our light affliction, which is but for a moment. Oh, Paul, how could you so calculate?
Your Light Affliction. Read the list of the sufferings through which he went, and he calls it light affliction. Think of all the hours that he suffered for the Lord Jesus.
Filled up the measure of suffering that were the sufferings of Christ, he says. Which are but for a moment work is for us in surpassing measure of far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Oh, when we get home, we're going to look back upon the few things that we suffered for him, and then we'll be able to say just like Paul. But he wants us to say it. Now he wants us to look at all that he passes us through.
And to say, our light affliction, which is but for a moment I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us. It's a privilege if we are partaker of his sufferings, A privilege to share a little. This is suffering time things, aren't we? He hasn't promised us a bed of roses down here. This is suffering time.
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But the glory is just right ahead, soon to dawn upon our our souls what a day that will be.
One thing seems to be clear here about the chastening as to why it comes not only for you or I personally who are feeling it, but it's because others around us are affected and.
God, in his faithfulness as a Father, works with us so that we will make straight paths for our feet, and not be one who would lead others astray. No man liveth unto himself, or dieth unto himself.
Our course effects, those around us and those near to us. And if our God chastens us to keep us in the path, to make those straight paths, and then someone follows us, our children for instance, while they're coming in the right way. So we see here at least that one reason that we get some of this chastening is that we will properly set a path for those who are near to us.
Suppose we could apply this 12 to 13 verses in two ways. First, as to ourselves, we can become very discouraged through trial that God sees it to send into our lives. And we we should not be discouraged. We should understand that it is in love for our good and for our blessings. And instead of saying and how often, we tend to say, well, I give up. It's no use. I've tried and everything has broken down. We live. We let our hands hang down.
Our knees become feeble. We say no use trying because I'm overwhelmed by all the trials.
But we need to see that it's in wisdom. We don't want our children to have, so to speak, their spirits broken so that they won't go on and devotedness and in obedience. And so this is an applicable, applicable to ourselves, But also, I believe, brethren, it's applicable on how we could help someone else. And so it says, lift up the hands that hang down if we see someone else who's being discouraged by very often a little word the Bible says.
A word Bentley spoken is like apples of gold and pictures of silver. And I suppose many of us can look back at times in our lives when we felt very discouraged and someone said a little word, a word in season that helped us to lift up our hands and the people knees and that which is lame. Perhaps we were weak, failing things, but instead of being turned out of the way, we were encouraged to go on. I was thinking of Jonathan when he was stirred up to gloat and fight against the Philistines.
Saw the strength of the Philistine army and his father in opposition to him. He apparently turned back because his armor bearer said to him, Turn the I am with thee. There's no mention of the name of that armor bearer, but he turned the whole battle. Just that little word that he said to Jonathan caused Jonathan to turn around and go forward. And the result was a great victory in Israel. And so I believe there's a double application here.
That we apply this to ourselves. That if God has allowed something in your life or mine in the way of chastisement, something he has spoken to us about, we shouldn't be discouraged. It's for our profit, it's for our good. But also, if it's another person, a word that might be spoken could be a great help instead of a hindrance. And so we're encouraged in both directions, I believe, brethren, for ourselves, and also to lift up the hands of another who may be hanging down, just ready to give up.
That's an interesting thought in the end of the 13th verse, but let it rather be healed. I'm sure that many times things have taken place in assemblies where someone may have caused difficulty and problem and the comment might be made well.
Might be well if we could, if he'd leave or.
We'd be happier, but that's not what this scripture says. But let it be rather healed.
This takes grace, doesn't it? Grace from God himself to assist those that are in maybe?
Controversial. Causing difficulty. I'll tell you, brethren, That's something that's happening all over the assemblies throughout the world today.
And we need the grace of God to counteract this kind of thing, not by just saying, well, let's get rid of them. Or maybe it'd be better if they were gone.
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We need the grace of God to heal such a situation, the controversy that comes.
A soft answer Turneth away, rat. I believe that each and every one of us myself particularly a soft answer. How gracious to turn to someone that is maybe a difficulty in softness and kindness and in grace rather than in harshness.
The word fitly soaked like apples of gold and pictures of silver.
What a picture we have in that verse. Apples are a wonderful fruit. Our brother Henry over here would agree to that. But what would he do with a golden apple?
What it's telling us is that it's divine fruit in the setting of redemption.
And you and I are in the setting of redemption. We are redeemed people.
And the fruit of our lips ought to be a witness that we belong to God, and so we have to seek for that.
Word fitly spoken to help, to heal, to encourage, to direct in the path that God has chosen for his people down here.
It's the combination of the two things here. Follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. So there's the desire for peace. God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the Saints. But also holiness becometh thine household God forever. So we see a beautiful combination here, and I believe that's what grace is. It's a combination of God's goodness and holiness. He's made peace by the blood of His cross.
He didn't Passover our sins as though they were nothing. At great cost to himself. Our sins were put away. Think of what it cost the Lord Jesus to bear them. And now He has borne them all. And now we can be brought into His presence on the ground of pure sovereign grace.
Holy and without blame before him in love. How beautiful, the way Scripture puts things, we often become one sided in One Direction or the other. Too strong perhaps, on something in the way of holiness and forgetting grace, or too strong on the way of grace, but.
In the Scripture we see the beautiful combination always of truth and yet of grace too. And we have to be careful in standing for holiness that we don't fail of the grace of God. And I believe that's brought before us here. I believe we can apply it practically in our own lives, no matter how badly I have failed as a believer. There is grace in the heart of God to restore, to bring me back, to give me the enjoyment of himself. The latter end of Job was better than the beginning.
Jacob who is well known in Scripture as a for failing one, and much more crude at the end of his life than he did through his life, whereas some that started out welded Penn so well. So there is always the grace of God first in application to ourselves, also an application to one another in our dealings.
I'd like to make a comment on verse 12 before we get away from.
There where he says, Wherefore lift up the hands that hang down and strengthen, and the people knees, and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way, but rather that they be healed.
We can all look back, everyone of us as Christians and remember a time in our life where perhaps we were discouraged and there was somebody else who was going on faithfully for the Lord, and that was an encouragement to us. Sometimes young people say, well, what's the what's a good way to be a help and an encouragement to others? And I believe that this verse is a real key verse. That is one of the best ways to be a help to others is to go on for the Lord faithfully yourself, not necessarily seeking to.
Be an example, but going on for the Lord you will be an example, and so I think of the.
Strengthening the hands, Lifting up the hands, the hands would speak of doing the work of the Lord. Remember in Nehemiah it says they strengthened their hands for the work. If I'm seeking to do the work of the Lord myself and the knees might speak a prayer going on in prayer and the straight paths or the even or level paths. Not an up and down inconsistent Christian life, but an even Christian life. That's one that's following the Lord.
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That will have a a healing effect on others who are discouraged.
But if I give up and I get discouraged, and I let my hands hang down and quit doing the work of the Lord, others who have been doing it might also be discouraged. So I just think of this, these verses 12 and 13 as perhaps a little key or something that should speak to each one of our hearts this morning that we might seek to go on for the Lord ourselves. And that in turn will be have a healing effect on others. It's easy to look at other people and say, well, why don't they come and lift up my feeble hands and encourage me?
Well, the real exhortation here is it could read lift up your hands that hang down. And so it starts individually with each one of us.
In Matthew 5 about 8 it says blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God. And over in our next book of James three in the last verse it says the fruit of righteousness is thrown in peace of them that make peace. So we have that.
Privilege and responsibility. To follow the exhortation to follow peace with all men and to seek peace, but never at the expense of righteousness. That's not correct if we go to the millennial scene, just a verse in the 32nd of Isaiah to get what the king brings in in this world in the coming day. A beautiful scene we have before us in Isaiah 32.
About peace and what is produced when that king reigns in righteousness. In Isaiah 32 it says in the first verse, behold, a king shall reign in righteousness and Princess shall rule in judgment. We have immediately the millennial scene before us when you and I are associated with the king as Princess in administration in the Millennium. Now look down at.
Verse 16 Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness and righteousness remain in the.
Fruit fulfilled, and the work of righteousness shall.
Be peace and the effect of righteousness, quietness, and assurance forever. So God's peace is never at the expense of righteousness. But righteousness is what we'll bring in that peace. So we go on a righteous course. We have to but follow peace with all men as much as life in you. Live peaceably with all men. Some men we can't live peaceably with, but my responsibility to try to.
I was thinking of how the Corinthians assembly failed in both points. They were going to allow this man who was living in sin to go on in the assembly unjudged, and Paul had to write to them that it was necessary and that discipline should be carried out. But in the second epistle they failed of the grace of God the they evidently were unwilling to receive him back when there was repentance. And so he writes to them and says, contrary, wise you have to comfort him and forgive him.
So we see the two sides brought out very clearly in the scripture in the Corinthian assembly, and both are so necessary as it's been remarked by several here, that character of righteousness, but also that character of grace and that's peace, that's God's peace.
Peace at the assembly when there can't be peace when evil is allowed. It's interesting that the very place where a can was stoned is spoken of in the prophets as a door of hope and a place for the flocks to lie down. Because when things were dealt with according to the mind and will of God, and then there was rest, then there was a place for the flocks to lay down, with the only hope of the assembly that holiness should be maintained there's no hope for.
This world, if they go on in their evil way, there's no hope for us in our individual lives. I'm Speaking of the enjoyment of the things of God if things are allowed unjust in our lives. So the hope of blessing is always founded on dealing with things in God's way.
All that evil being removed by God can come out and all that in his heart. He really wants to bless his people and he wants us to remove every hindrance to blessings.
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Well, I believe, brethren, there are many things in our lives that we can judge a brother.
Clam was venturing to us yesterday in the 19th some it says, cleanse thou be from secret faults, and then it went on to say presumptuous sins and the great transgression. And I believe the point is that if we judge the little things in our lives, they won't grow into great things.
And if every time we came to remember the Lord, there was that self judgment as to anything that would hinder communion with the Lord and enjoyment of His presence by the remembrance of the Lord would bring our hearts back to Calvary, remind us of the cost of our redemption. But if we don't do that, if we don't judge the little things like an illustrated if you don't pull little weeds out of your garden, they'll soon become big ones, and they'll choke out all the things that you really want.
And so I believe, and I think it's very lovely to my own soul, that the Lord suffer as each first day of the week, as though the Lord would call us back to His love and what it cost him to redeem us. And the most clear scriptures about self judgment are in connection with the Lord's Supper, because how can we properly judge what is wrong except in the light of what it cost the Lord to put it away? And there we see it at the Lord's Supper brought before us very powerfully.
His body given and his bloodshed. So we judge ourselves if we don't.
Then things may grow into big things in our lives, which as we learned in First Corinthians 5, called for more than personal action. The man was not called upon, just the judge himself. He needed to, but also the Lords name had to be cleared. So I believe it's very important I say for myself and for assault every time we come to remember the Lord. To be sure, there has been nothing allowed in our lives, unjudged, that would hinder the enjoyment of his love and going to us, going for us to the cross of Calvary.
And looking forward to the time when we will be with and like him.
Wonder if it would help to read verse 1415 and 16 together. It's really one sentence.
Global peace with all men, and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled, lest there be any fornicator or profane person, as he saw, who were one morsel of meat, sold his birthright.
Seems to be very instructive that the Holy Spirit in one sentence has put together three thoughts, three different areas that we need to be careful about. We begin with verse 16.
I believe the thought of Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright, might indicate to us something of perhaps a giving up of the truth.
The deposit of truth that has been mentioned here already. June 3, earnestly content for the faith once delivered to the Saints. First Thessalonians, Chapter 2, where the Apostle Paul says that he had preached the gospel of God unto them with much contention, or burning earnestness or earnest striving. Same word used there in First Thessalonians 2 as is used in June 3, the burning earnestness with which we ought to.
Contend for the faith, the deposit of truth that we have if we give it up. That's what he saw, giving up his birthright. And I believe we were. We see that among us in the body of Christ, where we identify that, and with the Lord's help we we deal with that as those gathered to the Lord's name. If we go back to the beginning of verse 16, lest there be any fornicator less moral evil, that's what we have brought before us.
In dealing with it in the assembly in First Corinthians chapter 5. Now when we come back to verse 15.
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The same sentence and the third category of evil that's brought forward by the Holy Spirit here. Not doctrinal evil as he saw giving up his birthright. Not moral evil. That's the fornicator First Corinthians 5. But now in verse 15, something that speaks to our hearts, it's mentioned first in the list, it's mentioned in the same sentence, and it's given more emphasis by the Holy Spirit of God in this particular place.
Because it says thereby many be defiled. What is it? It's lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you We judge the doctrinal evil, and so we should. We judge the moral evil. And so we should In the Assembly, do we judge the root of bitterness, or do we overlook it and say that's something that that brother or that I or that the Assembly has to deal with privately root of bitterness.
The the root word for bitterness is picked.
Pik And it means to prick or to cut. And when there's a root of bitterness in my heart, I know what it's like. I know what it's like to have a root of bitterness. It ****** and it cuts me. It destroys my soul. It shrivels me up in the eyes of God. It it destroys my enjoyment personally of Christ. It destroys my effectivity in the assembly. I can't lift up my hands and hang down. I can't strengthen the people knees, either of myself or anyone else.
When I have a root of bitterness in my own soul, because I'm so shriveled up, I'm so cut, I'm so destroyed within myself that very, very soon, not only does it destroy my effectivity, but it spreads to the assembly, it spreads to the body of Christ, and thereby many be defiled. What's the cause of that? Let's go one step further back in the verse, the sentence verse 15, The beginning, looking diligently lest any man fail.
Of the grace of God. So we have three things here, The bitterness, the moral evil, and the doctrinal evil. The root is a failing of the grace of God. The merchant says full from grace. Well, in in Christendom there's the evil teaching and and this phrase, unfortunately, is used to teach it. Falling from grace used to mean a loss of one's salvation. Obviously that's not the thought here.
It would be contrary to the word of God.
But really the thought of failing of the grace of God is to come short of the grace of God in Romans 3 verse 23. And Speaking of the Sinner, the unbeliever, it says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Exactly the same verb is used there in Romans 323 as is used here in Hebrews 12/15.
As the Sinner comes short of the glory of God, so the Saints may come short of the grace of God. The Spirit of God uses the same word to come short of. And so brother. And I can only look at myself and realize that when I come short of the grace of God, when I am lacking in grace in my own soul, in dealing with my brethren, and in interacting with the fellow members of the body of Christ.
What betterness and what results from that the?
Defilements of the body of Christ.
I think of the example of Hannah in First Samuel chapter one where.
Because of her barrenness.
Her it says her adversary there, and for example one it's really Vanina Alcania's other wife.
Al Qaeda gave Hannah a double portion that says Tanina vexed her, It says in the margin. That's angered her. She angered her. And so Hannah in her soul was angry. It says in the next verse that that continued on year after year. So there was there was anger year after year and then it says she was in bitterness of soul. The vexing led to anger. The anger led to bitterness.
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How to Hannah deal with that bitterness? She got into the presence of the Lord. She got on her knees. She cried about it. And she got into the presence of the high priest Eli, a failing high priest, no doubt he he misinterpreted her, he misjudged her. He accused her of drunkenness. But we have a high priest who never misjudges. We have a high priest who never makes a mistake, never misjudges our motive. He understands at all points, tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
And so we can get into the presence of the Lord on our knees, as Hannah did. We can get into the presence of a high priest, as Hannah did.
And then what happened? It says that better turn to it so that I don't.
As quoted in First Samuel chapter one.
The end of verse 18.
For Samuel, one the end of verse 18 her countenance was number more sad. Verse 19 they rose up in the morning early and worshipped before the Lord, and returned and came to their house to Rhema. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. Verse 20 to conceive. So first of all, in dealing with the bitterness she got into the presence of the Lord, she got into the presence of the high priest. And then what happened?
God changed Hannah. Her countenance was no more said, and then he changed her circumstances. She worshipped before the Lord. Then she returned and came to her house in Rama, which means a high place. And then the relationship with her husband and her family was brought back to normal again. That's God's pattern, I believe, for dealing with bitterness into his presence. Let the high priest deal with it. Then he changes me. My countenance is no more sad. Then he changes my circumstances.
I worship and then my family relationships that may be my own family, it may be the family of God are brought back to normal against Lee. Hannah is a good picture of dealing with that bitterness of soul that is referred to in verse.
10.
I believe it's connected to is what goes before, lest any man fail, of the grace of God? Because what is grace? The undeserved favor of God. What did I deserve? If someone has more than me or something like that, did I deserve anything? All I deserve was the judgment of God and all God's actions toward me. Every blessing I've ever received is undeserved. Usually bitterness is, as you're saying, because somebody got something perhaps a little bit more than me or.
Things like that sometimes come because.
I have problems in my life. Perhaps God's discipline and someone else seems to get by, as they say, and he doesn't have any. But what did I deserve? There's any blessing in my life if I've experienced anything of the goodness of God, it's entirely undeserved. And rather than I feel that's so important that we don't lose the sense of grace if we always walk in the sense, well, I wouldn't have one good thing if I got what I deserve. All the blessings are totally undeserved.
And so if any man fail of the grace of God, when we lose sight of that, then we say, why does that person get more than they? Or why did it happen to me and not to that other person? But it's we need to dwell constantly in the sense of grace. We're saved by grace, we stand in grace, and it's grace that will be brought unto us that the revelation of Jesus Christ. I believe also that God brings before us the end of the path and the end of the path we see in Esau because he was clearly an unbeliever.
He found no place of repentance, so he thought it carefully with tears. That doesn't mean he thought repentance, but he sought the blessing apart from repentance. He would like to have got all the blessing, but there was no sense of what was due to God and his soul at all. And so God often does that. He sets before us where the path ends to find that in the third chapter of Philippians, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things, What's the end of the path of mind? The earthly things.
Look at the world about us. It's finding earthly things. There's a tremendous going after material and earthly things, whereas the end of that path judgment. And if we walk with the world, why we're going to experience something of the way they have to suffer too. But God always sets before us where the path ends. Thank God, he'll never allow one of his own to go to the end. But it's the solemn thing where the path ends and this end of self seeking be unaware of the grace of God.
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This wanting to have everything apart from grace, it ends in judgment on the loss, and we have to be careful that we constantly live rather than in the sense of the grace of God.
I was wondering if with First Timothy chapter one verse 19 it says.
Holding faith in a good conscience, and I was wondering if we would not judge the root of bitterness.
And thus not have a good conscience that that would be the result of making shipwrecks that someone could comment on that.
Well, I believe most of the things that caused different that is, we lose confidence in God. This is First Timothy, one verse 19, holding faith and a good conscience, which some, having put away concerning faith, have made shipwreck. That is, if you and I give up confidence in God and we don't maintain a good conscience, we say I've got to do something, this or that, for my own ends. I've got to have this thing, even if I have to give up a good conscience to get it.
And that leads farther and farther away. A true Christian can never be lost, but we can make shipwreck of faith. We can end up in getting so far away from the Lord that that confidence that we ought to have in him is broken. And we go on.
Jacob did that, I believe. He decided that the best way to plan his life was to scheme everything his own way. He went on. He lost confidence in God, even though when he was starting on that course, the Lord met him and assured him of the blessings that he had for him. But he made a bargain with God, that he would do his part if God would do his. We do that sometimes instead of having confidence and faith in the goodness of God. Why? We decide that we're going to bargain with God. I'll do this, and God will do this for me, and I'm going to seek after something for myself.
He sought a wife and he got decided and got deceived. He thought wealth and he made a lot of bad feelings with Laban and he didn't have it out until he, he wrestled with the Lord. And I don't believe it was fully out until he came to the end of his life. And there he leaned on the top of his staff. He leans on something outside of himself and we see Jacob fully restored. But we can scheme our own lives, brethren. They're young people. We can scheme our own lives and say, I'm going to get it this way or that way. I've got to have it.
I'm not going to have all the problems that others have, but we lose that enjoyment of the Lord. Our faith in him is to practice it. Were every true believer there was a shipwreck in the 27th of Acts. They all got safe to land, but the ship was destroyed and shipwrecked. Faith does not mean a lost soul, it means a person who wrecks his life. If really the Lords, you'll get faith to land. But he didn't follow the wisdom and counsel of God for his pathway.
It was mentioned a while ago about the truth coming in and the doctrine verse 16 and it fits, I believe, this way, coming in the book of Hebrews, the book written through the Hebrew Christians who had had the national blessing of being Jews and the promises of God-given to them. And the Messiah promised. And then the Messiah came and he came to that nation.
Anissa stands here as a picture to the nation of the Jews to whom the Messiah was presented, and they sold him for a few carnal privileges under the Romans. They, the leaders of the people, said about Jesus. If we let him beths alone, the Romans will come and take away our place and nation. So they stole him for 30 pieces of silver. They despised their birthright.
They could have had their kings, he came and they could have had them if they would have received him. They said no. We would rather have a few carnal privileges for a little while under the Romans. Well, that was a catastrophe with a nation at that time and.
The fact that what happened was that, having sold their king, they lost everything just as Esau did.
Esau stole for a mess of cottage his birthright to his twin brother and that sale was confirmed. You can get it in the book of of Exodus in the early chapters the Lord by Moses has let.
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My people go.
It's Israel is talking about. Well, let's read that verse in Exodus chapter three. You think it is?
Because I can't bring it up right, but it shows that the sale went through that Esau sold his birthright and it was found in heaven.
Exodus chapter 4 it is.
And verse 22. And thou shalt stay unto Pharaoh. Thus saith the Lord Israel is my son, even my first born. I say unto thee, Let my son go. That sail was sealed in heaven. And so Jacob got it, because he believed the word of God. And as it's been brought before us, Jacob inherited the promises. But because of his scheming, he had a.
Very many sorrowful and sad experiences which he wouldn't have needed to go through if he would have gone ahead in faith and dependence upon God. But he interjected his own thoughts. But he did believe the word of God, and in the end he was brought to dependency and worship, leaning upon the top of his staff. So Jacob comes in as a picture of believers and failing or falling from the grace of God. We get many, many experiences.
We get the chastening of the Lord, but we get the end of the Lord and in the end this eternal blessing. So how terrible for the Jewish nation to sell their birthright.
And how wonderful it is to believe the word of God and seek the blessings, and depend upon the blessed to carry us through.
This question about bitterness how do we deal with it?
I don't think we do deal with it sometimes, and then it then it grows, and it defiles many, it says, looking diligently. Or Mr. Darby has it watching, lest any lack to the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up humble you. And I think we're being troubled today by unjudged things in the past.
That have lain dormant for years possibly and now have come to the surface and have troubled and are troubling us.
Through a recent experience.
That the Lord was pleased to put us through.
I used to pray every day. Lord, keep me from bitterness.
There was a lot of things that came.
Into our lives that could have produced very deep bitterness.
False accusations, Lack of compassion and understanding.
When we needed it so much. Oh, you can dwell upon those things.
And if you dwell upon those things, you get bitter.
If you dwell upon those things that come from those that are nearest to you, that ought to understand, that ought to show pity, you know, Job said, Miserable comforters, are ye all he felt that he felt it to the very depths of his soul, and God put him through it.
For a good reason.
But how do we deal with bitterness? Well, let me suggest that you pray that prayer every day, Lord.
Keep me from bitterness.
And then I was impressed. Recently at the Lord's table we had read to us.
Matthew 26 and 27 It was a rather long reading the account of the.
Passion, the sufferings of our precious Savior, and what he went through, and what he endured and how he responded, and how he met the affronts of the enemy. And it says all his disciples forsook him and fled those that should have stood by him. Peter who had said, though all deny thee, yet will not die. He denied him three times with oaths and curses and.
He looked for some to take pity, but there was none. And for comforters. But he found none. Did he get bitter? No, not a trace of it. And that blessed one Study him. Feed upon him. This is what really sustains the soul, and brings you through the deepest waters.
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Feed on Christ his precious life, how he met these things that so disturb us. Why do they disturb us? Why do I get bitter because of self?
Because there's that element of self and pride that is there in my own heart that I have to judge.
We all have it, everyone of us has to deal with that. But how do you get delivered from it?
By occupation with him. Feed on him as the manna that came down. See how they trampled upon him, and how they misunderstood him, and misrepresented him, and falsely accused him and slandered him. And all the evils that come upon us in this life. They all came upon him, And how did he meet them?
Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. He met it by perfect subjection to the Father. And now we behold the glory of the Lord with unveiled faith.
And as we do so, we're occupied with that man who's no longer in this scene, but in that scene. And by some miraculous power of the spirit of God working in the soul, we're transformed according to the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. It's not by trying to be better, it's not by any self effort on our part. It's by occupation with the man who's there, who was once here and passed through it all here.
That's what we have here in the first part of this chapter, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, the one who went through the whole path before us, who felt it all perfectly and responded to the evil according to God, the delight of God resting upon him always in the enjoyment of that well, that's the way to be delivered from bitterness. You never get delivered from it by going into your past and bringing it all up and thinking upon it and feeding on it.
And making that the object of your thoughts. You'll never get delivered from evil that way. But think of what he did to me, or think of what he said to me, or how he treated me. You'll never get delivered from bitterness that way. But it's by occupation with the one that went through all these things himself and did it all hand in hand with the Father and received it all from the Father. That's the real source and secret, isn't it?
Of deliverance from these things.
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