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Roger Tointon—March 23, 2024
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Now, some of you may be saying, 'Oh no, we're not going through that again.' Well, I think it's important, and I know—after trying to put some of these Scriptures together—it is important to God that we understand!
Revelation 3:19 explains so many things; God does love us: "As many as I love…" doesn't matter how many!
- What would that include? All of mankind!
- Did not God and the Word want mankind so that They could eventually have born again sons and daughters? Of course!
They love all people. They definitely do not love what the whole world is doing now, under the influence of Satan, but They love us!
Verse 19: "As many as I love I rebuke..."
Now, do any of us like to be rebuked? Well, I don't think so, but we're going to see how we need to react to this.
"…and I chasten…." (v 19). He makes it clear He's going to do that!
Now, some when they don't understand, get mixed up. If they think they are a Christian, they think they know God, that they know Christ, but they don't really, unless the Father has drawn them and opened their mind. So, if they put those together:
'I love you, but I am going to rebuke and chasten you' What do you mean? Therefore, they have a problem with it. But:
- What does God say?
- What does Christ say?
"…Therefore, be zealous and repent" (v 19).
Think about where that can lead us. We could be here all day and all night and talk on that. But it is for a purpose: God loving us! Loving us when we were still sinners! That's absolutely true. We were all in sin. The whole world was in sin, and everyone, until the Father called us, and we began to see the light, the eternal light that comes through Christ!
Then, what took place? We did repent, and we saw that we needed to repent! That's the key. We came to understand what I have just gone through in that verse in Revelation. What are we to do now?
Heb. 12 is a terrific chapter. The whole book of Hebrews is a study that you can do many, many times and still want to go back for more. It has a lot of information on this very subject we're talking about: The chastening of the Lord. Why?
Hebrews 12:1: ""Therefore, since we are surrounded…"
Paul is referring to, of course, Heb. 11, where he goes over and brings out about a good number of the men of the past that God worked with directly.
He goes through there, and he says that they were righteous, and they died having been accepted. Why? Because they proved faithful!
They died, and they became a wonderful example for us, because we, too, are going through a lot of what they had to. We are literally going through the judgment of God and Christ. That will come out, I think, as we go along.
"…So, we are surrounded by such a great throng of witnesses… [who are examples] …let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that so easily entraps us; and…" (v 1)—it does, doesn't it?
Now, that—when you look at it pointedly—is also why Rev. 3:19 is worded from God as it is. If it's so easy, there's no way that God and Christ could receive us as the brothers to Christ, that's what it amounts to. We are the brother/sister to Christ now because we are begotten!
Our new life has come. It's already started. It just isn't over yet. Our present life and the new life here. There are many places to where Paul says, 'Yes, these all died' (Heb. 11), it'll say that 'they died not having received the promise.' They are 'in waiting.' That also is what is so wonderful about Scripture. If you read it carefully, if you put it together 'rightly dividing the Word,' then those things come out and they are here and they eventually can come into your heart. Because the closer you get to God, that's where it ends up. The precepts of God end up in your heart and you can then react. You can react every day.
Now, we do not live a perfect life. I know Matt. 5:48 says we are to be perfect! Well, yes we are, hat is the goal. But we are not there, yet. Paul admitted that himself like in Rom. 8 and so on.
He says, 'No, we have not yet, we've not gotten to the end of our judgment,' is the actual fact of it. So then, the sin is so easy to come. Yes it is! But Paul says what do we do about it?
"…let us run the race set before us with endurance" (v 1).
You see, there is always a solution offered. Through the Old Testament, what does God do? He is always bringing up to Israel their problems! But what does He do?
So often in the same verse or the leading verses after, He will show what you need to do, and 'here is what I am going to do for you.' You see, that's the solution. We don't have it within us. It all must come from God.
We in no way could ever become righteous as God wants us to become righteous, except for Christ being right there, our big Brother. He is right there working with us day-by-day to try and keep us on the center line of the highway to God so that we can run that race in spite of Satan there throwing rocks at us at every junction along the way of the race. And He is!
I don't fully understand how Satan could have gotten that way. I don't think any of us do, but we do know some things because we can see it in our own lives.
When sin is there and it is offered to us, if we stop and think and look and listen, as it were, we can see why we have to knuckle down and obey God. If we have already stumbled and fallen on our face, then we have to repent and God will help us up to go on. So, we are to run this race of salvation with endurance, having our mind focused, fixed, fixed upon Jesus because He is the One:
- leading us
- showing us
- encouraging us
every step of the way!
- Who is He? He is the Beginner and Finisher of our faith!
- What does Paul say in many places?
Hebrews 11:6—he says salvation absolutely is by faith: "Now, without faith it is impossible to please God…."
It works that way. It was set up that way when They were developing the Plan. When the Word and the Father were working out the Plan, and believe me, They did work out a Plan before they ever started implementing it. That was a long time ago, obviously, because the earth wasn't even here or the solar system in which the earth is in, none of that. So, that was a long time ago!
We don't have to worry about that. We just know that it is a literal Plan by God and Christ, and therefore it is a perfect plan, and it will come to fruition. That's the thing! With God in charge and Christ there working with us, it will come to fruition!
Now, I am not a believer that every human being is going to end up in the Kingdom of God.
- Am I just dumb, blind, and stupid?
- Am I callous?
No! Because if you put the word together right, what Christ said right there in Matt. 12, you know He made it plain. There is a sin that is unpardonable! In other words, Christ, Who has given all judgment, He cannot accept someone who has trashed, literally trashed, Christ's sacrifice.
When you begin, we are approaching Passover, right? We are approaching it. We need to think upon these things. We need to think upon what Christ literally, we can't comprehend it all the way, but we need to think on it.
What He literally gave up in order that we could join Him in the Kingdom of God as a born-again son or daughter of God. That's why it's so important. But we have to keep focused upon Him.
Right here it brings out a very important thing that concerning Christ and what He had to do first. He is:
Hebrews 12:2: "…the Beginner and Finisher of our faith, Who for the joy that lay ahead of Him endured the cross…" (v 2).
Christ was there with the Father, no beginning, no ending, just like the Father. It's hard for us to understand how someone can give up their Divinity, and yet, that had to happen. Scripture makes that plain. He was a human being.
Now some human beings live and die and they in no way can accept that. But it's true! Right here it says, "…for the joy that lay ahead of Him endured the cross, although He despised the shame, although He despised the shame…" (v 2).
He was a human being at that time and He had to endure it. But He also knew where He came from. He knew that the Father was His Father and He was the One He had been with. He was willing to do that. But what does it mean when it says that "…for the joy that lay ahead…"?
Well, because that's when He was a human being, right? He had to live in the flesh and He had to endure what we have to endure. But He also knew that the Father promised Him absolutely that He would resurrect Him, and He could receive that glory back. That's what He prayed on the night before He died there in the garden, going over it with the Father.
He said, 'Glorify Me. Glorify Me with the glory I had with You before.' So, you bet He had great joy. He had to suffer, though, in a horrible way. You'll hear more about that as we draw closer to Passover.
"…although He despised the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the Throne of God" (v 2). And He did!
Then shortly after, very shortly after, was when salvation was made possible for mankind.
Now, the men that God worked with directly under the Old Covenant, they too went through their judgment then by doing what they were told to do.
They were faithful. So, they will be there. They will be there literally, actually first, as the Scriptures show in 1-Cor. 15. Paul shows that.
Verse 3: "Now meditate deeply on Him Who endured such great hostility of sinners against Himself…"
We can only read what is in the Word about that, but we can get an idea. Here again is why we should do that.
"…so that you do not become weary and faint in your minds" (v 3)
If you become weary and you get faint—and I'm not saying we never go to that—we do. Some more than others undoubtedly, but we have to be strong lest we turn back, lest we be deceived by Satan, literally deceived! You know the end of that.
We have received 'the pearl of great price,' God's Holy Spirit within us! Therefore, IF we turn back at that point, any point from here to the end or till our death, then we have reputed, and we've done like Esau who gave away his birthright because he was hungry.
Now that seems awfully childish, awfully immature. But if we at any time turn back knowing what we know and convicted as we are, the same thing. That's why we have to meditate deeply upon Christ every single day because He is there for us; He is absolutely there for us.
Then a little bit of chastisement, I guess, here by Paul when he talking to the people. He says, 'What's the matter with you?' as it were.
Verse 4: "You have not yet resisted to the point of losing blood… [For salvation? NO!] …in your struggle against sin."
That's what it is. It's a struggle! It's like running the race, as Paul said, and he says this in the present tense.
Verse 5: "And you have already forgotten the admonition… [of the Father] …that He addresses to you as to sons"—and he does!
Look at all the places where—Paul himself being the recorder of it—we are sons in God's sight now. Why? Because we have God's Holy Spirit within us and we are convicted that we're still here running the race and striving to overcome!
We are not perfect, but we are striving and we must continue to strive. So then in vs 5 and 6, it's an opportunity to bring out another very important thing.
Verse 5: ""And you have already forgotten the admonition that He addresses to you as to sons: …'My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord…'"
Again, absolute proof it is absolutely necessary for the fulfillment of God's Plan. We have to be chastened.
- we should not despise it
- we should not ridicule the fact that
- we have to
- we are not to grow weary of being reproved
I know, it can get heavy at times. It can get heavy. We're human! But we are not to despise it.
What does Paul himself say? Count it all glory and joy! Kind of tough, isn't it? Because we're still human, but we are to go on.
Verse 6—Christ speaking: "For whom the Lord loves He chastens…"
That's essentially what He said in Rev. 3:19; same thing.
"…and He severely disciplines… [King James says, scourges] …every son whom He receives" (v 6)
Now to me, that shows exactly what our life since God called us has been. It started as we were when God opened our mind. We were at that condition we had lived our life in, whether it was young or whether you were older when He called you.
We were at that condition, but we became convicted, and we got baptized, and we got an earnest of the Spirit, and our life began to change. It began to be transformed in reality.
That's what was taking place. But did we stay at the same place as when, at that time, we became baptized? If we did, you're not here today! You're not! Because we became more convicted, and Christ helped us, and we stayed focused enough.
We drifted! We drifted almost all the way into the ditch off of the road. We were certainly on the shoulder a lot of times. But we recovered, and I'm sure that Christ had a big hand in that. But we got back on the road, and then we went forward. Each time you go forward and you don't slip back, then you're closer to ending running the race.
You're closer! What does this show right here? I think it shows that we will, and probably have, received more chastisement, more chastening, and we are yet waiting to see when the real test comes, because it may come.
Now God can keep it from us if He thinks we are doing well enough. But I always, at that point, if somebody says that. I think of Abraham. And you know that story. We don't have time to go through that.
But look how almost never did Abraham do anything in Scripture as recorded something against what God told him to do.
He was faithful. And it says that it was counted to him for righteousness, which we all must gain.
But after waiting all that time for the promised son, he finally got him. And then God says, 'Well, I'm going to do one more thing here. One more chastisement. One more that's going to be true scourging in depth.
God says, 'You have to go out here and sacrifice him.' God didn't tell him why. Now if you have to face something like that, that is very, very severe. And God could do that to us, too.
Hopefully, I will come to a Scripture that will shed light on that.
Verse 7: "If you endure chastening, God is dealing with you as a Father with His sons…."
That is simply showing a principle that God uses throughout the Bible. Throughout our time of judgment, we understand that we are like little children of the Father. He called us; He begot us with the Holy Spirit. So, we are His little children. We are not yet born, but we are His little children.
It's the same as we can think back how our father dealt with us if we had a true father that was up to doing His job. It's the same way. But we have God the Most High as our Father now.
Verse 11: "Now truly, no chastisement for the present seems to be joyous…"
Oh, but we're to count it all joy! Well, you get the point when you read that. It's difficult! It is not joyous!
"…but grievous…" (v 11). Well, it can be. Nevertheless though, here we go; here is encouragement.
"…nevertheless, afterwards it yields the peaceable fruits of righteousness…" (v 11).
That is the very thing which we have to gain. We have to gain righteousness with Christ working in us. And us doing everything we can with all of our being! We have to do it. The two come together because we have to be exercised.
Exercised by chastening of the Lord. OK, that's where we go. Why? I must move on here.
Hebrews 2:16: "For surely He is not taking upon Himself… [that's Christ] … to help the angels; but He is taking upon Himself to help the seed of Abraham"—whom He created.
Christ is there helping us every day from our calling, or when the Father gave us to Him. That wasn't that long afterwards. What does that say?
Verse 17: "For this reason, it was obligatory for Him [Christ] to be made like His brethren in everything…"
That's why He was absolutely a human being. Yes, He had the Holy Spirit in full measure. But He was a human being because he had to experience it first before he could do the job He has been doing ever since the Father gave us to Him.
"…that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, in order to make propitiation for the sins of the people…. [mankind]…For because He Himself has suffered, having been tempted in like manner… [as we are tempted so constantly by Satan and our own human nature] …He is able to help those who are being tempted" (vs 17-18).
That's Christ's job, and He willingly took it on. But that is Whom we serve, and that also ties in why we have to suffer as He did.
So, let's go to 1-Peter; we have to get Peter in on this, because he has so much to say in a similar tone. I want to only cover two verses here; they're significant.
1-Peter 3:14: "Now, on the other hand, if you do undergo suffering… [chastening] …for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed…. [Why?] …But you should not be afraid of their terror…" the terror of those causing you to suffer!
There are a lot of them out there. There's more and more evidence all the time. But what does he say? We are not to be afraid!
But you should not be afraid of their terror, and you should not let yourselves be intimidated… [in any way; here's what we're to do]: …be prepared to give an answer…" (vs 14-15). In other words:
- look at God
- look at Christ
- pay attention
- watch
What are they saying? Beware, the time is getting short! You don't know how short for your own self. We can die at any time. We hope not, but we can.
"…and always be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks you the reason for the hope…" (v 15).
It's talking about an answer of what God has put within us through working with us through Christ. That is the case. But there's also admonition here. But with doing it, giving an answer, a proper answer, when we're put in that position to do so, but with meekness and reverence! There's always a condition on how we are to conduct ourselves. That's throughout Scripture.
Romans 8:27: "And the One Who searches the hearts comprehends what the strivings of the Spirit are because it makes intercession for the saints…
Brethren, we are called saints by God because of the Father's calling and our response.
"…according to the will of God" (v 27).
It always must be according to the will of God! Everything we seek to do must be that way!
Verse 28: "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God..."
We have to show that every day the rest of our life. We have to show Christ we love Him and that we appreciate so much what He was willing to do in coming below and what He has been doing since we were given to Him. Both things. We must show that. Love to God!
"…and to those who are called according to God's purpose" (v 28).
As I said, we are approaching Passover. We all know this, and it's been on our mind. Fred, of course, keeps reminding us of that, because he always has a lot of things to say about Passover. It is an absolutely significant time.
John 6:53: "Therefore, Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, you do not have life in yourselves.'"
If we do not take the Passover after we are converted, and if we don't take it and take it rightly, God will have nothing to do with us. He will reject us, and we will no longer be under the Sacrifice of Christ!
If you are no longer under the Sacrifice of Christ, what is the literal state of reality? Then you cannot become a son or daughter of God! You can't do it. The Passover is essential!
1-Corinthians 11:31: "Now, if we would examine ourselves…"
We are exhorted to do that very thing each year, and each day for that matter! But:
"…if we would examine ourselves, we would not be judged" (v31).
Now, this is another point, the better we do in doing what we know, and:
- we know how to do good
- we have been taught by Christ Himself
- we've had earthly teachers that teach us
So, we know, and the better we do that, the less chastening we will have to endure.
Now, that's just a natural Law of God. He does, as He says in one place: 'I don't enjoy scourging you.' No, He would rather not have to do it. IF we are doing our job, He won't have to do it nearly as much. I won't say that it will end.
Verse 32: "But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord."
So, IF we let down, any time we let down, any time we get weary, THEN we are chastened to bring us back onto the center of the highway to God.
"…so that we will not be condemned with the world" (v 32).
The world is condemned for now, if they do not repent! And if they're not called, most of them undoubtedly will not be able to repent! But that's for now. The glory of God's love is they will have their time!
That is the great mystery to the whole world. They do not understand about the second resurrection! That's where it is.
So, as to us, Passover is less than a month away, right?
Verse 28: "But let a man examine himself… [you women, too.] …and let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup accordingly."
Exactly as John shows there in John 6. We have to do that. So, brethren, it is a fantastic thing to truly understand within our hearts that God is for us! He is not against us!
Christ says that He never leave you nor forsake you. No, no way; that is a promise. And we have to keep Him at His promise. How? By doing what He says!
Scriptural References:
- Revelation 3:19
- Hebrews 12:1
- Hebrews 11:6
- Hebrews 12:2-7, 11
- Hebrews 2:16-18
- 1 Peter 3:14-15
- Romans 8:27-28
- John 6:53
- 1 Corinthians 11:31-32
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Matthew 5:48; 12
- 1 Corinthians 15
RT:bo/po
Transcribed: 3/27/24
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