We want to look in the book of Hebrews, chapter 12. We stopped with this text last time. We're going to read it again tonight and go through this again as we go through message number 5 or 6, I think, on church discipline. I think it's number 6. Let's read beginning in verse number 5. And the Bible here is talking about, let's read verse number 1. In Hebrews 12, verse 1. Wherefore, seeing we also are coming to that with such a great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be weary and faint in your mind. Well, that's the truth. Consider Christ. The Bible says in verse 4, You have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. And ye have forgotten. And we don't ever want to forget this. But Paul writes to the Hebrew people and says, You have forgotten the exhortation which speakest unto you as unto children. My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord. nor faint when thou art rebuked of him." When God chastens you, when God takes you to the woodpile, you might say, or out of the woodshed, and He lays the rod of correction upon you, don't faint about that. The Bible said in verse number six, For whom the Lord loveth, He chastiseth, and scourgeth What's the next word? And Scourge is what? How many? Every, every son whom he received. Listen, we've all that are saved, any time at all, we've all received chastisement from the Lord. You know why? It's because we wasn't right. And God has something on His mind for us. He goes on and explains this. If you endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? I know you might know some parents, they don't believe in whipping their kids anymore. They don't believe in chasing their children. I think that's silliness. I really do. I know some people that want to beat their children. I don't agree with that either. I believe in spanking the child. Well, I know the child thinks I'm beating him, you know, but I'm really not. I always want to talk to that child before I give him a spanking. Let him know what's going on. The Bible said in verse number 8, But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers. See, have you ever been chastened to the Lord? Have you ever been? If you've not been, that's a sign you're not saved. I mean, that's it. Then are you pastors and not sons. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us. That's true, right? And we gave them reverence. Even if you're older, I remember some of the spankings that I got. I tell you what, my dad, he knew how to get your attention. I mean, he really knew how to get your attention. Mama did too, but Mama was different than Dad. Because dad, really, boy, when he got you, you just got. You might talk your way out of it with mama, unless you got her real fired up. There wasn't no thought of that. But with dad, there wasn't any. You remember those good times. See, that's what the Bible said here. We remember the fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence. That's what the Bible said. We reverence our dads. and our moms because they disciplined us. Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father, the Spirit, and live? So don't get mad at God just because you've done something wrong and God had to whip you. Don't get mad at God. God did that to you because you did something He didn't want you to do. And that's what He did. Verse number 10, For a few days he chastened us after their own pleasure. But He, for our profit, that we might be partakers of His host. See, the reason that we endure chastisement is because we want to be more like God. I mean, that's what He wants for us. Alright? In verse number 11, And no chasing for the present seemeth to be joyous. Boy, it don't, does it? I mean, it don't. You're chasing the Lord. No, it don't seem pleasant at all. It is grievous. Anybody that's ever been chastened of God knows what I'm talking about. Nevertheless, afterward, it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. And that's the truth. Because when you're being chastened of God, you don't think it's a very pleasant thing. But when it's all said and done, and you apologize to God, that's what it amounts to, you apologize to God, and you get right with God, you line up with what He wants you to line up with, then you've got your full of peace. Now, if God chastens you, and you never line up, you'll never have that peace. We'll show you that tonight. All right? Here's the thing. I'm going to say it again. That when God chastens you, you need to listen to what God is saying because He wants you to be more like Him. But if you don't listen to Him, and there's people in the Bible that never listened to God, there were saved people that didn't listen to God and they paid the price. All right? We'll show you that. Many places in the Bible, we won't read them all, just a couple of them. The Bible said in verse number 12, what shall you do now? Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees. Don't you just like that? That description is really good. It's like a pouting child. I can't do nothing. I can't do nothing. Right? I mean, that's what they look like. That's what we look like. So, get right with God. Make straight paths for your feet. Make what kind of paths? Straight paths. Lest that which is lame be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and wholeness without which no man shall see the Lord. Look in diligently, lest any man fail with the grace of God. Listen, why did Peter write this? It's because that people can fail to listen to what God is saying. Listen, you can chastise your children, but that don't mean they're going to hear what you're saying. See that? You can chastise your children. You can correct them a godly way. But that does not mean they're going to hear what you're saying. All right? I see the way you're looking at me. Like, we expect proper chastisement to bring a proper result. Sometimes it does, sometimes it don't. And we'll see that tonight, all right? The Bible said in verse number 15, I think, They see the root of business bringing up trouble to you, and thereby it may be defiled, lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau, who for one morsel of meal sold his brother." There's a good lesson there to learn in all that. As you think about chastisement for the individual, When was the last time you were chastised? Think about that. When was the last time you were chastised? When was the last time that God did something to you to get your attention because you were not listening to Him? When was the last time? Let me ask you another way. When I was younger, I had a lot of ideas that I wanted to do. And I was at home with my mom and dad. I was a little kid. And I would set out and I would start to do some of those things. But whenever I knew that mom and daddy was coming home and they were going to check me out if I was attempting to hide that so they wouldn't find out, I knew I was wrong. It seems to me like that daddy or mother one could always tell what I was doing. When I got older, had children of my own, I asked them how they knew. And you know what they told me? They both told me this. They said to look in your eye. I always hated that. When I was a kid, they'd always say to me, look at me, look at me right here. Look at me. I want to see your eye. They'd always tell me that. I was guilty. Because I could not look at them without a look of guilt. I couldn't do it. You know, I was not chastised by them after I got married. I wasn't. The last spanking I got, I was 17 years old. So that's too old to spank your child. Listen, I know about a couple, about a woman that chastened her 18 year old the day before she got married. You say, well, that's too old. Listen, I'll tell you what I've said. I told Beth that as long as she's living in my house, she's under my subjection. I don't think this 18-year-old thing works. I don't think it works at all. As long as you're putting your feet under my table, you've got to answer to me. If you're against my house, it's not that way. I'm talking about my children. That's what I believe. And that's what I preach. That's what I practice. I think it's a good thing to do. Now, but after my children are married, I don't chase them at all. I don't necessarily agree with everything they're doing. But I don't chase them for it. Because they're adults. I don't do that. That leads me to this thought. See, when was the last time that God chastened you? When was the last time? Are you grown up enough to listen to God? Are you grown up enough that you need to pray to God and find out God's directions? And do what God wants you to do? Let me ask you another way. When was the last time that God chastened King David? What was the last time that God gave David a choice? And he said, David, one of three things you're going to have to do. One of three things. Everybody that's saved has to undergo chastening. It's not bad, but chasing is when God wants to get our attention, and He gets our attention in such a way that we can listen to what He is saying. Now, David was over the nation of Israel. He was the king of the nation of Israel, and what he wanted more than anything else was for those people to listen to God. He wanted to be a godly leader, and God knew that. And that's why David chose the area of chasing that he did. That's why he did that. So nobody is exempt from chasing. Not from God. My children are not chased by me anymore. Right? You can be chastened of God even if you're an adult, even if you're an older person. And sometimes the way God chastens you is to get your attention by hurting someone else that you love and you love dear. Sometimes God does that. Now I'm not saying that every sickness is chastening because it's not, alright? have sickness right now. They're at home. They're not being chastened of God, I don't think. Listen, God, when He chastens you, He always lets you know beforehand what He's doing. Alright? You need to listen to God and always be obedient unto God. God can always bless if we listen to what He has to say. If we don't listen to God, Then there's other things that he can do to us. All right? Now, let's talk about Lot, for example. In the book of Genesis, chapter, oh, wherever Lot is, I'll tell you what, before we get to Lot, Let's talk about Abraham, and we'll see how that God was teaching Abraham. This is what testing really is. If we never learn anything from the events around us, from the events that's happening to us, then we might be more like Lot than Abraham, alright? But we need to pay attention to what's going on around us. Now everything that happens to us is not necessarily God's chastening hand. It's not necessarily that. You need to see for yourself about that. You're the only one that can do that. There's too many circumstances tonight for me to cover everybody. I can't do that. I won't even attempt that. I want to show you this. In the book of Genesis chapter 12, in Genesis 12 and verse number 10, When you do something that's wrong to do, alright? It's wrong to do and you know it when you do it. Now that's chastening. I'm not saying that everything you do, God puts on this microscope. I'm not saying that. I'm saying that sometimes we don't know what to do, therefore we do something and find out that's wrong, we do something else, alright? But Abraham knew what to do in this case, and he didn't do it. In Genesis 12, verse number 10, there was a famine in the land, and Abraham went down into Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was grievous in the land. That's why he went. The Bible tells us why Abraham went into this particular place. It came to pass, when it was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarah his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon. Therefore which is come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife, and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. Say, I pray thee, that thou art my sister, that it may be well with me for thy sake, and my soul shall live because of thee." He cooked that up. What was God's will for him to lie? Was that God's will for him to lie? No. I believe that Abraham knew better. But he was afraid, and so he said to his wife, you just tell him you're my sister. You are my sister. Hi, sister. You'll find this thing. It just follows his children. What happened? We'll get into that. But in verse number 14, It came to pass, when Abraham was come into Egypt, and the Egyptians beheld the woman, that she was very fair. The princes also of Pharaoh saw her and commended her before Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. And he treated Abraham well for her sake. He didn't expect that. He did not expect that. He expected that he would be killed if Pharaoh knew that they were married. And he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels. And the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarah Abram's wife. And Pharaoh called Abram and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? Why sayest thou she is my sister? So I might have taken her to be thy wife. Now therefore behold thy wife, and take her, and go thy way. And Pharaoh commanded the men concerning him, and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had." We need to look around us and to see if God is telling us anything or not. He might use the situation that we're in to instruct us in some things. He could very well do that. And he will do that. But you know, the man Lot, on the other hand, was, well, in the next chapter, chapter 13, it talks about Lot lifting up his eyes and he saw all the plain of Jordan in verse number 10, Genesis 13, 10. And Lot shows him all the plain. And then God turned around and said to Abraham, OK, now lift up your eyes. I will show you everything. I'm going to give you. And Lot pitches tent towards Sodom and Gomorrah, those wicked cities. And we find in chapter 19, I think it is, that the two angels came to Sodom and even. And Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. Now he was sitting there. He's in a place of authority. And he's going to face some consequences because of this. I tell you what, everything that God wanted this man to do, he didn't do it. He didn't do it. I think Lot was a saved man. That's what I believe. So I'm saying all this. I believe Lot was a saved man. But he did not listen to God, did not obey God. And everything that God wanted him to do, he wanted something else. You see, in verse number 16, when the morning arose, and the angels were there taking him out, getting him out of the city, the Bible said, and while he lingered, you know why he lingered? Because he didn't want to leave that place. He didn't want to leave it at all. And finally, they took him out. In verse number 19, he said, Behold now, my servant, I found grace in thy sight. thy service by thy grace and thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou didst show unto me, and saved me in my life. And I cannot escape the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die." What's he doing? He's doing the same thing that Abram did. He's going to be chasing for it, too. I thought chasing was a whipping. Bang, bang. Listen, that's what God is doing. He's getting his attention. He wants him to do right with him, to follow Him. But he won't listen to that. Listen, the thing about it that I'm trying to teach here is that we need to each one bear in our minds that God deals with us in lots of different kinds of circumstances. He deals with us in lots of different ways. Sometimes God is gently teaching us something. Sometimes God is chasing us if we do not listen to what He is saying to us. That's what my mom and dad did. They would always tell me first, and then, you know when they were chasing me? You know when my mom and dad were chasing me? It's when I did what they told me not to do. Do you think God is any different? According to Hebrews 12, it's the same. I think it's 12. Yeah, Hebrews 12. It's the same. That's what Paul is using there. That we need to do things His way. And so, in verse number 20, Lot said, Behold now, let me go to this little city. I'll go up there. Went up to Zohar, and that wasn't the right place either. It was bad. Lot just would not listen to what God had to say. And Lot paid the price. You see, we always listen to what God wants us to do. Be faithful unto God and to God Almighty. He is very well. You know, Lot would have saved himself a lot of grief. if he would have just submitted to God and did what God wanted him to do? Wouldn't he? We would save ourselves a lot of grief, too, if we just submit ourselves and do what God wants us to do. That's it. I kind of know what you're thinking, because you don't know the future, right? Does anybody here know the future? No. But we serve a God that does. And God wants us to be submissive unto Him and be obedient to whatever He tells us to do, He can take care of that. That trouble and that problem and all that anguish, God knows about that and He can take care of that. That's what God wants us to do, is to submit ourselves and just be whatever He wants, that's what I want. That's what God really wants. for us to dedicate ourselves to Him and say, whatever God wants, it don't make any difference. If it's an impossible thing, it don't make any difference. God will bless that. Think of Jonah. Was Jonah a prophet of God? Yeah. What happened to him when God said, I want you to go and I want you to preach to the Israelites, I mean to the Ninevites? What did you do? No, I'll go the other way. What did God do to him? Did the storm come up? He had to go down in the boat? He went to sleep? They woke him up? He confessed? And they threw him overboard? That ain't it, right? Nope. Swallowed by a whale or a big fish. So after three days and three nights, Jonah decided that he better do what God wanted him to do. So he did it, not very willingly. And then the nights repented, made Jonah mad. Yeah. God caused a fern to grow up. to cover him up. Right? God causes it to dry up, shrivel up, wither away. He's not like that either. God said, listen, I can do anything in the world. I can do anything. What's got God on His mind? God wants us to be submissive to Him. He is the one in charge. I'm not. You're not. God is. We need to be submissive unto what He wants us to be submissive to. He knows the end result. Look in the book of Ephesians 6 and verse number 4. And this tells us a story here. It's more, in Ephesians 6 and verse number 4, this is more than a dad or parents disciplining their children and making them mine. It's more than that. It all ties together. It ties with church discipline correctly, right in there. The Bible said in Ephesians 6 verse 4, And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath. Alright? That simply means that as parents, we need to make sure that our children are chastened or corrected enough by us that we do what's right for them, that they will be under the wrath of God. I mean, that's what it's talking about. It's not talking about, well, I know that in the short term it is correct that parents correct their children so the children will mind. I know that. But there's a deeper meaning to that. That we correct our children so they won't be under the wrath of God. See, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. That's what he's saying. Every parent that has a child that they love, that they try to discipline, I tell you what, the only thing that a parent can do is to discipline that child correctly. I mean, talk to them, love them, tell them. If you've got to spank them, you've got to spank them. And all that, I mean, that's all part of it. But only that child can make discipline really work. Only that child can do it. And that child has got to be submissive to Almighty God, and that's what it's all about. I think that there's a lot of errors as far as Discipline is concern. I told you about a wife who normally would believe in church discipline, normally, but she told me to remove her name from church's role if we disciplined her husband, and he needed discipline. I'm telling you the truth. She said, just take my name off too. I mean, she didn't understand it at all, what that was all about. A dad told me that he would never sit still to have his son's name removed from the church's roll. He would never stand for that. This same fellow never disciplined his own son. He constantly fussed at any school official who tried. He also complained that the police officers arrested the boy. That's the way it is. That's what happens. Church discipline is conducted by church because people won't listen to anything else. That's why. Let me read to you some Proverbs. In Proverbs 13 and verse 24. Proverbs 13 and verse number 24. You know, I love the Proverbs. They're good to read. They're good to study. They're good to look at. In Proverbs number 13 and verse number 24. And here's what the Bible said here. Proverbs 13, 24. This is about discipline. And this works for churchesmen and also works at the home of mom and daddy. It works that way. He that spareth his rod, hateth his son. In other words, the parent that refuses to discipline their own children, hates their children. Well, that's pretty stout, but that's the truth. But he that loveth him chasteth him betimes." Betimes? What does that mean? But he that loveth him, those parents that love their children, chasteth him betimes. Betimes? What does that mean? It means this. It means early. It means as soon as possible. a daddy and a mama has to get their attention, I tell you what, because when they get older, you won't get their attention. You mark it down. You won't get their attention. They'd have a reverence for parents when they're little, because when they get older, They won't reverence their parents. They won't do it. And there's a payday coming for all that. There's a payday coming for all that. Mothers and daddies both have to get that little child's attention. That's the way it is. Look at another place. In Proverbs 22, And verse number 15, Proverbs 22 and verse 15, the Bible says here in this place, foolishness, Proverbs 22 and verse 15, foolishness is bound in the heart of a child. Hey, is that true? Is that right? I mean, foolishness is bound in the heart of a child. Because a child is a child. And they don't think about, in ten minutes, they don't think about what's going to happen. They don't think. A parent's job is to teach that child that there may be some repercussions in ten minutes. That's the parent's job. The Bible said, foolishness is bound in the heart of a child. But the Bible said here, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. Well, that's the truth, isn't it? Shall drive what? What is it that the rod of correction shall drive from the heart of a child? Foolishness. The rod of correction will drive foolishness away from the child. That's what the Bible's saying here. In the book of Proverbs 22 and verse number 15, that's what it says. Read one more place. I guess I should say here, I should say right here that if a child is corrected, That doesn't mean that they will be saved. It means that foolishness is drawn away from them. That's what it means. Right? It's good to chasten a child because they learn when they're chastened in a quite literal way that there are repercussions for sin. When you correctly This, when you're on children, you are teaching them very correctly that there is a literal punishment for wrongdoing, and it makes sin very aware unto them. All right? All that must be done correctly. God's only one that can open anybody's heart. That's the only one. All right. Look again in Proverbs 19 and verse number 18. Proverbs 19 verse number 18. The Bible said here, Proverbs 19 and verse number 18. Chastened thy son. while there is hope. That's what the Bible says. Chasing thy son while there is hope. That goes for daughters too. Chasing thy son. What's that mean? Because there's going to come a day when that child is going to grow up, and if you don't get them when they're little, they won't be God. But you can teach that child to listen to what you're saying, because you have their best interest on your mind. That's what chastisement is all about. Chastisement is not just to make them do what you want them to do, but chastisement is to help them to understand the grown-up way. To have them grow up. That's what it's all about. The Bible says in verse number 18, and let not thy soul spare for his crying." There it is. I mean, you can look at all kinds of things, but you can know that chastisement is a good thing. It is a good thing. Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying. A child will cry. Listen, do you ever cry out when the Lord chastens you? Yeah. Pray the Lord to help you. That's the way it is. God wants us to be right in His sight. You see, all of these scriptures that we've read teach us in Hebrews 12, verse 5 through 11, We're talking about God chasing us where we started out tonight, is good. And if a parent does not chase the child correctly with love, and this is the whole thing about it is, is that any chasing of your children, you need to do it with love. If you don't do it with love, you're doing it wrong. I mean, they need to know you love them. That ought to be what they get out of all that. When you get done with chasing them, then they can come to you and hug your neck. And you'll hug them sometimes right after that. I mean, it's a good thing. It's a good thing to do. But don't let your soul cry. Don't let your soul spare him because of his crying. Don't let that happen at all. We're going to stop right there. We'll take up next time. This next message will be kind of a summary, I think, of everything that we've talked about. Well, if you're lost tonight, we pray for you that the Lord might bless you, that you might come to know Him as your own perfect Savior. And know this, that God wants you to be right with Him. That's really what He's got on His mind. He wants you to be right with Him. And He'll do whatever He needs to do. But He wants you to listen to what He has to say. If you're lost, We pray that you might come to Him and just trust the Lord. He is well able to save your unworthy soul. When you repent and believe in Him, He will wash away your sin. That's it. We pray for you. Brother Brian, would you please come?