Good morning to everyone. A little snow out there today. We had a few inches in the UP and my big boar came out and said, hey, you need to get me somewhere dry and warm. So we had to work him back into a pen this morning. But we're getting ready for winter up there, so it's here, I think. 

We're going to be looking at Hebrews 12 this morning, and some of these passages are not as easy or pleasant to preach as other passages. This is an important passage, but it's difficult. One of the ones that goes a bit contrary to the wisdom of the world. So we're going to talk about that this morning. 

I'd like you to look, first of all, at chapter 10, just a few verses back in chapter 10 at the end of that stunning warning, in verses 26 to 31. Look at verse 32. The author says, "But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings, partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated. For you had compassion on me and my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. Therefore, do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward, for you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God you may receive the promise." 

Just a reminder of what these people had been through and really were coming to a section about their suffering, about the persecution they were enduring. We're continuing through the 12th chapter of Hebrews and considering really some very interesting but instructive verses this morning. 

I very often think about what my role is as preacher and teacher as pastor at Living Hope Church. You know, we are a unique church in one sense in this day and age of evangelicalism. We don't have a lot of programs, we don't have a lot of activities going on, we don't have a lot of self-help groups or specialized ministries. And I'm convinced from the Scriptures that the role of the pastor-teacher is to preach the Word, to say what God says, primarily to teach. This is the main thing, the most important thing, to teach the Word of God to the believers. 

But in that I'm also to exhort you to come to an understanding, a practice, a continual desire and effort to submit yourselves to the truths of God's Word. And this is really key for each of us as believers in Jesus Christ if we're going to live fruitful, effective lives for the gospel and the glory of God. 

Romans 6 really lays this pattern out for the fruitful Christian life where Paul says we must know the Word of God, we must understand it, we must first know it. And that's why doctrine and teaching is so important. But knowing is not enough, we also must reckon it to be true. We must choose to believe the Word of God, to trust Him and know that what He says is true and right. 

But knowing and reckoning are not enough either, for knowing the truth, believing the truth, and trusting that God tells me what is best for me must be followed by yielding myself to that truth, to God, to work through me for His purposes. So as I've pondered these things, I've come to the conclusion that the real goal of ministry is to have each believer come to a point where you are willing to, where you're fervent to submit yourselves to the Word of God and to the will of God. 

In other words, to a place where we say, I want to know the truth. I want to know what God says, and whatever that is, I want to obey it, have it applicable in my life. I don't want the wisdom of men. I don't want the ideas of this world system. I want to know what God says, and I want to trust and obey. We might readily agree to this point, but my brothers and sisters, this is a monumental truth. 

And there's a continual striving and agonizing to know, to reckon, to yield, to believe, and to abide one day at a time. This is really where the battle of the Christian life is. I say all this because of the context and flow of our text this morning and the great and tremendous truth that we looked at last time and that we'll carry over into this text as well. 

And that is that the secret of the Christian life, the salient truth of how to live this life for the glory of God, is to look off and away from ourselves, our circumstances, our feelings, our emotions, our experiences, to look off and away from ourselves and to Jesus. Look to Jesus. That is the key. And we see this truth in the first verse of our text this morning again. 

Let's look at our text together and then we'll dig into these wonderful truths. Hebrews 12 at verse 3, he says, "For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin, and you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as sons. My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him. For whom the Lord loves, he chastens and scourges every son whom he receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 

Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of Spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but he for our prophet that we may be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful. Nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen the hands which hang down and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.

I've given you four points on your outline. First, consider Him. Second, remember. Third, trust. And fourth, be encouraged. 

Well, first we see this important exhortation in verse 3 of our text, Consider Him. I was thinking about the verse we studied earlier that says that Jesus was made perfect through sufferings. Such an amazing truth to think about and to ponder. He was made perfect through sufferings. What we're seeing here when he says, Consider Him, is really the same thing we saw in the previous verses looking unto Jesus. We are to look to Him. We are to believe Him. We are to consider Him. 

Now I want you to remember the context here and what's going on with this group of Hebrews to which he writes. You'll remember that the audience of this epistle is made up primarily of believing Jews. But also in this group, there are those who had heard the gospel of Christ, had acknowledged it, at least in an intellectual way, had said that the gospel is true, they'd even come into the fellowship, but they had not yet come to faith in Jesus Christ. They had not gone on to perfection. 

The main issue was that those who had joined the church, who had professed faith in Jesus Christ, were experiencing some serious persecution from the legalistic Jews in their community. The pressure was extensive, as we have seen that some had lost their homes and their possessions. They were excluded from their culture and their community. The pressure was exerted on them for the purpose of driving them back to Judaism, to the temple, the sacrifices, and their culture. If they would forsake Christ and go back to their religion, then the pressure would cease. So what we have seen is that some of these Hebrews were leaning back that way, seriously considering going back, and some had even quit coming to church to the fellowship of believers, forsaking the gathering together of ourselves, he said. 

The author has been teaching, exhorting these people to understand that Jesus is the promised Messiah, that He is the fulfillment of all those Old Covenant pictures and promises, that He's better in every way than all the facets of the Old Covenant. And because He is a better priest with a better sacrifice, bringing a better covenant built on better promises, what they needed to do was hold fast to Him. What they needed to do was look to Him. But the pressure, the persecution was great, and He needed to deal with this truth in His writing. They needed to come to an understanding of their tribulations, of their trials. And that, my friends, is what our text is about this morning.

The persecution was really the problem. It made them doubt and wonder if they had done the right thing, believing Jesus or leaving the temple worship. You'll remember the Jewish history. Very often, when they were experiencing great tribulations, it was because God was punishing them. But the author wants to tell them that's not the case here. The persecution made them long to come out from under it, to experience a perceived relief. And what the author's doing in this text is giving them a proper perspective on persecution, showing them how they should understand and accept what was going on for the name of Christ. 

In fact, his main point is that this persecution that they were experiencing was actually a tool in God's hands to shape and mold them into the likeness of Christ. And they needed to see God's teaching, His instruction, and discipline in all of this and remain under it with joy and purpose, knowing that God was working all things together for their good, for His will and His purpose, and that they could trust Him, that they could depend on Him, that they could look to Him through these great troubles. 

So he writes, Look intently at Jesus. Look again at His example. You'll remember that Jesus' premier example of faith followed all those examples of faith in chapter 11 that we've studied. He says, The reason you have become discouraged, he says, is because you've begun to look at yourselves. You've begun to look at your circumstances, your difficulties. The key is to consider Him, to look at Him and see what He endured for you. 

Jesus suffered a much greater persecution in accomplishing our salvation than we could ever endure for His namesake. You see, the reason they were suffering persecution, the reason there is hatred for Christians in this world is because the world hated Him first. They mocked Him. They scourged Him. They crucified Him because they hated Him, and they hated the truth that He spoke. And now Jesus has promised this same type of hatred toward us, toward those who associate with and follow Him. He's not here. They cannot exercise their hatred on Him any longer, but rather they turn to His followers, to the believers, to take out their hatred for Jesus. 

And so they were enduring persecution, but nothing to the degree that Jesus endured. And that for the very purpose of accomplishing my salvation and yours, to satisfy the wrath of God and demonstrate His righteousness at the cross in order that God might be just, punishing all sin on Christ, and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Consider Him, He says, and be encouraged. 

This chastening should be expected. And it is really the loving hand of God the Father working out His will in our lives, teaching, conforming us to the likeness of Christ. Listen to 1 Peter 2. Speaking of suffering, Peter says, "For to this you were called." That's not a very popular message today, is it? We hear all the time in the evangelical church, "Come to Jesus and He'll fix your problems." That's not the truth. He fixes a lot of problems, the important problems, right? "For to this you were called." To this you were called to suffer, Peter says. 

"For Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow His steps. Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth. Who when He was reviled, did not revile in return. When He suffered, He did not threaten. Here's the key. But He committed Himself to Him who judges righteously." We must consider Him. We must look off and away from ourselves and only to Jesus. 

And we must remember. Look at verse 5 of our text. He says, "You have forgotten." We must remember. "You have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons. My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him. For whom the Lord loves, He chastens and scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons." 

And He says, "Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of Spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us, as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may become partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful. Nevertheless, afterward, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." 

Whom the Lord loves, He chastens. What an amazing truth to understand and get hold of, my friends. It seems to me that the great goal of the men and women of this world is to eliminate every kind of suffering, every kind of trouble from their lives, and really any kind of inconvenience from their lives. And this is on display more now than ever right here in our culture, in our country. Men take medication to ease their pain, their discomfort, their emotional struggles. They drink, they do drugs, they seek entertainment to amuse them. Amusement means to not think, they don't want to think, to deal with the realities of life and living. They'll go to great lengths to distract themselves from reality. They go to counselors, they read self-help books, they look inside themselves, they seek to love themselves more. 

And I think the ultimate illustration of this in our well-to-do culture in the United States is illustrated by convenience. This may be a trivial illustration, but I think it's a good illustration. The technology of our day, the wealth and ease of life in America has made some amazing convenience creations. I was thinking about food. It used to be that people had to grow their own food. They had gardens, they had farms, or at least bartered with their neighbors in order to obtain what they needed for sustenance. Not that long ago. Then came supermarkets, but not until the middle of the 20th century. People could then just go to the store whenever they needed something and pick up supplies at will. 

But people had to work. They had to earn money to buy this food at the store. The store was a major advance in convenience. But do you know that people really can no longer be bothered to actually go into a store and shop? Now we have ordering online and special parking areas at the Walmart so that I don't have to walk the distance from my car to the store and actually go to the shelves and pick my items up and stand in line and check out. Just order ahead and show up at the right time and they'll bring out the groceries and stick them in your trunk. That's convenient. But for some, not convenient enough. 

So we also now have Amazon where you can just order your goods with one-click shopping on your stored credit card and voila, the stuff shows up at your doorstep and you can hide inside in your pajamas and watch until the man drives away and crack open your door and scoot that package in without ever having to have any human interaction at all. Or I'll go one step further. Did you know that Walmart is now piloting a program where you can order online and they will come to your house with the groceries and put them away in your cupboards? No trouble to you there. No inconvenience to you at all except my poor wife would be up all night cleaning the night before because strangers were coming to her house. What a strange world in which we live. 

But it's all about eliminating trouble from my life. I don't want to do anything that I don't want to do. And what I find is that I don't really want to do much in this affluent culture. It's true that I don't have to do much to be fed and clothed and given a heated house to live in either. 

What a contrast with 2 Thessalonians 3.10 where Paul said, "For even when we were with you, we commanded you this, if anyone will not work, neither shall he eat." The great purpose of the lost man and Adam in our time and our day is to eliminate trouble, any and all kinds of trouble from their lives. The only problem is all the difficulties that this effort has created. A man should be working with his own hands, providing for his own needs and having something to give. It keeps him out of a lot of trouble. 

So my brothers and sisters, how do we, how should these first-century Hebrews view the great trouble that often comes with being a follower of Jesus Christ? How do we view and understand trouble and trials and persecutions in this life? This is a very important question, and the Bible has a lot to say about it, and it's not in line with the world. 

In verse 3 of our text, the author says, "You have forgotten." It's easy to forget, isn't it? We hear the world speaking into our minds and hearts continually, all kinds of worldly wisdom. We have family and friends who do not believe, who pressure us to go along, to get along. Sometimes we have Christians pressuring us to go along, to get along. We have a culture that stands against everything that is good and pure and noble and applies serious pressure at times and a constant pressure all the time to conform our thinking. We have our own thoughts and emotions and feelings and experiences, and they sometimes stray from the truths of God's Word. 

So we must go to that Word to renew our minds to the truth and to learn to trust and obey God and look to Him. And so the author tells these Hebrews, "You have forgotten." You've forgotten the truth about trials and tribulations. Psalm 94.12, "Blessed is the man you discipline, O Lord, and teach from your law." 

And he quotes Proverbs 3.11, "My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor detest his correction." I often think about when we're saved, right, we're lost sinners, vile, wretched sinners, and we get saved and we're justified. God begins the work of sanctification, He regenerates us on the inside, but there's that outward confirmation to what we are on the inside, sanctification, that's a process, right? A changing from point A to point B, a growth, a conforming to Christ's likeness. 

You know what that means? There's a lot of stuff I need to change. I don't really want to change sometimes. What we see here is that the author's telling them that the very persecution that they were experiencing because of their faith in Christ was the chastening hand of God, that God was allowing these things and using these things to teach, to discipline, to conform them to the likeness of Christ so that they might follow His great example of faith as outlined in the first verses of this chapter. 

Their goal should not be as the world to get out from under or to eliminate suffering, rather they should hupe mene, as the word, remain under the chastening hand of God. They should bear up under the trials and rejoice, knowing that God is accomplishing His purpose. 

The question again becomes this, do I want most of all to know the truth of God? Do I trust Him? Believe Him? Do I know that what He says and does is best for me, for His will in my life, and is His will what I want most? And deep in our hearts it is, if we believe Him. Am I willing to submit myself to His will, to His truth, regardless of how I feel, how it seems, or what the world says? Because the word of God is pretty clear on this issue, not just in Proverbs and Psalms, but in the New Testament as well. 

Turn over to Romans 5 with me, please. Romans 5 at verse 1, "therefore having been justified by faith," He talks about what happens when we're justified, what changes, well, a great change is we now have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, tremendous truths of our salvation. We have peace with God, we stand in grace, we have access. Look what he says in verse 3, "and not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, perseverance character and character hope." 

Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Paul says we glory in tribulations, knowing, that's the key word, knowing, it means that I know and that I trust. You see, it's not just that I must remember, I must know that what God says is true and right and good, and I must choose to trust and believe what He says and trust Him to work it out in my life. 

Knowing, being convinced, having confidence that tribulation produces perseverance, perseverance character and character hope, and hope does not disappoint, should make us understand trials better and appreciate and even rejoice or glory in our trials. I have learned in the course of my Christian life that it is the times of suffering, the times of trials and tribulations when I really grow, when I turn to God, when I look to Him, when I trust Him and see His hand of deliverance in my life. The author says in our text, at the time when it is happening, no chastening seems pleasant. 

It is difficult to go through these things, to endure, to remain under, trusting God at the time, it's not pleasant. But afterward, this is the key word, afterward, after God brings us through it and teaches us to trust Him and we see Him working, afterward it yields what? The peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. The peaceable fruit of righteousness. That's what I want for my life, for His glory as a witness to men. 

The men of this world have bought into the lie of Satan that it's all about me, it's all about self-fulfillment, it's all about self-exaltation, it's about loving self. But the truth is that all of their pursuits and remedies to get out of trouble, to eliminate and avoid it and curse it when it comes, leads only to discontentment, disillusionment and disappointment. 

In James 1-2, James says, "my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." That's what we want, isn't it? To come to a mature man in Christ, perfect, lacking nothing, conformed to His likeness, bearing His image, producing fruit, the peaceable fruit of righteousness. How contrary to the wisdom of men. Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, all troubles in this life. The word means all different kinds of troubles. There's a lot of different kinds, aren't there? 

Sometimes it's because of sin that I experience trouble, but many times it's not sin. It's living in this cursed world. It's things that God allows. You know, I find that when things go really good for too long, I become pretty independent. I think I got stuff figured out. Farming will fix that for you, by the way. But I don't want to go too long without any trouble. I'm not looking for it. I'm not praying for it. But I want to receive it and I want to bear up under it and endure it, trusting God when it comes. And it will come. 

Count it all joy. How can we count it all joy? Because we know that these things are the tool in God's hand to accomplish His great will and purpose in my life. And we trust and believe that He knows best and He does what is best for us as our perfect Father. 

Now look back with me at our text in verse 7. He says, "If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom a father does not chasten? There's a pretty big assumption there by the author, by the way. But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of Spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but he for our profit that we may be partakers of His holiness." 

The word translated chastening as paideia means teacher or tutor. The idea of the word is corrective discipline, to teach, to tutor, to guide one along in development. It does not carry the idea of punishment. It's not an act of vengeance or retribution or done in anger. The meaning of the word is one of teaching, learning for our profit. So it always has the goal in mind. Chastening is always done for the benefit of the one learning, growing, moving toward maturity. 

The word used in Galatians 3, translated schoolmaster, comes from the same root word and carries the same meaning. Galatians 3.21, Paul says, "Is the law against the promises of God? Certainly not, for if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. But the scripture has confined all under sin that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed, therefore the law was our tutor. It was our chastener, our teacher, our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. 

But after faith has come, we're no longer under a tutor, for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus." The law was our teacher. It was our schoolmaster, meant to show us our sin and lead us to faith in Christ. That was the goal, that was the intention of the law. But after faith has come, we're no longer under that tutor. 

The author of Hebrews in our text is showing these people who were enduring persecution because of their faith, who were experiencing great trouble, that these trials and tribulations were chastening, allowed by God. That in fact they are God's teachers, schoolmasters, instructing us and carrying us along toward the goal of Christlikeness. In fact, he says, the trials they were experiencing were evidence of their legitimacy as God's sons. The world's hatred for them, persecuting them, along with their willingness to stay under this pressure, that's key, validated that they were true sons. 

If they went back, if they returned to Judaism in order to take themselves out from under the pressure, then this would be evidence that they never were sons of God, that they were illegitimate. For this reason, they should remain under. They should submit themselves with joy to the trials and hold fast to Christ. They must look off and away from themselves and their trials and to Christ in order for God's perfect will to be worked out in their lives. 

Well then we have a little illustration here in verse 9. "Furthermore, we've had human fathers who corrected us and we paid them respect, shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of Spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them. But He for our profit, that we may become partakers of His holiness." 

What a key phrase, that we may be partakers of his holiness. That's what's being produced through these trials, through chastening. Well he says there's no legitimate sons who do not experience chastening from their fathers, and this brings up an interesting point because the biblical means laid forth for correcting, teaching, bringing a child along certainly includes chastening. 

It's not the only way to teach, the only way to correct, but it's certainly predominant in the scriptures. The idea is simple. We teach our children the law of God, the truths of God's Word. We instruct them that breaking these laws, willfully disobeying God and his Word will cause pain and suffering in their lives. When they are small, this is a lesson that is easily taught with consistency. If you disobey your parents, you will experience pain and this lesson will serve them well when they are older and the stakes are much higher. 

This is the way the scriptures teach to raise correct, disciplined a child in order to bring him or her along to come to faith in Christ through the realization of their sin and the implications of it, as well as the consequences temporally of choosing to reject God and His Word. This process done in instructive love and admonition will lead the child to maturity in Christ and prepare him for his adult life. 

Listen to these four verses from Proverbs. 22.6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22.15, "Foolishness is bound up in the heart of the child but the rod of correction will drive it far from him." "Do not withhold correction from a child for if you beat him with a rod he will not die," that speaking of spiritual death. Proverbs 29.15, "The rod and rebuke give wisdom but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother." 

I learned through my relationship with the Swedish hunters that it's illegal to spank your children in Sweden. I asked a man I knew there how he disciplined his child. He said he'd have to find ways to inflict pain on him without physically touching him. I thought, really? He told me he'd take the child's favorite toy and break it and throw it away in front of him. Is that better than a spanking? That seems like a lot worse thing to me to mentally manipulate the child. 

Spanking addresses the sin, teaches the child and forgiveness is extended, there's reconciliation and it's over. Much like coming to faith in Christ, right? I receive his grace. It's over. As I said, this is not the only method, it's just part of the training but it's prevalent in the Word of God and certainly the context here is pain is suffering and trial for the purpose of training. 

It's interesting to me how the world system and its philosophy has exerted so much effort to form the minds of men into thinking that corporal punishment is wrong, that it's some sort of abuse to spank a child, and it's even more interesting to me to see how this push of the culture and education and psychology has so influenced the church and Christian parents as well. 

God's Word says clearly that this is necessary to train them up in the way they should go. Every child is different. Each one needs love, encouragement, example, truth, all kinds of ways to teach. But the scriptures are clear that physical pain, the rod done in the right way with the motive of chastening, is an integral part of raising a child. Our text just assumes it. He doesn't defend it, he just assumes that every child is chastened by his father, he says. Every legitimate son. 

The text also recognizes that human fathers are not always perfect and don't always discipline the right way for the right reasons. My kids used to call it psycho dad. It's not not good, right? They did as they thought best, it says, and we paid them respect. But I want you to look at the contrast in verse 9. He says, "Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of Spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them." 

Now look at this contrast. "But He for our profit that we may be partakers of His holiness." God is the perfect father who always does what is right and what is best for us. He doesn't lose his temper and haul off and whack us. He's always doing what is best, but he does chasten. He does use pain and trials and tribulations to turn us to him. It may not be pleasant at the time, but it's what is best, and we should remain under it. We should submit to it in faith as our highest example Jesus did to the point of bloodshed, to the point of death on the cross. 

As we saw in Romans and James, we should even rejoice in trials because we know that they are God's means to producing holiness in our lives. They are for our profit, it says. The question is, can we believe this? Can we trust God? Can we get a proper understanding of trials and sufferings and the hardships of this life and why God allows them to happen? It's not always because of sin, it's sometimes education like with Job, but it's always for edification. 

And here's the take-home message, my brothers and sisters, rather than being discouraged and seeking to get out from under our trials, we should be encouraged and remain under them, trusting God to bring us through them and produce fruit, the peaceable fruit of righteousness for His glory. 

Look at verse 11. "Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present but painful. Nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen the hands which hang down and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather healed." 

What a tremendous picture. These Hebrews were weak, they were discouraged, they were feeble in the knees because of a wrong understanding of the persecution they were enduring. They were seeking to get out of it by compromising their confession of faith in Christ, but what they should have been doing was rejoicing, being encouraged and strengthened because the persecution validated their faith in God, their sonship. 

And because God was using these trials for their profit and to produce holiness through them. And so He exhorts them to strengthen the hands. You can see the picture of the beleaguered, discouraged. Do you ever feel like that? Sometimes like, oh life's not bad, you know, I'm going along, and then all of a sudden something just hits you and you're just sick in the gut and you're down on your knees and you don't know what to do. 

They could only strengthen, they could only be encouraged, they could only see the trials for what they were and rejoice in them by looking off and away from themselves and to Jesus by considering Him. Trials are hard, they bring us right to our knees, we don't know what to do sometimes, we don't even know how to pray, how to think, we're so discouraged and confused by what are sometimes truly agonizing circumstances. 

The answer, my brothers and sisters, is to look off and away from ourselves and our trials. To accept them and remain under them and trust God and believe Jesus and look to Him, knowing that the work He has begun in us, He will carry for the day of Christ. Knowing that He works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are the called according to His purpose, and He will conform us to the likeness of Christ. He will sanctify, He will glorify us. 

This is the way, considering Jesus, looking unto Him. Let's close in prayer. Father, we're so thankful for Your Word, Your truth, we're thankful that You teach us, that You chasten us, that You allow these troubles because we know that they are what cause us to grow, to teach us to trust You, depend on You, abide in You, and to be more like Jesus. Help us to truly understand and believe and apply these things in our lives for they are so important and so applicable in this cursed world in which we live. In Jesus' name.