Sermon Tone Analysis

Review of last weeks sermon on God’s discipline.

God’s discipline is not punishment.

Punishment is given to satisfy justice and righteousness.

Christ satisfied once and for all the righteousness of God for our sins by His own blood.

So God does not punish us for our sins he has already punished Christ for our sins.

So when you are disciplined of God don’t ask “what sin did I commit to deserve this”.

Gods discipline of us is to bring about His purpose for us.

No bring it back here to our passage

Notice that peace is the fruit of righteousness

We are children of God, God wants us to have the peace of Christ, Jesus said my peace give I unto you, not as the world give peace but true peace.

That peace can only be had by the righteous, by the holy.

So God’s purpose for us is to be Holy.

So then understanding that God has a purpose for you that was ordained before the foundation of the earth that He would make you into the image of Jesus, that you be holy and enjoy the fruit of righteousness which is peace and everlasting life and that this is the very reason for His disciplining of you, the trails the persecutions, the suffering.

Wherefore.

Don’t Be Discouraged

The hands which hang down need to be lifted up in worship and thanksgiving to our loving Father who loves us so much that he is making us holy so that we can be with Him for all eternity.

The feeble knees can find strength in the knowledge of God’s work in us.

When our hands begin to lift up and praise God even though we suffer our feeble knees will begin to find strength.

Don’t Wander From The Path

Straight is gate and narrow is the path that leads to righteousness. the path we are to follow is straight already but we must let our feet follow that straight path and not let ourselves be distracted to the right or to the left.

these are the places that we pick up weight that will drag us down.

So eyes looking forward unto Jesus let us run straight.

Lest.

This is the first of four lest in our passage.

Each one gives a consequence of not taking heed to these instructions.

lest that which is lame be turned our of the way; but let it rather be healed.

What is this talking about?

that which is lame or rather the member of the body which is lame, or weak or injured.

I believe this is talking about those members of the church who are weaker, young Christians, even injured Christians.

The danger is we don’t keep ourselves straight on the path, they might be turned out of the way, or as it is in the original language pulled out of joint.

Rather let it be healed.

There are injured weaker brethren in the body of Christ who just need a chance to heal and grow strong and it’s important that the more mature Christians are careful to keep their path straight otherwise these injured weaker members might be yanked our of joint and turned out of the way.

So don’t wander from the straight path.

Follow After Peace And Holiness

This links back to

This is God’s purpose for you so make this your goal.

This is apprehending that for which you were apprehended pressing towards the mark of the high calling.

the high calling is holiness God is working in you to produce holiness there follow after holiness and become a co-labourer with Christ yolk together with him in the pursuit of you holiness.

Without which no man shall see the Lord.

We cannot see the Lord much less spend eternity with Him without first being made holy.

Look After One Another

“Looking Diligently” is translated from the greek work [episkopeo /ep·ee·skop·eh·o/] which is very similar to the work [episkopos /ep·is·kop·os/] which is usually translated Bishop.

The reason they sound similar is because the first one means to oversee and the second one mean an overseer.

In context of our passage it is saying to oversee one another look after one another and ourselves lest any

1.

fail of the grace of God

or rather misses the blessing of the grace of God in these troubles because they fail to see that it is God working in them for their profit which can result in a root of bitterness.

If we don’t acknowledge the hand of God in our suffering that He is allowing it in order to bring about our perfection and holiness, then we are likely to become bitter towards God and others.

first that bitterness springs up within you and troubles you but the root grows and will infect others and they will also be infected.

Bitterness is contagious.

The place to stop this is when we or some else it struggling through some difficulty and not seeing it as the hand of God in their life thats why this passage is so relevant and import for us to understand.

Don’t Sell Your Birthright