THE SCHOOL OF CHASTISEMENT

HEBREWS 12:5-11

A. There are different ways in which people handle chastisement or discipline from
the Lord. 

Hebrews 12:5
And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My
son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of
him:

i) Some despise it. They overlook it and refuse to make necessary changes in their
lives. They reject the lesson it was designed to teach. They harden themselves and
just go through it. 

Go before God and have some good heart searching. If there is sin get it out of your
life. 

ii) Some faint under it. They become despondent and despair. They loose heart and
hope. They give up their faith...walk away from God. 

When you loose hope and faint you will neither ‘repent nor pray nor reform" but be
overwhelmed with a sense of resignation or defeat. 


B. NOW LET US SEE THE GOALS OF CHASTISEMENT 

1. Godly Fear: 

When you have a nuclear bomb in your house or even a gun, you and the members of
your household must observe some rules. Our God is a consuming fire. 

God wants some consequence to come to bear, so that we'll know you can't do that and
prosper.

i) 1 Corinthians 11:29. Some died, some were sick etc

1 Corinthians 11:29-30
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to
himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly
among you, and many sleep.

Sometimes words alone don't have the same impact. They must be backed up with
consequences. 

ii) David and Bathsheba.

2 Samuel 12:10-14
Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast
despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith
the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I
will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he
shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly:but I
will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. And David said unto
Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. 

God could have stopped there. But your actions actions may affect others. Your
discipline becomes an object lesson, a warning and a restoration of the fear of God
in others. Ananias and Sapphire  Acts 5:11 "And great fear came upon all the church,
and upon as many as heard these things." 

"And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not
die. Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of
the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die."

2. Life

Hebrews 12:9
Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them
reverence:shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and
live?


i) That you may live, a full life
meaningful life, 
a blessed life.
the abundant life. 

"18. If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of
his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will
not hearken unto them: 
19Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the
elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; 
20And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and
rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. 
21And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt
thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear." Deuteronomy
21:18-21

"1. Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. 
2Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) 
3That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth." Ephesians 6:1

ii) Future assignment or high calling upon your life.

There are things others may appear to get way with...but not you. 

11Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless
afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are
exercised thereby.

How full of meaning is the "afterward." 

When we fall, receive correction and repent, it could the beginning of a powerful
calling upon your life. 

To God be the Glory https://www.facebook.com/MakerereFullGospelChurch 

RUN FOR YOUR LIFE by Pastor Fred Wantaate

Hebrews 12:1-2
 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so 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.

1. LAY ASIDE EVERY WEIGHT "...let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us..."

There is a difference between a “weight" and "sin"

i) A weight is something which in itself is harmless; it may even be legitimate. To others it may be harmless but to you it is a hindrance and an impediment.

Whatever slows you down, whatever hinders speed must be discarded.

Whatever tempts you to walk when you should run, whatever tempts you to loiter when you should   haste...that is weight. It could be a habit, a hobby, a lifestyle, a friendship, an association.

ii) Anything that has more of you than Jesus does has to go if you are to run well!

Whatever is slackening your progress in the spiritual life; fulfilling God's will in your life must go.

Life, circumstances and sometimes the enemy overload us with extra baggage in this race. The burdens from the Lord are light and easy (Matthew 11:28-30).

iii) Some things in life may not stop you but they will slow you down.

If the enemy cannot totally stop your progress, he will settle for second best…slow you down.

If he can weigh you down enough to finish last or second last he has won at least a partial victory.

c. Years ago the pace of life was different. You could miss a bus, a train or a plane but you could recover more quickly and re order your schedule with no major hindrances or loss.

Time is of the essence! Satan has made it his priority to keep the saints of God from their priorities.

Ephesians 5:15, 16

Daniel 7:25 “…wear out the saints of the Most High…”

B. "...and the sin..."

Not just "sin" but "the sin". That which seemingly clings to us

2. RUN WITH PATIENCE "...let us run with patience..."
a. The race for your life can only be run with patience.

Job 14:1
 "Man that is born of a woman Is of few days, and full of trouble."

John 16:33
these things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye may have peace. In the world ye have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

It cannot be run in any other way, but with patience.

Now, the word "patience" means "endurance". It means settling in for the long-haul..
I AM IN THIS RACE TO THE FINISH COME WHAT MAY

 It carries the idea of commitment to the race in spite of the obstacles or the difficulties.

b. Spiritually it is easier to sit when under stress, to lie down with disappointment and patiently wait for the storm to cease.

But the patience spoken of here is the type keeps running under stress, with a heavy heart, with disappointment, with lack, with need.

3. RUN THE RACE SET BEFORE YOU “the race that is set before us.”

i) Each of us run our own race. I can't run your race and you can't run my race.

ii) We are not in competition, but we are on the same team! My job isn't to outrun you, my job is to run for Jesus, the race that He has planned for me to the best of my ability.

iii) Our course has been individually designed! The race you are running has been prepared just for you. The grace to run your lane is different from mine. The best thing we can do is run our race in our lanes to the best of our God-given ability.

4. LOOKING UNTO JESUS "Looking unto Jesus..."

a. Notice despite the many witnesses surrounding us, the Spirit of God reminds us to look to Jesus. Men and women of faith serve as good inspiration and encouragement, but always look higher up to Jesus. Because can fail.

b. Look away from past failure and success; away from human applause and blame. Do not look now and again, but acquire the habit of looking always.

Isaiah 45:22 "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else.”

b. “...the author and finisher of our faith…is set down at the right hand of the throne of God”

 He has sat down indicating the work is complete, the battle has been won. We know the results before the race ends. Jesus has Fixed Our Race For Us

You cannot lose!

"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:57

Pastor Fred Wantaate is the Senior Pastor Full Gospel Church Makerere https://www.facebook.com/MakerereFullGospelChurchRUN FOR YOU LIFE

BE CONTENT by Pastor Fred Wantaate

Be Content:  Hebrews 13:5-6
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye
have:for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may
boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

1. The admonition: "Be content with such things as ye have"

a) "Be content with such things as you have," not with things as you once had
not with things as you hope to have, but with things as you have now. 

i) Because life is made of seasons and times. Be content (trust and rest in God;
don't fret,) with what you have until your season changes. 

So enjoy the journey even before you get to the destination.

There are things that are beyond you to change. Be content. 

ii) Age/Mid life crisis.

Have seen men and women who struggle with normal change in their lives. They are in
their sixties and still want to dress and act like teenagers; older men look for
excitement from younger women or older women go for younger men. 

Ecclesiastes 6:9
Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire:this is also vanity
and vexation of spirit.

Ecclesiastes 9:9
Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity,
which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity:for that is thy
portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.

iii) Wealth/money and stuff...be content when you have the basic; food, clothing 

1 Timothy 6:6-10
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this
world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let
us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a
snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and
perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil:which while some coveted
after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many
sorrows.

 Our prayers should have more thanksgiving than, give me, give me, give me...

b) For so many it is almost impossible to say I have enough. 

Genesis 33:9-11
And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; keep that thou hast unto thyself. And
Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive
my present at my hand:for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the
face of God, and thou wast pleased with me. Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is
brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have
enough. And he urged him, and he took it. 

The spirit of contentment help bring a reconciliation between two warring brothers. 

Many family disputes over inheritance, authority, money would be solved if there was
contentment. Many business partners, sibling fights, church disputes etc 

"Enough is as good as a feast".

2. The Benefits:

i) Contentment is true wealth. To be content is to be rich and well off. He is the
rich man who has no wants, and requires no more. It is not a question of income or
wealth. 

ii) Contentment brings freedom in your life. To be content is to be independent;
free from manipulation. I don't have strive, beg, lick any ones boots, please any
one, prostitute myself etc. 

iii) Contentment brings peace in a heart. 

Philippians 4:12-13
I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound:every where and in all things
I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

When your source, identity, self-worth is in God (not created things or stuff) your
life will be characterized by contentment, quite confidence and peace. 

3. The Reasons Christians should be contented

a) "He has said.."

Notice Paul does not promise earthly goods, pleasure or temporary reward. He simply
states; "He has said.."

In the face of lack and need remind yourself what God has said. Know the promises.
Nothing is able to deal with anxiety, worry, lack, accusation, critics, haters like
the word of God. 

The lawyers use old cases and previous court judgments when arguing their cases. Use
the word. 

The Bible must be your book of reference and precedents. God has spoken that settles
it. 

b) "..never leave you..." 

On this side of heaven everything will leave you. Change is the Universal law. 

But God says, "I will never leave you!"

c) "The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me."
As a shepherd He knows what is best. 

Be delivered from the fear of men, peoples opinion and judgement. God is the final
judge, He has the final say but He is also your shepherd. 




Be Content