Hebrews - Building Christian Character

Have you ever heard the creed of the International Olympics? Let me read it to you. Quote: "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win, but to take part. Just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well," unquote. That is the creed of the International Olympics. And the motto of the International Olympics is: "Faster, Higher, Braver."

In other words, all that competition has as its purpose not the winning of medals, but the building of character. Faster, higher, braver. The encouragement to the competitors is: You are competing more with yourself than you are against others. Try to go faster, try to reach higher, and by all means, be braver.

Well, according to Hebrews 12, we as Christian believers are in God's Olympics. We are in God's gymnasium. We are running the race of faith. God is training us. He is disciplining us, and His purpose is building Christian character. Hebrews 12:4 says we're striving against sin.

He's also trying to make us more like the Lord Jesus Christ, to build into us His holiness. We read this in verse 10: "That we might be partakers of his holiness." Now, there's the positive, verse 10; the negative is verse 4, striving against sin. For this reason, we must give ourselves totally to Him and let Him have His way. Just as the athlete must give himself totally to his coach, so we must give ourselves totally to the Author and Finisher of our faith, because He wants to lead us into new experiences of growth. In other words, He is building Christian character.

Today, the church emphasizes Christian conduct and Christian service. Now, that's important. But conduct comes from character, and service comes from conduct and character. "Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." God is building character, and the only way He can build character is to put us through the disciplines of the Christian life.

You see, you don't become a great Olympic star by reading a book, listening to a lecture, or watching a movie. You don't become a great Olympic achiever by sitting in the grandstand cheering. I fear that far too many church members today are in the cheering section; they are not on the team. They're up in the grandstands watching, while very few are really running the race as they should. That's sad.

We must give ourselves totally to the Lord. Hebrews 12:5-6 describe this to us: "And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto sons; My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." That's Hebrews 12:5-6.

Now, you and I must permit God's discipline to touch every area of our lives. Certainly, He's talking here as though we are athletes. If we would put as much into our spiritual walk, our spiritual race, as we do other athletic enterprises in life, we would all be better Christians.

I know Christians who put much more time into their golf, their tennis, their handball, their swimming, than they do their Bible study, their praying. If we would be as diligent in the disciplines of the Christian life as we are in other disciplines, we would be better Christians. We'd be farther along on that racetrack and much closer to the goal.

Paul wrote to Timothy and said, "Exercise thyself rather unto godliness." We need the disciplines of the Christian life. And God wants to be in control of every area of our lives. If a coach is going to build a winning team, he must have, first of all, their minds. They must pay attention. They must listen to what he has to say.

But these people to whom Hebrews was written were having problems with their memory. Notice verse 5: "And ye have forgotten the exhortation." They had forgotten the Word of God. The Greek word here doesn't mean they just had a little lapse of memory. That happens to me occasionally. "Where did I park my car?" or "Where is that book?" He's talking here about a complete and permanent forgetting. They had forgotten the Word of God.

Now, this doesn't surprise us because these people had been very sluggish in their attitude toward the Word of God. Hebrews 5:11 says this: "Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when for the time"—that is, the time you've been saved—"ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat."

These people were in their second childhood spiritually. They had forgotten even the ABCs of the Christian life. "For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe." They had forgotten how to use the Word of God in practical everyday life.

"But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age"—the mature people—"even those who by reason of use have their senses"—their spiritual senses—"exercised." Now we're back in the gymnasium. "Exercised to discern both good and evil." These people were unskillful in using the Word; they were forgetful toward the Word because they had not been using the Word and exercising themselves in their spiritual life.

You do not stand still on this racetrack. You either go backward or forward. If you go backward, you're in trouble. If you run the race looking to the Lord Jesus, then you win the crown for His glory.

Now, He has to have our mind. We must learn from Him. They had forgotten the Word of God. Now, what word had they forgotten? Well, a very familiar word from Proverbs 3:11-12. Proverbs is the book of practical wisdom for everyday life. Proverbs 3:11-12: "My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth."

Now, he's talking here about chastening. Chastening means "child training." It doesn't just mean punishment. We so often think of Hebrews 12 in terms of whippings. Well, sometimes God does have to spank us. There are times when God has to take us out to the woodshed, as it were, like parents had to do many years ago on the farm, and give us a bit of a spanking.

He's talking here about chastening, which means the development and the discipline and the building of character. Sometimes it's negative—spanking. Sometimes it is negative—rebuking. Sometimes it is positive—instruction. Sometimes it is just exercise. God calls us to use our spiritual muscles because He wants to build Christian character.

May I remind you that God is more concerned about the worker than He is the work? If my character is what it ought to be, then my conduct and my service will be all that they ought to be. Now, they'd forgotten the Word of God, and therefore they had no encouragement. "You have forgotten the exhortation."

The word "exhortation" comes from the same word that gives us "Comforter"—the Holy Spirit of God, the one called alongside to help. This whole letter is a word of exhortation, Hebrews 13:22. And that word "exhortation" means "encouragement."

I cannot understand why people look at the Bible so negatively. They see the Bible as a book of warnings and a book of commandments that are very negative. I see the book as a book of encouragement. When I open the Word of God, it to me is a word of encouragement. Yes, there are warnings. But the warnings are to encourage me to build character and to live a Christian life. Yes, there are commandments, but those commandments are for my good.

Romans 15:4 tells us what the Word of God is all about. You ought to mark this verse in your Bible. Romans 15:4: "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort"—or encouragement—"of the scriptures might have hope. Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus."

Now, where do you get patience and encouragement and hope and comfort and consolation? You get it from the Word of God. How does a father encourage his son? By talking to him. By saying, "Son, you're in the race now. You can make it. I know you can do it. We've trained you, and you're going to win the prize." Don't look at your Bible as a negative book. Look at your Bible as a positive word of exhortation and encouragement.

When I read the Old Testament, I see how God encouraged and used the people who exercised faith. Hebrews 11 gives us a long list of them. When I read the Gospels, I see in the life of the Lord Jesus what faith could do. When I read the book of Acts, I see how God took ordinary people and used them in an extraordinary way. The Word of God encourages us.

You see, God has to discipline us to get us to listen. You have forgotten the word; you've forgotten this exhortation: "My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord." The runner must listen to the coach. He doesn't listen to the cheerleader; he listens to the coach, and he does what the coach tells him to do.

God has to get us back to the Word. He wants our mind. He wants us to think on the Word and to hear the Word and to focus on the Word because He wants to deal with us as sons, not as babies. Notice that? "Which speaketh unto you as unto sons; My son."

He wants to deal with us as mature sons and daughters, not as little babies. You talk to babies, they don't understand you. Oh, they hear your voice; they don't understand you. But as we mature, we understand the Word of God. He wants your mind.

Secondly, He wants your heart. You see, chastening is not only an experience of learning; it's also an experience of loving. "My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth"—punishes—"every son whom he receiveth."

I've heard some of these young modern parents say, "Oh, I love my child too much to spank him." That's not love; that's selfishness. When you love someone, you discipline them because you want to build character. It was not always easy for my wife and me to discipline our children. Any loving parent feels it worse than the child does, but it has to be done. How else will you build character?

Now, chastening assures us that we are God's children. You don't spank the neighbor's children. You might feel like you'd like to, but you can't do it. "If ye be without chastisement," says Hebrews 12:8, "whereof all"—God's children—"are partakers, then are ye illegitimate children, and not sons."

Someone says, "Oh yes, I'm born again," but they're living a godless life and rebelling against the Word of God, and nothing ever happens to them. God never spanks them. You know why? They're not His children. I don't know about you, but all I have to do is get off my lane in the race just a little bit, and God tells me about it. He rebukes me, then He chastens me, and I have to get back in His will.

Chastening is a proof that God loves us. Revelation 3:19, we read: "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent." The devil says, "Oh, you're in trouble; that shows that your Father doesn't love you." Just the opposite is true. If I'm going through a chastening experience, it's a proof that He does love me.

It shows He values me. It shows He wants me to grow. He wants a deeper relationship with me. As our children and our grandchildren grow and mature, we can enter into a deeper relationship with them. This is why God allows us to be chastened. This is why God sends chastening. He values us; He wants us to grow.

God wants the mind—listen to His Word. Chastening is an experience of learning. God wants your heart—get close to Him. It is an experience of loving. Thirdly, He wants your will. It's an experience of living. He wants us to do something because of this chastening.

Now, there are two extremes to avoid: one, despairing; two, despising. "My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord"—that's the one extreme, to despise it. "Nor faint when thou art rebuked of him"—now there's the other extreme: despairing, giving up. Don't make light of His chastening; don't waste this opportunity. Take it seriously.

Well, what should be the right attitude? Enduring. Verse 7 tells us that: "If ye endure chastening." If you let God accomplish His purpose. Verse 11 tells us God wants us to exercise ourselves. "It yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised by it." That Greek word translated "exercised," gumnazo, gives us our word "gymnasium."

He is saying: Don't despise God's chastening; don't despair over God's chastening. Rather, delight in it and realize God loves you and God is building your character. Therefore, exercise your faith and grow.

He wants us to honor Him. In verse 9, He said we have earthly fathers who have spanked us, and we've honored them. We should also honor our Heavenly Father. He wants us to submit to Him. Verse 9: "Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits?"

In other words, the runner has to submit his will to the coach. He submits his mind to the coach and his heart and his will, and he submits willingly. He cooperates, and he exercises himself, and he grows.

Now, this is not easy. It's easier to talk about it than it is to live it, but He gives us the grace that we need to be able to yield our mind and our heart and our will to Him. Then He can work in our body, and we can run that race with endurance. We can keep on going.

We are in God's gymnasium, and God is training us as Christian athletes. We are runners on the racetrack, and He wants us to reach the goal. He wants to keep us going—that's enduring. He wants to keep us knowing—that's assuring. And He wants to keep us growing—that's maturing. That is what chastisement is all about.

First of all, God wants us to have the experience of enduring. Verse 7: "If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons." God wants to keep us going. Now, the people to whom this book was written were in the danger of going backward, not forward. They wanted to go back to their old profession of religion; they did not want to move ahead.

The key verse is Hebrews 6:1: "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection"—to maturity. Let's move on the racetrack and reach the goal that God has for us.

Now, you and I are often tempted to go back. When the going is tough and God is disciplining us, He's helping us to grow, but we don't want to go forward; we want to go backward. By the way, the psychiatrists are dealing with this problem many, many times. There are people who don't want to move ahead in life, and so they regress. They go back into childhood or even babyhood, and they insist that other people care for them and protect and pamper them.

We must endure and keep going in spite of the circumstances of life. After all, God's in control of the circumstances. In spite of the difficulty of the race—after all, other people have run this race and they've kept on going. In spite of the contradiction of sinners—back in verse 3 we read about that: "For consider him"—Jesus—"that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself."

It's not easy for us to run the race because we are running right into that crowd that is on the broad road that goes to destruction, and they get in our way sometimes; they contradict us. We must keep running the race in spite of the sin that so easily besets us.

How does chastening help us to keep on going? How is it that God can use chastening—education, instruction, discipline—to help us endure? Well, to begin with, chastening removes the hindrances in the race. You can't run this race and experience the development and the discipline that God has for you carrying the weights or being tangled up in the robes. He tells us to strip for action: lay aside all the weights and the sin that so easily trips us up.

Chastening makes it easy for me to get down to essentials. Chastening forces me to trust God more, to get my eyes off the detours. We look unto Jesus, who is the Author and the Finisher of our faith. Chastening reminds us of what God did for others back in Hebrews 11. All of these people went through some kind of chastening.

I don't care which one you pick; God had to put them through His gymnasium to equip them for life and ministry. And so God says to us: I'm going to chasten you. I want you to endure. I don't want you to be a baby. I want you to endure and keep on going, because that's going to lead to maturity.