Hebrews

Sons or Bastards

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Conversations, Panels, and Sermons

Lesson: 30-33

Genre: Lecture

Track: 30

Dictation Name: RR198Q30

Location/Venue:

Year:

This is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us. Having these promises let us draw near to the throne of grace with true hearts, in full assurance of faith. My voice shalt Thou hear in the morning Oh Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee, and will look up. Let us pray.

Our Lord and our God, how great and marvelous Thou art, and all thy gifts unto us are ever mindful of our needs, our weaknesses and our hopes. Oh Lord our God thou art so good to us who too often cannot be good to ourselves. And so we come to thank Thee for Thy mercies. We thank Thee that in this blessed season we are again made mindful of the debt of gratitude we always owe Thee, of the joy that is ours in the coming of our Lord, of the certainty that our future and our years are ever new in Christ, and abundantly filled with Thy mercies. How great Thou art oh Lord, and we praise Thee. In Christ’s name, amen.

Our scripture is Hebrews 12:1-11, our subject: Sons or Bastards. Hebrews 12:1-11.

“1Wherefore 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,

 2Looking 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.

 3For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

 4Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

 5And 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:

 6For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

 7If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

 8But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

 9Furthermore 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?

 10For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

 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.”

The imagery of verses one and 2 is rather startling, at this time well before the fall of Jerusalem, it was unusual for Christians to be thrown to animals in the arena; but the text here prepares them for such a treatment. It is possible of course that there had been a few examples of this. The reference is to a great cloud of witnesses; and it seems to mean the spectators at the Roman arena’s. And yet at the same time to the saints of old such as those cited in Hebrews 11 we must remember that our word martyr comes out of the Greek word witness. This does not necessarily mean that the saints witness our sufferings, but that they stand as witnesses to the necessity of trials in a fallen world. We are not alone, nor is our own suffering meaningless. The cloud of witnesses fills the sky.

We all have our particular besetting sin which easily hampers us. We are told to lay this aside, and to run with patience the race that is set before us. The triune God determines our course, not we ourselves. Our duty is to do what we must, and in so doing to remember the grimmer course set before Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Our example and forerunner. He endured the cross with all its shame, which despised. Despite His agony and suffering, He assumed his task with joy, and He is now seated at the right hand of God.

The hostility of this sinful world against Jesus Christ far exceeds anything we might experience, and we dare not grow weary or faint, for our sufferings can never equal His. In fact the Christians are reminded: “Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.” None of you have yet faced death for your faith.

Then in verses 5-11 Hebrews tells the Christian community what it means to be sons or children of the Father. In verses 5-6 we have the citation of 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.” Our sufferings are inflicted immediately by the enemies of God, but ultimately they have their origin in the will of God. His purpose is corrective; even as a father is eager to help rear a beloved son properly, by correcting him when necessary. Whom God loves He chastens, even to punishing them as needed. “If ye endure chastening,” We are told, “God dealeth with you as sons, for what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not?”

In other words, to be a son means to be chastened, and this is a mark of fatherly love and concern. We must therefore view our sufferings as aspects of God’s fatherly love whereby we are prepared to meet our responsibilities in time and in eternity.

Verse 8 tells us: “But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons.”

The alternatives are clearly stated. The reprobates are spared Gods chastening because they are not His sons, whereas sons we are prepared for our maturity in Him. If we do not suffer chastening, we are not God’s children.

Verse 9 states the alternative bluntly: “Furthermore we have had had fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence; should we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits and live? We know that our human fathers had our good in mind in their chastisement of us, dare we assume that God the Father is not even wiser in His dealings with us?” The fathers of flesh are here contrasted with the Father of spirits. Not because he is not also the creator of our bodies, but because His chastening of us has an eternal spiritual consequence.

Then in verse 10 we are told that our parental chastening was for a few day’s as compared to eternity. “Our human fathers chastened us after their own good pleasure, or as it seemed good to them. Whereas God chastens us for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness.” As Vincent once noted, ‘Holiness is life.” Holiness is life, and God’s chastening is preparation for our eternal life. We are told in verse 11 that no chastening when experienced, rather it hurts. The result however is the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. The goal is that we be righteous or just. This means to be governed by the law word of God, now written on the tables of our hearts.

What Hebrews here tells us is that Jesus Christ, our great high Priest, who makes atonement for us, then proceeds to remake us by His holy Spirit. Our sanctification requires that we be made His children by chastening. When we are born again we have the obligation to grow and to mature in Christ, it is childish to assume that our salvation completes God’s work in us. Salvation rather is the starting point.

The newly born regenerate person must now grow in maturity in God’s service. To believe that the goal of our salvation is heaven is to warp the gospel, it is that we might become His people, His servants. We are to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, our Lord tells us in Matthew 6:33. The child who after birth fails to develop its mind and understanding is at best an idiot. The church today is too full of too many spiritual idiots, no-growth converts whose lives do no credit to the cause. Hebrews from beginning to end is against a simplistic theology. It is therefore very, very fitting that Hebrews is followed in the Bible by James epistle, which we will study as a continuation of Hebrews. They have in common a strongly practical emphasis, one very much needed in our time as in all times. Let us pray.

Our Father, we thank Thee for this Thy word. We thank Thee that Thou hast called us to be sons. Give us grace to accept the chastening of sons and to rejoice therein. Teach us so to walk day by day, that we see all things as indeed coming from Thy hands, and ourselves as called to grow and to serve. Grant us this in Christ’s name, amen.

Are there any questions now about our lesson? Yes?

[Audience Member] You mentioned earlier on in verse 1 and 12 in talking about the particular sins that beset us, is there a sense in which this verse speaking of the sin which ensnares us may also generally refers back to the earlier part of the book where it talks about the sin of unbelief and not allowing the Hebrews to go into rest?

[Rushdoony] Yes, its purposely made very broad, so it is inclusive of original sin, our desire to be as God, or what you spoke of, or whatever particular weaknesses we have. So it’s a very inclusive term, so that we recognize that it applies to all of us as sons of Adam and specifically as individuals.

Any other questions or comments?

Hebrews is like James, an intensely practical epistle. The trouble as I pointed out before is that too many just look at the theological section: “Well, its talking about the atonement, and you can’t go back to the sacrificial system,” And they forget that it is telling us to go right on to the implications of your salvation. You’ve been saved to serve.

I also mentioned that when we began this book that it’s the least studied book of the New Testament, and I trust it is apparent now why it is neglected; because it is so intensely practical.

Well let us conclude now with prayer.

Our Father, we thank Thee that Thou hast made us sons, sons and daughters of Thy kingdom. Thou knowest oh Lord how often we complain about Thy chastenings, teach us to be grateful. Teach us day by day to be mindful that all things come from thy Omnipotent hands, and Thy purpose for us is entirely and wholly good. Teach us so to walk that in all things gratitude fills our hearts, that we are Thine.

And now go in peace, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, bless you and keep you, guide and protect you, this day and always, amen.