Understanding God's Discipline

Understanding God's Discipline | Hebrews 12:5-11 April 2, 2023 There's a short video clip I've seen recently online - unfortunately, I wasn't able to download a copy of the video, but here's a screenshot of it - of a beautiful pit bull sitting up on his hind legs, with his head held high, obviously doing tricks and training with his owner. But this beautiful moment is quickly disrupted by a little boy with a water bottle who comes up from behind the dog, and he hits the dog on the back of the head with a water bottle multiple times, gratefully, the dog's owner immediately intervenes and ensures the dog doesn't retaliate against his young boy. What kind of comments do you think accompanied this video? Many were along the lines of: "Where are this boy's parents?!" You see, it's very easy for us to spot someone else who is undisciplined, isn't it? And maybe more so, it's easier to see someone who is disciplined. The same is true of God's children, as we'll see today. We're continuing in the book Hebrews, chapter 12, verses 5-11 this morning. In the prior section we saw that the writer was encouraging these Christians to endure life, as a runner runs his race with endurance. This imagery was used to remind these Christians that they should run this race by putting aside anything that was weighing them down, to look to Jesus as the best example of seeing it through to the end, particularly because of the prize that awaits us, but also to remind them that much of the trials and hardships they were experiencing was due to sin. This morning, we're going to see the next stage in this endurance race that is disrupted by sin. Let's begin reading at verse 5: 5 AND HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN THE EXHORTATION THAT ADDRESSES YOU AS SONS? "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR BE WEARY WHEN REPROVED BY HIM. 6 FOR THE LORD DISCIPLINES THE ONE HE LOVES, AND CHASTISES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES." 7 IT IS FOR DISCIPLINE THAT YOU HAVE TO ENDURE. GOD IS TREATING YOU AS SONS. FOR WHAT SON IS THERE WHOM HIS FATHER DOES NOT DISCIPLINE? 8 IF YOU ARE LEFT WITHOUT DISCIPLINE, IN WHICH ALL HAVE PARTICIPATED, THEN YOU ARE ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN AND NOT SONS. 9 BESIDES THIS, WE HAVE HAD EARTHLY FATHERS WHO DISCIPLINED US AND WE RESPECTED THEM. SHALL WE NOT MUCH MORE BE SUBJECT TO THE FATHER OF SPIRITS AND LIVE? 10 FOR THEY DISCIPLINED US FOR A SHORT TIME AS IT SEEMED BEST TO THEM, BUT HE DISCIPLINES US FOR OUR GOOD, THAT WE MAY SHARE HIS HOLINESS. 11 FOR THE MOMENT ALL DISCIPLINE SEEMS PAINFUL RATHER THAN PLEASANT, BUT LATER IT YIELDS THE PEACEFUL FRUIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS TO THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN TRAINED BY IT. Yes, our passage today is all about everyone's favorite topic: discipline! The writer of Hebrews quotes Proverbs 3:11-12 to draw them back to how they are to view their troubles. He is guiding them to view these troubles in the right way, and within the proper perspective. In doing so, he connects these troubles to discipline from God. Verse 4 reminded them that sin was a reason for much of what was going on, and now we see that a result of that sin is God's discipline. Many of us immediately think punishment when we hear the term discipline, and while that may part of discipline, the writer here has a different application of the word here. The application and meaning of this term is centered around correction, educating, training, and guiding. In other words, the difficulties in what Christians are facing in their everyday lives may be discipline from the Lord. Here is the main idea that we can see from our passage this morning: The discipline of God is necessary for the building up of His children. I know that doesn't sound entirely encouraging, but when we look at this passage, that is exactly what we see here, isn't it? This is what the passage is about, but we can answer some questions along the way and hopefully still be encouraged by it. First, WHAT IS THE MOTIVE FOR GOD'S DISCIPLINE? From the text, I'm going to provide three motivations from God as disciplines His children. First, * Because He loves us (6) o It's important to note here that at the end of verse 6, the writer is reminding them that they are received by God. This word used here means acceptance and admittance - like a ticket to an event. Because of this, we can see here that there is a special and specific love that God the Father has for Christians. This is manifested through what He did to demonstrate His love: o 1 John 4:9 tells us; 9 IN THIS THE LOVE OF GOD WAS MADE MANIFEST AMONG US, THAT GOD SENT HIS ONLY SON INTO THE WORLD, SO THAT WE MIGHT LIVE THROUGH HIM. o I heard one pastor say that we are loved by God just the way we are, but he added this: but, He loves us too much for us to be just the way we are, so He disciplines us to put us back on track. o Next, He disciplines us ... * Because He is a good Father (6-9) o As commented on moments ago, the writer here quotes Proverbs 3. o The Proverbs are collections of wise sayings, and specifically in that Proverb it's a collection of wise saying from a father to his son. o So, the writer now states that this wise saying is from God, the Father to His children - the Christian. o The writer shifts to make a point via an illustration, comparing the discipline from God as the discipline we receive from our earthly fathers in verse 9. o A good father not only disciplines his children, but he'll do it with the right intentions - for correction. It reminds me of the words of Paul in Ephesians 6:4: FATHERS, DO NOT PROVOKE YOUR CHILDREN TO ANGER, BUT BRING THEM UP IN THE DISCIPLINE AND INSTRUCTION OF THE LORD. o The writer is making a bold statement, effectively saying, that a characteristic of a good father is one who disciplines his children. o Finally, we see that He disciplines us ... * Because He knows what's best for us (10) o Staying close to the comparison of the earthly father, the writer makes it clear that God's discipline is greater than even that of our earthly fathers. o He is saying that your earthly fathers tried. They tried to guide and correct you, but they ultimately will always fall short of God's correction. o Most of us are familiar with Romans 8:28: AND WE KNOW THAT FOR THOSE WHO LOVE GOD ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD, FOR THOSE WHO ARE CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE o Or Philippians 1:6: AND I AM SURE OF THIS, THAT HE WHO BEGAN A GOOD WORK IN YOU WILL BRING IT TO COMPLETION AT THE DAY OF JESUS CHRIST. o You see, God knows what He is doing, and even through the difficulties of life, we can be confident in His work. This section reminds us that discipline is part of the maturing process. In the Proverbs there is no shortage of examples, I'll provide a few: * Proverbs 13:1: A WISE SON HEARS HIS FATHER'S INSTRUCTION, BUT A SCOFFER DOES NOT LISTEN TO REBUKE. * Proverbs 22:6: TRAIN UP A CHILD IN THE WAY HE SHOULD GO; EVEN WHEN HE IS OLD HE WILL NOT DEPART FROM IT. o This one is clearly consistent with the text from today, it is about the training and building up for maturity. Last one. * Proverbs 12:1: WHOEVER LOVES DISCIPLINE LOVES KNOWLEDGE, BUT HE WHO HATES REPROOF IS STUPID. o In all seriousness, believe it or not, reasonable people want order and accountability, and discipline is a necessary part of this. The next question that we can address from the text is: WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF GOD'S DISCIPLINE? We saw God's motivation, so here we can understand His purpose. Here again, we'll identify three purposes of His discipline: * It proves that we are His (8-9) o There is a level of assurance wrapped up in these verses. o Recall Romans 1, where Paul speaks of those who rejected the Lord, and therefore were given over to their desires. Or - and example we used with the kids class last week, the people of Israel wanted a King, so God warned them of what they would get with a king, and they asked for it anyway. o This verse reminds us that if we are being disciplined or corrected by God, it shows that He is still doing a work in us. He is training us and getting us back on the right track. o The alternative, he says, is that we are illegitimate children. There are several examples of this in the Scriptures. Jesus Himself warned that many will cry "Lord, Lord," but are unknown. The Apostle John says that one cannot be called a child of God and hate their brother at the same time. o Remember earlier we mentioned that we are accepted and received by God. This means we are His children, and as such He disciplines us. * Think about a group event that included your kids and others. Let's pretend that all the kids are starting bickering at one another. Everyone knows which kids belong to you, because those are the kids that you're pulling aside and getting onto. A parent disciplines his children, just like God will discipline His own. o Next, the passage says that ... * So that we can share in His holiness (10) o Recall that the purpose of discipline from God, or as the NLT put it "divine discipline" is for us to grow and be more like Jesus. o That's what the end of verse 10 teaches us, that we are becoming holy, or being sanctified or conformed to Jesus' liking. o Think about those times in your lives when you have experienced spiritual growth. * When did those experiences occur? Did they follow great times of prosperity, or during those times of adversity. o Recall the words of Jesus in John 15:2: EVERY BRANCH IN ME THAT DOES NOT BEAR FRUIT HE TAKES AWAY, AND EVERY BRANCH THAT DOES BEAR FRUIT HE PRUNES, THAT IT MAY BEAR MORE FRUIT. o That fruit is found in the next point, namely ... * It develops righteousness (11) o God's children are declared righteous, but just like any process of growth, it takes time to develop a lifestyle of righteousness. It takes time to develop and bear fruit. o That fruit that we just saw from John 15. o Verse 11 could very well be the test to know whether we're experiencing hardships because we're being disciplined by God or if we're just experiencing the natural difficulties and consequences of life that we all experience. o The question is: are you yielding fruit during this period? o What does that look like? Are you spending more time in prayer? Are you spending more time in His Word? Are you spending more time with other believers? Are you more aware of your actions and how they honor or dishonor God? Are you taking that extra moment thinking about what you're about to do, and taking the necessary step to honor the Lord? Are you serving others more, and yourself less? o All of these actions show yourself and others that may be impacted that you're being conformed to the image and likeness of Christ, instead of this world. o Didn't Christ Himself say, that His Children are known by their fruit? This morning, we've seen that: The discipline of God is necessary for the building up of His children. Let's face it, sometimes it's difficult to discern whether this is of God or our own doing. Remember that God uses our present circumstances to correct us and to build us up. So, we're going to close our time this morning by answering one more question, that of course has three principles for us to take away this morning. So ... HOW DO WE HANDLE GOD'S DISCIPLINE? * Asking God to reveal His purposes (5) o In verse 5 we see the phrase "do not regard lightly." This refers to the idea of focusing on the pain or the circumstances rather than the lesson that it teaches us. o I think it is very easy to look around at your circumstances and feel sorry for yourself. And I'm not trying to be insensitive, but as Christ followers, we ought to be trying to understand God's purpose in these moments, not focusing on the problem, but what the problem may produce in us. o See that? Our goal should be to seek out and understand His purpose for us? o Next, we handle His discipline ... * By submitting to the Lord (9) o The idea of submission here is once again in the comparison of our earthly fathers and the Heavenly Father. Here, the author reminds the early church that they respected and yielded to the discipline of their earthly fathers, so they must "be subject to" or submit to the Heavenly Father, who - as we saw earlier - knows what it best for us. o When we submit to God, we're also acknowledging His sovereignty in and over our lives. o Submission means that we're listening to Him, obeying Him, and following Him. o Finally, we handle His discipline ... * By trusting God enough to endure to the end (11) o This is probably the hardest part. o Frankly, we don't know how long this correction will take. o We don't know how this may affect others. o Because there are so many unanswered questions, we must rely on the Lord. o The Apostle, Peter speaks about this when he writes of the Day of the Lord, which refers to the period of Jesus' Second Coming. He writes these words in 2 Peter 3:8-9: 8 BUT DO NOT OVERLOOK THIS ONE FACT, BELOVED, THAT WITH THE LORD ONE DAY IS AS A THOUSAND YEARS, AND A THOUSAND YEARS AS ONE DAY. 9 THE LORD IS NOT SLOW TO FULFILL HIS PROMISE AS SOME COUNT SLOWNESS, BUT IS PATIENT TOWARD YOU, NOT WISHING THAT ANY SHOULD PERISH, BUT THAT ALL SHOULD REACH REPENTANCE. o You see, we want a quick fix. We want things to just happen. o Here's a silly example. You're at the store, and you text your spouse ... what happens next? You're staring at your phone, waiting for an immediate response ... no, just me? o When I came to Tucson, I managed a dysfunctional restaurant. I changed it, but it took months, maybe years, not hours or days. It's a process with many ups and downs. o But the Lord says to wait for His perfect timing. Notice at the end of verse 11, it says "to those who have been trained." This means that there is an end. There is a finish to this season of discipline. o The writer here is no fool. He understands that in the moment of correction, it is painful, but in the end, he says, it's the right thing to do because it will lead to peaceful fruit and righteousness. You see, discipline has a purpose, and better yet, God's discipline has a purpose. That purpose is for you and me to learn, to grow, and to be conformed to the image of His Son. This means, that even through difficult times, we must learn to praise Him. So, I want to do that this morning by paraphrasing a prayer that I saw this week: Father in Heaven, I come before you this day, I thank you and praise you for all of my present sufferings and difficulties. I give thanks to you for the countless sufferings of my past, as I now understand, affirm and acknowledge that all of these sufferings are part of your Fatherly love, in which you discipline, train and build me up, for the purpose of making me clean. And all God's people said, Amen! 2