ENDURANCE AND DISCIPLINE
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introduction
When we become Christians, we enter a battlefield. We were never promised a playground or easy living. When we have a relationship with Christ and are initiated in the church, we almost immediately know what it’s like to battle ourselves and our sinful desires.
We are shielded and armed with forgiveness and we have eternal security which is guaranteed by the will of the Father. We have power to live a new life by the Holy Spirit and these can’t be snatched away.
But, these are provisions for the battle and not a means of excusing us from the battle.
The book of Hebrews was written to those who were in the thick of the battle. Men and women who were trembling in their boots, some retreating to the trenches. Some were tempted to give up and run away.
The author has already talked about the cost of defection in the midst of battle. But, now he is urging everyone to keep moving forward enduring the hardships and urging them to lean on Christ who is superior to pressing on in the faith.
He doesn’t want them to be “flash in the pan” Christians.
What do you think this means?
They start with great enthusiasm but burn out quickly. They lack endurance. They crumble under discipline.
Authentic Christian faith is one of enduring hope. Being hopeful in a fallen world. Having hope when we turn on the news or talk about the hot topics of the day.
This also means that we endure discipline that sometimes comes our way. Hebrews 11 spoke about the heroes of the faith and the troubles they endured. The persecution and the executions that went on. Now the author looks from them to us asking “What about you?” How are you going to live your lives?
In these next verses we are going to see how the author explains how to live lives of faithful endurance. There won’t be an applause, trophy (here anyway) and no relief from the pressures that come our way.
Even when we are experiencing hard times, we have a hope that it won’t last forever. The author deals with the uncomfortable reality of God’s discipline, which should provoke us to a greater hope, and love, giving us a glimpse of God’s purpose for allowing pain and suffering in this life.
Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, so that you won’t grow weary and give up.
After reading chapter 11 we should realize some things. All the people who were the heroes, were born and raised in imperfection. They lived lives as sinners saved by grace, and persevered though the hardship with faith and hope.
They were mere mortals and so are we. Therefore, we can have a enduring hope to climb from the trenches, listen to the Commander’s voice and soldier on.
Even without the military metaphors, I’m sure everyone in here has participated in some sport at some point.
The author uses this idea to express his point. He uses a foot race to encourage his readers to press on and finish their journey of faith. In this analogy, the heroes listed in the earlier chapter have moved from the track to the stands and are now cheering us on as we travel through this marathon.
This is the cloud of witnesses mentioned. in light of the faithful testimonies of men and women like Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Rahab, and Gideon, “let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us”.
We have all entered into a contest of faith. Here the author is the coach who teaches us how to prepare for the race and how to stay on track. He tells us to do 2 things:
Set aside every encumbrance and set aside the sin which so easily entangles.
The Greek word for race is interchangeable with the words “struggle” or “fight”. Here are some verses that uses the same word.
since you are engaged in the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I have.
For I want you to know how greatly I am struggling for you, for those in Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me in person.
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of eternal life to which you were called and about which you have made a good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
The Christian life is not a game of hopscotch or a quick sprint. It’s a hard, exhausting marathon.
In order to be successful, we have to shed everything that would hold us back or weigh us down.
Picture a runner who gets on the track with others and is wearing sweatpants and a hoodie. They had necklaces and rings and some cowboy boots. Ridiculous right?
The first century runners would wear virtually nothing! Almost naked, they would enter wearing long flowing, colorful robes and then take them off at the start of the race.
In our race, we need to remove everything that is needless, superfluous and useless. This could be different things to different people.
This could be those things. It could be friendships, associations, places, a habit, a pleasure, entertainment or an honor. Not necessarily a negative thing but they could distract us.
Remember the besetting sins I spoke about last week? We need to get rid of the sinful useless things to prepare for this long race. These sins that so easily entangle us.
They could be small white lies or outright apostacy! We need to prepare ourselves to run a clean race and set aside the habitual sins that cause us to stumble and fall.
Here though, the author may have a specific sin in mind, the sin of unbelief. This is why he says sin and not sins. This sin comes in different shapes and sizes.
This lingering questioning if God is who he says he is and will he do what he says he’ll do. We question his character and faithfulness from time to time.
It can be a giant fallen tree that falls in our path and we decide to give up and tempts us to abandon the race.
In all of these, we are to set them aside and run with endurance the race that is before us.
The OT saints did it and now we need to follow their path that is before us. We may not know where it leads or how long it will go.
But faith is trusting God during the uncharted course knowing that He has set before us the path that will best contribute to our growth toward spiritual maturity.
While running this race, we need to be driven by faith and drawn by hope.
keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, so that you won’t grow weary and give up.
Don’t look down at your feet or around you, which causes distractions. We are to fix our eyes on Jesus. He should be the focus of our attention.
Why? Because he has gone before us in this marathon. He is the One who sees us through to the end. He is the perfect example.
He looked beyond the suffering and shame on the cross and set his hope on the joy that would be his when he sat down on the right hand of the Father.
Hope drew Him onward and upwards, giving him the endurance needed to persevere through the hostility he faced on the cross. That’s why we should consider him and not lose heart
In struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons:
My son, do not take the Lord’s discipline lightly
or lose heart when you are reproved by him,
for the Lord disciplines the one he loves
and punishes every son he receives.
Jesus endured ruthless, unjust persecution from sinners. These were part of the plan from the beginning.
Though he was delivered up according to God’s determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail him to a cross and kill him.
We are reminded of something else back in
Although he was the Son, he learned obedience from what he suffered.
Jesus was never disciplined by God. That is reserved for those who prone to wander. But he did experience human growth through trials.
So, if Jesus, who is God’s perfect son, demonstrated obedience to his father by enduring suffering, how much more should we expect to go through faith-challenging experiences in our own maturity?
He was sinless and experienced suffering. Do you, who is sinful, expect to get a better, more pain free experience of discipline at the hands of a loving father?
The author touches on a reality that often tries our faith which is the discipline of God.
When we are going through tough times, God providentially permits these experiences, events, circumstances and people that cause us pain-not to punish us but to purify us.
Although these readers hadn’t yet experienced the crucifixion that Christ endured, the affliction they did was trying their faith.
They were tempted to believe the lie that God had forsaken them and that perhaps he didn’t really care for them. If he did, why would they be suffering?
To answer the question of why bad things happen to good people, they are pointed to Proverbs.
Do not despise the Lord’s instruction, my son,
and do not loathe his discipline;
for the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.
And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons:
My son, do not take the Lord’s discipline lightly
or lose heart when you are reproved by him,
for the Lord disciplines the one he loves
and punishes every son he receives.
The author points them to King Solomon, the wisest of all. Solomon identifies improper responses to God’s discipline that represent two extremes:
The first is to disregard discipline or to make light of it. This ignores the difficult circumstances, trials and tribulations God ushers into our lives for the purpose of training us.
The second is to “faint” when we face correction or lose heart. This means to cave in, overreact, push back or rebel against it.
In the first case, we are numb to God’s hand of discipline; in the second, we slap it away.
To avoid these two extremes, we need to see our struggles as something God is using us to grow. Sometimes, the pain of these trials is the only thing that will get through to us.
C.S. Lewis said this:
“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
This is why faith is essential for us to endure painful trials. By faith we know that God loves us, that he is all powerful and that he knows us completely.
Even though we don’t know how he is working things out for good, we know that he is.
Faith enables us to respond to God’s discipline with hope rather than with either indifference or despair.
Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline—which all receive—then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had human fathers discipline us, and we respected them. Shouldn’t we submit even more to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time based on what seemed good to them, but he does it for our benefit, so that we can share his holiness. No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
What is positive reinforcement?
Those who are parents know that sometimes positive reinforcement through instruction and encouragement is never enough.
Since we are fallen, sinful people who always turns our noses up at instruction, sometimes negative consequences are needed. These can be painful punishments for being rebellious and breaking the rules.
The author goes to the proverbs regarding God’s discipline with 4 principles to comfort us during discomfort and pain.
First, God’s discipline assures us that we are His children.
Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline—which all receive—then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
As our heavenly father, God disciplines both through positive instruction and negative correction.
Since he is actively involved in our spiritual maturity, we know that we are his children. If we were illegitimate, he wouldn’t bother.
Second, God’s discipline deepens and enhances our spiritual life.
Furthermore, we had human fathers discipline us, and we respected them. Shouldn’t we submit even more to the Father of spirits and live?
We are reminded that when our earthly fathers disciplined us, we respected them by submitting to their words of instruction and hands of correction.
How much should we submit to God’s discipline if we do this for our parents?
The result of this submission is an abundant life. Even though we still have pain, we can still have an enriched one.
For a command is a lamp, teaching is a light,
and corrective discipline is the way to life.
The reward of the righteous is life;
the wages of the wicked is punishment.
The one who follows instruction is on the path to life,
but the one who rejects correction goes astray.
A rod of correction imparts wisdom,
but a youth left to himself
is a disgrace to his mother.
It gives us peace and joy even in the midst of our suffering.
Third, God’s discipline continues for our benefit.
For they disciplined us for a short time based on what seemed good to them, but he does it for our benefit, so that we can share his holiness.
Now the author points out something we already know: Our earthly fathers are fallen, sinful, imperfect humans, just like us.
Therefore, they could sometimes be unfair, arbitrary and inconsistent. We know they strive to do the right thing; to be the wise parent, but they frequently failed.
And sometimes, fathers could be the perfect example of how not to be a parent.
But, our heavenly father is perfect, infallible, consistent and fair. He uses just the right means of discipline to accomplish what he wants to accomplish in our lives.
Our fathers only have a short window of time to influence us until we grow up and move away, but God has a lifetime of instruction for our benefit.
Fourth, God’s discipline, though painful, is ultimately valuable.
No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
All discipline, whether good or bad, seems like an unhappy, burdensome and sorrowful experience as we are going through it.
But the end result will be worth it. Spiritually speaking, enduring God’s discipline will result in the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
Therefore, strengthen your tired hands and weakened knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed instead.
So, God’s loving hands of fatherly discipline produce assurance by demonstrating that we are his children.
Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline—which all receive—then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
It results in maturity by deepening and enhancing our spiritual lives.
Furthermore, we had human fathers discipline us, and we respected them. Shouldn’t we submit even more to the Father of spirits and live?
It leads to conformity with his character by continuing to draw us closer to him throughout our lives
For they disciplined us for a short time based on what seemed good to them, but he does it for our benefit, so that we can share his holiness.
And it results in holiness by pruning us in order to produce spiritual fruit.
No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
What should be our reaction?
We need to practically respond.
Therefore, strengthen your tired hands and weakened knees,
We should be strengthened in our faith and hope.
and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed instead.
We should remain on a straight path towards faithfulness.
When you haven’t gone to the gym in a while and need to prepare for a race, you need to start disciplining your body for the contest.
While preparing, your knees and joints will be sore. But through continual focus under the instruction of a careful coach, those aching body parts will eventually heal. Afterwards, you will be stronger than when you started.
For this reason, God’s discipline is not something we should resist or run from.
Rather, we should embrace it and expect. Not because pain is fun, but because through the suffering or discipline, we are brought toward a greater end: spiritual healing, strength and the ability to run the race set before us in faith and hope.
Just like the OT saints and just like Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.