Hebrews 12:5-11

Hebrews 12:5–11 ESV

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.

What encourages me to run the race when I’m being disciplined?

Look at verse 5. That’s a great verse to underline. You have forgotten the exhortation (comfort and encouragement) that addresses you as sons and daughters of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are many passages throughout the New Testament that we could look at when we want to be reminded of our sonship. I’ll give you two. John 1:12 and Ephesians 1:4-10. Our identity in Christ should be humbling and comforting, especially while we’re enduring the spiritually hard days that we learned about last week.

Our identity in Christ should encourage our hearts when verses 5-6 need to happen in our life. The Lord uses reproving and chastisement as one form of discipline to grow our maturity, to refine us, to develop us, to bring us into deeper holiness. You can see on the screen, we read DISCIPLINE nine times in theses eight verses. The wide meaning of this word is to train, correct, cultivate and educate a child. If you want the narrow meaning, come Wednesday night. Here are affirmations of encouragement for today.

Look at verses 5-6. Discipline proves the Lord loves me. Because the Lord loves me, he will correct me and chastise me when necessary. John 15 tells us this also. I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 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.” The writer of Hebrews reminds the readers of Proverbs 3, Sometimes, the refining work of Jesus is exhausting, but don’t get tired of the Lord refining our lives. Anticipate that greater fruit and greater opportunities to glorify the Lord will come result of the correction we receive out of the Father’s love.

Look at verses 7-8. Discipline proves my identity as a son or daughter. Discipline pushes us toward become better followers of Jesus. Discipline reveals more of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. If verses 5 and 6 never happen, verse 8 tells us there is no relationship that matters deeply. It is impossible to be a son or daughter without discipline in our lives.

Look at verse 9. Discipline strengthens my submission to the Lord. The more we see the Lord intimately involved in our daily lives, the more we want the Lord to be involved in our lives. The more transformation that we see when we look in the mirror, the more reverence and submission we are likely to offer to the Lord. Prayer book

Look at verse 10. Discipline reinforces the race set before me. I have three brothers. I remember a few times growing up that somebody did something stupid, but nobody did it. A common punishment was “everybody is grounded until we find out who did it” because justice seemed best. When the Lord gives training, correction, cultivation or education, it is always in our best interest to run the race, how are we growing in holiness, and how do we give God more glory with our life.

Look at verse 10. Discipline unites my heart with God’s heart. Knowing that God has my best interest in mind, according to his perfect holiness, is encouraging. Being aligned to experience his goodness in my life is encouraging. My sanctification being united with the Lord’s holiness is the only way I would want to run the race set before me.

Look at verse 11. Discipline yields righteousness in my life. “I would never wish those circumstances on another person, but I learned so much by going through them.” Progress always lead to more progress when we believe more progress is possible. We know our progress is the right type of progress when the peaceful fruit of righteousness is present. If you cannot see righteousness in your progress, discipline is probably around the corner.