God's Design For Discipline

Hebrews 12:1–12 NIV

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.

Hebrews 12:1–13 NIV

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

Hebrews 12:1–12 NIV

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.

The first three verses of give us a big picture of the Christian life.

Hebrews 12:1 NIV

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,

You’re in a race.

There are lots of metaphors the author could have used, he chose to compare it to a race, a marathon.

The race began the moment of your salvation and will end when you reach heaven. It is your unique journey to heaven. It isn’t a race against time. It’s more of race to complete an obstacle course that we call life. We are all like Abraham who lived his life

Hebrews 11:10 NIV

10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Every step either takes us toward that goal or away from it! In order to reach our goal we need to

The New International Version. (2011). ().

Run with endurance.

There are things that slow us down, that hinder us. Some things lead us off the path, like distractions. Things that may seem good but aren’t the best. And the most pernicious things that hinder us from our goal are sins. This passage today is going to show us how God helps us deal with these different kinds of hindrances.

Run with focus.

Hebrews 12:2 NIV

2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus is the one we need to model in running the race. His is our example because He is our pioneer and He helps us to run like Him, to perfect our faith! He was a model for us in three ways.

He endured, the physical pain and suffering of the cross.

He scorned the shame, the emotional pain of being humbled didn’t phase Him.

He finished well, sat down at the right hand of God.

Run with inspiration.

Hebrews 12:3 NIV

3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Jesus faced the worst anyone could ever face. Lies, insults, cruelty, torture, undeserved punishment and death. He did it for us by the power of God. We can endure opposition, too!

The race could be harder.

Hebrews 12:4 NIV

4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

The previous chapter, , gives a list of others who had things harder. Some where tortured, throw in prison, some stoned to death, some thrown into a fiery furnace. Some wandered in the deserts and mountain living in caves. It could be harder and for some believers it will be harder.

God uses different types of discipline.

to build our endurance.

Hebrews 12:5–6 NIV

5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”

God’s discipline is often misunderstood.

Some make light of it and think it’s no big deal. Others experience God’s discipline and lose heart. both of those attitudes are wrong.

God’s discipline is sometimes a rebuke.

God’s discipline is sometimes a rebuke. Like when a parent says “Knock it off!”

Like when a parent says “Knock it off!”

Ephesians 4:30 NIV

30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

God’s discipline is sometimes chastening.

He corrects us with punishment.

1 Corinthians 11:28–31 NIV

28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment.

God uses physical weakness, sickness and death as discipline. If you aren’t walking with God and are living with open unconfessed sin in your life, you will at some point experience the chastening of God. but it doesn’t ever have to be. God uses

God’s discipline includes allowing hardship.

Hebrews 12:7 NIV

7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?

1 John 5:16–17 NIV

16 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.

God’s discipline is necessary.

It’s necessary to train us. It is a way God educates us. We actually need to suffer hardship to remember that we are in a race, we are on a journey and this world is not our home.

Hebrews 10:32–34 NIV

32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. 33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34 You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.

God’s discipline of hardship and suffering remind us this world is not our home!! God’s corrective discipline is necessary to get our attention when our hearts are hardened with sin. Even the children of God can be hardened by sin. Paul tells us Romans that

Romans 8:5–8 NIV

5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

We all know that sin can blind us to goodness and grace and love of God. Discipline is needed to get our attention.

God’s discipline is integral to our lives.

in·te·gral means essential to completeness. These two aspects of discipline are integral since we are sons and daughters. The sufferings we endure are appropriate since we are God's children. God disciplines us collectively and individually to draw us closer to Him.

God’s discipline is perfectly fatherly.

Hebrews 12:7–10 NIV

7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness.

Hebrews 12:7–11 NIV

7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Discipline is one way you know you’re saved. If you can sin up a storm and feel no guilt and don’t seem to have any negative consequences in your life, you may not be a child of God. If you’re a child of God and you get angry and snap at someone or you lie or you do something else wrong and you feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit then you should smile! God loves you child! He’s gonna spank you if you don’t straighten up because He’s a loving Dad!

Human parents do what we think is best for our kids. God does what is best for us. We respected our parents for making us obey. How much more should we submit to God’s discipline and obey?

God’s discipline is painful but beneficial.

Hebrews 12:10–11 NIV

10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

God’s discipline is always for our good. How good? It leads to holiness.

God’s discipline like all discipline is painful but has a beneficial result. How beneficial? It produces righteousness and peace. Notice that is only for those who are trained by it. We end this section with an exhortation.

Hebrews 12:12–13 NIV

12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

You have a choice. I have a choice. Flex those arms. Stretch those legs. You’re in a race.

The way we do that spiritually is to choose to press on against hardship. Don’t let opposition slow you down. The world is full of hindrances. You can make it! Don't reject discipline, receive it!

Don't reject discipline, receive it!

e.g. When someone who cares about you and wants you to succeed in life shares something about you that you are doing wrong, gives you constructive criticism, what is your immediate reaction? What do you do or say?

Responses to Discipline

1. Cry

2. Cringe

3. Contradict

4. Criticize

5. Commit

Cry because you think they don't love you.

Cringe because you made a mistake.

Contradict them by disagreeing or making excuses.

Criticize them back, taking the focus off ourselves.

Commit to seeing the truth there and acting in holiness and righteousness..

Concede there is some truth there and think about what you can do about it.

What determines how we react?

What determines how we react? How we view the source of the constructive criticism and how we see ourselves.

How we view the source of the constructive criticism.

How we see ourselves.

How commited we are to grow.

God's Design For Discipline

Definition: Discipline is when God uses hardship, trials and punitive actions with His children to mold and improve their character and to enforce correct behavior.

1. The Christian life is a marathon.

2. God disciplines us to help us run. 7

3. The right perspective about discipline.

3. The Right Way to Think About Discipline

4. Commit to the benefits of discipline.