Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction: All the Jews who would have read this letter were undergoing some kind of persecution because of their break with Judaism.

Their Jewish friends and relatives resented them for turning their backs on the traditions of Judaism.

The writer had already alluded to this earlier in his letter.

We can only imagine the arguments that they head for rejecting their new Christian faith.

“Look at what you have gotten yourself into.

You have become Christian and all you have had are problems, criticism, hardship, and suffering.

You have lost friends, family members, your synagogues, your traditions, you heritage - you have lost everything for this Jesus.”

Under this pressure, believing Jews were in danger of adopting again the rituals of the Old Covenant and living out a weakened and damaged faith, and those who were still unbelieving were in danger of apostatizing from the truth.

Some of them may have started asking: “Why are we not winning over our enemies, instead of our enemies always seeming to have the upper hand over us?

Where is the God who is supposed to supply all of our need, and answer our questions, and bring fulfillment to our lives?

Why, when we turned to a God of love, did everyone else start hating us?”

answers these questions.

In fact, had already laid a foundation for these answers in stating that suffering for God’s sake was nothing new.

These New Covenant Jews could endure valiantly through faith because all of the Old Testament saints endured in faith.

More than that these New Covenant Jews had received the promises of the indwelling Spirit, the knowledge of sins forgiven, and peaceful consciences.

Something that the Old Covenant believers had not received in their lifetimes.

More than that they could endure by looking unto Jesus in faith, who is the author and finisher of faith.

As the writer opens up this section he reminds them that they had not yet resisted to the point of blood.

None of them had endured what Jesus had endured.

None of them had given his life for the gospel.

Neither had they lived a perfect life resisting sin.

On the contrary, some of their suffering was deserved and intended for their discipline and growth.

The key word we find in this section is discipline.

The Greek word used for discipline in this passage is a term that refers to that which parents and teachers do to train, correct, and educate children in order to help them mature.

In order to answer the questions that these Jews have concerning discipline the figure the writer uses shifts from a race to a family.

The Christian life includes running, working, fighting, and enduring.

It also involves relationships, particularly our relationship to God and to other believers.

Why Discipline?

God uses hardship in the life of the believer in order to train us.

We must recognize that their is a massive difference between God’s judgment and discipline.

We often must suffer the painful consequences of our sin in this life, but we will never face judgment for them.

Christ has already taken that judgment on Himself.

Jesus already endured the cross for us.

In discipline, God is no longer our judge but a Father.

In discipline God has three specific purposes for us: punishment, prevention, and education.

Punishment

We experience some discipline as a direct result of our sin, and so God disciplines us for correction.

Example: David’s sin with Bathsheba

David, however, did not lose his salvation over the incident.

In fact, because of God’s punishment he matured beyond his sin and became a better man.

Example: The church in Corinth

1 Corinthians 11:

Paul told them plainly that they were suffering as a result of this sin.

They were being disciplinesd so that they would not be ultimately condemned with the world.

1 Corinthians

Example: your family

It is often difficult for us to see the good in the Lord’s discipline just as it is difficult for a child to see the benefit of his parents’ discipline, but it is the best thing for us since it restrains us from repeating the sin.

God said in the Old Testament:

Psalm 8

But this discipline comes with a promise:

Psalm 89:

When God disciplines, He is not rejecting He is correcting.

Prevention

Sometimes God disciplines in order to prevent sin.

Example: Children are punished for playing in busy streets, or with matches, or for swimming in the pool when no one else is there to watch them swim.

Paul tells us that the Lord disciplined Him in order to keep Him humble.

Paul was not being disciplined because of sin, but because the Lord was graciously protecting Him from sin.

Paul learned that many of his afflictions were being used by God to make Him better.

It is possible that some of the uncomfortable things we face in this life are God’s way of keeping us from something much worse.

Education

In addition to punishing and preventing, God’s discipline also educates us for better service and living.

First, suffering can help us better understand God’s power.

It is easier for us to feel our need for Him when we are enduring hardship.

Example: Job

Just as Paul’s thorn is the flesh, Job’s suffering were messengers of Satan that came on Him with God’s approval.

Job 2:26

Job’s discipline was not for punishment or for prevention, but for education.

Job could not explain his suffering, and for a long time did not accept his suffering, but after two long lectures from God he acknowledged that he did not need to know the reason for his suffering.

God is sovereign, omniscient, and omnipotent.

Job himself even admitted that he had learned “things too wonderful for me, which I did not know”, and he confessed, “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now my eyes see Thee; therefore, I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes.”

Through his great suffering Job had ben given a magnificent view of God and had learned that his wisdom was incomparable to God’s wisdom.

He learned that God is to be trusted for who He is and not because of what we can understand.

When we see God better we see everything else better as well.

Conclusion: When we face troubles we should ask God to show us if He is disciplining us as punishment, as prevention, or as education.

However, when we ask we must also realize that, like Job, God is not required to give us an answer.

Yet as we struggle through hard times we can rest assured that God is working on our behalf towards one of those three purposes.

Whatever the reason, we should be thankful.

And just as we can only endure in faith we can also only accept discipline in faith.

Example: Job