The discipline of the Lord
Notes
Transcript
Introduction - Probing questions for difficult times
Introduction - Probing questions for difficult times
The story of the Hebrews, revisited, and in perspective!
The story of a life … or lives!
The historical, factual account
of the lives of a group of believers.
The story goes like this:
In a world filled with people of many nations
and many colours, creeds, and confessions
a small group of people came to realise
that they had an irresistible confidence in God!
A strange confidence (which left them with many questions)
but a confidence, nonetheless,
which filled them with hope!
Their confidence was this:
That God had sent His Son, Jesus,
to reconcile His people with Himself; ////
And for those who believed this (so they had heard)
would receive a peace that would conquer, in time, all suffering!
But, that peace was not yet there!
And, so, they were ready to give up!
They were being hit by wave after wave of adversity!
And they are starting to question their confidence, and their hope!
This is the story of those early believers - the background story to Hebrews
And, perhaps, loved ones, it is our story too
We can confess faith, can’t we?
Our help is in the name of the Lord, isn’t it?
But our Lord’s help can seem so distant at times, can’t it?
And when it does, how do we respond?
I mean, where is God at present? Is He on Holidays? Has He forgotten us?
Where was God when they bush fires broke out?
Where had God been when the drought drove many farmers to suicide?
Where is God as we are forced into isolation, because of Covid-19?
Where is God in the riots, and the protests,
and the death and destruction it brings, and that caused it all.
Has God deserted us?
A hard question thrown back at us!
A hard question thrown back at us!
Or have we turned away from God?
Why?
Can it be that it is because we never really knew who God is?
That is the question the writer of this book, poses!
And it is a fair question for the Hebrews!
They should have known!
But if they really did, they would not give up so easily!
And they certainly would not be swayed so easily,
seduced by every clever philosophy or alchemy!
Because, that is what had happened in the lives of the receipients of this letter!
We get a glimpse of this in
32 Remember the earlier days when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings. 33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to taunts and afflictions, and at other times you were companions of those who were treated that way.
At first, they held on to their faith!
But now they were ready to give up!
It was becoming all too much!
Their faith, you see, demanded a commitment!
And they were becoming tired, lonely, they were on the verge of giving up!
But now, the writer sets out to encourage them to hold on to their faith!
And their faith is our faith, by the grace of God alone!
And we are encouraged by this letter, too, to stay the course of our faith!
In the face of ridicule and mockery, our faith demand faithfulness!
Even as we are accused of racism, simply because we are white,
or hold to the rule of law, whatever our skin colour;
even when are accused of bigotry, because we strive to uphold God’s creation ordinances,
we are commanded to love God with all our heart,
and to love our neighbour as ourselves.
And more and more, we will experience persecution, simply because of our faith!
Such was the reality for the Hebrew recipients!
Such will be our lived experience, friends, and it has already started long ago!
How will we respond?
Our writer offers an answer, in the shape of a question - a rhetorical question:
39 But we are not those who draw back and are destroyed, but those who have faith and are saved.
And so, in chapter 11, we are given a directory of believers who illustrate what such faith looks like.
They are those we met as we wandered down that isle of portraits, in the gallery of faith:
Remember?
Abel; Enock, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses,
By faith … By faith … By faith … (Go and read it again, please. Chapter 11)
By faith did they live!
And more, so much more ...
32 And what more can I say? Time is too short for me to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets,
They believed the Lord, and by faith, they lived according to the Lord’s decrees and promises. They suffered, but they did not give up! They were faithful!
And so the story flows into chapter 12
Having confirmed that we, by the grace of God, are not those who give up,
we are called to endure!
Why?
For the sake of the One who have reconciled us to God!
and to the everlasting peace we are promised in the reality of Jesus, as reward!
1 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,
We are called to live disciplines lives,
for the sake of the truth and purity of Jesus, who has set us apart!
Set apart, to be a blessing to our loved ones, and the many nations of God.
That is what verse 2 is about:
2 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.
Live disciplined lives!
That is to say, live lives of faith!
And know this, it will not be easy!
The onslaught of the evil one in this world, is fierce!
But God, will sustain you, and equip you, to endure, if you trust in Him!
How does that look?
It is hard! It is trying! It is testing!
But it is testing with a purpose!
It looks like it does in a family, committed to God!
The author is saying to the suffering Hebrews, and to us:
You consider Jesus!
Jesus was supremely obedient and disciplined in God!
3 For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, so that you won’t grow weary and give up.
Yes, it is hard,; but for you, who have been spared the punishment you deserve due to your weakness in trust (resulting in your undisciplined lives!), know this, your being disciplined in many trials and tribulations, is for your own good!
And you will not be tested beyond your capability to be tested!
4 In struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
You can do it! God will help you!
And God teaches you along the way, even as he disciplines you!
5 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,
Can you see it?
You are God’s loved ones!
6 for the Lord disciplines the one he loves and punishes every son he receives.
Like the relationship between a father and a son in this world, a Godly father and his son - see that as an example!
But friends, here we ought to pause!
What does family discipline look like in this world?
We live very much in the age of commanding children, demanding children, and obedient parents, submissive parents!
And so a child can demand that a parent love them, by submitting to their claim that either they allow them to live their lives according to their own designs (not God’s!) or that their children will disown them for not loving them at all!
And many parents capitulate!
Discipline, in the true sense of the word, is now even against the law!
Which all confuses us about our own discipline, which often comes as testing!
7 Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline?
We have so little endurance left in this life!
We give up so easily!
We give up on church attendance, which is a wonderful discipline!
But it is seen as just that little bit to hard on a Sunday!
We give up on reading the Bible,
Because we are so busy, and making time for reading God’s Word, will complicate our busy schedules!
Did we start out strong to do family worship, but are we now starting to fade?
And because we don’t study God’s Word, we don’t know what to teach our children, when they present with their questions of love, and faith! But it’s all too difficult! And who wants to be in conflict with our children! Even when it comes to matters of faith, that are matters of life and death!
Friends, if we give up on our children, if we give up on teaching them, disciplining them, exercising tough love when necessary, we are as good as denying that we care for them.
That may come as a shocking remark to you, but think about it: If your child sees a snake and wants to play with it, will you not warm him, rebuke him, sharply, even, if he continues to flirt with the snake?
If you do not, despite their clever reasoning that keeping them from doing what they want to do, is a sign of you not loving them, is tantamount to denying them as children, for it will lead to their destruction!
8 But if you are without discipline—which all receive—then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
No! In the good household of God, Fathers and mothers discipline their children, because they love them, because they see them as blessings from God, given them for the blessing of mankind! Consider verse 9!
9 Furthermore, we had human fathers discipline us, and we respected them. Shouldn’t we submit even more to the Father of spirits and live?
Know for sure that God’s teachings are difficult - but it is for our everlasting good. Not good for a season, or a short, shattered little lifetime, but good for the sake of our eternal redemption, and to the joy of those whom God will have us serve in this lifetime!
It may be painful!
11 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.
It is true, isn’t it: We grow most in suffering, which is discipline!
(Personal)
How have you lived through suffering?
Did you consider it testing? Or were you seduced to think that God was punishing you?
Listen again to verse 7
7 Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline?
Loved ones,
In two weeks’ time, we are going to return to church!
Are we ready?
Are we excited at the prospect?
Are we looking forward to our gathering together again,
as the people of God?
Do we long to learn from God, for God, serving each other!
Are we still able to confess our sinfulness and brokenness, and see God’s disciplining of us, so that none of us will be destroyed, but live!
Is it in that spirit which we are even anxious to return to church, and meet there regularly!
Or has it all become too much to bear?
The way of the world seems so much easier than the way of the Lord!
Love and trust can be difficult, sometimes more difficult than we are willing to endure!
But, don’t give up!
12 Therefore, strengthen your tired hands and weakened knees,
13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed instead.
God loves you!
If it was not so, you would not be listening to this sermon, and be moved by it!
Amen