Sermons

The Father's Discipline

May 24, 2020 Speaker: Josh DeGroote Series: Jesus is Better - The Book of Hebrews

Topic: Discipleship Passage: Hebrews 12:3–11

Kids, by show of hands, how many here love to be disciplined? Do you know it’s good though? It is painful, but it is good… and when done right, it is done in love. 

Well, this passage teaches us that God is faithful to discipline his children.  And His aim in our discipline should not surprise us - it is for our endurance. God’s discipline is for our perseverance and steadfastness (James 1:2-4). God’s discipline comes in three forms:

  1. Corrective - David (The son of that adulterous relationship died, correction leading to repentance)
  2. Preventative - Paul ("A thorn given to keep from conceit...")
  3. Educational - Job ("I had heard of you... but now my eyes see you...")

Well, we are on the homestretch of Hebrews and in our text, the author wants to show these beleaguered Chrsitians tempted to shrink back that what they were experiencing - persecution and hardship - is the loving discipline of the heavenly Father. 

 

Endure Hardship as God’s Faithful, Loving Discipline

First, they were told to consider Christ who in his work of bearing sin, was treated with hatred and hostility. And the purpose of considering Christ in this way is that we not grow weary and fainthearted. We are to persevere and not give up. We are to endure and not shrink back in weariness. Then he says that in their hardship - their suffering - which he calls a “struggle against sin”, they have not shed blood yet. In other words, it could be worse. Nobody has been martyred yet. Now, why does he call this a struggle with sin? They are being persecuted. Well, I think the author is changing metaphors from an endurance race (a marathon), to a contest, a wrestling match (struggle, fight) with sin. In one sense, that describes much of the Christian life. It is not the only way, but it is a way. And so in their suffering, it was a struggle against sin - perhaps in particular the sin of unbelief. It was a fight, serious combat with unbelief. 

Now what is interesting and for some problematic is how the author connects their present suffering at the hands of hostile men with God’s faithful, loving discipline. In other words, what others do to you out of sinful hostility, God is doing in fatherly discipline. There really were men who were hostile toward these Christians, causing them real harm, short of death (no shedding of blood). But the author wants to help them see through the hands of hostility and hate from these men and see the hands of tender compassion and love from their Father in heaven, disciplining them.

Verses 5-7a show us that the reason why we grow weary and fainthearted is we forget that God disciplines those he loves. Verses 5-6 is quoting Proverbs 3:11-12:

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 (there it is) when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.

The Lord’s discipline is not an isolated, obscure teaching in the bible. God’s discipline is a theme in the scriptures and when applied to his people, his children, it is always seen as a good thing. Painful, but good. It is important to state clearly, discipline, not wrath. The discipline of a loving, faithful Father. In the NT, wrath is NEVER poured out on his children, it is always reserved for the unbelieving. Christ extinguished the wrath of God for all who trust him. There is none left for God’s children. But he does discipline and it is a good thing.

Psalm 94:12 says, “Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O LORD, and whom you teach out of your law.” Psalm 119:75 says, “I know, O LORD, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.” In Revelation 3:19, the Lord Jesus himself says, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.

We need to understand this. This is important to knowing your God and for living by faith when suffering and difficulty comes, because sooner or later it will. WE need to learn to see through painful circumstances to see the loving chastening of God. Well, our text gives us three reasons to endure hardship as divine discipline:

  1. Divine discipline is from a loving, faithful Father who is treating you as his beloved child.
  2. Divine discipline is for your sanctification and life.
  3. Divine discipline is so that you will bear more fruit.

 

Three Reasons to Endure Hardship As God’s Discipline:

Divine discipline is from a loving, faithful Father who is treating you as his beloved child. 

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? (v. 7)

Discipline proves that you are a child of God. It is evidence that you belong to him. In the ancient world, it was unthinkable that a good, faithful father could love his child and not discipline him or her. In modern times, this is lost on many. But the bible is clear. A faithful father will discipline the child he loves. Proverbs 13:24 says, “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.”

When we endure hardship as God’s discipline, He is treating us as his dearly loved children. We have to know this! But it goes further. It says if we are not disciplined, that is a bad sign. 

If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. (v. 8)

Take out that middle phrase just for a moment. “If you are left without discipline, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.” No discipline from God the Father? Well, then he is not your Father. You are an illegitimate child. You do not belong to him. Now, in the middle there is the phrase: “in which all have participated”, which is just the author saying all true children have and are disciplined by their heavenly Father.

And in fact, a real son would draw out more discipline than an illegitimate son because of the responsibility and privilege that belonged to him. Of course, the ultimate example of this is our Lord, Jesus Christ - the supreme Son; God’s only begotten and eternal Son. In Hebrews 5:8-9 it says of Christ: 

Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.

The hardships and disciplines we walk through are signs of our legitimacy as sons and daughters of the most high God. Don’t resist your Father’s discipline. He is treating you as his beloved child.

 

Divine discipline is for your sanctification (v. 9-10)

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? (v. 9)

Our fathers by natural, physical birth who disciplined us lovingly (though imperfectly) gained our respect and honor. Shall we not much more be subject to God. Do you hear the author arguing from the lesser to the greater. The words, “much more”. I loved my dad. He was far from perfect. But he was perfect for me. And he disciplined me. And it was through his discipline, that I knew he loved me. And I loved and respected him for it. 

The Father of spirits, our eternal Father by spiritual birth disciplines us so that we may know the fullness of life in the Spirit. The word live can mean to have a full and vigorous spiritual life. And notice how the author connects this with our sanctification in verse 10:

For (reason) 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. (v. 10)

Holiness. God wants us to share his holiness. This is a beautiful thing. If you are his child, God wants to share the beauty of his holiness with you. Unfortunately, holiness is often thought synonymous with prudish, harsh, unlovely, and lifeless. That could not be further from the truth. To share in God’s holiness is to be beautified from the inside out by God. I love the way Peter puts this is 2 Peter 1:4: “partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”

It means to grow in Christlikeness, which if you are a Christian, is the very reason God chose you before the foundation of the world (Romans 8:29). Your experience of walking in the Spirit is connected to your growth in holiness - remember he is the Holy Spirit. I think this helps us understand what the author was saying in verse 4 when talked about their “struggle against sin”. Why do we combat sin? Because it is for our sanctification and strength and joy of life in the Spirit. 

Paul says in Romans 8:13 that if you “live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Just a few verses later, we see what is at stake: “Strive for peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” So, Paul sums up the will of God for the Christian in 1 Thessalonians 4:3 this way: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification.” 

Endure hardship as the loving, faithful discipline of your heavenly Father - it is for your sanctification and life. 

 

Divine discipline is so you will bear more fruit (v. 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. (v. 11)

I asked the kids earlier if they enjoyed discipline while they were receiving it. Nobody raised their hand. Because it is painful in the moment, not pleasant. The second part of the verse is so important. But later. Now it is painful, but later… The NASB puts it this way, “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful.” Not joyful, but sorrowful. I hope you are not hearing today, “Just put a chipper smile on when life really hurts”, or “stiffen your upper lip”. No, the faithful, loving discipline of the Father is painful and sorrowful, not joyful and pleasant. BUT LATER, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Later comes the harvest. This farming metaphor is helpful. 

Because it shows that the fruit is sure to come, but it comes later. Sometimes much later than we want. Only the young child who doesn’t understand how a plant grows, puts a seed in the soil and expects it to grow in front of his eyes. But do not doubt it for a second, the Father’s good intention in your discipline is to make you bear much fruit. Jesus teaches us this in John 15 when he says, 

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. (15:1-2)

The Father prunes (painful) the branches that bear fruit, so they can bear more fruit. Notice the fruit in vese 11 is described as “peaceful fruit of righteousness.” So it is righteous fruit which is described as “peaceful” which comes later, after the painful discipline. Listen to Spurgeon expound on the truth of this verse: 

None so happy as tried Christians, afterwards. No calm more deep than that which comes after a storm. There is a lull in the atmosphere after the hurricane which is not known at other times. Who has not seen clear shinings after rain? God giveth sweet banquets to his children after the battle. It is after the rod that he gives the honeycomb; after climbing the Hill Difficulty, we sit down in the arbour to rest; after passing the wilderness we come to the House Beautiful; after we have gone down the Valley of Humiliation, after we have fought with Apollyon, the shining one appears to us and gives us the branch which heals us. It is always “afterwards” with the Christian. He has his best things last...

The peaceful fruit of righteousness. Endure hardship as the loving, faithful discipline of your heavenly Father - it is so you bear much fruit.. 

 

Two Responses to Hardship:

Oblivious, forgetful (v. 5)

Get no benefit from it. But at least today, I’ve reminded you. You may forget again, at your own peril. Because forgetfulness eventually leads to hard hearts and stiff necks. In the OT, do you know what often started the Jewish people down the road to idolatry and eventually judgment? They forgot. Psalm 78, Deuteronomy 28, Judges (over and over again)the entire OT Israelite saga. They did not remember. And then they drifted away from God. So I read it again. Verse 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. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”  

Don’t forget. The other option is you can allow discipline to train you.

 

Allow it to train us (v. 11)

Verse 11 says that discipline produces the peaceful fruit of righteousness “to those who have been trained by it.” The word trained means to “exercise vigorously”, like in athletics. What happens when you engage in vigorous exercise over time? Produces strength and endurance. The last year or two have been like hell for some of you. But you have persevered and become stronger through it. That is not an accident. You have been trained! No doubt, other people can do horrible things to us. Circumstances out of our control. Devastating news can come out of nowhere. The ongoing, nagging thorns that don’t seem to ever go away. 

And yet, in all of these things, can we, by faith, see through them and see the loving hand of our faithful Father, treating us like his dearly loved children, making us like his Son - our Brother Jesus, and causing us to bear fruit for his glory? Let’s allow our Father to train us through His loving discipline. Let’s pray.

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