“and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; 6 FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.” NASB
There are some things that have to be considered and understood before we go into the verses of our text today, otherwise we will not begin on the correct path and we will miss the point altogether.
The first thing that must be considered is that the author has been encouraging his readers to follow the example of manifested faith that those who have gone before left for us. He has called us to run this faith race, as it were, with endurance, looking always to Jesus. Remember that we talked about the implication of the wording which was that we were to look away from all else. Look away! Look away and do not be distracted. Fix your eyes on Jesus, and put your faith into action in your life.
The next thing to consider and the most important thing, really, is that Jesus has gone before us all. He comes before all of these people listed in the eleventh chapter; before anyone who has ever lived. He is preeminent.
And the writer says that this Jesus who, again according to verse 3 of chapter 12 we are to consider carefully, has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself that he endured the cross despising its shame and has sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
What I want to highlight for you here, is that he is telling us to do this – to consider Jesus in this regard, in light of all that He endured, all that He suffered, as a source of encouragement for ourselves so that we too will endure and not lose heart.
Now we have to keep this in mind as we go on because we’re going to be talking about discipline that comes to us from God, and it is when we forget that we are following the One who suffered so much for us, more really than He will ever ask any one of us to suffer, it is when we forget that that we begin to think our trials are too difficult and God too harsh, and we turn back to the sin of accusing Him of not caring enough for us – whether that accusation is made with words or just in our responses and reactions to life.
This is why the author of this letter reminds us that we have not yet resisted sin to the point of shedding blood. What does he mean by that? He means that no one of Adam’s race has ever resisted temptation with such resolve and such holy vigor that they have actually shed blood as Christ did in the garden on the night He was betrayed.
No one has ever fought that hard against the temptation to disobey God that they’ve strained out sweat drops of blood. Therefore the writer is saying, look carefully at this example of Christ your head, and continue to endure.
His message here is complemented by Peter’s words in his first letter, and although it’s a long passage to include which is not our primary text, I want to read it for you prior to going farther down our road.
“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; 13 but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. 14 If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; 16 but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 AND IF IT IS WITH DIFFICULTY THAT THE RIGHTEOUS IS SAVED, WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE GODLESS MAN AND THE SINNER? 19 Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.” 1 Pet 4:12-19
Peter is saying that we should not be surprised that we need the fire of trials in our life to continue the sanctifying process in us. And he is saying that judgment must begin at the household of God, and his message to us there, in brief, is that God will make His own house holy before He passes judgment on those who rejected holiness. Then he ends by saying that those who suffer according to the will of God have entrusted their souls to Him as their Creator, to do what is right and best for them.
That’s what the writer to the Hebrews is also telling us in this entire passage we’re coming to today.
But there is one more thing that must be understood before we end this lengthy introduction today; we must understand what sin really is, for only as we understand that will we begin to comprehend why we need this disciplining that we will be describing as we go.
You see, the sin that has separated you from God is not something you have done. That’s always the first thing we think of, isn’t it? Well, I used to do this or that, or I once did this thing, and that was sin.
Well, it might have been. But whatever it was, it didn’t make you a sinner. We are not made sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners.
The sin that separates man from God is the attitude that man has toward God.
He made the first man in the Garden of Eden and that man was perfect. He had no sin and he enjoyed a perfect relationship with God. Then he decided one day that God didn’t really have his best interest in mind and that he could be his own god, so he turned his back on his Creator and became a sinner. And every man or woman born since then is born a sinner in need of a Savior, and the only Savior is Jesus Christ who died and rose again.
So we’re going to go on now, but before we do I want to give you a word of encouragement. When you are talking to someone and they indicate that they think the sin that separates people from God is something they have done or are doing, don’t let yourself get caught up in their circular, directionless thinking.
No, you tell them that those things they do or do not do are not what separates them from God, but that they do those things because they are separated from God, but that Jesus Christ has provided reconciliation and His blood is sufficient to pay for all they’ve done or ever will do.
Now the reason I wanted to be sure you understood this fundamental truth about sin is because in our basic nature we are all sinners and even once forgiven and saved and filled with the Holy Spirit that nature in us will want to rebel, and we are thus in need of disciplining, chastening, purifying, and only God our heavenly Father can do that. But He wants to do that because He loves us, and this is where we begin today.
WHAT IS THIS DISCIPLINE?
Let’s take a look at what this discipline is and why this word is employed. Now I know it’s not the same in every translation. Some say ‘chastening’, but they come down to the same basic meaning as used in context of Hebrews 12.
The Lord disciplines, the Lord chastens. If you look up the two in an English dictionary you see different definitions. As used here though, they both refer to the refining work God continues to do in the Christ-follower to purify his or her character and continue the work that began the moment of salvation, which is to conform the believer to the image of His Son.
We get that from Romans 8:28-30.
Now this is why so many of the very public so-called ministries that have gained attention in our time, many of them with television programs, have unfortunately been very successful by the world’s standards, because people like the message they broadcast.
They preach a gospel of ease and wealth and comfort and popularity. We’ve talked about them before, I won’t belabor it. But this is not the Gospel of Christ. This is not the message of the Bible at all.
The life of the follower of Christ – and you must listen very carefully because it won’t come gently to your thinking – the life of the follower of Christ is supposed to be a life of trials, suffering, difficulty, testing, rejection, pain. This is the life our Lord lived on this world and those who are His true followers will, not by choice but by calling and according to the new creation, live that kind of life also.
This sort of life is called the discipline of the Lord. It is the chastening without which no one will see the Lord. Where did I get that? It is one verse beyond our text today; verse 14.
We are to pursue sanctification, not run from it. But let’s go back before we get out of bounds.
Verse 6 says, “For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives.” We’re going to talk about who it is that God disciplines and this use of the term ‘sons’. What I want you to observe first from this verse though, is that the objects of God’s chastening are those whom the Lord loves.
Discipline is an expression of love. I hope that was or is true in your homes, if you have had children or if you currently are children. When discipline is not issuing from love that is when it becomes abuse. That is a sad situation and there are many all over the world and in our own culture whose lives are filled with needless and horrifying pain, both physical and emotional, because discipline does not issue from love and is therefore not truly discipline at all, but simply hate-driven abuse.
But God loves His called ones. He loves us and that is why He continues to discipline, to chasten us. If he did not discipline, if He let us have lives of ease and comfort, going our own way, having our own will, ignoring Him and living for ourselves only, that would prove that He did not love us. According to Hebrews 12:8 we would be bastards. Illegitimate children. Unloved, uncared for, untrained, directionless, lost, without God and without hope in the world.
Do you hear what I’m saying? The so-called preachers that teach people the ways of the world and not the ways of God are giving birth to bastards. The demonic character of their ministries is that they are telling people they are Christians bound for Heaven, when in truth they are illegitimate children who will be in for the most terrifying surprise possible, when they stand before the Throne and hear the words, “Depart from Me, I never knew you”.
But God loves His called ones and so He disciplines them, He continues to purify them. And before we move on let me point out that the word ‘scourges’ is used here. You may have been wondering about that.
We’ve all heard, I trust, what scourging is. It’s what was done to Jesus after Pilate pronounced his judgment and sentenced Jesus to die. They tore His clothing from Him and scourged Him with a multi-tipped whip; each tip being fastened to a piece of bone or rock that would tear at the flesh.
These folks hearing this sermon for the first time – I mean this letter to the HEBREWS – would have had a very clear picture in their mind of what a scourge was, since most would have witnessed it and some would have endured it.
God scourges those He loves, believers. Don’t reject that word. He is God and He proves that He cares about our eternal soul in that He does whatever it takes to peel the layers of the sin nature from us one at a time as He makes us more like Jesus.
He doesn’t do it with makeup. He doesn’t do it with presents. He doesn’t do it with whining cajoling hoping we’ll obey. He is the Lord, who scourges every son He receives. Every son whom He receives. Every…one.
WHO DOES GOD DISCIPLINE?
Let’s take a look at this term ‘son’ to be certain we’re clear about it.
Vs 7 “It is for discipline that you endure, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?”
That first phrase is bumpy. It is for discipline that you endure. What? In other words, consider hardship as discipline, as chastening, and endure it.
Why endure it? Because God is dealing with you as sons! The word is used throughout the New Testament and is always the same – sons. One or two translations say ‘children’ and that’s ok, because I think we all understand that the term ‘sons’ in this context refers generally to offspring.
We are, as ones called and regenerated and born spiritually into God’s family, offspring. We are His children.
Someone said we don’t truly appreciate what we have until we lose it. I think perhaps the same might be said to a degree at least for those who never had it but realize what they’ve missed.
George MacDonald was a 19th century orator and story-writer who C.S. Lewis once called his master as relates to story-telling and relating truth through fantasy.
One of MacDonald’s short stories was titled, “The Gifts of the Child Christ”. The main character of the story is little six year old, Sophy who lived in a home with her nurse and two parents, all of whom, wrapped in their own self-centered world, went about their days coming and going with hardly an indication they were aware Sophy existed. The most attention she received was irritation when her presence or her basic needs as a child were injected into their separate and selfish routines.
In church one Sunday Sophy had sat quietly as always and listened to the preacher drone on. She understood little of all this adult monologue, but one thing that stayed with her was the declaration that whom the Lord loves He chastens. And ever after that morning Sophy wished and even prayed that the Lord would chasten her so that she would know He loved her.
As MacDonald relates the story he tells of Sophy, ignored and lonely, sitting in her little rocking chair in her room beginning to read a senseless little children’s book but quickly losing interest in it; he goes on,
“But she did not read far; her thoughts went back to a phrase which had haunted her ever since first she went to church: “Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth.”
“I wish he would chasten me,” she thought for the hundredth time.
The small Christian had no suspicion that her whole life had been a period of chastening – that few children indeed had to live in such a sunless atmosphere as hers.” The Gifts of the Child Christ, G. MacDonald, Eerdman’s Pub. Reprinted from The Gifts of the Child Christ and Other Tales, 1882
You see, children of God, this discipline talked about in Hebrews 12 is not the spankings we get for individual occasional fits of ill-behavior. When preached in that light I feel a great injustice is done to the Scriptures and the hearer has been robbed of a blessing.
For God is in the process, every day a believer remains in this world, of chastening him or her, purifying him or her and making His loved ones into the image of Christ.
In the end of the story it is Sophy’s innocent, child-like faith in God and her desire to be chastened by Him so strong that she receives the death of her infant brother as a gift of love that opens the eyes of her selfish elders and brings them together.
But in truth it wasn’t the death of the child that God used to chasten Sophy; it was through Sophy that the parents were chastened in that death. Sophy’s chastening was the hardship she endured with faith and patience and child-like obedience wanting only to be loved and to know that God loved her.
Christ-follower, if you are one who is born from above and you have the Holy Spirit and you know you are His forever, you can count every pain, every trial, every sadness, every sorrow that you endure in this life as an expression of the love that the Father has for you; for He loves you enough to discipline you.
I don’t remember who it was who said, “God loves his own just as they are, but He loves them too much to leave them that way” it is a truth, nonetheless.
WHY DOES GOD DISCIPLINE?
Well, I come to the question now of why God disciplines, although we’ve really been talking about it all along.
Verse 10 says it clearly. “…but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness”
I know I skipped the first part of the verse. We shouldn’t do that. We should look at the vast difference between why earthly fathers discipline and why God does.
How many times do parents punish their children out of exasperation or anger or even embarrassment? Even when those emotions are not present and the parent disciplines the child for what we would consider all the right reasons, it is because we’re trying to develop that child into someone who will live well in society and not bring shame upon themselves or their family. That’s the best case scenario.
But here the writer says, that God’s motives, as always, are pure and perfect and all with our good in mind. We cannot truly detract from Him or bring anything of value to Him. Our very best thoughts and behavior are still dung next to holiness.
So it is not for Himself or for His good that He chastens, but so that we may share His holiness.
Does it hurt? Sure. It’s a painful process because it calls for a daily death to self and the world and we don’t really want to do that. We’d be much more comfortable sinning. But we have this promise in verse 11 that when it is done it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
See, believer? God’s love, shown in discipline. He loved you so much from before you existed that He chose to die for you. Now that you are His though, He loves you too much to leave you as you are.
He loves you too much to let you wander your own unrighteous path and squander His gifts. He loves you so much that He cannot not continue the work He began, to make you like His Son Jesus.
It’s a painful, lifelong process – the Bible assures us that it is – but it is a necessary one and it is a labor of love. For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives.
WHAT IS TO BE OUR RESPONSE?
Read verses 12 and 13 again:
“Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.”
What is this trumpet call to the Hebrews and to us in light of the things he has explained to us about the love of the Lord expressed in discipline?
Endure! Endure! Remember the ancients who when disciplined responded in humility and contrition and grew from it. Remember David who prayed and fasted until the news of his infant son’s death came to his ears then he went and washed his face and blessed his God.
Remember Job who when everything on earth was taken from him, moaned in his misery but prayed.
Remember Paul, who when he prayed begging the Lord to remove what he called his thorn in the flesh, was encouraged with these words;
“My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness”, and who then proclaimed, “Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me”
Think of faithful Christ-followers in history like Helen Keller, who could not remember hearing or seeing anything in her life, but lived for Jesus and blessed Him wherever she went; or Fanny Crosby who lost her sight due to a high fever at a young age but left us with some of the greatest hymns of the church that glorify and magnify the name of Christ.
Think about Corey Ten Boom whose sister died horribly in one of Hitler’s damnable camps, but grew through her suffering and spent her days telling people about the deep, deep love of Jesus who resisted sin to the shedding of blood.
Strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble. Endure as seeing Him who is yet unseen and you will see Him when He glorifies you in an instant.
This is the message of the preacher, Christians! Endure! Endure hardship and consider it all discipline; for this is how the unsearchable love of God our Father is shown to us.
Lord, ne’er hear me cry, ‘No more!’
But have Thy will in me;
For every cloud that darks my door
Just makes me more like Thee!
c.e.t.
