Mother’s Day …
God Disciplines His Children
Hebrews 12:4-13
“In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 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, because the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastens everyone He accepts as His son.’
“Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as His children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?
“If you are not disciplined - and everyone undergoes discipline - then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.
“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!
“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.
“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.
“Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. ‘Make level paths for your feet,’ so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.”
Mentioned in this passage: Discipline (10), rebuke and chasten.
How many of you saw reports on these two moms in the past couple of weeks?
The mom in Baltimore who “assaulted” her son who had a hoodie and mask on during the riots.
The mom who had her 10 year old son “arrested” in order to get him to behave in school.
Really … what do we think about when we hear the word “discipline”? The subject usually devolves into “do you spank or don’t you spank your children?” Right?
Proverbs 5:23
“For lack of discipline they will die, led astray by their own great folly.”
Susannah Wesley was the mother of 19 children, including John and Charles Wesley. Through much adversity, she dedicated her life to instilling a sense of Christian Destiny into each of her children. Her children went on to change the world.
Here are 16 rules she laid down in her home.
1. Eating between meals not allowed.
2. As children they are to be in bed by 8 p.m.
3. They are required to take medicine without complaining.
4. Subdue self- will in a child, and those working together with God to save the child's soul.
5. To teach a child to pray as soon as he can speak.
6. Require all to be still during Family Worship.
7. Give them nothing that they cry for, and only that when asked for politely.
8. To prevent lying, punish no fault which is first confessed and repented of.
9. Never allow a sinful act to go unpunished.
10. Never punish a child twice for a single offense.
11. Comment and reward good behavior.
12. Any attempt to please, even if poorly performed, should be commended.
13. Preserve property rights, even in smallest matters.
14. Strictly observe all promises.
15. Require no daughter to work before she can read well.
16. Teach children to fear the rod.
ON DISCIPLINE
Susannah Wesley believed that for a child to grow into a self-disciplined adult, he/she must first be a parent-disciplined child. To her, the stubborn flesh was the hardest battle for Christians to fight, and Godly parents would do well to equip their children to overcome it early.
Discipline is a life saver!!!
Whether you agree with all of Susanna Wesley’s house rules or not you must agree that discipline is a life saver!
Example: If you train your child to stop when you say stop it could very well save their life when they chase ball out into the street in front of an oncoming car. I've seen parents who have yelled "stop" to their child and the child just giggled and kept on running with no response from the parents. In the scenario stated above that child would be in grave danger. Discipline is a life saver!
Now, it’s true that a good mother can influence her children positively and a bad mother can influence her children negatively, but, we also must realize that the child has an important role in the outcome of their lives.
Since it is Mother’s Day we are mostly thinking about mothers and their influence on children.
I remember that Karenlee would leave most mother’s day presentations feeling pretty poorly since she could never measure up to the standard presented by the speaker (at least in her own mind).
And, for Pete’s sake! Who am I to speak about motherhood????
So, I’ll speak about being a child, OK? I have the mental capacity and maturity level to speak about being a child!
We, who are born again, are all children! We are children of the Most High God!
The Most High God is not some newbie parent who is just trying to figure things out! We know that when God disciplines us He does it for our own good and He always does it fairly and correctly.
So, let’s not bother about analyzing God’s discipline of us. Let’s look at the often overlooked aspect of self discipline!
What is one of our memory Scriptures?
Galatians 2:20
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Against such things there is no law.”
Could self control also be self discipline?
1 Corinthians 9:25-27
“Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
“Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
Why does Paul do this? He has a goal! Not an earthly goal like money or fame or popularity or power or even and Olympic gold medal but to please the Father!
Shouldn’t we have the same goal? We live not to bring glory to ourselves but to our Father in Heaven! He is our goal. He is our Prize.
So, discipline is the word. We go into strict training!
Do you remember when we went over Susanna Wesley’s list of household rules?
The following is a list of spiritual disciplines. If we were to rate ourselves on this following list how would we do?
I found a list of spiritual disciplines on a site called Soul Shepherding which is a ministry for pastors and leaders of church ministries. The list is challenging. Let’s take a look at them …
Now, remember, we have our Father in Heaven to help us with these disciplines. If we were to try them without being in the Kingdom of God these would be turned into legalistic practices which would benefit no one.
These come from a heart aching for the presence of God and growth in His likeness.
On that insert that says “Sermon Notes” pick one of these for yourself and write it down. We could even discuss some of these at a later date.
Solitude:
- Refraining from interacting with other people in order to be alone with God
and be found by Him. (Solitude is completed by silence.)
- Solitude is not solitude if you have the radio or TV on.
- Solitude tells God, “You are important and I am taking time to seek You.”
Silence:
- Not speaking in a quiet place in order to quiet our minds and whole self
and attend to God’s presence.
- If we spend enough time before God in silence the Holy Spirit will evoke
and bring up into our consciousness whatever sins, burdens, or hurts that
we’ve repressed.
Fasting:
- Going without food (or something else) for a period of intense prayer -
the fast may be complete or partial.
- The purpose of fasting is prayer.
- Side benefit: You may discover that you’ve been relying on food - more
than Jesus - to provide comfort, fullness, rewards, energy pick ups, or
simply having something to look forward to.
Sabbath:
- Doing no work to rest in God’s person and provision; praying and
fellowship with God and others.
- Do not work. That’s the basis of Sabbath and why as a discipline it’s a
way of practicing abstinence or self-denial. Do no work means not working
at your job, not earning money, not getting engrossed in projects, and, as
much as possible, not engaging in your normal life responsibilities,
including at home.
Secrecy:
- Not making our good deeds or qualities known to let God or others
receive attention and to find our sufficiency in God alone.
Submission:
- Not asserting ourselves in order to come under the authority, wisdom, and
power of Jesus Christ as our Lord, King, and Master.
Disciplines of Engagement
Really listening to the heart of the other person.
This is a form of ministry (related to pastoral Ministry of Presence)
Often we are formulating a reply or solution as the other person speaks
Bible Reading:
- Trusting the Holy Spirit-inspired words of Scripture as our guide, wisdom,
and strength for life.
Worship:
- Praising God’s greatness, goodness, and beauty in words, music or silence.
Prayer:
- Conversing with God about what we’re experiencing and doing together.
Soul Friendship:
- Engaging fellow disciples of Jesus in prayerful conversation or other
spiritual practices.
Personal Reflection:
- Paying attention to our inner self in order to grow in love for God and others.
Service:
- Humbly serving God by overflowing with His love and compassion to
others, especially those in need.
So, what did you think about that list? Are there any on which you are weak. Are there any which you had not even considered as a spiritual discipline? Will we ever achieve perfection in these disciplines? No, but we can have the same attitude as the apostle Paul had in Philippians 3:12-14.
Philippians 3:12-14
“Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
“Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Whatever our mother was like, good or bad, we have heavenly Father who loves us. We have a heavenly Father who knows what we can be in Him if we cast aside the things of this world and discipline ourselves, with His help, into what He would have us to be.
Conclusion and invitation.
