The Love Of God's Discipline

The Love of God’s Discipline

Hebrews 12:4-11

Online Sermon: http://www.mckeesfamily.com/?page_id=3567

How does one throw off everything that hinders our walk with God and “run the race, fight the good fight, and finish well” in the face of the debilitating anguish of hardships? Day and night believers constantly battle against both external and internal sin. Since those who are perishing still see the cross as foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:18) and fear approaching the light because it would expose their evil (John 3:20), they often become instruments of persecution of those who put their faith in the way, truth, and life (John 14:6). The struggle to defend ourselves against the sinners attacking us is not an easy one and as such to avoid the rejection, verbal criticisms, and attempts to “assassinate” our character and alienate us from the public arena of approval the elect are often tempted to give into the temptation to imitate the world so that they might stop inflicting upon us pain and accept us as their own! To help believers endure the hardships and not grow weary and lose heart (12:3) we are to remember that in the face of far greater opposition a cloud of great witnesses and especially Christ Himself were able to remain steadfast in their desire to do the will of God the Father in heaven. It is one thing to endure the sinful hostility of one’s adversaries for His name’s sake (Matthew 5:10) but how does one handle the excruciating painful hardship of being disciplined by the Lord? When the wrath of the One who ushered in the Twelve Plagues of Egypt, smote the inhabitants of Canaan and Sodom and Gomorrah, and is about to cast the Devil and his demons eternally into the lake of fire casts His punishment upon you, how or is it even possible to endure? To cope are we to make light of His discipline by assigning the hardship to the mere byproduct of living in a fallen world? Are we to view the Lord’s rebuke and chastening of us as “an angry God pounding away at a wicked sinner” to punitively correct our wayward behavior or is there a better way to view His discipline? How does our response to the Lord’s discipline affect whether it leads to a harvest of peace and righteousness? In the following sermon we are going to review Hebrews 12:4-11 to find the motive and intended blessings of the Lord’s discipline!

Our Attitude Towards God’s Discipline

Since one “cannot be profoundly influenced (or encouraged) by that which we do not know,” in the face of hardship the author of Hebrews invites us to read and understand the implications of Proverbs 3:1-12. For those who are struggling with sin in the form of sinful persecutors one is to rejoice that “God’s sovereign hand is at work” for it is by faithful perseverance and His sustaining grace that God often allows us to experience hardships in order to train us to be holy as He is holy! It is often through suffering, pain, and persecutions that we experience a “renewed confidence in His providential care” and a fresh willingness to draw nearer and submit to His right to rule over our lives. For those struggling with hardship that comes from the Lord’s discipline the author of Hebrews invites the reader to remember that God does not rebuke and chastise us as “an angry God against an unholy sinner” but does so as a loving Father correcting His child. The Jewish congregation in which this letter addressed, who were familiar with the Wisdom literature of the Old Testament, knew the Proverbs passage to mean that “God purged the sins of His children by sufferings designed to lead one to repentance” so that one’s relationship with God might grow in righteousness (Psalms 119:67, 71, 75). Not only should one not fear God unjustly disciplining His own, neither should one make light of it or let His chastisement lead to one’s dismay! For discipline to reach its goal of training us in holiness we must resist the urge to dismiss the hardships as the product of living in a fallen world lest we miss out on its significance as an invitation for us to repent.

We are to remember that God’s discipline is not done vindictively and meant to drive us to despair but is to be seen as the firm guidance and correction of the Father who loves us His children and desires that they might obtain the “whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11) in their lives! Reflection. When persecuted do you trust in God’s sovereignty and persevere so that you might become more mature in the faith? When you are in the throes of hardship do you stop and ask God if your difficult times are a product of His mighty hand of discipline? Despite feeling pain and anguish do you also feel the Father’s love when being disciplined?