Be subject to your Father’s discipline

Sermon Transcript

I’ve run exactly one marathon in my life. And like any marathon, the point was to finish and endurance was required. My one marathon happened to be a trail marathon and like many such races, there was no parking at the trailhead where the race began. So, runners parked their cars in a lot and took shuttles to the start of the race. I didn’t think much of the whole shuttle thing until I reached the final aid station at mile 20 of the 26.2 mile race. When I arrived at the aid station, one of my legs was really bothering me from all of the elevation gain throughout the race. It was a dark moment of pain and doubt about whether I could finish. So, I’m sitting, sipping Gatorade, trying to compose myself, and what do I see? My car. The race organizers had placed the mile 20 aid station next to the parking lot where the shuttles had picked us up. Big mistake! The trials, the pain, and the seemingly easier way out of my car all tempted me to drop out and miss the point and joy of the race: finishing. Hebrews 12 is in the Bible to help us run the race of faith with endurance to the end so that we can enter into the eternal joy of our Master, Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 12:4-17, our passage this morning, is specifically in the Bible to help us run the race of faith with endurance by adjusting our perspective on the trials, tribulations, and temptations that we encounter on the narrow path. It was written to adjust our perspective. When we face the trials, temptations, tribulations, and corrections associated with running the narrow path of faith, we feel like we are God forsaken, which tempts us to slow down, coast, and even drop out of the race of faith. Hebrews 12:4-17 is in the Bible to adjust our perspective so that we see our difficulties as the Father’s loving discipline, which fits us to run with endurance to the end. Hebrews 12:9-10 provides the heart of the perspective adjustment: 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? [10] For 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. Instead of seeing our trials as God’s disfavor, we need to receive them as his loving discipline, fitting us to run. That brings us to the big idea of our passage this morning: Be subject to your Father’s discipline. Be subject to your Father’s loving discipline. Don’t despise his discipline, don’t distrust it, don’t squirm or complain under it. Instead, but subject to His discipline; bear up under it with a quiet, content, trusting heart, despite the pain. Now, that’s very difficult. Therefore, our passage provides two reasons why we should be subject to our Father’s loving discipline: 1. Because His discipline flows from His love (vv. 4-13) 2. Because He disciplines us for peace and holiness (vv. 14-17).

BECAUSE HIS DISCIPLINE FLOWS FROM HIS LOVE (vv. 4-13)

Hebrews 12:5-6 – And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? Now the author quotes Proverbs 3:11-12:

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
[6] For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”

In the original Hebrew, the last clause from Proverbs 3:12 says, “the son in whom he delights.” I love that. Be subject to your Father’s discipline because his discipline flows from his love. He doesn’t just love us dutifully, he delights in us warmly. And the proof that God’s discipline flows from his love is that he addresses us as sons. He loves us like sons. That love is all the more astonishing when we remember that no one is born a son of God. We were all born sons of our father, Adam. At birth, we inherited his guilt and we’ve all followed in Adam’s footsteps by disobeying and ignoring God in the world He created. Far from sons, we are my nature God’s enemies. But the heart of the Christian gospel is that God shows his love for us in that when we were sinners and enemies, Christ died for our sins to make us sons. Christ became what we are that we might become what he is. Adoption is the heart of the gospel. If you’ve trusted in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then God is your adopted Father and he addresses you as his beloved sons and daughters. His discipline flows from his love, therefore, you can be subject to it.

In fact, far from discouraging you, your Father’s discipline should assure you that you’re his legitimate sons and daughters in Christ. Hebrews 12:7-8 – 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? [8] If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. In the ancient world, education and inheritance were limited only to legitimate children. He’s treating us as sons. His discipline flows from his Fatherly love. We can be subject to it, rather than despising it or being discouraged. And because His discipline flows from his love, we can trust that his discipline is only for our good, and be subject to it. Hebrews 12:9-11 – 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? [10] For 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. [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. Every good dad disciplines his kids. It’s for a limited time and it’s imperfect, but we respect our dads for that. How much more should we be subject to, rather than discouraged by, our Heavenly Father’s loving discipline, which yields the peaceful fruit of holiness and righteousness in us. Now, though our Father’s discipline flows from his adopting love to us in Christ, and is for our good, for the moment it’s still painful, rather than pleasant. Sometimes after I discipline my children I tell them that I love them and do it for their good. Sometimes one of them is honest enough to say, “I don’t feel loved!” Of course they don’t. Of course they don’t feel loved or understand how it could be for their good. They can’t see what their mom and I are building. They can’t see that we’re trying to build them into a man or a woman who obeys God quickly, who tells the truth even when it’s costly, and does what they say they’re going to do. They can’t see that. In the moment it only seems painful, not pleasant. You may be in a season when the Father’s discipline, whether it’s corrective or educative, feels only painful. Perhaps you can’t possibly see how it can flow from his love and be for your good. Trust him. He’s building something beautiful. His discipline is his hammer and chisel to make you over into the likeness of Christ so that you can run with endurance.

Friends, now that you see that your Father’s discipline flows from his love, be subject to it, rather than letting it discourage you. Don’t despise or be discouraged by it. Be subject to it. Hebrews 12:12-13 – Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, [13] and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Drooping hands and weak knees are outward descriptions of a discouraged heart. It’s the posture of the person that doesn’t know that the Father’s discipline flows out of his love and his for our good. But you know, so lift up your drooping hands, choose to let go of discouragement, and even if you’ve dropped out or been coasting for a season, turn and run the race of faith with endurance. Be subject to your Father’s discipline. Don’t despise it, don’t grumble about it, don’t grow weary of it, and don’t distrust Him. Now that you know what he’s building and that his discipline flows from his Fatherly love in Christ, be subject to it, bear up under it with a quiet, content heart, and run by faith.

Now, a moment ago we learned that our loving Father disciplines us for our good. What specific good does he discipline us for? That question brings us to the second reason why we are subject to our Father’s discipline as we run the race of faith…

BECAUSE THE FATHER DISCIPLINES US FOR PEACE & HOLINESS

When we are subject to the Father’s discipline, rather than discouraged, then we are free to strive for the same things that the Father disciplines us for. For the Christian runner, striving can be a very good thing. Since the Father disciplines us for peace and holiness, we strive for them. First, we strive for peace. Hebrews 12:14a, 15 – Strive for peace with everyone…See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.” When we are subject to the Father’s discipline, the fruit is that we strive for peace. Something stunning happens when we are converted to faith in Jesus and adopted as God’s sons and daughters: we become brothers and sisters with one another. We run together. I can still remember the first half-marathon that I ever ran. There were several men and women holding flags with finish times printed on them. A bunch of people who all had the same goal would gather around the person holding the flags with times printed on them and they’d run together. It’s brilliant because there is far more power for endurance when we run together. The race of faith is not purely individual, it’s a communal, a corporate race. A local church is a group of Christians who gather regularly to affirm and oversee one another’s race of faith so that no one drops out and fails to obtain the grace of God on the final day. But we can’t run together if we’re not striving for peace with one another. We can’t help one another endure when there is unreconciled conflict, rather than peace. So, let me ask you, for the sake of our mutual endurance in the race of faith, is there anyone at Citylight that you’re not at peace with? Is there anyone that you’re presently avoiding, bitter toward, or have something against? If so, for the sake of our endurance together, you’ve got two broad biblical options as you strive for peace: overlook the offense or speak the truth in love. If someone has offended you, take it to your Father in prayer. That’s the first step. When you pray, ask him if it’s relatively minor and you need to overlook it because love covers over a multitude of sins or if it’s a pattern of offense or high-handed sin, in which can you probably won’t be able to live at peace without speaking the truth in love, forgiving, and reconciling. Since the Father disciplines you out of love, strive for peace so that you can run together, and strive for holiness.

Hebrews 12:14 – Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord…Runners in the race of faith who are disciplined by their loving Father, strive for holiness. We are not saved by our holiness, but we are saved for holiness such that without it we will not see God. When we are saved by God’s grace, we receive new hearts that aren’t characterized by perfection, but a new direction and that direction is holiness. What is holiness? In the Old Testament, before a cup, plate, or some other instrument could be devoted to God’s exclusive use in worship, it had to be cleansed. First it was cleansed, and then devoted to be used exclusively for the worship of God. Friends, if you receive and rest in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, then you’ve been cleansed and, like the instruments in the temple, you’ve been cleansed to be devoted exclusively to living for God’s glory in every square inch of your life. That’s what it means to be holy: cleansed and devoted. Since everything that touches our lives is used by God as his loving discipline to help us run the race of faith with endurance, we run after, we strive for peace and holiness. Honest question: Is that what you’re striving for, whether you’re eating, drinking, working, in all that you do? Being subject to your Father’s discipline means striving for what he’s disciplining you for: peace and holiness. Now, according to our passage this morning, striving for the holiness that our Father disciplines us for involves seeking to kill and put to death one particular sin that is common to all of us: sexual immorality. Hebrews 12:15a, 16-17 – See to it…that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. [17] For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears. The example of Esau is a startling one. Esau was a man in the Old Testament, Abraham’s grandson no less, who was so ruled by his appetites that he sold his birthright for a single meal. He later regretted it, but it was done. The birthright was gone no matter how much he cried. The point is clear: God is disciplining you so that you won’t be like Esau. Your Father is disciplining you so today and every day you will not be ruled by your sexual appetites, but will turn from sexual immorality in your mind, on a screen, or with another person. Citylight – out of the overflow of his abundant love in Christ, our Father is disciplining us for peace and holiness, so let’s strive for it.

CONCLUSION

In addition to my full-time work as one of your pastors, I have the privilege of serving as a professor of preaching at Grimke Seminary. I absolutely love my students. One student of mine at the Seminary was adopted at a relatively young age by, I believe it was, his uncle and aunt, but he never felt secure with them. He worked incredibly hard and tried to keep his nose clean so that they wouldn’t send him away from the family. The student tells the story of one day going out to eat with his aunt, uncle, and their biological children. His uncle was an important man in the community. When they sat down at the table, the waiter asked who my student was, not recognizing him as one of his biological children. The uncle responded, “that’s my son.” It completely changed my student’s perspective on life, his joy, and his security. Friends, Christ became what you are that you might become what He is. The sinless Son of God lived a completely righteous life, died in your place and for your sins, and he rose so that if you embrace Him as your only hope in life and in death, then God adopts you and says, “that’s my son.” “That’s my daughter.” He loves you and as you run the race of faith he disciplines you out of love so that you will run the race of faith with endurance, in holiness and peace. Don’t be discouraged. Don’t be weary of the season of discipline, reproof and education. Instead, be subject to your Father’s discipline. He’s treating you like the adopted son that you are.

And so, before we take the Lord’s Supper to remember our sonship by grace and sing songs of praise to our Father, I want to give you a minute or two right where you are to ensure that you are adopted. Give people a minute or two to respond.