Introduction
We may think that discipline and correction are specifically for those who have done something wrong or illegal. For those who have broken the rules.
Yet, discipline can be for more than that. It can be for anyone who wants to grow and develop. It can be for anyone that another seeks to grow and develop.
Look at the military. Basic training is done to discipline civilians into soldiers.
The men and women who are entering basic training did not do anything bad, at least most of them did not, yet they get disciplined on a regular basis.
They are taken from being a regular citizen, even if they were committed to living clean and working out regularly, to a soldier who is capable of much. They have been disciplined to not do certain things and disciplined to do certain things.
Take for example a great uncle of mine. He went to basic during WWII. He was standing in line with the other men.
One of them did something and the drill instructor slapped him hard enough to knock him off his feet. My relative flinched and the DI did the same thing to him.
He hated him the whole time he was in basic training. He hated him after he got out of basic. But he loved him when the doors dropped on the Higgins boats.
That slap and possibly much more discipline tactics caused my relative to not flinch anymore when something sudden happened. When those doors dropped a lot of things suddenly happened. He did not flinch from the men dropping around him and the bullets flying but he reacted and moved forward and survived.
That discipline he received was for his betterment and for him to become something that would be useful and good to the United States military.
The discipline we receive from the Lord is to do the same for us for Him.
Just as my great uncle was thankful for the discipline and corrections his DI gave him; we should be thankful for the discipline and corrections God gives us.
Let us read the text today. Hebrews 12:1-13
We can be thankful for the discipline and corrections given us by the Lord by doing several things. One of which is to:
Look to Our Examples (1-4)
When we read this section and reflect back on chapter 11 we may be tempted to say something like, yeah but those people were gifted or blessed more than I am.
What this statement fails to realize is that they were not any better than we are.
Some of them were massive mess-ups.
Samson was not very faithful and he failed to honor God always yet he is in the hall of faith.
Abraham was an average man who lied twice that is recorded in the Bible.
David was a firm believer in the Lord but he committed adultery and murder.
Moses was afraid and gave many excuses why he could not do something for the Lord.
Enoch we only know he walked with the Lord then he was taken. He was just a faithful man. As were all the others in that chapter. But many if not most of them messed up regularly or in a very severe manner. Yet, they were considered faithful.
They were because they rested in the Lord and took His discipline and corrected their behaviors.
That is what we need to do. We need to look at them but more importantly, look to our savior who suffered more than all and He never did anything wrong.
We look to the great cloud of witnesses for sure but most importantly to Christ Himself.
The cloud of witnesses suffered for the Lord and they stayed faithful because they knew that God had something better for them than this world. They trusted in His promises and endured through many things.
Some were killed in terrible ways. Some were beaten and all died before the fulfillment of the promises were seen. They trusted the Lord and knew that no matter what happened they could rely on Him to be true and righteous.
Take David for example. He mad an egregious mistake in doing a census of Israel for his arrogance and wanting to know what he had power over (2 Sam. 24 and 1 Chron. 21).
God sent the prophet Gad to David and offered 3 things for David to choose what punishment would be sent.
3 years of famine, 3 months of devastation from enemies, or 3 days of pestilence on the land from the Lord.
David said, 1 Chron. 21:13 “Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
David wanted his punishment to come from the Lord rather than man because he knew the Lord is good and merciful.
God is merciful but people are not.
Look at Christ. He suffered at the hands of people. He was nailed to the cross by people. Some of which had just a few days before he was nailed to it said they loved Him and that He was Hosanna their king.
Jesus endured that pain and humiliation for us. That is the joy He had in His suffering. The joy that many would be brought in by His sacrificial death and resurrection.
He endured the sinners and hostility for us. He did it as our substitute but also as our example.
Jesus did not waver or weaken in what happened to Him. He went to the cross joyously for us knowing the pain to come and the evil to be felt. Yet, he did it.
He did this and we have not even struggled to the shedding of blood for Him. The recipients then had not yet either nor have we.
We have struggled and strained but we have not resisted to the shedding of blood. We have no excuse to waver in anything because we have not experienced anything like what those men and women had nor what Jesus did.
But when we do we need to look to them for strength in our struggles. Look to them when we are being disciplined or corrected.
Remember discipline is not just punishment but training. When we face persecution and difficulties, we are facing discipline and strength training.
When this happens we need to look at the Lord and know as the first part of Heb. 12:5 says, “And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?”
If you are in Christ you are a child of God. As a child we need to know that:
Discipline is for Our Good (5-11)
It is for our growth and maturing. God allows tests and struggles to happen because He loves us. He will test and discipline us for our good and to be more like Christ.
If we think that is too much for us, look at Jesus. Not the cross this time but further back.
In Matt. 4:1-11 we see that Jesus was in the desert and fasted for forty days. He was hungry and thirsty and to make it worse Satan appears to tempt Him. Jesus Christ tempted and tested. Satan tries multiple ways to get Him to fall, but Jesus never does and He challenges Satan too.
So, if Jesus is not too good to be tempted and tested and face discipline, then neither are you or I.
Our discipline is like what happened to my great uncle I spoke of earlier, it grows us and matures us and prepares us.
It allows for correction when we have done wrong, and endurance for adversity. It strengthens us to be faithful and committed followers of Christ.
We need to submit to this discipline because of the fruit it ill yield later. Again like my uncle. He did not flinch and get killed but reacted and advanced. This is what this discipline and testing will do for us.
Look back at our great cloud of witnesses again. They endured and were approved [μαρτυρέω: martyr-witness] they were witnesses through their faith. They continued on even though they did not receive the promise here but they will with all of us later and they knew God would deliver as He said.
They trusted Him and so should we.
God disciplines those He loves. He disciplines as a father does. This is because of His deep love for us. He loves us because He loves us. His discipline is for our good just as a earthly father disciplines.
This word discipline though still seems to carry a bad connotation. It should not because this word used here simply means “educate, train, to assist in the development of a persons ability to make appropriate choices. Can involve punishment.”
It is for us to make good choices and grow in the right way, just like the discipline of our earthly fathers or other people.
We love and respect them for what they did for us. Why would we not God? Just because we are in a difficult and trying time, why do we feel that we can be mad at God? He is just training us and taking us through this to assist us to make correct decisions.
You see, the discipline we receive from earthly fathers is what they think or thought was best for us. We respect them for this.
They only had and have finite wisdom. God disciplines us because He knows exactly what is best and exactly what we need. He does all He does to make us to be able to share in His holiness. Should we not trust and respect Him so much more for the trials and difficulties we receive and go through?
I think we should because He is doing it for our absolute best and good.
We need to remember as the text tells us all discipline is painful and unpleasant at the time. But it is gain and growth for us much like in bodybuilding.
They know that pain must happen if they will get the gain. They know that they have to lift weight to the point of muscle ‘failure,’ if not then their muscles aren’t growing. So, they have programmed themselves, through repetition, to use the word ‘failure’ in a positive sense. They also call what we would call ‘pain’ something positive: ‘the burn.’ Getting to ‘the burn’ is the goal! You’ll hear bodybuilders call out to each other: ‘Roast em!’
This is also called Pain and Gain. If you don’t have the pain you won’t have the gain.
That is the same with us in the discipline of the Lord. We will not have the gain if we do not have the pain. The pain in discipline will mature us and grow us so we can stand firm when the persecution to the shedding of our blood comes. We will have the discipline not to flinch but react and move forward regardless what happens.
We will also know what is right and wrong because we have been corrected and disciplined against doing that again.
Trust God in this discipline and corrections. Be thankful for God’s correction. It will lead to a yield of fruit of righteousness for you and me if we will but allow God to work in us and learn from it.
But we need to:
Be Strong in the Lord (12-13)
We need to not allow the pains and struggles drop us down to where we have drooping hands and pouty and gloomy faces. We need to know that such struggles and discipline is for our good and our proper conformation.
We read in Rom. 8:28-29 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”
This makes us more Christlike in what we do. We become more like Him and act in a manner that He would have acted in.
This will help us to keep our feet from evil and on a straight path.
This discipline we receive is wisdom for us. In Prov. 3:11-12 we read, “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.”
Also, in Prov. 4:26-27 “Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.”
When we have wisdom from the discipline of the Lord we will be able to ponder our feet and keep our paths straight. We will keep from wandering into something bad and crippling.
We will not be weak but healed and living right for the Lord. We will be strong in the faith.
We will be like the great cloud of witnesses that were before us. We will be able to run the race set before us and be able to endure to the shedding of blood. We will have the abilities to stand firm and react and go forward when the bullets start hitting all around us and others are falling left and right.
We will be able to stand strong when the battle gets fierce because we know we have an all-loving heavenly father who loves us enough to discipline us when wrong and to discipline us to be able to handle rough situations.
We see in Isa. 35:3-5 “Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.” Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;”
One commentator says of this quotation of this in these verses, “The promise of God’s coming with vengeance and in saving grace connects this passage with OT texts quoted earlier (Heb. 10:30–31, 37–38, citing Deut. 32:35–36; Hab. 2:3–4). The context of Isaiah’s summons to strengthen limp hands and quivering knees shows that these are not bare commands but are encouragements grounded in the promise that our divine defender is coming.” (ESV Expository Commentary, Heb-Rev, 189).
Remember-we have not yet endured to the shedding of blood, but we may have to one day soon. Be thankful for God’s correction and discipline because when we have had that we will be better equipped to stand and walk the straight paths regardless what comes. And never forget God will come with vengeance against this cruel and wicked world. We must endure and stand strong for Him. His discipline will make us able to do so.
Conclusion
I spent much of my ninth summer on a bicycle. About a mile from our house the road went down a steep hill and turned sharply at the bottom. Coasting down the hill one morning, I felt my gathering speed to be ecstatic. To give up this ecstasy by applying brakes seemed an absurd self-punishment. So I resolved to simultaneously retain my speed and negotiate the corner. My ecstasy ended seconds later when I was propelled a dozen feet off the road into the woods. I was badly scratched and bleeding, and the front wheel of my new bike was twisted beyond use from its impact against a tree. I had been unwilling to suffer the pain of giving up my ecstatic speed in the interest of maintaining my balance around the corner. I learned, however, that the loss of balance is ultimately more painful than the giving up required to maintain balance. It is a lesson I have continually had to relearn. As must everyone, for as we negotiate the curves and corners of our lives, we must continually give up parts of ourselves. (M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled.)
That is what God’s discipline will do for us. It will make us able to negotiate the curves and corners by relinquishing things that will only cause harm and grief.
Trust the Lord for your growth and rest in Him to train you in righteousness and discipline you properly. This discipline will make you able to do things you never imagined.
Like Tom Landry said about The job of a football coach. That it is to make men do what they don’t want to do, in order to achieve what they’ve always wanted to be.
God may very well make you do stuff or put you through stuff you do not want so He can make you to be who He knows you to be. Who He wants you to be.
Trust Him and be thankful for God’s corrections and discipline in your lives. He is the Good Father who knows exactly what He is doing and why He is doing it. That you can trust completely.
