The Discipline of the Lord

Order of Service

• Scripture Reading — Hebrews 12:4-13
• Sermon
• Closing Prayer

---

Sermon Title: The Discipline of the Lord

Scripture: Hebrews 12:4-13

I. The Need for Discipline — Hebrews 12:4

A. The whole Christian life is a life of discipline — a struggle against sin

1. The arena of verses 1–3 (a race) shifts to a boxing match against sin
2. Sin is meant in its broadest sense: internal struggle, broken relationships, fallen systems, and all that is touched by sin in the world

B. Old Testament examples of God's disciplining work

1. Abraham — years of waiting on the promise, mistakes with Ishmael, all building steadiness and endurance culminating in Genesis 22
2. David — Nathan's confrontation and the repentance of Psalm 51, driving him from self-reliance to reliance on God's grace

C. Pastoral perspective in verse 4: "You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood"

1. An acknowledgment that some Christians have died in their struggle — martyrdom
2. Comfort to those still living: your struggle could be worse; God has marked out his discipline for you

II. The Nurture of Discipline — Hebrews 12:5-11

A. The Father of the nurturing discipline — quotation from Proverbs 3:11-12

1. Solomon's words to his son applied by the writer to all believers — sons and daughters
2. Trials are not random or happenstance; the Lord is behind the discipline and reproof
3. To be without discipline is to be illegitimate — like the illegitimate children of a Roman noble who received no place in the father's home

B. The Father's discipline flows from love, not vindictive wrath

1. God's holy wrath for sin has been laid on Jesus; this is God correcting his children
2. Earthly fathers disciplined imperfectly; the heavenly Father disciplines perfectly and for our good

C. The purpose of discipline — Hebrews 12:10-11

1. Verse 10: "that we may share his holiness"
2. Verse 11: "the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it"
3. God uses discipline to wean us off self-reliance and fill us with reliance on him, conforming us to the image of Christ
4. C. S. Lewis: "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

III. The Response to Discipline — Hebrews 12:12-13

A. The call to strengthen and heal — background in Isaiah 35:3-4

1. "Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees… Be strong, fear not"
2. Two images: strengthening as in training for a fight; healing what is out of joint

B. The means of strengthening

1. The ministry of the Word in the church and in the believer's life
2. Parallel to the call to Joshua — "Be strong and courageous" — as the Word of God to us today

C. Avoiding wrong responses to trials

1. Not stoic grimness — merely bearing what comes
2. Not self-pity and anger
3. Rather: a robust understanding of the Lord's love and work for our good, keeping eyes fixed on Christ — Hebrews 12:4-13