And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?
“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.”
7
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. 9
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. 12
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. 14
Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.15
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; 16
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 Jews who would have read this letter, that is, the Christians would have been undergoing all kinds of persecutions due to their faith and their association with
being known as Christians. They would have lost family, friends, possibly jobs for they had turned their backs on the religious customs and traditions in which they had been born and raised.
Remember in chapter 10 they had been reminded about the great conflict of sufferings by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly
becoming sharers with those who were treated this way.
Can’t you just hear the words, “Look what you have gotten yourself into by joining up with these people. This is supposed to be life? You have more problems now that
Caesar has pills. You are criticized, you suffer scorn, you have reproaches, hardships and you are going to lose your job alone with your family, friends and your place at the synagogue, you are going to lose everything.”
Chapter 11 begins addressing the questions that come to our souls in light of such things, telling us that the faithful of the Old Testament suffered for God’s sake
and that this is nothing new, they faced warfare, weakness, torture all because of their trust in the Lord.
We are encouraged to see that we too must endure and that we can and we will as we keep our eyes fixed upon the Lord Jesus, looking to Him and all that He has suffered
and all that He has won as the captain of our salvation. With our eyes upon Him we will not grow weary, we will not lose heart in the face of difficulty, in the face of trial, for Christ is sufficient to meet all our needs.
The key word for us in our text is “chastening” or discipline. It is used as a noun and as a verb. It is from a Greek word that is a very broad term which can speak
to those things parents and teachers do to train, correct, cultivate and educate their children in order to prepare them for maturity. This word is used 9 times in eight verses, 4-11.
The figure changes from that of a race to that of a family. Christianity involves running, working, fighting, and enduring; all of these are spoken of in the context.
But it also refers to and involves relationships, especially our relationship with our Father in heaven, the Father of grace and mercy.
This passage speaks to the Father’s use of discipline in the lives of His children; how our God trains, corrects, cultivates and educates us, to prepare us from maturity
and service to Him and to our Savior. We are not speaking of eternal punishment in this text but rather of Fatherly discipline from the hand of God to and for the benefit of those He loves.
This chastisement comes to us in different ways and different forms. This first is fatherly punishment. God does hate sin and will punish us for it, but as His children
and punishment is corrective not judgmental, not the kind of punishment that unbelievers will receive from the hand of God. It can be severe but always merciful and from love.
In Corinth, there were many immature Christians, among other things, they were abusing the Lord’s Supper, using it as an excuse to party and even getting drunk. Paul
told them that the reasons some of them were suffering weakness, sickness and even death was because of their sinfulness. They were, according to Paul, “..being disciplined by the Lord in order that they would not be condemned along with the world.”
God says in Psalm 89:30-32 that when his children, “…forsake My law and do not walk in My judgements, if they violate my statutes and do not keep my commandments
then I will visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.”
When we discipline our children and there are punishments given to them for their actions we discipline them to correct their behavior, not to disown them. Neither
does God put us out of His family when He disciplines but disciplines to draw us deeper into that family love.
Here is the key that the other side of God’s promise to punish in this manner is His own promise to the covenant. “But I will not break off my loving kindness from
Him, nor deal falsely in My faithfulness. My covenant I will not violate nor will I alter the utterance of my lips.”
God’s discipline of His people is nothing but His faithfulness as a Father, as our Father.
Prayer: Father, when I find myself in peculiar circumstances and feeling alone may the knowledge of the promise of Your presence not only ‘be enough’ but truly
be my comfort, my peace and my confidence. Only in this, Your presence, will I ever find myself at rest. Forgive me for seeking any comfort or security apart from your Fatherly care. I should know by now that nothing satisfies but you, keep me in the shadow
of your wings and at the foot of the cross, through Jesus Christ my Lord, Amen.
Hymn: I Need Thee Every Hour
