THE DISCIPLINE OF SUFFERING

NOVEMBER 16, 2014 

HEBREWS 12: 1-7

1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

4 You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;

5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM;

6 FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES."

7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? NASB 

FIRST THOUGHTS

• This is a strong admonishment to finish strong.

UNDERSTAND THE CONTEXT 

• This portion is looking back at what was presented in Chapter 11, perhaps to all of Chapter’s 1-11.

EXPLORE THE TEXT 

VERSE 1:

·        All of those mentioned in Chapter 11 are examples of finishing strong. In spite of their limited understanding of God’s plan, they remained faithful.

·        If they, in their limitations could remain faithful, how much should we, since much more has been revealed to us?

·        As a runner will make sure that he has removed any heavy waits that will tire him and possibly keep him from finishing the race, so are we we remove any spiritual impediments that would cause us to tire on not finish the race.

·        This teaches us that any favored sin that we hold on to will cause us to experience spiritual fatigue.

·        That is the number one problem that causes many to go to sleep spiritually and become erratic in church attendance.

·        It is also a major issue that causes pastor’s to get discouraged.   

“When someone becomes lost in the extreme cold of the far north there is grave danger of freezing to death. The first step in that process is to fall asleep. You have to fight sleep, and you must keep moving or you will freeze to death. In a spiritual sense, the danger is the same for us as believers. We have to force ourselves to stay awake and keep moving forward in our relationship with Christ. Otherwise we will just fall asleep.”

Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee 

“The Christian life involves hard work. It requires us to give up whatever endangers our relationship with God, to run with endurance, and to struggle against sin with the power of the Holy Spirit. To live effectively, we must keep our eyes on Jesus.”

Life Application notes on the Bible 

“‘I am living to make a big business.’ ‘I am living to make a fortune.’ ‘I am living to found a family.’ ‘I am living to learn a science, an art, a profession.’ ‘I am living for enjoy-merit,’ etc., etc. Yes, and then suppose somebody perks up with the exceedingly inconvenient further question, ‘Well, and what then?’ Then, all that fabric of life-aims rushes down into destruction, and is manifest for what it is-altogether disproportionate to the man that is pursuing it.”

Alexander MacLaren  

VERSE 2:

·        We are imitate the example of Jesus by looking to the finish, as He saw Himself sitting at the right had of God so we should see ourselves in His blessed presence.

·        And as He faced what was necessary to accomplish God’s purpose, we are to face what God has set before us with similar determination. 

“The Christian life involves hard work. It requires us to give up whatever endangers our relationship with God, to run with endurance, and to struggle against sin with the power of the Holy Spirit. To live effectively, we must keep our eyes on Jesus. We will stumble if we look away from him to stare at ourselves or at the circumstances surrounding us. We should be running for Christ, not ourselves, and we must always keep him in sight.” 

Life Application Notes on the Bible 

“Like most ancient moralists, the writer uses human models to illustrate his chosen virtue, but his climactic illustration of the virtue of faith is the initiator and fulfiller of faith, who suffered in the hope of future reward, as these readers are to do.”N 

IVP Bible Background 

VERSE 3:

·        We are to draw encouragement from Jesus’ example to keep in the race, knowing what He went through.

·        We know that we will not pay the same price as He did! 

“Now we should analogize this contradiction, and see what proportion there is between this, and what is endured by us: we should consider the aggravations of it, that it was "against himself"; sometimes it was against his disciples, and him through them, as it is now against his members, and him in them; but here it was immediately and directly against himself:”

John Gill 

“They had now come to consider Him, that is, Christ, and He was everything. He was the temple. He was the ritual. He was Christianity. He was all of it. … May I say this to you very candidly: unless you stay close to the Word of God where the Holy Spirit can take the things of Christ and make them real to you, you are going to get weary of the Christian life, and you are going to faint in your minds.” 

Thru the Bible with J. Vernon Magee  

VERSE 4: 

“This simply indicates that at this time the temple was not yet destroyed. The persecution from the Gentiles of the Roman Empire which was going to come had not yet broken upon these believers. ‘Ye have not yet resisted unto blood.’" 

Thru the Bible with J. Vernon Magee 

“These readers were facing difficult times of persecution, but none of them had yet died for their faith. Because they were still alive, the writer urged them to continue to run their race. Just as Christ did not give up, neither should they.” 

Life Application Notes on the Bible 

·        Likely, these people have faced ridicule, ostracized, been shoved around, yelled at, cursed, and possibly had property seized or stolen; but none had as yet been martyred. 

VERSE 5-6:

·        Because of the persecution they were suffering, their eyes had been focused on their condition and was causing them great discouragement.

·        In turn, this discouragement had caused them to lose sight of God’s loving purpose of chastening.

·        Getting encouragement from their circumstances could only come from the Holy Spirit and they are here being reminded of their true position.

·        Could there be something in their lives that they still needed to let go of that is the root of this chastening? 

“Who loves his child more—the father who allows the child to do what will harm him, or the one who corrects, trains, and even punishes the child to help him learn what is right? It's never pleasant to be corrected and disciplined by God, but his discipline is a sign of his deep love for us. When God corrects you, see it as proof of his love, and ask him what he is trying to teach you.”

Life Application Notes on the Bible 

VERSE 7: 

“This means child training or discipline, not punishment. Punishment is to uphold the law. A judge punishes, but a father chastens and he does it in love. God uses chastening to demonstrate His love for us. And the writer makes it very clear that you are an illegitimate child if you are not chastened by the Lord,”.

Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee 

·        We are to finish the race before us because we are reminded that any hardship is a sign of God’s adoption; we are accepted into God’s family and therefore our hope is great!