When you hear the phrase, "God loves you," what kind of picture does it conjure up in your mind? Specifically, what image of God do you envision when you hear someone say that God loves you? Perhaps you think of a kindly old grandfather, smiling down on you benevolently from heaven. Someone who’s proud of you and wants you to do well. Someone pleasant, someone affirming and encouraging. Or perhaps you see a slightly different image: Christ the good shepherd, watching over you as one of his sheep, or holding you gently in his arms. Tender and compassionate. Or perhaps your idea of God resembles the father in the parable of the prodigal son - Arms open wide, running to greet you, overjoyed to see you, welcoming you into his presence. Someone who absolutely delights in you, who enjoys nothing more than spending time with you, his beloved son, or daughter.
All of these contain an element of truth. God’s love is affirming, and encouraging, and compassionate, and welcoming. God does delight in us as his beloved children. He does watch over us and care for us. He does accept us unconditionally, as (hopefully) our own grandparents do. But pictures like these don’t tell the whole story. There’s another aspect of God’s love that we don’t tend to think about. And the problem is that, if our entire understanding of the love of God is expressed in pictures like these, then when God acts toward us in ways that don’t match these images, we get confused. We don’t know what’s happening, because whatever God is doing, it certainly doesn’t look or feel like love. So we wonder if God has abandoned us, if God is angry with us, if God is punishing us. We start hearing a little voice in our head, saying, "God doesn’t love you. He never loved you. If God loved you, He wouldn’t treat you like this." We think God has stopped loving us, and we panic. What happened? What went wrong? In reality, nothing is wrong. It’s just that we don’t recognize this kind of love.
What am I talking about? Discipline. Discipline from the Lord can be painful, confusing, humiliating, stressful; it can be emotionally and spiritually exhausting; it’s almost always unwelcome - no one says, "Hooray! It’s time for discipline!" It feels like anything but love. And yet, that’s exactly what it is. Listen:
"Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal." - Job 5:17-18
"Blessed is the man you discipline, O LORD, the man you teach from your law" - Psalm 94:12
"My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in." -- Proverbs 3:11-12
In other words, when God disciplines us, it’s not a curse. It’s not a punishment. It’s a blessing. Not the kind of blessing we would have chosen, perhaps, but a blessing nonetheless. It’s the kind of blessing that God in His wisdom has determined we need the most at that particular time.
One illustration that comes to mind is that of a football coach. We happen to have a football coach in the congregation, D___ . Now, I’ve talked to D___ , and I know that during practice, he makes those poor boys do many unpleasant things. Run lap after lap wearing forty pounds of football gear. Drive their shoulders into the 2-man blocking sled and push it all over the field - with him riding on it! Hit the tackling dummy over and over. Be the tackling dummy, and get tackled, over and over. Agility drills. Endurance drills. It’s physically punishing; it’s exhausting. And why does D___ do this? Because he’s a sadist, and likes to see these boys suffer? Of course not. This is constructive discipline. By putting them through all kinds of drills, they are prepared for the test to come on Friday night. They are prepared to play the game of football. The discipline, although painful, and unwelcome in itself, is a blessing because of its purpose: winning football games. The goal of the discipline is victory and glory on the gridiron. (That’s the idea, anyway) By enforcing physical discipline, D___ is trying to help his team enjoy the fruits of victory. Does God likewise have a purpose in disciplining us? Yes! Listen:
"When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world." - 1 Corinthians 11:32
"Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent." - Revelation 3:19
God’s discipline has a saving purpose. God disciplines us to restrain us from sin; to correct us and bring us to repentance when we do sin; to keep us from ultimately falling away from the faith. You say, "I thought a Christian couldn’t lose their salvation." And that’s true. When God calls us to Himself, He promises never to let us fall away. And discipline is one of the means He uses to fulfill that promise.
Now, do the boys on the football team thank D___ for making them run drills until they’re ready to fall down? Do they express heartfelt gratitude when he orders them to drop and give him another thirty pushups? Of course not. They don’t enjoy the discipline for its own sake. They may even grumble a bit (or a lot). But they endure it because they understand the purpose behind it. OK. Let’s imagine there was a boy on the team who didn’t quite grasp the concept. An exchange student from some country where they’ve never heard of American football. When he heard about tryouts for something called "football," he thought they meant soccer. And he has a little trouble with the language, so he doesn’t understand that they are practicing for a game on Friday. He things that the practice is all there is; that running drills is an end in itself. Now, how is he going to react? Very differently! He’s going to say to himself; "Well, this certainly isn’t much fun. In fact, I’m not enjoying this at all. Running until you’re exhausted. Getting knocked down. Who needs it! And why is that coach yelling all the time? Is he angry at me? Have I done something to offend him? A couple of hours ago, he seemed so friendly, but now it seems as if he doesn’t like me at all. I wonder what’s wrong?"
In other words, the exchange student would react pretty much like we often do when God disciplines us. Confused. Resentful. And if no one explains to him what’s going on, he will probably quit; because the whole process just makes no sense to him. But listen again to the word of God:
"Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." - Hebrews 12:7-11
This passage has a great deal to tell us about enduring the Lord’s discipline. First of all, again, it’s an expression of love - not anger, or frustration. God disciplines us as a father disciplines the sons he loves. Of course, sometimes human fathers do discipline out of anger or frustration, rather than love. But as sinful and flawed as our fathers may have been; hopefully, they were at least trying to do the right thing, disciplining us "as they thought best". Hopefully, their intention was to help us, rather than to harm us, even if that intention was not always well executed. But that’s the whole point. As Paul says, "how much more!" If we respect our flawed human fathers for attempting to discipline us appropriately, how much more should we submit to the discipline of God, who always does what is right, and good, and wise, and loving! And in fact, if a person never experience any discipline; if he or she never experiences any suffering , or disappointment, or loss, or sorrow, that’s not a good sign. Not at all. It means that God isn’t working in their life. It means that they don’t belong to him, and so He’s leaving them alone. But, for believers, discipline is universal. It’s a given. It’s going to happen; the only question is how and when.
Consider this: during football practice, is it a good thing when the coach leaves a player alone? Never yells at him; lets him kind of jog along when they run laps; lets him quit early. Is that a good thing? No. It probably means the coach has given up on him, and may even be planning on cutting him from the team. In contrast, often the players the coach is hardest on are the ones he sees have the greatest potential for achievement. In the same way, discipline is a sign that God cares about us, a sign that He hasn’t abandoned us. It means that God is working in our lives to change us and bless us.
The second thing this passage tells us is that discipline is painful. It’s not pleasant. I love the reality of the Bible, don’t you? Paul doesn’t say, "now, this won’t hurt a bit." He says, "this is going to hurt. A lot! But it’s going to be worth it." Here’s the problem: we think that the purpose of the Christian life is to make us happy. And so if we aren’t happy, we think something has gone terribly wrong. "Someone’s not doing their job!" We thrash around and resist, and rebel.
"Did you ever think, when you were a child, what fun it would be if your toys could come to life? Well suppose you could really have brought them to life. Imagine turning a tin soldier into a real little man. It would involve turning the tin into flesh. And suppose the tin soldier did not like it. He is not interested in flesh; all he sees is that the tin is being spoiled. He thinks you are killing him. He will do everything he can to prevent you. He will not be made into a man if he can help it." - C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
In fact, the purpose of the Christian life is not to make us happy, but to make us holy. Ultimately, submitting to the Lord’s discipline will result in the greatest possible happiness, the greatest imaginable joy, throughout eternity. But for now, the Christian life will at times include some unpleasant, unhappy experiences. That’s what discipline is. It’s short-term pain for long-term gain. And its value is all a matter of perspective. Listen to Paul’s take on it:
"Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." - Romans 8:17-18
"Not even worth comparing" If you remember, Paul had some pretty tough experiences. Several times he was brutally whipped with thirty-nine lashes, the kind of whipping that leaves someone’s back a bloody mass of raw flesh. He was beaten multiple times. He was shipwrecked. he often went without food, or water, or adequate clothing. He was constantly in danger from people who wanted to kill him. He rotted in jail for years. And yet, despite all this, he was able to say that,
"our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." - 2 Corinthians 4:17-18
Compared to what we have waiting for us; compared to what God has prepared for us, when we look back on our lives from the perspective of eternity; then even the extreme kind of suffering that Paul experienced will seem insignificant and very, very temporary.
The third thing that this passage tells us is the purpose for the discipline.
"God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." - Hebrews 12:10-11
The purpose of discipline is our "good". The purpose of discipline is to "train" us. The purpose of discipline is to give us peace. The purpose of discipline is to make us like God; holy and righteous. Again, the purpose of the Christian life is not to make us happy (in the short term); it’s to make us holy, and therefore eternally happy, in the long term. The very long term. And God loves us enough to make sure that happens, even if it causes us pain. Yes, God loves us as we are. But He also loves us too much to leave us as we are.
Why is God so determined to change us, to root out the sin in our lives and in our hearts? Because holiness is how we come to know God, now and forever. And that is worth any price.
"Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord." - Hebrews 12:14
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." - Matthew 5:8
"Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded." - James 4:8
The more we become like God in his holiness, the closer we will be to Him and the more we will experience and enjoy Him. Our destiny is to be completely conformed to his holiness; to have every remnant of sin eradicated. That’s going to happen on the day Christ returns. In the meantime, God is disciplining us to bring us closer and closer to that goal, so that in this life, we are always becoming what we will someday perfectly be - pure, and holy, and righteous. Therefore, God calls us, not only to submit to his discipline, but to actively seek after personal holiness.
"Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." - 2 Corinthians 7:1
"For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life." - 1 Thessalonians 4:7
"As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." - 1 Peter 1:14-16
That’s our future destiny and our present calling - holiness. And discipline helps us to achieve it.
As we come to a close, you may realize that I haven’t been very specific about what God’s discipline looks like. And that’s because God works differently in every person’s life, so it’s impossible to predict what kind of discipline you will need. As we noted last week, God’s love is personal, and He has a unique plan custom-designed for you. In your life, God’s discipline could be a loss that teaches you to rely on His sufficiency. It could be suffering that teaches you to find your comfort and in Him. It could be uncertain circumstances that expose your fear and worry and teach you to place your trust in Him. It could be failure; it could be disappointment; it could be illness; it could be betrayal, or hardship, or heartache; it could be whatever God needs to do in your life to wean you away from sin and self; to bring about faith and repentance, and to draw you close to Him. Some of you are experiencing the Lord’s discipline right now. The most important thing, when you sense the hand of God’s discipline on your life, no matter how it comes, is that you not resist it, but submit to it and learn from it. Only then will you experience its benefits - joy, and peace, and holiness, and salvation.
And finally, we can take comfort in knowing that God not only brings the discipline, but that he will be right there with us as we go through it; that He will give us the strength to endure it. He is both the One who brings the discipline, and at the same time the One who He gives us the grace to persevere in the midst of it. Listen:
God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." - Hebrews 13:5
"And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide
with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth;" - John 14:16-17 (KJV)
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." - 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
(For an .rtf file of this and other sermons, see www.journeychurchonline.org/messages.htm)
