All discipline...yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those trained by it

Hebrews 11:32-12:13 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, ³³ who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. ³⁵ Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; ³⁶ and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. ³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated ³⁸ (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.

³⁹ And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, ⁴⁰ because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.

Jesus, the Example

12 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.

A Father’s Discipline

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? ⁸ But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. ⁹ Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? ¹⁰ For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. ¹¹ All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

¹² Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, ¹³ and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.

In today’s text it says:  You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; 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; For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.” 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? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.   Jesus is of course the one who did shed His blood for our sin. But He also shed His blood so that we could resist sin. In Luke 22:40-44, just before Jesus was arrested to be crucified, He prayed with the disciples:   He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; neverthelessnot My will, but Yours, be done.”Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.   Jesus resisted the temptation to deviate from the Fathers will. But, even more, the accounts of His praying in the garden tell us that this prayer lasted hours. Some of the translations use the word anguish in place of agony. We need to understand that the agony or anguish Jesus experienced, that which caused Him to sweat drops of blood was not just for His own resisting of sin. That was accomplished with the words not My will, but Yours, be done.  Jesus anguish in prayer is recorded in John’s account, in John 17. The nearly entire chapter is a prayer of intercession on behalf of the disciples and the believers who would come after them. Verse 9 says:  “I pray for them.I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.”  Verses 15-23 says:   “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, butthat You should keep them from the evil one.They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.Sanctifythem by Your truth.Your word is truth.As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.Andfor their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;that they all may be one, asYou, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.And theglory which You gave Me I have given them,that they may be one just as We are one:I in them, and You in Me;that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.”    Jesus shed, He sweat drops of blood praying that we, you and I would be kept from the evil one; that we would be one with Him and the Father. Jesus shed His blood not only to redeem us from sin, but also that we could resist sin.  

The text says:   “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him; For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.” 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? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.    There are several important things we need to know and understand from and about this passage. First it is important that we know that it is not God’s discipline or punishment that causes us to go through difficulties or trials in our lives. Romans 8:28-30 says:   We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.     God doesn’t cause the bad things that happen to us. He will though, as discipline, to cause us to be conformed to Christ, allow those things to work in us for our good, that we would be glorified in Him. In today’s text it says:  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,  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.     James 1:2-4 says:   Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.   Jesus is the perfecter of our faith. If we will keep our eyes fixed on Him as we go through the various trials that are caused by the consequences of sin, either our own or in the world, we will be made perfect, in His image.

Finally we need to understand that our culture and society has caused us to misunderstand discipline. Discipline and punishment are not synonymous. Punishment is the negative aspect of discipline necessary when obedience to the good of discipline has not been followed. Even so, even punishment is meant for good, so that disobedience will not continue. Discipline itself is wholly good. It is instruction and correction. It seeks what is best for us. If we submit in obedience to discipline there is no need for punishment. Because our society and culture has made discipline a bad and negative thing rather than a good thing, because there is no longer discipline, the negative consequences of disobedience are prevalent and the negative side of discipline, punishment becomes necessary.   The text says:  Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.    Coming into alignment, making our path straight with God and Christ is not a punishment. It does not restrict us from what is good. Rather, it gives us what is best. Obedience to God brings us to a place of healing, both physical and spiritual.  In Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus says:  “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit for the strength to resist temptation because of the blood of Christ shed for me. Thank You also for the discipline which is meant to make me perfect; conformed to the perfection of Christ. I count it all joy, even as I experience the trials of this world; knowing that healing and perfection in and through Christ is the result of all things that I submit to You.   Amen.