Preached at Northfield Community Church, Northfield, MN, on 17 November 2024.
Christopher Booker studied literature, ancient, modern, and everything in between. He concluded that there are seven basic plots in the world.[1] In Overcoming the Monster stories, the protagonist must defeat an antagonist (usually an individual, force, or entity) that threatens them and the wider world. In Rags to Riches stories, the protagonist achieves something they lack, loses what they have gained, and then gets it back again. In The Quest stories, the protagonist must set out in pursuit of a treasure, place, or other goal, overcoming challenges along the way. In the Voyage and Return stories, the protagonist travels to a strange new place, experiences hardships and makes discoveries, and then returns home with the lessons they have learned. In a Comedy, the protagonist experiences a series of lighthearted or confusing events before the story resolves into a happy ending. In a Tragedy, the protagonist has a central trait or flaw or makes a mistake, which results in catastrophe. In Rebirth stories, the protagonist undergoes a transformation and often ends up a better person as a result.
Now, most of these plots by themselves might make up a decent children’s storybook. But a bestselling story usually has multiple plots, intricately crafted to make it more unpredictable and enjoyable. Life, on the other hand, is way more complicated and cannot be explained as simply. And if we try to understand life merely by using one of these frameworks, we will be deluded. Pithy answers will not do. The Bible does not offer such explanations for life.
Of the many complex life experiences, one Christian experience is the Lord’s discipline. This theme is all over the Bible. We will look at a passage. Turn with me to Hebrews 12:4–11. As I read the passage, pay attention to how often the word discipline appears in this passage.
3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 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.
Northfield Community, my aim is that you will submit to our heavenly Father’s discipline and prove yourselves to be genuine sons. As Christians, you might ask, have we not already submitted to God as our Lord? What, then, is this submission? Is it different? What I will attempt to do in this sermon is answer three questions. First, I will answer the question, what is the Lord’s discipline? Second, I will answer the question, why does the Lord discipline us? Finally, I will answer the question, how must we respond to the Lord’s discipline? That is the order: what, why, and how.
What Is the Lord’s Discipline?
Let us begin with the first question. What is the Lord’s discipline? Before I get there, I must address the elephant in the room. For some of us, the word discipline is a negative, harsh retribution for something wrong done on our part. If a person does not like the word discipline, then it is likely that such a person will also find it negative and harsh that the Lord disciplines his children. In our minds, we confuse the words discipline and punishment. Here is how one person helpfully distinguishes the two concepts:
Discipline is corrective; it seeks to accomplish a change in the one being disciplined. Punishment is meted out in the simple interests of justice. In bringing up children, parents should be disciplining them. In hanging a murderer, the civil magistrate is not disciplining—he is punishing… God disciplines his people as he takes them through their daily process of sanctification. He has their final glorification in view, and all his discipline works toward that end. But on the last day, he shall punish the wicked. When God finally pitches the ungodly away from himself, he will have no intention of their subsequent improvement.[2]
So, discipline is not supposed to be harsh or negative. It is not retributive at all. Discipline is loving, positive, shaping, and done with a goal in mind.
What’s more? All discipline is not corrective. If discipline is done correctly, most discipline is formative. It is teaching, instructing, counseling, advising, encouraging, coaching. When the one we are disciplining misses the mark or misbehaves, we bring appropriate corrective discipline, considering their maturity and the offense. This is true in the church and at home. However, I do not seek to address disciplining that trains military personnel. Nor am I going to address sports coaching as disciplining. Nor is this sermon about the role of parents in disciplining. I am here to address the disciplining work of God.
So, what is the Lord’s discipline? God’s discipline can look different in different parts of the Bible. In the context of this passage, there is a certain sense in which we may understand the Lord’s discipline. According to verse 4, the Lord’s discipline has to do with “one’s struggle against sin.” According to verse 3, the struggle against sin involves hostility from sinners. So, in this passage, the temptation that one needs to overcome, that is, the sin that one must not commit, is the temptation to give up one’s faith in the face of hostility from sinners. The passage is specifically talking about giving up one’s faith during persecution.
Our passage is a part of a larger section. The section begins at 10:19 and ends at 13:16. If you look in your Bible, beginning at Hebrews 10:19, you will notice that the author expects five actions from his readers because of what Jesus has done on their behalf. Jesus has made a way for God’s children to approach him confidently. First, God’s children are expected to draw near to God (v. 22). Second, they are expected to hold fast to their confession of hope without wavering (v. 23). Third, they are expected to stir up one another to love and good works (v. 24). Fourth, they are expected not to neglect to gather together (v. 25). Fifth, they are expected to encourage one another (v. 25).
Soon after that paragraph, in verse 26, suddenly, the author begins warning his reader. If you do not watch out, you will fall into the hands of the living God (v. 31). That is a severe warning. But look at verse 32. He has a solution to not fall into the hands of the living God in judgment. Recall former days when you were enlightened. That is, recall your early Christian days. You were willing to suffer for the sake of Christ. You did not care about your life or property. I do not know if such was your experience when you became a Christian. But that was the experience of the original readers when they became Christians. So, the writer exhorts them in verse 35 not to throw away their confidence but instead to endure (v. 36).[3] He encourages his readers by reminding them that they are among those who have faith and preserve their souls (v. 39). Then, to boost their faith, the writer reminds them of all the heroes of faith in chapter 11, ending with the example of Jesus so that they will stay faithful amid persecution. That is where our text comes in. Do not give up your faith because of persecution.
Why do Christians experience persecution? According to our text, it is because God is disciplining them. Therefore, one way God disciplines his children is by letting them experience persecution and hardship for the sake of the gospel. The Lord’s discipline is training or testing in nature. It is a formative discipline, not a corrective discipline. It is certainly not to be confused with punishment.
Why Does the Lord Discipline?
Now, let us turn to our second question. Why does the Lord discipline? Consider these four truths about the Lord’s discipline from this passage.[4] First, God disciplines his children (12:5–7, 10). Second, God disciplines all his children (12:6, 8). Third, God disciplines only his children (12:6–8). Finally, God disciplines his children for their good (12:10–11). Now, consider this troubling statement in verse 8. If God does not discipline you, you are not a legitimate child of God. You are not a genuine child. God’s genuine children experience his discipline for their good.
Now, some of you might say that you do not experience persecution in America like your brothers and sisters in Afghanistan, Iran, or India.[5] I agree. You are not being beheaded for your faith, nor are you prevented from proclaiming Christ freely. Matthew 5:10–11 says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Verse 10 is the broad category of persecution. Verse 11 teachers three kinds of persecution—being reviled, persecution proper, and having all kinds of evil uttered against you. Without desiring that you plan a pity party in America, I, an Indian Christian living and serving in a persecuted region, can affirm that you Christians in America are experiencing being reviled for your faith and having all kinds of evil uttered against you. Do not mistake this experience to be a political issue. It is the Lord’s discipline for your good.
But merely saying, “This is for your good,” seems to be a pithy response to suffering, hardship, and persecution for the sake of Christ’s name. Well, if that is all we said about why we suffer for Christ, then it is insufficient. The Lord’s discipline is not just good for us but also the path to the promised rest. Let us Deuteronomy 8:1–10.
The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers. And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you. So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.
This passage helps us understand that God is the redeemer, and he has promised to bring his people to the promised land. The path between redemption and the promised land includes testing—the Lord’s discipline. Turn with me to Proverbs 3. Glancing through the chapter, you will see the language of blessing and prosperity across the passage. Almost every sentence except verses 11 and 12 is about prosperity and blessing. These two verses describe the Lord’s discipline. It is not surprising that these verses are quoted in our passage in Hebrews.
Not only is the Lord’s discipline good for us and an unavoidable path, but it is also the path that Jesus took. Turn with me to Hebrews 2:10. “For it was fitting that he, God, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation, Jesus, perfect through suffering.” Jesus suffered for the joy set before him (12:2). The path to the promised joy is through suffering. Jesus is the true Son of God and proved to be a genuine son by resisting the temptation to disobey God and turn away from worshipping God alone. We, too, are called to prove the genuineness of our faith by resisting the temptation to fall away from the faith on account of persecution. It is for our good. And we get to show the legitimacy of our sonship.
How Must We Respond to the Lord’s Discipline?
Let me now answer the last question. How must we respond to the Lord’s discipline? There are three ways to respond. First, resist the temptation to fall away. Be bold and endure the Lord’s discipline. Recognize that hardships and persecution for the sake of Christ are to be endured and not escaped. The only way out of God’s discipline is through and not around. If you attempt to get around it, you are not sharing in the discipline that all legitimate children have participated in (v. 8). Second, the author reminds us in 10:25–26 that we ought not to neglect gathering, but we must encourage one another. So, encourage each other in the faith and the charge to press on. One of the purposes of the gathered church is to encourage each other to hold fast to the faith when we are the scattered church. It is not wrong to think of the gathering as a recharging for the hardships we will face during the week. Third, joyfully partner with those who are persecuted (10:32–34). Think of persecution in at least three levels. First, those who are persecuted in your church. Next, those brothers and sisters are persecuted in your region, network, or denomination. And finally, those brothers and sisters who live in hard places. Pray for them. Partner with them in various ways and encourage them to press on.
Conclusion
The Lord’s discipline is a complex life experience that cannot be described using a simple story plot. One reason is that we are not the protagonists of the story. God is. If we try to make sense of our hardships as Christians with ourselves at the center of the story, we will not be able to endure the temporary pain. We will not be able to consider the joy before us. We will never be able to encourage others. We will fall into sin. We will feel the need to overcome our persecutors by force. But we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. Our persecutors are not our enemies; they are enemies of the gospel. We are ministers of the gospel. Our God is the protagonist. He is not fighting his enemies. He has decisively defeated the enemy on the cross. Jesus is at the right hand of the Father, and all his enemies are being made his footstool. We are being tested for genuineness. We are being allowed to share in the discipline that all genuine sons, including Jesus, have participated in. This is a privilege. Therefore, we submit ourselves to our Father.
[1] Christopher Booker, The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories (London: Continuum, 2004).
[2] Douglas Wilson, Standing on the Promises: A Handbook of Biblical Childrearing (Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 2011), 111.
[3] See previous sermon. Edison DSouza, “Please God!,” Sermon (Northfield, MN, 31 December 2023), https://mrnmrsdsouza.in/2023/12/please-god/.
[4] Andy Naselli, “Training Children for Their Good,” JDFM 3.2 (2013): 48–51.
[5] See Kevin DeYoung, “Four Thoughts on Persecution in America,” Clearly Reformed, 29 March 2017, https://clearlyreformed.org/four-thoughts-on-persecution-in-america/.
