This message originally delivered on November 30, 1997 PM.
We're talking about troubles. We're considering this passage. Is it true that all things work together for good? It can can do we really have a God that is that sovereign, that even when you're on the bed, and you can't move, because you got a muscle disease, you've suddenly died from for years, the ants crawl in and they crawl over your bed and up your face and in your nose and your wife finds you the next day and you're all eaten alive. That's even that would have a purpose. Are we talking about the kind of sorrows that Johnny Erickson talked about? I mean, it's one thing to have your engagement break off, it's another thing to, you know, not have something so that our life is not just as comfortable as we like, but the beginning that kind of suffering. And we have considered the fact that the centrality of the Gospel is that the Son of God who never sinned, died on the cross. And the most unjust, unfair thing that has ever happened in the history of the world, was for Jesus Christ to die for us. Nothing could be more unfair. It is stated by Peter like this, the just in behalf of the unjust thing we are learning from all these passages that we are studies is that God uses people who walk with a limp, that God wants us humble, and trusting that he loves brokenness, that he loves weak people that we see Billy Graham being used so much. And we see the the heart of Billy Graham, so dependent, so trusting, and so dependent on God. As we illustrated this morning, we've talked about the two windows of my life, and they are constantly there a window of blessing and a window of trouble. When we've learned this morning, that our God will buffet us, and you leave and allow Satan to torment you, so that you won't become conceited because God doesn't want brats running around. People that are filled with themselves, people that are confident in themselves. Now, I mentioned to you about sorrow. And I said that God will never waste to sorrow, but that we can. I'm taking that from Second Corinthians chapter seven. You don't have to turn there unless you want. I'm going to read you one short passage. But the Bible clearly talks about two kinds of sorrow. And I want you to see I will show you a worldly sorrow versus godly sorrow. And it is interesting that many times when we think of worldliness, we don't think of it in the way we sorrow. But do you know that you can sorrow through trials in a way that is worldly? Or you can have sorrow towards your own sin in a way that doesn't honor God? For instance, in second Corinthians chapter seven, Paul is writing in verse eight and he says this, even if I caused you sorrow, by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it. I see that my letter hurts you but only for a little while. Yet now I'm happy. Not because you were made sorry. That because your sorrow led you to repentance, for you became sorrowful as God intended, and you were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation, and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you? What earnestness would eagerness to clear yourselves? What indignation would alarm? My friends, if you notice, you can have worldly sorrow which laments personal disappointment. In other words, you're sad because you've been caught. It is not sorrow, because of the meaninglessness of sin is rebellion against God, but sorrow because of the painful and unwelcome consequences of sin, but godly sorrow, the kind of sorrow that God intends when he brings disappointment or difficulty into your life, even as the Apostle Paul says, like, I hurt you with my letter at first, I was sorry I hurt you. But now I'm not because it turned to be something good. And this is godly sorrow, which brings one to see here needs guilt and leads them to repentance. Worldly sorrow doesn't change the person. Godly sorrow leads to repentance and a genuine mind to change. We'll just run through these quickly. But notice this worldly sorrow, self is still central self is the point is the central point of sin. But in godly sorrow, God is the center of sorrow, the fact that I have grieved him by my sin. It manifests itself in self pity. And this is one thing we've got to get past when we are in our trials and when God is chasing us and when our difficulties we've got to get past this point of feeling sorry for ourselves. The self pity as a terrible rice is the opposite of humility. And yet, you sort of beat yourself and you sort of feel good when you sort of liked the fact that you're moaning and groaning so much better. doesn't really do you any good. But but godly sorrow manifests itself by contrition and turning to God for mercy. And in that sense, there's this there's a cleansing and there's a ready to go on. You know, the kind of beating up that the Holy Spirit gives you sometimes you know what I'm talking about, don't you? There are times when you get just totally beaten up, and everything about your life is just, you're just a total loser. You know, you can be sure that's not from the Holy Spirit. But there are times when the scriptures come alive, and the Word of God takes you and you're pricked by them, and you're you're enabled to see an area of your life that's wrong and that you are called to repent of. And then that there is there's a contrition and a turning to God for mercy and there's a there's a refreshing at the same time that there is a sorrow this godly sorrow, ungodly sorrow, worldly sorrow, maybe very bitter and intense. Judas and Esau both had it. But godly sorrow may be miserable and intense as it brings us to repentance. And then after the after effects of bitterness and anger, withdrawal, suicide, that's worldly sorrow, it leads to death. There's no hope and worldly sorrow, Judas and Esau had no place to go. But godly sorrow, the effects or content confidence of God's forgiveness, which leaves no regret. So there's something joyous here you see, when we are sorrow in in the right way. And lastly, it culminates in weeping and gnashing of teeth, whereas godly sorrow culminates in the joy of God's salvation and the praise for his goodness. Now, that was really just sort of some overflow from this morning. I want you to turn though, what we're really going to study is the father's discipline in second again, in Hebrews chapter 12, for our second Sunday night in a row there to finish up that passage. So would you turn there that was just all free. Now, I want you to remember. Please listen carefully, because this is important to remember. All things work together for good. We remember that the good is not necessarily our happiness, but conformity to the image of Christ. And I want you to see how the good gets played out in this passage. Please watch. All right. And remember something that there are at least 10 At least maybe you love and probably more reasons why God allows problems and pain and suffering and heartache. One is what we're studying tonight. Sometimes the believer will be afflicted with problems as a means of loving chastisement. He cares more about your holiness, than your happiness. We'll talk about that in a minute. But let's just go on to what we studied this morning. Other times God's will bring trouble suffering is preventive medicine to keep believers from falling into temptation. He cares more about you being humble, and then about you being proud. And we have a father, as Henry gave his testimony about coming to know Christ. One thing that we don't always realize is and the bush talked about it tonight about the wonderful standing we have, we are justified. And the moment that that Henry believed four years ago, all the things that have transpired, Henry cannot possibly even believe even now, because there's so much riches that we have in Christ. But something that Henry may not have known and many of us didn't know, when you became a Christian, God became your father. God was not your father before you became a Christian. Jesus Christ is very clear on this in Romans chapter eight. Excuse me, in John chapter eight. He says, Look, I am a father. And when when here's the thing that we don't ever realize. God is serious about being our father. He is going to be a father. Now I can remember I told you last week, I love getting spankings from my mom. I hated getting them some from my dad. I remember one time where I was really in trouble, because my dad had said to me, and he said, Kim, I don't want you to having guys over to the house after school. I was the last latchkey kid, I'd come home from school. I had a couple hours there before anyone else got home, I thought. And so my dad had warned me and I said yeah, yeah, but no one's ever home. And I had my friends over. Come on. Let me show you all my neat stuff in my room. We're going through stuff on like, the fifth grade or whatever. And all of a sudden, I heard the garage door open. All my heart panics. And I said quick, everybody down the hall and out the front door. Well guess what happened when I opened the front door? There was my dad. And you know why? Because he knew that I was in there with kids and he knew exactly how to trap me. And he knew if I threw he threw up in the garage door. I'd go run out the front with my friends and that's exactly what happened and he grabbed me and I was in big trouble. All right. But you know, something dead sink. Do you ever notice that about your parents? They sort of seem to know what you were doing or how to catch you. I never did understand that completely till I became a parent. Okay. But we have a heavenly Father. That is going to bring Loving chastisement because he cares more about our holiness than about our happiness. Now, we looked at all these other problems that we'll just we'll look at, we'll get later. But let's notice what we learned last week quickly again, how you should respond knowing that when hard times come, they come from God. Let's read this passage again starting with verse four of Hebrews 12. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons, my son, he's quoting proverbs three now, my son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you. Because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son. Now look at verse seven, everybody carefully, 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 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. Everybody, mark this. This is a lot like Second Corinthians that we studied this morning. Look at this next verse. 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. What a passage, this was written to a group of discouraged Jewish believers that are about to punt on their Christian faith and possibly go back into Judaism. And he's writing to them and says, look, look, stop before you. Before you just start feeling sorry for yourself, realize you have not gone the whole way. And you wouldn't have not shed blood in your resistance to fight against sin, you haven't gone that far, the persecution hasn't gotten that bad yet. And then he says, remember, you've got a father, that's gonna discipline you. Remember what discipline is everybody remember, discipline is when God our Father, does not shield us from the assault of the world, the flesh or the devil, or the burdensome and frustrating circumstances. But rather, he exposes us to these things, so that to overwhelm us with a true sense of our own inadequacy, which drives us to cling to him more closely. This is the ultimate reason why God purposely fills our lives with troubles, perplexity, failures, and all kinds of problems. Because we have a heavenly father who's got a plan for our life. And that plan is what doesn't want a bunch of brats. And stop and think about it. God is serious. God is serious. And we said it again, he's serious about being a dad. He's serious about being your father. He wants to be the kind of father that raises you up. So he's the kind of kids that he can be proud of. That's what he wants, and where are his children. And remember what J i Packer says, first and foremost, your understanding of God as your Father will tell you more of your understanding of the Christian gospel than anything else. And it is important for us to have this concept that we have a father and that father is going to bring trouble into our life purposefully for our good. Just like we learned this morning, that suffering is going to come into our life and troubles for a reason. And so how are we respond? Well, number one, you're not to make light of it. That's the case or officer or whatever will be I just had the mechanical deterministic view of life. You're not to lose heart. You're not to have a pity party. Oh, no being treated like builders, you lose his heart. The elder brother in the story lost heart didn't he? Remember the older brother? You're never treated me like this. Right? That guy's been going through all your money with all those women in drink. And I never did that you're never thrown a party ring. You get your best robot free him up the other brother isn't that story. It's the fairest vehicle heart. You know that? That's the fairest vehicle hard. Christ said that to the Pharisees. And here's the instead of rejoicing, and we can do the same thing. We can lose heart, we say I'm not getting treated like somebody else is getting treated. Remember, don't you treat those of you that are parents, don't you treat each of your kids a little differently? I mean, what I expect out of my 11 year old and what I expect out of my seven year old there's a little bit of a different standard. Isn't that true? And so with each of us, we have a heavenly Father that has a different plan or a different purpose for each of us. We can trust him. So we have to lose heart. We are also to endure, and that is to Hoopoe Menno to keep there and remember the diamonds are cold the state put it and allow their discipline to come and endure. Don't run away. I told the story of running from my mom's discipline and then it doesn't do any good. God's that you can't run from God's discipline. He will just track you down as the heavenly Father will. He'll know what just like my dad knew that I was gonna be run out the front door. He knows a lot better than that. And you think, well, Kim, you're sort of overstating the point, aren't you? No, I'm not. This is exactly what the tech says. He says we have earthly fathers the discipline is they thought best. Now, did any of you get a get a misjudgment while you were a kid? Come on, raise your hand? Did you get a misjudgment? I did. Did you ever get something wrong discipline? Did your mom or dad ever discipline you? And it was really your brother or sister that did it? Did that ever happen? Well, guess what? I got some good news for you. That will never happen with the Heavenly Father. Now you may think that that's happening. And you may think, man, I didn't do anything. Why is this all coming down on me? They did something. But the heavenly Father knows exactly what's best. And if you're gonna stop it, think about it. Those of you that didn't get disciplined now, if you were just ruthlessly beaten in an unfair way, I'm not talking about that. But if you were disciplined in some kind of way that was reasonable. Aren't you glad that you were discipline now as you sit here? Would you say yes, for my kids sake that you're glad? Okay. Aren't you glad that you were disciplined? All right. Well, listen, if you're if your earthly fathers, listen, here's the point. If your earthly fathers, they discipline you as they thought best. And you wouldn't do that. And you guys, you're not saying the only one who call him dad anymore. And you don't want to run from that? How much more how much more and that's the point here. The a fortiori logic that is used by the writer here is this. If that is true, then how much more shall we submit to the Father spirits and live. And so we're to endure, to submit and we are to be trained. And please remember, friends, it is possible to go into the discipline Hand of God and not to be trained. Look at verse 11. It's possible not to be trained. And that is why we must really be careful, they have a learning spirit. When we go through difficulties. I can say I can say to you with an assurance that I have been taken to the woodshed several times in my life, I can say to you, I'm not proud of it. Then the last weeks of my life that Heavenly Father has taken me to the woodshed and discipline me severely. I want to be trained by it. Because look what the text says, look with the text says the text says, Let me show you. What does this What does discipline and hard and painful times reveal. Look what they reveal. Look at verse six. Says you forgot that word of encouragement addresses you as sons. Now look at this, my son do not make light of the Lord's discipline. This is Solomon speaking to his sons. This is the Book of Wisdom solid with all of his wisdom, trying to get his sons not to be fools not to be the way of the simple but to go the way of the wise. And he says son don't make light of the Lord's discipline. Don't lose heart when he rebukes you. Because the Lord disciplines those he loves and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son. You know something you're dearly loved by God when you're disciplined. We falsely believe that if God loved us, he would give us what we want don't we? Stop and think about that. What happens to kids that get whatever they want. They become what I've used the term a couple times today they become brats and all sunshine makes a desert and off nothing but the gorgeous going oh hearings and some people today have got this view that when you become a Christian God's just up there in the sky the big daddy just you know with the endless bucks and sugar candy and, and, and money just throwing it at you. But the Bible says that hard, painful difficult times reveal that God loves you that you're really his own. This is one time I really appreciate the King James version because it startles you. It says if you are not disciplined and all children go undergo discipline than you are a bastard. And that's what the king J says not like it because you want. That's the point illegitimate children is the way the NIV says it. But the point is, if you're not disciplined by God, you're not one of his children. Because everybody who's ever come to know of the saving grace of Christ, and is able to live the tellement for any long period of time has known what it is to be disciplined by God, otherwise you're not saved. That's what the text says. You're really his own. Look at verses six through eight. You're really his own. Endure hardship as discipline. God is treating you as sons. Verse seven, that's what I just read, 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. I know I've used this illustration before, but the fact is if I come home, and there's a group of kids in our yard doing something wrong, and they're seven kids and three of them are mine and former neighbor kids, I'm not going to spank the neighbor kids. I'm going to spank my kids. I'm going to bring fatherly discipline. I say spank into the discipline can be much more than that. But But I gotta say this, I'm going to bring the discipline of my fatherhood upon my kids. Now, I'm not gonna do that anybody else's kids, you get sued. I mean, you get into all kinds of trouble. You would never do that. But it says here, look at verse six. It says in verse six, the Lord disciplines those he loves and get this everybody, he flogs, those whom he accepts, as a son, see, the word punishes in the NIV. There is actually the word flogging, referring to Jesus Christ, the same word in the gospels, when Jesus was flogged before he was taken to the cross. It's a difficult word, it's a painful word. It's to be scourged. Had a means this, if you don't have that scourging, if he didn't, then then you're not one of his children. God is committed to his part of the covenant. He takes his job of being your father, seriously. Now, look at this the last part of the text, what is what is God's purpose? In disciplining you? And look at the way this text unfolds. Look what it says, When God disciplines you, and this is what we've got to go back to what we learned this morning. We got to go back to that is, that is, when you are weak, then you're strong. And the same thing is true here. We get it went, what is God's purpose in disciplining you? It is first off for your good look at verse 10. It says our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best. But God disciplines us for our good. You see that? Now, by the way, does anybody else remember the word good been significant in any of the passages we've been looking at in the series on suffering? How about this, and we know that all things work together for good. Alright, look, here, there's another good. I wish I could tell you it was the same word in the Greek. It's not that I want to tell you this. The word good here is very interesting. Our heavenly Father disciplines us for our good. And that is, it's the word expedient. It's the word better. It's the word to profit or to be profitable. We mentioned this before, but isn't it it's amazing. You take a child, according to the book of Proverbs. And according to the book of Proverbs, if you take a child, and you don't discipline them in the rod, you don't love them. But if you take a child and you discipline with the rod, and you do it the right way, and afterwards, you show them loving the Bible says as you're hitting them in the rear end, God sends wisdom to their head, right? That's what the Scriptures say. The same thing is true for us, as God's children. When we go through difficult times, the purpose is for our good. Now, you remember when your parents would say to you, this hurts me more than it hurts you? And you would go Yeah, then why are you doing it? Or you know, you never believed it. Or your parents say, you know, it really hurts me to do this. But I've got to discipline. Well, friends, it really is true. The heavenly father doesn't want Brad's, he's going to do what is good. Now my dad tells a story. And I had a brother and two sisters that grew up in a household. A lot earlier than I did. I was the youngest of five. But my dad still tells the story. And he says sometimes he still wakes up in the middle of night and has a nightmare over what he did to my sister Jill, because there was some money stolen off of the his dresser. And this was when Jill was going through one of her bad times. And she's about 16. And he gave her a tremendous discipline. At that time. I found out about three weeks later that it was another so called friend of the family that stole the money. And Jill had sworn up and down that she didn't do it, but he had caught her in several ways earlier. And so went ahead and disciplined her. And my sister Jill doesn't ever mention it. But can I tell you friends, that kind of miss judgment doesn't happen with God? Because the whole the whole point here is we have earthly fathers who disciplined as they thought best, but earthly fathers are not perfect. And they're not sovereign, like our father is. And so please know it's always for our good. And please notice this that you may share in His holiness. Now look at this, verse 10. Our fathers discipline us for a little while as they thought this, but God is the ones for us for a good that we may share in His holiness, that you may become partners with him in a moral sense of holiness. Holiness doesn't come from ease and comfort, wholeness comes from discipline. And so will will be holy. That's one of the reasons. I hope that it's true, don't you that if you discipline your kids properly, that they'll turn out to respect you. And if we, if God disciplines us properly, and we are trained in the right way that we grow up to respect God and the world him. We've got to look at the loving Heavenly Father as saying, I don't want you to be a brat, I want what's best for you. So I've got to bring this into your life. And notice the last thing, but you may have a harvest of righteousness and peace. Look at verse 11. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. And by the way, isn't that the truth? There's nothing about it. That's pleasant. In fact, this word is that it's not painful, but it's sorrowful it brings much. But later on, and look at this, please notice, everybody, please get this. The fact that God disciplines you now the pain that you're going through now, you may not ever understand in the now in the right now, you may never understand the good that came out of it. But later on, however, see what the text says. Later on, however, you will know it'll produce a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. I think that is so important because to live by faith means there are going to be times when you your faith is not going to be satisfied in the present. But you've got to say God's not going to waste my suffering. God's not going to waste this discipline. Maybe he brought something to my life to humble me to keep me from being proud. Maybe he's disciplined me as a heavenly Father wants because he, he wants something better, and he wants righteousness and peace later on. But nevertheless, I can trust him. Somebody says God, somebody once said, God whispers to us in our pleasures. He speaks to us in our conscience. But he shouts to us in our pain. It's his megaphone to rouse a deaf world. And our Heavenly Father disciplines this for the purpose that we may have righteousness and peace. Let's pray. Our Father, we lift our voice to you, thanking you that you don't leave us. You're not a father that is careless, you're not a father that misjudges us. You're not a father that doesn't know us inside and out. But you know us and you still want to be our father. And you are a father that loves us enough to stay involved in our life. That we might be good, that we might be holy. There might be righteousness and peace in our lives. Thank you for your discipline. People working in the lives of the people at College Park. Thank you for doing it. Give us the strength to be trained by it and have hearts full of faith to handle it. In Jesus name, Amen.