Hebrews 12:3-12

This evening we're continuing looking at the book of Hebrews and we're in chapter 12.

Graham took us through the first couple of verses last week and we're going to be looking at the next section now.

So we're going to read from Hebrews chapter 12 from verse 3 to verse 11.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

So if you have a Bible you might like to turn to it, it will be on the screen in the church here.

So Hebrews chapter 12 and starting reading at verse 3.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

And the writer says,

Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

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, 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.

Endure hardship as discipline.

God is treating you as sons, but 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 ones.

Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for us.

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.

God will bless his word as we consider it together this evening.

Suffering is good for you.

You should expect it and you should welcome it.

I don't think anyone who is trying to market Christian faith would feel that that was a very effective strapline.

It's much easier to say, smile, Jesus loves you.

Or to say, trust in Jesus and everything will be all right.

And both of these have truth in them.

And yet, the fact that suffering is a good thing for us is something which is very much present throughout the New Testament.

So in James, right at the beginning of his book, James says,

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds.

Paul says in Romans chapter 5,

Romans 5 · chapter mention

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings.

And in this passage here, the writer tells us that our sufferings are good for us

and that they are thing which our Heavenly Father in his love allows to come upon us.

Suffering is good for us.

And we might as well say, well, why is that?

In many ways, it's counterintuitive.

In our society, we aim for a life that is easy, that is straightforward,

and we don't welcome suffering.

I think the answer is that suffering that has a purpose is good.

If there is a purpose and an end goal in it,

then suffering is worthwhile.

In this passage and in many others, Paul has in mind,

some of the time, an athlete, someone who is running in a race.

And throughout the New Testament,

when this thought of an athlete is in mind,

very much what is usually in the writer's forefront of their thinking,

is that it requires a great effort.

We need to be disciplined.

We need to work hard if we're going to win the prize.

And so there is a purpose in the suffering

that people go through in that kind of situation.

And the writer here says there is a purpose too in our suffering.

There was a purpose in the Lord's suffering.

That was in verses 1 and 2 that Graham brought to us last week.

He endured the cross for the joy that was set before him.

His purpose was, first of all, to please and be obedient to his Father,

and secondly, to bring us into a living relationship with God

where our sins can be forgiven and we can have eternal life.

And because of the purpose that the Lord Jesus saw in his suffering,

he endured it patiently.

And so the writer says,

in our suffering there is a purpose.

And therefore it is worthwhile,

and it is something which we should, in some sense, welcome.

And that purpose is that we should become more like Jesus.

The writer here describes it in terms of a harvest of righteousness and peace.

And that very much is becoming more like Jesus, isn't it?

Having his righteousness and the peace that he alone can bring.

I quote it from James and from Romans.

So in James, if I finish the quotation,

James says,

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,

whenever you face trials of many kinds,

because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

Let perseverance finish its work,

so that you may become mature and complete,

not lacking anything.

Again, it is really so you may become like Jesus.

Or the passage in Romans chapter 5,

Romans 5 · chapter mention

Paul writes,

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings.

Why?

Because we know that suffering produces perseverance,

perseverance character,

and character hope,

and hope does not put us to shame,

because God's love has been poured out into our hearts

through the Holy Spirit,

who has been given to us.

So the purpose of our suffering

is that we may develop endurance,

that we may develop character,

that we may develop maturity,

that our hope may be holy in Christ,

and that we may know the daily presence

of his Spirit in us.

We could see, I think,

that Christ's suffering was for our justification.

Much more than that, of course,

but Christ's suffering was for our justification.

Our suffering that God allows to come on us

is for our sanctification,

that we may become more holy,

that we may become more like Jesus.

If you don't get anything else away from what I say this evening,

just take that God has a purpose in our suffering,

that through it,

we should become more like Jesus.

We're going to go through the verses very quickly

in a few minutes,

but before we do that,

I want to address two difficulties

that I see in this passage.

There's one difficulty that's cultural,

and there's one difficulty that's doctrinal.

So the cultural difficulty.

The writer here is clearly envisaging

fathers disciplining their sons.

Again, there's a cultural thing.

It could be fathers or mothers now.

It could be sons or daughters.

But there is a cultural thing there.

But the big cultural thing is

the author is envisaging

that they will discipline them

through physical punishment,

through what we used to call corporal punishment.

The verses currently at the end of verse 6,

where it says in this verse,

he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.

Actually, the literal translation would be

he flogs everyone he accepts as a son.

And the cultural issue with that

is that in our society today,

many people would feel that

physical punishment of children

is unacceptable.

Indeed, it's about to become illegal

in Scotland in the next couple of months.

Let me just say two things.

I'm sure there will be views on both sides in this

among those who are listening.

So let me just say two things about it.

The first thing I would say

is I think we need to accept

that up until at least one generation ago,

if not closer than that,

physical punishment of children

was accepted as being normal

and right.

And whatever we think of the ethics

and the effectiveness of it,

I think we need to accept

that when it was properly applied,

it was done in a loving way

by those who cared for their children

and who believed it was the best way

to train them.

So we shouldn't look back

in a passage like this and say,

this is something which is terrible.

It's a practice we wouldn't do today.

Therefore, we should ignore it.

Second thing I want to say, though,

is that in our society,

the fact that we don't strike our children

when they're disobedient

and discipline them in that way

doesn't mean that children

aren't and shouldn't be disciplined.

A good parent will still

discipline their children.

Now, they might do it by withdrawing privileges.

They might have a naughty step,

all sorts of ways in which it can happen.

But disciplining of children

should still very much be part

of our culture today.

Where there is no disciplining,

children will grow up as spoiled

and not understanding

the need to be a good citizen,

to be unselfish,

and ultimately they will not mature

into responsible adults.

So in a sense,

the physical punishment

is a bit of a side issue in this

if we're bothered about it.

The fact is that disciplining

is still necessary

and it's still unpleasant.

If you withdraw a privilege from a child,

they're going to be very unhappy about it

and it might hurt you as a parent

to have to do that,

but it is a necessary thing

to teach and train them.

And so the context here

is that parents discipline their children

and God disciplines us.

We don't have the theological,

doctrinal difficulty.

And this is that we know

that Jesus took the punishment

for our sins on the cross.

That he took everything

that was owed by us

or all the sin

or all the dirt in our lives,

he took on himself

so that we could be forgiven for it.

And we might say,

well then if that's the case,

why does it talk here

about God punishing us?

Does that mean that our sins

are being punished twice,

once for Christ on the cross

and once in our lives?

Well, no, it doesn't.

And I think we're much better

at looking at this passage

and thinking of it

in terms of corrective discipline

or of rebuke from God,

of God trying to help us

to see the wrong in our lives

and to put it right.

We could never take

the full punishment

for our sins in this life

and we don't need to.

Christ has taken

all that was due by us.

But God still needs,

as a father,

as a loving heavenly father,

he needs to correct us,

he needs to rebuke us,

he needs to put us

on the right path

and he does that in love.

And that is one of the key things

we'll see as we go along

this evening.

So let's look at the passage now

and I've got four headings

which hopefully will be helpful.

So verses three and four,

I've headed,

remember God's son.

Remember God's son.

So verse three,

the writer says,

consider him who endured

such opposition from sinful men

so that you will not grow weary

and lose heart.

And the bridge here

is that the writer

is taking Christ's sufferings.

He's then going to talk about

our sufferings.

And he says really two things about it.

The first is that when we suffer,

Christ should be our inspiration.

The one who encourages us

to go on and to persevere

as he did.

Consider him

who endured such opposition

from sinful men.

And if we face suffering in our lives

and we all do to a greater or lesser extent

and some obviously much more than others,

what we should do is we should consider

the sufferings of Christ

and recognise the way in which

he came through them.

The way in which he submitted himself

perfectly to God's will.

And that should be the inspiration

for us too

to go through

and to endure.

And that is not just our inspiration,

but Christ is our example.

And that's what the writer is talking about

in verse four, I think.

In your struggle against sin,

you have not yet resisted

to the point of shedding your blood.

What is the point of that?

It is that Christ did suffer.

He did shed his blood for us.

Now maybe some of those

that the writer here is addressing

will at a later stage

face the ultimate sacrifice.

They may well be martyred

for their faith.

But he says,

Christ has suffered much more

than you ever will.

Follow his example.

As in everything in life,

if we can strive to be like Christ,

then we will be doing God's will

and we will grow to be mature

Christian people.

Christ is our inspiration

and Christ is our example

when we face suffering.

We need to remember God's son.

Verses five and six,

I've headed,

remember God's word.

Now these verses are principally

a quotation from the book

of Proverbs.

And the writer here is taking

an Old Testament passage

and as New Testament writers do,

he's expanding on it

and he's applying it

to the situation.

And he says,

have you forgotten

that word of encouragement

that addresses you

as sons?

Quite interesting

that the word

that's translated

encouragement here

is the same word

that's used

as the Holy Spirit

in John's Gospel,

translated comfort

or a counselor generally

in our versions

of the Bible.

It is the same word

the writer is using here,

the same root word

when he says

that it is a word

of encouragement

that is given

in Proverbs.

You might not think

it sounds very much

like a word of encouragement,

but certainly a word

of good advice.

It is good counsel.

And so the writer says,

first of all,

do not make light

of the Lord's discipline.

There are two dangers

that the author

is addressing here.

And the first is

that we don't recognize

or don't take seriously

the suffering

that we face

in our lives.

The thought here

when he talks

about making light

is very much

the same thought

as early in the chapter

when he talks

about the Lord Jesus

despising the shame,

not thinking nothing

of the shame

that came upon him.

And that was because

he was suffering for us.

What the writer says

in this case

is not a good thing

to make light

of what's happening here.

If we suffer,

let's think about

why are we suffering?

Now scripture makes it

very clear

there's not a one-to-one

connection between sin

and suffering.

It's not always the case

that we do something wrong

and then we suffer

for it.

And yet it is true

that the scripture

here is teaching

that when we suffer

we should examine ourselves

and should say

well what is it

that God is teaching me

through my suffering?

When something goes wrong

in my life

is this God

speaking to me

and bringing to my attention

something

that needs

corrected?

And it's very dangerous

just to look at suffering

and to thole it

to suffer it

and not to think

well what is it

that God is saying

to me

through it?

There's a slight

irony I think here

that the situation

that Paul is thinking about

is people who are

particularly suffering

through persecution.

So it's actually

those who are making

a stand for Jesus

who are suffering.

And that is why

he goes on to talk about

suffering as sons.

So it's not because

they're particularly

bad people

that God

is disciplining them.

Rather it's because

they are people

who are close to him

who are living for him

but who still

need to grow

in their faith

who still need

to repent

of sins

in their lives.

And so when we suffer

in whatever way

we do

in our lives

let's make sure

that we ask

that question

is there something

that God is saying

to me through this

is there something

I need to address

that God is drawing

to my attention.

But then alongside that

the writer says

do not make light

of the Lord's suffering

and do not lose heart

when he rebukes you.

So on the one side

there's the danger

that we suffer

and we don't really

think about it

and it doesn't make

any difference

to us.

On the other side

there's the danger

that we suffer

and we think

oh God must have

rejected me

that I'm going

through this terrible

time in my life

I'm losing heart

I don't know

if I can keep going

in my Christian faith.

And the writer says

we mustn't have

that attitude either.

If we suffer

God will give us

the grace

to endure our suffering

if we trust in him

and depend on him

for it.

he will not let us

be tested

beyond what we can

bear

as 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10.

So God

when he allows us

to suffer

he does it

in a way

that there is a way

for us to come

through it

and to come through it

not with our faith

weakened

not with a

feeling of resentment

towards God

but rather

with our faith

strengthened

as we recognise

that God

is working

in our lives.

And so the

writer here

introduces

through the quote

from Proverbs

what he's going

to be covering

particularly

in the next few verses.

God

the Lord

disciplines those

he loves

and he punishes

everyone

he accepts

as a son.

And that is the theme

of verses 7

to 9.

I've called it

remember

God's love.

Remember God's son

remember God's word

remember God's love.

And the writer says

God only disciplines us

because

he loves us.

He doesn't discipline us

despite

his love for us.

He disciplines us

because of

his love

for us.

And he draws

the analogy

that we touched on

briefly earlier

of human

parents.

Now let's recognise

at this point

that not all parents

fit in the model

that is described

here.

There are parents

who are very

bad parents.

There are parents

who are cruel

who are abusive

towards their children.

There are parents

who neglect

their children.

Now some of us

have been very blessed

that we have had

godly parents

who have brought us

up well

have disciplined us

well

have shown us

real love.

But I recognise

there may be some

for whom that's

not the case.

Whether it is

or not

I think we can

understand

how

what God

does for us

through disciplining us

relates to what

a good

human parent

would do.

That it is

a demonstration

of his love

for us.

And the writer

talks about

legitimate and

illegitimate children.

He talks about

those who

are truly loved

by their father

and those who

aren't really

part of

the family.

And it is

those who

are really

part of the family

who are God's

children

who experience

his disciplining

because

he loves us.

And our

disciplining by God

should bring us

into a deeper

experience

of him.

Disciplining

isn't a sign

that God

doesn't care.

it's a sign

that he

does

care.

And when we

recognize that

as the writer

says

it will lead

not to

resentment

but to

respect.

We respected

our human

fathers

the good

human fathers

it says

because of

their loving

discipline.

How much

more

great New Testament

phrase

how much

more

should we

submit to the

father of our

spirits

and live.

How much

more

should we

recognize

what God

is doing

in us

and should

recognize that

is for our

good

and unlike

human fathers

and human

mothers

God

never gets

it wrong.

He always

does what

is for our

good.

He never

does it

from selfish

motives as

any parent

probably at

times does.

He does it

always for

our good.

And then

finally in

verses 10

and 11

I've

headed this

remember

God's

purpose.

Remember

God's

purpose.

Remember

God's

son.

Remember

God's

word.

Remember

God's

love.

Remember

God's

purpose.

As we

said at

the beginning

suffering

with a

purpose

is beneficial

to us

and therefore

can be

welcome.

We can

find joy

even in

the most

adverse

circumstances.

And the

reason for

that is

that ultimately

through our

suffering we

develop

Christian

character.

Now there's

a short

term and a

longer term

thing I

think here.

So verse

10 it says

God disciplines

for us as

for our

good that

we may

share in

his holiness.

Now that

has a long

term implication

but perhaps

it's a short

term one

as well.

As we

understand that

God is

disciplining us

of the

suffering in

our life

is a kind

of wake

up call

from God

to do

away with

some sin

in our

lives.

So we

put away

that sin

we become

more holy

more set

apart for

God

and we

try to

live lives

that are

pleasing to

the Lord

Jesus

that are

not resisting

his

will.

So there's

a short

term benefit

that it

makes us

more holy

it makes

us more

devoted

to God.

But then

there's a

long term

benefit

the writer

says no

discipline

seems present

at the time

but painful

later on

however

it produces

a harvest

of

righteousness

and

peace.

So those

who have

suffered

and have

recognised

the Lord's

hand in

their suffering

they

mature

as

Christians

and there

is a

harvest.

Now the

whole thought

of a

harvest

is it

is something

that happens

after a

period.

You sow

your seed

in the

spring

and in

the autumn

while being

well you

have your

harvest.

And so it

is here

that we

sow or God

sows

throughout our

lives

in disciplining

us and

teaching us

and training

us and

over time

we mature

and then

there is

a true

harvest

in us.

A harvest

of

righteousness

and peace.

Righteousness

of being

more conformed

to God's

will,

of living

lives that

are better

for him,

of doing

away with

the sin

that so

easily besets

us,

which we

talked about

earlier in

the chapter.

Peace

that we

have in

us,

that inner

peace that

comes from

our knowledge

of the

Lord Jesus

and from

having true

confidence

in him.

And when

people have

suffered,

it does

make a

difference to

their lives

if they

have recognized

God's hand

and been

willing to

be obedient

to him.

John Stott

said,

there is

always an

indefinable

something about

people who

have suffered.

They have a

fragrance which

others lack.

They exhibit

the meekness

and gentleness

of Christ.

I'm sure

all of us

can look at

Christians we've

known who've

suffered greatly

in their lives,

perhaps are still

suffering greatly,

and we look at

them and say,

what a lovely

character they

have.

How Christ-like

they are in

their sufferings.

And that comes

about because

they recognized

God's hand when

they were suffering,

suffering, and

they made every

effort to live

like Jesus, to

become like Jesus,

and to recognize

that God is

molding them

into the image

of his

son.

And as we

mature, as

with children,

as they grow

older, if they

have been brought

up well, if they

have been disciplined

well when they

are young, then

they become mature

adults, responsible

citizens in our

society.

And they don't

need then the

same discipline

because they are

self-disciplined.

They have learned

discipline and

they don't need a

parent constantly

to be reminding

them of it.

And so it is

in the Christian

faith.

As we accept

God's discipline,

perhaps when we're

young, but could

be at any stage

in our lives,

then we get more

and more self-disciplined

and able to live

for Jesus and

not to need

God's correction.

Yesterday afternoon

I was watching

the UK Athletic

Championships on

television, obviously

very, like every

sports event, rather

strange at the

moment, no

spectators round

about, just the

athletes competing.

And I was quite

struck by one of

the winners when

they got interviewed

after the event.

One of the

winners said

something along

these lines.

I was really

worried going

into lockdown

because I didn't

know how I

would get on

without my

coach to

encourage me

and to urge

me on.

I didn't know

whether I could

keep going.

But because I

had been

trained and

built up the

disciplines that

I needed in

my training,

because I knew

what the goal

was and what

I needed to

do to get

there, I

was able to

achieve it.

In other words,

having been

disciplined,

having been

taught by

their coach,

having been

urged on

through pain

and through

difficulty as

they sought

to get better

and better.

When they

didn't have the

coach there,

they were able

to keep going

because they

had developed,

they had

matured,

they were

themselves

disciplined.

And that is

what we are

aiming for.

We are aiming

that we get

to a position

where we are

obedient to

God, where

we have

grown in

him and

we don't

need to the

same extent

his disciplining

of us.

It will still

come.

We all still

fail, but

as we become

more like

Jesus, it

becomes less

and less

necessary.

So four points

there then.

Four things

to take away.

Remember God's

son.

Remember Jesus

who is our

inspiration

and our

example.

Remember God's

word.

Remember the

writer to the

Proverbs and

how he encourages

us not to be

downhearted or

to ignore God's

discipline but

rather to learn

from it.

Remember God's

love that when

he disciplines us

it's not a sign

he doesn't care,

it's a sign of

how much he

does care.

And remember

God's purpose

that in all our

suffering God

has the purpose

that we may

grow to Christian

maturity, that

we may become

more like

Jesus.

Let me finish

by quoting

from I think

one of the

greatest Christians

of the last

hundred years,

Dr. Helen

Rosevear.

Now many of

you will probably

know Helen

Rosevear's story.

When she was a

student she felt

the call to

missionary work

and she went

to the Congo.

She worked as

a doctor,

she trained

other medical

people,

she set up

medical facilities

there,

she did a

tremendous work

for the Lord.

And then there

was a civil war

in the Congo

and Helen Rosevear

along with other

colleagues was

captured by the

rebel forces

and she was

brutally beaten

up and raped

and left in a

dreadful physical

condition.

And she was at

the point where

she was thinking

I'm not sure I

can go on.

I'm not sure I

can bear this.

And while she

was thinking that

she became very

aware of the

presence of the

Lord Jesus

with her.

And she

recognized that

her suffering

was not something

that should break

her, not something

she should shy

away from and

think this is

dreadful, but

that it was

something that

she should almost

welcome.

and she describes

it as a

privilege.

Let me read

what she says.

One word became

unbelievably clear

and that word

was privileged.

He didn't take

away pain or

cruelty or

humiliation.

No, it was all

there, but now

it was altogether

different.

it was with

him, for

him, in

him.

He was

actually offering

me the

inestimable

privilege of

sharing in some

little way the

edge of the

fellowship of

his suffering.

God never

uses a person

greatly until

he has wounded

them deeply.

The privilege

he offers you

is greater than

the price you

have to pay.

The privilege

is greater

than the

price.

So when we

face suffering

in our lives,

and I say we

all do, and

some of you

I know suffer

far, far more

than I ever

have, let's

recognize that

it is part of

God's plan

for us.

In a real

sense, it is a

privilege that

he allows us

to suffer.

We are in

some way

reflecting the

suffering that

the Lord Jesus

had.

And as we

suffer, let us

recognize God's

hand in it.

Let us

recognize the

sinfulness in

our lives and

put it aside.

And let us

grow to

maturity and

to be more

like our

Lord.

Let's pray

together.

Our

Father, we

thank you

for your

word.

We thank

you for

this passage

which at

first seems

very difficult

but yet can

be very

precious as

we understand

it.

That as a

loving Father,

you discipline

your children,

but you do

it only for

our good.

That we may

have more

joy and

peace in

the Lord

Jesus.

That we may

mature in

faith and

become truly

holy and

righteous.

That we may

become truly

like Jesus,

may share

something of

his character

and represent

that to

others.

And we pray

that when we

face times of

suffering in

our lives,

that you will

help us to

see that under

your hand we

can endure the

suffering.

More than that,

we can be

drawn to the

Lord Jesus

through it and

come to

understand more

the love that

he had for

us as he

suffered.

Help us to

be those who

endure suffering

with courage

and with

faith and

with a real

confidence in

you.

We thank you

for the time

we've had

studying your

word as now

we come to

remember the

Lord Jesus

in the way

that he's

appointed.

Help us to

understand a

bit more of

his suffering

and to be

drawn closer

to him.

We ask in

the name of

the Lord

Jesus.

Amen.