Disciplining with Love

Take your Bible, turn over to Hebrews chapter 12 this morning.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

! Hebrews chapter 12, as we'll take a few moments here as we look into God's Word,

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

as we consider the reality of being disciplined.

I want you to understand, God judges nations, but He disciplines His children.

And He does that for a reason.

He does it because He loves us.

And we're going to look here this morning of how that even applies in our lives and in our families.

And that measurement there, but you know, the one thing that is definitely a reality is,

I don't think anybody here likes being corrected.

You know, just against our nature it seems like, to want to be corrected or to have to face correction.

And we all know the reality is sooner or later you're going to be corrected.

And the question is, how are you going to respond to that?

You know, how do we respond when we're corrected?

You know, why do we even need to be corrected?

You know, what's God's purpose in correcting us?

You know, that's an important element as we begin looking here this morning.

Because it's never comfortable to be corrected.

Matter of fact, usually it's very uncomfortable.

It's uncomfortable for the one doing the correcting,

and it's uncomfortable for the one receiving correction in that.

I mean, that's just a reality of life.

But we realize that discipline and being disciplined is part of life,

whether it's a parent for a child or God towards his children.

You know, Hebrews 12, we're going to look at here this morning for a few minutes,

gives us a pattern and a purpose for discipline.

Not only in our own lives between us and God as his child,

but also for a father and mother in regard to their kids.

Because remember, everything, God gives us an example of how we ought to do things.

And he presents that to us even through his word.

We see here that as we see the word used here in Hebrews,

we're going to listen to is chastening.

And I want you to understand the word chastening there is this concept of training for a desired outcome.

In other words, discipline has a purpose.

It's not just punishment.

You know, oftentimes when you hear being disciplined,

punishment is the first thing that comes to mind.

But I want you to understand the purpose of discipline is not punishment,

but your betterment.

To improve you and to put you where God would have for you to be.

And so if you found Hebrews chapter 12 this morning,

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

let's stand together and honor the reading of the word of God.

And we'll pick up here in verse 5 and read down through verse 11.

And we see this and it says in verse 5,

And it says,

Now no chastising for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous.

Nevertheless, afterward it yielded the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Fathers, we come before you here this morning.

Lord, I pray just have your hand upon each heart, each life here today.

Lord, as we look at the reality of the privilege of being your child.

Lord, what that means.

And Lord, we pray we just would understand the importance and the goal and outcome of being trained up properly before you.

Lord, that we might live holy and righteous lives before you.

Lord, we need to be guided and directed.

Lord, we just thank you.

Even when it's uncomfortable, Lord, we know that those things take place for our benefit, for our learning.

And Lord, help us to learn the lessons.

Even as we face chastisement from you in our own lives.

Lord, help us to learn and understand.

But Lord, even as we train up another generation.

Lord, that our objective might be as yours.

Lord, to raise ones that have a fear of you.

Lord, a healthy respect and understanding of what righteousness and holiness look like.

And Lord, we pray just have your hand upon the message and the things here this morning.

And each heart and life here today.

Lord, we just give you all the praise and glory.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

May we be seated.

You know, as we look here this morning, you know, we are going to examine this idea of

discipline or chastisement in shaping an individual.

Because it's one of the tools that God uses to shape us, just as a parent uses that tool

to shape their children into the right character.

But we find here God wants to give us, shape our character all together.

So we have kind of a dual dynamic because there's nobody here that's exempt.

Because if you're a parent here today, you can get a good example from God how to properly

discipline and what the goal is for discipline in the life of your children.

But also, even as God chastises you, as God corrects you as an individual, as a child of

God, as his child.

And we're going to talk about a few of those things.

Because you say, well, why, preacher, do you need to be reminded of this?

Well, look at verse 5 here for a moment in what we just read.

Notice what the writer of Hebrews has to tell us.

It says, and ye have what?

Forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children.

You know, he says, you know what?

We do what we normally do.

We forget.

You ever notice it's easy to forget things?

Or should I say it's easy to forget the right things?

You know, sometimes it's hard to forget the things that we ought to forget.

But the Bible also tells us that we forget or overlook the things that we ought to remember.

You know, throughout the scripture, you'll find a very familiar word.

It's called remember, remember, remember.

Why?

Because we forget that which is right, and we seem to hold on to that which is wrong.

So we need to be lined out.

We need to be corrected in that.

And this verse 5 points out the chastening of the Lord is not without reason.

You know, he speaketh unto us as children.

You know, notice here what it tells us.

He says, my son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him.

You know, it's easy to forget God's purpose of why he corrects us.

But this is a passage from Proverbs chapter 3 is what he's referring back to here in Hebrews.

Proverbs 3 · chapter mention

He's referring back to Proverbs chapter 3 in verse 11 where his word of God says this,

Proverbs 3 · chapter mention

my son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, neither be weary of his correction.

For whom the Lord loveth, he correcteth, even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

You know, this reality of the Lord correcting his children, just as a parent ought to correct their children.

You know, today we have a misconception because oftentimes parents have been removed from responsibility of their children.

But I want you to understand the Bible says every parent is responsible for their children to raise them up.

They're the ones that are the oversight for your kids.

Parents today, I want you to understand the importance of what you're doing in disciplining and raising up godly children.

It's an important dynamic because just as the Lord corrects by disciplining those that are his children,

a physical father is to discipline his children.

Why? Because you're his child.

But I want you to understand something important here because we have a lot of confusion in today's world.

The devil loves to take half-truths and twist them.

And makes great slogans.

I mean, the original meme, you might say, was the devil.

He takes the word of God and uses part of it and twists it and has a false representation.

And one of the things that's a false representation today, and you'll hear people say this,

well, we're all God's children.

I want you to understand you're all God's creation, but you're not all God's children.

Because the Bible makes it very clear, you become a child of God, not from physical birth,

but by faith in Jesus Christ.

When Jesus even told Nicodemus, he says, it's not your religion,

it's not the fact of the lineage you were born into physically.

He tells him, he says, you must be what? Born again.

There has to be a new birth into God's family.

And when we understand that we're physically born into a family,

and you must be born again into God's family.

You know, I want you to understand, you're not born into a church, you're born into the family.

Another misconception we could spend some time on,

that people get confused, and today people blend that and it causes a lot of problems.

Because the devil is the author of confusion.

He loves to get people confused about what God has said.

Think about what the first thing he did in the garden with Eve.

He says, hath God said.

And he didn't speak a total lie, he spoke partial truth.

He added unto God's word.

He added unto those things.

And that same dynamic happens today.

So we need to understand, who are we talking about when God corrects his children?

He corrects those who have called upon him as their savior.

He called, it's a direct reality that we see here in the word of God.

And we're placed, you're born into a family, but you're placed into a local church by the Lord to serve him.

And, you know, we find that just as God corrects his children, he chastens them.

Parents are to do the same by, with their children, in chastening their children.

Why? Because they are their children.

Why do they do that? Because of love.

Because the first thing we're going to look at here is discipline is an expression of love.

You know, today we have a misconception that, you know, if somebody corrects me, they don't like me.

Now you think about that.

It's like, well, if you don't like what I'm doing, if you think what I'm doing is wrong, you hate me.

That's really the devil's twist today.

Instead of saying and evaluating, is what I'm doing, is the things that I'm doing, are they right or are they wrong?

To evaluate that chastisement, correction, discipline, training is that same factor.

And that driving factor behind correction, especially a father correcting his son, is why?

Because of love.

That dynamic of love is there.

Look at verse 6 in our text here.

It says,

For whom the Lord, what?

Loveth, he chasteneth, and scourges every son whom he receiveth.

You know, I want you to see here, the driving factor is love.

You know, today I want you to understand, if a parent doesn't correct their children, it's not loving.

We have a misconception.

Well, we need to let them develop themselves.

I want you to understand, a child will never develop into a mature adult unless somebody guides them,

constrains them, puts them in the right direction, sets them back on the right course.

Because we have a misconception that says, follow your heart.

That's the most dangerous statement anybody ever said.

The Bible tells us what?

The heart is desperately wicked, and who can know it?

You know, your heart will take you places you ought not to be.

Because your heart will lie to you.

Your emotions can lie to you.

That's the reason we need discipline.

And how do you get disciplined?

By being disciplined.

By correction.

Learning how to control those things.

To put them under subjection to the things of God.

That child does not come to understand their discipline because they are loved and need to mature in their life.

We see here the important reality is that we discipline because we want maturity.

You know why God disciplines his children?

He wants us to grow up.

God corrects us.

God allows and puts things and even dramatically emphasizes some things in our life to get our attention that we might produce the right fruit.

To produce the right thing.

To understand this important foundation of love is there though.

I want you to see here that discipline today has been brought that it's just punishment.

You know, we're going to inflict pain to get attention.

I want you to understand discipline sometimes inflicts discomfort and pain in your life.

But you know what?

As people we respond when discomfort comes.

The reality is we mostly respond when things get uncomfortable.

When things are comfortable we don't move much.

We like to stay in the comfort zone.

It doesn't challenge.

It doesn't ruffle any feathers.

We just kind of can coast along.

But I want you to understand that God says that's not the right way.

God gives us an example of correction.

You know, the problem is we often view discipline through the lens of punishment instead of a tool to guide and prepare a child towards God's best for their life.

You know, think about what Proverbs 13 24 says.

It says this, he that spareth his rod hateth his son, and he that loveth him chasteth him be times.

I want you to understand, oftentimes this is another misquoted verse.

It's not about the rod.

It's about the tool that's used to correct and the purpose behind it.

I want you to understand it's not about just inciting pain, but it's the direction and the desired outcome.

Because, you know, correction involves discomfort.

If we're not involved, if there's a little discomfort, we'll never change.

Let me give you a biblical example.

Look over to Jonah chapter 2 for a moment.

Jonah 2 · chapter mention

You know, most of us know, I think, this morning the story of Jonah.

Jonah was told by God, he was a prophet of God, to go to the city of Nineveh and tell Nineveh that God was going to judge them if they didn't repent.

If you remember, what did Jonah do?

Jonah said, sure, God, I'm going this way.

If Nineveh's that way, I'm going to go this way.

Now, Jonah, we're going to find, was disciplined.

He gets on the ship.

He gets out in the ocean.

And remember that the storm comes and the sailors cast him over the side.

And the Bible tells us the big fish came and took Jonah.

I imagine it was pretty discomforting in there.

Dark and wet and all sorts of vile stuff.

You know, you think about being in there.

But look here in Jonah chapter 2.

Jonah 2 · chapter mention

Look at verse 7.

This is Jonah in the belly of the fish.

He says this,

And when my soul fainteth within me, I remembered the Lord.

You know, think about that.

It wasn't in comfort that he remembered the Lord.

It was in discomfort that he remembered whom he was to serve.

It was in that moment of correction.

Notice here.

And my prayer came in unto thine holy temple.

They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.

You know, that's a loaded statement right there.

You can process.

When you ignore God's correction, you also ignore God's mercy.

They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.

But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving.

I will pay that I have vowed salvation is of the Lord.

You know what?

I want you to see here.

It was in discomfort that Jonah was reminded he needed to be obedient.

We don't like the discomfort.

But God allows and puts discomfort into our life.

God is even intentionally.

You think about that.

Jonah should have been dead.

He was thrown out in the sea in the midst of a storm.

God's mercy shows up and he ends up back on shore.

But in the midst of realizing God's mercy, there was a lot of discomfort.

Why?

Because he forgot.

Discipline is to help us remember.

To understand the things that we ought.

It was God's correction that led him to obedience.

You know, I want you to understand today.

It's the responsibility of a parent to correct their children.

And that correction needs to be with God as a guide.

Just as our Father in heaven corrects his children,

we need to correct the children of this generation as parents.

We need to understand as a father,

you're directly responsible for your children and their response towards God.

Look down in verse 9 back at our text here in Hebrews chapter 12 for a moment.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

It says,

It says,

You know,

You know,

Today,

You know,

As you consider,

As we look here at the beginning,

This idea of love,

Have you stopped to remember that God disciplines and allows discipline in your life?

He corrects you.

He trains you.

Not because he doesn't love you,

But because he does.

It's out of love that God corrects.

It's out of love that a parent guides and directs their children.

Now,

That's important as we're going to continue looking here,

Because discipline,

We're going to see here,

Shapes character and produces righteousness in our life.

That's the goal.

God corrects us in the concept and the parameters of loving us,

But he does it for a reason.

Just as when we are correcting our children,

We should not do it out of frustration or anger.

You know,

That's part of the problem is,

As human beings,

Oftentimes,

Our own frustration and anger supersede what we ought to do.

We might be doing the right thing in correcting your children if they're wrong,

If they need correction,

But I want you to understand it needs to be done in the context like God does,

Out of love.

In other words,

The objective is what is in view,

Not the frustration of the moment.

Because you know what happens as individuals?

Sometimes we get caught up in the frustration of the moment

Instead of understanding why are we doing this.

What's the goal?

What's the objective?

What's God's goal when he corrects us?

You know,

Today,

Many people think,

When God corrects or God sends things,

It's because he doesn't love us.

Because God just wants to inflict pain upon us.

You know what?

God says,

I chastise you because I want to train you.

I want to direct you for a purpose.

Look at verse 11 here in our text.

We'll go back to verse 10 here in a minute,

But let's look at verse 11 for a moment.

Notice what it says,

Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be what?

Joyous,

But what?

Grievous.

You know,

I think we can all say a big amen on that, right?

I don't know of anybody who says,

I want to be disciplined.

You know?

When you were a kid,

I guarantee you nobody lined up and said,

When dad gets home,

I get a spanking.

You know,

That's not something that's natural.

You know,

You think,

What's wrong with this kid?

Why?

Because it's not joyful.

It's a grievous thing.

It inflicts discomfort and sometimes pain in the moment.

But it's not about the discomfort and the pain.

It's about what are you trying to direct?

What's the objective?

What are you trying to accomplish?

That's important in discipline is to understand,

How am I disciplining to get the objective that we're looking for?

You know what?

God disciplines us always with the objective in mind.

He corrects us for a reason.

And look what it tells us here.

He tells us,

It's not but grievous.

Nevertheless,

Afterward,

It yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them that are exercised thereby.

I want you to understand,

Discipline is there to produce the right fruit in your life.

For God to correct and to remind and to guide you to say,

No, this is what godliness looks like.

You know,

The Bible makes it clear that we have to be holy because He is holy.

Well, how are we transformed in our life if we're not set back on course?

Correction is about being set on course.

The Lord trains us to produce the right fruit in our life.

When the Lord chastens us,

It's to produce the correct fruit and not the unrighteous fruit,

but the righteousness.

The fruit of righteousness is the goal of discipline.

It's not going to be easy or enjoyable when it's happening, when it's active,

yet it is needed to instill the values,

self-control, and accountability needed to live godly lives.

I want you to understand,

A godly life doesn't happen by accident.

A godly life is contrary to our nature.

But God says that if you're His child,

the goal is to become more Christ-like.

If you're going to become more Christ-like,

what do you have to do?

You have to become more righteous in your living.

You need to become more holy in your life.

You know, God's correction always wants that dynamic of bringing us to Him

to shape character in our life.

You know, remember it was Nathan's correction of David

that led to David's repentance and restoration with God.

Remember, David had committed adultery.

He had committed murder.

God sends Nathan and points the finger at David.

He says, thou art the man.

David had a choice right there

because Nathan came and revealed sin.

He revealed something so atrocious that you say,

well, how could a godly person do it?

You know, I want you to understand,

when we let our hearts guide us,

you'll do things that you never even imagined you could do.

People commit horrendous things

because they get caught up in their heart's desire

instead of God's desire.

But we find here, Nathan the prophet comes.

And I want you to understand,

oftentimes we think God's correction and chastisement

began and ended with Nathan.

I want you to understand, Nathan just comes and says,

David, you're going to face a lot of struggles coming up

because of your choice.

Because I want you to understand,

sometimes discipline takes a long time.

Sometimes the consequences that we face,

how God corrects us is there.

You know, you think about that dynamic of even Paul

talks about that thorn in the flesh,

but that thorn in the flesh kept his mind focused

on the right things.

You know, sometimes God allows things in our life

to keep us focused on the right things

so we don't get distracted.

David would face a continuation of many things

in his life.

You know, 2 Samuel chapter 12 and verse 13 says this,

2 Samuel 12 · chapter mention

and David said unto Nathan,

I have sinned against the Lord.

And Nathan said unto David,

the Lord also hath put away thy sin.

Thou shall not die.

If you take time to read the rest of that passage,

he says, no, God's not going to hold you accountable

for what you ought.

That's the death penalty.

He murdered somebody.

But he said, you're still going to face

a lot of correction.

There's going to be some devastating results

because of your choice.

Have you ever wondered why later

when David's son rose up against him,

David responded the way he did?

His son tried to usurp his kingdom.

And David said, don't lay a hand on him.

You know why?

Because Nathan told him that God's going to allow

a usurper to come within his own family.

David understood he was there because of his choices.

And he said, I'm going to respect and honor

what the Lord would have.

I want to do what God wants.

I want to learn God's lesson.

I need to trust the Lord no matter what happens.

The discipline that David faced

would further develop his character

and accountability towards both the Lord and others.

You know, think about in Psalm 51.

Psalm 51 in verse 6,

Psalm 51 talks about David's returning to the Lord.

David understood correction.

Notice what verse 6 says.

David says this.

He says,

Behold, thou desirest what?

Truth in what?

The inward parts.

God's desire of discipline

is to get truth within us.

And in the hidden parts,

thou shalt make me to know thy wisdom.

In other words, David understood.

He said, Lord, I need to trust you

and your correction because it's what I need

because you love me.

To get me to the direction

and point the direction that I need.

He understood that the Lord disciplined

not out of anger or revenge,

but out of love.

You know, it makes a difference

when we understand that it's out of love.

Ephesians 6 tells fathers

not to provoke their children under wrath.

You know what provokes a child to wrath

from the correction of their fathers

when it's not done out of love?

Not looking at the objective.

Not looking at what ought to be.

Instead of being caught up

in our emotion of the moment,

a love that ought to desire

for them to live and to grow

and to be godly in their life.

As a mom or dad, you know, this morning,

you know, think about chastising

as God chastises you.

If you're his child, God will correct you.

Now, I want you to understand,

if God never corrects you,

you need to have a serious moment with God

because he makes it very clear

if God doesn't correct you,

means that you're not his.

That's a very serious dynamic.

To understand that you're a lost sinner

who has rebelled and rejected the Lord.

But if you're his child,

if you've called upon him as savior,

God says, I love you enough to correct you.

When God corrects us,

it's because he loves us

and because you belong to him.

It's part of a reality, you know,

because just as your earthly father corrects you,

and we ought to do the same

in the lives of our children and our families,

that our discipline ought to be

that our children might grow up

mature into godly adults.

That ought to be the objective.

You know, another one of those phrases

I don't like and I want,

I'm going to raise children.

No, you want to raise adults.

You know, we have enough children running around.

You know, we have 30 and 40 year old children

living in basements that don't want to get a job

and want everything handed to them.

You know what the problem is?

You had parents who raised children

instead of parents who raised adults

because they want to be,

have an objective of responsibility.

You know, we need to correct for the same purpose

that God disciplines his children,

that they might mature under righteousness.

You'll look over to Psalm 19 for a moment.

Psalm 19, look down here at verse seven.

It tells us here, the psalmist says this,

it says,

the law of the Lord is perfect,

converting the soul,

the testimony of the Lord is sure,

making wise the simple.

The statutes of the Lord are right,

rejoicing the heart.

The commandment of the Lord is pure,

enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is clean,

enduring forever.

For the judgments of the Lord are true

and righteous altogether.

You know, I want you to understand

the purpose of correction

is that truth and righteousness might prevail,

might be the prominent dynamic.

The focus of correction is not punishment,

but to produce righteous fruit

that endures in our life.

But to understand chastisement,

training, discipline,

whatever term you want to attach to it

often involves being uncomfortable

or having things that you don't like happen

in your life to get you where God wants you to be.

God brings us and allows things to happen for a reason.

You know, God has a reason for what he does.

The first reason God has is to bring people to repentance

to call upon him.

God is not willing that any should perish,

but that all should come to repentance.

I want you to understand God's first objective

is everybody to have an opportunity to become his child.

Once you're his child,

the objective becomes conforming you

into his image.

Disciplining you,

bringing you into the fullness of the image of Christ.

Understand he wants to transform us

from the inside out.

But I want you to see something important here

when it comes to discipline.

There's an important element.

Look back at verse 10 here this morning in our text.

Notice what it says.

Now verse 10 here brings a contrast.

As an earthly father,

you can't make your children righteous.

You can direct them to the Lord.

You can teach them right and wrong.

You can build quality character within them.

But I want you to understand,

it's an individual's choice

of what they're going to do with the Savior.

You ought to be pointing them toward,

you cannot make your children righteous.

You only can be righteous

when you put on the righteousness

of the Lord Jesus Christ

at the moment of salvation.

But as an earthly parent,

our goal ought to be

to point them that direction.

To help them to understand

who God is,

what that is.

Notice here,

it tells us in the text,

it talks about the fathers

according to their own pleasure.

Now that word there

is an older word

that simply means this.

It means for temporal improvement.

In other words,

for the present improvement

of the person.

You know?

You're in the store

and your young kid

walks over to the candy thing

and takes a piece of candy

and puts it in their pocket.

As a parent,

you have a choice to make right there.

What are you going to do?

A good parent's going to do what?

They're going to correct them.

They're going to teach them

that taking what does not belong to you

is wrong.

God calls it stealing.

They need to understand

that there's right and wrong.

Temporal improvement.

You know?

The things of this life

to improve,

to understand

that there's right and wrong.

You're submitting to instill

those things

that you need to instill.

Because I want you

to understand here,

but notice what it says here.

He says in verse 10,

but he for our prophet,

that's God for our prophet,

that we might be partakers

of his holiness.

Now I want you to see here,

discipline requires consistency

and grace.

Because God doesn't just

one and done correct us.

Let me ask you a question

and you think back in your life,

how many times

does it take sometimes

for you to be corrected

before you learn the lesson?

You know,

I don't think there's anybody

in here today

that could raise their hand

and say,

I learned the lesson

the first time

perfectly every time.

It'd be nice.

But you know what the problem is?

It talks about a little earlier,

we forget.

I want you to understand

when you forget

doesn't mean that you didn't

learn a lesson at the moment,

you just forgot the lesson

and the cycle begins again.

That's called consistency.

Discipline is not one and done.

It involves not only a purpose,

but a consistency.

And when we train

for something important,

we don't just spend

a few minutes

to accomplish the task.

You know,

anything you do,

it's kind of like

anything you want

to accomplish in life,

you don't do it

by just one time

and now I'm an expert.

Now, I don't know,

maybe we have people today

who think, you know,

I can read something

on Google

and become an expert.

You know,

I can watch a YouTube video

and we're good.

But we soon learn

you might have received

even if it was

good instruction

doesn't mean we're going

to learn all

that we need to learn.

It doesn't make us

an expert.

There has to be consistency,

a continuation,

that expectation

of a continual training

and to improve that.

You know,

it's like if you're going

to go run a marathon,

you don't go run

for one day.

You know what?

If you just run for one day

trying to prepare

for a marathon,

guess what?

You're not going to make it.

What's it take?

It takes consistency,

discomfort.

It takes training

your body physically

to accomplish it.

Spiritually,

if we're going to become

Christ-like,

it takes a day-by-day

constant direction

and discipline

to get where God

wants for you to be.

If you want your children

to grow up

to honor the Lord

and to understand

what God says,

it takes a consistency

in your life.

It requires consistency

in not only expectation

but application.

God is the perfect one

for correction.

God understands things

we don't as parents.

I want you to understand

as a parent,

you're never going to

perfectly correct

your children.

But our goal

ought to be

to put that

in the context

as God does us.

To do it out of love

with the right context

and the right application.

To have the right consistency.

You know,

oftentimes,

lack of consistency

is the problem.

But God is perfectly consistent.

He's always there

with the right purpose

because it takes

long-term involvement

to produce

that which is profitable.

To train children

and equip them

takes a lot of time.

You know,

think how many years

we invest

in the life of the children

to get them grown up.

You know,

you bring them home

and everything's fun

and then you realize

you don't get any sleep.

And you say,

we just get through this

and we'll get some sleep.

And then they grow up

and they leave the house

and sometimes

you still don't get any sleep.

But I want you to know

that it involves

a consistency.

It didn't happen overnight.

It took a day

after day

after day.

You know what God does

in our life?

He corrects us

and trains us

day by day

by day.

We need to understand

the purpose

that He has

is a consistent purpose.

It's to bring about

holiness

in the lives

of those that are His.

Look back at verse 11.

It says,

And yieldeth the peaceable fruit

of righteousness

unto them

that are exercised

thereby.

You know,

God wants

with His consistency

and grace

is to produce something

in our life.

Look over to Ephesians

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5

for a moment.

Ephesians 5

Ephesians 5:26

verse 26

tells us this.

It says,

That He might sanctify

and cleanse it

with the washing

of water

by the word

that He might present

it to Himself

a glorious church

not having spot

or wrinkle

or any such thing

but that it should be

holy

and without

blemish.

God's objective

when He

corrects us

is to make us

more like

Him.

More like

His character.

To be holy

and without

blemish.

You know,

how does God

accomplish this?

It's by a constant

application

to draw closer

to His image.

You know,

Colossians 1

22 says,

in the body

of His flesh

through death

to present you

holy

and unblameable

and unreprovable

in His sight.

You know,

in the Old Testament

you have a

priest

that

messed up

his family

because of

lack of

consistency.

You know,

1 Samuel

1 Samuel 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2

and 3

tells of a man

by the name

of Eli

and his sons

rejected

the things

of God

because he

was not

consistent

in correcting

them.

I want you

to understand

when you read

that,

it's not that

Eli didn't

correct them,

it's that

Eli wasn't

consistent

in his

correction

because

consistent

correction

gets people

on the right

course.

You don't

stay on

course

without

constant

correction.

You know

what?

Life knocks

you off

course

pretty quick.

You have

to be

intentional

to get

back on.

It takes

intention.

1 Samuel

1 Samuel 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3

notice what

it says

in verse

13

it says

for I

have told

him

that I

will

judge

his

house

forever

for the

iniquity

which

he

knoweth.

In other

words,

Eli knew

what he

should have

been doing

and he

didn't

do it.

And notice

what it

says

because

his

sons

made

themselves

vile

and he

restrained

them

not.

You know

why God

disciplines

his

children?

Because

he's

consistent

and he

loves

you.

Eli

knew

what

the

problem

was

and

chose

not

to

deal

with

it.

It

was

Eli's

inconsistency

and absence

of discipline

towards his

son that

ultimately

resulted in

their

destruction.

You know

really you

could put it

this way

as a

father he

didn't

love him

enough to

do what

needed to

be done.

Because

the other

thing I

want you

to understand

if you

love

somebody

sometimes

it takes

intention

on your

part.

It takes

discomfort

on your

part going

against what

you do

and your

schedule to

accomplish

what needs

to be

accomplished.

You know

we need

to be

consistent

like God

is in

applying

discipline

with grace

and love.

It's essential

that you

balance

firmness

with kindness

in correcting

your children.

You think

about David

when God

corrected him

it was a

very difficult

situation

or with

Jonah it

was a

very difficult

situation

it was an

uncomfortable

situation

but you

know what

even though

God was

correcting

God's grace

and mercy

were present.

it was

always there

his forgiveness

the restoration

though God

always does

it perfectly

you and I

need to rely

upon the

Lord

to accomplish

it properly.

You know

the fact

that a

loving father

will correct

his children

because he

desires the

fruit of

righteousness

in their

life.

I want you

to understand

God's

correction

isn't

possible

unless you

have put

on the

righteousness

by faith

in the

finished

work

of

Jesus

Christ.

Jesus

is the

one

that

paid

for

your

sin.

He

became

our

righteousness

and you

become a

child of

God

when you

call upon

him

as the

one

that

paid

for

your

sin

and

offers

to

you

the

free

gift

of

salvation

when

you're

born

again

into

his

family.

It

is

then

you

can

that

he

can

and

will

begin

a

work

in

you

that

will

bring

forth

the

fruit

of

righteousness

in

your

life.

Ephesians

2.10

says

for we

are his

workmanship

created in

Christ Jesus

under good

works which

God hath

before ordained

that we

should walk

in them.

As his

child God

says you

are his

workmanship.

He is the

one he's

going to

correct,

guide,

he's going

to discipline,

he's going

to train

and prepare

you for

what he

wants.

The

question is

how are

you going

to respond

to it?

This

morning it's

important are

you his

child?

Because until

you make a

decision to

call upon the

Lord as

Savior,

you're not

his child.

But God

still loves

you and

he says I've

made a way

for you

to come

to me.

If you

don't know

for sure I

encourage you

this morning

to call

upon him.

Here in a

moment we're

going to have

an invitation,

opportunity to

respond.

Maybe you need

to come and

say I need

to be sure

of where I

stand with

God that

I'm his

child.

When you have

somebody share

with you from

God's word how

you can know

not what the

preacher says,

not what somebody

else says,

but what God

says.

Because your

faith needs to be

in the Lord.

But if you're his

child, I want to

ask you a question.

How are you

responding to his

discipline, to his

chastisement, his

training and

correction in your

life?

Are you

following your

emotion and

what you want?

Are you

following what

God would

desire for

you?

To say,

Lord, I'm

going to do

what's right

because that's

what you would

have for me.

What about you

today?

As heads are

bowed and

eyes are

closed, what

about you

today?

Maybe you're

here today and

you don't know

for sure that

you're a child

of God, I

encourage you

to come.

Maybe you

need to ask

God to say,

Lord, I want

to learn the

lesson the

first time.