* Hebrews 12:7 - It is For Discipline That You Endure

{Hebrews 12:7} It is for discipline that you endure.  God deals with you as with children, for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? -- RLIV.

CHARACTER cannot be developed wholly without trial. It is like a plant: at first it is very tender; it needs an abundance of the sunshine of God's love; frequent watering with the showers of His grace; much cultivating through the applied knowledge of His character as a good foundation for faith and inspiration to obedience; and then when thus developed under these favorable conditions, it is ready for the pruning hand of discipline, and is also able to endure some hardness. And, little by little, as strength of character is developed, the tests applied to it serve only to develop more strength, beauty and grace, until it is finally fixed, developed, established, perfected --through suffering. -- Except from "Perfect Through Suffering", ZWT, May 1, 1895.

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We are not to think that the discipline spoken of is directly applied to the "sons of disobedience," although the present travail being experienced by the old creation is indeed a chastisement. -- Ecclesiastes 1:13,14; Romans 8:20-22; Ephesians 2:2; 5:6; Colossians 3:6.

While the children of God go through the same travail as the world, there is a special kind of discipline that applies to them as sons in this age. Such discipline may include the travail upon the world, but it is also beyond the travail that is in the world. God's discipline of His children may not be due to any particular sin, but rather it may be designed to prepare the child of God for the work of the age to come. Nevertheless, the disciplining serves to strip the character of the child of God of the dross so as to know the full depth of producing the fruitage of the spirit. The purpose of such discipline is not just so that we may live a righteous life in this age, but such discipline prepares the child of God for sharing in the work of blessing all families of the earth in the age to come, as well as for any future work for all ages to come. The realization that all the trials we are enduring serve an eternal purpose should certainly provide an occasion to rejoice in our hearts while enduring what may be unpleasant experiences.

A note regarding the first phrase: There are two variant readings in the manuscripts of the first phrase. The Textus Receptus of this phrase could be rendered as "If you endure discipline." Almost all manuscripts, however, are not in agreement with the Textus Receptus, and more than likely, the original wording is that which is reflected in the RLIV rendering above. -- Ronald R. Day, Sr.

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Related Scriptures: Deuteronomy 8:6; 2 Samuel 7:14; 1 Kings 1:6; 2:24,25; Job 5:17; 34:31,32; Psalm 94:12; Proverbs 13:13-24; Proverbs 19;18; Proverbs 22:15; Proverbs 23:13,14; Proverbs 23:24; Proverbs 29:15; Proverbs 29:17; Acts 14:22; Hebrews 12:4-14.

"THINK IT NOT STRANGE!"

1 Peter 4:12

THINK it not strange, beloved,

When fiercely burns the fiery flame!

Think it not strange, but praise His name,

Who counts thee worthy to partake

Of painful sufferings for His sake.

Nor think it strange

When loved ones scornful from thee turn,

The Truth reject, the message spurn;

Consider Him who thus endured,

And Immortality secured!

Think it not strange, beloved,

If sometimes every door seem closed,

And all thine efforts be opposed,

But calmly wait in patience till

The master shall reveal His will.

Nor think it strange

When darker grown the "narrow way,"— ​

Press on, thy Master soon shall say,

"Enough, My child, thou hast well done,

Come, enter in, the Prize is won!"

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Related (We do not necessarily agree with all presented by these authors):

Let Patience Have Her Perfect Work -- C. T. Russell

Consider Him -- The Dawn

Suffering, Then Glory -- The Dawn

Trials, Bested or Wasted -- by John T. Read

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