For more information about our teaching and preaching ministry, you can find us online at cornerstoneorlando.org. The following sermon has been brought to you by Cornerstone Orlando, making disciples for the glory of God. the title of our sermon this morning, is The Father's Love. The Father's Love. When we think about salvation, the work of redemption, even the work of creation, we need to understand that all of God's external works, what theologians call his opera ad extra, his external operations, when we think about all of the external operations and all of the works of God, we need to understand that they're Trinitarian. We believe in the Trinitarian God. So in the work of creation, in His work of providence, in His work, yes, of redemption, they are Trinitarian works, through and through, Trinitarian. One theologian, Hermann Bavink, said it this way, he said, The God of the Covenant is and has to be a triune God. If we believe in a God that relates to us through His covenants, we must believe that this God is triune. That is, There is a threefold principle in operation in the work of salvation. When we look at the work of salvation, we must recognize that it's a Trinitarian work because there's a threefold principle at work. Not merely a few isolated texts, but the whole New Testament is Trinitarian in that sense. All salvation, think with me, think with me. All salvation, every blessing and blessedness have their threefold cause in God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Every component of salvation has a threefold cause that we find in the Trinitarian God that we believe in. We see these three act immediately, as an example, at the birth of Jesus and at his baptism, right? You think about the birth of Jesus Christ. Think about his incarnation, his virgin birth. The Father sent the Son. The Son assumed a human nature to Himself, and the Holy Spirit overshadowed the Virgin Mary and caused Him to be conceived in her womb. It's a Trinitarian work. It's the same, as Bovink is saying here, as the Scriptures testify to us, it was the same at Jesus' baptism. He's being baptized by John the Baptist, He goes into the water, and Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, coming out of the water, The Holy Spirit came down and alighted upon him as a dove, and he heard a voice coming out of heaven that said, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Even the baptism of Jesus Christ was Trinitarian. Before his departure, Bobbink goes on, before his departure, Jesus, he summed up all this teaching, and what he's talking about is that salvation has a threefold cause, a Trinitarian cause. Jesus himself summed up that teaching in the baptismal formula. Think about the Great Commission in Matthew chapter 28. He gave the baptismal formula, and what did he say? He said, you should baptize them in the name, singular, of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And they all reveal themselves. The one divine name in which three distinct subjects, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, these reveal themselves. This instruction is continued and expanded by the apostles. The apostles pick up on this language, the one name, the three subjects. They all know and glory in the threefold cause of salvation. Here's the point that I'm bringing home to you right now, okay? He says, the good pleasure, who do we see that attributed to? The good pleasure, The foreknowledge, the election, the power, and the love in the kingdom all belong to who? The Father. The scriptures over and over again testify that these things can be particularly, even though they can be attributed to all three persons, yet the scriptures preeminently attribute these things to the Father, that is, His good pleasure. His foreknowledge, His election, His power, His love in the kingdom. What about the Son? Mediatorship, the atonement, salvation, grace, wisdom, and righteousness. Who do these things pertain to? The Son and regeneration. renewal, sanctification, and communion. Who do we attribute these things to? The Holy Spirit. And so our salvation is Trinitarian. It's Trinitarian through and through. We can see this in several texts, several texts of scripture. The benediction that'll be for today, 2 Corinthians chapter 13, my favorite verse in all the Bible, Paul says this, he closes that epistle by saying this, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ That's the second person of the Trinity. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God, the first person, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Paul relates how we can commune with this triune God. How do we commune with Jesus Christ? In grace, by believing in Him. How do we commune with the Father? in love by receiving his love and returning his love to him. How do we commune with the Holy Spirit? Through fellowship or another text of scripture. We know that he is called the paracletos. He's our helper. He's the one who comes alongside of us. He's the one in whom we walk in this life. He sanctifies us. And so, particularly the point that I'm driving home is where you see Trinitarian texts, what is being attributed to the Father? Love! Love is being attributed to the Father. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3. Here's another Trinitarian text for you. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who blessed us with every spiritual, that is, of or pertaining to the Holy Spirit, it's the same word, who blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. It's a Trinitarian text. But who, according to Ephesians chapter one, blessed us. Yes, we are blessed in Christ. Yes, these are blessings that are of or pertaining to or by the power of the Holy Spirit. But who ultimately is the one who blesses us? It's the Father. It's the Father and he does that in love. Titus chapter three, a great text. Think about relating to this. There's a Trinitarian text. Think about the way that you used to live your lives. Paul says, for we once, we once were foolish ourselves. We were disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. Wasn't that true of you? Wasn't that true of you in your lost condition? But what is the hinge on which the door of your salvation turned? What caused your situation to change? But when the kindness of God, our Savior, and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us. That's talking about the Father. That's talking about the Father, because it's a Trinitarian text. When the kindness of God, our Savior, and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He, that is the Father, poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Isn't that amazing? The Father poured out the Holy Spirit upon us in Jesus Christ in our salvation. And so verse four from Titus chapter three is talking about the Father. Our whole situation changed. The reason why we are saved is from one fountain. It is from one source. It is from one starting point. And what is that? the kindness of God our Savior, and His love, and His love. The text that we read during the call to worship, beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Why? The one who does not love does not know God, for God, that is the Father, is love. The Father is love. By this, the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent his only begotten son into the world, that we might live through him. And this is love. Not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. You see how over and over and over again, the constant testimony of the scriptures is that love can be particularly attributed to the Father in the economy of salvation. The Father is the one who loved us. 1 John 3, I see what great love the Father has bestowed on us that we might be called children of God. He lavished his love upon us by adopting us, by adopting us into his family. And so we see that Bavinck is absolutely correct that love can be primarily attributed to the Father in the work of our salvation. The problem is, The problem is that we aren't always convinced, we're not always convinced that the Father loves us. John Owen, a Puritan, a great theologian, he was a pastor. He was also the dean of a very, a great seminary at the time. He was a scholar, he says this. I'll now declare, he writes this in his book, Communion with the Triune God. Great, wonderful book. He talks about the way that we can commune with each person of the Trinity. And he begins talking about the Father. He says, I'll now declare in what way specifically the saints have communion with the Father. How can you have communion with the Father? How do you fellowship with the Father? According to the scriptures, it is love. It is love. It is love. Free. undeserved and eternal love. The Father specifically fixes this love on the saints. They are to see this love immediately in Him, to receive it from Him, and to return it to Him in any way that delights Him. That's how you commune with the Father. You should know that. You should know that. If you want to commune with the Father, how do you do it? You see the love of God in Him, you receive the love of God from Him, and you return love to Him. That's how you commune with the Father. This is the great discovery of the gospel, he says. The Father, as the fountain of deity, is only known as full of wrath, anger, and indignation against sin. Nor can natural man have any other thoughts of him. Yet here, in the gospel, he is now revealed specifically as love, and as full of love toward us. The manifestation of this truth is the unique work of the gospel. He quotes Titus chapter three, which we just read. He goes on, as this, and I want you to get this, I want this point to sink into your ears. As this love is uniquely seen in the Father, it should be understood as the fountain of all subsequent gracious dispensations. What does he mean? What are all of the gracious dispensations of God? Well, in time, you heard the gospel, the general call. That's a gracious dispensation from God. You were affectionately called by Him. You were called by name. He caused you to be born again. He adopted you into His family. He justified you. He pardoned you of all of your iniquity. imputed all of the righteousness of Jesus Christ to you. He positionally and definitively sanctified you from the world. He progressively sanctifies you. But what is the fountain of all of these gracious dispensations from God? Where's their source? It's the love of God. It's the love of the Father. That's where all of them come from. Why are you justified? The love of the Father. Why are you sanctified? The love of the Father. Why were you effectually called? The love of the Father. Why were you regenerated? The love of the Father. Christians are often very troubled, he says. He says from experience, and you may know this from experience. Christians are often very troubled concerning how the Father thinks of them, right? They're well persuaded of the goodwill of the Lord Christ. The difficulty lies in how they're accepted by the Father. What's his heart toward them? Philip, in John chapter 14, he said to Jesus, he said, show us the Father and that'll be enough for us. He had that kind of attitude. But his love, don't you see? His love should be looked at as the fountain from which all other sweetness flows. Here's the point. He says, Titus chapter three, which we just read, Titus three makes the Father's love the linchpin on which the great change of the saints takes place. Titus 3 makes the Father's love the linchpin on which the great change of the saints takes place. He says in verse 3, we too were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving many lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. Where then does our recovery come from? It all arises from this love of God flowing out as described. For when the kindness and love of God appeared, then we were saved. To fully convince us of this, there is nothing in the world This is an amazing point that he makes. To fully convince us of this, there is nothing in the world of a loving and tender nature that God doesn't compare himself to, right? We see it all throughout scripture. He tells us he's like a father. He tells us he's like a mother, a shepherd, a hen over her chicks and the like. He says, I do not need to add any more proofs. I have demonstrated that there is love in the person of the father, specifically held out to the saints in which he holds communion with them. Great words, great words from John Owen. So what have we seen? We've seen the problem, right? We've seen that our salvation is Trinitarian, and we've seen that love can be particularly attributed to the Father. We've seen that in, for example, in 2 Corinthians 13, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. And so we know that scripture teaches that in the economy of our redemption, the Father is the one who, who, who loves us, and that love is the linchpin upon which our great change takes place. All of the gracious dispensations of God flow from this one source, from this one fountain, from the love of the Father. The problem is that we are often unconvinced. We're often unconvinced that the Father does truly love us. What I want to show you this morning is one text, one text that helps to shed light on the Father's love for us. If you are not still open there, please turn in your Bibles to Hebrews 12. What we find in the book of Hebrews is that the apostle, probably the apostle Paul, is instructing Jewish believers and warning them, severely warning them, don't turn back to Judaism. I know you're being persecuted heavily because of your Christian faith, because you converted to Christianity, but don't turn back to Judaism. There's nothing there left for you. The old covenant is obsolete at the point in which Jesus Christ died. Now we have the new covenant, something better, something greater, a greater mediator. So he says in Hebrews chapter 10, but remember the former days, Verse 32, but remember the former days when after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, right? Partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property. See, they were being persecuted very severely. They had their property seized. Knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting Therefore, don't throw away your confidence, which has a great reward, for you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised." So he's telling them, don't turn back to Judaism, hold fast to your confidence, no matter what the cost is, even if you're being very severely treated as you were at first. And so he begins to give examples. Examples of what does it take? What does it take to persevere through tribulation, through trial, through persecution? What does it take to endure? It takes faith. And so he gives several examples of faith throughout the Old Testament in Hebrews chapter 11. Beginning in Hebrews chapter 12, he gives the preeminent example of perseverance through trials. He says, In verse one, therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, he's talking about martyrs who have gone before us, particularly those in the Old Testament. Since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangled us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. That's the exhortation that he gives after considering all of these faithful ones who have come before us. But he gives us another example, verse two, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and he has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. And so in verse four, in verse four, he begins this section talking about endurance, exhorting us to endurance. He says in verse four, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood and you're striving against sin. Why does he say that? He wants to give us a perspective check, right? He's giving us a perspective check on our own persecutions, on their own persecutions. He says, look back at their example from Hebrews chapter 11, verse 30, verse 35. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured. They strove against sin, even to the point of shedding blood, right? They were tortured, not accepting their release so that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others experienced mockings and scourgings. Yes, and also chains and imprisonments. They were stoned. They were sawn in two, probably Jeremiah. They were tempted. They were put to death with the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated, men of whom the world was not worthy, wandering deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us, they wouldn't be made perfect." They wouldn't be made perfect. So when he says in verse four of chapter 12, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood and you're striving against sin, he's giving us a perspective check. I just told you about all of these martyrs who went before us, sawn in two. They strove against sin even to the point of shedding blood. So, therefore, you should endure. Strengthen. Strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble. Consider those who have gone before you. You haven't yet resisted to that point. And also the example of Jesus Christ, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame and is sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. You must consider him as well. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin. That's a perspective check, okay? It's a perspective check on the way that we should think during our trials. And beloved, let me entreat you. Let me entreat you. Trials, I think specifically here in the book of Hebrews, he's talking about persecution, but through the analogy of faith and through the analogy of scripture, we can bring other types of trials into this text because we know, we know that God brings us other kinds of trials because those other kinds of trials bring us to God. God brings us, yes, the trials of persecution, like he's talking about in Hebrews 10, 11, and 12. But in other texts of scripture, trials can just be a thorn in the flesh, like what Paul went through. We can have health trials, right? We can have relational trials, like Jesus spoke of, man against his son, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law, and so on. We can have relational trials. We can be impoverished as certain texts even here in Hebrews chapter 11 speak of, like Moses. He despised the pleasures and the riches of Egypt. And so there are many kinds of trials and not just persecution. And so what I'm entreating you is I'm calling you, I'm calling you to persevere knowing that there are others who have experienced even worse trials than what you're going through now. You need to have a perspective check. Don't grow weary, don't grow faint, don't grow feeble, but strengthen the hands that are weak. Why? Because others have gone before you and God was able to strengthen them. However, However, the main thrust of Hebrews 12, verses four through 11, is not the perspective check that we find in looking at the example of others, martyrs and Christ, but it's found in recognizing the exhortation which is addressed to us as sons. Verse five. So he says, you haven't resisted to the point of shedding blood, and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons. What are you talking about? There was an exhortation that's addressed to me as a son. There's a father who has exhorted me, who has written something down, a letter to me, so to speak, as I am his child. There's an exhortation that's addressed to me as a son. Yes. And he quotes Proverbs chapter three. My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you're reproved by him. For those whom the Lord loves, he disciplines and he scourges every son whom he receives. What follows in verses seven through 11 is an inspired commentary on Proverbs chapter three. Turn back with me to that text, Proverbs three. Remember the point that I'm driving home. It is that in the economy of redemption, the father loves us. And we should receive that love. And the reason why I decided that Hebrews chapter 12 would be helpful for us, and the concept of discipline would be helpful for us, is because oftentimes the reason why we don't believe that the Father loves us is because we're being disciplined by Him. We're being disciplined by Him. He's brought trials to us, and we're concerned that in those trials He doesn't love us anymore, or that He hasn't loved us at all. And so in the darkest time in the Christian life, which is when you're being disciplined by the Father, I want you to see that even in those times, you can see the Father's love for you. We could have talked about 1 John 3, see what great love the Father has lavished upon us that we would be called children of God. We could have talked about our adoption and what that means and how God's love is demonstrated to us in that, in the way that he has brought us into his family. Or we could have talked about 1 John 4, that the Father's love is demonstrated in the sending of the Son to be the propitiation for our sins. He proves His love for us in those ways. And yet, I want you to see that in the practical realities of your life, that as you are being disciplined by the Father through trials, through the conviction of the Holy Spirit, as you are being disciplined, yes, even in the darkest hour of your trials, the Father loves you in that moment. Proverbs chapter three, beginning at verse one. When the New Testament quotes these Old Testament texts, they bring all the context with them. There's a context that comes before and after what the apostle quotes. Verse one, my son, my son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments for length of days and years of life and peace, peace, peace, they will add to you. We'll see that later in Hebrews chapter 12. Keeping the commandments of God has temporal benefits, right? Just like training up a child in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord, even though it can be painful for the child, it brings the child peace, it brings the child stability, it gives the child character. In the same way, keep God's commandments for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Don't let kindness and truth leave you, bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart so you will find favor and good repute in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. When we're going through trials, relational trials, persecution, financial trials, health trials, trials of conviction, feelings of guilt and the like. When you're going through trials, what does trusting in your own understanding look like? This isn't good for me. This thing that God has brought to my life is not good for me. It's truly bad because it feels bad. It's uncomfortable, it's painful. Trusting in the Lord with all your heart, what does that look like? God has said that he will not withhold any good thing from me. So I must believe that as painful and as difficult, as much suffering as this brings to me, it is a good thing. So I must trust him. You see how we have to trust God and not lean on our own understanding during the time of trial? You see how that's related to all of this? In all your ways, acknowledge him and he will make your path straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes. This truly is a bad thing for me. God has brought this into my life and it will lead to my doom. That's what being wise in your own eyes looks like. But instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil. Oftentimes, turning away from evil comes with a cost and it's painful. Doing the right thing is hard. And so he says, do not be wise in your own eyes. Don't make excuses for sin, it'll be easier, or something else. But instead, fear the Lord. Have integrity before God and turn away from evil, no matter the cost. It will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones. We think obeying will be a wound to our body and the breaking of our bones. But he says, no, it'll be healing to your body. It'll be refreshment to your bones. Honor the Lord from your wealth and from the first of all your produce. What does being wise in your own eyes look like? I'm gonna lose all my money. I need that money. But what does he say? So your barns will be filled. It'll be the opposite of what you think. Giving is receiving, he says. Honor the Lord from all your wealth and from the first of all your produce, so your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine. That's fearing the Lord. That's trusting in God with all your heart and leaning not on your own understanding. And then he gets into it. Verse 11, my son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord or loathe his reproof. For whom the Lord loves, he reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights. What is the result? The result of submitting underneath God's loving reproof. What's the result of being submissive during His reproof, during His correction? Verse 23. then you will walk in your way securely and your foot will not stumble. When you lie down, you will not be afraid. When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Do not be afraid of sudden fear nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught. He's leading you in the right path, in the right path, in the right path, so you have to trust him during the time of discipline. But I wanna point out several things. primarily from verses 11 and 12, because this is what the apostle quotes. Verse 11, my son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord or loathe his reproof. He's calling you not to do two things. Don't reject it and don't hate it. And those are the two things we're tempted to do when he's disciplining us during trial, right? We want to reject it. We want to say, no, don't give me this. Give me the thing that I want. or loathe it, I hate this, I hate what I'm going through. I hate the way that I'm being treated. I hate that my reputation has been affected by this, or the like. Don't loathe his reproof, don't reject his discipline. Notice what we are not supposed to reject and what we're not supposed to loathe, his discipline and his reproof. In Ephesians chapter six, in Colossians chapter three, what we find are instructions for fathers for their children. raise them up in discipline and instruction, and do it in a way that does not exasperate your children or cause them to lose heart. I'm combining a lot of elements from Ephesians six and in Colossians chapter three. The point is, love, and I'm getting that from don't exasperate them and don't cause them to lose heart. So you need love when you're raising your children. Love, instruction, and discipline. And if you have those three things, you're going to have a very healthy dynamic in your home with your children. It's the same with the father. And we see that here in verse 11. Don't reject his discipline or his reproof. Those are two different things. They signify the trials that he brings to us or discipline like the way a father disciplines his son. And they signify his instruction. It would be a mistake for a father to discipline his child without any instruction. Right? It would be a mistake to instruct your child without any enforcement, without any discipline, right? The father is wise and loving in the way that he deals with us. He instructs us through his word and he disciplines us through trials that he brings to us. Don't reject it and don't loathe it. Don't hate his word. and don't reject the trials that he brings to you. Instead, submit to his word, submit to the trials. God brings trials to us because trials bring us to God. Verse 12, why should we not reject his discipline? Why should we not loathe his reproof? For whom the Lord loves, he reproves. Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights, And I love the way, I love the way that it's translated in Hebrews chapter 12, and you can turn back there. I love the way that it's translated here. For those whom the Lord loves, he disciplines, and he scourges every son whom he receives. I want you to get this. I want you to believe it. I want you to, as John Owen was saying, I want you to see it, I want you to receive it, and I want you to make returns of it. The Father loves you. The Father loves you in Christ. The Lord loves those whom he disciplines, and he scourges every son whom he receives. Rather than thinking that discipline is a result of God's hatred for you, You must be grateful and remember that the discipline that he brings to you is a sign and token of his love for you, of his love for you. I want you to see his love for you. I want you to receive his love for you. And I want you to make returns of love to him. It would be terrible, terrible if a father, according to the Bible, in a biblical way, with love and instruction, if a father disciplined his child, and the child did not believe because of the child's petulance, that the child did not believe that the father actually loved him. You're disciplining me, so you must hate me. That's a petulant child, that's an ungrateful child. We should believe, we should believe that the father loves us during our dark times, during our dark hours. So we quote Proverbs chapter three to show us that discipline is a matter of love, and then he begins to make commentary commentary on Proverbs 3. In verses 7 and 8, what we find is that discipline is a sign of our relationship to God as children. Verse 7 and 8 shows us that discipline is a sign of our adoption. And then verses 9 and following shows us the goal of discipline. First, that it's a sign. Second, that it's a goal. Look at verse 7. It is for discipline that you endure. In other words, you're not just enduring through your trials because you have to and it's pointless, but you have to survive. He's saying, no, it's for the sake of discipline that you have to endure. In other words, your trials have a purpose. They're from the hand of God. You have to believe it. We're not deists and we're not pantheists. We are Trinitarian Christians. You have to believe that according to your relationship to God as an adopted child, everything that happens in your life happens with a purpose. He has a good purpose in it. It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as with sons, as with sons, not just as creatures, but in a special redemptive relationship. That's how he deals with you. And then he begins to make an argument from our earthly situation. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? And let this be a rebuke to those who don't discipline their children. It was so commonplace and such common sense to the apostle that fathers discipline their children that he can assume it here. He says, what son is there whom his father does not discipline? In other words, we know it happens with everybody. Everybody who has a good father gets disciplined by their father, right? When they're children. Verse eight, but if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, he's saying of which all of God's children have become partakers, if you are without discipline, then you are illegitimate children and not sons, like a child that's born out of wedlock. That's like the hypocrite. That's like the person who says, I'm a Christian, God is my father, and yet the father doesn't recognize the legitimacy of his adoption, and so the father doesn't discipline him. In other words, the point that the apostle is making here when he says, if you're not disciplined, you're like an illegitimate child. The point that he's making is that if you are disciplined, if God does bring trials to you and you see how those trials terminate in your holiness, if that does happen, then you are a legitimate child and a loved child. Do you see, look at your life, look at your history. Do you see how the trials that God has brought to you, your persecution, that your health trials, your relational trials, even the conviction that is brought to you as a consequence of your sin. Do you see how all of these trials have resulted in greater holiness than that which you had before? It's a sign of your sonship. Praise God. You should receive God's love in that. You should thank God for the trials that he's brought to you. It's resulted in your holiness. If you are without discipline of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children, not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us and we respected them. He makes an argument from the lesser to the greater, right? Shall we not much rather be subject to the father of spirits? You were subject to your earthly father. How much more the father of spirits? And what's the result, right? Shall we not much rather be subject to the father of spirits and live? If God is our father, we have eternal life coming our way. And this is a part of the process. Love it or hate it, it's a part of the process, right? Verse 10, for they disciplined us. He's talking about our earthly fathers. They disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them. He gives our earthly fathers two characteristics. One, the temporal nature of our discipline. It was for a short time. And then two, according to the finitude of their understanding, they did it as seemed best to them. There's a contrast, but what about the father? Does he discipline us for a short time? And what is, how does his discipline differ from those of an earthly father who just do it as seems best to them? He doesn't do it for a short time, but as long as we are in this life as his adopted children, it's for a long time. So a long time, gird up your loins because your whole life is going to be a life of fatherly discipline. Trials being brought to you. They disciplined us for a short time. but not God. And they disciplined us as seemed best to them, but, and here's the primary point that he's driving with the contrast, but he disciplines us for our good. In other words, it may be a good thing for fathers to discipline us at times, and at times they might be wrong, right? But not so with the father of spirits. It is always good. Everything that he brings to our path is for our good. It is for what is best for us. so that we may share His holiness." You see how our sharing in His holiness is a necessary result of the trials that He brings to us? If the Proverbs speak about the man who ruins his way, ruins his life, and then he rages against the Lord, that's not what this is talking about. It's not talking about the consequences of our sin that don't terminate in our holiness. This is talking about any trial that God brings to us that results in our holiness. If any trial that you look at in your life, this is the point that I'm making to you, any trial that you look at in your life that terminates in your holiness, in sharing in God's holiness, those trials, all of them, were God's loving and fatherly discipline. any difficulty whatsoever that you go through in your life that results in your holiness, it is the hand of God. You can see his invisible hand working in your life, in love. Verse 11, all discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful. It's not a matter of confusion. What you're going through is hard. And the biblical remedy isn't just saying, no, no, this is easy. No, no, this is something that is happy. That's not the biblical remedy. The Bible does acknowledge the fact that the trials that we go through are hard and are difficult. And if you read the book of Psalms, you can see the heart of the Psalmist and it is totally permissible for us to have a sorrowful, sad heart at our circumstances when we're praying to God, totally permissible. We shouldn't just turn a blind eye to our trials. We lift them up to God as we feel them. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful. Yes, it's true. Yet, here's the remedy. to those who have been trained by it. Afterwards, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Remember Proverbs 3, what he's talking about. Your foot will not slip. Your foot will not slip when you keep God's commandments. And that's the purpose. That's why God brings these trials to you. I want to close by giving you a case study in Psalm 38. Look at Psalm 38. David in his prayer to God in Psalm 51, He says, I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. He's talking about a sin with Bathsheba. In Psalm 38, we can see exactly what this looked like in his life. On your own time, you can also look at Psalm 32, which also gives us a vivid portrayal of what was going on in David's heart as he was sinning. But in Psalm 38, we see really clearly God's fatherly chastisement. Ask yourself, is this not what I go through in my life? This is God's love. It's his love. Oh Lord, rebuke me not in your wrath, and chasten me not in your burning anger. In other words, do it in love, he's asking. For your arrows have sunk deep into me, and your hand has pressed down on me. There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation. Talking about his fatherly indignation, his fatherly displeasure. There is no soundness in my flesh. There is no health in my bones because of my sin. We are creatures of soul and body, body and spirit. And when something is affecting us spiritually, it can even have an effect on our physical bodies. He says, there is no health in my bones because of my sin, for my iniquities are gone over my head. As a heavy burden, they weigh too much for me. My wounds grow foul and fester because of my folly. I'm bent over and greatly bowed down. I go mourning all day long. for my loins are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am benumbed and badly crushed. I groan because of the agitation of my heart. Lord, all my desire is before you, and my sighing is not hidden from you. My heart throbs, my strength fails me, and the light of my eyes, even that has gone from me. My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague, and my kinsmen stand afar off." You see, these events that are happening in David's life as a result of his sin, David was a believer. David was saved. This is God's love. It's God's love for David. And did it not for David result in the peaceful fruit of righteousness in his life? What's the point? What's the point? Don't faint. Don't faint when you're enduring. Think of the fruit of your holiness. Think about the outcome of what you're going through right now. Think about eternal life. He says, shall we not much more submit to the father of spirits and live eternally? Value God's love higher than whatever thing you're losing by this trial. You should value God's love higher. God may take something away from you. It's his prerogative. He gave, he can take away. Maybe he's taken something away from you, but you should praise God that you have something worth more. You have God's love in the trial that you're going through. Think of your trials. This is the primary point that I want you to let sink into your heart. Think of your trials as tokens of God's love. What you're going through is a token. As long as it's resulting in your holiness, right? It is a token of God's love. It's a sign of God's love. It's very personal. You look back at these events in your life and you say, that was God's love, that was God's love, that was God's love, that was God's love for me personally. Think of your trials as tokens of God's love. Receive the Father's love. return the Father's love. Let's pray. Oh Lord, we can apprehend your love that is demonstrated to us in our adoption. We do see what great love you have bestowed on us that we would be called your children. And we see also your love as we look back 2000 years ago in your word and we see that you sent your son to be the propitiation for our sins. In that, truly, love is manifested and demonstrated. We see your love. Even in our personal lives, we look back and we see the result of our trials. You have brought those trials to us because those trials have brought us to you. We pray now, Lord, let us pierce through the clouds of your fatherly indignation and see that it is all a result of your fatherly love for us. We love you, and we thank you. In Christ's name, amen. Amen. Hello, and thanks for listening. My name is Mark Brashear, and I have the blessed privilege of serving with the saints at Cornerstone Church near Orlando, Florida. We're so grateful that you've connected with us through the sermon that you've just heard. For more information, visit us at cornerstoneorlando.org, or better yet, come and see us on the Lord's Day at 3370 Snow Hill Road in Oviedo, Florida. We're just east of Orlando and about 15 minutes from the campus at UCF. It would be a joy to have you worship with us.