Why God's Thoughts On Discipline Are Superior To Yours

In this week’s episode, the subject of divine discipline comes to the forefront. It’s called divine discipline, but it’s more like child rearing but from the spiritual side or from God’s point of view. ‘Discipleship’ involves ‘discipline.’ Discipline means correction. After all, God is your heavenly Father. Have you ever thought of Him not just as a supplier of your physical needs — you know, one you approach in Jesus’ Name asking for stuff? Do you or have you viewed Him as a parent who is looking out for your best interests, endeavoring to raise you into a place of maturity? You know that takes adjustment. That takes instruction. It may even take a bit of correction? You know, helping a child through their errors is part of a parent’s role. Which child that you know ever enjoys that part. ‘Oh yeah, I really love being in-time out.’ ‘Would you time me out again? — it really makes my day. No discipline is unpleasant but, after you experience it, you are way better off even though you may gripe about it. Even though you may not realize it. I know my son tells me to this day. Dad, now that I have children, I get it. I understand what you were trying to do. The alternative is to be left to yourself. To not have the Lord check you in your spirit, or try to restrain your actions, is a terrible place to be. No is a God Word. No is a good word. God is not afraid to discipline his children; but it is always out of love and for good purpose. But, how does He do this exactly? You know, it’s not the way some people think He does. Why God’s Thoughts On Discipline Are Superior To Yours, that’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

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Victory Over Yourself through Discipline

A good course of action if you've sinned is to repent immediately. Don’t play with sin — don’t cuddle with it — refuse to tolerate it. Click To Tweet

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You can view a basic transcript of this podcast at the bottom of this section.

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Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put it into operation.
This week’s call is:

A good course of action if you’ve sinned is to repent immediately. Don’t play with sin — don’t cuddle with it — refuse to tolerate it.

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Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11). Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony.
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Question: Share a testimony about how the Lord corrected you and how that correction altered your life. Share your story in the comments section below.

Episode Resources:

If you would like to know more about growing in faith, see the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

We are currently teaching in the book of Second Thessalonians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 47 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. He and his wife Sharon of 42 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Prayer

Let’s pray.

Now, Father God, thank you for your goodness and mercy towards us. Mercy means we didn’t deserve it. Thank you for teaching us by your Holy Spirit, the way we should go. Thank you for taking the time to discipline us so that we can grow into the mature sons of God. All of this we say and pray in Jesus’ Mighty Name, Amen.

Podcast Notes

God’s Discipline: Dealing with Busybodies

2 Thessalonians 3:6–12 (ESV) — 6 Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. 9 It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 11 For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.

So, what we have here in this church at Thessalonica is a problem with busybodies.
The Greek word ‘busybodies’ is the one we want to look at and, with that thought, here is the Definition of the Day.
The word ‘busybodies’ used in verse eleven means to be intrusively busy, or to be a be a meddler in the affairs of others.¹
Some of the Thesslonians were not working — you need to be working.
Worse yet, because they were not busy at work, they were walking in idleness and spending their time meddling in other people’s affairs.
Paul addressed this in his first letter to the Thessalonians.

1 Thessalonians 5:14 (ESV) — 14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.

You know, we did a podcast on this.
Here in Paul’s second letter, the problem has gotten no better fast.
Paul uses stronger language.
He uses way more words in his second letter than he did in the first.
All we have is one verse on idleness in the first letter.
In the second letter, we have ten verses.
Let’s take a deeper look.

God’s Discipline: Keep Away

6 Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness…

So here is what the Lord is saying.
If you come across a busybody, a person who spends his time meddling in other people’s affairs because he is not working, then ‘keep away’ from that person.
The Greek word ‘keep away’ is one that you should know and could easily have been, the Definition of the Day as well.
The two English words ‘keep away’ are one word in the original language and it means to keep one’s distance, or to stand aloof.
You could add the words ‘to shun’ and you would be right in the ballpark.

God’s Discipline: How This Plays Out

Here’s the meddler – he is standing in the church’s lobby.
You’re walking through the door into the lobby.
There’s eye contact.
Of course, when there is, there is supposed to be discussion — pleasantries — even platonic talk of some type, right?
God said, ‘Don’t just walk up to him and chit chat and act like nothing is wrong.’
God said shun him.
That’s kind of cold, wouldn’t you say?
Yes, he or she is supposed to feel the chill of divine discipline.
That’s your part of God’s discipline.
This is something we don’t practice enough — I dare say we don’t practice it at all.
It’s confrontational — it’s unpleasant.
Definitely not comfortable.
Wow, [being sarcastic here] everything is about our comfort, right?
Instead of shunning, we would rather play the passive aggressive game.
Acts like everything is okay but grumble inside.
Somehow we don’t want to hurt to anyone’s feelings.
This entire piece of being aloof, keeping your distance, and shunning a person who exhibits a certain behavior is foreign to us.
Did we even realize this was in the Bible?
We think, well, we are supposed to walk in love.
Shunning a meddler IS walking in love.
It is just as much a part of the Bible as any scripture that encourages you to walk in love.
It’s in the Bible just like walking in love is.
If you place verses on shunning and walking in love opposite each other, you would understand what I’m talking about.
Here it is — get a listen.

1 John 3:11 (ESV) — 11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

2 Thessalonians 3:6 — Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness…

Same Word of God — Same Holy Spirit inspired both verses.
Holy men of God penned both scriptures.
One is just as much Bible as the other.

God’s Discipline: Is It Harsh?

So, what do you think about this shunning of brother?
Does it sound harsh to you?
The more vital question is why does it sound harsh to you?
Could it be that there’s little to no teaching on this in the Body of Christ?
And, since there’s a teaching void, and you know faith comes by hearing, and that faith needs corresponding action to be successful — what do you really have?
No faith — no action — no familiarity.
That’s why it sounds strange when you read or hear about this.
Now, why is there no teaching on divine discipline?
One reason, not the only reason, is that many are teaching the Bible topically.
Topically meaning subjects.
We’re teaching subjects like marriage, prophecy, faith, love, hope, healing, relationships, and you can go on and on.
The way this works is that we go into the Bible and look up all the scriptures on one of these subjects.
We home in on the verses that pertain to the subject we’re trying to teach on or explain leaving the other verses around it alone.
So, we never pick divine discipline as a subject to teach on.
But, when you teach the Bible verse by verse, going through a book of the Bible, you will inevitably come across the subject as we did here in Second Thessalonians three.
So what we have here in this passage is the concept of godly discipline, or can we say it this way, divine discipline or God’s divine discipline?
The Lord is saying here, this idle person who is not working and smooching off of other people and because he has so much time on his hand is meddling in other peoples business be aloof regarding him.
Shun him.
You think that’s bad?
Check out this next passage.

1 Corinthians 5:1 (ESV) — 1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife.

Idleness and busybody-ness was a problem in Thessalonica.
Sexual immorality was a problem in Corinth.
In this case, Paul addresses incest in Corinth.
That’s a nasty wrong sex situation.
Incest, or having sex with one’s relatives, is a sin per the Word of God, plain and simple.

Leviticus 20:11–12 (ESV) — 11 If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 12 If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed perversion; their blood is upon them.

Pretty plain, right?
But, you may say this is an Old Testament verse what about the New Testament?
Incest is wrong-sex or sexual immorality.
And, the New Testament repeatedly denounces sexual immorality.
So, what is supposed to happen with this man in Corinth who committed incest with his father’s wife?
Let’s keep reading.

1 Corinthians 5:2–8 (ESV) — 2 And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. 3 For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. 4 When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. 6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Did you hear what Paul said?
Deliver man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.
What does that mean to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of his flesh?
The destruction of the flesh is speaking of his physical body.
Deliver him to Satan so his body can be destroyed.
How is the body destroyed? — By sickness.
So, you see the penalty in the New Testament is the same as the penalty in the Old!
The penalty is physical death.
The Corinthians should have mourned about this situation.
The word ‘mourned’ means to be sad or grieved.
Instead of being grieved and bothered in their spirits, they got to boasting.
That’s so crazy, boasting.
Boasting here means to take pride in something.
The Corinthians were taking pride because notched his gun with his father’s wife, if you understand that expression.
I’m trying not to be coarse here, but to use enough language to explain what was happening here.
So, instead of taking this incest situation seriously as they should have, they were laughing and making jokes about it.
Paul said ‘your boasting is not good.’
It is not attractive nor beautiful, that’s what the word good means.
Your actions are not attractive to heaven — they are not beautiful in God’s eyes.
Wrong sex jokes are not cool — they are not funny.
Sex between and husband and wife married before God is a sacred thing.
There’s nothing funny outside of that.
Renew your mind to the way God thinks.
So, let’s review.
The divine discipline of the Lord was for this man to have his body destroyed by Satan with sickness.
Just a side note — this is further proof that sickness comes from Satan not from God.
God is not the one who would have stuck this man down with some sickness unto death — Satan is the one that does that.
We need to have our theology straight.

God’s Discipline: Necessary to Reduce the Spread of Sin

There is a vital piece now in verse six.

1 Corinthians 5:6 (ESV) — 6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
Leaven, what makes dough rise, typifies sin in this passage.
Leaven makes dough bigger.
Paul is saying deal with this situation or the sin this man is committing will spread through the rest of the church making the problem much bigger.
Sin is like yeast — unchecked it will always spread and become bigger.
That’s why a good course of action for any of us who have sinned and missed it is to repent immediately.
Don’t play with sin — don’t cuddle with it — refuse to tolerate it.
Snuff out the yeast.
Maybe this helps you understand some of God’s judgments in the Old Testament.

Exodus 12:1–6 (ESV) — 1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. 3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.

One of my favorite things to point out in this passage, I get emotional about it every time I read it – is that the Lord made a stipulation here for a household that’s too small for the lamb.
But, the Lord never made a stipulation for the opposite case — where the household is too big for a lamb.
Why?
Because there is never a case where the lamb is not enough.
I don’t care where you are, or how deep a hole you may think you’re in, I don’t care what the doctor said about your body.
The Lamb’s Blood is big enough for your house!
Jesus is our Passover Lamb.
That’s the type or symbology used by the Lord here.
Keep reading from verse 13.

Exodus 12:13 (ESV) — 13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

When the death angel sees the Blood of the Lamb, smeared on the doorpost of the house, he passes over.
And, it happened just like the Lord said.
Then the Lord said this.

Exodus 12:14–15 (ESV) — 14 “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. 15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.

Remove leaven out of your houses.
Why?
He’s pointing via symbology at the effect of the Lamb being slain for us.
Leaven is sin.
Because Jesus died, we are free from sin.
If we are free, get sin out of your house!

1 Corinthians 5:7 (ESV) — 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

Divine Discipline: A Commandment

Let’s go back to our passage in Thessalonians.
Look at the strength of Paul’s words.

6 Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness…

Look how powerful this is: ‘now we command you.’
Paul is exerting apostolic authority.
This is not a Sunday School suggestion.
The Greek word ‘command’ means to make an announcement about something that must be done.
Paul is writing this assertive instruction, but he has help.
He is not writing this on his own.

2 Peter 1:21 (ESV) — 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is moving upon Paul to write these words.
Therefore, this command to shun a brother or a sister who is idle and being a busybody is a direct order from God.
That’s what a commandment is – a direct order from God from which there is no turning.
Obedience to this directive is not a matter of our opinion or input.
God said do it — you do it.
Again, does this make you uncomfortable?
If it does, there’s even more.

Divine Discipline: In Jesus’ Name.

But there’s more.
Now this commandment is amplified by the use of Jesus’ Name and His official place in the life of any believer.

…we command you in the Name of our Lord Jesus…

Paul is commanding the Thessalonians in the Name that’s above every name, the name of Jesus, to shun this busybody of a brother.
Think on this for a moment — in Jesus Name!

Philippians 2:9–11 (ESV) — 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Every knee must bow at Jesus Name.
All knees — every heart must bow at His Name.
That means, whether you like it or not, whether it makes you comfortable or not your heart and mine must bow to this directive.
The sin, the leaven has got to go.
But, we are still not done.

Divine Discipline: In the Name of the Lord Jesus

You mean there is more?
Wow! — how can there be more?
We already have a commandment — we already have Jesus Name — isn’t that enough?
Apparently not, re-read verse six closer.

…we command you in the Name of our Lord Jesus…

Paul didn’t say we command you in the Name of Jesus.
He said in the name of our LORD Jesus — big capital letters here for Lord.
This isn’t about simple obedience.
It’s about your pledge to Jesus as Lord of your life.
That’s what you said to Him when you gave your heart to Jesus.

Romans 10:8–9 (ESV)— 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

The scripture didn’t say we are to confess Jesus.
It said we are to enthrone him as Lord.
You know, sometimes you hear this in church during altar calls.
We hear the plea come from the pulpit that we must make a decision for Jesus.
We need to choose Jesus.
You don’t choose Jesus — He chose you!

John 15:16 (ESV) — 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

We need to get in line with the Bible.
He chose us — we said yes.
What does that look like?
Picture a knight in shining armor.
He enters the great hall where all of the other knights are lined up.
Why are the knights lined up?
The King is there sitting on His throne.
This lone knight what’s the take his place with all of the other knights in the hall.
To do so, he must pledge allegiance to the King.
So, he walks up with sword in hand and he puts that sword against his chest and does what?
Bows His knee to His King.
Your fight is my fight.
Your will is my will.
That’s what Jesus is Lord means.
It means you bow your knee to Him.
If the King checks your heart about something, bow your knee.
You receive an order from your King?
Bow your knee.
If He sends you to uncomfortable place — if asks you to do something outside yourself — bow your knee.
Choosing Jesus doesn’t get you saved — making Him Lord of your life does.
There’s an enormous difference between making a choice and submitting all of your life to His Lordship.
I can choose cereal for breakfast but that doesn’t mean it will become all encompassing in my life.
The Romans had a plethora of little ‘g’ gods.
They chose this one and that one — and, when they were done, yet another one.
And, they stacked them in their houses.
Not one of those choices was Lord of all.
And that’s the thing that bothered them about this new Jesus movement.
These gospel toting believers were saying Jesus was Lord — not just their Lord, but Lord over all!
So, Jesus is not just another choice — He Lord, head general over all the choices.
Serve Him or else and that’s what spooked the Romans.
That’s what spooks people today.
Jesus as Lord is not about live and let live.
How could you live and let live if Jesus said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life?’
How can you live and let live if Jesus, ‘No one can come to the me unless the Father draws him.’
That’s John 6:44.
Well, that seals the deal, doesn’t it?
A gossipy, meddlesome person; one who pries into the affairs of others must be shunned.
Yes sir, I bow my knee to that directive because Jesus is my Lord.

Divine Discipline: Done in Love

Now why does God discipline busybodies or those in sexual immorality as we have seen in this lesson today.
One reason, one reason only — God loves them and wants them to recover themselves.
He wants them to turn and repent.

Hebrews 12:5–7 (ESV) — 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” 7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

The Lord disciplines the one he loves.

Revelation 3:19 (ESV) — 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.

Now Father God, thank you for your goodness and mercy. Great is your mercy. Help us today to be quick to repent. To be quick to obey your commandments as we see them in your Word — as we hear them in our spirits. Thank you for cleansing us in these areas as we acknowledge your Lordship in Jesus Name Amen.

Why God’s Thoughts On Discipline Are Superior To Yours
You guys have a great God week and we will see you next time for another edition of Light on Life.

#S2-034: How to Put Yourself In the Word for Healing [Podcast]

___________

References:

William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 800. ↩

emeryhorvath.com

Equipping people to pursue God's glory

Why God’s Thoughts On Discipline Are Superior To Yours

Podcast: Light on Life Season Eleven Episode Four

by Emery Horvath

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe to PlayerFM

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources:

If you would like to know more about growing in faith, see the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

We are currently teaching in the book of Second Thessalonians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Prayer

Podcast Notes

God’s Discipline: Dealing with Busybodies

God’s Discipline: Keep Away

God’s Discipline: How This Plays Out

God’s Discipline: Is It Harsh?

God’s Discipline: Necessary to Reduce the Spread of Sin

Divine Discipline: A Commandment

Divine Discipline: In Jesus’ Name.

Divine Discipline: In the Name of the Lord Jesus

Divine Discipline: Done in Love

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe to PlayerFM

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources:

If you would like to know more about growing in faith, see the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

We are currently teaching in the book of Second Thessalonians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Prayer

Podcast Notes

God’s Discipline: Dealing with Busybodies

God’s Discipline: Keep Away

God’s Discipline: How This Plays Out

God’s Discipline: Is It Harsh?

God’s Discipline: Necessary to Reduce the Spread of Sin

Divine Discipline: A Commandment

Divine Discipline: In Jesus’ Name.

Divine Discipline: In the Name of the Lord Jesus

Divine Discipline: Done in Love

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