WEBVTT 00:00:01.120 --> 00:00:06.559 Today's reading is from Hebrews chapter 12, verses 7 through 11. 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:10.240 It is for discipline that you have to endure. 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:16.000 God is treating you as sons, for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:23.359 If you are left without discipline, in which you have all participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:29.679 Besides this, we have all had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them. 00:00:29.920 --> 00:00:33.840 Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:38.079 For they disciplined us for a short time, as it seemed best to them. 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:43.039 But he disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:54.159 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peace, the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 00:00:54.399 --> 00:00:55.600 This is the word of the Lord. 00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:57.039 Thanks be to God. 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:00.159 Good morning. 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:05.040 Welcome to church this lovely morning. 00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:09.519 It's nice and hot and humid, which is a relief from the weather that we've had. 00:01:10.239 --> 00:01:15.680 Let's uh uh pray together and then we'll move into our text for the day. 00:01:17.760 --> 00:01:22.799 Holy Father, we thank you for your loving kindness towards us, for your care for us. 00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:33.359 Lord, we thank you that you take such a personal interest in each of us that you even discipline us perfectly towards holiness. 00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:48.400 Lord, we thank you that you are not a neglectful father, but that you are one who pays attention, who cares, who knows our needs, Lord, who looks at our hearts and desires to correct them. 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:53.680 Lord, we praise you that you desire our holiness and righteousness. 00:01:54.079 --> 00:02:00.400 We praise you that you would even acquire these things at such great cost, the cost of your own son. 00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:06.719 We praise you for the love that has been poured out to us through the blood of Jesus Christ. 00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:21.520 Lord, pray that this morning as we look at the call of discipline on parents and the call to rule our homes that parents have, Lord, that we would be blessed by your rule over our hearts. 00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:26.240 Lord, it is such a good thing to be in your kingdom. 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:28.719 It is so good to be your subjects. 00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:34.000 And Lord, we we praise you that you count us as even more than that, but that you count us as sons. 00:02:34.319 --> 00:02:36.560 Father, this is an amazing blessing. 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:37.840 We are thankful to you for it. 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:39.360 Lift this up in Jesus' name. 00:02:39.599 --> 00:02:40.240 Amen. 00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:43.120 Well, my name is James Rathman. 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:45.759 I'm the pastor here at Redemption Church Denver. 00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:50.080 It's uh wonderful to gather together with you all on this Sunday morning. 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:55.919 And especially uh if you're a kid who's in here with us, I think you're gonna love this sermon. 00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:59.199 This is gonna be like this this is for you. 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:06.240 So if you're a kid in the service today, today's sermon is about how parents should discipline their children. 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:08.319 Do you how does that sound, kids? 00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:11.360 What was that? 00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:12.000 Good. 00:03:12.319 --> 00:03:12.719 Good. 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:13.439 Good. 00:03:15.360 --> 00:03:20.719 Yeah, the one the one kid said good and another one shouted in betrayal. 00:03:21.919 --> 00:03:25.439 It was like one kid was like, I think you forgot to collect our homework. 00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:37.280 Can you uh believe that whenever that would happen, it was just like this, like Benedict Arnold in the classroom. 00:03:37.680 --> 00:03:55.680 So uh kids, this one's this one's really it you're gonna hear a lot of instruction for parents today as you listen through today's sermon, and it's gonna feel like ah, this is just about for parents, how parents should discipline uh their children, and I'm just a child, I don't even have kids. 00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:57.759 What uh what is this even for? 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:01.520 Well, you should you should remember that as you hear this, you're the kid. 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:03.680 That's right, Izzy. 00:04:04.719 --> 00:04:13.759 And in being the in being the kid, that means that your job is to consider, well, how should I receive this when when my parents are disciplining me? 00:04:13.919 --> 00:04:26.079 Does that mean, is that because they don't like me anymore, because I'm some sort of a catastrophe of a child or that things have gone horribly wrong and this is this is terrible, and my parents they just prove over and over again that they don't really love me. 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:32.560 Well, now you're hearing it in church, preached from the Bible, from your pastor, in front of your parents. 00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:35.920 Your parents discipline you because they love you. 00:04:36.319 --> 00:04:39.360 And this is a glorious thing to receive. 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:45.600 It is a one of the best gifts you could ever receive from your parents, is their discipline. 00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:50.639 But the Bible says that while discipline is happening, nobody likes it. 00:04:51.360 --> 00:05:04.399 So if you don't like it when you're receiving discipline, if you don't like it when you're getting a timeout, when you're getting a spanking, when you have something precious to you taken away, if you don't like that stuff, well, that's okay. 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:06.000 You're not supposed to like it. 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:07.920 Nobody Yep, that's right. 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:12.399 Emerson is like, what type of bait and switch is church this morning? 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:16.879 Nobody likes it. 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:19.120 Nobody likes it while it's happening. 00:05:19.439 --> 00:05:29.199 But it is attended with these incredible promises that it will bear in you the peaceful fruit of righteousness. 00:05:29.439 --> 00:05:39.199 Now, the peaceful fruit of righteousness, if you're uh uh little if you're a kid in here, you're thinking like peaceful fruit of righteousness is not as cool as my Nintendo Switch. 00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:41.439 That's not even comparable. 00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:44.000 I would rather have the Switch or whatever. 00:05:44.240 --> 00:05:54.399 Uh, then uh what you should think of like peaceful fruit of righteousness, what that means is that you you will be, you will become superhero cool. 00:05:56.319 --> 00:06:01.439 If you receive discipline from your parents, then you will be as cool as your favorite superhero. 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:06.639 Because in order to be a superhero, you have to be, you have to be you have to be disciplined. 00:06:06.879 --> 00:06:10.000 You have to be able to show up on time, it's one of the most important things. 00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:16.720 Oftentimes you have to be able to show up in the nick of time, which takes a lot of discipline. 00:06:16.959 --> 00:06:24.160 When there's lots of terrible things happening around you, you have to be the one who is steady, who's able to keep your presence, who's able to be cool. 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:26.560 That only comes through discipline. 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:31.279 So, what your parents are really doing is they're turning you into superheroes. 00:06:31.360 --> 00:06:32.800 We got a question, but I'll have to take that later. 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:35.920 I can probably take that one at the dinner table, seeing whose hand it comes from. 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:41.199 Uh so uh so, kids, this one's really for you. 00:06:41.279 --> 00:06:44.639 It's gonna seem like it's for the parents, but this one's really for you guys, okay? 00:06:44.959 --> 00:06:46.879 Are you guys gonna track with me the whole time? 00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:58.560 And then at the end of this, when your parents are when your parents are disciplining you, as will inevitably be the case, after this, you'll you'll look up at them and you'll say, Good job, mom and dad. 00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:02.079 That's what you guys will say. 00:07:02.240 --> 00:07:04.720 That's the way when this sermon lands, that's what's gonna happen. 00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:12.160 You're gonna be, yeah, yeah, that's you're going to be receiving a spanking and saying, I just feel the love. 00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:16.879 Just feel the care for my future, for my heart in this. 00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:29.920 So this is our first week in looking at the final office that we've uh ascribed to parents uh here in this series called The Christian Home. 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:38.079 We've looked at how parents uh take on these offices that are like the offices that Christ takes on as our Redeemer. 00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:51.040 And we, by analogy, we we look to Christ as as our model for parenting, and we see how are we to be prophets to our children, priests to our children, and kings to our children. 00:07:51.199 --> 00:08:02.079 We've looked at how we're to be prophets to our children by telling them the story that they are in, so that they learn the true story of their lives from us by us telling it to them. 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:18.399 And that true story of their lives is found in the gospel of Jesus Christ, that they are to be taught that they are sinners in need of a savior, that there is a savior, that they have these wonderful promises that they have been given by the Lord, and that these are these are theirs. 00:08:18.639 --> 00:08:24.560 We are to be priests to our children, and that means we are to be mediators of blessing. 00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:29.040 We are to be a blessing to our children. 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:48.159 And that means we are to pray for them and intercede on their behalf before the Lord, seeking the Lord's blessing for them, and we are to be a blessing to our children by delighting in them and protecting them, as we see priests do throughout the scriptures, and as Christ does for us. 00:08:48.320 --> 00:09:03.200 Now, today we are looking at how Christ fulfills the office of a king and how parents are called to be kings, kings and queens in the home, that fathers are to be kings in the home, mothers are to be queens in the home. 00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:06.399 So, how does Christ execute the office of a king? 00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:07.360 It's a great question. 00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:08.720 Someone should write down someday. 00:09:08.879 --> 00:09:09.679 Here's a great answer. 00:09:09.759 --> 00:09:10.799 Someone has written down. 00:09:11.039 --> 00:09:25.679 Christ executeth the office of a king in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies. 00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:29.039 That's Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 26. 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:31.120 Here's how Christ is a king to us. 00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:34.399 He subdues us to himself. 00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:36.879 That's the first thing that he does. 00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:48.960 Now, the thing that you have to understand about Christ is I was talking about this with a friend as they were walking into church this morning, one of you out there, it could be you, uh, who was saying, what are you gonna do today? 00:09:49.039 --> 00:09:50.000 He's like, gonna win. 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:52.480 Today's how do you Sundays are for winning. 00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:56.000 One thing that Jesus loves to do and that he's very good at is win. 00:09:56.480 --> 00:09:58.720 He's probably the probably the best. 00:10:01.600 --> 00:10:06.480 And so what Jesus always does with all people is he conquers them. 00:10:06.799 --> 00:10:08.960 Jesus will conquer everyone. 00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:11.840 Everyone will be conquered by Jesus. 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:15.200 There's a difference, though, in how that conquering might look. 00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:17.279 Some he conquers our hearts. 00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:20.799 These are called Christians, the ones whose hearts he conquers. 00:10:21.039 --> 00:10:36.559 He conquers their rebellious will, he gives them a new heart, he makes them a new creation, and they come under his rule, and they receive the joyful benefits of Christ being their king and them being Christ's subjects. 00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:45.360 Others remain in rebellion, and Christ will be their enemy, and he will conquer them for eternity. 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:48.080 Nobody doesn't get conquered. 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:50.000 Everybody gets conquered. 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:55.679 The difference is, are you subdued to, does Christ subdue you to himself? 00:10:56.559 --> 00:11:07.759 This is the good news of the gospel, is the announcement that Christ is king, and Christ subdues us to himself so that we belong to him. 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:11.279 We are no longer in rebellion against him. 00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:15.600 Everybody starts in rebellion against the Lord. 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:18.639 This is what it means to be born into original sin. 00:11:19.279 --> 00:11:21.919 Everybody begins at a place of rebellion. 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:24.799 So everybody's will is conquered. 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:34.480 Our hope is that Jesus graciously conquers our will so that he might restore us to himself. 00:11:34.799 --> 00:11:36.639 We might be subdued to himself. 00:11:37.039 --> 00:11:46.240 Likewise, Christ rules and defends us, and he restrains and conquers all his and our enemies. 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:47.919 So you might think of the difference. 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:52.000 I'm using conquered for everything because it's more provocative and it's more fun to preach. 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:55.279 But you could think that Christ subdues his people to himself. 00:11:55.759 --> 00:11:58.000 You have a will that gets subdued to him. 00:11:58.559 --> 00:12:02.399 And then the enemies of Christ are conquered by him. 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:04.639 But Christ always wins. 00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:06.480 He's always the king. 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:09.919 Now we have a lot of stories. 00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:18.879 Most of the types of stories that we tell are stories of wicked kings, bad kings that need to be overthrown. 00:12:19.279 --> 00:12:22.080 And we need to get out from underneath those kings. 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:25.600 Even sometimes those kings are like our fathers. 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:33.120 And we need to get out from under the harsh rule of our fathers who want to keep us under water. 00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:37.279 But we want to be where the people are. 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:56.159 And so we have stories like that where we need to get out from under the tyrannical rule of our fathers so that we're able to come into the place where we experience what we think will be the fullness of life and the fullness of the hope of life. 00:12:56.240 --> 00:13:04.799 But we don't have many stories about how good it is to be under a good king. 00:13:05.840 --> 00:13:09.759 We don't have many stories like that, but but we should look for those. 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:11.519 We should collect those. 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:17.600 You know, it is a wonderful thing to be under a good king. 00:13:18.879 --> 00:13:25.840 This produces life, flourishing, joy, security, happiness. 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:31.120 We have one excellent instance of being under a great king in the scriptures. 00:13:31.279 --> 00:13:40.080 At sort of at like the golden age of Israel is the united kingdom under Solomon. 00:13:40.480 --> 00:13:53.919 The northern northern Israel and southern Israel are still united as one, and they are under the rule of the wisest king who had ever lived and whoever whoever would live, King Solomon. 00:13:54.240 --> 00:14:06.879 And the whole kingdom is experiencing just this wonderful time, this joyful, incredible time, because of the wise rule of King Solomon. 00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:08.799 It is an amazing thing to be under. 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:16.720 Israelites would go and they'd travel to collect, you know, trees from around the world and different things and gold and all that sort of stuff. 00:14:16.879 --> 00:14:17.840 They'd be sailing around. 00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:25.120 And they'd be talking with other, you know, sailors and traders and things, and they'd be like, So, how are things uh over in Tarshish or whatever? 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:26.240 Hello, fly. 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:29.600 Maybe you guys can you guys see in this? 00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:34.559 Now we're all we'll acknowledge that it's happening so we can move on. 00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:37.200 They're like, how are things over in Tarshish? 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:39.360 And it's like, yeah, you know, pretty good, I guess. 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:44.960 We've got some trade cooking up, and we've been uh uh they've been okay, they've been generally okay. 00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:51.679 Um you still got that king, uh yeah, you know, he's alright, he's not like his father was, uh, which is good and bad in some ways, you know. 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:52.639 That would be something like that. 00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:54.720 And be like, well, what's it like in Israel right now? 00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:57.039 Be like, honestly, you wouldn't believe it. 00:14:57.440 --> 00:14:58.320 It's insane. 00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:05.360 See this, see this silver uh fork that I'm using to eat this food? 00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:08.399 These are like nothing in Israel. 00:15:08.639 --> 00:15:10.159 This silver is literally it's nothing. 00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:10.720 It doesn't even matter. 00:15:10.799 --> 00:15:12.000 We use this like disposable. 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:14.960 It's uh it we only use gold for things now. 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:21.120 The prosperity that has been brought in by the wise rule of our king, none of us had ever seen anything like it. 00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:24.639 You know how you visit somebody's house and they have a vine and a fig tree? 00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:26.240 You guys know about this? 00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:30.320 You go to anybody's house in Israel, everybody has their own vine and fig tree. 00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:31.759 Their own vine and fig tree? 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:32.879 Yeah, it's insane. 00:15:33.039 --> 00:15:33.840 It's incredible. 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:38.480 It's like remember when all the Europeans came over and they discovered air conditioning just last month? 00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:42.559 It was it's like that times 10. 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:44.240 You know, times 10,000. 00:15:44.879 --> 00:15:49.440 It was it was so good to be under the rule of Solomon. 00:15:49.600 --> 00:16:00.159 There's this queen of the queen of Ethiopia, actually, the queen of Sheba, which is the same place, gets word of what things are like under Solomon's rule. 00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:02.080 And she's like, I gotta come visit this. 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:05.200 I I I don't believe the things that I'm hearing. 00:16:05.360 --> 00:16:11.919 Because one of Solomon's guys came with her and it had a disposable fork and it was made of pure silver, and he's like, Yeah, we don't even need these anymore. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:13.120 I got a dozen of these. 00:16:13.360 --> 00:16:15.279 And she's like, What is happening in Israel? 00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:16.000 I gotta come see it. 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:24.799 And so she goes up to see it and she brings gifts and she has questions to ask him to wonder what it's like to be under the rule of Solomon. 00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:39.279 And when she sees all that is there, and when she witnesses the place, when she asks Solomon her questions, or probably foreign policy questions about uh how he's running things, it says there was no more breath in her. 00:16:39.519 --> 00:16:40.879 She swooned. 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:44.399 She saw it and she she, you know, huh. 00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:48.960 She swooned at what she saw. 00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:55.279 And the what all of the other Israelites, what they get to walk around, and you know what it's like for them when they're walking around? 00:16:55.440 --> 00:16:56.960 I'm an Israelite. 00:16:57.440 --> 00:16:58.720 I'm an Israelite. 00:16:58.960 --> 00:17:00.480 Look at our king. 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:03.519 I'm so proud to be with this king. 00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:09.599 Solomon could he could have been like, hey, we're gonna go conquer that, and be like, I'll go, I'll do, I'll run through a wall for you. 00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:13.200 That's what it was like to be under King Solomon. 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:14.960 It was in it was an amazing thing. 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:19.680 Here's what the Queen of Sheba's description is in 1 Kings 10, 8 through 9. 00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:28.079 She says, Happy are your men, happy are your servants who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom. 00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:44.880 Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel, because the Lord loved Israel forever, he has made you king, that you may execute justice and righteousness. 00:17:45.839 --> 00:17:52.240 The thing that stands out to her is the happiness of the people in the kingdom. 00:17:52.720 --> 00:17:54.400 She's amazed by it. 00:17:54.640 --> 00:17:59.599 Look at the happiness of the people who are under your rule. 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:03.039 There's a joy and a blessedness. 00:18:03.359 --> 00:18:09.519 Kids, when your parents are disciplining you, do you know what they're seeking for you? 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:13.039 They're seeking your happiness. 00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:15.759 They want you to be happier. 00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:22.880 They they look at the amount of happiness that you have right now, and they see it and they say, This can be more. 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:26.319 And because they see that, they discipline you. 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:31.440 This is a joyful picture of the rule of a good king. 00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:43.519 And of course, it's supposed to call up our minds to what it means to be under King Jesus, who rules the kingdom of God, who has subjected us to himself. 00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:51.279 We are under the rule of the best king, the most wonderful king. 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:52.880 And what are his subjects like? 00:18:53.119 --> 00:18:58.400 Our king says things like, if you want to come after me, then take up your cross daily and come follow me. 00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:02.720 And that in this king's so good that his subjects are like, Yeah, I'll do it. 00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:05.279 I'll take up my cross daily to follow you. 00:19:05.359 --> 00:19:07.440 I will run through a brick wall for you. 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:08.559 Why? 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:11.680 Because look at what look at who our king is. 00:19:11.920 --> 00:19:14.240 Look at the kingdom that he's bringing. 00:19:14.559 --> 00:19:16.640 Death can't stand against it. 00:19:16.880 --> 00:19:19.519 This is something unthinkable is happening here. 00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:20.720 I gotta be involved. 00:19:20.880 --> 00:19:22.240 I wanna be a part of it. 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:28.559 So we see the glimpses of that sort of kingdom in Solomon. 00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:32.960 Now we as parents are called to rule in this way. 00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:43.200 In 1 Timothy 3, 4 through 5, it says, One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity. 00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:49.839 For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God? 00:19:50.079 --> 00:19:54.000 This is in the qualifications for church elders. 00:19:54.400 --> 00:20:08.480 One of the qualifications for to be an elder of the church is that you that the fathers would rule their house, rule his own house well, and that his children would be in subjection to him. 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:11.599 His children would be subjects. 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:15.920 Kings. 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:17.359 Kings have subjects. 00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:21.039 Most of us don't most of you, I bet, many of you have no subjects. 00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:23.920 Which is a shame on your father's line. 00:20:24.160 --> 00:20:27.839 But kings have subjects. 00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:31.519 Now listen to this. 00:20:31.599 --> 00:20:35.119 I chose I went with the KJV for this because this is better. 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:39.759 In subjection with all gravity. 00:20:40.720 --> 00:20:43.279 Don't you immediately understand what that means? 00:20:44.240 --> 00:20:50.559 It is best for your children, for the father to rule the home with all gravity. 00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:53.839 This is where thriving comes from. 00:20:55.119 --> 00:21:02.240 This produces that wonder and joy and happiness that we see under Solomon's rule. 00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:07.279 What Solomon ruled like, Solomon ruled like he was the wisest man in the world. 00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:10.960 He of course was, which helps. 00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:17.599 But that means that he ruled with this incredible gravity. 00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:26.559 Gravity makes me think of planets and the sun, which is I don't know what it is, is stars. 00:21:27.200 --> 00:21:28.799 If you guys believe that sort of thing. 00:21:44.240 --> 00:21:46.480 This is just Joseph's dream, remember? 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:53.039 Joseph's dream, he dreams that the sun bows down to him, and the moon bows down to him, and all the stars bow down to him. 00:21:53.119 --> 00:21:59.599 We see the father, and and his father and mother are offended because they're like the I'm the sun, obviously, and you're the moon. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.640 And they they weren't thinking solar systemly, but we can think solar systemly for a little bit. 00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:08.000 And that means that the father is like the son. 00:22:08.240 --> 00:22:10.160 He's the center of gravity. 00:22:10.480 --> 00:22:13.200 The family is moving around him. 00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:19.599 When that happens, there is an ordering to the home. 00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:28.319 And that ordering to the home brings life and flourishing and happiness. 00:22:28.640 --> 00:22:32.319 We are required by God to rule over our homes. 00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:38.559 Now, I want you to consider if you were to walk into Solomon's court, the types of things that you would see. 00:22:38.720 --> 00:22:49.920 You know, you walk in and there's all of a sudden, as you get closer to the king, you walk in and you cross into Jerusalem, and it's like, wow, the roads just got really smooth. 00:22:50.079 --> 00:23:00.640 You know when you cross state lines on a road trip and like suddenly the roads get really smooth or they get really bad all of a sudden, and it's like, eh, yeah, you can kind of tell right away. 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:02.319 That's what happens. 00:23:02.400 --> 00:23:05.920 You cross into Jerusalem, it's like, wow, the roads are suddenly pretty smooth. 00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:16.400 And uh then uh you look and it's like wow, the feeding places for where you go and you feed your horse, these are really clean here. 00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:18.480 Really clean and they're really nice. 00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:25.279 Then as you get a little closer, the stores get nicer and the neighborhoods get nicer, and you say, wow, these houses are pretty incredible. 00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:34.640 Live right downtown here, they look really beautiful, and then you and then there's the entrance, uh, you start to see the temple, and it's like, wow, that temple is amazing. 00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:36.000 It's I've never seen anything like it. 00:23:36.160 --> 00:24:00.720 And you see the palace that Solomon lives in, and you walk up to the palace, and they they say, Yes, we've been expecting you, and they uh the carpet is rolled out, and the uh Solomon walks out, and there's a trumpet that announces his arrival, and then somebody steps out and and announces by words the arrival of the king, and the people take their places, and the cupbearers give their things, and then he sits on the throne. 00:24:01.119 --> 00:24:05.359 It's it's uh it's like a dance, you know, and it's it's this glory. 00:24:05.519 --> 00:24:08.160 What you're experiencing is a wonder of glory. 00:24:08.559 --> 00:24:14.480 But you know all that stuff, all those things that you see, that does not just happen. 00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:17.359 That doesn't just happen. 00:24:17.680 --> 00:24:21.440 That means that there was a bunch of discipline. 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:30.319 If you were to see an army mark it march in perfect block step, what you would think is this is a well-disciplined group. 00:24:30.880 --> 00:24:37.839 You know, when uh when our troops were at Valley Forge, they entered that and they did not know how to be a disciplined army. 00:24:38.079 --> 00:24:41.279 And then we got a fake German. 00:24:43.359 --> 00:24:44.240 Uh what's his name? 00:24:44.400 --> 00:24:45.359 Von something? 00:24:45.680 --> 00:24:46.480 Anyone with me? 00:24:46.880 --> 00:24:47.440 Von Steuben. 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:48.880 Von Stuben? 00:24:49.759 --> 00:24:51.119 Baron von Steuben, thank you. 00:24:51.279 --> 00:24:52.319 Fake Baron. 00:24:52.640 --> 00:24:57.680 And he comes in and he teaches the order the army how to be a well-ordered army. 00:24:57.839 --> 00:25:01.119 They learned how to march and rank and they learned how to be a well-ordered army. 00:25:01.279 --> 00:25:03.680 And the way that he did that is he disciplined them. 00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:10.720 When we see those glories, when we see these glorious things, what you're seeing is the fruit of discipline. 00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:11.759 Of course. 00:25:11.920 --> 00:25:14.079 You know this in somebody's life. 00:25:14.319 --> 00:25:23.359 When you see, like, wow, their home is clean and there's the their kids behave, and they're you can look and see there's discipline behind this. 00:25:23.680 --> 00:25:26.160 And you we you can hear the connotations of this word. 00:25:26.240 --> 00:25:27.200 I love them all. 00:25:27.359 --> 00:25:34.000 The connotations of this word, there's there's discipline of like a well-ordered army, and there's discipline like spanking. 00:25:34.400 --> 00:25:36.480 And those are the same thing. 00:25:37.279 --> 00:25:45.839 They're the same thing, they have the same end that there might be a glory produced beyond what we can see now. 00:25:46.480 --> 00:25:50.160 We might see a wonderful glory that takes place. 00:25:50.480 --> 00:25:52.720 There's a training element to this discipline. 00:25:52.799 --> 00:25:55.359 You can even hear the word disciple in it. 00:25:55.680 --> 00:26:02.240 Somebody who has been disciplined is a is it somebody who gets to receive the discipline of God as a disciple. 00:26:03.039 --> 00:26:16.079 So what we want to see as we imagine these glories, and we imagine the glory that our families could have, we need to see that just like anything else, I'm trying to help you see that you already know this, of course. 00:26:16.319 --> 00:26:22.640 Like what's the difference between a like what's the difference between Disney World and Lakeside? 00:26:26.880 --> 00:26:30.799 The discipline and cost of entry. 00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:42.400 Which is in in it is a way of like requiring discipline of the people who are gonna come to this, or debt. 00:26:43.920 --> 00:26:45.839 Both could require lack of discipline. 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:48.559 There's ways that both could be. 00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:51.920 But the the the difference is the difference is is discipline. 00:26:52.079 --> 00:26:59.200 I um uh was at Disney World once and got a uh uh ride from someone to an Uber. 00:26:59.599 --> 00:27:01.039 I was with you, Brandon. 00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:10.640 And we got an Uber somewhere, and she was she was talking about how um uh they her and her husband worked at Disney, it was like their career, she was a bus driver for Disney. 00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:13.599 And I was like, how do they make everybody so nice? 00:27:13.839 --> 00:27:16.559 Like, what is the how are they how do they do this? 00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:21.119 And she says, Oh, if they're if you're unkind to a guest, you just get fired. 00:27:21.920 --> 00:27:26.960 It's like wow, that's that's the I bet that's the best way to do it. 00:27:29.039 --> 00:27:30.480 And so that's the difference. 00:27:30.640 --> 00:27:31.680 There's discipline. 00:27:31.920 --> 00:27:34.720 That's why when you go there, it's like, wow, this is incredible. 00:27:34.799 --> 00:27:38.000 This is amazing service, this is an amazing thing that I'm seeing. 00:27:39.440 --> 00:27:42.160 God disciplines his people. 00:27:42.799 --> 00:27:49.200 Because God desires a glorious kingdom of joy and happiness in the presence of him as a king. 00:27:49.440 --> 00:27:51.039 There's one way to get this. 00:27:51.119 --> 00:27:52.160 There it's discipline. 00:27:52.319 --> 00:27:53.359 That is the way. 00:27:53.759 --> 00:27:55.759 Here's how God disciplines his people. 00:27:55.839 --> 00:28:03.119 We have to look at how God disciplines us in order to understand how we are to discipline our families. 00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:05.839 Hebrews 12, 7 through 8. 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:09.279 It says, It is for discipline that you have to endure. 00:28:09.920 --> 00:28:12.720 God is treating you as sons. 00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:18.400 For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 00:28:18.880 --> 00:28:27.279 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:42.240 What's being referred to here is that what you have to endure, this is the ordinary pains and sufferings of life and our war against sin. 00:28:43.359 --> 00:28:51.039 And God uses these perfectly in your life as a mechanism for his disciplining of you. 00:28:51.519 --> 00:28:55.200 Have you ever noticed how tailor-made your problems are? 00:28:56.079 --> 00:29:00.160 How they're just like a direct hit, they're perfect for you. 00:29:00.559 --> 00:29:03.519 That's because they were tailor-made for you. 00:29:04.480 --> 00:29:06.240 They're perfect for you. 00:29:06.720 --> 00:29:12.079 God is working on these things, he is putting you in a place where you need to endure here. 00:29:13.200 --> 00:29:15.759 You need to learn to trust him here. 00:29:16.720 --> 00:29:18.720 And he is disciplining your heart. 00:29:18.880 --> 00:29:24.559 He is bringing you into subjection under him, which is where you were made to be. 00:29:24.799 --> 00:29:27.599 This is the place of life and flourishing. 00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:31.200 It says that God is treating you as sons. 00:29:31.359 --> 00:29:35.119 What son is there whom his father does not discipline? 00:29:36.240 --> 00:29:41.440 If you are left without discipline, you are illegitimate children and not sons. 00:29:41.680 --> 00:29:50.960 If God did not discipline us, this would be evidence that he is not treating us as we are his children. 00:29:52.000 --> 00:30:04.960 If you are not disciplining your children, if you are neglecting the responsibility of disciplining your children, then this means that you are not treating them as your children. 00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:07.759 You are treating them as illegitimate. 00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:12.079 You are treating them as though you don't love them, you don't have a responsibility for them. 00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:21.359 You don't look at them and say, Mine, these are a gift of the Lord to me, and they are mine, and God has blessed me with them, and I will tend to them in the way that God has called me to bless them. 00:30:21.519 --> 00:30:26.000 You are you are treating them as though you they are not really your children. 00:30:26.240 --> 00:30:27.440 Illegitimate. 00:30:33.839 --> 00:30:42.799 It says, Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us as we who disciplined us and we respected them. 00:30:43.519 --> 00:30:48.079 Shall we not much more be subject to the father of spirits and live? 00:30:49.039 --> 00:30:59.279 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:10.079 So we get an analogy here, which is the same analogy I'm using for this sermon, between the discipline of earthly fathers and the discipline of our heavenly father. 00:31:10.960 --> 00:31:18.160 The discipline of earthly fathers, what we do is what seems good to us. 00:31:18.799 --> 00:31:20.799 That's the way we discipline. 00:31:21.039 --> 00:31:23.359 We do, here's what seems good to me. 00:31:23.599 --> 00:31:26.079 It seems like this will help correct my child. 00:31:26.240 --> 00:31:31.680 It seems like this discipline will work to cultivate their hearts more towards holiness. 00:31:32.480 --> 00:31:36.160 What God does, and you know our discipline? 00:31:36.880 --> 00:31:41.119 Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. 00:31:41.519 --> 00:31:44.640 This is what your discipline as a father is like. 00:31:45.200 --> 00:31:47.359 Sometimes it will be effective. 00:31:48.640 --> 00:31:53.039 Sometimes it will miss and not be effective in the way that you hoped it would be. 00:31:53.279 --> 00:31:55.359 You know what God's discipline is like? 00:31:55.680 --> 00:31:57.279 It always works. 00:31:58.480 --> 00:32:03.680 God disciplines us in our hearts, and it always works perfectly. 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:11.680 God's intentions for his discipline towards us, towards his people, always accomplishes exactly what he desires it to accomplish. 00:32:11.920 --> 00:32:14.880 Isn't this the parental dream? 00:32:16.799 --> 00:32:21.119 That you could perfectly discipline your children so that you could shape their hearts. 00:32:21.200 --> 00:32:27.119 But here's the difference between us as parents, earthly fathers and mothers. 00:32:27.519 --> 00:32:33.119 We can't reach into our children's hearts and change our children's hearts. 00:32:33.359 --> 00:32:34.799 You cannot do that. 00:32:35.039 --> 00:32:38.480 You do not have that capacity, you do not have that ability. 00:32:39.039 --> 00:32:41.599 But look at how gracious the Lord is. 00:32:41.839 --> 00:32:54.319 The Lord is so gracious that even in this analogy, look at how positively the scriptures are referencing the parent who disciplines according to what seems good to them. 00:32:55.519 --> 00:32:59.039 It's like parents that parent according to what seems good. 00:32:59.279 --> 00:33:00.559 This is very good. 00:33:01.440 --> 00:33:04.000 This is very useful to the Lord. 00:33:04.880 --> 00:33:13.920 Because what our hope is, is that God is the one who is ultimately disciplining our children. 00:33:15.279 --> 00:33:21.279 God is the one who is seeking the hearts of our children and who will perfectly discipline them. 00:33:21.519 --> 00:33:31.279 And right here, what the scripture does is it says, what the writer of Hebrews is saying is, consider the discipline from your own fathers. 00:33:32.880 --> 00:33:40.000 If you respected that, how much more are you to respect the discipline of your heavenly father? 00:33:41.119 --> 00:33:43.039 So let's take the opposite. 00:33:43.519 --> 00:33:52.640 If you disrespect the discipline of your earthly father, how can you possibly receive the discipline of your heavenly father? 00:33:52.799 --> 00:33:54.160 We can use John's argument. 00:33:54.319 --> 00:34:05.039 If you disrespect the discipline of your earthly father, who you can see, how can you possibly receive the discipline of your heavenly father who you can't see? 00:34:06.240 --> 00:34:11.199 This is the way that our earthly discipline and the Lord's discipline work together. 00:34:11.519 --> 00:34:32.000 Our hope is that God uses, God is faithful to use the discipline that He requires of us as parents in order to bring to perfection, to perfect by His discipline in the hearts of our children all that He has in store for them, all the sanctification that He desires for them. 00:34:32.320 --> 00:34:36.079 God uses the feeble means of our discipline. 00:34:41.199 --> 00:34:50.800 God uses our imperfect discipline as the means by which he perfects his discipline in our children. 00:34:51.679 --> 00:34:56.960 So we discipline our children in hope of God's perfect discipline. 00:34:57.119 --> 00:34:58.480 Here's what it looks like. 00:34:58.719 --> 00:35:00.559 This seems good to me. 00:35:01.039 --> 00:35:06.880 It seems good to me that because you threw that toy, it belongs to me now. 00:35:07.519 --> 00:35:10.000