Communion Message 
(The Fatherhood of God) 
August 7-8, 1999 
Pastor Leighton Sheley

Reading from the familiar passage in 1 Corinthians, For I have received from the Lord that which also I passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me." In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen sleep. But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.

When we were together last week we looked at these last two verses and we found four words that are translated judge or judged, but in actuality in the original language they were three different words. The first diakrino, the second and third krino, and the last katakrino. This week we look at the word disciplined. One of the responsibilities of a father is to discipline their children. Our theme this day is the fatherhood of God who is the perfect Father. The parallel passage is found, that word in Hebrews chapter 12; And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son." Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons, for what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. And the key word in this passage from Hebrews chapter 12 is discipline, and it appears both as a noun and a verb nine times in these eight verses. The original word is the Greek word paideuo which is a broad term signifying what parents and teachers so to train, correct, cultivate, and educate their children in order to develop and mature them as they ought. God uses discipline in training His children in guiding them to maturity in their spiritual lives. His discipline, this discipline is not to be confused with the judgmental punishment which sentences people to their eternal reward. Sometimes as a father I have the unpleasant task of confronting my children who have done wrong. It's never a pleasant experience, but to neglect them in their disobedience would be the same thing as stamping them with the label illegitimate. In other words, I would be shirking my responsibility and by extension, disclaiming them as children. They are my children, and I am responsible for their behavior and the kind of people they become. I'm responsible for their care and guidance. Another person's child might be ill mannered, but they're not my responsibility. When God disciplines us He is saying, this is My child. I am responsible for their care and guidance. Now godly discipline may hurt, but it will never harm. There were times as I grew up where I would do things that were wrong and my father would discipline me. In my shortsightedness sometimes I would react in anger, and resentment, and rebellion against my father. I thought and said some despicable things, but when that anger and resentment had passed, and when I'd had an opportunity to thoughtfully consider what my father had done for me, when I reflected upon the love of my father that he would care enough about me to confront me. My earthly father is not perfect. I can still remember at least one occasion where I was punished for something I did not do, but our heavenly Father is perfect. He knows everything. He never punishes us for things that we don't do. Very often He is very patient in bringing punishment to us when we deserve it. He does not get joy or satisfaction out of punishing His children. When we are being disciplined it proves two things, it proves first that God does love us, and secondly it proves that we are His eternal children. Now punishment almost by definition is not a pleasurable experience, and God provides a means of avoiding punishment, for if we would judge ourselves we should not be judged. We don't have our pews this day and so we're going to remain standing, but I'm going to invite you to bow your head, close your eyes as we stand in the presence of the Lord and we're going to examine our self as the Scriptures tell us to.

Lord we examine ourselves this day as Your Scriptures tell us to, and Your Spirit reminds us of the things that we have thought and said and done this week that are displeasing to You. We are a sinful people Lord. We're so thankful that we can be forgiven. Your word says that if we confess our sins You're faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We can leave this place this day cleansed of our sin and its stain because of what You have done. Lord as we hold these elements we're also reminded of the body of Christ, the great price that was paid for our freedom from sin. We thank you Lord for Your great love for us, for Your willingness to pay such a severe price for our redemption. Thank you Lord. Thank you, thank you Lord. Let's partake of the bread and also the cup. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Let's say a chorus of praise, the words hallelujah together, shall we? Hallelujah. (hallelujah) Hallelujah. (hallelujah) Let's say it again, hallelujah. (hallelujah) Thank you Lord, thank you Lord, hallelujah.