GOD CHASTENING HIS CHILDREN

Heb. 12:6-10

Morning Meditation 11/4/14

"For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness."

I know we don't like to think of chastening. But God does make it plain that He chastens all His children. There are at least six things in this passage that I want to point.

THE DECLARATION OF THE TRUTH OF CHASTENING

God says, "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."

This is a truth that happens to every Christian. This definitely points out that every saved man will continue to sin after he is saved. Not as much. And his sins cause him conviction and chastening.

1. The Holy Spirit grieves when we sin; Ephesians 4:29-30 says, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."

2. The Church at Corinth was misusing the Lord's Supper and had to be corrected. God had to deal with this in a severe way to bring about correction. 1 Corinthians 11:30-32 says, "For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world."

- There are three stages of chastening mentioned in these verses: Some were weak, some were sickly, and many slept (died). This was direct judgment from God because they refused to get right when they were wrong.

- The Lord tells them by inspiration of God, "For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged."

- This chastening is not the same as the world will get at the return of Christ. "But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world." The Lord makes a clear distinction between the chastening of the saved and the judgment of the unsaved. This clearly makes a distinction between the saved and the lost. God does not chasten the lost.. The saved are the Lord's. They have been bought by the precious blood of Christ and this puts them in a different category than the unsaved.

THE CHASTENING OF THE LORD IS FOR ALL GOD'S CHILDREN

The Bible says, "for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth." The Lord's love for His children is without limit. Love is definitely the motive for the chastening. God does not have to change His mind about His love for His children to chasten them. He is just manifesting how much He really loves them.

My grand parents reared me from two years of age until I was twelve years of age. My grandmother was on the controlling end of the switch. She would weep and tell me how much she loved me as she made me increasingly sorry that I had done a misdeed. I had to become a mature adult before I believed she really loved me when she was spanking me. I said to myself, if you love me all that much, lay down the switch, and let's work this out another way!!! But there was no reasoning with her on this subject. She would have to disagree with her parents. Her dad was watching from Capitol Hill standing somewhere in vicinity of Jesus our one mediator between God and the one Mediator between God and man.

This Hebrews passage is so strong on this subject that it says, "But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards (illigimate), and not sons." This is a way that we can know we are saved. If we are saved we are true Sons of God. If we get away with evil and are never chastened for it, we are not true sons of God.

THE ENDURANCE OF CHASTENING

Hebrews 11:8-11, "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised."

The endurance of chastening means to make a definite effort to learn all the lessons that our Saviour wants us to learn from this experience. When my grandmother whipped me, with each blow she would say, "do (whack) you (whack) understand (whack) what I told you (whack)? I shouted, "Yes!!! I understand completely!!! Yes, this session has lasted long enough!!! I understand thoroughly!!! I'll never need another lesson on this subject!!! I believe some of the kids I see today, need my grandmother around to discipline them a time or two.. You say, "If your grandmother were around today they would put her in jail. Well, they might do that, but if they did, she would clean up the jail!!!

GOD'S TREATMENT OF THOSE WHO RECEIVE CHASTENING

Hebrews 12:9, "Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?"

Note the response that is suggested to chastening. Even when it was our earthly fathers of our flesh. The inspired writer says, "we gave them reverence:" The words "we gave them reverence" is in the imperfect tense. This means that the attitude of reverence became a practice in our lives. Now notice the application. "Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?" The subject here is a matter of life and death!!!

God always shows grace and mercy to those who repent and submit to Him in His chastening.

WHAT THE ABSENCE OF CHASTENING INDICATES

The language of this verse indicates that a person is not truly saved if he is not chastened for wrong. When we get right with the Lord as soon as He convicts us of wrong doing, we avoid chastening. But the stubborn are in for it. They will be chastened until they come around and say, "Lord, you are right. I am wrong. Please forgive me and restore me to fellowship." The absence of chastening indicates that one is not a genuine Christian.

THE GOAL OF CHASTENING

Hebrews 12:10, "For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness."

The Lord Jesus never chastens us just for the fun of it. He does not enjoy seeing us suffer. He did have a purpose in saving us. This reason is stated in the words: "that we might be partakers of His holiness." It is so much easier for the Christian to respond to the Word of God as we read it or hear it preached. But some will never do that. They are so hard headed that they have to go through a time of chastening to get right.

Have you ever been chastened of the Lord? I'm sure most of you have. And most of us responded in the right way. But if you didn't and are under the chastening of the Lord now, do what the Bible says. Accept the chastening a move into the position of blessing.

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White