Turn to Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12, title of
the message, Divine Chastening. I'm going to pick up and read
verse 1. We looked at verse 1 through
4 last week, but let me just read before we get to verse 5. Wherefore, seeing we also are
encompassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us
lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset
us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, And
then he gives him as our example, who for the joy that was set
before him, he endured the cross. That is, he endured the suffering
of God's wrath. He endured the shame. Talking
to a man a few days ago, a religious man, and he got to talking about
the cross, wearing a cross, and how he thought it was helpful
to some people. And I stopped him and I said,
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ is not a piece of wood. It's the sufferings. It's the
sufferings of our Lord. That's what he's talking about.
Yes, he was nailed to a cross, but he didn't endure a tree.
He endured the wrath of God against sin. That's what he endured. The Scripture says for us to
bear the cross. He's not talking about go chop
a tree down, make a cross out of it and put it on your back
and drag it around. He's talking about suffering for Christ's
sake. That's what it has to do with. Not some emblem around
your neck. Spurgeon put it probably as good
as I've ever heard someone put it. He said, if someone took
a knife, and this is not verbatim, but this is what he was saying. He said, if someone took a knife
and murdered my mother or your mother, you would not take that
butcher knife and put it on a chain and hang it around your neck,
would you? is an emblem of suffering and
shame, and our Lord was crucified on it, and I'm not going to wear
that which he was crucified on around my neck. I'm not going
to do that. But the cross of Christ is the
sufferings of Christ. It's his sufferings. And he endured
the cross, he didn't quit, despising the shame, and is set down at
the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that
endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, and
there is no doubt that the Hebrews were going through a lot of trials,
some heavy trials, you can tell by the writings here. For consider him that endured
such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied
and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto
blood striving against sin. Have you forgotten the exhortation
which speaketh unto you as unto children, children of God? That alone is astounding that God would call us that he
would take a multitude of sinners and make them his children. My
son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou
art rebuked Now, if I were to ask anyone
to raise their hand, I'm not asking you to raise your hand.
Do you want to be chastened? Would you like to be chastened?
No one would raise their hand. There's not a person here who
would say, I want to be chastened this morning. I want God to chasten
me. Well, let me put it another way.
Do you want to be educated? Do you want to be trained of
God? Do you want the Lord to educate
you? That's what this word means.
The word chastened means to educate. It means to train. It means to
discipline. It means to correct. It has all
those means in it. Now he presents us here with
a problem in verse five. The first problem is this, and
no doubt they were, some of them maybe, were complaining, you
know, and you know how it is when it gets rough. The rougher
it gets, the more we complain. He said, you have forgotten. You have forgotten the exhortation. Now you can replace that word
with this word. You have forgotten the consolation,
which speaketh unto you as unto children. My son, despise not thou the
chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou are rebuked of him.
Turn over to Proverbs 3. You have forgotten what God says.
You have forgotten what is written in the Word of God. Yeah, whatever
comfort we find, we find in the Word of God. What instructions
we find, we find in the Word of God. In Proverbs chapter 3, look in
verse 11 and 12. My son, he's not writing this
to his neighbors. He's not writing this to the
enemies. He's saying, my son, God is writing this to us. This
is to us. This is to the children. My son,
despise not the chastening of the Lord, neither be weary of
his correction. And we need it a lot. I realize
this. I do realize this. The Lord could
correct me all day long. Pick a day, pick a sin. That
would be me. He could correct me all day long. For whom the Lord loveth, he
corrects. He correcteth. That means continually.
He's continually correcting his children. No matter how old we
get, we still need correction. I don't care if I live to be
Methuselah's age. I still need correction. For whom the Lord loveth. And
here's the consolation. Here's the exhortation, the consolation.
whom the Lord loveth." He corrects. Even as a father
of the son in whom he delights. If God delights in you, if you
are in Christ, He's called you by His grace, He saved you by
His grace, He's given you life. God delights in you. And one
of the very evidences of God's delight and love to you is his
correction of you. I'm telling you, if you love
your children, you correct your children, you educate your children,
you discipline your children. And he's saying, don't forget,
that's the way God treats his children. The way he treats his
children. You've forgotten the word of
exhortation. We must get in tune with the
word of God and not forget it. And the word forget here means
to be utterly oblivious. You have become utterly oblivious
to this truth that whom the Lord loves, he corrects. It puts a different light on
it, doesn't it? It puts a different light on
trials. Every trial has a lesson in it.
Every trial is an education. Every trial has discipline in
it, has a chastening hand of God in every one of them. The
problem is, you forgot whom the Lord loves. He corrects. This
should give us comfort. Our chastening comes from the
hand of our loving Father. It's evidence of His love. If
He left us alone to run with the world, But that's not evidence of love, not at all. Chastening is the
evidence of God's love to his children. How can it be said
that a father or a mother loves their children when they will
not correct them, discipline them, educate them? We must remember that we are
centered by nature, and it is still in us to sin and run with
the wrong crowd. It's still in us to do that.
It's still in us to sin. But God, being a faithful God
and a loving Father, corrects His children. And sometimes He
makes it hurt. Sometimes He makes them cry. Sometimes he does. You know,
I was disciplined growing up. Not all the time I cried, but
sometimes I did. Sometimes they had to make it
hurt to get the message across. And sometimes God makes it hurt.
Job sat down for seven days and never opened his mouth. The chasing
hand of God was so hard, so difficult, that for seven days they sat
down, him and his friends sat down, and they never opened their
mouth. It was so difficult. How blessed it is to have a father
who will correct us. To have a father and mother,
parents, who will correct us. And to have a heavenly father
who corrects us. I used to get, and I can remember
this, I used to get so angry at my father, my earthly father,
because he would not let me go. In certain places and certain
things he would not let me go or do. He would make me so mad. Well, I'm glad he didn't. I'm
glad he didn't. It kept me from probably a lot
of trouble I'd have been in. I want you to look in some scriptures
here. Look over in Deuteronomy chapter 8. Deuteronomy chapter
8. Let's look at a few scriptures
here. In verse 5, Thou shalt also consider in thine
heart that as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God
chasteneth thee. Consider where this comes from.
Consider where this trial is coming from. Look in Job chapter
5. In Job chapter 5 verse 17, Behold, happy is the
man whom God corrects. He correcteth. That man should be happy. Now,
you know, hurting does not bring happiness. I mean, feeling pain
doesn't make me happy, but the end result That does, the end
result. And the happy is the man whom
God corrects, because that means God's his father. He doesn't
correct everybody. He corrects his sons and daughters
with chastening. The others he punishes. There's a difference
in chastening and punishment. Therefore, despise not thou the
chastening of the Almighty. You see how this is written through
the scriptures, and this is what the apostles are saying to the
Hebrews? You've forgotten the word of exhortation. Look in
Psalm 94. Psalm 94, verse 12. Blessed is the man
whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law,
out of thy As many as I love I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent.
But as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten." It's not the parent who buys
a house full of toys and gives it to the kids. It's the one
who disciplines out of love. We're not talking about abuse
here. We're talking about discipline, training, and education. That's
what we're talking about. I want you to see this. We're
in Proverbs 13. Proverbs 13, verse 24. He that spareth his rod, hateth
his son. But he that loves him chastens
him be time. You know what that means? Early. Early. He doesn't turn his head
and act like he didn't see it so he doesn't have to chasten
him. He that spares the rod, the discipline. He hates his son. He loves himself.
He loves himself. But he that loves his son He
chastens him early. Early. Our Father's chastening is out
of love and it is never out of anger or frustration. Never. It's never out of anger. It is
not God losing his temper like we do. It's not out of frustration. It is not punishment. It's chastisement. It's not as a judge. It's as
a father. There is as much difference between the two, father or judge. The father is using the rod out
of love. The judge uses the sword out
of justice. And he's using the rod, not a
sword. And it's out of love. Now, he
says here, seeing is out of love, despise not. You see, we still have this old
human nature in us. We still have this. And we can
get to the point where we can get angry with God. Read the
book of Job. Job was angry. There was times
he got upset. And he couldn't find. He said,
I go forward and he's not there. I go backward and he's not there.
I go to the right. I go to the left. Where is he? He's on the throne. Remember
this. He's always on the throne. Always. He's not out in some part of
the universe doing something. He's always on the throne ruling
and reigning and controlling that chastisement. One thing about the Lord chastening
his children is that it's out of pure, divine love. He controls
the chastening. He controls the pain of it. I can't control the pain. Well,
maybe I can whip a little less or something. Make it a little
lighter. But he controls, to the minute, what we feel and
how we feel. And He controls the outcome.
He controls the outcome. So don't despise, don't get angry
with God for correcting you out of love. Don't do that. God has ordained our afflictions. He controls our effectiveness.
He controls our outcome. And they all have an end. Some
of us just learn a little slower than others. I don't know how long Job's trial
lasted. Someone said about nine months.
I don't know. It wasn't a month. It wasn't
three or four weeks and it was over. He sat there a long time. Months. He dealt with that for
months. It says of Christ, not that he
was disobedient at all. He was never disobedient at all,
but yet learned he obedience by what? The things which he
suffered. He was educated. As God, he knew
all things. As a man, as a boy growing up,
he grew in stature, it says, and wisdom. You can't figure
that out. As God, he knew it all, but yet
he learned. And he learned obedience by the
things which the Heavenly Father put on him. He learned, he's
educated. Someone said this, I've heard
Henry say this, God has one son without sin, no sons without
suffering. No sons. I want you to listen
to what William Cowper wrote. And this man, he has some trouble,
depression, severe depression. God moves in a mysterious way,
his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the
sea and he rides upon the storm. Deep in unfathomable minds of
never failing skill, he treasures up his bright designs and works
his sovereign will. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage
take, the clouds ye so much dread. are big with mercy and shall
break in blessings on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble
sense, but trust Him for His grace. Behind His frowning providence
He hides a smiling face. His purpose will ripen fast,
unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste,
but sweet will be the flower." And that was written by a man
that had some real problems. In love and in faithfulness,
God chastens his children. Chastens them. The old Appalachian
terminology gives them a whipping. Gives them a whipping. Nor faint when thou art rebuked of him.
No one likes to be rebuked, do they? No one likes to be rebuked. It says, don't faint. Don't be
discouraged when God brings a chastening rod upon you, upon me. In reality, we ought to rejoice
because He's dealing with me as a son. As a son, he gives us what we need and
takes away what we don't need. Sometimes it makes us happy and
sometimes it makes us cry. But it's our Father doing what's
best. And it's evidence of sonship. For whom the Lord, let's just
go back here to verse 7, verse 7 and 8. If you endure chastening,
in Hebrews 12, verse 7 and 8, if ye endure chastening, God
dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the father
chastens not? But if ye be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers, all of God's children are partakers.
There is not one child of God That's so good that we don't need chasing. God would be, he wouldn't be
much of a father if he chastened us not. But he says here, if
you be without chastisement, we're of all our partakers, then
are you bastards, you illegitimate. You're not his. You're not His,
and not sons. Have you ever asked yourself,
why is God putting me through this? Why am I going through
this? Well, first of all, because you're
His child. First and foremost, you're His
child. I disciplined my children. I
didn't discipline your children, because your children were not
my children. It's not given to me to discipline
your children. It's given to me to discipline
my children. And God disciplines. He trains. He educates His children. Turn over to 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, here
is why God chastens His children.
Look in verse 32, but when we are judged We are chastened of the Lord,
not punished, chastened of the Lord that we should not be condemned
with the world. That's why he does it. He corrects
us. But now, if he does not correct
us, if he does not chasten us, you're not his son. You're not
his. He says in verse 9, furthermore,
we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, they disciplined
us as they ought, and we gave them reverence, respect. We gave them respect, we gave
them love. Well, how much more You know, my earthly father,
he's still alive. I mean, I have great respect
for him, and he went with me. He disciplined. He and Mom, I
mean, I'm telling you what, they disciplined us. You could have
took all seven of us children anywhere, I mean anywhere, and
we would have not embarrassed Mom and Dad. They had that much
discipline. I mean, we had that much discipline
about us. There was that much discipline in the home. There
was no fussing, fighting in the home when they were around. Of
course, when they were not around, we took advantage of it, but
when they were around, you didn't. And to this day, I have great
respect and love for them. How much more my Heavenly Father?
How much more Him? They did it for a time. I only
lived in their house for a little while. This is for eternity. Shall we
not much more rather be in subjection to the Father of Spirits and
live? And you can read it like this. Shall we not much rather be in
subjection to the Father of Spirits and be happy? That He's corrected us? He's chastened us? For they verily for a few days
chastened us after their own pleasure. They've chastened us as they
saw fit. Most of the time it was out of a fit. Got angry and
just had enough of it. Said, I've had enough. God doesn't discipline that way. But they did it after their pleasure
as they saw fit. And you know that all discipline that we do
is never perfect. I'm sure I disciplined my boys
a few times I probably shouldn't have. Maybe over-disciplined them a
few times I shouldn't have. And a few times I should have
disciplined them more than I did. But that's never so with God.
His is absolutely perfect. But He, that is God, chastened
us for our prophet, our eternal prophet, that we might be partakers of
His holiness. Scripture says without holiness
no man shall see the Lord. Scripture teaches us that we
are made partakers of the divine nature. And he does this because we're
his children, because he loves his children, he disciplines
his children, and he keeps separating us from the world. Oh, we would
run with it. When Adam was perfect, he failed.
But he didn't even have a sinful nature, and he failed. He was innocent. God made him
innocent, upright. He wasn't deceived. Eve was deceived. Adam was not deceived. He knew
exactly what he was doing. But God's doing this, that we
may be partakers of His holiness, that we may have fellowship and
communion with Him, that we may be separated from this world.
He keeps us off the broad road by chastisement. We'd drive on
it. We'd just take the first exit
and get right on it. But he doesn't allow that to happen. He chastens
his children and keeps them in line. Now, no chastening for the present
seems to be joyous. No one ever enjoyed a whipping
or it wasn't a whipping. No one enjoys a trial or it's
not a trial. The very fact that it's called a trial means it
hurts. It's not a whipping. Only one
time in my life, I remember Mom giving me a whipping and both
of us started laughing. It wasn't a whipping. I was probably about
12 or 13. I was getting older. But she
started whipping me and it didn't hurt. I started laughing and
she started laughing. And that was the last time that
happened. The last time she ever tried to give me one. That wasn't a
whipping. I don't know what you'd call
it. But no chastening for the present
seems to be joyous. Not at that time. Not when it's
going on. It's grievous. Nevertheless, never forget this. Afterward. You see, it's not
during it that's what it's going to yield. It's the fruit that's
going to yield. You see, like a grain of corn
has to fall to the ground and die before you can have a crop. And for us to really be trained
up, be conformed to the image of Christ, you sing a song, Lord,
I want to be a Christian in my heart. Lord, I want to be like
Jesus in my heart. Do you? And when trials come along and
chasing, don't complain about it. Murmur against God for his wise
providence. There is nothing wrong, though,
with asking, I believe, asking the Lord the reason for the chastening
that you might forsake what brought it on. Something always brings it on,
believe me. He never chastens us just to be chastening us.
There's something there. Nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth
the peaceable fruit of righteousness. We know what that peaceable fruit
is, love, joy, peace, longsuffering. How do you get that way? through
the education, discipline, training of chasing. Unto them which are exercised, exercise thereby. I don't think that there could
probably be anything better than to grow older in life in Christ,
being conformed to the image of Christ. You can sit quietly
on the porch, content with what the Lord has given you, rejoicing
in the Lord while the world goes clambering by. You say, I'm not
going down that road. I'm not going down. I know what's
at the end of that road. The world cries out, come with
us. You can just say, I think I'll
stay here. I think I'll just stay right here. Now listen, that comes through
discipline, that comes through education, that comes through
training, which all falls under the word chastening. God sends
his children chastening. He educates, he trains, he guides,
he directs. He has children, and I'm thankful
he does.