GOD LOVES US ENOUGH TO CHASTEN US
Posted by: preacher30673 <preacher30673@...>
God Loves Us Enough to Chasten Us
Proverbs 3:11-12
The truth of our text is emphasized in five different books of the Bible. In addition to our text, it is also found in...
•Job 5:17 — "Happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty."
•Psalm 94:12 — "Blessed is the man whom Thou chastenest, O Lord..."
•Revelation 3:19—"As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten."
•Hebrews 12:5-11
The main message of these verses is: God loves us enough to temporarily hurt us in order to help us.
The willingness to administer pain to prevent greater pain in the future is a mark of true love!
I. The ASSURANCE in chastening (12)
There is assurance in chastening. A lack of God's chastening should be cause for alarm.
A. Chastening is an expression of love.
"For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth..."
Proverbs 13:24 reads, "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes."
When you go through difficult times in your life, it's easy to believe the lie that God does not love you. That's what Satan would desire you to think. Satan will whisper, "If God really loved you, you wouldn't have to go through this." Don't believe Him for a moment. He's the father of lies!
God disciplines His children; He doesn't disown them.
Revelation 3:19 — "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten."
Love regulates everything God does. It was God's love that sent Jesus to redeemed us. And it is God's love that sends discipline to correct us.
"Leniency is not love."
B. Chastening is an evidence of life.
God only disciplines His own children, but every child of His does receive discipline when it's needed.
Chastening is experienced by ALL the true children of God. ALL – and therefore if we belong to the Lord this is something we must expect
If we never experience love's discipline, then God is not our Father, and we are not His children at all!
God's chastening is a FAMILY MATTER. He only chastens His children.
One of the greatest assurances believers can have of their salvation is God's chastening.
I. The ASSURANCE in chastening (12)
II. The Aim of chastening (12)
There is a purpose of chastening.
A. It Promotes Respect
"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?" Hebrews 12:9.
Discipline develops respect.
Chastening is not incidental; it is essential. It is not probable; it is inevitable. Chastening is not a rod of wrath against sinners; it is rod of love for children.
B It Produces Righteousness
"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. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby," Hebrews 12:9.
The obvious lesson from human chastening lies in its equally obvious limitations. With all the best intentions in the world, parents make mistakes. They under discipline, over discipline, fail to discipline at all, or discipline from wrong motives, in the wrong way, and at the wrong time. God makes no such mistakes. He always chastens for our good and to draw us closer to Himself.
His goal is not to make us happy, but to make us holy.
"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains."
I. The ASSURANCE in chastening (12)
II. The Aim of chastening (12)
III. The ATTITUDES TOWARD chastening (11)
A. Attitude of DESPISING
The word "despise" means "to think lightly of" or "to make light of."
"Despise" carries with it the thought of regard of little value, to look down on, and to have contempt for.
We often do despise the chastening of the Lord; we find ourselves entertaining wrong thoughts about Him, and we begin to question His love and His wisdom. Let us beware of treating the chastening of the Lord lightly, or of failing to learn the lesson He is trying to teach us by permitting the chastening.
There is a real danger in just dismissing God's chastisement as nothing of real significance..of seeing the chastening as something that just happened.
• "It happens all the time to everybody. You have to take the good with the bad."
Micah 6:9 - The LORD'S voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.
B. Attitude of DISCOURAGEMENT ("neither be weary of his correction").
Christians often grow weary of God's corrective measures.
When a person becomes discouraged as the result of God's discipline, he or she opens themselves up to the suggestions that cast doubt on God's love and His sense of justice.
We should not be discouraged because of the adversity brought on by God's discipline. Rather, we should be by faith "see" past the present pain of chastening to the loving hand of our Father.
Two attitudes to chastening...despising or becoming wearing of.
The first has to do with my seeing the hand of God in the triaL ; the latter has to do with my seeing the heart of God in the trial. Solomon makes clear that both are involved.
Conclusion
Chastening is a test of our heart and a challenge to our faith—our faith in God's wisdom, His faithfulness, and His love.
A preacher once asked a despondent friend, "Why is that cow looking over the wall?"
And the answer came back, "Because she cannot look through it."
"Well, friend, look over those things that distress you, and see the Father's loving smile. Look above the dark clouds of your circumstances, and see the sunshine of God's never changing love."
Let us resolve to endure whatever chastening God sends because it is God's way of saying, "You are Mine, and I love you."
IN HIS ETERNAL GRIP,
Pastor Jimmy Chapman
Victory Baptist Church
706-678-1855
--
To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: pastormail-unsubscribe@welovegod.org