The Awesome Promise of CHASTISEMENT

Shat  terd

Men 

The hidden half of domestic violence

How to have eternal life

The Awesome Promise of CHASTISEMENT

CHASTISEMENT...What is it?

1) chastise. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
...See synonyms at punish. 2. To criticize severely; rebuke.

The promise of chastisement is really an awesome one. Lets look at a few facts regarding this promise. We will be approaching this from a secular view, and a Biblical view. That is we will be comparing Gods best object lesson, our family with Spiritual truth.

Let's imagine two children playing together. One is your child, the other someone down the street. You are watching them, and they both pick up rocks and deliberately break windows. YOUR windows. Do you punish both of them? More then likely, you will only chasten ONE of them....YOUR child. Why? The other does not belong to you. You have no authority to do so. Although God has created each person, many do not belong to Him as they have not accepted His offer to adopt them into HIS family.

Who is chastened?

Hebrews 12:6   For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Proverbs 3
11   My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:
12   For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

So we do see that God has promised to chasten HIS people. Oh, some will say all humans are God's people...but are they? Jesus told some of those he talked to that their father was satan:

John 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

I think that when we finish with this message, we will see the blessing in being a child of God to be promised that we will be chastened.

We as Christians will often do things that are wrong. At times we will willfully disobey what we know God wants us to do, or not do. This will in turn break our fellowship with God. When this happens, we need only confess our sin, our wrong doing to be forgiven and restored to full fellowship. (1 John 1:9)

However, often when we do not do it, even refuse to do it, we will be chastened.

Many of us have lived in sin. Some after we accepted Christ. Oh we start slowly. We may hang around with the wrong crowd. Tell a joke or two we know we should not tell. Them we find ourselves looking for them. We check out a web site and when we see it is not a good one, we read even further to see what it is about, or we click to the next page to see if the next is as bad as this one. Soon we are book marking then and even doing web searches to find more.

Oh we will start being chastened immediately. We will feel guilty and this is real guilt, not false guilt. Still we refuse to accept the chastening of the Lord.

What then? What is the next step in this progression? Oh many think we will lost salvation. We will no longer be a child of God. Well, I can find NO PLACE in the Word of God that tells us we can be UN adopted. I do find verses like this:

1 Corinthians 11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

We will not be condemned with the world when we belong to Him.

Occasionally we will have children that will not accept our chastiment. At times they may even go on to commit actual crimes and tough love results in calling the authorities, the police to take action. THIS has to be hard on a loving parent. Yet we see God doing this also.

1 Corinthians 5
1   It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.
2   And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.
3   For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,
4   In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
5   To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

You see, this person would not accept the chastiment and would not stop doing the wrong. God in turn turned this person over to satan to destroy the BODY....NOT the SOUL. (look at verse 5)

Some of the ways this can be done is by sickness, various problems such as financial, legal, accidents to name a few BUT PLEASE LISTEN CAREFULLY. We can NOT assume anyone going through any of these things are being chastened by God. ALL of these things can be and are trials we all face in serving the LORD. Often the only person that will know it is chastisement will be that person. That brings us to the next question. When we are being chastened, do we know it is chastisement?

Well, if your child did wrong, and you needed to punish them, would you tell them why they are being punished? Of course you would. Lets look at the purpose of chastisement:

Hebrews 12:11

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.

Ahh we find chastisement brings joy and peace. Just as when we punish our children to bring more happiness since we know their wrong doing will bring pain and grief if not stopped, God does the same for US.

When we still will not listen to God, we still will not repent and use 1 John 1:9, far more serious things can happen.

Lets imagine our kids once again. We tell them they can go out to play at 6: PM and they can stay out until 9 PM. Suppose we look out the window at 6:15 and see our child throwing a rock at another, just to be mean. We tell them that not to do that. At 6:30, they kick another kid without provocation. We call them over and chasten them some more. At 6:45 the do something else which we can not tolerate. At this time we may well say "COME HOME NOW!"  We told them they could stay out til 9...but because of their actions we are calling them home early.

You know my friend, God can and does the same thing. HE can call a Christian home early.

1 Corinthians 11:30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

Again this does NOT mean that because a Christian dies young that it is chastiment. Most of the time it is NOT. It will rain on the just as well as the unjust. Matthew 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Often one may be taken home early to bring Glory to God. We most often can not see that at the time, but God does know what is best for us.

Once again however, we see that chastiment is an awesome promise from God, for HE will correct HIS kids...not throw them out of the family. We do cover this more here:
Eternal Life! Eternal Or Temporary?
http://www.shatterdmen.com/eternal_life.htm

We also learn a lot about chastiment from the shepherd. The 23rd Palms tells us about the love a shepherd has for his sheep. Sheep are not smart animals. Often, just like us they will wander away from the flock. The first few times, the shepherd will gently bring it back. If it keeps getting itself into danger, the shepherd may dislocate a leg and then carry that lamb until it mends. Most often, that lamb will not stray again.

Hebrews 12
11    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.
12   Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
13   And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

What does God use to Chasten us?

Most often the Word of God:
2 Timothy 3
16    All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17   That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

In verse 16 we do see it is use for correction or chastisement, but what is reproof?

Correction is when we use Scripture to show another the truth of what God says.

Reproof is when the Lord uses it to reveal to US when we are run. It is the conviction of the Holy Spirit. We need to be very careful in rejecting that reproof for we can harden our heart so the extent that we will not be able to hear HIS Voice. Remember after all, God seldom shouts to us...HE whispers! I do not know about you my friend, but I want to hear HIS Voice!
If He has been trying to reach you my friend, to reproof you remember Revelation 3:19 "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent."

We had to ask God to save us. He still allows free choice AFTER salvation. We can do the things that please HIM. Or we can reject His will and reproof. This is what could happen if we do so:

Proverbs 1
24   Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
25   But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
26   I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
27   When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
28   Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
29   For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
30   They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
31   Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
32   For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
33   But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

Jeremiah 5
3   O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return


Lets not let this be said of us: "She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God." Zephaniah 3:2

The AWESOME PROMISE OF CHASTISEMENT! My friend, this promise is only give to God's children. If you have not trusted Jesus Christ for salvation, there is a much worse fate for you. AHHH the good news...You can be HIS CHILD in a few moments. You can be adopted into His family instantly and at that moment on YOU will be covered by this awesome promise. PLEASE read this if YOU do not know for sure that YOU have eternal life.

How To Have Eternal Life
http://www.shatterdmen.com/first_step.htm

If you are reading this and there is a stirring deep within, JESUS is waiting ...waiting for YOU. Take ONE step toward Him my friend, HE will come all the rest of the way for YOU.

 Printer friendly
(click "BACK" button to return to this page)

(please click above to vote for this site)

JUNE is Domestic Violence Against Men Awareness Month