Celebrate Chastisement!

Title: Celebrate Chastisement!

Title: Celebrate Chastisement!

Text:

Introduction:

5484 Looking At The Eye

The expressive power of the human eye is so great that it determines, in a manner, the expression of the whole countenance. It is almost impossible to disguise it. It is said that gamblers rely more upon the study of the eye, to discover the state of their opponents’ game, than upon any other means. Even animals are susceptible of its power. The dog watches the eye of his master, and discovers from it, before a word is spoken, whether he is to expect a caress or apprehend chastisement. It is said that the lion cannot attack a man so long as the man looks him steadily in the eyes.

—Selected

Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (p. 1244). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.

How do you know if difficulty you suffer is God disciplining your for sin in your life or just God trying to test you for the growth of your patience?

What is chastisement?

the term translated [chastisement] “discipline” (paideia) occurs in the NT only at and ...In short, with reference to their difficulties, they are to discern the Lord’s hand lovingly training them in right character. Croy (1998: 217) demonstrates that the use of paideia in 12: 4– 13, rather than punitive, is a nonpunitive, educational notion that has precedent in both Jewish and Greco-Roman writings and is found especially in the later Stoics.

Why should this topic matter to Christians?

Opening question, “How do you know if the difficulty in your life is God testing your or God correcting your because of sin?”

“How do you know if the difficulty in your life is God testing your or God correcting your because of sin?”

What are current beliefs about this topic?

* I need to live my Christian life in such a way that God doesn't have to chastise me - feelings of fear; tend to see bad things that happen as God getting them for their sin.

* Opposite idea: God has already punished Jesus, so he won't do anything to me for sin.

Proposition: Have you made light of the chastisement of the Lord?

(1) Chastisement requires that we have a proper perspective (v. 4 - 6)

(a) a proper contrast is necessary: consider Christ! (v. 4)

(b) a proper consideration is necessary: we are forgetful! (v. 5)

- of scripture

- of encouragement

Couple of important points of consideration:

- our presuppositions with which we interpret this passage

- how the scripture combines suffering/chastisement

- how v. 6 clearly shows that all who are received by God are chastised

*making light of chastisement means that we would wrongly interpret this passage based on our perspective today

*making light of chastisement would mean that we'd overlook the encouragement of scripture, in favor of seeing this through our understanding of discipline.

Buckle Up Warning

Topics: Behavior; Change; Consequences; Fear; Illumination; Knowledge; Perspective; Repentance; Spiritual Formation; Spiritual Growth; Warnings; Wisdom

References: ; ; ;

My brother-in-law would never wear a seat belt in the car. I berated him for it. Then one day he picked me up at the airport, and he had on his seat belt and shoulder harness. I asked, “What happened? What changed you?”

“I went to visit a friend of mine in the hospital who was in a car accident and went through the windshield,” my brother-in-law said. “He had two or three hundred stitches in his face. I said to myself, ‘I’d better wear my seat belt.’ ”

“Did you not know that if you didn’t wear your seat belt you would go through the windshield if you had an accident?” I asked.

“Of course I knew it,” he said. “When I went to the hospital to see my friend, I got no new information, but the information I had became new. The information got real to my heart and finally sank down and affected the way I live.”

—Tim Keller, “Unintentional Preaching Models,” Preaching to the Heart, Ockenga Institute of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

Larson, C. B., & Ten Elshof, P. (2008). 1001 illustrations that connect (p. 82). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

(2) Chastisement reflects paternal relationship with God (v. 7 - 8)

(a) God dealing with man (ongoing relationship) (v. 7)

(b) God deals with all in this manner (v. 8)

Couple of important considerations:

- It is humbling to think that he continues to work

- It is not something to walk fearfully to avoid, but to welcome it

*making light of chastisement would mean that we would work to avoid it, as if it were something bad.

(3) Chastisement results in a holy profit (v. 9 - 11)

(a) there is a much higher Person at work (v. 9)

(b) there is a much higher profit (v. 10 - 11)

Important points of consideration:

- there is a comparison between the thoughts of our earthly fathers and God.

- the work of God is organic (fruit & yieldeth)

- "seemeth" implies a consideration of hearth, note also: "joyous" and "grievous" showing the internal result

- it is something we are "exercised" by

*making light of the Lord's chastisement means that we begin by looking @ behaviors

*making light of the Lord's chastisement would incorporate subjective assessments of what is the Holy Spirit. consider some clear means of discipline: (a) scripture, (b) church, (c) Holy Spirit (but do not ascribe things to him that are not clearly ascribed in the scriptures)

Conclusion:

Consider Christ - ,

Alternative response:

Celebrate chastisement! Why?

- It is made possible through the suffering of Christ

- It confirms our sonship

- It continues the work of God in us

Thus, we do not walk around skeptically, hoping to never disappoint God. Rather, we call for the discipline/chastisement of the Lord because of what is does for our soul and for our lives.

Celebration of Discipline:

This theme, of course, is found elsewhere in the NT. Paul told the believers at Thessalonica that their sufferings had a dual effect: condemning their persecutors and showing those persecuted to be worthy of the kingdom of God (). Suffering, therefore, can be celebrated because it has a positive effect on the believer’s character and relationship with God (; ; ).Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (p. 987). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (p. 987). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.