Believing God's holy word is one thing that has kept people in a right relationship with God for thousands of years. To refuse and rebel brings the wrath of God. As we begin, and as we progress, there are times when we need correction and CHASTISEMENT. God said in His word that Christians are treated as SONS in this respect.
Psalm 50
16 ¶ But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?
17 Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee.
Proverbs 15
32 ¶ He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.
Do not despise the instruction of the LORD, or refuse His word. What God has written in His word is required reading, and we must understand all He lays before us. Until a person is made right with God, and is adopted into His family as a joint heir with Christ, that person is under the law of God. Every requirement is right and good. As a person sees that, and how OPPOSITE their own heart is from what God wants, they are shown how they are at enmity with God, and with His law.16 ¶ But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?
17 Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee.
Proverbs 15
32 ¶ He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.
Deuteronomy 21
18 ¶ If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:
19 Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;
20 And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.
21 And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
It is vital we understand the sovereignty of God, and the severity of His Law. People who take this lightly will probably, also, shrug at any requirement or commandment as being too severe. The sovereign God demands obedience. We must learn, or we are refusing instruction. Each lesson we endure must be passed, or we will repeat it. Then, the next time, we will find that the lesson is harder to endure than previously. Soon, we will be EAGER to pass what lesson God sets before us to learn, and so we progress from there.18 ¶ If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:
19 Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;
20 And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.
21 And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
One of the signs of a flesh−pleaser or sensualist is when he will believe or like no doctrine but libertinism, and hateth mortification as too strict preciseness.
Richard Baxter (1615−1691)
If the scriptures say to stone the INCORRIGIBLE CHILD with stones, how can we imagine that meant anything other than throwing rocks? What does "BEAT HIM" and "BEATEST HIM" mean? The law is very severe, and man scoffs at it. In the times of ancient Israel, this was required. The children learned to behave, and were not generally interested in testing the resolve of the law.Richard Baxter (1615−1691)
Proverbs 23
13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
If we love our children, we will do what is necessary to keep them from Hell. Being well behaved is important, but the child must be brought up to know and understand the instruction of the LORD. Otherwise, how would we have any influence that might deliver the child from Hell? If we love the LORD, we will endure what is necessary to be right in His sight, also.13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
Hebrews 12
5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
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?
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.
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.
The chastening of the LORD sometimes includes scourging. This is a severe beating. The marks of this beating will remain with you all your life. There are many people who like to consider themselves Christians who refuse to submit to God, and are running the other way whenever the very thought of God disciplining them is put forth. (Heb.12:8) They either do not understand the severity of the sovereign God, or they simply defy His law and His commandments.5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
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?
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.
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.
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