THE SCHOOL OF CHASTISEMENT

HEBREWS 12:5-11

A. There are different ways in which people handle chastisement or discipline from
the Lord. 

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:

i) Some despise it. They overlook it and refuse to make necessary changes in their
lives. They reject the lesson it was designed to teach. They harden themselves and
just go through it. 

Go before God and have some good heart searching. If there is sin get it out of your
life. 

ii) Some faint under it. They become despondent and despair. They loose heart and
hope. They give up their faith...walk away from God. 

When you loose hope and faint you will neither ‘repent nor pray nor reform" but be
overwhelmed with a sense of resignation or defeat. 


B. NOW LET US SEE THE GOALS OF CHASTISEMENT 

1. Godly Fear: 

When you have a nuclear bomb in your house or even a gun, you and the members of
your household must observe some rules. Our God is a consuming fire. 

God wants some consequence to come to bear, so that we'll know you can't do that and
prosper.

i) 1 Corinthians 11:29. Some died, some were sick etc

1 Corinthians 11:29-30
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to
himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly
among you, and many sleep.

Sometimes words alone don't have the same impact. They must be backed up with
consequences. 

ii) David and Bathsheba.

2 Samuel 12:10-14
Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast
despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith
the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I
will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he
shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly:but I
will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. And David said unto
Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. 

God could have stopped there. But your actions actions may affect others. Your
discipline becomes an object lesson, a warning and a restoration of the fear of God
in others. Ananias and Sapphire  Acts 5:11 "And great fear came upon all the church,
and upon as many as heard these things." 

"And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not
die. Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of
the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die."

2. Life

Hebrews 12:9
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?


i) That you may live, a full life
meaningful life, 
a blessed life.
the abundant life. 

"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: 
19Then 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; 
20And 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. 
21And 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." Deuteronomy
21:18-21

"1. Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. 
2Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) 
3That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth." Ephesians 6:1

ii) Future assignment or high calling upon your life.

There are things others may appear to get way with...but not you. 

11Now 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.

How full of meaning is the "afterward." 

When we fall, receive correction and repent, it could the beginning of a powerful
calling upon your life. 

To God be the Glory https://www.facebook.com/MakerereFullGospelChurch