God Chastens His Beloved
Below is the Message Audio followed by Typed Notes.
Purpose of God’s Chastening is Correction of those He loves: Biblical chastening is to direct a person or a people back to righteousness and holiness, rather than a final punishment. God corrects and guides His people like a good father trains his children to keep them from harm.
There are many verses that refer to God Chastens His Beloved.
God chastened Adam and Eve after they disobeyed Him. Genesis 3:6,22&23
“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat… And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.”
God chasened His chosen people, the Children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob:
Deuteronomy 8:5-6 “Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee. Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.”
Psalm 78:40-42 “How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert! Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy.” After God delivered the poeple of Israel from slavery in Egypt, as they traveled in the desert of Sinai, they rebelled against God and made an idol to worship.
Psalm 119:73-75 “Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments. They that fear thee will be glad when they see me; because I have hoped in thy word. I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.”
Proverbs 3:11-12 “My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delights.”
Because of sin, disobedience and idol worship, God chastened the Northern Kingdom of Israel with the Assyrian Captivity, and later the Babylonian captivity of the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
Isaiah 6:8-10 “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.”
Jeremiah 5:23-25 “But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.”
Jeremiah 29:1 “Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon”
While in captivity, they sought after God by obeying His instructions,and God restored them to the Holy Land.
Jeremiah 29:13-14 “And ye shall seek me and find me when ye shall seek me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.”
New Testament references to God’s chasteneing:
Hebrews 12:5-7 “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: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chasening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not.”
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.”
God’s purpose in chastening is to guide His followers who drifted away from God to turn back to righteous living.
Revelation 3:19: "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent." Jesus speaks these words to the church in Laodicea which had lost it’s love, devotion and ministry for Christ. The rebuke of the church comes from God’s affection and calls for a change of heart.