October 1931
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
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God to reveal clearly: “Whom the Lord loveth he chas- teneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth” (Heb. 12:6). The text, with its c o n t e x t (Heb. 12:3-15), is the central Scripture bearing on the fact of divine discipline. It will be observed that chastisement and scourging that come from the hand of God are not one and the same experience, though each is administered in infinite love, and though each is the unavoidable expe rience of every child of God. No son is without chastise ment, and He “scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” It would seem probable that scourging is the conquer ing of the human will, and that, unlike chastisement, it may be required but once; for when the will is surren dered, the desired end is reached. No anarchy or con flicting purpose can be tolerated in the Father’s family and household. As in every earthly home, there is no proper de velopment of the child, no guidance into right paths, no peace, nor any true happiness where disobedience is tol erated. No greater expression of love can be manifested by the parent toward a child than the undeviating, con sistent, and insistent requirement of obedience. But the chastisement of which all Christians are con tinually partakers is more than correction for wrongdo ing; it reaches out to the larger fields of Christian growth and guidance. There are at least three aspects of chas tisement indicated in the Scripture: 1. Chastisement which is unto the correction of un holiness. The child of God is chastened of the Father that he may be partaker of His holiness, and though such chas tisement is grievous for the present, afterward it yield- eth the peaceable fruits of righteousness to those who are exercised thereby. In 1 Corinthians 5 :5, the apostle Paul writes that he had delivered “one unto Satan for the de struction of the flesh, that the spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” ; and in 11:30, a warning is re corded that believers who are unworthy may experience
physical weakness, or sickness, or even sleep (which latter term, no doubt, is a reference to the Christian’s death). Again, in 11:31, 32, the method by which chastisement may be avoided is set forth: “For if we would judge our selves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be con demned with the world.” Self-judgment, which is the con fession to God of sin, will avoid His correction. David testifies that, when he kept silence (as to his sin), his bones waxed old through nis roaring all the day long, the hand of Jehovah was heavy upon him, and his moisture was turned to the drought of summer (Psa. 32:3-5). The Scriptures abound with incidents wherein the chas tening hand of God is seen in the experience of His peo ple, because of their sins. This aspect of chastisement has its extreme penalty which falls upon those who persist in unspiritual ways. In John 15 :2, it is stated that the branch in Christ which does not bear ffuit is taken up out of its place. Probably, like the “sleep” (1 Cor. 11:30) and the “sin unto death” which a brother may commit (1 John 5 :16), the unfruit ful branch is taken home to heaven. Too often, the abiding life, as set forth by John in his gospel, is thought to be synonymous with a continuing in the saved state. But salvation and abiding are not identi cal. To abide in Christ is the privilege of the one who is saved; yet many saved ones are not so abiding. To abide in Christ is to continue in such vital fellowship with Him that His vitality produces fruit in the believer’s life. In fact, the results of abiding are threefold—prayer effec tual (John 15:7), joy celestial (John 15:11), and fruit perpetual (John 15:16). The prayer effectual represents the believer’s relation to God; the joy celestial represents his relation to himself; and the fruit perpetual represents his relation to others. An unfruitful branch in Christ may be taken up directly into glory, since no believer goes to [Continued on page 447]
EVANGELICAL THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE (DALLAS, TEX.), OF WHICH DR. CHAFER IS THE PRESIDENT.
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