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What We Believe and Why
Written by Dr. Lester Hutson

Copyright - Lester Hutson - 1986
This material is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced without the express written permission of Dr. Lester Hutson.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

UNDER DISCIPLINE

The title of this message is "Under Discipline". The text is Deut. 8:5, "Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee." Lots of people wonder if when they get out of line with God, will he really take disciplinary action toward them for it? The answer is a clear yes.

I. God does discipline His own children:

A. The Scriptures often speak of the disciplinary nature of God our Father:

1. This text, Deut. 8:5, says the Lord chastens us, just as a loving father would chasten his son:

a. It should be noted that the Lord chastens His sons. Though God may let others alone for a time in their sins, He will correct sins in His own children.

b. If you have never been born again, you can go on sinning and appear to escape punishment because for you punishment is reserved in hell fire.

c. But, if you are God's dear child, when you sin, God's discipline will fall on you,

d. And, if you can go on in sin without the discipline of God failing upon you,you are not a son of God. The Bible says: Heb. 12:8, "But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons."

2. God says: "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten." Rev. 3:19.

3. Heb. 12:6-7 declares: "For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth." "If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not."

B. According to Strong's Greek Dictionary of the New Testament, chastening means to discipline, teach, train, or nurture:

1. So, the discipline or chastening of the Lord is not just retalitory because God is mad at us. It is a training or corrective measure.

2. Discipline is designed to drive away the evil from us and to encourage and strengthen the good.

3. Paul writes: "when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world." I Cor. 11:32.

4. So, don't feel ill will toward God when His disciplinary hand falls upon you for in reality, "Blessed is the man whom Thou chasteneth, 0 Lord." Ps. 94:12.

5. Therefore, we should do as Job 5:17, Heb. 5:12; and Prov. 3:11-12 all teach. Listen to Prov. 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 delighteth. "

II. Now the question arises, "Why does God bring disciplinary action upon one of His children?"

A. As I have just explained, discipline is to correct something that is wrong in some child of God's life. So, you see that the thing which initiated the disciplinary action in the first place was the evil in that child's life:

1. God literally hates sin (Ps. 119:104), and when you, one of God's children, let sin creep into your life, you need not think God is going to let it stay there and let you go undisciplined.

2. When you tolerate and embrace sin in your life, you are rebelling against God by doing the devil's business, which is directly opposed to God's program:

a. If you told your son one thing, but he did just opposite of that, doubtless you'd recognize it as rebellion.

b. The Bible says God views rebellion "as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." I Sam. 15:23.

3. It is no wonder then that Isa. 59:2 says, "your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you. . . "

4. For sin, David said, "The Lord hath chastened me sore." Ps. 118:18.

5 . Let me be a little more specific: Nearly everybody recognizes that the obvious sins will bring the discipline of God upon His children:

a. Lying, murder, drunkenness, adultery, fornication, stealing, etc.

b. Men like Noah (Gen. 9:20-25), Abraham (Gen. 12:10-20), and David (II Sam. 11) experienced this.

6. But, some of the more subtle, innocent-looking sins can ruin your fellowship with God and bring His discipline upon you just as readily as the other sins can:

a. Sins like hatred, strifes, envyings, lust, a proud look, a talebearer, and sowing discard are an abomination unto God. (Prov. 6:16-19).

b. The Bible will bear out that when a Christian begins to neglect church and prayer and Bible study, and he begins to grow self-righteous and legalistic . . . when the cares of the world come to mean more and the things of God less, that person is asking for the discipline of God upon his life.

III. As long as that sin prevails or goes unconfessed, the disobedient child lives under discipline; or to say it another way, in a continuous state of chastening:

A. Sins (even those of Christians) must be paid for, and Christians pay most for theirs while they live on this earth:

1. The Bible says, "Be not deceived, God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption." Gal. 6:7-8.

2. It is true that some will not be properly settled until the judgment seat of Christ (II Cor. 5:10), where many "shall sufffer loss," I Cor. 3:15, but much is paid for here:

a. A man can commit sins in his youth for which he'll bear a reproach all the rest of his life. Job 20:11.

b. A child of God can especially realize how true this is when he begins to daily feel the lash of God upon his back.

B. Note well that this chastening is not simply a short act which occurs and is quickly all over. The chastening or discipline continues as long as the rebellious condition continues:

1. The Bible says in I John 1:6, "If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth."

2. As long as the iniquity continues, you will remain out of fellowship. (Ps. 66:18).

C. it is only when a child of God repents of his sins and confesses them to God that the discipline of God is lifted:

1. I John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." And, John the Baptist warns against false, empty confession without true repentance. (Mt. 3:8).

2. Thus, Prov. 28:13 reads, "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have m ercy. "

IV. Now, let me briefly show you what happens to a man under the discipline of God:

A. The first thing that happens is that a man's spiritual state begins a steady decline:

1. True, abiding joy and happiness seem to vanish away:

a. True joy and happiness in life comes in knowing and doing what you know is right before God. (John 13:17).

b. But, like David in Ps. 51:3, the man, who knows right and doesn't do it, is condemned by his own guilty conscience. James 4:17.

2. A man or woman under discipline generally grows uneasy and uncomfortable around the church or other Christians who are serving God.

3. Most of the time they begin to run with other disgruntled backslidders and become picky and critical of anybody who is faithfully serving God. (They seem to take a certain comfort in lowering others to their level. It seems to soothe the conscience.) Because of their evil, they begin to love darkness and resent light. Jn.3:19.

4. With men under discipline, almost always personal misery, disgust, frustration, restlessness, and bitterness set in.

5. If you are honest with yourselves, some of you readers will have to admit that your problem is that you are under discipline.

B. But, not only does the spirit of one under discipline grow tormented, God sometimes deals with a man's body and life, too:

1. Christian, be ye warned, "It is a fearful thincg to fall into the hands of the living God. " Heb. 10:31.

2. Remember that David under discipline said, "The Lord hath chastened me sore." Ps. 118:18. Mister, when you live so as to bring God's hand upon you, you are asking for trouble untold.

3. When God decides to fight, the Bible asks, "who shall be able to stand?" Rev. 6:17, for God doesn't fight with conventional means and there is no defense against Him.

4. God sometimes uses sickness and death (I Cor. 11:24-30), loss of money, loss of children, great calamities, loss of job.

5. With Jonah it was a storm and 3 days in a fish's belly. (Jonah 1-2),

6. David saw his own son rape his own daughler (II Sam. 13:14), another son publically rape David's wife (the son's step-mother) (II Sam. 16:22), and at least one son die (II Sam. 18:33).

7. When I returned from a Mexico trip, out ran my kids. How I pray God will never have to touch them to touch me.

8. But, He can: through your kids; giving you a dread disease; taking all you own. Somewhere you have a weak spot, and God knows exactly where it is.

9. Before you carry through the evil you have planned and allow yourself to get too far under God's discipline, you'd better think about what it means to be "Under Discipline."

 

"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"