SECOND SERIES.

IX.

Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth

HEB. xii. 5-11.-"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 chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 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? 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. Now, no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, bnt grievous; nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby."

THE apostle here, in seeking to comfort the Christians of his day, amidst their trials and dis

tresses, says that they had forgotten this exhortation, which speaketh unto them as unto children. It was an exhortation, as they well knew, contained in their Scriptures; it was as old as the days of King Solomon, by whom it was spoken. The apostle speaks of it as something with which they were quite familiar, and yet they were forgetting it. And it is a well-known fact, that we are rather apt to forget what we are familiar with, not to think about it just because we have heard it so often. And this is our great danger in being so familiar with the word of God, that if we allow ourselves to be carelessly familiar with it, it ceases to make any impression upon us at all.

St. Paul has repeated, and urged upon us these words of Solomon; but in our trials and sorrows are we not apt to forget them still? And yet it is an exhortation that speaks to us as unto children. When God graciously condescends to speak to us as to His children, should we not lend a willing, attentive, reverent ear? The very fact that He allows us to draw near to Him as to our Father in heaven, should make us give a most childlike, affectionate reception to what He says to us. And what does He say? "My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him." The thing that will prevent us either despising or fainting under

God's chastenings is, believing that they are from Him-seeing His hand in them-hearing His voice in them, You know that a dutiful, obedient child will not despise the slightest sign of his father's displeasure; to see a frown upon his father's countenance will be enough to check him in what is wrong, while an undutiful child may require hard blows, because he has despised his father's chastenings, or has not cared to see whether he frowned or not. And so with ourselves; how often would a slight chastening suffice, if we would only listen to its voice, "Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it;"* for "for our heavenly Father himself assures us that He "does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men." When chastisements come upon us in our worldly affairs-when poverty and want come upon us—when work is not to be had— or when children turn out ill, or many of the other troubles we are continually meeting with come our way, are we not apt to refuse to see God's hand in them altogether, because we do not believe that He orders all our ways, and that all things are in His hands? We fret and complain of our lot, and say how hard the times are; but we do not feel that God is dealing with us― we do not hear the voice of the rod; and is not that to despise the chastening of the Lord? and † Lam. iii, 33,

* Micah vi, 9.

what is more, it is getting all the bitterness and sorrow of it, without getting the blessing and benefit of it; and, perhaps, it is making it necessary that we should get some still heavier stroke, because we will not let this lighter stroke bring us back to God. If we will listen to what God says to earthly fathers, we may learn, from what He calls them to do, how He, the best of all fathers, will surely act towards His children. He says, "He that spareth the rod hateth his son; but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes."* You see how He makes it the very proof of a father's love, that he should early, before bad habits become formed, meet what is evil in his child with correction; and shall He himself be less careful of His children? Again, He says, Again, He says, "Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying."+ Is it not a painful thing for a kind father to chasten his son, and not to spare for his crying? and yet, if he be a godly and obedient man, he will do it. And so our heavenly Father tells us, He doth not afflict willingly, but He will chasten while there is hope, and not spare for our crying. While there is hope -hope of our turning from our evil ways, hope of saving us from destruction. Oh, it is a terrible time when God gives up that hope, and says, "Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will † Prov. xix. 18.

* Prov. xiii. 24.

revolt more and more.'

But again, He says,

"Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest: yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul."+ This is to be the fruit of it; this is the promise to godly, fatherly correction. Oh that parents knew more of the blessed fulfilment of it through having more carefully fulfilled their part to their children! And this is what God is seeking in regard to His children, that He may have rest, that He may have delight in them. Oh, if we but knew what He is seeking to do for us, in these sad and sorrowful days, in these crosses and disappointments that He is bringing upon us! To make us such that He—that God himself-can delight in us, and that we can delight in God.

Could it be any pleasure to the tender father of the prodigal son, to think of his child, in his want and misery, feeding swine in a strange land?‡ No; but when he saw the fruit of the chastening, when he saw him afar off, returning to his father's house, ready to confess, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy child," was there not joy, was there not delight in his fatherly heart then, when he ran and fell on his neck and kissed him? And shall we not allow our gracious Father to have this joy in us? Would it not be a good day in our lives, if, when misfortune overtakes us,

Is. i. 5. + Prov. xxix. 17. + See Luke xv.