When God Corrects His Children

[0:00] Good morning again. We are still in the book of Proverbs. We are in Proverbs 3, as we started chapter number 3.

[0:11] As we are looking through, we see each of these sections in the beginning of Proverbs are begun by a couple of words, My Son. Every time we see those words, My Son, it begins a new section of instruction within the book of Proverbs.

[0:26] And we see the same thing again in this morning's text, Proverbs chapter 3, verses 11 and 12. And what we are going to be looking at this morning is a message for the family of God.

[0:40] This is a message not meant for the world. This is meant for those who are part of God's family. This text has to do with family business. And I believe every child of God should heed the call of the writer of Proverbs here in verses 11 and 12.

[0:58] And I think what it poses for us are three important questions for God's family. Number one, and I think most all of us here will know the answer to that, but for those who we may be in contact with and who are seeking, the first question that this text poses is, how do I become a part of the family of God?

[1:19] Because we are not born into this life in the family of God. We need our Savior Jesus Christ and to trust Him. Second question is, why does God discipline His family?

[1:35] And then the third question is, what delights God about His children? What does God delight in when He sees us or looks at us?

[1:47] So let's consider these three questions this morning as we turn in our Bibles to Proverbs 3, verses 11 and 12.

[1:58] Verse 11 says, as we had alluded to earlier, begins with, My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor detest His correction.

[2:09] For whom the Lord loves, He corrects, just as a father, the son, in whom He delights.

[2:20] So, begging the question, how does one become part of the family of God? Very quickly, we're going to go through that, answering that first question. How do we get into the family of God?

[2:32] How do we become a child of God? We are not naturally God's children. We were created in the image of God. But in the Garden of Eden, we know that Adam made a choice and disobeyed God.

[2:48] From that point forward, mankind was separated from God, and died spiritually, began to die physically. And we see in Romans, chapter 3, verse 23, that we are all sinners, for all have sinned, and come short, or fall short, of the glory of God.

[3:10] We're also, by nature, the enemies of God. Most people don't like to think of that. Most people like to think that God loves everyone, and He will ultimately accept everyone, because God is, after all, a God of love.

[3:26] But, Romans, chapter 5, and verse number 10 says, for if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

[3:46] Not only are we all sinners, the Bible says, the Bible says, before salvation, we are God's enemies. So, think about that. When we look upon the world, and when we look upon people who do not know Christ as their Savior, how does God see them?

[4:03] He sees them as His enemies. He says, He sees them as His enemies, because they are under the power and the control of Satan. They are not part of His family. Actually, the Bible says, there is not a single person who seeks after God, and most people chafe after anyone who tries to tell them, including God, that we need to be humble and we need to be obedient to the God of the universe.

[4:28] Most people don't like hearing that. Why? Because they are not part of God's family, and therefore, they don't like listening to God. So, we are His enemies. But also, the good news is, God's love meets us where we are.

[4:45] Romans chapter 5, verse 8, tells us, but God demonstrates His own love toward us in that, while we were still sinners, while we were still considered His enemy, Jesus died for us.

[5:02] The very world that He created, the very ones that He loved and came to seek and to save were the ones who hung Him there on the cross, were the ones who shouted, crucify Him, crucify Him, crucify Him.

[5:18] God met us in our deepest point of need, even while we were enemies, while we were yet sinners. Christ died for us, and we are reconciled to God through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ.

[5:35] It is made possible for us to be reconciled with Him. A mediator came, and that was Jesus Christ, paid the price. So how do we enter the family of God?

[5:46] Well, Jesus said to a ruler who came to Him by night, said, you must be born again.

[5:57] John chapter 3, verses 3 through 7, Jesus answered and said to him, most assuredly, He says to Nicodemus, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

[6:11] Nicodemus said to him, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

[6:29] That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again.

[6:39] But as many as receive him to them, gave he the right or the power, the authority to become the children of God to those who believe in his name.

[6:55] So those who were listening to this message, at whatever time you're listening to it, including us who are here today in this room, the question is, have you been born again? Have you trusted Christ as your Savior?

[7:08] Have you realized that you agree with the Bible, that the Bible says you are a sinner, and that Jesus Christ, while we were still sinners, died on the cross that we might be reconciled back to God, and that are we trusting in what Jesus did on the cross of Calvary to be the full and complete payment for our sin, and have we received that free gift of eternal life simply by trusting Jesus and asking.

[7:38] So, I trust that we've been born again. We are part of the family of God. Now, for those of us who were in the family of God, this portion of Scripture relates and speaks directly to us.

[7:53] So the next question is, why does God discipline his children? Why does God correct his children? why does God allow adversity to enter into the life of those he loves into the life of his family?

[8:12] Verse 11. Go back to our text. Proverbs 3, 11. My son, my child, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor detest his correction.

[8:27] You see, those in God's family, we must expect his discipline. We must expect his chastening, his correction.

[8:38] See, this warning is twofold that we see in verse number 11. The first warning is, don't despise. And the wording there in the Hebrew is, don't reject or don't take lightly.

[8:56] Don't, and in one of the ways this meaning was taken in the idiom of the day was, don't throw it behind you. What do we do with trash? Yeah, we're walking down and, of course, we're not supposed to do that, but we're walking down and people take, eh, no big deal.

[9:13] We take it, we throw it behind us. That's the, that's the thought, that's the idea that the writer of the Proverbs said, don't take God's correction, don't take God's discipline and look at it lightly, reject it as garbage and throw it behind you.

[9:28] We need to realize that God's correction not only is necessary, but is, it's not, it's not punitive, it's corrective. God does it for a positive goal.

[9:42] So the first, the twofold, first portion of this twofold warning is, don't despise, reject or take lightly the Lord's physical correction.

[9:54] Very often the Lord will do that through, through the, through physical means. Sometimes through emotional pain, sometimes through other things.

[10:05] God will get our attention to say, this is a consequence of this decision or this sin or this action. And so, often, God will correct us physically.

[10:18] The second part of that twofold warning is, do not resent. The word carries the idea of don't loathe it, don't abhor it. So, do not resent his verbal corrections.

[10:32] Don't despise or reject or take lightly his physical chastening. Neither don't resent his verbal corrections.

[10:42] You know, when someone tells you, don't do that, or we're corrected verbally, how do we, how do people typically respond to that? People don't like being verbally corrected.

[10:54] What does the Bible do when we read God's word? What does the Bible say? We're pricked to our heart. It cuts through to the very core of our being.

[11:06] It is a, the word of God is sharp, living, powerful. It cuts to the very heart of the matter. And that's why people say, well, I've read this a thousand times before and then now all of a sudden it's convicting me over something.

[11:22] Well, it's because God knows and his word is living. It's not just like a novel or the morning news that's already out of date by the time it arrives at your mailbox or by the time it arrives at your door.

[11:39] But God's word is living. It is powerful and it is always relevant no matter when. So he says don't resent his verbal corrections.

[11:52] You know, while they are hard to accept, they demonstrate God's loving concern. They demonstrate that God truly does in fact love us.

[12:03] Being disciplined by God, why does God discipline his children? Well, it proves that we are the children of God. That's why he, one of the reasons why he corrects us.

[12:16] Harry A. Ironside said this, God is a God of order. His family must be under his discipline. Think about it. If you have a family, how do we care for our family?

[12:29] We discipline our family. We make sure that there are certain family rules. There are certain things that family or children are to abide by. And a family that truly loves their children will discipline, will sometimes discipline physically and sometimes will correct verbally when necessary.

[12:49] And so the writer of the Proverbs said, don't despise it and don't resent it because it is for a purpose. God is a God of order. Therefore, his family will have order.

[13:03] And because of that, God will use discipline. Now, problems come into the lives of God's children very often for a purpose.

[13:17] Many commentators say Proverbs 3, 11, and 12 is really the problem of Job.

[13:29] Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do, and there's other commentators who say the writer of Proverbs included Proverbs 3, he included this 11 and 12, these verses 11 and 12, because we should not think or to correct the wrong assumption that, remember we said, verses 9 and 10, honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first fruits of all your increase, so your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine.

[14:03] Wine was considered by God's people in those days as proof of God's bountiful blessing, so that we would not think that just because you obey God, that everything is going to be great in your life.

[14:19] So there are many commentators who say, writer of Proverbs put, Solomon put, verses 11 and 12 there for a purpose, because there are times when difficulty comes into your life, God can use it for a couple of reasons, or God sends it for a couple of reasons, sometimes to correct or sometimes to discipline because of sin committed.

[14:44] Sometimes God allows or sends difficulty into our life to keep us from sinning or to purify us and to prepare us for a particular purpose or a particular goal.

[14:56] Now one thing that God was doing was allowing difficulty, adversity, sickness, emotional turmoil into Job's life, because it was purifying Job and also was proving and showing to Satan that Job didn't not blame God or curse God, that Job followed and obeyed God simply because he loved God and he cared about God, not because Job was receiving all these blessings.

[15:28] Satan was saying, well, he's doing this only because of what he gets from you. You withhold the blessing and he'll curse you. And so God is showing that he's not.

[15:39] Now think about the end of Job's life. Do you think he was a different man at the end of his life? I believe he was and I believe it was a consequence of what God had allowed into his life, this purification process that was going on.

[15:55] also willingness to accept discipline in our lives is a characteristic of the wise. All throughout Proverbs it says a fool will not listen to correction.

[16:10] Think about it. If you have someone that you try to correct them and saying, well, this is the right way to do it. This is something that you've done wrong, you get a slap on the wrist, and this is the correct way to do it.

[16:27] And if they respond by saying, who are you to tell me what to do, I'm going to do it my way anyway, what does the Bible call that person? A fool. But in reality, to accept discipline is to show that we're wise.

[16:44] It's to say, I want to learn. I want to be better. And this purpose is to make us more like Jesus.

[16:54] Look at Romans chapter 8, verses 28 and 29. Romans chapter 8, verses 28 and 29. And we know that all things, the good things, the bad things, work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose, for whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be what?

[17:22] to be conformed, to make us more like Jesus, to be conformed to the image of the Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

[17:34] Correction is an evidence that we are part of God's family, and also it is used by God to make us more like him. So chastening, correction, discipline isn't pleasant, but it proves that we are in the faith.

[17:54] We see that in Hebrews 12, 10, and 11. For they indeed chastened, for they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, speaking about earthly, but he God for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness.

[18:22] And here, quite often, writers of scripture refer back to Proverbs 3, 11, and 12. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful.

[18:35] Nevertheless, afterward, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by yet.

[18:46] So what does the writer of Hebrews say? It's not fun. It might even be painful. It might hurt to go through the chastening of God, the discipline of God, the correction of God, even if it's simply verbal correction that we see when God speaks to us through his word.

[19:05] It may not feel good to hear it. It may not sound good to us, but it's for our benefit. And he says, afterward, if we have grown from it and the work that it has produced in our life, he says it yields, the product is the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

[19:29] So how do we view, or how should we view God's correction? As an evidence of the Father's love. As an evidence that God really loves us, correction provides, or should provide us comfort, as well as direction.

[19:51] You know, if we think about it, we think that children don't want to be corrected, but in fact, it's already been shown that those who are corrected, disciplined, in a loving way, feel more secure, and feel more loved by their parents.

[20:17] Because those who have never been corrected by their parents, those who are treated as they can do whatever they want, no curfews, no correction, no consequences for their action, will very often be heard saying my parents really didn't care about me, because they didn't give me any rules.

[20:43] They didn't care where I went, they didn't care how late I came in, and that was viewed by them as my parents didn't care about me.

[20:57] So it seems counterintuitive, but when we are disciplined by a loving parent, it shows that we're loved, and it should provide us comfort, even though at the moment it's painful.

[21:11] But we know that we're loved, and the same thing when God corrects us, or when God allows things into our life to purify us, to strengthen us, to strengthen and purify our character, our resolve, or our faith.

[21:28] It should comfort us that God cares enough about us to get involved in our life, because he wants what's best for us. Because if we look at Job, I referred to Job earlier, but Job 5, 17, and 18, behold, happy is the man whom God corrects.

[21:51] So therefore what? Don't despise the chastening of the Almighty. So as we think about it, why does God discipline his children?

[22:03] To correct us when we've sinned, but also to purify us, and to prepare us for something even greater. God disciplines his children because we're part of the family.

[22:16] God is a God of order. Therefore, he will make sure that there's order in his family. And then, thirdly, Job 5, or Job 5, 18, he says, for he bruises, but he binds up.

[22:33] He wounds, but his hands make whole. So as we look back in verse 17, happy is the man whom God corrects.

[22:45] So therefore, our response should be not despising the chastening of the Almighty because he loves us. What he'll do is he will discipline, he will chasten, but then what he does, just like a loving parent, will hug them and say, I know it hurts, but I love you.

[23:12] He will discipline, but he will also, what he bruises, he binds, meaning more, has the idea of a bandage. He binds up, he wounds, but his hands make whole.

[23:24] It's like a doctor taking a bone and re-breaking it in order to set it properly. It might hurt for the moment, but it's to make you whole.

[23:37] That's God's correction in our life. And then thirdly, the third question is, what delights God about us? What delights God about his children?

[23:48] Let's look at verse 12. Proverbs 3, verse 12, as we wind this down to a close. For whom the Lord, what, loves, he corrects, just as the father in whom he, the son in whom he delights.

[24:08] Some translations say just as the father, his favorite son. So, God does this because he loves us. He corrects us because he loves us. God is delighted with our obedient response to his son.

[24:23] So, what does God delight in? What does God delight in? God delights in obedience. We obey, he's delighted. We disobey, he corrects in order for us to obey.

[24:36] So, God delights in our obedient response to his love. And God is delighted when we learn from his correction. Isn't it nice when we have to correct a child and they learn from it and we don't have to correct them for that again.

[24:56] We are delighted because they've learned from the correction. God is delighted when his chastening produces holy living. And we should also never get tired of God's correction.

[25:12] Because what would that signal to us if God stops correcting us? God's not happy with us anymore. God just okay I gave up on you. God never gives up on us.

[25:23] And so his continual correction when we stray or when we need to be purified shows us that God still cares about us and God has not forgotten about us and God has not given up on us.

[25:37] His goal is to develop obedient children who can be blessed. So that God can bless us through our or because of our obedience. So the question is have you experienced the chastening of God?

[25:52] I would probably dare say that if you've been in the family of God for any length of time you have felt God's hand of correction upon you. You want to say well how does God do it?

[26:05] However God feels he needs to do it for you or for you or for you. It's definitely personal. It's not the same in everyone's life.

[26:16] Second is how have you responded to God's correction? There are two ways that we can respond and we see this here in scripture.

[26:30] There are those who despise God's correction according to verse 11. There are those who reject it and discard it. So there are those when God disciplines us that when God disciplines them they get bitter at God and they go further from God and they reject God.

[26:52] They're part of God's family otherwise they wouldn't have been disciplined. But there are some who take it take God's discipline and get bitter with God get angry at God.

[27:04] That's why the writer of Proverbs said don't despise it. Don't reject it. Don't cast it behind you. take it as in the way that it was meant.

[27:15] So there are some in response to correction get bitter get angry and grow further from God. There are others who as verse 11 says will begin to wallow in self pity.

[27:34] Oh woe is mean. Oh look at what's happening. and rather than outright rejecting and getting angry at God they look at things around them and then begin to wallow in self pity.

[27:49] How do we respond to the correction of God? As we close correction or God's correction is a family matter. God doesn't correct the neighborhood's kids just like we don't.

[28:01] God corrects his own. God corrects us because his family matters. We matter to God.

[28:13] And then the final question. How will we respond to God's work in our life today? How will we respond to the way God speaks to us through his word?

[28:26] How will we respond when God uses correction in other forms or through other means? How will we respond? Will we reject him or will we detest his correction?

[28:42] Let's take it in the way that it's meant. In love. Help us not get bitter but grow better. Let's pray. Father God, this morning as we've come together, we help us to learn.

[28:56] Help us to learn of you. Help us to learn what pleases you. Help us to learn what delights you. Father, may we be your obedient children learning more and more each day how we may be able to glorify you.

[29:14] Be with us. May your hand be with us each day as we serve you and help us, dear God, to be a blessing to others.

[29:26] We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.