THEME: The Greatness of Love

1 Corinthians 13:13

LOVE- is one of the attributes of God (God is Love) (1 John 4: 8)

-is the greatest of all human qualities, and it is an attribute of God Himself (Genesis 1: 26, Image
and likeness)

13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

 Faith- is the foundation and content of God’s message--- faith cometh by hearing and hearing
with the word of God.
 Hope – is the attitude and focus.
 Love – is the action

RECALL

1. Love Complies - 1 john 14:15

2. Love Covers - 1 peter 4:8

3. Love Cast Out - 1 John 4:18 (

4. Love Constrains - 11 Corinthians 5:14

TOPIC: LOVE CHASTEN

TEXT: Hebrews 12:6 says, “For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he
receives” (KJV).

1. "What does it mean to be chastened?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word "chasten" as: "1: to correct by punishment or
suffering: DISCIPLINE, also: PURIFY; 2a: to prune (something, such as a work or style of art) of excess,
pretense, or falsity: REFINE; 2b: to cause to be more humble or restrained: SUBDUE." Chastening is
for the purpose of discipline and purification.

Answer: Hebrews 12:6 says, “For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he
receives” (KJV). Another word for “chasten” is “discipline.” The passage goes on to quote Proverbs 3:11-
12, which says, “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the
Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.” Proper discipline is a proof of love.

Throughout Scripture, God portrays Himself as a Father. Those who have received Jesus as Savior are His
children (John 1:12; Galatians 3:26). He uses the analogy of father/son because we understand it. He
compares Himself to a loving father who not only blesses but disciplines His beloved children for their
own good. Hebrews 12 goes on to show that those who do not receive God’s discipline are not
legitimate children (verse 8). A loving father carefully watches his son, and when that son defies his
orders and heads for danger, the father disciplines him to keep him safe. God does that with us. When a
born-again child of God heads for sin or refuses to resist temptation, our Heavenly Father brings
chastening into his life to direct him back to holiness.

Chastening also functions as a method of God pruning us. Jesus said of God: "Every branch in me that
does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear
more fruit" (John 15:2). Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch
that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Pruning is a part of the process we must go through in order to continue bearing spiritual fruit. When
God prunes us, the result is the refining of our faith and the humility of our hearts.

2. How does God chasten us?"

Chastening can come in the form of guilty feelings, unpleasant circumstances, loss of peace, relationship
fractures, or any number of negative consequences for choosing sin. Sometimes, the chastening of the
Lord can be physical illness or even death (1 Corinthians 11:30).

Often, people ask if God is “punishing” them for wrong choices in the past. All our punishment for sin
was exhausted upon Jesus on the cross (Romans 5:9). The wrath of God was poured out on Him so that
for those who are “in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1) no wrath remains. When we give our lives to Christ, our
Substitute for sin, our sin is forgiven and God remembers it no more (Hebrews 8:12; 10:15-18).
However, often, our wrong choices in the past have brought about unpleasant consequences now. God
does not necessarily remove the natural consequences of sin when we repent. Those consequences are
tools God can use to teach us, to prevent us from repeating the same mistakes, and to remind us of
God’s grace.

Examples of chastening are found throughout the Bible. The Israelites were continually disobeying God’s
commands (Numbers 14:21-23; Judges 2:1-2; 2 Kings 18:12). He was patient with them, He sent
prophets to plead with them, and He warned them many times. But when they dug in their heels and
embraced idols or evil practices, God brought chastening upon them in the form of plagues or enemy
attacks (Jeremiah 40:3). He still loved them, and in His love He could not allow them to continue in
behavior that would destroy them.

There are many examples of personal chastening in the Bible, as well, even upon those in whom the
Lord most delighted—Moses (Numbers 27:12), David (1 Chronicles 28:3), and Solomon (1 Kings 11:11),
to name a few. Notice that, although these men made mistakes and were chastened for them, God did
not stop loving or using them. He brought discipline appropriate to the crime, but always forgave the
truly repentant heart. God always restored the relationship.

When we sin, we can expect that our loving Heavenly Father will not let us get away with it. Because He
loves us, He desires us to live holy lives (1 Peter 1:15-16; Romans 8:29). If someone professes to know
Christ but is living a lifestyle of unrepentant sin and claims to “feel fine about it,” with no qualms, then
that person is not a legitimate child of God (Revelation 3:19; Hebrews 12:5-11; Job 5:17; Psalm 94:12; I
John 3:4-12). God “chastens everyone he accepts as his son” (Hebrews 12:6).