As we saw in the prior broadcast, the Lord chastens us.  He chastens us because he loves us.   He wants us to partake of his holiness and bear the peaceable fruit of his righteousness.  In this broadcast, we will see how God chastens us.  God chastens us:

With His words – Ps 94:12 – the Psalmist said, “Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law.”  The first way the Lord is going to get your attention and chasten you is through his words.  Notice in 2 Tim 3:16-17, that scripture is for correction.  And chastening is for correction according to Prov 3:11.  If you go to church and the preacher is doing his job correctly [2 Tim 4:2], the Lord is going to rebuke and chasten you [Rev 3:19].  If he’s not doing his job, which is the case with most of the preachers these days [2 Tim 4:2-4], then the Lord won’t be able to chasten you in the church service.  And if you aren’t reading your Bible, he won’t be able to chasten you with his word.

With judgment – 1 Cor 11:31-32 – We are to judge ourselves concerning our relationship to the Lord and the sins in our lives.  If we don’t judge ourselves, the Lord will chasten us “that we should not be condemned with the world.”  In the Corinthian church, the folks weren’t examining themselves before the Lord’s Supper [1 Cor 11:28-29].  As a result, God judged them and many were weak and sick and some of them had even died [1 Cor 11:30].  God wants us to judge ourselves so that we are not condemned with the world.

With fasting – Ps 69:10 – when you are under conviction and yet you are having a hard time correcting the thing about which the Lord is dealing with you, fasting is a great way to be chastened.  Daniel did this in Dan 10:2-3, 12, 14 when he was trying to get clarity on a vision he had received from the Lord.  Fasting chastens you.

With punishment – Deut 8:5 – the Lord will chasten you the same way that a father chastens his son.  The typical way a man chastens his son is with the rod.  So, Heb 12:6 says, “he scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.”  In 2 Sam 7:14, the Lord explains the he will use men to apply the punishment.  He will chasten you with either those who uphold and enforce the law [Rom 13] or with those who are your enemies [Jer 30:14].  In other words, you’ll encounter a legal problem and you’ll recognize God’s hand in it.  Or someone will get to you and you’ll eventually, if not immediately, recognize God’s hand in that.

With trouble – Is 26:16 – the Lord will allow trouble to be visited upon you until the affliction brings you to a place of repentance.  Many a Christian got right with God after a season of trouble in his life brought him to the realization that he had to get right with God.  The prodigal son is an excellent example fo this. 

With physical pain – Job 33:19-24 – the Lord knows that some of us are so hardened in sin it’s going to take quite a lot of pain to turn us.  So, he’ll let you suffer until you turn.  He might even take you to the point of death [Ps 118:18 ].  Remember that the Lord is not trying to destroy you in chastening.  He is trying to correct you.  He doesn’t need to chasten you to destroy you.  Consider what happened to Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5.

Conclusion: remember Job 5:17, when you’re going through chastening, “happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty.”  You’re going to be very happy when you get this thing straightened out with the Lord.  The sooner the better.