God's scourge

“And 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.” (Heb. 12:5,6).

We love the story of Jonah, but he was severely scourged and it was the scourging that enabled him to move Nineveh to repentance.

“I AM the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman. 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.” (Jn. 15:1,2). Then He goes on to say, “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you” (vs. 3). Good News?

This sounds like a scary proposition, doesn’t it? Why? Because there was no word of love and grace; only purging and pruning, the cutting off of the hand and the foot in self-denial and sanctification; and then to top it all off He said that we should feel clean because we are warned about such a traumatic experience, and should feel good about it all. Where’s the peace like a river? Where is the still waters? It kind of leaves the Bible student in a dazed, blasé state of mind.

But then He continues on, and here’s where patience with the Lord pays off. He invites us, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me.” (vs. 4). Ah, here’s some good news. Jesus is inviting us to stay close to Him. Does He really feel that way toward me? Or was this wonderful invitation only for the 11 saintly disciples? Did He welcome them into His presence because they qualified by their good behavior, by holy lives?

Anyone who spends only ten minutes with these disciples sees that they were full of flaws and sins. Not long before this, James and John came with their mother—in front of the other 10—and asked to be promised special positions in the coming earthly government. And the 10 steamed with chagrin and envy!

Saintly ? Well behaved and performing good enough to accept their Master’s invitation? No, the only thing they had in their favor was that they really loved being around Jesus. He had been a special friend to them. Their experience with following Him around had been full of conflict and service, but Jesus had been ever patient with their mistakes and ever faithful in His loyalty to them. Yes, He had reproved them and corrected their bent to sin and self, but they wouldn’t have traded the past three years for anything.

As if yearning to relive those days, John, in looking back wrote, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life…” (1Jn. 1:1).

Their response to His love for them was all it took to get the invitation. If they wanted to be with Him, He wanted them to be with Him. His acceptance of them was purely for the purposes of friendship. And Christ had laid a firm foundation of loving acceptance of them before going on to perfect them in the outward life.

If He did that for them, why would He ever change for His disciples who are seeking Him today—you and me? He made those men the pattern for what He would do for everyone afterward who wanted to be with Him and to know His acceptance of them too. (1Tim. 1:16). His ministry then forms the pattern of His ministry today. As the wisest of teachers and our Creator, He knows that He must first firmly plant the knowledge of His love for us into our heart and mind before He introduces His correction. And He demonstrated with His disciples that when He will correct, it will be with the utmost mercy and pity.

But, as painful as it sounds to us, every branch that doesn’t bear fruit must be cut off. There are the suckers that don’t bear any fruit, but only take away from the vitality of the rest of the vine by simply living to start a new vine with its own fruit. It’s our natural tendency to deny self-sacrifice its centrality in the truth, and thus we stray into falsehood and begin a whole new “truth”. It’s an offshoot of truth which is really error that Satan has made to appear like truth. And, necessarily, this must be pinched off at as early a stage as possible. Later it will be too developed to remove; more painful for us and possibly the downfall of our trust in a God of love. This is what happened to Judas.

There are dead branches that allow for disease to enter the stalk—practices and habits that separate us from God. The disease enters the spinal column and the circulation system of the plant, and spreads the virus throughout. Likewise will our bad habits destroy us. There are the branches full of a caterpillar nests that must be sprayed or cut off. And there are misunderstandings of God’s will and love that, if not corrected, will one day break out into a flurry of evil words and regrets.

Pruning the Christian isn’t a shaking, scary message. Because long before the Holy Spirit scourges and glorifies, He shows God’s abundant grace and acceptance, His compassion and pity. Has this convinced His children of His love for them? Are you OK with His scourging? Or does the scourging have your focus instead of God and His acceptance? Are you looking at the fiery serpents He has sent or the brazen serpent on a cross He has provided?

According to the Lord’s words in Hebrews 12, which came first, that He loves us or that He scourges us? His loving acceptance comes first, right. “For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth....” If we know acceptance coming first is the way we deal with our loved ones, surely the Son of God knows He must first make us firmly grounded in that knowledge before He corrects us to sanctify us. Surely God is wiser than we.

“If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?” (Lk. 11:13).

Along with His abundance He has given us His Law and Testimonies. They serve to balance His grace and acceptance. We are so prone to run into presumption that we need to be kept reminded that He is serious about our living the upright life that compares with our profession of Him. If we call ourselves children of the heavenly King, people are going to judge the King by His children’s words and life.

The Law, through those Testimonies for the church, is very pointed and painful. But if we know of His love for us, then we remember that we have an accepting Father to run to after His Law and His instructions and His truth have made us full of shame and guilt. Thus His Law keeps driving us into His arms. Wonderful arrangement! Divine design!

So let’s be thankful for Ellen White. Here in the time of the end, there is no other denomination with anyone like her to keep us going to Jesus for help and forgiveness. He is the True Witness and the Wonderful Counselor. The True Witness gives the Straight Testimony, and the Wonderful Counselor gives the healing balm of Gilead. “Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.” Without both His rod and staff we couldn’t have complete comfort, nor so deep a trust in Jesus.

Love. Love in all that the God of the Bible offers. And He offers it to the whole world, well-behaved or misbehaving, with a good track record and a bad, loving and evil, His enemies and His friends. “For God so loved the world….”