XII.-God's Dealings With His Children.
Our present subject is totally different in character from those we have considered recently, treating rather of deep moral principles than giving some fresh and valuable Scriptural information. In one way, therefore, it has a wider interest than some of the preceding subjects. Christians may indeed get on without an exact knowledge of the symbols and types of Scripture, but none can dispense with a real practical knowledge of God's dealings with His children. It is a subject with which we are all sooner or later brought face to face, and it is of the greatest value fully to understand the manner and method of our Father's ways with His sons and daughters. We may consider it in two ways: first of all looking at the subject of discipline itself, and next at the causes which lead to it. A consideration of the first of these two ways leads us briefly to tabulate the subject in hope of making it still more clear.
Sin leads to chastening, which may be despised.
Sin leads to chastening, which may lead to fainting.
Sin leads to chastening, which may lead to exercise.
If despised, we get further sin, and further chastening.
If we faint, we lose the joy and blessing of restoration.
If we are exercised, we repent, we confess, we are forgiven, and we are restored, and the chastisement is removed.
Let us now in a few words consider these statements. The first is only true of God's children. Worldly men sin and prosper. This we get in the seventy-third Psalm fully unfolded in all its mystery by the one who could not sin and prosper, because he was a child of God.
Here we see that future and eternal judgment awaits the unbeliever. In Heb. 12 we find that, although the believer through the grace of God has no such prospect before him, present and often severe discipline is the sure result of disobedience. The result is that if a believer and an unbeliever commit the same sin, the former is punished, while the latter escapes-for a time. The punishment, or chastening, of the former being a proof of his sonship.
Now this Fatherly discipline may take various forms, which are indicated in the subject before us. Thus Lot lost everything, even his own liberty: Jacob is allowed to eat the fruit of his own ways; the children of Israel are taken away by death; Miriam has a terrible bodily affliction; Moses loses a great blessing; David is tried in his family; and Jonah finds circumstances all against him. We can easily extend this list from our own experience, or that of others. The great thing for us, however, is to be able to recognize it when it comes. This is all important,-otherwise we may despise it, or we may faint under it, but we fail to be exercised. It is a great loss to us when we mistake the meaning of God's dealings. Sometimes we take no notice of the trial, looking on it as a matter of course, as if trouble could spring out of the ground. Others (and these by no means few in number) positively bear it with the utmost complacency, under the impression that it is part of their lot as Christians, and it is their duty to be patient and resigned, entirely missing the purport of it, which is self-judgment and humiliation.
We can well imagine that such was Lot's case. Instead of dwelling as a pilgrim in the promised land with Abraham, he left the path of faith for one of sight and worldly advantages, actually at last dwelling in the most wicked city in the world, and that by his own choice (Gen. 14:1212And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. (Genesis 14:12)). Being truly a righteous man, God, in discipline, allowed him to be carried captive. Lot may very possibly have thought this to be merely one of the fortunes of war, and considered that he had fulfilled his duty in bearing it without murmuring. At any rate, he appears to have come out of it, wholly unexercised, only to return to a still more inconsistent position in Sodom (Gen. 19). There appears to have been no self-judgment, nor exercise of soul, in this case. Contrast with this Israel after the defeat at Ai. We do not find Joshua taking this as one of the fortunes of war, and calmly saying, "We cannot always be successful." On the contrary, the discipline brings Joshua on his face before the Lord to find out the reason of it, and hence he is shown it, and Israel is restored and blessed.
This subject will indeed be of great value to us, if it only leads us to seek to find out from God in every affliction and trial the true cause. In nine cases out of ten we shall be far safer in assuming it is some fault or error of our own, than in seeking any other reason.
As we have already seen, a chastening despised fails of its object, and too often we fall into further sin, and incur fresh trial; on the other hand, if we faint under the hand of God, we fail to learn the lesson intended by His love, and we miss the joy of restored communion. Although in this case there is a true exercise of soul, there is a failure to discover that the chastisement is from a Father's hand.
But if we neither despise the chastening, nor faint under it, but are really exercised in soul, we are led to true repentance. Repentance takes place the moment that self-will is replaced by self-judgment; or, in other words, when I take part with God against myself. This leads to confession, and brings us to John 1:99That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. (John 1:9). And now it is important to note that the immediate forgiveness of our heavenly Father follows true confession. In this His faithfulness and justice (1 John 1:99If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)), not only His love and grace are concerned. The work of Christ has put away all the guilt of the sin, or rather never allowed it to enter God's presence at all. God forgives, therefore, in perfect justice, as well as faithfulness to Christ's work. But sin defiles, and though we cannot lose our place as children, we lose our Father's smile and favor. Here the work of our Advocate comes in, and the same grace is waiting to forgive us that leads us to confession. The next step is restoration. We feel we have got back into the sunlight of God's presence, that our soul has been restored, as our feet have been brought back into the paths of righteousness; and now also the " if need be" (1 Peter 1:66Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: (1 Peter 1:6)) existing no longer, the chastisement is removed immediately. In some cases, the story of our failure and of God's grace ends here; in others, the effects of our sin still remain, sometimes for the rest of our lives. After confession, however, there is no longer the sense of chastisement.
We feel rather that we are reaping what we have sown according to God's governmental dealings, but that we ourselves are fully restored.
Thus we find the punishment entirely removed in Miriam's case; we find it mitigated in confession in Rehoboam, and we find it continuing after full confession almost throughout David's life.
Thus the continuance of the trial does not in every case, by any means show that it I: as not had its effect. It may result from the very nature of our sin, so as to make us to go softly all the days of our life.
Let us now for a few moments briefly consider some of the examples given in Div. III., with a view of ascertaining some of the principal causes of backsliding and the exercise of God's discipline. We are at once struck with the fact that failure, and that of the most serious kind, is found in the lives of noted saints of God, such as Jacob, Moses, Aaron, David, Jehoshaphat, and Hezekiah; and by considering their lives, we discover the special sins to which God's children are liable, and for which they are chastened of their Father, that they should not be condemned with the world.
In Adam and Eve we find disobedience, which we may at once say is the root sin of all others. All sin is doing our own will instead of God's. This is the Divine definition of the word. " Sin is lawlessness," and lawlessness is sin. The moment we grasp this fact we get a true view of the essential character of all evil, which at once delivers us from superficial and erroneous definitions of the word, tending to extenuate sin in a believer.
In Jacob we find lack of faith, leading to a pursuit of his own will with the usual result. At the end of his eventful life, instead of being able to sing a song of praise to God when called to stand before Pharaoh, he is found to murmur and repine. We may be assured that if our life is a hard one, it is most likely that we have made it so ourselves. Nothing brings greater hardships on the Christian than following his own will through want of confidence in God, and patience to wait His time. Dear reader, can we not find in this the secret cause of many of our troubles. "He that believeth shall not make haste." " Let patience have her perfect work."
In the children of Israel we get idolatry, a sin by no means unknown now, especially in the particular form then practiced. Be assured that if a Christian sets off on a race for riches with the men of this world, he will either get tripped up (in God's mercy), or will find his soul all withered up with the degrading pursuit; while the worldly man will go on in a prosperous career. In connection with this study attentively Psa. 73.
In Miriam and Aaron we see pride and self assertion opposed to a meekness that could not then be roused. God at once steps in and punishes it. This, too, is very common and dangerous, since spiritual pride is the devil's own sin, for which he fell from heaven to hell (Ezek. 28 and 1 Tim. 3:66Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. (1 Timothy 3:6)). Oh! let us beware of putting God's truth under our feet to raise ourselves by, instead of receiving it into our hearts to humble us. 'Mien once this subtle sin has began to inflate our poor silly minds, it is hard indeed to subdue, and too often we go on increasing in pride, and decreasing in love and every Christian grace. May God deliver the beloved readers of these pages from this deadly sin.
In Moses, "the meekest man in all the earth," we now find "impatience and anger." It is, indeed, remarkable to find Moses thus failing in what we may call his strongest point, but surely it teaches us this lesson-that when once we are taken by the enemy off our guard, we may any of us fail in that very point to which naturally we were the least liable. It is very humbling, but it casts us all the more entirely on that grace that can alone keep the best of us.
In Samson, the Nazarite, we find union with the world, a sin that deprives the christian of his spiritual strength and power, and brings down upon him, sooner or later, his Father's chastening hand.
In Eli we find culpable weakness, the sort of character that could not say " No," leading him to wink at and allow all sorts of things dishonoring to God in his family, not because he loved them, but because he had not the courage to stop them. What a word for some of us here! For observe He was punished for the sins of others. God rightly expects us to be firm for Him, and to stand for His glory, not only in our own persons, but in all our surroundings.
In David, alas! that great saint, we get gross sin, showing to what depths a true child of God may at times fall. Nowhere, perhaps, in the whole range of Scripture do we get a more vivid and truthful picture of the evil still existing in the believer's old nature. The only remedy is to seek, day by day, to keep it in constant check, not to allow it to think, or speak, or act, thus keeping on it the sentence of death which God pronounced at the cross of Christ (Rom. 6:66Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. (Romans 6:6)).
In Rehoboam we again get disobedience.
In Jehoshaphat again union with the world, this time apparently for a good purpose, and yet still condemned by God according to the principles laid down in 2 Cor. 6.
In Hezekiah we get pride, while in Job we find self-righteousness.
We are sorry we have no space to dwell at greater length upon these most instructive histories, and can only hope that the varied points of interest we have indicated in our subject may serve to awaken us to a deeper study of these wonderful pictures of God's dealings with His children, " For all these things happened unto them for examples; and they are written for our-admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come."