The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews — Section 373

J•o~sibly there arc certain sins of ours in regard to which correction is needed, that we may be led to repent of them; and, when affliction overtakes us, we should endeavour to tind out what these sins arc. Or, perhaps, a life of ease and prosperity mo.y have ,educed us into spiritual carelessness, and favoured the growth of pride within the soul. In such a case God sends chastisement to convince us of the vanity of the world, and to attract our thoughts towards the things which belong to our peace. 2. Tofo1·m our spiritual character. Correction is sent as a means of assimilatin_g our moral nature to that of God himself (ver. 10). Sorrow accepted as Divine chastiEement refines aad ~anctifies the soul. It stirs its tenderest emotions, and touches its richest chords. It draws the heart towards God himself, as its only Rest and Strength and Joy, The most beautiful human faces are not those which show merely the most regular features and i he purest complexion ; they arc those saintly faces which have been beautified by chastisement-" made perfect through sufferings." 3. To promote our eternal well-being. 'l'hc ultimate purpose is that wo may "live" (vcr. 9), spiritually and eternally. To h~come "partakers of God's holiness" is to be educated for spending eternity with God. Each believer must pass through a curriculum of chastisement before he can graduate w glory. "'Tis sorrow builds the shining ladder up, Whose golden rounds are our ce.Je.mitiee, Whereon our firm feet planting, nearer God The spirit olimbs, and hath its eyes unsealed." (Lowell) III. Oun DUTY m RELA.TION TO CHASTISEMENT. This the apostle gently censures hie readers for haviag overlooked, as it is exhibited in the Old Testament Scriptures. He quotes Prov. iii. 11, 12, and adds a few sentences of beautiful and suggestive com- mentary. The quotation (vers. 5, 6) exhibits the duty negatively, and the comment (vcra. 7-11) positively. 1. Negatively. (1) We are not to "despise" chastisement. (Ver. 5.) We do so when we proudly strive to feel it as little as possible, treating our troubles in a stoical spirit, as if they were meaningless. We do so, too, when we refuse to see God's hand in them, or to believe that they are determined in providence by our spiritual condition. We despise chastisement when we insist that we do not deserve any ; and when, in haughty insubordination, we allow ourselves to be "made cross by cross providences." (2) We must 'llOt "faint" under it. (Ver. 5.) This is the other extreme-to become depressed, despondent, despairing. We abuse chastise- ment if we do nothing but bemoan it, as Elijah once did (1 Kings xix. 4). We "faint" when we cherish dark and hard and unbelieving thoughts regarding our afflictions- forgetting the blessed purpose that is behind them, and the grace which the Sender will supply t.o enable us to bear them. 2. Positively. (1) We must " be in S'Ubfection unto the Father ef 6pirits." (Ver. 9.) This is the opposite of" despising" our troubles. The child of God will school himself into unquestioning submission. He will receive his afflictions as from the Lord, on whose paternal grace he depends for every blessing. (2) We must be "eurcised thereby." (Ver. 11.) This is the opposite of "fainting" when God reproves us. Chastisement is intended to brace the believer, not to depress him. Afflictions are the gymnastics of the spiritual life. They are like the exercises of the e.thlete, who is in training for a contest. We are "exercised thereby" when we accept our troubles as sent by God himself for our correction; and when, recognizing this, we co-operate with him in carrying out their gracious purpose. IV. ODll. CONSOLATION ID,'DEB CHASTISEMENT. This passage suggests many com- forting thoughts, which should help us ~ubmissively to bear it. It is: 1. .Appointed b'JI God. (Ver. 5.) Afflictions do 1wt come casually. They do not overtake us merely at the pleasure of our enemies. He who chasteneth is "the Lord," the Sovereign of all. Let ui;, with Job (Job i. 21) and Eli (1 Sam. ill. 18), realize this: to do so will strengthen our hearts. 2. Sent in fatherly loue. This thought rune through the passage like a golden thread (vers. 5-10). God is" the Father of our spirits;" and Le cherishes towards us the heart of a Father. His corrections are a token of his loving- kiDciness. He loves not to swite; but he smites because he loves. He uses the rod uoly be:cause necessity requires it. And if a dutiful child submits patiently to the ci.iastioewents uf his earthly parents, although he has derived only his body from them, JJH, XII, 1-29.] THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 367