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The apostle puts the matter of this chastening before the reader in a variety of ways. First, the attitude of mind
toward it. Do not despise it. Do not faint when rebuked. Perhaps `despise' is too strong a word. Rather, what is
meant is to hold lightly, to have very little concern about it. That is one attitude to be avoided. There is the opposite
extreme, however, that is, of magnifying the chastening endured, and so `fainting' at the rebuke. This also is wrong.
We have to remember that the chastening has to do with us `as sons' (Heb. 12:5-7). It comes to us from One Who
loves us (Heb. 12:6). To be without chastening is to be without proof of sonship. The little gutter child, unkempt,
uncorrected, uncared for, is free from the discipline, restraint, training, care and correction that loving fatherhood
imposes, but who, knowing the truth, would exchange the `discipline' of the one for the `liberty' of the other?
The apostle proceeds to reason from the lesser to the greater. We have had fathers in this life whose discipline
was brief, and, as far as they knew, right. But it was sometimes in error, yet we held them in respect. God is the
Father of our spirits; His discipline is never at fault, and it tends to life. Shall we not then much rather render
submission to Him?
The object that the Lord has in view all this time is revealed in Hebrews 12:10: `That we might be partakers of
His holiness'. Holiness is the atmosphere of Hebrews, as righteousness is of Romans. The sanctification of
believers is entirely outside their own deeds or endeavours. They are sanctified by the blood of Him Who suffered
`without the gate' (Heb. 13:12). If they are called upon to go unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach
(Heb. 13:13), it is but manifesting in act and character what has been already accomplished. The going without the
camp will never sanctify, but it may manifest sanctification.
`By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all' (Heb. 10:10).
`For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified' (Heb. 10:14).
This `perfecting for ever' is in nowise altered or minimized because the epistle proceeds to urge each to `go on
unto perfection', or because it associates perfecting with suffering and obedience. When therefore we read that this
discipline has in view the partaking of His holiness, we do not understand that any amount of scourging can sanctify,
but that the believer, already perfectly sanctified in Christ, is now trained and encouraged to walk in harmony with
such a blessed position. This is practical sanctification.
While the apostle urged the believer to treat with all due reverence the chastening of the Lord, he assumed no
stoic indifference. There is something intensely human in the admission: `Now no chastening for the present
seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them
which are exercised thereby' (Heb. 12:11).
Three items in this verse demand attention. First, the words `nevertheless afterward'. While mother-love is
immediate and protective, father-love is concerned with the future. The one sees the babe that is now; the other
visualizes the man that is to be. The underlying thought is very close to that of 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 which hinges
upon the words, `while we look not at the things which are seen'.
Then there is the Greek expression translated `the peaceable fruit of righteousness'. We understand this to mean
in English, `the peaceable fruit, namely, righteousness'. Holiness in Christ is manifested, and imputed righteousness
has produced its peaceable fruit. The chastening and the discipline has had the effect of pruning; it has produced
fruitfulness. Here is a parallel with Philippians 1:11 which speaks of bringing forth the fruits of righteousness.
All, however, turns upon the third expression: `To them which are exercised thereby', just as the prayer in
Philippians urges the need for discernment and trying the things that differ.
Watch the effect of discipline upon two of the Lord's children. One becomes mellow, the other hard and sour.
The one is going on unto perfection, the other drawing back unto perdition. Look at Israel in the wilderness. After
their first experience at Marah one would have thought that the next problem concerning water would, at once, have
thrown them back on the memory of the Lord's earlier intervention on their behalf, and that they would have trusted
in quiet confidence. But no, so far as they were concerned, the discipline of Marah was wasted upon them; they
were not `exercised thereby'. Let us not pass through trials and reap no benefit! Let us ever seek to be `exercised'
by the discipline of our pathway, and then it will turn to our profit and the Lord's glory. This exercise is the mark of
the `perfect' or mature: `But strong meat belongeth to them that are perfect, even those who by reason of use have
their senses exercised to discern both good and evil' (Heb. 5:14). A baby has senses, a man has senses exercised. A