Having now considered what the desires of the Father for His children are, we pass on to another branch of our subject—His government of His family. For if God has His family He must of necessity order it, according to His own mind, for His own glory, and for the blessing of every one of its members. Having committed to each child the honor and privilege of being His representative before men, it is impossible that He can permit them to continue in self-will or self-pleasing. He has therefore instituted a holy government over them—a government which carries with it, as all governments must, provision for chastisement in case of insubjection and disobedience, and rewards for those who acknowledge and submit themselves to it. It is well that every child of God should understand this; for nothing is more alarming than the wide-prevailing claim on the part of many of the people of God to be a law unto themselves. No; if by grace I am a member of God’s family, the Father’s will must be my only law; His authority must be ever zealously maintained. The honor of God as our Father is concerned in it, and my own happiness, and the happiness of all the children of God, is dependent on it. If but one child in a family refuses the parental control, he brings discord and unhappiness into the midst of the household. All are affected by it. So is it likewise in God’s family. All His children are so linked up together that they must be affected, consciously or unconsciously, by one another’s conduct. All alike therefore are concerned in upholding the Father’s authority.
If we now turn to a passage in 1 Peter, we shall find the principle of this government clearly stated. He says, “If ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear” (1 Peter 1:1717And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: (1 Peter 1:17)). This scripture, from the want of careful consideration, has been the subject of much misconception. It has sometimes been spoken of as referring to the future judgment — to our manifestation before the judgment — seat of Christ. But this is impossible; for the Lord Himself expressly tells us that “the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son” (John 5:2222For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: (John 5:22)). It cannot then be the judgment in the future, whether before the judgment-seat of Christ, or the great white throne; from both these alike it is the Son who will pronounce the award. What, then, is the judgment to which Peter refers? It is the judgment which the Father carries on daily in the midst of His family—a present judgment therefore, and not a future one. And nothing can be more solemn than the way in which it is here stated. In human families the parental government is often very remiss and uncertain. Through the weakness of the parents’ hearts many offenses are unnoticed, and the greatest transgressor oftentimes escapes. Partiality or favoritism too frequently destroys the peace and comfort of many a home. It is not so in the family of God. Though He loves, or rather because He loves, all His children with a perfect love, there is no respect of persons with Him, no indulgence shown to one more than another; but He deals with all alike in maintaining His authority and government for the welfare and blessing of all.
And the judgment is according to every man’s work. By Him actions are weighed with unerring accuracy; for He seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. Only thus is it possible to discover the true character of our works. Outwardly they may often seem good and beautiful, but the revelation of the motive from whence they sprung would perhaps entirely change our estimate. The Father’s eye rests upon the inmost springs of our conduct, and He therefore is never deceived. The nature of every word we speak, and every act we do, is at once apparent to Him, and upon this knowledge this righteous, yet tender and loving, judgment is based.
It would make an immense difference if we lived in the recollection that we are thus before the Father’s eye, and under His government. Hence, indeed, the exhortation which the Spirit of God gives us through Peter. If this be so, pass the time of sojourning here in fear; that is, a gracious fear of grieving the Father’s heart, the fear which springs from the sense of the holiness of His character. The Apostle Paul, after bringing in the truth of our future manifestation before the judgment-seat of Christ, says, “Knowing the terror” (fear) “of the Lord, we persuade men.” It is well, indeed, for our hearts to remember that while we are brought into the most tender and intimate relationships with God as our Father, He is ever the Holy One, and that His government of His family is also holy. Confidence in His grace and love, and the full enjoyment of liberty in His presence, which He in grace has accorded to us, should never prevent, but rather lead to, our cherishing the most reverential fear. It is true that perfect love casteth out fear—all fear of God as a Judge; but it brings with it and intensifies the holy fear of which Peter speaks.
This will be further seen if we notice the grounds on which he urges the exhortation—“Forasmuch as ye know,” he proceeds, “that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who by Him do believe in God, that raised Him up from the dead, and gave Him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.” He thus reminds us that God has absolute claims upon His children as founded upon redemption. These two things are always connected. In Exodus 12 God spares the Israelites (their first-born) in consequence of the sprinkled blood of the passover lamb; and in chapter 13 the feast of unleavened bread is instituted, whereby the children of Israel are taught that the whole period of their lives, typified by the seven days, must be consecrated to God. The apostle alludes to this when he says, “For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor. 5:7-87Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 8Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Corinthians 5:7‑8)). Or, as he says in another place, “Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price” (1 Cor. 6:19-2019What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. (1 Corinthians 6:19‑20)).
But Peter seeks to enhance the character of God’s claims by pointing out the cost of our redemption. There were two symbols of redemption in the Old Testament Whenever the children of Israel were numbered God required that each man should give a ransom for his soul. This ransom money was expressed by half of a silver shekel, and this was “to make an atonement for their souls” (Ex. 30:11-1611And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 12When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them. 13This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the Lord. 14Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the Lord. 15The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls. 16And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls. (Exodus 30:11‑16)). On one occasion, in token of their gratitude for a remarkable preservation in the war against the Midianites, they offered gold instead of silver. (See Num. 31.) Both silver and gold, as the two most precious metals, were thus used as a figure of redemption. Peter alludes to this when he writes to these Hebrew believers and says, “Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold.... but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” He thus contrasts the value of the blood of Christ, its infinite value in the eyes of God—derived as it is from the whole truth of the person of Christ—with that of silver and gold; and the point to which he would call our attention is, that God’s claims upon His children are according to the preciousness of the blood by which they have been redeemed.
It was so typically in the case of the priests. At their consecration the blood of the ram was sprinkled on their right ears, right thumbs, and right toes—signifying that henceforward they were, according to the value of the blood, not their own, but Jehovah’s; that they were to hear, to act, and to walk for Him. So with ourselves. It is a simple but most blessed truth, that we belong to Him who has redeemed us. This settles every difficulty in our daily lives. It is now not our own will and pleasure, but God’s. We are turned to Him from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven. We can therefore now readily understand this apostolic precept—“If ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.
He even supplies an additional motive. This Lamb—the Lamb of God—has been entirely of God’s providing. He was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. God had thought of His people from all eternity, and had told out all His heart for them in the gift of His beloved Son; and when He who had died to redeem us lay in His grave, God came in and raised Him up out of death, and gave Him glory, that those who believe might have their faith and hope in God. Surely a God of perfect love and grace! He has redeemed us by the precious blood of Christ, He has made us His children, so that we address Him as our God and Father; and it is He who, in His government, judges according to every man’s work. Who should govern us if not God? Yea, the pillars of the government of His family, are His love and grace as exhibited in the gift of His only-begotten Son, and they rest upon that eternal redemption which was accomplished by the precious blood of Christ.
If we turn now to the epistle of the Hebrews, we shall find the character and object of the Father’s government more fully unfolded. There we read, in connection with the trials through which these saints were passing, “It is for chastening ye endure, God dealeth with you as sons: for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons” (Heb. 12:7-87If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. (Hebrews 12:7‑8)). Now chastening belongs to government, and it springs from the very relationship, as the writer of this epistle shows, between the father and the son. But the whole subject, as introduced here, is so interesting and profitable that it will be helpful if we examine it in its context.
In chapter 11 The subject of faith—faith as seen in its action and power—is dealt with, and numerous illustrations of it are adduced, as seen in the saints of old. But all these illustrious examples are but preparatory to, and as it were shadows of, the one perfect example of Christ. He alone, whatever the excellency and the devotedness of those who had gone before, He alone, is the leader and completer of faith, the only perfect exhibition of it from the commencement to the end of His course. “Wherefore,” says the writer of this epistle, “seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking” (looking off, away from all these witnesses) “unto Jesus, the Author [Leader] and Finisher of faith.” There the character of His life of faith is indicated in a few words. The joy set before Him is the encouragement and sustaining power; but His path itself is summed up briefly in these significant words, He “endured the cross, despising the shame.” Ah, what a life indeed was His!
“A mourner all His life was He,
A dying Lamb at last.”
Yes; the cross is the characteristic of the life of faith; but faith, which is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen, gives the power to despise its shame, and then at length, even as the Lord Himself is set down at the right hand of the throne of God, there will be the entrance upon the enjoyment of its fruition in His presence, where there is fullness of joy, and at His right hand (though this place belongs alone to Christ), where there are pleasures for evermore.
Now we have the object of the presentation of the perfect example of our blessed Lord. In the path of faith all must endure the cross. “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” The cross cannot be avoided. Self must be refused, and the cross taken up—death accepted. But God brings this in upon us frequently by the action of adversaries—persecutors. Hence the apostle says, “Consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood” (died a martyr’s death) “striving against sin.” He would thus encourage and console these believers by pointing them to the surpassing sufferings which Christ endured—sufferings which had their termination in a martyr’s death. His death was much more than this; for He was at the same time the sacrifice for sin; but here the question is simply of what He met with in the pathway of faith.
Having thus encouraged the fainting hearts of the saints by the example of Christ, the apostle now adduces another thing, and this it is that belongs especially to our subject of God’s government of His children. He proceeds, “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as 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.” The especial thing to be noted, as unfolding the ways of God with His children, is that He takes up “the contradiction of sinners,” the opposition and persecution we may meet with in the path of faith, and uses them as needed chastisement For in this scripture it is not the direct dealing of God’s hand that is alluded to, but the trials and difficulties attendant upon the path of a believer through this world, which God nevertheless uses as instruments for our needed chastisement and blessing.
And nothing can be more blessed than this when understood. And how quietly will our souls then repose upon God; for we learn that all these things are under His control, and that He uses them for our blessing. We have a beautiful illustration in the life of our Lord of the action of faith in the presence of the power of the enemy. In the garden of Gethsemane, when, under the guidance of Judas, a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees came to apprehend our Lord, Peter, with impetuous zeal and fleshly energy, drew his sword, “and smote the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear.... Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?” (John 18:3-113Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. 4Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye? 5They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. 6As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground. 7Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. 8Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way: 9That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none. 10Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. 11Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? (John 18:3‑11)). It was Satan who was leading on these evil men, stirring up “the contradiction of sinners” against our blessed Lord. Their thoughts and actions were wholly evil. But our Lord, in the perfection of His confidence and faith, was above these instruments of the Wicked One, and in communion with His Father, and He would thus receive the cup, not from Satan, but from the hands of the Father. He was therefore in perfect peace and calm, undisturbed by the malice and enmity of His adversaries, knowing that, though they were led captive by the devil at his will, there was a greater One behind the scene, using the wrath of Satan for the accomplishment of His blessed purposes of grace and love. Far be the thought that the Lord needed this contradiction of sinners against Himself. He did learn obedience by the things which He suffered; and all these persecutions and sorrows lay in the path on which He had entered for the accomplishment of the will of God. As the Captain of our salvation He was made perfect through sufferings. And just because of this it is so infinitely precious to look away from everything to Him—to Him who endured the cross and despised the shame.
Applying all this to ourselves in view of our subject, we may gather some most profitable lessons. We learn, first, to connect all that may befall us in our path, coming upon us however it may, through the injustice and wickedness of man, or through our circumstances, with our Father’s hand. Doing this we shall never be disturbed or disquieted, or be tempted to resent the action of others; but we shall quietly rest in the hands of our Father, in the spirit of David who said, when Shimei was cursing him, “The Lord hath said unto him, Curse David. Who then shall say, Wherefore hast thou done so?” Yes, it will still every rebellious thought, and pacify our rising indignation under the sense of injustice or persecution from others, if we can but in lowly humility and confidence say with our blessed Lord, “The cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?”
Secondly, we gather from the scripture in Hebrews that all these things are but the expressions of the Father’s love. It is, “Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth.” And again, “God dealeth with you as with sons.” It is therefore in Fatherly affection, watching over us in His tenderness, noting our need of correction and discipline, and permitting the very thing to come upon us which will accomplish the desired end. Earthly parents will too often overlook the failings of their children: they spare the rod because of their children’s crying, and thus in their fond partiality or weak indulgence allow the bad habit or evil tendency to go uncorrected. Not so with God. He loves us too well, and never spares His rod if thereby He can bless His children. But
“He lifts it up on high,
With pity in His heart,
That every stroke His children feel
May peace and joy impart.”
To enter into this will make an immense change in our experience. Meeting with trials and difficulties, we shall instantly ask, “What has the Father to say to us through these things?” In this way we shall receive nothing but blessing through the most adverse circumstances.
The third lesson has been anticipated, but may yet be stated in a distinct form. It is that God never chastens or scourges us unless there is something in us to require it. Having this truth in our minds, instead of complaining of our sorrows or trials, we shall at once seek, in the presence of God, to discover what secret sin or evil habit it is that has been suffered to pass unjudged, and has made it necessary for God to come in with His rod. For we must not forget that it is for chastening we endure, and that God dealeth with us as sons. Then, moreover, we shall not despise the chastening of the Lord, inasmuch as we shall have learned that He has a motive and a cause for it; nor shall we faint when we are rebuked of Him, assured as we shall be of His love in His action towards us.
There is also the solemn reminder that if we are without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are we bastards and not sons. Old Bishop Fuller has illustrated this truth by an incident. Walking down the street one day, he saw two boys quarreling, and watching them he perceived that one of the two was chiefly in fault. Presently a man came running out of a house, and seizing the lad who was least to blame, —he began to chastise him. The bishop interposing said, “Why do you beat that boy? It is the other who deserves it most.” “That may be,” replied the man; “but this is My son.” So it is; God chastises His children. “To be without chastisement therefore,” says the Spirit, “is a sign that you are bastards and not sons.” Asaph did not understand this truth, and therefore says, “I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.” But of himself he says, “All the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning” (Psa. 73:3-143For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. 5They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. 6Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. 7Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish. 8They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. 9They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. 10Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. 11And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High? 12Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches. 13Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. 14For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning. (Psalm 73:3‑14)). His difficulty was removed when he went into the sanctuary of God, and it is also met and explained by the Holy Spirit in this scripture (Heb. 12:88But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. (Hebrews 12:8)).
The apostle now proceeds to enforce his instruction, first, by a parallel, and then by a contrast. He reminds us that we gave the fathers of our flesh reverence when they corrected us. Subjection to and reverence for them belong to the relationship of children to their parents. It is this which is taken up and urged as a ground of submission to God in His chastening. “Shall we not,” he adds, “much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live?” The term “Father of spirits” is used in contrast with the “fathers of our flesh,” and the argument is, if we gave the latter reverence, much more should we do so to the Former. This, moreover, is the path of life. As one of old said, “God often shakes His rod that He may not strike, and He strikes that He may not kill.” In this He manifests His love—seeking to preserve His children from every false way—the way that seemeth right to a man, but the end of which is death.
The object of the chastening is now fully stated, and this as contrasted with the discipline to which we were subjected by the fathers of our flesh. These chastened us for a few days after their own pleasure, according as it seemed good to them, wisely or unwisely, and often, alas! from mere caprice or a passing feeling. Not so with God. He always has in view our profit, and the object that we might be partakers of His holiness. Such is the great end God ever proposes—our sanctification, conformity to the image of Christ. He seeks this by all the chastenings which we are called upon to endure. Like vines, our poor hearts send out tendrils in all directions, winding themselves around this and that object; and then it is that the Father permits trials or persecutions, or it may be sickness, to come in to snap these ties to objects other than Christ, and by the discovery of Himself and His love to us in these chastenings of His hand, He seeks to wean us from everything that might hinder our progress, and to attract us more fully to Himself.
It may be profitable to point out that there are different causes of our chastening. In 2 Corinthians12 we find that the object of the thorn in the flesh was to prevent the apostle from spiritual pride on account of the wondrous revelations made to him when he was caught up into Paradise. In 1 Corinthians 11 The Lord chastened His people for levity of conduct at His table. In John 15 the branch that beareth fruit is purged that it may bring forth more fruit. But whatever the cause, whatever it may be in us that makes the discipline necessary, the end proposed, in the unspeakable love of our God and Father, is our truest blessing.
What a view this subject gives us of the Father’s watchful care and love. His eye is ever upon us, noting our state and condition, and He adapts His dealings with us, and the character of His dealings, sending persecution or trials in our circumstances, or sicknesses, as may be most calculated to effect the desired end. He knows, and He alone, what will most quickly touch us, how hot the fire must be to purge away our dross, and He orders all accordingly; but He is faithful, and will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able, but will with the temptation make a way of escape, that we may be able to bear it Yea, “He stayeth His rough wind in the day of the east wind.” Blessed be His name!
But the Spirit of God reminds us that the process will not be pleasant “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.” God would have us feel the chastening. Indeed, His desire is to produce in us self-judgment and humiliation before Him; hence the blessed result is connected with our being exercised thereby. If there be no exercises of soul produced by His hand upon us, there will be no blessing. Whenever therefore He begins to deal with us, our first thought should be, “There is a cause for it,” and this should lead us into the presence of God, as it did David when the pressure of famine was upon the land, to inquire of the Lord. (See 2 Sam. 21.) He will then reveal to us wherefore He has been compelled to use His rod, and thus humbling ourselves under His mighty hand, He will give us in due time the enjoyment of the peaceable fruit of righteousness.
Having this end of God’s ways with us revealed, the apostle might well exhort us to courage and confidence. “Wherefore,” he says, “lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.” Faltering with distrust under chastisement may have the most disastrous effect upon feeble believers; whereas, on the other hand, God is glorified abundantly, and souls are blessed when a saint, passing through deep waters, leans with unshaken trust on the arm and heart of Him who is thus dealing with him. We cannot therefore too often assure ourselves of God’s end in our chastisement, nor can we count too confidently upon His love to sustain us under it Being our Father in His grace, He must govern us, according to His own will; but the end of His government is our most perfect blessing.