he topic of this study is a necessary precursor for many other studies. To grasp this truth will change our entire viewpoint and make an eternal life difference in how we view our God, His Word, and life on this earth.
Jesus and His disciples had left Judea and passed through Samaria on their way to Galilee. The Bible says, “Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with His journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give Me to drink” (John 4:6, 7 KJV).
In just minutes after meeting this woman Jesus turned the conversation from a drink of water to the woman’s personal relationships. When He tells her to call her husband she replies that she has no husband. In response He said, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly” (John 4:17, 18 NKJV).
Put yourself in this woman’s shoes. A total stranger, a stranger of a hated people, has just walked into your space, space that you have chosen carefully and well to shield yourself from public contact. This stranger then initiates conversation, and within just a few minutes is laying bare those very secrets that compelled you to draw water during the hottest hours of the day, those same hours when others choose the cooler comforts of home!
“Christ, at Jacob’s well, laid open the sinful life and character of the woman of Samaria. ‘Unnecessary, uncourteous,’ say many.” The Signs of the Times, June 15, 1876. Is this your view also? Are you among the “many” that are referred to here?
Let’s turn to another story. “There was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Then Jesus said to him, ‘Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe’ ” (John 4:46–48 NKJV). Again, let us put ourselves in the shoes of this nobleman. Here he is in a heart-wrenching situation, seeking healing for his greatest earthly treasure—his son who is at the point of death. Moments may very well determine life or death—and Jesus meets him with reproof.
Spirit of Prophecy expounds on this: “When the nobleman came to Him asking Him to heal his son, He [Jesus] met him with a reproof for their unbelief. ‘Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.’ Thus was his eager entreaty met. He was not only greatly disappointed, but chagrined.” The Signs of the Times, June 15, 1876. What would have been your response?
Now we turn to yet another scenario. At the very time when sin first entered this world, God instituted a ceremony, carried out by divine decree, twice a day—the sacrificial service. Of this service Inspiration says, “The sacrificial offerings were ordained by God to be to man a perpetual reminder … of his sin.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 68. [Emphasis supplied.] God Himself designed, ordained, instituted and instructed Adam and Eve regarding this service. It was God who intended it to be a perpetual, that means ongoing or continuous reminder of their sin. Twice a day God, in love, saying, “You are a sinner. You are a sinner.” Why?
We read another incident in the life of Jesus, “And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves” (Matthew 21:12, 13 KJV).
“He [Jesus] looked upon them and, with indignant sorrow, He poured out the money of the changers; He overthrew the tables, and with a whip of small cords, drove the cattle and people out of the court. With majestic authority He commands, ‘Take these things hence; make not My Father’s house a house of merchandise’ (John2:16). ‘It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.’ ” The Signs of the Times, June 15, 1876.
Pointed, public rebuke of sin. And this was not the rabble, the outcasts of society, the lower classes. Inspiration continues, “This language was close and cutting indeed. It was not addressed to the rabble, but to the chief priests, to the teachers of the people.” Ibid.
Jesus, the gentle, meek, loving, mild, long-suffering, patient, courteous, kind Saviour, rebuked and reproved those who would seem to be perfect strangers, those in power, those who had a high opinion of themselves and of their righteousness.
These are just a few examples of the courteous rebuke in Scripture. We could add Nicodemus, David, Cain, Saul—the first king of Israel, Saul who turned to Paul, and the list goes on. Somehow, I think we have a real problem or difficulty accepting the reality of this side of Christ. But as Inspiration says, there was a wise purpose in everything Christ said and did. So, what was His purpose? What was, and is, His purpose in being so pointed about our sin?
There is a very compelling and real reason. REBUKE or DISCIPLINE truly spell LOVE. How so? Here is why.
“Christ, at Jacob’s well, laid open the sinful life and character of the woman of Samaria.” Pointed, explicit exposure of sin. Why? Here is the reason. “Jesus knew that this was the only way to reach the case. But how many would complain of such a way of saving souls. When the nobleman came to Him asking Him to heal his son, he met Him with a reproof for their unbelief. ‘Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.’ Thus was his eager entreaty met. He was not only greatly disappointed, but chagrined. …” Ibid.
Speaking of people’s assessment of Jesus’ treatment of the nobleman Inspiration says, “But how many in these days would have allowed the feelings of their own natural heart to overbear their judgment, and become impatient and unreconciled to Jesus’ manner of working? They would have said, ‘Why pain and seemingly disappoint the father, when He might have healed his son at once with His word.’ ” The Inspired word explains. “He [Jesus] designed that the repulse should expand the feeble faith of the parent, and it had this effect.
“His work was to bless and save. He covered His glory with humanity, bringing from Heaven the very best gifts which could be given to man; spoke peace, gave messages of light and hope. But all these gifts were considered as matters of course; the gift was received but the Giver forgotten. They walked in the light with no thought of gratitude to Him from whom its beams proceeded. When the chastisement came in reproof, in warning, or by affliction, to save from apostasy and ruin, then there was a turning upon Jesus with a defiant, stubborn, impenitent resistance which was fearful. And why, says the proud, perverse spirit, must I be crushed by rebuke? Why must I be humiliated? They forget all the light, all the favors previously given, and feel that they are abused because God takes with them the only course which will bring them to a knowledge of themselves, that they may find peace in Him through submission, penitence for sin, and confiding trust in God. For this reason God sends to the church the greatest blessing He can give them in a knowledge of themselves. Satan is alluring them to sin that they may be lost; God gives a clear presentation of their sins that they may repent and be saved. The greatest danger of the world is, that sin does not appear sinful. This is the greatest evil existing in the church; sin is glossed over with self-complacency. Blessed indeed are they who possess a sensitive conscience; who can weep and mourn over their spiritual poverty and wanderings from God; who are poor in spirit and can receive the reproof God sends them; and who, with confessions and brokenness of heart, will take their places, all penitent, in humiliation at the cross of Christ. God knows it is good for men to tread a hard and humble path, to encounter difficulties, to experience disappointments, and to suffer affliction. Faith strengthens by coming in conflict with doubt, and resisting unbelief through the strength of Jesus.
“They who despise reproof will be left to their own devices.” Ibid.
Friends, Jesus rebukes because He knows it is the greatest blessing He can give us, a knowledge of ourselves; that is, an understanding that we are sinners, exposed to the wrath of a holy God, doomed to the second death. He does this so that we will come to Him and be cleansed from sin, healed from the fatal disease of sin. He knows that we cannot be saved in our sin, so He points out that sin that we might repent and be saved from it.
Let’s turn to a few illustrations of the practical outworking of this principle. We will begin with two examples of people that rejected the “greatest blessing,” or love (R-E-B-U-K-E), Jesus’ true, principled love.
“Judas saw the sick, the lame, the blind, flock to Jesus from the towns and cities. He saw the dying laid at His feet. He witnessed the Saviour’s mighty works in healing the sick, casting out devils, and raising the dead. He felt in his own person the evidence of Christ’s power. He recognized the teaching of Christ as superior to all that he had ever heard. He loved the Great Teacher, and desired to be with Him. He felt a desire to be changed in character and life, and he hoped to experience this through connecting himself with Jesus.” The Desire of Ages, 717.
This description sounds like that of a converted, dedicated person. But Jesus knew the depths of Judas’ heart. Christ knew that Judas had a covetous disposition, and that, left untreated, this evil would work his ruin.
Then we read, “Christ’s discourse in the synagogue concerning the bread of life was the turning point in the history of Judas. He heard the words, ‘Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you’ (John 6:53). He saw that Christ was offering spiritual rather than worldly good. He regarded himself as farsighted, and thought he could see that Jesus would have no honor, and that He could bestow no high position upon His followers. He determined not to unite himself so closely to Christ but that he could draw away. He would watch. And he did watch.” Ibid., 719.
And then still further in the chapter, Inspiration records these tragic words: “In all that Christ said to His disciples, there was something with which, in heart, Judas disagreed. Under his influence the leaven of disaffection was fast doing its work. The disciples did not see the real agency in all this; but Jesus saw that Satan was communicating his attributes to Judas, and thus opening up a channel through which to influence the other disciples. This, a year before the betrayal, Christ declared. ‘Have not I chosen you twelve,’ He said, ‘and one of you is a devil’ (John 6:70)?
“Yet Judas made no open opposition, nor seemed to question the Saviour’s lessons. He made no outward murmur until the time of the feast in Simon’s house. When Mary anointed the Saviour’s feet, Judas manifested his covetous disposition. At the reproof from Jesus his very spirit seemed turned to gall. Wounded pride and desire for revenge broke down the barriers, and the greed so long indulged held him in control. This will be the experience of everyone who persists in tampering with sin. The elements of depravity that are not resisted and overcome, respond to Satan’s temptation, and the soul is led captive at his will.” Ibid., 720.
Judas’ spirit rose up in pride and in opposition to the rebuke of Jesus, though the heart of our Saviour was bleeding with pain over the sin cherished in one of His loved disciples. Because Judas refused the lesson in the rebuke, he later became the betrayer of Divinity, the very One who had come to save him from himself, from his sin, from his pride and offer to him the precious boon of eternal life. The greatest blessing rejected brought eternal ruin.
“When Cain saw that his offering was rejected, he was angry with the Lord and with Abel; he was angry that God did not accept man’s substitute in place of the sacrifice divinely ordained, and angry with his brother for choosing to obey God instead of joining in rebellion against Him. Notwithstanding Cain’s disregard of the divine command, God did not leave him to himself; but He condescended to reason with the man who had shown himself so unreasonable. And the Lord said unto Cain, ‘Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?’ Through an angel messenger the divine warning was conveyed: ‘If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door’ (Genesis 4:7). The choice lay with Cain himself. If he would trust to the merits of the promised Saviour, and would obey God’s requirements, he would enjoy His favor. But should he persist in unbelief and transgression, he would have no ground for complaint because he was rejected by the Lord.
“But instead of acknowledging his sin, Cain continued to complain of the injustice of God and to cherish jealousy and hatred of Abel. He angrily reproached his brother, and attempted to draw him into controversy concerning God’s dealings with them.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 73, 74.
For what purpose did God rebuke both Judas and Cain? Was it from vengeance, from anger, from retaliation or revenge? No, it was from a heart yearning with love. Hear the words of this same God to a group of people who were in rebellion, in rejection of His warnings and reproofs.
“Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel” (Ezekiel 33:11)? Friends, do you hear the pathos, the longing in the voice of our God? He sees the end of sin not as a human can see it. He sees the reward of humility and repentance. It is a great heart of love that rebukes.
Let us turn to two examples of rebuke received.
“The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, ‘There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.
“ ‘Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.’
“David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.’
“Then Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man!’ ” “Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord’ ” (2 Samuel 12:1–7, first part, 13 NIV).
David accepted the rebuke. He was forgiven. He was restored to a relationship with His God, the Life-Giver.
“When Cephas (Peter) came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.
“When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, ‘You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs’ ” (Galatians 2:11–14 NIV)?
Inspiration says of Peter’s response to this rebuke, “Peter saw the error into which he had fallen, and immediately set about repairing it as far as possible.” Sketches from the Life of Paul, 72. Peter, one of the lead apostles, publicly rebuked by Paul, gratefully acknowledging his error, accepted the rebuke, and immediately did what he could to repair the damage.
If we are to inherit eternal life, we must learn to not only accept rebuke, but appreciate it for what it is, God’s love, His yearning, His purpose to save us.
God reproves because He loves. And His instructions to us are life. We must learn to see, understand and value this aspect of our God, and the absolute necessity for it in our own lives, not the life of our neighbor, our friend, our husband or wife, but in our own life.
There is a beautiful description God gave us of how we are to accept His rebuke. It is my prayer that you will study this instruction carefully, prayerfully, and cherish the attitudes portrayed in it.
“Those who are reproved by the Spirit of God should not rise up against the humble instrument. It is God, and not an erring mortal, who has spoken to save them from ruin.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 257.
“It is not pleasing to human nature to receive reproof, nor is it possible for the heart of man, unenlightened by the Spirit of God, to realize the necessity of reproof or the blessing it is designed to bring. As man yields to temptation, and indulges in sin, his mind becomes darkened. The moral sense is perverted. The warnings of conscience are disregarded, and its voice is less clearly heard. He gradually loses the power to distinguish between right and wrong, until he has no true sense or his standing before God. He may observe the forms of religion and zealously maintain its doctrines, while destitute of its spirit. His condition is that described by the True Witness: ‘Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked’ (Revelation 3:17). When the Spirit of God, by message of reproof, declares this to be his condition, he cannot see that the message is true. Is he therefore to reject the warning? No. God has given sufficient evidence, so that all who desire to do so may satisfy themselves as to the character of the Testimonies; and, having acknowledged them to be from God, it is their duty to accept reproof, even though they do not themselves see the sinfulness of their course. If they fully realized their condition, what would be the need of reproof? Because they know it not, God mercifully sets it before them, so that they may repent and reform before it shall be too late. ‘Those who despise the warning will be left in blindness to become self-deceived; but those who heed it, and zealously go about the work of separating their sins from them in order to have the needed graces, will be opening the door of their hearts that the dear Saviour may come in and dwell with them.’
“Those who are most closely connected with God are the ones who know His voice when He speaks to them. Those who are spiritual discern spiritual things. Such will feel grateful that the Lord has pointed out their errors.” Ibid., vol. 5, 682, 683.
This instruction requires the setting aside of pride and protection of self, but, of what do we have to be proud? We are sinners. Why deny the truth and lose the opportunity of cleansing, of healing, of eternal life? We would consider it foolish for one to reject and become angered over a medical diagnosis of an illness that would be terminal without treatment. Sin is no different. Sin is a terminal disease—and there is a cure, a complete, total, perfect cure! But in order to receive that treatment, it requires the acceptance of rebuke and discipline, private or public, and maybe both. Is eternal life worth it to you? Is a home in the Kingdom of Glory and a seat on the throne with our Saviour for eternity worth accepting, with thanksgiving and gratitude, the rebuke of the God who loves us and knows that rebuke is our only hope of that salvation?
Remember, “God gives a clear presentation of their sins that they may repent and be saved. The greatest danger of the world is, that sin does not appear sinful. This is the greatest evil existing in the church; sin is glossed over with self-complacency. Blessed indeed are they who possess a sensitive conscience; who can weep and mourn over their spiritual poverty and wanderings from God; who are poor in spirit and can receive the reproof God sends them; and who, with confessions and brokenness of heart, will take their places, all penitent, in humiliation at the cross of Christ. God knows it is good for men to tread a hard and humble path, to encounter difficulties, to experience disappointments, and to suffer affliction. Faith strengthens by coming in conflict with doubt, and resisting unbelief through the strength of Jesus.” The Signs of the Times, June 15, 1876.
Please, contemplate this truth. Choose to appreciate God’s spelling of the word love. Appreciate REBUKE or DISCIPLINE for what they really are, God’s heart of yearning love for us, seeking to reach us in the only way that He can truly save us.
Brenda Douay is a staff member at Steps to Life. She may be contacted by email at: brendadouay@stepstolife.org.