In the sermon titled 'Harsh Discipline', Peter Allison explores the concept of discipline as depicted in Proverbs 15, emphasizing the Hebrew word 'musar'. He connects this to the New Testament's 'paideia', illustrating a continuity in the scriptural understanding of correction as a means of nurturing spiritual maturity. Discipline, or 'musar', is not merely punitive but a formative process intended to shape character and foster wisdom. The sermon highlights various communication forms of discipline, including teaching, observation, and correction, and underscores its role in preventing sin, testing faith, and nurturing a deeper fellowship with God. Allison warns against forsaking the way, which leads to harsh discipline, and stresses the importance of accepting God's correction as an expression of His love, ultimately pointing to Christ's bearing of our chastisement for our peace with God. The sermon concludes with a call to embrace discipline as a means of preserving communion with God and growing in spiritual maturity.

Please turn with me in your copy of the scriptures to Proverbs 15. We'll be looking at verses 10-12 this morning, but I would like to read for context the first 12 verses. Proverbs 15, beginning reading at verse 1. A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.

The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit. A fool despises his father's instruction, but he who receives correction is prudent. In the house of the righteous there is much treasure, but in the revenue of The wicked is trouble. The lips of the wise disperse knowledge, but the heart of the fool does not do so.

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight. The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but he loves him who follows righteousness. Harsh discipline is for him who forsakes the way, and he who hates correction will die. Hell and destruction are before the Lord. So how much more the hearts of the sons of men?

A scoffer does not love one who corrects him, nor will he go to the wise." Thus far the reading of God's Word. May He add His blessing to its reading and its hearing. Almighty Heavenly Father, we give you thanks that you have preserved your word, that you have written it down, that you have given it to us, and that you proclaim it through your messengers. We ask that You would give us ears to hear, and hearts to understand, and feet and hands that desire to do and to obey. We ask that You might now speak to us through Your Word and through Your Holy Spirit, who is living and active, who is God and who dwells with us.

In Christ's name we pray, Amen. Amen. If you're like me when you were young in your father's house, you look forward to the day when you would grow up and move away or move out and no longer be under the instruction and the correction and the chastisement of your Father. And then you, if you're like me, grew up and moved out away from the correction and chastisement of your earthly father, only to find that you still needed corrected and chastised by your heavenly father. It's just an integral part of growing up as humans, but it's also an integral part of our life as Christians, our life as children of the heavenly King.

It's an integral part of growing up, and in particular this correction, instruction, what our text in verse 10 refers to as discipline, or in the King James, I think it's correction, it's a particular responsibility of fathers. And when people lament about Somebody growing up without a father or the ills that come to society By the absence of fathers They are lamenting the tragedy of growing up without chastisement, without the correction, the instruction that a father in particular, brings both fathers and mothers. But it is particularly fathers who God has ordained as the instruments of that instruction. So this word that's So this word that's translated discipline here is a Hebrew word, musar, that entails a lot more than what we might think of as just correction Or or it entails a shaping of character to produce spiritual maturity and wisdom and Spiritual maturity is not just understanding lots of Bible stories and all the names and facts and so on in the Bible, or even understanding a lot of doctrine and theology. It's not just possessing spiritual gifts even.

Paul told the Corinthian church that they possessed all spiritual gifts. They were short no spiritual gifts, He told them. But then he went on to call them spiritual babes who needed milk and not meat. See the result of Musar, the result of this instruction, this discipline, this correction is that we become mature like Christ. Many of us are probably familiar with this concept as it's used in the New Testament.

But this word here in our text is directly connected to the word, the similar word in the Greek that's used in the New Testament. It's connected directly in a couple of ways. Musar, the word that this word is used in Proverbs 15 more than any other chapter in the book of Proverbs and it's used in Proverbs more than any other place in the whole Old Testament. Significantly more, way more. It's probably half of the uses in the Old Testament come in Proverbs.

And this chapter 15 that we're looking at this morning uses it the most. What is it? What is this discipline? We've defined it, giving you an outline, but let's look at a few places in Scripture. We're going to go into the New Testament, but I'm not going to just jump there without first explaining and showing the real direct connection between our text and it's talking about discipline and the New Testament word for the same thing, for discipline.

So we have this direct connection because Proverbs 3.11 says, My son, do not despise the Mussar, the chastening of the Lord, nor be weary of his correction. And Paul quotes that verse verbatim in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 5. He gives us an exact quote of that. That. When he says to the Hebrews, God speaks to us as sons, He says in Hebrews 12.5, you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as sons.

Then he quotes from Proverbs, my son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him. For whom the Lord loves, He chastens and scourges every son whom he receives." So we have a connection here that Paul gives us in the scriptures between this word, musar, in the Old Testament, and this word that Paul is using as chastening in the New Testament. The New Testament word is paideia. You might recognize that word, we get things like pedagogy are ultimately derived from that word paideia, but that's the New Testament, that's the Greek word for the exact same thing. So we can enhance or fill out our understanding of what's involved in this discipline, this this Musar, by looking at some of the places in the New Testament that speak of the same thing.

In fact, we also we have another connection because when the Septuagint was written before Christ, which was a Greek translation of the Old Testament, they used the word paideia to translate this Discipline in verse 10. Discipline is for him who forsakes the way. So we have this tight connection then between the Old Testament concept, Old Testament word Musar, which is instruction, discipline, and the New Testament word for the same thing, paideia. So we see, and then if we look at the Bible's use of this word, that this discipline, this instruction can be communicated through simply teaching, instruction, what we think of as what a teacher does in school, a lecture, a discussion. And that's how it's used in in Ephesians 6 where where Paul told fathers to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord that word nurture is the word paideia fathers you see here are especially instructed to bring up their children with this instruction, with this teaching, or what the King James says, nurture.

And so that's one important aspect. If we're going to rightly understand this word, is to see it as nurture. Paul said the Lord loves those that he nurtures in this way, that he chastens and scourges every son whom he receives. This word paideia or musar in the Old Testament is first of all instruction and nurture It's the opposite of provoking to wrath We also see it in In first Timothy or second Timothy 316 All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, teaching. The Word of God is profitable for this paideia, for this musar.

And so that's the first way that we see this discipline is communicated to us. It's in the way of teaching, in the way of nurturing teaching by word by the word of God is Paul talks about in Timothy and by example And if others are to give an example to their children now it can also be communicated this this discipline can also be communicated by observation. There's an example of that in Proverbs chapter 24 where Solomon learns, he's instructed, he is disciplined by observation. In Proverbs 24 in verse 30 we read that Solomon says, I went by the field of the lazy man, and by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding, and it was all overgrown with thorns, and its surface was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. And when I saw it, I thought about it.

I Pondered this I considered it well I Looked on it and Received the SAR I received Instruction and What was the instruction that he received? About poverty. He was instructed about poverty by watching how other people, allowing a little slumber, a little folding of the hands in activity, to bring a place to ruins. Solomon says he was instructed, He received this discipline by just keeping his eyes open. You know, younger children in the family talk about birth order and the impact.

Younger children are often very good at receiving correction, discipline that way. They can look and they can observe and see how other things how things turn out With other of their siblings and they can learn they can be they can receive correction through observation If there is a in this case Solomon received this by a bad example. He learned from a bad example, leading people to, leading people who have failed in many ways to say, I'm at least good for something. I'm good for a bad example. And that's true.

That's true. Solomon learned, was instructed from a bad example. But we can also be instructed by good examples on what to do. But thirdly, this instruction, this misar, this paideia, can also be communicated through chastisement, through correction, and sometimes that's not pleasant. And sometimes, or that's not pleasant.

Oops. So that's how it's communicated. But what is its purpose? What is the role of discipline? We've said it's a sign that God loves us, so it does communicate that somebody cares about us, that somebody's watching out for us.

So in that sense, it can communicate love. Heavenly Father's Musar, his instruction, communicates to us that he cares about us. One of the ways you communicate you don't love somebody is by not caring about them, particularly within your family. Hebrews goes on to say that if we endure chastening, paideia, Then God deals with us as with sons, for what son is he whom a father does not chase him? But if you are without chastisement, whereof everyone's a partaker, then he says you're bastards, you're illegitimate children and not sons.

So it's a sign that God loves us. Sometimes it's necessary, the role of this discipline is necessary to prevent sin. God sends it to us to keep us from sin. Paul said that he was chastened. He had a thorn in the flesh.

We don't know exactly what that was. It may have had something to do with his eyes. But it was some physical disability that was given to him. It was given to Paul to prevent him, Paul says, it was given to him to prevent pride, to prevent him from being puffed up. He was somebody to whom great things had been given.

He just talks about being caught up in that passage, being caught up into the third heaven and seeing things that nobody could write about. And then he says, but in order that I should be Exalted above measure by the abundance of these revelations by the great privilege That I've received a thorn in the flesh was given to me a messenger from Satan to buffet me Lest I should be exalted above measure and he prayed to the Lord he prayed three times he says to the Lord that the Lord would take away this chastity and God said no now God told him my grace is sufficient for you for my strength is made perfect in weakness." And so Paul then said therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. This was an instruction, a chastening that God sent in His mercy because He loved Paul and because He wanted to keep him from falling into temptation and sin. So Paul said, Paul then turned this chastening into something that he would glory in in order that Christ May be exalted through his life Now sometimes this instruction is given to us to test us, to test us, or to strengthen us in the faith.

James tells us in that very familiar passage, the one we always think about whenever we're tempted to impatience. Hopefully we think about it first and not second. James says, count it a joy when you fall into various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. David said it was good when He was afflicted so that he might learn God's statutes. The whole 40-year period that Israel was in the wilderness, God said that was to test the Israelites.

That was a period of testing, of chastening. Yes, it was because they had rejected God, they had not heeded His Word. But God says it was also to test you to see what was in your hearts. And God knows what's in our hearts, as the next verse says in our text, but He's testing us to show to us what's in our hearts. Because we often can think more highly of ourselves than we ought.

We can overlook what's in our hearts. We can think of ourselves as we're doing pretty good. We're not perfect, but we're doing pretty good. Until the Lord comes and tests us. And then we can see how miserable we really are.

It's discipline, musar, paideia, can test us and show to us in these tests that we may not be as spiritual, we may not be as sanctified as we'd like to believe. Now no chastening, no paideia or musar for the present seems to be joyous. It's grievous It's grievous But afterward Paul said then it brings the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those which are exercised in it. It's not just the mere fact that we endure a chastening, a time of chastening, that brings the peaceable fruit of righteousness. It's when we counted a joy.

It's when we're able to say with David, it's good that I was chastened so that I might learn your statutes. Or we can say with Paul, I will glory in my infirmity that Christ might be exalted in me. So that's the role of discipline. Our text says that harsh discipline, though, puts an adjective in front of it. This is a very specific kind of discipline all discipline chastening in that sense can be Grievous, it's not nice when we are chastened or corrected by the Lord or or anyone else.

But this is speaking about harsh discipline. Harsh discipline. Harsh discipline is something that gives pain, something that's harsh. This is the word actually for evil here. It's something that brings unhappiness, something that brings misery.

It's something that is bad and disagreeable, something that's not pleasant. So this kind of chastening, this kind of discipline is for those who have forsaken the way. So there's a special sort of discipline, harsh discipline, grievous for those who have forsaken the way. First of all, this is speaking about people who were following the way, right? Those who have forsaken the way, it's referring to the way of the Lord.

This proverbs again speaks about the way more than any other book in the New Testament or in the Old Testament. Actually any other book of the Bible old Ordinary Testament The way is used to refer in in the New Testament to Christianity Christianity was called Excuse me Christians were called people of the way. And that's a metomony to refer to the course of one's life, the direction, how we are, where we are walking to. And Jesus said, I am the way. I am the way, the truth and the life.

And in saying that, he wasn't just saying that he was the way that we have to get to heaven, but He is the way to the Father, to fellowship with God. Jesus is the way to fellowship with God. Heaven is to enjoy unbroken fellowship, communion with the triune God, without the presence of sin or sickness. It's to worship the Lord without wandering thoughts. It's to labor without toil and without sorrow.

Jesus is the way to that fellowship. He is the means of that fellowship. He is the source of that fellowship. And so to forsake the way has to fundamentally be seen as to depart from that fellowship, that intimacy, that communion with God that we enjoy through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, who walks with us, who lives in us. Harsh discipline is for him who forsakes the way.

First Corinthians 5 describes a member of the Corinthian church who had forsaken the way. He was turned over to Satan. Remember, he was the one who was sleeping with his father's wife and the church was tolerating it instead of being horrified by it. And Paul said that when that church came together, they were to turn this person over to Satan for the destruction of their flesh so that their spirit might be saved in the day of salvation. That is harsh discipline for somebody who has forsaken the way.

But Long before we reach those types of extreme forsaking of the way, those outward forsaking of the way, long before we get to that point in our life, We have forsaken the way in our thinking. Notice this next verse. Hell and destruction are before the Lord. So how much more the hearts of the sons of men. Hell and destruction.

Hell is a shield. It's the grave. And the Bible speaks about, when the King James Bible translates hell, the modern translations like the ESV will translate it as shiel. But it's referring to the grave. It's referring to where we go when we die, the intermediate state.

When our body and our soul are separated, our body rests in the grave. The Bible speaks about going to Sheol in the grave. It says that there are no words there, there are no praise there, there is nothing in Sheol. It is where our body is resting without life. But it's sometimes more broadly used just to refer to that whole intermediate estate.

Hell or Sheol, the grave and destruction are before the Lord. The Lord knows all about these things. We don't know much about these things, do we? We know very little. We have a very imperfect understanding of heaven and what it will be like, and so forth.

But these things the Lord knows. How much more the hearts of the sons of men. This is what we call an off-forteori argument. Arguing from the stronger to the weaker. If somebody can lift one ton, then we know that they can lift one pound.

That's the kind of argument that is here. You would say, well, he can lift that big heavy bag, then he certainly can lift this light little load. That's the argument that Solomon is using. Hell, Sheol, the grave, destruction, The Lord knows these things. These are inscrutable things to us that we have very poor, incomplete understanding of.

We know some things. But God knows these things. They're always before Him. How much more than our hearts and the thoughts of our, what we're thinking. When the Bible speaks of heart, it's speaking of our mind, of our inner being.

The seat of our, not only the seat of our emotions, but the seat of our thinking this is our our heart Where our affections are you know where our where our Desires are headed We can hide that from other people. We can hide the thoughts of our heart. We can put a smile on our face and say things that are contrary to what we are thinking. We call that, well, who does that? Actors do that.

Have you ever watched a play and you see the actors in character and then seen them after the play and they're like different people? They look the same. They may even have the same clothes on, but they're just different. Because in the play, they are hypocrites. That's what the Greek word for actor was, a hypocrite.

We get our word hypocrite from the Greek word for actor, because a good actor could portray something different from what he was inside. Now we may not know the difference. Somebody may be very good at putting on an act in front of us and projecting a certain persona, and projecting certain personality even. And projecting certain personality even. But God looks upon our heart.

And He knows what we're thinking. And he knows whether what's in our heart is What's on our face? And so forsaking the way begins In our heart as we begin to test God as we begin to doubt the Word of God as We begin to wander from the truth it begins in our thinking God calls us to forsake our futile way of thinking and to think his thoughts after him To be sanctified not just in the things that we say and do But in the things that we think because the things ultimately that we say and do come out of the soil of our heart and our thoughts. And so the harsh discipline that is necessary for those who have forsaken the way can sometimes come upon us because we have forsaken God in our thinking and in our thinking and in our heart we have turned aside from the way. If you read the stories of any people who have apostatized, people like Charles Templeton or Sheryl Lindsay Seeloff.

She's a modern person. Charles Templeton was Billy Graham before Billy Graham. Charles Templeton was an evangelist that Billy Graham wanted to grow up to be like. Charles Templeton drew tens of thousands of people when he spoke. But in his thinking, he forsook the way.

He began to doubt the Word of God and whether it was true. I'm not going to go into that story, it's a very instructive story to read sometimes to what he did, the things in the Word of God that he was doubting. And it became a bigger and bigger problem for him. Bart Aerman is another one who has written a little bit about his thinking as he forsook the way into apostasy. In Numbers 20, when Moses struck the rock instead of speaking to it as God commanded him, God said that because he had disobeyed God, he would not be able to enter the promised land.

But it's interesting that it's both Aaron and Moses. So we read in verse 10 that Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock. And Moses said to them, here now you rebels, must we bring water out of this rock? And he lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod and water came out. Nothing is said about Aaron saying anything.

They lacked water. Moses and Aaron went before the Lord. They fell on their faces and the glory of the Lord appeared to them and God told Moses what to do. And they went out and Moses didn't do it, he struck the rock instead of speaking to it. And so the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, because you plural did not believe me to hallow me in the eyes of the children, therefore you plural will not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.

No, Aaron didn't say anything. But he must have thought something. He must have been thinking the same thing Moses was thinking. And it wasn't just because he was associated with them. In verse 24, God said, Aaron shall be gathered to his people for he shall not enter the land Which I have given to the children of Israel because you Rebelled against the my word at the water of Meribah their their consequence was that they would not be able to enter the Promised Land.

That was a significant consequence for Moses and Aaron. Even though nothing is said about Aaron doing anything wrong or incorrect. God knew his thoughts in his heart, and apparently they were the same as Moses' error. As Moses' error. If we truly believe that our hearts are open before the Lord, and He sees and knows them, Because if he can know about sheol in the grave, then he can certainly know about our hearts.

If we really believe that God sees our thoughts, that He knows our deepest recesses of our mind? Would we be willing to engage in all the thoughts that we do. Now how we respond to correction is very important. One's response to correction defines the difference between a fool, between folly and wisdom, between a fool and a wise person. See the wise receive correction and profit thereby.

Fools reject it and die. In fact, that is the defining characteristic of a fool, is someone who doesn't receive discipline. When we are young as children in our parents' home, receiving discipline entails a willingness to submit ourselves to their authority. And when we grow up it means the same thing, a willingness to submit ourselves to the authority of God, to submit to Him, to receive His correction, His instruction in our life as being good, as being for our benefit, as being a sign of His love, as being something that we need and can grow from. And can grow from.

Proverbs speaks a lot about this difference. My son, with the verse we read in Proverbs 3, don't despise the chastening the Musar of the Lord, don't be weary of his correction. Proverbs 5, the person, man who had gone astray into adultery, when he's reaping the bitter consequences of that, thinks to himself, how I hated instruction, Musar, and my heart despised reproof. For the commandment is a lamp and the law a light and reproofs of instruction. Musar are the way of life.

Poverty and shame are to him that refuses instruction, but he that regards reproof is honored. In our chapter, a fool despises, a fool despises his father's instruction, but he that regards reproof is prudent. The ears that hear the reproof of life abide among the wise. He that refuses instruction despises his own soul, but he that hears reproof gets understanding. Who loves instruction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is brutish.

Harsh discipline, verse 10, says, is for him who forsakes the way. Here is the terrible result of that. The tragic result of that. He who hates correction will die. He who hates correction will die.

Rejection of discipline, despising it, hating it, not accepting it is a mark of apostasy It's a mark of those who are falling away. And that's a terrifying thing. It's a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of an angry God. It's a terrifying thing to think about those who apostasize, who reject the way, who reject the Lord, who reject His Word. Discipline is for our benefit.

It's to grow us, it's to sanctify us, it's to preserve us from falling, and it's to restore us when we do fall. And our response to it is the defining characteristic of those who are in Christ and preserved in Christ and preserved in the way and those who are outside of Christ and perish from the way. But here's the Gospel in all this. Isaiah 53, 5 says that the chastisement of our peace was upon Christ. The chastisement of our peace was upon Christ.

The chastisement of our peace was upon Christ. And that's the exact same word, the Saur. Now in here in this passage there is definitely retributive retribution, there's retributive punishment. Christ is bearing our sin. He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.

He was smitten by God and afflicted. He was pierced. He was pierced for our transgression. He was crushed for our iniquity. He bore the wrath of God for our sin.

And then the chastisement And then the chastisement of our peace was upon him. Now E.J. Young, who's a professor of Hebrew scholar, says that Musar, in his commentary on Isaiah, that Musar is correction, discipline or chastisement, and does not refer to retributive punishment, but it often contains the thought or remedy of Thought or remedy of correction unquote Musar does not refer to retributive punishment. And yet it's in a text here that you would, One might think it was referring to punishment, but this is the only place anywhere in the Old Testament where it's even remotely connected with punishment or the imposition of wrath. And even here, E.J.

Young says it's not referring to retributive punishment, but rather to correction. So what is this passage, if that's the case then, what is this passage saying? That Christ bore our chastening for us. The chastisement so that we could have peace with God he bore our chastening So that we might have peace with God God is not at peace with us because we have sinned against him And there is a need for chastening. There is a need for correction.

There is a need for instruction. So that we might be restored so that God's wrath may be propitiated, turned away. And Professor Young says, It's not wrong to see in here the propitiation of God's wrath in this phrase that the chastisement of our peace is upon Him. Christ bore the chastening that was due to us so that we might have peace with God. How much more then ought we to heed and receive and accept His chastening of us, knowing that Christ Himself bore our chastening so that we can have peace with God.

And God sends us chastening, correction, instruction so that we might be thoroughly equipped to every good work, so that we may be preserved that we may be preserved within the way. Heavenly Father, we do thank you for the instruction of your Word, where it steps upon our toes, to steps upon our toes, where it confronts our sinfulness, our willful rebellion, our laziness and lack of discipline, bringing our body into submission to Your Word and to Your will. We thank You that You love us, That you have borne not only the wrath of God for our sin, but even our chastening. We ask, Father, that you would give to us that humility that is willing to listen, that is willing to receive your Word as you bring it to us, And that can even, with David, call it good. Lord, we know that by nature that is not what we would do.

So when we do, we thank you and we recognize that that is your work in us and we rejoice in that work And ask that you might perfect it. That we might be preserved in fellowship and communion with you. That we may have you for our God and forsake all others. That we may delight in knowing you, in having you as our Father, as our Shepherd, And love you above all other things. This we ask through Jesus Christ.

Amen.