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Reproof
Picture a twenty- something son or daughter,
working hard in their chosen profession, coming home for a long- awaited Christmas
vacation to their parents, siblings and childhood friends.
There was something different, though, about
their returning son/daughter. Something foreign.
As the family gets caught up on life events
since the last visit, the ‘something different’ slowly emerges, revealing itself
as a multi-level marketing business with unlimited potential for wealth. The pace quickens
at the kitchen table as a yellow pad and red felt tip pen are brought to bear. A feverish
marketing presentation, peppered with excited tales of 30 year old retired millionaires,
completes the picture of yet another family about to be torn apart by the god of MLM.
The subsequent attempts of Godly friends and
family to rescue their loved one from the god of MLM are heart-breaking scenes indeed. A
Sunday afternoon appeal to blood or friendship is no match for the hundreds of hours of
indoctrination from the books, tapes, seminars, rallies and other ‘business’
tools that have already stained the heart of the MLM distributor.
And no wonder. The god of MLM is a jealous
god. He prepares his converts early—and well.
One of the first things an MLM prospect is
taught, often during the first presentation of the marketing plan, is that they will face
opposition from the people that they know(and love) the best—family and friends. They
are taught that their real friends, their real family, are their new associates in
business. Throughout the entire training system, the sole basis for maintaining or
continuing existing relationships with family and friends is their reaction to the MLM
business opportunity. The god of MLM commands his followers to ‘flush’ lifelong
friends and distance himself from family members who fail to provide the much needed
emotional support for the newly hatched distributor. These people, often the closest thing
to reality that the MLM distributor has seen in some time, are recast by the god of MLM as
‘wimps’, ‘broke losers’, ‘dream-stealers’ and the like.
Godly family and friends are often characterized as ’being so Heavenly that they are
no earthly good’(sounds kind of catchy but hardly possible in God’s eyes).
The results? The MLM distributor rejects any
form of input from anyone—even if it is Bible-based, if it challenges the teachings
of the god of MLM.
Like it or not, the God of the Bible is a
God of reproof. It is one of the many tools He uses to get the attention of a fallen
creation. The Bible has a lot to say about reproof—perhaps one of the most unpopular
facets of God’s Perfectly Holy Personality.
God
reproves man in the Old Testament and New Testament
Ps 9:5 Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast
destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever.
Ps 45:5 Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of
the king's enemies; whereby the people fall under thee.
Ps 50:21 These things hast thou done, and I
kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but
I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.
Ps 105:14 He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he
reproved kings for their sakes;
Ps 119:21 ¶ Thou hast rebuked the proud that are
cursed, which do err from thy commandments.
Isa 17:13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of
many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be
chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the
whirlwind.
Zec 3:2 And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke
thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a
brand plucked out of the fire?
Lu 9:55 But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye
know not what manner of spirit ye are of.
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom
the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness
of his coming:
Re 2:16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly,
and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
Re 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword,
that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and
he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Reproof was practiced by
Jesus Himself
Jesus was not shy about administering a
reproof
when it was appropriate.
Mr 8:33 But when he had turned
about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan:
for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.
Mr 16:14 ¶ Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they
sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they
believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.
Lu 9:41 And Jesus answering said, O faithless and
perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? Bring thy son hither.
Lu 24:25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of
heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
Joh 6:26 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I
say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the
loaves, and were filled.
Joh 12:7 Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day
of my burying hath she kept this.
Re 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be
zealous therefore, and repent.
Godly family and friends have
a duty to administer reproof
For the Christian, reproving an errant
brother isn’t optional—its commanded.
Pr 24:25 But to them that rebuke
him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them.
Lu 17:3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother
trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.
Eph 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful
works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
1Ti 5:20 Them that sin rebuke before all, that others
also may fear.
2Ti 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of
season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
Tit 1:13 This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them
sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;
Tit 2:15 ¶ These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke
with all authority. Let no man despise thee.
Reproof is valuable to
the reproved
Like every other gift from above, Godly
rebuke has value to the one being rebuked(though they may not appreciate it at the time!).
Ps 141:5 ¶ Let the righteous
smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an
excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be
in their calamities.
Pr 15:5 ¶ A fool despiseth his father's instruction: but
he that regardeth reproof is prudent.
Pr 17:10 ¶ A reproof entereth more into a wise man than
an hundred stripes into a fool.
Pr 25:12 As an earring of gold, and an ornament of
fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.
Pr 27:5 ¶ Open rebuke is better than secret love.
Pr 29:15 ¶ The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child
left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.
Ec 7:5 It is better to hear the rebuke of the
wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools.
Heb 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which
speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord,
nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Rejecting reproof is
dangerous
Pr 1:25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and
would none of my reproof:
Pr 5:12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my
heart despised reproof;
Pr 10:17 ¶ He is in the way of life that
keepeth instruction: but he that refuseth reproof erreth.
Pr 12:1 ¶ Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge:
but he that hateth reproof is brutish.
Pr 15:10 ¶ Correction is grievous unto him
that forsaketh the way: and he that hateth reproof shall die.
Pr 29:1 ¶ He, that being often reproved hardeneth his
neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
Am 5:10 They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and
they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.
Joh 7:7 The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth,
because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.
The Importance of
seeking Counsel
Contrary to the teachings of MLM, God
instructs us to seek counsel. Common sense would dictate that good counsel on a business
venture is best obtained from someone who is not associated with the venture.
Pr 11:14 ¶ Where no counsel is,
the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.
Pr 12:15 ¶ The way of a fool is right in his own
eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.
Pr 13:10 ¶ Only by pride cometh contention: but with
the well advised is wisdom.
Pr 15:22 ¶ Without counsel purposes are disappointed:
but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.
Pr 20:18 ¶ Every purpose is established by counsel:
and with good advice make war.
Contact Information:
To start an online Bible Study,go
to: http://www.lvbaptist.org/biblest/0717frac.htm
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