Prophetic Rebuke - What is Rebuke?
Amos 5:10 "They hate him who rebukes at the gate; and they abhor him who speaks with integrity.
" What is a rebuke? Dictionary.
com defines a rebuke as a "expression of sharp, stern disapproval of; a reprove or reprimand.
" I don't know if that definition helps us.
Some of THOSE words probably need definition for us to truly understand the nature of what a rebuke is or what it means to reprove.
Regardless of the definition, we must begin to understand this concept from a biblical standpoint because in many different places, we are commanded to rebuke, reprove or correct.
The apostle Paul in his letter to Timothy told him to "Preach the Word, be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage with great patience and instruction.
" (1 Timothy 4:2).
He instructed in his letter to Titus to "rebuke" the Cretans "sharply so they would be sound in faith" because they were listening to false teaching.
(Titus 1:13, Titus 2:15).
There are many references to correction, rebuke and reprove.
So how do we rebuke? To who and what is the way we should respond to this command from scripture.
I know this isn't our favorite preaching subject, but none the less let me highlight a few things: 1.
Rebuke is good.
We ALL need to be rebuked, corrected and reprimanded if we are going to be conformed to the image of Christ.
Last I checked, none of us are walking in full Christlike character.
Rebuke will call us into account for the sin in our lives and be a means of becoming more holy and more like God.
2.
Rebuke and correction is not reserved for false teaching or repetitive sin only.
If that's the case we could never reprove our children.
Just as we need to train up our children in good character, showing them what they ought NOT to do, we must also show them what they OUGHT to do.
We correct, not only when wrong doing is occurring, but also to demonstrate what we should be doing for the Lord.
Jesus constantly rebuked the disciples for issues such as lack of faith, wrong motives or outright laziness.
" What is a rebuke? Dictionary.
com defines a rebuke as a "expression of sharp, stern disapproval of; a reprove or reprimand.
" I don't know if that definition helps us.
Some of THOSE words probably need definition for us to truly understand the nature of what a rebuke is or what it means to reprove.
Regardless of the definition, we must begin to understand this concept from a biblical standpoint because in many different places, we are commanded to rebuke, reprove or correct.
The apostle Paul in his letter to Timothy told him to "Preach the Word, be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage with great patience and instruction.
" (1 Timothy 4:2).
He instructed in his letter to Titus to "rebuke" the Cretans "sharply so they would be sound in faith" because they were listening to false teaching.
(Titus 1:13, Titus 2:15).
There are many references to correction, rebuke and reprove.
So how do we rebuke? To who and what is the way we should respond to this command from scripture.
I know this isn't our favorite preaching subject, but none the less let me highlight a few things: 1.
Rebuke is good.
We ALL need to be rebuked, corrected and reprimanded if we are going to be conformed to the image of Christ.
Last I checked, none of us are walking in full Christlike character.
Rebuke will call us into account for the sin in our lives and be a means of becoming more holy and more like God.
2.
Rebuke and correction is not reserved for false teaching or repetitive sin only.
If that's the case we could never reprove our children.
Just as we need to train up our children in good character, showing them what they ought NOT to do, we must also show them what they OUGHT to do.
We correct, not only when wrong doing is occurring, but also to demonstrate what we should be doing for the Lord.
Jesus constantly rebuked the disciples for issues such as lack of faith, wrong motives or outright laziness.
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