I'm gonna ask you to take your
Bibles and turn with me to the book of Proverbs chapter 29. Proverbs 29. I wanna look at
one verse. Verse 17. The scripture declares correct thy son, and he shall
give thee rest. Yea, he shall give delight unto
thy soul. I want to speak for a few minutes
on this subject, God's rest and delight. How does the Lord himself
rest and find delight in the correction of his son? Now, often we deal with this
subject of the correction of children. This subject is something
that no parent can ever hear enough. The correction of children, and
that revelation that's set forth today, is something that produces,
when we correct our children according to the Word of God,
there is something that is produced for the parent. that we've hardly
ever, if ever, consider. And this is what it is. Correct
thy son and he shall give thee rest. He shall give thee rest. Correct your son, correct your
daughter, correct your children, and they shall give you, actually
it's joy or quiet, They're gonna give you quiet. Yea, he shall
give delight unto thy soul. Now, humanly speaking, if our
children are corrected and they walk in a spirit of obedience,
respect, I can understand how that scripture there would set
forth that that parent could find some rest, find some quiet
and delight in that obedience. I'm like you. Many of you here,
I've got kids, and growing up, I'd have to correct them. And
it was always such a joy whenever, you know, I'd kind of detect
a little obedience, you know? when it was time again. You know,
this would be my attitude. Why? Why? Why? Why? You know what's gonna
happen. And I'd be, oh, disquieted. So if they're obedient, I can
see that. But the scripture says, correct
thy son, and he shall give thee rest, but now, What if the child
is unmoved in obedience? What if they continue in disobedience? How can I find rest or joy or
quiet? How can my soul delight if they're
disobedient? Well, here's the only answer
to that question. You have the consolation if you
have corrected them according to the word of God. You corrected
them. You didn't spare the rod, you
didn't, you know, then you have the quietness, the rest of your
soul, the delight of your soul in that you obeyed God. You obeyed God. That's the only
rest you can have. Now if you fail to do that, there's
guilt and there's, you know, But if we walk in the light,
as he is in the light, we have some quiet, we have some rest.
And I know this, there's, I've seen it, I've seen it in my own
family, where you would correct them and maybe they weren't walking
in the obedience that you wish, but you have the quiet of knowing
you did what God told you to do. You have the delight of knowing
that the Lord was obeyed. So this passage is surely applicable
in our life, and I can see that, but let's consider this passage
of scripture in light of God's dealings with his sons. The Lord has sons, that's what
he said. Scripture says in 1 John 3.2,
this is what God has to say. 1 John 3.2, Now are we the sons of God, and
it doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when
he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him
as he is. God has sons chosen, adopted
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And God's sons are in need of
correction. And according to this scripture
right here, when God corrects his sons, he shall, that correction
of those sons, correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest,
yea, he shall give thee delight unto thy soul. Now, God's sons,
they all fell in Adam, all of them. We all fell in Adam. The
Lord has sons out of the mass of humanity. You know that, elect. But they never fell. Though they
fell in Adam's transgression, they never fell from being sons
of his love, of his affection in the Lord Jesus Christ. They
never fell from their state of being his elect. They've always
been his elect. They've always been his sheep.
They don't become sheep. They're not goats that become
sheep. They were sheep from before the
foundation of the world, chosen in Christ. And so they never
fell from that position of being his people, his sheep, his bride,
his select, his chosen. But they fell from their position
of uprightness before God. God created us all upright. And they fell into a state of
being, according to Ephesians 2, children of wrath even as
others. Now that doesn't mean that they've
ever been under the wrath of God. Let me say this again so
that you understand. That scripture, children of wrath
even as others, they have never been under the wrath of God.
They have never been. God has not appointed us to wrath. Isn't that what it says, Neil?
Right. God's never appointed his people to wrath, never. If
he had ever appointed them to wrath, and then he changed, then
God doesn't change. He's never appointed, but they
were children that were wrathful against him. We were children
of wrath against him, even as others. So here's God's sons
chosen in Christ, but sons that fell in Adam's transgression. And they were found to be in
a state of haters of God, haters of his gospel, haters of his
son that came into this world to save his people from their
sin. But remember, God, who's always loved them, must chase
them, must chase them. The chastisement of God as he
deals with his sons is from a heart of love for them. And so his
correction, according to this scripture, correct thy son, he
shall give thee rest, yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.
When God corrects his sons, almighty God is gonna have rest, quiet,
and delight in his soul. Here's the ultimate question.
How can God's sons be dealt with in absolute justice? How can God's anger, his wrath,
be accomplished? How can his wrath come to an
end? How can his fury, his hot displeasure
against sin, how can it find rest, quiet, How can God correct
those who are the objects of his eternal love? How can God
Almighty find rest for his wrath and his unchangeable justice
and have delight in his soul? You know the answer to this.
Only one way. In the son that He chose his
only begotten son to bear the whole weight of all of the guilt
of his people and bear the weight of his justice that almighty
God might be just and spew out his justice and judgment and
find quiet, quiet, that his justice had been satisfied. Light of
his soul. Only in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ can these things be found. Listen to this scripture. God, this is in 2 Corinthians
5, 19. God was in Christ. Now, I read that scripture this
morning, and I got to looking at that word I in. God was in Christ. So I had to look it up. Let me
tell you what the definition is. God was in Christ in relation
of rest. He was in relation of rest. God
was in Christ in a relation of rest, reconciling the world unto
himself, not imputing their trespasses, unto them. Now here is the peculiar
truth of salvation by the grace of God. This is how God Almighty
saves His people. All other pretended notions about
how God saves sinners is nothing more than speculation, arrogant
ignorance, which dwells in the corrupt minds of men that are
bored of the truth. This is how God saves his people. Now, God,
the scripture says, will in no wise clear the guilty. He's not gonna clear the guilty.
He's got sons, sons he's everlastingly loved, sons that he's gonna have
with him, sons that are gonna be called out of the darkness
of sin and unbelief. God is gonna find rest that his
justice has been satisfied, rest. That's what I'm saying, that's
why parents that have children, you correct them and you want
them to be obedient, but if they're not, if they're wayward, David,
King David, he had a Solomon, I mean, an Absalom. Listen, we've
got parents that love God, know God, and have kids that hate
it, hate it, hate it. But if you have raised them up,
taught them, told them the truth of God's grace, you got that
rest. That's the only rest you're gonna
have. I can tell you right now, that's the only quiet you're
gonna have. Because if you look any other place, you're gonna
have the light of your soul. I did what God told me to do.
Yeah, but what about your kids? I obeyed God. I'm gonna trust
the Lord for them. That's the only quiet. I know
this. God Almighty, when He deals with
His sons, His justice, He's gonna find rest. He's gonna have rest. His justice is gonna be satisfied.
You see what I'm saying? God Almighty, He will not clear
the guilty. What does that mean? He will
not clear the guilty. He will not free them from punishment.
That's what it means. He's not gonna free them from
punishment. His justice is going to find rest. He's gonna be just. He must correct his sons. He must find rest and delight
for his soul. His correction is gonna be administered
to those that he's everlastingly loved. Now, I've laid the foundation
down to what that scripture right there, Proverbs 29, 17. Correct
thy son, and he shall give thee rest. Yea, he shall give the
light unto thy soul. Now I wanna prove that scripture
right there. And you can turn over with me
to Ezekiel chapter five. Ezekiel chapter five. Now we're
gonna stay, Lord willing, I'm gonna stay here for the rest
of this message. I've laid down the foundational
truth of what Proverbs 29, 17 is saying. We have kids, we love
them. You love, you love your kids.
You want the best for them. You got, we gotta correct them.
Why? Because foolishness is bound
in the heart of a child. A lot of correction gonna drive
it from them. I've never seen one child ever
come into this world, walk through this world, and just perfect
submission. No sir, no sir. It's bound in
the heart of them. And we've gotta correct them.
But we have to correct them God's way in order to have quiet rest
and delight in your soul. If you don't have that, you don't
have anything. Ezekiel chapter 5. I want to
look actually at the first 13 verses and I want to prove what
Proverbs 29, 17 is saying. Here's what the scripture says. Chapter five, now we've got a
prophet here that's going to be instructed of the Lord to
demonstrate unto God's people something that God's gonna teach
them about correcting them, about correcting God's people. And
God finding rest in his justice being satisfied, in the light
of his soul, in saving his people. from their sins. Ezekiel chapter
five verses one to four, and thou son of man, take thee a
sharp knife, take thee a barber's razor, cause it to pass upon
thine head and upon thy beard, and then take thee three, take
thee balances to weigh and divide the hair. Then shalt, I mean
thou shalt burn with fire a third part of the midst. of the city
when the days of the siege are fulfilled, and thou shalt take
a third part and smite it about with a knife, and third part
thou shalt scatter in the wind, and I will draw out a sword after
them. Thou shalt also take thereof
a few in number and bind them in thy skirts. Then take of them
again and cast them into the midst of the fire and burn them
in the fire, and therefore shall a fire come forth into all the
house of Israel. Now, Ezekiel was given some instruction
by God. He said, I want you to take a
sharp knife, take a razor, a sword, and I want you to cause it to
pass over your head and your beard, and then take some balances. Take some scales. and I want
you to weigh the hair. And a third, a third, a third. And you know when Ezekiel did
this, actually his action commanded of God, God told him to do this,
commanded of God was a demonstration of what God's people had done. Actually, turn with me to Leviticus
21, what Ezekiel was told to do was actually a violation of
God's law. Ezekiel 21, what he did, God told him to do something,
which was a violation of God's law, I'm gonna show you. But
what he did was, showing God's people what they had done. This is the reason God's gonna
deal with them. Leviticus 21, verses one to five,
and the Lord spake unto Moses, speak unto the priest, the sons
of Aaron, and say unto them, there shall none be defiled for
the dead among the people, but for his kin that's near unto
him, that is for his mother, for his father, for his son,
for his daughter, for his brother, where a sister virgin is nigh
unto him which hath no husband for her, may he be defiled. But he shall not defile himself,
being a chief man among his people, to profane himself. They shall
not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave
off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their
flesh." There were some boundaries set on the priest. they for certain situations,
they could come into a place where a dead body was if it was
a person, it was a family member, it was somebody personal, but
there's one thing they couldn't do. Don't shave off your hair,
don't shave off your beard. Reason for that, that that that
was a picture that hit I'm gonna show you just a minute that that
picture of the set forth by the beard, being the head is a picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And all the hair that's on there
is people. It's people joined into him,
joined into the head. He said, now there's certain
things that you can do, but one thing you can't do is don't shave
off your hair. Don't shave your head, don't
shave your beard. Well, God tells Ezekiel over
in Ezekiel 5, And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife,
and take thee a barber's razor, and cause it to pass upon thine
head, upon thy beard. Take thee balances to weigh,
and divide the hair. What is Ezekiel showing? He's
showing them, this is what you've done. That's a violation of God's
law. God's gonna show it through a
prophet. This is what my people have done. Now, as we consider this, this
passage, I'm going to, I'm going to just try to go very, very
simply, as simply as I can and show us in these, these first
few verses through the first 13 of Ezekiel five, show us in
light of God's sovereign justice towards sin and showing mercy
toward the objects of his choosing. We're going to see how Back in
Proverbs 29, 17, you correct your son. Correct, and he'll
give you rest. There'll be a satisfaction of
your, of your justice. And he's going to give you delight
of your soul. Ezekiel, as God commanded him,
shaved his head, his beard. As I said a moment ago, that,
that the head of the, of the, of the prophet with a picture
of of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that shaving of that beard
was what God's people had done. They rebelled against God. They alienated themselves against
God. They separated themselves under
God's justice because of what they'd done. Man now deserves
God's justice. God deserves, I mean, they deserve
God's justice for their disobedience. And God knows exactly how to
deal with disobedient children. He told Ezekiel, he said, I want
you to take the hair that you cut off your head and your beard
and take three balances and weigh it. Weigh it. And a third of it is gonna go
through the fire, a third of it's gonna be under the knife,
a third of it's gonna be scattered and the sword's gonna follow
them. All men have been weighed in the balance of God's justice
and law, and they've all come up wanting. And they've all been
found now deserving God's justice. And those different balances,
it was setting forth God's knowledge and God's pleasure and purpose
in administering justice as God sees fit. We all deserve that
which God Almighty spews out upon us. But in these three bunches
of hair, because of what you've done,
those three bunches of hair, being weighed, they all come
up wanting. Look at verse 3. He said, I want
you to take thereof out of these three bunches of hair, you take
a few, take just a few hairs, few in number, and you bind those
in your skirts, bind those in the robe, of the robe you're
wearing, in that priestly robe. You say, well, Ezekiel was a
prophet. He wasn't a priest. Oh yeah,
he was a priest. Turn back to Ezekiel chapter
one. I'm gonna show you something. Ezekiel chapter one, verse three. Ezekiel 1, 3, the word of the
Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel, the priest, the son of Buzi in
the land of the Chaldeans by the river Kibar. And the hand
of the Lord was there upon him. Ezekiel was a priest that God
called to be a prophet. And God has taken this priest
that he's called to be a prophet. And he said, I'm going to, I'm
going to teach my people something. I'm going to teach them through
you. You shave off your hair, your beard, that which is, is, is, is an
act of, that is contrary to my law. And you say to my people,
this is what you did. That's what you did. You disobeyed
me. You weigh that hair in those scales. And all that hair right
there, I'm going to administer the judgment to the people symbolized
by that hair. But you take a few hairs out
of each one and you put them in your skirt. John Gill says
in the pocket. It means the robe of the priest. You bind those. You bind them
back in Ezekiel. As we said, verse chapter five,
Ezekiel five, three, bind them. I looked that word up, secure
them. You put a few hairs in there
and you secure them in your rope. Oh, what a picture. You see what's
happening right here? God says to his people, this
is what you've done. This is what you've done. You've
rebelled against me. You've broken my law. You've
sinned against me. What is sin? Scripture says transgression
of the law. It's transgression of the word
of God. God's precepts. It's statutes. It's word. It's
what sin is. It's breaking God's word. When Ezekiel shaved off his head,
that's what he said, this is what you did. You deserve separation
from me. But all those few little hairs
that he took just bound him in. I was thinking about, turn to
Isaiah 1.9. God's getting ready. I'm just
gonna read in a moment Isaiah 1.9. I'm gonna read what God
did to him. Isaiah 1.9, except the Lord of
hosts, had left unto us a very small remnant, insoluble, and should have been
like unto Gomorrah. Take all the hair that came off
your head, weigh it, take a few hairs out,
put them in your coat. Back in Ezekiel 5, and thus saith
the Lord God, this is Jerusalem. I have said it in the midst of
the nations and countries that are round about her. And she
hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations
and my statutes more than the countries that are round about
her. For they've refused my judgments and my statutes, they've not
walked in them. Therefore, thus saith the Lord
God, because you multiplied more than the nations that are around
you. and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my
judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of
the nations that are round about you. Therefore, thus saith the
Lord God, behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute
judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nation."
What he said was this. You've done more in rebellion
than all these others. More. Greater. Greater. How's that? You have the law. I sent you prophets. I've given you the sacrifices.
Shown you myself in picture and type. They're in complete ignorance.
And you've got what I've given you. And you've rebelled more
than they have. Hold your place, turn to Matthew
11. Matthew 11. I thought about this passage
when I was writing this out. I thought about the direness of hearing the gospel
preached and then refusing it. Matthew 11, 20, 24. Then began he to upbraid the
cities wherein most his mighty works were done, because they
repented not. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe
unto thee, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which
were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would
have repented long ago, sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you,
it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of
judgment than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art
exalted into heaven, thou shalt be brought down to hell. For
if the mighty works which had been done in thee had been done
in Sodom, it would have remained unto this day. But I say unto
you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the
day of judgment than for you. According to this word, it'll
be more tolerable in the day of judgment for those that never
heard, Brian, than for those that heard. They're going to remember. You
know, you've heard me say this before. This message is going
to come up again. This word is going to come up
again. This word is going to be brought forth again as a witness. You heard, you heard. The Lord
told Ezekiel, shave your hair off, weigh it out. I'm going
to administer the judgment according to my good pleasure, the fire,
the sword, I'll scatter them, I'll chase them with the sword,
the knife, but you take a few out, put them in your pocket,
put them in your skirts. He said, this is Jerusalem. There's
some in this Jerusalem. Now this is not the heavenly
Jerusalem, the true elect of God, but this just Jerusalem,
this city, it's a picture that's intermingled right now. That
it's got tares and wheat. You know the scripture sets forth
in the bride, in the church, in the assembly of Christ. You
know the scripture says there's always tares among us. There's
always tares among the wheat. Well, what's gonna happen? God's
gonna separate them. God'll separate them. Turn over to John 15, John
chapter 15. I thought about this scripture
right here, and I thought, what an applicable, you know. Now you listen to this, and this
is talking about the separation, how God's gonna separate. God's
gonna separate tares from wheat. Remember that story about the
servants that went out and they planted wheat, and then One that
came and he planted tares at night and the tares came up and
the servants, when the tares came up, they said, didn't you
plant wheat? He said, yeah. Well, what about
these tares? How'd they get there? You want
us to go up there and jerk them out? No, no, no, no, no. You
leave them alone. You just let them grow together in the end. They'll be separated. They'll
be separated. That's Jerusalem. That's the
picture of the church today. John 15, one and two, I'm the
true vine, and my father's the husbandman. Every branch in me
that beareth not fruit, he taketh away, and every branch that beareth
fruit, he purgeth it, that he may bring forth more fruit. There's
many that make claim to be in Christ. Every branch in me, They
were not in him in eternal electing grace. You know that, or the
Lord would never have cast them out. But they were in him by
profession, by, you know. But he said, if there's no fruit
there, he said, my father will take them out. Don't worry about
it. This is Jerusalem. This is Jerusalem. That hair,
that picture of the professing church of Christ, there was a
few remnant in there. And God separated them, told
Ezekiel, said, you take these out. I'll deal with the rest
of these. But I'll put the, you put those few in your pocket.
Put those in secure. Well, what did they do? These
that had separated, well, they rebelled against the Lord, look
in seven and eight. Therefore, thus saith the Lord,
because you multiplied more than the nations that are round about
you, not walked in my statutes. neither kept my judgments, neither
have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round
about you. Therefore, thus saith the Lord, behold, I, even I,
I'm against you. I will execute judgment in the
midst of thee, in the midst of the nations. But then he said
something in verse nine. I want to start wrapping this
message up. But he said, I will do in thee
that which I have not done. whereunto I will not do any more
the like because of all thine abominations. He said, you've
rebelled against me. You've acted more disrespectfully
than anybody else around you. You've despised my judgments. You've despised my statutes.
You've not done according to my Lord, but he said, there's
something that I'm gonna do because of your rebellion. And in this
verse, right here, verse nine, you may have, I have a reference
in my margin right there, and it says, I will do in the that
which, Lamentations 112 is what my margin says. He said, I'm
gonna do something in the satisfaction of my judgment and my justice. I'm gonna do something for those
few that's in the skirt of the priest. I'm gonna do something
for them. and I'm gonna do it one time. I'm gonna do it one
time. I'm gonna satisfy my judgment.
I'm going to satisfy my judgment. I'm gonna have rest. My judgment's
gonna be, I'm not gonna clear the guilty. I'm not gonna free
them from judgment. I'm not gonna do it. But my judgment's
gonna have rest. Turn over, Lamentations 112.
Jeremiah, Lamentations 112. He said, I'm gonna do this, for
the sake of my elect, for the sake of those few hairs that
I told Ezekiel, you take a few of those pieces of hair, you
put them in your skirt, I'm gonna do something one time, one time,
one time. Lamentations 112, is it nothing
to you all that pass by? Behold, and see if there be any
sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the
Lord hath afflicted me. in the day of his fierce anger. All that the people had done,
found within those people, that professing church was a few hairs. What has he done? The Lord Jesus
Christ bore all of the guilt, bore all of the wrath, everything
that was deserving of that rebellion, God's people, they had done exactly
what everybody else did. There was no difference. There's
no difference. All of that which they had done
against Almighty God, this is what it says here in verses 10
to 13. Therefore the father shall eat
the sons of the midst sons in the midst of thee. I found that
in Deuteronomy 28, 53. You let God bring a man, a woman
to a position. Deuteronomy 28, 53 talks about
a famine being so great, they'll resort to cannibalism. You say,
well, I'd never do that. Don't kid yourself. We don't know the depth to which
we would plunge if God Almighty didn't keep us. He said, listen,
this is what's gonna happen. Therefore, verse 10, the fathers
shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, the sons shall eat their
fathers. I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant
of thee will scatter into all the winds. Therefore, as I live,
saith the Lord God surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary
with all thy detestable things, all thine abominations, therefore
will I diminish thee, neither shall mine eyes spare, neither
will I have any pity. A third part of thee shall die
with a pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the
midst of thee, and a third part shall fall by the sword round
about thee, and I will scatter a third part into all the winds,
and I will draw out the sword after them, My justice is gonna
be done. I'm gonna find rest. I'm gonna
quiet my judgment. I'm going to do it. But for a few hairs. But for just a few hairs. Just
a few. That Ezekiel took out that picture,
that very small remnant. I'm gonna deal with you too.
I'm gonna deal with you too. But I'm gonna deal with you and
my son. I'm gonna deal with you and my lamb. I'm gonna show mercy
to you. My judgment's gonna be executed.
I'm gonna be satisfied. And I'm gonna find the light
for my soul in executing that judgment and saving you. He says in verse 13, thus shall
mine anger be accomplished and I will cause my fury to rest
upon them. And I will be comforted. And
they shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it in my zeal when
I have accomplished my fury in them. Oh, do we not see the absolute
deserved suffering. We see it in part. Those mentioned back in verse
3, though, like a few in number, those pieces of your beard behind
them in your skirts, these have a hope in covenant mercy. They haven't been forgotten.
God didn't forget just a few in number. He didn't He didn't
forget to judge them either. It's going to be satisfied. But
taken from among the masses, bound up in the skirts of a priest,
just a remnant according to the election of God's grace. They're
going to suffer the wrath of God, but they're going to suffer
it in a substitute. And you're going to think, what
mercy. What mercy that Almighty God
would show to this undeserving sinner. I've done exactly what
everybody else did. I disregarded his word. I disregarded
his judgments, his truth. The Lord Jesus Christ. Glorious person of our Redeemer
laid down his life. And he bore the entirety of God's
wrath. toward God's people. God's anger
in him, in Christ, for his elect, for those few heirs, it was accomplished. That's what he said, verse 30.
Mine anger shall be accomplished. What does that mean? It's gonna
be ended, ceased, completed, expired toward them. And my fury, my hot displeasure,
I'm gonna have rest. I'm gonna have quiet. And God
was comforted in the person of his son. In closing, this glorious
truth, turn over to Isaiah 53. We've read this so many times,
but I pray God give us a new understanding of what it says. Isaiah 53, verse 10 to 12. Isaiah
53, 10 to 12. This. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise
him, and hath put him to grief. When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days, and
the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall
see the travail of his soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify many, For he shall bear their
iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a
portion with the great. He shall divide the spoiled with
the strong because he hath poured out his soul unto death. He was
numbered with the transgressors. He bared the sin of many and
made intercession for the transgressors. It pleased God. It pleased God
to bruise him. God is going to be just. God's
just. and justifies the sinners. Proverbs 29, 17, correct thy
son, and he shall give thee rest. Yea, he shall give delight unto
thy soul. I pray the Lord bless this to
our hearts for Christ's sake. Amen. All right, let's take a
quick break.