All right, let's take our Bibles
now and turn to the book of Proverbs chapter 23. Proverbs chapter
23. I'd like to look at two verses
of scripture. Today, verses 13 and 14 of Proverbs
23. I've entitled this message, Needful
Correction. The scripture says, withhold
not correction from the child. For if thou beatest him with
a rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with a rod,
and shalt deliver his soul from hell. Now, the scripture deals
much with the correction of a child, and also The scripture sets forth
that the correction of a child is actually the highest form
of the expression of love. Proverbs 13, 24 says, He that
spareth his rod hateth his son, but he that loveth him chasteneth
him betimes. That is, in the morning of his
youth, when he's young, when he's teachable, when his heart
is pliable. That parent that refrains from
corporal punishment, not abuse, I don't advocate abuse, but the
loving use of punishment. Scripture says forth that we
are to administer punishment, chastening, correction, and those
that do so for the correction of that child actually is setting
forth to that child their love for them. I've heard people say,
well I just love my child too much to spank him. That's not
according to the scriptures. Humanly speaking, I understand
what they're saying. I just don't want to hurt him.
But I'm telling you, loving chastisement is the highest form of the expression
of our love to our children. A lack of discipline permits
all evil habits to gain strength and it brings sorrow now and
it promises misery later. Proverbs 19.18 Chasten thy child
while there is hope and let not thy soul spare for his crying. Proverbs 22.15 says foolishness
is bound in the heart of a child but the rod of correction shall
drive it far from him. But now concerning this correction
this chastisement. Nowhere is this truth found to
be more true, more needful, more promised than when it comes to
the vessels of God's mercy and our need of spiritual correction. The scripture declares Hebrews
12, 6, for whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth
every son whom he receiveth." Now, the Lord never sends chastisement
where that chastisement is not deserved. He never sends it for
the mere purpose of inflicting pain. His chastisement proves
to His people that He loves them And He loves them with a fatherly
care for them. I never disciplined a child that
wasn't my own. And the Lord doesn't either.
He judges the wicked. He chastens His children. I never chastened one of my children
because I hated him. My heart broke. It really did. Every time I had to chasten one
of my own. But I will tell you this, I know
something about what the Scripture says, and I would always tell
my kids, if I am disobedient to the Lord and I don't discipline
you, then the Lord will end up spanking me. They never understood
what I said until they grew up and had children. But the Lord
would chasten me through them if I didn't obey Him and chasten
them when they needed chastisement. If He does not correct us, if
He allows rebellion to go on, if He doesn't correct one that
is in rebellion against Him, that unchecked rebellion is going
to prove to be the ruin of that child. It will prove that child
to not be the Lord's. You know, he that is without
chastisement, the scripture says is illegitimate. So correcting
a child when he errs shows that child that he's not an outcast
and that there's life in him from above and that the Lord
has said His affection on him when the Lord chases him. And
the Lord chases His people. Let me tell you where the greatest
chastisement is. It's in the heart. In the heart. Listen, listen, I want to just,
I've read this passage before, but it's so needful. I want you
to listen to the voice, to the heart of a man that has been
chastened of the Lord. David, Psalm 51. Have mercy upon
me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness. According to the multitude of
Thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly
from mine iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin. I acknowledge
my transgression. And my sin is ever before me. Against Thee, Thee only, have
I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight, that Thou mightest
be justified when Thou speakest and be clear when Thou judgest."
Do you know the hurt? Have you ever experienced the
pain of disappointing someone you love? Disappointing them. Disappoint a parent. disappoint
someone that you respect. I remember when I was in college,
I had one professor when I was in college that truly let the
students know he cared. He cared. And everybody respected
him. And I'm telling you to do something
to cause him to be pained. and His heart killed us. I mean,
we respected Him, loved Him. The words of David to the Lord,
against thee and thee only have I sinned. That chastisement of
the heart, most people think whenever they think of chastisement,
well the Lord is going to make me sick, He's going to take all
my money away, I'm going to lose this, lose that. Unbelievers
do that. but to feel the pain in the heart
of one that you've disappointed. When David disappointed the Lord,
gave the heathens reason to blaspheme against God, David said, it was
killing me. So, when we are admonished in
Proverbs 23 to correct our children, let us understand that a lesson
is being taught here of the need of the Lord's children to be
corrected. We were in need of being corrected
initially in regenerating grace. Whenever the Lord was pleased
to call us out of darkness and reveal Christ in us, when we
began to see something of ourself and of who the Lord is and all
God's people, They grow in grace, but there was an initial time,
and it may not even be something you can put your finger on, one
particular day, two o'clock in the afternoon or something, but
there was a period of time when you began to hear, and you began
to feel. God began to take His Word and
deal with you, and there was an initial period, whenever it
is, of correction. And the Lord did not withhold
from us that which we needed to hear. We needed to hear the
gospel. We need to hear it in our heart.
We need to understand. And Almighty God, He crossed
our path with the truth of His Son, the gospel of our salvation. And that was the rod of His correction. The gospel itself, the word of
God, which is the power of God, unto salvation. It smote us in
regenerating grace. You began to hear something.
David, I mean Peter, I'm sorry, on the day of Pentecost, Peter
was preaching to a group of people, many of which, obviously from
the scriptures here that were there. when the Lord was crucified. Maybe some of these that the
Lord was speaking about. Those who were wagging their
heads, making fun. He saved others. Himself he cannot
save. He claims to be God's son. Let God have him if God will
have him. Those very ones, very possibly were some of the ones
that Peter was preaching to. on the day of Pentecost, and
Peter said, Acts chapter two, verse 22, you men of Israel,
hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God
did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know,
him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain,
whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because
it was not possible that he should be holden of it." And then Peter
continued in his exhortation to these people. He said in verses
31-38, he said, he seeing this before spake of the resurrection.
He's talking about David now. Seeing this before, spake of
the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell,
neither his flesh did seek corruption. David, by prophecy, by revelation
of the Spirit of God, saw that he was the Lord. And this Jesus
hath God raised up, the one that David was talking about. Wherefore,
we are all witnesses. being by the right hand of God
exalted, having received of the Father the promise of the Holy
Ghost, he has shed forth this which ye now see and hear. For
David's not ascended into the heavens, but he saith himself,
the Lord Jehovah, said unto my Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ,
sit thou on my right hand, till I make thy foes thy footstool.
Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that
God hath made that same Jesus, now listen to this, whom you
crucified, both Lord and Christ. And the scripture says, and when
they heard that, when they heard this, they were pricked in their
heart and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, men
and brethren, what shall we do? And Peter said unto them, repent,
be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for
the remission of sin and you shall receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost. God's Word is a rod of correction
that we need for the salvation of our souls. But not only do
we need that rod of correction initially in regenerating grace,
we need that rod daily. We need correction daily. We need the gracious application
of His Word of correction for our guidance and for our walk. Listen to what David said, Psalm
119, 105, Thy Word. is a lamp unto my feet, a light
unto my path. I need to hear the rod of His
correction. I need correcting, correcting,
correcting for my walk. I need to hear what God has to
say. Give me some understanding. The
scripture says, Psalm 19.8, the statutes of the Lord are right.
Rejoicing the heart, The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening
the eyes. We need correction to guide us. But we also need to hear that
rod of correction concerning His precious promises to tell
us and remind us why we needed those. We need it to be guided.
But I need the Lord to tell me again why I need it. Listen to David again, 119.71.
It's good for me that I've been afflicted, that I might learn
thy statutes. I had a dear friend tell me one
time, and I've repeated what he said. Whenever we go through
corrections, whenever we go through corrections in the heart, whenever
the Lord reveals to us what we've done, and we feel the pain of
it, and we admit it. He said to me, he said, Marvin,
obviously, he said, we needed what we're going through. Obviously,
we needed it. Something, whatever it was, I
can't remember exactly what it was, but whatever it was, he
said, That's what David just said. It's good for me that I've
been afflicted. Now, no chastisement, Paul said,
for the moment is good. It's grievous. It's hard. It's hard on the flesh. But,
oh, how we need it. We need that I might learn thy
statutes. And I tell you one other thing
we need daily. His correcting, His rod of correction.
I need that rod of correction that I might believe Him. Faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, by the commandment
of the Lord, by the power of the Lord. So if there's one thing
needful for a sinner, is to have the correcting rod of God's grace,
the word of the Lord, the gospel of our salvation administered
to us. We need this. We need to hear. We need to hear often. We need to hear daily. We need
to search these scriptures. We need to seek the Lord. We
needed it to be converted. We needed it to guide us. We
need to learn the value of His promises. of mercy and for the
continual application of faith. How precious was the love of
God displayed to us when he taught us that he who in no wise will
clear the guilty, that he administered his rod of correction on our
substitute, that we might be made the righteousness of God
in Him. How precious was that rod of
correction that Jehovah, the Father, administered to the Son
because the Son willingly laid down His life. Was that not precious
correction? Look at the benefit that we've
received from the Lord laying down His life and God Almighty
administering to Him. That which was right When He
was made sin for us, He who knew no sin, when He laid down His
life being made sin, God Almighty did that which was right. And
here we are today, thankful for that correction. So when the
Lord corrects us, you know what we say? Lord, you're right. You are absolutely right. Here's
what the Scripture says in closing. withhold not correction from
the child. If thou beatest him with a rod,
he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with a rod,
and shalt deliver his soul from hell. Let us remember, every
time a child is corrected, it's a message from heaven. It's saying
that we're all rebels against God in need of disciplining grace,
and oh, that the Lord might graciously discipline us again right now
in heart for His glory and our good. Amen.