I have a very, very dear friend,
a man I've known for a long, long time, one of the most faithful, devoted,
tender-hearted men I've ever known. When I first met he and
his family, their boys were just babies, six months and two years
old. I watched them grow up, visited
with them countless times. As their older boy thought he
was growing up, when he was not quite 17 years old, if I remember
correctly, his rebellion became horribly painful. At last, one
day his father, who loved that boy, who had made sacrifices
all his life to provide for and care for that boy, who wanted
nothing but good for that boy, said to him, son, You're going
to have to leave. You're not welcome here anymore.
I know that some folks think that sounds horrible. His father
loved him, but the boy refused to honor his father as his father
and was destroying the peace and harmony of the family, bringing
reproach upon his family, upon his parents, and upon the God
they served. And his dad said, you've got
to leave today. Of course, he packed a few things
and took off in a huff and anger. His parents weeping, but he can
make it on his own. Don't need you. What have you
ever done for me? Good enough, I'll leave. A little
while, the friends who were willing to put him up, feed him, put
up with him, vanished. He stayed on the streets and
he got hungry. and cold and dirty. One night, my friend and his
wife sitting in the house thinking about him, praying for him, somebody
knocked at the door. He opened the door, and there
stood his boy just sobbing like a baby. Daddy, I'm ready to come
home. And his daddy looked at him with
tears in his eyes, and he said, that's not up to you, son. You
can come home when I'm ready for you to come home. He turned
off the light and shut the door. He knew his son wanted to come
home because he needed what his father could provide. But he
knew his son wasn't yet in a position where he had to come home and
was willing to come on his father's terms. So he turned off the lights,
shut the door, went in and felt him weeping. He loved that boy. Just a little while The boy came knocking on the
door again and had to come home. He had
nowhere else to go. No other way to live. No one else to provide for him.
No one else to care for him. And when he knocked on the door
that night, his father opened the door and grabbed him and
hugged him and welcomed him home. That's what he wanted all the
while. Now I've told you that story,
a true story it is, because it's a pretty good picture of the
way our Heavenly Father deals with His children. He casts them
out. He scatters them that He might
bring them by His grace and gather them at last to Himself. You're
familiar with the story of the prodigal son. Our Lord gave it
in Luke chapter 15. Today I want to talk to you about
another prodigal. You may not have ever considered
him. Frankly, I had not until a couple of months ago. His name
is Ephraim. The title of my message is The
Son God Cast Out. You'll find my text in Zechariah
chapter 10. Now in the sixth verse of this
chapter, the Lord God says concerning Ephraim, They shall be as though
I had not cast them off. I presume that means he had cast
them off. Ephraim is spoken of as they
because Ephraim, Joseph's second son, of whom we read just a little
while ago in Genesis 47 and 48, was the father of Judah and ultimately
the whole nation of Israel. The whole nation was called by
the name Ephraim throughout the latter prophets. In the word
of God, this word Ephraim is used time and time again as the
name that God gives to his people who typically represented his
elect. His church in this world, the
people of God chosen before Adam ever fell, but scattered with
the rest of Adam's seed among the nations of the earth and
scattered in divine providence as God Almighty has scattered
them, but a people whom God is determined to gather. In Zechariah
10 verses 7 through 12, which we will look at this morning,
the Lord God makes several promises of grace. promises of salvation
by which he seems to be explaining what he means when he says, they
shall be as though I had not cast them off. Look at verse
7. He says, Ephraim shall be like
a mighty man. I'm going to make Ephraim strong
for myself. Weak and cowardly, Ephraim shall
be strong. Weak and helpless, Ephraim shall
be made strong. Again in verse 7, he says, their
heart shall rejoice through wine. It says, I will call my downcast
mourning children to rejoice. They shall be filled with inward
joy and spiritual joy by the love of God shed abroad in their
hearts, by the gospel of Christ revealed to them and revealed
in them, and by the blessings of grace flowing from heaven
into them. and flowing in them by God's
grace and by His Spirit. Those streams of everlasting
love which He causes to flow to His own and flow in His own
by His Spirit. These are the things that make
glad the hearts of God's elect, like men who are made glad with
drinking much wine. He says in verse 7 again, Yea,
their children shall see it and be glad. Now, I worked on this
a long time. When I say I worked on it a long
time, I mean I worked on it in here a long time. I thought about
your children and mine. What does this mean? Their children
shall see it and be glad. Does that mean that all of God's
people, all believing men and women, have children who will
be believers, who are God's elect? Of course not. Abraham had two
sons. God loved one and hated the other.
And it is that way in most families. Rare is the case. Rare is the
case where a family all are embraced in the arms of God's grace. Rare
is the case. But what does this mean then?
Their children shall see my mercy and grace upon them and their
children shall be glad. Seeing the great salvation God
has wrought in us by his grace as that which we have experienced
in time, they seeing it as they experience it for themselves,
our children shall be possessed with the same joy of faith, faith
in Christ, that same faith that God's given us and the same joy. They shall see it and be glad
as fellow heirs and of the same body and partakers of His promise
in Christ by the gospel. He says again, their heart, the
children's heart, shall rejoice in the Lord. So he's talking
about children who see this and they rejoice not only because
mom and dad are happy, they rejoice themselves in that happiness
God has given mom and dad when He gives it to them. They shall
join their parents in rejoicing. Oh, what a joy that is to us. how happy we are and rejoicing
in Christ when our sons and daughters rejoice in Christ with us. Oh, blessed is that man whose
children see God's grace in him, and seeing God's grace in him,
hearing his father's testimony of grace, is made to rejoice
in the Lord by his omnipotent grace. Look at verse 8. He says,
I will hiss for them and gather them. He doesn't say, I will
hiss for them and hope they will be gathered. He doesn't say,
I will hiss for them and plead with them that they may be gathered.
He doesn't say, I will hiss for them and wait for them to come.
He says, I will hiss for them and gather them. I will whistle
for them. That's the word, whistle. Perhaps
it refers to a man simply whistling with his lips and his mouth.
But probably it refers to an instrument used commonly carried
by shepherds. A whistle by which shepherds
would whistle for their sheep, implying perhaps some instrumentality
and the weakness and uselessness of the instruments because the
whistle was just a piece of reed, not properly to make a noise. And when the shepherd blew through
the empty, dirty reed, He gave the distinct sound that would
call His sheep to Himself. Our Savior said, I call my own
sheep by name and they follow me. His promise is, I will hiss
for them, speaking of the omnipotent power and irresistible grace
of His Spirit by which sinners are called to come to Christ
in the day of His power. I will hiss for them and gather
them. Blessed be His name. with the
long arms of his infinite grace and mercy. An omnipotent power
graciously gathers his own from the pit into which they are fallen. He gathers his own from the nations
in which they are scattered. He gathers his own from the ruins
of fallen humanity. He gathers his chosen redeemed
ones to himself, and he does so effectually. He gathers them
and causes them to come to Him with gladness, with willing hearts,
seeking pardon and righteousness in Him alone, that they may dwell
in His house forever. He says, I will hiss for them
and gather them. How come? Watch this. Do you
see it? For I have redeemed them. Surely He didn't mean to say
that. He speaks prophetically. of the call. He speaks prophetically
of the hissing and the gathering. So the prophecy clearly is talking
about that which is yet to come to pass. And then he speaks of
redemption way back here in Zechariah's day, hundreds of years before
ever he came into the world in human flesh and says, I will
his for them and I will gather them because I have redeemed
them. How could that be? Take it up
with him. He redeemed them before ever
they came into the world, before ever they had being in covenant
mercy by His own will and decree. He redeemed them by the shedding
of His blood as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world
before ever He had any blood running in His veins. It was
done. And redemption done is the foundation
of the call of grace, but not only is redemption done the foundation
of the call of grace, redemption done guarantees the call of grace
and makes certain that it is effectual in a word. Every sinner
for whom Jesus Christ, God's darling Son, was slain at Calvary,
indeed every sinner chosen in Him, given to Him, and redeemed
by Him as our surety in the covenant of grace before ever the world
was, shall assuredly be called, and no one else. You mean God
doesn't call all men? Well, that's terrible. Not near
as terrible a suggestion He does. Not near as terrible. To suggest
that He calls all men, and some don't come, means His call is
meaningless. You mean God doesn't call everybody?
No! No! But brother Donnick, what
you're saying is so. Unless God does something for
me, I can't do for myself. I'm going to hell. That's exactly
right. And if this day, if right where
you sit, You hear God's gracious call, you hear His Word, and
He speaks grace to you, giving you faith in Christ, causing
you to come to Him right now. It is because He has called you,
He's whistled for you, and that's because He says, I have redeemed
them. The Lord Jesus speaks again in
verse 8. He says, and they shall increase
as they have increased. What on earth does that mean?
They shall increase as they have increased. Back in Genesis 48,
you'll remember, Jacob blesses Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. And he purposely speaks Ephraim's
name first, though Joseph always spoke Manasseh's name first,
because Manasseh was the firstborn. And when he blessed them, Joseph
had the boys out here in front of Jacob. Now, remember, the
old man is blind. He couldn't see. He said, who
are these boys? He'd been talking about them
all the time. He said, who are these? And Joseph said, this
is Manasseh and Ephraim. And he brought them to the old
man as he was leaning over his bed, sitting on his bed. And
Joseph put Manasseh right there and Ephraim right there. And
he fell down on the ground. and waited for God's blessing
through the patriarch. And the old man did this. And he pronounced the blessing. And children said, no, don't
do that. You got your hands crossed. And Jacob said, I did it wittingly. I know it, my son. I know it.
I did this on purpose. He did it by divine inspiration. Because he said, Ephraim, oh
yes, Manasseh, he'll be a great nation. Lots of people are going
to come out of him. But Ephraim, his name is double fruitfulness. His name implies the fact of
fruitfulness. Though he is the secondborn of
the twins, he is that one in whom the blessing is given because
this man, Ephraim, represents the whole of God's elect. And
that's just the way God's always done it. Jacob have I loved,
and Esau have I hated. Loving the younger, hating the
elder. Cain and Abel, Cain the elder,
Abel the younger. Now Ephraim and Manasseh. Later David, the youngest of
his father's sons. And on and on it goes. Because
God has mercy on whom he will have mercy. And Ephraim From
that day, from the day that Ephraim was blessed of Jacob, he grew
and he grew and he grew and he grew and he grew and he grew. He multiplied and he multiplied. If you want to calculate it,
Dr. Gill suggested that Ephraim had
more men numbered in his tribes than any of the others going
out of Egypt. Ephraim was prominent in the
days of Joshua. Ephraim was prominent in the
days of the judges. Ephraim grew and grew and grew
and grew. But man, they were in Egypt. And they endured all the hardships
of 40 years in the wilderness. And they had to face the Canaanites
and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Moabites and the Amorites
all in the land during the days of judges. But Ephraim grew and
grew and grew, and difficulty after difficulty, trial after
trial, captivity after captivity, times of darkness after times
of darkness, even days when every man did that which was right
in his own eyes over and over again, such was the case. Yet
Ephraim grew. What does he mean? They shall
increase as they have increased. Now you write this down or try
to remember it somehow. This is exactly what God is telling
us. His church, His kingdom, is a perpetually growing kingdom. A perpetually increasing body. A perpetually increasing family. Our Lord Jesus is that man spoken
of in the Psalms. Blessed is the man whose quiver
is full. His quiver is not yet full, but
it is always filling. And at last he shall see of the
travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. You mean, Brother
Dodd, in all times and circumstances, in all things, even when it appears
to the contrary, God's saving his people, adding to the church
daily, such you should be saved. In everything, in everything,
God's family continues to grow and multiply, indeed in everything,
and shall throughout the ages. Oh, I thought things were in
bad shape. They are for everybody but God's
church. Oh, it's such a horrible day.
It is for everybody but us. This is a day God made for us.
I get so weary. I really do. I get weary of hearing
folks talk about, oh, what a terrible day. Oh, how gloomy. Oh, the sky is falling. Yes, with rain from heaven. And that's all that falls upon
God's people. That's all. Read on. And I will
sow them among the people." We were scattered among the sons
of men in the fall of our father Adam. Scattered with dispersion
with Noah's son. Scattered at the tower of Babel.
But now the Lord sows us among the sons of men around the world
as the salt of the earth and the light of the world as witnesses
unto all nations concerning Him and of Him. Look at verse 9.
And they shall remember me in the far countries. Turn to Ezekiel
16 if you will. I've got a number of passages
I want to refer to. I want to read you just a couple
of them. Turn to Ezekiel 16. You're familiar with the story. That
deserted infant, naked, polluted his own blood, cast out, dead. No one to pity it. And the Savior
passes by, spreads his skirt over it, says, live. Puts his
beauty on him, says, you became mine. describes all the fallings, how we have our falls. And when
all is said and done, watch this, verse 62, And I will establish
my covenant with thee, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord,
that thou mayest remember all these things you have experienced,
and all the grace I work upon you and bestow upon you. are
that ye may know that I am the Lord, and that ye may remember,
and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because
of thy shame." Now watch this, "...when I am pacified toward
thee for all that thou hast done." Oh, what wondrous grace. Back in
our text, verse 9 again. And they shall live with their
children and turn again. When God's elect, His adopted
children are turned to Christ. And their children, those of
their children who are also His adopted children are turned to
Christ. Then they live together with one another with God and
with Christ. Now Ron, that's family living. That's family living. I was talking to a dear friend
of mine just recently. He was telling
me about hardships growing up in eastern Kentucky, just four
of the church mice living in just utter, utter poverty. He
said, we never had anything. But we were loved. And I said
to her, I said, what's poverty when you're really rich? This is family living, all living
together in Christ, with Christ, with one another. Then verse
10 gives a fuller declaration of God's promise in verse 9,
I will sow them among the people. Here he declares that they will
be ultimately made to cover the earth so fully that place sufficient
for them can't be found in the earth. Ephraim, the one who is
doubly fruitful, shall be at last so bountiful that a place
shall be made for them in a new heavens and a new earth. Now
look at verse 11. In verses 11 and 12, the Lord
Jesus promises that he will make every chosen redeemed sinner
triumphant and free by his omnipotent saving grace, so triumphant,
so free that they shall pass through every sea of affliction
and smite every wave that threatens them, every river that stands
before them, Like the Red Sea before Israel, and like the River
Jordan before them again, every river that stands before them,
whatever is in the way, whatever is in the way, did you hear me? Whatever is in the way, whatever
it is, whoever it is, whatever is in the way by which God leads
us to Himself, whatever is in the way, as we walk in the way,
the river will become dry and hard and solid. Every mountain shall be made
low, every valley shall be exalted, the rough places shall be made
smooth, and the river shall be dried, so that no harm comes
to God's people. Every proud tyrant who seeks
to oppress us and seeks to harm us shall be brought down before
us And Egypt, the world, the kingdom of Satan, shall never
again reign over us. Now look at this. And he shall pass through the
sea with affliction and shall smite the waves in the sea. And all the deeps of the river
shall dry up and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down
And the scepter of Egypt shall depart away. They did it in verse
12. And you're going to walk. They that wait on the Lord shall
renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings
as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Walk. Walking implies steady,
Easy, comfortable, confident progress. We're walking to Zion. We're walking in the light. Walking to heaven. That's it. You say, what you
doing, Larry? Walking to glory. Nothing here
is going to do any harm. Will you hear me, children of
God? Nothing here is going to hinder. Nothing here is going
to prevent when God gathers Ephraim, they shall walk with him to glory. Now, that's the salvation God
has promised to Ephraim. Let me talk to you a little bit
about Ephraim, the son God cast out, to whom this salvation is
promised. Johnny Cash used to, every time
he'd sing in a concert, I'm told, He'd get up the first night of
concert, he'd step to the microphone and say, Hello, my name is Johnny
Cash. Let me introduce myself to you,
will you? My name is Ephraim. My name is Ephraim. Now, I urge
you to read the whole book of Hosea. It is all about the salvation
of Ephraim, of God's elect. I hope you can put your name
here where the book of God speaks of Ephraim. Ephraim, like the
prodigal son in the parable, left his father's house. As Adam looked at that wife he
loved and the tree God forbade him, he said, give me the portion
of goods that I have come into me, and he took it. Because of
his rebellion, We're told in Jeremiah 7, verse 13, Ephraim
was cast out. God cast him out. And so it is
with every man by birth and by nature. And so it is with every
man in his day-by-day experience. Men and women are cast off from
God. Most don't know it. Even God's
elect. cast off and made to appear as
though in every way they are opposed by God. In this generation of religious
tomfoolery, today in this town, all across this town, pick up
the paper, I presume today, I haven't looked at them in a long time,
look at the church ads, you'll find every preacher around trying
his dead-level best To persuade everybody that God loves them.
Oh, the Lord's so good to you. The Lord loves you. Oh, it's
so sweet. So horrible. So horrible. So horrible. Thus to lie to men. What you need to know. Will you
hear me, you who are without my Redeemer? Will you hear me?
This is what God declares. The wrath of God abides on you. The wrath of God abides on you. And until you find out that God's
cast you off, you'll never be gathered in. Until you find out
that God's against you, you'll never find out He's for you.
It's not going to happen. Ephraim was cast out. Though
he left his father's house glorious like the prodigal, we're told
twice that his glory was fading. Oh, how quickly a man's glory
fades. When Adam went out of the garden,
all the glory he had, he's right here, he's right here. And when
he steps right there, everything starts to fade. That strong,
brilliant, righteous man suddenly starts to age. and die because
sin is in him and he fades. His mind fades. His strength
fades. His glory fades. That woman he
looked at and thought, hey, did that come out of me? He soon began to look at her
and see wrinkles on her brow, sagging tissue on her arm. and
gray in her hair, because Adam's glory fades, and we come forth
from our mother's womb speaking lies, and we say, oh man, look
what I'm doing for myself. Look at this. I'll never get
to be like that. Look at that fat old man. That poor fellow, he can't even
remember how to tie his shoes. I hope I never get like that.
You're headed there quicker than you think. His glory fades so
much that Isaiah tells us, God tells us by Isaiah, the crown
that was on his head, that which caused that fellow to stand tall.
They said, look at me. Fell off his head and he trampled
it in the muck and mire of the streets. Like the particle, Ephraim,
wasted everything. He was fallen, we're told in
Hosea 5. He was broken. At last he was
made desolate, empty. God tells us that his heart is
the heart of a silly dove, a man without a heart. Heartless wretch
he became, turned to every uncleanness. At last, like the harlot, he
went and joined himself to idols, and God said, Ephraim is joined
to idols, let him alone. When he found out he was wounded
and hurt, he sought healing. He wanted to be healed, just
like you. Oh, I want to be saved. Oh, I
want to go to heaven when I die. I sure would not get things straightened
out in my life. And so Ephraim did just like you do. He went
to Assyrian and tried to find some way to mend himself. Tried
to find somebody who would give him some help to heal him of
his woes. But he was feeding on the wind.
He became shameful. And we're told that he hired
himself a lover, as in Hosea chapter 8. That prodigal son
was hungry, had nothing to eat. He said, I've got to get something
done. I've got to find some help somewhere.
So he went and found himself a citizen of that country, a
self-righteous, legalist preacher, and told him what a bad shape
he was in, how bad he'd been, all the evil he'd done, and that
preacher He said to him, well boy now, it's true, you've been
awful bad. It's true, you sure enough deserve
to go to hell, but things aren't as bad as you think. All you've
got to do is work a little bit. You make up your mind that you're
going to change yourself, and you'll be changed. I've got some
hogs. Would you like to go feed them?
That'd be a way up. And so he goes and gets in a hog trough
and slots himself with the religion of the world. And so Ephraim
hired himself the same kind of luck. Hired himself out to idolatry,
adultery, fornication, running from God. That's what false religion
is. And as he did, like the prodigal,
he ate all the unclean things of the Assyrians. Well, that's Zephraim. That's
Laicris. That's Don Ford. But I'm not
done yet. Like the prodigal, Ephraim was
loved of God. Loved of God and known by Him. He said, I know Ephraim. I know
Ephraim. He was the younger son, but he
was the firstborn son, the chosen heir. The Lord God said, is not
Ephraim my firstborn? Joseph said, wait a minute, Ephraim
is my secondborn. Ephraim's not the one to be chosen. Ephraim's
not the one to be honored. Ephraim's not the one to be blessed.
Look here at Manasseh! God said, Ephraim is my firstborn,
because he was known of God. Known of God. That doesn't mean
God, but he knew all about him. That means he knew him. whom
he did foreknow that he also did predestinate, loved him,
ordained him, and therefore he was under God's constant watchful
care. I know I'm reading a little something
into the parable, but I'm just reading between the lines our
Lord gave. That prodigal son came home.
When he got home, unknown to him, his father, already had
everything prepared for him. He was expecting him to walk
in right at that time. Well, how could that be? The
parable is about God and His grace. And all the while that
boy is out wasting his substance and righteous living, his father
sends his servants to watch over his boy. And so we're told concerning
Ephraim, he said, I led him. I led him. Will you hear me,
children of God? You who now believe on the Son
of God, God Almighty has led you every step of the way to
Himself. He said, I led him. And the Lord approved of him. He appeared
to be opposed to him. Everything he did seemed to be
against him. He looked like God had broken him. He had put him
to shame. He had brought him down and made
him desolate. He took the crown off his head and cast him out. Surely God is opposed to him.
No, God was for him. He said in Hosea 11 verse 8,
How shall I give thee up? He wouldn't give him up. He wouldn't
give him up. Everybody else did, but not God.
Everybody else. God wouldn't even allow his prophet
Jeremiah to pray for him. He said, don't pray for him.
He said, leave him alone. Leave him alone. Don't talk to
me about him anymore. But God wouldn't give him up.
He wouldn't give him up. And all the while, his iniquity
was hidden. In chapter 13, the Lord says
the iniquity of Ephraim is bound up. His sin is hid. That's why he wouldn't give him
up. You see, Ephraim is he whom the Lord Jesus and I have redeemed.
His iniquity is bound up. His sin is hid so that before
God Almighty, there is no iniquity in Israel. And all the while,
this was going on. You can read this for yourself.
We won't turn there. Jeremiah 31, 20. He said, It is not easy
for him, my dear and pleasant child. It's not Ephraim, my dear and
pleasant child. His return had nothing to do
with making him dear and pleasant. He was dear and pleasant before
ever he was cast out. and dear and pleasant all the
time. He was running from God all the
time. He was turning his back upon
God all the time. He was hiring lovers and hiring
himself harlots and wasting everything. He was dear and pleasant to God,
his Father. And like the prodigal, Ephraim
at last, when his iniquity was discovered, came to himself,
turned and went to his father. But that's not all. I encourage
you again, read Jeremiah 31. Ephraim turned because God said,
I have heard Ephraim bemoaning himself. Surely after that I
was turned. I turned to you. After I was
turned, I repented. Ephraim turned because God turned
him. Ephraim turned and came to himself
and he said, I will return to my father. He said, let's go
to God. Let me show it to you. Hosea
chapter 6. Hosea chapter 6. This is how
he reasons. Let us return unto the Lord,
for he hath torn, and he will heal us. After three days he
will revive us. In the third day he will raise
us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if
we follow on to know the Lord, his going forth is prepared as
the morning, and he shall come unto us as the latter rain and
the former rain unto the earth. Ephraim returned home. And when he got home, oh, when
he got home, his father saw him when he was yet a great way off
and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him and kissed him
and kissed him and kissed him and kissed him. commanded his
servants to come, preaching the gospel, declaring the ways of
God's grace and mercy, as he put the family shoes on his feet.
Give our boys some stability, a gospel of peace. Bring them
Nestro, the perfect righteousness of my son. Put it on his back.
Put the family ring, the signet of the covenant, on his finger. and let's eat, drink and make
merry for this my son that was lost has come home he who was
dead lives and they feasted on the fatted slain calf Christ
Jesus the Lord and that is the salvation God promises to every
chosen The salvation God gives to every sinner who comes to
Him. I've proved it so. My name's
Ephraim. And I'm telling you, Him that
cometh unto me, the Savior said, I will in no wise cast out. You come to Christ right where
you are right now. Come to Him. Come to Him. Don't
preach, I want to come. If you do, you will. Come to
Him. If you don't come, it's just
because you don't want to, that's all. Come to Him. And you come to Him. His Word is, I will never, never,
never cast you out. Amen.