To mercies I plead, all I have
needed Thy hand hath provided. Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord,
unto me. Brother Gabe chose that hymn
well. If you paid close attention as
we read chapter 2 of Hosea, you saw that that hymn went perfectly
with that. Morning by morning, new mercies
I see. Hosea, go back to Hosea with
me. I have a message I believe is
worth hearing. Gift the Lord and bless it. Hosea chapter 1, let's read the
first three verses. The word of the Lord that came
unto Hosea, son of Bera, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz,
and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam,
the son of Joash, king of Israel. beginning of the word of the
Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea, Go,
take unto thee a wife of whoredoms, and children of whoredoms. For the land hath committed great
whoredom, departing from the Lord." So he went and took Gomer,
the daughter of Debalaim, which conceived, and bare him a son."
This is a love story. This is the story of a man named
Hosea, a good, kind, loving, faithful man. who loves a woman
who leaves him for others. And after a while, this woman
becomes used up, broken down, undesirable, and literally ends
up for sale with no takers until her faithful and true loving
husband finds her. This is the story of the Lord's
love for his people, his bride, his church, who plays the harlot
like this woman and goes after other things and fall into sin
and ruin until the Lord finds it. This is the story of my salvation. The Lord's love for his people,
look at chapter 3, verse 1, says, The Lord said unto me, Go, yet
love a woman, beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according
to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel, who look
to other gods, and love flagons of wine. Go take a wife, he says
in chapter one, go yet love a woman. And he calls this woman beloved.
The Lord told his prophet Hosea, go love a woman, beloved. The
word beloved means foreloved, foreloved, loved before, beloved. Go love someone who was beloved
by another. Go take a wife of whoredom, an
adulteress. What this is speaking of is our
Lord's forelove for his people. The Scripture says, "...before
the foundation of the world, God set his love upon some,"
not all, but some, "...of Adam's fallen race." God, the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit loved a world of people, not every person in the world,
but people out of the world, every tribe, kindred, nation,
and tongue unto heaven before the world was created. He foreknew
them, that is, he foreloved them, had them in his heart, on his
mind. Whom he did foreknow, Scripture
says, he did predestinate. He did predetermine for them
to be the bride of his Son, to be his wife. And they were betrothed
to him. Chapter 2, you read it with me,
verses 19 and 20. Says, I will betroth thee unto
me forever. Yea, I will betroth, for that
is I have determined for you to be my bride. I will betroth
thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and loving kindnesses,
and in mercies. And I will even betroth thee
unto me in faithfulness. You're going to be faithful because
I'm faithful. And thou shalt know the Lord. God the Father, in love to his
chosen people, betrothed them to his Son. Christ said this
often. He said, the people which thou
hast given me. Father gave them me, thine they
are, and thine are mine, and mine are thine, given to the
Father in a covenant before the world began. And God the Father,
in love to these chosen people, sent Not a prophet, but that
prophet. His servant, his son, into this
world to be their husband. To find his lost bride, because
every one of them, when he finds them, are lost. Like Gomer here. To redeem her, she's got to be
bought. She's been sold, she's got to
be bought. To redeem her and bring her back home where she
belongs to her rightful husband. So it says old Hosea loved this
woman. He did. He loved a fallen woman,
a no good woman. Chapter 3 verse 1 says, Love
a woman, beloved for love of her friend. Scripture says there
is a friend that's sticking closer. Love a woman, but look at her.
Yet she's an adulteress. She doesn't love him. He's faithful to her. He's loving
to her, but she doesn't love him. She's not faithful to him. She doesn't even think about
him. And worse yet, not only an adulteress, it says, according
to the love of the Lord toward the children of God, Chapter
1 says she's a wife of whoredoms, and adulterous is bad enough.
But this woman sold herself, literally sold her body and her
soul. What for? What did she sell her
body and her soul for? Things. things. She left a kind, loving husband
for things, possessions. Verse 2 of chapter 1 says her
name is Gomer. Verse 3, He went and He took
Gomer. Interestingly, the name Gomer Some of you have already lost
you, and I understand that. If you listen up, you may get
a blessing you haven't had in a while. This is one of the greatest stories
in God's Word. Nobody is sufficient to tell
this, but if you listen carefully, if you just listen, you might
get a blessing you haven't had in a while. This woman's name is Gomer. Every
name in God's Word is significant. Her name means incomplete ruin. Now though she was married to
a wonderful man named Hosea, she was loved by a merciful man.
She went after other lovers' things. She went after things. Chapter 2, verse 5, look at it. Chapter 2, verse 5 says that
she said, the middle part of that verse says, she said, I
will go after my lovers. These are the ones I love and
the ones that love me, that give me my bread and my water and
my wool and my flax and my oil and my wine. I will go after
other lovers. She went after things is what
she wanted. She was enticed by the world.
She was wooed by the world, and old Homer falls for their wiles. He falls for their smooth talk
and tantalizing sights, and she goes after these things. And they promise her good things.
They promise her happiness. They promise her joy. They promise
her pleasure. So she goes after him, and like
the prodigal son, she wastes her substance. She literally
sells her body and her soul to the world, thinking she's happy
all the time, thinking she's loved by the world, thinking
that the world is giving her some wonderful things. She said, my lovers have given
me my bread. She'd wake up every morning.
Gomer would wake up every morning and find gifts upon her doorstep. She would find food and raiment
there. She would find necessary things,
but it wasn't the world that was giving them to her. Look at verse 8. She did not
know that I gave her corn and wine. Hosea, her faithful, loving,
kind husband, who she really belonged to, it was he that was
giving her these things all the time. Though she was far from
him, yet he in love and in faithfulness and in mercy and in grace to
her with every morning, every morning, Those mercies were in
there. Every morning he would bring
gifts to her and put them on her forehead. She'd wake up and
there's her bread, and there's her food, and there's her clothing,
and there's her money for her bills and all that. Aren't my
lovers good too? Isn't the world good too? Not knowing it was I that gave
her those things. It was me, Hosea 6. And what about us? This is all a story, the story
of God's people, whom God Almighty said to the Son, Go love a woman,
beloved. I love her. She's an adulteress. He doesn't think about me. He
doesn't think about me. He's mine, but he doesn't even
know it. He doesn't even care that I'm God. He never gives
me a thought. He sent his Son in this world
of love, such as those who came unto his own, his own received
him not. He came, said, Go love a woman worse than adulteress.
Played the harlot. Sold her body and soul. sold ourselves for what? For
what? Things. Things. Going after things. Going after the world. Thinking
that the world, and this is what the world says, I've been lucky. I sure have been lucky. Isn't
Mother Nature beautiful? Not knowing, not realizing all
the time that it was God giving us those things. His mercies
were new every morning, that every good and perfect gift comes
from above, from the Father. Every good and perfect gift,
food, rain, clothing, everything we have is a gift from God. But not knowing it, all the time
our God was providing for us, our Maker, our Husband freely
gave us all these things. Well, Gomer became a forsaken
woman. She loved the world and was seemingly
loved by the world for a while. Look at chapter 7. Go over to
chapter 7 with me. So Gomer, here's Gomer. She's
in her prime right now. She's in her prime. She's young. She's beautiful. She's full of
life. So much to say, so much to do. And she gives herself
in her prime, gives herself to everything and everyone. Is it any wonder the Lord says
to us, Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth. The
firstfruits belong unto him, not what's left over. Nevertheless,
Gomer in her prime, young, beautiful, full of life, gives herself to
everything and everyone for a long time. She lives a long time this
way. Many of us live twenty, thirty,
forty, maybe even longer, giving ourselves, selling ourselves
for a long time. Now, Gomer begins to grow old. The world begins to take its
toll on her. She begins to get old. She once
was young, now she's getting older. becomes used up, broken down, older, worn and
haggard looking. Look at chapter 7, verse 8. It
says, He's mixed himself among the people. Ephraim is a cake
not turned. Strangers have devoured his strength,
and he knoweth it not. Yet gray hairs are here and there
on him, and he doesn't know it. He's getting old. He's going
to die. And he doesn't know her. He knows it not. The old woman
doesn't know it. She doesn't know it. She's getting
old and used up and worn out. She doesn't know it. But Hosea,
her faithful husband, Hosea, Who loves her. Who never left
her. He never did. He never was unfaithful
to her. Even at this time. All this time. He never was unfaithful
to her. He had but one bride. Though
she was unfaithful to him. Though she never gave him a thought.
She's all he thought about. And Hosea, in love and faithfulness
and kindness, is going to bring her back. He's going to bring her back
to himself, where she belongs. But she goes after these other
lovers. Now she's getting old, but she
still goes after them. But look at verse 7, chapter
2, verse 7. Look at it. I'm trying to paint
a picture which only God can paint. Verse 7 says that she
shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them.
She's going to go after them, but they're not going to wait
on her any longer. She'll seek them, but she won't find them.
They don't want her anymore. I don't want her anymore. She
goes after them. She's getting older now. She
goes after these former lovers, but she finds no takers. And so to make her come to Him,
to bring her to the point, to realize what she's done to herself, where she is at the time, right
now, to bring her to himself, to see herself as she is, he
begins to take away these things. He begins to take away all those
things she once took pleasure in. Look at verses 9 through
12. Therefore will I return and take
away my corn in the time thereof, my wine in the season thereof,
will recover my wool and my flax given to her to cover her nakedness.
That is, in the fullness of time I will begin to remove these
things that she took such pleasure in. And I will discover, verse
10, her lewdness in the sight of her lover. She's going to
look ugly to them. And they're not going to want her anymore. And I'm going to bring her to
the point where she doesn't want them. Verse 11, she was happy. She
was real happy and joyful, but I will cause all her mirth to
cease. Those things she took great happiness in, she's not
going to get any pleasure in them anymore. Her feast days,
her new moon Sabbath, all her solemn feasts. Verse 12, I'll
destroy her vines, her fig trees, those things which she took pleasure
in and took comfort in and rested in. Those things, I'm going to
remove them. Those things she said that my lovers have given
me. going to all grow up and be wild and be devoured and waste
away until she becomes a broken, poor, penniless woman, until she literally ends up—Gomer
literally ends up on the auction block. She has nothing to pay. bills now. She's become broken in debt, and now the law comes
to apprehend her and takes her, and now she's being sold, literally
sold, for the debts that she owes. And she's literally waiting to
be sold on an auction block. Will anybody have this old, broken,
worthless woman who's full of debt? Oh, they would when she was young
and beautiful. Anybody have her? I thought about this. You reckon
by this time that Domer is starting to think about Hosea? You reckon? She did. She said up there, I'd like to
return to my first husband. It was better for me then than
it is now. I bet she did start thinking
about him now. I wonder if he thinks about me. I wonder. I just wonder if he'd have me back. No way, no way. What would he want with me now? I sure don't deserve it. I sure
don't deserve it. And she's standing there on the
auction block, thinking all's hopeless. And
she hears a voice. You know, Kinnear said, Will
anybody take this woman? Silent for a little while. You
know, remember the Lord was silent to that woman. That Syro-Phoenician
woman ignored her. The Lord doesn't have to have
mercy. The Lord doesn't have to show mercy like this religious
world says. The Lord doesn't have to love
anybody. Nobody's worth loving. The Lord doesn't need anybody. Salvation comes when we begin
to realize that. You know, the only ones the Lord
loves is those that are unlovely. The only ones the Lord has mercy
on are the guilty. The only ones the Lord will save
is the unrighteous. He didn't come to call the righteous.
He said the sinners do. The only ones the Lord deems
worthy to marry His Son are the unworthy, those who know what
they've done, where they've been, and who it was that saved them. So she's standing there and seems
real hopeless. Anybody take this forlorn woman. She's not good for much. She hears the sweetest voice
she's ever heard. Sounds vaguely familiar. He says,
I'll take her. The voice of her beloved, the
voice of her husband, Hosea, crying out, I'll take that woman,
she's mine. So he says, look at chapter three,
verse two, he says, I've bought her to me. So I bought her. Look
what he paid. Now, this is back then. This
is a couple thousand, three thousand years ago. I bought her for fifteen
pieces of silver. That's a lofty price for a lowly
woman like this, isn't it? I was saying, you're going to buy
this old worn-out woman? You're going to spend that much?
Fifteen pieces of silver? That's not all. An omer of barley
and a half omer of barley. An omer and a half of barley
and fifteen pieces of silver. A hefty price for a harlot, isn't
it? Well, he redeemed her. He bought
her. That's it. She was in debt. Pay
off all of her debts. He bought her. He purchased her.
He bought her with a price. And this is exactly what the
Lord Jesus Christ did for his people, exactly. This is exactly
where the Lord Jesus Christ finds every one of his people, sold
to sin, sold out to this world, used up, good for nothing. He
doesn't need us. Oh, man, we need him. And he
finds us, like old Gomer here. He comes down here into this
cesspool of iniquity. and pays the redemption price. He bought us, the Scripture says,
with a price. What was it? His own precious
blood, his life's blood, his life for ours, his life for ours. A lofty price for lowly sinners,
isn't it? He redeemed his people. Everyone
for whom Christ died shall go free. Their sins are gone. He redeemed us unto himself,
his bride, though he gave much. It sure doesn't seem like he
got much, does it? So Hosea, it's a true story.
Hosea comes to get Gomer. He said, true story. That's my
story. It is a true story. Hosea comes
to get Dawn. He comes to get her. At times he pays the price, and
he takes her unto himself. Listen to what he says to her.
He has her now. She's his. He's taken her home. Verse 3, And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me. Now, you've lived for yourself
all these years, haven't you? You left me and went after other
lovers. You lived for yourself, for your
own pleasure, for your own happiness, for your own joy. You lived for
things. You sold yourself out to things. Now, you're mine,
and you're going to live the rest of these days. You know
what? I believe she's happy about it. Verse 3, he goes on to tell her,
You shall not play the harlot. You're not going to sell yourself
to these things anymore. You're not going to give yourself
to anybody else anymore. You're not going to leave me
anymore. Don't you know she liked the
sound of that word? Huh? Don't you know that after the
Lord began dealing with her, and she was ashamed of leaving
that faithful husband before? Don't you know that this was
the thing that just struck her with guilt the whole time? Then
I left him. I thought all these fellows were
good to him, and he's the one that thinks, how could I have
sinned against such love? The goodness of the Lord leads
us to repentance, as Scripture says. And don't you know when
he said unto her, Now you're mine, and you will never leave
me. You will never leave me. Don't you know she liked it?
You mean, you're preaching once in grace, always in grace? Yes,
doesn't it sound great? Don't you like the sound of it? Hosea said, You're not leaving
me. I'm going to see to it. You're not going to play the
harlot. You're not going to give yourself to anybody else. Read
on. He said, Thou shalt not be for
another man. You don't belong to anybody else.
You belong to me, and I to thee. You're mine, and I'm yours forever. Oh, that's what the Lord says
to his people. When he comes to find them, when
he comes to save them and redeem them, that's exactly what he
says to his people, I found you, you're mine. You'll not leave me anymore and
I'll not leave you. You're not going to be for anybody
else anymore. You're for me and I'm for you. You remember what
we read over there in chapter 3 where it says, or chapter 2,
they said, Thou art my people. And he said, Thou art my people.
And they'll say, Oh, you're my God. You're not going anywhere,
and I'm not either. Oh, this is a beautiful picture.
So old Hosea takes Gomer. He takes her by the hand. He takes her by the hand. He
puts his arm around her. Can you picture this scene? She's
up there for sale, ashamed. before the whole world put herself
to shame, sold herself out for nothing. And here this man in
the back pays a hefty price for it. The world can't believe it. And
he comes to get her, and he takes her by the hand and puts his
arm around her and walks down through that crowd. crowd full
of ruffians and rowdies, many of which had had this woman,
many of which he defiled herself with. And yet Hosea has her on his
arm, proud of her, and walks with her through this
crowd, arm in arm, daring anybody to say anything about his bride. Daring anybody. He walks with
her proudly in honor through this crowd, many of whom knew
her, and she knew the same bunch. She was just like them, yet he
walks with her. He chose her and bought her and
walks with her through this crowd proudly. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God select? Any gomers out there? It's God that justifies it. Don't
you call common what God is proclaiming? Who is He that condemns us? Doth
no man condemn thee? No man, Lord. Neither do I. My spotless Bride dresses us
in white, dresses us in white as if we're
pure. Scripture says, oh, this is,
isn't this a wonderful picture of our Lord, huh? That's what
it said there in chapter three. It says, this is the love of
the Lord toward the children of Israel. True Israel, spiritual
Israel. This is the story of our Lord's
love for his own. The Scripture says, having loved
his own, he loved them to the end. To the end. It reminds me of a poem, bless
me. First time I heard it, and it
still does. It was battered and scarred,
and the auctioneer thought it barely worth his while to waste
much time on an old violin, but he held it up with a smile. And he cried, What is my bid,
good folks? Who'll start the bidding for
me? A dollar? Two dollars? Somebody make it
three? Going for three, going once,
going twice, but no. From the room far back, a gray-haired
man came forward and picked up the bow. And after he had tightened up
the old loosened strings, he played a melody so fair and sweet as a caroling angel sang. And the auctioneer, in a voice
quiet and low, said, Now what's my bid for the old violin? And
he held it up with the bow. Somebody make it three, going
once, going twice, so for three thousand, cried who? And the people cheered, but some
of them cried, we don't understand, what changed the worth of that
old violin? And he said, the touch of the master's hand. And many a man or woman with
life out of tomb, battered and scarred by sin, is auctioned
off by a foolish world," just like that old violin, but the
Master comes. And the foolish crowd can never
quite understand the change that is wrought in a sinner's heart by the touch of the Master. The old gomer was changed. She's
a changed woman. Look at chapter 14. Look at the
last chapter in this book. She's a changed woman, a new
woman, a new creature. She becomes young again. She became young again and beautiful,
at least to Hosea. and faithful. She's never going
to leave him now. She loves him. Why does she love
him? That's right, because he first loved her. Chapter 14, look at verses 4
through 8, and I close. He says, I will heal their backslide,
and I will love them freely. Mine anger is turned away from
him. I will be as a dew unto Israel,
he'll grow as a lily, cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches
shall spread, his beauty shall be as the olive tree, his smell
as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow
shall return, they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the
vine. The scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon." Now
God's people begin to resemble the Lord Jesus Christ. He is
this vine. They begin to be like Him. In verse 80, Ephraim shall say,
here's what she's going to say, it's what Gomer said, What have
I to do any more with idols? I've heard Him and observed Him,
and I'm like a green fir tree, I'm a new person. Yes, from me
is thy fruit found." My, my. She knew where her salvation
was. And you know what I believe? Well, I'm certain of it. I don't
believe that Hosea brought up her past ever again. I don't. She can never forget
it. She could never forget her unfaithfulness
to him. She could never forget how she'd
sinned against such love. But I don't believe he ever brought
her down. She'd say, Oh, honey, don't you
remember? I don't remember. It's like it never happened. That's my story. Okay, let's
sing a closing hymn. Number what? 480. 480. Let's
stand and sing the first and last verse. 480.