You hear me often as I preach
the gospel speak about salvation being conditioned
on Christ, that word condition, and I love that because I think
that settles in our minds the reality of what salvation by
grace is. It's salvation conditioned on,
there are conditions, because God is God, and according to
His nature, His attributes, every attribute must be honored, must
be revealed to His glory, and therefore He, by His grace and
the everlasting covenant of grace, conditioned all of our salvation
upon Christ. And if He hadn't done that, there'd
be no salvation for us. If any part of salvation were
conditioned on us, it would fail. And we need to see that. We need
to see how far that extends. It extends to every blessing
and every benefit of salvation. And so Christ came and he fulfilled
all the conditions and secured the salvation of all the people
whom God gave to him. And the Old Testament is full
of prophecies of that fact, the gospel being preached in the
Old Testament, and it's full of pictures of that great grace,
God's righteousness at Christ's expense. And one of the most
beautiful pictures that we see of that is in this book of Hosea,
of the prophet Hosea. We read about it last week in
this prophet who's in the northern kingdom. And God told him to
go marry a wife of whoredoms, a prostitute. None of us would
think about anything like it. That would be appalling to us.
And he used that as an illustration for his relationship with the
people of Israel under the Old Covenant and made it clear that
there was absolutely no way that there could be salvation and
eternal life and a lasting relationship with God by their works. And so he had Hosea go out and
marry this woman, Gomer. He had three children with her. And the name's Jezreel, Lo-Ruhamah,
which means no mercy. There's no mercy under the law.
That's what he's telling us in that boy's name. You say, well,
that just seems so strange for God to do something like that.
It's for our benefit. No mercy under the law. The law
has no provision for mercy. It's do and live, disobey and
die. And then one of the children
was named Lo-Ammi, which means not my people. Not my people. And what that indicates is that
there's going to come a time when God would divorce himself
from the nation Israel, according to the old covenant, because
the old covenant was going to be abolished and fulfilled in
the person and work of Jesus Christ. But I concluded last
week's message in chapter two of verse one, and I always, that's
the way I kind of divide it up, because in chapter two, it's
kind of showing us a ray of hope, and it's a gospel illustration
of Christ and his conditional love for his bride. His unconditional
love for his bride. Hosea's unconditional love for
his wife. Because she didn't deserve his
love. She didn't deserve his mercy. She didn't deserve any
goodness from him. And that's like us. We don't
deserve any love or mercy or grace from God. And if we're
ever in the mindset that we deserve it, then you don't call it grace
or mercy or unconditional love, it's what we've earned. But we
don't earn that. But he says in verse one, say unto your brethren,
am I, which means my people. In other words, God's gonna have
a people. God chose a people before the
foundation of the world, and he's gonna have them. He's not
willing that any of them should perish, but that all should come
to repentance. And then he says, and to your
sister, Ruhamah, which means mercy, have obtained mercy. There
is mercy for the true people of God. And then he begins to
illustrate it with Hosea and Gomer. And look here in verse
two, we'll read a few verses. Plead with your mother, plead.
Now that word plead means contend with her. It means to bring accusations. In other words, show what she
is and what she deserves. It's kind of like a legal scene
here. If you drug her into court and you were gonna say I'm gonna
divorce this woman, well what grounds are you gonna do it?
Well here's the charges. And he could have done that.
You know, he could have had Gomer killed, because according to
the terms of the old covenant, an adulterous man or an adulterous
woman was to be killed. You remember when the Pharisees
and the religionists drug the woman in front of Christ, the
woman who was caught in the act of adultery? And they said, Moses
says she's to be stoned. Well, the law said that, but
not the way they were doing it. And I always ask the question,
where's the man? Because he's an adult or two.
They left him by, he must have been somebody of importance to
them. You know how people are. And Christ said, let he who is
without sin cast the first stone. Vigilante justice was never the
way of it. She had to be brought before
the court. And then she had to be officially put to death by
the law. Anyway. He says, plead with your
mother, plead, for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband.
Now, she was his wife, and he was her husband, but she wasn't
playing the part of a wife. She wasn't acting as a wife should
act. And he says, let her therefore
put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries
from between her breasts. In other words, bring her to
repentance. lest I strip her naked and set her as in the day
that she was born, make her ashamed. What a picture of God by the
Holy Spirit through the preaching of the gospel of stripping us
of all of our self-righteousness. Isn't that what he does? Think
about the Apostle Paul when he saw the glory of Christ on the
Damascus road and went to Ananias and Ananias taught him. He come
to find out that all of his beauty in false religion turned out
to be nothing. Dung, he said. He was stripped
of all his self-imposed and self-judged righteousness. Because the only
way we can be saved is the righteous robe of Christ. Christ's righteousness
imputed. Make her as a wilderness. That
means dry and dead. And set her like a dry land,
and slay her with thirst. Remember how the gospel says
that blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness,
they'll be filled? And this is what's going on here.
Hosea, whose name is salvation, and Gomer, whose name is dry
and dead, consumed with depravity, Verse four, and I will not have
mercy upon her children, for they be the children of whoredoms.
Now again, that's according to the law, no mercy in the law.
For their mother hath played the harlot, she that conceived
them hath done shamefully, for she said, I will go after my
lovers that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my
flax, my oil and my drink. So she was attributing her sustenance
to her lovers. And again, ultimately, we can
see such a great picture of salvation here by God's grace in Christ
for us. We're just like gomers spiritually.
Dead, depraved, idolaters. That's what we are by nature.
It's not that we're just not perfect. We're not perfect. We're
not even perfect now in ourselves. As sinners saved by grace. But
far from being perfect, we're spiritual prostitutes. And I
know that's offensive to a lot of people, but it's not to God's
people. Paul said, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners
of whom I am chief. And he meant that. He wasn't
just being poetic there. He wasn't trying to match up
or compare himself to other people. But you think about it. Even
when God chose us before the foundation of the world, He chose
us as a sinful people, as an idolatrous people. All of that. And when we're born into the
world, how do we come into the world? We come fallen in Adam,
spiritually dead, spiritually depraved. Idolaters, adulterers,
all of that can be applied to us spiritually, even in our highest
attainments in false religion. And that's what people won't
have. That's where the light brings out the darkness of man. Men hate the light because their
deeds are evil. And so look at the, let's read
a good part of this. Therefore, verse six, therefore
behold I will hedge up thy way with thorns and make a wall that
she shall not find her path. That's a picture of being lost.
You know, God brings us to be lost. Do you know that? And the
reason he does is because he's gonna find us. He said, Christ
said, the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. And you
remember when he said this, he said, other sheep I have which
are not of this foe, them I must also bring. He's gonna find those
sheep. In verse seven, and she shall follow after her lovers.
I mean, she's a sinner, just like us. But she shall not overtake
them. She shall seek them, but shall
not find them. Why, because they've forsaken
her. See, that's the way the law leaves us, forsaken, sinners
who deserve nothing but death and hell. Then shall she say,
I will go and return to my first husband, for then was it better
with me than now. So now having been brought down.
And look at verse eight. Now this ought to float your
boat. Think about this. For she did not know that I,
Hosea, gave her corn and wine and oil. and multiplied her silver
and gold, which they prepared for Baal." Hosea was the one
who was feeding her and giving her, and she didn't know it.
She thought it was her lovers. And that's the way we are in
false religion. If you're one of God's elect, God has been,
had his sovereign hand over you from your birth. And whatever time he has appointed
for you to be converted, between your birth and that time, with
the Apostle Paul, I think it was around 40 years. I think
he was about 40 years old when he was struck down on the Damascus
Road. But whatever time it was before
he appointed that you be converted and brought to a saving knowledge
of God who justifies the ungodly through the righteousness of
Christ, all that time you attributed it to idols. Now aren't we all just like Gomer? And look at verse nine, therefore
will I return and take away my corn in the time thereof, and
my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and
my flax given to cover her nakedness, and now will I discover her lewdness
in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of
mine hand. Leaving us naked before the law. Isn't that right? God be merciful
to me, the sinner. That's what the publican said.
But the Pharisee up there, he said, I thank God I'm not like
these old sinners out here. Verse 11, I will also cause all
her mirth to cease, her joy in her lovers will cease. They've
forsaken her. Her feast days, her new moons,
her Sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts. Now think about that.
You know, these are religious activities here in verse 11.
You don't attribute those to a prostitute, do you? So what
do we have here? We have a picture. It's like
man in his false religion taking pride in his feast days, his
new moons, his Sabbaths, his solemn feasts. I keep the law,
you see. I celebrate Christmas, or I celebrate
Thanksgiving. I go to church on Easter, you
know, that kind of thing. I'm religious. All that's gonna cease. You're
gonna see that all that means nothing, does not contribute
one degree to the righteousness which God requires and has provided
for his people in the Lord Jesus Christ, period. Verse 12, I will
destroy her vines and her fig trees, where if she had said
these are my rewards that my lovers have given me. Think about
this, picture this in your mind. This prostitute, she's past age
now. Her lovers have forsaken her.
There's one time they would have gladly paid for her service.
No more. And she would have starved to
death. But Hosea unconditionally kept bringing her the food and
the wine to make sure that she didn't die. That's what God did
for us. And she still, she says, these
are my rewards that my lovers have given me. I will make them
a forest and the beast of the field shall eat them. That's
what God's saying. He's gonna show her that it's
like a barren forest. Verse 13, and I will visit upon
her the days of Balaam, wherein she burned incense to them, and
she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went
after her lovers and forgot me, saith the Lord. Can't you just
see this? I'll tell you what, it's so true
that where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. And that's
every one of us. You can look at somebody and
you say, well, it took more grace to save that old guy than me.
Oh, no. Oh, no. We're all equally in
need of grace, equally in need of mercy, this preacher too,
equally in need of a righteousness we cannot produce. And here God
gave his only begotten son Think about that. That's Thanksgiving,
isn't it? That's the issue of Thanksgiving. You know, most of us, I mean
all of us, I think, we have houses to live in, we have clothes to
wear, cars to drive, and we thank God for those things, don't we?
We've got our children and grandchildren. We thank God for that. But nothing
compares to this right here. And that's
why we meet on Sunday, to worship God, to say thank you, Lord,
for saving my soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me
whole. Thank you, Lord, for giving to
me thy great salvation. How great is it? Look at this.
Thy great salvation, so full and so free. My goodness. What a day of thanks. And then
look at verses 14 and 15. He says, therefore, behold, I
will lure her and bring her into the wilderness and speak, listen,
speak comfortably unto her. Now, our way of dealing with
things, naturally, is that I'm gonna go out here and I'm gonna
grab her by the hair of the head, drag her in the street, and beat
the crap out of her. That's the way we do it. Well,
that's what she deserves. He says, I'm going to allure
her. That means, you remember how the scripture says that God
draws us with cords of love? That's the case. Through the
preaching of the gospel. It's the gospel of peace. It's
the gospel of comfort. But it's only to be found in
Christ. Nowhere else. He says, I will
give her her vineyards from thins and the valley of Acre for a
door of hope. The valley of Acre means a valley
of trouble. And he's gonna bring her into
trouble, leave her destitute, but only God by his grace through
the blood of Christ can change that valley of trouble into a
door of hope. Salvation full and free. And
she shall sing there. That's worship. She's gonna worship. As in the days of her youth and
as in the days when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
Now he is referring here to the children of Israel. And of course,
you know how at times when God would deliver them out of trouble,
they would rejoice and they would worship. But it didn't last long. But The ultimate fulfillment
of this is in true spiritual Israel, the church. And look
at verse 16. And one thing I did want to notice
here in the lesson. All of this, when you see what's
going to happen to her, there is never any language in here
that says Hosea will do this if Gomer will cooperate. or if
Gomer will do this. You see, that's not the kind
of covenant that we're under. He doesn't say, God doesn't come
to you and say, now, I'll do this for you if you'll give me
your heart, or if you'll walk an aisle, or if you'll get baptized,
even in the coldest of waters. That's not the covenant. The
language here, he's saying, this is what I'm gonna do. And this is what she's gonna
do. And somebody asked the question
one time, said, well, are you saying that we, that God drags
us to him and we're unwilling? No. God makes us willing in the
day of his power. He gives us the desire to come
to him, doesn't he? And how does he do that? By showing
us there's nowhere else to go. There's nowhere else to go but
death and hell. The broad road that leads to
destruction. So he allures us. And he brings us. And look at
verse 16. And it shall be at that day,
saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me Eshi. That means husband. And shalt call me no more Beli,
which means Lord. Now, Christ is our Lord and our
husband. So why would he say it like this?
Well, this beli, this word Lord there, it illustrates a relationship
of a master and a forced servant, like being under the law. But
the husband part brings it into a new relationship of a master
who is the husband, but willing, loving bond servants. Remember
the law of the bond servant. He loves his debts paid, and
he stays with his master because he loves his master. And that's
the way it is with Christ. So that's the relationship here.
And look at verse 17. For I will take away the names
of Balaam, the idols, out of her mouth. This is repentance,
see. Listen, when God saves us, we
turn away from those false gods or that false god we worship
in free will works religion. And if you don't turn away from
that, you've not been convinced of sin. It's faith in Christ
and repentance of dead works. And he says, and they shall no
more be remembered by their name. And in that day, verse 18, will
I make a covenant for them with the beast of the field and with
the fowls of heaven and with the creeping things of the ground.
And I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out
of the earth and will make them to lie down safely. The Old Testament,
and you could especially compare this with Isaiah chapter 11.
You remember that's where Isaiah talks about in the gospel days,
the new covenant days, the lamb will lay down with the lion and
all that. That's not talking about a literal peace between
men and animals and everybody on earth. What that's showing
is it's illustrating by these metaphors that those who are
natural enemies will come together. I'm gonna preach on that today
in Ephesians chapter three about Jew and Gentile being brought
together in peace by the grace of God. And that's what he's
saying here. So this is a prophecy of the
coming of Christ. In verse 19 he says, and I will
betroth unto thee unto me forever, yeah, I will betroth thee unto
me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving kindness, and in
mercies." There's the covenant of grace, isn't it? There's not
gonna be any divorce here. You see, like he did to Israel,
a bill of divorce. I will even betroth thee unto
me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know the Lord, the Lord
is faithful. It shall come to pass in that
day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and
they shall hear the earth. And the earth shall hear the
corn, and the wine, and the oil, and they shall hear Jezreel.
This is all language of praise and worship. And I will sow her
unto me in the earth, and I will have mercy upon her that had
not obtained mercy. Remember how Paul and Peter both
used these verses to apply it to the salvation of the Gentiles?
and essentially to all of God's people, Jew and Gentile. And
I will say to them, which were not my people, thou art my people,
and they shall say, thou art my God. So see, he carries this,
what he does, he takes this great illustration of Hosea and Gomer
as it applies to Israel, the nation, which will be divorced,
and he carries it through to the eternal aspect of the covenant
of grace that's fulfilled in Christ for his people. And chapter
three, I'm just gonna read through this. I added chapter three,
it's only five verses. Because it really goes on to
describe this. It says, verse one, then said
the Lord unto me, go yet love a woman beloved of her friend,
yet an adulteress. That's what Christ did. According
to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel who took
other gods and loved flagons of wine. how God dealt with Israel
for a time, but how he deals with us forever. So I bought
her unto me for 15 pieces of silver. In the Old Testament,
silver was a type of the redemption price. And what is the redemption
price? The blood of Jesus Christ. That
is for our redemption. For a homer of barley and a half
a homer of barley, And I said unto her, thou shalt abide for
me many days. Thou shalt not play the harlot,
thou shalt not be for another man, so will I also be for thee. There's a union with Christ and
his people, Christ and his bride. For the children of Israel shall
abide many days without a king, without a prince, without a sacrifice,
without an image, without an ephod, and without a teraphim.
That's the last days before Christ came. And afterwards shall the
children of Israel turn and seek the Lord their God and David
their king and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the
latter days. Now, there is, again, there is
a limited fulfillment of that prophecy in the children of Israel,
the nation Israel, when God brought them back out of captivity and
sent them back into their own land. But again, that had an
ending. when Christ came and abolished
that old covenant by fulfilling all righteousness for us, the
ultimate eternal application is to his bride, Christ and his
unfaithful bride, whom he makes us faithful, doesn't he? He keeps
us, preserves us, okay.