I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Hosea. Hosea chapter
14. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel,
Hosea. Let's ask our Lord's blessing. Our Father, again, we thank you
for this time to be able to assemble in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And Lord, we ask your blessing upon the Word this evening. Upon our hearing, for Christ's
sake, we ask these things. Amen. Hosea chapter 14, I'd like to
look at the nine verses of this chapter. The scripture begins
in a very tender, a very amazingly tender and merciful way. And the scripture begins and
it says, O Israel, O Israel, do you know the first time that
that His name, Israel, was used. It was when Jacob, you know,
very familiar passage of Scripture, was wrestling with the man, the
Lord Himself, the man. And the Scripture says that the Lord Himself told Jacob,
let me go. And Jacob said, not unless you
bless me. He asked him his name. What's
your name? He said, my name is Jacob. And
he said, your name will now be called Israel. Israel. I looked up again to find out
just exactly what Israel means. We always relate that it It means
a prince with God, but it actually, the word actually means, the
name means God prevails. Prevails with God as a prince
is what Israel means. Oh Israel, return unto the Lord thy God. Israel, now this is spiritual. Israel, not the national people
regardless of who they are, but God's Israel hears these words,
return unto the Lord, now listen to this, thy God, he's always
been spiritual Israel's God, return unto the Lord, capital
L, capital O, capital R, return unto Jehovah, Father, Son, and
Spirit. Now we returned the first time
in regenerating grace, but there is a continual returning, a continual
coming. He that cometh unto me. When you hear someone speak of,
well, I came to the Lord when I was 17 years old. That's just
a little bit too far back. God's people come. You that know
Him, you're coming right now. You come to the Lord. He exhorts
His people. Return. It's not a request. Return. Why would He say that? Well, He tells us, for thou hast
fallen by thine iniquity. You think of the mercy of Almighty
God, that God by His Holy Spirit, through the preaching of the
Gospel, would exhort His people to return unto Me. Now, God Almighty
is going to say one of two things to a man or a woman. One of two. It's either going to be, return
unto me, come unto me, all you that labor, heavy labor. I'll
give you rest. Or he's going to say this, depart
from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you. Return unto the Lord, your God,
thy God, God Almighty, electing God, redeeming God, regenerating
God. return unto Me, because thou
hast fallen, you've stumbled, you've been overthrown, thou
has fallen in thine iniquity. Now, we fell in Adam, there's
no doubt about it. We fell in Adam and we all Because
of Adam's fall, we came forth from Adam's loins and so we're
descendants of Adam and Adam's transgression. But do you know
what our problem is? Our iniquity. Thou has fallen
because of thine iniquity. And when we return, here's the
marvel. of God's command and exhortation
to come, O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God, for thou hast
fallen by thine iniquity. Now when we come, when we come
to the Lord, now again, not talking about when we came in regenerating
grace, how thankful we are that there was a day in which the
Lord opened our eyes and gave us light. and commanded the light
of the glory of God in the face, in the character of the Lord
Jesus Christ. But we come now. How do we come? Think about it. Come unto me.
How do we come? Now listen to the marvel of God's
mercy to us. Verse 2. Take with you words. Now, when you come, take some
words with you and turn or return to the Lord and say unto him,
take the words that he has put in your heart, not words that
are repeated or mimicked or something. Somebody might talk about a sinner's
prayer or something like that. The Lord gives us the words,
the words of the heart. And with the power of God's Spirit,
He gives us that word to say heartily. Here's what we're to
say. Take away all iniquity. Now this is how we come. This
is how we come now. This is how we come afresh. Take
away all iniquity. All of my guilt contracted by
sinning. Take away my depraved actions. Take these away. Now, has the
Lord said that he was going to show mercy to his people? He
told Moses, I'll have mercy on whom I'll have mercy. I'll have
compassion on whom I'll have compassion. But listen to what
He says. Again, we've looked at this before.
Ezekiel 36, 37. I will yet do this, but I will
be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them. We're
going to ask Him when we pray. Do we not ask? Lord, forgive
me. Lord, have mercy upon me. Why? Because we're guilty. Against
Thee and Thee only have we sinned and we know it. We know that. We realize that. We know that
we are what we are by the grace of God. We're sinners saved by
grace. Lord, wash me afresh. Lord, my
feet need to be washed as you washed the feet. You told your
disciples, Lord, you said that they were clean, but that the
feet needed to be washed. Our daily walk before God Almighty,
we contract just with the indwelling sin. We're sinners. If we say we have no sin, we
make Him a liar. What do we do? He said, you return
unto me, and you take with you words, you turn to the Lord,
and you say unto Him, take away all iniquity, all of it. Lord, forgive me if we confess
1 John 1, 9, our sins. And when we confess our sins,
let me say this. We will never know the depth
of what we've done. If you want to go ahead and start
trying to name all the sins that you've committed, you'll never
get there. But if we confess what we are,
we're sinners. If we confess that we are sinners,
He's just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. all of it. The sins, shortcomings,
sins of commission, omission that I don't even know what should
I have done that I didn't do. That's wrong. I didn't know what
I was... ignorance is no excuse. I was
driving the other day and I came to an intersection and There
was an intersection and there was no stop sign. No stop sign. Until I got right there on the
road and there was a sign right there covered by limbs and branches. Now let me ask you something.
Would I have been without guilt? No. The sign was there. I could plead, I could plead
it was hidden, it was this, that, and the other, or maybe they,
you know, I still ran a stop sign. I was ignorant, ignorant
of where it was. If we confess our sins, He's
faithful just to forgive us of all of our unrighteousness. So
when you return, O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God, take with
you words. Turn to the Lord saying to him,
take away all iniquity. And here's what else he's saying.
Receive us graciously. Lord, receive us not on our merit. Lord, don't receive me. on my
works of self-righteousness, because I know I don't have any.
I know that I have nothing to plead before you that's going
to be accepted by you. But Lord, for Christ's sake,
Lord, for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ who loved me and
gave Himself for me and bore my guilt and put it away and
cast it as far as the east is from the west, Lord, you who
said, I will remember their sins no more, Lord, you said that.
And Lord, I'm coming, I'm coming and I'm asking you this. Lord,
cleanse me, take away my iniquity and receive me graciously. This is the only way you could
receive me, is by grace, because I have nothing, I have nothing. asking you to take away all iniquity
and receiving us graciously, so will we render the calves
of our lips. We'll thank you. Now, let me
just stop right here, just say this for a moment before I continue.
We don't know how to be thankful. When we confess our sins and
we confess what we are, we have never been honest about it. We've never confessed our sins
honestly. There's still enough pride in
us, like me trying to excuse that stop sign that was hidden.
It wasn't my fault. I was a victim of circumstance.
We've never, the only ones ever been honest is the Lord. Psalm chapter 40, when it says,
mine iniquities are more than the hash, when he bore the guilt
of his people, he's the only ones ever been honest about sin.
We've never been honest about it. Lord, I'm asking you, forgive
my iniquity, take away my iniquity, receive me graciously, and I
will thank you. Look, hold your place right there.
Turn to Psalm 116. Psalm 116, verse 12 and 13. Psalm 116, verse 12 and 13. What shall I render unto the
Lord for all his benefits toward me? Now you just stop. Shall I render, what shall I
give, what shall I bestow unto the Lord for all His benefits
toward me? And then the Spirit of God through
David answers it. Here's what I'll render unto
the Lord. I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the
name of the Lord. What shall I render unto the
Lord? Nothing. I will receive by faith that
which He's done for me. That's what I'll render unto
the Lord. What am I going to give to Him? What can I give
to Him? My thanks, which God's people
are thankful, but our thanks are so filled with sin and ungratitude,
ingratitude. What shall I render? I will receive
from his hand the cup of salvation and deliverance. And Lord, as
I admit so many times, I don't thank you as I should, as I want
to, as by the grace of God I shall. But Lord, I do thank you. I do thank and praise you. Hebrews
13 5 says, by him, by him, Therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of
praise to God continually. How am I going to praise the
Lord? Here's the way I'll praise the
Lord. By Him. By my High Priest. By the One
who offers unto the Father everliving to make intercession for me.
As I've said before, the Spirit of God who helpeth us, helpeth
our infirmities, because we don't know what to pray for. But as
we ask, Lord, in the blessed incense of your merit, as my
high priest, would you thank the Lord for me? Lord Jesus,
will you thank the Father on my behalf? Will you thank Him
for me? Will you tell Him that I don't
know how to thank Him. Lord, you do. you ever live to
make intercession. Would you do that for me, Lord?
Would you? By Him, therefore, let us offer
the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is, the fruit
of our lips, giving thanks to His name. And with the sacrifices
of praise that we give unto the Lord because of a new heart,
comes an admittance of something that we know is so. There's no
other help but the Lord. There's no other. Look at verse
3. Asher. Asher was a king. King of Assyria. But Asher is
also a picture here of all those things, those symbolic things
that men trust in except the Lord. Asher. Asher shall not
save us. We know that we can put no trust
in man. We can't put trust in ourselves
and no other man. We're all cut out of the same
lump. Listen to Jeremiah 17 5, Thus
saith the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and
maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. I read that the other day and
I thought about this. All free will, works oriented,
whenever someone does something that they think merited or acquired
or whatever you want to say, salvation, I gave my heart to
the Lord, I walked the aisle, I read through or prayed through
or whatever you did and put some stock in it. As Paul, Saul of
Tarsus, when he was a Pharisee, circumcised the eighth day. You
know, Hebrew of the Hebrews, tribe of Benjamin, on and on
and on and on and on. Now listen to this. Cursed be
the man that trusteth in man, and that maketh flesh his arm.
You tell somebody, you put your trust in yourself or your free
will, your works, your church attendance, your Bible study,
your whatever, you put any stock in that before God, you're under
the curse of God. Cursed as it may, you know. Asher
shall not save us. We will not ride upon horses. We won't ride on horses. That's
symbolic of we won't look to our own strength or to the strength
of others. Listen to Isaiah 31.1. Woe to
them that go down to Egypt for help. Stay on horses. Trust in chariots because there
are many. I mean, surely the whole world
can't be wrong that doesn't believe this gospel. Surely, not everybody
in this world. Surely there's got to be more
than this community, than just a handful here, surely, right?
I mean, there's a bunch of places they, you know, uh-uh. Woe to them that go down to Egypt
for help, for strength, or even, referring to these horses, It's
symbolic of trying to think that you can get away from God. Escape
Him. Listen to this. Isaiah 30, 15,
16. For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel. In returning
to Him and resting in Christ, in His work, in returning and
rest shall you be saved. In quietness and in confidence
in the Lord, shall be your strength, but you would not. You said,
no, for we will flee upon horses. We will ride upon the swift.
And the Lord said, therefore shall they, and that is any instrument
of God's providence for correction. You think you're going to get
away? They that pursue you will be swift. Scripture says, when
Almighty God speaks to His Israel and says, O Israel, return unto
the Lord thy God, you've fallen, you've stumbled. And we do every
day, all the time. Take with you words, return to
the Lord, say unto Him, take away all iniquity, receive us
graciously. So will we render the calves
of our lips. Asher shall not save us. We will not ride upon
horses, neither will we say any more. to the work of our hands,
you are our God's. For in thee, the fatherless,
find mercy." We're not going to say anymore, we've done what
we've done to our own advantage. We don't trust anymore in our
God's, in our merit, in our ability. And the reason that a believer
finds no comfort, doesn't look anymore to his flesh, to his
will, why? He's taught of God. He's taught
of the Lord. For in thee, the fatherless,
now who are the fatherless? I'll tell you, that's those that
cannot help themselves. They have no one to provide for
them. That's what he's talking about.
The fatherless findeth mercy. In the Messiah alone, He who
humbled Himself, Mediator between God and men, in Him alone do
we find mercy for those who are commanded to return. Returning
unto God, how could God have mercy unless He'd be pleased
to show mercy. He's a just God. Mercy's never
shown at the expense of God's justice, but in Him, in our Husband
and our Friend and Redeemer and Savior, our Priest. God does
show mercy. Verse 4. Now this one verse right
here, I'm telling you, You could take verse 4 and this would be
a message right here. Here is the whole, to me, the
whole gospel, the whole scope of the everlasting covenant of
grace is verse 4. Here it is. I will heal their
backsliding. I will love them freely for mine
anger is turned away from Him. You talk about a passage of scripture
that will preach. That would be it right there. I will heal as the great physician. I will heal. How did he heal
us? Well the scripture says by his
stripes. By him bearing on the cross The
justice, bearing all the guilt. I mean becoming us. That's us. Paul said, I was crucified. Being made sin, He healed us
spiritually by His stripes. How does He heal us right now? Same way. By His stripes. But when I see the blood, I'll
pass over you. How many times does God need
to look upon the blood for me? Always. Always. I will heal there. Look how specific this is. Who's
He talking to? He's talking to Israel. Spiritual
Israel. I will heal their backsliding,
their turning back, their stumblings, their fallings. How many times
a day, how many times have we fallen right now tonight? How
many times? There is no telling. There's
no way of knowing. Thanks be unto Him though, He
forgives us all. Forgives all our unrighteous. I will heal their backsliding,
bearing their guilt, regenerating them, robing them in righteousness.
I'll heal them. I'll heal them. I will love them
freely without any merit on their part. No merit. What can we render
unto the Lord? You think Thanksgiving would
do it? You think being thankful would do it? Would justice be
satisfied? No, I'll take the cup of salvation. That's what I'll render unto
the Lord. Thankfully and asking Him to tell the Lord, thanks
for me. That's the only way He could
love us. And the reason that the just God loves us freely
For mine anger is turned away from Him. My anger is turned
away from Israel. In wrath and justice, the Father
spoke and smoked the shepherd. Awake, O sword, the sword of
my justice. the sword of my vengeance, the
sword of my wrath. He was made sin, and as I've
said before, where sin was found, the law demands justice. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts. Smite
the shepherd, And the sheep shall be scattered, and I will turn
mine hand upon the little ones. That's Zechariah 13, 7. Now let
me explain that last part right there. Smite the shepherd, my
fellow, and the sheep will be scattered, which they all were.
But, he said, I will turn mine hand upon them. Here's what he's
saying, because the shepherd was smitten for His people because
God's justice was satisfied in the Redeemer. And God's sheep
were scattered. They shall then find the hand
of the satisfied Jehovah turned toward them for mercy. He's not
turning against them. He smote the shepherd on their
behalf. And He's not going to smite them
too. He was wounded for our transgressions by His stripes, as I said. We're
healed. But He turned His hand toward
us in mercy. And all that the blood purchased
for us, our redemption, our pardon, our forgiveness, it's ours in
Christ. And then the Lord says, after
He said, I'll heal their backsliding, love them freely, my anger turned
away. Then He says in verse 5, I will be as the dew unto Israel. I will be as the living water,
the water of heaven. Hosea 13 verse 9, I tell you
what Israel had done for herself. Look at Hosea 13 verse 9. O Israel,
thou hast destroyed thyself. This is what we did. This is
what God's people did. Thou hast destroyed thyself,
but in me. is thine help." What's he going
to do? He said, I'm going to draw you back to me. I'm going
to give you the words to say to me. I'm going to heal you. I'm going to love you freely.
I've always loved you. And this is what I'm going to
do for you. I will be as the dew unto Israel. Now there's
going to be about four or five things he's getting ready to
say that he's going to do for us. These scriptures right here
set forth the mercy of God in the growing up of God's people
in Christ. He says, I will be as the dew
unto Israel, and here's what's going to happen. He shall grow
as the lily. He'll grow, he'll blossom as
the lily. I got to thinking. How does the lily? I know Song
of Solomon refers to the church as the lily among thorns, so is my beloved
among the daughters of Jerusalem. I know we're in a world that
is cursed, and here's God's people in the midst. And He's going
to be the dew. He's the dew of heaven onto Israel. He's going to water. He's going
to refresh and stuff. What are we going to do? Well,
we're going to grow as the lily. Hold your place right there.
Turn over to Matthew 6. Matthew chapter 6. They're going
to grow as the lily. How does the lily? Matthew 6,
27, 29. How does the lily grow? Here's how a believer grows.
Matthew 6, 27. Which of you, by taking thought,
can add one cubit unto his stature? Why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field,
how they grow. Now hold on, I'm going to read
the rest of it right here. I will be as the dew unto Israel,
and he shall grow as the lily. How does the lily grow? They
toil not, neither do they spend. They don't work out their own
salvation. They're not out there working,
trying to merit some righteousness before God. And yet I say unto you, Even
Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothed the grass of the field, which
today is to Mars cast, shall He not much more clothe you,
O ye of little faith? How do the lilies grow? They
grow waiting on the Lord, resting in Christ, robed in His righteousness,
made beautiful by His beauty being put upon them. I will be
as the dew unto Israel. He shall grow as the lily. And
secondly, He'll cast forth His roots as Lebanon. How is He going to grow? Well,
the lily, the bride, tender, frail, waiting, not spinning, not toiling,
waiting on the Lord, resting in Him, weak, easily plucked
up. But being found in Christ, the
Scripture declares that Israel is going to cast forth its roots
as Lebanon, as the cedars of Lebanon. These trees, they're
going to be grounded and firm in the rock itself, waiting on
the Lord. but found in Him upon the rock
of Christ, rooted, rooted like a big tree. Psalm 92.12 says,
the righteous shall flourish like the palm tree, that majestic,
green, beautiful, and grow up like a cedar. Stable. In Christ only. Kept by the power
of God through faith. Look at verse 6. How are they
going to grow? I'll be the dew, they'll grow
as the lily. They'll grow casting forth his
roots as Lebanon. Verse 6, he's still talking about
he'll grow. His branches shall spread. It's referring to us. As the
branch is grafted into the vine. Except the branch being the vine.
You can't do without Me. You can do nothing. The branches
of the Lord's church are those grafted into Christ Himself and
they spread. That word spread right there.
His branches shall spread. The words come. They'll come. They'll walk. Walk after the
Lord being brought to Him by faith resting in Him. and his beauty shall be as the
olive tree. The olive tree is a little gnarly,
contorted, just old tree, feeble and weak branches, but it is
fruitful. It's loaded with olives. How
are they going to grow? They're going to be not toiling
for themselves. They're going to be robed in
my righteousness, but grounded, grounded in Christ. And they're
going to come. Their branches shall spread. His beauty shall be as the olive
tree. And I'll tell you how he's going
to grow. His smell is going to be like Lebanon or the cedars. I don't know about you, but I
love the smell of a cedar. I used to go in places, and if
we'd be stopping somewhere and they had souvenirs, I'd love
to just go over there and take the top off. I don't know what
it is, it was cedar or something. I love the smell. And this Lebanon,
that's what he's talking about, the cedars. Known not only for
the strength, but for their fragrance. The cedars of Lebanon just The
fragrance of those trees was unbelievably becoming and wonderful. But it reminded me when, talk
about the smell. It reminded me when Jacob came
before Isaac. You remember Jacob was going
to stand before and Isaac was going to bless Esau. Remember
that? And Jacob came He stood robed
in Esau's garment. And Isaac asked him, he said,
are you Esau? And he said, yeah, I'm Esau. And he said, your voice sounds
like Jacob. He said, come near to me. He
came and he smelled that garment. And he said, you sound like Jacob,
but oh, you smell like Esau. Whenever a believer How are they
going to grow? Robed in the righteousness of
Christ, in His robe, the Father who smells the faithfulness and
the obedience, the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. We
may have our sound like us, but we smell like Him. Growing in
Him, resting in Him. The smell of God's Israel. God's people robed in His faithfulness. Listen to this. Song of Solomon
411, thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb. Honey and milk
are under thy tongue, and the smell of thy garments is like
the smell of Lebanon. You smell like my son, and I
love the way he smells. Verse 7, they that dwell, under
His shadow, shall return. They shall return. They shall
revive as the corn. Remember, He's the dew. The dew
of heaven. And here's how they're going
to grow. They're going to grow. Whenever the corn is planted
here, when it's talking about reviving, it's when the moisture
of the rain It falls upon that corn, that kernel that's in that
ground right there. When that moisture comes and
it revives that corn, it springs forth. That's what it's talking
about. They shall revive. Actually the word is vivify. Maybe some of you scholars have
heard of that word before. Vivify. I guess it comes from
vivacious. I don't know, but it means to
come forth with life. Vivify. I've never heard that
word before. That was a new one for me, but
that's what it is. Scripture declares they shall revive. That's
it. They will revive as the corn,
like that corn planted. No outward appearance at first,
just dry and hard. How can this? How can this? But
it comes forth. How are they going to grow? They'll
revive as the corn, and they'll grow as the vine. You watch a vine. A vine. How does it grow? Clinging. Clinging to a tree. I've seen
people plant vines on the side of their houses and it kind of
grabs the bricks. That vine, weak in itself, constantly
in need of support. And God's Israel, how do they
grow? clinging to Christ as Jacob, we talked about a while ago,
did cling unto the Lord in the night of his struggle and his
wrestling. They'll grow as the vine and
the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. John Gill made this, the wine
of Lebanon, he said the wine of Lebanon, the wine from the
vines of Mount Lebanon, he said, was, maybe still is, I don't
know, the most celebrated and exceeding of all other wines
in its taste, in its aroma, in its medicinal properties. This is how they're going to
grow, the scent. The medicinal properties found
in that relationship to the Lord, I'll heal them. I'll take away
all of their guilt. They'll be as the wine of Lebanon. And then verse 8, Ephraim, restored
Ephraim, brought back Ephraim, Israel himself, shall say, what
have I to do anymore with idols? That's the speech, that's the
heart of a believer. What have I to do anymore with
the works of my hands? What comfort can I find? I've told you this before. I remember years ago coming up
under false religion. And it would bother me because
I'd, you know, I'd get feeling guilty about what I was doing,
which was real often. And so I'd try to start thinking
back, you know, when I walked down the aisle and when I gave
my heart to Jesus and when I prayed the sinner's prayer and I couldn't
remember, David, if I was sincere enough. I just don't remember. But I'm
going to do it now. This time, I'm going to do it. I mean, I'm going to get sincere
this time. And I'm going to just do as much
as I can. And I put great stock in how
sincere can I be. And I wasn't sincere for nothing.
I was just lying to myself. This is just going to appease
my conscience for a moment until the next time. What does a believer
say? What have I to do anymore with the creations of my mind? With these idols. These idols
of unbelief. The idols of the rejection of
the Master. The rejection of the Messiah.
What have I to do? What have I to do anymore with
that? That's what Israel says. And
the next words is the Lord who heard what Israel said. These next words are the words
of the Lord. I have heard Him. I've heard
repenting and confessing His guilt, coming to me and saying,
take away all my iniquity. Receive me graciously. I heard
that. That's where it started. That's
where we started this chapter. Return unto me. Take these words
and say these. And the believer says, what have
I any more with idols? The Lord said, I heard that.
I heard. Asking for pardon. Almighty power
of God's Spirit. I have heard that. And the Lord
observed that. Saw it with an eye of pity and
mercy and compassion. And then it seems as though the
next phrase is the words of Ephraim, or Israel, again speaking the
recovered vessels of God's mercy, speaking again concerning the
Lord's compassion in Christ, and says, I am like a green fir
tree in Him. I am evergreen in Him. My life is His life in me. Christ in me, the hope of glory. If I've got any hope, it's the
life of Christ. It's not mine. It's not my ability
to make good on these idols. I can tell you that. I'm like
an evergreen. I'm a green fir tree. And then
the Lord speaks again. The last part, from me is thy
fruit found. In me is thy fruit. The Scriptures set forth the
believer like a garden. How beautiful the Lord, the Spirit
of God moved upon Hosea to write these words and speak to us like
the lilies, the cedars, the lebanon, the wine, the lebanon. Years ago, my dad loved to garden. We had big, big gardens and people
would come over. I can remember my family coming
over, Mississippians Stuff like that. And I can remember when
they'd come over and the garden would be in, you know. And I
never did, I'll be honest with you, I never did care too much
about gardening. Because, I mean, we had big gardens, didn't we,
Mom? We had like a ten acre garden. And we had, he'd have little
gardens over here where he'd piddle around and stuff. And
people would come and he'd say, come see my garden. Come out
here and let me show you my garden. And I was thinking to myself,
who in the world wants to go see a garden? Who wants to see
a garden? And they'd go out there, and
they'd look, and he'd say, man, they taught you. Gerald, man,
I'm telling you, man, those beans look good. I tell you what, boy,
you got a fine stand of okra there. My, my, my. But you know
what? That garden was a reflection
on my dad. That garden, I mean by his toil
and his labor, going out there and he'd water and I can remember
he'd go out there and he'd take a water hose and he'd stick a
water hose at the end of the row and he'd just let the water,
and of course I'd just watch the water just going down the
middle of the row and he'd move it over. He cared for it. Listen,
I'm going to heal them. I'm going to love them. I'm going
to be the dew. They'll grow as the lily. You
know, here's the master gardener himself, making us what we are
by grace. And the result of that is his
garden is going to say this, I'm not going to trust in my
idols anymore. I'm going to look to you. And
the Lord said, I heard that. From me is your fruit. And then lastly, the Lord says
in verse 9, who's wise? Who is wise? Who is wise except
those made wise in Christ that he should understand these things? And he that understands these
things, who's prudent? Who's prudent that he should
know them? Who's gifted with understanding
that he might know these things except those made so by the grace
of God? Because, or for, the ways of
the Lord are right, they're just, and the just, the justified,
shall walk, they'll walk continually, they're kept in them, but the
transgressors, those who apostatize, those who leave, shall fall therein. Return unto Me, O Israel. Return unto the Lord thy God.
When you come, you take these words with you. Lord, forgive
us for all our iniquity and receive us graciously. He said, I'm going
to grow you. I'm going to grow you. He that
hath begun a good work shall continue it, shall finish it,
to a day of salvation. May the Lord bless these words
to our heart for Christ's sake.