With the Lord's help, I would
like to draw your attention to that chapter that we read together
from the book of Hosea, from the prophecy of Hosea, and to
particularly base our thoughts this morning upon verse 4. where
we read, yea, he had power over the angel and prevailed. He wept
and made supplication unto him. He found him in Bethel, and there
he spake with us. Of course, Hosea is speaking
under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, and he is speaking,
or writing, I should say, of Jacob. He is writing of the experiences of Jacob, one of
which we read this morning in the 32nd chapter of the book
of Genesis, and we'll come on to that shortly. But you may
wonder why I've chosen an obscure verse in one of the minor prophets,
the 12 minor prophets, only called minor because they are shorter
than the major prophets. Hosea is classed as the first
of the minor prophets, finishing up with the book of Malachi. which is, after which there were
400 silent years between Malachi and the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ, or shall I say, the coming of John the Baptist, who proclaimed
the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And for those 400 years,
the Israelites had to fulfill the words of Malachi chapter
3 and verse 16, then, they that feared the Lord speak often one
to another. And that continues, of course,
today, that they that feared the Lord speak one to another. And the Lord hears and the Lord
hearkens to that which we said. There's a lovely hymn in Gatsby
section here, 9-1-1, if memory serves me right. where Kent speaks
about the saints gathering together. When saint to saint, in days
of old, their sorrows, sins and sufferings told, Jesus, the friend
of sinners dear, his saints to bless, was present there. And it reminds us that we are
here to meet with our God, to to share fellowship one with
another and to have fellowship with the Triune God Father, Son
and Holy Ghost. Here we have Hosea speaking in
the 8th century before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ He is
one of those four prophets that are called the prophesied in
the eighth century and they prophesied of the judgment that would come
upon the children of Israel both in the northern kingdom and also
in the southern kingdom. Isaiah and Micah prophesied in
the southern kingdom and Hosea and Amos. Amos, the shepherd
of Tuqqara, they prophesied in the northern kingdom. The northern
kingdom would not hearken to the voices of the prophets. The
Lord had sent to them prophets time and time again. starting
with Elijah and concluding with Hosea and Demica and they warned
of the judgment that would come upon the Northern Kingdom that
they would be taken into exile that they would be conquered
and taken away into exile and it was an exile from which they
would never return But here is Hosea coming and warning the
kingdom of Israel, the northern kingdom, of their backsliding.
And later on, elsewhere in this book, Israel is is described as a backsliding
heifer, and it was not able to help itself. And the final chapter
of this book commences with the words, O Israel, return unto
the Lord thy God, for thou hast fallen by thine iniquities. We could almost say that that
was true of our own nation when we look round about us. when
we look round about us we see the ungodliness that abounds
we see the social engineering that goes on that is contrary
to the word of God and the commands of God and I think you know full
well what I'm referring to and all the wickedness that abounds
we have parliament legislating for many evil things and the
hand of God has gone out against us as a nation the things of
God are despised and we are living in a day of small things and
yet the Lord does have his people what a mercy it is that the Lord
has his witnesses and what a mercy it is that our Lord Jesus Christ
promised that he will build his church and the gates shall not
excuse me not prevail against it what a mercy it is that the
earth will one day be filled with the knowledge of the glory
of the Lord as the waters cover the sea so this chapter and these
verses are speaking about Jacob's experience of the things of God
and how he was called by grace In this chapter, and also elsewhere
in the book, Jacob is referred to under various other names. The chapter begins with the name
Ephraim. That is what Jacob was called,
and he was also called Israel. and he is the central character
in this chapter. And in this verse, when we commence
the reading of it, we are referring to Jacob. Yea, he had power over
the angel. We read about that in the 32nd
chapter. of the book of Genesis, how that
he wrestled with the angel, or he wrestled with God, for he
says in verse 30, I have seen God face to face. And so we conclude
that he wrestled with the pre-incarnate second person of the Holy Trinity,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and he prevailed with the Lord Jesus
Christ. He was, that has power with God,
with men, and has prevailed. to look firstly at this chapter
first of all this chapter opens with the vanity of idols idolatry
is a vanity Men take, it tells us elsewhere in the scriptures,
how men take a stone and fashion it and say that this is your
god, or takes a tree that will not rot and has that fashioned
into an idol. and that the Lord and Hosea is
saying through Hosea that Ephraim feedeth on the wind. There's
nothing in it. When people bow down before statues
of Mary or bow down before statues of a crucifix or of the saints
or other idols of the false religions they are feeding on the wind
there is nothing in it who can bring idolatry near a home, can't
we? in the field of sports we have
our idols in the field of entertainment we have our celebrities and so
on feeding on the wind now the hymn writer says the dearest
idol I have known whatever that idol be help me to tear it from
thy throne and worship only thee but there is a greater idol than
those things that I've mentioned and that's the idol of self that's
the idol of self you see we think we can lift ourselves up and
we think that we can work our way into heaven we think that
we can become morally upright and yet within us we have a heart
of stone within us we have a heart that is dark and deceitful remember
how Jeremiah writes in his prophecy Jeremiah 17 verse 9 the heart
is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked and who
can know it? You see how Jeremiah writes using
what is called superlatives. He says, as he pens his prophecy,
the heart is deceitful. It's as if he puts his quill
down at the side of his parchment and he thinks to himself, but
that doesn't fully describe the state of my heart. That doesn't
describe the state of the heart of man. So he adds this further
description, the heart is deceitful above all things. And then he
thinks again, again under the inspiration of the spirit of
God. And he adds to his description of the human heart, the heart
is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, desperately
wicked. and see he is drawing this picture
as it were of the state of the human heart the very nature of
man it is full of rebellion it is full of disobedience it is
full of sin it is deceitful and desperately wicked and so man
takes up his idols and man's heart in its unregenerate state
is that of a sinful heart but the psalmist goes on in Psalm
51 David after his sinful actions with Bathsheba he cries
out have mercy upon me have we been brought to that place where
we have cried out to almighty God for mercy what a mercy it
is as the psalmist says in Psalm 113 There is forgiveness, but
there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayst be feared. If
thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquity, O Lord, who shall stand? How
can we stand in the presence of God? As a young man I used
to go out on the streets of Sheffield in the town centre on a Saturday
evening and join with other brethren to preach the everlasting gospel. We used to go around the cinema
queues and then later in the evening we would meet in the
centre of Sheffield and have an open air meeting preaching
the gospel. And many people would say, when I stand before God
I will say this, I'll say that and I'll say the other. But of
course, the scriptures tell us that we will all be silent before
God. We will all be silent before God. We will not have a word
to say. When we stand before God, if we've been called by
God's grace, we will just point and look to Jesus. Paul says
to the Hebrews, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith, and when we stand in heaven, when there is no further
need, if I may say, of faith, we will still look to the Lord
Jesus and say that he is our complete saviour. He is described
in the book of the Revelation as the Alpha and the Omega. And
so we cry out, have mercy upon me, O God, according to thine
loving kindness. Behold, I was shaped in iniquity,
and in sin did thy mother conceive me. And he goes on to say, purge
me with hyssop, and I shall be whiter than snow. And he goes
on to say, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold
me with thy free spirit. Go back to the words of William
Cooper, the dearest idol I have known, whate'er that idol be,
I'll be to tear it from thy throne and worship only thee. Have we
done that? Oh, there is that great idol,
the greatest of idolatry. So Ephraim feedeth on wind, emptiness,
there's nothing there. and he is comparing in verse
2 he is comparing Judah and also Israel according to his doings
will he recompense him we cannot hide from God and then we come
to to verse four. There are five things, and I
notice that time is hasting on very quickly, there are five
things that we can notice in this verse. First of all, he
had power over the angel. Jacob had power with God. Then,
secondly, he prevailed. He had power over the angel and
prevailed. He wrestled with Almighty God. Jacob was returning
from Laban in Syria, and there's that reference in verse 12, Jacob
fled into the country of Syria. That was because his brother
Esau was seeking to take his life and to murder him. But he
fled into Syria to his uncle Laban, and there he was, excuse
me, he was a shepherd. But the time came. when he was
to return to Almighty God, he had the promise before him that
the Lord would watch over him. If God will be with me and will
keep me in this way that I go and will give me bread to eat
and raiment to put on so as I come again to my father's house in
peace, then shall the Lord be my God. he sought to commit himself
to almighty God in his ways, reminds us of Ruth when she came
from Mark to the land of Israel, she said to Nehemiah, thy people
shall be my people, and thy God shall be my God. It was that
giving themselves over to almighty God and we're exhorted in scriptures
to give our hearts to almighty God. whilst our hearts, you younger
ones, whilst our hearts are still tender before we've known the
evil and wicked ways of this world, we are exhorted to give
our hearts unto God by the Spirit's help. Jacob had power with Almighty
God, and then he prevailed with God, He called upon God, he wept and
made supplication unto him, he was found by God, he found him
in Bethel, and he was spoken to by Almighty God, and there
he spake with us. So firstly, he was loved by God. The Lord has not said explicitly
in this text, in this chapter, that he was specifically loved
by Almighty God, but in verse 3 we are told of his birth. how
that he held the heel of his brother Esau, and he was the
younger of the twins. And Paul speaks about this, about
the love of God to Jacob in Romans chapter nine and verse 13. He says, as it is written, Jacob
have I loved, but Esau have I hated. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. But we notice that
Jacob was loved in all his wanderings away from the land of promise,
in all those years that he was there in Syria and in his uncle's
house, he was loved by God. What a mercy it is that the Lord
loves his people, he has always loved his people. Jeremiah 31 and verse 3, we read
of that love, the Lord hath appeared of old unto me saying, yea, I
have loved thee. what a mercy it is to know something
that we have been loved but Jeremiah doesn't leave it there he goes
on to say, yea I have loved thee with an everlasting love a love
that goes on forever and ever a love that began in eternity
past and a love that was manifested in time and a love that goes
on into eternity future it is an everlasting love it can never
fade away. The Lord Jesus spoke to the church
in the Odysseus, in the third chapter of the book of the Revelation. I know thy works, that thou art
neither cold nor hot. I would that thou wert cold or
hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm
and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. The love of the Laodiceans had
grown weary and they had become lukewarm in the things of God. But the Lord has always loved
and always will love. knows no change, loved with everlasting
love, led by grace, that love to know, spirit breathing from
above, thou hast taught me, it is so. Oh, what a mercy it is
to know that we've been loved. But again, Jeremiah doesn't finish
there, he's the master. as I said a few minutes ago he's
the master of the superlative yea I have loved thee with an
everlasting love and so he draws the consequences of that everlasting
love therefore with loving kindness I have drawn thee I have drawn
thee He will draw every one of his people to himself. We were singing just a few moments
ago the Covenant of God's Grace and that's hymn 411 and you know
full well that I do not choose the hymns. the hymn there by John Kent John
Kent, you may be interested to know he was a dockyard labourer
in Devonport back in the 18th century and early 19th century
and he used to attend the ministry of Dr Robert Hawker every Sunday
morning he would go to Charles Church the shell of Charles Church
is still there in Plymouth across the road from the big shopping
centre there in the centre of Plymouth and he used to attend
there every Lord's Day morning and he would listen intently to Dr. Hawker
then in the afternoon of the Lord's Day he would be at home
and he would from his memory bring forth the sermon that he'd
heard in the morning in the form of poetry and so most of Kent's
hymns like this hymn 411 originated as a sermon by Dr. Hawker and he spoke about the covenant
of God's grace. What a mercy that we're in that
covenant, in all things ordered well. ordered in all things and
sure as it tells us in 2 Samuel about
David's deathbed. David's final words, although
it be not so with my house, yet he hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and sure. And the covenant is
this, of the loving kindness of God. I have drawn thee. He
set his love upon his people in eternity past. In time, the
covenant price was paid in the incarnation of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He came from the glory of heaven.
He was found in fashion as a man. He humbled himself and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore
God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is
above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should
bow. Have we been brought to bow before
the Lord Jesus Christ. Though the Apostle Paul was brought
to bow before the Lord Jesus Christ, running at breakneck
speed to Damascus to persecute Christian believers, but he met
with the Lord Jesus Christ and he was brought off his horse
and he saw that bright shining light around him and he knelt
before the Lord Jesus Christ. O Lydia, she was brought to kneel
before the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord, we are told, opened
our hearts gently. He did the gentle work there.
Each one of us, if we're a child of God, if we're being brought
by faith to the Lord Jesus Christ, we kneel before the Lord Jesus.
That everlasting love was in eternity past. It was made in
time and it goes on forever and ever. as the unknown writer of
that last verse that is added to Newton's hymn Amazing Grace
writes when we've been there ten thousand years bright shining
as the sun with no less days to sing God's praise than when
we first begun goes on and on through all eternity writes another
hymn writer through all eternity to thee a grateful song we'll
raise but oh eternity is too short to utter all his praise. That's for those who have been
drawn and who have bowed the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ.
But there is a day coming when every knee of the ungodly will
bow before Almighty God and before the Lord Jesus Christ and they
will bow in subjection and they will hear those awful words,
depart from me, for I never knew you. Separates the sheep from
the goats. What a mercy it is if we've been
made a recipient of that blood. And then we have in the second
place, very, very quickly, he had power over the angel and
he prevailed with God. I looked up the Hebrew word.
I don't know the English language. I don't know the Hebrew language,
so I'm dependent upon Strong's, Young's concordance to give me
the meaning of the words. And this word prevailed. The
Hebrew word is yakol. It means a number of things. It means to attain, to endure,
to suffer. And the picture that is drawn
by that word is that it is one that endures, you know, remember
the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, he that endures to the end shall
be saved. And we're reminded of the parable
of the sower. the sower went forth to sow seed
and he cast his seed, he didn't have the mechanical implements
that the farmer has today of drilling the ground but he went,
he would plough the ground and then he would walk across the
field with a basket in front of him and he would put his hand
in and cast the seed left and right, left and right all through
the field And so the seed, some fell on the pathway and the seed
was taken up by the birds. There was no work of grace there.
And then some of the seed fell on stoner ground. On the stoner
ground here, says the Lord Jesus, is the one who makes a great
profession. the seed springs up immediately
and the growth is ahead of the rest of the planting you see
what's happening on the good ground is that there's no growth
or apparently no growth because the seed has swollen in the moist
ground and the roots are going down into the earth And then
when there's strength in the roots, when nourishment is gained
from the ground, then the shoot comes up. First the shoot, then
the ear, and then the full grain in the ear. But in the stoner
ground, there's no moisture. So the moisture comes from above,
and the little root takes in the moisture, and the plant shoots
up. But when the sun rises in the
sky, When the time of drought comes, there's no moisture under
the ground. And so it withers and dies. There
are so many who make a profession of Christ, and yet they are stony
ground hearers. The roots don't go out into the
grace of God. The roots don't go out into the
word of God. The roots don't go out into the throne of grace.
And so when trials come, and tribulations, then the growth withers away. It's the same among
the thistles and thorns. The cares of this world, says
the Lord Jesus, choke the growth and there's no growth there because
they're suffocated by the other planets. You look under a great
oak tree in the New Forest and the branches have spread right
out and you look at the ground, the ground is barren because
there's no rain goes on it, there's no sunlight goes on it, it's
always in the shadow. And it's the same with the seed
that falls in the mongrel that forms in thistles. There's no
nourishment, and so that plant fades. And this is what this
picture of the word prevailed means. Jacob prevailed, there
was that growth. There was that growth in God.
Now the Apostle Peter exhorts growing grace and in the knowledge
of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. And if there is that
true work of grace, there is no drawing back. The good ground produces good fruits. Says the Apostle Paul, now the
just shall live by faith, But if any man draw back, my soul
shall have no pleasure in him. But, he says, and one of the
glorious buts of scripture, but we are not of them who draw back
unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the
soul. Now, do we have that true belief,
that saving of the soul? And we press on in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Then Jacob, in the third place,
calls upon God. Yea, he had power over the angel
and prevailed, he wept and made supplication unto him. I referred to the Apostle Paul
a few minutes ago on his route, on his way to Damascus to persecute
the Christian believers. Of course, he was struck by temporary
blindness by that glorious light of the sun he was brought to
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ by being spoken to by the Lord
Jesus but later on when he's in Damascus Ananias is told to
go and see and pray with of the Apostle Paul, or Saul as he was
at that time. And the Lord spoke to Anna and
I and said, Behold, he prayeth. Behold, he prayeth. There's a
children's hymn that says, and asks a question, I often say
my prayers, but do I really pray? Do I really pray? We go through
our prayers, but do we really pour out our hearts in prayer? Or how we need to be like the
disciples of old when they came to the Lord Jesus and said, Lord,
teach us to pray. Lord teach us to pray. How we
need that prayer. Frequently there is exhortation
throughout scripture to pray. Men ought always to pray and
not to faint. Our prayers should be of real
prayer, not going through a form of words, but real prayer, pouring
out our hearts unto God. And if you want to know what
real prayer is, find the prayers of the Old Testament and the
New Testament. Read the book of Psalms. There's
150 prayers there for us to learn how to pray. And then finally, Jacob found the Lord. He found him in Bethel. Or he was found by the Lord,
I should say. The first half of this verse is Jacob's
experience. He had power over the angel and
prevailed. He wept and made supplication
unto him. And then you'll notice in our
copy of the scriptures, we have a colon there. The subject changes. When you've got one sentence
in the English language, where you have one sentence and you
put a colon partway through the sentence, you're changing the
subject of the sentence. And the subject here is changed
from Jacob to the Almighty, to Almighty God. He found him in
Bethel, and there he spake with us. He found him in Bethel. God found him in the house of
God. Well that's what the word Bethel means. Beth, house, El,
God. He found him in the house of
God. Samuel was brought up in the house of God, as is described
by the hymn writers, the little Levites. He was lent to the Lord
and he grew up there. What a mercy it is to have a
desire to enter the courts of the Lord and to be brought into
the house of God. And the house of God, of course,
is the church of God, not a building. We've described this as the courts
of the Lord. But the house of God is the church
of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. He, God, found
him in that place. Wherever we go, the Lord will
find us. What a mercy it is. We can never,
and you only need to read Psalm 139, where the psalmist says,
whither shall I go from thy spirit, or whither shall I flee from
thy presence? We cannot go further than the presence of God. if
I make my bed in hell out there, and so on. Read Psalm 139. Well,
the Lord found him and he stayed with him. God speaks. God speaks in Christ. Remember how Paul commences the
epistle to the Hebrews. God who at sundry times and in
divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,
whom with appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made
the world. Jesus is God's final revelation. Whether it be popes sitting on
the throne speaking at cathedra or whether it be prophets or
priests or other messengers that come at various times, they are
not God's revelation. There is only one revelation,
one final revelation And that is the Lord Jesus Christ, who
is the Alpha and the Omega. He is God's final revelation.
And if we would know God, if we would know heaven, if we would
be taken into heaven, it is by and through the Lord Jesus Christ. He who said, I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father,
but by me. And so this verse speaks about
Jacob, But it concludes with this clause, there he spake with
us. The whole of the verse has been
speaking mainly about Jacob, but Jacob here is set forth as
a picture of the church, the redeemed church. He was away
from God, he was called by grace, he was He prevailed with Almighty God
and he is a picture of the church through its being brought to
faith. And there, says Hosea, there
he spake with us. God is not silent. He has spoken
in Christ. He speaks through his providence.
He leads and directs through his word. But he points ultimately
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us run with patience the
race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith. Will the Lord add his blessing
to these few thoughts for his name's sake. Amen. So our closing
hymn this morning is the hymn 460. The gospels, the message
of peace, we oft by experience have felt, it is filled with
Emmanuel's grace and sweeps away mountains of guilt. 460. The Gospel's a message of peace
We are called by experience It's filled with the life of
God's grace, and it's filled with the love of Jesus Christ. He lies and weeps for his sins. For through great hardships we've
suffered. No one will know of his misdeeds. The blight, sin, guilt, and fear. There's no remorse, mercy, or
grace, But victory and victory. We hail, O Lord, may we prize
the rich feast. The feast of wonder begins. It flows through the world among
thy grains, and makes us glad to taste it. The blessing of the triumphant
God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, rest, remain and abide with each
this day and forevermore. Amen. Good morning. Very nice to see
you. I hope everything's okay. You're here also? I didn't see
you.