I'm finding that all my favorite
stories in the scriptures, especially those found in the Old Testament,
are stories of redemption. Stories of how God saves wretched
sinners. I'm interested in that. Are you
interested in that? Sinners are. The Bible has a
lot to say about how God saves sinners. God says there's a way
that seems right unto a man, and man believes that way to
be right. And if he believes it, he does
his best to live in this world according to what he believes.
But in the end, some, many, even most men find that the way that
seems so right turned out to be the way of death. And that
is so alarming. The way that man thought was
right proved fatal. Oh, it happens every minute of
every day. Men go out to meet God thinking
everything's all right with them and God to find out that it's
not. And they hear the words of our
Lord say, depart from me, I never knew you. You think about those
five words that most everybody professes. Salvation is of the
Lord. Those words need no explaining,
do they? They mean exactly what they say. They mean that men
and women's salvation has nothing to do with their will and everything
to do with God's. That five word statement is a
sovereign declaration from God Almighty. And God says, I'm the
one that does the saving. Men and women today are basing
their thoughts and ideas of God on their own imagination. Because
He in no way resembles the God and the Christ that this book
declares. You know it. I know it. We might
as well tell it like it is. Men think that God is altogether
such a one as they are, but I tell you, God is nothing like them.
The reason men and women think so low of God is that religion,
false religion, and preachers, false preachers, hirelings, propate,
what most of them are. They haven't heard from God in
the power of His Spirit. They haven't heard through God
through the preaching of His Word. And they haven't told people
the truth about God. They really haven't. I went to
church from the time I was a toddler until I was 18 years old or pretty
close to it. That was the rule. If I lived
under my parents' roof, I went to church. And in all those years,
no one ever told me about the God of the Bible. No one ever
told me about the God with whom I have to do. I had preachers
tell me that God was in heaven and that He was softly and tenderly
calling, that He was waiting on the portals of heaven, waiting
and watching, I think the song says, hoping and praying, pleading
for sinners to come home. But no one ever told me that
God was in the heavens and that He had done whatsoever He pleased. Nobody ever told me that. No
one ever told me that God, before the foundation of the world,
chose me, elected me, gave me to Christ, made my salvation
certain and secure. People say God made salvation
possible. Y'all not talk about God like
that. He doesn't make things possible, He makes them for certain.
God sent His beloved Son not to make salvation possible, to
make it certain for God's people. To say that we have a voice in
the matter of salvation is to say that salvation is not of
the Lord. It's to say that salvation is
a cooperative effort. It's never been that, never.
It's to say that salvation is an election that our vote, our
choice determines. I have to ask, I have to. What
glory does God get in that message? Where is the preeminence of Christ
in that? Where's the gospel in that? It
exalts man and it dishonors God, does it not? It denies God's
will and it exalts man's will. It denies God's sovereign purpose
for His elect and it puts salvation in the hand of man to glory in. And man will glory in it. Every
time. One problem with it all. It's
not so. It's not true. Now I want you
to turn with me to the Old Testament book of Hosea. Hosea chapter
1. It's right after the book of
Daniel. Find the book of Daniel and just keep turning. It's a
very small book. The book of Hosea, and I think
most of you are familiar with the story of Hosea and the story
of Gomer found in this little Old Testament book. Almost any
time the book of Hosea is mentioned, folks immediately think of that
beautiful story of redemption. But the book of Hosea is about
much more than just a love story between a prophet and a prostitute. It's much more than that. It's
a book about how God saves sinners. It's a book that shows us what
a sinner really is. It's a book where we see an accurate
picture of ourselves. And it's a book that shows us
the mercy and the grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
other than the brief story of Hosea and Gomer, the rest of
this book of Hosea deals mainly with a character by the name
of Ephraim. First, let me briefly remind
you of who Ephraim was. You may remember our study long
time ago back in the book of Genesis. Ephraim was the son
of Joseph. We all remember Joseph with the
coat of many colors. His brother sold him into slavery.
in the providence of God. He was sold into work in Potiphar's
house. Potiphar's wife accused him of
rape. He was thrown into prison. God
was behind it all, the Scripture tells us. Pretty soon, Pharaoh
dreams a dream. You know the story. Joseph interprets
and God makes him second in charge over all Egypt. Joseph had two
sons, one by the name of Manasseh, the oldest, and the other by
the name of Ephraim. Ephraim in the book of Hosea
pictures and represents the elect of God, the people of God. The
elect of God are often referred to in the book of Hosea as Ephraim,
often referred to as Israel, and even Jacob. And there's no
doubt that God deliberately chose those names because they're connected
with failure. They're connected with sin, rebellion,
and idolatry, and all types of wickedness that calls for God's
wrath, judgment, and holy justice. That's what we deserve. If God
saves you, He's going to show you what you are before you will
ever see who you need. Let me say that again. If God
saves you, You say, well, why would you say, if God saves you?
God didn't have to save you. People think that God owes them
something. God didn't owe you salvation. It's a gift. It's mercy. It's grace. If God
saves you, He's going to show you what you are before you ever
see who you need. And you and I are nothing but
gomers, saved by the grace and mercy of God in Christ. And salvation
is not by our choice. It's by God's choice. Christ
said, you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. Who's salvation of? Five words,
salvation is of the Lord. Joseph brought his two sons before
Jacob, his father. Manasseh was the eldest. Ephraim
was the youngest. Blessing belonged to Manasseh,
the eldest. So Joseph puts Manasseh on the
right, And he puts Ephraim on the left. And do you remember
what Jacob did? He crossed hands. He did just
like that. And he laid his left hand on
the eldest and his right hand on the youngest. He purposely
crossed his hands. And Joseph said, not so, Father,
not so, Father. Don't do that, thinking Jacob
couldn't see. And Jacob said, I know. I know
what I'm doing. I know something you don't know.
And he did. He said, Manasseh will be great,
but truly his younger brother Ephraim will be greater than
he. And you know, folks argue about stuff like that. Folks
still do. Some say, well, Manasseh was the firstborn. Not according
to God, he wouldn't. Men are always wanting to accuse
God of unfairness. God said in Jeremiah chapter
31 verse 9, speaking of his elect through the prophet Jeremiah,
he said, I am father to Israel and Ephraim is my firstborn. You see, God has mercy on whom
he'll have mercy. Esau was the firstborn. Wasn't
he? Yes, he was. He sold his birthright
for a bowl of soup. He didn't care anything about
God. And yet, men get upset when you tell them that God hated
him. God said, Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated. And the
child of God is able to see and understand how God could hate
Esau. I see how he could hate me. In
our flesh dwells no good thing. Our hearts are deceitful above
all things, and desperately wicked. That's what God says about us.
There was no difference in Jacob or Esau, and there was no difference
in Manasseh and Ephraim. And there's no difference in
any of us. None, but the difference that
God makes. Now, Ephraim, he didn't deserve
this blessing. Have we figured it out yet? Neither
do we. We don't deserve salvation. I'm
Jacob, and I'm Israel. Remember, God changed His name.
If you belong to Christ, God's going to change your name. I'm
a son of Jacob. I'm a supplanter. I'm a deceiver.
But I'm also Israel. I'm called to be a prince of
God. But it's only in Christ that
I am. Now Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in Egypt. They were born in captivity and
in bondage. Their mother was an Egyptian.
But they didn't know it. Child of God, you and I were
born in bondage. You and I were born in bondage
to sin, and we didn't even know it. I'll tell you something else
about Ephraim. He liked it. He was Joseph's
son. He lived a privileged life. I was thinking about that this
morning. So do we. So do we. All of us here, I don't
see anyone here that's not blessed above what anyone could expect
to be blessed. We have so much, don't we? Hadn't
the Lord just blessed us and taken care of us and given us
so much. So much more than we need. Definitely much more than
what we deserve. But that's what makes it grace,
isn't it? That's what makes it mercy. But we like this world
by nature. We love this world in which we
live. We live in such a day of privilege and such a day of entitlement. Men and women naturally love
the things in this world. That's why the beloved John exhorted
us to love not the world, neither the things that are in it. If
any man loved the world, the love of the Father's not in him,
you see. Matter of fact, a man can't love the world and have
the love of God the Father in him according to what John wrote. We can't serve two masters. We
can't serve God and mammon. You can't have two bosses, really. A lot of us do. But you know
how difficult that can be. One tells you to do one thing.
One tells you to do the other. Man can't serve God and mammon.
He'll love one, hate the other. He'll serve one and not the other.
Paul had a dear friend named Demas. He said, Demas loved the
world. Paul said, Demas hath forsaken
me, having loved this present world, and is departed. How alarming. Lord, don't let me depart. Don't
think you're above doing it. We're prone to wonder, aren't
we? We're prone to leave the God that we love. Lord, don't
let me depart. Don't let me forsake you. You
see, He won't forsake me. He said, I'll never leave you
nor forsake you. Lord, don't let me forsake you.
Now the book of Hosea is concerning God's purpose to save Israel. God's people. Not the whole nation
of Israel. For they are not all Israel which
are of Israel. Neither because they are the
seed of Abraham are they all children. This is very important
to understand. This is not talking about the
whole nation of Israel. They which are the children of
the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children
of the promise are counted for the seed. Now the book of Hosea
is about how God saves His elect, the children of promise. And
we see how it started. It starts with the Lord calling
Hosea the prophet to take unto himself a harlot as a wife. What a picture of Christ in His
church. In Hosea chapter 1 verse 2, look
at it with me. God says here, the beginning
of the word of the Lord by Hosea, and the Lord said to Hosea, this
is what He said to him, this is a commandment. God didn't
say if you feel like it, He said go, take unto thee a wife of
whoredoms, and children of whoredoms. For the land hath committed great
whoredom, departing from the Lord. We see that salvation is
God's choosing. What a picture of us Gomer is. She chased after her lovers,
but it was her beloved husband, Hosea, that all the long was
providing for. Look at chapter two, verse five. It says, 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, and my wool, and my flax, and
mine oil, and my drink. Then in verse eight, we read,
for she did not know that I gave her the corn and wine and oil
and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for
Baal. Hosea said, I'm the one that
did it. Hosea provided for the bride. He provided for the harlot. And she didn't even know it.
Before the Lord saved us, friends, He provided for us, and we didn't
know it either. Out of love of self, we thought
we were providing for ourselves. After all, God helps those that
help themselves, right? How many times have you heard
that? No? No, He doesn't. Actually, God
does not help those who help themselves, because those that
are well have no need of a physician. God helps those that are sick
and cannot help themselves. And oh, how Hosea and Gomer,
oh, they beautifully illustrate how the Lord Jesus came into
the world to take a bride out of whoredom. That's what we are
by nature. Harlots, spiritual harlots. The harlot was one who sold her
body for pleasure, sold her body for money. One who would do anything
for both money and pleasure. And we all battle with the lust
of the eyes and with the lust of the flesh and even with the
love of money to some degree. Homer looked upon her lavish
gifts and she said, these are my rewards that my lovers have
given me. But all along it was Hosea, the
one who loved her and gave him so forth. It was all along it
was him that provided these things. Our Lord Jesus provided for His
bride everything that His bride needed, everything that His bride
needs. Oh, how merciful, how merciful. Even when we were yet without
strength, being the ungodly spiritual harlots that we are by nature,
Christ still died for us and provided for us. And there on
the auction block is a slave, a poor woman, weak, frail, broken,
downtrodden. And she owes a debt that she
cannot pay. Can you see her? Can you imagine
her there? She no longer wears the fancy
party dresses that were given to her by her lovers. Her lovers
have taken and given them to younger and more beautiful ladies
of the profession. She now wears a tattered dress. dirty, sore, torn. Her hair that was once long and
beautifully kept is now messy and dirty and ratted. She's no longer young and attractive. Life and sin has a way of using
you up. And there she stands. She's been
used and abused, as we say. This world will do that to you.
Her laughter's been turned to crying. Her joy has been turned
into mourning. She's lost it all. And all she
can think about is Hosea, the one who loved her in spite of
her, the one who provided for her when she gave him no thought
at all. And then a familiar voice, she
hears someone say, I'll give 15 pieces of silver and a homer
and a half of barley. And she recognizes the voice.
It's the voice of Jose, the very one that she was unfaithful to,
and yet he is the very one who redeems her, paying her debt. Is that not what Christ has done
for us? You see what this is about. And
look at what Hosea says to her in Hosea chapter 3 verse 3. Look at it. And I said unto her,
I said unto her, thou shalt abide for me many days. The Lord says
you tell her not to play the harlot any longer. You tell her
she shall not be with another man, and you be faithful to her
also. Friends, that's what we do in
preaching. We declare what God says to sinners. We tell them
to abide with Christ and never leave. Don't ever leave nor forsake
Him. He'll never leave nor forsake
you. Why would you want to? We tell sinners to abide with
Christ. We tell them not to play the
harlot. To be a faithful bride, we espouse
men and women to Christ, encouraging them to trust no other to put
away their sin. Oh, I'm telling you friends,
the book of Hosea, read it from beginning to end. It will bless
you. It's a book about redemption. It's a book about how God saves
rotten, wretched sinners. He saves spiritual harlots who
commit adultery against Him. And after the story of Hosea
and Gomer, the remainder of this book, pretty much all about Ephraim. Now look at Hosea chapter 4,
if you would, verse 17. Verse 17, God says this concerning
Ephraim. Ephraim is joined to Idos, and
then comes those three words that none ever wants to hear
from God. Let him alone. Let Him alone. If the Lord leave us alone, if
the Lord leave us to ourselves, we will perish. We'll die. Ephraim joined himself to idols. So did we. So did we. I made an idol out of just about
everything. I have. I've made and served
so many idols in my life. And I was joined to them. That
word joined here means fascinated. In the original Hebrew language
it means fascinated. I've been captivated and fascinated
about so many things. I've joined myself to so many
things. They were idols of my making
and I was joined to them. I was fascinated with them. Let
me tell you something. Most of you know this already.
God's got a way of making you let go. God speaks again of Ephraim
and Israel in chapter 5. Look at verse 3. God says, I
know, Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me. For now, O Ephraim,
thou commitest hoard of them, and Israel is defiled. Look at verse five. And the pride
of Israel doth testify to his face. Therefore shall Israel
and Ephraim fall in their iniquity, and Judah also shall fall with
him. Look at verse nine. Ephraim shall
be desolate in the day of rebuke. Among the tribes of Israel have
I made known that which shall surely be. Look at chapter six,
verse four. Oh Ephraim, what shall I do unto
thee? Oh Judah, what shall I do unto
thee? For your goodness is as a morning
cloud, and as the early dew, it goeth away. Verse 10, I've
seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel. There is the
whoredom of Ephraim. Israel is defiled. Chapter 7
verse 8, Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people. Ephraim
is a cake not turned. When you don't turn a cake, now
I'm not a baker or anything, but from what I understand you
need to turn a cake, or one part's burnt and the other part's unbaked.
That actually describes me pretty well. Burnt and unbaked. Verse 9, Strangers have devoured
his strength, and he knoweth it not. Yea, grey hairs are here,
and there upon him, yet he knoweth it not. Now listen, this world,
this mammon will devour your strength. You better believe
it will. It will eat you alive, this world
will. I have some children right now.
This world is eating them alive. I'm telling you so. You know
what I'm talking about. Most of you do. Unless God reveals
the gospel to a man or a woman, they'll grow old and they'll
never know that they've offended God. It's just so. Unless God reveals to you and
God shows you. Look at chapter 8, verse 11. Ephraim hath made many altars
to sin. Altars shall be unto him to sin. Verse 12. I've written to him
the great things of my law, but they are counted as a strange
thing. Verse 13, they sacrifice flesh
for the sacrifices of mine offerings and eat it, but the Lord accepted
them not. Now will he remember their iniquity
and visit their sins and they shall return to Egypt. Verse
14, Israel has forgotten his maker. Now listen to me closely. That's talking about us. Who
is Ephraim? Well, he's no different than
his grandfather Jacob. And he's no different than his
great-grandfather Isaac. And he's no different than his
great-great-grandfather Abraham. You know what he is? He's a sinner,
saved by the grace of God. He's the one that God set His
affection upon and chose before the foundation of the world.
He's the one that God called by grace and saved by His power
and revealed Christ in and to. That's who He is. He's the one
that joined Himself to idols, yes. He's the one who deeply
corrupted Himself, no doubt. He's the one that provoked God
to anger and He did so over and over and time and time again. What's God going to do with this
one called Ephraim? What's God going to do with the
Jacob's of this world? Well, the first key should be,
Jacob have I loved? The first clue should be this.
Look at chapter 11, verse 8. It's hard to read this verse
and not get emotional. God says, how shall I give thee
up, Ephraim? He said before, let him alone,
and now he says, how can I give him up? God says, how shall I
deliver thee, Israel? God says, for I am the Lord,
I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. God
is faithful that promised. Now turn with me to Jeremiah
chapter 31, if you would, and I'll finish up. Jeremiah chapter
31, look at verse 20. Jeremiah 31. Verse 20. Again, this is God asking some
questions. And in verse 20, God asked two
questions. First, God asked, is Ephraim
my dear son? He most certainly is. And then
he asked, is he a pleasant child? He most certainly is now. All
of God's children are made pleasant by adopting grace. Though the
perfect comeliness is of Christ, through his perfect comeliness,
Ephraim, Jacob, Israel are all now comely and pleasant to God. Notice what God says next in
verse 20 here. He says, for since I spake against
him. Well, God spoke against Ephraim
all through this book. We just read several verses where
God spoke against him. But do you notice what God says
here? Is this not the gospel? Concerning
Ephraim, God says, I do earnestly remember him still. God remembers him. Because God
always knew him. God chose him before the foundation
of the world. And God still remembered him
in mercy. Oh, doesn't that give you some
hope? Why does it give me such hope? And God said concerning
him, He says, My heart is turned within me. You see that? My heart
is turned within me. Child of God, God still remembers
you in mercy. God's heart is turned within
Him concerning you. Why, He has the scars in His
hands and in His feet and in His side to constantly remind
Him that He died, that He still remembers you in mercy, and that
His heart is turned within Him. God says, I do earnestly remember
Him still. If God ever loved you, friends,
He loves you still. Isn't that a good word? That's
a precious word. It certainly is. When it talks
about God's love and remembrance of us still, He still loves me. He still remembers me. He loves
me still. If He ever loved me, He still
loves me. God says I do earnestly remember
Him still. Therefore, therefore, here's
my bowels, my heart, that's what the word means, are troubled
for Him. I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord. Did
he deserve it? No, he was a rebel. Do we deserve
it? No, we're spiritual harlots.
Mercy is God not giving us what we deserve, and grace is God
giving us what we don't deserve. God determined to save me before
the foundation of the world. If God gave me to Christ, the
Lamb slain then before the world was ever framed. If God gave
me to Him, everything's gonna be alright. You know why? Because all that the Father giveth
Him shall come to Him. And all that come to Him, He
will not cast out. All those who would not come,
who could not come, God made them willing and able to come
in the day of His power, and they come. And they come to Christ,
and He in no wise casts them out. God says, how shall I give
thee up? How shall I give thee up, David?
How shall I give thee up, Linda? How shall I give thee up, Jeff?
How shall I give thee up, Sharon, Linda, Luanne? How? Can't. I can't do it. My heart is turned within me.
God's heart is turned by one thing and one thing only. The
sacrifice and the substitution of His beloved Son. Christ came
into the world, friends, to save sinners. And that's exactly what
He did. How can God give you up when
it was God the Son that died for you? May God enable you and
I to trust in Him.