And the book of Hosea is the
first in order of books known as the Minor Prophets. And they're
not minor in the sense that these writings are less inspired or
less important, but they're just referred to as the Minor Prophets
because they're small, the brevity, the shortness of them. In the
New Testament, several of the writers, including our Lord Jesus
Christ, made reference to the book of Hosea. I want to just
look at a small portion of it here this morning, beginning
in verse 1. O Israel, return. Return unto the Lord thy God,
for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words. Turn 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 works of our hands. Ye are our gods. For in thee,
in thee the fatherless find mercy. Now the first 13 chapters of
this book deal largely with God's judgment against the sins of
the people. Israel's sin, Israel's idolatry,
Israel's ingratitude, but here in chapter 14 We read of God's
grace and his mercy toward his toward his people look at look
at verse 1. He says Oh Israel Oh Israel this
passage this word of instruction is for Israel. It's for God's
it's for God's people spiritual is with the true people of God
among all nation the sons of Abraham and Christ and who were
given to Christ all for whom he died all who are called to
repentance and faith in him and All that he will save with an
everlasting salvation. Oh Israel those who but listen
What else do we know of Israel? They had they had forsaken they
had forsaken the worship of God the worship and service of God
they had forsaken it They had neglected God's word and God's
ordinances. They had served idols. They had
been given up to idolatry and will worship. But he says, oh,
oh Israel. Then he says, return, return,
return to the Lord thy God. Now this message, I believe it's
as needful today It was the day Jose has spoken it. No. No, nothing
has changed. Nothing has changed in that time
return Return to the Lord thy God in Isaiah 53 6 we read all
we all we like sheep have gone astray We've turned everyone
to his own way. That's what we do by that's what
we'll do by nature That's what we'll do and he says return.
I Returned to the Lord thy God Well, what is our what is our
way? What why do we have to be instructed to return to him?
What what is what is our way? What is man's way turn over to
Romans hold your place there turn over to Romans chapter 3
Romans 3 Look, beginning with verse 10, Romans 3, verse 10. He says, as it is written, as
it is written, there is none righteous. No, not one. There is none that understand
it. There is none that seek it after God. They are all going
out of the way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that do it good.
No, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher.
With their tongues they've used deceit. The poison of asp is
under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.
Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery
are in their ways, in the way of peace. The way of peace they
have not known. There's no fear of God before
their eyes. That's a description of all of
us. Every last one. He said, there's
none. Maybe somebody would raise their
hand. No, there's none. There's none
that doeth good. No, not one. And where do we
turn? Where do we go? The question
is, to whom? To whom do we go? Over in John
6, our Lord told the Pharisees. He said, no man, no man can come
unto me except the Father. which has given him, draw him,
draw him. None, none can come unto me except
it were given him to my father. And from that time, from that
time, many of his disciples, they turned and they went away.
That was a hard thing for them to hear. And our Lord, he looked
at the 12 and he said, will you go away also? Are you gonna,
will you go too? And they said, Lord, to whom?
To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words. Thou hast
the words of eternal life. Return, O Israel, return unto
the Lord thy God. Like the prodigal son, the prodigal
son who had wasted away his substance. We'd read he'd wasted away his
substance in riotous living. He'd spent all that he had. Everything
that his father had, he'd spent it all. And there he was. He
went and worked for a man. And no doubt he worked hard.
No doubt he worked long hours. But at the end of the day, he
had nothing. He had absolutely nothing. And it says he would have basically
ate hog slop. He was to the point that he would
have ate those husks left over from when the pigs were eaten.
And he came to himself. He was brought to him. He was
brought to himself. He said, I'll return. I'll return
and I'll go, I'll go. I'd be better off to be a servant
in his house than live like this. Return, return to the Lord thy
God. And we read, we read of his father,
seeing him afar off. God, God sees his sheep. He sees him. He's the one that
draws him to himself. And he said, he said, bring forth,
bring forth the best robe. I'm gonna clothe him. Bring forth,
bring a ring. We'll put a ring on his hand.
Put shoes on his feet. Bring forth a fatted calf and
slay it. There's a sacrifice there. Kill
it and let us eat and be married. For this my son, he was dead. Now he's alive again. He was
lost and he's found. Oh, Israel. Return return unto
the Lord thy unto the Lord thy God Return and lay hold of him
by by faith by faith turn to Hebrews 11 6 Hebrews 11 Verse
6 But without faith, without faith,
it is impossible to please him. He that cometh to God must believe
that he is, and listen to this, that he's a rewarder. He's a
rewarder of them that diligently seek him. You know, men will
spend everything they have seeking things that they cannot have.
Seeking things that they'll that they'll never have He says He's a rewarder of them
that diligently seek him you sometimes we watch these these
shows on TV and these these wealthy men will will spend a fortune
seeking a seeking a treasure out in the ocean or in a cave
or a Anywhere and they seek and they seek and they seek I've
yet. I've yet to see him find anything
But he says seek me then that he's a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him Oh Israel Oh Israel return return
unto the Lord thy God Let's read on here and back in our text
back in Hosea. I Israel Return unto the Lord
thy God for thou has fallen by thine iniquity Thou has fallen
by thine iniquity Now again, this is an accurate description.
We read that earlier in Rome. This is a description of us We've
fallen he says you've fallen by your iniquity your sins. We're sinners. We're falling
in sin We're falling in ruin And we're born in sin. When Adam,
listen, when Adam fell, we all fell. As in Adam, as in Adam,
all die. Romans 5, 12 says this, wherefore,
as by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin.
So death reigned upon all men, for that all have sinned. All
have sinned. The scriptures declare, we come
forth, we come forth from the womb. Speaking lies. We don't
have to be taught to lie. We don't have to be taught to
steal We don't have to be taught to do any of these sinful things
because it's listen We're born in sin. It's a we're sinners
much and we're sinners by choice and practice. It's it's not It's
not what we do. It's what we it's what we are
We're we're seeing we're seeing. Hosea says, you have fallen by
thine iniquity. You've fallen by your iniquity. And, uh, you know, men, men,
men will say this just casually. I know, I know we're all sinners. I know that. I was thinking about
like, they feel like there's, we've got strength in, in numbers.
If we all just say that we're, we're all, we're all sinners. He says this, you've fallen and
you've fallen in your iniquity. You've fallen in your iniquity. That's what, it's my sin. That's what David, that's what
David said. He said, against thee and thee
only have I sinned. There's no one else, there's
no one else to blame. There's no one else to point
the finger. Against thee and thee only have I sinned and done
this evil. in your side. Our Lord in Luke
18, he told a parable. Turn over there to Luke chapter
18. Luke beginning with verse 9 of
Luke chapter 18. He spake this parable unto certain
which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and they
despised others. Two men, two men went up into
the temple to pray. The one a Pharisee, the other
a publican. And the Pharisee stood and he
prayed thus within himself. God, I thank thee. I thank thee
that I'm not like other men. Other men there that are extortioners
and unjust and idolaters. Even as this publican, I fast
twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the
publican, the publican standing afar off would not so much as
lift up his head to the heavens. But he smote upon his breast
saying, God be merciful to me, the sinner. God be merciful to
me, the sinner. I tell you, this is our Lord
speaking. He said, I tell you, this man,
this publican, he went down to his house justified rather than
the other. For everyone that exalted himself
shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. God be merciful to me, the sinner. Return, return. Oh, Israel, return. unto the
Lord thy God, for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Fallen sons
of Adam, dead in trespasses and sin, return, return to God and
take your place as a sinner. For God's merciful, return, O
Israel. Remember Mephibosheth, Mephibosheth,
David had sent his, David had taken the throne and he sent
He sent one of his servants and he said you go you go get him
and you bring him you bring him back to me You return him to
me Yeah Mephibosheth and we know he was he was he was crippled.
He was lame on his feet. He'd been ruined He'd been ruined
by fall hadn't he? Mephibosheth He was an enemy. He was an enemy of the king You
know, back in those days, there was no room for the last king's
family. Not going to take a chance of
them rising up and taking the throne back. Can you imagine? Can you imagine what must have
been going through Mephibosheth's mind when the king sent forth
someone to bring him? He's going to go stand before
the king. Imagine his fear. And no doubt
he took his place as a sinner. Remember he bowed himself and
he said, he said, what is thy servant that thou shalt look
upon such a dead dog as me? And David received him to himself,
didn't he? David, because of that, because
of that love he had for Jonathan, that covenant he'd made with
John, He returned him to himself. And listen, we read, he didn't
just sit there in the kitchen off to the side. He sat there
at the king's table, didn't he? As a son. You know how he sat
as a son? Because he was. He was made. He was made a son, wasn't he?
There he is. Return. Return, oh Israel. Return to the Lord thy God. For thou has fallen. By thine
iniquity and look let's look at verse 2 He says take with
you take with you words Take with you words and turn to the
Lord Remember the account of Naaman Remember the account of
Naaman the leper That little maiden girl. She said she said
would God my lord with the prophet that's in Israel he'd recover
you of this leprosy and And Naaman left. Naaman left and he went
and got a letter. He got a letter from the king.
And he's gonna take that with him. And he was gonna go to the
king there. And he had his 10 talents of
silver and all that gold and those changes of raiment. And
he went to the king. He went to the king of Israel. That's not who she said to go
to, was it? Went to the wrong. Wrong place. Went to the wrong
person. Took all the wrong things. Took all those gifts to lay before
the king. And that hadn't changed, has
it? That's what false religion would
have you do today. Take your church membership and
bring that. Bring your self-righteousness.
Bring your tithe. Definitely bring your tithe,
right? Bring your morality. Bring all
these things whatever it is you bring it and come to the front
of the church and the preacher He'll pray for you, and you can
sit there and be seen with him in front of the whole congregation Listen They're going to the wrong
place They're taking the wrong the wrong things. They're going
to the wrong person Turn over to what to Psalm Chapter 50 Psalm 50. Beginning in verse eight of Psalm
50. He said, I'll not reprove thee.
I'll not justify thee. for thy sacrifices, or for thy
burnt offerings to have been continually before me. I'll take
no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy fold,
for every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand
hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains, and the wild beasts
of the field, they're mine. If I were hungry, I wouldn't
tell thee, for the word is mine, and the fullness thereof. Well,
I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats offer unto
God Thanksgiving and pay thy vows into the most high and call
upon me Call upon me in the day of trouble And I'll deliver thee
and thou shalt glorify me What does a sinful man? Have to offer
unto a holy god god who created all things We have nothing We
have that you come to him. We come empty-handed because
we have nothing we have nothing to offer unto a holy holy God
You can't earn your salvation. You can't buy your salvation
If you could it's purchased its purchase with a price, but but
you don't have what it takes to purchase Only the Lord Jesus
Christ can pay that can pay that purchase price well Take with
your words, take with your words and turn to the Lord thy God. Over in Joel 2, he says, turn
unto the Lord your God for he is gracious and merciful and
of great kindness. Turn unto him. Zechariah said
this, thus saith the Lord of hosts, turn unto me and I'll
turn, I'll turn to you. I'll turn unto you. Turn unto
the Lord. Turn from your sin and self-righteousness. Turn from your idols. Turn from
your wrong thoughts about yourself and your wrong thoughts about
God. Turn unto the Lord and say, what do we say here? Take away
all iniquity. Lord, only you can. Only God
can take away our iniquity. Only God can take away our iniquity.
I need my iniquity taken away. That can only mean one thing.
I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. Take away my iniquity.
Take away the filth, the guilt, the shame. Take away my sin.
Take away all iniquity, he says. Lord, I'm a sinner. I can't bear
the weight of it. I can't bear the reproach of
it, the condemnation of it. Take away all iniquity. By the sacrifice of the Lord
Jesus Christ, he bore the sins of his people. From them to himself,
he bore them. He bore our sins in his body
on the tree. Turn unto the Lord and say, take
away all iniquity. Say what that publican said. God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Take away all iniquity and receive
us graciously. Receive us graciously. That's
what he says here. Not on my merit, but on his grace
and mercy. Not through my works of righteousness,
which are at best filthy rags, but through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Receive us graciously. Receive us in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Receive us in thy son. And he
says, take with your words, turn unto the Lord, say unto him,
take away all iniquity and receive us graciously. Receive us in
your grace. For by grace are you saved through
faith, that not of yourself, it's the gift of God. Not of
works, lest any man should boast. Now back here in our text again. Verses one through three. If
the Lord's pleased to reveal us our sin and iniquity, we'll
cry out for mercy. If he'd be pleased or calls us
to call out for mercy, If he's pleased to take away our sin
and iniquity and receive us graciously to himself. Look, uh, look at
the end of verse two there. And in the verse three, we'll
render the calves of our lips, the service of praise. Asher
look at verse three, Asher shall not save us. We'll not ride upon
horses. Neither will we say any more
to the works of our hands. You are our gods. We will not
do that anymore. For in thee, he says, for in
thee the fatherless find mercy. No trust in man, no trust in
idols, no trust in our own strength, but trusting in Christ and Christ
alone, who is our salvation. We sing that hymn. My hope is
built on nothing less than Jesus' blood, the Lord Jesus Christ's
blood and righteousness. Dare not trust the sweetest frame
but wholly and completely and entirely lean on his name the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ Oh Israel return unto the Lord
thy God That word return in verse back
in verse 1 The root word of it, you know, I thought I was looking
at that and it says return that almost sounds like something
I Need to do and I do But I looked that up and the root word for
that, it means returned of God. The work is, it's entirely is,
isn't it? Returned of God. If you have
time today. Go back and read the first three
chapters of Hosea, because I think what I've been trying to say
here is just beautifully illustrated in the first three chapters of
this book. God told Hosea, he said, you
take a wife. You take a wife from among the people of Horeb.
You go take a wife. And Hosea took Gomer, Gomer to
be his wife. She bore him three children,
and in time, she went back to that life of idolatry, or adultery. Idolatry and adultery. She was
a harlot. And even though she had left
him, even though she had left him, and all that, he continued
to provide for her, to meet her needs, and in time, in time, Poverty and shame it caught up
with her and and she she had nothing And she was she was to
be sold on the auction block the public auction block And
guess who of all people went and purchased her back to himself
Jose went went down there and he He identified with her wouldn't
be it wasn't wasn't ashamed to call her his and he paid the
purchase price and And he received her back to himself. In all that, in all that she
had done, he loved her. He loved her. Despite her sin
and ungratitude and unfaithfulness, he loved her. That probably,
that should sound real familiar to all of us. In our sin and
shame and ingratitude the lord jesus christ almighty god Loved
his people and he gave his son to pay that to pay redemption's
price And he draws us he brings us back back to himself Throughout
the scriptures throughout the scriptures mephibosheth the prodigal
son um that one sheep that one sheep that had had wandered off
in the wilderness and he left the 99. And he went out there
and he looked until he found that one lost sheep. And he didn't
read him the riot act when he found him. He took that poor
sheep and he put it up on his shoulder. Can't you just see
that? And brought him home. And then
what he did, he called all of his neighbors and his friends
And said, let's rejoice. Let's rejoice. Turn to one more scripture with
me. One more scripture with me. Turn to 1 Peter 2 and verse 25. For ye, for ye, were as sheep
going astray, but now, now are returned to the shepherd and
bishop of your souls. Left ourselves, every time we'll
go, we'll go our own way. Every time. But in his mercy
and grace, We've come back. We've been drawn back. We've
been brought back by God To the shepherd and master of ourselves
the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh Israel, oh Israel return Return
unto the Lord thy God. All right