you'll return to Hosea chapter
14. Hosea chapter 14. In this chapter, the prophet
speaking the words of the Lord to the nation Israel. calls them
to repentance. And then he turns his attention to another Israel. Now a few weeks ago, maybe just
a couple of weeks, I preached a message entitled Israel Saves
Israel. And we learned in that time that
the Word Israel, or the name Israel, which means it's joining
together two Hebrew words, one meaning power, the other meaning
God, it rightly belongs to four individuals or groups. The name
was first given to Jacob. The Lord said to him, what is
your name? And he said, my name is Jacob. which was a dishonorable
name. And he says, you will no longer
be called Jacob, but Israel. And then, several hundred years
later, his descendants, the Lord led them out of Egypt with mighty
hand and outstretched arm, delivered them from their bondage, and
entered into covenant with them in the wilderness delivering that
covenant of the law to them on Mount Sinai. And they became
not just the sons of Israel, the descendants of that man named
Israel, they became the nation Israel. A people of whom it is said,
that they have power with God and with men, because that's
what was said to Jacob, that they would prevail. Now interestingly
enough, they got across the wilderness the first time and they balked. And through unbelief, the power
that might have been theirs was forfeited. And that generation
perished in the wilderness. They did not live up to their
name Israel. But some 40 years later, after
all of those who had rebelled against the Lord had died, the Israel that was left went
into the promised land. And they prevailed. They shouldn't
have. They weren't that big. But everywhere they went, so
long as they went in the way the Lord told them to go, they
succeeded. And a relatively few amount of
Israelites could bring down cities and rout armies. They invaded
the land, at least that's what it looked like from the viewpoint
of those who were living there. But the Lord had given it to
Abraham by promise. But these others, they actually
had been there before Abraham got there and some more moved
in. They were godless, they had no respect for the God, the one
true God. And he said that their cup of
sin had become full, and he told the Israelites, you go in and
you wipe them out. Well, they were not completely
faithful in that last part. They killed a lot of them, but
there were a few that they left. And those few caused them problems
from then on. And then Paul speaks of the Israel
of God. And the Israel of God is the
Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. But there is another Israel,
and that is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He is the one to whom
the name Israel fully and rightfully belongs, for He indeed prevails
with God and with men. Now, when the Jews would read
a chapter like this, and I imagine most Christians, when they read
this chapter, they don't realize, they don't take note that there's
a shift. It comes in verse five. In verse four,
he says, I will heal their waywardness, plural. I will love them freely,
for my anger has turned away from them. I will be like the
dew to Israel. He will blossom like a lily."
Singular. He will blossom like a lily,
like a cedar of Lebanon. He will send down roots. His young shoots will grow. His
splendor will be like an olive tree and so forth. Survey this chapter. And when
we get to chapter 5, take note of the shift and what it means
to us. Return, O Israel, to the Lord
your God. Chapter 14, verse 1. There were
a lot of posters, religious posters. That became the big thing. It
was even before bumper stickers. They started printing posters
with these little sayings on them, most of them utterly useless.
But I saw one that I thought was pretty good. It said, if
you don't feel close to God, guess who moved? God doesn't
move. If you feel estranged from the
God of your creation, from the God of your salvation, he hasn't
gone anywhere. And so it says, return, O Israel,
to Jehovah your God. Your sins have been your downfall. Now we are entirely too blasé. We don't use that word very often,
but sometimes these words just come up in my head. I remember
them from long ago. We're too complacent. And I guess
it's because there's so much of around us and so much of it
in us. We're accustomed to it. You know,
people who were born into poverty and live their entire lives in
poverty don't realize they're poor. It's only when they come
in contact with a society that has wealth, with people that
have plenty, then they start to understand how poor they are. Well, we become so accustomed
to sin. We were born in it. We grew up
in it. And even though we've been born
again, yet still that nature is within us. And it's older than the new nature. We need to realize sin is a horrible
thing. Not just because It's a breaking
of one of God's commandments. That's bad enough in itself. But sin always brings a downfall. In particular, the sin which is going to be
brought up here. Now we realize that we never
do anything perfectly, and we realize that we will never live,
and that until the Lord comes, or until we go to be with Him,
we will never live without sin being a part of our experience.
But there's a difference between knowing it's there and fighting
it, and saying, well, nothing I can do about it. No use resisting. After all, the blood cleanses
us from all sin. And we just don't care. A believer, a real believer,
that is one who's been given true faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ, there's nothing that can separate him from the love
of God that's in Christ. Because the love of God is secured
by Christ, and Christ will never fail, even when we do. But our sin can bring us downfalls. Our sin can, particularly if
we will not own up to it, confess it, and to the best of our ability,
forsake it. It becomes an obstacle between
us and our God. It becomes a hindrance to sweet
fellowship with Him and the full-throated experience
of being united to Him. So he says, return to your God.
What does that mean? They left him. They left him. You say, a believer would never
leave his God. Well, then why are we called
on to return? There are so many things to distract us. They actually were distracted
so far as to, engage in idolatry. You say,
yeah, well, I'd never do that. I will never, ever worship an idol. And Paul says, be sure to avoid covetousness,
which is idolatry. This is a tough one. We like
stuff. particularly Americans. And we
like it because a whole lot of it's within our reach. Now, I don't covet multimillion-dollar
mansions, because that's not in my reach. But the things that
I think, you know, I could find a way to get that, they have
a strong attraction, don't they? And what can happen to us is
we become so occupied with our pursuit of the things of this
world that we are giving them more
serious attention than we are God. Now, I'm not talking about
the amount of hours spent or the amount of physical exertion
put out. I mean, we live in this world,
the Lord said, by the sweat of your brow, that's how you're
going to eat. That's from the Lord. We know, we go out and
get jobs, we work them, and we should, if we're employed, we
should be faithful to our employer, to give him our best, be good
and faithful workers. But what so often happens, I
say so often, I don't know how often it happens, because this
is a matter of the heart more than it is anything that someone
can see from the outside. But we are so hungry. for climbing
the ladder, the economic ladder, that we keep reaching and reaching. And before long, that reaching
causes us to let go of what we should fiercely keep. We become so occupied with the
world, our hearts are not very much occupied with God. Now I'll give you an illustration
of that. People do that in their marriages. Two people, they fall
in love with each other, they get married, and they think nothing
could ever come between them. And then kids come along. And kids are wonderful. They
are precious. And we are to love them dearly.
Lots of people have so focused their attention on their children.
They didn't pay attention to their spouse. And when the children
grew up and left, there were two people in the house who hardly
knew each other. You see people in their 40s get
divorced. You say, well, come on. You've
made it this far. Why give up now? Their marriage
was held together by something that was going to disappear,
and they didn't realize it. Or they get so involved in their
occupation and whatnot, and then the time comes for retirement,
and they've got nothing. Because they were so busy in
the pursuit of stuff, they forgot about even what was the more
important things of this life. The same thing happens in spiritual
matters. That's why our Lord said, be
content with what you have. With food and clothing, be content. Now, if the Lord gives you more,
fine, give thanks, enjoy it. But don't ever let your pursuit
of those things get in the way of your pursuit of Christ. What
were they to do about this? How were they to return to the
Lord? Were they to return to the Lord with blood sacrifices? where they'd say, oh yeah, we
need to find the finest sheep or the finest bullock or something
like that. He said, take words with you and return to the Lord. Do you know that words, when they are an honest expression
of a heart, is the only thing we have to bring to God that
God cares about. I've seen or heard of. I never
saw it actually done. Well, I guess I have come to
think of it. I've told you about this. Where in my church, you know,
they have a revivalist come in and he always had at least one
sermon. He had to have a sermon on the
return of the Lord to scare the willies out of everybody. And
he had to have one that was against rock and roll. And the kids were encouraged
to get rid of all their rock and roll albums. I didn't have
any. All I had was jazz. But I threw
it in. Now, I don't remember our church
ever having a bonfire, but there were churches that did that.
And all the kids would bring the records and throw them in
the bonfire. They were sacrificing to the
Lord. Words. You see, nothing that we can
produce is of any interest to God. Nothing that we have is
of any value to Him. He says, you think you help me by bringing
me gifts, silver and gold? I own all the silver and gold
there is. I own the cattle on all the hills. It's all mine.
I let you use it, but it's mine already. He said, if I was hungry,
would I ask you? What do we have that God needs? Nothing. What could we render
to him that would brighten his countenance? and make him think
better of us. Now take words with you, he said,
and return to the Lord. Say to him, and don't take just
any words. The Pharisee took words to him,
didn't he? I thank you, God, I'm not like other men. Wrong
words. Forgive all our sins and receive
us graciously. Those are words that have power
with God if they are said from a sincere heart. No one has ever
cried out for the forgiveness of sins and not gotten it. No one has asked God to receive
them on the basis of grace and grace alone and not been received
by him. Say, boy, I wish God would answer
my prayers. Here's a prayer he always answers in the positive.
Forgive all our sins. They didn't try to enumerate
them. They didn't try to list all the things they'd done wrong.
Why? Take too long. The Lord knows all your sins.
You don't have to tell him which ones they are. This whole thing
is a matter of understanding and realizing how you've sinned
against the Lord, even as a believer. That's why virtually every time
I stand here to pray, some way or another, I say, forgive our
sins. Not because it's a rule, but
because I know I need that forgiveness. And I imagine you're in the same
shape I'm in. I need my God to forgive me, and not just forgive
me, but forgive me and let me know that he has. and to receive us graciously.
We gather here as believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, but our
faith is not what gains us entrance into the presence of God. It's
Christ. Even if we believed him better
than we do now, even if we believed him perfectly, that would not
obligate him to receive us. We are always on the foundation
of grace. And even when we stand in His
presence, as the hymn writer said, dressed in beauty not my
own, when we see fulfilled in us God's predestinating work
of conforming us to the image of his son. We stand there and
there won't be any sin in us. There won't be any desire for
sin, no tendency to sin. There won't even be any mistaken
sins, nothing like that. Do you know what? We're still
going to be standing there by grace. Never in all eternity will God
be obligated to us to do us good. We know that he will, but it
will be entirely from his grace. And then he says, forgive all
our sins and receive us graciously that we may offer the fruit of
our lips. And what would that be? Praise. People love, I shouldn't say
people, a lot of religious people. They make a big deal of praise.
And that's good, really. We ought to be praising God.
But they have songs that they call praise songs, as though
they're singing other songs that aren't praise songs. And I'm
thinking, well, if it's not a praise song, don't sing it. If it does
not render glory and praise to God, at least don't sing it in
church. Leave it at home. A guilty conscience cannot praise
God. Those who are outside, those
who are cut off from God, they can't praise God. It doesn't
matter what they say. It is only when God in grace
has wiped away all our sins and received us on the foundation
of grace that we even have a platform from which we may declare his
praises. And the clearest proof of that
is this. The more firmly convinced you
are that your sins are forgiven, the more confident you are that
God has received you and will never reject you, the more prone
you are to praise his name. Assyria cannot save us. We will
not mount war horses." See, this is part of repentance. People
always think repentance involves, you know, quit doing immoral
things. Well, it's kind of mixed in there,
but that's not even the major thing. Their problem was they
were trusting the wrong one. They were trusting Assyria. Assyria
was the enemy. He says, we'll not mount war
horses. So now that they've seen that
Assyria is the enemy, they say to themselves, yes, Assyria is
strong, Assyria is powerful, Assyria could run over us, but
we're not going to mount more horses. We're going to leave it to our
God. And we look at our sins. Oh,
I said, how many? Like an army. Can you imagine
what it'd be like for a little old country like Israel to gather
their forces together and then look into some valley or plain
where there was going to be a battle and see all of Assyria's armies
lined up to do battle? We can't do this. We're no match for that. And
you're no match for your sin. I'm no match for my sin. The sins I've already committed,
I'm no match in being able to do something that'll put them
away. And the sins I haven't yet committed. Temptation. Oh,
there's some temptations I resist and all of that, but isn't it
remarkable that in people who know God, the temptations of
this life, of the flesh, all the various things that can distract
us from God, how powerful they are, how deceitful they are,
how often they trick us and undermine us. We should know better, but
we don't act like people that know better, do we? Oh, our enemy, our flesh, cannot
save us, and we're not going to try to use the flesh to overcome
our sin. Now, that's the means most of
religion promotes, sheer willpower. Now, again, I referred to this,
I think, in Bible class, but Alcoholics Anonymous, one
of their tenants, and I don't know that I'm saying it necessarily
in their words, but If anybody wants to, in any way, get some
control of their addiction, the first thing they have to do is
they've got to admit they can't do it, that it's not within their
power. And there are preachers who will
tell you, you have the power to overcome sin. I don't. Let me just be, you
know, I don't like it. I wish I didn't want it. I wish
I didn't do it, and I resist it however I can, but I'm not
going to tell you that there's any sin, not a single one, that
I have been able to put away, that it is never a troublesome
thing for me. Sin is bigger than us. We will never again say, our
gods. to what our hands have made.
Oh, there's the key. Here's the sin of all sins. Here's
the sin that keeps a person in sin. Here is the sin that blocks
him from salvation. And it is the belief
that that which can be done by one's own efforts and energy
will be able to rescue him from his sins. He says, we'll never
say to our gods to what our hands have done. And you know, when
a person, and we can't judge people's hearts by this, I know
you're trying to, but we know it goes on. Maybe they're really diligent
in reading their Bibles. You know, I go through the Bible
once a year. I've got a plan that I follow.
You know, they say. I've read through it 45 times
so far. Now they could just be, shall
we say, humanly kind of like a jerk and bragging about themselves,
but quite often it reveals a heart that boasts before God, just
like that Pharisee at the temple did, who said, I fast twice in
a week. I read my Bible every day. I give tithes of everything I
have. I may be the church's biggest
giver. Maybe not in total dollars, but in the percent of my money
I give. And I pray every day. Those are
the things your hands have made. I'm not saying it's wrong to
read the Bible. I'm not saying it's wrong to
pray, not saying it's wrong to give, I'm not saying it's wrong
to go to church, you know good and well. Those things can be
helpful and good, but if we say our gods to them, and what does
that mean? If we trust in those things, we are idolaters. Well, how did the Lord respond
to words? And remember this, that's all
God calls for from us, words. Honest words, they have to be
honest words. But these honest words, the Lord will receive.
He says, I will heal their waywardness. Oh, our waywardness. All we like
sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone into his
own way. That's what it means to be wayward. I will heal their waywardness. All the wondrous peace and joy
that comes to the heart of those whose waywardness has been healed, who has come to realize that
they've wandered off into who knows where, and they desperately
want to be back home. And the Lord finds them like
that lost sheep, brings them home, and heals them of their waywardness. And I will love them freely. Now, whenever we think free,
we think without cost, and that's one application, and it certainly
applies to anything God gives us, we don't pay for it. But
it's actually broader than that. It means I will love them without
a cause, without obligation. In other words, when he loves,
he doesn't love because he has to. He's free. He can do whatever
he wants. Who's gonna bring an accusation
against him? He has justification not to love us, that's for sure. So when he loves us, he's doing
so without any obligation laid on him. His love for us arises
entirely from his own heart. Why does God love me? Because
he wants to. I know this, his love for me
has nothing to do with anything that can be found in me or discover
anything that I've done. In fact, all that I am and all
that I have done has given him reasons not to love me. He loved
me anyway. That means it had to be free. My anger has turned away from
them. I've been thinking of a message,
and I'll probably get around to preaching it someday, where
it says that he that does not believe, the wrath of God remains
on him. And I guess I haven't preached
it yet because part of studying is not just gathering together
doctrines, but somehow another being able to enter in. to the
seriousness and gravity of the things you're talking about,
the wrath of God. I can't imagine what that must
be. And to think, and here's something to ponder on, the great
majority of the world remains under the wrath of God, and the only thing between their present situation and them
experiencing that wrath. It's time. But he says, my anger has turned
away from them. Why? He turned it towards someone
else. It didn't disappear. His anger was just. His anger
was righteous. God never says about sin, nah,
just forget it. Don't worry about it. No. Something's
got to be done about it. He turned His anger towards His
Son. And He visited that anger and
wrath on them. Thus, it is turned away from
us. And then the change. Verse 5, I will be like the dew
to Israel. He turned His anger away from
the nation of Israel. He's turned His anger away from
that man named Israel. He's turned His anger away from
that spiritual Israel, the church. because he turned it on the single
Israel, Jesus Christ. But when he turned it on him, it got used up. There are people in hell this
day suffering, and I don't know what hell's like, I don't know
what the suffering's like. But they are suffering. God's
wrath will never turn away from them. Why? Because it will never
be used up. They cannot bear the fullness
of it. They don't just die forever.
Forever they are dying because they can't even get death done.
Jesus said it is finished. It is accomplished. What did
he mean? His death. Said, well, his body hadn't died
yet. Well, you can't talk after you're dead. So you go ahead
and say what needs to be said, but I'll tell you this. The experience
of the wrath of God for the sins he bore was done. He finished death. Nobody else
has ever done that. So what will be the result? The
Lord raised him from the dead. He said, he will blossom like
the lily, like a cedar of Lebanon. And Lebanon was known for its
trees, and in particular, the cedar. He will send down his
roots. Oh, they thought they uprooted
him. The enemies of God, both the Gentiles and the Jews, they
thought that they had uprooted the Lord's Christ. They put him
on that tree and said, he's going to die. He'll never rise again. he will send down his roots. His young shoots will grow. I love that. You know who that
is? That's us. Everyone for whom our Lord suffered
the wrath of God, they will spring up from him and they will grow. His splendor will be like the
olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon. Men will
dwell again, in His shade. Are you troubled? In particular, are you troubled
about sin? Oh, here's some shade. And I like that. It says men will dwell there. When I was living in West Virginia,
there's a lot more trees there than there are here. But I was
a builder. And generally, the trees have been pretty well cleared
away from where we were building. But generally, there were some
trees nearby. And when it came time for a break, we'd find one,
if possible, and sit under it. But we couldn't dwell there.
We'd go sit under the shade a little while and cool off. And then
it was back out in the sun again, working hard. When you enter
this shade, that's where you live from then on. He will flourish like the grain,
he will blossom like a vine, and his fame will be like the
wine from Lebanon. Now despite all the hatred of
the world against Christ, he is still known all over the world. And it's only going to get better.
I don't mean that there aren't going to be, we may be in some
real trouble here as believers in the next few years, who knows?
But our Lord will return. And from sea to shining sea and
from pole to pole and everything above the earth
and everything below it is going to confess that Jesus is Lord. His fame, his glory, his honor
will be vindicated. And they may still hate him, but they will have to confess,
yes, he is the Lord. Oh Ephraim, what more have I
to do with idols? I will answer him and care for
him. Now, that seems a little strange.
He says, oh, Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? But
he's addressing Ephraim. And what I'm thinking he's saying
here is, and Ephraim was often just used to represent the entire
northern part, the northern 10 tribes. Oh, Ephraim, what association
do I have with idols? I'm not working with them. I'm
not one God among many. I'm not here to supplement what
they can't quite get done." She says, Ephraim, I've got nothing
to do with them. There were those in Israel who
actually took one of the feminine deities, Ashtoreth, idolatrous
feminine deities of that land. and claimed that was the wife
of Jehovah. He said, no. What have I to do with any of
them? I will answer him, Ephraim. I will. And care for him. I'm like a
green pine tree. Why did he liken himself to a
pine tree? They're evergreens. I like deciduous trees. I like
them in the spring when that bright green, I call it spring
green, you know, when the leaves are first coming out. It looks
so pretty. I love in the fall. It's beautiful, but you know
what it is? It's a big symbol of death. Pine trees, green in the spring,
green in the summer, green in the fall, green in the winter.
I'm a pine tree, says the Lord. I am always alive. I am always
vital. And he says, your fruitfulness
comes from me. To us Ephraims, us rebels at
heart, he says, you will bear fruit, the fruit of the Spirit.
It comes from me. And though there may be times
you don't see it, I'm a pine tree. I'm always alive. I'm always bearing fruit. Who
is the wise? He will realize these things.
He'll understand this. Who is discerning? He will understand
them. The ways of the Lord are right. Oh, let's get a hold of
that. The ways of the Lord are right.
We have what we think is right, what appears right to our wisdom.
The ways of the Lord are right. The righteous walk in them. Now,
he's not talking about ways of morality. He's talking about
the way a favor with Him. Who are the righteous? Believers.
They're walking in His way, but the rebellious stumble in them.
There are people who try to do this. They hear that salvation
is by grace alone through faith alone. Okay, I'm going to believe
God. And they stumble and fall all
over themselves because you can't do that in the flesh. Faith is not a product of the
flesh, it's a fruit of the Spirit. And when someone unregenerate tries to walk according to the
gospel, they fall all over themselves. We did for a long time. Most of you all grew up in churches. You heard at least some true
doctrines, and when you tried to walk according
to them, you stumbled and fell. But the day came when God gave
you spiritual life, and you believed. Righteousness was imputed to
you, and you walk in the way of the Lord. And really, that
part of you that believes, it never stumbles. Sometimes we
can't see it in operation, it's always there. Well, God bless him for calling
us Israel, but most of all, God bless, God be praised for giving us an Israel that
really does have power with God, and who will bear fruit, and
that fruit is us. James, would you and John come
up and help us with the Lord's table?