Alright, now, if you would, let's
open our Bibles to the book of Hosea chapter 13. Now, I've entitled this message, A
Gleam of Light in a Dark Time. A Gleam of Light in a Dark Time. And I want to just begin, let's
just go through this passage. I want to start with the first
three verses here where the prophet Hosea, as inspired by God, describes
the spiritual roots of Israel's problem. What's their problem? He's been bringing judgments,
pronouncements of judgments against the nation. And we know what
their problem is, but he brings it down to its roots here. Let's
read these first three verses. Verse one, when Ephraim, remember
Ephraim being the largest tribe, and sometimes being the most
influential tribe, he identifies the whole nation by that name.
When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel. But when he offended in Baal,
he died. Now you know who Baal is, that's
the idol. The term Baal simply means master. It's what it literally means
in that language. So in other words, it's talking
about how he was trying to serve more than one master. You know,
Christ in the Sermon on the Mount said, no man can serve two masters. You can't serve Baal and serve
the true and living God. So he goes on, verse two, and
now they sin more and more. It's a multiplication of sin.
And have made them molten images of their silver. Now that was
forbidden under the Ten Commandments. Not only that shalt thou have
no other God before me, God said, but you shall not make any graven
images. And they made molten images of
their silver and idols according to their own understanding. All
of it, the work of the craftsman. And they say of them, let the
men that sacrifice kiss the calves. The Israelites were kissing calves. And he says in verse 3, therefore
they shall be as the morning cloud and as the early dew that
passeth away, no permanence, no establishment, no eternal
life, just death, here today, gone tomorrow. as the chaff that
is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the
smoke out of the chimney." Now there's the spiritual root of
Israel's problem. This is the culmination of Hosea's
prophecies of doom for Israel. God's judgment against Israel's
sin. The God who is holy, who judges
according to truth. This is the culmination of it.
But now this is not the culmination or the high point of the whole
book of Hosea. That comes in the next chapter,
chapter 14, which is a call to restoration and repentance. But
when we look at the history of Israel, and frankly, when we
look at our own history or the history of any human government,
human nation, society, or whatever, we see here that Israel had many,
many, many problems. They had social problems. Later
on they had economic problems, political problems, and you know
preachers today love to delve into that stuff. They love to
spend time on that stuff. But what Hosea the prophet does
is he gets to the very root of their main problem, which is
sin, S-I-N. But it can all be traced in the
evidence of this one spiritual condition of the nation. They're
lost, they're proud, and they're idolatrous. The problem here
is idolatry. Idolatry. What comes to the forefront
here is Israel's idolatry. Now think about this with me
tonight. We normally think of idolatry
as an ancient problem, don't we? That was something that went
on in the past, but it really, even though we can talk a little
bit about idolatry in certain facets, it really doesn't go
on today. But I wanna tell you something.
What we're going to see from God's word is it's just as prevalent,
if not more so today, as it was in Israel's day. What is idolatry? How would you define idolatry?
Would you limit it to those who shape molten images according
to their silver or wooden images and bow down physically to those
things? Is that the way you see idolatry?
Well, that certainly is idolatry. I wouldn't discount that. But
you have to understand that idolatry begins in the mind and in the
heart. Just like all sin, The things
that are outward are only symptoms of a very bad, deadly disease
within. And that's the way idolatry is.
I'm going to give you several things to think about concerning
this issue of idolatry. And if you don't think it's a
prevalent problem today, then you don't know the scriptures.
And if you don't believe that believers today are in danger
of falling prey to idolatry in many ways, then you don't know
the scriptures. But think about it this way, idolatry, now think
about this, idolatry is failing to submit to the true and living
God in trusting and worshiping and obeying Him as He is, as
He reveals Himself. The Bible says in Hebrews chapter
11 and verse 6, Without faith, it's impossible to please him,
to please God. For he that cometh to God must
believe that he is. And in the context there, it's
more than just saying you've got to believe that God exists,
that there is a God. But it's saying this, it says,
he that cometh to God must believe that God is who God says he is. Not just that he exists and then
you can formulate your own opinions about what he's like and what
you think he is. And usually when, well usually,
every time man goes that route, now listen to me, every time
man goes to thinking about, well now what do I think about God?
I'm gonna tell you exactly what that is, that's idolatry. Because
it doesn't matter what you think about God as far as formulating
the revelation. the truth about God. The only
thing that matters is what God says. You understand what I'm
saying? God says He's holy. That means there's no one like
God. There's no being like God. God is so unique. The Bible says
you can't compare Him. I hear people trying to use illustrations
for the Trinity. And you know the first thing
they do is they go to comparisons. Well, He's like this. No sir,
you can't compare God to anything earthly. There's no comparison
to God. God is so unique and so one within
himself, even the triune God, God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. You cannot define God. We can't do it. And the moment
we start trying to define God, we slip into idolatry because
it comes from us. You see, God must reveal himself
to us. That's what the scripture says.
No man knoweth the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever
the Son shall reveal him. Matthew chapter 11. And no man
knoweth the Son save the Father. You can't know God except through
Christ. That's what he's saying there.
And so he says, we must believe that he is and who he says he
is and that he's a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 10 with me. I want to show you
something. Listen to God's word for the church in the last days.
And remember that the last days includes us. This is not just
God's word to the Corinthian church. This is God's word for
13th Street Baptist Church. and for any other true church.
Here he's talking about Israel in the wilderness murmuring and
complaining how God freely and powerfully and mercifully provided
for their needs while they were in the wilderness and yet they
still complained and they still murmured, which was nothing more
than unbelief. And he says, look here in verse
10, he says, neither murmur ye as some, this is 1 Corinthians
10, verse 10, neither murmur ye as some of them also murmured
or complained and were destroyed of the destroyer. In other words,
they received the justice of God. Now look at verse 11, he
says, now all these things happened unto them for in samples or examples,
and they are written for our admonition." In other words,
they're examples for us. Examples of what not to do. Upon
whom the ends of the world are come. That's every believer in
the last days. Wherefore, let him that thinketh
he standeth, take he lest he fall. Now that is not a ban on
all assurance. That's a ban on all presumption.
Because you see from presumption comes murmuring and complaining
and unbelief. He says in verse 13, there hath
no temptation or testing taken you but such as is common to
man, but God is faithful who will not suffer or allow you
to be tested above that you are able, but will with the testing
also make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it. Now
look at verse 14. Wherefore my dearly beloved flee
from Idolatry. Flee from idolatry. In the book
of Colossians, chapter 3 and verse 5, the Apostle Paul spoke
of covetousness, which is idolatry. And you know what covetousness
is? That's the desire for things. All covetousness is not bad.
For example, the Bible tells us to covet the best gifts from
God. There's nothing wrong with desiring
the best gifts from God. But covetousness, which is idolatry,
is the unlawful, sinful, selfish desire of things to the point
that it takes you away from serving the Lord, seeking the Lord, obeying
the Lord, worshiping the Lord. Do you know that anything that
you allow or that I allow to divert my attention From steadfastness
in the gospel of Christ, and looking to and resting in Him,
and using the means of growth in grace and in knowledge, anything
I allow... Do you know what the Bible calls
that? Idolatry. That's exactly what it is. That's
why he says, flee from idolatry. John in 1 John chapter 5 and
verse 21 said, Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Anything. that would take you
away from the things of the Lord. And idols come in many, many
different forms. As I quoted earlier in Matthew
chapter 6 here, this word Baal back here in Hosea 13 means And
you can't serve two masters. You cannot serve God and mammon,
Christ said in Matthew chapter six. Mammon being the issues
and things of this world, the materialistic things of this
world that we're so apt to spend our time and put our hearts into
that, again, take us away from the things of the Lord. And then
there's also false gods and false messiahs. When people speak,
listen, when people speak of a God who saves sinners in any
other way but by free sovereign grace in and by the Lord Jesus
Christ, that's idolatry. Did you know that? Any other,
Christ said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh
unto the Father but by me. Now if I try to come to the Father
any other way, you know what that is? That's idolatry. because
the God who will accept me and receive me based upon anything
but the blood and righteousness of Christ, he doesn't exist.
The true and living God saves by grace. And there's one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. So that when Catholicism
tells you that Mary is a co-mediator, which is part of their doctrine,
What does that mean? That's idolatry. Christ will
have no rival. He will have no competition.
He is as holy as the Father. He's unique. He's the one true
mediator. He's the God-man. There's no
other God-man. He's God in human flesh. He's
Emmanuel. His name shall be called Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. So when the
denomination comes along and they say, well, we believe in
Jesus too, but we don't believe he's God, what is that? That's
idolatry, isn't it? That's idolatry. I'm telling
you, any God you have in your imagination who will save you,
accept you, or receive you based on anything but the true Lord
Jesus Christ and His redemptive work on the cross alone is an
idol. That God does not exist. You
read it in the book here. He's like Baal. They may not
call Him Baal. They may just call Him Master.
But He's an idol. all false gods. And I'll tell
you what, all of our problems today can be traced to our spiritual
condition in sin and idolatry. Like Israel, men by nature have
put their trust in Baal. Now again, they may not call
him Baal, Whatever they call him. They may call him money.
They may call him a job or a family. It may be anything. It may be
an idol of their own imaginations. But look what he says here in
verse one again. Israel, when Ephraim spake trembling, that
trembling there, I believe, talks about their good beginning because
they trembled at God. which means they at first had
a respect and a reverence with God, unto God, because of their
connection with God. In other words, it wasn't a good
beginning because they were so good to start out with. It was
a good beginning because of their connection with the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, the God of the covenant. And they followed
him. They followed him. But they became
proud. He exalted himself in Israel. That's the problem. That's the
beginning of idolatry. It's when man begins to exalt
himself above the Word of God. It's when man becomes more connected
and in love with his own self, his own works, his own ideas,
and his own ways, rather than the ways of God. And that's what
he did. He exalted himself. And he offended. And when he offended in Baal,
when he served another god, it says he died. They died in the
wilderness. They became proud and self-righteous
and declined into idolatry. And he says in verse two, and
they sin more and more. It doesn't stop with just one
sin. It's sin upon sin upon sin. It can be immorality, it can
be religion, whatever it is, in any capacity. My friend, without
faith, without looking to Christ and resting in Him for all salvation,
it's impossible to please God. I don't care how you look, who
you are, how sincere and zealous you are. You can give a million
dollars to charity, but still, without faith, it's impossible
to please God. He says, they've made them their
molten images, all of their idols, and all of it the work of the
craftsman according to their own skill. In other words, it
was after their own understanding. It was the work of man. And see,
salvation cannot come from man. But look on, now here in the
next few verses, beginning at verse four, he gives the spiritual
remedy provided by God, but it was rejected by Israel. There
is a spiritual remedy to all of this. But it's God's provision. The remedy doesn't come from
man. And here it is, look at verse four. He says, yet I am
the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt. That's not talking
about where God is from. God is not from anywhere. When
somebody asks you where you're from, you say, well, I'm from
Ashland, Kentucky. That's where you were born or raised or close
therein. What he's saying here is from
the time that I brought you out of Egypt, I'm the Lord your God.
That's how long in their existence as a nation, it began with God. And he says, and thou shalt know
no God but me. Any other God is a false God. Any other God is idolatry. Now
listen to this, for there is no savior beside me. I mean, there's no one you can
even put even alongside of him. No savior beside me. Turn to
Isaiah chapter 45. Now you remember Isaiah is preaching
in the southern kingdom, Judah. And he's basically preaching
the same message that Hosea is preaching to the northern kingdom.
But listen to what he says in verse 20. Mark these verses in
your Bible. Here's how God distinguishes
himself from idols. Somebody said, well, how do you
know you're not worshiping an idol? How do I know I'm not worshiping
an idol? How do we know that we're worshiping
the true and living God and not an idol of our imaginations?
Well, God identifies Himself. Remember what I said now. We have to trust God, believe
God as He reveals Himself, not as we think Him to be. I mean,
and you can listen to religious people on TV and philosophical
and psychological and theological debates on TV and they'll talk
about, well, here's what I think, you know. And here's what my
assessment of God is. Or somebody might come up and
say, well, I had an ecstatic dream the other night and God
showed me this and all that. Put all that stuff out the window.
What does God say about himself in this book? How do I know I'm
not trusting a counterfeit Christ? Because I want to trust the Christ
who identifies and distinguishes himself in his word. But look
at it, verse 20, Isaiah 45. He says, assemble yourselves
and come. Draw near together, you that
are escaped of the nations. They have no knowledge that set
up the wood of their graven image and pray unto a God that cannot
save. Now, I want to tell you something.
There are many people who meet together on Sunday all over this
world who preach and pray unto a God who cannot save you unless
you let him. That's exactly what this is here.
Any God who cannot save you unless you let him is an idol. Look
at verse 21, he says, tell you and bring them near, yea, let
them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient
time? Now where did this, what's gonna
be said here? How God is going to identify
himself. Where did that come from? Is this the invention of
men? Is this the culmination of much
theological and philosophical discussions? No, look at it. Who hath declared this from ancient
time? Who hath told it from that time? Have not I the Lord? And notice there Lord is in capital
letters. Who is that? That's Yahweh. That's
the God of the covenant. That's the covenant-keeping God,
the God who saves by grace. Saved Abraham that way, Isaac
and Jacob. He says, there's no God else
beside me. And look at the next line, a
just God and a Savior. That's how he distinguishes himself.
He's both just and a Savior. How can God be just? and justify
the ungodly. How can God be righteous and
show mercy to sinners? How can God be true to himself
as the righteous judge who judges according to truth and still
be gracious and loving towards sinners? How is that possible?
That's the question that the gospel answers. He's a just God
and a Savior. Now let me say this, any God
who is not both is an idol. He's an idol. You can hear preachers
talk about God's justice without His mercy, that's an idol. You
can hear preachers talk about His mercy without His justice,
that's an idol. Our God is both a just God and
a Savior. He's both a righteous judge who
judges according to truth, who must punish sin and cannot overlook
it, but who at the same time, on some ground, is also a loving,
merciful, gracious father who saves any sinner who comes to
him begging for mercy. How can he do that? He says there's
none beside... Baal couldn't do that. And I
want to tell you something. If you want to take the time,
go ahead and do it, but if you don't want to take my word for
it, I've studied the major religions of the world and there is nothing
even close to this truth in their messages of salvation and remedies
for mankind. It's always works, works, works.
And that's poured over into what men today call Christianity.
Now it's just accept Jesus as your personal savior, then work,
work, work. for salvation, for righteousness. How can he be both a just God
and a saint? There's not but one way. Look
at it, verse 22. Look unto me and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth. Don't look anywhere else. For
I'm God, there's none else. I have sworn by myself. What's
he talking about swearing by himself? That means God has engaged
everything that he is in this covenant of salvation. He says,
the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness. What does the
New Testament tell us the word of righteousness is? It's the
gospel of Christ. For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believe it, to the Jew first and the Greek also. For therein,
this is Romans 1, 16 and 17, for therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith, for as it is written,
the just shall live by faith. What is that righteousness of
God? Romans 10, 4. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. It's gone out
of my mouth in righteousness and shall not return. Do you
know what that means? It's not going to fail. It's
not going to fall on deaf ears. Somebody's going to hear it.
He says that unto me every knee shall bow and every tongue shall
swear. You know Paul quotes that in Philippians chapter 2. And
who's he talking about in Philippians chapter 2? Let this mind be in
you which was in Christ. And then he says in verse 24,
Surely shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness and
strength. I can't save myself. I can't
make myself righteous. In the Lord have I... Who is
the Lord? Jehovah. Jesus Christ, my righteousness. Even to him shall men come. And
all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. In the
Lord shall all the seed of Israel, children of Israel, that's talking
about spiritual Israel, be justified, declared not guilty, declared
righteous before God, and shall glory. What did Paul write? God
forbid that I should glory save in the... Now, any other God,
any other Savior is an idol. Look back at Hosea 13. This is
what he's talking about. And he says in verse two up there,
he said, they're going around here kissing calves. That means
they're worshiping, serving, they love their idols. Now why
would anybody love an idol? Now think about that. Well, I'll
tell you exactly why men by nature love idols. Because men by nature
love self and the idol is like themselves. And so they kiss
the calves. They pay homage to the calves,
to the idols. That calf represented their idol,
the golden calf. What is our golden calf, you
say? That's the question. Well, the
Bible in Psalm 2 talks about kissing the son lest he be angry. Don't kiss the calf, kiss the
son. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Pay homage to him. Show acts of love and devotion
to Christ, not to the idols. Idolatry essentially is seeking
to replace the true worship of God in Christ by something else
because we suppress the worship of the true God, since that requires
us to come to repentance and turning from our wicked, self-righteous,
selfish ways. and glorying only in the cross. So look at verse four here. He
says, yet I am the Lord, thy God from the land of Egypt, and
thou shalt know no God but me, for there is no savior beside
me. Verse five, I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land
of great drought. God connected himself to this
nation at that time. He says, verse six, according
to their pasture, so were they filled, they were filled, and
their heart was exalted, therefore have they forgotten me. They
had everything they needed as given them by God and what did
they do? Did they seek the Lord? Did they
turn to him? Did they worship him and serve
him? No, they forgot him. That's like a person who comes
in and gets hold of the gospel of grace and they talk about
how precious it is and how much, how great it is and then boom,
they're gone. They forget about it. That's
exactly what he's talking. You know what that is? That's
idolatry. That's exactly what it is. Well,
look at verse 7. Here's the judgment of God against
idolatry. He says, therefore, I will be
unto them as a lion. Now, this is a lion to devour,
the line of judgment. As a leopard by the way will
I observe them. The picture here is like a lion
or a leopard sneaking up on its prey, ready to pounce and destroy. This is God's judgment. You see,
sin demands death. Idolatry demands death. You worship
a dead God, what are you going to get? Death. There's no life
in a dead God. Only righteousness demands life,
and where are you going to find righteousness? Surely shall one
say, in the Lord have I righteousness. In Christ is my righteousness.
And he's life. And so he says in verse eight,
he says, I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her
whelps. They say if you're ever out in
the wilderness and you see a bear, some bear cubs, beware. The mama
bear's not too far out. And if she sees you full of those
cubs, what's she gonna do? She's gonna be ferocious. And
that's what he's saying, that's the way I'm gonna meet Israel
in their sin. He said, I will rend the call
of their heart. Literally, I'm gonna reach into
their chest and rip out their heart. Because you see, their
heart's set on sin. That's what he's talking about.
He says, and there will I devour them like a lion. The wild beast
shall tear them. Verse nine, he says, O Israel,
thou hast destroyed thyself. The problem is not that God is
throwing a temper tantrum here. The problem is not that God is
mean and nasty and just loves to torture people. The problem
is that we by nature, if left to ourselves, will destroy ourselves. That's it. You can't blame God.
Blame you. Blame me. He said, but in me
is thine help. There is help. There is help. But that help is in God and in
him alone. In other words, Israel has rejected
the only one who can help them. And so look at verse 10. He says,
I will be thy king. Now literally, this is in the
form of a question. And he's asking this question,
where is thy king? Where is any other that may save
thee in all thy cities? You see kings and cities back
then in this culture, they looked upon them as like safety, security. That's why Israel wanted a king
to begin with when they asked for a king under the prophet
Samuel. The problem is they didn't want
a king of God's provision, they wanted a king like other nations
because they felt that that meant that would give them some prestige
and some safety. You see, having God as their
king, that wasn't good enough. Well, he says, where's your king
now? What can he do for you? Where's your cities now that
you wanted to build like the other nations? You wanted to
be like the world? Well, what can the world do for you now?
That's what he's asking. There's no help in their choice
of a king. There's no safety in their cities.
And thy judges of whom thou hast said, give me a king and princes,
they can't help you. Human governments, human dignitaries
cannot help you with sin. I don't care who's president
of the United States, he's not gonna help us with this issue
of sin and righteousness. He says in verse 11, I gave thee
a king in mine anger. That's talking about Saul, he
was the first king of Israel. and took him away in my wrath."
He failed miserably and God took him away. Verse 12, the iniquity
of Ephraim is bound up, his sin is hid. Now I want to tell you
something right there. When he says the iniquity of
Ephraim is bound up and his sin is hid, what he's saying is here,
Israel's sins are well documented and literally safely preserved
for the day of judgment. God will not forget their sin.
Do you know what? That's the worst thing that can
happen to a sinner, right there. Our sins are bound up and well
documented, God won't forgive. You know, problems abound in
human life and society because we cannot forget sins of the
past. Isn't that right? Well, do we
think that God who never changes, who knows all, who always judges
according to truth will forget? Back over in Hosea chapter seven
in verse two, remember when the prophet made this statement,
he says, and they consider not in their hearts that God remembers
all their wickedness. Now their own doings have beset
them about. They are before his face. In
other words, they're in the face of God. He's talking about people
there who will be judged according to their works because they have
no savior. They have no mediator. They have
no Lord, their righteousness. They have no Christ. And the
point is, is they're going to be damned. Well, how can we avoid
that? Only by looking to Christ. That's
why David said, Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth
not iniquity. That's why in the book of Hebrews,
turn to Hebrews chapter 10, look at this. Here's the remedy right
here. And this is what Hosea is telling them. This was the
message of the Old Testament. The whole point of the book of
Hebrews here is that this is what the law ultimately pointed
to. He's talking about the sacrifice
of Christ on the cross in Hebrews chapter 10. He says in verse
14, now listen to this, here's our only hope, so that our sins
will not be bound up, they won't be well documented so that God
will never forget them, so that he won't charge us with our sins.
He says in verse 14 of Hebrews 10, for by one offering he, that
is Christ, hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Now
what offering is that? That's the offering of himself
on the cross. That's where the sin issue, the
sin matter was taken care of. Christ was made sin and he put
away the sins of his people. He established righteousness
on the cross and it was imputed to his people. And God says in
verse 15, wherefore the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us
for after that he had said before, this is the covenant that I will
make with them after those days saith the Lord. I will put my
laws into their hearts, that's his word. And in their minds
will I write them, and their sins and iniquities will I remember
no more." Does that mean God forgot? No,
it just simply means God will not bind them up and keep them
in record. He will not charge us with our
sins. He can't do it. And you know why? Because He's
a just God and He already charged them to Christ. And Christ took
care of the problem. Go back to Hosea 13 now. Look
at verse 13. He says, the sorrows of a travailing
woman shall come upon him, come upon Israel. He's an unwise son
for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth
of children. You know what that's talking
about? He's saying Israel is like a child in the womb, in
the birth canal actually, who refuses to come out. He refuses
to be born. What it is, and what is that?
That's death. A child who will not come out
of the birth canal. Well, what's the problem? They
refuse to repent. Just like the Lord said about
those people, their hearts grown hard, their ears are dull of
hearing, their eyes they've closed, lest at any time they should
see with their eyes and hear with their ears and should understand
with their heart and be converted. They don't want to be born again
because that means they have to let go of their idols. That
means they have to trust Christ alone and put themselves in the
dust where they belong. That's why Christ told Nicodemus
and the whole lot of us, you must be born again by the power
of God. Well, look at verse 14. Here's the promise of redemption
in the context of judgment. Now, here's the gleam of light.
You say, well, where is that gleam of light? Well, here it
is. Look at verse 14. I will ransom them from the power
or the hand of the grave. I will redeem them from death. O death, I will be thy plagues. O grave, I will be thy destruction. Repentance shall be hid from
mine eyes. Now, it's clear. that the nation
Israel is going to perish. Look at verse 15. He says, though
he be fruitful among his brethren, that is politically, economically,
agriculturally. And east wind shall come, that's
the Assyrian army that's going to destroy Israel. The wind of
the Lord shall come up from the wilderness. They'll be instruments
of God's judgment. His spring shall become dry and
his fountain shall be dried up. He shall spoil the treasure of
all pleasant vessels. See, this is the destruction
that's going to happen to the nation. Verse 16, Samaria, that
was the capital of Israel. That's where the temple, the
temple in Christ's day, remember the woman at the well said, we
worship in this mountain? That was Samaria, that was the
capital of the northern kingdom. And he says, Samaria shall become
desolate for she hath rebelled against her God. They shall fall
by the sword. And here's the terrible onslaught
of the Assyrian army. This was very common, it's an
awful thing, but he says, their infants shall be dashed in pieces
and their women with child shall be ripped up. It's an awful thing,
isn't it? That's man in his own selfishness
and anger, bloodlust. So it's apparent that the nation
of Israel is going to perish. Well, is there any hope for salvation
for anybody in this nation or anybody anywhere? Is there any
comfort for anyone, any individual? The nation is going to perish.
God's judgment is coming. Is there any hope for me? I want
to tell you something now. You know, I love America, but
America is not forever and ever and ever, friend. This nation,
this nation now is going someday, this nation is going to perish.
My question, is there any hope for me? Is there any hope for
you? Any individual in this nation? And I believe that verse 14 tells
us that there is. And this is designed to preserve
believers from despair. God says, I'll ransom them from
the power of the devil. How do you ransom somebody? You
pay the price. What's the price, ransom price
for salvation? It's the blood of Christ. He
said, I'll redeem them from death. How do you redeem somebody? You
pay the price, the redemption price. What is the redemption
price from death? The death of Christ. Oh death,
I will be thy plagues. Oh grave, I will be thy destruction. God's gonna destroy the grave,
which is literally Sheol here, and he's going to be the destruction
of it, and he says he will not take it back. Repentance shall
be hid from mine eyes. Now if you'll turn to 1 Corinthians
15, we'll close with this. And the reason I want you to
see this is for this reason. I believe it's important that
we understand how God the Holy Spirit led the apostles to read
the Old Testament. And if you look in this, here's
a quotation that Paul brings forth to the Corinthian church
from Hosea 13-14, and you might say, now, it's not an exact quotation. Look at verse 55. Here's what
Paul writes by inspiration of the Spirit from the prophet Hosea,
shown the only hope of salvation from death and hell. He says,
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
Now why isn't it an exact quotation? Well, when Paul was writing during
this time, there was a Greek version of the Old Testament.
And that was commonly passed around as it could be, as people
could afford it. And that's what Paul's quoting
from. But it's the same truth. It's the exact same truth. And
he says, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy
victory? Well, the sting of death is sin.
The reason that death comes is because of sin. It's God's judgment
and just judgment against sin. And the strength of sin is the
law. The power of sin to pronounce judgment is because the law of
God is just. Where there's no law, there is
no sin. But there is a law and that standard is with God and
that standard is set forth in the person and work of Christ.
So the sting of death is sin, the strength of sin is the law.
Who's going to take care of this issue of sin, this matter of
sin? Who's going to keep the law? Who's going to serve the
justice of the law? Verse 57, but thanks be to God
which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. That's
how. There's the gleam of light in
a dark time. What's Hosea telling Israel?
Israel's going to be destroyed. The Syrian army's coming and
they're going to be brutal. They're not going to let up.
They're not going to show any mercy. Well, where's there any
hope for the promised remnant? Where's there any hope for any
sinner? Look to Christ. There's the only
hope. That's the way it was in Hosea's
day. That's the way it is in our day. And let me tell you
something. Don't look anywhere else or to anyone else. To do
so is idolatry. And don't let anyone take you
away from Christ. Because if they can do it, you
never knew Him to begin with. And that's idolatry too. That's
it. The only hope is in Christ.