Turn to Hosea chapter three again. Hosea chapter three. And Joe, I want to say again
publicly that that was a good message this morning. Anyone that's watching the TV
broadcast, Christmas Eve, that would have
been December 24th, 2017. You want to hear a Christmas
message, you get that message Joe just preached. That will
be a good Christmas message. And I'm not a Christmas kind
of guy, but you know what I'm talking about. Hosea chapter
three, let's read it again. We were there last week. Then
said the Lord unto me, that is Hosea speaking here. Then said
the Lord unto me, go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend,
yet an adulteress. according to the love of the
Lord toward the children of Israel who look to other gods and love
flagons of wine. So I bought her to me for 15
pieces of silver and for an omer of barley and a half omer of
barley. And I said unto her, thou shalt abide for me many
days. Thou shalt not play the harlot. And thou shalt not be for another
man. So will I also be for thee. Four. So this lets us know it's
connected. For the children of Israel shall
abide many days without a king. And this literally happened.
Remember, Hosea is talking about Israel, the northern kingdom.
They basically were scattered everywhere. Nobody today even
knows who they are, who's of those tribes that were scattered,
the northern state of Israel. For the children of Israel shall
abide many days without a king. without a prince, without a sacrifice,
without an image, without an ephod, without a teraphim. Afterward,
what a glorious word. Afterward, they must go through
this. There will be no afterward until
they first go through this. Afterward shall the children
of Israel return, Seek the Lord their God and David their king
and it's talking about Jesus Christ and shall fear the Lord
and his goodness in the latter days I Am still on redeeming
love this morning This will be Redeeming Love Part Two. Still
considering that subject. Remember, I am titling it Redeeming
Love. I have mentioned over and over
again, Redeeming Love. I do that because, know this
assuredly, redemption, yea, even eternal redemption, was obtained
already by Jesus Christ for his people. He has already obtained
eternal redemption for us. But redeeming love did not stop
there. You see what I'm saying? Redeeming
love did not stop. Redemption was accomplished by
a one-time act of Jesus Christ on that tree. But that love now
issues forth. that love, that redeeming love.
He's not redeeming us in that sense, no. This is redeeming
love flowing forth with the effects and the fruit of what was accomplished
some odd 2,000 years ago by Jesus Christ on Calvary's tree. Consider
redeeming love illustrated in three ways here in our text,
and it's illustrated. That's the whole purpose of Hosea
and Gomer, is to illustrate the love of God for his people. And
let's consider, and I'll try to be brief this morning, let's
consider redeeming love illustrated in three ways. First of all,
redeeming love is never impersonal or general. In our day and age,
it's all about, all that's ever said is God loves us. God loves everybody. Now the
fact is, for anyone here, anyone who's hearing my voice, that
is not true. There's a song that people sing,
Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world.
That's not true. If you were to have been alive
in the days of Jacob and Esau, and you'd have told little Esau
God loves you, you'd have been lying to little Esau. It's not Jacob I loved, he saw
I loved less. Jacob I loved, he saw I hated. And this is a holy, just, righteous
hatred. It's right for God to hate. This world does not get this.
Redeeming love is never impersonal in general. And I don't base
this doctrine based upon the illustration. The illustration
is to give us something that we can lay hold of in natural
terms, in an earthly account, something that we can relate
to of great and glorious divine things that are far beyond our
comprehension. He says, Hosea says this, so
I bought her. He didn't go down and buy the
whole lock, stock, and barrel just to get her. He bought her. Now, we have to have New Testament
scripture, or at least scripture that gives doctrinal explanation
to back that up. Mason, we don't base our doctrine
on illustration. The illustration's given for
us to be able to mentally and spiritually lay hold of what's
being taught here. You remember what Paul said in
Galatians 2, in verse 20? And this may not be exact, but
it'll be a paraphrase. He said, Jesus Christ loved me. You know what he said? Jesus
Christ loved me and gave himself for me. As if, now he didn't
teach this, but as if, I'm the only one. That's how much he
loved. He loved me and gave himself
for me. And he even goes on to say, in
the life which I now live, in this flesh, I live by the faith
of the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. You
see, God in Christ bought individual, particular persons. That's just
the way. He said, I lay down my life for
the sheep. And in the same conversation
where he said that, he looked at some men and said, you are
not my sheep. Now in any court of law, that
would stand as positive proof that Jesus Christ was saying
to those men, I will not die for you. And if it don't, whatever court
you're in is a junk court. That's simple enough. I lay down
my life for the sheep. Now, Joe, if he said to you,
but you're not my sheep, you'd know automatically what that
means. I am not going to die for you. Oh, Mac, but to be one
that he buys. You see, God's love is prostituted
today. Hosea is not the prostitute. Gomer's the prostitute. And yet
men today in their so-called gospel have twisted it right
around and they make God the prostitute and we're the great
things that God's trying to buy. And that's just not so. God in
Christ bought individual persons in particular. He bought each
one so individually, Joe, it's as if he only bought them and
them alone. But he bought them all together as his church. He said he shed his blood for
who? The church. Now is everybody
even a member of a local church? Most evidently he didn't buy
everybody, did he? And not every member of a local church is a
member of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. So it very well
may be that he didn't even shed his blood for them as well. Secondly,
here's another thing about redeeming love illustrated. Redeeming love
infallibly warrants possession of the redeemed by the Redeemer. You see it? So I bought her to
me. Religion today, the so-called
gospel of today, is Jesus paid a price. Now it's up to you to
add something onto that price to make that price of value.
That's one, that's not what's illustrated here. Anybody who
says that's what's illustrated here is just lying. But I tell
you, we have scripture that backs this up. And I want to read this
one. I'd like you to read along. If you're not reading along,
just listen to it closely. First Corinthians chapter six.
Think about this. Verse 19. What? No, you're not. that your body is the temple
of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, and I'm not even really
gonna deal with that other than to say every believer has the
Spirit of God. Mason, we have Christ himself
dwelling inside of us. As Joe said, that ought to make
Chilbap stand upon us. I don't think we remember that
too often, you know? Think about it. What? Know ye
not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in
you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your
body and in your spirit, which are God's. When Christ shed his
blood, Joe, if he shed his blood for me, he bought me to himself. If he shed his blood for you,
he bought you to himself. If you're hearing me on the TV,
if he shed his blood for you, he bought you to himself. He
owns you. Now, religion says, well, that's
just talking to believers. Do you hear what you're saying?
He is talking just to believers. But he's talking to believers
about what Christ did for them before they were even believers.
And don't they hear themselves? They rarely ever say, well, you
hear them say, well, God loves only believers. They don't say
that, do they? You see how they play the fence? How they play
whatever side makes it acceptable to whatever group they're in?
Even worse. They teach scripture, making
it fit their own, they have their own doctrine already in their
head, who God is and what he's doing and what he's done, what
he's doing, and they twist this book to make it fit their doctrine.
Let me tell you something, if Jesus Christ shed his blood for
you, he owns you, lock, stock, and barrel, as we say. your body
and your spirit, your corporal part and your incorporeal, your
material part and your immaterial part. He owns everything about
you. He even owns your old nature.
He even owns your old nature. And he deals with that in his
own likes in this present time, and he'll take care of it in
the end when that's all need to be done with. You see, in
other words, redeeming love never makes redemption possible. Redeeming
love redeems. Anything else is deceptive talk.
So I bought her to me. That one little word means everything.
So I bought her to me. Number three, redeeming love
by Christ on the tree. Issues forth into a new way that
was paid for. Look at verse three. Now remember,
he paid the price, did he not? 15 pieces of silver, Omer and
a half of barley, right? Now, most who have any sense
when they read this, most commentators that have any real sense say,
Hosea went, wherever she was, he went and paid the price that
was on her. That was what it cost to buy her. Mason, this
was not a high offer. This was not Hosea bidding on
this woman. It was him going down and paying
the price. Whoever or whatever owned her, that's what they demanded,
he went and paid that price. That's why it says it like it
says it. Then it looks, here it is. Redeeming, love by Christ
on the tree, issues forth into a new way that's paid for. And
I said unto her, I paid the price for you, you're mine. I bought
you to me, I own you. Is that not right? Now if somebody
don't like that, that's tough. That's just the way it is. This
is what redeeming love is. And I said unto her, this is
glorious. Thou shalt abide, shalt. That's not even a shall, that's
a shout. S-H-A-L-T, I did spell that right, yes. Thou shalt abide
for me many days. Thou shalt not play the harlot.
Thou shalt not be for another man. And then, so, this is amazing. Think of where she's been. Think
about where he just bought her from, to himself. So will I also
be for thee. You ever had somebody you really
cared about been unfaithful to you? And had that thought within
your mind, well, I'll just get them back. I'll be unfaithful
right back. You ever had a thought like that?
Maybe some of you haven't. You ever had a thought like that
though? Oh, Mason, thank God he never had a thought about
us like that. Amen. That's it. Oh, thank God he's been faithful
to us. It's all eternity, even when
we turned our backs on him in rebellion against God. But here, Hosea is saying to
Gomer, and that's the illustration I'm gonna show you. There you
go. See, before he was doing things for her, she didn't realize
it. Right. She was abusing it. giving her lover's credit for
it, offered some of it to Baal even. But he said, now I'm gonna
show you I love you. I will be for you. Think about
this new way paid for is reciprocal. It goes around. It goes around. It's not just one way. It's reciprocal
for redeemed and redeemer. Let's look at first redeemed.
toward Redeemer. For the redeemed to the Redeemer,
there is intrinsic union wrought by this redemptive love. At least
in three ways, I've done read it. Thou shall abide for me many
days. This is enduring immutability. You're mine. Now, in the illustration,
Hosea, or Gomer could only abide for Hosea for many days, why?
She was flesh and blood. Ellen, she's gonna die. But it's
illustrating something here. And what it's illustrating is
what Christ said in John 10. My sheep follow me. I know them, they know me. They
hear my voice, I call them by name, they follow me, I give
unto them eternal life. And they shall never perish. Now, the Father gave them me,
you can't get them out of my hands. I've redeemed him to the
Father. You can't get him out of the
Father's hands. Now I'm paraphrasing. And then he added it up with
this. I and my Father are one. So in that sense, I got Christ
the Son and God the Father both for me. Making sure I abide with
him as long as I'm supposed to, Joe. That's the first one. Second one here, from redeemed
to redeemer. Thou shalt not play the harlot. Oh God help me. Think of it, devotion and faithfulness.
I'll just give you this one phrase. Paul said it to the Corinthians
and he gave this litany of God awful, ungodly acts, right? First Corinthians chapter six,
the same chapter we was in a moment ago. And he says, and such were
some of you. Now that's still deep down inside
here in the old man. But redeeming love issues forth,
and God'll change your walk. God'll change your want to. God'll
change your will, and maybe not in all of that. Maybe you need
to switch the order. But you know what I'm saying. This redeeming
love issues forth in a new way of existence with God. I'm still
a sinner, but bless God, I'm a safe sinner. Even more, I'm
still a sinner, but bless God, I'm a converted sinner. And I'm
still a sinner, but bless God, it took the redeeming power and
the regenerating power of God's spirit to make me even a converted
sinner. And that cannot fail. That cannot
fail. Thou shalt not be the harlot.
Now, who did it matter whether she's a harlot or not? Only to
Hosea. It don't matter what men see
in you. It don't matter what they look into your past or they
look into your present and say, well, I think they were a little
unfaithful there. It ain't none of your business. Hosea owns
her. And it ain't none of my business concerning you. God
bought you. And you are his slave. He owns
you. And you stand or fall before
your master, not me. Not me. I forget that. We all
forget that about one another. Paul said, you judge another
man's servant? You see, when we start to judge, we start to
point our finger at other believers. You know what you're saying?
God, I paid the price. That's what we're saying. No
one paid the price but Jesus Christ. He owns us, lock, stock,
and barrel. He will do with us as he wills. If he is pleased to give us over
to Satan for a bit, then we might be sifted as wheat. Right? Now who am I to stand back and
judge? Oh, look at them. Oh, you better watch out. Let
him that thinks he stands take heed, because when you start
pointing your finger, God's gonna show you you're just like they
are, if not worse. Mm, thou shalt not play the harlot. And then this third one, and
thou shalt not be for another man. Loyalty in singularity. You see, my service and your
service is to be to God. In Christ, first. To one another
under that auspice, second. Because if I serve you outside
of that auspice, I will be serving men and not God. You see what
I'm saying? You see what I'm saying? And
thou shalt not be for no other man. Gomer was for who? Hosea. Hosea alone. And I'm for Christ. And you're
Christ. And that's his business, how
he does with me and how he does with you. And I have a hard time
living, remembering that. Don't you? Go, God help me. I sat around and I know, well,
so-and-so's running her mouth, and it ain't even five minutes
later, I'm running my mouth about so-and-so. You ever done that? Oh, I've seen them, oh, they
were backbiting. And then you turn around, you
mention their name to somebody else. So what are you doing?
Backbiting. God help us. But all of that
is under the auspices, Christ is my Lord and my master, he
bought me, I'm his property, he will do with me as he will. But secondly, look at it, for
the redeemer to the redeemed, there is this intimate union
promise, so will I be for thee. That boggles my mind. because I still have them old
tendencies. And there's times when I've fallen flat on my face. So that don't make sense with
what you said. If you're a believer, it makes exactly, perfectly good
sense with exactly what I said. If you're a religionist, you're
going to be confused. If you think you're a righteous
person, you're going to be confused and confounded by everything
I've just said. But God's people, those who are sinners saved by
grace, they know exactly what I'm talking about. And my devotion
is toward Jesus Christ, but Joe, there's a part of me that would
turn away from him in a heartbeat. And it takes his power, that
power of redeeming love to keep me from turning as an apostate
against Jesus Christ. Think about it, I will be for
thee. There's at least two ways, I'm
not saying this is Exhaustive. There's at least two ways of
this is true. God is for us as Benefactor You remember Romans
8 28 all the way to 39 if God be for us who could be he's our
benefactor He's our benefactor and justification. He's justifying
us when everybody else is pointing the finger at us and condemns
When they're saying well, hey, look at him. Look at her God
said I won't hear it. I'm justifying them in Christ
He's our benefactor You know, he's our benefactor in justification. He's our benefactor in reconciliation. He's our benefactor in regeneration. He's our benefactor in conversion.
He's our benefactor in all of these great things. He's for
us, but he is also our benefaction. You see what I'm saying? He's
also our benefaction. He is both benefactor and benefaction. When you go back sometime, read
it, you go back home, Colossians chapter two, Paul keeps saying
Christ is it. Hold the head. Not just what
the head gives you. Yes, we... Penny, I love justification. And I hold to it. It's by His
grace. Righteousness imputed. Redemption. But oh God, help me to hold to
Him. Who is those things? You see,
Joe, if I just try to get that or this, I'm always busy with
the benefit or the benefactor. I'm saying that wrong. I'm dealing
with the benefaction as a thing He's done for me. when we got
to remember He's the One who did and is all these things to
us. Paul said that I might know Him. Because you see, no matter Some
of us are more theologically made. We can see these things. Mason, some of us are better
at it than others. And we can see these things in
point one and two and see how they fit. And others of us who
just, I hear all that, I believe it, I know it's in God's word,
but I don't comprehend. No comprehende. I don't really
get all of that. But if you have Christ, you've
got all that, whether you're a theologian or not. You see,
you have him who is both benefactor and benefaction. I wish I could
have said that a lot better, and that was a public luck convoluted,
but I hope you understand what I'm talking about. Don't just
glory in what he's done for us, glory in him himself. And all that other stuff, it'll
come around when you need it. You'll see it, you'll see it.
Now, think about this. Oh, may God take away from us
everything that we corrupt, everything that we distort, everything that
we mix in ungodly mixture, just like Israel of old did. We're
no different than them back then. Oh, may God in redeeming love
cut off all our false reasonings, but not cut us off. But don't
cut me off. Oh God cut off all, look at it.
For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king.
Their first choice of king was what? All fleshly based. Remember
Saul? God was their king and that wasn't
good enough for them. And that's the same way I am
and you are by nature. We want a king like all the rest
of the nations. Right? And yet for the children
of Israel shall abide many days without a king, without a prince,
without a sacrifice, without an image, without an ephod, without
a teraphim. Why? Because of the judgment
of God, he stripped all this from them. And when it happens,
it don't feel good. God is putting you in the dirt
by yourself and all of your hopes are gone. That's what it was
for Israel. Was it not? And that's where
God has to take you. And it's not until afterward.
You see, if God don't ever strip you of everything else, you will
never find yourself in verse five in the afterward. You understand
what I'm saying? Oh God, may the very things wherein
we defiled ourselves be crushed by you. taken away by you. Oh God did we by redeeming love
be made to return and to seek you and your king in reverent
fear of both you and even your goodness. Because he don't owe
us his goodness. He owes us his wrath. But thank God he poured that
wrath out upon the son and that wrath He's never been wrathful
toward his people, folks. But he has wrath against sin.
And that wrath was appeased in the person of Jesus Christ. Justice,
maybe this is a better way to, justice was satisfied in Jesus
Christ crushing his son, or God, the Father, crushing his son
on Calvary's tree. Oh, God, cut off all of my false
hopes and false ways. But don't cut. Oh God, and make
me one of those people that's gonna be an afterward. Afterward
shall the children of Israel return and seek the Lord their
God and David their king and shall feel the fear of the Lord
and his goodness in the latter days. You see, no one will ever
until God does. In fact, no one will ever be
a part of verse five until God does for you what he did for
Israel in verse four. Take away everything else you
held to at one time. No one ever does or ever will
until God does. But then it says afterward, look
at that, shall. Isn't that good news, Mack? Mack
Hatfield, that's good news. Afterward, whoever these people,
if God strips you of everything, it's not just to leave you there
naked. God's gonna give you something that's beyond belief. Unless
God gives you the belief to believe it. Hear me now. There is no, listen. You folks
know this. Folks out there, listen to me.
There is no redeeming love bought where redeeming love does not
issue forth in crushing falsehood and establishing devotion and
loyalty and fear and worship of Jesus Christ the Lord. And
I will have to say to that, that's the end of the message. Amen.
Father, oh God, thank you for your grace. To such, not just
unworthy, that we are unworthy, but oh God, we have merited your
wrath and judgment and justice fully. But you've been pleased,
just like the illustration with Hosea and Gomer, you've been
pleased to love us with a love that's beyond explanation. And
Lord, it's not just a dry, doctrinal thing, but it's real in our lives.
Oh, God, cause us to reach forth and lay hold of, and by your
grace, continue to reach forth and lay hold of Jesus Christ
himself. In his name, I ask these things,
amen.