I turn to the book of Hosea again. Hosea. If you were here last
Sunday, or if you weren't and were able to listen to the message,
realize that I spoke concerning Hosea and Gomer. And in all of
the book of Hosea, never forget that illustration. No matter
what you read about judgment, and condemnation, never forget
that illustration. Hosea here illustrates God. Gomer illustrates us. And God
saves sinners. And as I spoke to you last Sunday
concerning that, that's Hosea and Gomer, I spoke a little bit
about chapter one, used a good bit of chapter two and somewhat
of chapter three. This morning I want to read the
whole of chapter one. Hosea chapter one. The word of
the Lord that came unto Hosea, the son of Berai, in the days
of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and
in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel. This gives us the time period
in which Hosea prophesied. Then he writes, the beginning
of the word of the Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea, go,
take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms, for
the land hath committed great whoredom departing from the Lord. So he went and took Gomer, the
daughter of Deblem, which conceived and bare him a son, which lets
me know that this was a real account. Do not believe the commentators
who think this is a made up story concerning Hosea and Gomer. If
it was made up, Mason, you wouldn't have to talk about her father
and who he was. And it doesn't matter that we
know who he is. The important thing is to know who Gomer was.
That's the important thing. And look what it says, and the
Lord said unto him, Call his name Jezreel for yet a little
while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house
of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. And let me say, God did. Yes,
sir. Israel as a nation, talking about
the Northern Kingdom, never stood again. Never stood again. I will cause to cease the kingdom
of the house of Israel. Remember, Israel, when the Assyrians
attacked and came in and conquered Samaria, they were scattered
to the four winds. Those that were left intermixed
with the peoples who had come into that land were later called
the Samaritans. And it shall come to pass at
that day that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of
Jezreel. And she conceived again and bear
a daughter. And God said unto him, call her
name Lo-Ruhamah. For I, think about this. For I will no more have mercy
upon the house of Israel. What a frightful thought. but true nonetheless. This is a proclamation of the
sovereign God. Call her name what? Lo-Ruhamah. Ruhamah means one who has mercy
upon them. The lo puts it in the negative,
one who will not have mercy upon them. For I will no more have
mercy upon the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them
away. And we know historically God
did. Israel never rose as a nation
again. They were scattered to the wind.
Scattered to the wind. Look at this verse seven, but,
but, Now this is amazing, but I will have mercy upon the house
of Judah. And will save them by the Lord
their God. In other words, God himself,
the Lord their God, will be their salvation. He's not going to
find a savior, per se. He is the savior. and I will save them by the Lord
their God. And will not save them by bow,
nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen. And remember, even historically,
he did not. He sent Jeremiah to the house
of Judah to let them know, do not fight against Nebuchadnezzar.
If you do, you'll be wiped out. He said, submit. even historically. This is a prophecy for Israel
and Judah of that day. That's what it was about. Now,
when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, and I'm sure there's something
there, but I just don't have anything on that for you this
morning. Now, because it didn't say nothing about Jezreel being
weaned, but here it does, but like I said, I don't have anything
for you on that, but I know it's there for a reason. Now when
she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and bare a son. Then
said God, call his name Lo-Ammi. See the Lo again, Ammi means
what? Those who are my people, or my
people, but the Lo means not my people. Then said God, call
his name Lo-Ammi, for ye are not my people. And, look at what he said, I
will not be your God. Yet the number of the children
of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured
nor numbered. And Hosea almost like drops that
right there. Do you know what every other
prophet, when they spoke about this, always said? But there's
a remnant. But Hosea just leaves it right
where it's at, doesn't he? And somebody says, why? I don't
know for right now, but he just did. Now, let me say this before
I even go any further. There are those who read this
passage, and I'll go on in a moment, and say, see, this proves that
no one is elect until they first respond to God. That's a lie.
But others say, but I don't comprehend this. What about the election?
The election is still absolutely fully intact. As we will see
from scripture. Yet the number of the children
of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured
nor numbered. And look, look, and it shall. Oh, how glorious, a little small
word. And it shall come to pass. that
in the place, this is where my text is actually taken from,
this is where my title will be taken from, it shall come to
pass that in the place where it was said unto them, ye are
not my people, there, now you say it's in italics, yes it is,
but go read the New Testament, you'll find out it's not in italics.
So that settles that right now. There it shall be said unto them,
ye are the sons of the living God. Isn't that an amazing statement? Then, not after this, see it? Then, in other words, right at
that same time, not after this, had God meant for Hosea to say
here's something now that's gonna happen after that, no, then,
then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel, but
neither one as a national entity, because neither one are a national
entity today. Israel has its own nation over
there now, but can you say who is Judah and who is Israel? No
one can. No one knows. The records have
been wiped out. Mason, I don't know that anybody
could even legally prove that they are truly a Jew in this
day and age, because the records were wiped out in 70 AD. Then shall the children of Judah
and the children of Israel be gathered together and appoint
themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land,
which lets me know they're gonna be in the land, for great shall
be the day of Jezreel. My title for this morning is
The Place of Mercy. Isn't that what you want to know
about as well? If someone hears this from God, I will not show
you mercy. I will not be your God. Isn't that a frightful thing
to even suppose you might hear? And yet that very same kind of
people are told in the very same place, I said unto you, you're
not my people. I will not be merciful to you
and I will not be your God. That's the very same place you're
going to find my mercy. Is that not what this says? That's
what it says. So my question was when I began
to look into this, where is this place of mercy? Now, you know,
there's all kinds of answers to that. Well, there are some
people have said that place of mercy for Israel and Judah was
in the tabernacle or in the temple. That's not so. That's not so. That temple, that tabernacle
ceased to be. A temple was built and it was
demolished and had to be rebuilt three different times. And there's
only a piece of the wall of even any of that standing today. Is
this cryptic? No. No, it's not cryptic. It's spiritual. It is in Christ,
thus the unregenerate person cannot comprehend it, cannot
love it, cannot cherish it, cannot abide by it. They have to have
something else. Some people always point to the
future. You ever notice those people are always still pointing
to the future? Oh yes, this is going to happen.
God's going to be sovereign one day. Well, he's mildly sovereign
now. Or maybe he's mostly sovereign now. But one day for Israel and
Judah, oh, he'll be totally sovereign. Either God's sovereign absolutely,
or he's not sovereign at all. There is no such thing as a partial
sovereign. It just does not exist. It doesn't even exist in physical
illustrations of sovereignty, does it? No such thing as that.
No, this is not cryptic, it's spiritual. The truth of this
great mercy, The place of this great mercy is all illustrated
in Israel and Judah nationally. Remember what happened to Israel
and Judah. Remember they were two separate
kingdoms. They were the same people. All came out of one blood,
did they not? And yet they had divided now
into two separate nations. One would be wiped out. The other
would be spared. And they were spared, why? Because
it is evident that our Lord sprang out of what? Judah. God was going to protect Judah
because God Almighty's sovereign purpose is at stake here. And
let us never forget that. That's the primary reason God
ever saves anybody in any way, physical, spiritual, or whatever,
to keep intact his sovereign purpose. That's why God spared
Judah, but I don't want to get too far ahead of myself. This
salvation that is then prophesied in these last couple verses was
illustrated nationally in Israel and Judah. Think about it. What
happened to Israel? They were rejected. They never
came back into the land, did they? Never did come back into
the land. They were rejected, they were
cut off, they ceased to be a national entity. Why? Because of their
rebellion. And then we read, and you can
read that throughout the rest of the book of Hosea. When you
go to read, you hear Ephraim. Israel, judged of the Lord. Your
condemnation and judgment is coming. You'll cease to be a
national people. And then God says, in this illustration,
but. But, do you see it in verse seven?
But I will save, I will have mercy upon the house of Judah. Seems to me someone would say,
but that doesn't seem fair. This is not about fairness. Judah did not deserve mercy. Was Judah any better than Israel? Go back and look at Judah. Jeremiah
and other prophets, Isaiah, Mason, they prophesied against them
and their rebellion and their idolatry. Judah was no more righteous,
no more holy than Israel was. Judah better know. Judah equals
rebellion, rebellion equaled captivity, but God was gonna
save them right even through all of that captivity. What's
that say to us? In other words, the very place
that warranted their rejection was the very place that mercy
is needed, my rebellion. Why is it that God would reject
anyone? God rejects no one just out of
mere rejection. God rejects men and women because
of rebellion, because of sin, because they cry out with the
multitudes, I will not have God reign over me. and that's why
God rejects men. That's just the way it is. But
let me tell you something, Judah was no better than Israel was.
Think about it. The very place that warranted
God's rejection of them was the very place that mercy was needed.
Rebellion, isn't it? Now Mason, if this is about merit,
it has nothing to do with mercy. Mercy's not based upon merit.
My merit or your merit, If it was based upon personal merit,
I don't need mercy, I need my reward. I need what God owes
me if it's based on my merit. But oh, my brothers and sisters,
there's not a one of us in this world that can have mercy based
upon merit. Mercy, by default, cries out
rebellion, rebellion, rebellion. You see it? There's one, that's
the place. in the place where it was said
unto them, I will not have mercy on you. Why? Because of their
rebellion. And was God unjust in doing that? No, sir. But if God showed mercy to Judah,
was God unjust toward Israel? No, Israel got what they deserved.
And if God showed mercy to Judah, even in light, not just in light,
because of their very rebellion, that was called mercy. Mercy. Mercy. You see, Judah was not exceptionally
righteous. Mercy is exceptionally sovereign.
That's what it is. And as I read this whole thing,
that's the only thing that gives me any basis to understand anything
that's said in this first chapter. Is it not? Let me say it again. Judah was not exceptionally righteous. Judah wasn't even mildly righteous. Judah wasn't even itty bitty
bitty bit of righteous. No, mercy is exceptionally sovereign. See Israel. Look at it here,
we'll look at it. When we see Israel, see me. Do you hear what I said? We're
gonna look at Israel. When we see Israel, you know
what you see? You see me. When you look at Israel, you
know what you see? You see you. You see you, you see you people
on TV, you see you, you. Think about it, Jezreel, look
at the historical context. The word means to sow seed, to
broadcast, or to scatter, it all means the same thing. But
the historical context was what? Jezreel, what am I gonna do with
Israel? I'm gonna scatter them to the
four winds. And that's what God did, did he not? Jezreel scattered. But then here's an amazing thing.
Based upon, this is going to come because of, for yet a little
while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house
of Jehu. Now when any of you were reading
this book, the book of Hosea, did you go back and find this
Jehu and read anything about this Jehu? I hope you did. But
if you didn't, let me enlighten you just a wee little bit. Jehu
was the 11th king of Israel, the northern nation. He wasn't
even the last, he was kind of about in the middle. And here's
an amazing thing. You go back and read 2 Kings
chapter nine and chapter 10, you find out God sent the prophet,
Elisha, to go anoint Jehu king of Israel. and he became king
of Israel. And he was instructed by God
to begin to wipe out the house of Ahab, or Ahaz, which one was
it? Ahab, wasn't it? And Jezebel,
am I got that right? Was it Ahab, somebody help me?
Ahab, and Jezebel, Ahab's done dead. Jezebel still wreaking
havoc in Israel with the prophets of Balaam. And you go back and
read that account, and you know what Jehu did? He did exactly
what God told him to do. he wiped them out. When he went
into Jezreel, and there's the great palace of Ahab, and up
there is old Jezebel hiding behind those three men. And he said,
is she in there? And if she is, cast her out. And they did, and she busted
to pieces as she came down that wall. Then he went into the house
of Balaam. And folks, those men that were
with him, they wiped those people out. You know why? Because God told him to. There
was one guy, I think it actually happened before the house of
Balaam, was fleeing from Jehu and he drew back the sword, and
we even have a reference to this, the bow of Israel, and drew back
that sword and shot that guy as he was running away. It says
that arrow went right straight through his heart, knocked him
over dead and stuck right in the chair that he was riding
in. In all of this, Jehu was doing exactly what God told him
to do. And then I read, and the Lord
said unto him, call his name Jezreel, that is your firstborn
boy, told Hosea. Call his name Jezreel for yet
a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel. He's talking
about all those pagans, Jezebel, and these prophets of Balaam,
look at it. I will avenge the blood of Jezreel
upon the house of Jehu. And when you go back and you
read 2 Kings 9 and 10, maybe it's 1 Kings, but anyway, it's
back there, 9 and 10. And you go back there and read
that, the one thing that God Almighty said that Jehu did wrong
was what? He left the golden calves that
were at Dan and Bethel. And I thought about that. And
I thought about that. And I said, well, why then didn't
he talk about the golden calves? Why didn't Hosea stand up about
the golden calves? If you think about that, did
you study that account? Did you ever consider what in
the world is going on here? I did. And you know what I finally
came to realize? Partial repentance is no repentance
at all. You hear what I just said? To partially defend the gospel
is not to defend the gospel at all. Yes, everything Jehu did
physically was what God had ordered him to do, but he did it in this
way. He was self-serving, and he was
totally inconsistent. Mason, he should have wiped out
them golden calves in Dan and Bethel as well. He should not
have left those things to corrupt the nation of Israel, but he
did, and it says he walked after the sins of his fathers. Partial
anything is no anything before God And you know what when I
read that I think oh my soul Walter Pendleton. Oh Yeah, I thought about you
all too I Thought about some other folks too, but God Almighty
calls me to begin to look and said oh my god Joe. I'm a Jehu
You ever been a Jehu You ever been inconsistent? You ever pointed
your bony finger at somebody else? And yet deep down inside
you got your own corruption inside your soul? Huh? Have you ever
wiped out the false prophets of Balaam, but yet left the golden
calves at Dan and Bethel? Then God will condemn even what
you did toward him. Do you see what he's saying to
us? That even our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in God's sight. And somebody like that deserves
for God not to show me mercy. Right? I look at this and I think,
oh my. But then I have to look in and
I think, oh my. Oh my. I deserve Lo-Ruhamah. Do you see it? And she conceived
again and bear a daughter. God said, here's what you call
your daughter's name, Hosea. Call her Lo-Ruhamah, for I will,
look at it, for I will no more have mercy upon the house of
Israel. Don't rest your laurels on yesterday. Don't rest your laurels on what
you think God was doing for you yesterday. Because God Almighty
does as he pleases. I warrant, I deserve lo Ruhamah. and I will warrant Lo-Ammi. Do you see it again? Look at
it. Then said God, call his name. This is the third child, the
second boy. Call his name Lo-Ammi, for ye
are not my people, and I will not be your God. I remember a
time in my life, it was probably about 33, 34, 35 years ago, I'm not as those who
try to go back and pinpoint the day and the hour. I probably
could figure that out, Joe, if we really wanted to sit down
and do that, but that's not the important part. Mason, I remember
a day when God Almighty brought me so low that I knew this, God
Almighty has the right to damn my soul in hell forever. He has that right. And I was convinced of that before
I knew very much about the Bible and who even Jesus Christ truly
was. But God had brought me down to
see you are a Jezreel! You are a Jehu! You are a Lo-Ruhamah! You are a Lo-Emmi! And let me
tell you, by nature, I'm still that. way. Oh God help me how
many times have I left the golden calves standing at Dan and Bethel
and yet point my finger at somebody else. My wife knows about this
and I'm not gonna give you any more details than this. I had
a paper and I had a thing wrote out and I wrote right over it,
my pride. My pride. And I kept that thing
right with the rest of my notes so I can remember. Oh God teach
me my pride. Huh? Do you see yourself, Jezreel? Do you see yourself, Jehu? Do
you see yourselves, Lo-ru-haba? Do you see yourselves, Lo-ami? Can you say, I deserve it? Huh? I deserve it! God is not unjust
if he damned me right now today. Mason, if he'd take away every
earthly pleasure, from me and let me live another hundred years
in misery that still wouldn't pay, pay for my crimes against
him. And then if he sends my corrupt
soul to hell for eternity, I know by his book that itself will
not pay because he will send me there for eternity. That lets
me know, Mason, even in hell, you never pay the debt off. Even
in that suffering, how horrible it must be, it never pays the
debt off. But oh God, oh God, treat me
like a Judah. Not because Judah's any better,
but because God showed mercy to Judah. Do you see it, my brothers
and sisters? Do you see it? Take your place
right now today. Jesus Christ came into this world
to save sinners. But you know what Paul said about
that before he said that? This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation. Have you ever thought about what
that means? In other words, it means this. If you've been saved
50 years, that is still just as valid as a statement as when
you first heard it 50 years ago. Christ Jesus came into this world
to save what? Sinners. And that's just as valid
for this old sinner today as it was 35 years ago. Mason, that's
my only hope. That's my, oh God, treat me like
a Judah for your sake and not my merit. Oh God, I got no merit. All I got's demerit. Remember,
remember Jehu, even your best deeds were condemned by Hosea.
Right? That's frightful, but that's
just the way it is, because that's how bad we are. We sang that
song, that was salvation down to men, his traitors, they don't
sing stuff like this anymore, do they? At least I'm not aware
of it. There might be a few. His traitors
and his foes. That sacred flood from Jesus'
veins was free to take away a Mary or Manassas stains. And we can say a Jehu, a Jezreel,
a low Ruhamah, a low Ammi, a Gomer. A gomer, huh? And look, a merry
or menaces stains, or sins more vile than they. God promised,
I will show mercy to Judah. And guess what? He did. And our
savior was born. And bless God, we see the opened
way for the reality of verse 10 and 11 then. The number of
the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which
cannot be measured nor numbered. And he just drops it right there
and says, and it shall come to pass that in the place where
it was said unto them, the very place now, in the place that
it was said unto them, you're not my people, there it shall
be said unto them, you are the sons of the living God. God promised that very thing,
and He promised it to who? Now look at it, not just Judah.
Isn't that glorious now? Do you see it? Israel and Judah. You see? God's not one-sided,
God's sovereign. He does as He pleases. when he
pleases, with whomever he pleases, and to the extent that he pleases. He gives some men physical deliverance. And they die in the rebellion
and go to hell. Others he gives spiritual deliverance and they
live in a living hell in this world. And they die and go to
glory. Mason, that's God's business. That's God's business. Other
men and women, though, live in a living hell in this world.
And they reject God, and they reject his son, and then they
go to an eternal misery in a devil's hell. That's God's business. That's God's business. Where
is this place of mercy? Where is this place of mercy?
It's in the very teeth of my sin. That's where it's at, folks. Right in the very teeth of your
sin. Right in the very teeth of my
sin. What is this place of mercy?
It is a person. It's one man. It's one head. Do you see that? It's one man. It's one head. Oh, my beloved,
our God is not anemic. Is he? Now, the God that's preached
today in so-called Christianity is anemic. He's sickly. Oh, he's got great intentions
for the whole world, but he can't do nothing about it. He's just
trying his best to beg people to let him have his way. Let
me give you another word. I used this one on Penny. I didn't
know what it was. I just happened to look up in
the forest, and I thought, I like that word right there. Our God is
not impuisant. Remember that one. Write it down
phonetically. I don't know how to spell it.
I wrote it down phonetically so I could just say it right. Our God is
not impuisant. I just like saying that. My God's
not impuiscent. The world is. Yes, sir. The world
is so, most of so-called Christianity today, he's impuiscent. You know
what this means? Weak and powerless. Exactly.
Ain't he? They will say it. God's done
all, in the person of his son, God's done all he can do. Now
it's up to you. That's impuiscent. That's impuiscent. See the two New Testament witnesses
to this very sovereign mercy. Here's an amazing thing. Two
places in the New Testament, the book of Hosea is mentioned.
Turn to the first one. The Apostle Paul mentioned in
Romans chapter nine. And as far as I can, if I'm wrong
on that, you can call me on it, but the only places I've found
that the book of Hosea is ever quoted in the New Testament is,
here's one of them, there's two places, here's one of them. And
the amazing thing is you have, what is it, 12, 13 chapters in
Hosea? Both of those men quote verse
10, or at least a part of it. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that
amazing? And again, I say, it's not amazing
because it's some kind of enigma or cryptic. No, it's because
it's a statement of free, absolute, sovereign mercy. And look at
what's used by the Apostle Paul. Romans chapter nine will begin
in verse 18. We gotta move along here. Therefore,
he's talking about God now. Therefore hath he mercy. Are
we on the same subject of what Hosea was on in Hosea chapter
one? Yeah. Therefore hath he mercy
on whom he will have mercy. And whom he will, what does he
do? He hardeneth, do you see it? He hardeneth. Thou wilt say
unto me then, why does he yet thine thought? For who hath resisted
his will? Listen to me, even on that TV,
listen to me. No man has ever resisted the
will of God. They may well rebel against his
commandments, but no one resists the will of God. They may disobey
his commandments in his word, but they will not ever disobey
his will. Now look, nay, but O man, Paul
doesn't get philosophical here, he just lays it out based upon,
here's who God is. Nay, but O man, who art thou
that replies against God? Your reply like that is a reply
against God, period. Period, we're not gonna debate
it, we're not gonna be philosophical about it, it's just the way it
is. Who art thou that replies against God? Shall the thing
formed say to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus?
hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lump, and
remember that, we all deserve God to reject us. We all deserve
to be scattered to the four winds and to wind up in hell, look
at it, of the same lump, to make one vessel under honor and another
under dishonor. What if God, willing to show
his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering
the vessels of wrath, and there what fitted to destruction? In
other words, everyone who's ever finally destroyed Mason, they're
fitted for it, they deserve it. All of their rebellion fit them
for every ounce of destruction that they'll get, whatever it
is. And look, add, that he might make known the riches of his
glory on the vessels of mercy, which he hath afore prepared
unto glory. Then look at this amazing, even
us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also the
Gentiles. Now, can it not truly be said
to the Gentiles that it was always said to the Gentiles, I won't
show you mercy. You are not my people. I will
not be your God. I mean, any Jew heard that, they
would automatically think of the Gentiles. And Paul says that's
true. Now look, even as he was called,
not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles, as he saith
also. He didn't say just ref, no, as
he saith also. He's saying Hosea was saying
this very thing. You see the language. As he saith,
who said, as God said, also in OC, I will call them my people,
which were not my people. And then he has reference to
chapter three. He doesn't quote from it, but
he references chapter three, and her beloved, which was not
beloved. What's he talking, we don't deserve
God's mercy. We don't deserve God's love.
but he is merciful and loves the people based upon his own
sovereign purpose. And I thank God for it. Because
the Jews, Paul said in chapter three, we've already proved the
Jews are no better than Gentiles. And let me tell you, the Gentiles
are no worse off than the Jews are. We are all where? Under, under, down here, under
captivity. bondage, under sin. So Paul doesn't here worry about
how the election fits, what all this says. He's not trying to
make it all feel, he said this is the way it is. You and me,
let us not suppose on God. God has mercy on whom he will.
And whom he will, he hardens and that includes me. I have
done nothing to merit that mercy. To merit that love, I've done
everything to demerit it. You see it? You see it? Now look,
here's one other witness. And you remember even what the
Old Testament said, let every word be established in the mouth of
what? At least, how many witnesses? This is amazing. Two, at least
two. Now, look at first Peter. Here
comes old Peter. Peter was a good Jew. Now was
he not? He said, good you remember that
sheet came down with all the polywads with the catfish in it? And whatever
else it was, I don't know, rabbits or whatever, stuff he wasn't
supposed to eat. And he said, no. God said, slay
and eat. He said, now so Lord, I ain't never putting that stuff
in my mouth. God said, whatever I've cleansed, don't you call
common or unclean. Now look at what old Peter says.
Let's move along, gotta move along. 1 Peter 2, wherefore,
laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and
envies, and all evil speakings. Why does he tell us that? Because
it's so hard to do. We gotta constantly keep at it,
and keep at it, and keep at it. Don't we? I mean, we might think
it'd be nice if we could just do that one day in the rest of
our life, but ain't the way God's ordained it. Somebody says, why?
Because he wants it that way. It's just, I'm not gonna give
you any more of the rest, because he wants it that way. Look, as
newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that you may
grow thereby. If so be that you've tasted that
the Lord is gracious, and that's an amazing, in other words, don't
take this thing for granted, folks. Don't ever take it, don't
rest tomorrow on what yesterday was. Look, to whom coming as
unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men. Right there is
the very place God shows us mercy in the place that we don't have
any mercy. We reject his son, Mason. We
rejected his son. We disbelieved him. We dishonored
him. And yet right there in his son
is the very place where he shows us mercy. Isn't that amazing?
Now does Hosea's words seem a little less cryptic and just nothing
but a statement of free, sovereign grace in Christ, to whom coming
as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of
God and precious, ye also as lively stones are built up a
spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained
in scripture, behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect,
precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded
or that is ashamed of him. Unto you therefore which believe,
he is what? Precious. But at one time he
was not. And in my old man, he still is
not. Oh God, help me. Oh God, be forgiving to me. Oh
God, show me mercy. I'm telling you folks, I'm a
Jehu. You are too. Look. But here's unto you therefore
which believe he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient.
The stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made,
the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense,
even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient,
whereunto also they were appointed. See the sovereignty of God there?
But look, but E-R-A, Peter got no problems in how election fits,
it's just there. It's just the way it is, folks.
Don't try to figure it all out, just bow down to God before it.
Don't try to get it all in theological one, twos, threes. It's just
the way it is. Look, but you're a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, and holy nation. One holy nation. Here's Judah and Israel joined
together, brothers and sisters. Here it is, holy nation, a peculiar
people, that you should show forth the praises of him, who
hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, which
in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God,
which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Oh God, do not cut me off from
mercy. God, I know it's your sovereign
prerogative to do so. Penny and I listened to a really
good message this morning by a man. And you think about that
leper, and I already had this wrote down. Remember that old
leper? And he came to Jesus Christ, and he said, Lord, if thou wilt,
thou canst make me clean. That little phrase says thousands
of words. Doesn't it? That man pointed
it out, didn't he? What was his name? Was it Aaron? Aaron Greenleaf. You know him, David? Oh, what
a message. Oh, God, do not cut me off. Give
me that, that's the spirit of faith. Lord, if thou wilt, thou
canst make me clean. And you know what, he worshipped
him even before he ever said that. And even ever before Christ
said, if I will. You know, what do you think about
it? He worshipped him. Even though there could have been, read,
a possibility, Christ said, not touching you. Huh? He worshipped
him, why? Because he deserves to be worshipped,
David, right? Even if he sends me to hell and
end. He deserves to be worshipped. Christ is the place of mercy.
The very one I rejected, Joe, is the very one in whom God shows
me mercy. In the place where it says, you're
not my people, there's the very place that could be called the
people of God. In the place that they don't deserve any mercy,
that's the very place I will show them mercy. Hmm the very
Christ we once rejected despised and ridiculed. Oh God be merciful
to me The sinner. Oh if God just continually reminds
us that we're the sinner and quit worrying about everybody
else And I mean that for me as well as you Quit worrying about
everybody else but also by somebody does this to me rejoice in God
for it and quit bellyaching and complaining about it and I don't
care where it come from, cause we all Jehus. Ain't nobody in this assembly
ain't a Jehu. And if we receive mercy, oh,
it'll come from Christ. And it'll come right in the face
and the teeth of our rebellion against him. See it again. Miss, I gotta move. See it again.
Here's the three hallmarks of the place of mercy. Then shall
Judah and Israel be gathered together. Is that what this says? Now the whole New Testament's
full of God's people, what? Gathering together. On the side
of a creek bank, in some caves somewhere, maybe down in some
tombs in Rome, maybe, maybe, I don't know for sure, but maybe.
Gathering up in a little hovel somewhere, gathering up in a
nice big church building as we call it. But you know why most
people don't want to physically gather with God's people? Because
they ain't been gathered with God's people down in here. Because
when God gathers Israel and Judah together in here, they'll want
to be together out here. And we need to, I'm including
me, you, we need to quit getting mad at people because they don't
want to be here because they can't help it. It's not down
in here. because if God ever puts it down in here, you ain't
gonna be able to keep them away from here if God gives them the
health and the ability and the money, the gas, whatever it takes,
basically. You won't be able to keep them
away from it. Put a bullet in their head, they'll give praise
to God as they die of the blood gushing out. Will they not? It's
happened to our brothers and sisters before. Jack Mattis,
God can give us that same grace. That same grace. Then shall Judah
and Israel be gathered together. What a point for themselves.
Think about it. Now God Almighty is the one who
appoints Jesus Christ's head. That is the sovereign ordainer.
But this is the language of what? Willingness. Lovingly doing so. Knowingly, conscientiously doing
so. Both Judah and Israel will come.
What? They're at odds. Jew and Gentile,
we're at odds. You and I would have been at
odds. Many of us have we not known Christ. People of different
walks, different opinions, political, whatever, right? We never got
along and been buddies or pals, but God Almighty's joined us
together where? Together under one hand. One, appoint themselves one hand. And Paul in Colossians 2, chapter
two, verse 18 and 19 says, protect that with everything you are.
The head, the head, come to the head, come to the head. That's
where all our blessings flow from, where? The head, the head. And number three, that even Hosea
foretold of the spreading. And let me go back and read that,
look at it. I know there are those who say, and they shall
come up not into the land. Now yes, there may be some passages
that talked about something in the future. This ain't talking
about the future. Christ is already the one head.
He's already the one, he's not gonna be the head one day. He's
already the one head. And here they're not gonna come
into the land. What are they gonna do? They're gonna come
up out of the land. For great shall be the day of
what? Scattering. You remember reading Acts 8 and
verses one through five? And great persecution came. A
lot of it was related to Saul of Tarsus. And what did God do? It says the very word, scattered
his people. And one of the first places they
began to go preach the gospel was where? Do you remember where
it was? Samaria. Now get a hold of that
one, if you will. Right here's a prophecy that
God Almighty's gonna join his believers together. And they're
gonna what? I'm gonna scatter them again.
But this time it's a positive thing. They're gonna go out and
do what? Great, shall be the day of what? Sowing. Scattering. Spreading. And it says they went
everywhere doing what? preaching the word. David, right,
that's glorious. I don't care what side of the
aisle you stand on when it comes to some kind of future events.
That's glorious right there. God, God, please show us mercy
that we might, not because. No, take because out. There's
no because in this. God, show us mercy that we might
gather together to preach the gospel of our one head. Let's not be waiting for it some
other day. Oh God strengthen us right now today to be a part
of verse 11. Be a part of that. Father, oh
God help us. So sinful and corrupt. I'm a
sinful man. Proud man. Impatient man. God you save sinners. Show mercy
to us sinners here, in Christ's name, amen.