Let's open our Bibles to Hosea
chapter 14. Hosea 14. Or willing, we'll look at the
first three verses of this chapter this morning. Hosea 14. The title comes from verse 1. Return unto the Lord thy God. Return unto the Lord thy God. Now Hosea is the first in the
order of books known as the minor prophets. not minor in the sense
that these writings are less inspired or less important, but
just in the sense of the brevity of the writings. The New Testament, many of the
New Testament writers, as well as the Lord Jesus Christ himself,
confirmed the authority of Hosea by quoting some of the scriptures
found here. different portions of it. So let's begin reading these
first three verses of Hosea 14. He says, O Israel, return unto
the Lord thy God, for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words and turn
to the Lord. Say unto him, take away all iniquity,
and receive us graciously. So will we render the calves
of our lips. Asher shall not save us. We will
not ride upon horses. Neither will we say any more
the work of our hands, ye are our gods. For in thee, O Lord,
do the fatherless find mercy. Now the first 13 chapters of
this book deal largely with God's judgment against the sins of
the people. Israel's sin and idolatry, Israel's
ingratitude dealt with over and over again. But here in chapter
14, we read of God's mercy. and God's grace to Israel. And
that's what I'd like for us to look at here just for a few minutes
this morning. Again, look at verse 1. And I
can't help but think in reading this that these words are written
in tenderness. They're spoken in love and tenderness
to God's people. He says, O Israel, Oh Israel. Now this word of instruction,
we see immediately who this is for. This word of instruction,
this passage is for Israel. Spiritual Israel. The true people
of God among all nations. The sons of Abraham in Christ. All those who were given to Christ
before the foundation of the world. all for whom He died,
all that were given to Christ, all who were called, who will
be called to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and
all that shall be saved with an everlasting salvation. Oh,
Israel. Can't you just hear? And those
whom have forsaken God, those whom who had forsaken the worship
of God and the service of God, those who had neglected God's
word and neglected God's ordinances, those who had served idols and
who had been given over to idolatry and will worship. And he says,
return, return to the Lord thy God. I believe this message is
as needful today as it was However many years ago when Hosea spoke
it. Return. Return to the Lord thy
God. Isaiah 53 6, we read this. All we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way. To his own way. Return. Return. Turn to the Lord thy God. What is our way? What is man's way? Turn over
to Romans chapter 3. Romans 3 beginning with verse
10. Here's an accurate description
of our way. Verse 10, as it is written, there
is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth,
there is none that seeketh after God. They're all going out of
the way. They are together, become unprofitable. There's none that doeth good,
no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher,
With their tongues they have used deceit. The poison of asp
is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.
Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery
are in their ways. In the way of peace, the way
of peace they have not known." Well, what's the answer? What's
the answer? Where do we turn? Where do we
go? Or better yet, to whom? To whom do we go? Over in John
6, I'll not have you turn there, but our Lord told the Pharisees,
He said this, He said, No man, no man can come unto Me except
it were given him of My Father. No man can come unto Me except
it were given him by My Father. And from that time on, we read
from that time on, many of His disciples, They went back and
they walked no more with Him. And the Lord Jesus Christ, He
looked at those 12 that remained there in front of Him, and He
said, will you go away too? Remember what Peter said? Peter said, Lord, to whom shall
we go? There's no other place, there's
no other one to turn to. To whom shall we go? Thou. Thou
and thou alone. You have the words of eternal
life. O Israel, return. Return to the Lord thy God. Like the prodigal son, like the
prodigal son who had wasted away his substance in righteous living,
he had spent all that he had And then he went and he worked
for a man. He went and worked for that man and he still had
nothing. Isn't that a picture of a false
religion? They'll give you tons and tons
and tons of things to do, to serve. And in the end, nothing. You have nothing. And we read
that he would have filled his belly with husks. Huffs of corn. Those huffs that the swine did
eat. Garbage. He was going to eat
garbage. Yet he came to him. He came to
himself. He came to himself and his eyes
were open and he said, I'll arise. I'll arise and I'll go back to
my father's house. I'll tell him I'm not worthy
to be a servant. I'll return. I'll return to him."
And his father, that wise father, he saw him before he even turned,
and he said he'd seen him afar off, seen him afar off, a great
way off, and he said, bring the best rug. Bring the best rug. Put a ring on his hand. Put shoes
on his feet. Bring forth the fatted calf and
slay it. Let us eat. drink and be merry,
for my son was dead, and yet he's alive again." He's lost.
Now he's found. Oh Israel, oh Israel, return. Return to the Lord thy God. Return and lay hold of Him by
faith. Turn to Hebrews 11. Look at verse 6 of Hebrews 11. Without faith, it is impossible
to please Him. For he that cometh to God must
believe that He is. And listen, that he's a rewarder
of them that diligently seek him. I was thinking about this this
morning. You know, men will spend everything
they have seeking treasure, seeking some kind of reward. I think there's several TV shows
on right now. These men will spend just everything
they have to finance these searches to go out and whether it's gold
that's hidden in the ocean or gold that's hidden on the land,
spend everything they have seeking it. And chances are they'll never
find it. Listen to what's said of our
Lord here. He is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek Him. It would be wise to spend our
efforts there, wouldn't it? Seeking the Lord. Seeking Him
among His people as we gather together. Seeking Him in His
Word. Seeking Him continually. He's
a rewarder. He's a rewarder of them that
diligently Seek Him. God told Abraham this. He said,
I'm thy shield, and I am thy exceeding great reward. Seek the Lord. Oh, Israel, return. Return unto the Lord thy God. Let's read on here, back in our
text. O Israel, return unto the Lord
thy God, for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Thou hast
fallen by thine iniquity. Now this is an accurate description
of each of us. Each and every one of us. Sinners. Fallen in sin and wrong. We're
born in sin. When Adam fell, We all fail. As in Adam, all die. Romans 5, 12 says, Wherefore,
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,
so death passed upon all men, for that all, all have sinned. The scriptures declare this,
that we come forth, we come forth from the womb, speaking lies. No one ever, no one ever had
to teach us how to tell a lie, didn't they? No one ever had
to teach us how to be deceitful. We're born. We're born. We come
forth from the womb speaking life. We're born in sin. And
listen, we're born, we're not just born in sin, we're sinners
by choice and we're sinners by practice. It's not just, sin's
not just what we do, it's what we are. It's what we are. Hosea says, you've fallen by
thy iniquity. It's your iniquity. You know,
it's one thing to say, I know, and we do this, I know we're
all sinners. I don't know why we say that.
It's like there's strength in numbers or something like that.
We're all sinners. But listen, listen to what the
prophet of God says here. He says, you have fallen and
you have fallen by your own iniquity. It's mine. It's mine. And same thing David said. David
said, against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this iniquity
in your sight. Our Lord in Luke 18, he told
that parable. Turn to Luke 18. Luke beginning in verse nine
of Luke 18. It says, our Lord, he spake this parable unto certain
which trusted in themselves that they were righteous. They thought
they were righteous and despised others. He said, two men, two
men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the
other a publican. The Pharisee stood and he prayed
thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I'm not as other men
are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast
twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess.
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much
as his eyes unto heaven. But he smote upon his breast,
saying, God, be merciful unto me. I tell you, this man, this
man went down to his house justified rather than the other. Everyone
that exalted himself shall be abased, and he that humbled himself
shall be exalted. God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Return unto the Lord thy God. O Israel, return unto the Lord
thy God, for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Fallen sons
of Adam, dead in trespasses and sin, Return to God. Return to God and take your place
as a servant. Remember Mephibosheth? Remember
David had sent his servant down to get Mephibosheth and return
him. Return him to himself. We know a little bit about Mephibosheth. We know that he was injured. He was ruined in that fall, wasn't
he? Mephibosheth, he was an enemy
of the king. And yet now he stands before
the king. And he took his place as a sinner,
didn't he? He bowed himself and he said,
what is thy servant? What is thy servant that thou
shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am? David returned him to himself.
And we know this, Mephibosheth, that one that was ruined by the
fall, that one that was an enemy of the king, he sat at the king's
table. He sat, and not just as a guest,
he sat as a son, as a son, because he was a son. He was returning. Return, O Israel,
to the Lord thy God, for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity."
Now let's read on. Look at verse 2 of Hosea 14.
He says, take with you words and turn to the Lord. Take with you words and return
to the Lord. Remember that account of Naaman
the leper? That little maiden girl, she had told, she said,
would God, my Lord, were with the prophet that is in Samaria,
he'd recover him of his leprosy. and naming. Remember what he
did? He left. He left. He's traveling. But remember
what he did? He had that letter. He had that
letter from the king. He had ten talents of silver and six
thousand pieces of gold and ten changes of raiment. He had packed
his bags, all these gifts, and he was going to take them. And
he went to the king of Israel. He took all those things and
he went to the wrong place. False religion would have you
bring all the wrong things. It would have you bring your
church membership, bring your self-righteousness, bring your
tithe, definitely bring your tithe, bring your morality, bring
this, bring that, bring all these things. Gather them up and then
come up front. Come up front to the preacher
and let him shake your hand, let him say a prayer. The wrong things, the wrong place. Nothing's changed. The wrong person. Turn to Psalm
50. Look, beginning with verse 8
of Psalm 50. I will not reprove thee, I'll not
justify thee, for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings to have
been continually before me. I'll take no bullock out of thy
house, nor he goats out of thy folds. Every beast of the forest
is mine, cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of
the mountains, the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were
hungry, If I were hungry, I would not tell thee, for the word is
mine, the world is mine, and the fullness thereof. Will I
eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer unto
God thanksgiving, and pay thy vows unto the Most High, and
call upon me. Call upon me in the day of trouble,
I'll deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." He said, the cattle
upon a thousand hills, what does sinful man have that he can bring
unto a holy God? You can't earn or buy salvation. He says, take with you words. Don't take anything else. Take
with you words and turn to the Lord Thy God. Turn to the Lord. Over in Joel 2, verse 13, he
says, Turn unto the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful
and of great kindness. Zechariah, he says, Turn to the
Lord of hosts. Turn ye unto me. Turn ye unto
me, and I'll turn unto you. Turn unto the Lord. Turn from
your sin, Turn from your self-righteousness, turn from your idols, turn from
your wrong thoughts about yourself, turn from your wrong thoughts
about God, turn unto the Lord and say this, take away all iniquity. Take away, listen, if I need
my iniquity taken away, it's pretty safe to say I have iniquity
in me. I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. guilt, shame, sin, take it all
away. Take away all my iniquity. Lord, I'm a sinner. That's what he's saying. Take
away all iniquity. I can't bear this sin. I can't
bear the weight of it. I can't bear the reproach of
it. I can't bear the condemnation of it. Take it away. Take away
all iniquity. And by the sacrifice of the Lord
Jesus Christ, He bore the sins of His people. From them, from
us, to Himself. He took them upon Himself. He
Himself, He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree. Turn unto the Lord and say unto
Him, take away all iniquity. Cry out like that in public,
and I hope God be merciful to me. Take away all iniquity. And listen
to what else he says. Receive us graciously. Receive us graciously. Not on
my merit, but on your grace and on your mercy. Not through my
works of righteousness, which are filthy rags, but through
the Lord Jesus Christ. Receive us graciously. Receive us in thy son. Receive us in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Take with your words. Turn unto
the Lord, say unto him, take away all iniquity and receive
us graciously. Receive us in grace. Receive
us, listen, for by grace are you saved through faith. That
not of yourselves is the gift of God. Not of words. Not of words, not of anything.
Take with your words. thought of works, lest any man
should boast." Now, back to our text. Back here to Hosea 14. Listen,
if the Lord's pleased to reveal unto us our sin and our iniquity,
and to cry out for mercy, if He's pleased to take away our
sin and receive us graciously to Himself, Look at the end of
verse 2 and 3. He says here, we'll render the
calves of our lips. That's a sacrifice of praise.
We'll render the calves of our lips. We'll render praise. That'll be our praise, our thanksgiving
unto Him. Verse 3, Asher shall not save
us, will not ride upon horses, neither will we say any more
to the works of our hands, ye are our gods, for in thee the
fatherless find mercy. He's saying no trust in man,
no trust in idols, no trust in our own strength, but trust in
Christ and Christ alone. We sing that hymn. My hope is
built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare
not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ. O Israel, O Israel, where else
would you go, Israel? O Israel, turn unto the Lord
thy God. If you look back there in verse
1, that word return, look that up. And if you go to the root
of that, where that word comes from, you know, it sounds like
return, that sounds like something I'm doing. But you know that
word, it actually means returned of God. If you look at the root
of that word, returned, returned of God. You take time today,
sometime this afternoon, and you look at the first three chapters. Read it all if you want to, but
the first three chapters of Hosea. And I believe what we've looked
at this morning in chapter 14 is clearly illustrated in the
first three chapters of this book. God had told Hosea, he
said, you take a wife of four. And Hosea, he did what God commanded. He was obedient. And he took
Gomer. He took Gomer to be his wife.
And she bore him three children. Three children. And in time,
she went back to that life of idolatry. She was a harlot. You read that. And even though
she left him, even though she left Hosea, he continued to provide
for her. Unknown to her, he continued,
even in her sin, he continued to provide for her. And in time,
Gomer would be, she'd be brought down to poverty. She'd be brought
down to shame and loneliness and would be sold as a common
slave on the auction block. And all that, and all that, Hosea
loved her. Hosea loved her. Boy, Hosea never saw that scripture,
but we're told to love our wives. Guys, we come up short. Love
your wives. Love your wives as Christ loved
the church. Hosea knew something about that,
didn't he? He loved her. He loved her. Despite her sin
and her ingratitude and her unfaithfulness, Hosea loved her. And then he
went when it was time. He went and he bought her. He
bought her back. They're on the auction block.
He went and identified with her. He went to the auction and he
paid the purchase price to have her to be his wife. She was returned. She was returned to her husband. Does that sound like a familiar
story? You know what the Lord Jesus
Christ, you know what he's done for his people? And, you know, we could cite
familiar examples throughout the scriptures. Mephibosheth,
he was brought back. That prodigal son, he was returned. That one sheep, that one sheep
that had wandered off in the wilderness, he left the 99 and
he went out and he searched until he found that lost sheep and
he put it on his shoulder and he carried it Return. Return. Turn with me to one more scripture. Turn back to 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter
2. This is our scripture reading
earlier. Look at 1 Peter 2. In verse 25, for ye were as sheep going astray, but
now are returned, returned, returned unto the shepherd and bishop
of your souls. O Israel, O Israel, return unto
the Lord thy God, for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take
with you words, take with you words and turn to the Lord and
say unto him, take away all iniquity, take away my sin and receive
us graciously. So when we were under the calves
of our lips, Asher shall not save us, we will not ride upon
horses, neither will we say any more to the works of our hands.
Don't look to yourself, look to Him. We will no longer say
to the works of our hands, ye are our gods, for in thee, in
thee, in Christ, the Fatherless, are we. Thank God for you.