Go to Hosea 14. I titled this message, How to
Return unto the Lord. I told you last Wednesday, verse
4 caught my attention. where he says, I will love them
freely. I find it interesting in studying the scriptures, and when I'm going to preach,
how that a verse or a word will catch my attention. Then the
whole chapter catches my attention. And sometimes, not always, but
sometimes it's like a flower that just starts to bloom and
open up. I looked at that verse four,
and then I started just reading the chapter, and I tell you,
it was a blessing. The grace of God, the mercy of
God to us, to believers in Christ throughout our whole lives. Throughout our whole lives. He's speaking here to Israel,
but if you'll notice as we go through this, he's speaking to
Israel as one person. You see, he says, I will turn
my anger, for mine anger is turned away from him. Which tells me
this, he's speaking here to believers, to believers. And one of the
things that I fear I don't want to do, and I know that in time
we will do it in a measure, is fall. We will, in a measure,
fall. Because we are still in this
flesh. We still have this body of corruption that we carry around
with us. You know, I thought about Israel.
I don't know if I can make this clear or not. But I was thinking
when he was saying here, oh, Israel, I thought, you know,
even in Israel of old, Abraham believed God. Esau didn't. There were those that believed
God, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, they believed God. But there were many in Israel
that did not believe God. I have a nature in me that believes
God. And I have a nature in me that does not believe God. And
those two are constantly in conflict. I have Cain and Abel. I have
Cain and Abel. I have Abel that believes God,
and I have Cain that can't stand it. And he wants to fight against
Abel. And I see that here in Israel.
He's saying here to Israel as one person, and he's speaking
here to believers. And another reason I know this,
he says, return. You can't return if you haven't
turned. You've got to turn first. You know, you have to. You can't
return to heaven unturned. And also, he says, for thou hast
fallen. Lost people don't fall. A dead
man laying on the floor does not fall. He's there. He's not going to fall. He's
already there. Only the living can fall. Only the living. So this is to us now and as time
goes on, He gives us instructions here how to return to him. I just found this to be such
a blessing. And how gracious our God is,
his beyond understanding, that he would put up with me and continually
tell me to return. Your children are what? They're
always your children. They're always your children.
Look over in verse 9, chapter 13. O Israel, thou hast destroyed
thyself. Can we say that? Can we not say
that by our sins and our iniquities, can we not say that by our own
attitude and conduct we've destroyed ourselves? But in me is thine
health. Now, you destroy yourself, and
we admit that. We admit that. We confess that.
But our help, he says here, and it's so plain, your help is in
me. Your help is me. As the psalmist
said in one place, God has become my salvation. He's become my
salvation. Now, God has pointed out in this
in this book, Hosea, the sin of Israel. And the most prominent
sin of Israel was idolatry. They kept falling into idolatry. They fell into idolatry. They
fell into whoredoms. And many, many times they fell. But many, many times God turned
them and called them back. Many times. And here's the amazing
thing. If you go reading through this
prophecy, this book, you would not think that it would
end like it ends. You would think it would end
in banishment. If you read all that Israel has done and the
idolatry they committed, you would think that the end of this
book would end in banishment, it would end in destruction,
but instead it ends in a and a call to return unto the Lord. And he says, I'll heal you. I
will heal you. Now, he says in verse 1, Return
unto the Lord, O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God. He's not speaking to other nations. He's not speaking to other people. He's speaking here to someone
that's special to him. He's speaking to one that is
his elect. That's who he's speaking to.
And he says, return. As I said before, the other nations
had never turned to God, so they couldn't return. Only a believer
can return. Only one who's followed can return. We went through this, but look
over in Revelation chapter 2. He says, Surely a believer would
not leave the Lord. Not a believer. I tell you what, you go through
and read what Israel did, and yet God says return to me. You're mine. You're mine. Look over in chapter 2. He's
speaking here to the church at Ephesus. Nevertheless, I have
somewhat against thee. Because thou hast left thy first
love, remember therefore from whence thou art fallen." Remember from whence thou art
fallen. He tells that church, you remember your first love,
you remember from whence thou art fallen, and you return. You
return. Now, what's the cause of this
backsliding? As he says here, I will heal
them, verse four, I will heal their backsliding. What's the
cause of their or our backsliding? And here's something interesting.
That word backsliding means this, relapses. You ever had any relapses? Huh? Everybody here on diet,
you ever have relapses? About every other hour, we have
a relapse. That's what he's talking about.
It's not like you're here today and like I grew up with. You backslide, you're lost, you
know, you can get saved again. No. He's talking here about relapses. You see people go to these drug
rehabs and they come out and they relapse. They go back in,
they come out, they relapse. That's what he's talking about
here. I will heal their relapses. That's what he said. Aren't you
glad of that? Aren't you glad of that? So what's the cause
of our relapses? He says here, for thou hast fallen
by thine iniquity. Indwelling sin. It's still there. It is still there. Anytime we
fall or relapse, first of all, I want you to know this. We should
know this. First of all, it's always my
fault. It's always my fault. Matthew
Henry said this, let me find this. He said, God will not forgive
what we will not forsake. And what we will not confess.
It's always, it's always my fault, for thou has fallen By what? The devil tricked you up? You
going to blame it on him? No. I take absolute
full responsibility for my fault, for my iniquity. I have it. It's mine. It's my problem. It's
mine. Thou hast fallen by thine iniquity,
that indwelling sin. And notice this, every time we
fall, it involves sin. Sin is deadly, it is deceptive,
and it always leads to a fall, unless God puts it in check.
Because we don't. It's too strong for us. Paul
said, that which I would do, I do not. That which I would
not do, that I do. It's too strong for us. He has
to heal the relapses. He has to do it. And he tells
us here how to return. And here our Lord is so gracious
to us because he's dealing with a people that's, even though he has saved us by
his grace. I can say this about myself.
I still feel like I'm dumb as a box of rocks. Here's how you return. Take with
you words. Don't take the blood of bulls
and goats. Hosea was writing to this people
back in the Old Testament. Don't take with you the blood of bulls
and goats. Take with you words. Words from
a broken heart. Not just empty words, but words
that come out of a broken heart. Heartfelt words. His words. And turn to the Lord, turn to
the one whom you've turned away from. Turn to him. You know, so many times, so often,
and I know this by experience, if I've shamed myself, I've done
something embarrassing, I don't really want to return. Do you? You don't want to return to the
scene of the accident. If you've embarrassed yourself. But he says here to his children,
no, you return to me. You come back. You come back. I'm not worthy.
What was that prodigal son saying? He made up a speech. He said,
I'm not worthy to be in your house. I'm not worthy to be a
son. I'm not worthy. Let me just be a servant. He says here, you turn to the
Lord. He's the only one who can help
you. He's literally the only one who can save you. He's the
only one who can do it. And say unto Him, cast all your
cares upon Him. Don't hold back. I like what
Don Fortner said the last time he was here. You can tell God
anything. I've not forgotten that. Because we often try to
make it theological. We actually try to make our prayers
theological instead of instead of a son speaking to a father. He knows what we are. He knows
we're not theologians. We're sinners in need of mercy. And you turn to the Lord and
you say to Him, and this is what's so precious, and I want you to
get this because here's the key. Here's the real key to prayer.
He gives us He gives us his own words to say to him. Use his word in prayer when speaking
to him. Lord, you said, you said return. This is just, use his word. And
here's what you say, that when you come before his presence,
you come before the throne of grace, you're not going to come
there babbling. There are no excuses. No, here's
what you say. You own up. First of all, you're
going to own up to your sinfulness. But it says here, it says here,
take away all iniquity. Lord, here's my problem. It's
my iniquity. It's my sin. And listen, I need
that taken away. I need that dealt with every
day. Every day. And this word, take
away, you know what this means? It literally means lift off. You come to the Lord with the
burden, with all your sin and iniquity, and you're saying,
Lord, lift this off of me. Lift it off. Here's the reason
of my problems. Here's the reason I have fallen.
I make no excuses. It's mine, iniquity. Lord, lift
it off. Lift it off, all iniquity. Lift it off. Take away, now listen,
all iniquity. All of it. We hold nothing back. Take it all away. Take it all
away. Did you hear what Jesus said
to me? They're all taken away. Gone. And receive us, oh, graciously. You know what, over
in the margin it says, give good. Give good. Give that which is truly good. And what is that? Christ. He is truly good. And we have Christ and we cannot
lose that. But listen, we can lose, as David
said in Psalm 51, the joy of our salvation. David said in
Psalm 51, Lord, give me a clean heart and a right spirit. Give good. Receive us graciously. Give good. And this also involves
the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy. Restore those things.
Enable me to grow in those things. Because I have fallen. And I
assure you, I assure you, if I have fallen, kindness is not
there. Joy is not there. Love is not
there. The fruit of the Spirit is not
evident. Not if I follow it. It's not there. Give good, and here's another
rendering of this. Receive us graciously. Now listen. Receive us as good. Now, the Word of God said there's
none good, no, not one. But if Christ is put away, all
my sin, that God can receive me as good. And that's what he
said. The prophet is saying under the
inspiration or under the power of the Holy Spirit, take these
words. God is saying, here's how you
come to me and use these words, use my words. And you say to him, you say to him, take away all iniquity, lift
it off from me, receive us graciously, give us good and receive us as
good. And so will we render the calves
of our lips. Then will we praise you. You
cannot praise God in a fallen state. You can't do it. It's
not possible. You don't have the heart to do
it. That's the number one thing it takes. It takes a heart. You
have to have a clean heart and a right spirit. Now, if God does
this, if He lifts off of me all iniquity and He receives me graciously,
then I will be able to render unto Him true praise and true
worship. True. Not just go through the
motions, not just be here and go through it, but to truly enter
into it. And to do it, look in verse three, Asher, Assyria
cannot help us. We will not look to anyone else
again for help. Lord, you are our help. Look
over in Hosea chapter five. When Ephraim saw his sickness,
and Judas saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian,
and said to King Jerob, Yet could he not heal you, nor cure you
of your wound? But he sent there. He sent to
Assyria for help, for healing. Look over in chapter 7. Look in verse 11. Ephraim also
is like a silly dove without heart. They call to Egypt. They
go to Assyria for help. But now look what happens. Look
what happens here in verse 3. Assyria shall not help
us. I won't look to anyone else for
help, for salvation, for healing. I'm going to look to Christ.
I'm going to look to the Lord Jesus Christ for all I need,
for time and eternity. I'm going to look to Him. And listen, we will not ride
upon horses. We will not depend upon the means
anymore. Don't depend upon the means,
depend upon Christ. God is a God of means, but don't
depend upon them, depend upon Him. We'll not ride upon horses,
neither will we say any more to the work of our hands. He
are our Gods. How foolish is that? How foolish
is it to whittle out a God sitting upon a shelf and say, here's
my God? Listen, for in thee, in God,
in Christ, the fatherless, you can just write there the helpless, the helpless find mercy. That's us. Is that not a description
of us? The helpless find mercy. In thee, in Christ, The fatherless,
the helpless find mercy. They find mercy. And here he
gives a promise. We have a promise in verse four. I will heal their relapses. Their backslidings, their relapses. How many have we had? Too many
to count. I assure you, too many to count. How does he do that? Isaiah 53. This is how he heals our relapses
every time in Isaiah 53. In verse five, he was wounded
for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the
chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes
we are healed. That's how he heals all our relapses. By his stripes we are healed,
and he promises healing, spiritual healing. I'm not concerned about
physical healing. Scripture says it's better to
be haught or lame and enter into heaven than to be made whole
physically and go straight to hell. What I need is spiritual healing. I need my spiritual relapses
healed. And the only way that happens
is to return unto Christ crucified. Of course, by His stripes we
are healed. It's looking to Him. It's going
to Him that heals us. He's the healer. And he says here, I will love
them freely. He's not saying I will love them
because they returned or because they asked me to lift off, take
off all their necrophy. No, I love them freely. While
we were without strength and due time, Christ died for the
ungodly. Christ died for sinners while we were at our worst. He
loved us freely. Freely. Fully. Completely. No cause found
in us. He says, I will love them freely. And he said, for mine anger is,
that's past tense, is turned away. My anger is turned, past
tense, away from him. Listen, God's anger was turned
away from us before the world began. He loved us in Christ with an
everlasting love. And at Calvary, God's anger turned
upon his son. but his anger was turned away
from us in Christ before the world began. That's why he says
here in the past tense, for mine anger has turned away from him.
Now, if you go back and read the book of Hosea, you read all
that they did. He said Israel destroyed himself. He's self-destructive. He's out
to destroy himself, but it means he's helped. I am the Lord, I
change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob,
you sons of election, are not consumed." That's right. We destroy ourselves. But he
says, your help's in me, and I don't change. And that's why
you're not consumed. That's exactly why you're not
consumed. My anger is turned away from
Him. How is God's anger turned away from us? Through the blood
and the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has been
reconciled to us in Christ long before we ever knew Him. And
you know what? That will never change. That
will never change. I cannot destroy that. I cannot
destroy it. I did not put myself in Christ.
I cannot take myself out of Christ. That's not my work. That's His.
That's His. And here is the promise in verse
5. The promise is full. He says in verse 4, I will heal
their backsliding. I will love them freely for my
anger is turned away from Him. I will be as a dew unto Israel. I will cause Him to grow. The
first thing I thought of is this, He will moisten us with His grace
every day. Have you ever walked out on a
dewy morning? I know you have. You live in
the same world I do. The grass is all dewy. Think of that now in the terms
of God's grace upon you. I'll moisten them every day with
my grace. Every day. And I'll cause them to grow in
grace and in knowledge of me. And because of this, he said,
I will be as a dew unto Israel, he shall grow as the lily. Our
Lord used that, he said Solomon in all his glory was not raised
like one of these lilies of the field. But he shall grow as a
lily. A lily grows up. It grows straight up, doesn't
it? He grows up, and that's how a believer grows in Christ. When
He said, I heal your relapses, and here's what's going to happen.
I'm going to be like the dew of the morning to you, and you're
going to grow. Left up to us, we won't grow.
Even if these little children, they won't go to school. They
would not be instructed. They don't enjoy instructions.
They wouldn't go to school. Very few of them would. But He says, you're going to
grow. What we like to do in the morning to you, you're going
to grow. And you're going to grow like the lily, you're going
to grow straight up. You're going to grow up in Christ. You're
going to mature. You're going to grow up toward
God. And you're going to cast forth
His roots as Lebanon. The lily's root is rooted in
a very moist, very watery soil. So he doesn't use the root of
the lily. He uses now the root of the tree
of Lebanon that's stout, strong, grows deep and firm, steadfast. That's how you're going to be.
Now if I leave it up to you, it's not the way it's going to
be, but God said this is the way it's going to be. I'm going
to see to it. I'm going to see to it. You're going to cast forth
or strike. That word means strike. How do roots grow? They grow
down. They go down. Scripture speaks of us being
what? Rooted. and built up in Christ. He's saying here, I'm going to
see to it that you're going to grow spiritually and you're going
to be rooted in Christ. You're going to be steadfast.
You're going to be firm. That's how you're going to grow.
That's how you're going to grow. And His branches, this is still
growth. His branches shall spread. You won't just be obsessed with
yourself. You'll actually be looking after
one another. You will consider one another
before you consider yourself. This is going to be your spirit
and attitude. Your branches are going to grow and you're going
to spread. Isn't the church all over the
world? It's all over the world. He's going to spread and His
beauty, His beauty shall be as an olive tree. That's one of the most useful
trees there is, an olive tree. Very, very good tree. Fruit of it. Very useful. I tell you what, there's nothing
more beautiful than a believer walking in the Spirit. Because that believer is walking
in the Spirit. He's walking in love, joy, peace,
kindness, love, suffering. Is there anything more beautiful
than that? Soul prosperity. And your smell is Lebanon. Your
smell is Lebanon. There's nothing like the smell
of grace, is there? My, there's nothing like that.
You ever smell something that brings back a memory? I mean,
you know, that's the way we're made. Good or bad. You got to smell liver, it's
bad. cooking liver, beef liver, make me sick. But there's other
smells that just could take me back to a point in time. It was
just some pleasant memories. The smell of grace is so pleasant. And someday you and I will die. What will people think when our
name is brought up and that smell is there again? Will it be pleasant? There are some people I've known
over the years who have died in the Lord. And when I think
of them, it's like a sweet smell. It's just a pleasant thought.
Pleasant thoughts of them. And then here's, let's see here,
in verse seven, they that dwell under his shadow shall return,
they shall revive as the corn. This is the work of grace in
the soul. You remember the Lord used that term, unless a grain
of corn be put into the ground and die. Here he says, they shall revive
as like that grain of corn. that was put into the ground,
and it died. But when it came forth, when
it was given that mysterious life, and it grew up out of that
ground, my, the fruit of it, and the taste of it, the taste
of it. This is the work of grace in
the soul. They shall revive as the corn,
grow as the vine, and the scent thereof shall be as the wine
of the Lebanon. And Ephraim," here's the power
of grace, "'Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with
idols?' Paul said when writing to the
Thessalonians, You have turned from your idols. to serve the
living God. Look over in chapter 8 of Hosea. I'll wind this down. 8, look in verse 11. Because Ephraim
hath made many altars to sin, he made them to idols, altars
shall be unto to sin. Look in chapter four. Ephraim is joined to idols. Let him alone. And then he says,
Ephraim shall say, What have I to do anymore? with idols. We see what Ephraim will do left
alone. We see what Ephraim does under
the work of grace. He leaves the idols. Returns. He returns. What have I to do
with idols? I have heard him and observed
him. He's not going to let him go.
God's not going to let any of His children go. Fallen? We don't want to do that. I don't
want to do that. I fear that. But not destroyed. Look over here in chapter 11.
Look in verse 7. And my people are bent to relapses
from me. I tell you, that just hits me
between the eyes. They are just bent to relapses. Though they
called them to the Most High, none at all would exalt Him,
not as He should. Do we exalt our Lord as we ought
to? Now, we exalt Him more than we ever did before, but none
of us exalt Him as we ought to. so elated with him. Look in verse
8. How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?
I'm not going through that. That's what he's saying. Ephraim,
I'm not giving you up. Everybody else might, but I'm
not. How shall I deliver thee, Israel? This is God speaking. He said,
how should I give thee up, Ephraim? I'm not. I'm not going to give
you up. Here's what's going to happen,
Ephraim. Here's what's going to happen. I'm going to heal
your relapses. And Ephraim, I'm going to love you freely. My
anger is turned away from you. I'm going to be like the dew
of the morning to you. Isn't this something? This is
God's promises to us. I'm going to be like the dew
of the morning to you, and you're going to grow like a lily. And
you're going to cast forth your roots and your branches, and
you're going to spread out, and you're going to be beautiful,
and you're going to be like the olive tree, and the smell of you is
going to be sweet. You stink now. And your relapses,
our relapses make us stink, don't they? But he says, but you're
not going to end up that way. You're not going to stay that
way. They that dwell under his shadow shall return, they shall
revive as the corn, and grow as the vine, and the scent thereof
shall be as the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim shall say, What have
I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, I have observed
him, I am like a green fir tree, and from me is thy fruit found."
He doesn't say fruits, does he? Just like he doesn't say fruits
of the Spirit, he says fruit of the Spirit. God's going to see to it. He's
going to see to it that you're kind, that you love, that you
have real joy. He's going to see to it because
your fruit is from Him. Now, who is wise? Who is gospel wise? Has God made you gospel wise?
Who is wise and he shall understand these things? Prudent, he shall
know these things. Here's what he's going to know.
Here's what the wise man knows. Here's what the gospel wise man
knows. The ways of the Lord are right. The righteous Lord loves righteousness.
He does righteousness. He can do no wrong. And the just shall walk in them
by faith continually. But the transgressors, they're
going to stumble. At the very gospel you love,
they will stumble and fall over. At the very gospel that gives
God all the glory, they will stumble and fall over to their
own destruction. Now, let me read this in closing. And this is to us. O Israel,
return unto the Lord thy God, for thou hast fallen by thine
iniquities." Hold up to it. Take with you words and turn
to the Lord. Say to him, take away, lift off all iniquity. Receive us graciously. Receive
us as good. Give us good. So will we praise
you with our lips. Assyria shall not save us. We
will not ride upon horses. See, they used to go to Egypt.
They would go to Egypt to get their horses, to get the best
horses. We're not going back to Egypt. Don't go to Egypt for
help. Go to Him. And anyway we say
any more to the work of our hands, ye are our gods. For in thee
the fatherless find mercy. And the Lord says, I will heal
their relapses. I'll love them freely. Mine anger
is turned away from him. I will be as a dew unto Israel.
He shall grow as a lily and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His
branches shall spread, and His beauty shall be as the olive
tree, and His smell as Lebanon." I tell you what, if you read
those last 13 chapters, you wouldn't think it in like this, would
you? Not naturally, you wouldn't think that, because it doesn't
operate naturally. His thoughts are above our thoughts,
and His ways are above our ways. They that dwell under His shadow
shall return. He'll revive as a corn and grow
as a vine, and the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.
Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols?
Well, he didn't say that. I was surprised how many times
Ephraim is mentioned in the book of Hosea. I didn't count it,
but it's just, you can go through there and look. Man, he's a mess.
He's absolutely a mess. But God said, I'm not going to,
Ephraim, how shall I give you up? I'm not. You're mine. I heard
him. I've observed Him. I know Him.
I've heard Him talk. I know Him. God knows me. He knows who and what I am by
nature. He knows. Long before I ever came into
this world, He knew me. I've heard Him. I've observed
Him. I know who He is. I'm like a green fir tree. For me is thy fruit found, whose
wiseness he shall understand these things, prudent, and he
shall know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the
just shall walk in them." He'll see to it. The Lord will see
to it that you walk in them. But transgressors, they won't
walk in them. They'll stumble over that stone
and fall. How to return. to the Lord.