We're going to go over to the
Old Testament this evening to a little book called the book
of Hosea. That's right after Daniel. You've
got your major prophets, Daniel and Hosea. Hosea in itself is an interesting
name. It's the same name as Jesus. Did you know that? That ought
to tell us something. And I just want to show you a
few things here before I go to my text. Hosea, the first chapter. I want to show you what the purpose
of this book is. Verse 2. The beginning of the
word of the Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea, Go
take unto thee a wife of the Hordoms, and the children of
Hordoms. For the land hath committed great Hordom, departing from
the Lord. So he went and took Gomer, the
daughter of I can't even say it, which conceived and bear
him a son. So here's a man of God being
told by God to go marry a woman who's of the whoredoms. Not only
that, she's of the children of the whoredoms. And that's a good
picture of us. We are by nature sinners, and
we come from a lineage of sinners. God's got this man of God marrying
this woman. Look at chapter 2, look at verse
6. The Lord says something here. Therefore, behold, I will hedge
up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find
her path. And she shall follow after her
lovers, but she shall not overtake them. This is talking about how
this woman would be unfaithful. She shall seek them, but she
shall not find them. Then shall she say, I'll go and
return to my first husband. For then was it better for me
than now. And she did not know, but I gave
her her corn and her wine and her oil, and multiplied her with
silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal." You know, this woman
would get up in the morning and find groceries outside the door,
and she thought it was her lovers bringing it to her. It was Hosea
all along. And that's just like us. We come
into this world sinners. And we live in this world, and
things are provided for us all our days, and we think it's just
us, or think it's our lovers, but it was God Almighty providing
for us from day one. And he hedges up the way of this
woman. Look at chapter 3, and this is
where you start seeing the picture. Then said the Lord unto me, Go
yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress.
Now listen to these words. to the love of the Lord towards
the children of Israel who look after other gods and love flagons
of wine." See, this is a picture. It's a picture of the everlasting
love of God for his people. That's what he said. This is
all according to the love the Lord has towards his children
there. Chapter, in verse 2 says, "...so I bought her to me for
fifteen pieces of silver, for a homer of barley, and for a
half a homer of barley." Now, 30 pieces of silver is the price
of a slave. She wasn't worth much. And he
went down to the marketplace and bought that woman. She was
having to be sold. And he bought her. And he said
in verse 3 to 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. Now
that's a picture. A picture of the everlasting
love of God towards his people. who came down into the market,
right down here where we are, after this woman he loved. And
he bid on her. He wasn't there to find any other
woman. He wasn't there to buy the whole crowd. He was there
to pay the price for that woman. And he said, from this day on,
you're mine. You're not going after anybody else. Now that,
my friends, is a picture of what the Lord Jesus Christ did when
He came to this earth and bought His church with His own blood.
And it's an everlasting love. It's a love that does not alter.
It's immutable. There's not even a possibility
of change. You know, the Lord said that. He said, I am the Lord. I change
not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. The only reason that we aren't
burnt up, incinerated by a holy God, is the fact that He is faithful. He's faithful in what He's done
for His people. And this love he has, though
it does not change, it's sometimes a tough love. I want you to see
that, and that's where we're going in chapter 5. Chapter 5
is a tough love. Look at verse 14. I will be to
Ephraim as a lion, and a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear and go away. It's interesting that you read
those words tonight about how the Lord deals here. I will tear
and go away. I will take away, and none shall
rescue him. I will go and return to my place."
He speaks of tearing and leaping on Ephraim and Judah in punishment,
and even going away from, withdrawing himself from. And there are times
in the life of a believer when he goes through these sort of
things, these trials and afflictions, and it seems as if The heavens
itself are brass. Now, David said that. But listen,
there's a purpose in this. He said, I'll do that till they
acknowledge their offense and seek my face, and in their affliction
they will seek me early. You see that? Our Lord does this
for our good. It's not out of hatred. You know,
when you read the book of Job, you need to keep in mind the
fact that he was the most righteous man on the earth. The Lord said
that. He said that to Satan. Have you considered my servant
Job? There's none like him. And yet he was the most afflicted
man to this very day. People talk about the patience
of Job, the patience of Job. And the Lord allows many a man,
many a wicked man on this earth to grow and just take root and
become a green bay tree. That's what David said about
him. David said, I see these people and their eyes stand out
with fatness. They've got everything they want.
There's no bands in their death. But every morning, I'm afflicted.
I'm afflicted every morning. And you say, David said that.
Now, this is the portion, let me just tell you what I'm talking
about here. I'm talking about the portion of a believer. And
part of that portion is the privilege of being chastened. Chastened. Hebrews 12, we won't turn there.
I'll read this verse. You folks know this. For whom
the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and he scourgeth every son whom
he receiveth. Now, you can write that down.
The people of the world may be able to get away with anything
they want to get away with, but if you're one of God's children,
you're going to feel the rod. There's an old proverb that said,
to spare the rod, to spoil a child. My mom and dad knew that proverb
real well. It's a bygone era. But I'm telling
you, that proverb is the way it is in God's kingdom. He chastens
his children. Look at Isaiah. Mark this place. We're coming back. But look at
Isaiah 38. I want to read you what happened
to the king Hezekiah, who was a great king in Israel. Chapter
38. Look at verse 9. Now this is the writing of Hezekiah. The king of Judah, when he'd
been sick, And he was recovered of his sickness. I said, in the
cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gate of the grave.
I am deprived of the residue of my years. I said, I shall
not see the Lord, even the Lord in the land of the living. I
shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.
My age is departed and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent.
I was cut off like a weaver, my life. He will cut me off with
pining sickness. From day even to night wilt thou
make an end of me. I reckoned till morning that,
listen to this verse, as a lion, so he'll break all my bones.
From day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. Like a crane
or a swallow, so did I chatter. I did mourn as a dove. Mine eyes failed from looking
upward. O Lord, I'm oppressed. Undertake me. hath done it, I shall go softly
all my days in the bitterness of my soul. O Lord, by these
things men live." Now, if you come to that verse, you would
think, O Lord, by these things men die. Oh no, listen, by these
things men live. And in all these things is the
life of my spirit, so wilt thou recover me and make me to live.
See, your love is behind it all. That's what King Hezekiah is
saying there. So the trials of a believer in this world, Even
when it seems as if the Lord has removed Himself, like He
said back in this verse, back in Hezekiah chapter 5, Hosea
chapter 5, where He says, I'll go away and return to my place.
Even when it seems like He's removed Himself, and you feel
completely forsaken, it's for your good as a believer. Depression and times when we
feel torn, they're not against us. It's by these things that
men live. And these things cause us to
acknowledge our offenses, cause us to acknowledge our distrust
and our ingratitude and dislike. So I want to go on, though. I
don't want to stop there. Look at verse 1 of chapter 6. Come,
let us return to the Lord. I love that. Just that line right
there, the preacher says. He doesn't say, you go, return
to the Lord. He says, come, let us return
to the Lord. That's one of the things I loved when the first
time I heard Pastor Henry Mahan, he was the first preacher I ever
heard stand in a pulpit and admit he was a sinner. I never heard
anything like that. I was the sinner. I was the one
that needed to come forward. I was the one that needed to
do something, straighten up and fly right. And he got in a pulpit
and admitted that he was nothing but a sinner saved by the grace
of God. And I'll tell you, that's exactly what this man's doing
here. It ain't you folks go, it's let us return. That's the
best preaching that you'll ever hear. When a man of God admits
that he deserves wrath just like everybody else. If the Lord marks
sin, who shall stand? That's what David said. If he
marked sin, who would stand? So we're to return convinced
that our trials and afflictions are from His hand. How do I think
that? Well, look here. For He hath
torn. Chapter 6, verse 1. Let's return
to the Lord, for He hath torn, and He will heal us. He hath
smitten, and He will bind us up. You know, it's a loving hand
that's done this. A loving hand that's done this.
I'll tell you, it's a great day in the life of a man when he
realizes who it is that's holding the rod. You ever have a dog
come out after you and you grab a stick and hit him? It's the
stupid dog that bites the stick. The smart dog will look at the
man that's hitting him with the stick. And we're stupid in this
life because we look at second causes and we think it's bad
luck and we think things come. You see what I'm saying? We're
all tore up about the stick. rather than realize the loving
hand of God that's behind what comes the way in life of a believer.
You know, these things don't happen.
I want you to understand, there are no accidents in the world.
I know that's a hard thing to get a hold of. But Job even said
that when he was going through his trouble. And I won't turn
there, but Job said, listen to me, Job 5, verses 6 and 7, Although
affliction cometh not forth from the dust, Neither doth trouble
spring out of the ground." Now, what's he mean? He's talking
about affliction and trouble. It's not a natural force. It
doesn't just come up out of the ground. It just doesn't come
up that way. What? Yet a man is born into trouble
as the sparks fly upward. He's talking about the fact that
these things come our way for a purpose. It's not some natural
force. Amos, a couple chapters over,
look at this. In this prophet, just turn over two prophets further
and look at this verse in Amos chapter 3. These small prophets
sometimes we kind of get lost. Amos 3 verse 6. Shall the trumpet be blown in
the city, and the people not be afraid? Now listen to this
question. Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath
not done it? The Lord hath not done it? That's
his question. You know, we serve a sovereign
God that rules all things. The devil roams this earth, but
he's God's devil. There's nothing taking place
in this earth that's not under his control. He's absolutely
sovereign. Now, that is not Calvinism. I
know people call that Calvinism. Some people say that's Culverism.
That's fine. But that's Biblism is what that is. God is who he
is. He's God. He's on a throne. He's in the heavens. He is holy. Let the earth keep silent. I
mean, he's a holy God, and he works all things after the purpose
of his own will, and that's why Paul can say in Romans 8, 28,
we know that all things work together for the good of them
that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.
Why is that? Because he's sovereign in moving everything in this
world, and working everything in this world. So I'll tell you,
it's wise to try to discern why he's doing what he's doing, but
I'll tell you, it's better to simply return with a believing
heart. Listen, come what may, just return. He hath torn, and listen to these
words, he will heal. I like that. That's expecting. Returning expecting. He's smitten. Oh, I acknowledge his hand. I'll
tell you something else, he's going to bind us up. expecting,
a believing heart, He'll do this, knowing that it's the Lord's
way to chasten us, but it's also His way to use these things to
bring us to Him. Now, that's what's being said
in those verses. So, we return, and listen to
me, when we do, it always ends up this way. Now, the first time
you come to the Father, it's going to be this way, and every
time you return, it's going to be this way. Look at the next
verse. After two days, he will revive
us. In the third day, he will raise
us up and we shall live in his sight. Do you see that? We'll be revived
after the third day, after the two days. In the third day, he's
going to raise us up. Now, where does this come from?
Well, 1 Corinthians 15, I'll read you this verse. You don't
have to turn over there. Paul mentions this, and this
is a fact. To him, the Lord Jesus Christ,
give all the prophets witness. They all spoke of his suffering. They all spoke of the glory that
he would enter into. And these words, though they
were written 800 years before the birth of Christ, are talking
about what was going to be accomplished at Calvary. Paul said this in
1 Corinthians 15. He says, For I first delivered,
verse 3, unto you, first of all, that which I also received, how
that Christ died for our sins, now listen to these words, according
to the Scriptures. He's talking about the Old Testament.
Christ died for our sins, according to the Old Testament, just like
he said he would. And that he was buried, and that he arose
again the third day, according to the Scriptures. So these references
back here about things occurring on the third day in the Old Testament,
they center themselves on the Lord Jesus Christ. It's just
like when Jonah was taken into the belly of that fish. He was
spit out on the third day, and we are told over and over in
Scripture that the Son of Man would be buried and come up on
the third day just like Jonah did. These are pictures, pictures. So what I want you to see here,
is when you talk about healing, or talking about binding up,
this is always centered around the doing and the dying of the
Son of God. That's what I want you to see.
These folks return expecting to be restored with this great
expectation, and it's all centered around this great event that's
being prophesied of, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
I tell you, I'm not spiritualizing when I tell you that. I'm not
just making this up. Listen how it's described here.
After two days, He will revive us. In the third day, He will
raise us up. Now, I want you to understand,
and you folks know, you've been taught, the Lord Jesus Christ
is a representative man. We had a man that represented,
we live in a government, it's supposed to be a representative
government. There are people in Congress right now that are
supposed to represent me. Think of them. Have people in
the Senate that are supposed to represent me? They don't.
But there was a man in the Garden of Eden that did represent me
and every one of you. And that man was given one rule,
and he did not keep it. He willingly broke it. And he,
as a result of that, made every one of us sinners by nature.
We were born in sin, shaped in iniquity. We came out of our
mother's womb speaking lies. And that sin was imputed to us
and it's been imparted to us. It's a part of our very nature.
And this one who would come would be called the last Adam. That's
what Paul called Christ. The last Adam would come as a
representative on this earth. He would be born not like Adam
or like you or I. He would not receive Adam's sin.
He would be born and conceived in the womb of a virgin. He would
be a sinless man from the day he got here. holy, harmless,
and undefiled. And He would walk through this
earth and do something nobody in this room could ever do, nor
any other man could ever do. He would keep God's law perfectly. Perfectly. The Father said, this is my beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased. I'm pleased with Him. He never
goes to say that about you, unless you're in Him. And that Holy One willingly went
to the cross. And for the sake of his people,
took upon himself their sins." Look at that verse. Turn over
2 Corinthians 5. I tell you, if you can ever get
a hold of this verse, and ever get a hold of the idea of substitution. Adam sinned, it was imputed to
me. The last Adam was righteous, and his righteousness is imputed
to me, because he bore my sins. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21. Listen how this is said. Verse
21. For he, talking about God, hath
made him, Christ, to be sin for us. This one who knew no sin. This one who walked through the
earth perfect. He knew no sin, the Father made Him sin for us,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. You think about
that transaction. There on the hill at Calvary,
when He was suffering and bleeding, He was bearing the damnation
of His people. The eternal damnation that they
are worthy of was laid on Him. Is it any wonder the night before
in the garden, when He saw it coming, He got down and sweat
as it were, great drops of blood, and He cried, My God, My God,
why hast thou forsaken Me? He'd never known a moment without
His Father's presence. But He was forsaken on the cross,
just like I would have to be eternally in hell. But He's substituting
for me. Substituting. And then he went
in the grave and he arose on the third day to show, the scripture
says, he died for our offenses and was raised for our justification. When God Almighty brought the
son out of the tomb, he was saying, sin's gone. It's been dealt with. My people's sin is gone. Look
at Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 10. This is another... Hebrews chapter 10. He's summarizing
all the Old Testament verses. Verse 11, he's talking about
all the priests that used to stand in the temples in the old
days. Listen to the contrast that goes
on here. Every priest standed daily, ministering, offering,
oftentimes, the same sacrifices. Day after day, morning and evening,
throughout all the Old Testament days, the priests were offering
sacrifices. Oftentimes, the same one. But
they could never take away sins. Verse 12, look at this. But this
man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat
down on the right hand of God, and I'll tell you, he did it
with expectancy, from henceforth expecting till all his enemies
be made his footstool, everything is going to be put under his
feet. And he's waiting for it. Look at verse 14. I want you
to see this. For by one offering he hath perfected. Look at that word. Perfected.
forever them that are sanctified. The ones that were set apart
by the Father from before the foundation of the world, He perfected
them by one offering. That representative man did.
And that's why when you talk about being healed or being restored,
He shall revive us on the third day. We arise with Him. We are so much in union with
Him. Look at Ephesians 2. Ephesians chapter 2. We're called
His body, He's the head. He is now occupying heaven itself
for us. Ephesians 2. Just start reading here. You
have been quickened. That's talking about us, the
believers. You have been raised who are dead in trespasses and
sin. Wherein in times past, you just like everybody else, you
walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air. the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past, in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind. And we were by nature
the children of wrath, even as others. But God, whose richness
mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, he hath quickened us together with Christ." We
were raised with Christ. us up together and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. I'm not in heaven
right now physically, but I am represented by my Lord. And I'm
telling you, everyone for whom He died is going to be with Him.
You can just write it down. Back here in the text. Back in our text. I could go
a long time on this, but I won't do that to you. Listen, after two days, He'll
revive us. In the third day, He'll raise
us up, and we shall live in His sight. Do you see the consequences
of this? We're going to live in His sight.
It isn't just live in your sight. That's wonderful. But I'm living
in His sight. I was dead in trespasses and
sin. But as a result of the doing
and dying of my Lord and Savior, I live in His sight. And I'll
tell you, that can only mean one thing. I've got to be righteous,
if He can look on me. But in Christ, I'm holy. I'm
harmless. I've got no spot or wrinkle in
my Savior. And to live in His sight also
means to live under His watchful, loving eyes. Now, I tell you,
I've had three girls and they've lived in my sight. Now, what's that mean? I've been
looking out for them. And that's what this is talking
about, raising up His people and looking out for them. eye,
the eye of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are
open to their cry. He withdraweth not his eyes from
the righteous, but with kings are they on the throne. Yea,
he doth establish them forever, and they are exalted." They are
exalted because he is. I live, he said, and you are
going to live as a result of that. And it is through our Lord Jesus
Christ we now have a life that he can look on with pleasure.
Now, anyone who's been wounded and healed knows what I'm talking
about. Knows what I'm talking about.
Now, look on here. I've got to go on. I've got to
go on. Then shall we know if we follow
on to know the Lord. Now, that word, if, you notice
is in italics. It's been supplied there. Then
shall we know we follow on to know the Lord. It would be better
to say when we follow on to know the Lord. We're going to follow
on to know the Lord. You see, the Lord is not done
with His people at any time in their lives. The writer Paul
said that in Philippians 1.6. He said, "...being confident
of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you
will perform it until the day of the Lord Jesus Christ." You
know, our Lord Jesus Christ is no quitter. He's not a person who's attempting
to save His people. I hear preachers preaching about
a Jesus today who loves everybody but just can't seem to get them
to toe the line. That's not the God of the Bible. The God of
the Bible has put away His people's sins, and He calls them to Himself. We read that in John 6. He told
those Pharisees, you've seen me and you don't believe. You don't believe, but all that
the Father giveth me shall come unto you. All of them. These eternally loved ones shall
grow and follow on. That's what we're talking about
here. You know, that's your business in this life as a believer, is
to follow on. Looking to Him. Going from grace
to grace, from faith to faith. You know, this all begins with
faith. And it says we go to faith. It ends with faith. As long as
we live on this earth that just shall live by faith. We're never
going to get beyond that. Simply trusting the Lord Jesus
Christ. for everything. All I need. All I need. I love
that song. My wisdom, my righteousness,
my sanctification. I'm not looking to traditions
or rites. I'm not up here tonight wearing
a robe. Just soon I'll have a tie on. But we don't look to traditions
or rites or ceremonies. We don't look to mindless religious
things. The world's full of it. We know Him and we go on growing
in that knowledge all the days of our lives, becoming more and
more aware of the justice of God and how it was satisfied
at Calvary's Hill. Growing more and more in the
knowledge of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and His great
love for us. Look at a verse in Ephesians
over here. Look at Ephesians 3. Look at Paul's prayer here. Paul
prays this in verse 14. For this cause I bow my knees to
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family
in heaven and earth is named. I pray that He would grant you,
according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with
might by His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ might dwell
in your hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded
in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the
breadth, and the length, and the depth, and the height, and
to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that you might
be filled with all the fullness of God." He talks about the love
of God as being something gigantic, and he tries to put it in dimensions.
You know, in the book of Revelations, when he describes the city of
God, 12,000 furlongs, as some people say, that's 1,500 miles
by 1,500 miles by 1,500 miles. There's no place in the world
on this earth where you could have a city that big. This thing
is way beyond this earth, and the love of God is way beyond
our comprehension. It passes knowledge. The depth
of it, the length of it, He prays that they'll know that. How long
is His love? Well, it's from eternity past
to eternity future. Before the world began, 6,000
years ago, back before the sons of God ever sang, the angels,
back younger, the Father gave the Son of people. They're called
His seed, His sheep, His portion, His beloved. We can go on and
on. His inheritance, He put them
in the hands of the Son. And the Son said, I'm going to
go down there and save them all. I'm going to bleed and die for
them. And the Spirit said, I'll call them. I'll call him. And
from there all the way out to the future, to the last, there'll
be no last. That's how long the love of God
is. And how high it is, well, how low it is. You talk about
its depth, how low does he go? I'm telling you, he's gone to
the very lowest people of this earth to save them. When Christ
came to this world, he didn't call the Pharisees and the proud
religious men. He's out there calling the He
was making apostles out of fishermen. The writer Paul said, he calls
bond and free, barbarian and Scythian. You know, barbarians
are bad enough, but the barbarians wouldn't even have anything to
do with the Scythians. But that's how deep the love of God is.
The vilest sinner can be brought to Christ. in this world throughout generations.
That's how wide it is. And how high it is? I'll tell
you how high it is. He's going to take vile, stinking
worms and maggots and bring them right into the third heaven in
a host. He's called the Lord of Hosts.
A number beyond speech. You can't even put a number on
it. A vile sinners are going to stand before a holy God and
the angels are going to stand around figuring how in the world
can this be? That's how high it is. Oh, I
pray you'll know something about that and go on to know. Paul
said that. You never stop learning. Paul
made that statement. He said, Oh, that I may know
Him. Now, you know Paul knew the Lord.
Oh, that I may know Him. Over in Philippians chapter 3.
Oh, I've got to go on here. Follow along. We're at the back
of the text here. Then shall we know if we follow
on to know the Lord. We'll know and we'll follow on
to know. That word know there, believe
it or not, in Hebrew it's eagerly follow on to know. I have not
seen, hear us not heard the things the Lord has prepared for them
that love him, but his spirit teaches us. Now, how's this going
to happen? How's this going to be fulfilled?
Well, listen to it. His going forth is prepared as
the morning. That's how it's going to happen.
His going forth is prepared as the morning. Have you ever been
out in the morning, real, real early, and that sun starts coming
up? He likens this. We come out of
darkness. The Son of God arises on us like
the sun. Irresistible. You just try to
stop the sunrise. It isn't going to happen. He
irresistibly comes up on his people. in the life of every
one of God's children. I don't care if they're 92 or
9. There's a day ordained, a day
prepared when the Son of God rises on their soul and the light
breaks through the darkness. It's prepared. It's decreed.
It's determined. It's fixed. You know because
it's prepared for you to know. Look at Matthew 13. I watch people on TV preaching
and I wonder, how in the world are they coming up with things
like that? Look at Matthew 13, verse 10. And the disciples came and said
unto him, Now, Lord, why do you speak unto them in parables?
And he answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto
you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to
them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall
be given, and he shall have more abundance. But whosoever hath
not, from him shall be taken, even that which he hath." What's
he saying there? It's prepared for you to know. God Almighty has prepared for
you to know these things. That's why I speak to you, and
you understand. Well, listen to me. The darkness
of a child of God will end. And this will happen by His coming
to us. And all our mercies are measured
out, that's the point of this, fixed, determined, framed by
eternal love. Growing light that grows and
grows, just like when the sun comes up. Knowing and more, more
knowing. And there's a second figure he
uses here, too. Look at this. His going forth
is prepared as the morning, and He, and I love how it just keeps
repeating this. You know, when we talk about
salvation, we're talking about God Almighty coming to you. He shall come. I believe for every drop of rain
that falls, a flower grows. You remember that song, I believe?
Well, I don't know. I'm surely not going to say that
I know that to be true, but I know the rain the Lord sends on this
earth always accomplishes a purpose to an extent. Isaiah 55 said
that. But knowing Him, and this is
what I want you to see here, is not just a matter of light. It's not just a matter of light.
It's not just a matter of knowledge. You know, there are places in
this world right now where there's plenty of light, but there's
no rain. And nothing grows there. Nothing grows there. Now, I'll tell you, it's not
just light, it's juice, okay? It's juice. It's sap. That rain
comes down and goes up in the trees. Everything starts to grow. I'm telling you, it's light and
sap. And when our Lord comes, it's not just dry doctrine in
our heads. It's not just dry doctrine. You
know, I've known folks that were, as they called them, Calvinist,
or people who were doctrinally straight, doctrinally true, straight
as a gun barrel and just as empty, as one old man used to say. I
think it was Scott Richardson said that. Nothing but light will make a
wasteland, but that's not going to be the way it is for his people,
and that's because he shall come. His going forth is prepared,
and he's also going to come to us as the latter rain. You see
this? He shall come as the rain, as
the latter and the former rain on the earth. He comes, and it's
a repeated blessing. It's a repeated lesson. See,
this is one of the things that I want you to, you know, I'm
at odds with the entire religious world because they believe that
the Lord Jesus Christ can save a man and give him eternal life
and he can be lost next week. I don't believe that for a second.
That ain't eternal life. Nothing's eternal if it stops
next week. It's just not that way. That's
not eternal life. I'm telling you, the Lord Jesus
Christ saves His people with an everlasting salvation. He's
not done with them. The light comes and the rain
comes. The rain comes. Now, you remember
that first rain? I'll never forget. I grew up
in religion. But I'll never forget when I
saw the television broadcast and started watching that man
preaching the gospel. I knew Calvinism just about as
well as anybody out there who was an Arminian. Just about as
well as anybody sitting in any old Arminian church could. I
knew what the doctrines of Calvinism were. But I heard a man preaching
about the Lord Jesus Christ and what He had done for sinners.
And I'm telling you, the light came on and the rain came down.
And that juice, that juice, You were a tiger. Were you a
tiger? You know what I'm saying? Just
a tiger. You know, it says here, he sends
the rain, the latter and the former rain. Now, over in Israel,
they have a little bit different cycle than we do. Over there,
they plant the grain in the autumn. And right after they plant their
seed, the rains come. And then they have heavy rains.
And then after that it diminishes and every now and then they'll
have a little sprinkle and a little rain to keep things going. But
down near harvest time, the latter rains come. They pour and it
takes all that stuff ready for harvest, brings it up and plumps
it up. And I'm here to tell you. If you've ever been a recipient
of the grace of God, if you've ever known the Lord Jesus Christ,
and He's ever done anything for you in your heart, He's got more. And when you get near harvest
time, when you come to the end of your days, you write it down,
the rain's going to come. Now, He does not forsake His
people. He does not forsake His people.
His grace is a gift that's repeated, and if you ever have the grace
of God bestowed on you, you can just bet your booties it ain't
going nowhere. You're a marked man. You're a
marked man. Marked woman. Marked woman. The former reigns fall, and I
tell you, you've got no reason to doubt the futures. Were you
ever blessed? Did you ever love to hear His
Word preached? I'm telling you, if you're one
of His, that's coming back. That's going to stay. Even though
you may go through times of hardship, He's not going to leave you alone.
He's got more, more rain for the souls. And I'll tell you,
I love rain. You know, it reaches down deep
and it brings up things and fruit that nobody even knew was there.
When it starts raining, you see stuff coming up in your yard
you had no idea was there. And that's the way it is in the
life of a believer. His light and His rain make us fruitful,
and it's going to continue until the day when we enter into the
city where the Lamb is in the light and drink from that river
that comes out of that throne. And you know, it's not going
to be because of our faithfulness to Him. How faithful was Gomer? It's not because of our faithfulness
to Him. But because of His everlasting love towards His people, towards
His bride, that worthless one, that one... I can see Him down
there in that marketplace. Back to Hosea. I can see Him
down there. He's identifying with that woman.
He's standing there in the marketplace saying, She's mine. I'll go this
price. And our Lord came down here,
identified Himself with us, was made bone of our bone, flesh
of our flesh, And he said, I'm here for my bride, my church,
my love. She's coming with me. She's not
for anybody else. Now, and as worthless as Gomer was,
and as worthless as we are, that's the way the Lord feels about
his people. No wonder this book is called
Hosea, Jesus.