Hosea in the sixth chapter, we're
just going to look at the first three verses Though he tear yet
will he heal though he tear Yet will he heal and in these short
Verses we observe Christ's care and restoration of his people
his resurrection glory foretold and and our happy end, the church's
happy end, a glorious time of refreshing. But in order to accurately view the context of
what's being said, we really need to look back at the last
verse of the preceding chapter. We really need to look at chapter
5 and the 15th verse in Hosea. And he says, God is speaking
here, he says, I will go and return to my place till they
acknowledge their offense and seek my face. In their affliction,
they will seek me early. Come and let us return, says
the church, unto the Lord, for he has torn and He will heal
us. He has smitten and He will bind
us up. After two days will He revive
us. In the third day He will raise
us up." Now that's unquestionably speaking of Christ's resurrection,
His resurrection glory. In the tomb three days, on the
third day rose. Two days he will revive us, in
the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his
sight. Then shall we know, if we follow
on to know the Lord, his going forth is prepared as the morning,
and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former
rain unto the earth." Now, this first These first first section
the Lord's people in affliction the Lord's people affliction
as I said we really look look back at the 15th verse of the
last chapter and verse 1 of the 6th of Hosea and he says the
church says in verse 1 of 6 chapter 6 come let us return unto the
Lord for he's torn and Yet he'll heal us. He's smitten and yet
he will bind us up. And then in the 15th verse of
the preceding chapter, I will go and return to my place
till they acknowledge their offense and seek my face. In their affliction,
they will seek me early. Now, this affliction, the Lord's
people, we see many, many days of affliction. And whether it's by a foal of
grace, whether it's by somebody who hates the gospel, that afflicts
us, that is certainly correct. That is scriptural, it's found
throughout the... Actually, as we've been looking
through Old Testament pictures of Christ, And we've been going
through these, and especially also in Isaiah, we see time and
time again the Lord's people, the church is afflicted by Babylon,
by those outside of the grace of God. We also suffer affliction
at the hands by Satan's attacks, but most often, Most often our
afflictions are the result of our own folly and sins, and that
appears to be the case here according to the wording, till they acknowledge
their offense and seek my face. In their affliction, they will
seek me early. And then, that's what the Lord
says about us, and he knows us better than we know ourselves,
and then by Holy Spirit conviction, the church
cries in verse one of chapter six, come, let us return. Let us return. We've wandered. We strayed. For he hath torn
and he will heal. He has smitten and he will bind
us up. Oftentimes the church, the Lord's
people, the sheep are referred to as children of his fold and
like a father, disciplines and chastises, not in anger or wrath
because Christ bore that for us, but when we disobey him,
he chastises us all in his providential dealings with us and causes us
to see ourselves, see what we've done, what we are, and he gives
us that desire to come and return unto the Lord. God's church is
a tried church. God's people are a tested and
attacked people. We need to be continually reminded
of his daily grace and sustaining mercy. And usually we're reminded of
these things in the forms of trials, the form of trial, trial
brought on by disobedience or some wayward attraction in the
flesh. Yet the beautiful thing is Though
we err, though we sin, these are all sovereignly ordered for
our good and cause us to be made more like Christ and to grow
in grace. We're not going to go away from
Him, fall away from Him, and in Him leave us. No, this is
all ordered. Let us return to the Lord. He's
torn, yet He'll heal. He smites us, he gives us the
spirit of contrition, of broken hearts, because we can't conjure
up these graces, we can't conjure up these things the Spirit of
God does within us. He tears, yet he heals. He smites, yet he binds us up. Once he has our attention, In
verse one, once he has our attention, usually what happens is conviction
of sin, repentance from sin, a broken and a contrite heart. And then we cry out as it shows
here and says here in verse one, Come, let us return to the Lord.
Come, let us return to the Lord. O happy day when he is pleased
to reveal himself to us once again, because we know we need
him, we want him, we must have him. Come, let us return unto
the Lord, for he hath torn, yet he'll heal, he is smitten, yet
he'll bind us. I'm so thankful, even though
these times are difficult, these trials and these afflictions
are difficult, yet they're so needful because we need to continually
be weaned from the things of this world because we're so prone,
as that hymn writer said, prone to wander. Lord, I feel it prone
to leave the God I love. But he's if he has us, he's not
going to let us go. He is not going to let us go.
He's going to keep after us. The beautiful thing about this
is Holy Spirit conviction, grace, the grace of God convicting us
and causing us to cry, let us return unto the Lord. We won't
do it on our own. We're so prone to blame others, to point to
others. One and I were talking about a situation that we've
got going at work and no matter what the situation is, This person
is not going to own up that I'm not doing my job. This was happening. This is going on. Everything's
against me. Woe is me. All these different
things that the person will not own up to the fact that, you
know, maybe I'm just not putting in a long enough day's work.
Maybe I'm not doing the things I need to do. And we're so prone
to do that. We're so prone to do like Adam in the garden. What's
going on? And Adam said, it's the woman. First thing he says, he didn't
say, I'm guilty. Woe is me. He says, it's the woman you gave
me. And we do the same thing. We're
so prone to point. We're so prone to look without.
But the truth of the matter is most often, most often, I will
go to return to my place, the Lord says, till they acknowledge
their offense. And this doesn't cause God to
come to us, but it's all in his providential, sovereign, preordained
method, means that he does. He causes us to acknowledge our
offense and seek his face. It's not that he's, you know,
we do something and he does something. This is already determined, but
this is his means that he uses. It's kind of like a poor example,
but your child, you can do it the easy or hard way. You can
acknowledge that you've done wrong and come here and give
me a hug, or we can do it the hard way. It's so much more blessed. It's so much more encouraging.
It's so much more comforting. The best way I can explain it
and speak it is when we obey him. He gives us grace, confess
our sins, and he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
But it's all initiated by his sustaining mercy, which leads
us to call upon him. The second thing is found in
verse two. Plain, as I mentioned when I read this, plain prophecy
of the the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. After two
days, will he revive us? And in the third day, he will
raise us up. And this is exactly what Christ
did. He suffered, bled and died, was
led into that tomb, placed in that tomb, laid there. On the
third day, he rose. The third day he rose. Well,
what's so exciting about that? Well, the heart looks upward,
outward, Christward, and sees by faith these three things clearly
from this verse. Because he rose, we're going
to rise. Because he says after two days,
he will revive us. And the third day, he will raise
us up. If he did not raise from the
grave, we've got no hope, we've got no peace, no confidence,
and no victory. But because he rose, We are we
shall rise in him. And thirdly, and we're ever going
to be with him now and evermore. After two days, he will revive
us in the third day. He will raise us up and we shall
live in his sight, live not a beginning or end, but continually because
he rose and ever lives to make intercession for us. The promise is. forever. The promise is forever. So what
we've seen is conviction of sin by grace, which leads to the
cry of grace and a return to Christ's sweet presence, which
then leads to this third thing in this third verse, the firm
realization of sovereign, predestinating grace. and the total supreme
care of Christ towards his sheep. Conviction of sin by grace, which
leads to the cry for mercy and the desire to return to his sweet
presence. And then thirdly, it leads to
the firm realization that he has predestinated all these things
for his glory and for our best interest. Look at verse 3. Then
shall we know If we follow on to know the Lord. Now, as Don
had mentioned, and accurately so, I've mentioned this before
also, the word if is in italics, so it's implied, but it's not
in the original. Take it, you know, just pull
it out and read the verse as it is. Then shall we know. That's
an absolute. And then when the if is in there,
it's kind of like, well, if we follow on. No. If we know. If He's revived us and raised
us up and we live in His presence, it's an absolute. It's not a
perhaps. Then shall we know, we follow
on to know the Lord. We shall know him and we shall
follow on to know the Lord. And we're going to know that
his going forth in redemption, in salvation, in glorification,
his resurrection glory, his going forth is prepared, preordained
as the morning. The if is not in the original,
so we read it. We shall know and shall follow
him. Firm and secure are we, his chosen
bride, because one, his way was prepared as the morning. As the
morning. This is beautiful. Christ is
compared to the morning. He's prepared. He's going forth
in his redemptive work. In his imputation of righteousness,
his impartation of righteousness, all these things that he has
for his people is prepared as the morning. Turn to Revelations,
chapter 22. Christ himself compares himself
to the morning. So we'll see what the scripture
says about this passage in this prophecy in Hosea. Revelations,
chapter 22. We are firm and secure in Christ
because His way is prepared. His going forth is prepared as
the morning. Revelation 22 verse 16. I, Jesus,
there's no question who's speaking here, have sent mine angel to
testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root
and the offspring of David and the bright and morning star. Our text says, His going forth
is prepared as the morning Christ redemptive work for us and in
us is as sure and timely as the rising of the sun. Last I looked,
it came up this morning. It's going to come up until time
is no more until he wraps this whole thing up. The sun's going
to come up. Come up. prepared indeed was every aspect
of the covenant of sovereign grace. Think back with me and
some of the passages that we've looked at in Hebrews and as we've
studied as Bruce has taught Bible class. Everything about Christ
has been prepared from before eternity. This book says that
his body, a body is prepared for him. His birth was prepared
to take place at the exact time, exact location, with Mary Joseph,
nobody else. His public ministry, miracles,
the path that he took, the roads that he walked, the people that
he encountered, the trials, the jury, the verdict, his death,
burial, resurrection, all prepared, all pre-ordered, all for the
sake of his beloved church. Reread the text. He is going
forth, he is prepared as the morning. Now, it's beautiful
when you link some passages of scripture together. I love this verse anyway. Knowing what our brother says, In this passage in Hosea, his
going forth is prepared as the morning for us. Before time was, he knew that
he would have a body prepared. He would fulfill all righteousness.
He would satisfy every jot and tittle of the law. He would redeem
every single elect throughout all time by laying down, voluntarily
laying down His life, a ransom for many. His going forth is
prepared as the morning. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed because his compassions fail not. They are
new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. That's
what Jeremiah tells us in Lamentations. Every morning. Mercies, compassions,
new every morning. Why? His going forth is prepared
as the morning. Timely and sure. No wonder the
weeping prophet spoke those words as he did in Jeremiah or Lamentations
chapter 3. That in itself, we can just stop
right there, that in itself should be enough to last us a thousand
lifetimes, yet there's more. Look at, continuing on in the
third verse of the sixth of Hosea, he says, and he, Christ, because
he's talking about his going forth as prepared as the morning,
and who is that? He's speaking of Christ, because Christ is
the bright and morning star. And there was other passages
of scripture that I didn't turn to that referred to Christ as
the morning. And he, Christ again, shall come
unto us as the rain. Now this isn't the first time
this is worded in such a way. Turn to Psalms chapter 72. Psalms
chapter 72. We have a marvelous promise of
refreshing as the rain. Christ refreshes us as the rain. He shall come unto us as the
rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. Psalms 72 and verse 6. He shall come down. Who? Christ. He shall come down like rain
upon the mown grass as showers that water the earth. That's
speaking of Christ as well. And then turn towards the New
Testament to Micah chapter 5. Micah chapter 5. And verse seven, and the remnant
of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as the dew from
the Lord as the showers upon the grass that tarrieth not for
man, nor waiteth for the sons of men. See the rain. It doesn't
man can't stop it or start it. Man can't stop it or start it.
The Lord sovereignly, according to his own will, his own purpose,
his own timing. sends the rain. That's what he's
saying here, partly in the latter part of Micah, in verse 5 and
then 7th verse. That tarrieth what? The rain,
the dew that showers upon the grass. It doesn't tarry for man,
nor does it wait on the sons of man. We can't stop at the
start and cloud seed, you know, all you want to do that, but
you really don't have control over the weather. It's just like
God's grace. We can't control it. We can't
stop it. We can't move it. We can't tell
it what to do. We can't tell him what to do
because his mercy and his grace as his son is prepared. So that
path cannot be altered, which is a good thing because we would
know what to do with it if we did alter it. But thanks be to
God. that this promise of refreshing
our Savior is likened to the gentle, nourishing, cleansing
rain. And he mentions, interestingly
here, and I was looking at this and I wasn't quite sure what
he was saying, so I started looking at it and studying it a little
closer, but he says the latter rain, first, the latter rain,
He says, he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain.
He mentions that first and the former rain unto the earth. The
latter rain is mentioned first. Well, in the fall time, which
is the latter rain, the seed is sown and the rain comes and
brings it up just like God's grace. The latter rain is mentioned
first because the best time to sow for the seed is the fall
time. And that's the second rain in
the season. The fall is the second. It's mentioned first because
that's what God does through the preaching of the gospel.
He plants these things and he sends the latter rain, which
is the grace of Christ, which is Christ himself, the latter
and the former rain unto the earth. And then the spring harvest
comes after the former rain. After the former rain. May we rejoice together this
night Knowing, first, that we shall be raised with Him who
first rose from the dead. Secondly, that nothing shall
come our way that was not aforeprepared by Him who loves us and pities
us. And thirdly, that we shall ever
be refreshed by His very presence, not someone like Him, because
He says in this passage, He shall come. unto us as the rain Christ
is our Christ himself is our sustaining life so it is true as 1st Samuel chapter
2 tells us I got I looking at this compare these two verses
beggars will sit among princes rather we will sit with the prince
and be made to inherit the throne of glory. That's what he does. He takes beggars and sets them
among princes that we might inherit the throne of glory. After two days will he revive
us. In the third day, he will raise
us up and we shall live in his sight, in his presence. So that
prophet of old, Samuel, I was sitting there and I was looking
at this and I thought, this is just too, this is too good, too good
to be true, as it were. These things just, the inspiration
of the scriptures, it's not just a bunch of men got together and
wrote. It just fits too well together. It must be by inspiration
of God. He raised up the poor out of
the dust. lifts up the beggar from the
dunghill, to set them among princes, to make them inherit the throne
of glory." Hosea is saying the same thing, the same gospel of
free and sovereign grace that Samuel talked about, which is
the same one that David spoke about, which is the same one
that Abraham is the same one that lot new is the same one,
et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. It's the same one that we preach
and believe here. Beggars, sinners who often afflict
ourselves through our own offenses and our own corruptions, so thankful
that he does not leave us alone, but causes us to see what's What's
the issue is the problem is and causes us to confess our sins. And he's faithful just to forgive
us, to raise us up, to be with us forever, and to continually
refresh us. What a God, what the God we worship
and we serve. Matt, would you close us please?