Turn back to the book of Hosea. The title of the message this
evening is The Love of the Lord. The Love of the Lord. Now the
name Hosea, it's the same as Joshua. It's the same as Jesus. It means savior or deliverer. Hosea was not only a faithful
prophet and servant of the Lord, but he's also a powerful type
and picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. In this passage, we see
the Lord Jesus Christ and his love and his mercy to sinners. In these first three chapters,
we see man's wickedness, man's depravity, but we also see the
long suffering of God towards sinners. We see his mercy and
his grace toward his people. God commanded Hosea, he said,
to take a wife from among the people of Horeb. Fornication and adultery, that
was their form of life. And Hosea obeyed God. What a request. But he obeyed
God and he went and he married Gomer. And she was quite young and she
bore him three children. I'm not going to read through
this whole passage this evening, but I'd encourage you to go back
and read it on your own. We'll just hit a few points here.
this evening, but she went and she bore him three children and
then she began to walk the way of her father's, the way of her
heritage. She left Hosea and she went to
her lovers and even though she had left him, You know, you would think if
someone just left, you'd be just done with them, right? We would
be. Aren't we thankful that God in
mercy has not left us alone? She left him. And not only did
she leave him, but she went on living in wickedness and shame. And yet Hosea continued. to provide for her. He gave her
corn, he gave her wine, he gave her oil, he gave her money, everything
she needed. And even though she thought these
gifts were from her lovers and she praised them, soon she was
brought down to poverty and shame, brought down to lowliness and
was to be sold on the auction block as a common slave. In spite of all this, Hosea loved
her. And he went to that marketplace
and he bought her for the price that was demanded. And he took her home to be his
wife. no more to leave. Look at Hosea
3 verse 1, Then said the Lord unto me, Go
yet, love a woman, beloved of her friend. This is the only,
these next few words here are the only things that truly can
describe what's happened here. According to the love of the
Lord. not the love of man, the love
of the Lord toward the children of Israel who look to other gods
and love flagons of wine. Again, this passage points to
the Lord. It points to his grace. It points
to his love. and his mercy to his people. We read this, all have sinned
and gone astray. We've turned everyone to our
own way. We didn't love him, did we? No. But he loved us. And He loved us with an everlasting
love. Loved us to the end. Turn with me again back to Hosea
1, and let's look at just a few passages of Scripture here. Beginning
with verse 1, the word of the Lord that came unto Hosea, the
son of Bere in the days of Uzziah. Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings
of Judah. And in the days of Jeroboam,
the son of Joash, king of Israel, the beginning of the word of
the Lord by Hosea, and the Lord said to Hosea, go take unto thee
a wife of Horeb and children of Horeb. For the land hath committed
great whoredom, departing from the Lord. So he went and took
Gomer, the daughter of Diblam, which conceived and bare him
a son. According to the commandment
of the Lord, Hosea went. He went among this wicked race,
among this sinful people. And he took himself a bride. And he joined himself to her
as one. That's what we read in scripture.
The two shall be one flesh. This woman was a harlot. She was a sinner. And not a sinner in the Flippant
way we use the word sinner. It's often used in an unmeaning
kind of way, isn't it? Everyday sense of the word. We
hear that. Yeah, we're all sinners. People say that. And truly we
are. But this is a true sinner in
the blackest, filthiest, and most obnoxious sense of the word. Filthy, corrupt, vile. The other day, last week, we
left a bucket of dog food. out, out in the backyard. And
it rained. And it filled that bucket up.
And that dog food got wet. And we forgot about it, didn't
we, Drew? We absolutely forgot about it
until we could smell the stench of it. And we went out there,
and there were just maggots rolling around in it. It was awful, wasn't
it? Didn't even want to look upon
it. And as filthy as that was, I took it out and I dumped it
in the yard. And you know what the dogs did? They ate it. That's filth, isn't it? Isn't
that awful? Imagine if a little dog food
with some water on it can put off a horrible smell. What must
we be as sinners in the sight of a holy and righteous God? was a sinner. She had forsaken
Almighty God. She had forgotten the covenant
of God. She had sinned against the law.
She was defiled. The worst, the worst of sinners. She sinned and in her sin she
made others to sin. These offenses were such that
they would provoke the Lord to jealousy, wrath. But what a miracle of miracles. You know, if God condemned this
woman, we wouldn't have any problem with that, would we? We would
say, if we're honest, wouldn't we say she was deserving of it? She was a object of God's mercy,
an object of God's distinguishing grace, ordained to eternal life. Why was that? How can that be? What did we read there in chapter
3? Look at verse 1. Go yet, love
a woman, beloved of her friend, an adulteress, according to the
love of the Lord. Toward Israel. Was she selected on legal grounds? Was there anything in her that
would merit mercy, merit grace, merit love? by no means. Consider this. In scripture,
the grace of God was frequently shown to the lowest of the low,
to the vilest of the vile. If you look at the lineage, the
family tree of our Lord, You'll find the name of Tamar. You'll find the name of Rahab
the harlot, of Bathsheba. As if to indicate the savior
of sinners would enter into a near relationship with the absolute
worst of sinners. The Pharisees said this with
contempt. The Pharisees said this, mocking
our Lord. They said, he's the friend of
publicans and sinners. Don't you find that to be the
sweetest title that could be given? The friend of publicans
and sinners. Jesus Christ, what did he do? He came into the world to save
sinners. Take unto thee a wife of whoredoms
and the children of whoredoms for the land hath created or
committed great whoredom departing from the Lord. Our Lord chose his bride from
a fallen race, a sinful a sinful race. Turn to Romans chapter
5. Romans chapter 5, beginning with verse 6. Romans 5 verse 6, for when we
were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the
ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even
dare to die. But God. But God commendeth his
love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. We see nothing in this passage
that would indicate Gomer loved Hosea. Does that apply to us as well? He didn't love him. Think about those whom we love. There's qualities about them
that are endearing to us. What was endearing about her? Was there anything about Gomer
that would merit? Merit love? Again, there's nothing to indicate
she loved him. First John 4.10 says this, Herein
is love, not that we loved God, but he loved us. And he sent his son. He sent
his only begotten son to be the propitiation. for our sins. Gomer didn't choose Hosea. Hosea
chose Gomer. We did not choose our Lord. He chose us. In John chapter
15 verse 16 it says, ye have not chosen me. But I have chosen
you." We did not deserve His mercy.
We did not deserve His love. The cause of His love for us
and our redemption can only be found in Him. Only in the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at Hosea. Turn back to Hosea. Look at Hosea chapter 2. Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi
and to your sisters, Ruhamah, plead with your brother or your
mother. Plead, for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband. Let her therefore put away her
whoredoms out of her sight and her adulteries from between her
breasts, lest I strip her naked and set her as it is this day
that she was born and make her as a wilderness and set her like
a dry land, and slay her with thirst. And I will not have mercy
upon her children, for they be the children of harlots, for
their mother hath played the harlot. She that conceived them
hath done shamefully. For she said, I will go after
my lovers that give me my bread, and my water, my wool, my flax,
my oil, in my dream. Not long after their marriage,
Gomer left Hosea and she followed the ways of her people. When she became a full age, she
walked in the same path that they walked. Isn't that a picture of Again,
a picture of us. But Almighty God entered into
a covenant with Christ. And he chose us in Christ. And he made us his own before
the world began. Yet. We were born into this world
sons of Adam, fallen sinners. God's word declares the wicked
are estranged from the womb. They go astray as soon as they
be born, speaking lies. We didn't come into this world
as those who might fall. We're not sinners because we
sin. No, we sin because of what we
are, sinners. By nature, we love sin and we
hate holiness. In the book of Job, we read,
how much more abominable and filthy is man which drinketh
iniquity like water. Let's read on here, Hosea 2,
verse 5. Their mother played the harlot. She that conceived them hath
done shamefully. For she said, I'll go after my
lovers and give me my bread, my water, my wool, my flax, mine
oil and drink. Therefore, behold, I'll hedge
up thy way with thorns, I'll make a wall, that she shall not
find her paths, and she shall follow after her lovers, but
she shall not overtake them. She shall seek them, but shall
not find them. Then, shall she say, I will go
and return to my first husband. For then was it better with me
than now, She did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and
oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared
for Baal." Said this in opening, even in
her sin and rebellion, Hosea continued to provide for Gomer. Again, isn't that what the Lord
has done for us? Isn't that what he's done for
his people? From our birth, in all the days of our lives, consider
the graciousness of the Lord towards his people. He's protected
us. He's provided for every need. He's blessed us. even when we
had absolutely no desire to know Him. In James chapter 1, turn there
with me, we've got time. James chapter 1, right after
Hebrews. James chapter 1, verse 17. James 1, 17. Where do these things come from?
Verse 17, every good and every perfect gift is from above and
cometh down from the father of lights with whom there is no
variableness, neither shadow of turning. It's all of him. It's all of him. We read it's
not of him that willeth, it's not of him that runneth. Where
does it come from then? It's of God that showeth mercy. Salvation. Salvation is of the
Lord. Hosea chapter 2. Look at verse 9. Hosea 2, therefore, verse 9. Gomer says,
therefore will I return and take away my corn, and the time thereof,
and my wine, and the season thereof, and will recover my wool and
my flax given to cover her nakedness. And now I discover her lewdness
in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of
my hand. I'll cause her mirth to cease.
Her feast days, her new moons, and her Sabbaths, and all of
her solemn feasts, Gomer had to be brought low. She had to
be brought down. Her joy was turned to mourning. The sweetness she once enjoyed
had become bitter, and that which she loved she now hated. Like Naaman of old, we have to
be humbled. We have to be brought down. A sinner must be lost to be saved,
brought low before we can be lifted up, emptied before we
can be filled. I pray he enable us to cry out
like that publican of old. to show us something of who and
what we are and cry out, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Remember that story of the prodigal
son. Turn with me to Luke chapter
15. Luke chapter 15. That prodigal son had gathered
together everything he had, and he took his journey into a far
country. And he wasted away everything
he had. He wasted his substance with
riotous living. And when he'd spent all that
he had, there was a great famine that
arose in the land. and he began to be in want. Look at verse 15, he went and
he joined himself to a citizen of that country and he sent him
into the fields to feed swine and he would fain have filled
his belly with the husk that the swines did eat and no man
gave unto him. And when he came to himself,
something was revealed to him. His eyes were open to where he
was, and who he was, and what he was. When he came to himself,
he said, how many hired servants in my father's house have bread
enough to eat? And not just to eat, but to spare.
And I perish. I perish with hunger. I will
arise. And I'll go to my father and
I'll say unto him, Father, I have sinned against thee. I've sinned
against heaven and before thee. I'm not worthy to be called a
son. I'm not worthy to even have your
name. Make me. Make me as a hired servant. I wonder sometimes when I read
that, I think, I wonder how long he sat there and ate husks. How long did that go on until
it was revealed to him? And when it was revealed to him,
what did he do? He returned to his father. When he went to his father, did
his father disown him? Did he say, you're right, you're
not worthy to be my son anymore? Did he chastise him? Did he say,
I told you this would happen? You're no longer my son. It's
not what he did, did he? Look at verse 20. He arose and he came to his father. But when he was a great way off, his father saw him. And he had
compassion on him. And he ran, and he fell on his
neck, and he kissed him. What we read back there in Hosea
3, according to the love of the Lord." That's love, isn't it? And the son said unto him, Father,
I've sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and I'm no more
worthy to be called thy son. And the father said to his servants,
bring forth the best robe. Put it on him. Put a ring on
his hand. Shoes on his feet. Bring hither
the fatted calf and kill it and let us eat and be merry. What's the reason for this celebration?
What's the reason for this rejoicing? For this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost
and now he is found. And they began to be merry. They rejoiced. The father received
him in love. Look back to our text one more
time, Hosea 3. What did Hosea do for his bride,
Gomer? Then said the Lord unto me, verse
1, go yet love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress.
According to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel,
who look to other gods and love flagons of wine, so I bought
her. I bought her to me for 15 pieces
of silver and for a homer of barley and a half homer of barley. And I said unto her, thou shalt
abide for me many days. Thou shalt not play the harlot,
and thou shalt not be for another man, and so will I be for thee. There she was. on the auction
block. There she was guilty. There she was with a price on
her hand. You know, I read that and I wonder
about Gomer's humiliation. Think of that woman taken in
adultery. Remember that those men brought
that woman and said she was taken in the very act of adultery. Can you imagine her humiliation
and her shame? Here's Gomer. There she is in
her humiliation and shame. But stop and consider the humiliation
that Hosea bore. When he went down to that auction,
and he was identified with her, everyone knew her sin. Everyone knew her vileness, her
wickedness, and yet Hosea went down. The humiliation he must have
suffered standing there in front of that great, great crowd. He was identified with her. She's mine. He revealed his love for her. Despite all that she had done,
all of her sin, all of her rebellion, he loved her and he paid the
price and set her free. Deliver him from going down to
the pit. I have found a ransom. God's law and justice had a claim
on every one of us, a price fixed on each and every one of us,
eternal condemnation, death. Yet the Lord Jesus Christ, we
read, was numbered with the transgressors. The Lord Jesus Christ bore our sins. He identified
with his people. He paid the ransom price, not just a down payment. He paid it in full. In Isaiah 63, verse 3, we read
this, I have trodden the winepress alone. And of the people, was
there one? There was none. There was none
to help me. There was none with me. He paid
a debt that he didn't owe for us who owed a debt that we could
never pay. What an amazing thought through
all of this. Gomer never ceased to be Isaiah's. Can we take comfort in the security of the Lord's purchased bride,
that we're his? eternally His, eternal union
with Him. Our Lord spoke this in John 10,
27. Turn there and I'll close with this passage. John chapter
10. John 10, verse 27. These are the words of our Lord. My sheep hear my voice, and I
know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall, you see that word, never, never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. Could we be any more safe and
secure?