All right, let's open our Bible
now to the book of Hosea. Hosea. Hosea ministered during the days
of Isaiah. You'll notice verse 1, the word
of the Lord that came to Hosea, the son of Beriah, in the days
of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Kings of Judah. Those were the
same four kings in whose realm and reign that
Isaiah ministered, so about that time. Isaiah is known as what
they call a major prophet and Hosea a minor prophet, greater
and lesser, but that's not a good term, really. I don't know if
I didn't, where they started that. I haven't found it in the
word. I think the reason that they
call them the minor prophets, Hosea and Amos and Malachi and
these men, is the books they wrote, the scripture, is not
as great as Isaiah and Samuel and the others who wrote. And
that's the only reason I can find for Identifying these men
as minor prophets. They weren't minor in that they
were any less used of God or any less servants of God or any
less Their message any less than Christ Actually Hosea's name Is the same Meaning as Joshua
and Jesus The name Hosea is the same with Joshua Old Testament
Jesus and signifies a deliverer, a savior. He wasn't the savior. He didn't save anybody, but he
was a type. Hosea is a strong, strong, strong
type of our Lord Jesus Christ, our savior. And he prophesied
concerning Christ and his salvation. This is a great, great prophet,
Hosea, deliverer, savior. And the key of the book is right
at the beginning, verse two, the beginning of the word of
the Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea, you
go and take unto you yourself a wife of whoredoms and children
of whoredoms. For the land hath committed great
whoredom departing from the Lord. So he went and took Gomer. The
daughter of Diblaeum, which conceived and bear him a son, he went down
to a pagan, heathen, idolatrous, wicked land of whoredoms and
terrible deeds and activities and chose a bride. She's probably
14, 15, 16 years of age. That's when they're married back
then and back in the early days of this country, But God said
to Hosea, you go and choose and marry and love and keep on loving. Don't ever stop loving this woman. Now look at chapter three and
you'll see what, why the Lord commanded Hosea to do this because
he's a type of the Savior. His name means Savior. Hosea
3 verse 1, then said the Lord unto me, go yet still and love
a woman, beloved of a friend, an adulteress, according to the
love of the Lord toward the children of Israel, who look to other
gods and love flagons of wine. In other words, the Lord saying,
Hosea, you're a Savior. Your name means Savior. You type
in a picture of Christ, the Savior, and you go choose. You go to
the worst land you can find, and you find one of their women,
and you love her, really love her, choose her to marry her. You know, I was in Africa several
years ago, in the Ivory Coast, and Bill Clark and I and Ken
Wymer stayed in a kind of a missionary compound. And they had a church
and they had some nice people. Met some wonderful people there
in Africa. Wonderful believers. Sassandra
was the name of this village. But we were staying in little
concrete block buildings, sleeping on cots and separating that,
that compound, that missionary compound. was a wall about five
feet high, all the way down from Yale East down here. And one
day, first day I was there, I went out and stood there and looked
over the wall and it was like, it was like looking into another
time zone. It's like looking into another
country. On the other side of that wall
were the tribal people were naked. All they had on was just a little
piece of leather cloth. Dirty, smoke pots burning, little
old run-down hut, not a chair, not a table, sitting on the ground,
cooking, the little children rolling in the dirt, hiding.
It just is like Thousands of years ago turning the clock back
and here they were is a fearful pagan idolatrous. I can't describe
to you How obnoxious it was And I thought about Hosea Who went
among people just like that Chose one of their girls God told him
do that actually this tribe of people in that Separated by that
wall The seashore was down 500 yards or a thousand yards other
side of their little tribe And one day we will go we wanted
to go to the seashore and see that they're cut out Canoes and
all and we had to walk right through that place and I scared
every step of the way Walking through those people. I thought
now Well, they're different and less than them. I hope they don't
notice that We had to go down that way and
come back that way. I was so glad. It's just you can't imagine.
I can't describe it. But that's what Hosea did. Because
that's what our Lord did when he chose us. That's exactly it. Our Lord Jesus Christ, back before
the foundations of the world, chose his bride out of a fallen,
wretched, pagan, idolatrous race. Chose me and he chose you. This
woman didn't love Hosea, but he loved her. I didn't love Christ,
but he loved me. She didn't deserve his favor,
and I didn't deserve his love or his favor, but he chose me.
You have to quicken who were dead and trespassers in sin,
who walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the pie of the air, The spirit that now worships
in the children of disobedience, among whom we all had our conversation
in times past in the lust of our flesh, in the lust of our
eyes, in the pride of life, and he chose us. And the choice was
based strictly on his mercy, his mercy. Hosea went down and
chose this woman. He selected her, and it was based
solely on his mercy and his grace toward her, his goodness on her
behalf. Turn with me to Romans 5, and
you read about that same mercy, only infinitely greater. Only infinitely greater. You know, when I walked among
those people, they didn't touch me. But when our Lord walked
on this earth, they killed Him. We crucified Him. When I walked down through them
in my white skin and clean clothes, and they just looked at me, I
was different. But when our Lord walked this
earth in His holiness and righteousness, they despised Him, spat in His
face, and nailed Him to a cross. They hated Him so badly. He died
for us. It says in Romans 5, verse, listen,
verse 8, But God commended his love toward us in that why were
we yet sinners? Christ died for us. Verse 10,
For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the
death of his Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved
by his life. You didn't choose me, he said,
I chose you. It's not that I did choose thee, Lord, that could
not be. This wretched, pagan, sinful heart of mine, left alone,
would still refuse thee. Well, let's look back at Matea. Gomer, that's her name, that's
the name of this girl. She was 14, 15, or 16, somewhere
in there, maybe younger, I don't know. But she tried, she tried
to walk in morality for a while. You read, look at verse 3. So
he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Debalaim, and she conceived
and bore him a son. And verse 6, and she conceived
again and bore a daughter. And verse 8, when she had weaned
Lohahama, she conceived and bore a son. She had three children, named each one of them. And for
a while, she was outwardly domesticated and tamed. But inwardly, she
was still taken. Still fathered, still wretched,
still from that tribe of Horton. And soon, she walked that path. That's what she was inside all
along. But he chose her as a girl and
brought her into his place. But his place didn't change her.
His kindness didn't change him. She was wretched inside. Corrupt
inside. And finally she walked that way.
Look at chapter 2. She had three children and Hosea
said, Say ye to your brethren, Am I unto your sister Ruhema? Plead with your mother. Plead
with your mother. She's not my wife. I'm not her husband. Let
her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight. Her adultery
was between her breasts. She began to follow the course
of life in which she was born and raised. You see that? Because that's what she was inside. Now then, we were chosen of God
before we were born. before we've done any good or
evil. Look at Romans 9. Let me show you that. Now listen
to Romans 9. God chose us to be His bride. Romans 9, verse
11. Listen, the children being not
yet born, neither having done any good or evil, at the purpose
of God according to their election might stand, it was said unto
her, Not of work, but of him that called it. It was said to
her, the elder shall serve the younger. Hosea went down and chose this
girl, just a young child. Brought her, tamed her outwardly. But after a while, that nature
took over and she went wild. You see that among even children
in our church? Yourself. I was born in a religious
home. Many of you were. Our children were. They were
tamed and domesticated with rules and discipline. You do this,
and I'll bust your bottom. You know, they kind of, they
walked straight, but they got a little older. And while they
were tamed a little on the outside, they were never conquered inside. Like that little boy, his mama
scolded him. She said, sit down. He stood there. She said, sit
down. He sat down. And he mumbled something. She
turned and said, what did you say? He said, I'm sitting down
on the outside. I'm standing up on the inside. And that's what happened. And
all the threats in the world won't affect a change. Listen to verse three. Hosea
said, I'll strip her naked. I'll set her as in the day she
was born. I'll make her a wilderness. I'll
set her like a dry land. I'll slay her with thirst. I'll
not have mercy on her children. They be the children of whoredom.
That's what I'm gonna, that's my threat. Didn't do any good.
Didn't do up there any good. Judgment won't conquer a rebel. Threats won't conquer a rebel. I looked at this one time, the
creature, the human beings, sons of Adam and all creatures, they
fall under any circumstances. They're sinners by nature. In
fact, in heaven, the angels fell. In a perfect garden, Adam rebelled. After the flood, Noah, If anybody
ever saw the grace and mercy of God, it was no one. Got drunk. Had a family division. Solemn. Old Lot was literally plucked
as a bran out of a pie. But he fell. Caused a lot of
heartache. Israel was delivered out of Egypt,
miraculously. left death and devastation behind
them, walked across the sea on dry land, and lived like a bunch
of pagans. Solomon, a kingdom of wisdom,
God gave that man wisdom that no human being ever had before
since. Yet he wasn't very smart, and
a lot earlier. Apostle of Christ, he chose 12. Judas sold him for $16, 30 pieces
of silver. Peter, cursed and swore and said,
I don't know him. The rest of them turned tail
and ran. That's human nature. In the early
church, Ananias, Simon Magus, Keep naming them, Demas. There's no safety from sin in
this flesh. And that's just us. We're born
that way, and that was what she was, and she went her way. She did what she was born doing
when the time came. And then, but now watch this.
But Hosea never stopped loving her. He never stopped loving
her. Look at verse 5. Your mother
hath played the harlot. She that conceived them hath
done shamefully. She said, I'll go after my lover.
They give me my bread and my water, my wool, my flats, my
oil, my drink. They're the ones that sustain
me and supply me and keep me with all the things I need. But
they weren't doing it. Her lovers weren't doing any
of these things. She thought they were the ones that were
supplying her needs. But verse 8 said, Hosea said in verse 8,
she didn't know. It never occurred to her that
I was giving her the corn and the wine and the oil and multiplied
her silver and gold which she prepared for Baal. I was doing
it. I don't know where she was living,
but Hosea was taking care of her. She thought her lovers and
these people who were using her, that they were providing for
her, but it was Hosea all the time. Because he never stopped
loving her. And that's the way our Lord is
with us. We're born, we've chose us, to
marry back to him. We, in our early days, acted
a little tame, and then we went wild, gave vent to our nature. And all the time we ran from
Him and blasphemed Him and worshiped false gods, He provided everything
we needed to eat, all we needed to wear, provided us with a home
and a family and loved ones and children. Our Heavenly Father
supplied all our needs, even in our rebellion, through His
riches in glory by Christ Jesus. If you're here this morning and
walking in rebellion, if you're here, He'll keep you till he
conquers you. He'll keep you till he brings
you home. He'll supply your needs. You don't love him, but he loves
you. I don't say that of all human beings. I say that of his
bride, whom he chose. No matter where they are or what
they do, he never stops loving them. But he'll bring them home. The hymn writer said this. He
that formed me in my mother's womb, he'll guide me to the tomb. All my days shall ever be ordered
purpose by his decree. Times of sickness, times of health,
times of want, times of wealth, times of sorrow, times of grief,
times of joy, or relief, times of tempter's power to prove,
times to taste the Savior's love. These times shall come, and they'll
last, and they'll end, but they're all decreed by my sovereign friend. And plagues and death around
me fly, but till he pleases, I cannot die. I know that he's
God alone, and I and mine are all his own. He married me before the foundation
of the world, and the steps of every sheep are ordered, planned,
directed by the Heavenly Father as much as the steps of Joseph
that brought him from the pit to the palace. And that's where
he's taken me and you, from the pit to the palace. And it's all
planned. Well, Gomer finally was brought
down. Look at verse 9 of chapter 2.
Therefore shall I return and take away my corn in the time
thereof. Conviction is of God. I'll strip
her, and he did. I'll take away the wine in the
season. I'll recover my wool and flax,
given to cover her nakedness. And I will discover her lewdness
in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of
my hand." This is the stripping, humbling, convicting, devastating
work of God's Spirit. He does it. I will also cause
all her mirth to cease. Her life became a burden. Sweetness
became bitter. Her joy was turned to mourning.
That which she enjoyed, now she hated. She discovered the nothingness,
endlessness of the vanity of this world. Her feast days, her
new moons, her Sabbath, all her solemn feasts, I'll destroy her
vines and fig trees where she is fed. These are my rewards
that my lovers have given me. I'll make a forest and the beasts
of the field shall eat them. I'll take away it all. I'll turn
it all to bitterness. like the prodigal son came to
himself. And he said, the servants in
my father's house have plenty, and here I am in a pigpen. This is the experience of all
whom the Lord saves. Men do not taste of his grace
till they're weary of their sin, will never look to the Lord for
mercy, till we feel the guilt and the burden and the hatefulness
of this flesh. Can't stand it anymore. All the
gain becomes lost. That's what Paul said. And we cry with the prodigal
son, Lord, I'm not asking to be returned to my state as a
son. Just make me a hired servant.
I'd rather be a doorkeeper in your house than a son in the
wicked house." Brought her down. And she's going
to come home. Let me come home. Let me come
home. That's what Particle Son said,
let me come home. I'll live in a shed, but let
me come home. Let me come home. Well, I don't understand this,
look at chapter three too much about her situation. But then
the Lord said, chapter three, verse one, go yet and still love
that woman, beloved of a friend, an adulteress, according to the
love which the Lord has for his children. And that's not just
talking about the Jews, that's talking about believers who look
to other gods and love flagons of wine. So I bought her. Hosea said, I bought her. She had a price on her head.
And I bought her for 15 pieces of silver. Omer of barley and
a half omer of barley. In other words, Gomer belonged
to a system. She belonged, she had sold herself
into slavery. She was owned and in possession
of evil masters. She belonged to them. There was
a price on her head. She was a worn-out slave. And Hosea said, I went down to
the market, and there were all these people there, and there
were these women and slaves on the block being sold. My bride, whom I love, was standing
in the midst of all these wretched slaves. And I said, what they're
asking for her? You don't want her. Yeah, I do. The price on her head is 15 pieces
of silver and the barley. And he said, I'll buy her. Don't
you know how humiliated he must have been? His neighbors and
friends standing there. Surely, surely a man of your
wealth and power and position could have anybody you want.
I want her. And he said, I bought her. I
bought her. I paid for her. Our Lord Jesus
Christ came into this world and loving his people, loving his
sheep. He said, I love my sheep. I lay down my life for the sheep,
and he was humiliated and shamed and spat upon, but he paid the
price, but it wasn't silver and gold. It was the silver of his
sweat and the gold of his blood. You see, the law had us. There
was a price on our heads. That price was a perfect righteousness
and a death, a spiritual death, an eternal death. An ignominious
death. And our Lord came and took our
place and said, Justice, I'm buying my church. I'll obey the law for him and
I'll pay the debt for him. That's right. Pleased the Lord
to bruise him. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him. My stripes were healed. He was
numbered with the transgressors. He bared the sin of many and
set them free. Come on, come on, Goldman, let's
go home. Let's go home. And verse 3, and
you know she never left again. They were never parted again.
Verse 3, and I said to her, you shall abide for me many days. You shall not play the harlot.
You shall be not for another man. So will I also. I'll be for you. They'll never leave me and I'll
never leave them. They're bought and paid for. Grace for the guilty, isn't that
good? That's my life stolen, yours
too. And that's the ending of it too, happiness and joy with
him, in him, always. Undeserved, unmerited, unsought. genuine effectual all right let's
let's sing a closing hymn