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The Litmus Test of Repentance (Hosea 6)
13 Plays9 months ago
Sunday Message recorded 04 February 2024
by Associate Pastor Josh Shell
First Baptist Church -- Columbus TX
1700 Milam St.
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
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Transcript
Introduction of Ben and Amber
00:00:06
Speaker
Well, hey, it is good to be with you guys this morning. And man, it's been a fun morning so far. We're excited to have Ben and Amber. We're excited to hear what you guys are going to share with us this evening. And Ben, I just have to say, you look more Texas than I do this morning, buddy. So congrats on that, man. Well, what's that? I said it was a good day. That's right. That's right.
Study of Hosea Continues
00:00:27
Speaker
Well, we are going to be continuing in our series through our study of Hosea. So if you have your Bibles, go ahead and get those out and open them up to Hosea chapter 6.
00:00:36
Speaker
If you do not have a Bible, you can use one of the Bibles that's in the back side of the pews there. I don't have the page number as Stephen Mick usually does. I'm sorry. But it's Hosea chapter 6. And I just want to encourage you with this. If you don't have a Bible and you need one, feel free to take that one home.
00:00:54
Speaker
Everybody needs to have their own copy of God's word. And we would love for you guys to have that. So again, if you don't have your own word of God, go ahead and take that Bible home with you and put your name on it. That way you take notes and all that fun
Reflections on Repentance
00:01:06
Speaker
stuff in it. But as I said, we're going to be continuing our series through this Old Testament book of Hosea. And I don't know about you guys. This has been one that I've studied. I think it says four. I've studied it.
00:01:17
Speaker
once before, maybe before doing this series, and there's a lot that I'm learning going to this study now that I missed on the initial read through. Has anybody ever been in that situation before?
00:01:29
Speaker
I pray that's how it is every time we read the word of God, that every time you open it up that you're always learning something new that you did not see before. But specifically though in this book, this has been such a humbling book for me. And I pray that this has been a great series for all of us as we walk through it. But this morning though, we're going to be looking at a topic that
00:01:50
Speaker
If I'm being honest, I feel like I had figured out or I have figured out, but the reality is, is as I studied and prepared for this week and really over this last season, this talk this morning is one that I'm still learning how to appropriately do. And I don't know if you guys are in the same boat as I am, but I pray that as we work through this passage that we'll get a feel of where we're all at when it comes to the topic of repentance.
Judgment and Genuine Repentance Discussion
00:02:16
Speaker
Because if you remember, this book of Hosea is all about this coming judgment on the nation of Israel, and as a result of their lack of faithfulness to God's commands and to their fellowship with God.
00:02:31
Speaker
And what we're going to see today is that as this coming judgment is coming upon the nation of Israel, we're going to see your response either from what scholars say is either Hosea or from the people. And we're going to figure out if this response is truly a true act of repentance or if it's one of just false repentance.
00:02:49
Speaker
And so as we walk through this, I pray that you'll prepare your hearts so that way we can learn from the nation of Israel and learn from this passage what it means for us today to live a life of true repentance in light of the sin in which we walk in in this world. So I want to pray for us real quick, and then we will continue on with our study.
Prayer and Gratitude
00:03:14
Speaker
So will you pray with me? Lord God, we come before you. We just ask that you truly do come before this time.
00:03:19
Speaker
Lord, that you'll go before us as we read through your word, that your word will speak to our hearts. Lord, that there is anything in our hearts today that we need to surrender to you that will do that. Lord, I pray that you'll clear our hearts of anything that's weighty so that way we can truly be attentive to what you have in store for us.
00:03:38
Speaker
God, I know I'm not perfect. There's a lot of things in my life that I need to continue to work on and praise God that you have sent the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us in that. But I pray though, Lord, that there's anyone in this room that feels like that they are not good enough to be in your presence or that they're not good enough to be in a relationship with you, Father, that you'll meet them today and realize that despite their sin, despite their brokenness, Father, you desire a relationship because you're a great love for us.
00:04:08
Speaker
But God, just go before us during this time and may it be pleasing to you. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. All right, so.
Life's Snares and True Repentance
00:04:18
Speaker
First and foremost, I want to thank Victor for leading us through the last two weeks of an incredible message of what it means for us as we looked at chapter five when it comes to how we have a tendency of walking through life and being captive to these different snares in our lives. The different things in our lives that hold us captive that lead us away from Jesus, that lead us away from our relationship with God, or
00:04:45
Speaker
us being the snares that are leading others away. And I pray that as we've walked through chapter five and as we did the last two weeks that we were able to process those things in our lives that are either being snares to us or the errors in our lives that we're being snares to others. And I feel like that really does lead us up to what we'll be looking at today when it comes to how we need to be living a life of true repentance.
00:05:12
Speaker
Because if you go back to chapter five and look at how it concludes there in verse 15, it says, this is the
Acknowledging Guilt and Seeking God
00:05:20
Speaker
Lord speaking. I will return again to my place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face and in their distress, earnestly seek me.
00:05:31
Speaker
So the Lord is calling out the nation of Israel for their unfaithfulness and the areas in their lives where they have turned away from God and they have followed after false idols to the point to where they, as Victor had mentioned, where they were even sacrificing their own children to these false gods. That's a serious, serious sin. So it's not that they're just unfaithfully walking with God. God is calling them out and he's saying, no, you guys have gone above and beyond even just walking unfaithfully.
00:06:01
Speaker
You're walking in pure wickedness. And he then, as he concludes this judgment upon them and calling them out for their sin and calling them out for the different snares that they've been falling into or the things that they've even been causing other people to stumble into, he says, I will return again to my place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face. And then they're distressed, earnestly seek me. So,
00:06:28
Speaker
Concluding a chapter that was full of judgment, that's actually kind of hopeful, because the Lord's saying, hey, I'm going to turn to my place until they seek me. God's mercy and grace is there. He says, I'm going to return to my place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face. And what we're going to see in opening chapter, the opening of chapter six is that they will do that, but we're going to figure out whether or not it's true or not.
00:06:56
Speaker
But before we do that though, again, what I want us to have in our minds as we go through this passage is, have we acknowledged our guilt and have we truly sought God's face when it comes to our sin? So that way we can earnestly seek Him. Because it's not until you acknowledge your sin, it's not until you recognize where you've been before you can truly prepare yourself to go and to seek God.
Litmus Test for Repentance
00:07:27
Speaker
You have to confess. You have to repent of your sin in order for you to truly experience the fullness of who God is. So let's read here in chapter six, verse one, and we'll read through this entire chapter together. So picking up in verse one, it says, come, let us return to the Lord, for he has torn us, that he may heal us. He has struck us down and he will bind us up.
00:07:56
Speaker
After two days, He will revive us. On the third day, He will raise us up that we may live before Him. Let us know. Let us press on to know the Lord. His going out is sure as the dawn. He will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.
00:08:18
Speaker
What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. Therefore, I have honed them by the prophets. I have slain them by the words of my mouth. And my judgment goes forth as the light, for I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice. For the knowledge of God
00:08:45
Speaker
rather than burnt offerings. But like Adam, they transgressed the covenant. There they dealt faithlessly with me.
00:08:53
Speaker
Gilead is a city of evildoers tracked with blood. As robbers lie awake for a man, so the priests band together. They murder on the way to Shechem. They commit villainy. In the house of Israel, I've seen a horrible thing. Ephraim's hordom is there. Israel is defiled. For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed." And that's where we're to stop. Will you pray with me?
00:09:23
Speaker
God, again, we just come before you asking that you lead us through this text, that you'll prepare our hearts and that you'll pierce our hearts of where it needs to be pierced. But again, Lord, may it be your words that we hear today is in Jesus' name. Amen. So again,
00:09:42
Speaker
The Lord there in verse 15 of chapter five, I again will return to my place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face. And in their distress, earnestly seek me. And then verse
Steadfast Love Over Sacrifice
00:09:53
Speaker
one here comes this, verses one, two, three comes this great act of repentance, if you will.
00:10:02
Speaker
And that's why I wanted to name this title of this message this morning, the litmus test of repentance. The litmus test of repentance. And many of you guys know what a litmus test is, right? So if you're a fan of science and a fan of chemistry, a litmus test, if you want to pull that up, all right? It's a test for acidity or alkalinity using litmus.
00:10:25
Speaker
So it's trying to figure out if there's an acid or a base. I am not a chemistry person, so this is all up here to me. Even when I took chemistry in high school, I was like, can you repeat that about 12 times?
00:10:38
Speaker
OK? But we also take the same premise of a litmus test, and we apply it to our daily lives. So the next definition there says, a litmus test is a test in which a single factor, such as an attitude, event, or fact, is decisive. So in other words, we like to use these litmus tests in our lives to figure out a definitive answer or definitive characteristic about either a person, place, or thing.
00:11:09
Speaker
And so I pray that as we work through this passage that we will use this as a litmus test of repentance. So again, picking up here in verses one through three, we see this response of what we think is true repentance. Some people believe, some scholars believe that this is Hosea speaking on behalf of the future generation.
00:11:36
Speaker
Some scholars believe that this is the actual people of Israel in their response to God. I want to allow us to determine who this is. So again, so come, let us return to the Lord for He has taught us that He may heal us. He has struck us down and He will bind us up. This is a true response of what we would think repentance is. Acknowledging your sin, addressing it, bringing it before the Lord.
00:12:07
Speaker
Right? But remember, with repentance, it's not just this idea of confession. It's a process of actually turning away from your sin. So it's more than just confessing it and recognizing it. It's confessing and recognizing you need to turn away from it and to flee from it. If we're not fleeing from our sin, then are we truly repentant?
00:12:33
Speaker
So it goes on here in verse two, it says, after two days, you will revive us. On the third day, he will raise us up that we may live before him. This is an interesting verse here because different scholars have come up with different ideas of what they mean here. So one way to interpret this verse is that they think that the two days is two millennium.
False vs True Repentance
00:12:59
Speaker
It's 2,000 year periods. And on the third day, the third thousand years is when Christ will return. And when Christ returns, we know this great triumphal second coming of Jesus. When He comes, He's going to restore all things. And so this kind of ties in with the idea that Hosea is speaking on behalf of the future generation, talking about us.
00:13:19
Speaker
talking about those who will recognize their sin and that they will turn back and that they will come before God and that He will come and He will fix us and heal us and bind us up in His return.
00:13:32
Speaker
But while others believe that if this was truly the response of the Israelite people, the initial response, they believe that this is a literal three days. They think that this is a quick turnaround of repentance and for healing from the Lord. And that after two days, he will come back and he will restore them on the third day and they'll be right in fellowship with God again. But remember, you got to think about the multitude of the sin by which they just committed.
00:14:02
Speaker
Again, like I said, this isn't just of them turning away from the Lord as they've done in the past. You've got to remember, this is a continual issue with the nation of Israel going all the way back to the Exodus and their unfaithfulness to God. But rather, they've gone above and beyond, and they have taken their sin and they have made it into idolatry.
00:14:25
Speaker
and they've worshiped other gods. So God is not just gonna be able to just turn his cheek to them and saying, hey, I forgive you again, come back into my bosom, right? He's not gonna do that. He says, no, you have to answer for your sin. You have to understand the weight of your sin. But this is also a beautiful verse because it does also kind of foreshadow the resurrection of Jesus.
00:14:54
Speaker
And after two days, He will come back. And on the third day, He will rise from the grave. And on that third day, through His resurrection, what comes? Reconciliation.
00:15:07
Speaker
We can now be brought back into fellowship with God because He came to take on the weight of sin. He took it to the cross for us. He bore the weight and the wrath of God for us, was buried, and three days later, He rose, conquering sin, death, and evil so that we could have right fellowship with God. So again, this is a very profound verse. So it says, after two days, He will revive us. On the third day, He will raise us up that we may live before Him.
00:15:37
Speaker
And then verse three says, let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going out is as sure as the dawn. He will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains, the water of the earth. So they know the graciousness of God. And what they're saying here is that we know and we need to press on to continue to know. But the reality is, is it a true sense of repentance and wanting to desire to follow God again?
00:16:09
Speaker
And we're going to see that in verse four. But how does God respond? Verse four. What shall I do with you, Ovifram? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. I don't think that's kind of the response that they were hoping for. I don't think that's the response that I ever want to hear from God whenever I come before Him in repentance.
00:16:37
Speaker
So again, this is what I'm saying. This is the litmus test for us because many times I am like this response or this, whether it's Hosea or the nation of Israel in my repentance, where it says, I recognize where I fall short. I recognize my sin, whether it's the way I treat somebody, the way I speak to somebody, whether it's a personal struggle of mine. When I recognize, I bring it before the Lord, but the reality is, is what is my heart condition?
00:17:07
Speaker
Am I just coming before the Lord just to verbally say it, just out of habit, just because I know that's what I need to do, or am I truly coming before the Lord with a broken contrite heart? Which one is it? I pray that every time that I come before the Lord with a broken contrite heart, but I know that I'm also sinful. There's times where I fall short, and there's times where my mouth says I want to repent,
00:17:38
Speaker
But in my heart, there's times where I don't want to repent. Has anybody else been in that situation? Good, I'm glad I'm not the only one. Okay. So again though, in this moment, they are saying this act of repentance, but God's word here says, what shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
00:18:01
Speaker
What should I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. In other words, your love is like a vapor. You say you love me, but yet it's so easily just dissolved. You say with your mouth one thing, but your actions say another. That's convicting.
00:18:28
Speaker
Then it goes on to verse five, therefore I have honed them by the prophets. That word hone is like a worker in the field with a shovel or an ax or a pick and he's going out there breaking the soil. He's coming and he is attacking the very thing at the center of their heart by the prophets.
Living by the Spirit vs Flesh
00:18:47
Speaker
And how did they receive the prophets? With hardness of heart. Each prophet that the Lord sent
00:18:58
Speaker
Did not have an easy life. They did were not received well, right? And so he says therefore I've honed them by the prophets I've slain them by the words of my mouth and my judgment goes forth as light as light Let me ask you something when it comes to the light Can anything stand against it? Can darkness last within the light? No
00:19:28
Speaker
So in other words, God's judgment that is coming against the nation of Israel, nothing can come against it. It's already coming against them. The judgment has already been made. God says, you're active sin, you're active unfaithfulness. You're going to have to answer for it. You're going to have to answer for it. There's nothing that can come against it. But get this in verse 6.
00:19:56
Speaker
It says, for I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice.
00:20:02
Speaker
I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. You see, this is critical because when you come to the nation of Israel, when you look at their history, they are really good at when they fall short, they come back with an action. They're really good at coming back with obedience to the law in regards to making sacrifices and walking in good behavior before the Lord.
00:20:31
Speaker
But when it comes to their heart, is it truly repentant? And that's what we're seeing here, is that the Lord is saying, your heart is not truly repentant. And as a result of that, you will face judgment. You will go into captivity. But this is a very, this is a passage that sounds very, very familiar, just to give you an idea of, so
00:20:56
Speaker
To this, the Israelites, in my opinion, are having a false repentance. And that's why God's judgment is coming. Whereas when you go back to Psalms, like Psalm 51 with David,
00:21:10
Speaker
And you hear the heart that comes from David and his words. You see an act of true repentance. So you don't have to turn there. I can read it to you. But just listen to the words that David says here in Psalm 51. He says, have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love.
00:21:28
Speaker
According to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin, for I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Against you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.
00:21:51
Speaker
Goes on, says, behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin my mother can see me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me, I shall be wider this snow. Let me hear joy and gladness. Let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
00:22:15
Speaker
And then it goes down to verse 12 and it says, restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressions your ways and sinners will return to you. You guys hear the heart of David? Y'all remember, okay, so the context around Psalm 51, do y'all remember that context? For those of you guys who don't know, this is David coming up full of Lord and true repentance because of committing adultery with another woman, a woman named Bathsheba.
00:22:45
Speaker
So he is, and not only did he commit adultery, but he murdered her husband as a result, so that way he could hide his sin. So again, David in light of God is very much in the same position as the Israelites in the day of Hosea here. They're both acting adulterously. They're both living lives of Hordle, but yet listen to their responses of repentance.
00:23:12
Speaker
So I pray that we'll take note of that, that when we come before the Lord, we need to come before Him with a truly broken and contrite heart. That's what God desires. He desires us to recognize our heart for what it is that's broken, it's wicked, it's evil, and that there's only one way that it can be healed, and that's through Him and Him alone. And for us who are on this side of the New Testament covenant, it's through Jesus.
00:23:41
Speaker
That's the only way that our hearts can be healed. That's the only way we can overcome our sin. So again, God does not desire sacrifice. He doesn't desire our works. He can care less if you're in this sanctuary every single Sunday for the rest of your life. He can care less if you go out and do 20 good things in the community. But rather, what does God desire?
00:24:07
Speaker
Heart change. You're absolutely right. A broken and contrite heart. And for us to pursue the knowledge of God, to walk in His ways, to turn away from the flesh, and to follow after the things of the Spirit. And this is totally echoed in the New Testament in Galatians chapter 5 where Paul is talking to the Galatian people
00:24:29
Speaker
And he goes on and talks about how the works of the flesh are evident, that they are sexual morality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalry, and it goes on and on and on that portrays to us what life in the flesh looks like.
00:24:53
Speaker
So my question is, is your life producing works or is your life producing evidence that
Judgment as Hope for Jesus
00:24:59
Speaker
you're still walking in the flesh? Because if it is, then I would say you probably haven't truly repented. That or you truly have not experienced Jesus for who he is. Because if you truly experience Jesus, the true Son of God, you will no longer desire the things of the flesh, but rather you'll desire the things of the Spirit.
00:25:23
Speaker
the things of God. Because when you encounter Jesus, your whole heart is transformed. It dies through the things of the flesh, and then it puts on the things of God, which are also evident with the fruit of the Spirit, right? Which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, and against such things there is no law.
00:25:51
Speaker
So I pray that we'll do some self-evaluations today. What are our actions producing? Are they producing the things of the flesh or are they producing the things of the spirit? Because how we choose to see that in our own life is the true evidence of how you are living a life of repentance.
00:26:16
Speaker
goes on in verse seven all the way down to verse 11, but like Adam, they transgress the covenant.
00:26:23
Speaker
This marital covenant that God instituted with Adam in the very beginning, the covenant that was broken between him and Adam as a result of Eve and Adam partaking of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil that separated, broke that relationship, kicked them out of the garden. That same covenant, these same people, God also instituted a covenant with them on Mount Sinai. They also broke the same covenant.
00:26:52
Speaker
We are no different than those who come before us when it comes to the sinfulness in our heart and how it attacks the soul. We have to be our guard against this. But like Adam, they transgressed the covenant. There they dealt faithlessly with me.
00:27:11
Speaker
And then he goes on to give this different illustration of their actions, of their works in which they've been produced throughout their time. It says, Gilead is like a city of evil doers, tracked with blood. As robbers, they lay and wait for a man, so the priests band together. They murder on the way to Shechem. They commit villainy. So again, God is shining light on the state of their heart, in their condition.
00:27:38
Speaker
If we're not careful, we're not much different than they are today. It's so easy for us to sit here and say, yes, I confess in the name of Jesus, the Savior, Lord. But yet, as soon as we go out to the community, as soon as we get on I-10, oh, game changer.
00:28:00
Speaker
We're so quick to forget the covenant that has been established between us and God, well, as soon as we confess in Jesus. We have to remain faithful. We have to walk in humble submission and obedience to the Spirit. So that way we don't walk in the same paths, so that way we don't end up like our ancestors in the nation of Israel.
00:28:26
Speaker
Verse 10, in the house of Israel, I have seen a horrible thing. Ephraim's hordom is there. Israel is defiled. So their judgment has been placed. They came before the Lord with a confession, an act of repentance in verses one through three. But the Lord has seen past their words and looked at their heart.
00:28:57
Speaker
and they are gonna have to answer for their sin. They're gonna have to answer for their unfaithfulness. But praise God that despite what God had to do to the nation of Israel during Hosea's day, despite what he had to do there, Jesus came as a result.
00:29:18
Speaker
All this took place so that way it laid the foundation for our Messiah to come so that way He can be our true Savior, the one to take away our sin. Because God knew that there was nothing that we could do to overcome it. God knew that we would habitually walk in this state of sin. So He sent His Son Jesus to come and take it away for us.
00:29:43
Speaker
So now we get to experience on this side of the New Testament covenant being able to walk in freedom through the name of Jesus because of His finished work. But again, for us even today, on this side of the New Testament covenant, it's still a daily commitment of repentance.
00:30:07
Speaker
Our sins have been washed away. Our sins have been blotted out through the crucifixion of Jesus and His blood. However, we are still required to come before Him in an act of repentance to show that our heart is truly humble before Him. So if we don't wake up daily or at some point throughout our day recognize that we are sinful, we need to repent of the sin, and yes, we all sin,
00:30:37
Speaker
then we're no different than the nation of Israel. So again, in the house of Israel, I've seen a horrible thing. Ephraim's harem is there, Israel's defiled. And in verse 11 there in the first part of the verse, it says, For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed. So he's not just speaking to Israel here, he's speaking to the nation of Judah as well.
00:31:03
Speaker
And what we'll see is that the nation of Judah will also succumb to the same kind of idolatry and the same type of falling away as the nation of Israel, and they too will fall into captivity. But again, the beauty here is that I don't want us to get caught up in the fact that there's a lot of hopelessness here, that there's a lot of judgment, but rather everything that we're seeing is laying the foundation for Jesus to come.
Conclusion and Self-Examination
00:31:30
Speaker
And that's why there's so much hope in books like this, even though it seems like there's a lot of catastrophe and a lot of hopelessness, there's a lot of hope for us because it was laying the foundation for Jesus to come. And without Him coming, we would not be where we are today on this side of the New Testament covenant, of this side of mercy and grace and salvation. So as we conclude our time though, I do pray that we will do some self-analyzation here.
00:32:00
Speaker
Where are we at when it comes to living a lifestyle of repentance? When we go before the Lord, is the Lord receiving our words? Is he acknowledging our heart from what it is in an act of true repentance, or is he judging our heart just like he's judging the nation of Israel? It's a weighty thing to think about, isn't it?
00:32:25
Speaker
And this should be, because we're going before a holy, righteous God with our filthiness. This should not be an easy thing to go before the Lord without saying, I remember having a conversation with a fellow friend of mine. We were talking about that. We were talking about how it's easy for us to bring all of our filthiness and our wretchedness before a holy, righteous God. It's easier to do that than it is to go before our brothers and sisters in Christ to confess.
00:32:55
Speaker
You ever thought about that? We're more worried about what each other think about ourselves than we are about what our holy righteous God thinks about us in spite of our broken, wretched sin. Granted, that's who God is, right? God is in all loving, all gracious, all compassionate God, but we have a tendency of leaning on that way too much and we lose a sense of reverence for who God is and his holiness.
00:33:26
Speaker
Because what John talks about first John, right? So God is light, there's no darkness in him at all. So why are we like, how is it so easy for us to bring our darkness before the light of God? But yet we can't even do that before one another. Okay, that's a whole another summer for a whole another day. But all I have to say is I pray that we'll do some self-analyzation here that we will truly assess our hearts and how we repent before the Lord.
00:33:52
Speaker
And I also pray that if you're in this room today and you've never ever truly repented or that you've never experienced or encountered Jesus, that you never surrender your life to Him personally, that today will be that day. I know that passages and books like Hosea can seem very hopeless.
00:34:16
Speaker
And that God is this wrathful God who desires to bring judgment upon his people. That's not who God is. If anything, in 2 Peter, Peter talks about how God is slow to anger because he desires all to come to repentance. The days in which we're living in now are days of great grace.
00:34:38
Speaker
God is giving us opportunities to come before him so that way he can truly receive us for who we are and forgive us of our sins if we are just confessed with our hearts and believe in our mouths. Oh my gosh, I'm getting the verse messed up. Believe in our hearts, confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord. If we do that, then the Lord will forgive us and we will receive salvation. So I pray if that's you today that you will do that.
00:35:03
Speaker
But let me pray for us, and if you need to come down to the altar, I pray you'll do that. If you need to come talk to me, come talk to me. If you need to talk to a brother or sister in Christ, that's right next to you, do that. But don't miss the opportunity to come before the Lord and repent and just surrender your life to Him. Will you pray with me? Lord God, we thank you so much for your word and for this time.
00:35:24
Speaker
And Lord, we thank you for this period of great grace that we live in and how despite our brokenness and our sinfulness, you still allow us the opportunity to come before you to truly repent so that way we can receive salvation. And Lord, I pray that for those of us who have already received this great gift of salvation, that we will daily come before you with a true humble heart of repentance because we are no better than the person next to us.
00:35:54
Speaker
We are no better than the non-believer in regards to our sin. But what makes us different is the fact that the blood of your son, Jesus, is what covers us. So Lord, humble us. Maybe recognize who we are in light of who you are and live a life that is pleasing to you. God, we love you. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
00:36:23
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church, located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.