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Wait Continually for Your God (Hosea 12)
30 Plays1 year ago
Sunday Message recorded 21 April 2024
by Associate Pastor Josh Shell
First Baptist Church -- Columbus TX
1700 Milam St.
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
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Transcript
The Need for the Gospel in Columbus
00:00:06
Speaker
It's good to see you guys. And it's awesome to see how full each week has been here lately. That means that the Lord is doing a work. And that's something that we need to be very thankful for and that we need to praise Him for. Because let's be honest, our world needs the gospel. Our world needs Jesus. And not just our world, but our small town of Columbus.
00:00:30
Speaker
That's not a stab at Columbus because I love Columbus. It's crazy. I've actually been here 11 years now, which is kind of crazy to think of as a Georgia boy. But I've come
Personal Revival and Spreading the Gospel
00:00:40
Speaker
to love it. But yet I also see that we still need the Columbus still needs the gospel. And let me tell you this, this building, this you guys here, you guys, we have not arrived.
00:00:53
Speaker
We need the gospel as much today as we did yesterday. We need the gospel just as much as the rest of the community does. So I pray that as we meet here every week, that we will feel the weight of that, that we will take full advantage of the time that we have together to read God's word as the body of Christ, as we are called to do, as Jesus expects us to do, but not just to study it ourselves, but to go and to take it to those around us, to be as what Peter talks about as a living sacrifice for the gospel.
00:01:22
Speaker
So that way we can bring the gospel, the good news to those around us in this community. And then who knows? It could start a revival. Oh, he said the word. I said revival.
00:01:34
Speaker
But remember, revival starts in the heart first of the individual, and then it goes into the community.
Studying Hosea: God's Love and Judgment
00:01:40
Speaker
So that's my prayer for all of us. But if you have your Bibles, go ahead and open up to Hosea. We're going to be continuing our journey through the Old Testament minor prophet book of Hosea. We're going to be in Hosea chapter 12.
00:01:56
Speaker
And we are going to be on the home stretch of this book. And what a journey has been. As I've mentioned previously, and I'm sure many of you guys have probably been in the same boat as I have been in, this is one of those Old Testament letters that I've read maybe once or twice, but never really stopped to study. Just because, let's be honest, the Old Testament prophets, they're kind of hard to read, and they're kind of intimidating because of all the
00:02:25
Speaker
imagery and the different verbiage that they use. But man, this has been an incredible study. I really hope it has been. If you haven't been able to join us for every week, we do have all of our sermons online. All of our messages are online, so I encourage you to go back and re-listen to it. Because I feel like though this letter was written to the nation of Israel long ago, it's still very applicable for us today in many, many ways.
00:02:52
Speaker
because the nature by which the nation of Israel was living by back then is still very much the same nature that we walk in today. It's called sin, right? So we cannot look as we read through this, we can't look at the people of Israel and be like, man, they really did mess up and they deserve God's judgment. It's like, no, we are very much in the same boat as they are.
00:03:16
Speaker
We are a sinful people who are very much in need of the same saving faith as the nation of Israel back then. Except for us, we live on this side of the cross, praise God. Amen. Right? So, but as we've looked at this book though, this book has truly put on display for us this absolutely incredible and beautiful picture of God's unending and unconditional love for his people.
00:03:42
Speaker
Sure, as we journey through this book, this book has been very heavy towards judgment coming towards the nation of Israel for their idolatrous and adulterous ways, right? They have turned away from God. Their kings have not served God. They have turned to this idol worship, worshiping this Baal, and they have turned completely away from God. And as a result of that, Hosea is bringing this message of judgment to them saying, hey, and what we ultimately see is that he is pleading with them.
00:04:11
Speaker
And we will ultimately see that today in today's chapter. But he is saying, hey, you need to wake up and understand that your actions are going to bring consequences. Hear what I'm saying and turn and repent. Come back and return to your God who is faithful. But yet they did not listen. Over and over again, God has sent these different messengers, these prophets, to bring a message of warning to the nation of Israel. But they refused to listen.
00:04:41
Speaker
but now the judgment has now finally starting to come.
Israel's Unfaithfulness and God's Covenant
00:04:47
Speaker
But the reason why I said this is an absolutely beautiful picture is because if you go back to the opening chapters of this book, you see this man, Hosea, ultimately the one who's delivering the message and this call on his life. Y'all remember what God called him to do? To go into Mary, a woman named Gomer. Who is Gomer?
00:05:07
Speaker
It's okay to say it out loud. She's a prostitute. You know, she's a prostitute. She is an unfaithful woman, right? God called Hosea to go into married Gomer. And the reason why that is is because it paints for not only Hosea, but for the nation of Israel and for us today of this picture of our marriage to God.
00:05:31
Speaker
Right? If y'all remember, back in Exodus 24 on Mount Sinai, God created this beautiful covenant with the nation of Israel saying, hey, if you obey my commands and you follow me, I will remain faithful to you to the very end. And guess what? God has upheld his side of the covenant. But much like many marriages today in our culture, Israel did not remain faithful. They broke their end of the covenant.
00:06:00
Speaker
But what we see in this book of Hosea is that God is saying, I don't care what you do. Just like Hosea in the beginning, when Gomer did not remain faithful to him, what did God call him to do? He said, go back and buy her again and remain faithful to her as an example of my love for you. So this whole book has been this beautiful picture of God's unending, unconditional love for his people.
00:06:27
Speaker
But enough is enough with this, right? And then last week, Victor gave this incredible message out of Hosea chapter 11 because of the illustration that God uses through Hosea of this father who is waiting patiently for his prodigal son to come back to him. And he referred back to Luke chapter 15 verses 11 through 32 with the prodigal son.
00:06:51
Speaker
a parable that we all know, and a parable that we all can probably quote off the top of our head for the most part, probably not word for word, but you know what I'm saying. But this is this well-known parable, right, where this son who has a father and these two sons, and this father has a lot of wealth, and they have this life in front of him, and then the youngest son comes to the father and says, hey, Dad, I want my inheritance now.
00:07:19
Speaker
I want it now." And what does the father do? He says, okay. So he splits up the portion of all that he has and gives it to the son. And what does the son do? He goes away to a faraway land and squanders it all.
00:07:36
Speaker
A lot of us, we like to focus on that part of the story, right? But last week we looked at the Father. We looked at the position which the Father took and how many of us in this room find ourselves in that kind of position where we have individuals in our life who are turning away from God who need to come back to and return back to the Lord because the Lord, He's offering this beautiful forgiveness through the finished work of Jesus on the cross, right?
00:08:04
Speaker
And all He's wanting is for us to return so that we can receive this gift of forgiveness, this salvation. But man, how hard is it to watch those who we love walk away. But what I also appreciated last week was how it wasn't just painting a picture of how we were waiting, but rather it was a reminder to us that we were once all prodigals.
00:08:27
Speaker
We all were once prodigals. We all were walking unfaithfully, turning away, going to a far away land, seeking all these things that were trying to fill this void in our heart that cannot fill it. We were doing those things, and then one day the Lord finally opened up our hearts and made us realize, man, I've really messed up. There's only one thing in this life that can truly fill this void in my life, and that is Jesus.
00:08:54
Speaker
So we, as those lost prodigals who are now in Christ, have this moment of clarity and understanding that we need Jesus. But there's still many out there who have not had that. So what do we do? We have to wait patiently. We have to continually wait for God to work in the lives of those individuals because it's not our ability that brings people to Christ, it's the Spirit of God.
Call for Repentance and Warning of Judgment
00:09:21
Speaker
We have a part in demonstrating the love of God to them, but it's ultimately God who transforms them, right? So again though, but what we saw last week is that God has this desire and plan for his people, for all people to come back and to know him, to be in fellowship with him. And he gives every single one of us the opportunity to pursue him with all of our heart and all of our desire. But now it just comes down to if we want it.
00:09:49
Speaker
Right? We all can agree that there's something wrong with us. If you don't think there's something wrong with you, you can come talk to me after. I would love to point it out to you. Okay? There's something wrong with us and it's sin. It's sin. And it doesn't take much really to recognize it. It's just a matter of you choosing to recognize it.
00:10:16
Speaker
But this is the beauty of life and how God has created that. He has given us the free will to choose it. He's given us this free will to choose it. And if we decide not to choose it, God's gonna say, okay, go your way. But when you are ready, I will be here waiting for you. If you wanna choose that lifestyle and go and pursue those things, that's fine, but you also gotta be ready for the waitingness of it and the consequences that result.
00:10:46
Speaker
But when you do finally wake up and understand that you are a broken, simple person who is in need of grace, in need of forgiveness, in need of a substitutionary atonement named Jesus, then God is ready for you to come back and to surrender your life to Him. And I say all this because this really sets up what we're gonna be looking at today in Hosea chapter 11.
00:11:10
Speaker
Because God's going to be recalling back on a certain individual in Israel's history that was very prominent figure. And he's going to be comparing the attitude, the behavior, the character of this individual to the nation of Israel.
00:11:25
Speaker
but yet he's also gonna look to the hope that they also have in this as well. So let's read, we're gonna be actually picking up in verse 12 of chapter 11 and then we'll read all the way through verse 14 of chapter 12. So if you guys don't mind standing with me if you were able, love to read this together.
00:11:49
Speaker
So picking up in verse 12 of chapter 11, it says this, Ephraim has surrounded me with lies in the house of Israel with deceit, but Judah still walks with God and is faithful to the Holy One. Ephraim feeds on the wind and pursues the east wind all day long. They multiply falsehood and violence. They make a covenant with Assyria and oil is carried to Egypt.
00:12:16
Speaker
The Lord has an indictment against Judah. It will punish Jacob according to his ways. He will repay him according to his deeds.
00:12:25
Speaker
In the womb he took his brother by the heel. In his manhood he strove with God. He strove with the angel and prevailed. He wept and sought his favor. He met God at Bethel and there God spoke with us. The Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord is his memorial name. So you, by the help of your God, return.
00:12:50
Speaker
Hold fast to the love and justice and wait continually for your God. A merchant in whose hands are false balances he loves to oppress. Ephraim has said, ah, but I am rich. I have found wealth for myself and all my labors. They cannot find in me iniquity or sin. I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt.
00:13:16
Speaker
I will again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the appointed feast. I spoke to the prophets. It was I who multiplied visions, and through the prophets gave parables. If there is iniquity in Gilead, they shall surely come to nothing. In Gilgal, they sacrifice bulls. Their altars also are like stone heaps on the furrows of the field.
00:13:40
Speaker
Jacob fled the land of Aram and there Israel served for a wife and for a wife he guarded sheep. By a prophet the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt and by a prophet he was guarded. Ephraim has given bitter provocation so his Lord will leave his blood guilt on him and will repay him for his disgraceful deeds." Will you pray with me?
00:14:11
Speaker
Lord, right now we just truly do invite you to come and to be with us.
00:14:16
Speaker
to open our hearts to the hidden things that we are pushing down, that we are hiding in the secret places of our lives, that we need to confess and repent of. Because Lord, you desire for us to return to you and to wait continually for you as our God in these days, that we will trust you, that we will long for you, that we will remain faithful to the covenant that you have with us in Jesus.
00:14:44
Speaker
God, please go before us and speak to us. May we learn from those who've gone before us so that we know how to walk faithfully to you today. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you. Thank you. You may be seated. So as I said, everything that we've looked at so far is leading up to this moment, right? So Israel,
00:15:14
Speaker
has remained unfaithful. And despite God's faithfulness, they continue to push him away. And picking up there in verse 12 of chapter 11, it says, Ephraim has surrounded me with lies and the house of Israel with deceit. But it's interesting here because it goes back to Judah. But it says, but Judah still walks with God and is faithful to the Holy One, which is interesting because as we continue to read through the Old Testament,
00:15:41
Speaker
We also see that Judas succumbs to the same fate of Israel because of their unfaithfulness. So we don't have time to get into these verses in true depth, but there is a lot of controversy or debate over what these verses are saying because some scholars think that when God, or when they're talking about how Judas still walks with God, they're talking about a false God. They're talking about the gods of Canaan.
00:16:07
Speaker
And it also says, and is faithful to the holy one, which is the holy ones, which is plural of Canaan, the gods of Canaan. But many scholars also lay in the field of that Judah, God is actually lifting him up and he is encouraging them because they have at this point in time remained faithful. So this is just a side note so you can ponder on that. If you have questions, you can talk to Victor later.
00:16:36
Speaker
But one thing is for sure though, in verse 12, and going into chapter, or verse 12 of chapter 11, going into chapter 12, verse 1, there is definitely this indictment coming upon the nation of Israel because of their unfaithfulness, right? So the nation's unfaithfulness, they are surrounding
00:17:00
Speaker
the house of Israel with deceit and lies. They feed on the winds and pursue the east wind all day long. They multiply falsehood and violence. They make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried to Egypt. So God is honing in on the main things that Israel has done, right?
00:17:22
Speaker
So when we talk about these lies, it's referring to their hypocrisy, their deceit, it's referring to their unfaithfulness. When it talks about feeding on the wind and pursuing the east wind all day long, it's talking about their foolish pursuit and following other gods and following other things rather than remaining faithful. When we talk about the falsehood and violence, it's referring to the social injustices that are taking place.
00:17:50
Speaker
Instead of exhorting one another and encouraging one another, loving one another, as the nation of Israel, God's chosen people, they are taking advantage of one another. Which is kind of what we see later in verse seven when it talks about how a merchant whose hands are false balances, he loves to oppress. They're deceiving one another.
00:18:10
Speaker
So this is setting the tone for what the rest of this is going to be looking like from chapters 12 all the way through to chapter 14. This is the final indictment that Hosea is bringing to the nation of Israel on behalf of God. And when you look at when he talks about the different covenants, right? So in
00:18:34
Speaker
There in verse one, the second half verse one, it says, they multiply falsehood and violence. They make a covenant with Assyria and oil is carried to Egypt. That covenant with Assyria and oil carried to Egypt is referring to the unfaithfulness to God. And rather, they're creating these covenants or signs of allegiance to other countries. Again, how often in our own life today do we do the same thing?
00:19:02
Speaker
and moments of hardship, moments of trial, moments of whatever, or even when things are going good. It's actually easier when we find ourselves in moments where things are going good to find allegiances to other things other than God. Because we're comfortable. We think it's okay. But God requires one thing from the nation of Israel, and ultimately from us is that we remain faithful to Him as the one true God.
00:19:29
Speaker
So this thing diagnosed coming on in verse two, the Lord has an indictment against Judah and will punish Jacob according to his ways. And this is another interesting moment here because again, he's referring back to Judah. And again, scholars, they believe here that there's two different perspectives here. So when you look at the interchange of Israel and Judah, the one way is that it's talking about the communal whole of the nation of Israel that God established the covenant with at Mount Sinai.
00:19:58
Speaker
Right. So as you know, the nation of Israel split after the death of Solomon between his sons, the northern kingdom Israel, the southern kingdom Judah. Right. Most of this book, pretty much all this book leading up this point has been going towards the northern kingdom of Israel.
00:20:14
Speaker
But now this indictment is not just for the northern kingdom, but rather is for the entire communion as a whole of the nation of Israel that God is to do covenant with back in Exodus chapter 24. Does this make sense? So that's the first perspective.
00:20:29
Speaker
Whereas the second perspective believes that there was some editorial changes later on in history to make the context fit the nation of Judah later. I don't particularly stand in that position. I think that God here is now bringing judgment for the communal whole of the nation of Israel because he knows that even Judah themselves will fall away.
00:20:52
Speaker
which is ultimately what we see later with the different minor prophets of like Micah with the judgment that he brings towards the nation of Judah because of their unfaithfulness. So when we read this, just keep in mind that when you see the names Israel or Judah, it's talking about the communal whole of Israel that made the covenant with God at Mount Sinai.
Faithfulness and Responsibility to Spread the Gospel
00:21:14
Speaker
But it is unique here though that when he brings this indictment that he brings back this character of the past, this guy Jacob.
00:21:22
Speaker
Who is Jacob? He is one of God's chosen servants, right? The son of Isaac, who is the son of Abraham. And Abraham was the one whom God promised that he would make the descendants as numerous as the star of the sky, right? So Jacob is this one. And if you all remember how it all started there in Genesis chapter 25, when Jacob was born, he had a brother named
00:21:50
Speaker
Esau, right? And what happened? He tricked them, right? So, but I love how it brings back into mind here in these verses says, in his womb, he took his brother by the heel, referring back to the birds. So even from the moment of conception, Jacob was already coming after his brother.
00:22:11
Speaker
And then after he was born, there was a moment where Esau was out in the field, Jacob was at home, and Jacob was more of a homebody while Esau was out in the field, and Esau came in and he was hungry and Jacob was a really good cook. And he tricked him. He said, hey, I'll give you some of this food if you give me your birthright. Right?
00:22:36
Speaker
And the birthright was significant because it recognized the individual as the oldest son. And not only just as the oldest son, but it gave them a double portion of the inheritance upon their father's dead. So that's a big deal. And then it regarded this individual as the leader of the family. So this idea of the birthright was a very big deal.
00:22:57
Speaker
And Jacob deceived his brother into tricking him to give him the birthright. So that is already setting the tone of the life of Jacob and how his character and his attitude and his behavior was going to go before him. Right? So then it goes on. It says, in his manhood, he strove with God, referring to the time when later on in life Esau and Jacob were going to have a reunion. Right? And you all remember how this reunion took place?
00:23:26
Speaker
When Jacob found out that he still wanted to come back and to meet him, how did he respond? In fear. He was like, oh boy, it's coming back. Full circle. He's gonna beat me up, right? How many of you guys have younger siblings?
00:23:43
Speaker
I was actually the youngest of four, so I know how it is, and I have three older sisters. But all I have to say, though, is he was afraid. We saw this in Genesis chapter 32, where he was up on the hill. He told his family to go before him. He was praying over this, and he encountered what many people believe, the pre-incarnate Christ.
00:24:04
Speaker
this angel and he wrestled with this angel over it and he said, I'm not leaving you until you bless me and tell me that everything is going to be okay. Do you remember what happened? Jacob prevailed. He was wrestling with this angel and he wrestled hard. The angel said, I have enough of this and he just touched his hip and it popped his hip out, right?
00:24:28
Speaker
But because of that, the angel looked at me and said, because of how you strove against me, I will bless you. Your name is no longer Jacob, but it is Israel. Make sense?
00:24:42
Speaker
But it says in verse four, he strove with the angel and prevailed, and he wept and sought his favor. And then later on, he would ultimately meet God at Bethel, and there God would speak with him. So this reflection of Jacob ultimately recalls to mind that the nature and the behavior and the attitude of Israel is not by surprise. They're only reflecting the attitude by which the nation, the leader of them was leading out.
00:25:12
Speaker
They're acting just like Jacob. They're being stubborn. They're being hard-headed. They're being deceitful. But yet, just like God with Jacob, despite how he was acting, God remained faithful. God had a plan for Jacob, and he was not finished with them. And ultimately, God blessed Jacob. That's what God, that's what Hosea is trying to recall to mind with the nation of Israel by reflecting back to Jacob here.
00:25:43
Speaker
And we ultimately see that here in verse six where it says, so you, by the help of your God, what? Return. Return. See, that was the one thing Jacob did do. He did return. He remained faithful. But the nation of Israel here is having a hard-hearted moment.
00:26:04
Speaker
So, Hosea is pleading with them, return, hold fast to love and justice and wait continually for your God. I want this to be the focal point of our message today, this verse, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice and wait continually for your God.
00:26:32
Speaker
Because again, I don't know where many of us are at right now in this. Some of you guys have probably experienced hurts and hardships in your life from whether it's loved ones or friends or peers or coworkers or even from God Himself. And you're either stiff arming God or you're choosing to reject Him and try to do things you're on your own way.
00:26:53
Speaker
But my plea for you to all of us today is to hear the word of Hosea, the plea that he had for this nation of Israel who was turning away, who was trying to follow after their own pride, their own gifts, their own abilities, that we will return and hold fast to love and justice and wait continually for God. This is ironically the same kind of message that we ultimately see in Micah as he declares the message of judgment towards the southern kingdom of Judah. You all remember that? Micah 6-8.
00:27:23
Speaker
For the Lord requires one thing from you, to love kindness, to do justice, and to walk humbly before your God." Right? So this is a continual theme that we see from the prophets as to God's people because they are so stubborn. But it goes on there in verses seven through nine, and it really shines to light. So it goes from looking at this figure Jacob and reminding them of that, hey,
00:27:50
Speaker
Your behavior and your character, whatever you're walking through right now is not out of line because of, I mean, hello, look at who Jacob was. But now, so they go from reflection to looking ahead at, but now though, this is what I'm fixing to address, your boastfulness and your pride in verses seven through nine. So it goes from looking at the communal whole now from Judah, Israel, back to Ephraim.
00:28:18
Speaker
Okay, so we also see this interchange here. I'm gonna try to explain this as best I can. So all throughout this book, we've seen the interchange between Israel, Ephraim, and Judah, right? Israel being the northern kingdom, Judah being the southern kingdom. What we see here is that God is addressing the communal whole. But when we see the nation, when we see, Jose used the term Ephraim, he is talking specifically about the northern kingdom because of their adulterous ways.
00:28:44
Speaker
Right? So he is now addressing specifically the North Kingdom here once again. He says, a merchant in whose hands are false balances he loves to oppress.
00:28:57
Speaker
Man, so going back to verses one and two here and the document that's coming against him is because of this nature, this behavior, the fact that they are choosing to deceive one another, be deceitful towards one another. They're choosing to take advantage all this social injustice.
00:29:18
Speaker
God is now addressing this. And it goes on in verse 8, Ephraim has said, ah, but I am rich. I have found wealth for myself. In all my labors, they cannot find in me in iniquity or sin. These are the very words of Ephraim themselves. They have convinced themselves that they, by their own power, by their own ability, by their own achievements, have worked in a way that has covered a multitude of sin on their own. You guys hearing this?
00:29:50
Speaker
I don't think that's very much different from today. I don't know about you guys. If we're all honest, we have a tendency of thinking that our works are capable of covering a multitude of sin, that we have not yet repented and confessed. Am I wrong in that? If I am, you can come tell me after, it's fine. But I don't think I am in that. So God is dealing with the deceitfulness of Israel and their pride.
00:30:19
Speaker
And there's nothing that can cover or hide the sins that are committed before the Lord. And because of this, the Lord will deal with them as he did back in the Exodus. Y'all remember after the Exodus when he brought them out of Egypt through the prophet Moses? What did they do in the wilderness? Did they remain faithful?
00:30:41
Speaker
No. I mean, if y'all remember when Moses was up on Mount Sinai trying to get their views, getting the Ten Commandments, what did they do down at the base of the camp? They turned away from God. They built a golden calf. I'm still very confused why they built a calf, but they built a calf, right? So they remained unfaithful even there at the beginning. And because of their unfaithfulness, God sent them on a 40-year journey in the wilderness.
00:31:08
Speaker
so that way he can expel those who are remaining unfaithful and to bring in a new generation as they go into the promised land. So in the same manner as God dealt with them in the Exodus, he is now going to deal with them now, the nation of Israel, as he sends them into exile with Assyria.
00:31:28
Speaker
And if we're not careful, we will find ourselves in a very similar spot where if we continue to pursue the things of this world, continue to walk unfaithfully to God, He's gonna hand us over to the things at which we find passion for. And He's gonna turn us over to those things and He's gonna let Satan have rule in our life. And then we're gonna sit back in those moments and we're gonna wonder, well, where's God? He's gonna look at you and say, I've been here the whole time, where you been, homie?
00:31:57
Speaker
Sorry, that was really loose language, but. He's like, I've been here the whole time, but yet you're the one who's turned away from me. So I gave you over to your passions. So we have to see this warning, but the beauty of it is, is that even though God gives us over to these things, he's still there, he's still ready for you to return, just like the prodigal son.
00:32:25
Speaker
He is waiting to reveal Himself to you, His overwhelming love for you. He's ready to, as Victor was talking about last week, He's ready to share the agony that which He has experienced while you were wandering away.
00:32:41
Speaker
The father just isn't up there like, okay, well, Josh, he just wants to go away. All right, dude, see you later. I got billions of other people, right? No, when he sees one person walk away, remember what the psalmist said, or what Jesus says, ultimately in the New Testament, he says, what does the shepherd do when one sheep goes away from the flock? He leaves the 99 and he what? Goes after the one.
00:33:02
Speaker
Same thing here, when God sees you walk away, he doesn't just sit back idly, he is in agony over the fact that you're choosing to walk away from him. And he is relentlessly and tirelessly pursuing you because of the perfect, overwhelming love, an unconditional love, which he has for us as his people. Is that sinking in?
00:33:29
Speaker
So again, I don't know where you're at, I don't know where you're at spiritually today, but the reality is that you are not too far away from God for Him to reach back and to bring you back into His presence.
Surrender and Transformation through Faith
00:33:40
Speaker
I don't care what you have done, what you think you may have done, or whatever the case may be, no sin in this life is too great for the blood of Christ to cover and to bring you back into God's family.
00:33:55
Speaker
If you wanted to have talked more about that, again, you can find me at victory or whoever after. We love to talk about that because that's the reality of the gospel. For God still loved the world that He's seen as the only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life in Christ Jesus. It's as easy as that.
00:34:14
Speaker
But he goes from there, verses seven through nine, and he's revealing this boastfulness and pride of them, and he's giving them this warning of like, hey, if you continue down this path, you are going to end up like your ancestors in the wilderness. And then he reflects on these last two verses, and we'll wrap up after this. It says,
00:34:34
Speaker
And verse 10, I spoke to the prophets who have multiplied visions and through the prophets gave parables. Again, he's reminding them in these verses like, hey, who was it that rescued the people? Who was it that brought the nation of Israel out of Egypt? Who was it who is with you from the very beginning of time? Who has remained faithful? Just I am. I have remained faithful. I instituted the covenant with you.
00:35:02
Speaker
I'm going to hold up my end of the bargain, regardless of how you act. So in verse 10, the Lord is recalling to mind how many times he tried to reveal his plan through the prophets and the will for his people, but they rejected it. Verse 13, the Lord is recalling how it was by his appointed prophets in the power that the nation of Israel is brought out of captivity in the nation of Egypt and then ultimately out of the wilderness into the promised land.
00:35:30
Speaker
And then verse 14, we see here, because of their relentless attitude and behavior, they have provoked God to bring upon them the judgment that is coming. He said, enough is enough. Because of your attitude, because of your hard heartedness, I am not relenting my blood guilt or the blood guilt from you. He's like, this is what you want? Fine.
00:35:59
Speaker
But don't say I didn't warn you, is essentially what he's saying, right? Ephraim has given bitter provocation, so his Lord will leave his blood guilt on him and will repay him for his disgraceful deeds. So may this serve as a warning for us today. If you were in this room and you were walking and you were walking a really fine line,
00:36:26
Speaker
of having your one hand in the world of one hand with God. The reality is that God wants all of you. And if He doesn't get all of you, He doesn't want any of you. So what are you willing to do? Are you willing to tote that line, to walk that line? Or are you ready to surrender it all to God and see how He is ready to walk with you, to remain faithful to you, to bless you?
00:36:55
Speaker
to lead you through this life? Or are you wanting to be completely turned over to the blood guilt that you have put on yourself and to fill the wrath of God? Where are you at today? But as we wrap up, again, I want us to think back to the prodigal son, right? Many of us in this room wants the prodigal.
00:37:23
Speaker
We have encountered Jesus and we have been brought back into the family of God. But there was something along the way that provoked you to come back to Jesus. Maybe it was a friend, maybe it was a family member, a loved one of some sort. Somebody God placed in your life to share with you the good news of Jesus along the way planted these seeds and those seeds sprouted and they finally cultivated and reminded you of the goodness of God.
00:37:53
Speaker
which then brought us back into fellowship with Jesus, right? This is my charge to us. Many people are walking, as Paul talks about it, as the enemy of the cross of Christ. Their glory is in their shame, and they are pursuing the things of their own flesh, and they are refusing to turn to God. So what are we gonna do about that?
00:38:22
Speaker
as people while we still have breath in our life today. Ultimately, like I said in the beginning, it is God who transforms the hearts of the individual person. But it's us as the body of Christ who have been commissioned to go to share the good news. That's what we're called to remain faithful to.
00:38:40
Speaker
That's what Hosea is talking about here in verse six. So you, by the help of your God, return. Return back into the presence of God. Dwell there. Remain faithful there. Hold fast to love and justice. Right? So remain fast to his love. And as a result of that love, we have this command to go and to share the good news of the gospel.
00:39:07
Speaker
And to the justice side, we have to hold sin accountable. We have to hold ourselves accountable to the righteous holiness of God. He requires us to walk faithfully and humbly with Him. And to hold each other as the body of Christ accountable, right? And then ultimately to wait continually for your God. So again, we were called to go to share the good news. Then we got to wait and see what God does.
00:39:37
Speaker
Are we ready to do that? Are you as a follower of Christ ready to do that? If this doesn't prick your heart enough, I'm going to just recall back to one more passage and then we'll wrap up. Psalm 130. Beautiful verses. It's the song of ascent. These are the songs. The song of ascent are the different songs that the nation or the different Jews would sing as they were going to Jerusalem for the different feasts.
00:40:06
Speaker
And it says this, out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy. If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness. Let me reread that. But with you there is forgiveness. That you may be feared.
00:40:37
Speaker
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchman for the morning, more than watchman for the morning. O Israel, hope in the Lord, with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him plentiful redemption, and he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities." Beautiful, beautiful Psalm here.
00:41:04
Speaker
It goes from focusing on himself, the rider himself, and he is crying out to the Lord for mercy. And then he goes from the individual self from verses one to six to a communal sense in seven and eight. So in other words, he's saying it's not about just me, it's about the communal whole of God's people. So again, going back to verse six, what are we going to do about this today?
00:41:30
Speaker
What are we going to do as the body of Christ today to walk faithfully to God? So as we go into this time of invitation, again, I don't know where any we're all at. I mean, we all walk different paths of lives. Many of us proclaim to be followers of Christ and praise God for that. But I pray that is genuine. I pray that if you bear the name of Christ,
00:42:00
Speaker
as a follower of Jesus, that you are daily pursuing and communing with God every single day. Because through that faithfulness, God will bless you, He will use you, and lives will be transformed as a result of your faithfulness. Not because of you, but because of your faithfulness to God. But if you are in this room today and you say that you are in Christ and there is no evident fruit of that,
00:42:29
Speaker
I pray that you will look at your heart and that you will self-analyze. Because if you're a follower of Christ, you should be producing the good works of Jesus. That's what James talks about in the New Testament. But if you're not in Christ, if you're in this room today and you never surrender your life to Christ, but you know
00:42:49
Speaker
that you need to, that you felt it, that you felt the presence of the Lord or that you know that there's something in your life right now that you need to surrender to him that you've been caring for so long and it's just starting to eat at you and you can't do anything about it. The Lord is ready and willing to take that from you. That was the reason why he came to die on the cross, to take away our burden, to take away our shame so that way we can walk in the news of life in him eternally. I pray that it's something you will consider doing today.
00:43:17
Speaker
that you'll surrender your life to Jesus and walk as a new creation as Paul talks about, being transformed in your heart and your mind, and being able to face each day with great, great joy. So if that's you, I pray that you'll come down and talk to me. If not, the altar's open. I know I say this a lot too, or we say this a lot, the altar's open. Come lay down before the throne of God. Do it right there in your pews.
00:43:41
Speaker
God desires for us to bring those things to him so that way we can lay it down at his feet and that way he can take it away from us so we can walk freely of those things.
Closing Prayer for Guidance and Support
00:43:50
Speaker
So let me pray for us. And again, if you need somebody to talk to, I'll be down front, if not, it's totally fine. But I pray that if there's something in your heart that you need to work with God, that you'll surrender to him this morning. So let's pray. God, we thank you so much for your word. We thank you for Hosea. We thank you for this message.
00:44:09
Speaker
Lord, we need to be constantly reminded of the state of our sinfulness. Lord, even for those of us who are in Christ, whose sins have been forgiven, we need the daily reminder of the fact that we still, while we have breath in our lungs and walk in this flesh, Father, we still struggle. We still fall short of the glory of God because of the sinfulness of our flesh. We need You daily. So Lord, I pray that we will humble ourselves before You.
00:44:38
Speaker
and surrender our lives to you every single day. But Lord, for those who've never surrendered their life to you ever, I pray, God, that today will be that day. Lord, that they'll see not just the need, but, Father, the joy of truly following Jesus as Messiah, as Savior, and Lord. It is only through Jesus that we can experience the fullness of joy in this life.
00:45:06
Speaker
despite how hard it may be. So Lord, I pray that you'll work in the individual hearts of those who need to surrender their life to you and that they will come to know you in a very real and personal way. Not for their own glory, not for the church's glory, but for your glory. So God, work. But Lord, I thank you for this congregation and I thank you for this time. And we pray all these things in the name of Jesus. Amen.
00:45:34
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church, located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.