A reading from the Word of God to prepare us for the preaching is from the book of Hosea, chapter 14, verse 1. Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. I will heal their apostasy. I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them. Whoever is wise, let him understand these things. Whoever is discerning, let him know them, for the ways of the Lord are right. and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them. You may be seated. And may God be pleased to bless this reading and hearing and preaching of the word of God. A few years ago, my doctor, I told my doctor that I was forgetting names, sometimes even some who are familiar would slip my mind, and I was concerned And so he asked me, do you know your way to familiar places, like the bank or the grocery store or your church? Well, of course I do. I have GPS. It wasn't much help. The most familiar things to us is the way home. And the 10 northern tribes have lost their way in a variety of the most terrible violations of God's holy law, and Hosea is telling them they need to find their way home to safety. We saw last week in chapter 13 the Assyrians were being used by the Lord to unleash the cruelest atrocities imaginable upon Israel. The language is arresting for a purpose. Hosea, in no uncertain terms, described God's severity to shake up anyone who thinks that God must always be portrayed as a tolerant, indulgent, or domesticated God. We're also reminded that God used Hosea as a living object lesson. If you remember, he was to marry Gomer, who had prostituted herself. And in her whoredoms, she had born children. Her first child, Jezreel, was named after a town that suffered a bloodbath. And the lesson was clear, judgment was coming. Her second child called her name No-Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel to forgive them at all. And then she had a third child call his name, not my people, for you're not my people and I am not your God. All of that came to a head in chapter 13 and sounds so ominous and so harsh and so severe. But we must never forget that God's severity has a flip side. He's not only a lion, but he's also a lamb. He is severe, yet he is kind. He's unflinching in his judgments, and yet he reaches out with open arms to repentant sinners. The prodigal son knew the way home. And like the prodigal son, the book of Hosea is about a prodigal nation that needs to find its way home to safety. And as we'll see, it is about every single one who is outside the safety of the grace of God through Jesus Christ. And that's why I've titled these two sermons The Kindness and severity of God. Our theme last week was taken from the famous quote, if you remember, Lucy's question regarding meeting Aslan the lion. Of course he's not safe, but he's good. But I purposely tweaked the answer a bit. I said God is good, but he is not always safe. Perhaps you missed the word always. You see, God is quite safe to those who find themselves hidden under the shadow of his wings, and those who find their refuge in him. For those who choose to walk outside of his standards, his rules, his holy law, must see another side of him. That's what Israel faced. No wonder Lucy's knees were shaking at the meeting of Aslan. He doesn't sound quite safe at all, but tucked away throughout the book of Hosea in the midst of scathing denouncements, there have been these hints of hope and mercy and forgiveness. And if our interpretation of chapter 13, verse 14 was correct, it was the last of these promises of hope, I will ransom, I will redeem. And we saw there a small glimmer of light in the midst of darkness. But what we saw there in the shadows will now explode in a blaze of glorious hope in chapter 14. It is called by many the love chapter, like the prodigal who made his way home to the welcoming arms of his father. We ended on a note of promise last week. You might think of this sermon as the promise expanded. And as you've heard the theme of the big ideas, the kindness of God leads you home to safety. And our outline is simply this, the journey home is noted in three ways, a plea for repentance, a promise for restoration, and a proverb for response. And so first, a plea for repentance, verses one through three. Verse one, return, O Israel, to the Lord your God. Return is literally turn or turn back. You're walking in the opposite direction. We heard in Hosea 11, seven, my people are bent on turning away from me. They are called on to do a 180, turn from sin, your perverted ways, and go back to the Lord your God. It is true these 10 tribes are doomed, and the cities perhaps in ruins. Survivors are being dragged as captives into exile by the Assyrians. The plea goes out to the remnant. This appeal is to individuals among the elect of God. This has been the covenant lawsuit with courtroom drama. Now there must be a realization of their sin against God, and Hosea outlines some steps towards repentance. And the steps toward repentance involve several components, and we'll look at them briefly, but conviction of sin and heartfelt grief for sin and prayer with words involving confession of sin and a request for forgiveness and mercy, a commitment to turn from the past and change your ways, praise and adoration and faith. These are somehow all wrapped up in this journey back home to this place of safety. And conviction begins with a recognition that you have sinned. You notice, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Luke tells us of the prodigal son, but when he came to himself, he realized that he had left the place of blessing and had filled himself with sin. And he came to the end of his rope. And we don't hear this word conviction much these days. It has fallen somewhat out of vogue in much of our gospel preaching. But sin, properly recognized, causes guilt. A true sense of guilt before a holy God should produce some degree of internal turmoil. David came to grips with his sin against Bathsheba and Uriah. He said, let the bones that you have broken rejoice. With a deep awareness of his sin, he said, my sin is ever before me. Conviction recognizes that God is just in his judgments, and you deserve to be cast into outer darkness. And so Paul told the Corinthians, godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. We need to realize that we are in trouble apart from the grace of God. And God owes us nothing but eternal damnation. And we must first be brought low before we can be raised. A worldly grief is superficial. It's lip service. And you see the difference in the publican and the tax collector. If you remember, the publican spouts all sorts of things to justify himself as anything but a sinner, but not so the tax collector. The tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, God have mercy on me, a sinner. One has well said, the path of repentance starts by admitting that the misery we have suffered has been caused by our own sins. And so godly grief or sorrow does not act as the child who has suddenly been caught and doesn't want a spanking. Sorry, mommy. Sorry, daddy. Don't spank me. Don't spank me. It also is not like the child who has been told to apologize to his brother for being mean and replies in a reluctant voice, sorry. Sorry. Say it again, and say it like you mean it. Oh, OK, OK, sorry. But the absence of genuineness is always detectable. Adults do it in a different way. Well, if I have offended you in some way, I'm sorry. But John the Baptist told the Pharisees, bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And worldly sorrow has certain traits like defensiveness and attempts to justify making excuses, lack of empathy toward the one offended. a reaction from being caught rather than initiating an admission of guilt, embarrassment, a totally self-focused reaction to sin. It's the opposite of giving God the glory and owning up to your terrible offense against the goodness and kindness and mercy of God. This is a sorrow that produces death. Just ask Judas. He's a prime example of a feigned grief for his sin. And the scriptures seem to be clear that the pathway to biblical repentance begins with some degree of conviction of sin. However, conviction is always followed by some form of confession, a prayer. Notice verse two, take with you words. Words reflect the content of the heart. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Proverbs 28, 13, whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. And so in returning, we must own our sin and confess with words that express genuine sorrow for sin. John 1, 9, and 10, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. And so repentance involves conviction and confession, but it also requests mercy for forgiveness. Notice verse two, take with you words, and return to the Lord, say to him, take away all iniquity, except what is good, and we will pay with bulls the vows of our lips. God does not owe us mercy. In his kindness, he grants it. It is all of grace. There's no merit in our repentance. Do you presume on the riches of the kindness and forbearance and patience of God, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance, Paul said in Romans 2, 4. Again, David, have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. The tax collector, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. And so repentance also involves a determined commitment to forsake sin. Verse three, Assyria shall not save us. We will not ride on horses, and we will say no more, our God, to the work of our hands. We know it is of grace, but we must put our hand to the plow and not turn back. And this means renouncing those past practices. You can't return to the Lord and not break with past sin. Repentance means a turn away from the thing that drew us in the first place. They had reached out to the Assyrians to help them. They had reached out to the Egyptians for horses, which God had forbidden. They're renouncing the very idols that they had fashioned with their hands and bowed down to as if they were deities. They were kissing the calves. They were kissing their idols with affection and adoration. Because Christians don't kiss calves, we think we are exempt from idol worship. One has put it this way, whatever you have been treating as a replacement for the blessing and satisfaction that comes only from God must be let go of. If these things are stealing your affections from God, they must be removed. And so what is it that has your attraction, your affection, your devotion that is forbidden fruit? Repentance is making a complete commitment to the turn from your darling sins. We do not merit forgiveness. We do not bargain with God, trading repentance for mercy. We are at his mercy, the mercy of God's kindness to lead us to repentance. Repentance is a pledge to move forward and no longer sin open-handedly against the goodness of God. And so conviction, confession, request mercy for forgiveness, a determined commitment, but finally, praise and adoration and faith. We're humbled because we're admitting that we can only do good by the grace of God. And generally, the sinner who finds hope in God will be filled with adoration and praise. The Hebrew writer appears to have the difficult phrase of Hosea in mind when Hosea says, and we will pay with bulls the vows of our lips. A lot of different translations and interpretations of that text, but Hebrews 13, 15 says, Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. The fruit of the lips is seen as praise and adoration to his name. There is a sense of relief that God has, in his kindness, has welcomed me back to a place of safety. And I praise him with my lips. But then finally, we cannot miss the flip side of repentance, which came out in Sunday school this morning in Justin's lesson. That is faith. You see it in verse three. In you, the orphan finds mercy. Widows and orphans were among the most vulnerable in Israel, and to be an orphan was to be helpless and destitute and dependent. To appeal on this note is a total surrender to the tender mercies of God, and to trust Him by faith in His mercies alone. The overtures of grace were applied to this text when Jesus picked up these very words in verse three regarding the orphans in John 14, eight. He said, I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. What a beautiful, beautiful reality. Think about it. The two children, no mercy and not my people. For you're not my people, I'm not your God. But then there was the glimmer of hope In chapter one, in the place where it was said to them, you are not my people, it shall be said to them, children of the living God, say to your brothers, you are my people, and to your sisters, you have received mercy. And so repentance and faith. the journey back to the place of safety. The prodigal remembered all the kindness he'd enjoyed in his father's house. The promises of sin are so shallow and so empty and so demoralizing. The pleasures of this world hold out such allurance and such promise, such glitter. So much advertising appeals to the pleasure seeker, but in the end, there's a hidden bitter pill beneath the camouflage covering. But God is offering the real deal. What a contrast. The east winds of Assyria have come and devoured the northern tribes. And Hosea stands with outstretched arms and with passion in his voice, he says, turn, turn, and come to the place of safety. And so that leads us to a promise of restoration It's verses four through eight. What if Hosea had ended with the words, the chilling words in chapter four, verse 17, Ephraim is joined to idols. Leave him alone. Leave him alone. What if he ended there? We'd all be done. We'd all be doomed. We'd all be damned. There'd be no hope. Ephraim is joined to his idols. Leave him there. But if you remember, In Pilgrim's Progress, when they were in Doubting Castle, held by prisoners by giant despair, they faced a dilemma. It was a Saturday night, and they were hopeless, and they were contemplating suicide, and almost at wit's end, by Sunday morning, suddenly Christian remembers, I have a key in my bosom called Promise, that will, I'm persuaded, open any lock in Doubting Castle. And you know the story. He turned the key in the lock and hopeful and Christian made their way of escape and quickly found their way back to the king's highway. And so listen. Listen to these precious promises in verse four. First, I will heal their apostasy. A similar word for turning. I will heal their wandering, their turning off the path of the straight and narrow. The way of former sin, perverseness, and disobedience, and rebellion, and insubordination, and ingratitude, and independence, and willful ignorance, and self-indulgence, and idolatry, and every sort of sin that we saw last time, I will heal their apostasy. What sweet words of promise. And then next notice, I will love them freely. Freely means to love them voluntarily. willingly, faithfully. God's love is not by compulsion, by coercion, by constraint. He willingly offers it to repentant sinners. Hosea 2, verses 19 and 20, I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord." There's that word, steadfast love, that hesed, that sweet word of his loyal, faithful, everlasting, willing, voluntary covenant love towards sinners. And then third, notice this part of the promise, for my anger has turned from them. My anger is turned from them. How does this happen? Well, here's a hint at New Testament propitiation. We mentioned it last week briefly. It was fulfilled in the Old Testament sacrifices looking forward to another day. His anger does not evaporate, but it has another object. And that's what propitiation means. Anger was directed away from us and placed upon another, the beloved son. The anger, the wrath, the curse that was the fallen me fell upon another so that God would be satisfied. that he would be appeased, that he would turn his anger and his wrath away from us. Oh, no wonder the apostle John said, in this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. What else can supply the demands of God's holiness, His justice, His righteousness? He demands perfect obedience and we don't have the ability to deliver. Do you think you have something in your hand that you can bring to an angry God whose wrath abides upon you and satisfy Him? The answer is no. We saw in chapter 13 verse 14 that promise, I will ransom, I will redeem. Remember in chapter three when Hosea purchased Gomer from the auction block, that was a ransom, that was redemption. And Jesus paid the ransom price in order to redeem us. He takes you from your life of whoredoms and heals your apostasy. He loves you freely and he turns his anger away. The consuming fire of God is quenched because Jesus has made a satisfactory satisfaction for our sins. He became sin. He took the curse. He suffered the pangs of hell. And we saw last week the east wind of the Lord was against him. It is because he took God's anger that the anger of the Lord and his kindness can be turned away from sinners. Titus chapter three, for we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and the loving kindness of God, our Savior appeared, Do you hear that? But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit. So you're wrestling with sin. You hear the word of God. You're convicted. You repent, confessing your sins, and you lay hold of hope through faith found only in the grace and mercy of God. And he will heal your waywardness. He will love you freely. And because Jesus took the curse of God's wrath and anger, that anger and wrath is turned from you. You turn to him and his anger is absorbed in Christ and will not be placed upon you. I realize there are protracted and more complicated cases of people who are in the grips of sin. Some habits are so ingrained they're not so easily or quickly undone. But I would challenge you, I would challenge all of us, stand at the precipice of hell Take a long look, if you can, in your imagination of the eternally damned and the doomed with no hope of escape, eternal judgment, torment without end, the hell that you and I deserve. Just gaze there for a moment, if you can, and then turn. Gaze upon the cross. Look at Jesus. Hear Him groaning on your behalf, bearing that awful load of sin. That hell that you just looked into is upon Him and God's anger and His wrath so that it might be removed from you and you might be home safe by the kindness and the goodness and the mercy and the free love of God. Now look at your sin that has you in its grips. I held beneath you that you have been spared. The cross before you, the very reason you have been spared. And your darling sin, your lovely idol, the calf of your affection, your adoration, your devotion. Come home. He heals. He heals. Gomer needs to come home. The prodigal needs to come home. And whether you're an unbeliever or a believer steeped in some kind of sin, your only safe place is at home with Jesus. And God is good. But the warning is clear. He's not always safe. But the kindness of God and the goodness of God, the voluntary love of God, lead you home to safety. And he demonstrates that with the following verses. They're not all easy to identify, but the overall picture seems clear. Verses 5 through 7. I will be like the dew to Israel. He shall blossom like the lily. He shall take root like the trees of Lebanon. His shoots shall spread out. His beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon. They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow. They shall flourish like the grain. They shall blossom like the vine. Their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon. Generally speaking, these terms describe freshness, restoration, renewal, a return to God's favor, stability, dependability, new growth, vigor, peace, reconciliation, a sweet fragrance, prosperity, fruitfulness, and the wine of Lebanon surely means joy and happiness. And with all that loveliness, do you hear him pleading with you with a piercing contrasting question in verse 8. Oh Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? Oh Ephraim, let it go. Let it go. Idols and God have nothing at all in common. They're polar opposites. Sin, debauchery, wickedness, perverseness, the other end of the scale, what have I to do with that stuff? I'm a holy, righteous God. And then he delivers an assurance of pardon, verse eight. It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress. From me comes your fruit. Like a mighty cypress tree, I am your stability. I am also the source of your fruitfulness. Apart from me, Jesus said, you can do nothing. And so we learn last time that Ephraim, like Adam, incurred guilt and he died. Paradise was lost. And soon there was a glimmer of hope. We remember in Genesis 3.15 promised a redeemer and a hope of paradise restored. And all through the Old Testament, in the worst of Israel's moments, the promise was rolling toward fulfillment. The nations will be blessed through Abraham's offspring. The scepter will come through the tribe of Judah. David's offspring will be the king of kings with an eternal kingdom. A virgin will give birth and her son will be called Emmanuel, God with us. And all this was pointing towards Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament promises. And so all the descriptions in verses four through seven are images similar to paradise. They're also similar to a lot of things that are said in the Song of Solomon, a love story between a bride and a groom. Many also see in the Song of Solomon a picture of love, a love between Christ and his church. And all these images in Hosea describe Jesus. Think about it. His freshness, his restoration, his renewal, his stability, his dependability, vigor and peace and reconciliation, a sweet fragrance, prosperity, fruitfulness, and the wine of Lebanon, the joy and happiness which it brings. Jesus is this garden. He is this paradise. He is this land. He is the true Israel. He is the one that we're looking to find our eternal rest in. His followers dwell beneath his shadow. He flourishes like a vine, the true vine. His grain multiplies with souls saved from sin. There's so much that we could see in those verses. And when we look at these verses, we must see them in layers of fulfillment. Some view the restoration after the exile in those verses. But these tribes were never fully reunited with Judah. A remnant did migrate south, but the ten tribes have never been restored. Some think the restoration here points to the return of Israel as a nation in 1948. But the book of Hosea, we have consistently been looking at these verses with a hope of restoration as ultimately fulfilled in the new covenant bringing together of Jews and Gentiles in the church, united together through the gospel of Jesus Christ. And the gospel era began the ushering in of the remnant of Jews and the addition of Gentiles and fulfillment of all those Old Testament promises, including what we've seen in Hosea. And the restoration came with Jesus. It's significant. that Jesus, when he was presented in the temple, Simeon from the south was there waiting and held that baby in his arms and he said, my eyes have seen your salvation and you have prepared in the presence of all peoples a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. Simeon was from the south, but all these tribes are from the north that Hosea is preaching to. And in that same temple there was an elderly widow named Anna who lived in the temple for years waiting for the coming of the Messiah as well. She was from the tribe of Asher. If I were to ask you where the tribe of Asher was from, where would you say? It's from the north. And what was her response? Luke 2.38. And coming up at that very hour, she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. Second Kings 15.29 informs us that Naphtali in the northern kingdom was the first territory to undergo God's judgment by the Assyrians. But think about it, Matthew 4, 12 through 16 tells us that Naphtali, in the north, was where Jesus actually began his gospel ministry. This was to fulfill Isaiah's prophecy about Naphtali, and Matthew picks it up when he says, the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, of them a light has dawned. The days were very dark in Hosea's day. But in the words of Matthew Barrett, the darkness of Hosea's day would give way to the light of Christ. Think of this. The region of Naphtali was described as an earthly paradise, lush and fertile. What a wonderful picture of the beginnings of paradise restored when Jesus first visited that place in the north. And it sounds like Hosea's description in our verses. Wouldn't you know it? Jesus went to the north. And what did he begin to preach in the north? He picked up where Hosea left off. From that time, Matthew tells us, Jesus began to preach, saying, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Sounds like Hosea with a plea for repentance and a message of restoration. They were to run safe. Now it is into the arms of Jesus. Galilee was in the north and he called his disciples in the north. The fact is Jesus spent the majority of his three and a half years of ministry in the north around Galilee. And we learned last time what horrific imagery in the destruction of Samaria was going to undergo. They would be the target of utter ruin by the Assyrians. Many Jews there, when the Assyrians captured them, were forced to intermarry with Gentiles. They were considered half-breeds. They were considered outcasts and despised by the Jews. But John tells us that Jesus had to pass through Samaria. The word had is a Greek word indicating necessity. Why Samaria? It's in the north. They've been doomed. They've been cursed. The Assyrians have taken them over. They've been obliterated. But here is Jesus ministering to the northern people. And he had a Samaritan that he had to meet. She was startled. He had an appointment with a woman. And he would talk to her. She was living in sin. But Jesus came to bring sinners with the kindness of God to lead them home to safety. And he came to give her living water. He came to teach her that he was the one and the only one to worship. And so one by one, he works his way through the north, picking off the remnant with the gospel. Hosea had predicted the gospel would include the Gentiles, and as we see the ministry of the apostles take the ball from Jesus, they go to Jerusalem first, and then they go to Samaria, and then they go to the north and the uttermost parts of the world. And Jesus was the promise that would unite the remnant from Ephraim and Judah and elect from every nation into one body. But as the advertisements say, but there is more. The kindness of God that leads you home to safety does not end in this world. In the kindness of God, he has prepared a place for all of us. All of us that believe, all that was described in verses four through eight are summed up in Jesus, but he is the epitome of what paradise restored looks like. The lily, the vine, the fragrance, the cypress, the wine, and so much more to be experienced in the new heavens and in the new earth. But every reader of Hosea is placed at the crossroads, and that brings us finally to a proverb for response. Verse 9. Whoever is wise, let him understand these things. Whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them. But transgressors stumble in them. Here's the application of the texts. In this proverb, two paths are set before the hearer. Israel has been called an unwise son. Here is a call to the wise. The consequences are otherwise dire. The chapter began with stumble, and it ends with stumble. For you have stumbled because of your iniquity, Hosea said. Here, he says, but transgressors stumble in them. And to reject the truth is to stagger like a drunken man, wandering in his sin, wallowing in his vomit, finding pleasure in the corn husks of this world. And the courtroom drama turns from Israel and the remnant to the north, to everyone who has ears to hear Hosea's words. The courtroom drama has come to this. It demands a verdict. And Psalm 1 sets forth two paths, the way of the righteous or the way of the unrighteous, life or the way of death. The unrighteous will not stand in the congregation of the righteous. The way of the ungodly will perish. And Jesus later spoke of the two ways in Matthew 7. He talked about the narrow way that leads to life or the broad way that leads to destruction. He talks about good fruit and evil fruit. And then he sums it all up with those who built their house on the sand and those who built their house on the rock. There are only two ways, and the wise will take the way of life, the unwise the way of death. With the same pathos as Hosea urged Ephraim, he now urges you, do not be an unwise son, for the ways of the Lord are right in the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them. Don't you know that it is the kindness of God that leads you to repentance? Call upon him while he is near. There are only two ways. Paul said of his gospel ministry, for we are to God the sweet aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing death. It is the kindness of God that leads you home to safety. I end with this. There was a faithful woman who was a member of the first church I pastored years ago. And if I remember correctly, her husband was a professing Christian. He was not a member and only attended on special occasions. At some point, she discovered that he was having affairs with other women. When confronted, he made no indication that he would stop, and she was not willing to divorce him. She also allowed him to come home and share all the benefits of marriage. I counseled her and said she didn't have to get a divorce, but she certainly had, in my opinion, the Bible's opinion, not opinion, but statement, that she had biblical grounds. But she would have none of that. She was holding on to an interpretation of Numbers 30, verses six through 15, regarding vows and marriage, that if her husband broke his vow, but she remained faithful to God, God would hold him accountable, and she would be let go as innocent. And so she decided to hang in there. And they eventually moved out of state, and I lost track of her for some years. Her husband was a businessman and traveled a lot, and that's likely where he found opportunities for his unbiblical encounters, perhaps a warning to those men who frequently travel alone. And one day I received a letter from her, and on the outside of the back of the envelope were written these words, prodigal son comes home. I frantically opened the letter, and I began to read the words about how her husband had been traveling on a business trip. Alone one night in a hotel, he grabbed the Gideon Bible and began reading, and the Lord smote his heart on the spot. Becoming deeply convicted of his sins, he began weeping and repenting to the Lord. He called his wife and he told her he was converted that night and pleaded for her forgiveness. He was baptized, joined the church, and as I remember, eventually became a deacon and faithfully served in that church. Hosea's calling, are you wise? Then take heed. Do you have understanding? Respond accordingly. Jose has been telling us the way of the transgression is a path of damnation, and you are in the valley of decision, at the valley of the crossroads, and you must respond. Will you turn from your sin or stay as you are and reap his anger, his just punishments? And there's a great promise and a great cursing in this chapter, and you're at the crossroads. Choose you this day. whom you will serve or be forever damned. This is the kindness and severity of God. The kindness of God leads you to repentance. The kindness of God leads you home to safety. Be like the prodigal and turn from the slop of your filthy sin and embrace the God whose arms are at stretch to save repentant sinners. And to every believer, we were all prodigals at one time. We were mired in our sin and our rebellion to God, but it was the kindness of God that led all of us home to safety. Praise be to God through Jesus Christ, that glorious name that brought us to safety. Amen. Our Father and our great God, we are startled at times by the words of Hosea. They're so sharp and harsh. Judgment is nothing, nothing pleasing to think about. But oh, how we thank you that you mingled in his words promises of hope. And we come to this last chapter and see that there is a great deal of hope for all of those who repent, and how you, pluck sinners as brands from the fire through the good, great and good news of Jesus Christ and his gospel. We thank you for that and praise you.