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Open your Bibles this morning
to the book of Hosea chapter 8. Hosea chapter 8. The title of the message today
is Wind, Whirlwind and Wild Donkey. The prophets were very graphic
in their use of language to get their message across to the people. And Hosea was expert in this,
perhaps even using Proverbs, wise sayings, as we will see. So according to Dr. Walvert in the Prophecy Knowledge
Handbook, we would be in the fourth of the fifth series of
indictments in the book of Hosea from chapter six, verse four,
to chapter 11, verse seven, the fourth of these five series.
And restoration and hope is coming in chapter 11, verses eight through
11. But right now let's dig in again to see what God has here,
the message he has for the nation of Israel and the application
that he has for us, the church in 2024. Let's pray. Our father,
we give you praise as we have done in song and in prayer. We continue to give you praise
for your word. We praise you that all scripture
is God-breathed. And we thank you, Lord, that
the word is profitable and that it is sufficient for our maturity
in Christ. So we pray that you will feed
us. We pray that you will enlighten us. We pray that you will cause
us to rejoice as we open and study your word together today.
You know the need of every heart. We pray that you will meet every
need. If there's anyone who's not yet
put their faith and trust in Christ, we ask that you will
show them their need. They will run to the cross and
believe and be saved. We pray that every believer will
be strengthened. In Jesus' wonderful and loving
name we pray, amen. Let me spend just a few minutes
in review. From last week, we had the idle
calf and the rejection of that calf by God. God would not have
it. So the rejected calf, we saw
last week that the Lord warns Israel of judgment and its causes. The shofar, the trumpet sounds
the alarm. An enemy will descend like an
eagle and the causes are very clear in Hosea chapter eight
and verse one. They have transgressed my covenant
and rebelled against my law. In verses two and three, Israel
cries out, in vain, but their cry is insincere. They say, my
God, we know you, but it's insincere because they reject the good. They reject the good, Hosea 8,
2. Amazing, verse 3, I should say. He says, because of that, there
will be consequences. The enemy will pursue them. They
set up rulers, but a problem. but not by me, the Lord says.
I did not acknowledge them. They did it without me. They,
and I say it reverently, surprised the boss. They acted independently
of God, the very essence of sin, to act independently of God.
That's what they did. And then they set up idols, gold
and silver. The silver and gold that God
had made, they turned it into a horrific idol. offensive to an infinite God
that it would try to make an idol and then bow down and worship
them. It's a lesson in folly. Hosea
8, 6, For from Israel is even this, a workman made it, and
it is not God, but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces. And now we come to verse 7 and the wind the whirlwind and the
wild donkey and Israel gets what she wants and we could put that
into quotes what she wants that's what she thinks she wants among
the nations chapter 8 verse 7 they sow the wind and reap the whirlwind
So here is perhaps a proverb that Hosea is using or that he
is creating and it speaks to folly. They sow the wind and
reap the whirlwind. So just picture this for a minute.
Think of Jesus and the parable of the sower. a sower has his
seed bag along with him here I'll put it on this side because
let's say the sower is right-handed and so he goes out into his field
he reaches into his seed bag and he casts the seed that's
how he sows he sows for his field of crops his wheat or his barley
now think about this what if the sower goes out on a windy
day Where's the seed gonna go? I'll
be blown away. Who knows where it'll end up,
but not in the farmer's field. So maybe that's part of the picture
here. Israel sows the wind. It's a
lesson in futility. She sows, maybe we could say
with the wind. And then how does she reap? With
the whirlwind. So someone goes out, let's say
now that some crops have come up and someone goes out on harvest
day and they're trying to cut the stalks and this whirlwind,
this tornado, this hurricane, this strong wind is coming by
and he's trying to grab his stalks so they don't get blown into
the next field or into the canyon or somewhere but not where it
can be useful. It's a picture of futility. And
so he's saying Israel's actions are futile because we depend
on that seed, that kernel that was sown to grow up so we can
harvest it, so we can grind it, so we can make flour, so we can
make bread. So notice what follows. The stalk
has no bud. The stalk didn't come up, it
didn't have a bud. It shall never produce meal.
It's not gonna produce flower. It was all futile. What a description
of what was going on in the nation of Israel as they were turning
their back on God and turning to false idols to bail worship. She sows with the wind, utter
futility. So the stalks have no grain,
produce no flower. And then, isn't this interesting?
See the if in verse 7? If it should produce, aliens
would swallow it up. So if there was a crop somehow
produced, the foreigners would come, they would take the grain,
they would swallow it up, and Israel would be empty-bellied,
we could say. Hungry. Their futility has nothing
to offer them. In verse 8 then, we see that
Israel has lost her identity. 8, 8, Israel is swallowed up. Interesting, the line before
says the aliens, the foreigners would swallow up that grain,
would swallow up the little bit that they were able to produce,
they would take advantage of it. And so now it says Israel
herself is swallowed up. What does he mean by that? I
think the next line tells us, now they are among the Gentiles,
among the nations. Remember the silly dove? flitting
down to Egypt, flitting to the north to Assyria to find help
there. Well, now there she's gone among
the nations, among the idol worshipers, but she's been consumed. What
a lesson here about the church. Let's all understand
this. If we know Jesus is our personal
savior, We are part of the body of Christ, the church, the church
universal. And the local church like East
End Baptist Church is a small portion. It's a miniature of
that body of Christ. It is the local manifestation
and demonstration of that church. And God's plan for us is that
we would be distinct and would be wholeheartedly following Christ
The world system is all about us, the nations, the world system. We're not talking about sidewalks
and cars and trees. We're talking about a system
whose CEO is the devil. The world system, whose philosophy
is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride
of life, 1 John 2. and whose root belief is we don't
need God. We don't need Jesus. We don't
need the Bible. That's the world, the world system. And it has many different ways.
It becomes very attractive. But what does God want the church
to do? Focus on him, love him, serve him. So let's put it like
this. Let's suppose we get into a boat
and we go out to the beach and we're taking a boat ride. And
it's really a pleasant. Maybe it's a speedboat or maybe
it's a sailboat. And the boat is in the water. But let's say that all of a sudden
we look down and we see that our ankles are covered in water. And we say, uh-oh, the water
is good out there, outside the boat, but now it's on my ankles. Is there a problem? And the captain
of the boat says, don't worry about it. No problem at all.
After a little time, the water is up to our knees. And we say,
I think we have a problem. And the captain says, don't worry
about it. It's fine. And then it gets up
to our waist and we say, no, no, let me off. Take me back
to shore. We have a problem. And the captain
finally says, oh, we sprang a leak. And the water that's out there
is coming in here. So the church is the boat in
the water. The water is the world. But there's
a problem when the water gets in the boat. God says, they're swallowed up. They're swallowed up. They're
among the nations. They've lost their identity.
There should not be among us a secret service Christian. I heard of a young man who went
off to the army. He was from a Christian home,
and people were very concerned about him. He's from a good church.
And he came back on leave. They said, well, how did you
do? And was there any opposition to your Christianity? He said,
oh, no, it wasn't a problem. No one knew that I was a Christian.
No, no such thing as a secret agent Christian. Don't let the
world get into the boat. and let's be bold for the Lord
and not be swallowed up among the culture all around us. And look at this, like a vessel
in which is no pleasure. Say it's a cracked teacup and
it leaks. I remember years ago as a teenager,
there were these These ladies that had some of our family over,
and they were delightful people to be around, but they were jokesters. And so I was, I think, 13 years
old, something like that. So they're going to play a joke
on me. So I'm sitting, and this table's
very nice, you know. And I take a drink with this
glass, my Coke, or whatever it was. And I notice, wow, I'm dribbling
this thing. And so I'm a little embarrassed,
and I put it down. And so another sip, and I'm dribbling. And here, it's not easy. It's
not hard to embarrass a 13-year-old or a 14-year-old. And so I'm
dribbling. And then I begin to notice that
people are snickering around the table. They're laughing. And then we found out what the
joke was. They gave me, on purpose, a glass
with a hole in it. And so when you sip like this,
it will dribble like that. And so we all had fun, or at
least they did. So here is a vessel that is,
there's no pleasure. We could say, I didn't have pleasure
in it. Well, after a while, I suppose
we did. A broken cup, Israel's like that, no pleasure in it. They're like one that's been
discarded, a broken piece of pottery. The cup doesn't hold. the fluid, it doesn't serve its
purpose. What a descriptive picture of
this nation who should have been full of the blessing of God and
should have conveyed it to the world around. Well, what do they
do? Verse nine, they have gone up
to Assyria like a wild donkey alone by itself. Ephraim has
hired lovers. Israel sought foreign help, made
alliances with Assyria to the north. Didn't check in with the
Lord. No, we'll go find help to help
us in the threat of war. Let's go up to Assyria. And Hosea
uses this very graphic picture here, like a wild donkey. I think the picture is probably
a donkey in heat. It's neighing about. Look at
Jeremiah. Go back to the prophet Jeremiah.
As I said, the prophets are very graphic in their language. Look
at what Jeremiah says, chapter two and verse 24. Jeremiah 2, 24. A wild donkey
used to the wilderness. Let's back up to 23. How can
you say I am not polluted? I have not gone after the Baals,
the false gods. See your way in the valley? Know
what you have done. You are a swift dromedary, breaking
loose in her ways, a wild donkey used to the wilderness. that
sniffs at the wind in her desire in her time of mating who can
turn her away all those who seek her will not weary themselves
in her month they will find her and so here Jeremiah uses this
same picture and Hosea says they're like a wild donkey they're seeking
to find help and fulfillment from pagan nations look at Hosea
chapter 7 verse 11 He says there, Ephraim also is like a silly
dove without sense. They call to Egypt, they go to
Assyria, and go ahead in Hosea chapter 12 and verse 1, Ephraim
feeds on the wind and pursues the east wind. He daily increases
lies and desolation. Also they make a covenant with
the Assyrians and oil is carried to Egypt. So Hosea is saying,
you sought foreign help. You are like a donkey in heat,
sniffing the air, seeking to find fulfillment. And he goes
on pressing the analogy, Hosea 8, 9, Ephraim has hired lovers. You've hired lovers. You look
for people and nations to fulfill you but it was in vain. They
look for fulfillment but were left empty. And they did this
on a national scale. But let me say today that part
of the devil's system is to tempt people to find fulfillment in
ways that God did not intend, and it leaves them empty. Satan makes it so attractive,
the world, the flesh, and the devil. If you were to cut out
all the sexual innuendo of television or internet, or even on your
phone, What would be left? The world system, pressing upon
people, promising fulfillment in many different ways. And people
come up empty because there's no fulfillment except in Jesus
Christ. And he said, I've come that they
might have life and might have it more abundantly. Hosea 8.10,
and here we see that Israel will suffer because of her choices. yes though they have hired among
the nations they have prostituted themselves they've hired among
the nations now I will gather them that could be a line of
hope of restoration but I think it's probably judgment I will
gather them in judgment referring perhaps to the nations and to
Israel. I'm going to gather them. I'm
going to deal with them. And look at what it says. And
they shall sorrow a little because of the burden of the king of
princes. The Lord will diminish them. They will be diminished. They
will sorrow because of this burden that this powerful king, the
king of Assyria promises. They think they're gonna find
help and fulfillment in this foreign help. But what's gonna
happen is they're gonna be under a load, under a burden. And according
to 2 Kings chapter 15, this likely was the burden of tax, taxation. 2 Kings 15 references this. One of the kings, Menahem, notice
verse 19, 2 Kings 15, 19. Pul, king of Assyria, came against
the land and Minahem, king of Israel, gave Pul a thousand talents
of silver that his hand might be with him to strengthen the
kingdom under his control. A talent could weigh 60 or more
pounds, think of that, silver. and that his hand might be with
him to strengthen the kingdom under his control. And Menahem
exacted the money from Israel. He made taxation from all the
very wealthy, from each man 50 shekels of silver to give to
the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned
back and did not stay there in the land. So here Menahem is
selling Israel out, paying money to Assyria. And God says, there's
this burden. of the king of princes, a consequence
because Israel did not seek help from the Lord, but sought help
from the nations around. Well, now we come to the last
part of the chapter, verses 11 through 13. Israel practices
false religious activity. Very important words here. Track
along with me, Hosea 8.11, because Ephraim has made many altars
for sin they have become for him altars
for sinning he has a play on words here Ephraim has made many
altars speaking of the altars to false gods false deities to
Baal and others he's multiplied altars part of this being swallowed
up among the nations he's multiplied altars the altars supposedly
to expiate to deal with our sin problem but what did they end
up being for Israel they have become for him altars for sinning
because they were idolatrous there's something very interesting
that's in the human heart and it's this We have a need for
atonement. We have a need for forgiveness. I've shared this story before,
but it made such an impression on me. I remember a young airman
came to me for counsel, and he really had messed up. He had
turned 21, got with his buddies, went out, and he got drunk. He
wrecked a vehicle, and I don't think it was his vehicle, and
now he's in trouble. Trouble in the law, in trouble
with the Air Force. But I remember what he said,
and he claimed to be Jewish. He came to me and he said, I
feel like I need something or someone to atone for me. And I said, what would you say
if I told you someone has done that? It's in the human heart. Yes,
our sin requires judgment and it requires being dealt with. And I have wonderful news from
the word of God. Jesus did that. He dealt with
our sin problem. So we come to him as we are,
and we can find cleansing and forgiveness, not of one, not
of two, not of five, not of 25, all, not of a million, but all
of our sins. We don't have to create altars.
There was one. It was the cross of Christ. And
that cross is where Jesus gave his life so that our sins could
be forgiven, atoned for. And it's the blood of Jesus that
will forgive us all our sins. And that blood, as the song says,
will never lose its power. Praise the Lord. They were building
altars to try to deal for sin, but those altars became for them
sin. They were sinning because of
those altars, because they were idolatrous. They were not turning
to the one true God. They were not turning to the
God of Israel who provided for all of this, who said, without
the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness for sins. And
so what do we see around the world today in world religions? Some way to deal with the sin
problem. And it involves human works.
Sometimes it involves human sacrifice. All useless. All not effective. Because Jesus paid it all on
the cross of Calvary. We come to him, his finished
work, and we believe it, and we can be saved, and our sins
can be forgiven. Have you come to the cross? Have
you come to that altar, the altar of the Lord Jesus Christ and
said, Lord Jesus, I believe that you took my sins on yourself.
I'm calling on you, asking you to save me. And he promises that
whoever comes to him will not be cast out. So their altars
became instruments for sinning. And then they have another problem.
Not only did they multiply altars, but they neglected the words
of the Lord. Look at Hosea 8, 12. I have written for him. I just love that. I've written
for him. I've recorded my truth, my words,
the great things of my law. There is a possibility that you
could translate like this. I've written 10,000 precepts
of my law. He's trying to make a point to
them. I have given you the fullness
of my law. I've given you so much instruction. We have in the 66 books of Holy
Scripture, the word of God, the message of God, the love letter
of God for his children. What a treasure this is. The
scriptures, the word of God, let's not Take it for granted. Why is it that through the centuries, Bibles
have been confiscated, burned? Those who translated them, those
who promoted the reading of scripture for everyone, not just a quote
unquote clergy, why were they burned? Burned at the stake. Have you heard of Foxe's Book
of Martyrs? I've had that on my shelf for
years. I said, I'm going to read that this year. I'm ashamed I
haven't read it before now, but I'm reading it now. It was written
in the 1500s about martyrs. And you know what is common?
You know what they did? They would condemn someone for
believing that salvation is in Christ alone and in the scriptures,
and it's not in The church, it's in Christ. And they would take
them and tie them or chain them to a stake, a post, and build
a fire and burn them alive. You read that and you think,
this is unbelievable. What was their crime? That they
believed that all of us should be able to read the Bible? They
believed that salvation was in Christ alone? That it's not in
the Pope? It's in Christ? It's not in the
Catholic Church? It's in Christ? That's what they
believed. And so what do we do? We gotta
get rid of that. So let's burn these people. But
you know what? It didn't stop biblical Christianity.
People translated scripture. John Wycliffe is called the Morning
Star of the Reformation. And he wanted everybody to be
able to read the scripture. He wanted it to be in the common
language. William Tyndale wanted the plow boy to be able to read
scripture. John Wycliffe was so hated that after he died,
they dug up his bones and burned them. He'd been dead. They dug up the bones and burned
them and cast them into the brook that went into the river that
went into the sea. And someone said, that's exactly what happened
to his teaching. It was spread abroad. And God
used that. And there's an organization today
called the Wycliffe Bible Translators. It goes into primitive tribes
and learns the language and translates scripture into their language.
A tremendous effort. It goes back to that great man. When people neglect the Word
of God, are they able to destroy it? No. When governments outlaw
the Bible, can they destroy it? No. Can we as Bible-believing
Christians neglect the Bible? Absolutely. May it not be. God says to them,
I've written for him the great things of my law. I've given
you all kinds of truth and instruction. And notice the last part of verse
12. But they were considered a strange
thing. I'm sure you know this. Many
of you could testify to this probably. There are many churches where
the Bible is a strange thing. A friend of mine in college He
was one of my best friends, Perry Cunningham, from the Bahamas.
And there was a tract somehow in his house. And he saw it,
and he read it, and it led to his salvation. And when he went
to the Bible-believing church, he noticed that, wow, all these
people are carrying their Bibles. This is really interesting. It
was new to him. Oh, he was religious. He said,
these people were carrying their Bibles to church. Wow. What a blessing when the Bible
is not a stranger in a church or in a pulpit. And if you go
to a church sometime and you see there's no Bible, I don't
hear it, nobody reads it, they don't preach from it, leave. I say that in love, leave. Go
to where the Bible is taught because the entrance of your
words gives, it gives understanding to the, And we all stand as simple
people before the Lord, needing to be instructed, every single
one of us. Let's not neglect the great things
of God's law. Let it not be a stranger to us. In your home, don't let the Bible
be a stranger. If you are by yourself, read
the Bible. Let it be your companion. If
you have one other person or two or three, let the Bible be
present. Fathers, husbands, read the word
in your home. Gather the family, gather your
wife, and read the word. We so enjoy, my wife and I, listening
to the Dramatized Bible, listening to it every day, following our
schedule, And well, we're off schedule because it takes longer
to get through it. So we miss Sundays, sometimes
Saturdays, but usually during the week. And we listen and mark
off that little schedule. And after a period of time, wow,
we went through the whole Bible just listening. It's a delight
and it engages another sense. Don't let the Bible, the word
of God be a stranger in your house. And don't let that great
kleptomaniac come into your house and steal the treasure of the
scripture. Thief! Thief! You say, what are
you talking about? The big thing, the screens get
bigger every year. That thing steals time. Turn the thing off. Throw a breakthrough. I mean, don't. Sorry, I got a little excited.
It steals how many Christians all day long, but no time for
scripture. It's a stranger. You understand
the point. May this Bible not be a stranger
in our home. And dads, men, our children need
to see us reading the word of God. And mothers, read the word to
your children. Listen to this from this scholar
who wrote on Hosea, Dwayne Garrett. I just love this. It really stood
out to me. He said, the priests had so little
respect for the Torah. That's the law of God. However,
and the people were so poorly taught. And he references chapter
four, verse six. Remember that? My people destroyed
for lack of knowledge. So the priest did not regard
the scriptures, the people were poorly taught, that some regarded the Torah
as the religious laws of some foreign land. The principles
of Baal had been accepted as orthodox and indeed as the genuine
expression of the Israelite faith. Now get this, For modern readers,
the lesson is that we need to beware of how easy it is to substitute
culture and prevalent opinions for true Christianity. It is possible to regard true
examples of Christian spirituality as alien strangers. Wow, what a statement. For us
moderns, it's possible to substitute culture and prevalent opinions
for true Christianity. That's the world getting into
the boat, the water getting into the boat. Chapter 8, verse 13,
he goes on to say, for the sacrifices of my offerings, they eat flesh,
they sacrifice flesh and eat it. Ephraim selfishly consumed
sacrificial gifts. When they brought the animal
sacrifices to the priests, there would often be feasts and they
would eat. But he's saying here, they bring
these and then they consume it. They sacrifice flesh and they
eat. They're selfish in their worship. And notice what it says in verse
13, but the Lord does not accept them. Oh, they have religion. They're doing some religious
thing, but God's not pleased with it. He doesn't accept it. He's not delighting in it. And
the Lord then remembers their iniquity and punishes their sins. The Lord keeps account. He will
remember. He will punish. And the last
part of verse 13 is very interesting. They shall return to Egypt. So
let's take that literally. They're gonna go back to Egypt
for help or in captivity even. But think about this. Suppose
Hosea is wanting to bring up to the Israelites that horrific
memory of when they were slaves in Egypt. 800 years before. God delivered them
from that. And he wants them to remember
that and to say, that's what's coming for you. You're gonna
go back to Egypt, wherever Egypt is. You're gonna go back into
captivity. And that's exactly what happened.
Assyria came and took them off into captivity because they had
turned against the Lord because they did not listen to Hosea. Now we come to verse 14, the
Lord has the final word as he always does, but notice this
first line, Israel has forgotten his maker. Wow. Israel has forgotten his maker. Let's apply this in a few different
ways. First of all, let's just take
it at face value of creation. that we were created by God. We were created in God's image.
We, as human beings, did not evolve. We didn't come from an
amoeba that turned into, with many different evolutions, into
an ape that then became a human being. No way. What a lie Satan
has forced upon our whole world. And to be accepted in academic
circles, you pretty much have to bow to the altar and the idol
of evolution. God made us. Yes, the culture
around can laugh all they want, God made us. But think of it
this way, in a spiritual sense. Psalm 100, remember this? Serve the Lord with gladness,
come before his presence with singing, know that the Lord,
he is God, it is he who has made us. and not we ourselves, we
are his people and the sheep of his pasture. He's the one
who's made us his people. He's the one who's made us his
sheep. And Hosea says, Israel, you forgot. You forgot the one who called
you to be his people. You forgot your maker. Whatever
level that is, may we never forget the Lord. So what did they do? Because
we are intrinsically religious. We will do something. Israel
has forgotten his maker and has built temples. We'll get religious. Judah also has multiplied fortified
cities. So Judah is going to trust in
its power, its military might. It's going to create its own
religious activity. And what's God going to do? Hosea
8, 14, But I will send fire upon his cities, and it shall devour
his palaces. A culture that thinks we're safe,
we have all the military might that we can have, we'll be protected
from every sort of evil, and we have no use for God. that
culture eventually will fall. Because you know what? One day,
every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Communist China
was an incredible military, increasing in strength all the time, and
in discipline. But they deny God, the existence
of God. One day, they will bow to the
Lord Jesus Christ. And we trust before then that
many will be saved when they see the emptiness of atheism. By the way, while China trains
with discipline, what do we put into our military training on
transgenderism, pay for sex change surgeries with American tax dollars? May God help us. We've been proud
of our military might. that God can destroy it in a
moment. Look at Jeremiah 17. Let me close with this verse. Jeremiah 17 and verse 27. Jeremiah
17, 27. But if you will not heed me, to follow the Sabbath day is
given to the people of Israel to Judah, such as not carrying a burden
when entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will
kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of
Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched. Hosea spoke to his
day to the northern 10 tribes about the threat of Assyria coming
and capturing and taking them off. Jeremiah spoke to Judah,
and this is exactly what happened in 586. Hosea, Assyria came in
to Israel 722. Some years later, Judah, Babylon
came. 586, Jerusalem fell. and there was fire, and God said
that here. I'll send fire upon his cities,
those things that you're so proud about, it shall devour his palaces. I sadly remind us that this great
city, I love this city, most powerful city in the world, incredible
mission field, the whole world is here. What an opportunity
we have for the gospel. But can I remind you that in
September 2011, September 2011, we celebrated
an anniversary. What happened in 2001 when this
great city was brought to its knees in a few moments, and there
was fire and devastation and horror. I trust that never happens
again any place in the United States. But we, as a nation, cannot be
haughty and say, God, you can be on the outside, if at all. And we will do our thing. We'll
build our palaces. We'll build our skyscrapers.
I came onto a brochure that I kept. from before 2001. And it shows the Twin Towers. And
the caption, this was a publicity brochure. The caption was, the
closest some of us will ever get to heaven. Just think about that. And how
tragic that was and is, and even in our memories. So we can be
proud of our buildings, our palaces, our fortresses. We can be proud
of our military might. But the Lord reigns as king. And in a moment, he can bring
it to an end. And so he calls on us to humbly
remember him. Let me apply this with three
statements. You might want to jot them down.
Three remembers. We must remember the law of sowing
and reaping. Verse seven, they sow the wind,
reap the whirlwind. The law of sowing and reaping
is positive and it can be negative. We often think of it only in
negative terms, but it's also positive. We sow the seeds of
righteousness, we sow the gospel seed. That's why we call those
bags that we use in distributing tracts, seed sower bags. I love
it. We can sow positively the gospel. We can sow positively good works
in the Christian life, but we need to be aware of this. Whatever
a man sows, that we also reap. If I sow to the flesh, I can't
expect spiritual blessing. The law of sowing and reaping,
we must remember. And secondly, we must remember
with appreciation, the wonderful word of God. Remember with appreciation,
the wonderful truth of scripture. Oh, how I love your law, the
psalmist said. It is my meditation all the day. I'm so thankful for the word
of God. I'm so thankful that we have
it in our language, in English. I'm so thankful that we can read
and study it. We can hear it on our phones. Remember with appreciation the
wonderful word of God and engage that, not take it for granted. Let me put this in a pinpointed
way. If I, if you as a believer in
Jesus Christ, if we are content to go day after day after day
without the input of scripture, we're taking it for granted.
It's a stranger to us. And what should we do about that?
Repent and then open up the Word of God today and read it. Say, God, speak to me. I'm seeking you in your Word. So thirdly, we must remember
that worship is about the Lord and not about us. We must remember
our Maker. He's the one who made us. Remember
his saving grace. We sang, there were several songs
today about the cross. Jesus paid it all. That's remembering. Wonderful, yes. That's not just
for Good Friday or Communion Sunday. We remember his saving
grace. We remember that salvation is
free, but it was very costly to Jesus. He gave his life that
we could be saved. and his salvation is wonderful.
Let's bow together in prayer. Our Father, we thank you so much
for your word. Lord, we need your truth. We
need to be guided by what is so valuable, the word of God.
Lord, I pray that you will speak to our hearts Perhaps we've let
any number of thieves rob our time from your Word. I pray we'll repent and give
you special time. I pray you'll stir our hearts
that the Word won't be a stranger in our individual lives, in our
marriages, in our families. May the Word be very important.
Dear Father, I pray that We will not take for granted what Jesus
has done for us. And that we'll remember when
we come together to worship, it's about you and giving praise
and glory and honor to you. But if there's anyone that's
not yet trusted Jesus to save them, show them their need and
show them that they need Jesus who will forgive their sins if
they will call on the name of the Lord. My friend, if you've
not yet believed in Jesus, let me just put it in ABC form. A, admit your sin to God. And B, believe, not just in your
head, but in your heart, that Christ died, was buried, and
rose again. And C, call on the Lord. A cry of faith from your heart,
Lord Jesus, save me. Give me eternal life. Forgive
my sins. The Bible says, whoever calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved. Oh, Father, speak to
us as we need. Draw us close to you. We pray
in Jesus' wonderful name. Amen.
Wind, Whirlwind and Wild Donkey
Series Hosea
| Sermon ID | 31724137425209 |
| Duration | 50:31 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Hosea 8:7-14 |
| Language | English |
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