Turn with me to the book of Hosea. Every song that was sang tonight pretty much went with my message. This afternoon, I am a mess. Now, I tell you I am, I'm a mess. We're sitting at Brother Mike's. Brother Jamie Dole this morning asked me about a preacher that many of you know, Brother Arthur Lee Galloway. Brother Arthur Lee, Brother Lonnie's up in years and his health is fading. And he had recently been in the hospital, I think, for about nine days or so and had AFib. His heart was messed up and not in rhythm. And Brother Jamie, I talked to Brother Arthur Lee and he called me and asked me to pray for him. He never mentioned that he had been in the hospital. And I could tell that he was so frail and so weak. And Brother Jamie asked me this morning about him, and I just, I told Brother Jamie, I hadn't talked to him in the last little bit, and we were over at Brother Mike and Sister Brenda's after lunch, and my phone rang Brother Lonnie, and I picked it up, and it was from Brother Arthur Lee. And I hit the answer button, and I honestly thought, that he had accidentally dialed me, because that man was praying a hole into heaven. And I'm telling you, he was praying, and he was shouting, and I listened to him for eight minutes, and I thought, well, he just misdialed me, and I hung up. It wasn't 20 seconds later, the phone rang again, it was him. He actually was Sister Shirley. Sister Shirley, I said, hello. She said, Brother Clark, this is Sister Shirley. Brother Arthur Lee wants to talk to you. And for the next hour and 20 minutes or so, I listened to that man pray a hole into heaven. He shouted. He prayed. He quoted scripture after scripture after scripture. Brother Doug, he prayed for everybody he knew. He prayed for your church, every church that he ever pastored. He prayed for it. He mentioned some of you by name. He even prayed for this church. And he would say things like this. He said, God, I have never felt you. like I feel you right now. I've never felt you like I feel you right now. Oh, wouldn't it be good tonight for us to feel him like we've never felt him? To be caught up into the glory world. How many of you realize tonight the church needs a little bit more of the glory of God? And he went on, and he went on, and he went on. And at the end of it, he asked if I could come see him. And I said, well, Brother Arthur Lee, I can't this afternoon. I'm preaching in a camp meeting. at Harrison, and he took off again, prayin' for this service tonight, and prayin' for this camp meeting. Brother Mike had shared with me about a vision that they had here to build a new sanctuary, and during his time talkin' to me and prayin', he said, God bless that church at Harrison so much, with souls that they'll have to build a new sanctuary. I'm a mess, I'm a mess. Brother Mike and Brother, Bruce and I thought that possibly, Brother Ellis, that God might have set him on the highway walking in Zion, walking in Zion. But one day that old preacher's gonna cross over to the other side, and it's gonna be joy unspeakable and full of glory. Book of Hosea tonight, Book of Hosea tonight. I wanna preach to you tonight on this little thought, and you've sung about it every song. on the love of God. How much does God really love me? How much does he love me? I want to tell you something tonight. I know this is a camp meeting crowd, but if you're in this building tonight and you're not where you need to be with God, I cannot describe the love of God to you because it's better felt than told. And if you're here tonight and you think, you know, I don't believe that God could love me, that is a lie from hell. He loves you. Let's read the scripture and get in tonight. Chapter 1, verse 1. When you get there, would you say amen? Stand with me tonight. You pray for me. I don't plan on preaching long. I just want to do what God wants me to do. The Bible says in chapter 1 and verse 1 of the book of Hosea, it says, The word of the Lord came to Hosea the son of Barai in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah kings of Judah in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel. the beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said unto Hosea, Go, take thee a wife of Hortums, and the children of Hortums, for the land hath committed great Hortum, departing from the Lord. So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblum, which conceived and bear Him a son. Let's pray tonight. Father, we do love You, and God, we thank You, Lord. I don't know about anybody in this room, but God, I could shut the book, go home, and say it has been good to be in Your presence. But for the next few minutes, Lord, I just need You to anoint me I ask you God that you would just calm me and God you would anoint me and you would speak through me tonight. I pray tonight God that our ears and our hearts are open and God we're sensitive to your spirit tonight. God I know in a crowd of this size Lord no doubt there's folks that are lost on their way to hell. God, would you please send old time Holy Ghost conviction to fall in this house. We pray tonight, God, for those that may be distant, may be in a backslidden condition. God, would you draw them again to you tonight and restore relationship with them. Father, we ask you tonight to have your will and to have your way. and we will love you and give you glory for it. In Jesus' wonderful, wonderful name and everyone said amen and amen. You may be seated tonight. When we think about the love of God, Brother Mike, we can read God's Word and it describes a little bit on how much God loves us. We can read scripture like this. It says that God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. We can also read Brother Doug in the scripture said Jesus even said, greater love hath no man than this, that a man would lay down his life for his friends. And then the very next verse says, ye are my friends, if you do whatsoever I command you to. And then we could just go to the grandest of all Scripture, you brother quoted it tonight, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. I never shall forget the day when I knelt at an altar of prayer. We sung that song. Tonight the sisters sing it. Listen to me, I'll never forget the moment in time. And some folks say, well, I can't tell you the exact day or the exact date. But I want to tell you, if you've been born again, you know that it happened. Can I have an amen? I remember one night I was going to a revival at Subiaco Free Will Baptist Church. They had just started a church, Brother Mike. And I played games with God. I was in and out like a revolving door. I was raised in church and I knew about God. And Brother Lonnie, I knew what conviction felt like. I knew what it felt like. And I was out of church playing games with God. And they started a little church there in Subiaco. They had about eight or nine people. Brother Wesley, Brother JC Kinder started that church. And tonight, I thought about him tonight while we were here. He's been promoted into glory. He's my pastor and he's been the glory world tonight. But he was the founding pastor of that church. His little daughter came up to me and said, Clark, we're starting a church and we're having a revival and we need you to come. What she is saying, we need you to come and occupy a seat. That's why we need you to come. We ain't got but about eight or nine people and we need you just to occupy a seat. And the little church there, Brother Mike, at that time would only probably seat about 40 people. That's about all it would seat. And I got in there that night And when I sat down, somebody sat down by me that I could not see. And as I sat there on that seat, the singers got up to sing, and I couldn't tell you one word that they sang. And the preacher got up to preach, and I couldn't even tell you what the preacher preached. And it was years later before I even knew. who the preacher was because he told me that he was preaching that night. All I knew that they was a God in heaven by the way of the Holy Ghost. He came and he sat down right beside me. And you know what he did? Brother Mike, he sat down beside me and he pulled me up real close to him and he began to tell me how much that he loved me. And the more he told me how much he loved me, the more conviction that fell on my soul. How could a loving God love me that much? The way I've been living and what I've been doing and how I've been acting. How could God love me that much? I'm glad that night before I left that building, I made my way. I never shall forget the day that I went down to that altar of prayer. and I went my way through to repentance, and I said, God, if you'll save me, I'll serve you and live for you the best I can with your help. Oh, I thank you tonight, God, that that was on a Tuesday night in September of 1989, and here we are tonight on April the 20, what is this, the 22nd of 2022, and thank God I'm still on the journey. Why is that tonight? Because God loved me that much tonight. He loved me that much. And guess what? He loves you that much. And if you're saved tonight, you've experienced that love. But tonight, if you're lost, God wants to show you how much he loves you. And when we think about the love of God, and we just celebrated Easter, it's already been mentioned. We've already celebrated the resurrection. And I often think, Brother Mike, the last week of Jesus' life, what he had to endure. Let's roll back, and I'll try not to be long tonight. But we go back a week prior to Easter. It was Palm Sunday. Jesus is coming into town, and they've got their palm branches, and they're waving them at him, and they're, Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna. And you know what, if that'd been you and I on the back of that donkey, you know what we'd have thought? Boy, they love us. They love me. They love me. But you know what? Jesus could see ahead in time, and He knew at the end of the next week that they would not be one of them there that would be there for Him. And we find throughout that whole week, He had betrayal. He had the garden of Gethsemane. everything that went on that very week. And you say, why in the world did he come to do that? Why did he have to go through what he went through? He went through that because he loved me. Can you imagine Brother Wesley? He's in the Garden of Gethsemane. He's a fleshly, he's a 100% man, but yet he's a 100% God. And the fleshly man kneels down to pray. And he says, Father, let this cup pass from me. He saw what was in the cup. He knew there was suffering and he knew there was death. and he knew there was pain, and he said, Father, let this cup pass from me. He prayed it once, and then he prayed it twice, but when he went back to pray that third time, he said, Father, let this cup pass from me, but nevertheless, not mine. I will, but thy will be done. Brother Jamie, tonight in my mind, when he went that third time, and he said, not my will, but thy be done. He looked past the pain, and he looked past the suffering, and he looked past the cross, and he saw me, and he saw you, and he knew I needed a way. He knew I needed a savior. He knew I needed a redeemer. He knew I couldn't make it on my own. And thank God tonight that God loved me so much that he was willing to bankrupt heaven to give the very best that he had, that I could have life and have it more abundantly. Amen. But one of the greatest love stories in my opinion in the scripture is found in the book of Hosea. Hosea is a man that loves God. He's a godly man. He's kept himself for God. If we look at it in our modern way of thinking, he's faithful to church. He's the man that plays music. He's the man that sings. He's the one, if the pastor needs some help, call on Hosea. Hosea is the man. And he's kept himself from God. God has been number one in his life. And one day, God speaks to him. and says, Hosea, I'm going to give you a wife. And he went, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop. He said, glory to God. God's going to give me a wife. And you know what I believe, brother, he did? He said, you know what? I've scanned the crowd. There's some good single godly single women at church. And he's picked them on out. And he said, oh, there's Sister Susie over there, and she's pretty. and she can sing. If you're Susie tonight, I'm not talking about you, all right? I'm not talking about you, okay? But anyway, boy, she's pretty, and well, maybe I am talking about you. She's pretty, and she can sing, and she's faithful to God, and she's at prayer meeting on Tuesday night, and she works in the woman's auxiliary, and she teaches Sunday school children's church. She's a great worker. Lord, I can see myself having a great future with Sister Susie. Is that the one you're going to give me?" And God says, no, Hosea, that's not the one I'm going to give you. He said, well, okay. How about Sister Nell over there? She's not quite as pretty, and she can't sing quite as good. But she's alright, Lord, and I can see me having a future with her. Would you allow me to have her? Is that who? God, you're going to give me? And the Lord said, no, that's not who I'm going to give you. He might have went through another one or two. And finally the Lord said, listen, it's no woman in the church. The woman that I've got for you is down on the street corner. She's down there and she's a prostitute. And you know what? Hosea, if I'd have been Hosea, I'd have said, God, what in the world are you talking about? I've kept myself for you. I've lived as godly and holy as I possibly can. And don't you thank any more of me than that to give me somebody better than that. But you know, that's not what he done. Bruce, let me borrow your coat tonight. Let me borrow your jacket here for a minute. And he said, Lord, if that's who you want me to have, that's exactly the one I want. So this is what he does. He starts making a journey down there to the street corner. And when he saw her, have you ever heard the statement? It was love at first sight. When he looked at her and God said, that's the woman, all of a sudden his heart just started pitter pattering. He thought, my Lord God, that's my wife. and he walks right up to her. Let me, let me, oh, I better not do that. I was gonna pick up a woman to be Gomer. I better not do that. I better not do that tonight. You might be Sister Susie or Sister Nell, but I ain't being Gomer. I was about to get a little too carried away right there now. Amen. But he walks up to her, Brother Wes. He said, my name is Hosea, and you may not understand this, But you're my wife, God told me to take you for my wife. Now listen, in our mind, let's get it in our mind, how we would visualize what a prostitute looks like. That's the way she looked. And she had the reputation, she had been with man after man after man, but that did not matter to Hosea. And this is what Hosea done. He wraps clothing around her and he says this to her. He says, I'm going to love you like you've never been loved. I'm going to show you love like no man's ever showed you. He said, you know what? I've got a closet full of clothes that's just your size. You'll not have to worry one more night about where you're going to lay your head or who you're going to lay your head down with. I've got that closet full of clothes. I've got a hair appointment for you. We're going to get your hair fixed. We're going to get your nails done. You're going to be my bride. And man, everything's going to be all right. When I think in my mind's eye about the love of God, Do you realize tonight that you and I were no better than Gomer down there on the street corner? We were dead in trespasses and sin. We talk about measuring sin, white sin, black sin, big sin, little sin. How many of you realize tonight that sin is sin? The Bible says that and the wages of sin is death. Every single one of us, if you will, was dirty, we was unclean. We were unclean, we was no fit for nothing, but one day the love of God. Aren't you glad tonight that when Jesus Christ saw us, he didn't turn to God the Father and say, is this the best you can do? He said, I tell you what, old Clark's looking pretty good. Old Wes looks pretty good. All these folks look pretty good. And you know what he did? He come up to us and he robed us in his glory. He robed us in his righteousness. He washed us in the blood of Jesus Christ. And you know what? We were adopted into the family of God. He said, you don't have to live that way any longer. You don't have to go to the places that you go to any longer. Hey, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, and behold, all things become new. Our brother Jamie's sister Tamara and I, we just celebrated 32 years of marriage. Yesterday, we dated about three years before we got married. We've known each other about 35 years. And the first three years of our life, or the first two anyway years of our knowing each other, it was hell on earth. We fought about every day. And this is why we wasn't where we should be with the Lord. We fought about every day, and there wasn't very many good days that we wasn't fighting. But I'm gonna tell you, when I give my heart to Jesus Christ, and he robed me in his righteousness, and he robed me, and he washed me in the blood, and he robed Sister Tamra with his glory, and he washed her in the blood, 32 years later, our life is grand, our life is good. I'm here to tell you right now, it's all because the love of God. The love of God. So watch this is what happens. In my mind, Brother Ellis, Hosea tells her, tells Gomer, said, now look, we're going to church. I'm a church going man, and we're going to church. Now here's what, well, she's terrified out of her mind. She's not no church person. She don't know nothing about church. And boy, here they walk into church on Sunday morning. And she says, I can't go to church. Why can't you go? Some of those people have seen me. Oh, that's good right there. Some of those people have seen me. Think about that a minute. He said, we're going to church, and here they walk in, they're front row, they're front row Baptists. They're not back row Baptists, they're front row Baptists. And they're sitting down on the front row, and they start singing, Jesus loves me. My God in heaven, we should have called time out and shouted for an hour right there. He started singing, Jesus loves me. And when he did, when they did, oh, old Hosea got up and threw his hands up in the air. And big old tears started streaming down his face. And there's Gomer sitting right beside him. She's thinking, man, everybody in this house is looking at me, and I'm so uncomfortable. and things of that nature, and time continues to rock on, and time begins to move on. And one day, Brother Wes, he comes in and sits down by him, and all of a sudden, they started singing the songs of Zion, and God began to move, and in my mind, something happened. Oh, Hosea's got his hands up in the air praising God, and then all of a sudden, they begin to be a little trickle down Gomer's face, and all of a sudden, she put her hand up about this high. You know how we do. about this high. Many times in the church we get it, but we're feeling good, and I realize we all worship different. Let me detour here and I'll get back to right there. A preacher friend of ours, Brother Jack Lassiter, you know Brother Jack, and you heard him tell this story one time, Brother Jamie, he took a church out, I think it was in farm country, he said there wasn't nothing but cornfields around it, and man, he said it was a pretty dry church, and amen would have been worth about $10, Brother Doug, it was pretty dry. He looked up one morning, and there was a visiting lady there, and they started singing songs, and she raised that hand, boy, and she's praising God, lifting up her hand. He said, that was like a fresh drink of water to my soul, and God used that little lady to bless me and help me, and it was a blessing to me. He's at the back door shaking hands, and he thanks her for coming. Here comes the deacon up to him and said, listen to me right now. Did you see that woman back there with her hands up in the air? He said, I sure did. He said, I need you to go talk to her and tell her what we are and what we do, that we don't do stuff like that. It's sad to say, but that happens a lot in the church world. Can I have an amen? And so anyway, the deacon said, are you gonna talk to her? Will you go talk to her? He said, I'll go talk to her. The next Sunday morning, she comes back. The deacons are a little surprised that she came back. After the pastor went and talked to her, They started singing those old songs again. And brother, out that hand goes. And not only one hand, two hands went up. And she started praising God. At the end of the service, the preacher's in the back, shaking everybody's hand. Here comes the deacon's with two fingers. Did you not go talk to her? Did you not go talk to her? He said, I went and talked to her. The deacon said, what did you say? I went and told her, ma'am, if it felt that good to raise one hand, why don't you just go ahead and raise them both? Just raise them both. We're like this. I'm gonna tell you something tonight. I got a nine millimeter in my car. You got a little nervous there, didn't you? Yeah, I've got a nine millimeter in my back belt. We're gonna really have a good altar call here after a while, all right? But I promise you tonight, if somebody stuck a nine millimeter in your face, you'd do this right here. You'd surrender. Sometimes in the church, we have a hard time to surrender. Surrender. But boy, she's getting in. She's getting in a little better. Things are going well. She's getting in good. Many of us in the church world, we get in good for a little while. Now, we're gonna get down to where we're living. We get in good for a little while, and then all of a sudden, something happens, like it happened two years ago. Is this mic on? Something begins to deter us. In our mind we get distracted and we get deterred. And our mind begins to get on other things other than the one we need to be having our mind on. She's sitting there, she's going through the motion. She's going through the motion. Her body's there, but her mind and her heart is way away from there. And she starts thinking about yesterday. She starts thinking about the way her life used to be. She starts thinking about what she used to do. It is beyond me. And we sit here tonight and we think, how in the world could someone do that after God has done so much for them? Hosea took her and changed her life forever, got her off the street, and treated her like royalty, and treated her like a queen, and she was brought into greatness. Why would somebody do that? That's a good question. then why do we do it? God brings us out of the pig pen, pulls us out of the miry clay, sets our feet on a rock and establishes our going. Man, we rejoice, and the next thing we know, we start drifting. We start drifting. She started drifting. One day she comes to him, and all this is me using my mind, and we can back this up here in just a little bit with scripture. She comes to him one day and says, look, Hosea, I gotta run to the store. I'll only be gone a couple hours. Well, that couple hours was four or five hours. Well, where did you go? What happened? Well, I got delayed and I got detoured and I make every excuse in the world. Aren't you tired of hearing all the excuses in the church? We got him by the countless scores. We got him by the countless scores. And then she comes to him one day and she says, now look, I gotta go again and I'm gonna be gone for this period of time. And she was gone all day. It rocked on a little more. He comes to her, she comes to him again and said, I've gotta be gone. That time she left and she'll never come back. She's gone. And, oh, Hosea, here we go, like me again, Brother Mike. If that would have been me, I'd have said, what in the world, God, are you doing to me? I'm done with her. I'm finished with her. I've done the best I could for her. I've treated her like a queen, and she's done this to me. I am done with her. I'm wiping my feet with her, and I'm gonna move on, and I'm gonna look for somebody else. Aren't you glad tonight that God didn't do that to you and I? Brother Jamie, I like to bird hunt. I got two English Setter bird dogs, and I like to bird hunt. And a few years back, Brother Mike, I took them to Kansas. I turned them out. And Brother Lonnie, I got tracking collars on them, and they'll go up to five miles. And I turn them dogs out, man, we're walking this field, and that one dog, he's headed directly in the opposite direction that I'm needing him to go. And I'm watching that tracking collar, and I'm bumping him with that shock collar, and he ain't turning, and he ain't coming. And the next thing I know, that little light comes on that he's out of range. I go get in the truck, I'm mad as a hornet. I drove five hours to bird hunt and I've got to hunt my dog. I'm madder than a hornet. I jump in the truck, load the other dog up. I head the direction that my tracking collar showed that he was at the last time. It had signal, and it popped back in, and he's that direction. And what happened out there, he just got so carried away, he got turned around, he got lost. And man, I see him running a hedgerow down there, and he's up and down, and I'm bumping him, and he acted like he ain't even feeling it. And man, I'm bumping him harder, and he ain't even paying no attention to me. I stopped the truck, I put it in park, and here I go across this field. I'm walking, I'm mad as a hornet, and when I find him, he sees me, and he kiss cows down at me. Now, my wife said I shouldn't tell this, because we're on live stream, but I took my belt off, and I wore him out, I wore him out. And listen to me, I put a lead on him, and I'm walking him back to the truck, and I'm talking to him, I'm mad as a hornet, Brother Wes, I'm mad. There ain't a spiritual bone in me at this moment. I'm talking to him and I'm saying things like this. I'm done with you, boy. I'm done with you. You're finished, you're through. I ain't never bringing you back. And I'll tell you right now, bud, if I knew somebody that just needed a good pet, I'd just give him to you and we're just finished. I opened up that tailgate. I shoved him in there. I slammed that dog box door. I shut the tailgate and I looked at him and I said, you're done. And so we go back to the field and I dump the other dog out and here we go bird hunting. I'm mad. I got my shotgun on my shoulder. I'm going through that field and I ain't even thought about God. God has not crossed my mind because I'm madder than a hornet. And then seemingly out of nowhere, a lightning bolt comes down from heaven and this is what God says to me. Aren't you glad I didn't talk to you like that when you did wrong, when you stepped out of bounds and you started doing stuff you shouldn't have done? You know, aren't you glad I didn't tell you I was done with you? Aren't you glad I didn't beat you like a dog? Aren't you glad that I didn't tell you I was finished? Aren't you glad I didn't tell you I'm just gonna go ahead and give you over to hell? And when that happened, I started weeping my eyes out in that bird field. I said, God, I'm so sorry. This rocked home, Brother Wes. I used to fire it up about a bird dog. Listen to me. It bothered me all the way home. My buddy that got in the truck, we're on our way home, and I'm telling him what happened. And man, now we're both just squalling and talking about how good God is. Aren't you glad tonight you're sitting in this building? Aren't you glad tonight that when you mess up, aren't you glad that God didn't throw the clay away? Amen. And brother Mike, it's the day before Christmas. We're going down, it's the 23rd, it's the day before Christmas Eve. We're going down Christmas Eve to mama's. It's consumed me. It's consumed me that I done my dog that way. And I think about it all the way down home. It's two hour drive to my mama's. We have Christmas on the way back. I'm real quiet. Tamara says, what's wrong with you? And I said, I'm thinking about my dog. I'm thinking about my dog. She said, why are you thinking about your dog? I said, I'm thinking how horrible I treated my dog. I said, when I get home, I'm gonna go out in the backyard, and I'm gonna let the dogs out in the backyard, and I'm just gonna get me a chair, and I'm just gonna let them roam in the backyard. And that's what I done. Now listen to this. I get me a chair. I let the dogs out, Brother Mike. And boy, they're just having the time in the backyard, and I'm just sitting there watching them, thinking how bad I treated that dog. And you know what happened? Here comes the dog that less than 24 hours ago, I just whooped the far out of. He comes running straight to me, gets right here, and if he could have gotten my lap, he would have. He put his head on my chest and started rubbing up and down my chest. And you know what I did? I just burst out bawling. And I wrapped my arms around that dog, because I've had that dog all his life. I wrapped my arms around him and I started loving on him. And I said, oh buddy, it's all right. We'll do it again next time. What are you saying tonight? I'm saying tonight that God's a God of a second chance. Hosea could have said, I'm done. But that's not what he does. He starts looking for her. I can just see this in my mind, Brother Wes. He starts finding people on the street. Have you seen Gomer? Have you seen Gomer? No, I hadn't seen her. He started now going back to the places that she used to go. He starts looking for her there. He's asking people that she used to run with, have you seen her? Have you seen her? No, they hadn't seen her. Well, he's out diligently looking for her. Aren't you thankful tonight The Lord's willing to leave, the shepherds are willing to leave the 90 and nine and seek after the one that went astray. So what happens, Brother Wes, he runs into someone, and he said, have you seen her? Have you seen her? No, I haven't seen her. But they said, you know what, they're having an auction down here at the courthouse square. There's gonna be everybody, everybody's gonna be down there. Maybe she'll be down there, or maybe there's somebody down there that's seen her, that's seen her, that will tell you, can help you where she's at. Well, he goes down there, and on his way, he whips into the store, and he buys himself a omer of barley, and a half omer of barley. and he's heading on down to the auction. And he's there, and I believe he's up on the park benches. He's looking around, trying to find her, trying to find her, and he can't find her. All of a sudden, there's a commotion, and he turns, and up on the auction block, there's some women that walk up there to be auctioned off. And they're half-dressed, and they're dirty, and they're filthy, and he looks up there, and he says, That's my wife. That's my wife. And all of a sudden she comes up for a bid. He had 15 pieces of silver with him. And he starts bidding on her. I'll give you 5. That wasn't enough. I'll give you 10. That wasn't enough. I'll give you 15 pieces of silver. And that wasn't enough. And now he's in a state of panic because all of his money is gone. And he said, all I've got is a omer and a half omer of barley. I'll give you that. I'll give you that. And the auctioneer said, sold, sold. And this is what he does. And when she sees him, she is so embarrassed. She is so ashamed. But here he comes again. And he does this, he said, look here, my name is Hosea, I'm your husband. God has given you to be my wife. He wrapped some clothing around her and said, I've got a closet full of clothes that's just your size. I've got an appointment made for you. at the beauty shop, we're gonna get your hair fixed, and we're gonna get your nails done, and we're gonna, hey, I'm gonna love you like you've never been loved, and I'm gonna treat you like you've never been treated. And you know what he had to do? He had to go and pay and get a receipt where all the sales became final. And when he goes over and gets his receipt, Now, the owner, he is the owner and the husband of this woman who's named Gomer. I begin to roll this in my mind's eye. There was a day that you and I were on the auction block in hell and every manner of sin was bending on our soul. Alcoholism said, I'll take him. A drug addiction said, I want him. A pornography and adultery said, I'll bid more than that. But what they did not see, they saw somebody that walked in the back of that building and they said, back of that auction and said, I've already paid for him. I've already paid for him. I've already paid for him. And you know what they said? They said, show me the receipt. Here comes the king of glory with his hands held out and he's got his nail prints in his hands and he's got nail prints in his feet. He said, I paid for him. I bought him with a price. He belongs to me. I'm thankful tonight for the love of God. For the love of God. I'm thankful for the love of God. Now listen to me, this is camp meeting night, and I'm finished. We could go on, but I'm finished. You're in this place tonight, and you've never been saved. There is a God in heaven that's already paid the price for your sin. There is a God in heaven that done everything he could do to bring you into the family of God. The rest is now left up to you. It's up to you. Whosoever will, let him come and drink of the water of life freely. Whosoever will. That whosoever's me, and that whosoever's you. As we bow our head in this building, stay with me now. I know we got sweet desserts coming later, but we got more important business coming now. And I want you to be honest and I want you to be open. You're in this house tonight, Brother Clark, I'm not where I need to be with God. And I know right now if the Lord was to call, I'm not prepared to make heaven. I'm just not where I need to be with God. I'm not ready. I would like for you to be open and honest enough and just lift your hand and say, Brother Clark, pray for me. I'm not where I need to be with the Lord. God bless. Would there be another God bless? Would there be another that would say that's me? Oh, I need Jesus, God bless. Would there be another and I'd say that's me. Let's be honest tonight. God's looking for some honest-hearted people. He loves you. Brother Mike, we preach this, we use this all the time in that altar call. I've heard it all my life. In the church of the Laodicean Church, Jesus said, behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man will open the door, I'll come in and sup with him and he with me. It works for a sinner, but he's actually talking to a church. But tonight, He's talking to your heart. And He's dealing with your heart. He's knocking. And He's wanting you to open the door and allow Him to come in. Would there be another that would say, that's me, Brother Clark. That's me. Maybe you're here tonight and you say, Brother Clark, I'm like Gomer. I'm like Gomer. I've drifted, and I've strayed, and I've backslid, and I need to rededicate my life and recommit myself to Jesus Christ. If that's you tonight, would you just lift your hand and say that's me, I need to rededicate my life. I'm out there, Brother Clark, I knew what it was like to feel the love of God, I know what it's like to feel the blessing of God, but right now I'm distant, I'm cold, and I need to recommit my life. Would there just be one hand that would say that's me? What we looked up some time ago, Brother Mike, about what the name Gomer means. I was shocked to know what the name Gomer means. It means to be made whole or complete. You will never be whole and you'll never be complete until you know Jesus as your personal Savior. Could I have a piano player to come tonight? Who's playing? Come ahead, sis. Come ahead, sis. Just play softly for me here just for a minute of time. We'll wrap this thing up and we'll be done. But I want you to be honest tonight and I want you to be bold enough. It's difficult to raise a hand. It's difficult to raise a hand. But it's more difficult to take that first step to get some help. You gotta understand how much God loves you. We sung about it tonight, Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. We know he loves you. You know he loves you. We sing about it, we preach about it, but listen to me, you'll never know until you experience it. You'll never know. It's one thing to be told, it's another thing to feel the love of God. As we stand together in this house, We had several hands lifted in this place tonight. And I thank you for that. But would you take it another step forward? And I tell you what, there's folks in this church that wants to pray with you. We've got enough preachers in this house tonight. We've got enough preachers in this house tonight that'll pray with you. Preachers' wives that'll pray for you. Bless you, sir. Bless you, sir. Would there be others that would come? Could we get someone to pray with this gentleman right here?