that is not faithful to her husband. So he says in the same way, Israel is not faithful to God. So they've been worshiping idols. And we're just gonna look at a couple of chapters earlier in Hosea, in Hosea four, to see how this is happening and what's going on. So Hosea four, one to three, which is seven, five, two. So just a couple of pages earlier. And Hosea four, one to three. Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel, for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. He has a quarrel with them. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land. There is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery. They break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, and even the fish of the sea are taken away. So you can see God is accusing his people of turning away from him. He says there is no faithfulness or steadfast love. No one loves God. And because of that, everyone is turning to sin. He lists all of these things that they're doing because they've turned away from God, swearing, lying, murdering, and they break all of the rules. And because of that, they've got big problems. The land is mourning. Everyone who's in it is languishing. They're suffering, even the birds and the fish. So Israel has got big problems because of what they're doing. And then one more in chapter five. If you go to chapter five and verse eight, so it's just on the same page there. Chapter five and verse eight. God says, blow the horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah. Sound the alarm at Beth-Avon. We follow you, O Benjamin. Ephraim shall become a desolation in the day of punishment among the tribes of Israel. I will make known what is sure. The princes of Judah have become like those who move the landmark. Upon them I will pour out my wrath like water. Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment because he was determined to go after filth. But I am like a moth to Ephraim and like dry rot to the house of Judah." So God is punishing them. It's not just that they are causing themselves problems, but God's anger is upon them for what they're doing. And he says he will be like a moth and like dry rot, like things that destroy. So his people have turned away from him, and because of that, he's angry, and he's sending them problems. So it's already started that things are going wrong. And Israel has seen the trouble. In 513, so just after that, he says, when Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria and said to the great king, and sent to the great king, but he is not able to cure you or heal your wound. So they've seen that they have these problems, but instead of turning away from their sin, they have gone to another country and they've said, ah, we've got problems, can you help us? They've gone to Assyria, which was a major world power. So this is what's going on in Israel. You've got idolatry, people turning away from God. Because of that, everything goes wrong, and the land is having trouble, and people are starving, and the animals are dying. And so they see that trouble, but instead of turning from their idols, they instead go to another country and ask for help. So all of that is the setup. for what is happening in Hosea. And then in this last chapter, this is God's final call for Israel to turn back to him. He's been talking throughout the whole book about what they're doing and how they should turn back to him. And this is now the last word in this book. Now, we are not Israel the country, at least I don't think any of us are Israelites. But we are God's people. We are people over whom God has sovereignty. He is our king. He made the whole world and all of us are responsible to God for how we live, for who we worship. And like Israel, we sin. Often we turn away from God. Often we don't worship God the way we should. Often we are like the Israelites and all the things that they do because they turned away from God. And like Israel, when we sin, God is often good to us and makes our lives hard so that we can see that we have sinned. And so like Israel, God calls us to repent, to turn back to him. And so what this chapter is about is about repentance. God is calling Israel to repent, and in the same way, God calls us to repent when we sin. So this instruction to repent is as important for us as it was for Israel in the time of Hosea. So we're gonna look at chapter 14, verses one to three, and I've got five things that these verses say about repentance, about how we should repent. So how should we repent? Firstly, to repent, you must confess that you are a sinner. you must acknowledge that you do things wrong. Admit that you are guilty. If we look in verse two, it says, take with you words and return to the Lord, say to him, take away all iniquity. Now in order for them to say to God, take away all iniquity, they have to first know that they have iniquity. You can't ask someone to help you with something unless you first accept that you have a problem. People sometimes say that the first step to recovery is admitting that you're ill. And this is also true with sin. If you don't think that you are a sinner, then you will never see the need to repent. You will never think, I've gotta repent, because you don't think there's anything wrong with you. And even if you know that you are a sinner, and even if you know that you do things wrong, you have to also know that that is a problem. If you don't think that it's a problem that you do things wrong, that you sin, then you're never gonna turn back to God and repent. Because we have to know that there is something wrong in order to look for a solution. Now there are things that might get in the way of us confessing our sin. Sometimes we know that we're in the wrong, but we don't confess it, and we don't want to admit that we're wrong. And why might that be? Well I think one of the big reasons that we do that is that we are proud Maybe you don't want to admit to people that you sin. You don't want to admit to God that you sin, because you want to think that you're a good person. You don't want to be associated as the kind of person who sins. You want to think, yeah, I'm a good person. I go to church. I'm a Christian. And you don't want to say, actually, I do things wrong. Or even if you do know that you sin, you don't want to say that your sins are a problem. You want to think that you've got the small kinds of sins, you know? Yeah, I make mistakes from time to time, but it's not such a big deal. And so that might stop you from coming to God and from confessing, because you don't think that it's a problem. You have to be humble to admit that you have a problem. You have to be willing to make yourself low and say, there is something wrong with me. Maybe you have heard the story that Jesus told about the Pharisee and the tax collector. about the proud religious priest man who went to the temple and prayed, thank you God that I am so good. But there was also a sinner, a man who lived in a way that was criminal and he did a lot of things wrong and he went to the temple as well. And he looked down at the floor and he said, God, have mercy on me, I'm a sinner. And it was the man who looked down and who was humble who God forgave, not the man who was proud. God opposes the proud, but he shows grace to the humble. I wonder if you're like me. I have this problem that when I get sick, when I have an illness, I like to ignore it for as long as possible. I think, oh, you know, it'll go away by itself. It seems like a problem, but a couple of days and I'll be fine. It's not such a serious illness. I'm a man, I can deal with this. So sometimes I might suffer for weeks. I'm walking around in pain. I don't need to see a doctor. I don't need to see a doctor. Because I'm too proud. I don't want to admit that there's something wrong with me. Maybe you're hearing me say that and you think, this guy's an idiot. Why would you live like that? And you're right. That is an idiotic thing to do. But it's a problem that I think we might all have in some way or another. We don't like to admit that we have a problem. We don't like to show weakness, especially when that problem is sin. But in order to get better, we first have to know that there is something wrong. So don't be an idiot. Admit that you have a problem. We all have sin. And if you want to know how serious your sin actually is, then you just have to read the Bible. If you read Matthew chapter five to seven, it's called the Sermon on the Mount. It's a sermon that Jesus preached. And he describes what God requires of us. And even hating your friend puts you in danger of going to hell. Even checking someone out is as bad as adultery. Jesus outright tells his disciples, be perfect, just like God is perfect. So if you think you're good enough, then you'll read that and weep. Like it or not, your sin is big enough to keep you from God. And so you need to confess that. You need to admit that you have a problem. So the first mark of repentance, you must admit that you are a sinner. Secondly, you must trust that God is gracious. If you look at verse two, take with you words and return to the Lord. Say to him, take away all iniquity. Accept what is good, and we will pay with bulls the vows of our lips. 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. In you, the orphan finds mercy. So when Isaiah tells Israel to turn back to God, the reason that they know they can turn back to God is that God is kind and God is merciful. In you, the orphan finds mercy. If you do not believe that God is gracious, then how could you possibly come to him to ask him to forgive you? If you think that God is a harsh, unforgiving God, then there's no point coming to him. Have you ever been scared to admit something to someone because you know how they'll react? Maybe when you were just a child and if you did something wrong or broke something in the house, Would you be willing to admit that to your parents as a child? Or would you be scared, because you know, if I tell them that I've done something wrong, then it's it for me? Is that how you feel about God? Do you think that if you admit that you are a sinner to God, that's all you're going to see, is God's anger? Do you think that you have to hide your sin from God? Do you fear that he won't show you mercy? Well, there's bad news. And the bad news is that God already knows how bad your sin is. You can't hide your sin from God. Even if you don't tell him, he already knows. God's not an idiot, he sees everything. When you confess, it's not news to God. God's not gonna go, you did what? Because God already knows. But he invites you to repent because he welcomes us when we do. It's not because you're gonna tell him anything that he doesn't know. but because he welcomes us to repent. There's a part in the Bible that says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. How do we know that God will show us mercy? Well, for the Israelites that Hosea was talking to, he often refers to how God freed them from Egypt. The Israelites in their history, God had saved them from slavery He had brought them out of a country where they had been held captive. And so, Hosea, a few times in the book, points to the past and says, you know, God is the God who saved you, he's your God, and so you know from the past that he loves you, and so you can trust him to accept you and to show you mercy. You know what kind of God he is. But for us, we're not Israel, we didn't come out of Egypt, but we still can know what kind of God he is, and we have even more in the past that we can look at. Because we don't live in BC, we live in AD. We live after the time of Jesus. Jesus has come to earth and he has died and risen. And we can look into history and see that. And that is how God has showed us, to the most extent, that is how God has showed us how gracious he is. He showed us his grace by sending us his son. God loves to show mercy so much that he killed his own son to do it. Jesus has died so that we can be forgiven by God if we repent. But you must believe that God is good if you're going to ask him to forgive you. If you don't know that God is good, if you don't think, oh, well, God is the kind of God who forgives, if you instead think God will just punish me, you're never gonna go to God. Do you believe that God is good and kind, that he will forgive if you ask him? Think about what he did sending his son. That should motivate us. We should think, if God is that kind, then surely he will forgive me. Hebrews says, anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. You have to believe that God rewards those who come to him if you are gonna come to him. So to repent, you must believe God accepts those who come to him, no matter what condition they are in. Even if we come as sinners, God is willing to forgive if we confess and repent. So, so far we've had to repent, you must admit that you are a sinner, and to repent, you must trust that God is gracious. Thirdly, to repent, you must admit that no one else can save you. If you look at verse three, Assyria shall not save us. When Israel had sinned, as we saw earlier, God had sent them problems. Their land was in trouble. And they tried to help themselves by going and making treaties with Assyria. They went to other countries to try and solve their problems, to try and get help, to try and give them some security. They also prayed to other gods, because they were still worshiping their idols. And so they thought, maybe if we pray to these idols, these idols will help us. And none of this helped them. Because only God can save us from sin and from the problems that sin brings. Sometimes when our sin gives us trouble, we turn to places other than God. I wonder if you, you know this about yourself, I wonder if you turn to places other than God when you have trouble because of what you've done. Where might we turn? Well, maybe you might try to help yourself. Maybe you'll see that your sin is causing you problems in your life, And so you'll say, well, do you know what? I will change, and I will become a better person, and then I won't have that sin, and then the sin won't cause me problems. It seems like a good idea, doesn't it? It's really tempting to think, well, I just need to turn over a new leaf. I just need to pull my socks up. I realize that I'm a liar, so what I'll do, I'll stop lying. I realize that my adultery is wrong, so what I'll do, I will be faithful now instead. But clearly, this is not good enough. because you don't have the power to make yourself a better person. If the sin is there in the first place, then obviously it's going to continue. You cannot fix your own life. And the reason is, it's not the things you do that are the problem. They are part of the problem. But the real problem is our hearts. The sins that we do are only symptoms. You know when you have a disease, maybe you have a cold in your lungs, and so the symptom is that you cough. And sin is like that. We have sin in our hearts. And so the symptom is that we do sins, we do bad things. They just show us what is inside us. If you have a cold and so your lungs are ill and so you're coughing, you can't become well just by trying to hide your coughs. You know, nope, I don't have a cold, I'm not sick, I'm fine. That doesn't work. Clearly that will never help you get rid of your cold. And sin cannot be fixed by trying harder in the same way. Maybe you turn instead, if you realize you can't fix yourself, maybe you might turn to other people or to systems that you think might fix you. You know, there are many, many books about how to be a better person. You see them when you go to bookshops. They line the shelves and they normally have someone smiling on the front, how to be the best you, and he's wearing a suit. And so you might turn to those books. Lots of people make money by saying that they can fix your life. But how can someone help you fix your life when they have the same problem as you? The problem with turning to any other person or any other system is that any other person is also a sinner. They cannot fix your sin because they have the same sin. Even if they didn't have the problem, they wouldn't have the power to change you. Because they're a person just like you, and the problem is inside you, inside your heart. There is no heart surgeon good enough to remove sin from a human being. We have to turn to someone who doesn't have the same problem as us, and who does have the power to change us. And who is the one person who does not have the problem of sin? It is Jesus. God. God is the only one with the power to change us. A self-help book might make you think you can do better, but it cannot really change you. Only God has that power. So we need to stop thinking we can fix our own sin. We need to stop thinking that we can help ourselves or find help from other people. We have to admit that only God can help us, like how the Israelites had to admit that Assyria couldn't help them. Only God could. So what we've said so far, to repent, you must admit that you're a sinner. You must trust that God is gracious. You must admit that no one else can save you. Fourthly, you must leave your sin. If you look at 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. In you the orphan finds mercy. The Israelites are saying we will not turn to these idols anymore. We won't take these things that our own hands have made and say these are our gods. There is no point in repenting if you still love your sin. If someone says that they are sorry, how do you know that they are actually sorry for what they've done? The easy answer is that they stopped doing it. If my friend is causing me problems and I ask him to stop and he says, oh, I'm sorry, but he just keeps causing me those same problems, is he actually sorry? Obviously he isn't. And if Israel in the time of Hosea had asked God to forgive but they had still carried on worshiping their idols as well, it would be obvious that they hadn't repented, they hadn't seen the problem. If you go to God and ask him to forgive you, but you still wanna carry on sinning and nothing changes, then it is obvious that you do not really think that what you are doing is bad. You know, some people think that God's forgiveness is cheap. They think, ah, do you know what? I will sin as much as I like, and then I will go to God and I'll say, oh, I'm sorry, God, please forgive me, and then God will forgive me, and then I'll go and sin again, But God is not an idiot. God can see your heart. To repent means to leave your sin behind. If you don't think that your sin is a problem, then why are you asking God for help at all? If you come to God in repentance, you need to know that you need to change. And if you do think that your sin is a problem, you should know that you need God to help you do better. You come to God not just because you need forgiveness, but because you need to be made new. As we saw before, of course, you can't do this yourself. You can't change yourself and make yourself stop sinning. But with God's help, you can be changed. You cannot change before you come to God, but in order to repent, you have to want to change. God is not fooled by people who want to be forgiven, but still love their sin. So, what we've said so far, to repent, you must admit that you're a sinner, you must trust that God is gracious, you must admit that no one else can save you, you must leave your sin, and fifthly, you must start worshipping God. Let's look at verse two. Take with you words and return to the Lord. Say to him, take away all iniquity, accept what is good, and we will pay with bulls the vows of our lips. When God forgives us, he calls us to a new life. And it is a life of worshiping God. Being forgiven is more than just leaving your sin. When we are forgiven, we start living for God. We can't be neutral. You know, if you're neutral, you are between two things. You're not doing that, but you're also not doing that. And you can't be neutral when it comes to God. You are either living for sin or you are living for God. You can't be in the middle. So when you stop living for sin, you need to seek God's forgiveness so that you can live for him. Hosea tells the Israelites to ask God, you know, take away all iniquity, accept what is good, and we will pay with balls the vows of our lips. It is so that they can worship God that they want to ask to be forgiven. In the New Testament, Paul tells us that this is true for Christians as well. In Romans there is a place where he says, I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. So in view of God's mercy, because of what God has done for us, offer your bodies as a living sacrifice. Live your life for God. Everything you do becomes an act of worship to God because you are living for him when you are no longer living for sin. If God has forgiven us, then our whole life is worship, living for God in all that we do. It is because of God's mercy that we now live for him. In life, you can serve one of two masters. You are always obeying someone. You are always obeying one of these masters. And if your master is sin, then you will live in a way that is sinful. And that road leads to death. But if your master is God, then you obey and worship him. And that road leads to righteousness. Do you know, if a person gets out of prison, they don't carry on living as though they are in prison. And they also don't just do nothing. They don't sit around the house all day because they say, well, I'm not in prison anymore, so I don't have to be over there, but what I'll do, I'll just stay still and I won't do anything. That would be ridiculous. They take advantage of the freedoms that they now have, and they live like a free person instead of living like a prisoner. And if a sick person gets well, They don't just live as though they're still sick, but they also don't just do nothing. They don't sit at home going, well, at least I'm not sick now, but I'm just gonna stay here and sit here and not do anything. They enjoy their health. They live like a well person rather than living like a sick person, and there's no in between. And just like that, if God saves us from sin, then we don't still live like sinners, and we can't just be neutral. We live like people whom God has freed. We are saved from sin to worship God. So, five things. To repent, you must confess that you have sinned, you must trust that God is gracious, you must admit that no one else can save you, you must leave your sin behind, and you must turn to worship God. Let's look at what God's response is in verse four, when he calls the Israelites to repent, and here's what he says he will do as a response. I will heal their apostasy. I will love them freely for my anger has turned from them. I will be like the dew to Israel. He shall blossom like the lily. He shall take root like the trees of Lebanon. God does not turn away people who come to him truly wanting to be forgiven. If we realize that we are sinners, and we realize how bad that is, and we turn to God, and we say, God, I know how bad I am, and I know that you are gracious, and only you can save me, and I do wanna leave my sin behind, and I do wanna live for you instead. And if we come to him, because of Jesus, and because of what Jesus has done, we can come to God, and God will forgive us. It's the biggest change in the world, from God being angry with us because of our sin, to God loving us freely. Maybe you are someone who has never repented before. Maybe you've never gone to God and said, I know that I'm a sinner. If that's true, then you need to go to God today. Because if you're living for sin, then that road only has one ending, and that ending is death. Maybe you are someone who needs to repent for the millionth time. We all sin, and we all need God's forgiveness. Don't hide your sin from him. God will heal those who call on him. So five things that you need to do to repent. Confess that you've sinned, trust that God is gracious, admit that no one else can save you, leave your sin behind, and turn to worship God. And if we do that and we truly turn to God, God will accept those who come to him humbly and because of what he's done through Jesus. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you that you are a God who is kind and merciful. We thank you that you love us so much that you sent Jesus to die for us, so that when we come to you and we repent, you will forgive us and you will give us life with you. Father, we confess that we often don't repent enough. We don't know how serious our sin is, and so not often enough do we come to you and say how bad it is and ask for you to forgive us. And we ask that you would heal us of that. Please help us to know, God, how much we depend on you. Please help us all to repent. Lord, if there are those here today who have never repented before, please show them how. Please help them to come to you. May they open their hearts and confess who they are and what they've done. And please, Lord, forgive them. Forgive us all today, Lord, because we know that you are a kind and gracious God. Help us to turn away from our sin and to live for you instead. In Jesus' name, amen.