Good morning. It's a joy to be with all of you this morning. I too want to give my word of thanks to all those that helped with VBS this last week. It was a great success. It was so much fun to see this campus just bouncing with excitement with all the children running around and the different activities and I'm so grateful for the hours and hours that the volunteers spent to get ready and to make this a successful thing. And so God bless you for those of you that are helping this past week. And let's continue to pray as we look forward to what the Lord might do through VBS in this community and continue to pray for God to reach out. Now, I want to get out ahead of something before it spreads too far and just let you know I'm OK. I was dealing with an issue during the week. I'd been noticing some symptoms coming on for a couple of weeks, and so I decided to check myself into the hospital during the week. And so I spent two nights at Orville Hospital getting all kind of tests done, x-rays and CAT scans and blood work and MRIs. And the good news is all internal organs are functioning well, and even my brain's okay, though some of you may want to. But what has been diagnosed is a neurological issue. And it's kind of something that I kind of suspected. And there'll be some follow-ups with a neurologist in the weeks to come. But just to put it out there, I've got bone spurs on the C4 vertebrae in my lower neck. And it is causing issues with my electrical system. And so I've had some issues going on the last few weeks. So I just want to be out in front of it. I'm fine. Everything checked out OK. We know exactly what we're dealing with. And so we're going to put an end to the rumors there right now, OK? So on that note, happy Father's Day, because I am having a happy Father's Day. And I look forward to talking with my kids this afternoon. And to all of you dads and granddads and grandpas and papas and uncles and father-like figures, happy Father's Day. What a privilege we have as men to play a role in the lives of our kids and our families and neighbors and workplaces. And may the Lord be pleased to use all of us as men over this next year to be leaders in our families and our communities for His glory. But one of the greatest singing talents in recent memory was the Italian tenure, Luciano Pavarotti, who died of cancer in 2007 at the age of 71. And in a biography of his life, he recounts the path that led him to the heights of success and fame. When I was a boy, he said, my father, a baker, introduced me to the wonders of song. He urged me to work very hard to develop my voice. Arrigo Pola, a professional tenor in my hometown of Modena, Italy, took me as a pupil. I also enrolled in a teacher's college. So on graduating, I asked my father, shall I be a teacher or shall I be a singer? Luciano, my father, replied, if you try to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them. For life, you must choose one chair. I chose one. It took seven years of study and frustration before I made my first professional appearance. It took another seven to reach the Metropolitan Opera. And now I think whether it's laying bricks, writing a book, whatever we choose, we should give ourselves to it. Commitment, that's the key. Choose one chair. While the chairs in Pavarotti's life would have led him to different career paths, with different life stories, they only ultimately referred to human professions and achievements. And those things are very important. But even more important are two chairs that lead not to two different career paths, but to two different eternal destinies. As the people of Israel stood on the banks of the Jordan River, The prophet Moses laid out these paths, calling them the paths of life and death, and they were called to choose well. Well, as we arrive at the end of our time in the book of Hosea, we find once again this prophet echoing not only the voice of that first great prophet Moses, but also the voice of the Lord who sent them both giving one final appeal to the people of his day to turn from the devastating judgment to come because the holy wrath of God will be poured out against their sin and rebellion. The spectacle, the shadow of the impending judgment points forward to a future judgment that will involve every person who has ever walked upon the earth, including we who are seated here this morning. For we too are called to choose a chair, and more importantly, a path. And the one upon which we choose and stay will determine everything of value for us, both for now and for eternity. So like the people of old, like the people of Israel of Hosea's day, we are called to choose well. I invite you to stand with me as we read our final passage in our series in Hosea, chapter 14. And as we stand in honor of God's word, we read. Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. 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. 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. His shoots shall spread out. His beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon. They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow. They shall flourish like the grain. They shall blossom like the vine. Their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon. O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress. From me comes your fruit. Whoever is wise, let him understand these things. Whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right. and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them. Let us pray. Father, now in your holy presence this morning, as we've already cried out, we need you, so we say again, we need you. Would you lead us now through your word and we give thanks for your spirit that will teach us and guide us and we give thanks for the Lord Jesus Christ to whom we want to see all glory and in whose name we pray. Amen. Please be seated. So as you follow along now in your sermon outline, we will have four points of very uneven lengths this morning. But just follow along as we work our way through this final passage in this series of this wonderful book called Hosea. First, we start out with the plea of the prophet. The end of the book is here. The final warning of judgment has been given. After hearing another charged message from the Lord, warning the people to repent or face terrible consequences, the prophet Isaiah will make one final plea, give them one final chance to repent. He knows the danger of the judgment to come and in fact has already begun. He tells them, healing and restoration will come. but only when there is true repentance and humility before the Lord. So he begins by calling out, return with humility. Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. We could translate this phrase to return as far as, or return all the way up to the Lord. In other words, Israel, come back fully, all the way to the Lord. who is your blessing and your treasure. That is what true repentance looks like. Not just a practice of the name, but a full turning. For in this phrase, to return as far up or all the way up to the Lord, the words that are actually here are returned to Yahweh your Elohim. Yahweh being the personal name for God, I Am, the name that He uses when He speaks of Himself, the name that He uses when He speaks of His covenant relationship with His people. I am Yahweh, your Elohim, which you will recall means mighty creator and ruler. And so in these two names, as God, as Hosea calls the people to return to God, he uses the two names that show the grandeur of God, that represent both his nearness, that he is with his people, and his transcendence that he rules and hovers over all. He is not only their personal God, he is their owner. And to Him they are to return. Now, as we have gone through the book of the prophet Hosea, we have seen that at first he had to plead with his wife. The wayward wife that had run away, though she was in a covenant relationship, pleads with her to come back, to come back into a standard of fidelity with him. He is now doing the same thing, pleading once again with his people. to come back to their true husband, to Yahweh, to the Lord. He makes one final appeal and says, turn away from your foreign powers. Turn away from your other lovers. Come back to me who is your true husband, the one in whom you are in a covenant relationship. And he's not just pretending here. He has been talking about this all throughout the book. And in fact, the first promise of a return of the people, you'll recall, happened way back in chapter 3. where we were told that the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. At some point in the future, of at that time of unknown duration, Israel will tire of its sin, tire of its rebellion, tire of being in exile and punishment, and a righteous remnant will return. But as we have seen, as we have tracked all throughout the book of Hosea, Restoration can only come after there has been exile and repentance and a turning to the Lord. And the text goes on and says, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. And if you notice in our reading of the text, chapter 14 is bookended, if you will, by the word stumbled. For in verse 1 we see that it is Israel who has stumbled. But in verse 9 we see that it is the transgressors who will stumble. The idea of stumbling here in verse one is that the people of Israel are now without strength. This is not just a one time trip up where they just messed up once. This is an ongoing behavior where now they have stumbled beyond help unless there is true repentance, unless the Lord has mercy on them. But the warning goes out. They have fallen down and they need to get back up before the judgment of God rolls over them. but instead of turning to the Lord for help and strength. In the words of one commentator, Israel's fatal error was relying on something other than Yahweh for their life. Because of their stumbling, they can no longer walk in the ways of the Lord, something to which every one of us is called. And as I said last week, my friends, we are all called to walk in the ways of the Lord. That means we are to walk in a path of daily repentance, of daily turning away from our own ways of doing things, of daily turning away from our own sins and turning back to the Lord, saying, Oh God, we need you. And in you we will walk and in you we will stand firm. Well, at first he calls them to return with humility. He then calls them to confess your iniquity. Take with you words and return to the Lord, the text says. The people have gone so far from the right and true ways of God that Hosea has to provide the words for them to say back to the Lord. They had become so used to doing things their own way, they now need to be coached. and how to enter the presence of the Lord, how to approach the Lord. And so Hosea says, take with you words, and he goes on. And with your words, this is what you will say. Say to him, say to the Lord, take away all iniquity, accept what is good. And we will pay with bowls the vows of our lips as Jose is coaching them so they know what to say to the Lord so they know how to return. He tells them to take with them appropriate words in order to state their confession and to turn their hearts back fully to the Lord. And if you've noticed already in verse one, we have words that say like take and return. There's action that's required on their part. In fact, this is a good reflection of what was written in the law. For in the law, the people were instructed how they were to appear before the Lord, when they were to appear before the Lord, what they were to say, even what they were to bring. And so at several points in the reading of the law, what they are told is that no one shall appear before Me empty-handed. So they're supposed to take something with them as they go to do what is required. And we're doing what is required is seen as what is good. And so it's as if they are saying, except, oh, God, what we do and say when we do and say what you have commanded us to do. That's a good prayer for us to pray, except, oh, Lord, what we do and say when we do it according to what you have commanded. But in this case, They're to bring and take and return, and they are to bring words, true words of a faithful and repentant heart. As we think about what is repentance, we need to think about what's involved in repentance. And I think we see in this verse there are at least three things that are involved in repentance here, in this repentant act. First, there is an appeal for forgiveness. What did they say? Take away all iniquity. Secondly, there is a renunciation of what was wrong, what they had been doing that was wrong. We will see that in their confession in the next verse. Thirdly, there is a call upon the character of God to forgive and to restore. As we think about those things for our own lives, whenever we want to confess our sins, which we should be doing on a regular basis, there is an appeal for God to forgive us. There is a confession of what is wrong. There is a turning away from it. And there's depending on the character of God who has said he will receive all who come unto him. He will forgive those who are covered under the blood of his son. And so we we depend upon who he is and what he says. And then we respond accordingly and say, oh, God, would you have mercy? That's what he's teaching them to do. He's teaching them how to repent, how to enter into the words of God, that they are not to appear before God empty handed. Well, with true repentance, there are right words and there are right behavior, and it's at that point then that one can appeal to God to remove sin and iniquity. So we see the words take away. Actually, a better translation would be the words lift off or carry away, which is the real literal meaning of the word here, as if they're saying, lift off from us, O Lord, the burden of all of our iniquity. You know, we feel that, don't we? We walk through this life. We have to deal with daily difficulties. We have to deal with things that don't go our way. We have to deal with ourselves, and we're burdened by our sin. Do we not cry out and say, oh, lift off from us, oh God, our iniquity? That's a great prayer of a humble heart, crying out to God. But we will see as we move on that sacrifices without obedience are worthless. We have seen that throughout the book of Hosea because they're offering all kinds of sacrifices, but they're not obeying the Lord because He wants our heart first. He wants us to love Him first and foremost and at the beginning and at the end and all throughout. And so we come to this verse now which talks about sacrifices that we can offer to Him. But what is the nature of the offerings here? And once again, we find that there's a little bit of difference in the different English versions. And it's because they're trying to wrestle with what was this prophet saying eight centuries before Christ in kind of archaic language? What was it he was getting at? Is he referring to the fruit of our lips, which some translations take it? Is it referring to actual sacrifices that they are offering? There's, again, some ambiguity. I find Hosea to be brilliant in his writings because he forces us to go to the Lord and search and say, what is it you're trying to say? And then we find often that there's no ambiguity. He's actually leaving it there that we'll see there's a comprehensive picture that we need to see. But are we looking at here the end, the actual end, the finish of animal sacrifices in his day? That idea seems to be led to in Hebrews chapter 13, where it says that we are to offer a sacrifice of praise to God that is the fruit of lips that acknowledges name. So some English translations will follow that tradition in Jose and translate it as the fruit of our lips Or is it that the sacrifice of bulls and animals will now be acceptable to God? Because they will be offered with true and repentant hearts Maybe we don't have to decide Maybe we can understand the overall meaning that there is a connection here between bowls to which they were to offer and their lips to which they were to confess and see that there is a connection between the physical and the spiritual, between the action and between the verbal. There must be a harmony between what we do and what we say. And how often then does God see a disconnect between what we say and what we do? And the call from Hosea here is that there be harmony. that there be integrity between those two. But as we take it a step further, we get a fuller answer from Hosea himself, for he told us earlier in chapter six, I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. And we said at that time that did not mean God didn't want their sacrifices at all. It meant he wanted them in the proper order. He wanted them first with their heart fully devoted to him. And then in that context, the sacrifices would mean something. But what he wanted was sacrifices that were offered according to his requirements, according to his commands, according to what he desires. And so I think as we try to summarize and look at what this might mean for us today, we can see that the lips that are used here somehow describe the promise to fulfill their promises, including the obligations to pray and worship and keep vows. God wants us to be people of integrity. With what we say and what we do, there is harmony as we offer ourselves to God, because we continually offer ourselves to God as a sacrifice. We offer ourselves as a living sacrifice, Paul told the church in Rome. We offer ourselves as sacrifices of praise. We offer the sacrifices of humility. We offer the sacrifices of, oh God, if you don't show up, then nothing will happen. So I think the psalmist would reflect well what is said here, this attitude of dependence upon God. For in Psalm 51 we read, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. And we'll see a similar idea in Micah 6 if you want to just add it to your notes. But that causes us then to consider the people of that day were offering calves. They were offering bulls. They were offering other things, thinking that that's the way it was supposed to be done. But their heart was not in it. They didn't understand that these things maybe didn't come directly from God because there was not integrity in the worship, which causes us to ask today, what are the man-made bulls we're tempted to offer? to try to replace the full commitment God calls of us? Do we just make an appearance occasionally and say, okay, I've done my duty and I go off and live Monday to Saturday doing whatever I want to do? Or do we just drop something in the basket saying, that's enough, I don't have to give my time, I don't have to attend the meetings, I don't have to go to prayer meetings? That's enough. God doesn't need our bowls. He doesn't need anything. What He wants is us. What He wants is our pure worship, our heart, mind, soul and strength worship that loves Him, that lives for Him, that is committed to Him in every moment of every day so that our sacrifices will be acceptable to Him. So after the return with humility, confess your iniquity, they are to renounce with certainty. Verse 3, Assyria shall not save us. We will not ride on horses. We will say no more. Our God to the work of our hands. There must be right words. There must be right heart. There must be right attitude to make proper worship. There must be confession. Confession that proclaims the truth of God and that renounces what we have trusted in before, what we have praised before, what we think we need in our worship before. Israel had to renounce foreign gods and human-made solutions, and they had to turn to God to be their Savior and Redeemer and Protector and Provider. So we look at that word confession. What does it mean? A confession simply means to agree with God. It means to say the same thing as God. And when God calls our sin, sin, then we need to call our sin, sin. Not weakness, not tendency, not a mess up, not a personality quirk. We call it what He calls it so that we can experience the cleansing and freedom that He gives in His forgiveness. Because we must recognize that sin is terrible, no matter how white we think that sin is. or how minimal it might be, that sin is treachery against the God of the universe. And so what did Israel have to agree with God about? The first thing was they had to agree that Assyria will not save them, that they could not put their hope in what they could do or what others could do for them. Because if God is involved, and His judgment. The only thing that can turn aside His judgment is God Himself and the provisions that He Himself has given. Assyria at this time is already in the process of destroying Israel. We cannot put our trust in these things, so we need to be careful about our alliances, our entanglements. I don't care whether they're political or social or economic. If they are pulling our heart away from God, If they are pulling our devotion and trust completely in God, pulling it away, we need to disentangle ourselves from these things so that we are not depending on our own Assyrias to save us today. Secondly, Israel is to renounce all means of men. In this case, it's military, not riding on horses. They're not going to depend on their own methods, on the methods of others. This reference to horses undoubtedly refers to Egypt, because Egypt at that time was a major trader in horses. And throughout this book, we've seen Hosea telling the people of Israel, you go north to Assyria, you go south to Egypt, neither one is able to save you because you didn't turn to me. And the prophet Isaiah, writing about the same time as the prophet Hosea, affirms this when he says, the Egyptians are man and not God, and their horses are flesh, not spirit. You can't go north or south or east or west to be saved. You have to go up and go to the Lord Jesus Christ, because only He is our true Savior. And so we need to be careful today, my friends. The Church does not advance by the means of the flesh. Salvation does not come through the machinations of men. Righteousness is not instituted by law. It is brought about by the new birth. And the Church advances through the preaching of the Word of God. and through the fervent prayer of those who look to him for everything. That has worked for 2,000 years. It'll work for the next 2,000 years if the Lord tarries. Those are his means for the church advancing the faithful preaching of the word of God and the prayers of his people who call out to him and say, Oh, Lord, I need you every hour. I need you. Thirdly, Israel must renounce calling anything of the work of their hands as our God. What a tremendous indictment against them to think that somehow they could make something and could call it our God. Israel had to learn a hard lesson, a lesson that I hope we have learned and we don't have to learn again. We may say our God to what we make. It can never say, my people, to us. Whether what you have made is physical or financial or otherwise, it cannot save you because God alone is our Savior. And while it was wrong for Israel to put their trust in other princes and in other horses, the most galling trust was Israel's stubborn confidence in its idols right to the end of its nationhood. It kept thinking, if we just keep doing the same things over and over again, because after all, we brought them as part of our heritage. After all, they're now part of our customs and culture. We're going to keep doing them. And it led to their destruction, and they did not give them up right till the end. My friends, let us not worship what we outrank. We are created in the image of God, created to worship the true God in spirit and in truth. Let's not trust in anything else to be our salvation. So this threefold action shows reliance upon God, forsaking everything for the sake of him. You know, it's a reminder then of what the Lord Jesus Christ would say many centuries later when he came and he said, no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. When we are called, And we respond. We don't look north, south, east, or west. We look straight and say, yes, Lord, I will follow you to the ends of the earth. But there's hope here. Because when true trust is placed in the Lord, there is great mercy to be found. In you, the orphan finds mercy, the text says. We know as we look throughout the Old Testament that God is the God of the fatherless, the orphan, the widow, the stranger living in the land. And in the message here in Hosea, we have seen that Israel has become this wayward son. Israel is now an orphan. You know, all throughout this book, Hosea has mixed up his metaphors. According to the situation that he is in Now we see that it's Israel himself. That is the orphan because its mother So that we have the children of Israel just kind of work with the metaphors that were given If the mother was Israel, the mother has become an adulterous if the father was but all he is an idol They have now been a band. They've now abandoned him and the children of Israel are abandoned. I They've been left alone. They'll be carried off into exile. But there's good news in the text. The good news is that not my children. can become his children through faith and repentance. We saw that in chapters one and two where they will be called not my people, but a day is coming when they will be called once again, my people. And that will come as we've seen in the promise through the true son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so even today, we who have the privilege of believing in the Lord Jesus Christ can be the children of God because Jesus came and he became that abandoned orphan. Abandoned by men, even abandoned for a time, it seems, by God. He bore our sin. He bore our shame. And He came, and He is the only one that can lift up, lift away, carry away our iniquity, so that we can come to the Father. In Christ, we can come to God the Father and say, You be our Heavenly Father. And so, as we look at this first part, when we look at what is involved in the plea of the prophet, we can summarize it no better than with the words of the Apostle James, who said this, draw near to God and He will draw near to you. I should say the half-brother of Jesus instead of the Apostle. Well, after we see the plea of the prophet, we see the promise of the Lord. When God hears the appeal for repentance, He will respond. He desires that people repent and believe. And when they do, He will not be indifferent. And so we see that he gives them a promise of healing and love. He says, I will heal their apostasy. I will love them freely for my anger has turned from them. We said last week that apostasy is the deliberate turning away from the Lord. It is more than sin. It is spiritual, moral, and mental blindness that can only lead to death and that only God can cure. Because sin itself is the ultimate disease. It always leads to death. And unless God brings the healing, it will result only in death and in judgment. And how often have we seen in the book of Hosea where he makes the appeal and says, let us turn back to the Lord that he might heal us. We're suffering from these judgments. Let us repent. Let him be the healer. And God has said, I alone am the healer. And so even in the midst of judgment, there is this promise of a better day yet to come. Moreover, he says he will love them freely. We could also translate this as voluntarily. But freely is a good translation because this word is used elsewhere in the context of free will, offerings, no compulsion. Because God himself is the only truly free being in the entire universe. All that he does is done freely and his actions cannot be compelled by any other creature. And so he says, in my freedom, I will love them. In my freedom, I will forgive them. He's giving them a promise of grace. And that reminds us then that every blessing, past, present, future, is completely of grace. From divine electing grace to wonderful sanctifying grace, from strengthening grace all the way up to dying grace. All that we receive is grace, grace, just lavish grace from our great God. And so there is hope for a future generation. Unfortunately for that generation, God says, I no longer love them. But he will show his lavish love again one day, a love that will surpass and surprise all who gaze upon it. because His anger will be turned away. But that anger has to first be satisfied. And that can only happen through His own grace and provision. But when it does, the future blessing will be great. So after healing and love, we see freshness and fecundity. Now, if I were to ask you how many know what that word means, I would get three hands. That's just a fancy way of saying fruitfulness. But I wanted you to stay with me at this part of the sermon, so I had to get your attention. I will be like dew to Israel. He shall blossom like the lily. He shall take root like the trees of Lebanon. His shoots shall spread out. His beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon. There's hope for the future, and it's boiling over, brewing over in this passage, if you will. The desolate land will bloom and God will provide refreshment, dew itself being a sign of crispness and freshness. When Jacob poured out his blessings upon his sons, the dew was seen as a sign. When Isaac poured out his blessings to his sons, it was seen as a sign of blessing to the sons of Jacob, the fresh dew of the morning. Now, earlier in this book, Israel was said to be like dew. But in that case, it meant that it was short-lived. It went away quickly. But here, God is the one who is saying, I will refresh them. I will continually refresh them, because I will be with them. This is a sign of crispness, freshness, hopeness, life. Just like the lilies, who are a sign of hope. The blooming of the desert will happen as the people repent and turn to the Lord, but we need to understand that these physical signs point to a much deeper, grander, more glorious spiritual reality. The land that was once labeled as the land of milk and honey will become the land of flowers and oil and a fragrant aroma. They shall shoot out like Lebanon. Fragrance and flowers. Now, in our text here, the ESV, it says, they shall take root like the trees of Lebanon. The text just says, they shall take root like Lebanon. And I'll explain why in a minute why we should leave out the word trees here. But shoots in themselves are a sign of growth and flourishing. There's a sign that Israel will grow deeply into the soil and it will be strong and fruitful growing deeply into the soil of God's Word. But let's get back to that question of Lebanon. What is going on here? Three times we see Lebanon mentioned in this passage. In fact, I don't think it's been mentioned at all up to this point in this book, but suddenly at the end there's this reference to Lebanon. They're told that they'll be like Lebanon in verse five, that like fragrance like Lebanon in verse six, like the wine of Lebanon in verse seven. So we need to stop and say, what is the significance of Lebanon? What is it that came from Lebanon? And the answer is Baal worship, which came through the influence of Jezebel and Ahab. Baal worship with all of its fertility cult and the cult, the gods of wine and of harvest and of plenty. And what the people thought that they had been receiving from Baal, they will find out, actually came from Yahweh. And so He's transforming and redeeming their practice, saying, it'll be like Lebanon, but it's going to be far more glorious because you will realize it actually is coming from Me. And one of those blessings will be the olive, the olive tree. Olive oil was an important part of life in that time of Israel's history. It was important for their diet, for fuel, for their religious practice, even personal hygiene. And we're told that Israel will be like the beauty of the olive and like the fragrance of Lebanon. There's a sign or description, if you will, of renewal here. And we all know that where there is renewal, it brings pleasure, it brings hope, it brings freshness. That's what the prophet's trying to draw our attention to today. There's going to be this renewed pleasure and fragrance that's going to come because a renewed Israel that will return unto the Son of David will send out an aroma of truth that will encompass the globe. We know that aroma today to be the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we are to be spreaders of that aroma as we go around in our daily life. And for some, we will be an aroma of life. And for some, we will be an aroma of death. But not only with the healing and love, the freshness and fecundity, there will be blessings and blossoms. They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow. They shall flourish like the grain. They shall blossom like the vine. Their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon. God will keep his promise. And the people will return under his protection, a protection that's a sign of divine favor and a reminder that he was their original provider. He was their original protector. He would be so again one day. And so we see these images of agriculture that are all going on here. And we're told earlier that Israel must be described as a luxurious vine. It would become so again as one with the choices of fruits and the most vibrant of crops. Because this renewed Israel will result in great blessings to the nations. Blessings that were promised, predicted, and planned in the original great missionary call of Abraham. ultimately fulfilled in Christ, the Messiah through whom all the nations will come and be blessed. And so through the marvelous grace of God, all who hear the word and believe in Christ have the privilege of entering into this wonderful blessing. And so we today, who have been the recipients of this luxurious blessing of God, as we abide in the Lord, as we abide in the one who said, I am the true vine, we will be a blessing to others. We will be that luxurious vineyard to which others will come and be refreshed and fed and strengthened and encouraged. What the people of Hosea's day thought came from Lebanon, they will now realize it can only come from the One who had set them apart, Yahweh Himself. This covenant-keeping God who will cause His grace and His mercy to overflow, to multiply many times over. so that there will be a great blessing to all who hear. And as we get to the end of verse 7, there's this reference to the word fame. I think a better translation here is the word remembrance. We've seen many times here in the book of Hosea, God reminds Israel of their earlier days. He reminds them with fondness of what he did in the beginning, of how he set them apart. He called them. He brought them to himself. He made a covenant with them. But here we have a remembrance in a sense that is yet to come. A remembrance that will be like the pleasure that comes from the fruit of the vine, which is a sign of blessing and satisfaction in the scriptures. God says he will remember his covenant. He will remember what he has done. He will remember what he will do. and what he will do in the future. And it's not an accident that there is this promise here at the end of this book and references made to vine and to wine and the fruit of the vine, because they are always seen throughout the scriptures as a sign of blessing. So I think it's not by accident as the Apostle John, as he organizes his material to give us the gospel that we know as the fourth gospel, the gospel of John. He tells us that the first miracle that Jesus performed involved wine. Because wine was an expected sign of the messianic age. It was an expected sign that would be marked by great fruitfulness, by great harvest. And the fact that there was overflowing wine at the wedding of Cana shows that that messianic age has come and that God will keep His promises where the blessings will overflow. all the way to the nations. Jesus, who said, I am the true vine, who said, I am the true ladder of Jacob, who I am the true son of David, is the one today who offers shelter and safety and salvation and satisfaction. And so, my friends, let us abide in the vine, knowing that these blessings were promised, that we can even experience them and lavish in them, enjoy them today because of the great grace of God. Well, we have seen the plea of the prophet. We have seen the promise of the Lord. And now briefly, we're going to look at the final two verses, making up the final two points of our time this morning, so we see the Lord's final call. Oh, Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress. From me comes your fruit. And so he has two things to say to them. Put away all idols. Ephraim, what is there between me and idols? We know that Ephraim of that day died because they were devoted to idols. And think of how foolish it is. Think of how audacious it is to consider anything in relation to God or even to bring anything into the same conversation as God. But that's what an idol is. An idol is anything or anyone that holds our heart more than God, because He wants nothing to do with divine images made by hand. And so He tells His people, do not associate anything else with Him in any way. He is the Holy One. He is the Unique One. He is the Eternal One. That's why there are warnings that are given to us against idols all throughout the Scriptures. And you recall perhaps a while back when we were in the letters of John, He finished his first letter with this charge. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Hundreds of years after the prophet Hosea gave this command, the apostle John has to give it again to the people of God. And I dare say both of them, if they were with us today, would say the same thing. Keep yourselves from idols. Do not be double-minded. Do not let your heart be divided. be fully devoted to the Lord. And they're to get rid of their idols because God says, it is I who answer and look after you. If all of life comes from the Lord, why do we look for help in other places? Why do we spend so much time running after other things? Let's get rid of the idols in our hearts. God says that His eyes are on His people. He sees them in whatever situation they are in. That means He sees you right now in the situation that you're in, whatever you're facing. And He knows exactly what He needs to do to liberate you and to free you in that situation. And so in this saying, turning away from idols, I'm looking after you, the word answer there has a double meaning, because it reverses the curse of 13.7, where he was said, I am as a leopard lurking by the way, ready to pounce. Now he's a God who is lurking, watching, ready to save, ready to help, ready to provide. And so he tells them to put away all idols because he says, I am your tree of life. In this last part of verse 8, we have the only time in the Old Testament where God compares himself to a tree. But not just to any tree. To a tree that is always green. To a tree that always has life. To a tree that gives signs of hope. And that from this tree, He said, we gain everything we need for life. God wants us to see that He is our tree of life, and that all who come to Him, who rest in His shade, will find all that we need daily, continually, for all aspects of our being. And so, he gives his final call, and Hosea is going to get in one last word on behalf of his people, and he issues a final challenge. The prophet's final challenge. Whoever is wise, let him understand these things. Whoever is discerning, let him know them, for the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stubble in them, and so we see, consider wisely. There is a call here for wisdom. Wisdom is knowing the right thing to do and doing it. Wisdom is living in a way that is right and pleasing before God, pleasing before man. But wisdom is so, so rare. It is something that must be sought. It has to be sought of the Lord, who describes Himself as the Spirit of wisdom. It can only be found in Christ, who Himself is the wisdom of God. And so, my friends, if you want wisdom, seek Christ. Be led by the Spirit. Stay in the Word of God. For all three members of the Holy Trinity, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, are ready to lead and guide and impart wisdom, but we can only find it in God through His ordained means. Let us be people who search after wisdom, who live wisely, because His ways are best. God is righteous. We know that. He is just in all of His ways. But let's just lay it out. It means there is nothing crooked in the Lord. He doesn't cut corners. He doesn't take shortcuts. He doesn't have detours. He's straight. Straight are the ways of the Lord. And all that he does is guided by his integrity, his moral perfection. And we see this affirmation that his ways are good and best and just in places in the scriptures like Deuteronomy 32. The rock is perfect for all his ways are just. The psalmist cries out, good and upright is the Lord, therefore he instructs sinners in the way. Even the throngs of heaven and the book of Revelation cry out, yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and just are your judgments. The Lord takes the straight path and wants to lead us on the straight path. You know, in days gone by, there was a television program called Father Knows Best. It was an okay television program, but The Father Knows Best is a far superior spiritual program. God is gracious and continually calling sinners to come to Him. And all who come to Him, He will not turn away. In fact, those who turn into the ways of righteousness find themselves met more than halfway. God is the one calling us to repent. He is the one that is coming out and seeking and drawing and bringing us to Himself. And he is the one who says, what do I have to do with idols? Turn away from them, my people. And finally, two paths, two outcomes. It's told very plainly that those who walk upright will walk in the ways of the Lord. They will live out the commands of the Apostle Paul, who said, let us walk in a manner worthy of the Gospel. There is active obedience involved here. It is not just sitting and soaking. It is rising and running with the Lord, and actively obeying Him, and doing, as we said at the beginning, what He commands, what He requires, what He expects. Yes, of course, our qualifications come from our being united to Christ. And we're so glad. But that same qualification in Christ empowers us now to walk in a manner worthy of Christ with active obedience. And so, Hosea, at the end of his book, is challenging the people of his day to remove their idols. And if he were here today, he would say the same thing to us, because, my friends, we all have them. But here's the problem. The problem is, like the people of Israel, we are blind to them. And we get defensive when they are revealed. But we need the help of God, the Holy Spirit, through the Word of God, to point them out to us. And if somebody points something out in our lives, in your life, in my life, and the first reaction we have is we get defensive. Maybe we need to put down our arms and actually listen as the Lord is speaking to us to get rid of things that up to this point we have been blind towards. So I say let's have a new project. Let's be idle breakers. We're really good at being idle makers. But in Christ, let's be idle breakers. Let's knock them over. Let's let the light of God's Holy Spirit reveal them in our hearts. Let's get rid of them. I don't care if, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they're 90 feet tall and 9 feet wide. We ain't gonna bow before them no more. and let's knock them over, and let's worship the Lord in the integrity of our hearts. Let us not follow the Israel of Hosea's day. Let us follow the Yahweh of Israel's destiny. As we get to the end of our book, our time in the book of Hosea, we have seen the plea of the prophet, the promise of the Lord, the Lord's final call, and the prophet's final challenge. We are to enjoy the blessings of God, but not at the expense of worship that is not pleasing to Him. We are called to walk on the path of truth, and if we do not, we will stumble on the path of the world. The righteous looks at these verses, looks at the message of Hosea, embraces them, and walks in the manner of these verses and finds life. But the rebellious will look at these verses, look at Hosea, and will stumble in his sin. Choose wisely. Let us pray. Father, in humility and yet in gratitude, we say thank you for leading us through this book that you inspired through your Holy Spirit oh so long ago. Father, thank you that you are worthy to be worshipped, worthy to be praised, worthy to be adored and lifted up. And Father, forgive us for those times that we fight against your ways and we insist on our own. And would you kindly day by day lead us in repentance that we would come week by week as true worshippers of the living God and that week by week in the path that we have to walk in this world, that we would be men and women who would carry that aroma of Christ that You would use to draw people to Yourself. Father, help us. We plead. We need You. In Jesus' name.