This past Sunday evening, I meant to mention to you that we would be beginning a study in the book of Hosea. And actually, probably go through the minor prophets. Those who are in literature, biblical literature, called the minor prophets. They're not minor because of the message. They're minor because of the length of the books. which is sort of interesting because Hosea is actually longer than Daniel, but I don't know how they worked all that out. I don't really care. I just know this, that the message of the minor prophets is not a minor message. It's a major message. It's a gospel message. It's a message of the glory of God. And so tonight we're going to begin in Hosea chapter one. And it's good for you to read ahead on these chapters just to familiarize yourself with the language and some of the history of it. But what I want to talk to you tonight about is this subject, Present Judgment and Future Salvation. That's the title of the message, Present Judgment, Future Salvation. Now the first part of Hosea begins with God's indictment against the nation Israel. God brings charges against Israel. He has a matter, a controversy, sometimes the prophets would say. God has a controversy with you. God has a matter against you. And the nation had sinned greatly. That included the kings, the leaders, the religious leaders, and the majority of the people. And it says in verse 1 that the word of the Lord that came unto Hosea, the son of Berei. So what we're confronted with at the opening of this chapter is that this man Hosea is a prophet of God. He's not speaking on his own. This is not the national news network in which he has a round table discussion where men and women give their opinions. This is God's word speaking through a man named Hosea. Now Hosea was God's prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel. And he prophesied probably around 45 to 60 years. Some say less, some say more, doesn't really matter. But he prophesied quite a long time. He preached the word of God. He preached the word of judgment. He preached the word of promise also. But he preached in the northern kingdom that was made up of the ten tribes, the ten northern tribes except for Judah and Benjamin which comprised the southern kingdom. Now he did prophesy concerning the southern kingdom of Judah, he mentions that here in In verse one, look at it, he says, the word of the Lord that came unto Hosea the son of Beriah in the days of Uzziah. Now Uzziah was a king in the southern kingdom. Remember, he was king when Isaiah was around. Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, the southern kingdom. And in the days of Jeroboam, this is the second Jeroboam, you remember when the kingdom was first divided right after Solomon, it was divided between Rehoboam and Jeroboam, this is Jeroboam the second, and he says, Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. So he did prophesy concerning the southern kingdom of Judah, but his message was mainly to the north. and concerning the Northern Kingdom. Hosea was from the Northern Kingdom, and he prophesied in the Northern Kingdom. Now, if you're not familiar with that, I'm not going to go into all the history of all this. You know how I'm apt to get into that a little bit, but it is interesting to read about it. You know, after Solomon died, there was a great civil war in the kingdom. You know, David and Solomon, they reigned over a united kingdom. We saw the seeds of division when we studied the life of David. when the 10 tribes came back and Judah was being favored with Benjamin. But after Solomon, there was a civil war, and this is about, oh, somewhere around 900 years before the birth of Christ, to give you an idea, 900 to 950. Hosea prophesied around 700 years before the birth of Christ. But after Solomon, the kingdom was divided by civil war, separated into two kingdoms. The northern kingdom, that was the 10 tribes with its capital in Samaria. And yes, that's where eventually the Samaritans came from. They intermingled. They were a mixed breed. They weren't purebred Jews. You see, that's why Paul in Philippians chapter 3 boasted that he was a Hebrew of Hebrews. No mixed blood there. And I've often said I don't really know how he knew that, but that's what he boasted of anyway. But the northern kingdom, the ten tribes, and its capital was Samaria. It was known as the house of Israel and it was sometimes called Ephraim because that was the largest tribe. Hosea refers to it as Ephraim sometimes, the northern kingdom. The southern kingdom was known as the house of Judah. And you know Judah was the royal tribe. That was the kingly tribe. That was the tribe that our Lord came through according to the flesh. That was the tribe that Jacob prophesied of to his sons when he pointed out and singled out Judah. Judah the lion's whelp. And he said, the scepter will not depart from Judah until Shiloh come. And that was comprised mainly of Judah and Benjamin. Its capital was Jerusalem. Hosea followed the prophet Amos. And yet in our King James Bible, he's the first of the minor prophets. But in time, he followed Amos. Amos was another northern prophet, prophesied during the same period as Isaiah and Micah in the south. Now, the background of his prophecy was this, and this is very important to understand who he's talking to. Listen to what he says here in verse two. It says, the beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea, now here's the strange commandment. You all are familiar with this. You know about Hosea and what God commanded this man, this prophet to do. He says, go take unto thee a wife of Hortums. And he said, and children of Hortums. Now why? Well he tells us right here, for the land, the nation, hath committed great whoredom. Here's the charge, here's the indictment against the nation, God's indictment. And this is why he told Hosea to do this, you see. For the land hath committed great whoredom. Now what kind of whoredom had they committed? Spiritual whoredom, spiritual harlotry. And that's the best, you know, no holds barred, this is what it says, spiritual adultery, if you will. And how do you know it is? Because he defines it right here, departing from the Lord. The nation had departed from the Lord. And this is the background, this is the setting of Hosea's prophecy. It's one, in this kingdom under Jeroboam II, the northern kingdom actually was very prosperous, very wealthy. Its borders had been reestablished against all of its enemies, but it was a time of great spiritual and moral depravity and decline. It was a time of unbelief. It was a time of great idolatry, adultery. and it was a time of great decline religiously and so as they were at peace and prosperous materially and things of the world and what most people the world would say this was a very successful kingdom spiritually speaking they were a total total failure total failure the king Jeroboam he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord there was no truth There was no heart, there was no covenant, no regard to God, no fear of God. In fact, I want you to turn over with me to the book of Amos chapter 5. Now I told you, Hosea and Amos, they prophesied just about the same time period. Amos was first and then Hosea followed. But if you want to read what the nation was like, how God viewed the nation, look at Amos chapter 5. Amos chapter 5 and look at verse 21. And listen to God's indictment against the nation through Amos in verse 21. God says, this is God speaking through Amos. Here's what God says. He said, I hate, I despise your feast days. They're religious holidays. and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies." Now that's just a way of, you know how when the Bible sometimes refers to the burnt offerings being a sweet savor unto God and the smell of God, meaning that God accepts them. And that's what he's saying here. He said, I won't accept them. They're a stench in God's nostrils. He says in verse 22, look, though you offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them. Neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beast. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs. I don't even want to hear your hymn singing. That's what he's saying. Your religious songs. For I will not hear the melody of thy vials, thy instruments. But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream." Judgment, that's what he's talking about. Have you offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? But you have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch. That's a false god. That's an idol. Kion your images all false gods he's accused in other words under that they claim to be worshipping the one true and living God they claim to be worshipping the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob God says you're you're in idolatry he says you're the star of your God which you made to yourselves therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus saith the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts." Now, that's the state of the nation. That's the state of the nation address there. And that's who Amos prophesied to, and that's who Hosea is prophesying to. If you want to read the history in the Bible of the time of Hosea's prophecy, read 2 Kings chapters 14 through 20. 2 Kings chapters 14 through 20 and 2 Chronicles 26 through 32 But here they are a prosperous nation, but spiritually morally declined depraved Now what is that? Well, that's a picture of fallen sinful humanity Deserving nothing but God's wrath. It's a picture of fallen man. It's a picture of us in our sins That's exactly what it is the state of this nation. It's a picture of even God's people, his chosen people, who are objects of his unconditional, electing, redeeming love in Christ in our own fallen human nature. What are we? We're sinners who deserve nothing but condemnation and nothing but wrath in and of ourselves. And Hosea, he's clear about what Israel deserved. But I'll tell you what, and you know this is so. If you're familiar with the book of Hosea, I know you've heard some messages on it. Brother Joe Bryson preached a great message on it several weeks ago about Hosea and his wife, Gomer. And this book is one of the shining diamonds, the shining jewels of an example and message of God's unconditional love. and his sovereign grace and mercy towards his people." You know what Hosea's name means? It means salvation. That's what his name means. His name is a derivative from the same name as Joshua or Yeshua, even the same name in the Greek as Jesus, which means Savior, from the same word. And the theme of this book, even though it begins with God's charges against Israel and the indictment that he brings, The theme of this book is none other than salvation by the free grace of God as a product of God's unconditional love in Christ. Herein is love. Not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Look over at chapter 14 of Hosea, the very last chapter. Let me show you a verse in the concluding chapter here in verse 4. where the Lord proclaims through Hosea. Listen to it. He says in verse four of Hosea 14, I will heal their backsliding. I will love them how? Freely. That means unconditionally. That means without a cause. In other words, God's love, his sovereign, divine, redemptive love will go out to no one, go out to those who in themselves have nothing with which to earn, deserve, or have God's love. He said, for mine anger is turned away from him. That's the good statement of the theme of this book. Salvation. And this is seen first in Hosea's life. God says, you go marry a wife of whoredoms. Now, no self-respecting prophet will go out and look for a woman like that. And yet, What a great picture of Christ and his bride, the church. Christ church, his elect people, who were betrothed to him in the everlasting covenant of grace, not as those who would earn his love or deserve his love, but those who would fall, would fall in Adam. and commit spiritual harlotry, spiritual adultery, spiritual whoredom. And that's exactly what Hosea's life pictures, and that's exactly what his message is all about in his life, his marriage to Gomer. And then we're going to see in after chapter 3, the message that he has to the nation is going to typify the same thing. Go marry a wife of whoredoms. What a strange command. That's certainly not the word of men. That certainly wouldn't be the instructions of the so-called holier-than-thou's today. But here's a prophet of God, and he's taking unto himself a harlot to be his wife. I read a message on this called, The Prophet Who Married a Prostitute. Now, who would ever think of such a thing? He's certainly not a man whom we would want to have as our pastor, would we? A man who married a harlot. What a great picture, though, of my salvation, of your salvation, by God's grace and mercy and unconditional love in Christ. Christ, in that everlasting covenant of grace, took unto himself a fallen, sinful bride. And I, you know, when I saw this, I thought about the Pharisees. You know, when they confronted the disciples and confronted our Lord, one of the main things that they, one of the main charges that they brought and the main questions that they had is, why does your master eat with publicans and sinners? They called him a gluttonous man, a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. You remember when the prostitute came and dipped her hair into that costly ointment and anointed him? They got offended. They said if he was a prophet of God, he'd know what kind of woman that was, and he wouldn't have anything to do with her. Well, my friend, never let it slip your mind or your heart. that this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, real sinners. And I'll tell you what, if we really knew ourselves The way God sees us outside of Christ. I know He doesn't see us outside of Christ, but I'm talking about in our sins and in our depravity. We've never looked down on anybody else. We never would. Now that's so. Christ Jesus, He said, I came to call sinners to repentance. The whole don't need a physician. And God uses this prophet. And I'll tell you something now. And listen, Hosea really loved this woman, Gomer. I'm convinced of it. And you know how I know that? Because Christ loves his church, loves his bride. He didn't just say, well, if I have to do it, I'll do it. No, he fell in love with this woman. And there's a lot of arguments. Some people say, well, she wasn't a prostitute when she married him, but later on. I don't know, and I don't care. It doesn't matter. I know what she is by nature. If she hadn't committed the act, that's what she is by nature, just like us, sinners who deserve nothing but damnation. Well, look at verse 3. Now, from here to verse 9, we have God's just punishment against Israel. Now, God's brought the charge. My people have departed from the Lord. They've forgotten God. They're religious. They're religious now. They keep the feast days, they bring the sacrifices, but they've lost the heart, they've lost the truth, they've lost the message. It's religion without Christ. It's religion without truth. It's religion without grace. It's religion without heart. That's what it is. There's no gospel there. It's a self-righteous religious exercise. That's what it's become. It's like most religion today. In fact, once we get into Hosea, you're gonna be amazed at how much the days that he speaks, the people that he speaks to and their situation is almost like reading our newspaper. Very, very appropriate for all of us. But from verse three to verse nine, he shows God's just punishment against Israel. And what he's saying here is God must punish sin. Look at it in verse three. So he went and he took Gomer, the daughter of Debalaim, which conceived and bare him a son. Now remember Hosea means savior. That's what his name means. He's a type of our Lord Jesus Christ. who was commanded by the Father in the covenant and who agreed willingly to come to this fallen earth and take a wife from among the fallen spiritual harlots of humanity, his elect people who have been given betrothed to Christ. Hosea took Gomer. That name Gomer means consumption, represents God's elect consumed with sin and consumed by sin. And it also means consummation. For as we in ourselves are the consummation of sin and depravity, in and by the Lord Jesus Christ, according to God's purpose and will, we're the consummation of his great unconditional redemptive love. And that's the glory of God. Gomer was the daughter of Debalaim. That name means dried or dead. In other words, she was a, it's like being the dead child of a dead father. Doesn't that describe us? Children of Adam, born dead in trespasses and sins. You see, it's not, no, somebody says, well, this is so strange. This is so strange. You read this story and you want, you know, and you'd be amazed at how much argument there is among so-called theologians, whether or not this really happened. Because people just can't believe this would really happen, that God would, let alone that a man like Hosea would go and marry a prostitute, but that God would command him to do so? That's so strange. But let me tell you something now. It's no stranger than God loving, choosing, redeeming, and joining Himself to me or to you. In fact, it's pretty mild when you compare it to that. Hosea is going to illustrate Christ's unconditional conquering love for us on Calvary. Here's the one, here's the one who redeems us from our sins and gives us a robe of righteousness, a bridal gown, the bride's robe of righteousness, and marries us, his church. Look at verse four. It says, now, Gomer conceived and bare Hosea's son, Verse four says, the Lord said unto him, call his name Jezreel. For yet a little while and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. Now, and he says, and it shall come to pass at that day that I will break the bow of Israel, the bow being a symbol of power, military power, in the valley of Jezreel. That name Jezreel. In the Bible, it's first the name of a place. It's a place where it has a lot of history, a lot of glorious history, and a lot of bloody history too, Jezreel does. It's the place where Gideon defeated the Midianites. It's the place where Samaria was in Israel. It's the place where, you remember King Ahab when he stole Naboth's vineyard? It was the place where Elijah proclaimed that Jezebel would be killed. 1 Kings 21. And this man Jehu, now he says, I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu. A lot of history there. Jehu was a king of Israel. He was anointed as king by the prophet Elisha. And then he became a very bloody man. He killed King Jehoram of Israel. He killed King Azariah of Judah and other kings. He's the one who commanded that Jezebel be thrown out of the window. remain in the streets where the dogs could eat her. That was Jehu. And Jehu, like every other king of Israel, proved himself to be a wicked man with no heart for God, no love for the truth, no worship of God, no leadership spiritually according to the covenant. And although he did, now, he did some good things. Turn back to 2 Kings chapter 10. Let me show you something about Jehu here. And this pretty much describes all the kings of the Northern Kingdom. Remember, one time I was, I think I told you in a message, you know, in the history of the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom, every king of the Northern Kingdom was a wicked king. Idolatrous, selfish. Not one of the Northern Kings led the people in the ways of the Lord, according to the covenant. Not one of them. Now in the southern kingdom, there were a few what the Bible calls good kings. In other words, they did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord. Hezekiah was one of them that was mentioned here. Uzziah had a good beginning, but a bad end. But on the whole, most of the kings of Judah were evil, too. And so Jehu is just one in a long line of wicked kings of the northern tribes. Look at verse 28 of 2nd Kings chapter 10 and listen to what happened to Jehu there it says in verse 28 of chapter 10 thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel now you know what Baal is that's an idol Baal's an idol well Jehu wouldn't put up with Baal he destroyed Baal but read on verse 29 It says, how be it from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that's the first Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them to wit the golden calves that were in Bethel and that were in Dan. He allowed them to build, to make golden calves. Well, that seems to be a thorn in Israel's side, doesn't it? The golden calves. Where'd they get that from? Well, they got it from their heritage in bondage in Egypt. That's why they did it at the bottom of Mount Sinai. when Moses was up there and he come down, he saw the golden idolatry that is in bondage. You see, that's why we must come to repentance of dead works and former idolatry, the scripture says. When we come to Christ in faith, we come also in repentance because we must leave the idolatry of our bondage in sin. And it says here, and it says verse 30, and the Lord said unto Jehu, because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart, thy children of thy fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel. But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord, God of Israel, with all his heart, for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin. So he sinned greatly. against God. He was a murderer of kings. And Jeroboam of the northern kingdom here, during Hosea's prophecy, he was a descendant of Jehu. Now here's what God said. Go back to Hosea 1. He said, Hosea, you name this boy, this boy, his firstborn son, born by a harlot, you name him Jezreel. That's to remind his people of these crimes and sins which had never been repented of. You know what Jezreel means? It means one of two things, both of them very similar. It means God will scatter or God will sow, as in sowing seed. And here's what he says. He says he's going to cause, verse 4, he will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. Think about it. He's going to scatter the nation by sowing his wrath. And he's going to cause that kingdom, that northern kingdom of Israel, to cease to exist. That's what that means. No more. That's why you all the time hear stories in literature today about the lost ten tribes. You see, just a few years after this, the Assyrian army came down and just obliterated them, took them into captivity, and scattered them throughout, and everybody's looking for the Lost Ten Tribes. Now, you're not going to find the Lost Ten Tribes. And you want to know why? Right here in verse 4, God will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. That's why. Some of them say, well, that's America is the Lost Ten Tribes. That's crazy. That's just prides, all that is. Actually, I guess you could say, what do you have to be proud of if you look at them? But it's just as much idolatry today as there was then. This prophecy was going to be fulfilled as God brought the arm of His judgment to scatter this nation and cause them to cease to exist, and that's God's judgment. Now look at verse 6. He says, and she conceived again, Gomer conceived again, and bear a daughter. And God said unto him, call her name Loruhamma. That means no mercy. For I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them away. I will utterly take them away. God's not gonna have any mercy on them. Now that also shows us the nature of the covenant God made with the nation Israel. It was a temporal covenant. It was a temporary covenant, and it was a conditional covenant. You see, if this were eternal salvation in that covenant, God would never stop having mercy upon them. But this was conditional upon that nation, and it was temporal. You know, there's 41 times in the Old Testament that you'll read this phrase. Y'all know what it is. His mercy, what? Endureth forever. For the Lord God is good, his mercy is everlasting, his truth endureth to all generations. Now what kind of mercy is that talking about? That's talking about his mercy in Christ. According to the covenant of grace. That's not talking about his temporal, conditional blessings and mercy upon the nation Israel under the old covenant. The covenant of Sinai. You see, here's what he's showing us. The law provides for no mercy. It will not because it's always conditional. The law can only pronounce death and wrath because of sin. That's why it's called the covenant or the ministration of death and condemnation. It can provide for no eternal mercy. It's always conditional. But now look at verse seven. He says, but I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen. Now think about that. God purposed to have mercy upon the house of Judah. Now why? Why didn't God have mercy upon Israel, and then did have mercy upon Judah? Well, we know Judah, as I said before, they did have a few faithful kings, a few obedient kings. such as Hezekiah. He was one of them. In fact, he was the king when the Assyrian army came down and destroyed the northern kingdom. When they attacked the southern kingdom, Hezekiah was the king, you remember. And you remember what happened. God didn't deliver Judah by bow or sword or battle or horses or horsemen. He sent an angel of the Lord who destroyed 185,000 Assyrians. You remember that? You can read about it in 2 Kings 19. That's what happened. But let me tell you something, and here's the fact of it. Judah was no more worthy of God's mercy than Israel was. And if you want to know that for sure, read the first chapter of the book of Isaiah. Isaiah prophesied in Judah. And it's almost like a carbon copy of Amos chapter 5 there, where you see a nation that is religious but lost. It's religion without truth, religion without Christ, religion without grace, religion without heart. In fact, God even compares the southern kingdom to Sodom and Gomorrah. He made this statement through Isaiah, in Isaiah chapter 1. He said, except the Lord of Sabaoth, which means the Lord who is over all, except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a remnant, a small group of truly believing people, by the grace of God, we would have been as Sodom and Gomorrah. So Judah, God didn't have mercy upon Judah because Judah was more faithful or more obedient or better than Israel. Again, now they had some times of national obedience, but it never lasted. It never lasted. And he says here what in verse seven? He says, I'll have mercy upon the house of Judah. Now mercy by its very nature cannot be deserved. You cannot earn mercy, and you cannot deserve mercy. If you deserve leniency, if you deserve blessings, it's not mercy, it's justice. Did you know that? Mercy can only be shown to the guilty. Mercy can only be shown to the undeserving. And therefore, it's within the wise and loving heart of God to show mercy, as Romans chapter 9 and verse 15 says, to whom he will." Now what he told Moses, and what Paul repeated by inspiration of the Spirit in Romans 9.15, God said, I'll have mercy upon who I will have mercy, and I'll be gracious to whom I'll be gracious. But let me tell you something. No one is ever unfair or unjust for not showing mercy. Ever. You see, this verse 7 is not a testimony to Judah's goodness. It's a testimony to one thing, and that's God's sovereign purpose of grace. Why did God show mercy to Judah? It was because he purposed in his sovereign will to keep that one tribe together, out of all those tribes, at least to keep that one tribe together because he had already made a promise according to a covenant that was made before the foundation of the world that the scepter would not depart from Judah until Shiloh come." Now, who's Shiloh? That's Christ. Genesis 49 and verse 10. And here's what he did. He spared Judah in spite of itself. And I'll tell you what. You're going to see how Hosea who married Gomer. And when Gomer leaves him and goes off into her highlitary and forgets Hosea, Hosea never stops loving her. Hosea goes out and gets her and redeems her in spite of herself. And I'll tell you something else. If God saves me or you and brings us into glory, it will be in spite of ourselves. Now you can mark it down. It's mercy. Look at verse 8. He says, now when she had weaned Lo-ruamah, she conceived and bare a son, and then said, God, then said, God, call his name Lo-amai, for you are not my people and I will not be your God. Not my people, that's what Lo-amai means. God disassociated himself with that northern kingdom. Again, that's the nature of the Old Covenant. It's temporal, it's temporary, it's conditional. There was no eternal salvation, no eternal grace, no eternal mercy, no righteousness in that Old Covenant. It was given to expose their sinfulness and show them their need of God's grace in Christ who was to come. So he says, you're not my people anymore. God joined himself temporarily, ceremonially, through that covenant of Sinai to that nation for a particular period of time, but no more. That's over now with the ten tribes. Not over yet with Judah, but it will be. It will be. And compare this, now look at verse 10. Now here's the future restoration of spiritual Israel. He says, now I will not be your God, you will not be my people. Now God's the God of everyone. But he's talking about that covenant relationship, that's no more. That earthly covenant now. But he says in verse 10, yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered, And it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them, you are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, you are the sons of the living God. Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together and appoint themselves one head at one heads Christ now. And they shall come up out of the land for great shall be the day of Jezreel. God sowing his people. his seed, his children, and God's scattering them throughout the world to preach the gospel. What's he talking about? This future restoration of spiritual Israel. We'll turn to Jeremiah 31 with me first. Jeremiah 31. Now, those last two verses and the first verse of chapter two of Hosea, where he says, say ye unto your brethren, am I? In other words, you are my people. And Ruhamah, that is, you have obtained mercy. Those verses, they don't speak of a physical nation, they speak of a spiritual nation. According to another covenant, Not a temporal, temporary covenant, not a conditional covenant that is conditioned on sinners. But it's a covenant that is worked out, fulfilled, and ratified by one head. And who is that head? That's Christ, the head of the church. So he's talking about that God's people will be restored and eternally saved, you say, by His grace according to His covenant. and that's spiritual Israel. Now, some of these fundamentalists today will call what I just said to you the heresy of replacement theology. You may have heard that. I don't know if you've heard it. The guy used to come on before me when we come on at 8.30, that's what he said. He says the heresy, the damnable heresy of replacement theology, the church replacing the nation Israel. Well, let me tell you something now. First of all, let's read the Bible, okay? That's number one. But it's not replacement theology. I'll tell you exactly what it is. It's fulfillment theology. It's not that the church has replaced the nation Israel. It's simply that God is fulfilling what he meant to do all along according to an everlasting covenant made before the foundation of the world. And listen to it in Jeremiah 31 and verse 31. Listen to this. He says, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Now, by the time Jeremiah prophesies, Israel is already gone and Judah is about to be gone to Babylonian captivity. They'll come back out of that 70 years, but then they'll last only up until a certain period of time. But he says, I'll make a new covenant. And verse 32, now look at it. This new covenant will not be according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they break. Although I was in husband unto them, saith the Lord, in a temporary, temporal, ceremonial way. But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts. You know what he's describing here? He's describing the new birth. Regeneration and conversion. He said, I'll write it in their hearts. not just on tablets of stone, but in their hearts. He said, I will be their God, and they shall be my people, and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord, for they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. That's eternal salvation. Now turn to Romans chapter nine. I've always said that the best commentary on the Old Testament is what? The New Testament. Here, the Apostle Paul quotes directly from Hosea chapter 1, verse 10. And what's he talking about here? Well, in Romans 9, what's he say? Well, he's praying for his brethren according to the flesh. That's the Jews. Paul prayed for them. And we should pray for them too. We should pray for everybody. I want to see people come to know Christ. Don't you? Jew and Gentile. I want to see Arabs come to Christ. Wouldn't you? Somebody said, well, I believe that in the future the whole nation of Israel is going to turn to Christ. I don't believe the Bible teaches that. But wouldn't it be great if they did? It'd be great if any... You know, God doesn't save nations. He saves sinners. But if the whole nation of America would turn to Christ tonight, wouldn't that be great? Wouldn't you rejoice? I sure would. I don't believe the Bible says that's going to happen. But if it did, that would be great. It's all right with me. So yes, we should pray for him. Paul's praying for him. He said, I could wish myself a curse for my brethren according to the flesh. But the very fact that the nation as a whole, the majority of that nation, rejected Christ, and still do, that's why we cannot have today any religious fellowship with the Jews, because they reject our Savior. They reject Christ. We can't have religious fellowship with anyone who rejects Christ. The Scripture tells us that. The Old Testament and the New Testament tells us that, you see. But the fact that that nation in the majority as a whole rejected Christ does not mean that God's promise to save all Israel was of none effect. Verse 6, Romans 9. Not as though the word of God had taken none effect, for they are not all Israel which are of Israel. Neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called." In other words, your physical connection with Abraham doesn't make you a child of God. But it's the promise that came through Isaac, and that's referring to Christ. He says in verse 8, that is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. Now who are the children of the promise? He says those who believe the promise. What's the promise? God will save you for Christ's sake. All who believe in Christ. Now go on over to verse 23. Romans 9. Now listen to this, he says that God might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he had a for prepared under glory even us whom he hath called not of the Jews only but also of what the Gentiles Now, whatever Paul's going to say here, by inspiration of the Spirit, it includes what? Both Jew and Gentile, all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Jew or Gentile. He said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it's the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first, and to the Greek also, the Gentile. And he says, verse 25, as he saith also in Osea, or O'Shea, that's Hosea. I will call them my people, which were not my people, and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said of them, you are not my people, there shall they be called the children of the living God. That's the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy right there. And Peter said the same thing. Let me read this to you and then we'll quit. Look at first Peter chapter two. And Peter wrote this to the strangers scattered throughout Cappadocia and all of that. That includes Gentile, this is Jewish and Gentile believers. That's what he's talking about. Look at 1 Peter 2, look at verse 9. 1 Peter 2, 9, he says, but you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood and holy nation, a peculiar or a purchased people. that you should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy, you see, but now have obtained mercy. And therefore, as Hosea says in verse one of chapter two, say ye unto your brethren, am I? And to your sister, Ruhamah, you got a new name. It's no longer, lo, am I, not my people. It's no longer, lo, Ruhamah, no mercy. It's am I, you're my people, you're God's people. And it's Ruhamah, it's those who have obtained mercy through Christ, who is the Lord, our righteousness. All right.