Hosea 6 verse 1 reads, Come, let us return to
the Lord, for he has torn us and he will heal
us. He has wounded us and he will bind up our
wounds. He will revive us after two days, and
on the third day he will raise us up so we can
live in his presence. Let's strive to know the
Lord. His appearance is as sure as the dawn.
He will come to us like the rain, like the spring
showers that water the land. What am I going
to do with you, Ephraim? What am I going to do
with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning
mist and like the early dew that vanishes. This
is why I have used the prophets to cut them down.
I have killed them with the words from my mouth.
My judgment strikes like lightning, for I desire
faithful love and not sacrifice. The knowledge
of God rather than burnt offerings. This is God's
word. Have you ever made a promise, maybe a promise
that just rolled off of your tongue without any
thought as to whether or not you intend to actually
keep it? If you have kids, you've probably heard
that before, right? You get them in trouble for,
you caught them doing something and they say,
oh, I'll never do that again. I promise, I'll
never do it again. Or maybe as an adult, you
said something like, man, I'm so sorry, I'll
do better next time. But deep down, you knew
nothing had changed and nothing was really going
to change. The words may have sounded nice to
the moment. They may have appeased the person
you wounded, but they were hollow as it pertains
to what you intended to do. And that's the picture
we're kind of given here in Hosea 6, that Israel
is under God's discipline, and they feel the
weight of his hands, and so they say the right
things. Come, let us return to the Lord. But
their words, their love is like morning dew that
evaporates when the sun comes up. Their words
vanish. They are motivated more by escaping consequence
than by genuine grief over their sin. And that
raises the question for us, what does true repentance
actually look like? Because it's not just saying
the right words and it's not just showing up
to church or going through the motions of religion.
God himself tells us in verse six, I desire steadfast
love. and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God
rather than burnt offerings. The prince of preachers,
Charles Spurgeon, he once said, the proof of
true repentance is a changed life, not merely
a regretful heart. And this morning, we're going
to see that repentance is more than a ritual
we go through or a duty we perform. It's more
than lip service that we pay. It's a heartfelt
turning to God. And Hosea 6 shows us not only
the emptiness of superficial repentance, but
also the beauty of genuine repentance, a repentance
that God receives, forgives, and restores. And
so we're going to walk through the text and I
would invite you to ask yourself, am I going
through the motions or am I truly returning to
the Lord? I have three points today. If you're
taking notes, the first point you can write down
is superficial repentance. Verse one through
three, Israel cries out, come let us return to
the Lord for he has torn us that he may heal
us. He has struck us down and he will bind us
up. And two days he will revive us. And on the
third day, he will raise us up that we may live
before him. And now on the surface, this sounds
wonderful, doesn't it? This whole section actually
sounds like the right words to say. Like if you're
going to say anything, if you've fallen away
or fallen into sin or trusted in other things,
these are the words you should say. This is the
call that should go out. It sounds like a revival
hymn, like throw up the tent, let's get saved.
Sounds like Israel's finally woken up and is
ready to turn to God. But if you keep reading,
God's response in verse four reveals something
else, doesn't it? What shall I do with you, O
Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your
love. is like a morning cloud, like a dew that
goes early away. In other words, their repentance
is superficial or shallow. It looks good in the
moment, but it vanishes quickly. Their words
are right, but their hearts remain unchanged.
And this is what we might call superficial repentance.
So what does repentance mean? Well, it really
just means turning away from something, and by
necessity, turning towards something else. Turning
away from something, and in turning away from
something, you're turning toward something else.
And in a biblical context, it usually means turning
away from things that are contrary to who God
is and what he wants for humanity, and instead
turning toward living out who he is and living
in a manner that accords with his design for
us as humans. In other words, to truly live,
As true humans, in light of God our creator and
who he is. And so if that's repentance, well,
what is superficial repentance? It's not driven
by sorrow over sin. Instead, it's driven by a
desire for relief. Israel feels the pain of God's
discipline. Anyone ever been disciplined before?
As a child, as an adult, as an employee? Israel
feels the pain of God's discipline, and so they
mouth the right words in hopes that the pain
will go away. But it's temporary. And the problem
is they don't actually want God. They want relief
from God. And friends, there's a world of difference
between those two, isn't there? Think of a child
caught red -handed in disobedience. He says,
I'm sorry, I won't do that again. But what he
really means is, I don't like being punished.
I want to get out of this trouble. That's regret
over consequences, but that is not repentance
over sin. And that's exactly where Israel seems
to be in Hosea chapter 6. This is why Scripture
warns us that not all sorrow is the same. Paul
writes in 2 Corinthians 7 -10, godly sorrow,
there's two kinds of sorrow that he writes here.
Godly sorrow, on the one hand, brings repentance
that leads to salvation and leaves no regret.
But worldly sorrow brings death. Worldly sorrow
says, I hate the pain my sin caused me. Godly
sorrow says, I hate the sin that caused this
pain to God and to others. Worldly sorrow wants
to escape consequences. Godly sorrow wants to
escape sin itself. Thomas Watson, a Puritan pastor,
said, worldly sorrow shows itself in tears, but
godly sorrow shows itself in change. And here's
the danger. We go through religious motions,
we sing songs, we pray the prayers, we show up
on Sundays and still don't actually repent. We
can say the right words with no intention of
ever really changing. And that's superficial
repentance. It evaporates like dew. And so I'll
ask you, when you confess your sin, Is it just
to ease your guilty conscience? Or is it because
you're truly grieved that your sin grieves God?
Do you want him or do you just want relief from
him? That's the diagnostic question Hosea presses
on us. Because God is not fooled by superficial
repentance. Instead, he desires something deeper.
Something real. And we'll look and see what that
looks like as we continue. Number two, if you're
taking notes, God's desire is for genuine devotion.
After exposing the shallowness of Israel's words
in verse four, God explains what he actually
wants from his people in verse six. For I desire
steadfast love, faithful love, and not sacrifice.
The knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
And that's a stunning statement because God is
not dismissing sacrifices. He himself commanded
them in his law. He gave the law. It was a good
gift to his people. But instead he is saying,
I'm not after some empty ritual. The law was
always to point your heart, reorient your heart
back toward God. It was never the thing in and
of itself. It was to point you back to God because
God ultimately wants your heart. He wants your
covenant love. He wants you to know him. Some
folks who are outside of the faith or just coming
in sometimes can have a little problem. One of
the common apologetics questions is something
to the effect of, man, if I read the Bible, God
kind of seems egotistical. He's kind of all about
himself. It's like, I don't know, what's up with
that, right? You serve an egotistical God. He
gets accused of that often. He's a needy deity
who demands devotion to feed his own pride and
to feed his own insecurities. But to that, I
want to say, I think that accusation overlooks
a crucial question, and that is, what if relationship
with God is humanity's ultimate good? What if
there is no greater joy, no higher flourishing,
no greater satisfaction than knowing and walking
with a perfectly good God? If that's the case,
then God's desire that we would walk with Him
and know Him and love Him and His active work
to that end to bring us into relationship with
Himself, if that was the case, it's not egotistical
at all, is it? It's actually pure love. His love
for you compels him to tell you to come to him,
the only source, the only true source, the well
that never runs dry. This is not ego, this is
love. And that's the difference between religion
and relationship. Religion says, man, if I do
the right things, God may be pleased with me.
Or if nothing else, if I do the right things,
God will get off my back. I can find some relief
from God. But relationship says, man, I want
to know. I want to love and walk with the God
who knows, loves, and pursues me. And the Israelites
thought, man, their religious activity, that
was enough. They brought sacrifices. They paid
their tithes. They kept the feast. They said
the right words. But their devotion was thin
and fleeting. It was like the morning dew. They
gave God ritual, but they refused to give God
their hearts. The reformer John Calvin said,
God has no regard for heartless worship. He looks
not at the pomp of worship. Scream louder. yell,
dance harder, right? He looks nothing at the
pomp of worship. He looks past it at the sincerity
of the heart of the worshiper. And isn't this
still a temptation for us, man? We can sing the
worship songs. We can drop something into the
offering plate. We can sit through another sermon
week after week and still leave unchanged. We
can check the box of religion without, cultivating
a heart that loves God. We can't solve all that
with more programs, more things to do, but we
can facilitate those who hunger after it. And
here at Village, we facilitate this kind of discipleship
culture around small groups because we believe
that there is so much more to our journey with
Christ than could ever be accomplished on a Sunday
morning. You guys may not have noticed this,
but I don't let you talk a whole lot, do I? It's
a whole lot of me. But small groups, man, small
groups are an opportunity where we get in a room
together, where we're renewed by the grace of
God as we speak to one another in truth and in
love, where we show grace to one another while
we're face to face with the weaknesses. That
we see so apparent in each other. Wow, you're
kind of rude. Wow, you smell. I don't like you
a whole lot. But what am I going to do with you
because of all the grace that's been shown to
me? It's hard to do that when we're in rows facing
forward and just absorbing a monologue, isn't
it? But get in a circle. You're face to face
with whether you're going to love or not. And
so we kind of, we facilitate as best as we can.
Again, it's not an end all be all. It's just
a tool. It could be misused. It can become a
ritual. It can become something you check off
your box as well. But small groups is the way
that we do that. And in fact, our small groups
have been taking a break through the summer and
we're about to relaunch those small groups in
September. If you're not currently involved in
one, I really do encourage you, get involved
in a small group. Get in a circle. Get face -to
-face with some smelly, weird Christians and
some other people, too, that you invite in and
see if maybe God doesn't stretch and grow your
love when you're face -to -face with weakness
and they're face -to -face with your weakness.
This verse out of Hosea chapter 6 that we're
looking at, I desire... Faithful love, not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
Jesus himself actually in the gospels quotes
it two times. In Matthew chapter nine and in
Matthew chapter 12, he tells the Pharisees, go
and learn what it means. I desire mercy and not
sacrifice. See, the Pharisees, they were experts
at religion. You can't outdo a Pharisee. You
could try and try and try, but the Pharisees
were experts at religious performance. But their
hearts were far from God. These guys were skilled,
man. They believed so much in the tithe. Tithe
is just a fancy word for 10, 10%, the 10th, right?
Giving the first 10th of anything that they had
to the Lord as an offering to show that it ultimately
came from him initially, everything that we have,
and so we give back to him this 10th idea, right?
Well, they were such an expert at it that they
went down to their spices. They got spices from
the field, right? They got mint. They got dill,
they got cumin, and they would go out and portion
out a tenth of their spices and bring it. But
Jesus says, you tithe your spices, your mint,
your dill, your cumin, but you neglect the weighty
things like justice and mercy and faithfulness.
In other words, you fail to image the character
of God. You fail to live the life. of God through
your life to the world. But you can perform all
the duties. You can do all the things. You can
tithe your mint, dill, and cumin, but you neglect
the life of God that expresses itself in a devoted
life of justice, mercy, and faithfulness. And
so superficial repentance ties the use of religion
and makes it into a bargaining chip. If I do
this ritual, maybe God will bless me. Whereas
genuine devotion, genuine repentance says, Lord,
I don't want to play games anymore. I want to
love you. I want to know you. I want to respond
to your pursuit of me. I want to show love to
you. And that's what God wants from his people.
Not empty sacrifice, but steadfast, faithful
love. He doesn't want religious ritual. He wants
a heart that is captivated by him. And so here's
a question. What does your walk with God look
like right now? Is it just a checklist of rituals?
Or is it a living? of covenantal love. Do you
know about God or do you know God? Because the
call of Hosea 6 is clear. God isn't looking for
more religion. He's looking for repentance that
leads to relationship. And so, I want to just
kind of take a little sidestep in the context
of this and talk a little bit more about repentance.
Because devotion to God actually looks like repentance.
We tend to think of repentance as this kind of
like a tool in our tool belt we can whip out
really quick if we do something really bad. And
we'll do some repentance and then we'll put that
tool away and we'll just kind of live our life.
But the life of a Christian is a life of repentance.
Because remember, what does repentance mean?
Turning to God. Turning away from something and
turning towards something. Turning away from
that which doesn't bring life towards something
that brings life. We just sang a song earlier
about abide, and it talks about, I am the branch
and you are the vine. Yet how many times do we
unplug that thing and go and try to plug it into
something else? Feed me! Satisfy me! Yeah, I
don't know about you, man. I've got to consistently,
constantly return to the Lord. And so what does
repentance look like? What does it look like
to walk with God in this way? And we can't forget
the horizontal dimension because God has intertwined
our love and devotion for him with an expression
of how we love one another. And I don't know
about you, but probably on a weekly basis, there's
something I need to repent from one to another
too, right? Something that I need to turn away
from because I've introduced something terrible
into a relationship or into walking with someone.
Sorry, my wife started smiling at me and she's
really cute, so I got distracted for a second.
Yeah, my son's putting his head down, like embarrassed.
Your repentance isn't just saying sorry. It's
a consistent returning in faithfulness to God.
And that produces the fruit of a changed life.
There's a story of a wee little man named Zacchaeus.
Zacchaeus in Luke chapter 19, he was a wee little
man and he climbed a tree so that he could see
Jesus, right? He was actually more than just
a wee little man. He was a chief tax collector.
In other words, he had tax collectors that worked
for him, and everything they extorted from other
people, he got a little cut of that. He was abusing
his own people by collecting taxes against them
and pocketing whatever he wanted. He was a sinner.
He was looked down on, not only in society, but
he was a lawbreaker. He hears that Jesus is passing
away. So he climbs, passing that way. So he climbs
a tree to catch a glimpse of this man named Jesus.
And Jesus, man, he picks him out. He pursues
Zacchaeus. He sees him in the tree and he says,
you, I must go to your house today. I need to
go to your house today. And Zacchaeus is like,
whoa, like cool. And he hops down and says with
joy and took him to his house. And it's really
weird because the narrative then just like jumps.
And the very next thing is they're at the house,
I guess, after a couple of the people who are
around who are religious say, man, look at Jesus.
He's going to go have a meal in the house of
a sinner. And the very next thing is Zacchaeus
says, I'm going to repay four times the amount
of anything that I've stolen from anyone. I'm
responding to your pursuit of me, Jesus. I'm
responding to you picking me out and my heart
is so filled with gratitude. I'm gonna respond
to this and I'm gonna repay anything. I'm gonna
make amends for anything that I have stolen here.
And it's after that that Jesus says, salvation
has come to this house, right? And the very last
part of that section is where Jesus says the
famous, I have come to seek and save the lost.
And so Zacchaeus is an example of what repentance
looks like when our heart is truly captivated
by the grace of God. And so there's an article
that the Gospel Coalition put out a little while
ago, and it had eight signs of true repentance,
things that mark a repentant heart. And I think
these are really helpful. We're going to go really
quickly through these. We're not going to stay
long on them because we've got to keep moving
here. But you can write down really quickly or
take a picture of the board if you want to reflect
on them a little bit more. Eight signs of true
repentance, things that mark a repentant heart,
because true repentance always comes with evidence.
Number one, a repentant person is appalled by
sin. All sin is first and foremost against a
holy and good God. David got this because David
sinned against Bathsheba. David definitely sinned
against Uriah, Bathsheba's husband, when he sent
him out to ultimately die because David had committed
adultery and slept with his wife. David sinned
against a lot of people in that scenario, and
yet when he's writing his lament in Psalm 51,
he states, against you and you alone have I sinned.
Because David understood that, yes, we sin against
one another in terrible ways, but ultimately
sin is an affront to God. Affront to God's goodness.
Affront to God's created order. Affront to what
God intended for humanity. It's a distortion.
And a repentant person is appalled by sin. Not
just convicted of sin, but a growing hatred of
sin. Number two, a repentant person makes amends.
Like Zacchaeus, they take steps to repair what
they broke. Number three, a repentant person
accepts consequences. They stop making excuses.
They stop blaming. And instead, they bow under
God's discipline. I remember a situation as a
kid, me and my siblings. I have an older brother
and two younger sisters. And we had done something.
I can't remember what we did. I just know we
did something that merited. I came from a house
that spanked. So sorry if this triggers anyone.
But yeah, I came from a house that spanked. My
parents spanked us. Now, it was only two or three
times probably in my whole life that I got spanked.
But I probably remember all of them. I don't
remember exactly what I did, but I remember getting
spanked. And this particular situation, we were
sent to the laundry room to wait until, you know,
our punishment was executed on us. And so me
and my siblings are sitting in the laundry room,
you know, fretting and sweating and crying and
like, what do we do, right? And my older brother
who had, As I've told stories before, he's usually
the evil one in my stories, and he's not here
to defend himself, so today he's going to be
the evil one again. He has this brilliant idea
as we're all sitting there fretting the impending
discipline that we're going to endure. He goes,
you know what, guys? We're in a laundry room.
There's clothes all around us. Start stuffing
clothes in your pants. And so we're just stuffing
clothes in our pants. Like we're like, that's
a great idea. Like we are going to get the spanking,
but we're not going to feel a thing. And we're
stuffing, stuffing, stuffing. And pretty soon
we hear mom coming and she comes in the door.
And I can't even imagine what she thought. She
walks in the door and like, everyone's got big
booties now. So what's going on in this place?
Well, she caught on very quickly, what we had
done. And all those clothes came out. Now, I
did remember, as I was thinking about it, because
I didn't say it in the first service, but I do
remember that one shirt, I think, was left in
my pants. So I felt like I didn't feel the full
weight of that discipline that time. And I was
probably grateful for it, too, that I left that
shirt tucked in there somewhere. But, no, it
was a situation where we knew we had done wrong.
Mom had told us, and we were about to get our
consequences. But we were not prepared. We were
not prepared to endure those consequences. And
so we were not yet at the stage of repentance.
We hadn't yet understood what our error had done,
what it had meant. Instead, we were trying to
avoid consequences. Well, true repentance accepts
consequences. We don't make excuses. We stop
blaming and we bow under the discipline that
God brings in our lives. Number four, a true
repentant heart doesn't demand forgiveness. You
ever been in that situation? It's not entitled
to forgiveness. It marvels at grace. You ever
been in a situation where it's like, man, I did
all the right things. I checked all the right
boxes. I said the right things. Now it's your
turn. Like, say it. Say it to me. John, I forgive
you. Come on, like, aren't you a Christian too?
What's wrong with you? That's not a sign of a
repentant heart. A repentant heart doesn't demand
forgiveness. It doesn't see it as an entitlement
because I did everything right or I responded
right. Instead, it marvels at grace when grace
is extended. A repentant heart will feel the
pain they've caused and they acknowledge that
sin hurts other people. A repentant heart will
change their behavior because repentance is turning,
not just talking. A repentant heart will give
space to heal. They won't rush others or force
quick reconciliation. They allow God time to
restore. And a repentant heart is awestruck when
forgiveness is given. They respond with worship
and joy whenever grace is extended. This is what
God is after. Not ritual, not empty words, not
heartless sacrifice or mere duty. He desires
repentance that leads to relationship, repentance
that looks like this, repentance that flows out
of love for him and results in real change in
our life. He desires this in our relationship
with him, but he also desires this in our relationship
with one another. Anyone we've sinned against,
we pray for a repentant heart and not just lip
service. And this can be very useful because
some of you have been hurt really bad by some
people. And they've said all the right things.
And you've wondered whether or not they really
meant it. And you can take this eight things
or so and begin to look and go, where are we
at? Where are you at in your heart? Not as a
way to bang them over their head, but for you
to have context so you can pray, so that you
can extend grace, so that you can understand
the circumstance that you're in. God desires
repentance, turning to him, turning from our
sin. And all true repentance has evidence. And
the final thing, point number three, the power
of returning. So we're gonna circle back to the
opening verse where it says, come, let us return
to the Lord for he has torn us that he may heal
us. He has struck us down and he will bind us
up. After two days, he will revive us. And on
the third day, he will raise us up that we may
live before him. Let us know, let us press on
to know the Lord. So even though Israel's words
were shallow, the imagery is profound. They remind
us that returning to the Lord is not just about
sorrow. But returning to the Lord is not just
about living under a dark cloud of repentance.
But returning to the Lord is ultimately about
our healing. God's discipline is never meant
to destroy his people, but to draw them back
to himself. And you notice the language, he has
torn us. that he may heal us. What a picture,
right? God wounds in order to restore. And we
got a living picture of this recently. My mother
-in -law had a heart attack and she goes into
the hospital and ultimately they decide that
she needs a five -way bypass, heart bypass. And
you know what the surgeon did to my mother -in
-law? The surgeon cut my mother -in -law open,
separated her ribcage, cut veins from places
on her body, sewed them in other places. It was
violent, bloody guts. Why? So that he could heal
her, so that he could make her whole. Hebrews
chapter 12 says the same thing. God disciplines
those he loves. And though it's painful, it will
yield a fruit of righteousness in our lives if
we will be trained by it, Hebrews 12 says. If
we will be trained by it. And there's this promise
in that initial verse. It says, after two days
he will revive us. And on the third day he will
raise us up that we may live. With him. Hosea
may not have seen it in full, but for us, these
words can't help but echo the resurrection of
Christ, can they? On the third day, Jesus was
raised up. And in him, we are raised to new life.
And that's the ultimate power of returning. The
ultimate power of repentance is that God doesn't
just forgive our past. He gives us resurrection
life in Christ Jesus. It's not just about a dark
shadow of doom and gloom hanging over us, but
instead it's about passing through that into
life, through the valley of the shadow of death
into green pastures, life and resurrection with
assurance. That he will surely come as the dawn,
as the rising sun. That he will come to us like
the spring showers. He will water the earth.
There's assurance that God's faithfulness is
as certain as the sunrise. That his mercy is
as refreshing as spring rain on a dry ground.
And when his people genuinely return to him,
he will come. He will forgive. He will restore.
And that's the hope for us today. Genuine repentance
is never met with rejection, ever. When we turn
to God with broken hearts and surrendered lives,
he meets us with healing. He revives us. He renews
us. He restores us. And that's why repentance
is not something to fear. It's something to embrace.
The other side of repentance is restoration.
The other side of returning to him is joy. The
other side of confession of sin is resurrected
life. And our invitation today is, will you return
to God? Not in ritual, not in empty words, but
in genuine repentance that says, Lord, I don't
just want relief from you. I want you. And the
promise of Hosea 6 is that when we return to
him, he will meet us. He will meet us with healing
grace. So in conclusion, I remind that God says,
I don't want empty sacrifices. I want faithful,
steadfast love. I want you to know me. Examine
your heart for superficial repentance. Is your
walk with God, built on ritual, doing the right
things and saying the right words while your
heart drifts from him. True repentance is not
about escaping consequences. It's relational.
It's about turning from sin because we've seen
how it drives a wedge between us and God. It's
about longing to know him, not just to use him.
And then embrace the promise of restoration through
Christ. Hosea says that he has torn us that he
may heal us and that on the third day he will
rise up that we may live before him. What Israel
could only catch a glimpse of we can see clearly
now and that this promise is fulfilled in Jesus.
He was torn for our transgressions. He was struck
down for our sins. And on the third day, he was
raised so that all who repent and believe might
live before God forever. That's why repentance
is never something to be feared. Because when
we turn to God through Jesus Christ, we don't
find condemnation. There is therefore now no
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
We don't find condemnation. We find healing.
We don't find rejection. We find a welcome open
door. We don't find death, but we find new life.
The reformer Martin Luther once said, repentance
is not something we do merely at the start of
the Christian life. It is the Christian life.
Return to the Lord. Turn to the Lord. Turn to
the Lord. Do it again and again and again and
again. Every day you wake up and you say, I've
turned a little bit to the right or to the left.
I must return to the Lord. It's no different
than what we sang earlier. Teach us to abide.
Teach us to abide. Don't settle for ritual. If
you've settled for ritual, if you think, I checked
the Sunday morning box off, I'm going to go on
with my life and pursue everything else that
I think will bring satisfaction. It's not anger,
it's sorrow that you would trade your life. I
think it was C .S. Lewis who talked about how
we are content to play in mud puddles while the
vast ocean of God's goodness is just over the
horizon. If you've built your life, your hope,
your ritual around mud puddles and making mud
cakes, there's a whole ocean. And I don't know
if you know much about the ocean, but that sucker's
pretty deep. It's got a lot of life that we're
still discovering down in there. It's teeming
with life. Any square hundred miles you look
at. You have no idea what's beneath the surface.
Your life in Christ, your life with God, your
walk with God, your journey could be like that.
New every morning, teeming with life, deep and
wide. Don't settle for a mud puddle when you
can dive into the ocean of God's goodness. When
we return to the Lord, we find grace that is
as sure as the sunrise. and mercy that refreshes
like the spring rain.