1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,000 If you have your Bibles, Hosea 14. 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:03,500 Hosea 14. 3 00:00:04,380 --> 00:00:06,740 14 weeks ago we began a journey, right, 4 00:00:06,740 --> 00:00:08,180 through the book of Hosea, 5 00:00:08,180 --> 00:00:10,480 and today we're going to wrap this book up. 6 00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:16,620 Through 13 chapters, we have seen God 7 00:00:16,620 --> 00:00:19,620 try to get the attention of his people. 8 00:00:20,900 --> 00:00:23,860 He has reminded them of who he is. 9 00:00:23,860 --> 00:00:25,900 He has reminded them of what he has done. 10 00:00:25,900 --> 00:00:29,540 He has told them how far they have gotten from him. 11 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:33,880 Now, I really don't think that the people of Israel 12 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:36,980 were just blatantly disregarding the Lord. 13 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:42,380 But their heart was just not in the right place. 14 00:00:42,380 --> 00:00:44,920 They couldn't see their condition. 15 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:46,960 They just kept going through the motions 16 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:51,960 of living their life, and God was just an afterthought. 17 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:56,560 They had the tendency, just as we have the tendency 18 00:00:56,560 --> 00:00:59,360 to get comfortable with our lives, 19 00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:02,640 and before you know it, we've drifted farther 20 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:03,800 than we want to be. 21 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:06,580 When I was reading this chapter this week, 22 00:01:06,580 --> 00:01:09,080 I kept thinking about the ocean. 23 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:12,640 Now, I've been in the ocean many times, 24 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:14,480 but most recently in South Carolina 25 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:16,020 a couple years ago with my family. 26 00:01:16,020 --> 00:01:19,920 One particular day, Sina and I are sitting on Myrtle Beach, 27 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:23,760 and we're sitting in our beach chairs as lazy people do, 28 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:27,300 and we're just sitting there enjoying the view 29 00:01:27,300 --> 00:01:29,700 and enjoying watching our kids have a good time. 30 00:01:29,700 --> 00:01:33,700 They're just playing in the water, riding their boogie boards 31 00:01:33,700 --> 00:01:36,140 or whatever they were doing, just having a really good time. 32 00:01:36,140 --> 00:01:39,080 Sina and I would get to talking and look up, 33 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:41,680 and next thing you know, our kids are like 100 yards 34 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:44,780 down the beach, and so we have to get our rear ends up 35 00:01:44,780 --> 00:01:47,220 out of the beach chair, walk down there, 36 00:01:47,220 --> 00:01:50,420 tell them to get back to where we can see them. 37 00:01:50,420 --> 00:01:52,920 Happened several times, I was beginning to get frustrated 38 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:57,920 because my kids know they have to stay where we can see them. 39 00:01:58,700 --> 00:02:02,540 Well, then I get in the water, and I'm playing with the kids, 40 00:02:02,540 --> 00:02:04,400 and we're getting hit by waves, 41 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:05,840 and we're having a great old time. 42 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:08,200 I look up, and it's me that's 100 yards away 43 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:11,280 from where the beach chairs are. 44 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:14,540 You don't realize in the midst of all the fun 45 00:02:14,540 --> 00:02:17,380 that the current is taking you away 46 00:02:17,380 --> 00:02:20,180 from where you are supposed to be, 47 00:02:20,180 --> 00:02:22,980 and that's how I view the Israelites. 48 00:02:22,980 --> 00:02:25,260 God was trying to get their attention, 49 00:02:25,260 --> 00:02:28,300 he was sending the prophets, he was sending messages, 50 00:02:28,300 --> 00:02:32,120 but they had been too busy having a good time 51 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:35,460 to realize how far they've actually drifted. 52 00:02:36,700 --> 00:02:38,660 I mean, they're still going to the temple, 53 00:02:38,660 --> 00:02:40,240 they're still saying their prayers, 54 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:42,080 they're still offering the sacrifices, 55 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:44,900 but their attention is not on the Lord, 56 00:02:44,900 --> 00:02:47,340 their attention is on the busyness of life, 57 00:02:47,340 --> 00:02:52,140 and here is Hosea saying, we get back to the beach chairs. 58 00:02:52,140 --> 00:02:55,280 You gotta get back, but the people are not listening. 59 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:58,580 They're too focused on what they have going on 60 00:02:58,580 --> 00:03:01,820 to even realize that they are drifting away 61 00:03:01,820 --> 00:03:03,920 from where they are safe. 62 00:03:03,920 --> 00:03:05,880 And so let's read chapter 14 this morning 63 00:03:07,060 --> 00:03:09,020 and see what God's response is. 64 00:03:09,020 --> 00:03:11,280 We'll read the first three verses real quick. 65 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:14,600 It says, return, oh Israel to the Lord your God, 66 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:18,140 for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. 67 00:03:18,140 --> 00:03:21,200 Take with you words and return to the Lord, 68 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:23,280 say to him, take away all iniquity, 69 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:27,280 accept what is good, and we will pay with bulls 70 00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:28,880 the vows of our lips. 71 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:32,480 Assyria shall not save us, we will not ride on horses, 72 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:35,360 and we will say no more, our God, 73 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:38,960 to the work of your hands, in you the orphan, 74 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:41,000 orphan finds mercy. 75 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:45,480 So here God in this passage is giving us 76 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:47,280 an invitation to return. 77 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:53,760 The thing about returning is you have to realize 78 00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:54,900 that you've left. 79 00:03:56,300 --> 00:03:58,880 You have to be aware that you've left. 80 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:02,120 For them they had to come to the realization 81 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:06,080 that their sin had caused them to drift significantly 82 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:06,960 from the Lord. 83 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:11,960 They had to realize that the hopes that they had in armies, 84 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:15,440 the hopes that they had in what they could accumulate, 85 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:18,040 the hopes that they had in their own abilities 86 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:20,340 were not going to save them. 87 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:25,320 God was not something they could make, 88 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:27,400 but they tried anyway. 89 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:30,600 God had become what they could do. 90 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:33,680 God had become what they could build. 91 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:37,360 God had become what they could accumulate. 92 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:41,440 Idolatry is like the ocean and the currents. 93 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:44,120 It can be fun for a season, 94 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:45,920 but it is going to take you far away 95 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:47,160 from where you wanna be. 96 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:50,960 Or it can take you under, and it can take your life. 97 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:55,800 It says in you the orphan finds mercy. 98 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:57,160 Now what do orphans have? 99 00:04:58,740 --> 00:05:01,120 Nothing usually except the hope 100 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:04,120 that one day someone will love them. 101 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:06,920 They don't have a home. 102 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:10,240 They don't have a family. 103 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:13,360 For a lot of them their whole identity 104 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:15,560 can be written on a three by five note card. 105 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:19,600 But it is them that find mercy. 106 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:25,120 I have some neighbors where we live for the most, 107 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:28,280 who for the most part are some really pretty nice people. 108 00:05:28,280 --> 00:05:30,520 We get along just fine. 109 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:33,680 But they are as we are speaking living out, 110 00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:35,600 Luke chapter 12. 111 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:39,000 They find their identity and what they have. 112 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:41,800 And when they get more stuff, 113 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:44,760 they just build another barn, a bigger barn. 114 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:47,040 They are in the process right now 115 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:51,000 of moving their treasures from one barn to another barn 116 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:53,640 that they literally just had built. 117 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:56,600 They are not seeking mercy from the Lord 118 00:05:56,600 --> 00:06:01,360 because in their mind they don't need Him. 119 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:03,960 Look at what they're able to build. 120 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:05,720 Look at what they have. 121 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:07,920 Look at what they've accumulated. 122 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:09,760 Look at how hard they work. 123 00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:13,360 So instead they look at themselves 124 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:15,960 as the givers of mercy. 125 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:18,600 We get to hear about the people that they help out. 126 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:23,240 We get to hear about how fortunate we are 127 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:27,960 that we get to live around them. 128 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:30,720 Now I wouldn't say they're anti-God, 129 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:33,520 but they don't see themselves in need of Him either. 130 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:38,240 So when the invitation comes to return, 131 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:40,440 they don't think it's for them 132 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:43,000 because they don't realize their condition. 133 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:46,360 They don't realize how far they've drifted away from Him. 134 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:49,800 They don't understand their need 135 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:53,720 because everything they have, they've earned it. 136 00:06:55,280 --> 00:06:58,480 So real quick, let's stop talking about the Israelites 137 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:00,800 and let's stop talking about my neighbors. 138 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:06,240 If an invitation to return comes to you from the Lord, 139 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:11,040 do you view yourself as having drifted away 140 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:13,680 or do you think there's no need to return 141 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:14,760 because I haven't left? 142 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:19,040 Now maybe you are in a season of life 143 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:21,480 and maybe you're in a season when you're in your walk 144 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:23,800 with the Lord where you're just clinging to the Father 145 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:26,320 and you know that this invitation isn't for you. 146 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:28,560 You are walking and step with Him 147 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:31,680 and He has never felt closer. 148 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:35,320 Now I've been there and that's a great place to be, 149 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:38,760 but maybe the invitation comes 150 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:41,640 and it helps you realize some things about yourself. 151 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:47,880 Potentially you have been coming to church for weeks 152 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:50,000 or months or decades 153 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:54,040 and you're just going through the motions. 154 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:59,360 You come in with a smile on your face, you greet people. 155 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:02,440 You come and you sit in your seats 156 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:03,840 as long as nobody's taking it, 157 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:06,600 but if somebody's taking it, that's an issue, right? 158 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:10,320 And you stand up when we sing songs together 159 00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:12,360 and then you sit down and you listen to somebody 160 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:14,760 like me talk to you for 30 minutes 161 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:16,040 and then we'll be done 162 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:17,800 and you'll put your check in the box 163 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:18,640 and you'll be out of here, 164 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:20,640 we'll do it again next week. 165 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:24,520 Meanwhile, you go to work or you go to school, 166 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:27,960 you're stressed out because of some project 167 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:29,240 you are working on, 168 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:31,000 you lose your cool a couple of times 169 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:33,320 because let's face it, they deserved it. 170 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:37,880 You get home to your family, 171 00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:40,240 maybe you sit around the table for dinner, 172 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:43,720 maybe you're hauling your kids to wherever they need to go, 173 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:47,880 maybe you have to go to practice or whatever it is, 174 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:51,200 and you go to bed and you do it again the next day. 175 00:08:52,840 --> 00:08:56,800 Then you start the cycle all over again on Sunday. 176 00:08:56,800 --> 00:09:00,880 Your life has no purpose, your life has no meaning. 177 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:06,480 You earn a check or you get some A's 178 00:09:07,560 --> 00:09:10,800 and that is all the fulfillment that you have. 179 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:13,760 That is all that you are striving for 180 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:16,120 just to make it to another day, 181 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:19,400 just to make it to the weekend so that I can relax. 182 00:09:19,400 --> 00:09:22,480 Too many people work for the weekend. 183 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:26,000 There's a song about that. 184 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:31,640 Now this is the problem with America. 185 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:38,120 We aren't desperate enough because we are too comfortable. 186 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:43,120 What you risk death to come here 187 00:09:44,500 --> 00:09:46,680 and worship the Lord with other believers? 188 00:09:48,420 --> 00:09:51,760 Because a few hours ago, there were believers 189 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:55,240 in the Middle East, there were believers in China 190 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:58,100 that were willing to do just that. 191 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:04,480 They understand their need for mercy far more than we do. 192 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:10,640 Now, maybe we are far more like the Israelites than we want to be. 193 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:15,320 And maybe this invitation is for us to return to the Lord. 194 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:18,760 Let's keep reading verse four. 195 00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:21,560 I will heal their apostasy. 196 00:10:21,560 --> 00:10:24,760 I will love them freely for my anger has turned from them. 197 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:26,400 I will be like a dew to Israel. 198 00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:28,480 He shall blossom like the lily. 199 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:31,040 He shall take root like the trees of Lebanon. 200 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:33,080 His shoots shall spread out. 201 00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:35,120 His beauty shall be like the olive. 202 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:37,200 And his fragrance like Lebanon. 203 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:41,320 They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow. 204 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:43,440 They shall flourish like the grain. 205 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:45,480 They shall blossom like the vine. 206 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:49,880 Their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon. 207 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:52,480 So the invitation goes out. 208 00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:54,160 It's out there. 209 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:56,120 We realize how far we've gone. 210 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:59,120 We realize how far we've drifted. 211 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:01,640 And this is what we get if we return. 212 00:11:01,640 --> 00:11:05,960 God is promising restoration. 213 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:12,040 If you are fortunate enough to understand your condition 214 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:18,840 and you return to the Lord, He promises you restoration. 215 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:22,800 What I love about this passage is if you understand, 216 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:27,560 if you can grasp just how far Israel has gone away from the Lord, 217 00:11:27,560 --> 00:11:35,520 if you can understand that, which hopefully by now you do, 218 00:11:35,520 --> 00:11:38,600 God is still promising forgiveness. 219 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:41,440 He is still promising them healing. 220 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:46,960 What that means, what that means to us 221 00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:53,080 is that if you are still breathing, 222 00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:56,920 you have time to return and receive His forgiveness 223 00:11:56,920 --> 00:11:59,120 and receive His grace. 224 00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:03,880 Now during this time in the Scripture, in history, 225 00:12:03,880 --> 00:12:07,800 they don't have much time left because the Assyrian army is 226 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:10,200 about to come in and slaughter them. 227 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:14,320 But before that happens, there is an invitation 228 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:19,000 to each and every one of them to return and be restored. 229 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:22,120 Now only God can take what's on the brink of death 230 00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:25,440 and turn it into something that flourishes. 231 00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:28,040 I've heard so many times, countless times, 232 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:29,280 throughout my ministry. 233 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:32,720 I am too far gone. 234 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:35,680 I've messed up too many times. 235 00:12:35,680 --> 00:12:40,920 It's too late to make any sort of change to my life. 236 00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:45,840 If you are breathing, it's not too late. 237 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:49,720 The promise of restoration is being offered. 238 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:57,400 Now my wife, Sina, likes to find things on Marketplace. 239 00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:00,080 I actually had to ban her from it for a while 240 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:05,480 because it was just getting ridiculous. 241 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:11,160 She is the type of person that doesn't bragg 242 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:13,880 about the stuff that she has. 243 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:18,040 She brags about the deal that she got on. 244 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:20,520 So if you were to compliment her later 245 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:24,360 on whatever she's wearing, she would say, thank you. 246 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:25,600 I got it on sale. 247 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:28,400 Like that's how she functions. 248 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:31,640 But when we moved here, she gets on Marketplace 249 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:34,520 and she finds this table on Marketplace 250 00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:37,080 that was about to get thrown out. 251 00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:41,480 And so she brought it home and she spent day sanding it down. 252 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:43,280 She tried different stains on it. 253 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:47,000 She worked on it a little bit to tighten some things up. 254 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:50,840 And now that table sits in my kitchen. 255 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:54,160 She took the chairs and she reupholstered them. 256 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:57,080 One was missing a spindle, so she found one. 257 00:13:57,080 --> 00:14:01,840 She found a drumstick laying around in the drum cage. 258 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:04,360 Just kidding, not the drumstick. 259 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:06,800 But she found a drumstick. 260 00:14:06,800 --> 00:14:08,480 She takes it home and replaced it. 261 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:13,320 Now each of us has a table or a chair to sit around the table. 262 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:20,120 What was going to be trash now has purpose again. 263 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:22,600 Every morning we sit down at that table 264 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:25,000 before the kids go to school and we pray together. 265 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:27,840 We spend some time in the Bible several nights a week. 266 00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:30,720 We'll gather around that table and we'll have dinner together 267 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:32,240 and enjoy each other. 268 00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:35,000 I am grateful for that table. 269 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:39,680 I'm grateful for the work that went into restoring it. 270 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:42,160 Now many of us have been restored. 271 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:45,440 We realized our position. 272 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:47,160 We realized our condition. 273 00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:51,280 And we accepted the invitation to return. 274 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:54,880 But I have a feeling there are many who 275 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:57,760 feel like they don't have any purpose. 276 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:03,880 And God is just waiting to throw you out with the trash. 277 00:15:03,880 --> 00:15:06,560 That's not who he is. 278 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:11,120 He created you and was willing to do whatever it 279 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:14,320 took to restore you. 280 00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:19,040 As much grief and heartache that Israel has caused God, 281 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:23,960 his love is still being extended. 282 00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:27,520 He says, I will love them freely. 283 00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:31,560 Once they are under my care, they will blossom. 284 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:35,920 Once they are under my care, they're going to flourish. 285 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:39,080 Have you ever known someone who was just 286 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:42,400 in a really bad situation? 287 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:44,800 Maybe they were living in a home that had abuse in it. 288 00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:47,880 Maybe they were working a job that just stressed them out 289 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:49,200 and was sucking the life out of them. 290 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:57,840 They had a heartbeat, but they didn't have any life in their eyes. 291 00:15:57,840 --> 00:15:59,960 You know those people? 292 00:15:59,960 --> 00:16:02,600 And then something happens. 293 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:04,400 They get a new job. 294 00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:07,080 They get a new environment. 295 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:09,800 And all of a sudden, the life comes back into them. 296 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:12,520 All of a sudden, they're a whole new person. 297 00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:16,920 It's like taking a plant that's in bad soil 298 00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:22,760 and putting it in good soil, and it doubles in size quickly. 299 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:26,360 It starts blooming like it's never done before. 300 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:31,120 This is what is being offered to us. 301 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:36,440 You might be alive right now, but what 302 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:38,640 is being offered here is not existence. 303 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:43,120 What's being offered here is life. 304 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:47,560 But that leads us to the next verse, verse 8. 305 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:51,680 Oh, Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? 306 00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:53,920 It is I who answer and look after you. 307 00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:56,000 I am like an evergreen cypress. 308 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:58,160 From me comes your fruit. 309 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:01,960 So God is asking a rhetorical question here in verse 8. 310 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:04,000 What have I to do with idols? 311 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:08,080 Everything you have is because of me. 312 00:17:08,080 --> 00:17:10,800 It's like God is giving them this visual. 313 00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:15,680 He's painting this picture of you can choose the idols, 314 00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:19,160 or you can recognize that everything in your life that 315 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:22,240 is good has come from me. 316 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:26,240 If you want restoration, you have to leave the idols, 317 00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:30,080 because I want nothing to do with them. 318 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:35,200 And so right now, verse 8, this is a turning point for Israel. 319 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:38,000 And the turning point is repentance. 320 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:41,920 You can continue down the same path, or you can repent. 321 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:46,760 You can keep doing what you're doing. 322 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:48,280 You can keep living your life. 323 00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:51,320 You can keep worshiping things that are not of me, 324 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:56,080 or you can return to the source of life. 325 00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:59,560 There's this book by Francine Rivers called 326 00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:01,640 Redeeming Love. 327 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:03,520 They made a movie about it a couple years ago. 328 00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:06,360 I recommend that you read it, or recommend that you watch it. 329 00:18:06,360 --> 00:18:09,880 Probably not watch it with your kids. 330 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:13,800 But throughout that story, it's based on the book of Hosea. 331 00:18:13,800 --> 00:18:16,200 And throughout that story, Angel, who 332 00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:20,880 is a reference to Gomorrah, is a whore. 333 00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:24,720 And Michael sees her, and he determines in his heart 334 00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:27,440 that he's going to marry her. 335 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:30,800 It takes some time, it takes some persistence, 336 00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:35,480 it takes a lot of effort, but he gets the girl. 337 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:40,240 Only for her to continually run back to what she knows. 338 00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:43,440 She tries to make it on her own, but every step 339 00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:45,560 leads to heartbreak. 340 00:18:45,560 --> 00:18:48,000 Every decision leads to more pain. 341 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:53,000 She never understood how good she had it at home with Michael. 342 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:57,840 She never understood how much she was loved and cared for. 343 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:00,560 And then finally, it gets to the point where Michael just 344 00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:04,760 stopped chasing her, and he let her go. 345 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:06,960 His door was still open, but he wasn't 346 00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:09,200 going to force her to stay. 347 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:12,600 And so she had to come to that decision on her own. 348 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:15,520 She had to try everything she thought 349 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:19,160 would bring her life before she finally comes 350 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:22,920 to the point of wanting to return. 351 00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:25,560 That's the story of Israel. 352 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:28,320 That's the story of us. 353 00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:31,440 They were doing anything and everything 354 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:33,920 they could to find purpose. 355 00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:37,280 They were chasing anything they could to find meaning. 356 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:40,280 But failing to remember how good they 357 00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:44,200 had it when they were walking closely with the Lord. 358 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:46,880 This is a turning point for the nation of Israel. 359 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:49,400 This is not a crossroads. 360 00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:54,120 Repentance is not a choice between this road or that road. 361 00:19:54,120 --> 00:19:57,720 Repentance is stopping what you are doing, 362 00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:00,040 recognizing the hurt that it's caused, 363 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:02,480 recognizing the grief that it's caused, 364 00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:05,440 and turning around and walking in the complete opposite 365 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:07,560 direction. 366 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:10,720 When you repent, there is a recognition. 367 00:20:10,720 --> 00:20:15,360 There is a remorse over what has been done. 368 00:20:15,360 --> 00:20:18,200 And God is saying here, you can keep going down 369 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:23,280 that path towards idols, but I'm not going with you 370 00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:27,400 because I want nothing to do with it. 371 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:31,560 Maybe today is a turning point for you. 372 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:34,360 Maybe today it's time to put some things on the altar 373 00:20:34,360 --> 00:20:38,480 and return to the Lord. 374 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:43,480 Maybe it is time to walk in obedience, 375 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:46,840 even though it's scary, even though you 376 00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:51,160 don't have all the answers of what it's going to look like. 377 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:54,000 Maybe it's time to come to your senses 378 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:59,040 and realize that you are on a path of destruction, which 379 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:02,760 leads us to the last verse, verse 9. 380 00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:06,400 This is the last verse of this book. 381 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:09,960 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things. 382 00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:12,800 Whoever is discerning, let him know them. 383 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:14,880 For the ways of the Lord are right, 384 00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:18,240 and the upright walk in them, but transgressors 385 00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:21,200 stumble in them. 386 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:23,600 I mean, just the way this is worded 387 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:26,160 tells me that not everyone is going to get it. 388 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:30,440 Not everyone's going to get it. 389 00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:34,480 Whoever is wise, whoever is discerning. 390 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:38,280 Now, we know that Israel was not wise or discerning 391 00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:43,560 because it's going to end badly for them. 392 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:46,240 But you don't have to follow their example. 393 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:49,360 The choice is yours. 394 00:21:49,360 --> 00:21:54,760 Now, to me, intellectually, this sounds like a no-brainer. 395 00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:55,680 Return to the Lord. 396 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:04,640 But intellect doesn't always translate to wisdom, does it? 397 00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:07,760 Many years ago, as a pastor, and people would come up to me, 398 00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:09,280 come to my office, or come to the church, 399 00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:11,560 or reach out to me when they had certain issues. 400 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:14,520 I mean, it still happens today. 401 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:17,280 Marriage issues, personal issues, whatever, they would come. 402 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:20,400 And intellectually, I was like, yeah, this is good for them. 403 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:22,440 It's important to talk some things out. 404 00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:24,080 It's important to get advice. 405 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:27,680 It's important to work through problems. 406 00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:31,360 They needed somebody to walk with them through these issues. 407 00:22:31,360 --> 00:22:32,640 They needed counseling. 408 00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:38,080 I knew that was a good step. 409 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:41,480 But when I started having marital issues, 410 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:44,080 I didn't have any wisdom. 411 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:47,440 Because even though I knew we should go see someone, 412 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:50,040 even though I knew we should be talking these things out, 413 00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:52,240 I refused. 414 00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:54,880 Because I can handle it. 415 00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:58,000 I can do it myself. 416 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:00,400 And so my marriage suffered because I 417 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:03,800 was too full of pride to understand that we needed help. 418 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:08,600 I'm not that way anymore because I 419 00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:13,240 have seen what godly wisdom brings to my life. 420 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:15,840 I've seen the value in that. 421 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:18,160 So you might be sitting here thinking, OK, 422 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:19,440 I'm going to repent and return. 423 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:22,680 Intellectually, I'm going to repent and return. 424 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:27,800 But wisdom is understanding that in order to return, 425 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:29,560 it's going to cost you something. 426 00:23:32,360 --> 00:23:35,840 You are going to have to give something else up 427 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:39,800 because idolatry cannot return with you. 428 00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:43,720 Idolatry is anything that robs you, 429 00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:47,320 that robs your affections of God. 430 00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:52,240 Are you going to trust him with all your money 431 00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:54,120 that you've worked so hard to obtain? 432 00:23:56,840 --> 00:23:58,600 Are you going to trust him with that? 433 00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:00,520 What if he calls you to give a bunch of it away? 434 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:08,240 Are you going to walk in obedience when he calls you 435 00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:09,480 to something? 436 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:11,840 Or are you going to hold on to your pride 437 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:14,560 because you care so much about what people think of you? 438 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:22,760 Are you going to trust him with your children? 439 00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:25,640 Or do you think you're the only one that can watch over them 440 00:24:25,640 --> 00:24:29,160 and you're the only one that can care for them? 441 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:33,080 What are you holding on to with the clenched fist 442 00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:37,960 that you need to let go of, that you need to release? 443 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:42,760 I had a heart check myself the other night. 444 00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:43,520 See, and I both did. 445 00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:45,240 We're laying in bed. 446 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:50,960 My daughter, who's 14, drops this bomb on us 447 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:53,280 by telling us that when she gets a little older, 448 00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:56,560 she's going to move overseas. 449 00:24:56,560 --> 00:24:59,800 What? 450 00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:02,200 My mind started racing. 451 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:04,520 What about all the things that could go wrong? 452 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:06,320 What if I can't talk to her? 453 00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:09,560 What if something happens and I can't get to her? 454 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:11,800 And the Lord just gently reminded me, 455 00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:14,000 do you trust me with her? 456 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:17,480 I'm not going to let my children become an idol. 457 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:22,200 I'm going to trust the Lord who gave them to me. 458 00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:25,760 Back in South Carolina, I was in the ocean one day, 459 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:29,840 and I decided that I'm going to stay in our area. 460 00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:32,120 I'm going to stay in this area right in front of the beach 461 00:25:32,120 --> 00:25:33,320 chairs. 462 00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:36,640 And I'm not going to drift anymore. 463 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:38,760 And so here's what I realized. 464 00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:45,800 If I kept my eyes on Sina, if I kept my eyes in her direction, 465 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:48,440 I could stay there. 466 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:52,680 I was having to work for it, but I could stay there. 467 00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:55,560 It wasn't always easy, but I could do it. 468 00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:58,040 Whenever I took my eyes off of her 469 00:25:58,040 --> 00:26:00,360 and started looking at the water or started 470 00:26:00,360 --> 00:26:05,400 looking at the people around me, I drifted. 471 00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:09,360 To stay with her was difficult. 472 00:26:09,360 --> 00:26:11,920 I was constantly having to fight the current. 473 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:14,720 I was constantly getting hit by kids on boogie boards. 474 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:20,440 It wasn't easy. 475 00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:24,640 But in that moment, everything's always a sermon, right? 476 00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:27,040 In that moment, I was thinking about the Christian walk 477 00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:28,480 with God. 478 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:31,040 It's not easy. 479 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:34,440 I had to work to stay with Sina. 480 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:37,720 It didn't just happen. 481 00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:40,560 You are not going to wake up one day, 482 00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:43,320 walking closely with the Lord when you haven't 483 00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:46,160 kept your eyes on Him. 484 00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:48,200 You are going to drift. 485 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:51,520 And for some of us, we're going to drift a long ways off. 486 00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:56,960 If we don't keep our eyes focused on Him every single day 487 00:26:56,960 --> 00:26:59,440 and fight through the current of temptations, 488 00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:01,920 fight through the boogie boards of idolatry, 489 00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:05,120 then we are going to drift. 490 00:27:05,120 --> 00:27:07,720 We're going to drift so far that we can't even 491 00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:09,760 see Him at all. 492 00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:12,600 And then you're going to feel like, what's the point? 493 00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:15,600 It's too hard to get back to Him. 494 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:18,440 It's going to take too much work, too much effort 495 00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:20,880 to fight that current. 496 00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:23,600 When I finally just got exhausted and I ended up just 497 00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:27,960 relaxing, I ended up a long ways off from Sina, 498 00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:30,920 I would just finally give up and let the waves take me 499 00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:32,280 into the shore. 500 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:36,760 And then I'd get out and I'd walk on dry land back to her. 501 00:27:36,760 --> 00:27:39,720 And that's grace. 502 00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:43,240 You don't have to fight the currents anymore. 503 00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:47,200 Just let the waves take you in and return. 504 00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:52,800 But so many of us take the hard way, don't we? 505 00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:55,120 I grew up legalistic, Baptist. 506 00:27:55,120 --> 00:27:56,720 Some of you all know what that means. 507 00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:03,200 It's like, nope, I'm going to fight the current. 508 00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:05,880 I'm going to do, do, do, do, do. 509 00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:08,440 I'm going to do a whole bunch of good deeds for other people 510 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:11,880 because I have to earn it. 511 00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:17,080 The Bible says that His mercies are new every single 512 00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:17,760 morning. 513 00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:25,400 So if you've drifted and you're a long ways off, 514 00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:30,680 it's OK because you're still breathing. 515 00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:33,480 You're still breathing. 516 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:37,680 Let the waves of His grace take you to shore 517 00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:39,320 so that you can return. 518 00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:44,280 You don't have to do anything else except repent. 519 00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:48,560 Now, this book, Hosea, has been hard for me, 520 00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:51,640 but it's been revealing. 521 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:55,160 Revealing to me that even in the midst of all my sin, 522 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:57,800 even in the midst of all my shortcomings, 523 00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:02,720 God is still offering His love and forgiveness to me. 524 00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:05,080 His mercies are new every morning. 525 00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:10,040 He's always providing a way back to Him. 526 00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:13,200 I hope that as we've gone through this book, 527 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:17,840 that you have seen that even though we are Gomer, 528 00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:22,080 we have a faithful God who never leaves us. 529 00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:25,520 And so the call to return is thrown out there. 530 00:29:25,520 --> 00:29:28,600 The offer of restoration is put out there. 531 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:30,200 But you have a choice, right? 532 00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:34,040 You have a turning point to make. 533 00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:37,720 And so as the worship team comes and as we pray and as we 534 00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:40,480 sing, I'm just going to ask the Spirit, 535 00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:43,240 do what the Spirit does. 536 00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:44,880 And so maybe you'll just stop for a second 537 00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:47,520 and be sensitive to what He's telling you. 538 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:50,080 Maybe today is the turning point. 539 00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:51,960 Maybe today, you can mark it on the calendar. 540 00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:56,720 August 27, 2023 is the day I turned around. 541 00:29:56,720 --> 00:29:59,520 It was the day He began to restore me. 542 00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:01,280 And now I have new purpose. 543 00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:03,120 And now I have new meaning. 544 00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:05,480 So I'm going to pray for us. 545 00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:11,280 I'm going to ask you to respond however the Lord leads. 546 00:30:11,280 --> 00:30:12,560 And we'll sing. 547 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:13,440 Father God, I pray. 548 00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:19,640 I pray that your spirit will fill this place. 549 00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:24,680 I pray that your voice be heard louder 550 00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:27,280 than anything else around us. 551 00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:29,200 I pray that you will free us from distraction. 552 00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:33,880 Father, help us hear the call to return. 553 00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:36,600 Help us understand our condition and understand 554 00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:38,040 how far we have drifted. 555 00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:44,240 And so Father, I pray that you will send your spirit 556 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:47,000 into this room, that it will feel every inch 557 00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:49,640 and crevice of this place, that there will be no doubt 558 00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:52,280 that you are ministering to us and speaking to us. 559 00:30:55,040 --> 00:30:57,480 And so God, I pray that you will understand 560 00:30:57,480 --> 00:30:59,280 how far we have drifted. 561 00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:02,680 And so God, we just ask you to work and move. 562 00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:05,280 We ask all these things in Jesus' name. 563 00:31:05,280 --> 00:31:27,760 Amen.