Sermon #1490                                                                                          Miscellaneous Sermons

 

        Title:               One More Appeal

        Text:               Hosea 14:1-9

        Subject:          A Call to Repentance

        Date:               Sunday Morning – December 30, 2001

        Tape #            W-77b

        Reading:                Hosea 2:1-3:5 – Psalm 80 – Psalm 85

        Introduction:

 

The words of God’s prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 8:18-22) very much describe the emotions of my heart and the thoughts of my mind this past week, as I prepared to preach to you today.

 

(Jeremiah 8:18-22)  When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me… -- 20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. – (Many of you are yet without God, without Christ, without hope, lost in this dark, dark world!) -- 21 For the hurt of (your immortal souls) am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me. 22 Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there?

 

        Indeed, there is balm in Gilead. – It is the balm of free grace gushing out to sinners from the throne of God in the blood of Christ! – Yes, there is a Physician for your soul! – Christ is that Physician!

 

        I stand before you once more with a heavy, heavy heart, heavy because I care for your souls. Oh, yes, there is much, very much, for which I am thankful, thankful beyond words!

 

·         Christ! – “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift!

·         The Grace of God Bestowed upon Me! – Oh, the unsearchable riches of his grace!

·         The Manifold Blessings of God upon this Assembly!

·         The Wise and Good Providence of Our God!

·         The Goodness and Mercy that has Followed Me All the Days of My Life!

 

        Still, my heart is heavy, because many of you who are so very dear to me are yet without Christ, yet under the wrath of God. Today, as I stand here to preach to you for the last time in this year, (perhaps for the last time ever!), I want to make one more appeal to your souls. I believe the Lord has given me a message for you. May he give me the wisdom, grace and power of his Holy Spirit to preach it. And, oh, how I pray that he will give you grace to hear it, for Christ’s sake.

 

(Ezekiel 33:11)  Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

 

        You will find my message in Hosea 14:1-9. The Book of Hosea begins with a great, great love story, the story of Hosea’s love for Gomer. It is a story intended to portray the love of God for his fallen people. The first three chapters of the Book relate that story to us. Chapters 4-13 tell us two things.

 

1.        We all fully deserve the everlasting wrath of God. – “The wages of sin is death,” – everlasting, tormenting death in hell! – And we have all fully earned our wages!

 

2.        The Lord God will be gracious! – God is merciful. “He delighteth in mercy!” – God will save! God will forgive! – There are some people in this world, fully deserving the wrath of God who shall be saved by his grace.

 

        After describing how fully we deserve his wrath, after showing us how that we have, by our countless iniquities, earned his holy wrath, treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath, the Lord God speaks in great mercy. Look at what he says in chapter 13.

 

(Hosea 13:4)  Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me.

 

(Hosea 13:9)  O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.

 

(Hosea 13:14)  I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes. (Compare Rom. 11:29.)

 

        God has sworn that he will save, that he will be gracious; and he will not repent! Now, let’s read chapter 14 together. We will begin in verse 1 and go through the chapter.

 

I. A Call to Repentance -- In verses 1-3 the Lord God almighty issues a call of grace to sinners who deserve his wrath.

 

It is really hard to tell whether the one speaking in these verses is God himself or his prophet Hosea. That is often the case throughout the Book. But there is a good reason for that. It really does not matter. Whether God speaks to us directly or speaks to us by the voice of his prophet, it is God speaking to us. So, let us hear what the Lord God says to us.

 

(Hosea 14:1-3)  O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. 2 Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips. 3 Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.

 

        Perhaps you are thinking, “Is this addressed to lost sinners or saved sinners? Is God here speaking to those who do not know him, or is he speaking to believers?” – The answer is “yes.” This is God’s word to you and to me.

 

A. “O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God.”

 

Will you hear me? – Though we have sinned and revolted and rebelled against him all the days of our lives, the God of Glory is still “the Lord, thy God. Like it or not, we belong to God, and he will never give up his property. He is our…

 

·         Great Creator!

·         Merciful Benefactor!

·         Mighty Preserver!

 

        My brother, my sister, let us never forget, the Lord God is the Lord our God distinctly, personally, by his own distinguishing grace. He is our God by…

·         His Special Choice.

·         His Covenant Grace.

·         Blood Atonement.

·         Saving Operations.

 

        Though we have sinned against him, though we have fallen by our iniquities, he is still our God! He is ever ready to be gracious, ready to receive us, ready to embrace us!

 

        Is this an invitation, or a command? Is it an offer of grace or a promise of grace? – All the above! The Lord God here calls sinners who desperately need it to come to the throne of grace to obtain grace.

 

        Yet, these words might be translated, “O Israel, thou shalt return unto the Lord thy God.” You see, “all Israel shall be saved.” That’s what the Book says. All who are God’s shall, at his appointed time of love, return to him.

 

Read on…

 

B. “For thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.”

 

Oh, how far we have fallen!

 

                Illustration: “I’ve seen better days.”

 

1.        We were made in the image of God; but we live like beasts.

2.        We were made upright; but we live like worms.

3.        We were made lovely; but sin has made us ugly.

4.        We were made rich; but we are poor.

5.        We were made to live in the company of God; but we live far off from God.

 

        What is it that has brought us into this state? – “Thou hast fallen by THINE INIQUITY!” That is what sin is. It is our own doing. It is our own iniquity. The word means moral perversity. It refers both to the depravity of our nature and the debauchery of our behavior.

 

Look at verse 2…

 

C. “Take with you words, and turn to the Lord.” – Turn to the Lord fully, completely, with all your heart!

 

The Lord would not have us merely recite words before him. Yet, he does demand both the confession of sin and of faith in his Son, as expressions of our hearts before him. – Sin must be acknowledged. – Repentance must be declared. – Faith must be confessed.

 

(Romans 10:9-10)  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

 

 (1 John 1:9)  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

 

D. “Say unto him, take away all iniquity.”

 

  • The Guilt of It!
  • The Curse of It!
  • The Power of It!
  • The Being of It!

 

Read on…

 

E. “And receive us graciously!”

 

Receive into grace and favour. Receive us openly and manifestly. Without question, the love and grace of God is always the same; but the manifestation of his love and grace is something else. Our acceptance with him never varies; but the manifestation of it does.

 

This is a prayer made for the remembrance of love and grace, for a renewed discovery of it, acknowledging that our acceptance with God is not in any way a matter of our merit, but altogether a matter of his free grace in Christ. O Lord God, receive us graciously…

 

  • Through the blood and righteousness of Christ.
  • Because of your goodness and grace.
  • For the honor of your grace.
  • Because we need grace!

 

F. “So will we render the calves of our lips.”

 

That is to say: -- “Lord, we are at your disposal. If you will receive us, if you will be gracious to us, if you will forgive us, if you will save us, we will worship you, praise you, and give thanks to you! Draw us, and we will run after you. Turn us, O God of our Salvation, and we shall be turned!”

 

Read verse 3, and learn this…

 

G. True repentance is the giving up of all other trusts, and trusting Christ alone, looking to God to be gracious only because he will be gracious, for Christ’s sake.

 

(Hosea 14:3)  Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.

 

        Repentance is much more than most imagine. It is…

·         A Change of Masters.

·         A Change of Motives.

·         A Change of Manners.

·         A Change of Mind.

 

        Repentance is turn from all our false gods and false religion to the Lord our God. It is turning from our sins to our Savior, from our religion to his grace, from ourselves to him, from our righteousness to his righteousness, from our works to his blood, from our rebellion to his dominion.

 

        This is what verse 3 declares. -- We will no longer look to men, or to carnal strength, or to the work of our own hands to save us. As helpless, needy, abandoned children, cast off from their mothers’ womb, polluted in our own blood, we look to you, O Lord our God for mercy; “for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy!

 

        “But, pastor, will the Lord save me? Will God be gracious to me? Will God forgive my sin?” Read verses 4-6.

 

II. A Promise of Grace – Here the Lord God, the God who calls us to repentance, the God who calls us to seek his grace, promises penitent sinners that he will give us his grace.

 

(Hosea 14:4-6)  I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. 5 I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. 6 His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.

 

A. “I will heal their backsliding.”

 

The word backsliding is far stronger than is commonly thought. It means, our apostasy, our turning away from God. It suggests a deliberate act.

 

1.        That is your problem. – You have turned away from God, by willful choice, by deliberate act; and you continually do so.

 

2.        This is my problem! – Oh, my God, how I have turned away from you!

 

3.        This is God’s promise.—“I will heal their backsliding!”

 

B. “I will love them freely!

 

C. Here’s the reason for his promise and the assurance of it. – “For mine anger is turned away from him.

 

God’s anger is turned away from the sinner who comes to him for grace, because God’s anger is turned away from Him who satisfied the wrath of God for us at Calvary!

 

(Psalms 85:2-3)  Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah. 3 Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger.

 

(Isaiah 12:1)  And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.

 

D. “I will be as the dew unto Israel.” – The dew is reviving and refreshing.

 

E. “He shall grow as the lily.” – The lily grows gently, gradually, unobserved, until it buds forth in its full beauty.

 

F. “He shall cast forth his roots as Lebanon.” – Cedars are strong because their roots are deep.

 

(Psalms 1:3)  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

 

G. “His branches shall spread.” – Once David was restored, he taught sinners God’s salvation; and when God restores our souls, he causes us to be instruments of usefulness to others. When the Lord God saves a sinners, he plants him as a tree in the garden of grace and causes his branches to spread out to many others.

 

H. “His beauty shall be as the olive tree.” – The olive tree’s only beauty is its rich fragrance. This is what the text refers to, as the next words tell us. – “And his fragrance as Lebanon.” – “We are unto God a sweet savor of Christ” (2 Cor. 2:15).

 

        But there is something more here. In ancient times olive oil was a very rich commodity. Like petroleum today, those who had olive oil to sell were men of great worth.

 

        By nature, we are worthless creatures. Sin has robbed us, and made us worthless. Oh, how I pray that God will cause you to see your worthlessness before him. That’s a good thing. When we no that we are worthless in ourselves, we will seek worth in another!

 

        Here the Lord God promises to restore value to his people. He promises to take the worthless and make them people of worth, of infinite worth, of worth to God, of worth to men, of worth to the world! – He makes us people of worth by giving us the worth of his own darling Son! – That’s grace, pure, free, undiluted grace!

 

        Did you ask, “Will the Lord receive me?”

 

                Illustration: “Welcome home, sister!

 

Now, look at verses 7-8.

 

III. A Matter of Certainty – In these two verses, our great, gracious God, declares that the salvation of sinners is a matter of absolute certainty.

 

(Hosea 14:7-8)  They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. 8 Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.

 

A.      There is a people, a great multitude, who dwell under the shadow of the Almighty, who shall be saved.

 

This 7th verse is talking about God’s elect. – Both those who are already saved and those who have not yet been saved. They all dwell under his shadow.

 

·         They shall revive.

·         They shall grow.

·         They shall possess all the beauty of Christ.

 

B.       Like Ephraim, God’s elect are a people full of iniquity, worthy of wrath, deserving to be abandoned forever in hell; but they are his people and they shall yet be saved.

 

Ephraim was full of sin. Ephraim was idolatrous. Ephraim was joined to his idols and would not let them go. Ephraim was dead (13:1-3); but Ephraim was still God’s! The Lord God cries, -- “How shall I give thee up O Ephraim? – I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man!” (Hos. 11:8-9).

 

(Hosea 13:4)  Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me.

 

(Hosea 13:9)  O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.

 

(Hosea 13:14)  I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.

 

        Read verse 8 again, and hear what God says about his chosen Ephraim.

 

(Hosea 14:8)  Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.

 

·         Ephraim is mine!

·         I’ve heard him!

·         I’ve observed him! – “While he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion on him!

·         I am a green fir tree. – This is our God. This is our Savior. This is our all-glorious Christ! -- The green fir tree is a tree with branches hanging so low to the ground that anyone who wants to can get hold of it. – It is a tree with leaves so thick that when you stand under it, even in a heavy rain, it will shelter you from the storm. – Its fragrance is sweet, subtle, not over powering. Yet, any one who touches it smells like it!

 

Read the last line of verse 8 and learn its doctrine.

 

C.       From me is thy fruit found.

 

Grace is God’s gift. Salvation is God’s work. If we live, if we revive, it will be because he gave us live, because he brought us to himself, because he gave us faith, because he wrought repentance in us.

 

(Romans 9:16)  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.

 

IV. A Final Appeal – I have one more appeal to make, one more word from God to deliver. You will find it in verse 9.

 

(Hosea 14:9)  Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.

 

A.      God’s ways are right.

B.       The just, the righteous, those who are made just before God, bowing to God’s ways in all things, shall walk in them.

C.       The rebel, the unbeliever, every sinner who will not come to Christ, shall perish in them.

 

Application: O Israel, Return unto the Lord thy God.

 

1.        Poor, needy sinners, come to Christ.

 

(Matthew 11:28-30)  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

 

2.        My brother, my sister, Come now with me, let us turn again to our God.

 

(Hosea 6:1-3)  Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. 2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. 3 Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

 

(Hosea 14:1-2)  O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. 2 Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.

 

Amen.