Sermons – Grace Evangelical Free Church // Wyoming, MN

Hosea 6:11b – 7:7 11b… I [would] restore the fortunes of my people. 7:1 When I would heal Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed, and the evil deeds of Samaria; for they deal falsely; the thief breaks in, and the bandits raid outside. 2 But they do not consider that I remember all their evil. Now their deeds surround them; they are before my face. 3 By their evil they make the king glad, and the princes by their treachery. 4 They are all adulterers; they are like a heated oven whose baker ceases to stir the fire, from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened. 5 On the day of our king, the princes became sick with the heat of wine; he stretched out his hand with mockers. 6 For with hearts like an oven they approach their intrigue; all night their anger smolders; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire. 7 All of them are hot as an oven, and they devour their rulers. All their kings have fallen, and none of them calls upon me.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome back to Hosea. If you’re just joining us Hosea is the name of an OT prophet and a book containing a compilation of his prophecies. He prophesied primarily to the 10 northern tribes of Israel (collectively referred to as “Israel” and “Ephraim”). God’s primary message to Israel through Hosea was one of jealous love resulting in certain judgment for her unrepentant sin.

To this point in Hosea, there have been three main takeaways for God’s people today—for you and I. First, we are more sinful than we could ever know. Second, God is more holy and therefore intolerant of sin than we could ever know. And third, God’s grace in Jesus is more amazing than we could ever know.

Over the past few months we’ve seen these things as I’ve preached through the first six chapters of this book. This morning, then, we’ll begin looking at the seventh.

Concerning our passage for this morning, I can honestly say that I’ve never encountered a section in the bible where the specific meaning of the specific references is as hidden. One of the more helpful commentators (Mays, 103-108) repeatedly uses phrases like “One would expect the sentence to begin with…but” and “perhaps Hosea meant…” and “The subject of the clause is also ambiguous” and “The term, however, might be…may be…or could be…” and “Of the various options…” and “It would be wise not to found a particular interpretation of events solely on this verse…”.

Examples of this ambiguity begin before we even get to the text. That is, there is even a bit of confusion about where chapter 7 is meant to begin. As I mentioned in my last sermon on Hosea, in spite of how your bible is formatted, it is generally agreed that 6:11b should begin the new chapter (which is why it’s included in this sermon). Concerning the text itself, it can be difficult to tell where metaphor stops and historical accounts begin. It’s difficult to tell which kings, princes, and rulers Hosea is referring to in 7:3 and 5 (or if he has any particular men in mind at all). And understanding the specifics of Hosea’s main analogy in this passage—that of the baker/oven—is challenging.

All of these things may very well have been (and probably were) crystal clear to Hosea’s original audience, but the particulars are at least somewhat lost to us. That is not to say, however, that the overall meaning is unclear. That remains as clear to us today as it would have been for the Israelites in the 8th century B.C.

Hosea’s primary message in this passage is that (1) although God remained eager to “restore” and “heal” his people should they repent, (2) Israel remained eager to increase in sin. Let’s consider each of those two points.

GOD DESIRES HIS PEOPLE TO REPENT IN ORDER THAT HE CAN “...

Main Point

Sin leads us where we could never imagine going. Christ went there to free us.

How many of you can imagine taking your newborn child and offering them up to be placed into fire? What if that sacrifice would bring you the hope it would secure your family economic prosperity in the future? Would that change your mind?

If the answer to both of those questions is no, then you’re exactly where the Israelites were roughly 700 years before the prophet Jeremiah spoke the words of judgment, found in Jeremiah Chapter 19, on the southern kingdom of Judah for doing this very thing.

While it may not seem relevant to us today, this section of scripture has a lot to teach us about the deceptive and “slippery slope” nature of sin. It’s my hope that by taking a deeper dive into a text like this we will be reminded of and/or propelled newly towards the answer that is found in Jesus Christ.

History & Context

Around 1400 BC Moses delivered his final address to the nation of Israel prior to them entering into the promised land.

In it he warns them over and over to avoid the worship of the gods of the people that inhabited the land:

Deut. 4:15-31 “Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, 16 beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure​, the likeness of male or female, 17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, 18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. 19 And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. 20 But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day. 21 Furthermore, the LORD was angry with me because of you, and he swore that I should not cross the Jordan, and that I should not enter the good land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance. 22 For I must die in this land; I must not go over the Jordan. But you shall go over and take possession of that good land. 23 T​ake care, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the LORD your God has forbidden you.​ 24 For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. 25 “When you father children and children’s children, and have grown old in the land,​ if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, so as to provoke him to anger, 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed.​ 27 And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you. 28 And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. 29 But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice. 31 For the LORD your God is a merciful God. ​He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.

Deut. 7:25-26 T​he carved images of their gods you shall burn with fire.

Main Point –
Sin leads us where we could never imagine going. Christ went there to free us.

How many of you can imagine taking your newborn child and offering them up to be placed into fire? What if that sacrifice would bring you the hope it would secure your family economic prosperity in the future? Would that change your mind?

If the answer to both of those questions is no, then you’re exactly where the Israelites were roughly 700 years before the prophet Jeremiah spoke the words of judgment, found in Jeremiah Chapter 19, on the southern kingdom of Judah for doing this very thing.

While it may not seem relevant to us today, this section of scripture has a lot to teach us about the deceptive and “slippery slope” nature of sin. It’s my hope that by taking a deeper dive into a text like this we will be reminded of and/or propelled newly towards the answer that is found in Jesus Christ.

History & Context

Around 1400 BC Moses delivered his final address to the nation of Israel prior to them entering into the promised land.

In it he warns them over and over to avoid the worship of the gods of the people that inhabited the land:

Deut. 4:15-31 “Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, 16 beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure​, the likeness of male or female, 17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, 18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. 19 And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. 20 But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day. 21 Furthermore, the LORD was angry with me because of you, and he swore that I should not cross the Jordan, and that I should not enter the good land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance. 22 For I must die in this land; I must not go over the Jordan. But you shall go over and take possession of that good land. 23 T​ake care, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the LORD your God has forbidden you.​ 24 For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. 25 “When you father children and children’s children, and have grown old in the land,​ if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, so as to provoke him to anger, 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed.​ 27 And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you. 28 And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. 29 But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice. 31 For the LORD your God is a merciful God. ​He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.

Deut. 7:25-26 T​he carved images of their gods you shall burn with fire.

This is the sixth sermon I will have done from the Psalms. The uniqueness of the Psalms is that it deals with the volatility and power of human emotions within the constancy of God’s sovereignty and his truth. The psalmists never treat human emotions as the ultimate truth that allows them to do whatever they want to. The Psalmists describe how they feel and then remind the reader of the truth of who God is and what he will do for his people.

Proper, God-exalting feelings find their roots in powerful, God-revealed truths. When those are synced together, it becomes a powerful motivation for obedience.

The uniqueness of Psalm 119 is that it shows what a heart feels and what a life does when delighting in God’s Word. How kind of God to give us the longest chapter of the entire Bible so that we can see the importance of centering our life around God’s laws, statutes, precepts, commands and words!

Psalm 1, the gateway to the entire psalter, exhorts us to meditate on God’s words. If we do that we will be like a tree planted near rivers of water. Memorization of, and meditation on God’s Word is one big way in which your heart feels delight in God. Our struggle is that we all too often are numb, bored, or indifferent to the Bible. How often the Bible is neglected in our Christian life and we wonder why we struggle with sin or feel cold towards God.

What would it look like in our church if we were a people that were committed to memorizing large chunks of God’s Word? The proper response to what we see in Psalm 119 is memorization and meditation on the Bible. It is a putting to memory verses so that we can think on them, pray over them, and live them out in our lives.

Here are 14 reasons I have found from Psalm 119 as to what benefits come from memorization and meditation on the Bible.

1. Memorizing and meditating on Scripture is an expression of love for God’s words and hope in God’s words.

“Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.” Psalm 119:97

“I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words.” Psalm 119:147

The Hebrew word for law is torah. It means instruction. God has given us instructions on how to live life in the Bible, and the psalmist has an affection for extensively reflecting and praying over it.

The psalmist is acknowledging that he does not have the ability in his own strength and intellect to love God. He needs to spend time early and spend time often in God’s instructions. He isn’t meditating on God’s law only in the morning or at certain points during the day. He loves God’s law so much that it is constantly in his mind. Memorization of God’s Word feeds all-day meditation on God’s Word.

The word hope in verse 147 has the implication of waiting and being patient. A deep love for the Bible does not happen quickly or unintentionally. Unshakeable hope in God’s word doesn’t come quickly or easily. The psalmist is meditating on God’s instructions all the day. He is up before dawn praying for God to help him as he pours over instructions for his life. As this happens, the emotions of hope and love are being shaped and formed.

Hebrews 11 has worked in my heart a greater love for how God has chosen to relate to me based on faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God. My heart has said, “God I want to please you! It is amazing that for you to find pleasure in me, first and foremost it doesn’t start with outward acts of obedience. It begins with an inward conformity of my heart to trust in you in all my circumstances, just as these men and women of the Bible did. God I want to obey you more but let it start with a heart of faith in all things.”

2. Memorizing and meditating on Scripture turns our eyes away from worthless things and gives us eyes to see wondrous things.

“Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” Psalm 119:18

“Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me ...

This is the sixth sermon I will have done from the Psalms. The uniqueness of the Psalms is that it deals with the volatility and power of human emotions within the constancy of God’s sovereignty and his truth. The psalmists never treat human emotions as the ultimate truth that allows them to do whatever they want to. The Psalmists describe how they feel and then remind the reader of the truth of who God is and what he will do for his people.

Proper, God-exalting feelings find their roots in powerful, God-revealed truths. When those are synced together, it becomes a powerful motivation for obedience.

The uniqueness of Psalm 119 is that it shows what a heart feels and what a life does when delighting in God’s Word. How kind of God to give us the longest chapter of the entire Bible so that we can see the importance of centering our life around God’s laws, statutes, precepts, commands and words!

Psalm 1, the gateway to the entire psalter, exhorts us to meditate on God’s words. If we do that we will be like a tree planted near rivers of water. Memorization of, and meditation on God’s Word is one big way in which your heart feels delight in God. Our struggle is that we all too often are numb, bored, or indifferent to the Bible. How often the Bible is neglected in our Christian life and we wonder why we struggle with sin or feel cold towards God.

What would it look like in our church if we were a people that were committed to memorizing large chunks of God’s Word? The proper response to what we see in Psalm 119 is memorization and meditation on the Bible. It is a putting to memory verses so that we can think on them, pray over them, and live them out in our lives.

Here are 14 reasons I have found from Psalm 119 as to what benefits come from memorization and meditation on the Bible.

1. Memorizing and meditating on Scripture is an expression of love for God’s words and hope in God’s words.

“Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.” Psalm 119:97

“I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words.” Psalm 119:147

The Hebrew word for law is torah. It means instruction. God has given us instructions on how to live life in the Bible, and the psalmist has an affection for extensively reflecting and praying over it.

The psalmist is acknowledging that he does not have the ability in his own strength and intellect to love God. He needs to spend time early and spend time often in God’s instructions. He isn’t meditating on God’s law only in the morning or at certain points during the day. He loves God’s law so much that it is constantly in his mind. Memorization of God’s Word feeds all-day meditation on God’s Word.

The word hope in verse 147 has the implication of waiting and being patient. A deep love for the Bible does not happen quickly or unintentionally. Unshakeable hope in God’s word doesn’t come quickly or easily. The psalmist is meditating on God’s instructions all the day. He is up before dawn praying for God to help him as he pours over instructions for his life. As this happens, the emotions of hope and love are being shaped and formed.

Hebrews 11 has worked in my heart a greater love for how God has chosen to relate to me based on faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God. My heart has said, “God I want to please you! It is amazing that for you to find pleasure in me, first and foremost it doesn’t start with outward acts of obedience. It begins with an inward conformity of my heart to trust in you in all my circumstances, just as these men and women of the Bible did. God I want to obey you more but let it start with a heart of faith in all things.”

2. Memorizing and meditating on Scripture turns our eyes away from worthless things and gives us eyes to see wondrous things.

“Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” Psalm 119:18

“Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and...

Hosea 6:4-11 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. 5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. 6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. 7 But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me. 8 Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with blood. 9 As robbers lie in wait for a man, so the priests band together; they murder on the way to Shechem; they commit villainy. 10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing; Ephraim’s whoredom is there; Israel is defiled. 11 For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed…

INTRODUCTION

Gerri and I have a son (who shall remain nameless and whose permission I have to share this) that we love very much. He has one of the tenderest hearts of all our kids. He’s often the first to help out when someone needs it. He generally responds to his own sin in quick repentance and is learning to give glory to God in his successes.

With all of that, throughout his entire life he’s made a good number of choices that also cause Gerri and me to scratch our heads. One of my personal favorites was when he (at maybe 6 years old) decided to climb up a (5-6′) snow pile, jump off, and try to hang on our basketball rim. Of course his gloves slipped on the rim and he fell all 10′ to the ground and chipped his tooth. In one of the more recent examples, he called me over to show me the fire he’d started with flint and steel, smiled proudly, and had no idea that the woodpile he’d put together next to the fire ring had also caught on fire and was burning significantly.

We love him deeply, but one of the more common questions that runs through our minds is “What are we going to do with you?”

I don’t mean to make too much of my son’s lack of foresight or too little of Israel’s rebellion, but in the case of my son and in the entire book of Hosea (including our passage for this morning) there is a father who loves his children deeply in spite of their unwise decisions. In this world a father’s love is sometimes an exasperated love.

That’s the essence of the first few words of v.4. Israel had sinned spectacularly and repeatedly. God had sent messengers offering rescue, forgiveness, and reconciliation, but Israel refused to listen. Thus, we find the words, “What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah?” It’s easy to hear the exasperation in God’s voice. It’s also easy to see that He would not be so exasperated if he did not deeply love Israel (and Judah) and grieve her sin.

This morning, then, we’re going to consider Israel’s sin, God’s response to her sin, and then the reason for God’s response. These are (for those of you who have been with us throughout Hosea) familiar headings. In this text, however, Hosea provides even fuller explanations. Let’s pray that God would be pleased to help us see our sin in light of his greater glory and therein turn to steadfast (though sometimes exasperated) love.

ISRAEL’S SIN

Again—if you’re just joining us—the situation presented in Hosea is one in which the 10 northern tribes of the people of God, collectively called Israel, had profoundly and persistently sinned against God in the worst ways imaginable. The book of Hosea is a collection of the prophesies of a man named Hosea declaring these things to Israel, calling her to repent, and warning her of the certain judgment that awaited because she wouldn’t.

Left Love

How many sins had Israel—the unfaithful wife and wayward child—committed? In just the first five chapters of the book,

Hosea 6:4-11 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. 5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. 6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. 7 But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me. 8 Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with blood. 9 As robbers lie in wait for a man, so the priests band together; they murder on the way to Shechem; they commit villainy. 10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing; Ephraim’s whoredom is there; Israel is defiled. 11 For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed…

INTRODUCTION

Gerri and I have a son (who shall remain nameless and whose permission I have to share this) that we love very much. He has one of the tenderest hearts of all our kids. He’s often the first to help out when someone needs it. He generally responds to his own sin in quick repentance and is learning to give glory to God in his successes.

With all of that, throughout his entire life he’s made a good number of choices that also cause Gerri and me to scratch our heads. One of my personal favorites was when he (at maybe 6 years old) decided to climb up a (5-6′) snow pile, jump off, and try to hang on our basketball rim. Of course his gloves slipped on the rim and he fell all 10′ to the ground and chipped his tooth. In one of the more recent examples, he called me over to show me the fire he’d started with flint and steel, smiled proudly, and had no idea that the woodpile he’d put together next to the fire ring had also caught on fire and was burning significantly.

We love him deeply, but one of the more common questions that runs through our minds is “What are we going to do with you?”

I don’t mean to make too much of my son’s lack of foresight or too little of Israel’s rebellion, but in the case of my son and in the entire book of Hosea (including our passage for this morning) there is a father who loves his children deeply in spite of their unwise decisions. In this world a father’s love is sometimes an exasperated love.

That’s the essence of the first few words of v.4. Israel had sinned spectacularly and repeatedly. God had sent messengers offering rescue, forgiveness, and reconciliation, but Israel refused to listen. Thus, we find the words, “What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah?” It’s easy to hear the exasperation in God’s voice. It’s also easy to see that He would not be so exasperated if he did not deeply love Israel (and Judah) and grieve her sin.

This morning, then, we’re going to consider Israel’s sin, God’s response to her sin, and then the reason for God’s response. These are (for those of you who have been with us throughout Hosea) familiar headings. In this text, however, Hosea provides even fuller explanations. Let’s pray that God would be pleased to help us see our sin in light of his greater glory and therein turn to steadfast (though sometimes exasperated) love.

ISRAEL’S SIN

Again—if you’re just joining us—the situation presented in Hosea is one in which the 10 northern tribes of the people of God, collectively called Israel, had profoundly and persistently sinned against God in the worst ways imaginable. The book of Hosea is a collection of the prophesies of a man named Hosea declaring these things to Israel, calling her to repent, and warning her of the certain judgment that awaited because she wouldn’t.

Left Love

How many sins had Israel—the unfaithful wife and wayward child—committed?

Hosea 6:1-3 “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. 2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. 3 Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

INTRODUCTION

The main message that I want you all to take away from this passage/sermon is that there is always hope. No matter how many sins you’ve committed, how serious your sins have been, or how disastrous their earthly consequences, true repentance always leads to rescue. Helpfully, this passage gives us five steps to finding rescue from sin. Let’s pray that God would grant us repentance and rescue as we follow His path.

REASONS FOR SUFFERING

One thing I’ve noticed is that when life is hard something deep within us (all mankind) longs to know the reason. In the face of significant trials we can’t help but to make the metaphysical assumption that there is purpose and meaning in the universe. When we’re diagnosed with a serious disease, when we lose someone we love, when we’re laid off from work, when we don’t get into the college or company we want, even the most religiously skeptical among us tends to look heavenward and ask “Why?!”. We long for a specific reason for our specific trial. Our rationale seems to be something along the lines of: this is hard, really hard. I’m not sure if I can bear it. If I knew that there was some good purpose for it—that it wasn’t entirely futile/in vain—however, I might be able to endure.

For the most part, however, we typically don’t get the specific answer we’re looking for. We are never told why things happen as they do (and, in spite of what you may have heard, God has not promised us that we will ever know). The bible gives general principles and promises (Isaiah 45:7; John 9:2-3; Romans 8:28) concerning God’s purposes for suffering in our lives (both for Christians and non-Christians), but we don’t have anywhere to turn for the exact reason behind the specific suffering we’re experiencing.

And yet, that’s not to say the bible never gives specific reason for specific suffering. We’re given the exact reason behind the most severe suffering of all time. We’re told in Isaiah 53, for instance, that Jesus suffered and died to forgive the sins of and heal that which sin had broken in the people of God.

Isaiah 53:4-5 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.

Likewise, in 1 Peter we’re told specifically that Jesus suffered crucifixion for a very specific purpose.

1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

In John 9 we’re given the specific reason for a blind man’s suffering.

John 9:1-3 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

The particular reason this man suffered years of blindness was so that Jesus could heal him and put on display the power of God.

Hosea is another example of God giving specific reasons for specific suffering. The entire book is both a proclamation and explanation of the suffering of the Israelites. They were suffering, Hosea declared,

Hosea 6:1-3 “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. 2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. 3 Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

INTRODUCTION

The main message that I want you all to take away from this passage/sermon is that there is always hope. No matter how many sins you’ve committed, how serious your sins have been, or how disastrous their earthly consequences, true repentance always leads to rescue. Helpfully, this passage gives us five steps to finding rescue from sin. Let’s pray that God would grant us repentance and rescue as we follow His path.

REASONS FOR SUFFERING

One thing I’ve noticed is that when life is hard something deep within us (all mankind) longs to know the reason. In the face of significant trials we can’t help but to make the metaphysical assumption that there is purpose and meaning in the universe. When we’re diagnosed with a serious disease, when we lose someone we love, when we’re laid off from work, when we don’t get into the college or company we want, even the most religiously skeptical among us tends to look heavenward and ask “Why?!”. We long for a specific reason for our specific trial. Our rationale seems to be something along the lines of: this is hard, really hard. I’m not sure if I can bear it. If I knew that there was some good purpose for it—that it wasn’t entirely futile/in vain—however, I might be able to endure.

For the most part, however, we typically don’t get the specific answer we’re looking for. We are never told why things happen as they do (and, in spite of what you may have heard, God has not promised us that we will ever know). The bible gives general principles and promises (Isaiah 45:7; John 9:2-3; Romans 8:28) concerning God’s purposes for suffering in our lives (both for Christians and non-Christians), but we don’t have anywhere to turn for the exact reason behind the specific suffering we’re experiencing.

And yet, that’s not to say the bible never gives specific reason for specific suffering. We’re given the exact reason behind the most severe suffering of all time. We’re told in Isaiah 53, for instance, that Jesus suffered and died to forgive the sins of and heal that which sin had broken in the people of God.

Isaiah 53:4-5 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.

Likewise, in 1 Peter we’re told specifically that Jesus suffered crucifixion for a very specific purpose.

1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

In John 9 we’re given the specific reason for a blind man’s suffering.

John 9:1-3 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

The particular reason this man suffered years of blindness was so that Jesus could heal him and put on display the power of God.

Hosea is another example of God giving specific reasons for specific suffering. The entire book is both a proclamation and explanation of the suffering of the Israelites. They were suffering, Hosea declared,

(Podcast note: we missed recording the first two minutes of the sermon this week, but almost all of it is there. We apologize for the mistake!)

Matthew 3:16-17 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

INTRODUCTION

Happy Father’s Day. As we did on Mother’s Day (with motherhood), after briefly considering the (non-Christian) origin of Father’s Day, we’ll take a closer look at the meaning of fatherhood in the bible. Specifically, we’ll see a paradigmatic example of what it looks like to be a good father as we examine the baptism of Jesus. Please pray that God would help us experience Himself as our one true Father and that all earthly fathers would rightly pattern our fathering after God.

FUN FACTS ABOUT FATHER’S DAY

In reading two of my favorite blogs (artofmanliness.com and thegospelcoalition.org) I was able to come up with this definitive list of the five essential Father’s Day facts.

* After listening to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909, Sonora Dodd of Spokane, Wash. wanted a special day to honor her father, a widowed Civil War veteran who was left to raise his six children on a farm. The first Father’s Day celebration, June 17, 1910, was proclaimed by Spokane’s mayor because it was the month of Smart’s birth.

* The first presidential proclamation honoring fathers was issued in 1966 (Mother’s Day was 1914) when President Lyndon Johnson designated the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day. Father’s Day has been celebrated annually since 1972 when President Richard Nixon signed the public law that made it permanent.

* The rose is the official flower for Father’s Day. Wearing a red rose signifies a living father, while white one represents a deceased father.

* Father’s Day is celebrated in many countries in the world, including Australia, Bolivia, Canada, China, France, Greece, Honduras India, Iran, Japan, Nepal, Poland, South Korea, Thailand, and Zimbabwe.

* According to a 2012 poll, most dads would prefer to either spend quality time with their families on Father’s Day (40%) or receive no gift at all (22%). Gift cards were a distant third, at 13%.

As you can see, just like with Mother’s Day, Father’s Day does not have a distinctly Christian origin. Therefore, just like with Mother’s Day, preaching a sermon on Father’s Day about fathers requires a bit of defense.

My defense is simple. I’m hijacking secular Father’s Day in order to draw your attention to God’s primary presentation of himself. That is, of all the ways God describes his nature (consuming fire, refuge, guide, judge, helper, fortress, rock, shield, healer, etc.), “father” is the most common, consistent, and fundamental. Earthly fatherhood exists primarily to point to heavenly fatherhood. Indeed, earthly fatherhood is designed by God primarily as a means of teaching his people about himself. And that, of course, means that fathering is a high, high calling. Everything that makes for a good earthly father, then, has its roots in the fatherhood of God.

Therefore, it is appropriate for us to celebrate Father’s Day within the church when we are ultimately celebrating our heavenly Father and helping men to pattern their earthly fathering after Him…and that is most certainly what this sermon is intended to accomplish.

FATHERHOOD

With that, then, let’s look at Matthew 3:16-17 in order to gain a handful on insights into God’s fathering in order to better l...