Hosea 6:3

My privilege to speak to you once again from the book of Hosea, Josea chapter 6 tonight. I want to read the first three verses. Our focus is going to be on verse 3 in particular. Josea chapter 6 reading the first three verses. Come, and let us return unto the Lord. For he had torn and he will heal us. He is smitten and he will bind us up. after two days will he revive us. In the third day he will raise us up and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord, his going forth is prepared as the morning. He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain upon the earth. May God bless to us is sacred and holy word. this evening. Whenever there’s a tragedy, a trouble, a trial in someone’s life, they may not ever pray, but all of a sudden they begin to pray and seek the Lord’s help. God help me. There was a newspaper account about a plane disaster or maybe a flood. or tornado, and they tell us about people calling upon God for help. Not to assume that God, of course, is just anxious and waiting to help people, but that’s not always the case. God may use tragedy in your life to expose the emptiness of human values and temporal God, such as a tragedy in your life, to expose the emptiness of human values to expose the emptiness of human values of human values, and temporal gods such as money, power, and possessions. Osea here has been speaking about Judah and Israel in a prophetic sense, and he sees them in exile. And yet among the future exiles, there is a remnant that will say, come, let us return unto the Lord, verse one. So they are crying out, God, help us. And you can imagine that where God could say to them, well, why don’t you call upon your golden calves? Even trusting in them all along, why don’t you call upon them to deliver you instead of me? But what makes this tiny remnant so confident that God will heal and bind them up now that he is torn and wounded them. It, where the answer is found here in verse 3. And it is only, the only time we can have hope and be healed, if we realize that we’re not just going to God to get something from them. But there’s that phrase that indicates, to us something more. Not only do we need to know God, but you see that phrase that says, follow on to know the Lord. And that indicates a growth or a progress in our knowledge of God. And that’s what I want to speak about tonight. You must give yourself to the pursuit of knowing God. Now, obviously, you have to possess a saving knowledge of God first. Following on to know the Lord implies that you already know him, but now we’re going to grow in that knowledge and progress in that knowledge. There is a religion that you can have and not know the Lord. We know that Eli’s two sons did not know the Lord. The Bible is very clear about that in Samuel, 1 Samuel. But obviously Israel and Judah were engaged in a worldly religion and they did not know the Lord to begin with. But we see that the remnant will know the Lord. They will come to know the Lord. And today we have many religions that are like that they have outward, uh, right, right? rights and ceremonies and experiences, but they lack saving knowledge of God. J. I. Packer wrote a book called Knowing God, and in that book, he talks about a fellow believer who was suffering for his faith in Christ. He said this, I walked in the sunshine with a scholar who had effectively forfeited his prospects of academic advancement by clashing with church dignities, dignitaries, over the gospel of grace. But it doesn’t matter, he said at length, for I have known God, and they have it. There is religion without a knowledge of God. So the question comes is, do you know God? That’s the first thing you need to ask yourself. Do you know God in the majesty of his justice? And do you stand condemned under his justice? Do you follow, do you know God in the splendor of his love as giving Jesus Christ to die in your place as a sinner as a sinner? Do you know God in the fullness of his power to save, to change the heart and change the mind? Any religion that doesn’t lead you to know God, is of no use whatsoever. You know, Job 2221 says, Acquaint now thyself with God and be at peace. Thereby good shall come unto thee. So you must possess a saving knowledge of God, and you must progress in your knowledge of God. The follow on is to advance in your knowledge of God. this godly remnant wished to know the Lord in a greater and a fuller sense. Now, you may never conclude that your knowledge of God is complete and you have everything you need to know about God. I read about a man who felt he was already as near to God as was humanly possible. That’s sheer foolishness. not know the Lord as I hope to know him. And I’m in good company. I direct your attention to the Apostle Paul. He said that he desired to know Christ. And if you look at the letter to the Philippians, which contains that wish, what do you find? Here he has maybe 20 years been a Christian, very successful walking with the Lord. doing all the missionary work and so forth. Here’s a man that had tremendous revelations. He was caught up into the third heaven and so forth. And yet what does he say in Philippians 310? What does he aspire? That I might know him. What, Paul, don’t you know Christ? Yeah, he knows Christ. But he desires to know him better. The more he knows of him, the more he finds he still needs to know him. Self-contentment in our spiritual walk is something that is going to hinder your progress. As long as you’re on this side of heaven, there’s always room for advancement. And even in heaven, I believe that we may indeed grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord in the sense that I think we’re still be learning things when we get to heaven about the Lord. Colossians 1. 10 says, walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. And that’s what this follow on talks about. Now you must persevere in your knowledge of God. Your duty is to follow on or continue what you already know. Verse 1, we read about their return. Verse 2, that they are to live in his sight. In verse 3, they are to follow on. There are some people who flitter around. Maybe they studied one doctor or another. They go to one church or another. They’re like a butterfly in the meadow. But the important thing here is that we progress in our spiritual knowledge. We come to know and embrace. the Lord and we continue to progress in that knowledge. Now all that you know has come to you through the Word of God. That’s where the truth concerning God is to be found either in your personal reading or in the preaching of the Word of God. So your knowledge of God cannot be obtained without an intense desire. and perseverance here. There’s no fantastic spiritual experience that’s going to help you. No a special dream or vision or speaking in tongues it’s going to cause you to grow in grace and a knowledge of the Lord. if you want to know God, you have to apply yourself. you have to invest your time, your effort, into the study of the Word of God. It would even hurt to invest your money in good Christian books and materials that you might benefit from others who have progressed in the Lord. So year after year, we must not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. We must continue to read our scriptures. We must grow in the things of God. We have to put effort into it. We can’t expect to grow if we don’t pursue it and put our effort into. So you must give yourself to the pursuit of knowing God. Follow on to know the Lord. Now, God will give you spiritual insight when you seek to know him. Then shall we know when we follow on to know the Lord. Then shall we know. You can gain spiritual insight about the past as you follow on to know the Lord. When these Jews were suffering the agony of exile by the Assyrians and the Babylonians, they no doubt were bewildered. Families were scattered. Separation of, you know, sons and daughters from them. It was a terrible time. They were sold as slaves all over the empire, all over the countryside. It was a time of desolation despair. God had torn them. God had smitten them. Get out of this terrible disaster, God here brings a remnant to know him. And here you find them looking back upon this terrible experience and realizing this was God’s way to bring the people to know him. perhaps you go through a period of severe illness. God places you in a difficult situation. You wonder why has this come upon me. Maybe it’s a financial crutch. Maybe it’s turmoil at work. Maybe it’s a troublesome neighbor. Maybe you struggle to care for a loved one. Something of this nature. Family disturbance. And maybe you know what it means to be torn by God. Like Job, you may cried, God, why must this be? I don’t understand. But you shall know when you follow on to know the Lord. You will understand better as you continue to know the Lord. There was a young mother in 19th century at England, Mrs. Josephine Butler, who returned home one day and witnessed the tragic death. of her daughter. Her daughter was so anxious to see her when she came home that she ran out on the porch, leaned over the rail, and fell off to her death. And this little girl named Evangeline really was a devastating blow in her death to Mrs. Butler at that time. So in her search for comfort. she turned to a godly neighbor. This woman said to her, God hath taken to himself, her whom thou dost love. But there are many forlorn young hearts who need that mother love of thine. Those words moved her and led her to work with orphans and to love them and to care for them. and to give the gospel to them. And so at the moment of tragedy and sorrow, she didn’t understand it. But as time went on and she pursued her knowledge of God, it came to be revealed that this was an opportunity for her to reach out and help many others. And she understood better what God was doing. So you gained spiritual insight about the past. You will gain. spiritual insight in the present. As you follow on the know the Lord, the Spirit of God is teaching you. By degrees, you progress in your knowledge of the Lord. Now, you start out as a babe in Christ and maybe you can only handle the milk, but as you grow, you’re going to be able to handle the strong meat, eventually, in the things of God. There was a time when I was growing up and I didn’t understand the doctrine of election. I saw it in the Bible. I read it in the Bible. My pastor never spoke on the subject of election. It was like a taboo subject, evidently. And so I read my Bible, and I really found it a troublesome doctrine to me. I would read Romans 9 and shake my head and say, I don’t understand. I don’t know what in the world this means. I didn’t understand God’s sovereignty. And so I wrestled for several years, but as I continued to study the Word of God, as I continue to pursue God’s enlightenment on these things, eventually the Lord opened my eyes and I could see what God’s sovereignty was in this doctrine of election. So we realize there’s one important thing here. and that is to know the Lord. And that will untangle a lot of theological difficulty for you as you’ve got to know, if you get to know God better, you’ll know his ways better and you’ll understand more of the scripture and as you piece it together, you’ll have a better understanding of these things. This is how God deals with you. He only gives you what you’re able to bear. Remember he told the disciples, I have. have more to tell you that you’re not able to bear it right now. So God deals with us in that way as well. So you will gain spiritual insight in the present. You will gain spiritual insight about the future as well. Now, it’s obvious that these people look forward to a future understanding concerning the things of God. The word shell is mentioned here. You know something about God’s love and his faithfulness and his truth and his power now. And yet what you know now, you don’t wholly comprehend as you should, and there’s much more, of course, to learn. And so as a child of God, it’s important that we continue to pursue this knowledge of God. You know, a child may end up with a, you know, dip his bucket in an ocean and, you know, bring you the water, but the child doesn’t understand what the Atlantic Ocean is. And we, you know, dip our bucket in the knowledge of God, but we don’t understand the vastness of God’s knowledge and what he reveals to us immediately. But God has brought you out to show you the things that are finished in Christ to have you understand the glory of doctrines of the gospel, grace, and so forth. What knowledge you possess today compared to the little knowledge that you had when you first came to know Christ. But the day is coming when the glorious knowledge you enjoy now will increase considerably when we are in heaven and more and more. is revealed to us. The Christian life is sort of like climbing the Alps. The higher you get, the more you can see. And so as we grow in grace, the more we can understand the things of God about us. Let me also say here, my third major point is this. God will provide prove of his faithfulness when you seek to know him. God will remove your darkness. Notice it says here, his goings forth is prepared as the morning. Now, we have the dark night and then as the sun begins to rise, all of a sudden there is an enlightenment that comes over the horizon. And eventually as that sun gets higher in the sky, we see things, you know, brightly lit up, and it becomes more and more obvious what is around us. Darkness in the Bible was used for that time of misery and suffering like this exile that they were in. In fact, he talks about them being in the grave, so to speak, and coming out of the grave here is into the sunshine, is what’s being talked about. This is true for you and I as well. Your sorrow can be turned into joy. As your trials abound, so also will your consolations abound. When the place of weeping, the valley of acore shall be turned into the door of hope for you. So follow on to know the Lord, and you will find he will bring you out of the misery and darkness. It’s interesting that the word prepared here is the word decreed. God has decreed this to take place. There’s a fixedness to it, a firmness to it. As we follow on to know the Lord, our darkness will disappear and it will be bright like the noonday, so to speak. And I think this is the point here in the comfort of knowing the Lord. and the mercies that are found in him. And God will refresh you. Now he speaks here about two great rings. The former rain and the latter rain. The former rain came right after the crops were planted. And it would rain for a while and soaked the ground, give the crops a good start. And then you’d get a dry spell for a while. But as those crops ripen and they’re getting ready to soon to be picked and taken up. God would send the ladder ring and that would make sure that you had a good crop in abundance. So the Lord’s presence here is to all people as the two reins that are sent to the farmer. Now the remnant may be thinking, well, when we started out, We were blessed of the Lord. And then all of a sudden, you know, we’ve had this time of darkness, this time of difficulty, and dry spell, so to speak. And then God is going to send the ladder rain. Refresh them. Restore them. Sh showers of blessing will rest upon them. And so this is the encouragement we have. The early years of salvation may have been indeed, happy ones, but then sometimes you experience a long dry spell when it comes to spiritual matters. But God here, as you pursue his knowledge, sends the latter reign. It’s a grace. He deals gracious with you, graciously with you. So he’s faithful to refresh you on your pilgrims. So God mixes the dry spells and the downpours in order that you might have an abundant spiritual harvest in your life. God will renew you. Just follow on to know him. So don’t be the type of person. Who only seeks God in your time when you’re desperate. You may find him not listening. Give yourself daily to the pursuit of a knowledge of God. Follow on to know the Lord, constantly progress in your knowledge. Continue your study of the Word of God. Make it a personal quest. See the importance of this. If we wish to grow and if we wish to be knowledgeable of how God deals with us in this life. Well, let us close with a word of prayer tonight. Heavenly Father, we do give you thanks. How gracious you are to your people. and that you bring them out of the dry spells, provide refreshing rain, showers of blessing for us. We pray, Lord, that we may follow on to know the Lord in our daily life to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray tonight. Let’s stand for the benediction. Grace be with all them them, love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. Amen.