Hosea 11:12-12.6

Tonight I invite to turn with me to Josea chapter 11 verse 12 and we’ll be reading through chapter 12 verse 6. Josea 11 12 Ephraim compasseth me about with lies. The house of Israel with deceit. Judah yet ruleth with God and is faithful with the saints. Eiprium feedeth on the wind and falleth after the east wind. He daily increases lies and desolation. And they make a covenant with the Assyrians and oil is carried under Egypt or into Egypt. The Lord Lord hath also a controversy with Judah, and he will punish Jacob according to his ways, according to his doings, will he recompense him. He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength, he had power with God. Yet he had power over the angel. Yeah, he had power of the angel, and for faith. He wept, he made supplication unto him. He found him in Bethel. There he spake with us. Even the Lord God of hosts, the Lord is his memorial. Therefore turn thou to thy God, keep mercy and judgment and wait on thy God continually. God bless his amazing word this evening. It is stunning in a way. You see how many people believe that they know God. They claim they know God. But they are deceived about their spiritual state. Most people have a high opinion of themselves. and believe that heaven will ultimately be their home. Yet the Bible says straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leeth unto life, and few there be that find it, Matthew 714. The Israelites like to talk about their natural spiritual heritage, and they were, descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And they thought that was a wonderful thing, guaranteeing them all kinds of blessings. But Osaya shows that there is still a lot of difference between the fathers and their children here. If you are claiming to-night to be a spiritual descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, then you too, should be living the way they live, the patriarchs of old. Let me begin by saying this. You may be deceived about your relationship with God. We said, see that in 1112 through verse 2. And we see what the Lord says here to Israel in Ephraim. Ephraim can passeth me about about with lies. the house of Israel with deceit, but Judah yet ruleth with God and is faithful with the saints. Ephreum feedeth on wind and followeth after the east wind. He daily increaseth lies and desolation. And they do make a covenant with the Assyrians and oil as sent into Egypt. the Lord hath also a controversy with Judah and will punish Jacob according to his ways according to his doings. Will he remember him? Lies and deceit cannot be a way of life for one who claims to be a child of God. This whole passage reeks of lies and deceit. They’re constantly being charged with this. Here are those who profess to be the people of God. Engaging in this sinful activity. We’re not talking about a single instance here. We’re not saying once in a while they fall and they lie, but it’s a daily habit. He daily increases. lies, verse 1. and Ephraim compasseth me about with lies verse 12 of chapter 11 God says I’m going to fold by any of this every way I turn I find lying a prominent part of this nation’s life how can you be one of God’s children to whom God clearly stated thou shalt not bear false witness. Something’s wrong. Something’s drastically wrong that habitually lie and practice deceit. Now does someone see where’s many masks? It makes solemn promises without intending to keep them. It takes oaths that are false so that they can deceive people and the thinking that they are really serious when they’re it disguises truth. You gain personal advantage. And sometimes it just out, they out and out lie. Cover up wrongs. Imagine you’re an amateur investor and you want him to learn about a company because you want to buy some of its stock. Well, Peter Lynch in his book, one up on Wall Street, says this. the investor relations office is a good place to get answers. If as a novice, you get the cold shoulder, Lynch advises, he says, that you tell them you own 20,000 shares and are trying to decide whether or not to double your position. If they say that the shares are, if you say that the shares are held in street name, They’ll believe you because that is a technical phrase, brokerage firms used for holding large blocks of stock. A good tactic? Perhaps, but a lie, just the same. Lying undermines confidence. It creates suspicion. It destroys relationships. But worship. yet, lying is an insult to God. God is the source of all truth. Lying put you in the camp of Satan, who is the father of the lie, the originator of it, makes you one of his sons or children and not gods. Before I leave this point, let me add that lying and deceit are not exempt from religious circles. We should realize that. You know, the selling of indulgences, guaranteeing eternal life by the Roman Catholic Church was a lie. Purgatory is a lie. The Pope’s authority is a lie. In the evangelical world, it’s a lie. Tell someone, if they just pray, the sinners, prayer for salvation that I’ve read to you, you just follow along after me, then you will be saved. That’s a lie. You know, taking Christ as Savior, but as many evangelicals say, you don’t have to have them as Lord, is a lie, and it will not save your soul. There are plenty of lies being told, even in the religious areas. Notice you’ve cannot place your real trust in human wisdom if you’re one of God’s people. Verse 1. Again, we’ve already seen this in chapter 10. I’m not going to dwell much on it. But the people of Israel placed their real trust in their kings and their political leaders. Our text speaks about covenants. Made with Assyrian, made with Egypt, the major powers. of the day. These people didn’t fear God, but they placed their hopes in the negotiating power of their leaders. You know, they didn’t care if their leaders swore falsely, as verse four indicates of chapter 10, as long as they got a good treaty out of it. Didn’t God promise. Abraham that he would be his shielded defender. Won’t he protect and watch over his own people? Why aren’t they trusting in the Lord God? Why are they trusting in man? And so we see the problem that exists here, and it stands out. Psalm 146, verses 3 and 5 says this, put not your trust in princes. nor am the son of man, and in whom there is no help. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord is God. There’s the contrast, putting our hope in God, not in man. It’s shocking to find those who profess to believers, to be believers, listening and heeding the human experts while God’s word is cast aside and rejected. How can you believe in evolution? Talked by the scientists? Who were not there, did not know and don’t know everything, when God’s word makes it clear that he created heavens and the earth in six literal day. Now, either you take the one or you take the other. The scientists may be so-called experts. Well, what do they know? They weren’t there when it happened. How can you embrace the Freudian psychology as the answer to social problems when Freud is very much against what the word of God says? violates God’s commands. How can you accept the practices of the so-called family experts? We say what your children really need is more freedom, more leeway. God calls upon you to discipline your child so you might save his soul from hell. I don’t know about you, but there are times when I had to spank my kids, and that verse stuck in my mind, you know, what I’m doing, They saved this child from hell. And I wish we had more so-called Christians thinking in this direction and doing what God commands in his word. How can you endorse the ideas of a political candidate who advocates funding programs by using some kind of state gambling scheme. Really? Is that the way to go? Is that the way to fund things? How can you accept the position of church leaders who proclaim that homosexual should be allowed in the church and their lifestyle not condemned? The motto of the true Christian is this, to the law and to the testimony. If they speak not a question, according to this word, it’s because there is no light in them. There’s no direction and spiritual guidance and what they have to say. So you cannot place your trust in human wisdom if you’re one of God’s people. Notice this. You cannot be chasing that which is spiritually empty and harmful if you are one of God’s people. Look at verse one. Feeding the wind. Feeding the wind. Feeding on wind is a proverbial statement, meaning to follow that which is vain and unprofitable. If you take a gulp of the wind, you may fill your stomach with wind, but it doesn’t nourish you. It doesn’t help you in any way. It’s just plain air. Israel was laboring in vain, pursuing things. that could not possibly benefit them spiritually. And even worse, he mentions here, the east wind. The east wind was a strong, violent, blasting, unhealthy wind. We read in Genesis 41.6, behold, seven thin ears were blasted with the east wind. They sprung up after them. for Ezekiel 1710. Show it not utterly whither when the east wind touches it. So the east wind is a blasting, destroying wind. He’s saying you guys are taking that in. A dry scorching wind destroys things. So how could Israel seek after things? are so harmful to her. Indeed, how can you, as a professing Christian, pursue after that which is spiritually empty and even harmful to your soul? Jesus said in Matthew, or John 6, 27, labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth unto everlasting life, which the son and man shall give unto you. Many things you can pursue in this life, but it’s not going to help you. Colossians chapter 3, 1 and 2. If you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections on things above and not on the things of the earth. Here, as a Christian, you need to be seeking after some type of spiritual nourishment. Everything else is feeding on the wind. You’re called upon to hunger and thirst after righteousness, not to be pursuing those things that are harmful to your spiritual well-being. So you cannot be chasing that which is spiritually empty. and harmful if you’re God’s people. That’s a major problem. You cannot reject true worship if you are one of God’s people. 11, 12, and 12, 2. There are two interesting passages of Scripture. First, God commands Judah, commends Judah in verse 1 1st, in verse 1 here in the Southern Kingdom, because for the most part, God’s laws and statutes were upheld and obeyed, and the people practiced through worship at the temple and at Jerusalem, and that was founded by God, the true worship. No doubt this has reference to the days of Hezekiah in which Josea prophesied, according to chapter 1 and verse 1, when there was a revival spiritually, as CJ mentioned when he was here last. And so Judah kept to the true worship of God, just as the saints of old. She walked in the old path that her forefathers trod. But God complains that eventually Judah here is going to forsake the true worship. and fall into idolatry just like her sister Israel. This was true particularly in the days of King Ahab of Judah, in which Josea also prophesied when it was falling away from the true worship of God. And therefore the Lord had somewhat against them. they were following the bad example of Israel, and he promises here, he’s going to repay their ways. He’s not going to let them escape unscathed when they are forsaking his true worship. So this is a warning to Israel. How can those who claim to be the children of God turn aside from true worship, to embrace that which is utterly false. You wonder how that could happen. Jesus talks about this. God says, Howbeit in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men, making the word of God of none effect through your tradition. Mark chapter 7. God’s true worship gets whittled away by the intrusion of man’s ideas and adherence to some kind of longstanding tradition. I don’t know if I told you this before, but I read about a church in Denmark, an old church, where worshippers bowled regularly before a certain point on the wall. And they’ve been doing this for quite a number of years, like a hundred years. Bowling at that one. spot in the sanctuary and nobody knew why they were bowing. One day they did renovations in the church. They removed some of the whitewash on the walls. And wouldn’t you know it that exact spot where the people were bowing, they found an image of Madonna under the the Madonna under the whitewash. So people had been so accustomed the bowing before that image that even when they painted it over, they still bowled before it. Tradition is a very powerful thing. You know, I’ve talked to people about infant baptism because there’s not a, it’s not a biblical doctrine. There is no express command to baptize children. There is no express command to baptized children. There is no express command to baptized children. no example of Christians baptizing children in the New Testament. Oh, they’d have convoluted ways of trying to bring circumcision into the situation and comparing that to baptism. But I remind you that you could be circumcised and God would say that you’re not circumcised in heart. The New Testament talks about being circumcised by Christ. That’s what you’re not circumcised. we truly need before we’re baptized. So people have a habit of substituting some type of tradition. Parasies did this all the time as we see for what God’s word says. There’s a current trend today to get away from expository preaching. To fill the time with singing and pantomines and ballet and entertainment. Of course, what they’re singing is not scripture, like in the Psalms, but these religious ditties feel-good hymns that many write. It’s a travesty. The God’s sacred worship gets so polluted. Sadly, these new concepts become deep-rooted traditions after a period of time. God’s word will have less and less impact on the church as they become accustomed to entertainment in the church services. My friends, the Lord hath a controversy with those who do this too. So you may be able to be. deceived about your relationship with God. There’s lies and deceit. There’s trust in human wisdom. There’s pursuing empty and harmful things. And there is rejecting true worship. That brings us to the second point I want to make tonight, and that is this. You should consider the example of a true child of God. Chapter 12, verses 3. The father, let’s look at that. He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God. Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed. He wept, and made supplication unto him, found him in Bethel, and there he spake with him. Even the Lord God of Holy. the Lord is his memorial. Therefore, turn now to thy God, keep mercy and judgment, and wait on God of thy God continually. Are you like your spiritual forefathers? The one he selects here is Jacob. In the middle of these complaints. Osaya calls attention to the life of one of the Patriots. Now, there are others that you would think maybe Abraham and Isaac. Jacob’s got a lot of issues about him, but Jacob’s the one that’s chosen. And there are three events in his life, which are mentioned. One, his grasping of his grasping of his. brothers heal at birth. Two, his wrestling with God, the messenger of God, at Paniol, and three, his worship of God at Bethel. These are the three examples. Now, Jose’s purpose here is, becomes clear when you look at the context. This is what Jacob did. That’s what you ought to do. return to God. Now, Jacob, as I said, had a lot of flaws. He was indeed a sinner. But the Lord took the light in him and changed him by his grace. Jacob was an outstanding individual because he believed. God gave him faith. And he helped fast to God as though he could see the invisible world. his wayward feet also turned back to God in the end. This faith is the one element that adds continuity to his entire life. It had his flaws, but the one thing it stands out is he had faith in God. Thus, despite his sins, he is a significant person who is mentioned in the heroes of the faith in Hebrews chapter 11. Thus, you are called upon here, have a faith like Jacob. Here is a true child of God. It provides an illustration of genuine faith. So the question is, are you like Jake? Then you must acknowledge that God’s election makes you one of his people, verse 3. Now in the womb of Rebecca there were twin boys. Esau and Jacob. And even their mother knew they were wrestling with one another in her belly. God, however, told her that the elder is going to serve the younger. Jacob, the second born, would get the spiritual birthright blessing. Now, at their birth, Jacob reached out his tiny hand and grabbed hold of Esau’s heel. Thus the name, he was a schemer or a sub-planter. Now, this was an extraordinary thing. And we must say that God guided this little tiny hand to grab hold of Esau’s foot, his ankle. This was a sign. which testified who would receive his grace and his blessing. That little hand reaching out and trying to snatch the birthright was an unconscious deed for the child, and yet it revealed God’s purpose. And God was the one that enabled him to do that. Romans 9, 11, or 13 says this. For the children, Not yet born, neither having done good or evil, the purpose of God according to election might stand. Not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said unto her, Rebecca, the elder shall serve the younger, as it is written. Jacob have I loved. Esau have I. What is Joseus pointing here? Well, in a sense, he’s saying your ingratitude as a nation is horrible. God has put you under obligations even before you became a nation, as the Israel God, as God’s elect people. In the person of Jacob, he chose you for his possession. But you have forsaken him. and gone after false gods. When the Bible talks about Israel being elect, when it talks about Israel being a nation he loves and cherishes, we’re talking about the Israel of God here. Psalm 73 once says, Even such as of a pure heart, those are the ones that he’s talking about. So God caused Jacob to pursue even unconsciously, the birthright blessing from the very womb. The rest of his life, he sought God. It was a result of Jacob’s election by God. If you are a true child of God, you will freely acknowledge God’s sovereign grace and salvation. And you will realize that your pursuit of God’s God’s sovereign grace and salvation. of God’s blessing, even from the earliest of age, is a direct result of God’s spirit working within you. To pursue sin, the follow after lies, turn your back upon God, is inconsistent with one who is elected and the holiness, as Ephesians 1 4 says. According as He hath chosen us in Him, Christ, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him and love. You’re chosen to be holy and without blam. Therefore, to pursue these evil things, put you in a category where you have to question whether you are one of God’s elect. So you must acknowledge God’s election. So you must acknowledge God’s election, makes you one of his people. He must seek God and plead with him for mercy and peace. Verse 4. Now, Jacob was commanded by God to return to the land of his fathers after staying many years with his uncle Laban. God promised to protect Jacob, but the journey was filled with hardship, and he finally reached his homeland. And there he found Esau coming with 400 men approaching his camp. We read, then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. Now he was in real trouble. Esau may still be holding a grudge and wanting to kill Jacob as he was one of wanted to do before Jacob left home. So Jacob divides his family into several groups, sends gift after gift to Esau to appease him if possible. That night, while alone, seeking the mind of God, Jacob found himself wrestling with a man. Well, it was really God himself. It was really God himself. Christ that he was wrestling with. Jacob called the name of that place, Penny Elfrey, he said, I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. Now, Jacob could not rely on his own physical strength to prevail. But what can a man do when divine strength can just touch him and put his hip out of socket, which God did in this case? Jacob was the good. successful because of his spiritual strength. He prayed. He wept. Verse 4. He wrestled with the Lord. And God gave him victory by answering his prayer. If you’ve never wrestled with God in prayer, then you’re not like Jacob. Believers wrestle with God in prayer. They ask, they seek, they knock. God’s door. There is an intensity about it. Believers pray and do not faint. Believers come boldly to the throne of grace that they may obtain grace and help and mercy in the time of need. Are you like that? Have you ever wrestled with God until he blessed you? Pleaded with him to help you? You must seek God and plead with him for mercy and peace. You’ll be drawn to worship the true God. And then we see that here in verse 4, the last part, when it talks about Bethel. God found Jacob the first time at Bethel on his way to Pandamaram to live with his uncle Laban. He found him a second time when he was returning from Laban. and coming back to the land of promise. It is probable that this refers to both instances. For in both, God spoke to Jacob and renewed his covenant with him. Thus, Oseo might very well say, there he spoke with us for the seat of Jacob. God said, in chapter 28 of Genesis, Thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth. Chapter 35, this land will I give under thy seed. Now Jacob called the name of the place Bethel, where he had these encounters with God, which means the house of God. And in both instances, he worshipped God there. He and his family worship the Lord. So why bring this incident up? Well, Jacob worshipped the true God at Bethel, but Israel turned Bethel into Bethaven, according to Chapter 4, verse 4, which means the house of vanity. Jacob put away his idols to worship the true God. He cleaned them out of his family. Israel put away the true God. in order to worship idols. Hosea says, you pollute the very place where God made his house and appeared under Jacob. My friends, true believers will be drawn to God to worship him. The unsaved worship, they know not why. Worship is pure fullnessness, foolishness to them. But there are those who know the true God, and they worship Him in spirit and in truth. You commune with God. You make vows to God. You pay your tithe to God. You rejoice in your eternal inheritance, heaven. God speaks to you through His Word. The house of God is important to you. You don’t want to anything to defile or spoil your communion with the Lord God. Are you drawn to worship God? Is the house of God a holy place to you? Because in it he meets with you? Not the building, but the assembly. That’s what we’re talking about here. So you should consider the example of a true child of God. God’s election, God’s mercy, God’s worship. In conclusion, does God have a controversy with you? Verse 2 and verse 6. There are many people who are deceived, as I said, about their relationship with God. But I want you to see tonight that those who profess to be the people of God found out that the Lord had a controversy with them. They weren’t right in the sight of God. As Christ told the church is a revelation, I have somewhat against you. I have somewhat against you. God is weighing our actions. He sees lies. He sees deceit. He notices when you’re trusting in human wisdom and not in him. And he is aware of your pursuit of empty and vain. things chasing after the wind rather than trusting his holy wisdom. He’s always aware of your pursuits when they’re empty, when they’re harmful to you. And you’re neglecting spiritual matters. He’s angry when you turn away from true worship. God says you can expect punishment for your evil ways. God calls you tonight. if you’re guilty of these things, to turn back to him, to seek him anew. And so we trust that the God of Scripture here will speak to us and help us to evaluate where we stand. Are we like Jacob? Or are we more like Israel? Anything. Let’s close with a word of prayer tonight. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. for the teaching of Scripture to warn us against following the evil example of Israel and Ephraim. May we follow the good example of Jacob, whom you saved and gave grace and faith. May we be people of faith, for the just shall live by faith. May you bless us, Father, and help us in this life. We ask these things in Jesus’ precious name with thanks to you. Let’s stand for the benediction tonight. Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ with sincerity. Amen.