This is a rush transcript.

[00:00:01] Usually when we start a sermon, we might tell a story that transitions us into the text. We might build an analogy that's kind of help us understand the revelation of God's truth. But today's sermon needs no introduction. If you'll grab a Bible and open it up to Hosanna! Chapter three, you'll see that God is telling a story. He is building an analogy, and he wants us to get the point. Arguably, the most important point that God wants you to know that he loves you. Grab a Bible if you've got one of our Bibles, it's page seven hundred and fifty two. And we're gonna see what some people say is the best chapter in the scripture to really understand the love of God. And so I hope you'll turn with me to Hozier Chapter three. You know, we have a mission here at CompassHB Bible Church to go and make disciples that Jesus has given us. And we love to see that happen through baptisms as we celebrate it today. Well, God gave his prophet Isaiah a completely different kind of mission when he told him to go and marry a prostitute. And that's what we've been studying in Hosanna and God's telling a story through this real guy. Hosanna and his wife Gomer and the kids that we're gonna be born. And God is telling us an analogy of how he loves his people and the nation of Israel, the northern kingdom of Israel. And they don't love him back. They are not loving God first because he first love them. No, they are turning away to other loves. And God's been building this picture between Hosanna and then his wife, who is a prostitute. And the story continues of what's going on in their marriage here in Hosoya. Chapter three, when it's clear by now she's left the marriage and she's gone loving other men. And look what it says. Follow along with me as I read Hosain, Chapter three. And the Lord said to me, Go again. Love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though, they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins. So I bought her for 15 shekels of silver and a holmer and a leaf thick of barley. And I said to her, You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore or belong to another man. So will I also be to you for the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or Prince without sacrifice, or pillar without E40 or household gods. Afterward, the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord, their God and David their King. And they shall come and fear to the Lord and to His goodness in the latter days. So we are already told our Prophet to go and marry a prostitute, something that might seem shocking enough for God to ask one of his men.

[00:03:04] But now, after she has proven herself to be an adulterous, has left the house, has gone on to other loves, God says go again because I'm going to build an analogy. I'm going to make your life hosoya a story of how I love my people, that even when they sin, my steadfast love goes after them. And so Hosanna goes.

[00:03:30] And it turns out that when God tells him to go, it appears that his wife Gomer is being sold into slavery.

[00:03:39] And he bizer, it says, for 15 shekels of silver, which I'm pretty sure the cost of a slave was supposed to be around 30 shekels of silver. So she's being sold at a bargain deal here. Whatever Gomer lefter her husband a profit for. Maybe she thought it was hard to be a prophet's wife. Maybe she thought she was going to have any fun with it. Doesn't tell us why she left, but she must have thought the grass was going to be greener on the other side. Well, it didn't work out very well for her leave in the Prophet's house. No. Whoever she is decided to love, they didn't love her and return. And now here she is being sold as a slave in the marketplace. When slaves were sold in the marketplace, they were sold naked. So you could see exactly what you were paying for. I mean, talk about shame being purchased by other human beings. And here, perhaps in her lowest moment comes her old husband that she cheated on, that she left and abandoned and there he is buying her out of that situation.

[00:04:45] And it's a sign to us of God's love. But it's also here an example of how when you pursue other love, look at how God rebukes the children of Israel, his people that he's called to be, his chosen people, that he's. Choosing to love and to give himself, too. He says, I'm going to keep on loving you, Israel, even though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins, even though you guys continue to not love me back and turn to other false idols and you go after things like sexual immorality. I'm still going to love you. It's one of the points that God is making here is that Gomer and her going off to try to live this better life out there being a prostitute. Well, it didn't work out. He's trying to show us the folly of having any other loves besides him. And when it says here, maybe that sounds like a weird phrase. It definitely sounds like a weird phrase to me. If I hadn't read it in the Bible before, though, they turned to other gods. OK. We kind of understand that idolatry like we've talked about. But all they thought he was a fertility God. They thought he might make the rains come and the crops grow. So they would worship him. But then it says you turned to other gods and love cakes of raisins.

[00:06:02] Does that sound weird to anybody else besides me? Hey, you want to go over to Denny's and get a raisin cake after the service said no one ever, you know, like raising cakes.

[00:06:15] I mean, I'm sure that in the context of worshiping false idols, cakes of raisins made sense. Some people have even speculated that it might have been an aphrodisiac that they thought was going to get them ready for their sexual immorality that they would commit in the worship of these false idols. But this is one opportunity where being far removed from the context and maybe not understanding what's really going on just helps us see how stupid our sin is. When you're ready to trade the steadfast love of the Lord, that never ceases for cakes of raisins.

[00:06:50] I mean, this is not a wise life decision that you're making. I mean, who enjoys getting a good fruitcake? Anybody really want one of those for Christmas? It's your birthday. I brought you a fruitcake. Let's keep our fruit in our cakes on different sides of the plate. And I get a man from anybody on that one, right? Oh, you're going to win our pie contest that we have every fall fest. Yeah. You're gonna bring your raisin your family raisin pie recipe. Have never seen that pie. You know, raisins are dried up grapes. You guys know what I'm talking about. You don't go to the store and it's like, oh, check this raisin flavored snack. All right. Now, everything is great flavor, right? I had somebody and I went to our first service. They told me he hated raisins and he seemed angry when he said it. You know what I mean? I mean, cakes of raisins.

[00:07:43] God's ready to love me, and I'm going to choose to sin because I think at the end of this season there's gonna be, for me, cakes of raisins. Does that just make sin seem stupid to anybody else? The emptiness that Gomer must have experienced when she was there naked, being sold for money, when she thought she was gonna be receiving for loving these other people.

[00:08:08] And she ended up losing it all. Point number one, let's get it down like this. We need to observe the emptiness of other lovers. If you think that the grass is going to be greener than the love of God, if you think your soul is going to find satisfaction somewhere else than God loving you, you will end up empty, as we heard testified by the guys who got baptized.

[00:08:31] And as many people could prove as the experience of Gomer, I'm sure she thought it was gonna be better when she left Hozier. And it definitely ended up worse. I'm reminded of the C.S. Lewis quote from The Weight of Glory when he says that we are like an ignorant child who wants to make mud pies in the slums because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.

[00:08:58] We settle for things that we think are going to satisfy us that are so lame in comparison to the steadfast love that God wants to bless us with in our lives. It's like last summer, my family, we went on a trip to Kawhi, the Garden Island in Hawaii. What a beautiful place. I mean, I don't know if anybody else has ever gone snorkeling in a tropical destination, but I. I thought it was a stupid thing to do.

[00:09:24] And then I went underwater and I saw a whole new world and I had moments of worship there under water, like look at the beauty of what God has made. What's that lurking in the darkness? Look at the terror of what the Lord has has me.

[00:09:36] It's like a whole different world here. Look at the creation of our Lord. We're going to Hawaii, kids. Let's go snorkeling. And what do my kids want to do every single day that we're in Hawaii? It'll be a good trip if we go to the pool every day. Dad, your kids like this, too, right? We came across the Pacific Ocean. It's amazing. No. Let's go to this pool that they strategically built so you could see the ocean from the pool.

[00:10:06] Not very wise. Right.

[00:10:09] It's like we're playing in the sand on Adams Street down here in South H.B, not knowing, hey, the Pacific Oceans just a couple blocks away and weren't trying to get fat on cakes of raisins when the Lord wants to satisfy your soul with rich food.

[00:10:25] Why do we continue to be seduced by other lovers when we know God is the only true lover and satisfy all of our hearts desires?

[00:10:36] Go to Ziko, Chapter 16, turn over to the left just a little bit. God tells the story here and in Ezekiel 16. It's a graphic picture where God talks about Israel, his people, his nation that he's chosen. He talks about them being his faithless bride. He talks about his people. This time he doesn't set it up between Hosoya and Gomer. He just tells the story here like Israel is is an adulterous wife. And he even points out the absolute folly of what she's doing when she pursues other lovers besides the Lord. Look what God says in a Zeke, you're 16. You could read the whole graphic chapter of the story that God tells, but jump straight diverse 32, Ezekiel 16, verse 32. It says, adulterous wife who receives strangers instead of her husband. Men give gifts to all prostitutes. But you gave your gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from every side with your loring's. So you were different from other women in your hearings. No one solicited you to play the whore and you gave payment while no payment was given to you. Therefore, you were different. He says basically, what kind of a prostitute are you?

[00:11:58] You thought this was going to work, that you would receive payment, that it would work out better for you, that you would get something out of all of this sin. And look what has happened to you. You've given your life away and you've gotten nothing in return. Pursuing after that sin.

[00:12:13] And here is the Lord calling his people out. What benefit is it when you forsake my love and you go and pursue your sin? Where does that really get you? That's God's question to his people.

[00:12:27] That's God's question to you. If you think that something else is going to satisfy your life besides developing a relationship with God who loves you, you will end up chewing on raisins.

[00:12:41] Is the idea you will end up empty and un satisfied?

[00:12:46] That's the warning of Goma. But the amazing message of a Hosain three, please turn back. The Hosain three is that God is still going to love these disobedient, rebellious, hard hearted adulteries, spiritually adulterous people who cheat in their hearts on other loves God, even though they will forsake the love of God, the love of God will not forsake them. And so he is trying to use a comparison to us as human beings. Let's get a situation where it would be so hard, seemingly impossible, like an extreme example of what it would be like to love. So let's take people who are together in marriage. Here's the analogy that God's building and one of the spouses for sake's, the other spouse, and they go and pursue another lover and they go off with that other lover. Now, they're not coming back and saying they're sorry, they're not coming back and beg and forgiveness and saying, hey, let's reconcile. I want this to work out. I choose you. I want to be with you. And you alone know, they're going off with somebody else and now they're reaping what they've sown. It's fallen apart. Now, even the person they've gone off to love has abandoned them at that point when they've just left you completely behind. God says no, go again, go again and love your spouse when they completely don't love you back. Now go love them so you can feel right away. If you've ever been cheated on in some kind of relationship, you could or even just, you know, naturally, that would be so hard to go and love someone who has completely forsaken my love and chosen another lover. How could I go and continue to love them when they've made it so clear they don't want to love me back? And God says that's now you're starting to get a picture of what it's like for me to love you.

[00:14:30] God says to his people, I mean, how many times have you sinned against the Lord?

[00:14:35] How many times has God shown his love to you? And your response was to go and pursue a different love other than him?

[00:14:43] How faithful and steadfast has the love of God been for you when you've gone down the path of sin? See, this is the story of God in the nation of Israel.

[00:14:54] See, we're zoomed in on two individuals, Hosanna and Gomer. But really, the picture that God is building is himself and this nation that he has chosen to love. And he made it clear, we looked at it in Deuteronomy, Chapter seven, that there was nothing special about the nation of Israel, that he chose to love them. There was nothing that they did that merited his love. It's not like they were any more righteous or any better than any other nation. No, God chose to love them because of who he is, because of his character.

[00:15:24] Because that loving people who don't love him back is just what, ah, God does in his grace and in his mercy. And the people of Israel, if you've read the Old Testament ever before. If you know history, even outside of the Bible, the people of Israel have turned against God again and again and again and again. I mean, just go read the book of judges and you can see how many times God saves them and then they forget God and then go worship other gods. And then God has to send somebody and use them to save them again. And it seems to be an endless cycle of these people forgetting God.

[00:16:00] That's the whole Old Testament. And then you get to the New Testament when God sends his one and only son to come and save them from their sins. And what do the Jews, the people of God, the nation of Israel. What do they do when God sends his son crucify him?

[00:16:16] That's what they share. And they have him. The leaders of the Jewish people have him nailed to a tree. To be executed for doing no wrong.

[00:16:29] And so the nation of Israel has committed this sin against God. Time and time again. But look what God says. Look at verse four and five of Hussein three. This is he built this analogy between Hosain Gomer. Here's the point. Ultimately, he's trying to make for the children of Israel. They're gonna go through a rough time. They're gonna go through a time of judgment, a time of discipline. They will dwell many days and there won't be a king or prince over the people. There won't be sacrifices or pillars in the temple. They won't be having the fights and the household gods maybe that they would use to worship. Or maybe that they were worshiping idols with. No, we're gonna there's gonna be judgment on the northern tribe of the north, the kingdom of Israel. The gods made that clear. But afterward, after the judgment, after the short term time of discipline, the children of Israel shall return. That's our Hebrew word. We talk about sometimes Shoeb. It's the word to to turn it, though. It's the word to repent. And and so they they turn. And sometime in the future, after this time of discipline and judgment on the people of Israel, they're gonna turn and they're going to seek their law, the Lord, their God.

[00:17:33] And David, their king. And they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.

[00:17:41] Or you could translate that in the last days. I think that God is declaring his steadfast love for the people of Israel even to the future. From our perspective, in the year 2016, from where we're sitting right now, I believe based on this and many other passages, that there is a future for the nation of Israel to this very day and there is going to be a turning among the people of Israel who will someday seek the Lord. Their God really finally love him back in the way that you should be loved. And they will not only seek the Lord, their God in heaven, they will seek. Very interesting phrase here, David. There, King.

[00:18:23] Now, if you're tracking with the Old Testament timeline, the book of Hozier is written after David is the king of Israel. I mean, kind of back in the glory days of Israel when it was still united and David was a man after God's own heart, leading his people into battle, leading his people into worship. Well, David's dead and buried at this point that Hosain is talking so that the fact that the people are going to seek after David their king when he is in the past, who are we talking about? Who is he referring to when he says King David? He's not referring to the man. No. He's referring to the promise that God made to David, that he was going to have a son who would sit on his throne and reign his kingdom forever. Who are we talking about? Shout out his name if you know it. Talk about Jesus Christ.

[00:19:10] He said no. There's gonna be a day where Israel is going to turn from their sins.

[00:19:15] And finally, they're gonna love God like they should have throughout all of human history. And who they're gonna look to as their leader, their king is the Lord Jesus Christ. And they're going to fear God, which is going to cause them to turn from their sin. But the reason they're really going to seek after God is because they're going to believe that God's love. Finally, they're gonna get it. It's good. And in the last days, Israel will finally love God in the way that he has faithfully and steadfastly love them throughout all of history. When you and I stand in heaven and we look back on the timeline of planet Earth, we're gonna see that God had a plan to love his people. Israel throughout all of history and we will be over one. Look at how many times Israel turned away to other gods, turned away two cakes of raisins. And look how steadfast and unfailing the love of God is for his people. And we will worship God for all of eternity because of his unfailing love.

[00:20:11] It's a picture for the whole world to see. Look at how God loves his people in Israel.

[00:20:18] Go to Isaiah, 55. Let me show you just one of the passage that I think gives us a clear hope for a future of Israel. Isaiah, 55, over to the left a little bit. Page six hundred and fifteen. If you got one of our books. Six hundred and fifteen. And this is an invitation that God makes here. It's recorded in the Prophet Isaiah. But this is an invitation for all people tired of cakes, of raisins. You're tired of pursuing loves that don't satisfy your soul. Well, here's the Lord inviting you to a great love feast. He says in Isaiah. Fifty five, verse one. Come. Everyone who thirsts come to the waters.

[00:20:55] You have no money. Come by and eat. Come by wine and milk. No money needed, no price. It's not based on you or good things you've done or being a righteous person. No, you don't have anything. You can still come.

[00:21:08] Still buy any. In fact, why do you spend your money for that which is not bread? Why are you giving yourself to things that are never going to fill you up?

[00:21:16] Why is your labor your hard work for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me. Eat what is good. Delight yourselves. In rich food inclined your ear come to me. Hear that your soul may live. And I will make with you an everlasting covenant. My steadfast. Sure. Love for David.

[00:21:39] There it is right there.

[00:21:39] God, it has said to his people that no matter what they do, he has established from his side an everlasting covenant. His love for them is going to be steadfast. And sure. Let's get that down. Four point number two. We want to see, as we behold, the love of God. This morning, we want to see how God's love is steadfast.

[00:22:00] And sure, this is the kind of love that he promises to have here in this verse and that kind of love. That's described here. It's not used in our passage seeing Hosain three.

[00:22:13] He's trying to analogize his love compared to our love. So picture what it'd be like to love your spouse after they've cheated on you. And they don't want to say they're sorry and they don't want to reconcile with you. That's the kind of love that God has for his people, Israel and really for all of his people.

[00:22:34] That kind of faithful, steadfast love.

[00:22:37] Now he's using the word there in Elzie three for Love. That's just about people maybe who are lovers or, you know, it's a word, a common word for love that you could use. Like, I love my car. I love my dog. I love lunch later on today. I mean, you could use it for anything. But here is an Isaiah 55, verse three.

[00:22:56] We see the word that we usually think of in the Old Testament. That's translated to loving kindness or the steadfast love or the unfailing love of God. The Hebrew word is Hassid h-e scd. If you wanted to write it down in English, that would be good for you to know has it. It's kind of love that it's described here. The way it's translated here is steadfast. Sure. Love for David, which is the promise that there's going to be a king who reigns over the people of Israel, which is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ, which is coming still in the future for the nation of Israel.

[00:23:29] And it's a promise of God that cannot be undone because it's like a covenant. It's like a contract that God has signed. And here's what he said. No matter how far you go, no matter what you do. I have chosen to love you. I have made a covenant with you. My love for you is steadfast. Even if you don't remain steadfast in your love for me, my love remains steadfast for you. That's the love that God has for his people. It's an amazing kind of love. In fact, I think way too often we talk about God's love, like we already know what we're talking about, and we settle for a very cliche version of the love of God. It's amazing how unexcited we are about the fact that no matter what you may do this afternoon, God is going to love you through it. We are so unexcited about that in the church these days. We talk about God's love like it's everywhere, like we know about it. But we don't seem to have this real passion, this real genuine excitement to want to worship and celebrate the fact that God has loved me. And look how I've treated him. And yet he still loves me. I don't understand it.

[00:24:34] It's amazing to me that guy would still love me. I mean, let's start to think about your life when you lived in sin. When you decided God made you got allowed you to be born. God blessed you with the life that you have and you decided you could spend that life on yourself.

[00:24:49] You decided you could be your own boss. You could call your own shots. And you lived how you wanted to live. As an enemy of God, perhaps as someone who didn't know about God. Someone who just wanted to do their own thing. And God, he continued to love you. In fact, he loved you so much. He sent his son, Jesus Christ, to die for you. And then he saved you. If you're a Christian here this morning, he saved you out of you. I mean, just try to fathom for a minute with me how much sin did you commit against God before he saved you?

[00:25:21] Like, how many times did you slap him in the face?

[00:25:25] How many times did you tell him to leave you alone and in a language that isn't clean? I mean, maybe you didn't physically do those things, but how many times did you make it very clear to God that you wanted nothing to do with his love because you were pursuing something else? And yet he still loved you all the way through it.

[00:25:43] Some of you guys might still be in that position right now where you're doing your own thing. You've got your own plan, your own agenda. You know that there is sin in your life that is against what God has expected of your life, what he's commanded from you, and you're not willing to stop. You still want to live like you're your own boss. And yet the love of God is on the table for you right now here this morning. I mean, it doesn't matter how far you go, what you do, the love of God is available to you right now here today. Is that not amazing? Now, then, let's think. Oh, well, maybe that I used to live in sin and then God saved me. And so as a Christian, you've been perfect. Is that the story of anybody's life here today? I've never met a perfect Christian. Definitely. I'm not one. I mean, since you got saved, if you can go back to the day that that God saved you. I mean, how much have you sinned against the Lord as someone now who understands his love, as someone now who can see Jesus Christ on the cross and you can see that he was there because of your sea.

[00:26:51] You can see that he rose from the dead to give you a new life. And yet, even maybe this week, you continue to choose to sin against a God who loves you. You would sing a worship song that, you know, his love is better than life, and then you would go and sin against him again.

[00:27:09] I mean, just even as a Christian, if you could count it.

[00:27:13] How much sin have you done against God? And yet God loves you still in a steadfast sure way that has nothing to do with your performance, has nothing to do with your good works. It has to do with his covenant that he has made to love his people. And if you're one of his people, God is going to love you, whether you like it or not, whether you live like it or not. God has chosen to love you. Anybody want to say a man right now? Is this good news to anybody here? You can't mess it up.

[00:27:47] God is going to love you. And I wonder, are we as excited as we should be about this?

[00:27:53] I mean, are we really coming here to worship a God who loves us, who has great given us a great example of his love? Something that should take away any doubt of his love for us? When he gave us his one and only son, Jesus Christ, I mean, when he poured out his wrath on his son so he could pour out his love on you. I mean, he has proven his love once and for all to was.

[00:28:23] I mean, do we really live like we're excited about that? Go to Romans, Chapter eight. Turn to Romans Chapter eight with me and let me just remind you that you don't know enough about the love of God that you cannot possibly comprehend the height and the depth and the length and the whip. That is the love of God for you. You think you're excited about the love of God here this morning? You're not nearly excited enough. There is more to learn about the love of God. More to comprehend.

[00:28:51] More excitement to get to look at what it says here in Romans, Chapter eight. Start with me in verse 35. I mean, let's just get right to the conclusion. Let's just get. I mean, this is like Paul's best stuff here in Romans. I mean, this is encouragement to the extreme. And look what he says here. And Romans, chapter eight, verse 35. He says, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Can anything take away God's love for you in Jesus Christ? Well, let's make a list. And these are things Paul's gone through. So he's speaking from personal experience here.

[00:29:22] Shall tribulation, distress or persecution or famine, nakedness or danger or sword?

[00:29:30] Paul had gone through all of those troubles trials in life. Did they separate him from the love of God as it is written? For your sake, we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No. In all these things we are more than conquerors. Through him who loved us. For I am sure, because his love is covenantal. Because its steadfast. I can tell you something that I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, including myself. We'll be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ, Jesus, our Lord.

[00:30:13] I mean, here's a mind blowing thing. The moment, the moment right after you sinned against God, when you know the love of God and you seek after love and something besides God. The moment after you sinned against you, his love for you has not wavered, too.

[00:30:28] Even right after you've sinned against him, it's still steadfast. It's still sure. Nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ, Jesus, our Lord.

[00:30:41] We should be an excited group of people because we have a money back guarantee. God is gonna love you and me through his son, Jesus Christ.

[00:30:52] And we should be pumped up. I mean, we should be blowing the roof off this place when we sing these worship songs. Thank you, God, for saving me. Wow. All because he loved me. Nothing because I have done. It's an amazing thing to consider.

[00:31:08] The love of God. You know, I used to be a youth pastor. I hope you won't hold that against me. But there's a lot of sketchy things that youth pastors do. Can we speak honestly here, Richard? Somebody tells me they're a youth pastor. I'll grab onto my wallet. You know what I'm saying? I mean, I just don't have a lot of respect for youth. Pastors haven't been one for 12 years. All right. And I went to this big youth event one time. I mean, there were kids from all over the state of California at this thing, and they were pumping these kids up and they were cranking the volume on that Jesus music. You know what I'm saying?

[00:31:39] And they were like, we're gonna be a dancing generation and we're gonna jump for Jesus Christ and we are going to worship the Lord here tonight. And all the young people with one voice cried out.

[00:31:52] I was on the balcony in this in this event that we were having.

[00:31:55] I was up on a balcony and these kids were like mosh pit for Jesus. They were jumping up and down so hard. I was like, this is the end. I'm going to die. This balcony is going to fallen down. Down into the first story, I was like, when was this building made? Cannot sustain the excitement for Jesus that is going on right now. Just young people. You would just think they were angelic faces praising the Lord Jesus Christ because his steadfast love never fails. It never gives up. There's nothing you can do to stop God from loving you.

[00:32:34] Yeah. Then you walk outside after the service. And you hear people just saying inappropriate words just flat out.

[00:32:43] And you hear people laughing in this crude kind of a joking around kind of way. And some of my students that I brought to this event as a youth pastor come up to me and they say, hey, we gotta get out of here because the kids here are worse than the kids at my public high school.

[00:33:00] Yes, a church in America right there, if you want a picture of the church in America. There it is.

[00:33:06] Let's celebrate and get all excited about a cliche version of God's love that means nothing to us when we walk out of the doors of the church.

[00:33:16] That's us.

[00:33:19] Steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. Right. So I'll just keep doing whatever I want to do.

[00:33:25] Is that really how you want to treat the Lord in his love for you?

[00:33:30] So we got to do something different than that here at this church. In fact, go back to Hosain, Chapter three, because Hozier, he's. He does something amazing for Gomer here and he's expecting her to respond in a certain kind of a way. I mean, Hosea's says something to Gomer here in the middle of this passage that I want everybody to take a look at. So please go back to Hosain, Chapter three one more time and look what Hosea's says. I mean, she is being sold as a slave, naked in just utter shame, her sin, having just destroyed her life. And all of a sudden, in your lowest moment, you look up and there's your old husband that you completely left in the lurch and there he is. And he'll stand up and he'll buy you.

[00:34:14] He'll rescue you.

[00:34:16] He'll put a garment around you to cover your nakedness. He'll give you a home to now come and live in. He'll even treat you like a wife, not like a slave.

[00:34:26] I mean, here, love shows up in Gomers worst moment, but Hosoya, he expects Gomer to change her ways based on his love.

[00:34:35] Look, look what he says here. And for start with me in verse two, here's where he buys her out of slavery. A three two. So I bought her for 15 shekels of silver and a Holmer and aletha of barley, which again, I think was kind of a discount price there. And I said, you're her here. You're going to dwell as mine for many days. And you, Gomer, you shall not play the whore. You're going to stop sleeping with other people. You're not going to belong to another man.

[00:35:03] In fact, you're I'm going to also be that way. We're not even going to be together in that sexual kind of a way. No, Gomer, here. I came here. I purchased you. I bought you. I love you. But because of my love. We're gonna go through this time where you're gonna become a different person.

[00:35:20] You're not going to keep doing these things that you're doing with other men. You're not even going to do them with me. Not many days, Gomer. We're gonna get this turned around. We're gonna change your ways.

[00:35:30] So you're going to tell me that God loves you in a way that no matter what you do, his love will be steadfast and sure, he has made a covenant with you to love you. And when you hear about that amazing love of God, your response is, well, then I guess I'll keep doing whatever I want because God's going to keep loving me. Are you serious?

[00:35:48] Hosie is not handling that.

[00:35:51] Hosoya, who's representing God to Israel. He's saying, hey, let's renew this marriage, let's renew this covenant, but you've got to change your ways. See if I'm going to buy you. And you're going to you're going to come now and live with me.

[00:36:04] Well, it's gonna be something different here. Go.

[00:36:08] Different than how you used to be. Go to first Peter Chapter one, go to the New Testament. Let's see a New Testament example of this. And first, Peter, chapter one, you might think, well, I've never been bought before.

[00:36:20] I'm fine.

[00:36:21] So it says here in the scripture, look at first Peter. Chapter one, verse 17. First Peter, chapter one for 17.

[00:36:29] It says, and if you call on him, his father, who judges impartially, according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with that, with fear throughout the time of your exam, knowing that you were ransomed from the feudal ways inherited from your forefathers, you were ransom, you were purchased, you were bought not with perishable things such as silver or gold. No. You were purchased with the precious blood of Christ like that of a lamb without blemish or Spot says you were sold into slavery.

[00:36:59] You are a slave of sin, as we heard wonderfully testified to us here this morning. I didn't have the power to stop my sin. That's what we heard today in the testimonies.

[00:37:11] You were a slave of sin.

[00:37:13] How did you get out of that slavery? You were naked, you were exposed. You could do nothing to save yourself. God knew who you really were. The scripture convicts you have seen. It exposes your scene. There you are before God. You have nothing to offer him. And he sends his son to shed his precious blood to purchase you. The Bible says to ransom you. To redeem you is the way we like to say it. No Jesus paid for your sin. He bought you.

[00:37:44] You had racked up such a debt you could have never repaid a holy God for all of the sin you had done against him. No, only the perfect track record of righteousness of Jesus Christ could satisfy God's wrath for your sin.

[00:37:59] And so Jesus he shed his blood for you. That was a payment for your soul.

[00:38:07] It says in Galatians three, 313, that everyone who hangs on a tree is cursed. And we were cursed because of our sin. And Jesus took the curse for us by dying on that tree. He paid the price of the curse of our sin.

[00:38:23] And it says here, hey, let me just remind you, as a Christian here in New Testament Times in Orange County to day, hey, nobody paid for you as silver gold.

[00:38:34] There was only one thing I could pay for you. And it was the most pure, the most valuable thing the world has ever known. Perfect righteousness in the blood of Jesus Christ.

[00:38:47] And that was shed for your sin. When Jesus was up there on the cross, he got judged. He got the punishment that you deserve and you get by faith in Jesus. You get his perfect righteousness so that you will never be judged by God because Jesus paid it all.

[00:39:03] He bought you?

[00:39:04] That's what the Bible says. That's why some people think Isaiah three is the greatest chapter in all of the scripture. Because when you see a husband going after his wife who doesn't even care about him and is with another man and now the other man is selling her into slavery and the husband goes and buys her out of the marketplace, out of her nakedness, and brings her back to love her. They say that's what Jesus did for us. And it's possible. That's even the picture that Peter is thinking about when he writes this. And first, Peter, chapter one, because he talks about the exile that we're experiencing. And he says, don't follow the feudal ways. Go no more after cakes of raisins like the forefathers did. Like the people of Israel did in the Old Testament. Learn the lesson that other lovers besides God never work and fear going against God.

[00:39:53] Consider how precious it is that Jesus purchased your soul. Point number three, put it down like this. You need to perceive the price that Jesus paid for you.

[00:40:05] You need to be able to see as we try to examine the love of God, that no other love is worth it, that he is going to love me no matter what.

[00:40:12] In his steadfast sure covenantal has said and man, Jesus came into the marketplace, came into the world and paid for my sin. And he bought me. And so my life, my time, my money, my body, they don't belong to me anymore. Jesus paid for them. So we got way too many Christians acting like the love of God doesn't mean anything to them, although I'll sing about it on Sunday. But then they go and do whatever they want on Monday because it's not like it cost God anything to love.

[00:40:48] You see, grace is just cheap and easy in the church in America.

[00:40:53] Easy come, easy go. That's how we think about the grace of God.

[00:40:58] And it's saying, no, you've been purchased. You're gonna keep on sinning. Hey, do you remember what you got purchased with the precious blood of the son of God? God, the father gave his son, who gladly, willingly offered himself up for you. And now your decision and the face of all that love your decision.

[00:41:17] You've cheated on your spouse. You've gone your own way, and your spouse tracks you down and wants you back and brings you back and wants to love you again. And you say, I'm going to keep cheating on my spouse. How does that make sense?

[00:41:31] How can that be the right response to the love of God is to not love him in return?

[00:41:37] So many people saying they're Christians and that's the way they're living their lives, like it's still their life. Go to First Corinthians, Chapter six. First Corinthians, Chapter six.

[00:41:52] You know it.

[00:41:54] It talks here specifically.

[00:41:57] About the sin of sexual immorality, which is really what this analogy of closing a Chapter three is all about.

[00:42:03] I mean, the sin that Gomer was doing was she was cheating on her husband with other lovers.

[00:42:09] If she was in an adulterous, a prostitute and specifically here in First Corinthians, Chapter six, he goes right after that sin and this sin of sexual morality, which I would define as anything that is sexual outside of your marriage. I mean, that scene of sexual morality, just to focus in on that one sin for a minute, there's many ways in our heart we can cheat on God and pursue other loves. But let's specifically talk about disobeying his command to keep sex between a husband and a wife in them in the marriage bed that God said should be undefiled and that he would judge anyone who commits sex outside of that marriage.

[00:42:50] That sin is destroying us in America.

[00:42:52] Do you realize that that sin has destroyed the testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ in these last days? If I were to tell you right now that a pastor friend of mine fell into sin and his church has now fallen apart and all the people who were believing in Jesus and getting baptized, now they're all questioning if this Christianity thing is even real or genuine, because the man who was up there leading the charge while he blew it big time and he fell into sin immediately.

[00:43:19] In your mind, what sin do you think the guy committed sexual mirror?

[00:43:25] Because we've heard the story again and again and again and again to where some people and you can't even blame them, don't even want to come and be a part of the Church of Jesus Christ because it's just full of hypocrites. And when we start talking about sexual morality, it's we start feeling the conviction. You can feel it here in the room as soon as I bring it up, because that's something that feels like we might still be going there. Yeah. I love Jesus when we worship him in the auditorium at church, but I'm can't really say I worship Jesus in the bedroom of my house sometimes.

[00:43:57] And look what it says here about sexual immorality and the love of God in First Corinthians, chapter six, verse 15.

[00:44:04] I'll just read it all the way to the end of the chapter says, Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ to make them members of a prostitute? OK. So you're a Christian. Your body now is a member of Christ, and now you're gonna go and be joined to a prostitute? Never.

[00:44:21] Do you not know that he is joined to a prostitute, becomes one body with her four as it is written, the two two who are partaking in sex will become one flesh. But he was joined to the Lord, becomes one spirit with him. Hey, what are you going to be as a Christian joint to the Lord or joined the sexual immorality? Verse 18. Here's the word to all of God's people. Flee from sexual morality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body. But the sexually a moral person sins against his own body.

[00:44:53] And do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you who you have from God? You are not your own, for you are bought with a price.

[00:45:04] So glorify God in your body.

[00:45:09] You think it's OK for you to go be sexually immoral when Jesus shed his precious blood to pay for your soul? It says he bought your body. So what are you going to do with your body? Do what you want to do or glorify God in your body.

[00:45:25] Says that when you become a Christian and we've done away with this old way of the temple, you're now the temple. God puts his holy spirit in you. The moment that you become a Christian, you have a new heart. You have the spirit living within you. You're that when when we say that your body is a temple in the Bible. We're not trying to tell you to eat. Right. We're not trying to tell you to exercise. We're not trying to tell you to put yourself together to look nice because your body is a temple. This is the context of that statement. It's saying be pure when it comes to sex.

[00:45:53] That's what it means when it says your body is a temple. Because in many temples where they worship bald eye, false idols, it was all about sexual morality.

[00:46:02] And if we're going to worship the true and living God and we're going to know his steadfast love and the pure and precious blood of Jesus Christ that paid for your sins. Well, then stop joining yourself, the prostitutes.

[00:46:14] Well, that's pretty harsh to talk about at church. I mean, this church people don't I don't know much about prostitutes. Well, you haven't been at church long enough if you think that I grew up in church. I never had an option but to go to church at my dad's house. He was dragging us to church from day one. You know what I've meant it. You know, just going to church. All my life, I've encountered people who've encountered quite a few prostitutes in the day. I knew a guy who was leading worship at one church I was at before. Turned out he was hanging out with prostitutes. He was having him come over to his house.

[00:46:47] I knew a guy who was out there, street preaching. I mean, he had a microphone. He had a bullhorn. He was going out there into the streets boldly telling people to repent of their sins and put their faith in Jesus Christ. And you better do it soon because the end is near. And not too long after he was done shouting that message at the people, he was with a prostitute not too long after that.

[00:47:06] So don't you tell me that we shouldn't be talking about prostitutes here at church. Because there are plenty of people who look at the love of God in the face and continue to sin against him. Oh, I haven't been with a prostitute. Well, there's a lot of massage parlors here in Huntington Beach. They must be making money somehow. There's a lot of people buying pornography on the Internet. A lot of people looking at things. They shouldn't be looking on their smartphones. If your smartphone causes you to sin your stupid.

[00:47:40] A lot of people saying God loves me and look at me as I commit sexual immorality. Well, do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own. You were bought at the price of the precious blood of Jesus Christ when you were naked in the shame of your sin.

[00:47:58] He came and he shed his blood for you. So what's your response to Jesus Christ? You know, the thing I love about Ozio three is it doesn't tell you what Gomer did. Leaves it open. I wonder what she did. Did Gomer, the prostitute change her ways? Did the prostitute become the prophet's wife? Wow. Wouldn't that be a great story? Or did she continue down her path of sin? Did that day when her husband showed up, when she was naked and being sold to other human beings for money. And he came in, he paid for and he said, Gomer, it's gonna be different now. There's gonna be many days before you have sex again. You're going to change your way. Did she change? Did the love of a husband who would never give up? Did it change her or did she continue in? See, it leaves it open. Mysterious leaves it open as if. What are you going to do? As if you're going to answer that question in your own life is the love of God. That will never leave. That has been manifested once for all to see in the blood of Jesus on the cross to pay for your sin. Is that going to change the way you live? Are you still going after cakes of raisins?

[00:49:09] Shriveled up grapes, thinking they're going to satisfy your soul. How many times do you need to lust and be disappointed? To think that the next time is going to make you feel better. No, Jesus says, I bought your body. I purchased your soul.

[00:49:30] I redeemed you from that sin. I love you that much. What is your response to the love of Jesus Christ?

[00:49:38] What does his love mean to you? I hope that here at our church, we will have clean hands and pure hearts and we will not be hypocrites who celebrate the love of God on Sunday and then go home and commit sexual immorality.

[00:49:59] I want everybody we're just going to stay pray here at the end of our service. I'd like everybody to stand with me. And I'm going to just make a prayer right now that if there's any hypocrisy, including myself, I would ask you to pray for me that I will be a pure man before the Lord. I will pray for you, that you will be pure before the Lord. And I'm going to ask that if there's any hypocrisy here at our church, that God will reveal it and expose it so that we will not abuse his love here at this church. We will not look at the precious blood of Jesus Christ and keep on sinning that God will purify our hearts and clean our hands. Please pray with me. God, we come to you right now as CompassHB Bible Church down here in Huntington Beach. And God, we know that you are enthroned on high.

[00:50:40] We know that you are so far above us there in heaven, in your holy splendor, in your perfect righteousness. God, you are so set apart from sinners like us. God, I love the picture in today's song.

[00:50:53] Like you're leaning over the rails of heaven, having to look so far down to see us down here at church this morning as we come before you.

[00:51:05] And God, we just are overwhelmed with your love for us. Why you would love centers like us when you're holy in heaven. Why you would choose to give yourself to us over and over again. Why you would choose to give us your one and only son who would shed his precious pure blood for us. God, it's overwhelming. I pray that we'll never act like we we understand your love like we're used to it, like it's normal to us.

[00:51:30] God, it's amazing to consider the steadfast love, the sheer love, the covenant that you have established with us that nothing can separate us from the love that you have in your son. Jesus Christ. God, why are you leaning over the rails of heaven right now? Loving sinners like us here at CompassHB h.b God, it doesn't even make sense to me. And I pray that we would be so excited about that. When we come to worship you, we'd be offering up our very hearts to you, giving you who we are.

[00:52:02] And I just repent of our hypocrisy in the church in America at large. God, that will jump for Jesus one minute and curse like everybody else the next. I please forgive us for our sin. Please forgive us for being Gomer, for the way we've turned to other lovers.

[00:52:23] God, I specifically pray that you will purify this church from the sin of sexual morality, that no one would think it's OK to have sex outside of marriage after what you've done for us after after how you sent your son, how he bought us, how we're no longer our own God, that we would glorify you in our bodies here at this church.

[00:52:45] And God, I pray that if somebody is in the darkness and they have secret sin and they're doing things that they don't think anybody else knows about, God let them see that they are naked before you, that their sin is exposed in your sight. But you are a loving God who even in their sin. The blood of Jesus will cover that. I will cleanse them and we'll give them a new life.

[00:53:12] God, if there's somebody who's living in the sin of sexual morality, let them repent today. Let them turn from it. Now, let this be the hour after this service.

[00:53:21] They go and talk to someone about it and they leave it behind. I've got to pray for people who are facing temptation. People who are feeling weak and weary. And they just are deceived into thinking that that lack of lust, that glance. That double take, that that's somehow going to fill them up. God help them to see there is nothing but emptiness at the end of those cakes of raisins and God, let us forsake our sin, not forsake your love. Let us turn to your love. And let us give you our hearts. Let us offer to you the steadfast kind of love that you have so graciously and mercifully given to us.

[00:54:02] God, we praise you for your love. And we pray that you would put it on our hearts to make you our first love because you loved us first. We pray this in Jesus. Name A.