1 00:00:00,840 --> 00:00:02,400 We're going to be in Hosea today. 2 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:04,640 It's a little blaze after Isaiah. 3 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:07,400 Thank you, Sir. Hosea is something I've never 4 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:09,160 really preached through on a Sunday morning. 5 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:12,880 And to be honest with you, it'll be a little bit shorter, God 6 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:15,600 willing. I mean, every time I've heard a 7 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:17,480 preacher say it's going to be shorter, it hasn't been. 8 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:19,160 So every time I say it, I get nervous. 9 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:23,520 But that's because we're ending with baptisms today. 10 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:27,800 Man, I love, yes, I love baptism Sunday. 11 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:30,800 Love it. This is the last part in our 12 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:34,480 series on holiness. In a lot of ways, it feels like 13 00:00:34,480 --> 00:00:36,120 this is the place we were always heading. 14 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:39,040 And here's what I mean by that. Over the last month, we've 15 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:41,680 talked about hidden holiness, hidden things in our lives that 16 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:44,280 we have to release to the Lord. We've talked about guarding your 17 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:45,680 heart and what that really means. 18 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:47,760 We've talked about the importance of rest and Sabbath 19 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:51,240 because that's part of how you enter into the holiness as a 20 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:52,960 lifestyle that the Lord has for you. 21 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:58,000 But hear me on this. If holiness is truly 22 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:01,600 transforming your life, it can't remain isolated in your private 23 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:04,080 devotional time. It eventually shows up in your 24 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:06,280 relationships as well. Makes sense, right? 25 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:09,560 If holiness starts permeating the way that you live, it can't 26 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:12,320 help but leak out to all of those that you are close to. 27 00:01:12,320 --> 00:01:16,840 And the reality is, there is no human relationship that reveals 28 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:20,520 who you are. Quite like marriage, married 29 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:24,920 people, am I correct? Well, after our relationship 30 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:27,480 with Christ, marriage becomes the most important relationship 31 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:30,440 that a lot of us will ever have, because it has a way of exposing 32 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:32,680 our strengths and our weaknesses. 33 00:01:32,960 --> 00:01:37,200 Amen, sister. It has a way of exposing our 34 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:41,040 selfishness. It has a way of exposing our 35 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:44,000 patients and our insecurities and our character too. 36 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:48,840 It's difficult to hide who you are from someone that shares 37 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:50,600 life with you every single day, right? 38 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:56,040 Maybe that's why I found myself unexpectedly emotional and by 39 00:01:56,040 --> 00:02:01,000 that I mean crying recently while I was re watching The 40 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:05,880 Office. Yes, that TV show. 41 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:09,960 Spoilers coming but the last episode aired 13 years ago so if 42 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:11,440 you haven't seen it that's not my fault. 43 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:16,720 After six seasons of watching 2 characters Jim and Pam 44 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:20,720 relationship their their relationship starts developing, 45 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:25,880 the wedding episode finally comes and the entire series in a 46 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:28,160 lot of ways has been building towards this moment because 47 00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:30,400 you're really rooting for Jim and Pam on this TV show. 48 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:32,880 But if you see in the episode, you know that the wedding itself 49 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:36,720 is a little chaotic because their Co workers are there and 50 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:38,640 especially the infamous Michael Scott. 51 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:42,760 So there's drama and there's distractions and at one point 52 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:45,680 the wedding party breaks into a choreographed dance down the 53 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:48,120 aisle because that's what the hot thing on YouTube was at the 54 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:50,960 time. And so they did that and it 55 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:52,800 becomes the kind of event that you would have expected from 56 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:54,240 that group of people on a sitcom. 57 00:02:54,960 --> 00:03:00,880 But what happened on the show outside of that public ceremony 58 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:03,400 was that Jim and Pam slipped away to Niagara Falls. 59 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:06,960 They decided that they were going to go to Niagara Falls and 60 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:10,160 that they were going to have their own covenantal wedding 61 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:13,200 ceremony there and so on this boat called the Mate of the 62 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:15,760 Mist, it's a real boat that takes you right into the midst 63 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:19,240 of Niagara Falls. They went and they exchanged 64 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:23,880 their vows in private on their own terms, knowing that the 65 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:25,720 chaos around them was going to make the day. 66 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:27,440 Anything but exactly what they planned. 67 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:30,280 But they were OK with that because they ended up having 68 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:34,280 that moment to themselves. And while it's happening, while 69 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:38,320 they're playing Forever by Chris Brown in the background and 70 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:40,600 people are dancing down the aisle, it's interspersed with 71 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:43,280 these clips of them having their alone moment earlier. 72 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:46,240 And I'm watching it in the recliner in my living room. 73 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:49,960 And just tears start going down. You know, my, my, my daughter 74 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:51,640 was like, daddy, are you OK? I'm like, I'm OK. 75 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:56,520 I'm just feeling feelings. Here's what I'm getting AT and 76 00:03:56,520 --> 00:03:59,800 why I share this. The celebration happened 77 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:02,640 publicly, right? But their commitment happened 78 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:05,480 privately. And in a lot of ways, that's 79 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:07,400 really how holiness works as well. 80 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:10,760 When we end this morning with baptisms, I've always said, I 81 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:13,080 thought a baptism is sort of like the wedding reception. 82 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:17,160 Your faith is personal to you. It's between you and Jesus. 83 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:18,800 Jesus calls the church his bride. 84 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:21,760 He's the bridegroom. And so you said yes to the 85 00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:25,600 proposal, The baptism, the public declaration of faith is 86 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:29,120 where the whole guest list gets to celebrate with the decision 87 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:32,200 that you made. And because over the last weeks 88 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:35,080 we've been talking about things that begin beneath the service, 89 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:38,200 you need to know that the holiness that you cultivate 90 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:42,440 always grows out from the hidden place and you can see it in a 91 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:46,440 public atmosphere. Now before any of you mentally 92 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:48,640 check out, because you say, well, I'm not married or I'm not 93 00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:50,800 married anymore, let me stop you right there. 94 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:54,600 If you're married, I will say today's message will challenge 95 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:57,080 the way that you think about how covenant love reflects the 96 00:04:57,080 --> 00:04:58,920 character of God in your own marriage. 97 00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:03,200 But if you're single, or if you're widowed or divorced, or 98 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:06,600 if you're engaged or dating or something I haven't thought of, 99 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:11,880 this message is still for you. Because long before marriage 100 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:14,600 became a picture of Christ in the church in the New Testament, 101 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:17,800 God was already using marriage as a picture of his relationship 102 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:20,160 with his people. One of the most powerful 103 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:23,440 examples of this comes from a prophet named Hosea. 104 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:27,560 Hosea ministered during a difficult season in Israel's 105 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:31,360 history, about 800 years before Christ arrived on the scene. 106 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:34,720 Now on the outside, Israel's actually doing pretty good. 107 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:36,920 They they were economically doing well. 108 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:39,640 Politically they seemed solid, but spiritually they were 109 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:41,920 drifting further and further from God. 110 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:44,920 They were starting to worship idols and making compromises and 111 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:47,920 pursuing other loves. They were actively breaking the 112 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:50,360 covenant that God had established with them. 113 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:54,320 Most prophets were sent to speak messages to us. 114 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:58,480 Hosea. Hosea was sent to become a 115 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:02,480 message for us to learn from. So after you hear about what 116 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:05,160 Hosea was asked to do, I want you to think about the ways that 117 00:06:05,160 --> 00:06:09,680 God has challenged you and thank Him for not asking you to do 118 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:13,760 what he asked Hosea. God's about to use Hosea's life, 119 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:16,320 his own marriage, his own heartbreak, and his own 120 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:18,600 faithfulness as a living illustration of God's 121 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:22,120 relationship with his people. This message could not have been 122 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:23,880 preached from a pulpit and been effective. 123 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:26,760 It had to be lived out in front of an entire nation that 124 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:30,440 respected Hosea. So what God asks Hosea to do 125 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:32,760 next is one of the most difficult commands I have found 126 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:34,400 anywhere in the Scripture. It's not fun. 127 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:39,080 Are you all ready? Great Hosea chapter 1 we'll 128 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:42,160 start. We'll start in in verse 2 says 129 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:44,800 when the Lord first began speaking to Israel through 130 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:51,880 Hosea, he said to him, go and marry a prostitute so that some 131 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:54,280 of her children will be conceived in prostitution. 132 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:58,240 This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by 133 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:00,840 turning against the Lord and worshipping other gods. 134 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:06,480 So Hosea married Gomer, one of the most beautiful lady names 135 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:12,560 I've ever heard, and she became pregnant and gave Hosea a son. 136 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:15,800 And the Lord said name the child Jezreel, for I'm about to punish 137 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:19,320 King J, whose dynasty to avenge the murders he committed at 138 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:21,400 Jezreel. In fact, I'll bring an end to 139 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:24,880 Israel's independence. I'll break its military power in 140 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:27,760 the Jezreel Valley. That's a bummer. 141 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:30,200 All the time we get excited about what are we going to name 142 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:34,480 our babies? Soon Gomer became pregnant again 143 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:38,480 and gave birth to a daughter. And the Lord said to Hosea, Name 144 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:42,200 your daughter Lo Ruhama, meaning not loved. 145 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:46,400 For I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or 146 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:50,120 forgive them, but I will show love to the people of Judah. 147 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:53,200 I will free them from their enemies, not with weapons and 148 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:56,320 armies or horses and charioteers, but by my power is 149 00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:58,600 the Lord their God. It's important to know that at 150 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:01,160 this time the nation of Israel has endured a civil war and they 151 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:03,920 are split into the nations of Israel and Judah. 152 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:08,160 Out of all the kings that follow after Solomon, there are a few 153 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:10,800 in the Kingdom of Judah that are listed as good or doing what was 154 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:13,000 right in the Lords eyes. Not one of them in the Kingdom 155 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:15,360 of Israel is ever listed as doing something good. 156 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:21,680 Verse 8 after Gomer had weaned Lo Rahama, she again became 157 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:23,600 pregnant and gave birth to a second son. 158 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:28,040 And the Lord said name him Lo Amai, meaning not my people, for 159 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:30,240 Israel is not my people and I am not their God. 160 00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:36,120 It's a fun, fun morning, huh? Well, can we all agree that this 161 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:38,799 is an uncomfortable story? It's one of those moments in 162 00:08:38,799 --> 00:08:42,039 Scripture that immediately raises questions, especially the 163 00:08:42,039 --> 00:08:45,000 first time you read through it. Why would God ask Hosea to do 164 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:46,520 this? There's no indication that Hosea 165 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:48,240 is anything but faithful to the Lord. 166 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:51,600 Why would God use something that is so personal and so painful 167 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:54,040 and so costly to communicate a message? 168 00:08:54,360 --> 00:08:56,800 Most of us have found ourselves in a situation at some point in 169 00:08:56,800 --> 00:08:58,840 our life where we've wondered, God, why would you let me go 170 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:01,000 through this? This is not God letting him go 171 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:03,240 through it. This is God orchestrating it and 172 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:05,160 saying, I want you to do this. It's going to hurt. 173 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:09,440 I need it to happen publicly. Can you imagine? 174 00:09:10,680 --> 00:09:12,960 I think part of the reason that this feels so uncomfortable is 175 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:15,520 because God intentionally chose an illustration that would hit 176 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:18,720 close to home. If he had simply sent Jose to 177 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:20,960 preach another sermon about idolatry, the people would have 178 00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:23,040 nodded their heads and said, that's a good word, preacher. 179 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:26,400 They'd heard prophets before. They had heard warnings before. 180 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:28,360 They would have said that's exactly correct, and then walked 181 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:31,680 out and turned to their idol. What they had not experienced 182 00:09:31,680 --> 00:09:34,520 was seeing the pain of what covenant unfaithfulness looks 183 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:37,320 like when it's lived out in front of them through somebody 184 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:40,320 that they know personally. And the reality is that Israel 185 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:42,160 had become comfortable with compromise. 186 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:44,720 They still considered themselves God's people. 187 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:47,400 They still participated in religious activities. 188 00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:49,600 They still maintained the appearance of faith. 189 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:51,920 But their hearts had drifted from God, and God knew it. 190 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:55,840 And so they were trusting other gods, pursuing other loves, and 191 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:58,000 their devotion was being poured out to things that would never 192 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:00,960 fully satisfy them. I'm glad we're not talking about 193 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:06,760 America. That's why marriage becomes the 194 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:09,160 illustration here. God wanted his people to 195 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:14,440 understand that their sin was more than breaking rules, it was 196 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:17,440 breaking covenant. Throughout Scripture, God 197 00:10:17,440 --> 00:10:19,720 repeatedly describes his relationship with His people 198 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:22,320 using the language of marriage. Because marriage capture 199 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:25,240 something that contracts and agreements never can. 200 00:10:25,680 --> 00:10:27,800 You don't enter into a contract when you get married. 201 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:30,800 It's a covenant, and it's different. 202 00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:34,240 Marriage involves love, trust, devotion, loyalty, and 203 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:37,200 commitment contract. They can be broken if you're in 204 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:39,960 breach. But when those things get 205 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:42,920 violated in a covenant, the pain runs deeper than a broken rule 206 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:45,160 because relationships get wounded in a covenant. 207 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:48,720 So as difficult as Hosea's assignment was, it gave Israel a 208 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:50,960 glimpse into something they had never stopped to consider. 209 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:53,480 And it's this. Every single time they chased 210 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:56,320 another God, every single time they placed their trust 211 00:10:56,320 --> 00:10:59,400 somewhere else, every single time that they compromised their 212 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:03,040 devotion, they were not simply rejecting a command from the 213 00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:06,760 boss, from the big man upstairs. They were rejecting the God who 214 00:11:06,760 --> 00:11:10,320 had loved them and provided for them and rescued them and 215 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:12,960 remained faithful to them even in the face of their 216 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:15,960 unfaithfulness. I'll tell you what fascinates me 217 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:18,240 is that before Jose ever experiences the pain of this 218 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:20,920 story, he first demonstrated something you and I probably 219 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:24,480 don't have the fortitude to do. He gives obedience. 220 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:28,200 He knew upfront what was coming. Most of us say, God, can you 221 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:29,840 just tell me what's coming? If you would tell me what's 222 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:32,320 coming next, I'd say yes, and I could brace myself for it. 223 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:34,560 He goes to Jose. He's like, you're going to marry 224 00:11:34,560 --> 00:11:36,360 a prostitute. She's not going to be faithful. 225 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:38,320 It's going to hurt. And I need this to happen in a 226 00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:40,600 very public way. You will have no privacy with 227 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:43,320 this. He could have said no. 228 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:46,080 I mean, granted, Jonas said no one time and it didn't work out 229 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:49,360 great for him, but don't you think we'd wrestle with it a 230 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:54,520 little bit? And yet Hosea says yes, Sir. 231 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:58,880 Nobody knows every disappointment, every hardship, 232 00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:02,240 every misunderstanding, every sacrifice or every moment that's 233 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:05,800 going to test their commitment. But covenant always requires 234 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:07,720 faith before it requires certainty. 235 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:12,600 If you've ever stood at A at an altar and said yes or I do to a 236 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:15,720 spouse, you do not have a guarantee that it's all going to 237 00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:19,960 work out, but you believe in it. You offer your faithfulness. 238 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:22,800 You believe them when they offer their faithfulness in return. 239 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:26,240 More and more, I think it's one of the reasons that covenant 240 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:29,160 feels so foreign to our culture today because we tend to build 241 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:32,080 our commitments around feelings. Well, they used to be really 242 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:33,480 nice to me. They used to make me feel good, 243 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:37,440 but now they treat me like this. But a covenant says you gave 244 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:39,880 your word. Are you going to keep your word? 245 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:43,240 The first thing a covenant chooses is faithfulness. 246 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:46,040 We'll be in chapter 2 of Jose in just a moment. 247 00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:48,800 But one of the reasons I love the book of Jose is it refuses 248 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:50,320 to tell the story that we might expect. 249 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:51,920 This is not a good bedtime story. 250 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:55,640 Just so you know, most stories operate on a simple principle. 251 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:59,640 Faithfulness is always rewarded and unfaithfulness is punished. 252 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:03,320 But Hosea is revealing something about the heart of God that 253 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:06,640 again and again Israel runs and again and again Israel wonders 254 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:10,920 wanders, and again and again God gives them a new opportunity. 255 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:13,160 Every time. You would expect God to close 256 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:15,280 the door because that's when you would have closed the door. 257 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:18,200 You find God standing there calling His people home. 258 00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:21,520 Listen to the next chapter, verse 14. 259 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:25,120 Then I will win her back once again. 260 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:26,880 This is the Lord speaking about Israel. 261 00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:28,520 Then I will win her back once again. 262 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:32,200 I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there. 263 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:35,760 I will return her vineyards to her and transform the valley of 264 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:39,240 trouble into a gateway of hope. She will give herself to me 265 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:42,600 there, as she did long ago when she was young, when I freed her 266 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:46,240 from her captivity in Egypt. When that day comes, says the 267 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:49,920 Lord, you will call me my husband instead of my master. 268 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:53,040 He's not looking for a transactional set of rules here. 269 00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:57,120 So listen, he says, Israel, I will wipe the many names of Bale 270 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:00,560 from your lips. Bale's a false God, and you will 271 00:14:00,560 --> 00:14:04,360 never mention them again. On that day, I will make a 272 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:07,320 covenant with all the wild animals and birds of the sky and 273 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:10,000 the animals that scurry along the ground, and they will not 274 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:13,320 harm you. I will remove all weapons of war 275 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:17,440 from the land, all swords and bows, so you can live unafraid 276 00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:22,200 in peace and safety. Verse 19, he says, I will make 277 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:26,240 you my wife forever, showing you righteousness and justice, 278 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:30,080 unfailing love and compassion. And he finishes by saying, I 279 00:14:30,080 --> 00:14:33,000 will be faithful to you and make you mine, and you will finally 280 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:37,400 know me as the Lord. These verses right here are some 281 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:41,520 of the most beautiful covenant language in all of Scripture 282 00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:44,920 because they show so clearly the difference between a covenant 283 00:14:45,480 --> 00:14:48,360 and a contract. A contract lasts as long as both 284 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:49,920 parties keep their end of the agreement. 285 00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:53,920 A covenant remains committed even when faithfulness becomes 286 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:56,440 costly. When somebody breaks a contract, 287 00:14:56,440 --> 00:14:59,240 you're off the hook. When somebody breaks a covenant, 288 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:02,080 you still have your side of the covenant. 289 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:05,120 If you enter into a covenant to be married to someone, support 290 00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:08,440 someone, or serve someone, it's really not anything other than a 291 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:11,200 commitment. Now, before anyone 292 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:13,560 misunderstands me, it doesn't mean there's not consequences 293 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:17,200 for sin or for stepping out. OK, Hosea makes it clear that 294 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:19,320 Israel's choices carried real consequences. 295 00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:22,120 But what stands out here to me is that even in the middle of 296 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:25,280 correction, God's heart is still pursuing Israel, still pursuing 297 00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:27,960 restoration with them. I think it's important to know 298 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:30,800 that because like I said, cultures trained us to think of 299 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:34,080 love as a feeling and feelings do matter. 300 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:37,040 I I'll probably butcher the quote, but the the late, great 301 00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:42,480 pastor Timothy Keller, he said something like spirituality is 302 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:47,400 not, it's not more than your your emotions, but it's also not 303 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:50,080 less than them either. Your emotions are given to you. 304 00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:52,240 They're a gift from the Lord and it is part of it, right? 305 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:56,280 They're a gift from God. Feelings are also unpredictable, 306 00:15:56,280 --> 00:15:58,000 aren't they? Have you ever been in a good 307 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:00,240 mood and then somebody says something and instantly it sets 308 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:05,000 you off? Some of y'all looked at people 309 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:06,960 when that when that came out of my mouth. 310 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:09,880 That was interesting. All right, feelings are 311 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:11,480 unpredictable. They rise and they fall. 312 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:13,840 Sometimes they're stronger, sometimes they weaken. 313 00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:16,680 And covenant is what keeps love standing when your feelings are 314 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:19,760 struggling to catch up. Here's what I mean by this. 315 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:22,600 Every healthy marriage eventually reaches moments where 316 00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:24,760 love becomes less about butterflies and more about 317 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:29,520 commitment. It's less about, oh man, I get 318 00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:32,440 to see her again and becomes, well, I said yes 16 years ago. 319 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:37,160 It's a random number. So I guess I'll, I guess I'll 320 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:43,600 keep saying yes, I'm not even looking. 321 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:48,520 I'm not even looking over there. What I'm telling you, and any 322 00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:50,720 honest marriage will tell you this is it becomes less about 323 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:53,280 excitement and more about perseverance in some seasons, 324 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:56,520 less about what am I getting out of this and more about what's 325 00:16:56,520 --> 00:16:58,480 the promise that I made. And the same is true about your 326 00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:00,760 relationship with the Lord. So congratulations, even if 327 00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:03,040 you're sitting here or listening today and you are not married, 328 00:17:03,280 --> 00:17:07,839 you are married. You're the bride of Christ, so 329 00:17:07,839 --> 00:17:10,319 in your relationship with the Lord, there are days when 330 00:17:10,319 --> 00:17:13,640 following him feel easy. There's days where it feels like 331 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:16,160 you've got a Holy Spirit bubble around you and everything's 332 00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:19,200 going your way. And then there's most of the 333 00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:22,680 other days. Then there's the days where it 334 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:24,880 feels costly to be living a life for the Lord. 335 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:28,040 Days where you don't feel like he's very close to you and 336 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:29,880 you're trying to do the right thing, but it feels like there's 337 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:33,240 no real pay off. Faithfulness is exactly how God 338 00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:36,600 has always loved you and he loved you that way long before 339 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:38,400 you ever chose to be faithful to him. 340 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:41,600 And he loved you in that way even when you became unfaithful 341 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:44,800 to him again. I was thinking about this 342 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:47,880 recently when I I look at my wedding ring, I've, I've worn it 343 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:50,520 for so many years now that I barely notice it when I'm 344 00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:52,680 wearing it. It doesn't matter if I notice it 345 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:54,760 or not because Cassie made me tattoo it on me. 346 00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:58,360 So. But here's the thing. 347 00:17:58,360 --> 00:18:00,920 This ring doesn't mean that I'm married. 348 00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:05,880 If that was what it meant, then look, I'm not married. 349 00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:11,000 Look, I'm married now I'm not. What are these? 350 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:16,920 They're symbols of a covenant. It's a symbol of a covenant. 351 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:20,120 The reason that we wear them is a reminder of the covenant. 352 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:23,160 In almost every wedding that I've ever done, I've mentioned 353 00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:26,760 the rainbow, because what happens is the Lord floods the 354 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:28,960 earth and then he sets the rainbow in the sky. 355 00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:32,280 And he says this is an everlasting symbol of the 356 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:35,120 covenant that I'm making, that I will never do this to the earth 357 00:18:35,120 --> 00:18:38,840 again, at least not with water. That's another sermon. 358 00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:44,440 It's an everlasting reminder. It's a marker of the covenant. 359 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:46,680 Same thing here. And I was just thinking about 360 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:49,840 that because I love that I wear this ring all the time, and it's 361 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:52,160 such a natural part of me. In fact, I've got like this. 362 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:54,520 I've got this little callus under the ring because it's 363 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:57,000 where the metal hits that part of my hand so often. 364 00:18:57,160 --> 00:18:58,440 It's just a part of who I am now. 365 00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:01,240 And do you know what that means? This ring has walked with me 366 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:03,680 through different moves that I've had through different 367 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:06,360 ministry seasons, through big celebrations in my life. 368 00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:09,360 It has also walked with me through the disappointments and 369 00:19:09,360 --> 00:19:12,400 hardships of my life. The ring itself doesn't make me 370 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:14,040 married. It reminds me that I am married 371 00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:16,720 and I have walked through Cassie or walked through seasons like 372 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:18,680 that with Cassie in the same way. 373 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:23,280 In some ways, Covenant also reminds me of the old lighthouse 374 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:24,800 keepers. Has anybody ever gone to visit 375 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:26,320 an old lighthouse? They're really cool to see 376 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:28,520 anybody just show of hands. It's really cool when you see 377 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:30,440 them. And it's also like very 378 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:33,160 antiquated at this point. We have much better ways of 379 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:36,280 helping ships navigate, but back in those days, it was very 380 00:19:36,280 --> 00:19:38,000 important. Well, what did a lighthouse 381 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:39,880 keeper do? They had to live there. 382 00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:42,840 I mean, they had to live there. And it was important because 383 00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:45,840 every evening they would climb the stairs, they would check the 384 00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:48,760 equipment, clean the lenses, maintain the lamp and make sure 385 00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:50,680 that the light remains visible through the darkness. 386 00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:54,000 Most of the time that light is not needed, but you could not 387 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:55,840 predict exactly when it would be needed. 388 00:19:56,240 --> 00:19:58,480 And because of that, you had to be consistent. 389 00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:01,560 You had to always have it there and always be ready because when 390 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:03,760 a ship would arrive, it was counting on that light. 391 00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:07,440 And those ships didn't pull over before they they got to port and 392 00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:09,240 just say, hey guys, great job at the lighthouse. 393 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:12,360 They just kept going. That was the job of the 394 00:20:12,360 --> 00:20:14,320 lighthouse. It's a good picture of what 395 00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:17,320 covenant looks like. Covenants are not emotional. 396 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:20,440 They're not exciting. More often than not, a covenant 397 00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:23,040 looks like continuing to tend the light, whether or not you 398 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:25,280 get a thank you, knowing that you're doing the right thing and 399 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:26,760 that the right things will come from it. 400 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:30,000 Listen to this verse. You've probably also heard at a 401 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:31,920 wedding or two from Ephesians chapter 5. 402 00:20:33,120 --> 00:20:35,160 Everybody loves it. For husbands, this means love 403 00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:38,600 your wives just as Christ love the church. 404 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:47,760 All right, men, make sure you love your wives just as Christ 405 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:51,520 loves the church, OK? Said He gave up his life for her 406 00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:54,200 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God's 407 00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:56,440 Word. And he did this to present her 408 00:20:56,440 --> 00:20:59,680 to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any 409 00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:02,240 other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and 410 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:03,840 without fault. And holiness is what we've been 411 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:07,680 discussing this whole series. You want the best things for 412 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:11,280 your wife, then you give yourself up for her. 413 00:21:13,160 --> 00:21:15,400 You live a sacrificial life. We'll get to. 414 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:21,080 In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love 415 00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:23,080 their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife 416 00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:27,960 actually shows love for himself. Let's skip ahead a little bit. 417 00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:30,040 When we read scriptures like this, it can be tempting to 418 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:31,560 immediately think about your spouse. 419 00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:35,040 Married people start thinking about a husband and what they 420 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:36,880 should be doing differently or their wife or what they should 421 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:39,000 be doing differently. But covenant faithfulness always 422 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:41,760 starts by looking in the mirror before looking across the room. 423 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:44,400 I want to talk about some ways that you can choose 424 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:46,200 faithfulness. The very first thing is to honor 425 00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:48,720 your commitments. And I would say this especially 426 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:52,440 when nobody else can see them, when nobody is able to measure 427 00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:55,560 how successful you are at it. I can preach to you all and I 428 00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:58,120 can give you a good story about something nice I did for Cassie 429 00:21:58,120 --> 00:22:00,520 and be like, Oh yeah, Pastor and his wife love each other so 430 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:04,000 much. We also don't agree many times I 431 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:07,440 have to be the same guy when I'm alone with her that I am here. 432 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:10,480 And if I'm not, there's a real problem and maybe you won't know 433 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:12,320 it right away, but it'll catch up to me in time. 434 00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:14,200 It's the same thing wherever you work. 435 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:15,480 It's the same thing with your family. 436 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:18,200 Don't be the people that look at your spouse or your kids and say 437 00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:19,680 act right. Don't embarrass me. 438 00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:20,920 We'll discuss this when we get in the cart. 439 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:23,840 No, just talk about it now. Just talk about it now. 440 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:27,200 Be the same and honor your commitments. 441 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:30,120 If nobody is going to give you an attaboy for what you've done 442 00:22:30,120 --> 00:22:34,120 for your spouse, who cares? You know what that tells me? 443 00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:35,960 You were doing it for the attaboy. 444 00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:38,440 You weren't doing it as a show of devotion and love. 445 00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:43,120 So I would just tell you, most marriages are not strengthened 446 00:22:43,120 --> 00:22:46,000 through the grand gestures. They're strengthened through 447 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:48,400 ordinary, consistent shows of love. 448 00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:50,240 A lot of times you say, well, I just can't afford to do 449 00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:52,720 something really nice or to do something big cool. 450 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:54,960 You think that all of these ancient Jewish people were able 451 00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:57,040 to do big extravagant date nights? 452 00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:02,560 No, But how about in today we do a regular text message that says 453 00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:04,280 how much we love somebody and why. 454 00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:07,560 How about having conversations when you're tired and you rather 455 00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:10,000 go to bed? How about praying out loud for 456 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:12,760 one another? Having a kind response when you 457 00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:14,800 really don't want to give a kind response? 458 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:19,360 Make a decision to remain engaged in a discussion with 459 00:23:19,360 --> 00:23:21,320 them when it would be easier to withdraw. 460 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:24,720 Your faithfulness to them is not going to be built in a single 461 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:27,000 moment, but it can get torn down in just a few. 462 00:23:28,120 --> 00:23:31,040 Another way is to grow in covenant faithfulness by 463 00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:33,120 treating your commitment as something that you practice 464 00:23:33,120 --> 00:23:34,480 instead of something you possess. 465 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:37,120 Yeah, wear a ring. And I would never cheat on you 466 00:23:37,120 --> 00:23:38,440 so you don't have to worry about that. 467 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:40,400 That's great. But practice them as a daily 468 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:42,920 discipline. We're a church, so we talk a lot 469 00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:45,720 about pray every day, read your Bible every day, a lot of these 470 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:48,120 kinds of things. Talk to your spouse every day. 471 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:49,440 And I mean more than good morning. 472 00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:53,000 Or did you set coffee? Talk to them, have real 473 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:55,800 conversations. Make them a daily discipline. 474 00:23:56,560 --> 00:23:59,080 It's great if you have to have some sort of like reminder, you 475 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:02,840 know, but do what your reminder says. 476 00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:07,560 If you've got a daily discipline here, you'll keep doing it and 477 00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:09,360 you'll grow stronger in it. And if you don't, it'll grow 478 00:24:09,360 --> 00:24:16,120 weaker just like anything else. For those that are married, by 479 00:24:16,120 --> 00:24:18,120 the way, I would just encourage you to ask a simple question 480 00:24:18,120 --> 00:24:20,520 this week. Ask this of yourself. 481 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:22,040 Don't say it out loud because they might hear you. 482 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:26,960 What would make my spouse feel loved, supported and valued? 483 00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:32,960 Sounds simple. I'm not saying that you ask 484 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:36,240 yourself what can I do for them? Because we can always think. 485 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:38,800 Think of things to do for them. And let's be honest, half the 486 00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:40,240 time a lot of people don't even try. 487 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:42,320 They phone it in, they Google it or ChatGPT. 488 00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:44,800 It give me a good idea to make sure my wife knows that I love 489 00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:47,920 her. So romantic. 490 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:53,640 Don't ask what you can do. Ask what would make them feel 491 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:56,480 loved or seen or valued. And if you have trouble knowing 492 00:24:56,480 --> 00:25:00,200 what would make them see loved or seen or valued, go back to 493 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:02,800 the conversation, getting that daily commitment to talk to 494 00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:04,880 them. They are different from you 495 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:07,320 guys. I don't know if you need me to 496 00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:10,000 say this. Your wife is different from you. 497 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:15,880 And as much as we laugh about this, aren't we glad? 498 00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:20,160 Aren't we glad? OK, Faithfulness, by the way, is 499 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:22,200 not a marriage skill, it's a life skill. 500 00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:24,200 And I say that because for those that are not married, the 501 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:27,640 principle is still the same. It will help you grow in 502 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:29,920 discipleship. The habits that make somebody 503 00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:32,440 faithful in marriage are the same habits that will make you 504 00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:36,200 faithful in a friendship or in a ministry, in a church, in any 505 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:38,480 sort of relationship, including your relationship with the Lord. 506 00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:41,560 Learning to keep and and honor your commitments, keep your 507 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:44,280 word, serve other people, and remain dependable will carry you 508 00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:46,880 through every relationship that the Lord lays before you. 509 00:25:48,360 --> 00:25:50,760 Covenant always chooses faithfulness because love is a 510 00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:53,320 choice, right? Once you've entered into that 511 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:55,640 and you've chosen to be faithful, there is something 512 00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:58,960 that a covenant will require from you, and that's sacrifice. 513 00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:03,600 It's going to require sacrifice, and I hate to tell you that, but 514 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:04,800 somebody's going to have to pay for it. 515 00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:09,160 Covenant is costly. By the time you arrive at Hosea 516 00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:10,760 chapter 3, we'll be there in a moment. 517 00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:13,440 The story's become even more painful because the warnings 518 00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:15,000 have been given. All of these children with 519 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:18,760 wonderful names have been born, but the unfaithfulness has now 520 00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:20,840 happened again, and the relationship is broken. 521 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:24,360 If this were the way most human stories unfold, you would expect 522 00:26:24,360 --> 00:26:26,560 Jose to walk away. As a matter of fact, if you were 523 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:30,680 counseling Hosea, you would tell him to walk away. 524 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:35,600 We would expect the marriage to be over. 525 00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:38,680 We would expect the trail to be what had the final word in that 526 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:40,960 story. But instead, God himself asks 527 00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:44,280 Hosea to do something that to me is just almost unthinkable. 528 00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:47,360 He's the same man who was asked to enter the covenant is now 529 00:26:47,360 --> 00:26:49,480 being asked to pursue the person who violated it. 530 00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:53,640 The same man who experienced heartbreak is now being asked to 531 00:26:53,640 --> 00:26:57,080 demonstrate redemption. The same man who had every 532 00:26:57,080 --> 00:27:00,960 reason to leave, biblically speaking to is now being 533 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:02,640 commanded to move towards restoration. 534 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:05,560 Listen to this. We'll read all of chapter 3. 535 00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:07,880 And for those that don't have their Bibles open, it's 5 536 00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:10,760 verses. All right, the Lord said to me, 537 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:14,440 go and love your wife again, even though she commits adultery 538 00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:17,160 with another lover. This will illustrate that the 539 00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:20,040 Lord still loves Israel, even though the people have turned to 540 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:21,840 other gods and love to worship them. 541 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:26,280 And Jose writes this, he said, So I bought her back for 15 542 00:27:26,280 --> 00:27:28,640 pieces of silver and five bushels of barley in a measure 543 00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:32,160 of wine. And then I said to her, you must 544 00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:34,840 live in my house for many days and stop your prostitution. 545 00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:39,960 That's great advice. During this time, you will not 546 00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:42,080 have sexual relations with anyone, not even with me. 547 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:45,760 This shows that Israel will go a long time without a king or a 548 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:49,320 Prince and without sacrifices, sacred pillars, priests, or even 549 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:51,560 idols. But afterward, the people will 550 00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:54,200 return and devote themselves to the Lord their God and to 551 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:57,560 David's descendant, their king. In the last days, they will 552 00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:00,160 tremble in awe of the Lord and His goodness. 553 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:03,120 Hosea goes on for many more chapters, but that's the last 554 00:28:03,120 --> 00:28:04,640 we're going to read of Hosea this morning. 555 00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:07,680 It's a fascinating story, and it's really been adapted well in 556 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:09,560 a more modern setting. If you ever want to check it out 557 00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:11,720 as a book or a movie, it's called Redeeming Love. 558 00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:14,920 One of the reasons that this scripture is powerful, though, 559 00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:17,800 is it forces us to confront something we would rather avoid. 560 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:20,360 And it is. This covenant is expensive. 561 00:28:21,360 --> 00:28:23,800 It's expensive. And no, this is not a commentary 562 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:26,640 on how much spouses cost you or prenuptial agreements. 563 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:30,280 We love the wedding. We love the wedding day because 564 00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:32,840 the wedding day feels joyful. We love the celebration. 565 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:35,240 We love the pictures, don't we? When somebody puts their wedding 566 00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:37,760 pictures up, we love watching them do their vows. 567 00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:40,480 We love watching the groom cry when he sees the bride. 568 00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:44,120 You don't always think about every vow that they make is also 569 00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:47,800 a sacrifice, and that's whether they use traditional vows, they 570 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:49,320 have their own vows or some hybrid. 571 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:51,720 The moment that you promise yourself to another person as a 572 00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:55,160 romantic partner, you are simultaneously surrendering 573 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:58,640 countless other possibilities. Every covenant cost something 574 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:01,200 because every covenant also involves choosing one thing 575 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:03,760 above another. The second that you say I do to 576 00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:07,120 somebody, you're saying I don't to everybody else. 577 00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:11,120 And that's the way it's also supposed to be in our spiritual 578 00:29:11,120 --> 00:29:12,680 lives. What makes Hosea's story so 579 00:29:12,680 --> 00:29:15,360 great is that the sacrifice doesn't end with the wedding. 580 00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:18,360 In a lot of ways, the sacrifice that Hosea has to make actually 581 00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:20,320 becomes greater after the wedding. 582 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:23,240 You notice that Hosea doesn't just forgive Gomer from a 583 00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:25,560 distance. That is what we typically do 584 00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:27,640 here, and I'm not saying that it's wrong to do that. 585 00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:29,680 You can love someone, but love them from a distance. 586 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:31,720 You don't allow them access again once they've hurt you. 587 00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:34,480 I understand all of this. I'm saying that what God 588 00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:38,040 specifically told Hosea to do could not have been done from a 589 00:29:38,040 --> 00:29:40,080 distance. Don't you think he would have 590 00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:41,520 loved that? Lord, I'll forgive her. 591 00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:42,680 I'm just going to do it from a distance. 592 00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:44,560 I'm going to go and get remarried and have babies and 593 00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:47,880 maybe give them better names and the story have a different 594 00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:50,920 ending. And God says go get her 595 00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:56,600 beautiful Gomer, the woman who wandered away has to be 596 00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:58,280 redeemed. God has a plan here. 597 00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:00,280 And so I would just tell you this. 598 00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:02,880 Jose is spending something of himself for the sake of 599 00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:05,360 restoration. But isn't that true of every 600 00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:06,800 meaningful relationship that we have? 601 00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:09,320 All healthy relationships require sacrifice. 602 00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:13,480 Parents, we have to sacrifice for our children, don't we? 603 00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:16,120 Friends sacrifice for one another all the time. 604 00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:19,760 Any relationship that lasts long enough eventually reaches 605 00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:21,560 moments where love becomes costly. 606 00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:25,320 And at some point, every healthy marriage has to ask both people 607 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:27,800 to surrender their pride, surrender their convenience, 608 00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:32,000 their preferences, all of this. The challenge is that I feel 609 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:35,520 like today a lot of people feel like sacrifice is indicating 610 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:39,880 that something is wrong. I think a lot of times we assume 611 00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:42,200 that if love becomes difficult, then it's broken. 612 00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:45,560 No, love is difficult because it's valuable. 613 00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:48,360 You're building something that is highly valuable. 614 00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:51,880 Scripture consistently shows sacrifices, evidence that love 615 00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:55,280 is real. I mean, it's not a fairy tale. 616 00:30:55,920 --> 00:30:59,040 And so the deepest forms of love are always measured by what they 617 00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:03,440 cost us when things are easy. Same principle is here in our 618 00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:05,720 relationship with the Lord. Because following Jesus will 619 00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:08,920 always be costly and it'll cost you your pride and your 620 00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:11,760 independence and your right to sit on the throne of your own 621 00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:15,400 life. Being in a military community, I 622 00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:17,800 feel like a lot of you would know this in a way that many 623 00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:20,600 don't. Long deployments, going off for 624 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:24,520 WTI, going off for different trainings, things like this. 625 00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:27,160 Being told that your hours are changing over the next week. 626 00:31:27,360 --> 00:31:29,880 It's a lot to hurry up and wait. From what I understand, there's 627 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:32,960 a certain sacrifice that military families have to endure 628 00:31:33,360 --> 00:31:36,040 because of the benefits of working for the military as 629 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:39,440 well. Everything that has value that 630 00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:41,200 is accessible to you in life is costly. 631 00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:46,040 Philippians chapter 2 says this. Don't be selfish and don't try 632 00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:48,760 to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as 633 00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:50,720 better than yourselves. We preach this a lot. 634 00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:53,680 Hear it through this lens. Don't look out only for your own 635 00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:55,920 interests, but take an interest in others too. 636 00:31:57,000 --> 00:31:59,800 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. 637 00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:02,960 Though he was God, He did not think of equality with God as 638 00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:06,560 something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine 639 00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:08,880 privileges. He took the humble position of a 640 00:32:08,880 --> 00:32:11,520 slave and was born as a human being. 641 00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:13,680 That tells me he had a choice there. 642 00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:17,240 When he appeared in human form, He humbled himself in obedience 643 00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:20,240 to God and died a criminal's death on a cross. 644 00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:23,480 One thing I want to acknowledge before we talk about how to 645 00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:25,760 sacrifice the right things. Is this OK? 646 00:32:26,520 --> 00:32:29,400 Not every earthly relationship is meant to continue forever, 647 00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:32,960 and that's OK. We just talked about seasons 648 00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:35,080 earlier today. But there are circumstances also 649 00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:37,880 that involve abuse or abandonment or serious covenant 650 00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:40,560 breaking where separation might become necessary. 651 00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:42,960 And Scripture is littered with examples of this, too. 652 00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:45,320 We live in a fallen world. And this message is not meant to 653 00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:48,200 trap anybody in something that is going to perpetually destroy 654 00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:50,000 you. And I want to make that clear. 655 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:53,560 But I want you to know sometimes relationships become unsafe or 656 00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:55,160 destructive. Sometimes they just outlive 657 00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:57,240 their season. But the the Bible's not calling 658 00:32:57,240 --> 00:32:59,600 people to remain in situations that place them in danger. 659 00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:02,480 And I want to make that clear, but while there are earthly 660 00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:04,920 relationships that sometimes require an exit, there is one 661 00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:06,840 relationship that that's never true. 662 00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:10,480 I want you to know, even though you may know it theologically, 663 00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:13,040 there has never been a moment when God looked at your failures 664 00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:14,680 and decided He was done pursuing you. 665 00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:18,840 Not once. There's never been a season in 666 00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:20,680 which Christ stopped loving His church. 667 00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:22,680 There's never a time where they went again. 668 00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:27,880 All right, I'm out. The Lord is so patient with us. 669 00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:31,120 What does sacrificial covenant Love Actually look like in 670 00:33:31,120 --> 00:33:33,000 everyday life? The first thing is you've got to 671 00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:35,640 learn to sacrifice your preferences before you end up 672 00:33:35,640 --> 00:33:40,560 sacrificing your convictions. A lot of relationship conflicts 673 00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:41,920 aren't really about right and wrong. 674 00:33:41,920 --> 00:33:44,000 They're normally about my way or your way. 675 00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:46,960 Covenant asks us to stop treating every preference that 676 00:33:46,960 --> 00:33:50,520 we have, like a principal. Does the trash really have to be 677 00:33:50,520 --> 00:33:53,560 taken out that way? Does the toilet paper really 678 00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:55,800 have to sit that way? That one? 679 00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:59,680 The answer is yes, it should. It should cascade like a 680 00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:01,840 waterfall. It should not be a mullet, 681 00:34:02,320 --> 00:34:05,520 right? OK, I gave you guys functional 682 00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:08,040 advice today. You're welcome. 683 00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:15,800 But is it worth a divorce? Some of you are like, OK, 684 00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:19,199 sometimes love means letting someone else choose the 685 00:34:19,199 --> 00:34:24,159 restaurant or the vacation plan or the movie or the schedule or 686 00:34:24,159 --> 00:34:25,840 the approach to hard conversations. 687 00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:27,560 It's not because your opinion doesn't matter. 688 00:34:27,560 --> 00:34:29,719 It's because preserving the relationship matters more than 689 00:34:29,719 --> 00:34:33,000 winning every discussion. You know what you win if you win 690 00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:35,920 every discussion? A no prize, it's not worth it. 691 00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:40,040 Another sacrifice is you have to sacrifice being right. 692 00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:43,199 This doesn't mean that you lie and you say that you were wrong 693 00:34:43,199 --> 00:34:45,360 if you were right. But here's what I mean by this. 694 00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:48,040 Most of us have had moments where we are correct and we feel 695 00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:50,600 the need to make sure that everybody knows it as well. 696 00:34:51,760 --> 00:34:54,080 Healthy relationships will require humility, and sometimes 697 00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:56,760 the question is not am I right? The better question is what will 698 00:34:56,760 --> 00:35:00,240 help this relationship thrive? You all know you can win an 699 00:35:00,240 --> 00:35:01,680 argument and lose the person, right? 700 00:35:03,480 --> 00:35:06,640 We also need to learn to sacrifice convenience because 701 00:35:06,640 --> 00:35:09,640 again, every single meaningful relationship we have eventually 702 00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:12,440 interrupts our plans. It will ask for time when you're 703 00:35:12,440 --> 00:35:15,280 tired. It will ask for conversations 704 00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:18,760 when you would rather be quiet. It will ask for forgiveness when 705 00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:21,280 you would rather stay offended because it makes you feel right. 706 00:35:21,440 --> 00:35:25,120 See the last point? It will also ask you to spend 707 00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:28,320 when you could have saved. It asks for service when you 708 00:35:28,320 --> 00:35:30,800 would rather focus on yourself. But covenant love repeatedly 709 00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:33,760 chooses people over convenience. And probably the greatest 710 00:35:33,760 --> 00:35:36,040 sacrifice of all is surrendering the throne at some point. 711 00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:39,360 And you won't meet her standards and it's going to go poorly. 712 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:42,480 Same thing, other way around. If you surrender the throne of 713 00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:45,160 your heart to your husband, they're going to fail you. 714 00:35:45,160 --> 00:35:47,000 They're not going to meet expectations. 715 00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:48,680 You see what I'm saying? Like it's going to happen when 716 00:35:48,680 --> 00:35:50,080 you surrender the throne of your heart. 717 00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:52,680 Every relationship is through the filter of Lord. 718 00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:55,320 What do you want me to do in this relationship? 719 00:35:56,400 --> 00:36:00,640 Now you're now you're cooking. If y'all are getting baptized, 720 00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:02,520 I'm going to ask for you to head on out to the foyer and just 721 00:36:02,520 --> 00:36:04,040 prep. I've just got another scripture 722 00:36:04,040 --> 00:36:06,520 that I really want to share with everybody before we we head back 723 00:36:06,520 --> 00:36:08,240 there and worship team y'all can come up here too. 724 00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:11,640 As we bring not only this message but this whole series to 725 00:36:11,640 --> 00:36:14,000 a close, I want us to remember that the story of scripture is 726 00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:17,320 ultimately a story about covenant from beginning to end. 727 00:36:17,560 --> 00:36:21,520 Did you notice that it begins with a marriage with Adam and 728 00:36:21,520 --> 00:36:25,160 Eve From beginning to end, God is pursuing a people that he can 729 00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:27,360 call his own and that's why marriage pursues. 730 00:36:27,600 --> 00:36:29,680 Marriage appears so often throughout the Bible. 731 00:36:29,920 --> 00:36:33,160 Marriage is not just a a human institution as some people 732 00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:34,800 teach. It is one of the clearest 733 00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:37,160 pictures that God gives us of a relationship with his people. 734 00:36:37,760 --> 00:36:40,160 The way that God loves his church, loves his people, is not 735 00:36:40,160 --> 00:36:44,240 a picture of marriage. Marriage is a picture of how God 736 00:36:44,240 --> 00:36:46,480 loves his people. And if our marriage is just a 737 00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:48,920 picture of how we love each other and we are insulated 738 00:36:48,920 --> 00:36:52,120 against the world and it's just the two of us, well, that 739 00:36:52,120 --> 00:36:54,280 doesn't really show John 316, does it? 740 00:36:54,280 --> 00:36:56,880 That God so loved the world that he gave his only son. 741 00:36:57,480 --> 00:37:00,560 Our marriage has to reflect the way that God is with his church. 742 00:37:01,760 --> 00:37:04,040 We said this earlier, but do you remember this, husbands? 743 00:37:04,040 --> 00:37:06,160 It means love your wives just as Christ loved the church. 744 00:37:06,160 --> 00:37:09,760 It could not be any more clear, but I want you to know that when 745 00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:12,560 Paul describes Christ's love for the church, he's not describing 746 00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:15,400 a distant relationship. He's talking about a Saviour who 747 00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:19,000 gave himself up for his bride, is actively preparing his bride, 748 00:37:19,160 --> 00:37:21,880 and who intends to present his bride to himself as radiant and 749 00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:26,440 holy and beautiful. It goes on to say this clean 750 00:37:26,440 --> 00:37:28,440 washed by the cleansing of God's Word. 751 00:37:29,560 --> 00:37:31,880 See, the Jewish people knew a lot about ritual cleansings and 752 00:37:31,880 --> 00:37:34,880 washings, right? The goal of holiness has never 753 00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:36,480 been perfection for perfection's sake. 754 00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:39,960 The goal of holiness is because God is preparing a people that 755 00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:43,960 belong to him. Here's your final verse for the 756 00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:46,120 morning. After all the wandering and the 757 00:37:46,120 --> 00:37:48,320 failures and all the redemption and all the waiting and all the 758 00:37:48,320 --> 00:37:51,560 years of God's faithful pursuit, we start with a wedding with 759 00:37:51,560 --> 00:37:53,880 Adam and Eve. All of Scripture ends with a 760 00:37:53,880 --> 00:37:58,080 wedding as well. Revelation chapter 19, verse 6. 761 00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:02,520 Then I heard again what sounded like the shout of a vast crowd, 762 00:38:02,520 --> 00:38:05,640 or the roar of a mighty ocean wave, or the crash of loud 763 00:38:05,640 --> 00:38:07,680 Thunder. Praise the Lord, for the Lord 764 00:38:07,680 --> 00:38:11,520 our God the Almighty reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice and 765 00:38:11,520 --> 00:38:14,600 let us give honour to Him for the time has come for the 766 00:38:14,600 --> 00:38:19,120 wedding feast of the Lamb, and His bride has prepared herself. 767 00:38:19,800 --> 00:38:22,440 She's been given the finest of pure white linen to wear. 768 00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:26,000 For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God's holy 769 00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:28,480 people. And the Angel said to me, write 770 00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:32,600 this, hear this guys. Blessed are those who are 771 00:38:32,600 --> 00:38:34,520 invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. 772 00:38:34,920 --> 00:38:37,840 And he added, these are the true words that come from God. 773 00:38:38,160 --> 00:38:42,880 What a fitting end to the story. Everything in between those two 774 00:38:42,880 --> 00:38:45,680 weddings points towards the moment where Christ is united 775 00:38:45,680 --> 00:38:48,920 with his people and the covenant reaches its fulfilment in just a 776 00:38:48,920 --> 00:38:50,320 few moments. We're going to celebrate water 777 00:38:50,320 --> 00:38:51,920 baptism. Baptism. 778 00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:54,760 I want to be clear on this is not what saves any of us. 779 00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:58,560 Christ alone saves. Faith in Christ alone is what 780 00:38:58,560 --> 00:39:01,080 saves us. But baptism is a beautiful 781 00:39:01,080 --> 00:39:02,640 declaration that we belong to Him. 782 00:39:02,640 --> 00:39:05,360 It's a public identification with his death, burial, and 783 00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:07,440 resurrection. It's a way of saying I've placed 784 00:39:07,440 --> 00:39:09,280 my faith in Jesus and I belong to him. 785 00:39:09,680 --> 00:39:11,680 And we've spent the last four weeks talking about hidden 786 00:39:11,680 --> 00:39:14,840 holiness, guarding our hearts, making sure that we're being 787 00:39:14,840 --> 00:39:18,040 purified in the way that God desires these people. 788 00:39:18,200 --> 00:39:21,200 I want you to clap for every single one of them because God 789 00:39:21,200 --> 00:39:24,400 is inviting them into a covenant and they have said yes to it. 790 00:39:25,600 --> 00:39:27,640 He's still inviting people into a relationship. 791 00:39:27,640 --> 00:39:30,760 And so I would just also say this, if you're here today and 792 00:39:30,760 --> 00:39:32,960 you've never taken that step of baptism or you feel like the 793 00:39:32,960 --> 00:39:35,400 Lord's tugging on your heart, I want you to know that invitation 794 00:39:35,400 --> 00:39:36,840 is still open. We don't have a change of 795 00:39:36,840 --> 00:39:39,120 clothes for you, but that's a cool story for later, right? 796 00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:43,280 Maybe you had no plans to participate, but if the Holy 797 00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:45,600 Spirit is stirred in your heart, I would just tell you, step into 798 00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:48,960 the covenant today and see what it's like to be loved and 799 00:39:48,960 --> 00:39:51,200 covered by a holy and pure God. Amen.