Invitation to Repentance (Hosea 6:1-3)

Welcome to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in Morning Sun, Iowa. Check us out online at www.sharonrpc.org. We pray that this message will be a blessing to you and that the Lord will use it to transform your faith and your life. Thank you. Good morning. Beautiful morning. Last time I came here in summer with my dad.

And he grew up on a farm. And he lived there for his 78 years on a farm. And I stayed until I went to college. So I'm very familiar with it. Always when I come, it's beautiful here. I feel like home. I call Kansas especially. a Punjab of Pakistan. So it's very similar. Little more, this is, Pakistan is, Punjab is more flatter, more fertile, more, they have more water, but it looks very similar. But I have, I got water here too. Yeah. Thank you. Well, this morning, we have a text from Old Testament.

The book of Hosea, if you can turn to that, chapter 6, and we are going to see how God and what God teaches us today from that text. Isaiah, chapter 6, and we will be focusing on first three verses. but I'm going to go back into the context, especially chapter four and five as well, and we will see also chapter six for the context, sake of context, what's going on here. Hosea chapter six, verses one through three. This is God's holy, an inerrant word. My translation might be slightly different. I don't know what translation you are using here, but that's N-A-S-B, but very similar to your translation. Here's the word of God.

Come, let us return to the Lord, for he has torn us, but he will heal us. He has wounded us, but he will bandage us. He will revive us after two days. He will raise us up on the third day that we may live before him. So let us know. Let us press on to know the Lord. His going forth is as certain as the dawn, and he will come to us like the rain. like the spring rain watering the earth. Amen. And we have seen yesterday, day before yesterday, rain and snow while we were coming. It was not snowing there in Overland Park in Kansas, but when we were on our way, we saw it snowing. Beautiful, beautiful. Let us pray before we enter into studying God's Word. Let us pray.

Gracious and holy God, we now are here in your presence, Lord, to hear you to speak from heaven to us, to receive your rain, which never return in vain, Lord, but ripen a harvest either of corn or weeds or grace or judgment, Lord. Our hearts are prepared to learn this morning and to love your word. Your laws is counselor to us, gracious God. I pray that we will be ruled by it and it is our divine physician. We will be healed by it. It is our schoolmaster. We will be obedient to it.

And Lord, I am going to preach this morning your unchanging and life-changing word. Help me to offer a testimony for yourself and to leave sinners inexcusable in neglecting your mercy this morning. In Christ's gracious and merciful name I ask, amen. Amen.

The Bible, the Word of God, 66 books, what we have, the Bible is the book filled with invitations. And as you see in your bulletin, the title of today's sermon is The Invitation to Repentance. The Invitation to Repentance. And Bible is filled with invitations. From the beginning to the end, the first invitation is found in John chapter 7 verse 1, where God invites Noah's family into the ark. And the last invitation is found in the book of Revelation, chapter 22, the last verse, where John invites Jesus Christ, his Lord. He invites for the Lord to come and return quickly. And between these two invitations, or these two books, Bible is filled with many more invitations.

They are throughout in the Bible. But in our text today, the prophet Hosea calls out to the people of Israel. Let us return. Let us return. And it is a call for both personal and national revival, actually. It is a call for personal and national revival.

You know why? Because Israel had forsaken the way of the Lord and they have turned away from him to worship idols. Worship idols and false gods of Canaanites. That's what was going on. This invitation is a call for them to repent of their sins and to turn their hearts back to their own living God, one and true living God.

While these three verses we read, these verses were written long ago to the people of Israel, God's people. many thousand years back, but they still have a message that speaks to our need today. Just like ancient Israel, America needs a revival. Any country, but especially Western world. America needs revival.

People of this country have drifted away from their religious roots. This country has given itself over to sin and evil of every description. The horror of abortion, we see around here. The abomination of sodomite marriage, the extensive rise in sin. People are miles away from God and needs to find the place of repentance and redemption.

But remember, remember God's people before there will ever be a revival, national revival in America or any country, there must be first revival within the churches of America. And before ever will there be a revival within the churches or in the churches, there must be a revival in the hearts of individual believers.

Today's passage is a call actually to you this morning, to everybody who is listening. This is a call to God's people to humble themselves before God and to seek his face for forgiveness and restoration. It is, in essence, an invitation to repentance. Invitation to repentance. Remember? Repentance or contrition, these two words We do not hear very often these days. Do you? I don't.

But we have to remember, but these two words, but it describes people who are brokenhearted, that they have wronged God. It is a state of heart that God will honor. We have to understand that. That's why Psalm 34 verse 18, the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. And Psalm 51 verse 70 also says that the sacrifices of God are broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart.

Oh God, you will not despise. I think this message is one that we need to hear today. We are living in a time when there is a very little contrition and remorse over sin. People, even church people, even believer, even Christian can live any old way and never feel any remorse over their waywardness.

Therefore, I want to show you this morning two ways how God reaches out to those who are far away from him. And those would be my two points this morning. The first one is the plea, God's plea to wayward people and God's promise and plan to wayward people.

If you look at verse 1, let me read again verse 1, the first part, verse 1. Come, let us return to the Lord, for he has torn us, but he will heal us. Let me stop here right now, the first part of that verse. Let us return. Come, let us return to the Lord.

The people of Israel had every reason to serve and honor God. Think about that, what God has done to them. They have every reason to serve and honor God, yet for no reason they have abandoned him and turned to follow other gods. They were reckless and wild people.

They had no discipline in their spiritual lives, and that's why the phrase, let us return in our text, implies that in the past, there was a closer relationship to God, but that is not right now. They are far away from God. There had been time in their lives when they were closer. Do you see any parallel in your own life? When we were closer to God and we are not anymore? And their love for him is not as strong as it used to be.

They had become wayward people, wayward or wicked people. their condition, I want to show you from chapter 6 and 7 what was actually their spiritual condition. And we can find their six metaphors of their current spiritual situation in chapter 6 and 7. Let us go back to chapter 6, verse 4.

The first metaphor for their condition, in Hosea 6, verse 4, they are like morning cloud. What they are? They are like morning cloud, or early dew. What does it mean? Let me read that verse to you again. What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud, and like a dew which goes away early.

That is the description, first description of their spiritual condition. Their devotion, that means their devotion to God was like the early morning dew. which sparkles like millions of jewels under the sun, but soon burns away. Soon, as soon as the sun comes up. Soon burns away. The devotion of God was shallow and temporary. They had a tag for Christian, God's people, like Christian, we put crosses, or they looked like Christians, or looked like God's people. but their devotion to God was too shallow, like morning cloud or early dew. They talked about getting right with God, but their repentance and devotion was temporary. That was the first description or metaphor for God's people and their spiritual condition.

The next metaphor is found in chapter 7, verse 6. Let's see what is going on there. Chapter 7, verse 6. For their hearts are like an oven. As they approach their plotting, their anger moulders at night. In the morning, it burns like a flaming fire. So here, God is describing their hearts like oven.

Maybe women. How's life here? Now it's better. My wife like to bake and daughter. And even in my own country, we have a mud oven. They just try to heat up it overnight all the time. And then in the morning, it's ready for baking. That's the condition of their hearts. Like an oven heated to its maximum temperature so it's ready during the night so it would be ready in the morning to bake.

Israel burned their passion with sin. Their hearts were full of passion, passion of sin. The use of words, if you look at in verses 3, 6, 4 of our text, you will find there are three different words in verse 3, wickedness, verse 4, adulterers, and verse 5, wine. All these words describe the condition of their hearts. They confirm their passion for sin. That's why God calls them, you are like a heated oven. Heated oven. They should have had passion for God. But rather, for God and his things. But rather they loved their sin for more than they loved God.

That's what's going on today around us. That is the situation around us. The third metaphor for the spiritual condition of God's people is found in verse 7, Hosea 7 verse 8. Let's see what God calls them there. Israel is called there In previous verses we found they are like heated oven, but here they are called a half-baked cake.

Very interesting. Very interesting. Shall we read that? 7-8, 7-8, verse 7-8. Ephraim maximized himself with the nations. mixes with nations, Ifrim has become a cake not turned. That means half-baked cake. The people of this time, and even I see in my own country right now, they cooked their bread on the heated rocks or mud ovens.

I love that. When I go back, I always try. I always eat that. Very delicious. Wonderful. And I have seen also, and you know, you make a pancake. Though I'm not very fond of that. But my children like that. I like always crispy things. But they are not very crispy. But a cake not turned, do you know what will happen to it? would burn on the one side and be raw on the other. That's called half-baked cake.

Israel was burned on her earthly side, but on their spiritual side, on their heavenly side, they compromised with their enemies. Earthly side, they were like burned, well-cooked, well-done. Yet toward Lord, their God, they were cold and uncooked. They were guilty of compromise because God wants our whole body. Not only Sunday, just one hour or some special devotion on some other day. He wants our body, souls and body all together. Not like a half baked cake.

They were guilty of that compromise. From the earthly side, that is sin side, they were burned because they had passion for that. They were like a heated oven, but they were compromising with their enemies. Yet towards the Lord, they were cold and uncooked. That was their condition. And that was the third. I have to go further. I have to go more.

There are three more passages that tell us the true condition of their spiritual condition. Let's look at chapter 7, verses 9 and 10. And God described this very pictorial, very graphic picture of God's people's spiritual condition. Verses 7 and 9 and 10, Israel is described there as a man whose strength has gone out and he is unaware of it.

That is very dangerous. Their power has gone. They have lost their power with the Lord and they are even not aware of that. Israel has lost their power with the Lord and they don't know what's going on there. They're like Samson. They mind not that the Lord was departed from them. They don't mind. They don't care.

I think that's the worst condition for God's people. Let's go on and the other next metaphor is found in verse 11 of chapter 7. What the Lord says there, how they are, how they look like. Verse 11, Israel is like a silly dove. Israel is pictured there like a silly dove. Let me share with you an illustration.

A convict. were released from prison after serving seven years for fraud. Upon his release, he immediately acquired somebody's credit card and went on spending spree that took him across the states in first-class hotels, restaurants, and private planes as soon as he came out. He got a credit card and he just went back. Maybe he thought that that's the best time. Maybe he was celebrating that. He just came out from jail. Again, he was caught and brought back to trial.

In court, he confessed what he has done. And he asked the judge to pardon on the basis that he now has learned his lesson. He said, this is the last time. I will not do any more. He said, I will never do anything like this again. But do you think the judge was very impressed by his confession? No, but the judge was unimpressed. He said, if you have learned the lesson, but I have also learned that courtroom confessions last only until the criminal gets to the door. That's all.

Then he committed the man to prison again. God's people were exactly like that person. Like that man, instead of looking to the Lord and trusting him, they flew to Egypt for help. And they had flew to Assyria again and again. Sometimes they came with devotion or asking God, but they went back. They never learned a lesson. That means there was never true repentance. They should know that these nations have failed them, but they disobeyed God by making covenants with those heathen nations.

Like who? Like a silly dove in our text. Like a silly dove. That was God's people. And last metaphor of their condition is found in verse 16 of chapter 7. Israel is pictured there like a deceitful bull. You know, bull? Yeah, but it is deceitful. That means they cannot be trusted to serve the Lord and remain faithful. They were like deceitful bull. They had been given his law. They had his law, like we have the book. And sometimes I see there are too many Bibles we have here. We have just one in Urdu. I hope we have more translations there. I see too many translations, too many Bibles are sitting right there in our homes, and we never read them.

Same way, they were given every privilege. They were given everything from God, but they never trusted Him. They never trusted Him. They should be able to obey Him. They have received everything, every blessing from God, His law, but they should have been able to walk with the Lord in holiness. But they disobeyed instead. Yet they were indecisive people. They were like silly dove.

This was the condition of Israel people in five different metaphors. We saw that in this book, in this chapter, in two chapters. As we look at them, dear God's people, let us not fail to look at ourselves today. Paul also talks about our condition like Israel's condition in Ephesians 2, verses 1 and 2. He says that, and you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of the world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. again in Colossians chapter 2 verse 13 Paul describes here when you were dead in your transgressions and and uncircumcision of your flesh he made you alive to gather with him having forgiven us all our transgressions therefore dear God's people let us not overlook our and let us not to fail to look at ourselves what God has done to us as Israel did that in the past.

They forgot what God did to them. How many in this very room this morning can remember a day when you were closer to the Lord than you are today? Can you remember a day when the things of God were more precious to you than they are right now in this morning? Can you remember a time when his house, his word, his business, and time spent with God thrilled your souls for more than they do now? We saw those five, six descriptive metaphors God used to describe God's people's condition. Can you see any parallel within your own life? Let me urge you and encourage you and challenge you this morning.

Is your devotion to God too shallow like God's people there in the Old Testament? Do you have a greater passion for sin than you do for the things of God like the heated oven God describes them? Have you compromised with the world? Have you lost your power with the Lord? Are you like a silly dove flying here and there for help in every source but the Lord? Are you like a deceitful bow that cannot be trusted to hit the target of righteousness and faithful living?

If you find yourself in this condition today and this morning, you know that you are not where you need to be. you need to come back to the Lord. Like the people in the church in absinthe, have you lost your first love? You may be going through the motions, just motions, but your heart is not aflame with the passionate love for the Lord Jesus Christ and the things of God. If you have allowed your soul to drift away from God, and this is his call to you this morning, come back to him, that will lead, and you have to come back to him. He's calling you, as Jesus called, come to me, all you are weary and heavy laden, and he will give you rest.

Second Point

And that leads us to our second point. In the first point, we saw the spiritual condition of God's people. And in the next point, in verses 1 and 2, we will see God's promise and plan for God's people. The reason Israel is interested now is saying, Hosea is saying, let us return. Why they are interested, the reason they are interested in returning to the Lord is found in two words used in verse one. What are those two words in verse one? Why they want to return this time. Come, let us return to the Lord.

And the reason is found in just two words. And what are those? For he has torn us, but he will heal us. He has wounded us, but he will bandage us. What are those words there? Torn. And in my, in some other translation, this is smitten. These are two words that describe the reason. Torn and smitten or wounded. And torn means, everybody knows that, torn means to rend, to tear, to be torn into pieces. And smitten means to strike, to beat, to hit, to slay or kill, or to attack and destroy. Though that is the reason, that is the situation going on here.

These two words describe what Israel had been going through at the hand of God because of their disobedience. And which is clear from the context of our text chapter 4 and 5. If you read, you will see what's going on there. How they are suffering and why they are suffering by the hand of God. If you look at Hosea chapter 4 verses 1 and 2, that indicate that sin had become a way of life for the people of Israel. And next, seven verses in the same chapter, chapter 4, verses 3 and 10, tell us that God will judge Israel for their sins against them.

And in his judgment, in chapter 5 and verses 14 and 15, describe that, how God is going to judge them. In that text, chapter 5, verses 14 and 15, describe that Lord is like a lion. He's like a lion that comes upon the wayward and disobedient people to tear them and punish them for what they have done. That is, God, like a lion, has torn them, wounded them. Hosea chapter 5 verse 14 says that, for I will be like a lion to Ephraim and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear to pieces and go away. I will carry away and there will be none to deliver. Wow. That's very scary situation. God himself is saying, I will come like a lion and tore into pieces and go away. And no one can deliver you from that.

And then in verse 15 of chapter five, after inflicting judgment, the Lord will withdraw his presence from them to wait for them to seek him, seek his face. After doing that, inflicting, he will go away and will wait. What is the reaction of my people? And then it is clear from these verses that Israel is going to pay a terrible price for their sinful ways. The Lord brought harsh judgment upon the nation of Israel for their disobedience. And also we can see the painful effects of that chastisement, not in a collective mission, collectively, but in personal lives of people there. Look at David, what happened to him, his own life. God chastised him, just consider David, his sin, with Bathsheba brought the chastisement of God into David's life, family, for many, many years.

And we need to understand the truth that no one ever gets away with sin. No one ever gets away with sin and if we disobey God. For by the word torn in our text, in verse one, were torn, the prophet alludes to that heavy judgment of which he had been spoken in a person of God.

The Lord made himself to be like a cruel, wild beast, like a lion. And Israel suffered God's judgment for her sin. And dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we deserved the same Same dreadful judgment to be torn and smitten. That's what Paul says in Ephesians and Colossians and many places there. But however, in his rich grace and mercy, instead of he came to us as a lion and has torn us, God poured his own grace He did not pour His wrath upon us and judgment upon us, but He poured His wrath and judgment upon His own Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Instead of Son, Christ was torn and smitten at the cross of Calvary.

We can see very similar language in Isaiah 53. If you look that, just compare Hosea chapter six, the first three verses and Hosea, Isaiah 53 verses four through five, you will find a very similar language there. Let me read a couple of verses from there, Hosea, Isaiah chapter 53. was forced. Surely our griefs he himself bore, and our sorrow he carried, yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." Do you see very similar terms there? Who is smitten and stricken and afflicted there? People, God's people. No, Christ himself.

But he was pierced through for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the chastening for our well-being fell upon him, and by his scourging we are healed. And Peter in his first letter points out this amazing truth this way. He says in Peter 1, chapter 2, verse 24, and he himself bore our sins in his body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. For by his wounds, you were healed. Instead of God poured his wrath upon us, his people, he poured his wrath upon his own son.

Dear God's people, in this life we may find God sometimes to be like a lion, like a furious, like a dangerous animal. Yet his proper office is to heal and to bind the wounds. Therefore, there's no reason why should we shun his presence this morning. We see that the design of prophets words in our text was to show us that no chastisement is too severe that it is odd to break down our spirits. God is gracious as well, but give to us hope in Christ Jesus and to stir us up ourself to repentance, to come back to him boldly because Christ has paid the price.

He was smitten, he was stricken, he was afflicted instead of us. That's why we can return to him. If we would return to him this morning, God would minister to us personally by his spiritual presence in celebrating this morning, worshiping him. And sometimes we celebrate His table and part comes to Him. We are not doing this morning, but we are taking this spiritual food this morning from the Word of God. He would meet our, if we come to Him, He will meet our needs quickly and He would restore us to the place of help and blessing.

Providentially, If you look at the end of this book, if you look at the end of book chapter 14, Hosea chapter 14, God has providentially provided us that blessing. Providentially, Lord's final appeal and promise is found there in verses 1, 2, and 4, Hosea chapter 14. And he promised that he will never abandon his people. Let me read those verses, verses 1, 2, and 4. Chapter 14, verses 1, 2, and 4.

Return, O Israel, now who is speaking? Before, Hosea was speaking. Let us return, but now who is speaking? God is speaking. Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God. It's an invitation. For you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him, take away all guilt, except that which is good, and we will offer the fruits of our lips. Verse four.

I will, here you see God speaking in himself. I will heal their disloyalty. I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them." God was angry like a lion. Did we see that? But here is a promise. He has turned. He's no more angry. For my anger has turned from them because of Christ Jesus.

Therefore, this morning, I would encourage you and invite you. First of all, confess your sin and come to him. Secondly, appeal to God on the basis of his own son, who has finished the work of our salvation on the cross of Calvary, and he was smitten, afflicted, and stricken for our sake.

Now I want to conclude with one verse from 1 John 1, verses 8 and 9. I think that's very appropriate. 1 John 1, verses 8 and 9, if we say that we have no sin like the old people or like we do often Israel, We have no sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

And if we confess our sin on the other side, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all our iniquity. God, the healer, the God the one who pour abundant grace be with you this morning and help you to repent, confess, and come to him and seek his face. May God bless you. Let us pray.

Gracious and merciful God, we have sinned in our thoughts and deeds personally, collectively and as a whole nation. In the wrong we have done and in the good we have not done. We have sinned in ignorance. We have sinned in weakness. We have sinned in our own deliberate faults.

Dear Lord, we repent truly this morning for what you have done for us through your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, upon whom you have poured your wrath to save us from that wrath. Now, O Lord, we return to you. Forgive us for the sake of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. and renew our lives to the glory of your name. In Christ's glorious and gracious name I ask. Amen. Amen.

Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.