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So on the last chapter there of Hosea, Hosea chapter 14, and it's actually quite a positive chapter. You know, we've been going through this chapter by chapter. It's been very negative, especially the first few chapters. So we do end on a very hopeful note. And if you look at Hosea 14 verse number 4, it says, I will heal their backsliding. I will love them freely. The title for the sermon this evening is, I will love them freely. I will love them freely. Okay, so that is without constraints. He's not being forced to love them. God is speaking about this love that he can have to the people of Israel, which we'll have a look at who that is soon. And he says, look, I will love them. Regardless of what happens, he can love them freely. But let's start there in verse number 1. It begins by saying, O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God, for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. And so, you know, just a quick introduction to the rest of the chapter, which is the message of the whole book. The people of Israel have turned against the Lord. The Lord is coming. He's bringing his judgment. He's bringing the Assyrians. They're soon going to be taken captive. They're soon going to be scattered off the land. And we know that eventually, you know, they never returned. They never returned back from the captivity. And the people were intermingled with all kinds of other people in the area. And they became known as the Samaritans. But you can see here that God is still sending a message of hope. He's saying, look, just return back to me. Okay? Turn back to the Lord God. Return back to the Lord God. So this is the last chapter in otherwise a very negative book. But it does have a hopeful message. Look at verse number 2. I want you to notice what is it that takes away all iniquity there. Take away all iniquity. Is God saying, hey, repent of your sins so you can be saved as a nation? But have a look at that. Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously. So how is it that God can receive us? Or how is it that God receives a wicked nation, a wicked people graciously? It's by his grace that we receive the remission of sins. That iniquity is taken away either from the nation. Hey, but that was to turn back to God. They would not receive gracious salvation in the hands of their false gods and others that they worship. No, it must come from the one true God. And notice what it says at the end of verse number 2. So will we render the calves of our lips. It's quite a, maybe, I don't know if the word is cryptic that I want to look at. But it's quite an interesting phrase that, so we will render the calves. We know what calves are. It's a calf. And we know what one of the major themes of the book of Hosea was. They were setting up these calves, these idols that they would worship. In fact, if you look at chapter number 13, let me just see if I can find it there. Chapter 13, verse number 2, look at the last phrase. It says, let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves. So now we're seeing quite a big difference. They were people that were worshiping calves. God is saying, well, if that's what you want to worship, then you go and kiss those calves if you want. You go and give them worship. And now God is speaking about the calves of our lips. What is that about? You know, using your lips for something else. Instead of kissing some idol, God says, look, use your lips and render or give, as it is, the calves. So what this is basically teaching is that the calves here is symbolic of a sacrifice. You know, you would often bring like a calf or a lamb or something like that, right, to come in and offer a sacrifice. And yeah, you know, God does want them to get back to their sacrificial system that they had in the Old Testament. Yes, but more important right now for them is that they will render the calves or the sacrifice of our lips, okay? And this just ties in perfectly with Hebrews chapter 13, verse 15. You don't need to turn there. Hebrews 13, 15, which says, And so God is saying, look, just stop kissing these calves, stop kissing these false gods, and use your lips to give thanks to the one true God. So God is telling them, come back, come back to me. There's still hope for this nation, there's still hope for these people. Verse number three, Does anyone know what Asher refers to? Well, it does refer to, I don't know, maybe that's given to them, but it does refer to the Assyrians, okay? So Asher was basically the land that later, you know, where the Assyrians would come from basically, okay? So Asher here is referring to the Assyrians, right? The Assyrians, or Asher, shall not save you. We will not ride upon horses, because you may remember that in the history, they always try to make peace. You know, with the nation that looks like they're going to be powerful, looks like they're going to take over them, looks like they're going to be evil toward them, and they will try to make peace agreements with these people. And so they go to the same people that God is using to judge them, and they try to sort things out. But God is saying, look, the Assyrians, they're not going to save you, okay? You know, diplomacy is not going to save your nation. It's turning back to God. We will not ride upon horses. You know, you're not going to be left with anything. It says, And so God is saying, look, turn back from those gods, you know, come to the point where you understand that these are not gods. These gods, these idols that you're worshipping, that these are not your gods. Now, this, you know, stands out because if you may remember the first few chapters of Hosea, God was done, basically, with the nation of Israel. And he says, look, I will no longer be your God, and you will no longer be my people. And that's very clear, you know, as the introduction, you know, Hosea chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, constantly God is saying, I'm done with this nation. You can see that there is this hope for the future. That if they turn to the Lord, you know, turn away from the gods that they've made with their hands, and come to the one true God, that they would find mercy in God. Mercy is only found in the one true God. Verse number 4, he says, So you can see, God really wants to help this nation, right? I will love them freely. If you want to experience the love of God, you need to stop backsliding. You need to start picking up your Bibles again. You've got to start singing songs of praises to God again. You've got to get back in church again. When you stop doing the basic things that God wants you to do in your life, in your Christian life, you are on the journey of being backslidden. But you're not going to be there in the presence of the Lord. You're going to lose that presence. You're going to lose that love, that relationship that you ought to have with God. God wants to love us freely. The great thing about being saved, not just saved, but being in the New Testament, is that nothing can take us away from the love of God, because we have the new man. No matter how bad you mess up, you have the new man, you have the new covenant with God, which is based on what Christ has done, rather than what the Jews were called to do in the Old Testament. The blessings of God come by the obedience of Jesus Christ, and you can never lose that love from God. You in the New Testament have this amazing privilege that God can love you freely, regardless of how much you mess up your life. Even in that love, He may chastise you. In that love, He will correct you. In that love, He will pass judgment. But all of that He does is out of His free love that He has toward us. He says, for mine anger is turned away from Him. Alright, now, you can see that God is telling this nation of Israel, I will love you again. Just come back to me. I'm giving you an opportunity. I'm giving you a chance. Now, keep your finger there, and please go to Galatians chapter 6. It's a passage that I've read out a couple of times through Hosea, but I want to remind you what the point of this is. Because, you know, we read Hosea 14, and we're saying, boy, you know, God's given them this opportunity. But we also know that they failed. They didn't turn back to God. We know that Asher or the Assyrians came and destroyed them, destroyed their city, scattered the tribes, okay? And they never recovered. So, is Hosea 14 just a waste then? You know, God, come back to me, come back. Did God just waste His time? Did God just waste His word? No, because in Galatians 6 and verse 15, Galatians 6 verse 15, it says, For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. The new creature is the new man. When you're saved and you're born again, you have that new man within you, okay? And then it says in verse 16, And as many as walk according to this rule, feast be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. So, in the New Testament, what is the Israel of God? It is those that are in Christ Jesus. Those that walk according to that rule. That if you're in Christ Jesus, you have the mercy of God, and you are the Israel of God. And you may remember as we started Hosea, first chapter, second chapter, third chapter, constantly, God telling them, I've rejected you, but there's coming a time when you're going to be that nation once again. What this is teaching us is replacement theology, as it's known, okay? That God has done away with a physical nation, that physical nation of the Old Testament, and now God is dealing with a spiritual nation, those that are in Christ Jesus. So, if you are saved today, guess what? You're part of a spiritual nation, the Israel of God, okay? So, when we read Hosea 14, we know the physical nation stuffed up. We know they messed up. But we don't just look at it, well, I guess, we don't just say, well, that's just for the Jews. Well, who is the Jew? Who are the Jews? Who is the Israel of God? It's those that are in Christ Jesus, okay? So, when we read Hosea 14, always go back, well, this must be a message to me. In the New Testament, God has made this Israel, this nation, of all nations, of all tribes, of all tongues, so this is about us. You know, before, you know, it's difficult to talk about our descendants. You know, but we know that, you know, largely, you know, our descendants have come from other nations. And those other nations, they had all kinds of gods, all kinds of pagan gods, all kinds of nonsense God, right, that provided no salvation. And, you know, through Jesus Christ, he was able to bring the Gentiles into the commonwealth of Israel together with the saints of old, okay? And so, this is not a waste of a chapter. This is prophesying as Hosea chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, confirmed about the future nation to come. That is the one you're in today, okay? So, as you read this, understand this is about us. This is about you, okay? This is about you. You know, at some point, when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you did away with a false god, a false religion, a false way of salvation, okay? And God loves you freely. Now, look at verse number 5. So, this is verse number 5, verse number 6, and verse number 7, are the verses that I'm going to spend most of my time on in this chapter, okay? Because it's easy to read over these things, to just read over it, you know, not really grasp what God is saying, but God is telling us but God is telling us so many beautiful things about being in the love of God, by being in Christ, by being that spiritual nation of Israel, He's telling us so many great things. Look at verse number 5, it says, I will be, so this is God, God will be as the dew unto Israel, as the dew unto Israel. So, the first thing I want you to understand, that if you're saved, if you're in Christ, God to you is as the dew. What is the dew? The dew is basically, you know, in the early mornings, when you maybe get up and you look outside, you know, it may not have rained overnight but you see, you know, droplets of water, say on the grass or on the plants, okay? That's the early dew. You know, it operates from condensation during the nights, when you have the cooler atmosphere, it develops these droplets of water on your plants, and you know what? That waters the plants. That helps them grow. You know, you can go a long time where there may not necessarily be a lot of rain, but if the dew is there every morning, it's going to give the plants the nourishment it needs to grow. And God is telling us that He is our dew. And if that dew appears every morning, well, how often do you believe you need God? Is it okay to say, well, God's there, I'm not going to pick up my Bible? When does the dew come? The dew comes in the morning. You know, let me encourage you, every morning, the first thing you do, brethren, is you spend some time with God. You take in that dew, okay, that is going to give you nourishment to get you through the day, to get you through the week. Start your day with God. Okay? A prayer, a Bible reading, a song, whatever it is. Okay? Maybe as a family, maybe individually, just use the morning, okay, and give some time to God. It doesn't have to be a long hour. It doesn't have to be half an hour. It can be ten minutes. It can be five minutes. Just give some time to the Lord because, as you know, as the sun rises, the dew evaporates. The dew goes away. You only have one opportunity to spend that quality time with the Lord in the morning. Look, if you give God your first minutes, your first moments of the morning, I'm sure he's going to bless you for the rest of the day. I'm sure he's going to help you. I'm sure he's going to give you the strength to get through the day. If you can please keep your finger there and go to Genesis 27, verse 27. I've got a lot of references. I won't get you to turn to all of them, but please go to Genesis 27, 27, and we're looking at Isaac blessing Jacob, okay? We know that he was deceived and he blessed Jacob when he thought it was blessing Esau. But just very quickly, I want to show you the words of Isaac here in Genesis 27, 27. Genesis 27, 27, it reads, And he came near and kissed him, and he smelled the smell of his raiment and blessed him and said, See, the smell of my son is the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed. I want you to notice that this has to do with blessings. Verse number 28, Therefore God give of the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth and plenty of corn and wine. This is a blessing from God. Isaac says to Jacob, Look, I want you to receive a blessing of God and I want God to be to you as this dew. I want him to be able to give you the dew, yes, in a physical sense, so his crops will grow, that he will be plenteous, but also on a spiritual level. God is our dew. We need him every morning. What does it represent? Again, the dew appears after night, after the darkness. And you will always, when you sin, we know that you're in darkness when you sin. We know you're far from God when you sin. And so that dew reminds us that even if we're in darkness, we can be close to the presence of God. So when the night falls and the morning rises, there's dew in the plants, let that be a reminder to you, have I taken of the dew? Have I taken of the blessing of God this morning? Pick up your Bibles. The next thing that Hosea 14 verse 5 says, it says, I will be as the dew unto Israel. He shall grow as the lily. He shall grow as the lily. Now, what could this represent? Well, you know, the lily is one of the taller flowers that comes from your sort of standard garden plants. I'm not talking about flowers on a tree, but when it comes to just your standard plants, the lilies are generally one of the tallest flowers. So, you know, combining growth and the lily together makes a lot of sense. But in Luke chapter 12 verse 27, you guys know this passage, Luke 12, 27, Jesus Christ says, consider the lilies how they grow. They toil not, they spin not, and yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. So we're talking about the growth of the lily. What is being referenced to here by Jesus Christ? He's talking about the beauty. You know, lilies of themselves, before they bud, they don't look that great. But once they bud, they look beautiful, a beautiful flower, okay? And so there's this growth that God wants to have in you. He wants to see this beauty develop in your life, okay? And God is referring to this lily, how they grow, that they don't toil, they don't spin, but it's God that provides, it's God that's helping that lily to grow. We need to remember this in our spiritual life. You know, don't force some type of spiritual growth when you're trying to run a hundred miles per hour. You need to grow as the Lord helps you along. You need to take one step at a time as the Lord shows you, okay? Be mindful about the way you grow. It needs to be the Lord that develops you. It's the Lord that causes you to grow. Then Christ says in verse number 28, If then God so clothe the grass, which is today in the field and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O ye of little faith? So what is it that God is trying to grow in us? Our faith, right? He wants us to grow in faith. And so when it talks about growing as the lily, God wants to develop a greater faith in our life. He wants us to be dependent upon Him and put a greater faith on Him that He's going to provide all our needs. He's going to help me to grow to be this beautiful creature in His sight. What does it say there in verse number 5? It says He shall grow as the lily and cast forth His roots as Lebanon. Cast forth His roots as Lebanon. So when you think about roots, what can we think about? Well, can you please turn to Ephesians chapter 3? Turn to Ephesians chapter 3. And while you're turning there to Ephesians 3, I'm going to read to you from Proverbs chapter 12 verse number 3 which says, A man shall not be established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous shall not be moved. So what is it that we need to develop in our lives? Stability. God wants us to cast forth our roots. He wants our roots of our spiritual life to dig in deep to get the nutrients that we need and the deeper your roots go in the Word of God, the more stable you're going to be. You're not going to be this wishy-washy Christian being tossed to and fro. But in Ephesians chapter 3 verse number 17, the Bible reads that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith that ye, look at this, being rooted and grounded in love. Does God want you rooted and grounded? Absolutely. In His love. In the love of God. Look at this. May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Think about it. We can be filled with the fullness, all the fullness of God. We often talk about being filled with the Spirit. That's what it's referring to. But here's the thing. We need to be grounded and rooted. Our roots need to grow deep. If you're in Christ Jesus, if you're the Israel of God, you have these blessings in your life. This is what God wants to develop in your life. Please don't neglect your daily walk with Him. Church is important. But if church wasn't here, would you still say faithful to God? I hope so. I know you were faithful to God before this church started, many of you. And God has blessed us with a church which is amazing. Thank God for your life at this church. But if He wasn't here, if you weren't meeting with brethren every Sunday and every midweek service, how would you cope? Would you be rooted? I don't want you to be rooted in a man. Children, I don't want you to be rooted in your parents. Your parents are a support. They're a help. But your parents are trying to get you to get rooted in Christ. Get rooted in the love of Christ. Because even when men stuff up or pastors maybe stuff up or maybe church is closed or things like that happen, if you're rooted in Christ, you're going to stay stable. You're going to stay stable. You're going to continue serving Him no matter what happens, no matter who lets you down. Okay? So the Lord is calling for us to be rooted in His love. Back in Hosea 14, verse number 6, what other blessings can we get from God? It says, His branches shall spread. His branches shall spread. What could that be about? Well, in Proverbs 11 verse 28, it says, He that trusteth in his riches shall fall, but the righteous shall flourish as a branch. So what does a branch represent? Flourishing. Okay? Development. Growth. Right? And we know, you know, to flourish is to prosper or to increase. And look, the more that you have your spiritual branches spread out, guess what you're going to be able to do? You're going to be able to produce more fruit. Okay? Now we're all kind of like this spiritual tree. You may have a branch out there, which is great, you know? It's good when you've got branches and God will take that and prune it and help you make it fruitful. You know, seeing souls saved is one sure way to be fruitful. But in order for you to be more fruitful, in order for you to be more productive, you need more branches. You need to widen out spiritually. Okay? So spiritually, God looks at you like this tree and he wants your branches to spread so you have the ability to become more fruitful. The more branches you have, obviously, the more fruit you'll be able to produce. Next thing that says in verse number six, it says, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree. Now I'm not sure what's so beautiful. I did some Google images on olive trees and I thought, okay, yeah, looks like a tree. So I'm not really sure what the beauty of the olive tree is. So if you guys have some ideas, please let me know. But when I was thinking about the olive tree, there's one passage that, well, there's several passages, but if you can turn to Psalm 52, turn to Psalm 52, verse number seven. Psalm 52 and verse number seven. Because I want you to be beautiful like an olive tree. That's what God wants from you. So how can I do that? Well, I like Psalm 52 and you're already kind of doing it just by being here, just by being in the house of the Lord this Wednesday, you know? And that's why brother Hayden drove six hours to be here Wednesday night in church, praise God, so he can be beautiful like this olive tree. Well, not really, but anyway. But Psalm 52, verse seven. The Bible, verse seven. Psalm 52, verse seven reads, lo, this is the man that made not God his strength. I won't give you the full context, but speaking about a man who does not put his strength in God here, okay? He says, but trusteth in the abundance of his riches and strengthen himself in his wickedness. So this is not the guy we want to be. But then the Psalmist says, but I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. And what's the house of God in the New Testament? Your local New Testament church, New Life Baptist Church. You're not just being physically here, you're like this green olive tree in the house of the Lord. He says, I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. That's what you're telling me when you're in church tonight. You're telling me that you trust in the mercy of God forever and ever and you're this olive tree, this green olive tree that wants to grow, that wants to be fruitful, okay? If you want to be this fruitful, productive olive tree, beautiful for God, you need to find yourself in the house of God. You need to be in church and hear from his word and give God the praises and the worship that he deserves. You know, the fact that it's green means that it's still growing, right? It's not with or away, okay? And so the teaching here is that you will thrive in church. Church is a good way to help you thrive, okay? And I hope, you know, before our church started three years or more, three and a half years ago, I hope that you realize that you've been thriving more as a Christian since this church has been here than before. I hope that. I hope that's the case, okay? Because that's what church is supposed to do. And if church is not driving you to love the Lord and to serve the Lord, then we're messing things up somehow. I don't want that to be the case, you know? I don't want that to be the case. We just need to ensure that our church is doing what the Lord has asked us to do. And then what else does it say in verse number six? And his smell as Lebanon. So do you want to smell good in the nostrils of God? Well, you can smell as Lebanon. What does Lebanon smell like? I don't know. Think of kebabs or something, right? But, you know, Lebanon was known for its, I forget the tree now, the cedar trees. It's even on their flag, isn't it? The cedar tree. I'm pretty sure it's a cedar tree. There's a tree on their flag, and I'm pretty sure it's a cedar tree. Well, I'm just looking this up because the cedar tree has been used and can be used, the sap or the oil that it produces, in perfumes or even incense can be made out of the sap of a cedar tree and apparently has a pleasant smell. I did not know that before this. I was trying to, what could be the smell of Lebanon? So I do believe that it's referring to the cedar tree because that is primarily what it's most known for, especially in the Bible, quite often. Now, if you can please turn to keep your finger there and go to Psalm 45 verse 6. Psalm 45 and verse number 6. Psalm 45 verse number 6. You know, some men are against perfume. Now, it may seem a little bit effeminate, I guess. You know, if I'm just walking around, that's all you can smell, you know, but you can see, I just want to show you a few things here. Psalm 45 verse 6. God wants us to smell good. And obviously, we're talking about spiritual nature here, right? God wants us to smell good spiritually. But notice this in Psalm 45 verse 6. It says, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever the scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter. Now, I'm sure you guys know, who is that speaking about? Well, it's speaking about God, but specifically, which person of the Trinity? Jesus Christ, okay? Because we know in the book of Hebrews. Yeah, it's Hebrews. Where God the Father refers to Christ as God and uses this same passage. So, we know we're talking about Jesus here. Verse number 7. Thou lovest righteousness, the same God whose throne is forever and ever. Thou lovest righteousness and hatest weakness. Therefore, God, thy God have anointed thee. Look at this. Therefore, God, Jesus, thy God the Father have anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Look at this. All thy garments smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces whereby they have made thee glad. Now, I guess, you know, that Jesus, you know, we know that myrrh was one of those things that the wise man brought to Christ when he was born, okay? I think Jesus smelt pleasant. Like, I don't think he was trying to just put out his body odor, right? It's like, this is just the way it is, guys. You know, we haven't got a place to rest our heads and just, you know. It looks like Christ made some effort to make his clothes smell nice, okay? Looks like there's some effort there. And so, what I'm trying to say is this. You know, Jesus Christ smells good, okay? Now, spiritually speaking, it does. The Lord God has anointed him with these perfumes and these smells. And you know what? If that's what Christ is like, then we ought to be a pleasant smell to the Lord, too, right? We know that when sacrifices were given, burnt our friends, quite often you see in the Bible that it's a sweet-smelling savor to the Lord, the sacrifices that are given, right? Well, what can we do? If you can please now go to Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4, verse number 16. So, perfume's not a sin. It's not wrong, okay? You just want to manage it, though, okay? You don't want to get carried away with that kind of stuff. But Philippians chapter 4, verse number 16. Philippians chapter 4, verse number 16. I think this is quite interesting, and I'm not covering this because we're in a problem here in this church at all, but I think it's just good to know, right? I want to smell good to God. Do you want to smell good to God, spiritually speaking? Well, Philippians 4, 16 says, For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity. This is the apostle Paul saying to the Philippian church, you have provided for me. You know, you've sent the necessities, the money, you know, his needs in order to do the ministry, to serve the Lord, right? He's mentioning this. Verse number 17. He says, Not because I desire a gift, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. Look at verse number 18. But I have all and abound. He says, Look, I've got more than I need. I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you. So Epaphroditus is the one that was sent by the church. Hey, go and give Paul what he needs. This is what we're putting together for Paul. Let's give it to him what he needs. And then it says this, which was sent from you, an odor of a sweet smell. Look at this, a sacrifice, acceptable, well pleasing to God. So we know the burnt offerings was a sweet smelling savour to God. Well, we're not doing burnt offerings today, are we? But what way can we be a sweet smelling savour to God? It's to give to the work of God, to give of our finances, to give of our efforts, not just finances, to give of ourselves, of our time, of our work, giving what is needed to get the job of God done, the work of God done, the ministry of God done. This is a sweet smell, a sacrifice, acceptable, well pleasing to God. So I appreciate the giving that comes through this church. I appreciate not only as a support to me financially and my family, but just the good things that we're able to do, the work that we're able to do, the buying of tracts, the buying of Bibles recently, just the things that we need around the building, paying the lease, and got a new TV just recently, and all these kind of great things comes because we've been able to give of ourselves to the Lord. These things are a sweet smelling savour. This is what causes us to smell as Lebanon, spiritually speaking. Back to Hosea 14 verse number 7. Hosea 14 verse number 7. It says, They that dwell under his shadow shall return. So what other great blessing do we have? We're able to dwell under the shadow of God. Dwell under his shadow. Now what could that look like? Well let me just read to you from Psalm 57 verse 1. This is a psalm of David. In fact let me just read the introduction of the psalm. It says, To the chief musician Al-Tasich, mid-term of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave. So this is a psalm that David wrote, you know as he was fleeing from Saul, right? Then he says this, Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me, for my soul trusteth in thee. Yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge until these calamities be overpassed. Until these calamities be overpassed. You know when you read the psalms you'll notice that phrase quite often, the shadow of thy wings, the wings of the Lord. You know we can step in the shadow of God when we need a refuge, when we need defence, when we're worried and upset and concerned and there are enemies around us and there were worries, we can quickly just go under the shadow of God's wings. Just like a loving hen that would look after its chicks, right? Under her wings. The Lord acts in that same way. The shadow represents the shade, right? From harm, protection, the love that God has. And so, you know, we can always go to him for refuge and protection. You know, if you're feeling downcast as a Christian, if you're having a hard time and you're just not serving God the way you know you ought to and you know there are problems and struggles and things that get you distracted in your service for God, let me just encourage you, go and run to God. Run under his wings. Run in the shadow of the Lord and just stay there, right? Just stay there until these calamities be overpassed. So God, I'm going to stay in your presence right now. There's a problem. I don't know how to deal with it. I don't have a solution, God. I'm just going to leave it with you. I'm going to go over to you in prayer. Lord, you protect me. You give me the shadow of your wings. Lord, this is a great blessing that I can have as a Christian. You know, make use of it. You know, you're not a failure. You're going to the one that can protect you, okay? The one that can defeat your enemies under the shadow of the wings of the Lord. What else does it say there in verse number seven? Ah, sorry. Number seven, it says, they shall revive as the corn. They shall revive as the corn. Now, when you read corn there, it's not like corn like we think of corn. Corn means grain in the Bible, you know? And we still use that term sometimes, the corn of the grain. And so it says, revive as the corn. What could that mean? Revive. We often think about the words revival sometimes in the Bible, okay? But to revive is basically bringing something back from the dead or close to death to be revived. You know, God can revive you. God can revive you, right? Revive as the corn. And the idea here is that the grain, you know, if you've got wheat or something like that, that the seed of the grain needs to fall into the ground, okay? And basically the seed dies, okay? The seed dies, but as the seed dies in the soil, it produces life, okay? It's revived. That's the kind of idea that is being spoken about here. Can you please turn to Romans chapter six for me? Turn to Romans chapter six. And I'm going to read to you from John 12, 24. You go to Romans six. I'll read to you from John 12, 24. Jesus Christ says, verily, verily, I say unto you, except the corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. Do you want to produce much fruit for Christ? You have to die, okay? You have to die to self, you know, the things that you want to do. You know what? If you weren't saved today, you would be living a completely different life. I guarantee you that. If you weren't saved today, you'd be looking at yourself in church, some other dimension, and you're like, that's not me. There's no way that's me. There's no way I'm sitting there for an hour listening to this crazy preacher, coming to church and spending my Wednesday night when then I have to drive another hour or whatever it is some of you guys do, right? You know, look, I know we're not perfect Christians, okay? But what I can see, the reason we're in God's house, the reason I'm even preaching, is because we died. There was a death that took place, okay? And you're in Romans. Look at Romans chapter 6 and verse number 4. Romans chapter 6 verse number 4. This is where we get the name of our church from. Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death. So what does baptism represent? When you go under the water, it represents that you're buried, just like Christ was buried, right? Into death. That's what salvation is. Salvation requires you to kill the flesh. I no longer trust my flesh. I no longer trust the works of my flesh, okay? My flesh can die with Christ. But then it says this, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. And so when you come out of the water, it represents the new life that you have in Christ. The new creature that was born by your faith in Christ alone, okay? And so there is this spiritual death that took place, right? And then we no longer trust our flesh. We don't put our faith in the flesh. We don't put our faith in the works that we can do. And God revives our spirit by believing in Christ. And we're born again, okay? We have that newness of life. And I don't know how well you think you're doing as a Christian. But I'm just telling you, you're doing, just as I said, just being in church, just being saved, you're doing so much more, okay, than you would be doing if you were just unsaved. You would not care for God's word, okay? Or you'd be stuck in some Christ, another Christ, another gospel, charismatic church, thinking that you love God, thinking that you love his word, and you just be deceived on your way to hell. There's a life, a new life that God has given us. And it's because Christ took our flesh, nailed it all to the cross. Our sins were all nailed there, okay? And we spiritually represent the newness that we also have. Keep that in mind. You don't want to walk in the ways of the old dead man. It's more alive than we want it to be, isn't it? But it really is dead, okay? But we're called to mortify that flesh every morning. We need to make a decision. I don't want to walk in the ways of the flesh. I don't want to, you know, this dead man, I want it to stay dead, and I want to walk in the newness of life that Christ has given me. The next thing that's mentioned there in Hosea 14. It says, and grow as the vine. Okay, grow as the vine. I was thinking just rapid growth. When I think of vines, is that what you think of? I think of rapid growth. You know, when we were living here in Barringa, our backyard neighbour was growing some, where was he growing? Passion Fruits. How do you know it's passion fruits? Four times four. Okay. Well, maybe it was passion fruits. Are they growing on a vine? Yes. Okay. Well, anyway, he was growing whatever he was growing, and it just seemed like overnight almost. It just seemed like just a couple of days, and his vines are going over our fence, okay? And they're just running wild, right? But then the fruits are coming. It's great. There's a lot of fruit, okay? It's just dropping on the ground. The kids are loving it, washing it, eating it like that. But when I think of vines, that's what I think. I think of this rapid growth, right? This growth, and that's what God is telling us, you know, that we can grow, you know, rapidly. And actually, can you please turn to Ephesians 4? I do want you to read this one. Ephesians chapter 4, verse number 13. Ephesians 4, 13. I mean, think about all these blessings of God just by being saved, by being part of the Israel of God, by being in Christ. You know, we've got to be careful with our Bibles. You know, we can just read over this, can't we? But just stop and meditate. What is God telling us? What is He blessing us with? There's so much. Ephesians 4, 13. It says, You know, God is working in us to be a perfect man, a well-rounded, complete man. We're not there yet. It's a lifelong journey. We won't get there till we have the new resurrected body. Okay? But look at verse number 14. God wants us to grow up. He doesn't want us to be tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine. I get concerned when someone talks to me about some stupid doctrine, just some idiotic, stupid doctrine. I'm like, oh, man, you're still a child. But look, weren't we all babes when we got saved? You know, we all kind of think about stupid doctrines at some point, okay? But then you need to grow, okay? And God is telling us, look, if we just abide in the love of Christ, Christ is divine. We are the branches, okay? And so it's by Christ that we can no longer be tossed to and fro. You know, I was just listening to the sermons on Sunday. You know, I have like, I listen to every sermon you guys preach, okay? But I always know that the preacher that's going to get behind the pulpit is going to preach sound doctrine. I have the confidence. You know, I must feel like I don't even need to listen to the sermon. But I still want to listen to it because I want to learn things too, okay? But I'm so thankful that I see we have a good church. We have a church that's not being tossed to and fro, okay? We're not going to believe in oneness all of a sudden, okay? We're not going to believe you've got to repent your sins all of a sudden, okay? We're not going to believe some crazy end times doctrine all of a sudden, right? I mean, I just feel like this church is well-grounded. You know, I look at, you know, the growth of a vine. You know, we've only been around for three and a half years as a church. But I just feel like the growth is on show. It's obvious. It's clear to everybody that we've all been growing in the Lord. Even I've been growing in the Lord, right? Pastors don't stop growing. We all continue to grow and we want to be like this vine where we continue this rapid growth. Because why? Because then we can be more fruitful once again. We can extend our branches and do more for the Lord. Back to Hosea 14. Verse number seven. It says, the sense thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. So we now have another smell, but this time this smell has to do with the wine of Lebanon. So, you know, wine basically is grape juice. And the only thing that I could think about here, you tell me if you have some other ideas, is basically, you know, wine or grape juice is a sweet smelling taste. Sweet smelling, right? And I was thinking about, well, what else can we talk about here? Because we kind of already talked about, you know, smelling nice when it comes to our, you know, our giving of the Lord and these kinds of things. So what else can we, well, in Isaiah chapter 5 verse 20, I just want to read this to you. Isaiah 5 20, notice what it says here. Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil, and put darkness for light and light for darkness. Then it says this, that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Alright, so notice there that bitterness is associated with evil and darkness. You know, if we want to smell like this wine, this sweet wine, then we need to be, what was sweetness associated there? With good and light. Okay, we ought to be children of the light. We ought to be people doing good works. Okay, good works through the Lord. You know, if we're doing these things, if people see us in fellowship with the Lord, if people see us doing good deeds, you know, preaching the gospel, loving His word, studying the word, supporting one another, encouraging one another as people of God, you know, we can smell sweet to the Lord as well. Okay, but bitterness, evil and darkness, these are things that will not cause you to smell sweet unto the Lord. Verse number 8, Ephraim shall say, what have I to do more with idols? I have heard him and observed him. I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found. So it says, I am like a green fir tree. God is saying that he is like a green fir. A fir tree is basically a type of an evergreen tree. And if you know what an evergreen tree is, it's basically a tree that remains green all season long. Whether it's autumn or winter, the evergreen tree will always be green. It still loses its leaves from time to time, but it's more of a gradual loss. It's not like in autumn where we see trees basically bare of all leaves. Now God is a tree that remains green. He's never a being that has lost his leaves. But then it says this, from me to from God is thy fruit found. So what's the next thing that we learn here that God wants in our lives? He wants us to develop fruits. Now this fruit comes from God. From me is thy fruit found. So this is fruit that comes from God. I won't go into this in any great depth, but I am preaching through this right now with the Sydney Church. But of course it's the fruit of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God. And God wants to develop his fruits in our lives. Let me just remind you what the fruit of the Spirit is. Galatians 5, 22. But the fruit of the Spirit is... Now, before I keep reading. This is a great way to measure what kind of spiritual man or woman you are. Because how do you measure your spirituality? Is it being in church? I mean, we can in some way. There are things that we can do that may seem righteous, but we can do it out of just emotions. We can do it in the flesh even. You can come to church and just be not in tune with God whatsoever. Be completely distracted whatsoever. But there is one sure way that you can measure whether your life matches up to the Holy Spirit. This fruit that God wants to produce in our lives is by measuring our life by these characteristics. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy. Are you known as a joyful person or a depressing person? Peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. That's why you control your emotions, control your temper. Against such there is no law. If I was saying that if we produce these things in our lives, these fruits in our lives, these fruits of God, the fruits of the Spirit, that we cannot break God's laws. Because that is what the new man is. If you walk in the new man, you cannot sin. The new man does not sin. And that's how you know. Does your life match up with these things? If someone that knows you well, would they say, yeah, he's a person of love or she's a person of love, of joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Saying, no, I'm lacking. I'm still lacking. Well, you need to walk in the new man. You need to be with the Lord. You need to say, God, this is a fruit you want to produce in my life. Can you do it, please? It's his fruit. And sometimes it's going to require a bit of pruning, maybe a bit of manure. It may be a little bit tough. God may need to put you in some difficult places in your life. I know that's what happens with longsuffering patients. You need a bit of tribulation. You need a bit of hardship to develop patience in your life. So be careful about what you ask for. But at the same time, it is something God wants to develop in you. Make sure that you have these fruits in your life. This is a great way to measure how well you walk in the Spirit. Now, verse number 9, Hebrews 14, verse number 9. This is the conclusion. We're at the end of the book. So you can see a very hopeful book, a very encouraging chapter, I should say, that ends this book. But then the question gets asked, who is wise? Are you wise? I want to be wise. And he shall understand these things. Prudence, and he shall know them. So God is telling us, okay, this is how you can determine whether you're wise, understanding, prudent. It says, for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just, that's you and I, shall walk in them, but the transgressors shall fall therein. I like this conclusion, because it just concludes the whole book nicely. What's the conclusion of the book of Hosea? Number one, the ways of the Lord are right. Number two, the just shall walk in them. And number three, the transgressors shall fall therein. Old Testament Israel, the nation, it fell. It got wiped out. It no longer exists. We need to be careful not to fall. We can fall too. Okay, we can fall too. But you want to be wise? You want to have understanding? What is it that Hosea was preaching this whole time? That the ways of the Lord are right. Whatever God says here, brethren, whatever he commands us, I don't have to question it. I don't have to say, is that right, God, or is that wrong? It's right. It's right. And then, okay, now you conclude it's right, then what do you do? The just shall walk in them. I've been noticing this more in the Bible. I've just been paying attention. You know, it's good to know. It's good to be able to pass judgment between what is right and wrong. But even better than that, once you've gained that knowledge, you don't want to be the guy that just knows all the doctrines. I know, you know, I can debate anybody here. I can tear down all your false beliefs. I know how to... But if you're not walking in the ways of God, what's the point? Okay? If you want to be wise, what's the point of Hosea? Listen, this nation, they were not wise. They were not prudent. They did not have understanding. They failed. They fell. God rejected them. They were no longer God's people. He was no longer their God. But as we saw in the introduction, he promised that there was going to be this hope, this Israel. And we know that's us. We know that's believers. The spiritual nation of Israel, where God does love us freely, God gives us all these blessings that we've looked at. But then what? Then we need to learn. Okay, God, your ways were right. I need to learn from the mistakes of the Israelites here. And I need to make sure that when I have your ways, Lord, that I'm going to walk in accordance to them. Otherwise, just like Israelites of old did, I may suffer a very great fall. Okay, let's pray.