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Thank you for coming to Steadfast Baptist Church. We'll go ahead and take our seats for the evening and we're gonna turn to our first song We're gonna do 244 Amazing Grace song 244 Since I don't have any musicians I can pick whatever songs I want. All right, so there you go song 144 Amazing Grace There on the first Amazing grace how sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me I once was lost but now I'm found was blind but now I see Twas grace that taught my heart To fear and grace my fears relieved How precious Precious did that grace appear the I first believed Through many Dangers soils and snares I have already Gone Tis grace That brought me safe thus far and grace Will lead me home When we've been there 10,000 years bright shining as the Sun We've no last days to sing God's praise then when we first Be gone Let's start with the word of prayer Thank You Heavenly Father for giving us this evening to be gathered to have church I pray that you would just bless our service help our hearts to be Convicted with the Word of God and that we would strive to be better Christians I pray to keep us safe as we go home in Jesus name. We pray and man Let's go to a song 66 for our next song At Calvary There's some there's the front row is open I know of y'all want to be really close to me up here So you're always welcome if you need some more seats as the front row is open. All right At Calvary There on the first Years I spent in vanity and pride Caring not my lord was crucified Knowing not it was for me died on Calvary Mercy there was great and grace was free Pardon there was multiplied to me there my burden so found liberty at Calvary By God's Word at last my sin I learned then I trembled at the law I'd spurned till my guilty soul imploring turn to Calvary Mercy there was great and grace was free Pardon there was multiplied to me there my burden so found liberty at Calvary Oh The love that drew salvation's plan. Oh The grace that brought it down to man. Oh the mighty gold that God did spend at Calvary Mercy there was great and grace was free Pardon there was multiplied to me there my burden so found liberty at Calvary Now I've given to Jesus everything Now I gladly own him as my king now my rapture soul can only sing of Calvary Mercy there was great and grace was free Pardon there was multiplied to me there my burden so found liberty at Calvary Good singing if you don't have a bulletin do we have extra bulletins back there? Somewhere maybe okay. I might have to steal one does anybody have a bulletin that they can let me alright I got you're my favorite, okay? We have our Bible memory passage and We are on I think we're on the last verse actually verse 10, and we have our service so winning times This is this is last week's right, okay? Does anybody have this week's is I want to make sure the prayer list is accurate on that no one? Apparently you all destroy your your bulletins afterwards. Let me I can look at them on my phone. It's no problem So we are on verse 10 for the week and We have our service time so winning times we also have a prayer list and If you'd continue to pray for miss nigira for a health we also have miss Lucy We've been praying for our mother's tumors. We've been praying for brother Cameron Hall for his leg We've been praying for brother Pendleton for his brain cancer Also, we have the Goodwin son Daniel has surgery on February 6th, so we're praying for him Also, the Garcia's were praying for their children that they would be stationed close by and we were praying for brother Sue Hill, but I see our prayers came to life. I think Sue's hell's in the building right where you at somewhere there he is all right glad to have him in the flesh and Everything went well everything went good all right great, and then we've been praying for brother Wallach's friend Juan who's having cancer treatment been praying for miss Cooper's back pain We've been praying for the Scott family also. I guess you had mr. Brother Wallach had his dad was we were in prayer for him for heart problems And then we've been praying for Billy Day's family situation So we have and I know we have some other prayer requests out there. I know brother Dylan's have been sick And and a lot of other people have been sick, so let's keep them in our prayers as well I Know brother Richard Capito had asked for prayer for being sick as well and So hopefully they will recover soon Let's go ahead and say a quick word of prayer for our church family. Thank Heavenly Father for our church family Thank you for expecting ladies. Please please be with them during their pregnancies Please help them to have a timely delivery I pray that you would also bless our church family that's struggling with health We know that a lot of people have different illnesses sicknesses Chronic issues. I pray that you would give them recovery. Please help them in this time of tribulation Encourage them give them peace during this time of difficulty I pray that you would help give favor unto our church family and our friends Please also help those that need to hear the gospel that we've been praying for To soften their hearts and that we could get them saved and we just thank you for all that you give us in Jesus name we pray Amen As far as upcoming events next Monday is our theater Premiere of the preserved Bible who now don't raise your hand yet Who is planning on coming but has not emailed me is anybody coming that did not email me? Okay. All right, so You guys you don't know if you did or not. All right, just making sure I think you guys are on the list So I just wanted to I just want to make sure I think we're gonna we're gonna have a full house and I'm excited about it We are also gonna still be releasing the film on The following Tuesday, so that's the 31st Online and of course, you know We'd love for you to try and share this and and put it out there for you that actually have a Facebook or or have social media accounts still I Can't really share anything a lot of time so it helps if you guys can get it out there and spread the word and Hopefully we'll I'll go ahead and get DVDs and stuff still ordered But you know, obviously a lot of people don't use a DVD player that much anymore And so there's still a lot of other great ways to share that information Share it with groups share with friends, but we'll make DVDs and and handouts and we'll have QR codes with that so people can still check it out on their phone and other things Like that, but I'm very excited for the release of this project Brother Ben worked really hard on it and brother Dylan also helped us a lot and when we took a lot of trips We did a lot of interviews. We took a lot of trips We spent a lot of money on equipment and it's been a long time coming a lot of work and effort So if you don't like the film don't tell me no, I'm just kidding Just blame Ben. Okay, actually, I'm really excited. I think you know, if you love the Bible You're gonna get some good stuff out of it. We have some great interviews with Pastor Anderson Pastor Menes and Even some other people that you probably wouldn't be as familiar with but some great guys. Dr Phil stringer is one who's it was a great interview Dr. Donald break has done a lot of research on just the history of the King James Bible and he even has a lot of rare Bibles in a museum in Houston so Houston has a Bible Museum at what used to be Houston Baptist University I think they changed it to his the Houston Christian University and it didn't go over well with the students But you know, either way I we went down there to visit. They have a free Bible Museum It's called the dunham Bible Museum and you can take a tour of it for free and it was really cool I you know highly recommend if you ever get a chance to go down there check it out and But we'll be trying to release a lot of the information a lot of the footage and stuff that's post film as well So, please just pray that people would be You know convicted to use the right Bible and again my personal opinion is that You can't really change people's doctrine if they're not King James only it's almost it's almost just a vain exercise and so getting people to use a King James Bible is their first step is such an important step that I hope that People will take these films seriously and we can share it and reach a lot of people. I was curious again who? Who's like first experience with a church like ours is from a documentary like that was the first thing that you kind of saw See, yeah Lots of hands in the room and see that's why we make these films is to try and reach new people And try to help them understand a lot of different things. So Cleburne, Texas, we're gonna have a soloing marathon February 4th, March 15th is the Old West Wednesday and You know, I We've been we've already started planning this and I think it's gonna be even greater than I thought so you better buckle up All right cowboy and get your cowboy hat and get ready to rumble. So it's gonna be a lot of fun It's gonna be a dinner and events and everything like that. So Hopefully as many people as possible can participate since there's food I anticipate a lot of Sunday morning people will come so April 1st, we have the Dallas Texas soul-winning marathon and then April 24th of the 29th is a Bahamas missions trip I do want to make Can you help me? I just want to make a few quick private announcements before I get into that We can go ahead and turn to our next song. We're gonna go to it as well with my soul I think it's 144 You You You You You You You You You You You You And death my way When sorrows like sea billows roll My lord thou has taught me to say It is well it is well With my soul ladies on the first It Is well With my soul it is well it is well with my soul Though Satan should buff it though trials should come Let this blast the show rent control that Christ has regarded my Helpless estate and I've said his own blood for my soul It Is well With my soul it is well it is well With my soul My sin of the bliss of this glorious Thought My sin not in part, but the whole is nailed to the cross and I Bury it no more Praise the Lord Praise the Lord Oh my soul It is well With my soul it is well it is well with my soul And Lord is the day when my face I'll be side The clouds be rolled back as a scroll the trump Resound and the Lord shall descend Even so it is well with my soul It is well With my soul it is well it is well with my soul Very good singing at this time if you'll turn in your Bibles of Hosea chapter number six brother Nick's gonna read for us Hosea Chapter number six Hosea chapter six Hosea chapter six the Bible reads Come and let us return unto the Lord for he had torn and he will heal us He has smitten and he will bind us up After two days will he revive us in the third day? He will raise us up and we shall live in his sight Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord his going forth is prepared as the morning And he shall come unto us as the rain as the ladder and former rain under the earth. Oh Ephraim What shall I do unto thee Oh Judah? What shall I do unto thee for your goodness is as a morning cloud and as the early dew it goeth away Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets I've slain them by the words of my mouth and my judgments are as the light that goeth forth For I desired mercy and not sacrifice and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings But they like men have transgressed the Covenant there have they dealt treacherously against me Galat is a city of them that work iniquity and is polluted with blood and as troops of robbers wait for a man So the company of priests murder in the way by consent for they commit lewdness I've seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel. There is the whoredom of Ephraim Israel is defiled Also, Judah, he has set a harvest for thee when I returned the captivity of my people. Let us pray father Thank you for this great chapter. And I just pray that you fill pastor Shelley with your Holy Spirit I pray that you'll lay in his heart the message you prepared for him and allow us to gain wisdom knowledge and understanding from your Word tonight father and we pray these things in Jesus name. Amen Amen we're in Hosea chapter number six and If you kind of read a few verses back and we kind of just look back to get a little bit of context here in chapter 5 in verse 14 the Bible said for I will be unto Ephraim as a Lion and as a young lion to the house of Judah. I even I will tear and go away I will take away and none shall rescue him I will go and return to my place till they acknowledge their offense and seek my face in Their affliction they will seek me early now God is describing how he's going to destroy Israel is going to destroy Ephraim and he's gonna take Judah along with them and this is a prophecy of the impending Babylonian captivity when the Babylonians are going to ultimately come in and And take them captive now It's also reminiscent of the fact that or it's also Prophesying the fact that Israel and Ephraim is going to be destroyed before that point. So before the Babylonian captivity Israel is going to be dismantled and essentially just completely destroyed and mixed amongst the heathen and they're gonna kind of be dispersed abroad at that point in time It's gonna be a little bit of a dysphora Meaning just they're scattered Jews or your so-called. It's really just Israel Israelites are scattered throughout different nations and different areas and you had to have this northern part Samaria is kind of a mixed. It's kind of a mingled group of people Some are still the remnant of the children of Israel. Some are just heathens and it's just kind of a mixed type atmosphere But then the Babylonians are eventually going to come in They're gonna just wipe out everything I mean the Bible says when the Babylonians came It was a garden before them and it's like a desert wilderness behind them so the Babylonians are coming through and they're just wiping out every town and every village and Essentially any kingdom that doesn't just bow down to King Nebuchadnezzar and become his servants immediately He wipes them all out Well, unfortunately Almost everybody doesn't bow down and so Nebuchadnezzar just storming through just destroying everyone and he's gonna essentially destroy all of Israel surround Jerusalem and Jerusalem's kind of a strategic location Geographically, it's historically been a difficult city to take it's got the big walls and so they have to besiege it over and over and They anticipate maybe the Egyptians even coming up and kind of keeping the Babylonians at bay and of course that would be Egypt's best interest because Egypt doesn't want them to take on Jerusalem and then be at their doorstep and eventually take them over So that's kind of this back and forth and God's telling, you know, the children of Israel really the children of Judah Hey don't trust in Egypt Egypt's not gonna really help you and get you out of this this predicament And of course, they kind of lean on Egypt and they lean on themselves and ultimately the Babylonians destroy them at that point in time there's only a little group of people left over with Jeremiah and They end up eventually just going down into Egypt So basically just the whole land of Israel is just a is just a wilderness. There's just nobody virtually speaking dwelling in this land for 70 years and that's kind of that Babylonian captivity period where the Jews are scattered in all places of the earth and A lot of them are in Babylon specifically, but they're not all in Babylon Some of them were taken to Babylon early such as we understand in the book of Daniel Daniel and his brethren Shadrach Meshach and Abednego Which is their you know carnal name or their their given name, but these three guys came with them and They were kind of the children that were taken in the first few Captivities of the Babylonians and then later more and more just kept coming and kept coming But Jews were scattered literally everywhere in the whole earth Okay, and that's even evidenced by the book of Esther, you know You get to book of Esther which is a little bit further in the future from the Babylonian captivity But even at that time Jews are everywhere and that's kind of the case Well what the Bible is alluding to is that after they've been there for 70 years If they seek the Lord and they pray Then God could cause them to return back to the land. And of course, that's where we have the famous prayer by Daniel acknowledging that Israel has sinned and he counted Jeremiah He read the book of Jeremiah and he understood that and he read Isaiah and he understood hey, we're gonna be in captivity for 70 years, but we're coming back and They eventually come back so God is basically saying hey, I'm gonna tear you guys I'm gonna destroy you guys and then once you acknowledge what you did, then I'll let you come back And it's it's a big picture to how we're supposed to live our lives Where we transgress against God and what does God really want us to do? God wants us to acknowledge our sin and Then to seek the Lord and then he can forgive us and give us mercy and grace For that particular sin for that particular Grievance or trespass that we've done unto him and in verse 6 verse 1 It says this come and let us return on a lord for he hath torn and he will heal us He has smitten and he will bind us up So according to the Bible is saying look obviously God caused evil to happen to us But the same God that caused and allowed evil to happen to us is the same God that's willing To also heal us and give us recovery You know, this makes me think of anytime I have to discipline my children if I have to discipline them It's grievous in the moment of discipline, but then immediately after the discipline, you know what they want they want me to hug them and comfort them and quote-unquote heal from that discipline and it's God's the same way that sometimes God will chastise us or You know do something to us to get our attention Punish us for what we've done but at the same time he's still a loving father that Wants us to come to him and allow him to heal us and allow us to Recover through his graces and through his mercy Now, of course it says in verse 2 after two days. Will he revive us in the third day? He will raise us up and we shall live in his sight now This is such an obvious prophecy Catholics are probably figured out But I mean this this is a clear reference to the gospel of Jesus Christ notice he says after two days Will he revive us in the third day? He will raise us up. What do you think? That's a prophecy up, of course That's a prophecy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let's just go there go to 1st Corinthians 15 for a moment go to 1st Corinthians chapter number 15, but He's saying hey, you got two days where you kind of have to wait and He's gonna give you he says he's gonna revive you in this in this period. He says after two days. Will he revive us? If it's after that means the first two days were not the reviving So there was not anything good happening in those first two days And of course when we think about the gospel the disciples were not revived in the two days During Christ's death. In fact, they were very sad The Lord Jesus Christ even alluded to that when they talked about how his disciples didn't fast and they Weren't grieving and he's like, oh, well, they can't well the bridegroom's with them But he'll be taken away and then they will fast. So of course that two days was a period of mourning a period of fasting a period of prayer and seeking the Lord But what happens after two days? Then he'll revive us, you know, give us energy give us, you know the same type of increase our faith and encourage us Well, the Bible tells us the gospel message is this kind of same pattern look at verse number three for I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received how that Christ died for our sins according the scriptures and That he was buried and that he rose again the third day According to the scriptures and that he was seen of Cephas then of the twelve, you know You have to realize what the Bible is saying here is it is saying in Verse number four that he rose again the third day what? According to the scriptures now when this is written, is he really you know, what is he really referring to? He's referring to the Old Testament exactly Of course, you know I don't know the exact timeline of when first Corinthians is written and when Matthew Mark and Luke and John are written however It's obvious that what Paul is truly alluding to here is the Old Testament the fact that the Old Testament Prophesied that Jesus Christ would be risen again the third day Well, you say well, where's where's that at in Scripture? Well, what did we see in Hosea? chapter number six verse number two In the third day, he will raise us up. So of course, this is that illusion this is talking about us being risen up now, why is it like a You know, he's being risen up. We're being risen up Well, we get that same benefit of Christ being resurrected from the dead spiritually, you know the Bible talks about how we share in his resurrection that we are Resurrected and of course he is giving us that resurrection in Christ's Resurrection and what he did for us. Not only that I mean the people that were saved in the Old Testament They were benefiting from the resurrection before it even happened And of course we benefit from the resurrection after it's happened and I love that we seeing it as well with my soul Because in the third verse it talks about my sin is not in part but in whole meaning it's it's Absurd to think that an event that happened 2,000 years ago would only cover my sins of the past Because my sins of the past we're still in the future in reference of the gospel Just as the sin that I'm gonna commit tomorrow and the next day and until I die is still in the future of the gospel because the gospel was a once-for-all sacrifice for my sin not in part but in whole and He gave me resurrection he gave me that new spirit He revived me by me believing and his resurrection think about Romans 10 What is it that you must do to be saved? You must believe in the death barrel and Resurrection of Jesus Christ and when we believe in the third day when we believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ That's what gives us resurrection. That's what revives us. That's what quickens your spirit. That's what gives you eternal life You know, it doesn't give you eternal life repenting of your sins, you know, it doesn't give you eternal life changing an over a new leaf Being right with God you can't get right with God on your own The only way to get revival The only way to get resurrection is through the third day And of course that third day is in clear reference to none other than the Lord Jesus Christ I want to go to another place in Scripture go to Luke chapter 24 for a moment Go to Luke chapter 24 and the reason why I like Luke chapter 24 is when Jesus Christ is going and on the what's considered the walk to Emmaus, you know, and this is this is what Some people even do this this special walk to Emmaus or something event. I've heard that people walk naked and I don't I've never understood that because I've read Luke 24 so many times and I've never gotten the fact that I Should take my clothes off when I do this Super bizarre why people would even do this Additionally, you know way better than just making some random walk in the middle of in the Middle East or something like that How about just reading Luke 24? It's like I want the walk to Emmaus. Okay, read it, you know Just read the scripture and study what the Bible says, but I just like the way that these guys word things And I just want to read a little portion of this look at verse 19 And he said to them what things so he's trying to they're trying to explain them Jesus wouldn't that be fun to explain to Jesus what's going on about Jesus and They said to them concerning Jesus of Nazareth which was a prophet mighty indeed and word before God and all the people and now the chief priests and our rulers delivered and Be condemned to death and have crucified him But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel and beside all this Today is the third day Since these things were done. So what is it that he they brought up? They brought up the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ and they said today is the third day now Of course, we know that they're talking about the first day of the week here Look at verse 1 It says in chapter 24 verse 1 now upon the first day of the week very early in the morning So we're talking about what day Sunday, you know, why is it that we have Church on Sunday to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord? Jesus Christ and The Lord Jesus Christ was risen again and the thing about this. He gave us revival He started the church and he gave revival on the third day and we celebrate church on The first day which is the third day Which gives us what revival because we go to church to be revived again You know you go through the week and and sometimes you can get down and we go to church to get revived again, right? now they keep communicating here to the Lord Jesus Christ It says in verse 22 yay and certain women also of her company made us astonished which were early at the sepulcher and When they found not his body they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels Which said that he was alive and Certain of them which were with us went to the sepulcher and found that even so as the woman had said But him they saw not then he said to them Oh fools and slow of heart to believe all that what The prophets have spoken now again. We saw in 1st Corinthians. He's saying the scripture Could he be really referring to Matthew Mark and Luke and John maybe but in my opinion He was referring to the Old Testament for sure, but isn't Jesus for sure. He's really for sure referring to these the Old Testament because Matthew Mark and Luke John were not written when Jesus had risen again the first day. Okay that had not happened yet So when Jesus Christ is bringing up the prophets, what is he bringing up Hosea? He's bringing up the Old Testament pictures and he's saying why are you slow to believe the prophets? You know some people Have this weird idea like oh no one believed in Jesus or in the resurrection before the New Testament Jesus is rebuking them for being stupid not believing it. I mean, wait, let's just read this again Oh fools Now is what does fool mean? stupid idiots You know, I love how everybody thinks Jesus is just the nicest guy they've ever met or something He never speaks poorly didn't you know, he's talking and think about this These are two guys that said that they had trusted in Jesus, you know, what would you call someone that trusted in Jesus? I call them a Christian. I would call them saved right these guys Obviously were probably saved in my opinion if not, they were gonna get saved and they're really You know, they care about the things of God. They had followed him around They were paying attention and in fact, they are pretty knowledgeable about a lot of things in the Bible But you know what? They didn't believe everything in the Bible had they and what was Jesus? What it was his opinion of people who trust in Christ, but don't believe the prophets. He calls them stupid I mean, that's what the Bible says, you know It's it's frustrating to me when you read the Bible and then you talk to modern Christians today Because it just seems like they don't know the Jesus of the Bible But the Jesus of the Bible gets mad at you for being stupid He gets mad at you for not believing the Bible and I'll say this he gets mad at you for not knowing what? The Prophet said you say why do I come to church on a Wednesday night to learn what the Prophet said? To have a Bible study and then not have Jesus look at you and say you stupid you fool Why don't you believe the prophets? Why don't you understand the scripture? You know Jesus going around he rebuked people for constantly not having read. Have you not read? Have you not read you don't believe the prophets, you know, he's constantly trying to get people on one thing What is the big rebuke of Jesus read the Bible Read the Bible believe the Bible. Look at the scripture read about why because Jesus is the Bible If Jesus is telling you follow me, you know, he's saying read the Bible Abide in me, you know what he's saying read the Bible. You know what he's saying just over and over It's it's reading the scripture. It's studying the Bible. It's memorizing scripture You know, that's why people who don't know the Bible don't know Jesus They love to walk around and tell me how much of a relationship they have and then I would love to say, okay How much how much of the Bible you've memorized none? How much do you read none? So your relationships about it is zero You know, what kind of relationship do you think you have with someone when you never hang out? I Mean if I said hey me and this guy are best buds. Oh, yeah, how much do you hang out? Well, I don't really hang out with them Okay, well do y'all talk on the phone no You how are you buddies? Well, there's this book about him that I read It's not it's not him But it's just a book about him and every once in a while. It has a tiny little quote from him This is called a devotional right how many Christians they use is a devotional. They're not talking to Jesus They're not hanging out with Jesus. They're hanging out with some other dude that wrote about Jesus It but maybe they'll put like they'll sprinkle like one tiny little verse in there Jesus Well, you know just so you get a little bit in there. It's like that's ridiculous folks That's not the relationship that Christ really wanted us have and you say I want revival in my life You know revival comes through the Bible If we're gonna change America if we're gonna get people saved and we're gonna make a big impact in this area It has to be that we get people start reading the Bible You know, why is education important? It's important that children know how to read it's important that we teach people how to learn how to read so they can read the Bible And then they can educate themselves and I'll tell you something No one is gonna serve God greatly without reading lots of Bible No one is gonna do it be a great Christian without reading lots of Bible No one is gonna have a huge faith without reading lots of Bible and let me tell you something The Bible is your friend it's Jesus Christ He is gonna revive you you when you go through difficult times when you have evil you say what's gonna revive me. It's Jesus But what does that mean practically? It's this book You know, this is what gives you comfort. This is what gives you encouragement. This is what gives you strength This is what gives you faith This is why we come on a Wednesday night and we read lots of Bible because it's gonna revive us But if I get up and I just tell you a bunch of stories and we just sing a couple kumbaya And go home. You know what? There won't be any real revival You never many talks about revival, you know revival looks like this It looks like people reading this and memorizing this and studying this and singing this This is how we have true revival and you know That's why I think our church always seems to have a great energy about it because it seems like people are reading their Bible Seems like people care about memorizing scripture It seems like people are singing the scripture and they're getting joy out of the Bible But if our church stops reading the Bible it will die We will become a dead church. You know, there is just like if the red if our churches stops eating brisket and Stops eating red meat and stops eating all meat if we all become vegan. We're gonna all look emaciated Have you ever met a vegan and they look ripped? I mean, it's like super rare and usually they're probably lying They're probably drinking some protein drink and lying about the fact that they're vegan or something because I've known tons of vegans I've seen lots of vegans. They're usually not the best looking in shape You know my I had a dentist that was vegan and I thought he was gonna die Like I was looking I'm like, are you like a thousand years old like about to die? And this was when I was like 10. He was my dentist till I was like 25 And every year I kept thinking like how are you still alive? You know, I never thought like wow, you're just a beacon of health buddy, you know That would be the same as if our churches doesn't read the Bible We'll all become emaciated and weak and puny and just just like we can't do anything You know, we need to eat and you know what? We need to eat spiritually We need the Word of God go back to Hosea chapter 6 You Probably preach a whole sermon on this verse, but obviously let's study more of Hosea 6 All right, ah, you know, it's great to get revival and it is great to realize all the implications of the resurrection But of course we only get that through the scripture now I says in verse 3 then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord? His going forth is prepared as the morning and he shall come unto us as the rain as the ladder and former rain Under the earth now the Bible uses rain as a picture of blessing as a picture of renewal as Just generally just good things The rain is a picture of good things. And of course, you know today we live in a society where have so much technology Through irrigation and other inventions that rain isn't always necessary for Americans to have good food We kind of get good food period because we always import it from all these different areas and all these different, you know plants But like there's still plenty of parts of the country and there's even parts of the world That if they just stop getting rain if they had a drought Their money would dry up. They would be in serious problems. You know rain is a very necessary component to our ecosystem and To producing food and to producing wealth and to producing things that we need of course back then They really needed it. In fact, if they didn't get rain, they didn't have Alternatives they didn't have extra options. They would be to a point where they're gonna starve to death That's why with Egypt had that great drought with Joseph Everybody in the whole world came to Egypt to buy bread because no one had any food So when God uses this symbol of the rain, you know as the ladder and as the former he's talking about how you get the rain and all the necessary times of Planting and the growing seasons and everything you need because you need a lot of rain when you plant Just to get that thing germinated and get started That's why you need all that rain in the spring, but you also need it in growing season, too You kind of need that early rain need that laddering just so that your crops won't dry up They'll make it all the way to full Maturation and they'll produce fruit just like the parable of the sower Jesus brings up how sometimes you have plants just spring up and Then they have no root and they die or they spring up and they're choked of the thorns and the thistles And they don't bring forth any fruit. So, you know, it's a long process to bring forth fruit Physically, why would we think it's any different spiritually, you know spiritually speaking you have to be patient With the things of God you have to realize that sometimes it takes a while to produce fruit Some fruits gonna take a long time and we have to just patiently endure and allow the Lord to give us those rain Seasons and allow us to bless us and you know, if we don't have God's blessing of rain We're not gonna really reap but as the Bible describes it he's gonna give us those type of blessings Verse 4 Oh Ephraim What shall I do unto thee? Oh Judah, what shall I do unto thee? For your goodness is as a morning cloud and as the early dew it goeth away now He kind of shifts gears from verse 3 to verse 4 Verses 1 through 3. He's alluding to the Babylonian return. They go back. They seek the Lord and he's gonna bless them He's gonna give them the ladder in the form of rain and they're gonna have good But then if you kind of understand the context of how this is all written, it's not just chapters It's kind of like one big epistle God's kind of still going back to the main theme of Hosea and what's the main theme of Hosea? The children of Israel have rebelled against the Lord. They've rejected the Lord. They're wicked. They're evil they're like an adulterous and whorish wife as the Bible describes them and He gives a he kind of gives you that future Hey, I'm gonna tear and destroy you guys But y'all return and then he's kind of just bringing it back to that same narrative and he's just like what am I gonna do? You guys You know, I mean, this is just this is awful for your good Excuse me for your goodness as a morning cloud and as the early do it go the way Do in the morning? Eventually evaporates it eventually goes away and of course, he's also talking about this morning cloud is another picture of weather patterns and how Essentially you have this morning cloud, but it just vanishes you don't see it anymore It's not you're not getting the rain you thought you would and he's saying it's kind of like how the children of Israel and even started out good and it's they started out a good path, but then all of a sudden is just gone and It's just completely dissipated and there's no sight of it You know on a hot summer day, you could still have dew in the morning, but by noon by three o'clock I mean, it's gonna be so hot. You wouldn't even realize the glass the grass was ever wet I mean there was no trace of it. And essentially that's what he's trying to say about these groups He's saying you guys what am I gonna do with you? You're like do that just disappeared You have no goodness. There's no goodness of you at all. What had happened with the children of men in the book of Genesis When there's no goodness He washed them all away in a flood didn't he? You know The Bible said that God repented God in his heart that he'd made man and that their thoughts were only evil continually And you have to think about this, you know kind of when we get towards the end of the world It's gonna be a similar time is what the days of Lot and the days of who? Noah and Every time we have this cycle in history where we get to the final point Where all the goodness has been zapped out of the unsaved God just destroys it and we have to realize is we're gonna live in a world where all the goodness of Man is gonna be zapped out of them. They are gonna be lovers of their own selves They're gonna be traders and heavy and high-minded lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God and it's gonna be a very dangerous world to live in and so you have to Prepare yourself and realize, you know, we're not headed for good times Generally speaking now you as a person you individually you could be looking forward to good times, you know I've met tons of people. They'll tell me hey 2020 was the best year of my life Now here's the thing 2020 was like an epic just destruction for most people like 2020 was a terrible year for just the general population of the world 2021 not much better 2022 another much, but you know for a lot of people Individualistically, they'll say like it was great for me though it well well for me this reminds me of the children of Israel living in Egypt and Goshen where essentially the whole I mean for Egypt it sucks. They have frogs They have they have boils they have darkness they have like everything bad imaginable happening to them But the children of Israel they're living it up in Goshen Albeit, they're being persecuted. It's not perfect, but they're not going they don't have the boils They're getting whipped, but they don't have frogs in their oven. Okay, so choose your poison, right? I mean, it's it's never gonna be perfect But it's like living in Goshen is still okay And of course, that's what's gonna happen for Christians Christians are gonna live in a Goshen We're persecuted and we're afflicted and we have you but God can still give us a little bit of a bubble While the whole world is being new But you have to realize the world is gonna get really bad and people are gonna wax really bad Just like in this this picture We are gonna get to a point where just man is just so evil and so wicked In fact, it gets to such an extremity If you think about it right before right after we're raptured God's gonna end up pouring out locusts from hell and Great hell stones and the Bible says that men still didn't repent of their sins They didn't still repent of the wickedness and the evil that they're doing I mean, it's like God's just punishing you and it's evident There's no way to get around it and they still blaspheme They still gnash on their their their tongue and they just they hate God and they don't want to turn their wicked There's no goodness in them it just been sucked out and Will be the goodness that sucked out will be the salt that's removed and it's just gonna rot Just like a meat product that doesn't have any salt in it It's just gonna rot and fast and just be gross and they're gonna be destroyed and that's the same as this Where they're going to rot and be destroyed and God's gonna take them out of the way and then have to replace them Bring back the children visit that's the same with us God's gonna take us out of the earth Nuke it all and then bring us back to inherit that area and come back and inherit the land Says in verse 5 therefore have I hewed them by the prophets I have slain them by the words of my mouth and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth So it's interesting is God saying hey, I told you what was gonna happen you guys I had men of God stand up. They prophesied about how wicked you are They told you you're gonna be destroyed and then I did exactly what I said through the Prophet just like Hosea Hosea is giving a prophecy of them being destroyed before it happened He's saying you're gonna be destroyed you're gonna be wiped off the face the map It's gonna happen and what God is gonna do he's gonna Hugh them Gonna solve them and asunder in essence through the words of the prophets just like preachers today getting up and Warning people about the coming Antichrist and warning people about the wrath of God People are gonna be huge by the words of the prophets. Why because ultimately it's the Word of God that they're speaking ultimately, it's the judgments of God that he's gonna pour out upon them and our words that we speak that come from the Bible are like light and that light shines on the darkness and it Exposes the darkness for what it is and let me tell you something It's blinding to the darkness. The darkness doesn't like it The darkness flees from the light because it hates the light because what the light does to it verse 6 for I desired mercy And not sacrifice and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings now God gave them these harsh warnings So that they would seek the Lord's mercy But the children of Israel they never sought the Lord correctly. They would only go to their works They would only offer more offerings or go to their false gods and it's kind of the same thing with The Pharisees and the Sadducees at the time of Christ now. Keep your finger. We'll go to Matthew 9 He's actually quoted in the New Testament in Matthew 9 And I think Matthew gives us a Little bit of an interpretation of this passage gives us a little bit of clarity is what God's talking about But let's read a few verses just for sake of context it says in verse 9 and as Jesus passed forth from thence He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the receipt of custom and he saith unto him Follow me and he rose and followed him and it came to pass that Jesus sat at me in the house Gold many publicans and sinners Came and sat down with them and his disciples and when the Pharisees saw it They said unto his disciples Why eateth your master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that he said unto them they that behold Need not a physician, but they that are sick But go ye and learn what that meaneth I will have mercy and not sacrifice for I am NOT come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance So notice Christ is quoting Hosea chapter 6 verse 6 about how he's not gonna what he's not wanting sacrifice He would rather have mercy Now, what do the Pharisees do the Pharisees they offer the sacrifices of God? If you understood the Pharisees, they're going into the temple they're offering the sacrifices But you know what? They're not doing they're not getting right with God in their heart They're not realizing that their center is in need of a Savior and they Justified themselves believing that they're righteous I mean how much more of a self-righteous person can you be when you're looking at other people and saying they're sinners What are you? Are you not said I mean think about you have a whole classification of people called sinners and you're not that person Now when we go out soul-winning we say hey, we're both sinners. We don't sit here and say you're a sinner. I'm not You know and Christ can't even talk to you Christ can't even be with you Now, of course sinners is sometimes in reference to just Gentiles. This is kind of another way that they word those people But it shows you the heart of the Jew it shows you the heart of the children of Israel That they don't believe their sinners. They don't believe that they need a Savior They don't believe that they're gonna go to hell They believe only the sinners are gonna go to hell these publicans and these sinners now Here's something everyone can agree on the government's wicked. So, you know, even the Pharisees realize that publicans are wicked Okay, so that you know that makes me think of the the Pharisees are like Republicans or something, you know Even they can say they're at the government's wicked, you know, they're still wicked too. They are the government. Okay, and It's funny that they think oh, well these tax collector everybody hates tax collector, you know, no one likes taxes No one likes the tax collector. In fact, that was what the whole rebellion was basically you know that caused Barabbas to you know, get caught up, you know, and of course Jesus they were hoping Jesus would overthrow the Roman government, you know what Jesus isn't there to fight a carnal battle Jesus is there to fight the spiritual battle and of course, you know paying taxes sucks, but Jesus did it And so is Jesus really hate the public and does Jesus really hate the tax guy? Does Jesus really hate the government? No, no, he hired them. What did it say in verse 9? And he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the receipt of custom So Matthew is referred to as the tax collector and you know what Jesus does he's like, hey Let's bring the tax collector on board. Let's make him a disciple. Now, who do you think Matthew's friends are? Only tax collectors, you know why cuz everyone hates the tax collectors So they're only friends with each other it's kind of like, you know a lot of industries like cops They're only friends with each other because everybody hates cops for some reason or whatever, you know So it's like Matthew his only buddies are tax collectors. So they're going back home He's hanging out with tax collectors And of course if you're a corrupt tax collector who else do you think's hanging out? Probably the whores and probably the prostitutes or just sinners, right? Just a bunch of wicked people drunk people and whatever they're hanging out with but you know what even those people can believe in Jesus Even those people could get saved and the Pharisees are looking at them and saying how dare you You know have fellowship with these type of people now one thing you have to understand though Is it's not like Jesus was going to the bar, you know, I hate it when people say this what a wicked Accusation against the Lord Jesus Christ. No, he went to their house. Okay number one He went to their house and number two These people are obviously in a profession that's bad But they kind of realize it and they kind of got caught up in it and they want to get right with God They actually want the mercy of Jesus Christ for having been a bad person For having made huge mistakes, but what did the Pharisees, you know? They just thought that they were great and how dare you go and eat with these people And you know what Christ is saying is you guys should learn what it means that he's gonna have mercy not sacrifice Now, let's go all the way back in our minds To the first two sons in the Bible Cain and Abel Cain and Abel Technically, they're both offering a sacrifice But if you think about what their sacrifices represent You know, what is this this tilling of the ground and this gathering of fruits? It's showing your work that you've done. Whereas you offer a lamb that gets slaughtered. That's not you. That's not your work That's you getting the mercy from the shed blood of the other animal and when we think about the distinction here Salvation is not a sacrifice Being saved by the Lord Jesus Christ is not a sacrifice. What is a sacrifice is hard It's giving something. It's it's paying for something it perhaps is something you worked really hard for Whereas what is mercy it's receiving something Getting something you don't deserve and it's like one group of people They want salvation by what sacrifice who is that the Pharisees? Whereas these people that you know what they want salvation by mercy because the tax collectors and the sinners they don't have a sacrifice to offer They don't have any good work. They recognize they can't be saved that way Therefore what Christ is really trying to explain to these Pharisees is hey, you should learn what this is meaning It's meaning there's two plans of salvation one by works and one by faith. You guys are on the wrong plan of salvation You're on a works-based salvation. And what did God say? I will have mercy and not sacrifice Meaning what God is not gonna let anyone into heaven for offering a sacrifice You either accept his mercy or you don't get in heaven Salvation is a free gift. It is not you giving your life to the Lord I can't stand it so many lordship salvationists out there so many false teachers out there They get up and say who wants to give their life to Jesus today What a foolish way to word it because the Bible doesn't say hey, I need a sacrifice It says I want to give mercy to a sinner And of course there was two men that went to pray and the one that was deemed righteous and the Lord Jesus Christ Said hey, Lord, I'm a sinner Lord be merciful me a sinner. He didn't say hey, I'm willing to give my life. Hey, I'm willing to turn from my sin Hey, here's my sacrifice. Here's my lamb. Here's my doves. Here's my money. He said Lord be merciful me a sinner And the other guy is like, oh I give it my money and my time my effort Lord I surrender my money Lord I surrender my effort and my time and all my works and you know what Christ says it's all garbage Because the only thing he accepts is the blood of Jesus Christ and you don't have that to offer You can only receive By mercy and so in the great book of Hosea, we already have the plan of salvation All over this chapter we got the third day we got it by mercy not by sacrifice and of course God yeah had Sacrifices all in the Bible. You know what? That's just a stumbling block and the unsaved Jews who want to work their way to heaven They want some kind of work to do good master What good thing shall I do to inherit eternal life too bad sucker because it's not by doing good It's by accepting God's mercy and that's why evil people quote-unquote the sinners got saved by and large and You know what? That's why when we go to the poor they get saved by and large because they recognize their sinners They recognize they need a Savior. They recognize they can't work their way into heaven. Go back you would Jose at chapter number six I've heard a preacher get up. He said there was no gospel in the Old Testament. I'm just thinking like what did you not read any of it? What do you mean there's no gospel in the Old Testament, you know We've been going through the Old Testament a lot in this church the last few years I mean, we've had all kinds of books Genesis and judges and we're in Hosea I'm sure we've hit even other books. I can't remember off top my head, but every single chapter It seems like it's pointing to Christ. It's pointing to the gospel of Jesus Christ You know, it'd be foolish for someone to say such nonsense It's because they're unsaved in my opinion. Someone's gonna say such such an idiotic statement Because how could a safe person read those verses and be like, oh there's no gospel I Mean again Catholics can probably get verse two. Okay, folks verse seven the Bibles is this But they like men have transgressed the Covenant There have they dealt treacherously against me Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity and is polluted with blood and As troops of robbers wait for a man. So the company of priests murder in the way by consent For they commit lewdness now That's a really interesting phrase here in verse 9 where it says so the company of priests murder in the way By consent now in the way is just kind of a phrase it's just kind of like talking about people just Doing business, you know going on their way or they're they're in the way on the path or it's just kind of it's kind of an expression about them living their life doing their thing and It's it's it's kind of similar to how you have that Good Samaritan How he's just kind of walking through the path and then just randomly what happens Robbers come out of nowhere and just ransack the guy. He wasn't really anticipating it. He's not expecting it He's kind of saying the same with the company of prophets in the sense that people are just doing their living their lives Doing whatever and somehow these these priests are just murdering them. Just like BAM just out of nowhere and What are they doing it by consent? So I don't think what he's saying here is that Literally priests are hiding in the byways and jumping out with a knife and just like stabbing people Okay, that's not what he's really saying. It's it's often a metaphor or metaphorically speaking He's talking about he's they're killing people in the way and they're destroying them, but it says by consent, you know a Lot of times you can hurt people but not in a direct action indirectly By essentially just allowing them to do wickedness Think about it this way when preachers get up and they are permissive on the issue of abortion You know what? They're doing they're murdering children by consent because they're giving consent unto these parents unto these people to go out and murder their child and Really? The only reason they're doing it is because the priests or the man of God got up and said it's not a sin Or acted like it's not a big deal or they were loose about the Bible They didn't say what the Bible really has to say I mean look even fundamental Baptist Peter Ruckman got up and taught that a baby is not a person until it takes its first breath What in the world how could you get up and claim that a child nine months in the womb Coming out is still not a person until it takes its first breath You know that guy obviously didn't read the Bible very well Because John the Baptist was kicking in his mother's womb he was filled with the Holy Ghost in his mother's womb How is he not a person you can just tell me like a lump of cells had the Holy Ghost inside of him That's pretty foolish there Peter Ruckman But you know, that's why his wife's just throwing herself out of a car Say who said that Peter Ruckman said in his book read it He Said during their church conferences his wife would would mail her wedding ring in as a present in the middle of the conference So like just someone walks up in the middle of our like red-hot preaching conference of the fire breathing basketball And he opens it up and it's the wedding ring of his wife This is the leader of a giant fundamental Baptist movement out there Getting up teaching all kinds of weird lies and heresy and look this is this is a fundamental Baptist circle What about outside Baptist circles? What are what other weird things are people teaching, you know people getting up and teaching that You know predators and these pedophiles are actually loving and we should bring them into our church You don't think anybody's getting hurt and harmed by that And what are they doing? They're teaching these things and giving consent Unto the wicked they're allowing wolves to just devour the flock and to destroy the flock and constantly lie in wait and destroy people, you know as a shepherd you're supposed to point out the wolves and drive the wolves out of the church and not just Allow the wolves to come in just keep eating and destroying people and murdering people and you're just like that's not a big deal doesn't affect me doesn't hurt me and Often many times they are the predator themselves I mean how many preachers and priests and whatever have been caught destroying the flock themselves Taking in children and women and having all these private counseling sessions and doing all kinds of weird junk You know what? That's a shame as a folly to our country, but you know, it's no new thing under the Sun It was the exact same back then wasn't it? the priests and everybody was wicked go to Matthew 23, you know, the priests were wicked and Isaiah and The priests were wicked in the book of Matthew chapter 23 and the priests are wicked today You know one thing is really common, you know Roman Catholic priests are wicked. Okay? And Of course, you know, we have good preachers out there and there are men of God and and of course We don't want to just say well, I'm never gonna go to church because bad people exist but you have to be wary or leery of These you know so-called priests These people that go around and call themselves all kinds of fancy names Look what it says in verse 8 But be not called rabbi for one is your master even Christ and all your brethren and call no man your father Upon the earth for one is your father which is in heaven how do Catholics have that verse in their Bible and then get up and call their man of God father so-and-so I Mean you you just know right off the bat Catholics don't believe the Bible and Of course if there's someone that you don't want to listen to you know It is people who Jesus got up and said don't do this about this person Like if there's any person that you don't want to listen to it's someone with the title rabbi father or master that is pretty much the worst people to listen to the worst people to get advice from and Of course, what were the Pharisees considered Masters of Israel, you know, and is it any coincidence that these same people love to have university doctorates and have a masters in theology Masters in divinity, you know, of course, most of these people are super wicked Now there's there was exceptions then and there's exceptions now, right? I'm not saying everybody has a doctorate or the master's degree is a wicked person What I am saying is you're supposed to be afraid of those people should be leery of those people Nicodemus wasn't the person you want to get doctrine from think about this. Hey Nicodemus. How do you get saved? We have to crawl back in your mother's womb again, you know, I don't know I don't it doesn't make sense to me, you know, it's like that would have been bad advice You know that have been weird that's like the same Catholics are saying hey, you got to eat Jesus It's like how do you get salvation? Well, here's Jesus and here's his blood you got to eat it and drink it You know, you're like, what are you talking about? Let me spring some toilet water on you know, yeah, it's like what these guys don't even know what's going on Let me take your baby and dunk it in water For what reason you have no idea, you know, why is the guy wearing a dress? I Mean everything they're doing is bizarre And it's no different that they were wicked then they're they're wicked in Hosea They're wicked now, but look what else he says Let's skip down a little bit verse 13 But woe and you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men for you neither go in yourselves Neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in woe and you scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites for you devour widows houses and for a pretense make long prayer. Therefore you shall receive the greater damnation now when we look at Qualities and characteristics of the Pharisees of these scribes notice what the Bible says about them that they're devouring widows houses Just like God gets so mad at these priests who were murdering people in the way by consent and it's no real difference when Jesus comes on the day and Scribes and the Pharisees are devouring widows house. I mean you have to be the lowest of low when you're taking advantage of widows and You know, it's just it's mind-boggling in the Bible to ever be someone who would treat a widow poorly I You know, I was actually my wife told me so I'm gonna give you a story Okay, go back to the who's able finish, right? My wife gave me a story today And it was just baffling to me but she was telling me about there was a church that she grew up in and They got a new pastor and the new pastor sucked because he believes Calvinism But for other reasons too, and so there was this older couple they'd served in the church for a really long time It's a Baptist Church They'd been there for decades and they ended up transferring to another Baptist Church Just kind of in the latter portion of their life. Well, the husband end up passing away and The widow the wife wants to have the funeral at their home What was considered their home church the church where they both served on staff for decades. They've been their members decades They know everybody and the the new pastor said that they're not allowed to have the funeral at the church and I'm just thinking like what in the world like why would a pastor not Allow a widow to come just because they had transferred churches in the last part. I mean, you know, what kind of a wicked heart for a pastor Do you know deny a widow's request and you know you it's like baffling but you know That's what the Bible even said that these Pharisees they were so hard-hearted and they were so evil They would rip off widows and not even care and you know, there are people that go to churches today and They will go up to widows and you know what? They'll tell them I'm here to help you and I know your husband's gone and I know you don't have a lot of money. Let me do a reverse mortgage And you know what? They're doing they are Devouring widows houses reverse mortgages are wicked. They are evil They are invention of the Jews because it's usury and of course they want to come in like this sweeping cowboy But you know what? There are predators that go to churches today and they will pray on widows They will go to the widow because the widow I mean think about it, especially throughout history a woman typically was not the person that had a job Maybe doesn't have as much education and finances a lot of times the men handle those situations They're not the breadwinner at the age of a widow. It's gonna be hard to provide for yourself You probably can't that's why the Bible talks about the family members needing to be able to provide for the widows And then you have men just coming along just tricking gullible women or tricking women They just don't know any better taking advantage of them who are elderly They don't have any options and just ripping them off. What a cold-hearted psychopath to rip off widows you know what it happens all the time and For us as God's people we need to make sure that we provide for our widows and we take care of our widows And you don't let any of the women and your family go without or get ripped off by these snakes and these Predators and these evil wicked men because they'll creep into churches and they'll creep in all kinds of circles and we don't want to allow That to happen to our church and you know what some guy that has a hard heart towards widows You should almost just mark it. That's a bad person What a wicked person to prey on a woman who is you know been devastated by the loss of a husband Now it says here in a verse number of 10 I've seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel. There is whoredom of Ephraim Israel's defiled also of Judah He hath set in harvest for thee when I return the captivity of my people So again, you know when God looks at what they're doing and all these activities He's not pleased He looks down and says this is a horrible thing and you know God constantly is looking down at people today and he's not saying oh, I just love you. You're so great He's like this is a horrible thing You say well, I thought God so loved the world. Yeah, did you read that verse out loud? It's called past tense You know when God loved you when he sent his son to die on the cross, you know When God didn't love you when you're doing wicked things, you know when God doesn't love people when he sends them to hell You know when God didn't in fact, we're gonna get there pretty soon. But in those days he says I will love them no more and God is angry with the wicked every day God is angry and hates sinners and he hates evil and he's not pleased with that He's a holy and righteous God and we should not fool ourselves into thinking that God's pleased with us just because we're saved Even if you're saved you could do a horrible thing and God would look down and what a horrible thing That you did What it really could displease the Lord and you know, we have to be careful that we live a life That's pleasing unto the Lord because the world by and large is just going after Satan just doing the will of Satan in every category and if you're even kind of like the world You might be doing a lot of bad stuff. We have to be distinct. We have to be separate We are an independent fundamental Baptist Church and one of those is being distinct from the world Separating ourselves from the world you say well that doesn't sound like fun. Well, you know, it's not fun committing horrible acts Having God be so angry at you and telling you he's just done with you or saying he's just gonna completely destroy the land and Often the only thing that keeps God from destroying the land is the salt staying salty You know people will not give you credit. But the only reason this place is not nuked is because of you guys Because of Christians being Christians and and salt being salt You know what if we lose our Savior if we stop being the salt if we stop going to church if we stop Reading the Bible and we allow our goodness to depart like the do you know what God will just be like bye Done with you and you know, there's a lot of evil people that want to destroy us. Let us not destroy ourselves Let us give the Lord a chance to redeem us let the Lord give us a chance or let the let's give the Lord a chance to revive us Let's give the Lord a chance to use us greatly for his honor and for his glory because he wants to But if we're not gonna separate ourselves, we're not gonna follow his commandments then you know We're not any better than anybody else in this book. Let's close in prayer Thank you Heavenly Father for giving us this great chapter of Hosea and a reminder of the gospel message of how you desire mercy. I pray that every one of us when we transgress or we commit sin That would be convicted and we'd have a desire to seek the Lord and to seek mercy and to seek your grace And I pray that as we live by that grace, it wouldn't be wasted on us But rather we would serve you with our lives And and I pray that we wouldn't be drawn away with the evil of the wicked with the temptation of this world But rather we would try to stay separate that we try to go draw close to you We'd read our Bibles and that we would try to have a real relationship with you And I pray that you would just help our church to be used for your honor and glory in Jesus name we pray Amen You Let's go to 164 actually I wanted 166 166 You 166 there on the first when I saw the cleansing fountain Open wide for all my sin I Obeyed the spirits wooing When he said will thou be clean I Will praise him I Will praise him praise the lamp or sinner slain Give him glory all ye people for his blood can wash away each day Though the way seems straight and narrow All I claim was swept away My ambitions plans and wishes at my feet in ashes lame I Will praise him I Will praise him praise the lamp or sinner slain Give him glory all ye people For his blood can wash away each day Then God's fire up on the altar of my heart was set aflame I Shall never cease to praise him glory glory to his name I Will praise him I Will praise him praise the lamp or sinner slain Give him glory all ye people for his blood can wash away each day Blessed be the name of Jesus I'm so glad he took me in He's forgiven my transgressions He has cleansed my heart from sin I Will praise him I Will praise him praise the lamp or sinner slain Give him glory all ye people for his blood can wash away each day Glory glory to the Father Glory glory to the Son Glory glory to the Spirit Glory to the three in one I Will praise him I Will praise him praise the lamp or sinner slain Give him glory all ye people For his blood can wash away each day God bless your dismiss