Whatever you think God doing in your life, he probably isn't. Let's talk about it on this edition of He-Life. Hey, if you're into stuffy, turn off the radio now because this is He-Life, designed to be honest, straightforward, and street-smile. Here's Steve Brown with the Teaching for today.
Thanks, Mike. If you have your Bible open to the book of Hosea, we're sintering in on the 11th chapter of Hosea because it sort of encompasses the entire teaching of the book of Hosea. I've told you the story. We've looked at the exeg- I'm doing the best I can. The exegetical notes of this particular book, and now we're sintering in on Hosea 11. Now, yesterday, now this is a poem manifesting the facets of God's love. Hosea 11 won when Israel was a child. I loved him, and out of Egypt, I called my son, and we looked at the way love chooses. And I talked about the doctrine of election. Some of you guys got up tight with me because I did that. I want you to know that I don't understand this. I don't understand how we can be responsible and play a part in this. And how God can be absolutely sovereign. But I'll tell you something. It is a wonderful family secret to know that before you were born, that God knew your name and called you to himself. That you are a part of his. And if you loved you before you did anything good to deserve it, he won't let you go for any reason whatsoever. We talked about how God had chosen. When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt, I called my son, how odd for God to choose the Jews. How odd for God to choose you. I remember the first time Addison Leach. You may know that name, and you may not. He was one of the finest Bible teachers and scholars in the country. He was the president of Spurgzina Seminary, almost a cemetery. I teach it one, and it's not. He was the academic dean at Gordon Conwell when he died. And I needed somebody to give me some advice, and I called him, and he gave me some time. And one time he said, hey, Steve, how you doing? And I remember getting in the car and telling my wife, Anna, Addie, call me Steve today. Call me by name. But what if you had called me by name before I ever met him? In fact, what if I got no letter from him the day I was born? That's what God did for you if you were a believer. You don't go out and preach that on street corners. I mean, that's not something that you include in the four spiritual laws, because this is a family secret. But once you're a part of the family, to know that is a wonderfully bracing doctrine of the church. Now let me show you another facet of God's love as we find it in Hosea. It's the way love teaches us. Look at Hosea 11-3-4. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk. I took them up in my arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with the cords of compassion, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them, and I fed them. Now, there are two things I want you to notice about that. First, that God teaches with circumstances, and secondly, when he teaches, you don't know that he's teaching until you look back on the circumstances. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk. I took them up in my arms. I led them with the cords of compassion, with the bands of love. God is teaching you in the circumstances of your life. I know. I know it's hard sometimes. I know that you can say to God, how could you do that to be a friend who's been saying that to God? You know, I really knocked me out of the saddle when things didn't work out the way I wanted them. I lost my job. And her husband's sitting off to the side, and he's smiling as we're having lunch. And then I had to put my father in an extended care facility. He wasn't happy about it, and it was awful. And then my daughter got sick, and her husband's just sitting there smiling. She said, I almost said, I'm not going to believe in God anymore. I'm not going to do anything for him ever again in her husband's sort of smiling. And I knew that there was a good outcome, because through it all, she was being drawn to the throne of grace, and he understood. And I did too. That's how God teaches you. Even when you don't know it, and that's the second point. Whatever you think God is doing in your life, he's probably not doing what you thought he was doing. That's why people, and I get this all the time, I thought God was leading me, and then I found out he wasn't leading me at all. Yeah, he was. I got this job, and it was the perfect job, and I knew that it was God. I knew this is his will for me, and then I got fired. It wasn't his will for me. Oh yeah, he was. But you see, God is teaching you something more important than your job, more important than what you do tomorrow, more important than anything else in your life. He's bringing you to the point where you can say to him. Father, I don't understand you, but I trust you. Father, your ways are secluded, and I was pretty arrogant when I thought that I knew everything that you knew about me, but you're not. And what you're doing is that you're bringing me to the end of myself, so I say to you, I don't care where we go, as long as I'm with you. I taught them. I took them in my arms, but they did not know that I healed them. Love teaches. And because God loves you, he's teaching you some really neat stuff, but mostly he's teaching you about himself, and that's the most important lesson that you can learn. And then I want you to note the love's harshness. Look at those, they 11-5-7, they shall return to the land of Egypt, a serious shall be their king. Some texts say they shall not return to the land of Egypt, but a serious shall be their king. Because they have refused to return to me, the swords shall rage against their cities, consume the bars of their gates and devour them and their fortresses. My people are then on turning away from me, so they are appointed to the yoke and none shall remove it. And you say, wait, wait, wait, you're always telling us that God isn't angry at us. Doesn't this sound like he's a little bit ticked? You have to look at the next passage, where you turn to Hosea 11-8-9 to see the heart of God, but how can I give you up, Oee, for him? How can I hand you over, O Israel? But let's go back to this passage that I just read to you because it's really important to understand that what seems like the wrath of God is simply the entranzience of God, the immutability of God as he refuses to change circumstances or his law to see a smile on your face. Now, sometimes that looks like anger. My friends, Charlie and Ruth Jones, they do drama and they're called peculiar people. Now, they are a bit peculiar. Some of the closest friends I have in this life, but they have this sketch they do about Billy that teaches about God's grace. Among other things in the sketch, the father has taken Billy to the doctor to get a shot and they're driving home. Over and over again, the father said to Billy, I love you son. And he said, I made up my room. Now you love me more, right? And the father says, Billy, I don't love you because you made up your room. I love you because you're my son. And this theme goes throughout the sketch of Billy. And then they've gone to the doctor and they're driving back and Billy has got this really sour, angry look on his face. And he's saying, you don't love me. And his father looked like, oh, we got to go through this again. And he said, of course, I love you, Billy. And he said, well, you took me to the doctor and the doctor gave me a shot and it hurt really bad. And you don't love me. And his father said, of course, I love you, Billy. If I didn't love you, I wouldn't care. I wouldn't care what you do. I wouldn't care that you get the shot. I wouldn't care if you got sick. The reason I took you to get the shot is because I love you. But the point is that Billy perceived it as God's wrath, as his father's wrath. And we do that too. Let me tell you something. If you go out and break God's law, it's going to feel like somebody wiped you upside the head. It's going to feel like God is angry, but he's not. It's just the reality of his immutability, the perfection of his law, the way he's taught us to live and he loves us enough to make sure that we are drawn to him. And so sometimes love, if it's real love, seems quite harsh. You ever seen those kids where the parents feel that they're calling in life is to head their kids like them? Where do they allow anything because they want to be a good old Joe to their kids? You ever seen those kids? Those kids are horrible. I mean, kids are horrible anyway, but I mean these are really horrible kids. God fathers us well. He didn't going to move. So, do you with it? You think about that? I'm in. Hey, the second volume. Well, that's too big a name for it. It's kind of a booklet of our Old Testament survey series. They're going to be three of them. The second one is off the press. And if you want it, I'll send it to you free. You can put it in your Bible. It'll help you in your study of the Old Testament. It's like a mini Old Testament commentary. And if you'd like it, I'd love to send it to you as long as supplies last. If you didn't get the first one, if you ask about that, if we have some left, we'll send that to you too. We'll do it free. Let us know 1-800-keylife-24 hours a day. Are you going to write key life post office box 5,000-Mateland, Florida? 327-994? Or key life Canada post office box 321-5-0? Cambridge Ontario in 3-H5-3? Or you can email us, Steve, at keylife.org, with your regular mating address. And ask for the Old Testament survey number two. And we'll send it to you free. Hey listen, if you could help us financially, would you? I sometimes stay awake and I think about how much this costs. And very few of you are able to help us financially. And if you're one of those, would you pray about it and be as generous as you can? You can charge on a Mastercard Beasts of Discovered Garden through the contribution you're in below. For any contribution, any size, I'll send you the cassette. Teaching mercies, freedom. Hey, I got to go. Key life is a listener supported production of Key Life Network.