Hello, I'm Tony Carter, Lead Passive East Point Church. For the past eight years, we've called the City of East Point our home as we sought to point people to Christ through the preaching of the gospel. And during our time here, we've shared church space and met in civic centers and in schools, but now God has given us a gracious opportunity to have a place that we can call our own. Currently, we are on the contract for a church building and our raising funds for the down payment. And normally, we don't ask for donations in this matter, but this is a unique and a wonderful opportunity for us. And so, if you are so inclined, we ask that you would partner with us in the pursuit of our vision for permanent home for East Point Church. If you would like to give, we invite you to visit our website at epointchurch.org. And there, you will find a tab directing you in how you might be able to give in support of us raising the funds to obtain this church building. Thank you for this opportunity and thank you for partnering with us in advance. The preach word this morning comes from Hosea, chapter 2, verses 8-23. Hosea in chapter 2, verses 8-23. And the word of God reads his follows. And she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold, which they used for bail. Therefore, I will take back my grain in its time and my wine in its season, and I will take away my wool and my flax, which were to cover her nakedness. Now, I will uncover her loonness in the side of her lovers, and no one shall rescue her out of my hand. And I will put an end to all her birth, her feast, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her appointed feasts. And I will lay waste to her vines and her feed trees, of which she said, these are my wages which my lovers have given me. I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall devour them. And I will punish her for the feasts of the days of the bales, when she burned offerings to them, and adorned herself with her ring in jewelry, and went after her lovers and forgot me, declares the Lord. Therefore, behold, I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. And there I will give her her vineyards and make the valley of a core a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt. And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me my husband, and no longer will you call me my bail. For I will remove the names of the bales from her mouth, and there and they shall be remembered by name no more. And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, and creeping things on the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. I will be trough you to me forever. I will be trough you to me in righteousness and injustice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will be trough you to me in faithfulness. You shall know the Lord. And in that day, I will answer, declares the Lord, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth, and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreo. And I will sow her for myself in the land, and I will have mercy on, no mercy. And I will say to not my people, you are my people, and he shall say, you are my God. You know, it's an interesting thing when you read the Bible.
If you read the Bible carefully, there are two things that you come away with consistently. Two things. Every story, every narrative, every account, you come away with two things that the Bible is communicating to us. The first thing that the Bible is telling us over and over again is that we have a problem. That's what you get. From doing the three all the way to the end, that's what you get. Every page is communicating. You have a problem. Humanity has a problem. God's people have a problem. And so the Bible is telling us that over and over again, telling us we have a problem. But it's also telling us another thing, over and over again. It is telling us how God promises to solve that problem. And you get this in Genesis, and you keep reading it everywhere that God announces, if we God pronounces the problem, he also promises. If you will be careful of attention, promise us how he's going to solve that. Our text this morning is no different. The Bible reveals this knowledge concerning our problems and how God promises to solve those problems. The Bible does this for our good and the Bible does this for the glory of God. Unfortunately, to often, we fail. We fail to understand the gravity of the problem. And because we don't understand the gravity of our problems, we fail also in realizing the glory of the promise to grasp the seriousness of our condition. But the Bible is clear, over and over again, that humanity has a problem. In fact, the Bible is clear this morning, in particular, that Israel, the nation of Israel had a problem. We've been going through the prophecy of Hosea, and now we've come to chapter 2 of Hosea. And as we've already mentioned before, if you've been here, now in this prophecy, God has commissioned Hosea to reveal to Israel the reality of her disobedience to him, the reality of her idolatry. And we see in chapter 1 that Hosea did this with his actions, you might remember, and that he went and he married Gomer. God promised would be and he was unfaithful to him. And so there is demonstrating this by his actions,
God's word to Israel concerning her obedience and idolatry. In chapter 2, what we see is God using hold there to speak to the nation in words. Words to the nation, showing them and telling them that God's people had problems. Serious. The nation of Israel was net sense of problematic people. And then this day were like us, or better yet we like them. When we see in this text that their problem is too bold. God says you have a problem, the nation of Israel, and the first problem you have is your ignorance, your ignorance. You see that there in verse 8, right? Well God tells Hosea to tell the nation of Israel, she did not know that it was I who gave her her grain, the wine and the oil who lavish on her silver and gold which they use for the bale. She didn't know Israel was ignorant of who God is and what God does. I love it. We all ignorant of something. You don't like to be called ignorant but you are. We all ignorant of something. Amen. Amen. And if you'd asked my wife this morning, whose plane in the championship football games is coming on this afternoon, I am quite sure she could not tell you those things. Likewise, if you were to quiz me today, Sister Ruth, on whose, who, on, I don't know about downtime app, I don't know about downtime app, I don't know about project one way. Exactly. What is more like it? Okay, Sister Ruth, because we all ignorant of something. Most of the times what we are ignorant of are those things that we are not interested in. Well, it's one thing, beloved, to be ignorant and not interested in football or project one way. Another thing to be ignorant of the God was called you who has sustained you, who has loved you, who has cared for you, who has given you everything that you
have. But Israel was a prosperous nation. She was prosperous. She had grain, she had wine, she had oil, she had silver, she had gold, she had married well. She had lavished upon her all these wonderful things. All of her needs were met. She had married a man who owned everything that given everything to her. He had everything and he was generous, know how generous he was. In the Old Testament, when a woman got married, she could and should expect at least three things from her husband, sufficient food, sufficient shelter, and sufficient intimacy. He gave her food to eat, he gave her wine to drink, he gave her finest of perfumes and oils. He lavished upon her and decked her out with silver and with gold. He promised to be her God and her husband. He promised to be with her and never leave her to provide for all of her needs to love her with an everlasting love. And yet in receiving all of these things, the Bible says that she failed to acknowledge, acknowledge that it was her husband who gave her all these things. Instead, she took those things and she used those things to serve other gods and essence to allure other men. You know the gifts that God gives to us. Beloved and first Peter, chapter 4 and verse 10, the Bible says, now to be used for the good of others and for the glory of God. Your gifts are for your good. Yes, but they are also an even more importantly to be used for the glory of God, to make much of God, to point other people to God, to acknowledge that it is God who has given them to you and is God who has been gracious and therefore that to be used for his glory. Whatever those gifts are, in the movie, Terry, it's a fire. If you have seen it, it's a movie about Eric Little, who was an Olympic runner, 1920, 14 Britain, and yet he was also a missionary to China. This was an Olympic runner and a missionary to China. And many in his circle saw a conflict between these two colleagues. How could you have time to be running around a track when you need to be running for Jesus in China? The sister comes to him in the movie. She's disappointed in Eric because he's going to the Olympics rather than going to China. And Eric said these words, God made me for purpose. I understand that but he also made me
and when I run, I feel this pleasure because he understood everything that God had given to him, he'd given to him for God's glory. And he wanted to use those gifts. God not only gives of gifts, beloved, but he expects his people to know that their gifts are from him, for him and through him. And thus, you are to be constantly giving faith to him. This is Israel's problem here. Israel knew who God was but they failed to acknowledge him as God. This is not just the problem of Israel. This is the problem of all humanity. In Romans 1, in verse 21, the Bible says, for although they knew God, speaking of all humanity, although we all know he glorifies to him with the thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. How they did not acknowledge God as God. And give thanks to God for all he did and once to them, they had another problem. God himself became their problem for the ignorance led to their idolatry. It always does. Ignorance always leads to idolatry. Anyone who was ignorant of who God is, worship idols. Anyone who was ignorant of who Christ the Lord Jesus Christ is, worship idols. Ignorance always leads to idolatry. So it was with Israel and idolatry always leads the God's punishment. There's our problem again now. She was ignorant and now she had occurred the wrath of God. Life is full of problems. We all know that. They come in all shapes, sides and forms, color. But none is as significant as is the problem that you have with God. When God becomes the problem, you really have a problem. God was going to punish Israel for disobedience. God was going to punish her for her idolatry. He was going, as the Bible says in verse 9, take back his blackness. Notice what it says. Therefore he says, I will take back my grain. I will take back my wine. I will take back my wool. I will take back my flag. Notice it is God who says, I will take something that they need accused someone else of doing to do this.
Her way was the trouble that was coming straight from the hand of God. Uncover her eludeness and her celebrations. I will lay waste, destroy and bring to ruin her fake trees and the land that I gave her, land that I brought her into that was flowing with milk and honey. I will lay waste to it and she will be a death of it. I will punish her for all her eludeness, for her origins, for her sacrifices to bail, for her prostituting herself at the temple, for her worshiping and giving herself to these other God was aware of her unfaithfulness and he was not pleased and therefore he was her problem. Rarely do people realize this. Rarely do people realize that their biggest problem is God. Rarely, Rarely because of sin, God is always the problem. God is always the problem and we think it's other things that are our problem. We think our problem is other people. We think our problem is other situations and other places. We think our problem is politician. We think our problem is teachers. We think our problem is parents and police. Our problem is parents. We need this. Sin, God says, Adam, where are you? What have you been doing? And Adam says, is that woman you gave me? That's the problem. He says, no, is that serpent. You are lying. God says, no, Adam, your problem isn't even Eve. Your problem isn't the serpent. You both have the same problem. It's me. Your problem is that Israel had forsaken God. Israel had offended God. Israel had rejected God. This is always the problem with sin for human beings. The issue is the rejection of a God who has created art. Other things. Remember when Israel wanted a king and they told Samuel, we don't want you to judge us anymore. We want a king like all the other nations and Samuel was feeling dejected and down and he went to God and God said, Samuel, don't be dejected and don't be down but they have not rejected you, Samuel. They have rejected me. It's always the problem. It's rejected God. Our natural born rejecters of God. That's why Jesus came into the world. You do understand? And John chapter 3, the Bible tells us that Jesus did not come into the world to condemn the world. Why? Because the world was condemned already. Condemn for what? Rejecting God. To acknowledge God. The center of Romans chapter 1, those hearts grew. This is the problem.
Rejecting God. Basically, men and women don't want God. They don't want God. Yes, they'll tell you they do. That's because what they really want are the benefits of God. This is what Israel wanted. Israel wanted to benefit a relationship with God but not God. That's how all of us are. We want the benefit of relationship with God but we don't want God. We want the benefit of being married to God but we don't want the accountability of being married to God. We want the benefits but we don't want God. We want to be married to Him. We want the comfort He gives. We want the peace He gives. We want the pleasure of intimacy. We want the security that He gives. We want the love that He gives. But we don't believe it. Acts just up the question. And we ask this this morning, if you can have peace and the wealth and the health, if you can have all the pleasure you want it, which one would you choose? Which one are you choosing this morning? God says to this people, no, no, no, no. It doesn't work that way. If you don't want God, then you won't get the benefits either. If you reject God, then you will reject. You must also reject His benefits. Here is the amazing thing. Wants you to have the benefits. Why are showing her her problems? And even while she is better than me, and you are glad he is, or even while he is pronouncing her punishment, God is busy making promises. This is amazing. The Bible again, remember, the Bible doesn't just tell us the problem. It does over and over again, but it doesn't just tell us the problem. Read it carefully and you'll see their intermix with the problem as God given His people promise. Israel had a big problem. They received. If I can put it this way and even greater promise. God's promises you know are surprising. They really are. They just come out of nowhere. His promises are surprising. For notice something here in the text after what the Lord threatened to do. And after hearing in verse 13 that Israel had went after her lovers and had forgotten Yahweh, you would expect verse 14 to begin with more judgments, more punishment, more condemnation, but instead of judgment and punishment, what you hear is mercy. What you hear is great. Therefore, God says, I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness and speak tenderly. This is amazing because this is surprising and yet this is God because this is great. If you've never been surprised by grace, and I would dare say you've never known it. If you've never been surprised or amazed by it, it's probably because you've never really known it. The grace of the amazing explanation for it's what Paul says in 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, beginning in verse 9, he says, for I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called apostles, because I persecuted the Church of God and yet I received grace. For me, 1 Timothy, chapter 1, beginning in verse 13, don't formerly I was a blasphemer, a persecutor and an insolent opponent, but I received mercy and the grace of Jesus Christ was overflowing to, I don't think anyone has ever been more amazed by the grace of God and surprised by the grace of God than was one of my heroes. John Newton, that blasphemous, agnostic, wretched, slave-trading man who wrote the words, amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretched, themselves wretched apart from Christ are ever really amazed by grace, who really understand where they were are ever really amazed. How is this amazing to Israel? It is amazing because God does not reject his beloved. Now, by any account and any means, if Hosea was to come to the pastor's office and begin to say pastor, I love her, but this is what she's done and begin to tell me all that she had done. Brothers and sisters, I would say to him, brother, I understand and if I were in your shoes, I do understand, but that's not God. Hosea could shut the door and change the locks and tell Gomer, she is not welcome anymore and nobody would think him wrong, but that's not God. Hosea would have ground-vation by anybody he talked to, he would have ground to leave her again. Now, they were unsafe while you and I were yet he remains and he says, this is absolutely amazing, I will win her back again. I will win her where we first met. God about to get it on. He's a smooth operator. He says, I'm going to take her back to where we first met. I'm going to take her back where I took her on the first date. I'm going to take her back to that place. Well, we first hold held hands while I first kissed her. I'm going to remind her of her first love. I'm going to speak tenderly to her and I'm going to whisper sweet nothing in her, says to her, do you remember that wilderness experience? When it was just you and me history, there was nothing out there. There was nobody else. There was just you and me and I took you to myself. You had nothing to give me, but I didn't care. I loved you. Do you remember the wilderness experience where I gave you everything? There. My beloved, I want to give you everything again, because when I said that I loved you and cherish you, it was for better or for worse, for richer or for poor, in sickness or in health, till death do us part. And when I said it, I meant what I said to her, I married you once, I will marry you all over again. This is what makes great so amazing. This is what makes it so amazing, because three times in this text, the Lord says to Israel, I will pledge myself to you. I will commit myself to you. You know what this is? You know what God is doing here? God is promising Israel. Yes, you're going to get punished for your sins, but it gets what? There is coming a day when I will win you back, enter into covenant once again with you and remind you that I am your husband. I'm a wedding ceremony again. These out of house are saying these vows to his beloved. He says, I will pledge myself to you forever, till death do us part. Nothing can separate us. Nothing will come between us. I will pledge myself to you forever. He says that I will pledge myself to you in righteousness. I will always do right by you. What is mine shall be yours and all I have shall be yours. I will pledge myself to you forever. I will pledge myself to you in righteousness. I pledge myself to you in justice. See, not ever concern yourself with how I will treat you. I will always treat you right. I will always treat you, family. There will be no abuse. There will be no neglect.
I pledge myself to you in love. I sacrifice myself to you. You shall never spend a day wondering or doubting if you are loved or every day you will know that your beloved has pledged himself to you in love. He says I pledge myself to you in compassion and sickness and in health and lean times and in wealth for better or for worse. I will be with you. For he says I will pledge myself to you in faithfulness and you shall know the Lord. You shall know the Lord. This is amazing because this was Israel's problem, wasn't it? She fell to know who God is and God says but I got a solution. You will know me again. There is coming a day when you will know that I am not just God, I am husband, I am beloved. So you see that God's promises are not just surprising, but God's promises are really salvation. That's what they are, beloved. They are salvation. They are not just sweet and they are not just surprising but they also are salvation. Salvation is this. Salvation is knowing the Lord. Salvation is, salvation is knowing the Lord and the desire of people to know Him and the desire of God's people is this too. As in you shall know me, you shall know me. This promise is precious because in it is the promise of salvation. This is the word of intimacy. This is the word of intimacy. This is the word of marital faithfulness. It is the words of consummation. This is why it is the word of salvation because it is the word of consummation. What is the desire of a man on his wedding day? That he would know his wife. What is the desire of a woman on her wedding day? But that she would know her husband. And this is why, beloved, they are important. Then with him, Jeremiah, chapter 9, verse 23, the Bible says, God says the Lord. Let the wise man boast in his wisdom and let the mighty man boast in his might and let not the rich man boast in his riches but let him who boast, boast of this that he understands and knows me. Do you know him? I mean, do you know him? Not, not, not are you aware of his being and not that you acknowledge him as having created all things but I mean do you know him as Lord and Savior as the one who has died for your sins? Do you acknowledge him in all your ways? But this is salvation. This is the promise of God to save his people that those who know the Lord are those who are saved. Those who are not saved. They are not saved because they don't know the Lord for Jesus said. John, chapter 10, verse 14, I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me. Now Jesus is there, beloved, just talking they know about me and they know my mother, my father, my family and they know where I come from. No, Jesus is saved. They know me. Why? Because he said in verse 27, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give them eternal life to knowing because he wants his people to save and there is no salvation apart from knowing God. There is no salvation apart from knowing Christ. This is why Paul would say in Philippians chapter 3 and verse 10, in willing to forsake everything in this world, he says, I want to know him that I may know him in the power of his resurrection, that I may share in his sufferings and becoming like him in his death. This is why Jesus came into the world, beloved. He came so that we would know him. This is why he lived. This is why he suffered. This is why he died. This is why Christ was raised from the dead, that we might know him. It's why in John chapter 17, verse 3, the Bible says, now this is eternal life, that they know you, they only true God and Jesus Christ. And you have said, there is no salvation apart from knowing Christ this morning. Oh, beloved, the only question that can really be asked of any of us. Do you know the Lord?
Do you know God? Do you know Jesus Christ? Are you acknowledging him in all your ways? Is he the heart and the core and the center of all you? Do you know him? Is it your life ambition to come to know the Lord more and more every day? Is it your heart's desire for intimacy with God so that as you are growing up in your faith, it becomes less and less certain to you where you in and the Lord begins?
In your understanding and knowledge of God in such a way, beloved, that you find yourself like a husband and a wife who's been together for such a long time when one starts the sentence. The other one finishes. Are your words and thoughts being enveloped in it so that when people hear you speak, they are hearing amazingly the words of God. This is what it means to know him. This is what it means to have intimate relationship with him. This is what it means to him not just to be God but to be husband, to be beloved, to be your Savior. It is my prayer this morning that there would not be a person here who doesn't know.