Fertilizer for Fruit, Hosea 6
Hosea 6
June 15, 2006
Intro: John 15:16, You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, ...
A- BUT what is it that needs to be applied to the vine before
it is able to bear fruit.
1- Well before the fruit, it’s necessary to apply, the
fertilizer.
a- All the junk that we allow to enter into our lives,
although not pleasant, but are the better off
because of it.
- This is not the pruning and trimming of trials
that God shapes us with.
* BUT the rotten garbage that we bring
in that God uses anyway.
Luke 15:11-24
2- So the garbage we bring into our lives God can use
as fertilizer for fruit.
a- That tells me there is always the opportunity to
stop, turn, repent and move on and even
beyond
> The key to this transformation is in the REPENTANCE. (a
change of mind that results in a change of heart)
2 Peter 3:9, The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
A- SO the service that we provide here at CCO is the
opportunity to make a public repentance.
1- It’s the alter call invitation that once answered gives
you a point of reference in order to build upon.
a- And this is the opportunity that Israel recognizes
and misinterprets.
- As do a lot of people making an alter call.
2- The truth is in the fruit:
a- Are they a contender, or a pretender.
- Contending for the Christian faith and living a
biblical life.
- Pretending to practice Christianity but mixed
in the multitudes blending in and not
standing out.
* They do the Christian thing in that they
look and listen BUT NEVER REALLY
learn and live.
> 3 earmarks of a counterfeit repentance
#1- 1st There is no acknowledgement of sin.
A- There can be no real repentance unless sin is seen, sin
is taken possession of, and sin hurts.
1- Their premise is good in that they all start out well.
Hosea 6:1, Come, and let us return to the Lord; ...
a- They’re wanting to go from point A (bad place) to
point B ( a good place) without change.
- 9/11 = Lets return to God (so the bombing
will stop)
Luke 17:11-19
Luke 19:1-10 Zacchaeus found a living union with Christ that
results in a changed life.
b- Without the acknowledge of sin there can be
no repentance, without repentance there can
be no forgiveness, without forgiveness there
can be no salvation.
Matthew 3:8, Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance,
B- Where do I see all of this???
Hosea 6:1, Come, and let us return to the Lord; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up.
1- Their request is for a healing and NOT a cleansing.
a- They wanted “things” to be all better without
“them” being made all better.
- SEE, God may use a situation or
circumstance to get someone to come to
church.
BUT
- It’s the knowledge of our sin and His
goodness that gets us to come to
repentance.
* The acid test to determine if
you’re a pretender of a contender.
- If you come to the Lord and
things don’t get better; IS HE
STILL YOUR LORD?
Matthew 13:20-21, But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
> 2ND earmark of a counterfeit repentance THEY’RE LOOKING
FOR A QUICK FIX.
Hosea 6:2, After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight.
A- A “quick fixer” is not willing to pay the price for
necessary end result.
1- My shoulder: surgery, 6 weeks in a sling, 6 weeks of
physical rehabilitation.
a- Want God to fix, mend, and revive in “3 days”,
what if He uses His calendar?
2 Peter 3:8, But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
B- Know this; to understand that cleansing is from the
Lord, it will be a DEEP CLEANSING.
Psalm 51:6-7, Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
> 3RD earmark of a counterfeit repentance THEY CONSIDER IT
TO BE A MECHANICAL THING.
Hosea 6:3, Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, Like the latter and former rain to the earth.
A- Salvation is not a chemical reaction.
1- My science teacher who combined the 2 exploding
substances.
a- Salvation is not = 1 part walking down the isle, 1
part saying the sinners prayer, and 1 part
Information from Sal.
b- True salvation is = Walking down the isle,
saying sinners prayer, and growing BECAUSE
YOU ARE SAVED.
- What saved you??? = God the moment you
believed.
2- This is a picture of formalized religion that says:
Put the coin in the slot, pull the lever, and out comes
God.
- The bible says:
Romans 10:9-10, that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
3- Are you depending upon: Religious words of
Righteous deeds???
Ecclesiastes 5:1-2, Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil. Do not be rash with your mouth, And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; Therefore let your words be few.
A- The proof of this is in the next section of scripture.
1- The Prophet makes an exact Spiritual evaluation:
Read Verses 4-6
a- What Hosea does here is a repeat of the
charges that were brought against the
northern kingdom in Chapter 4.
There is no faithfulness = V:4-5
2- Their faith comes and goes as the fog of morning that
is burned off by the sun (June gloom)
- There are elements of love for God BUT their
attention is quickly given over to idols.
* Particle love for God is not love at all.
- They wrote: In god we trust
- They sang: God bless America
- They called themselves a Christian
country...
There is no mercy = V6a
3- This is the outward manifestation of a pure heart.
1 John 3:16, By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
There is no knowledge of God = V6b
4- Isn’t this what the people wanted in Verse 3.
a- BUT the knowledge of God was knowledge void
of relationship.
- I know George Bush’s family.
- I KNOW my family.
Psalm 51:16-17, For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise. (living sacrifice)
Read Verses 7-11
A- And this is where we see the difference between Judah
and Israel in that:
1- Judah, somewhere along the line, had a repentant
heart.
a- They were restored.
2- As for Israel, even during the time or Jesus the woman
at the well tells us they were still seeking after God in
their own way.
Tuesday Bible Bus: 1 Kings 13:34, And this thing was the sin of the house of Jeroboam, so as to exterminate and destroy it from the face of the earth.
Hosea 6
June 15, 2006
John 15:16
Luke 15:11-24
2 Peter 3:9
Luke 17:11-19
Luke 19:1-10
Matthew 3:8
Matthew 13:20-21
Hosea 6:2
2 Peter 3:8
Psalm 51:6-7
Romans 10:9-10
Ecclesiastes 5:1-2
1 John 3:16
Psalm 51:16-17