# The Restorer

Key Passage: Hosea 2:14-18
Date: June 7, 2024

I hate it when I can’t blame Brother Josh, though. I wanted to be able to do that. It was my fault.

We have been going through the Book of Hosea for a couple weeks now. Last week, of course, we had the soul-winning conference, Brother Tom Wallace, with us. And so we took the week off, if you will. So let’s just kind of get our minds going that way again.

My wife is already whispering to my daughter. I’ve already said something wrong. I know it. I’m not sure what it was, but I’ll find out later on. But I need to stop saying anything because all of you are going to start listening real close when I mess up. And I do it frequently. I understand. So I need to leave alone there. But help me out. Who did Hosea marry? Who did Hosea marry? Gomer. Can you imagine? A girl named Gomer. Wow, poor lady, you know. Was she a good girl or a sinful girl? Sinful girl, she was. But God wanted it. He told Hosea, “Hey, go take a life of hoardings.” Now, why was that? What did that represent? Somebody happened? What did that represent?

Backslidden Israel, backslidden Israel, of course, backslidden Christians. We break the heart of God when we stray, and it hurts the Lord like a wife cheating on her husband. And, of course, James 4, He says that, “You’re adulterers and adulteresses.” Now you’re not; the friendship of the world is enmity with God. And a pretty strong language God uses. I want to go to the world. And a lot of world of Christianity out there, by the way, in our day and time. What’s the theme? Anybody remember the theme of the book of Hosea? What’s the theme of the book of Hosea?

Return. Good. Good, Miss Patterson. She’s on the ball. She gets at least a couple of these every time. 15 times. 14 chapters in the whole book. 15 times you’ll see this word return, return. He’s telling Israel, “I want to return to me.” By the way, if we’re away from Him, He’s telling us, “Return to Him,” and that’s the theme of the book of Hosea: return.

Last time we were on this book, we got close to the end of chapter number two, but we didn’t finish it out. And so we’re going to try to do that tonight. We’re going to start verse number 14, if you would, Hosea chapter 2 and verse number 14 of God’s Word. And good to see everybody out tonight. I’m glad you’re here. I’m glad you’re here. Anybody tired? Only one? Only two or three? A couple? Not—more starting to go up now. All right, okay. You’re so tired you can’t even raise your hand tonight. What about that? Man, we’re in trouble for sure. That’s trouble for sure. Well, would you please stand just to show the word of God respect and to wake up also, please. Hosea chapter number two, if you’re able to. And we’re going to start in verse number 14 of God’s word, Hosea 2 and verse number 14. I’m glad you’re here. I sincerely believe you’re here because you want to hear from God in His Word tonight. That’s awesome. And praise the Lord for it.

Verse number 14: “Therefore, behold, I will allure her,” speaking of Israel, “and bring her into the wilderness.” That kind of reminds you of when God led the children of Israel out of Egypt into the wilderness. “And speak comfortably unto her, and I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope.” We spent some time on that last time. We covered this book, “and shall sing there as in the days of her youth and as in the day when she came out of the land of Egypt.” “And it should be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me Ishi.” Now, Ishi there means husband. And shall call me no more Baali. Baali there means Lord, lowercase L. Okay. That shall call me Ishi, or husband, and shall call me no more Baali, Lord, lowercase L. For I will take away the names of the Baalim. Remember we mentioned last time, don’t get it confused with Balaam, the man that the donkey spake, remember that? No, this is Baalim. This is a plural for—it’s in the masculine term—for false gods of Baal, typically. You see the Baal in the word there, just among all these false gods, basically, false idols.

Verse number 17: “For I will take away the names of the Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.”

“And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beast of the field.” I think He’s speaking of the millennium reign. Remember the millennium reign? The curse somewhat is lifted from the earth, specifically on the animals. That’s when the Bible talks about the lamb and the lion will lie down together. They lay down together today, but the lamb is inside of the lion’s belly right now, all right? That’s the way it happens today. But y’all didn’t get that, did you? Come on now, y’all. They’ll lay down together, side by side. “The child shall play on the hole of an ass.” All these things is millennium reign. That’s what He’s speaking of, I believe, here.

“And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beast of the field and with the fowls of heaven and with the creeping things of the ground.” “And I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth.” During that time, the Bible says they’ll beat the swords into plowshares—war no more—“and will make them to lie down safely. And I will betroth thee unto me forever. Yea, I will betroth thee to me in righteousness and in judgment and in lovingkindness and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know the Lord.”

“And it should come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens.” I believe here He’s speaking of the fruitfulness of the land. And the heavens will send the rain and different things, and the earth will send forth plentiful. The Bible talks about during that time the harvest will be so great, they’ll still be harvesting when somebody else comes, “Well, time to plant crops for the next season.” Well, we’re still harvesting from last year. And I believe that’s what He’s speaking of in 21 and 22.

Verse number 22 now: “And the earth shall hear the corn and the wine and the oil. And they shall hear Jezreel.” Remember we’ve studied, that means God’s sows. God’s in this sewing thing now. “And I will sow her unto me in the earth, and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy, and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.”

Just a moment here, we’ll pray. But during the tribulation period, at first, the first part of it, the Jewish people will be deceived. They’ll fall for the Antichrist, hook, line, and sinker. I mean, they rejected the real Messiah. So what happens to reject light? What happens? Darkness comes. So they fall head over heels for the false Antichrist. And then the midpoint of that tribulation period, the abomination of the desolation. And the Antichrist goes to the temple and just defiles it. And probably, or the type, Antiochus Epiphanes, he took some of the pig and slaughtered him and took his guts and put it over the ark. It’ll be something along that line. And in fact, he’ll declare himself that he is God. And the children of Israel, whoa, they’ll wake up. And they’ll have a great, great revival during that time, Israel. Romans 11 talks about it. It’d be a wonderful time. And, of course, the Antichrist, and then he goes after Israel. He’s got the world behind him. He’s the one-world leader. But he’s like a spoiled brat. You know what a spoiled brat is? If he’s got every toy in the world, but that little kid over there playing with another toy that he doesn’t have, he’s going to go after that toy over there. That’s just the way—that’s why the Antichrist is. He goes after Israel with just a vengeance. Of course, it’s God’s people and the woman in Revelation. But God takes care of His people, Israel, and actually hides them in a special place. I thought about getting into a little bit, but I don’t think we will; just talk about it a little bit. And God will hide them. God will protect them. And some believe it’s a place called Petra, but we don’t know exactly where it’s going to be, but God will take care of them. And, of course, then at the end of that, Jesus comes back with His own. If you’re saved, you’ll be coming back with Him. You’ll be riding on a white horse. He’ll have the lead, if you will. He’ll do all the fighting, and He’ll come back in the battle of Armageddon. He’ll wipe out the Antichrist, the false prophet, and just—just His sword of His mouth just wipes so many out, and even the brightness of His coming. Second Thessalonians 2 says, an awesome time. And He comes back. And by the way, Brother Wallace, which is mentioning soul winning and the glowing, and I believe that, but Jesus Christ, He’ll outshine them all. He came to seek and save. His brightness is so bright the Antichrist cannot, and the devil cannot even handle His brightness. Second Psalm 2 says, it’s awesome, just the brightness of His coming. It’s amazing He can handle that. And then Christ, He’ll set His throne up in Jerusalem, and Jerusalem will be the capital of the world, and He’ll sit on the throne of David. Jesus Christ will reign underneath Him. But He brings them back to Him in the tribulation period. Of course, they have a wonderful relationship from their own out, Christ—of course, we’re His bride—but Christ and Israel, in part, not fully. And we haven’t replaced Israel. Don’t believe that. Some will say that in their day and time, and I’m getting awful—more that they’re playing on them—but the church has not replaced Israel for Him. Now, it is the church age. God is working for the most part with the church right now. Few Jewish people get saved. They can get saved. Well, that’ll kind of flip back, and God will work through the Jewish people like He planned to in the beginning, and He’ll use them a great way in the very end of the tribulation period. And it’ll be a wonderful relationship. And I believe some of this is describing that time. And I want to just kind of get a timeline a little bit in your mind what’s going on here. We’re going to try to draw some truths out of it. But God never changes. And He wanted to work through Israel. They’re a special people. Now they’re being chastised right now, and they have been for years and years. God, in the end times, He’s regathered them. That’s prophesied many times. Part of the prophecy: 1948 is a nation now. In 1967, they regained—Six-Day War—they regained Jerusalem, and all this has been fulfilled. They’re not trodden underfoot, so we’re nearing the end. But the tribulation period, God’s going to just—He’s going to bring them back to Him. And He’s speaking of much of that right here in this passage. I just want to kind of give us, fill us in what’s going on here. And we’ll try to draw some truths out of that. And maybe, maybe, I don’t know if we’ll discuss it anymore next Wednesday or not. I don’t want to say something that will not fulfill, but I don’t want to mention that to you. But let’s try to draw some truths out of this thing.

Would you please pray that God would work in your heart, work in my heart tonight? Not just our head, but our heart. Would you do that as we pray together? Lord, we come. Lord, these people, they’ve made time. They’re all busy, all of us are, Lord. And they’ve made time to make sure they’re in Your house on Wednesday night. And, Lord, I wish I could give them all they need, but I can’t. But You can, Lord. And I pray that You would. Lord, You could do more in a second than I could do in all my lifetimes. Would You do a work in our hearts tonight? Lord, let us leave being fed and being encouraged, being challenged, Lord, every single person here tonight. I’ve told them, would You speak to our hearts, Father, please? The Holy Spirit, we yield to You. And we’ll thank You, Lord, for what You do. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen. Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated.

Let’s get a couple things out here, if we could please. Would you look back at verse number 13? Verse number 13. We never read this. We’re going to jump up a verse ahead. And I want you to notice how God is bringing chastening. He’s bringing judgment on them. Verse number 13: “And I will visit upon her the days of the Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers and forgot Me, saith the Lord.” So He’s speaking of them just very backslidden, at a very sinful time for the nation of Israel, of course, using Gomer to represent that. But He changes everything in verse number 14. “Therefore, behold”—behold, stop everything, look up, behold, that’s what that means—“I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness and speak comfortably unto her.”

Now here’s the amazing thing. They’re so sinful, just so sinful, just so sinful, worshiping these false gods, breaking the heart of God. And yet God turns right around and He says, “Hey, behold, I will allure.” I will allure you, if you will, just in a compassionate, loving way, I’ll draw her to Me. I want to restore her back to Me.

Now, I want to try to apply that for just a moment here to your life and to my life. We all mess up, every one of us. Someone said tonight, they said, “Praise the Lord for God’s mercy,” or something like that, maybe Ms. Barb. We all need that. Amen. If the only one didn’t mess up, He walked on water, and none of us who did that before, amen. I mean, just only one. And here’s the thing: when we mess up, we all do—some big, some small—but we all mess up. When we do, Hosea shows us how God is a God of restoration. When you mess up, you don’t read your Bible, you don’t pray, you don’t—you get in a fight with so-and-so at work and you said you’re not going to do that again, and you say some—whatever it may be, whatever it may be, you have yours, I have mine. God is always in the restoration business. It’s what this book of Hosea teaches us. He’s just talking about how sinful they were, and the next, “Therefore, behold, I will allure.”

And, friend, I don’t know about you, but I’m thankful for that because I mess up and I feel so guilty. I get so convicted, and I feel like, well, God doesn’t want me again. But God’s not like that, for He is God. God is in the restoration business. He’s trying to bring you back to Him. Now, He chastises us, but it doesn’t mean you lost your salvation. No, no, no. You didn’t lose it. He said, “I will no wise cast them out.” He said, “I’ve given to them eternal life, when they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father which gave Me them is greater than all. No man shall pluck them out of My Father’s hand.” You’re still saved. You didn’t lose your salvation, but you lost your fellowship with Him. You don’t feel saved.

Sometimes we kind of—I think sometimes us preachers, we give a false hope. You get saved and you always have peace. You have God. You have peace initially, but you backslide, you won’t have peace. You’re going to be miserable. And when you backslide, you fall back, and Satan—Satan’s so good, he’s accuser of the brethren. He’ll come and he’ll say, “Well, you did it again. God’s so sick of you, and He don’t want you back, and He’s so tired. How many times have you been through this?” That’s what Satan will say to you. He’ll tell you all these things. Not only Satan, but our very own heart.

Would you look over in 1 John chapter 3 real quickly? First John chapter 3. Just look at this very quickly. We all go through this backsliding. I mean, it just means you’re not where you used to be. We all are there from time to time. Look what he says in 1 John chapter 3. And when you look at verse number 20, 1 John 3 and verse number 20, if you would please. If you’re there, would you say amen? Look at that verse number 20. “For if our heart condemn us.” How many out there you say, “I believe my heart’s condemned me a whole lot”? And me too. Oh, yeah. And your heart knows you. Your heart knows you just messed up. Boy, your heart—the devil—by the way, the world, too, because the world loves it when a Christian messes up. Man, the world will—if somebody at work sees you cuss, oh, boy, they like to see that. They’re going to remember that, and they’re going to be on that. And then you’ve got your own heart condemning you. That’s tough. I mean, you can get away from the world. You go home and go to work, and—somewhat that you give the devil to flee. We’ve talked about that before, Peter over there, but your heart’s always with you. You try to sleep at night, and you dream about it. You wake up thinking about it, and you go to sleep thinking about it. Your heart condemns you. You try to pray, and your heart condemns you. You try to get some faith, and your heart condemns you, and boy, it’s just miserable. And Satan would love to keep you there for a long time. He loves to do that. But look what the rest of this verse says: “condemn us, God is greater than our heart.” Ooh, praise the Lord for that. That’s so good. And know of all things. He knows everything. He knows what’s going on. He knows not only your sin, but He also knows Jesus has shed His blood for your sin, too. And He knows what’s going on in your heart, and He knows how Satan’s condemning you, your own heart is condemning you. And, friend, the answer to that is realizing God Almighty has forgiven me. Am I going to go the world and the flesh and the devil’s way? Or am I going to go God’s way? God’s forgiving me. I’ll just forgive myself. God’s greater than that. It’s so important—yes, to not sin—but once you sin, it’s so important how you handle it. Amen. Don’t just stay down for the next 10 years. By the way, you’ll meet them all over the place. “I got so defeated and down and blue, and they dropped out of church or whatever it is.” And no, no, God’s greater than that.

But back over here in Hosea, you just see how God’s all about restoration. God says, “Hey, look, I’m going to allure you.” Yes, they’re being chastised, and it’s a very sad thing how Israel has been chastised, but God’s already looking ahead in time to when they’re restored. That’s what God’s all about.

Can I say something just to parents for a second here? Can I just say a word here? When we discipline our children, I’m doing my children at the house there, my goal in that is to restore them. That’s my goal. Mother, don’t hold grudges with the children. Don’t be mad at them for three weeks, and they feel like they can’t get close to you. Take care of business. Do what you need to do. If they’re older, ground them, whatever. This always gets their attention. Take their cell phone if they’re older. Oh, my goodness. That’s kind of like, you know, pretty close to, you know, sticking needles underneath their fingernails. I mean, that’s pretty tough stuff, you know. I mean, Emily says, “Dad, close your ears up. Don’t listen to that part right there,” you know. If they’re younger, hey, the Bible says, “A rod unapproved, give it wisdom,” but “a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.” Hey, that’s still in the Bible today. But take care of business, whatever it may be, and get the fellowship restored. You’re not trying to drive them away; you’re trying to bring them back. That’s what God’s doing. God is chastising Israel, but His ultimate goal, He’s always looking at them, trying to bring them back.

By the way, when Peter fell, remember that? Boy, “I’ll die with you, Jesus. I’ll never deny you.” Hey, Peter. Hey, before that old rooster crows, you’re going to deny Me three times. And he did. And when Jesus, three days later, He rose again, and boy, He went after Peter repeatedly. He appeared to see if the Bible—and then when the whole group was together, and then when they were out there fishing, Peter had let him out there. Jesus showed, John 21, and Jesus keeps going after him. Why? He’s trying to restore Peter. And that’s what God does with you. When you fall, God’s not pushing you away. He’s trying to restore you.

What about David when David fell? I mean, David, the sheep—sent him a sheep, and you know all that? We just covered all that a year or two ago. And God sent the prophet Nathan over there. God didn’t have to do that. And I would have said, “Well, David, just go with your dumb self. You’re stuck in the mud. It’s all your fault. You’re no prosperity. You’re covering your sins, and you’re going to fall flat on your face.” God sent a preacher over there and said, “Hey, David, come on down, you man. You know what you are. Just get right.” That’s God. God’s in the restoring business.

Even old Samson, almighty Samson, with that hair—the strength was in there. That represents the shame over the New Testament, 1 Corinthians 11. It’s shame for him. Man having long hair. And so Samson, one of the Nazarite vows, he had that long hair to represent the shame. Jesus would take—He who knew no sin would become sin for us. That’s what it represented. And but then, you know, he backslid and went over to the wicked woman, and Delilah cut that hair off. And boy, what’s his name?—Brother Gregory mentioned that—he went out. The Spirit of God departed from him, and he didn’t have any more strength. And God just said, “Oh, I’ll leave you alone.” God started growing that hair back. And pretty soon he’s—yes, his eyes are put out and whatnot—but he’s over there, and the Philistines are making sport of him. He said, “Lord, would You just give me strength back one more time?” God—God was restoring him. And there’s big old pillars, that big old stadium. I mean, imagine some of the big old stadiums we’ve got in our day and time. I mean, what’s the one down in Nashville? Where the Titans play? Nissan Stadium. You know, these big stadiums. I don’t know how this thing was built, and these pillars, and he puts his hand, and God, “Would You give me strength?” And boy, God gives him that strength, and God says He killed more in his death than he did in his life. God didn’t say, “Samson, that’s all over, Samson.” God said, “I want to use you again.” God’s always in the restoration business. Always is.

I heard a story about a girl. She had gotten a puppy, and she raised that puppy. It was her dog. You know how it is. There’s a bond, you know. I mean, that’s her dog. And she grew up, and she moved out, but she couldn’t have a dog where she was at. And so Mom and Dad had that dog still. If I remember right—I’m not sure about this part—but somebody, I think maybe the dad, if I remember right, accidentally, of course, backed over that dog, and the dog was there, just—just couldn’t move. And, you know, the pain. And, of course, first thing, called his daughter, and all the tears and all that. And she came as quick as she could. She came with her dog that she had raised, her dog, and just laying there, and got ran over by a car in the pain and all that. And she went to love on that dog, and the dog was in such pain, the dog was bitter because of such pain. And, of course, he was just there to love and to help. And, friends, sometimes Satan gets us, and the very God that’s trying to restore us, we bite Him. And sometimes Christians that are acting godly are trying to help restore, and yet we get angry. And Satan loves to keep you there, drive away from God. He’s always—He’s in the restoration business. He’s trying to bring you back, and you may be hurting from that sin, and how Satan is just—man, he just—he’ll jump on you when you’re down. But always remember, God’s in the restoration business. That’s what God was doing with Israel. Yes, yes, yes, but one day I’m going to—He’s always in the restoration.

Let’s get a couple more thoughts in real quickly tonight. Would you look over, back over there in Hosea, chapter 2? Would you look at verse number 15, please? We’re going to just keep your finger there. We’ll go back to Hosea a couple times more tonight. Hosea 2. And would you look in verse number 15, please? Verse number 15. Verse 14, He said, “I’m going to bring you back. Speak comfortably unto her.” Verse number 15: “And I will give her her vineyards from thence and the valley of Achor for a door of hope, and she shall sing there as in the days of her youth and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.” We mentioned this already.

Would you jump down to verse number 21? I’ll tell you what, before—keep your finger at 21. Jump back over to verse number 9. We’re going to show the opposite side: His chastening. Verse number 9: “Therefore will I return and take away my corn in the time thereof and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness.” Now, He’s saying, “I’m going to take away these blessings.” I’m going to take away the corn and the wine—that’s just grape juice—and the wool, that’s the lambs, the sheep, the flax. They would use that for clothes and whatnot. So God’s chastening: you’re going to take all that away, all these blessings, take it away. But now 14, and we’ll get you back to me—15. He said, “We’ll give you vineyards back.”

Verse number 21: “And it should come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord. I will hear the heavens”—notice the plural—“and they shall hear the earth.” It’s kind of like, “All right, the heavens are here. You need some rain. You need some fruit here.” And the earth shall hear the corn and the wine and the oil. And they shall hear Jezreel. And I’m not going to finish it all now, but I think He’s speaking there very much about the fruitfulness. All these things just growing plentifully and a great harvest. And the heavens responding, sending down the rain, and the earth responding, it’s growing all these crops. And here’s the thing, friend: God—Hosea shows us—God is in the blessing business. We, because of these prosperity preachers, shy away from the fact that God wants to bless you. Now, here’s the thing, here’s the thing where the prosperity preachers are wrong: God’s blessings is not always monetary. It’s not always money. It may be—it may be. God’s blessing is God uses you to see someone saved. Paul was in prison. Well, God wants to bless you. Well, what’s wrong with that? Well, Paul had people the Lord in prison. Yeah. God wrote many—God did through Paul write many books of the Bible in prison. But I’m simply saying God’s in the blessing business. He wants to bless you. It may be the blessing God wants to bless you with is a good marriage. I’d rather have a good marriage than a lot of money, a lot of money and be miserable. It happens for sure. It may be good health. It may be your kids turn out good and right. It may be a multitude of things, but, friend, I just want to say how God would like to bless you. Now, I try to be careful with that because of our day and time, it would just automatically, “Well, I’m going to be a millionaire.” No, no, no, no. It could be financial, though. But God’d like to bless you.

Would you look over in Luke chapter number 12, please? Luke chapter number 12 and verse number 32. 12 in verse number 32. You see, He’s chastising them, but He said, “Look, one day I’m going to bring the blessings back.” God likes to bless you.

Luke 12 is a great, great verse, verse number 32. Maybe you have a mindset, “Well, just Christians can’t really prosper at anything.” Maybe you need to memorize Luke 12:32. It’s a great, great verse. And Jesus there, He says, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Now, I don’t know everything that has to do with the kingdom, and for sure, for sure, spiritual is much more important than physical. But it says, “Hey, if you’re not”—it’s your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Hey, friend, how in the world did 13 little bitty colonies become such a great nation? We’re the world power, friend. This is years ago, this number. But years ago, you realize America is only five—it’s a little bit less nowadays—but years ago, about 5% of the population of the world. And at that time, we consumed 80% of the goods of the world. Now we’re spoiled rotten. I usually use that number to represent we’re spoiled rotten, and all that’s true. But how in the world do we become such a great nation? God’s blessings. That’s how we got there. And praise the Lord, we had a Christian foundation for the vast majority, and we had some good godly Christians. We had great revivals years ago in our country, and the gospel being preached out of our country. And all those things, God is the one that has blessed America. It’s amazing the prominence of America around the world. It’s amazing. Now, we’re losing it all because of our sin and our shame. It’s amazing how that God’s blessings. And I say that God likes to bless His people. Speaking to Israel, “I’m going to bless you again.” Hey, little flock, it’s your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

I’ve already mentioned all these other things are so much more important than money. But can I say this? Sometimes God blesses good godly people with finances. Job, we’re studying Sunday school a little bit. Job, wow, you talk about a wealthy man. Yeah, there’s the best Christian around. Abraham is pretty wealthy, friend. Isaac pretty wealthy. David as a king, pretty wealthy. Solomon, wow. I mean, I’d just like to have Solomon’s pocket change. I mean, you know, you’re told by rich Philemon over there in the New Testament. You know, Philemon, Paul was in jail, and he led his runaway slave Onesimus to the Lord. Philemon was a wealthy man. Lydia was a wealthy lady, a business owner. Friend, don’t just assume, “Well, let’s not right to have money.” No, no, no. Money’s not the root of all evil. The love of money is the root of all evil. By the way, some people got a lot of money, but they don’t have a love of money. Some people have a nickel in their pocket, but they got a whole lot of love of money, and that is the root of all evil. Friend, God likes to bless His people. Now, a real good chance is other things besides finances. I think other things—I often say this, and I don’t want to make light if God has chosen to bless you. If I don’t want to make light of that, but often say this: money is the cheapest of God’s blessings. So many other things are much more important, but there’s no badge for being poor. You realize that? There’s not going to be any badges in heaven. “Well, I didn’t have this.” No, no, no. God blesses, and He blesses His people. Now, I don’t know what that looks like for you. It may be you get a bus ride one day. God blesses you on that bus ride, and you see a bunch of kids saved on there and life’s changed. That’s a wonderful blessing. I mean, you talk about—that’s an eternal blessing. But God likes to bless us people. And God, He’s talking to Israel. He’s looking, “I’m going to get back. I’m going to bless you again.”

By the way, just along that line, you know, a mature Christian can understand what I’m saying. A mature Christian can handle himself around all types of people: lower class, middle class, and even upper class, in any level, not proud and snooting all that, but you ought to be—it’s not right. We can be prejudiced any way they go on it. But God likes to bless His people. It’s very important that we realize that.

Would you look over in Psalm 35, would you please? Psalm 35 is a wonderful passage about this. Psalm 35 and verse number 27. God here speaking to Israel, and He said, “Look, I’m going to bless you one day. Oh, I’m going to bless you.” Psalm 35, verse number 27: “Let them shout for joy and be glad that favor my righteous cause. Yea, let them say continually, Let the Lord be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.” If God has blessed you in some aspect, whatever it may be, first of all, friend, enjoy it. Y’all can say amen there. That’s why God gave it to you: enjoy it. And then magnify the Lord, praise the Lord for it. Don’t go around, “Look at me, look at me.” Go around, “Man, God’s been so good to me,” and brag about where it came from. It came from the Lord. Magnify Him is what the Bible said, whatever the blessing may be. Magnify Him. And so, “Oh, God’s been so good.” This might be a good thing just for you to go through everything in your life. Just—it’d be a good thing for a husband and wife to do. Just go through everything in your life and say, “God, thank You for that. Thank You for that. Thank You for that. Thank You for that. Thank You for that.” It may take us a while because we all got so much, but praise Him and thank Him for it. He’s been so good. God likes to bless His children. I don’t know exactly what that looks like. Brother Ruiz, I hope I’m saying that right, going to Mexico. I don’t know him very well. I know him at touch and know his past, whatnot. Probably not going to be a whole lot of financial as far as wealth and all that. But what God used to be down there, that’s wonderful. That’s what you call rich, friend. God likes to bless His children. He does. And I want you to see that. Number one, we said Hosea shows us God’s always in the restoration business. Number two, Hosea shows us God’s desire to bless His people in His way.

Now back over in Hosea 2. We’ll get one more thought in here. We’re done. Hosea 2. Would you look at verse number 16? Hosea 2, verse number 16. Y’all still out there? Y’all awake out there? If your neighbor is sleeping, would you poke them in the eyeball, please? Caleb just got Emily. All right, good deal. We’re good there. Hosea 2 and verse number 16, would you please? Verse number 16: “And it should be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me Ishi.” Help me out, what does that mean? Husband. “And shall call me no more Baali.” What does that mean? Lord, lowercase L. Kind of like a master. Good.

Look at verse number 19, if you would please. Verse number 19: “And I will betroth thee unto me forever. Yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness and in judgment and in lovingkindness and in mercy. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know the Lord.” Deeply—a relationship God wants with you. I don’t think, honestly, as humans, we can grasp how close and how intimate of a relationship God wants to have with you.

He’s saying, “Look, it’s not going to be, at that point, it’s not going to be like you call Me Lord, your master. It’s going to be more”—oh, the closest relationship we really have in many ways as far as human—two humans—is husband and wife. You know each other intimately. It bothers me. I can walk in the room, and I can hide it from pretty much everybody, but my wife knows what’s going on with me, and vice versa with her. She bothers her sometimes. God wants to be that close.

Over in the New Testament, what? We’re called His children. He’s our Father. What is this ever? Matthew 23:9, He said, “I don’t want you calling anybody Father.” Catholics calling them Father. No, no, no. That’s against the Bible. God says that’s such a sacred relationship between Me and My children. I don’t want to call anybody else Father. That’s My relationship with My children. Galatians, He says, “Hey, I sent My Spirit into you, calling Me Abba Father, Daddy Father.” I don’t think we’d comprehend how close God would like to be to you.

I mean, He just wants to be where you’re so close to each other. You think about it. It was a good book Gary Chapman wrote, the book Five Love Languages and the five different love languages. You think about how God shows His love to you, really, on every one of those levels. Acts of service. Well, God made the sun to come up for you this morning. Anybody enjoying springtime around here? For all those Bradford pears with those white blossoms, cotton balls all over, beautiful. God did that for you. God gave you a body and lungs to breathe. I mean, every day God has given you acts of service all day long, showing You He loves you. Words of affirmation. What about that? “For God so loved the world.” What about we’re reading tonight that God—He’s trying to restore you. And how do we learn that from the Bible? How do we know that God will forgive me and welcome me back? From the Bible, His words of affirmation, how He loves you. You’re His crown and creation. I learned that from the Bible. Touch may be the only thing—some ways, God doesn’t come down and touch you, but on the other hand, on the other hand, God dwells inside of you. On the other hand, God works through people for them to touch you. I’m just saying, by the way, I love this truth over there in Revelation 1 when Apostle John, the revelator, he’s seeing that vision of Jesus Christ and he falls at his feet. And what does Jesus do? He reaches down with His right hand and He touches him. Ask me a special day when God touches you. Wonderful day. But I’m just saying all of these things, spending time. “He will never leave you nor forsake you.” He’s spending time with all. He’s always available for you. It’s amazing. He’s showing you His love over and over again. Gifts. Maybe your love language is gifts. Well, “Every good and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father.” Last minute, there was no fair to see the shadow of turning. All these good things. Every good thing you ever have come from God. I’m just saying He’s always showered you with His love, and He wants to be so close to you.

And there was a rabbi he was teaching, and one of his students said, “Hey, Rabbi, why was it that God, the man in the wilderness, why didn’t He just sit down enough manna for the whole year? Why did He just every day, every day, every day?” So I just happened to him. Why was it? And the rabbi told him the story. He said, “Well, there was a king that gave his son an allowance, and he would give him an allowance for a year.” And over the years, pretty soon the son only came by about once a year. And the king got wise on it, and so he said, “No more yearly allowance, I’ll give you a daily allowance.” And he’s seen his son every day. Friend, God wants to be close to you. He wants to know you. We used to sing it, hopefully we’re singing now, “And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own, and the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.” Do you have that? He wants that with you. Every single person here, He wants that with you. That’s His desire.

Yes, God will be a Lord to you. He’ll be your Master, if you wouldn’t by that. I mean, almost like owning servants. He’ll be like that to you. In fact, the Bible says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning”—notice the beginning—“of knowledge. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” It says no place. It’s the beginning. And yes, God’s very capable, and He will. If I backslide and I go out in the mall, He’ll get the old belt out and He’ll wear me out. Amen, He’ll take me out behind the woodshed. And that keeps me right from time to time. But God likes to go beyond the beginning stage where it’s not like Lord and Master, if you will. It’s like husband-wife, and you have sweet fellowship. And you serve Him because you love Him. But if you fall, it’s not out of fear, per se. It just breaks your heart that you disappointed Him.

God’s telling Israel, “One day,” by the way, for years and years and years with Israel, it’s been Lord and Master, if you will. I mean, not that they’re saying—there’s people—but God’s chastising them. My goodness, the Holocaust is a perfect illustration of it and other things how Israel has just been tortured all these years, and that’s for sure God’s chastening on them. God’s right. That’s the kind of relationship you want, by the way. Isn’t it sad when you see Christians that’s what the relationship they have with their God? They never really get to know God in a wonderful way. It’s always God has to kind of keep His finger on them, chastising them and chastising them and chastising them and chastising them. And then—and I almost got to have a fear relationship. By the way, God would like to go beyond that and have perfect love cast out fear. When God said, “You know what, Israel? One day, I’m going to allure you. I’m going to get you to Me, and it’s going to be better than that then. You’re going to call Me husband at that time. It’s going to be the closest.” And God wants that with you.

Would you bow your head and close your eyes, please? Our heads are bowed and eyes are closed. Just a moment we’re going to pray. And after we pray, we’ll just spend some time. We won’t be long. Just say, “Hey, Lord, I want to draw nigh to You. I want that close relationship.” At that time, maybe would you go to—hey, I’d like to go to another level. It’s been too long, too long, Lord, as far as You just making me do right, and I appreciate that, but I want to go to another level. Maybe you want to say, “Hey, Lord, thank You for restoring me every single time.” Would you come and spend some time with them? Would you please stand? We’ll have a word of prayer. And would you come spend some time with the Lord? Just won’t be long tonight, won’t be long. Let’s pray. And you come. Thank you, Lord. You’re so good to me. I don’t deserve it. I have failed You a million times, and yet You always restore me. You’re the good Shepherd. Thank you for that, restoring our soul. Thank you. You want to be close to us. You want to bless us. Lord, I pray that we walk and talk with You and know that joy. Bless our people tonight, Lord, please. And we’ll thank You, Lord, for what You do. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.

What does I think? Psalm 62: “Pour out your heart before Him. He’s a refuge for us.” Tell Him everything. By the way, in our relationship with others, we’re supposed to be Christ-like. And even though they might hurt you and did awful things, we want to restore. We want to restore. And God’s like that. So glad you’re here on the Wednesday night. Glad to have you. Appreciate you being faithful to the House of the Lord. And amen. How many of you are going to go home as soon as you get home, your heads hitting that pillow—a couple of y’all fall—as soon as your head hits the pillow, are you going to be out? Amen, I understand. I understand. Good to have you tonight. Thank you so much for being with us, Brother Ruiz. Am I saying right? Thank you for coming. I’m honored to have y’all. You all be praying for them, if you would. Please be praying about the school also. Brother Trey, what a blessing to have Brother Trey back in here. That’s awesome.

Original File: Hosea - The Restorer - Pastor Paul Chisgar Wednesday 32322