Sermons
Books Preached
Hosea 6:4 - 7:16
Israel is exposed as being deceitful in their repentance and half-hearted in their love for God. Half a heart for God, is really no heart for God. We cannot be half in and half out of relationship with God any more than we can be half married! What does God do for a half-hearted people? He gives His whole heart through the giving of His Son. It is through the gospel that we turn from misty, morning-cloud love to steadfast love through Christ's perfect obedience.
The Covenant of Works
Hosea 6:7 makes mention of a covenant made with Adam. This covenant, the covenant of works, puts all humanity under the curse of sin, death and separation from God. God, however, graciously pursues the sinner through the covenant of grace. Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, takes the curses of our covenant disobedience and credits us with His covenant righteousness.
Hosea 5:1 - 6:3
In Hosea 5:1 - 6:3, God disciplines His rebellious people. The process of God's discipline starts with His withdrawal so that we would return to Him. If we refuse, He brings punishment. God's discipline, however, always has restoration as its goal. We can be assured of this through looking again at what Christ accomplished at the cross. There, God's wrath came like a flood on Jesus so we would receive the spring rain of His mercy.
Hosea 4:1-19
In Hosea 4, God lays a charge at His people: they do not know Him. They are lawless, ignorant and violent. The reason the people don't know God is because the leadership failed to teach and lead the people. We are called in this passage to examine ourselves as to whether we know God in relationship, or just know about God. We are reminded again of our perfect priest-king, Jesus Christ, through whom we are known by God and know God.
Mark 7:1-23
In this passage, Jesus explains that all of our actions spring from our hearts. We are in desperate need of a Saviour who can rescue us from our sin and give us hearts that desire to please God.
Hosea 2:2-23
God’s extraordinary love for His people is displayed in the fact that even though they have betrayed Him through idolatry and they deserve God breaking His commitment to them, God betroths His wayward people to Himself. Ultimately, this is accomplished in Christ who was uprooted at the cross so that we would be planted in God's kingdom.
Hosea 1:1 - 2:1
The opening chapter of Hosea displays the broken relationship between God and His people. Though the fruit of spiritual adultery is God's judgement without mercy and separation from Him, God promises forgiveness. The tension between a promise of judgement without mercy and a promise of restoration in mercy is only resolved in the work of Christ.
