Jesus comes together, his loved one's home, together his loved one's home, together his loved one's home.
There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes together, his loved one's home.
It's so bad.
I know that my Redeemer liveth in on the earth, again shall stand.
I know eternal life he giveth, that grace and power are in his hand.
Jesus comes together, his loved one's home, together his loved one's home, together his loved one's home.
His promise never failed, if the word he speaks, he cannot die.
O wondrous thought for me, he careth, and he at last will come for me.
I know, I know that Jesus liveth, and on the earth again shall stand.
I know, I know that I giveth, that grace and power are in his hand.
I know his promise never failed, if the word he speaks, he cannot die.
Though cruel, O death my flesh assaileth, yet I shall see him by and by.
I know, I know that Jesus liveth, and on the earth again shall stand.
I know, I know that life he giveth, that grace and power are in his hand.
I know that my Redeemer liveth, and on the earth again shall stand.
I know eternal life he giveth, that grace and power are in his hand.
I know, I know that Jesus liveth, and on the earth again shall stand.
I know, I know that life he giveth, that grace and power are in his hand.
Da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da
da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da
da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da
selected
good evening everybody welcome to Verdi Baptist Church take out your hymnal and
turn to song number 34 I Know That My Redeemer Liveth, song number 34 and your
hymnal this evening song number 34 song number 34 in the first I know that my
Redeemer liveth in on the earth again shall stand I know eternal life we give
that grace and power are in his hand I know I know that Jesus liveth and on
the earth again shall stand I know I know that life we give that grace and
power are in his hand I know his promise never failed it the word he speaks it
cannot die death my flesh assail it yet I shall see him by and by I know I know
that Jesus liveth and on the earth again shall stand I know I know that life be
given that grace and power are in his hand I know my mansion he prepareth that
where he is there I may be Oh wondrous thought for me he careth and he at last
will come for me I know I know that Jesus liveth and on the earth again
shall stand I know that life be given that grace and power are in his hand
let's open a word of prayer this evening your Heavenly Father thanks for
allowance be in your house and we ask you bless this entire church service
from the scripture reading and the singing of praise to you and also the
preaching of your word we pray this in Jesus name amen turn to song number 396
so little time 396 in your hem know 396 in your hand on the first so little time
the harvest will be over our reaping done we Reapers taken home
report our work to Jesus Lord of harvest and he'll smile and that he'll say well
done today we read or miss our golden harvest today is given us the souls to
win Oh then to save some dear ones from the burning today we'll go to bring some
sinner how many times I should have strongly pleaded how often did I feel
to strictly warn the spirit move Oh had I but for Jesus the crane is fallen lost
ones not reborn today we read or miss our golden harvest today is given us
the souls to win Oh then to save some dear ones from the burning today we'll
go to bring some sinner in despite the heat the ceaseless toll the hardship
the broken heart or those we cannot win misunderstood cuz we're off peculiar
still no regrets we'll have but for our sin today we read or miss our golden
harvest today is given us the souls to win Oh then to save some dear ones from
the burning today we'll go to bring some sinner in a day of pleasure or a feast
of friendship a house or car or garments fair or fake we'll all be trash when
souls are brought to heaven and then how sad to face the sackers play today we
read or miss our golden harvest today
to save some dear ones from the burning today we'll go to bring some sinner in
on the last the harvest wine with Reapers view is wasting and many souls will die
and never know love of Christ the joy of sins forgiven oh let us weep and love
and pray and go today we read or miss our golden harvest today is given us
lost souls to win Oh then to save some dear ones from the burning today we'll
go to bring some sinner in this time we'll have the scripture reading and let
us open our Bibles to Isaiah chapter 12 Isaiah chapter 12 we are going to read
the whole chapter Isaiah chapter 12 F time feedeth on wind and followeth
after the east wind he daily increase the slice and insulation and they do
make a covenant with their Syrians and oil is carried into Egypt the Lord hath
also a controversy with Judah and will punch Jacob according to his ways
according to doings will he decompense him he took his brother by the heel in
the womb and by strength he had power of God yeah he had power over the angel
and prevailed he wept and made supplication unto him he found him in
Bethel and there he spake with us even the Lord God of hosts the Lord is his
memorial therefore turn though to thy God keep mercy and judgment and wait on
thy God continually he's a merchant the balances of deceit are in his hand he
loves to press and after I am said yet I am become which I have found me out
substance in all my labors they shall find none iniquity in me that was sin
and I that am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt will yet to make thee to
dwell in tabernacles as in the days of the solemn feast I have also spoken by
the prophets and I have multiplied visions and used similitude by the
Ministry of the prophets is the iniquity in Gilead surely they are vanity they
sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal here the altars are as heaps in the forests of
the field and Jacob fled into the country of Syria and Israel served for a
wife and for a wife he kept sheep and by profit the Lord brought Israel out of
Egypt and by a prophet was he preserved after I invoked him to anger most
bitterly therefore shall he leave his blood upon him and it's a toast shall
his Lord return unto him that's great thank you Jesus for your words thank you
for everyone who's here Lord Jesus please prepare our hearts Lord and
please let us be the people who understand your word and we are really
wise in this manner and please also support the creature when your name is
right all right we're here in Hosea chapter 12 and this is probably one of
the more complicated chapters in the book of Hosea I'll be honest with you
because I I did the memorization challenge in Hosea and when I finished
memorizing this chapter I was like not quite sure what I'm gonna preach on but
then as I meditated on it it just kind of all clicked it's actually teaching a
great truth here tonight but we'll look at a few things before we get into that
starting verse number one notice this Ephraim feedeth on wind and followeth
after the east wind he daily increases lies and desolation and they do make a
covenant with the Assyrians and oil is carried into Egypt now he says Ephraim
feedeth on wind and it says and followeth after the east wind I believe
the east winds referring to Assyria because Assyria is basically directly
east of Israel so I believe when you're looking at the context here followeth
after the east wind and then it says they make a covenant with the Assyrians
so I believe it's referring to Assyria there but I also believe there's
symbolism here of why he's saying wind okay when you think of wind even Jesus
said in John chapter 3 that wind is something we don't really fully
comprehend perfectly says thou here is the sound thereof and canst not tell
whence it cometh and whither it goeth so you don't really know where it's coming
from or where it's going and wind can change direction all the time it's going
30 kilometers per hour in this direction five minutes later is 20 kilometers per
hour in the other direction we don't really have a great handle on wind and
what I think it's indicating is that Ephraim was not very stable it was
basically just going all over the place you didn't know what direction they were
headed and they just kind of bounce back and forth wherever they were taken right
and that's kind of how wind is it just kind of moves around and you can't tell
you know you can hear it but you can't really tell where it came from and where
it's going it's something that's kind of hard to really get a grasp on if you've
ever driven a car and there's like you know let's say a tornado warning which
is something the US we have sometimes you're driving and you see you know that
that it's really windy and stuff's blowing around and you're like if it
ends up getting worse I have no idea which direction to go because you don't
really know where the wind is coming it's just kind of going all over the
place and it might come this direction or it might come the other one you don't
know if you're driving into a tornado or driving away from it it's just it's
really hard to tell what's going to happen with the wind and so the Bible
gives that as an example and what I think he's trying to say is that Ephraim
was just not very stable they're just getting easily moved around in every
direction just like the wind okay go to Psalm 92 Psalm 92 Psalm chapter 92 look
stability is a very important thing in life I mean if you remember what it what
the prophecy was about Reuben where it's like you know unstable as water thou
shalt not excel right and when he's saying unstable as water you know water
just kind of goes in every direction as well right I mean if you drop water on
the ground depending on where the curves are it's just going to kind of go with
the flow and Reuben was just unstable no stability in the life of Reuben and
you're not going to excel you're not going to be successful because you're
not stable and so look if you want to be successful in life in any area you need
stability okay you can't just be always changing your mind and bouncing around
and you're trying this then this then this one area where this relates is in
the house of God if you want to be successful as a Christian and
accomplish something for God and accomplish something with your life to
give yourself heavenly rewards you need to have stability okay notice what it
says in Psalm 92 verse 12 the righteous flout shall flourish like the palm tree
he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon those that be planted in the house the
Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God so it talks about being planted or
grounded or settled in God's house right you find a good local church and you're
just a member there right they shall still bring forth fruit in old age they
shall be fat and flourishing see the promise according to the Bible is if you
get connected in church and you're stable and you stick with it you're
going to bring forth fruit in old age now look that is something that is a
soul winner is a very encouraging thing because when I really think of the
purpose of my life I think man winning souls to the Lord what if you reached a
point where you could no longer win souls to the Lord but see the Bible says
that you're still going to bring forth fruit in old age now obviously if
somebody's older they might not be able to do all-day so winning marathons they
might need more breaks we understand that if you have a soul winning marathon
in a park maybe they're gonna sit in the shade and rest part of it but look I
hope that when I'm in my 80s I'm still going out and winning souls to the Lord
I hope I'm still taking the opportunities to preach the gospel and
zealous for the things of God and the Bible promises that if you are planted
in the house of God you're gonna bring forth fruit in old age now obviously
that depends on what house you're planted in right it's a lot of bad
churches out there but the indication is you find a good church and then you get
planted and grounded in that church you don't just always you're changing and
look I understand here in the Philippines there are a lot of Baptist
churches that are just wrong on salvation right but in the US there are
a lot of churches that are at least right on salvation and they're decent
churches where if that's the best in your area I mean you're not sinning by
being a part of it right you can be a blessing that church people can still
grow and stuff like that and there's people that every six months they're at
a different Baptist Church it's like what are you doing it's like just pick
the church you believe in and be a part of it and just stick with it now
obviously there can be extreme circumstances where you know maybe that
church is no longer valid because they're either not soul winning or the
pastor fell into sin or whatever the case may be but once you find a good
church stick with it and be excited about it and stay grounded don't be like
well you know I like this church but there's this one minor problem look if
that's your attitude you will find a problem with every single church that
you become a member of because no church is perfect now I mean I think we're
doing the right thing here we're trying to do what's right we have activities we
have so winning we're trying to be zealous for the things of God I'm sure
though that I make mistakes and I could run things better and do things
differently but it's like once you find a church you believe in stick with it
and that's the secret to bringing forth fruit in old age but if you're one of
these people that's not very stable when it comes to church and you're always
kind of bouncing around and you're like well you know I like this church but let
me check out this other church you're not going to be successful in life or
for example you get motivated to read the Bible because you hear that sermon
and you're like hey let me give this a shot for about a month yeah let me try
something else right let me let me do this just this daily bread or this you
know one verse per month thing or whatever is being pushed by various
Christian churches right and you're just always trying all these different
methods it's just like just stick with something and you know if you find
something that works just stick with it just keep doing it don't feel like oh
I've been reading the Bible for a couple years maybe I should just stop and just
start you know doing whatever it's like no just keep sticking with it right you
find something that works that is what's going to make you successful in
the long term don't be someone who lives off excitement where I got bored with
this let me try this let me try you're going to fail in life right or for
example you know if you're you're at work and it's just like man this job I
do for six months and this one I do for a year and this one I do for eight
months and you're just moving bouncing back and forth you're just not going to
excel right but here's the thing if you would stick with something and go for it
and give it your all you will be successful but if you're unstable as
water you're not going to excel that's what the Bible teaches right go back to
Hosea 12 Hosea chapter 12 this isn't all areas of life all areas of life I mean
honestly I should probably preach a sermon sometime on stability it's a
concept that's taught a lot in the Bible many people are very unstable with their
emotions they just let their emotions just kind of they're like the wind just
all over the place right it's just like this week it's this this week it's
that just always upset and problem and problem and problem it's like you're
going to fail at life unless you just get stability right you know just living
your life based on a set pattern and look it might not sound exciting but
that's how you're successful right your pattern is okay 5 30 in the morning to
6 30 is when I do my Bible reading it's like yeah you know if that works just
stick with it if that's the time of day you're able to pay attention and get
your reading it don't just be like well let me just try something else I tried
I tried the morning thing now let me try the lunch thing now let me just try on
some days to read extra I mean just stick with something that works and
don't always feel like you need to change have stability in your life
otherwise you're not going to excel you're going to fail and look this was
a problem with Ephraim just as a nation Israel just was bouncing back and forth
and it's like man I kind of like that God of the Assyrians no actually that
God of the Egyptians is pretty cool right that frog God is pretty nice oh
wait a minute there's a God from Babylon that one looks really cool it's
like oh wait and we got the Hindu guys like that's pretty cool right it's like
a horror movie right it's like you're just bouncing back and forth and just
you know that's not how you're gonna be successful in life okay verse number two
the Lord hath also a controversy with Judah and will punish Jacob according to
his ways according to his doings will he recompense him now I want you to notice
it says he also has a controversy he also has a problem with Judah because we
understand that Israel or Ephraim and Judah were basically separate right the
southern kingdom of Judah and the northern kingdom of Israel he also has a
controversy with Judah but then it says it will punish Jacob now Jacob is
basically synonymous with Israel except Jacob as a person had 12 sons and Judah
was one of those sons and I actually think what's trying to be said here in
verse two and I could be wrong about this is he's saying I've got a
controversy with Judah but I still consider Judah my people whereas Israel
I've basically rejected I think that's why he mentions Judah and then Jacob I
also have a controversy with Judah and will punish Jacob according to his ways
I think he's actually using Judah and Jacob interchangeably because he's
saying I still consider the southern kingdom of Judah as one of the sons of
Jacob he's basically going back in time to the book of Genesis right with the
original 12 tribes I believe that's what's being said in verse 2 obviously
when we're dealing with prophecy you know what things can be very complicated
and everything but I believe that's what's being said being said there
according to his doings we recompense him notice this in verse 3 he took his
brother by the heel in the womb now what's that referring to well I mean if
you remember Rebecca was pregnant with twins and there was a fight inside that
womb now I don't know if that's common when you have twins but you know you
know Israel and or Jacob I should say and Esau were like fighting from the
beginning right and Jacob just took the heel of Esau and I don't know they're
having a boxing match or whatever but they're duking it out but that's what
it's referring to when it says that he took his brother by the heel in the womb
it's referring to in Rebecca's womb there was actually the battle between
Jacob and Esau which I believe he literally took him by the heel but I
also believe that was meant to be something that was symbolic to teach us
something okay and by his strength he had power with God now what does it mean
by by his strength he had power with God well that links to the next statement
yea he had power over the angel now the word yea basically means indeed right
like God has asked this question in the Old Testament is there a God beside me
he says yea or indeed there is no God I know not any he's not saying yes there
is a God no he's saying indeed there is no God he's putting extra emphasis right
he's saying there's no God and he's like I'm putting extra emphasis so I get yea
and yes are spelled similar in different words right yea is adding emphasis there
is no God I know not any but it says he had power with God indeed he had power
over the angel so uses God an angel basically interchangeably here you say
why is that right is God an angel well God is not an angel except I want you to
realize our modern definition of angel is actually different than what the
Bible's definition is when we think of angel we think of you know just the two
wings and they're flying around and everything like that right and you know
in the Bible you have cherubim and you have seraphim what an angel is in the
Bible is a messenger that's what it means that messenger could be a cherubim
that messenger could be a seraphim that messenger could be the sort of angelic
being that you think of with the movies and the TV shows but that messenger
could be just a human being right so the word angels just a little bit different
than it was in the Bible times what has become now is just like the angelic
being the cherubim and seraphim but angel just simply means messenger and so
that messenger could be a human being it could be an angel or in this case when
it says he had power with God that's referring to an Old Testament appearance
of the Lord Jesus Christ now you got these cults like Jehovah's Witnesses who
say well you know in the Old Testament Jesus was not the Son of God he was
Michael the Archangel and he turned into the Son of God at the birth right say
well they don't understand what the word angel is they get confused on verses
like this an angel just simply means a messenger okay what this actually shows
us though because we're gonna see this is referring to the Lord Jesus Christ is
that Jesus is God he had power with God yeah and power over the angel and we're
gonna see this is linking to the Lord Jesus Christ in the the wrestling match
that we're gonna look at but basically Jesus Christ is God that's what it's
teaching and he was a messenger in this situation okay it doesn't mean that he
was like Michael the Archangel okay or Gabriel he had power over the angel and
prevailed he wept and made supplication on to him he found him in Bethel and
there he spake with us okay so mentions Bethel here and the the book of Hosea is
really going back to the book of Genesis right now okay so let's go back to the
book of Genesis let's go to Genesis 28 Genesis 28 Genesis 28 and the wrestling
match is in Genesis 32 but we're in Genesis 28 there's a lot to look at I'm
not even sure if we'll get to the wrestling match but I'm assuming people
are probably pretty familiar with the fact that Jacob wrestles this messenger
this angel which is actually an Old Testament appearance of the Lord Jesus
Christ okay but it mentioned Bethel in the book of Hosea what what's
significant about Bethel what's the Bible trying to tell us Genesis 28 verse
16 and Jacob awaked out of his sleep and he said surely the Lord is in this place
and I knew it not and he was afraid and said how dreadful is this place this is
none other but the house of God and this is the gate of heaven and Jacob rose up
early in the morning and took the stone that he had put for his pillows and set
it up for a pillow and pillar and poured oil upon the top of it and he called the
name of that place Bethel but the name of that city was called Luz at the first
so in verse 17 it mentions the house of God and in verse 19 it mentions Bethel
and Bethel is actually referring to the house of God okay verse number 20 and
Jacob vowed a vow saying if God will be with me and will keep me in this way
that I go and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on so that I come
again to my father's house in peace then shall the Lord be my God and this stone
which I have set for a pillow shall be pillar shall be God's house and of all
that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth on to thee so we see here
in verse 22 that the tenth the tide is given to the house of God okay in our
modern day that's the local New Testament Church now I'm not really
preaching on money but I will say this you're supposed to give to the house of
God which means I don't believe that giving alms is accurate to what the
Bible is teaching of giving your tenth right if you give somebody who's poor
money on the side of there's nothing wrong with doing that you're welcome to
do that but that's that's not your tenth because the tenth goes actually the
house of God or there's these parachurch ministries or these various
things that print Bibles look you can give money to those organizations if you
want but that's not actually the house of God okay you ought to give to the
church that you're actually a member of because obviously that money is used for
the operation of the local church now go to Genesis 31 Genesis 31 Genesis 31 so
Bethel is the house of God verse 19 it said Bethel verse 17 the house of God
verse 22 God's house so Bethel is right in the middle of that there and if you
remember Jeroboam we talked about this in the book of book of Hosea he actually
put a golden calf in Bethel in God's house because he didn't want people to
leave to worship in the southern kingdom of Judah he was afraid to lose people
right so he put up a couple golden calves and it's like well here's your
gods right it's always it's always the calf it's always that cow that everybody
loves right Genesis 31 verse 11 Genesis 31 verse 11 and the angel of God spake
unto him in dreams saying Jacob and I said here am I and he said lift up now
thine eyes and see all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ring-streaked
speckled and grizzled for I've seen all that Laban doeth on to thee I am the God
of Bethel where thou anointest the pillar and where thou vowest to vow
onto me now arise get thee from get thee out from this land and return unto the
land of thy kindred and you know God reminds Jacob I'm the God of Bethel
that's God's house right now we know that the Bible says Jesus died for the
local New Testament Church right he gave himself for the church the Bible says I
do believe he died individually for every local bona fide church okay and so
Jesus Christ died for the church and it says I am the God of Bethel you say why
God has always operated through his house now in the Old Testament what that
meant was something a little bit different than today but this is how God
always operated I mean we saw that the tithe was given to God's house in the
Old Testament same thing today now in our New Testament you say what is God's
house well I mean God's house is a local church and that could literally be
inside a building or you could honestly just meet on the street and that's fine
it would still be considered you know a church right I mean when when First
Works Baptist in the US had their building bombed I think they met outside
for a couple weeks it's like just set up a tent to block the rain and block the
heat and just go right bring your umbrella we got service right it's just
like you know God's house I mean it's nice to have a building it's nice to
have air conditioning but quite honestly you could just meet on the side of the
street and that would be considered you know God's house right and so you don't
need a building because what is a church well I mean a church is the people okay
and so we're saying the house of God you're literally saying the people that
make up that church because the people are the body okay and he reminds him in
Genesis 31 I am the God of Bethel now go to John 1 for a second John 1 John 1
John chapter 1 we're not really going to look at the wrestling match but the
wrestling match happens in Genesis 32 and I find this interesting because
Genesis 28 it's about Bethel God's house Genesis 31 I am the God of Bethel and
then Jacob individually wrestles with an Old Testament appearance of the
Lord Jesus Christ now you say how do you know that who he wrestled with was Jesus
Christ because we saw that that was God because he had power over the angel and
that's linked to it being God but how do you know it was Jesus you say how do
you know that it wasn't God the Father how do you know it wasn't God the Holy
Ghost okay well what does it say in John 1 verse 18 no man hath seen God at any
time the only begotten Son which is in the
bosom of the Father he hath declared him now I want you to realize that when you
see the word God in the Bible that could be referring to God the Father it could
be referring to God the Son it could be referring to God the Holy Ghost or it
could be referring to God just you know in general okay usually when you see the
word God in the Bible what it's referring to is God the Father okay
here's an example where it's referring to God the Father because we know God
was manifest in the flesh that's Jesus Christ and obviously many people saw
Jesus Christ right it's like he was manifest in the flesh lots of people saw
him right our hands have handled of the Word of Life it says in 1st John when it
says no man hath seen God at any time well that's referring to God the Father
but it says the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father God the
Father linking back to no man hath seen God at any time he hath declared him so
Jesus Christ declared you know God the Father now this does not mean that God
the Father became God the Son it doesn't mean that Jesus Christ that they're just
the same and it's like well this is God the Father and he decided to become the
son they kind of know we're not talking about oneness right because in the
beginning was the word Jesus was here at the beginning we understand that but
what I'm trying to show you is this no one ever saw no man hath seen God the
Father at any time is what the Bible is teaching here so if we go to the Old
Testament and you see somebody wrestling you see God wrestling with Jacob well
that's not God the Father because no man hath seen God at any time okay now
people that believe in oneness they don't like to hear that because they
don't believe that God the Son exists until the New Testament but yet we saw
in Hosea which is not exactly the book I'm going to use to prove my doctrine
but we saw how angel and God are used interchangeably well angels the
messenger and who is God referring there to it's referring to God the Son so
whenever you see in the Old Testament you see God appear in bodily form that's
an Old Testament appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ God the Son okay for
example you know in the fiery furnace you're seeing God the Son that's what
you're seeing in those those stories whenever you see that in the Old
Testament it's the Lord Jesus Christ okay now go to Genesis 35 Genesis 35
Genesis 35 so Genesis 28 talks about Bethel being God's house and we're
talking about Bethel because it mentions that in Hosea 12 okay Genesis 31 he said
I am the God of Bethel Genesis 32 Jacob wrestles with God now this is probably
the the biggest experience he's ever had in his life right it's like you know I
can say I've done a lot of exciting things in my life right we take part in
soul winning marathons very exciting it's really cool to be a church that's
doing something when so few are we do a lot of exciting things a lot of things
we rejoice about but you never come back from so any and say hey you guess what I
wrestled with God you know 30 minutes ago now if you do come back from
soul-winning sometime and you tell me that you wrestled with God there are
some Pentecostal churches I would love to recommend for you to go to right or
whatever church just probably not this one okay and so Jacob though literally
wrestled with God and that was referring to God the Son and you can see that in
that story I'm just not going into it because that's really outside the scope
of what I believe Hosea is about but you talk about Bethel and Bethel in
chapters 28 and 31 then he wrestles God remember he said I am the god of Bethel
go to Genesis 35 verse 1 Genesis 35 verse 1 and God said unto Jacob arise go
up to Bethel and dwell there and make there an altar unto God that appeared
unto thee when thou fled us from the face of Esau thy brother then Jacob said
unto his household unto all that were with him put away the strange gods that
are among you be clean and change your garments and let us arise and go up to
Bethel and I will make there an altar unto God who answered me in the day of
my distress it was with me in the way which I went go to verse 9 verse 9 verse
9 and God appeared unto Jacob again when he came out of Padanerim and blessed him
and God said unto him thy name is Jacob thy name shall not be called any more
Jacob but Israel shall be thy name and he called his name Israel now here's the
thing you don't have to turn there actually turn to Genesis 32 verse 28 let
me just show you one verse from Genesis 32 I'll turn there myself to credit
cross-reference here Genesis 32 verse 28 Genesis 32 verse 28 and notice what he
says in Genesis 32 verse 28 this is after the wrestling match and he said
thy name shall be called no more Jacob but Israel for as a prince thou hast
thou a power with God and with men and hast prevail right has power with God
referring to wrestling with God but it says you know your name's no more Jacob
but it's Israel according to Genesis 32 verse 28 we'll go back to Genesis 35
Genesis 35 that's very similar to what he just said here in this verse Genesis
35 verse 10 and God said unto him thy name is Jacob thy name shall not be
called any more Jacob but Israel shall be thy name and he called his name
Israel and God said unto him I am God Almighty be fruitful and multiply a
nation and the company of nations shall be of thee and kings shall come out of
thy loins and the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac to thee I will give it
into thy seed after thee while I give the land verse 13 and God went up from
in the God went up from him in the place where he talked with him and Jacob set
up a pillar in the place where he talked with him even a pillar of stone and he
poured a drink offering thereon and he poured oil thereon and Jacob called the
name of the place where God spake with him Bethel okay now Bethel is the house
of God we saw that in Genesis 28 we saw that in Genesis 31 we go forward to
Genesis 35 God speaks to him it's like this is Bethel now Genesis 32 he has a
wrestling match and from an outsider standpoint you would look at it and say
man Genesis 32 is the most exciting thing in his life but God's reminding
him I'm the God of Bethel and he speaks with him and he says Bethel and what is
Bethel it's the house of God so what we're seeing is this big event but it's
sandwiched between I'm the God of Bethel I'm the God of Bethel God's
trying to drive home the point the importance of being part of God's house
that's what he's teaching it mentioned in Hosea 12 about Bethel and he talks
about I am the God of Bethel and I want you to realize you might do some really
exciting individual solo acts in your life but the reality is if you really
want to serve God and get close to God God is the God of Bethel right God is
the God of the local New Testament Church and look if you are not part of
a church you might get motivated during the mega marathon to do six hours of
soul-winning do some big event really exciting you're not going to accomplish
that much outside of the local New Testament Church right that is what God
is trying to teach us and look this is reality it doesn't matter how zealous
you are look if I was not part of a good church I'm sure I'd get people saved
from time to time because you know I read the Bible and I know I should go
soul-winning so I take opportunities but do you really think that by yourself
you're gonna knock doors without any church supporting you without anybody
behind you without any soul-winning times without any motivation without any
push no you're not and if you want to be successful in life in all areas you must
humble yourself that's the secret to success and look God is the God of
Bethel okay if you want to really serve God you need to be part of a good church
that's what the Bible is trying to teach is go to Hosea 12 Hosea 12 Hosea chapter
12 and look I know I've bounced around looked at a lot I mean we look we really
had to to get into what I was trying to say but I believe that what Hosea 12 is
primarily about is the importance of the local New Testament Church now in the
Old Testament what the house of God was was a little bit different but it's the
same concept that's being taught that God works through his house okay and in
our modern day that is the local New Testament Church what it said in Hosea
12 verse 3 is this he took his brother by the heel in the womb and by his
strength he had power with God he had power over the angel and prevailed so
there's the wrestling match that's being referred to okay which makes sense
because it talks about Bethel which is right around that wrestling match okay
but he had power over the angel and prevailed and it says he wept and made
supplication on to him now look you don't make supplication on to an
angelic being right you're making supplications on to God and you can tell
that if you get into the story so this shows that this is actually referring to
God he found him in Bethel and there he spake with us and so here's the thing
about this it he found him in Bethel is referring to later on Genesis 35 and yet
he has the big wrestling match in Genesis 32 why well because the focus is
that is where God dwells I am the God of Bethel we found him in Bethel and there
he spake with us and look obviously individually you should be zealous to
read the Bible and memorize the Bible and you you need to serve God on your
own as much as possible but you should never just say well I'm gonna now
separate from the local church and still I'm going to serve God you have to have
that local New Testament Church to support you it's important and look I
understand I'm preaching to the choir here tonight because this is Wednesday
night and look for some of you you put in great effort to come here but you
know Church is important okay this is what the Bible is teaching
Hosea 12 verse 5 even the Lord God of hosts the Lord is his memorial therefore
turn thou to thy God keep mercy and judgment and wait on thy God continually
verse number seven he is a merchant the balances of deceit are in his hand he
loveth to oppress and Ephraim said yet I am become rich I have found me out
substance in all my labors they shall find none iniquity in me that were sinned
and so look just because you become rich just because you get money that doesn't
mean that you're doing everything right right there's this attitude well God
must be blessing me because I got a nice house I mean he might be blessing you
that doesn't mean that you didn't do any sin it's like man I've got a nice
car God is really blessing me I must be right with God well I mean Job was right
with God after he lost everything right the Bible does not teach a health wealth
and prosperity gospel verse 9 and I that am the Lord thy God from the land of
Egypt will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles as in the days of the solemn
feast this also goes back to the idea of the importance of the house of God
because at times they were dwelling in tabernacles right I mean so the what the
house of God is has changed depending on what time period but you're still seeing
that concept of the house of God you know dwelling in tabernacles it says
here I have also spoken by the prophets and I have multiplied visions and use
similitude by the ministry of the prophets so verse 9 is kind of hinting
at the fact of the local church or the house of God but then in verse 10 I have
also spoken by the prophets and I have multiplied visions and use similitudes
by the ministry of the prophets so look we understand that during the Old
Testament not all of the book was written down not everybody had the Word
of God and God primarily used prophets right go to Hebrews 1 let me turn there
myself Hebrews chapter 1 Hebrews chapter 1 and you got some religions who
believe in the local New Testament Church he does have people preaching the
Word of God for you to learn the difference is I'm not prophesying about
something that's going to take place the only prophesying I'm going to do about
something in the future is something the Bible directly tells me it's like I'm
predicting that Jesus is coming back after the tribulation but you know why
I'm able to make that prophecy because the Bible says it right I'm not making
any predictions on things that are going to end up taking place other than what
the Bible clearly states so modern day all you're doing is expounding on what
the Word of God actually says Hebrews 1 verse 1 God who had sundry times and in
diverse manners spake in time past onto the fathers by the prophets so it says
sundry times in in diverse manners so sundry times in diverse manners are
basically synonyms basically in different ways you know he spoke in
different manners diverse or different ways he spoke by the prophets hath in
these last days spoken unto us by his son Jesus Christ who we have to point an
heir of all things by whom also he made the world's and so he's spoken by Jesus
Christ in the last days so here's the thing Jesus obviously rose again and
then people actually wrote about what they actually saw and people that were
actually there for these events I mean first John talks about actually turn to
first John first John first John chapter 1 first John chapter 1 because
nowadays you have people that say they're modern-day prophets or you got
these organizations that say that they're the prophets of God they're
speaking on God's behalf there's modern day revelation but yet in the Bible the
people that are actually writing the Word of God either experienced it for
themselves or they spoke to people that were eyewitnesses of those exact events
it's not somebody 2,000 years later that says oh man I got a headache no
wait it's it's a prophecy right and then they just tell you something like Ellen
White right the leader of the seventh-day Adventists where it's like
literally when you read your story and seventh-day Adventists try to make it
sound good it just sounds like she's possessed by devils to me it's just like
oh I've got this headache and then all of a sudden she just starts you know
seeing things and having visions and she makes these prophecies like God doesn't
want us to eat meat it's like what kind of a what kind of a prophecy is this and
the problem is they they say these things but then it contradicts what's
already been said and it's like their modern-day revelations will contradict
the things the Bible specifically states so what do we go with some random person
who says that God talked to me or do you just go with what God clearly said you
go with what God clearly said there cannot not be any contradictions okay
first on one verse one that which was from the beginning referring to Jesus
Christ here from the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our
eyes which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the word of life
so when it comes to people that that wrote the books of the Bible it wasn't
just like oh I I heard this story about something from a thousand years ago let
me just write about it no they actually were able to partake in those things our
hands have handled of the word of life for the life was manifested and we have
seen it and bear witness and show unto you that eternal life which was with a
father and was manifested on to us now of course God could have given us his
word by any method he wanted but he used a very logical way it wasn't just some
random person that said man I found these stone tablets you know in in in
the the the parks or the forest in New York it's like you know I don't know
what Kagu Bata you found but it's not it's not like the in actual I mean it's
crazy right but that's Mormonism for you and it's like Joseph Smith just found
these tablets and there's different versions of these stories and in one
story people are following him trying to kill him and everything and he's it's
like you're carrying two stone tablets that are supposedly really heavy and
you're running away from someone who's trying to it doesn't make any sense it's
like are you a bodybuilder it's like what now go back to go back to Hosea go
back to Hosea chapter 12 Hosea 12 Hosea 12 my point is this though that God did
speak in times past by the prophets but now we have the Word of God because
Jesus Christ was here and then people wrote about what took place and the
whole Bible was finished I mean nearly 2,000 years ago I believe over 1,900
years ago and look the Bible doesn't say exactly the year everything was
written but even by consensus on on you know scholars or whatever it was
finished like 1,900 years ago and so it's like we have a finished book that
has proven itself to be correct there's no errors at all and then you've got
these religions that popped up in the 19th century and you know the
restoration movement you got the Seventh-day Adventists you got the
Jehovah's Witnesses you got the Mormons and then other countries get envious and
say well we got to have our restoration movements right and it's just like
they're all these modern-day prophets as modern-day revelation and everything and
it's just like the problem is everything contradicts what the Bible says and it's
just like they elevate those books like the Book of Mormon and the pearl of
great price and the doctrines of covenants above the Word of God and it's
like they contradict look as Bible believe in Christians there is no
modern-day revelation this is the Word of God and it doesn't matter when people
come to you with stories because oftentimes they want you to believe
something and they'll just give you a story well it's like well I know you can
lose your salvation because I know someone who was saved who lost it well
first off how do you know they were saved did you see that salvation and
secondly how would you know they lost it right well obviously you just don't
understand salvation is the problem or they'll say well you know I know like I
knew somebody who was Catholic and they told me this I was probably 20 years old
and we were disagreeing about this topic and I was at this Christian group
and we're talking about speaking in tongues whenever you have these
Christian groups they don't want you to talk about anything controversial and of
course I said I don't believe in it right and this this Catholic girl said
why no it's real because I saw it took place it's like I bet you did see it
take place right it's probably you probably did see somebody possessed just
you know doing whatever look God has spoken to us through his word and church
is the pillar and ground of the truth so the purpose of church is just to expound
on the truth found in God's Word okay he said in verse 9 and I that am the
Lord thy God from the land of Egypt will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles as
in the days of the solemn feast I've also spoken by the prophets and I've
multiplied visions and use similitude by the ministry of the prophets is there
an equity in Gilead surely they are vanity they sacrificed bullets in Gilgal
yea their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the field and Jacob fled into
the country of Syria and Israel served for wife and for wife he kept sheep and
so Jacob or Israel served for wife referring to you know obviously Rachel
and then you know Leah and that whole complicated story and by a prophet the
Lord brought Israel out of Egypt and by a prophet was he preserved and so by a
prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt that's referring to Moses because
he's explaining how I used to operate through prophets and he's giving some
examples and of course he's saying I've rejected Israel so the system is going
to be different but it's still the house of God it's just the house of God's a
little bit different now and now we have the finished Word of God okay and he
says and by a prophet was he preserved okay so he says by a prophet was he
preserved and I want you to realize that really what preserves God's people or
preserves even a nation is just people preaching and speaking the Word of God
that's what preserves it look I mean if this country had no good churches then
you know what God's wrath would be on this country because if there's no good
preaching then people are going to sin that's the way it works and so it's
really people and local churches and people preaching the truth is what
preserves a nation or preserves a location it preserves God's wrath from
being poured out Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly therefore shall he
leave his blood upon him in his reproach shall his Lord return on to him okay now
go to Hebrews 10 we're going to close up in Hebrews chapter 10 Hebrews 10 Hebrew
chapter 10 so the main the main point that I believe God's driving home in
Hosea 12 because usually in the Bible when you have chapters there's really
kind of one thing God is trying to drive home or at least one thing and I really
believe the main focus in the reference on Bethel and in tabernacles and how he
used to use prophets and things such as that I believe the focus is on the
importance of the house of God and that was something that was very important in
the days of Hosea and it's something that's very important now now are there
some things that are different well absolutely we don't sacrifice animals in
today's world right I mean the the Passover became the Lord's Supper or
there's that transition things such as that but you know it's important to be
at God's house because you know what God is the God of Bethel and I would
submit to you that nobody is really going to be successful in their
Christian life if they do it outside of church now I understand that there are
people in various parts of the world who they don't have a great church I mean
probably many of you several years ago you didn't have a great church and the
reality is you might have been just as zealous back then but you're
accomplishing more for God now than you did years ago and I think we need to
remind ourselves about some of these things because you know whenever you
have something new it's always really exciting at first right I mean let's say
you know you you let's say you just get a million let's say somebody buys you a
brand new car or whatever right it's like man I got a car this is so nice
it's so shiny and everything and let's say it's an expensive car let's say it's
I don't know five million peso car or whatever and part of the rules are I'll
give you this free car but you can't sell it you got it you got to keep it
you're like hey I don't care man I got an awesome car this is great and
everything but yeah eventually it's just like oh you know your car just becomes
your cards it's no different than anybody else's car just gets you from
point A to point B right or you get a brand new house and you first get that
house and it's like man this is awesome it's so but then it just eventually
becomes your house but you don't want to allow that attitude to come in a church
where it's like man it's like I'm at church now this church is awesome I'm
hearing the preaching I'm going so any but then as a year goes by or two years
go by it just kind of becomes your church and you forget about what it was
like beforehand without a church you forget about how I prayed for a church I
wanted a church and then once you get it you just kind of forget about it and
this is the way we are in life right you know we just kind of forget about stuff
and I think we need to remember the importance of having a great church and
look I've lived at various locations without a great church and you just
don't accomplish that much for God you need to be part of a great church to
accomplish something and that's something you should remember especially
when I believe that's the main focus of Hosea chapter 12 is to remind you of the
importance of church okay Hebrews 10 verse 24 Hebrews 10 verse 24 and you say
why do I need to why do I need to be reminded of this well for one because
many of you put in pretty big effort to come to church I mean many people don't
really live that close to this church and it takes up a lot of time and effort
and deciding to come to church on a Wednesday night that makes life a little
bit more difficult right you say man I've got a couple hours I need to get
some errands done and then all of a sudden you're spending it at church and
then you could easily develop this attitude is it worth it am I wasting my
time is it worth it and look I believe the God God reminds us it is worth it
and it's not just to hear the preaching you say brother Stuckey I won't come to
church I'll just listen to the sermon online well I mean the live stream might
be good it might not we'll see right but you're not gonna get the fellowship just
listening at home you're not gonna get that and look honestly a sermon is 20
times better in person than online if the sermon is so great online how come
you know you listen to a lot of sermons I'm so excited and then you just stop
listening 20 minutes in or start doing something else it's just not the same as
in person it's just a lot better when you're actually there to experience it
okay Hebrews 10 verse 24 and let us consider one another to provoke on to
love and to good works not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as a
manner of some is but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see
the day approaching and the Bible's saying you know what as we get closer to
the day as we see the day approaching you need God even more you need church
even more you need to assemble with God's people even more than you did
before as you see the day approaching and look as we live in this day this
world is changing very quickly I mean in the last 50 years this country has
changed a lot and it's changed in a lot of different ways but just think of a
couple examples right think of something like abortion and in pretty much
worldwide abortion would have been considered such an abomination that
nobody would have done 50 years ago and then countries now it's just like half
the country supports abortion it's like half the country supports murder and
look everybody realizes it's murder it's it's it's not a debatable topic everybody
understands that it's but people want to justify their actions it's like how is
that even disputed whether or not abortion well it's you know my body my
choice it's like yeah you're wicked person that is willing to kill your baby
because you're selfish and because you're promiscuous because you're a
whore right that's the reason why and yet abortion now it's becoming more and
more common now let me say something that when it comes to committing
abortion you know obviously you're killing the baby but you know what
you're also harming the rest of your life as a woman because you're not gonna
forget that I mean unless you're a complete reprobate that's something
you're gonna regret and be like man that's terrible because you know it is
terrible you look at abortion though and now it's just kind of common or how
about the LGBT talk about something has changed in the last 50 years I mean if
you had told people 50 years ago that hey you know in 50 years there's gonna
be a bunch of dudes you know wearing dresses everywhere you go acting like
women right it's all over the place here and I would say this that because we get
desensitized to things if you were to take people that live 50 years ago they
would have never saw this day ever coming but now it probably seems normal
to most of them like it's not actually that big of a deal say why because you
just get desensitized because when it's really common right it feels normal as
we've talked about many times and it's just around all the time and now it's no
big deal well it's just gonna become more and more common because as everyone
has smartphones in the television even people in countries that aren't insane
like brother Mateus tells us people in Poland aren't insane but they'll become
insane because they're watching TV right it's just like you see it on TV you see
it on your smartphones and you see it all the time popping up and it's just
like it starts to just feel normal even though it's not normal there's a guy
here in the Philippines I don't know what his name is I always forget that
really skinny guy that's like 22 or 23 that dresses as a woman and he's
becoming really popular now he's all over the social media he's his
billboard is there when you go to Pampanga they got rid of vice pong eat
now they got this dude this dude this lady whatever you wanna you know this
whatever right and it's like you know what in the day we're living in as as we
see the day approaching because we certainly see that we're getting closer
to the end times now I personally don't think it's coming in the next 10 20
years or whatever but we certainly see the day approaching of things lining up
and everything you need Church now more than ever because as the world is
fighting against us it would be very easy to just quit on God you need this
kind of preaching you need this fellowship you need the soul winning you
need the motivation you need Church as much as you can possibly get you say why
because God is the God of Beth let's close in a word of prayer your heavenly
father thanks for allowing us to be here today and just getting to see this topic
of abiding in your house and help all of us stay dedicated to church and to do
everything we can to be a part of church as much as we possibly can God and ask
you to continue to bless this church and help us to serve you zealously and I ask
you to bless all the members that are here today and part of our church we
pray this in Jesus name amen and take out your hymnal take out your
song number 37 on the first there'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes there'll
be no dark valley when Jesus comes there'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes to gather
his loved ones home together his loved ones home together his loved ones home
there'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes together his loved ones home there'll be no
more sorrow when Jesus comes there'll be no more sorrow when Jesus comes but a glorious
sorrow when Jesus comes to gather his loved ones home together his loved ones home together his
loved ones home there'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes to gather his loved ones home there'll
be no more weeping when Jesus comes there'll be no more weeping when Jesus comes but a blessed
reaping when Jesus comes together his loved ones home together his loved ones home together his
loved ones home there'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes together his loved ones home on the
last there'll be songs of reading when Jesus comes there'll be songs of reading when Jesus
comes and a joyful meeting when Jesus comes to gather his loved ones home together his loved
ones home together his loved ones home there'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes together his
loved ones home alright let's close in word of prayer dear Heavenly Father thank you for
allowing us be here in your house this evening we ask you to just help us apply this sermon
to our lives and always be reminded this and thank you for the great church that you bless
us with and the great people that love you God we just pray this in Jesus name Amen