(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

The name of the sermon is corrupt leaders, corrupt leaders, and there's many different things that you could look at in this chapter, but that's what we're going to kind of focus on. And point number one here is important people, important people. Notice what it says here in verse one. Hear ye this, O priests, and harken ye house of Israel, and give ye ear, O house of the king, for judgment is toward you, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah and a net spread upon Tabor. Now, when we're talking about Mizpah, that is a city in Benjamin, okay? And Benjamin was part of the southern kingdom of Judah, okay? And it's saying the priests of Israel, the leaders of Israel, were actually causing harm to those in a more godly kingdom, right? Those of Benjamin. That's where Mizpah was located. And then Tabor is referring to Mount Tabor in the Bible. But notice how it said, O priests, house of Israel, and O house of the king, right? It's focusing in on leaders when it says the priests and the house of the king, okay? Now, I want you to realize that the biggest problem with countries that are not living for God, that are so-called Christian countries, are the leaders of churches. That's the problem. And you're often going to find this in the Bible, where God blames the priests and the leaders and the pastors because they're not doing their job, okay? Now, go to Jeremiah chapter 6. Jeremiah chapter 6. Jeremiah 6. Jeremiah chapter 6 in your Bible. And in Jeremiah chapter 6, notice what it says in verse 13. Jeremiah chapter 6, verse 13. For from the least of them, even unto the greatest of them, everyone is given to covetousness, referring to the spiritual leaders. It says they are covetous, okay? And from the prophet, even unto the priest, everyone dealeth falsely. They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, peace, peace, when there is no peace. And so these priests, these prophets, they're proclaiming peace in the Bible, saying there is no peace. It doesn't say there's some peace. It says there's no peace. So when it's saying slightly there, it's not saying they've slightly fooled the people. It's like a sleight of hand, like a magician's trick, where basically they pretend to have something and it's completely opposite. So basically the pastors are just fully lying, okay? They say peace, and there is no peace. And when you're reading the book of Jeremiah, it was obvious that there was no peace to them, right? They're going into captivity, and then the preachers are claiming peace, peace. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? Nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush. You would think that if you're committing wickedness, you would be embarrassed. You would be ashamed. I mean, wouldn't you be ashamed or embarrassed if you committed some sin and everybody found out about it? I mean, imagine if you did something wrong, especially when it comes to a church setting, because obviously this is a place where we're supposed to try to be godly and do what's right. And let's say, for example, somebody catches you committing some sort of sin. You'd be ashamed. You'd be embarrassed because you didn't want people to find out about it, right? Well, these preachers, they're not ashamed of committing abominations. They're not ashamed of being covetous. They're not ashamed of lying to the people. You would think that they would be embarrassed about it, but they're not, right? There are pastors that will literally read a story in the Bible, and then they will just lie. And they'll say something that is clearly not in the Bible, and they'll just add to the story, and people just kind of assume it's there, right? They're like, yeah, in this story, you know, this happened, and they're just lying, right? But they're not embarrassed about it. Or they'll just make things up, or they'll try to guilt you into giving all this money. The Bible commands you to give your first fruits offering. They won't show you any verse in the Bible. Shouldn't you be embarrassed about that? Shouldn't you be ashamed of stealing from the people? But they're not. Why? Because they're bad people, right? They're covetous. That's what it's saying in Jeremiah chapter 6. Why is it all these false prophets are lying to people and just willingly doing it for money? That's the reason why. For money. Were they ashamed when they committed an abomination? Nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush. Therefore, they shall fall among them that fall. At the time that I visit them, they shall be cast down, saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord, stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths. Where is the good way? And walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, we will not walk therein, right? And so look, when it comes to all these false prophets that are out there, what do you do in this situation? What you do is you look for the old paths. Try to find somebody preaching that's not covetous, that's not lying to you, that's actually teaching you something. And look, that would be my recommendation for people here in the Philippines, right? Find a preacher that's not lying to you. And look, especially when it comes to there's people that love our church, but they don't come to our church. And they live nearby our church, right? They live one jipney rider way, but they go to their old church. Why are you going to a pastor that's covetous and lying to you? Why don't you look for the old paths that preach the hard truths, what the Bible says, teaches you the word of God, and is not just making doctrines that are commandments of men, right? Verse 17, also I set watchmen over you, saying, harken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, we will not harken. Now, why is it that there's these false prophets lying? The reason why there's false prophets lying is because there's people that want to hear it. There's people whose ears are tickled. Look, there wouldn't be these false prophets like Joel Osteen and TD snakes and all these false prophets, you know, Kenneth Copeland. Look, they wouldn't be out there unless they're actually people that were willing to give their money and listen to it. Look, people like to be lied to. They like to be told you're the greatest thing in the world, even if it's not true, right? Go to Jeremiah 23, Jeremiah 23, Jeremiah 23. You say, maybe Jeremiah was just having a bad day in Jeremiah 6. He's kind of mean. I mean, he's preaching against, I mean, who would preach against other pastors? That's terrible, right? Jeremiah, what are you doing? I mean, it's terrible that you're calling out all these false prophets during your... I mean, brother Stuckey, why are you calling out all these other Baptist churches around here and all these Baptist pastors? Well, if they're not saved and they're lying and they're not doing what the Bible says, I mean, that's exactly what Jeremiah is doing, right? Jeremiah 23, verse 1. Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pastor, saith the Lord. Do you see how the focus and emphasis is on the leaders? It's not on the members, right? When I preach against other pastors out here that I know are false pastors, look, it's not because I hate the members in those churches. In fact, I guarantee you all the Baptist churches that are around here with a decent number of people, they are saved people in their churches. And that's why those leaders are so wicked. Because they're leading a stray people that are saved that could actually do something for God if they came to a real church, right? He says, woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pastor, saith the Lord. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, against the pastors that feed my people. You have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not visited them. Behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doing, saith the Lord. And I'll gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds, and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them, which shall feed them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord. Go back to Hosea 5, Hosea 5, Hosea chapter 5. And you see that Jeremiah was upset at these leaders. That's what you see the emphasis on. And, you know, that's what the beginning of the book of Hosea is. In fact, that's throughout many places of the Bible. The book of Malachi, the focus is on the leaders that are leading people astray. Okay, now notice what it says in Hosea 5 verse 2. Hosea 5 verse 2. And the revolters are profound to make slaughter, though I have been a rebuker of them all. Now, this is kind of a strange statement. And, you know, I'll tell you what my interpretation of it is. But, you know, in verse 1, he's highlighting kind of the leaders. And then in verse 2, he's basically preaching against people that would revolt, right? People that would basically be anarchist type of people that would just revolt against the leaders and make a slaughter, right? They're angry because they've been lied to. They're angry at leaders in high places, both spiritual and political. And the result of that is out of anger, they actually commit wickedness by doing things that are wrong. They are profound to make slaughter. But what it says here is though I have been a rebuker of them all, which to me indicates both the revolters and the leaders. Okay, now that's my interpretation. But let me give you some examples of this. You know, when you live in just about any country in the world, you're going to live in a country that is full of a lot of wicked people in high places. And they're going to make a lot of rules that are not right, that are not biblical, that are not under God's laws. But they don't always ask you to commit sins. And they might do a lot of things that, you know, tax you and take all of your money to just... This is especially true in the US, right? You get your salary and it seems like a lot of money and then the government takes like 20% of that. And then you got money going to abort babies in Africa, literally, right? You got lots of your money going to abort babies and do all these wicked things that we don't believe in. And look, the bottom line is though that in the Bible, God tells us to pay our taxes, even if it is a wicked authority. And sometimes they might have laws that we don't agree with, that aren't what God would say, but at the same time, it would be wrong to revolt against the government and just like kill those people that are wicked people. That's not the job that God has given us to do, okay? And so God is mad at the corrupt leaders. However, we need to have the proper perspective. You say, well, what do you do if your leaders are corrupt? You come to church, you preach the word of God, you go soul winning, you raise your families for God and you're accomplishing something. You can accomplish something in a wicked government, right? People have this idea, well, you know, unless you're living in a certain sort of country, you're supposed to revolt against it. But is that what you see Daniel doing in the Bible? Is that what you see any of the people doing? No, they actually just serve God and got people saved in wicked empires, okay? And that is what God would have us to do. So point number one, you see a focus on the important people. Point two, we also see influential cities that are mentioned. Point one, important people. Point two, influential cities. Verse three, I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me. For now, Ephraim, thou comest his boredom, and Israel is defiled. And what you're going to find is Ephraim is often used almost interchangeably with Israel in the Bible. And when you think of the southern kingdom of Judah, the main tribe you're thinking of is Judah, but it was actually Judah and Benjamin, right? But Judah is kind of the main one. Well, when it comes to Israel, the main one is Ephraim, okay? And so oftentimes that's kind of the focus that's being mentioned, okay? Now go to Ezekiel 30 in your Bible. Ezekiel chapter 30, Ezekiel 30, Ezekiel 30. Ezekiel chapter 30. And what you must realize is that when it comes to big cities and powerful cities and influential cities, they're going to kind of set what the whole country ends up being about. Wickedness will start in big cities, and it will just pass on to the rest of the culture. That's what takes place. If you look at the United States, you've got New York City, you've got San Francisco, you got Washington, D.C., and whatever happens there will end up happening all over the country. That's the way it works. Here I'm sure you'd look at Manila, right? And what happens in Manila is going to end up just filtering down. I promise you that Manila is more wicked than the provinces, right? I promise you the big city, I mean, that's where you got the prostitution, any trafficking that takes place. Look, as a Bible-believing Christian, it's smart just not to be out late at night and especially in kind of dangerous kind of areas such as that. You know, I've said this before, but literally my first few days here in the Philippines, because we arrived on a Wednesday and we didn't have Wednesday service because I figured I need to sleep after a 55 million hour flight. And so we had service on Sunday, right? But on Saturday, and I'm not sure if anybody in here was actually there, but on Saturday we had just kind of a fellowship at, I don't know, somewhere. I can't remember where it was, but the day before we had church service, right? And it was really close to where we were staying. And literally on the way home, it was only like 6 30 at night or something. And there was some woman who tried to stop me. And, you know, based on what she said and I just kept walking, she was some sort of prostitute or asking me, you know, for whatever. And it's just like it was only 6 30 at night. It's like, you know, you got to be very careful at nighttime, you know, especially in big cities. Whenever you see these athletes or these famous people that end up getting in some fight and somebody dies and they're on murder, it's always because it's like one o'clock in the morning outside of a bar. That's what you always see. You mix in alcohol and it's in the middle of the night. What's going to happen, right? Before I moved here, people said, you know, hey, the Philippines is so dangerous. It's not smart to go there. It's like, yeah, the United States is super safe, right? It's like the Philippines is so dangerous and everything. You know, it's not safe to go there. And it's just like, well, you know what? I'm not out at bars at three o'clock in the morning and I'm not a drug dealer. So it's like, you know, usually when you just go to the grocery store and then just come back and just go about your normal routine and you're not out late at night. You know what? Usually nothing happens to you. Now, obviously something can happen to you, but I'm just being realistic. Most areas of this world are pretty safe as long as you're not doing something wrong or as long as you're not in a bad place, right? But it starts in the big cities and it filters down to the rest of the country. Ezekiel 30 verse 13. Thus saith the Lord God, I will also destroy the idols and I will cause their images to cease out of Naph. And there shall be no more prince of the land of Egypt and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt. Now, Naph is basically the capital of Egypt or the most prominent place mentioned in Egypt in the Bible. And what you're going to see is that Naph, sometimes spelled N-O, no for short, sort of represents Egypt. Verse 14. And I will make pathros desolate and will set fire in Zoan and will execute judgments in Noh. And I will pour my fury upon sin, the strength of Egypt, and I will cut off the multitude of Noh and I will set fire in Egypt. Sin shall have great pain and Noh shall be rent asunder and Noh shall have distresses daily. Right? Oftentimes in the Bible, you'll see that a prominent place mentioned in the country is either used interchangeably or often brought up. Why? Because they influence the rest of the country. Okay, go to Nahum chapter three in your Old Testament. Nahum chapter three, Nahum chapter three. And another example of this is how Nineveh is used almost interchangeably with the Assyrian Empire. It's obviously the prominent location in Assyria. Okay, Nahum chapter three, verse seven. And it shall come to pass that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee and say Nineveh is laid waste. Who will be monger? When shall I see comfort is for thee? Now Nineveh represents Assyria. Verse eight. Art thou better than populace? No. No is referring to Noh as we saw in Ezekiel chapter 30. Right? That was situate among the rivers that had the waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was from the sea. Ethiopian Egypt were strengthened. It was infinite. Put and Lubom were thy helpers. Go to Hosea chapter five. Hosea five. Hosea five. Hosea chapter five. Even in the United States, which has been really crazy, right? When you see all these riots and everything that's happened in 2020, you know, it's really in the big cities that takes place. My parents live in Pennsylvania, and in Pennsylvania, there's two big cities, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. They don't live in Philadelphia. They don't live in Pittsburgh, right? I mean, there's really not a whole lot that happens in Bedford, Pennsylvania. It's just a small town, and nothing really happens. If you're not in big cities, even all this craziness that happens are usually kind of just away from it, right? But what happens in big cities, it's going to eventually affect the entire country. Because what does the news cover? Well, the news doesn't cover a small little province where nothing's going on. They're going to cover the murders and the drugs and all of this wickedness. And eventually that just filters down to the entire country. Okay, big cities are going to affect the entire country. Point one, we saw important people. Point two, we saw influential cities or influential locations. Point three, we see inventing a plan. Invent a plan. Okay, Hosea five verse four. They will not frame their doings to turn onto their God. They will not frame their doings to turn onto their God, right? Frame needs to create or formulate a concept or a plan or a system, right? You know, there's different definitions for the word frame. But in this context, what it's saying is to basically create or make a plan, okay? Come up with a plan to turn onto God, okay? Basically, their doings are wicked. Come up with a plan to change those things and turn back onto God, okay? They will not frame their doings to turn on their God. For the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known the Lord. And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face. See, what the Bible is saying is this group of people, they knew what they were doing was wicked. They knew it was wrong. They were rebuked for it. But instead of just applying what they heard and making the changes, they were prideful. They would not admit they were wrong. They would not make a change. Oftentimes in life, people make the same mistakes over and over and over, and yet they don't want advice on how to fix it, right? I mean, this is often why people don't like to come to a church like this because, you know, we make it just very clear what the Bible says. But people make the same mistakes in life week after week after week, year after year, but they don't want to know how to fix the problem. They'll just be prideful and just stick in their habits, stick in their ways, and I'm just going to figure it out on my own, right? It's like, look, if it hasn't been working for you for 15 years, you might just want to get advice. There's nothing wrong with getting advice from someone who might know what they're doing. Look, they say that insanity, I don't have the quote in front of me, insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Basically, you're crazy to just you're doing the same thing over and over and over again, yet somehow one day just everything's going to work out. Everything's going to change. No, it's not, right? If it's not working, you've got to frame your doings to seek God, right? That's what the Bible is saying here. Frame your doings. What are some examples of this? One example is with reading the Bible. Go to Deuteronomy 17, Deuteronomy 17, Deuteronomy 17. Look, if there's a problem, you've got to come up with a plan on how to fix the problem, right? I mean, if you have a problem and you're driving a car and there's some sort of problem, look, it doesn't just magically fix itself. You've got to fix it or take you to the shop and get it fixed. I'll just keep driving and it will just fix itself, right? This sound I hear is getting worse and worse. It's just going to end up being okay. No, it's going to get worse and worse and worse. You're crazy if you think you're just going to keep driving. It's going to magically just disappear, right? I mean, if the same thing's happening over and over and over again, you've got to figure out what the problem is and you've got to frame your doings. Come up with a plan to get it fixed. One area is Bible reading. This is an area where many Christians struggle with quite a bit, right? I would say most Christians have never read the Bible cover to cover. And, you know, most Christians, though, they aren't really trying to fix that, though. That's what's crazy about it, right? Now, obviously, we just started our Bible reading month here in January to try to read through the New Testament. So we're going to try to motivate you to do that. And at the end of January, what we're going to do is give you options for once, twice, three times and four times through the last 11 months to give you kind of a pattern for the entire year. We want to kind of give it. Here's your plan right here. It's like, here's your plan, the formulated plan. Look, I made it myself. I've already done the Bible reading. I've already made the Bible reading charts. We're going to hand it to you to give you an option. Now, it's still up to you what you do. But, you know, I want you to realize Bible reading is very important. And I'll tell you what people, they just go year after year after year after year, and they never read the Bible for themselves. But everybody knows they should read the Bible. And everybody who is not reading the Bible is planning to one day read the Bible. Isn't that true? Everybody in church is planning that one day I'm going to read the Bible. How's that going to happen? What's your plan? Because unless you formulate a plan, unless you frame your doings, it's just not going to happen, right? You got to come up with a real plan and just go down that list and it's going to happen, right? You know, when people have in the new year fitness goals, the only way fitness goals work is if you have a plan and you stick to it, right? It's like, by the end of this year, I'm going to be benching 250 pounds. It's like, well, what's your plan? Well, I don't know. You know, I'll eventually start working out or something. It's like, you're not going to be benching 250 pounds unless you have a plan and you stick to it, right? When it comes to Bible reading, what does it say in Deuteronomy 17 verse 18? And it shall be when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law and a book out of that which is before the priests, the Levites. And it shall be with him and he shall read therein some of the days of his life. And he shall read therein poments and ments, just sometimes, right? He shall read therein all the days of his life. See, the Bible says all the days of your life, you got to read the word of God, okay? One thing I love right now is that I go on Facebook and I see people posting from the book of Mark right now. You know what that means? It means you're doing the Bible reading plan. Amen for that, right? It's like you're seeing things in the Bible, you're learning things, and you're being reinvigorated about certain things. And I want you to realize part of reading the Bible is learning something new. Part of it's just being reminded of things that you already know, right? Matthew chapter 10 is the great soul winning chapter, but even as soul winners, it's good to just read through it several times a year or just once or however often in your Bible reading plan because it just reminds you, hey, this is important to God, right? And see, the Bible says read therein all the days of your life. Why? We need to be reminded of the things that we know, and we need to know the Bible for ourselves, okay? You know, another area you need to frame your doings is getting sin out of your life, right? Now, obviously we're not the sort of church where we're going to ask you to raise your hands or have an altar call like, which one of you out there is into this wicked sin? Just raise your hand. I don't want to embarrass you. I'm not going to point you out. I just want to pray for you, right? It's like, obviously we're not going to do that. But in your own heart and in your own mind, there are certain areas of your life where you have sin or worldliness. And here's the question. How are you going to frame your doings to get that out of your life? Because if you're just trying to use a feeling and get emotional and it hasn't worked for 10 years, it's probably not going to work in the 11th year. You have to actually come up with some sort of plan and, you know, change something. Otherwise it's just not going to change itself. Okay, go back to Hosea 5. Hosea 5. Hosea chapter 5. Hosea chapter 5. I mean, that's part of the great thing about the new year is that people have new year's resolutions. But I would say one problem is sometimes people come up with new year's resolutions, but they don't actually have a plan for those new year's resolutions. It's just like, I want to do this, this, this, and this. It's like, okay, how are you going to accomplish this? I don't know. I just want to do it right by the end of the year. I'm going to be fluent in, you know, Russian. That's great. So what's your plan? I don't know. Maybe I'll watch some Russian movies or maybe I'll it's like, yeah, you got to have a plan. Like, I'm going to use this course and spend two hours. You got to come up with a plan or it's just not going to happen, right? I mean, there's a lot of things I wish that I could accomplish. I hope by the end of the year, I'm awesome at the piano, the guitar, the harmonica, whatever instrument out there. It's like it doesn't happen unless you actually have a plan and stick to that plan, right? This is in all areas of life. It says in Hosea 5 verse 5, and the pride of Israel doth testify to his face. Therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity. Judah also shall fall with them. The sad thing is that sometimes you can be come in contact with the truth. It can be preached to you, and instead of applying it and framing your doings, you just get prideful and rejected because you don't want to get advice from somebody else. And the reality is, if you're at church, the purpose is to hear the word of God, hear the truth from the Bible, and to get advice in your life. That's a large part of my job, right? To just teach you what the Bible says and to just give you advice from the word of God and see what the Bible says. It's foolish to be in a church and see that you need to make a change and then just be prideful and not want to do it. It's I can't believe Brother Stuckey said that. I'm going to start going to CCF. Okay, go ahead. It's like if you don't want to frame your doings, if you want to be prideful and just you want this fuzzy feeling, I think there's still live stream only, though. I'm not sure I could be wrong. It's like, you know, yeah, I'm just going to sit at home and watch it online or whatever, right? Maybe they're in person. I'm not really sure. But it's just like, you know, isn't the point to actually come to church and learn what the Bible says and just make changes where you need to make them? Look, we have a lot of problems in our life, and it's good when you have problems to have them pointed out, especially when it's from the Bible. Okay. And then frame your doings and make the changes necessary. Point number one, important people, right? Political and religious mentioned in Hosea 5. Point two, influential cities. Point three, inventing or formulating a plan. Point four, impossibility of return. Impossibility of return. Notice what it says in Hosea five or six. They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord, but they shall not find him. He hath withdrawn himself from them. It says here in verse six, they're going to seek after God, but it's too late. God's withdrawn himself from him. And look, I want you to realize that God is long suffering. God is merciful. However, that mercy does run out eventually, and sometimes people can make mistakes in their life. And then when they go to seek God, God's like, you know what? It's too late. It's too late to seek me. Okay, go to Numbers 14. I'll give you an example. Numbers 14. Numbers 14. Numbers Chapter 14. I mean, I'm not saying God can't still use you in some way, but just think of Samson. Samson basically was committing the same sin over and over again and everything. Well, once your eyes are plucked out, it's too late to have those eyes back. It's done. And, you know, sometimes in life, you know, you can make certain mistakes. And you know what? There's no repairing it, right? You know, if somebody starts smoking cigarettes when they're 20 years old and they smoke for 40 years, it's like, and then once they have some major health problems, you know, it's probably going to be too late to fix that. It's just reality, right? I mean, if you're drunk for 20 years, there are permanent repercussions that can be gone. And it's true spiritually as well that if we make certain choices, God might just say, you know what? It's the point of no return, right? You can't go back to what you once had. Maybe you could have done something before, but that opportunity is gone. A great example is Numbers 14. Here's a story where they're told to go and search out the land and they send out 12 people that they respect, that they trust, 12 people that are leaders and everything. And what ends up happening? Well, they complain and they say, this is a good land. God gives them this land. And man, it's an awesome land. Flows with milk and honey, but there's tall people in the land, right? We're like grasshoppers to them. I mean, how are we going to kill them? And then they give a bad report of the land. And it's weird because they say, man, it's an awesome land that God gave us. You know, the parting of the Red Sea and everything. We're out of Egypt and God spared us. But now there's tall people, right? What are we going to do? Right? And so basically they get rebuked. And only two of them, Caleb and Joshua, are ones that give a good report of the land and they want to go in. And then basically God gets mad and it's like, okay, it's too late. Notice what it says here in Numbers 14 verse 40. And they rose up early in the morning and got them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here and we'll go up onto the place which the Lord hath promised, for we have sinned. They say, man, God told us to go into this land. We sinned. We messed up. We admit it. We're sorry. Okay, we'll go into the land. We'll fix it. We're sorry we messed up. Verse 41. And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the Lord, but it shall not prosper. Go not up, for the Lord is not among you, that ye be not smitten before your enemies. I mean, these people were told to go into the land and they don't want to go. They're scared. And then God says, you know what? It's too late. You can't go into the land anymore. Then once they're told not to, then they're like, okay, we're going to go. It's just like, it's too late. It's done. Your opportunity is gone. Right? Why is it that they want to go into the land now? Because of the repercussions that God gave them. They're like, oh, man, we don't want this chastisement. Okay, God, forgive us. No, wait a minute. It's too late. Oftentimes God is merciful, but not in this example. God says, no, no, no, no, no. It's too late. I told you to go into the land earlier. And then God says, you know what? Okay, you're going to complain. Then you know what? Fine. They get the judgment upon them, and then they say, okay, we're going to go into the land. No, it's too late. And yet they don't listen. And then they want to push through to the land anyway. Okay. Now, what are some examples where people do this in life sometimes? You know, an example is that there's a lot of people that are listening to this sort of preaching, and maybe they have a desire to be a pastor one day. That's a good desire. The Bible says if a man desires the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. Right? Praise the Lord if somebody has that desire. Look, I think you can serve God whether you're a pastor or not a pastor. I don't think you have to be a pastor if you're right with God. But some people have that desire, that call in their life. Hey, that's a great calling. Here's the thing, though. You can ruin that, though. Right? I mean, what if you want to be a pastor, but then you commit some wicked sin that's just known and your reputation is permanently scarred? You know, it can be too late. Right? It can be too late. People can be godly people, and maybe they want to be a pastor. But then let's say they commit a sin, and let's say they have a child right out of wedlock or something like that. Well, I mean, you probably disqualified yourself. You know, here's kind of more extreme because you'll have Baptist pastors that will be pastors, and then they commit adultery, and everybody knows about it. And yet they're still pastors. And people say, well, you know, but they're called from God. Well, yeah, but, you know, you basically disqualified yourself. Right? You're no longer blameless, as the Bible says. Okay? Yes, maybe God did want you to do something, but, you know, you can actually ruin it. You say, Oh, no. Okay, I'm sorry I messed up. Okay, I'll go back. It was wrong. It was a sin. I'll just go. No, no, it's too late. You've disqualified yourself. Okay, this is very strange to me because, you know, what is that megachurch or something that has that music where that pastor recently, you know, he's like Justin Bieber's pastor or whatever. He looks cool. He's trendy. He's like 40 years old. Hillsong. Yeah, Hillsong. Right. Hillsong. Right? And so this pastor, Carl Lentz or whatever, and, you know, it turned out, well, at first they thought he committed adultery once. It turned out he committed adultery a lot of times, right? Here's the thing about this. He committed adultery and they got rid of him because it's such a shameful sin. What's shocking to me is, like, in this country, it's like the adultery is known. It's just like, nope. I mean, they're called by God. How dare you try to revoke away that membership? It's like, are you kidding me? I mean, even like the non-denominational megachurch revokes the pastorship from them. It's like, yeah, you know, maybe that was for you before. But here's the thing. Once you commit that sin, you're disqualified. Right? See, certain things in life, maybe it's for you. But, you know, you can actually disqualify yourself. Me being up here preaching these sermons, right? You know, Pastor Mendez ordained me in Sacramento, California. I believe this is what God's calling for is in my life. You know, whether you like that terminology or not, you know, I believe this is what God has me for to be out here and to preach these sermons and lead these churches and everything. But here's the thing. What if I commit some wicked sin later on this year? Well, here's the thing. Even though God has this for me now, I can disqualify myself. Right? Now, here's the thing. Can I serve God after that? Absolutely. But I can't be the leader of these churches anymore. Right? I mean, if I committed murder, right, in eight months and it's like, I'm really sorry about it. I feel really bad. It's like, oh, man, I really messed up. And look, even if I'm completely sincere, it's like, well, you know, I'm sorry, but, you know, I can't come up here and preach the sermons anymore. Right? Sometimes you can disqualify yourself even though God wanted it for you before and you can ruin it. Okay. And so sometimes there is an impossibility of returning. Verse 43 for the Amelokites and the Canaanites are there before you and you shall fall by the sword because you're turned away from the Lord. Therefore, the Lord will not be with you. But they presumed to go up onto the hilltop. Nevertheless, the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord and Moses departed not out of the camp. Then the Amelokites came down and the Canaanites were swelled in that hill and smote them and discomforted them even onto Horma. And so they disobey. They say, no, no, no, we're going to go in. You know, I'm sorry. Right? You know, an example of this is like when you have kids. Sometimes, you know, you want your kids to do something and it's just like they refuse to go. It's like, alright, whatever. We're going to go home. And then all of a sudden, I don't know. Then I'll go and they start crying. It's like you didn't want to go like five minutes ago. Right. And it's just like this is what these people are doing. They're like little kids, right? They're little toddlers that are just like, oh, they don't want to go. But now they do want to go. And God says, no, it's too late. And then they choose to go anyway. And they get smote. They get killed, many of them. And what ends up happening? They just always blame God for all of this. It's like you disobeyed him. I mean, throughout the time of Moses, they're just mad at God when it's their own sin that gets them into the problems that they have. Okay, go back to Hosea five. Actually, yeah, go back to Hosea five. Hosea five. Of course, we preach about the long suffering of God and the mercy of God. But at the same time, you need to realize sometimes in life there is an impossibility of return. Right. You know, life is a series of choices we make, and sometimes you make choices and you just can't return to before that. Okay. And that's what we see here. Hosea five verse seven. They had dealt treacherously against the Lord, for they have begotten strange children. Now shall a month devour them with their portions. Blow ye the cornet and Gibeah and the trumpet and Rhema. Cry a lot of Beth haven after thee, O Benjamin. Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke among the tribes of Israel, having made known that which shall surely be. God says, I'm going to let you know what's going to take place now. Point number one, we saw the important people. Point two, influential cities. Point three, inventing or formulating or coming up with a plan. Point four, the impossibility of return for Israel. That's the context. Okay, let me make that clear. Israel. Hey, it's too late. But we're God's chosen people. Yeah, you were God's chosen people a long time ago. Sometimes, though, it reaches a point where it's too late and God's warning them. He's saying, you know what? You cross this line, it's too late to return. Yeah, but I mean, what if all the people of Israel and all the Jews just turn to God? It's too late. It's thousands of years too late, my friend, right? They can't return at this point. Sometimes in life it can be too late. Okay, point five. Although we see an impossibility of return for Israel in this chapter, we also see an interval for Judah, an interval or time period for Judah to return and to turn to God. Because Judah does the same thing Israel does. They're just kind of like 30 years behind, right? Basically, God is more merciful to Judah because of the fact that they're not as wicked as Israel, but they go down the same road. Okay, and notice this example of rottenness mentioned here in Hosea five. Hosea five verse 10. The princes of Judah were like them that removed the bound. Therefore, I will pour out my wrath upon them like water. God says he's going to pour out his wrath like water. Okay, verse 11. Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment because he willingly walked after the commandment. Therefore, while I be unto Ephraim as a moth, into the house of Judah as rottenness. So basically it talks about water being poured out. And then in verse 12 it says into the house of Judah as rottenness. You say, what's your point? It takes time for water to rot something to turn into rottenness. There's a time period. There's an interval that goes by, right? You know, if you pour water on something, you know, it can eventually get messed up and everything. But there's an interval. There's a time period before it turns to rottenness. When he's saying he's pouring out his water, he's saying, guess what? Eventually becomes as rottenness. But there is an interval there. And Judah actually had that time frame. They had that interval where God says, and this is throughout the book of Hosea, you still have a chance to return. Okay, but eventually, once it's rotten, it's like, well, you're not going to fix it at this point. Okay, that's what he's saying there. Verse 13. When Ephraim saw sickness and Judah saw his wound, then when Ephraim to the Assyrian and sent to King Jerab, yet could he not heal you nor cure you of your wound. And so it says Ephraim goes to Assyria to try to get help. Okay, now notice Hosea 5, verse 14, and we'll close up here. So it talks about rottenness, but it also gives an example of a lion. So water takes time to rot something. So Judah has an interval. But also notice this example of a lion mentioned here in verses 14 and 15. Hosea 5, verse 14. For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion. Ephraim is representing Israel. Okay, basically saying, you know, as a lion that's going to just destroy you. That's the way I look at Israel. Okay, and as a young lion to the house of Judah. What's he saying? He's saying, you know what? There's this young lion, and right now you might be okay from that little lion that you got, right? But eventually that young lion becomes a big lion. And once you got a big lion, look, you know, you might think, I don't, but maybe you think it's cute to have a baby little lion or something at your house and everything. I would just say this. I would suggest getting rid of that thing before it becomes an actual lion, though. And, you know, when it's a young lion, you might be okay. When it becomes a big lion, well, good luck, right? And so he's saying to Ephraim, basically, you're done as a lion. But with Judah as a young lion, saying, you know what, Judah, you still have some time. But if they don't frame their doings and fix something, that young lion is going to age and become a big lion. And God's saying, if you frame your doings, you know, it can be. And look, the context was with Israel, but that's true with Judah as well. Judah is going down this dark road that Israel went, and it's like, you know what? You still have a chance. You still got 30 years, 40 years, 50 years or whatever. You've got a chance, but eventually that lion is going to age and become a big lion. It's going to destroy you just like Israel. Now, wouldn't you think, given the fact that Judah and Israel a long time before had been together as the 12 tribes, wouldn't you think the destruction of those 10 tribes would teach Judah, man, we don't want to go down this road. If it happened to them, it's going to happen to us. But what happens? Well, people get prideful. The nation became prideful. The king became prideful. And instead of framing their doings and fixing it and not doing the same things as Israel, they just go down the same road. And as a young lion to the house of Judah, I, even I, will tear and go away. I will take away and none shall rescue him. I will go and return to my place till they acknowledge their offense and seek my face. In their affliction, they will seek me early. And so he says, you know what? Until they actually acknowledge their offense and seek my face. And I want you to realize that has not happened. Right now, eventually we go to the end times. There's a lot of prophetic stuff here. And we just went through the whole book of Revelation and everything like that. But it's like, look, they just become more and more wicked. And they never turn back to God. They're done. That's what the Bible is teaching. And so, look, Judah is just like a little bit behind the time frame in Israel. That's what we see here in Hosea 5. So what do we see? Point number one, we see important people mentioned when it comes to, you know, judgment. It starts with the people leading churches and people that are political leaders. People with major influence are going to be held most accountable. We start with important people. Number two, influential cities. Influential cities affect the entire country. Point three, we need to invent a plan or make some sort of change in our lives. Frame our doings to fix our lives. Point four, the impossibility of return for Israel. But point five, there was still an interval for Judah at this time. Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and just getting to see your word here in Hosea 5. Help us to apply this to our lives, especially about framing our doings here in 2021, God. Help us to read the Bible and not just through the month of January as we're all excited and we got a new year. Help us to keep that zeal the entire year, God. And we just pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.